“Good mor--. What’s wrong with you?” said Suho. He tried to greet his sister upon seeing her going out of her room but instead of greeting him, she gave him a scowl with her arms crossed.

“Tsk tsk tsk…I’m so disappointed in you,” Seyoon said to him, swaying her head side to side. “Why? Why did you bring beer inside the house? Why did you let Kai drink beer?” she asked him.

“Ah!” That’s why he felt weird when he woke up. He suddenly remembered talking to Kai last night but he couldn’t remember anything that happened after that. Then he woke up the next morning and he was already lying on the couch. “Did you…” he asked, pointing to the couch. Seyoon nodded at him. “I’m sorry. Am I that heavy?”

“That’s not the point!” she said angrily. Suho flinched after hearing his sister’s raised of voice. It was the first time that he saw his sister this mad and she seemed really mad at him. “Oppa, you are the oldest here. You should at least be a role model. But instead, you bought beer and let Kai drink with you.”

“I’m really sorry, alright?” he said, rubbing his sister’s back. Seyoon just looked at him sternly. “Kai is now on the right age to drink. I don’t see anything wrong with that,” he said to him.

“Why? Kai and I are in the same age. Will you let me drink too?” she asked. Suho stared at him speechless.

“Of course!” he laughed nervously. “But not without me or any adult supervision,” he said with a straight face. “Okay…I got the point. You don’t have to be mad at me. I just thought that I’ll have a one-on-one talk with Kai, you know. Besides, we’ve done nothing wrong. We just talk about life, common interests, anything under the sun. So, please forgive me. I can’t stand seeing you being mad at me like that. Please~” he said, enclosing her in a tight hug.

“I understand. Oh, please prepare something for Kai. He doesn’t really take hangover that well.”

“I will. Thanks for carrying me,” Suho said before he went back behind the kitchen counter.

 

Seyoon knock on Kai’s door to see if he was awake but she got no response. She entered his room thinking that he might still be sleeping from being intoxicated last night, but he was already sitting on his bed and massaging his temples.

“Are you alright?” Kai heard Seyoon asked him. She sat beside him in his bed.

“I’m alright. It’s just that I have a slight headache.”

“I know. Sorry that my brother ask you to drink with him last night. It will never happen again,” she said. “Do you think you can go to school today?”

“Of course, I will. I just need something maybe.”

“My brother is preparing something to remove your hangover. Go to the kitchen, we’ll wait for you,” she said to him before leaving his room.

“Ahh…I can’t remember anything. Chanyeol is right, I shouldn’t drink too much alcohol,” Kai said before swing his feet on the ground and started preparing for school.

 

“Oppa, what did you talk with Kai last night?” Seyoon asked curiously.

“Why? I already told you. Anything under the sun.”

“But,” Seyoon remembered the words Kai mumbled last night before he went to sleep. I like her. And she thought maybe Kai had already told Suho about his girlfriend or something. “Did you talk about girls last night?”

“Girls? What do you mean?” Suho asked curiously.

“You see, Kai was mumbling the words ‘I like her’ before he went to sleep last night so I thought maybe you were talking about some girls. Any specific girl maybe…” she stared at his brother.

“Girls? I don’t really remember. Maybe those models like Miranda Kerr or SNSD. Come on, I’m sure it’s one of those. Why? Are you jealous?” Suho started teasing her sister again.

“No! Stop teasing me or else I won’t talk to you for the whole day,” she said, going back to her stern face again.

“Aigoo! You’re so cute when you’re mad,” Suho said as he patted his sister’s head.

‘Girls? I really can’t remember talking about girls before. What was it again that we talk about yesterday? Remember…’ Suho kept on thinking. Suddenly, Seyoon just heard the ladle dropped on the floor.

“Oppa, you drop the ladle. Oppa?” she tried to grab his brother’s attention but it seemed like Suho was just staring into space. “I’ll go get it,” she said.

‘Kai likes…’ Suho looked at Seyoon.

“Here,” she said trying to give the ladle back to his brother. “Oppa? Why are you staring at me like that? Is there anything on my face? Oppa?” she asked continuously.

“Good morning!” Kai greeted as he went out of his room. He sat beside Seyoon on the kitchen counter and Suho was opposite of them, preparing food. Suho stared at the two for a while.

“Oppa…stop that dumbfounded look. You’re freaking me out,” Seyoon said to him.

“Sorry. I just remembered something, you know, a Eureka moment,” he laughed nervously.

‘If Kai like my sister then why…why doesn’t he tell her?’ Suho thought. ‘Is it because Seyoon likes Luhan?’

---

“Haha…That video of him is so funny,” Seyoon said while looking at Luhan’s tablet.

“I know right. I actually had a collection of bloopers from their games,” Luhan said enthusiastically. Luhan couldn’t contain the joy he was feeling today. After finding out that both he and Seyoon had interests in soccer, he now had a topic to talk with her. They were talking about soccer their whole lunch time. And now, he was walking with Seyoon towards the ddeokbokki stall, where they planned to eat with the rest of their friends, and both of them were looking at his tablet, their shoulders touching, and heads so close together.

However, suddenly, Chanyeol placed his arms on both of their shoulders and inserted his head in between them.  “What are you looking at?” he said to them, smiling.

Luhan frowned upon seeing him. “It’s none of your business. Go a—”

“Oh, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo! Can I watch too?” he asked as he tried to fit his body in between them, completely shoving Luhan away.

“Really? Is that soccer? Can I watch too?” Baekhyun added. After a while, Xiumin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun were all beside Seyoon, watching the videos on Luhan’s tablet and Seyoon seemed to enjoy it without bothering to look if the owner of the tablet was still with her.

Luhan felt jealous that Baekhyun and Chanyeol could freely place their arms around Seyoon’s shoulder since they were close friends. If only he could, he would.

“Yah! I brought that so that I could watch it with Seyoon, not with you guys! Get away from her!” he said.

“Here. The videos are really funny. You should bring some more in the future,” she said to Luhan, smiling. Luhan just felt his anger went away in an instant.

“Do you like it? Alright, I will,” he replied with a smile.

After a while, all of them were already eating in the ddeokbokki stall, except for Kai of course.

“Oh, there’s a sauce on the side of your lips,” Seyoon pointed to Luhan.

“Really? I can’t see it. Could you wipe it away with a tissue?” he asked as he closed his eyes and moving his head to the side so Seyoon could have a full glimpse of the sauce on his face. Suddenly, Luhan felt the tissue wiping his face but the way of wiping was way too harsh. He opened his eyes and saw Chanyeol with the tissue on his hand and Seyoon was just smiling behind Chanyeol.

“Good thing, I have a lot of tissue. Next time, learn how to wipe on your own,” Chanyeol said to him smiling.

“You!” Luhan snarled.

“Seyoon, he’s mad at me. What do I do?” Chanyeol teased as he hid behind Seyoon. Luhan continued to try capturing Chanyeol in a headlock despite their height differences while Seyoon just laughed watching the two.

Suho, who was there to fetch his sister, saw how happy his sister was as she looked at Luhan. ‘Maybe she really likes this boy,’ he thought.

“Hello guys!” he greeted them. All the boys bowed at him.

“Hello sunbaenim!” Luhan and Chanyeol greeted happily.

“Hello! Where’s Kai?” he asked them.

“He’s busy as usual,” Luhan replied.

“He’s always busy after school. Oh well, just continue eating. It’s my treat,” he said to them smiling.

“Thank you sunbaenim!” they all replied.

---

After dinner at home, Kai already excused himself as he went to his room and made his homework. Suho and Seyoon were left in the kitchen to clean the dishes.

“You seem too happy when you’re with Luhan,” Suho said.

“What? What do you mean oppa?” Seyoon asked.

“Nothing. When I saw you earlier, you looked happy while watching him …”

“That’s because he’s funny. He’s irritating but he also makes me laugh sometimes. He’s a little bit crazy but sometimes he also makes sense,” she said.

“Oh, alright…” Even when he looked at his sister’s face as she talked about Luhan, he still couldn’t seem to figure out her feelings for him. He didn’t know if she was just not ready to tell Luhan how she feels. Or maybe it was that she was suppressing her feelings for him because of the arrange marriage. Or maybe she liked Kai? Or maybe someone else? Suho swayed his head as he thought he was thinking too much.

“Do you like Luhan?” he asked her out of the blue.

“No…” Seyoon replied but her gaze averted somewhere. Suho didn’t know if that meant something, if she was just hiding her feelings, or if it was true. “Why are you asking me that? I told you that there is a possibility of taking a step further into my relationship with Luhan but not now.”

 

Kai was about to go out of his room to get a glass of water but he stopped when he heard Suho and Seyoon’s conversation.

“Do you want me to talk to our parents about your arrange marriage?” he asked her.

Seyoon stopped wiping the dishes and looked at his brother. “What do you mean?”

“Do you want me to convince them to stop the arrange marriage? I think that you and Kai are bounded by this ‘arrange marriage’ thing. Even though you look okay with Kai here at home, I noticed that he is not hanging out with you and your friends anymore. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence that he was always gone when I went to your school but you don’t seem to look as close as you are before. Whenever I visited you here when you were still in middle school, I could see a different Kai and Seyoon relationship back then. It is different now. I think this arrange marriage is affecting your relationship. So, do you want me to tell our parents to stop it?” he asked again.

 

Kai closed the door of his room, not wanting to hear Seyoon’s reply. He didn’t know why he felt depressed all of a sudden. He didn’t know why he didn’t want to hear Seyoon’s reply, if it was ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Either way, he felt afraid. If she said yes, there was a possibility of him and her going back to their old relationship were they were avoiding each other and not talking to each other, and he knew he didn’t like it. If she said no and they would continue with this ‘arrange marriage’, it seemed like he couldn’t see a future for them. Everything felt complicated all of a sudden for Kai.

---

Seyoon was already inside her room after her conversation with her brother. But her brother’s question seemed to bother her that she couldn’t fell asleep. That’s when she decided to go out and find something to eat in their refrigerator.

When she opened it, she saw two familiar cans hidden behind the large bottle of juice. “Oh, these are…” She remembered when she saw Kai and her brother drunk on the table, she saw two unopened cans on the pack. She remembered hiding it behind the juice so that her brother neither Kai would drink it anymore. She looked at his brother who was sleeping soundly on the couch then at Kai’s room which seemed quiet then she looked back at the two cans which seemed to lure her. “I guess there’s nothing wrong trying one…just one,” she said to herself.

---

Suho knew how he made Seyoon confused after asking her that question. But he knew that it was the best for her and Kai. He felt that Kai was also suppressing his feelings for Seyoon because of Luhan. And Seyoon was suppressing her feelings for Luhan because of Kai and the arrange marriage. He knew that both of them were affected by this situation and he wanted to help them as much as possible.

He was already sleeping soundly when he was awakened by a soft thud coming from the kitchen. He lifted his body to look if there was someone there. He saw no one but the light was . He went to the kitchen to turn it off when he saw Seyoon sitting on the floor with her back resting on the kitchen cabinet.

“Seyoon!” Suho exclaimed, thinking that something happened to his sister. But as he went closer, he sensed the smell of beer from . That’s when he saw the two cans beside Seyoon, consumed and empty. “Aigoo, what have you done Seyoon?”

He wrapped Seyoon’s arms around his neck and hoisted her up to bring her to her bedroom. While in his arm, he heard Seyoon mumbling some words. “I don’t like Luhan,” he heard her say. He knew she was already intoxicated and there was a possibility that she didn’t know what she was saying. He put Seyoon down her bed but Seyoon still clung on him as she buried her head on her chest and embraced him tightly.

“Oppa, I like Kai,” she spoke again. “No, I love Kai. I thought I could forget him and move on with Luhan but I can’t,” she said and Suho felt his shirt already started to get soak with her tears. “I thought I could move on but I still love him.”

“Then, why don’t you tell him then?” Suho asked him. He didn’t know if Seyoon could understand him or hear him because of intoxication but she did. Suho seen her swayed her head.

“I can’t. I can’t,” she repeated and Suho felt her embrace got tighter. “Oppa, I can’t. Kai…Kai…” she tried to speak but crying made her hard to go on. He could hear her gasp for some air and then she tried speaking again.

“What about Kai? Kai likes y—…”

“Kai already has a girlfriend oppa. He loves someone else,” she said before she buried her head so deep in his chest. “Oppa…” she wept.

Suho sighed deeply after hearing her sister cried like this. Even though he knew that she was just half-conscious, he felt the pain in her words. He felt sorry that he was assuming things earlier. Now, he knew why she and Kai seemed uncomfortable with each other, why she tried to be close to Luhan and yet she said she didn’t like him, why Kai wasn’t hanging out with them that much anymore and why Kai only said that he liked Seyoon but not love her. Because now he knew that Kai loved someone else. He felt sorry for his sister that she had to undergo this kind of situation. He knew it must have hurt her a lot. And the only thing he could do now was to comfort her and be with her in this situation.

“Is that the reason why you didn’t want me to talk to our parents? Is it because you still like Kai?” he asked. He felt Seyoon nodded on his chest. “Aigoo…if only I could do something…” he said.

After a few minutes, he already felt Seyoon’s tensed body started to calm down. As expected, when he looked at her, she was already asleep in his chest. He rested her head to the pillow and swept the hair blocking her face. He could see her puffed face from crying.

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked.

---

“What is that?” Seyoon asked her brother as she saw him packing his stuffs into his bag. Kai just came out of his room and also saw Suho packing.

“My research partner is having a hard time with his field research. I have to go and help him,” Suho said to her.

“How about your own research hyung?” Kai asked.

“It’s okay. I’m done with it anyway,” he said as he continued packing.

“Is it already done? Isn’t it a little too fast? What was your research all about anyway?” Seyoon asked him.

“It’s easy. It’s about the psychological effects of drinking alcoholic beverages,” he said, smiling. “You two have been a great help by the way,” he told them.

“So you’re leaving Korea?” Seyoon asked with concerns embedded in her eyes.

“Sorry Seyoon. I thought I’ll be able to stay here a little longer but I just can’t leave my partner alone. After all, it’s a pair research so I have to help him out.”

“But…” Seyoon was way too shocked to see her brother leaving and she didn’t know if she should stop him or not. She already felt the tears forming but she tried to hold it in.

“Aigoo…we could still see each other. Don’t worry,” Suho said as he pulled his sister in an embrace. “It’s okay. Kai is here with you. He will be your temporary brother like he’s always been,” he said as he looked at Kai, smiling. “You’ll take care of her, right?”

“I will hyung,” Kai replied with a smile.

“Well, I guess that’s it. All my things are here. It’s sad that you can’t go with me to the airport. Besides, I still have to return the car to our garage. You didn’t want our father to find one his cars missing, don’t you?”

“I will miss you so much,” Seyoon said to him.

“I will miss you too. I will miss you both. Don’t worry. I will come back no matter what. Besides, I still have a lot of things to talk with you two.”

“I’ll help you carry your luggage hyung,” said Kai as he carried one of Suho’s bags.

“Have a safe trip,” Seyoon said as he led her brother to the door.

“You take care of yourself. If you have any problems just talk to me or to anyone you’re comfortable talking with.” When he was about to leave the door, “And! Don’t try drinking without adult supervision. No other man could carry a heavy weighted girl like you,” he teased one last time.

“Oppa!” Seyoon ran to his brother and embraced him tight. “I won’t. I promise,” she said to him smiling.

“Good. Let’s go Kai,” he said as Seyoon heard the door closed.

“Thank you oppa for being with me last night…”

 

 

 

 

 

---

Don't ya wish your brother was kind like him? Ah...if only I have a big brother...but I don't ><