It was a Monday morning. No, correction – a dreadful, uncomfortable and awkward Monday morning for Jongin, who was pacing back and forth in front of his sister’s room as he debated with himself on whether to knock on her door. His two brothers had already left for work and college respectively, leaving him to face Yooyoung’s wrath all by himself. She was still giving all of them the silent treatment since their huge fight on Friday night and the boys were all just too much of a coward to remove the elephant in the room.

Hence, the task of making Yooyoung talk was automatically shifted to Jongin, since they usually walked together to school and there was no avoiding each other.

He checked the time on his wristwatch for the fifth time that morning. They were going to be late if she didn’t come out of her room soon, so left with no choice, Jongin raised up his fist and lightly knocked on her door.

He waited for a few good seconds but there was no response. He was about to give a louder knock, when the door suddenly flung open, revealing a fairly crossed Yooyoung already dressed in her uniform.

She stood there with arms crossed and glared at him. Jongin forced out a meek smile and tapped his watch sheepishly.

“We’re going to be late. I thought you were – “

Yooyoung didn’t give the chance to finish. Slamming the door shut behind her, she shoved past him and marched towards the front door without another word.

Jongin let out an exasperated sigh. It’s going to be a long day.

“Yooyoung-ah, wait for me!” For once, Jongin had to pick up his speed to catch up with his sister’s unusual pace. She hadn’t said a word since they left the house and he noticed that her steps were extra loud and heavier. It was her way of throwing tantrum – he understood. But he also knew that this fight couldn’t go on forever and hey, he really wasn’t the one who had betrayed her trust.

He was a little breathless and flushed as soon as he caught up, yet still he managed a bright smile as he nonchalantly asked, “Do you want to grab some fried chicken with me after school today? It’s been awhile since we had some.”

Jongin could see the corner of her lips twitching and for a second, he actually believed he’d made her cave in. Fried chicken was his favourite and Yooyoung loved it too. It’s only when they eat together that the whole chicken would actually be eaten because of their different preferences for the parts. Yooyoung was his chicken maniac buddy and he was pretty confident that she couldn’t resist the temptation.

“No.”

His smile faltered. She couldn’t have possible turned down his irresistible offer. Not Yooyoung – not his baby sister, Yooyoung.

“Why?” Jongin whined out loud. He wasn’t sure if it was because she had outright declined him or the fact that he wouldn’t get the chance to eat his favourite food.

“You can go by yourself,” she replied coldly and quickened her pace, if it was even possible.

“But you know that’s not how it works!” Jongin protested as he hurried after her, face already red as a tomato and clothes drenched with his sweat. “We always share them together – you and I, against all the chicken in the world…”

“Oppa!” Yooyoung suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Jongin to almost trip over his own foot. Luckily, Yooyoung managed to grab a hold of his arm and helped to steady him, despite her anger.

“Why did you suddenly stop!” Jongin paused to catch his breath, just as Yooyoung let go of his hand in annoyance. “Look, you know we have to talk sooner or later – “

“Yeah, but not now.”

“But why are you so mad at me?” he cried out loud. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You’re telling me, if given the chance – you wouldn’t have done the same thing as Chanshik oppa?”

“Yes – I mean, no…” Jongin caught a hold of himself, realising that he was just about to anger her further. “That’s not what I mean!” he said quickly when Yooyoung shot him a look of disbelief. Not knowing what else to say to him, she started to walk away, leaving a helpless Jongin behind as he racked his brain for a legit excuse. Man, he really is the dumb one.

“Yooyoung!”

Minah heard a loud disgruntled sound as she passed by one of the cubicles near the photocopy machine. Backing up a couple of steps, she stuck her head over the partition and saw a distressed Taemin hitting the spacebar button harder than he should have. Not to mention, he had strands of hair sticking out of places and two empty mugs amongst his clustered table as he reached over for a third one.

She cleared loudly, causing him to flinch in surprise and coughed out the coffee he had just sipped in.

Minah put down her stack of papers in hurry and yanked out a few pieces of tissues to help him clear up the mess.

“I’m really sorry,” she apologised as she dabbed at the small stain on his shirt, before naturally proceeding on to his lips – but then remembered their current situation, she faltered and handed him the tissue instead. Taemin took it with a smile and shook his head in dismissal.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve always been a klutz, remember?”

Minah couldn’t help but to laugh in agreement as she leaned against his cubicle and crossed her arms. “Yeah well, you seemed pretty distracted too that you didn’t notice I’ve been standing here since the past hour.”

Taemin made a face. “Naw, that’s too exaggerated.”

“You’re right,” she chuckled. “But it’s true right? You are distracted – and I’m not talking about work.”

He exhaled loudly and leaned back against his chair tiredly. “I really can’t keep anything from you, can I?” Taemin glanced up at his colleague in despair, the expression on his face telling her that something heavy was weighing on his mind and he could really use a listening ear. Minah didn’t need to be told twice to pull up a chair from the empty cubicle next to his and set herself down comfortably.

“Talk,” she instructed.

“It’s Yooyoung…” he began.

Minah’s eyes widened. “Oh no, don’t tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“I know you, Taemin. If this is about your sister, it’s your overprotective side talking,” she said knowingly.

“I haven’t even told you what it’s about!” he protested.

“What did you restrict her from this time? A party with friends? Driving lessons? Dating?”

Taemin pursed his lips together into one fine, straight line.

Minah leaned in forward in her seat. “It is about a boy. God, Lee Taemin – what did you do? Chased him out with a broom? Scanned him from head to toe till he emptied out every pocket?”

“Minah, come on,” he defied weakly. “I’m not that bad…” but he didn’t sound convincing enough.

“Then, what happened?”

Taemin let out a long sigh. “She went on a date – without my knowledge,” he added pointedly. “Chanshik was aware. He was the one who gave her the permission.”

“And he did the right thing.”

Taemin rolled his eyes. “Of course you’d say that. Everything he does is perfect to you.”

Minah wagged her finger at him. “Careful there. Your jealousy is showing."

“Whatever,” he waved the matter away and shifted in his seat. “The thing here is, your Mr Perfect actually followed Yooyoung around on her date – “

“Wait. Follow as in tailing her? Spying?” Taemin nodded. Minah whistled softly. “You boys have some serious issues. I take it Yooyoung knows?”

“Yeah. She was pretty damn pissed off I must say. But hey, we were just looking out for her! Frankly, I'm glad Chanshik did that. What if the boy is a serial killer? What if he was planning to drug and kidnap her? What if he's a psychopath - "

Minah groaned out loud. "Urgh, this is why I dumped you!"

Taemin stopped short, mouth hanging open at her sudden outburst. For a moment, he could only blink in confusion while she shot him an incredulous look.

"What do you mean?"

"You're always imagining the worst in people! Like they're out to get you every time and because of that, you tend to get overbearing and at times – even suffocating the people who are close to you." Minah softened her voice and took his hand in hers. "I know you mean well, but you know...you've got to cool it off a little. Cut your sister some slack. She's a growing teenager for God's sake. Her meeting boys, dating...it's bound to happen. You can't stop that. You can't protect her every second of the day."

Taemin looked down at the hand that was holding his. It hadn’t been that long ago when he had comforted that hand from the cold, warmed it up with his breath – but now, it was squeezing his instead and giving him the encouragement that he needed. Suddenly, he felt really, really small.

“So what should I do now?”

“Apologise to her,” she answered gently. “Tell her that you were wrong - and Chanshik too. That you had no right to interfere.”

“But I’m her brother! I have the right to interfere!”

“Like the way you interfered with the clothes I wore when we went out together?” she shot back. “Or the way I hold my spoon when I eat? Oh, what about the way I smile at random strangers when we walked on the streets?”

Taemin gulped. He had definitely hit a nerve.

“Minah…”

“There are so many reasons why we didn’t work out,” she shook her head sadly. “But at least, you and I – we’re not related. We are still friends now. It’s different between you and Yooyoung. Remember Taemin, blood is thicker than water. I can escape you but she can’t. So the least you can do for her is to make it a little more bearable living with you.”

“Wow…I didn’t realise I’ve caused you so much misery.”

Minah laughed out loud heartily, eyes disappearing into tiny slits as she threw back her head gleefully. Taemin couldn’t help but to smile at the sight of her red face. He was glad, that despite everything they’ve been through, Minah still stayed by his side as a friend.

“Glad you know now,” she said after her laughter died down. “But I’m serious Taemin – when you get home today, talk to your sister. It’ll be better if you can gather everyone and talk things out openly. Listen to what she has to say. Tell her how you feel. But most importantly – don’t forget to apologise.”

Taemin gave her a warm smile. “Thanks. Really, I appreciate it a lot. I’m glad we’re still on talking terms and that you don’t hate me so much after what I’ve put you through.”

“Eh, don’t say that. You have your own good points,” she winked. “Sure…you can be a little clingy – “ she made a face causing Taemin to chuckle. “But you still have the best intentions even though you may not show them well.”

“So does this mean there’s a chance for us to work out in the future?” he teased just as Minah started to stand up.

“Ha ha ha, very funny, Lee Taemin,” she smacked his shoulder with the thick pile of papers. “Get back to work.”

“I’m being serious here!”

She simply waved her hand dismissively without looking back at him.