Oh look. Another drabble that no one asked for and no one really wanted! I just wanted to write Hoon interacting with Serin's brothers. And give an explanation for why Yoobin is so terrible to Serin.

IDK. It contains a bit of somewhat mature language. If you can't handle it, you're probably too young for the internet.

Hoon knew his evening was going to be awkward, but he couldn’t have done anything to prevent it. As he had no scheduled activities and, therefore, couldn’t bring himself to tell Hyunsaeng no, he’d accepted an invitation over for a guys’ night at Serin’s father’s home. When he’d asked Hyunsaeng why they were having a get together for the guys, his brother-in-law explained, “Her royal iness isn’t home tonight. That seemed like reason to throw a party.”

Hoon was pretty sure that wasn’t the reason. Not that he especially liked Yoobin, as she treated Serin rather poorly, but he figured the get together had more to do Hyunsu’s wanting them there and less to do with how much Hyunsaeng disliked their sister-in-law. Hyunsaeng had just given him an off-the-cuff remark because, well, he was Hyunsaeng. “Can I bring Serin?” Hoon inquired.

“Sorry. Guys only,” Hyunsaeng explained with a shrug.

“Oh. Okay…” He certainly would have much rather spent the evening with her. As she was pregnant and somewhat dependent at the moment, he liked to be around her as much as possible. Her clinginess was something he’d noticed over the last couple of weeks. She needed his attention and reassurance much more than usual. As they hadn’t told anyone about the baby, and he wasn’t ready to give up the secret quite yet, he couldn’t exactly use that as an excuse to get out of hanging out with the Lee clan. He had sighed and accepted his fate.

Now here he was, ready for a night of what he assumed would be a lot of drinking. Hyunsaeng could put away liquor like it was nothing. Jaehyun was known for hitting the bottle too hard on occasion, as well. He chuckled to himself as he recalled that the date he’d asked Serin to be his girlfriend had been cut short because Jaehyun had needed a pick up after drinking too much. He’d even seen Serin’s dad get a bit drunk. The only one he’d never seen drinking in excess was Seunghyun. It might be kind of fun to witness something so rare, if he could manage to stay sober long enough to even remember it.

He’d arrived at Hyunsu’s home after Jaehyun but before Hyunsaeng. The three men there already greeted him happily. “Hyunsaeng is going to be late,” Jaehyun told him when he walked in. “He says something came up at home.”

“Yeah,” Seunghyun shot, “probably his .”

Hoon’s eyes went wide as he stared at his oldest brother-in-law in shock. That kind of comment didn’t fit Hoon’s image of Seunghyun at all. Even more surprising was that Hyunsu chuckled at the quip. Hoon felt as though he’d entered some kind of twilight zone with fake people he didn’t actually know. “Are you guys real?” he asked half-jokingly.

“Relax, Hoonie,” Jaehyun assured. “That’s how they are when they’re drunk.”

“Yeah,” Seunghyun agreed. “And we all know Hyunsaeng probably has some fine piece of over.”

Hoon looked at Jaehyun and stated, “I’m pretty sure this is an imposter.”

Jaehyun laughed. “Hyunsaeng actually doesn’t. And Hoon, you’ve only ever seen super professional Seunghyun or doting father and husband Seunghyun. This is the big brother I grew up with.”

“And I’m like what… 8 years older than you?” Seunghyun asked.

“Yes, hyung. You’re 8 years older.”

Hoon decided that Hyunsu and Seunghyun must have started drinking several hours ago when they’d gotten home. Jaehyun had obviously arrived not much before him and was still sober. Who knows how drunk they’d get when Hyunsaeng finally arrived. Hyunsu took the opportunity to mention, “There’s plenty of alcohol. And we also got pizza. So help yourself, Hoonmin.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Jaehyun could tell Hoon was feeling uncomfortable with the behavior of the most straight-laced members of his family, so he pulled Hoon into the kitchen. “Don’t worry about them,” Jaehyun assured. “Just have some drinks and relax. They get like this when they have a chance to unwind. Seunghyun likes to pick on Hyunsaeng. And vice versa. It’ll get worse once Hyunsaeng actually gets here.”

“What about your dad though? He seems quite alright with Seunghyun trash-talking Hyunsaeng.”

“For the two of us, Hyunsaeng is kind of intimidating, right?”

Hoon nodded.

“Seunghyun is the oldest, and so by default, Hyunsaeng has to defer to him, yeah?”

“That’s how it goes,” Hoon agreed.

“You and your brother get along pretty well, but Hyunsaeng and Seunghyun don’t exactly. Hyunsaeng is really defiant.”

“I did notice that these last few years,” Hoon contributed somewhat sarcastically.

“Due to his continued rude behavior, Seunghyun kind of holds this grudge. And our dad understands because he’s the oldest, as well. He knows how it would feel to have a younger sibling disrespect you like Hyunsaeng does. So he will just let any of Seunghyun’s drunk remarks slide. Plus, I mean, he’s drunk, too.”

“Well…” Hoon decided, “Hyunsaeng hyung does kind of deserve it. I mean, I’ve never seen the two of them really interact, so I wouldn’t know. But I am not happy when someone younger treats me rudely, so I can understand where Seunghyun hyung is coming from. But how he’s acting still seems really strange to me.”

“Yeah. Without Yoobin around, he really relaxes.”

“So maybe what Hyunsaeng told me earlier was true…?” Hoon mused.

“What did he tell you?”

“Ah… that your dad was only doing this because Yoobin wasn’t going to be around tonight.”

Jaehyun chuckled. “Haha… That’s somewhat true. We definitely wouldn’t have done it with her around. She’s too up tight all the time. We can’t really have fun.”

“Ah yeah. I can see that.”

“Plus Seunghyun isn’t really any fun with her around. He behaves himself to present a good image to her.”

“Must kind of hard. To act a certain way for your wife,” Hoon considered. “I mean… it’s not that I don’t behave well for Serin. I just… feel like I can be myself around her. I don’t have to act a certain way. If that makes sense.”

“Your circumstances are very different,” Jaehyun stated. “You should ask Seunghyun about it. He’s drunk. He’ll probably tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

An easily recognizable voice asked, “Who’s telling Hoonmin what?” Hyunsaeng had arrived.

“Seunghyun. Telling Hoonie about his relationship weirdness,” Jaehyun explained.

“Ahh…” Hyunsaeng went to grab two beers from the fridge, and he helped himself to a slice of pizza before sarcastically remarking, “Yeah. You’ll just love hearing that.”

“Don’t be so mean, Hyunsaeng hyung,” Jaehyun replied. “Seunghyun hyung just did what he thought was best at the time.”

“Yeah, and now we’re all stuck with the snobby . He doesn’t even like her,” Hyunsaeng retorted.

It was pretty obvious to Hoon that while Hyunsaeng had only just arrived, he was already intoxicated. “I think I’m going to need something to drink,” Hoon said, exasperated. The underlying tension regarding Yoobin had him on edge. He was going to need something to blunt that edge if he was going to make it through the rest of the evening.

Hyunsaeng passed off one of the beers he was holding. ”Drink up, dongsaeng!”

“What about me?” Jaehyun pouted.

“You have arms and legs,” Hyunsaeng responded, and then took a bite from his slice of pizza. Jaehyun stood up and went to get several more bottles of beer, as well as some soju to mix. The three sat in the kitchen eating pizza and drinking. Once they’d had their fill of pizza, the three went back to the living room with drinks in hand. Hoon had carried extra along, one for Hyunsu and one for Seunghyun. Things were pretty good for a while, as they all simply chatted about stuff going on in their lives. When they started talking about women, things became uncomfortable for Hoon though. He didn’t want to say too much about Serin. It was a dangerous topic to discuss around her family.

“So… Hoon,” Hyunsaeng questioned, “when’d you first bang my sister?”

Hoon froze, debating whether or not he should spill. “Uhh… Hyunsaeng hyung, isn’t that kind of a weird thing to be asking?”

Hyunsaeng shrugged. “I just want to know. I mean, I know she wasn’t a when she did it with you the first time.”

Hoon glared at him, upset over the slight jab. Beside if Hyunsaeng knew about that then it wouldn’t hurt to just tell him. “October of 2013.”

“Wrong answer,” Hyunsaeng leveled, cracking his knuckles. “You hadn’t even been dating a year.”

“But she was the one who started it,” Hoon defended. “She asked me. What was I supposed to do? Tell her no?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, get off it, Hyunsaeng,” Seunghyun warned. “You bang girls on the first date all the time. A couple months into a committed relationship is no big deal.”

“Technically speaking,” Jaehyun inserted, “it’s usually not even a date.”

“Oh, shut it, maknae,” Hyunsaeng spat. “When’s the last time any of you got laid?”

Hoon hoped he wouldn’t be pressured into answering that question too. It was currently late January. Due to the extreme caution he and Serin were taking with her pregnancy, he hadn’t once slept with her since she’d told him. That put their last time in the middle of November. Telling them it had been that long both seemed awkward and likely to raise suspicions.

“I don’t know,” Jaehyun answered. “It’s probably been a couple of months. Maybe October.”

“What about you Hoon?” Hyunsaeng asked.

He mentally began panicking, before deciding to lie. “Ah… it’s been a little bit. I’ve been away and busy, and Serin has been feeling a bit sick recently. I would say beginning of January sounds right.” It sounded like a passable lie, and Hoon was confident in his acting abilities.

They all looked at Seunghyun expectantly. He audibly sighed. “A couple of years,” he admitted.

Hoon looked him, surprised. He was young, attractive, and married. Why had it been so long? Was this what the other two brothers had been talking about earlier? “What year?” Hyunsaeng probed.

“2012,” he confessed. “Early.”

“Oh wow, hyung,” Jaehyun marveled. “Since she got pregnant?”

“It was right around when she found out she was having a baby. Everything just… changed then.”

Hoon looked around, beginning to feel unsettled. This was more than he bargained for.

“Well, she was always y,” Hyunsaeng retorted. “You just started to see it then.”

“No,” Seunghyun angrily replied. “I cared about her. I still do. But that was when I realized that didn’t love her. I never did, and I probably never will.”

Hyunsu gently expressed to him, “You shouldn’t say that about your wife.”

They’d all forgotten he was still there and felt more than a little embarrassed about discussing the topic at hand so openly in front of him. “Sorry, Appa. But it’s true. I married her for the sake of the company, but I truly don’t love her.”

Hyunsu nodded. “I understand why you did what you did. Especially at the time. It was a good match. Still is. However, you should do what you want to do.”

“I will stay with her until the end,” Seunghyun resolved. “I will not break my promise to her. I will stay with her, and we will raise our son together.”

Hoon found it heartbreaking. Seeing a loveless marriage, bound together only by their mutual love and commitment for their child. “It must be hard,” Hoon stated, feeling pity for his brother-in-law.

“Seunghyun hyung, you should tell Hoonie hyung why Yoobin-ssi hates Serin noona so much,” Jaehyun said. “I think he deserves to know.”

“Does Serin know this?” Hoon asked cautiously. “Would it be okay for me to tell her?”

“Serin might not know everything. She doesn’t know the exact reasons,” Seunghyun explained. “But you can tell her, if you want. I envy how close you two are. But ultimately, that why Yoobin can’t stand her.”

“Because we love each other?”

“Exactly. You showed up, swept Serin off her feet, married her, and made her so happy, while Yoobin sat around waiting for Seunghyun to start paying attention to her again after she had their child. She started getting jealous, and then outright spiteful, and that just drove everyone further away from her,” Jaehyun explained.

“She was never kind to us,” Hyunsaeng mentioned. “She was married to the oldest brother. The most important. The one who would inherit the company. Plus, her family is better off than ours. When Seunghyun married her, the company received extra funding. She was richer than we were and married to the first son, so she treated me, Serin, and Jaehyun like we were below her notice.”

“Serin did mention that Yoobin had always just kind of ignored her up until we got married,” Hoon shared.

“Because your family also runs a business. She saw you as a threat.”

“My family’s business is nowhere near as famous as Yoobin’s. It’s just a small thing. Dried seaweed,” Hoon explained.

Seunghyun nodded. “It’s not even really the business. Or even that you’re a celebrity. Those are contributing factors, but it’s not what she hates. It’s that you love Serin. That you really, truly cherish her. While I just… exist in Yoobin’s life. I won’t walk away nor will I give her the love she truly wants from me. I’m just an obstacle.”

“But hyung,” Jaehyun added, “it’s still a bit deeper than just that. When Yoobin came here, she expected to be the new queen of the house. She treated the three of us like we were below her notice. She doesn’t have any siblings so she didn’t know how to interact with us. So even though she wanted to be buddies, her behavior ended up pushing us away. We didn’t enjoy being treated as being beneath her, so we started ignoring her. And of course, we’re all very loyal to each other. The four of us… we’re always there for each other. So when we’d willingly help Serin out, and then not bother with her if she was struggling with something, it just added more fuel on the jealousy fire.”

“So she’s just really jealous of Serin?” Hoon asked.

“Yep,” Jaehyun agreed.

“She needs some serious counseling,” Hyunsaeng quipped.

Hyunsu stood up then, stretching. "It's getting late so I'm going to go to bed. However, Seunghyun, I think you and Yoobin should go together for counseling. Trying to improve your relationship would help with the tension around here."

Seunghyun drooped his head and nodded. "I will, Appa."

With that, Hoon's father-in-law went to bed. Which meant that Hyunsaeng started ragging on Seunghyun even harder. But Hoon couldn't shake the deep sadness he felt for his eldest brother-in-law. He couldn't imagine being married to someone he didn't love. It was so hard when you did love the person you were with. He actively put Serin first as much as he could, and he knew that she did the same for him. They had each other’s' happiness on the forefront of their minds. And despite what they'd recently been through, with the miscarriage and the new pregnancy and all the ups and downs and emotions, Hoon couldn't imagine going through any of it without the love and support Serin gave him. "I feel so bad for you, Seunghyun hyung," he admitted.

"It was my choice," Seunghyun replied. "Perhaps a hasty one made by a naive boy trying to make his father happy in the absence of his mother, but my choice none the less."

And then it clicked. Really and truly. Serin had given up her dreams after their mom died and decided instead to enter the family business. Hoon knew that story well. But he hadn't ever really considered how it might have impacted her brothers. For Seunghyun, it had been deciding to enter an arranged marriage to give the business better ties. He didn't know what it was for the other two, but he assumed the impact on Hyunsaeng had something to do with his bad habits with women. Jaehyun was a mystery, but as he was the youngest, perhaps it hadn't affected him as intensely. Plus, if he really wanted to know, he could probably outright ask him someday, as, of the three brothers, Jaehyun would be the most likely to actually answer a direct question about their mom's death.

Hyunsaeng had continued to taunt Seunghyun over his lacking life until, finally, the eldest couldn't take it anymore. "It's not your ing problem, Hyunsaeng," he shot.

Hoon's eyes went wide as Hyunsaeng instantly squared up to him, ready for a fight. The mood had soured so quickly, Hoon was left dumbfounded. All of them were drunk, Hoon included, and the fact that this looked like it was quickly headed for a fight had him worried.

 "It is my concern," Hyunsaeng spat back. "I have to deal with your y wife, too, you know. You should just take one for the team. Knock her up again. She'd be a little easier to be around if she were getting laid regularly."

And then Seunghyun snapped fully, flying fist first at his younger brother. It was obvious that Hyunsaeng had been in more fights in general because he easily dodged the sloppy punch. He returned a jab followed quickly by a hook. Seunghyun would have a bruise in the morning, but that didn't seem to be slowing him down any as he immediately launched another punch at Hyunsaeng.

Hoon’s mind raced as he desperately tried to figure out how to stop the fight. He didn't want to step in and get himself hurt, but he hated watching it. So he did what he thought would be the most effective. He called Serin for advice.

"Serin," Hoon implored, "your brothers are fighting. How do I stop it?"

She sighed. "Tell Hyunsaeng that I'm on my way," she stated calmly.

"But he's not going to listen to me right now."

"They're drunk, right? Hyunsaeng and Seunghyun?" Serin asked.

"Yeah."

She drew in another audible breath. "Seunghyun is terrible when he's drunk. Like, the worst. But seriously, just tell Hyunsaeng I'm on my way. He'll stop."

Hoon pulled the phone away from his mouth to shout, "Hey, Hyunsaeng hyung!" The man blocked a punched and stepped away, looking over at Hoon, leaving Seunghyun standing by himself in confusion. "Serin says she's coming over."

"," he said. "Goddammit. She's going to be pissed."

Seunghyun, still angry and itching for a fight, glowered at Hyunsaeng, "We're not done yet."

"Ah, hyung," Jaehyun warned cautiously, "yes, you are. Serin's coming."

Seunghyun's eyes went wide, and he meekly nodded. "I think I'll go to bed," he announced. And with that, the eldest slinked out of the room.

Hoon watched this in awe, and then realized he still had his phone in his hand with a call connected to Serin. “Ah… that broke it up,” he told her.

“Good,” she said smugly.

Confused, Hoon asked her, “Why did that work?”

“Let’s just say… I may not be stronger than they are, but I can and will fight dirty, and they know it.”

Hoon didn’t know exactly what she meant, but he had a couple of ideas, so he just dropped the topic. “Are you really coming over?” he inquired.

“Are you drunk?”

“Yeah.”

“Then yeah. I’ll come pick you up, if you want,” she stated.

“But what about my car?” he asked.

“Then just spend the night,” Serin advised.

“Ah… but then you’re not with me,” he complained.

“I could come over, I guess. I just… hope I don’t throw up in the morning. I don’t want my brothers getting ideas,” Serin declared.

Hoon nodded and said, “Well, we’ll leave early if that becomes an issue. Or just say it’s me.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “I mean… it could be you if you’ve got a hangover. I’ll be over in a bit.” They finished their phone call, and Hoon looked over at Jaehyun and Hyunsaeng.

“So she really is coming…” Hyunsaeng stated. “She’s going to be upset at me.”

Jaehyun nodded. “I’d leave, if I were you, hyung.”

“Yeah, but I’m way too drunk,” he complained.

“I can take you home,” Jaehyun offered. “I’m okay to drive. I didn’t really drink anything. Plus, you know, we live together.”

Hyunsaeng agreed, and the two quickly headed off. This left Hoon on his own in the living room. He mused about the power Serin apparently wielded over her brothers. He wondered about that. One small threat from her had them all scrambling to get away as quickly as possible. He’d have to dig that bit of information out of her.

He waited for what felt like forever for her to arrive. Considering that his mind felt blurry, the odd passage of time was to be expected. She wasn’t in pajamas, but she was wearing clothes suitable for both driving and sleeping. “Where’d everyone go?” she asked as she stood in front of him, one hand propped on her hip.

“They scattered when they found out you were coming,” Hoon explained.

“Typical,” she retorted, eyes dancing in amusement.

“How come they did that?” he questioned.

“I have… secrets. Dirt on all of them. They worry that I’ll tell Appa about their various… indiscretions.”

“And they don’t have dirt on you?” Hoon asked.

“They might. But it wouldn’t matter. I am… how should I put this. As the only daughter, I’m the golden child. So if I do something wrong, it’s easier to overlook. They, the sons, are supposed to follow the rules more closely. So when they slip up, they get punished. Especially Seunghyun and Hyunsaeng.”

“I didn’t know you were into blackmailing,” he deadpanned.

“Not into it, per se. As a child, I realized that telling on them when they did something to me didn’t help me any. They’d get in trouble, get mad at me, and then the cycle would continue. It worked much better when I kept the secret, used it against them, and they up to me to keep me from spilling. I couldn’t win fights against them, but I could make them be nice to me.”

Hoon eyed her warily, having previously been unaware of this part of her personality. She laughed at the look she was giving him. “Don’t worry. I don’t actively do this kind of thing anymore. The secrets I have now are the Really Big kind. And I wouldn’t tell. But they know that I know and are wary. This worked because they didn’t want me to witness something that I could potentially use against them. Essentially, I don’t actively blackmail them. They’re just afraid that I might.”

Hoon nodded, still slightly concerned. “You aren’t going to blackmail me or anything, right?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. It was the only way I could wield power over my brothers as a kid. You’re different. We’re a team. I want to work together and solve problems with you. Not coerce you into doing what I want you to do. Besides, if I were going to have done that, I’d have already done it.”

“Ahhh,” he acknowledged. “That’s true. You’ve never blackmailed me into anything. So I guess... we should go to bed now? I’m sleepy.”

She smiled at him and reached her hand out. He took it, and she helped him up. He put his arm around her shoulder, knowing he could use the extra support in his inebriation, and she led him to her former bedroom.