Sanghyuk was in the passenger seat of Wonshik’s rusty old car. Wonshik’s car was his pride and joy, he had worked years in a dingy old motor shop slaving away at a part time job that he barely even enjoyed. However he put up with the shop owners constant ordering him about because in the end it meant he would get a huge discount on a really good car. That and the fact that it would look good on college applications that he actually had experience in other work fields. Wonshik was an artist, and this was the main topic of conversation during the 30 minute drive. Sanghyuk was interested in Wonshik’s artwork. He mostly painted canvases but really wanted to try out sculpting, but for that he’d need to get a scholarship to go to an art school.

“You’ve inspired me” Sanghyuk blurted out to him. Wonshik laughed, in all honesty he was flattered and a little flustered.

“What are you talking about?” he said as his ears turned a bright red.

“Hyung…” Sanghyuk started, “you’re so old, but you’re still pursuing your dream, that’s really admirable” Sanghyuk said with a straight face.

“Other people your age would’ve given up, but not you hyung, that’s why you’re my inspiration” a grin started to form on his lips. Wonshik’s smile dropped as he mentally questioned what kind of a new brother he had.

“I’m not that old! I’m like two years older than you!” he exclaimed. Sanghyuk started laughing at his own stupid joke, whilst Wonshik tried really hard to concentrate on the road instead of going to pull Sanghyuk’s ear and punishing him.

Sanghyuk’s mother’s house was just as he remembered. The garden which he had spent so much of his youth playing in was full of a variety of flowers; all in different shapes, sizes, and colours. They were arranged haphazardly but seemed to fit so perfectly all the same. The garden was his mother’s pride and joy. Sanghyuk stood outside the wooden gate with the evening sun shining on his face. He reminisced about a younger Sanghyuk running in the garden with no cares in the world. He would then fall over and his mother would run over to him with her floppy hat and too-big gardening gloves worrying about her child and his grazed knee. Truthfully he missed that side of her; he didn’t like it when she would constantly argue with his father though. It didn’t matter to him that they weren’t together he just really wanted them to be happy and not be full of resentment towards the other.

Wonshik locked his car door and went over to Sanghyuk and put his arm around his shoulder to comfort him. He knew how uncomfortable it must be to meet people you haven’t seen in a long time.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I’m not sure…” He trailed off as he started having doubts about the whole idea. His mind was full of thoughts and questions yet again.

“It’s okay Sanghyuk, it’s only natural to be nervous” Wonshik said whilst patting Sanghyuk’s back. Wonshik led Sanghyuk through the garden and towards the wooden front door. He took his keys out of his pocket and opened the door and looked behind to give Sanghyuk a reassuring nod.

“Your dad won’t be arriving for a few days, oh! And we have some visitors staying over too but you won’t be seeing them until tomorrow probably” Wonshik said entering the house. Sanghyuk followed him in.

“What about your dad?” Sanghyuk asked, curious about how this whole situation was supposed to work out.

“He lives close by, he’ll visit from time to time” Wonshik answered. “Okay! You sit down and I’ll put your rucksack in your room” he ordered. As Wonshik was walking away, Sanghyuk swore he heard him muttering something about how ‘fcking stupid it is that he only has a rucksack’. Sanghyuk ignored that last comment and took a seat on the sofa, taking in his surroundings. His mother had obviously redecorated after the divorce. It was as if she had projected her personality into her home. The interior design was warm yet elegant, using a soft rug to tie the room together.

As he sat waiting, he heard a loud noise coming from another room. He got up to see what had happened and walked into the kitchen where he found his mother crouched at the floor picking up the vegetables that had fallen onto the floor and out of the paper bag. He knelt down and began helping her pick the fallen vegetables and putting them back into the bag. She looked up at him, wondering who it was that was helping her.

“Hyuk-ah!” she exclaimed, dropping the onions she was holding in her hands and pulling him in for a tight hug.

“You’ve grown up so fast!” she cried, as he lifted his arms and hugged her back.

“I missed you so much mum” he whispered.

She pulled out of the hug, wanted to take a look at Sanghyuk’s face and study it.

“I missed you too Hyuk-ah, so much” she replied, wiping away the hot tears flowing down her cheeks before going to hug him once more.

Sanghyuk helped his mother put the rest of the fallen vegetables away. His mother took his hand and led him back into the living room, seating him back onto the sofa.

“I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be here for you, I tried so hard to fight for you” Tears began flowing down her cheeks once more. Sanghyuk’s heart ached at the sight of his mother crying. He let go of her hand and wiped away her tears.

“I know mum” he replied, pulling her into a hug for the third time that day.

His mother was exactly the same as he remembered. She had aged slightly, grey hairs appearing at the top of her head and a few wrinkles creasing her face. He let go of the hug and changed his position to sit cross-legged to face her.

“Don’t be sad, I’ve come to see you after so long! This has to be happy!” he said, almost ordering her. She laughed at this, wiping away her remaining tears.

“Okay son, but you must be hungry after travelling for so long, tell me what you’d like to eat”

Wonshik had entered the room and upon hearing this made a suggestion.

“How about we all go out to eat today?”

Sanghyuk’s mother disagreed, it wasn’t right for her to leave her guests unattended, even if they were resting from their long journey. She ushered the two brothers out of the house, urging to use this time as bonding time and that it was okay because she had a whole two months to catch up with her son.

Wonshik took Sanghyuk out for a feast, Sanghyuk had never eaten so much in his life. He had been a little suspicious of the shabby little restaurant at first and questioned his new brother’s taste. However, once he had set foot inside and smelled the irresistible smell of freshly cooked food, his rumbling stomach had decided otherwise. The restaurant itself was a cluttered place, but it was exceptionally clean and well kept. He made a note to remember this place. The portions were huge and the man behind the counter one of the kindest souls you ever met.

Wonshik seemed to be close to him and spoke to him like they had known each other their entire lives. He was a young man and had his long, dark hair tied up in a neat bun. He was utterly beautiful and so effortlessly graceful. He had a modest expression that would make anyone swoon and fall for him immediately. Sanghyuk found himself taking sly glances at the man’s toned muscles. He liked how his shirt fitted him just perfectly, too perfectly.Sanghyuk stared at the man’s biceps in sheer awe.

Wonshik had noticed and chuckled to himself.

“What?” Sanghyuk asked innocently.

“Nothing” Wonshik smiled. “I was like that too when I first him”

Sanghyuk feigned confusion.

“What are you talking about hyung?” he asked, trying to keep up his innocent appearance and not give away the dirty thoughts that had entered his mind.

“It’s called the Leo-Effect” Wonshik replied “admit it, you’re attracted to him” he smirked knowingly.

Sanghyuk was caught out.

“Sorry hyung, I’m afraid my affections have been taken by someone else” he said remembering Sara. He wasn’t going to give himself away.

“Oh, really?” asked Wonshik.

Sanghyuk nodded.

“I’ll tell you all about it, if she decides to call me” he said, reaching out and patting Wonshik’s shoulder.

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be physically attracted to someone else!” Wonshik retorted, determined to make Sanghyuk confess.

“Not really!” Sanghyuk defended himself. “So what was his name again?” he asked, earning a flick on the forehead from Wonshik.

“It’s Leo” a soft voice replied. Sanghyuk looked up to see the owner of the voice. He blushed, having figured out that the owner of the voice was none other than Leo himself. Leo put down plates of food he was holding onto the table. Sanghyuk was in shock, wondering just how much of their conversation Leo had heard and so Wonshik replied for him.

“Let me introduce you to my new brother, this is Sanghyuk” Wonshik was visibly happy by Sanghyuk’s reaction and was ready to mock him later on for it. Leo smiled shyly at Sanghyuk.

“It’s nice to meet you Sanghyuk” he said in that soft voice of his and went back to work. Sanghyuk ate to his heart’s content, happy that Wonshik had introduced him to such a wonderful restaurant. When they had finished up, Leo came out from the kitchen to take their plates.

“Wonshik” he started hesitantly “I have a game next week, do you want to come?” He said waiting for Wonshik’s reply

“You can bring your brother along too” he quickly added. Wonshik agreed.

“Just text me the details” he said, knowing that there must have been a reason for Leo to invite them both. Wonshik knew that Leo played football ever since they met, but in all the years that they had been friends, Leo had never invited him to a game. Wonshik wondered if it was something to do with Sanghyuk. They both returned home and Sanghyuk was extremely tired from all the travelling he had done. Not to mention the rollercoaster his emotions had been through over the past 24 hours. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, not even noticing his surroundings.

The next morning, Sanghyuk woke up in an unfamiliar room. He was confused about his whereabouts, the mint green room seemed awfully familiar but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. It was only until he heard his mother calling for him that he remembered. He was home.

His old room hadn’t changed much, the only difference was a much larger bed, none of those silly posters from when he was a child were up and a brand new desk was in one corner of the room.

“Sanghyuk!” his mother called him once again.

“I’m coming!” he yelled back. He found his rucksack slumped up against a wall and rummaged through it looking for something decent to wear. Once he was ready for the day, he made his way downstairs only to find four pairs of familiar eyes staring at him.

“Taekwoon-sshi!” he exclaimed.

Sanghyuk hadn’t expected to see the old man for quite some time. Taekwoon was sitting with the lady and her two children from earlier on in the coach. Her son seemed to be just fine now, happily munching on an apple piece.

“Sanghyuk-ah?” the elder questioned back.

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I feel like I took too long too update bUT this is the longest chapter i've written so hopefully that makes up for it.

A.