Present day, second week of September…

Won Woo woke up when the sound of his alarm began to go off on his nightstand alerting it was time to wake up for school. You’d think he’d groan and wish he could just stay in bed rather than go to school, but no… he was out of his bed in two seconds getting dressed as fast as he could. The sooner he could get out of the house without seeing his aunt, the better.  

The woman hardly woke up at this time, since Won Woo made it a routine to wake up before her… he’d get up an hour earlier than necessary. He’d eat breakfast on the way to school and maybe sleep at his desk until class started. It was better than to have his day already ruined by bumping heads with her so early in the morning.

Once he got dressed and brushed his teeth, he was out the door.

He tiredly walked down the street from his house, sighing as he tried to keep alert to his walking. He didn’t want to accidentally get hit by a car on his way to school, now did he? Just as he was thinking about that, a memory came to mind…

A year ago, second week of September…

Won Woo had just left his aunt’s house a few minutes ago, on his way to school. It was early as it was currently 7:05am this Monday morning. He had to admit he was still kind of tired since he started this ‘wake up before his aunt’ routine, but it was so much better now that he didn’t have to start his day with her drama.

He sighed to himself as he was nearing the end of the street, already wishing he was at school right now. They needed to invent teleportation pronto!

Just then, a rather nice silver car(Kia Optima) pulled up on the road next to him breaking him from his thoughts. The car slowed down to match Won Woo’s steps and he suddenly got nervous. Am I going to be kidnapped? He wondered if he should start running when suddenly the back right window rolled down and he was surprised to see the girl he met last Friday, Ji Min!

“Is that really you, Won Woo?” She asked, sticking her head out to get a better look. “Oh! It really is you!” She smiled before frowning as she noticed Won Woo had stopped walking but the car kept moving. “Stop the car!” She fell back inside to alert her older brother. Before her brother could ask anything, she jumped out of the car to greet Won Woo properly.

“It’s you?” Won Woo looked down at her, that bright expression on her face already seemed to be working on him as he felt calmer.

“Yes! Do you live here?” She looked down the street.

“Yeah… the second to last house down that street.” He pointed. “Do you live here?” He naturally asked back, looking confused since he remembered he walked her to her home last Friday… it was definitely not anywhere close to this neighborhood.

“No, but I wish I did!” She frowned. “It’d be cool to walk to school together, right?!” She then smiled excitedly. “Your neighborhood happens to be on the way to Pledis High from my brother’s house.” She said, looking over her shoulder to suddenly see said person getting out of the car and looked back at them with a curious expression.

“What’cha waiting for?” He asked. “He coming with or not?”

“I just barely greeted him, hold your horses!” Ji Min scolded him from her spot, making Won Woo hold back a laugh, she looked really cute doing that just now. “Sorry, my brother can be impatient sometimes. Would you like to meet him?” She asked, motioning for him to follow her to the car.

“Sure…” It wasn’t like he could say no now that he was following her. Usually he would just ignore situations like these and keep walking, but oddly enough it didn’t once cross his mind to do that when she’s around.

“This is the schoolmate I met on Friday, the one who walked me home. Won Woo.” Ji Min began to introduce the two to each other. “And of course you know now, this is my older brother, Jaehwan.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jaehwan smiled, giving a small wave. “I hope you can look after my little sister at school from now on?”

“Of course.” Won Woo nodded as if it was normal to agree to something like that.

“Great!” He smiled brightly, Won Woo could now see how the two were related. “You want a lift to school? You’re heading the same way, why not, right?”

“Yes, thank you.” Won Woo bowed, glad he offered, he was just too tired this morning to be walking!

He got into the back seat with her as Jaehwan got into the driver’s seat. Once Won Woo buckled his seatbelt, he looked up to notice there was another person in the passenger seat looking back at him with a curious expression.

“Oh jeez! I forgot you were in the car!” Ji Min giggled when she noticed Won Woo staring at her other older brother.

“Yah! How could you forget about me?!” He pouted at her. “I thought I was your favorite brother?!”

“Are not, I’m her favorite!” Jaehwan laughed, turning in his seat to look back at the confused Won Woo. “This is Hongbin, our least favorite brother.”

“Lies!” Hongbin chuckled. “Complete and total lies!”

“I love you both equally, there!” Ji Min exclaimed in her seat. “Now drop it! I don’t play favorites!” She added while crossing her arms with a grin.

“Whatever,” Hongbin scoffed, but in a joking manner, “it’s me, I’m her favorite.” He said quietly, looking to Won Woo. “Also, nice to meet you.”

Won Woo nodded, slightly bowing in his seat at him.

“This is Won Woo, and obviously we’ll be going to school together!” Ji Min said excitedly.

“Really?” Hongbin smiled. “Then I hope you can look after my little sister at sc-”

“Too late, I already said that.” Jaehwan interrupted him with a teasing grin. “Beat ya to it, but don’t worry, you can say it to the next friend, little bro!” He said, ruffling his brother’s perfectly straight hair into chaos.

“Stop!” Hongbin complained, shoving his brother’s hand away. “I have work in thirty minutes! Thanks a lot!” He rolled down the window to look into the car’s side mirror and began fixing his messy hair.

“Just ignore them, they’re always like this.” Ji Min said quietly to Won Woo who was watching them amused. He was an only child, so it was interesting to see the two brothers interacting with each other. And for a moment… he wished he had a sibling. Avoiding his aunt all the time left him up in his room, alone. He wondered what it would have been like to have a brother with him?

“Here.” He was snapped out of his thoughts when Ji Min handed him a small bag of fresh fruit. “Did you eat breakfast yet?” She asked.

“No… thanks.” He accepted the bag. He looked to the front where he saw her brothers snacking on some fruit, too, though Hongbin was feeding Jaehwan his with a fork since he was busy driving. “Uhm?”

“I was hoping I’d run into you when I got to the school, so I brought extra fruit.” Ji Min smiled happily at him.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth… she was so sweet… just like this fruit.

Just then, there was a shutter sound of a camera. When Won Woo looked to the front, he saw Hongbin looking back at them with a camera in hand, taking their picture.

“Hey! Don’t take someone’s picture without asking first!” Ji Min frowned, worried if Won Woo disliked that.

“Sorry, you two looked so cute just now… I needed to take a picture!” Hongbin smiled, looking at the LED screen. “I’m a photographer after all, it’s my job to capture memories like these!”

“Control yourself!” Ji Min pouted. “But can you frame that photo later?” She added with a smile.

Present day, second week of September…

After reminiscing that day a year ago, he notice Jaehwan’s car pull up next to him as he was walking. He stopped and turned to greet Hongbin who was in the passenger seat like always.

“Hey, want a lift?” He asked with a friendly smile. Hongbin’s work was also on the same path as Pledis High, so even after Ji Min left back to Busan, they still came through Won Woo’s neighborhood. They offered to keep giving him rides, but Won Woo declined a few times, just wanting time to himself. Of course they understood, so they’d ask every once in a while.

Won Woo looked to his right that was the path to school before looking back to Hongbin.

“Sure.” He sighed, getting into the back seat like he did a year ago. Once he was inside and buckled his seatbelt, he was handed a bag of fresh fruit by Jaehwan. For a second, his heart ached as he stared at the bag… memories of Ji Min sitting beside him happily eating the fruit played out in his mind…

“You okay?” Jaehwan frowned when Won Woo wasn’t taking the fruit.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Won Woo snapped out of it and took the fruit from him. When the car started to move again, he spoke up. “Hongbin-hyung…”

“Yes?” Hongbin looked back at him.

...

Ten minutes later, the three of them were in Hongbin’s studio. There was plenty of time for Won Woo to get to school, so he decided to visit his hyung’s studio after such a long time. He took the time to admire the recent work Hongbin had done, complimenting his skills with an impressed look. Then he came across a few photos he had of Ji Min. Of course he’d have them, she was his little sister after all, he had photos of their family around his studio from the beginning.

“Hyung?” Won Woo asked.

“Yes?” Hongbin replied, standing by him.

“Do you have that photo framed, the one you took on the day we first met?”

“Oh, that one?” He smiled, obviously knowing which photo he was talking about. “I do, it’s around here somewhere. Did you want it?”

“If you don’t mind?” Won Woo smiled. Even if it hurt to look back on the memories now and again, it seemed to be the only thing that kept him from breaking at times.

“Of course not, here.” Hongbin handed over the small frame with the photo inside. There it was, both Ji Min and Won Woo were looking at each other, she had her usual bright cheery smile on as he was actually smiling back at her.

“Thanks.” Won Woo took the frame from him to admire it a bit closer.

…

Later on, after getting dropped off by Jaehwan at school, Won Woo made it to his class with some time to spare. He sat at his desk and placed the framed photo from earlier in front of him before resting his head in his folded arms, staring at the photo.

“Hey, what’re you looking at?” his seatmate sat next to him. “Awww… I never knew there was a photo of you two like this!” Mingyu cooed as he leaned over to look at it closer. “When was this? Where did you get this?”

“It was taken a year ago from today. The day she transferred to our class last year. Her brother took it after I got in their car when they offered me a ride.”

“Wow, really? A year… seems just like yesterday, though.” Mingyu frowned. Then he started to get those depressing feelings looking back on all the memories. Won Woo wasn’t the only one who missed Ji Min, everyone missed her just as much!

“I know…” Won Woo sighed. “I still remember how excited she was to meet you and the others…” there was a faint smile on his face.

A year ago, second week of September…

It turned out Ji Min ended up in Won Woo’s class after all. She was completely ecstatic which had Won Woo’s friend holding in his laughter as he watched her rushing up to Won Woo.

“We’re classmates! I’m so happy!” She cheered before noticing Mingyu. “Hello there!” She waved

“Hello.” Mingyu gave a small wave back. “Who might you be?” He asked with an adoring smile, her energetic greeting was too cute.

“Lee Ji Min, but you can call me JiJi if you want!” She greeted.

“JiJi, how cute!” Mingyu grinned before getting nudged by Won Woo. “I’m Mingyu.” He introduced himself back. “So, how do you know my friend?” He then decided to ask.

“Ah, we met on Friday.” She answered. “It was raining and he was kind enough to let me stand under his umbrella with him. He also walked me home, too.” She ended with a bright smile. Her positivity seemed to be enough to keep Won Woo in a better mood this morning from what Mingyu could tell.

“That was nice of you, Won Woo!” Mingyu cooed, nudging his embarrassed friend.

“Yeah, whatever.” Won Woo mumbled out.

“Hey guys!” Suddenly their other friends showed up to class. “Oh, who’s this?!” Soonyoung asked, curious about the girl standing close to Won Woo. It was different seeing him standing next to a stranger looking comfortable.

“Won Woo’s new friend.” Mingyu answered for him. “Isn’t she adorable?” He added with a gushing tone.

“She is pretty cute!” Their friend Seokmin beamed. “You’re friends with Won Woo?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yes!” She nodded. “We met on Friday.” She explained.

“Really? Interesting…” Their shortest friend, Jihoon, spoke with an intrigued look.

“Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves.” Soonyoung smiled. “I’m Kwan Soonyoung, nice to meet you!”

“Hello, nice to meet you!” She smiled brightly. “I’m Lee Ji Min.”

Seokmin and Jihoon introduced themselves after before noticing they shared the same last name… Lee.

“You don’t think you’re related by any chance?” Mingyu asked curious.

“That’d be interesting!” Ji Min giggled. “But Lee is a common surname, so probably not.”

“Hey, what if we played a joke on the others?” Seokmin grinned widely.

“What kind of joke?” Soonyoung asked.

…

“Who’s this?” Won Woo’s senior friends asked as they joined them at the lunch table along with their junior friends.

“Everyone! Meet my long lost twin sister!” Seokmin explained with that huge smile of his.

“Hello!” Ji Min smiled that same smile and waved at them. Everyone at the table stared at the two, completely shocked at their similarities. They were actually believing this!

“No way! You have a twin sister?!” Their younger friend Chan asked with his eyes nearly bulging out.

“No.” Ji Min giggled at the boy’s expression. “He was kidding, I’m not his twin sister.”

“Are you sure? You two do kinda look alike…” One of the seniors named Jisoo asked looking quite interested.

“Separated at birth, maybe?” Another senior friend, Seungcheol, suggested.

“No.” Seokmin chuckled. “Seriously, it was just a joke.”

From there, she was introduced to everyone. Just like the second year’s reaction, the first and third years were slightly surprised to hear she befriended Won Woo first.

Present day, first week of September…

It was lunch time by now as Won Woo and his friends met up at their usual lunch table. His senior friends Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Jisoo and Junhui had already graduated this past spring. That just left Won Woo with Mingyu, Jihoon, Seokmin, Soonyoung and his now second year friends Minghao, Seungkwan, Hansol and the youngest of them all, Chan.

“Hey guys…” Won Woo got his younger friends’ attention. “There’s something I wanted you to see.” He said with a soft smile. That got his friends curious on what it could be.

“What is it, hyung?” Chan asked as Won Woo pulled out the frame photo from earlier.

“Oh my gosh, what is this?!” Seungkwan asked completely curious about the photo Won Woo was handing over. He could tell his hyung was in the picture, but there was another person in it, too…

“It’s Ji Min!” Minghao smiled as he and the other two crowded around Seungkwan.

“When was this taken?” Hansol asked, noticing the two in the picture looked a little younger to be taken recently.

“A year ago.” Won Woo answered.

“Really?” Seungkwan frowned. “A year ago…”

“So much has happened in just a year…” Chan said with a dejected expression. The four continued to look at the photo when suddenly… “Hyung? Why are you crying?” Chan said with a sad laugh as he patted Seungkwan on the back.

“Sorry!” He apologized. “It’s just…”

“Missing her?” Hansol patted him on the shoulder. “We all do… it’s okay.”

“I didn’t know it’d make you cry?” Won Woo chuckled, getting up to give his crying friend a back hug from behind. “I’m sorry, Kwannie.”

“No! It’s okay, hyung! I’m glad you showed us this picture!” Seungkwan assured him, wiping away his tears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry!”

“It’s okay.” Won Woo let go, patting him on the back with a sniffle of his own.

“Hyung?” Chan looked up with slight teary eyes. The atmosphere right now was just too sad as fond memories came up for all of them. All the good times they shared with Ji Min at the lunch table last year… Their senior friends were gone along with Ji Min, though their friends were still around… the table just seemed so empty now without them.

“It’s okay.” Won Woo managed to say with a shaky voice. “We’ll be okay.”

At his simple words, Seungkwan began to cry more, not able to help it. Chan and Hansol tried to calm him down as Won Woo tried his hardest not to let his own tears fall. Mingyu got up and made his way over to Won Woo, resting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Won Woo always tried to be strong… but today wasn’t one of those days as he turned and leaned into his friend’s shoulder, those tears finally falling down his face.

Chapter two!

Author-nim: *Trying not to cry…*

Huehuehuehue… poor Seungkwannie! I remember that video when he was just crying and crying when he got to see his mom before their debut….

Ji Min was a really special person to all of the SEVENTEEN members here… you’ll see as the story progresses hopefully so yes… it’s really hard on all of them with not having her around, just like Won Woo. Though it’s more difficult for Won Woo, obviously >< EUGH~!

So, I hope you all enjoyed, thanks for reading! ^^