Chapter 76

76

"Huh?"

Seohojin, with a toothbrush in his mouth, opened his eyes wide. The suddenly formed 'housewarming expedition team' had finally arrived at my doorstep.

I kept asking several times, "Why are you so curious about my house?" while driving the van, but the members only smiled awkwardly and refused to give up.

"What's up, bro. Why suddenly…."

"Long time no see."

Seohojin, seeing only me through the slightly open door, frowned.

He opened the door wide as if inviting us in, but when he saw the group of soldiers trailing behind me, question marks appeared on his face.

"Hello!"

The members, grinning and bowing politely, made Seohojin roll his eyes. I sighed in resignation.

"It ended up like this."

"……??"

"Wow! Amazing! You two look a bit alike."

Jeongdajun was surprised and stared at Seohojin's face. I sighed deeply, feeling utterly defeated, and pushed Seohojin aside to lead the members into the house.

Seohojin, still not understanding the situation, was fumbling with his toothbrush as the members circled around him.

"Oh, now that I look closely, you are Ho Yun's brother."

"A bit more gentle-looking?"

"Ugh, what… (What is this…)"

"Seohojin, go to the bathroom."

"Uh."

After rescuing Seohojin, who had suddenly become the center of attention, I pushed him into the bathroom. A moment later, he seemed to have regained his composure and came out looking less dazed.

"Hello! I'm sorry for the sudden visit."

"No, no, it's fine."

Seohojin waved his hand. He glanced at me with a look of disbelief.

What. Why. What.

Seohojin turned his gaze away and cleared his throat.

"So… these are your members, right?"

"Yep! I'm Kang Iche. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Seung Jiwan."

"I'm Kim Seonghyun."

"I'm Jeong Dajun!"

They all smiled broadly and shamelessly finished introducing themselves. Seohojin received the greetings in a daze.

"Seo… Hojin. I'm Ho Yun's brother."

"Oh, so you have the same name!"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three… Oh."

Seohojin closed his mouth as a barrage of questions came at him.

Twenty-three, right. I'm the same age as him, but I look ten years younger. Everyone noticed the oddity and tilted their heads in confusion. I stepped in to clarify.

"I was born in January, he was born in December."

"Wow, really?"

"But you call him 'bro'?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm the older one."

Luckily, our birthdays are far apart. As soon as the members entered the living room, they sprawled out on the sofa. Seohojin, after checking on the members, headed towards the kitchen.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Ah, yes!"

It was quite a chaotic scene. They all found their own spots and settled in.

"What's up? Why does Ho Yun's brother look so gentle?"

"No way. His brother is Seo Hoyun… How could he be normal?"

"Maybe because the older brother is like that, the younger one is gentle."

"Didn't you say he was soft-hearted earlier?"

"Did you really believe that?"

'These guys…'

Seohojin roughly laid out some juice and sat down.

"Thank you!"

"Um, yes."

While drinking the juice, the members continued to observe Seohojin. I sighed, thinking, 'There's nothing special to see in my house.' When I saw the last member finish their juice, I stood up.

"Are you done?"

"Huh? Yeah."

"Then let's go now."

"Uh?!"

Don't be so troublesome. I need to rest a bit since I came home. But Jeong Dajun resisted desperately.

"No way! I want to see more! I want to talk more with your brother!"

"Get out before I get angry."

"You're already glaring at us with your eyes!"

"Seohojin, we're the same age, can we speak informally?"

"Huh? Oh, sure?"

While I was dealing with Jeong Dajun, Seung Jiwan quickly engaged Seohojin. Seohojin, who was suddenly speaking informally with Seung Jiwan, only rolled his eyes.

"Are you a college student?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"What's your major?"

"I'm in Political Science and International Relations."

"Your brother must be smart, right? Wow, that's the university's hoodie!"

Jeong Dajun, spotting the hoodie in the corner, had his eyes widen. For reference, Seohojin and I are alumni of the same university. Despite the ten-year age gap, he used to tease me for being a fossil, but I would hit him back.

"Yeah. I'm in the same major as my brother… Ouch!"

"Seohojin."

I punched the center of Seohojin's head. He looked at me with a pained expression and grumbled.

"You're so temperamental…."

"Are you upset? If you were upset, you shouldn't have set up this game."

Ding!

[What's wrong with me!]

You be quiet.

"Bro, you're still the same at home?"

"Huh?"

Kang Iche looked at Seohojin with a slightly pitying expression. Seohojin, looking aggrieved, glanced at Kang Iche.

"Are the members always tormenting you?"

"How did you know?"

"Wow, you're like that everywhere."

Meeting a fellow sufferer, Seohojin started to share some unasked-for TMI.

"They always ask me to turn off the lights, and staying up all night is a given."

"Wow, that's true. And when I eat instant food, they nag a lot."

"They tell me not to do dangerous things, but they do them without a word!"

"Right! Right!"

The conversation suddenly took off. I wanted to see how far it would go, but in our living room, a 'Seo Hoyun Backtalk (Fronttalk) Competition' was unfolding.

It was quite a spectacle.

Every time Seohojin said something, the members would vent their frustrations.

"He's a complete dictator! He acts without saying anything!"

"Agreed! Agreed!!"

"But he scolds me!"

"That's right!! He's so inconsistent!!"

"Are you here to talk about my back?"

I muttered, bewildered. Even Seohojin, who usually kept to himself, seemed to catch fire and started chatting enthusiastically. His eyes met the members' gazes.

'Hey, you too?'

'Yeah, me too.'

In the end, Seohojin and the members shook hands warmly.

"You've really been through a lot…."

"No, Seohojin has been through this for 23 years…."

"It's been a long time…."

"Ugh…."

I clicked my tongue and stood up, and Seohojin looked at me with wide eyes.

"Cigarette?"

"I quit a long time ago."

"…That old cigarette?"

Seohojin was shocked. The members watched with interest, thinking something funny was about to happen, but I just closed my mouth and decided to raid the fridge.

I dug through the freezer and pulled out some ice cream.

Unfortunately, there was no BabamO. No sense of humor.

"Ah, so you two lived together? Did you live alone?"

"Huh?"

"Are your parents in the countryside?"

I was walking back with a few more strawberry ice creams when the atmosphere seemed to be that of old friends who had known each other for ten years. The question made me stop in my tracks.

'Oh, I didn't tell them.'

Seohojin glanced at me, and I slipped an ice cream into the back of his neck. He let out a scream, which I ignored.

"Our parents both passed away."

"…What?"

"Car accident."

It's been so long that I answered calmly, sitting on the sofa and eating the ice cream. The atmosphere turned cold.

The members' faces were indescribable. Jeong Dajun bowed his head, not knowing what to do.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's fine. It happened a long time ago…."

Seohojin quickly waved his hand and nudged me.

"You still haven't told them?"

"I forgot."

"…It's confusing to hear it suddenly."

"Seohojin, when did you become so considerate?"

"Your sarcasm is really annoying… If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be like this."

"What? What did you say?"

"…You're really handsome."

We often bicker, but the members' heads were clouded with dark thoughts. I threw an ice cream at them and said,

"Hey, cheer up. Did you commit a serious crime?"

"…I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

Seung Jiwan's gaze swept over my left arm. He must be looking at the scar.

Right. That car accident, the one that took my parents.

Seung Jiwan's face turned pale, and he stammered, asking cautiously,

"Is it okay for you to drive?"

"You guys, I drove the van to bring you here, didn't I?"

"…That's true?"

"You guys kept nagging, so I came."

"…You came here yourself?"

Driving is fine. I've been fine for a long time. Probably. Seohojin looked at me with a strange expression and scratched his head.

"It's fine for us. It's been so long that I don't even remember. Um… and since you've come all this way…."

Seohojin glanced at me and then suddenly smiled warmly at the members.

"Do you need anything?"

"Me!"

Kang Iche raised his hand, trying to lighten the mood.

"Tell us about Ho Yun's first love!"

"Ooh!"

"I want to hear it."

Laughter erupted among the members.

Are you a middle schooler teasing a new intern?

But the funniest part was that Seohojin, after falling into deep thought, was carefully choosing his words.

"First love… I don't really need to know, but… I was somewhat popular in high school. A lot of people asked me if I was Seo Hoyun's brother."

"Ooh~"

"But once my personality was known, it all ended…."

"Ah, as expected~"

They were repulsed.

"Hey, stop it."

This made the members even more excited.

"Then I want to hear about your past."

"Has Ho Yun ever been dumped?"

"From what I know… I don't think he ever confessed first?"

He probably did.

"Wow! What bad luck!"

"But he's been dumped a lot."

"Ha ha, why?"

"What kind of obvious question is that?"

"Ah, so it's because of his personality…."

"Hey, where can you find someone as nice as me?"

"Where did you throw your conscience?"

Seohojin, looking around, hit his forehead. Despite his aggrieved expression, he still answered the members' questions.

When he talked about the time I came home with a swollen face from a slap, everyone burst out laughing.

Clearly, they came to hear my past out of spite.

***

"I'm staying the night!"

"You won't listen even if I say no, right?"

"How did you know~."

In the end, the members decided to stay the night and showed no signs of leaving. Seohojin's stories must have been that entertaining.

After spilling all my past, I gave up and went out to buy some candy, lacking energy.

When I came back, the backtalk party was still going on.

"Aren't you tired? Let's sleep, please."

"Ah, dorm supervisor, it's so fun~!"

"Bro! Seohojin, give me your number. I want to talk more later."

"Sure, Iche… If life gets tough, call me. I'll tell you a lot of funny stories."

"Me too."

They grumbled but eventually lay down to sleep.

They must be young, so they're full of energy. After giving each member a good night's punch, they finally shut up.

'I feel like I have five kids.'

I'm so tired, I might pass out.

Since there weren't enough spots in the living room, I brought Jeong Dajun to my room. He lay down and spoke softly.

"Bro."

"Go to sleep."

"Ah, bro."

"What is it…."

"Ha ha. Are you already tired?"

What do you mean 'already'? You need to sleep if you have to work tomorrow. Jeong Dajun's laughter filled the dark room.

"Today was really fun. Seohojin is funny."

"Is he…."

I was about to close my eyes when Jeong Dajun kept chattering.

"Seohojin said it was rare for you to bring someone home, so he was surprised."

"…."

"He said it seems like you trust the members."

Seohojin said that? Come to think of it, I haven't brought anyone home since my parents passed away.

'Questions like 'Where are your parents?' always came up, and I didn't want to see Seohojin crying in the corner after I calmly answered.'

"I've always felt guilty towards you… We trust you, but it seemed like you didn't trust us. Especially me."

"…Why you?"

"I'm the least impressive, right? I can't compose like Iche, I don't have strong beliefs like Seonghyun, and I can't sing like Jiwan."

Jeong Dajun surprised me with his unexpected words. I always thought he was just a cheerful guy, but I never knew he had these thoughts. He continued after I closed my mouth.

"So I thought I wouldn't be able to help Ho Yun in any way. I wanted to be a useful member, but I felt anxious because I couldn't."

"…."

"But after hearing that today, I felt relieved. It seemed like