I do not own the pic. This is an ABO piece; I might continue it in another update.
Their friendship has survived a lot of typical teenage drama, and especially now that the older guy, Heeseung, is such a famous idol, it was a miracle that none of the creepy, perverted, or psycho stalker fans ever really troubled Y/n and Heeseung's privacy whenever they met. Y/n was six months younger than him, and he presented as an omega while Heeseung was away shooting for I-land. It was a rough phase, the older one hyperstressed as the eldest of the newly formed group and his own still-stabilising alpha traits.
Well, as it turned out, Heeseung didn't change much; he was still texting back and calling y/n often, except when his schedule demanded a lot. He maintained a decent friendship. Y/n, on the other hand, shifted closer to his university, where he was doing a postgraduate course in economics with extra papers in media and aesthetics; he wanted to be in the entertainment industry too, just not a celebrity himself. Y/n looked at his hyung's condition and thought, no, not for me.
Life has been calm. Y/n expected some or the other kind of bullying at the university, but he has been all safe and thankfully had a friend group of respectful alphas and betas; there were fewer people with such eclectic course choices, so he was often running over the campus alone, his laptop swaying in the backpack with either half-eaten lunch or empty if all his friends had a bite. The only thing that troubled Y/n was his height; he wasn't too short, but he expected to be taller. His mom, a male omega, was almost 6ft and complemented his father, who was just a bit taller, even Y/n's younger brother was taller than him now.
There are times when his phone would ring in the middle of the class or maybe the night before some exam, and assuredly, it was Heeseung, who had just gotten free from some overstretched schedule and wanted to check up, after weeks, on his dear old friend. Y/n would sigh and get out of the class, as no class in university could really teach anything so drastically life-changing till it was his favourite ethics class, or he would grunt and curse as he got up and wrapped his shawl around him and got out of his bed to sit in the huge sofa chair in the balcony so he wouldn't fall asleep while talking.
'Did I call too randomly?' Heeseung's apologetic tone, 'No hyung, go on, how have you been?' Y/n's neutral and calm reply.
The calls would generally last between twenty and forty minutes and sometimes more than an hour, when either one of them had been going through one of their phases of utter dejection and lethargic attitude towards life as it is.
'I saw your stage; I am sorry I wasn't able to come for the live one, my classes tire me so much that it is impossible to be out there so early in the morning, but next time I promise, I will be there, holidays are coming up so, I will bear the cold for you hyung, you better treat me for that.' Y/n was in his bed, laptop open in front of him on a bedtable, phone held by the screen so the videocall could go on uninterrupted. Heeseung was in his van on his way back, talking softly as others slept beside him.
Heeseung smiled, a soft yet full-eyed smile, 'Sure, but are you not supposed to go meet Eommoni? Your dongsaeng's birthday is coming up at that time too; I would really like it if I got my portion of side dishes again.'
'Yeah, why not, but I am not going back, well, I guess so for now, hyung, they shifted so far out there for business, and I shifted here too, it is okay if I skip a few events, not to mention, all they will talk about is, oh you are going to be 24, why not date this or that alpha, you know Appa and his subtle ways.' Y/n replied as he got up to stop the electric cooker that had a one-pot meal dedicatedly arranged by him after a long day of term paper research.
'Still, don't you think they miss you too? I get messages from both your parents, often sending pictures of the old cat still wearing the sweater we knit together somehow. Also, y/n-ah, get back in front of the phone. I do video calls to look at you, not the wall with posters of my own group's members.' Heeseung sighed as he noticed the new addition of Jay and Jungwon's recent posters. Heeseung would like to declare that Y/n biasing people other than him did not make him worry at all. After all, they were childhood friends, and Y/n was one of the most romantically uninterested people he knew; as a matter of fact, Y/n rejected two to three good matches who proposed to him through the university common friend circles. Heeseung would like to be that good, but he is, unfortunately, no better than any other alpha. He just masks it all well and rarely says anything. He blames it on his understanding of Y/n and his need to look over the younger one as a close family member. Yes, that is all.
Y/n returned with a bowl of chicken curry and rice, his go-to, with a sunny-side-up egg decorating the rice. 'Yes, so, oh my, hyung, can you turn the camera a bit away? I am literally in others' view, what if they wake up, I look like shit right now, and Jay hyung is right there.'
'Stop it, will you? You look fine, and fine, I turned, okay? Now, so, are you really not going?' Heeseung asked in a softer, more serious tone, an expectant one. It shouldn't be this hard to lie to Y/n, hiding plans suck the joy out of them for him; he can't lie well enough in such situations, and he doesn't want to let go of the surprise either.
'Well, I will see, I will have to adjust my classwork and other stuff. Why are you so familial, hyung? You will end up making me feel bad, so why not join me, if you can? I must have someone on my team. I heard Jun's partner will be there too, imagine that brat, not even 22 and has a relationship, he's just so different from us, he even got in that architecture course Appa wanted him to join, total crazy stuff right there.' Y/n rambled on, taking big bites.
It was true that Junwan was the total opposite of Y/n; he never questioned the pre-selected path for him by his parents to take over the architectural design and curatorial firm. After he presented as an alpha, he kept it lowkey, tried to do all the heavy lifting for Y/n, even though the older hated that and mostly did all his work on his own, going as far as to join a gym and other classes in martial arts. Junwan liked Y/n and respected him, Y/n so to speak, tolerated the younger because he hated how clingy Junwan got as they grew up. They always slept in the same room, as both parents put business first. They weren't that well off in the beginning, so every project had to be over-the-top successful. The result was kids with a cook at max to help them. Cook was mostly replaced by one of their grandmothers to save money and look after the kids.
After Y/n left for his undergrad, Junwan automatically accepted his fate and just went on to do the best he could. A confident yet introverted guy, he did miss his hyung, but he couldn't really show it all properly; perhaps the elder's disapproval of his subservience to parents caused the rift, but recently, as he grew up, stayed away from home, and interacted with others in university failing miserably to hold up their own while trying to placate their parents, he realised that Y/n's rebellion was for his own good. It has been six years now since Y/n started living away, which might just have mended a bit of their relationship in recent years.
Heeseung was surprised but had to control and reply with a neutral tone, 'Y/n, I am sorry, you know my situation, so let's not even go there. I do not know when I will get free to even meet you in Seoul itself.'
Y/n replied, huffing and smiling, 'I know, I know, don't worry. Huh, I will see to it, my TA work is there too, you know, I must get that PhD seat, I cannot leave the damn uni without it, not to mention the internship at some entertainment company, ugh, I hate it all, but I do love the idea so here we are, hyung, I missed our talks you know.'
Heeseung again had to rein in his emotions and expressions at the sudden confession of longing; one video call had him doing this n-number of times, not that he had to, he missed his friend too, but he just couldn't let go of this need to be a bit discreet, just a bit, not to share the real scar, the rough burn deep within that all this tiresome, overstressed life has caused. 'I missed it too, sorry, I just, you know, it's hard, and to collect all the thoughts while being out always and'; 'Hyung, it is fine, you do not have to reason with me, I understand, completely.' And Y/n did; he has seen Heeseung go through so much to be here.
After a while, as they all reached the dorms, Y/n said his hellos and goodbyes to others, all flustered and mushy. Heeseung ended the call with a small wave and loud goodnights from behind him.
As the days went by and it snowed, Y/n got more and more frustrated with his acting supervisor and the other TA with whom he was sharing his classes, and it so happened that he did end up on that train taking him out of Seoul, to his parents' place, with a few gifts for everyone so that nobody can say he is ungrateful, not that anyone would; he is well loved, yet, his mind plays scenarios.
Junwan met him at the station, and for once, Y/n let him carry the luggage, in the car, as Y/n sat in the passenger seat and sighed. Junwan said softly, 'Can I say something, hyung?'
Y/n looked at him narrow-eyed, 'Go on.'
'I, uh, I missed you. Thank you for coming on my birthday. I know you are very busy, but I really appreciate it. And, I broke up recently, so Appa and Eomma both are a bit weird right now, as you know, I never share much with them and just follow around, but...' Junwan said, looking down and twisting the end of his sweater.
Y/n was surprised, but he replied immediately. 'I missed you too. Don't make a big deal out of it. I would rather have you hug me than start crying because of the breakup, because you must have thought it through, and why did you stop? Was the other person not good? Did you not feel anything anymore?'
Junwan laughed an airy laugh, one between a laugh and a sigh, 'Well, she was too good to be honest, at first I thought okay, well, this seems good, but then, I don't know, talks about future, family, settling, just because she's Eomma's friend's daughter, I didn't really say anything, but, hyung, I am... I do not want to be with her, she's too much into the houseplay, and I grew up with you, I hate people who limit themselves to just dream of having a partner and kids and going on with what has been established by the parents, I know you don't think of me as being that, but I have my limits too you know, and Lina, uh, she litreally just talked about what we will do when we settle down, or what to do with furnitures and designs, and I am like, I cannot be with you forever, I just dated her because she was itroduced by Eomma, I know this sounds selfish on my part but, hyung trust me, this year we dated, I just took her out to places her parents would 'allow' her to visit and just that, I was more of a cab driver, and I was so relieved she never tried anything physical and... Oh god, sorry, I just rambled so much, I just.'
Y/n was surprised. Junwan was finally proving himself to be human and not some robot assembled by their parents. He said calmly, 'Jun, calm down. I am not judging you. It is fine. I am actually proud of you for not getting dragged into such a hellish future. Also, who thinks of settling up while being 21? This is not the 1900s, what the fuck is wrong with people, seriously?'
'Right!? Oh god hyung, all her talks were just about a perfect married future. I know she's restricted by her parents, but I cannot be a saviour. I am sorry. I like my life as it is, and then I feel like she will find someone better, who is interested in all that, because she's already going out with another one of her parents' friends' child now, an alpha woman, so she wasn't really into it too.'
Y/n sighed. When will old people stop their shit? Well, 'Listen, let's go to some cafe first, I need coffee, and some good cakes, are you okay with that? I can drive if you want, just tell me the way.'
'Yes! Yes, sure, I can drive hyung, I will take you to this new cafe, well, it is old now, but you must not have been there since you just come home and never go out, so they have the best flavours, and it is owned by Yunho hyung, remember him? He was your sunbae; they have this really well-going business; they have a branch in Seoul and other places too. His parents helped him, but I am sure even they didn't expect this to go this well; they left for Japan permanently now, Jeongs and their money, uff, Appa told me he was ecstatic when they signed the deal with us for the designing of the branches.' Junwan, as usual, never stopped, as if he stored it all in to just share with Y/n, and Y/n usually listened with feigned ignorance, but this time, he let it go; his dongsaeng was really growing up.
'But wasn't Yunho hyung supposed to go away too? And don't tell me he is at this branch, I cannot face him, yk I had such a big crush on him right?'
'This is why we are going there, he is here, year-end, so, so he still lives in the old family home, not alone though, he has a few friends. And hyung, he's still as princely as he used to be, probably more, you will be the judge of it, I guess.' Junwan smiled wide driving smoothly.
'Yah! No! Let's go home, I look like shit, I cannot face him like this!' Y/n panicked. Yunho was his first real crush. It was unfortunate enough that they ended up in the same university, but now, after two years, he did not have the face to show the elder he had avoided at all costs on the campus till he graduated before Y/n. No, Y/n wasn't aware that Yunho was in the same university before him, let's believe that.
Before Y/n could unravel any more, Junwan had pulled into the parking of what looked like a huge hut from the outside, with two large windows on each floor overlooking the main road and to the sea beyond. Y/n looked into the pocket mirror he kept for emergencies, adjusted his long black coat, which he wore with a muffler to hide the comfy sweater inside, and smoothed the light waves in his ear-length hair. Applying a little lip balm, he glared as Junwan got out, smiling widely.
They went in, Y/n holding Junwan's left arm, as if for emotional support, and there, right at the counter with a manager name tag was Jeong Yunho, looking ethereal under the soft yellow hanging lights. Y/n had to control his upcoming blush, whispering a thanks to the scent patches. He was talking to a guy who was most probably out of the kitchen with flour all over his apron, with a name tag reading Jongho.
Junwan said a hi in his booming voice. Yunho turned to them and was surprised for a moment, caught off guard by Y/n's presence beside Junwan and didn't say anything, just eyebrows raised and mouth curved in a silent 'Oh?'. Then, as if the reality was settling again onto everyone, he said, smiling widely, 'Oh Hi!? This is a surprise, my dear hoobae, suddenly back here? Y/n, as cute as ever, please order first, you just reached here, right?'
Y/n ordered for both of them and paid as they sat near the window, 'Jun, you are a menace. Why did you do this?' Y/n whispered, sitting beside Junwan. 'Hyung, chill, it is not that big a deal, not that any of you are interested in anything, and just to be sure, Yunho hyung is going to come to the party too, and so will many other people we know, that is just how it is.'
'Why is he coming to your birthday!?' Y/n was trying not to speak loudly, which was getting harder by the minute. 'Well, it just happened that way, Eomma invited him, and we get most of our stuff delivered from him for these things, so we can't really avoid him, you know, and it will be fine, others will be there, everyone is so interested in meeting you, so you will have to go, through all that already.' Junwan replied, trying to calm Y/n, although his face had that knowing look, the curve of his lips into a half smile, something was definitely going on definately.
Y/n sighed and kept a straight face, adjusting himself to look outside. The roads were still mostly the same; nothing much changed in the last year he hadn't visited. It was easier when his parents lived closer to the capital region, but most of their friends shifted out, too, and they bought this house to be close to the new office they established, so things were going well, the fast and stable shift of normal families to a bit better off ones, which was the route of most of the relatives and friends of his parents. Sighs, Y/n missed a bit of the older naivety, though he knew it was all a facade, yet nostalgia seeps in often to shake it all up miserably. Junwan was so small, Heeseung used to live in front of his house, and all three of them used to walk to school together, then almost all the locality shifted to this place and Heeseung and Y/n made sure to go to the same school again, where they met Yunho and others too, to think of it all was to let oneself be deluded to be slipped away into a made up happy time.
Yunho was the one who brought over their order, all smiling and his older puppy self, adding extra stuff and sitting across them. 'A short break won't hurt anyone.' He winked, making Y/n huff bashfully, 'Hyung, do you usually sit with people like this? Is it really okay for you to sit like this with us?' Yunho laughed and replied, 'Calm down, Y/n, this is my cafe, I can do what I want, and it is not that crowded, just relax, and tell me how you have been, it has been a few years, the last time I saw you was at my graduation event, and now, hmm, you are still as cute as I remember.'
Y/n had to really pull himself together to not let Yunho's normal way of being a bit flirtatious affect him again after all this time, old habits die too hard it seems, 'I have been all the same hyung, I am going to start my research soon, so yeah, just that, nothing new, and I am sorry for not keeping in touch much, but I thought you weren't that much into that too so?'
Junwan choked on his coffee sip as Y/n added the last part so naturally, no wonder he wasn't much liked for his directness. Yunho, unfazed, replied, still smiling. 'Well, I guess, my fault there, here, take my number and give me yours now, I would like to be in touch with my talented hoobae.' Y/n didn't have it in him to reject such an offer on the face and just took Yunho's phone as he gave the elder his own, 'Oh, okay, thank you, but hyung, you know I rarely come here.' Y/n said, typing his number, saving it by his name, and he got his phone back from Yunho, who saved his own number under his name with a cupcake emoji. 'Don't worry, I am mostly doing up and down to the Seoul branch, I have a place there too, so we can meet there, if and when you get free.'
Before Y/n could make up any random reason for that not being possible, Junwan nudged him, trying to stop his older brother from outright rejecting such an offer, so he didn't say anything much, and after finishing their coffees and getting the cakes packed, they were back on the road.
'Hyung, you do not necessarily need to meet him or anything, you know how kind and over the top hospitable Yunho hyung has always been, he was just being himself, plus, I am sure he's not interested in you that way, nothing on you, just that we heard he had someone in Seoul, just let it go.' Junwan, typically, is trying to do damage control.
'Don't worry, I am fine, I am more worried about Heeseung hyung. I checked, and he hasn't replied to my texts from two days ago, and his schedule has been super packed.' Y/n was going through multiple social apps, checking Enhypen's updates.
Junwan tensed up a bit, but out of the other's sight and replied, 'I am sure he's busy. And he always replies to you, so he will be back; you should rather be worried about Eomma, he's very happy, and by that I mean that 'nothing should go wrong' happy, so be ready for some passive-aggressive stuff towards everyone, especially Appa.'
As they pulled into the garage, the slope of the road disappeared. Junwan got out and took out Y/n's luggage, and both went in through the inner gallery, coming up to the back side of the room. They quietly went to the hall, and there was their 'mother', sitting in a formal light blue shirt with trousers, glasses on, going through papers spread over the table, sofa, more like an office setting.
Y/n said softly, 'Eomma, shouldn't you be resting? It is Sunday.'
The tall man looked up, surprised, and calmly removed the glasses to get up and hug him, 'Nice to see you finally, and we have an important meeting coming up, so I am busy. I see you got luggage, good, Jun has shifted to a bigger room on the lower floor, so if you still want to use your room on the top floor, it's fine, or you can use any other one too. Go, rest, and if you are hungry, there's stuff in the fridge you can warm up. I was about to leave for the main office. Appa and I will return in the evening, no rurkus till then, both of you.'
After giving a few more instructions and expected subtle affection, he left, the garage door whirring as it shut off. Junwan helped Y/n's luggage to his old room, top floor, the other room beside him that used to be Junwan's, now turned into a guest bedroom. Y/n's room was still the same, with some 2nd gen Kpop posters, mainly SHINee and SISTAR, old books arranged neatly in the big bookshelf, everything frozen in past, he said to Junwan as he plopped into the bed, 'So, what should we do? Tell me, is it too big a celebration? Should I be worried about all the single talk, or will you take over it all because now you are single too?'
'I don't think it is a big party, just the usual people really, office and some aunts and uncles, yes, some random cousins might show up, but only if there's some prospect of their relationship arrangements, otherwise it is all lowkey, I mean as lowkey as we can get. Appa wanted much more, Eomma limited it because of the upcoming contract meetings, hyung, I have said it many times, but still, do not worry, you will be alright, I can assure you, nobody will bother you this time.' Junwan sat on the chair, going through his phone.
Y/ replied, looking at the ceiling, 'How can you be so sure? I have nobody to hang out with, and Yunho hyung is not exactly the company I would be looking forward to; I don't like how his presence alters my brain and responses, ugh, he's still so pretty, how is that possible? Jun-ah, he's an alpha, why so pretty and just perfect!?'
'Ew hyung, stop being this way, and you will see, the party will be smooth and alright, you can make your mind up till tomorrow, I will go, I have to meet some friends, you are on your own till evening most probably, and ajhumma will not be coming for a while too, so think about dinner, we will make something before the kings return all tired.' He got up and left before Y/n could respond.
So, what now, Y/n yawned and rolled over. After a warm shower, he got into his pyjamas and slept, a long, unbothered sleep, no calls from any professor or intern head, vacation, rest.
In the evening, he got up and went down to the kitchen to see Junwan dutifully cooking various things. Y/n sighed. It was nice to have a good brother; he took out an apron and helped Junwan. They ate in after a while when their parents returned, the dinner talk being much better than what Y/n expected. Did he make all the angst up inside his head all these years, or did his parents genuinely change for the better? There's no way to know. Junwan says it was never that bad, though.
Late at night, Junwan and Y/n sneaked out to walk in the cold, biting night. Y/n was surprised again when Junwan, of all the people, offered him a cigarette, 'Really!? You, the perfect guy!?', 'Oh, c'mon, hyung, we are adults.' Both of them roamed around smoking and having random talks, discussing everything and nothing. This was new for Y/n; he didn't protest. 'You have changed, you always rambled, but now, you talk like me more. Did the relationship change you this much, or did something else happen?'
Junwan replied thoughtfully, 'Seriously, I do not have any idea. I just felt like not caring too much anymore. You are away, and I am most probably going to apply for European grants, so I do not want them to depend too much on this idea of having me here forever. I will come back, of course, through my trips I have realised I like it better here, but I will not be playing the best son role anymore, I get tired easily now of their weird expectations.'
Y/n hummed in response, so the child had some backbone. It was nice to hear his younger brother talk like a real adult for the first time. Y/n gave him all the respect he himself rarely got while growing up and struggled to be taken seriously.
The next day, through the nervous preparations, they reached the venue early. Y/n was anxious, wearing a peach dress shirt, black trousers and a simple silver pendant, watch and two rings, one in each hand. He felt pretty, but very much irritated by all the fake laughs and small talk; surprisingly, Yunho was the least of his worries. He accompanied him through the event and kept the talks going.
After the cake was cut, Y/n was sitting near the stage area when someone sat beside him, and he said without looking, 'That seat is taken and...' But the scent hit him, and he turned immediately, it was Heeseung, in a simple black coat and white shirt, looking absolutely the best in his eyes, Y/n lunged onto him, hugging him tightly and whispering 'I will throw you into Han river hyung, you are such a tease and sappy person.'
Heeseung grunted under the force of Y/n's body, but sighed and hugged him back and whispered, 'Junwan knew, I thought he would have told you, but sorry if I hurt you, I deliberately didn't reply to texts.'
Y/n sat back on his seat, glaring, 'How did you even manage to come here without leaks and all? Also, why the surprise?'
Heeseung adjusted his coat and took a sip of the drink he had put on the table and replied, 'Just wanted to do so, and it's a private trip, so no schedule.'
Before both of them could settle into a common talk, Yunho came and sat beside Y/n, greeting Heeseung cheerfully, though Heeseung, on the other hand, was a bit tense. Yunho said, wrapping an arm around Y/n's shoulder, 'I have been accompanying him through the night, my dear hoobae and unofficial date for the evening.' Y/n tried to control his flustered blush but failed miserably, and Heeseung rolled his eyes, 'Sunbae, I thought your family shifted to Japan.' Yunho sat a bit too comfortably near Y/n and replied, drinking his champagne, 'Yes, my parents did, I stayed, I find it better here, plus my business is pretty settled, which reminds me, Y/n-ah, come to the cafe tomorrow, I got a special thing made for you to try, out of the menu item.'
Y/n just nodded with a soft okay. After the event, throughout which Y/n felt weird tension brimming between his two hyungs, he ended up in a car with Heeseung, driving him back home. The guest room was already set by Junwan for him; this is why he was so nonchalant about Y/n's stress over the party.
Rather than sleeping, both of them ended up sitting and talking, and in their pyjamas, Y/n had to clear things out. 'Hyung, why were you side-eyeing Yunho sunbae?'
They were in Y/n's room rather than the guest room. In the lamp light, Heeseung looked softer, less glaring; perhaps it was just the afterparty and schedules' tiredness. They were side by side, backs to bedrest, legs under the soft blanket. 'He has had an eye on you for so long, I don't know how you cannot see it, and I just felt a bit icky how close he acted to you, even though he was meeting you after years properly. Call it gut feeling.' Heeseung sighed. He knew it was a bit irrational; maybe he was just too tired to think, as of now, to form a coherent idea for the reply.
'Hyung, don't worry, sunbae is way out of my league, and you know me, I am booked and busy with my life as it is, cannot have anyone wasting my time, especially an alpha.' Y/n replied, yawning, 'Now, for how long have you taken this vacation for after years?'
'A week, if possible, that's it, I will have to go back for the year-end and the New Year shows, so yeah, would you like to be with me till then? I will understand if you didn't plan, my mistake for the surprise.' Heeseung said, expecting the worst.
'I am free, I have taken leave, a proper one this time, so, yes, let's just rest and be, been so long.'
Heeseung said softly, looking down and trying not to sound too desperate, 'Can we then rest here? I mean, can I be here too? Or do you want to be alone for the time being?'
Y/n lay down, stretching and grunting and sighed, 'Oh, don't be so formal, hyung, just lie down, you are the only one allowed.'
