Aaaaaaaaaand a part 2
Gaeul spun at the sound of the bells on the door to greet whoever had entered before running behind the counter to frantically make coffees and serve slices of baked goods. She and Sanghyuk’s parents had owned the cafe their entire lives, and had left it to Gaeul when they passed away.
“You work too hard.” A familiar voice reached her ears, making her spin on her heel with a grin. “Why can’t you take the day off?”
“What are you doing here?” Gaeul could barely contain her excitement, completely ignoring his question.
Jaehwan pointed to the door as Sanghyuk walked in and up to the counter beside his friend. “Sanghyukkie, is everything okay? Do you need something?”
“Yeah, uh,” Sanghyuk rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from his sister. “I got some... stuff to do...”
“He means Hongbin and Jasper.” Jaehwan nodded and Sanghyuk groaned loudly.
“Gross, I don’t want to know, what does this have to do with me?” Gaeul asked, balancing carriers of cups and stacked plates of treats on top of each other.
Jaehwan quickly reached out to catch the falling stack, holding it happily as she continued what she was doing, completely oblivious to the fact. “Can you just keep him here with you? I’m sorry to ask you to play babysitter at work, but-“
“Sanghyukkie,” Gaeul sighed heavily through her nose. “Of course he can stay here. I actually enjoy his company. It’s not babysitting to me. You can go, it’s fine.”
Sanghyuk gawked at his sister for several moments before a voice brought him out of his trance like state. “Uh, What should I do with these?” Jaehwan held up the stack of treats he had saved and Gaeul looked between it and the coffees several times before bursting into laughter, causing him to do the same. While they were laughing, Sanghyuk shook his head and made his way out the door and down the street to their house.
Jaehwan diligently followed Gaeul, helping distribute the coffees and treats to their appropriate tables. When they finished, Gaeul stepped behind the counter and exhaled. “I like having you around. I finish my work faster.” Jaehwan stopped before the counter, staring at the empty space as though a wall separated them. Gaeul rolled her eyes with a smile. “Oppa, you’re allowed to come back here, you know.”
His eyes seemed to light up as he quickly made his way behind the counter to stand next to her. “Why do you have to work today?” He whined suddenly, causing her to giggle. “We could go to my house and play games!”
Gaeul glanced around the now empty shop and sighed dramatically. “Alright, you got me. I’ll close, but just for today.” She poked a finger into his chest with a playful smile before walking to lock the door. The lock clicked into place and just as she pulled the blind down, she felt a pair of warm, strong arms wrap around her.
She spun in place, facing Jaehwan’s chest and looking up at the soft smile on his face. “You do look really pretty right now.” His smile grew just a bit, as did Gaeul’s, as he leaned down to press his lips to hers, gently, yet firmly.
She buried her face in his chest, giggling like a child. “You’re so adorable.” She managed through giggles, before wrapping her arms around him in return and inhaling his scent deeply.
“So when does Hyukkie find out about everything?” Jaehwan questioned, pressing small kisses to the top of her head.
Gaeul groaned. “If we tell Sanghyukkie he may not take it very well.”
“But Jagi,” He whined, “He’ll find out eventually anyway, won’t he?”
Gaeul thought for a moment before sighing dramatically. “Okay, okay.” She smiled up at him as he pressed his lips to her forehead. “I guess if he finds out, he finds out.”
Jaehwan grinned, ghosting his fingers up her sides. She squirmed in place with a squeak, only causing his smile to grow. “Jagi, you’re ticklish?” He leaned down toward her face, causing a light dusting of pink to spread through her cheeks.
Gaeul looked down, hiding her face in Jaehwan’s chest. She felt the rumbles of his deep, throaty laughter and sighed contently. “Please don’t tell Sanghyukkie that at least.”
“Why?” He placed a hand under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. “It’s cute.” He grinned.
“It hurts when he does it though.” Gaeul pouted in response. “It’s nice when it’s light, but Baby Brother digs his fingers into my ribs.”
Jaehwan just chuckled. “Okay, Baby. I won’t tell him.” She smiled, clearly relieved, and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. “But I’m sending him that photo of us by the river last week.”
Gaeul groaned in defeat, turning away from Jaehwan’s arms and trudging toward the counter in the back to turn off the machines. He followed closely behind her with a big grin, typing away on his phone.
<i>Ding!, Ding!, Ding!</i> Gaeul looked at her phone, unamused. Three texts from the same person, all in succession. Sanghyuk. She picked it up and unlocked it, reading his texts. She couldn’t help the little giggle that bubbled up in her throat.
<b>NOONA., That photo is fake right?? YOU’RE STILL AT THE CAFE RIGHT???, NOONA? NOOOOOOOOOOO!</b>
“What did he say?” Jaehwan asked, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
“Well,” She giggled, “I don’t think he’s very happy, but,” Gaeul thought for a moment before nodding. “He’s a big boy now. He’ll get over it.”
He smiled as he pressed gentle kisses to the top of her head. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a loud pounding on the front door rang out. The two looked at each other before Gaeul slowly made her way to the front, Jaehwan never more than a step behind her. The pounding sounded again, this time with a voice accompanying it.
“NOONA ARE YOU IN THERE?” Gaeul groaned, unlocking the door to let her brother in. Sanghyuk burst through the door, out of breath.
“Sanghyukkie, how did you even get here so fast?” She asked, incredulously.
“I ran.” He managed between breaths. “Hyung, can you get me some water?”
Gaeul rubbed her brothers sweat soaked back and he bent forward, hands on his knees, panting uncontrollably. Jaehwan approached them with a glass of water which Sanghyuk eagerly took.
When the boy had caught his breath, he looked to his sister and his friend, completely deadpan. “Remember when I said this was not what I wanted?”
Gaeul sighed forcefully, crossing her arms in annoyance. “Why, Sanghyukkie? Because we’re, ‘too much’,” she growled,holding up air quotes for effect, “For you at once? I don’t get it, Honey.” She looked down at her shoes, her eyes filling with tears.
Jaehwan rubbed small circles in her back to comfort her. He felt his heart breaking, just seeing her so upset. “Hyukkie, you love your sister, right?” He asked, looking at the boy with the softest, most pleading eyes he could manage.
Sanghyuk just stood there, dumbfounded. “Of course I do.” He blinked several times before a look of worry washed over his face. “Noona, of course I love you.” He breathed, rushing forward to hug his sister. “You’re the only one I can count on.”
Gaeul snaked her arms around her little brother with a sniffle. “Then why don’t you want me to be happy?”
Sanghyuk felt his heart break as he pulled away to look at his sisters tear stained face. “All I want is your happiness.”
“He makes me happy, Sanghyukkie.” She turned her head to glance up at the man beside her, who did nothing but smile back softly.
“He’s my friend,” Sanghyuk looked between the two, smiling at each other as though nothing else mattered. “If he ever hurt you-“
Jaehwan’s head immediately snapped to the side, staring at Sanghyuk with the most serious face anyone had ever seen from him. “Hyuk, I can promise you, I can swear to you right now, I will never hurt her. I would rather die than see Gaeul in pain. You really must not understand the situation. I lo-“
Bells tolled above the door and the American boy, Jasper, poked his head in the door. “Hey uh,” he cleared his throat, opening the door just enough for his body to squeeze through. “You uh, you know I don’t know my way around very well, right?”
Sanghyuk scoffed, smacking himself in the forehead. He took a few steps toward the boy with a smile. “I’m sorry, Baby.” He muttered, pressing a small kiss to Jasper’s forehead.
“Oppa?” Gaeul said softly, tugging on Jaehwan’s sleeve. He wrapped both his arms around her waist from the side and hummed in response. “What, um,” She breathed hard out her nose to steady her breathing as she looked up at him with wide eyes. “What were you going to say to Sanghyukkie?”
He opened his mouth and glanced at the other two in the room, now staring directly at them. He closed his mouth and gave her a soft smile, squeezing her tighter before looking back at her brother. “Sanghyuk, I love your sister. I love her with every fibre of my being. She’s all I can think about.” He turned back to her, his eyes bright. “When I wake up, when I go to sleep, at work, at home, Jagi, you’re all I can ever think about. I lost to Guile the other day, fucking Guile, because all I could think about was that first night we met, playing Street Fighter all night.” He brought one hand up to gently caress her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. “If I had known then how happy you would make me one day, I would have never allowed myself to fall asleep in your bed.”
Gaeul’s brows furrowed as she looked looked up at Jaehwan. “Why? That was one of the best nights of my life.”
“Wait,” Sanghyuk cut in. “All you did that night was sleep?”
The two looked at each other, and then to Sanghyuk, both bursting into laughter. “Sanghyukkie,” Gaeul began.
“Hyukkie, we’ve never...” Jaehwan trailed off as his words were engulfed with more laughter.
“You haven’t?” Sanghyuk looked at them incredulously.
“God, Sanghyukkie, no.”
“We haven’t even known each other for more than four months.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes and Gaeul giggled.
“What do you guys even do together?” Jasper spoke up from behind Sanghyuk, all eyes now on him, causing him to anxiously twist his hands.
Gaeul and Jaehwan looked at each other with wide grins, reciting in unison, “Street Fighter.”
“Fuckin’ nerds.” Jasper scoffed, but they didn’t care.
“Hyung,” Sanghyuk sighed to Jaehwan, dropping his arm around Jasper’s shoulders, who comforted him with a gentle hand on his back. “You know how much I love my sister.”
Jaehwan nodded, all hints of playfulness now gone from his features. “And if you would take the time see how much I love her too, you would know that I could never hurt her.”
Sanghyuk slowly made his way to where the two of them stood, bringing along a reluctant Jasper. The youngest boy stood barely a foot away from the oldest one, their eyes locked on each other. Meanwhile beside them Jasper’s eyes began to wander as he realized just how attractive his boyfriend’s sister really was, but he could only assume that good looks must have ran in their family.
Jasper’s wandering eyes caught Gaeul’s attention and she began to feel her face heat up. She brought up her free hand and balled it up with the fabric of Jaehwan’s shirt. Her skin when through several shades of pink and red before settling on a deeper maroon color.
Jaehwan held her tighter, only breaking eye contact with Sanghyuk when he felt a tugging at his shirt. His eyes ran over her balled fist full of the fabric, and then her deeply flushed face before settling on Jasper with one eyebrow raised. “You only get one, Jas.” Jaehwan squeezed the girl beside him tightly earning a confused look from Sanghyuk. “One sibling per person.”
Sanghyuks eyes fluttered to Jasper, still clearly ogling the woman before him. “Baby, come on.” The youngest boy said with a groan. “She’s my sister.”
“Yeah but,” Jasper glanced between the siblings, moistening his bottom lip. “Hyukkie, she looks like <i>that.</i>” Jasper held up a hand, motioning to all of Gaeul, who hid her beet red face in Jaehwan’s chest.
“What does that even mean?” Sanghyuk pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, while the other rested on his hip.
“No, he’s right.” Jaehwan nodded at Jasper before looking down at Gaeul. “I understand exactly what he means.”
She pulled her face away from his chest and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she looked up at him in return. “I get it, too.” She said quietly after a few moments. “Not me, but I understand what Jasper means.” She never once looked away from Jaehwan’s smiling face as she spoke. “I mean, Oppa, you know you look like that, right?”
“Only when you tell me, Baby.” He brought one hand up and tapped her nose gently before replacing it on her back. He had expected her to smile, but she didn’t.
“But,” She stammered, frustration written in her features, “But it’s not just when I tell you. It’s all the time, Jaehwannie. You always look like that.”
“Ugh,” Sanghyuk groaned rolling his eyes. “You two are gross.”
“Sanghyukkie,” Gaeul sighed, “Look at Jasper.” The boy eyed his sister before turning his head to the shorter boy by his side. “He looks like that.” She said, putting emphasis on the last word.
“What, a twink?” Sanghyuk looked back at his sister, clearly confused. She groaned in response, draping herself over Jaehwan who couldn’t stop his laughter. Jasper stood just a bit taller, obviously proud of himself.
“It doesn’t matter.” Jaehwan spoke up once his laughter had died down. “That’s not what this is about.”
Sanghyuk nodded in agreement before wiping a hand over his face. “Dude, she’s my sister. Okay? All I can say is, if you hurt her, you’re dead.”
“If I hurt her,” Jaehwan’s face was blank. “I’ll find you myself so you can see to that.”