[EDITING]
When Jeon Jeongguk's sister gets engaged to his friend's brother, almost everything changes.
Desperate to hold onto a fragile friendship, Jeongguk is willing to get himself into sticky situations--even to the point of ruining his sister's...
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Chapter Thirty One: A Tour of the Town
Hoseok's arrival caused a commotion. Like Jeongguk, Haeji hadn't been expecting him until later in the day and when Jeongguk told her that her son was already in the house, she bolted up and ran inside. Within the house he could hear her cry out, "And when were you going to tell me you had arrived? Little rascal!"
She got started on brunch right away and soon everyone joined in to help. Everyone except Hoseok, for Haeji wouldn't allow it, so he left to go to his sister's place to unpack, promising to be back in an hour. Even Namjoon was in the kitchen, but off to the side, his nose in a book, keeping far away from any kitchen knives. Namjoon might have the brains, but he had not the skill to cook or bake. Jeongguk had once witnessed him trying to butter his toast only to stab the butterknife through the bread. Taehyung was nowhere to be seen. He was probably still swimming.
Meanwhile, Haeji cut up fruit, Sejin fried eggs and sausages on a pan and Jeongyeon, who has just woken up, squeezed past him with a pile of plates and went out onto the patio. It was clear she hadn't gotten her morning coffee.
He felt pretty useless, and so he was thankful when his mother looked up at him from where she was bent over the coffeepot. "Oh, Guk," she said. "How about you grab some cutlery and bring it out to the porch?"
Jeongguk did his chores and soon, brunch was ready. It looked delightful. Eggs, sausages, toast; tomatoes, apples, grapes, and watermelon; Greek yogurt, and orange juice. He hadn't realised how hungry he had been. The table was set and most had sat down, only two seats were empty, Taehyung's and Hoseok's. Jeongguk was sitting next to his mother, wanting nothing more than to start eating. They didn't have to wait for long, as a moment later Hoseok came running through the back door, apologising for being late, even though he really wasn't. He pulled out a seat next to Jeongguk and sat down, eyes bright. "This looks amazing. Thank you so much for all of this. I've missed you guys."
Haeji took his hand and then looked at the rest of the table guests. "It is so good to have you home dear. I think we should have a toast." She raised her glass, and the entire table did as well and Jeongguk quickly poured some juice into his glass to join them.
"Hold on," she then said, scanning the table. "Where is Taehyung?"
Namjoon glanced at the empty seat beside him. "Probably in the pool," he said and stood up. "I'll go get him."
While they waited, Jeongguk fiddled with his sleeve, aware of the boy (if one could even call him a boy – he was around Jeongyeon's age) sitting beside him. He was intrigued by him, wanted to say something to him. He just didn't know what.
A faint memory came to him, when he had sat in the living room in between his mother and sister, looking at the photo-album of Jeju and the wedding. He remembered one of the photographs, his sister holding hands with a boy, slightly younger, both of them donning happy grins. And he remembered the story his mother told them, about the photograph.
