A speck of blood

Forever brothers.

Childhood , teenages, how bright it was, the friendship!

It's hard to tell who actually started talking to whom.
But in time they became a strong bunch, inseparable even if there was about 4 years between youngest and oldest.
It seemed odd to people around them. In school. In the neighbourhood's.
So different, what was/the secret?
Not that they were antisocial, they did have other friends.
But that wasn't as important. As them. Them together.

Their parents were mostly happy because they all stayed out of trouble and helped eachother getting good grades. Eventually girls did appear when they had almost given up the thoughts of grandchildren. Almost.
" Boys are boys" they said.
" They need to play" they said.
" Well, not here anyways!!" they said.
"  They can borrow my country
house, if they only return it in one piece" uncle Leehyun said.

And there you have it, all playtime and broship teambuilding and idling around the lake with fishing rods or having massive discussions on how to best set the strategy in Uno, all the ramen and kimchi, dirty plates, broken sticks, soju bottles in a heap, all that was handled in the country house.
The last morning was always spent scrubbing and packing, leaving the building spotless. They had the greatest respect for Hoseoks uncle.

First times they were invited to stay the weekend, he had joined them. It was so fun, they were fishing, swimming,  flying kites and having  sensational outdoor barbecues.
It was right there Seokjin found his skills and ever since then, he was in charge of the cooking.
But that was ages ago, they were what, 16,  17?
And uncle was what, 70, 75?
It didn't matter , he sat listening to them and from time to time he added one or two anecdotes from his life.

That was the real riddle. His life.
When Hoseok asked his mom, who was the one related to uncle Leehyun,  she got a curious look in her face.
" Yes, that's the question Hoseokie, we don't really know,
uncle came to our wedding like he had been there all his life."
" You didn't know him? "
" He seemed to know everybody and he brought gifts.  So he's been a very dear part of our family for years now. "
Hoseok loved his uncle,  he just pondered upon the obvious difficulties of telling who's uncle he actually was.
Still , there wasn't a birthday or christmas or chuseok when uncle wasn't there. With gifts and a soft smile .
He was as obvious in Hoseoks life as his parents and grandparents.

And his friends loved him. Although Taehyung once told Hoseok that he had showed their great grandmother some pictures from his instamatic camera. He had the pictures developed in the nearby camera store. He loved taking pictures and his dream was to own a swedish camera called
Hasselblad.

Grandmother had looked at the pictures and pointed at uncle with a crooked finger.
"Look, that's Sihyuk, I thought he left. Why is he there? "
" No grandma that's Hoseoks uncle, Leehyun"
" Really? You mean I'm getting old and dazed Tae Tae? "
" No no grandma, not you, but maybe he just look alike "
" Yes , maybe.."

And so life goes on, years pass, things change but they were at heart, still best friends, brothers. The visits in the country house were not as frequent and at some time, hard to say when, it all came to an end. For now.
Hoseok and uncle Leehyun did go there, especially after Hoseoks collapsed marriage. The would sit by the fire with a glass of white wine and talk .

That is, until uncle Leehyun disappeared. He was what, 85?
So odd. No trace. Hoseoks mom captured the feelings in one sentence: He left the same way he arrived, from out of the blue and back.

They missed him. Hoseok mostly. He tried going to the house alone but no, why should he? Without , well, anyone, it was just a house. So he thought of a reunion. Like old days.
Yes, the house would be warm and welcoming again.

The word was out, the date was set. Hoseok started cleaning but he didn't touch uncles bedroom. That's why he didn't notice.
But he awaited the day with such nervous joy, the kind you have when your love is near .

And so they arrived, one by one except the twins ofcourse.