entangled // ryan nguyen

one

"hey miya! over here!"

"justin!" my eyes lit up at the sight of my older brother, whom i hadn't seen in what felt like forever. i ran over to him and wrapped my arms around him, thankful to see his face after being in a sea of strangers for the past several hours.

"vlogging now are we?" i said teasingly, gesturing to the camera in his hand.

"hey, we need content," he defended himself. "how was your flight?" he asked, letting go of my embrace.

"i won't lie, it was pretty shit," i answered with a laugh. "my flight got delayed, as you know -- well that actually probably didn't affect you that much considering you're always late--"

"hey!" justin exclaimed indignantly.

"--well it's true -- and there was this karen on the plane that was complaining about the seat not reclining any further," i finished. "like, lady, this is a fucking plane and you're flying economy. what were you expecting? a wholeass couch?"

"sounds fun," he said jokingly as i punched his arm. "ow!"

"you deserved it," i said, sticking out my tongue.

"sure," justin laughed. "got your new hair strand yet?" he asked, glancing at my hair that was dark brown with blonde, light brown, and red highlights.

"nope," i shook my head. "guess i haven't met my soulmate yet. you?"

"apparently i did, but i'm too lazy to find out who it is," my brother said, uncovering a small blond streak that was in the inner layers of hair. "it could be literally anyone."

"lucky," i pouted.

"so, on another note, are you ready to start your new life in los angeles?" my brother asked dramatically, throwing his arms up before helping me with my suitcases.

i snorted. "and that's why you're the dramatic one," i told him as we began walking towards the exit of the airport.

"hey, it's a genuine question," he protested as we left the building. "i'm surprised that you were so willing to just pack up everything and move over here. also, how do you only have this much stuff?" my brother said, gesturing to my two suitcases.

"sold a bunch of stuff," i shrugged. "it's not like i'm a huge fashionista anyway. only brought what i needed."

"and the answer to my first statement..."

"i thought moving out here would be good for me and my social media stuff. which is the most important thing for me as of right now," i answered. "anything else?"

"not that it's important or anything," justin said as we approached the parking lot. "but are we ever going to tell our followers we're siblings?"

i raised my eyebrow at him as we reached his car. "really? that's what you've been thinking about this whole time?"

"i mean, you have to admit that we have to say something about it eventually..." he pointed out. "plus, you're literally going to be living with us--"

"why was that the arrangement anyway?" i grumbled. "you live in a house of seven guys and i'll be the only girl. and the youngest of you all, might i add."

"they're my best friends. you'll be fine," he said, trying to shut down my negativity. "and little miss princess, la is expensive. take it or leave it," justin said sarcastically.

"i'll leave it."

"oh shut up," he laughed. "oh wait, shit, that reminds me."

"what is it now?" i sighed.

"um," he chuckled nervously. "i was so busy getting ready for your arrival and trying to prepare everything that i may or may not have forgotten to tell the boys you were coming?"

i stared at him in disbelief. "you're fucking with me, right?"

"unfortunately, no."

"i mean, they know i exist right?"

"your existence, yes. that we're related...no."

"JUSTIN!"

~

after comprehending that my brother's lack of memory resulted in what i believed would lead to disaster and making peace with the fact that i can't change that, the drive to my brother and his friends' house was actually pretty fun. long and extremely tiring, but fun. catching up with my brother in person after not seeing him for so long was truly a blessing. and la in itself was such a pretty place. i caught myself staring out the windows a lot, captivated by the scenery and how everytime i looked i would find something new to admire.

"i better not catch you staring at any of the boys like that," justin said, snapping me out of my daydream.

i let out a snicker. "oh please."

"don't speak too soon," justin retorted.

"justin, nothing can be as attractive to me as that lamppost over there," i said innocently, staring and pointing at a very exciting, happy looking lamppost that had chipped gray paint.

"sure," my brother laughed.

unfortunately for the lamppost, i decided to change the subject. "you guys haven't lived together for that long, right?" i asked.

justin nodded. "you could say that. you're lucky we're even here in la and you didn't graduate when we were still in arizona."

"i'm now processing the fact that i know nothing about you guys," i realized.

my brother whipped his head around to look at me once he stopped at a red light. "you don't follow us on tiktok?"

"i mean, i like, stalk you guys sometimes, but people might find it weird that i follow you guys but have never interacted with any of you, well, from what they can see," i explained. "i'll follow you guys once we reveal it."

"okay stalker," my brother mocked me, resulting in a nice slap from me to his right shoulder. "for real though, do you know any of their names?"

"i only know that sebastian guy and his brother. oliver, right?" i clarified as my brother nodded. "yeah them. they've been famous for awhile, right?"

"definitely a lot longer than the rest of us," justin said.

"are you going to tell me anything about the other people?" i asked as the traffic light turned green.

"what's the fun in that? it'd be more entertaining for you to just meet them when you see them," he grinned as i let out a groan of frustration.

"asshole."

"hey! respect your elders," my brother said sternly, making me laugh.

after what felt like an eternity, justin finally pulled into the driveway of his shared home, parking it and stopping the flow of music from the speakers. we got out of the car and grabbed my luggage from the trunk before heading into the entrance of the house.

"please at least tell me they aren't all home," i mumbled to my brother, as the panic and anxiety began to set in.

"i think they are," justin replied with an apologetic look on his face.

"you've got to be kidding me," i muttered.

"welcome to your new home dearest sister!" justin said in response, flinging the door open.

here we go.