unrequited

31

"WHAT. IN THE HELL. IS GOING ON HERE???"

The voice was so loud it pulled me out of my sleep. It sounded like my brother, although it couldn't have been, because he doesn't use language like that. Only when he's super upset.

My eyes opened just in time to see Changmin being yanked out of my bed. His arm was pulled from under my head and I sat up quickly.

"Ouch," He said when he rolled onto the floor.

"Oh my god." Chanhee said and I was jumpscared awake. he looked from Changmin to me and back to changmin. "oh my god. Did you guys--Are-are you guys--Did you guys sleep together???"

"NO!" Changmin and I yelled at the same time.

"We-we slept together. Not slept together. " I said. "Nothing happened, I mean," I fixed the strap of my blue dress which had fallen off my shoulder during the night, and was definitely not helping the situation.

Changmin's cheeks were tinted pink, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Chanhee just let us explain."

"Take a deep breath," I said.

Chanhee glared at me. "How long has this been going on? And behind my back?? How could you not tell me?" my brother gave me a sad look. "No, scratch that," He turned to Changmin with a glare. "How could you not tell me? Number one, you're my best friend, number two, she's my little sister, she-she's just a kid! Do you not have any decency? Do you both not see how this could go terribly wrong??"

I glanced at Changmin. He looked worn out and stressed last night, but this only made it worse.

"Chanhee, that's harsh." I said. "Don't say something you're going to regret."

"Answer my question." my brother said to him.

"Which one?" Changmin asked.

"....all of them!"

Changmin glanced at the floor and stared at it for a while. He didn't seem to have the energy to speak. His tie was loose around his neck, and his dress shirt wrinkled.

"I'm sorry," He said finally. "I'm really sorry I kept secrets from you as your best friend. It's just that.... it kind of just happened, and then I left so suddenly and you weren't really writing back to me--I figured you were stressed-- so I didn't want to just go 'hey, by the way I'm romantically attracted to your sister who I've known her whole life' over an email!"

Chanhee looked him up and down. He put his guard halfway down. "I guess that's fair. the timing was unfortunate."

"And, in case you've been too busy to notice, she's not a little kid anymore." Changmin added. "I get that you're busy, we both do, you have a big life ahead of you and college and whatever shit, but in that time, Doah's become her own person. She has a life and a personality beyond being your little sister, and the only important thing that's changed about me is that I see that. I see her in a different way now, I'm not in love with the little Doah who we used to chase around on the playground--obviously, because that's fucked up--I'm in love with the Doah now, and I just happened to have grown up with her."

Chanhee blinked. He was processing.

"I know this is.... strange," I said, and Changmin and I shared a glance. "But it's happened. We can't just go back to how it used to be, and we certainly can't keep hiding it from you."

Chanhee glanced back and forth between us repeatedly.

"Please say something," I added.

He inhaled for the longest time, and I thought that when he exhaled he might go on a long tangent again.