as all friends do, they have a couple of unspoken rules. namely: don't you ever date my sister. turns out, as they're all meeting at this party, this rule is a lot harder to respect than they expected.
a zb1 applyfic | closed
Sitting in her childhood home's living room after so long felt both unfamiliar, and comforting to Haewon. Somehow, not much had changed. Her parents were still very much in love, complimenting each other at every opportunity — such sickeningly sweet displays of affection she hadn't missed. Her little brother was still a bit of an idiot, but he was her favorite idiot, and that was all that mattered. Neighborhood stray cats still came to the window of her bedroom, as if they remembered the times when she would feed them. It was so far from the constant buzz of California, and for once, Haewon found she quite liked that.
Well, that was until Gyuvin busted through the door, loudly announcing they'd received a letter as if they couldn't tell from the envelope he was waving around.
"Oh," their mother mused as she read the contents of the letter. "We're invited to a party."
"Sweet," Gyuvin added. "Finally a party with the four of us reunited!"
As he said those words, he looked to his sister, a hopeful smile on his face. It was clear that of the whole family, Gyuvin was the one who'd missed her the most. Whether that was because he genuinely missed having her around, or because she couldn't tutor him anymore, she didn't know.
"I don't think I can go," she said, and Gyuvin's smile disappeared instantly. "I have a lot of studying to do."
All Gyuvin could do was flail his arms around uselessly. "Wha— But— Your semester ended!"
"The semester did end, yes, but not the school year. Becoming an anesthesiologist is hard work, you know? If I slack off now, I might have done all that for nothing."
Gyuvin attempted to hide the pout that had formed on his lips, but the whole family had seen it already. He was grown now, but he'd always had the bad habit of sulking as a kid. Old habits die hard.
Still, Haewon never liked disappointing her brother. They hadn't seen each other for quite a while now, and even though she was here for a bit, she'd barely been able to hang out with him, too caught up in work. Maybe she should make it up to him. Go to the movies with him or something like that. Well, it would have to wait.
"Speaking of, I should probably get back to it. Call me when dinner's ready, okay?" she told her mom as she rose from the couch.
"Sure, sweetie."
And with that, Haewon started to walk towards her room, wholly uninterested in whatever boring party they were going to attend.
"This blows," Gyuvin finally muttered, sitting down at the table only to rest his chin in his palm. "Who's organizing that party anyway?"
Looking up from the letter, their mom raised an eyebrow. "Did you...Not read the name and address on the envelope?"
"Forgot."
"Well, it's from—"
She shut the door behind her, sighing as she looked at her bedroom. Nothing had changed, her room still the exact same, as if she was still living here full time. Haewon couldn't help but wonder if maybe her parents were having trouble adapting to life without her. In movies and books, the character would always come back home and find out their parents had turned their childhood bedroom into a home gym or office. For some reason, hers had kept it pristine, not even using it as a storeroom.
Ah, she was quite a different person, when she used to live here...
"Haewon!"
Gyuvin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned to him with a muffled squeal. He hadn't changed either — absolutely no manners and a terrible sense of timing.
"What is it again?" she huffed out, annoyed, before sitting at her desk.
"Dad said you should come to the party, because he really wants to introduce you to some of his business associates."
She sighed. She could already imagine spending the entire evening explaining what she was studying to a room full of old men. "Do I have to?"
Gyuvin leaned on the door frame, arms crossed. "I mean, you don't have to, but I think Mom and Dad really want to show you off to everyone."
She turned to face him, eyes wide. That was the first she'd ever heard of something like that. Gyuvin had a knack for surprising her.
"What do you mean, show me off?"
"They're really proud of how hard you're working, you know," he said in a gentle voice, a comforting smile on his face. "So they want everyone to know how amazing their daughter is."
Well. She wasn't sure what to say to that. Praise for her academic talents wasn't something rare, but said like that...It seemed so embarrassing.
"Will you come, then?"
Maybe...Maybe she could bear being shown off from time to time. "I...I guess I'll come."
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