𝐃𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐘 || ᵇ.ᵏᵃᵗˢᵘᵏⁱ

IX

I couldn't help myself and started writing Atsumu fanfiction. I am weak.

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"How was therapy?" Hyoseop asked, oddly cheerfully for the nature of his question. He reversed his Rolls-Royce Spectre E out of the practically empty parking lot, then immediately did a U-turn and drove back in when he forgot to set up his GPS to take them to the uniform fitting shop on the other side of Seoul.

"Mine was fine," Aeri said simply. She got some good advice regarding Jinyoung but it turned out that she hadn't made any progress at all with her main problem. Even if she felt okay, she learned that she wasn't.

Jungwon stayed silent and instead picked at the skin around his thumbnail. Hyoseop peered at him through the rear-view mirror but neither he nor Aeri pushed him.

"Hyoseop, I need to talk to you and Jinyoung later. Dr Han's orders." Aeri cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Okay then, I'm glad you're taking her advice. What's it about?" Hyoseop nodded, his eyes flicked to her for a second before they settled back on the road.

"I'll tell you later. I have to psych myself up for it."

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Aeri hated the fact that she loved the SHA uniforms. The form-fitting navy blue blazer, plaid maroon, navy and white seifuku ribbon tie and matching plaid skirt. Seoul Hero Academy allowed any type of socks as long as they were white and any type of shoe as long as they were smart and black, Aeri had never been happier not to wear the school-issued slippers most schools provided.

Jungwon perked up a bit too when the tailor complimented him and didn't even stress out when he looked at himself in the mirror, forgetting his scar as he admired the uniform.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all..." Jungwon whispered meekly when he and Aeri posed for a picture together at Hyoseop's request.

"You get a pretty uniform and switch up just like that?" Aeri whispered back with an amused chuckle.

"At least we'll look good whilst we're miserable," Jungwon spoke with a smile as the flash went off on Hyoseop's phone.

"That's true." Aeri nodded.

"Okay, now the sports uniforms..." Hyoseop turned to the tailor who was already bringing some sample ones out of storage.

"Oh my god, how are we supposed to go back to UA's sports uniform after getting to wear a normal one?" Aeri whined. She stared at the uniform with heart-eyes and Hyoseop snickered.

"That's just the general one, wait until you see the fighting gear." Hyoseop waggled his eyebrows excitedly.

Aeri and Jungwon looked away from the outfits that the tailor was holding up for them to see— matching navy blue polo shirts with the academy insignia embroidered onto the breast pocket, a short, deep maroon skort for Aeri and a pair of shorts in the same colour for Jungwon— and turned to their brother, bewildered.

"There's another?" Jungwon asked.

"Oh yes," Hyoseop smirked. The tailor chuckled and went into the back, emerging a couple of minutes later with two other sets of sports uniforms.

"Seoul Hero Academy has a sports uniform that everyone wears, the one I just showed you, and a couple of others specifically for the hero course. We have the traditional Hanbok in the school's colours for those who prefer to fight in loose, breathable materials, and also tight and practical fighting leathers, a full-body combat suit designed for students who rely on speed and can't have the extra material on them. These are black but they have the school insignia on the triceps," the tailor explained, the twins listened with a sparkle in their eyes and their jaws practically dragging on the floor. "Most get both hero-course uniforms." He continued.

"Yes, we'll be taking them all today." Hyoseop smiled. "Twins, are you trying them on?"

"Yes!" They said in unison.

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Jinyoung didn't get home until 11 PM that night and Aeri had to argue with Hyoseop to let her take her medication a little bit later so she could talk to her brothers like Dr Han suggested.

Luckily, Jinyoung's mission went smoothly and he called about an hour before he got back to ask if they wanted him to bring some fried chicken back, Aeri knew at that moment that her eldest brother was in a good mood. He ate fried chicken once in a blue moon, only when he'd had a successful day.

That was what really convinced Hyoseop to let Aeri and Jungwon stay up a bit. Aeri just hoped that she wouldn't be the one to piss him off.

"You wanted to talk?" Hyoseop started as he threw a chicken bone back into the cardboard box. He and Jinyoung glanced at Aeri curiously.

Aeri cleared her throat awkwardly and dropped her half-eaten piece of chicken back onto her plate. Jungwon gave her an encouraging nudge with his knee, she'd told him all about the situation earlier that day after getting back from the tailor, and he agreed that the older brothers needed to back off just a bit.

"So, um, I told Dr Han about what you told Yuna to ask me," she began. Hyoseop and Jinyoung side-eyed each other, looking panicked. They reached forward, picked up their beers and sipped them in unison. "She told me to speak to you because she agrees that you're too protective and too involved in my business without any regard for my privacy or my comfort."

"Why wouldn't we want you to be comfortable—"Jinyoung paused when Hyoseop slapped his arm and shook his head.

"My sex life is none of your business. Aunt Miyeon made sure to give me 'the talk' when I was in middle school so you don't need to worry about that either. You don't see me poking around to see who you're sleeping with and I know that you wouldn't care if you found out Jungwon or Hyunjin were having sex."

"We're men, so are Hyunjin and Jungwon and we know what men are like. A lot of them are disgusting, sex-motivated pieces of shit. We're protective because we want you to be safe." Jinyoung avoided eye contact, growing more and more uncomfortable the more that sex was mentioned. It wasn't something he ever thought he'd be discussing with his little sister over dinner.

"You think I don't know that?" Aeri laughed dryly. "You may know what men are like because you are men, but try being a woman surrounded by men."

"You're forgetting that she borderline tortured Mineta last year for being a pervert. He never did it again and he dropped out of UA after the war. She can handle that stuff herself." Jungwon chimed in, wiping grease from his fingers. All three of them chose not to mention the fact that he just brought up the war without having a panic attack.

"We'll try to back off, Aeri. And we're sorry for not respecting your privacy, aren't we Jinyoung?" Hyoseop gave his older brother a pointed look and Jinyoung reluctantly nodded.

"Great." Aeri clapped her hands together. "Now please change the subject."

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