off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ one hundred and six

When Jiwoong had told Jiyeon he would think of something to make Yujin and Vicky get along, she had to admit she hadn't really taken him seriously. After all, the two of them were all too ready to bicker, and never hung out together, so there was no opportunity to repair their relationship - or, well, create one that wasn't hostile. So when he had invited her and Yujin along to the aquarium, with the specified instruction not to tell her brother Vicky would be coming too, she hadn't put much stock in the strategy.

Rightfully so, it seemed. As soon as Yujin's eyes had landed on Vicky's form next to her brother in the distance, he'd stopped in his tracks, and cursed Jiyeon for tricking him. Of course, she could not hear what had come out of Vicky's mouth, but she, too, had visibly complained to her brother. Now, as they strolled through the aquarium, the two teenagers dragged their feet behind Jiyeon and Jiwoong, walking as far away from each other as physically possible. They hadn't said a word beyond hello.

"Hmm... I'm not sure this was a good idea," Jiyeon murmured, placing her hand on Jiwoong's extended arm.

"Don't despair just yet." He pulled her closer, and she held back a yelp when her shoulder bumped into his. "They can't just fight forever. Surely they have something in common."

In response, Jiyeon gave him a half-defeated smile. There was no doubt they had things in common, but somehow, she wasn't sure that would do anything to bring them together. Chances were they would just get competitive over it. But Jiwoong seemed to believe it could be fixed, and so Jiyeon tried to believe too.

The sudden shuffling of feet behind her made her jump, and when she turned back to see what was happening, Yujin had already run off.

"It's Nemo!" he shouted embarrassingly loud, pointing towards the fish tank at the other end of the room.

Like parents watching over their kid, Jiyeon and Jiwoong veered from their path to follow him, and so did Vicky. In the meantime, Yujin had stopped a meter from the tank, and wore a perfectly disappointed face. Jiyeon stared at him with confusion for a second, but when she followed the direction of his gaze, she quickly understood his defeated state. There was no Nemo in this tank, only a few goldfish scattered about.

She tried her hardest not to laugh at the fact that her brother, at seventeen years old, had gotten so excited at the slightest flash of orange he'd immediately connected it to a children's movie. Some things never changed.

Vicky, though, did not even try to conceal her laughter. "Pfft, it's obviously a goldfish, you silly." That sentence earned her a death glare. "Nemo is a clownfish."

Yujin's eyebrows furrowed, and the pout on his lips only served to make him look even more childish. "You're the clown," he muttered under his breath, too loud not to be heard.

Any semblance of peacekeeping they'd been attempting to achieve vanished then. Vicky gasped, argued, he huffed, argued back, and Jiyeon felt herself take a few steps back, still holding onto Jiwoong. They weren't shouting, but the crowd around them had obviously caught on to their spat, and Jiyeon wanted to be as far away as possible from all that embarrassment. A sigh on her lips, she turned her head to look at Jiwoong. There was the slightest smile on his lips.

"Well, looks like they're a lost cause," she breathed out.

"Maybe, but they're pretty funny."

And she would have agreed, were it not for the fact that everyone was watching them...

When she heard the two of them gasp suddenly, she flung her head towards them, thinking they'd maybe resorted to hands. Instead, she found them both standing side by side, staring wordlessly at a fish floating past their heads, its scales shimmering in orange and gold. It was another goldfish, but this one was special - even Jiyeon could say so, with her very limited knowledge of fish.