ᴀᴅᴅɪᴄᴛᴇᴅ

【21】

seonghwa never thought much about the fact that no one in their friend group knew he and san were brothers. it wasn't something they had purposely hidden—at least, that's what he told himself—but over time, it had just become this unspoken thing. he hated living in you younger brother shadow also if no one asked, why bring it up?

except now, sitting in their usual booth at the diner, surrounded by the seven people closest to them, seonghwa realized that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't the best approach.

because jongho—his cousin, his traitorous cousin—had just let it slip.

"you two are seriously the worst at keeping secrets," jongho muttered, stirring his milkshake with an amused smirk.

san frowned. "what are you talking about?"

jongho gave him a look, then turned to san , who was sitting next to wooyoung, his boyfriend. seonghwa was leaning against , his own boyfriend, on the other side of the booth, completely unaware that this would be the moment everything unraveled.

"oh, c'mon," jongho sighed, shaking his head like he was disappointed in all of them. "you really think they haven't figured it out yet?"

the table went completely silent.

"figured what out?" wooyoung asked, raising an eyebrow.

jongho grinned. "that seonghwa and san are brothers."

the reaction was immediate.

"wait, what?!" hongjoong choked on his drink. wooyoung straightened so fast that san had to grab his arm to keep him from knocking over his glass.

"you're joking," yunho said, staring at them like they'd grown extra heads.

seonghwa sighed. "nope. not joking."

"you're actually brothers?" hongjoong asked, looking between them like he was trying to spot some hidden resemblance he had somehow missed for years.

san groaned and dropped his head onto the table. "yes. we are."

yeosang looked like his entire world had just been flipped upside down. "how did we never know this?"

"you never asked?" seonghwa said, his voice hesitant, like he knew how stupid that sounded.

"you have the same last name," wooyoung pointed out, his voice a mix of shock and exasperation.

"plenty of people have the same last name," san shot back.

"yeah, but you guys look alike," woo argued.

seonghwa and san exchanged a glance. "do we?" san asked.

"oh my god," mingi groaned. "you literally have the same face structure."

jongho, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. he leaned back, watching the chaos unfold like he was enjoying a personal comedy show. "i don't know what's funnier—the fact that you guys never noticed or the fact that these two really thought they were keeping a secret."

san lifted his head just to glare at him. "i didn't think it was a big deal."

"not a big deal?" mingi nudged him. "dude, you let us assume you were just two random guys in the same friend group for months when you're actually brothers!"