basketball ➸ lee eunsang

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"haeyoung?" dongpyo said, putting down his chopsticks. the four friends were sitting down on on a bench at lunch, happily enjoying their meals.

"hm?"

"if you don't mind me asking," dongpyo said, "how's your financial life?"

"oh..." haeyoung said, pausing. "uh, i'm planning to sell furniture that i don't need, but i don't wanna sell my house, since it's special to me, you know? but good news is, i'm seven million in."

"ohh, good to hear!" dongpyo said, "i'll help you sell furniture! i know an online shop that's really easy to sell in."

"thanks." haeyoung said.

they continued enjoying their lunch, conversing with each other and talking about what happened during semestral break. of course, haeyoung had nothing much to say, but she was still enjoying the happy vibe in the air with her friends around her. all of the sudden, haeyoung heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"haeyoung?" the voice said.

the four students' heads turned to the direction the voice came from, and was met with the one and only lee hangyul.

"w-what are you d-doing here?" haeyoung asked in a stutter, not wanting to look at him in the eye. it was the first time they talked ever since hangyul told her that he was her half-brother, and it was just awkward to talk to hangyul, after knowing what his parents did to her family.

"uh, can i talk to you?" hangyul asked, "in private?"

eunsang looked at haeyoung, concerned. he knew what happened, since haeyoung told him during that phone call. haeyoung gave him a reassuring smile and a nod, along with a look that said, 'i'll be fine.'

"sure." haeyoung said, still not daring to make eye contact.

"what's going on?" wonjin asked eunsang as the two siblings walked away from them.

"leave it to haeyoung to tell you." eunsang said, chewing on his food.

meanwhile, haeyoung and hangyul arrived near the school's field, no one to be seen except for the two of them.

"uh, yeah?" haeyoung said, finally looking up at hangyul.

"i'm sorry, you know, about what happened a couple days ago." hangyul said. the look in his eyes told haeyoung that he was truly and genuinely apologetic, and it showed her a side of hangyul that she's never seen before.

"why should you be sorry? it wasn't your mistake, it was both our parents. including your foster ones." haeyoung said.

"even i was in shock when my mother told me that. i knew i had a sister, but i never expected you were my sister." hangyul said.

"same. i never expected you to be my brother, too." haeyoung said. she sighed, looking at hangyul. "well, some things in life are unexpected."

"mhm." hangyul said, humming. "let's forget about the past, shall we?"

"yeah, i'm glad i finally found someone blood-related, even if it's someone i never expected to be. let's just be happy that we have each other."

"sure." hangyul said, smiling. he stretched his hands out, asking for a hug. haeyoung was flustered at first, but she hugged back anyway. it's our first hug as siblings. haeyoung thought, smiling. is this what it feels like to hug a brother?

as haeyoung said before, some things in life are unexpected. and the warm, caring side of hangyul was one of those things.

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