Over The Seas [Kim Sunwoo The Boyz]

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jihoon and I began heading towards the company building he trains at. It wasn't a long ways, but I will admit I was a bit excited to meet everyone.
I still haven't fully processed that my brother is going to debut this year and become all famous. Mainly because he doesn't like talking about it but hopefully that'll change today.

We entered the building and into the elevator to the 5th floor. Before I went to open the door, Jihoon abruptly stopped me.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"We need to set a few ground rules before we go in there." He sounded very serious.
"Okay, what kind of rules?"
"First off, don't embarrass me. It's already weird enough that I brought my little sister."
"Dude, I'm only a year younger." I didn't really get why he was acting this way. Is it really such a big deal?
"Second, don't talk about weird things. If you're going to help, do it right."
He's clearly overreacting. How bad can his members be?
"Alright, alright, I got it."
I opened the door and saw four guys sitting in the middle of the practice room floor. They all turned to me and studied me for a bit.
Geez, why do they look so intimidating...why did I suggest helping??
"Ahem," I coughed awkwardly and gulped as I tried to think of how to introduce myself.
"Uh, hi everyone. My name is Son Riyae, I'm Jihoon's younger sister. It's nice to finally meet you all."
"Hey, what's up, Jihoon's little sister." They all scattered their own greetings.
Great, off to a good start.
I quickly sat down beside my brother while they all kept their eyes on me, waiting for me to give them an explanation as to why I'm here.
"So, Jihoon told me about your little meeting today and I volunteered to help you guys get to know and get comfortable with each other more."They kept straight faces.
Jihoon leaned over and quietly told me what their manager expected from them by the end of the day.
"Right now, he wants us to just talk and know each other more. Then later we're gonna do some 'team work activities'."
Do they really need that much help?
"Uh, okay. I see."
I didn't plan much since they were just supposed to talk to each other. It seriously can't be hard.
"Well, I'm sure you all know each other's names but it'll be cool if I got to know your names, just to make this easier."
They all exchanged looks, nudging each other to see who would go first. Finally, a guy with light brown hair sitting left of Jihoon spoke.
"My name is Lee Jaeyeon, born in 1998."
Very enthusiastic...
"Nice to meet you, Jaeyeon. Who's next?"
We all sat there waiting for what felt like ten minutes until someone spoke.
"Uh, my name's Sanduel, but I go by San. I was born in 1999."
They all eventually said their names one by one, including Jihoon.
I tried naming them all in order of oldest to youngest. Though there were only four of the names to remember, it was a bit difficult.
"Jaeyeon...Taebeom...Sanduel or San...Jihoon...and Yubin."
They all nodded, not much reaction from getting them all correct.
They are a tough crowd...

I began talking a bit about myself and things I like. I tried to talk as casual as I could to not sound too serious. I started feeling like a teacher on the first day of school.
Slowly, they all opened up to different conversations and wouldn't you know it, they actually have a lot of things in common. It blows my mind guys can't just talk and be friends in a place of work. I don't understand this whole idol thing but I know that this is the place where you make life-long friendships. They're all great people and I'm glad to see my brother getting along with them so he won't complain about work everytime someone mentions it.
I sit back as they continue to converse with each other and feel a sense of pride in myself for giving them the push they needed.

They had other things planned for their day so I decided to leave them be and go home.
"It was great meeting you guys and being able to help you become closer with each other."
"We really owe you one, Riyae."
"Yeah, I honestly didn't really think anyone could really help us."
The guys all gave their thanks and gratitude for my help and nodding in agreement to each other's comments.
"It's no problem, really. Just don't take your job too seriously. This is supposed to be a fun job and you can't have that if you don't allow yourselves to have fun with each other."
"You really have a way with words, Riyae."
That's the third time someone says that, I don't put in that much effort to simply speak.

I get up from the circle and wave everyone goodbye. I walk out the door but before I could close it, Jihoon runs up to me.
"Hey, thanks for all your help, sis. I'm sorry that you had to deal with such a stupid problem that we could've easily fixed ourselves if we tried." This is the first time I've heard him sound so sincere. It's a bit shocking, actually.
"It's all good, there's no need to apologize." I replied with a smile.
All of a sudden, a mischievous look appeared on his face.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I was wondering why you were being so nice and caring about this but I think I figured it out."
Figured it out? What is there to figure out??
I stayed calm, trying not to let it faze me.
"What's that?"
"It's because you're dating Sunwoo now."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I snapped, defending myself.
"Well, he is an idol, you probably wanted to know more about his job."
I stayed quiet.
"I didn't think anyone would be able to change your mind since you're so stubborn and knowing you're not a huge fan of it but people can really surprise you." He pat the top of my head and walked back inside the practice room.
I opened my mouth to retaliate but he closed the door before I could get a word out of my mouth.
I didn't actually think there was a reason for me trying to be nice and helpful. I mean, I guess it's a bit weird since he's my brother and I'm helping kpop idols but it doesn't mean it has anything to do with me dating Sunwoo...does it??