Fate and Destiny

TWENTY ONE

On Monday, Sungjae was having lunch with Eunkwang and Changsub in his office when he talked to them about the promise he made to Youngjae the previous night.  "Hyung. What time do you usually leave the office?" Sungjae asked them.  "If we're in the middle of a negotiation, same time as you. If not, around 7:00PM. Or 6:00PM, at the earliest," Eunkwang replied.  "Same," Changsub said.  "And what time do you get home?" Sungjae asked them again.  "It usually takes about an hour or an hour and a half, depending on the traffic," Changsub answered.  "And do you always get to eat dinner with Hyolyn noona and Chorong noona?" Sungjae asked again.  His hyung-deul looked at each other before replying at the same time.  "Yes," they said.  Putting his chopsticks down, Eunkwang focused on Sungjae.  "What's this about, maknae?" he asked him.  "Last Friday, you rushed out of the bar. And then yesterday, you left the clubhouse in a hurry. What's with that?" Changsub added.  "Sorry, hyung. I just felt guilty for making people wait for me at home. Since they moved in, Sooyoung always waited up for me before she could go to sleep. Then last Saturday, I didn't know Jaejae wanted to ask me to help him assemble the plane model we bought for him. He didn't say anything about it because I already told him I was going to play golf the next day. When I was talking to Hyunsik hyung yesterday, I suddenly get what Sooyoung meant when she told me I didn't do anything wrong but I did do something. Jaejae wasn't mad at me. But I disappointed him. And I don't want to do that again, hyung. I know how it feels, and it's not a nice feeling," Sungjae said.  "Aish! Don't be too hard on yourself, Sungjae. This is all new to you. You're still adjusting," Changsub said, patting him on the shoulder.  "That's what Sooyoung said. Anyway, Jaejae told me, he understands if I'm busy but he would really like it if we could eat dinner together. So I promised him that from now on, I'll go home early everyday and stay home on Sundays," he told them.  "Oh, and get this, hyung. Jaejae said he loves me," he added proudly with a silly smile on his face.  "We're happy for you," Changsub said sincerely, while Eunkwang patted his shoulders.  "So we won't meet at the bar or for golf anymore?" Eunkwang asked him, going back to their topic.  "Would you like that, hyung?" Sungjae asked him curiously.  "No. I mean, of course, I love having more alone time with Hyolyn, but I also love spending time with you, boys. It's our way of bonding," Eunkwang said.  "That's kind of what Jaejae said. He said it's okay if I don't have dinner with them every Friday because I'm eating out with you. He also said I should still play golf with you because you're my friends. So I thought, maybe, we could still meet at the bar every Friday but we won't stay out too late like before, then play golf on Saturday mornings and spend Sundays with the family," he suggested.  His hyung-deul's ears perked up when Sungjae said the word family.  "Let me see if I got it correctly. We leave work early every day. Meet-up on Fridays then go home early. No work on Saturdays but play golf in the morning. Stay home on Sundays. Did I get it right?" Changsub said.  Sungjae nodded.  "I'm down with that. Chorongie will be happy," Changsub said.  "Is Chorong noona unhappy that I take too much of your time?" Sungjae asked worriedly.  "It's not like that, maknae. Every night, when I get home, she would ask me if I already ate. Then her next question is if I made sure that you already went home. She's more concerned about you burning yourself out than us spending too much time together. Why do you think Eunkwang hyung and I always made sure that you leave first before we do?" Changsub explained.  "Your noona-deul loves you just as much as we do. You're their baby brother. Hyolyn has scolded me more times for not making sure you're eating properly, than me coming home late. You can't imagine how glad she was when I told her about Joy making lunch for you every day. She was so happy about it that she wants to meet Joy and buy her a present. She said now you're sure to have, at least, one decent meal," Eunkwang told him.  "Wow! I didn't know I've been such a burden to all of you. I'm sorry, hyung," Sungjae apologized.  "Aish! You're not a burden to us. We're brothers. All seven of us," Eunkwang said, giving Sungjae a playful flick on the forehead.  "Thank you, hyung. For always caring about me," Sungjae said to Eunkwang and Changsub, rubbing his forehead.  "You can thank us by being healthy and not making your noona-deul worry," Changsub said.  "I'll tell the guys about our new game schedule so they can free up their Saturdays," Changsub added, gathering his leftover food before leaving Sungjae's office.

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Joy, Irene, Seulgi, Yeri and Wendy were walking to the school's parking lot at the end of the school day when all their phones pinged with an incoming text message.  All except Irene's.  With a raised eyebrow, she watched the four read their messages.  "Seriously?!" Wendy, Seulgi and Yeri exclaimed after reading their text, prompting Joy and Irene to look at them curiously.  "What? What?" Joy and Irene asked nervously.  "Woah! Joy. What did you do to Sungjae? Hyunsik oppa just asked me to go out, like, this Sunday," Seulgi said, obviously surprised.  "Minhyuk, too," Wendy added.  "Them, too?" Yeri piped in.  "Ahhh! I get it. Thank Jaejae," Joy said.  "Youngjae?" they chorused.  "Sungjae-ssi bought an airplane model kit for him last Saturday, and he was kind of hoping they'd assemble it together. So Jaejae was a little disappointed when his appa said he was going to play golf with his hyung-deul yesterday. It seems Sungjae-ssi caught on Jaejae's mood so he came home early and helped him with it. And to make up for it, Sungjae-ssi promised to be home early everyday so he can eat dinner with us. Well, except Fridays, because Jaejae insisted that his appa should still spend time with his hyung-deul. So Friday is still boys' night out for Sungjae-ssi and his hyung-deul, Saturday is their golf day and Sunday is family day," Joy explained.  "What?" Joy asked when she saw four pair of eyes looking at her with amusement.  "We just find it funny how you easily say, his appa, home and family when you talk about Sungjae and Youngjae, and yet you keep calling Sungjae, Sungjae-ssi," Seulgi said.  "Yeah. You've been under one roof for some time now. Isn't it about time you just call him Sungjae or oppa?" Wendy added.  "I can't. I'm not that comfortable yet to call him any of that. Besides, he might not like it if I talked to him informally," Joy said.  "So you're comfortable enough to talk back to him, but not enough to drop the formalities? You're really funny, unnie," Yeri said sarcastically.  "That's different," Joy protested.  "How is it different?" Wendy asked.  "It's just is," Joy insisted, making the others laugh.  "Yah! You've been harping on me about Sungjae-ssi but the three of you never told me and Irene unnie that you're dating his hyung-deul," Joy protested, effectively shutting Wendy and Seulgi up.  "I'm not dating Peniel oppa. He's just helping me with my photography," Yeri reasoned out.  "Helping, my butt. That's just an excuse," Irene said.  "But you, girls, are seriously leaving me out of this dating game. And to think I'm the oldest," she added.  "What about Ilhoon oppa?" Yeri asked her.  "Yah! Don't you mention that rat's name to me again. Ever!" Irene scolded Yeri.  "What really happened between you, unnie? I asked Hyunsik oppa but he has no idea," Seulgi said.  "And according to Minhyuk oppa, Ilhoon himself is clueless why you hate him so much," Wendy added.  "Clueless or just playing dumb? In any case, I don't want to talk about it. Suffice it to say that he did something wrong. End of story," Irene insisted.  "How can it be the end of story when you don't have closure and it still affects you? Maybe it's about time you two talk about it. Maybe there's a valid explanation," Joy suggested.  "I'm not sure I'm ready yet," Irene confessed.  "Then when will you be? I think you've let this gone on long enough, unnie. You won't be able to move on unless you get a closure," Seulgi advised.  "I'll think about it," Irene promised.  "Just know that whatever happens, we're here for you, unnie," Yeri said.  "Yeah! We'll help you beat him up, too, if needed. I'll hold his arms for you," Wendy offered in jest.  Just then, they saw Youngjae running up to them.  "Eomma!" he yelled, waving at Joy.  "Is appa on the way home now?" he asked when he reached them.  "Yup! I just got a text from him a while ago. He said he's leaving the office in a while," Joy confirmed.  "Then let's go, so you and ahjumma could prepare dinner before appa gets home," Youngjae said, pulling on her arm.  "Okay! Okay! Hold your horses," Joy told him.  "Unnie, Yeri. We'll go ahead. This rascal is practically dragging me away," Joy said teasingly, turning to her friends.  "Fine! Go! We can see how excited this elf is to see his appa," Irene teased Youngjae, pinching his cheek.  Youngjae giggled.  "Thank you, *imo. We'll see you tomorrow," Youngjae said, then gave them a full 90-degree bow, before he laughingly ran off to the car, making them laugh with his cuteness.  "No wonder he's got Sungjae under his thumbs. He's too cute to resist," Wendy said.  "I know, right?" Joy agreed.  "You'd better go. The little elf is getting impatient," Seulgi chuckled.  "See you tomorrow, unnie," Yeri said, waving to her as Joy walked to where Youngjae was waiting.  "I'll stake my right arm, they'll be a real family in less than a year. Wanna bet?" Yeri dared her unnies.  "NO!" they chorused.  "It's clear Sungjae and Joy are starting to see each other in a different light. They just haven't realized it yet," Seulgi said.  "Oh, they'll know soon enough," Wendy declared.  "And yet again, I'll be left alone," Irene whined.  "Don't say it. I already know," she glared, effectively cutting the three off when she saw they were about to say Ilhoon's name again.

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IMO - aunt