1.
Seungcheol opened his eyes and groaned as sunlight blurred his vision. He stretched his arms out as he took in the unfamiliar sight of the sauna he and his family were currently staying in.
Yesterday evening, Seungcheol and his siblings came back from school only to find the top of their house in shambles. They lived in a small house with a wooden roof, and apparently, termites had eaten through the roof, leaving large gaps throughout the ceiling of the house. Seungcheol immediately called his mother and notified her of the situation, and by nightfall, the family had packed their things and called someone to fix the house.
The company they had hired said it would take a few months for the roof to be fixed, an amount of time Seungcheol found absurd, but couldn't argue with because it was the only business that his family could find. Fortunately for them, the owner of the public sauna sympathized with them and allowed them to stay there for the night so that they could make future arrangements.
"Ji-na-ya, Seungpo-ya, wake up. We have to go to school soon," Seungcheol commanded, shaking his younger siblings awake.
His younger sister, Ji-na, grumbled and slapped Seungcheol's hand away, while their younger brother, Seungpo, rubbed his bleary eyes and smiled at Seungcheol cutely.
The three of them took showers and put on their school uniforms. They grabbed their bags and walked over to their mom who was talking to someone on the phone. They patiently waited for her to finish. She hung up the phone and smiled at them.
"Good news, kids! I've found a place for us to stay!" Seungcheol's mother exclaimed, her face looking much more relaxed than it did the night before.
"That's a relief. We need to get going to school though now, so can you text me the address? When I pick these two up after school, we'll meet you there," Seungcheol said, kissing his mom on the cheek. His mother nodded and waved at them as they left the sauna.
☼
"Hey, where do you think we're staying?" Ji-na asked Seungcheol after they dropped Seungpo off at his school.
Seungcheol shrugged, and Ji-na let out an annoyed sigh at her brother's disinterested response. They approached the entrance of Ji-na's school, and Seungcheol gave his sister a one-armed hug.
"Don't make too many people cry today, okay?" Seungcheol instructed teasingly.
Ji-na waved her hand dismissively and ran through the entrance to catch up with her friends. Seungcheol watched her enter her school, then put in his headphones as he walked to his own school.
☼
As Seungcheol walked through the entrance of the school, he felt a light weight slam into his back. He turned around to see who had bumped into him, his face darkening when he realized who it was.
"I-I'm so sorry! I was pushed and accidentally fell into you! I didn't mean to do it on purpose, I promise!" Jeonghan rambled, his cheeks red with embarrassment. Seungcheol's face scrunched up with disgust, and he walked away from the other boy, not even bothering to spare him another glance. He couldn't let his day be ruined by something as trivial as this.
☼
The school day was finally over. Seungcheol's day at school was mainly uneventful, other than the little scuffle he had gotten into with Jeonghan earlier in the day. In his classes, Seungcheol quietly did his work, and at lunch, he hung out with his friends.
He had notified his friends about his family's living situation during lunch, to which they responded by telling him that they were sorry for him and that they would help him out in any way they could. Though Seungcheol refused so he wouldn't burden them, his friends' caring words warmed his heart and put a smile on his face.
Currently, Seungcheol was walking with his good friend Hansol so that they could pick up their little sisters from school together.
Coincidentally, the two girls were also close acquaintances, attached at the hip ever since Ji-na had protected Hangyeol, Hansol's sister, from a soccer ball that almost hit her in the head one day. The two of them spent more time together than their brothers did, something that the two older boys found adorable.
"Hey, but hyung, where are you gonna be staying? We'll still be able to hang out together, right?" Hansol suddenly spoke up, looking at Seungcheol worriedly. Seungcheol grinned reassuringly at him.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'm sure the people we'll stay with won't mind if I have my friends over from time to time. Besides, if they do, Ji-na and I can just come over to your place," Seungcheol replied.
Hansol smiled back at him as they approached their sisters' school entrance. They waited outside for their sisters, who came out together a few minutes later. The pairs of siblings said goodbye to one another and parted ways.
☼
As they walked to Seungpo's school together, Seungcheol asked Ji-na about her day at school, even though he knew he would regret it when his sister would start rambling about Hangyeol.
"We finally got our math tests back and Hangyeol-ah got a perfect score again! She's so smart! I'm honestly so jealous. Oh, and today in P.E., we played basketball, and Hangyeol didn't even break a sweat! She looked so pretty while playing! How is that even possible?!" Ji-na prattled. There it was.
"Listen, sis, I love you a lot, I really do, but do you think you could talk about something other than your girlfriend for at least five seconds?" Seungcheol teased.
Ji-na punched his arm, and Seungcheol flinched in pain. He rubbed his arm and pouted childishly.
"She's not my girlfriend, you idiot." Ji-na grumbled, glaring at Seungcheol.
"Whatever you say," he mumbled back. "Elegant, my ass."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
☼
The two of them picked up Seungpo from his school and put the address their mom had sent them into Seungcheol's GPS.
"Hey, look at this. Isn't that the street that intersects with ours? I wonder if we're staying with one of the neighbors that we know," Seungcheol pondered after reading the address that his mother had sent him again.
The three of them approached the street together and walked past a few houses until they got to the address that their mom had sent them. They stood in front of a large, beautiful house, Seungcheol's mouth wide open in shock as he recognized the house that they would be staying in for the next few months.
"You've got to be kidding me," Seungcheol muttered, an annoyed look on his face. As if fate wanted to taunt him more, Seungcheol's least favorite person exited the house and noticed him standing there.
"Seungcheol-ah? Why are you waiting outside? It's so cold out here! Come in quickly!" Jeonghan urged, ushering the three of them inside and shutting the door behind them.
Seungcheol glared at the back of Jeonghan's head and silently cursed his luck. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands. This was going to be a long few months.
A/N: hi yes I hope this didn't disappoint too much! honestly, I think I'm going to make Seungcheol's character a lot like Nezumi from No. 6, and Jeonghan will probably be like Shion. if you've watched that anime, you can kinda tell, can't you? Seungcheol is super cold and distant and Jeonghan is practically his clueless, sweet wife who's always trying to help him and cares about him and wants to know him better and such.
in honor of that, I've linked the opening to No. 6("Spell" by Llama). it's an amazing anime, definitely one of my favorites if not my all-time favorite. I really recommend watching it :) I was also slightly inspired by a Nezumi/Shion fic for something I may include in the plot. I've already talked with the author who wrote that fic, and they gave me the green light for that idea so here we go!
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! have a wonderful day!