YOONGI'S POV
I was still trying to process what I had just seen.
The first shock was seeing Jin Hyung standing here out of nowhere. The second... was seeing him hug Namjoon Hyung so naturally that it looked like they had been waiting to meet each other for years.
None of it made sense in my head.
I slowly walked toward them just after they pulled away from the hug.
Jimin and Taehyung were standing nearby with small smiles on their faces as if they already knew everything. Uncle David and Aura looked completely normal too, while Namjoon Hyung and Jin Hyung were too busy talking excitedly to notice that I had already arrived.
They only turned when I finally spoke.
"Jin Hyung?"
All of them looked at me at the same time.
"Shit..." Aura dramatically covered her face before walking straight toward me. "Yoongi, you ruined our entire plan. We wanted to surprise you... instead you ended up surprising us."
She wrapped her arms around me without waiting for my reply.
"Yoongi, we literally planned this for you," Uncle David laughed as he came over and gave me a side hug. "You weren't supposed to see us like this."
Before I could even understand what was happening, Jin Hyung had already reached me and pulled me into a warm hug.
"Missed you."
"I missed you too, Hyung..."
As soon as he stepped back, he smiled before turning toward Namjoon Hyung.
"Oh, right..." He casually placed a hand on Namjoon Hyung's shoulder. "Meet my boyfriend... Namjoon."
...
Wait.
Boyfriend?
For a second I genuinely thought I had heard something wrong.
"What?" The word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
I stared at Jin Hyung, then at Namjoon Hyung, then back at Jin Hyung again.
Since when?
Jin Hyung used to tell me everything.
Aura suddenly grabbed my shoulder, looking just as betrayed as I felt.
"Exactly!" she complained dramatically. "See? Same reaction. My own brother is such a traitor. He didn't tell me a single thing. This morning he suddenly announced to me, Mom, and Dad that he's been dating someone."
She folded both arms across her chest before glaring at Jin.
"I was literally the last person to know."
Namjoon Hyung rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I'm really sorry, Aura. It was my decision to keep our relationship private."
Aura let out an exaggerated sigh.
"I still can't believe it. Out of all the people in the world... you and my brother? If someone had asked me yesterday, your name would've been the last one I'd guess."
Honestly...
She had just spoken the words that were stuck inside my own head.
I would've never imagined these two together.
Uncle David looked at Namjoon Hyung with a proud smile.
"So, Namjoon... are you happy?"
"Of course, sir."
Sir?
I looked between the two of them in confusion.
I'd never seen them interact before.
"Dad..." Aura suddenly looked at Uncle David. "You know Namjoon Oppa... and Jimin Oppa... and Taehyung Oppa too?"
"Of course I do." Uncle David chuckled. "They were all my students. Some of the brightest students I taught before I moved back to Singapore."
I was surprised.
"They were... your students?"
I had absolutely no idea they all knew each other from before.
"Dad..."
This time Jin Hyung's voice sounded noticeably quieter.
He hesitated for a few seconds before asking the question that had probably been bothering him the most.
"You're... really okay with this? I mean... with our relationship?"
For a brief moment, Uncle David simply looked at him before smiling warmly.
"Of course I am." He gently patted Jin Hyung's shoulder.
"I'm happy if my child is happy. That's all any parent should want."
A small smile unknowingly appeared on my own face after hearing those words.
After that, Jimin and Taehyung properly greeted Uncle David. From the way they spoke and laughed together, it was obvious they were meeting an old teacher after many years.
"I'll excuse myself for a while," Uncle David said. "A few of my old colleagues still work here. I should go meet them."
Everyone nodded before he walked away.
The moment he disappeared, Aura immediately held my arm with excitement written all over her face.
"Yoongi!"
"What?"
"We're finally shifting back here."
My eyebrows lifted. "What?"
"Dad is retiring, so we're moving back to Korea permanently." She couldn't stop smiling. "I'm so happy."
A smile instantly spread across my own face. "Really?"
"Of course."
"Thank God..." I laughed. "I was actually missing you."
"I missed you too."
We continued talking while she still held onto my arm, but in the middle of the conversation I suddenly felt someone watching us.
The feeling was so obvious that I instinctively looked up.
Jimin.
He was standing a little away from us, looking directly in our direction.
Our eyes met for only a second.
Aura also noticed him and quietly let go of my arm without saying anything.
A few minutes later, all of us settled around one table.
Aura sat beside me. Jin Hyung sat next to her, followed by Namjoon Hyung. Taehyung took the seat beside me, while Jimin quietly sat directly across from me.
For a moment everyone started talking among themselves.
Then I looked toward Jin Hyung.
"Jin Hyung..." He turned toward me.
"Congratulations, Hyung."
A bright smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you."
Then I looked at Namjoon Hyung. "And... congratulations to you too, Namjoon Hyung."
It was probably the first time I had called him Hyung so naturally after years.
He smiled, the familiar dimples appearing on both cheeks.
"Thank you, Yoongi."
Aura suddenly leaned forward across the table.
"Jin Oppa... since how many years have you two been dating?"
Jin Hyung tilted his head as if trying to remember.
"I think... five years."
Before anyone else could speak, Namjoon Hyung immediately corrected him.
"Six... if we include the one-year talking stage."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Aura dramatically pointed a finger at Jin.
"I officially disown you as my brother. Six years... and you hid such a huge thing from me."
"I was going to tell you."
"When? After your silver anniversary?"
Even Taehyung couldn't stop laughing.
While everyone continued teasing them, I quietly leaned back in my chair.
Six years...
So they've been together all this time...
Then... did I misunderstand everything?
Did Namjoon Hyung got over Jimin long ago?
______________________________________
Flashback
Five years ago. Singapore.
I had finally inherited everything that legally belonged to me the moment I turned twenty-one. The endless court procedures, paperwork, and meetings with lawyers had finally come to an end. I owned the company now, the properties, the shares... everything people had once fought over. Years ago I thought getting all of it would somehow make my life better.
It didn't.
Life had shown me enough that nothing surprised me anymore. After losing people, leaving people, and learning how quickly everything could disappear, money no longer felt important. Compared to everything else... it felt small.
Kevin, Aura, and I were sitting in the university library as usual. The three of us had occupied the same corner table we always studied at. Aura was highlighting something in her textbook while Kevin looked half asleep with his face buried inside a thick medical book.
I wasn't reading at all.
The book had been open in front of me for almost twenty minutes, yet I hadn't turned a single page.
My mind wasn't there.
The sudden vibration of my phone broke the silence.
A news notification appeared on the screen.
Breaking News.. Fire breaks out at XXX Hospital in Korea. Five doctors seriously injured.
My heartbeat immediately became uneven.
Without knowing why, I opened the article.
The hospital was same where Jimin worked.
The names of the injured doctors were listed one after another. The moment my eyes landed on one particular name...
Park Jimin.
Everything around me disappeared.
I didn't finish reading the article. I didn't tell Kevin or Aura where I was going. I grabbed my bag, left the library without another word, and booked the earliest flight to Korea while running out of the university building.
Please... don't let anything happen to him.
It was the only thing repeating inside my head.
The flight itself took more than six hours, but every minute felt endless. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. Every time I closed my eyes, another terrifying possibility appeared in my mind.
What if I'm too late...?
By the time I landed in Korea, it was already night.
I hurriedly got into the first taxi I found and gave the driver the name of the hospital where the injured doctors had been transferred. Even during the drive, my eyes remained fixed on the news updates, hoping to see something that would tell me he was safe.
The taxi finally stopped outside the hospital.
Before the driver had completely parked, I had already opened the door.
Inside, reporters were everywhere, speaking into cameras while hospital staff hurried from one corridor to another. I heard one of the reporters mention the floor where the injured doctors had been admitted.
Without wasting another second, I ran toward the elevators.
The numbers above the lift moved painfully slowly.
One...
Two...
Three...
It wasn't enough.
I turned around and ran toward the staircase instead.
By the time I reached the floor, my breathing had become uneven. I stopped the first nurse I saw walking past.
"Excuse me... do you know which room Park Jimin is in?" I asked between breaths.
She looked at her clipboard before pointing down the hallway.
"Straight ahead, then left. Room one-twenty."
"Thank you."
I quickly nodded before walking in that direction.
Halfway there, I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head, adjusted my cap lower, and pulled my mask over my face without even thinking.

I finally stopped in front of room 120.
Before opening the door, my eyes instinctively drifted toward the large glass window beside it.
I froze.
Jimin was sitting on the hospital bed.
His head was wrapped in a white bandage, but apart from that... he looked fine.
He was smiling.
Sitting beside him was Namjoon hyung.
The two of them were talking so naturally that I couldn't hear a single word through the glass, yet I could tell from Jimin's face that he was comfortable. At one point Namjoon picked up the bowl from the table and casually held a spoon toward him. Jimin accepted it without hesitation before saying something that made both of them laugh.
I remained standing outside.
My hand slowly dropped from the doorknob.
He looks fine...
Relief spread through my chest so suddenly that it almost made my knees weak.
Then another feeling quietly replaced it.
They look happy together.
My eyes stayed on the glass.
They are good for each other...
I watched Namjoon Hyung adjust Jimin's blanket before saying something that made Jimin smile again.
Maybe... this is where I don't belong anymore.
Didn't he hate Jimin for planing all this for me?
Why would he hate his own friend?
Without realizing it, my hand had already curled into a fist inside my hoodie pocket.
It wasn't anger toward them. It was anger toward myself.
I had come all the way here just to see him once... Yet now that I finally could... I didn't have the courage to walk inside.
After standing there for another few silent seconds, I slowly turned around.
I will come back... But not like this.
The next time I stand in front of you... I want to be someone you can't face.
With that silent promise buried inside my heart, I walked away without letting him know I had ever been there.
Flashback Ends.
______________________________________
So the time I came to see Jimin... Namjoon Hyung was already dating Jin hyung.
The realization settled inside my mind.
Unknowingly, I felt... relieved. I didn't even know why.
Part of me used to think maybe i was replaced but now at least I got to know... I wasn't.
I lifted my gaze to look at Jimin. He was already looking at me.

"By the way, guys, I need to tell you something." Namjoon hyung's voice pulled everyone's attention toward him.
Taehyung looked up first. "What is it?"
Namjoon rested his elbows on the table before looking at all of us one by one.
"I already discussed this with Jimin and Jungkook, but I wanted everyone else's opinion too. I was thinking..." He paused on purpose before smiling. "How about we all go camping?"
"Camping?" Jin hyung repeated.
Namjoon nodded. "We went years ago? Me, Jimin, Taehyung, Jungkook and Yoongi." He was telling this to aura and Jin Hyung
"It's been a long time since all of us went anywhere together. This time there are more people, so I thought it would be fun."
The moment he mentioned camping... A flood of old memories quietly returned.
The cold night air. The bonfire. Sleeping inside tents. Cooking together.
It was still one of the best memories I had.
"And this won't be an ordinary camping trip," Namjoon added, looking unusually excited. "I've already planned everything. Trust me... this is going to be completely different."
Taehyung immediately leaned forward. "Hyung, now you're making me curious."
Jimin laughed. "See? I told you he wouldn't tell us anything."
"Exactly," Namjoon grinned proudly. "It's a surprise."
"I'm in," Jin hyung said without even thinking twice.
"Me too," Taehyung replied.
"I'll come too," Aura nodded.
Everyone started agreeing one after another until, eventually, all of their eyes slowly shifted toward me.
I pushed my chair back and stood up.
For a brief moment, my eyes wandered toward Jimin before looking away again.
"Don't expect me to come. I won't."
Without waiting for anyone to stop me or ask why, I simply turned around and walked away, leaving them behind me.
It was already night.
I was sitting on the bed with a few medical books spread out in front of me, laptop opened for few notes. Residency wasn't something you could survive without studying. One exam ended, another waited ahead. Sometimes I wondered if doctors ever truly stopped being students.

I was wearing a fitted black T-shirt and my glasses, the same pair I usually wore. Without realizing it, I had placed the end of my pen between my lips while reading through the page, completely lost in the chapter.
That's when I heard the bedroom door open.
I looked up.
Jimin walked inside.
The moment his eyes landed on me, a smile appeared on his face without him even trying.
I narrowed my eyes.
What's there to smile about?
I remembered how he used to scold me every single time I studied on the bed instead of using the study table. According to him, beds were meant for sleeping, not for turning into a library.
He was wearing a black full-sleeved T-shirt with comfortable night pants, his blonde hair still slightly messy as if he had only just changed after coming home.
Instead of saying anything, he quietly walked toward me before sitting on the couch at left side of the bed. He leaned forward, resting both elbows on his knees while supporting his chin on his palm, simply watching me study.
"Need my help?" he asked.
"No." My answer came without hesitation.
"You sure?" he asked again, completely ignoring how quickly I had refused. "Because I won't help you once your exams are near."
I finally lifted my eyes from the book and looked at him over the rim of my glasses.
"And who wants your help?" I asked. "Do you still think I'm a child?"
A small smile appeared on his face.
"It doesn't matter whether you're a grown man or a child. You'll always remain six years younger than me."
I quietly took the pen out of my mouth and placed it on the book.
"I already told you I don't need your help," I said before opening my highlighter. "And even if I do, I'll ask Aura. She helped me all these years anyway."
The change on his face was almost immediate.
His relaxed posture disappeared. He leaned back against the couch, folding his hands loosely over his lap as though he didn't care.
He cared. He was just trying very hard not to show it.
"Of course," he muttered. "Go ask your friend."
There it is.
That tone. The same jealous tone he always tried to hide behind his cold face before.
"Of course I will."
I calmly highlighted another paragraph.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he suddenly asked, "By the way... why did you say you aren't coming for camping?"
"Because I'm not." I didn't bother looking up.
"You have to come." His voice changed.
It was the exact same tone he used years ago whenever he had already decided something for both of us.
"And who are you to tell me what I have to do?" I replied while continuing to read.
I didn't even notice him standing until two fingers gently caught my chin and lifted my face away from the book. Now i was looking up at him.
He was standing right in front of me.
Close enough for me to notice every little detail on his face.
"I'm your heartbeat..." he said quietly, looking straight into my eyes. "Aren't I, my nerdy boy?"
For a brief moment... My mind went completely blank.
Why... did he call me that?
I quickly removed his hand from my chin before lowering my head back toward the book as though nothing had happened.
"I have to study."
"Still shy..." he chuckled. "I see nothing has changed."
Who said I'm shy?
You'll definitely know one day whether I'm shy or not.
Before I could say anything, his fingers slipped into my hair.
He slowly adjusted the strands near my forehead until my small bangs naturally fell over my eyes.
Exactly... The way he always used to do. He had always loved touching my hair for absolutely no reason.
He looked at me for a second before smiling to himself.
"There...My cute boy is back."
I looked up at him.
"Can you please let me study?"
Instead of arguing, he simply raised both hands in surrender before walking back toward the couch.
He climbed onto it without another word, lying on his stomach before pulling his tablet in front of him. Within seconds he became completely absorbed in whatever he was doing, scrolling occasionally with one hand.

I tried returning my attention to the book.
I really did. But every few minutes... My eyes wandered back to him.
His blonde hair had fallen over his forehead while he concentrated on the tablet, occasionally pushing a few strands aside without even realizing it.
Who would believe this man is already thirty?
The blonde suited him ridiculously well.
It honestly looks like he was born with this color.
I looked down at my notes again.
Concentrate on your studies.
I read the same sentence three times.
Not a single word entered my head.
Somehow... I always ended up looking at him again.
Finally giving up, I closed the book with more force than necessary, gathered all my notes into my arms and walked toward the study table instead.

Maybe... If I stayed farther away from him... I'd finally be able to study or u was just distracting myself from not looking at him.
Finally, after a few hours, I finished studying. I closed the last book and stretched my neck before my eyes instinctively wandered toward the couch.
He was still there.
Curled up in that small space, one arm tucked beneath his head as if the couch was more than enough for him. The blanket had slipped halfway down, yet he didn't seem to notice. Even while sleeping, he looked exhausted.

For a long moment, I simply stood there looking at him.
Without realizing it, my feet carried me toward the couch. I slowly bent down, my hand lifting on its own, wanting to wake him up and tell him to stop being stubborn... to come sleep on the bed instead.
My fingers were only an inch away from his shoulder.
Then I stopped.
They remained suspended in the air for a second before I quietly pulled my hand back.
I don't have that right anymore.
I straightened myself and silently returned to the bed.
Time kept passing.
The room remained completely silent except for the ticking of the wall clock. I turned to one side... then the other... then onto my back, but no matter how many times I closed my eyes, sleep refused to come.
After what felt like forever, I looked at the clock.
Three. It was already three in the morning.
I let out a slow breath, staring at the ceiling for another minute before looking away.
My insomnia was back.
Then again... maybe it had never really left.
Sometimes it became better for weeks, sometimes it returned, and at this point I had stopped fighting with it. If sleep came, I slept. If it didn't... I simply waited until morning.
The old me would've panicked by now.
Why can't I sleep? What if I don't sleep at all? What if tomorrow becomes another disaster because of this?
I used to cry over sleepless nights.
Now... Pain had strange ways of changing people. It took away the things that once broke you and somehow taught you to live with them instead. Maybe that's what growing up actually was... not becoming happier, but becoming used to carrying the weight.
I quietly got off the bed, careful not to make any noise that would wake him. Opening the drawer beside the wardrobe, I pulled out a cigarette packet and slipped one cigarette between my fingers before taking the lighter from my pocket.
I stared at it for a few seconds.
I know it's a bad habit.
But somewhere along the way... it stopped feeling like a choice and quietly became a habit.
Without making a sound, I opened the bedroom door and stepped outside.
Just beside our room, on the left side of the hallway, was the small balcony.
The entire house was asleep.

The night breeze immediately brushed against my face as I stepped outside. The city looked peaceful from here, lights glowing in the distance beneath the dark sky. For a moment, I simply stood there, letting the cold air hit my face before placing the cigarette between my lips.
I pulled the lighter from my pocket.
Just as my thumb was about to flick i..
"What are you doing, Yoon?"
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