HOME , yoo seungeon

✩ ZERO

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023
4.30 P.M.

SEOUL, KOREA

Another leaf fell from a tree and landed in front of Lee Jihyeon. Several leaves crunched under her Converses as she headed out of the airport and towards the parking lot, luggage in hand. She looked up and smiled, ready to start the autumn by tackling her first year at university.

Lee Jeonghyeon was at the parking lot, ready to welcome his sister. "Jeong!" Jihyeon called out, waving towards him.

With a smile, he beckoned for her to walk over instead, pointing to his black car. "Since when did you have the money for a car? And a Benz, of all things?" Jihyeon gave him a look.

"This isn't mine, it's one of Ricky's. He said I could borrow this car, since I don't have the money to buy one and no one ever drives this, anyway. To him, I'm doing him a favour, helping him keep the engine going. " Jeonghyeon replied with a shrug. The Lee siblings shared a look, knowing full well that Jeonghyeon's best friend was loaded. Rich didn't even begin to cut it.

"Ah, I see." Jihyeon replied. Jeonghyeon fished the key out of his pocket and opened the car door. "Get in, you can put the luggage in the backseat." He tilted his head towards his sister. Jihyeon gratefully placed her luggage in the back, then hopped into the shotgun seat.

"Jeong, let me choose the music." Jihyeon said, grabbing her phone. "Wait, what's the Bluetooth address for this car again?"

"SQR-MCB04." Jeonghyeon deadpanned, stepping on the gas. A minute later, 'Very Nice' by SEVENTEEN was playing.

Jeonghyeon couldn't help himself from singing "Achimen MO!", which earned him a look from his sister. "Since when were you a CARAT, dude?"

"Don't 'dude' me, I'm your older brother. Let's just say one of mine and Ricky's friends is a CARAT and covered this song during his high school graduation concert. He made it iconic... and sort of a meme for us." Jeonghyeon laughed at the thought of his friend performing the very song they were listening to.

"Ooh, whose parts did he cover?" Jihyeon's eyes widened, excited at the thought of potentially befriending a fellow CARAT.

"Mostly the main vocalist parts. They divided the lines by vocal ability, not by member. So he took all the high notes and Seungkwan's parts." Jeonghyeon said it like it was no big deal, but Jihyeon's jaw dropped hearing this.

"Damn, I gotta give him some respect. Those are hard," she muttered under her breath. Jeonghyeon smiled. His sister was a great vocalist and could hit most high notes easily, supporting from F3 all the way to G4. With her range, she was able to tackle almost any song she wanted to.

Jeonghyeon, on the other hand, was not as amazing as a vocalist, since his range wasn't very big. However, he had all the right techniques, allowing him to sing well. He was the most well-versed in rapping, though - he could easily tackle any of BTS's raps (and trust me, if you have listened to any of their songs, you'll know that their rapping is insane) - and he had no problem with dancing as well. Although Jihyeon wasn't as good of a dancer as Jeonghyeon, her moves and body control were smooth and clean. The Lee siblings were talented, a rare gift from the heavens.

The siblings spent the rest of the car ride chatting and listening to random K-pop songs that popped out on Jihyeon's Spotify Mix: 'Yes or Yes' by TWICE, 'Energetic' by Wanna One, 'Boy with Luv' by BTS and many more classics.

Half an hour later, Jeonghyeon parked in front of an apartment complex. "We're here, Jihyeon. Get your stuff. You're staying in my spare room. When are the movers coming?"

"Tomorrow. School also starts tomorrow, right?" Jihyeon heaved her luggage out of the backseat.

"Yeah. You can meet my friends and their girlfriends then. The kids at uni are really nice, and this year's batch of first years are amazing. Wait till you meet Ricky's friends - Gyuvin, Yunseo, Seungeon, Sung Hanbin, Hao and the others. Haerin's dating Gyuvin now. Most of them are older than you, but some of them are your age. Heck, there are high schoolers among them." Jeonghyeon laughed and took her duffel bag. 

"Okay, damn. That's young. What about your friends? Don't tell me you don't have any." Jihyeon teased the older boy, giggling as they both walked towards the lift lobby.

"Keita, Anthonny, Akari, Park Hanbin, Yebin, Taerae. Some of my friends, like Junghyun and Jihoo, are still in high school too. You can tutor them if they ask. Anyway, welcome to my not-so-big apartment. Make yourself at home, I guess." Jeonghyeon said as he unlocked the door to his apartment. It wasn't very big, but it was cozy enough for the two siblings. 

Jeonghyeon pointed out Jihyeon's room to her, which she immediately went into. It had a bed, an empty bookshelf and a white desk, which Jihyeon decided was perfect for studying (and decorating). She placed her things in the room before heading outside to explore the apartment. She found Jeonghyeon playing on his phone and threw a pillow at him. "Yah, Lee Jeonghyeon, do you not tidy this place? Why is there a random pillow on the floor?"

"Don't talk to me like that, kid. I tidy the place once every two days. Maybe if you actually help out a bit it'll be tidier."

"Oh, shut up." Jihyeon rolled her eyes. "I just moved here, like, five minutes ago."

"No. Anyway, do you wanna meet my friends? I'm meeting them for dinner later. We're having Chinese food." 

"Count me in!"

"Alright, be ready by six twenty. We have to be there by six forty-five." Jeonghyeon eyeballed her, knowing that she would probably take forever to get ready.

"Yes, sir." Jihyeon said, going back into her room to unpack.

NOTES !

so i've been wanting to work on an actual book like this for a while... here you go i guess :D