Secrets of Attraction

Twelve: JOOHYUK

"That awful place with the sawdust on the floor?" eomeoni said.

"Yeah, the regulars were not into the Sex Pistols."

"Pissstul," Joon repeated.

"What a lovely word for him to learn."

The doorbell sounded.

"OPEN!" Joon yelled.

Josie popped up.

"Sit," eomeoni said as she got up. All of our attention followed her as we waited to see who it was. She pushed a button the the hallway monitor.

"It's Hyoseop," she said, reaching for the doorknob. Abeoji and I shared a puzzled look. My family knew my version of what had happened, that Sungkyung and Hyoseop were together, and they had lived through my phase as the soulless hermit from hell, but as far as I knew they'd never come face-to-face with Hyoseop since then. I wondered what eomeoni would say to him, and braced myself.

"Hyoseop, hey, come in out of the cold," eomeoni said, opening the door wide.

So much for solidarity.

He stepped inside, running his boots across the doormat before taking them off and pulling his hat off his head. He saw us at the table and hesitated a moment before coming over.

"Hey, Mr. Nam," he said, holding out his hand.

Abeoji stood up and shook his hand. "Hyoseop, long time, no see - how's the new team?"

Thunk. Abeoji always knew how to throw the awkward right into conversation. He sat down, smiling up at Hyoseop, appearing to be truly interested in what he had to say.

"Seopy," Joon said, slapping the little tray on his high chair. Hyoseop laughed at Joon. He and Hyoseop had this thing where they drummed on surfaces when he'd stay after rehearsal sometimes. I hadn't realized it made an impression on Joon. Only Josie ignored Hyoseop. She gave me a quick look and rolled her eyes. At least one of my family members saw him as a jerk.

"New team's alright," Hyoseop said, twisting his hat in his hands.

"Do you want something hot to drink, coffee or something?" eomeoni asked, poised to sit down.

"No, no thank you, just stopped by to see Hyukie."

"We can talk in the garage," I said, pushing away from the table. Hyoseop followed as I walked into the kitchen and put my plate in the sink. He had to be here for the software. Again. He said nothing as we walked through the laundry room into the garage.

I flipped the switch on, rubbed my hands together. Our equipment was set up for practice later that afternoon. I crossed my arms and looked at Hyoseop. He walked over to Jisoo's equipments, ran his finger across the keypad.

"How's he working out?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Good."

"Better than me?"

"Different."

He nodded, sniffled. "Eunwoo's such an asshat. He lost his nut when he found out you guys were doing the battle."

I smiled in spite of myself. "Good. What about you? Lose a nut?"

"Nah. Bring it," he said.

"But you want the software."

"Did you finish it?"

I nodded. He didn't need to know it sucked at the moment.

"I was thinking, maybe we could both do it."