Payback AU: What If

Act 2.8 - Rooted Heart Shall Bloom

"Hyung!"

Yoohan awoke with a gasp and pounding heart. "What?!" he snapped in surprise, even with a drowsy head. He'd developed a case of anxiety every time a member of his family shouted for him, as if someone would collapse again.

But this morning, he was greeted with Hansoo looming over his bed, grinning mischievously. "Come on, get up and have breakfast."

Yoohan stared at his brother blankly. This little prick surprised him so early in the morning just for breakfast? "You wanna die?"

"He he, come on Hyung, before the soup got cold."

"What soup?" Yoohan rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Tsk, my Hyung became lazy once he's in college, hmph!" Hansoo shook his head patronizingly while dodging Yoohan's pillow throw. Although there was actually some truth in it. Since it was just the beginning of the semester, Yoohan haven't really studied hard, and the more flexible class made him no longer need to wake up at dawn. Basically, ever since he graduated, Yoohan had been spending his morning rather more leisurely. Which was kinda nice and somehow therapeutic.

Yoohan stretched for a bit before following Hansoo out towards the kitchen, where a rather nice spread of meals filled the dining table. A nice savory smell wafted from a bowl of piping hot seaweed soup. "There you are, let's eat now, birthday boy."

The particular birthday boy blinked his eyes several times and stood dumbly. "See, Mom, I told you Hyung must've forgotten his birthday again."

Yoohan shrugged and sat at the table nonchalantly. "It's just a birthday, it happened every year."

"Hyung, you're no fun." Hansoo lamented.

But as Yoohan ate his birthday meal, he suddenly remembered the text he got last night. "Ah, so that's why," he muttered while chuckling. Jay had texted him a restaurant address and reservation time. Yoohan had thought it was just for a normal dinner, since Jay had been away for two weeks on a business trip and they hadn't met for quite some time, just exchanging texts and calls. But might it be a birthday dinner? Yoohan had missed it completely, probably because the text didn't contain any words of "birthday" or "dinner".

"Too bad we can't celebrate by eating out or something..." Hansoo pouted, which earned him a smack from his older brother.

"Celebrate my ass. You just want to eat out, don't you?"

Hansoo giggled, but his mother seemed to feel a little guilty. "Sorry that I don't have time today, Yoohan-ah."

"Don't mind it. I'm thankful enough for the meal. You shouldn't get too tired, you know." Yoohan looked at his mother with a frown. The surgery might have worked, but there's always a chance of relapse, so Yoohan was still worried. Though, his mother stubbornly refused to stop working for that. "Also, I have a plan already," he added when his mother still looked guilty.

Their reaction was not what Yoohan expected though, for his brother and mother suddenly looked at him rather intently, leaning towards him. "What plan?"

"...dinner?"

"With who?" it was amazing how they were so in sync.

"My...boss?" Yoohan kind of started to get scared of them.

"Oh, is this your boss that gave us a loan for the hospital bill?" his mother perked up.

"Yeah, why?"

"Are you close with your boss, Hyung?"

Yoohan gulped. "I think?"

"Your boss is such a good person. He gives you such a good job and even lends us money without any problem." his mother smiled warmly. Yoohan flinched at that. Hearing his mother calling Yoon Jay a "good person" gave him a mixed feeling. Like he felt it was ridiculous, but he also felt good about it.