as all friends do, they have a couple of unspoken rules. namely: don't you ever date my sister. turns out, as they're all meeting at this party, this rule is a lot harder to respect than they expected.
a zb1 applyfic | closed
Somehow, Vicky always popped out of nowhere when Jiwoong was getting ready to work. He'd barely started grading papers that she’d stomped out of her room, with a face that he knew too well. He sighed as he removed his glasses to set them down on the table, before turning to her.
"What's it this time?" He exaggerated the annoyance in his voice, just to test how important what she was going to ask him was.
And in fact, by the pout that immediately formed on her face, it seemed to be important enough. "I need your help, right now. Come to my room, please."
"I'm kind of busy here, is it urgent?"
"Very, very urgent! Come on, help your little sister out," she huffed out as she crossed her arms over her chest.
He relented immediately, "alright, I'm coming. It better be important, though."
Abandoning his work, Jiwoong followed Vicky through the long corridors of their house, all the way to her neatly decorated room. As soon as she opened the door, he spotted that Dior chair with a pink flower print that she’d begged their dad to buy her a year before. Of course, she didn't have to beg much, their father was always happy to spoil the little princess of the family. Jiwoong could have said something about that, if he hadn’t been the exact same.
Vicky rushed to her wardrobe, opening it briskly. With a long sigh, she let her eyes wander over the many clothes she had. Jiwoong smiled in recognition. This was a "what do I wear" sort of problem.
She turned to him, eyebrows furrowed. "You know, I didn't want to go to that party, but you said I should, so I'm making an effort for you. In exchange, you should help me pick my outfit!"
"Is it that hard?" He chuckled, moving in closer to take a look at her closet. "You've got so much stuff in there, surely there's something you can wear."
"I know," she muttered, "but I don't really know what the dress code is...I don’t want to seem impolite by wearing something too casual."
Ah, the classics of rich society. Jiwoong had been born in it, and he knew how easy it was to get caught up in appearances and hypocrisy for the sake of saving face. The richer the host, the higher the standards, he'd learned that at a young age. Even children had to be on their best behavior, even though all they wanted to do was play and have fun. Sure, not the most terrible of problems to have. Still, he didn’t like it when it affected his sister, most of all.
He grabbed one of her dresses at random, and inspected it.
"I mean, I think all your dresses are fine for the occasion."
She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking hard. "I guess, but then I don't want to seem too showy either. That's a pretty formal dress."
"How about that, then?" he said as he pulled another dress out, this one a bit looser and simpler.
"Hmm, too casual. I wear this one out all the time!"
It was always too much or not enough with Vicky, Jiwoong knew that well. And because he knew her so well, he'd had a card up his sleeve the whole time. He put both of the dresses back in the closet and turned to her with a slightly mischievous grin.
"Wait for me a minute, I gotta go get something in my room."
And before she could even ask anything, he was already out of her room, sauntering to his. His room was not quite as decorated as his sister's; in fact, it was so bland that it looked like a generic hotel room. He didn’t spend much time in there after all, so the colour of his walls or the brand of his ottoman didn’t matter much. Diving straight for his own closet, he retrieved a pink box he had left there, closed with a bow.
Holding it in front of him, he walked back to Vicky's room, a satisfied smile on his face. She was going to be so happy.
"What's that?" was the first thing she could ask when she spotted the box.
He handed it to her, still grinning. "See for yourself."
He didn’t have to ask twice. Vicky opened the box, and out of it came a beautiful blush pink dress, made of delicate organza and ruffles.
Her mouth hanging open, she turned to her brother. "Oh my goodness, is that from that one boutique that makes dresses that look like princess gowns?"
"Sure is. Since you were making the effort of going to the party, I thought you'd like a cute new dress to wear there."
She hurriedly put the dress back in the box, only to wrap Jiwoong in the tightest hug. "Thank you so much Jiwoong, you're the best brother ever!"
"I know Vicky," he murmured as he gently pat her back, "I know."
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