Hidden | YEONGYU/BEOMJUN

05

It was a Saturday morning, the late summer cicadas buzzing outside, while the Choi family's old electric fan turned its head back and forth in their cramped living room. Beomgyu lay on the floor, cheek pressed against the cool mat, eyes half-watching Peppa Pig reruns while pretending he wasn't smiling at the silly pig's antics. His body was relaxed, but his mind was somewhere else entirely—like across the street, where he knew Yeonjun was probably stretching lazily by his window, hair messy, eyes still puffy from sleep.

The door creaked, and chaos, as always, followed the entrance of his sisters.

"Why is Yeonjun hyung always here?" Chuu, his fourth sibling at a blunt, fearless 10 years old, spoke while clutching a stuffed rabbit, eyes squinting suspiciously.

"Yeah," Giselle, 13, flipped her ponytail as she walked in, arms crossed. "Isn't it kinda weird? He's here, like, every day. What is he, a cop patrol or something?"

Sana, 9, gasped dramatically, "Maybe he's a spy!"

The three of them circled around the living room like tiny investigators in pajamas, eyes darting toward the window as if Yeonjun might appear with a magnifying glass and a fake mustache.

Outside, Yeonjun was actually laughing with their father on the front porch, coffee cups steaming in their hands as they watched the neighborhood cats chase each other down the street.

"Pancakes are ready!" their mother's voice called from the kitchen.

Immediately, suspicions were forgotten as the three youngest scrambled, squealing toward the table, fighting over who would get the biggest pancake and who would drizzle syrup first.

Beomgyu dragged himself to the table last, taking a seat with heavy limbs, his hair flopping over his eyes. He pretended he wasn't looking outside to catch a glimpse of Yeonjun, who was sipping his coffee and smiling at something their dad said, his dimple showing. Beomgyu's chest clenched in that familiar, annoying way it always did.

After breakfast, their mother went to clean the bathroom, humming under her breath, while their father stepped out back with Yeonjun again to talk about some neighborhood gossip only adults found interesting.

Beomgyu returned to his place on the living room floor, phone in hand, scrolling aimlessly while the TV played. But the quiet didn't last.

Giselle's eyes lit up. "Hey, after we eat, let's draw Yeonjun hyung and Beomgyu hyung together."

Chuu giggled, clapping. "They would look soooo good together!"

Sana nodded aggressively, "We can use my glitter pens!"

They scrambled into Giselle's room, grabbed art supplies in a chaotic mess, and dumped them onto the living room floor with colored pencils rolling everywhere.

Before Beomgyu could ask what the hell they were doing, the three of them were already sprinting outside to grab Yeonjun.

Their dad raised a brow when the girls started dragging Yeonjun back toward the house.

"Hey, hey, where do you think you're taking him?" their dad asked, wiping his hands on his shorts.

"We need Yeonjun hyung because we will draw him!" Sana declared.

Yeonjun let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at the girls and then at their dad, who only shook his head with a helpless smile.

"You shouldn't be giving those puppy eyes to me," their dad said, "You should be giving them to your Yeonjun hyung."

Yeonjun laughed softly, "I would love to," and flashed a bright smile that made all three girls squeal, pulling him inside.