"Only Byul will crush on a guy who got his own brother killed."
Jaehan commented, laughing along with his brothers as they walked through the shopping mall.
"Says the guy who has a literal crush on the chief's wife, who is freaking pregnant," Eunbyul countered, crossing her arms defensively.
Yohan chuckled, pulling his siblings apart. "We are still talking about Avatar, right?" He smiled teasingly.
"You never know." Sunghan shrugged. "Jaehan does like his women on the older side."
Donghan laughed, shaking his head. "Okay, boys, break it up. Let's do some shopping before getting lunch," he announced. "It's my treat," he added, getting cheers from his siblings.
Eunbyul smiled gratefully at her oldest brother, clinging to his arm. "Oppa, you are the absolute best!" She exclaimed, earning a chuckle from him.
The Park brothers had all flown in from Japan, wanting to spend some time with their only sister, who couldn't visit them due to her tight schedule.
So, after she had finished the TREASURE concerts, Park Eunbyul finally found some time to spend with her brothers, just roaming around in Korea.
Today's trip was at the Lotte Department Store, and despite it being one of the most popular malls in Korea, for the couple hours the Park siblings had been there, nobody seemed to have recognized them.
Which was an amazing feat, considering Eunbyul was also with them.
"Let's check out this store!" Jaehan announced, pointing at a store with practically no customers. "It has some cool accessories."
The Park siblings complied without hesitation; they were always used to their third sibling telling them what to do and following him.
Eunbyul wandered into the store behind her brothers, checking out the items that were on display. Her gaze darted towards the silver-band rings, wondering if she could get something engraved on them.
It'd be cool to have matching friendship rings with the members.
The red-haired female grabbed a ring, searching for one of her brothers so she could ask if it was a good idea.
Just as she opened her mouth to call for them, Eunbyul spotted a man standing outside the store, staring blankly at her. She politely bowed at him, holding her breath, when he walked into the store and stood in front of her.
She knew that face even though it's been years since she's seen the pictures. It was engraved in her memory, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it.
"Park Eunbyul," the man called, his gaze soft as he looked at her. "Right?"
In the pictures she saw, this man had an unusual handsomeness that was visible from the depth of his brown eyes to the way he carried himself. His eyes crinkled when he smiled, dimples visible even from far away.
And the man she saw in the pictures was exactly the same as the man who stood in front of her.
This man — Park Eunmin — was none other than the father of the Park siblings.
"Nope, you got the wrong person." Eunbyul felt her brother grab her hand, pulling her away. "Excuse us."
"Yohannie. Don't you remember me?"
"Sorry, I don't." Eunbyul could tell he was lying. "Hyungs! Can we leave?"
If there was anything the Park siblings knew, it was that Yohan was never someone who raised his voice. He was such a shy, soft-spoken person; to him, speaking up in public was one of his worst fears.
So, you best bet the adults knew something was wrong as soon as they heard their youngest brother call for them.
Park Eunbyul watched her brothers as they came over, observing the way their faces fell upon recognising the man that was standing in front of them.
"Donghan-ah, Sunghan-ah, Jaehannie." Eunmin could only smile at them. "You all are here?"
Jaehan was the first to speak, having recovered from the initial shock. "What are you doing here?" He asked coldly, a frown on his face as he spoke.
"Oh, I was just shopping for some–"
"No. I mean, why did you approach my siblings? What are you doing here?"
Eunmin froze at the hostility he received from his own son. But then again, after having abandoned them eighteen years ago, what else did he expect?
"Oppa, don't." Eunbyul shook her head, urging her brother to not make a scene. "Please be nice."
Yohan only scoffed at his sister's words. "Be nice? As nice as he was to us when he left us eighteen years ago?" He turned away, refusing to look their father in the eyes.
Eunbyul looked at her oldest brothers for help, but soon realized they were still in shock as they only stared blankly at him, not knowing what to do.
It made sense, honestly.
Since Yohan was only five and Jaehan was ten when Eunmin left, they found it easier to be hostile towards him.
While Donghan was twenty and Sunghan was fifteen, they had lived with their father longer and found it difficult to process his departure.
So, seeing him in front of them after almost two decades came as a shock to them both.
"It's nice seeing you ... D-Dad." Eunbyul greeted the man, still polite despite the situation. "Good to see you doing well."
The Park brothers looked at their youngest, feeling immensely guilty at her attempt to be nice, even though she had every right to walk away.
Donghan finally snapped out of his trance, gaze hardening. "He's not your dad," he strictly stated. "You don't have a dad, Byul. We are the ones who raised you. You got that surname because of me," he explained, his eyes never leaving the man in front of him.
Eunmin felt the words pierce straight through his heart, never knowing that words could hurt this badly. He deserved it, though. He knew that much.
"I'll leave," he stated, giving his children one last smile. "You kids have a great day and–"
"Please, wait! Don't go," Eunbyul called out, fiddling with her hands as she spoke. "Do you have time for some lunch?"
"Byul." Sunghan looked confused, not knowing what his sister was up to. "What are you doing?"
As the youngest turned towards her brothers, they felt their hearts break upon seeing her tear-filled eyes. This was harder on her than anyone else. She still smiled despite everything, grabbing onto the hem of her oldest brother's shirt.
"Oppa, can't we have lunch with him?" She asked, her voice soft. "You guys don't have to come, I can just–"
"Why?" Donghan countered, wondering why she wasn't as mad as them. "Why do you want to have lunch with this man who abandoned us?"
"Call him 'Dad', oppa. Please be respectful." Eunbyul paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "He's still our dad."
Jaehan frowned. "Byul, if you are doing this because you feel bad for us, then you don't have to. You might think we want to spend time with him because we miss him, but we–"
"I know, oppa. I want to spend time with him. He's my dad too, right?"
The Park brothers froze at her choice of words, realizing she must've thought about this scenario a lot. Of course, growing up without a father, she would've wanted to spend time with him if she ever met him.
Eunbyul was such a forgiving person, her brothers were wrong to think she could ever hold a grudge against the man that abandoned them.
"I wanted to reach out to you kids for the longest time," Eunmin confessed, looking at his children with regretful eyes. "But you all looked so happy. I didn't want to ruin that."
Yohan raised his brow. "What changed now?" He asked, still skeptical.
"I wanted to make things right, I guess. Tell you kids the truth so you can make the decision for yourselves."
Sunghan shrugged, unsure about everything. "How do we know that's the true reason? What if you just want money? What if it's because you know Byul is famous? What if–"
Eunbyul's eyes widened at the claims, surprised by her brother's sharp words. "Oppa, don't say that." She turned to their father with an apologetic gaze.
"No, it's alright. I understand where he's coming from." Eunmin shook his head. "But I assure you I've tried to approach you all from way before that."
"Okay, then." Donghan nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Prove it."
"I was there for Donghan's college graduation in 2009, when you all were still in Australia. And then, when Jaehan went for that survival show, I went for every single live show," he stated, getting wide-eyed looks from his children. "When Yohan graduated culinary school, I was there. When Sunghan got the award for his exemplary performance, I was there too."
"Me?" Eunbyul's voice was soft as she asked. "What about me?"
Eunmin chuckled, nodding. "You took your first steps in Frew Park. Donghan had a mental breakdown the first time he had to buy baby formula for you. Your favorite color as a child was yellow." He paused, trying to remember more. "You have a scar on your knee because you had a bad fall when you were around twelve years old. Jaehan cried a lot when he saw the blood."
Eunbyul's gaze shifted to her brothers, wordlessly asking if it was true. Donghan caught her eyes, nodding slowly as the realization settled in for all of them.
They thought their father had abandoned them, but if he knew so much, then that meant he was always around them; he watched them from afar.
Park Sunghan looked at his brothers, meeting their eyes as they exchanged what was on their heads. He turned towards their father, speaking on behalf of all of them.
"Fine, let's talk over lunch. Tell us why you left us when Mama was pregnant with Byul. Tell us everything."
a/n: i had been planning this chapter since last year lmao but yeah i'm sorry for not posting as much, but i am defo working on it! so yeah, here's a little drama, angst, kinda fluffy (if you squint) scenario of byul and her brothers <33