#keyve

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t ask. Trainer Lee told us there wouldn’t be any lessons today and that was all I needed to hear.”

He nodded. “What are you doing now?” Kibum pointed at the coffee table where her books were scattered on it.

“We have to do a project on a Korean ballerina, I’m doing Park Saeeun,” Eve answered. “It’s due in a week so I’m doing it now to get it out of the way.”

“Yeoksi, my princess is smart to do her work in advance,” he complimented her. Kibum walked into the kitchen to get something to eat.

“Your food’s in the fridge, just warm it up!” Eve told him, referring to the lunch she made. She focused again on her project.

“Thank you!” He got his food and put it in the microwave. When the microwave beeped, signalling that his food was heated up, he took it out. He fetched a spoon, beginning to eat his food as he stood against the counter. “Oh, I’m going to have my friends over for a movie tonight.”

“Okay,” she said as she continued working on her project. “What time will it be?”

“They’ll get here around seven thirty and we’ll start watching the movie at eight.”

Eve hummed. “I won’t be at home then. I’ve got my practice, remember?”

“Right!” Kibum nodded, remembering the late night practice she told him about yesterday. “What time?”

“Six until ten.”

He hummed as he ate his food. “I’ll pick you up after. The movie should be done by then.”

She nodded. “Thank you taxi driver-nim!”

“Yah, don’t call me that!” He complained, pointing his spoon at her. “You don’t even pay me.”

“You give me my allowance. If I paid you, it’d just be with your money.”

“Then I should stop giving you an allowance.”

“No! Don’t.” Eve pouted. “I need the allowance,” she said sweetly.

Kibum hummed noncommittally as he continued to eat his food. “Where are the babies?” He asked, referring to his dogs.

“I think in your room. I gave them food when I got home and then started working on my project. Lemme go check on them.” She stood up and went to her brother’s room. “They’re here!” She whisper-shouted. She reappeared, going back to her work station in the sitting room. “I think Commes Des has anger issues,” she said as she read information on Saeeun. “He kept growling at Garçon earlier,” she told him.

“He doesn’t have anger issues,” Kibum defended his dog, “he just has a strong personality.”

Eve stared at her brother. “He’s–”

“An angry dog, I know honey.” Rolling his eyes, he finished the last of his lunch. “But you’re also just scared of dogs, so you have a biassed opinion.”

“No. My fear of dogs helps me know which dogs are sweet and which dogs aren’t.”

“Whatever you say.” He walked out of the kitchen, going to sit next to Eve. Looking over her shoulder at her work, he sucked his teeth repeatedly. “You’re going to get full marks.”

“You think so?”

He hummed. “If you use a different colour to write the information for the poster, it’ll be a guaranteed 90%.”

“Which colour should I use?” She asked, laying out her highlighter on the table. Kibum leaned forward, looking over the five different highlighters.

“There’s only five colours? I thought after all these years they would’ve added new ones.”

“They added the green and blue. The standard set only has these three.” Eve pointed at the yellow, pink and orange highlighters. “But I have these markers–” she took her markers out of her pencil case– “and there’s many colours.”

Kibum gasped. “There’s even gold. What’s taking highlighters so long to add more colours?”

Eve shrugged. “You should file a complaint.”

The siblings spent the next few hours working on designing Eve’s poster for her project. The dogs woke up and started circling them as they worked. In order to keep them from chewing on her stuff, Eve threw a ball for them to play with. When she had gotten most of her work done, she changed into her leotard and tights, putting her clothes back on before going to the kitchen. She grabbed her bag, stuffing a few snacks in the side pockets so that she’d have something to eat.

“Bye, oppa.” She waved goodbye to her brother as she opened the front door.

“Bye, Nabi-yah,” he replied, playing with Garçon.

“Love you!”

“Love you too.”

After Eve’s practice, she texted Kibum.

princess nabi [22:14] i’m done now

keybutt (ahjussi #3) [22:14] okay~~ i’ll be there within twenty minutes

She sat down on the stairs of the entryway of the school with some of her classmates as they waited to get picked up.

Ten minutes later, one of her teachers, Minji, walked out of the building. “Nabi, what are you still doing here?” She looked around, seeing Eve was the only person.

“I’m waiting for my brother,” Eve responded. “He should be here in a few minutes.”

“Should I wait with you?”

Eve shook her head. “No, you don’t have to trouble yourself. You can go home, Teacher Minji.”

Minji shifted her eyes. “I’m not comfortable leaving you here by yourself.”

“No, Teacher Minji, I’ll be okay. You don’t have to worry. The security guards are still here–” she pointed at the booth by the gate where there were two security guards inside– “so I’m not alone.”

Minji stared at her. “Do you not like my company?”

“That’s not it. I just don’t see the point of you wasting your time because of me.”

“Well, I do. And I’m the adult, so what I say goes.”

Eve huffed. “If you insist,” she said as Minji sat down next to her. Eve opened her bag, ruffling around in it before pulling out a bag of Doritos. “Would you like?” She offered the packet to her teacher.

Minji stared at her. “Didn’t you already eat Doritos during our break?”

Eve tapped her bag. “I have four packets in here.”

Nodding, Minji accepted the chips. “At this point, you should just inject these into your bloodstream.”

Eve took another packet out of her bag. “I should, right? But my mom says not to.”

They sat in silence, only the sound of their crunching chips filling the air. When they were done, Eve took the empty packets and threw them away in the nearest dustbin before returning to her position. She pulled a marker out of her bag, drawing doodles on her hand whilst Minji answered messages on her phone. Soon, a car pulled up to the gate, stopping so the guards would raise it before driving in.

“I think your brother is here,” Minji said, grabbing Eve’s attention.

“Oh! He is.” Eve packed up all the markers she used, having decided to use every colour she had, and zipped up her bag. She stood up and bowed to her teacher, who was also standing. “Thank you for waiting with me.”

“It’s okay.” Minji started walking to her car. “You can bring me a packet of Doritos next time.”

Eve saluted, watching her teacher open her car door. “Aya aye, captain.” She waited until Minji entered the car before walking to Kibum’s. Opening the back door, Eve laid herself against the seats with a groan, putting on the seatbelt of the chair behind her brother.

“You just got in and you’re already complaining,” Kibum said, driving out of the school.

Eve raised her hand in objection. “I didn’t say anything yet.” She took a deep breath before exhaling with a dramatic groan. “Being a ballerina is hard work,” she whined. “My back is sore, my legs are sore, my arms are sore… Who decided to sign me up for this?”

“You,” her brother answered absentmindedly. “It’s a left here, right?” He asked, causing Eve to stare at him in confusion — not that he could see her.

“Yeah, it is,” a voice answered from the passenger seat. A female voice. A female voice that Eve recognised but couldn’t put a name to. A female voice that belonged to a person she didn’t even notice was in the car.

Pushing herself off the backseat, Eve stared at the person. Because of the lack of light, she wasn’t able to identify her. So she instead focused on her brother. “Why didn’t you tell me someone was here?”

“You came in here crying and whining,” he argued. “When was I supposed to tell you?”

“You could’ve texted me and told me not to be annoying! Then I wouldn’t have been annoying!”

Kibum scoffed. “All you are is annoying,” he teased.

Eve gaped at her brother as the car slowed down, the influx of parents picking their kids up from hagwon causing traffic. “Wow. Just how annoying do you think I can be in however long it takes for the traffic to clear up? On a scale of one to ten, how annoying?”

“Eight. Eight point two five,” he rectified. “You’re going to fall asleep before we even make it home. That’ll give me some silence. Anyways, you haven’t even greeted my guest,” he reminded her of the woman, who was silently laughing beside him.

“You’re right.” She turned to look at the woman. “Hello, I’m Kim Nabi,” she introduced herself.

“Ah, you must be the sister,” the woman said, Kibum nodding in confirmation. “I’m Nicole,” she said, turning back to look at Eve, who immediately gasped.

Sitting back against her chair, Eve nodded. “Cool. Cool. Amazing. Great!” She chuckled nervously, trying not to freak out over the fact that Nicole of KARA was in the same car as her. Giving up on being chill, Eve tried to open her door, frowning when it wouldn’t open. “Is the door locked?” She asked her brother.

“Child lock just for you,” he answered sweetly.

Eve sighed, lowkey panicking. “Do you think I could break the window?”

“No.”

“The door?”

“No.”

“The–”

“You can’t break anything, this is a rental.”

“Just buy a car already!” Eve whined in distress. “You’re gonna make little girls cry.”

“What’s happening?” Nicole asked.

“I told you about how she’s a big fan, right?” He asked, waiting for her to nod before continuing, “Whenever she sees someone she’s a fan of, for some reason, she runs away like a weirdo.”

Nicole nodded in understanding. “So she’s trying to run away?”

“Yeah. But I don’t understand why because we’re friends and she knows that.”

“There’s a reason I’m almost never home whenever you have friends over. Or if I am home, I don’t leave my room,” Eve said. “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

“Drink water. You’ll be fine.”

Eve took her bottle out of her bag, gulping down the rest of the water. Sighing once she was done, she felt herself relax. “I do feel better. But I would like to leave.”

Kibum shook his head. “No. You kind of have to stay.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding sadly.

“You’re a Kamilia?” Nicole asked, looking back at Eve, who shook her head.

“Not even. I-I don’t even know who you are. You look like somebody, but everybody looks like somebody. Which makes sense because… everybody is somebody so they-they’re gonna look like somebody, you know? And isn’t it so crazy how people have the same features but look so different? I think it’s crazy. You know what else is crazy?” Eve asked, not giving anyone time to answer. “People. In general. Because–”

“What’s your favourite song?” Nicole interrupted.

“Lupin,” Eve answered without missing a beat.

“Oh! I thought it would’ve been one of the more upbeat songs like Pretty Girl or Mister.”

“I was also surprised by how much I liked it,” Eve said, playing with her fingers.

“This is a bit of a cheeky question, but who’s your favourite member?”

“Um, you and Seungyeon sunbaenim.”

“Really?”

Eve nodded. “Seungyeon sunbaenim is a great singer and you’re a great dancer.”

The three people spent some more time talking, Nicole trying her best to make Eve feel comfortable around her, until the latter girl started feeling sleepy.

“Go to sleep, gongju-yah,” Kibum told her, glancing at her through her in the rearview mirror and noticing how the pout on her face had gotten less prominent the more tired she got. Eve nodded, lying sideways with her head on her bag as she fell asleep.

“Why is she so cute?” Nicole cooed. “It’s crazy!” She squealed. “Does she pout in her sleep?”

Kibum nodded. “It’s annoying,” he complained. “But if you tell her she’s cute, she’ll deny it.”

“She’s the cutest person to ever exist. Why would she deny it?”

“She’s a weirdo.”

“Can I steal her to be my sister?”

“Why are you asking me? You have to ask my parents!”

“Would they let me?”

“Of course not.” He scoffed. “She’s the princess of the family.”

“That’s too bad,” she said with a sigh as they approached her apartment building. Kibum parked outside the gate, unlocking the car to let her out. “Bye, Key.”

“Bye, Cole.” He watched her get into the apartment complex before driving back to his place. When he parked, he turned around to wake Eve up. “Nabi-yah,” he called out softly a few times until she stirred from her sleep. “Let’s go up.”

Pushing herself off the chair, she unbuckled her seat belt and held her bag before leaving the car with her brother. They rode the elevator to their level, Eve immediately going to the kitchen to get something to eat. As she waited for the food she picked out to warm up, Kibum walked up to her, looking at his phone.

“Nicole said she hopes the next time you see her you’ll feel more comfortable,” he told her.

“Absolutely not,” Eve said, shaking her head. “I was only semi-comfortable because I was tired.”

Kibum typed, waiting a few seconds for her to respond. “She said she’ll just have to spend a lot of time around you until you’re comfortable.”

Taking her food out of the microwave when it was done, Eve sighed. “This is crazy.”

tagging: @seolboba // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @cafemilk-tea // @smh-anon // @alixnsuperstxr // @cosmicwintr // @girlzwfun // @txt-yaomi

“That’s good, that’s good.” He nodded. Clapping his hands, he leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk. “I don’t want to waste your time, so let me get right into it. There’s going to be another season of Produce 101 coming up and Mnet asked me if I had any trainees I’d like on the show and I thought of you.” He pointed at her.

“Um, that’s–”

“I know that you’ve been going through some stuff recently,” he interrupted, “and you probably don’t want to do a survival show, but–” he shrugged his shoulders, leaning back in his chair again– “I figured you could use a distraction.”

Eve nodded slowly, playing with her fingers. “When does it start shooting?”

“Sometime in February or March. It won’t start airing until later, though.” He played with his rings, staring at the trainee. “How about you think about it? Come back to me in… a week?”

“Yeah, okay.” She stood up from her chair. “Thank you,” she said, bowing before she left.

“And what did you say?” Somi asked.

“Nothing,” Eve answered. “He said he’d give me a week to think about it. So, I’m going to think about it.”

The two girls were at a Korean BBQ place, having agreed to meet for dinner. Eve had just told her friend about the offer Jinyoung made her.

“Unnie, you have to do it!” Somi said, making herself another lettuce wrap. “You’d blow the roof off the place, you’re one of the most talented people I know.” She shoved the wrap into her mouth.

Eve watched over the meat as it cooked. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “I just don’t feel ready.”

Somi rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “That was your excuse for not going on Sixteen. I’m beginning to think you don’t want to debut.”

“Yes, I do! I just want to make sure that when I present myself to the world, I’m at my best.”

“Unnie, there’s no way you can be at your best as a trainee. You’re going to learn more as you’re in the industry,” Somi told her. “Have you told your brother?”

Eve shook her head. “I forgot to tell him yesterday and he’s in practises for SHINee’s upcoming concerts.” She said, assembling her own wrap. “I told my parents and they said they’ll support whatever I choose.” She stopped moving, staring Somi in the eye. “My dad very unsubtly said he wants me to say yes.”

Somi burst out laughing, clapping her hands. “Your dad knows what I’m talking about! Unnie, you are too talented to not make your debut.”

Eve hesitated to eat her wrap. “I… whatever!” She exclaimed, showing the wrap in her mouth. “Enough about me,” she said as she chewed. “What’s new with you?”

Somi groaned. “Just trying to negotiate with PD-nim about my solo debut. The usual.”

Eve chuckled, all too aware of her friends’ struggle with seeing eye-to-eye with their CEO. “I think you might just convince him one of these days.”

“You bet?” Somi asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes.

Eve nodded. “Yeah. And if he doesn’t budge, I’ll fight him for you,” she promised, causing the younger girl to smile.

“Thank you, unnie.”

Eve rolled her eyes, a smile gracing her face. “Yeah, yeah. Eat more.” She put more meat on Somi’s plate.

The next day, Eve walked to the elevators of the SM Entertainment building, dragging her school bag as she walked and entered the first one that opened. She went to the floor that SHINee’s practice room was on, knocking on the door when she arrived. There was silence on the other end and then–

“Come in, princess!” Minho shouted.

She entered the room, letting go of her bag when she closed the room. “I’ve arrived,” she said, doing jazz hands. The four men were scattered in the room: Minho by the speakers, Taemin on the bench, Jinki lying starfish on the ground and Kibum staring at himself in the mirror, going over choreography. Her eyes roamed the room some more, looking for a fifth man, but stopped once she remembered.

“We see that.” Minho chuckled.

“Your hair’s so messy,” Taemin said, pointing at her sad excuse for a ballet bun.

She ran her hand through it. “We ran through every dance five times today and did extra strength and conditioning. Teacher Haeun wants us to do the dances in our sleep! Since it’s the senior’s last performance as students, she wants it to be our best one ever.”

“Right!” Taemin exclaimed. “You’re graduating this year!”

“Finally!” She groaned, making Taemin laugh.

“Make sure you don’t work too hard,” Jinki warned, raising his arm in warning.

Eve saluted. “You got it.” She chuckled as he laughed. Looking to Kibum, she shifted on her feet. “Oppa, can I talk to you?”

Kibum stopped going over the choreography, turned around and looked at her. “What’s up?” He asked, walking to her.

She shook her head. “Nothing major. I just need your advice.”

“I can also give you advice!” Minho shouted, walking to the siblings. The three of them sat down on the floor near the door.

“So,” she started, “JYP PD-nim said that he wants to put me on the upcoming season of Produce 48, but I don’t know if I should.”

“Do you want to?” Kibum asked her.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I think about going on the show and I’m scared. I think about not going on the show, and I’m filled with regret.”

“When do you need to answer him?”

“Um…” She checked the date on her phone. “Three days.”

“I think you should do it,” Taemin spoke up from across the room. He walked to the trio, Jinki following behind him, and sat down with them. “You’ll obviously come in first place and debut.”

“You’re way too talented to still be a trainee,” Jinki added.

She pursed her lips in thought. “You think? Because Somi said the same thing, but I don’t know.”

Kibum lightly shoved her shoulder. “Yah! What’s the worst that could happen? And don’t take that as an invitation to start listing out bad things,” he said, stopping Eve from doing exactly that.

Minho squeezed her leg. “You’re just overthinking it.”

“That’s literally all I do,” she said.

“Close your eyes,” Jinki instructed, tapping her incessantly when she didn’t immediately obey. “Take a deep breath.” He waited for her to do as instructed. “Squeeze your hands. Now, roll your shoulders back. What’s your favourite colour?”

“Pink,” she answered.

“Song?”

“1 of 1.”

“Do you want to do the show?”

“Yes– Oh.” She opened her eyes, looking at the oldest member. “Oh.”

“Hyung, you’re like a wizard,” Kibum commented, shifting away from his member. “But now that you know, are you going to do the show?” He asked his sister.

Eve nodded slowly, thinking it through. “Yeah. I think I am.”

Taemin whooped. “Yeah!”

She sat on her heels, leant forward and wrapped the members in a hug. “Thank you ahjussi’s.”

Minho reached up, wrapping his hand around her wrist. “No problem, Nabi.”

Eve knocked on Jinyoung’s office door, entering when he let her. Looking up from the papers on his desk, he smiled at her.

“I assume you thought it over?” He asked.

She nodded her head. “Yes, I did and I would like to do the show.”

His smile got bigger at her words. “That’s great news! I’ll tell the executives.” She nodded, turning to leave the room, but stopped at the sound of his voice. “This is really great. I’m… I’m planning on debuting a girl group,” he told her, “and I wanted you in it, but I wasn’t sure if you were ready. But this will be a good opportunity to test you — see if you’re ready.” He looked down at the papers on his desk. “Your debut in the group will depend on your performance on Produce 48,” he said, “so make sure to do a good job.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, gulping. She couldn’t deny the amount of pressure she felt too do good in order to debut in a permanent group.

He smiled at her once more. “You may go,” he dismissed.

Eve nodded, leaving his office. She walked to the elevator, going down to the practice rooms for her lesson. As she approached her room, she pulled out her phone.

[nabi’s ahjussi’s]

nabi [18:34] i told PD-nim i’d do the survival show

keybutt (ahjussi #3) [18:34] yeah!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!!

taem (ahjussi #5) [18:34] fighting nabi fighting!!

flaming charisma (ahjussi #4) [18:34] we’ll make sure to support you!!!

Eve stifled a laugh when Jinki sent a dancing gif. She turned her phone off, putting it in her dance bag. As she entered the room with the other trainees, she told herself she’d work harder than anyone in the entire trainee system to secure her place in the new girl group.

tagging: @seolboba // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @cafemilk-tea // @smh-anon // @alixnsuperstxr

“It’s okay. I’m actually glad we're doing it now because I am so nervous and excited and I just want it to happen. Perfectly,” he added, wiping his hand on his jeans.

Eve glanced at him from the corner of her eye whilst navigating Seoul streets at night. “He's gonna love you. You said he was nice to you on Amazing Saturday! Also, my members love you and they're only slightly less protective of me,” she reassured him. “And if he doesn't like you, then we can be Romeo and Juliet.”

San looked at her with a hesitant expression on his face. “You do know how that story ends, right?”

“They get married?” she guessed with a shrug, still focused on the road. “I’ve never read Shakespeare. I find him boring.”

“They die at the end.”

Eve looked at San and then back at the road. “Wow. What a bummer. We can be some other great couple that goes against their family. But if Kibum ahjussi reacts the way I suspect he will, then we won’t have to.”

San smiled at her. “I missed you,” he said quietly, reaching over to hold Eve’s hand on the centre console.

“I missed you, too.” She blew him a kiss as she drove to the gate of Kibum’s apartment complex. “Hello, I’m here for Kim Kibum,” she told the security guard when he came to the car window.

“Does he know you’re coming?” he asked as he called Kibum’s apartment.

“Yes, he does,” Eve replied.

Kibum soon answered and gave the security guard permission to let them in. Eve quickly found a parking spot in the guest parking lot and switched off the car, turning to face San.

“You ready?” she asked.

San exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. “Not quite.”

Eve chuckled and reached over to brush her hand against his cheek, causing his eyes to flutter open. “He’s not gonna hate you. It’s impossible to.”

San nodded. “Okay. I’m ready.”

She smiled and leaned over to press a quick kiss on his lips, pulling back with a smile on her face. “Let’s go.”

They exited the car and walked hand in hand into the apartment building, taking the elevator to his floor until they stood in front of Kibum’s door. They shared one last look before Eve put in the code for the door, entering soon after.

“Honey, I’m home!” she shouted as she and San took off their shoes. Commes des and Garçon ran to greet her. Kibum soon appeared at the hallway wall, leaning against it with his right arm above his head and a smirk present as day on his face.

“Nabi,” he said cheerfully, walking to her with a pep in his step and hugging her when the dogs had gone to inspect San.

“What’s up with you? You sound like a stay-at-home mom that had a bottle of wine at 10 in the morning,” she said over his shoulder, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Kibum simply chuckled as he pulled out of their hug. “Don’t be silly,” he said, swatting Eve’s shoulder. He then focused his attention on San, who had been standing in the doorway awkwardly and waving at the two dogs. “You must be San,” he said as San bowed.

“Stop acting like this is your first time meeting him. He knows you're a weirdo,” Eve scolded from behind them, causing Kibum to glare at her before facing San again. She called Commes des and Garçon to her so she could play with them more, tickling the area behind their ears.

“Thank you for inviting me, sunbaenim,” San said.

Kibum waved him off. “Don’t mention it. Let’s go to the table.” He directed the both of them, turning the corner into the living room area where the dining room could be seen, plates of food sitting on the table. Commes des and Garçon went to their beds where they had their dinner laid out in front of them in their bowls. Eve stopped walking the moment they turned the corner and her eyes focused on three figures already sitting at the table.

“What are ahjussi’s one, four and five doing here?” As far as she was concerned, this was supposed to be dinner with Kibum only. She looked at her brother and suddenly his odd behaviour began to make sense. “You were acting like a drunk housewife because you invited the other ahjussi’s?”

Kibum just smiled and nodded, letting his cult leader smile drop from his face. “Of course I invited them. This is a family affair!”

Eve rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, scoffing. San looked between the two siblings, unsure of what to do.

“Yah! Stop fighting, you’re making Nabi’s boyfriend feel awkward,” Minho scolded from the table.

The siblings turned to look at San and took note of his posture. They looked at each other and silently agreed to a truce. Kibum led them to the table, them sitting on one side and Jinki, Minho and Taemin sitting on the other.

“So. Ahjussi’s. This is San,” Eve introduced when they were all seated. “San, this is Jinki, Minho and Taemin,” she said, pointing at each of the members when she said their names.

“Hello,” San greeted and the members greeted back. The house was soon engulfed in silence.

“This is very awkward,” Jinki commented.

“If I was told the other ahjussi’s would be here then I wouldn’t be this awkward, but no! Everything needs to be a secret!” Eve exclaimed, causing Taemin to laugh.

“How about we start eating?” Kibum suggested. Everyone else agreed and started picking at their plates. Kibum started reaching to cut the steak on Eve’s plate for her when she turned to look at San.

“Can you cut my steak for me?” she asked him sweetly.

All movement at the table stopped. Jinki froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. Minho’s hand was stuck in the air from when he was taking a sip of his wine. Taemin had his hand over his mouth in shock. Key squinted his eyes at his sister. San’s jaw dropped as his eyes flitted between everybody at the table.

San quickly got over his shock and leaned in to whisper in Eve’s ear, “Um, is– isn’t your brother supposed to do that?”

Eve merely shrugged as everyone watched with bated breath. “He’d argue that he didn't sign a contract so…”

San blinked. Twice. “Are you sure?”

Eve nodded with a smile. “Yes.”

San gulped. He slowly reached towards Eve’s plate as everyone watched him. He was about to hold the plate when he stopped. “No, this isn’t right! Your brother is supposed to do this, Biyah,” he whined, much to Eve’s amusement.

She pursed her lips to conceal her smile as Kibum covered his mouth with his hand. Taemin looked to the side so San couldn’t see his face. Minho coughed to cover his laughter. Jinki put his food in his mouth to keep himself busy.

“I mean,” he continued, seemingly unaware of everyone's reactions, “even if he invited his members without asking you, he should still cut your steak. You told me that if you’re eating steak with him, then he has to cut it for you. So, I’m not going to!” He finished passionately.

Eve burst out laughing uncontrollably, leaning back against the chair for support and the other four men followed her. San watched them with questioning eyes, confused at why they were laughing.

“Well done, Sannie,” Eve said after calming down. She reached over and tapped his nose, his eyes closing shut at the contact. “You passed.”

San looked from her to Kibum – who had also calmed down – and back at her. “I passed?”

She nodded. “Yep. Kibum oppa said that in order to get his stamp of approval, you need to respect that he’s the most important man in my life – his words not mine – and this was the only way to test that. Therefore, you passed.”

“Oh,” San said, still surprised. He slowly moved to face forward again. “Okay.”

“You see, San,” Kibum started after taking a sip of his wine. “Nabi is my baby sister, and I wouldn’t want her to date some asshole that thinks he’s more important than me. Obviously we are important to her in different ways, but at the end of the day, I’m her brother. And if her boyfriend had no problem disrespecting me, then he'd have no problem disrespecting our parents. And that’s something I can’t allow.”

San nodded in understanding as he listened to Kibum. “I would never try to disrespect you, sunbaenim. Or your parents. Or the rest of your family,” he vowed. “Nabi wouldn’t even let me. I know how important you are to her and I wouldn’t want to cause any problems with her relationship with her family.”

“That’s good,” Minho said as he cut up his steak. “I liked you from the moment she told us she was dating you,” he added matter-of-factly.

As San proceeded to talk with Minho, Jinki and Taemin, Eve turned to look at Kibum with a smile on her face. He reached over to squeeze his hand before cutting her steak up for her. She sent him a finger heart when he was done and ate a piece.

“As much as we tease Nabi,” she heard Jinki say as she started listening to the conversation, “we would bury a body for her,” he finished, crossing his arms.

“Even if that body is her first boyfriend,” Taemin added, half-jokingly, causing San to gulp. Eve kicked her leg out under the table and Minho let out a yelp.

“Ow!”

“Oops. That was for the oppa on your left,” she said, gesturing at Taemin. Minho punched Taemin in the arm, who immediately gasped in pain.

“Okay, I’ll dial it back,” he said, raising his arms in mock surrender.

“Goes to the military and immediately starts threatening people.” Eve scoffed.

The rest of the night went by in a blur. After finishing dinner, they all went to the sitting room and sat on the couch. Commes des and Garçon quickly warmed up to San and started fighting for his attention, causing Eve to pout because “Why aren’t they fighting for my attention?”. They played Monopoly and San beat all of them flawlessly, triggering Eve and Minho’s competitive spirits. To end the night, the SHINee members shared embarrassing stories of Eve.

“She just shaved it off,” Taemin said through his laughter. He was telling the story of the time Eve accidentally shaved off one of her eyebrows with Minho’s shaver.

Eve huffed and crossed her arms. “I thought it was a skin softener! I didn’t know why you used it all the time!”

San looked at her with pursed lips, trying not to laugh. She rolled her eyes at him and he burst out in laughter. “I’m sure you looked really cute,” he said.

“I think I have a picture of her,” Jinki spoke up, reaching for his phone. Eve scrambled to steal his phone and held it to her chest.

“Nobody can see these photos,” she said seriously.

San and her soon got ready to leave. She said goodbye to the boys, hugging them all before walking to the door as San bowed respectfully to them. Kibum walked them to the elevator.

“It was nice to officially meet you, San,” Kibum said, sticking his hands in his pocket as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

“You too, sunbaenim,” San sincerely responded.

“Thanks for not being annoying,” Eve thanked Kibum.

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks for only being mildly annoying.”

The elevator came and the two got in.

“Bye, oppa,” Eve said as she and San waved goodbye. Kibum waved goodbye to both of them as the doors shut.

When they got in the car, San let out a deep exhale and Eve chuckled as she fished her keys out of her pocket.

“How was it?” She asked, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car.

“Great!” He exclaimed. “They really love you,” he observed.

She shrugged as she pulled out the parking space and drove out the apartment complex, waving at the security guard. “Yeah, I’m their baby. They’re super protective of me. I’m basically Yeri but in JYP. And related to one of the members.” She rested her hand on the centre console and San soon linked his fingers with hers.

“I’m glad you have so many people that care about you,” he said.

Eve smiled. “Me too.”

“Did you know he was inviting his members?” He asked once they arrived at his dorm building. “Like, was that part of your plan?”

Eve shook her head. “I didn’t have a clue. The only plan we had was to get you to do something that he’s supposed to do. I merely saw my opportunity and took it.”

“Well, you guys really had me convinced,” San said as he got out of the car. He walked around to Eve’s side and she rolled down her window. “Goodnight, Biyah.”

Eve reached out and held San’s face in her hands, pulling his face to hers and placing a kiss on his lips. “Goodnignt, Sannie,” she said once she pulled away.

tagging: @mystic-luv // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @cafemilk-tea

“Isn’t this too much?” He asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I asked my hairstylist what I’d need and I just brought everything she said.”

He nodded, watching as she continued organising the hair products.

“But–” she looked up from her work– “where are the other ahjussi’s?” She looked around the empty practice room.

“They went to a café,” he answered.

“All three of them?”

“I don’t understand it either.”

Eve shook her head, going back to work. She finished up a few seconds later.

“Okay. I’m ready for you.” She placed a pillow on the floor for him to sit on. He moved to sit, shifting so he was comfortable.

“What hairstyle are you going to do?” Jinki asked as Eve started brushing his hair.

“Pigtails,” Eve answered. “Simple and cute.”

Jinki reached behind him to touch the hairdryer. “Then what’s this for?” He asked with a laugh.

Eve huffed. “I don’t know. Unnie said I should have a hairdryer just in case. So I brought it just in case!”

“Okay, okay.” Jinki nodded. “Don’t get too worked up.”

Eve playfully rolled her eyes. She picked up a spray bottle filled with water. “Unnie said it’s good to work with damp hair,” she explained as she sprayed Jinki’s hair.

“Did you not use water when you did your hair for dance?” He asked.

She nodded her head. “I did, but I’d also use hair spray when I needed to get rid of wisps.”

She swapped the spray bottle for a rat-tail comb, sectioning out his hair. Taking one of the hair ties off her wrist, she messily tied the bottom section to keep out of her way. She picked up the comb again, sectioning his hair down the middle.

“Is this the centre of your head?” Eve asked, holding the comb over Jinki’s forehead.

Jinki thought for a second. “A little to the left.” Eve moved her hand half a centimetre. “That’s it!”

“Okay.” Eve redid the middle part, trying her hardest to keep the line straight. She messily tied the right section off so she could do the left section. “How’s rehearsal’s going?” She asked.

Jinki hummed. “No complaints. It’s nice to be with all the members again.”

“Taemin ahjussi has started being a menace, right?”

Jinki chuckled. “It took him five minutes to start being himself.”

Eve giggled as she tied the left section. “Yeoksi, my partner in crime is back.”

“You haven’t seen him yet, have you?”

She shook her head as she admired her work. “I’ve been busy,” she said.

She untied the right section as they continued talking and brushed it out. Eve did her best to make sure the pigtails were at equal heights on Jinki’s head. As she started tying his hair, the door opened and the other SHINee members entered.

“Nabi!” Taemin exclaimed, getting ready to run to Eve.

“Wait!” She shouted as she finished tying Jinki’s hair. She used one of the brushes to brush away some of the wisps then handed him a mirror so he could see himself.

“It looks so cute,” Jinki gushed. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” Eve packed away her things then stood up. “Okay continue,” she told Taemin.

“Nabi!” He exclaimed again, running to her.

“Taemin!” She exclaimed as she also ran to him. They met in the middle of the practice room in a hug. “Never leave ever again,” she said when they pulled apart. “These people are so boring,” Eve complained, throwing Kibum and Minho brief glances.

“Yah!” Minho whined.

Taemin nodded in understanding. “It must’ve been so hard. I’m the only fun one!”

“Yes! They kept being boring like ‘You can’t do that, it’s dangerous’ and ‘That is almost definitely illegal.’”

“I’m back now, you can have fun again,” Taemin comforted, patting Eve’s head. “You’re a redhead,” he pointed out, playing with Eve’s hair.

“You’re a blonde,” she said, touching his hair.

“Did you do Jinki hyung’s hair?” Kibum asked, fiddling with Jinki’s pigtails.

“When did you get over there?” Taemin asked, pointing at his member. “I thought you were still at the door.”

“I walked here,” Kibum deadpanned.

Eve nodded her head. “I did his hair. He grew it out and I had to take my opportunity before he cuts it,” she said, her voice breaking off at the end as she pretended to get emotional.

“Do my hair too,” Minho said as he walked to the bench. He started unpacking Eve’s bag. “Why is there a hairdryer here?”

Eve walked to Minho. “My hairstylist said I should bring it just in case, so I brought it just in case,” she explained. She pointed at the pillow Jinki was still sitting on. “Sit please.”

Minho pushed Jinki off the pillow, causing the older man to groan. Jinki pushed himself up to a standing position, softly kicking Minho to the side as he walked to Taemin.

“What have you been up to since I was away?” Taemin asked Eve as he and Jinki started messing around.

Eve picked up the spray bottle as she answered, “I had comebacks with ITZY, filmed a drama, did a variety show with Jinki ahjussi, had my solo debut–”

“Nice!” Taemin cheered.

“–fainted on stage–”

“Not nice.”

“–was on hiatus, came back from hiatus, went on tour and that’s about it. Oh, I also started a variety show, which reminds me–” she pulled Minho back by his hair so he was looking up at her– “you guys need to come on it when you have your comeback, please and thank you.” She released his hair before picking up the rat-tail comb to section off his hair.

“That’s So Evie?” Minho asked.

Eve hummed. “Most of the comments under Jinki oppa and Kibum oppa’s videos are asking to have SHINee on the show.”

“Of course we’ll go,” Kibum said as he sipped his coffee. “Just talk to our team about it.”

Eve paused as she tied the bottom half of Minho’s hair. “Have your comeback first.”

Minho laughed as Kibum responded, “I’m just saying! For when we do come back.”

“Okay,” Eve said as she parted Minho’s hair down the middle. “Why did all three of you need to go buy coffee?”

“Key didn’t trust me to get his order right,” Minho answered.

“And they both didn’t trust me to get their orders right,” Taemin added.

Eve continued working on Minho’s hair as they all talked. She smiled as Taemin told them about his cats’ newest habits. When Eve was done with Minho’s hair, she tapped his head.

“Thank you for the service,” Minho said as he observed his hair.

“I take cash or card,” Eve told him, holding her hand out. Minho laughed as he shook his head.

“I’ll pay you later.”

Eve nodded, stretching her arms out. “You better. Otherwise I’ll report you.” She looked at Kibum and Taemin, who were lying next to each other on the floor. “Next customer?”

Taemin shook his head. “My hair isn’t long enough.”

“Neither is Minho’s and look at him.” Eve pointed at Minho, who was comparing his hair to Jinki.

“I’ll grow my hair out and then you can do it,” Taemin said.

“Okay. Key?”

“I’ll also do it next time,” Kibum said with a sigh.

“Cool.” Eve packed up her things. “Can my clients pose for a picture?” She asked, pulling her phone out of her sweatpants pocket.

“Yes hairstylist-nim,” Jinki responded. He and Minho stood side by side with their arms wrapped around each other as they posed for Eve’s picture. They then ended up taking selfies with all the members.

“Okay, I have to go now,” Eve said after Minho placed her down on the floor from where she was perched on his shoulders for the last picture. “I was graciously given two hours to be here and disturb your schedule, so bye.” She hugged all the members goodbye before fetching her bag from the bench.

“Bye Nabi!” Jinki waved as Kibum walked her to the door.

“Bye. I love you!” She said, making a finger heart over her shoulder as she left.

“We love you too!” Taemin shouted.

tagging: @seolboba // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @smh-anon // @alixnsuperstxr // @cosmicwintr

The camera then showed Eve, playing with the dogs in the entryway. She had a paper bag sitting next to her feet.

[“Ah, it’s his sister,” Narae said.

“I’m a big fan of hers,” Code Kunst said, pointing to the screen.

“Really?” Kibum asked, turning to face him.

“Yes. Major fan.”

“Name one of her groups’ songs,” Kian84 said.

“Uh, you know.” Code Kunst gestured with his hand, mumbling.

The cast laughed at him]

[“Today,” Kibum started, “my younger sister is going to spend the day with me. It’s been so long since we last saw each other, about two weeks.”]

[“Yah, Kibum! Two weeks isn’t that long,” Hyunmoo teased.

“It feels like a really long time,” Kibum defended himself.]

[“Hello,” Eve greeted, “I’m Key’s younger sister, ITZY’s Eve.”]

“Oppa! How do you live like this? Oh my gosh!” Eve exclaimed once she saw the state of the living room. Kibum started laughing at her expression — a mixture between shocked, mortified, and disgusted. Commes Des and Garçon walked past her to lie in the sun.

“It’s not that bad,” he said.

“‘It’s not that bad’? ‘It’s not that bad’?,” Eve repeated. “I can see all the dust on your floor!” She pointed at the floor.

“Now you’re just being dramatic.”

“Does your mom know you live like this?” she asked, crossing her arms and leaning on her left leg.

“I live exceptionally well and mom knows that.” Kibum stopped cleaning, sitting down on the couch.

“We must have different standards because nothing is ’exceptionally well’ about this.” She walked to the kitchen and screamed. “So many dirty dishes! What do you eat with?!”

[“Honestly, sometimes I think she spends too much time with Minho.” Kibum scratched his neck. “They both like to judge me.”

“I do it for fun.” Eve shrugged. “I like annoying him. It’s a favourite pastime of mine.”]

Eve put her bag on the counter and the two quickly got to cleaning up Kibum’s apartment, Kibum working in the living room and bedrooms and Eve working in the kitchen and laundry room. They took a break and sat down on the couch.

“You wanna order something?” Kibum asked, looking at Eve who was on his left.

“Burgers!” She cheered. He smiled at her and laughed.

“Okay, burgers.”

He got up to fetch his phone and ordered the food, sitting down again.

“It’s gonna get here in twenty minutes,” he informed her. She made a thumbs up in response. He looked at the bag on the kitchen counter. “What’s in that bag?”

“Ah!” Eve exclaimed and stood up. She went to fetch the bag, coming back to sit down with it in her hands. “I baked.”

[“She really enjoys baking,” Kibum told the others.

“Ah, really?” Narae asked.

“Yeah, I think it’s healing for her.”]

Kibum tried to peek inside the bag, causing Eve to swat at his hand. She pulled out two containers with food in them. “I made chocolate chip cookies and caramel cupcakes.” she opened the first container — the one with caramel cupcakes — and Kibum groaned at the smell.

“It smells so nice!”

“Of course they do, I made them.” She playfully rolled her eyes.

“Let me have one!” He whined, making grabby hands at the container.

She groaned. “You’re like a five year old, did you know that?”

He waved her off and reached in the container to take a cupcake. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite, groaning at the taste.

“Is it good?” She asked, expectantly.

Kibum nodded and made a thumbs up with his unoccupied hand. “It’s really good. Well done, Nabi-yah.”

Eve smiled at the compliment, closing the container and putting both of them back in the bag.

[“Was it really good?” Code Kunst asked.

“Totally! It was salty and sweet — perfect balance,” Kibum said.

“Aigo! Now I want one,” Narae muttered.

“You can have one,” he said. One of the staff brought in a paper bag, causing everyone to exclaim. “She said that since you’re all going to see the cupcakes, you should also taste them,” he explained, taking containers full of cupcakes out of the bag. Giving everyone a cupcake, he waited for them to open them.

Kian84 gushed, “The packaging is so nice! You didn’t buy these on your way here?”

Kibum shook his head, laughing. “No. She baked them for you. She tried to do some for even the PD’s, but she had a schedule that she had to attend so she ran out of time.”

“Oh!” Hyunmoo exclaimed. “There’s writing on the box. ‘Hello! I hope this finds you well. I made this for you to re-energise you, so please enjoy! From, Eve. P.S, I’m sorry if the icing is a bit smudged.’ Wow! Why do I feel like becoming her manager for the day?”

“She’s so nice, right?” Narae asked, bringing her cupcake out the box. She sniffed it and hummed. “It smells so good!”

“Please hurry and eat it,” Kibum pleaded, “she likes to receive reviews after people eat her food.”

“Oh, really?” Kian84 asked.

“She’s probably watching, waiting for you to eat already.”

“Let’s not make her wait longer.”

They all bit into the cupcakes, groaning at the taste.

“Is she a pro?” Narae asked, examining her cupcake. “This is too good!”

Code Kunst cleared his throat. “I don’t want to eat it too fast. I want to just nibble on it.”

“Right,” Hyunmoo agreed.]

“Actually,” Eve began, “I have a bone to pick with you Kibum-ah.”

Kibum looked at her with wide eyes. “What? What is it?”

[“Did she call you Kibum-ah?” Hyunmoo asked, finishing off his cupcake.

Kibum nodded. “Whenever she’s angry or annoyed by someone older than her, she speaks casually to them because, in her mind, they don’t deserve her respect at that moment.”

The cast laughed.]

“When it was your first episode of I Live Alone, you said you had been living alone for eight years.”

“Yeah.”

“Am I a ghost to you?” She asked. “Have I not been living with you since you moved out of the SHINee dorm?”

He laughed, throwing his head back.

[“When Eve became a trainee, she had to move to Seoul for training,” Kibum explained. “I had moved out of the SHINee dorm by then, so we lived together until she went on Produce 48, then she came back and then she moved into ITZY’s predebut dorm and now she lives in a new dorm with her members.”]

“Let me explain,” he said. “I don’t see you as your own person; you’re an extension of me. So, technically, I was living alone because we–” he gestured between the two– “are one.”

“That’s the most nonsense I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

[“She keeps you on your toes,” Hyunmoo noted, Kibum nodding in agreement.

“Does she have a room in your house?” Code Kunst asked.

“Yes. I think it’s going to be shown,” Kibum answered.]

[Eve’s room was shown.]

[“Her room is so neat,” Narae observed.]

“Let’s finish cleaning,” he said, standing up from the couch. “I’ll go tackle my room–”

“You also need to clean your room?” She interrupted, shocked.

He sighed, closing his eyes. “It’s not a big mess, don’t worry. Can you vacuum here?” He gestured to the living room.

Eve nodded, going to fetch the vacuum and returning soon after as Kibum went to his room. Commes Des raised his head when she plugged the machine in, looking away when it switched on.

[“Wait, wait,” Narae said, raising her hand. “Whenever you try to vacuum, doesn’t he bark and growl at you?”

“He does,” Kibum confirmed.

Hyunmoo pointed at the screen. “He looks very calm, though.”

“Yeah, it’s because when I was in my old apartment, Eve was vacuuming and– she’s a bit scared of dogs,” he mentioned, “and Commes Des suddenly barked loudly at her and jumped at her and she got so scared that she burst into tears.”

“Ah.” Kian84 nodded. “So Commes Des doesn’t complain when she vacuums?”

“I think he still feels bad about that, so he just doesn’t react.”]

As Eve vacuumed the room, Garçon walked up to her, sitting by her feet. She patted the dog’s head as she moved around the room, Garçon following her the whole time. When she was done, and had put the vacuum away, she picked up the dog, placing kisses all over its face.

“What’s new in your life?” Kibum asked. Their burgers had arrived and they were sitting at Kibum’s dinner table, opposite each other. The dogs were both eating their own lunches not far away.

“You mean from when we talked three days ago?” Eve joked, taking the gherkins out of her burger. “Nothing much. I got a new sweater. Ah! I had my first therapy session yesterday.”

“Therapy?” Kibum stopped moving, burger halfway to his mouth.

“Yeah.” Eve said and took a bite of her burger. Kibum put his burger down and wiped his hands on a napkin, leaning back in his seat.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s just two or three weeks ago I was going through my schedule with Ari unnie. my manager,” Eve added upon seeing Kibum’s confused expression, “and I was writing down things in my daily planner and when we were done, I looked at it and saw that the pages were full because I had many things to do. And then my hands suddenly started shaking, and I couldn’t breathe and next thing I know, boom! I’m having a panic attack. Ari unnie helped calm me down and comforted me saying how I must feel very stressed because of my schedule and she suggested that I see someone.”

“Yah, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I kept forgetting and when I did remember I didn’t know how to bring it up in conversation. I can’t really just say ‘Hey oppa, I had a panic attack and I’m going to therapy again’ out of nowhere so…”

“But still. Even if I was talking about Commes Des you should’ve interrupted me and told me,” Kibum said, clearly upset.

“Sorry. Next time I have something big like this to share with you, I’ll tell you right away. I’m feeling better now, so you don’t have to worry,” Eve added upon seeing Kibum’s hurt expression.

“Yah, you’re my little sister. I’m always going to worry,” Kibum said as a tear fell out of his eye.

[“Ah, he’s worried for her,” Narae said.

“Nabi isn’t the type to tell anybody if she’s struggling,” Kibum explained and the other cast members nodded in understanding. “She just lets her emotions build and build until she reaches her breaking point. And so I’m always worried about her, wondering if she’s really doing okay or if she’s just saying that.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want you to worry if she tells you she’s having a hard time,” Hyunmoo suggested.

“Maybe.” Kibum rubbed his chin. “But I’m never going to stop worrying.”]

“Yah! Why are you crying?” Eve passed Kibum a tissue.

“Because you’re my little sister and I want to know that you’re okay.” Kibum dabbed his eyes as more tears streamed down his face.

“Aish, now I’m gonna cry.” Eve looked up to stop her tears from falling out her eyes. “And I did my makeup so nicely today!” After some time, she stopped trying to not cry and just pouted as tears fell down her face. “Look what you did to me!” She complained and pointed at her face.

[The cast members laughed.

“She’s so hard to take seriously,” Kibum jokingly complained.

“She said it’s your fault!” Kian84 laughed.]

“Yah! Why are you blaming me for that?” Kibum asked.

“Because if you didn’t cry then I wouldn't have cried. And I hope you know you’re an ugly crier.”

[“She said he’s an ugly crier!” Narae cackled.]

Eve grabbed tissues and wiped her eyes. She then passed some to Kibum who blew his nose. The two siblings wiped away their tears and quieted down.

“Nabi, you can talk to me,” Kibum said, placing his hand on his chest.

“I know, don’t worry. It’s not that I was trying to keep it a secret from you, I just kept forgetting. Really,” Eve assured him.

“Are you going to the same therapist as last time?”

Eve nodded. “Yeah. She gave me a sticker at the end of our session. And a lollipop,” she bragged.

[“She used to go to therapy?” Hyunmoo asked.

“Yes. Before her debut in ITZY, but then she got busy after her debut and was feeling a lot better so she stopped going,” Kibum confirmed.

“Ah.”

“It takes a lot of bravery to take that step,” Code Kunst said.]

Kibum exhaled and clapped his hands. “Should we eat before the food gets cold?”

“Yes!”

The two continued eating, speaking every so often. They finished eating and cleared up their stuff. They went to the kitchen to wash their dishes, working in silence, until Eve started sniffling.

[“What? What? What?” Narae asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“What’s going on?” Kian84 questioned.]

“Yah! Why are you crying again?” Kibum wiped his hands dry and went to hug her, resting his chin on her head.

“I feel bad,” Eve said through a hiccup as tears streamed down her face.

“Ah, why?”

“You’re always looking after me,” she said, hiccuping. "When you’re old and can’t bend your knees anymore I’m going to take care of you, okay?”

He chuckled against her head. “Okay.”

“Promise.” She brought her hand up, pinky waiting for his. Once he linked his pinky with hers, she looked up at him. “You… have looked after me too much. Turn old quickly,” she instructed through her tears.

“I’ll try my hardest.” He squeezed her shoulder as she put her head against his chest again. “Are we going to finish washing dishes?"

“No,” Eve simply said.

“Okay.”

[“I was really shocked when she started crying,” Code Kunst said.

“Me too,” Narae agreed.

“I didn’t think she was still thinking about how worried Kibum was.”

“That’s how she is,” Kibum said, nodding. “She hangs on to random words you say and thinks about them a lot until she’s become emotional about it.”

“I see why you worry about her now,” Kian84 said, shaking his hand around.

“Right?”

“She didn’t seem upset until she started crying.”

Kibum nodded. “You never know what she’s thinking until she has no choice but to express her emotions. It must be hard for her.”]

[“The reason I cried is because he’s always been looking after me. When we were younger, we lived with our grandmother because our parents were busy with work, and he always played with me and entertained me to make sure I didn’t miss our parents too much,” Eve explained, gesturing with her hands. “Even when I went to New York, he’d call me as often as possible to make sure I was doing okay. When I became a trainee, when I moved to Seoul, when I debuted… he’s always been taking care of me. And the conversation we had made me realise again just how much he cares for me, and I felt bad about making him do so much for me.”]

“Are you okay, now?” Kibum asked, stroking Eve’s hair.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Should we watch a movie?”

“Yes.”

an: i kinda love them a little bit. like i keep them close to my hwart

tagging: @lunarxsun // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @cafemilk-tea

“Of course we are,” Jinki said.

“Well wonder no more. Because I am going to tell you now,” Eve said, then kept quiet and looked down. The boys passed looks on the couch in confusion.

“Are you telling us now or..?” Minho asked.

“Just give me a second to be dramatic please.” Was she starting to get nervous? Totally. Did she want the ground to swallow her whole? 100%.

“Oh, sorry. Take your time.”

“Thank you,” Eve sighed. “I have big news to tell you.”

“I’m so hungry,” Kibum complained, absentmindedly playing with Garçon.

“You should’ve had breakfast. This news is very big. I don’t think you guys are ready for it,” Eve said, stalling as she felt her heart start beating faster than normal.

“You’re making me scared.” Jinki looked at the other members quizzically.

“That’s crazy because I’m also scared.” Eve raked her hand through her hair and started tapping her foot.

Kibum stopped playing with Garçon and looked at Eve, noticing the tremor in her voice. “What is it?”

“Well, as I said before, it’s big news,” Eve said as tears welled in her eyes, silently cursing her nerves for getting the best of her.

“Ah, why are you crying?” Minho asked as Kibum got up and hugged her, kissing her hair.

“I don’t know!” Eve groaned and wiped her eyes. Kibum rubbed her back comfortingly, looking over her head at the two boys on the couch.

“Are you okay?” Jinki asked.

“Yeah,” Eve took a deep breath and stepped out of Kibum’s embrace, looking at the three men in front of her before letting her eyes land on Kibum. “Ihaveaboyfriend,” she muttered under her breath.

“Eh?” Minho asked, leaning forward to try to hear her better.

“I have a boyfriend,” Eve repeated louder, still keeping her eyes on her brother, who just looked at her blankly.

“Like a male friend? Many people have those,” Jinki said, looking at Minho and Kibum questioningly.

Eve chuckled dryly. “No, oppa. Like a boyfriend. You know, romantic partner?” she added the last part when she noticed the boys still looked confused.

Kibum was the first member to understand what she was saying and lightly punched her arm. “Yah! Is that what you were so scared to tell us?”

“Yeah, I mean you guys overreact every time a male so much as looks at me so… I don’t know,” Eve sighed defeatedly, putting her hands on her hips. “I thought you guys might be upset, or disappointed or something.”

“Ey, that’s just to annoy you,” Minho said as Kibum led her back to the couch, holding her hand. She was now between him and Kibum. “We don’t actually mean it.” He reached over and nudged her shoulder.

“Yeah. That’s just us being overprotective of you with the intention of annoying you,” Jinki adds.

“Thanks,” Eve said dryly, accepting the tissue Minho gave her.

“So,” Kibum started, singsongingly, “who’s the lucky guy? Is it the one you told me about?”

“Yeah, it’s him.” Eve playfully rolled her eyes as a light blush coated her cheeks.

"”Wait, wait, wait. Kibum knows who he is? That’s unfair!” Minho complained.

“How is it unfair? We’re siblings! We gossip and update each other about our lives! Don’t you do that with your siblings?” Kibum retaliated.

“Well, I do, but I want to know what’s going on in Nabi’s life.”

“Don’t worry ahjussi, I haven’t updated Kibum oppa about it ever since he told Taeyeon unnie, who then told Hyoyeon unnie, who told Sooyoung unnie, who told Tiffany unnie. And they all one by one gave me advice on how to deal with my crush,” Eve said as Kibum looked away in shame and Jinki laughed.

“Wow! You really can’t be trusted with secrets,” Jinki said from the end of the couch.

“I don’t even remember telling her!” Kibum defended himself.

“That’s so funny — hilarious even — but I just want to know who your boyfriend is,” Minho interrupted, causing Kibum to reach over Eve and pinch him.

“I don’t know if you know him. He’s San from ATEEZ. He’s really funny and kind and sweet. He asked if he could be my boyfriend and I said yes,” Eve said, tucking some hair behind her ears.

“He asked if he could be your boyfriend?” Jinki asked.

“Yep.”

“Not if you would be his girlfriend?”

“Nope.” Eve shook her head.

“Wow. people are really stepping it up these days.” Jinki rubbed his hand over his face.

“I approve!” Minho exclaimed. “Him asking to be your boyfriend is the best thing I’ve ever heard someone do, seriously. And we all know that you wouldn’t say yes to him without thinking things through.”

“Thank you, ahjussi,” Eve chuckled.

“Did you tell your members? And the company?” Kibum asked, still holding Eve’s hand.

“Yeah. They weren’t surprised in the slightest,” Eve answered, leaning back into the couch.

“Who else did you tell?"” Jinki asked.

“No one else. I’m gonna tell mom and dad either today or tomorrow. But I wanted to tell you guys first because, believe it or not, I care about what you losers think.”

“So sweet,” Kibum said dryly and dropped Eve’s hand, causing her to laugh and lean on Minho instead.

“Once again, I’m shocked by how much you’ve grown,” Jinki said. “It makes me feel like I’m a dad.” He wiped away fake tears.

“The whole lot of you are so dramatic. No wonder I turned out like this.” The boys laughed at her, Minho jokingly nudging her in the ribcage.

“Next time you have news to share with us, how about you don’t call us at 6am on our day off?” Minho asked.

“I’ll try my best,” Eve said coyly.

“You know we’re gonna support you no matter what you do. As long as it’s not illegal, though,” he added seriously.

“Taemin ahjussi would,” Eve muttered under her breath, causing the three older males to roll their eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. You demon children like to cause trouble,” Jinki said, causing Eve to laugh.

tagging: @lunarxsun // @ateezivy // @ateezjuliet // @cafemilk-tea