The bus pulled to a stop and Seokjin took a deep breath. Beside him, Mark was stuffing his laptop and charger in his backpack—they'd spent the past few hours watching The Princess Bride, which Seokjin had never heard of until Mark showed it to him.

"Ready?" Mark asked.

"I'm admiring you more by the minute," Seokjin said. "How did you do this all alone? I'm going to know you, but you didn't have anyone."

Seokjin was referring to the day Mark had moved in with Seokjin's family, in a new country, without a friend on their side of the ocean, and stayed there for four years. By comparison, the nerves Seokjin felt about returning the favor—living with Mark for college, in his country—must be negligible, but Seokjin had been almost ready to throw up for the last few hours of the ride.

Mark shrugged. "You've come this far, it's not like you can turn around and go back. Not anytime soon, anyway."

Seokjin nodded, but Mark's answer did little to relieve his anxiety. They got off the bus into the cold night air—too cold for September, in Seokjin's opinion.

But he supposed he'd get used to it.

"Mark?"

They turned to see two people standing beneath a lamppost, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes and a boy—he looked in his mid-teens—with sharp, angular features. Both shared Mark's prominent straight nose.

"Mark!" Mark's mother ran forward, the boy with her following a bit more cautiously. "Mark," she said again, wrapping him in her arms, and she was crying and so was Mark now.

Seokjin met the boy who'd come with Mark's mother—he was pretty sure it was BamBam, Mark's youngest brother, but he couldn't be sure. He'd only seen the boy in a picture Mark brought with him—Mark hadn't been allowed to see his family at all in the four years he'd been away, as the program had stated. Only one phone call a month, for a limited amount of time.

The same regulations that Seokjin would have to abide by, now that he was here.

Mark's mother just kept saying his name over and over again, cooing and petting his hair. When she finally stepped back and Seokjin got a better look, he saw that, while Mark and BamBam shared her nose, it was clear that Mark looked more like her, while BamBam looked (assumedly) more like their father—his face was even more angular, all sharp, dramatic edges, while Mark's had some of his mother's softness, especially around the eyes.

"And this is Seokjin," Mark said, leading his mother to Seokjin. "He's the one I've been living with for the past few years."

"Thank you for taking care of my son," Mark's mother said, pulling Seokjin into his own hug, which he felt himself melting into, realizing now why Mark had stuck so close to Seokjin's mother when he'd first arrived; Seokjin was already missing his mother's hugs, and Mark's mother's were probably about as close as he would get.

"I'm afraid he did more taking care of me," Seokjin said into her shoulder, but she only chuckled wetly.

"Seokjin, this is my brother, BamBam."

Seokjin finally stepped away from Mrs. Im and looked at BamBam, who gave him a smile that was as uncertain as it was wide and friendly.

"Nice to finally meet you, BamBam," Seokjin said, sticking out a hand. "Mark's told me a lot about you."

BamBam's smile got a little wider. "Well, I can hardly imagine he managed to fit all my good points into four years' worth of talking, so I hope we can get to know each other while you're here."

Seokjin laughed.

"Stop embarrassing yourself, brat," Mark muttered, giving his brother a bit of a shove, and the last of the tension seemed to leave BamBam's body as he shoved Mark back, smiling growing wider.

"Come on, boys," Mrs. Im said, "we should get home. Mark, Jaebum and Youngjae have an important dance event tonight, so they won't be back until later, but they're very excited to see you."

Seokjin smiled; the most exciting part about the trip had always been the prospect of spending time with Mark's family—Seokjin was an only child at home, so he wanted to know what it would be like to be with Mark's three younger brothers. Chaotic, if Mark's stories were anything to go by.

They only had about a block to walk before they stopped outside a large brick house Seokjin recognized from Mark's pictures. As they walked through the gate, up the steps, and through the front door, Seokjin watched as a few more tears escaped Mark's eyes.

"Welcome home," Mrs. Im whispered as they stood in the entryway.