If she remembered right.

It was her duty as the younger sister to at least mildly annoy Ijin every once in a while. Granted, she was going to have to step up her game from when she was a child, as she was sure that her old tactic of pointing at him would no longer work for obvious reasons.

But the point was that she had a plan to mess with him, and it was going to be fun.

Chuckling to herself, she held the two electric razors in her hands, one of them having a battery, and the other being empty. She had seen those online videos where someone goes up to another person and pretends to shave off their brow with the off razor while using the razor with a battery as a sound effect.

It was the perfect way to harmlessly prank him while giving him a small heart attack for a few seconds.

Sneaking out of her bedroom, she smiled when she saw that Ijin was too consumed in his homework to notice her. He was leaning his head against his cheek, the red headphones that his friend had given him cutting him off from the rest of the world.

Perfect.

Setting up her phone on the kitchen counter, she pressed record. Resisting the urge to giggle to herself, she casually walked up to Ijin from behind, easily flicking on the razor before quickly running it across his eyebrow.

It wasn't until Ijin looked at her with a confused face that she realized that the razor was vibrating in the wrong hand.

With one hand taking off the headphones, his other hand went up to feel what remained of his eyebrow.

Thankfully, she had terrible aim, so she didn't shave off his entire eyebrow.

Unfortunately, her aim was not that bad. Now Ijin was missing almost half of his right eyebrow.

The worse part was that he didn't even get mad. He just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Only uttering a very simple.

" Why?"

She felt like the very epitome of human garbage for the rest of the day. Even though Ijin showed her that he could just cover it up with his bangs, she still felt bad.

But she did laugh pretty hard with him the next morning when he had walked out of the shower with his hair all over the place, exposing his eyebrow and a half. So it wasn't all bad.

He stared blankly at his sheet his paper, his mind wandering off as he went over the chores and duties he had to do once he got out of school.

It was his turn to do the kitchen, and after being caught doing it at almost midnight when he realized he had forgotten to do that, he wanted to remember it this time around to avoid Dayeon's judgmental stares.

He had training, but that wasn't too bad. As long as they didn't start shooting at him to work on his speed and agility, he had no qualms with the physical exertion in each training session. Anything they threw at him was going to be easier than the actual hell the Camp and his handlers put him through when he was at the tender age of ten.

Then he had some math homework, and to be honest. He just used the online calculators his friends gave him and he would just copy the work. He survived for ten years without knowing how to solve for Tan, and he was sure that unless he needed to solve a cosine problem in the field, he was going to be just fine.

Ah, he still needed to fold and put away his clothes, he should probably do that first once he gets home so he could go straight to bed once he was done with his homework.

"Hey," the finger tapping on his shoulder made him come out of his thinking. He turned to Yeongchan, who had a smile on his face as Jaehyung and Hyeokjin grinned at him," Swear to me Ijin." He paused at that, turning to respond to Jaehyung after he interrupted.

Swear to him?

Well, that was kinda rude no?

Major Kang and the other men had told them when he first found out about his family that he needed to clean up his language. Granted, when compared to the average Korean citizen, Ijin had long realized that he had a particularly foul mouth. In the months when they processed his DNA test to prove that he was not an imposter, the men helped him clean up his language. Sometimes, it was a struggle to keep his responses polite, as he was very used to working with mercenaries and inserting a curse word at least every other word.

But now Yeongchan wanted him to swear at him?

He came back to reality again when Yeongchan batted away Jaehyung's hand before turning back to him once again," Anyway, swear to me Ijin."

Later on. Ijin would have realized that Yeongchan was pausing for dramatic effect. If he had waited for a few more seconds, he would have heard his friend complete his request. But he didn't, so when Yeongchan said to swear to him.

He did.

"Fuck you."

They recoiled. He saw ranging emotions of anger, confusion, and bewilderment on their faces.

"The fucks your problem?" Jaehyung asked with a distinct tone of anger in his voice.

…what did he do?

Now it was his turn to look confused," Yeongchan said to swear to him…?" it took a few seconds, but he could see confusion, on all of their faces, and then realization.

Then they started laughing at him.

"That's not what he meant you dork!"

"He meant promise!" Jaehyung said through tears, bending over as he was laughing," He didn't mean to actually cuss at him!"

?

"Doesn't swear mean cuss?" he just made them start laughing again. He looked behind Jaehyung, where he could see Seokju face palming as his shoulders moved up and down.

Oh great, now Seokju was laughing at him too. And he wasn't even part of the conversation.

"Not in this context," Yeongchan had a bright smile on his face, relieved to hear that it was a misunderstanding that had caused Ijin to curse at him," I used swear like make a promise to me. Not to cuss at me."

He huffed, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks," Sometimes, Korean makes no sense." How was he supposed to know that?

Seokju, who had been sitting at the table but watching quietly, almost let out a bark of laughter that had everyone looking at him," Just wait until you try learning English."

He rolled his eyes, making a shooing motion with his hands that made the others start laughing again.

"Anyways," Yeongchan said, putting emphasis on the word to bring them back on track," Ijin, swear to me that you're going to stop forgetting your I.D, especially since you still don't remember your own birthday."

"Hey," Ijin said lightly, a smile gracing his lips as he said," in my defense, I didn't even know it for the last ten years."

Hyeokjin sighed in annoyance," If only you knew how fucking depressing that sounds. I bet you don't even have your I.D on you right now."

Ijin smiled as he took out his wallet, easily taking out his I.D and showing it to the others," Ha." He was going to leave out the fact that the only reason he didn't forget it was because Dayeon had left a sticky note on his lunch that said 'Don't forget your id again.'

They didn't need to know that.

Chuckling, Seokju took his friend's I.D, leaning in so he could easily show the others," Jesus man. Would it kill you to crack a smile? This looks like your mug shot."

"Hahaha, it does. Or one of those age progression photos they make for missing kids."

Rude.

Despite their comments, he was smiling, not taking any offense at their jabs and comparisons.

"Quick question," Hyeokjin grabbed the card from Seokju's hands, and leaned away from Ijin as he asked," What's your blood type?" he pressed his I.D against his chest, not letting there be a single chance of Ijin peaking at his blood type.

He rose his eyebrow," I can barely remember my own birthday and you think I know what my blood type is?" he reached for his I.D and tucked it away in his wallet. All while Hyeokjin shook his head while grinning.

"Yeah that's fair."

After that incident with the girls that had asked for his and Seokju's numbers. Where he had been glaring at them with a death stare, Hyeokjin had gone into some in-depth explanation where he was informed that they were not asking for his mercenary number, but that they were asking for his phone number in hopes of sparking a relationship with him.

Honestly, even if he had known what they wanted right off the bat, he would have said no either way.

His number was something that he liked to keep private, the fewer people that had his number, the better.

But now.

He was just confused.

He looked down at the girl. Not that he was interested, but with the way that the Major and the other men had stressed that he could only date people that were the same age as him, he thought it was a very serious subject. They were all very serious as they explained it to him, and he took it very seriously that he should not date anyone that was younger than him. And once he turned 20, he should most definitely not date anyone younger than 20.

So why was a girl, who looked to be at least three years younger than him, asking for his number?

He frowned as he looked down at her, and when he exchanged looks with the others, he was relieved to see that he wasn't the only one that look confused and/or concerned.

"Uh," Seokju looked just as confused as he felt," How old are you?"

And without missing a beat, the girl replied," Time is just a social construct."

Was that what everyone meant by a red flag?

Because that definitely sounded like a red flag.

"Alrighty!" Seokju and Hyeokjin grabbed him by his arms and physically turned him around," That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Lets dip."

Oh so it was worse than a red flag, it was a lawsuit.

He didn't resist as they physically turned him around, in fact, he was the one who started walking faster.

"That…wasn't normal right?"

"oh that was definitely not normal."

"Not normal at all," Seokju supplied, a frown on his face as they took a side street to the P.C Café," I know you're not interested in anyone, but stay away from those girls.

He nodded in agreement, "I have no problems with that."

It was one of the rare days where he and his sister were able to walk home together, their busy schedules often getting in the way of them doing just that. But alas, it looked like it wasn't going to be one of those days.

Major Kang was waiting outside for them, leaning against the hood of his car as he talked to someone on the phone. He was still in his fatigues, and that had been enough to catch the attention of the exiting students as they started their journey home.

After being informed that Major Kang was a handsome man (Honestly, he didn't think Major Kang was handsome or unattractive. He was just Major Kang to him.), he started to notice the way some people's eyes would linger on the older man before they went on with their day. And it was not any different with the students. Some of the students lingered for a second longer than necessary as they passed by the major. Their eyes lingered on the man before they brought themselves out of their trance and quickly walked away while chattering excitedly with their friends.

Major Kang noticed them as they walked up, and smiled brightly at them as he hung up his phone," Hey guys. I wanted to pick you guys up so we can eat dinner together."

Alright, that didn't sound like a bad idea. It was always nice being with the major.

Swatting away the hand that was ruffling his hair, Ijin walked around the car to the passenger seat," What about grandpa?"

He didn't miss a beat as he happily replied, "We're gonna pick him up on the way. How was school?" Dayeon got into the back, giving the older man her thanks as they piled into the car.

"It was good. Where are we-"

The Yu family entered the car and closed the car doors before the nearby students could hear the rest of the conversation. They were all staring with emotions ranging from interest, all the way to confusion.

They could have sworn that the Yu siblings were orphans…

Students being students, it didn't take long before rumors were going around the school. Rumors that both Dayeon and Ijin had lied about their orphan status for either attention or another reason that they didn't know.

Ijin and Dayeon didn't hear about the rumors until they were walking into school together, where Baek, one of Dayeon's close friends now, asked," Your dad didn't drop you off?" He leaned around them, trying to see the school gates in hopes of seeing their father.

They stared at him for a few seconds. Confusion was all over their faces as they were making nearly identical faces.

"What?" Ijin dumbly said.

Baek blinked in surprise and straightened back up," Your dad. He didn't drop you off today?"

Ijin and Dayeon exchanged looks, clearly confused as Dayeon faced her friend and said," Our parents died when we were young. Who are you talking about?"

"Huh?" Baek dumbly uttered out. Now it was his turn to look confused," Then…who was that guy?" he started to make vague motions towards his head and body," That guy in the military uniform with brown hair?"

Well, that made more sense.

"Oh. That's my friend. Major Kang isn't my dad."

Jaehyung butted in as he walked by," Pretty sure he's your dad bro."

"Shut up."

Dayeon and Baek moved on," Oh. Well everyone thinks he's your dad."

She laughed nervously, and upon confirming the fact that Major Kang was definitely not her father, she said farewell to her brother as Baek walked her to class.

Unfortunately.

No one else bothered asking the Yu siblings about their apparent father. Meaning that other than the occasional correction from Baek and Ijin's friends.

Everyone still thought the military man they saw was indeed their father.

"Um…" They exchanged looks, all of them looking uncertain as the pair stood at the doorway.

Ijin looked okay, if not a little bit tired.

Seokju did not look okay. He looked haggard and utterly exhausted. It even looked like he didn't bother putting on his clothes properly before he made his way to the house.

What the hell happened?

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Ijin said simply, walking into the doorway so he could take off his shoes," training was harder than usual." Inferring that that was all the information they were going to get from Ijin, they turned to Seokju, eager for answers.

Seokju groaned," our team leader asked Ijin how he was trained for his speed and agility," Unlike Ijin, Seokju sat down to take off his shoes, and looked like he didn't want to get back up," It was horrible."

"It wasn't that bad." Despite Ijin's words, Seokju punched his thigh, expressing his frustration.

"Shut up." Despite the show of aggression, Ijin just chuckled at his friend's reaction and offered a hand to lever him up.

"Don't be a baby Seokju," Ijin said simply, easily pulling his fellow bodyguard onto his feet, an action that Seokju seemed to greatly appreciate," It wasn't that bad."

Now Seokju was staring at Ijin as if he had boldly proclaimed that two plus two was five," They were shooting paintballs at us! what could possibly be worse!?"

And without missing a beat, Ijin blandly said," Real bullets."

The others blinked, their gazes switching between Seokju and Ijin as they had a little standoff. After a few seconds, Seokju let out an exasperated sigh," You're incorrigible."

Ijin quirked up a corner of his mouth," Thanks." His smile only got bigger when he saw Seokju face plant into the couch, completely and utterly exhausted.

Accepting the fact that their friends were rather weird, they just started playing the game again, leaving Seokju and Ijin waiting for their turn (and recovering from whatever they did during training).

Their round ended up going on for a while, longer than they expected and the silence they heard from behind them made Jaehyung look over his shoulder, just glancing at Ijin and Seokju out of curiosity before he did a double take.

"Huh…" That caught Hyeokjin and Yeongchan's attention," They knocked out." That prompted Hyeokjin to pause the game so they could turn around to see what he was talking about.

Seokju was still sprawled across the couch, his hand hanging off the side towards the floor as he slept. His mouth was hanging open slightly, showing that he was truly asleep as he was usually too prim and proper to do that.

Ijin was better, he was sitting on the other couch, and had his head leaning against his fist as he slept.

They smiled at the sight. Those two were usually the hardest to relax, with Ijin topping everyone. So they were quite happy to see that their friends had been comfortable with them to the point where they were easily able to fall asleep. And obviously.

They were not going to pass up the chance to mess with them.

"Bet you can't stack anything on Ijin without waking him up." Hyeokjin grinned at the challenge, lowering his tone as he returned to Jaehyung.

"Wanna bet? I bet you can't stack anything on Seokju without waking him up." Yeongchan smiled into his hand, holding in his chuckles as he watched the two childhood friends retreat to the kitchen, Hyeokjin saying," I have some red solo cups we could use."

That caught his attention and Yeongchan followed them to try and see the infamous red cups," Like the red American ones?"

"I thought those were only in the movies."

Hyeokjin hummed as he opened a side cabinet and brought out a stack of red solo cups in a clear bag," Nah they're an actual thing in America. My cousin's kid sent me some when I didn't believe him. Come on," Hyeokjin jerked his head to the living room, where they had left the sleeping pair," Whoever can stack more, wins."

And with Yeongchan watching as judge.

It began.

Jaehyung had it easy since Seokju was on his stomach. It was a little bit harder to get the cups to be as level as possible due to the curve in his back, as well as Seokju breathing, as one does. But all Jaehyung had to do was slowly and carefully line the cups up on Seokju's spine to his heart's desire. He kicked it up a notch when he started to make a pyramid with the cups. Since Seokju was laid out, and Ijin was not, Jaehyung had just been limited to Seokju's back by Yeongchan.

Obviously, it was much harder for Hyeokjin to do the same single Ijin was sitting down, but Hyeokjin tried his best anyway. setting down the cups as gently as possible as he knew that Ijin was a very light sleeper.

He only got three cups on Ijin's leg when it twitched, and he stilled, hoping to god that he hadn't woken up his friend.

His voice was low and groggy, he could only understand the last two words as the first ones had been mumbled," -you doing?" Hyeokjin mentally cursed, realizing that while Yeongchan or Jaehyung hadn't noticed, he had woken Ijin up.

"Trying to win a bet," He whispered back, gently putting another cup onto Ijin's other leg, which made him twitch again. He waited for some sort of acknowledgment, some sort of action that would make it obvious that Ijin had woken up to the others.

But oddly enough, nothing had happened.

Did he even wake up?

He stared at Ijin's face, trying to truly determine if he had managed to wake up Ijin, or if it was some odd moment of sleep talking. But his face was lax, not even a crinkle between his brows as he slept.

Huh…must have been a fluke.

He continued stacking the cups on Ijin's legs, even taking the chance to put one on the crown of his head. He had just started creating a pyramid when Jaehyung caught his attention. Looking over his shoulder, he was not amused to see the red-head, a sizable cup stack on Seokju's back as he held the final cup in his hand, a smile on his face as he flipped off Hyeokjin.

Hyeokjin scrunched up his nose and returned the middle finger as Jaehyung blindly set the cup on top of the pyramid.

Or at least he attempted to.

He had been too confident and had placed the final cup carelessly, causing the cups to tumble over.

As one might expect, Seokju jerked awake when the cups fell over his body, pushing himself up onto his elbows as the cups tumbled down. The sound of the cup pyramid collapsing also made Ijin jerk awake, which caused the cups on him to fall as well.

It was awkward as Ijin and Seokju stared at them, trying to process what was happening, and what their friends had done while they were sleeping.

Seokju summed it wonderfully for them.

"What the fuck guys?"

That made them burst out laughing.

Hyeokjin laughed even harder when Ijin leaned over and asked, "So did you win the bet?"

Ijin was a true friend.

"Hell yeah I did."