"YOU CALLED ME LAZY WITHOUT KNOWING
I WAS BUSY TRYING TO KEEP MYSELF ALIVE."

Upon entering the house, Seokjin felt a sense of familiarity as he gazed at the interiors. Even though it wasn't the home of his childhood, it held a certain recognition for him. The delightful aroma of home-cooked meals, the atmosphere of family gatherings, and the family portraits all worked together to bring him quiet joy.

When they arrived inside the living room, he caught sight of an elderly man reading a newspaper - his diligent father. This man worked so hard in his life that sometimes he wanted to be an office worker like his father. That's the amount of respect he had for him.

"Abeonim..." he let go of Yoon Min's hand and walked towards his father. Mr Kim barely had time to process the hug from his son.

"Seokjin-ah, is that you?" he sniffled. His own shaky arms were weakly wrapped around his son.

"Yes, it's me," Seokjin tried to hold back his tears, recalling his father's warm hugs from his childhood.

Tears welled up in Mr. Kim's eyes. The two of them sat in silence for over a minute, reminiscing about the old days.

"How's your health, Father?" he asked, sitting with his father on the couch after releasing the hug.

Mr. Kim chuckled. "I'm over 60 now. But look at me. I still look as good as the time when you and your brother weren't even born!"

"So you turned old and ugly after we were born?"

His father smacked his head lightly and they both burst into laughter. Seokjin inherited his father's sense of humour, including his fondness for dad jokes.

Suddenly he remembered the person he brought with him. He gestured at her. "Abeoji, this is Yoon Min. I'm sure Eomma told you about her."

Mr Kim gazed at her face for a good minute before remembering. "Yes, she did. I remember now. She's your friend, right?"

Taking the cue, Yoon Min stepped forward, bowed her head respectfully and introduced herself, appearing less nervous than she was in front of his mother. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kim. You have a lovely smile."

His father let out a satisfied laugh. "I like your comment, young lady."

She grinned proudly in response. Suddenly, all three of them were startled by the voice of a kid calling Seokjin's name. They swiftly turned around and found a small child standing at the door. He was wearing a dolphin T-shirt and blue shorts.

"Uncle Jin! Uncle Jin! Uncle Jin! You're finally here!" The kid ran a marathon before swinging his arms around Seokjin's legs. He let out an excited gasp before picking the kid up in his arms and spinning with him in circles.

"Kim Sun, did I not tell you to call me Uncle?" he joked and hugged his nephew.

Sun was an adorable 4-year-old kid. He giggled, "Appa said I shouldn't call you by your name even though I like it."

"That's because he's older than you and you should show respect." someone replied, joining the group.

Seokjin smiled, noticing how his elder brother looked older than he remembered. "Hey, Hyung."

"Hi, little brother." Seok Joong hugged him from the side. "So glad you decided to visit. I thought you died or something."

Letting out a light chuckle, he made sure Sun was secure in his arms. "Well, I am alive somehow, thanks to this person." He gestured at Yoon Min.

She definitely didn't like being mentioned randomly so she threw a cold glare at him. He winked at her.

Yoon Min bowed and introduced herself again, her hands clasped together in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak more but he cut off the chance. "She's my friend. Eomma gave you a heads-up, right?"

Seok Joong nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, she did mention someone coming along with you...anyways, nice to meet you too, Yoon Min-ssi. I'm Kim Seok Joong, his one and only brother."

"She's pretty." Sun giggled.

Returning a smile to his brother, she seemed eager to engage with the child first. "Thank you, Sun. Do you like dolphins by any chance?"

"I do! I do! They remind me of Uncle Jin's Super Tuna dance!" He started moving his arms like the choreography which made the adults chuckle.

"He's been obsessed with that dance since he watched it." A woman entered the room with another boy clutching onto her skirt.

Seokjin greeted his brother's wife, bowing his head. "Ahreum Noona, it's been a while."

She returned a polite smile and instead, tapped her hand on his shoulder. Her skin was radiant, making her look beautiful without any makeup. "You should've visited us more. Won doesn't even know you."

At the mention of his second nephew who wasn't even 3 years old, his eyes immediately softened at the scared child who was the opposite of his sunshine brother. He gently handed Sun over to Yoon Min who was more than happy to carry the child. He knelt on the floor so that he could face the younger boy.

"Hello, Kim Won. I'm Kim Seok Jin, your uncle."

When he thought the introduction would ease the tension between them, Won only took a step back and hid behind his mother.

Yoon Min interrupted, "May I try?"

She also knelt down beside him with Sun in her arms.

"Hi, Won. Do you also like dolphins?"

He lifted his head as if he was summoned. It was clear that the topic caught his attention.

"Won likes dolphins as much as I do. He adores them more than me," Sun chimed in.

She feigned surprise. "Is that so? Then you must know dolphins give themselves names."

Their reaction made it obvious they were unaware of the fact. They stared at her with big eyes, wanting to know more, especially the little one, who himself didn't realize his hand had let go of his mother.

"They develop their own individual whistles and with that, they can recognize other dolphins' names. Pretty smart, right?"

"Yes! They are the smartest in the whole world!" Sun cheered.

"Not smartest; the second smartest." Unexpectedly, Won corrected his brother. "Humans come first, then dolphins."

His charm and innocence shone through, leaving everyone in the room awestruck by his intelligence and chuckled. Regardless of what children say or do, adults seem to appreciate it as if nothing else is as remarkable as their words.

In response to Won's impressive answer, Yoon Min added, "You might not know, but your uncle has actually seen dolphins in the sea."

The boys snapped their heads at Seokjin who was suddenly flushed, ears reddening quickly. She didn't have to mention that.

"Uncle, how could you not tell us?!"

"Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Did they talk to you?"

"You just mistook it for some fish, didn't you?"

His mouth fell open as the boys bombarded him with questions before pouncing on him and causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. The sight made everyone happy, and laughter filled the air. Seokjin laughed until tears formed in his eyes as he hugged the boys tightly while they attempted to tickle him. The scene was a heartwarming reminder of the joy and love that family brings.

"Boys, enough!" Seok Joong declared and picked one of them up effortlessly in an attempt to free his brother.

The boys whined together and finally let go of their beloved uncle.

At that moment Mrs. Kim joined the merry gathering and after seeing his youngest son on the floor, his face all red due to intense laughter, she seemed proud to see her son's smile return.

Despite not wishing to disrupt the wonderful, joyful atmosphere, she clapped her hands a few times and announced, "Alright everyone, lunch's almost ready. You might wanna take your seats. First come, first served!"

"Uncle Jin, come with us! Halmeoni made ginseng chicken soup!" It was Won who tugged at his wrist.

Ahreum volunteered on her own. "Eomonim, let me set the table."

"Oh, thank you, my dear," Mrs. Kim said. "I have something important to do anyway. Umm...Yoon Min?"

Everyone in the room stopped their individual chatters and looked at Mrs. Kim, before turning their heads towards Yoon Min who was speaking to Mr. Kim. She blinked her eyes and suddenly became speechless.

"Can we talk alone in my room?"

☆THE FAULT IN OUR STARS☆

THANK YOU FOR READING
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A/N: The next few chapters will be longer. Around 3k words. Sorry for the unusual length.