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─◌✰್ 𝖽𝖺𝖿𝖿𝗈𝖽𝗂𝗅
𝗱𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗹（𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻）/ˈ𝗱𝗮𝗳əˌ𝗱𝗶𝗹/
❝𝖺 𝖻𝗎𝗅𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗒𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝖿𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗆𝗉𝖾𝗍－𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗉𝖾𝖽 𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋．❞

By the time Riley and Mya headed home, the sun was setting, leaving a luscious peachy glow in its wake. You were still sitting outside by the pool all alone, already starting to plan your trip to Jeju Island in your head. Where would you sleep? What foods would you eat? Would you stay at the beach the entire time? How long would you go? There were so many things to consider before officially booking your flights there.

Riley wasn't much of a planner, especially when it came to big trips like this. When you, Mya, and Riley had decided to go on a cruise the summer before university, she had said, word for word, "Not planning is part of the vacation, so I'm not doing it."

Mya, while enjoying organization and structure, just didn't know how to plan such a huge trip. She offered to help plan great food spots or shopping locations, but you'd learned from past experience not to let her book the plane tickets. For the aforementioned cruise, you three had wound up in the wrong airport at the wrong time, and missed your flight.

Hence, you were stuck planning the gritty details of the trip. Not that you minded, you just didn't quite understand why anyone would want you to plan things like transportation, or hotels. You weren't very knowledgeable about how to book flights or hotels or train tickets. You were known as the scheduler, the one to color-code your markers and crayons, but would get lost in the airport. The one to plan which restaurants to go to, but get drunk once you arrived. While you weren't one for unpleasant surprises, you were also the first to admit that you were the friend who made the dumbest decisions. Just as you began to reach for your phone off of the poolside table, the door of your house slammed shut. Both your parents were away on long-term business trips, so it could only be one person.

Throwing on a long t-shirt that you'd brought out to the pool, you ran inside to greet your older brother and tell him about the trip you were about to take, and how excited you were.

True to form, your brother was already taking his black and white sneakers off and getting ready to sit at the dining room table, his laptop already out, with a collage of twenty different couches of varying colors, textures and sizes displayed in full screen. An interior designer just like you, he was constantly trying to find the best deals on stylish furniture and decor that would fit best in the space he was currently working on. You were scheduled to go to an estate sale with him twenty minutes away from your house that weekend. Who knew if that would still happen with how fast you were planning this Jeju trip.

"Jinnie, I have something to tell you-" You began breathlessly, taking his shoes and placing them in the shoe case. He tended to set them right next to the case, which was kind of him, but you liked them out of the way.

"Which one do you like better?" Hyunjin interrupted, as if he didn't hear you. And he probably didn't. When he was in work-mode, only your grilled chicken could get his attention. And you weren't nearly as interesting as roast chicken.

Hyunjin turned his laptop toward you, brow furrowed with concentration. "I can't decide if the leather beige is more modern, or rustic. Or should I switch it to the gray cotton? I think they're both modern, but I'm not sure which would look sleeker."

You decided to ignore the fact that your brother didn't seem to care about how excited you were, and just humored him. He had just gotten a huge job for a famous client, and you knew how important it was to him. "I think the leather fits Itzy's vibe more. It looks sleeker than the cotton. Listen, I've got something important to-"

"You're right," Hyujin squeezed your wrist, eyes still trained on his laptop. "You're always right about this stuff."

He pushed his laptop away and stared at you, and for a second you thought he'd finally processed that you were talking to him about something other than couch materials.

"What's for dinner, I'm starving!" His eyes light up. "Can we make chicken skewers? We haven't had them in so long."

You stifled a sigh and just nodded. "Sure, I bought chicken at the store yesterday."

Maybe after dinner would be a better time to talk to him.

The two of you made dinner, engaging in comfortable conversation and playful teasing. Quiet music played from the speaker in the living room as you grilled the meat, and made sure Hyunjin didn't grill anything. He'd been banned from using any hot surface since he nearly burned the entire house down when he took a nap while making ramen. He had since been relegated to chopping and marinating.

"The way you're cutting those carrots is giving me anxiety," you commented as you watched your brother haphazardly slice carrots on the counter without a cutting board. "Didn't mom teach you the right way? Or were you not listening, per usual?"

"Excuse you, I listen! I'm the best listener!" Hyunjin sniffed, the hint of a smile tugging on his lips at your teasing. "Besides, I wasn't the one who thought they were the best swimmer in the world and just jumped into the lake without a lifejacket. Mom was so pissed when the firefighters had to drag you out."

"That was just one time!" You exclaimed, miffed. "You're cold for bringing that up. I was pulling tadpoles out of my bathing suit for hours!"

"I know, and I kept throwing them back on you when you weren't watching," Hyunjin snickers, finally plating the obliterated carrots along with the grilled chicken and rice.

"That was you??" You gasped, shoving him in the arm. Your shoulder only reached the middle of his arm, so he wasn't fazed. "This whole time, I thought more were sprouting from nowhere! You really were so mean!"

"Aw c'mon, it was kinda funny," he chuckles, nudging you back as you both set out the plates and chopsticks.

You sat down across from one another and immediately dug into the food. For the next couple of minutes, the room was just filled with quiet chewing and chopsticks tapping.

"You were right to kick me off grilling duty," Hyunjin finally said, reaching for another chicken skewer.

"I know I was," you chuckled. But you weren't fully paying attention to his jokes. Because you had something important you needed to talk to him about, and you knew you couldn't wait to tell him. Not just because you were nearly bursting with excitement to tell someone, but because you knew Hyunjin would be upset that you kept your plans from him for so long.

"So..." You started, not entirely sure how to proceed. You hadn't gone into this conversation with nerves, but here you were. "Mya and Riley came over this afternoon, to celebrate graduation."

Hyunjin mumbled around his bite of chicken, "What did you guys do?"

"Just hung out by the pool, had a few drinks," you answered nonchalantly, trying not to let slip the real thing you wanted to bring up to him.

"Are we talking a normal "few drinks", or an Alaska  "few drinks"?" He swallowed his bite and raised an eyebrow. "Because the amount of alcohol you drink is not right. It's not natural, especially for someone so short."

You rolled your eyes, deciding not to argue that yet again, as it had become a point of (light-hearted) contention between the two of you. "Anyway," you said, plowing ahead with your story, "we decided that we wanted to take a trip to commemorate our graduation, and I thought of the idea to go to Jeju! So we're going to take a trip there, probably next week! Isn't that exciting?"

Hyunjin, who had stuffed the last mouthful of chicken into his face, swallowed the half-chewed piece, nearly choking on it as he stared at you with an unreadable expression.

"Earth to Hyunjin?" You said slowly, cautiously, as if not to disturb the waters.

"No," he said finally.

"What??"

"I said, no. You're not going to Jeju."

laska's note —
hi y'all! i know the story is just starting to rev up, and not a lot of super interesting things have happened, especially with alaska and felix! but i swear there's more to come! i wanted to set up alaska and hyunjin's relationship because i think they're so cute. hyunjin loves his lil sis so much he's so overprotective. let me know what y'all think and comment what you think is going to happen!

question of the day —
what is your favorite skz album?

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