“Geurae.” His brother’s insight was dead on. Jin had never thought about the parallels between the Menagerie and …this. (England, society, their pretense.) He’d been so ready to regain even the smallest scrap of freedom that he’d been blind to the reality that the cages had just expanded slightly. There was still the same oversight, the same gawking, and the same curiosity. Not to mention Abeoji’s eternal stranglehold. If his pendant warmed at the thought, Jin dismissed it. Ki-Se was right though. (He’d always been the cleverest of the five.)
Jin couldn’t help the breathy little laugh that escaped him at his brother’s question. The urge to squish him returned but Jin only dropped his head between his arms from where he was leaning on the balcony and grinned, exposing a single dimple. You would make a wonderful husband to the right person, he almost reassured but it seemed too on the nose to be genuine. Instead, he righted himself and said nothing, smile once again fading. The truth of it was that they were all doomed. Ki-Se would never be given the choice to select the right person, someone who actually made him happy or understood. (And if Jin was slightly jealous at the thought of losing him anyway, he brushed that aside quickly.)
As he averted his gaze, his brother moved to peek at him with the cutest expression. His offer was well meaning and, while Jin normally might have brushed it off with a laugh and hugged him anyway, he felt the pressures of this evening making him broody. “Ne,” he agreed, and straightened to pull the littlest one into his arms. He was allowed to coddle Ki-Se.
Nose pressed into his brother’s hair, Jin sucked in a small breath. The feel of him - warm, solid, familiar - was grounding. He closed his eyes and focused on the subtly sweet almost floral smell wafting up at him. They were going to be fine, he told himself. He would never let anything bad happen to any of them. He squeezed a little harder to reassure himself. “Gomawo, Ki-Se-ya,” he hummed.
Jin couldn’t help the breathy little laugh that escaped him at his brother’s question. The urge to squish him returned but Jin only dropped his head between his arms from where he was leaning on the balcony and grinned, exposing a single dimple. You would make a wonderful husband to the right person, he almost reassured but it seemed too on the nose to be genuine. Instead, he righted himself and said nothing, smile once again fading. The truth of it was that they were all doomed. Ki-Se would never be given the choice to select the right person, someone who actually made him happy or understood. (And if Jin was slightly jealous at the thought of losing him anyway, he brushed that aside quickly.)
As he averted his gaze, his brother moved to peek at him with the cutest expression. His offer was well meaning and, while Jin normally might have brushed it off with a laugh and hugged him anyway, he felt the pressures of this evening making him broody. “Ne,” he agreed, and straightened to pull the littlest one into his arms. He was allowed to coddle Ki-Se.
Nose pressed into his brother’s hair, Jin sucked in a small breath. The feel of him - warm, solid, familiar - was grounding. He closed his eyes and focused on the subtly sweet almost floral smell wafting up at him. They were going to be fine, he told himself. He would never let anything bad happen to any of them. He squeezed a little harder to reassure himself. “Gomawo, Ki-Se-ya,” he hummed.
Ki-Se Jeong & muse song
* Geurae = agreement, here meant “you’re right” / ne = yes / Gomawo = thank you
* Geurae = agreement, here meant “you’re right” / ne = yes / Gomawo = thank you