After Midnight, Waiting

Yeo Ri glanced at the clock on the wall.

It was getting increasingly late yet not even the shadows of either of her brothers could be seen.

She sighed, hugging her knees tightly. Resting her head on her knees, she lamented her fate. Why are those two always making her worry so much, she thought angrily.

Another ten minutes have passed.

It was now exactly 1 o'clock in the morning.

She yawned and rubbed her tired eyes, hoping to ease her sleepiness, but it only made her sleepier.

Finally, after she was almost lulled to sleep in her awkward position, the sliding door to the room she shared with her brothers finally opened.

"You're home?" Yeo Ri flashed a tired smile at the boy who had just came in.

Gun paused, then returned her smile, "Yeo Ri, why are you still awake? You have school tomorrow." He knelt beside the younger girl as he coaxed her to lie down.

The beddings were already laid out; it was obvious that the girl had prepared for bed hours ago, but she was too stubborn and had wanted to wait for her brothers to come home before going to sleep.

Yeo Ri didn't fight against his light tugging and followed him obediently. Now that she was tucked in, she turned to look at Gun who was sitting at his study desk, "Oppa, you're not going to sleep?"

Gun shook his head. "Not yet. I still have to do some revisions before I go to sleep."

"Mm." Yeo Ri's eyes wandered to the rows of awards and certificates that occupied almost half of her brother's desk. As expected of the top student in the district; he would even sacrifice hours of sleep just to study. "Don't work too hard. Sleep if you get drowsy."

"Okay." Gun smiled at her concern, and rewarded her with a pat on the head. "Sleep," he told her.

Yeo Ri's eyes could not help but drift towards the door. Her eldest brother was still not home and she wondered if he got into trouble again. The last time he came home, it had been with a few bruises marring his face.

Seeing her uneasiness, Gun sighed. He decided to postpone his revisions and instead climbed into bed. "Don't worry about Hyung. He'll be fine." He comforted his little sister, patting her back rhythmically to lull her to sleep.

Yeo Ri could not fight against her sleepiness, and combined with the boy's warmth and patting, she immediately fell asleep.

Evidently, Gun also could not help but slowly drift to sleep. The accumulation of the stress and tiredness during the day finally caught up to him and soon he found himself dozing off. He tried to stay awake, but the temptation was too strong. His patting slowed down as his eyelids grew heavy.

"The f*ck you doing, you b*stard."

Gun jolted awake at the sound of cursing. He raised his head to check if the idiot's loudness had woken up Yeo Ri, but thankfully she was in deep sleep.

He shot a glare at the newcomer, "Where have you been?"

Hyuk glared back at the boy, clicking his tongue, "The f*ck you lookin' at, sh*thead?"

Hyuk closed the door behind him, and with a soft groan, he slowly sat down and leaned against it. "F*ck!"

"Yeo Ri's sleeping so keep it down," Gun frowned. He was worried that the noise would wake Yeo Ri up; she stayed up late and he wanted her to have as much rest as she could. "Yeo Ri was waiting for you all night. The least you could do is let her rest."

"That's her business, sh*thead." Hyuk turned his head to the corner and spat out a glob of saliva intermixed with blood.

"Tsk, f*cking disgusting..." Gun clicked his tongue. Who was going to clean that up? This f*cker, ugh. He almost couldn't resist from cursing up a storm.

"Nnm...?" Yeo Ri had always been a light sleeper, so she woke up from all the noise.

Gun immediately reacted. He resumed patting her back, "Sorry, did I wake you up? Go back to sleep..."

Yeo Ri blinked her eyes hazily. She turned around, facing Hyuk who had just arrived. "Oppa, you're back?" Yeo Ri smiled at him, beckoning him to bed. "Oppa, you're not tired? Come and sleep." She patted the empty space next to her.

"Huh? Uh—yeah—later..." Hyuk shifted awkwardly. In front of this younger sister of his, he never knew how he should act. Or rather, he had somehow forgotten how he used to treat her when they were younger. He felt bad if he acted roughly, but he also found it strange to treat her nicely since he was not used to it.

"Just ignore him, Yeo Ri," Gun pulled back her arm and fixed her blanket. "Sleep," he told her for the nth time.

"But Oppa—"

"Sleep."

"...Okay." Yeo Ri had no strength left to argue, so she immediately gave up. It seemed like her brothers had another fight but she was too tired to mediate over them. Just for the night, she'll leave them be. She made a mental note to make sure that they make up in the morning.

Hyuk watched the interaction from the corner of his eyes. He pretended to pull out his phone and played around with it for a while.

Once he made sure that the two seemed to be asleep, he finally put away his phone and slipped into bed, just right next to Yeo Ri.

With a complex gaze, he continued to stare at her visage, not feeling the least bit sleepy.