Chapter Text
Eungyeol felt like he could finally breathe as the car door closed behind him.
After a 13 hour flight, and a pretty successful first tour, SPINE9 was back in Korea after two months abroad. Sometimes he believed it all to be a dream. If his younger self would see him now, or even himself but just one year ago, he would probably be amazed with how bizarre but amazing their life had turned out after everything.
Eungyeol saw the streets of Seoul pass in a blur as the car took him home, or well, Yoon manor. That was another thing he had to get used to in the unending list that every day seemed to have something new. He stayed there for a month until he finished his exams, secretly learned their songs, and started touring, but even so it still felt weird not sleeping in his bed, in his room, in his house.
He didn’t want to admit it but there were pretty bad days, ones where he would look in the mirror and feel like an impostor, like a thief that had taken a life that wasn’t theirs. Those days, Eungyeol would call Eunyoo. At first it would mainly be as a distraction, but the girl was quick to notice something was up. It was hard to keep things from Eunyoo, she was the only one who understood him after all.
As he arrived at the manor, stepping out of the past for a second felt like stepping out of time. The memories of a young and sad Yoon Cheongah are always fresh in his mind. Eungyeol wondered why his mother decided to keep living in his old family home after everything, but she couldn’t exactly ask her that so he just keeps wondering about it, like with many things he can’t ask without being asked questions right back at him. He walked through the front yard and into the house, with not even a minute in, his grandfather came out of the living room.
Definitely something he had to get used to.
“Eungyeol, we weren’t expecting you this early,” he commented, surprised but the delight was still there “I was about to call you to ask how you were, how was your flight?”
He smiled, clearly tired.
“It was fine, although I could use some sleep,” he said, glancing a bit around the house. “Is anyone else home?”
“Your father is at the company, and your mother is in the middle of a charity event, but I believe Eunho is coming home soon from Taekwondo training” he put a hand on his grandson’s shoulder “You look exhausted, sleep for a bit, I’ll have someone wake you up for dinner in a few hours, then you can tell us about the tour.”
The warm look in his eyes still unsettled him a little. Eungyeol had forgotten what it was like to have a grandparent, and someone in his family that could hear since her great grandmother died when he was a kid. When he came back to the present, he never really gave much of a thought what the changes he did would make to his life, but out of everything, he started to be happy for this one specifically, even if his opinion on the man was still fresh from 1995.
“Actually, um, I was going to ask mom but is it alright for Eunyoo to come to dinner tonight?”
After the SPINE9 showcase and reuniting in the present, Eungyeol introduced her to his family. He still remembers the shocked look on both his parents, which was fair considering how much she looked like her mother, Choi Sekyung. She won his dad and Eunho pretty easily, it was his mother and grandfather who were still getting used to the idea. They had to invent some sort of believable story as to when and how they met. She did most of the talking really, but it worked.
“Of course,” said Geonhyung, his hand letting go of his grandson’s shoulder “Tell her she is welcomed.”
There was nothing more to say after that. Eungyeol walked towards his room, the family portrait getting his attention like it always did. If his own reflection sometimes made him feel like an impostor, that picture was even worse. He doesn’t know how long he stood there, looking at his family’s smiling faces trying to remember anything about that day, or about anything of this new reality he gave to himself. Nothing, there wasn’t anything new.
He couldn’t help but feel afraid it would stay that way. If thoughts that were eating him whole whenever he was asked about something he should know, referred to a good memory with his family and bandmates, felt things he wasn’t sure were the cause or remember bits and pieces of his life that weren’t there before were right. The last thing he thought of before finally walking away, the same thing he did every time.
Would I ever feel like it’s really me in this photo?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Eunyoo had never run as fast as she did the moment Eungyeol invited her for dinner.
She had already planned a perfect date for them the next day, expecting him to come home tired from all the concerts and the flight back to Korea. When he got a call from him she was happy to hear he was home, and surprised when she invited her to get dinner with his family. She hadn’t spoken to them much ever since she properly met them, in the present that is, just some quick introductions and some other polite small talk here and there. Having both of them finishing their junior year, while Eungyeol also prepared for touring, there was never really a proper chance, so she wasn’t going to miss this one.
She didn’t want to get there empty handed, and figured the best he could do was bring them something, which made her rush to the nearest pastry shop to get something for dessert. On the way she asked Eungyeol what kind his family liked, if they had any favorites, but he told her to not worry about it and that she didn’t have to bring anything, so that wasn’t any help.
Once she got there, she saw dozens of options and went for a bit of everything. Eunyoo surprised herself when she realized how much she wanted to impress them, for them to like her. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were her boyfriend’s family, or maybe because, in a way, she missed them, even if they weren’t the Ha Yichan and Yoon Cheongah she used to know, and they never really knew her outside of when she pretended to her own mother.
As she was leaving the store, the loud and busy sound of the streets came to her. She glanced at her bag, hoping it was enough even if she clearly bought more than she should, and waited for a taxi to pick her up. As Eunyoo waited, she looked around. She was finally starting to get used to the difference in her surroundings between the present and 1995. Even if she didn’t stay there for more than three months, it still was that big of a chance that it took some time to get used to when it was no longer her reality. Both her and Eungyeol struggled with it, although she could tell her boyfriend struggled a bit more, given his life changed more than her’s.
Just as she was thinking that, the sound of laughter caught her attention, and as she turned around to look for the source, she found herself staring at none other than Ha Eungyeol himself.
He looked the same, the main difference was his hair style, which from a far seemed like a mess she wasn’t used to seeing in her boyfriend. She was surprised to see him out, expecting him to be resting at home like he had told her before. Besides him were two people she had never seen before, two other boys, a tall good looking guy with a basketball on his hands wearing workout clothes, just like Eungyeol, and a cute guy a bit shorter than both of them with a pair of glasses. Eunyoo didn’t have any clue who they were, which was rare considering the fact that Eungyeol himself told her he didn’t really have any friends outside of the SPINE9 members.
Her confusion was shoved down on her joy of seeing him, and as she realized he hadn’t seen her, she walked forward to stand in front of them. Her surprise was clear on her face as she did.
“Eungyeol!” she looked at her boyfriend, a smile slowly forming on her face as the three guys stopped in front of her “I thought you were going to rest for a bit, what are you doing out?”
He didn’t answer, he just stared at Eunyoo in a surprise that almost mirrored hers.
“Wow, you are so sneaky, preferring going out with your friends instead of your girlfriend after two months” she joked, and didn’t really notice he didn’t laugh, or smiled, or nervously tried to explain as if he had committed a crime like it’s normal of him to do.
She didn’t wait for an answer and hugged him.
“I’m so happy you are back,” she said, her voice softer this time “I missed you.”
Eunyoo finally started to notice something was wrong when Eungyeol not only didn’t hug her back, but slowly and gently pulled away from her. As stunned as she was, Eunyoo noticed the guilty look on his face, which didn’t seem like a “sorry I didn’t tell you” looking face to her. And before she could ask, he spoke.
“I’m sorry, I think you got me confused with someone else.”
It was his voice what finally did it for her. It was a difference that was impossible to ignore, and that’s when the subtle one’s started to become more evident. The hair wasn’t just a mess, but it was also a bit curly on the tips, and even with all the clothes Eunyoo could pretty much tell this guy was more built than Eungyeol, not even two months abroad could make his body that different, not with his small amount of free time.
Eunyoo took a step back, red coloring her face as she bowed in apology.
“I’m so sorry, I thought-” she stared at the stranger for another second, unnerved with how much his face looked like Eungyeol’s “You look so much like my boyfriend I got confused, I’m really sorry.”
Another difference he found between them was the smile. Eungyeol’s smiles were mostly shy, reserved, only out in moments of pure joy. This stranger smiled with a charm that seemed natural to him, almost as easy as breathing.
“Don’t worry about it, most be a good looking guy then.”
That was another difference, good to know.
The guy with the basketball nudged at him in what she didn’t know if it was annoyance or embarrassment, maybe a bit of both, as the third guy just looked at them with a small smile on his face, almost as if he was used to his friend’s antics. Eunyoo took that moment of distraction and noticed the time, remembering how she had to hurry if she wanted to make it in time.
She didn’t really look at them as she quickly apologized once more, running past them in search of a taxi that would take her home so she could change and get ready. The last thing she saw from the trio was the same friend who nudged him to turn to the stranger and say.
“You can’t be normal for one second, can you Baku?”