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THIS IS SO BANGER!?

“exasperated older brother and annoying and pestering little sister” is such a accurate description of what I imagine their dynamic would be like 😭

[quick step 1 snapshot I thought of between the two sillies- hope Kanra doesn’t sound too OOC 😓]

Step 1: Snapshot - Neighborhood BBQ

Summer of 2011

The smell of charcoal and overcooked burgers hung in the air. Yujin leaned against the porch railing with a paper plate in hand—half a hot dog, untouched, and a sad pile of lettuce someone had the nerve to call a salad. His phone sat face-down on the rail next to him. Too many nosy parents. Too many little kids. Too much noise.

He was just about to check the time again when a shadow fell over him.

"Still haven’t run away, I see," came the voice—high, cool, and unmistakably Kanra.

Yujin didn’t look up. He just stabbed his hot dog with a plastic fork and said, "You’re here again. Should I be flattered or concerned?"

Kanra laughed—a short, pleased sound. "There’s no crime in keeping someone company. I was beginning to think you were glued to that spot. Like an old gargoyle watching the chaos below."

"I’ll have you arrested one way or another," he muttered, tearing a chunk of the hot dog off and chewing before adding, "You’d make a decent gargoyle yourself. You already lurk like one."

"Mm. But I move," she said, circling him to perch on the porch railing beside him like a bird preparing for mischief. "You just… watch. It’s almost admirable. You’re so composed, Yujin. Always unreadable."

He side-eyed her. "Is this your way of telling me I’m boring again?"

Kanra tilted her head. "No. Just hard to figure out."

Yujin gave a noncommittal shrug, eyes flicking back to the yard where Gabriel was stuck talking to someone’s mom and slowly dying inside.

"Everyone else gives me something," Kanra went on, as if they were in the middle of a long conversation. "Tamarack twitches. Qiu argues. Even Mother sighs at me. But you…" She leaned forward slightly, studying him like a bug under glass. "You’re sealed. I should study you. See what happens when something actually startles the unshakable Yujin."

"If that's your research project, you picked a boring subject," Yujin said, absently toying with his fork. "Should’ve gone with Darren. He flinches when the AC kicks in."

"Mm, but you’re the harder challenge," she smiled, legs swinging as she dangled from her seat on the railing. "And I enjoy solving puzzles."

"You’re not actually trying to solve anything, though," Yujin finally glanced over at her with an unimpressed look. "You just like shaking the box to see what rattles."

That gave her a half-second’s pause. Not because he was wrong—but because he said it like he knew it. For once, her words didn’t come right away.

Yujin waited a beat longer, then shrugged again and reached for his plate. "Guess you’re not done studying me after all."

He walked off, slow and casual, like her words hadn’t grazed something deeper. "Let me know when you figure out what you’re hoping to find inside."

Her silence lingered behind him like smoke—thin, clinging—until the breeze scattered it, and he reached Gabriel’s side just in time to pull him from his social dilemma.