Title: reconnections

A/N: Written for the Choi Sandwich zine, featuring the twins and MC. Unfortunately the zine got cancelled. Naoface drew some cute polaroid shots for this fic, I hope their posted somewhere for you to see—they're really cute!

Summary: Saeyoung liked games and pranks. Saeran like tea and gardens. It was going to be hard to find common ground between them, even with MC's help.

Or, the five times that the Choi twins weren't sure if they could connect and the one time they did.

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"I have a garden." Saeyoung crossed his hands, taking in the grassy lot behind his yard. A brown fence, paint peeling off it in places, surrounded the yard on three sides. On the right, his neighbour's tree gave a small patch of shade, the only relief from the summer heat. "No, wait, I have a backyard?"

"Yeah." MC raised a brow, hand on her hip. Dressed in a ratty t-shirt and shorts, she looked ready to tackle any dirty job. A grey pair of gloves hung loosely in her free hand and he wondered if Yoosung had given them to her. "Have you never looked out your window?"

Gesturing at himself, Saeyoung shot her a dry look. "Spy. Super-secret spy. I didn't even think the windows could open."

"Ugh." MC shivered, even as she took the brunt of the June heat. "No wonder the AC is on blast all the time." Donning her gloves, she peered around the corner of his house, at the narrow path leading between the front and the back. Automatically, her voice took a kinder, softer tone. "Do you need help?"

A low voice mumbled something and Saeyoung resisted the urge to look. His brother's voice was as quiet as he remembered, swallowed up by every other sound on the planet; as though he wasn't sure he could make a noise, as though he'd be punished if anyone heard him. It had been one thing when this had happened when they were younger; now it seemed like it would never go away.

But his brother was free: free of Rika's grasp, free from their mother's words, free from their father's threats. And maybe one day his words would be free too, to be as loud as a shout. At least, it could be louder than the squeaky tire on the wheelbarrow as Saeran made his way into the backyard.

"Ohhh, pansies." MC stood next to his brother, leaning past him to pick up a tray of small purple and blue flowers. "My favourite." Looking over the assorted flowers in the barrow, she glanced at Saeran. "Which one's yours?"

Saeran gave her a shy smile. Picking up a small green pot, he answered, "Roses. Blue ones the most."

"I never knew they could be blue." MC examined the flowers eagerly. Putting back the tray she picked, she rolled up her sleeves. "Alright, let's get at it. These flowers aren't going to plant themselves."

The thought struck Saeyoung. "What if they could?"

"…I mean, your robots are amazing, but that kinda robs the fun of planting." MC shook her head, already disregarding the idea. She glanced at the neatly trimmed grass, free of weeds, and looked at Saeyoung again. "Wait, is that why your backyard isn't a jungle?"

"Buzz!" He crossed his arms in front of him. "I didn't even know it existed 'til now."

"Then who?" MC stroked her chin, perplexed. "A pair of wild goats acting like a lawnmower?"

A trowel in hand, Saeran quietly suggested, "Vanderwood?"

Simultaneously, Saeyoung and MC turned to each other, their mouths in an 'o' shape. "That's it!"

-x-

"Hit X!" Saeyoung shouted, his eyes glued to the TV screen. His fingers pressed buttons on the controller faster than Saeran could see them. "That'll make you go faster."

"Right. X." Saeran swallowed, not quite sure how he ended up in this situation. On this couch. He was flanked with his brother on one side and MC on the other. They pressed against his body every now and then, their warmth surprising him each time. Looking down at the black thing in his hands, he looked for an X.

"On the right." MC tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to point it out to him. While she wasn't as competitive as his brother, she gave as good as she got, and most matches ended up as a tie between the pair.

And maybe that's where his troubles started; when he complimented MC for winning a battle. Somehow, they had taken that as a desire to join, and before he knew it, he was sitting here, squished between the two with a strange black controller in his hands. He gripped it awkwardly, trying to remember what buttons the pair had told him to click, rapid-fire-like as though their words were bullets and they had to get through a clip. X? Square? Triangle?

On the wide screen in front of him, his car zigzagged down the racetrack. At least, he hoped it was his car. There were so many on the screen he sometimes lost track of which was his. Beside him, the only sounds he could hear were the quick pressing of buttons and soft cursing as his brother and MC took turns to glare at each other. Blindly, he tapped a button. The wrong move—his car spun, hitting a rainbow prism.

"Hit the left button!" MC yelled, her body leaning right as her car drifted around a corner. She tended to do that a lot, moving as though she was actually in the car, while Saeyoung barely budged from his spot.

Left. Left. Which button was it? Saeran pressed every button he could see when suddenly the split screen in front of him glowed white. His car sailed across the finish line and, beside him, Saeyoung dropped his controller.

"What?" Saeyoung stared at Saeran, then at the screen. "How?"

"Wow! Way to go!" MC wrapped an arm around him, hugging him tightly before letting go. "You won!"

"I did?" Saeran turned back to the screen, to the image of his car running over the finish line once more. He'd won. Joy swelled up in him and maybe there was a point to these games his brother played.

"Again." Picking up his controller, Saeyoung glared at the screen. "We're doing this again."

-x-

Click.

With a scowl, Saeyoung looked up from his circuit board, fully expecting a polaroid camera in his face. Ever since MC had found it in his mess of a junk room, buried beneath broken gadgets and abandoned tool kits, it had been practically glued to her fingers. He could count the number of times he'd woken up to that dreaded click, to her devious smile as she caught him in one terrible pose after the other.

This was not one of those times. No one was in front of him, with a camera or otherwise.

Saeyoung blinked. That was odd. Another click sounded off and he turned his head to find MC on the other side of the room, huddled next to Saeran. His brother was clutching the instant camera in his hands, lowering the viewfinder from his eyes as MC quickly grabbed the photo and started fanning it.

"You're really good at this," MC whispered conspiratorially, leaning close to Saeran. "Saeyoung usually wakes up at this point."

In front of the pair was their unwitting mark: a sleeping Vanderwood. Saeyoung snickered. Finally, someone else. Though, seriously, Vandy slept like the dead, not even so much as stirring at all the noise. No wonder he made such easy prey.

"He's always been a light sleeper," Saeran explained, a pleased note in his voice. His fingers nervously played with the hem of his shirt, his other hand tightening its grip on the camera. Hesitantly, he pressed, "The photo…"

"The photo?" MC repeated, turning to him.

Embarrassed, he trailed off and shook his head. The tips of his ears turned red. "Nevermind."

"It's a really good photo," MC chirped, answering his unspoken question. She had a talent for that, Saeyoung had noticed, for reading inbetween the lines, for finding the hidden things. "Vandy almost looks like a model in it."

And this time, the hidden thing she found was Saeran's smile. A small, quiet thing, and Saeyoung tried not to stare. His brother's smiles were rare, dragged out only after much cajoling, and Saeyoung wished he had the camera now, could snap a picture and freeze it in time. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." MC looked at the camera. "You should just keep it—you'll make better use of it than me."

Surprised, Saeran shook his head. He held out the camera, trying to return it to her. "I couldn't—"

"I stole it from Saeyoung anyways. So it's just going home." Insistent, MC pressed the camera back into his hands.

"But—"

Brokering no disagreement, she quickly clasped her hands behind her back before he could push the camera back to her. "I want to see more of your photos. They're great."

Saeran stared at the camera, then at her. Her smile didn't waver and his lips tugged up slightly. He lowered his eyes, unable to think of a response, unable to say anything but a mumbled thanks.

"Great!" After affectionately bumping shoulders with him, MC pulled out a marker. A mischeivious grin on her face, she slowly stalked toward Vanderwood. "Take a photo of him after I'm done."

-x-

"Revenge," Saeyoung stated, pacing back and forth in front of a whiteboard. He rapped a pointer against the word, written in bright red letters and underlined three times. "That is what the goal is, gentlemen."

"I am definitely not a part of this," Vanderwood called out from the kitchen. The sound of sizzling meat and the warm scent of spices drifted into the living room and Saeran pinched himself.

The smell remained. He inhaled deeply. There was something unbelievable about it all, about Vanderwood coming in every day to cook. To clean. To make beds and do all of the other things that Saeran had read about in the rare book Saeyoung used to sneak into their bedroom. And all of this was just for them, for a pair of people who shouldn't have existed.

There was a part of him that was sure he was still trapped in a dark room, dreaming about a happy future, but his brother was here. Vanderwood was here. MC was here and Saeran's imagination had never been good enough to conjure up kind people like her.

"Vanderwood will—" Saeyoung continued, as though he hadn't heard anything.

Not having any of it, Vanderwood yelled louder, "Once this is done, I'm leaving!"

"You are the linchpin to the plan!" Saeyoung retorted, disregarding his friend's(? Saeran wasn't really clear on their relationship) wishes as usual. Dressed in a military uniform, his brother looked prepared for war. He glared at a picture of MC stuck to the whiteboard. "This is the only way we're taking her down."

It sounded very serious and Saeran swallowed. Saeyoung looked ready to fight. Timidly, he raised his hand.

Saeyoung pointed at him. "Yes, private?"

Private. That sounded even worse. "Will this hurt MC?"

His brother's eyes widened. Setting down his pointer, he shook his head slowly. "No, we won't hurt her."

"Good." Sighing with relief, Saeran relaxed. MC was his friend, another word he had never dreamed of using before. MC was his friend and he didn't want his brother and his friend to be at crosshairs with one another.

"We're just going to crush the pranking spirit out of her." The pointer was back in his hand, and with it, Saeyoung's military voice. Using magnets, he stuck several more pictures onto the whiteboard. One of his beloved gaming chair, dyed a neon green. Another of Vanderwood's face, covered in drawings. Each picture was more embarrassing than the last and Saeyoung banged his hand against the wall. "The chicken nugget incident. The waterbed assassination. We have suffered too many defeats, men. Far too many. And while I have avenged each one, this cannot continue."

He pulled off his hat, revealing a terrible dye job that made his hair a nauseating yellow. Gripping his hat tightly, he closed his eyes shamefully. "This prank is the final straw. We shall destroy MC so badly, she shall never prank in this house again."

Turning back to the whiteboard, he rested a hand on the top of it. "And for this, I have devised the world's, nay, the universe's greatest prank." Deftly, he flipped the board. "I call this the—"

Saeyoung stared at the board. Saeran stared at the board. And while he couldn't be certain about it, he was certain Vanderwood had poked his head out to stare at it as well.

Whatever plans Saeyoung had made were gone. In their place, MC had drawn herself in red, her fingers in a V shape as she grinned victoriously.

-x-

MC's head lolled, her body sinking into the plush couch. Saeyoung rolled his eyes as his friend swayed left and right, her eyes struggling to stay open as she lost the battle against sleep. "And you picked the movie," he grumbled half-heartedly, already moving the chip bowl away from her before she could spill it. Saeran had the popcorn bowl, so at least that was safe.

"I…can…watch…" she mumbled, blinking furiously as she tried to watch Back to the Future.

Or was it Back to the Future II? To be perfectly honest, Saeyoung wasn't sure just where they were in the marathon right now. Not that it really mattered, this rewatch wasn't so much for him but for Saeran, the next step in a slow effort to get him up to speed on pop culture.

"Just sleep," Saeyoung sighed, glancing at Saeran. Completely hooked on the movie, his brother watched the screen with rapt attention. The popcorn remained untouched and Saeyoung wasn't sure if his brother hated it or if he didn't realize that it was okay, that he could eat it.

Almost all of their interactions were like that, a vein of uncertainty of intentions and understanding. Turning to MC, he whispered, "Could you—"

He didn't bother to finish the question. MC was fast asleep now, softly snoring as she leaned back into the couch. A small dribble of drool escaped the side of her mouth and Saeyoung tried not to laugh. Oh, this would be the perfect picture.

A perfect revenge.

-x-

"Saeran?" Shielding his eyes from the sun, Saeyoung winced as he stepped outside. Damn, it was bright outside. And hot too. The air felt stuffy and humid and he missed the dry aftertaste his air conditioner gave him. Even if MC and Vanderwood complained about it, it was far better than this heat.

Padding down the stone path to the backyard, Saeyoung guessed his brother was on their side of the argument as he found Saeran more often outside than in. It was a good thing. After all those years of darkness, it was a good thing. Just as MC's suggestion to garden was also a good one. Saeyoung stopped walking once he spotted Saeran watering the flowers. His brother really liked them, especially the roses. As usual, he was quietly talking to the plants as he tended them and Saeyoung wondered what he was saying.

Good things? Bad things? Did he like living here with his brother? Hate it? Almost all of their interactions had this level of awkwardness in them, two people learning to live together once again. It was a discovery of likes and dislikes, of habits and personalities. Of the space between them. It was easier when MC was with them, helping them navigate the waters.

It was harder when it was like now, just the two of them. The gap between them felt obvious in the sunlight. Saeyoung took a hesitant step forward. By now, the garden felt like Saeran's private place, the flowers mostly maintained by him. Just walking in the backyard felt like an intrusion.

Spotting him, Saeran stopped watering. "Saeyoung?"

It was strange. They were mirror images of one another, at one time. Even now, with Saeran's hair colour back to normal, they still looked almost the same. But there were differences—Saeran's face was leaner, sharper, and no matter how much he ate, his skin clung to his bones. Clearing his throat, Saeyoung smiled. "The flowers look good."

"Thank you." Saeran ducked his head bashfully, a reddish tint to his ears.

"No problem." He could just hit his head against the wall—what was with that stiff, formal response?

With nothing to add, Saeran returned to watering and silence fell between them. For once, Saeyoung couldn't think of a single joke, a single jest to lighten the mood. Quietly, he walked up to his brother, coming to a stop next to the roses. "You like them, right?"

"Yeah." Saeran looked at him. His eyes darted to the roses, then back to him. Lowering his lids, he bit his lip before mumbling, "You're kinda like a rose."

"A rose?" Flattered, Saeyoung loosened his collar and ran a hand through his hair. Posing, he winked. "I am beautiful."

"No, not that," Saeran interrupted, a nervous smile playing on his lips. "You're…you're both thorny."

"…huh?" Was that an insult? Did his brother hate living here, and this was his passive-aggressive way of telling him? Saeyoung's jaw fell slack, not sure how to respond.

"Er—ummm…" Saeran clutched the watering can tightly, his nervous smile turning into a panicked one. His words came out in a rush. "That was a joke. Did I do it wrong?"

"A joke?" Saeyoung blinked blankly at his brother. Saeran had made a joke about him. A terrible one, but a joke nonetheless. Laughter bubbled up inside him and he collapsed to his knees.

Saeran crouched net to him, freaking out. "Are you okay? Vanderwood said to try—I'm sorry—"

Before his brother could go off on a tangent, he interrupted him. "Good one." Taking a deep breath, Saeyoung calmed down. He slung an arm around his brother, hugging them tight. Maybe they were still learning to connect, but they were getting there. They were going to be okay. "Really funny."

Above them was a bright blue sky and he remembered those early days when they used to watch the clouds, dreaming of ice cream and warm families. A dream that had come true, in a fashion. They had the RFA, they had Vanderwood, they had MC. A family of their own. Sitting down, he chuckled. "Now I gotta watch out for your pranks, huh?"

Caught, Saeran turned red and Saeyoung grinned.