Chapter Text
The blaring of both their alarms going off was what dragged Hongjoong back into the realm of reality. He groans, flipping over onto his stomach and yanking his pillow over his head, childishly hiding away. Over the wailing of their alarm and some faraway chirps of birds, he hears Seonghwa groan his name disappointedly but he refuses to move.
He hates morning.
The pillow allowed him some cover and relief from the ear shrieking blaring of the alarm (why had he chosen such an annoying sound?) until it shuts off and he immediately relaxes, sighing in relief and sinking back into his bed. He doesn’t get to relax for longer than ten seconds though because his pillow is rudely snatched from him and lands back on him with a wack as Seonghwa hits him with it a few times. It’s a testament to how little will he has to live in the morning because other than whining at the older man, he doesn’t even try to move to avoid the hits.
“How old are you?” His brother asks as he finally stops whacking him and when Hongjoong opens a bleary eye to peek at him, he snorts when he sees Seonghwa’s rather infamous hand on the hip grandma pose as he stared down at him. “I thought there were six children in this house, not seven.”
“Consider it a way for me to cope with trauma-” he yelps as his face as smushed by the pillow again and he knocks it off to squint at his older brother, barely able to make out his face in the limited light in the room but knowing that Seonghwa would be giving his stupid cat like smile he always got when he was teasing Hiongjoong. “What was that for?”
“It’s just too early for your trauma jokes.” Seonghwa yawned and he must have been about to say something else but he’s interrupted by multiple voices yelling and then the thundering of at least three pairs of feet thundering down the hallway. “It’s too early for that too but at least for them it’s age appropriate.”
“I’m old and I’m cranky. I think I’m acting my age.”
“Well, quit it and get up. I can’t get six kids ready for school on time and I have an important meeting so I can't be late today.”
Hongjoong will forever deny the whine that he let out at it and then the yelp when Seonghwa teasingly smacks him and he kicks at the air weakly, still too sleepy and sluggish to aim properly. “Hey!”
“Come on. Up. Up.” Seonghwa is singing now as he grabs Hongjoong’s flailing legs and drags him out the bed and Hongjoong groans unhappily as he and his sheets slide off their mattress. There’s some sick twisted side to his brother he has yet to decipher because Seonghwa is barely a morning person himself but he got so active and bubbly when it came to teasing Hongjoong and that can’t be normal. “Up, you big baby. I have to wake Wooyoung, Mingi and Jongho and you know that takes an army. You gotta either make breakfast or face the terrible three.”
His tone was joking but Hongjoong’s stomach flipped at having to deal with glares and grumbles for three days straight and he immediately said, “I’ll make breakfast.”
“Okay, make eggs. Assuming San did his turn and washed the dishes so that we have the fry pan.”
“He’s going to be in trouble if he hasn’t.” Hongjoong decided firmly, sitting up and freeing himself from the sheets he (well more Seonghwa than him but he is a grown up and he can let things go) had rolled himself in. “He’s been careless with his chores lately, I’ve already had two conversations with him on sticking to his responsibilities but I’m not doing a third.”
Seonghwa sighed unhappily as he held an arm out to help Hongjoong up. Despite the two taking up pretty much the same role and responsibilities, Seonghwa always found it harder to discipline the kids. “Then we really need to get a move on because if Sannie is in trouble, you’ll need to deal with him until the bus comes.”
Hongjoong hummed and he ran a hand through his hair, feeling the strands standing out and he tried to tame it as best as he could as he left their bedroom and went to the bathroom on the ground floor, knowing that the kids would be too lazy and competitive to just use the downstairs bathroom rather than competing for the top one. Sure enough, he finds San and Yunho leaning against the wall on the top one (they both called out a good morning which Hongjoong returned and then laughed at his bedhead which he decided not to dane with a response) and the downstairs bathroom was blissfully empty and clean.
He shook his head as he locked it behind him. He would never understand the good natured but rather unnecessary competitiveness between the six children. Whether it came to who could use the bathroom first (despite them having two they always fought for the bedroom floor one) who could win the most kills on some inane game on the playstation Seonghwa’s friend had handed down to them or sometimes who could finish their meal first, they always seemed to be trying to find a way to one up one another.
But he couldn’t deny that he wasn’t amused by it, even joining in now and then. As long as the kids weren’t taking anything too seriously or trying to hurt each other or themselves, he held his tongue over their juvenile actions. Besides, he wasn’t going to complain when it meant that he got to use a clean bathroom without someone hammering out the tune of baby shark on the door while he went about his business. He could hear one of the older kids doing as he exited the bathroom and he couldn’t tell which kid was yelling through the bathroom door, but it seemed to be doing the job of disturbing them from a deserved blissfully silent morning whizz.
He shakes his head as he walks to the kitchen and to his surprise, he finds Yeosang already there, and eating a pop tart of all things. The fifteen year old gave him an innocent smile as Hongjoong approaches, crumbles from his breakfast littered over his chin and cheeks.
“Morning hyung.”
“Morning Sangie.” He greeted and he glanced over to the sink and was relieved to see it empty and the dishes gleaming and clean and set up on the rack. Looks like San had finally taken Hongjoong’s scolding to heart and had actually done his chores and Hongjoong was infinitely glad because he really wasn’t looking forward to having to dish out a punishment first thing in the morning. He looks back at Yeosang just as he polishes off the last bite of his pop tart and chuckles as he grabs a paper towel and brushes off a few of the crumbs before Yeosang realized what he was doing and took the napkin to do it himself.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought we’ve been out of pop tarts for a week. I heard Mingi complaining about it all day.”
“Mingi inhales every box you bring back.” Yeosang says smoothly and then widens his eyes to look more innocent, a feat that is rather unneeded seeing as Yeosang already looks angelic without trying. “I had to do what I had to do. To survive hyung.”
Hongjoong snorted at the dramatics and asked, “You hid more than one? For hyung?”
Yeosang observes him for a while and Hongjoong can see that he’s battling with himself whether he should lie or give in. He’s not too bothered by it, this kind of innocent lying that was obviously meant as teasing wasn’t a big deal and wouldn’t land Yeosang in trouble. Still, he’s pleasantly surprised and a little touched when Yeosang hops off and goes to the cabinets to pull out a cornflour box that Hongjoong has seen in their cupboard for the better part of a year and slides out a pop tart before tossing it to his older brother.
Hongjoong catches it and grins as he rips the packet open and begins to eat them cold. “ Nice hiding place.”
“Thank you, I worked hard.”
“Hmm. Thanks for sharing.”
“Anything for my favorite hyung.” Yeosang says with a cheshire like smile and Hongjoong is not even a bit surprised when he continues on and says, “You should remember my kindness and love next time I get in trouble.”
Hongjoong snorts as he pulls out the largest pan they have and places it on the stove. “As long as your next crime can be held equally to a pop tart, sure.”
“That won’t be difficult. You know I’m an angel, hyung.”
Hongjoong elicits an eye roll and points at the fridge. “Get out ten eggs and come help hyung make breakfast. And you’re eating one before you get to school, Seonghwa will have a cow if he hears you haven’t had a healthy breakfast for four days in a row.”
“I had milk last night.”
“No, you didn’t? You had cake and then you went to bed.”
“Cake has milk hyung.” Yeosang says matter of factly, as if Hongjoong is the one being absurd and all the older can do is give an incredulous laugh as he ruffles his little brother’s hair. Yeosang ducks under his arm but he’s smiling as he goes to gather the eggs and a comfortable silence falls over them as they work. Soon, the kitchen is filled with the sound of sizzling oil as the eggs fry and by the time the second kid wanders in, bleary eyed and puffy faced, the eggs are ready and Yeosang has toasted several breads out of which Hongjoong is proud to see only two look burnt.
Mingi plops down the chair just as Hongjoong finishes up refrying the vegetables and he almost drops the bowl when Mingi screeches, jumping back up with his face screwed up in pain, rubbing his bottom viciously. Hongjoong raises a brow, feeling his mouth thin as he sternly asks, “What was that Mingi?”
Mingi scowls, still rubbing furiously at his pajama clad bottoms. “Wooyoung was being mean and so I was mean and Seonghwa hyung didn’t like that.”
Hongjoong cocks his head, mulling over the words. It wasn’t out of the norm for one or two of the kids to have a morning spat, it was becoming more and more common as they all slowly entered their teens, but Seonghwa and him didn’t usually humor that as actual misbehavior unless they took things too far. He can’t see Seonghwa dishing out a punishment for that though and his concerns are blown away when Yunho, clearly all ready for school and grinning as he bounces into the kitchen, pipes up and says, “It probably didn’t help that you cursed at Hwa hyung and then tried to kick Wooyoung.”
Doubts cleared and being left rather unimpressed by Mingi’s omission of his own actions, he turned to passively stare at his baby brother, who blushed. “I never said I didn’t deserve it.”
“Did you apologize?”
“To hyung.”
“And why not Wooyoung?”
“Because he was being an ass-”
“Mingi.” Hongjoong said warningly and Mingi seemed to finally realize that he was digging himself into a hole because he quickly clarified. “He was! I tried to and he called me a little bitch. Seonghwa hyung said I don’t have to apologize after that and he shooed me out to deal with him.”
Well that cleared things up but it didn’t make Hongjoong feel any better. His sweet little Wooyoung seemed to be landing himself in more trouble every day and the past two weeks, especially when it came to Seonghwa, who the younger was resentful for grounding him. Hongjoong didn’t know why Wooyoung’s hostility was only limited to his eldest brother but it was starting to get out of control now. He hoped the kid would fix his attitude soon or else Hongjoong would be forced to intervene.
At least Mingi wouldn’t be needing that intervention and he sat down on his own chair before holding his arms out for the other. “Come here, sweetheart.”
Mingi lit up and hurried over to squirm his way into his older brother's lap and Hongjoong gave him a quick squeeze as he adjusted him and loaded his plate with two eggs for them. He makes sure to grab the burnt toasts for himself and there’s a ding of cutlery and utensils as everyone begins to eat. Yeosang leaves after eating half an egg to dress up for school and gives San a poke in his cheek as the latter wanders into the kitchen. Hongjoong watches the younger go sadly, taking his leftover food and sliding it on his own plate. He wishes Yeosang would eat more but he knew that his appetite had seemingly permanently been altered due to the scarce food they’d been given when he’d been a child. Yeosang had been fairly old when they’d finally managed to escape the hellholes that had been their family home and while Hongjoong and Seonghwa had managed to wean Yunho off the limited diet and help him develop an actual healthy appetite, Yeosang still ate very little, too used to having to starve for long days.
You haven’t earned their food, Hongjoong. They cannot have everything handed to them. Be grateful for what I grant or I will have to reevaluate if you have fallen to sinful greed.
He’s pulled out of his thoughts when San gives a war cry and he grunts and bats behind his head when San attacks him from behind in a hug and almost squashes and destroys his breathing tube. He frees himself and gives San a one armed hug, the kid always so affectionate and eager for physical touch that Hongjoong had actively worked and pushed past his own discomfort with it so he could keep his baby brother happy.
San takes two eggs and loads his plate with the vegetables and there’s momentary peace in the kitchen until Hongjoong holds his hand out for the bowl and consequently makes Mingi tense up. He can’t see the others face well but he can feel Mingi’s narrowed eyes following his movement as he loaded two spoonfuls of the food onto their plate and then scooped it up into a spoon to hold up to the younger’s mouth.
His spoon pokes stubbornly against his chin and he cranes his neck to see that Mingi has pursed his lips together and was going cross eyed as he looked at the spoon with disdain.
“Hyung, noooo-”
“You need to eat some vegetables, Mangi.” He sighed, slipping the affectionate name Wooyoung had dubbed for the boy. “Come on, kiddo.”
“They taste like butter.” San provided helpfully, shoveling spoonfuls of the vegetables into his mouth without any break. “And they don’t have any carrots!”
“I can’t believe you hate carrots, they’re like the only vegetable that is somewhat worth- gah.” Hongjoong had taken advantage of Mingi’s rambling to shove the food in and he smirked as Mingi chewed them with his face scrunched in extreme disgust. He tried to squirm out of Hongjoong’s lap, twisting and turning to push the elder’s arm away but Hongjoong kept him firmly in place because despite the fact that Mingi had now grown taller than him (a feat the younger loves lording over his hyung), he hadn’t grown stronger.
Still, he indulges the younger's antics and they giggle as he manages to feed the boy four bites of the stir fry before Mingi all but throws himself at the floor to get away from Hongjoong. He lets him and gives him an innocent smile as he turns his head to glare at Hongjoong. “I hate you hyung.”
Hongjoong shrugs, eating the leftover as he says, “That’s alright, you can hate me for your long and healthy life that I have just granted you by trying to keep you healthy.”
Mingi pouts and gives him a playful kick to his ankle before dashing away before Hongjoong could retaliate. The house is suddenly filled with stampeding feet and both San and him shared surprised looks because yes, Mingi was big, but this was more of a ruckus than usual. But then he hears two familiar giggles and a smile stretches on his face as Yunho and Jongho rush in, the youngest’s arms wound tightly around Yunho’s neck as Yunho hopped over, bouncing the boy up and down on his back.
“We’re ready!” Yunho announces unnecessarily and Hongjoong can’t help cooing at Jongho when he sees that he’s hidden away in what looked at San’s old jacket, which was rather big on him. He looked adorable though and he tugged his youngest forward to press a kiss to his head, laughing when Jongo scrunched his nose up at him. Hongjoong may not be the most affectionate of the brothers but Jongho really wasn’t affectionate and he more often not just put up with his multiple hyung’s cuteness aggression when it came to him, which unfortunately for him, was a lot.
“Eggs!” Jongho declared happily, squirming away from Hongjoong to take Yessongs discarded chair. “Yay! I was afraid you’d make pancakes again.”
Hongjoong smiled, standing up and taking the empty plates to the sink to wash up as he calls, “Are you saying that because you hate sweet stuff or because you’re mocking me?”
“Because he hates sweet stuff.” Yunho answers promptly and Hongjoong looks back in surprise and frowns when he sees that the older boy was already wearing his hearing aid. He’s distracted again when Jongho gleefully says, “But you make really bad pancakes, hyung.”
He shoots his baby brother a half hearted glare and flicks some water at him, making him giggle and he smiles at the sound. Hongjoong can’t help staring at the back of Jongho’s head, stunned and grateful yet again that Jongho had managed to escape their past life without any scars, physical or emotional. It wasn’t a big surprise, seeing as he’d only been six months old when they’d ran away and started their new life and Jongho had grown up with absolutely no memory of their parents. For him, his guardians had always been his eldest brothers, Seonghwa and Hongjoong, and his family had never consisted more than the eight of them. And he’s utterly grateful because he can’t imagine Jongho, his sweet, mischievous baby Jongho, having any scars and trauma that limits him to who he is.
The others weren’t that lucky, specifically Yunho and Hongjoong can’t help looking at him sadly as he bounds over to grab the last banana, noting how his left ear is red from irritation and he’s sure the boy fell asleep with his aid on again. He had used to think it was carelessness but he’d learnt that Yunho really hated the silent nothingness that came from his left ear and it made him too nervous to relax. Since his aid had become all but permanent last year, he only took it off when he was squashed against Hongjoong and Seonghwa and could be sure that he was safe and nothing would sneak up on him.
Still, the prolonged constant use of the aids weren’t recommended and he waved his hand to get Yunho’s attention as he tried to convince him, “Honey, your ear is all red. Why don’t you take a break from the aid for a bit, at least until your first class….”
Yunho was already shaking his head from the start, his smile having disappeared and Hongjoong’s heart twists at the big wide puppy eyes, unhappily flashing back to when he’d first grabbed Yunho out of the dreaded hole that their father had cruelly locked the then six year old Yunho in. It had taken more favors and sacrifices than Hongjoong liked to remember to plead with his father to let him get the kid out and it had cemented a permanent fear that Hongjoong and Seonghwa were yet to soothe.
Hongjoong sighed and dried his hands so he could cup one against Yunho’s cheek. “Okay. Tonight then, yeah? You can cuddle with Hyung while you do homework and give yourself a break.”
It’s not ideal really, for either of them but Yunho looks relieved enough at having it put off so Hongjoong drops the topic. He pats his cheek and jerks his head at the table. “Go have a proper breakfast, baby.”
He finishes washing up the dishes before dashing up to his room to change, having spent too much time fooling around with his brothers. He pokes his head into Wooyoung, Jongho and San’s room to make sure Wooyoung is up and sees him sitting next to Seonghwa, tear faced and glowering at the floor as the eldest rubs his back and talks quietly to him. It doesn’t seem to be going well because Wooyoung has his arms crossed and is glaring daggers at his feet but it looks like Seonghwa is handling it so he rushes to get dressed for work, going over a mental checklist in his head.
By the time he’s ready and comes downstairs, he’s relieved to see that most of the kids are just about ready to leave too. Except for Wooyoung, they’re all gathered at the door, loudly chattering as they stuff last minute homework and gym clothes into their bags. Jongho is tying Yeosang’s shoelaces, loudly berating his hyung for still not learning and the twins are groaning about a history test. A glance into the kitchen shows Wooyoung moodily poking at his eggs and vegetables while Seonghwa stands over him watches, hands on his hips and an unimpressed purse of his lips as he watches the boy dilly dally.
He catches Seonghwa’s eye, silently asking the elder if he needed Hongjoong to take over and switch responsibilities. But Seonghwa merely shook his head as he pulled out a chair to sit on and say, “If you continue sulking and not eating, I am going to force feed you and then drive you to school and tell your principal that you’re late because you were being childish and throwing a tantrum. Your call.”
Wooyoung flushes a deep red, both in embarrassment and anger and sensing an eruption coming, he hurried to the kids instead. He hoped Wooyoung would have the sense to keep a hold on himself, getting in trouble twice was a rough way to start the morning.
“Okay, who has plans after school?” He asks the kids as he pulls out his wallet and hands them money for food, mentally keeping a check of what they told. The twins were planning on hanging out with their friends after swimming practice and would be back by evening, Yunho and Yeosang were invited over for a group study that was most likely just going to be a gaming day with their friends later but Yeosang wasn’t in the mood to socialize much so he’ll come home and Jongho would come home from school directly and then go play basketball with his friends down the streets in the evening. And Wooyoung was going to come home directly thanks to his grounding.
He glances behind him at the kitchen, where Wooyoung was now angrily chomping down his food and lowers his voice as he says to Yeosang, “Can you make sure Wooyoung comes home with you instead of trying to sneak off? I really don’t want him getting into more trouble.”
Yeosang shrugged, “Sure hyung. He’s probably not going to respond well to me trying to enforce your rules though.”
“No. But I can only do so much.” Hongjoong sighed and looked around at the kids. “I’m going to take Jongho to his bus stop-”
“Hyung, can’t I-?”
“No Jongho, you cannot walk there alone. You are still too young and I have told you this a thousand times.” He scolds the youngest and Mingi nudges the kid quietly in warning but Jongho ignores as he pouts.
“It’s not fair, you let the others walk everywhere when they were my age.”
“Don’t remind him.” Yunho says, trying to ease up the tension. “It sends him into a guilt spiral every time you do.”
The kids laugh, all except Jongho and Hongjoong. Jongho because he’s sulking and Hongjoong because he was once again feeling the drowning guilt of how much leeway he’d given the older kids when they’d first moved here. He hadn’t gotten the hang of this whole parenting thing and it wasn’t like he had any of his own normal or good experiences to make examples of. He’d only been seventeen and with 6 kids under the age of eight now dependent on him and Seonghwa completely for their survival, they had made do with what they had and despite everything turning out okay, he still shudders with how he had let the then eight year old Yunho and seven year old Yeosang walk around unchaperoned.
“See, you made him slip.” San laughed and he poked Hongjoong in the ribs, making him jump back. “Come back hyung, we’re all okay.”
Hongjoong hummed in response, taking a moment to gather himself as he took a hold of Jongho’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “You will be big and grown and old enough to walk back unsupervised in a short time, maknae, don’t you worry. Until then, you stick with hyung. And don’t you even think of walking back alone because I promise, you won’t like what’s waiting for you at home.”
Jongho’s pout melts away a bit at Hongjoong’s serious tone but he’s still clearly adamantly upset about being babied because he only offers a surly, “Yes hyung” and continues pouting. Hongjoong sighs and lets him be and quickly says goodbye to the others, just as Seonghwa tows Wooyoung over to the bunch so that they could leave. Wooyoung is still scowling but he gives the tiniest smiles when San pounces on him and drags him between himself and Mingi.
“Alright, keep me in the loop of all your plans and everyone be back by curfew.” Hongjoong says as a goodbye and Seonghwa, still only half dressed, smiles and holds his arms out for any of the kids, grunting as they’re immediately filled with Yunho and then Mingi. He laughs as he strokes their hair, affectionately kissing their heads as he says, “Have a good day, babies. I’ll see you later.”
All the kids except Wooyoung echoed his goodbye and began to leave. He frowns at Wooyoung’s downward demeanor and he makes to stop him but is beaten by Seonghwa, who stops the twins from herding him out and gently tugs Wooyoung forward, ignoring how the younger’s scowl only deepens.
He pauses and lets Jongho hand drop, sliding next to the eldest and noticing Yeosang waiting at the door for Wooyoung, looking away patiently as Jongho bounces up to him to keep him company. Glad that the two were distracting each other, he turns to Wooyoung just in time to hear Seonghwa sternly say, “I know you’re upset but I expect you to be on your best behavior, okay? Don’t take your anger on me out on anyone undeserving.”
Wooyoung doesn’t answer, seemingly content with just ignoring his eldest hyung and Hongjoong isn’t having any of that. He flicks Wooyoung’s chin to make him look up and something in his steely expression must have resonated with the younger because he drops his attitude to give a surly, “Fine.”
Seonghwa sighs but seems to be happy taking what he gets because the eldest merely bends over to kiss Wooyoung’s head and moves his hands to cup the eleven year olds face instead. “And despite you being a little gremlin, remember that I love you very very much.”
Wooyoung huffs a rather mocking laugh as he shrugs his way out of his hyung and mutters, “whatever”. Seonghwa sighs dejectedly as he watches him go and Hongjoong gives him a sympathetic pat. “It’s okay, Hwa, he’ll be back to clinging to you and being your little duckling in no time.”
“I want that time to come now.” Seonghwa protested stubbornly, looking out dejectedly as Wooyoung stomped out the door. “Why can’t I just be his buddy 24/7?”
It was a rhetorical question and thus Hongjoong didn’t feel the need to vocally remind the eldest that the only reason they were stuck in the parent role was because their actual parents were currently locked up for being selfish narcissistic nutjobs and instead, opted to just give him a shrug and another pat.
“Well, you still have Jongho.”
“No hugs.” Jongho said immediately, covering his head in alarm. “You’ll ruin my hair.”
Hongjoong privately thought that it was beyond being ruined because whatever Jongho had hoped to achieve with the glutinous amount of gel slobbed on his hair was not working out for him. He decided to keep his comment to himself though, it was important for Jongho to experiment with himself and besides, you couldn’t learn to groom yourself without humiliating yourself first. It was a righteous passage of life.
Seonghwa gave an exaggerated pout, “All my babies have abandoned me….”
It was a clear guilt tactic and it was fooling no one but Jongho still gave in, sighing tiredly, as if he was an old man who had to keep up with childish antics. “Fine, but not my hair hyung.”
Seonghwa grinned and swooped Jongho into a hug and used the opportunity to pepper his cheeks, nose and head with kisses, eliciting indignant yelps from the nine year old, who batted at his hyung until he was freed. He pulled a face as he rubbed his hand over his face, glowering indignantly at the eldest. “Mean!”
Seonghwa laughed, flicking his chin affectionately. “Have a good day, baby. Wait for one of your hyungs to pick you up from the bus stop, okay? And don’t try to skip your nap. Hyung will see you tonight.”
“Will you make me nuggets?”
“If you’ll share with me, yes.”
“I can’t not share with you, hyung. You’ll be making them.” He said matter of factly and Seonghwa chuckled but Hongjoong interrupted him before he could answer. “Okay, we’re going to be late. Let’s go maknae. Seonghwa, you’re taking the car?”
“Nah, I have a late start. You can take the car, I’ll take the subway.”
“Sure?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Hongjoong nodded gratefully before nudging the maknae out the door, calling out a goodbye over his shoulder. Jongho was looking longingly at the opposite direction where his brothers would walk every weekday to catch their own bus and Hongjoong internally sighed as he decided that he needed to be cheered up.
“Wanna race to your stop?” He forces himself to ask, already mourning how clean and nice he smelled. He supposes being sweaty and stinky is worth it though because Jongho immediately lights up as he turns to him.
“Only if you don’t go easy on me.”
He was going to but he agreed nonetheless. He lets go of Jongho’s hand and takes his bag, opting for a sterner no nonsense tone as he reminds the youngest, “Don’t cross the road without me. No race is more important than your safety, okay? We’ll race again once we’ve crossed.”
Jongho nodded and looked up at him with bright excited eyes and Hongjoong grins as he yells a loud Go. The two dashed through the lawns, Jongho’s gelled hair barely moving in the wind as his little legs all but flew over the grass as he put everything he had. Jongho was rather fast and Hongjoong finds himself genuinely running so as to stay in step with him.
They make it to the bus stop in 4 minutes, both giggling and out of breath as the already gathered kids stare curiously at them. Hongjoong ignores them as he helps Jongho slide his bag back on, glad to see his pout having been replaced with a rosy cheeked grin and he squeezed his cheeks affectionately.
“We should do this every morning.” Jongho says and Hongjoong dramatically refuses before ushering Jongho on the bus. He waves at him once Jongho has settled on the seat with his friends and groans as he begins to make the way back to his house so that he could drive to work before his boss ripped him a new one for being late. Like he’d expected, he was sticky with sweat and it wasn’t ideal but remembering the giggles and lighthearted easy energy of the morning, he is infinitely grateful for their new routine.
An exhausting but happy house was infinitely better than the stifling silent house he’d almost lost himself in.