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Seungcheol pulled into his driveway after a long day at work. Getting out of his vehicle he walked into the house excited to get home and see his husband and kids, inside the house, he found his youngest, Hansol playing video games. Down the hall, he could hear music being blasted from his second kid's room, Jihoon. And his eldest, Joshua, was probably in the basement playing his guitar. Seungcheol walked into the kitchen and found his husband, Jeonghan, putting dinner into the stove. "Hey, honey."Jeonghan turned around, and a smile stretched across his face. He stretched out his arms and brought Seungcheol into a hug. "Hey, how was work?"Seungcheol shrugged off his jacket, "It was alright, nothing special happened today." Jeonghan nodded his head, "I see I see. Well, dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes so do you want to round up the kids?"Seungcheol nodded and kissed Jeonghan on top of his head. He walked to Jihoon's room and knocked on the door. The loud music paused and a quiet 'come in' could be heard from the inside. Seungcheol swung open the door, Jihoon was sitting at his desk studying for a history test, "hey bud, dinner is going to be ready in about fifteen minutes."The latter nodded his head, "Is it my night to do dishes?"Seungcheol took a seat on his bed, "Well since you have a big test tomorrow I'll do them for you, so you have more time to study." Jihoon nodded. From an outsiders view, they could see it as ungrateful, but Seungcheol could see the small smile on his face. "You'll do great on this test, don't worry," Seungcheol ran his fingers through the younger's hair, he leaned into the touch. Seungcheol smiled, when they first brought Jihoon home, he would flinch at the slightest bit. Now he likes the smaller gestures, but he isn't big on hugs.Seungcheol walked into the living room and tapped the top of Hansol's head, "Hello, earth to Hansol.""What?" The younger replied curtly.Seungcheol laughed, "I guess that's a way to greet your father."Hansol laughed too, "I mean, hi dad, how was work?""It was great, thanks for asking!" Seungcheol chuckled some more, "Dinner is going to be ready in about fifteen minutes, okay? You get to help set the table too."Hansol fell backward with a loud groan, but he got up and went to the kitchen. Seungcheol walked into the basement, Joshua was on the couch strumming his guitar. He looked up and smiled at Seungcheol, "Hey, dad."'Hey, Josh. How's the guitar coming along?"The latter shrugged, "It's good, I'm struggling with a couple of chords though." Seungcheol nodded, "Well, if I knew anything about the guitar I would help you."Joshua smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners, "Thanks, I know you would.""Dinner is going to be ready soon, so if you want to head upstairs in about five minutes that would be great," Seungcheol said.Joshua agreed, "I'll be up there in a minute." Joshua is Jeonghan's biological kid from a previous relationship. When Joshua was five his mom lost custody because she was found with drugs, three years later she died from an overdose. Joshua didn't take it too well at first, but he's better than ever now. Seungcheol walked up the stairs and found Jeonghan on the phone, and he beckoned Seungcheol to come closer.
"My husband is here now. I'll take him to a private room and talk."Seungcheol raises an eyebrow. Jeonghan grabs him by the hand and brings him to their bedroom. Jeonghan sits on the bed, "so, I was just talking to our foster care worker. She asked if we could bring in two more boys for a bit. They're brothers by the way."Seungcheol thought for a moment, "Do we have the room for two more?""We have the guest room in the basement. I'm sure they won't mind sharing," Jeonghan replied.Seungcheol nodded, "Okay, what are their names?"Jeonghan opened his mouth into an 'o' shape, "Right, the eldest is named Junhui, and the youngest is Minghao, they're Chinese. Junhui 15, the same age as Jihoon, and Minghao is 14, one year older than Hansol."Seungcheol agreed, "Alright, I'm up for it."Jeonghan dropped his shoulders in relief, "Good because I already said yes."Seungcheol sighed, "Jeonghan...""I know, I know, but they needed help, and I couldn't help myself." Jeonghan sighed, fidgeting with his sleeve.The older brought, the younger into a hug, he placed a kiss on his lips, "I know, that's why I love you. You want to tell the kids during dinner?" The younger smiled softly, "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea."Everyone was seated at the table eating their dinner and talking about how their day went. Jeonghan wiped his face with a napkin and looked at his husband, "So," all eyes turned him, "I have some news for you guys."Joshua leaned closer, "What is it?""Well, we will be bringing two more boys into the house, it's not permanent though," Jeonghan stated.Jihoon set his fork down, "we don't have room for two.""We have the guest room, so they're going to stay in there," Seungcheol affirmed. Jihoon crossed his arms and let out a sigh. "What are their names?" Hansol question, scooping more mashed potatoes onto his plate.Jeonghan answered, "The two boys are brothers, the oldest is named Junhui, and he's the same age as Jihoon, the youngest is named Minghao, he's 14. They're also Chinese."Joshua hummed, "That's cool, so when will they be coming?""Around 8:00 tonight." Seungcheol chimed in, "These two had a rough time recently, but I know you all will be nice to them."
The kids nodded their heads, Jihoon apparently wasn't happy about it, "why here?"Jeonghan put his hand on top of Jihoon's smaller one, stroking them softly, "They have nowhere else to go, sweetie. They just got out of a bad foster home, and they need to a safe place to stay until someone adopts them."The younger nodded understanding. The family finished dinner and resumed to their normal activities. Time seemed to drag on. Everyone was nervous about the new arrivals. After what seemed like years it reached 8:00, the entire family was in the living room waiting for the knock at the door, the signal that would change all of their lives in good and bad ways. Jihoon nervously played with his sweater while Hansol played games on his phone. Suddenly, three knocks were heard at the door. They all froze. Seungcheol and Jeonghan got up at the same time and walked to the door hand-in-hand. Once they reached the door, Seungcheol took a deep breath. He finally opened the door.There stood the two boys. One was taller and more built while the other was a little shorter and thin. "Hi, welcome. Please come in."Their foster worker waved a goodbye and left, not staying for long. The two boys stepped inside, obviously nervous. Jeonghan pointed to himself "I'm Jeonghan," he gestured to the eldest, "and this is my husband, Suengcheol."The taller of the two pointed to himself, "I'm Junhui, and this is Minghao," Seungcheol shook his hand with both boys, "It's nice to meet you two, would you like to meet the others?" They both nodded. The couple brought the brothers to the living room when they walked in the three boys looked wide-eyed at the Junhui and Minghao, "Boys, this is Junhui and Minghao, can you please introduce yourselves?"The eldest started first, "I'm Joshua, I'm 16, and I'm a junior."Jihoon began, "I'm Jihoon, I'm 15, and I'm a sophomore."Finally, Hansol introduced himself, "I'm Hansol, I'm 13, and I'm in 8th grade."Seungcheol nodded his head, "I'm going to take these two to their room and let them get settled in, I'll be up in a bit."The two followed Seungcheol to the basement and into their new rooms. Seungcheol opened the door "So this is where you guys will be staying, I hope it's okay."Junhui smiled at Seungcheol, "It's great, thank you so much."Seungcheol smiled back, "No need to thank me, but if you guys need anything just come ask Jeonghan or me okay?"The two boys agreed and began to unpack the few things they have. Junhui looked at Minghao, "Do you think you'll like it here?"Minghao only replied with the shrug of his shoulders. Junhui didn't say anything, but he walked over to his brother and hugged him. Minghao let out a soft sniffle. The elder grabbed the ladder by the shoulders, "Hey, are you crying?"Minghao shook his head and wiped his eyes. Junhui held Minghao closer and rubbed his back, "It'll be okay, they seem like nice people. We'll be okay."The younger nodded wiping his eyes again, he let go of Junhui and went to his bed. A few minutes later the boys heard a knock at the door, Junhui opened it and found Joshua standing there, "Hey, hope I'm not bothering you." Junhui shook his head, "Oh no, not at all, come in."Joshua stepped into the room, "I hope you guys like it here, our dads are great. You'll love them."Junhui smiled, "I'm sure we will, right Minghao?" The younger simply nodded. Joshua looked at Minghao with a concerned expression on his face, "is he okay?""He's okay," Junhui affirmed, "Minghao doesn't usually talk whenever he's in a new home. Just give him some time."Joshua hummed, "How many homes have you guys been in?" He asked hesitantly. Junhui leaned back, "four.""I see, well I have to go study. I'll talk to you guys later." Joshua finished. Junhui turned around and saw Minghao has fallen asleep. He walked over kissed him lightly on the top of his head. Junhui decided to go upstairs to get some water. Walking into the kitchen, Seungcheol was washing the dishes while Jeonghan was sitting at the table typing on his laptop. Jeonghan looked up and smiled, "hey Junhui."The ladder smiled back, "could I get some water?" "Of course, cups are in the cabinet next to the fridge, and the water is from the water dispenser in the fridge." Said Jeonghan.Junhui nodded and followed Jeonghan's intructions. "About Minghao," Jeonghan and Seungcheol both looked at Junhui, "He's very quiet when he first moves into a new home, so it'll take a bit before he wants to talk." They both nodded, "I understand, I'm sure it's scary when you go to a new home. We'll let him take his time," promised Seungcheol.Junhui nodded, "Thank you, but you'll love him. He's a sweet kid." Jeonghan agreed, "I'm sure we will, especially if he's as sweet as you."Junhui laughed, "I'm going to bed, but thank you guys so much for taking us in."Seungcheol chimed in, "As I said earlier. There is no need to thank us." Junhui nodded and went to his room. He fell asleep soon after. The next morning Junhui woke up to the pounding of feet on the floor above them, throwing his legs on the edge of the bed he lifted himself out of bed. The elder looked at Minghao still asleep; he's always jealous that he manages to sleep like the dead.Walking upstairs Hansol and Joshua are arguing over who gets the bigger pancake while Jihoon is calmly munching on some eggs watching the event, Seungcheol turns around and gives Junhui a huge grin, "Good morning, Jun. Hungry?" Junhui nodded and took a seat at the table. "Where is Minghao?" Hansol questioned.Jeonghan gave Junhui a plate of food, "Still asleep," replied Junhui. The four kids sit at the table eating their food while the adults are drinking their coffee. After around ten minutes Minghao walks into the kitchen still half-asleep. He walks over to Junhui and rests his head on the elder's shoulders."Hey, Hao. Sleep good?" Jeonghan asked, "Want some breakfast?" Minghao nodded and took a seat next to Junhui, "So, do you ever talk Minghao?" Jihoon asked from across the table. Minghao tensed up."He can talk whenever he's ready, no need to pressure him Jihoon," Seungcheol replied sternly."Right, sorry," Jihoon apologized. Minghao shook his head, "It's fine," he assured.Everyone looked at Minghao, Jeonghan smiled, "It's nice to hear your voice Minghao."Minghao just smiled and continued to eat his breakfast. The family finished their meal. Hansol asked Minghao if he wanted to play some video games, Minghao agreed and followed him to the living room. Hansol turned on the console and gave him a controller. Hansol held up the game, Mario Kart. "Ever played this game?" asked Hansol.Minghao shook his head no, "I've heard of it though." Hansol sat down next Minghao, "I can show you how." Minghao nodded his head. The younger showed Minghao how to use the controls and weapons. In the beginning, Minghao was shy and would apologize everytime he passed the younger, but by the end, Minghao was laughing and playfully teasing the other. Jeonghan smiled from the kitchen, he looked at Seungcheol, "I think Hansol brought Minghao out of his shell." Seungcheol looked pleased, "That's our kid." "Yeah, I hope they like it here," Jeonghan said."I'm sure they do Jeonghan, no need to worry," Seungcheol affirmed. Jeonghan leaned into Seungcheol, "I love you."The elder kissed the latter on the lips, "I love you too."
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Jihoon sat at his school desk and stared at the clock. Twenty minutes until lunch. Jihoon felt his chair get kicked from behind, he turned around and glared at the culprit who was Matt from the football team. "Please stop." Jihoon spat."What? You got a problem?" sneered the football player.The smaller boy just rolled his eyes and turned back around. Moments later Matt kicked his chair again. Jihoon's grip tightened on his pencil, "I said stop."Matt leaned in closer, "What are you gonna do about it? Go cry to your fag dads?"Jihoon felt his blood boil. The boy bolted out of his desk. The class stared at him. Without thinking Jihoon punched him square in the face. Matt retaliated by hitting him in the stomach. Before he knew it, the teacher was pulling them apart and sending them to the office. Jeonghan pulled up into the school parking lot. He rushed into the office. Inside Jihoon was holding an icepack to his stomach and another boy holding an icepack to his nose. Next to the boy was a man in a dark gray suit tapping away on his phone. He looked at the principal, "What happened?" Jeonghan blurted.The principal adjusted his tie, "It seems that Matt here said some things to provoke Jihoon. So Jihoon hit him in the face, they got into a scuffle after that."The man put his phone away and let out a sigh, "Look, I had to leave an important meeting for this. Can you just suspend this hooligan and let my son go back to class?""Hooligan? Your kid was the one who provoked Jihoon into doing this." Jeonghan snapped.The man glared and stood up, "Well you should teach your son," he pointed an angry finger at Jihoon, "to control his anger."The principal held up a hand, "Please calm down. I'm going to give them each an equal punishment. They're both suspended for the rest of the week."The man threw his hands in the air. His face crimson red with anger, "You have got to be kidding me, my son is not at fault. It's that stupid kid's fault. What kind of school are you running here?"Jeonghan grabbed Jihoon by the hand and pulled him out of the office and taking him home. They got into the car, and Jeonghan began to pull out of the parking lot. He looked at his son, "What were you thinking Jihoon?"The younger sighed and turned away, "I don't want to talk about it."Jeonghan sighed, "Jihoon you need to tell me what happened.""He insulted you and dad," Jihoon mumbled, "He called you a disgusting name."Jeonghan loosened his grip on the wheel, "What did he say?"The younger boy looked at him with tears in his eyes, "He called you two fags. It made me so angry, and I couldn't stand it, so I just stood up and punched him," Jihoon was yelling by the end of the sentence. Hot tears were streaming down his face.Jeonghan pulled into a gas station. He unbuckled and went to the younger's boy side of the car. He opened the door and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for defending us, but you know hurting someone isn't the correct way to do it. I Love you so much, and I don't want you to get hurt." consoled the elder male. Jihoon nodded on Jeonghan's shoulder, "I know. It's just. I can't help it. I try to stay calm, but everything felt like everything was boiling up, and the only way to calm down was to hit him. I wasn't thinking." "Why don't we just go home and watch some movies, sound good?" Jeonghan asked calmly. Jihoon nodded, he wiped his eyes and sat properly in his seat. Jeonghan sat back down in the driver's seat and began to head home.Once they arrived Jihoon hopped out of the car and walked inside. He set his stuff in his room and walked into the living room. Junhui and Minghao were watching TV. He flopped onto the couch and let out a huff. Jeonghan walked in, "Hey boys; you want to watch a movie with Jihoon and me?" Jihoon walked to the movie cabinet, "What kind of movies do you guys like?" Minghao shrugged, "You can pick, you look like you need a soft movie though."Jihoon glared at the younger Chinese boy over his shoulder. He put the movie Tangled in the DVD player and sat on the couch. Jeonghan walked in carrying a large bowl of popcorn, "I made popcorn, come grab some if you want any." He said in a sing-song voice. Junhui looked at Jihoon, "Is this a princess movie?""Yeah, it is." the smaller boy replied curtly."Cool, the princess movie Hao and I have watched was Mulan. That movie was bad ass." Junhui chuckled.Jeonghan playfully pointed his finger at Junhui, "Hey, watch your language young man."Junhui laughed again, "Sorry Jeonghan."By the end of the movie Junhui was crying, and Minghao fell asleep. The door opened, Joshua and Hansol walked inside. Confusion was seen on both of their faces. "Why is Jihoon home early? Also, why is Junhui crying?" Hansol puzzled. "Well, Jihoon has a rough day, and we just finished watching Tangled," Jeonghan affirmed.Joshua made a small 'ah' noise, "I remember when we first watched it, Hansol cried like a baby."The youngest lightly hit Joshua on the shoulder, "I did not." Jeonghan hummed, "I'm pretty sure I remember a couple of tears."Hansol laughed, "Okay, maybe I did tear up. I did not cry though."Jihoon shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever helps you sleep at night." After that everyone migrated to their place in the house. Joshua was playing guitar, Junhui was sitting across from him on the couch. "How long have you been playing?"Joshua thought for a moment, "A couple of years I think. Do you play anything?"Junhui nodded, "Yeah before Hao and I were put into the foster system I used to play the piano.""Really? I think we have an electric piano in the garage somewhere." Joshua stated, "You want to go look?""I, uh, sure. Let's go." Junhui hesitantly replied.The two walked into the garage, inside there things like old bikes, toddler clothes, old toys, and beat up furniture. After looking around for a couple of minutes, Joshua made a noise, "Found it! Let's go inside and plug it in."Junhui smiled and followed him in. They plugged the piano into the kitchen and put it on the table. Joshua moved out of the way so Junhui could sit down and play. The Chinese teen looked nervously at the latter, "I haven't played in years, I'll be horrible this."Joshua waved him off, "It's fine, just try your best."The Chinese teen shrugged. He placed his fingers on the piano keys. He lightly pressed down on the note that began a tune very familiar to him. He quickly lost himself in the music. Playing quietly then loudly, going up the scale then down. As he played the final notes, he was aware of everyone's presence in the room. His face instantly began to get red, and he ducked his head down to hide his face. Jeonghan clapped his hands together, "Jun! That was so good!" Everyone praised him and in the corner of his eye, he could Minghao standing the door frame smiling to himself. Junhui beckoned him over and pulled him into a hug. Seungcheol walked into the front door and saw everyone gathered around Junhui. "What did I miss?" Sungcheol asked."Jun is basically the next Picasso," Hansol said.Jihoon snorted, "You know that Picasso was a painter, right?"Hansol furrowed his eyebrows together, "Really? I feel like my whole life has been a lie." "Well, we just found out that Jun has an amazing talent. He can play the piano really well. I recorded it too, just in case you wanted to see it." Jeonghan informed.Seungcheol nodded his head and smiled "Of course I want to see it."After everyone has dispersed the couple began to make dinner together, Jeonghan set down his stirring spoon, "Jihoon had another episode at school today."Seungcheol looked at his husband, "What happened today?"Jeonghan exhaled, "Well, there was a kid who said some hurtful words about us to Jihoon, so he punched him in the face."Seungcheol looked taken back, "Holy shit, did he get in trouble?""Obviously, he's being suspended for the rest of the week," Jeonghan concluded. Seungcheol shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it's only two days. It won't be too bad."Jeonghan nodded, he put the casserole into the oven, "I think we should have him go back to therapy. He's been having a hard time expressing his anger recently, and I think it would be good for him to talk to someone about it."Seungcheol wiped off his hands, "sounds good to me."Before the social workers found Jihoon, he lived in an abusive home. He was born into a home where arguing and yelling was the only way of communication. If the boy did something wrong, his father would hit him. His father also neglected him; he never got appropriately fed. The social worker found Jihoon running out of the house with bruises all over his tiny body. A day later he was in the Cheol-Yoon household; he's lived a safe life since. Jeonghan and Seungcheol lightly knocked on Jihoon's door, when he said 'come in' the couple shut the door behind them. "Am I in trouble?" Jihoon asked nervously, playing with the strings of his sweater.Seungcheol shook his head, "No, but we think you should go back to therapy."The younger boy dropped his shoulder, "I don't want to,"Jeonghan patted his shoulder, "I know you don't want to sweetheart, but you need to talk to someone about what's going on inside your cute little head."The boy pouted, "I'm not cute.""Okay, whatever you say, but we're going to set up an appointment with Dr. Tryninski, sound good?" Seungcheol asked.Jihoon let out an exhale, "Sure," the couple leaned down and gave him a loud kiss on top of his head. He pushed them away laughing softly."That went better than I expected," Seungcheol admitted after shutting Jihoon's door.Jeonghan nodded, "Another thing, I think it's time we have Minghao and Junhui attend school. They're probably going to be here longer than a couple of weeks; I don't want them to fall behind."Seungcheol nodded, "You're right. As long as they're okay with it, I am."When dinner was ready, the family gathered around the table, Joshua was talking about how a kid in his chemistry class almost blew up the entire classroom. When Joshua was finished Jeonghan chimed in, "Speaking of school," he looked at the brothers, "I think it's time you two started going back. You'll be in the same school as Joshua and Jihoon. Hansol will join you guys next year." Junhui looked at Minghao, and the younger only blinked, but it seemed like they had an entire conversation. "Sounds good, I guess." Minghao agreed.Seungcheol smiled, "Will you guys be willing to start next week? We can buy school supplied and all that stuff this weekend.""Okay, we're up for it, but are the classes super hard? I suck when it comes to math." Junhui cried out.Joshua shook his head, "They're not too hard, you can always ask me for help. I'm sure Jihoon will help when he's not a butt."The smaller boy only let out a grunt, "Hey dads, could Seungkwan and Chan spend the night this weekend?" Hansol asked."I don't see why not, as long as their parents are okay with it," Jeonghan affirmed.Hansol smiled to himself, "Cool, because I want to show them the new game I got," The youngest saw the confusion on the two Chinese boy's faces, "They're my friends from class, you'll love them. Well, you'll love Chan for sure, Seungkwan can be a bit much sometimes."Seungcheol laughed, "I think a bit is an understatement bud."Hansol laughed, "You're right, Seungkwan is the loudest and most dramatic person I know, but you'll love him.""He sounds interesting, but I'll be excited to meet him," Minghao confirmed.
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Hansol ran down the stairs while adjusting his jacket, “Morning dads,” He said as he grabbed a plate from the cabinet. Jeonghan dropped some pancakes on his plate, “Hey bud, how did you sleep?”.Hansol sat at his spot at the table, “Pretty decent” he lied. He was up all night FaceTiming Seungkwan and Chan. Chan hung up around 11, but he and Seungkwan were probably up until one in the morning.“Don’t forget to take your meds.” Jeonghan reminded him while handing a glass of water. The younger boy hopped off his chair and grabbed his ADHD pill bottle. Swallow his dose of pills with some water he continued to finish his breakfast. Joshua sauntered down the stairs. Today he styled his hair up and is sporting a striped button-up shirt with black skinny jeans.“Morning Shua,” Jeonghan said as Joshua entered the kitchen. Joshua greeted him back and grabbed a granola bar. Jeonghan raised an eyebrow, “Only a granola bar? Won’t you be hungry?”The younger boy shook his head, “No, I’m not that hungry right now.”Seungcheol walked in carrying a newspaper and some coffee, “Howdy family.”Jeonghan snorted, “Howdy? What was that?”Seungcheol laughed, “I don’t know, I was trying to mix things up,” he said with a swing of his hips.Hansol covered his eyes, “Dad please stop. I don’t want to go blind.”“What? Don't you like my dancing? What about if I dabbed instead?” Seungcheol attempted a dab.Minghao walked in at the exact moment and instantly turned around trying not to die from second-hand embarrassment. Seungcheol saw Minghao walking away, so he snuck up behind him and picked him up. Minghao yelped as he was picked up. Seungcheol carried him to the kitchen but made sure not to spill his coffee. “Jeez kid, you weigh almost nothing.”The Chinese boy laughed, “I can’t help it.”Jeonghan chuckled, “But that’s what makes you cute.”Minghao pouted. Junhui walked into the kitchen with Jihoon trailing behind him. Jihoon had a severe case of bedhead. When anyone looked at him, they couldn’t help but smile. Poor Jihoon who hasn’t seen his appearance was very confused as to why everyone was laughing. He pretended not to care, but he really wanted to know what the hell was so funny. “You might want to look at your reflection,” Joshua joked as Jihoon sat down.Jihoon quickly got up, and speed walked to the bathroom. As soon as he saw his reflection, he felt as if he would die from embarrassment. Immediately taking a brush to his hair, he tried to smooth it out to the best of his abilities. After a good three minutes, he gave up and just opted to soak his hair and let it air dry.“Since it’s my day off I’ll take Minghao and Junhui to go school and clothes shopping.” Seungcheol offered.“Sounds good, but can you bring Jihoon with you guys? I don’t want him to sit home alone all day.” Jeonghan suggested.Seungcheol smiled, “Of course.”Jeonghan kissed his husband on the forehead. He turned around and clapped his hands together, “Alright boys, let's go. We don’t want to late for school now, do we?”Joshua and Hansol only groaned in response, but they walked out to the vehicle anyway. Jeonghan got into the driver’s seat and started to pull away. Seungcheol waved goodbye on the front porch as the three pulled out of the driveway. He walked back inside and called out to the three remaining boys, “Alright kids, start getting ready because we’re going to the mall to get stuff for school.”Minghao walked down the stairs already dressed. Seungcheol patted him on the back, “glad you get ready fast.”The Chinese boy laughed, “Yeah I try, but Jun takes a zillion years to get ready.”Jihoon walked down the stairs with partially damp hair wearing a red sweatshirt and some black joggers. He sat on the couch and played on his phone. After what seemed like years, Junhui finally was finished getting ready. The four got into the second vehicle and began to drive to the mall.Once they got there Minghao’s eyes lit up and smiled, “This mall has all of my favorite stores. I might cry.”“Really?” Seungcheol questioned, “What stores do you like?”“I like Zumiez, Journeys, Vans, and PacSun,” Minghao said with a nod.Seungcheol hummed, “So you’re into the skater style?”Minghao nodded, “Yeah, kinda like skater mushed with hip-hop.”The older man smiled, “That’s cool, What about you Jun? What kind of clothes do you like?”Junhui thought for a moment, “I don’t really know,” he paused then continued, “I guess I just like to find clothes I like then make random outfits,”“Well, I guess we get to look everywhere for you. Do you need anything Jihoon?” Seungcheol turned to the shortest.Jihoon shrugged his shoulders, not looking up from his phone, “No, I don’t think so.”The four entered the mall and began to look for clothes. By the end of their trip, they had been there for around three hours. They collected ripped jeans, jackets, vans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and even a couple of earrings and necklaces. Everyone was starving, so they decided to go to the pizza place in the food court. When they were done eating they started their school shopping after the four got the necessities they left. Jihoon fell asleep on the way home.____________________ Hansol looked at the clock, fifteen minutes until lunch. He glanced over at Seungkwan who looked about ready to fall asleep. Even though Hansol didn’t get a lot of sleep, he doesn’t feel tired, surprisingly. He wanted to scream because the time felt like it was barely moving. He wasn’t even processing anything the teacher was saying, something about cells.After what felt like hours the bell rang. Hansol jumped out of his desk, and speed walked to the cafeteria. He doesn’t want another lecture from the principal about how you’re not supposed to run in the halls. He found their table they sit at every day and sat across from Chan. Seungkwan sat down moments later.“I’m so going to fail science, I kept falling asleep in that class” Seungkwan cried out.Chan looked at him, “What the heck were you doing sleeping during class?”Seungkwan held up a finger, “Okay, first of all, not everyone is as good of a student like you. Second of all, even if I did fall asleep in class, Mr. Johnson wouldn’t even notice. He could drone on about osmosis for three hours if the bell wasn’t there to stop him.”Hansol rolled his eyes, “I think I’d rather eat a cactus.”“Speaking of rather eating a cactus, Mrs. Clark assigned a four-page essay about the Civil War,” Chan said glumly.Seungkwan covered his ears, “Don’t bring up Satan’s name around me. She’s out to get me.”Hansol laughed, “Seungkwan, you’re not special enough for Mrs.Clark.”Seungkwan made a gasping noise and playfully slapped him from across the table, “How dare you, sir, I am one of the most amazing people you know.”“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Chan jibed.____________________ Jihoon looked at the red hair dye. He’s never dyed his hair before and is very confused about what to do. Why are there so many steps, and why does it take so long. Jihoon started to follow the instructions. Once he was done mixing everything, he put on the gloves and started rubbing the dye into his hair and scalp, careful not to let any got on his neck. There was a knock at the door, and Jihoon began to panic, “Who is it?” He called out."Minghao,” Came the muffled reply.“Come in, but don’t let anyone see inside the bathroom,” Jihoon instructed.Minghao opened the door and slid into the bathroom; his eyes went wide when he saw Jihoon’s head, “Are you dying your hair?”The smaller boy rolled his eyes, “What does it look like I’m doing?”Minghao ignored the sass and looked at the box, “Red? That’s dope.”Jihoon shrugged, “Yeah, hopefully, dads don’t kill me when they find out.”Minghao laughed and patted him on the shoulder, “Well good luck with that, and don’t worry; I won’t nark on you.” Minghao said as he exited the bathroom.____________________ Jeonghan pulled into the middle school parking lot with Joshua in the passenger seat. He found Hansol, Seungkwan, and Chan walking to his vehicle. When they entered Jeonghan greeted them, “Hey boys.”“Hi, Jeonghan.” Chan greeted. Jeonghan loved Chan; he is always very kind and polite.“What’s up my dude,” Seungkwan also greeted. Seungkwan was another story.Jeonghan drove them home. When they arrived, the three younger boys immediately jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the house so they could play the new video game Hansol bought. Joshua on the other hand calmly walked into the house.Junhui heard the front door open, he recognized Hansol's voice, but there were two unknown ones. He remembered that Hansol was bringing friends over. He tried to sneak away before getting noticed, but he was too slow, “Hey Jun,” Hansol called out, “come over here and meet my friends.”Junhui reluctantly walked over but held a smile on his face. Hansol gestured to him, “This is my new foster bother Junhui. Jun, this is Seungkwan and Chan.”The Chinese teen awkwardly waved. He was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. “Where’s Minghao?” Hansol asked.“I’m right here,” Minghao walked in at the perfect time. You could see him regretting it as soon as he saw the two new faces. Luckily none of the younger boys noticed. After introducing himself; Minghao somehow got wrapped into playing video games with the younger boys.____________________ Jeonghan knocked on Jihoon’s door, “Hey bud; dinner is going to be ready soon. Jeonghan didn’t hear a reply; he assumed he was listening to music with his headphones to block out Hansol and his friends. When he opened the door, his expression dropped, his son’s hair was red. He tapped on Jihoon’s shoulder, Jihoon looked up and took off his headphones, “Hey,”“When did you dye your hair?” Jeonghan queried.“Today,”“Okay, where did you get the hair dye?”“I secretly bought some while dad, Minghao, and Junhui were shopping at a different store,” Jihoon admitted.Jeonghan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “At least it doesn’t look bad on you, and you did a good job dying it, but you should’ve asked us if you could dye it..”The younger boy nodded, “I thought you guys wouldn’t allow it.”Jeonghan sighed again, “We would. We just don’t want you guys to something that could ruin your hair for good. Next time come ask us, okay?”Jihoon nodded. When he went downstairs to eat everyone was equally shocked when they saw his hair, except Minghao. “Dude, that looks so cool.” Hansol gushed.Joshua agreed, “I wouldn’t be able to pull it off.”Seungcheol ran his fingers through his hair, “I really wish you would’ve asked. It looks good on you. It makes you look younger and older at the same time.”____________________ It’s late at night, and Joshua hasn’t been able to fall asleep since all he can hear is Hansol and friends yelling at each other over Monopoly or something like that. He grabs his blanket and decides to sleep on the couch in the basement. When he gets to the basement, he finds Junhui reading a book.“What are you still doing up?” Joshua puzzles.Junhui looks up from the book, “Couldn't sleep."Joshua looks at him with and smiled "Me either. Hansol and his friends have been keeping me up all night.”The Chinese teen laughed "I'm sure you could tell them to be quiet”Joshu shook his head, "No, I don't want to bother them and ruin their fun."Junhui let out a soft laugh. His the corner of his large eyes crinkled as his lips curled up into a wide smile, "You're too nice for your own good."Joshua suddenly felt shy, “Thank you Jun. This is going to be sudden, but I've been curious about it ever since you guys came here, so if you don’t mind me asking. Why did you have to get removed from your old foster home?”Junhui’s expression visibly dropped, “You don’t have to answer. I'm to nosey for my own good,” Joshua said without hesitation.Junhui waved him off, “It’s fine. I’m okay with telling it.” he gave himself a moment, “As you know the home was horrible, it was filthy, and the foster dad was abusive. If we didn’t do our chores correctly he would lock us in a closet for long periods of time. Now, Minghao is absolutely terrified of the dark and small spaces, that’s why he always sleep with the lamp on. Luckily social services found this out and put him in jail. We then ended up here.”“I’m so sorry,” Joshua felt so bad for these two.Junhui smiled, “It’s okay, because of your family Minghao and I are in a much safer and happier place. I haven’t seen him laugh this much in a long time.”Joshua smiled, “I’m glad you guys feel safe here, and I hope you always do. But, since you shared something so private with me I feel the need to return the favor.”The Chinese teen held up his hands, “It’s okay, you don’t have to.”Joshua shook his head, “No, I want to. Anyway, you already know that Jeonghan is my biological dad and that I never see my mom. The reason I don’t is that she’s dead. She overdosed on heroin when I was eight.”Junhui patted Joshua’s shoulder, “I’m sorry.”The older boy shook his head, “It’s okay, we all have our stories. Ours just happens to be kinda shitty.”Junhui laughed, “I think “kinda” is an understatement.”“Probably, but you’re family now whether you like it or not,” stated Joshua.“Don’t worry; I love being apart of this family,” Junhui confirmed.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was Sunday evening. Minghao and Jun would be going to school tomorrow. The younger Chinese boy was reading a book, but he wasn’t processing any of the words. Minghao lightly scratched his pointer finger with his thumbnail. He could feel it getting red and raw. Minghao felt as if all of his emotions were bottling up. He felt as if he could explode at any minute. Minghao didn’t want other people to laugh at him. He didn't want to get called names. He didn’t want to be pushed around anymore. He doesn’t want the same school experience he had with previous schools. He just wanted to get an education without kids teasing him. Junhui walked into the room. He looked at Minghao on the bed, and the older shot him a smile. The expression vanished quickly when he saw that the smaller boy was irritating his finger. It was a nervous habit that Minghao developed over the past few years. He would only do it when something was bothering him. Junhui quickly walked over and gently grabbed him by the hand, “Minghao, look, you’re hurting yourself.”
The younger looked up at Junhui with his large doe-eyes. He looked down at his finger. It was incredibly red and close to bleeding. When he realized what he had done, the younger cursed to himself softly. He knew that his actions weren’t right, and he had been trying to stop. However, this proved to be harder than he thought.
“What’s on your mind, Hao?” Junhui looked at him with a genuine expression of concern.
The younger shook his head, trying to avoid talking about his feelings. It was easier that way. When he spoke about how he was upset, he didn’t like the looks of pity other gave him. “It’s nothing.”
The elder sighed. The sat on the edge of Minghao’s bed. He pulled him in closer and started to comb his long fingers through his hair; an action that would often calm Minghao. The younger melted into Jun’s touch and released a long, exhausted sigh. “It’s about school. I’m so nervous; I don’t want to go back.”
Junhui let out a soft hum and continued to comb his fingers through his hair, “I know you’re nervous. Trust me; I am too. You have nothing to worry about though, want to know why?”
The younger turned towards him, “Why wouldn’t I have to worry when we’re going to a completely new school? A school with a bunch of strangers.”
Junhui let out a soft chuckle. Minghao’s tendency to worry easily sometimes made Jun laugh. Minghao pouted, he didn’t like that Junhui was laughing at him. “You don’t have to worry because this school isn’t as big as big as our old one. We’ll actually be able to see each other throughout the day.”
The school they attended before being fostered by the Choi-Yoon family was huge. The school has around 1,000 students. Minghao and Junhui never got to see each other throughout the day. Going to a school with only about 400 students would be a big adjustment, but he could manage. Minghao lifted himself from Junhui while grumbling about how he doesn’t need to be protected. Junhui laughed again, smiling from ear to ear. Junhui pulled Minghao back into the original position,
“Hey,” Junhui started, “Remember when we were little. We were playing outside while Mom was gardening. You were playing with your toy trucks, but you didn’t realize you were sitting next to an ant hill. Then you saw a bunch of ants was crawling on your leg. You got so scared that you cried and cried. I saved by brushing the ants off your leg, for the rest of the day you kept calling me your hero.”
Minghao let out a soft laugh, “I remember the ants and you brushing them off. I don’t recall me crying or calling you my hero.”
“You totally cried and called me your hero. All day you were like ‘thank you Junnie, you saved my life.’, ‘my big brother is my hero.’ Cute stuff like that.” Junhui said. The elder brother was making sure to remind him that he was only teasing him, he squeezed his shoulder gently.
The younger laughed and rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”
Minghao released himself from Jun’s grip. He grabbed his book and picked up from where left off on his book. Junhui got off of the younger’s bed and crawled into his own. He pulled himself under the covers and just rested on the bed.
Around ten minutes later knocks were heard at the door. Figuring that it was just their new parents wanting to check up on them, Minghao permitted them to enter. It was indeed Jeonghan and Seungcheol. Jeonghan had two phones in his hands with a small smile gracing his gentle features. “Hey, we wanted to talk to you guys real quick.”
The two boys quickly sat up in their beds, “What is it?” Junhui questioned.
Jeonghan held out the two phones in his hands. They were the older iPhone 5. One was in good condition. It only a few scratches here and there and a few scuffs on the corners from being dropped a couple of times. The other looked like it just got out of a war. It was incredibly beat up, but it still worked perfectly fine. Maybe they were other kids’ old phones. “Since you guys are starting school tomorrow, Seungcheol and I have decided that it would be a good idea for two to have phones. In case you need to contact us. They were Joshua and Jihoon’s old phones.”
Jeonghan passed the phones off to the two of them. Minghao smiled up the two adults, “Thank you. I never had a phone before. This is amazing.”
Junhui also thanked the two. The four sat down on Junhui’s bed and helped them set up the phone. After they added everyone’s contact to the phone the adults left to customize it to their liking. Junhui changed his wallpaper to a piano, and Minghao changed his to a violet sunset.
Junhui and Minghao both got a message from Joshua.
From: Joshua
To: Jun
I hope you like my old phone lol. Don’t worry; I took care of it. There’s nothing broken on it. Minghao is stuck with Jihoon’s old phone, so his might be a bit cracked in places.
Joshua pressed send on the message, chuckling softly to himself. After a paused moment, he decided to send Minghao a message warning him about the device's previous owner.
From: Joshua
To: Minghao
Haha, you got Jihoon’s old phone. Hopefully, it isn’t in too poor of condition. I lost count of how many times he had tossed it across the room.
Minghao let out a small smile and chuckled at the message. He began to type a reply. His slim fingers flew across the keyboard. He instantly began to love texting. It seemed so much easier than talking face-to-face. When Minghao finished with the text, he quickly corrected any spelling errors. He didn’t want his first text to make him look stupid. Minghao clicked the send button.
From: Minghao
To: Joshua
Oh well, It’s better than nothing. I guess I’ll have to extra good care of it.
Junhui read Joshua’s message and smiled to himself. He quickly typed up a reply. Typing on a touchscreen phone felt foreign to him. He would’ve liked to just tell Joshua this in person, but he didn’t want to be weird. Junhui finished up the text and sent it. It was short and sweet.
From: Junhui
To: Joshua
Thanks, I’ll make sure to take good care of it too.
Junhui looked at the time on his phone. The large digital numbers read ten o’clock. He figured that they should probably go to bed soon if they wanted to be well rested for their first day tomorrow. The elder plugged the white charger into the phone and placed it on the wooden desk next to him. He crawled under his covers he turned to Minghao, “I’m going to bed. You should go to bed soon if you want to have the energy for tomorrow.”
Minghao let out a snort from across the room, “Okay, mom.”
Junhui turned off the lights in the room. The lamp next to Minghao and the soft glow from his phone screen was the only source of light left. The younger planned to go to bed soon, but he got wrapped up in a new game he downloaded. Minghao’s eyelids began to feel heavy. He looked at the time and saw that was almost eleven thirty. Shocked by how fast time seemed to fly he wrapped himself in his blankets and tried to fall asleep. He couldn’t.
Minghao was constantly tossing and turning all night long, a common occurrence for him to sleep for about thirty minutes at a time. Only to wake up and repeat the process. It wasn’t long after he had finally drifted off, that he was groaning back into consciousness. Groggy, he sat up and ran a hand through his messy bed head, turning to his phone. The illuminated numbers read 1:04 AM. The younger let out another groan and flopped back onto his back exhausted. He turned to his right sight and clenched his eyes shut. After many minutes that felt like hours, the boy finally fell asleep.
Seungcheol woke up to the obnoxious screech of his alarm clock. He hit the alarm with his fist; turning off the god awful noise. He turned to look at Jeonghan who was still sound asleep. Seungcheol stared at Jeonghan’s sleeping face. He still can’t believe he ended up marrying someone who was this beautiful, even while sleeping. Seungcheol lightly planted a kiss on his forehead then wrapped his arm around Jeonghan’s waist; gently pulling him closer. Jeonghan let out a quiet noise. His eye fluttered open, he looked up at Seungcheol and smiled, “Morning,” he said, his voice laced with sleep.
“Morning, babe,” Seungcheol replied.
The elder leaned in to kiss the latter on the lips, but before he could, Jeonghan held a hand up to his lips, “Not until you brush your teeth,”
Seungcheol let out a playful groan. He sat up then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He padded into their bathroom. After grabbing his toothbrush and applying the toothpaste, he begins to brush his teeth. Jeonghan enters the bathroom and follows the same motions. They’re standing side-by-side, Jeonghan keeps nudging Seungcheol with his elbows and Seungcheol nudging him back. The older spits and rinses his mouth. He quickly washes his face then flicks the excess water at Jeonghan. Seungcheol laughed as the younger yelped in surprise. Jeonghan cupped his hand under the faucet and threatened to throw the water at his husband. Seungcheol dumped the water out of Jeonghan’s hands then leaned in for a kiss. He placed his lips on the latter. Jeonghan returned the kiss, “I love you, Han.” Seungcheol gently expressed.
Jeonghan smiled softly at his husband. He cupped the elder’s face in his hands and squished his cheeks together, “I love you too, dork.”
Jeonghan left the bathroom to make breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. He was going to make today’s breakfast special since it was Minghao and Junhui’s first day at the new school. Gathering all of the necessary ingredients he turned on the stove and began to make pancakes. When they were nice and fluffy on each side, Jeonghan placed them on a plate. While making the fifth one, he heard the sound feet thumping against the staircase. He turned around to find Joshua who was the first one of the kids to up and ready, as per usual, “Morning, Shua.”
Joshua sat down on his unofficial spot at the table. He looked up, and a small smile stretched across his face, “Morning, dad. What are you making for breakfast?”
“I’m making pancakes right now; you can grab the ones that are finished.” Jeonghan gestured towards the stack on the counter beside him. Joshua walked over to the countered and grabbed two, He then proceeded to grab a banana from the fruit basket. After getting the syrup from the fridge, he began to pour the desired amount on his breakfast. Junhui and Minghao walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. Junhui saw the pancakes and grabbed some, but Minghao sat at the table not wanting any. Seungcheol entered the kitchen and smiled at his family, “Morning everyone,” he chirped.
“Morning, dad,” Joshua replied. Seungcheol walked over to the coffee pot and began to brew some of the drink. The older male looked over at Minghao who sat the table not eating anything. He quizzically raised an eyebrow, “Hey, Hao,” The younger boy looked up at him, “have you eaten anything?”
Minghao shook his head, “No, I’m not really hungry.”
Seungcheol let out a soft hum. He grabbed a plate from the cupboard and placed a smaller sized pancake on it. He handed it over to the Chinese boy, “I know you’re not hungry, but you should get a little bit of food in you before school. You’ll need the energy.”
Minghao nodded his head. He grabbed his fork and proceeded to eat it. Hansol and Jihoon finally walked into the kitchen. Late from bickering over how Hansol takes too long of showers. They sat down, and their spots and Seungcheol handed them their pancakes. Seungcheol poured himself some coffee. After the boys were finished with breakfast, they grabbed their backpacks and headed out to the car in the driveway. Minghao buckled himself in. His hands were shaking, and he felt as if his heart was beating a million times a minute. Junhui was quick to notice. He wrapped his arm around Minghao’s shoulders then pulled him in to let him rest his head on his shoulder. He slowly rubbed his hand up and down the younger’s arm. Jeonghan got into the driver’s seat and started the engine, “Ready boys?”
First, they dropped Hansol off at the middle school. The youngest eagerly waved goodbye then ran inside the school to meet up with Chan and Seungkwan. The five arrived at the high school. Joshua, Hansol, and Jihoon got out of the vehicle. They said bye to the other three then walked into the school to find their friends. Meanwhile, Jeonghan, Minghao, and Junhui walked into the school office to get their schedule and other information. Once the three arrived in the office, they were greeted by a lady at the desk who smiled brightly at them. Jeonghan walked up to the desk, “Hello, I’m here to speak with the principal about Minghao and Junhui’s new schedule.”
The secretary's smile managed to get even brighter, “Of course!” she chirped almost immediately after he had spoken, “You can go see him now, he’s just right down the hall.”
Jeonghan followed her instructions and began to walk towards the office. The boys trailed behind. They entered his office. Once the principal saw the three, he smiled at them. “So, you two must be Minghao and Junhui, am I correct?”
Junhui nodded his head, “Uh, yeah, that’s us.”
The principal nodded his head. He turned his chair to his computer and clicked a few buttons on his keyboard. The printer behind him came to life. Shortly after two papers printed out. He handed one to Minghao and Junhui. The papers were their schedules. They looked them over, they found out their lockers were close by which made them happy, but their mood deflated when they saw they didn’t have lunch together. Jun had lunch A, and Minghao had lunch B, “Okay,” The two looked at the principal, “Our basic rule here are to be respectful and kind to your teachers and peers, do you guys have any questions?”
The two both shook their heads no, “Okay, well you two can go and head to your first class. I hope you enjoy being a student here.”
The three said their thank yous then exited the office. Jeonghan gave both of them hugs. “I hope you guys have a great first day, and if you need anything just call me, okay?”
Minghao nodded, “Will do.”
Jeonghan gave them a satisfied smile. He turned away and walked out of the school. Junhui watched him until he got into the car and drove off. The elder turned to look at Minghao, “Let’s go to our locker’s.”
The younger nodded. They began to make the short journey to their locked. Once they arrived the two put their things away accordingly. Junhui was incredibly upset that he didn’t have the same lunch with Minghao. Junhui wanted to be there for Minghao, but he knew Minghao is strong. He just hoped that either Jihoon or Joshua had the same lunch as the younger. “Hey Jun,” Minghao called out, “I’m heading to science class.”
“Okay, I’ll see you either between classes or after school, okay?” Junhui asked.
Minghao nodded. They went their separate ways. Minghao looked at his schedule. Science was in room 427 with Mrs. Smith. He looked at the classroom numbers around him around him. He let out an exasperated sigh when he realized he was in 200s. He turned around and walked to the other side of the school only to find out he only made it to 300. Minghao then had to trudge up the stairs. Minghao walked down the hall. The boy's eyes scanned the classroom numbers; he was getting closer. Finally, he found 427. He quietly walked into the classroom. He looked at the back of the room and saw the teacher sitting behind her desk. His hands were starting to get sweaty from nerves. He could feel the stares and whispers from other kids, “Excuse me, Mrs. Smith?”
The teacher looked up at Minghao. She was in her middle-ages. Her curly brown hair framed her round face, and purple glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, realization quickly spread across her face, “You must be the new student, Minghao Wen?”
The boy nodded his head, “Yes, that’s me.”
Mrs. Smith smiled at him, “Okay, I’ll let you introduce yourself; then we can figure out where you’re going to sit, sound good?”
The Chinese boy shyly nodded his head, “Sounds good.”
The teacher stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the classroom; she beckoned him to follow. Minghao did not want to stand in front of the classroom and introduce himself to a bunch of strangers. He quickly wiped the sweat off of his hands, “Attention, class.”
Students who were previously talking to their friends turned their attention to Minghao and Mrs. Smith. Minghao wanted to vomit. “Class, this is Minghao Wen. He’s a new student and he be will apart of this class for the rest of this year, so I hope you guys can give him a warm welcome. Now he will introduce himself then tell us one thing he likes and dislikes.”
Minghao took a deep breath. He could do this. “Uh, Hi, I’m Minghao Wen. I like to play video games, and I dislike, uh, cold weather.”
“Okay,” the teacher looked at a seating chart, “Mingyu raise your hand please.”
Minghao watched as a long arm shot up into the air. In the chair was a tall, tan boy with dark black hair and a wide grin that adorned his face, “Minghao you will sit in the empty seat next to Mingyu.”
The boy nodded. He nervously walked down the aisle. As he got closer to his desk, he could hear girls whisper about how lucky he was and how they wish they could sit next to Mingyu. He sat down in his chair and took a deep breath. He organized his things and placed them under his desk. Shortly after Mrs. Smith dropped off a fat textbook on his desk. When Minghao went to move it, he couldn’t believe how heavy it was. “Hi, Minghao.”
The boy's eye quickly darted to the owner of that voice to find that it was Mingyu, “Hi.” he replied.
Minghao realized that Mingyu was tall, very tall. He had nicely tanned skin. His eyes were slightly round; he had high cheekbones and an amazing smile. Minghao couldn't help but be amazed by Mingyu’s looks. Minghao was slightly jealous. He would get over it eventually. “What school did you go to before you moved here?” Mingyu asked.
“I went to McGregor High.” Minghao was proud of himself for not being completely awkward. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of a possible new friend. As long as he doesn't overthink anything he would be fine.
“Really? I have a cousin who goes there. You probably don’t know him because one, he’s a senior and two, that school is freaking huge. I couldn’t imagine walking through a hallway with that many students.” Mingyu rambled. Minghao liked him; he seemed nice.
“Yeah, I didn’t like being there. I was lucky enough to be able to come here though.” Minghao explained. The bell rang signaling that class has begun. The Chinese boy directed his attention towards the front of the room. “Class, take out your textbooks and turn to page 275. Today we will start chapter 9.”
Minghao reached under his chair and heaved the giant book onto his desk. Minghao was lucky enough to be able to start a chapter with the rest of the class on his first day. The chapter was about cells. The teacher began to talk about how the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. He couldn’t seem to focus. He kept stealing glances at Mingyu who was diligently taking notes. Minghao probably should, but he just can’t find the motivation to pick up his pencil and scribble down a few notes.
The Chinese boy eventually forced himself to write down at least a couple of sentences. After around ten minutes Minghao felt a gentle kick to his desk. He looked over, and Mingyu was tapping his desk with his long legs. The taller discreetly threw a note onto his desk, but it missed his desk by a few inches. Minghao had to suppress a laugh in order not to get caught by the teacher. Minghao used his foot to drag the note close to him. After picking it up, he opened it.
do you have lunch B? pls circle yes or no (if the answer is yes read the next question)
If you do would do you want to sit with me at lunch? yes or no
After reading the note, he smiled to himself. Since Minghao didn’t have lunch with Jun, Joshua, or Jihoon, he decided that he had nothing to lose if he sat by him. Hopefully, he didn’t sit next to anyone. He probably did since he was so nice. He took his pencil and circled the yes. He folded the note and threw it to Mingyu’s desk. He sighed in relief that it landed on the desk and didn’t miss. He would’ve been so embarrassed. Mingyu opens the note and reads it. When he finishes he beams at Minghao with his canines showing. Minghao could feel his ears get red and hot. He hoped that the other didn’t notice.
The students in the class begin to pack up their items. Minghao looks at the clock. The class is ending in two minutes. He begins to pack up his things as well. The bell rings, Mingyu hops out of his seat and begins to race towards the door. He halts to a stop the turns to face Minghao, “See you at lunch?”
The Chinese boy gives a small nod, “Yeah, see you then.”
Mingyu smiles again then leaves for the second period. Minghao leaves the classroom moments later. Junhui sighs as he exits English. Worst class ever. He can already tell the teacher is an asshole, and most of the kids were annoying. It’ll be okay, as long as he stays quiet he thinks he’ll be fine. Junhui looks at his next class, math. Junhui wants to cry. He hates math with a burning passion. Math is in room 402. Junhui feels because he can see the classroom is down the hall. He’s happy that he doesn’t need to wander through the halls and almost get lost.
Junhui walks into the classroom. He walks towards the teacher’s desk, “Hi, I’m Junhui. The transfer student.”
The teacher smiles at him, “Hi Junhui, I’m Mr. Wang. You can sit at the table next to Isabell over there.”
Junhui looked over to find a girl waving at him. Junhui walks over to the table and sets his items down. Isabelle has her dark brown hair tied up in a loose bun and is sporting sweatshirts and sweatpants. The girl smiles as Jun. The Chinese boy notices that she has extremely white and straight teeth. “Hi, I’m Isabelle, but you can call me Bella.”
He sits down in the chair, “I’m Junhui, but you can call me Jun.”
The girl’s grin managed to get even wider. She tried to have a conversation with Junhui, but he would only answer with a word or two. Eventually, she got bored and began to talk to the other girls near their table. The teacher began class. He started talking about quadratic functions. Jun wanted to sleep. He forced himself to pay attention to some of the lessons. After what seemed like years the bell finally rang. One more class then he can go to lunch. Jun gathered his things. Isabelle waved to him, and he waved back. Junhui walked to his next class which was Art. Art was on the other side of the school. It should be easy to find though. Jun began his short journey. Once he reached there, he walked inside. Joshua was sitting at a table. He was sketching something on some paper. “Hey, Josh,” Junhui called out.
The older boy looked up. When he made eye contact with the Chinese teen, a smile stretched across his face, “Hey, Jun.”
Junhui pointed at an empty chair seated next to the Korean boy, “Is anyone sitting in this spot?”
Joshua shook his head. Junhui set his supplied down then sat next to the elder. The art teacher walked into the room. She was short and slightly chubby. Her hair was graying, and it was cut short. Large glasses framed her face. Then the last of the students began to walk into the classroom. “Junhui?”
The Chinese boy looked up; the art teacher was beckoning him to her desk. He padded over to her. She handed him a few pieces of paper and told him she was happy that he would be joining their class. Junhui sat back down in his seat. Joshua smiled at him, “Be careful, Ms. Larson can be kinda crazy at times.”
Junhui shrugged with shoulders. He didn’t know what Joshua meant by crazy, but he doesn’t think she could be that bad. Plus, he’s dealt with plenty of crazy things in his life. He will be fine, “I’ve seen plenty of crazy things in my life, I think I’ll be okay.”
The Korean let out a soft laugh. Covering his smile with his hand, his eye crinkled in the corners, “So, how has your day been? Get lost yet?”
“Thankfully I haven’t gotten lost yet,” Junhui replied quietly.
Joshua nodded, “I remember when I started my freshman year here. It was crazy. I was terrified of the seniors. I lost my schedule the first day, and I could never remember my locker combo. It was one of the most stressful days of my life.”
Junhui’s dark eyes widened slightly, “Holy crap if my day was like that I probably would’ve passed out.”
Joshua let out another soft laugh, “It was okay. As long as I stay positive things will turn out okay.”
The Chinese boy smiled. Ms. Larson walked to the front of the classroom and began class. She handed each student a sheet of paper talking about the different values on a grayscale. She laid out pencils that varied from sketching lightly to sketching dark. Junhui loved drawing, and he believed that he was pretty good. He would draw pictures of things around his old home. He’d then give them to his mom. She would always hang them up on the fridge.
Junhui couldn’t decide what to draw. He sat at the table pondering for a few minutes. A light bulb went off inside his head. He decided to draw the Choi-Yoon house. Junhui felt calm and at ease while drawing. His new foster home also made him feel like that. The Chinese boy began drawing the front porch. He liked how the steps were cement instead of wood. The porch also had enough room for a table and a few chairs. When it gets warmer outside Junhui wants to draw while sitting outside.
After he was finished, he began to draw the second floor of the house. The front of the house had three large windows. When Junhui and Minghao first arrived the older thought, it was one big room, but it was three separate rooms. The window on the left was Jihoon’s; the middle was Hansol’s and the window on the right is Joshua’s. Seungcheol’s and Jeonghan’s room is at the back of the house on the second floor.
At the thought of Joshua, Junhui looked over to see what the latter was drawing. He quizzically lifted an eyebrow at the sight of it. The Korean boy was drawing an anime boy with spiky hair in a volleyball jersey. “Hey, Josh,” Junhui called out, “Is that anime?”
The older looked at him slightly embarrassed. His cheeks were lightly dusted pink, “Yeah, he’s a character from a show that I like.”
Junhui nodded his head, “Cool, what’s the show called?”
“It’s, uh, called Haikyuu.”
“What’s it about?” Junhui asked. He wants to know more now that he knows Joshua likes it.
“It’s about a volley team named from a school named Karasuno. They used to be a really good team until their coach left, so they practice a lot, and they become an amazing team. I just love the show’s character development and friendship. I’ve lost count of how many times I rewatched it.” Joshua gushed.
Junhui smiled, “Sounds interesting. Do you think I could watch it with you sometime?”
A wide grin stretched across Joshua’s face, “I’d love to! Just tell me when.”
The bell rang, “You’re sitting with me at lunch, right?” Joshua asked as they left the classroom.
Junhui nodded, “Yeah, I feel bad for Minghao. I hope someone invited him to sit with them.”
The older nodded his head, “Me too, I’m sure he found someone. Also, I need to tell you about two other people that sit at our table.”
Junhui cringed, meeting new is the worst. Joshua continued, “Their names are Soonyoung and Wonwoo. Soonyoung is super loud and hyper while Wonwoo is the exact opposite. You’ll like them though; they’re nice people.”
“I’m sure I will.”
After the Chinese boy put his supplied in his locker, he followed Joshua to the lunch line. He grabbed a lunch tray and some silverware. The lunch lady gave him a decent looking chicken sandwich and a handful of fries that looked slightly overcooked. He then goes to choose a fruit and vegetable. He chooses and apple and some carrots. Once they had their food, Joshua led Junhui to a round table that was tucked into the corner of the lunch room. Jihoon was sitting next to a black hair boy reading a book. The other one was glaring and quickly tapping away at his phone. Joshua sat down, and Junhui followed. Jihoon gave a small head nod to the both of them.
Suddenly the blonde one lets out a loud cry that startled everyone at the table, “I’m so bad at SuperStar BTS. I can’t get past DNA on the medium level. I feel like I’m disrespecting them. I’m such a fake stan.”
Junhui concluded that he must be Soonyoung, and the one who hasn’t even looked up from his book yet must be Wonwoo. Soonyoung looked up and saw Joshua, “What the
fuck
is up Kyle?”
Soonyoung then looked at Junhui, “Who the
fuck
is that Kyle?”
That seemed to have caught Wonwoo’s attention. He marked a page in his book and shut it. Junhui was thrown off by Wonwoo’s cold expression. He probably just had a case of resting bitch face. Junhui was sure Wonwoo was a nice guy. “Guys, this is Junhui, my new foster brother.”
Soonyoung's eyes widened, “Wait, you got a new foster brother, and you didn’t tell us!?”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, “He did tell us, but you were too busy watching rip Vine compilations.”
Soonyoung squinted his eyes trying to recall the situation. He gave up soon after he started. He shrugged his shoulder then shoveled chicken into his mouth. Jihoon looked at him in disgust. Soonyoung dropped his chicken sandwich on his tray and slammed his hands down on the table startling everyone. Wonwoo looked as if he was about to smack the blonde, “Guys, the dance team is having a performance a two from today. Can you guys make it?”
Junhui perked up at the mention of a dance team. Wonwoo nodded his head, “I mean, I have nothing better to do, so I guess I can come.”
Soonyoung let out a pretend offended gasp and hit Wonwoo on the shoulder. Knowing Minghao loves to dance he wanted to learn more, “There’s a dance team here?”
Soonyoung nodded eagerly, “Yep! Are you interested?”
The Chinese teen quickly shook his head. He could never imagine himself dancing in front of a crowd, “No, but my little brother had always wanted to be on a dance team.”
“I caught him dancing a week ago; he’s actually pretty good.” Jihoon piped in.
Soonyoung smiled wide at Jihoon which caused the younger to blush slightly. Joshua caught onto this. The oldest let out an almost silent chuckle that went unnoticed. Jihoon had probably been crushing on Soonyoung since his freshman year, but he has never had the courage to confess to him. The blonde haired boy probably liked Jihoon back. Joshua couldn’t tell. He only thinks this because Soonyoung is overly affectionate with Jihoon. Soonyoung turned his gaze back to Junhui, “You should have your brother come to our performance. What’s his name?”
“His name is Minghao, and I know he’ll be thrilled to come to the performance. You can count on the two of us to attend.” Junhui confirmed.
“I’ll come too,” The red-haired boy mentioned quietly.
Soonyoung jumped out of his seat and raced to Jihoon to hug him. The latter unusually looked like he enjoyed the hug. After Soonyoung returned to his seat, Joshua confirmed that he’d attend the performance too. The five chatted idly for the rest of their lunch period. Once the bell rang, Junhui took the opportunity to talk to Minghao. He gave a quick goodbye to everyone then raced to Minghao’s locker.
Junui finds his little brother putting away a textbook in his locker. Minghao looked up and smiled at Junhui. “How are you holding up?” Junhui asked.
Minghao smiled, “Surprisingly good. I made a friend in Science, his name is Mingyu, and he invited me to lunch. I don’t have to worry about sitting by myself now.”
Junhui smiled proudly at the younger for stepping out of his comfort zone, “I’m glad to hear that, but I have to go to class. See you when our classes end.”
The older patted Minghao’s back the left for his next class. In order not to worry Junhui Minghao pretended not to be nervous, but he was very nervous right now. Walking into the lunch room, Minghao saw a line of kids grabbing trays and getting their lunch. Minghao followed them. After getting his food, Minghao looked across the large cafeteria. He would never be able to find Mingyu. The Chinese boy realized he was wrong and found Mingyu within seconds. He was looming over other students due to his height. Minghao quickly walked over to him.
When Mingyu spotted him, he let out a wide smile. Minghao returned the gesture, “Hey Minghao, I’m sitting over there.”
Mingyu pointed to a table where another boy was sitting. The unknown boy was quickly finishing some last minute homework that was probably due today. Minghao followed Mingyu to the table. The two sat across the boy who looked up when he heard the trays hitting the table. The boy furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of Minghao. “Seokmin, this is Minghao. Minghao this is Seokmin.” Mingyu looked at the other boy, “Minghao is a new student. He can sit with from now on if he wants.”
Seokmin’s expression quickly turned into a bright smile that made his eyes crinkle in the corners. This made Minghao feel at ease. Mingyu looked over at Seokmin’s paper. He pointed at it, “Is that math?”
The latter let out a small whine, “I forgot to do it last night. I have math after lunch I don’t know if I’ll finish it in time.”
Mingyu held out his hand, “Let me do it real quick.”
Seokmin handed the assignment over to the taller and quickly scribbled down answers trying to make his penmanship similar to Seokmin’s. Minghao eyes widen in amazement at the boy writes down the answers as if he’s got them memorized. Around five minutes Mingyu finishes the assignment. Seokmin let out a bright laugh, “Thank you Mingyu; you just saved my GPA with your genius math abilities.”
The taller replied with a smile. After taking a bite of his, banana Seokmin turned to Minghao, “Hey Minghao, why did you move to our school?”
The Chinese teen tensed for a second. He quickly debated whether or not he should tell the truth about him being a foster kid or not. He’s afraid if he does tell them they will think of him differently and give him pity. He decides to be honest that way he doesn’t need to explain things later on, “I’m a foster kid. My old foster home wasn’t a safe place, so my brother and I got moved here.”
Seokmin nodded then smiled at Minghao, “Okay, that’s cool,” the taller’s eyes went wide, “I mean it’s not cool, but, uh. You know what I mean.”
The corners of Minghao’s mouth turned up to form a soft smile, “It’s okay, I understand.”
The three boys continued with their lunch. Seokmin and Mingyu would ask Minghao questions to get to know him better. Minghao felt as if these two could be long-time friends. Minghao liked the way Mingyu was nice to him and how easy going he was. He liked the way Seokmin laughed easily and how energetic he was. The bell rang. Minghao left with two to finish his finals classes. After what seemed like hours the day was finally over.
Minghao and Junhui met up with Joshua and Jihoon by the front of the school while they waited for Jeonghan to come pick them up. Once he arrived, they all got into the car and drove home. The entire ride was filled up with conversations about how their day went. As they arrived home, Junhui noticed a familiar vehicle sitting in the driveway. Junhui and Minghao’s foster care worker was standing by the front door.