I’m sorry.

Baekhyun throws her phone on her bed with a sneer. It’s the hundredth time Chanyeol’s texted in the past three hours. She doesn’t want to deal with it.

“Baekkie,” her grandmother coos through the closed door. “It's time for dinner! Come join everyone downstairs.”

“Coming, Grandma,” she replies and leaves her phone. She pads downstairs and takes a seat beside her brother, inhaling the aroma of the freshly roasted fish on the table.

“So, Baekkie,” her grandfather says, setting down his crossword. “Taehyung here tells me you have a boyfriend. Is that true?”

Baekhyun flinches and glares at her brother before sighing. She had never told him what Chanyeol had done to her; she couldn't blame him. “Um, actually, I don't,” she says.

Taehyung and her grandfather stare at her in surprise. “What do you mean?” Taehyung asks, confused. “You called me to tell me about Chanyeol, like, a month ago.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “It just didn't work out,” she lies. Taehyung stares at her, knowing that she's lying.

“Here's the kimchi and rice!” Their grandmother says cheerfully as she glides into the room with the dish. She sits down and smiles at her family. “Everyone, eat up!”

Baekhyun holds back her moans as she eats her grandmother’s food and she never wants to leave. “Grandma, can you just come live with me and cook everyday?”

Her grandmother chuckles, placing a hand gently on Baekhyun’s arm. “Oh, dear, Kyungsoo cooks for you all the time! She’s just as good as me.”

“That’s not true,” Baekhyun protests, laying her head on her grandmother’s shoulder. “Please.” She ignores her brother gaping at her.

Her grandparents only laugh and pat her comfortingly. “You’ll be alright, Baek.”

Baekhyun stares down at her chopsticks, unsure of their words.

Baekhyun yawns as her phone rings and she sits up straight when she sees who it is. “Hey!”

“You have got to do something,” Kyungsoo whines. “Chanyeol's even resorted to calling me and Jimin.”

Baekhyun groans. “I'm so sorry,” she apologizes. “What did he say?”

“He just keeps blabbering about how he's sorry and what went wrong and what you were talking about and how Taeyeon tricked him and how he needs to get a hold of you. I think he's drunk the majority of the time he calls.”

The phone beeps in her hand and Baekhyun sees it's Jimin. “Ah, Min just texted me she keeps getting calls, too. Look, I'm really sorry. Just tell him to off and block him if you need to. This is unnecessary.”

“Baek.” Kyungsoo pauses. “Maybe you should talk to him.”

Baekhyun narrows her eyes as she pauses her text back to Jimin. “What do you mean?” She growls.

“Chanyeol's not like Minho,” Kyungsoo says softly. “I think maybe you should hear him out and give him another chance.”

“And if he turns out to be exactly like Minho?” Baekhyun retorts, leaning back against her pillows. “I mean, he's almost there.”

“Taeyeon is manipulative, Baek,” the other protests. “Don't blame Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun frowns. “Why are you so insistent on me forgiving him?” She asks suspiciously.  

Kyungsoo sighs. “Jongin has never seen Chanyeol so crazy,” she admits and Baekhyun snorts.

“Your little boy toy is only a first year, what would he know?”

“Okay, you're right, but Namjoon and Jongdae are his best friends and they've been texting and calling me constantly as well,” Kyungsoo replies. “They know him better than anyone.” She pauses again. “Maybe you should just hear him out and if you don't like what he says, forget it.”

Baekhyun bites her lip and hugs herself tightly. She feels cold without Chanyeol behind her, pulling her against his warm chest. She feels lonely with his rumbling laugh in her ears and his bright, contagious smile. She's crying before she knows it and barely hears Kyungsoo’s worried calls.

“I'll call him,” she whispers and Kyungsoo goes silent. “I'll do it.”

“Good luck, Baekkie.”

She hangs up and calls Chanyeol with bated breath. Her stomach ties itself in knots and she clenches the sheets nervously. It rings and rings before he finally picks up.

“Byun Baekhyun.”

“Park Chanyeol.”

The silence stretches on and Baekhyun thinks that maybe he fell asleep until Chanyeol speaks again. “I miss you. A lot. And I'm sorry. I’m so sorry, I’m so ing sorry.”

“Tell me what happened,” Baekhyun orders and she thanks God that Chanyeol sounds stable.

“I was already drunk. More than I should've been. And this girl, she looked like you, at least to my drunk self she did, and she told me she was you.” He pauses and Baekhyun purses her lips. “I believed her and I wondered where the drinks you went to get were but then the music started up again and she started to dance. I just got swept along. That's it, I promise.”

Baekhyun stares at the wall in front of her. He sounded honest, earnest, and she finds herself believing him. “You should be more careful drinking,” she snaps and Chanyeol chuckles. He's forgiven.

“I won't drink as much,” he promises and Baekhyun cracks a smile. “I miss you a lot. So much.”

“Mmm, me too,” she mumbles, embarrased.

“When do you come back? To school?”

“In two weeks,” Baekhyun replies, falling back into her pillows.

“That’s too long,” Chanyeol whines and Baekhyun laughs.

“You’re such a big baby--”

“Baekhyun!” Taehyung comes barging into her room and she shrieks in surprise. “Want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Taehyung!” Baekhyun snaps. She throws a pillow at her brother.

“At dinner--stop! At dinner, you were obviously upset about Park Chanyeol!” Taehyung stares at Baekhyun seriously. “If something is wrong, tell me.” Baekhyun sighs and pats her bed. Taehyung climbs up next to her and she tells him what happened.

Immediately, he’s off the bed, pacing around her room, and ranting about Chanyeol and Taeyeon. “What an awful person! Noona, I don’t know how you were ever friends with someone like that! And Park Chanyeol! Oh my god, Park Chanyeol, what the hell? I’m going to hunt him down and kill him! Granted, he would probably kick my because he’s like, twelve feet tall, but at least I would get the first hit in!”

Chanyeol, who had listened to the whole thing, clears his throat and Baekhyun laughs at Taehyung’s shocked expression. “Hey, Taehyung. It’s Park Chanyeol. The one who’s twelve feet tall.”

“Noona!” Taehyung accuses her and she cackles more. “You were on the phone with him and you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s okay, Tae,” she says, patting his head. “We’ve cleared up our misunderstandings. It’s all fine.”

“You let me embarrass myself,” he moans, glaring at her. “How could you?”

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol chuckles from Baekhyun’s phone. “I understand. You’re protective of your sister and that’s great.”

“Of course I am!” Taehyung snaps. “I won’t lose her too.” His voice cracks and Baekhyun brings him close for a hug. “She’s everything to me now.”

“Taehyunggie,” Baekhyun whispers with a smile, tears falling onto his shirt. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”

Taehyung pulls back and stares at Baekhyun’s phone. “Yah, you better take care of my sister or you’ll have hell to pay. She deserves everything in the world, got that?”

“I’m planning to give it to her,” Chanyeol replies and Baekhyun grins at his words.

-

Junmyeon taps her foot restlessly as she awaits Jongdae’s arrival. She keeps her eyes on the estate gates and grins when she finally sees his car pull up. She's rushing downstairs, her heart beating erratically, when the doorbell rings and her younger brother is at the door.

He looks up at her with a smile. “Noona.”

“Hajoon,” she warns.

Hajoon opens the door. “Hello, brother-in-law. You're early.”

Jongdae blinks down at the twelve year old. “Hello.”

“Yah,” Junmyeon snaps from the stairs. “Get out of here,” she tells her brother.

“Is he here?” A shout sounds from upstairs and Junmyeon screams internally at the sight of her other three siblings racing down the other stairwell.

Myungsoo crashes into Jongdae, sending him flat on his back. Youngjae and Sungchul shriek with excitement and jump on Jongdae as well. Hajoon laughs and jumps, too, though it's only to torture Jongdae.

Before Junmyeon can yell at her brothers, her mother calls, “What is all this commotion? Boys! Junmyeon!” Mrs. Kim walks out over the bridge overlooking the entrance and gasps. “Honey! Come quick! Junnie’s boyfriend is here!”

“What?” Mr. Kim is at her side at once.

“Mommy, Daddy, look!” Hajoon crows as he holds Jongdae in a headlock.

“Hajoon!” Junmyeon screams. She finally finds her strength and rushes down to Jongdae’s side, pulling her brothers off of him. “I'm so sorry!”

Jongdae sits up, looking a little scuffed up but he laughs. “It's okay, I love kids!” He grins at the four brothers, all lined up behind their sister. “I'm Kim Jongdae, Junmyeon’s boyfriend.”

“For how long?” Hajoon asks, cocking his head while the younger three bow.

Junmyeon scowls and hits Hajoon lightly. “Show some respect, brat.”

Hajoon bows and repeats his question as his parents begin to come downstairs.

Jongdae chuckles. “Hopefully, for a long time,” he replies, causing Junmyeon to blush.

It's still new to her, this dating thing. Especially since it's Kim Jongdae, a Kappa Pi Beta boy. But she trusts him. It's easy to see how she fell for him, she realizes as she watches him.

“Jongdae! So glad you could come spend a few days with us!” Mr. Kim gathers Jongdae into a hug before Mrs. Kim squeezes his cheeks, cooing at how cute he is. Junmyeon groans in embarrassment, hoping Jongdae doesn't think her family is weird as .

“Thanks for the invitation!” Jongdae replies with a grin.

“Oh, it was all Junmyeon!” Mrs. Kim waves her hand dismissively. “She kept talking about you and how perfect you are and how much she wanted to spend this time with you! It really was absolutely adorable!”

“Mom!” Junmyeon barks, her face red. “Stop it!”

Jongdae smirks at her and Junmyeon feels her stomach fluttering with warmth. “Yeah? That's cute, noona.”

“Stop,” she mumbles. “Get your stuff and I'll show you the guest room.” She lets Jongdae grab his bags and leads him downstairs to the guest level.

“Damn, Jun,” he comments, realizing just how big the house is on the inside.

“Stop staring at my ,” she hisses.

Jongdae chuckles. “That's not what I was commenting on but if you want--”

“No!” Junmyeon turns on him, face red. “Dae!” She huffs when he laughs more and shows him the guest suite. “Here.”

“Thanks, babe.” He presses a chaste kiss on Junmyeon’s cheek as he pushes past her. He sets his bags down beside the bed and turns around towards her. “Hey, can you help me?”

Junmyeon nods and when she's close enough, Jongdae grabs her, hurling her onto the bed. She squeals and lands amongst the many decorative pillows. “Jongdae! I thought you needed help unpacking!”

Jongdae chuckles and climbs over her, smirking. “I am unpacking,” he says and Junmyeon raises an eyebrow. “I'm unpacking the clothes we're wearing.”

“My family is home!” Junmyeon protests but Jongdae is pressing soft kisses along her jaw and she bites her lip.

“We're downstairs,” he replies and nips her collarbone. “It's fine if you're not as loud as you were last time.”

“Jongdae,” Junmyeon whines and she hides her burning face in her hands. “Shut up.”

“You were cute,” Jongdae says with a grin and he moves her hands to kiss her. His hands burn the skin on her stomach where her shirt has ridden up and she's just about to sit up so he can take it off when shouts echo from the stairs.

“!” Junmyeon pushes Jongdae off of her just in time as her three brothers appear in the doorway. She tries to slow her breathing and smiles. “Boys.”

Hajoon eyes them suspiciously as Youngjae asks innocently, “Noona, what were you doing?”

“Uh, we were just… wrestling!” Junmyeon makes up the best excuse off the top of her head. She turns and shoves Jongdae off the bed, cringing when he grunts in pain. “Yep, I just won.”

“Oh.” Sungchul picks his nose.

“Sungchullie, don't do that,” his sister chides. “Okay, did you all need something?”

“We heard noises,” Hajoon says, still staring at Jongdae.

“Sorry, that was me overpowering Jongdae,” Junmyeon replies. “He's pretty weak.”

Jongdae opens his mouth to protest when Hajoon points a finger at him. “Yeah? Then I'll fight you.”

Jongdae looks at Hajoon and grins. “Oh, yeah? You want to go up against a twenty-one year old? What are you, ten?”

“I'm twelve,” Hajoon snaps. “And my sister says you're weak. I could take you. I challenge you to a duel!”

“Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh?”

“Not that kind of duel, old man!” Hajoon snorts and Jongdae blinks.

“Old man?” He says, looking at Junmyeon in mock concern. “Hey, if I'm an old man, your sister is an old lady! She's about 100 years older than me!”

“Old lady!” Youngjae cackles with glee and soon all of the boys are shouting it. Junmyeon rolls her eyes at her boyfriend as he chants along; she'll kill him later.

“I meant a real duel,” Hajoon begins again. “Like from medieval times, with horses and jousting and kings and queens and knights!”

“Wait, I don't know how to ride a horse,” Jongdae says and Hajoon laughs squeakily.

“What a fool. Noona, your boyfriend is going to lose!”

Dinner isn’t as awkward as Junmyeon had feared. Her mother had prepared the meal herself instead of their house chef and even though the rice was slightly undercooked, the kimchi was canned, and there were multiple bowls of snacks on the dinner table, Jongdae didn’t say a word. He ate everything on his plate and even asked for seconds, much to the delight of her mother.

“So, Jongdae, what’s your major?” Her father asks.

“I’m majoring in criminal justice and law enforcement,” Jongdae replies, setting down his spoon. “I plan to become a police officer or a detective, maybe.”

Mrs. Kim claps, excited. “That’s wonderful! What else do you do?”

“I’m on the hockey and baseball teams.” Jongdae is immediately bombarded with questions by Junmyeon’s little brothers and he laughs, answering them all, even the ridiculous ones.

“And you’re a second year, correct? A year younger than Junmyeon?” Mr. Kim asks, taking a sip of his wine. Jongdae nods. “Well, good luck to you. I hope you do great things. To Jongdae!” He raises his glass, his family following.

“Thank you, sir!” Jongdae grins and he raises his as well.

They finish dinner peacefully and Junmyeon helps her mother load the dishwasher. “Junnie, you’ve got a hold of a good one,” Mrs. Kim tells her daughter with a sly smile. “I wouldn’t let go of him if I were you.”

“Mom!” Junmyeon hisses.

“I’m serious! He’s such a nice boy; your father and I like him very much.”

Junmyeon sighs. “Well, at least you do. Hajoon obviously has a problem with him.” She jerks her head to where her younger brother is glaring at her boyfriend from across the living room.

“Oh, he’ll get over it. He’s taken it upon himself to help Father. Wants to ‘become a man of the house’,” Mrs. Kim chuckles. “He’s been watching too many dramas.”

The clock strikes eight in the evening and Hajoon jumps out of his chair. “It’s time!” He yells and his three brothers follow him upstairs. Junmyeon groans. She had forgotten about Hajoon’s challenge to Jongdae. The four come racing back down, their little arms full of toys and Junmyeon is handed hers. She puts it on, watching in amusement as Youngjae shoves things into Jongdae’s arms before running off.

Jongdae blinks at the stick horse in his hand and almost bursts out laughing. This was something he wasn't expecting. Junmyeon walks over, a small plastic tiara on her head, and hands him a blue cardboard knight helmet. “Here, my knight,” she says and places a kiss on Jongdae's cheek.

“Thanks, my beautiful princess,” he replies. “I’m gonna be honest, this wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought it was either going to be real or in a video game.”

“Hajoon is really into this kind of stuff,” Junmyeon says as she runs her fingers through the stick horse’s mane. “He takes it very seriously.”

“Have you ever had to duel him?” Jongdae asks curiously, staring at the helmet in concern. It looks too small to fit on his head.

“No. He has challenged many of my old friends from middle and high school, though,” she laughs and manages to put on Jongdae’s helmet for him. “You look so handsome!”

He grins, barely able to see her behind the cutouts in the helmet. “I’m always handsome.” Junmyeon hands him a stick and Jongdae realizes it’s a broom wrapped in red and blue ribbon with a boxing glove on the end. “Is this my jousting lance?”

“Yes, quite fancy, huh?”

“Calling the knights!” Mr. Kim shouts from the living room and Junmyeon leads Jongdae. “Knight Jongdae and Knight Hajoon, you will joust three times! Whoever wins two out of three, wins!”

Junmyeon goes and sits with her parents and brothers, all dressed up in their own costumes, watching with a smile as Jongdae shuffles around on his horse stick, holding tightly to his broom. “Are the jousters ready?” She calls and gets the confirmation. “Go!”

At once, Hajoon is charging Jongdae with a shout and before he knows it, he’s pushed back from Hajoon’s glove. “What the--?”

“Ha!” Hajoon crows. He skips back to his spot across from Jongdae.

Jongdae stands, trying to find his bearings and grips both his horse stick and broom lance tightly. “Okay, Knight Hajoon. Sir Reginald the Horse and I are ready this time.” At the call, both run toward each other and Jongdae manages to hit Hajoon first.

Hajoon scowls and orders Youngjae for a glass of orange juice before continuing the final joust. He gulps it down and hands the glass back to Youngjae before turning back to Jongdae with a glare.

“Go!” Mrs. Kim says and Hajoon is screaming, running at Jongdae at full speed. Jongdae is ready but gets distracted by Junmyeon’s laugh, and finds himself knocked to the floor by Hajoon, who shouts in joy.

“I won! I won!” His little brothers run to him with squeals and Mr. Kim ruffles his hair.

“We have our winner! Knight Hajoon!”

Junmyeon claps and kisses her brother on his cheek, which he immediately wipes off. “I’m too old for kisses, noona!”

“You’re never too old for kisses, Hajoonie!” Mrs. Kim says lovingly and his whole family move in to kiss Hajoon, who cries for help.

Jongdae laughs, carefully removing his cardboard helmet. “Congratulations, Knight Hajoon.” He kneels and Hajoon smirks triumphantly.

He turns to his sister and says, “I agree with Mommy. You should keep him, noona.”

Junmyeon’s face turns red as Jongdae looks up in surprise. He grins and grabs her hand, twirling her around before kissing her.

She giggles as he pulls away. “You know, I just might.”