Toulouse, France

Yunho enters the little apartment to something he didn't expect he would ever hear again. 

Jaejoong is softly pacing the bare room (because they've only bothered with the bare minimum furnishings for the bedroom and kitchen while only getting a television for the living room in their rush) cradling that swaddled up fussy baby. He's not supposed to be on his feet. Or so Yunho declared disregarding whatever the doctor said in accented English. 

Jaejoong's wobbly feet and trembling arms as he cradled their week-old son is not the only irregular sight. 

The lack of crying from the baby who's been vocal about his disdain for everything since he was born is another.

Jaejoong singing "Hug" is the biggest.

They decided to keep their past behind and away from their son. Granted that their newborn won't remember this and the old habits might wear off when their son is older. But he nor Jaejoong can afford to break using their songs as a lullaby.

Jaejoong knows that too. Along with what Yunho is thinking.

"He stops crying if we sing to him." Jaejoong leans towards him, showing their son in the process who for the first time in his so far short life is sleeping soundly. Yunho tests it by landing a peck on those rosy cheeks. Yup. No squawking. He's out like a light. 

Yunho uses the proximity to pull Jaejoong closer and kiss him on his chapped and swollen lips. He's biting them a lot since the thought that he is failing as a parent who couldn't comfort their crying newborn. "You know we can't go there. There are other songs."

"Yes, but only Korean works. I tried whatever English songs I know but he hated it. And my mental song list has very few songs in Korean that have appropriate lyrics."

"Well I guess there's no harm really..."

Jaejoong hums as he slips out of Yunho's grip and waddles to their bedroom. Yunho follows him in time to see the other place their baby in a bassinet he has not seen before. There are also a few boxes on the floor partially opened. 

"Your sister sent her kids' old stuff. And some of our stuff from our parents."

"Jae we can't-"

"Our families have the right to take care of us and worry Yunho. Or we wouldn't have told them everything. And they've been smart about it. My brother-in-law carried it with on his business trip to Malaysia and sent it from there. They're covering our tracks well."

"We're still putting them at risk. What if the Chairman goes after them?"

Jaejoong doesn't answer. He's given up on telling Yunho that the Chairman wants them, not anyone else. Nor does he repeat the same spiel about how the company won't risk publicized drama by going after their families. Jaejoong's been looking at the whole situation from a business perspective while Yunho is being the protective father. So Jaejoong won't try to dampen that.

Instead he sits on the bed and slips under the covers Yunho has been so insistent on cocooning him in. He pats the spot next to him in invitation but Yunho first focuses on getting out of the work clothes.

"How'd it go?"

"Not bad. I had a terrible misconception about desk jobs. It's just as hectic. At least till I get used to not asking the supervisor if I'm doing it right. Oh! By the way she says there's a job opening in her daughter's company in Paris. Some independent translation firm. They want someone who can translate the user manuals and product descriptions for a Korean company."

"Sounds boring."

"Translating diplomatic documents are just as boring. But don't act like you aren't ready to dance at the thought of living in Paris. Also I spoke to her daughter and she says if you are willing they need someone to translate Japanese novels. I mean I could too if I had more practice in the script as much as speaking."

"Your first taste of a white collar job and you're trying to take me away from our baby?"

"One step ahead of you, love. I told her we just had a baby and one of us needs to be with him. So she said that the novel translation is completely W-F-H if-"

"WFH?"

"It's work from home in English. As I was saying, you can work from home if you work on commission. They are flexible and they'll pay you per word. Same for me and I only need to go there to pick up whatever material I need. The Korean companies are paying a lot per word. Who'd have thought words could be so expensive."

"Everyone...did you take the job already?"

"Of course not!' Yunho crawls over to him on the bed with a pout, "We're married now. A team. We take these decisions together."

"Spare me the theatrics. I can tell that you've mentally decided to take the job. But you tell those people if they can wait at least four months till I'm ready to work again then I'll take it." Jaejoong rolls his eyes when Yunho grins victoriously. Clearly Yunho has predicted what he'd say and conveyed the same to their prospective employers. He sometimes hate how they know each other so well after years of being in love.

Yunho meanwhile reaches for his bag on the foot of the bed and pulls out a thin envelope. Jaejoong's eyes don't stray away from it as Yunho scoots to the head of the bed to sit next to him. 

"I thought there'd be a whole mountain of papers."

"Same. But the embassy will mostly take care of it. We just need to fill in a few details." Yunho gets the notepad from the bedside table. "We'll write the information down first before filling the form. I don't know about you but I'm suddenly nervous about becoming the dad of a French citizen."

Jaejoong laughs and agrees. It's not something they imagined they'd have to do when they became parents but circumstances change. 

He leans on Yunho's shoulder when he sees him write down a few details. Their son's birthdate and time (he's obviously memorised everything. Typical Yunho.) is on top. Then Yunho scrawls "Name-" and pauses.

"We decided on Tyne didn't we?"

"Last name?"

"Same as mine."

Yunho dutifully writes "Tyne Jung-Kim" on the paper. "I checked and we have no choice but to go with our given names in the documents. But when we process citizenship we can apply for name changes. I'm thinking I'm a Richard." Jaejoong snorts against his shoulder before reminding Yunho that the standard nickname for Richard is "Dicky." "We have time to think about that. Anywho... now Korean name."

Jaejoong looks at him incredulously. They never talked about that. "You said we have to keep him away from 'anything and everything Korean.'"

"It's just a name. Legally he'd by Tyne everywhere."

"Then why does he need a supplemental name he might never use?"

"I don't know..." Yunho sighs, "Just... an indulgence... something for us. I guess I've had this weird feeling since I know our son will have nothing to do with our culture. And... and... if it was a girl I'd still want to use Jiyool and... you had picked a name for our future son once. I kind of like it..."

Jaejoong is still hormonal and dealing with post-partum depression. So when Yunho brings up that... puts it like that... he feels all emotional and sentimental and thinks about why he resorted to singing to their son in his native language and a song that means so much to him. And he can only sigh in submission and let Yunho write down a name in Romanised English as well as Korean and Chinese characters.

The name brings back memories of that night years ago. One among many he and Yunho will reminisce as the wistful feeling comes out when he pronounces that name.

"Taeyong... Jung-Kim Taeyong..." 

~~~ 

Taeyong cracks the door open a little and peeks inside the room. When they said they had to rent out the largest place nearest to the company they weren't kidding. But they have to fit 23 hyperactive boys in one room. So it's understandable.

Taeyong has never even known 23 people in his life. He only has his parents and okay he has occasionally greeted his Papa's gazillion sisters on video call. But he literally has only his parents and his Appa's alternate number on his phone.

He's about to make 22 friends at the same time. He's both excited and nervous.

That's why he came here an hour before schedule. He was carrying more than 10 hours of jetlag, airplane stench, and cramps from the bus ride. He skipped looking for a hotel to get to this middle school auditorium which he found with immense difficulty thanks to his lack of practice reading Korean. He hopes there's some place he can clean up. Or at least no one while he changes.

Too bad there seems to be one guy who had a similar plan. Nonetheless Taeyong decides to play it cool and casually wheels his luggage across the room where he sees a bunch of mats laid out and one neat backpack, presumably the other boy's.

It's hard not to look at the boy's supernatural flexibility as he stretches. But Taeyong is impressed that he makes it all the way without disturbing the other boy mid-split.

There's a convenient groove hidden by a pillar and a bunch of gym equipment pushed against it. So Taeyong hurriedly hides behind it and grabs the first set of clean clothes in his carry-on. He is the neatest person he knows, almost OCD. A byproduct of his parents being relatively messy.

But he was in a hurry.

There was a short window of time between his flight out from Charle de Gaulle and his parents returning home. He grabbed a carrier and a large backpack from his Appa's closet and stuffed whatever he could get his hands on haphazardly. He had to leave his precious laptop behind but remembered to get his pencil case stuffed with cash he saved from his allowance and teaching the beginners dance class at the arts centre behind their home.

It was a considerable stack the lady at foreign exchange handed to him and he thinks he won't have to touch his easily traceable card with hard earned money from his mildly successful YouTube channel anytime soon. The sceptical look towards his young age, French passport, Asian looks, and mixed name made him leave without questioning the money. He assumes he miscalculated the conversion rates. Math was never his strong suit. But he will have to learn, especially to calculate how much he can and cannot spend. His first meal in South Korea - at the best little dumpling restaurant he's seen the likes of on travel shows - and the bus from Incheon were the only expenses so far.

As he slips on his shirt, he mentally commends himself for deciding against getting a hotel he won't stay at. They told him that everyone's going to be settled in the new dorms and he'll join them by lunch. It's a relief that he won't have to reach out to any of his gazillion aunts he only knows through social media.

"Jae, wait a bit. There's someone there." Taeyong hears a voice and heavy footsteps squeak to a halt. He quickly fixes his sweatpants and stumbles out of the alcove with his luggage. He's surprised to find the flexible boy and a new face standing few feet from him, gazes waiting.

"H..hi..." Taeyong raises his hand to wave habitually before remembering how his papa made him greet his aunts and he bows stiffly. "A-Annyeong?"

"How is he so formal and informal at the same time?" Super flexible short guy giggles.

The other smiles a bit showing deep set dimples. Taeyong thinks he's cute. An interesting observation since he discovered his uality four months ago but no matter how much his parents ask if he has anyone, Taeyong is yet to feel any attraction to a particular guy.

The taller boy's reddening ears seem to give away the same feeling. And the super flexible guy just had to ruin it. "You're the Tyne guy from YouTube right? Ever since the coach told us we've been binging on your videos." The short guy sidles up towards him and stage whispers, "Mostly Jaehyunnie. He's been crushing on you." Taeyong's flustered face goes ignored by said Jaehyunnie going "Hyung!" How would that boy be crushing on him though? You can hardly see his face in his videos.

It was his parents' only condition for letting him post dance tutorials on YouTube. He'd have to cover his face. He mostly wears a cap a mask on the lower half of his face which he customises with chains, ribbons, paints, and other bling. In fact his self-customised cap, mask, clothes, and shoes are what got him noticed. And if those comments are to be believed, his eyes that are the only visible identifier about him.

"Did I lie though? You were going on about how pretty his eyes are throughout dinner." The flexible guy blurts making the peachy-looking handsome teen to bloom red all the way to his ears. Taeyong would too if he wasn't busy thinking how cute that boy is. Of course blabber-mouthed flexible guy has to interrupt. "Anywho... I'm Ten! Nice to meet ya Tyne!"

Taeyong should've responded appropriately. But instead he goes, "Ten? The number?"

"Uh-huh. I'm Thai. I'll explain both my names later. I heard you're my roommate."

"Oh... um... great..." Taeyong stutters uncharacteristically. It's the language barrier dammit!

"I'm... Jaehyun..." Cute boy crushing on him speaks looking like he's trying to get his attention. "Jung Jaehyun... Actually it's Jung Yunoh-"

Taeyong squeaks and earns two eyes with weird looks. Well for a second he heard his Appa's name and he's sort of jittery with the running from home and all. "Uhm... sorry, It's just... it's the first time I'm meeting someone with the same last name... I mean... I'm Tyne Jung-Kim. But you call me Taeyong. My Korean name."

Ten's eyes narrow at him like he can see right through him. He's never mentioned his last name at his parents' request too. Taeyong thinks maybe they find his combined last name unorthodox. He could just explain he's not a native Korean and get away with it right? ButTaeyong is afraid the foreigner card can't work on the foreigner too. Jaehyun though is beaming like Taeyong gave him the license to be a cuddle buddy.

The moment is broken by a loud quintet entering. They look like kids, barely teens with their cracking voices.

"Oh my god! That's Tyne Hyung!" Taeyong is rammed into by a horde of kids. Ten's cackling away so only Jaehyun can pry each kid off him. "Guys let him wear his shoes at least!" The group is suddenly aware that Taeyong is only in his deer print (Damn his deer crazy Appa) socks. They sheepishly get off him and let him crawl to the spot he left his shoes before changing his pants.

One of them, a boy in braces gasps. "That's so cool!" He points at Taeyong's black Vans.

It's not something new. Everyone always looks and points at the gold glitter or neon highlighter on his shoes or hand painted graffiti on his jackets. Though his Papa almost faints and his Appa likes to list out the price of the thing he's "defacing."

So Taeyong does what he always did with one of his little students. He pulls out the neon green highlighter from his pocket, ignoring his crumpled plane ticket falling out and scoots closer to the boy. "What's your name?"

"Ji... Jisung... Park Jisung!" Taeyong isn't confident in his Korean letter writing, since he's never written in Korean, but scrawls the boy's romanized name on the tips of his white sneakers. He does one of his easiest graffitis - just some funny smileys and stars - on the heel of the other foot much to Jisung's awe, ignoring the other boys whispering about his accent. Does he have one? He supposes so.

He's used to French and very little English. But only learned Korean because his parents spoke in their native tongue with each other and he picked it up as a child. They don't really share anything about their backgrounds with him except occasionally singing to him in Korean when he was a kid and sometimes his Appa helps him choreograph his routines better. They definitely have artistic talents that Taeyong theorises he inherited from them. But if he asks they tell him not to pry into their lives as focus on his own.

"There. Now you're cooler." Jisung claps enthusiastically, showing off his shoes to the others. "Hyung! Hyung! Me too!" A tan boy screeches, pulling out one sneaker till the slightly lanky boy stops him. "Yah Hyuck! Wait till we get to the dorm at least!"

"But Mark~ I want to make a cool first impression!"

"Mark Hyung, you brat!"

"But-"

"uhm... if it's okay I'll do it at the dorms? I have more stuff but they're buried in my bag. How's that sound?" The boy, Hyuck squeals in agreement Taeyong assumes, smacking the other boy Mark next to him.

Taeyong thinks he's signed up for more than he bargained when the quiet boy pokes against his knee. "Tyne hyung... me too?" Taeyong wants to coo but Hyuck does instead. "Hyung, Jaeminnie! The other Jae who has a crush on you!" Jaehyun and the younger one curse at Hyuck but it only amuses Taeyong who exclaims something in French.

Again the attention is on him and he squirms under it. "Hyung, are you really a... foreigner foreigner? Like not even a little Korean?" Jisung asks awkwardly.

"I am a French citizen but I'm Korean. My Dads are Korean. They are Korean and Japanese translators at a company in Paris."

"Y-You have two d-dads too?" The other quiet teen whispers. "Jeno has two dads too! And Jungwoo hyung has two moms!" Everyone hisses at Hyuck for running his mouth again. But Taeyong is endeared.

God he did the running away and everything in the stereptypical angsty teenager handbook. But he's missing his dorky Appa and sweet Papa. They probably found out he's missing by now and he feels like his heart is being squeezed with a rope thinking about the distress he is causing them.

"Yeah I have two dads. Papa gave birth to me. Funny story. He's the only Jae I've known until today but Appa jokes I have a way to charm the Jaes." Jaemin and Jaehyun blush adorably but Taeyong only coos at Jaemin for now.

"What's your Papa's Korean name?" Jaemin asks shyly. "Jaejoong but everyone there calls him Jaej ...." Taeyong's voice fades out as he notices the way the others exchange curious looks.

"Been a while since we heard that name around here..." a new person, Taeyong hadn't even noticed enter, speaks without looking up from the meticulous task of threading a shoelace through his sneakers. He still waves at him though, "Kim Doyoung."

"There's a reason why that name isn't mentioned..." Jaehyun mumbles with slight dejection but they manage to hear. Taeyong needs context because he's not sure why everyone solemnly agrees. It's just a name.

He doesn't get to ask further because the doors open fully to let in more boys, his new bandmates, few older people enter too and Taeyong can guess they're people from the management. A sharply dressed older woman claps her hand twice to get the rowdy lot's attention.

"Alright boys, settle down. We have 15 minutes before Director Shim arrives. In the meantime we'll call out your names alphabetically and collect your name tags from here." The woman points at a table where a stack of what Taeyong wouldn't call name tags sat. They look like laminated A4 sheets with their names on it and strings he thinks would either go over his head or on his shoulders. Taeyong can only hope they picked his Korean name. Tyne is attracting more than excessive attention. If he has any Korean fans he hopes they don't recognize him yet. 

He's a little surprised that they call out their family names. How do the multiple Kims and Lees know who's who? They don't even call the first names. It just shows everyone knows each other to know their alphabetical order too.

He's still clueless when they call out Jung and both he and Jaehyun step up. They notice Taeyong is flustered and the woman at the table promises he'll get used to it soon. Jaehyun takes his card first and patiently waits for Taeyong who has lingering questions. "Uh...is... is okay...this... my... Ko...Korean... name..." Oh God! His Korean is failing him!

"He wants to ask if he can use his Korean name. This one says Tyne." Jaehyun comes to his rescue and Taeyong internally swoons. "Oh don't worry. These are just for everyone's convenience. The crew will be able to recognize each one of you in an hour I'm sure. These tags are temporary till we figure out everyone's stage names before your debut documentary starts filming next week. But if you wish, grab a marker from that table and write your Korean name on it. The back's blank."

While she was speaking, an imposing man enters and there's a murmurs among the boys behind him. Taeyong distracted, notes this man is not the standard management executive. Everything about him screams hard-earned. From the black leather pants and jacket hugging the hard-won chiselled body to the dashing styling of his hair. Even the coffee cup looks like a just reward for getting through a long day.

When Jaehyun bows next to him, looking effectively starstruck, Taeyong greets the man too copying Jaehyun. Taeyong doesn't know why, but he can't help but feel that the eyes behind those dark sunglasses are lingering on him a second too long.

The man doesn't break his disconcerting stare as he motions something with his hand. Suddenly another man, whose aura screams a hassled manager, is shoving bags into his and Jaehyun's hands. "Distribute these to everyone. Don't let the little ones have the coffee okay? They're hyper enough." Jaehyun responds something on behalf of both of them and tugs Taeyong along.

When the older ones, barring Taeyong distribute the coffee and baguettes to everyone, Hyuck or Donghyuck as Taeyong finds out, yells "Thank you Changmin Sunbaenim!" Taeyong wonders if that man is really some prodigious executive or a man with experience. He looks kind of young. Rather Taeyong has the image of pot-bellied old men with grey or no hair in big, fancy executive positions. This man screams "industry" like he didn't need to go to school to learn the business. He can't dwell on it much because he can still feel him staring at his back.

"That boy..." the vocal coach turns to Changmin when he speaks and follows his gaze. "Oh yes, Tyne Jung-Kim. The Youtuber from France the chairman found."

Changmin bites back the remark about the old man still looking for talent he can exploit to get richer even in his deathbed. That's Yoochun rubbing off on him. But there's something about the boy... Changmin avoided looking at the boy's videos so he doesn't form an early opinion of him before actually seeing him in person. It's already coloured because of who scouted him and brought him here. But he might just watch them with Yoochun and Junsu later to get a subjective third party to either prove he's imagining things or validate his thoughts. For now, he'll observe and try to be subtle about it.

"Let's begin early. Just the introductions. They don't have to pause eating." It's uncharacteristic for Shim Changmin, they all note, to do something earlier or more than expected of him. But they don't question him. Ever. Not even if he wants to start eight minutes early. The crew calls for the boys' attention and have them line up parallel to the table.

Changmin draws his sunglasses out, flashing his diplomatic smile. "Morning kids! Pardon my appearance. If you work with Kang Hodong, filming's going to run late~" Donghyuck seems to be the variety aficionado with his excited reaction. "Before we begin, I'll introduce myself. Feel free to flatter me by pretending you know who I am." This lot is mischievous, if their grins are anything to go by. Kyuhyun will love them. "Oh wow... no -kissers! Disappointing... oh well, I'll just have to admit I'm a fossil. So as you all pretend to not know, I'm Shim Changmin. Aka Choikang Changmin. You can call me whatever you like. Except Director or one of those stick-up-the- titles. And if I hear Ajhussi," Changmin looks at that cheeky little Donghyuck when he says that, "Ask Donghyuckie how much he enjoyed organizing Ajhussi's office for a month."

There were quiet snickers amid said boy sniffling a "it was not really a punishment." To not fluff Donghyuck's ego, the others (excluding an oblivious Taeyong) agree internally. Later at dinner, Taeyong would find out that Shim Changmin had taken a liking to the potential evil maknae that is Donghyuck. So for the month the boy was made the director's errand boy, he'd come to the dorm with snacks, Changmin's old gaming equipment and other gadgets for everyone to enjoy and some amazing hand-me-down clothes that fit Johnny and Lucas like a glove. Taeyong glossed over that part and directly asks what is an "evil maknae." Donghyuck brightly answers "I'll let you know soon hyung!" So it can't be bad right?

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