Luhan and Minseok: 11

Yixing: 9

Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Jongdae: 8

Kyungsoo Zitao: 7

Sehun, Jongin: 6

 

Sehun was standing at the door leading to the backyard. His left hand was dragging his bunny plushie which his Jongdae hyung won for him at the amusement park.

 

He scanned the area. His brothers were all over the place, playing and running. Everyone was supposed to be there but he could not find the one he wanted to see.

 

Since he and his mom got him from the school, way earlier than he was supposed to be home, Sehun did not meet him at all. The said hyung immediately ran to his room as soon as his mom stopped the car at the garage. Even from the outside of the house, Sehun could hear a loud slam of the door. Startled by the sudden outburst, he looked up at his mom confusedly but the said woman just sighed and told him to hurry to get into the house before his cold got worse. His mom looked upset, his hyung was way more upset and Sehun did not like it.

 

Mrs. Park was in the middle of preparing food for Sehun when she got a call from the principal, telling her one of her kids got into trouble and she needed to get there. Thinking something bad had happened, she hurriedly geared up to the school while dragging a sick Sehun with her. The child was not going to kindergarten today because of a cold. There was no one else who could take care of him and she did not want to leave him alone so she brought him with her but not before she bundled him with several layers of clothes and a mask. She could not bear any more problems just for the day.

 

Arriving at the principal's office, she was startled after seeing the kid who was sitting on the chair with his head hanging low. She knew the principal already told her about him but still she could not believe her eyes. Out of all her children, she knew sooner or later she had to step into this situation but she did not expect this. Not Jongdae.

 

Mrs. Park unlocked the car and told the two kids to get into it so that they could hurriedly go home. She got into the driver seat, her stare was looking far at the kindergarten playground. She was hit by sudden exhaustion, losing any word to say after so many arguments she had said at the principal's office. Were they saying her child was a theft? Out of all the kids in the school, it's Jongdae? What kind of bull was that?

 

They accused him of stealing some boy's money during PE class when the others were changing their clothes at the gym. It was not that many but it was enough to cause chaos in a class of eight years old kids. The money which that boy had collected for months to buy a flying drone and he planned to buy it today after school. That boy excitedly told his friends about his plan weeks before. It was a hot discussion among the boys, the brand, the price, how fast it can go, how high it can fly. It was a trend item which everyone, at least for every primary school kid, wanted to have. And among all the boys, Jongdae too spurted out his intention to have one.

 

The principal told Mrs. Park that Jongdae was jealous of the kid for having money to buy the drone while he did not have any and he could not just tell his mom to buy it for him. The old woman said that this was not her own words. Not just Jongdae's friends, all his classmates could be a witness for that, that Jongdae himself was saying he was jealous of the kid. Mrs. Park bit her tongue to stop her from cursing in front of the kids. While she had a high tolerance for nonsense as she was living as a mom to ten children, this was just making her blood boil. She argued they could not just use that to accuse someone. She sternly told them that her kids were not that kind of kid, that they would never do anything like that and that if they wanted she could buy ten of that stupid drone for them but the principal stopped her mid sentence telling her that kid can lie, that kid can be a trickster monster and her twenty years experience had teached her that.

 

Mrs. Park could feel the heat on her face. She was turning red with anger. Thinking she could have just flipped the desk in front of her or just slapped the old woman on her face but she knew she could not do that after seeing her kids' scared faces. Sehun was turning into a rock, just standing still at the corner of the office with wide scared eyes looking straight at her, probably not knowing what all the yelling was about. Jongdae was sitting on the chair, all tensed up with mouth shut and both hands gripping hard on his thigh. She knew that. He was angry, he was fighting with tears, a habit he developed since he was young. Since young (not that he was that old now), it was rare for her to see Jongdae cry in front of people. He was almost never throwing a tantrum. She knew that. She knew he was being considerate to her. Her kid who always offered her some help, her kid who always gave up his toys so that there was no fight. She knew her kid.

 

She could argue all day long but she could not fight with the missing money which the classroom teacher had found in her son's bag. The principal and the classroom teacher had asked him to confess, almost yelling at him at times to do so. After several times denying and stating he did not know how the money got in there, he got tired and just shut it all out, not saying a word anymore even when his mom came to the office. No one listened anyway.

 

Jongdae was suspended from school for three weeks. Mrs. Park looked up at her rear mirror, looking at her kids in the backseat. Sehun was safely strapped with the seatbelt. His nose was turning red as he kept rubbing it with his handkerchief. She hoped his cold was not going to be worse or else she would need to attend to one more problem and her head was already throbbing now. Jongdae still was not saying anything, just staring out of the window and looking blank. "I did not do that." was the only thing he said to her since she came to the school and that was the only thing she wanted to know. That was enough. They could sort it all out later.

 

Her train of thoughts stopped when she met their maknae's eyes. He was more quiet than usual today, sensing all the tension at the office earlier. Offering a comforting smile, she took a deep breath before she turned the wheel and got them all to their home.

 

Jongdae was crouched down on the floor with his back lent on the wall. He could hear voices in the distance. They were all playing in the backyard. No one knew he was there. He was hidden by the bushes at the side of the house. He hoped no one would find him there. He wanted to be alone. All the tears he let out as soon as they got home had left him exhausted. All the questions the teachers had bombarded him with leaving no space for him to explain made him mad and he snapped at Chanyeol for asking what was wrong even when he knew his brother was just concerned about him. Sensing he was in a foul mood, they left him alone. It's good. Jongdae also did not want to hurt them either. He knew, when he was mad, his words came out first before he could even register it in his brain. He did not want to hurt them, they did not deserve that.

 

Playing with the dirt, his mind could not stop thinking about the incident. He swore he did not know how the money ended up in his bag. He went back to the classroom as he already finished changing his sport attire while his other friends were still goofing around at the gym. Before the next period could even start, Goo Yoon had made a fuss saying his money had gone and a spot check was being held by the teacher. How could he know the money was in his bag? He did not even come close to Goo Yoon's seat for the whole day. It had become more frustrating as this problem was handled by the classroom teacher who clearly had an issue with him. Maybe she still had a grudge over him for talking back to her last two weeks. But Jongdae was just defending his friend for not doing the homework she gave them as his grandma just died two days before. He had a valid excuse but the teacher was too proud of her title, saying she can't accept that, leaving the kid crying out his eyes during extension class to finish his homework while Jongdae was there as a punishment for talking back. As for today's event, she did not even give him a space to talk, just kept scolding him with a loud voice which Jongdae was sure even the class next door could even hear, before grabbing harshly on his arm and dragged him to the principal's office.

 

Jongdae let out a big sigh, feeling more exhausted by recalling them all. The teachers were not on his side, he was not that surprised by that fact, but he was upset that even his group of friends did not defend him from the teachers. Did they also suspect him? Even after all the days they were friends, did he even look or behave like a thief? He was loud, yes, but not bad.

 

Tears were threatening to fall again but he flinched when he felt a hand on his head. He looked up to see who it was but immediately looked away. "Go away." He sternly told the person while harshly wiped away his tears, but the hand stayed, still petting his head comfortablely. "I said go away." He stared at him, almost baring a hole in his face. His tone was serious. He can see Sehun flinched, slightly taking a step away from him, probably did not want Jongdae to snap on him.

 

Jongdae turned his back on him, expecting the little kid to walk away but all he got was a warm back hug from him. Sehun wrapped his arms around his shoulder, as far as he got, burying his face on the nape of Jongdae's neck. Jongdae tried to lose himself from the hug, he turned to the maknae with intention to push him away but "G-go away," he stuttered, tears already streaming down his cheeks. But their little maknae did not back away, he tightened his hug around his brother. He couldn't stop his tears anymore, Jongdae was sobbing in Sehun's arm.

 

Jongdae was feeling tired but better after that. The others were concerned seeing his red puffy eyes but they did not say anything and Jongdae was thankful for that. He was too exhausted to explain, so after a quiet dinner, he went to sleep with Sehun on his trail. The maknae insisted to sleep with him that night and he just let him be.

 

Their mother had explained everything for the other curious and still concerned kids. All of them were frustrated and mad, especially the other two of triplet brothers. How can they pick a fight with him when all three of them were in different classes? They definitely did not know about Park Baekhyun's and Park Chanyeol's rage. They could turn the class upside down if they knew this earlier. Fuming with anger, they stormed to their shared room, threw themselves on the bed and lectured Jongdae for why he did not tell them about this. Half asleep, Jongdae just mumbled words they could not understand so they just decided to sleep. All four kids cramped on the same bed that night with three brothers forming a shield, caging Jongdae with arms and legs. No one can hurt him anymore.

 

The weeks he spent at home, homeschooling with his mom, having a chance to help around the house, spending extra time to play with the younger kids as they got home earlier than the others, Jongdae was feeling good. He did not think about the incident anymore.

 

The weeks Jongdae was suspended from the school also had become a full scale operation for the other brothers, led by General Park Minseok, but Jongdae did not know that. There was something wrong about all of this. Of course. So, each of them did their investigation. After days of the news blew out for the entire school to know and some people would side-eye them and whisper nonsense when they walked in the hallway but stopped immediately when they glared at them, they came to know someone was staying in the class when PE was held at the gym. Someone had seen him in the class, at Goo Yoon's seat specifically, that day.

 

Minseok and Luhan cornered the kid at the restroom, accusing the kid for stealing the money and the fact that someone had seen him that day. The kid was stunned for a moment before he scoffed loudly at them. He told them no one would believe them anyway. That someone who saw him, that was not enough evidence on him. Who knew that someone just acted for them to defend Jongdae. Besides, he had a strong connection. He was the principal's son, for God's sake. The kid dared to laugh out loud at their faces, making Luhan have the urge to smash his fist on the younger kid's face but he knew better, they would not choose violence today. Besides, Minseok was better in taekwondo than him. He looked at his same-aged brother's calm posture.

 

"So Henry, you admit you took the money and framed Jongdae? Why?"

 

"Because he is annoying. He is annoyingly good. And I think he's a fake." The kid spitted and walked away.

 

After a week Minseok and Luhan confronted the kid, a voice recording of that conversation, which they had planned way before, was booming through the school speakers during the weekly lunch broadcast. Having a brother in the broadcasting team was certainly an advantage. It was his turn to do the broadcasting anyway, so Chanyeol locked himself in the broadcast room with Baekhyun. They also played the recording of the girl who saw him in the class that day before Chanyeol gave the mic to Baekhyun who did not hesitate for even a second to curse out loud at the kid, challenging him to fight if he was brave enough. That broadcast of course caused an uproar in the school with the seniors and teachers pounding at the door, telling them to stop. After finishing their task, they calmly opened the door and one of the furious teachers grabbed and dragged them to the principal's office.

 

Mrs. Park was beyond angry when she yet got another call from the school, not even a month had passed. She met Minseok on her way to the office, he had explained everything to her and Mrs. Park was fuming. As soon as she opened the door with a frantic secretary telling her to wait, she met her kids' eyes. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were just sitting there calmly. Did she just see a smirk?

 

The principal was tense when she met her eyes. She was just opening to say that the two kids were punished for misusing school's property and causing chaos at the school but Mrs. Park beat her. She asked her why she did not take action when someone came to her saying she saw the kid that day in the class and why she did not look into that? Was it because he was her son so she just brushed it under the carpet? The principal stutteringly explained that it was just a kid's prank, and the kid did not have intention to steal.

 

Mrs. Park felt her blood boil. She was furious. She asked again why Jongdae was still punished for something he did not do? And when the principal said the punishment was already stated and she could not take it back, she just had enough of this bull. She took her kids out of the office before she could slap the principal on her face, clearly stating that this is going to the authorities.

 

The Park pulled out all the kids from the school. The news was spreaded and people were talking about it. The school reputation was bad. The principal was suspended and under investigation and a large amount of anonymous school funding disappeared that year.

 

P/S: The Park sent their kids to regular school so that they could merge with other kids and no one knew they were actually rich. After this happened, all of them were registered in elite school. I opted to write this detail in the story but I don't know where to put it. Pardon me >.<

 

 

Im trying to write kyungsoo as the next main character but still not working on the plot yet. If you have any suggestion or want other members to be the next next main characters, please leave comments below. Comments are really really appreciated. Comments are an encouragement for me to write more. Thank you for reading~