“Underline” Speaking English

 

“Normal” – speaking Korean

 

Part XI

 

“Bloody hell,” it was probably the first of many exclamations that were going to come out in regards to this situation, “I’m more than glad that they others made you come and stay with us last couple of nights, this is beyond a mess.”

 

For a few seconds, Bradley didn’t reply. It had been one thing walking into the wreck that had been his home the other night during the horrendous rain but actually being able to see the extent of the damage in the clear light of day, despite it being still highly overcast and looking like rain, Bradley was glad that he only had Jongki and Kyung with him. The others were on babysitting duty, despite their protests over the whole situation but they had been over ruled. The place was small with the usual presence of father and daughter so adding seven others into the space was going to be next to impossible. The third eldest of the group had managed to over ride the whole argument against him going when he had pointed out that he was the only one with a car at the moment, as Jae’s was a rental and had to be returned the next day after being cleaned and that using public transport was probably going to get them more noticed by someone even if it was the weekend.

 

Shaking his head, Bradley sighed and took a few steps in, “It’s not like I had anything of real value here either.”

 

“It looks like the work of kids or possibly junkies,” Kyung said unhelpfully, hunkering down to shift something which had been covered in paint, “They don’t care if it’s worth much, just as long as they can sell it.”

 

“Might as well get started,” Jongki said, tapping Bradley back on the back to make sure that the other was fully with them, “You never know, we might get lucky.”

 

Playfully Bradley half-glared at Jongki, knowing that the other was just trying to put a bright spin on this situation but really not feeling in the mood. However he couldn’t really say anything as they were seriously risking their necks over this whole situation and he knew that telling them to stop would only make them want to help out all the more. It was really funny getting a taste of his own medicine but there was no way that he would back down now.

 

Strangely once the three of them got started, it didn’t take too long to fall into a pattern that kept everyone going at their own relatively easy pace. It was just a simple case of pick up something, see if it were still in one piece or could possibly be salvaged, put it into the one holdall that they had been able to find if it were fine and bin it if it was no use. It was no surprise that there was more in the bin bags than in the holdall but occasionally something of use was pulled out of the mess.

 

Letting out a yelp as something dislodged itself from the top of the wardrobe and clattered to the ground, Kyung stepped back a little to ensure that nothing else was going to fall and saw that the top shelf had half caved in. Sighing in relief, he made a grab for the clothes that were there, tugging them out with ease. They appeared to be in at least some form of descent state, maybe a couple of tears but nothing that couldn’t be repaired easily enough. Casually he stuffed them into the holdall and turned back to the wardrobe. “Huh?” he blinked and finding a small metal box on the floor with a few colour characters on it. Bending down he carefully picked it up and just about managed to catch the top which would have opened up and spilt its contents as it had landed upside down.

 

Curiosity getting the better of him, Kyung opened it and flicked briefly through the contents. For a moment or two he was confused as it just appeared to be a collection of odds and ends that made no sense. It was only when he stumbled across a photograph from one of those silly instant photo booths that featured himself and Bradley pulling stupid faces that he realised what it was. It was a memory box, and he found all sorts of daft little things held within it. Mainly the only pictures that he recognised were the ones that directly related to BrightSide and some adorable pictures of Saki but there were others that he guessed to be Bradley’s family and friends from home. There were also a variety of daft little trinkets and a nice shiny bracelet which had a selection of charms on it.

 

“What you got there?” Bradley’s voice cut in to Kyung’s rifling, as he and Jongki had been tackling the kitchen and he had looked as though he had been in a food war.

 

Kyung shifted and held the box out to Bradley, “I think it’s a memory box or something. Got a dint in the top but otherwise it’s survived.”

 

Frowning, Bradley took it almost as if he didn’t know what it was before his eyes lit up, “Oh, I forgot about this. Thank god it survived.”

 

“Who are all these people?” Kyung couldn’t help but ask, “I mean I recognise us lot obviously but whose them two with you?”

 

Taking the photo which Kyung had been looking at, Bradley blinked before grinning, “Danny and Davy, my elder twin brothers.”

 

For a few more minutes they continued to go through the pictures until Jongki moved over to the pair, “What on Earth are you two doing?”

 

“Going through Bradley’s memory box,” Kyung said, “there’s a really cute picture of you in here.”

 

Jongki blinked, “What?”

 

“Kyung, don’t say another word,” Bradley said, trying to nab one of the photos which Kyung had hold of but failed as Jongki nabbed it before he could manage.

 

The picture was indeed of Jongki but it was from a fair few years ago and he frowned at it as he tried to remember what was going on. From the way that Kyung was sniggering it had to be something related to a funny incident but he couldn’t place it. “I don’t remember this photo even being taken.”

 

“It was from that daft fair thing we went to that one time,” Bradley wasn’t quite looking at Jongki, though he was trying not to start laughing, “You were trying to win the goldfish at that point.”

 

For a long moment Jongki drew a complete blank on what the other was even talking about but then he remembered and let out a laugh. Oh yes, he remembered now when he had wanted to win the fish with the bright yellow tail and had spent the better part of 2000 won on trying to win it all to no avail. It had been a good thing that Bradley had been with him as he had next to nothing left to get back to the dorms with at the end of the night. The only consolation that he had was that he had a bag full of crazy odd toys to throw at the others. Vaguely he wondered if he still had anything left from that madness but decided that he probably didn’t. “Oh good grief, why do you have a picture of that?” he glanced down at the picture, “Actually what the hell is that on my neck...oh wait,” suddenly flushing red Jongki handed the picture back hurriedly and Bradley was virtually shaking with laughter.

 

“Care to fill me in?” Kyung said, rather interested in finding out just what the pair were laughing about but neither were prepared to answer.

 

They spent a few more minutes going through the pictures, asking about the incidents behind them or who was in each one. Even though some were quite embarrassing, Bradley told them both about the situation and found himself mainly laughing. “Hey, magpie,” finally he noticed what Kyung had been playing with for the last five minutes, “What’s that you got?”

 

Kyung glanced down before handing it over, “Something that was in the tin, I must’ve just picked it up without asking.”

 

Taking the bracelet which shimmered in the light, Bradley stared at it and flicked it over a couple of times in his hands. “Anyone got any idea about this?”

 

“You mean you don’t know Mama Bear?” Jongki asked gently, confused as to why he wouldn’t know and taking it from the other. It was quite simple and seemed to be fairly new by the looks of things. Twisting it around in his hands, he stared at the charms and finally noticed that one of them had a small engraving on them. “Here...there’s something on this one...” the writing was tiny however and he could barely read it, “It appears to be a date or something.”

 

Taking hold of the charm bracelet, Bradley focused for a few seconds. “3^rd March 20XX? What the hell is that?”

 

“The day of our debut,” Kyung said blinking, “I don’t ever remember you having such a thing like that though.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Bradley stared at it, “Now I remember. It’s supposed to be a memory charm thing...my mum sent it to me. Plain forgot I had that.”

 

Jongki sighed, “It’s really pretty. You should keep it.”

 

“I should sell it,” Bradley said humourlessly, “It would make something. Don’t look like that, I wouldn’t dare. Mum would kill me for one thing.” Gently he stared at it again, “Hmm...Maybe I’ll give this to Saki. It would look far prettier on her.”

 

“But your mum bought it for you,” Kyung said, shifting, “It must be quite special in that respect.”

 

Bradley sighed and shook his head, “Mum is forever buying these sorts of things. I’ve probably got about twenty of them somewhere around here...plus all of us get them regardless of how often we’ve told her just to buy the charms.”

 

Jongki frowned, “All of us?”

 

“There’s seven of us at home, or there was,” Bradley blinked, suddenly realising that he was with two boys who didn’t have any real siblings of their own, “Mum keeps on buying the same stuff over and over again. She’s hopeless like that.”

 

“Seven of you?” Kyung frowned, shaking his head, “That must be a nightmare.”

 

Jongki however couldn’t help but laugh, “Explains why you weren’t fazed by having seven of us to deal with.”

 

“Pretty much, just none of you are older or are girls,” sighing he shook his head, pretty sure that he had explained this at one point in time but not one hundred per cent sure, “Two older brothers, one younger brother and three younger sisters.”

 

“Sounds like fun,” Kyung said, shifting a little, “you’re parents must’ve had fun with you lot growing up.”

 

Bradley nodded, “Especially when you consider that it’s twins and quads.”

 

“Eh?” Jongki paused, “Twins I get but Quads?”

 

“Quadruplets,” Bradley filled in, “Four born at the same time. Virtually everyone in the family is a twin, triplet or a quad...excluding me and Saki strangely. How Mum managed it I do not know...she’s so little.”

 

Jongki couldn’t help but get a jibe in, “What, there is someone in the world who you’re bigger than?”

 

“Sod off Jongki,” Bradley said in English towards the other, shaking his head, “I get enough hassle off my brothers as is over that.”

 

Kyung hugged him, “Aww but you suit being small, Mama Bear, makes you all the more cuddly.”

 

“Give over Kyung,” Bradley said trying to wriggle out of harm’s way.

 

“Aww doesn’t little Bradley like getting all hugged and stuff,” Jongki had to join in and keep the eldest in place whilst they hugged him and called him stupid names for the better part of five minutes.

 

Finally the group realised that they were wasting time and set themselves to go back to work. Though Kyung did have one last question, “Hey Bradley, you can tell me to sod off if you don’t want to answer this but why didn’t you head home with Saki? I’m sure your parents wouldn’t have minded.”

 

Looking troubled, Mama Bear paused for a few seconds, “Didn’t have enough to manage it.”

 

“Huh?” Kyung glanced towards Bradley curiously, “What are you talking about?”

 

“Had to pay off Saki’s medical bills and the contract too...loss of earnings and stuff,” he looked just a bit more sheepish with each passing second, “By the time I had gotten all of that sorted...well I ended up here.”

 

Kyung looked like he was going to argue the point home but Jongki coughed to get the youngsters attention, “I’ve already told him off Kyung, so no need to start on him. It’s partly the reason why Davy is picking him and Saki up tonight.”

 

The dancer looked a bit confused for a second before shrugging and going back to his work. They returned to the task at hand and were finished by three o’clock, literally only having managed to fill the holdall with the stuff that was actually salvageable. Jongki pulled out his phone in order to call the others and make sure that they had Saki’s things ready so that they could leave when his phone started ringing and he paled.

 

“What’s wrong?” Bradley asked, seeing the others expression.

 

“Iseul...” Jongki said, feeling a lump of dread slide down his throat and into his stomach before he answered the call. It was the longest minute of his life, seeing as the manager was not happy in the slightest as he had walked into the dorm to find the boys desperately trying to hide Saki but were rumbled way too easily as was to be expected.

 

Both Kyung and Jongki were ordered back to the dorm and the rest of the afternoon was a nightmare which none of them ever wanted to go through ever again. BrightSide were placed on immediate indefinite suspension, otherwise known as prepare to be fired, for breaking the rules and Iseul was close to having Bradley arrested but thankfully Davy and his Dad turned up on the scene and there were no arguments to be had with either of them.

 

The second split felt worse than the first but at least this time, the boys knew that they could remain in contact with one another.