To: Do Yisoo

From: Ju Miyeon

Hey, we still on for coffee later?

To: Ju Miyeon

From: Do Yisoo

Of course! I just have the daddy meeting this morning… meet me at the community center at 12?

To: Do Yisoo

From: Ju Miyeon

Sounds great! See you then :)

            I smiled to myself as I read the last text. It’s not that I didn’t have friends or anything, but with school and Kyungbin and those 12 crazy boys, it felt like I hadn’t even had time to breath lately. It was just nice to finally have a girl friend to hang out with and someone to talk to who wasn’t just interested in diaper brands or picture books.

            “What’s got you all smiley?” Kyungsoo asked, a smirk forming on his face.

            “What smile?” I stated back, giving his shoulder a little shove.

            “The one that you’re doing a terrible job of hiding just now!”

            “Ugh, if you must know, I’m going with Miyeon after the meeting to get some coffee.” I paused and stared at him. “Happy?”

            Kyungsoo readjusted Kyungbin, who was riding on his back as we walked into the community center, and put a puzzled look on his face.

            “Miyeon?” He inquired. “Is she a friend from school or something?”

            “Oh right!” It suddenly clicked. “Miyeon is Ms. Ju, the dance instructor for the ballet boys.” I explained.

            “The one you won’t tell the other guys the first name of?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “Yup that’s the one… don’t go and tell them now!” I threatened.

            “I won’t,” Kyungsoo chuckled. “Though it would be nice to have something over Luhan.”

            “Find some other form of blackmail,” I said with a smirk. “This one is mine.”

            “Alright, sis.” He laughed again as we walked into the meeting room. The familiar sound of adult chatter and children gibberish filled my ears and I couldn’t help but smile inwardly to myself.

            “Hold the door!” A shout came from behind me, just as two tiny figures brushed past my legs and into the room.

            “Daehyun, Daehyuk, slow down!” I heard Jongdae’s voice boom near by.

            “!” Kyungsoo suddenly yelled, and I looked down to see his sweatpants hanging around his knees.

            “Kyungsoo, you can’t say that in front of the kids!” I yelled.

            “My god, sorry Kyungsoo!” Jongdae apologized at the same time as he scooted into the room. “Daehyuk get your over here!!!!”

            “Great, just great.” My brother sighed. “Can you get Kyungbin?” he asked as he plopped the little boy into my arms and tried to bring his pants back up before anyone else got a glimpse of his boxers. Too bad it was just a second too late.

            “AHHHHHHHHH!” I heard a shriek come from behind us. I whipped around to see Junmyeon and his daughters approaching. Jihye and Dahye had their hands clamped over their eyes and horrified expressions plastered onto their faces and Junmyeon’s wasn’t much different.

            “Kyungsoo, what do you think you are doing?!” Junmyeon scolded. “This building is on public grounds! Haven’t you heard of no shirts, no shoes, no service??”

            “Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo said irritatedly, “First, these were my pants, not my shoes or my shirt. Second, do you think I was trying to make a new fashion statement or something? I don’t just walk around every day with my pants hanging around my knees!”

            “You never know with kids these days.” Junmyeon muttered. “Jihye, Dahye it’s okay you can open your eyes now. Kyungsoo Oppa is fully clothed.”

            “Are you sure, Daddy?” Dahye said, palms still pressed firmly over her eyes.

            “I don’t want to see anything!” Jihye added.

            Junmyeon just sighed as he led them into the room, careful to make sure they didn’t bump into anything.

            “Wow, this meeting is going to be great.” Kyungsoo deadpanned, sarcasm oozing from his pores.

            “Hey, it can only get better form here, right?” I said as we both walked over to the chairs and sat down next to each other. But I had spoken too soon.

            “Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun called as he made his way over, Baekha wrapped in his arms, and plopped down on Kyungsoo’s other side.

            “When are we going to plan our first singing session?” Baekhyun asked. “I told you to call me last week but I never heard from you!”

            “Oh, sorry, I must have forgotten.” Kyungsoo stated plainly.

            “Silly you,” Baekhyun teased, obviously not catching onto the sour tone in my brother’s voice. “We need to start soon if we want to get something ready for the talent show!”

            “We’re singing in the talent show?” Kyungsoo asked.

            “Duh!” Baekhyun laughed. “What else would we sing at? I’ve been working on a song for us, but I need to know your range to fit you in!”

            Kyungsoo didn’t respond, instead fidgeting with Kyungbin’s collar and trying to get Baekhyun to go away.

            “Oh, by range I just mean how high or low you can sing.” Baekhyun explained, thinking that was the issue. “I’ll teach you some of these choir terms so you know them too! There’s a lot to learn but don’t worry, I’m a good teacher.”

            “That’s not the problem—“ Kyungsoo began but Baekhyun started talking again.

            “Ah, no need to hide it! I’ll start simple with you and before you know it, you’ll know almost as much as me!” Baekhyun winked and my brother cringed.

            “I’ll text you sometime this week.” Kyungsoo simply stated.

            “Awesome! I can’t wait to work with you!” Baekhyun grinned before he got back up and went to go talk to Chanyeol.

            “He means well.” I whispered to Kyungsoo, trying to get him in a better mood.

            “I know I know.” He muttered back. “I was just hoping he would forget about it and I could do it on my own…”

            “I thought you wanted to show him how much better you are than him?”

            “That may be true, but there is also only so much Baekhyun I can handle in a week. And I’m pretty sure these three hour meetings are my limit.”

            Before I could say anything back, Junmyeon called everyone’s attention and the meeting began.

            “Hey guys!” He began. “Before we break up into groups, I just thought we should decide when we are going to go camping.”

            “Camping?” I pondered out loud.

            “We do it every year!” Junmyeon explained. “Towards the end of fall, right before it gets too cold out. We just go to the local camping grounds and set up tent for the weekend, it’s super fun!”

            For once, Junmyeon’s optimism was not met with groans, but instead mutual cheers of delight.

            “It’s actually really fun!” Minseok said.

            “Yea!” Luhan added. “Last year, we had a cookout, bonfire, told ghost stories, oh I think Kris even wet his pants with Chanyeol’s story about the kidnapped slave girl and the haunted tree house!”

            “I did not!” Kris shouted.

            “Anyway, it’s a lot of fun.” Luhan ignored him.

            “Definitely.” Chanyeol said. “And I am the king of ghost stories, so be prepared.” He rubbed his hands together and broke out into a sinister grin.

            “Sounds like fun!” I said. “So when is it?”

            “I was thinking next weekend. Saturday night until Sunday morning.” Junmyeon said.

            “Works for me.” Came the chorus of responses.

            “Perfect! Everyone bring their camping stuff and dress warm, it’s already starting to get chilly and you don’t want to get sick!” Junmyeon lectured.

            “Yes Mom.” Sehun snickered and Junmyeon glared at him.

            “Sehun, what do you have on your lap?” The older boy asked.

            “Oh!” Sehun squealed as he lifted the Ziploc container. It looked to be filled with little blue and yellow balls.

            “I made muffins for everyone!” Sehun beamed. “I found the recipe on the internet, and I wanted to show you guys how great of a cook I’ve become thanks to Kyungsoo Hyung’s help!”

            I saw my brother gulp beside me, obviously worried over his reputation as a chef being held in the hands of a teenager and his suspicious breakfast pastries.

            “For the record, I didn’t teach him how to bake.” Kyungsoo clarified.

            “Oh relax, Hyung. These are great, trust me!” Sehun opened the lid and held out the container for the other boys to take their share. When no one moved, he shook the container and pouted.

            “Come on! I didn’t, like, poison them or anything!”

            “Maybe not on purpose…” Baekhyun muttered, earning him a glare.

            “Just try one!”

            “Alright, alright!” Minseok announced. “If no one else is brave enough, I’ll eat one first.”

            The eldest boy stood up and slowly made his way over to Sehun. After pondering over the container for a couple seconds, he choose the smallest, least threatening looking muffin, and took a bite.

            “Well…” Sehun asked. “How is it, Hyung??!”

            Minseok chewed and chewed for a good 30 seconds. He tilteld his head first to the left, then to the right, a perfect poker face shielding any glimmer of emotion.

            “They’re… not bad!” Minseok finally said. As Sehun closed his eyes and squealed in delight, Minseok turned around to face the rest of the group. Quickly, he put two fingers up to his neck and made a menacing slashing motion across his throat. His eyes widened as if to say: Tell him they and you will die.

            Everyone clearly got the message, but still lined up to get their muffins. At least they’re supportive. I thought to myself as Luhan brought me a muffin. I took a small bite and soon realized why it had taken Minseok so long to answer. It was so chewy, I almost thought I was eating a piece of gum rather than a light, fluffy pastry. The flavor was rather bland as well, but I wasn’t going to complain. He was trying, and that was what was important.

            “Wow, Sehun.” Kris said after he swallowed his first bite. “These are… great!”

            “You really think so?!”

            “Sure buddy!” Luhan added. “They’re very… unique.”

            “Yes, I’ve never had anything quite like it.” Yixing added as he fed a small bite to Bing. Suddenly, Bing’s face contorted as he chewed the muffin, obviously not expecting what he had just put in his mouth.

            “Daddy I want eat!” Chanyong yelled as he ran over to his dad and climbed into his lap.

            “Are you sure, son?” Chanyeol said, trying to dissuade the little boy.

            “Yea! Eat Muppin!” Chanyong blabbered, grabbing the muffin out of his dad’s hand and taking a large bite. After a second though, the little boy’s eyes widened and he spat the muffin right out of his mouth and into his dad’s hand.

            “Ew BLECH!” He shouted. “Daddy bad! Taste bad!”

            “Shh Chanyong-ah! Be nice!” Chanyeol hushed at his son, but Sehun had already heard what the little boy had said.

            “Taste bad?” Sehun said with a stunned, hurt look on his face. “Really?”

            “Psh!” Chanyeol tried to cover up. “I have no idea what he is talking about! They’re great, Sehun, really!”

            “Wait. Bing!” Sehun suddenly said with determination. Bing looked up from his coloring book and stared at the man. “What did you think of my muffin?”

            Bing looked once at his dad, then back at Sehun, then back at his dad again, before saying quickly, “Not good.”

            “Really?!” Sehun shouted again.

            “Too chew.” Bing added, a little louder, before burying his head back into his book.

            “Guys.” Sehun said. “I don’t want you lying to me just to make me feel better. Tell me honestly if they are good or not!”
            No one spoke for a moment before Luhan piped up.

            “Sehun, we just want to encourage you. Sure, they weren’t that great, but you’re still learning and it’s good to try!” Luhan said.

            “Yea,” Tao added. “Plus you know that if we criticized it you would just get upset with us.”

            “That’s not true!”

            “Then what are you doing right now?”

            Sehun fell silent before Kyungsoo added a few words of his own.

            “It’s ok, Sehun. You just need more practice. Rome wasn’t built in a day, am I right?”

            “I guess…”

            “You just need more practice, Sehun!” Junmyeon added. “Work with Kyungsoo more, and you will be a great chef in no time!”

            “Let’s use this ‘work with Kyungsoo more’ term with caution…” Kyungsoo muttered.

            “Yea, don’t use up all of Kyungsoo’s time!” Baekhyun said. “We need to sing together too!”

            “What if you helped me cook while you sang with Baekhyun??!” Sehun suddenly said, excited about his great idea.

            “Oh dear god…” Kyungsoo muttered somberly and I had to agree. Sehun’s cooking plus Baekhyun’s everything would equal Kyungsoo’s living hell.

            “One thing at a time!” I said suddenly. “You don’t want to split his attention over too many things at once, do you?”

            “That’s true…” Sehun pouted. The boys’ conversation soon moved on to other topics and I felt my phone buzz with a text.

To: Do Yisoo

From: Ju Miyeon

Hey, classes ended early! :D Mind if I come now?

To: Ju Miyeon

From: Do Yisoo

Sure thing! Save me from these crazies XD

            About fifteen minutes later, a knock came at the door.

            “Who is that?” Jongin asked.

            “Jongdae, you didn’t order pizza again, did you?” Kris scolded.

            “No it wasn’t me I swear!” Jongdae shouted from across the room where he was playing with trucks with his sons.

            “It’s for me guys!” I announced as I grabbed my coat and went over to open the door. Too bad Daehyun and Daehyuk beat me to it.

            “Who are you?” They asked in unison when they swung the door open to reveal Miyeon standing on the other side.

            “Boys, that’s not polite! She’s a friend of mine.” I scolded the twins before turning to the others. “I’m leaving guys, see you later!”

            “Wait!” Luhan exclaimed. “Ms. Ju, is that you? What are you doing here?”

            “Yisoo and I were going to get some coffee!” Miyeon replied.

            “What??!” Luhan said with surprise, sending me an incredulous look.

            “Yes, Luhan. I drink coffee. Shocker, isn’t it?” I deadpanned.

            “That’s not what I mean!” He sputtered before clearing his throat to regain his composure. “What I meant was, Ms. Ju, you should come by and hang out with us more often! Don’t just steal Yisoo away!”

            Miyeon giggled and replied, “This is our first time meeting up, don’t worry Luhan.”

            “Hey, here’s a crazy idea.” Luhan replied back.

            “What…?” I asked, not liking the tone in his voice.

            “The group of us were planning on going camping next weekend. How would you like to come along?” Luhan proposed.

            “What??!” I and the other boys all shouted.

            “Camping?” Miyeon said with a thoughtful look on her face. “That sounds like fun!”

            “It’s no fun at all, you wouldn’t want to go!” I tried to tell her, but she just shot me a wink and turned back to Luhan.

            “I’d love to go!” She said with a bright smile.

            “Really??!” Luhan exclaimed, clearly not believing his own good luck.

            “Yes. I think it would be fun!” Miyeon said with another smile as she linked her arm in mine and we turned to the door.

            “I guess I’ll see you all next weekend then!” She said.

            “Wait! We should exchange contact info, just so, you know, I can let you know the plans.” Luhan said in a silky voice.

            “Oh there’s no need!” Miyeon replied, faking obliviousness to his firting. “I’ll just text Yisoo.”

            “Yup!” I said. “She’ll just talk to me.” And with that, we walked out of the room. I had a million questions for her running through my head, but laughed as soon as we closed the door because I heard Luhan, very distinctly, call desperately from the other side,

            “Wait! What’s your name??!”

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