The six brothers sat outside on their porch while looking at the yard that they used to play in so many years ago. A bittersweet feeling washed over them as they thought about their argument last night.  Their parents didn’t know what they had argued about and the six brothers were glad that they didn’t know, otherwise it would involve everyone.

And most of their wives didn’t know what had happened so long ago. It was a secret that only those who were close knew-- one that those who knew never spoke of because of the wounds that never healed even through all of the years of trying and moving on with life, it was fresh and still bleeding for all of them.

 

It was around five thirty when the house phone rang. The wives had gotten done with cooking dinner for the family when the house phone rang in the living room. The husbands looked at each other, asking who was going to answer it.

 

Chen sighed and picked up the phone. “Wei,” he said. He heard his mother’s voice telling him they would be sleeping at a friend’s house since it was beginning to rain where they were at. “Okay. That’s fine. Just call us if you need anything or if something happens, okay?” Chen asked. He was worried for his parents knowing what state their father was in at the moment. He was scared to lose someone again. “Alright, bye, mama,” he said before hanging up the phone.

 

“Did something happen?” Tao asked him as he placed his phone on the table.

 

“Nothing,” Chen replied, “It’s raining where they’re at so they’re staying at their friends house for the night.”

 

“Come eat, you guys,” Fang Yi said, entering the living room seeing her husband and brother-in-laws watching Tiny Times 3, the movie that she and Luhan picked up on their way home. “I thought I said we were going to watch this together later tonight,” she told them.

 

Luhan let out a small laugh as he stood up with his daughter in his arms. “You know we’ll watch it again later, anyways, ai ren,” he said. “Plus, no one was really paying attention to it,” he shrugged, sitting down at the table after putting Fang Hua in one of the high chairs at the table.

 

“Sit down, you guys,” Mei Li said softly as she placed the food on the table. She looked at Yixing and  smiled at her husband as he poured her glass with water before she sat down. “Eat,” Mei Li urged her husband. He nodded her head and began to place food on his plate.

 

“Mama and baba aren’t coming home tonight,” Yi Fan announced to everyone once they began to eat. “It’s raining where they’re at so they’ve decided to stay the night over there,” he explained as he placed food on his wife’s plate. The sister-in-laws nodded their heads in understanding.

 

Dinner was a little loud as the twelve of them ate together. Li Hua and Xiumin tried feeding their son who was being picky while Fang Yi and Luhan were trying to keep Fang Hua clean during dinner as the others didn’t have much of a problem-- that is if you exclude Yi Fan being such a worrier with Ting Na afraid of her eating anything that may cause her to become sick or the baby to not feel right. And Tao arguing with Ya Li about how everyone has been hard on him during the past day, in which she argued back, saying he gave everyone a reason to become angry with him.

 

Chen and Ching Lan laughed quietly to themselves as they watched the couple bicker. Chen held out his spoon and fed his wife food while she did the same to him with a bright smile on her face. Yixing and Mei Li saw and they couldn’t help but look at each other and back to the couple that was so in love with each other that it scared them. Yixing and Mei Li knew Ching Lan would do anything for her husband, She was quieter compared to the other wives, much more reserved, but she spoke with confidence when she did and she had a contagious smile and laugh that brightened the room.

 

“Laopo,” Chen said, to his wife who looked at him as she ate. “Any plans tomorrow?” He asked her.

 

“We wanted to go to the zoo tomorrow with the kids and bring mama and baba,” she told him. “Why, laogong?”

 

“You two,” Yi Fan said with a hint of mock disgust. “Laopo and laogong? How old are you again?” He let out a laugh at how his sister-in-law hid her face in Chen’s arm from embarrassment.

 

“Yi Fan,” Ting Na scolded her husband, “Leave the two alone.”

 

Xiumin chuckled at his giant of a brother who was being scolded by his wife who was half his size. “Leave the two alone, Yi Fan,” he told him. “They’re so in love let them be laogong and laopo.”

 

Ya Li nodded her head in agreement. “Li Hua jie and Xiumin ge are cute too!” She said while looking at Tao with a smile.

 

“Min Hao and Li Hua are the ones that make Min ge cute,” Tao said with a grin at his older brother who gave him a glare before turning to feed his son. Tao stuck his tongue out

before Ya Li could see.

 

Of course Tao would be the one making such jokes about his brothers. He loved them, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have any hard feelings from the past. Although he was fairly young when the accident  happened, he still remembers the feeling of his heart hurting-- and it still hurts now. After almost thirteen years, the pain is still there. It still exists and it still feels like it was bleeding. Tao always told Ya Li about how he felt because over the years he found that it was the best thing to do.

 

“Don’t keep anything to yourself.” she would say to him. “It hurts me when I see you hurting. Remember, I love you, ZiTao. I love every part of you-- even the sad parts.” She loved him, she truly did. Even though she may seem mean and rough to him, he knows she’s only joking around with him, because Tao doesn’t let his love hurt him and his love doesn’t hurt him and he won’t hurt her.

 

“Eat, Tao,” Ya Li said to him, placing rice in his little bowl in front of him. “Then we can watch the movie with everyone else.” A smile appeared on her face.

 

She was happy when she was with Tao. Of course they had their moments where they weren’t so good together, but she couldn’t see herself with anyone else besides him. Tao was her first love, her first innocent love that grew into something more. Perhaps it was supposed to end a long time ago, but they stayed together for so long that she couldn’t imagine anyone else-- anyone better than him, because he was the best. The two met during their middle school years and began dating the first year of high school and now, almost a decade later, the two are engaged and planned to be married by the end of summer. She was excited to get married and finally settle down with Tao, but the thought of marriage scared her sometimes. Some couples didn’t last long and some lasted forever, she wasn’t sure which one they would be. Ya Li was terrified by the thought of not being able to give Tao the best because she knows he gives her everything.

 

 

Dinner ended with the family cleaning up the table and the two youngest brothers doing the dishes while the older brothers were cleaning the rest of the kitchen with the girls and kids in living room, setting up the movie and talking. Yi Fan looked at Chen and began laughing when he noticed Tao had put soap on his head. Luhan walked beside Yi Fan and asked why he was laughing, and when he pointed out what was happening, Tao had added another handful of soap on the oblivious Chen. Tao looked at his brothers and smirked as he added more soap to his hair. Holding back a snort, he continued doing the dishes and pretended that nothing had happened between the two.

 

Shaking his head, Luhan went to the living room with bowls of snacks with Xiumin beside him with juice and crackers for the kids. Luhan saw his wife talking to Ching Lan who was quiet during most of the stay. “Hello, ai ren,” he said, pecking Fang Yi’s cheek before placing the food on the table. Fang Yi smiled at her husband before continuing her conversation with Ching Lan, asking about her new job she had recently gotten.

 

Shortly after Luhan and Xiumin entered the living room, Yi Fan, Tao, Yixing and Chen came walking in. Chen still had the collection of soap on his head which puzzled Tao because he was positive he would’ve felt it by now. Chen made his way over to his wife and touched the top of his head and lightly touched her face, leaving the soap on her face. She let out a shriek and looked at Chen who had a smile on his face. Fang Yi handed her a napkin, trying to suppress her laughter at her in-law.

 

“Laogong,” she whined, wiping away the soap from her face, “Why did you do that?”

 

“Tao was too far for me to reach,” he said with a shrug, his lips forming into a wider smile. “And I love you so much, laopo,” Chen placed a kiss on her cheek, taking the napkin away from her.

 

It was loving scene for the wives and brothers seeing how much he loved Ching Lan. It was obvious in his eyes and he had nothing else but the sparkle of love and admiration of the girl in front of him-- the women who moved him from his old self into someone he can be proud of twenty years from now.

 

The movie began playing and soon the two kids had fallen asleep in their parents’ arms. Fang Hua was laying on her fathers chest while Min Hoa was snuggled against Li Hua’s chest with a blanket covering his body. Xiumin glanced down at his son and wife who was paying attention to their son rather than the movie. He smiled at the thought of his wife and him having one more child, he knew his wife wasn’t ready for another one at the moment, and even if he did want one, she would try her best to give him that baby that he wants. He’s glad that she loves him that much, but it scares him because he could hurt her and she would still love him-- she wouldn’t see any fault done on his behalf and it made his heart hurt knowing she would die for him (he would die for her as well, no doubt about it).

 

“I’m going to put Min to bed, Minnie,” Li Hua said quietly. Xiumin nodded his head and told her that she would go with her to put their son to bed. The two got up from the sofa and made their way to his room, leaving the other couples to glance at them before returning their attention back to the screen.

 

The two entered Xiumin’s room, Li Hua placed Min Hoa on the bed gently, trying her best to not wake her sleeping son up. He watched his wife with gentle eyes as he moved the blanket for his son as she fixed Min Hoa so his head rested on the pillow. Xiumin’s lips curled into a small, soft smile. His wife was so pretty. She was breathtaking to him.

Her heart was made of gold and she made him feel so loved. Li Hua gave him so much love that he wasn’t sure if he returned all of it back-- if not more.

 

“Are you better, Min?” She asked her husband. Xiumin looked at her and noticed that her eyes showed concern for the oldest son in the family.

 

“I am,” he said, quietly climbing on the bed to sit beside his wife. “Better than last night.” Xiumin laid his head on his wife’s shoulder as she held his left hand.

 

“You didn’t talk to me last night, honey,” Li Hua said to him, pulling Min Hoa’s blanket so it sat on her legs. “Do you want to tell me about it?” She glanced down at her husband who looked absentmindedly at their son who was asleep.

 

“Let’s change first then we’ll talk, I feel uncomfortable sitting in my jeans for too long,” he said with a smile, lifting his head from his wife’s shoulder. He let go of her hand and got off the bed and made his way over to his drawer and took out two shirts; one black and the other white. He turned to his wife and held up the two shirts. “Which one?” He asked her.

 

“White, please,” she said to him. Xiumin closed the drawer and tossed her his white tee-shirt before changing his shirt and pants while Li Hua did the same.

 

Xiumin looked at his wife and smiled because she always wore his shirts to sleep. He climbed onto the bed and laid next to his wife with their son against the wall. “You’re so beautiful, ai ren,” Xiumin mumbled,  moving a few strands away from her face.

 

“You’re not okay,” she said softly, taking hold of her husbands hand. “You’ve been nervous and jumpy since we got here, Min Shou.”

 

“I’m not nervous and jumpy, Lili,” he said to her. Xiumin noticed how his wife had something sparkling in her eyes. Was it concern or sadness? Or was it sympathy? Pity? No, his wife would never pity him. Zhang Li Hua would never pity him. She never did before and he knows she won’t do it now.

 

“I know my husband,” she gave his hand a squeeze. “I know you better than you think, Min. I know you’re not okay anymore. Tell me about it. What’s hurting you? What’s hurting my baozi?”

 

He smiled hearing her nickname she called him when they were friends (before falling in love). Baozi, it was his cheeks in his younger years that made him earn the nickname she had created for him. She was the only one who could call him that without him being angry. “Every time I see Fan and Lu, I feel so disappointed in them again,” he sighed,

“It’s been so many years, Li Hua, but it hurts me to be here. I love ma and ba, I truly do, but it’s suffocating here.”

 

“Tell me what happened that night, Min,” she requested, something that she rarely did to her husband. “In detail if it’s possible.”

“Get back here, Yi Fan!” Their mother yelled at the teenage son who was being a pain in the to everyone. “Walk out and you aren’t welcomed back here,” she threatened as she saw her son about to grab the door handle after slipping on his gray converse.

 

“Fine,” he breathed. “Don’t bother welcoming me back because I’m going and never coming back,” Yi Fan grabbed his backpack of clothes and necessities. He was running away-- following a girl whom he had claimed to love. But what did a sixteen year old know about love? He was crazy, that’s what all of his brothers thought of him-- even Tao, who was only ten.

 

Luhan glanced at his mother and as him being the oldest son at the moment with Xiumin absent because of school, he told his mom that it was okay, that Yi fan was throwing a fit because he was bored. Their mother knew it wasn’t true, but she nodded her head and waited patiently for her husband to return home from the store after taking Chen and Lay to the store. Luhan saw Tao and Xiaolian peering out from the staircase. His eyes widened  but returned to normal when he realized that they would hear the commotion from their bedroom upstairs, it shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did. Tao and Xiaolin were the babies in the family and they had to be protected.

 

Tao was the youngest with his older sister, Xiaolian, being a year older than him. She was the only girl, the Zhang’s most treasured jewel (not that the six sons weren’t treasured. No, their parents loved them all dearly.) and her brothers made sure she was alright before doing anything. Tao and Xiaolian were inseparable, they were best friends. Wherever Tao went, she went and wherever she went, Tao tagged along-- that is until Yi Fan left the house. Things changed during his two week absence.

It was close to three in the morning when Xiaolian was awoken from her sleep. She heard Luhan, Xiumin and Lay’s voice from the room across the hall. Quietly getting out of her bed, she made her way to her door and opened it enough to see what was happening. She saw Xiumin, her oldest brother, with a backpack on his back and Luhan and Lay following him down the stairs, he brothers were quiet as if they talked before this. Then it hit her, her brother as leaving. She began to open the door wider as she realized she might lose another brother of hers, and she didn’t want that. She needed all six of them in order for her to feel complete.

 

“Ge,” she said softly, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Her three older brothers turned around, their eyes widening at the sight of her. The rest of the family was supposed to be asleep and Luhan had checked up on his sister fifteen minutes ago. “Don’t leave like Fanfan,” Xiaolian took a step towards her brothers, her eyes b with tears. “You can’t leave us.”

 

Xiumin gestured for Xiaolian to come towards him, she walked quietly to her oldest brother. He wrapped an arm around her, bringing his sister closer to him. “I won’t leave like Fanfan,” he promised her. He could feel her tears soak through his hoodie. He didn’t care about the tears staining his clothes, he had to make sure Xialian was okay. He talked to Tao already, right before he left, he made sure to tell Tao that he was going to be gone for a few days and to take care of Xiaolian for him. “I’m bringing Fanfan back, Xiao,” he said softly. “If you sleep now, I’ll be back before you wake up.” That was no promise. He knew Yi Fan called him from a payphone telling him he was a few cities over and Xiumin knew that he was going to kill his brother being such an irresponsible .

 

Xialian sniffled and looked at her older brothers who nodded their head She looked back at Xiumin and saw his small smile. “I’ll go back to sleep then” she said softly. “Come back safe, okay? You and Fanfan have to come back,” she told him before giving him a hug. Xiaolian glanced at Lay and Luhan who gave her an encouraging smile. They would be home when she woke up, she was sure of it. “Good night,” she said, quietly making her way to her bedroom. Her three older brothers were watching her go back to her room before they went to the the front door  where  Lay and Luhan bid Xiumin a farewell and safe trip, telling him to bring back Yi Fan so they can kick his and knock some sense in his head.

Xiaolian woke up startled, hearing her mama and baba begin to shout and cry asking where Xiumin went. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked out at the window and saw the sun shining. It had to be close to nine in the morning, her parents were early birds and when Yi Fan left, they got up and began to cook and clean the house and when they would go to work, they would get up even earlier because everyone knew they were missing a part of their heart when Yi Fan had left the household.

 

“Where’s Min Ge?” Tao asked his older sister as she sat beside him at the table. Their mother and father were in the kitchen. Usually she would be up already and helping her mom set breakfast, but today was different. Far different from when Yi Fan left the house.  

 

“He went to get FanFan,” she whispered to her brother before their parents returned to the table. “Mama, baba,” her voice was soft as she looked at her parents who looked drained.

 

“I’ll take care of them,” Luhan said to the two, making Xiaolian and Tao look at their older brother. “You two can do whatever needs to be done,” he told them. Their mother gave her son a smile before she left to go up to their room with her husband following behind. Luhan turned towards the two younger kids and let out a sigh. “Don’t talk about it, okay? Not in front of mama and baba. Don’t do that to them right now.”

 

Xiaolian and Tao nodded with light hearts at their brother’s words. The two knew that their older brothers were missing and being the curious young kids they were, they didn’t know better than to not say words when they were not meant to be said at all. Luhan was there to give the siblings order while Xiumin had went to retrieve their giant idiot-of-a-brother Yi Fan. He was the one in charge and he wasn’t sure what to do about their parents being worried about the other kids, the one that left and never came back. He was in charge, he was the one who had to make sure his siblings were up on time and he had to make sure they all went to school and had a proper meal and he had to help Xiaolian cook the meals when their parents were out of the house and at their work.

 

Xiaolian helped her older brothers and Tao when their parents were working. It’s been a week since Xiumin had left and almost a month since Yi Fan had ran out of the house and the family was getting no where. Luhan was getting stressed out since Xiumin had called him a few days ago saying that they were two cities over, but ran into trouble since Yi Fan kept on being persistent and throwing tantrums because of the stupid girl he followed.

 

“Make sure to cook dinner tonight,  Xioa,” Luhan reminded his sister as he put his shoes on. “I’ll be coming home late tonight so I won’t be able to help. But ask Xing or Chen for help, okay?” He looked up at his sister and saw her nodding her head as she walked into the kitchen to grab something.

 

“See you later, Lu,” Chen said as he passed by Luhan, going to the living room.

 

“Help Xiaolian cook dinner tonight, Chen,” he said before he left with Xiaolian returning from the kitchen with his bag of lunch.

 

“You’ll forget this,” she said quietly, handing him his lunch. “I’ll see you later tonight, ge,” she smiled at him, watching him walk out of their house and down the steps of the porch down to the street.

 

Luhan has been working more these past few weeks to help his parents out. Chen and Yixing stayed at home and watched Xiaolian and Tao. The four stayed and cleaned the house and cook the meals when Luhan took an extra shift and made sure their parents were okay--Tao and Xiaolian made sure of that.

It was half past eight and dinner had been finished by eight. Chen, Yixing, Tao and Xiaolian cleaned the kitchen and waited for Luhan to come back. The siblings weren’t sure when their older brother would return from work, but they hoped it was soon. Rapid knocks at the door made the four look at each other puzzled. Luhan had a key to the house so he wouldn’t be knocking. Yixing placed the towel on the counter and went to open the door with the three others behind him. The moment Yixing opened the door, they were greeted by Yi Fan who had scowl on his face and Xiumin who was walking up the stairs.

 

“FanFan,” Xiaolian whispered as relief  washed over her small being. Yi Fan looked at her and noticed her smile on her face. He felt the guilt run through his body and chose to ignore his siblings who watched him make his way to his room.

Xiumin walked through the front door and was greeted with hugs from Chen, Yixing and Tao. Xiumin looked at his sister and smiled before he motioned her to go up to Yi Fan’s room. Xiaolian nodded her head and left the four brothers to themselves. Xiaolian took quiet steps upon entering Yi Fan’s room. He saw how his backpack was on the floor and his body was on his bed.

 

“FanFan,” she called. Yi Fan turned his head and saw his sisters shining eyes. “I missed you,” she said quietly, walking towards her brother. Yi Fan sat up and held his arms for her to give him a hug. Xiaolian took small steps with her arms centimeters away from her older brother before a force pushed her out of the way. She looked up and saw Luhan dragging Yi Fan out of his room by the collar of his shirt. Xiaolian stood up and followed the two and saw them going out to the front yard with Xiumin and the rest following close behind trying to pry Luhan off of Yi Fan.

 

Chen brought Tao and Xiaolian close to the steps of the porch while Xiumin and Yixing took the two apart before Luhan could do anything more to Yi Fan. “You dumb bastard!” Luhan yelled with anger seeping through his entire being. He thrashed his body around as he looked at Yi Fan with angry, betrayed eyes. “You stupid bastard! You left home to follow a girl who left you in a city where you had nowhere to go,” he let out a heavy breath as he saw Yi Fan look at him with slitted eyes.

 

“You shut your dirty mouth, Luhan,” he growled, forgetting any honorifics with his brother. He moved his arm and was out of Yixing’s grasp. He had been angry at everyone and when he saw Xiaolian he was about to apologize to his family, he was about to bow to the ground and never get up. He was going to kneel in front of their house until they forgave him for his stupid actions, but with Luhan being hostile to him, he forgot about his plans and saw red. “Don’t throw me out of the house just because you think that I don’t know what I did wrong,” he swung his arm and hit Luhan who was thrown to the ground after escaping Xiumin who was trying his best to break their fight up.

 

“Don’t do this outside,” Xiumin hissed to the two brothers who ignored his words and continued to glare at each other with spite in their eyes. He pushed the two away from each other and Xiaolian and Tao’s eyes widened as they witnessed their older brothers fight with each other, especially the calm and collected Xiumin. He turned his back and began to make his way towards the trio at the stairs before he heard Xiaolian shout a loud ‘no!’. He turned his head and saw Luhan and Yi Fan hit each other. His heart stopped when he saw Xiaolian run towards the two who were lost in their own anger.

 

“Xiao!” Yixing shouted as he took a step towards his sister who was running between the two fighting. Luhan had pushed Yi Fan onto the road along with Xiaolian who was on her side groaning from the fall.

 

“Luhan!” Xiumin screamed as he pushed him away from Yi Fan while Chen helped his sister up from the ground.

 

“Ge!” Tao ran towards the rest. “There’s a car coming!” He warned and as Chen and Xiaolian looked up and saw the car coming. Before Chen could move Xiaolian the two were met with the sound of tires screeching and the impact of something powerful. The two had time to react, get a few feet away from the car, but they couldn’t and it was as if the two were glued to the ground.

 

“Xiaolian,” Xiumin whispered, “Chen.” His breath was stuck in his throat as he saw his brother and sister laying on the ground in a pool of their own blood. He saw the driver of  the car get out and tend to the two on the ground as Yixing had abandoned his brothers and left to tend to Chen and Xiaolian.

 

“It was horrible,” he whispered. “Chen fractured his right arm and leg and broke a few ribs while Xiao was in a coma for a week before she--” he Xiumin choked on his words as he looked at Li Hua who had tears forming in her eyes.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly with an encouraging smile. “It’s going to be okay,” Li Hua enveloped Xiumin in a hug and heard his heart breaking cries that made her heart hurt.

 

 

---

El oh el. I am the worst author ever and I apologize for that. I didn't realize how long it's been since I last updated and it's been super long. But I've been on summer break for almost a month andd I'm catching upwith my updates. I know I could do better, but there's a sports tournament coming up in a week and I've been at practice and my laptop screen cracked so I was just MIA from my documents for a weke. T-T /ugly sob/ but someone guessed that they had a sister and it threw me off. I'm sorry for a horrible ending for her. It was, like, the worst and cliche things to ever do rn. But hopefully you gys enjoyed it! This is my longst update for this story, I think? 8 pages I bbelieve.