“I’m going to the store so,” Yoora opened the door that directed her to the bookstore next to her house, “If you’re hungry or anything then there's still leftover pasta on the fridge”.

“Okay,” ken sat on the couch and quickly nodded, “Is it okay if we stay longer?”

Before Yoora closed the door and left for work, “Ask her,” she made an unusual statement. “Have fun”

There were Ken, who sat on the couch with Hyuk, who never had his eyes off Areum, who was also busy with sorting the new books that just came. The Living room was turned into a storage after a huge delivery of books package came, soon after the Park Brothers entered the house. 

“Let me help you,” Hyuk muttered. Unlike Ken, who kept his eyes on his phone and TV, hyuk was enjoying the silence of watching a person work her best.

Areum shook her head.“No, it's my job, not you”.

“So you quit your barista job and work in here instead?” Ken joined the small conversation next to him, “No wonder the coffee taste rather ugly”

“Well, it's more like I temporarily quit that job…” Areum has finished to open the last package, and was ready to sort the last pile. “In-guk Sunbae is now the manager, he understands me well”

“Understands you?” Hyuk rested his chin on his hand, “how?”

Ken turned his head onto his brother. Hyukkie….

Hyuk got up from the couch, then moved to the floor as he sat himself next to Areum. “Noona,”

“Sanghyuk,” The girl breathed out. “I— I don't know that Yoora unnie is your mom, so I’m sorry. Eunju introduced her to me so I thought that she probably just a good friend of her.. And she turned out to be, indeed, a good friend of Eunju. She’s also nice, like very kind, and— and trust me! I don't want to stay here for long either”

The youngest made his point ; “Then come back,”.

“I can’t" and so does the girl. 

“You can't, or you don’t want to?” Hyuk looked into the eyes that were hid behind the hair strands that fell naturally. “Why did you leave?”

Areum closed her eyes, and held onto her knees. I—

“But you don’t hate us, right?” Ken muttered. Even From where he sat, he could clearly feel the tension. “We’re all still friends, right?”

“Of— of course!” Her tones changed, brighten up. “You all, each of you, you guys are amazing and cool, and nice and like—“

“Even Hongbin hyung?”. Ken and even Areum widened their eyes towards Hyuk’s bluntness. 

“Ye— yes, even Hongbin” She gulped. 

Hyuk straightly continued to blurt out his thoughts ; “Noona, if Hongbin is kicked out of the house, will you come back?”

“No! no! Thats not how it works!” Areum shook her head and got up, “No one should be kicked out of the house— wait, how do you?” but then she stopped her feet from leaving the room, once she realized something. “How do you—“

“You were avoiding him, it was obvious”. By that moment, Ken was already mentally slamming his face. Sanghyuk way to go— “Although I’m not really sure why and I don't think its also necessary for me to know why” way— way to go, bro, nice save. huft.

Ken shifted his glare towards his brother into a soothing stare. “Well, to add, we miss you so much”. “The house is not really a house without you, Areum”

All of a sudden, her face was red in shyness and it led her to stumble on a chuckle. “Well— yeah, me too guys, but like, it was already a house even before I invade your privacy”

ah noona you’re so cute. “I used to think that it was only a house, but then you made me feel like it is a home”. 

Areum was looking at a way out, but to heard that, Hyuk made Areum turned her head onto him. “Eh?”

“I— I mean,” The younger park hid his rosy cheek behind his hand as he cleared his throat, “You— you know, you’re like—“

“An eomma,” Ken helped him. “And now how sad it is since our eomma’s lives in the same house and we don't get to be with any of them”

She nodded. “Ah… I see…” 

After a pretty quick moment of awkwardness, “Okay,” Ken finally got up from his seat and dragged his brother with him. “Let's go, we have seen our mom— no, moms, so I think it's time for us to leave”

“Wa— wait!” Areum raised a hand. “Are you guys really leaving? Like, now?”

Ken tilted his head up and down. “Yeah… we actually came just to deliver a package of something… and… yeah, Hyuk is pretty busy with his papers, he got tons of homework, right?”

“No I dont—“

“Yes you do,” Ken grinned and tighten his grip on his brother’s arm, “And I also still have some stuff to do”

“Ah, Okay,”. Areum walked up to them as she followed them out through the front door. “Well, too bad that Kyunggi is surprisingly asleep… and— oh yeah! Tell the other That I missed them too!”

“Sure—“

“The other? The other as in, everyone?” Hyuk cut off his brother, “Like, all of them?”

She shrugged. “Yeah…” 

Hyuk pouted a little. “Okay”

“Oh! Really, Areum, I think you should visit the house…” Ken lowered his excitement when he saw the girl’s changed of gaze. “Too…” Her eyes were full of uneasiness. “Or we can meet up somewhere, cause I think it’ll be unfair if we both are the only people who got to see you again”

“But if you want us to be the only people who know your whereabout that's also okay” Hyuk smiled brightly. 

“Hahahaahaha,” Areum laughed a little, “Sure, lets meet up, how about next week?”

Ken raised his hands, “Sounds like a plan!” and the three of them shared a high fives.
 

“Why did you insist on going home back then?” Hyuk got out of the car first and waited for his brother. “We haven't even gotten to see mom”

“You should thank me for that” Not long after that, Ken has finished to park the car in front of the house and got out of it. “If we stayed a minute longer then there's a huge possibility that you’ll end up confessing your feelings to her”

“No I wouldn’t!” Hyuk pouted, and his cheek turned red again, “And we don't really have to tell them right?”

“Tell them what?” Before Ken got to answer, the front door was opened by someone and that question followed along.

“ Hakyeon Hyung!” Ken almost bumped into the shoulder of his hyung as he was the closest one to the door.

“that was a quick visit to your mom’s place, how is she?” Hakyeon picked up a bag of trash next to him, as it turned out that he was about to throw it away. 

“She’s okay, and—“

“And she looks happy” Hyuk cut off, and got his shoulder brushed into Hakyeon when he entered the house. “Where’s everyone?”

Hakyeon walked out of the house and let two of his friends stepped inside. “Leo is out, doing something, I guess, Ravi is asleep and Hongbin is having an extra class or something”

“Hey, how is she?” Right after the Parks got to sit themselves on the couch, Ravi came out of his room and joined them.

“Eh? well, when we came, the store was crowded and eomma looked happy as always so—“

“I don't really care about your mom,” Ravi narrowed his eyes, “I mean, how’s Areum?”. Ken and Hyuk looked at each other’s eyes in confusion. “Eunju told me that she stayed at her Unnie’s place. And by Unnie of course, it refers to your mom” He shrugged.

“O—Oh…, yeah, you guys are pretty close, I forgot” Ken nodded, “Well, she’s okay, I think, but—“

“She’s not okay,” The youngest rolled his eyes, “She obviously avoids hongbin Hyung, and ended up keeping her distance from all of us”

“Well, you can't really blame her, maknae” Ravi sighed. “You don't really think that someone like Areum could actually live in the same house of six boys without having a slight of uneasiness, right?”

“No.. but—“

“true, it was mostly hongbin's fault, but its also her choice to move out of this house” Ravi left them two as he went back to his room, “In the meantime, I think it’ll be better for us to give her times and privacy”

“Speaking about time and privacy, we agreed on meeting up with her next week” Ken said. 

Ravi was about to open his door and entered his sanctuary, but then Ken managed to pull him back. "Next week?"

"Yeah, Next week, with everyone" Ken explained. 

'aah,' Ravi mouthed, "Okay, Looking forward to next week" then finally entered his room for real.

"She's living with your what?!" Sungjae spat his last bite of burger.

"Mom, she's living with my mom now" And in consideration, Hyuk gave him a tissue. "Temporarily"

It was friday evening and it has been awhile since the last time the two of them spent their time together. The burger place where they sat their asses on was rather crowded. Kids, teenagers with their uniform often to walk around with their tray and noises. 

"But-- but why?" Before he decided to picked on his fries, Sungjae spoke up. "I mean, How can--"

"She ran away, she's totally done with us. She bumped into my mom, and she thought that she was only Eunju Noona's friend, which is true, but she didnt know that she's my mom until Last week, when me And Ken Hyung visited her and there she was, surprised" He sighed, as he placed his chin on his hand. "I don't know what to do... its almost like she want to erase us, but like,"

"But you can't really blame her,". Hyuk lifted his head and looked at his friend. "She's a girl and have lived with six men for months, she have common sense and I bet there are times where she need her own space but she couldnt get it, and its not like she's going to live with you guys forever, evantually, people grow and drift aparts"

Hyuk blankly stared at him, before he picked up his hand and knocked on Sungjae's brow. "Who are you, Ravi hyung?"

"Aw!" He shook his head, "What? I'm just stating my opinion, Its not like you have to approve it or anything"

"no, you and Ravi completely right," His eyes shifted from Sungjae to his fries. "I guess I'm just selfish-- Argh!! Now I see why I'm just a kid!".

Sungjae could only watch his friend ruffled his hair in frustration. "No, thats normal, I think when people are in love, they're all just a kid who's having puberty" 

"Again, who are you, Hakyeon hyung?" The frustration turned into a smirk. "Argh.... I don't know... I'm just..., Well I don't know, lets just wait for tomorrow and see what happen"

"What's with tomorrow?"

"We all going to have dinner together outside," Without him realizing it, his voice was rather low and seemed to be unexcited. "Its only been two weeks but Its just weird, you know like--"

"I know, I get it, I'm better at this kind of things than you" Sungjae nodded. "Cause-- wait, why did she run away again?"

"Hm? Haven't I told you?". Sungjae shook his head "Hongbin hyung kissed her," first before he dropped his jaw. "That hyung is really something, you know..."

"But, was it necessary for her to runaway?". 

Hakyeon properly stood himself as he raised his back from leaning on the car. "taekwoon," His eyes were on the guy who just came out of the edifice alone. "Are you okay?"

Leo was looking down to the road, but hakyeon's voice was louder than the usual, "What are you doing in here?"

"Picking you up?" He even opened the door for his friend, "Let's go, I have something that I want to talk about--"

"I'm going to buy a lunch and then go back inside," Hakyeon left the door open when Leo passed by him without sharing any glance. "I'll be late, just eat without me its okay--"

"Again?". Hakyeon closed door with a wham. He went straight to Leo and faced him upfront, "Hey, You've been like this for two weeks and not even bother to tell me a thing? What is wrong with you??". Leo rolled his eyes, but still let Hakyeon to touch his shoulder. "Taekwoon,"

"I can't come tomorrow," That was all he need to make his friend quiet. "Tell Areum that I'm sorry. I got meetings for the whole day"

a few days ago

Hakyeon served the last meal and took off his apron. "It's been awhile since everyone is home for dinner!" To look at the people who were gathered around the table, He was the brightest amongst them. Ken, Hyuk, Ravi, Leo and Hongbin were quieter than ever. The room was fulled of sighs and clucks. "Shall we eat?"

"Sure, I'm hungry" Ken shared the first smile and grabbed his chopstick, "As usual, we should've delivery chicken instead of--"

"Aren't you going to tell them?". Ravi immediately stole everyone's attention. "About Saturday?"

Ken held his hand in the air as he stopped it from grabbing the meat. "Um--"

The oldest looked at everyone at the table "What's with Saturday?".

Ravi threw his gazes towards the other Park, Sanghyuk. "They should at least know about it"

"About what?" Hongbin spoke up, after he became as quiet as Leo.

Hyuk just gulped and fist. "This Saturday, We shall meet up with Areum for a dinner" Aside from those who have known, they were all startled. 

"You-- you met her?!" Hakyeon had his face blank in questions, "When?? How, how is she?? is she okay?? how's kyunggi--"

"They both are okay, I can assure you" Ken helped out when he finally found the courage to speak. "But thats the only thing that we're able to tell you guys. If you want to know more about her then you should ask her"

Ravi sat on the bench and watched over the two people who stood afar from him. "Those two hyungs..." Next to the trees and across the street, He was always there and steady.

"Ravi," And right beside him, there was Eunju who also had her eyes on them. "I have made up my mind, I'm going to clean up this mess"

He turned his head to the right, and settled his gazes on her. "What?"

"But only if you would help me," On her right hand, there was a cup of coffee and she often took a sip of it. "So Please, help me"

He could only stare at her from the outside, sight got separated due to the glass window. Nevertheless, he enjoyed it, as he tried to collect all his nerves to walk inside. Hongbin, make sure that you won't mess up this time. After five minutes of staring in the middle of the night, he decided to walk up to the girl, and the baby in her hand. Just act natural, and be honest.

"Welcome to One Plate Family restaurant, how many table do you need?" Soon as he stepped in, the bell rang and a waiter came to him.

"Ah, no I already have my table, thank you" Hongbin politely declined, and walked towards the figures who sat by the window. "Eh?" The closer he got towards the table, the weirder it became for him. Areum was sitting alone with Kyunggi on her arms, at a table for four. 

A waiter came and gave her a baby chair. With a smile, she gladly received the treatment and placed Kyunggi on the top of it. "Thank you," Hongbin could even hear the voice that he missed a lot. 

He thought that he was the first to come, and he was sorta right, since not long after that, the bell rang again and someone bumped into his shoulder, "Excuse me," and that someone also took a quick glance at him "Noona," before he went to the table that he aimed for.

Areum got up from her chair and welcomed the first person to sit next to her, "Sanghyuk!".

Meanwhile Hongbin was invisible to her, as he only stood five tables away and keep his thoughts for himself. The chair next to Hyuk, and A chair next to Areum were still empty. So it was either he sat next to her, or across her. 

But before he managed to make up his mind, The chair next to her has been filled by someone again, as he didnt even hear the bell rang again. "Ah Leo, you came?" Leo only smiled, then put all of his attention to Kyunggi. From the way he held and look at him, he had missed Kyunggi as much as he missed his sister. 

As if it was a race, Hongbin moved his legs faster until it reached the last empty chair on that table.

 Once he stood himself in front of everyone on the table, "Hey, how are you doing?" he only had an eye to the girl who sat across him, and ignored the other two guys who have started to glare at him. , 'how are you doing?' what kind of question is that!?

"Never been better," One simple answer made everyone lose their tension. "Now let's see, where's the other three?"

"Ya, I bet you haven't been to that place before!" Ken looked at to the window on his left and grunt. "Why did you even insist on driving?!"

"Clearly, the restaurant is on the south, why are we heading north??" Hakyeon who sat next to the driver was confused, "I think, we can turn around on the next intersection and--"

"We're not going to turn around," Ravi sighed, and continue to drive, "Nor we join the dinner. We're going to have our own dinner"