Sort-of Bonding?
Family Feud
Ok. So apparently sneaking out with a complete stranger and getting high with them is a bad thing. Who knew? When our parents arrived.......let's just say, that situation should've got nominated for an Oscar.
Flashback.
Me and Minho stood up awkwardly and slowly walked towards our parents, who beat us with their hasty steps.
"H-Hey, Daddy~," I said as innocently as possible when he and Jonghyun were in front of me.
"Don't you 'Hey, Daddy' me. What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I-"
"You weren't! That's it. You weren't thinking at all! And," he took a step forward before backing away again. "Is that weed? Tae, why do you smell like weed?!"
"You too!" said Sheriff Choi to Minho next to me. "Minho, I'm very disappointed in you. You wouldn't answer your phone, so I had to track it down to this place. Where would you even get weed?! Did he influence you," he pointed to me.
Minho rapidly shook his head. "No, no! In fact, Taemin had nothing to do with this. It was all my-"
"Our fault," I quickly interjected.
"Tae, you've got to be kidding me," said Daddy. "You sneak out with a complete stranger and get high?! Do you not know how dangerous that is?! He could've, no offense Sheriff Choi, been a or something!"
Sheriff Choi said, "Minho, my reputation is on the line! You're the Sheriff's son for peep's sake!" I felt bad for Minho more than myself because he looked so sad. His face was downcast as he looked at the ground.
Daddy snapped me out of my thoughts by grabbing my arm. "Come on, Tae! We're going home. Say goodbye to your friend because this may be your last time seeing him for a long time!"
I rolled my eyes, knowing this was coming. I looked towards Minho and gave a sad smile. He returned the smile and waved as I left.
Flashback end.
Now I'm riding in this silent car, listening to Jonghyun trying to give me a pep talk. Who's he to talk anyway? He has no business putting his nose in this.
"Taemin-ah, you're still young. You're bound to make mistakes, but the mistake you made today was very dangerous and worried Kibum. Do you understand?"
I stayed silent because I really didn't feel like talking.
"Yah," Daddy got my attention. "Don't you hear Jonghyun talking to you?! You should be happy someone is taking this calmly because I'm surely not!"
We pulled up to the house and I was the first one out the car. I tried to hurry and run upstairs, but Daddy caught me by my wrist and led me to the living room.
"Sit," he said pointing to the couch. May the lecture begin. "Taemin, what you did today was really irresponsible and stupid! You barely knew that guy for five minutes, then you run away with him?!"
"Well, what do you expect?" I was fed up with getting yelled at. "You drag me to a party full of old geezers and expect me to enjoy myself. Who would?! Someone my age would not be interested in anything, but the food and free wifi. So, yeah, it was nice to see someone my age there!"
"Then talk to him, Tae! Don't run away with him and get into all sorts of trouble! That makes no ing sense! And you know what? You really owe Jonghyun an apology. You knew how important this day was for him."
I scrunched up my face. "First of all, I never wanted to go! Why would I apologize? I was literally being tortured the whole time. It was so boring!"
Daddy gasped. "Since when did I raise such a disrespectful brat?!"
I scoffed. "When you married him," I pointed to Jonghyun. That seemed to really change the mood since it became silent for some seconds.
Daddy calmed as he continued to talk, which is even scarier than him screaming at me. "You know what? You're grounded for three weeks. No phone, no TV, no computer, no friends. You are to stay home."
My eyes widened and I instantly jumped up off the couch. "What?! No way! I'm supposed to meet with Kai tomorrow!"
"Well you should've thought about that before you decided to disrespect me and Jonghyun."
"But Kai's debuting soon so I need to spend as much time with him as possible! I won't get to see him as much when he leaves." There was a tremble in my voice at the end.
"Again, you should've thought about that-"
"This is so unfair!" A tear rolled down my cheek.
"Yah, don't try to cry now. You weren't crying when you snuck out with Minho, huh? Or when you smoked with him, huh?"
I wiped my face, but more tears came as I thought of Kai. He'll be so mad at me if I don't show up tomorrow. "But, Daddy, you don't understand. I need to see him before he debuts."
"Taemin, you're grounded and that's final! I hope you enjoy your last night with your phone because tomorrow, all of your technology will be confiscated. And also, I'm letting your father know about this."
My eyes widened. "You're telling Dad?! Please don't tell him, Daddy. He'll be so mad at me!"
"I'm not arguing with you anymore, Tae! Now go upstairs to your room."
"But-"
"Not another peep!"
I stumped my way upstairs and into my room.
()
Key Pov
After hearing Taemin's door slam shut, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and sat on the couch. Jonghyun followed putting an arm around my shoulders before kissing my cheek.
"Are you ok?"
I snuggled into him neck. "I will be."
"Don't you think you were being a little harsh on him?" I rolled my eyes because he always does this.
I lifted my head to look at him. "Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"Take up for him, knowing he's wrong?"
"I don't know. I guess I kind of understand his point of view more because I used to be a trouble maker when I was his age."
"I understand that, but why do you continue to take up for him when he disrespects you so much?"
There was silence as he thought. "Well, he's your son, Key. Meaning he's our son. I know he isn't fond of me, but that's understandable because he misses his dad. He feels like I'm the intruder of this family. I mean, he's not always mean to me."
I scoffed. "Of course. When he wants something, he'll be as nice as can be."
"My point is, I like Taemin. He's a smart boy with lots of talents. It's obvious that he takes from his Daddy."
I blushed. "Yah, this is not a time for flattery."
He chuckled. "Anyway, I just want him to be happy. He may not like me now, but I'll keep trying my best."
I pecked his lips. "Well, that's sweet honey. But he's still grounded."
He burst out laughing. "I see where he gets his stubbornness from."
"What can I say? It's a dominant trait." I got up and headed to the house phone to call Jinki. He definitely needs to know what Taemin's been up to.
()
Taemin Pov
I slammed my door and locked it before plopping on my bed. Angry tears ran down my face miserably. If it wasn't for Jonghyun's stupid party, none of this would've ever happened!
As my cries subsided, I noticed my phone buzz, signaling I had a text. I opened it to see it was Minho.
From: FrogDude- I'm grounded :(
I chuckled to myself. Obviously we were both going to be grounded after pulling a stunt like that.
From: LittleRebel- Me too. How long did you get?
From: FrogDude- A month without anything, except my phone.
From: LittleRebel- Lucky! I got three weeks, but I can't have any type of technology. Daddy won't even let me see my friend tomorrow.
From: FrogDude- Damn. Well, at least we had fun.
I smiled to myself.
From: LittleRebel- Yeah, I really did.
From: FrogDude- It's nice talking to you. I got to go now. I hope I get to talk to you in the future. Goodnight
From: LittleRebel- You definitely will whenever I get my phone back. Goodnight.
I decided to call Kai before it got too late.
"Hey, Kai," I answered.
"Hey, Tae. You sound down. What's wrong?"
"Um, well, I'm grounded."
I heard him sigh. "What did you do this time?"
"Oh nothing. Just snuck away from the party with a cute stranger and got high. Nothing major."
"What the hell? Taemin, that is major!"
"Save the talk. It's not like I blew him or something."
"I know, but that's still extreme. Wait. Are you still coming tomorrow?"
I groaned. "About that. I asked Daddy and he said no. I told him about you debuting soon and everything, but he still said no. He really pisses me off sometimes!"
"Really, Tae? I was looking forward to you being here tomorrow."
"Don't worry. I'll try my best to see you before you debut, though I'll be without a phone and computer for awhile. I'll try my best."
"You better."
We hung up after that and I laid down staring at the ceiling. My life's really going to be boring after my technology is gone. What the hell am I supposed to do for three weeks?
My ringtone went off. When I looked at the phone, I saw it was my dad. My heart instantly dropped because I knew exactly why he was calling. Out of all the people I love, Dad is the one person I don't want being disappointed in me.
"Hey, Dad," I answered.
"Taemin, you have no idea how disappointed I am." There goes that word.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry's not enough. Kibum was really worried about you. Do you understand that?"
I sighed. "Yes, Dad."
"And why am I hearing that you're disrespecting Jonghyun? Did I raise a disrespectful son?"
I sniffed as tears began to form. "No."
"Then why do you do it?"
"Because he makes me so angry sometimes. If it wasn't for him, this stupid party would've never happened and I wouldn't be in trouble," I said as I tried to wipe away my tears, failing because they were replaced with new ones.
"Wrong. Taemin, this situation happened because of your bad decisions. Not because of Jonghyun. He didn't make you sneak away and smoke. You did that on your own."
I broke down crying then. "I'm so sorry, Dad. Please don't be mad at me."
I heard him sigh and soften up a little. "My son, please don't cry. You know I don't like it when you cry."
I sniffed. "Sorry."
"Listen, I'm not mad at you. I'm just not so proud of what you did today. You understand that right?"
"Yes," I said as I calmed down some.
"You can keep your phone."
My eyes widened. "Really?!"
"Yeah. I may not be there, but I'm still your father and should have a say-so in your punishment. Plus, how am I going to talk to you if your phone's gone?"
"Good point. Does Daddy know?"
"Yeah I told him, but that's the only thing you can keep. Anything else he said he'll take will be gone."
"Thank you, Dad."
"Since I did something for you, can you do something for me?"
"Like?"
"Stay out of trouble. Kibum deals with a lot and tries his best to provide for you. Please don't add anymore stress to his life. That includes not giving Jonghyun a hard time."
I sighed. "It's not like I try to. But ok."
"Just know that I love you and you can talk to me anytime about anything."
"I love you too, Dad."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
()
The next day I avoided Daddy and Jonghyun as much as possible. That seemed almost impossible since we eat breakfast together mostly every morning. Jonghyun wasn't making it any easier by talking to me.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Mm," I mumbled as I took a bite of my pancake.
Daddy tried to cheer me up. It didn't work. "Did your dad tell you about your phone? You must be pretty excited that you can keep it now."
"Mm," I mumbled again as I picked at my eggs. "I'll be in my room." I got up and headed upstairs.
I was still pissed, of course, but I was more mad at the fact that I couldn't see Kai today. Even after explaining myself, Daddy still told me no. And he likes Kai! So I don't understand why exactly I couldn't go.
As the day went on, I stayed in my room listening to music. That's all I could do, as boring as it was, since my tv and laptop were gone. I guess I should be grateful that I still have my phone. I spent most of my time texting Minho. Surprisingly, he's good company, aside from his lame jokes. I have no idea why he likes calling me little rebel. Whatever floats his boat I guess.
There was a knock on my door before it opened. I was expecting to see Daddy, but it was Jonghyun. I rolled my eyes and turned my back to him.
"What do you want?"
"I came to talk to you."
"If you came to scold me, I've heard enough already."
I felt my bed dip behind me. "I came to talk to you about Kai. I know how much you really wanted to see him today."
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, your daddy is at work right now. So I was thinking about helping you out a little."
That got my attention. I turned around to look at him. "Help me how?"
"I understand that you have limited time with your best friend. So I want to help you see him as much as possible. Or at least let you see him today."
I sat up. "Wait. Is this a trick?"
He chuckled. "No it's not a trick. I'm serious. I'll hide it from Kibum. I we get caught, I'll tell him it's my idea."
"Why exactly are you doing this?"
"Well, I have friends who are idols as well. I know how hectic their schedules can be. You'll regret not spending so much time with them. So what do you say?"
Hmm. Kim Jonghyun wants to do something nice for me? Does this mean that we'll be cool now? Probably not, but I appreciate his effort.
"Fine. I just need to be dropped off at the Sm building."
"Ok. Let's go."
()
"Y'know, I used to be an idol at Sm a long time ago," said Jonghyun during the car ride.
"Pfft! No way."
"I'm being serious. I was a singer, quite popular if I say so myself."
"And now you work in an office?"
He chuckled. "Yeah. That's quite the turn around, but that's not my only job. I still work at Sm as a lyricist and vocal instructor."
I raised a brow. "Really? That's news to me."
"There's much you don't know about me, Taemin. Maybe if you take the time to know me, you'll see I'm not that bad."
I nodded. Of course I knew that, I guess I was just so used to not favoring him, that I don't want to change that. I guess us talking so honestly is a start. "So what else did you used to do?"
"I used to model."
I burst out laughing. "You? A model? Yeah right!"
"Hey, I used to be quite the heart throb in my day. Girls were begging to be with me."
Girls? "So you weren't into guys then?"
"Not really. Well at least I thought I wasn't. That is until I met Key. He was a stylist for a photoshoot I had one day. We were friends for a long time before things went another direction."
This is what I've been waiting for. Maybe I can find out the reason for the divorce! Jonghyun and Daddy had to meet after Daddy and Dad were married. "So you knew about Daddy being married?"
He looked as if he was going to answer, but he shook his head. "I shouldn't be talking about this."
"But like you said earlier, Daddy's not here. You can tell me."
"Nah, it's just not my place to. Either Jinki or Key should tell you that. Anyway, we're here," he said as we pulled up to the front of the building filled with screaming fangirls.
I sighed. "You're no fun. But.....y'know.....thanks," wow that was hard, "for doing this."
Jonghyun smiled. "You're welcome. Text me when you're ready."
"Ok," then I headed out the door. I can't believe we actually had a conversation without me screaming at him. It actually felt......good. We'll see how this goes.
I headed out the car and towards the screaming girls. If I survived the car ride, I can survive this.
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