I decided that playing some video games would be the best pass time until dinner. Over the course of me playing, my brothers made their way home one by one. The eldest took the longest since they live a little ways away. Vernon, Dino, and The8 (quirky nickname he earned when he was 8. Long story short, we discovered his special ability that day) all joined me in front of the TV pressing away at the buttons while mom was in the kitchen across the hall. She happily stirred the pot full of noodles for our spaghetti dinner. Cooking always seemed to cheer her up, but I could still tell she was upset about earlier.

          “Hey, what’s up with mom?” Vernon asked me quietly.

           “I thought I was the only one who noticed she was acting a little weird,” Dino whispered. “And where’s dad?”

    I swallowed hard before making an attempt at directing their attention back to the game.

           “I don’t know. Vernon, you’re doing terrible as Bayonetta. Get good.”

    Insulting his Smash Bros. skills always worked.

    A knock at the door caused my successful plan to fail, however, and once again my brothers’ attention was pulled from the game.

           “I got it boys!” Mom yelled from the kitchen.

    Upon opening the door, Mingyu, Woozi, and Seungkwon were all at the door. I suppose they all rode together.

           “Hey ma! How are you!” Seungkwon said, hugging her tightly.

    She moved to the side to let the three boys in, and my younger brothers stood to greet them.

           “Min-hyung! Woo Woo-hyung! Seung-hyung!”

    God, they all really are clueless. They all really think this is just some random dinner mom and dad put together?

    Mingyu looked at me curiously before finally asking,

            “Hoshi? Aren’t you excited to see us little brother?”

    I gave a short smile, trying to feign excitement for all of my brothers’ sakes.

            “Of course. I just had a long day is all.”

    Suddenly, Seungcheol  came down from the stairway.

            “Yeah right! Mom and Dad checked you out early,”

    He took notice of the other brothers standing in the living room.

            “Ehh the whole gang is almost here! Just gotta wait on the older ones to come down huh?”

    Seungkwon nodded, before a loud bang came from the top floor.

             “Jun?”

             “Jun.”

    Mom yelled at him from the kitchen,

             “Junhui! Quiet in the house!”

    He came rushing down the stairs before replying,

             “Sorry mom, hey guys!”

    He joined the rest of us in the living room and did the same as the previous boys that had came in. Just then, another knock.

             “Jeonghan, Joshua, WonWoo, and DK are always late. They should be called the late subgroup, ha!” Vernon joked.

    I mean I can’t lie, they are always late. This time I opened the door to reveal said group.

             “Little brother! How good to see you, all of you!” said Jeonghan.

    Mom came from the kitchen once more to greet them,

             “Boys, right on time! I was just about to get the table set,”

    She turned towards the staircase,

             “Honey, come down! All the boys are here and dinner is ready!”

    Knowing the drill, I went to the kitchen and grabbed some plates for the table. My mom followed soon after, and caught up with me. She grabbed my shoulder and whispered,

             “Hoshi, not a word. Just let your dad and I do all the talking.”

    I sighed in reply and nodded slowly. Vernon, Jeonghan, and Joshua also helped set the table. After finishing setting the table, we all sat in our usual places when we all got together. Dad's chair at the head of the long dining table, still empty.

             “What’s taking dad so long?” DK asked

    Mom was putting spaghetti on our plates and didn’t skip a beat when she heard this, keeping up her act.

              “He’ll be down in a minute, honey, don’t worry.”

              “Speak of the devil, here he his” Said Seungcheol.

    Sure enough, there he was. Slowly walking down the stairs. He looked like he was in pain, wheezing lightly with every step.

              “H-hey everybo-”

    And suddenly….my dad collapsed right at the foot of the stairs.