Break Down
Take A Chance
"Okay gentlemen, here's the plan.", Taehyun paced slowly with a ruler behind him.
He nodded towards one of the boys and he gave him a rolled up piece of paper. He laid it flat on the ground and they all circled around it. Drawn on it was a bird's eye view of the apartment done with blue crayon.
"Here.", he pointed with the ruler, "is where the treasure is hidden."
The boys grinned, "But, it is guarded by an evil queen!", he said, making them gasp.
"Seungwon kept eye on Countress Hwang, and unfortunately she left the castle early this morning. She was our only way in without injury."
Taehyun pointed to one of the boys and he stood up.
"Queen Suyeon does not respond to cuteness or bribery.", he stated, "We have discovered her only weakness is King Yongguk, the ruler of a nearby kingdom."
He then pointed to another boy and he got to his feet. "We tried calling him, but Suyeon noona found us with her phone and took it away."
"Junghoon!", Seungwon protested, "We're in medieval times! No talk of phones!"
"Oh.", he scratched his head, "My bad."
"Start over.", he said.
"Okay, we tried to send word to King Yongguk but our messenger was shot down by order of Queen Suyeon.", he reworded and looked at them for approval.
They gave him a thumbs up and he grinned before sitting back down. Another stood up with Taehyun and they pointed to the map. "Donguk and I will attack from the east, Seungwon and Jinho from the west, and Junghoon you will be our secret weapon if both parties fail."
Donguk raised his hand, "What is the probability that all three might fail?"
They all looked to Taehyun. "The probability is...there is a high chance we will not succeed." All the boys hung their heads, "But-but!", he stuttered, "Maybe we might..."
"I can smell them from here.", Jinho raised his head and inhaled deeply. They all groaned and sat back down on the floor of the closet. "We have nothing to lose..."
They all stood up, "We'll go down with honor.", they reasoned.
In the kitchen Suyeon was busy pouring more batter into the cupcake liners. She hummed while going back and forth between the stove and sink, having no idea what the boys were planning. "Frosting...", she read the directions from her phone and sighed. "Maybe buying them would've been easier..." She rinsed the mixing blades and reattached them. "Well, too late to back out now." The timer dinged and she put on an oven mit to take them out. She put in the other batch and shut the oven on, resetting the timer.
She heard a creak from the floorboards and her head snapped to the left. There was nothing there and she narrowed her eyes. "Hm.", she shrugged and took out the cupcakes from their already cooled pan and placed them in rows on the counter.
Another creak was heard from the opposite side and she tilted her head. Suyeon peaked her head around the refrigerator and saw nothing. Am I hearing things? She chuckled and opened the pantry, getting out the small bottle of blue food coloring.
When she went back to the counter she noticed the cooling rack was now crooked instead of being lined up with the side of the stove. Her eyes narrowed and she heard another creak. I should be more worried that I'm not hearing anything...She sighed, "Taehyun!", she called out, "What are you guys doing?"
She began walking towards their room and tripped over one of them.
Taehyun jumped out and landed on her, "GO GO GO!", he shouted.
Taehyun jumped out and landed on her, "GO GO GO!", he shouted.
"TAEHYUN!", she growled and tried getting up but Seungwon grabbed both of her hands and put them behind her back.
"WHAT THE HELL!?", she quickly undid the scarf that binded her hands but all the boys pulled out their plastic swords and she was backed against a wall.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me.", she huffed and moved the hair out of her face.
"We have you surrounded, and have killed all of your guards!"
Donguk tossed a pillow case in front of her filled with stuffed animals that had scarfs tied around their necks and their fur was stained with red marker.
"That better be washable.", she glared at them.
"Evil queen, we will spare your life if you give us the treasure!"
Junghoon jabbed at her leg with the plastic toy. "Ow!", she hissed.
"Okay, okay!", she raised her hands, "We can compromise."
Jinho grabbed Taehyun's arm, "We didn't discuss negotiation.", he whispered.
Taehyun looked at his sister and held up his finger, "Hold on, I must speak with my men about this.", he spun around and they all circled around him.
Suyeon leaned in, trying to hear them. "Okay!"
She jumped back and they turned around, "We will hear what you have to say."
"Very well.", she played along, "I will take you all to Seungwon's...village?"
Suyeon looked at them, wondering if she was using the correct lingo. They nodded and she continued, "And I will give you each a piece of the...treasure."
Once again they huddled up. "How do we know you won't betray us?", asked Jinho.
"You have my word.", she bowed her head, holding back her laughter.
They all looked at Taehyun who looked into his sister's eyes, "We accept."
"Can you put your...weapons, down?", she asked.
They slowly slid the swords into their belt loops and took a few steps back. Suyeon chuckled and walked over to the kitchen. She packed all the cupcakes into containers and placed everything into bag.
"Guys!", she yelled, "C'mon, we're leaving!"
She heard the sound of their running feet reach the front door to put on their shoes.
"We're going to stop by the market first so I can tell Ms.Hwang-"
"Ah ah ah!", they shook their fingers at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. What is her title?", she asked.
"She is ranked as Countress, a nice one.", Donguk stuck his tongue out at her.
Suyeon crossed her arms, "Hmph, and how did 'evil queen' fall on my name?"
"I chose it.", Taehyun smiled innocently.
"Of course you did.", she rolled her eyes.
They walked down to let Ms. Hwang know where Taehyun would be that afternoon.
"Good lady.", the boys got on one knee and bowed to her.
The other women in the market laughed. Suyeon hugged her, "I am, escorting these gentlemen and wanted to let you know that they'll be at Seungwon's the rest of the day." She nodded, "Oh well then, I'll be sure to pick him up on my way home. Will you be at work for Kibum's birthday?"
"Mhm, I'll be home later tonight.", she assured.
"Queen Suyeon.", Jinho tugged on her shirt, "We must stop to use the facilities."
"And that's my cue.", she chuckled, "Let's go guys."
Suyeon walked the boys to where Seungwon lived, conveniently down the street from a park. "Your end of the bargain?", they each held out a hand.
She sighed, "Yeah, yeah." Suyeon opened one of the containers and placed a cupcake in each of their hands. "Happy now?"
Each took a bite, only mumbling and nodding in response.
"Okay, Taehyun, Ms. Hwang will pick you up later and I'll see you at home tonight okay?" He nodded and hugged her tightly, "Tell hyung I said happy birthday!"
"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, THIRTY!", Sunhwa turned around and giggled, "Ready or not, here I come!" She ran around the small park looking for her friends. "Aha! Miyoon, you always hide in the same place!", she giggled.
"Not always!", the little girl stuck her tongue out.
She shook her head and they both continued to search for the other kids.
"I think Seungwon is...over...", she turned a corner and saw him squatting behind a bush. "Found you!", Sunhwa squealed.
Seungwon stumbled back and groaned, "You didn't have to scare me!"
She giggled and helped him up. "Two down, four to go."
They searched around and found three easily but Sunhwa knew Taehyun very well but not well enough to know where he was hiding. She checked in every possible placed and was completely stumped. "TAEHYUN! I GIVE UP! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!"
"Sunhwa?" She turned at the mention of her name and smiled.
"Ms. Hwang!", she bolted and hugged the woman tightly. "How are you?"
She chuckled, "I'm just fine. Have you seen Taehyun? Suyeon told me he'd be here."
"I was just looking for him actually. He's the best at hide-n-seek."
"BOO!", Taehyun scared all of them and laughed loudly.
"Where were you?!", Sunhwa nearly yelled.
He scoffed, "Like I'm giving up my hiding spot."
"Come on then, the sun'll be down soon.", Ms. Hwang waved him over.
He said goodbye to his friends and grabbed ahold of her hand as they began to walk down the street. "Have fun?", she asked.
"Mhm.", he smiled, "Although...I should probably tell you that we may have stained Suyeon noona's stuffed animals."
She let out a sigh, "Oh my goodness, why?"
"We were playing in medieval times and we had to kill the guards if we were going to get any treasure."
"Oh Taehyun.", she laughed, "I guess I'll just throw them in the laundry tomorrow."
He smiled up at her, "You were the only way that we would have gotten cupcakes but you left too early and we couldn't get Yongguk hyung to come over."
She just shook her head in amusement when the little boy continued to tell her about his day. "The hall closet might be a bit messed up by the way but don't worry, I'll clean it up before I go to bed and do you think we could stop by Mr. Kim's smoothie shop?"
She gulped, "W-what?", she blinked and rubbed her eyes, letting go of his hand.
"Can we go to the smoothie shop on the way-"
Ms. Hwang couldn't answer, she couldn't find the words to answer with. She stumbled and tried to find her balance. Taehyun tried to help, "Are you okay?"
She looked at him oddly and let out a small cry, her hands covering her face.
"Ms. Hwang?!", Taehyun was now frightened, "Ms. Hwang, what's wrong?!"
She misplaced her foot and fell to the ground. Taehyun began to panic and kneeled next to her, "Ms. Hwang!", he cupped her face. "HELP!", tears began to stream down his face, "HELP!"
"Where is she?!", Suyeon ran into the emergency room with Yongguk and Maslo trailing behind. She gave Ms. Hwang's name to the nurse at the front and she told her a room number. Suyeon didn't even know if she was going in the right direction until Yongguk came and grabbed her arm from behind. "Suyeon you're going the wrong way." She let him lead her back and she finally realized that she had been crying the whole time.
Once in the right hall she saw Yongguk's friends sitting outside the room, with Taehyun sitting in between them. Suyeon ran ahead of them and kneeled in front of her younger brother, hugging him tightly. She kissed his head and with shaking hands lifted up his chin. "What h-happened Taehyun? Are you okay? Wh-en, how-"
"We were walking home.", he sniffed. "Sh...she had just picked me up and...and I was just talking to her." Taehyun cried harder, "She couldn't speak and then she fell." Suyeon didn't want to make him speak about it anymore and just nodded.
"Okay, it's okay. Everything'll be fine.", she sobbed and hugged him again. Yongguk squatted down next to her and patted her back, "Su, you should sit down."
She took Taehyun with her and they sat on the seats across from the others.
Yongguk put his arms around her and whispered in her ear. Suyeon held onto Taehyun and he eventually fell asleep with his head in her lap. No one said anything and Suyeon just stared at the floor. She thought of the first day she had met Ms. Hwang and how much love she had shown her.
"Suyeon.", Yongguk nudged her but she just stayed still. "Babe.", he put his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly. Suyeon blinked and looked at him, "I'm s...sorry, I was-" He kissed her cheek and nodded, "It's okay." Still PM came up to them, handing them each a cup of coffee. She thanked him and looked at the other boys who were sleeping. The time was only eight and she figured that they were only tired because their sleeping schedule, if they could even call it that, was so messed up. She rested her head on Yongguk's shoulder and sighed.
A doctor walked down the hall, slowing his steps when he reached the group. Suyeon stood up immediately and looked at him hopefully. Everyone except Taehyun woke up and waited to hear. He re-read the chart for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was never something one in his line of profession could get used to, giving out bad news. He let out a small sigh and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Suyeon felt her heart tear into two and she shook her head. "No...", she cried, "S...She...nothing? Y...You can't do anything?" He apologized and Yongguk stood up, hugging her tightly. "She suffered a and there was a lot of damage. If we unplug the support then she will-"
Suyeon covered and fell to her knees. Yongguk tried to pick her up but she pushed him away. "But...", Suyeon bawled. "I'm sorry.", the doctor removed his glasses, "We can keep her sustained until you're ready to say your goodbyes.", he offered, "You're free to see her now and...I really am truly sorry." He bowed his head and gave them a sad smile before leaving. Yongguk kneeled next to Suyeon and put his arms around her, "Suyeon...", he spoke softly.
"It's not fair.", she mumbled, "Why her?! And...and why now..."
He let her cry until it was only down to small hiccups. She finally controlled herself and stood up.
"I...I'll just be a minute.", she wiped her eyes, "I can't see her looking like this."
Yongguk gave a small chuckle and nodded. She slowly walked down the hall and made a left turn. He sat down and gently brushed through Taehyun's hair. Yongguk already knew that Suyeon wouldn't even know where to begin telling him. Taehyun, even though he always smiled, still ached from loosing his mother. "How is she going to tell him.", he wondered out loud. CSP put his hand on his shoulder. "You guys saw how Suyeon reacted and...he's just a kid."
Yongguk felt himself tearing up and rose from his seat. "I uh...I'm going to go check up on Suyeon.", he excused himself, "Can you keep an eye on him?" They nodded and he made his way down the hall. He looked up and saw the sign that showed an arrow pointing to the right that read 'bathroom'. As he was about to turn he stopped and looked at the sign again. Suyeon went the other direction and he looked down that side of hallway. There was nothing but a door at the very end labeled 'EXIT'.
I wish all of you a very very very very~~~ Happy New Year (and belated Merry Christmas x___x)
Hope it was as good for you all as it was for me<3
Thank you for reading and subscribing even though i take foreverrr to update.
Love you guys~
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