When I went back home, my room had been re- arranged by my Mom.  The bed was moved to the other side of the wall, and my desk and closet faced opposite. My room still looked the same, the familiar hues of baby blue and grey color scheme had not changed for years. Except mom put new sheets and blankets, along with new curtains and a carpet. It had been a long time since I came back home, partly because I was really enjoying spending time with my friends at University. 

Mom had prepared so much food on the first day I was back, even Dad had a hard time finishing our leftovers. This resulted in microwaving cold dinners for breakfast the following day. 

They always stock on so much food whenever I came back, but this time Mom had maybe gone a little overboard. Dad joked that he had to stop Mom from buying everything at the grocery by stealing her cart and bolting to the check out. They bickered lightly over this. But Dad surrendered to Mom in a snap, dropping the teasing immediately. He would always let her get her way. Seeing my parents happy and still so in love with each other always put a smile on my face. Sometimes they would get too cheesy and lovey dovey for my liking. Mom stressed that, one day, I would be exactly like this to my future partner. Which was only to toy with my Dad, because he would always frown and turn serious when the topic arises.

I easily shifted to my old routine when break comes along. I had most mornings to myself, as Dad had work and Mom had to run some errands outside. To start off, I would make and eat breakfast, do some cleaning, then take a shower. In the afternoon, I have to do the dishes after eating with Mom, do some studying, take a nap, and do one hobby that would occupy me for a couple of hours. At night, we have dinner together as a family. The highlight of my uneventful day was usually our group chat.

Baeked Beans: soo’s still not back from work and i am bored

~YoungHa~: Our Jinju could use a playmate, care to babysit? (:3)

PCYoww: Dude, I’ve been beggin u to play Mario kart w me. Come out, let’s order chicken too.

Baeked Beans: your dog can manage Hayoung.

Baeked Beans: pass, not in the gaming mood.

PCYoww: Bro, that’s cold.

ChenChen: Commander in Chief’s kettle don’t heat up the way ours does. Waiting for the water to boil is so tea-dious. I need my chamomile ;(

~YoungHa~: Warm milk is better.

Baeked Beans: i need company, not competition.

Yuna, not Yoona: Commander in Chief?

ChenChen: Milk is for cereal.

ChenChen: My mom <3

Baked Beans: chen’s mommy

PCYoww: U admit I’m competition?

Baeked Beans: i admit I pity your lack of skills.

PCYoww: Do u know why chamomile’s the best for sleeping? Coz it calm-omiles u.

Yuna, not Yoona: No more puns pls. ^that’s not even remotely funny.

Yuna, not Yoona: MILK IS FOR EVERYTHING.

ChenChen: But my puns have quali-tea.

Baeked Beans: at least make it good.

Baeked Beans: starting to crave that chicken, fine imma order. be right back.

Yuna, not Yoona: Wait everyone’s still awake?

PCYoww: I’m down for a bucket of fries too dude.

ChenChen: I’d make a pun about the wind, but it might blow… (mic drop)

~YoungHa~: Didn’t know the wind was as dry as your humor. Yuna, you started a pun war between Chen and himself.

Rin: Hey guys. Yeah, I’m still awake.

ChenChen: Sorry, you might be pun-familiar with my sense of humor.

PCYoww: Maybe u should try a different pun-ctuation.

Yuna, not Yoona: oh god Chanyeol, not you too.

ChenChen: Hi, sweetheart!!! Didn’t know you’re still up.

~YoungHa~: Rin, the boys are all horrible. I visit once, and they act like I’m a leech. I need my girls back TT TT

Aerin: Well the notifs kept me up, like always.

DO KYUNGSOO: Everyone better be sleeping when I get home. If I clock in late to work one more time because of that stupid guitar I’ll charge you my salary. 

ChenChen: Sorry, I blame Chanyeol.

PCYoww: Easy momma bear. I won’t use the amp again, deadass.

Yuna, not Yoona: I blame Chanyeol (2)

DO KYUNGSOO: and… I blame Chanyeol (3)

Aerin: It’s just a month Hayoung.

ChenChen: Sweetheart, my roomates are all bat crazy. Helpppp me!

PCYoww: Why do my friends all hate me?

Baeked Bean: woh you calling sweetheart? What i missed?

~YoungHa~: brb, Baek. Back read Bish uUwUu

ChenChen: @PCYoww is that rhetorical or can we answer that?

PCYoww: I’m craving chicken wings sooo bad

Yuna, not Yoona: woh? Baek?

ChenChen: And also, why was momma bear upset over her cubs being messy?

ChenChen: Because she didn’t raise no bar-bear-ians LOL.

PCYoww: Wooohh~ Woo ooh Woo ohh oh 2ne1~

~YoungHa~: woh you calling sweetheart? - Byun Baekhyun (2)

ChenChen: Nobody even noticed my pun ;(

Baeked Beans: you’re all so chaotic.

~YoungHa~: Chen’s 80% responsible for that.

PCYoww: Ur mom’s chaotic… when she had to raise you.

PCYoww: woh you calling sweetheart? - Byun Baekhyun (3)

ChenChen: No “ur momma” jokes, my mom is too good for that. 

Baked Beans: u insulting me or Lord Farquaad?

ChenChen: Dad jokes on the other hand, are the pun-nacle of humor.

I leave my phone on the bed to wash my face and brush my teeth to get ready for bed and I am left with 67 unread messages, all sent within five minutes. Too lazy to scroll back and read the topic of conversation, I announce my presence instead to notify my early sign off from the chat.

Rin: I’m going to sleep. Goodnight everybody :)

PCYoww: Yeah, fr that seems possible. Let’s try that, I have ideas…

ChenChen: If I get another green backdrop maybe I can edit that in.

~YoungHa~: How about face swapping my dog with Yeol’s? That’ll look hilarious live.

Yuna, not Yoona: Good night Rin, I’m hitting the hay too.

Baked Beans: goodnight :)

~YoungHa~: same… Good night my weirdos *flying kisses to everyone*

ChenChen: Good night girlies!

PCYoww: night ya’ll. (but not really)

Regardless whether I was at school or at home, my body clock being a complete mess will never change. The first three days, I had managed to keep an 11pm-9am sleep schedule. But that didn’t last long, not when a group chat filled with people who had the same sleeping problem exists. Aside from Chanyeol’s hourly updates, and Chen’s rants about any minor inconvenience he faced back at home since he’s staying there for a week, the notifications were not as bad as before. It’s unusually quiet today, with Chanyeol and Hayoung out on a date respectively, Kyungsoo was still at work, and Chen out with his family.

The last message from the group chat was at 6:35PM from Chanyeol.

PCYowww: Out fo’ dinner with m’lady, chat me when Chen screws up or sumthing else interesting happens.