Dinner is a struggle, to say the least. Baekhyun doesn’t feel like making his life even more complicated than it already is, so he decides to make pasta. A foolproof meal, or so he thinks, but he is sorely mistaken. It’s one thing to make pasta in the privacy of his own kitchen, but between Daehwi’s numerous (excitable) intrusions and Yoojung’s bursting in to apologize periodically, he can barely concentrate.

Baekhyun ends up finishing the pasta well past 8 o’clock, sweating profusely and feeling as if he just ran a marathon. That’s right. What should have taken fifteen minutes took him more than two hours. He considers just letting them order takeout from now on, but seeing as how they’ve been doing it for months, it would literally be a crime to let them continue.

Setting the table is faster but no less irritating. He asks Daehwi to set forks for everyone, but the poor boy has butterfingers, dropping and bumping into everything.

Fortunately, nothing breaks, and Baekhyun heaves (for the millionth time) a large sigh, but this time in relief.

Once everyone’s settled in their seats, Changkyun motions for quiet. “Baekhyun,” he asks, “do you say grace?”

Startled, Baekhyun looks up from his spaghetti, swallowing his saliva. “Um, not really?” he offers. “I’d be fine if you all do, though.”

Lisa laughs and picks up her fork. “We don’t, which makes it easier on all of us, huh?”

For a good long while, the only noises in the room are those of eating, and Baekhyun feels like he’s in Heaven. Granted, he’s not a quiet person, but these kids are definitely something. If Baekhyun makes the noise of a steamroller, these kids are a whole damn construction site.

Of course, it doesn’t last, and Baekhyun probably should have realized that when Changkyun hits his (sauce-covered) fork against the glass and stands up.

“Everyone,” he announces, spreading his arms out like some god-given dictator. “In precisely two weeks, we will be going to Disneyland. I realize we all know about this, but I am saying this for Baekhyun’s sake, so he won’t be confused when we mention it.”

Baekhyun’s in the middle of biting his spaghetti in half and nearly laughs out loud. “Isn’t Anaheim, like, half an hour away?”

“Pirates!” Celia insists through a mouthful of food. “Pirates! Plus we’ve already made the reservations.”

“Reservations?” Baekhyun chokes, coughing up red sauce. Yerim screams, mistaking it for blood.

Sana nods, handing Baekhyun a napkin. “We’ll be there for the entire break,” she says, “and don’t worry, we won’t have single rooms, so you can squeeze in with the boys.”

Baekhyun wishes they had single rooms. Instead, he asks, “How many rooms, then? And which hotel?”

“Grand Californian Hotel and Spa,” Yerim answers. “We’re renting the three-bedroom suite.”

Changkyun sits down. “That is all,” he declares. “My good people, please continue eating.”

Baekhyun’s hands tremble. As a fairly large Disney fan, he’s searched up on-property hotels before… and the Grand Californian is no joke, with hotels rooms starting at around $300. The suites… a three-bedroom suite… the price must be in the thousands!

Lisa clears , downing her glass of water. “Should we start packing tonight?”

“YEAH!” Daehwi and Jungkook scream, leaping out of their chairs. Sana’s hands shoot out and grab them by the backs of their shirts.

“Finish your food first,” she says, mother-like. “We can’t have you starving late into the night.”

***

“I just unpacked,” Baekhyun sighs, looking over his mess of a room. He runs a hand through his hair and starts looking for his backpack. “I know I didn’t throw it out yet…”

In the meantime, Changkyun and Jungkook are helping Daehwi make his clothing decisions.

“I don’t want to bring that shirt, though.” Daehwi looks at his Captain America shirt with disdain. “Why don’t you wear it, Jungkook?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “It’s just a little bit too small on me. I bought it for you, anyway.” he throws the shirt into Daehwi’s purple suitcase, and Changkyun adds a pair of cargo shorts.

“Don’t forget your swimsuit,” he reminds, plopping down on the bed. “I’m going to pack my own now.”

Back on the first floor, the girls are screaming in the communal closet. Baekhyun closes his eyes with yet another sigh, but he elects to ignore them in the hopes that they are not, in fact, dying.

The truth is, they’re not. They are, however, arguing over which clothes to take.

“Here’s the thing,” Lisa says, spreading out a rainbow of shirts. “There are five of us, and if we’re going to share clothes for a week, we need to pack things that everyone likes, and the problem is, we all like different things.”

Yoojung breaks into the conversation with a stack of skirts. “So how about we just pack what we want to wear?” she asks. “It’s the easiest way.”

“There’s no fun in that, though,” Yerim pouts, sitting down in one of the spinny chairs. “We’re supposed to be a family, and families share clothes!”

Sana rolls her eyes and throws a couple of dresses into Celia’s arms. “How about this?” she offers. “We’ll share our dresses and skirts, but everyone brings their own shorts and shirts.”

“And underwear,” Celia adds unhelpfully. “And bras. And stuff.”

“Wait, what about makeup?” Lisa suddenly asks, looking around at the multitude of products on their counters. “No offense, but I don’t want to share with…”

“Bring your palette,” Yoojung says. “We’ll all bring our typical pouches, minus the eyeshadow, plus a lot of sunscreen.”

Everyone takes the idea well, and they head back upstairs to pack separately.

And Baekhyun?

He’s already asleep.

(He wakes up the next morning with a crick in his neck from slumping against the bed.)

***

“Misses Fang and Choi, and Mister Lee...” The teacher looks at them disapprovingly. “A man called Mr. Byun, alleging to be your housekeeper, has come to take you out of school for a…” She looks at the note in her hand. “Group dentist appointment.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Celia says brightly, shouldering her bag. “It makes it easier so he doesn’t have to pick us up and drop us off at completely different times.”

“Bye, es,” Yerim mutters under her breath. “Glad to leave.”

Daehwi hits her lightly as they leave the room. “Watch your language!” he warns. “What if she’d overheard? Then we’d be stuck in detention.”

“I don’t care!” Yerim spread out her arms and waltzes down the tiled hall. “es gonna ~”

“MISS CHOI!”

Speak of the devil. Celia groans out loud as the most annoying (and strict) hall monitor marches towards them, a storm brewing on her face.

“.” Daehwi turns tail and runs. “GUYS, RUN FOR IT!” he screams, and Celia and Yerim don’t even hesitate to follow him. They dash down the hall, shrieking, and every single door opens to witness their heroic escape from the Dreaded Hall Monitor.

“GO, LEE!” a kid called Park Jihoon yells from inside his classroom. “DON’T LET HER CATCH YOU!”

“TRYING!” Daehwi shouts back, rounding the corner. Hot on his heels, Yerim trips over his shoe, and Celia crashes into her, causing the three to end up, bruised, on the cold tile floor, a seething hall monitor looming over them.

***

“And you, Mister Park, can join them!”

The door slams behind Jihoon, and Daehwi stands up to greet his friend. “Thanks for sticking up for us, mate,” he says, exchanging a bro hug. In the meantime, Celia is pleading with the teacher to ‘please let us out, we have somewhere to be!’

“Sorry,” he says apathetically, eyes trained on his newspaper. “I can’t do that. You can always reschedule.”

“No, we can’t!”

Yerim rolls her eyes and pulls her friend away, hissing in her ear, “We need him to sleep or something so we can sneak out.”

Celia immediately nods, whispering back, “But how?”

Jihoon, having come to the same conclusion at the same time, smirks. In a flash, he’s on the ground, clutching his head and groaning in agony.

“Buck up, Mister Park,” the teacher says boredly, turning the page. “It’s not like-- !”

Jihoon collapses to the floor with a loud thud, and the teacher throws down his newspaper.

“UH, UM, I-I’M GOING FOR THE NURSE!” he screams, throwing open the door. “DON’T LET HIM GO ANYWHERE!”

As soon as his footsteps fade away, Jihoon scrambles up and pushes his shocked friends towards the door. “Hurry!” he urges. “He’ll be back soon!”

“What about you?” Daehwi asks worriedly. “He’ll have your head!”

“Psh, he can’t do anything against me.” Jihoon shoves them out the door. “Just go, and have fun for me!”

With a last glance back at Jihoon, they run, madly dashing for the main entrance. Just as they almost turn the corner, Yerim grabs her friends and throws them towards a side hallway.

“I heard footsteps,” she puffs between breaths. Celia almost loses her grip on her bag, and a few books fall out.

“My notes!” she huffs, but continues running. “Baekhyun better be there when we get out!”

Speaking of Baekhyun, he’s currently in a very heated argument with the secretary.

“What do you mean ‘they’re not available’?” he hisses, leaning in very close. “They have an appointment to keep, and we are very nearly late!”

The poor secretary backs away and holds up her hands. “I am very sorry, Mr. Byun,” she says tiredly. “I am told that they cannot miss class today.”

“What-” Baekhyun is about to argue more, but his phone buzzes. “Excuse me.”

He picks up. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re here!” Lisa screams. “Come back, they’ve escaped!”

Baekhyun thanks the lord that they’ve… escaped whatever situation they were in and hangs up in a snap. “Well,” he struggles to say calmly. “I might just… leave now.”

He bursts out of the office and out the front doors, fairly running to the parked minivan in the front. He throws himself into the car to see the fugitives already sitting in the car. He shakes his head and pulls out of the school grounds without even asking. It’s not until ten minutes later, stopped at a red light, that he finally cranes his neck backwards.

“What. The actual. . Were you doing.”

“Well, you see,” Daehwi explains through giggles, “they got in detention for being too excited, and then our friend Jihoon helped us get out!”

Baekhyun isn’t even surprised anymore. He just sighs and turns back towards the road. Lisa, Sana, Yoojung, and Celia are being rowdy in the back, scream-laughing about something, with Daehwi turned around in his seat in the second row to talk to them. Beside him, Jungkook and Yerim play on their phones, and next to Baekhyun, Changkyun just screws around with the radio every once in a while, turning the music to something he more prefers.

The kids burst out of the car right as it parks. Sana goes to check in at the lobby, and the bellhop helps Baekhyun lug their stuff upstairs. Yoojung flops onto the bed, while the others scream and run around, opening all of the doors and pulling out all of the drawers. It isn’t until ten minutes later, with everyone gathered in the living room on their phones, that the question pops up:

“Who’s rooming with who?” Lisa asks suddenly, putting her phone away. “Should we do a random draw?”

“Nice idea!” Daehwi yells, running to his suitcase. “I brought a hat!”

“Someone get some paper,” Sana yells, grabbing the nearest hotel pen. “I’ll write the names!”

“Okay, but no one can change their roommates, okay?” Changkyun says. “What’s done is done, and plus, it’s only a week, so just put up with it.”

Before long, the rooms are set. In the first room are Daehwi, Changkyun, and Celia. The second room goes to Yoojung, Yerim, and Jungkook, which leaves the third room to Sana, Lisa, and Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s entire being collapses. He thought he’d get to room with the guys… what is he going to do with two girls?

Hopefully not much, but, well…

On the other hand, Changkyun and Celia look like they regret their lives as well. Daehwi, though, hooks an arm around each of them and laughs openly.

“We’re going to have so much fun!” he exclaims excitedly. “Right, guys? Right?”

Celia pats his shoulder. “Sure,” she says uncertainly. “Definitely.”

“Alright, then!” Sana says cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Lisa. “Should we go?”

Baekhyun casts a glance around (Jungkook seems just as awkward as he feels, and Changkyun’s entire face looks like he wants to die), and slowly walks into the room.

“We’re already sharing a bed,” Lisa informs him, setting out her makeup. “We’ve spared you the awkwardness.”

Baekhyun still thinks it’s pretty awkward, and he manages a (hopefully not) awkward smile. “Thanks.”

In the other room, Jungkook silently pulls out his clothes. Yerim and Yoojung begin to set up the bathroom, and Yerim calls out, “Hey, Jungkook, you know you can talk, right?”

“Oh, uh.” Jungkook sprints out of the room. “I-I’m going to look at the minifridge.”

The door closes, and Yoojung gives Yerim a look. “You blew it,” she says, but Yerim turns to her, confused.

“Blew what?” she asks. “There was nothing to blow.”

Yoojung only chuckles and pats her head. “It’s okay,” she says anyway. “You’ll get it someday.”

In the neighboring room, Daehwi’s chatter fills up the awkward silence in the room. Celia looks up from laying out her clothes and accidentally makes eye contact with Changkyun. A sticky, awkward moment ensues, and neither knows what to do. Finally, Changkyun looks away and continues unpacking.


Daehwi stops in the middle of admiring the view to go to the bathroom, and a heavy silence falls over the room. Changkyun clears his throat.

“If he’s going to be this loud forever, I’m kicking him out.”

Celia chuckles but quickly leaves the room. “Yerim,” she calls. She doesn’t get an answer, but Sana hears her.

“What’s wrong?” she asks kindly, pulling her over. “Is it something you can tell me?”

“I was just bored,” Celia admits. “I want to explore the hotel.”

“I’ll come with you!” Sana says, standing up. “Come on!”

She tells Lisa about their plans, and Lisa joins in. “Yoojung,” she calls, “wanna come?”

She doesn’t, but Yerim joins in. They announce to the world that they’re going to ‘explore this adventurous place’, but no one else wants to come (Daehwi’s still in the bathroom, or else he’d have tagged along).

As soon as they close the door, they bump into a woman walking a corgi.

“Awwww!” Yerim gets down on her knees to pet the dog, and everyone else follows. The woman laughs.

“Do you have pets of your own?” she asks. “His name is Goldilocks.”

Lisa nearly bursts out laughing, but she contains herself and says, “We do, but our parents are taking care of them for us while we’re on vacation.”

“Ah, that’s nice!” Unfortunately, the woman has to go, and the kids unwillingly part from Goldilocks.

“Let’s go down the stairs,” Sana suggests. “More to see that way.”

Everyone agrees, but before they can even move one step, Yerim falls to the ground. Sana rushes to her side, screaming, “ARE YOU OKAY?”

Lisa rolls her eyes at Sana’s mother-instinct. “She literally just tripped,” she drawls boredly. “You don’t have to be all mum on us.” But Sana continues rubbing Yerim’s knee, blowing on it gently. “Oh, for god’s sake.” Lisa grabs Celia and hauls her away. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, we haven’t explored the entire hotel yet!” Celia complains as Lisa drags her back towards the room. “Lisaaaaa!”

“Nuh-uh,” Lisa responds firmly. “Did you even see those two? We’re going back to rest and relax and hopefully not deal with their anymore.”