“Batch number two coming up.” Jinyoung announced opening the oven door to a wall of sappy sweet scent.

 

He folded up a dish cloth using it the absence of oven mitts that truth be told he’d never bought to grab the baking tray and placed it on top of the stove setting the timer for two minutes while they cooled then over to the little cake pan he’d filled with the last few cookies that couldn’t fit in the other two batches.

 

Jackson and Mark were still at taekwondo while Yugyeom and Bambam were completely absorbed in an episode of teenage mutant ninja turtles leaving Youngjae as his only companion to help decorate the cookies for Yoongi’s graduation party.

 

Jinyoung had planned on getting something store bought if Jaebum wasn’t around to make something decent but it was just one of those Sundays when he had too much energy to sleep the day away but not enough to get around to anything productive.

 

The day before was spent practically dragging Jackson around the mall to see if there was a way to get all the bleach out of his hair without cutting it and failing miserably then tux shopping then around town to check on wedding plans until his feet were sore from the awful combination of driving and walking.

 

Youngjae was at the table leaning in so close to a heart shaped sugar cookie that his nose was dotted in just the smallest amount of green icing. He held a yellow tube of icing tightly in his too small hands squeezing out just enough to make a little pinprick then over to the other side to repeat the process and a short curved line at the bottom. When he deemed the creation finished he nodded to himself dropping it on one of the many plates already filled with smiley faced treats.

 

“Why don’t we try something different.” Jinyoung suggested grabbing a blue tube and a star shaped cookie.

 

Youngjae shrugged, “Don’t know how.”

 

“Come here.” He reached over, easily scooping Youngjae up to settle in his lap. “Let’s see if we can write your name, does that sound fun?”

 

Youngjae nodded eagerly and Jinyoung took a moment to dip in for a kiss to his icing spotted nose smiling before he placed the tube carefully in Youngjae’s hand wrapping his own protectively around it.

 

“Now put just a little bit of pressure on it for me.”

 

Youngjae did as he was told and Jinyoung made a circular motion with their hands, “Very good Youngjae.”

 

They made another small circle then a backwards looking ‘f’ shape. Youngjae looked up quizzically, though before he had time to ask the question clear on his face Jinyoung was already answering, “It’s hangul.”

 

“Hang gool?” the word stumbled off his lips and Youngjae scrunched his nose up in confusion, “What’s that?”

 

Jinyoung reached for a red tube at the same time he gingerly took the blue one from Youngjae’s hands, “It’s how people write in Korea.”

 

Youngjae nodded seeming to understand.

 

They finished the next character much quicker with it looking similar to an elongated ‘H’ and Jinyoung had to give himself an imaginary pat in the back for remembering the writing style he hadn’t used since elementary school.

 

He moved the cookie over to one of the drying plates and Youngjae grabbed for another blank one, though before he could start decorating the timer went off and Jinyoung had to get the semi cooled cookies off the baking sheet before they got stuck. He attempted to stand but Youngjae only clung tighter to him and Jinyoung did little to hide his smile while he shifted the boy on to his hip and used the spatula to scrape the sheet clean one handed.

 

“Are they done yet?” Yugyeom said having been drawn in by the smell. He peered over Jinyoung’s arm with wide eyes.

 

After his first feverish night he’d recovered quickly, the only trace of his cold being a sniffle here and a cough there. One of the downsides however, to sleeping all day was he hadn’t slept a wink since and if he wasn’t glued to the tv he was glued to Jinyoung.

 

“Only people who help decorate get to eat. Isn’t that right Youngjae?”

 

He shook his head “Gyeomie special.” Youngjae leaned down to take a cookie from the plate then handed it to Yugyeom who made sounds of happiness as he took a large bite.

 

Youngjae wiggled to be let down and Jinyoung set him on the floor watching as he lead Yugyeom to the table where he got a napkin for him to eat over.

 

“Thank you.” Yugyeom said gratefully. He smiled around a mouthful of cookie and Youngjae gave him a small pat on the head.

 

Jinyoung knew he was smiling like an idiot watching the two of them. He’d almost forgotten with how small Youngjae was that Yugyeom was still his little brother and as such he’d probably be getting babied for the rest of his life by one sibling or another.

 

“Can we make Gyeomie hang gool too?” Youngjae asked his fingers already wrapped around another cookie.

 

“In a minute Sunshine.”

 

Jinyoung peaked over the couch to see Bambam sprawled out over the cushions looking more bored than Jinyoung thought humanly possible. He threw one last glance at the pair in the kitchen to see Youngjae had taken to showing off his collection of smiley faced cookies then went to check on his baby in denial.

 

“Well don’t you look excited.” Jinyoung commented, moving one of Bambam’s ever growing legs to the side so he could sit.

 

Bambam spared him a glance, “Can we do something fun today?”

 

“What’s wrong with baking?”

 

“You only like it when Youngjae helps you.” He said with a pout.

 

Jinyoung shook his head, “Or maybe you always critique my decorating skills when I let you help.”

 

Bambam opened his mouth to protest but Jinyoung simply waited for his defense, smiling when none came. “How about when Jb gets back we can go shopping?”

 

“Clothes shopping?”

 

Jinyoung almost burst out laughing at how quickly Bambam’s furrowed brows and crinkled nose turned into wide eyes and an open mouth.

 

“Among other things-“ was all he could get out before Bambam was throwing himself in his lap, wrapping his thin arms as tightly as he could around Jinyoung’s middle.

 

“You’re the best dad ever.”

 

Jinyoung smiled down at him once again whispering so low he was sure Bambam hadn’t heard, “You’ll have two of those soon.”

---

 

 

Jinyoung rested his chin on his palm supported by the shopping cart he’d pushed along for that exact purpose. He took Bambam shopping just as he said but the second they passed a Gymboree Bambam was yanking on his sweater to go inside. Rather than arguing Jinyoung simply followed behind him, looking at the price tags of the shirts Bambam haphazardly threw in the cart.

 

Around the twentieth minute Jinyoung semi regretted his decision but the look of pure joy on Bambam’s face when he found something he claimed was absolutely essential to his wardrobe was enough for him to nod and give a thumbs up when the kid added yet another item of clothing to the growing stack.

 

He’d left Jaebum to deal with the rest of the kids and finish cookie decorating and cleaning the house and making dinner maybe even getting them all ready for bed if he felt mean enough. Jinyoung didn’t think it was punishment enough for his alcohol abuse but it would have to do.

 

For now anyway.

 

“That’s a little too big for you don’t you think?” Jinyoung asked when Bambam dropped a sixty dollar sweatshirt in the basket that he was certainly not buying.

 

“It’s for Mark.” Bambam said thumbing through a section of equally over sized pairs of pants.

 

“Why are we picking out clothes for Mark?” It wasn’t that Jinyoung was against buying clothes for the preteen he just didn’t think he had the energy to handle shopping for two. Besides the fact that he was still grounded and Jaebum likely considered new clothes off limits for the time being.

 

Bambam just shrugged but before he got far Jinyoung had grabbed him around the waist, “You have ten seconds to explain before I start tickling.”

 

Bambam looked up at him with pinched brows, “It’s just cause.”

 

Jinyoung crooked his fingers underneath Bambam’s spindly arms, poised for a merciless attack, “Is that your final answer.”

 

Bambam shook his head.

 

“Why are we picking out clothes for Mark?”

 

He mumbled something inaudible and Jinyoung ran spider fingers under his arms leaving Bambam to press his lips together to hold back a laugh. “What was that?”

 

“It was raining and he didn’t leave.”

 

Jinyoung felt his hands going slack.

 

“I asked him not to.” Bambam took the opportunity to free himself from Jinyoung’s hold. “But he was still mean to Jackson so I didn’t say thank you.” He picked at the hem of his shirt looking down at his shoes.

 

Jinyoung had been so wrapped up with dinner that night he’d completely forgotten to check on the kids when it started drizzling. Jackson was usually fine if the rain was light enough, but Bambam was always on edge when there was even the slightest bit of moisture in the air. Sometimes having full on panic attacks when it was foggy outside.

 

It was like stepping into a time machine and just like before there the kids were cleaning up the mess Jinyoung made.

 

“You said we have to say thank you when someone does something nice for us.” Bambam continued. “But I don’t want to say it.”

 

Jinyoung picked up the sweatshirt, feeling the material in his hands. It wasn’t high enough quality for him to fork over sixty bucks but it was soft and probably wouldn’t shrink too much in the dryer. “You think he’ll like it?”

 

“It’s polyester, all he wears is polyester.”

 

“Well…” Jinyoung nodded, “polyester it is.”

  

>>>

 

Jaebum could honestly say he hadn’t slept a full night since he was a kid.

 

If it wasn’t Jinyoung knocking on his window it was screaming babies or police lights flashing around his bedroom.

 

Now however, it’s Jinyoung’s cold toes and a bad habit.

 

 Instead of lying in bed wishing the noise away like he used to or waiting for the three knock combo Jinyoung had claimed as his ‘we need to talk signal’ he wrote.

 

It used to be songs but after he gave up on the whole becoming a singer dream he wrote the little dialogues he had with himself and those kept growing until he had full on stories and so on and so forth leaving him at the kitchen table at god knows what o’clock in the morning working on a play he planned on pitching as soon as they finished up with the melodrama they were pushing this season, he was so focused on his work the coffee Jinyoung had graciously left in the microwave for him had gone cold and his eyes were starting to burn from being trained on the computer screen.

 

What he did notice though were the timid footsteps on the staircase, they were too light to be Jackson’s and too quick to be Jinyoung leaving Mark as the only logical conclusion and when the preteen poked his head around the corner Jaebum had to hold back his smile.

 

He looked over the rim of his glasses at Mark’s lanky form. Sure he was getting a little taller and his voice had started to lower but he was still just a kid searching the floor and shifting from foot to foot, still unsure of himself and shy.

 

“Come on over kid.” He pulled out the chair next him and Mark quickly went to sit beside him, leaning his head against his dad. He was too short to get it onto Jaebum’s shoulder but it was a far cry from where he used to be able to curl up in his lap.

 

“Ready to talk?” Jaebum asked.

 

Mark shook his head and Jaebum couldn’t say he was surprised.

 

He went back to typing out the last of the scene he had envisioned, the group of friends had gathered to play a prank on one of the younger members and Jaebum was just about finished with it save for one character that he couldn’t seem to figure out what they should say so he simply elected to have them smile and laugh.

 

It was when he heard Mark’s breathing start to pick up that he decided to call it quits for the night.

 

“Alright, how about you listen then?”

 

He nodded and Jaebum bought him closer and gave his shoulders a squeeze.

 

“I thought I’d tell you how proud I was that you helped get the little ones to bed.”

 

Mark had essentially been blocking him out all weekend since he was grounded until ‘he could figure out how to use his words’ as Jaebum put it or until Jaebum could figure out how to apologize for his mistakes that made Mark feel like he had to lash out while at the same time letting him know there was no excuse for letting his anger take over.

 

Mark’s avoidance had gotten so bad he hadn’t seen him at all Friday and much of Saturday morning mostly due to the fact that he couldn’t handle hangovers nearly as well as he could back in his college days and Jinyoung proclaimed his job ended when Jaebum didn’t wake up in a pool of his own vomit.

 

Saturday night had been nothing but work and wedding stuff leaving Jaebum feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t had more than a few minutes to talk to the kids. If it wasn’t for Jinyoung rushing out with Bambam after giving him a quick kiss Jaebum was pretty sure he’d have gone straight to bed when he got back last night.

 

He had been kicking himself when it came to Mark in particular since their last interaction was sitting on the couch folding up laundry and watching ESPN before he had to go sort out a problem at the bakery. 

 

“You’re doing a really good job with your brothers, I mean you always have but…I’m very thankful for you.”

 

Mark looked up at him like he was just becoming aware of the fact.

 

Jaebum tried to make it a point to tell all the boys how much he appreciated them and all they did, of course he still wasn’t happy with Mark for getting physical but he was a kid after all and knowing him, he probably felt worse than he was letting on especially with Jackson going out of his way to avoid him as well which Jaebum couldn’t blame Jackson for either. They just had to work it out on their own to some degree.

 

“I was thinking, after everything that’s been going on this week you might want to talk to somebody...”

 

“No.” Mark said quickly.

 

Jaebum let out a long sigh, ”Why are you so against the idea, you don’t even know what I was going to say?”

 

“You said all I had to do was listen.”

 

“For now yes but just think about it okay? Can you do that for me.” He felt Mark nod into his side and breathe in just a little deeper. “Thank you.”

 

Jaebum mumbled here and there about how the play was going and that Jin had really missed seeing Mark come by after school, that Jackson was monopolizing all the attention but he could tell his listener had drifted off to sleep long before he got to the part about Namjoon saying there was always a three p.m spot open if Mark ever needed him.

 

Jaebum slowly separated so he could loop one arm around Mark’s shoulders then the other one under his knees, carrying him to the basement where Jackson was still not sleeping and the bed was still rumpled in the same way it had been for nearly a week.

 

He laid Mark gingerly in the center covering him with one of the lighter blankets shoved to the foot of the bed since it had been getting warmer recently.

 

He switched on the nightlight Mark certainly didn’t need anymore but Jaebum kind of did, just as a reminder that at some point Mark; just as Yugyeom was now couldn’t sleep without that soft glow coming from the corner of the room.

 

He threw one last look over his shoulder before he slowly closed the door.

 

>>>

 

Youngjae didn’t like recess.

 

“Hey stupid you’re supposed to kick the ball, not stare at it.”

 

Scratch that Youngjae really didn’t like recess.

 

He could answer math equations off the top of his head and ace a spelling test without breaking a sweat but recess was a whole new brand of evil that Youngjae had yet to conquer.

 

The year was taking its sweet old time ending and the teachers had basically given up on presenting any new material, which left Youngjae to sit outside for hours at a time getting sunburned and sweaty. He tried reading for a while but could never find anything to keep his attention long enough to get through more than a few pages, he thought he might play tag with Taehyung and Jimin but he kept tripping when he ran and getting tagged or Jimin would feel so bad for him that he ran extra slow and Taehyung complained it wasn’t fun anymore so Youngjae claimed his ankle hurt.

 

 (“You’re just saying that so you don’t have to play.”)

 

(“I’m serious Minnie, really hurts.")

 

(“Fine, I’ll check on you before we go in.”)

 

That left him to sit in the basketball court scribbling the cool little symbols Jinyoung had showed him the day before on the asphalt.

 

The lines weren’t as smooth without Jinyoung’s guidance and Youngjae was still trying to figure out how anyone could understand the strange collection of shapes but it kept him in the shade and he could probably spend hours perfecting his technique.

 

He was halfway through making the second set of characters when a stray basketball rolled into his shoe.

 

“Did you hear me?”

 

He looked up to find the source of the voice and saw Hana standing with one of the other fifth graders. Her hands were on her hips and cocked sharply to the left in a way that made her look cartoonish. The boy beside her was tall and slender fixing Youngjae with a curious look but saying nothing.

 

Youngjae nodded.

 

“So kick it back over here dummy.” She elbowed the boy in the side and he looked down at her disapprovingly.

 

Instead of kicking the ball he struggled to pick it up, his hands lacking the dexterity to close tight enough around the oversized sphere. He ended up dropping it a few times before securing it under his arm then walked it over to Hana since Jinyoung had told him it wasn’t polite to kick things at people.

 

Youngjae expected her to snatch it out of his hands without a thank you.

 

Only polite people said thank you.

 

And Hana certainly was not polite.

 

He expected her to say she didn’t want it because his ‘piggy’ hands had touched it or something else equally rude.

 

What Youngjae did not expect was for her to smack the ball right out of his arms and he watched it bounce all the way until it hit the gate encircling them, the metal making a clinking sound at the disturbance.

 

“Now go get it.” She sneered.

 

“Come on that was harsh.” The boy said.

 

“He should’ve kicked it like I told him to. Now go get it tiny.”

 

“I’m not tiny.” Youngjae said though his voice came out more of a whisper and he wasn’t sure if anyone heard it all.

 

“Tiny. Midget. Gnome. Shrimp. Take your pick.”

 

Youngjae shook his head. “That’s not my name.”

 

He wanted to run away.

 

Run back to the classroom where it was cool and his clothes didn’t stick to him so unnaturally.

 

Run back over to where Taehyung was ripping out hand fulls of grass and putting it into the hood of Jimin’s sweater while he was counting the rocks he’d collected at the edge of the lawn.

 

Run back to the corner and finish his drawing.

 

But his legs wouldn’t move and he felt more frustrated than ever with his body.

 

“Oh right, would you prefer piggy?” she snickered.

 

“Seriously Hana that’s enough, look at him he’s about to cry.”

 

Youngjae rubbed at his reddening face self consciously. He didn’t know when the tears started to build behind his eyes but his vision was beginning to blur and he looked down at his hands to keep from bursting into tears, just like he knew Hana would want.

 

“Fine whatever.” She gave Youngjae a shove, so hard he fell to the ground and a rock dug painfully into his palm. “Stupid.”

 

The boy gave Youngjae a sympathetic look but didn’t move to help him up, choosing instead to follow behind Hana when she went to the jump rope section ignoring her ball completely in the process.

 

Youngjae remained on the ground for a long time.

 

He looked out at the rest of class playing happily. A few other kids playing basketball, some playing hopscotch or at the lunch tables on the little handheld games they weren’t allowed to bring to school. All of them seemed so…normal.

 

 Like tapping the little buttons was the easiest thing in the world or running down the court without falling flat on their faces was a piece of cake. Things Youngjae couldn’t manage on his best day, they made look so simple.

 

He wanted to cry so bad he had to bite his lip to keep the sobs from escaping. Closing his eyes so the tears wouldn’t fall.

 

Why did he have to be so useless?

 

>>>

 

“Mr.Park is there something out in the hall you’d like to share with the rest of the class?”

 

Jackson glanced between the janitor scrubbing the word ‘juicy’ off one of lockers outside the door and his science teacher, Ms.Song taping her pen against a clipboard that looked way too small for her chubby hands in Jackson’s opinion.

 

“Huh?” Jackson asked, because he wasn’t going to pretend he was even half listening. If she was calling him out in front of the entire class she must have already known he’d zoned out long ago.

 

“I said is there something you’d like to show us in the hallway?”

 

He turned back to the janitor who had stopped to squeeze the excess water out of his cloth.

 

“Do you think lockers are juicy Ms.Song?”

 

The rest of the class held giggles behind their binders, except Hoseok probably the only person in the room who knew Jackson was being serious.

 

“I think,” she stepped forward to take the blank sheet of paper Jackson had scribbled his name on and not much else, holding it up for the rest of the class to see, “You need to pay more attention.”

 

Jackson looked down at his hands, running his thumbs over each other, “Yes ma’am.” He nodded.

 

She placed the sheet back on his desk, ”Just because it’s the end of the year doesn’t mean you all can start slacking off. Take this as an example.”

 

Of course she had to make Jackson the example.

 

Even with school being just a few weeks from ending she couldn’t resist making Jackson look even more like an idiot to his classmates.

 

“Are lockers juicy? You’re hilarious dude.” The boy sat behind him, Justin. Gave Jackson a slap on the shoulder and Jackson shared a short laugh with him before Ms.Song was fixing him with another look and Jackson forced himself to pick up his pencil.

 

He mumbled a ‘thanks’ when Hoseok passed over his notes, writing so fast his hands had started to cramp up.

 

 It wasn’t like Jackson was bad in science if you asked him, he just found it harder than most classes to pay attention to. He didn’t know if it was the fact that Ms. Song was actually the devil or that mixing math with funny looking glasses and baking soda bombs was probably his personal idea of hell. But regardless Jackson found himself struggling day in and day out so even though he’d only copied down maybe half of the two pages of notes Hoseok handed him by time the final bell rang he was satisfied,

 

It was better than nothing.

 

“Don’t forget your projects are due next class, no extensions.” She looked pointedly at Jackson who just nodded and tried not to let it get to him.

 

He shoved his books in his backpack, checking the old flip phone Jinyoung gave him with the explicit purpose of emergencies to see he’d gotten a text from Hoseok despite never having seen him pull out his own phone.

 

Need 2 tlk

 

“You know I can’t use my phone in class.” Jackson said with a roll of his eyes.

 

“I forgot your dad dropped you in the stone ages.”

 

Jackson rolled his eyes, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

 

He made his way to the hall, giving out a few high fives and ‘see you tomorrow’s’ though his mind was already racing with all the catch up work he’d have to do to get his project done on time, not to mention all the other forgotten homework piled up in his notebooks.

 

“What did we need to talk about?” Jackson said when he saw Hoseok typing away on his phone where he didn’t have to press a button three times just to get the right one.

 

“Soonyoung is having a graduation party.” He said with a smile so wide his eyes were nearly hidden by his cheeks.

 

“Isn’t Yoongi having one too. Where’s your loyalty?” Jackson said even though he wouldn’t be going if his dad hadn’t threatened to take away his game system.

 

“Yeah but my  parents are throwing it. Which means macaroni art, stupid kids movies and everybody goes home by six then we have to clean it all up.”

 

Jackson knew what he was getting into when he traded his Thursday night for five hours of boredom, Yoongi himself had said it wasn’t worth coming.

 

“Hey Jackson don’t forget you owe me a race in gym.” Amber called after him while she tossed what might have been a ham sandwich at some point in the trash can stationed beside her locker.

 

“You’re still gonna lose.” Jackson poked his tongue out at her, dodging a history textbook that nearly caught him in the chest.

 

They exited the school building then walked the short distance to the bus, Jackson sitting all the way in the back out of habit, Hoseok leaning over the chair in front of him still typing away.

 

Not long after that Jackson could see Mark climbing the steps with a frown on his face. He gave Jackson a quick look before sitting in the frontmost seat which wasn’t that unusual as of the past few days. If they both kept it up Jackson was pretty sure they could avoid each other until the end of time.

 

He watched a girl from his Chinese class sit next to him, smiling when they made eye contact. The girl waved though she somehow ended up bumping Mark and Jackson could see him go rigid. He bit his lip to hold back a giggle knowing how awkward Mark was around girls.

 

“What’s got you smiling so hard? You better not like Katie.” Hoseok said, suddenly not all that interested in typing.

 

Jackson waved his hand dismissively, “What’s up with the party am I invited or not?”

 

“Well yeah, I wouldn’t just tell you about a party and not invite you.”

 

“Awesome, I can’t wait to show everyone my hair.” He ran his fingers through it, thanks to Jinyoung, a plastic cap and a bottle of conditioner it had lost the straw feeling it had right after Heechul had dyed it.

 

Hoseok rolled his eyes.

 

“You have to admit it looks cool.”

 

He shook his head, “A little.”

 

The bus slowed to a stop and Hoseok gave Jackson the party details before he departed with a salute, giving Mark a pat on the shoulder on his way out. Mark looked over at him but other than his lips moving and Hoseok smiling he couldn’t tell what was going on.

 

He made conversation with a kid reading a book he thought had a cool cover, managing to make her laugh at least once or twice before she was getting off. A few turns and another stop later they were at the house though Mark remained seated Jackson shuffled forward.

 

He was about to get off but all Mark had to do was catch his eye for half a second and Jackson’s resolve to out ignore him broke right there, “Where are you going?” he asked simply.

 

Mark shrugged, “Taekwondo.”

 

“We have a class today?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Oh.”

 

“I’d like to finish my route before the end of the year.” The driver said. He gave Jackson a look that said he would be pulling off with or without him and Jackson really didn’t want to explain to Jinyoung why he was late.

 

“See you when you get home then.”

 

“Yeah. See you.”

 

Just be patient with him, he’ll come around.

 

Jackson sighed, jumping down the steps two at a time.

 

>>> 

 

Jaebum watched carefully as one by one Bambam, Yugyeom and Youngjae filed out of the school building. Their backpacks smacked against the backs of their legs when they ran (or walked in Youngjae’s case) and their shirts were splattered in one substance or another. Probably milk if Jaebum remembered correctly when Jinyoung was doing laundry a few nights ago.

 

“Hey dad.” Yugyeom said his face flushed a bright shade of red as he climbed into the backseat beside Bambam.

 

Jaebum placed a hand against his forehead, it felt warm and sweat slick but it didn’t carry the clammy feeling he got before so Jaebum chalked it up to the weather.

 

Yugyeom buckled his seatbelt then placed his backpack in front of him just as Jinyoung had instructed them all to do, something about his paranoia about airbags crushing them. “We got to play outside all day.” He said with a smile as Jaebum pulled off once he checked to make sure everyone was buckled.

 

“That’s good to hear kiddo, you have fun?”

 

“It was great! I mean Seokmin cheated when we were playing hide and seek but it was okay because guess what?”

 

He to the highway starting the twenty mile stretch with a smile on his face, “What?”

 

“Then we got to play tag and Seokmin had to be it because cheaters never win.”

 

“That’s right Gyeomie.” He reached back to give his cheek a squeeze accidentally getting a pinky up the poor kid’s nose but Yugyeom just laughed and guided his hand to the right place sharing a smile in the rearview mirror.

 

“What about you Bambam? Anything interesting today?”

 

Bambam started with an eye roll and a sigh, “I can’t tell you, you don’t know the backstory.”

 

“Backstory…?”

 

“It’s about Jeongyeon and Jimin, I tell my dad about them all the time but you don’t have the backstory so you won’t get it.” He crossed his arms with an even louder sigh.

 

Jaebum had heard snippets of the conversation from when Jinyoung would give him the run down when he got back home. Though Jaebum barely had enough time to listen before his lap was full of kids. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity however, to get a little bonding time with Bambam so he nodded anyway hoping he wouldn’t catch on.

 

“I know a bit.”

 

Bambam squinted as if he didn’t believe the words for a second but the moment he opened his mouth Jaebum could tell it had probably been killing to keep quiet for so long and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing because as Bambam had prefaced his story with,

 

This was serious.

 

“So Lisa heard from one of the third graders that she can’t say the name of that Jennie who’s a fourth grader and that matters because we don’t talk to the fourth graders so this might not be true. But Jennie heard some kids gossiping at lunch that said they heard that Momo saw Jeongyeon kiss Jimin on the lips. On the lips.”

 

“Oh that must have been nice.” Jaebum knew Jimin was a friendly kid from all the times he’d been over the house.

 

He was always doting over the younger boys while at the same time keeping Taehyung tight to his side and Jin would always gush about how thankful he was Jimin was so responsible.

 

He’d probably be excited to hear this.

 

“Oh my god no.” Bambam threw his hands up, “See you don’t know the story. I can’t tell you anymore.”

 

“What was it not nice?”

 

Bambam shook his head, “I’ve already said too much.”

 

Jaebum eyed him through the mirror he could tell by the way he leaned over and drummed his fingers against the backpack sat in his lap it wouldn’t be long before he was spouting off again.

 

“Is that so?” Jaebum asked.

 

“But,” he held up a finger, ”I will say Jimin pushed Jeongyeon off the swing set three days ago and they got into fight but Momo broke them up so they wouldn’t get in trouble which means Momo is a reliable source because everyone knows that happened.  So they probably kissed.”

 

Jaebum blinked a few times wondering what any of this information meant but pleasantly surprised with Bambam journalism skills. The kid had a career ahead of him.

 

“But you can’t tell Uncle Jinnie anything…or Joon because then Jimin will get in trouble and if that happens Momo is going to think it’s Jennie because she’s a loud mouth and Jennie is going to think it was Lisa and Lisa is going to know it was me.” He counted the names off his fingers, finishing with his index finger which he used to point at Jaebum,

“This is top secret.”

 

Jaebum would have held a hand to is heart if he wasn’t driving so instead he spared Bambam a nod in the mirror before he moved into the deceleration lane.

 

He noticed Youngjae had been oddly quiet through it all.

 

He kicked his feet and looked at the ground signaling something was up. Jaebum did a quick visual check to see he was wearing the same khaki shorts as this morning, which meant no accidents but decided not to start up the line of questioning in front of Bambam since his curiosity was starting to make Youngjae squirm no matter how much he tried to hide it.  Jinyoung was much better at getting things out of him than Jaebum was anyway.

 

He reached back once again to give Youngjae’s knee a squeeze, just to let him know he hadn’t forgotten about him.

 

They were only a few minutes away from home when Jaebum’s phone buzzed though he elected to ignore it. It was probably people down at the theatre anyway asking him to help the new kids with the little pet project they’d started up.

 

Jaebum didn’t actually know how he got involved with it, one moment he would give them a few quick pointers on how to set up a stage so the audience would focus on the right things, next they were asking him to be their supervisor and Jaebum didn’t think he could handle that on top of a wedding and five kids.

 

He let out a long sigh in frustration.

 

He slowed to a stop right outside their front door, the kids rushing out the car the moment Jaebum cut the engine and he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little slighted when they were so eager to get to the minivac they had become obsessed with.

 

It was then Jaebum finally noted the messages popping up on his phone.

 

Jagiya

 

Dad’s cooking again can you make him stop?              

3:24p.m

 

That was Jackson, I will not stop. I haven’t burned anything yet. 

3:27 p.m

 

He burned the pasta. 

3:30 p.m

 

That was also Jackson 

3:35 p.m

 

Can you please get some lunchables on your way back? 

3:36 p.m

 

Do not get lunchables Jackson just wanted lunchables.

3:38 p.m

 

But can pick up some pasta while you’re out, y’know the type your mother always makes? 

3:45 p.m 

 

 

Jaebum simply turned the key in the ignition and started off for the grocery store.

 

>>> 

 

If someone had asked Park Jinyoung what he thought he’d be doing Monday afternoon after having essentially fired his wedding planner and completely scrapped the layout for his reception a week and a half before he was supposed to say ‘I do’ he most certainly would not have said standing at the stove scratching at a hardened mess of what had formerly been spaghetti noodles.

 

Jackson sat behind him supposedly doing his homework but at some point he’d taken Jinyoung’s cellphone and began reading off the recipe for spaghetti and meatballs.

 

Jinyoung had thought certainly too much water would make the noodles mushy so he added just enough to cover the top and turned to help Jackson with his Chinese test.

 

During a debacle on whether or not using a textbook was considered cheating all the water boiled out and it was maybe five minutes later that Jackson swore he smelled something burning and Jinyoung simply shushed him saying he was trying to get out of translating the last section of the paragraph he’d been stuck on for the last ten minutes, then Jinyoung saw the dark clouds swirling over his head and that was the end of that.

 

“Can we just get pizza?” Jackson whined his voice muffled through the surgical mask he’d donned per Jinyoung’s request, though he didn’t seem to mind.

 

Jinyoung spared him a glare over his shoulder, “First of all get your feet out of my chair and second no we’re not getting pizza. I said I was making spaghetti so we’re having spaghetti.”

 

“We’re gonna have cancer too.” He mumbled.

 

Mark was at taekwondo since Jaebum thought he might want to work off his recent aggression and probably wouldn’t be home for another hour or two which Jinyoung thought was perfect timing since he’d definitely have dinner ready by then if Jaebum came back with the right noodles.

 

“This is so hard.” Jackson proclaimed. “Why couldn’t I have just taken Korean?”

 

Jinyoung dumped the ashes in the trash can then set the pot in the sink with soap and hot water to soak before peering over Jackson’s shoulder to see he’d only gotten two more words translated.

 

He grabbed the pencil Jackson had thrown across the table and erased the second word since he was pretty sure it didn’t have a direct English translation, “You’re the one that chose this, not me. I’m sure your grandmother would have loved to help you with your Korean.”

 

He shook his head. “I have to learn how to talk to…Yima?”

 

Jinyoung rested his head on top of Jackson’s, “Then quit your complaining and stop using google translate.” He took the phone from his hands pressing a kiss to his forehead.

 

“Dad.” He groaned scrubbing the kiss away with enough force to turn his skin red.

 

When Jinyoung heard the engine idling outside he went over to the door to see Youngjae coming up the steps, he would usually jump into Jinyoung’s arms and recount his day but he went right to the steps without so much as leaving his shoes by the door and there was a trail of dirt following behind him.

 

“…okay…”

 

“Ganga.” Jackson said just loud enough to be heard.

 

He peered out the open front door to see Jaebum sat at the wheel scrolling through the messages he probably hadn’t been able to read while driving then there was Yugyeom and Bambam racing each other up the steps, Bambam winning because Yugyeom decided to stop to wrap his little arms around Jinyoung’s knees.

 

“Good day today?”

 

“The best.” Yugyeom smiled up at him all red cheeked and breathless.

 

He waddled back to the stove to stir the sauce he had boiling with Yugyeom still attached to his knees. Thankfully the sauce had been saved from the same fate as the noodles and Jinyoung remembered the meatballs in the freezer.

 

He could probably stick those in the microwave

 

…right?

 

“Let me see I want to know Chinese too.” Bambam grumbled attempting to climb over the arm Jackson had protectively around his worksheet.

 

“No way I don’t want your sweat on my paper.”

 

“I’m not sweaty. See.” He swiped his hand across his forehead, proving he was indeed sweaty and Jackson groaned.

 

“I can’t work under these conditions.” He slammed his textbook shut, tucking it under one arm and his backpack under the other.

 

“Dinner is at six, if you’re not up here I’m not coming down to get you.” JInyoung called after him as he stomped down the stairs.

 

“You won’t have to we’re getting pizza anyway.”

 

Jinyoung continued to stir.

 

Bambam announced he was going in the backyard, grabbing the minivac from where it was hanging up in the storm room then off he went, Yugyeom unsurprisingly following right behind him.

 

Jinyoung deemed the sauce properly stirred then went to the freezer to excavate the meatballs from where they were buried under piles of frozen vegetables, all the while checking out the window to see Bambam hadn’t tried to scale the fence again.

 

He emptied the bag into a glass bowl and set it in the microwave. Five minutes sounded good so he punched in a few numbers and hit start throwing one last look out the window before going upstairs to see what was up with Youngjae.

 

He could tell by the lack of light pouring into the hall before he got all the way up the steps that the door was closed and Jinyoung had to take a deep breath before he gave a quick knock and poked his head in.

 

“Bad day?” He asked upon seeing Youngjae sat in a pile of toys, he wasn’t even playing with them just sitting and staring like he wasn’t sure what to do.

 

“Am I stupid?” he looked up slowly, hair falling away from his face to reveal his scarcely seen forehead.

 

“No. Of course you’re not stupid what would make you think something like that?” Jinyoung dropped down to a knee, crawling through a section of toy trucks and action figures to rest an arm around Youngjae’s slumped shoulders.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“You can give me better than that.” Jinyoung leaned to down to try and catch Youngjae’s eye, “Did something happen in school today.”

 

Youngjae pulled his knees up under his chin looking down at the messily tied laces of his shoes. “I’m not stupid.” He said, though it came out as more of a question.

 

“No Youngjae you’re not stupid. Did someone tell you, you were?”

 

He drew closer, practically in Jinyoung’s lap so all Jinyoung had to do was give him a little nudge in the right direction and he wall nestled safely in his arms.

 

Jinyoung leaned down to press a kiss through his hair, “If something happens at school, you can tell me. I won’t tell your dad or your brothers. It’ll be between you and me okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And you are not stupid, you are one of the smartest kids I have ever met. You try your best to do things on your own and you try to keep up with everyone. There’s some people out there that feel like they have to put people like you down just so they can feel better about what’s bothering them but what they say is not true.

 

“You’re my sunshine, don’t let anyone take that away from you.” he planted a kiss on the mole under his eye, thankful that at least one of kids would still let him do so.

 

Youngjae turned to look up at him curiously, “Mr.Park.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Something burning?”

 

Jinyoung felt his eyes bug out of his head and he scrambled out of the room with Youngjae held tight to one hip, running down the steps so fast he nearly slipped on a sweater that had been tossed on the landing.

 

The first thing he noticed was the microwave was still on, the second being the smoke collecting behind the glass. He sat Youngjae down with the instruction that he held his breath until he got outside and once he was sure the back door was shut he yanked out the plug connecting the microwave to the wall then grabbed a dishcloth to pick up the appliance and speed walked to the front door where he sat the still burning hot metal on the ground daring to open the little door and release the plumes of smoke building behind it.

 

Disaster, sort of averted.

 

“Were those the meatballs?”

 

Jinyoung looked over his shoulder to see Jackson holding his t-shirt over his nose and the house phone in his hand.

 

“So that was two large pepperoni and a side of cinnamon bites?” a voice said over the receiver. “Your total is thirty one, seventy six.”

 

They shared a look. Jackson’s one of genuine curiosity while Jinyoung couldn’t decide how angry to be.

 

They remained in silence for a long time before the voice on the phone repeated the order and asked if anyone was there.

 

“It’s in the bedside table drawer.” Jinyoung said with a sigh referring to his wallet and Jackson nodded before bringing the phone up to his ear to give their address. “Don’t forget to take out something for the tip.”

 

>>> 

 It was an hour and a half later when Jaebum walked through the door, nose tingling with the scent of smoke. He noticed the front door had been shut though the windows remained open and the first thing he saw was Yugyeom staring down a stack of pizza boxes with his lip between his teeth.

 

“So no more spaghetti?” Jaebum asked holding up a bag full of the overly expensive pasta he had to drive all over town to find.

 

Jinyoung turned from the sink where he had been fiercely scrubbing at a pot full of something black. He swiped at the sweat that had formed on his forehead, blowing a short breath upward to dislodge a strand of hair that had fallen into his eye before turning back to the sink.

 

“Okay.” Jaebum said slowly. “You want to help me set the table?”

 

Yugyeom nodded, quickly dashing off to the back room to grab a stool that he placed under the dish cabinet.

 

“Take it two at a time kiddo, we don’t want anymore broken plates.”

 

Bambam ran in from god knows where shouting, “I’m really strong I can help.”

 

“Nuh-uh. I’m stronger that’s why he asked me to help first.” Yugyeom stuck his tongue out, holding a plate nearly the size of his whole body against his chest.

 

“But my dad says I’m strongest all  the time.”

 

“So does mine.”

 

Jaebum dropped the grocery bag on the counter next to what might have been a pan of something edible at one point then went to gather Bambam up to sit on his shoulder so he could reach the paper towels on top of the fridge.

 

“You’re both strong in your own way.” He smiled up at Bambam who’d suddenly turned red.

 

“I want up too.” Yugyeom stood on the tips of his toes still holding the same plate.

 

Jaebum would’ve happily held the two of them on his shoulders but it was almost six and Jinyoung had a schedule to keep so he just gave Yugyeom’s hair a ruffle and let Bambam down to start tearing off sections of paper towel to act as place mats.

 

“I think we might have spoiled him with all the carrying recently.” Jaebum commented.

 

Jinyoung didn’t even bother turning around that time, just kept up the scrubbing and ignoring routine.

 

Jaebum wasn’t sure if he was still angry with him for Friday night, which he had every right to be since Jaebum should have thought about his fiance before he went ahead and did something silly like that.

 

But honestly,

 

How much apologizing could a guy do?

 

Mark came up next freshly showered from taekwondo and went straight to helping set the table, with the cheap plastic cups Jinyoung kept buying since it didn’t seem to matter what the cups were made of they always ended up broken into a million pieces and he’d much rather sweep up plastic than spend the night patting the floor down with slices of bread picking up shattered glass.

 

Jaebum went to lean against the counter beside the sink peering beneath the curtain of hair Jinyoung had over his face to see a frown etched into his cheeks. He wanted to dip to kiss it away but of course then Jackson walked in and proclaimed PDA was strictly forbidden in the presence of children.

 

“It’s gross.” He pulled Jaebum over to the stove, “You must stay a minimum of four feet away from my dad.”

 

“Hm, like this?” Jaebum scooted closer so he could hook a finger in one of Jinyoung’s belt loops.

 

Jackson rolled his eyes, “That’s even worse.”

 

“How about,” Jinyoung moved away and Jaebum felt his smile falter slightly, “You go tell Youngjae food is ready.”

 

Jackson groaned.

 

“And you,” he didn’t even look Jaebum in the eye just pointed in the direction of the pizza box, “Do something useful.” He went back to scrubbing though Jaebum could see his hands had started to turn red from the temperature of the water.

 

Jaebum dropped his voice down to a whisper, “You can’t be mad at me forever can you?”

 

The last thing Jinyoung could do when it came to Jaebum was hold a grudge. Even in his most explosive states of anger, he’d have probably forgiven him before the first words slipped from his mouth. But Jaebum knew he liked to keep up the façade for a long as possible so he wouldn’t feel like he was giving in too easily.

 

“Can we talk about it later?” Jinyoung nodded toward the boys that had gathered around the table and Yugyeom looking over at them as if he could sense something wrong.

 

“It being Friday?”

 

“It being something I don’t want to talk about right now.” He finally spared Jaebum a look though Jaebum would be lying if he said he wasn’t off put by that fact that it was a glare.

 

He dropped his arms that had found their way around Jinyoung’s waist and cleared his throat, “Okay.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Jaebum busied himself with doing as Jinyoung asked or he’d end up worrying himself sick thinking of all the ways he could possibly convey his apologies.

 

The second the pizza was down Yugyeom and Bambam tore into their respective slices, probably another race of some sort and Jaebum gave each of their ears a tug signaling them to stop before one or both of them ended up choking.

 

Jackson returned a little while after with Youngjae in tow, Jaebum noticing immediately the later of the two was still looking as worn down as he had earlier.

 

“Did you get some time to rest up there?” Jaebum asked once he’d finished with the first box.

 

Youngjae nodded then shook his head looking up as if he wasn’t sure what he was really being asked.

 

“I think he just needs a little food in him and he’ll be fine.” Jinyoung had teleported from the sink to beside Jackson and he pat the seat beside him for Youngjae to sit.

 

“Speaking of food since nobody’s opened it yet-“

 

“Jackson if you touch that pizza you’re losing a finger.”

 

Jackson sat back in his chair, “You didn’t even let me finish.”

 

---

 

Dinner ended with cinnamon bites and power rangers then homework and baths so by the time Jinyoung had changed into his night clothes and began untucking the bedsheets, Jaebum had worked himself up to chewing on lip while he sorted all the laundry into piles, sitting cross legged on the floor.

 

“Okay. I think…we should talk.” Jinyoung said flopping on to the freshly unmade bed.

 

Jaebum immediately tossed the pile of Bambam’s clothes that he’d been in the middle of refolding since his hands had started to shake to the floor fully prepared to begin his apology speech. “You go first.”

 

“No I think you should.” He sat up then, still avoiding any form of eye contact.

 

Jaebum took a deep breath, “So about Friday yeah that was stupid of me to drink like that and I shouldn’t have put it on you to take care of everything because I’m an adult and I should know when enough is enough.”

 

Jinyoung sighed eyes trained on the ceiling, “I’m not mad about Friday.”

 

“I know you’re not mad but you deserve an apology.” He sat at the edge of the bed reaching out to take one of Jinyoung’s hands in his own, “I’m sorry.”

 

Jinyoung looked down at where their hands connected, how Jaebum’s fingers traced small patterns into his wrist without thought from their owner, “I’m over that, you realized you were wrong there’s nothing more to say.”

 

“Then what’s up with you today?”

 

He muttered something under his breath and Jaebum could feel Jinyoung’s hand tense beneath his.

 

“Jinyoung.”

 

He took in a breath then repeated himself, voice just high enough for Jaebum to hear him say “I burnt everything.”

 

At first, he remained quiet.

 

Caught between relief that the Friday issue had been effectively solved and shelved and the laugh trying so hard to burst out that Jinyoung had been avoiding him all night because he was embarrassed over burnt spaghetti.

 

Jaebum chose the latter.

 

“It’s not funny.” Jinyoung groaned, “I followed a recipe and everything. I’m awful.”

 

“First of all,” Jaebum managed to say after he calmed down enough to form words, “thank you for trying. And second,” he used his index finger to tip Jinyoung’s chin upward so at last they could look at each other properly, “Don’t talk about my fiance like that.”

 

“I burnt everything Jaebum, you’re marrying an actual fire hazard.”

 

“I accepted that risk when I put a ring on your finger.”

 

“Can you be serious for a second. I try to cook for my family and I can’t even do that right.”

 

“So then this isn’t about burnt spaghetti?”

 

“It’s about burnt spaghetti, Jackson and Mark not talking, Bambam’s mood swings, Yugyeom not standing up for himself and Youngjae…“

 

“What’s up with Youngjae?”

 

Jaebum had noticed how off he’d been all day but he had spent more time worried about Jinyoung than Youngjae. School could tire him out as far as Jaebum knew especially with all the activity they’d been getting up to recently.

 

“Nothing,” he said with closed eyes, “Nothing is wrong with Youngjae, I just thought the boys would be getting along better but they’re not and…I don’t know. I feel like maybe we should pay more attention to them, wedding or not they have to come first.”

 

“I promise you, they’re fine. There’s just some stuff you have to let them work out for themselves.”

 

“I know I know.”

 

“And we can’t force them to talk about what’s going on we just have to wait.”

 

He groaned falling back amongst the pillows, “I’m tired of waiting.”

 

Jaebum ran his fingers along the length of exposed skin between the waistband of Jinyoung’s sweatpants and his night shirt, “Jagi.”

 

“Cut it out.” He swatted at the touch weakly at the same time he tried not to laugh.

 

“Stop worrying.”

 

“I can’t help it, I want a sign we’re doing the right thing here.”

 

“What do you mean?” Jaebum asked though if the tight feeling in his chest was anything to go by he already knew.

 

Jinyoung took one of his fingers between his own to hold it steady and as if that were answer enough Jaebum sighed for probably the thousandth time that day.

 

They didn’t say anything for a while after that, just breathed in the other’s air. It wasn’t until it started to rain that Jinyoung began to move once again.

 

He sat up on his elbows getting ready to go catch up to Bambam before he wound up on the front porch once again. He already had a leg swung off the bed when there was a knock on their door.

 

“It’s open.” He called.

 

The door creaked when it swung open, momentarily drawing Jaebum’s attention to the hinges and away from the two people stood in the frame, hand in hand.

 

“I don’t like the rain.” Bambam said drawing closer to Yugyeom while at the same time squeezing his fingers so hard Jaebum was sure Yugyeom had to be feeling something.

 

“I don’t like sleeping alone.” Yugyeom drew closer to Bambam.

 

Jaebum threw a look behind him at Jinyoung still half sprawled out over the mattress.

 

There’s your sign right there.