Drabbles focus on their children more. It's ok if you skip them

The Zhang household is usually almost always full. The four of them lived comfortably in their house no problem. Sure, it was smaller, but it just felt better. Nayeon had a friend who was rich and lived in a huge house and it honestly just seemed awful. Her friend didn’t mind, but Nayeon couldn’t help but feel like Ming’s house seemed lonely. Her father always gone, her mother often flying from fashion event to another and when she was home, she was usually hosting her ‘friends’ and day drinking in the garden.

So often she was the only one at her home. Nayeon’s was rarely alone at her house. If her parents had to go somewhere, she always had her twin. More often than not, one of their uncles would come and be with them while they’re away, and stay for a bit after their parents got back. It’s how uncle Minnie taught them to defend themselves and how Uncle Sehun and Uncle Luhan got away with them having a ‘food fashion show’ where they made clothes from food and acted like they were walking down the catwalk.

Ming didn’t really go to Nayeon’s house much, because her father didn’t particularly like Inhumans. So, for the first time, she went to Nayeon’s to stay over the weekend while her parents were away. Ming was tall and beautiful, her black hair down to her waist and her eyes a golden brown. People are surprised when they see that her and Nayeon are friends, since they’re so different.

Nayeon, at seventeen, looked like a rock star’s fantasy girl. Her hair was a deep red, long but with an undercut. She had a septum piercing and tattoos covering one of her arms. It blew Ming’s mind that her parents let her do that, but Nayeon just shrugged. “They’re, like, the best people ever. You’ll see,” Nayeon says, opening the door. Music was coming from the piano as Ming watch Nayeon smile. “Dad’s playing the piano again, he does that often.”

Ming has heard a lot about the two Inhuman doctors. Well, doctor. The other was one in name only, since his power can heal people and he didn’t have to study for a doctorate.

Xian smiled from his place in the doorway to the piano room. Unlike his sister, he looked normal, save for the hair that matched his sisters. They’ve always had matching hair colors since Ming met them. Xian was taller, in sweatpants and a tee shirt, his hair wet as he watched his father with a smile.

Nayeon takes Ming’s hand, smiling at her before tugging her into the room past Xian. The piano was a beautiful glossy black, and the man sitting in front of it was even more stunning. His eyes closed as he just pressed keys, the beautiful melody softly flowing through the house. A few more seconds of this before it stopped, and the man opened his eyes, smiling as he stood.

Nayeon smiles, letting go of her friend’s hand and hugging her father tightly. “Hi Dad,” She says, smiling as his arms wrapped around her too.

“I was wondering where you were,” Yixing says, “Your mother wanted to know what you three wanted for dinner. She’s getting off early today and is going to pick up whatever you three want.”

“We could go get something,” Xian says from behind them, “Mom’s been working like crazy, the least we could do is not burden her with it.”

“Well, you know your mother. Once she’s decided she’s doing something, no one can stop her.”

“Pizza,” The two twins say at the same time, making Ming smile. They are always on the same page. Ming always wanted a sibling, but for that to happen her parents would actually want to be in the same room with one another.

“I’ll text her that, but I’m pretty sure she knows you two pizza fiends were already going to say that.”

“Oh,” Nayeon says, wrapping an arm around Ming, “This is Ming, my friend from school.”

Ming bows, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Zhang.”

Yixing smiles, “Please just call me Yixing. So weird to hear people call me that when I’m not at the hospital.”

Ming nods, smiling at the man. He looked incredibly kind, and he was so sweet as Nayeon pulled Ming away to go up to her room.

Nayeon’s room was just like Ming would imagine it. A big bed with the bed made, the walls a nice purple color. She had posters of art and bands everywhere. She had desk where her computer was and right next to it a vanity covered in stickers. On the mirror were pictures of her Uncles, some of her and her family and one of Ming. Nayeon jumped onto the bed, smiling as they both got ready for their movie marathon they were planning.

A few hours later, Ming met Y/N.

Nayeon’s mother was beautiful. Her eyes like Xian’s, and they had the same nose, but mostly the twins looked like Yixing. Nayeon and Ming got to the kitchen just in time to see Y/N putting down pizza boxes and a few bags of groceries.

Yixing entered from the other door to the kitchen, smiling brightly at his wife. Ming couldn’t help but notice how the happiness that was at a ten out of ten when she met him was cranked to about one hundred. “Honey, if you would have told me, I could have helped you,” he playfully scolds, walking a few steps to her.

Mrs. Zhang just shrugged, letting out an exhausted sigh. “I was fine. How are you, Darling?”

Yixing smiles as he leaned down, giving his wife a chaste kiss on the lips, “I’m great. Got the piano tuned today and worked out with Xian. That kid is too fast for his own good!”

“He is a student athlete. Getting older, Yixing! Can’t be the fastest forever!” Y/N smiled, hugging her husband, “I’m glad you had a good day.”

Nayeon skipped quickly into the room with Ming in toe, “Momma!”

“Aw,” Y/N says, hugging her daughter, “How’s my little firecracker doing, hm?”

Nayeon smiled down at her mother, “Great! Aced the physics test and Ming and I have had a ton of fun watching movies. But what did you do?”

“Just the same old. Surgery, surgery and more surgery. Mostly small things today!” She patted her daughter on her head, giving her a kiss on the forehead before turning her head. Y/N smiled at Ming, “Hello Ming! Nice to see you again! I hope everything is well?”

Ming nods, “Yes ma’am. I’m fine and everything is good.”

Ming noticed Mrs. Zhang give her a bit of a curious look. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Zhang says, giving her husband another quick kiss, “Got tell Xian dinners here. I already ate, so I’m going to go and soak in a bath! Sehun and Luhan are coming for a visit. They’re supposed to be here tomorrow. We’ll have to make sure the guest room is good to go.”

Yixing, with an arm wrapped around his wife, left the kitchen, “We’ll handle that, you rest!” Their voices fade as they go upstairs, leaving Ming and Nayeon alone.

Nayeon turned to Ming, a look just like her mother’s on her face. “Everything isn’t good. What’s wrong? Spill.”

“What? But it-”

“Mom’s Inhuman power is being a walking lie detector,” Nayeon explains, putting a hand on Ming’s shoulder. “That look she gave you is the look she gives anyone when they lied about something. She didn’t want to pry because she doesn’t want out to feel like she doesn’t like you, or to be rude.” Nayeon smiles at her friend, “I, on the other hand, know you know I like you and you know I’m rude so who the cares about that, to tell me.”

Ming sighs, “Well, parents, you know? And I didn’t exactly get permission to stay…”

Nayeon smirks, “Ming! Really?” She playfully punches her friend, “What a rebel!”

“You know how my father is,” Ming mutters, “He… well-”

“He hates Inhumans,” Nayeon said so casually, it almost knocked the wind out of Ming.

“He doesn’t hate-”

“He’s a politician who tries to get a law in act so that all Inhumans have to wear badges when they’re in China. He wants to restrict Inhumans from having children with people who aren’t Inhumans because it ‘taints blood’. He wants to make it illegal for a Inhuman and a non-Inhuman to marry,” Nayeon says as she opens a pizza box, getting a plate and handing Ming one. She didn’t look mad or upset, but saying it like she’d say the sky is blue. Because it is a fact, her father despised Inhumans. “He’s even come out and attempted to stop my father from working. Tried to use him as the face of some evil Inhuman scheme that doesn’t exist.”

Ming looks down to the floor, ashamed. Yixing seemed like such a wonderful person that Ming can’t help but feel sorry that her father was constantly making their lives hell.

“But he isn’t you. I know Inhumans can scare you, Ming, because you were raised to believe we are, like, monsters or some , but we’re just people. Not some boogieman trying to steal children,” Nayeon says, wiggling her fingers at Ming with a smile.  Nayeon could talk about the most awful things but still manage to make people smile while saying it. “My parents don’t hate you for who your father is. They know how much I care about you and how you don’t agree with them. It’s OK, I promise. They’re not going to hold what your dad does against you.”

Ming nods, happy to hear that. She was always scared to meet her family and stay with them very long. She didn’t want the Zhangs to hate her.

“Besides,” Nayeon says, laughing, “My parents are two of the least judging people out there. Don’t be surprised if Mom talks to you, though. After all, she knows you lied and Mom’s the type of person who wants to help everyone. She won’t push you about it, though.”

Ming nods and, with their pizza in hand, went back to watch more movies, Xian joining them after helping Yixing clear and clean the guest room.

~~

Ming heard a lot about Nayeon’s uncles. After all, she adored them and thought of them like blood family. She’s heard her say something about how they’ve had a really hard life. I mean, all of her uncles and her mom and dad were in Korea years ago when… She expected, like, men who looked like they’ve been to war, people whom were covered in scars and were intimidating as well.

What she didn’t expect were two runway models and a man who looked like he could have also been one.

“Why didn’t you say Junmyeon was coming too,” Y/N asks, swatting at the shoulder of the tallest one as she hugged the shortest man in the living room.

“It’s called a surprise, Y/N,” The tallest says, rolling his eyes as he crosses his arms. “Surely you’re away of the concept of what one is.”

The one who was as tall as Yixing also swats his arm. “Sehunnie, no need to be so rude!”

The tallest one, Sehun, shakes his head, “It’s not being rude. It’s treating Y/N like a sister. Comes with the territory.”

Ming was peeking in from the corner of the room. She’d come down to get some water as Nayeon slept still in her room. Her eyes widened at the scene before her. She’s heard of Sehun and Luhan before. Her mother talked about how beautiful they are, and what a shame it is that their beauty was tainted by variant blood.

She goes to peek in a bit more, hitting a vase in the process. “,” She says, trying to catch it. Ming closed her eyes, waiting for the crash, only for it to never some. She opens her eyes, watching the vase float in air before moving on it’s one and being placed back where it was.

Luhan had his hand up, before letting it fall with a smile. “Hi,” He says, waving.

Y/N looks back, smiling, “Oh! This is Xia Ming, Nayeon’s best friend!” The older woman turns to her, a smile on her face. “I’m surprised you’re up so early. I heard you a Nayeon up a few hours ago just starting to go to sleep when I came down for coffee.”

Ming’s heart was racing. For the first time in her life, she saw a variant use it’s power. Everything her father told her made her want to run away and never look back, but instead, she walked closer. She bowed, “Hello!” Ming turned to Y/N, “I’m sorry if we were too loud.”

“Nonsense,” Yixing calls as he enters the room finally, before moving to give the new people in front of him hugs. “I missed you guys!”

“We didn’t hear you guys at all,” Y/N explains with a smile, “There is a reason why our room is on the direct opposite side of the house, after all.”

Sehun laughs, “Pretty sure that’s not the reason at all!”

The shortest man also hits him, “Sehun!”

“What? They’re married! They have children! It’s fairly obvious that they fu-”

Y/N puts a hand down over his mouth before turning to Ming. She had a blush on her face that made Ming smile. It was cute. “Sorry, Ming! Sehun doesn’t know how to shut the up if his life depends on it! Which from now on, it does,” Y/N says, giving Sehun a glare.

Y/N removes her hand and Sehun looks at Ming. “Oh, Ming! Nayeon’s told me a lot about you! Cute pajamas, by the way.”

Ming looks down and sees her kitten pajama shorts and shirt. She smiles, “Thank you.”

Luhan gives her a look, “Xia? As in Jia’s daughter?”

Ming feels her blood run cold at the mention of her mother. “Yes,” She says, her voice coming as a squeak.

“You’re prettier,” Sehun says before turning to Yixing, having a conversation as the two left the room.

“Speaking of,” Y/N says, smiling before walking to Ming. “Would you mind helping me with something?”

“No problem,” Ming squeaks out again, following the older woman. It was a few moments of silence as they made their way to the back yard. Ming saw nothing weird or missing, so she turned back to Y/N. “Um… Mrs. Zhang?”

“We don’t hate you for your family, by the way.”

Ming stared at the older woman who had a smile on her face as she sat down on a chair near the door. Hearing her talking about something like that so bluntly reminded Ming of Nayeon, making something in her flutter at the thought. Nayeon may look more like Yixing, but her personality was so much like her mother’s it was scary.

“We’re just happy you make Nayeon happy. I’m not going to think of you ill because of your family, and neither does anyone in this house, trust me. Not only because that’s the right thing to do, but because we all know how… important you are to Nayeon,” Y/N says, smiling as she patted Ming’s hand. “I also know your father knows what we did in the past… what he told you. You have nothing to fear, Ming. I want you to feel welcome here.”

Ming nods, smiling at her. “I do, Mrs. Zhang… or Dr.Zhang. I don’t feel the same as him or my mother, but it’s just hard to get those thoughts out after so long…”

Y/N nods, “I understand. There are people like that in Korea still as well. Trust me, I get it. And you can call me Y/N!”

With a smile, Ming says, “OK, Mrs. Y/N. I was just down to get some water before going back up.”
Y/N nods, patting her shoulder, “Go get some rest. You and Nayeon need it. I’ll wake you both later so you don’t miss dinner.”

Ming left, getting a glass of water as she sees Sehun blowing wind in Yixing’s face, blowing his hair back with a laugh. They seemed honestly harmless. She went into Nayeon’s room, taking a few more sips before getting into bed beside her friend. Ming cuddles into her, smiling at how warm Nayeon is. Her cute little snores acting as a lullaby for sleep.

The weekend came and went, soon did the weekend as Ming was sitting at the dinner table with her father and her mother. It was tense, as her father spoke about business and her mother talked about her fashion line. Ming knows that they’re just trying to keep up an appearance for her sake. They don’t actually care what the other is doing so long as they are not shaming the family. Her father, Lou Xia, has been tense and curt with her for the past few days. Normally if Ming is quiet and does what she’s told, he returns to his usual self, but not this time.

And now, Ming knew why.

“Ming, is there something you’d like to tell me,” Her father’s cold voice asks, cracking the silence into pieces in a moment.

Ming’s eyes look at him as he was wearing a full business suit that was worth probably more than the Zhang’s whole house. A fancy watch, specialty made shoes, a wedding ring on his hand that Ming knew he took off when he went on his ‘business trips’ with just his secretary. His tone was like stone as his face was glancing at his phone.

With a gulp, Ming shook her head, “No, father. Why?”

“So you were never planning on telling me you went to her house?”

The way that he said ‘her’, Ming knew he could only be talking about one person. There was a flare of protective anger in her chest, but she held it back. “No, Father, I wasn’t. It’s been obvious you’ve known the whole week, so why tell you something like that,” Ming takes her napkin from her lap, setting it on the table. “You often hate when people tell you things you already knew, after all.”

Her mother gasps, “You when THERE?” Her pure black hair in a delicate up do, a red dress on her body and more jewelry on her body that she needed. “Oh my god, Darling? Why? Did you make sure you’re disinfected?”

Ming rolled her eyes, “Mother, it isn’t contagious, you know that. There’s no need to be overly dramatic.”

Lou tensely grabs the table, “Ming. Do you know what would happen if people found out that you, my own daughter, had an inhuman friend? All the work I’ve done for the past five years would go down the drain! Think of what it would do for our family?!”

Ming remains silent as she stands. Her hands shake in anger. This is what her family was truly like. They’re just like the people in Korea. If given the chance, they’d do the same. She didn’t want to see it, but now, after spending time with Nayeon and her family, she could see that her parents are just like those monsters.

“Honey,” Her mother says, reaching over and grabbing her hand, “Surely there are other people you could be friends with other than that… thing. I knew we should have put you into private school.”

Ming snatches her hand away, “Nayeon isn’t a ‘thing’, she’s a person.”

“They’re beneath you,” Her father says, his voice getting more heated as the conversation went on. “You see? You go over there once and they’ve brainwashed you-”

“The only people who have brainwashed me are the two of you,” Ming says firmly. Standing straight, she glares at her father, “Nayeon is just… the most amazing person I know. Her mother and father work had to save lives, and you want them treated like farm animals-”

“They’re dangerous,” Her father screams, slamming his fits down as his chair toppled over with how fast he stood. “Look at what they did to Korea!”

“They did what they had to because they were being killed and tested on,” Ming screams, “You’ve seen the footage! What they did to them! It’s out there, you’re just blinded by fear to see the truth!”

“Enough,” He screams, making Ming and her mother jump. He glared at her, “I won’t stop until they’re back where they belong! You’re either with us, or against us! With your family, or with them! Decide! Now!”

Rain poured down as Nayeon opened her front door. Her brother, mother, father and uncles all about to have dinner as the doorbell rang. Her eyes widen as she looked at Ming, completely soaked with two bags over her shoulders.

“Ming,” Nayeon says, pulling her in from the storm and wrapping her arms around her friend. It didn’t matter that she was soaking wet, it didn’t matter that her arrival was unannounced, what mattered is she was out in the storm.

Y/N peeked her head over, “Nayeon?”

Nayeon waved, “You all have dinner, OK? I’m going to take Ming so she can change.”

The conversation that followed was hard. Ming revealed that she stood up against her parents, against her father, and so they kicked her out over it. Ming never saw Yixing angry before, but now he was. He asked how someone could do that to their child. Everyone was upset at Lou Xia, more so than ever. Before they just saw him as a backward who was losing a fight. Now, it was personal.

Before they had dinner, Ming told Nayeon everything before going to shower and change. What Ming will never know is how, in the time she was in the shower, she went to her father, hugged him and sobbed. Nayeon had a tender heart, but only for those she cared about, so seeing someone she cares for hurting so much, over her… she cried and cried and cried.

Until she heard the water shut off. She pulled away from her father embrace, wiping her eyes, Nayeon put on a strong front for her friend. Her uncles hugged her and told her everything will be fine, and Nayeon knew that was true, but she also knew that, while Ming’s family wasn’t close, the pain was still deep.

After Ming ate with them and they had a wonderful time distracting her, she was awake in the middle of the night, her eyes watching as it continued to pour down. Silent tears feel from her face. She hasn’t slept at all.

A few hours ago, she overheard a conversation between Nayeon’s. They, who barely knew her, were going to take her in. Yixing patted her head affectionately, telling her that after Sehun, Luhan and Junmyeon left back to France, she could have a room all of her own here. Their kindness made her cry. Just a few years ago she was just like her parents, but Nayeon changed her. Changed her in more ways than one.

Xian peeked into his sister’s room, seeing them both asleep. He couldn’t sleep when his sister was so upset, and it was the other way around when he was. It’s like the one stays awake so the other can sleep through their sadness. He goes downstairs to the kitchen, seeing his Mother and Father there sitting at the bar in the kitchen. A mug in both of their hands and one next to them, steaming and waiting for him.

He smiles, “How did you-”

“Xian, we’re your parents,” Y/N says as he sits down, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

He grins, “Did you make this or did Dad?”

“I did,” Yixing says with a smile, “I make the best hot chocolate, after all.”

The room was silent as the rain was pouring, thunder shaking the house a bit.

“I can’t stop feeling it,” Xian says, after finishing his mug. “She’s so worried about Ming… When she’s upset, I can feel it. Normally she’s only this upset over one of us.”

Y/N smiles, “Xian, you can’t be that stupid.”

“What,” he asks, throwing his hands in the air. Yixing stood, taking his mug and his son’s over to the sink as he just shook his head at his son. “Am I missing something?”

“And to think, he says he knows Nayeon better than us,” Yixing says with a smile as he makes quick work of washing them.

Y/N laughs, “I know! Who knew he would be so clueless about something that fairly obvious.”

Xian pouted, “Alright, I get it. I’m an idiot.”

“Not all the time,” Yixing says, placing the mugs in a drying rack.

Y/N passes her mug to Yixing with a smile, “I mean, we knew for ages and yet he doesn’t see it at all?”

Xian shakes his head, his hair falling into his face, “Please tell me?”

Y/N places a hand on her son’s, “My little angel, my little, clueless angel. Your sister is in love.”