After hours of playing on the beach, they returned to the beach house and washed up. Stepping out into the patio, Seungcheol finally set up everything for a nice barbecue. Grill plus fire, check. Meat and shrimps, check. Lettuce and rice, check. Finally tools, check. Nothing better than being completely prepared. Patting himself on a job well done organizing his work space, he began grilling the meat. He's not those crazy rich kids who don't know how to cook and rely on maids for everything, no. He has friends like Joshua and Soonyoung connecting him to common culture. 

.....Okay, so he knows about grills and had cooked for his friends a few times, .....just a few. .........He doesn't have much practice. Once he started smelling the meat burn, Jihoon was already at his side snatching the tongs away, ripping the meat off the grill before they turned to charcoal. 

Fine. He can't cook. 

Wonwoo enticed the kids to laugh at how bad he was. "That's right, I'm not the best when it comes to cooking. Big deal." He scoffs throwing his hands up in mock surrender. Jihoon only gave him a shaky pat on the shoulder and took over grilling. Once most of the meat has been cooked, they set the table and placed the children in their respective seats. 

Dishing out rice and veggies for the children, cutting the meat into tiny pieces for the younger ones, Wonwoo took care of the children quickly. Seungcheol watched as Jihoon and Wonwoo tame the kitchen and dining space (patio) efficiently and effectively. It was one of those moments when Seungcheol gets to see how capable and mature the two teens were(again). Jihoon could take care of the six children by himself; cooking, cleaning, playing, tucking in to bed, all of the above, a bonafide parent. Someone Seungcheol wants to be later in life. Then there was Wonwoo, judging by how he reacts to the children, he's also very experienced at childcare, a bonafide uncle. He lost a few points when Chan had to go to the hospital and they came back to a messy house. 

Don't tell Wonwoo, Seungcheol doesn't mean any harm. He also learned that Wonwoo doesn't do seafood. Another unreasonable reason to knock some points of Wonwoo to make himself feel better. 

Seungcheol took it upon himself to help feed the little ones when they struggled to pick up their food, taking bites in between. Wonwoo just watches in amusement as the kids accidentally hit the spoon or fork away when playing around. He decided to help him out a bit, scolding the children. "Cha, cha, come on babies and children. If you want to keep playing, please eat your food. It hurts Seungcheol hyung's feelings when you ignore your food. Riiiiigggghhhht?" He threw the baton. Flustered at the sudden attention, Seungcheol's mouth opened and closed trying to form an answer. 

"I- you-it's....." When the children suddenly look worriedly at him, a total of 5 pairs of glittering eyes staring waiting for his response. Did 7 children always feel so pressuring? Giving up, he decided to get on their level. 

"Yes... when I was trying feed cute Seokminie a spoon of his rice, he flailed his arms and hit the spoon away. When I saw that Seokminie wasn't paying attention to me I felt very sad." Guilt tripping. A sure win. Turning to the side and ducking his head, he sighed continuing with his act. 

"It's okay, I understand you children want to play, I'll just sit here patiently and eat my food." Looks like the children don't fall for it that easy.... Last step, bribery.  "I'll also eat the ice cream by myself since nobody wants to eat anymore...." He finished with a cute scrub of his face. Wonwoo gagged. Jihoon wasn't paying attention. The children all frantically dropped their toys on the table and picked up their utensils shoveling food into their mouths. 

"Cheol hyungie!!! Look!! We are eating our dinner!!!" Seokmin shoved his spoon back into Seungcheol's hand pulling his hand over his bowl. "Hurry, Cheol hyung, hurry feed me!!!" He yelled frantically. Wonwoo escaped to the sidelines laughing so hard his entire body rocked. "PFFTT---c-come on Cheol hyung, f-feed the poor boy." He teased, choking on his laughter along the way. Jihoon just watched on occasionally fixing Chan's bottle and scooping meat and rice into his own mouth.

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Seungcheol and Wonwoo stood side by side at the sink, working together to wash the dishes as Jihoon cleared the table. Wonwoo soaped the dish and handed it off to Seungcheol to wash when Seungcheol yawned. Snickering at this hyung, Wonwoo decided that Seungcheol would be a subject of teasing for the rest of the trip. 

"Hyung, you already tired? You've only spent a day with them." He chuckled teasingly. Seungcheol scrunched up his face, glaring out the window in front of them, double eye lids looking deeper from fatigue. "I'm not tired. Who's tired? Not me." He nudged Wonwoo to hurry the washing. 

"Sure hyung. That yawn was out of boredom not lack of energy." Seungcheol groaned in response leading Wonwoo to flat out laugh. They continued to work away a the dishes when Jihoon handed them the grill, the charcoal already scrubbed off. "When did you get the time to scrub the grill?" Seungcheol asked, the tone of his voice raised at the end out of incredulity. 

Jihoon blinked at him before shoving the grill into his hands and walking off. Wonwoo just snickered at his hyung's confusion. 

"Hyung, you have to know that the world doesn't stop when you do. It keeps going and going." Rolling his shoulders a bit, he sighed in satisfaction. 

"Jihoon has been a fast worker since he had all 6 of his little brothers. He has always put them first, everything for them before him. Sometimes I forget that he has a condition. He just seems like a normal boy." Seungcheol nodded, agreeing that Jihoon was just as normal as every other boy, even more because of his responsibilities. Wonwoo reminisces, his eyes a faraway look. "I only remember it when he gets stuck in social interactions and school work. If nobody said a word, he would have been just an awkwardly shy boy who's a tiny bit slow." Seungcheol nodded, urging Wonwoo to continue. Anything about the boys would be good information for the future. 

"I though there was a student confidentiality contract -thing. Personal information shouldn't have been given out, I'm sure you and him wouldn't have said anything. Did someone else know?" Seungcheol asked. He hasn't been in school for a while, but school policies shouldn't have changed that much. Wonwoo soaped the grill and handed it over, elbows propped on the counter, fingers dripping suds into the sink. He hesitated to tell, but Seungcheol was very understanding, different from other adults they've encountered. 

"There was a teacher. He wasn't too keen on the idea of having an autistic student in is normal classroom. He flat out called him out in class, and it spread by word from there." Taking the grill back from Seungcheol's stilled hands, he finished washing it and placed it on the drying rack. "Jihoon got switched out from that teacher but the office though that Jihoon was doing well in the normal classes, not autistic 'enough' to be put in the special class. From there, Jihoon got picked on for being him. From the stutter to the fidgeting fingers, he was bullied." Wonwoo wiped his hands dry on a towel before handing it to Seungcheol to do the same. Dropping his head, he looked up at Seungcheol through his bangs and Seungcheol's heart drops. Wonwoo's eyes were serious, a sad smile on his lips. The light and laughter from earlier felt like an illusion. Wonwoo opened his mouth to continue, but stopped. Taking a shaky breath, he shut his empty eyes. "I hate seeing Jihoon hurt."