Kissmas Fun

02

By the time everyone got done with the hugging, introductions and general sort out of who was staying where and in which ‘room’ – which were individual little huts or shacks that covered the vast majority of one end of large Onsen complex – it was getting on late into the night and it was generally agreed that the best course of action was to have supper and then go to bed. Most of the younger ones didn’t even make it as far as supper and were bundled off to bed by concerned parents and elder siblings. “What time do we have to be up tomorrow?” Jongki yawned towards Bradley as they headed towards the elders house since he was actually staying in his old bedroom as his own little house was currently getting the roof redone.

Bradley frowned towards him, lifting a sleeping Saki higher up onto his hips, “What are you twittering about now?”

“Your family has a bunch of traditions and you have to get up early or something?” Jongki mumbled, half-leaning against his mother, “I remember something about that.”

His mother chuckled gently, “Oh those. Jongki that doesn’t start until late on the 23^rd and tomorrow is the 22^nd.”

“So tomorrow is officially a lazy day for everyone,” his father supplied with a grin, “Including you.”

Jongki nodded and leaned more heavily on his parents and they mock complained as they guided him to the shack that had been designated as theirs. It took no time for him to get changed into his pyjamas and then he was sparked out within mere seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

~

“And then he went skidding along and I just couldn’t stop laughing myself silly,” Jaeshik grinned towards his elder sister who was in the process of trying to comb his hair ash within mere moments of them being back together she had started complaining about it and for once Jae was letting her fuss and faff on because it had been far too long since he had seen the pair of them and it just felt so good in so many ways.

Jaemi sighed, shaking her head, “Honestly, what are you lot like? Seriously I’m beginning to worry about your health if you keep on going like this Jaeshik.”

Jaehyun snorted lightly into his coffee, “Sis hate to point it out to you but our little Jaeshik is a magnet for trouble.”

“I am not,” Jae pouted cutely which just earned him a roll of the elders eyes though it was clear that he was just having as much fun, “Plus I get more than enough whining from Bradley as is so don’t make me have to go and get him to prove my point.”

The elder brother and sister shared a knowing look between them but it landed to Jaehyun to ask the question, “So how are things going between you two then?”

“Excuse me?” Jaeshik blinked, not having expected for the conversation to be suddenly side-tracked like that.

Giggling Jaemi tugged Jaeshik back so that she could tackle a more tatty section of hair, “Yes, the infamous Brad who you wouldn’t stop talking about at one point because-”

Jaeshik pulled away, slightly blushing, “No...There’s nothing he’s a band mate.”

His elder brother cracked a grin, “Oh really now?”

“Yes really,” Jae glared at the other, trying to ignore the fact that Jaemi was giggling insanely behind him, “Brad’s a band mate and that’s that.”

“And the flirt-machine is activated purely for fan service?” damn he was caught out there, “Hmm, what do you think Jaemi, does our little brother has just the tiniest possibility of a crush?”

“No...No way I don’t...” Jaeshik stammered way too much which caused Jaemi to hug him from behind.

“Methinks you’re protesting too much,” she giggled charmingly in his ear.

Jaeshik squirmed, knowing that he was caught but determined to prove otherwise, “Methinks you are barking up the completely wrong tree, noona.”

“What’s Bradley’s favourite food?” Jaehyun asked

“Cookies,” Jae said without hesitation.

“And his favourite colour?” Jaemi asked straight afterwards

“Purple though he cannot pull it off in the slightest,” Jaeshik grinned, knowing how badly Bradley hated that.

Jaemi got in with the next question, “and what makes him really sad?”

Jaeshik grimaced, “Talking about anything to do with his daughter’s mother.”

Jaehyun winked towards his sister as he came up with the last question, “And what is his most charming quality?”

The youngest paused for a second, “The fact that he’s so caring and nice and....” suddenly he turned beetroot red and let out a groan before hiding his face in his hands.

“Oh it’s a crush,” both Jaemi and Jaehyun said together, laughing loudly and hugging the boy despite his protests that it was not in the slightest but he had to love the fact that he still had that closeness to his family. Though he was so going to get them back...when he got up in the morning as tiredness rolled up on him suddenly like a brick wall and sent him crashing to sleep not five minutes afterwards. He refused to acknowledge it was the fact that Jaemi was now brushing his hair, which had always made him sleepy as a child and apparently it still worked on him to this day.

~

“Wait so you’re telling me that you lived in Santri House?” Sunwoo blinked towards Sang in total surprise since both sets of parents had got talking and had realised that they had far more in common with one another than anyone would have expected given their different circumstances.

Sang nodded, “Yeah. Only for a couple of months before I moved onto Kaprika where I met Gion Appa eventually.”

“Small world,” Sunwoo grinned, leaning back on his seat.

“Very,” Sang grinned, “It’s cool that I met one of your sisters briefly. Oh watch out.”

“Yunyun!” three voices said in total unison as Santzu, Sanmi and Sazui latched onto their elder brother with a fierce determination, “Bedtime, come on.”

Rolling to try and get the three hyper girls off of him, Sang ended up knocking into one of the chairs and sending it skittering which caused Sunwoo to grimace slightly but a chuckle caused him to look up. “Oh everything’s getting back to normal in the mad house,” Juemai, Sang’s adopted mother said with a fond grin, “It’s not the same without the lot of them crashing around the place, making a noise and breaking something. Though hopefully not themselves cause that would just put a damper on everything.”

“You aren’t going to try and break it up?” Sunwoo asked, blinking towards the woman who smiled wholeheartedly back at him.

“No way,” she shook her head, “Those four are the biggest set of mischief makers going and I am not getting dragged into their fun and games.”

There came a deeper chuckle, “Sounds like Sunwoo could do with learning a trick or two from them,” Hyunso, Sunny’s older brother, said as he smothered the other in a hug, “He’s always so serious with the babies that he could do with a good set of play.”

In retaliation, Sunwoo jabbed him in the side, “I have enough troubles keeping him in line as is. I don’t need to be playing any more thank you ever so much.”

“Oh stop being a grouch, Sunny,” Sang said, amazingly able to pull himself upright into a standing position with all three of his sisters hanging off of him, “You should see him playing with Saki, it’s the most derpest and cutesy thing ever.”

Before Sunwoo would retaliate on that point, his own younger sisters latched onto him in a pure game of copy-cat and giggled, “Ha, we have the big brother!”

“Gah, Sang what have you done to my sisters? They used to be so well behaved,” Sunwoo complained but he was grinning infectiously because this situation was completely bonkers but he couldn’t have been happier if he tried.

Eventually the elder brothers managed to help to get the youngsters into bed to get to sleep, though the five girls had clearly made friends and were being little pests by swapping beds as someone had put them in rooms that had an adjoining window on them. The boys stayed up longer than most of the others, they learned later, chatting onto their relative adopted parents until they were shoved off to bed to sleep away their clear exhaustion.

~

“Now are we absolutely certain that we’ve just got Kyo this time or is Sora due an appearance,” asked Bumu as he set himself down at his laptop with the hopes of getting the wifi signal strong enough so that they could contact Aira in America at a reasonable time for the now family man. Whilst he had been invited over to Korea, Aira was unable to make it across due to work commitments and becoming a father to a new baby girl whom Kyo had yet to meet.

Rolling his eyes skyward, Kyo glared at his second eldest brother, “I’ve already said that I don’t know, I don’t arrange a schedule or anything with her you know.”

“Oh Kyo, he’s just winding you up,” Kai, his only sister said, hugging him fondly, “Bumu’s just being a pest because he feels like he hasn’t had the excuse to be one for a while. That or he’s trying to replace Aira and failing completely because of it.”

Kyo chuckled, “That figures. I hope that someone remembered to actually bring Sora’s stuff though just in case she makes an appearance...she’ll throw a right strop otherwise.”

Bumu was about to comment on the whole situation but opted instead to focus on getting Skype working before anyone else could complain at him all the more. Of course he was overjoyed to be getting to spend Christmas with virtually everyone in his family, discounting out their eldest brother, but he liked getting to annoy everyone for once and not having to be the realistic one.

“It still marvels me how you two can be completely separate yet you share the same body,” Haneul, Kyo’s father said with a grin, “Not that I’m complaining of course. It’s just a little strange.”

Shrugging, the boy just smiled winningly towards the elder man, “I don’t know how to explain it either and Sora would probably just prattle on at you as she’s inclined to do most of the time.”

“Aha! Guys, we have a working connection!” Bumu pronounced and the family quickly hurried across to the laptop.

Aira grinned back at them from the screen, “Hello Korea! How’s our bonny little lass then?”

“She’s asleep!” Kyo said playfully towards Aira, sticking his tongue out at the other, “And not liable to turn up anytime soon”

“Oh so it is out boisterous Kyo then? Couldn’t tell with that mop of hair of yours,” he chuckled loudly at the pout which Kyo sent his way but it was all just part of the teasing, “Anyways, want to meet the newest addition to the family?”

They all chorused ‘Yes’ together and Aira blinked before picking up the web-cam and moving it to reveal his wife Henrietta and their beautiful new daughter who sleepily blinked at them from the arms of her mother.

“Awww, she’s so cute!” Hyesang chimed, making grabby hands towards the screen, “I want to hug her now. Why do I have to wait another year?”

Aira rolled his eyes but it was Kyo who responded first, “Mum, you can’t take a new born on a forty-eight hour flight. It was pretty tiring for me and I did it in several stages.”

“Oh my little lammy!” Kyo realised a little late that he had said slightly the wrong thing towards his mother, “I’m sorry I forgot all about that. Here, let me hug you.”

Letting out a puff of air, Kyo rolled his eyes, “I was talking about the sub-unit stuff actually but I’ll take a hug anytime off you, Umma!”

The Skype conversation went on for a long while but Kyo stopped paying attention after about half an hour when his eyelids began to get heavy and he snuggled up cutely against his mother who was perfectly happy to have him by her side once again.   

~

“Do you want to go to bed Mummy?” Kyung asked sweetly as he heard Satato yawn loudly and guessed that it was getting pretty late for her, “I don’t mind you know.”

His mother smiled and caught his swatting hands which were playing with her hair as much as possible like he used to do when he was a squirming child, “I know that Kyunnie but it’s been so long since I’ve last seen you that I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

Kyung smiled and giggled at that notion, “But I don’t want you to exhaust yourself either. I did enough of that when I was little and it’s not fair to expect it now.”

“Wow,” his father chided from the sofa, already in his pyjamas, “I didn’t realise just how much you had grown up Kyung.”

The dancer virtually leapt upright to a sitting position and grinned at his Dad, “It’s called having lots of donseng’s and Saki to look after. Can’t be annoying them at all hours of the night. But seriously, if you want to sleep I understand. I’ll be up for a while yet cause I want to go for a run or something and tire myself out.”

Satato blinked, “You still get the nightmares sweetie?”

Kyung nodded honestly towards her, playing with the threads in the carpet which were a pretty colour to his eyes, “Yup. But not as frequently anymore cause I’m usually really tired out. I still have a night light on though just in case and if we’re not on promotions or anything they’ll creep up worse but I don’t want to have you up all night worrying about me.”

The mother sighed towards her son and flung her arms around him, “Oh Kyunnie, I worry about you regardless. You’re such a sweet boy, I don’t always like seeing you on that stage because it reminds me of just how much older you are.”

Kyung just chuckled, “Mummy, the guys nickname me Puppy for a reason you know.”

“Oh Kyung, you should hear her going on about you at home,” Eu-uk smiled towards his son, “She worries that you’re going to fall and hurt yourself one of these days. I keep on telling her that you’re not that clumsy little boy of ours anymore but she won’t have it.”

“Don’t listen to Daddy, Kyunnie, he’s blowing everything out of proportion once again,” Satato said before yawning really long and hard which earned her a deep chuckle.

Kyung shook her head, “Mummy, we’ve got Christmas to spend together and plenty of time to catch up. I know the journey from Seoul is long, I did it earlier today and we went further than what you did so if you’re sleepy go to bed.”

“Oh how the tables have turned,” Eu-uk said, ruffling his son’s long hair, “I remember when it used to be a case of coxing you to go to bed.”

The dancer grinned happily, “Jongki jokes that he still has to do that to me now, Daddy. But seriously, go to bed if you want to, like I said before I’ll have to go for a run or something cause I fell asleep in the van on the way here and I’ll be up for an long while yet.”

Satato sighed, “Okay, we get the point. Oh you’re so grown up now but you’ll still be my baby regardless of how life goes for you.” She gave him a great big kiss and a hug before making her way to the bedroom to get changed.

Kyung pulled himself upright, wondering if anyone would have remembered to bring Octo-Kitty with them just in case doing a full run of the complex didn’t tire him out completely. However Eu-uk clapped him on the shoulder, “You doing all right though, aren’t you Kyung?”

“Better than all right,” Kyung smiled happily towards the man, a very toothy grin as was his trademark.

“No troubles from you-know-who?” whilst normally he wouldn’t dare to ask such things, Eu-uk was curious and knew that Satato would want to know as well.

For a second or two Kyung looked deflated but he shook his head, “Nope. Not a peep out of him and to be truthful if there had been I would have punched him on the end of his nose and splattered it all across his face.”

Eu-uk chuckled, “Good to know. Any future possibilities I should be aware of?”

A smirk crossed Kyung’s face, one that his father recognised as the other keeping a secret which would not be told to anyone but his eyes sparkled a little, “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know.”

Nodding, the father hugged his son fondly, ruffled his hair and made his way to bed in order to sleep off the four hour train journey that they had taken that day. Kyung waited for half-an-hour before he heard the distinct sounds of his parents snoozing away before slipping into his own room and digging through his bags until he found what he wanted. There was Octo-Kitty, Kuso really was a fantastic manager indeed and turning the toy over, Kyung carefully opened the small zip section he had added himself a few months ago.

A fan pendant fell out onto his fingers and he smiled, gently running his thumb over the fine detailing before gently clasping it in both hands and holding it over his heart, eyes closed as he sent a love filled message telepathically. Normally after this little routine he would simply return the locket-style pendant to the protective depths of Octo-Kitty and go back but tonight the dancer paused and opened it, stealing a glance at a smile which he had fallen in love with very quickly. Gently he sighed, “Why can’t I just tell you? Why do I have to keep you to myself in the dark...Jinny...” placing a kiss on the picture, Kyung held the fan pendant closer to himself for a few longer seconds and then hid it back inside Octo-Kitty. Quickly changing, he grabbed his music player and set off on a run to clear his head and be able to fully sleep the night aware without bringing any bad dreams to anyone.

~

“I’m sorry that you’ve got to stay in the main house,” Annie said as she led Kiyeol and Kibum up the stairs, “But house rules still apply and since you’re both still underage we’ve got to keep you here.”

Kiyeol smiled, “It’s okay, Annie...Aunty,” he quickly corrected himself, “I understand.”

“In a few months time you’ll be able to have your own little shack,” Annie continued to prattle on, “But you’ll be in Bradley’s old room for now.”

“My room?” Bradley frowned as he exited what Kiyeol guessed to be Saki’s bedroom, “Where am I sleeping then?”

“The attic,” Shaun grinned, ducking under a nearby doorframe, “We finally found the key to it. Would’ve put Saki in there with you but Annie was worried about the stairs being too much for her.”

Bradley grinned back, “Nice one Dad,” and then turned to Kiyeol to give him a hug, “You’ll be okay in mine. Mum will have cleaned it ten times over so it’ll be fine and nothing embarrassing for you to find either so don’t even try.”

Kiyeol grinned, “Hey, I’m not entirely like Sunny and Sang you know, Mama Bear.”

Annie let out a laugh at hearing that nickname and Bradley sighed, gave Kiyeol one last hug and gave one to Kibum as well before heading off to bed himself as he let out a yawn which indicated just how tired he was in the grand scheme of everything.

The two younger brothers were led along another set of corridors, it was a running joke that the Eun family lived in a Tardis which Kiyeol had only just managed to get the actual meaning of, and then into the room that would be theirs for the duration of the stay. It was a fairly decent size, even with the addition of an inflatable bed which he took out of nothing more than habit.

Kibum blinked quietly for a few seconds before suddenly launching himself at his elder brother and wrapping him in a hug which sent them both tumbling to the extra mattress with a thump. “Whoa!” Kiyeol couldn’t help but be surprised by the move, “Bummie? What was that for?”

“Cause I miss you,” the boy said, clinging tightly onto Kiyeol as though his life depended on it, “I don’t like seeing the way that she treats you. It’s not fair,” little snivel’s were escaping from the boy now, “It’s like she doesn’t even want you around anymore. I asked if you could come home for my birthday and she said that I wasn’t allowed to because she didn’t want you there. It’s not fair, she won’t tell me what happened to make her hate you so much either but if I say anything about it then Shinhyun just starts going on and I have no choice but to...”

“Bummie,” Kiyeol said, trying to hold back his tears as he embraced the boy, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault and you shouldn’t feel this way. Not in the slightest.”

“But I want you in my life and she won’t let me even see you,” the youngster was whining now but Kiyeol didn’t have to heart to tell him off, “I mean, even when I’m allowed to talk to you on the phone she’s so horrible to you before hand and I don’t like it. She shouldn’t be like that. Why is she like that?”

“I don’t know,” Kiyeol sighed, running his fingers through the boys hair, “I really don’t, Kibum.” For a second or two there was silence between them before a thought struck the maknae-turned-hyung, “Bummie, how are you here? If she wouldn’t let me come home for your birthday how come she let you come here for Christmas?”

The youngster bit at his lip and looked a little on the uneasy side for a few seconds, a clear sign that he had done something wrong. “What did you do, Jang Kibum?” Kiyeol asked, thinking that he sounded really grown up for once.

“Told her that school had arranged an special trip to a remote location for study purposes,” Kibum looked more than a little devilish, “Aunty Annie helped me out with that cover story and met me off the train and everything.”

“Didn’t she suspect?” Kiyeol knew that his mother was a swine for double checking everything down to the last detail so that nothing could go amiss.

Kibum gently shook his head, “No. Strangely now that I think about it...there again I think she was just happy to get rid of me over Christmas.” More tears were in Kibum’s eyes and Kiyeol hugged him tighter, wondering just how on Earth they had been so unlucky to land possibly the world’s worse mother.

Gently the boy sighed, before wiping his own tears away, “Ne, Kibum...we shouldn’t be crying right now should we?”

“Why?” Kibum asked, shifting so that he could look up at his big brother more easily.

Kiyeol smiled, “We get to spend Christmas with Aunty Annie and her family, along with Mama Bear and Saki and Jongki and all the rest...plus we’re together too this Christmas and that has to be the best thing ever right? I mean...next year I’ll be eighteen and can break away from that woman and him...if you want I can see about getting you out too.”

The boy blinked, “Getting me out?”

The elder brother nodded, “Yeah. I can file for custody legally I think...” his words were cut short by Kibum latching onto his neck and restarting his tears. It was something that Kiyeol had been thinking about recently, especially after having some of Saki’s case files dragged up when her mother had tried to get in contact with the girl but Bradley had firmly put his foot down and said no. Thankfully he had the paperwork to back up his words so there was nothing that could be done otherwise but it had been a tense time.

Though the eldest of R-Star had said that when Saki was old enough to make her own choices then she could contact her mother independently if she wanted to do so because he would not stop her. When asked her opinion on the matter, Saki had said that she didn’t like her mother and had more fun with her Daddy and Oppas.

More tears were shed between the brothers and they fell asleep where they lay, in one another’s arms, just enjoying the company of the other which for a time they had thought they had lost.

~

“Yah! I’m not a pin-cushion!” Jin exclaimed towards his younger sister, Jinri who was trying to fix a rip in his shirt which had been caused by a slightly over-enthusiastic tackle hug from the girl when they had met up again.

“It’d be easier if you would just take it off, Oppa,” Jinri exclaimed, shaking her head, “I promise that I’m not going to add anything to it, I just want to fix it.”

Jin stuck his tongue out at the girl, “You just want to try and get fan service shots of me more like.” A bright red t-shirt hit him squarely in the face and he peeled it off hurriedly to glare playfully at his mother, “Ya! What was that for?”

“Just give her the shirt so that she can fix it and put that one on instead,” the woman replied with a genteel smirk, “honestly for someone who goes around showing their body off most of the time you turn into a right prude when you’re at home Jinseok.” Richie always had a way with words that made her son smile like a cunning fox and it was a shock to realise just how much he missed it in the grand scheme of things.

He still stuck his tongue out at her rudely when he had finished swapping tops, “I do not. It’s just a bit creepy when you’re younger sister wants to take photos of you without a top on.”

Jinri battered him around the head with a pillow, “That was one time and I didn’t know you were going to be a model. How embarrassed do you think I was putting up with all the rest of the girls after that? It was frigging annoying!”

“Yeah yeah,” Jinseok tickled the girl to make her drop her needle and thread, “I bet.”

Jinri responded by pouncing back on him to tickle him in return, “The amount of confession letters and chocolates that were given to me was stupid! I had to throw them all away...well except the chocolate. That was pretty tasty.”

“Hey, no fair,” Jinseok immediately replied, “That was my chocolate. Why didn’t you give it to me.”

The girl gave him a look, “Because you were off with the company you don’t like talking about at that time and there was no way that I could carry it all! So I had to eat it. Plus it would have only made you more fat and lazy so nay!”

Toumri sighed and glanced towards his wife lovingly, “And here we were expecting to get a quiet Christmas.”

Richie rolled her eyes up towards her husband, “You really expect quiet with Jinri and Jinseok around? You have more chance of finding all the Lego bricks in one place than that happening.”

“You brought Lego?” Jinseok said, sitting upright immediately only to be tackled into a play fight with his sister that was inevitable with the way that they usually carried on with one another.

Eventually though, the singer began to tire and ended up curled up on the floor in front of the television watching some dumb show which his parents had put on. He wasn’t entirely sure of the plot, nor who was who but it was nice to just have a few minutes of normal family time with them. He didn’t notice when he actually fell asleep, nor did he stir when he was picked up and carried to bed like a child. All Jin knew was that he was exhausted and needed to sleep for a really long time. But what was nicely different about tonight was that he could feel the warmth of his family around him, feel the love that they all shared for one another and that was a good enough security blanket to see him through the night.

Though at one point he was sure that he woke up for a few seconds and that there was someone staring at him with loving eyes at his bedroom window but he quickly fell back into the realms of sleep and remained there, content and safe for the first time in a long while.