So, not all of the kids are in this but this is how old they would be if they were. Look at them all… they’re so grown up. It’s a liittle scary.

Minseok: 23

Luhan: 23

Joonmyun and Jongdae: 21

Baekhyun: 19

Chanyeol: 17

Tao: 17

Sehun: 16

Hayoung: almost 15

Jiejun: 13

Baekhyun was setting the table when he heard the front door open then close. Then he heard the thump, thump, thump of footsteps on the stairs and the sound of a door upstairs being slammed shut. He knew that Sehun was at dance class and wouldn’t be home for another half hour at least and Chanyeol was upstairs in his room already so unless his dad was back from work and having some kind of teenage tantrum, something he found very unlikely there was only one person the elephant on the stairs could have been. With a sigh he finished laying down the cutlery and made for the door. He should probably go and talk to her, find out what was up. Joonmyun and Jongdae were coming home for the weekend and Minseok was going to be popping in too. It was the first time in forever they’d be having dinner as a family and he knew how much their mum was looking forward to it. The last thing he wanted was for Hayoung’s bad mood to spoil it.

…………. ………….

When he reached Hayoung’s room he was met by the sight of his baby sister lying face down on her bed her face hidden in her pillow. Her shoulders were bunched and as he watched she gave a muffled scream and began beating her socked feet against the bedcovers like a toddler having a meltdown. Biting back a smile Baekhyun cleared his throat.

Hayoung stopped kicking the bed and muttered a “Go away“ into her pillow.

“If you tell me what’s wrong then I might.” Baekhyun told her, closing the door behind him and taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

“I don’t want to.” She mumbled.

“I’m not going anywhere until you do.” Baekhyun told her, unable to hide his amusement. She was adorable when she was sulking.

“You’re going to be there a while then.” Hayoung retorted, turning her head so she could level a glare at him. “Because I don’t want to talk about it.” Then she went back to hiding her face in her pillow.

Baekhyun didn’t bother to argue with her, he simply shuffled back further onto the bed and made himself comfortable. He knew his little sister. It wouldn’t be long until she cracked and told him everything.

And sure enough, not two minutes later, she was rolling over onto her side and turning to look at him. “Oppa…” she said quietly, “… what kind of girls do boys really like? They can’t all like super girly girls, can they?”

It wasn’t very often that Baekhyun was lost for words. “Um…” he said, not knowing what to say. Hayoung sounded so unsure of herself and that wasn’t like her at all. And he wanted to fix it, he just didn’t know how, what boys liked about girls… well it wasn’t really his area of expertise. “… I think you’re asking the wrong person.” He told her. “I’ve never really thought about girls that way.”

“I know that.” Hayoung said with a roll of her eyes. “Buy you know boys who do, don’t you? You have friends. And if girls don’t act like proper girls, do they really hate it that much?”

“Where is this coming from?” Baekhyun asked her, still not sure what to say. He didn’t know what a proper girl was. He didn’t think there was such a thing. People were people and they were all different. The idea that you could be a ‘proper’ girl or a ‘proper’ boy was just ridiculous.

“It’s just something that happened on the way home.” Hayoung told him with a sigh, sitting up so she could talk to him properly. “I was walking back with Yerin and we turned the corner and a couple of idiots were teasing Jihoon. Apparently, he should be embarrassed about being shorter than them but since he’s smarter than them I think he’s winning.”

“I think you’re right.” Baekhyun agreed. He’d said it to Chanyeol before when they’d been arguing, it was far better to be short and smart than tall and dumb. Chanyeol would then point out he was top of his class in most subjects so that argument didn’t really work but it was one of his favourite insults so Baekhyun was happy to ignore that.

“Anyway…” Hayoung said, carrying on with her story, “… I told them they were just jealous because Jihoon’s super smart and the pair of them can barely tie their own shoelaces. Then I told them to quit bothering him and leave him alone and one of them went ‘Oh how cute, your girlfriend’s sticking up for you!’ And Jihoon got all red and told them I wasn’t his girlfriend.”

“Well you’re not.” Baekhyun pointed out, wondering why his sister sounded so offended. The boy was only telling the truth.

“I know. I’m not delusional.” Hayoung exclaimed, levelling another glare at him. “But he didn’t have to sound so horrified by the thought. It just… it didn’t help you know? Because Idiot One was already all ‘Of course she isn’t. Who’d want her as a girlfriend?’ And Idiot Two had to jump in with ‘Yeah, no one wants a girlfriend who’s manlier than they are.’ If Yerin hadn’t dragged me away I think I would have hit someone. But she did. And she said not to listen to them… but… what if they’re right?” she asked, voice going quiet again as she came to end of her rant.

“They’re idiots, you said so yourself.” Baekhyun reminded her, a little disappointed that she hadn’t actually hit anyone. That would have made for a far better story. He was even more disappointed that he hadn’t been there to stick up for her. He might have ended up hitting someone himself, whoever they were those s deserved more than a punch for talking to his sister that way.

“Well yes,” Hayoung admitted, “they are pretty stupid but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I mean I’m nearly fifteen and no one’s ever asked me out. Not ever. Maybe I do act like too much like a boy, maybe that’s why I’ve never had a boyfriend. Being a tomboy is cute when you’re little but when you get older it just means boys see you as another boy.”

Baekhyun would be perfectly happy if she stayed boyfriend free for the rest of her life but he doubted that was what she wanted to hear. So instead he said “I’m a boy, and that hasn’t stopped me from getting a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend who wants a boyfriend.” Hayoung told him, shoving at his thigh with her foot, but as annoyed as she sounded there was a hint of a smile on her face. “I’d quite like a boyfriend who wants a girlfriend thank you very much.”

“I don’t see why.” Baekhyun told her. “Having a boyfriend isn’t that great. They take up all your free time and they say stupid things when you’re already in a bad mood. I think you’re better off without one to be honest.”

“Says the person with a boyfriend.” Hayoung huffed.

“Yes.” Baekhyun told her. “So that means I know what I’m talking about. Having a boyfriend is way more hassle than it’s worth sometimes. They can be really demanding.”

“Do you want me to tell Jaehwan Oppa that?” Hayoung asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“You can tell him if you want.” Bakehyun said, unconcerned. He’d been friends with Jaehwan long enough to know he wouldn’t take it seriously. “I’m sure he thinks the same thing about me.”

“Yeah…” Hayoung agreed and he smile was back, “… I’m sure being your boyfriend can get pretty stressful. You’re hard work.”

“Hey.” Baekhyun protested, throwing a cushion in her direction. He was a little disappointed when she ducked, and it hit the wall behind her instead. “I am not hard work.” He was a pleasure to be around and he refused to believe otherwise.

Hayoung gave a snort of disbelief. “You’re a nightmare.” She countered.

“I think what you meant to say was ‘you’re a delight’.” Baekhyun told her, refusing to give in. “And if you actually want my help I want to hear it.”

“Fine.” Hayoung said, the teenage eye roll making an