Taekwoon was on lock down. Seungho had called his sister. Jongdae and Hakyeon weren't allowed to come over, and Seungho was coming to check on him every hour.

Sure, it was his fault, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed. Did he really seem like the type to go out and get in trouble? Apparently his sisters thought so. He couldn't blame Seungho, he was just doing his job. If they were switched, he probably would have done the same.

Funny thing though, that Seungho had to call his sisters instead of his parents. Not like either would pick up anyway, but still.

Regardless of how well he understood Seungho's intentions or how his sisters were just worried, it didn't stop him from sulking on his couch for most of Saturday afternoon. He would have been in his room, but the kitchen was too far from there.

Seungho didn't take his phone (❝No point.❞) so Taekwoon kept getting messages from not only Jongdae and Hakyeon, but Luhan, Junhong, Minseok, and Himchan as well. The first two kept asking what happened last night and where he went after school, but Junhong and Luhan wanted to play soccer, Minseok was excited to show him where he worked, and Himchan was complaining about Jongup.

They were all getting a little too familiar with him.

Out of all of the messages, Jongdae's was the only one he even considered replying to. He seemed genuinely worried and Taekwoon almost felt the need to explain. It wasn't like anything happened after the movie.

When it was over and the six of them were outside the cinema, it was half-past eight. Ken and Hyuk wanted to go to the park. Not wanting to get for no one knowing where he was, Taekwoon told them that he was going to go home—but Hyuk and Ravi wanted him to stay, and even Hongbin pitched in a word for it. Hints of that frown Taekwoon was slowly deciding he didn't like were showing up on Ravi's face with him sensing rejection—and Taekwoon found he couldn't do anything but say yes.

He seemed to surprise Yongguk a lot that night.

They took a bus to a park that was just about eight blocks from Taekwoon's and two from where Ravi said he lived. Until he mentioned it, Taekwoon didn't think much about where Ravi or any of the others lived. He hadn't even seen any of them at school yet but thought the better of it, even though his questions were just piling up.

They ended up playing a few matches of three-on-three with Taekwoon's ball from his backpack; the three oldest against the three youngest. By the way Ken was always acting, Taekwoon thought he was younger than Ravi, so it was a surprise when it was him, Yongguk, and Ken on the same team versus Hongbin, Ravi, and Hyuk.

Ravi, it turned out, was a lot better than Taekwoon gave him credit for—and when his competitive side started showing, his jacket came off, his pants were rolled up, and the match soon just became the both of them with the other four defending goals.

He wouldn't admit it, but it was kind of a good time.

It was just past midnight when he finally checked his phone and realized what time it was.

Seungho had just stared at him and his dirty clothes when he stood in his living room forty-five minutes later.

Taekwoon had to stay in his house all weekend.

He was completely bored. The last three weeks had been oddly filled with forced socialization and people being constantly around him and forcing their way into talking to him. He didn't like that it had become so regular that now, while he was sitting in solitude—something he used to treasure—he felt like he had nothing to do other than sulk around because Seungho wouldn't let him leave. He wondered if he told Hakyeon and Jongdae not to come over either.

He decided to message Yixing.

Yixing already knew he was in trouble and went as far as chiding Taekwoon for it, annoying the hell out of him. Still, as much as Yixing annoyed him with his overbearing mothering, he was also the only person who could make him feel guilty about his behavior—and Yixing knew everything that happened over the last three weeks.

Taekwoon stared at the last sent message on the screen.

Yixing was just . . . being dumb. Taekwoon wasn't rebelling against anyone—kids did that against their parents. His life was currently void of parents. And his sisters taught him better than to give non-family a hard time when that non-family was looking after him. And he liked his sisters more than his parents—why would he want to give them a hard time?

The tangy scent of his tea floated through the apartment and he set down his phone, walking to the kitchen. The hot liquid touched his tongue and spilled down the back of his throat, his body feeling less tense just moments later and his shoulders slumped. He didn't realize how stiff he was until he was rolling out his shoulders and stretching his back, but it wasn't surprising since he'd sat around (moping) all day.

Fingers tapped at the counter as he waited for another message from Yixing that would probably be patronizing. He scoffed. Rebelling . . .

There was no one to rebel against.