Jinyoung, as cliché as it seemed had trouble falling asleep that night. He and the rest of the family had driven Jaebum to the airport yesterday to see him off before he went to Guam for a few days to film his new drama. Jinyoung had spent decades sleeping in beds alone and slept perfectly fine but he had gotten too used to the warmth of Jaebum's body to be able to just get over it. But around one in the morning he had managed to will himself to sleep. And now at seven in the morning construction had begun. He was woken and unable to get his seven to nine hours.

He got out of his bed and staggered down the hallway. Mark was already up and running his fingers through his hair in attempt to wake himself up. He let out a yawn. “Are you going downstairs to see where the construction is?”

Jinyoung nodded. “Youngjae isn't going to wake up any time soon. BamBam, Jackson, and Yugyeom should be getting up soon as well. I might as well start breakfast.”

Mark and Jinyoung went down the stairs together and Jinyoung opened the door to see a picture perfect construction scene occurring three houses down. Jinyoung groaned. “We should have gotten a house on a longer street. Here I was thinking we were lucky since we lived almost at the end.”

“What's the end of a street for someone may be the start for someone else.” Mark philosophized. Jinyoung looked impressed. Jinyoung went into the kitchen to make breakfast while Mark headed to the TV room to watch the early morning drama that he usually recorded.

Thirty minutes later Jinyoung had perfectly toasted bagels and was halfway done through a large quantity of pancakes. He knew it wasn't good to have such a protein light breakfast but he was missing Jaebum and knew that the children had to as well. Plus, the only option for the bagels was going to be peanut butter and the only drinks were going to be one hundred percent fruit juice or almond milk. There would be none of that flavoured milk or overly processed sugary drinks that tried to pass off as fruit. Youngjae arrived in the kitchen to collect food still looking immensely sleepy.

“They're not letting that construction go are they?” He asked.

Jinyoung flipped the pancakes. “It would be better for them to finish it as soon as possible. We could have less days walking up this early. Have you seen your step-brothers?”

“They're still sleeping.” Youngjae said grabbing a plate and a bagel.

“Still? How can anyone sleep with all that noise! And none of them were as heavy as a sleeper as you!”

Youngjae looked over at the peanut butter before reaching into the pantry to grab the homemade sun butter Angel had given him. Youngjae spread the sun butter onto his bagel. “Maybe they were really tired last night. We did play Charades for a really long time.”

“I just hope construction will end soon.” Jinyoung placed the pancakes onto a plate and called out for Mark.

Mark came into the kitchen and put pancakes on a plate. “Were any of them getting up when you came down?”

Youngjae shook his head. “Completely knocked out.”

“How long did they play Charades for after we left?” Mark asked. The parks ate in silence for half an hour before Jackson came down and poured himself a glass of the orange juice yawning before he drank it.

“Jackson, are you deaf to the construction that might as well be happening inside of our house?” Jinyoung asked.

Jackson looked like he was hearing the construction for the first time. “It is pretty loud. But me, BamBam, and Yugyeom are immune to really loud noises. Like noises that are just loud will wake us up but when they get extreme like this we have no problem with them.” He finished the rest of the orange juice in one shot.

“What are your secrets?” Youngjae asked.

“We lived for four years underneath KangNam and their sons. Dad always talked about how great it is that Kang and Nam made sure all their kids learned how to play an instrument but even he went crazy when Jinwoo-hyung decided to commit himself to the drums. Not to mention when Kang and Nam and their bands had practice. When they moved out of the apartment building we might have had been a little too happy.”

“We had a horror neighbour story like that too.” Mark said. “Well, it wasn't so much as 'we' as it was 'Park Jinyoung the Second aka Trust Me I'm JYP'”.

“Jinyoung-Mom had enemies. I want to hear this story.” Yugyeom said as soon as he walked into the kitchen. He still had a sleepy smile on his face.

“I didn't have enemies. Is BamBam not coming down?” Jinyoung placed bagels on Yugyeom and Jackson's plates.

“He's still trying to figure out if his foundation should be a heavy or sheer coverage today.” Yugyeom said. “But c'mon tell us your horror neighbour story.”

“Alright but Mark is over-exaggerating. Do any of you know the fitness trainer Shownu? I think he was on the Human Condition or Running Man, one of those shows. He's the model Hyungwon's dad? Either way, if you don't know him, it's fine. He has a husband who's a stay at home dad. Husband's name is Kihyun.”

“Mom hated Kihyun. Hates Kihyun still.” Youngjae said.

BamBam who was about to enter the kitchen paused. It would be better if he went upstairs but right before he could go back up he was caught. “BamBam, I can hear you. Come into the kitchen and have breakfast. None of us care what your makeup looks like.” At Jinyoung's words BamBam slunk into the kitchen.

Jinyoung began to tell his story again once BamBam was in the kitchen. “Look, I understand the mentality of why parents compete with each other. I studied it. Since Kihyun is the stay at home parent and I was an only parent, it made sense that if I had to compete with any other parent it would be him. Kihyun didn't-doesn't like losing. He has this odd competitive and survival streak/instinct. He definitely had to have been part of some intense summer camp in his youth. And so he would always try to one up me. It didn't matter if it was a bake sale or if it getting the best parking spot at Youngjae's elementary school. He just had to be there everywhere I went!”

“I went to the same elementary school as like all of his children.” Youngjae said, making sure he spoke softly enough that Jinyoung couldn't hear it. “We only had one bake sale and one parking lot.”

“Mom is the one who actually hates losing. You should see him when he's playing video games online with his friends.” Mark said.

Jinyoung was still ranting. “It was like this through all of Youngjae's elementary and the start of his middle school years. I have nothing against boarding schools. I understand they are a fine educational choice and that parents who send their children to boarding schools aren't bad parents by any means but do you know what they did to their youngest? They sent him to boarding school in Israel and America! Sure, Changkyun is at MIT now but why did they have to send him so far away.”

“So he could get into MIT.” Jackson muttered under his breath.

“Do you think if you ran into Kihyun-ssi, would you fight him?” BamBam asked. “Just casually. Like a verbal fight, no need to throw punches.”

“I don't know if I would fight him. I certainly wouldn't get into a physical altercation unless he was the one starting it.” Jinyoung said. “But why are you asking BamBam? Are you friends with any of the children? I think I would I remember if I saw you back when we lived in our old house and I for sure would remember if you said any of their names or brought any of them here?”

“No. I mean I've heard of Hyungwon. He's a pretty famous model, I think I follow him on Instagram or something. But it was just out of curiosity.” BamBam tried to contain how nervous he felt but Jinyoung was staring at him with calculating psychologist eyes.

“What's Shownu's real name?” Jinyoung asked.

“Son Hyunwoo.” BamBam said without missing a beat. The rest of the family watched on in silence. BamBam didn't realize his mistake.

“What's Kihyun's last name?”

“Yoo.”

“Name all of the children in order from eldest to youngest.”

“Wonho, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, Jooheon, and Changkyun who prefers it if you call him I.M. Or Daniel now, since he is at MIT.”

“What's Wonho's real name again?”

“Hoseok.”

“He's the one you hooked up with right?”

“Yeah.” BamBam said with a shrug. “Lost my ity to him.”

“Oh my God.” Jackson shouted.

BamBam's eyes widened when he realized what he had said. “No, wait I didn't mean it like that. I've never met him. I have to go.”

“BamBam, come back here.” Jinyoung said.

“I want the whole story!” Jackson was still shouting. “But not like the actual details because that's just gross and weird.”

BamBam came back with his head hanging down in shame. “It was so long ago, it doesn't even matter.”

“How can it be so long ago when you're only eighteen?” Jackson screeched. “Oh my God, when did you lose your ity? You know what I don't even care anymore.”

“On one hand, I would like to point out that ity is a social construct.” Jinyoung said. “On the other hand, I just can't believe that out of everyone in Seoul, out of everyone in the world, you chose to hook up with one of them.”

“It's honestly not that serious.” Mark whispered to Youngjae. Youngjae nodded.

“Look, it was a one time thing-” BamBam started. It wasn't a one time thing but he thought that might help calm everyone down if it was.

“It was a one night stand! Are you trying to kill me?” Jackson asked.

So, it didn't go according to plan. “OK, so it happened more than just once. It wasn't really this serious relationship thing, I mean it was good. The relationship! Not the .” BamBam said when Jackson's face became to look more and more horrified. The was good, though. “But it's over now. I haven't seen him in a while and we're both completely moved on.”

“I can't believe you kept this a secret from us. I didn't even know.” Yugyeom said.

“Did you honestly think that Jongmin was my first?” BamBam scoffed.

“Yes!” Jackson yelled at the same time Yugyeom said “no.”

“Well this is awkward.” Youngjae said. “And you should call him Jongmin-hyung. He's older than you. He's older than most of us.”

“But for the record, you have no connection nowadays with Wonho?” Jinyoung asked.

“None at all. I don't think I've even run into him on the streets.” BamBam said. “I don't get why none of you guys even seem to like Jongmin. Especially when it comes to his age. Wonho-hyung was even older!”

“He's older than Jongmin?” Jackson was screeching again. “How old is this Wonho guy?”

“He's a 93-liner.” BamBam said quietly.

“Is he older than me?” Mark asked.

BamBam nodded.

“By how much?” Mark asked again.

“Six months.” BamBam said, quietly once again.

“Oh my God.” Yugyeom said.

“I can't believe this. I don't want to believe this. I'm going over to Shinyoung-noona's house and making sure that Joseph isn't learn any of these things.” Jackson grabbed a jacket and put on his shoes and left.

“He'll be back soon.” Jinyoung said.

“I wonder if Shinyoung-noona will kick him out again.” Yugyeom said.

“I don't think so, I think the time she did was because of Jackson wanting to enroll her and Joseph in parent-children holistic yoga classes. And she was still pretty stressed out about giving birth. I'm sure now when Jackson shows up at her door, she'll welcome him in and listen to him complain while Joseph sits in his bouncer.” Jinyoung said.

“We really don't thank Shinyoung-noona for everything she's done.” Mark said.

“I should really send her a fruit basket.” Jinyoung said.

“Does this mean I'm off the hook then for sleeping with Wonho-hyung?” BamBam asked making finger guns.

“No.” Jinyoung said bluntly.

****

“Let me get this straight, none of you have ever washed any dishes by hand?” Jinyoung asked. He was sitting down at the kitchen table across from Jackson, BamBam, and Yugyeom.

“No, what's the point of having a dishwasher if you're going to use your hands?” BamBam asked.

“Is this related to the fact that you didn't have a library card until Mark and Youngjae took you to get one?” Jinyoung asked.

“You know, you're making the exact same facial expression that Youngjae-hyung and Mark-hyung did. It goes to show that children are just as much nurture as they are nature.” Yugyeom said.

“BamBam, out of curiosity, have you been using that library card?” Jinyoung asked.

“Every once in a while. Mostly for movies when Netflix doesn't have it and Jongmin-hyung is really concerned about pirating things.”

“As everyone should be because pirating is a serious crime.” Jinyoung said.

“You know what, Mom? You inspired me to make a library card for Joseph. Get him some children knock-knock joke books. I feel like it would be a really good surprise for Candy if Joseph became a comedian like her.” Jackson said.

“I think Shinyoung-noona would really like a new bag. You know, something simple.” Yugyeom said.

“I don't think Candy owns a bag. I've never seen her with one. Even Joseph's diaper bag. I'm always the one carrying it.”

Jinyoung had a moment. Angel wasn't that bad, she really wasn't. Last time she came to the house she had even told Jinyoung how much she enjoyed reading a newly published psychology book. It was a psychology book delving into the minds of serial killers but it was a psychology book nonetheless. Mark's noona girlfriend was a very sweet girl if not strangely dominating (Jinyoung really did not want to delve into that too much. He didn't want to delve into that at all.)

“I'm sure you all can handle washing the dishes just this once. It's simple. Mark and Youngjae have been doing this since they were kids.” Jinyoung said.

BamBam raised his hand.

“Yes, BamBam?” Jinyoung asked.

“Doesn't this dry out your hands? I don't want my hands to get cracked.”

“BamBam, I have seen your skincare and makeup collection. I am positive you have a hand cream somewhere in there. After washing the dishes, just put on your hand cream.”

BamBam seemed satisfied with the answer. “Alright then.”

“What did Caramel Macchiato have you three doing when you were growing up? He was always quite tidy.”

“That's the thing.” Yugyeom said. “Since Dad is so tidy, if we wait long enough, he'll get fed up with us and just do it himself.”

Jinyoung wished he had meet Jaebum again sooner.

*****

When Jaebum came back from filming, Jinyoung could have cried. Jaebum arrived late at night, when most of the family had long since gone to bed (Jackson was spending the night at Shinyoung's and Youngjae had gotten a call from Angel and left in a hurry) but Jinyoung kept himself awake to greet him. As soon as he heard Jaebum's footsteps enter the bedroom he put away the book he was reading and set aside his glasses, making sure to turn on the bedside lamp.

“Did you stay awake just for me?” Jaebum asked. He was wearing his black glasses and looked tired from his flight. He gave Jinyoung a peck.

“I did. I couldn't really sleep without you here.”

“The infamous Mr. Independent Park Jinyoung is admitting how much he missed his husband? Is that even psychologically healthy?” Jaebum teased.

“Well it isn't easy taking care of this family on your own. You would think it would be considering that these are all grown men.”

“But that didn't stop you from leaving a list of instructions when you went back home.” Jaebum was changing into his pyjamas.

“The only reason I left the list was because I knew they needed instructions. I don't even want to think about what would happen if we had to leave them alone. Mark would be put in charge and he would just call his girlfriend and they would have to deal with her.” Jinyoung re-adjusted the pillows.

Jaebum crawled into bed and placed his glasses next to Jinyoung. “That wouldn't be so bad, you know. If anyone could permanently change them it would Mark's girlfriend.”

“But then I would think I would miss how they used to be. Plus I think they would be too scared of her so they would wind up doing less than nothing because they wouldn't be able to move.” Jinyoung said.

“Imagine if we got both Angel and Mark's girlfriend together.” Jaebum pulled Jinyoung into his arms.

“Angel isn't that scary when you think about it. She's just a little strange, I feel like we're not noticing something about here.” Jinyoung said.

“Youngjae's an adult, I'm sure he knows what he's doing.” Jaebum kissed the back of Jinyoung's head.

“I missed you, you know. Let's never spend that much time apart from each other ever again.”

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So it's been a while but I'm back. I just got really busy and then I got sick so I was a mess. But this finishes up our little mini-arc on staying at home with one parent. I also wrote a mega angsty jihope I Need U!Verse fanfic called Sink In. Unfortunately, AFF doesn't feel like working too good for me so I'll have to link it tomorrow.

Missed you guys!

<3 Smooches <3