seonghwa mixed up the huge bowl of spaghetti while the rest of the family got their plates and stood in a line to get their dinner.
the parent always had to cook a lot, a family of eight wasn't easy to make dinners for.
he scooped up the noodles and put some in each boys' bowl, letting them get their sauce and silverware themselves. the kids walked to the table and sat down, while yeosang stayed at the counter for something.
suddenly, he heard his phone, which was on the table next to mingi, ding, meaning someone had just texted him.
he looked up at mingi, wanting to get his attention.
"mingi!" he suddenly said.
the room immediately went silent, as yeosang covered his mouth in shock at himself. he then lowered his hands, muttering "m..mingi.." with no trouble, only stuttering out of disbelief.
the kids' jaws were dropped, and the parents were frozen in shock.
"y-yeosang! you.. you said mingi! perfectly!" seonghwa finally exclaimed.
mingi then came running up, immediately wrapping his arms around his brother. the bounced a little bit out of excitement, as seonghwa quickly came over and joined their hug.
"can you say anything else?" wooyoung asked.
yeosang let go of the hug and thought about it for a moment. he still had no idea how he said mingi.
he then tried to say "wooyoung," but it only came out as gibberish. his struggle made him frustrated again, and he finally lowered his head and sighed in defeat. he was hoping something had just randomly happened in his brain, and that he could finally talk. but no, that wasn't the case.
"it's okay yeosang!" "you still said mingi!"
hongjoong suddenly jumped awake.
it was the night after yeosang said mingi perfectly, and the parent had just had a nightmare. he rubbed his eyes, groaned, and opened his phone to check the time.
5:17am.
hongjoong sighed and turned around, expecting to see seonghwa lying there, but instead, he saw the other half of the bed completely empty.
he tilted his head in confusion, then realizing there was a light coming from the hallway.
he almost became overcome with worry, but he reassured himself and told himself that maybe seonghwa was just hungry, or maybe one of the kids had woken up and needed something.
but, just in case, hongjoong decided to go and check on the older.
so he stood up, stretched for a moment, put his phone in his pocket and walked into the hallway. he saw the kitchen light on, and finally saw seonghwa on the phone, pacing around the counter. he looked pretty stressed out, and confused.
he didn't even notice hongjoong, he was too focused on whatever the caller was telling him.
seonghwa suddenly froze.
"w-what?" he muttered, his hand slowly and shakily coming up to cover his mouth. his eyes went wide and he bent his knees, as they became too weak to hold him up.
"o-o-oh... okay.. yeah.. i-i'll come down, then... alright.. b-bye..." seonghwa said and ended the call. hongjoong immediately ran up as the older's legs finally gave out, and he began falling. hongjoong caught him just in time before he hit the floor, and, without questioning why hongjoong was even there, seonghwa started to cry into his shoulder.
"what happened?" hongjoong asked softly.
"i-it's my mom.. she's.. she's d-dying.. i'm gonna have to g-go to jeonju for a w-week or two.."
"when do you have to leave?" "l-later this morning, at the latest.. h-hongjoong, what do i do? i-i need to leave in at least a f-few hours.. i don't want t-to leave you and the kids a-alone.."
"hey, don't worry about it. i've got it. how long does it take to get to jeonju from here?"
"a couple hours.. t-there's a train system that i think c-can take me there..."
"alright, then get packed, i'll drive you to the train station. and i will take care of the kids while you're gone. they're older now, and more mature, how hard can it be?" hongjoong finally said.
"i-i guess you're right..." seonghwa sighed.
hongjoong pulled down his sleeves and used them to wipe seonghwa's tears.
"it'll be alright. you've got your family, you've got me, and you've got the boys. we're all here for you, okay?" he said softly, then pulling his husband into a hug and stroking his hair.
the pair then shared a long kiss, before they pulled away and seonghwa spoke again.
"t-thank you, joong.."
"no problem. come on, i'll pack your stuff for you, you just worry about getting yourself ready, and staying updated on your mom's condition."
"have you guys seen mom or dad?" "no, what happened to them?" "i heard them talking last night but i was too tired to hear what they were saying."
"hey guys look, a note!" san suddenly yelled.
the six all scrambled to the kitchen counter, where a big note was sitting.
"what does it say? i can't see!" mingi said.
"it says 'boys, mom had an emergency in his family earlier, and he had to travel to jeonju as soon as possible. so, i had to take him to the train station, and i won't be back in time to take you six to school. so, beomseok's mom will be there at 7:30am to pick you all up, please be ready, and thank her for me. i'll be there to pick you up later today. i love you, have a good day at school.'"
"aw.. i hope mom is okay."
"i wonder how long mom will be gone." "oh god.. we'll have to be stuck with dad for a while."
the six all burst into laughter.
hiiii!!! sorry for not updating for a while i feel like i keep making y'all wait and i'm really sorry, school has been kicking my ass and i've really had to buckle down bc my parents agreed if i do well in school that i'll get to see ateez in la in april!!! so i had to focus on school for a while, but trust me i'm trying my best :,)
also thank you for 50k reads!!! only 40 chapters and we're halfway to 100k that's insane lmao
