ateez family au

147

"Who are you texting?"

Yeosang flinched and closed his phone immediately, turning his head to the side to come face to face with Wooyoung who was nose deep in his business. "It's none of your business."

"Do you have a crush?" the younger asked, giggled high-pitched. "Are you in love~?"

The elder made a grimace, slightly disgusted by the idea. "Ew- no," he replied and sat up straight in his bed. "What are you doing in here anyway?"

"Sannie said I should wait for him here. We're going to the store to get snacks for tonight," Wooyoung explained and climbed onto the free bed on the other side of the room, "Chan and his brothers are coming over for a film night with Yunho. And he said we can watch the movie with them!"

Yeosang nodded, ignoring the messages that kept coming to his phone. He could wait, couldn't he? Not that Yeosang was playing hard to get, but he did like it to let people he was getting to know hang a little. "I'm coming with you two then, I need a new note book for school."

Wooyoung put his head in his hands. "Mhm... Only if you tell me who you're talking to!"

The elder rolled his eyes. "You know, I can just go alone too. Because I'm not a little baby anymore," he gave back unfazed and stood up to look through his closet for something to wear.

"I'm not a baby! I'm nine years old already!"

"Yeah, a baby."

~

"Mingi~ can we play together? I'm so bored..." Jongho asked as he stood next to his brother at his desk, watching him study. His elder twin brothers and Wooyoung had gone out without him and Yunho had long afternoon classes. "I don't know what to do..."

Mingi listened with one ear, his concentration all on the math formulars that he needed to memorize. "Mhm..." he just hummed and kept copying the equations in the book.

"You're not even listening..." Jongho sighed and let his shoulders hang. "It's fine, study that weird alphabet math thing there. I'll find something to do..." he added and left the room.

Downstairs in the open living room he  found his father with another thick book on his hand, reading it while the stereo played in the background. For him, he couldn't understand his Papa's taste for music while he was reading. He would get distracted by classical music so much, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on what he was reading at all.

When Seonghwa noticed his youngest approaching him, he put the book to the side and gave him a smile. "Ah bunny, why do you look so down?" he asked, offering his open arms for cuddles if needed.

"I'm bored... Wooyoung left with San and Yeosang, Mingi is studying and Yunho is still at school..." the boy pouted, "I did all my homework already too."

Seonghwa tipped his lips and threw a look around, searching for an activity to do. "Hm... Now that it's getting warmer again, how about we already plant some flower bulbs? I bought some the other day," he suggested and stood up from the couch. "Would you like to help me, Jongho?"

The boy nodded with his lips pressed in a line; not that there was much to do anyway. So, he went up the stairs again with his father to get changed in clothes that weren't new, that could be worn while gardening. He was a little excited, he wouldn't lie. Planting flowers with his father every year around spring was a tradition. It was their father's hobby to make their back yard look so colorful and full every year during spring and summer. And helping him plant all the flowers was fun actually.

He remembered his Papa telling him how working with soil was good for someone, told him something between the lines of; it let's out all the energy to the soil and you feel much calmer. Not that it made much sense for the child, maybe later he would understand better.

Before he went down again to join his father, Jongho took a stop at Mingi's room, knocking lightly. He stuck his head inside shyly. "Papa and I are going to plant some flowers... You can come later too..." he said, hoping his brother would just close the thick math book already and spent time with him. But he also understood that school would get harder at some point and he needed to study one day too.

It made him a little sad, he would never admit it though. As the youngest of all his siblings he did feel a little left out as times changes. When they were younger Wooyoung and he had been inseparable, now he liked to spent more time with his elder twin brothers. Yunho and Mingi too had made sure Jongho was included in everything they did, but they too always had something else going on. Be it that Yunho was now rarely at home, getting special dance classes at the company building, or Mingi studying long hours at home to stay the year's top student. It was rare that he spent much alone time with the twins, they were either just as busy studying or Wooyoung would always be there too. It was no lie, somehow everyone had ended up with a closest sibling and Jongho once again was hanging on behind.

~

Yunho rolled his eyes as he reached for his water bottle in his bag, in some corner of the practice room. Though he had been a couple of months into his training time, the whispers behind his back hadn't stopped yet. He knew why they were talking; oh that's, Yunho, his son. He had expected to be talked about but had hoped that after a time of practice together, people would start to believe that he had earned his place with his own talent and not his father's position.

"I'm sure, if he just asked, he would debut tomorrow..."

It was questionable who people build their views on other people despite not knowing a thing about them. What made the whole constellation more pathetic for Yunho was the fact that yes, none of his fellow trainees here had made an attempt to talk to him or had cut him out of any conversation. But he held his mouth, who was he to complain? One thing his father had told him stuck with him; people will be loud and talk horrible things, you should just silently prove them wrong, if the media is mad, you're doing it right.

His father for sure was someone to know how the entertainment industry worked, so he trusted his advices with all he had. Not much, just a teenager temper that was fragile.

"Tsk, I don't even know why he's here. Doesn't look like any hope to work in for me..."

"Them how convenient that your opinion doesn't matter here, huh?" an elder called from the opposite corner, silencing the group talking about Yunho. The group dissolved after that fast.

Yunho looked at the elder, just as surprised as their fellows talking about him. He had just come into the room, was setting his bag. The classes were just changing, any moment they would get to practice contemporary dance. Yunho stayed through most of the practices at the evening as he had school until late afternoon and missed most practices with the teens around his age.

Shyly, he eyed the elder, his ears red already. He needed to thank him, right? Or not? Would that be too foreward?

"You need to be mean too if you want to stand until the end," the elder then said, walking up to Yunho, "you won't get fat without some thick skin and backbone."

Yunho, out of refelx and nervousness bowed. "Thank you, very much!" he said, voice breaking.

"Stop-stop people are looking-"

The teen stood straight again, embarrassed and face light up red. "I'm sorry-"

The elder wove it off. "I'm Jimin by the way. I haven't seen you during evening practice yet. Shouldn't you have had that class two hours ago?"

"I'm Yunho, nice to meet you" Yunho replied, his lips pressed in a line, "I had afternoon school. I couldn't make it to the earlier practices... Is it an issue that I stay with this group?"

Jimin tipped his lips and tilted his head. "Well, if you can keep up, no, not at all... Yunho."

-
Hello people

How have you been doing?

An a little longer chapter today! I hope you liked it!

You can guess three times which Jimin we're talking about here👁️👁️ bdjdjdbdnd

I don't really have much to say today...

Stay healthy and safe!

-gulkurusubb