Zero by One: Take Me Home

10. Getting to know the Eccentrics

┏━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┓

CHAPTER 10
"Looming" Arc
EP: FINAL

┗━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┛

10:05 a.m.
Ward 1, Dongjak District.

　"I know right! Boy came out to them because he trusted them! And to disown the poor child, can you imagine how fucked up for a paren-"

Wooyoung, who was in the middle of relaying the "tea" upon one of his closest students' misfortune to Yeosang, was interrupted by an inhumane squeak erupting from somewhere above them.

The two best friends on the couch, as well as the toddler on the wooden floor, looked up in unison when the brunet hopped down the stairs, screaming as he arrived in the living room.

　"What? Rats again?" Yeosang guessed. Judging from the noise the younger made, it could be those animals roaming around the floor, and his little brother was afraid of those destructive monsters.

But he was proven wrong when no fear nor dread was clouding Taehyun's tanned features; rather the opposite.

　"Sangie hyung! Wooyoungie hyung! Jiu yah!!" The brunet's short frame shook in pure mirth as he called out the trio with the widest toothy grin along with his dimple - rare treasures he barely had on display in his 23 grim years.

　"What? Did you, at last, get yourself a girl?" Not even minding Wooyoung's joke, the younger male announced the cause of his joy.

　"I got a job! As an intern! In the HYBE Group!" Eyebrows were raised respectively before the older men congratulated him.

　"That's awesome, Tyun-ah! You're making progress!" Yeosang got up and high-fived the younger, as his brother intertwined their hands and swung them violently to express his glee.

　"Good for you, boy! We should celebrate it sometime on the weekends!" Wooyoung, who had now found a convenient reason to consume alcohol, suggested with a cheshire smile.

　"Does that mean uncle won't have to run around in the sun?" Jiu suddenly piped up, her eyes twinkling in hope.

　"Yass, babie! Uncle will work in an air-conditioned office! With a chair and a desk!" Basking in the glow of fame, Taehyun lifted the toddler with a 'hoist' and planted a kiss on her chubby cheeks, as Jiu clapped merrily.

Approximately fifteen minutes prior to Taehyun turning himself into a giggly bean, he was lying face forward on his bed like a starfish, gazing up at the dull ceiling, as if he had admitted his defeat in challenging against capitalism.

His melancholy dissolved into thin air when his phone rang to deliver the heavenly news. Though Taehyun wasn't the dumb type of person, he had to ask the lady twice (or more than that) if she got the wrong number or was pranking him.

It took him by surprise that his mouth was able to produce the animalistic noises his sister would make all the time. The way he hopped up and down after confirming it wasn't April 1st almost broke his sturdy wooden bedframe in half.

　"But wait, HYBE Group? Why haven't I heard of that name?" Yeosang piped up with a frown evident enough that his brain was whirring in puzzlement.

　"You need to work on some research, bruh. Even I know what that is." Wooyoung proudly claimed and fanned himself with a random brochure he picked up from the coffee table.

　"Oh do enlighten me, Mr. smartass," the blond taunted.

　"HYBE is like, the boss of all chaebols here. They have several branches both here and overseas. They own literally every business we could name of - even having control in the kpop industry. Speaking of, boy, which department are you in?"