Straight | Joshua Hong

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓔𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷

Going back to the living room to see what everyone else was doing, they found the family in a heated game of cards. 

"Can you deal me in?" Joon asked. 

Jeonghan sat down in a chair and pulled Joon into his lap as she was given cards.

To anyone that wasn't familiar with them, they would probably think that the two were dating; Chan still thought they were weird.

Jeonghan had an arm around her waist to keep her from falling as she was leaning forward. She was incredibly competitive and was ruthless in gameplay. 

...But so was the whole family. 

Jeonghan learned pretty quickly to not play with them as to not die. He rather enjoyed just watching the bloodbath. 

He looked over at his poor brother stare at everyone with wide eyes. 

'Kid hasn't learned yet.' He mentally chuckled. 

Chan sat still, not playing any of his cards in fear that he would lose an arm. 

He hadn't even seen the real shit yet. 

"Hyung... I'm scared." Chan somehow ended up beside him. 

"Wait till they start throwing things. Be prepared to dodge." Jeonghan chuckled as his brother shrunk down in his seat. 

Sure enough, not even a minute later Minghao threw his glass at Hyemi's head. 

It smashed into the wall by her head, and she let out an insulted gasp. 

She in turn threw a card expertly at his face. He turned his head at the last moment and it missed.

"Hyung this is dangerous, what if someone gets hurt?" 

"Chan there's a lot you don't know about this family. They constantly try to kill one another, but they all know each other's limits and never go too far. Did you see how Minghao waited until the last second to move away?" 

"Oh..." Chan still looked worried. 

"I can take you to your room if you're too scared to watch." 

"No, I'm ok." 

"Duck." Han threw up his arm and blocked a pillow from hitting his brother's head. 

"Sorry dear!" Byeol threw them an apologetic smile right before her husband threw a plate at her. 

"Don't they worry about things breaking?" 

"They used to, but then they started to buy plates and cups that won't break easily." 

Jeonghan quickly grabbed Taejoon's arm. 

"Hey, I saw you reaching for your boot knife, you know that's not allowed." 

"Oh, come on Han, I just wanted to see if Jaemin would shit himself if I threw it above his head." 

"You're gonna get grounded if you do it, you know the rules." 

"Fine." 

"When did you even grab that and put it back on? We changed into our pjs before dinner." 

"You should know by now to always expect the unexpected with me." She winked at him as she lunged forward and tackled her youngest brother. 

"This isn't a game of cards anymore, is it?" 

"Oh, it still is. You just have to fight to play your cards now, look." 

He pointed to where Taejoon had tackled Jaemin and then put a card on the table. 

"Wow, I would have missed that." 

"Why don't you play with them hyung?" 

"Are you kidding me? I'm not risking my life for a game of cards. They are professionals." 

"What happens if someone does get hurt though?" 

"Then everyone stops what they are doing, and the injured person is taken care of with utmost care. It doesn't happen that often thankfully." 

"That's good." 

"Mama Na is a retired field surgeon so she knows how to sew up minor wounds if they happen to arise." 

"I win!" Minghao squeaked from under Hyemi's legs. 

"What? How?" Everyone turned to look at his hand on the pile of cards. 

Then inspected him and the pile and nodded collectively. 

"Good job son." Joohyuk pulled him up from the floor. 

"Thanks dad." Minghao wiped a little bit of blood from his eyebrow. 

"Oh, did Hyemi get ya?" 

"Just a little nick, I'm fine." 

"Sorry Hao." Hyemi patted his shoulder.

Mama Na quickly came over at the sound of the word 'blood' to assess the damage. 

"You're right, not a deep enough cut for a band aid. Glad our cards are old. New set would have done more damage." 

"Hyemi darling, do try to be more careful." 

"Yes dad." 

Taejoon let out a long yawn. 

"Seems like someone is ready for bed." Byeol ruffled her eldest's hair. 

"Maybe, what time do we need to be up tomorrow Jeonghannie?" 

"Uhh... Probably ten." 

"Sounds like I'm ready for bed then." Joon giggled. 

Jeonghan scooped her up and carried her up the stairs as she let out a startled scream. 

"I think I'm starting to wish they dated like you do." Byeol sighed, looking at Hyemi.

"I knew I wasn't crazy." 

"I think it's bizarre you ship them. They are best friends, nothing more." 

"Why do you even care?" Jaemin side eyed him.

"Because when I was growing up in China, I had a best friend that was a girl. We were always together, and people constantly talked about how we would make the cutest couple. They pestered us about when we would get married, and my grandmother always asked us for grandchildren. It was a lot of pressure and annoying." 

"Oh..." 

"I guess it really isn't fair for us to wish for them to be together then." 

"I'm pretty sure that she's gay anyway." Joohyuk walked back into the living room with a cookie. 

Everyone looked at him with a glare. 

"What? I was just thinking, usually there's at least one gay kid in every family." 

Hyemi looked at Jaemin's panicked eyes and turned back to her parents. 

"You're right, it probably is Joon." 

Jaemin grabbed her hand in thanks when no one was looking.