Twelve Little Brothers

Purple Rose

"Are you ready Jeonghannie?" I fixed a few strands of his hair and he nodded, but I could tell that he was nervous.

Jeonghan stared off at all of the other kids in their homemade costumes complete with headbands and looked down at his oversized white shirt and jeans.

"I don know if I can do this." I frowned at his lack of self confidence before crouching down in front of him. Auntie and Uncle Seungcheol were already in their seats in the school's gym with the rest of the boys, so I had to cheer up Jeonghan on my own.

"Jeonghannie, you have to be the most prepared kid here. You were even singing in your sleep last night." I laughed a bit and he smiled awkwardly at me. "Hoshi Bear even helped you with your dance, how many kids can say that? It doesn't matter if you mess up because we will all still love you and you will still do great. Okay?" He nodded and I sighed in relief. I think I handled that pretty well.

"But Noona, what if my class mates no like it?"

I sighed again, but for a completely different reason. "If they don't like it, then they have no reason to be your friend because you deserve better than that. Plus, who's not going to like you?" Jeonghan nodded confidently and his teacher came over to me so she could take him on stage. I gave him one last hug before running into the gym so I could watch the little angel.

I got in just in time and sat down on the end of the aisle next to Seungkwan. He climbed onto my lap and I wrapped my arms around him before turning my attention to the stage.

Jeonghan came out and stood in the center of the stage. I could tell that he was nervous in front of all of these people, but as soon as he saw us he lightened up a bit and waved.

His teacher started the song, purple rose, and Jeonghan instantly went into the dance. I could hear murmurs from the audience, but I could've cared less. This was the first time I had ever seen the whole dance that Hoshi and Jeonghan created, despite my room being the practice space.

I was impressed at the dance that Hoshi choreographed and how well Jeonghan was doing, especially with all of these people watching him. But I wasn't shocked, I mean, Joshua just did my English homework.

As soon as the song ended, I immediately started clapping and smiling at how amazing he was. I would have done it regardless, though, because I'm his sister and I love everything he does. Yes, I'm that sister.

I noticed that most of the clapping was hesitant because of Jeonghan's dancing style and him being only in pre-k and doing those moves, but his brothers and I made up for that.

I tried to put Seungkwan back in his own seat so I could bring Jeonghan into the gym, but he just clung onto me tighter. I got Auntie's attention and told her I had the one year old before quietly leaving the gym.

As soon as we were out in the hallway, Jeonghan ran up and tackled us.

"Did you see me? I saw you! So many people clapped!" Jeonghan started jumping up and down with excitement. The biggest smile was plastered on his face and I knew Hoshi was getting a very big hug when he sees him.

"You did great angel! Let's go sit with Mommy and Appa so you can watch your friends, okay?" He nodded and grabbed my free hand before we walked back into the gym.

Once we were inside, I motioned for him to be quiet since a little girl was preforming the "itsy bitsy spider." Jeonghan nodded, but as soon as he saw Auntie and Uncle Seungcheol, he let go of my hand and ran towards them. Luckily, he was quiet in doing so.

After all of the kids did their talent acts, which it really should be called a dance recital since that's all they were told to do, I put Seungkwan on my hip and grabbed Jeonghan's hand. My Uncle grabbed both Hoshi and Dk while Auntie had Jihoon, and each made sure that both sets of twins were holding hands and staying with them before we left the gym and made our way to the foyer for cookies and punch. Auntie let each of the boys grab one cookie each. While I was helping Seungkwan and Hoshi grab their cookies, I heard some of the parents talking with each other.

"Did you see that Choi kid?" "What are his parents teaching him?" "Well apparently all the wrong things." "Did you see what he wore? It was probably his Dad's-"

I knew that I shouldn't act out on adults since that would only make the matter worse, but I couldn't stand what they were saying about Jeonghannie. I just hope that he doesn't hear them because that would crush him.

"Noona, can I go say hi to my fwiends?" I looked down at Jeonghan and nodded while telling him to stay close and come back soon. He smiled and ran a bit off into the crowd, but it wasn't some place where I couldn't see him.

Once Seungkwan and Hoshi got their cookies, I picked Seungkwan back up and grabbed Hoshi's hand before bringing them back to our adults.

"Where's Jeonghan?" I looked at Auntie before pointing in the direction he went.

"He just wanted to say hi to his friends, he said he'd be right back."

She nodded and continued lightly bouncing Jihoon in her arms while making sure she could see all of the boys.

After around five minutes of us waiting for Jeonghan, my Uncle sent me to go find him in the lessening crowd of people.

I walked over to where I last saw him, but he wasn't there. All of the kids that he was talking with were all back with their parents, so I continued walking around the enclosed space.

I tried to focus in on anyone with a white shirt, but that wasn't helping since a lot of people were wearing white. I noticed that there was a small form curled up in a corner, and I instantly recognized it as Jeonghan.

I pushed aside a couple of adults before I reached him. I crouched down and wrapped my arms around him. Without looking up, Jeonghan curled into me and sat on my lap.

I rocked him gently and brushed his hair out with my fingers while I felt my shirt getting slightly wet.

"What's wrong little angel?"

"I no angel. They Mommy's said I was doing wong tings."

I lifted his chin up gently so I could see his face, but he quickly buried it back down into me.

"You did nothing wrong, you were just dancing so good the other parents got jealous, that's all. They're just upset that you did better than their kids and they're blaming you for it, which is wrong because you did wonderful."

He sniffed a bit and looked up at me. I took the chance and wiped away his tears with my sleeve.

"But I no want to be better than my fwiends."

I smiled a little and he looked at me weirdly. "Jeonghan, don't ever try and be less than you are just because people are jealous of you, okay? You did wonderful and nothing can change that. Now. Stop crying!" I started tickling him and he laughed and tried to squirm away from me, but I held him tighter.

"Noona! Hajima! I no cry I no cry!" I stopped the torture and picked him up. I wiped his tears off once more and kissed his forehead.

"Don't listen to them because they are wrong, okay?" He nodded and I brought him back to Auntie and Uncle Seungcheol.

My Uncle did a head count of all the children before taking hands and leaving the building.

I hope I handled that right.