[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Trying to Plan

Taeyong propped his phone against the wall with Mark on video call, the others gathered around in the kitchen of the cafe. Mark appeared to be in the bathroom of the hotel room, but that was because it was in the middle of the night and he didn't want to wake his parents.

"Hey Mark, sorry about the time." Taeyong apologized.

Mark shrugged, rubbing his eyes, "It's fine. I think you're missing a few."

"Sorry we can't all be around to bask in your presence, Princess." Renjun mocked.

They were missing quite a few of the crew, though. Doyoung, WinWin, Jungwoo, Ten, Shotaro and Jaemin were out working, or switching shifts in WinWin and Jungwoo's case, and Xiaojun and Taeil were at Jisung's house. Jisung's Dad was having a rough time and Jisung was in a daze, so those two were over to help.

"How's Canada?" Sungchan asked, deciding it was a safe topic to change to.

"Very Canadian. And cold. I'm having fun, though. How's Moonwalk coming?"

"It's coming. Slowly." Johnny said with a slight sigh. It was safe to say he had a lot more respect for his parents now for starting this cafe all on their own with no other experience.

"We got everything painted, except the mural, the display case moved back further, and the tables, chairs and counter are almost ready to set up." Lucas reported.

Lucas, Jeno and Renjun had been working in Moonwalk a lot. Others had been coming in to help, of course, but they were the only three there almost every day.

"Sounds like it's going good. Sorry I'm not there to help."

"I'm not sure how much help you'd be." Chenle quiped.

Ignoring his cousin, Kun decided to move on to the main reason they called. They still had things to do and places to be.

"You're still coming back in two days, right?"

Mark rubbed the back of his neck, "About that... Dad's decided his parents are incapable of taking care of themselves, and they kind of are, so we're not leaving until he can get them help that comes to the house or we get them into assisted living." He sighed. "It's a whole battle and a half."

The group shared an uneasy glance as Yuta put an arm around Haechan.

"So you don't know when you'll be back?" Hendery spoke up.

"We're hoping within the month, but if it's looking like it's going to be longer, then I'm coming back on my own."

"Can you just come back now then?" Haechan asked.

Mark scrunched his nose, "Why? Can't find someone else to bother?"

"No, he can," Jaehyun butted in, "Something came up and we were hoping you would be here."

"What happened?"

"Jisung's Mom died." Yuta said abruptly.

Mark paused. That would explain why Jisung wasn't there when he almost never left the cafe unless someone dragged him out. Still, that was not what he was expecting.

"They're holding a memorial service and we were all invited. I'm sure they'll understand if you can't make it." Johnny said as Mark sighed.

"When is it?"

"Jisung just texted me and said they were thinking three days from now. Because it's a small memorial they don't need much time apparently." Jeno reported, his eyes still on the text on his phone.

Mark pulled up the airline website and tried seeing if there was anything available to get him there in time. He groaned in frustration when he wasn't coming up with anything.

"It must be a holiday weekend or something here. There's nothing."

"That's dumb," YangYang muttered.

"It's fine, I'm sure twenty-two guests doesn't make a small memorial anyways." Taeyong tried to reassure him.

"Plus the grandparents and Suhs. You know they're coming even if they're not invited." Hendery added in.

That was true. The four of them were already planning on coming and they had their outfits picked out already even if it wasn't for another three days. It wasn't that they were excited for the memorial, they just wanted to be prepared to support.

"I still feel bad."

"Don't," Sungchan started, "we just wanted you to know in case you could make it. So now you know."

"We have to go, so good luck with your grandparents." Johnny wrapped up.

They all said their goodbyes to Mark before hanging up and going back to what needed to be done. And right now Chenle decided he needed to take Daegal to Jisung's.