Spa day 2020

Eight

Jake emerges out of the walk-in closet, barefoot but fully dressed. He catches Sunoo leaned up against the door frame to the make-up room typing away on his smartphone.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Oh, hey hyung." Sunoo doesn't bother to look up, "Just making a few notes on what's happened so far, you know just covering our bases to keep our story together for when our real parents get home."

"Oh jeez, don't let Heeseungie hyung and Sunghoon-ah hear you say that. You'd break their heart!"

"Pfff," he snorts a pejorative laugh, "Please. I don't think they'd notice if the whole world burst into flames right now."

Jake cranes his head over to peek at the younger boy's screen, reading a line out loud. "Disinfect Bunk Steps ASAP. Smart add to the chore list! Put that in bold and italics and you're gold." he flashes an okay sign with his hands to accentuate.

Sunoo gives a silent nod, complies and adds a siren emoji for full effect.

Jake watches him tap through on his Notes app, writing out a to-do list, flipping between documents and the Calendar app to add a few flourishes of commentary in all caps, recognizing a hint of a coded emoji system.

"Shit, you're actually not half bad keeping tabs of the day, I mean its not even 8:00 yet and already I'm beat."

"Isn't he the best, Jake hyung?" Niki fawns, walking to the living room with an enormous pile of dry laundry, "I couldn't get away with half the shenanigans I pull on the low if I didn't have Sunoo as a partner in crime." He sets the pile down across their giant sectional couch.

Jake is relieved to see its mostly blankets, a pillow and the clothes he wore earlier before spritzers went sour.

"Everyone knows that crimes are easy, getting away with it is where us intellectuals shine," Sunoo says this, like it's just a thing to say in casual conversation. "Right, Niki?" He raises a hand to meet the youngest with a high-five, shuffling past both hyungs to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.

"Fuck. You two are evil." Jake smiles with so much pride, "Not gonna lie, I love it."

Niki downs a glass of water, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hyung, I don't know what just happened in there earlier, but I think you might be my real Dad. In the group. Also spiritually."

Jake sputters a laugh, "I don't know about that, Niki-boy. I asked for one starch and one fruit and you gave me bread and honey. You're no son of mine," he walks over to the kitchen with a chuckle, slinging an arm around his tall dongsaeng.

"I knew what you were doing before you called it out," Sunoo finally puts away his phone. "Five steps to ground yourself in an anxiety attack. I'm not sure how medically sound your interpretation of it was, but Christ you nailed the landing."

"Wow. Sunoo, for real?" Niki raises an eyebrow in awe. "You knew that? I thought we were reenacting a comedy routine to get the hyungs to make-up."