Brothers, I Think I Have A Crush (Kongkwan-Fon)

XXI - Family Dynamics

The dinner went smoothly and by "smoothly"; meaning Fon being stiff the entire time. Feeling nervous every single time her parents and brothers open their mouths; thinking they will either embarrass her or make Kongkwan feel uncomfortable with their questions but thankfully, everyone was well behaved besides the standard "getting to know" questions from her parents towards her classmate, nothing else out of the ordinary except the twins being usually quiet but Fon remembered that they were eating their mother's cooking and almost all of their favorite dishes were in front of them, so it was no surprised that they were quiet, they were too busy inhaling their dinner much to Som's delight and dismay seeing her children appreciating her cooking but also scolded the two boys of not having some table manners in front of their guests as they apologized right away, making Kongkwan and Tor chuckle. Seeing Nuea and Sky; the two usual "Big dogs" in school looking like "puppies" at their mother's stare alone.

After dinner and dessert, the students helped the adults clean up the table along with Kongkwan and Tor but was automatically blocked by Som, telling them they don't need to help with the clean-up and shooed them away from the dinning area towards the living room  and told them to wait for the siblings' return so they can start with their output using the dinning table for all of them to fit in.

As the two students walked into the living area, Kongkwan looked around the area and it was huge and very tidy, not as big as Tor's summer home but still wide in size. She knew that Fon's parents' have multiple businesses and travel alot so it was no surprised that they have a nice house as well. Not too fancy though but no doubt it looks expensive; she even guessed that the living room was about 4x bigger than hers at home as they have their own dinning area as well where hers was already connected to the kitchen but she can't complain. Her mother worked hard for them to have and maintain their own home so she was proud of their humble abode.

The interior design felt modern yet homey with lots of paintings on the walls with beige  furniture and walls but what caught female student's attention were the numerous frames on top of the fireplace that had photos of the siblings from childhood till the present along with their parents and individual photos of each family member as well.

Tor: "That's my favorite photo of them right there."

The young athlete pointed to a photo in the middle that had the whole family together with the siblings looking very young like they were in elementary, sitting on the grass with wide smiles on their faces.

Tor: "It was a "Family Fun Day" at our elementary school; we are about grade 3 back then. I remember Fon crying then because they thought Uncle Ran and Auntie Som weren't going to come that day because they were on a business trip and had their flight delayed coming home. My parents tried their best to console her making both Sky and Neua felt bad because Fon was so sad that morning. So during the whole day, the guys played almost every game the teachers prepared for us kids so when they get a reward, they gave it to Fon; they won stuffed toys, candies, chocolates for her which made her smile a whole lot. Then after lunch, there were games for both kids and parents to play together so it made Fon sad again; my parents even volunteered to let them be their stand-in "parents" but then Auntie Som and Uncle Ran came just in time still in their suits as you can see in the photo." he pointed at the frame while chuckling. 

"It made the 3 so happy that they joined all the parent-child games even if they didn't win a lot, they still enjoyed themselves. There was this last game which was a relay for 1 parent and 2 kids; it was suppose to be Uncle Ran and the twins but the game before that; Sky slipped on the grass and twisted his ankle; he tried to not make it a big deal but you can tell he was hurt so Fon told Sky that she will win it for him. So when we were all in the side; my parents, Sky with Auntie Som who was icing his ankle and I, we watched Uncle Ran running in the oval still in a long sleeve polo and slacks but he decided to go bare foot so he can run faster than wearing his leather shoes then passed the baton to Nuea who sprinted so fast, passing the other kids then he finally gave the baton to Fon and I can remember those tiny legs sprinted like the flash! It was like the road runner being chased by Wile E. Cayote of how fast she ran for a small girl as she was considered the smallest in our class but she can definitely run circles around us." he was imitating how fast Fon ran that day and laughing making Kongkwan smile and laugh as well. 

"We were cheering loudly for her that Sky was hopping in one leg beside me and Auntie Som was on her way to the finish line so we all did the same thing until she did cross the yellow tape and we all hugged her with Neua and Uncle Ran trailed behind her and carried her in celebration." he ended the story with a huge smile on his face as they stared at the winning photo with Kongkwan noticing the small trophy young Fon was holding in her hands just now.

Kongkwan: "Was that the trophy they won after the relay?"

Tor: "Yep. Dad took the photo as soon as they got it. Then we ended the day having dinner all  together at our favorite pizza place just a few blocks from here and ordered Fon and the twins'  favorite pizza; 2 large Pepperoni pizzas with mushrooms and a bucket of garlic parmesan chicken wings. That day was so fun and memorable."

Kongkwan smiled after hearing the story from Tor; thinking how cute and strong the bond of little Fon was with her brothers ever since and how much their parents loved them besides their busy schedule that they try to make time for them as often as they can despite how tiring their jobs were. 

She can also see how close they still are earlier in the dinner table too earlier. Thinking how much blessed they are to have each other.

Nuea: "Hey, sorry to keep you guys waiting. Shall we head back so we can finish the output? I don't want you guys to go home late."

His two classmates nodded their heads before they took their bagpacks and followed the eldest sibling back to the dinning area where they saw Fon and Sky arguing about why Blue Gatorade is better than Lemon Lime Gatorade.

Nuea: "Seriously, I can't leave you both for 2 minutes without you two arguing. And to answer your question; Riptide Rush is the best one."

Fon: "Are you serious?"

Sky: "You're kidding right?"

Tor and Kongkwan watched 3 siblings talking over each other like preschoolers making their male classmate shake his head.

Tor: "Sooo.. Wanna start?"

Kongkwan: "Should we stop them?"

Tor: "Give it a minute or two, the cavalry will arrive." he shrugged his shoulder before taking out his own laptop and notebook then began booting the device up.

Kongkwan: "Cavalry?"

Som: "WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE? ARE YOU THREE ARGUING AGAIN?!" she screamed from the kitchen.

Neua, Sky and Fon: "NO, MOM!" they said simultaneously before rushing to take a seat on the dinning area before their mother came out with a wooden spoon and looked around seeing the siblings "reading" their notes and books. The older woman then glanced over Kongkwan and Tor with amused smiles on their faces at the siblings immediate fear towards their mother.

Som: "Would you like something to drink, kids?" pertaining to the two guests.

Tor: "I am good, Auntie. Thank you."

Kongkwan: "Me too Ma'am Som. But thank you."

Som: "Oh don't be so formal dearie, call me Auntie. Or "Mom" would be fine too."

Fon's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets from her mother's remark,  starring at her mother's direction in horror while the twins and Tor tried their best to hide their grins and smiles threatening to appear on their faces while Kongkwan blushed at the statement.

Kongkwan: "O-ok, auntie." she bowed down in reply.

Som then bowed down and gave a small smirk at her daughter before closing the kitchen door causing an awkward few seconds of silence in the dinning table as the boys still try to calm their enthusiasm, Fon wanting to combust and Kongkwan still blushing.

Tor: *coughing* "Well, let's begin? I believe Sky and I had everything wrong in our output." he nervously chuckled towards Kongkwan, showing her the results of their experiment while the twins were staring at their sibling who was standing opposite from them at the dinning table subtly giving her a thumbs up, knowing that their mom approves of Fon's crush while the girl used her book to cover her middle finger from their classmates' sight as a response to her brothers' teasing before they went back to complete their group outputs.

------------------------------------------END OF CHAPTER-------------------------------------------------