Ateez Brothers

What happens in the park shouldn't stay in the park

Hongjoong sighed, getting up to put away his third coffee of the day now that he had finished it. He was doing surprisingly well on that particular day, given that he had not slept at all the night before thanks to the maknae. And there had been nothing but chaos for the past hour. 

"Can you sign this?" Yeosang held a paper out to Hongjoong, trying to discreetly cover the title of it so that Hongjoong would not know. Unfortunately, Hongjoong had pretty much created that move and he knew what the kid was doing.

"Let me see it" Hongjoong tugged on the paper but Yeosang held on tightly.

"Come on hyung, it's not a big deal. Can't you just sign it?" Yeosang pleaded. Hongjoong lightly swatted his hand and looked at the paper.

"Kim Yeosang! What is this? You are failing at least three classes! What are you doing in school?" Hongjoong looked at the boy. Yeosang shrugged, biting his lip. Exactly what he had wanted not to happen was happening and he didn't know how to act.

"Answer me, Yeosang. What are you doing in school? Do you go there to mess around or to learn?" Hongjoong scolded. Yunho looked up from his math homework.

"To learn, hyung" Yeosang knew what Hongjoong wanted to hear and the only way to get out of this lecture was to say what he wanted to hear.

"So what are you doing? Is this learning?" Hongjoong asked again. Yeosang didn't answer and he didn't get much of a chance to.

"Hey! Isn't that my skateboard? Wooyoung-ah, what are you doing?" Yunho got up in a hurry, opening the door to the backyard to scold his brother. Wooyoung came riding in and made a sharp turn around the counter. Hongjoong sighed.

"Sit down and do your homework, Yeosang. You are not to leave the table until it is done and I expect your grades to improve or we will be talking about this again" Hongjoong got up, giving his dongsaeng a sharp look. He would have pressed the matter, but he had other things to worry about and he knew that Yeosang was the type of kid that rarely needed to be told the same thing twice, unless he wasn't paying attention of course.

"Wooyoung-ah, take it outside" Hongjoong stood behind the seven-year-old, guiding him back outside.

"Hyung! That is my skateboard, he can't use it" Yunho interrupted.

"Well then go tell him that!" Hongjoong sent the younger teen off. Yunho nodded and headed outside to steal back his precious possession. Jongho tugged on Hongjoong's pant leg, yawning widely. Hongjoong picked him up and within seconds, the maknae was asleep. Hongjoong gave him a bitter look, spiteful that the kid could sleep while Hongjoong couldn't even though it was Jongho who had refused to sleep the whole night and kept his hyung up. 

"Your cheating!" An argument between San and Mingi drifted in from the living room and Hongjoong rolled his eyes. Could he not just have one moment of peace? He was grateful now for Seonghwa, even though he had not seen his oldest dongsaeng since the boys all returned from school. But it didn't matter. Currently, Seongwha was the only one not being a nuisance or demanding attention, so he was Hongjoong's favorite for the time being. It would probably change by the end of the day. 

Speaking of Seonghwa, he finally came downstairs and went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Hongjoong stopped him, separating San and Mingi from each other and turning off their game.

"Just to the park, Hongjoong-hyung" Seongwha stopped, his entire body tensing up. 

"Did you ask?" Hongjoong chided, turning his head to face Seongwha. The younger boy's face turned red and he hung his head.

"No, sorry. May I go to the park, hyung?" Seongwha mumbled. 

"Be back before it gets dark. If you miss dinner, I'm not coming looking for you. And if your late for curfew, you and I will be having a talk in the morning, understood?" Hongjoong warned. Seongwha nodded and headed out before Hongjoong could question him any further about his plans. Hongjoong opened his mouth to do so but the door was already closing so he left it alone. Seongwha was smart, he would follow the rules.