Family Complex | TWICE!FamilyAU

Ch3

Everyone had to pitch in their fair share of food for the celebration. Jeongyeon and Dahyun were cooking, though he insisted that his eldest daughter to take a seat for this one since the celebration was about her recent success.

Dahyun, of course, having none of it was already preheating their trusty skillets. Tzuyu, who was the earliest to come home, said that she'll order pizza later. The maknae was currently busy in her room doing homework. Homework on the first day of school? Teachers be cray.

Chaeyoung arrived not long ago bearing cake. The small cub had this far away look in his eyes and kept on staring at a book about aerodynamics. 'Is he thinking of shifting courses?' Jeongyeon thought.

And last but definitely not the least...

"Now, the party don't start 'til I walk in~!!" Nayeon burst into the front door, singing a foreign song in perfect intonation. She's holding large bottles of flavored soju, one in each hand. And she was grinning and looking proud of herself. Meanwhile, Jihyo was standing behind her, clearly exhausted with a defeated look on his face.

"I tried," The eldest son silently mouthed.

'Goddammit, Nayeon,' Jeongyeon cursed internally. He walked towards her, trying to grab at the bottles of liquor from his wife but she quickly pulled away and hid behind Jihyo. Jeongyeon's patience was wearing thin fast.

"Nayeon, no," He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Nayeon, yes!" His wife argued back. "Tzuyu will be nineteen soon and besides, we're celebrating!"

"Tzuyu isn't the one I'm worried about!" Jeongyeon was making small glances at Chaeyoung.

"Oh," Nayeon said quietly, trying to process her husband's gestures. What ever could a sweet child like Chaeyoung might've done for her husband to be so afraid of? That involves alcohol?

"OH!" She exclaimed, remembering all the broken furniture they had to replace. All Hell broke loose the last their youngest son accidentally drank alcohol. He was 14 years old back then, and let's just say he managed to take down a chandelier in one of their previous homes. Even the clothes in her walk-in closet weren't safe.  "T-that was a long time ago, I'm sure Chaebaby's all grown up now."

"You don't sound so convincing, Eomma," Jihyo finally spoke, trudging his way to the living room. He dropped on the sofa, startling his younger brother effectively breaking him out of his trance. Chaeyoung pulled the book to his chest protectively, as if someone will take it away from him.

"Jihyo, help me make your mother understand—"

"Honestly, Appa," Jihyo busied himself by pinching his brother blushing cheeks. He was more interested to know the reason why the small cub was flustered than voicing his opinion on underage drinking. "I don't even care anymore..."

"He's just grumpy because I didn't hire that one girl to be my new intern," Nayeon complained. She sat beside their eldest son and poked his arm.

"She was overqualified anyway, I don't even know why she would want to be 'your' intern," Jihyo retorted. He wasn't really looking for someone right now since his career comes first most of the time. And by 'most of the time', meaning their mother dropping all of her workload at his desk every single day.

"Well, that girl was giving you the sultry eyes and I don't like it one bit," She pursed her lips and continued to annoy Jihyo by poking his cheek. He eventually had to hold both of her hands to make her stop which made her pout even more.

"They'll all get married at some point, Nayeon," Jeongyeon said nonchalantly, earning a loud gasp from his wife. He rolled his eyes at her. She can be overdramatic sometimes.

"Even Tzuyu?!" She said in mock horror knowing her husband's soft spot for their tall maknae. Jihyo looked at her, catching on the ruse. He just shook his and let out a tired sigh, at least now he's no longer her target.

Jeongyeon's facial expression varied from mild confusion to seething anger and finally, to utter disgust. Perhaps the thought of his Tzuyu being someone's wife was too much for him. Meanwhile, Nayeon pressed herself against her eldest son's arm, trying and failing not to laugh at her husband. He always had the best expressions next to Dahyun.

"What? No!" Jeongyeon bellowed. "TZUYU IS MY PRECIOUS BABY, NO ONE CAN HAVE HER!!"

Tzuyu was coming down from upstairs, already wearing her blue pajamas, when she heard the commotion in the living room. She saw Jeongyeon looking at her with an unreadable expression on his handsome face. They locked eyes for a while, and it was the most intense moment of Tzuyu's young life.

The maknae then glared at her mother. Already knowing that she was the culprit, she mouthed ' What did you do this time?' while Nayeon sheepishly grinned at her. Tzuyu rolled her eyes and just dialed the number of their favorite pizza place on her phone, she ordered two large pizzas with extra cheese and everything else.

Dahyun called for them in the kitchen. Finally, the celebration was about to start!

—

Tzuyu stared as the chaos unfolds right before her eyes. She was trying to calm down the rampaging tiger cub by throwing books at him. Hoping he'll stop once he remembered about his thesis or if she hits him hard enough to be out cold. She neither cared as to which comes first.

She threw a book about aerodynamics, which made him finally stop. The scene was like throwing a slab of meat to feed a hungry beast. He was now staring at it with deep fascination like it could answer the meaning of the universe.

Now that Chaeyoung was preoccupied, the maknae can focus on her other older siblings.

Dahyun's acting skills excel the more alcohol she consumed. She was crying like a Hollywood movie star while nursing her nth cup of soju, a little bit more and she would've won an award for best actress. Jihyo, on the other hand, was giggling like a little girl... uncontrollably.

They were both in their own small bubbles, not creating mayhem at their wake, so the maknae decided to leave her older siblings alone for now to check on their parents.

Jeongyeon was frantically cleaning the kitchen floor, making sure to scrub every crevice that food might've stuck into during Chaeyoung's abrupt announcement of a food fight that no one else joined. During that time, Tzuyu was too busy dodging everything thrown at her to care.

Their father was muttering something incoherently, like a mantra. Tzuyu slowly backed away from the kitchen, afraid of what will happen if she interrupted his cleaning frenzy. Surprisingly, the only one that looks remotely sober was their mother. Besides Tzuyu herself, of course. Granted, the tall maknae didn't drink as much alcohol as the rest of them.

Nayeon was perched on a stool, her laptop opened in front of her while her finger tapped away on the keyboard. Tzuyu raised an eyebrow. Was their mother working? Willingly?

'That's the first sign of the apocalypse, right there,' Tzuyu nodded sagely. She cautiously approached her mother, careful not to provoke her. She might throw her laptop at the maknae, who knows?

"Eomma," She said softly. The tall maknae saw the screen of the laptop briefly, there were a lot of graphs and tables she couldn't understand.

"Oh, hey there my baby Tzu," Her mother cooed in her Nayeon-like manner. "Isn't it past your bedtime already?"

Tzuyu carefully examined her mother. She appears to be sober but her eyes are darker than usual, her pupils are blown wide. Definitely drunk. She pried her mother away from her laptop and guided her upstairs to the master's bedroom. "Eomma, sleep."

"But I still have to finish my report—" Nayeon protested as they entered the bedroom.

"Sleep," The tall maknae softly but firmly told her to lay in bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, it's decided she'll be staying until her mother falls asleep.

"Hmm... okay~" Nayeon sighed happily, the tiredness in her voice was evident. Snuggling into the warmth of the duvet, her eyes immediately closing and her breathing slowed as soon as she laid in bed, almost instantly.

She'll take care of everyone else later. But for now, Tzuyu have to save the world from it's impending doom by taking her mother away from doing her work and making sure she stay away.