Extra Practice

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by Ipsathaor

by Ipsathaor

Heeseung paced back and forth, muttering anxiously as he waited for his oldest son to get home. Seok-Hoon was usually pretty independent, Heeseung rarely had to worry about him. Seok-Hoon took himself to school, considering he had volleyball morning practice and had to be at school three hours earlier than Ha-Neul and Hye-Jin. And Seok-Hoon was good about coming home as soon as his afternoon practice ended, which was around five. But now it was nearing nine pm and there was no sign of the fourteen-year-old. Finally, just as Heeseung was about to call the police, the door opened and Seok-Hoon walked in still in his volleyball practice uniform. He froze when he saw Heeseung, dropping his practice bag by the door and looking anywhere but at Heeseung.

"Your late" Heeseung put his hands on his hips.

"Really? I had no idea" Seok-Hoon scoffed. Heeseung's expression darkened and he switched to folding his arms in front of him. Seok-Hoon swallowed nervously. He was pushing the limits and he knew it.

"Very funny. Your supposed to be home by five, you know that. It hasn't changed" Heeseung scolded. Seok-Hoon chewed nervously on his lip as he attempted to make a reasonable excuse.

"Practice ran late?" He tried. Heeseung stared at him, unamused and Seok-Hoon went back to staring at the floor.

"Your grounded. You know the rules, Seok-Hoon. No staying out past curfew and if you are going to be late, you tell me" Heeseung decided. He always hated this part of the job but he knew it was necessary. Seok-Hoon scoffed, looking to the side.

"That attitude just lost you your phone too" Heeseung added. Seok-Hoon's mouth opened then closed; he was clearly still annoyed but trying to not get in more trouble. Heeseung sighed, putting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Your old enough to know better. There's such a thing as responsibility for your actions" Heeseung lectured. Seok-Hoon didn't respond for a few seconds.

"Like I said, practice ran late. I can't control that, now, can I?" Seok-Hoon snapped back. Heeseung withdrew his hand as if he had been burned, surprised. Then his expression hardened and he tilted Seok-Hoon's head up to look at him.

"Last I checked, your practice does not go until 9 pm. Where were you really?" Heeseung waited. He knew that his son was lying and he wasn't going to let it continue.

"The park" Seok-Hoon sighed, aware that it would do him no good to lie. Heeseung always had a way of finding out the truth no matter how much his kids tried to hide things from him.

"Why were you at the park?" Heeseung almost regretted asking, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to that. Seok-Hoon mumbled something and Heeseung tapped his chin, giving Seok-Hoon a small warning stare to repeat himself.

"The school gym closes at eight" Seok-Hoon repeated. There was no turning back now, he had admitted everything. Heeseung took a deep breath, having a pretty good idea of where this was going.

"And why did you not come home immediately after that?" Heeseung wondered, giving his oldest son a stern look. Seok-Hoon chewed nervously on his lip, looking at the floor.

"Lee Seok-Hoon" Heeseung crossed his arms.

"Alright! I wanted to get some extra practice in"

"Practice? Your in the top ten in the entire precinct!" Heeseung scoffed. (A/N: Is precinct the right word? Or is it district?)

"And I didn't get there by slacking off!" Seok-Hoon argued. Another deep breath before Heeseung responded.

"You also didn't get there by overworking and putting yourself at risk for injury! I don't even know why I'm arguing with you about this!" Heeseung admitted.

"Neither do I! It's not like you've noticed the last five or six times I come home late" Seok-Hoon blurted out, regret spreading over his face instantly. An audible gasp could be heard from the couch behind them, bringing Seok-Hoon and Heeseung back to the reality that Ha-Neul and Hye-Jin were still watching.

"Oh, you are not helping your case at all right now, young man" Heeseung shook his head. Seok-Hoon took a small step back, surprised at his own outburst. It was quiet for a few minutes while father and son attempted to compose themselves. Finally, Heeseung interrupted the silence.

"Okay. Here's how this goes. Your grounded, there's no argument about that. And for the foreseeable future, you do not leave this house unless I am taking you somewhere. That means I drive you to school, I drive you home from school. And on the days that you have practice, I will be waiting right outside the gym until you get done and I will be driving you home. Are we both clear on that?" Heeseung decided.

"I feel like that's as much a punishment for you as it is for me" Seok-Hoon pointed out, but it did nothing to ease the tension. Heeseung held out his hand.

"Give me your phone and go to your room. Your grounding starts now" Heeseung ordered. Seok-Hoon hesitantly handed his phone over and trudged up the stairs to shower. Heeseung turned to the younger two, slipping his son's phone into his pocket, and putting his hands on his hips.

"And you two are supposed to be in bed already" He reminded them. Ha-Neul gave a small shrug and Hye-Jin giggled.

"Go" Heeseung motioned to the stairs, watching his youngest two kids run off. Then he sat down and didn't move, enjoying the silence. Seok-Hoon's phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Did you get home okay, sweetie?

_____________________________
Lee Seok-Hoon. Heeseung's son. 14. February 14, 2024
Lee Ha-Neul. Heeseung's son. 11. April 30, 2027
Park Joo-Hee. Sunghoon's daughter. 10. April 15, 2028
Sim Jin-hee/Josie. Jake's daughter. 9. March 8, 2029
Park Do-hoon. Jay's son. 9. October 27, 2029
Park Hee-Chul. Sunghoon's son. 9. November 26, 2029
Sim Yeon-Hee/Yasmine. Jake's daughter. 8. January 5, 2030
Lee Hye-Jin. Heeseung's daughter. 8. May 29, 2030
Park Kyung-Ae. Jay's daughter. 7. April 5, 2031
Nishimura Miyuki. Ni-Ki's daughter. 7. April 17, 2031
Park Ho-Sung. Sunghoon's son. 7. July 19, 2031
Yang Min-Jae. Jungwon's son. 6. June 29, 2032
Yang Jung-ah. Jungwon's daughter. 6. September 17, 2032
Kim Eun-Bi. Sunoo's daughter. 6. September 20, 2032
Park Soo-Mi. Sunghoon's daughter. 6. November 7, 2032
Nishimura Keiji. Ni-Ki's son. 6. December 13, 2032
Kim Kyung-Ja. Sunoo's daughter. 5. February 17, 2033
Kim Ji-hoon. Sunoo's son. 5. July 27, 2033
Yang Min-Ho. Jungwon's son. 5. October 10, 2033
Park Eun-Seong. Jay's son. 4. August 10, 2034

Seok-Hoon plays volleyball

Kyung-Ae does ballet

Do-hoon does taekwondo

Yeon-Hee has anxiety and uses noise cancelling headphones in large crowds