Breaking the Rules (EXO)

17: Family

The boys left shortly after Nari had fed them, and after they'd already reconstructed Corina's bed frame. All that was left to move was a few bits of furniture and boxes that had been left in the apartment. Min Young had made sure to grab Corina's makeup and a few of her work outfits so she wouldn't have to worry about running back and forth between apartments, and he also took special care to grab a sock monkey that had been laying on the floor of Corina's room. When Nari had questioned it, Min Young shrugged and continued about his business.

But now, as the two sat in the new apartment by themselves, he began to open up. "Her sock monkey's name is Snuggles McCuddleson."

"What?" Nari spat, sitting up straighter on the couch and laughing.

Min Young sighed. At the moment, he was standing on the other side of the coffee table, as he had just finished setting a few pictures on a shelf across the room, but he walked around the table and sat down beside Nari, grabbing her legs and draping them over his own. "Yeah, she's attached to him. From what she's said to me, her older brother gave him to her when she was eight."

"I didn't know she had an older brother."

"She has like twelve siblings." He said laying his head on Nari's raised knees. "But she's the only girl in the family. I also happen to know that only eight of her and her siblings are legitimate. Her father had an affair and divorced her mother to be with the other woman." Nari's eyes widened. "This all sounds really bad, I know, but she was pretty privileged in her life before she came here so she's okay."

Nari frowned. "That doesn't mean she wasn't hurt by it."

"Oh she was hurt." Min Young said, nodding his head. "Really, really hurt. In fact, she and her father no longer speak. Her mother hasn't been seen or heard from since her father divorced her and was given custody of the younger kids, and she blames him." He frowned. "She's right of course. But her monkey was given to her by her eldest brother, Grigory. He joined the military and is a very high ranking general, but she doesn't like to talk about it because he's still in contact with his father."

Nari nodded. "So Grigory was favored?"

"All the boys were favored. From what she's told me, the first eight siblings, who were from the first wife, were pushed and pushed again, so they work for what they have, but the youngest four have everything handed to them. Her youngest brother is only two years younger than her, and he still lives with his family, he doesn't have a job, and he doesn't go to school. But he is her father's favorite."

Nari laughed at this. "Her dad is so backwards."

"He seriously is." Min Young laughed. "Listen to this. Her youngest brother's name is German. But her family is Russian through and through. Her dad picks some weird names." He said laughing again.

"They aren't all that weird," Came Corina's voice, as she moved into the room. Both Nari and Min Young's eyes widened. "German is a traditional name on his mother's side of the family. Ivan, Lev and Makar were named after their uncles." She shrugged her shoulders. "But their names aren't the best, truth be told."

"Are those... your youngest brothers?" Nari asked.

Corina nodded, placing the briefcase she had taken to work with her onto the floor as she unbuttoned her jacket. "And technically, German is legitimate. But only technically."

"How could your dad have so many kids and not go crazy?" Nari asked.

Corina laughed loudly. "My father is as mad as they come. Multiples run in my family, so a couple of us are twins and triplets." She walked towards the couch and sat on the coffee table across from them. "So there's Grigory, the first born, but it's just him. He's a general now and has a wife. She's pregnant with their first son. Grigory is two years older than Mikhail and Pyotr, who are the first set of twins, and the biggest trouble makes. Then there's Oleg, Pavel and Sergei. They're those weird twins that like finish each other's sentences. It's scary. Then there's Roman and I."