Monster

14

Jinyoung hides, entirely mortified, for a solid two hours before his anxiety forces him to get up and begin his chores. It's slow going, most of the stuff he had listed for today involves going into the basement, but he wants to avoid that if he can. But he also needs to collect the dishes. Damnit.

Three chores away from being forced to go downstairs, his phone goes off, buzzing wildly in his pocket; it's a text from Jaebum.

Clean out the sub basement room. I need it ready by tomorrow. Please and thank you.

'Please and thank you'? Jinyoung repeats the words to himself. Jaebum must be in a good mood to say something so nice, especially over text. He's more of a phone call person. Although this will require him to go through the basement he's less worried since he can just walk right through.

He grabs the cleaning bucket and heads down right away, figuring that Jaebum will be happy to know it's done when he gets home. He hurries past Youngjae and BamBams room, quietly even though he doesn't have to be.

Once in the sub-basement, he puts his head phones in to drown out the quiet. Sound has a weird way of bouncing off these walls that Jinyoung especially hates. The room is pretty clean, all things considered.

He remakes the bed, checking to see if the sheets are stale and if the covers are musty. They aren't thankfully, so he makes it neatly again. The couch was stained by Jaebum throwing broth onto it so there isn't much he can do about it since the stain settled a while ago, but he scrubs at it anyway, to get the chicken smell out of it. It doesn't change the discoloration though, much to Jinyoung's disappointment.

He wipes down the crate; it's rough wood so he doesn't have to polish it and doesn't bother anyway. The floor is easy since all he has to do is mop away the dust. It doesn't take him long to finish it, and a quick check of the bathroom proves it's as clean as it's going to get. He takes the cleaning stuff back upstairs, smiling contently.

On reflex, he heads back into the kitchen, pulling rice and seasoning out of the cupboards to begin curry. That's for dinner. But if he starts it now, he can make lunch in between (And he's putting off making lunch, because if he makes it he has to to take it down to them and he isn't quite ready to face them again).

Jinyoung starts the rice cooker and brings out the slow cooker, adding the water and vegetables to begin softening them. He browns the lamb while he waits, tapping his foot against the ground in a sloppy rhythm.

He looks at the garage door when it bangs open, Yugyeom clumsily squeezing through the door with his duffel bag while trying to take off his shoes.

"Yah! Jinyoung, come look at this!" Yugyeom yells, excitement pouring from every sweat-drenched inch of him, Jinyoung wipes off his hands, coming to stand in front of Yugyeom as Yugyeom curses at his shoes for refusing to come off in a timely manner.

Once he's got them off he runs past Jinyoung into the living room, because he knows Jinyoung will kill him if he sets the dirty bag down on his polished table. He sets the bag gently on the floor unzipping it and reaching inside, pulling out the crisp roll of paper.

"Look, look!" He chants as he unrolls it so Jinyoung can see a stretch of it. "Today was my last day teaching at the school since tomorrow is a holiday and the kids made me a poster! Some of them are really artists, look at the giraffe Heiji drew, look at it," Yugyeom points to a very impressive giraffe, colored in brown and yellow. "amazing!" He exclaims, unfurling it a little further. "And Taejon drew me an entire stage of ballerinas, look!"

"I can see, Yugyeom" Jinyoung laughs, scanning the entire banner. Some of these kids really are artists "Where are you going to hang it?"

"In my room, probably, or in the hallway, that way everyone can look at it" Yugyeom rolls it back up carefully, still smiling from ear to ear. He really loved those kids.