dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.27

"School's out for a week!" Chenle cheered cutely and did a little victory dance with only one arm. Jisung took the sports bag off him and carried it, claiming it to be a difficult feat for someone with a broken bone. They were walking in front while Donghyuck and Mark stood at the school gate to wait for them to appear.

"And now we're off to the orphanage," Donghyuck commentated and spun on his heels to lead the group. Mark was beside him, turning around every so often to make sure Renjun and Jaemin didn't have a weird bicker fight. Jisung had been told only a few days ago that a percentage of his friends were living in the renowned orphanage, so he was anticipating the visit.

Jeno was beside Jaemin, leaning on him for support to limp. When the nurse had advised calling Ms. Kim, he refused and said he'd watch the end of the festival and go home normally. He had his arm linked with the pink haired boy's and was trying to walk as normally as he could. It was still quite sore but he'd taken some medicine to numb it down to the dull ache that it was now. Jaemin was walking slower with him, making sure that he couldn't trip. And on Jeno's other side, Renjun was scrolling on his phone.

The walk wasn't far, considering the town wasn't huge and nearly every amenity was within walking distance of another. So the chatter continued amongst the group and many questions were asked about the children living at the orphanage. When they arrived, the group halted in front of the door. "So this is the infamous children's home," Renjun breathed and slid his phone into his pocket, looking at the big old house. It looked like something from the Georgian era with a modern twist.

"And tomorrow you can say that you spent a night here," Donghyuck mused, knowing full well how bullied they were when they were younger for living here. Everyone in the town knew about this place. They were near a city, which explained the adoptions because no one in the town ever visited.

"Anyway," Jeno intervened, feeling a nauseous vibe pass over him as he glanced at the window of Jaewoo's room. "How about we just go in now, yeah?"

They walked in, the residents confidently calling into the house while the non-residents nervously looked around at the surprisingly normal house. Ms. Kim emerged from the kitchen and smiled warmly. "Hi guys, I'm the caretaker here. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Jisung bowed awkwardly and looked around, observing every nook and cranny visible. The stairs leading to the upstairs rooms were blocking the view of the landing overlooking the hallway. He ogled at the amount of space that was evident.

She looked down briefly at Jeno's foot and sighed. "I got a call from the school, Jeno, and we need to have a little chat when you're free." He nodded in response and took his weight off Jaemin.

The littlies were off school today and had been waiting patiently for their older brothers to come home, excited to meet the new people. The entirety of them ran as fast as they could to the door, so excited that Heeoh smacked into Jeno's leg. He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. The little boys in particular were staring wide-eyed at the visitors.

Chenle chuckled and put his hands on Dongwoo's shoulders. "This is Dongwoo, Hyora, Heeoh, Yuna, Taewon, Ki, Minhee, Gaho and Hyunwoo."

"Hello," Renjun chirped and crouched down, waving kindly at them and smiling. "I'm Renjun."

The children were watching in awe as he introduced himself. Hyora was the first to speak, saying "Your accent is funny."

This made the Chinese male chuckle and stand up again. "I'm Chinese. Just like Chenle." At this, Chenle nodded and took his hands off Dongwoo's shoulders.

He looked over at Jisung. "That's Jisung, Jaemin and Mark."

As the kids finally got to meet the older boys, they slowly lost interest and started to look for the next new thing. They drifted off to do their own activities and left the friends to themselves when they went up to Jeno and Chenle's shared room. They settled down in the room, leaving their sports bags in the corner and moving to sit on the beds. Donghyuck, Mark and Jisung sat on Chenle's bed while the other four sat on Jeno's.