[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

YangYang's Cookie Time

YangYang came down the stairs with a massive plate of cookies in his hands, this time the chocolate chip ones, and he set them down in the middle of everyone. With the help of Mrs. Suh he had just made them, and he was pretty proud of himself.

"Alright, you guys gotta hear this story." He took two cookies and sat down next to Haechan on Mark's bed, watching the pile of cookies diminish on the plate.

"Why'd you make cookies?"

"Because I don't think we were all going to sip tea, and I wasn't feeling popcorn for this dramatic story." He fired back at Doyoung, upset anyone was even questioning cookies.

"It's serious night, though." WinWin reminded them, and Mark got up to check if anyone's name was on the board. Not like anyone's name was normally on the board, but tonight there was.

"Jaehyun's on the board, so it is."

"Can't we do that after I spill some tea?"

No one other than Yuta knew why Jaehyun's name was on the board, so they let YangYang go ahead. There was no stopping him, though. Not when he just made them all cookies.

"So I'm just sitting there, chilling in the gym, minding my own business. The gym teacher had just kicked me out of a game of badminton because apparently I 'wasn't following the rules' and 'needed to calm down.' I was just making it interesting."

"She told me same thing." Chenle added in with a pout, so Jeno deftly patted his head.

"Anyways, now I'm off to the side watching the game go down, commentating because I can. And this kid comes up to me- we'll call him Nana for now- and he starts making jokes with me. Now these are golden comments, and I don't know where this kid came from, but somehow the teacher thinks we're doing something wrong and we both get sent to the office."

YangYang took a bite of his cookie, still upset over that. Just when he was making another friend and insulting the kids who were doing absolutely terrible but kept talking big game, the teacher just had to ruin it. Like always.

"Wait. Nana? That kid with the pink hair?" Taeyong asked, knowing the nickname sounded familiar.

"Yeah, that one."

"You know who he's talking about?" Whispered Johnny.

"We volunteer at the same places sometimes."

"You made cookies just to complain about your gym teacher?" Kun questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"We get cookies, don't ruin this." Hendery reached forward and grabbed another, missing the plate by a bit. Jungwoo handed him a cookie to help him out, grabbing one more for himself.

"Now it's time for grandpa's serious time to finally be used. Spill, Jae. Why are you on the board?" Haechan took on a mysterious tone of voice, squinting his eyes at him even though he was wearing sunglasses and the squint couldn't be seen.

"I don't know why I'm on the board."

"That's what they all say."

"No, for real."

"You have to call your Mom." Yuta reminded him, and now the younger sighed.

"You never called her?! That was a couple days ago!" Mark now looked extremely upset.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll call my Mom too."

"Lucas, you live with your Mom." Jeno pointed out.

"And? I like calling her."

"Fine, I'll call her. But you guys better not do anything stupid." Jaehyun looked each of them in the eye to make sure they weren't going to, lingering on Haechan a little longer.

Mark then ran upstairs to get a phone to call her on, coming back down as fast as he could. All the kids sat around and watched him dial his Mom's number, just to make sure he wasn't faking it, and they continued to watch him to pressure him into actually talking.

Making it a very awkward situation for Jaehyun.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mom."

"Jaehyun! How are you? How's school? Is my sister treating you well?"

"I'm fine."

"What's up?"

"You tried calling earlier."

"Oh yeah. I was wondering if you'd want to come back."

"I'm good."

"What do you think they're saying?" Hendery whispered to Jungwoo, the older shrugging.

"Oh. Alright. Well your Dad and I are planning on staying here-"

"You're not getting divorced?"

She sighed. "We're working things out."

"I don't want to be there if you're fighting."

Kun smacked the back of his head. "Be nice." Jaehyun just stuck out his tongue at him.

"That's fair. I've got to go now, Jae. Be good for your aunt."

"Bye, Mom."

They both hung up at the same time, and Jaehyun gladly let the phone fall to his side. The boys were all still crowded around him in a giant huddle, waiting for some more tea for the night.

"Happy now?"

Yuta nodded. "Yes. Very."

Title credit to Crimson (my little brother)