[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Oh Canada

Mark was over the moon excited to be flying back home, even if it was only for the weekend. He thought he might've even been more excited than when he first flew to Korea, and that was a tough one to beat. Except now he didn't have Jaehyun to keep him company and the flight attendants kept having to check on him because he was an unaccompanied minor.

He tried sleeping to pass the time since it was a long flight, but he was too excited to do that so he put on a movie. He attempted to take notes for Haechan, but he ended up falling asleep half way through. He had forgotten all the points he was going to share with Haechan by the time he woke up almost six hours later so he gave up on that.

The rest of his time on the plane was spent staring out the window and trying to figure out what he could've possibly forgotten. He knew he had forgotten something, but after checking through his things in his carry-on, he knew he had everything he needed for the weekend. So he tried to shrug it off while looking out the window and waiting for the plane to land.

His parents were waiting for him as soon as he got off, and he ran up to hug them. Except he couldn't possibly choose who to hug first, so he hugged them both at the same time. Choosing one felt too much like favoritism.

"We missed you so much!"

"I missed you too."

Both his parents were teary eyed at the least, but Mark was holding it together. Sort of.

"Are you tired? Do you want to go home and nap before we go to my mom's for dinner?" His Dad asked, and Mark refrained from scrunching his nose.

His first few hours back in Canada and he'd have to spend it at his grandparents' house watching TV because that's all they did. Definitely not what he was hoping for.

"I'm not tired, but can we still go home first?"

"Sure! How does ice cream sound for a snack?" His Mom took his hand and started walking out of the airport since they didn't have to wait for his luggage.

"Okay!"

They drove to their usual place for ice cream, one of the local Mom and Pop ones, and they sat down inside to eat it. It was almost too cold for ice cream, but that wasn't stopping them when you're Canadian.

"So how's Korea? Are you liking it there?"

"I love it! I've made so many new friends!"

Both his parents smiled, a weight coming off their shoulders now that that was confirmed. Sure, they had gotten a call from Mark almost every day since he had left, but it was a whole other thing to see him really mean it in front of them.

"And everything's still going okay at school?"

Mark nodded, taking another lick of his ice cream and almost causing it to fall out of the cone. "Wow, this is sweet."

"Would you like to come back to Canada?"

"What do you mean? I'm already here." If his cult members were here they would've said the high altitude from the plane had killed some of his braincells.

"No, we mean move back here. We were thinking and you're still just a kid, and we really don't want to miss out on your whole life. We already know you've been doing great helping out at the cafe and everything, and we're really proud of you for that, but don't you want to come home?"

The fact that his parents were even giving him a choice was shocking enough. He'd thought about wanting to go back home a couple of times, but that was mainly in the beginning when he'd get homesick. Now he had too many friends to even think about leaving.

Shoot, that's what he had forgotten. Telling everyone he had left.

"Can't I stay in Korea? I like it there. I like Canada, but Korea has all my cult... friends. It has my friends."

His parents shard a knowing look with each other and sighed.

"We thought you'd say that."

"Are you going to make me come back?" Mark's eyes now showed how terrified he was at just the thought of it.

"No... I don't think we will."

"I think we'll end up going back to Korea with you." His Dad finished, Mark now smiling.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're still a kid, and I really hate the idea of my sister raising you."

The rivalry between the two sisters was something Mark could always count on, but he had the feeling that asking if he could call her later was probably going to get him a dirty look. He'd have to save that for tomorrow unless they called him.

Despite that good news, Mark still had to go to his grandparents house and sit there like a good child and not mention that his grandparents on his Mom's side were much cooler. But at least he was home, even if it was for a little bit.