[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Exhausted

Doyoung was exhausted. Running off of three hours of sleep and needing a snack and a stretch break kind of exhausted.

He hadn't been to the cafe in almost four days, an abnormality by far. What was even more surprising was that no one had come to drag him over, but they probably knew from WinWin that he was completely piled under hours of school work. He couldn't even afford a break, not with the four papers he had to research and write, along with the reading notes and art project (a class he didn't even want to sign up for) all due tomorrow.

It was excessive, but that's what he got for loading up his schedule.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes hurt from looking at the bright screen in front of him, open with several articles he needed for only one of the papers he had to write. The one that was currently just a blank piece of paper in front of him.

His eyes drifted to the pack of cigarettes his dad had left on the table. One couldn't hurt, right? Just enough to get him focused again. Only one...

Doyoung mentally slapped himself and tore his eyes away from the devil box. He wouldn't. Not when he promised Jeno he wouldn't years ago. But they were right there. There's no way he'd know.

Before he could fully convince himself, Doyoung got up from the table, grabbed the pack, and put them in his Dad's drawer, slamming it shut. Out of sight, out of mind.

Unfortunately that same philosophy couldn't be applied to his work. Even if he made it physically disappear those deadlines were still imbedded into his mind.

"Doyoung! Your children are out of control! Stop hiding from us and come be a good mom!" 

Taeyong shouted as he burst through Doyoung's front door. He paused when he saw how disheveled he looked and the piles of papers on the kitchen table.

"You need to stop doing this. You know it's not healthy."

Last time Doyoung had overworked himself this much he was studying for his finals for his first year of high school. Jeno had come over with Mark and the two of them made him grilled cheese and hot cocoa, forcing him to take a break and eat.

"It's all due tomorrow and I have nothing but research done. I can't just not."

"How can you run so fast?" Jaehyun collapsed in Doyoung's doorway, completely out of breath.

"Sorry, I thought you could keep up."

"He sprinted this whole way. I've never seen him run that fast." Jaehyun looked up from his face plant on the ground, frowning. "You look awful."

"Thanks."

"No like when WinWin said you looked bad, he was toning it down by a lot. Are you even breathing?"

"Of course I'm-"

"What kind of torture is this? Are you sure this is all due tomorrow?" Taeyong interrupted, hovering over the rubric for only one of the papers. And that was one of the easier ones.

"Yes, and I can't afford distractions. So thanks for saying hi, but I have to get back to work." Doyoung motioned to the door, but Jaehyun and Taeyong weren't having any of that.

"You get the papers, I'll get the bunny."

"What? No-"

Doyoung's protests were cut off by Jaehyun picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder as Taeyong scooped up every single paper on the table and his laptop. Doyoung gave up as the two walked out with both him and all of his work, going straight to the cafe.

Just as Taeyong had been complaining about when he burst into the apartment, Jeno and Jungwoo were off the walls. Both looked like they were on a sugar high. Jungwoo was standing on a crate and preaching about the cultural importance of cold spicy noodles, and Jeno was crisscross on the floor cheering him on. The others in the basement were just continuing on with what they were doing, not even batting an eye.

"Doyoung! You're free!" Jungwoo threw himself onto Doyoung, who had just been put down by Jaehyun a millisecond ago, Jeno right behind him.

"Is your work finally done?"

"No, these two just kidnapped me."

"Okay, we're divvying up Doyoung's work. He's got an art project, and essays on math, the mind, why the country is where it is now, and music theory. Who wants what?" Taeyong held up the papers, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"I'll take art!" Ten and Renjun shouted at the same time, glaring at each other.

"I just finished the notes on history, I can help with the history essay." Kun offered, the notebook and textbook still open on his bed.

"I can look through the math essay and make an outline for you." Taeil added in.

"Haechan and I just finished a music theory unit, we can help with that."

"I'm not doing his homework." Haechan sassed back at Jaemin, earning himself a death glare from everyone in the room. "I guess I can help."

"WinWin and I can help with the paper on the mind." Yuta suggested, not knowing how they would be able to assist, but he was sure they could do something.

"Yeah, we just watched that one movie about split personalities. We've got this."

"You watched it without me?" Hendery whined.

"You were at your house, what were we supposed to do?"

"What movie was that?" Xiaojun asked, having watched a movie with WinWin and Yuta that didn't involve split personalities the other night.

"The Nightmare Before Christmas. That one mayor has the two different sides of his face for different personalities." Yuta explained.

Doyoung's eyes widened. That most certainly sounded like they had no idea what they were doing.

"And Taeyong and I can proofread everything. You'll be done by midnight. Hopefully." Johnny volunteered.

"I'll go make coffee then." Jaehyun said with a sigh. This was not what he was hoping for when he agreed to go kidnap Doyoung.

"I'll get snacks!" Lucas shouted, racing Jaehyun up the stairs.

"Isn't it our night to have Mark?" Chenle asked, double checking the room to make sure he didn't miss him come down.

"Let's go get him!" Jisung grabbed Chenle's hand and dragged him up the stairs, YangYang following behind just in case they were going to get kidnapped.

Taeyong helped Doyoung sort out the papers into the different subjects now that they were mixed up, putting them in piles for the others to grab. Sungchan and Shotaro would've been there to help too, but they were stuck home with their parents.

Chenle, Jisung and YangYang came back a few minutes later with Mark, everyone already with a cup of coffee each and snacks open around the room.

"This looks like a work house." Mark said as soon as he saw them all focused.

Ten and Renjun had the art project spread out over the entire floor and everyone else was on their beds helping out with papers around them. Except for those who weren't helping in some way, they were just stealing snacks and setting up a game they could play quietly.

"Now all we need is Sungchan and Shotaro." YangYang said, kicking his shoes off.

Though the only ones actually doing all the work for Doyoung were Ten and Renjun. The others were just gathering all the points he had already done the research for and outlining papers. But Doyoung knew it was a lot better than still being in the apartment wanting to cry.