the speed at which planets move # y.kh + i.ck [✓]

⅘

Indeed, Changkyun and his sisters didn't live alone (at least, not yet), but with their parents. His mother was the head of the marketing department in a really big company, and his father was her secretary. Their story was quite funny to him: they had met in high school and started dating, just to then break up when they chose different universities. Then they met again as he was hired as a secretary, an quickly fell back in love.

His mother's career, and especially her high-up position were the motives for their absentness. Her work seemed never-ending, and she was always tired when she came home. His father didn't have it any better, as he had to manage her schedules and follow her everywhere. They weren't bad parents – just really busy people. In fact, his mother's omelet was really good, and his dad could play videogames even better than Minyoo, and Minyoo played videogames all the time. But spending time with them was really hard, and although Changkyun usually found it worth it, it got lonely. Well, he had Hyerin and Minyoo, after all, so it's not like he never had anyone.

Getting caught sneaking out by them seemed by far way scarier that getting caught by his sisters, though.

"Hi," he said, walking in.

"We were waiting for you!" his mom cheerfully chipped, and Changkyun peeked his whole family seeted in the living room. That's bad news, he gulped. He took off his shoes and joined them, sitting next to Hyerin on the side of the couch.

"You three are really the apple of our eye, you know?" his dad began when his mother had sat too.

"You really are. But," she continued on his words, "we noticed some of your grades are lacking."

"If this is about the exam I failed last month, you're late, because I got 95 on the next one, so I fixed it," Minyoo interrupted her. She wasn't sitting on the couch but on an armchair, her legs raised on the cushion.

"I'm pretty sure it's about me, actually, Min," Changkyun had the courage to mutter.

"That's right, honey. You're not doing well in maths, and you also failed other two tests," his mother said. He sank a bit in the sofa, trying to disappear from the eight eyes that were now all on him.

"Yeah. But I'm already trying to fix the problem, I swear."

His father sighed. "That's the bare minimum. If you have problems with maths, you should tell us. We can find you a tutor."

"I know." he said. Was it bad that he hoped that his parents, one engineer and the other with a statistics degree, would offer to help him themselves? But that wasn't possible. They were too busy for their own son, of course.

They were quick to move on from him, and start scolding Minyoo on her low attendance. Hyerin stayed silent, her lips pursed into a thin line, eyebrows slightly frowned. Changkyun sank even further in his spot, like a turtle in its shell.

"I'll make dinner while your mom takes a nap. She's really tired today," his father said after Minyoo's expression had dropped enough for their liking.

"Yeah, yeah, must be really tired. You guys haven't even said hi to Kyun when he arrived," Hyerin said, loudly.

Four heads shot in her direction.

"Hyerin, honey, you have to understand..."

"Oh, I understand really well, thank you. I just thought it could have been nice from you to say hello to him, since you haven't been home for really long, you know. Maybe he missed you. But yeah, tiredness can make you forget about your children sometimes," she kept her head up, her gaze alternating between their parents.

The room went completely silent. "I'm going to rest," his mom said, and left. His father followed her out of the room, but took another direction and headed to the kitchen.