[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Slapped By the Childhood

When Jisung pointed it out casually to his Dad one night that he wasn't five anymore (it was conveniently right before he put on another episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), he thought the man was going to cry. Instead he nodded and started the first episode of Game of Thrones, and after a bit Jisung had to point out he wasn't that old.

If anything was clear now, it was that his Dad had no idea what to do with kids.

So the two of them spent the night cleaning out everything in Jisung's old room (which he thought resembled a nursery). He explained all the things he had out grown while answering questions on what he liked now.

If he was being honest, he felt bad basically gutting the room out, but none of it could fit him or entertain him. It was strange seeing a past perfectly preserved that he didn't remember, though.

Especially since he could barely remember anything from that time.

He had found something slightly intriguing, so now he was heading to the cafe with the movie case in hand. His Dad had had to answer a call for work anyways, and they both knew that was going to take at least an hour.

"Did he start crying?" Sungchan asked as soon as he saw Jisung.

"Nope, almost."

"You're done already?" Jeno asked.

"Not even close. But I found this so now we're watching it." He briefly held up the DVD case, knowing if they could actually see it that they'd object.

"Did you ditch your Dad to watch a movie with us?" Sungchan looked highly concerned as Jisung started setting it up.

"He had a phone call and told me I could leave. I'm not that mean."

Sungchan and Jeno moved to the usual movie area, getting comfortable as Jisung set up the movie.

"So what we watching?"

"You'll see. This should be good."

"I heard Jisung's back, where is he?" Jaemin asked, coming down the stairs with the other part of the 00 line.

"We're watching a movie if you want to join."

"And you didn't invite us sooner? How rude." Haechan whined, plopping down next to Jeno.

"Guess we're having a maknae movie night." Sungchan pointed out.

"Minus Chenle because he's at his granny's." YangYang corrected, curling up next to Shotaro on the bed.

"What is this and why does it already look lame?" Renjun complained, Jaemin smacking the back of his head.

"Don't be mean, Jisung wants to show us something."

"Why are we watching a Disney sing-along?" Shotaro asked, looking at the DVD case Jisung had set down.

YangYang took the case from Shotaro, his eyes lighting up.

"This was my whole childhood! I used to put this on loop for hours until my mom got rid of it!"

Renjun looked over YangYang's shoulder, "I have never seen that before in my life."

"Probably because it doesn't have Korean audio or subtitles. My parents must've been trying to teach me English." Jisung pointed out, having been staring at the audio settings for a good minute trying to find it.

"Just hit the play button on the bottom of the screen. I'll translate if you need me to." YangYang offered, not willing to let this opportunity slip away.

Jisung shrugged as he hit play, sitting on the bed where they were all squished. He thinks he was leaning against Jaemin, but it could've been Sungchan. He had no idea since Haechan got up and turned off the lights for a proper movie setting.

YangYang started jamming out as soon as the introduction came on, even though it was only birds singing in a very old school house to explain how sing-alongs work.

"Oh my gosh, the quality on this is amazing." Sungchan ever so sarcastically commented.

It wasn't the worst considering they had adapted it from VHS to DVD, but you could still tell it was old. Definitely not something Disney would produce now.

"Is that what I think it is?" Johnny asked excitedly, poking his head into the basement.

"Heck yeah it is!" YangYang responded, Johnny running down the stairs to join them.

"It's not even that loud..." Jeno whispered to Haechan, the other just shrugging.

YangYang and Johnny were singing along to the songs and jamming, Sungchan and Jaemin also getting into it. Renjun was still standing by his statement that it was lame, but even he smiled at least once.

"Why in the world would she wonder what goes on there at night?" YangYang complained, groaning as the girl started thinking about the nighttime happenings in the Haunted Mansion.

"I don't know what's going on, but that's pretty creepy for a kid's movie." Shotaro mentioned, unable to look away from the screen.

The Evil Queen in hag form kept appearing on the screen as Grin Grinning Ghosts played, crude tree costumes dancing around. Everyone went silent as the song played, but Renjun looked like he was finally truly enjoying it.

Jisung, on the other hand, finally remembered why he stopped watching this as a kid.