Hyeokjin wheezed from his position on the floor, "Ohhhhhh man." He breathed out, his voice airy after the way the impact had knocked all of the air out of his lungs, "W-hy did you go so h-ard?" Hyeokjins voice cracked, his breathing pattern destroyed by the only person who was notoriously terrible at sparring.

"Don't be a baby," Ijin said flatly as he helped the blond onto his feet. Hyeokjin wobbled at the top until Ijin steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. "You volunteered and they won't know how to do it right if I don't show them." Yet, despite Ijins cold demeanor, he gave Hyeokjin a questioning look as Ijin tried to figure out if he had hurt his friend in the demonstration.

Hyeokjin gave Ijin a thumbs up, prompting Ijin to give him a nod of acknowledgment before Seokju and Hyeokjin started to switch places on the mat. Jaehyung and Yeongchan almost cackled at the way Hyeokjin walked off the mat cradling his stomach as he tried to get his respiratory system to function again.

Seokju sighed, "I told you to say no." Seokju had been the first one to protest Hyeokjin volunteering to be Ijin's partner in the training session. And for good reason too because even Ijin had admitted that he wasn't the best at self-restraint when it came to anything related to combat or training. More often than not, people required multiple sparring sessions with the same person before they were able to find the middle point and Ijin was not any different. Ijin either over or underestimated one's capabilities during the initial spar and that in itself caused problems.

Out of the group, Seokju was the only one who could truly spar with Ijin. They had trained long enough that they knew each other's capabilities and neither of them had to worry about themselves or the other using excessive force. Unfortunately, that could not be said for the others.

Hyeokjin sucked in a breath and he relished the way his lungs expanded on command, "Yeah I see that now." He should have listened when Seokju spoke against the idea of Ijin, not only had Ijin sided with Seokju, but Seokju gave some admittedly good points that only teenage stupidity could rule against.

Ijin heartlessly shrugged his shoulders. "I told you Seokju was the better choice." Seokju hummed in agreement. Hyeokjin didn't have their sympathies, they had warned Hyeokjin that Ijin was not a good first-time sparring partner and he decided to ignore it. The mistake was entirely on Hyeokjin and him alone.

That was not to say that it was not funny to see Hyeokjin's mistake bite him in the ass. The entire time, Yeongchan and Jaehyung had been laughing at his misfortune, they took in far too much joy in seeing Hyeokjin being thrown around like a rag doll.

The glare Hyeokjin sent them rolled off their shoulders and the blond groaned in defeat. No one was on his side, not even the idiots that got him in that situation in the first place. "Is that what you do to every idiot you need to restrain?" Hyeokjin asked as Seokju stepped forward with the intent to grab Ijins wrist, Ijin responded by grabbing Seokju's extended arm and he twisted it as he pinned Seokju's arm in between his shoulder blades in a slowed, but effective demonstration.

A slight grunt escaped Seokju as Ijin used a bit too much force, the teen lightening his hand soon after "Oh no." Seokju said lightly, they paused before Seokju started to show them how to escape the hold, Ijin allowing him to go through the motions, "Ijin usually knocks them out before anything." It had gotten Ijin in trouble a few times, but save for a few situations, Ijins actions had always been justifiable.

The blonde sighed. "Right. Of course, he does." Seokju didn't even know why Hyeokjin was surprised. Ijin had always been all or nothing since they'd met him. it shouldn't have been a surprise by that point.

They continued the demonstration. Without Seokjus and Ijin's knowledge, the idea of the two bodyguards teaching the others a few techniques had been something of a discussion for a while. It was well known that Ijin and Seokju were well-versed in martial arts, which led the three of them to ask Ijin and Seokju to teach them. Once the details had been ironed out, they convened in the S.W. training center after hours, where the teaching could commence with no one to interfere.

Seokju watched as Jaehyung practiced a few times with Hyeokjin, each iteration improving as they practiced. Although he had to make a few corrections, the two were learning quickly. Their rough movements reflected their experience in street fighting, but it was nothing that practice couldn't fix.

The same could not be said for Yeongchan, though he was having difficulties due to another reason.

"Ijin." Yeongchan said, exasperated to hell and back, "stop going so easy on me! I'm not a little kid!"

Ijin raised his eyebrow as he looked at his friend up and down and when he looked over at Seokju for his opinion, all Seokju offered was a shrug. Seokju saw where Ijin was coming from, Yeongchan was the smallest and the weakest of their friend group and to make it better, he was the only one who didn't have any fighting experience. Hyeokjin and the others had some experience in brawling, but Yeongchan didn't have any. So Seokju understood why Ijin was very reluctant to teach Yeongchan as he had done the others.

However, Yeongchan's inexperience should have been the thing that pushed Ijin to teach Yeongchan. Hyeokjin and Jaehyung could handle themselves in most fights, but Yeongchan most definitely could not. If he had, Yeongchan wouldn't have tolerated Jaehyung and Hyeokjin's bullying otherwise.

Ijin did not look swayed. "I don't want to hurt you." Ijin said simply and still, Seokju saw where he was coming from. They knew that the other two could take a beating, for all Ijin knew, he was going to end up pushing the smaller boy past his limits and injuring him. As one might expect, Ijin wanted to avoid that.

It was a shame that Ijin was offending Yeongchan as a result of his worries, but as they could tell, Ijin decided that he could live with the consequences.

Yeongchan heaved out a sigh, "I know you don't but how am I supposed to learn?" It was a good point, Yeongchan couldn't learn if Ijin was trying to protect him even from training. Seokju waited for Ijins response, he wanted to see the way Ijin would answer that well-constructed argument.

Again, Ijin looked over to him for his opinion and Seokju provided it. "He's right." Yeongchan gave him a grateful look that portrayed his relief that Seokju was on his side. "He can't learn if you don't show him." Seokju also didn't want to hurt Yeongchan, but they were doing it out of necessity, not out of cruelty so it could be overlooked.

The former mercenary slowly nodded as he took Yeongchans words into consideration, his gaze going up and down as he evaluated their friend. "Fine." Yeongchan beamed. "Go practice with Jaehyung then. He's around your size, some of my techniques are best if you're taller. He'll modify them." To Seokju, that was a reasonable idea. Yeongchan was the smallest but at least Jaehyung would be able to show him how to adjust for a shorter arm reach. Unlike Seokju, Ijin, and Hyeokjin, Jaehyung was used to being smaller than his opponents and would be able to teach Yeongchan how to compensate for that disadvantage.

However, Yeongchan was having none of it. Yeongchan raised his eyebrow, "Are you saying that to appease me or are you still treating me like a little kid?"

It was like a tennis match and Seokju had the front-row seat to it. It would have been a thrilling verbal tennis match if Ijin had decided to participate more.

"Go and train with Jaehyung." Ijin repeated before going off to go and help the others. Leaving Seokju and a fuming Yeongchan behind to exchange looks.

Understandably, Yeongchan was not happy. "He's treating me like a baby." Yeongchan sounded thoroughly annoyed, and Seokju didn't blame him. Ijin was assuming that Yeongchan couldn't handle the training and while Seokju understood, that in itself was an insult.

Seokju readily agreed. "He is." Ijin was making it obvious that he thought Yeongchan wasn't physically capable of learning the techniques he was teaching him.

Granted, a few of them were a bit too technical for the untrained, but at the very least they could learn how to do it and learn how to improve their movements over time. It was unfair that Ijin was treating Yeongchan differently, even if it was out of Ijin's desire to prevent harm.

Yeongchan glowered as Ijin continued to teach the others, the latter not even noticing the way the smallest member was glaring. That or Ijin didn't care. "I'm not a little kid."

"You're not." Seokju agreed. Yeongchan was small enough to be mistaken for one but he was still the same age as the rest of them. The discrimination Yeongchan was facing just had to annoy him in more than one way, Seokju knew that if Ijin had done the same to him, Seokju would be equally annoyed.

Ijin looped around Jaehyung and kicked the back of his knee to point out a weakness. The sight of Ijin teaching the others only made Yeongchans expression curdle further. "I'm going to get him back." That made Seokju give Yeongchan a surprised look.

"You are?" Seokju asked, a surprised tone in his voice as he eyed Yeongchan. Not that he doubted his capabilities, but when it came to pranks and messing with people, that was more of Jaehyung's and Hyeokjin's specialty.

Yeongchan nodded, "Yep." He watched as Ijin slammed Hyeokjin to the ground before grinning, "Wanna help?"


Was it a bad idea?

Maybe, Ijin was a calm person, it was difficult to anger him but once he was mad, he was mad. Though at the time being, Seokju only intended to annoy him, they hadn't planned to piss him off from the very beginning. It had to be a slow burn, a wave of anger that slowly built up over time before Ijin lost it.

The warm-up started and like always, Ijin was running right next to Seokju, the two of them at the front of the group with Kyong leading them around the track. Seokju waited until it was the last lap, and restraining the urge to grin to himself, Seokju elbowed Ijin, just hard enough for him to notice.

Ijin grunted and gave Seokju a confused look before he dismissed it in favor of running. Seokju almost snorted. Clearly, Ijin thought that it had been an accident when it hadn't, which did nothing but make it funnier.

Again, Seokju elbowed him, and that time around Ijin knew that it was not an accident, Ijin elbowed him back. He sent a look over to Seokju, that time it was a look of annoyance that warned Seokju not to do it again.

It was part of the plan for Seokju to annoy Ijin so Yeongchan could mess with him in the background and yes, Seokju was, in fact, going to do it again. But Yeongchan better be grateful for Seokju's sacrifice. The entire plan was going to piss Ijin off just so Yeongchan could get his revenge for being treated like a child.

Not that Seokju didn't support the plan, Yeongchan needed his revenge arc and Seokju was more than willing to make that happen. He just wasn't looking forward to facing Ijins wrath, but it was for the greater good in Seokju's opinion.

That time when he elbowed Ijin again, Seokju picked up the pace, forcing Ijin to speed up if he wanted to return the action. Just like Seokju thought, Ijin easily caught up with him to elbow him back, using a bit more force as he tried to get his point across. Ijin wasn't the type to mess around during training and Seokju was internally cackling at the thought of him being the reason Ijin lost it.

Some of the men chuckled behind them, encouraging Seokju to continue with his bullshit.

Seokju did it again and by that time, he was running in the front with Kyong to try and get away from Ijin. Not that it worked because, in the process of trying to wave off Kyong's confused look, Ijin caught up once again and elbowed him. "You better stop." Ijin's voice was level, but Seokju knew him well enough that he could hear the annoyance leaking into his voice.

He gave Kyong a grin and knowing full well that he was poking the bear, Seokju elbowed Ijin one last time with the intent to make it sting before he took off. It was knees to chest the entire time because Seokju knew that he had just pissed off Ijin.

As he thought, the reaction was immediate.

Seokju!" Ijin yelled behind him, and Seokju could hear Ijin quickly gaining on him as he ran away, "You coward!" Ijin was, regretfully, faster than him, and just as Seokju heard the footsteps almost right on top of him, he ran off the track and onto the training pads.

"Boys!" Kyong called after them, an exasperated tone in his voice, "No messing around during training!"

"It's Ijin!" Seokju called back and it was out of mere luck that he jumped out of the way at the right time, Ijin growled in frustration before he pivoted. Unfortunately for Seokju, he couldn't get out of the way in time. Within seconds, Ijin was holding Seokju from behind, his legs wrapped around his chest and Seokju's head in an arm lock.

Slowly, all of the men came to a stop as the two teenagers tussled on the training mats, confused, but also amused by the events that were taking place right in front of them.

"You damn well know it wasn't me who started this!" Ijin sounded upset but based on the way he started to rub his knuckles into the crown of his head rather than trying to hurt him, Seokju knew that he wasn't that upset, which was preferable.

He yelped at the sensation, trying his best to escape Ijin's hold as Ijin dug his knuckles into his scalp, "Wait wait just a second!" he tried pulling at the arm that was wrapped around his neck to no avail. Curse that muscle head and curse his unfailing strength.

"No!" Ijin held on tighter, leaning backward as he tried to avoid Seokju's arms that were reaching back for him, "This is what you g- Did you just bite me!?"

"And I'll do it again!" That was all the warning Ijin got before Seokju bit him again, his jacket keeping Seokju from breaking the skin but doing nothing to protect him from the pressure.

"You little fuckling!" Ijin covered his mouth with his hand.

Seokju licked it.

Ijin wiped the saliva off using Seokju's cheek, smearing it all over the owner's face.

Seokju made a loud sound of disgust, "Oh, that is so gross!"

"You're the one who licked me!" Ijin snapped back, repositioning his arm so Seokju couldn't bite him again.

The boys kept on arguing as they wrestled on the training mat, the two of them partaking in the most childish behavior they had seen yet. It was truly a sight to see the two uptight teenagers partaking in a wrestling match as Ijin tried to contain the squirming and apparently the teething Seokju only for the both of them to fail repeatedly.

" Stop biting me!" Ijin yelled indignantly.

Seokju didn't stop biting him. It was almost impressive the way Seokju channeled his inner carnivore and it was equally impressive the way Ijin was restraining him to keep the chomposaur from getting him.

Kyong snorted at the sight and it wasn't long before the other men started to laugh at them, a few of them taking out their phones to record the event.

He grinned as Ijin spasmed under Seokju, the teenager pressing his fingertips into Ijin's ticklish spots in an attempt to get him to let go. In return, Ijin smacked Seokju's head.

Unfortunately, Kyong was going to have to reprimand the two for their bout of immaturity. but he could let the boys be teenagers for a few more minutes. The two of them were too serious for their own good.


Yeongchan had barely walked into the classroom before Seokju and Ijin ran past him, nearly running him over in the process. From down the hall, Yeongchan could hear Ijin as he yelled at Seokju to give his backpack back, Seokju returning an indignant 'No!' before they took off down the hallway. The sound of doors sliding open and teachers poking their heads out to tell them to settle down only made it better.

Yeongchan couldn't help but grin at everything. Seokju had told him that he managed to annoy Ijin in training but the results were so much better than he'd expected. As much as Yeongchan wanted to relish the way Ijin was losing his mind, he needed to take advantage of his absence. Yeongchan beelined for Ijin's desk, where Ijin's phone and jacket were left behind as had been planned.

Hyeokjin snorted upon seeing him. "I didn't think you guys would actually get back at him."

That made Yeongchan grin devilishly as he delicately plucked Ijin's phone from his jacket before turning the jacket inside out to further inconvenience his victim, "This is what he gets for treating me like I'm inept." Yeongchan carefully put Ijins jacket back, trying to make it look as if no one had touched it before he turned his attention to Ijin's phone. Yeongchan opened Ijin's phone because as he figured, Ijin had never put a password on his phone and like they all had been warning him for months, he was going to regret it.

It was time for Ijin to regret ignoring their advice.

Hyeokjin returned the grin and by that point, he was leaning over Yeongchan's shoulder to get a look at what he was doing, "Ooo changing his contact names? Classic." He said approvingly before he made a few suggestions for the new contact names.

"Yep," and to make it better, Ijin didn't have a lot of contacts so it was relatively fast for him to change all the contacts, he even had the time to go and change the contact photos. It was beautiful and Yeongchan was both relieved but also mournful that he wouldn't be able to see Ijins reaction when he saw what they did. "What should I change major Kangs to? Or should I leave it alone to mess with him?"

"Nah I got a better idea," Hyeokjin took Ijin's phone from him and it wasn't long until Yeongchan started laughing like an idiot.

Instead of changing Major Kang's contact name to something stupid, Hyeokjin decided to switch their contact names. Meaning that each time Ijin tried to text Major Kang, he would be texting Yeongchan and each time he texted Yeongchan, he would be texting Major Kang.

It was such a bad idea, he loved it.

Yeongchan damn near burst out laughing at the trick. "Hang on, let me text him and tell him what we did, what's his number?" Yeongchan typed the number into his phone before sending the soldier a text, telling him exactly what he had done to Ijin's phone. They just had to hope that Ijin's father figure would go with it.

"Do you think he's going to go with it?" carefully, they put Ijin's phone back into his jacket pocket before they started to take out Ijin's mechanical pencils to mess with the lead. They didn't take out the lead, but they were going to make it where Ijin was going to have to press the top repeatedly just to get the lead out. it wasn't necessary since Ijin was already going to be annoyed but Yeongchan wanted to ensure that Ijin was going to be primed and ready for his well-deserved suffering.

Hyeokjin shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. Maybe, the Major seems like a cool dude." That was a good point. They had met the man a few times but for the most part, they could tell that he was a cool person. He definitely seemed like the type who would partake in their antics just to mess with Ijin.

They finished messing with his pencils and put them away just in time for Ijin and Seokju to trudge back into the classroom. Ijin had his backpack in hand and both of them had another yellow slip with them, no doubt a punishment for the way they had been running around earlier. Ijin looked annoyed, which was exactly what Yeongchan wanted, and although Seokju looked somewhat annoyed, he was quick to smile when he and Yeongchan exchanged subtle nods.

Yeongchan decided that he was going to have to get Seokju a gift after that. or at least treat Seokju to a few meals to try and show his gratitude for partaking in the stupid prank. Seokju more than deserved something like that.

Ijin damn near threw his backpack onto the desk with a huff, his mouth twisted up in that particular way of his when he was upset but was trying to contain himself. "Seokju, "He said lowly, his voice eerily calm, "You're pushing it and," Ijin paused, pulling his jacket off his chair to put it on, "You're starting to piss me off."

Yeongchan, Seokju, and Hyeokjin exchanged looks, Seokju's cheeks momentarily puffing from laughter before he recomposed himself, curling his lips inward in an effort to hide his smile. "Right. Sorry." It didn't take a genius to know that the apology wasn't genuine.

Ijin finally finished putting on his jacket and when he tried to take his phone out, he saw the result of their antics.

Ijin didn't even say anything, his expression didn't change, all he did was take his phone out of his new inner pocket before setting it down on the desk with a little bit more force than necessary. The way his hand slapped against the desk in the process, only amplified the display of anger.

Slowly, Ijin turned to Seokju, his jaw visibly clenched.

They started pushing at Seokju, pushing him towards the door, "Go go!"

"What do you mean 'go'!?" Despite his words, Seokju was smiling, leaning against their hands to counteract their pushing, "I didn't do anything!"

Slowly, Ijin turned his entire body to face them and Yeongchan swore that he could see a vein throbbing on his forehead as he exhaled hard enough to make his nostrils flare. "You are so lucky class is starting." Ijin hissed out, the teacher entering the classroom behind him as he did so.

He didn't give them a chance to answer because just like that, Ijin was sitting in his seat, taking the time to fix his jacket before he started to get ready for class.

Quietly, Seokju and Yeongchan high-fived each other.

Hyeokjin slapped his forehead.


Yeongchan smirked to himself as they walked to his house.

Everything had been going accordingly to plan perfectly. It was wonderful, it was muah. The only thing that could make it better now was an act of god inconveniencing Ijin even further when he was in a mood. At that point, it didn't even have to be something major, Yeongchan was sure that even someone talking to him in the wrong tone would be enough to set him off.

Not that it was going to stop him. Not at all, Yeongchan had a goal and he was going to achieve that goal just to prove a point.

Quietly, Yeongchan let Ijin and Seokju walk in front of him, putting him in the back with Jaehyung and Hyeokjin as all three of them watched the pair. After an entire day of antics that resulted in Ijin getting the living shit annoyed out of him, courtesy of Seokju, Ijin wasn't letting him out of sight. Not once had Ijin let Seokju walk around him without following him with his eyes and although it was a perfect example of his diligence, it just left Ijin open to attacks from the others.

Seokju sent a grin to Ijin, much to Ijin's chagrin because he had to figure out what the reasoning behind the grin was and that only distracted Ijin further. Again, Yeongchan took full advantage of the distraction, and ever so gently, Yeongchan picked up his leg and delicately put a footprint on Ijin's backpack. His dusty footprint was pronounced against his dark backpack and honestly, that just made it funnier than it should have been.

Hyeokjin snorted, thankfully Yeongchan had already brought his leg by the time he did that because Ijin whirled around to look at them, already suspicious of all of them. Hyeokjin covered up his snort with a cough and fortunately for them, Ijin didn't get to question it further before he was whirling back around to glare at Seokju, who had tried to trip him in that short second.

They exchanged looks and it wasn't before long until the three of them were leaving footprints on Ijin's backpack. They took turns, their dusty footprints dirtying the surface of the bag. If it wasn't for the fact that it was Ijin and he was already on high alert, they would have left footprints on the back of his blazer. But considering the way he had been ready to strangle Seokju since the morning, they weren't going to push their luck either way. The objective was to keep it up as long as possible and Yeongchan didn't want to make their effort go to waste.

They took turns leaving the footprints. Each time one of them tried to do it, they had to walk as close as possible to Ijin before stopping to lift their leg and leave their mark. More often than not, because Ijin was walking forward, the biggest mark they could leave was the upper half of their footprint behind.

That was how it became a game to see who could leave the biggest mark on his bag.

And they kept that up all the way to Yeongchan's house.

Jaehyung won that small competition with a complete footprint on the side of Ijin's bag.

Ijin took off his bag, half of his attention focused on the menace that was doing the same, and the other half focused on placing his bag neatly in the entranceway.

Yeongchan had the opportunity to see the priceless moment of seeing Ijin's face when he noticed his dirty backpack. Yeongchan even saw Ijin's mouth 'What the fuck' to himself. Immediately, Ijin's gaze went to Seokju, but since Ijin had been keeping an eye on him the entire time, Ijin knew that it wasn't him.

Ijin's gaze went over to him, Hyeokjin, and Jaehyung, his eyes narrowed in suspicion before his eyes flicked down to their feet and then their shoes.

"You motherfuckers." Ijin hissed out, already reaching out to try and grab one of them. It had been difficult, but their antics had finally managed to push him closer to his breaking point.

"It was Yeongchan!" Jaehyung shrieked out, cackling as he managed to slip past Ijin, and further into Yeongchan's house.

"It was not!"

"Yes, it was!" Hyeokjin cackled out as he slipped past Ijin as well, but not without sacrificing Yeongchan to Ijin so he could get away.

Those fuckers! They threw him under the bus within seconds! Where the hell was the comradery?! The brotherhood!?

Yeongchan tried to get away, but with the way his tractionless socks made him run in place, he had no chance whatsoever.

Ijin grabbed Yeongchan and without a single ounce of remorse, started to jab at his sides. It wasn't hard, they did cause a slight amount of pain, but Yeongchan could tell that despite his frustration, Ijin was greatly holding back.

Earlier he had been annoyed that Ijin had been holding himself back, but at that moment Yeongchan was more than happy that Ijin was treating him like a kid.

Seokju joined in, he grabbed Ijin from behind and tried to restrain Ijin so he could let go of Yeongchan. "Run Yeongchan!"

"I'll beat your ass too!" Ijin snarled back, he was the only one who was annoyed, which only made all of them laugh even more. Even as Seokju struggled to restrain their friend, he was laughing heartily.

Yeongchan squirmed as much as he could. Ijin was annoyingly strong because, despite the fact Seokju was trying to pull Ijins arms off, Ijin still had an iron grip around him. Even with the way Yeongchan was hitting Ijin with his heels, Ijin didn't let up for a single second.

Okay, maybe Hyeokjin and Jaehyung were justified in throwing him under the bus after all.

"Hey." They all froze at the voice, Ijin tightened his hold around Yeongchan, his feet dangling above the floor and Seokju already had his arms under Ijin's armpits, he had been in the middle of trying to pull Ijin away when they heard the voice. The three of them looked up towards the hallway where Yeongchan's mother peeked her head around the corner, a slight frown on her face. "You better not hurt my baby boy."

Yeongchan heaved out a sigh. Thank god for mothers.

Ijin dropped Yeongchan almost immediately. Seokju and Ijin scrambled to let go of each other so they could straighten themselves up and smooth out their clothes, Ijin quickly doing the same for Yeongchan. Ijin may not have experience with mothers, but even he knew that they couldn't cross that line right in front of Yeongchan's mother of all places. Especially since they were in her home.

"Mommmm," Yeongchan dragged out the word, a slight pouting tone in his voice, "We were just playing." Ijin and Seokju eagerly nodded along with his words, trying to prove that despite their words, none of them were at risk of getting hurt.

Well, maybe not Ijin or Yeongchan, but that was neither here nor there.

Yeongchan's mother grinned mischievously, looking exactly like Yeongchan when he grinned like that. "I know. But dinner is ready. Come on, Hyeokjin and Jaehyung are already eating. You guys can do this after."

That explained why she decided to butt in their fun. "Oh, thanks mom." Still, Yeongchan was thankful for her interference.

"Thank you for having me." Seokju said quietly, Ijin following him up shortly after.

"Thank you."

Because Yeongchan's mother was there, Ijin and Seokju were thoroughly cowed, the two of them reverting to their normal behavior as they sat down at the dinner table. Just like last time, they partook in small talk as Yeongchan's mother asked them about their day.

That being said, Ijin had no idea how the conversation started. All they had been talking about was how Hyeokjin's and Jaehyung's dads were good parents. Something Ijin could not relate to as he couldn't remember his father as well as Yeongchan as his father had died some years ago.

Perhaps that was how the conversation had started.

"Imagine not having a mom?"

But it was funny.

"Imagine not having a dad?" Yeongchan's mother replied smoothly as she pulled food towards her, the both of them not even blinking at the way the others stared at them.

Yeongchan didn't hesitate. "Imagine having a dad past 17?" Ijin snorted, gaining an elbow from Seokju in the process. Seokju gave him a look that showed his astonishment that Ijin was laughing.

Ijin didn't care, he elbowed Seokju back. It was payback for the past week where Seokju had been messing with him.

He still didn't know who changed his contacts, but he was going to get to the end of that. The only bright side to that was that Major Kang's number hadn't been changed.

Not to mention, the conversation was funny, especially when Ijin looked around the table and saw how uncomfortable the others were. Jaehyung looked like he wanted to hide under the table, Hyeokjin was studying his plastic chopsticks as if they were a spectacular example of craftsmanship and Seokju had a look that was a mix of horrified and awkward.

In other words, it was a great conversation.

Yeongchan's mother shrugged her shoulders, not taking any offense at the comeback. "It's not my fault I got my mom longer than you got your dad. That's your dad's fault."

Their friend was almost heartless. "You're right. Dumb dad." Yeongchan readily agreed, nodding his head with his mother.

Well, Ijin didn't think that was a normal reaction to a father's death, but then again, he didn't have anything to base that on, being an orphan had affected that aspect of his life.

"Dumb dad. All he had to do was take care of himself but no what do I know." Yeongchan's mother said that lightly, however, the way her chopsticks hit the plate with a loud clang made them realize that there was some truth behind her words. Based on the other's looks, Ijin was going to assume that they were finding the turn in conversation weird as well. But that didn't change the fact that the conversation was funny, and it was clearly their way of coping, so he wasn't going to question it.

At last, Yeongchan looked around and noticed the somber looks on their faces. "You guys can laugh. We're joking." Yeongchan said lightly and another chuckle escaped him when he motioned over to the nearby cabinet, "If not, you can say sorry to him. My dad is right there." That made Ijin nearly snort into his cup.

Where Yeongchan was pointing, his father's ashes were in the cabinet, along with the usual altar items and a portrait. All in all, the man truly was readily available should any of them find the need to apologize.

If the others hadn't been uncomfortable, Yeongchan pointing out the altar surely did accomplish that.

It was hilarious. "Oh, I'm laughing." Ijin said with a slight chuckle, "Imagine not having parents?" At that, Yeongchan and his mother snorted, clearly amused that Ijin was both partaking in their jokes along with the fact that he one-upped them.

"Yeah, that's fair. See?" She motioned towards Ijin with her chopsticks, giving Yeongchan a knowing look. "Don't complain, I could be dead too."

Ok, that was not the impact Ijin was going for.

Her comment only made Yeongchan upset, the smile had disappeared as he openly frowned at his mother. "I'll punch you mom, don't joke like that."

She didn't even care, shrugging her shoulders as she continued talking. "You'll get my life insurance, you'll be fine."

That didn't help her case. "I'll also be an orphan." Yeongchan said seriously, not happy with the topic at all.

Seokju gave Ijin a look that practically screamed 'this is your fault' and Ijin just shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't intended for the conversation to turn that way but it was too late and the only thing they could do was let it run its course.

"An orphan with money." She said as if it would make up for the fact that she was dead in that hypothetical situation. She was just as careless as before even though Yeongchan was quite serious about the topic.

Their host pulled a face at her words and despite the topic, Ijin just had to say it. "You got a problem with orphans or something?" Hyeokjin snorted at that and had to endure the pain of the others smacking him, Jaehyung and Seokju sending him glares that practically yelled at him to shut up.

Yeongchan also smacked Ijin with the back of his hand. "I got a problem with not having parents." He said seriously, his expression portraying how much Yeongchan did not like the topic.

In Ijin's defense, Yeongchan set himself up for failure with that statement. "Same." And if anyone had an opinion on that, it was definitely him, with Hyeokjin and Yeongchan being next in line as they were both missing one of their parents.

The others looked like they either wanted to die on the spot or strangle Ijin for egging on the Park family.

Well, Seokju looked like he wanted to strangle Ijin. The others looked like they wanted to die on the spot.

Ms. Park snorted. "Anyways. I need to go to work. You all enjoy your stay. Love you." Getting up, she kissed the top of Yeongchan's head on the way to the kitchen, where she put her dishes into the sink before going towards the entranceway.

"Got it mom. Love you too." Yeongchan returned, the sound of the apartment door closing echoing throughout the apartment soon after. With her absence, the others heaved out a sigh of relief while Ijin and Yeongchan exchanged shoulder shrugs. It wasn't their fault the others didn't know how to take a joke.

"Now that you're done being weird ," Hyeokjin commented, earning a chuckle from Yeongchan, "You're really close to your mom." Hyeokjin's comment had Seokju nodding along with him, the two of them curious at the way Yeongchan's mother had been so loving throughout all of their interactions. The morbid conversational topic had most likely done nothing to help curb their curiosity.

Yeongchan gave them a bashful smile. "She's my only parent left. Of course, I am." Ijin hummed in agreement. That was understandable. Despite the fact he hadn't known Dayeon and Grandpa for long, even Ijin had to admit that they were all so close because they were all they had left of their family. It was most likely the same for the Park family, only that trait had been exasperated since there were only two of them. "There are already a few things I'm not allowed to tell my cousins until she dies. Like my cousin being interested in my mom or what she did to my grandma's pot when she was younger."

Any inner monologue that they had came to a screeching stop.

Ijin blinked in surprise. "Wait what?" Did he hear that right? There's no way he just heard that right? Yeongchans'cousin was interested in who ?

He looked around the table and he was relieved to see that he was not the only one who was confused. All of them stared at Yeongchan, truly dumbfounded as their mouths hung open and they exchanged looks in between staring at each other and Yeongchan. "Huh?" Jaehyung said dumbly, his chopsticks clattered against the table as they slipped past his fingers.

Ijin tried to process what he heard but each time he tried, he found himself back at the beginning because there was no way in hell he heard that right. He just had to hear that wrong.

"Wait. Hold on a minute." Yeongchan paused to look over at Seokju, whose expression summed up the confusion everyone else was feeling. "Can we go back to what you just said?" Ijin wholeheartedly agreed with that question.

Yeongchan looked confused. "About what my mom did to my grandma's pot?"

"What- No." Seokju looked just as confused as the rest of them. "About your cousin. Your cousin is what ?"

"Ohhhh. You mean how my cousin likes my mom? Yeah, he likes my mom. He showed his interest in her a few months after my dad died. She had to block him on everything." Yeongchan had a light tone in his voice as if it was normal for him to admit that his cousin had a romantic interest in his mother.

Ijin did not need his parents to know that a cousin being romantically interested in his aunt was all types of wrong. What. The actual. Fuck.

Hyeokjin's words were whispered. "Oh my god what the fuck." Hyeokjin held his head in his hands. He couldn't imagine any of his cousins being interested in his father after his mother went to jail and just the mere thought was enough to make Hyeokjin want to scream.

Yeongchan shrugged his shoulders. "He's not related to her by blood if it makes it better. He's from my dad's side." That did nothing to make it better. Nothing at all. There was nothing that could make the situation better because it was a nephew being romantically interested in their aunt.

There was no justifying something like that.

"No, it does not make it better. What the fuck that is so wrong." Ijin had to agree with Jaehyung because it didn't change the fact that the cousin was still related to Yeongchan and that didn't change the fact that he was interested in a woman that had most likely watched him grow up.

"I noticed." Yeongchan played with his chopsticks, giving them the impression that he didn't particularly care about the situation his mother was in.

That made Ijin start questioning if Yeongchan was okay.

After resembling a fish for a few minutes, Seokju finally made his opinion known rather aggressively. "What the fuck is wrong with your cousin?" they nodded vigorously at Seokju's question. Something had to be wrong with the cousin, it just had to be.

"I have no idea." While Yeongchan had a nonchalant demeanor as he said that, Ijin could tell that he did care about what his cousin was doing. He could see the way the grip Yeongchan had on his chopsticks turned his knuckles bone white, the way Yeongchan's hands started to shake as he restrained his anger.

Ijin exchanged looks with Seokju, who had been the only other person who noticed Yeongchan's hands. "That is not even illegal, but it is so morally wrong." Jaehyung continued and his words spoke for everyone at the table.

"Why are we even talking about this? I've already thought about the morals, there is no need to go over it again." Yeongchan said almost bitterly, a strained smile on his face as he answered his questions.

"Yeongchan…" Hyeokjin started slowly, at last, someone else noticed the way Yeongchan gripped his chopsticks, "Aren't you mad about it?"

"I am." Yeongchan admitted, and he set down his chopsticks with a gentle hand before his hands disappeared under the table. Ijin could only imagine that Yeongchan was struggling to control his temper at that point, something that Ijin wouldn't fault him for. "But it's also pretty funny to know that he's been rejected like five times already." ok, that actually took Ijin aback because somehow, that made everything so much worse. Not only has the cousin been blocked on everything, but he'd been rejected more than once?

How had Yeongchan restrained the urge to kill him?

"…And you're not mad about him trying so much?" Jaehyung hesitantly asked.

Yeongchan answered without hesitation. "I am."

Ijin and Seokju exchanged looks, the two of them had noticed the way Yeongchan's words were becoming short and clipped. "You look like you're handling it quite well though?" Although it was apparent that the conversation needed to come to an end, Ijin had to agree with Hyeokjin because if he or Seokju hadn't been trained to be very observant, they likely wouldn't have noticed the way Yeongchan was slowly losing the hold on his temper.

Ijin had to give him credit for withholding it because if he had found out that his cousin had been romantically interested in his mother, he would have been furious. It was admirable that Yeongchan was able to control his anger so well because even the mere hypothetical was enough to make Ijin upset.

Yeongchan's smile became more strained. "I am literally shaking with rage right now. But it's okay, I get to tell his siblings at her funeral." His voice trembled at the end of his sentence, proving that the situation truly enraged him.

Wisely, all of them came to the conclusion to let the conversation fall off. There was no continuing a conversation after something like that anyway, rightfully so. It was truly admirable that Yeongchan had the willpower to control his temper and also to be willing to keep it a secret from his family.

As one might expect, it took Yeongchan the rest of the meal to calm down. Although it had made the meal slightly awkward, mostly because none of them were used to the kind young man being upset, they let the awkwardness be. Yeongchan needed the time to calm down after a conversation like that.

Somehow, in a way that left Ijin almost impressed, Yeongchan managed to calm down by the end of the meal. "Anyways!" Yeongchan happily clapped his hands together, his tone slightly strained, but lighthearted, "I saw this funny video online and I want to recreate it with you guys!"

Instantly, Ijin and Seokju groaned.

"Are you going to make us dance again?" Seokju dragged his hand down his face as he asked and Ijin couldn't help but relate to him.

Ijin added, "I don't feel like being half naked today." Nor did he feel like trying to hide all of his scars. While the temporary tattoos were convenient, that didn't change the fact that they had been a pain the few times they used them to cover up his scars.

Yeongchan laughed. "No no it's not that type of video. Promise. It's this new trend where you have to try and put out the candles on a cake. But you can't blow them out. You kinda have to 'whoosh' a spatula to the side to put them out." Yeongchan demonstrated with his hands as he spoke, the added sound effects doing nothing to explain his vision.

When Yeongchan saw their blank looks, he sighed, flopping over dramatically as he did so. "Look, I'll show you what I mean. It's easy and it'll be fun."

"That's what you said about the jackets, and we ended up eating shit." Seokju said as if it wasn't his reaction to the wasp that made all of them fall over.

Yeongchan sighed. "Come on Seokju. That was one time! and it was your fault anyway!" The teen took a cake out of the fridge before he set it down on the table. "Besides! Then we get to eat the cake afterward!"

Cake.

Alright, he was down. Ijin had never denied it, but he was a simple man. Cake was more than enough to sway him.

Seokju was not, which prompted Yeongchan to bring out the big guns. With a slight pout and his hands pressed together in a prayer sign, Yeongchan pleaded. "Pleassssseeee? I need to be cheered up because my cousin wants to fuck my m-"

Seokju cut him off, nearly stumbling over his words in the process. " Okay okay! God, I'll do it. Don't finish that sentence." He finished with a sigh that puffed out his cheeks. "Just don't."

Ijin and just about everyone else in the room agreed with Seokju, they also didn't want Yeongchan to finish that sentence.

To know that your cousin wants to fuck your mom.

Blegh. It was cursed knowledge

Yeongchan brightened up, a grin on his face as he set down a lighter and the candles in front of Ijin with the instructions to start lighting them. Ijin did as he was told, sticking the candles one by one and lighting them in a neat row.

Behind him, Yeongchan and Seokju exchanged grins. The whole cousin conversation hadn't been planned out, though it most likely distracted Ijin from the potential of Seokju's antics, everything related to annoying Ijin had. The cake was supposed to be the coup de grâce, their last act of rebellion against Ijin before he strangled them. Assuming he didn't strangle them when he found out about the switching of Yeongchan's and Major Kang's phone numbers of course.

"Alright." Yeongchan started to set up his phone to record, positioning it so Ijin would be in the very center of the video. "Everyone squeeze in. I want to get all of us."

Knowing the plan, Seokju readily agreed. "Got it." Before Ijin could question it, Seokju switched seats so Ijin could be in the middle of everyone while he was sitting on the edge.

Ijin was the only one who didn't catch on. Hyeokjin and Jaehyung however did because they shuffled closer to Ijin, purposely squeezing Ijin between the two of them as Yeongchan and Seokju sat on the sides. He grumbled, but thankfully, Ijin didn't try to put some space between them. Perhaps it was because Ijin was the only one who was blissfully unaware, but he somehow hadn't noticed that with the way they were squished together, he would have difficulty escaping, everything was going as it should.

The video started recording and without further ado, Yeongchan gave the spatula to Seokju. "Alright. Go for it Seokju." He motioned for Hyeokjin to lean back, the teenager doing just that.

"Hey Ijin." Seokju measured up to the candles first, much like a baseball player would when they would slowly swing to align their trajectory.

Ijin leaned forward to look at him from around Jaehyung. "Yeah?"

"Remember how you kept on treating me like a kid this weekend at the gym?" Ijin frowned at that, he tried to rebuttal, but Yeongchan just barreled through his attempts. Taking the hint, Seokju swung at the moment Ijin's face scrunched up in confusion. With a pleasant smile, he said, "This is payback." Yeongchan had the front-row seat as he watched Ijin connect all of the dots. As he realized that it hadn't been just Seokju who had been messing with him and his stuff.

By God was it glorious.

Seokju blatantly missed the candles and swung far above them as he extended his arm. Jaehyung leaned back in the process, ensuring that Seokju got full contact with their beloved friends' face and there was a loud, satisfying smack against Ijin's forehead.

The reaction to getting hit was almost instantaneous. Ijin whirled around, ready to fight Seokju for the umpteenth time that day. Hyeokjin and Jaehyung scrambled to hold him down, but with the way everything was going, Ijin had been moving too fast for them to grab him properly, their hands grabbing at his shirt and pants as Ijin reached for Seokju.

"Wait wait!" Seokju screamed, pushing the entire table away from them to help his escape, only for him to inadvertently help Ijin escape. "This was Yeongchan's idea!" Seokju stood up, turned on his heel to run away and-

He ran into the wall that was right behind him, full speed, face first. The entire wall shook with how hard he had run into it.

Seokju made a startled squeak, his hands going up to his head as he took a wobbly step back in a way that had all of them scrambling to get up. Seokju had really hit himself hard, his body swaying from both the impact and being knocked off balance.

Any anger had been replaced with concern as Ijin reached him first. Seokju landed with an 'oof' in Ijin's arms, Ijin's arms wedged under his armpits as he hung from them, his legs doing absolutely nothing to support him. They all crowded around him, trying to make sure that he was okay. The fact that Seokju had done nothing to get his legs under him only heightened their concern.

"Okay." Seokju had a dazed tone to his voice, and he was blinking hard to try and reorientate himself. "I don't remember that wall being there."

The spell was broken. All concern for their friend went up in smoke.

"Seokju, you idiot!" Ijin laughed out, cackling as he still held Seokju up. That made everyone else start laughing. All of them were on their way to laughing themselves to tears.

Everything about the situation was just so funny. The way Seokju had screamed as he ran away from Ijin, the chaos of the situation, the look of rage on Ijin's face, and the impact Seokju made as he ran into the wall.

Ijin was laughing so hard, he dropped Seokju right onto the floor with a thud, his arms wrapped around his stomach, "That-that's what you get!" Ijin barked out as he leaned onto the table for support with his forearms. His boisterous laughter mixed with the others as it echoed throughout the house.

Seokju groaned from his position on the floor.

They started laughing even harder.

"How did you even run into the wall!"

"Oh my god wait wait! I got it on camera!" Yeongchan was elated, overjoyed almost as he ran over to his phone. It was truly beautiful that they had managed to get that on camera.

Yeongchan was not the only one who was ecstatic at the thought. "Oh my god, I need to see it." Hyeokjin and Jaehyung rushed over to Yeongchan and after Ijin took a few deep breaths, he was able to straighten back up to go and watch the video once again.

Moments later, the distinct sound of Seokju running into the wall was quickly followed by the sound of all of them laughing.

Seokju groaned again.

"Ow."

Ijin was laughing so hard, his laughter was silent more than anything, especially when he saw the way Hyeokjin was mimicking the way Seokju ran into the wall, even going as far as to mock the way he stumbled after the impact. Jaehyung was just as red as his hair, nearly on his hands and knees from the way he was laughing so hard.

"Yeah!" Yeongchan choked out, tears running down his face as he bent backward to try and relieve the cramp in his stomach, "It's almost like you ran into a wall!"

Still laughing his ass off, Ijin went over to Seokju and pulled him onto his feet. "I'm not even mad at you anymore." Ijin tried to keep his face straight but kept on failing as his lips kept on curling up, "idiot." It was hard because the entirety of Seokju's forehead was red and what little Ijin could see of his nose was just as red.

"Shut up." Seokju was almost pouting as he held onto his nose. "My face hurts." All Seokju could do was close his eyes as Ijin finally lost the battle to his laughter once again, the buzzing of his lips spraying him with saliva. Ijin patted him roughly on his shoulder, leaning forward as he cackled. That had to be the hardest they have ever seen Ijin laugh.

Seokju sighed. "I hate you Ijin."