Chapter Text
The day has only just started and Jeongin is sick of it. His bag makes a loud sound when he slams it on his desk, causing Felix to jump from where he’s slumped over on his desk trying valiantly not to fall asleep.
“You good, dude?” Felix says through a yawn once he’s recovered.
Jeongin just huffs and throws himself into his chair, slumping down and crossing his arms with a frown. He doesn’t want to talk about it, he really doesn’t—
“Guess what I got for lunch today?” he asks, reaching into his backpack. Jeongin doesn’t give Felix the chance to actually guess. “Fried rice. Again,” he stresses, opening the cute, fox-themed bento box he’s had for years. Sure enough, in it is kimchi fried rice, an egg, and what looks like leftover pork belly.
To his credit, Felix doesn’t laugh. He manages to send Jeongin a sympathetic look that, had he not known him for half his life, Jeongin would have believed. Unfortunately for the both of them, Jeongin can see the smile Felix is holding back, and it only makes him more irritable.
“Felix! C’mon!” he does not whine. Felix breaks, giggling into his hand. “This is serious!”
“I know, I know,” Felix says between giggles, “it’s just— again?”
“Well, yes!” Jeongin slams down his bento box, causing rice to spill and Felix to jump. “That’s the issue, Lix! I know exactly what I’m going to eat every time I go to my dad’s, which wouldn’t be that bad if I at least ate something new every day but it’s the same five meals in rotation. Plus two restaurants we go to on Tuesday and Thursday, as a ‘treat’.” He buries his face into his hands and lets out a muffled scream. Felix takes this opportunity to scoot his chair closer to Jeongin and wrap his arms around him under the guise of emotional support. Jeongin sees right through him, but allows it because it does feel kind of nice (not that he would ever admit it).
“At least it’s better than at the beginning, right? When he would only get takeout and cook kimchi jjigae?” Felix tries.
Jeongin groans. “That’s true. But it still sucks! I mean, sometimes we go to Uncle Chan’s for dinner, which is nice because he can kinda cook, but then he tries to get me to watch Dragon Ball Z with him. Like, I’m not doing that.”
Felix grimaces. “It’s not… that bad.” Then, at Jeongin’s incredulous look, “Okay, yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
He groans and tries to slam his head onto the desk, but Felix intercepts by giving him a place to land in the form of his hand. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t want him to feel bad because I know he’s trying but it’s so…. ugh!” Jeongin tries to bang his head against the desk again, and this time Felix drags him up by the back of his shirt.
“Maybe we can ask my dads to talk to him?” Felix tries.
Jeongin shakes his head and, very smoothly and subtly, leans his head onto Felix’s shoulder. “No, that’ll really make him feel bad. Maybe I’ll just ask my appa to teach me to cook a few things and then teach Dad.”
Felix giggles, “Don’t you think he’d see right through you?” he asks, taking advantage of Jeongin’s touchy mood to run a hand through his hair.
Jeongin half-shrugs and yawns, “Probably, but whatever. If they won’t get back together by themselves maybe this will get them to talk at least. Or maybe I should just trick them into standing in the same room and see what happens.”
“Oh, like The Parent Trap!” Felix says the last part in English.
“Like the what?”
“The Parent Trap! It’s an American movie Uncle Chan showed me where these twins find out they’re twins separated at birth and then trick their parents into getting back together.”
“They didn’t know before?”
Felix shakes his head, “No, their parents got divorced after they were born, they each took a twin, and the mom moved to Britain. They never told the twins that they were twins but then they both end up at some fancy summer camp and they find out there.”
Jeongin hums, processing, then suddenly sits up, startling Felix (for the third time this morning). “That’s it! Felix, you’re a genius!’
“I am?”
“I’ll just trick them into falling in love again!” Jeongin says way too loudly. The other students give them weird looks, but Jeongin powers on. “Then we’ll move back in together and Appa will always pack my lunch.”
Felix, stunned, doesn’t speak for a moment. “Are you… like, for real?”
Jeonign nods, face suddenly serious. “Deadly.”
The silence speaks volumes as to how Felix feels about this plan, but to his credit, he doesn’t shut him down immediately. “Okay… and what does this… trick entail?”
Jeongin smiles. “I mean, I just came up with the idea, right? So I’m not 100% sure yet, but walk with me here.” When Felix goes to get up, clearly confused, Jeongin backtracks. “No, not— well, anyway, the point is I’ll, like, fake get-sick or something next Friday when I’m supposed to go to my dad’s and then Appa will have to talk to Dad because he’ll want to keep me until I get better—”
“That doesn’t sound very nice—”
“— and then Dad will want constant updates so they’ll have to keep talking until eventually I say something like, ‘I wish Dad was here too,’ and Appa will have to invite him because he loves me and then bam! They’re in love again.” Jeongin is pretty sure he didn’t breathe during the last stetch of his plan because he’s panting by the time he finishes, but he’s excited now. This can work— this will work, because he needs it to work. The food at his Dad’s is getting boring and he may only be in his second year of middle school but he’s pretty sure his nutriotional goals cannot just be met by kimchi jjigae, fried rice, and McDonald’s.
(Also, privately, he misses his parents living together. He misses waking up on weekends to the sound of Appa scolding Dad for stealing bites of breakfast before it was ready and helping Dad pick the prettiest non-toxic flowers at the grocery store to bring back home for Appa. He’s happy with his parents now, and he’s pretty sure they’re happy too, but they all used to be happier living together.)
“Okay,” says Felix. He’s staring at Jeongin critically, like he’s trying to open Jeongin up and read his thoughts. After a minute, he nods. “Okay,” he says again, “I guess we’re getting Uncles Seungmin and Minho back together.”
Jeongin cheers just as Teacher Kim stands from his desk, getting him another weird look but he doesn’t even care. He’s just excited to begin his gay, Korean Parent Trap.
(What he doesn’t tell Felix is that he’s pretty sure he heard Auntie Momo tell Appa that he needs to start dating again, and Jeongin would rather watch thirty seasons of Dragon Ball Z with Uncle Chan then have a step-dad. So, yes, gay, Korean Parent Trap does need to work.)
🐱🐶 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖🦊
That Friday, Jeongin is almost vibrating with excitement.
“Dude, you need to chill,” Felix says as they stand in the school’s courtyard waiting for his dad to pick them up. Uncle Jisung will drop Jeongin off at his Appa’s today, which means in exactly one week he can kickstart gay, Korean Parent Trap and go back to eating great food every day and watching anime after dinner with both his parents.
“Sorry,” he says, “I’m just—”
“I know, I’m excited too.” Felix smiles gently. Jeongin is forever grateful to have had the opportunity to meet Felix. He’s not sure he would have stayed sane without him. “Look, my dad’s here!” Felix runs towards the black car that pulls up, Jeongin following.
Jisung turns around when they open the door. “Hi Lixie-baby, hi Innie,” he says, reaching a hand out to ruffle Felix’s hair, then Jeongin’s as they climb into the backseat and shrug off their backpacks. “How was school today?”
Felix begins to answer as he buckles his seatbelt. “It was good! Teacher Kim said I’m on my way to becoming a future poet when I turned in my homework.”
Jisung beams at Felix, “That’s all me, of course, and my creative genius. My songwriting skills have clearly translated into—”
“Didn’t Uncle Jinnie write an actual poetry book?” Jeongin interrupts innocently.
Jisung twists further to look at Jeongin. “Can you let me have this, Innie?”
Jeongin shakes his head, still smiling innocently. Felix tries to stay silent but clearly thinks the situation is funny. Jisung sighs, accepting the loss, and turns around to begin driving.
“Well, besides hurting people’s pride, what did you do today, Jeonginnie?”
Jeongin giggles, kicking the back of Jisung’s seat. “Um, I also turned in my poetry homework but Teacher Kim didn’t say anything. I got a hundred on my math quiz, though!”
“Nice!” Jisung reaches a hand back for Jeongin to high-five. “I’m taking you to your Appa’s, by the way, right?”
“Yeah,” Jeongin says, shifting when he remembers his plan and gets excited all over again. Felix notices, giggling at Jeongin’s inability to keep still.
“What?” Jisung asks, “What’s so funny?”
“Innie is so excited,” Felix says, still giggling.
Jeongin huffs, feeling his cheeks brighten.
“Are you that excited to get away from your dad?” Jisung asks. “His food can’t be that bad.”
“No!” Jeongin bursts out. “It’s not bad, just boring, and that’s not even really why.”
“Then why are you so excited?”
Jeongin looks at Felix for help, but Felix very unhelpfully just shrugs. Jeongin squints at Jisung in the rearview mirror, then sighs. Jisung is basically an overgrown kid and trustworthy enough, he guesses. He can keep a secret. Probably.
“Uncle Sungie,” Jeongin starts, using the nickname he knows Jisung loves to butter him up. “I can trust you, right?”
Jeongin sees Jisung’s shoulders straighten in the driver’s seat as they stop at a red light. “Well, of course. Is everything okay?”
“No, everything’s fine,” Jeongin says, “We just have a plan. It’s a secret plan, though.”
“Okay…”
“That means you can’t tell anyone about it.”
Jisung considers it for a moment, driving again when the light turns green. “I won’t tell anyone as long as you’re not in danger. How’s that?”
Jeongin looks at Felix, who nods. He takes a deep breath. “The plan is to get my parents back together.”
Jisung jerks, hands coming up from the steering wheel for a second before slamming back down. “Come again?”
Felix bursts out laughing but Jeongin powers on. “Did you watch The Parent Trap?”
“Yes?”
“The plan is a gay, Korean Parent Trap with my parents.” Jisung doesn’t look like he’s against it, so Jeongin keeps going. “I just need to do something that makes them talk, and then get them in the same room, and they’ll realize that the whole fake-divorce thing is crazy and stupid and they’ll get back together,” he finishes.
Jisung sighs. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“I mean…”
“Uncle Sungie, please,” Jeongin asks, inflicting as much desperation into his voice as possible. “You know it’s stupid, right?” Jisung is clearly conflicted, so Jeongin tries harder. “It’s not like we’re doing anything bad, right Lix?”
Felix nods, “Yeah, nothing bad, Dad! And— and, uncles won’t even know, plus you always say they’re gonna get remarried anyway. We’re just speeding up the process.”
Jeongin grabs Felix’s hand and squeezes in thanks. “Please, Uncle Sungie?”
He taps his fingers against the steering wheel a few times. “You’ll do it even if I say no anyways, right?”
The silence is telling.
“Fine, okay. You need adult supervision, at least. This might even work.”
Jeongin sits up in his seat, leaning forward. “You’ll help?”
Jisung laughs, reaching around his seat in an attempt to pet his head that Jeongin dodges. “I’ll try to help. No promises. And you two can’t do anything too crazy either, okay?” The car turns onto his street. “I don’t want your parents to get too mad at me, Innie. Also, can you hold off on this plan for like, two weeks? There’s a new group debuting next week and your Appa has been really stressed about it.”
Jeongin smiles wide. “Yes, of course, nothing too crazy. And wait a little. Of course. Okay, I’ll start planning now.” The car stops in front of his house. Jeongin picks up his bag and opens the door. “Bye, Lix! Bye, Uncle Sungie! Thank you, love you!” He scrambles out of the car, slamming the door behind him, and runs inside.
He already has so many ideas— gay, Korean Parent Trap is so going to work.
🐱🐶 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖🦊
Minho gets home about thirty minutes after Jeongin is dropped off. When Jeongin hears the front door open and sees Soonie come running out of his cat cave, he hurriedly closes his new notebook inconspicuously labeled GKPT and shoves it into his backpack.
“Appa!” he calls, running after Soonie into the foyer where Minho is sliding on his slippers. The cats wind through his legs as he looks up at Jeongin and smiles, holding his arms out for a hug that Jeongin instantly gives. He burrows into Minho and inhales the expensive cologne he uses.
(The cologne is one he knows Dad gifted him the same year they adopted Jeongin, because Jeongin hadn’t liked the one Appa originally used but didn’t want to say anything until Dad asked why he made a face whenever Appa hugged him. When Jeongin admitted it was the cologne, they went shopping for a new one together as a family. It was nice. Jeongin likes that Appa still uses it.)
“Hi, little prince,” Minho says, petting Jeongin’s hair and pulling back a little to look at his face.
Jeongin scrunches his nose. “I’m twelve, Appa. I’m not little.”
Minho coos, squishing Jeongin’s cheeks together and ignoring his cries of protest. “You’ll always be little to me, baby. My tiny boy, so cute,” he continues. After his initial struggle, Jeongin gives up and waits it out— Appa and Dad both get like this when he first arrives at their houses (another reason why GKPT has to work: both his parents clearly get lonely when he’s gone. If they all lived together, this wouldn’t be an issue).
What feels like an eternity later, Minho finally lets Jeongin go. He tries to fix his hair despite knowing it’s a lost cause. Whatever, it’s just him and Minho at home right now anyway.
“What do you want for dinner?” Minho asks. Jeongin follows him into the kitchen, watching as Minho opens the fridge to analyze what they have. “There’s old kimchi, do you want some jjigae?”
Jeongin instantly pulls a face, “No, no thanks. No fried rice either, please. Or bibimbap. Please.”
He realizes his mistake immediately. Minho sends him a look, slowly closing the fridge to turn to him. “Why not, baby?”
Jeongin shrugs, trying to play cool. “No reason, I’m just not feeling it today,” he says casually and prays that Minho lets it go.
He has no such luck, because Minho never lets things go, which Jeongin should have known considering he’s lived with him for six years now.
“You love bibimbap, Innie,” Minho says. “You asked me to make it for you for a month straight month once. Is something wrong?”
“I mean, that’s probably not healthy, right? I’m just not feeling it, Appa, really,” Jeongin all but begs.
His father’s eyes narrow, getting closer like it would help him figure out if Jeongin is lying— which actually, it might, considering Jeongin is a terrible liar. Minho says he gets it from his Dad. They stare at each other for a moment, Minho analyzing every twitch Jeongin tries not to make until he realizes the truth.
“Oh,” Minho says and Jeongin knows he’s been caught. “Have you been eating anything besides bibimbap and kimchi jjigae at your dad’s, baby?”
Jeongin sighs and slumps back against the kitchen counter. “I’m not answering that.”
“Your dad still hasn’t learned how to cook? It’s been, what, over a year now? Are you really only eating three meals?” He comes closer and puts a hand on Jeongin’s forehead. “That can’t be healthy. Are you feeling sick, Innie?”
Jeongin pulls Minho’s hand away. “I’m not sick, Appa. Don’t you think if I would’ve gotten sick already since it’s been a year?”
Minho hums, clearly displeased. “You didn’t answer my question.”
He should be given an award for suppressing his eye-roll, really. Minho doesn’t like sass, so he has to, but it’s always like this with his parents. They swear up and down that they don’t care about each other but still manage to find a way to ask Jeongin about the other. “Dude—”
“I’m not your dude.”
“Appa, I’m fine. And not doing this. If you have a question for Dad, you can ask him.” He smiles to lessen the blow. When he sees that Minho still looks pretty upset, he changes his tactic and pouts instead. “Please? Remember what the therapist said, I shouldn’t get between you and Dad—”
“The therapist in question is your Uncle Hyunjin—”
“— because it can make me feel as if I’m picking a side. Which is bad!” He finishes.
Mingo finally untenses his shoulders, running a hand through Jeongin’s hair. “Fine, okay, whatever, see if I care. Eat the same thing every day at your Dad’s house, what does it matter to me?”
At Jeongin’s beam, he sighs. “Do you want curry?”
Jeongin nods, “Yes, please!”
“Then get me the vegetables,” he says, going to the ricecooker.
Jeongin, just glad to have evaded that confrontation, willingly obliges. Plus, it’s not as if cooking with his dad is a real chore, anyway.
🐱🐶 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖🦊
The next week passes by with relative ease. Jeongin schemes, hangs out with Felix, schemes some more, eats a great variety of meals provided by Minho, and raises Jisung’s blood pressure on purpose. The Thursday before he goes to his Dad’s house, Minho takes him to Felix’s house for their weekly dinner. Felix must think himself hilarious, because when they get there, Hyunjin lets them know that, “Felix was very insistent we order fried rice today! I hope that’s okay,” as Felix smiles much too innocently from behind his father.
Jeongin just nods and hopes his smile doesn't look too forced. He is so not letting Felix copy his literature homework tomorrow. Fried rice, the day before he goes to his dad’s house? When he’s been purposefully avoiding it for the past week, which Felix knows? Yeah, Felix has swiftly moved up the ‘People I don’t allow to ruffle my hair’ list (which, interestingly enough, is now solely made up of the entire Han-Hwang family).
Dinner goes well despite the increasingly violent kicks Jeongin aims at Felix. Jeongin looks forward to this tradition, carried over from before the divorce, initially meant to introduce a young Jeongin to someone his age who had been through a similar process but quickly became recurring when Jeongin and Felix latched onto each other practically on-sight. Now, almost six years in, it’s less about allowing the kids to see each other and mostly a thinly veiled excuse to collectively poke fun at Jisung for two hours.
Felix, of course, refrains. Whether that’s because he truly takes his dad’s side or because he knows he can manipulate two slices of cake from him later if he’s nice now is anyone’s guess. (It’s the second one, but Jeongin would never snitch on him like that.)
“— and Changbin-hyung was convinced this track was for N!CE but Channie-hyung was convinced it wasn’t,” Jisung relays dramatically as they finish up the last of the food. Jeongin half-listens, more focused on the staring contest he’s determined to win against Felix for the last mandu. “I was getting pretty worried that I would have to use what I’ve learned from Hyunjinnie to couple’s counsel them, or something—”
“Which you would suck at.”
“— so I was trying to tell them instead that we could just ask the N!CE girls straight up if they liked the song,” Jisung continues, impressively undeterred by both Hyunjin’s interruption and Jeongin’s celebratory cheer when Felix blinks and he can grab the last mandu, “but they weren’t listening to me and instead decided to start calling people and asking them to listen to the track.”
Hyunjin raises a brow, clearly unsympathetic to his husband’s distress. “And you really couldn’t stop them?”
Jisung’s eyes widen further, mouth already pushed out in a pout.
Huh. So that’s where Felix gets it from.
“No, baby—” Jeongin gags. “I really couldn’t! First it was Versachoi-hyung, and he said that ‘it could be, but also it could go somewhere else,’ because he’s smart and didn’t want to take sides,” Jisung begins to speak faster as he continues, “Then it was Millionboy, and he just hung up when they told him the issue, so then they called Nickko-hyung but he didn’t answer and then it was Seungminnie—”
The table goes silent when Jisung abruptly cuts himself off. Even Felix stops glaring at him to instead send a panicked look at his dad. Jeongin glances at Jisung and then settles his gaze on his father, who is still looking at his friend with eyebrows raised like he’s expecting the story to continue.
When Jeongin first met Minho and Seungmin, freshly turned six and skeptical of every adult figure who tried to make themselves a place in his life, he didn’t know what to think. The memories have become foggy with age, too vague and hazy for Jeongin to really pinpoint exactly how they introduced themselves, or what games they played in the colorful room of the shelter. What he does remember, though, with stark clarity, is that first look at Minho. When he brings himself back to that room, the only constant is his father’s gentle but impartial face as he walks in, so starkly different from every other face he had seen up to that point that had put on a too-bright and too-forced smile to try to make Jeongin feel “comfortable”.
It took Jeongin months to learn how to read Appa, to learn what each twitch of his lips meant and how he clenched his teeth when he was upset but didn’t want to show it, but he wanted to understand what Appa was feeling behind that neutral gaze, and throughout the last six years he’s gotten almost as good as Dad at it.
All this to say, he hasn’t been clueless to Minho’s feelings in a long time. Sitting here, staring at his father’s face after Jisung’s slip-up, Jeongin is well and truly lost. Around Minho, Seungmin is treated as He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named among their friends even a year after the divorce— in the days that followed, according to Felix who overhead Hyunjin telling Jisung, Minho would freeze even at a reference to Seungmin, let alone his name. The habit of avoiding him altogether had stuck. When Jeongin had asked Chan why his Appa seemed okay with Jeongin mentioning his Dad but not the others, he said it was one thing to know your kid had to go to their dad’s every other week; it was another to realize the two of you had built an entire friend group together.
Until now, at least.
The silence stretches on for what feels like an eternity. Hyunjin and Felix nervously look back and forth between Jisung and Minho like they’re playing a riveting ping-pong match. Jeongin doesn’t look away from Appa the entire time, not wanting to miss any indication of how he feels, and then— he briefly directs a look at Jeongin, raising his eyebrows just enough for him to understand that Appa is worrying less about himself and more about how he feels. So Jeongin chooses the most logical course of action—
“What did my dad say, Uncle Sungie?”
Jisung sends one final look to Minho before cautiously continuing. “Right, so… Seungmin was mostly mad they called him because he has important things to do or whatever, never mind that it was like eight at night and he was definitely still at the company…”
From across the table, Felix gently nudges his foot against Jeongin’s. When he turns to look at him, his friend gives him a blinding smile.
🐱🐶 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖🦊
After dinner, Hyunjin asks Jisung to do the dishes. Jisung, ever the simp (Felix’s words!), agrees but makes Minho help him to get in some “quality bro time”, which makes Jeongin cringe as he leaves the table. He’s planning to finally prove to Felix that he really is better at Overwatch and it’s not that Felix has a “better setup”, but Hyunjin intercepts before they make it to his room.
“Baby, I’m gonna borrow Innie from you for a second, but I’ll give him right back, okay?” he says.
Felix nods. “Make it quick!”
Jeongin is too shocked at being treated like a phone, or something, to question Hyunjin as he’s directed to the living room. It’’s only when he’s pushed down onto the couch and Hyunjin moves a chair to sit across from him that he realizes slightly belatedly what’s happening.
“Uncle Hyunnie, is this really necessary?” Jeongin tries to escape, but Hyunjin grabs his arm and pulls him right back down.
“Yes, and you know it is, Jeongin. We skipped talking last time so we have to today.”
He just groans in response, slumping into the backrest and putting his eyes with his hands.
Hyunjin, well-versed in his dramatics, ignores him. “How was this last week? You were with Minho-hyung, right?”
“It was fine,” he says, hands still over his eyes. Hyunjin doesn’t respond, clearly waiting for Jeongin to continue. After a few minutes, once the silence is really unbearable, he sits up and locks eyes with him. “Uncle, my parents don’t even pay you to— ‘therapize’ me, or whatever. C’mon,” he drags, “please don’t make me talk.” He punctuates the sentence with his rarely-used pout.
Jeongin didn’t account for Hyunjin’s immunity to pouts from living with Jisung and Felix, however. He just smiles and pinches his cheek. “No, your parents don’t pay me, but they did ask me to talk to you because you refused to go to an actual therapist and they’re both weak for you.” He lets go of Jeongin’s cheek and Jeongin quickly rubs the germs away, still pouting. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want, you know. I just don’t want you feeling like you can’t speak to me, or any of your uncles, just because you’re scared we’ll tell your parents and hurt their feelings. We would never do that to you or put you in that situation. Okay?”
Caught, Jeongin ducks his head and hopes his ears aren’t burning. He mumbles an affirmative that Hyunjin is nice enough to let slide. “Do you want to talk about your week now?”
“It really was fine,” he insists. “I was with Appa, obviously, and it was nice. I really missed him— not that I don’t like being with Dad! I do! I miss Dad now that I’m with Appa, actually, like I miss Appa when I’m with Dad too, you know?”
Hyunjin hums, letting the silence sit for a second while he processes his words. Jeongin fidgets in his seat as he waits for Hyunjin to collect his thoughts.
“That makes sense, Innie. They’re your parents, it’s only natural you miss them when you’re apart for a while. Do you call them when you’re away?”
Jeongin scoffs. “I don’t have a phone, Uncle. You know this because Lix and I are getting phones at the same time.”
Hyunjin smiles, “Right, right. What I meant was, have you asked your parents to borrow their phone and call?”
“Uncle Hyunnie. Be serious.”
“I am being serious!” Hyunjin defends.
“Then no,” he says, “I haven’t asked because that’s too messy!”
“What do you mean?”
“If I ask for their phone, I have to tell them why. And if I tell them why, they might get sad or upset. Or if they don’t, then they’ll start asking me about the other and I already deal with that enough.” Jeongin rolls his eyes, “Absolutely not.”
Hyunjin raises his eyebrows. “They ask about each other?”
“Yes!” Jeongin leans forward in his seat, “About everything! Like ‘Does your Appa still feed the stray outside the house?’ or ‘Can your Dad really only cook two dishes?’” he emphasizes with air quotes, “Like, you ask him? Actually— let’s talk about that.” At Hyunjin’s raised eyebrow, he continues. “Dad can only cook three dishes.”
Hyunjin chuffs out a laugh, “Ah, yes. That… could be frustrating.”
“It is!” Jeongin exclaims. “I can’t keep living like this, Uncle, really. Please help me.”
“Do you want me to send him to cooking classes or something?”
Jeongin’s eyes widen and he immediately starts flailing his arms around. “No, no, don’t tell him! I mean, like,” he hesitates. What does he mean?
Telling Jisung about GKPT was spur-of-the-moment, but Jeongin probably would’ve mentioned it to him anyway. The day his parents split, Jisung had picked him up from their house and brought him to his own. Throughout the day, Jisung had kept him close and Jeongin had uncharacteristically allowed him to, curled up in between him and Felix. All of his uncles were undoubtedly loving and supportive, but Jisung’s been his favorite since the beginning (not that he would ever tell him).
The point is— Jisung is safe. Hyunjin is safe, too, but less likely to indulge him. And more likely to therapize him for GKPT, which Jeongin isn’t necessarily looking for.
Hyunjin shifts, bringing Jeongin’s attention to the present.
“Uncle…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think sometimes that my parents shouldn’t have split?”
Hyunjin’s eyebrows shoot up, clearly caught off guard.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you sometimes think that my parents should’ve stayed together?” Jeongin repeats.
This time, the silence isn’t as comfortable. Jeongin twists his fingers as he alternates between staring at his lap and Hyunjin’s face, who must be wondering where this came from. Their biweekly ‘sessions’ (Jeongin hates calling it that, because it makes it sound like a chore even though it isn’t) usually focus on the effects of the divorce, not the divorce itself. In fact, Jeongin avoids talking about that altogether with Hyunjin, the way he avoids talking about it with Chan. So to bring it up himself… he can understand why Hyunjin is hesitant to respond.
“I don’t… know, Innie,” he settles on.
Jeongin scoffs. “C’mon, you’ve never thought about it once? If I have to be honest, you have to be too.”
Hyunjin looks guilty at being caught. “I mean, I guess I’ve thought about it a few times. We all have, baby, it’s not just you if that’s what you’re worrying about,” he shares. “And we were all kind of hurt by it.”
“So you think the divorce is stupid?” Jeongin summarizes.
“No!” He shakes his head. “Don't put words in my mouth, brat. I think that the divorce was sudden, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling you how I really feel about it.” Hyunjin smiles gently, so reminiscent of Felix that Jeongin instantly untenses. “You’re a kid, Innie. A kid who’s been through a lot, but still just a kid. Don’t forget that, okay?”
When Hyunjin reaches out to pet Jeongin’s hair, he feels inclined to let him. He may not have gotten exactly what he wanted from Hyunjin, but he rarely does when it comes to these kinds of things. There’s a reason he keeps coming back to him anyway—Hyunjin always knows what Jeongin needs to hear.
Jeongin nods his understanding.
“Good. Did you have anything else you wanted to talk about, baby?” Jeongin shakes his head. “Then you can go back to Lixie. He’s probably mad I kept you so long, and I have to make sure Jisung hasn’t kidnapped your Appa in the meantime.”
Jeongin stands up before Hyunjin can start walking away, darting in for a quick hug. “Thank you, Uncle Hyunnie!” he says and runs away to avoid Hyunjin’s incessant coos.
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Minho drives him to school the weeks they’re together. Before the divorce, dropping Jeongin off at school was a family affair. His parents would bicker the entire time they were getting ready— first about whose car they would take that day, then about who would drive, then about what Jeongin should have for lunch, both of them threatening to leave the other behind if they didn’t hurry up. Jeongin would smile the entire time, gladly accepting the biggest bribe from either of his parents when they asked him to take a side. He could never take them seriously becuase everytime they got in the car, no matter what side he was on, Dad would reach his hand over the center console and Appa would lace their fingers together. They could each drive one-handed like it was second nature to them. Jeongin used to study their hands during the long car rides to Halmeoni’s house, watch Dad’s long fingers tap along to the beat of whatever song was playing on the back of Appa’s hands, or notice Appa intermittently squeeze Dad’s hand as if reminding himself that they were together. Often, Jeongin would fall asleep to the sight of their hands interlaced and wake up hours later to see nothing had changed.
Anyway, Minho still drives him to school when he can, because his school is on the way the company building. It’s Friday, which means Jeongin is going to Seungmin’s tonight, so his school bag is a little heavier than it needs to be with extra notebooks he’ll need throughout the week. As he double checks to make sure he has everything, Minho prepares his lunch: leftover jjajangmyeon with pickled radish and kimchi.
“Do you want anything for breakfast, honey?”
“No, I’m good!” Jeongin calls, distracted as he tries to remember if they have any tests coming up.
“I’m going to put some soup in here anyway, in case you get hungry,” Minho says. Jeongin here’s him open a cupboard and take down a thermos, presumably.
“Okay!” Jeongin curses under his breath, remembering that he has a math exam next Wednesday that Felix has definitely not started studying for. “I’ll be right back!”
Minho hums as Jeongin runs to his room and grabs his math textbook, coming back to the kitchen counter and sighing when he realizes how heavy his backpack will be. Curse Felix’s inability to take good notes.
When he deems his bag ready, he turns back to his dad, who seems to be done packing his lunch. “You ready?” Minho asks, handing Jeongin his lunchbox.
“Yeah,” Jeongin replies as he shrugs on his bag, mentally cursing Felix again when it almost causes him to fall because of its weight.
Minho steadies him with a laugh, using his hold on Jeongin’s shoulders to bring him into a hug. He leaves a kiss on the crown of his head.
Jeongin sits in the back row’s middle seat, a habit leftover from before as it allowed him to see both his parents when they were in the car. As they drive, Jeongin absently eyes Appa’s hand on the gear stick and mentally prepares himself for Felix’s inevitable host of complaints about his gaming skills.
“Iyen-ah.”
Jeongin turns his attention to Minho, who’s looking at him through the rearview mirror. “Yeah?”
Minho sighs and turns his attention back to the road. He drums his fingers on the steering wheel and then squeezes once, twice. “There’s a letter in your lunchbox.”
“Oh, for Uncle Binnie? I can give it to him Sunday—”
“No, baby. Not for your Uncle.” He sighs again. Jeongin furrows his eyebrows, confused at whatever had his father so… unsettled. Then— “It’s for your Dad.”
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Jeongin drops his bag down onto his desk carelessly, plopping into his chair in a daze. He doesn’t remember much of the short car ride after Appa had told him about the letter, just remembers saying something along the lines of, “Oh… okay,” and promising not to read it.
What the hell? A random letter, when Appa and Dad haven’t spoken— as far as Jeongin knows, which is pretty damn far— in over a year?
A slap on his neck makes Jeongin jump and turn to glare at the offender. Felix stares at him innocently. “What?” he asks when Jeongin just stares. “I called your name, like, five times and you didn’t respond!” Jeongin just rolls his eyes in defeat, causing Felix’s smile to widen. “In all seriousness, though, are you okay? You seem kinda weird.”
Jeongin jumps at the chance to confirm he’s not crazy. After he recounts the story, Felix, ever nosy, asks to see the letter. “Have you opened it?”
He sends a deadpan look to his friend. “No, you weirdo, I have not. I promised I wouldn’t, remember?”
“You’re so much better than me. I would’ve the minute he drove away.”
“Well, yes.” Jeongin eyes his Keroppi lunchbox apprehensively. The Pochacco and Kuromi keychains on opposite sides of the lunchbox face the wrong way, so he adjusts them.
“C’mon,” Felix drags. “Let’s at least see it!”
“Fine, fine,” Jeongin says, unzipping his luchbox and immediately seeing the letter. Minho’s handwriting is surprisingly neat, as if he made every stroke consciously.
To: 김승민.
From: 이민호
The letter is in a plain white envelope and gives away none of its contents, which seems to greatly offend Felix. “Boring,” he says, making sure to extend the last syllable to prove his point. “Give me that.” He snatches the letter and holds it up to the fluorescent ceiling lights, twisting every which way as he… does whatever he’s doing.
“What are you doing?”
Felix scoffs. “Amateur,” he says, “Come here.” Jeongin obliges, staring up at the letter and seeing faint letters now that it’s against the light. “Look, here it says ‘dog’ and there is says your name! But I can’t see much else— it looks like there’s another paper or something.”
Jeongin hums, catching a few more single words— ‘Kim Seungmin’ and what he thinks is ‘learn to do things yourself.’
“What do you think Uncle Minho is telling Uncle Minnie?”
Giving up— Minho probably guessed Felix would try to read it and put an extra paper in there— Jeongin grabs the letter from Felix and gently places it back in his lunchbox. He shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s something official?”
“Oh, you don’t think—”
Suddenly, Felix cuts himself off. His eyes widen, mouth tight as if he’s said something he shouldn’t have.
“What?” Jeongin asks, worried.
“Nothing, nothing. It was silly, nothing important. Look, I think the teacher might be coming soon.”
The thing about Felix is that he is a really bad liar. Jeongin is usually willing to let it go, but Felix looks too stressed about this for him to not know what it is. “Felix, what were you going to say?”
Felix stares at him with his big eyes and lips pushed out into a pout. Jeongin just keeps eyeing him down.
The other thing about Felix is that he’s really easy to crack, just like Uncle Jisung. “Fine! I was gonna say… what if it’s about the, um… divorce?”
“Oh.”
“It might also not be! In fact, it’s probably not, right? I mean wouldn’t they tell you if it was?”
“Hm.”
“And also, I mean, it wouldn’t even make sense for Uncle Minho to send you with the letter, like, that would be pretty messed up don’t you think?” Felix says, out of breath by the end.
Jeongin doesn’t respond, too busy thinking through the possibilities. Realistically, Appa wouldn’t send something so serious through Jeongin. He especially wouldn’t go through an actual divorce without telling Jeongin but… what’s in the letter? Are they trying to change visitations? Or maybe… GKPT is working even without him and they’re getting back together?
Okay, maybe not. But he can be optimistic!
“Innie…” Felix whines, getting his attention. “Are you mad at me?”
Seeing his pout, Jeongin lets out a breathy laugh. He pushes Felix, causing him to fall back into his chair from where he was leaning over his desk. “No, dummy. I’m not. You’re right, it’s probably not even anything bad.”
Felix nods enthusiastically, relieved that he didn’t upset his friend. “It was just a dumb thought!”
Before Jeongin can respond, their teacher crashes into the classroom, looking frazzled. “Sorry I’m late,” he says. “But good morning, class!”
“Good morning, Teacher Kim!” the class echoes back.
He gets in a final kick as Teacher Kim begins reviewing their literature homework that Felix copied from him last night
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Jeongin kicks the back of Jisung’s seat from his place behind him in his case.
“Can you please leave me alone, Jeonginnie?” Jisung asks, reaching around to try and hit his ankles. Jeongin snatches them away before Jisung can do so, well-versed in Jisung’s defense tactics.
“No can do, Uncle Sungie. I promised Appa that I would annoy you to my best ability today and I hate breaking promises.”
Next to him, Felix breaks out into laughter he doesn’t even try to hide.
“Brat,” Jisung says, much too much adoration in his voice to be anything but fond. He pulls up in front of Seungmin’s apartment complex. “Get out of my car. And expect a strongly worded complaint to your Dad tonight.”
“Oh, I’m so scared,” Jeongin mocks, quickly grabbing his things and opening the car door.
Just as he closes the car door, Felix yells out an ‘I love you’. Jeongin blows him a kiss through the window in response, then cringes at himself when Felix pretends to catch it and put it on his cheek.
Dad’s apartment is on the second floor, so Jeongin forgoes the slow elevator in favor of the stairs, which Uncle Chan says is good for his stamina. The welcome mat outside of the door was a gift from Uncle Jisung, two dogs on a canoe that still makes Jeongin giggle when he sees it. He uses his key to unlock the door and calls out, “I’m home!” as he steps out of his shoes.
“In the office!” says a voice well inside the house.
Jeongin finds Seungmin at his desk, turning off his compter when he spots Jeongin. “Hi, buddy,” he says, rounding his desk and manhandling Jeongin into his arms before he can protest.
Seungmin smells like his office, a fresh laundry smell that Jeongin has become partial to himself. When Jeongin went back home for the first time after the split, he had found all of Dad’s stuff in boxes that Changbin had picked up the next day. A few weeks later, in a bout of desperation to at least feel like his parents were still together, he had scrounged for one of Seungmin’s old candles in the kitchen drawers, the living room, and even the bathroom. There was nothing, not even a trace of Dad. That had been the day that everything suddenly felt real.
He lets his dad hold him for a few more seconds, breathing him in for the first time in a week, before pushing and pushing until he's free.
“I missed you, Innie-yah,” Seungmin says, running a hand through Jeongin’s hair.
Jeongin makes a face in response, squinting his eyes, but is unable to keep the smile off his face. “I guess you’re okay.”
Seungmin just rolls his eyes. “Are you hungry? I’m thinking beef bibbimbap for today.”
Jeongin shudders, but he’s prepared for this. He’s strong, and soon enough his plan will kick into place and his parents will be back together—
Oh. The letter.
Dad is still talking, going on about some new restaurant he wants to visit with Jeongin on Tuesday, but Jeongin is overcome with a wave of anxiety. He doesn’t think the letter is anything bad but… what if it is? What if he gives Dad the letter and he gets sad? What if it is about the divorce and Jeongin is handing Dad the final nail in the coffin on their future? What if—
Breathe, Innie, says a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Uncle Channie. Appa wouldn’t do that, he knows that.
“Dad,” Jeongin interrupts. Seungmin looks back from where he’s serving Jeongin a plate of food. “I have something for you.”
“Did you get me a gift?” Seungmin smiles.
“No,” says Jeongin, walking to his lunchbox and taking out the letter. The Kuromi keychain watching him as he takes a deep breath and turns around. “It’s a letter.” He holds the letter out, front-down.
Seungmin, still smiling, works his way over and grabs the letter. “Oh, Innie,” he says, flipping it over, “That’s so sweet, but my birthday was—”
Jeongin is looking down, but he can tell when Seungmin reads who it’s from because he goes quiet.
To fill the silence, he begins to talk. “I don’t know what it is either, Dad! Appa just told me to give it to you today and not to read it, which I didn’t because I told him I wouldn’t. I promise. But I don’t know what it is, and—”
“Innie.” When Jeongin looks up, Seungmin is watching him gently. “It’s okay.”
Jeongin nods, gulping. Seungmin looks back down at the envelope a few moments longer, flipping it over as if to make sure he’s not missing anything. Finally, he puts it down on the counter.
“I’ll read it tonight. But right now I want to spend time with my favorite kid and eat some good food. How does that sound?” Seungmin asks, fixing his face and once again sending a small smile his way.
Jeongin takes the cue for what it is and allows him to change the subject. “That sounds good,” Jeongin says, “But I’m your only kid.”
As they finish preparing the bbibimbap, Jeongin realizes he’s kind of excited to eat it after a week without. But only kind of— GKPT is still a must.