the little boy and the sloth - chapter five
title:the little boy and the sloth.
length: chaptered
word count: 1,039/5,878
pairing: N.A.P, side chunjoe and changrick
disclaimer: teen top (c) topmedia
previous chapters: one; two; three; four
A/N: I fucked up. I most likely half-assed this. really. sorry. better than abandoning it, right? the chapter's partly for one of my favorite authors, taki-unnie, who told me to continue this! <3 I hope this didn't disappoint everyone!
Fifteen days had passed since Niel turned fifteen and Minsoo the sloth started living in the Ahn family’s greenhouse. Since the little boy only met the pet once or twice a day-the first was when his mother told him to look at it and the second was when he had run out of things to do, if he did-nothing much had happened between them. Niel was still waiting for his two best friends’ returning from their trips and Minsoo was still switching between sleeping and eating leaves from the tree.
For short, it’s as if nothing has changed.
Today was the day when the temperature begun dropping, the leaves’ green were fading and the school started operating again. The three brothers were still reluctant to go back to reality. At least they can meet their friends on a daily basis again-that’s a good thing for all of them and a successful drive to bring them out from their non-existent vacation land to the three-story building they called school.
In addition, Niel was in the final year of middle school. There would be more hectic days to pass as him and his class need to study for the final exams, and he knew well he must face it no matter what. But first things first, he wanted to face the friends, who will fight alongside him.
A few minutes after he stepped into his classroom, Changhyun and Jonghyun showed up together, each bringing a huge plastic bag on a hand. Niel guessed those were the souvenirs for the whole class. “Good morning, you two!” being a nice friend, he called over both of them quite cheerfully, “How’s summer? Is it great?”
“It's fantastic!" Changhyun replied him, "I had so much fun at Japan!"
"Good to hear that, Changhyun! How's yours, Jonghyun?" Niel continued.
"I had fun as well," the latter boy answered, "At Jeju, it is."
Niel only flashed a smile on them. Unlike them, he never went out from Seoul last summer and barely had fun with his time. But he didn’t want to tell them so; he didn’t want to make them feel bad for their own happiness. Yet Jonghyun realized that his friend was acting different today, so he cared to ask, “Niel? What’s wrong? Something feels off.”
The eldest was shaking his head, not even breaking his smile and opening his mouth to answer, totally different with his usual chatty self.
“Cheer up! Don’t just smile outside, smile inside too!” Changhyun chimed in, shouting the latter sentence to Niel’s face like they’re the only three people inside the classroom.
“Hey! Not so loud, Changhyunnie!” Niel said while jokingly shoving the smaller boy, his smile now turning into a slight laughter.
“But you’re usually this loud, too!” the said boy protested him.
“Even louder!” Jonghyun added.
Although the three were the closest of friends, Changhyun would always sit with Jonghyun if both of them were in the same class and Niel would sat behind them. Also, in elementary school, Changhyun and Jonghyun used to whine about not being with their closest friends when the teacher asked everyone to make pairs for assignments. And Niel hated to see that happen again, so he’d rather step back and let them be, while he did the work with whomever else.
Since it’s himself who made Changhyun and Jonghyun closer to each other, it’s no longer surprising if the mischievous kids ganged up at him like this. He only said one word, which was, “Whatever.” Whatever as long as he had them as friends, who actually treated him well despite their occasional bickering.
“By the way, how’s your birthday? Aside from Byunghun eating your mom’s food, of course,” the unexpectedly youngest tried diverting the topic.
“WHAT THE-?” Changhyun mindlessly screamed. Both Jonghyun and Niel put their hands over his mouth before the name was spoken. Especially the latter, who didn’t want people to know his personal matters.
“Oh, well, I got a sloth named Minsoo,” Niel uttered like it’s nothing, “Mom’s idea. I jokingly asked for a pet and expected something like a bird or a snake at most, but we adopted it from the zoo. Very boring, really.”
His friends didn’t think so.
“Wow,” Jonghyun was kind of speechless with Niel’s mom’s antics.
“No, not boring. Very interesting! Can I meet Minsoo?” Changhyun asked enthusiastically.
“Why not,” the one in question said. “Just go to my home and you’ll see how boring it is.”
A moment later, their homeroom teacher entered their class. They stopped the three-way conversation immediately and sat in their respective seats.
The school day was very packed for a first day after summer break. Some classes had picked up from where they had left before, while the other drilled materials into the students' brains, whether it's new or old-since most people had forgotten what was discussed in class a few weeks ago, much less two years ago in the first grade.
It was tiring after all, but the restless children still decided to go to Niel’s home-mostly to introduce Minsoo to his owner’s best friends. It was just a block away from their school, so they decided to take a walk there. While walking, they chatted about whatever in their mind-from the load of homework they’re receiving to the newest chapter of their favorite manhwa-and in no time they had arrived in front of the home.
“Where is Minsoo? I want to see Minsoo! Now!” Changhyun exclaimed.
“In the greenhouse,” Niel told him, “But greet whoever was home first! Hey! Yoo Changhyun!”
Changhyun completely ignored the older boy and ran away to the greenhouse when Niel and Jonghyun paced towards the front door. He knew that structure-since he used to play on the backyard in where it stood-but he just hadn’t really been inside it for a long time, so he no longer had an idea what do they grew within by now.
And a group of trees greeted him as he strolled there, along with a big boy hanging on the tallest branch. The boy seemed unaffected with a stranger barging in his place. Meanwhile, the stranger was beyond puzzled by what he had found.
length: chaptered
word count: 1,039/5,878
pairing: N.A.P, side chunjoe and changrick
disclaimer: teen top (c) topmedia
previous chapters: one; two; three; four
A/N: I fucked up. I most likely half-assed this. really. sorry. better than abandoning it, right? the chapter's partly for one of my favorite authors, taki-unnie, who told me to continue this! <3 I hope this didn't disappoint everyone!
Fifteen days had passed since Niel turned fifteen and Minsoo the sloth started living in the Ahn family’s greenhouse. Since the little boy only met the pet once or twice a day-the first was when his mother told him to look at it and the second was when he had run out of things to do, if he did-nothing much had happened between them. Niel was still waiting for his two best friends’ returning from their trips and Minsoo was still switching between sleeping and eating leaves from the tree.
For short, it’s as if nothing has changed.
Today was the day when the temperature begun dropping, the leaves’ green were fading and the school started operating again. The three brothers were still reluctant to go back to reality. At least they can meet their friends on a daily basis again-that’s a good thing for all of them and a successful drive to bring them out from their non-existent vacation land to the three-story building they called school.
In addition, Niel was in the final year of middle school. There would be more hectic days to pass as him and his class need to study for the final exams, and he knew well he must face it no matter what. But first things first, he wanted to face the friends, who will fight alongside him.
A few minutes after he stepped into his classroom, Changhyun and Jonghyun showed up together, each bringing a huge plastic bag on a hand. Niel guessed those were the souvenirs for the whole class. “Good morning, you two!” being a nice friend, he called over both of them quite cheerfully, “How’s summer? Is it great?”
“It's fantastic!" Changhyun replied him, "I had so much fun at Japan!"
"Good to hear that, Changhyun! How's yours, Jonghyun?" Niel continued.
"I had fun as well," the latter boy answered, "At Jeju, it is."
Niel only flashed a smile on them. Unlike them, he never went out from Seoul last summer and barely had fun with his time. But he didn’t want to tell them so; he didn’t want to make them feel bad for their own happiness. Yet Jonghyun realized that his friend was acting different today, so he cared to ask, “Niel? What’s wrong? Something feels off.”
The eldest was shaking his head, not even breaking his smile and opening his mouth to answer, totally different with his usual chatty self.
“Cheer up! Don’t just smile outside, smile inside too!” Changhyun chimed in, shouting the latter sentence to Niel’s face like they’re the only three people inside the classroom.
“Hey! Not so loud, Changhyunnie!” Niel said while jokingly shoving the smaller boy, his smile now turning into a slight laughter.
“But you’re usually this loud, too!” the said boy protested him.
“Even louder!” Jonghyun added.
Although the three were the closest of friends, Changhyun would always sit with Jonghyun if both of them were in the same class and Niel would sat behind them. Also, in elementary school, Changhyun and Jonghyun used to whine about not being with their closest friends when the teacher asked everyone to make pairs for assignments. And Niel hated to see that happen again, so he’d rather step back and let them be, while he did the work with whomever else.
Since it’s himself who made Changhyun and Jonghyun closer to each other, it’s no longer surprising if the mischievous kids ganged up at him like this. He only said one word, which was, “Whatever.” Whatever as long as he had them as friends, who actually treated him well despite their occasional bickering.
“By the way, how’s your birthday? Aside from Byunghun eating your mom’s food, of course,” the unexpectedly youngest tried diverting the topic.
“WHAT THE-?” Changhyun mindlessly screamed. Both Jonghyun and Niel put their hands over his mouth before the name was spoken. Especially the latter, who didn’t want people to know his personal matters.
“Oh, well, I got a sloth named Minsoo,” Niel uttered like it’s nothing, “Mom’s idea. I jokingly asked for a pet and expected something like a bird or a snake at most, but we adopted it from the zoo. Very boring, really.”
His friends didn’t think so.
“Wow,” Jonghyun was kind of speechless with Niel’s mom’s antics.
“No, not boring. Very interesting! Can I meet Minsoo?” Changhyun asked enthusiastically.
“Why not,” the one in question said. “Just go to my home and you’ll see how boring it is.”
A moment later, their homeroom teacher entered their class. They stopped the three-way conversation immediately and sat in their respective seats.
The school day was very packed for a first day after summer break. Some classes had picked up from where they had left before, while the other drilled materials into the students' brains, whether it's new or old-since most people had forgotten what was discussed in class a few weeks ago, much less two years ago in the first grade.
It was tiring after all, but the restless children still decided to go to Niel’s home-mostly to introduce Minsoo to his owner’s best friends. It was just a block away from their school, so they decided to take a walk there. While walking, they chatted about whatever in their mind-from the load of homework they’re receiving to the newest chapter of their favorite manhwa-and in no time they had arrived in front of the home.
“Where is Minsoo? I want to see Minsoo! Now!” Changhyun exclaimed.
“In the greenhouse,” Niel told him, “But greet whoever was home first! Hey! Yoo Changhyun!”
Changhyun completely ignored the older boy and ran away to the greenhouse when Niel and Jonghyun paced towards the front door. He knew that structure-since he used to play on the backyard in where it stood-but he just hadn’t really been inside it for a long time, so he no longer had an idea what do they grew within by now.
And a group of trees greeted him as he strolled there, along with a big boy hanging on the tallest branch. The boy seemed unaffected with a stranger barging in his place. Meanwhile, the stranger was beyond puzzled by what he had found.