Raising the Lost Boys, Ch.1
Title: Raising the Lost Boys
Rating: PG-13 for slight cursing
Length: 3473 words
Summary: Due to a tragic accident which took the lives of his parents, Siwon (the eldest of five) has decided to take on the role of father figure to his four younger brothers, Donghae, Kyuhyun, Henry, and Yesung. This is the story about their lives, the ups and downs and in-betweens.
As this is just the first chapter, not much will be happening, but I promise all of Super Junior will be involved at some point. This was also inspired by a fic written by my dearest Tee, where Siwon was a single father. I've also been watching "Oh My Lady". This will also have bits very loosely inspired by things that happened in my own life as well, though I can assure you my life is no where near as awesome as I hope this story turns out. It's been a long time since I've written a series, but I'm going to give it my best shot.
Life wasn’t exactly going as planned for Siwon, but then again did it for anyone?
“Come on you guys! UP! Get UP!” He called out, leaning back a bit from the counter where he stood packing five lunch boxes.
“I’m serious! You have half an hour!” He wasn’t able to make anything like the fancy lunch boxes you could buy, but it was good enough, he supposed. Rice, eggs, kimchi, meat and cooked vegetables left over from last night’s dinner… but mostly rice. It was the same every day, varying only when it came to what was left over from dinner before.
“You’re going to school, I don’t care if I have to drag you out in your pajamas and prop you up on the bus!” Though mornings had always been like this in the Choi family, it hadn’t always been Siwon doing the nagging.
“Aish… he gets later and later each day…” Siwon put his hands on his hips, turning to look at the little boy who sat quietly at the kitchen table. “What are we going to do? You think ice water would work?”
Three years ago Siwon’s life had been going amazingly well. Because he’d studied hard doing high school he’d been blessed to receive a full scholarship to study at an American college. He’d finished high school and had a relaxing summer before he got ready to leave. He’d had his luggage packed, belongings packed into boxes… but he never left. Just a week before his flight both of his parents died tragically in a head on collision with a drunk driver. Kyuhyun had been in the car as well, his injuries were severe and he nearly died, but somehow managed to pull through. With both parents gone and no other immediate family nearby, no grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no one knew what to do with the children. At eighteen Siwon was the oldest, he’d be able to fend for himself, but there was talk about splitting the others up and sending them to foster families. Siwon wouldn’t allow it though; he loved his family far too much to have them torn apart like that. He’d just barely become a man (in the legal sense), but now he was becoming a father figure to a thirteen year old, two ten year olds, and a two year old. He had no idea what he was getting into, but he knew he had no option but to give it his very best.
“Kyuhyun I swear-”
“I got it, hyung, hold on…” The youngest (by two minutes) of the twins called out, interrupting Siwon from threatening the other twin any further. Siwon just nodded to himself, stepping forward to place his hands lightly over the five year olds ears. Barely a moment later a loud screeching noise was heard as several horribly off key notes were played on a violin. It was loud and jarring and hurt Siwon’s ears, sending a chill down his spine. Several loud curses followed from inside the bedroom the ‘music’ was coming from, and then the playing stopped.
“I’m up, Damnit! I’m up!”
“Don’t curse, Kyuhyun!”
“Screw you…”
“Good Morning to you too…” Siwon took in a deep breath, sighing softly when he finally let go of Yesung’s little ears. “There we go… The last one is up so we can get going soon…” He moved back to the counter top, slipping each lunch box into a lunch bag, placing an orange inside each bag as well. He closed the bags then, moving to take a seat at the kitchen table, looking back to his own text book that still lay open to the very same page he left off at last night. “Aish… at the rate I’m going I’m never going to have this all memorized. Maybe I should take it to work with me to see if I can read when it gets slow…”
Siwon was sure if his life had gone as planned, he’d be acing his classes by now. He wasn’t a genius, not by any means, but learning hadn’t been all that difficult for him either… at least not before. But now? Now if he managed to get just an A- he was thrilled. He knew his education was important, so even though he chose to give up his scholarship that would have allowed him to study in the states, he enrolled in night classes at a local community college. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing. He worked full time during the day at a car repair shop, and on weekends he worked in a coffee shop. If he ever got a day off it was a fluke, and taking a vacation from one job just meant he’d turn around and pick up more hours at the other. He finished work at five during the week, classes started at six. If it weren’t for Donghae growing up to be a rather responsible sixteen year old, Siwon didn’t know what he would have done, he would have been screwed. It was Donghae that made sure all the boys got home from school alright, it was Donghae that tried to make sure everyone else’s homework was done, and Donghae reheating casseroles and the like that took up their freezer space. He’d tried cooking himself once, but the fire department had to be called and that was the end of that. Donghae had wanted to help more, and that was why he’d gotten an early morning paper route. It was just a small route… he could start at five and be finished at seven in time to head to school. It didn’t make much money, but at least it was something. Siwon had tried to talk Donghae out of taking the job at first, he wanted Donghae to enjoy being young and not be burdened with so much responsibility, but he had to admit Donghae’s paycheck, no matter how tiny, had helped them through tight spots more than once.
Siwon tried not to dwell too long on the way things were, he knew he’d wind up depressed, and that wouldn’t help matters any. He didn’t like that their apartment was so tiny, but it really was all that he could afford. When his parents were alive they’d made a decent living. They weren’t rich by any means, but they weren’t really hurting either. They’d had a decent house and nice furnishings. The boys had nice clothes and usually got more new clothes each time the start of a school year rolled around. Now though, five people were stuffed into a one bedroom apartment. They’d started off in a different location with a two bedroom apartment at a much cheaper rate, but they’d soon found out the area wasn’t the best. There was loud music at all hours of the night, groups of young people who were up to no good hanging around, and within the first month Siwon’s car had gotten broken in to. But this apartment now, though it was tiny, it was nice. The area was nice, and so were the neighbors. It was cramped, what with two sets of bunk beds stuffed in the bedroom leaving Siwon no other option but to sleep on the couch in the living room, but it was safe, and it was their home. They’d sold most all of their belongings, save for what they could fit in the tiny apartment. Any of the boys’ clothes that didn’t fit in the one dresser or the small closet had to go, and Siwon kept his things in boxes in the hall closet.
They had just enough money to get by, but not enough to live comfortably. They never got to eat out, save for when a birthday rolled around, and that usually involved Siwon working overtime for a month or picking up other odd jobs just to save up enough money to treat his brothers to a good meal. They weren’t exactly going hungry, but even Siwon was to the point he thought if he had to eat just rice and eggs again he was going to vomit. He’d tried looking through cookbooks for recipes, but really there was only so much you could do with rice and eggs. It wasn’t always that bad, but they really didn’t have the money to splurge on much. Even buying soda at the grocery store usually took a five minute debate in Siwon’s head over whether or not they really needed it. He tended to look forward to the weekends most only because when he worked at the coffee shop, at the end of the day they let him take home whatever pastries were left over rather than have them spoil and have to be thrown away. Usually it wasn’t much, but sometimes he’d luck out and wind up with a whole box, and then in the morning when the boys woke and saw the box of sugary treats sitting there on the table it’d be like Christmas.
After making sure everyone got off to school alright, including the ever grumpy Kyuhyun, Siwon turned his car around and headed for work. It’d been a fluke that he got the job he did, but it’d been such a blessing in disguise. He’d answered an ad in the paper when he was job hunting, it’d said someone was needed to answer phones and assist customers… he could do that, right? When he’d gone to submit his resume he’d been rather startled to see he was the only male there. The owner, Kangin, had been rather surprised too… just why would a man want a job as a secretary of sorts? They weren’t hiring for a mechanic, and judging by the way the kid was dressed Kangin was pretty sure he’d never even checked his own oil, let alone made any car repairs. But, after listening to woman after woman fuss over how handsome the young boy was, the wheels in his head started turning. Sure, he knew he wasn’t supposed to hire someone just based on looks, so he’d given the kid a proper interview, and then he hired him on the spot. In Kangin’s mind Siwon was a good investment. Men knew about cars, they didn’t need to be reminded to have their oil changed, they knew when to have their engine serviced… it was just part of their nature, something engrained in their brain. Women on the other hand… well they had other things to worry about. While it was true that if they were married their husbands usually took care of this sort of thing, there were more and more single, career women nowadays, and those were the customers that Kangin wanted. What better way to attract them than a young, handsome man like Siwon? Even if they couldn’t remember when it was time to have their oil changed, he was sure they’d remember Siwon’s face. Siwon hadn’t known a thing about cars when he first started, but he learned. While he still couldn’t fix anything major, he knew how to check the cars fluid levels now, he could snap on new wiper blades and wash windows when the shop got backed up. And Kangin had to hand it to the boy; the office had never been more organized. Kangin was also very pleased that his investment in Siwon was paying off, because there were more women in the shop now than there had ever been. Business was booming, so much so one had to make an appointment even to get in for an oil change, though with Siwon and his sweet voice now calling their customers up to remind them to schedule their oil changes and other services, even their appointment book was getting full up. While Siwon found all the attention he got from the ladies a little awkward, it was welcome at the same time. The noonas and ahjummas especially took a liking to him, and at least they were polite enough to try and make conversation, rather than just stare and giggle. While Siwon didn’t like to use his situation in life to get things out of people, he wasn’t afraid to talk about it either, and with so many people becoming return customers they got to know him quite well. It wasn’t all that uncommon now for one of the older women to show up with a casserole for him to take home, or a plate of cookies or something for the boys. While he felt bad, at the same time he was very thankful, things like this helped him keep food in the fridge for his group of growing boys. Each penny that he didn’t have to spend on food could be a penny he could spend somewhere else, be it on clothes for the boys or books, or even another penny towards the next birthday dinner.
He pulled out his cell phone (a small luxury, even though the phone itself was horribly out of date and out of style), dialing the house phone as he locked the office up, waving to the mechanics who remained in the garage before he headed on out to his car. Donghae answered just as Siwon was sliding into the driver’s seat, but the younger boy was horribly out of breath, leading Siwon to furrow his brows.
“Donghae… what’s wrong?”
“Ehhh…. You know it rained last night?” Donghae stooped over, resting one hand on his knee, the other clutching the phone. “There’s a big mud puddle just off the patio…” He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Yesung has decided he wants to be a turtle today. It took me almost an hour to wrestle him out of the water. I JUST got him in the bath and put laundry in.” Siwon groaned on the other end of the phone, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose.
“Just… make sure you dry him off well. I can’t afford for you guys to catch colds.”
“I know, I know… hey… HEY! Yesung! What have we told you about leaving the bathroom without your clothes on!? Hyung I gotta go! Bye!” The line went dead after that and Siwon groaned again, slouching a bit further down in his seat. He would have been lying if he said he always enjoyed his life. It was times like this that he caught himself wondering ever so briefly what would happen if he just took off. That was something he’d never do, he loved his family too much, despite all the hardship and rough times, but still sometimes he wished there was a way for him to escape all that responsibility. He shook his head to clear all those thoughts from his brain though, starting his car up and heading out of the parking lot towards the university where his classes were.
He didn’t even realize he’d dozed off in his chair waiting for class to start until the feel of a hand touching his shoulder jerked him out of his dream. He was met by the smiling face of the same girl that sat next to him in class every day. She smiled a bit further, chuckling softly when she saw his eyes were open.
“Long day? I could be mean and tell you class is over, but I think I’ll be nice today. I passed the professor in the hall, so it shouldn’t be much longer.” She looked into her bag as she sat down, digging around until she found a tissue, offering it to him. “Here. You were drooling a little.”
Siwon blinked, lifting a hand to feel his chin before he reached out to take the tissue from her, wiping at his face. His cheeks flushed a bit pink at the realization that he was indeed drooling, but the girl didn’t seem to mind at all, she was already busy pulling her book from her bag.
Adele Williams was her name… Adele Siwon could handle saying just fine, but heaven forbid he should have to call her by her last name. Even though he was reasonably good at English, Williams still came out as Wee-yams, despite his best efforts. She was clearly Caucasian, what with her pale skin and brown hair and eyes that weren’t slanted in the least bit, yet she spoke Korean just as fluently as everyone else in the class did. Siwon figured she might have been an exchange student, but she never mentioned it, and he never really got a chance to ask her either. He’d only seen her outside of class once, and that was when he bumped into her in the library when they’d both been working on research for a report.
“You should get more sleep… staying up all night studying isn’t going to do you any good if you fall asleep before the test even begins.”
“Test?! We have a test?!” Siwon’s grew wide at that, scrambling to dig through his things for his notes, he didn’t remember a test being scheduled. Adele paused as she was twisting off the cap to her soda, a thin brow arching high on her forehead.
“No… I was just saying… geez. Here…” She reached out to set the soda on the desk in front of Siwon, chuckling softly. “You need the caffeine more than I do.”
“I’m fine; I’m just a little-”
“Drink the soda, get caffeinated, calm your nerves.” She chuckled, reaching back to pat Siwon’s back lightly. “We’re just watching a movie today.” Siwon sighed with relief, slumping back into his chair.
Even with the soda he’d been given he wound up falling asleep again, having the lights shut off in the classroom combined with the narrators monotonous voice had put him right to sleep, despite his best efforts to stay awake. Once again he was startled awake when a hand gripped his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Hey… wake up…”
He sat up quickly from where he’d slumped over his desk; blinking several times as he tried to force his eyes open wide. He was startled yet again when he felt a tissue against his face, pulling his head back from where the American girl was wiping at his chin and cheek with another tissue. Apparently he’d started drooling again.
“I can do it!” It was an automatic response as he pulled his hand inside the sleeve of his shirt, wiping at his chin that way. “I can… clean my own slobber.” Adele just chuckled, using the crumpled tissue to wipe at the desk instead.
“This is your only class for the day, isn’t it? Are you going to be okay to make it home alright?”
“I just… I’ll be okay… just need to get up and move around a bit…”
Adele chuckled; beginning to put her things into her bag once she was satisfied Siwon’s desk had been wiped clean of slobber.
“You should-” Siwon winced internally when the girl began. Here it comes, the same thing everyone always said. Even those that helped him the most did it out of pity alone, and made no attempt to hide it. They had no problem telling Siwon they thought he should just give up and let the government take control of the children, it’d certainly be easier that way. He should just let go and take it easy, he didn’t deserve this much stress. It was the same thing every single time, and he was getting tired of hearing it.
“-go for a walk before class next time. You always get here so early! I’d be falling asleep too if I had to sit and wait like you do. The weathers getting nice out now… and you know the professor is always late anyways. Get the blood pumping! Then you’ll be able to stay awake…” She smiled once more, patting Siwon’s shoulder lightly. “You sure you’ll be alright to drive home?”
“Yeah… it’s not very far…” Siwon was left a bit baffled, not having someone critique the choices he’d made with his life. He picked up his things, sliding them carefully back into his bag as Adele stood from her seat.
“Good! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” With that she turned and headed on out, leaving Siwon still feeling rather confused. Had he not told her things? He could’ve sworn they’d at least had a brief discussion about his family at the beginning of their class together… but maybe that was someone else? He shook his head to clear his mind once more, standing up and heading out. He figured the sooner he got home the better, because he had a feeling Yesung was still going to need further convincing that he was not a turtle, simply because Yesung was the most persistent five year old he’d ever met.
Rating: PG-13 for slight cursing
Length: 3473 words
Summary: Due to a tragic accident which took the lives of his parents, Siwon (the eldest of five) has decided to take on the role of father figure to his four younger brothers, Donghae, Kyuhyun, Henry, and Yesung. This is the story about their lives, the ups and downs and in-betweens.
As this is just the first chapter, not much will be happening, but I promise all of Super Junior will be involved at some point. This was also inspired by a fic written by my dearest Tee, where Siwon was a single father. I've also been watching "Oh My Lady". This will also have bits very loosely inspired by things that happened in my own life as well, though I can assure you my life is no where near as awesome as I hope this story turns out. It's been a long time since I've written a series, but I'm going to give it my best shot.
Life wasn’t exactly going as planned for Siwon, but then again did it for anyone?
“Come on you guys! UP! Get UP!” He called out, leaning back a bit from the counter where he stood packing five lunch boxes.
“I’m serious! You have half an hour!” He wasn’t able to make anything like the fancy lunch boxes you could buy, but it was good enough, he supposed. Rice, eggs, kimchi, meat and cooked vegetables left over from last night’s dinner… but mostly rice. It was the same every day, varying only when it came to what was left over from dinner before.
“You’re going to school, I don’t care if I have to drag you out in your pajamas and prop you up on the bus!” Though mornings had always been like this in the Choi family, it hadn’t always been Siwon doing the nagging.
“Aish… he gets later and later each day…” Siwon put his hands on his hips, turning to look at the little boy who sat quietly at the kitchen table. “What are we going to do? You think ice water would work?”
Three years ago Siwon’s life had been going amazingly well. Because he’d studied hard doing high school he’d been blessed to receive a full scholarship to study at an American college. He’d finished high school and had a relaxing summer before he got ready to leave. He’d had his luggage packed, belongings packed into boxes… but he never left. Just a week before his flight both of his parents died tragically in a head on collision with a drunk driver. Kyuhyun had been in the car as well, his injuries were severe and he nearly died, but somehow managed to pull through. With both parents gone and no other immediate family nearby, no grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no one knew what to do with the children. At eighteen Siwon was the oldest, he’d be able to fend for himself, but there was talk about splitting the others up and sending them to foster families. Siwon wouldn’t allow it though; he loved his family far too much to have them torn apart like that. He’d just barely become a man (in the legal sense), but now he was becoming a father figure to a thirteen year old, two ten year olds, and a two year old. He had no idea what he was getting into, but he knew he had no option but to give it his very best.
“Kyuhyun I swear-”
“I got it, hyung, hold on…” The youngest (by two minutes) of the twins called out, interrupting Siwon from threatening the other twin any further. Siwon just nodded to himself, stepping forward to place his hands lightly over the five year olds ears. Barely a moment later a loud screeching noise was heard as several horribly off key notes were played on a violin. It was loud and jarring and hurt Siwon’s ears, sending a chill down his spine. Several loud curses followed from inside the bedroom the ‘music’ was coming from, and then the playing stopped.
“I’m up, Damnit! I’m up!”
“Don’t curse, Kyuhyun!”
“Screw you…”
“Good Morning to you too…” Siwon took in a deep breath, sighing softly when he finally let go of Yesung’s little ears. “There we go… The last one is up so we can get going soon…” He moved back to the counter top, slipping each lunch box into a lunch bag, placing an orange inside each bag as well. He closed the bags then, moving to take a seat at the kitchen table, looking back to his own text book that still lay open to the very same page he left off at last night. “Aish… at the rate I’m going I’m never going to have this all memorized. Maybe I should take it to work with me to see if I can read when it gets slow…”
Siwon was sure if his life had gone as planned, he’d be acing his classes by now. He wasn’t a genius, not by any means, but learning hadn’t been all that difficult for him either… at least not before. But now? Now if he managed to get just an A- he was thrilled. He knew his education was important, so even though he chose to give up his scholarship that would have allowed him to study in the states, he enrolled in night classes at a local community college. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing. He worked full time during the day at a car repair shop, and on weekends he worked in a coffee shop. If he ever got a day off it was a fluke, and taking a vacation from one job just meant he’d turn around and pick up more hours at the other. He finished work at five during the week, classes started at six. If it weren’t for Donghae growing up to be a rather responsible sixteen year old, Siwon didn’t know what he would have done, he would have been screwed. It was Donghae that made sure all the boys got home from school alright, it was Donghae that tried to make sure everyone else’s homework was done, and Donghae reheating casseroles and the like that took up their freezer space. He’d tried cooking himself once, but the fire department had to be called and that was the end of that. Donghae had wanted to help more, and that was why he’d gotten an early morning paper route. It was just a small route… he could start at five and be finished at seven in time to head to school. It didn’t make much money, but at least it was something. Siwon had tried to talk Donghae out of taking the job at first, he wanted Donghae to enjoy being young and not be burdened with so much responsibility, but he had to admit Donghae’s paycheck, no matter how tiny, had helped them through tight spots more than once.
Siwon tried not to dwell too long on the way things were, he knew he’d wind up depressed, and that wouldn’t help matters any. He didn’t like that their apartment was so tiny, but it really was all that he could afford. When his parents were alive they’d made a decent living. They weren’t rich by any means, but they weren’t really hurting either. They’d had a decent house and nice furnishings. The boys had nice clothes and usually got more new clothes each time the start of a school year rolled around. Now though, five people were stuffed into a one bedroom apartment. They’d started off in a different location with a two bedroom apartment at a much cheaper rate, but they’d soon found out the area wasn’t the best. There was loud music at all hours of the night, groups of young people who were up to no good hanging around, and within the first month Siwon’s car had gotten broken in to. But this apartment now, though it was tiny, it was nice. The area was nice, and so were the neighbors. It was cramped, what with two sets of bunk beds stuffed in the bedroom leaving Siwon no other option but to sleep on the couch in the living room, but it was safe, and it was their home. They’d sold most all of their belongings, save for what they could fit in the tiny apartment. Any of the boys’ clothes that didn’t fit in the one dresser or the small closet had to go, and Siwon kept his things in boxes in the hall closet.
They had just enough money to get by, but not enough to live comfortably. They never got to eat out, save for when a birthday rolled around, and that usually involved Siwon working overtime for a month or picking up other odd jobs just to save up enough money to treat his brothers to a good meal. They weren’t exactly going hungry, but even Siwon was to the point he thought if he had to eat just rice and eggs again he was going to vomit. He’d tried looking through cookbooks for recipes, but really there was only so much you could do with rice and eggs. It wasn’t always that bad, but they really didn’t have the money to splurge on much. Even buying soda at the grocery store usually took a five minute debate in Siwon’s head over whether or not they really needed it. He tended to look forward to the weekends most only because when he worked at the coffee shop, at the end of the day they let him take home whatever pastries were left over rather than have them spoil and have to be thrown away. Usually it wasn’t much, but sometimes he’d luck out and wind up with a whole box, and then in the morning when the boys woke and saw the box of sugary treats sitting there on the table it’d be like Christmas.
After making sure everyone got off to school alright, including the ever grumpy Kyuhyun, Siwon turned his car around and headed for work. It’d been a fluke that he got the job he did, but it’d been such a blessing in disguise. He’d answered an ad in the paper when he was job hunting, it’d said someone was needed to answer phones and assist customers… he could do that, right? When he’d gone to submit his resume he’d been rather startled to see he was the only male there. The owner, Kangin, had been rather surprised too… just why would a man want a job as a secretary of sorts? They weren’t hiring for a mechanic, and judging by the way the kid was dressed Kangin was pretty sure he’d never even checked his own oil, let alone made any car repairs. But, after listening to woman after woman fuss over how handsome the young boy was, the wheels in his head started turning. Sure, he knew he wasn’t supposed to hire someone just based on looks, so he’d given the kid a proper interview, and then he hired him on the spot. In Kangin’s mind Siwon was a good investment. Men knew about cars, they didn’t need to be reminded to have their oil changed, they knew when to have their engine serviced… it was just part of their nature, something engrained in their brain. Women on the other hand… well they had other things to worry about. While it was true that if they were married their husbands usually took care of this sort of thing, there were more and more single, career women nowadays, and those were the customers that Kangin wanted. What better way to attract them than a young, handsome man like Siwon? Even if they couldn’t remember when it was time to have their oil changed, he was sure they’d remember Siwon’s face. Siwon hadn’t known a thing about cars when he first started, but he learned. While he still couldn’t fix anything major, he knew how to check the cars fluid levels now, he could snap on new wiper blades and wash windows when the shop got backed up. And Kangin had to hand it to the boy; the office had never been more organized. Kangin was also very pleased that his investment in Siwon was paying off, because there were more women in the shop now than there had ever been. Business was booming, so much so one had to make an appointment even to get in for an oil change, though with Siwon and his sweet voice now calling their customers up to remind them to schedule their oil changes and other services, even their appointment book was getting full up. While Siwon found all the attention he got from the ladies a little awkward, it was welcome at the same time. The noonas and ahjummas especially took a liking to him, and at least they were polite enough to try and make conversation, rather than just stare and giggle. While Siwon didn’t like to use his situation in life to get things out of people, he wasn’t afraid to talk about it either, and with so many people becoming return customers they got to know him quite well. It wasn’t all that uncommon now for one of the older women to show up with a casserole for him to take home, or a plate of cookies or something for the boys. While he felt bad, at the same time he was very thankful, things like this helped him keep food in the fridge for his group of growing boys. Each penny that he didn’t have to spend on food could be a penny he could spend somewhere else, be it on clothes for the boys or books, or even another penny towards the next birthday dinner.
He pulled out his cell phone (a small luxury, even though the phone itself was horribly out of date and out of style), dialing the house phone as he locked the office up, waving to the mechanics who remained in the garage before he headed on out to his car. Donghae answered just as Siwon was sliding into the driver’s seat, but the younger boy was horribly out of breath, leading Siwon to furrow his brows.
“Donghae… what’s wrong?”
“Ehhh…. You know it rained last night?” Donghae stooped over, resting one hand on his knee, the other clutching the phone. “There’s a big mud puddle just off the patio…” He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Yesung has decided he wants to be a turtle today. It took me almost an hour to wrestle him out of the water. I JUST got him in the bath and put laundry in.” Siwon groaned on the other end of the phone, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose.
“Just… make sure you dry him off well. I can’t afford for you guys to catch colds.”
“I know, I know… hey… HEY! Yesung! What have we told you about leaving the bathroom without your clothes on!? Hyung I gotta go! Bye!” The line went dead after that and Siwon groaned again, slouching a bit further down in his seat. He would have been lying if he said he always enjoyed his life. It was times like this that he caught himself wondering ever so briefly what would happen if he just took off. That was something he’d never do, he loved his family too much, despite all the hardship and rough times, but still sometimes he wished there was a way for him to escape all that responsibility. He shook his head to clear all those thoughts from his brain though, starting his car up and heading out of the parking lot towards the university where his classes were.
He didn’t even realize he’d dozed off in his chair waiting for class to start until the feel of a hand touching his shoulder jerked him out of his dream. He was met by the smiling face of the same girl that sat next to him in class every day. She smiled a bit further, chuckling softly when she saw his eyes were open.
“Long day? I could be mean and tell you class is over, but I think I’ll be nice today. I passed the professor in the hall, so it shouldn’t be much longer.” She looked into her bag as she sat down, digging around until she found a tissue, offering it to him. “Here. You were drooling a little.”
Siwon blinked, lifting a hand to feel his chin before he reached out to take the tissue from her, wiping at his face. His cheeks flushed a bit pink at the realization that he was indeed drooling, but the girl didn’t seem to mind at all, she was already busy pulling her book from her bag.
Adele Williams was her name… Adele Siwon could handle saying just fine, but heaven forbid he should have to call her by her last name. Even though he was reasonably good at English, Williams still came out as Wee-yams, despite his best efforts. She was clearly Caucasian, what with her pale skin and brown hair and eyes that weren’t slanted in the least bit, yet she spoke Korean just as fluently as everyone else in the class did. Siwon figured she might have been an exchange student, but she never mentioned it, and he never really got a chance to ask her either. He’d only seen her outside of class once, and that was when he bumped into her in the library when they’d both been working on research for a report.
“You should get more sleep… staying up all night studying isn’t going to do you any good if you fall asleep before the test even begins.”
“Test?! We have a test?!” Siwon’s grew wide at that, scrambling to dig through his things for his notes, he didn’t remember a test being scheduled. Adele paused as she was twisting off the cap to her soda, a thin brow arching high on her forehead.
“No… I was just saying… geez. Here…” She reached out to set the soda on the desk in front of Siwon, chuckling softly. “You need the caffeine more than I do.”
“I’m fine; I’m just a little-”
“Drink the soda, get caffeinated, calm your nerves.” She chuckled, reaching back to pat Siwon’s back lightly. “We’re just watching a movie today.” Siwon sighed with relief, slumping back into his chair.
Even with the soda he’d been given he wound up falling asleep again, having the lights shut off in the classroom combined with the narrators monotonous voice had put him right to sleep, despite his best efforts to stay awake. Once again he was startled awake when a hand gripped his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Hey… wake up…”
He sat up quickly from where he’d slumped over his desk; blinking several times as he tried to force his eyes open wide. He was startled yet again when he felt a tissue against his face, pulling his head back from where the American girl was wiping at his chin and cheek with another tissue. Apparently he’d started drooling again.
“I can do it!” It was an automatic response as he pulled his hand inside the sleeve of his shirt, wiping at his chin that way. “I can… clean my own slobber.” Adele just chuckled, using the crumpled tissue to wipe at the desk instead.
“This is your only class for the day, isn’t it? Are you going to be okay to make it home alright?”
“I just… I’ll be okay… just need to get up and move around a bit…”
Adele chuckled; beginning to put her things into her bag once she was satisfied Siwon’s desk had been wiped clean of slobber.
“You should-” Siwon winced internally when the girl began. Here it comes, the same thing everyone always said. Even those that helped him the most did it out of pity alone, and made no attempt to hide it. They had no problem telling Siwon they thought he should just give up and let the government take control of the children, it’d certainly be easier that way. He should just let go and take it easy, he didn’t deserve this much stress. It was the same thing every single time, and he was getting tired of hearing it.
“-go for a walk before class next time. You always get here so early! I’d be falling asleep too if I had to sit and wait like you do. The weathers getting nice out now… and you know the professor is always late anyways. Get the blood pumping! Then you’ll be able to stay awake…” She smiled once more, patting Siwon’s shoulder lightly. “You sure you’ll be alright to drive home?”
“Yeah… it’s not very far…” Siwon was left a bit baffled, not having someone critique the choices he’d made with his life. He picked up his things, sliding them carefully back into his bag as Adele stood from her seat.
“Good! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” With that she turned and headed on out, leaving Siwon still feeling rather confused. Had he not told her things? He could’ve sworn they’d at least had a brief discussion about his family at the beginning of their class together… but maybe that was someone else? He shook his head to clear his mind once more, standing up and heading out. He figured the sooner he got home the better, because he had a feeling Yesung was still going to need further convincing that he was not a turtle, simply because Yesung was the most persistent five year old he’d ever met.