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In his right hand is a drawing, a drawing he made of himself and three of his most favourite people in the world. His teacher, Mrs. Chang, had told him to put it in his bag for safe keeping, but he’s just too excited to show his family what he’s made for them and so it remains in his protective hold instead.
His school is decorated how most schools throughout the country are. Beige walls are covered in students’ artwork and posters encouraging children to both ‘be kind!’ and ‘work hard!’. The wooden floor is polished, the scattered bins are overflowing with so many little milk cartons, juice boxes and snack wrappers.
Minho walks alongside his only friend, a girl pup who loves the colour light pink and dancing to any kind of music. She was excited to find out, two or so weeks ago, that Minho’s parents have music of their own!
Her favourite song is ‘Choose’, she thinks it’s pretty.
”What are you bringing to school tomorrow?”
Minho shrugs, “I don’t know.”
”I think I’m going to bring my toy dolls,” she says.
Tomorrow, they are supposed to bring in something they are the most thankful for. Minho loves all of his toys, is very thankful for them, but- to him, that just does not seem like enough. He knows that there are things he’s more thankful for than those.
He asks her, “what dolls?”
”The ones my biggest sister got for me.”
Minho knows that Yuna’s parents are, uh, older than what his are. He did overhear them tell Mrs. Chang that Yuna was a ‘pleasant and welcomed surprise’… whatever that means. Yuna’s biggest sister is a little bit over twenty-eight, they’re both only seven!
“That’s nice,” he hums.
”Do you ever wish you had big sisters or brothers?”
”No,” the answer is easy, “I like having only Yunnie.”
Yunmin, his brother, is his bestest friend. He always has been, and he always will be. It does not matter what may happen to them, he is always going to be on Yunmin’s side.
Their discussion swiftly comes to an end. They leave the large school building behind the rest of the class. Poor Mrs. Chang is summoned to speak to a parent immediately, but she still keeps a watchful eye over them as they find their own families.
Yuna disappears from his side with a giggle, jumping from the middle step into her older brother’s arms. Minho glances over the school’s playground for those three familiar faces and then soon enough he spots only one.
Minho makes his way quickly, but safely because he does not want to get hurt, down the stairs. Mingi is now crouched down with two open arms, and Minho giggles quietly as he runs to him, ensuring to keep the hold he has on his drawing tight.
Wrapping his arms around his Papa’s neck, Minho’s grin is wide when he feels safe arms curl perfectly around him. He loves school, but he loves being with his family even more.
“Hi, baby,” Mingi greets him with a kiss to the side of his head, “how are you? Did you have a good day?”
”I’m okay,” Minho tells him, “and I had a great day! Did you have a good day?”
”I did, but I missed you so much!”
Minho smiles happily, “I missed you too, Papa! Look,” he pulls back to display his drawing between the two of them, “I made a picture!”
Mingi takes drawing. ”Oh, it’s wonderful, Minnie!”
”Thank you,” the little boy giggles, “it’s all of us, you see? Me, you, Daddy, and Yunnie!”
”It’s perfect, sweetheart! We’ll have to find a spot for it on the fridge when we get home, okay?”
Minho nods.
”But for now, though, shall we pop it into your bag so it’s all nice and safe? We don’t want it to get lost or ruined, do we?”
”No, Papa,” Minho shakes his head and then he spins around in order for Mingi to unzip his school bag. It’s a Spider-Man one, obviously.
”I’ll have to fold it over for it to fit, is that okay?”
”Yes. Thank you for asking, Papa.”
”Of course,” Mingi smiles as he folds the artwork in half and then places it into the child’s bag. He zips it back up and Minho turns back around in order to slot their hands together.
“Are Daddy and Yunnie at home?”
”No,” Mingi shakes his head, leading them to the car park, “they’re waiting for you in the car.”
That pleases him. He loves it when they all come to pick him up. “What did Yunnie do today?”
”Well he had some fun at the park, then we went to the shops and got some cookies.”
”What kind of cookies?!”
”Your favourite.”
Minho grins, excited, “chocolate chip?!”
”Yunnie wouldn’t let us look at any other kind. He wanted to make sure it was the ones you like most.”
“Ah, that’s so kind of him!”
”It is, isn’t it?”
Minho hums. “How many cookies are there?”
”Three for us now and then some for Saturday and Sunday.”
”Big cookies or little cookies?”
”Medium cookies.”
”Three medium cookies!? This is the best day ever!”
Mingi chuckles fondly. “We were thinking of watching a movie tonight too.”
”What movie?”
”Yunnie asked for Princesses, but we were going to see what you thought.”
”I don’t mind watching Princesses,” Minho tells him, “Snow White looks like Uncle Sangie.”
”Did you know that Uncle Sangie played Snow White in a show when he was at school?”
Minho giggles, “he did?!”
”Yeah! He was the best in his entire class.”
Minho wonders aloud, ”did you know Uncle Sangie at school?”
”No,” Mingi shakes his head.
”So you met him at Ateez?”
”I did.”
”Were you the bestest friends right away?”
”Not right away, no,” Mingi tells him, “it took some time but we got there in the end.”
”Ah,” Minho nods, “but you did go to school with my Daddy, yes?”
”I did, yeah.” Because Mingi moved High Schools in order to go to Yunho’s one during their last year of school.
”Was that fun?”
”It was so fun.”
Minho hums, and the pair fall into a content silence as they make their way across the car park. Yunho always parks in the back corner because it’s quieter there.
The sound of excited banging soon fills the air. They both see that Yunmin is hitting the car window with both of his little hands, bright smile on his face. He’s restricted to his car seat, but if he wasn’t, his entire face would be pressed against the glass.
Yunho is sat in the front of the car, Mingi watches as he turns and Yunmin’s banging stops. Mingi assists the older pup around to the other side of the car, he pulls the door open.
“Minnie,” Yunmin cheers, “Yunnie missed you!”
Minho takes his school bag off of his back. He climbs into the car with a smile, “I missed you too, Yunnie!”
”Yunnie got cookies! Papa say?”
”Yeah, Papa told me! Thank you for being so kind.”
”Minnie welcome!”
Minho leans over to kiss his little brother’s forehead and then he turns his attention to the front section of the car. He leans over to place a kiss to Yunho’s cheek.
”Hi, Daddy, how are you?”
”I am very well, thank you,” Yunho fondly brushes dark hair away from Minho’s eyes with his left hand, “how are you? Did you have a good day?”
”Yeah,” Minho nods, “I did a drawing but it’s in my bag so I’ll show you at home.”
”Sounds good to me,” Yunho nods and Minho moves back so that Mingi can help him into his car seat.
”Minnie,” Yunmin begins, “you work day?”
”I did some Maths which was a bit boring.”
”What that?”
”Like two add two?”
”Twenty?!”
Minho chuckles softly, ”not quite, Yunnie.”
Yunmin frowns and looks out of the window beside him. Mingi finishes putting Minho in his car seat and he picks up the previously abandoned bag to put it on the middle seat between the two pups.
Just as he’s about to close the door:
”Papa, wait!”
Mingi blinks, “what?”
”I forgot to give you a kiss!”
Yunho’s immediate smile is fond, Mingi’s gaze is full of adoration.
”Too tall, come down here please?”
Mingi nods and then leans down. Minho places a kiss to his cheek. Mingi moves away and closes the door over.
“Minnie,” Yunmin looks at his brother, “you play with Yunnie at home?”
“Of course! What do you want to play?”
Mingi sits in the front passenger seat beside Yunho while Yunmin replies, ”I no think yet.”
”Maybe we can play with cars?”
Yunmin’s eyes brighten, “yeah! Yunnie big car and Minnie small car?”
“But I had the small car last time-”
”Oh,” Yunmin pouts, “um, then Minnie have big car and Yunnie have little one?”
”Is that okay with you?”
Yunmin nods. “Yunnie like to share toys!”
Minho smiles, “thanks, Yunnie!”
Another, ”Minnie welcome!”
Yunho and Mingi could not be more proud of how the two pups dealt with the situation.
“You two talked through that really well,” Yunho tells them, “that’s very good, well done.”
”Yunnie and Minnie good boys?”
”The best boys,” Mingi nods.
Yunmin giggles. “Ah, that so nice! We two pups get ‘nother cookie now?!”
”No,” Yunho shakes his head, “good try, though.”
Yunmin frowns at his lap, muttering his favourite makeshift curse, “ah, biscuits.”
Yunho turns to him, “what was that?”
Smiling, Yunmin says as he looks back up, “love you, Daddy!”
”Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.”
Yunmin, not understanding sarcasm, seems really happy to have fooled their Alpha parent. Minho and Mingi look between the two with amused smiles.
Yunho asks, turning to face the wheel, “everyone got seatbelts on?”
”Mine have Panda stickers!”
Minho’s voice, “we know, Yunnie, you tell us every time!”
The boy claps his little hands together, ”Yunnie like Panda!”
Yunho asks, “do you remember what animals Daddy and Papa like?”
”Doggy and Chick.”
”That’s right,” Mingi smiles.
”Minnie have the puppy that’s Daddy and me Yunnie have the baby chick Papa?”
Minho cheers, “Aniteez!”
Minho has been learning a lot about Ateez recently. He finds it fascinating, and maybe even something he’d like to do in the future too.
All the boy pups of the pack, unknown to them right now, do indeed end up forming a band together that reaches the same success Ateez had.
”I like Uncle Hwa one too,” Yunmin says, “it bunny rabbit!”
”She is pretty, isn’t she?”
”Yeah!”
When the conversations lulls a little, Yunho switches the vehicles engine on and takes it as the queue to leave the school campus behind.
The car pulls out of the car park, Yunho driving, and Minho stares out of the window until he hears a tiny whine.
He turns his head and sees that Yunmin is reaching over to hold his hand. He smiles at him and scoops his brother’s left hand into his right one.
He really does love Yunmin a lot. He liked it when it was just him, but he likes it even more with his little sibling. Yunmin makes him really happy, he means the world to him and more, he adores spending time with him. He’s thankful-
Thankful.
”Daddy,” the older pup begins, “do you think Yunnie can come to school with me tomorrow?”
Yunho asks, confused, “why?”
”Well I have to bring in something I’m thankful for,” Minho says to him, “and I’m thankful for Yunnie, so can I bring him?”
Mingi and Yunho’s hearts melt, their eyes are lit with a certain adoration. Out of all the things in the world he’s thankful for, Minho believes his brother to be the most important one.
The Omega asks, just for clarification, “you want to take Yunnie with you?”
”If that’s okay, then yes please.”
”Um,” Yunho begins, “I don’t think-”
”Can we just ask Mrs. Chang? I’m sure she will say yes, she thinks Yunnie is really cute.”
”Minho-”
”I’ll take really good care of him! I promise.”
Yunmin blinks. “Yunnie go school with Minnie?”
Mingi glances over to Yunho, Yunho very briefly looks back at him. An entire conversation seems to occur in complete silence.
”We can ask,” Mingi tells him, “but you might have to just bring in a picture of Yunnie instead, okay?”
Pouting, Minho claims, “that’s not as fun as the real Yunnie.”
”Your brother is not big enough for school yet, and so Mrs. Chang might not be able to let him into the classroom.”
Minho huffs.
”We can ask,” Mingi repeats, “but-”
”I know,” Minho nods, “I’ll take a picture if she says no. I really want her to say yes, but it’s okay if she says no.”
Mingi nods small and then looks down at his lap. He can feel tears building in the corners of his eyes. His heart is so full.
Yunmin notices. ”Oh, no, Papa sad?!”
”He’s not sad,” Minho groans, “he always cries when we do cute things.”
”I can’t h-help it, okay?!”
Yunmin asks his brother, “Papa cry?”
”Because we’re cute,” he says, “and he loves us. He cries like our Uncle Sangie does!”
Yunmin gasps. Uncle Yeosang cries because there’s a pup in his tummy, Uncle Jongho told them that Uncle Yeosang doesn’t know why he cries sometimes.
Minho said that Papa cries like Yeosang, who is eight months pregnant with a third pup, and because he’s only three and has not understood what his brother actually meant:
”Papa cry like Sangie?”
”Yeah!”
”So Papa have pup in his tummy too?!”
Yunho and Mingi, and the same exact time with wide eyes and racing hearts, “NO!”
Yunmin sits stunned by the outburst, and Minho just bursts into a fit of giggles.
Both of their parents have gone extremely pale, and really it’s quite funny.