Sometimes Sweetly, Sometimes Achingly

Chapter 4

From the passenger seat, Taeyong shot him a scandalized look. “Why would you ever get high together in the first place? Whose idea was that?”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes as he made a right turn. “Whose idea do you think it was?”

“Yunho-hyung,” they declared in unison.

“But still,” Taeyong said. “I can’t even imagine just busting out some weed with Donghae-hyung and Jeno. First of all Donghae hates all drugs, and also, how weird would it be for him and Jeno with their age difference? Yunho-hyung really is something else,” he shook his head in wonder.

“Trust me, you haven’t lived until you’ve gotten high with your siblings,” Jaehyun replied solemnly. As an afterthought, he added, “Actually, it’s both a good and bad thing. Because on one hand you learn a lot about them, but sometimes you end up learning too much.”

“Like Yunho-hyung’s love for the lampshade?”

“Yup. Krys likes to say that the reason he’s still single is because his one true love is Sica’s lampshade. Hyung looks like he wants to deck her every time she brings that back up.”

Taeyong frowned in confusion. “Krys? Sica?”

“Oh,” Jaehyun paused. “Their English names. Short for Krystal and Jessica.”

“Ah. I see,” Taeyong nodded. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to Jaehyun with a curious expression. “What’s your English name, then?”

The car came to a halt at a red light. Jaehyun took that opportunity to take his eyes off the road, focus on Taeyong, and, in the most deadpan and matter-of-fact way, say, “Jeffrey.”

Silence.

“Kidding. It’s actually just Jay. Pretty boring compared to Jessica and Krystal.”

Taeyong shot him an unimpressed look. “I know you’re a mysterious guy an all, but Jeffrey? That’s just lame.”

“Actually, Johnny came up with it. Said some bullshit like I look like a Jeffrey or something, but I don’t buy it.”

“Not the worst thing in the world,” Taeyong mused. “Donghae-hyung once had this friend who wanted people to refer to him as Bryan Trevor. It was weird. I guess that’s why Kibum-hyung disappeared and no one's ever heard from him since."

Jaehyun wrinkled his nose. “Gross. I knew a lot of Bryans and a lot of Trevors in school, but I’d never want to meet a Bryan Trevor. Or a Trevor Bryan.”

He pulled up in front of D&E and unlocked the passenger door. “Anyway, make sure you get high with your brothers at some point in your life. It’s a real experience.”

“I’d rather not give hyung a heart attack,” Taeyong responded flatly. He unbuckled his seat belt and shook his head at Jaehyun as he hopped out the car.

“Suit yourself,” Jaehyun shrugged. “And hey! Do me a favor and tell Yunho-hyung you know about the lampshade!”

“I’m not evil like you!” Taeyong retorted.

(He did in fact end up mentioning the lampshade to Yunho, who blanched and used some choice words to curse Jaehyun)

November 9th

Taeyong flung his hands up in frustration. “I just don’t get why Jeno needed to steal all my chocolate! I specifically hid it up in the top shelf because neither of us can reach it—I had to stand up on a chair and everything—and somehow that little brat knew exactly where it was!”