[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Fighting Parents

Hendery was sitting on the Limitless cafe staircase that led to the upper portion of the building, rubbing his real eye. He hated that it just had to have an eyelash poking at it and the stupid thing wouldn't stop. One would think after all the eye problems he's had that the world would just give him a break, but nooo.

Before the eyelash started poking him he was thinking about the dedication Haechan's little brothers must have. I mean, think about it. They've been looking up different organic ways to dye hair and mixing them with Haechan's shampoo for years.

The beet juice to make his hair purple had been used on and off throughout the years just because it was easy, but no one had figured out how they had turned his hair a soft rainbow and blond at points.

True dedication right there. And yet they never got the recognition they deserve.

Okay, yes they were dying their brother's hair to be annoying and everything, but for young kids they were pretty smart about it. You had to at least appreciate that.

And then there's Jaemin who bleached his hair when he was young to turn it pink. Unfortunately that was long gone, so at least Taeyong liked ruining his hair to spice things up.

Finally getting the eyelash to stop poking at his one good eye, Hendery sighed in relief. The relief was short-lived as the sounds of two people fighting were heard. He thought at first it was just Taeyong and Doyoung, but when Sungchan and Jisung started coming down the stairs looking uncomfortable is when Hendery realized it wasn't them.

"What's going on up there?"

Jisung shook his head as a sign not to ask as Sungchan sighed.

"We were just having a snack when they started fighting. It sounds pretty serious."

"We should go make sure Taeyong and Shotaro are in the basement, then." Hendery mentioned, taking Jisung's hand as they made their way to the basement.

Ensuring that Taeyong and Shotaro were unable to hear the fighting was a relief (they could never be too cautious around them now), but now they had a different problem.

The parents were fighting.

"What's wrong? You guys look upset." Yuta pointed out from his perch on his top bunk, catching the attention of the group.

Despite having been completely silent as soon as the fighting started, Jisung now started rambling on with no hesitation.

"The parents are fighting and it sounds really serious and now I'm scared they'll be divorced and then Johnny will be forced to take over because they both leave to split up on opposite ends of the world and Johnny becomes an alcoholic because of the stress and we all split up because of it all and no one knows what we're doing anymore and-"

Jisung stopped as he sucked in a breath, Hendery now hugging him as Taeyong stood up to hug him too.

"Who's fighting, Ji?"

"And what was that about me being an alcoholic?" Mark sent Johnny a glare to tell him now was not the time.

"The parents."

Taeyong ran his fingers through Jisung's hair, trying to calm him down.

"Did your Mom come home?"

"He means the Suhs." Sungchan corrected, time almost freezing in the room.

They were all highly aware that adults had fights. Some more than others. But the Suhs fighting was something on a different level. They never fought, and if they did, it was either playfully or quiet so no one could hear.

"Could you tell what it was about?" Jaehyun asked, his mind going through all the moments he was with them today to see if he remembered any tensions.

The three of them shook their heads. They had been trying their best not to listen.

"I'll check out what happened in a few minutes, okay? I'm sure it's fine." Johnny offered, Taeyong now bringing Hendery, Jisung and Sungchan over to the rest of them instead of just standing there.

As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Suh knew that they had scared the kids, they were in the basement hugging them all and reassuring them it was nothing, apologizing profusely.

They never did give an explanation about what had happened, though.