"Nom! Nom! Nom!" Ashur gnawed on a giant popsicle that Hyunjin had bought for him.
"You know, I meant buy you food as in an actual meal," Hyunjin said.
"No, this is my lunch," Ashur claimed. "So Unjin, I wanted to adopt a puppy but Donald said no. How do I convince him to let me get a doggy?"
"He said no to a puppy, but not to a dog," Hyunjin smirked. "Find the loopholes in conversations, Ash. Adopt a dog as long as it's not a puppy,"
"You're being a bad influence on him," Gerard commented.
"His brother is literally a gang leader," Hyunjin pointed out. "I'm teaching him to not be naïve so he isn't taken advantage of. Why are you and your friends following us around? And if anyone's a bad influence, it's you. I bet you're still constantly getting into fights everyday,"
"Ashur's our friend," Gerard pointed out, ignoring the last two sentences to avoid an argument. "I'm pretty sure the others just want to see if we'll perform even though I told them no multiple times,"
"Come on Gerard," Alex said. "I know you can sing. Why don't you and your friend perform? There's a stage set up at the festival and we can probably ask to borrow their instruments. You two could be a bonus performance at the end,"
"The planned performance was actually canceled," A man informed. "Hyunjin, Gerard, it's been a while,"
"Hi Drumstick," Ashur waved at Sangman.
"My name is Sangman," The drummer sweat-dropped.
"Hey, is this a reunion or something?" A young man with black hair joined them.
"Hi Woo!" Ashur waved at him.
"It's Jinwoo, not just Woo," The newcomer also sweat-dropped.
"So Gerard," Rowan said. "All of your band members are here..."
"And the planned band won't be performing..." Ben added.
"So...Slam should perform," Alex suggested.
"I'm down if you guys are," Jinwoo shrugged. "Today's my day off,"
"No," Hyunjin refused without hesitation.
"Ashur, use Puppy Eyes!" Ben held up the shorter high schooler.
"Unjin?" Ashur asked with wide, glossy eyes. "Play music?"
"Everyone spoils you too much," Hyunjin mumbled. "Including me,"
"Please Unjin?" Ashur pleaded. "Play music?"
"Fine," Hyunjin ruffled Ashur's hair. "Sometimes I wonder if your childish behavior is all just an act so you can manipulate people,"
"I don't like manicures," Ashur frowned. "I don't like cutting my nails but Donald and Kingsley force me to since they grew too long,"
XXX
The Union were also on a lunch break and since most of the tables in dining tent were taken, they just opted to eat their lunch near the shelter's tent. "Hey Uncle Donald," Kayden brought up randomly again. "Buy me a walrus,"
"No," Donald once again refused. "Stop asking me to buy you a walrus,"
Kayden stuck his tongue out at him. "Stingy uncle,"
To everyone who were not Kingsley, Kaia, Alain, Kayden, Fox, or Sally, Donald's casual behavior was so foreign to them. He was actually interacting with the family like a normal human being. They never thought that they'd ever see this side of Donald Na, Rank 1 in the Shuttle Patch Rankings, head of Yeo-Il High School, and founder of the Yeongdeungpo Union.
Wolf was sipping his soda while watching Fox and Sally. "Hey Jake,"
"Hmm?" Jake swallowed a mouthful of ramen. "Yeah?"
"Wanna play cupid for those two?" Wolf motioned to Fox and Sally, who were feeding the cats and dogs.
"Oh? What's this?" Jake grinned. "Wolfie wants to help his brother get a girlfriend?"
"Shut up," Wolf scoffed. "Sally's got a crush on Fox and Fox needs to get over his unrequited love. Also, if you call me 'Wolfie' again, you'll be joining your brother in physical therapy,"
"Rude," Jake said, unbothered by the threat. "And you wonder why your brother's more popular than you,"
"No, I don't wonder nor do I give a fuck," Wolf mumbled.
Unfortunately, Kayden had been standing right next to Wolf for some reason. "Mom! Dad! Chibi Fox said a bad word!"
"Wolf!" Donald snapped. "I told you no swearing around my nephew!"
"I am very disappointed in you," Fox shook his head. "I thought I raised you better than that,"
"The kid's acting like this is his first time hearing me swear," Wolf rolled his eyes. "I swore when I was over at Kingsley's house,"
"Why were you at Kingsley's house?" Jimmy asked.
"I wanted free food," I mean, he wasn't lying. He only agreed to go to the dinner at the Kwan Mansion because he'd get a free meal.
"Chibi Fox, wanna play with me and Uncle Ash again?"
"No, I hated every second of it last time," Wolf refused. "And stop calling me 'Chibi Fox.' I told you that my name's Wolf,"
"Chibi Fox," Kayden stuck his tongue out. "Chibi Fox. Chibi Fox,"
"I hate you," Wolf mumbled.
"Aww, I love you too!" Kayden smiled back innocently.
"He gets that from you," Alain told his fiancée.
"He and Ashur also hang out around Fossa a lot," Kaia claimed.
"This is really weird," Forrest whispered to Robin and Grape. "Are you sure we're not dreaming this entire thing up?"
"No, this is real," Grape said. "Remember, I told you that the person training me was Wolf's brother? Thankfully he got a haircut though. Rather than looking like Wolf, he now resembles Otabek,"
Eunchan gasped and scooted over closer to Grape. "You know who Otabek is!?"
"I should've kept my mouth shut..." Grape groaned as Eunchan began to ramble about Yuri on Ice!
Donald checked his phone for the time. "Shouldn't Ashur be back now with that bastard? I could care less about that bastard and those Eunjang fuckers, but Ashur's been gone for a while,"
"Can you and my cousin please get along for one day?" Kingsley sighed. "And the festival grounds are big so it'll take some time to get back here. Or he got distracted,"
"That piece of shit always starts it," Donald said like a whiny child.
"Then you should ignore him," Kingsley shook his head, knowing it was futile.
"Jack," Jimmy addressed the only person he called his friend. "Did we just witness Donald acting like...that?"
"Yeah," Jack calmly continued eating his lunch.
"I...need time to process this," Jimmy instinctively took out a cigarette and his lighter.
Donald kicked Jimmy to the ground. "I told you no smoking near my nephew!"
"Donald!" Alain scolded. "That was uncalled for! You could've just reminded him not to smoke near children,"
"Or he could've used common sense," Donald shot back. "I don't want Kayden to suffer any harmful effects from secondhand smoke,"
"But was kicking him really necessary?"
"Yes,"
Rise From Ashes:
Unjin's gonna be performing
with Tree and Drumstick and
Woo
"What the hell?" Donald reread the text. "I thought Hyunjin gave up performing with a band?"
"Maybe he just wants to play with them again for old time's sake," Kaia shrugged. "I mean, his bandmates were his only friends,"
"He's got an unlikable personality,"
"Donald," Kaia asked. "How many friends besides Kingsley do you have?"
"One," Donald mumbled. "At least I'm more charismatic than that bastard,"
"Jack," Jimmy said, even more disturbed. "Donald just lost an argument,"
"Yeah," Jack nodded.
'I must be dehydrated and imagining things,' Jimmy chugged down a bottle of water.
Jake and his friends are the only Union members not bothered by Donald's behavior since they hang around Ashur a lot.