When it comes to being the eldest child in a family, it can be one of the most stressful things in your life, but it does have some nice perks. You won't always love this position and you may constantly think "What would happen if I was the youngest?" but you will come to see that you being the oldest out of all your siblings in your family is actually really cool.
And, Heeseung has been there and done that. Being the eldest out of 8 siblings may has it's pros and cons but it mostly definitely brings chaos to Heeseung...
#1: You realize that your parents gave birth to a free babysitter/ tutor
Heeseung might as well put “volunteer” on his resume because of the amount of unpaid hours of help he gave. By the way, the hours rack up if you have more than one sibling, and Heeseung has 7 of them...
Being the eldest always means that your always told to look after your siblings and eventually, you become their babysitter for free– no pay given to you after every babysit though but, you eventually live with it. And by also being a free babysitter, means a constant stress and headache accompanying you every step of the way
Like that one time wherein their parents had a very urgent matter to attend to and Heeseung, who was the eldest, was asked to look after his seven other siblings while their parents tend to their very much urgent matter “We'll be leaving for a little while, okay Hee dear?” Their Mother says and places a hand over Heeseung's shoulder “We'll leave your little siblings into your hold okay honey?” Said their Mother to Heeseung who stood before her
The eldest of the eight looks up a bit and stares at his Mother and Father's faces that halted into a patient wait as they patiently waited for his answer to slip out through his lips to conclude their little offer to him of watching over his siblings while they're out of the house for awhile
Though Heeseung was just 8 years old that time, tending to all his 7 siblings at the same time was like a complete headache to him and it stresses him to the point that he looks a sleep deprived person with deep and dark bags under his eyes whose energy was drained drastically
If Heeseung were to rank his siblings by how chaotic everyone could be, Jake would be at the very last of the list and he'd be number 7. Number 6 would be Jungwon, though Jungwon is a little bean which Heeseung would protect and love his whole life, the little latter would tend to join his siblings. Not even knowing that he was unknowingly joining into their chaos
Number 5 and 4 would be Sunoo and Sunghoon, those two are partners in chaos together and despite that, those two enough are already enough to add more salt to a wound. Number 3 is Jay, yes, though Jay might just be sitting there all so peacefully– he's a targeted much sibling so, whenever they'd play a prank, Jay would the target and trust us, he screams in soprano while running around the house
And the last but not the least, Number 2 and 1 belongs to the twins– Niki and Aeri. Those two are an inseparable duo in crime together, they commit pranks, chaos and havoc around the house and Heeseung looks like a zookeeper trying to tame two leopards from trying to bite people that would watch and pass by them
Forcing up a smile to his parents despite his thoughts and his guts brushing against each other telling him that he'll be visiting Heaven for the quadrillion time today, Heeseung nods “Yeah Mom, I'll look and take good care of my siblings in your stead, no problem Mom.” Gosh darn it Heeseung! His thoughts imagining his brain slapping himself across the cheek for even answering that– welcome Heaven
Their Mother smiles “Oh thank you~ Have fun together~” And with a little pat on his head and a kiss on his forehead, their parents zoomed away in their car. And as Heeseung let's a sigh escape his lips, the faint sound of a vase breaking inside the hours erupts through his ears swiftly
Looking back to see that the chaos had already started inside, Heeseung mentally facepalms himself– guess Heaven's gates will be expecting him to enter early today
#2: There will be sacrifices once there is a new baby
The big sacrifices done whenever a new baby sibling comes into the family. No toys, no Legos, pretty much anything that could be swallowed by a baby had to be taken from your life– and Heeseung had been through that time too when his 7 siblings were all born into their family
When Jay was born, Heeseung was banned from playing all his toys in front of Jay because they say that his sibling might swallow it accidentally and he might not know and Jay was that type of baby whose really eager to get what he sets his eyes on and get it with all his power to
When Jake and Sunghoon were born, Heeseung was also banned from playing some of his toys that had batteries in it because they said that his siblings might accidentally snatch it and take it into their mouths. Heeseung had to sacrifice some of his plushies because Jake had grew attached with one of his plushies and Heeseung was also a child too so, sharing his plushies became a bit hard for him
Heeseung also had to sacrifice his penguin plushie to Sunghoon, even if it was one of his favorite ones he had gotten from his birthday, Sunghoon was baby who cries so loudly whenever you take something from him that he's attached to
When Sunoo and Jungwon was born, Heeseung was banned from playing some puzzles in front of the two because, of the same reason– his siblings might take it into their mouths and Heeseung knows that it's bad for siblings' health. He even had to sacrifice both of his precious toys to both Jungwon and Sunoo because the two had found interest and attachment to it. Same with Jake, Heeseung was still a kid so, sharing his things was a bit hard to do– especially when it's a treasured one
And when Niki and Aeri were born, Heeseung was banned from leaving his stuff anywhere in the house because of the repetitive reason he has heard over and over again, his siblings might accidentally swallow it and he might not know it
And since the two were twins, the two also eventually fell in love with the exact same toy Heeseung had and, as expected, Heeseung had to give it up to them even if he wanted to or not because his parents say that “Sharing is caring” especially if it is with his 7 little baby siblings
Heeseung really sacrificed a lot...
#3: When they become taller than you, the rage is absolutely unexplainable
NOTE: let's just pretend that some of the members are taller than Hee here ><
Growing up, Heeseung have always had seven heads looking up at him and that gave him a little bit of a “god complex”
But when those tiny little seven heads became taller than him…he has to look up at them and his ego is forever changed. When he had used to be the taller one out of every one of his siblings, Heeseung was like everything his siblings wanted to be when they grow up like him one day
Everyday, Heeseung would be seeing seven sparkling eyes looking at him with huge stars glistening in his eyes so brightly and twinkly like diamonds but, he knows those little seven tiny siblings of his would not stay like that forever even if he does want them to. He wants them to be these innocent and pure babies that will remain being curious and ignorant about that harsh reality ahead of them all
But, nothing stays forever– well, Heeseung hopes for it though.... Please! Niki's the youngest out of seven boys yet he's the tallest out of all them, Sunghoon and Jay grew up so tall and if Heeseung were to be honest, he looks like a potato next to both of his siblings so tall and good looking
Sunoo and Jungwon, who were the chubby and cute little siblings of his, grew up to be so dangerously good looking and much more, taller than him.... *Le sniff* and Jake, he may be a few inches taller than Heeseung but, it's still so saddening knowing that Heeseung needs to raise his head up in order to talk and look at his baby siblings properly, formally and casually in which makes Heeseung sob
Well, Aeri is a girl but she doesn't fall behind her twin brother, Niki at all– well, because Heeseung's taller than Aeri by a few heads, at least, Heeseung can still acknowledge the fact that he is still taller than one out of all of his baby siblings
Yeah, still he can be proud of that :)
#4: You had rules and restrictions that your younger siblings never had
While Heeseung was on lockdown with an ankle bracelet, his baby siblings can just chill out. It’s infurating seeing things he couldn’t do before but his baby siblings can. While Heeseung had rules and preventions he needed to follow before as he was the firstborn, some of the things he had been prevented from doing before was not being restricted by his other 7 little siblings in the present time
Like for example, Heeseung wasn't allowed to join parties before because his parents say that he needed to focus on his studies– well, it turns out the same for Jay, Jake and Sunghoon but, Heeseung had it worse by not even attending a single one. And now in the present, his little siblings were now allowed to attend a party as long as they come home before their curfew time. And Heeseung finds that unfair
Though he understands that his parents ways have changed since there is eight of them now, Heeseung still thinks that it's still unfair that his little siblings can go to more parties in their lives than he did before which is attending nothing but just staring at studies and academics only, no parties but just studies and studies!
Or this one, Heeseung was a kid who needed to get high grades, indulge himself into after school academics and sports just to have a good school life? Well, his siblings has it easier. Even if they all get bad grades, their parents still praise them and Heeseung finds it a bit unfair but, doesn't say anything in the end because he thinks he might hurt some of his siblings' feelings if he does eventually speak about it because, Heeseung is a type of person who really doesn't like misunderstandings
Or this one rule Heeseung had before was to always come home before or within their curfew time, his siblings can even get away with being late. When Niki and Jungwon came home later and they were 10 minutes late from curfew, they got away from it easily or Aeri and Sunoo coming home later from picking out stuff for their projects and they were 9 minutes late from curfew, they got away from it easily too and slipped away like nothing had even happened like getting home late
Heeseung somehow thinks that's a bit unfair but, doesn't speak of it anyways since, he did had it quite hard before so, at least he's a bit relieved knowing his siblings doesn't need to go through all the hardships and difficulties he had went through before being just a single child before having seven of them with him
Yeah, he's definitely relieved that his siblings won't have hard like he did before
#5: You feel like there is constantly a smaller version of yourself following you around
Siblings will literally try everything in their power to be you; same clothes, same favorite music, same attitude, same everything. Everything you own will be taken and kept in the limbo where missing socks go– which pretty much means, that Heeseung has seven little heads that will constantly try everything just to be him
Like how Heeseung prefers doing snow angels on the snow rather than playing snowball fights because whenever he gets hit on the face, he would be coming back inside the comfort of home with a now red and runny nose, Niki and Aeri found it quite fun to do since the little ones are being kept away from playing snowball fights because, if they get hit, they cry out loud
“Seungie, that looks fun!” Aeri exclaims as she happily drags Niki with her who just even let's his twin sister drag him, for Niki, what Heeseung was also doing looks fun to try to so, he didn't mind being dragged there anyways. Heeseung looks up “Oh hi Rinnie, do you wanna make snow angels with Seungie too?” The two immediately beams up a smile and instantly plopped themselves down to join Heeseung
Or, if Heeseung prefers ballads instead of rock music, Jay and Sunghoon found their older brother's music taste quite likeable and did the exact same “Hey hyung, can I ask you something?” Jay asks, popping his head to peak through the door of Heeseung's room as the eldest looks up “Hmmm, what is it Jay?” Asked Heeseung
Jay shyly fiddles with his phone and asked “What was the title of that one ballad song you listened to the other day?” Heeseung immediately perks his head up, oh this is new? He tells himself, but still answering Jay question's even if he's kind of surprised by the sudden change of music taste by his second little baby brother
To be honest, Jay prefers rock and loud music but, hearing that he's asking the title for a ballad song's enough to put Heeseung into the edge of surprise “Oh, that? Wasn't it a Bol4 song?” As soon as Heeseung had said that, Sunghoon immediately comes popping out and starts to tap his hand on his phone screen repetitive times to Jay “See? I told you it was this one hyung but you didn't believe me!” Sunghoon frowns at Jay lightly
Heeseung perks his head up again once more– Sunghoon? He listens to ballads too? I thought he and Jay were peas in a pod for rock and loud music?? Heeseung asks himself as he looks at them both
“Oh, that was it? Oh, thanks hyung!” Jay smiles and shyly looks at Sunghoon who had an expression that said: “What I said was right but you didn't believe me.” Heeseung smiles a bit awkwardly at them
Or, it could be like how Jungwon and Sunoo both found how great Heeseung teaches everyone for things they didn't know, the two immediately got interested in that behavior of his and started doing the same to their other siblings too
Heeseung could say that it's a bit adorable to see Jungwon and Sunoo trying to at least help their siblings with stuff they didn't knew, it makes him laugh at how cute and adorable they all are being like that~
But, Heeseung can't shake off the fact that all also followed how sharp tongued he is– how he could just easily spat out something to anyone, Heeseung could now say, his siblings are way more sharp tongued than he is in the present now....
Well, Heeseung's little siblings are like monkeys. Monkey-see, Monkey-do right?
#6: It’s your fault because you’re old enough to know wrong from right
Excuse me, what?
Okay, this is pretty understandable. So yeah, it's my fault. As your the eldest, your expected much to be a role model to forever and eternity to your siblings. And since you are the eldest one and the firstborn, you are also expected enough to know what is right and what is wrong since you're older than all of them
Like that one time when Niki, Aeri and Sunoo both screwed up about something related and very precious to their grandmother– they unfortunately broke something very important to her, Heeseung was the one being placed on the blame because their Father said: “Since you're the oldest, you should've looked after them and told them not to make a ruckus here and there since we're not at home right now!” That's what their Father spatted out
Or like that one time in where Jungwon was bullied before in his pre school because of how chubby he was, Heeseung was put to blame that he should've interfered and stop the bullying– he didn't even knew Jungwon was being bullied, it was just after school when Heeseung knew that his little brother was being bullied by his other classmates in his class
Or that time when Sunghoon and Jay accidentally flared up into a fist fight because of some issue that made them mad at each other for a few days, Heeseung was put to blame for not even interfering into their fight and letting them talk things out together to prevent no arguments of fist fights together
Since he's the eldest, whenever his siblings screw up, then it's his fault because he is the responsible one out of all of them
#7: The passenger seat is your birthright, your divine right that has been earned!
Literally there is nothing your siblings can do to take this right away from you. There is not enough bribing they can give. But when you are away at college or school, you will hand that position down until you are back. “You are not worthy."
The shotgun seat has always been programmed into the eldest child to sit in, even if your siblings try to do everything just to take your seat, there's nothing they can do but just let you see how lucky you are to get the shotgun seat all to yourself
Well, even if Heeseung may have giant and tall like siblings, their height can't even be a reason why they can sit at the shotgun seat. Even if his siblings do grow up mature and tall, Heeseung's shotgun seat will forever be his seat anyways 😜
So, “sorry suckers~ but the shotgun seat's already taken by me ever since birth!”
If Heeseung were to tease them about the shotgun seat, he'd actually say that but, he doesn't wanna ruin the mood so, sorry not sorry little siblings but, this baby's his~
#8: You are the encyclopedia to growing up
Siblings need life advice, look no further. Heeseung can make sure that they don’t make the same mistakes he had made from before but that they can make their own. Plus, if his siblings' are growing up, he may have materials or stuff that they may need later on in their lives!
Little siblings may tend to need some life advices or little advices about the stuff they don't know or about what they need to do in life. Heeseung is the eldest out of 8 siblings and as the eldest, it also has its own special burden that Heeseung didn't pretty much particularly enjoyed while growing up with his 8 little siblings
But as he had grown older ad the years passed by, he realized that there are so many lessons he had learned and encountered while growing up
Like how his siblings doesn't like sharing their things at times, though in the beginning of Heeseung's life, he had enjoyed all of the privileges and benefits of being the one and only child! But, all of those changes once his siblings had came. All of the things he had called his were all now being shared to 7 little tiny people in who he will grow up together for forever and in all the days of his life!
It was a but difficult for Heeseung to share but, whenever he did, he quite loved and adored how one little toy that he had kept can make his siblings smile so happily. Whenever he sees them smile, it feels so warm inside him that he could describe it like warm hot choco in a mug where he would drink. So, whenever his siblings would fight about sharing stuff together, he'd just softly tell them to share each other's toys and they would agree and resume playing together so happily
Or, as the eldest sibling you are an example to your little baby siblings
His younger siblings will copy everything he would do, even on a subconscious level. From the way they speak, to the books they read, to even the way they write the letter “t”—all of can be traced back to him. This is very important as it means that, for better or for worse, he have and will continue to have a tremendous impact on them and, Heeseung could see that
Though there will be times wherein they would ask about stuff that they didn't know, Heeseung would be there to guide them and give them a little hint to walk down their own paths in their lives. Whenever they feel blue, happy or anything, Heeseung would always be there to listen to their sadness and to their happiness because, that's what an eldest sibling is supposed to do, right?
And his siblings' happiness, is his happiness. If they have problems, they share it with him. If they had news that they couldn't tell to others but they could only find him to open up to, he would be there to listen and tell them everything that they should in order to make things clear. Though Heeseung may have made constant mistakes in his life growing up, for the sake of his siblings, he'd do everything in his power to guide them down the right paths in their lives
May it be difficult or not, Heeseung's always there to lend a shoulder for them to lean on and an ear to listen to them
But despite all the hardships of being the eldest, Heeseung will love his younger siblings to death and protect them with his whole life. He wouldn't have it any other way, may they be chaotic, crazy at times of they might just crawl their troubles unto his skin, he'd love them no matter what
And plus, Heeseung's glad to be born in this world anyways. And since he is, life gave him a present that will make him forever love and treasure them dearly, his seven little baby siblings means everything to him. They all mean the world to him...
He wouldn't have it any other way.
“Eldest children are their little siblings best and true friend who always have their backs. They are their forever number 1 fan.”
– Jacie Choi ♡