20th December, 2009.
"Bear!" Mrs. Choi called Beomgyu from the kitchen. Beomgyu, who was reading his storybook, pretended to not hear the calls.
"Beomgyu?" Mrs. Choi called out again, frowning when she didn't hear any response. She went to the living room to see Beomgyu, sprawled out on the couch.
She cleared her throat. "Choi Beomgyu. Get up, right now." She warned.
Beomgyu winced before he awkwardly turned around. "Yes, Mom?"
"Go give out these cards to out neighbors." She said as she opened a drawer, bringing out a few white-coloured, carboard invitations, handing them to the little Beomgyu.
Beomgyu groaned. "Why me?"
Mrs. Choi folded her arms. "Your dad is at work. Soobin went to his academy and you're lazing around the house. Come on, chop-chop." She hurried him, walking towards the kitchen.
"Mom," Beomgyu complained, following her like a lost puppy to the kitchen. "It's really cold out there."
Mrs. Choi rolled her eyes. "You definitely have a lot of sass for an eight year old. Wear your coat. I'll make some hot-chocolate by the time you'll return home. How does that sound?" She suggested.
Beomgyu's mood immediately went up, although, it did not show on his face. "Just because of the hot-chocolate." He said as he went upstairs to get his coat.
"Return, safely." She reminded Beomgyu as he walked out of the door.
The cold hair hit Beomgyu right on the face, teeth clattering due to how cold it was. "God," He complained, rubbing his gloved-hands together.
He walked towards the first house he saw, which was Yeonjun's house. He took a deep breath before reaching out for the doorbell, figuring out that it was too high for him, he just decided to knock on the door, hoping that the sound will reach them.
He knocked on the door five times before it was opened by Yeonjun, who's eyes lightened up. "Beomgyu? What are you doing here? Came here to play?" He anticipated.
Beomgyu snorted. "Sorry to say hyung, but I came here to pass these invitations." He said as he handed him an invitation. "Give them to your family, you all are invited."
Yeonjun tilted his head. "Are these housewarming invitations?"
Beomgyu rolled his eyes. "Yes, dummy."
Yeonjun gasped before calling out for his mom. "Mom!"
Hearing this, Beomgyu quickly ran away with a small smile on his face.
The next house was the Kamal house. He knocked on the door for a few times before the door was opened by a girl, who was taller than him.
"Hello, who are you?" She asked in confusion.
"I'm Choi Beomgyu, the new neighbor's son. My mom asked me to give these to you all." Beomgyu, politely smiled, in comparison to Yeonjun.
"I'm Lea and are these for the Housewarming?" Lea asked.
"Yes," Beomgyu nodded. "I'll take my leave now." He waved before going to the last house of the street. He only invited the ones his mother told him to.
He was on his way to the Kang house when he heard some thrilling screams from inside of the house.
"Dad!" A voice of a kid came. "You cheated!"
He could a hear a gasp, following. "I did not! How dare you accuse me of such a thing?" He then heard a few giggles.
He, hesitantly knocked on the door, it immediately being opened by Taehyun.
"Beomgyu hyung!" He greeted in happiness. For the past three days, they had grown very close to each other. Not only them but also the entire group.
"You are invited to the housewarming. Please do come." He said as he handed the shorter the invitation.
"Will do!" Taehyun smiled.
As soon as Beomgyu left the house, Taehyun shouted. "Mom! Dad! We are invited to go for a housewarming at Beomgyu hyung's house!"
✿✿
It was six-thirty pm in the evening and Beomgyu's house was a mess.
"Honey, the vase is not supposed to be there!" Mrs. Choi nagged her husband, who groaned. "You told me to put it there!" He complained. I guess, Beomgyu got his complaining habit from his father. No DNA needed.
"I married a dumb person." She face-palmed before walking towards the kitchen.
"You love this dumb person!" Mr. Choi shouted after her, giggling.
Soobin shook his head before walking towards his father and placing his hand on the elder's shoulder, tip-toeing. "Dad, stop. You look like a lovesick fool."
Mr. Choi scrunched his face. "So much for raising you."
The moment was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.
"I'll go!" Soobin proposed, running towards the door. There he was greeted with Yeonjun and his parents.
"Yeonjun hyung!" Soobin's eyes sparkled. To be honest, him and Yeonjun had really grown close to each other. They had become best friends!
"Soobinnie!" Yeonjun grinned, going for a high-five.
Mrs. Choi popped her head from the kitchen before giving them a wide smile. Soobin really got her bunny smile. "Come in, make yourselves comfortable! I'll be right back!"
The other Choi family took their seats, appreciatively at the living room's couch, admiring the house.
Soon, Soobin's mother came out with some few drinks as refreshments. "Here you go!"
They chatted for a while, complaining about schools and politics when suddenly, another ring of the doorbell interrupted them.
"Hello!" Yes, it was Kai's family. They were such loud and energetic people like Kai but they weren't complaining. They made the atmosphere of the house much lighter.
Twenty minutes had passed and Taehyun's family still didn't arrive.
"Taehyun's family didn't arrive?" Beomgyu spoke for the first time during that housewarming, gathering everyone's attention.
"Don't worry, they're always late." Kai waved his hands, going back to built the Lego house with Soobin.
Just at that moment, the doorbell rang, making Beomgyu run towards the door.
Soobin tilted his head. "What? I've never seen him like that."
Yeonjun also tilted his head. "Only for Taehyun?"
Soobin nodded. "He isn't like that whenever we meet anyone. It's surprising." He shrugged but went back to his Legos when Kai hit him on his leg.
"Hello," Taehyun smiled, waving his hands.
Mr. Kang cleared his throat. "We're really sorry for being so late." Mrs. Kang nodded. "It wasn't my fault, just so you know." She smiled, taking a seat next to Beomgyu's mom.
Mr. Kang pouted before sitting next to Yeonjun's dad.
"Mom? Can I go over there?" Taehyun asked, pointing towards the kids table.
Mrs. Kang nodded. "Sure you can but don't create a mess." Taehyun nodded before he got himself getting dragged by Beomgyu.
"Taehyun seems like a really nice boy." Mrs. Choi compliment. "Our kids aren't like that at all. They're menaces."
Mrs. Kang laughed. "Taehyun can be a menace too. He just sometimes chooses not to show it."
"Kids will be kids." Mrs. Choi laughed
The rest of the housewarming went by lots and lots of loud laughing and chattering. Oh, and don't forget the food!
And that was the first social interaction that Beomgyu had ever liked.
✿✿