Taeyong sometimes believed that there was not a single bad bone in any of his kids. He was quickly reminded that this was not the case at all and that none of his kids were perfect. In fact sometimes they even took pleasure in making fun of each other and playing jokes on the younger kids.
"Why is Hendery crying?" Taeyong wondered, seeing the eight year old rush off to his room, sobbing quietly.
"I don't know" Ten shrugged, trying to win in a game against Doyoung and Kun.
"Do you want us to ask?" Kun questioned, taking his attention off the game and giving Ten and Doyoung the chance to kill him.
"Oh man" Kun huffed, putting his controller down and pretending to be upset.
"No, Kun. That's okay, I'll talk to him" Taeyong went to Hendery's room and knocked on the door.
"Go away!" Hendery cried. Taeyong opened the door, walking over to Hendery's bed and standing at the bottom.
"Is that any way to talk to your favorite adult?" Taeyong teased. Hendery sniffled and sat up.
"Your the only adult I know" Hendery climbed down, clinging to Taeyong.
"What's the problem, Hen?" Taeyong pulled a desk chair over and sat down, positioning Hendery so that the kid was sitting comfortably in his lip.
"Yuta-hyung was being mean" Hendery tattled.
"What was he saying?" Taeyong had talked with Yuta, and Johnny, about being nicer to their more sensitive brothers but he knew they hadn't listened. Twelve was a difficult age to be at.
"He hid my basketball" Hendery admitted, realizing how ridiculous it sounded now. Taeyong understood. None of the boys were biologically his and they had some things that were theirs in previous homes. Hendery's basketball was one of those things, even though Hendery didn't play, that ball was special to him. It was like Doyoung's lamb or Jisung's tiger lamp.
"I'll talk to him. He'll give it back, okay?" Taeyong kissed Hendery's head, leaving the kid alone and going to find Yuta. When he walked back into the living room, it became clear that something happened while he was gone. Kun had been pretending to be upset at losing his game but it was quite obvious that he was no longer pretending and he was actually upset. There were tears gathering in his eyes that he was trying hard to push back.
"Kun, why are you crying?" Taeyong wondered.
"It's none of your business!" Kun snapped, throwing the pillow he had in his lap onto the couch and stomping off, slamming the door to his room.
"Uh oh" Ten watched his brother go. Taeyong was very strict about the boys throwing an attitude around. One thing that Taeyong disliked was slamming doors.
"We didn't make him mad, did we?" Doyoung wasn't sure. He didn't think that him or Ten had done anything but if they had, he wanted to know.
"I don't think so. Did you see what happened? When his attitude changed?" Taeyong questioned.
"Not sure. We went to the kitchen to get some snacks and when we came back, he was really quiet and sulking. I did see Johnny-hyung come through here though" Ten remembered. Taeyong nodded, it made sense now, and he went to find Johnny and hopefully Yuta too.
"What did you say to Kun?" Taeyong demanded to know. Johnny didn't answer for a moment and looked at Yuta instead.
"What do you mean?" Johnny hoped that playing dumb would keep him from getting in trouble.
"I mean, did you not hear that door slam? That was Kun. After you came through the living room, he got annoyed. Did you say something to him?" Taeyong repeated. Johnny looked again at Yuta, nervous.
"I...it was just a joke! I didn't think he would get upset" Johnny defended himself. He didn't really think that what he said was all that bad. Kun was not sensitive either so Johnny had been confident in the fact his little brother would not get upset.
"What did you say to him?" Taeyong repeated again, getting more annoyed the longer that Johnny stalled. Yuta got up, trying to leave but Taeyong stopped him.
"Sit down. I want to talk to you too" Taeyong pointed back to the bed and Yuta sat down.
"I just told him that he was bad at playing the game and he would've won if he didn't get distracted. I didn't mean anything by it" Johnny explained.
"Are you serious? You may not think Kun would take that personally but wouldn't you?" Taeyong pointed out. Johnny just shrugged, knowing that deep down, he would have reacted the same as Kun had.
"I'll apologize to him" Johnny got up and went to find his younger brother.
"Good. And then your grounded from video games for a week" Taeyong decided. Johnny heard him and said nothing. It wasn't worth arguing.
"And you, why did you take Hendery's basketball? You know what that means to him" Taeyong turned to Yuta next, who was avoiding looking at him.
"I know I am not speaking another language. Why did you take his ball?" Taeyong waved his hand in front of Yuta's face.
"He was trying to hit me with it so I caught it. I didn't hide it or anything, at least not for very long. I only put it on the shelf in the garage" Yuta explained. Taeyong crossed his arms.
"So not only did you take away something that meant a lot to your brother but you climbed on the shelf even after I've told you countless times not to? Am I right?" Taeyong scolded. Yuta realized now what he had accidentally done. There was a tall shelf in the garage that none of the boys, not even Taeil, could reach unless they climbed the bars on the side of it. Some of them had gotten hurt from that, Ten had a scar on his forehead from falling off that shelf and Mark had broken his arm because of the same thing. So Taeyong had banned the boys from going near the shelf but none of them listened. He knew that now.
"Yes?" Yuta knew he was done for now. He hoped his brothers knew which flowers he wanted at his funeral because he would come back from the dead and haunt them if they didn't.
"Leave your brothers alone. If I find out about you playing jokes on them anymore, it will not be fun. Do you understand?" Taeyong lectured.
"I understand. Am I grounded like Johnny?" Yuta wondered. Taeyong thought for a minute but then nodded.
"Your lucky all you are is grounded. I should spank you for climbing on the shelf but I won't. This time" Taeyong warned. Yuta just smiled nervously and swore to not make the same mistake of ratting on himself ever again. However, that was not the last that the two twelve year olds tested Taeyong's patience.
"Can you set the table please love?" Taeyong walked over to the couch, tapping Yangyang on the head. Jaemin got up with him and they set the table together. Johnny walked in, seeing what they were doing. Taeyong was busy upstairs, changing the babies before bringing them downstairs so Johnny took this chance to play with his brothers.
"Hey! Give it back, we're supposed to be setting the table" Yangyang pouted. Johnny held the bowl high above his head, where neither Jaemin nor Yangyang could reach.
"Well let me help" Johnny took the rest of the bowls from Yangyang and started setting them on the table. The younger two watched, confused. It wasn't like any of them to willingly offer to do one of the other's chores.
"I want to help too!" Yushi ran over, and Johnny gave him the bowls.
"Wait, hyung!" Jaemin knew this was a bad idea and he was going to stop Yushi from taking the bowls but it was too late. The weight of the dishes was too much for Yushi and he dropped them. Taeyong heard it and came downstairs while Johnny wisely chose to flee the scene.
"Jaemin, Yangyang! I told you two to do the dishes! How dare you put it on your younger brother!" Taeyong scolded, picking up Yushi and moving him away from the mess. Yushi looked at his finger and cried.
"But we didn't!" Yangyang argued.
"Do not argue with me young man. Just go sit. You two will go to bed without dessert tonight" Taeyong decided. Jaemin opened his mouth to argue but then thought better of it and closed his mouth again, taking Yangyang's hand and dragging him out of the room.
"Why are we in trouble? Johnny-hyung is the one who gave Yushi the bowls!" Yangyang wondered.
"Because dad doesn't know that. And we have no way to prove it" Jaemin sulked, sitting down and bringing his knees up to his chest. Yangyang sat down too, looking sad.
"Maybe we could ask Kun to bring us some dessert tonight?" Yangyang perked up.
"No, if he gets caught, we'll be in more trouble and so will he" Jaemin shook his head. There was nothing they could do and the two boys began to feel a sense of bitterness to their second oldest brother.
Meanwhile, Taeyong was trying to get Yushi to calm down when he was distracted once again.
"Dad! My homework is missing" Taeil ran into the room, distressed. Taeyong finally had enough of Yushi's crying and forcefully put the sticker on Yushi's finger. The three year old ceased his crying immediately and ran off.
"Where did you last see it?" Taeyong questioned.
"On my desk. I was almost finished with it so I was going to do the rest after dinner and put it in my backpack. But now its gone!" Taeil explained.
"Did you drop it maybe? Or finish it and put it in your backpack without realizing?" Taeyong gave a few options. Taeil shook his head.
"I looked in my bag and around my desk already! Appa, its due tomorrow and I can't ask for an extension again" Taeil rambled. Taeyong decided to ignore the asking for an extension again part and focus on the problem at hand. He had a good idea of what happened to Taeil's homework but he was hoping that he was wrong.
"Don't worry. I will find it for you, just go get your brothers and tell them its time for dinner" Taeyong would check his theory later but for now, it was time to eat. Yuta was the last one to the table, only making Taeyong more suspicious and confident in his theory. Later that night, as Taeyong was trying, and failing, to get the boys in bed, his suspicions were confirmed.
"Appa, Doyoung's lamb is missing" Taeil reported, bringing his little brother to Taeyong.
"Yeah so is my baby diary" Jaehyun reported. The others started to complain about things missing too like Jisung's tiger lamp, Mark's action figure, Winwin's favorite album. Renjun was missing his baby blanket, Jaemin couldn't find his milk carton doll, Jungwoo's switch console was missing and others. Taeyong went to Johnny, Yuta and Taeil's room and checked under Yuta's bed. He found what he was looking for. Among the reported missing items was also Taeil's homework, Kun's favorite book, Ten's first place ribbon for a talent show a few years ago, one of Xiaojun's CDs, Hendery's basketball, Haechan's sheet music for a show he was doing, Jeno's soccer ball, Yangyang's race cars, Ryo and Sakuya's pacifiers, Daeyoung's wolf doll, Yushi's noise cancelling headphones, Chenle's toy microphone, Sion's dog doll and Riku's notebook for writing or drawing. There was something in there from each of the boys. Taeyong pulled the whole basket out, looking at each of the items.
"Appa, what are you...doing in here?" Yuta was drying off his hair when he walked in and then froze in his tracks.
"Do you want to explain this?" Taeyong set the box dwon on Yuta's bed.
"It..wasn't me?" Yuta tried but it wasn't going to work. Taeyong caught him and turned Yuta to the side, swatting him.
"What did I say about joking with your brothers?! This is not funny. I have never been so disappointed in you before, what were you thinking? Did you really think this was funny? Did you think your brothers would find it funny taking some of their most treasured items?" Taeyong made Yuta look at him while he talked.
"I don't know! Johnny dared me to!" Yuta tried to pull away but Taeyong was holding on too tightly.
"That doesn't mean you do it!" Taeyong raised his voice. Yuta started to panic and increased his efforts to get away but that only made Taeyong more frustrated. He moved the basket of things and sat dwon, getting Yuta over his knee and pulling his pajama shorts down.
Spank Spank Spank Spank Spank Spank
"Oww! This isn't fair, Johnny did it too!" Yuta complained.
"Oh believe me, I will get to him in a moment!" Taeyong snapped. Yuta shut up, realizing that nothing he said was going to get him out of this situation.
Spank Spank Spank Spank Spank Spank
"Go to bed and don't even think about staying up any longer" Taeyong hugged Yuta for a moment and then left, going to find Johnny. Once he did find the twelve year old, he didn't hesitate to tuck Johnny under one arm and start spanking him, not even caring that Kun, Doyoung, and Ten were still in the bathroom and were watching. Doyoung's mouth fell open, his toothbrush hanging out and Ten stopped brushing altogether after he almost choked on his toothbrush.
"Dad, don't you think that's a little extreme?" Kun looked around nervously.
"No I do not! Jaemin and Yangyang got in trouble because of you and Yushi got hurt! That was you that gave Yushi the bowls, wasn't it?" Taeyong didn't slow down at all as he continued spanking one of his oldest sons.
"Ow! Yes, it was! I didn't mean for them to get in trouble though!" Johnny argued.
"Are you sure? Just like you didn't mean to take things from your brothers and hide them under Yuta's bed? Did you not mean to do that either?" Taeyong finally stopped and stood Johnny up, looking at him.
"That was you!?" Kun was filled with sudden rage and he went to jump on Johnny.
"Kun, Ten, Doyoung, go to bed" Taeyong stopped Kun from attacking his brother. Johnny hung his head in shame as the three younger boys filed past him and went to their room.
"You just got grounded for another week and you will not be going to that game on friday that you wanted to go to" Taeyong stated.
"But-" Johnny went to argue but he was cut off by Taeyong smacking the side of his leg.
"I don't want to hear it. Now go to bed and lights out immediately. That's part of your punishment" Taeyong pointed down the hall and Johnny went, unwilling to make things worse for himself.
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I feel like this wasn't good but I am trying to get used to writing so many people so please be patient and leave requests if you want!
Taeil-13 Johnny-12 Yuta-12 Kun-11 Doyoung-11 Ten-11 Jaehyun-10 Winwin-10 Jungwoo-9 Mark-8 Xiaojun-8 Hendery-8 Haechan-7 Renjun-7 Jeno-7 Jaemin-7 Yangyang-7 Chenle-6 Jisung-5 Sion-5 Riku-4 Yushi-3 Daeyoung-2 Ryo-0 Sakuya-0
Ten-first place ribbon for a talent show
Doyoung-lamb doll
Jisung-tiger lamp
Renjun-baby blanket
Taeil-homework
Mark-action figure
Kun-favorite book
Jaehyun-baby diary
Winwin-favorite album
Chenle-toy microphone
Sion-dog doll
Jungwoo-switch
Xiaojun-CD
Hendery-basketball
Haechan-kids sheet music
Jaemin-milk carton doll
Jeno-soccer ball
Yangyang-race cars
Riku-writing/coloring notebook
Yushi-noise cancelling headphones
Daeyoung-wolf doll
Ryo and Sakuya-pacifiers
Grades
Taeil(8th. MS), Johnny(7th. MS), Yuta(6th. E), Kun(5th. E), Doyoung(5th. E), Ten(5th. E), Jaehyun(4th. E), Winwin(4th. E), Jungwoo(3rd. E), Mark(2nd. E), Xiaojun(2nd. E), Hendery(2nd. E), Haechan(1st. E) Renjun(1st. E), Jeno(1st. E), Jaemin(1st. E), Yangyang(1st. E), Chenle(Kindergarten. IS), Jisung(Kindergarten. IS), Sion(Kindergarten. IS), Riku(Kindergarten. IS), Yushi(Kindergarten. IS), Daeyoung(Nursery. IS), Ryo(Nursery. IS), Sakuya(Nursery. IS)
Room arrangements
Taeil(single bed), Johnny(top bunk) and Yuta(bottom bunk)
Kun(top bunk), Doyoung(single bed) and Ten(bottom bunk)
Jaehyun(bottom bunk), Winwin(single bed) and Jungwoo(top bunk)
Mark(single bed), Xiaojun(bottom bunk) and Hendery(top bunk)
Renjun(top bunk), Jeno(top bunk), Haechan(bottom bunk) and Yangyang(bottom bunk)
Jaemin(top bunk), Chenle(bottom bunk) and Jisung(single bed)
Sion(top bunk), Riku(top bunk), Yushi(bottom bunk) and Daeyoung(bottom bunk)
Ryo(crib), Sakuya(crib) and Taeyong(queen bed)