Yangyang had his arms crossed, staring at the wall opposite of him as he waited for Taeyong to show up.
"Your going to be in trouble" Jaemin pointed out, standing in the corner across from Yangyang.
"Shut up" Yangyang snapped. Jaemin shrugged and stayed quiet. Renjun, Jeno and Haechan were in the principal's office, trying to convince the man to let them all off with a warning and also convince him that there was no point in calling their guardian because what they had done would never be repeated again. It wasn't working for them even the slightest bit. Finally, after a while, the three of them rejoined Yangyang and Jaemin in the front office.
"I convinced him to let the four of us off with a warning" Renjun crossed his arms, still looking upset.
"Which four?" Yangyang wondered though he had a pretty good idea what the answer was. Renjun dropped his arms to his side, his expression going from annoyed to sympathetic.
"Sorry, Yang. Since your the one who was caught actually painting the window and the rest of us were only keeping watch, he's calling dad to come get you. The rest of us can go back to class" Renjun explained. Yangyang just nodded slowly, expecting as much. He didn't know why he ever took that stupid dare but one thing was for sure; he was never going to listen to his so-called friends ever again.
"It's okay. You guys should get out of here before dad shows up and we all get caught" Yangyang tried to put on a brave face but he knew it wasn't working as much as he wanted to his brothers. Renjun gave him another sympathetic smile and left the office, with the others quickly following. It wasn't long before Taeyong was walking into the office and Yangyang jumped to his feet. He hopped from one foot to the other and glanced nervously at Taeyong, waiting for him to say something but Taeyong only ignored him and signed the appropriate papers to get Yangyang out of school for the rest of the day.
"Apologize to the principal" Taeyong demanded, with a firm hand on the back of Yangyang's neck.
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again" Yangyang shuddered, trying not to crumble to the floor. His legs shook like crazy and he was beginning to despise what was going to happen when they got home. Taeyong didn't say anything as he practically dragged Yangyang outside and they made their way to the car in complete silence. Yangyang wondered if the ride home was going to be as quiet as it was right now.
"Appa, I really am sorry. I don't know why I took that dare" Yangyang admitted. Taeyong hit the wheel and Yangyang closed his mouth with an audible click.
"I never thought you would be so...I don't want to call you stupid but what you did today was really stupid, Yangyang. What was going through that head of yours?" Taeyong wondered. Yangyang opened his mouth to answer but he didn't get the chance.
"Actually, don't answer that. I just want you to answer one thing for me. How many of your brothers helped you with this?" Taeyong questioned.
"What?" Yangyang paled, freezing up. How was he supposed to answer that without ratting on his brothers.
"Come on Yangyang. I know that one or two of your brothers were helping you so tell me who it was" Taeyong explained.
"No one was helping me. I was the only one" Yangyang lied, feeling ashamed. Taeyong pulled into the driveway and parked the car. He turned in his seat to face Yangyang.
"Don't lie to me" Taeyong warned. Yangyang bit his lip. He was stuck now. If he lied, then he would be in more trouble but if he didn't, then his brothers got in trouble.
"I'm not lying" Yangyang whispered, making up his mind. He would rather be in more trouble than have the weight of a guilty conscience weighing down on him because he tattled. Taeyong frowned at him and turned back to face forward in his seat.
"Go inside and go to your room" Taeyong didn't look at Yangyang.
"Yes sir" Yangyang opened the door, closing it slowly and walking up the stone steps to the front door of the house. It was unlocked; Taeyong must have forgotten to lock it before going to the school to get Yangyang. With heavy movements, Yangyang shed his school jacket and hung it up, slipping his shoes off and putting them in his little cubby before going further into the house and walking slowly up the stairs. Renjun's paint supplies were still sitting out and there was an open magazine on Jeno's bed. Jaemin's bed was undone and messy but there was a certain charm to it. Yangyang's bed was almost the same so he tried to tidy it up, doing the same for Jaemin, before Taeyong came up. He found a bag of chips under his bed and there was a scattered deck of cards tangled up in Jaemin's sheets. It was a typical room for four boys of ten years old. Yangyang knew that his older brothers' rooms were worse. He didn't go in there often, but he'd been there enough times to know that he never wanted to go in again.
"Yangyang? Do you want to tell me what happened?" Taeyong sat down in Jeno's chair.
"No" Yangyang shook his head.
"I wasn't really asking. You don't have a choice" Taeyong pointed out.
"You asked a question and I said no. If you didn't want me to say no then you shouldn't have asked" Yangyang frowned at Taeyong.
"Tell me now what happened today" Taeyong rephrased, making it clear that he was not happy with his kid's attitude.
"I was dared to write on the windows between one of the rooms and the yard for recess" Yangyang kept it short and simple, not wanting to overcomplicate things.
"Why did you take the dare? You knew that you would get caught, didn't you?" Taeyong wondered.
"Yeah, I knew. I just didn't want to seem weak. Renjun-" Yangyang closed his eyes and cursed quietly under his breath. Taeyong's eyes widened but he didn't look surprised. Yangyang realized that Taeyong had expected it to be one of the other ten-year-olds. Then Taeyong nodded once and motioned for Yangyang to continue but he didn't; there was nothing else to say. Taeyong stared at Yangyang for a while, neither of them saying anything.
"Your getting a spanking" Taeyong stated as if that was all he had been thinking about. Yangyang opened his mouth to argue then decided against it, nodded and said that he understood.
"Come here" Yangyang moved automatically, like he was forced to obey. In a way, he was. Disobeying would only make things worse for himself.
"One more thing before we start. What were you going to say about Renjun?" Taeyong waited, one hand resting on the button of Yangyang's pants.
"He told me not to do it. He said it was a bad idea" Yangyang felt better saying at least that much. At least he could defend his brother even the tiniest bit. Taeyong didn't say or do anything except pop the button on Yangyang's pants and fold them down a little. Yangyang folded his hands together, resisting the urge to pull them back into place and preserve his slowly crumbling dignity. One second and a mighty pull from Taeyong later, Yangyang was tipped over his dad's knee.
"Why are you here, young man?" Taeyong started his usual barrage of questions. Yangyang huffed, tensing up when Taeyong patted him lightly on the butt.
"I vandalized the school and got suspended" Yangyang muttered, feeling sorry for himself.
"You know the rules at school and you know what I expect from you. I am not overly worried about the suspension; you would be in this position whether you got suspended or not. Do you understand me?" Taeyong scolded, bringing his hand down once in a strong swat. Yangyang didn't make a noise but he did jump and suck in a sharp breath.
"I said, do you understand me?" Taeyong repeated, bringing his hand down twice more and taking Yangyang's breath away.
"Ow! Yes, I understand" Yangyang yelped, becoming more vocal the longer that the spanking continued on. He wasn't keeping track but Taeyong made sure that he spaced the swats out enough that it felt like more than just the usual ten Yangyang was actually getting.
"Not only that but you lied to me. I understand wanting to protect your brothers but if they helped you, then they could've gotten in trouble too. I'm actually surprised they didn't. Is there something that you want to tell me about that?" Taeyong scolded. Yangyang knew his brothers would forgive him but he did not want to lie anymore.
"Jeno, Renjun and Haechan convinced Mr. Yang to let them off with a warning. They tried to get all five of us out of trouble but since I was the one actually painting the window, I was the one who got in trouble" Yangyang sighed, feeling better but also worse for tattling on his brothers.
"Five?" Taeyong stopped, standing Yangyang up.
"Jaemin" Yangyang added, realizing that he forgot to mention Jaemin. Taeyong thanked him with a simple nod and put Yangyang back over his knee, finishing the spanking and standing Yangyang in front of him again.
"Thank you for being honest with me. I promise, your brothers will not be in much trouble. But let's talk about you. Your suspended for a week so during that time, you will not be leaving the house and I will be making up a list of chores for you to do to keep you busy. And you can say goodbye to your video games for two weeks" Taeyong stood up, walking to the door. Yangyang couldn't help but argue.
"That's not fair!" He surprised himself, covering his mouth with both hands to keep from saying anything. Taeyong turned back with an unhappy expression.
"Fine. Three weeks without video games or playing outside with your brothers" Taeyong closed the door behind him. Yangyang flopped down on his bed, wishing that he could kick himself for opening his big mouth. A few hours later, the door slammed open and Renjun, Haechan, Jeno and Jaemin came in, making a circle around Yangyang's bed.
"You got us in trouble!" Haechan huffed, crossing his arms. Yangyang sat up.
"Sorry" He muttered, not sure what else to say to that. Renjun smacked Haechan's arm.
"Come on, let's just leave him alone. We've all had a bad day" Jeno suggested. Haechan glared again at Yangyang and left the room, going to his own. Jaemin climbed up to his bed on the wrong side, not bothering to use the ladder. Yangyang laid back down and looked at the top of his bed or, more accurately, the bottom of Renjun's bed. Jeno started flipping through his magazine again that he had forgotten that morning.
"How long are you guys grounded for?" Yangyang wondered. He saw the bed move a little above him, meaning Renjun was moving around.
"A week. No video games, TV or going outside at all. We can't leave the room except for meals. Dad told us to tell you the same thing" Jaemin still wasn't happy and it showed buy Yangyang couldn't blame him. Yangyang wasn't happy either.
"What about you?" Jeno questioned.
"I opened my mouth so I'm grounded to the room for a week and then to the house for three, no video games or playing outside with the rest of you" Yangyang explained, still thinking it was unfair.
"Yikes" Renjun winced in sympathy even though Yangyang couldn't see. Silence stretched over them for a moment.
"Did he spank you guys?" Yangyang feared the answer. He would feel more guilty for getting them in trouble if he knew that they got spanked because of him. No one answered for a moment and Yangyang looked to the right just in time to see Jaemin turn over so that he was also facing Yangyang.
"Yeah. He did" Jaemin's voice sounded teary and Yangyang almost considered getting up to hug his brother but Jeno beat him to it so Yangyang just stayed laying in his bed and listening to his brother's quiet cries, wishing that he hadn't slipped up and mentioned Renjun.
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Taeil-16 Johnny-15 Yuta-15 Kun-14 Doyoung-14 Ten-14 Jaehyun-13 Winwin-13 Jungwoo-12 Mark-11 Xiaojun-11 Hendery-11 Haechan-10 Renjun-10 Jeno-10 Jaemin-10 Yangyang-10 Chenle-9 Jisung-8 Sion-8 Riku-7 Yushi-6 Daeyoung-5 Ryo-3 Sakuya-3
Grades
Taeil(11th. HS) Johnny(10th. HS) Yuta(9th. MS) Kun(8th. MS) Doyoung(8th. MS) Ten (8th. MS) Jaehyun(7th. MS) Winwin(7th. MS) Jungwoo(6th. E) Mark(5th. E) Xiaojun(5th. E) Hendery(5th. E0 Haechan(4th. E) Renjun(4th. E) Jeno(4th. E) Jaemin(4th. E) Yangyang(4th. E) Chenle(3rd. E) Jisung(2nd. E) Sion(2nd. E) Riku(1st. E) Yushi(Kindergarten. IS) Daeyoung (Kindergarten. IS) Ryo(Kindergarten. IS) Sakuya(Kindergarten. IS)
Room arrangements
Taeil(top bunk), Johnny(bottom bunk), Yuta(bottom bunk) and Kun(top bunk)
Doyoung(single bed), Ten(top bunk) and Mark(bottom bunk)
Jaehyun(bottom bunk), Winwin(top bunk) and Jungwoo(single bed)
Xiaojun(bottom bunk), Hendery(top bunk) and Haechan(single bed)
Renjun(top bunk), Jeno(bottom bunk), Jaemin(top bunk) and Yangyang(bottom bunk)
Chenle(bottom bunk), Jisung(top bunk), Sion(top bunk) and Riku(bottom bunk)
Yush(top bunk), Daeyoung(top bunk), Ryo(bottom bunk) and Sakuya(bottom bunk)