#rkchuseok

“hello? hello.” nothing is heard on the other line and she threatens to hang up when— 

“what? you were the one who answered. how are you going to hang up?” 

“you didn’t say anything!” “emily was trying to take the phone from me so ryan took her.” 

“oh— but wait, i wanna see her!” 

“hey, i’m the one who called.” 

“that’s not fair when emily can’t dial the phone herself. how cruel of you. tsk tsk, to your own daughter!” 

cassie switches the call to video and tiffany can see her rolling her eyes in vivid color despite it being the middle of the night in california. “you’re so funny, steph.” 

“why did you call so late?” 

“it’s not late for you.” 

“i mean late for you.” it’s in that moment that tiffany sees the exhaustion on her sister’s face. more than that, she notes the frustration and she knows cassie better than to think it’s merely work related. “what’s wrong?” 

“nothing’s wrong.” 

“you know, it’s normally me that lies like that.” 

she only receives a weak smile and tiffany suddenly can’t find herself enjoying the night as much as she wants to. looking over at bobby talking with his aunt over the plates and plates of food ( she expects nothing less from his aunt, to be honest, and it’s been a while since either of them ate so well— the last time she remembers a table set up with so much food was what she prepared for his birthday ), she can’t smile as easily herself while her sister seems so out of sorts. 

“just tell me, cassie. since when don’t you speak your mind?” 

but tiffany has no way of knowing that cassie can’t. she can’t tell tiffany everything she knows because tiffany’s faith and trust in leo would weaken. even when tiffany became closer to cassie over leo the older she became, there’s no denying the glistening image of leo from her childhood— how leo was the one who stepped in to take care of her like her father when theirs was hardly home. how could she tell tiffany that leo was spiraling downwards? that the sibling that stayed the strongest was finally crashing? 

the most concerning thought that cassie has when she looks at her baby sister is how does she tell her with assurance that tiffany won’t crash again herself? because leo and tiffany are too alike— because leo is drinking and shattering his moral code left and right just as tiffany had. worse, cassie isn’t sure why leo is doing this now. 

an odd twist of fate, a fucked up notion of balance in their family as everyone begins to settle happily in place. 

“leo’s not coming home for chuseok.” 

brows furrowing, tiffany is already confused enough and cassie knows that one small fact is enough to upset the younger once she thinks about it. “is he swamped with work?” even if the answer is yes, tiffany can’t help thinking about how cheolwoo is in busan visiting his family because ‘we get holidays if we want to take them’ so why would leo not want to go to california for even the weekend? 

“no.” 

“when did he tell you?” 

“now. i texted him a few hours ago asking about his flight and he just replied. emily’s teething right now so she hasn’t been sleeping well. that’s why we’re all awake here, even dad. he’s staying here until next wednesday.” 

“and leo’s not going to come at all?” 

“no.” 

the truth is, even with that much information, tiffany is baffled and shocked. but she pretends that she’s okay when bobby looks over and waves, wondering why she’s taking so long— it’s not like her to accept any call for too long when they should be eating still, even if it is her family; courtesy, is all— just like how cassie pretends it’ll be fine. 

“i’m just grumpy because emily won’t sleep.” 

“i told you that leo would call me back.” she swears she can see chanyeol’s eyes rolling from across the room and she rolls her own without any confirmation necessary. it’s a running joke between them ( that occasionally may or may not be a joke ) to vy for leo’s attention and see who comes out on top. small things like a returned video call is a victory nonetheless and tiffany’s no stranger to gloating when it comes to chanyeol. 

“oppa—” 

“oh, it must be serious. she’s calling me oppa.” 

“hey! take me seriously!” 

“that’s the tiffany i know.” 

she doesn’t have to look at chanyeol to know he’s probably snickering and grinning in an obnoxious way— obnoxious to her anyway, and proof of a kindred spirit in leo’s eyes. it was why bas was so easily accepted into her family. cassie wasn’t that fond of him at first but her father thought he was great. a deeply rooted, supposedly ‘secret’ desire for sons that peers through a little too easily whenever leo and bas spent time with her father. maybe it was the cause of tiffany’s jealousy annoyance when they were still teenagers. if you ask her, she’ll just say that bas is naturally irritating. 

“how was your chuseok, oppa?” 

a loaded question, because she knows he didn’t go home this time. she knows that he’s still not talking to cassie and the worst part of it all is that their father is sad the family wasn’t together to celebrate. her workaholic father that has not only begun to delve more into his hobbies than work, who’s finally learned how to relax again and live life, took time off to spend time with everyone but leo couldn’t bother to take a flight home when he could easily take time off. he’s done so time and time again. 

“those of us in the company who celebrate it went out to dinner. you?” “i worked,” bas talks over her and she reaches for a pillow on her couch to toss at him. “while miss too good for us superstar over here,” ruffling her hair for emphasis, she does her best to try and shove him off the couch’s armrest when he looms over her with one hand, her phone barely steady until she gives up, scoffing and complaining under her breath of how rude he is. “had a nice dinner.” 

leo’s brows raise and she resists the urge to ask which employees under the company went to the dinner he went to. “with who?” he’s the one who asks instead and she smiles vaguely before glancing bas over and being suddenly reminded of what she intended to tell him when he first called. 

“oh right— oppa,” he chuckles and tiffany knows he’s thinking of repeating himself from earlier. “can you please tell bas he has to wear pants around me?” 

the shock settles quickly on his face and lingers, giving way to an expression of genuine amusement as he laughs. “you must really want bas to wear pants.” 

“he runs around like a toddler! it’s cute when it’s like a two year old who refuses to wear their clothes. at least that makes sense. he just won’t wear pants!” case in point: bas has been pantless this entire time and tiffany is exasperated at the thought of him continuing to sit on her couch in just boxers. 

but it’s hearing “are those mine?” “that makes it a little more disturbing than usual and the distaste is clear on her face when she looks at bas as he says “maybe.” 

 but disgust is normal between them ( jokingly, of course, maybe ) and it only takes seconds for her to get over it, asking “if you’re wearing leo’s underwear, aren’t those too big for you?” because she’d rather ask that than why he took them in the first place. 

“are you calling me fat or him scrawny?” 

“can it be both . . . ? porque no los dos.” 

“i can’t believe you just meme’d me.” 

“i can’t believe bas is wearing your underwear.” and she bites her tongue at her first thought directly following— neither leo or chanyeol really know about the nature of her relationship with bobby and she has no plans of letting them know in that exact moment. 

“i can’t believe he is either.” 

“don’t leave your luggage around, hyung.” 

the rest of the night passes by uneventfully ( especially since bas still refuses to put his pants on so tiffany refuses to stay close to him long enough for the call to last more than fifteen minutes; it’s still morning in new york anyway and well into the work day for leo ) and she can’t deny that although she’s still inwardly upset, it’s nice to be around family. 

juyeon walks back along with her parents, in between them, her mom’s arm around her waist. “if you’re going to be in seoul, then do your best to visit seokjin.” her mother says, looking up at juyeon through her thin rimmed glasses. juyeon looks at her, nodding. she was looking forward to seeing seokjin, it had certainly been a while. she hadn’t left much of an explanation as to where she’d gone when her time in seoul had ran up. she was due to go to summer camp with him but opted out last minute, hopping on the ktx with busan as the final destination. juyeon was a little apologetic and she was hoping to meet with seokjin as soon as time permitted; but today wouldn’t be that day-- juyeon needed time to herself to collect her thoughts, and that’d begin once she got on the train. she’d watched train to busan recently, and even if she was going in the opposite direction into seoul-- the idea of being caught on a train midst apocalypse had her skin crawling. juyeon laughs, prepared to nap or game the journey to her home. she’d never really thought of seoul as being home-- it always seemed so far from the strawberry farm.

they pass through the gates into the station, and juyeon’s mother is now clinging to her daughters arm, her father up ahead pulling along juyeon’s suitcase from a suddenly tired mijoo. they’re reluctant to let their eighteen year old go once more, for it was merely months ago that she had returned to their home with red eyes and a broken heart; more so broken dreams. juyeon takes her suitcase from her father, breaking away from her mother as she wanders across the station a little to see where and when her train leaves. she’s bittersweet about going away again, but she made the promise of coming home this time next year if her dream was still stagnant. juyeon had dreams, hope for herself-- to be in a company, even better; her and seokjin in the same company, working towards their dreams. she couldn’t do it without her cousin, he was a key reason as to why she was coming back-- someone to hang out with; someone who understood the dream and the motives that drove her day to day life. sure, seokjin wasn’t a dancer but he understood music and the sacrifices one must give in order to seek that life.

together as a family, the sons walk down towards the platform, the ktx train waits as people board, masses due to it being chuseok. juyeon takes in a deep breath, it’s beginning to hit her. departing in fifteen minutes. no sooner does the announcement come over the speakers “you take care of yourself, juyeonnie.” her mother says, embracing her. her head barely sits on juyeon’s shoulder, but she wraps her arms around her mother anyways, nodding. “i promise i will mom, i’ll call you when i get into seoul.” she’s going to miss her mothers enthusiasm, helping her pack to move away the first time round and the reluctance to let go and embrace her daughters second try. “you best bet. please get in contact with seokjinnie, don’t be out late!” her mom pulls back and waves “and you’re sure this is what you want, right?” her father asks, patting the top of her head. juyeon takes in a deep breath, nodding. it must be hard for a father to say goodbye to his daughter for the second time. juyeon pulls both of her parents in for another hug, a group one; knowing this would be the last one for a while. mijoo hugs juyeon’s leg, and she pats the younger’s head looking down at her with a smile.