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It's the first week after school let out and the spring semester for most colleges has ended, so that means the numerous shops and parks in their town have been filled with kids enjoying their freedom and families going on outings, Taeil's group of friends (or idiots) are no exception.
He thinks that they're more off the rails than they usually are because the five newly-minted highschool graduates are entering a new part of their life and none of them have a sense of direction yet.
The three college graduates aren't as wild as the aforementioned five, but they're also contributing to the growing craziness that is their 21 person friend group. Taeil can see Ten twisting the swing Jisungs's sitting in to make it go in circles from his spot on the checkered blanket Taeyong laid out when they first got to the park, and he sighs internally at the Thai male's antics.
They're scattered around the park, all in separate groups but together all the same. Taeil and some of the guys are sitting in various spots on the checkered blanket, and the rest are playing on one of the many playgrounds and baseball diamonds in the park. He can see Renjun chase Jeno around an open field near the blanket, and hear more than see Johnny and Jungwoo from the playground.
It comforts him more than he thought it would, the thought of his favorite people all gathered in one place with no weights on their back. He's twenty-five and is going to start working at a firm in July in the next town over, so he's glad to have this month to relax and spend time with his friends and family before he leaves for the next part of his life.
Ever since he left for college, he's been drifting farther and farther apart from his friends, and that's something he doesn't like to think about too much. It's inevitable, he knows, that they're not kids anymore and that he can't expect everyone to stay together after highschool. They're all going to move on and do their own things, and Taeil feels guilty to admit that he's excited to move on with his life, even if it's far away from his friends. They were the people that made this place feel like home, but now that they're all moving on, he feels like he needs to find another place to call home.
Today isn't the day to worry about that though, so he pushes the thought from his mind and goes back to watching his friends goof off.
Despite being the oldest in the group and being the one to figure out how to do this whole "adulting" thing (spoiler: he still doesn't know) on his own first, he still finds time to catch up with the younger kids and hang out with them for a little while. Their antics usually take his mind off of anything work related, and today he's glad for the distraction from everything that he needs to do when he gets back to his apartment later tonight.
He watches his boys—his brothers—laugh and gleam in the summer sun, smiles so wide their faces might split in half. There's no wind, and the world seems to have quieted down a little so they can scream as loud as they need to to let out all their frustrations from the past year.
He's watching the group of guys that are on the playground playing what looks like Wood Chips, and he can't help but snort at Johnny and Yuta, who are only a year younger than him, jumping around the playset and trying to avoid Guanheng's hands. Jungwoo and Sicheng are more delicate and graceful with the game, climbing higher than you're supposed to so they don't get tagged. Dejun is just watching from a bench nearby, but he's still yelling out random directions to try and confuse his boyfriend.
Jaehyun and Yukhei are at the base ball diamond, taking turns pitching and batting and trying to make each other laugh with ridiculous pitches and expressions. It's funny, considering both are good at baseball and were on the highschool team, and that they're trying to outplay each other with more exaggerated plays.
Renjun and Jeno are off in their own world, Jeno laughing his head off and running away from a very angry Renjun, and Ten and Jisung are pretty much falling over each other with how hard they're laughing at the swing set. Neither sight is unusual to him, and he chuckles at the normalcy of it all. It's like nothing has changed in the past decade, and he's hit with a sudden bought of nostalgia that it makes him jump and wake the sleeping boy in his lap.
Chenle mumbles something in Mandarin, lifts his head up and blinks at the area around him, then falls back and shuts his eyes again. Despite being 18 and in his final year of highschool, Taeil can't help but see him as the small teen he met years ago with a smile so sweet and a laugh so loud and boisterous that it would make everyone in the room light up. He coos anytime Chenle does something remotely adorable, and the younger hates it, but Taeil couldn't care less. He loves Chenle like a little brother, and he was going to smother him as much as possible.
Taeyong laughs at the two of them openly, big toothy grin on his face and blonde hair falling into his eyes as he looks at the pair with fondness and exasperation. He's watching the adult-children on the playground and focusing on Doyoung and Jaemin playing Go Fish at the same time, ever the mother of the group. He's got that worried look in his eyes after he turns away from Taeil, and he watches as Taeyong runs a hand through his hair many times as a nervous tic. Taeil wants to know if the other is alright, and asks him so.
"Me? I'm fine hyung, don't worry about me,"
"You look like you're about to have a breakdown; what's up Yong?"
"He's freaking out about Mark hyung," Jaemin offers while signaling Doyoung to draw cards.
"I am not. I'm just making sure that he's getting the sleep he needs,"
"Taeyong hyung, Mark is twenty years old, he can take care of himself," Doyoung says while pulling a face at the card he got.
"I know, but he told me he's been having trouble with his Composition class and he's been staying up late in the studio to make it perfect. I just want to make sure he's getting enough sleep,"
Mark, who is laying on a portion of the blanket curled up like a cat, is zonked out and using Johnny's hoodie as a pillow. He passed out a few minutes after the group had arrived at the park and hadn't moved since. Taeil would worry, but knows Taeyong does enough of that for the both of them and trusts the brothers to take care of each other.
"He'll be fine, and he knows that you're there if he needs you. Try not to worry so much," Taeil says, and Taeyong just gives him a smile and goes back to watching their friends on the playground.
Taeil lets Jaemin and Doyoung's bickering go in one ear and out the other as he enjoys the sun, Chenle's head being a comforting weight on his lap. The slight breeze ruffles his t-shirt and sweeps his hair away from his forehead, and remembers how much he missed the nice weather when he was in the big city. He doesn't get the bright skies and open fields where he lives, and he would be lying if he said he didn't miss it.
Yangyang brings him out of thought when he throws a pen in his direction and it hits him on the nose and lands on Chenle's face, scaring the boy awake. Taeil just pats the boy on the head and raises his brows at Yangyang to prompt him to continue.
"What was the name of the restaurant that we went to a few months ago?"
"You threw a pen at me for this? For a restaurant?"
"They had good steak! My mom wanted to know since she trusts your opinion on basically everything,"
"If it helps," Kun intervenes, "I tried to convince him not to throw the pen,"
"And look how well that worked, I still got a pen to the face,"
"And my face!" Chenle interjects, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with balled fists. "I was peacefully sleeping, and then boom, a pen hits my nose! I haven't had decent sleep since finals, and now I'm going to be paranoid of pens dropping on me!"
"You need to stop hanging out with Jaemin," Kun says to his brother, who only sticks his tongue out in response.
"Excuse me, I am a delight," Jaemin huffs while recieving two cards from a sulking Doyoung.
"You're a cheater, that's what you are," Doyoung says, and Jaemim just smirks in response.
"No, you're just bad at the game hyung," Donghyuck voices from behind him. Doyoung just turns around and smacks Donghyuck upside the head.
"I still need the name of the restaurant Taeil hyung!"
He tries to remember the name of it, since he had only been there once and it was a few months ago for an early congratulations dinner. Their giant friend group and everyone's family members had gathered at the restaurant to celebrate everyone's graduation early since it was the only real free time any of them had. It was a really classy place that had low lighting and well cooked steak, and Taeil for the life of him couldn't remember the name.
"It was something Italian, I don't know. Just google "steak restaurants near me" and see if anything comes up,"
"That's what I tried to tell him but he didn't listen to me," Kun says, turning back to his psychiatry book and writing something in the margins.
"I will never willingly listen to you," Yangyang says while typing on his phone.
Kun just turns to the younger and raises his brows, shaking his head slowly.
"Your mind tricks won't work on me fool, I have a mind like a steel trap,"
"You did not just call me "fool","
"What are you gonna do about it grandpa?"
Kun splutters and turns to Taeil with a what-the-hell look on his face. Taeil just shakes his head and mouths "Kids," to him.
Chenle runs off after a bit of pouting to go join in on the game of Wood Chips with Yangyang on his tail, Doyoung loses spectacularly to Jaemin and deal Taeyong and Donghyuck in on the next match, Mark keeps sleeping, and Kun takes more notes for an online class he's taking to get ahead. Taeil just basks in the sun, and enjoys the company of the people around him.
When it gets near lunchtime, Kun packs up his books and makes his way to his car with a giggling Johnny in tow (Guanheng makes kissing gestures at their turned backs, and Kun still manages to give him the finger), while everyone that was playing on the playground or doing something active comes over to the blanket to relax and wind down. Yuta drapes hinself over Doyoung and rubs their heads together like a cat, making his boyfriend yell something about sweat and push him away. Jeno is much nicer to Jaemin and just pats his shoulder before moving over to Chenle and laying his head down on the younger's shoulder.
Kun and Johnny eventually return with pre-made food that Taeyong hastily gets up to help them set up their picnic while Yangyang and Jisung steal food before plates and drinks are set out. Doyoung scolds his brother, Yukhei laughs full-body at Ten who manages to knock over a two-liter bottle of Coke, and Sicheng just sighs at Donghyuck and Renjun who have started a mini food fight by throwing grapes at each other. Mark wakes up and eats a sandwich before laying his head in Jaehyun's lap and falling back asleep (how he does that, Taeil will never know), Guanheng gets into a food eating contest with Jaemin, and Kun discreetly fills Taeil's cup with wine and winks at him.
Jungwoo nudges Taeil's shoulder and says, "We're gonna miss you when you leave hyung,"
He's taken aback at the bluntness, but knows he should've seen this coming. He wasn't exactly secret about it. "I'm not going away forever, just until I find out what I'm supposed to do. I'll still visit and hang out when I can—it's just that I need to move on, see new things,"
"I know," is all Jungwoo says with his signature smile, "but we'll miss you all the same."
With laughter echoing around him, Taeil acknowledges that his family will always be there for him, through and through.