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1 Pink hoodie
He was still getting used to it all. It was very different. Seonghwa was so kind, even kinder than eomma. Hongjoong always got him what he wanted. And Yunho was so nice.
It was so different yet so comfortable.
Mingi found himself sleeping soundly next to Yunho every night. Tightly embraced by the older. During the day Seonghwa would make him snacks and food and give him hugs whenever he wanted or needed. Yunho would always be away at school during the day but in the evening they would play together.
He found himself smiling more and more. Found that the bags under his eyes were slowly disappearing. At least that was what it looked like when he stood on the little step stool to be able to see himself while brushing his teeth. He had fun! He felt loved. He felt warm all the time now.
They were currently sitting at the small table in the kitchen, Seonghwa sitting next to Yunho as he helped the other read a book he had found in school. Mingi was listening as he hugged onto Fix-on, eyes droopy and sleepy. He was trying very hard to stay awake because he loved his hyung! He wanted to be there and listen to him read. But his eyes didn’t seem to want to stay open as he slouched forward.
“Mingi sweetheart?” Seonghwa said softly, the younger shooting up as he gripped tightly onto Fix-on again. The poor chicken had almost fallen from his arms!
Seonghwa didn’t even speak as he stood up, going over to Mingi and effortlessly picking him up into his arms. He hugged tightly onto Seonghwa. He was warm. He was love.
“Let’s take an early night baby” and that was the last thing Mingi heard as he drifted away.
He was suddenly awoken by a harsh jolt. Body seizing up and tensing as he sat up roughly. A whine caught in his throat. Where was Yunho?
He whimpered, forcing his body forward to try and get out of bed. On wobbly legs he went over to the door, fingers clenching and unclenching into Fix-on’s soft texture. The corridor looked so dark. It felt like the aisle… was there blood?
Mingi’s eyes scanned the walls he had learned to call his home these past few weeks. There wasn’t blood. He was fine. He was f-fine.
A sob still caught in his throat as he ran for his caretaker's rooms. But when he opened the door they weren’t there. The pillows and blankets piled into lumps on one side of the bed.
Panic settled in his bones as he ran for the bed, hopping on and gripping at the blankets. Please. Please he didn’t want to lose them too! They were good to him! They… they loved him.
A soft hoodie grabbed his hand’s attention. Brain processing the comforting texture as he hugged it tightly to himself. It smelled like Hongjoong… almost instinctively he pulled it over his head ignoring the brightly pink colours of the fabric.
After rolling around in the bed for a while, he felt his knees touch the ground, curling up on the floor. That’s when the door opened. Creaking as he heard footsteps rush towards him.
“Hey, hey Mingi hun are you okay?”
Seonghwa?
Seonghwa!
Mingi shot up, flinging himself into his comforting arms. He desperately gripped onto anything Seonghwa. Squeezing tightly as he sobbed into the others shoulder.
“Shh baby, I got you”
He didn’t mention the pink hoodie. Not even when he carried him back to bed and Yunho held onto him. He didn’t even mention it the next morning when he needed to take a bath after waking up in a cold sweat last night.
—
2 stylists
Mingi jumped out of the car as fast as he could, hugging Seonghwa quickly before running towards his class. Yunho right behind him. The older did however say a goodbye to Seonghwa before running off.
School was THE best!
He got to play with his friends and do fun things. Even if sometimes they did things that were super boring most of the time it was fun. And then after school Seonghwa would come pick them up and they’d go home and do stuff all afternoon.
Like baking! Last night they baked and Yunho got flour all over himself and they laughed about it! Then Hongjoong came home and Mingi watched him work on some music he was making while they watched tv and ate their baking.
Maybe Mingi had also been wearing that pink sweater that smelled so much like home. It was 3 sizes too big and practically swallowed Mingi but it kept him… safe.
Yeah, he was safe.
When lunch break came Mingi was a little lost at what to do. He could go play with the football kids outside? Maybe he should draw? He didn’t know. He felt like there were a million things he wanted to do right at that moment.
When the teacher caught him just standing there like an emperor penguin she asked him what he was going to do. Mingi just stared at her, shrugging slightly. That’s when two girls came over tugging at their teacher.
“She doesn’t want to be the customer!” One of them whined.
“No! Because I wanna be the hair stylist!” the other said, also pulling at their teacher's sleeve who was trying to de-escalate the situation quickly before it got out of hand.
“I can be.. the customer?” Mingi suddenly proposed. Sure he didn’t have the longest hair but it was definitely longer than normal boys’ hair. He hadn’t really been at a salon since… his parents died.
He didn’t have time to think about that though as the two girls rushed him away to a chair. And by the end of the day he had two pigtails sticking straight up with bows and clips all in his hair. Smiling brightly as Seonghwa came in to pick him up and saw his new look.
Mingi’s heart jumped for a second. Because.. all those bows and clips were pink and—
“Who did your hair?” Seonghwa asked in that sweet tone, derailing the spiral train in Mingi’s head as he started talking about his two new friends.
3 plushies
San was cuddly. You wouldn’t have guessed it! When he first came to their house he had run, only for Hongjoong to explain to him and Yunho that he had been sleeping in the bush outside.
When San had actually been in their house he hid in his room for so long Mingi almost forgot he was there. If it wasn’t for the way Seonghwa stood outside his room every time they had made food trying to make contact with the young boy.
Well– Mingi couldn't say young. He was younger than San.
When he had finally started coming out of his room and slowly gotten more and more comfortable they had learned he was older than Mingi but younger than Yunho. However that was practically it. San would come out every so often, stick to one of their parents and then sneak back into his room. When Mingi asked Yunho about it he had also said that he wanted to play with him. San was just too shy and too tired all the time! So it was a real shock when they came home from school to find him and Hongjoong sowing the puppy plushie he always carried around.
San had jumped when Mingi swung the door open but ultimately stayed still watching Hongjoong carefully sew up the plushie. He looked terrified to leave it alone. Mingi hated that. He hated how scared he looked. It reminded him of how scared he had been.
Although before Mingi could do anything, Yunho slowly made his way to sit next to San. The bubbly kid easily talked to Hongjoong as he sowed which seemed to loosen some tension in the room.
Mingi ended up helping (watching) Seonghwa cook dinner for all of them. He was chattering loudly when Yunho came into the kitchen, grabbing a pair of scissors from the door and going to leave. Seonghwa however had to ask where he was going with those first. Putting his hand on his hip caused Mingi to laugh.
“Joongie is done sowing he needs to cut the string?” Yunho said, and he was on his merry way again. That night San joined them for dinner for the first time. Newly fixed plushie sitting in his lap while they ate.
It was during Winter break that Mingi and San really talked to each other. One morning when Mingi had snuck out of Yunho's embrace and gone to the living room, eyes struggling to stay open but body alert as he just sat there. His nightmares had kept him up all night. He felt icky from sweat and tired as he clutched onto Fix-on. Maybe he should go wake up Seonghwa?
“Hello?” a squeaky voice said. It was San.
That morning they ended talking for a long time. At some point they ended up talking about the two plushies Yunho and Mingi owned that looked to be matching. And technically they were, Peter and Fix-on were matching! He had explained that Hongjoong had made them. San looked very shocked by that, asking how which made Mingi gleefully remind his Hyung that Hongjoong had sewn together his plush just a few weeks ago. So when Joongie finally woke up way past any normal human being! (according to Seonghwa). Mingi ended up very excitedly mentioning the plushies to him which also got Yunho going and soon they were sitting at the table huddled around Hongjoong’s tablet.
“Okay what colour do you want it to be?” Hongjoong asked. It looked adorable! A small cat with hearts on its butt (A detail added by Mingi himself, may he add!). Now it was just the simple details left. San seemed to think for a bit.
“Can it be purple?” San asked after a bit.
…Purple? No, That was a girl's colour! Boys can’t have girls' colours. It should be blue or something. Why would it even be purple if it was a cat? Mingi’s mind travelled away as he thought. Sinking into his chair. Poor San.. San would have to get rejected even if he just wanted a purple cat. What if he ran back to his room now and didn’t come out. They had just started to become friends! No! Mingi didn’t want that–
“Sure” Hongjoong just said, moving his pencil over the screen to pick a few colours with San in the purple zone on the colour wheel.
What? How…
Mingi stared with wide eyes as he watched Hongjoong fill in his design, moving swiftly over the tablet before placing his pen on the table again, deeming the design done. He said some things to San that Mingi guessed were about when the toy would be made but Mingi didn’t really register it as his gaze fell to the floor.
“You okay?” A soft voice said. It was Seonghwa looking at him with concern. Mingi glazed between himself and San, seeing his brother's wide smile as he hugged Hongjoong tightly.
“.. Yes, I am fine just thinking ‘bout something” Mingi smiled, wiping away the worry from Seonghwa’s eyes.
–
4 Presents
Jongho was strange. I mean, they all were. But what the others didn't seem to get about him was his adverseness to physical touch. The brothers had always been cuddly. Even if sometimes they preferred not to be hugging, San was usually clinging to someone. That someone being either Yunho or Seonghwa who accepted the affection like it was nothing. On some bad days Mingi would back away and not really want the hugs and kisses. So really it must have come as a shock for the others who really wanted to comfort the youngest but without proper ways to do it. They really only knew that hugs made everything better!
But Jongho hated hugs. Even from Yunho who was absolutely amazing at hugs he would back away into a corner! Mingi wasn’t quite sure why this was. Maybe it was like that with him. Where the feeling of someone else around you just felt constricting at the wrong moments. But that would mean Jongho had wrong moments all the time and he hated that idea!
He really only felt uncomfortable with hugs when he was down, head “spiralling” as Seonghwa explained it. That would mean Jongho was always spiralling.
So inteased of hugs, Mingi found other ways to comfort their big baby.
It started with a tiny gift of snacks. On the weekends when Mingi would wake up in time to watch one of his favourite cartoons on the TV Jongho would also be awake. In the beginning he hadn’t really taken the time to get comfortable. He would sit at the edge of the couch like he was ready to leave at any moment. But after a week or so he was fully seated. That's when Mingi would offer him some snacks. It took even longer for the younger to accept them but at some point he took them.
Quest, get Jongho to stop spiralling step 1 done!
The next part of the totally well thought out plan wasn’t any different. It was when they went to the mall. Seonghwa was trying desperately to get the little one to buy anything he liked but Jongho kept refusing. Mingi had been the only one to follow as Yunho had homework to do and San didn’t really need anything. So it was just the three of them.
Mingi looked around for a second, before whipping around to look at Jongho.
“Do you like basketball?” He asked from nowhere. Well, not really. There was a sweater with a team he recognised as a basketball team a little ways down one of the clothing sections.
Jongho’s eyes seemed to light up before calming again, nodding slightly and that was Mingis cue to rush away. He ran and took the shirt off the rack, before going back to Jongho and holding it up to his chest. It would definitely git, maybe it was even too big but it was definitely good! He threw it into the cart as he pulled Jonho along by the sleeve of his worn out shirt. Grabbing a few different shirts and miscellaneous items. By the time they got to the cash register Joingho had more than enough clothes.
Part 2 done!
Jongho was already opening up more and more. By now both San and Yunho had gotten used to not showing the little one the same affection they showed towards each other. Now they were all having fun together! From going to the park nearby to play basketball together to playing one of Yunho's videogames on the tv, Jongho seemed more comfortable. He sank into the couch now, he had his stuff unpacked, he was laughing with them, he even stopped asking when he would go back after something minor happened!
But people still have bad days And Mingi frowned as he watched Jongho storm off to his room, loud amounts of clatter and shuffling coming from inside the small room. Seonghwa was at the door trying to talk to him. He didn’t answer. At some point Seonghwa had to give up.
Jongho had stayed in his room all day that time. He didn’t even come out for dinner. It worried all of them. Especially Mingi who found it hard to sleep that night. So shuffling out of Yunho’s arms like he had learned to do, he snuck into the kitchen, hoping that a snack would calm his mind.
It was when he was looking through the fridge, Fix-on held at his side, that he heard it. A door opening from down the hall. Mingi immediately assumed that it would be Hongjoong or Seonghwa but when he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet make its way down the corridor that the feeling of fear in his stomach stopped. That wasn’t Seonghwa or Hongjoong… or an intruder.
Jongho peeked his head out the corridor. A big bag slung over his shoulder that Mingi recognized as the one thing he had brought to their house…
“No” Mingi ended up whispering as Jongho caught his eye. Without thinking, Mingi rushed over to the younger, grabbing a hold of him tightly. He pulled him into his chest as he kept whispering soft no’s.
Jongho pushed him away running towards the door but Mingi caught him again. With a loud hiccup he pushed fix-on into the other’s hands. He might have realised it at that moment but that was another gesture he did to show Jongho his love. Actually it was the gesture he used the most to show his love to their youngest. Another gift.
The 3rd gift.
He stared at him, and something in his gaze shifted as he sunk to the floor, hugging Fix-on harder than ever. That night had been hell. But the next morning Seonghwa had praised him for not letting Jongho leave.
Mingi hadn’t been proud of himself. He cried that night. He hated crying. Crying wasn’t something guys do. They’re supposed to be fearless and strong! Yet he couldn’t help himself. How could he be a big kid when everyone in his life tried to leave?
But Jongho didn’t want to leave. He just thought he needed to leave. What was Mingi doing wrong? He was trying to make him comfortable.
Mingi was sitting in his room, Yunho was in the kitchen so it was just him alone on his bunk when the door opened. Mingi struggled to wipe away his tears. When he looked up again he saw his youngest brother standing in the door, lips twitching downwards.
He was also crying? Why was Jongho crying?
Mingi’s head didn’t have the power to convince him that Jongho was also a boy. A boy who also shouldn’t cry because the second he saw a tear fall from Jongho’s eyes he was up and going towards him. Before hugging him he stopped. Jongho didn’t like hugs he had pushed him away yester-
He still hugged him. Jongho, who hated skinship, fell into his arms that afternoon. He sobbed his eyes out.
He guessed that was his present. A hug and many shared tears.
–
5 kids
Wooyoung was very different from their latest addition to their family. He was reserved yet always found a spot in everyone's life. He was loud but never too loud. He was social but preferred to be alone on some days. Mingi could understand that from him. It made sense!
Although he was way more cuddly than Jongho. It took San a pair of outstretched arms and the younger was glued to him for a week like a baby koala.
Mingi ended up finding him and Woyoung to be equally bad at school. Well– not really. Wooyoung was so bad at it he had to jump down a grade even if he was the same age as San and him but still. While Mingi struggled with his focus Wooyoung did too. Everyday when they’d come home Yunho and Seonghwa would both respectfully pester them about doing their homework before going to play. So they found their similarity there.
Wooyoung however, was social. It took him a day to find new friends and he was constantly making new ones. Mingi spent his time with close friends or his brothers when he was in school. The younger one really didn’t. He ended up with new groups every so often, at some point he became bros with someone who was older than Yunho!
Therefore it wasn’t a surprise that Wooyoung was off playing with a friend. Changbin he thinks his name was? He's not quite sure all he remembers is that he had a funny laugh.
When the door burst open an excited Wooyoung came running, a paper in hand that had a giant splotch of red on it.
“LOOK! LOOK! I got a 63 on my Korean test!” He practically vibrated as he spun around with the paper. Everyone was excited. That was amazing! They were all really happy for the little menace that Mingi almost missed when he called Hongjoong Appa.
Almost.
Safe to say they were all pretty shocked but watching as Hongjoong went silent had their hearts doing flips. All 5 of them. Before Yunho decided to speak up, calling Seonghwa… Eomma?
No that… That didn’t make sense. Seonghwa was a boy. Eomma is for girls.
But the others didn’t seem to care. They kept joking and calling Seonghwa eomma. Pointing out the tiny things he did that screamed “mother”. Mingi hate to admit that they were right. How when Seonghwa put his hands on his hip or put his hair up it was definitely more feminine than masculine.
Seonghwa, however, stood his ground and argued against them. Which obviously didn’t work against 4 very convinced kids. Mingi was about to say something to defend Seonghwa when he caught the silent look between the two parents. A silent “it’s okay”
After that it took many weeks for Mingi to actually start calling Seonghwa eomma. Long after all the others started.
—
6 interesting facts
Mingi hadn’t been expecting the new kid in the house when he first met him. Having just been going to his room when he saw his big brother and younger brother sitting on the bed with another person that he couldn’t recognise from school.
That kid was Yeosang. A weirdly quiet little boy who ended up attached to Wooyoung after the day they met. He flew low under the radar and never chased trouble, so much so that Eomma and Appa didn’t know he was there at first. He was interesting like that.
He also didn’t remember his past. He said that when he thought back all he could remember was meeting Wooyoung at that convenience store near school. Mingi had really tried to find out something more about him but it was hard to get Yeosang to talk.
Unless it was something he was interested in.
When Eomma and Appa had finally adopted him and brought him into the family they all started to realise the love he had for reading and documentaries. He spent his first few weeks after the adoption process just watching National Geographic. That was until he too had to go to school but even then he had time to read after school!
There was one day when Appa was working from home, eomma and the rest of his brothers were out somewhere together, leaving only Yeosang and Mingi in the house.
Mingi was sat mindlessly tapping his pencil against the counter of the kitchen island. His biology homework was killing him. He just couldn’t understand it! For a while he contemplated if he should just give up and try another day but his brain helpfully reminded him that he had to hand it in tomorrow morning. Great.
After reading through the question and the page in his biology book again he (gently) slammed his head against the table. Just at that moment a quiet chuckle sounded through the kitchen and Mingi jumped up.
Yeosang stood by the fridge, looking through it. He ended up taking out a small yoghurt carton.
“Warn a guy before you do that!” Mingi yelled in fake annoyance.
“Nope,” Yeosang just said.
He grabbed a spoon before sitting down next to Mingi. He looked over at his papers and Mingi stared right back at him.
“You’re not done with your homework?” He said with a mouthful of yoghurt. Mingi just pouted.
“I don’t understand it, my teacher sucks!”
“You say that about all our teachers, I understand it just fine she’s a good biology teacher”
Screw Yeosang for being smart and in his class. Maybe Mingi should just give up and jump down a grade with Wooyoung and Jongho. Those two always had easier homework. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Yeosang eating his yoghurt as Mingi continued to give death glares to his homework.
That day however, Yeosang had ended up helping Mingi understand his biology class. The older had explained in detail everything he needed to know and it had helped clear up a lot of things for Mingi.
“—Then there’s also animals who don’t really have an assigned sex-“
“How does that work?” Mingi questioned. Everything Yeosang had said so far would mean that it couldn't work. They were either male or female.
“Well, usually mammals, which we are, have an assigned sex but that’s also not really true, but bugs like worms and stuff don’t have any sex they just kinda come together and breed—”
“What?” Mingi was thoroughly confused again. Now Yeosang wasn’t making any sense. He sounded like their teacher now!
“Worms don’t have any gender like that?”
“No, what did you mean before that? We have an assigned gender but that’s not really true?” Mingi said, looking up from his textbook to see Yeosang with a spoonful of yoghurt in his mouth again. He swallowed before continuing.
“No we have an assigned sex, gender is a completely different thing, sorry I’m mixing things up a bit” Yeosang said like there wasn’t anything weird about what he had just said. All innocent eyes and face.
It all felt like overcourse but for once Mingi was actually interested in what was happening. Which he usually wasn’t when it came to anything slightly school related.
“Can you explain that again?”
“About the worms?”
“No no about the… Uhm… gender.. stuff?” Why was he so interested in this? He hated biology!
“Well, us humans are born with xx or xy chromosomes, you and I probably have xy because we are boys. So basically that chooses our gender. But nature isn’t as easy as that because some people have xxy chromosomes and stuff” Yeosang explained, Mingi sitting there listening attentively.
They didn’t get too far though. After that the door opened and the other came running in. Wooyoung quickly pulled both Yeosang and Mingi off their chairs so they could go out and play basketball.
Later that night, Mingi might have stolen Yunho’s laptop and gone into the bathroom to hide. He searched the internet for a long time, hours passed as he sat and read about how fricking gender worked. He stumbled upon many scientific sights but at some point in the night he ended up on a video on YouTube. A Pretty boy with even prettier makeup sat explaining how gender worked. Mingi learned six interesting facts that night.
He also said it was okay to change your gender… mhm.. could you really do that?
7 loving and accepting arms
Mingi was sick. Or not really. He might have lied to his eomma about feeling bad. He really didn’t wanna go to school. His head felt like a fog of a billion thoughts.
Maybe it had to do with that boy at school who called him… something.
He just wanted to be home for a bit, but then a bit turned into hours alone in bed. He had stolen Yunho’s laptop at some point, playing mindless browser games before he ended up on YouTube again. At first he had been watching normal things, let's plays, a few question shows with his favourite actors in them. Then he stumbled upon a video in Yunho’s recommended section.
Mingi gulped. It wasn’t a video Yunho would watch. That he was sure of. It brought the bittersweet memory of Mingi himself sitting on the bathroom floor, volume on the lowest setting as he watched educational videos on gender and other LGBTQ subjects. In an instance he shut the laptop, sinking into his covers again.
He really didn’t understand anymore. The videos he had watched all made sense, of course they did! But it never felt like he found an answer to the thing gnawing at his insides. There was a monster in his head that was demanding something but Mingi couldn’t figure out what it was. So he just pulled the covers over his head.
That quickly got boring and soon he opened the laptop again. Clicking on exactly the video Yunho would never watch.
And maybe that’s how he found himself in eomma’s closet. he knew his Eomma was.. a little special. He was a model, Mingi often got to see the big magazines he got to be on and the photoshoots he was on. One time he had even gotten to follow along! It was all very cool, a little overstimulating with all the lights and noise and people moving around but it was still cool!
Mingi had also gotten to see the more… different clothes he wore. Most days when they were at home his eomma just wore normal clothes, but some days when he wanted to he would dress a little differently. It always had Mingis attention on him at all times. Because well—
Boys weren’t supposed to wear that.
Boys weren’t supposed to wear dresses and crop tops. Those were made for girls. Still whenever Seonghwa walked through the girls section at the store Mingi couldn’t help but reach out and touch some things.
He really didn’t know why. After watching a few videos he felt like his limbs would snap if he didn’t move. So he got up and went around the house. Sneaking around his brothers rooms (and ultimately finding some of their secret food stashes) and his parents room.
At first he had just admired the Lego sets his eomma had in a little display case. They all knew they weren’t allowed to play with them. Plus they all had their own legos but the display was very pretty! Then he found himself in front of the closet door, wide open just like his eyes.
He really couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and touching. And then he was taking them off the racks. And he really didn’t know when he started trying them on but he was.
Something swelled in his chest when he got to see himself. The dark crop top he had grabbed had tiny rips through it and a skull on it. It reminded him of the clothes his idols liked to wear. Then it was more cutesy things. A pink cropped hoodie with a Hello Kitty print on it. At some point he pulled on a long frilly dark skirt. It had a cute red heart pattern on it. Then he found some accessories and he just couldn’t help himself.
He spun around in front of the mirror, a weird happiness exploding inside him as he watched the long skirt twirl around him. Now he understood why eomma loved this!!
A sudden camera flash caught his attention. His entire self whipping around to see what looked like all of his brothers standing by the door. When did they come home?! the flash came from Jongho who looked to be holding Yunho's spiderman themed phone.
There was a brief moment of silence before Wooyoung started to giggle. Loud and pitchy and mockingly.
Mingi felt that swell in his chest vanish, replaced by regret and wetness in his eyes as tears started to fall. He couldn’t cry! No! NO! What would they think of him?! He was already dressed up like a girl; he couldn't cry like a girl!
In a flash he had slammed the door, locking it as he heard his brothers laugh louder behind it. Mingi sank to the floor, back against the door. He couldn’t stop the tears. They flowed from his eyes like an angry river. He threw off the accessories he had grabbed, flinging the small princess crown he had found across the room as he quickly got all of the girly stuff off him.
Loud sobs were the only thing that couldn’t be heard in the room as he grabbed whatever clothes he had been wearing before this, pulling them on. Til he felt a whimper build in his throat realising the hoodie he had been wearing was that pink one from Appa. He let out a short pained scream as he threw it off himself again, landing in a pile with the rest of the clothes he had taken off the racks.
Seonghwa would be furious. Their eomma liked his order but a mingi was too busy crying like a girl to care. What if they hated him now? What if his brothers saw him as what that boy at school had called him? What if he was a fag?
He sobbed into his knees, ignoring the concerned voices behind the door. His body felt numb as he cried his eyes out. If he just hadn’t liked the cute things this wouldn't have happened! if he had just been strong and brave and normal this wouldn't have happened!
After a while he ran out of tears. His breathing was irregular and he felt tired as he looked up from his knees again. He couldn’t hear anyone outside the door. Had they left? Mingi whimpered at that. He didn’t want them to leave just because he messed up!
“Mingi? Hunny?” Seonghwa’s voice said, muffled by the door. It only made Mingi whine harder. Great. They told eomma. Would they kick him out for being a freak?
“Can I come in hun?” Reluctantly, Mingi twisted the lock on the door, eomma’s head peeking in with sympathetic eyes.
Mingi was just sitting on the floor with a pair of sweatpants and an old T-shirt. Seonghwa’s clothes were distributed over the floor along with the small twinkly accessories he had found.
“Aw baby, come here” Seonghwa said and Mingi couldn’t help himself. He shot into his eomma’s arms, letting out dry sobs as he hugged him tightly. Hwa closed the door behind him as Mingi clung to him.
“I—I’m sorry!” He shouted into the other’s shirt, (I wrote shit instead of shirt at first…) probably getting spit on it.
“What are you sorry for? You’ve done nothing wrong” Seonghwa said in a sweet tone. Mingi made a point to actually free his arm and gesture it to the pile of Seonghwa’s stuff on the floor.
“Hunny that can be cleaned up”
“Y-Yeah b-but am a fre-freak” he said pathetically, his voice giving up mid way through. However, Eomma heard it as if it was shouted into a microphone at a concert. He grabbed Mingi’s face, titling it up so that the kid could look him in the eye.
“Baby, you’re not a freak who told you that?” He said. Which only served to make Mingi cry even harder, pressing his face into Seonghwa’s chest.
“No one, but I like pink and I cry a-and I don’t know I’m not boyish! I’m a f-freak”
Seonghwa felt a pang of guilt in his chest at that.
“Mingi, look at me, do you think I’m a freak?”
Before Mingi came into their home he had been a numb little bean. But after some time he turned into their most expressive kid. His eyes would always betray him. So watching as Mingi’s tearfilled eyes turn big with a mix of fear and disbelief, Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile a little.
“No! No! Why would I ever think that!” Mingi yelled, grabbing Seonghwa’s shirt harder. Almost like he was scared that his eomma would disappear if he thought so.
“Okay, but I cry and I dress up and I like pink, doesn't that make me a freak then?”
“Noo” Mingi muttered.
“Then you’re not a freak. You’re allowed to cry sweetie, you’re allowed to like pink, you don’t have to be just boyish or just girly. You don’t have to pick, baby you just need to be yourself”
Everything Mingi had been worked up to believe crumbled. He didn’t care about what the boys at school said, he didnt care what the internet said because the only voice that mattered was his eomma’s. A new tear fell as he threw himself further into Seonghwa, which was probably impossible considering he was already holding onto him like a lifeline.
Still, Mingi felt that gnawing feeling in him dissipate as they sat in the closet together. Seonghwa hung up his clothes again, but not before they played an adequate amount of dress up with all of the things Seongwha had stored in their after years of modelling.
When they came out again, Wooyoung had his arms around the taller one in a moment. The rest of the brothers followed shortly. Mingi smiled in their embrace. He wasn’t a freak. He was just… himself.
“Isn’t that my hoodie?” Hongjoong whispered to Seonghwa, causing the older to laugh before kissing his cheek and going to make dinner.