Chapter Text
Chapter One:
Ms. Lee loved her children very dearly. All seven of them. Each of them were quite the ball of energy, all with different and unique personalities. They were the light of her life. However, since her husband had died, which was coming up nearly two years, their energy had become a bit more than she could handle. Seeking out help, she’d hired a cook and a governess to help with the boys while she was at work. The added assistance of the two women, managing the seven children became more manageable…for a time.
When their energy started to be too much for the hired help to manage them, Soo-min went into looking to hire a nanny. They were trained to deal with rambunctious and unruly children. When she still had some free time, she’d heard of a lady in her bookclub who hired a nanny and they made her children better behaved! To see such results would have been short of a miracle. Her boys were rather mischievous and they started to get absurd ideas in their attempts to scare off each and every nanny she hired. If she was counting correctly, they’d been through at least fifteen now.
Soo-min and her husband had moved over seas in the early years of their marriage. Just before Minho had been born, her aunt Each of her boys had an English name, however, despite coming over to America and marrying an Asian-American, she still referred to them by their Korean names, as it just naturally slipped off her tongue, much easier than the English names did. Her husband had grown fond of their childrens’ names and didn’t pressure her into changing them into something that people would find easier to pronounce. And for the most part, most of the people in their little town referred to her boys by their Korean given name, and this just ignited a sense of pride in Soo-min.
Despite her love for them and enjoying watching them grow into becoming their own person, they’d been especially naughty lately, downright problematic even. She was nearing her wits end with them and couldn't turn a blind eye to their behavior any more. She’d hired the toughest nanny in that darn agency, so she trusted that Ms. Wimbly would keep them all in check. That small bubble of hope was promptly popped about two weeks later. The woman came running into her workplace, red faced and out of breath. She caught her breath, one hand poised over her chest while the other tried to fix her hair, which was falling out of its bun.
“They’ve eaten him!”
Soo-min stopped the task she was in the middle of, eyeshadow brush in hand. She’d been in the middle of preparing a woman’s body for her last viewing before burial. The family had given her the type of makeup and colors she’d liked and Soo-min did her best to recreate how the young woman normally did her makeup. Hearing that statement though, she placed the brush down, allowing the shock to wash over her in waves. Turning to face Ms Wimbly, she was met with a very distraught expression, her eyes wide with fear.
“E-Ex-Excuse me? What did you say?”
Ms. Wimbly, one of the most highly regarded nannies, one of the strictest too, was in near hysterics. Tears collected in the corners of her eyes. “They’ve eaten him!”
“Eaten who?”
“Jeongin!” she cried. “They’ve eaten Jeongin!”
She burst into the room and spotted six of her seven boys sitting about the play room, munching away on some type of meat. Her heart froze; her boys were naughty, sure, but cannibals? No, they couldn’t possibly have taken things to such an extreme.
She cleared her throat, took a deep breath in and exhaled, trying to ease the ball of nerves in her stomach. “Boys, where is Jeongin?” The six of them glanced about at one another, their faces blank from expression. The longer they remained silent, the more the ball of nerves in her stomach jostled about.
She heard a muffled giggle from just in front of her. She glanced down at the large metal roasting pan that sat atop a table covered with an array of toys and pencil drawings. Soo-min relaxed her shoulders a bit as she took the lid off the roasting pot and was graced with the sight of her youngest curled up inside of it. The roasting pot used was probably one of cook’s largest, so she could see how a small child would fit in there. She exhaled heavily, allowing all the tension to leave her body, relief washing through her.
“I’m a turkey, eomma!” Jeongin exclaimed happily, not carrying that he was coated in gravy and garnished with parsley. Soo-min couldn’t help but smile at her youngest son as she lifted him up from the roasting pan he’d been curled up in.
“You certainly are, my love.” She held him to her chest, not caring that her dress and neck were getting stained with gravy and grease from the turkey that had been cooked in the pan previously. Soo-min glanced about at each of her boys. Other than Jeongin, who was nuzzled against her chest, her children were positioned about the room,munching on pieces of roasted turkey. When their cook had had time to prepare that, she wasn’t sure, but it looked like it was several meals worth that had already been devoured.
Her eyes fell on her eldest, who sat atop the table, using the seat of the chair to plant his feet on.
“Minho-”
“It wasn’t my idea,” her eldest son snapped, defensive before she could even finish her sentence. Perhaps it was the fact that her eldest had just entered his teen years and was now lacking a fatherly figure in his life, but she found that he’d become rather snippy and moody lately. She was sure that at least part of his behavior was because of teenage hormones and maybe because he felt more parentified now that their father was gone and she wasn’t able to be home as often. The cook and governess helped, but knowing her son, Minho wasn’t readily willing to receive their help; he’d always had a very “I’ll do it myself” mentality, which was admirable, but she could see how it could cause problems.
“Well, whoever had this idea, I want you all to know that you nearly gave poor Ms.Wimbly a heart attack.” She shook her head, one hand pressed against her forehead. “Poor woman. Anyway, she’s quit. So now I must go find a new nanny for you all.” As much as she loved her boys, she couldn’t get over how mischievous and down right naughty they could be sometimes, especially recently. If she hadn’t had grey hairs prior to her husband’s death, she most certainly had them now because of how much her children stressed her out.
Although, when she thought more on her boys’ behavior, she blamed herself a bit. Since her husband’s death, she hadn’t been as present as she would have liked. Prior to Min-su's death, Soo-min spent day in and out with the children as she hadn’t had a need for a steady job since was the one who brought home the majority of their income. To have that change so suddenly was both a whiplash for her and for the children.
Once their mother had disappeared down the hall, a loud slam of the front door followed shortly after, signaling that she’d left the house. Minho scoffed and chucked the bones of his eaten turkey into the roasting pan. Standing up from his spot, he headed over to one side of the recreation room and opened up an armoire in the room that revealed a board.
“That was a good idea, Hyunjin.” He grabbed the little doll that Felix had made to resemble Ms Wimbly. “Who would have thought that pretending to eat your own brother would have gotten such a rouse?”
“Cannibalism is always a good idea when it comes to extremism.” Hyunjin replied. “Plus, I’m good at being dramatic. It’s in my nature!”
Minho pinned the little doll to the board, mentally calculating how much sooner they'd gotten Ms. Wimbly out the door compared to the other nannies. "That looks like we got her to quit about...two days and five hours earlier than the last. Impressive."
Their mother hadn't been gone more than half an hour before Minho saw her storming up the walkway to the front door through the window. The slam of the door echoed through the halls and all seven of them turned their eyes to the door as they could clearly hear her footsteps pounding up each step. A moment later, the door to the playroom flung open.
"Well, you've got what you wanted," she exclaimed, her frustration straining her voice, on the edge of yelling, on the verge of tears. "The agency has no more nannies. None that are willing to take you lot on anyway. For what you did today, you are to go to bed without dinner."
“No dinner?” Changbin exclaimed, gasping as though he’d just been slapped.
"No dinner!" she exclaimed, adding emphasis to the words. Several of them started to protest, whining, trying to add in their two cents.
Minho would be lying if he said he wasn't pleased that they had managed to go through the entire roster of nannies. That had been their goal all along, after all. Having a nanny, a cook, or a governess wasn't the same--they wanted their mother. She'd been so distant ever since their father had passed. Minho had tried to talk to her, but she was often so busy and wrapped up in other things, adult things, that even seeking his mother's attention wasn't enough. He knew that what they did wasn't helpful in anyway whatsoever, but if it would force her to put her attention on them, then so be it.
As the evening rolled around, the seven of them loitered about in the house aimlessly, like lost sheep. Changbin and Hyunjin probably complained the most out of all of them, thinking that they were going to waste away if they missed a meal. Minho couldn't deny that he was hungry too. Several hours ago, his stomach had started growling, the noise only growing louder and louder as its cries went unanswered. Finally, getting fed up of hearing the monster in his stomach demand food, he got up from the beaten up, well worn arm chair he'd been lounging in, and headed toward the door.
"Where are you going, hyung?" Changbin asked. He'd taken up a position on the floor by the piano, resorting to playing with the pedals out of boredom.
“To the kitchen-”
“But eomma said no dinner,” Hyunjin said, reciting their mother’s words as he sat up from his spot in the window seat.
“I know, I heard her. I don’t know about you lot, but I’m starving and don’t think I’d be able to sleep without dinner. And since we’ll be in the kitchen, why not have some fun? Come and join me?”
“Ooh, fun. I want to play as a cook,” Jisung exclaimed, racing out past Minho.
Felix followed suit. “I want to be a baker!”
As the sun sank below the horizon, the wind swept in a bundle of clouds and the heavens had opened up. All night long it had been pouring buckets, but it was much needed for the flowers and the garden. Soo-min sat at her office desk, trying to get everything into order. Papers from bill companies stared up at her, almost mockingly staring up at her with FINAL NOTICE written in red. She sighed heavily, resting her chin in her hand. Money was starting to become an issue and she couldn't keep ignoring it. Her aunt, as wealthy as she was, had told her that she'd be cut off from financial assistance if she did not remarry soon. Why her marriage status mattered so much to the woman was beyond her, but Soo-min assumed it was because her aunt was so traditional and couldn't see a woman being the breadwinner and head of a household.
She was drawn out of her thoughts, startled by the trilling of the doorbell. Glancing toward the clock, her brow furrowed in confusion. It was a bit late to have a visitor stop by; an hour later and she wouldn't have answered the door at all. Pushing herself to her feet, she exited her office and made her way down the narrow hall to the front door. Through the stained glass window, she could make out the silhouette of a singular person.
As she opened the door, she came face to face with a young man with some rather...unfortunate imperfections on his face. Several large, unsightly moles one next to his nose and another over his left eyebrow. He was dressed all in black, wearing a large trench coat and wide brimmed hat to keep the rain from soaking him. One hand clutched a polished wood cane to which he leaned his weight against, as though it was the only thing keeping him upright.
"Good evening." He gave her a smile, revealing some very yellowed and crooked teeth. From within the depths of his trenchcoat, he produced a small black card and handed it to her. It was a plain black business card in which it had several things written in a gold type. CHRISTOPHER BANG and in smaller letters underneath it read NANNY * CHILD CARETAKER, and below that, a phone number.
Soo-min's eyebrows rose up toward her hairline. “Oh, did the agency send you?” Earlier, when she had headed down the agency, the lady that ran the place had said more or less that Soo-min had exhausted their services and there just wasn't anyone available or anyone that was willing to take on her case.
“I do not work for any agency. I am a government employed child caretaker.”
“Oh, okay...well, normally, aren’t nannies female?” Chan cocked his head to the side, as though expecting her to say something more. Soo-min’s face heated in embarrassment, realizing the statement she made. “Oh, I’m not trying to be rude! I apologize for how that sounded.”
“None taken. I realize that the field is a female dominated area.” He dipped his head and cocked it to the side, questioning. "May I come in?"
"Of course." She stepped aside and allowed him to come in. He took off his hat, shook the rain from its brim and placed it back upon his head. He stepped further into the house, down the narrow hall that opened up to the main staircase. Soo-min followed behind, flustered. She turned on her heel after a step, realizing she hadn’t shut the front door, but as she turned on her heel to get the door, the large wooden thing shut on its own accord. Soo-min turned to face her mysterious guest, who stood in the middle of the foyer, eyeing her patiently. He rested both of his hands on the walking cane that had a carved wood handle to resemble the face of a howling wolf.
“I seen you are in need of my services. I've heard you have been struggling to manage your seven boys.”