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They were officially moving.  Jin and Chaeha had considered it for a few months, and they had realized their house was getting far too small.  Both of the boys’ rooms were very cramped, and they were sure they’d need room to grow.

They’d found a house they liked.  It had five bedrooms and four bathrooms.  Which was definitely something they needed.  There was already a war over the two bathrooms they had, and it was bound to get worse the older the younger boys got.

There was just one problem with this house.  Bigger meant more expensive.  And with just the two of them working, it would be hard to swing.  Especially since they were raising five boys.

——————–

“Hey, Appa, how do you feel about me and Joon getting a job at that smoothie shop down the road?”

“You want a job?”

“Well, we talked about it, and since Eomma left you’ve been working a lot to feed all of us.  A little more money couldn’t hurt, right?”

“No.  It wouldn’t.  When did the two of you discuss this?”

“Uh…last night.  Joon overheard you and Mom talking about how getting a new house would be a huge cost.  I figured…the two of us could pitch in now.  We’re both old enough to get a job, and we’ll have our licenses in the summer.  It just seemed like a good idea.”

Jin smiled.  He’d raised them well.

“You’re excited to move, aren’t you?”

Hobi nodded. “Sharing a room is a bit…cramped now.  And this house isn’t big enough to contain all of Kookie’s energy anymore.”

Jin laughed. “You’re right about that.  Guess we’re buying a new house, then!”

The next day, Hobi and Joon walked down to the smoothie shop for interviews.  There was a spring in their step as they considered finally having rooms of their own.

——————–

Now they had a lot of packing to do.  Being a family of seven now, they had a lot of stuff.  They’d collected all the boxes they could find, asking around if anyone had some, and saving every single one they got a package in.

Most of the clothes and toys went first.  They could survive on four outfits each, right?  They were also in the middle of a school year right now, so all the boys but Kookie had school or homework until late.  They only needed a few toys to keep him occupied.  Most of the time he was rolling around on the carpet, anyways.

They started going through the attic next.  There was so much stuff up there that no one had seen in years.  They got rid of quite a few things that weren’t needed anymore.

Little by little, everything was packed into boxes up until moving day.  To say the boys were excited was an understatement.  Jin was a little sad to say goodbye to the house.  They’d lived here since they’d first moved to America.  But it was time to go now.  It had been a good size when they only had two little kids, and was still ok when they had two babies, and then three.  But now they had two teenagers and three little boys who soon wouldn’t be so little anymore.  They needed a bigger space for all of them.  Not to mention Chaeha was now in the mix.

Tae and Kookie were both sad that they wouldn’t get to see Xander and Luke as often now.  Their mother promised they could still visit on weekends, but the boys were both sad to be losing their first playmates.

Moving day turned out to be ever so slightly chaotic.  Kookie wanted to see every square inch of the truck, and Tae was crying because they weren’t taking their fridge.  Jimin, as always, was being the silent child and helping carry the lightest boxes he could find.

Joon and Hobi had somehow convinced one of their older friends to bring his dad’s truck to help move stuff.  Jin had told them the only things that kid would be helping them move were Hobi and Joon’s stuff.  He didn’t want anything going missing and having to blame it on the kid.

It took them nearly the entire day, but eventually, everything was at their new house.  Everyone was exhausted, and Jin was most definitely ordering pizza for dinner.  Probably four pizzas, at that.  And some breadsticks.

Over an hour and a half later, when everyone was filled with pizza and all the boxes were somewhere in the house, Hobi and Joon’s friend said farewell and left.  Now they had to deal with unpacking everything.

The first course of action was to make sure everyone had a bed that was intact and had blankets and a mattress.  They’d start there for tonight.  They had two couches and a recliner in the living room, so really if they only got two beds made, they’d be ok for the night.  So, they started with Jin and Chaeha’s bed.  They assembled the bed frame before dragging the mattress into the room.  It was good enough for now.

They needed to make the younger twins’ bed next.  That one took even longer.  They had two mattresses that went on that bed, because Jin had bought the younger twins one to share when Kookie had been born, and then someone had gifted him another one when Yeong had left.  He should probably put a new mattress on his list of things he needed to buy.

Once that bed was together, everyone was about five seconds from falling asleep on their feet.  It had been a busy day.  Hobi and Joon decided it wasn’t worth the effort to put their beds together tonight, so they both opted for a couch.  Jin tossed a sheet over the twin’s mattress and gave each of the three boys a blanket and a stuffed animal to sleep with.  It was good enough for tonight.

Jin and Chaeha settled into their own bed that night thoroughly exhausted.

“Did you see the closet?” Chaeha asked. “It’s so big!”

Jin laughed. “It is.  Are you happy we moved?”

“Of course.  Honesty, your house was cramped before I even moved in.  Adding me made it all the more cramped.”

“Yeah.  I think Hobi and Joon are excited to have their own room finally.  They’ve always shared a room.  When we first moved into that house, they wouldn’t sleep by themselves, so they shared the room.  And then by the time they finally decided they wanted their own rooms, Jimin and Tae were in the other room.  I don’t think either of them really wanted to share a room with two babies either,” Jin laughed.

“Do you think the younger boys will be ok?  They’ve lived their entire lives in that house thus far.  I felt so bad that Tae cried when I told him we were leaving the fridge.”

“He gets attached to the weirdest things,” Jin smiled.

“It’s just part of his charm.  He’s very clingy.”

“Yeah.  Jimin seems completely unfazed by the move.  And Kookie…let’s hope he doesn’t break anything in his excitement.”

Chaeha smiled and let out a long yawn. “I think it’s bedtime.”

“Oh yeah definitely.  Today has been a long day.”

“And this week will be a long week.  Hopefully we can unpack everything by next weekend.”

Jin smiled faintly. “I have a feeling sorting the closets will be all-day jobs.  Also-” he was cut off by a yawn. “I need to remember to get the boys a new mattress.  We’ve had those things since they were two, and they’ve both endured much bouncing.”

“That’s just what happens when you have three little boys.  I’m surprised those mattresses aren’t in shreds already.”

Jin shrugged. “It’s a miracle.”

“Should we do any painting?”

Jin groaned. “Oh, don’t even start.  That would take us days.”

Chaeha shrugged. “Better now than never.  Besides, if we have any more kids, we’ll have our hands full and then we definitely won’t be painting any walls.”

“I suppose we could consider it.  But if we do decide to do it, we need to do it before we put any more furniture up.  It would be a hassle to move bookcases and beds once they’re in place.”

Chaeha nodded and yawned again. “Ok, really, bedtime now.”

Jin laughed. “Ok.  Goodnight, darling.  Love you.”

“Love you too…”