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The Kim family was slowly getting used to living in their new house.  Finally, all their beds were intact, and the house was starting to look more like a home.  They’d begun to paint the living room, and younger boys had finally gotten a new mattress.

Their extra bedroom now had Kookie’s toddler bed in it as well as all his clothes and toys.  He didn’t usually sleep in that room, though.  He almost always either found his way into the twins’ bed or had just been there to begin with.

Hobi and Joon were fully enjoying having their own rooms now.  They both had room for all their stuff that had been hard to cram into one bedroom before.

Their living room finally looked like a living room and not just a playroom anymore.  Before, they hadn’t had room for the boys’ toys in their bedrooms.  Now, they had plenty of room for all of them.  The rooms weren’t nearly as cramped now that everyone was split up.  They’d easily been able to put the boys’ dressers into the rooms now that they had two rooms instead of one.

Chaeha and Jin were overjoyed with how big the kitchen and closet were.  Their previous house had had a dinky closet and a kitchen big enough to fit approximately four fully grown adults in it plus maybe a table.  Everyone had always insisted on being in the kitchen all at once, though.  Now that wasn’t such a big deal anymore.

Mornings were far easier now as well.  Even just the small change of having room for everyone in the kitchen at once was enough to make everyone get out of bed faster.  Hobi and Joon didn’t have to fight over who was getting in the shower first, although sometimes they did battle over heated water.

Jimin and Kookie were always fighting over who got to help make breakfast on the days that someone was cooking.  Of course, they always both got to help.

There was one thing in their morning routine that couldn’t be helped.  And that was Tae’s tendency to sleep until twenty minutes before the bus arrived.  Jin was usually dragging him out of bed and shoving whatever breakfast was that morning down his throat before making sure he was dressed and had his bag.

Everyone was always out of the house by seven thirty every morning, Jin being the last out of the house after making sure the three younger boys were on the bus.

Evenings were definitely different as well.  Before, all of the kids were out of school by three, and Jin and Chaeha were both home around five.  Then they’d make dinner or order takeout and eat together as a family before spending the rest of the evening doing whatever they wanted.

Now, Hobi and Joon had both gotten jobs at the smoothie shop, so they both worked from six to nine three nights a week.  It didn’t change anyone’s nights too much, but it was odd to only have five of them in the house for most of evening.

Hobi and Joon were definitely enjoying working at the smoothie shop.  It was nice to get out of the house for something that wasn’t homework related.  And Hobi had taken a liking to one of the girls who was working with them.

“Hey, Hobi.”

Hobi looked up.  December was tapping him on the shoulder.

“You’re working the register tonight.  Alex called in sick tonight, so it’s just the three of us.”

Hobi nodded.  He was a bit disappointed.  December and Joon were both making the smoothies tonight.

That evening dragged on.  Hobi worked the register while Joon and December laughed and chatted.

“Hi, Hobi!”

Hobi looked up at the girl standing in front of him.  Her blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail.  It was Kyleigh.

“I thought you preferred coffee.” Hobi stated plainly.

“I thought I’d try a smoothie for once.  I heard you and Namjoon were working here.”

“Yup.  Three days a week.  What would you like?”

“What do you recommend?”

“Um…I haven’t had most of the drinks here.”

“Well, what have you had?”

“The strawberry one is ok, I guess.”

“I’ll have that one, then!”

Hobi raised an eyebrow. “All right…”

——————–

That night, Hobi was wiping down the tables when December approached him.

“Great job tonight, Hobi.” She set down a milkshake in front of him. “I know you like chocolate shakes, right?”

Hobi nodded.

“Drink this, then.  Thanks for staying to help clean up.  Usually, I have Alex to help me close.”

Hobi nodded again. “It’s not a problem.  I didn’t have any homework to do tonight.”

“Oh really?  That’s good.  When I was a sophomore, the teachers would dump so much homework on us every week.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Hobi laughed.  He looked up at her.  She was so pretty.  She had brown skin that was a few shades darker than Hobi’s, and today her dark, curly hair was pulled up in a little pouf on the top of her head.  Joon would always tease him for liking her.  She was two years older than them.  But Hobi didn’t care.

“Once you’re done with that table, you can go.  Don’t forget to take your shake.” She smiled at him.

——————–

Hobi walked home that night sipping his shake.  He was jealous of Joon.  He’d been dating Macy for almost a year now.  December probably thought of him as a little boy.  Sure, he was tall, but he still had a baby face and stick thin arms and legs.  He scuffed his shoe against the ground.

The second he walked in the door he was tackled by an eager little boy.

“Hoooobiiii!  You’re home!” Kookie exclaimed.

“Yup.  I’m home.  Are you bored?  Shouldn’t you be playing with the boys?”

“They’re playing Animal Crossing,” Kookie groaned. “It’s no fun!”

“Is Luke not here?”

“No.  His mom said he can’t come.  He’s sick, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Hobi briefly remembered hearing this question answered when only Xander had showed up this afternoon.

“I’m gonna go to my room, ok?  How about you go play with your cars?”

Hobi wandered to his room and plopped down onto his bed after tossing his wallet and phone on his desk.  His empty cup went into the trash as well.  He sighed loudly.  He’d never realized how much crushing on someone sucked until a few weeks ago.  Up until then, he’d lived a happy life as a normal teenager.  Doing homework and babysitting his brothers.

“Hey, Hob.  What’s up?”

Hobi looked up.  Joon was leaning against his door frame.

“The ceiling,” Hobi stated plainly, staring up at said ceiling once again.

“Something happened after I left work, didn’t it?”

“Not really.  Just cleaned some tables is all.”

“Yeah, sure.  You like Ember, don’t you?”

“You’re already on nickname basis with her?” Hobi asked dryly.

“You don’t talk to her much, do you, Hobs?  That’s what everyone calls her.”

Hobi continued to stare at the ceiling.  He really didn’t talk to her much, did he?  He was always too busy staring at her to say anything.

“I have to say, I’ve never seen you this silent in my life.  How long have you liked her for?  A week?”

“Try three.”

Joon snorted. “Love at first sight, then?”

“I guess so.”

“I think you should start talking to her.  She’s a really nice girl, and I doubt your relationship will go anywhere if you don’t become friends first.”

“Was that how it was with Macy?”

“I mean…I guess?  We both just sorta became study partners because no one else wanted to go to the library every day.”

Hobi huffed.  Well, that didn’t help him at all.

——————–

“Summer starts in four weeks!  I can’t wait!” December squealed as she danced around the smoothie shop.  She sighed at kicked the floor, stopping her dance. “I have to start applying for college, though.”

“That sounds tough,” Hobi commented.

“Eh.  Not too hard.  I’m not really sure I want to go to college, though.  I enjoy working here, and there’s nothing I’m passionate about.”

“Really?  Nothing at all?”

“Well, I love dancing, but I see no point in going to college for that.  My parents want me to go into med school – gack – but that’s the last thing I’d go to school for.”

“Oh, I see.”

“What about you?  Do you know what you want to do?”

Hobi thought about it before shaking his head. “Same as you.  I’m into dancing.  I’m not sure my parents could afford to send me to college, anyways.  They both make average wage and we just bought a new house.  Plus, I have four siblings.  And I’m sure there’ll be at least one more.”

“You have four siblings?” December asked, shocked. “And I thought one was a lot.”

“Yeah, there’s me and Joon, and then Jimin and Tae, who are seven, and Kookie is five.  My dad just got remarried last summer, and my stepmom loves kids.  She’s definitely going to want one of her own.”

“Oh, well that’s cute.  You’ll definitely have a full house soon.  Is it overwhelming?”

Hobi shrugged. “Not really.  I’m used to it, though.  Our house has been constantly changing since I was six, so there was never really a ‘normal.’”

“Namjoon mentioned you guys moved here from South Korea.  When you were six, right?  I’ve never even left the country, so I can’t imagine moving over an ocean.  How was it?”

“Um…I don’t remember much, honestly.  I remember being scared of the airplane.  And we had to take a long road trip to get here.  But that’s about it,” Hobi chuckled. “Our life didn’t get too crazy until the younger twins were born.  That’s when my dad started working from home and my mom started working.  I think four kids was too much for her,” he admitted. “And then she left right after Kookie was born.  It’s been different ever since.  I get that it was hard on her, but why did she have to leave like that?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Hobi.” December sighed. “I can’t even imagine what I’d do if my mom left.”

“Just consider yourself lucky that you don’t have to.”

A customer walked in for the first time in a half an hour, so their conversation was cut short.  But Hobi was glad he’d taken Joon’s advice.  Maybe talking to December wasn’t so hard after all.