"Hello, Ten hyungnim." Jiho bowed very politely and gestured for Tae to do the same but the boy was pale and wobbly still so it was probably not the best move. Ten shook his head and gestured down because Korea was so weird about all these honorifics and stuff.
"Chill, I don't care. I'm not ... not nim." Ten tried to get as concise as he could just to avoid speaking more Korean than he had to. It was tricky. Coming over, he crouched down on their level - mostly Tae's but Jiho was kinda a runty kid - and he held out his hand to stroke both boy's heads instead, a soft smile on his face. "Aww, you're such cuties."
He looked back at Minjun and laughed. "They kinda, sorta look like you. Cutie."
"Well. We are family. You can just call him hyung, it's okay. He's not strict. And they are more relaxed in Thailand."
Thailand? That sparked something in Tae's mind and his eyes widened as he looked up at Ten, holding the Ewok even closed and reaching for his brother's hand. "Do you have an elephant? Cause they have elephants in Thailand!" Looking at Jiho he smiled. "Like the invisible elephants in the corners!"
"No, I don't have an elephant but my grammie, she got me a little stuffed elephant and I have her with me always. She's lying on our bed now." It was true, he always kept that elephant no matter where he went. She was called Elephantie and she was the best elephant ever. "So I guess I have a tiny, baby pocket elephant."
"Not a real elephant." Jiho clarified in case Tae thought pocket sized elephants were real. He held onto Tae's hand and smiled a little.
"I have ducks. Had ducks. I -- my parents have ducks." Ten clarified as he stroked Tae's hair back gently. "What is your favourite animal, sweet boy?"
"TIGERS!" Tae didn't usually get loud, he knew better than that, but the past few days had been so weird and he was still a bit sick and weak and just... Tigers were cool. Still, he covered his mouth, surprised by his own outburst, then continued quieter. "In the Min clan, they fight tigers. And they have them as pets. And I think they'd be soft to pet."
"The Min clan is another gang," Minjun explained quickly, "They are very old, very powerful, very mysterious. Lots of rumours, myths and legends. Kinda scary."
"One time we went to the zoo with school and it was the best!" Tae was so happy to tell Ten all about it. "I saw a tiger. Soooo close. I think he saw me too!"
"Oh, gotcha. More gangs." Ten nodded along and then looked at Tae, gasping a little and playing up his reactions because clearly Tae was very eager to share and he wanted to encourage that. And maybe get both boys to relax. Jiho was so tense watching them, Ten almost felt bad for being near Tae. "Tigers are cool. I've seen many before. We have a place in Thailand called Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary and it has many tigers."
And Ten's family donated generously to them. "There's not many Indochinese tigers left so we have to protect them, yes?" He smiled at Tae and ruffled his hair. "We don't fight tigers, we can just love them."
"Yes! Though tigers are dangerous, so you can't cuddle them," Tae shared his wisdom freely, nodding his head as he cuddled the Ewok in his arms instead. "Maybe Min Yoongi-nim could cuddle a tiger. Cause he's scarier." Huh. He looked at Jiho for confirmation. "Do you think he could?"
"Rival clan leader," Minjun supplied helpfully, laughing a little as he sat down next to them all and smiled at Jiho. "You still talk about the Min clan, huh? Back in the day, Kangwoo and I wanted to go and find the tiger pits."
"No, tigers aren't something you can cuddle. Not even Min Clan could." He doubted they even fought them, seemed like bullshit to Jiho. He rolled his eyes and then put an arm around Tae. "We do sometimes, yeah... They're kinda interesting but I don't think they wrestle tigers or anything. Do they?"
As the two boys discussed tiger fights, Ten got comfortable in his seat and then gently prompted Tae to come closer, sitting the boy down in his lap and cuddling him. "You can sit with Ten-hyung, yes? I hear you've been sick so you need extra cuddles."
"Probably not. The way their ranks work, they call the higher ranked ones tigers. So I figure it might have something to do with that?" Minjun shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure though. I know Min Yoongi, he's... I think he's around Kangwoo's age and I met him when we were little. I told you, Kangwoo was just a child then, like anyone. We played. Min Yoongi? Nah. Never even saw him smile. They are creepy, the Min clan. Maybe they wrestle tigers."
Tae wasn't listening, because there were cuddles happening. He was beaming. "Usually cuddles are secret. But Jiho-hyung always cuddles me when we get time alone, cause he says I'm a little piece of eomma and when we hug, it makes her happy. My eomma was nice! I didn't get to be friends with her, but hyungie was really, really good friends."
"Kangwoo-hyungnim said that Min Yoongi-nim would kill us if he ever got close." And Jiho believed that, which is why whenever he saw him at parties, he made a weird high pitched noise and ran away with Tae. They spent a lot of parties hiding under tables, admittedly. Tae loved it, he treated it like camping.
"Cuddles are never secret with me. I'd cuddle you any time." Ten assured Tae as he petted his hair gently and smiled down at him. "I'm glad you and Jiho are close, having a good hyung is important. It's good to have family to rely on." Even if his oldes tbrother was an asshat.
"I doubt he'd kill you for no reason... the Min clan doesn't do that. But you're probably better off avoiding him anyway." Because that didn't make the Min clan any less creepy in his experience. Anyway, he wanted his little cousins safe. "But don't believe everything your hyung told you either. He's not always right."
"My hyung is the best hyung! He is really smart and he plays with me and I tell him stories and he doesn't yell." What a great hyung. Still, Tae held up the plushie he was holding a bit. "My Kangwoo-hyungnim gave me that.... It's an Ewok."
"An ewok? That's nice. Too bad he had to throw you to give it to you but hey." He hated that little bitch and if he ever threw this tiny boy again, he was so talking Minjun into killing him and taking over. How hard could it be? They could do it. Who needed to graduate high school when you could rule Seoul?
Jiho watched Ten cuddle his brother and then looked at Minjun curiously. His cousin had changed so much, he kept changing all the time. "Are you and Ten gonna marry and stuff?"
"We are planning on it. But, you know, we've got time. I just graduated, Ten still has to finish school..." Although since he did most of his coursework via the internet and special tutors, he could probably finish soon enough if he really had to. "He has a lot of plans for our wedding though, don't you, bae?"
Tae giggled, hugging the ewok close again. "I think your wedding is gonna be more fun than the normal ones." He wasn't a big fan of having to sit around and behave for that long. But everything with Minjun-hyung was fun! He was soooo weird, Tae loved it.
"It'll be expensive. I'm going to ask for a student loan from my parents before I tell them." Ten grinned playfully and then booped little Tae's nose. "My eomma and appa are ... old school. They won't be attending my wedding. I'm not heartbroken. Maybe I can hire parents." That'd be funny! Oh man, now he wanted to it. He could have such beautiful parents. He grinned at Minjun.
"Hopefully we can ease up the exile and have your parents there too?"
"Or we marry in the US. Thailand. Wherever the hell you want." Minjun laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll figure it out. Figure out what will happen here, too." There was a lot to figure out, but that could wait. He hoped.
"Hyungnim says that you wanna take everything away from him..." Tae frowned. "It's making him all angry. Do you wanna?"
"...not really, no." Complicated. So very complicated. "Hey, have you two ever eaten Thai food?"
"No." Jiho shook his head, unsure and full of questions but he knew by now when he shut up and not ask. He was a smart boy.
"That's fine, you don't need to know." Ten dismissed as he stood up, lifting Tae with some extra effort. He was a heavy kid but it wasn't too much to handle. He carried heavier in his work outs. "Come on, we're gonna go make Pad Krapow Moo Saap." It was the least spicy dish he could think of. "I'll make lots of it so you have leftovers too."
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"Chill, I don't care. I'm not ... not nim." Ten tried to get as concise as he could just to avoid speaking more Korean than he had to. It was tricky. Coming over, he crouched down on their level - mostly Tae's but Jiho was kinda a runty kid - and he held out his hand to stroke both boy's heads instead, a soft smile on his face. "Aww, you're such cuties."
He looked back at Minjun and laughed. "They kinda, sorta look like you. Cutie."
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Thailand? That sparked something in Tae's mind and his eyes widened as he looked up at Ten, holding the Ewok even closed and reaching for his brother's hand. "Do you have an elephant? Cause they have elephants in Thailand!" Looking at Jiho he smiled. "Like the invisible elephants in the corners!"
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"Not a real elephant." Jiho clarified in case Tae thought pocket sized elephants were real. He held onto Tae's hand and smiled a little.
"I have ducks. Had ducks. I -- my parents have ducks." Ten clarified as he stroked Tae's hair back gently. "What is your favourite animal, sweet boy?"
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"The Min clan is another gang," Minjun explained quickly, "They are very old, very powerful, very mysterious. Lots of rumours, myths and legends. Kinda scary."
"One time we went to the zoo with school and it was the best!" Tae was so happy to tell Ten all about it. "I saw a tiger. Soooo close. I think he saw me too!"
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And Ten's family donated generously to them. "There's not many Indochinese tigers left so we have to protect them, yes?" He smiled at Tae and ruffled his hair. "We don't fight tigers, we can just love them."
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"Rival clan leader," Minjun supplied helpfully, laughing a little as he sat down next to them all and smiled at Jiho. "You still talk about the Min clan, huh? Back in the day, Kangwoo and I wanted to go and find the tiger pits."
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As the two boys discussed tiger fights, Ten got comfortable in his seat and then gently prompted Tae to come closer, sitting the boy down in his lap and cuddling him. "You can sit with Ten-hyung, yes? I hear you've been sick so you need extra cuddles."
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Tae wasn't listening, because there were cuddles happening. He was beaming. "Usually cuddles are secret. But Jiho-hyung always cuddles me when we get time alone, cause he says I'm a little piece of eomma and when we hug, it makes her happy. My eomma was nice! I didn't get to be friends with her, but hyungie was really, really good friends."
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"Cuddles are never secret with me. I'd cuddle you any time." Ten assured Tae as he petted his hair gently and smiled down at him. "I'm glad you and Jiho are close, having a good hyung is important. It's good to have family to rely on." Even if his oldes tbrother was an asshat.
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"My hyung is the best hyung! He is really smart and he plays with me and I tell him stories and he doesn't yell." What a great hyung. Still, Tae held up the plushie he was holding a bit. "My Kangwoo-hyungnim gave me that.... It's an Ewok."
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Jiho watched Ten cuddle his brother and then looked at Minjun curiously. His cousin had changed so much, he kept changing all the time. "Are you and Ten gonna marry and stuff?"
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Tae giggled, hugging the ewok close again. "I think your wedding is gonna be more fun than the normal ones." He wasn't a big fan of having to sit around and behave for that long. But everything with Minjun-hyung was fun! He was soooo weird, Tae loved it.
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"Hopefully we can ease up the exile and have your parents there too?"
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"Hyungnim says that you wanna take everything away from him..." Tae frowned. "It's making him all angry. Do you wanna?"
"...not really, no." Complicated. So very complicated. "Hey, have you two ever eaten Thai food?"
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"That's fine, you don't need to know." Ten dismissed as he stood up, lifting Tae with some extra effort. He was a heavy kid but it wasn't too much to handle. He carried heavier in his work outs. "Come on, we're gonna go make Pad Krapow Moo Saap." It was the least spicy dish he could think of. "I'll make lots of it so you have leftovers too."