"How's Jiyoung doing?"
Ms. Park looked sad for a moment. "He fell ill last summer. He's been in a coma since the fall." She looked back to the young boy now in the kitchen. "That's my grandson, Suho. I've been raising him for years in place of my son, but the news of his father has hit him quite hard." 
"I'm sorry that happened to you, Ms. Park."Taeyong placed his hands on top of Ms. Park's who looked well composed given what was going on in her life. "Jiyoung and Eunji always took care of me when we were younger, so if there is anything I can do for your family, I will." 
Ms. Park watched Suho once again. "I just want Suho to live happy. He's been through a lot with his mom, and now his father too. He's had to grow up at such a young age." She sighed and looked back to him. "He's even spending his time here helping me instead of studying."
And with that, Suho brought over the order for Taeyong. He went to go back, but Taeyong stopped him. "Suho?" 
The boy turned around, a clear sadness behind his eyes much like his grandma. "Over the summer, my company offers scholarships and internships to students. If you apply and meet the requirements, pass the scans, I'll be sure to accept you, alright? I owe it to your father."
"What are the requirements?" 
"You need to be staying with someone in Seoul, and you need to maintain a GPA above a 3.0. Other than that, anything you can add to the resume is helpful. You could even put working here on that." 
Suho bowed deeply. "Thank you for the opportunity, sir." The boy went returned to his work.
Ms. Park held Taeyong's hands in her own. "Thank you for your kindness." 
"Thank you for yours." 
It was completely dark out by the time he returned to his house, and he could hear Mark snoring lightly on the couch when he got in. 
He set the food on the coffee table and placed the blanket over the younger before going to head upstairs.
"Taeyong?" Mark said softly. "Where'd you go?" 
Taeyong came back down and sat on the couch beside Mark. "To get you food. I got a little tied up while talking, sorry."
"Sorry I called you ridiculous," Mark said softly. 
Taeyong smiled to himself as Mark began unpacking the food. "Do you wanna watch a movie?" 
Mark shrugged, setting out what he seemed to want to eat. "I'm not in the mood for a movie, but we can watch one if that's what you want."
"What about stories? We each can share stories or memories from before we met...?" Mark nodded eagerly at the idea. "Why don't you start first?" 
Mark thought about it for a few moments before lighting up. "When I was in college, I had met this older guy in the dorms, Josh. We were both from North America so we hit it off almost immediately. We were talking and I found out that he was visiting a friend in the dorm, and he told me I should talk to him, said that we would get along well before going out separate ways. Low and behold the person he sent me to see was Vernon, and Seungkwan, who was also visiting at the time. Vernon, Seungkwan, and I hit off even faster and we made a pact to stay friends when Vernon left the college to follow Seungkwan and his other friends to become idols. History of my best friends I guess."
"That's nice. I met Vernon that one time, right?" 
Mark hummed along in return. "Alright I told my story, you tell yours."
Taeyong thought for a few moments before shrugging. "Who do you want to hear about?"
"Go down the line," Mark offered, "you left off with Jeno and Jaemin."
"The next person would have been... Kun? He came from China as a potential business partner, and we worked purely as business associates for quite a while. He's sharp so he found out about everything quickly, but abstained from joining."  Taeyong paused for a moment. "Next would have been Taeil... Things were an absolute mess when he came. Doyoung was doing all that stuff with Jungwoo, but he was also involving Taeil with himself. Johnny and Taeil were a thing for a hot moment too. Then Doyoung confessed to him and shit hit the fan from that point. We all came together and sat him down, told him the truth, made the offer. He didn't take it well. He lost his shit and ran off. Then in his absence came Ten and Yuta, who were foreign college students, interning for a while-"
Mark waved his hands across his face. "I'm sorry what?" 
Taeyong laughed lightly and smiled. "Our past is checkered. It's had it's ups and downs, but we're all here now!" Taeyong's smile was even brighter than it was before.
Until his phone began buzzing with a call. He looked puzzled for a moment before picking it up. "Kun? Is everything alright?"