genre: slight angst, fluff
summary: felix stands up for benji after his cousins make fun of his voice crack
age: Lee Benji = 14 / Joey Bang = 20 / Leo & Dan Bang = 18 / Seo Haein = 17 / Hwang Hyungsik = 16 / Hwang Jinyong = 14 / Yang Jitae = 13 / Lee Mingi = 12
warnings: voice breaks, male puberty, swearing
“Joey-hyung! Uncle Chan! I’m here!” Benji called.
“We’re all in the living room!” Joey exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the game on the TV.
“I am also here,” Felix said, making his way into the living room, “Joey, can’t believe you’re—”
“Don’t even try and talk to him, he’s not listening,” Chan sighed.
“Ya! Ya! Hyung!” Haein shouted, “kill him! Kill! Now! Shoot!”
“Seo Haein, shut up,” Changbin called from the kitchen.
Benji laughed, “Hyung, you’re 17 and you’re still being told off by your dad!”
Benji froze, the word ‘off’ having cracked, sliding up uncontrollably in pitch.
“Benji!” Hyungsik laughed, “your voice! Oh my god.”
Mingi, burst out in giggles, Benji looking at him angrily as all the boys’ dads walked back in the room.
“Shut up! You’re pre-pubescent anyway!” he retaliated, looking to Joey for help.
But the 20-year-old was laughing away, shoving Haein as Haein repeated the sentence Benji had said, mocking the crack.
“Hyung,” Benji whined, his voice cracking again, making him flush red, hiding his face.
“Hyung!” Leo teased, mimicking Benji’s voice, “you may as well be saying Oppa.”
“Leo, stop being a dick,” Chan scolded, glaring at his son.
“Yeah, Leo,” Danny laughed, his twin shoving him, making him fall onto the floor.
For a moment, the attention was on him, before Jinyong turned to Benji and laughed.
“Don’t worry, it ends one day,” he said in mock-sympathy, Jinyong’s deep voice seeming to anger Benji even more, not that he could say anything.
“Hyung, are you—” Jitae started, though he couldn’t finish, Benji storming out the living room and into Joey’s bedroom, one of the most familiar places in the house.
“Ya, you really are all stupid teenage boys now, huh?” Felix tutted, “Joey, you’re 20, and you were laughing at a 14-year-old boy’s voice breaking?”
“Uncle Felix,” Joey whined, “come on, it was a little bit funny.”
“No it wasn’t,” Felix sighed, “most of you have been through it, you know that teenage boys are like ‘don’t even look at me or I’ll kill myself’ and you make that much of a deal about a voice break?”
“We were just joking,” Jinyong pouted.
Felix raised his eyebrows, “you’re the same age, Yong.”
“I know, it was shitty,” Leo cried.
“Leo, shut up,” Danny sighed, “you were the worst.”
“You were,” Joey nodded in agreement.
“Okay, but technically Mingi started it,” Hyungsik shrugged.
“Hyungsik,” Hyunjin sighed, “don’t pin it on people, you all laughed.”
“It sounded funny,” Mingi shrugged.
Minho shrugged too, “to be fair, he is younger.”
“But still,” Felix went on, “guys, that wasn’t cool, from any of you.”
“Do you know where he went?” Jinyong asked.
The boys all shrugged, but Joey sighed, standing up, “I know. I’ll go.”
“I get it, Uncle. And I’m sorry, but I don’t think he wants his dad right now,” Joey nodded, running up the stairs, to his bedroom.
“I hate having an adult son,” Chan sighed, walking back to the kitchen, the rest of the dads doing the same, glaring at their sons on the way out.
“Benji?” Joey called, knocking on his bedroom door, “can I come in?”
Benji hummed, Joey chuckling slightly as he opened the door, smiling at the boy sat on his bed.
“I’m sorry,” Joey sighed, pulling out the chair from under his desk and sitting on it, “that was really shitty.”
Benji hummed in agreement.
“You can talk. It won’t happen everytime, you know.”
“I know, hyung! I have been going through it for a while now!” Benji exclaimed, his braces making him speak with a slight lilt.
“I know,” Joey sighed, “Benji, you’re really fucking cool, you know that right? Cooler than Jiyong. It doesn’t matter that he has a deeper voice than you.”
“Everyone’s always said that I’m gonna have this cool-ass, deep voice like my dad and all I’ve got now is this squeaky girl voice,” Benji cried.
“Yeah, because you’re going through puberty,” Joey nodded, “and anyway, your dad doesn’t need that voice to be cool, he just is cool. He gave us a talk about how not cool that was, but he just was cool, even though he was telling me off.”
Benji scoffed, “says you. Your dad is like, what? 45? And he’s got one of the best bodies.”
“41, actually,” Joey whispered, “he’d get really mad if he heard you say that.”
Benji laughed, Joey chuckling alongside.
“You don’t have to be everything now, Benji,” Joey laughed, “people who peak at 14 are the worst people in life.”
Benji laughed, “I know. I’m just tired.”
Joey sighed, “me too, fucking hell, I’ve been tired consistently for the past 20 years. Let me tell you, that never gets easier.”
Benji giggled, Joey smiling.
“Leo’s a dick, though, right?” Joey said.
