For all that his little brother had been annoying little brat sometimes back before he became a trainee, Dongmin loved Donghwi to pieces. Which is why his heart nearly burst out of his chest with happiness and excitement when the manager told him that yes, he could go home for New Year’s Eve, because Donghwi had just gotten back from studying abroad in China and Dongmin hadn’t gotten to see him or the rest of his family for far too long.

He spent the entire evening simply catching up with his mom and dad and listening to Donghwi’s stories about China. It was so nice, to be back in his childhood home, surrounded by his family, with the attention completely off of his idol life. It was freeing in a way that Dongmin relished, and his life felt normal for a moment. For a moment, he ignored the fact that the day after tomorrow he’d be back at the company building, training without reprieve for the final Autumn Story fansigns and upcoming concerts and their rapidly approaching one year anniversary.

Instead, Dongmin let himself pretend that this was his normal life- talking with his little brother, sitting at the table eating his mother’s kimchi fried rice while his dad laughed at something his mother had muttered under her breath.

For longer than a moment, it was easy. But there would be moments when someone at the table would say something, and Dongmin found himself waiting to hear Jinwoo’s bad wordplay off of it. When he went to the bathroom, it was startling to find it pristine, without five different body washes and shampoo lining the floor of the shower. When they had finished eating and begun washing up, Dongmin found himself straining to hear Minhyuk singing over the washing of dishes, even though he knew Minhyuk wasn’t there.

“Are you alright, hyung?” Donghwi suddenly asked.

Dongmin jerked out of his thoughts, suddenly brought back to the present where he was elbow deep in soapy water and Donghwi was standing next to him. “Yeah,” Dongmin said, shaking himself. “Just got distracted.”

Donghwi grinned at him, taking the clean bowl that Dongmin offered and beginning to dry it. “So you heard all about my adventures,” he said, wiping it carefully and then setting the bowl on the counter. “What about you? How has Cha Eunwoo been?”

A hailstorm of emotions immediately came to mind, all trying to assert their dominance as Dongmin hummed. “The best word is probably busy,” he said finally, rinsing another bowl and passing it to his younger brother.

“You can say that again,” Donghwi said, his grin stretching a little wider as he dried. “I tried to keep up with you guys while I was studying, but the whole YouTube being blocked thing made it a little difficult.”

Smiling, Dongmin continued scrubbing at the dishes. “We did a lot,” he said. “I’ve done so much more than I ever could have imagined.”

“You met Yoo Jaesuk, didn’t you?”

A grin stretched over Dongmin’s face. “Yeah,” he said. “He’s really cool.”

Donghwi sighed. “Ah, I’m jealous,” he said dramatically. “My older brother is so cool and famous.”

“Shut up,” Dongmin said, bumping the younger boy with his hip and sticking his tongue out when Donghwi only laughed.

“Okay, okay,” Donghwi said. He took another dish from Dongmin and started drying it. They finished the dishes with meaningless chatter, teasing each other back and forth. Dongmin’s heart felt full and happy- but, he realized, it wasn’t a feeling that he’d been missing. It was the same kind of happiness that he got from spending time with the other members of Astro. It was the feeling of giddy excitement that happened in waiting rooms when they filmed with DDOCA, it was the same kind of quiet contentedness that he got eating late night ramen after a busy schedule with Bin and Minhyuk, it was the heart-lifting joy that he got from watching Myungjun and Sanha bicker back and forth until Jinwoo made them stop.

The members, Dongmin realized, weren’t just his other members. They were his family, as much as his parents and Donghwi were.

This thought occurred to Dongmin in the living room, as his parents were pouring champagne to toast with when the new year rolled in. He and Donghwi were each given a glass (Donghwi’s was a smaller portion than the rest of them), and together they shouted down the countdown and cheered when the clock clicked over to midnight. He and Donghwi screeched when their parents kissed, and then their mother pulled both of them into a tight hug.

“My two boys,” she said, and Dongmin groaned when she started ruffling his hair. “I’m so proud of you both.”

“Mooooom,” Donghwi whined, trying to wiggle away.

Mrs. Lee didn’t let him go far. “My fearless little traveler,” she cooed, letting go of Dongmin and using both hands to capture Donghwi’s face and bring him near enough to start smacking loud kisses all over his cheeks and forehead. Dongmin and his dad laughed as Donghwi shrieked, his wriggling beginning again with renewed energy. He was released with a laugh, and then Mrs. Lee turned towards Dongmin.

“And you,” she said, sticking her arms out and placing her hands on either side of Dongmin’s face. “My soda bottle son that came out of a comic book.”

Dongmin groaned. “Moooom,” he said, but there was a laugh in his voice even as his mother dragged him down so that she could kiss his cheeks.

The laughter and cheek kissing was interrupted when Dongmin’s phone suddenly went off. Wiggling out of his mother’s grasp, he pulled it out of his pocket and was greeted with a picture of Bin while a request for a video call danced across his screen.

Dongmin looked at his mom. She was still smiling at him. “Go on,” she said. “Answer it. Let me tell Binnie and the others happy new year.”

With a grin, Dongmin accepted the call. “Binnie!” he said, and then held the phone back so that all of his family members could be seen (including Donghwi, who had slunk back over when he decided he was no longer in danger of being kissed). “Happy new year!” they chorused.

“Happy new year, Mr. and Mrs. Lee!” Bin said immediately, bowing as much as he could while holding his phone up to video. Bin looked like he was in one of the hallways of the Fantagio building. “Dongminnie, we’re on VApp- Aroha is asking for you. Do you want to go on?”

Dongmin was silent for a moment. He’d known that they would probably be doing a broadcast, especially since all the other members had stayed at the company building instead of going home to welcome the new year. “Um,” he said, glancing towards his parents.

His dad made the decision for him. “Go on, Dongmin,” he said, clapping Dongmin on the shoulder. “You can’t leave fans waiting.”

Dongmin bit his lip, ready to protest-

“Don’t worry, Minnie,” his mother said, before he could open his mouth. “Your members deserve to see your face on New Years’, just like we do. You want to talk to them, go on.”

His parents’ encouragement and support, as always, overwhelmed Dongmin. Perhaps the champagne had more alcohol than he had realized, because he suddenly found his throat a little choked with emotion as he bowed to his parents and quickly walked towards his room.

“We got a big cake,” Bin told him as Dongmin closed the door and settled on the bed. “I’ll try to save you some, but I think they’ve already eaten like half of it.”

“And exactly how much did you eat, Binnie?” The pout he received in response was answer enough to make Dongmin laugh loudly, and his grin was still stretched over his face when Bin walked back into the room where the rest of the members were.

Dongmin spent the next period of time laughing and talking to his second family, their words a jumbled mess as they all talked over one another and tried to read fan comments at the same time. Too quickly, it was time for him to go, and he said goodbye to Bin as they hung up the video call.

When it was done, Dongmin flopped down on his bed, letting his phone rest on his chest as he thought about Myungjun and Jinwoo and Bin and Minhyuk and Sanha.

He loved every single one of them with his whole heart.

Myungjun and Jinwoo were his hyungs. They took care of him- he’d not had hyungs before them, not ones that were close like Myungjun and Jinwoo were. Even though sometimes they acted like the youngest members in the group, Jinwoo was leader for a reason- Dongmin could depend on him with his life, and knew that Jinwoo would always go out of his way to support him. Myungjun was unfailingly bright, even in the darkest times. There would never be a day that Dongmin would see Myungjun and be able to go without smiling.

Bin was his friend. Barely a junior, close enough to ignore their and speak informally. Never before had Dongmin felt so close to someone, in a different way than he could be close to his hyungs or his younger brother or the younger members. Bin’s loyalty knew no bounds, and Dongmin knew their bond would last for the rest of his life.

He’d gained two more younger brothers in the crazy ride that had been the past few years. Minhyuk and Sanha were as dear to him as Donghwi, and Dongmin would go to the ends of the earth to care for and defend them. Minhyuk was far more skilled in so many areas of idol life than Dongmin, but even still, he could feel the way Minhyuk looked up to him. Sanha was so young, and Dongmin wanted nothing more than to help and see him grow up well.

A knock on his bedroom door forced Dongmin out of his thoughts. “Hyung!” Donghwi said, opening the door without waiting for Dongmin’s answer. “Mom’s taking out the rice cakes!” With that, his little brother disappeared from the door frame.

Dongmin let a smile grow on his face as he stood up and moved towards the living room.

He had two families. They were two very different families, but families nonetheless. And Dongmin wouldn’t change any of it for the world.