Tao's Point Of View-

When I woke up this morning, something didn’t feel right. I had a bad headache and my stomach felt queasy. I couldn’t remember much from the night before. I woke up in my bed but I don’t remember coming up to my room. The last thing I remember was hanging out with everyone, and Kai and Kris were there too. I walked downstairs still confused. Kibum and Jonghyun were already downstairs in the kitchen cooking breakfast. I sat down at the table as Kibum placed a glass of orange juice in front of me.

“Good morning Tao. Did you have a good night?” Kibum asked and went back over to where Jonghyun was starting to cook some bacon.

“It was alright, but how did I get up to my room?” I asked.

“You fell asleep on the couch around 10:30. You seemed really tired so Kris took you up to your room.” Jonghyun said as he placed a strip of bacon on the pan.

“Did he also change my clothes?” I asked remembering that I was wearing my clothes yesterday and not my pajamas.

“No, I did that.” Kibum said.

Soon after that, the smell of bacon drifted over to my direction. But instead of having the usual feeling I get when I smelled the bacon, I felt like I was about to get sick. I placed one hand on my mouth and the other on my stomach. Neither Kibum nor Jonghyun were facing me luckily. I stood up from my chair and excused myself.

“I’m sorry guys. I’m not very hungry this morning, so I’m going to pass up on breakfast.” I said and left the room.

I went back up to my room and laid down on my bed. The last thing I wanted to do was get sick and worry everyone. I waited until my stomach calmed down before getting up to get dressed. It was strange though. I loved bacon and feeling nauseous from just smelling it never happened before. Maybe I was coming down with the flu or something.

“Tao, are you almost ready?” Kibum asked as he knocked on my door.

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a second.” I said and went over to put on my shoes.

“Okay, we’ll be in the car.” Kibum said then left.

I put my shoes on and grabbed a jacket. I went back downstairs and met everyone at the car. Jonghyun was in the driver’s seat, Kibum was next to him in the passenger seat, and Minho and Onew were in the back seat. I got in the back and sat down beside Onew. Onew watched me as I closed the door and put on my seat belt.

“Good morning Tao.” Onew greeted.

“Good morning.” I said back to him slightly annoyed.

“Are you alright?” Kibum asked.

“I’m fine.” I said annoyed.

“You sound annoyed.” Onew pointed out.

“Because I am.” I said quietly to myself.

“What did you say?” Onew asked.

“Nothing.” I said and smiled an annoyed smile at him.

I wasn’t feeling well, Onew annoys me, I was hungry. I wasn’t in the best mood. I didn’t mean to sound annoyed I just didn’t want to deal with him this morning. Jonghyun started the car and backed out of the driveway. Kibum started a conversation about someone I didn’t know. Someone by the name of Hyunsik was going to be visiting next weekend. Apparently, this guy was a mutual friend of Lay’s also. Hyunsik was also a doctor and went to America to study for about a year. Kibum said that he will be coming back next week.

When we got to the school, Jonghyun parked the car and we all got out. We walked together up to the school then parted ways. Onew and I were the only ones left since he insisted that he would walk me with me until he got to his since his class was close to mine. As we were walking, I felt Onew trying to get closer to me. Then I felt his hand brush up against mine. I quickly tried to move my hand away but Onew wrapped his hand around my wrist.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled and jerked my hand away.

“Woah! Tao when did you start acting all feisty?” Baekhyun asked as he walked over to us.

“He’s been like this all morning. Moody and mean.” Onew said.

“What’s wrong Tao? You’re acting like a pregnant women. All moody and stuff. Next thing we know, he’s going to have morning sickness.” Baekhyun said then both Onew and Baekhyun start to laugh.

But the next thing I knew, I was running down the hall to the nearest bathroom. I pushed open the door and ran into one of the stalls. I was glad I made it to the toilet before throwing up. The tile on the floor were cold against my legs as I continued to get sick. My body was burning as I felt sweat run down my forehead. After a moment I finally calmed down. I flushed the toilet and sat down to try and cool down.

“Tao? Are you in there?” I heard Baekhyun ask from the other side of the stall door.

I stood up and opened the door. Baekhyun was standing right before me frozen in shock as he saw me. I walked past him over to the sinks.

“Are you alright? You’re pale and you’re sweating too.” Baekhyun said worried about me.

“I’m alright. I wasn’t feeling well this morning and it kind of just hit me all of a sudden.” I said and went to rinse my mouth out with some water.

“Do you think you should go to the clinic? Or maybe go home and rest?” Baekhyun asked.

“No, I’m alright now. I’ll just go to class.” I said and went to leave.

“Hey. If you want, after classes finish would you want to go get ice cream? Just the two of us? My treat!” Baekhyun asked excited.

“You’re in luck. I kind of do want ice cream today.” I said and bid Baekhyun goodbye as I headed to my class.

I made it just in time for the teacher wasn’t there yet. I went to my seat and sat down just as he walked in. He went to the front of the room and began class. Within a few minutes my stomach was starting to feel sick again. I raised my hand and asked to be excused to go see the school doctor.

I walked out of the classroom and headed toward the clinic. I knocked on the door when I arrived and then opened it. The lights were turned off and no one seemed to be in. I walked over to the office where sometimes you could find him but the lights were also off there too. I went to turn around to leave.

“Boo!” I jumped at the sound and also to find a sudden person in front of me.But when I calmed down, I wasn’t surprised by who I saw.

“Kim Seokjin!” I yelled.

“Yeah. Yeah. I know. Don’t come up and scare you. You are such a scaredy cat Tao.” He said as he walked over to turn the lights on.

“Where’s your dad?” I asked.

“He’s at a meeting.” Jin answered.

“Then, maybe you could tell me what’s wrong.” I said as I sat down in a chair.

“Wrong with what? Are you not feeling well Zitao?” Jin asked.

“I woke up this morning feeling sick, so I skipped breakfast. Then I came to school and got sick. Now I’m not feeling well again.” I explained.

“So you didn’t eat this morning?” Jin asked.

“No.” I answered.

“And you feel sick now?” He asked.

“I just said I did.”

“Maybe you’re just hungry. You did get sick so maybe you should eat something.”

“Hungry?” I didn’t think of the possibility of being hungry. “What time is it?” I asked.

“About 8:30. Why?” Jin asked.

“It’s still a while until we get a lunch break.” I said.

“Come here.” Jin said and walked over to a cabinet. I got up and followed him. “You shouldn’t eat too much. So I’ll give you a granola bar for right now.” He opened the cabinet and grabbed a box from inside. He then handed me a granola bar from inside the box.

“Thank you.” I thanked him as I unwrapped the granola bar.

“And at lunch, don’t over eat. Okay?” He asked giving me a thumbs up.

“Okay.” I agreed and took a bite of the granola bar.

“If you feel sick again, come down and see us. My dad should be back by 10.”

“Bye Jin.” I said then left the clinic to return to class.

The rest of the day went by without anymore problems. I ate lunch and felt fine after that. As I promised Baekhyun, I met up with him after class to go get ice cream. We went to the regular ice cream shop but decided to stay there to eat it instead of walking around or going to the park.

“How are you feeling since this morning?” Baekhyun asked as we were eating.

“I went down to see Doctor Kim, but he was at a meeting so Jin was there instead. He gave me a granola bar and I was fine after that.” I explained.

“Why a granola bar?”

“My stomach was hurting during class, probably because I was hungry after I got sick.”

“That makes sense. But I’m glad you are feeling better.” Baekhyun said and brought a spoonful of his ice cream to his mouth.

“Me too.” I smiled as I watched him eat the ice cream.

“Tao!” I turned around to see Minho and Taemin walking into the shop.

“Taemin! Are you guys out on a date?” I asked as they walked over to us.

“Yeah. I promised Taeminnie some ice cream if he passed his English test.” Minho explained.

“I’m guessing you passed.” I said looking at Taemin.

“Yep! 100%!” He exclaimed proudly.

Taemin and Minho were one of the cutest couples I had ever seen, along with Kai and Kyungsoo. Minho was a rather protective, bodyguard like kind of person but he was also really quiet and kind of shy, while Taemin was the energetic and charismatic type. Taemin always tried to stay positive and was known for his beautiful, bright smile. You could see just how much they loved each other by the way they looked at each other. It was an amazing thing to see.

“Would you guys like to join us? We are almost done but it would be nice to talk to you guys for a while.” I invited them to sit with us.

“Sure! Is that alright Minho?” Taemin asked Minho.

“Sure. I’ll go get the ice cream. You want the same thing as last time, right?” MInho asked and Taemin nodded his head.

“Do you like ice cream Taemin?” Baekhyun asked.

“Do I ever! I could eat ice cream everyday for every meal!” Taemin explained excited.

I knew where this conversation was headed. Having two ice cream fanatics in one place. It was hard enough having just one, but having two… Baekhyun and Taemin started taking about all the different flavors of ice cream they liked and disliked. Some of the ones they were naming off sounded crazy. Taemin seemed to like the fruit or sweet flavored ones, while Baekhyun liked the cookie and chocolate based ones.

“Tao. What flavors do you like?” Taemin asked trying to bring me into the conversation.

“My favorite is Butter Pecan or Salted Caramel.” I stated.

“I like Butter Pecan too! Oh and Birthday Bash too!” Taemin said excited.

“Taemin! You’re getting a little too loud.” Minho said as he came back to the table with their ice cream.

“Sorry. You got the Somerset Shortcake for me, right?” Taemin asked.

“That’s what you said.” Minho said and sat down beside Taemin.

“Did you get Peanut Butter Marshmallow?” Taemin asked looking at Minho’s cup of ice cream.

“Yes.” Minho answered.

“Give me a bite! Please!”

“Fine.” Minho took the spoon and scooped up some of the ice cream. He then feed it to Taemin.

“Mmmm, I do like that one too.” Taemin said after he swallowed it.

As Taemin and Minho ate their ice cream, we all talked. I found out that Taemin will be taking an entrance exam in the spring to try and get expected to our school. He wants to study music and dance, which I was not surprised to hear that. He seemed like the type that would like to sing and dance. Baekhyun and Taemin then started to talk about ice cream again. Leaving Minho and I out of the conversation as they talked. It was kind of funny though. To see them so excited about something so little.

“Hey Tao. Do you need a ride home?” Minho asked as we went to leave the shop.

“Would that be alright? I need to change before I go to work.” I said.

“It’s fine. We just need to drop Taemin off at his house first.” Minho said.

We said goodbye to Baekhyun and headed toward Minho’s car. Minho doesn’t like to drive very often but will drive if he needs to go somewhere alone or with another person.

When we arrived at Taemin’s house, Taemin said goodbye to me and gave a goodbye kiss to Minho. We waited until he got inside before we drove away. We were driving down the road when we saw several police cars going past us. Not thinking much of it we continued our journey home. We got home within a few minutes and I went up to my room to get changed.

I went back downstairs to leave for work but was stopped when I saw several police officers at the front door. Everyone was there talking to them. I walked over to them and saw Taemin and two other young boys with him. The two boys were severely beaten and were bleeding a little. I looked up at Minho, who looked like he could kill someone.

“Kibum, what’s going on?” I asked him.

“Taemin’s father was arrested.” He answered.

“Arrested? What happened?”

“Their father became an alcoholic after their mother died a few years ago from an illness. He then became abusive toward them. Apparently a neighbor heard the younger boys yelling for help and called the police.” Jonghyun said and rested a hand on Minho’s shoulder.

“What’s going to happen to them?” I asked.

“Their father lost all parental privileges and aren’t allowed to see them. So now they’re being sent to a relatives’ in America until they can be adopted.” Kibum answered.

“Not Taemin. He’s staying here with me!” Minho said then grabbed Taemin’s arm and pulled Taemin toward himself.

“Minho. I’m still underage. I have to go. And what about my brothers? I can’t leave them alone.” Taemin said.

I could understand Taemin’s reasoning. I could understand the feeling of being left alone. I didn’t want them to have to go through the same feeling I did. I was underage when my parents died but no one really cared. They left me alone and I had to survive on my own.

“No, I’ll adopt you.” Minho said.

“Seriously?” Kibum asked.

“Where can I fill out the forms?” Minho asked the police officers.

“Downtown.” One of them answered.

“We’re going downtown then. Kibum take his stuff to my room please.” Minho said and went to leave with Taemin.

“No, you stay. I’ll go.” Kibum said and stopped Minho from going outside the door.

“What are you doing? Move.” Minho sounded mad.

“Minho, I’m the owner of this house. If they want to live here under my house. Then they are under my care. I’ll go and fill out the forms and you do not have an option. And if you do sign those forms then you would be dating your son. Do you want that? Maybe you could be arrested for molestation too.” Kibum said stating a good point.

Kibum stared at Minho with all seriousness. Minho finally gave up and backed away from the door. Kibum disappeared with Taemin, his brothers, and the officers out of the house and left to go downtown. Minho took all of their stuff and took it upstairs along with help from Jonghyun. Onew and I stilled confused by what just happened stayed by the front door.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Onew answered.

“Kibum is going to adopt them.” Jonghyun said as he came down for Taemin’s backpack.

“Adopt them!?” Onew and I repeated in surprise.

“They are going to be Kibum’s sons now.”

A/N-

Hey everyone! I was able to work on another chapter! I also wanted to inform you that I got a co-author to help me until I get cleared from my concussion, and even a little after that. She helped me with a little of this chapter and I think it was good. She has a lot of good ideas and I'm excited to write them. But anyway...Tao is starting to have morning sickness but of course he does not realize it yet. I'm introducing more and more characters that may or may not take much part in the future, but I wanted to put them in. The next chapter is in Kris' point of view and then the really interesting part is going to start! I will see you next time! Don't forget to subscibe and comment! I really do appreciate them! See you soon <3