"YAH, HYUNG!" Both ran to try and save the cake, which now had quite a big hole in the frosting.

 

Giggling, Youngjae dashed out of the kitchen, savoring the frosting he had stolen.

 

his finger happily, Youngjae hummed softly. He had grown to like them two, and being their hyung, discovered the joy in teasing them regularly. Wasn't that what 'hyungs' do? Youngjae pondered, shrugging his shoulders. 

 

Slinking on the couch, Youngjae sighed and flopped over. A smile on his face, he started to think back, a few weeks ago, when the three of them had went out together.

 

~

 

"OH MAI GAWD HYUNG, I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS." Youngjae jumped off the bed, literally, as Bambam slammed the bedroom door open. 

 

Composing himself, Youngjae smiled at Bambam. "What is it?" 

 

A wide grin plastered on his face, Bambam hopped onto the bed as well. "Well, the good news is that, Jaebum hyung finally allowed me to bring you out!" Youngjae laughed. 

 

"That's the good news?"

 

Bambam gave Youngjae a look of amusement. "Duh! But the bad news is that..." Bambam faltered, frowning at the doorway. 

 

Raising an eyebrow, Youngjae tried suggesting ideas. "Because we're only given a limited amount of hours? Or is it-" 

 

"Nah, hyung. But close enough. Yugyeom is coming as well. Jaebum hyung said so, that I had to bring him along." Bambam groaned, raising a hand to cover his head, in exasperation.

 

Youngjae started giggling, prodding Bambam as he did so. "Why don't you want him to come? I thought you guys get along pretty well?" 

 

Bambam looked up at Youngjae seriously. "Because he always drags me off to hold his shopping bags for him whenever we go out." 

 

Youngjae's laughter erupted once more.

 

And stopped just as abruptly as it occurred, as Yugyeom's head peeked through the door. "Bambam, I heard that."

 

Snorting, Youngjae looked away and muffled his laughter.

 

•

 

Youngjae reminded himself not to go on another outing with the two anymore. They seemed full of energy, too much for Youngjae to handle. Especially Bambam. In fact, Youngjae, the oldest, whined all the way home. ("Yah hyung, how can you be tired so fast?")

 

With Bambam's highly packed energy consuming schedule, Youngjae felt his energy level drop drastically from 100 to 0. 

 

Even Yugyeom was down. Youngjae reminded himself as he and Yugyeom followed Bambam tiredly around the shopping mall. 

 

"Remember when Jaebum hyung brought me out for a shopping spree? And I came home almost half dead?" Youngjae whispered to Yugyeom, as Bambam droned endlessly about some cologne he was finding. Yugyeom nodded.

 

"I think I was wrong to think that was the most tiring day ever. Today is, in fact, the most." Youngjae admitted as he pouted. "And did you know he told me it was always him dragging your shopping bags around?" He continued, grinning.

 

Yugyeom groaned. "I know, hyung. He always says that. Its more like the other way round. We should just ditch Bambam hyung next time." 

 

As if on cue, Bambam whipped his head back, eyes suspiciously looking at the two behind him. "What did you say, Yugyeom?" 

 

"No-nothing?"Yugyeom grinned. Bambam frowned, noticing Youngjae trying to force a smile down.

 

"YAH! YUGYEOM!"

 

Youngjae now knew, never to make a shopping Bambam angry. 

 

~

 

Youngjae snapped out of his thoughts as he withdrew his finger from his mouth, all traces of the fluffy white frosting gone. Cleaning it with a tissue from the tissue box, Youngjae felt a vibration from his pocket. Eyes twinkling, Youngjae immediately took his phone out.

 

'From: Markipoo><

Yah, why is it always me?

'

 

Youngjae laughed. He had dared Mark yesterday to draw on Jinyoung hyung's face when he was sleeping. Mark had lost a bet with Youngjae, to which the subject was- as quoted by Mark himself- guess how many pieces of underwear Jackson had. Jackson was also a friend of Jinyoung's, and both Jaebum and Jinyoung had brought their hybrids over once. 

 

We're probably barred from going there again, Youngjae thought sheepishly. The moment they had just finished counting the pieces of underwear, with Youngjae - not very subtly, yelling at the top of his voice- "HAH, 54! I got it right!".

 

No big surprise there that Jackson had ran up the stairs faster than he ever had, before lugging down two red face hybrids, much to Jinyoung's ans Jaebum's amusement.

 

Youngjae burst out loud laughing as soon as he opened the image attached. Jinyoung hyung, was lying on the couch with doodles all over his face and Mark posing next to him, holding a permanent marker and lipstick proudly. Grinning widely, he took the opportunity to save a picture and sent it to Jaebum hyung.

 

'To: Markipoo ><

OMG, you are going to be so dead, I swear. Even I'm scared of the wrath of Jinyoung. God bless you.

 

P.s. How on earth did you get that lipstick, mmm? ;)'

 

Switching off the phone, Youngjae tried to adjust his position but lolled off the side of the couch, crashing onto the floor, not quite intentionally. Groaning in pain, Youngjae frowned and dusted his clothes off. 

 

He sat up and leaned onto the couch, relieving the cool touch of it as he closed his eyes, slipping a hand into his pocket to touch the phone. Youngjae smiled. It had been a present from Jackson hyung, who had decided to give "his precious Youngjae" one. 

 

~

 

Youngjae opened the door cautiously, only to fling the door open once he saw who was outside. "Jackson hyung!" Smiling at the younger, Jackson gave a quick hug to him.

 

"Is Jaebum hyung at home?" Jackson inquired. Nodding, Youngjae politely offered Jackson in to have a seat or preferably a cup of coffee. 

 

"Do you want me to call him?" Youngjae asked, bouncing onto the couch next to Jackson, a wide smile on his face. 

 

Shakong his head, Jackson whispered. "No need, Youngjae. Besides, I have something for you, not him." 

 

"Ooooooo... Something secret?" Youngjae gasped in exaggeration, keeping up the act with Jackson. 

 

"Yes, secret. We can't let Jaebum hyung know yet." Jackson put on a straight face as he took out a box from his pocket. 

 

"Yes hyung." 

 

Jackson gingerly placed the box in Youngjae's hands, grinning as he did so. "I hope you like it. Its the least I can do." 

 

Youngjae eyed the box, "oohing" as he turned the box over to have a better look. 

 

The box was pure snow white, with a nice red ribbon stuck on top, contrasting it. There was also a little card stuck to the top, which attracted Youngjae's attention the most. 

 

Curious, Youngjae flipped the card open.

 

'To: (Twae) Youngjae

I really, really hope you'll like this present. It might not be much but I really put a lot of thought into it. Consider this a welcome gift :) 

- From the one and only, Jackson Wang ^^'

 

Youngjae's mouth dropped in surprise. Slowly, he drew his hand from the card and focused on removing the lid of the box. 

 

Jackson watched on as Youngjae finally opened it.

 

Youngjae's eyes grew wide in shock and gratitude. Throwing himself on Jackson, Youngjae hugged him tightly. "Hyung! How is this not something much? It's a phone! Of course its something! And... Its probably too expensive to give it to me..." Youngjae faltered.

 

Jackson sighed, hugging Youngjae back. "Don't refuse it. I said it was a present for you."

 

Youngjae grinned. "Of course, hyung! I'll treasure it. And putallyourphonenumbersinsidesoicancontactyouall!" Youngjae sped up as he mumbled on. 

 

"Hey! Jackson! You're here- what are you guys doing?" Jaebum magically appeared at the staircase, crossing his arms in mock anger. 

 

"Ahhhh... Hyung gave me a present!" Youngjae pulled back, ears tinged with red as he showed Jaebum the phone. 

 

Raising an eyebrow, Jaebum walked over to see, a look of surprise plastered on his face as he placed an arm over Youngjae's shoulders. "Wow, thats definitely not cheap, Jackson."

 

Jackson grinned. "It's the thought that counts."

 

~

 

Youngjae's tummy growled. Sighing, Youngjae rubbed his belly and lazily got up, in search of Bambam and Yugyeom for food. 

 

When he finally reached there, it was chaos. Both chefs were busy, running here and there, much to Youngjae's confusion. 

 

"Whats the matter? Why are you guys so in a rush? " Youngjae asked as he stepped into the kitchen, his tail swishing around. 

 

"... We... Forgot... About... The ... Food... " Yugyeom panted as he crossed the kitchen hurriedly, grabbing a bowl next to Youngjae. 

 

"Yeah... And now... We need to.... Hurry finish...." Bambam huffed as he opened the refridgerator door.

 

"Oh," Youngjae exclaimed. "Than I'll just... Not disturb you guys then." As Youngjae was about to turn around and out to the living room, he heard a scream of agony.

 

Whipping around quickly, Youngjae rushed to Bambam, who was kneeling on the floor all of a sudden. "Bambam? Are you hurt?" Youngjae asked in a panic, his ears twitching nervously. Yugyeom had also ran to the scene, eyes frantically raking up and down Bambam to spot any sign of kitchen injury. 

 

"No, I'm not... Its just that we've run out of ice cream for the dessert. And thats what Jaebum's father wants, so if we aren't able to make it, WE'RE DOOMED!" Bambam cried out as he rummaged the fridge once again. 

 

"Jaebum's father? Don't you guys only cook for Jaebum hyung? " Youngjae frowned.

 

"No, hyung. We cook for his father too. Besides, remember? Jaebum's father was the one who hired us. We usually cook and bring it to his house too." Yugyeom heaved a huge sigh as he joined in the search for ice cream. 

 

Youngjae let out another "oh." as he spotted an empty container of ice cream on the other counter. "I'm assuming you guys ate it all."

 

Sheepishly, the two nodded.

 

Youngjae bit his lip anxiously as he watched the two frantically digging for just another tub of ice cream. He knew the wrath of Jaebum's dad, and definitely did not want the two younger ones to experience it.

 

"Actually, I don't mind helping you guys buy one tub of ice cream, since you guys need it so badly. I'll make my way down to the nearby supermarket while you guys can hurry with the other dishes first." Youngjae suggested. 

 

Bambam and Yugyeom paused, their eyes full of thankfulness. "Oh my gosh, thats great! Thanks hyung!" Bambam exclaimed as he ran forward to hug Youngjae, almost tripping over his apron. "We'll need the red velvet ice cream!"

 

Youngjae laughed. "Its okay, its what hyungs do, right?"

 

~

 

Youngjae readjusted the collar on his neck again as he scanned the supermarket aisles for the ice cream section. 

 

Youngjae definitely did not want to wear a collar, but had no choice. Jaebum had warned him, that if ever Youngjae needed to leave the house alone, it was better for him to wear a collar. That way, no one would dare to harrass, nor disturb him. However, if Jaebum was with him, he wouldn't have a need to. Jaebum hyung was there to protect him. Youngjae smiled, his thoughts slowly drifting away from his main objective.

 

Youngjae did not want to think of the possibilities if he had wandered out of the house without it. Probably kidnapped and sold again? 

 

The collar was dark blood red in colour, with Jaebum's sirname in a dogtag. Youngjae didn't like it, of course, it made him feel like an animal, but he knew this was for his own good. He definitely did not want to go back to the auction house again.

 

Shaking his head, Youngjae resumed his mission. Sweeping his eyes anxiously down the aisles, his footsteps quickened as he caught eye of the ice cream section. In order to save YugBam's ( Youngjae decided that this name was much easier than saying 'Yugyeom's and Bambam's ) dish, he needed to buy one back, and fast.

 

Eagerly, he opened the freezer door, relishing the comfort of the cold wind. Youngjae searched the shelves for the particular flavour as he mumbled to himself.

 

"Red velvet, red velvet, red velvet- ah!" Youngjae's hands reached forward to cup the ice cold container before pulling it out of the freezer in content.

 

Smiling, Youngjae closed the door and turned to find the cashier, when-

 

"BAM!"

 

"Oh no!"

 

Youngjae bit his lip anxiously as he gazed sadly at the fallen container of ice cream on the floor, which was now beyond salvage. Grunting, he pushed himself off the floor. Someone had knocked into him, fast, and hard, causing the blonde to slip and lose his grip on the container. The culprit was sprawn on the floor next to Youngjae, groaning in pain.

 

Almost immediately, a fellow staff rushed to Youngjae's aid. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Youngjae bowed as he smiled apologetically. The other nodded and ushered Youngjae away from the spilt ice cream. 

 

Sighing, Youngjae turned back to the freezer to retrieve another box of red velvet ice cream. He had just pulled the ice cream out of the chiller when a hand gripped his wrist, tight.

 

Shocked, Youngjae stepped back to see who had done so, only to see the culprit from before. He was wearing a hoodie covering his face, and was a little taller than Youngjae himself.

 

"Uh? May I help you? Um.. If its about the spilled ice cream, it really doesn't-" 

 

"Youngjae." The man had uttered silently.

 

Now Youngjae was really confused, and freaked out. "You- You know my name? How? I-" He stuttered incoherently, frozen on the spot.

 

"It's me." The man relaxed his grip on Youngjae for a moment, before pulling his hood up slowly.

 

Youngjae couldn't believe his eyes. 

 

"Dad?"