After yesterday’s unfortunate turn of events, Heechul was worried about the boys. Donghae’s words had been harsh, but it would be foolish to say that Heechul had not been expecting a blow out to happen sooner or later from one of the three boys. While he was indeed very angry with what Donghae had done, he wasn’t going to punish the boy any further; the one month grounding seemed fair enough. But he wasn’t going to let a long lecture slide by, so he definitely planned to sit Donghae down and talk to him later in the day.

Then there was Mir to think about, something that Heechul was definitely fretting over. He’d not forgotten about the problems Mir had of his own and he felt guilty for not paying them more attention than he was. But if Mir too felt as if Kibum was getting special treatment, that needed to be something to talk about. Heechul would never put any of the boys first, they were all equal in his eyes and he loved them all very much. He knew that his son felt the same way; he loved Kibum and Donghae very much. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t think that Kibum got special treatment. But Mir was never one to have such greedy thoughts; he figured that Donghae most likely twisted Mir’s words around in anger while he was spouting out hurtful words yesterday during his rant.

Everyone seemed to have their own problems that needed attention, but Heechul did admit to himself that he was minding Kibum more than the others. He wasn’t doing it purposely, and definitely not out of favoritism like Donghae had accused. It was just that Kibum was so frail sometimes, emotionally and health wise. He was just overly worried about the boy, given the circumstances.

I’m just scared for Kibum. With everything that has gone on in his life, it’s a lot for a sixteen year old child to deal with. He’s already shown that he’s unable to cope with it by himself and that’s what worries me the most. What if he decides that he can’t take it anymore? What if he tries to commit suicide again? I’m so scared for my baby.

Heechul sighed sadly and looked down at the sleeping boy next to him. It was only five-thirty in the morning but he’d not gone to sleep at all during the night. He’d been awake for hours taking care of Kibum, who had developed a fever from crying so much and didn’t get much sleep either because he felt so miserable, physically and emotionally. But at last he’d finally fallen asleep about half an hour ago, and Heechul was content to let him sleep all day.

There was a noise coming from the bedroom across the hall and Heechul stayed still for a second to hear what it was. But then there was a soft knock on the bedroom door and it pushed open to reveal a disheveled looking Sungmin. Heechul put his finger to his lips to tell him to keep quiet, not wanting Kibum to wake up, as Sungmin shuffled over to his side of the bed. Heechul scooted over to make room for him and the younger boy crawled under the blankets.

“Is Mir making noise again?” Heechul asked quietly, knowing very well that his son constantly tossed and turned in his sleep and it could get quite irritating.

“Mhmm, I can’t sleep now,” Sungmin answered tiredly. Heechul smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Sungmin’s torso.

“He’s going home today, don’t worry,” Heechul told him. Sungmin frowned slightly and turned over to face him.

“I thought he was staying until this weekend?” He asked curiously, knowing Mir had only stayed home this week because he was there.

“He was, but Hongki wants him back early,” Heechul informed him. The conversation halted for a moment as Kibum shifted in his sleep and whimpered slightly. Heechul glanced at him, but the boy just went back to sleep.

“Umma, I was thinking about what Kibum said last night about not wanting to be here anymore. What if – what if me and him went to go stay with Teukie umma for awhile? Just for like a week or two,” Sungmin said softly. Heechul frowned and looked at him curiously, wandering where that’d come from.

“Why?” He asked intriguingly. Sungmin sighed and was quiet for a minute before answering.

“Well…because it feels awkward being here with all their arguing. I just…I feel in the way and I don’t really want to be here, I want to go home. So I’d rather just be out of the way and go with Teukie umma instead,” He said truthfully, although it made him feel guilty.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like being there with Heechul, but really he missed hi