"Hyung, can you help me dry my hair?" Sungyeol heard Sunggyu question only to raise his head from his phone and see the boy coming with a towel his way. He squinted his eyes at the boy and was about to scold him for the quickest bath in history when Sunggyu sat in front of him and opened his mouth. "Where is Woohyunnie?" The boy asked after a quick scan around the living room.

Sungyeol stopped whatever he was thinking - he didn't take long to chose food on the app and then he was replying Chanyeol on his phone - he must have lost track of the time but Sunggyu was right, where was Woohyun?

"You're right, Myungsoo apartment is just like ours, there's no way he would have lost himself in it." The taller said, completely unaware of what Woohyun had just done.

"Maybe he is taking a bath there to speed things up." Sunggyu positively offered.

Sungyeol smiled at the boy. "Can you go check it for me? I don't think Myungsoo would be happy if he knew I entered his apartment without permission again."

Sunggyu half glared at Sungyeol, not because he didn't want to go, but because this situation between the elders was tiring him. But he already messed up the other day when he had promised to not in so he decided to just agree and search for Woohyun.

“Okay.” Sunggyu agreed after a sigh and gave his towel to his brother before he moved to the door.

Sunggyu found the door of Myungsoo apartment open and the key still inside the hole, but that was to be expected since lately Woohyun always left the door like that when he meant to be quick, so he just entered the apartment like he always did.

“Woohyunnie! Woohyunnie, why are you taking so long?” He called as he moved towards Woohyun room. “Woo-” Sunggyu stopped mid-call when he noticed Woohyun wasn’t in his room. He looked at the bathroom and door was opened, showing there was no one inside so his bath theory wasn't true. “Woohyunnie, I don’t want to play hide and seek now.” He directed himself to Myungsoo’s room but with one look inside and he could see his friend wasn't in sight as well. “Come on, Sungyeol hyung is waiting for us, food is coming too, remember?” He entered Myungsoo room and tried looking underneath the bed. “Woohyunnie, don’t play around!” He called but there also no reply there.

Sunggyu furrowed his brows and scratched his head in confusion, then thought it was better to call Sungyeol to help find his friend.

Once he was back, Sungyeol was placing some plates and cutlery on the table. “So, where is Woohyun?” He asked once he saw Sunggyu.

“Hyung, Woohyunnie isn't there.” The boy said and a fork fell from Sungyeol hand into the ground, making some noise. The elder didn't know why but he started to become apprehensive.

“How come you didn’t see him?” The elder asked that as he moved to follow his brother.

“I think he is hiding to try to prank me.” Sunggyu repeated half annoyed as they moved to the hallway. “Help me find him.”

Sungyeol closed the door of his apartment and sighed deeply. “If Myungsoo complains that I entered his apartment you will defend me, ok?”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes, the adult's fight was becoming ridiculous in his opinion, but ended up nodding and reentering Myungsoo apartment. Sungyeol moved to look in the kitchen first while Sunggyu tried to look behind the curtains, underneath the dining table or around the couch (Woohyun could be moving around to not be seen). Once Sungyeol came back from opening some cabinets (Woohyun was tiny he could basically fit anywhere if he contorted himself right and boy, he had weird flexibility) with his stomach already twitching in panic.

“Any luck?” He asked but Sunggyu shook his head. “Go search properly in his room while I look for him in Myungsoo’s.” He ordered and both of them moved to search on other places. “Woohyun! Woohyun!” He kept calling. “Come out, it’s not funny.” He searched at first in the bathroom cabinet but it was obvious Woohyun wasn’t there and then moved to Myungsoo room. “Woohyun, please, please, come out.” Sungyeol pleaded as he crouched to look underneath the bed but the boy wasn’t there either, so he moved to look at Myungsoo’s closet to see if the boy was hidden there.

He looked inside the doors and the outcome had been the same until he opened the door that he knew it was usually closed with things Myungsoo didn’t want Woohyun to see and spotted a lot of albums with Myungsoo’s photographies, carefully arranged by years and theme. He saw there were two albums missing but was briefly distracted once he saw one of them with his and Myungsoo’s name combined. When Myungsoo had printed pictures of them? And why he kept it if he claimed that Sungyeol broke not only their relationship but his heart as well? Did this mean that Sungyeol could think about a positive ending for their situation?

He snapped out of these thoughts when Sunggyu came running inside the room.

“Hyung, Woohyun is not anywhere.” The boy said exasperated.

“Not here either.” Sungyeol said and closed the door before he turned to look at the bed and saw two photo books open on it. He came close and saw which pictures Woohyun had been looking into, then everything became clear as day on why Woohyun would disappear: he had found the truth.

“Was he kidnapped?” Sunggyu asked worriedly.

“No, he ran away from home.” Sungyeol quickly concluded and decided to start pushing his brother out of that apartment before Sunggyu had the chance to even gasp.

Still, the younger gasped. “Why would he do that? There was nothing wrong with him.”

“I don’t know but we have to try to find him before Myungsoo comes back." He lied, of course he knew why Woohyun did that. "Go wait for the elevator, we are going to find him, I’m sure he didn’t go too far.” Sungyeol said as he closed his neighbor door and, while Sunggyu ran to press the button to call the elevator, Sungyeol quickly came back inside his apartment to get his phone and car keys then also closed it.

Sungyeol left his apartment already calling someone, and Sunggyu presumed it was Myungsoo, but once his brother reached the elevator he discovered it wasn’t.

“SOS, SOS, SOS.” Sungyeol chanted nonstop and that was enough to get the other person attention.

“What happened?”

“Woohyun ran away from home, Myungsoo is out, we need to find him, I need your help.”

“He what? Why?”

“Hyung, I don’t have time to explain, if we don’t find him in an hour I am going to the police station, but god, Myungsoo will kill me for sure. What if something happens to him?”

“Just go search for him, I talk to Dongwoo hyung and we will come to help, but try to warn Myungsoo.” Hoya advised on the phone.

“Ok.Ok.” Sungyeol agreed and turned off, then came out of the elevator taking Sunggyu with one hand and calling what Sunggyu assumed it was Myungsoo now. “Come on, pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up the phone.” Sungyeol chanted nervously. He didn’t know if he wanted Myungsoo to really pick up his call, he didn’t want to give such bad news but he had to do the right thing and inform the boy’s father. He actually preferred that this was a bad dream that he would wake up from any moment. "Myungsoo, call me, it's urgent." He said out loud since the neighbor isn't picking up his phone he decided to send audio.

As he moved to his car with Sunggyu he tried to send an audio message to his brother and Moonsoo too.

"Sungjong, Moonsoo, I know you guys are in Daegu but come back urgently, Woohyun ran away from home." He hesitated a bit before he decided to give Moonsoo an extra incentive to come. "Moonsoo, he knows."

"He knows what?" Sunggyu asked curiously.

"He discovered a secret his father kept. Let's not talk about this, you'll probably know when Woohyun tells you." Sungyeol said as they came out of their building. “Pay attention to the windows of every store, we are going to as around, he probably didn't come too far, maybe he is in a place that he knows."

“Hyung, I’m scared.” Sunggyu confessed and Sungyeol turned to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“No, Sunggyu, think positive, we are going to find him.” Sungyeol tried to assure his brother but he wasn’t that sure himself.

They started asking about Woohyun and showing his picture around and then minutes later they received a call from Hoya.

"I dropped Dongwoo hyung at your place so, if Woohyun decides to come back, there will be someone he trusts there, where do I look?"

"We are covering places Woohyun knows by foot, can you check the nearest park? Myungsoo always brings him and Sunggyu there."

"I'll check but if he is upset he probably isn't in the places he knows he can be found. I mean, I wouldn't if I was in his place."

Sungyeol sighed because he knew his cousin was right, but he had some hope that people that knew Woohyun would say they saw him going to a specific direction. "Just keep searching."

Sungyeol tried two cafes, a convenience store, the bus stop, the bakery, a few restaurants he brought the whole gang often, and he was running out of options. Each passing second made him more desperate because he was running out of places to search, the sun was setting and he thought he didn't have any chance if he were to go to the subway station.

He thanked the worker of the supplement store where he knew Myungsoo bought his supplements and left when he received a call from Dongwoo.

"He came back?" Sungyeol asked as soon as he picked the call and Sunggyu looked at him expectantly, full of hope.

"No..." Dongwoo was about to say something else when Sungyeol blurted another question.

"Myungsoo arrived home?"

"No…" The elder replied.

"Then?"

"Your building has securities cameras."

Sungyeol slapped his own forehead as if scolding himself for not thinking about that. "Ok, here it is what you're gonna do…"

"I asked to check the cameras already, he isn't in the footage."

"What? But there wasn't any other way he could have left…"

"He could, by car, if anyone had kidnapped him and put him in the trunk but that is not the case since there was no car leaving your building for the past hour. Sungyeol, you have to come back, I don't think he left the building." Dongwoo said in all seriousness and that took a big weight out of his heart.

"Ok, I'm coming and if you find him, don't leave him." Sungyeol instructed and hung up and Sunggyu didn't need to ask because he knew the boy wanted to know. "He never left, he is in the building."

"Then let's go back!" Sunggyu urged and promptly turned around and to run back home.

"Sunggyu, wait!" He started to follow the boy and he thanked his good genetics and age that allowed him to have longer legs. If it wasn't for them he wouldn't have been able to reach the boy and grab him by the hand, Sunggyu almost tried to cross a street without looking and Sungyeol almost died from a heart attack before saving the boy.

As much as relieved he was that Woohyun was in the building and Sunggyu didn't die crossing a street, all the weight he thought had left his body came back once he turned the corner of his street and saw Myungsoo getting out of his parents' car.

He winced because he knew he couldn't postpone or pretend there was nothing happening, and still if he didn't say anything now the younger would discover things in about three minutes when he arrived home.

"Myungsoo!" He called and the younger, that seemed to be still talking to his parents straightened himself up to look at him. Sungyeol took the opportunity he had the younger attention to grab Sunggyu by the hand, look to both sides of the street and cross it.

"Hey." Myungsoo greeted with a forced smile, he was kinda down but his parents could see in his eyes that he liked seeing Sungyeol. But that only lasted until he looked down and didn't see his son so he got confused. "Where is Woohyun?"

"Myungsoo..." Sungyeol said as he made an apologetic look. "There is no way of sugarcoating this so I won't, we are in the middle of a crisis… why don't you pick up your phone? I've been trying to call you for an hour already."

"I forgot to charge it so the battery is dead." The younger explained as he felt something heavy take over his heart. "What happened?"

"Woohyun knows." The taller said.

"Oh my God." Both parents gasped from inside the car then started preparing to go out of it.

"Knows what?" Sunggyu asked as the elders closed the doors and Myungsoo ran around the car to get closer to them faster.

"You told him?" Myungsoo asked in disbelief."You said you wouldn't and I trusted you..." He added in a mix of anger and betrayal and hurt and he gave two steps in Sungyeol direction but Bumsoo was quick enough to hold him by the arm, he was losing his .

"I didn't but that's not the point because he ran away." Sungyeol said in exasperation.

"He what?" Sonmi asked as she managed to get  closer only to gasp when Myungsoo swayed."Oh my God, Myungsoo!"

Her voice felt distant and his vision became white. He had to hold on his father arm to maintain his stance while holding both of his parents.

"I knew this wouldn't end well, I told you to talk to him and explain…" By Sungyeol words, it seemed like he was scolding the younger, but his tone showed all of his concern and he started trying to fan the young dad with his hand. "You can't pass out now, we need to find him so you can explain and..."

"Explain what?" Sunggyu asked the adults but they plainly ignored him.

"How the hell he ran away?" Bumsoo asked as he felt Myungsoo put strength on his hand, maybe whatever he had was passing already.

"Myungsoo asked me to keep an eye on him." Sungyeol tried to explain as he kept fanning Myungsoo. "I'm truly sorry that this happened on my watch but he is used to going back and forth our apartments and now he is even using his own key…" Sungyeol tried to apologize in a mix of guilt and worry.

"You left him alone?" Sonmi gasped.

"Woohyunnie only wanted to grab some clothes, he was supposed to come back quickly." Sunggyu tried to defend his brother.

"As soon as I noticed his absence I left to search for him, we looked everywhere and I tried to call you and…" Sungyeol tried to explain.

"Let's go to the police station." Bumsoo suggested.

"You go, Myungsoo needs to rest." Sonmi retorted and Myungsoo decided to stop the impending argument.

"Enough!" He said firmly and then let go of his parents. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He assured then looked at Sungyeol almost glaring, which Sungyeol saw it coming but felt hurt anyway. "I need to find my son. Where you haven't looked yet?" To tell the truth, he was angry at the elder but right now he needed a practical approach.

"I already looked everywhere we usually take him, no one has seen him." Myungsoo this time managed to grab Sungyeol collar before his parents could hold him and was about to shake him when the elder added. "Dongwoo hyung checked the security cameras and he didn't leave the building at any point."

Myungsoo let go of him because, as angry and disappointed he might be with Sungyeol, it was a waste of his time to do anything else aside searching for his son. He simply turned to enter the building and Sungyeol, Sunggyu and Sonmi followed him while Bumsoo stayed behind to properly park the car elsewhere.

Myungsoo impatiently hit the lift button on the ground floor and once he felt Sungyeol close enough of him he asked. "How did he find out about you and me?" He then turned to Sunggyu and looked at the boy suspiciously. "You didn't spill anything this time, right Sunggyu?"

"Sunggyu spilled things?" Sonmi asked confused.

"It isn't my fault!" Sunggyu dared to glare at his friend dad.

Sungyeol pulled his brother behind him and then looked seriously at Myungsoo, making clear he was offended. "Excuse me, Sunggyu didn't do anything this time, and neither did I. Woohyun didn't discover about you and me, he discovered about you and him."

"Discover what?" Sunggyu asked.

"God!." Sonmi rubbed her hands over her face.

Myungsoo felt cold sweat cover his body. "How do you know?"

The door of the lift opened and they all entered it before Sungyeol replied. "He was taking too long so I entered your apartment and I couldn't help but notice a lot of photo books on your bed, one of them had pictures of you and Jihyun." Sungyeol started explaining as he felt his phone vibrate, a new message arrived but he didn't grab his phone right away. "There was a picture of you torn apart so I could only guess…" He stopped his words as he inspected his friend. Myungsoo had closed his eyes as if what he said was causing him physical pain, he could be angry at Sungyeol all he wanted but he couldn't deny he had a fault in this.

"Soo-ah, you always were so careful for Woohyun to not see his mother's pictures, why did you leave those pictures in plain sight?" Sonmi asked softly.

"Because he told me to start choosing the pictures I wanted on my project." Myungsoo explained to his mother as he tried to look at Sungyeol eyes and the elder felt guilty by that. Maybe if he didn't advise the younger to start doing that maybe Woohyun wouldn't see the pictures. His rational part knew there was no way he could predict what would happen but the part that loved the father-son pair insisted on being guilty.

"So it's your fault?" Sonmi gasped.

"It isn't!" Sunggyu walked to Sungyeol side to better be seen then stomped his feet on the ground as he tried to defend his brother one more time.

"Sunggyu, please, shut up." Sungyeol pleaded as he lowered his head. "I'm sorry." Sunggyu couldn't believe what his brother was saying but Sungyeol placed a firm hand on his shoulder so the boy would stop. Sunggyu then remembered the time when he fought Woohyun and the elder advised him to apologize even if he didn't want to, maybe this was similar.

Myungsoo sighed deeply as he impatiently tried to press the button of the lift again then looked at his mother. "And I only had one hour to feed Woohyun and get ready to leave with you."

Sonmi bit her lips and made a guilty face. "Is it my fault then?"

"It is not your fault for wanting to help with other problems…" Myungsoo said firmly, but that didn't relieve Sungyeol heart because the next second the young dad turned to glare at him, and yes, he knew it was because he didn't keep an eye on Woohyun 100% of the time. Fortunately, he hadn't the time to get scolded because the door of the lift opened and his phone rang.

He picked the phone as they entered the lift. "Hey." He greeted as Myungsoo pressed the phone for their floor.

"Sungyeol, I found him on the stairs of the sixth floor. I don't want to approach him hastily because it seems like he is crying, are you going to take longer to come?" Dongwoo informed/asked.

Sungyeol promptly pressed the 6th-floor button much for the other two surprise. "No, I found Myungsoo and we are on the lift. Don't do anything yet, just call Hoya hyung back." He instructed then ended the call so he could inform the others. "He is crying on the stairs of the sixth floor."

Myungsoo quickly pressed the button for the 6th-floor and after a couple of seconds the lift abruptly stopped, he pressed just in time.

The door was opening and Myungsoo was already shifting his weight, nervously and impatiently, on his feet and that kinda worried Sonmi.

"Wait, how are you going approach him about this?" She asked worriedly. "He is already crying, you need to approach him wisely so he won't be more traumatized."

"I can ask him to come home." Sunggyu suggested but at this point, everyone couldn't pay attention to him, or that was what he thought when no one replied back.

"I just need to get him safely home first and then we see about that." He said before running out of the lift.

"This is not gonna work." She wanted to run after her son but Sungyeol stopped her before she could. "Let me pass." She demanded but Sungyeol didn't let her and the door closed.

"We are damage control, if their conversation does not go well, we should at least avoid him running away. You go to the next floor and Sunggyu and I will wait for him on the floor below."

"Right." She ended up agreeing and then the lift stopped again so Sungyeol moved out of her way. Normally she would ask herself when Sungyeol had pressed the button for the 7th floor but right now she had to run. "Right." She said with confidence before she left the lift.

"Hyung, the lift is going up, how are we waiting for Woohyunnie down?" Sunggyu asked worriedly because he was feeling the urgency in the air.

"There is a trick.." Sungyeol said as he pressed two buttons at the same time and then pressed the 5th-floor button. "I just hope we will make in time."

_______________________________________

Dongwoo carefully closed the door to the stairs as soon as he heard footsteps noises behind him and, once he spotted Myungsoo. "Myungsoo!" He greeted the younger with some relief -  although he was still worried about the boy- and in a low tone to not give away to Woohyun they were there.

"Where is he?" Myungsoo asked as he approached the pink-haired teacher, being mindful enough to keep his tone low too.

"He is crying on the stairs. I didn't want to approach him hastily because I don't know what this is about but I've been keeping an eye on him since I found him. Weren't you with Sungyeol? Where is him?"

Myungsoo felt his blood boil a bit because who cared about Sungyeol when Woohyun was crying because he discovered his origins.

"He is not a problem right now." Myungsoo tried to hold his annoyance but ended up hissing as he tried to push past Dongwoo.

Dongwoo held him a bit. "Just… be careful, ok? I'll wait at Sungyeol apartment if you need anything..." He said and Myungsoo stopped to nod. He took a deep breath and then cautiously moved to the door.

He opened the door as soundless he could only to see Woohyun curled like a ball on the stairs, hiding his face and crying, not loudly but continuously, as his bag laid beside him. The scene broke Myungsoo heart and he felt guilty. He had always hoped to tell the truth about the boy origins in other circumstances but now… now he was sure there was probably no way of mending anything.

"Son?" He called softly and immediately regretted his choice of words because, now that the truth was known, this word would probably hurt the boy. And it did.

Woohyun head snapped back to look at Myungsoo. His face was a mess of tears and in his eyes, the elder could see betrayal, disappointment, and a strong sadness. For a second the boy froze and he tried to hold back his cries only to hiccup as tears kept flowing. That broke Myungsoo heart but he knew it was primarily his fault because he hid the truth for such a long time.

Myungsoo gulped hard and tried again."Namu…" He said as he gave a step at the boy direction.

"Don't come near me!" The boy tried to sound fierce as he stood up but his voice cracked midway. "You lied to me!" He continued with a betrayed tone.

"I protected you from things that are hard to understand, but I was this close of telling you everything." Myungsoo tried another step but Woohyun gave a quick glance to his bag and decided to leave it there in case he wanted to run. He climbed down one step so Myungsoo halted his movements.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT! YOU ARE A LIAR!" The boy yelled in anger. Despite knowing that he would probably lose his son trust, Myungsoo didn't imagine these words would be so painful.

"I can explain." Myungsoo insisted as he offered a hand to the boy. "I can tell you everything in details…"

Woohyun tried to clean his face with the back of his hand then glared at the elder. "I don't want to, I don't want to hear your lies."

"I won't lie, I swear, you just need to come back with me to our apartment and…" Myungsoo promised and tried to give another step in his son direction but Woohyun got agitated.

"NO! I don't want to go back with you and you can't make me. You're not my father, you don't rule me anymore." Woohyun yelled and got down another step.

"Please, don't say that there are a lot of things you don't know." The elder pleaded with a broken tone. "I know this change a lot of things for you, and that's my fault because I hid things, but it doesn't need to change things between you and me, I love you Woohyun-ah."

Woohyun shook his head and spoke in a sad tone. "Why would I believe you? You lied to me all this time, you said you lost mom pictures and you said I looked like mommy but I look nothing like her, I look like someone else..."

"Look, you're right but..." Myungsoo tried to talk again but Woohyun interrupted.

"I don't want to hear you. I don't want to hear from you ever again!" The boy spat with anger and the next second he was already running down the stairs.

"Woohyun no! Come back here!" Myungsoo said as he tried to follow his son down the stairs.

Myungsoo was an athletic guy but that wasn't enough for his to reach the boy soon. One of the differences of children and adults was the absence of fear, while Myungsoo was afraid to fall and hurt himself while chasing the boy, Woohyun wasn't afraid of skipping steps or jumping some of them. Another difference from children and adults was also the size of their limbs so Myungsoo was right behind Woohyun, he just couldn't simply grab the boy or he would probably fall on top of him.

"Woohyun, stop!" Myungsoo pleaded.

"No, go away!"

"Please, let's talk." The young dad tried again.

"GO AWAY!" Woohyun yelled with rage although at this point he was already crying again.

"Please!" Myungsoo begged and the next second Woohyun was already pushing the door to the ground floor.

Myungsoo was not only sad and guilty about Woohyun once he found out the truth, but he became desperate and worried once Woohyun pushed the door. That meant the boy wanted to go out on the street and that was dangerous for a boy his age.

"Woohyun no!" He yelled and pushed the door open too only to hear someone else calling his son name.

"Woohyunnie!" It was Sunggyu that gasped and the boy looked to the side only to see his friend and Sungyeol there.

Sungyeol didn't need to look at Myungsoo to know that if a scene like this was happening the conversation between father and son didn't end well so he knew he had to help because a kid lost in the streets was a big problem.

He also knew he wasn't as athletic as Myungsoo was but he knew his legs were longer and he had better chances to intercept Woohyun. He didn't need a second to start to run in the boy direction but he surely needed a whole second to register that Woohyun changed his route when Myungsoo was about to reach for him and ran into his direction.

He tried to stop halfway to not clash with the kid but couldn't exactly stop in time so Woohyun dodged him and, while Sungyeol regained his balance, he felt a small body attach to his by holding his legs.

Myungsoo changed his route too but didn't dare to come too close to the boy so he wouldn't run away again.

"Woohyunnie, why did you disappear? We were so worried!" Sunggyu said genuinely worried as he appeared beside his friend then gasped when noticed how distressed Woohyun was. "Why are you crying?"

"What happened hm? You were supposed to come back after getting some clothes, I was searching for you everywhere." Sungyeol asked very softly then placed his hands on the younger back and added a little pressure. It was the only way that he could give the boy a hug in this position and he knew Woohyun was needing one.

"I… I…" The boy stuttered, he wanted to explain to Sungyeol but he didn't think he could, not when he knew Myungsoo was approaching fast. He looked to the basketball player in fear, then at Sunggyu and Sungyeol with pleading eyes that squeezed the taller heart. "Hyungs, don't let him take me, please." The boy cried.

"But he is your father, you love him to death."  Sunggyu blinked in confusion. He had reasons not to like Myungsoo because he became weird once he and his brother broke up but, even if he prohibited them to play for some time, he knew that Myungsoo loved Woohyun to death so his friend reaction was a surprise for him.

"Woohyun," Myungsoo called, despite all the negative feelings he was having, he decided to give the boy a warning, after all his safety had to come first. "I don't want to act in ways I never acted with you before so I'm asking you, please, let's go back home and talk, I can explain and show you everything." He said seriously the pleaded when he got close and offered a hand to the boy again.

Woohyun looked at his father and then at Sungyeol. He shook his head desperately as if going with Myungsoo back to their apartment meant the exact same thing as going to his death.

Sungyeol suddenly remembered his first encounter with Myungsoo and Woohyun and how their roles were now reversed. Back then Sunggyu was throwing a tantrum, but he could see in Woohyun crying eyes that this was not the case for him and the softer boy was deeply hurt. He sighed and decided to intervene just like Myungsoo had done before.

"Woohyun, can you let me go so I can talk to your father for a minute?"

"I don't have time for talking now. Now if you can move…" Myungsoo refused a conversation as Woohyun whined.

"Nooooo~" Woohyun held Sungyeol legs with even more force. "Hyung, help me!" He begged and the taller moved his eyes from the boy to his father.

"We've been in this situation before…"

"It is nothing like before." Myungsoo said to Sungyeol as he threw a longing glance to his son.

The taller lowered his tone as much as he could so Myungsoo was the only to hear. "Let me calm him down a bit."

Myungsoo looked at Sungyeol skeptically, doubting the elder would be able to convince Woohyun of anything. Not only that, he didn't want his son alone with Sungyeol when the elder had been irresponsible and didn't keep an eye on the boy.

"Please help me hyung, I don't want to see him, I don't want to hear him ever again." Woohyun said as he looked up with pleading crying eyes.

"Why?" Sunggyu asked in a mix of confusion, surprise, and disbelief.

"Woohyun can explain that to us later, right Woohyun?" Sungyeol asked to make Sunggyu less lost and, while Woohyun nodded hard in agreement, Sungyeol patted his head then made everyone a proposal. "What do you think of going back to my apartment so we can eat, like we planned to?"

Woohyun wanted to say yes to the food but he really didn't want to eat only. He knew that eating at the elder apartment was already breaking one of his father Myungsoo's rules- that at this point he was glad to break it- but he didn't think that guy would let him sleep there, and he definitely didn't want to go back 'home' at the end of the day.

His eyes produced more tears, which made Sunggyu try to hug him, and now Sungyeol had two children attached to him.

"But- but… hyung... I don't want to go back later." The boy stuttered and his voice broke at the end.

Myungsoo heard really well when he heard his son say he didn't want to see him ever again and that hurt really bad. Now that he heard Woohyun say he didn't want to go back home, that broke his heart into tiny little pieces that seemed to become dust right after.

"You can sleep over. I'm sure you have a lot to take off your chest and you need to take some time off things, Sunggyu and I would love to be there for you. Then we see what we will do tomorrow." Sungyeol offered.

The boy hesitated a bit but he gently pushed Sunggyu away then let go of Sungyeol only to try to clean his face then try to the elevator direction. "Let's go then, I left my bag on the staircase."

Sungyeol didn't move, but he looked at his neighbor. He conveyed with his eyes that he got this and Myungsoo could count on him to calm the boy, but he also asked for the other to agree and let this happen.

He placed his hands on his waist and looked at the ceiling as he tried to control his impending tears. "Fine." He said.

Sungyeol stretched his lips in sad half smile then let himself be dragged away by Woohyun.

Despite going with Sungyeol, the boy didn't seem to trust him so he kept looking at Myungsoo with nervous eyes while he waited for the elevator. Myungsoo kept looking at his agitated and upset son while the trio waited for the elevator, for every second that passed it got harder for him to suppress his already overflowing emotions. Tears came like heavy rain, he hyperventilated and his body started to shake until the trio finally entered the lift and the door finally closed. Suddenly he discovered he could feel more pain than when he had his heart broken by Sungyeol.

"Myungsoo!" Suddenly he heard his name being called so he turned around to see his father coming his way. The elder seemed confused but changed his expression to one of worry." It took the longest time to park, but… what are you doing here alone? Where is Woohyun? Weren't you supposed to be searching for him?"

Myungsoo shook his head and then tried to breathe to be able to explain the situation. "He is with Sung-." Myungsoo stopped to sob more.

Bumsoo breathed in relief that the boy was found but his worried expression was still there. "Is he hurt?"

Myungsoo tried to speak against he was having difficulties. "Yes... no…" Bumsoo looked at him weirdly so he tried to explain better. " Not-not physically."

Bumsoo held himself not to say 'I told you so' because that wasn't useful, nobody ever liked hearing and Myungsoo was already in a ty state.

"Damn Myungsoo!" Bumsoo ended up saying with pity. "You have to talk to him now and explain everything." He added then tried to drag his son to the lift but Myungsoo held himself in place.

"He doesn't want- want to see me... he doesn't want to hear-hear me…" The younger stuttered as tears kept coming and he tried to take a deep inhale of air to add. "It hurts so-so ing bad."

"Oh, son." Bumsoo eyes filled with tears the old man tried to fight as he put himself into his son shoes then he hugged his son.

"Dad, what do I do?" The younger chanted in despair. "What do we do?"

___________________________________________________________

Sunggyu opened the door and brought Woohyun gently inside. Dongwoo, that had been sitting nervously at the couch, stood up to look at them just to let his jaw hung low. Woohyun had the saddest pair of eyes he ever saw on a child and Sunggyu seemed to be desperate to help him but didn't know how. Sungyeol entered a second later holding Woohyun red backpack. When he noticed Woohyun trying to hide from his teacher and the said man frozen in shock, he knew he had to give instructions to get everyone moving and avoiding awkward moments.

The taller walked to the kids first. “Woohyun, I have to figure out some food for us to go take a bath, you will feel better. Sunggyu can you accompany him?” He suggested/asked and Sunggyu promptly nodded then gently took Woohyun in the bathroom direction.

Once the boys disappeared, Sungyeol looked at Dongwoo that finally came out of his frozen state. “What happened?”

“I...” Sungyeol sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to dissipate some stress. “I don’t really know everything, I just managed to get him here to calm him down.” He threw an apologetic look at his friend. “Thank you for coming help hyung, but can you go? I don’t think Woohyun will talk if you’re here.”

Dongwoo knew how charismatic he was and how that made him super loved and close to the kids he taught, so he knew that, if Woohyun was uncomfortable in his presence, this was super huge.

“Right, Hoya is coming back too so we better go home.” Dongwoo said as he walked to the door. “ Your food arrived when I was at the phone, I left it at the counter.” The elder informed as he opened at the door.

“Hyung.” Sungyeol called before the elder could step outside. “Can you do me one more favor on your way out?” Dongwoo nodded, he wanted to help. “Myungsoo mother is on the 7th floor. Tell her that Woohyun is with me and that she should get back and tend to her son first.”

With a last nod, Dongwoo was out of the apartment and Sungyeol left Woohyun bag on the couch then moved to the kitchen. The food was super cold so he placed on the microwave to reheat while he thought about what to do, Woohyun was super upset that Myungsoo hid things and lied, he wondered what the boy would say if he discovered that Myungsoo told him.

Once he heard the microwave beep, he took the food to the table and then finished setting it before he moved to call the boys. By then the bathroom door was open so he moved back and pushed Sunggyu door open only to see his brother trying to messily help Woohyun with his hair.

“Woohyunnie, do you feel better?” Sunggyu asked in a coaxing tone.

“No.” Woohyun bluntly said.

“What if I do it like this?” The older boy asked as he tried to massage the younger scalp with the towel, he was doing his best to help improve his friend mood but Woohyun was too upset, it wasn’t a massage in his scalp that would make him forget what he discovered.

“It’s nice but…” Woohyun said but turned to gently push his friend away and Sungyeol a bit hurt and confused by his friend rejection when Sungyeol interrupted.

“Boys, time to eat.” He announced and Sunggyu looked at Woohyun but the boy didn’t move. “Woohyun, I know you’re hungry, come on. Once we have our bellies full we are gonna sit, talk and discover what to do to make you feel better.” He said and offered a hand for the boy to grab.

The boy sighed but grabbed his hand and they moved to the table together. Sungyeol served the boys with amounts he knew which one could eat and while Sunggyu ate but at the same time looked worriedly to his friend, Woohyun was the one picking on his food.

“Woohyun,” Sungyeol called. “You don’t have to eat everything today, just send your prayers to your mom and eat a bit.”

“Don’t want to.” He said but Sungyeol knew he was talking about prayers because the boy filled half of his mouth with food.

“Why?” Sunggyu asked confused and reasoned. “You always send your prayers to your mom.”

“I don’t want to talk to her and she is probably not listening either.” The boy mumbled upset as he looked fixedly to the food he probably wouldn’t eat even half of it. Sungyeol felt his heart squeeze one more time. It was not like believed those things but he knew Woohyun believed and cherished this kind of thing, at the end this was all that he ever had with his mother so Sungyeol felt bad the younger lost his faith.

“But you…” Sunggyu was about to argue but they heard the doorbell.

Woohyun instantly tensed as he looked at the door then at Sungyeol only to make a desperate expression when he saw his neighbor get up. “Nooooo~~~~, nooooo~~” He whined, he couldn’t believe the elder lied to him just to hand him over 15 minutes later.

Sungyeol tuned around the table and stopped by the boy and, as the bell sounded again, he grabbed the boy by his shoulders softly. “Woohyun-ah, I have to get the door.”

“But you said- you said…” Woohyun tried to argue but Sungyeol stopped him.

“We don’t know who is behind it, what if it’s Dongwoo hyung that forgot something?” He said and Woohyun pouted and his eyes watered a bit. “Stay here, I won’t let anyone take you.” He promised and then the boy nodded a bit.

The bell rang a third time and finally Sungyeol moved to get the door, Woohyun was still a bit scared so Sunggyu tried to hold his hand.

“What can I-” Sungyeol halted his words when he saw Myungsoo’s parents in front of him.

“Sungyeol, where is Woohyun?” Bumsoo asked first, interrupting the taller previous question, and Woohyun held Sunggyu hand tighter.

“He is here, as you were informed.” Sungyeol said, he didn’t know if it was Myungsoo or Dongwoo (or maybe both) but those two only were here because they knew, and probably on Myungsoo behalf.

“We need to talk to him. As a family.” Sonmi demanded and Woohyun heard the exchange.

“You’re not my family!” Woohyun yelled from inside. “Hyung, I don’t want to talk to them.”

“You’re safe Woohyun.” Sungyeol said as Bumsoo and Sonmi made matching hurt faces and Sungyeol threw them an apologetic look as he stepped ahead to whisper to them. “I’m sorry, I know that you want to talk to him but, as you can see, he is upset.”

“I know but maybe oppa can try to talk to him, they are really close.” Sonmi suggested as she looked from one another.

The taller briefly looked inside then back at the couple. “He is a mess, if you talk to him now he will only reject you.” Sungyeol tried to explain softly. “You can talk to him tomorrow...”

“You can’t keep him from us, we are his grandparents.” Bumsoo interrupted to complain and something gave the impression the elder could cause Sungyeol some trouble.

“I’m not keeping him from you. I just said I will try to calm him down so all of you can talk to him tomorrow. Myungsoo gave me permission to have him over tonight.”

“Myungsoo is a mess, he doesn’t know…” Bumsoo was about to complain again but was elbowed in the stomach by his wife.

“Do you think you’ll be able to keep him under your watch and calm him down?” Sonmi asked and Sungyeol was a little offended, go back and forth apartments was routine to both kids, he couldn’t guess Woohyun would see things he wasn’t supposed to and want to run away. If he stopped to think about it, his guess was that Woohyun would confront Myungsoo when he discovered about his origins, not run away.

“Yes.” He replied confidently. “He still trusts me so I’ll do my best to calm him down and he will sleep under my watch.” The couple shared a look then nodded. “How’s Myungsoo?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Devastated.” Sonmi blurted without thinking twice and Sungyeol made a sad expression.

“He asked us to try to talk to Woohyun.” Bumsoo explained a little more.

“Hyung?” Sunggyu called from inside so Sungyeol rushed his goodbyes.

“Give the boy some time and stay with Myungsoo while you wait.” He threw an apologetic look to the couple and indicated he was about to close the door. “If he is willing to talk, I’ll send a message.” Sungyeol assured in a quick whisper then finally closed the door.

He turned around to see the boys holding hands and Woohyun extremely tense while Sunggyu seemed lost, he didn’t know what to do. Sungyeol felt that the younger boy was judging if he would be worth his future trust, he didn’t say anything but he was expecting the elder to talk, this seemed like a test, one he could pass now.

“They insisted on talking to you so I had to convince them to go.” Sungyeol informed as he approached the kids, he observed Woohyun slowly let Sunggyu hand go and took that as a sign he passed on the test.

He sighed deeply and then slumped his shoulders. “You two are not gonna finish eating that right?” He asked.

Sunggyu threw an apologetic look to his brother then looked at his friend and Sungyeol just guessed Sunggyu just wanted to accompany woohyun, if he didn’t eat Sunggyu probably wouldn’t eat too.

“Sorry hyung, I want to eat but it’s hard for me.” Woohyun explained and Sungyeol this time wouldn’t give a lecture on how they should eat. Besides, he let Sunggyu live on cookies for a week when his mother died, he could do something similar for Woohyun now.

“It’s ok, maybe later, right?” Sungyeol smiled kindly then started to take things to the kitchen.

“Or we could eat something else.” Sunggyu suggested as he climbed down his chair and followed his hyung to search for something to eat on the pantry.

“I don’t think Woohyun will eat Sunggyu, but if you find anything that you can eat…” Sungyeol said idly as he came back to grab the rest of the things.

A few seconds later Sunggyu came out with a few packs of snack and two small bottles of banana milk. He had all the intention to offer these things to his friend while Sungyeol finished placing things in the kitchen, but Woohyun turned his head to the other side then climbed down from the chair. Sunggyu watched his friend walk towards his bedroom and he sighed then followed him, Woohyun didn't give up on him when he didn't want to talk in the beginning so he could the same now and insist.

Woohyun sat in his friend bed but, as soon as he curled in a ball, Sunggyu came with the food and dropped everything on it. He finally sat beside Woohyun, grabbed one of the bottles and offered to his friend.

"Can you at least drink this?" He asked and Woohyun just shook his head. Sunggyu had to insist again. "Please, for me?" He begged.

Woohyun sighed but moved to grab the liquid snack, in the end, he wasn't sadder because he trusted these two brothers were his friends.

He was taking a few sips of it when Sungyeol entered the room, he saw that Sunggyu managed a small win with the boy while he placed Woohyun bag on Sunggyu desk. He gave a discreet thumbs up for his brother before he opened Sungjong bed and sat on it.

"Woohyun, what happened? You're supposed to grab your clothes and come back, instead, you ran away." Sungyeol said softly as he placed a hand on the boy's arm and squeezed a bit. "We were so worried about you."

"We were." Sunggyu confirmed and half hugged his friend.

"I'm sorry." Woohyun mumbled guiltily as he placed the empty bottle on the bed. "I didn't mean to worry you guys."

"Then why did you do that?" Sungyeol softly asked.

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking." Woohyun explained in exasperation. "I just… I just wanted to be away."

"Did we do something to upset you?” It was Sunggyu turn to ask.

Woohyun held Sunggyu hand again and shook his head. “It wasn't your fault.” He assures which got the other boy relieved a bit. Woohyun let go of his friend hand and looked down at his feet as he curled in a ball again. “I wanted to be away from da- Myungsoo.”

Sungyeol was shocked to hear Woohyun referring to his ex-boyfriend by name and not cutely calling him ‘daddy’ like he usually did. Not only that, there was no ‘hyung’ attached, so the boy was obviously trying to show he had no respect whatsoever.

“What did Myungsoo do to you? Why are you so upset that you were crying earlier.” Sungyeol decided to ask to make the boy talk if he was the one to address the subject he wouldn’t probably be able to control the kid rage later. Woohyun stayed in silence and Sungyeol touched his foot to get his attention.

“You don’t want to talk about it? If so, you can tell us and we will stop bothering you.” Sungyeol offered.

After more time in silence, in which his eyes filled with tears again, Woohyun tried to reply to his hyungs. “He... lied to me.” Despite being a small explanation, Woohyun voice cracked in the middle of it and it showed how much sad and disappointed he was.

“Lied?” Sunggyu asked in confusion. “Did he say he would buy something you wanted on the way back home and never did?” Sunggyu wondered aloud, his mother often told him that when she was alive and Sungyeol just knew it, because there were moments he heard that too. Actually, that was a common tactic used by parents, as Myungsoo explained before.

The other boy shook his head sadly and then whispered brokenly. “He… he is not my dad.”

Sungyeol immediately placed his hand on Woohyun foot again, he knew the boy needed human touch right now and he was more comfortable offering now, but it took Sunggyu two seconds to process what he heard and gasp.

"What?"

AN: Hey, guess who's back? My trip was spetacular, and I brought home a lot of beverages (alcoholic or not), I also almost got myself killed while I was riding a scooter in Spain. But I'm still here, just having some allergies.
We finally arrived at the last problem Myungsoo will have. I don't know how many chapters I will still write (I'm not the writers of the 8th season of GOT that thought they could do it but ed an entire season) but we are heading for the end. 

Now off to reply so see you around!