~~~~~~ Sometimes Sanghyuk wondered if any person in his house was broken. He had never thought it was off, however going to school and seeing all of those children…it made him wonder about his own house.

Recently it was career day. Lots of kids brought their parents, and they told everyone what their moms and dads did for a living. Of course, Sanghyuk’s mother didn’t come, but listening to them talk had made Sanghyuk wonder about his own home.

Sanghyuk had never met his dad, but mommy acted weirdly sometimes. She always said that she was stressed, but no one else was ever as stressed as mommy. It always took his mom time to be nice, no matter what it was. Sometimes she was mean to Sanghyuk, but if he was sad then she would come play with him to make him feel better. It felt good, but no one else in his school still played with toys or spoke like Sanghyuk did. His mom encouraged it.

Or maybe his hyung was the one that was broken. Hyung was never nice to him, not even when he was a baby. If Sanghyuk tries to talk to him his hyung will hit him and shove him till he goes away. Mom says it’s just brother’s fighting, and he never gets in trouble. But Sanghyuk still doesn’t understand. He never wants to fight with hyung, but his hyung loves to fight. Sanghyuk knows that his hyung doesn’t like him, and that’s why he’s scary. Sometimes it really hurts when he pushes him.

To everyone else Sanghyuk was the broken one. All he had ever tried to do was behave well and be a good boy, but they said that Sanghyuk needed to grow up. He couldn’t see what he was doing wrong, so he never knows if what they’re saying was right or not. Even if it really was him, it’s not like he could ask if he should know it. You can’t ask a broken toy how they know that there broken, but Sanghyuk really doesn’t see how else to do it.

Sitting in his room that day, Sanghyuk wanted confirmation. He didn’t want to just think of things anymore, but he wanted to know that it really wasn’t him. Standing up, Sanghyuk walked over to the office. His mom was still working.

“Mommy?”

“What do you need?” Sanghyuk sighed, having problems actually saying it out loud. His mom never looked up from her work.

“Is there something wrong with me?” That got his mother’s attention. It took her a moment, and for a second she looked like a TV show that someone had pressed pause on, but then she looked at him. When she did, her expression was different.

“What would ever make you think that?” Sanghyuk watched as his mom called him closer to her. He smiled, as she had him sit on her lap and she held him.

“Kids brought their moms at school today. They all talked about what it’s like at home, and it made me think. Then when I was playing I broke one of my toys, and it made me think about everything that the kids had said. Their life is so different from ours…..and they all think that something is wrong with me.”

“Aw, my baby. Don’t listen to them. I love you just the way that you are. You’re special, and that’s a really good thing.”

“But what if I don’t want to be special. If I wasn’t then maybe you wouldn’t be so stressed, and maybe hyung would like me.”

“Our feelings have nothing to do with you. Trust me when I say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.” Sanghyuk had gotten his confirmation, but it didn’t make him feel better. If it wasn’t him, then that meant it had to be his mommy or hyung, right?

“……okay mommy.”

“You’re my precious baby, and you look too sad right now. You said your toy was broken, what if I got hyung to fix it for you?”

“I don’t want hyung to fix it.”

“Well then, I’ll buy you a new one. You can come with me, and we’ll pick out one together.”

“Okay!” Sanghyuk liked that idea. He supposed that figuring out who it was could wait, since he didn’t get to spend a lot of time with mommy when she was nice. He wanted to take advantage of it.

Sanghyuk now smiled widely, holding hands with his mom as she led him to the car. ~~~~~

Eating dinner with Hongbin had actually really fun. Sanghyuk was already very excited, since Hongbin had been nice to him all day long. He never once had told Sanghyuk that he was whining or he needed a break. That had never happened before when he played with his mom. Playing with Hongbin was really fun.

Even when they weren’t playing, Hongbin was fun to eat with too. He was right when he had said that he acted weirdly, since everything had to be perfect. Hongbin liked each little detail put in an exact spot when they ate, and sometimes it made Sanghyuk laugh. Still, since Hongbin had said to watch out for him he had tried to do his job well. When Hongbin wasn’t looking, Sanghyuk would move his fork out a tiny bit. If Hongbin moved it back that’s how he knew he needed to tell him.

Choosing somewhere for dinner, Hongbin had chosen a place Sanghyuk hadn’t expected. All day they had eaten snack foods that were made in front of you and seemed somewhat special, but for dinner they ate fast food.

“Hongbin hyung?” Sanghyuk started to talk again around halfwa