It was a little past midnight on a dreary rainy night.  Two figures stood on a dimly lit porch outside a large house in a well to do neighborhood. Upon closer inspection one could tell that they had no business in the location; their clothes were ripped and dirty, the look of desperation commonly associated with the destitute etched onto their faces.

The taller reached out a shaking hand and rang the doorbell. A few moments passed before the front door swung open to reveal a short scowling man. His face changed into one of shock when he registered who was standing on his doorstep. They were certainly a sight, a short boy of about fifteen and his rather young looking mother, both clutching at each other tightly to fend off the cold.  The light drizzle that had persisted throughout the day was beginning to develop into a storm so he beckoned them into the house before addressing them.

“What,” he stopped and studied the pair once again, “what are you doing here?” he finally managed to say.

The taller man straightened up and wrapped an arm around his son. The boy buried his face into his mother’s shoulder and peeked at the stranger shyly. It wasn’t much warmer inside the house despite the fire crackling lowly in the back of the nearby front room.

“We’ve been… forced… to come to you for help,” he said shakily as he bit his lip and looked towards the ceiling.

“That doesn’t actually answer my question,” the other said flatly.

He didn’t mean to be snarky, but an old friend showing up in the middle of the night with his son didn’t make for a warm welcome.

The man sighed before explaining his situation to the other.

“When the war ended we were told to submit all our belonging to the new government or face being separated and sold into slavery,” he was still looking up at the ceiling, as if he were reliving the memories as he spoke. His son had buried his face once again and begun to shake slightly. The shorter man was still unimpressed with his friend’s explanation and opened his mouth to retort but the discussion was cut short by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

 “Jihoon who could you possibly be talking to at this time of night?” a new voice rang in the hall.

A tired looking man emerged from the darkness at the bottom of the stairs. His dark hair nearly matched the bags beneath his eyes, and even the way he trudged down the stairs seemed to reflect a desperate need for rest.  He stopped short once he noticed the people standing beside his husband.

“Soonyoung, is that you?” he squinted and leaned forward slightly to study them, “and little Channie too?” it seemed as though he didn’t sense the tense atmosphere or was purposefully ignoring it. “Well you’re not so little anymore are you, how old are you now?”

Chan looked at his mother who nodded at him to continue before he turned back to the man and answered in a small voice.

“Fifteen” his grip on his mother’s arm tightened slightly as he spoke.

Jihoon spoke once again, “Quit harassing him Seungcheol”

Seungcheol looked insulted as he turned to his husband, “I was most definitely not harassing him, I asked him how old he was!”

The discussion seemed to revitalize him, he had straightened up and there was a new light in his eyes.

Jihoon ignored him and turned back to Soonyoung, “you got kicked out of your village so you came to us, but what is it that you want?”

Seungcheol’s eyebrows raised slightly after hearing Jihoon’s words and he turned toward Soonyoung expectantly.

Soonyoung glanced quickly at Chan before steeling himself and looking earnestly at the others.

“I need someone to look after Chan, I don’t want him out on the streets,” his voice shook as he tried to continue, “I’ll do anything you want, just please don’t let anything happen to him.”

He was quickly losing his composure at the thought of leaving his baby alone but held himself together anyway, he needed Jihoon and Seungcheol to understand how dire the situation was.

“Please, I wouldn’t ask if there was anything else I could do.”

As he spoke Chan began to realize his mother’s plan. Having spent the vast majority of his life with his mother, the thought of not seeing him for any uncertain amount of time was almost unbearable. He especially didn’t want to be left with strangers that seemed to already know him.

Soonyoung’s pleading was cut off by his son forcing himself out of his arms and turning to him. A look of betrayal marred his face as he addressed his mother. “You said we’d stay together,” there were tears gathering quickly in his eyes, “You said that you’d always stay with me,” his voice cracked as he broke into sobs.

Chan sunk to his knees as he considered what his mother had propositioned. Soonyoung joined him on the floor and gently gathered him into his arms. Jihoon and Seungcheol faced each other with identical looks of shock, the sounds of Soonyoung cooing gently to Chan echoed throughout the room.

“Well we can’t say no,” Seungcheol spoke lowly.

“I agree, but can we really separate them?” Jihoon looked sadly at the pair on the floor. Soonyoung was gently Chan’s hair and whispering to him. Chan had stopped sobbing and was only crying slightly as him mother rocked him in his arms.

Jihoon and Seungcheol nodded to each other as they came to a decision silently and slowly approached their friends. They both crouched down next to them and waited for their attention. When both pairs of red rimmed eyes were focused on them Jihoon addressed them.

“It’s no trouble to let Chan stay here,” the relief was immediate on Soonyoung face but Jihoon spoke again before he could dissolve into a tirade of thanks, “and it’s no trouble to let you stay here as well Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung stared at him silently as he processed what had been said. He opened his mouth to respond before stopping short and biting his lip. He glanced toward the boy in his arms and then back at Jihoon. His eyebrows pulled together as he finally found his voice.

“I couldn’t intrude on you like that,” Soonyoung trailed off, with much hesitation on his face. It was incredibly obvious that he didn’t want to be away from Chan. He continued to gnaw on his lip and a faint spot of blood appeared. Soonyoung wanted to accept the offer but he didn’t want to be in debt to his friends, if he could still call them that after all the years it had been since they’d last spoken.

“The two of you should stay together, family is important, especially in hard times,” Seungcheol said softly, unconsciously shifting closer to Jihoon as he spoke.

Soonyoung considered the offer, pulling himself and Chan off the floor before speaking. Chan still held tightly to his mother, anxiously awaiting his response.

“I have nothing to offer in return, the only things we brought with us are our essentials,” Soonyoung looked toward the ground and shifted his weight, “but if you’d have me anyway, I’d be happy to stay here.”

“Of course we’ll have you, it’s the least we can do for an old friend,” Jihoon smiled slightly at Soonyoung and Chan, Seungcheol nodded behind him, his earlier fatigue seemed to have returned in full force, he was blinking slowly and stifling yawns.

“I think we should all get to bed and finish talking in the morning, I’m sure you’re exhausted from your trip,” Seungcheol said, even though he looked more exhausted than Soonyoung and Chan put together.

Jihoon looked at his husband and shook his head.

“You go off to bed and I’ll put them in the guestroom,” Jihoon shooed him off before gesturing for the others to follow him, “Do you guys want anything before you go to bed, something to eat, drink?” he asked as they ascended the stairs.

Soonyoung pushed Chan’s hair out of his face before quietly asking him if he wanted anything. Chan surprised his mother by responding to Jihoon himself.

“No thank you, I don’t want to keep you up any longer,” his voice came out clearly, and Soonyoung noted that he seemed more confident and happy then he’d been earlier. Soonyoung felt a rush of pride for his son, who hadn’t been himself since they’d left the village. He was very relieved that the change in scenery had done Chan well, just as he’d wished it would, and with the added bonus of them being able to stay together he was sure Chan would be back to his normal playful self in no time.

Jihoon looked to Soonyoung for confirmation and he nodded.

“Well then, let’s get you to the guestroom.”

The guestroom was just the basement, but it wasn’t creepy or dingy, there was a bed large enough to fit two people and a wide wardrobe. There were a few scattered paintings of landscapes hung on the walls. The walls and floor were perhaps the most ‘basement-esque’ things about the room, they were plain gray brick, but a large faded pink rug covered most of the middle of the floor. All in all it was a nice room and Soonyoung was happy to be there.

“My room is up on the top floor if you need anything, sleep well,” Jihoon bid them goodnight and disappeared up the stairs. Chan had wandered over to one of the paintings on the wall and was inspecting it. It was a plain picture of a mountain with a beautiful carved red framed. There was a faded inscription on the side that he couldn’t make out.

“These are some awfully nice paintings to be left in the basement like this” Chan told his mother. “I wonder why they’re down here.”

Soonyoung had set their small bags down on the bed and pulled out their designated sleeping clothes. He beckoned Chan over to him and handed him his things,

“Sleep now, paintings later, it’s been a long few weeks and we need to get some rest.”

They changed and folded up their day clothes, setting them on top of the wardrobe, before getting into the bed. Soonyoung blew out the candle on the bedside table and darkness enveloped the two.

“Are we going to be okay now mama?” Chan whispered into the darkness.

“We’ll be just fine,” Soonyoung kissed Chan’s forehead and smoothed his hair, “go to sleep baby, I’ll see you in the morning.”

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There's the first chapter! Tell me how you feel about it! Things are unclear right now, but that's the point, the next chapter will answer some questions. Thanks for reading!