As his mind slowly worked its way to waking up, the first thing Heechul noticed was that it was freezing in the room. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was stark from last night’s activities, because as he rolled over he felt that his body was trapped in a cocoon of blankets that did nothing to shield him from the bitter coldness that did not belong in a home.

Sighing loudly, Heechul sat up, shivering as the blankets fell and exposed his body to the cold air. With the intentions of stalking into the living room and turning the space heater up a few degrees, Heechul hastily pulled on some pants and left the bedroom. He was not a morning person and to wake up freezing put him in a foul mood with his anger directed towards Hangeng, who had only left for work an hour ago and could have turned the heat up before he left. However, as he reached the space heater, Heechul was met with a yellow sticky note stuck to the front of the device that only made his morning that much worse.

Chul,

The space heater broke so I wrapped you in all the blankets so you weren’t too cold. I’ll try to fix it when I get home, but we can’t really afford a new one. I left some money on the table so you could go grocery shopping today. I’ll see you tonight, I love you.

Crumpling the note, Heechul tossed it towards the trash can and headed to the bathroom for a shower – at least there was still hot water. He shimmied off the pants and turned the bath knobs to the hottest temperature, and as he moved to step into the shower he caught sight of his reflection and stopped in his tracks.

His stomach was flat, the milky skin smooth and pale and beautiful. He was beautiful, gorgeous even, and he wasn’t ashamed to think so – modesty had never been a key word in his vocabulary. And as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, Heechul couldn’t help but feel a pit of disgust grow in the pit of his stomach – right where that baby would be growing. He was going to get fat. The delicate structure of his body, that feminine feature that he was so damn proud of, was going to be ruined in just a short amount of time and in its place would be a huge, swollen belly that would more than likely bring stretch marks.

Narrowing his eyes in anger, Heechul turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash away everything.

An abortion really did feel like the best option.

“Say Teukie. Say it, Eunhyukkie! Teukie!”

“Dah!”

“No, Teukie, say – ah, never mind. Maybe another day, hmm?” Leeteuk said, smiling widely as he held forth a spoon full of baby food for his baby brother. Seven month old Eunhyuk giggled happily and launched forward to eat the banana flavored goo.

“Dah!”

“Oh, you’re so cute! I just wish you would stop spitting your food in my face,” Leeteuk said, grimacing as he grabbed a paper towel off that kitchen table and wiped his face off.

Sometimes it felt odd that his parents had decided to have another child after he’d already graduated high school. The age difference was uncanny, and when he first found out that he was going to be a brother, Leeteuk had instantly thought the age difference would be a huge issue. After all, he was old enough to be this kid’s father. But from the instance he held Eunhyuk in his arms, all negative thoughts floated away and were replaced with feelings of uttermost affection for the