Note: Goshh I couldn't believe this fic would get this many subscribers, thank you guys so much!!! *screams in joy* This chapter is short. I'm sorry for that, and sorry for another thing, too.

Chapter Text

"Kyungsoo-sii, there's a fair at the park tonight, will you and Kyo Jin come?"

Kyungsoo perhaps did not notice it when it all started, but he did realize that he had been anticipating everyday of Jongin showing up at his door at exactly half past six o'clock, or of Jongin lounging on his couch with a box of ice cream—"new flavor everyday," the tanned boy said—and watching his TV, or watching his laptop's screen, or just simply watching Kyungsoo working on his translation and laughing quietly at some kissing scenes in the novels. 

But he was sure he had not expected to see Jongin at his front door on a Saturday morning, since Jongin would always sleep in on Saturdays as he had unnecessarily informed Kyungsoo as usual.

"There'll be a lot of food, and games, and kids," Jongin was ranting his mouth off again. "And Kyo Jin will definitely love it."

For some reason, Kyungsoo nodded. They parted with the location, the time, like a plan—like a date.

"You are NOT going on a motherer date with that god damn outfit," Baekhyun was giving him that disgusted look. Chanyeol nodded in agreement.

Lucky for him that Kyo Jin was going shopping with Suho and Yixing, or else Kyungsoo would cut Baekhyun's tongue for throwing curse words at his house. About Suho, the older always had a strange hobby of buying clothes for Kyo Jin. Probably he had way too much money and just wanted to have Kyo Jin as a third wheel—and a distraction—because he could not have a date with Yixing alone without weirding himself out.

"It's not a date," Kyungsoo shook his head, wrapping a grey woolen scarf around his neck. And he was always totally content with what he wore. Dark colors suited him well, and didn't make him stand out.

"It's not a date," Baekhyun mimicked him with that excessively dramatical movement of his lips, which Kyungsoo hated. "Bull."

Before Kyungsoo could snarl at him, Baekhyun had already raked out his closet and thrown all his clothes carelessly onto the floor. He did not know how much neatly and orderly Kyungsoo had folded his clothes.

"Chanyeol and I gave you this outfit on your nineteenth birthday, why is it still having a price tag on?" Baekhyun flung the item at him.

"This is too bright," Kyusngoo reasoned, quite convincing to his ears. It was a sweater with a light pink color, and a pair of jeans with a light blue color. Kyungsoo could not even call the colors their right name. "And who keeps the price tag on the present?"

"Because this was expensive and we wanted you to know that," Baekhyun snapped. "And if it's too bright, that hot dude Jongin gonna loveee it." He drawled the word 'love, that made Kyungsoo shudder, not because of the idea of it, but of Baekhyun's ty voice.

"Who cares about Jongin?" Kyungsoo grimaced but couldn't help feeling warm in his cheeks.

"You care," Chanyeol spoke up from where he lay on the bed—Kyungsoo's bed. "You told me last night that you worried Jongin would die from his own cooked food."

"Oh," Baekhyun feigned the hurt look. "Oh, so you confided in that giant instead of me."

"I did because I thought he could keep his mouth better than you. And I was wrong," Kyungsoo hissed. "Now shut up."

"We won't shut up unless you change that tedious rags."

Kyungsoo growled but he got to change the outfit nonetheless, with only a tiny part of him hoped that Jongin would loveee it.

"Sehun, can I borrow your denim jacket?" Jongin asked, peeking his head over the doorframe of Sehun's bedroom.

"Why?" Sehun asked, even not bothering looking up at him from his Playstation.

"I have a date," Jongin mumbled. That had Sehun raise an eyebrow. Luhan suppressed his smirk.

"That daddy Kyungsoo won't care what you wear," Sehun sighed.

"Oh, come on," Jongin whined, then added. "Please!"

"That will be 30,000 won per day," Sehun said casually.

Jongin jutted his lower lip out. "Your jacket costs only 20,000 won."

"You want it or not?" Sehun snorted.

Luhan chuckled from where he cuddled next to Sehun. Did they not have anything else to do? Those needy s.

"Just give him the jacket, love," Luhan said. It was awfully scary to see Luhan act all nice and generous. It never meant any good. "The sooner our Jonginnie succeeds in picking that penguin boy up, the sooner he leaves our place."

Jongin was proved to be right.

"It's not what I'm gonna do," Jongin shook his head frantically. "I just want to get to know him and we will fall in love with each other and—"

"We don't care," Sehun cut him off. "Luhan's right. Just take the jacket and go on your innocent date."

Jongin was late fourteen minutes. Kyungsoo stamped his feet on the ground impatiently, and Kyo Jin was beginning to complain about getting weary legs.

"Just one more minute and I will just go home," Kyungsoo murmured under his breath, a scold on his face, which was not out of ordinary. But again, what was the point of all this nice and bright outfit? Bull. Jongin perhaps wouldn't come, because he had probably weighted spending his free time on something else better or with Kyungsoo—a lame single dad, and changed his mind.

Another minute. And another five minutes. Jongin was still nowhere to be seen. That , Kyungsoo cursed in his head as he squeezed Kyo Jin's hand and turned to go.

the park. the fair. this outfit. Jongin and his motherer invitation and his double-lidded eyes and his high-boned cheeks and the cute slope on his nose and the curves of his lips and his defined jaw and his—

"Hey," a voice that had become familiar recently called him, along with a hand on his shoulder.

Kyungsoo twirled back to look at him. At Jongin. All handsome, and light blue denim, and dark pink hair. He was attracting all the eyes now, including Kyungsoo's.

"What on earth took you so long?" Kyungsoo grumbled quite loudly, giving the taller a glare.

"Jongin hyung has girly hair," Kyo Jin squeaked, pouncing on his feet until Jongin picked him up onto his arms.

"Sorry, Kyungsoo-sii. Luhan prisoned me at home until he finished dying my hair," Jongin explained, giving him an apologetic smile. At Kyungsoo's silence, he whispered something that the shorter could not catch because the park was getting more and more crowded every second passing by.

"What do you say?" Kyungsoo almost shouted, leaning forwards a little.

"You look really handsome in bright colors," Jongin leaned in too. His whisper was breathed straight onto Kyungsoo's neck, the tip of his nose brushing his earlobe. Kyungsoo jerked away instantly, feeling flushed all over. Why suddenly it felt so hot?

"Don't get that close to me like this," Kyungsoo snapped, face burning. They had only known each other for a couple weeks, and no one had ever intruded his personal space like this since years ago. "It's not appropriate."

Jongin seemed strartled, and involuntarily backed away a step.

"Balloon, Jongin hyung," Kyo Jin bounced in his arms, tugging at his jacket as he screamed enthusiastically. If anything, his son was always the one breaking the ice.

"So, uh, should we go inside?" Jongin tilted his head toward the entrance's direction and gave the shorter an awkward smile. "They will sell out all the spicy fried chicken if we hesitate."

"Oh God," Kyungsoo groaned and laughed at that. All the anger of being made to wait was forgotten by Jongin's ridiculous addiction to fried chicken.

It was the first time Jongin saw him laughing. He decided that he liked—he loved the sight, and Kyungsoo's bright outfit.

After they finished their fried chicken with Kyungsoo sharing half of his portion to Jongin, feeding Kyo Jin with two apple pies, they found themself at a shooting booth.

Kyo Jin pointed repeatedly at a huge brown teddy bear, thrashing in Jongin's arms. "Appa, that cute bear."

"No, Jinni," Kyungsoo shook his head lightly and lowered his son's small hand down. "We'll never shoot the target."

Jongin passed Kyo Jin to Kyungsoo and pulled out some money from his pocket.

"Watch me, Kyungsoo-sii," said Jongin, wriggling his eyebrows in confidence. "I'll get Kyo Jin that giant beast."

Kyungsoo just rolled his eyes. No one could ever shoot that moving target. People designed those kind of games in a way that the players were bound to be losers.

", it was close," Jongin cursed after twelve shots in total. It was the first time Kyungsoo heard him curse. Jongin looked tattered, his dark pink hair ruffled due to hands running through frustratedly, his lips more and more jutting out of his mouth. He looked cute like a child. For a split second, Kyungsoo wanted to pinch his cheeks. He slapped himself innerly for that stupid thought.

"Jongin, stop," Kyungsoo took a hold of his forearm before Jongin could pulled more money out of his pocket. "You're draining your money on it. It's just a waste."

"But—"

"The amount of money you have spent on this is enough to buy a whole new teddy bear," Kyungsoo reasoned and urged, "Now let's go."

"Appaaaaa..."

"Kyungsoo-ssiiiii..."

If you described what Kyo Jin emitted was a whine, you could describe what Jongin emitted was a howl. And Kyungsoo was experiencing second-handed embarrassment when passerby sent judgemental looks at them.

"Fine," Kyungsoo snarled at the taller before landing Kyo Jin onto his feet. The boy immediately grabbed at Jongin's hand when his father made his way to the front of the booth.

"Give me that stupid gun," Kyungsoo snapped at the booth owner whose hands shook a bit in fear when taking the bill of money from Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo took aim at the target that was moving so fast Jongin could not see it now. And he pulled the trigger. There was a puff sound when the plastic bullet shot through the plastic film that was in the middle of the target.

"Holy macaroni," Jongin squeaked, lunging himself towards the shorter. He shook Jongin's shoulders like a mad man. "You did it, Kyungsoo. You freaking did it." Jongin even forgot using honorific. "You shot that god damn target."

Kyungsoo mumbled "You should stop using profanity!" as Jongin gleefully flung his long arm over Kyungsoo's shoulders.

"Here you are!" the booth onwer gave Jongin the giant bear with a bitter, crooked smile. Jongin hugged the stuffed animal like his dear life.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo called him, voice strangely dropping an octave.

Jongin tried to peek his head over the giant bear's head to look at Kyungsoo, whose face had lost all of its colors. "Huh?"

"Where is Jinni?"

"What?"

"I asked you, Kim Jongin," Kyungsoo's eyes were bloodshot now. "Where the is my son?"

"Kyo Jin is right here—" Jongin dropped the bear onto the ground with a dull thud, looking frantically around.

"What happened?" A voice spoke behind them. It was low and familiar.

When Kyungsoo and Jongin turned to look who was approaching them, they saw Baekhyun's and Chanyeol's worried expression. What the hell were they doing here?

"You two lost Kyo Jin?" Baekhyun screeched, shaking Kyungsoo's frozen body.

Kyungsoo seemed woken up out of his daze at that, he shot himself at Jongin. "You—" He spat the word out. "It's all your fault."

Jongin drew a shuddering breath, fearing the worst. There was a coil in his stomach that made him feel like throwing up. He struggled to catch Kyungsoo's wrists to stop his pommelling.

"Calm down, Kyungsoo. We gonna find him," he reassured the older, but his own mind was a whirlwind right now. He could not believe he had just let go of Kyo Jin.

"You're so dead, Jongin." Kyungsoo pushed at Jongin's chest before huddling his body down, panting hard.

"He's right, Kyungsoo." Chanyeol supported his friend's tremblous body. "We should go find Kyo Jin right now."

They separated in different directions for their searching. Baekhyun went with Kyungsoo because the father seemed too lost himself to find another person.

On his bustling way to the balloon booth, Jongin was caught in the shoulder by a hand. He swirled around and was surprised.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jongin asked stupidly. "You two even hate fairs."

"Oh, come on, Jonginnie," Luhan rolled his eyes, urging him to keep jogging to the booth they were heading. "We're s, but it's your first ever ing date. We got worried. And you ed it up already, didn't you?"

"You have been stalking us?"

"Don't act that surprised," Sehun clicked his tongue. "Now be grateful that we're gonna help you find that tiny bunny."

And just like Jongin guessed, Kyo Jin was indeed clinging to the man selling balloons. But he did not look happy with all those balloons, he looked exactly how he was. Lost. There was a glint of guilt in his glassy eyes, his cheeks flushed red with fear and escaping tears. The man with the balloons was looking from left to right, clearly finding the boy's guardian.

"Jongin hyung," Kyo Jun shouted to him and left the balloon man's knee to stumble towards Jongin, who was running towards him in a haste that almost made him trip over himself.

Jongin had never felt this relieved in his life. He scooped the tiny boy up and held him dear to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Kyo Jin. I'm so sorry." His voice was tremble as he snuggled his nose into that familiar baby shampoo scent of Kyo Jin's soft hair.

Luhan and Sehun heaved out a sigh of relief, reaching out to Kyo Jin' back to calm the sobbing boy down.

"Are you his father?" The man asked, frowning at him. He clearly disapproved of a parent letting their child on their own.

"No, I'm Kyo Jin's babysitter."

"No, he was his babysitter," Kyungsoo voice spoke up in anger when his group reached them. Before Jongin could open his mouth, Kyungsoo turned from the man to look at him, his eyes distant. "You're fired, Kim Jongin."

"Calm down, Kyungsoo," Chanyeol tugged at his sleeve. "It's just an accident."

"I shouldn't have accepted your invitation to go here," Kyungsoo let his rage get on him, ignoring Chanyeol's words. "I trusted you. I trusted you to keep an eye on my son, and you just let him go. What kind of babysitter are you? You're just a boy." He spat the words out as harsh as he could. "I should've known this would happen. You even lost your parents before, how could someone like you be able to keep anyone by your side?"

Kyungsoo regretted it as soon as those words—those cruel, mindless words—left his mouth. The shock began spreading all over Jongin's features, and he abruptly took a step back as though Kyungsoo's words were poisonous. Maybe they were. His eyes were red, his lips pressed into a thin line. And when he averted his eyes, avoiding Kyungsoo's gaze, for the first time, Kyungsoo knew what being hurt by hurting other people felt like. What an irony!

And as if the nature decided to make things worse, the sky started pouring rain. People formerly enjoying the fair, the food, the games and whatever the happiness they were feeling scattered to find shelters. Everything was becoming a chaos, but where Kyungsoo and his group stood, everything was in dreadful silence.

Jongin shallowed hard as he hugged and Kyo Jin's hair one more time, kissing the boy's forehead before bending down to put him on his feet on the ground. Jongin excruciatingly realized that this was it, this was all over. It felt so sore. Not just because of Kyungsoo's words, but also because of those feelings that Jongin had given carelessly to the one who just saw him as a homeless, parentless, irresponsible boy.

Jongin walked away wordlessly. For the first time, he knew how much people could get hurt by love—one-sided love. For the first time, even fried chicken was not able to make things better.

Kyungsoo picked up his son into his embrace, hoping the heat of Kyo Jin's body would warm him up like it always did. It worked, it felt warmer, having his most important thing in his safety arms. But his heart felt cold. It had been thawed for the last couple of weeks, with Jongin's carefree, high-pitched laugh, and his sometimes sleepy eyes, and his pout when being scolded for messing the house up. Now it was no one else but him—Kyungsoo himself—who froze it again, by his own transient rage.

Kyungsoo watched Jongin go, feeling his eyes blurred—perhaps by the raindrops, perhaps by something else from inside of him.

There was no taking back.

But if it were true that Jongin was just a boy, so was Kyungsoo—he had just thrown a tantrum like one. And if it were true that Jongin could not keep his parents by his side, neither could Kyungsoo.

Was that why it felt so hurt? Or it was that Kyungsoo had fallen so deep?