Leeteuk didn’t hear the knock on the front door, but the sound of hurried footsteps echoing back from the foyer caused him to lift his head and shut off the water.  He listened carefully, absentmindedly picking up a towel and drying his hands.               

He faintly heard the door being dragged open and a curious young voice greeting, “Hello!” Donghae had answered, of course.  A surge of panic suddenly caused Leeteuk to drop the towel and abandoning the dishes in the sink, he rushed through the living room.  Trying to keep his calm, he saw Donghae was standing in the doorway, peering up at whoever must have been standing outside. Leeteuk quickly scooped him back from the open door, chiding him quickly under his breath.  Nervously glancing at the person standing on the other side of the door, Leeteuk paused mid-motion. 

                “Oh, it’s you,” he said in surprise, seeing the dark eyed young man on the door step.

                “Who is he?” Donghae asked curiously. 

                “Just go and play in your room, Donghae,” Leeteuk said, giving him a little push of encouragement as he kept one eye on the young man on the doorstep.

                “But I want to meet your friend.”  

                “Donghae!” 

                Dropping his shoulders dramatically, Donghae sulked off, mumbling about how unfair it was.

                Standing between their guest and the apartment, Leeteuk put one hand on the door frame and the other on the half opened door.  “Hey, how are you?” he asked, trying unsuccessfully to project a casual air. 

                Yesung didn’t respond.  Despite the fact that Leeteuk was taking up most of the doorframe, he seemed to be looking past Leeteuk to where the figure of Donghae had been a moment before.  Waiting uncomfortably, Leeteuk swiped at his bangs a few times, hoping that if he looked put-together he could start acting more in control.  He observed in the awkward pause that was slowly settling down that Yesung looked different in the harsh light of day.  He looked younger and a little lost.  Very aware that he was home alone with Donghae, Leeteuk urged uncertainly,

                “Is there something you need?”

                Blinking once and looking at Leeteuk like he was seeing him for the first time, Yesung animated quickly, reaching around to the messenger bag at his side.  He scrambled with the contents inside for a moment and then produced a handful of papers which he held out in front of him. 

                “That was Donghae, wasn’t it?” he asked, strangely not even addressing the papers he was holding out to Leeteuk. 

                Looking at the papers and then at Yesung, Leeteuk wondered if it was safe to answer, then quickly dismissed the concern.  He was being ridiculous.  He had been terrified for the past week and a half that someone would show up at their house to take Donghae away.  He hadn’t even let the boy leave the house.  He had been waiting for—He once more looked at the papers.  Feeling a flutter of excitement, he glanced at Yesung for some sort of sign that he should take them but received no such sign.  Hesitantly, he reached out and took the papers in his hand.  Yesung released them to him immediately. 

Remembering the earlier question, Leeteuk cleared his throat and answered, “Yeah, that’s him alright.  He’s a real ball of energy, isn’t he?”  His voice sounded casual, but his eyes were hungrily searching the documents in his hand, scanning over every detail.  “You finished already?” he wondered.

Something in Yesung’s eyes seemed to click and a spark lit across his face.   “Yep.   And they’re down to the letter perfection if I do say so myself.”  He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and grinned with dark glee.

A sense of relief settling over him, Leeteuk thumbed through the small stack of papers and stopped when he arrived at the birth certificate.  The words Park Donghae were written boldly across the page.  A smile started to play on his lips when out of nowhere a bolt of fear hit his heart.  What was he thinking?  There were loads of people out there who knew he’d only had one brother, and that brother was gone.  It would take all of two seconds for their story to fall apart if the wrong person came along.  The relief he’d been feeling a moment before was washed away.  

Sensing this change, Yesung guaranteed, “These will fool anyone.  Trust me,” he smiled to himself, “you wouldn’t believe the people I’ve managed to fool before.  Politicians, business men, the kind of folks you’d see in the paper…for good or bad reasons.”

Swallowing hard, Leeteuk reminded himself that he’d severed most of his old family ties years ago.  There was nothing to worry about.  He looked once more at the papers.  He wasn’t an expert, but he was certain Yesung wasn’t exaggerating about their quality.

“Thank you,” he said, “really, thank you so much for these.”

“It’s not a problem.” 

“Are you sure that I can’t give you something for them?  Money really isn’t a problem for me.”

“It isn’t for me either,” Yesung said, a smile curling across his lips as he looked up through his dark bangs.

Leeteuk felt like an ice cube had been dropped down his spine under that dark stare.  Naturally, Donghae chose that moment to make his reappearance, causing him to jump.

                “Hyung, I think I might have broken the drawer in my dresser.”

                Keeping his body as a barrier between Donghae and the outside, or perhaps, he realized, between Donghae and Yesung, Leeteuk turned his head to look at the boy.

                “It just gets stuck,” he quickly dismissed, “you have to lift it.” 

                By the way Donghae was ducking around and standing on his tiptoes, Leeteuk deduced that he didn’t actually care about the drawer.  Feeling a little guilty, Leeteuk acknowledged that he didn’t want Donghae meeting Yesung.  Sure, the young man was being good to them as a favor to Heechul, but that didn’t mean he necessarily trusted him.  Yesung’s intentions might have been genuine, but he seemed a little unpredictable, a little unstable.  Plus, he wanted to keep Donghae as far away from this shady business as possible.

                “Why don’t you go and try what I told you,” Leeteuk said. 

                Realizing it was more of a command than a request, Donghae sighed exaggeratedly and marched off.  Leeteuk had prepared an apology as he turned back to Yesung but was surprised to see him echoing Donghae’s action from before.  He was craning his neck and peering into the apartment.  Feeling uncomfortable that Yesung either hadn’t noticed he was watching him again, or didn’t realize that he was being rude, Leeteuk cleared his throat slightly. 

                “So is that it then?” 

                A slight look of alarm seemed to cross the young man’s face.  He stared wide-eyed at Leeteuk for a moment and then blurted out, “School records.” 

                “What?”

                “You’re going to need school records if he’s going to go back to school.”

                Stuttering at this development he had yet to consider, Leeteuk said, “Well, I mean…he doesn’t have to go….I could…”

                “No, no, he’s going to need to go back to school soon.  And I can’t let you home school him, that would be irresponsible of me. You’re not qualified.”

                Taken aback, Leeteuk stayed with his mouth open.  Fortunately, Yesung was not at a loss for words.

                “I’ll take care of it.  Don’t worry about a thing.  I’ll have something for you by next week at the latest.”

                And without another word, Yesung spun around and started down the steps toward the street. 

                “Thanks,” Leeteuk called after him confusedly, then threw his eyes over the street to make sure no one was watching.  There was no one.  Shaking his head at the strange young man retreating down the street, Leeteuk stepped back into the apartment, closing the door behind him as he went.

                “What’s that?”

                Leeteuk spun around, startled to see Donghae had returned.  His brown eyes were focused on the papers.

                “These…are the papers we told you we were having a friend make for us.”

                Curious, Donghae walked over and climbed up onto the couch, standing on it and leaning toward Leeteuk to get a better look.  Leeteuk moved closer so that he could see and couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on the boy.  He looked so much better than he had when they’d first taken him in off the street.  His hair still tended to want to knot itself, but his new haircut revealed more of his bright face.  He now had a completely new wardrobe to replace the ratty outfit from before but Leeteuk had kept the old sweatshirt and jeans, tucking them into the back of his closet as a reminder.

Donghae was staring at the papers, but he didn’t seem to have much interest in them, which became evident as he asked, “If he was your friend why couldn’t I meet him?”

                Leeteuk realized that he didn’t have a good answer.  Donghae didn’t seem to care though, he was now looking very closely at the top paper in the stack.

                He pointed at the birth certificate:  “They spelled my name wrong.”

                Startled, Leeteuk looked at the paper.  It seemed okay to him.  “Do you mean the last name?  We had to use my name so we could say we were brothers.”

                “Oh, alright,” Donghae said, nodding contemplatively.  “Cause my real last name is Lee.”

                Leeteuk blinked in surprise at the unexpected revelation but in the next moment, Donghae had jumped down off of the couch and disappeared.

                The second time Yesung came to the apartment he was late, and Leeteuk was the one to open the door.  “Kangin, can you stir the rice for me?” he called over his shoulder as he answered the knock.

                In the darkness of the night it took a moment for Leeteuk to see who was standing outside.  “Oh, hello Yesung,” he said, spotting the young man dressed in black on his porch.  “Come on in.  How are you?”

                “Pretty good,” Yesung answered, sounding confidently normal.  “Sorry I’m later than I said I’d be.  I had a bit of trouble with one of the paying clien—”

“I’m sorry,” Leeteuk interrupted throwing a glance over his shoulder to see that Kangin had not appeared at his call.  “Do you mind waiting here for a second? I have food on the stove.” When he received a reluctant nod he hurried back to the kitchen.

                Yesung shifted his weight and looked around, feeling like the walls were watching him.  The neat little apartment had struck the perfect atmospheric balance between magazine perfection and lived-in comfort.  The air smelled like cooking and wood polish.  Unable to contain a vague curiosity, Yesung moved forward toward the living room.  He could see Leeteuk, his back turned, rummaging around in the kitchen. 

Glancing down, he traced his hand over the little table beside the couch and then turned his attention to the coffee table.  There was a text book sitting beside a set of job applications.  A brief case leant against the legs of the table beside a soccer ball which had been rolled underneath.   With great care he observed each object individually and the scene they painted as a whole.

                Turning off one of the burners on the stove, Leeteuk spun around to exit the kitchen and froze, seeing how far Yesung had advanced into the apartment.  His own curiosity making him allow Yesung to continue, Leeteuk leaned against the doorframe, studying Yesung just as he studied the coffee table.  The young man seemed vaguely fascinated, maybe even a little forlorn.  Thinking back on the past week spread over that coffee table, a smile played on Leeteuk’s face.

Kangin had been growing brighter and brighter with the addition of both the law firm job and Donghae’s presence.  He had been the one to bring home the soccer ball.  It had been a week since Yesung’s last visit, and in that time, Leeteuk had finally felt comfortable enough to let Donghae leave the apartment.  The papers felt like a protective barrier tucked away in the top draw of the file cabinet.  Of course, he’d gone along with Kangin and Donghae to the park that first time they went just to be sure nothing went wrong, but it had turned out okay, so he’d allowed Kangin and Donghae to go the second time without him.  He knew he couldn’t hog all of Donghae’s attention.

                Heechul had abandoned several of his job applications on the table because one of the places he’d applied called him back.  He’d sworn up and down that he’d jinx it if he said what the job was before he was hired.  That’s where he was that night.

                His text book was the last piece of the puzzle and he realized that he was a little behind on his school work, but when Donghae was around, he couldn’t work up a desire to get anything done. 

                Suddenly Leeteuk had an epiphany as he watched the 19 year old looking down over the coffee table under the dim lighting of the living room lamp.  Yesung was the same age his brother would have been.  In the strange shadows playing around the room, if Leeteuk squinted, it was almost like it was Woo Jin standing there.  He realized he never would have let his brother be in the same situation as this young man was:  living on his own, running his own business, dealing with all kinds of shady people…  It must have been lonely. A strange guilt settled over him.  Opening his mouth, Leeteuk managed to say, “Hey…” just as Kangin walked into the room.

“Who’s he?”

Fumbling over his words as the interruption registered in his mind, Leeteuk began, “Oh…Kangin, this is-”

“Yesung,” he introduced himself confidently with that same half-ironic bow he’d used at Leeteuk’s first meeting of him.  He paused halfway to standing back up straight to make sure he met Kangin’s eyes with that now familiar dark smile.

Unimpressed, Kangin crossed his arms.  “So you’re the forger?”

“That’s right,” he said, not the least bit intimidated, “I work with metal and stuff.  I bend and shape things and weld things together.”  He intentionally misunderstood the meaning of the word. 

With a little bit of a huff, Kangin started to say something but Leeteuk cut him off, realizing that this was quickly going to turn into a “who can out badass the other” competition.

“Okay then,” he clapped his hands together to get their attention, “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate everything you’ve done for us,” he told Yesung, catching Kangin’s eye deliberately as he spoke to drive home his point. 

Picking up on the tension he’d created, Yesung reached around to his bag and took out the falsified school records, “I’ll just leave these here,” he said, putting them down on the coffee table and turning as if to leave.

A sense of urgency overtook Leeteuk and he burst out, “Wait!”

Yesung turned. 

“Heechul’s not home right now, but we’re having dinner for him when he gets back and I’m sure he’d love to get the chance to catch up with you.  Why don’t you stay?”  Leeteuk sensed Kangin giving him an incredulous look but he ignored it, staring fixedly at Yesung who asked,

“Where is Heechul now?”

“Well, it’s his first day at a new job and we’re kind of going all out on the family dinner tonight so, you’re more than welcome to stay.”

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your family dinner,” he said scrunching his face a little at the words family dinner.

“Nonsense,” Leeteuk insisted.  “Friends count as family in my book.”

Finally, Yesung showed signs of hesitation.  Kangin was still giving Leeteuk a look, shaking his head subtly which Leeteuk continued to ignore and Donghae chose that moment to pop his head around the corner. 

He met Leeteuk’s gaze.  Leeteuk shook his head, but Donghae pretended like he didn’t understand and skipped across the room and came to a leaping halt in front of Yesung.  “I’m Donghae,” he announced.

“I know,” Yesung returned the greeting with a strange smile entirely unlike the dark look he usually gave.  Leeteuk relaxed slightly hearing the kind greeting. “My name’s Yesung.”

 “You’re the one who made the papers aren’t you?”

 “Yeah, I am,” he admitted somewhat uncomfortably.

 Donghae unexpectedly stepped forward and hugged him around the waist.  “Thank you.”  A look of shock stayed plastered on Yesung’s face even as Donghae skipped off to go stand beside Leeteuk.

“Is Yesung going to stay?”

Ruffling Donghae’s newly cut hair, Leeteuk tried not to sound too victorious as he said, “No, Yesung said he has to go.”  Yesung still looked stunned; Leeteuk knew it wouldn’t take much more to entirely weaken his defenses.

 “But,” Donghae whined, “can’t he at least stay for dinner?”

Something inside of Yesung snapped and he said, “I guess I could stay for a little while.”

 “Yes!” Donghae exclaimed, high fiving Leeteuk.  “Oh!  Do you want to see the bag Leeteuk-hyung got me for school?”

 “Sure,” Yesung said with an odd little laugh.  In a flash Donghae was off again, Yesung stared off after him with a small smile. 

“Yeah, that’s our Donghae,” Leeteuk announced, shaking his head. 

“Sweet kid.”

“Yeah, don’t be too caught off guard, he has a habit of doing things like that.  Just the other day he dropped the bomb on us that his last name was Lee.  Just like that,” Leeteuk snapped. 

Yesung looked surprised.  “Wait, you know his last name?” 

“Yeah?”

Looking over his shoulder to make sure that Donghae wasn’t within ear shot, Yesung offered, “You know, I could do something with that.  If you wanted, I could do a bit of hacking and find out about him.”  Yesung sounded like he meant it but something about his eyes told Leeteuk this was a test.  He would have been insulted, if he hadn’t already decided what he was going to do.  He desperately wanted to find out where Donghae had come from, but he wasn’t going to go behind the boy’s back to figure it out.

“No, that’s okay.  I can wait until he’s ready to tell us.”  He looked over at Kangin as he said this and his roommate nodded, no longer seeming as perturbed by Yesung’s presence, having seen his reaction with Donghae.

Eyes smiling slightly, Yesung agreed, “That sounds like a good idea.”

                An hour later, Heechul spun through the door yelling happily, “I’m home bitc—” he stopped himself and corrected, “people I associate and live with!” 

                “You’re late!” Leeteuk called back from the kitchen. 

                “I’m worth the wait,” he yelled back wildly, happily dropping a couple of bags onto the couch and heading with confident strides toward the kitchen. 

                He slammed his hands against the doorframe and stayed there dramatically, pleased to see he’d made a few people jump.  The grin on his face remained frozen awkwardly as he scanned the kitchen table and saw that there was one extra person there. 

                “Oh, Yesung,” he realized, “What are you doing here?”

                Yesung was staring at him but didn’t answer.  Realizing something was up, Heechul looked at everyone else.  Leeteuk was staring at him with wide eyes and had started giggling slightly while Kangin was giving him a strange, disturbed look. 

                “What the hell are you wearing?” 

                “Language,” Leeteuk warned Kangin through tight lips, looking like he was desperately trying not to laugh. 

                Heechul, feeling uncomfortably at a loss demanded, “What?” 

                “Why are you wearing girl’s clothes?” Donghae asked, with innocent amusement.

                “I am not!” Heechul said back, looking put off. 

                “You are,” Yesung simply said, “you look good though.” 

                “Thank you,” Heechul said, looking down at his clothes.  He couldn’t help but accept the compliment even though he didn’t understand what everyone was talking about.  It also didn’t bother him that Yesung was weirdly at his kitchen table.

“Where did you get those?” Leeteuk finally managed to ask. 

“From work,” he explained indignantly.

“What exactly is your job?”

“I’m a clothing model,” he explained which made Donghae giggle.  “It sounds funny,” he admitted, “But they actually pay me to walk around a store wearing their clothes.  And they let me take home whatever I want to keep!”

“And did anyone bother telling them that you weren’t a girl?” Kangin asked, starting to be more amused than perturbed as he realized Heechul had not done this on purpose.

 “They’re not girls’ clothes!”

Tipping back in his chair, Kangin challenged, “Fine, what are you wearing then?”

Looking down at his outfit, Heechul countered, “Oh come on, they’re guy’s skinny jeans.  You’ve all worn them.”

“Then why do they stop halfway past your knee?”

“Well, because…”

“It’s because they’re capris, Heechul.”

“So what,” he complained, knowing he was losing.  “They make capris for men too.”

 “They’re pink.”

 “They’re light red!”

 “Light red is pink!” Kangin exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

Donghae was already laughing so hard that he’d slid down in his seat.  Yesung somehow remained silent through it all.

Focusing in on Leeteuk, Heechul said, “A little help?”

Biting his cheek to stop himself from laughing anymore, Leeteuk said, “I would, I really would…but come on, Heechul, your shirt has ruffles.” At the word “ruffles” he could no longer contain himself and began emitting a high pitched laugh.  Kangin was drawn in by Leeteuk’s bizarre laughter and soon even Yesung was smiling, looking around at the others as he did.  Heechul strangely began laughing along extra loudly.  Slightly concerned, they all stopped to look at him and the moment they did he stopped short, fixing them with a stare.

“Oh sit down, Heechul,” Kangin ameliorated the situation, pulling out an empty chair near himself, “the food was getting cold half an hour ago.”

Sighing in defeat, Heechul took the seat.   The food dishes were already laid out across the table and a while later, everyone was munching away happily.  Leeteuk caught Yesung staring interestedly at the pictures on the fridge and couldn’t help but be reminded of Heechul’s first meal at their house.  There were a few more pictures now then there had been then. 

“So what are you doing here anyway,” Heechul asked Yesung, having apparently accepted the fact that he was dressed as a woman and moved on to other matters.

“Leeteuk asked me to stay.”

Looking happily surprised, Heechul gave Leeteuk a glance.  Playing a bit with his red-blonde hair, Leeteuk pretended not to notice but he was clearly pleased to have done something right.

“You guys have a nice place here,” Yesung offered politely.

“Thank you,” Leeteuk beamed, “how about you, though, where do you stay?”

“At the warehouse.”

Leeteuk’s smile faltered as his motherly instinct kicked in.  “You can’t honestly stay in that dark old place.”

“Don’t worry, there’s a really cozy part you didn’t see in the back.  I think it was supposed to be an office.  Trust me, it’s nice.”

Leeteuk didn’t look too convinced.  Donghae on the other hand, found this fascinating.  “So you, like, have a lair?”

“You could say that,” Yesung smiled his dark smile. 

Kicking his feet against his chair, having already cleared his plate, Donghae wondered, “Are you like a power ranger or a villain then?”

Yesung froze, caught off-guard by the question.

Heechul jumped in, “Definitely like a power ranger.”

“That’s cool,” Donghae said, looking completely prepared to continue with this line of questioning until Leeteuk, noticing Yesung’s discomfort said,

“If you’re done, Donghae, why don’t you go play in your room for a bit?”

“No that’s okay, I’d rather stay here.”

Leeteuk raised an eyebrow at him and Donghae sighed, sliding out of his chair and slinking away, mumbling about always missing the fun stuff.

                When Donghae disappeared, Kangin said a long, “So,” and Leeteuk cringed knowing what was coming. 

                “Yesung,” Kangin began, “you like forgery?”

                Heechul stared at Kangin darkly and Leeteuk gave him a warning look, but Kangin was fixed on Yesung.  Unfazed, where others would have been highly intimidated, Yesung seemed completely relaxed under Kangin’s scrutiny.

                “You could put it that way.”

                “How is that?” Kangin asked with falsely considerate interest, “Good money?”

                “It is,” Yesung smirked.  “That’s not why I do it, but it’s a nice incentive.”

                “Why do you do it?”

                “Because no one else cares.  Because there are people, like you,” he said poignantly, “that need help and no one’s listening.  Because there are kids like Donghae who are lost and alone and there’s no one who seems to care enough.  People are more than willing to forget about kids because they don’t have a loud enough voice for anyone to need to listen.  The world would rather—”

                Heechul very subtly put a hand on Yesung’s arm, effectively stemming the fervent flow of words issuing from his mouth.  Clearing his throat softly, Yesung finished, “That’s why I like doing what I do, because every once in a while I get to help a Donghae,” thinking he added, “or a Leeteuk….or a Kangin.”

                Leeteuk, who had stayed memorized by Yesung’s speech now seemed like he could no longer contain himself and burst out.  “Yesung, you know, I’ve got loads of empty space here.  And I know you’re all set up, but if you wanted you could—”

                  “Seriously, Leeteuk?” Kangin interrupted incredulously.

                “You have a disease, Teuk,” Heechul laughed.

                Ignoring the sharp reaction of the others, Yesung smiled appreciatively.  “Thank you, but I’ve got the warehouse, you know?  I’m happy where I am.”

                Leeteuk nodded reluctantly, convinced that Yesung despite his confidence was just as lost as each of them had been.  The dark eyed young man stood suddenly.  “I’ve got to get going, anyway.  Thank you, really, for everything.”

                Standing as well, hoping to redeem himself somewhat, Leeteuk insisted, “Really, I should be thanking you.  Without you, we wouldn’t have Donghae.”

                “I told you, it’s my pleasure.”

                “You can come back anytime you want.”

                Catching the hopeful note in Leeteuk’s voice, Yesung nodded.  Then with a slight bow of his head and a personal goodbye for Heechul, he turned and headed out.  Leeteuk stayed standing until he heard the door shut with a click.

                Leeteuk sighed and started to sit back down.  He wanted to be angry at Kangin and blame him for Yesung leaving but he knew his roommate was looking out for them the only way he knew how and that Yesung had been uncomfortable the whole time anyway. 

                Just as he was about to sink into a slight depression a voice called:

                “Can I come back out now?  Is all the fun over?”

                Unable to stop the grin crossing his face Leeteuk called, “Yes, you may.  And no the fun isn’t over.  We’re all home now.”  He smiled, making sure to look at both Kangin and Heechul to show he wasn’t upset, but he couldn’t help the note in his heart that said:  Not all of us.

A/N  Ahhhhhh :stretches:  this took way longer than I thought. XD  Seriously, I'm always lying to you and telling you guys that I'm going to update soon.  On the plus side, this chapter was 12 pages in Microsoft Word, so what I lacked in speed, I made up for in length!   ....oh... stop laughing and get your mind out of the gutter. XD <3 

A special thank you to sparkythegamer who gave me the fantatic idea for that scene with Heechul. And I acutally have a friend who has that exact job Heechul does in this story,  so it's totally real. XD <3 

So what do ya'll think?  The next chapter might take me the same amount of time because it's the same kind of thing:  a bunch of short scenes that are all super necessary, I assure you. XD <3  However, the one after that is already written, woot! 

Anyway, I love you so much for you patience.  If you've read this far already you've probably subscribed by now XD, but if you somehow haven't, feel free to do so XD If you so choose comment for good or for bad and remember I love you as much as I love writing this. :D <3 

This chapter is dedicated to MehrongKorean as I assured her that Yesung would somehow end up staying with them. XD  I promise that's still true.   

OH and if any of you want to, you can feel free to guess how he's going to end up staying there.  XD  Peace out!