There was an undeniable tension linking the phone lines.  Siwon was holding back from asking the favor he had called for and Leeteuk was secretly hoping the he would announce he’d changed his mind and hang up.

Leeteuk had thought Siwon was joking about the whole favor thing.  He never realized the officer would actually call him up for it.  What could he do that Siwon couldn’t?  What kind of favor could a police officer need of him?

                As he pondered this, he decided to just come right out and ask, “What do you need?”  He hoped he didn’t sound rude, but the suspense was killing him.     

                “Oh, it’s not me,” Siwon corrected, catching the misunderstanding.  He was using a normal tone like he hadn’t just sat there saying nothing on the other end of the line for the past 2 minutes.  “I mean, the favor is for me but it’s not something I need personally.”

                Thoroughly confused, Leeteuk waited for Siwon to continue.

                “Actually, it’s about a kid.”

                “Are you pregnant?”  Leeteuk knew he shouldn’t have been joking around at a time like this, but he couldn’t help it.  He’d been living with Heechul for too long.

                “Of course not.”

                There was a lack of humor in Siwon’s voice which made Leeteuk decide to keep his mouth shut.  He thought he caught Siwon chuckle lightly just once right before he started speaking again, but he couldn’t be sure.

                “You’re familiar with what I do.  I mainly work with the CPS.”  Leeteuk made a sound of affirmation and Siwon continued, “Well, my coworker had been working on one kid’s case for a while and he finally got the department to approve acting on it.  And what that means is we were given permission to go in and remove the child from their home.  At the time it had been brought to our attention that the child had been providing for and looking after themself for an indeterminable amount of time.”

                “That’s awful,” Leeteuk answered reflexively.

                “Yeah, it’s never a fun job, especially because in cases of neglect the child tends to not want to leave.  The sad thing is, I wish I could say this was a rare occurrence,” Siwon sounded genuinely weary.  Leeteuk knew Siwon’s job meant a lot to him.  It was probably the hardest job someone who genuinely liked kids could take, and Siwon was clearly the kind of person who took his work home with him.  “I’ve seen a lot worse cases of neglect than this one but it’s still awfully sad.  They brought him into the station today and then I drove him over to the CPS building.  We set him up there for now and it looks like our only option is going to be foster care but it’s not really a good solution for him I don’t think.” 

                Leeteuk felt guilty for some reason even though this had nothing to do with him.  He should have felt bad, it was a sad story, but there was no reason for him to feel guilty.  The more he denied it though the more he felt like he was failing to do something.  He bit his lip and switched the phone to his other ear.

                “That’s really sad, Siwon, but I don’t understand why you’re telling me.”  He was lying, though, he knew why.

                “I got to spend the afternoon getting him settled with the staff and I think that you should come in and meet him, Leeteuk.

                Leeteuk tried to swallow but his throat felt strangely dry.  He continued to play dumb.

                “Is that entirely appropriate?  I mean, you can’t just go visit with kids at the Child Protective Services. . .”

                “Teuk, I’ve just got a feeling that this kid needs you.”

                Nope.  His brain fired off the answer in a moment.  He didn’t even have to argue.  How could Siwon think that this was something he could even begin to ask him to do?. . . but he hesitated, finding himself inventing excuses he didn’t need to make.

                “Siwon, Donghae was a onetime thing.  I really never intended to make a habit out of. . .  Donghae’s like a brother to me now but I don’t want to end up being a dad to some kid.  I really don’t think I’d make a good dad.”

                “I know this is a lot to process at the moment,” Siwon sympathized.  “But you’re jumping ahead.”

“I’m not jumping ahead, Siwon, this isn’t even an option for me right now.”

Leeteuk knew this time that he was being rude but he couldn’t help it.  What was Siwon thinking asking him to . . . to do what?  Adopt some kid?

When Siwon spoke again he had every right to sound offended, but his tone was understanding.  “First of all, I’m not asking you to be a dad or anything.  Donghae calls you hyung, doesn’t he?  And second and most importantly, I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t think you were qualified.  This kid. . . he lived with a mother who we found sitting on the couch with a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a bottle of pills on the side table.  She barely reacted when we entered her home, just kept staring at the TV.”

                Leeteuk felt his heart leaning in sympathy even if he was afraid to let it.  He knew what it was like when a parent decided to give up on living.  He knew that depression.  The last thing he wanted to do was to identify with this child, but he already knew whatever he told himself it was too late. 

                “This kid doesn’t need a lot.  He was self-sufficient enough to make his own lunch and wash his own clothes and send himself off to school, he just needs a lot of love, Teuk, and I can’t think of any place better for him than with you and Donghae.  They’re around the same age, you know, him and Donghae.” 

                That made it that much worse.  Leeteuk knew he was going to say no, but why was he already picturing how happy Donghae would be to have a sibling?  What would their little family look like if there was another kid running around?  He knew what Christmas would be like, for sure.  Oh gosh, why did he have to picture Christmas?  He didn’t even know what this kid looked like but he could see him in their family.  Why did his stupid, sentimental heart have to mess with what his brain was telling him?  If Heechul or Kangin were there, they’d be telling him no too. 
                His first instinct was probably the right one:  just say no.  This wouldn’t be good for him or this kid.  It was like Shindong said:  he wanted a catalogue perfect family.  He was already expecting things of a kid he’d never met, as if he could somehow be a perfect person in their perfect family.  Well, they didn’t have a perfect family.  He had a strange, illogical family in a big old apartment, each with a lot of weird problems and unfortunate pasts.  That was no place. . .no, it was exactly the place a kid like that would fit in, but it wasn’t fair to steal this kid’s chance at a normal family.  All of the doubt created a long silence.

                “Leeteuk?” Siwon’s voice wondered over the phone line.

                “I just don’t know, Siwon, I don’t think that this is the best idea right now. . . this is the favor I owe you isn’t it?”  It dawned on him then that Siwon was calling in his favor for this kid.  He must have been something special.  Plus, if this was the favor he owed, could he even say no?

                “I’m just asking you to come in and meet him,” Siwon corrected, “you don’t have to make any decisions until then and then it’s 100% your choice.  I’m not going to force you into anything.  I just think.—”

                “How old is he?”

                Leeteuk could tell that on the other end of the line Siwon was smiling.

                “He’s 11.”

                “So he’d be in Donghae’s grade,” Leeteuk mused aloud, since Donghae stayed back a year.

                “Come in and meet him,” Siwon said kindly.

                “When?”

                “Tomorrow.”

                “Donghae has conferences.”

                “Come early then.”

                Leeteuk brushed his bangs out of his eyes and wondered, “Why don’t you take him in?”  He was more curious than anything.

Apparently he’d hit a sore spot because Siwon sounded defensive as he explained, “Don’t you think I want to?  Don’t you think I’ve wanted to take in this kid or that kid in before?  But I can’t, Leeteuk.  There are so many kids and all of them deserve a good home and if I took one, I would forever feel guilty that there are hundreds more I didn’t help.   There are kids who I know that have been in the system for years and every time they come back into the station it hurts me to send them off to a different home but I just can’t take them all and I can’t even take one really.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no it’s alright, it was a valid question.” 

Feeling the need now to defend himself, Leeteuk said, “Even if I were to decide I wanted to try this. . . I can’t just adopt a kid out of the blue.  There’s a process.”

                “Which I have already bypassed once for Donghae.  Trust me, if I say it’s alright, it’s alright.”

                Trying to appreciate Siwon’s humor, Leeteuk let the rest of the logic clambering to get out of his brain die down. 

                “So I just come in tomorrow?”

                “Yes, sir,” Siwon affirmed with a hint of satisfaction.  “Oh. . .”  His tone changed entirely, which was not very comforting as he said, “there’s just one other thing.”

                “Go on,” Leeteuk said.  He didn’t have to try very hard to sound displeased.

                “He doesn’t speak.”

That was the last thing he’d been expecting, but Leeteuk wasn’t sure why he sounded so legitimately concerned when he questioned, “What?  Why? Did something happen?”

“He’s perfectly capable,” Siwon said regrettably, “it’s just that he won’t.  Shindong thinks it’s just psychological.  I guess after going so long with no one listening, he stopped trying to say anything.”

Leeteuk felt his heart clench sadly at Siwon’s poignant description.  The poor kid.

“That’s actually how he came to our attention.  The teachers at his school noticed he wasn’t speaking anymore.”

                “I’ll come in tomorrow, but I don’t have to make the decision tomorrow right?”  He should probably discuss this with him roommates and actually think it through.

                “Of course, take all the time you need.”  There was a weird, knowing tone in Siwon’s voice and Leeteuk immediately became suspicious.

                “What are you thinking?”

                “Nothing,” the officer said lightly, “I will just see you tomorrow, then?”

                “Yeah, I guess.”

                “Excellent, I will talk to you then?”

                “Of course.”

                “Alright, thank you, Leeteuk.  Goodnight and goodbye!”

                “Night”

                And then the phone call was over.  Leeteuk lowered the phone as he exhaled slowly.  He expected to have a million thoughts rushing around in his head but actually, there was nothing. 

                “Who was that?” Kangin asked as he entered the room.

                “Siwon.”

                “Did you tell him about the Parent/Teacher conferences tomorrow?”

                “Yep.”

                Kangin stopped moving through the room.  “What happened?”

                “He actually called me.”

                “About what?”

                Sounding casual, Leeteuk explained, “He wants me to go in and see about maybe adopting another kid.”

                “I’m sorry, what?”

                “Yeah. . .I don’t know.  He says a kid came in to the station today that he wants me to meet.”

There was no need for Leeteuk to look up, he could imagine the look on Kangin’s face. 

“That’s insane.  Did you tell him you were interested in adopting or something, cause you certainly didn’t tell me.”

                “It’s more of. . . a favor that I’m doing for him,” Leeteuk explained.  He didn’t really want Kangin thinking Siwon was forcing him to do this when he wasn’t, but it was true that he wouldn’t be going in if it wasn’t for the favor he owed the officer.  He’d never told Kangin about that favor. 

“And you’re going to go?”

                “I’m thinking about it.”

                Kangin’s disapproval was heard quite loudly in the silence.  “Why do you do this to yourself, Teukie?” he finally said, shifting his weight in exasperation.  His tone might have been frustrated, but Leeteuk knew he was speaking out of concern.   

                “Do what?”

                “Set yourself up for more stress and more hurt and all of that.  You’re bogged down as it is with this nut house and with school and now y—“

                “Actually, I dropped out,” Leeteuk announced uncertainly, trying to let a bit of his satisfaction with this decision leak through while at the same time trying to gauge what Kangin’s response would be.  He didn’t want to sound too happy if Kangin was going to get upset about it.

                “You did what?” he said incredulously.

                “I don’t think it’s for me.”

                Kangin opened his mouth like he was going to try dignifying that with a response, but only sarcastic disbelief managed to escape.  “And what is for you, Leeteuk, being a single mom?  Is that your life goal now?”

                “Of course not,” Leeteuk scrunched his nose at the thought.  “I don’t want to be anyone’s parent, I just want. . . if there’s a possibility that I could help wouldn’t it be wrong of me not to?”

                “Yes, but Leeteuk, I’m sure there are nice couples out there who want children and can’t have them and are looking to adopt!  Do you think a single, 24 year old man with strange roommates is a really appealing family set up for some kid?” 

                “What about Donghae?”

                “He found us,” Kangin shrugged, but Leeteuk realized he’d found the right buttons to press. 

                “Don’t you think it would be good for Donghae to have someone his age in the house?”

                “This kid’s Donghae’s age?”

                “Yeah,” Leeteuk nodded, happy to see Kangin wasn’t simply shooting back ‘No’ at him.  “And not a lot of people want to adopt kids like that.  They want babies.”

                “There’s a reason for that,” Kangin mumbled. “Why this kid though?” 

                “Because Siwon asked me.”

                “Of course, because Siwon asked you, that’s a perfectly acceptable reason.  And why did Siwon ask you?  Is there something wrong with him, then?  Is he unadoptable?  Why this kid?”

                “I don’t know.  Siwon says that he thinks it’s a good fit and apparently the kid doesn’t speak so there’s that.”

                Kangin was once again shooting him a disapproving look.

                “What’s wrong this time?”

                “It’s like you enjoy putting yourself into bad situations.  Just remember that I’m the one who sleeps next door to you and I have to deal with your pitiful night terror puppy noises.”

                Kangin was the only person who didn’t make Leeteuk feel embarrassed about his defects.  Leeteuk smiled.  “It’s kinda cute though, right?”

                “Adorable,” Kangin agreed, rolling his eyes.  “But do you at least understand what I’m saying?  Do you see why this might not be the best idea?  Do you really think this kid will do well in this kind of environment?  Do you think you could handle it—honestly?  Think about it.  I’m not signing up to be parent number two again.  This kid would be your responsibility and he probably has bizarre and deep seeded issues since he doesn’t speak.”

                He emphasized the last two words with a note of frustration.  Leeteuk honestly considered his words and then responded, “Well, I’m not making any decisions tomorrow, but I think I am going to go in and at least meet him, as a favor to Siwon.”

                Kangin threw his arms in the air and turned in a half circle. 

                “What is it this time,” Leeteuk asked, getting annoyed at hearing the words leave his mouth again. 

                “Siwon’s playing you, Teuk.”

                “How?”

                “He knows that the second you see this kid. . . Just make sure you really think this through before tomorrow, because the second you see that kid the game is over.  You won’t be able to help yourself.”

                “Oh come on,” Leeteuk laughed, trying to make the conversation light-hearted in response to Kangin’s apparently genuine despair.  “It’s not like I have zero self-control.”

                He only earned a raised eyebrow in response.

“Kangin,” Leeteuk sighed, pushing himself forward to the edge of the couch so he could plant both feet on the floor.  “I could really use your support in this.  I’m just going in to meet this kid tomorrow, it’s not like I’m going to get attached and bring him home.  He’s not a puppy.  He’s a person.” 

“At least if he was a puppy we’d know Donghae would want him.”

Snorting with laughter while at the same time knowing it was inappropriate for him to be, Leeteuk corrected, “Kangin, that is not even funny.”

“I’m not the one laughing,” Kangin smirked.

“Honestly, though, do you think I should discuss this with him?”

“With Donghae?  God no,” Kangin huffed, “he’ll whine and complain until you say yes.  Don’t discuss this with anyone else.  If you really intend to just go in tomorrow to meet this kid, make your own decision first and then discuss it with the rest of the family.”

“Family, hm?” Leeteuk smiled.

“Hm,” Kangin mocked back.

“That makes sense I suppose.”

“I have my moments.”

“Thank you, for not freaking out as much as I expected you to.”

“There’s still time, Leeteuk.”

“Goodnight,” he answered, seeing that Kangin was turning toward their side of the house.

“I suppose it might be,” Kangin responded, walking off toward the hallway. 

                The next morning, Kangin took Donghae to school and Leeteuk dismissed himself from the house with some ambiguous shopping excuse, and Heechul, though he noticed the look his two roommates exchanged, said nothing.  He didn’t even get a chance to ask Yesung if he’d noticed anything suspicious going on because he was still asleep.  Heechul was distracted thinking about the look of conspiracy his two friends had exchanged his whole walk down to the market district, that is until a particular conversation floated into his mind.

Heechul scoffed lightly and shook his head as he heard another tourist get tricked by a shop keeper.  He laughed lightly to himself, sauntering off down the road, feeling superior.  He couldn’t feel bad for the poor tourists getting taken for a few hundred extra won.  It was their fault for not knowing how to handle the exchange.

                The street which was turned into an outdoor market of sorts by the frequent vendors dotting the sidewalk, wasn’t crowded during the day.  At night, this part of town was always buzzing with activity but despite the high concentration of tourists, it was a nice walk during the day time.  Ummas were always bringing their kids around looking for good products, tourists crawled everywhere trying to take in the genuine Korean experience, and the locals just rolled their eyes and smiled.    

                “2500 won,” he heard a vendor demand. 

                He started to smile, knowing that someone was about to be fooled.

                “I. . . don’t. . .” he heard another voice struggling to say.  The voice was fairly quiet.  He could barely hear it, but he was intrigued by the obvious accent.  They were clearly a tourist.

                Turning to look, Heechul spotted the source of the conversation in a moment.  The vendor running the cart was incredibly average, but he had that familiar look on his face that said:  “I’m about to take a foreigner for a lot of money.” 

                The person he was speaking with on the other hand:  he was anything but average.  To be honest, he probably wouldn’t have garnered much of a second look from him if he was just walking by on the street, but now that he was already looking at him, Heechul realized how out of place he seemed.

                The man currently attempting to barter with the vendor, or rather standing there awkwardly in apparent despair, was tall, he was far above average and he was also quite lanky.  Heechul caught himself smiling as he considered how gangly the stranger was but he didn’t really know why. 

                “2500 won or nothing,” the vendor repeated. 

                The customer was holding his money in both hands like it was something incredibly precious.  His head was bowed toward his hands and he seemed quite conflicted. 

                “. . . less, yes?” he then said in incredibly hard to understand Korean.  If Heechul had to guess he would have said his accent was Chinese.  It certainly would have matched his features.  Suddenly Heechul realized he’d come to a stop.  He didn’t really remember coming to a complete stop.  He was supposed to be eavesdropping for his own enjoyment and if he didn’t at least pretend to be doing something else it would be kind of obvious he was listening in. 

                He didn’t move an inch. 

                “I can do 2000 won, but that is my final offer.”

                The foreigner seemed confused.  “2000 won?” he tried to clarify, with his accent getting in the way.

                With exaggerated motion, the shopkeeper nodded, mocking the communication barrier. 

                The foreigner returned to looking at the money in his hand.  It seemed obvious now to Heechul that 2000 won was all he had. 

                The tall stranger had overlong, light brown hair and a tan sweatshirt.  His pants were washed out cargo shorts.  He had 2000 won in his hand and he was just trying to buy some food it seemed.  He held his money in his hands like it was precious but he seemed willing to hand it over for the food.

                A small fire lit in Heechul’s soul at the audacity of the vendor.  Was he blind?  Couldn’t he tell that the foreigner just needed to catch a break?  Racist bastard probably enjoyed tricking people just because they weren’t Korean.  If he had any decency he’d be cutting this guy some slack not taking the last money he seemed to have, probably stranding him in a foreign country with no way to help himself.

                “Hey,” he found himself yelling as he marched up next to the street stand, getting in the face of the shopkeeper. 

                The tall foreigner looked down at the stranger who had appeared next to him, a slight widening of his eyes demonstrating his surprise, but the stranger’s attention was entirely fixed on the vendor.

                “You have a problem?” Heechul snapped.

                The vendor looked incredulous and confused.  “Do you have any respect?  I’m trying to run my business.”

                “I see how you’re running your business,” Heechul spat back.  When he got into one of these moods there was no stopping him.  He was not hindered by the vendor’s confusion.

                He suddenly noticed that the foreigner still had his money extended in his hand.  He turned just long enough to say, “Put that away,” and then turned back to the vendor.  Oddly enough, the message was understood despite the language barrier and the foreigner brought his hands back against his body and watched as the small, weirdly pretty stranger continued to yell in Korean at the vendor. 

                “You should be ashamed of yourself, trying to trick someone like that.  This crap’s worth like 1500 won at the most and you’re trying to sell it up to someone who can’t even bargain for himself.”

                “He should be happy to pay the higher price,” the vendor said back in a raised voice, “if he can’t understand I’m not going to hold his hand and walk him through it.  This isn’t a charity.”

                “You know that he’s confused and you know he can’t afford it.  You’re the worst kind of racist, crotchety-old ajusshi.”

                With a mock lunge the shop keeper growled, “You little punk.  Do you want to die?”

                Reaching into his back pocket, Heechul pulled out a random amount of cash and threw it at the vendor. 

                “You want the money that badly?  Take it,” he announced.

Other passersby had started to take note of the exchange and the vendor scrambled in embarrassment, simultaneously trying to avoid shame and stop the money from just floating away. 

Heechul felt his anger quelled somewhat by a sense of self-satisfaction.  He then turned and, seeing as he couldn’t just walk away now and leave the stranger there, he said, “Come on,” and grabbed the taller man’s wrist and started to pull him down the street.  The stranger seemed like he was going to protest but lacked the words.  He allowed the angry Korean man with the feminine edge to drag him down the road. 

The stranger rattled off comments the whole time they were walking and Han Geng began to wonder if the other was crazy.  The only reason he wasn’t really protesting was because the strange Korean had just helped him out, it seemed, and even though he didn’t understand Korean, he could understand what this stranger was saying.  He didn’t feel as confused listening to this stranger rant as he had the whole time he’d been in this country.

“People are ridiculous sometimes, I swear.  It felt good to have enough money in my pocket to just throw in his face.  He looked so surprised.  Stupid old idiot, I promise that only like 90% of the Korean population are like him.  Okay, I’m exaggerating, but who cares really.”

Han Geng didn’t have a clue what this stranger was saying, but he was fascinated by the way his face lit up and darkened from one moment to the next as he spoke.

                Suddenly the strange Korean stopped and turned to ask, “What’s your name?”

                Pretty sure he’d understood these words at least, he answered, “I’m Han Geng,” pointing uncertainly at himself.

                Knowing for sure now that this guy was from China, Heechul wondered what he was doing there in South Korea.

                “Han Geng?” Heechul struggled to imitate.  “I’m going to have to take some time to get used to that.  Well, my name’s Heechul and there’s no need to thank me, I’m just your friendly Korean vigilante.  I’m kind of like Batman but better dressed.” 

                Heechul stopped rambling for a moment, interrupting himself as he saw the uncertain expression with which this guy Han Geng was looking at him.  Han Geng had nice facial features, but he would have looked a lot better if he didn’t always look slightly confused. 

                “You have no clue what I’m saying,” Heechul said, smiling.

                Han Geng kind of shook his head very slowly, but it probably wasn’t because he understood the words.

                “What the heck did you do to find yourself here, Han Geng,” Heechul wondered, studying the stranger for some kind of clue as to why he’d have come to Korea if he didn’t understand the language and had apparently no clue what he was doing.

                Han Geng blinked at him but didn’t show any signs of understanding.

Pulling up his sleeves a little so he had better use his hands, Heechul acted out with exaggerated motions:  “How did you,” he pointed to the Chinese man with a questioning look.  “End up.” He walked two of his fingers across his opposite palm to demonstrate walking.  “Here.”  He pointed to the ground and then gestured all around them, keeping his eyes fixed on the foreigner for any sign that he understood. 

He was pleased when suddenly Han Geng’s eyes lit up and he scrambled for something in his pocket.  A moment later he managed to pull out a folded piece of paper.  He handed it to Heechul who unfolded it carefully, discovering it was actually two pieces of paper.  The first paper was a flyer.  The colorful yellow and pink page had the black silhouette of a dancer in the middle.  The characters were Chinese so he couldn’t understand them.  He looked back up at Han Geng. 

“I—dancer.”  He actually managed to say enough words to have been saying, “I want to be a dancer” but he messed them up so badly only those few words came out clear.

Han Geng gestured from himself to the flyer.  He actually managed to say enough Korean words to be vaguely understood, but Heechul still found himself biting back a smile at his horrible pronunciation.

“You want to be a dancer,” Heechul clarified, earning a vehement nod as Han Geng quickly demonstrated a small move with his hands.  The move earned a supportive smile from Heechul but Han Geng’s expression wasn’t exactly excited.  He looked sad. 

Heechul flipped to the second page.  This paper looked like some kind of contract.  There were Chinese characters on top of Korean words.  He wasn’t sure if the words matched up and said the same thing, but the title of the page was written in English.  As funny as it may have seemed, Heechul had been majoring in English before he dropped out of College.  The words at the top read:  Shining Star Entertainment.  Quickly skimming the rest of the page with a frown, Heechul gathered the contract was a star contract:  sign with us, pay us a lump sum of cash, and we’ll make you into a star.  It was also a massive scam.  The contract seemed legitimate enough, but one Korean line at the bottom of the page saved this “company” from ever having to act on the deal.  He bet the Chinese lines didn’t say the same thing.

“I hate to break this to you, Han Geng, but this is a scam,” he said, holding the page out with the words toward the other man.

Han Geng didn’t even need to understand.  Heechul had seen him struggling to use Korean enough to buy something a moment ago, but when he had said, “this is a scam,” the look on Han Geng’s face told him he already knew.

“No,” Han Geng responded in a completely nonsensical fashion, probably trying to agree with him judging by his expression.    

Heechul had to admit, he felt bad for the guy.  He’d probably used all of his money to fly here, expecting to meet with this company.  Maybe he’s sent them money in the mail and they’d given him a fake address that led to nowhere or maybe they’d promised to meet him at the airport.  Whatever their plan had been, it all came down to taking this guy’s money and crushing his dreams.  That would have been bad enough, but did they have to let him buy a plane ticket to come to Korea?  Wasn’t that taking it too far? 

He continued to look at the foreigner, apparently unconcerned that he was staring.  Han Geng, for his part, looked back evenly, waiting for whatever this strange, blunt man was going to say. 

 “Han Geng,” Heechul spoke suddenly, “do you have someone you want to call?” he pulled out his cellphone and held it to his ear before offering it to Han Geng. 

Han Geng shook his head.  He didn’t have anyone to call.  He’d given up his family when he decided to dance professionally.

Heechul waited for a moment and then put his phone back in his pocket.  “I guess we have no choice then,” he said nonchalantly.  He honestly wasn’t sure if what he was about to do would really please or really piss of Leeteuk, but he was going to do it regardless.  They were family so he’d have to forgive him eventually. 

  “Follow me.”  He waved his arm and moved as if to walk down the street.  Han Geng stayed where he was, his mouth open uncertainly.  He had started to use Mandarin to protest, but seemed to realized that this Korean wouldn’t be able to understand.

“Yah, suit yourself,” Heechul said with a shrug, folding the papers and putting them back into his own pocket.

As the stranger started to walk away, Han Geng felt a bizarre sense of panic and jogged to catch up.  Wondering why he was doing this, Han Geng realized that Heechul has his papers.  He needed those, they were all he had.

Heechul was smiling to himself.  “Well, you’re easy,” he told this odd, tall China-man Han Geng.

“Ni shi bai chi,” Han Geng said back, knowing at least that he was being insulted.

And even though he didn’t understand, Heechul laughed just once, “I think I like you, even if you are a gullible idiot,” and led the way down the road.

. . .

Leeteuk took a deep breath and shook his hands, trying to shake away his nerves.  It was a futile effort, only serving to excite the light, electric feeling running in his veins.  There shouldn’t have been such a ridiculous amount of uncertainty inside of him to meet a child. 

Sarcastically he corrected, he was just here to consider changing his life again, and just when it had felt so wonderfully stable. 

“Leeteuk?”  He had heard Siwon’s footsteps from far off, but he’d ignored them until the last moment, trying to take just a few seconds more of thought.

“Yep,” he greeted, putting on a smile. 

“I’m glad you could make it.”  Siwon was using a weirdly formal way of speaking and Leeteuk couldn’t tell if he was simply using his normal speech pattern or whether he was trying to sound like they weren’t really friends. 

“Well, you called, I answered,” Leeteuk responded, allowing Siwon to interpret that however he wanted.

Siwon breathed a laugh, and Leeteuk took the hint from there to act like normal. 

“So,” Leeteuk wondered, “What’s the plan?”

“He’s hanging out with Shindong right now,” Siwon answered. “It’s not a session or anything so we can just go on in if you want.  Anytime you’re ready.  It’s really no pressure, you’re just saying hi.”

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds good,” Leeteuk said, forcing a casual edge into his words.  

They headed down the corridor toward Shindong’s office with Siwon leading the way.  Leeteuk still felt horribly nervous like he was going to take a test or being set up on a blind date.  There was no need for anyone to judge him right now, because he was doing a good job of judging himself.  He shouldn’t have felt so self-conscious, he was going to meet this kid, it wasn’t like he had to impress anyone. 

They arrived in front of the office and Siwon looked back at him, waiting for a nod before he swung the door open into the office, announcing, “Hello?”

Shindong was sitting cross-legged on the floor at one end of a low coffee table.  He looked up to greet them with a large smile, “Hello!”

He might have said more, but Leeteuk’s attention immediately switched to the child sitting opposite of Shindong at the table.  The child hadn’t looked up when they’d walked in, seeming intent on the picture in front of him.  He and Shindong both had a white sheet of paper in front of them and the child seemed unwilling to put down the colored pencil in his hand as he continued to work intently. 

The child had brown hair with a substantial amount of nearly orange highlighting on top.  His hair was a little overlong at the sides and the back, brushing against the collar of his shirt in both instances.  His nose had a noticeable hook in it and he looked like he had an unreasonably slim build.  Whatever else was true of the child, Leeteuk didn’t know yet because he hadn’t looked up. 

Shindong seemed to notice Leeteuk’s fixed attention and the child’s complete obliviousness and tapped the table between himself and the child lightly, saying, “Hey.”  When the child looked up Shindong smiled and then pointed toward the door where the two other men were standing. 

The child blinked over at them, still holding the pencil in his hand.  He seemed to give a small smile to Siwon, but titled his head curiously when he saw Leeteuk. 

Leeteuk raised his hand in greeting but he couldn’t even get the word “Hi,” to come out of his mouth.  His gaze was completely fixed on the child.  The bright, round black eyes stared back at him with a strange, unassuming innocence.  This was not the child he’d been expecting to find.  This child didn’t look afraid or scrutinizing; he just looked at him gently and shyly with bright eyes.

“Leeteuk,” Siwon introduced, “this is Eunhyuk.  Eunhyuk, this is my friend Park Leeteuk.”

Eunhyuk actually smiled a little at the introduction.  It wasn’t a smile overflowing with joy, but it was a smile.

Leeteuk was completely transfixed.  He stepped forward a bit and crouched down, extending his hand.  “It’s nice to meet you, Eunhyuk.”

Eunhyuk carefully put his hand in Leeteuk’s but he didn’t do a handshake, he just left his hand there and seemed to study Leeteuk’s face.  Feeling a sad smile start to pull at his mouth at this beautifully tragic child, Leeteuk spoke, “I really like you hair.”  Eunhyuk responded with that same bashful smile:  not exactly joyful, but real, and then dropped his hand, turning back to the drawing.  He remembered Siwon’s assertion earlier that Eunhyuk didn’t speak so, as much as he wanted to, he tried to avoid doing anything that would pressure him to talk.   

He looked down at Eunhyuk’s drawing.  He was surprised to see just a big ball of muddied color.  It looked like Eunhyuk had taken every color and just ground it into the paper, turning the paper into a brownish black mess.  “Is this yours?” Leeteuk wondered.  He wanted to ask what he was trying to draw, but he knew the question was too difficult to answer.

Eunhyuk simply nodded without looking up.  He seemed to Leeteuk to be the opposite of Donghae in many ways, except that both of them seemed to have that way of being younger than they were and yet somehow so mature simultaneously.

“You know, I have a dongsaeng your age.” 

Eunhyuk unassumingly nodded at Leeteuk’s statement, but then his focus was again on the paper.  He wasn’t rudely ignoring Leeteuk, but he somehow managed to make himself less visible.  It was like his presence had chameleoned into the surroundings.  He had made himself small and insignificant.  Leeteuk knew that trick.  You breathed slower, you moved less, you even blinked less, you just relaxed and didn’t even think and others would almost forget you were there.

Leeteuk looked over his shoulder at Siwon and then over at Shindong, not sure what he should be doing or saying right now. 

“Eunhyuk and I were bored,” Shindong tried to assist, watching the child as he spoke.  “There’s really not too much to do around here when there are no other kids so we’ve just been hanging out.”

Even though he was being spoken about, Eunhyuk still didn’t look up.  Noting this, Shindong called, “Eunhyuk.”  Finally gaining the boy’s attention, Shindong asked, “You never did tell me what you were drawing.”

Holding onto his pencil like it was some kind of defense against the world, Eunhyuk looked down and played with his fingers.  Leeteuk had seen the sad, ashamed look in his eyes before he looked away.  He wanted to tell Shindong that it was okay and that he didn’t have to try to force him to speak, but Shindong said in a level but firm voice, “Write it down.” 

With a silent sigh, Eunhyuk flipped the page over and began to write in small handwriting.  Leeteuk moved closer so that he could see and read with feeling, “Couldn’t think of anything.”  Eunhyuk snapped his head in his direction, seeming surprised that Leeteuk had given voice to his words.

Shindong smiled, but it was a sad smile and he said, “Thank you,” to Eunhyuk.  Leeteuk gathered that this was something they’d been working on all morning:  writing it down, but that wasn’t important at the moment.  What was important was the way Eunhyuk was still staring at him, his eyes asking Leeteuk a question he couldn’t understand.  He desperately wished he understood what Eunhyuk was saying to him with those eyes.  The longer he looked the more he saw in those mahogany eyes.

Reaching out, he took the pencil out of Eunhyuk’s hand and laid it gently on the table, then, feeling more confident than he had in a while, he lightly took Eunhyuk’s hands in his own to make sure he had his attention then said,

“You really couldn’t think of anything.”  He understood, it was a statement, not a question.  Eunhyuk looked at him with desperately uncertain eyes, as if he didn’t dare to hope that Leeteuk knew what he was saying.

The corner of Leeteuk’s mouth turned up slightly as he projected a strangely calm air.  He put his hand on Eunhyuk’s back and turned him toward the drawing.

He was talking only to Eunhyuk but he knew Shindong and Siwon were listening as well.  “You couldn’t think of one thing to draw, right?” he said, looking from the boy to the drawing.  “There were too many options so instead of picking one, you just kind of drew everything.”

Eunhyuk’s breath was catching in his throat as he inhaled and exhaled, his eyes completely on the page as if overwhelmed by the assessment and by Leeteuk giving voice to his thoughts.

It was so obvious to Leeteuk now, the more he looked at it.  Eunhyuk was drawing uncertainty.  He was drawing what it was like having no clue what was going to happen next.  The limitlessness of the possibilities the blank, white page placed in front of him had offered had suddenly become overwhelming.  It started to take the shape of everything he feared about the future.  Whatever Eunhyuk’s life had been, at least it had been routine.  Even if he was lonely, even if he didn’t have anywhere to turn, he could be certain when he came home each day, he’d be going home, somewhere he knew.  Now. . . he had no clue what his life was going to be.  It was a big, terrifying blank, and he just had to fill it in.  He was desperately trying to block out the blank space.

Eunhyuk’s face as he finally settled looking at Leeteuk was a symphony of different feelings playing against each other.  Leeteuk could tell he desperately wanted to say something, his mouth mimed speech several times but not a sound came out.  It was like he honestly couldn’t communicate anymore.  His hands moved at his sides uselessly like he was trying to make his hands talk for him as well.  Finally, when his desperation to get his message across seemed to have reached the breaking point, he just sort of fell forward, colliding into Leeteuk as he threw his arms around his neck. 

Leeteuk reached up to return the hug as Eunhyuk buried his head into his neck.  Leeteuk’s heart was cracking in half with an outpouring of affection for this child.  He turned his gaze from Shindong to Siwon, asking what he should do about this but Siwon was just smiling in a satisfied way and Shindong was smirking to himself. 

The filthy bastards tricked him. . . and he honestly just wanted to thank them for it.  He was never letting Eunhyuk go.  No matter what.  He had never been hugged so desperately, like this child’s entire world was hinged on him hugging him back.  Siwon was right, Eunhyuk needed them.  He just needed them and Leeteuk needed him.  He wanted more than anything to make Eunhyuk feel loved and safe and cared for and it wasn’t a trick.  It was fate.  Eunhyuk was special, and Leeteuk wanted him to know that. 

“Eunhyuk,” Leeteuk said, patting the boy’s back with his hand as he tried to pull back from the hug.  Eunhyuk just clung to him tighter and Leeteuk stopped trying to pull away.  “Hyuk, I want you to live with me.  I have a dongsaeng your age.  He’s not my real brother but he might as well be.  And I’ve got two, well, sort of three roommates, and they’re the same age as me except Yesung is younger but. . . it doesn’t matter.  It would just make me really happy if you were to live with us.  Would you be willing to do that?” 

 He felt Eunhyuk’s hand kind of hit his back and he breathed a laugh, understanding the hit as saying:  “You idiot, there’s nothing else I want.” 

  He tried once more to break the hug but Eunhyuk wasn’t having it.  Now looking uncertainly from Siwon to Shindong, Leeteuk said, “Hyuk, I need you to let go now, Siwon, Shindong and I have to talk for a bit so we can start seeing about you coming to live with us--.”

At the insinuation that he was going to leave him, Eunhyuk squeezed tighter and Leeteuk turned to the two other men in the room.  What was he supposed to do?

Shindong looked slightly concerned at this development, but Siwon immediately offered as quietly as he could, “I might be able to work it out that you can bring him home today.” 

Looking at the child in his arms, Leeteuk realized he might have no choice.  He wasn’t sure if Heechul and Kangin would be normal annoyed or super pissed off at him for doing this.  He was sure Yesung wouldn’t mind and hopefully Donghae would be his usual, open self, but. . .

But looking down at Eunhyuk who was so desperate for him not to leave, Leeteuk decided right then and there that his family could forgive him.  He wasn’t going to let Eunhyuk drown in anxiety any longer.  He was going to fill in the empty white space.  He was going to make sure he felt loved, like every kid should feel, with a family who knew what it was like not to be loved, and thus knew how important a loving family really was.

“Eunhyuk,” he said evenly, patting the boy’s shoulder. “I am not going to leave you, but I can’t do anything with you hanging off of my neck.” 

Slowly, Eunhyuk released his hold, but as he pulled away, he left one of his hands on Leeteuk’s sleeve.  His face was incredibly bashful, and he looked entirely uncertain as to what Leeteuk’s reaction was, but Leeteuk just wrinkled his nose and then smiled, and Eunhyuk smiled back. 

“Alright then,” Leeteuk said, staying where he was crouched on the floor but looking up at Shindong and Siwon.  Shindong looked a little less concerned but Leeteuk knew that a talk was coming his way, but Siwon couldn’t have looked happier. 

“Alright,” Siwon agreed.  “We’ll need to start out with some paperwork, if you don’t mind following me to my office.” 

Leeteuk glanced at Eunhyuk and said, “Come on.”

Leeteuk stood up and Eunhyuk followed after him.  In a low voice, Leeteuk told him, “See, I promised I wasn’t going to leave.” 

  Leeteuk felt like he had just won the best prize in the world as Eunhyuk grinned so wide his gums showed.  He made it his goal to make that smile happen as often as he could.  He wasn’t sure why Eunhyuk had chosen him, because honestly that was what had happened, but he was so glad to have the privilege to be let into this kid’s trust.  It was the best kind of feeling and he was determined to pay it a million times over.  Even if Eunhyuk never spoke, though for his sake he hoped he would, Leeteuk felt confident he wouldn’t care.
 

A/N  Yeah, I'm actually updating before I comment respond this time around, but I figure if anyone else is awake at this God-forsaken hour they've earned the chapter. XD <3 

And I'm just deciding now that once school starts up again I'll probably actually write more.  Maybe I'm weird, but when I have legitimate work to do, I tend ot want to do frivilous work more. . . Remember that time I was like "summer's coming I'll update more!!!"  Well, now you're all probably longing for the school days when I updated once a week. . . so who knows, maybe that will happen once school kicks in which is at the end of this week! 

Also, oh yeah, I forgot to warn you guys that there were TWO new characters in this chapter. . . well, now you know.  XD  Does this story move kind of fast?  (I know the updates don't, haha)  I don't know if it annoys you guys the pacing of the plot, I feel like I'm moving really fast sometimes and then other times I feel like I'm taking too long. 

Oh well, I have a feeling this story will be about 50 chapters though.  The upcoming few chapters are kind of open ended for a while so I don't think they'll be as long which is good and bad.  But then there's actually only ONE MORE character in part one.  Part Two, again, is the same story but it's just going to be started on a new story thing because there's a time lapse and it's just nice to have two decent sized stories than one giant story . . that's confusing. . . it's late now so I'll fix this tomorrow.  There's still a lot more story and drama to come so I thank you all for sticking around for the ride!!! <3 <3 <3 

Also hello to my like 7 new subscribers!  That's awesome!!  <3  Sorry for making you wait so long for updates but I appreciate you all. :)  I also owe JustJoking a comment that is a long time coming, don't let me forget. XD <3 

Sub and Comment and Gosh, it's too late for this 4 am here I come, haha. XD <3