“Donghae, slow down, please!”  The boy had already skipped off far ahead down the hallway.  He was hopefully heading toward his classroom, but that was probably wishful thinking.

Leeteuk looked down at Eunhyuk in the hopes of sharing a laugh with him about Donghae’s eagerness.  The words, “He’s not normally this eager about school,” were already leaving his mouth before he realized Eunhyuk wasn’t listening. 

It was like that with Eunhyuk.  He never anticipated being spoken to, even if he was walking right next to him, so close that he would occasionally bump into his arm as he shrank away from the walls.  Eunhyuk kept moving away from the rows of lockers, as if the school building was going to burn him.  Leeteuk was just starting to frown about this when someone said his name: 

“Leeteuk?” 

He stopped at the unfamiliar address, subconsciously dropping his arm around Eunhyuk’s shoulder and glancing around.

“Oh, Miss Kang,” he greeted with a quick head bow, spotting the woman who had just stepped out of the classroom on the left side of the corridor.

He swiveled his head back down the hall where Donghae was plodding along happily.  “Donghae!” he called, waiting until he saw the boy turn his head so he could gesture for him to come back.  He then, smiling, gave his attention back to Miss Kang. 

He had met Donghae’s teacher before on a few occasions.  Miss Kang had been surprisingly accommodating of Donghae back when he’d been having a bit of trouble adjusting to school after the year he’d been living on his own.  Miss Kang had managed to get him back on track and was extremely understanding and quick to advise Leeteuk when he needed it.  He was pretty grateful that Donghae had ended up with a teacher like her.

Even though she was Donghae’s teacher, though, she was not focused on Donghae coming down the hall or on Leeteuk, but on Eunhyuk who was tucked under Leeteuk’s arm, close to his side.

“Hyukjae?” she questioned. 

The boy looked up at her with a blank, but not unfriendly expression. 

She in turn, with wide eyes, looked at Leeteuk.  “How did you. . .The last I heard. . .” she carefully chose her next words, “the last I heard Hyukjae wasn’t coming back to school.  How do you. . .?”

“Is Hyuk in your class?” Leeteuk wondered, confused.

“No,” she said, trailing off as Donghae showed up. 

“Hello,” the boy greeted with a bow. 

Apparently distracted, Miss Kang greeted hastily, “Hi, Donghae, why don’t you head on into the classroom for now,” she looked down at Eunhyuk and added, “You can go too, if you’d like.”

Before Eunhyuk could attempt to communicate, Donghae grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him into the classroom.

“Come on, Hyuk.”  He lowered his voice to a whisper and added, “They’re probably flirting.”

Leeteuk immediately became flustered but Donghae shut the door before he could protest.  He made as if to apologize to Miss Kang but she was biting her lip in thought and probably hadn’t heard the boy’s comment.

“How do you know Eunhyuk?” she asked him abruptly.

Keeping his tone conversational, Leeteuk said, “I got a call from a friend of mine.  He asked me if I would consider coming in to meet him.  How do you know him?”  He didn’t want to reveal too much about Eunhyuk if the teacher didn’t know.  He trusted her, but he felt it would be wrong to gossip about the boy’s life.

“He’s not in my class but I know him.  My co-teacher down the hall has him.  He’s a very sweet boy, very quiet, but. . .I noticed he seemed to be getting a little too quiet.  I brought my concerns to the administration but they refused to listen to me until I got my co-teacher to back me up.  The last I heard the police had shown up at his house. . . he wasn’t in school the next day so I guessed I wouldn’t be seeing him. . .”

“You’re the one who raised the red flag,” Leeteuk realized, thinking back on what Siwon had told him.

 “I suppose in some ways,” she shrugged, not looking proud of herself for this fact.  “I know this is a forward question, but. . .is he with you because. . . Are you a family friend or. . . is he with you because you’re fostering him . . .?”  She knew about the nature of Leeteuk’s relationship with Donghae, so it wasn’t surprising this was her first thought.

Appreciating how desperate her tone seemed, Leeteuk answered, “Actually, I’m. . .he’s staying with us indefinitely at the request of my friend down at the CPS building.”

Miss Kang cast her eyes on the floor out of relief, but tried to hide it with a clipped professional tone.  “I’m glad to hear that.  I didn’t think I’d be seeing Hyukjae again.  You and Donghae will be great for him,” she suddenly changed the direction of her words, “and the rest of your roommates, of course, I’ve heard wonderful things about.  Donghae is quite fond of your roommates.  I think I’ve met Kangin before, right?  Donghae talks about you guys a lot.”

Trying not to show how flattered he was, Leeteuk countered, “Donghae’s made all of our lives better.”

“Hyuk will do the same if you give him a chance,” she promised.  “He never spoke but I could tell he has such a capacity to care, more than any child I’ve met and I have your Donghae, so I truly mean that as a high praise.”

“He’s lucky you were looking out for him,” Leeteuk complimented her even as he considered her words. 

Sniffing almost unnoticeably she said, “Well, I don’t know how true that is if by the time I was forward enough to really do anything they had to take him out of his home.  I hate doing that to him almost as much as I hated not doing anything for so long.  You see a lot as a teacher, you know?  I’m just glad he gets to stay in the school system.  Maybe I’ll get to know the real him once you guys crack through that shell of his. He really can’t speak can he?”

“Not at the moment.”  Leeteuk didn’t know where he was finding this ability to talk like he knew what he was saying:  like he had more of an authoritative knowledge than this woman.  Truly she knew Eunhyuk more.  Yet he felt like he had the right, because Eunhyuk was his now and he was going to fix everything.

“Well, in that case I’ll make sure we get him on a 504 so that the other teachers will accommodate him for that.  That way it’s down on paper that they shouldn’t penalize him for not speaking or participating.” 

 Leeteuk sensed that Miss Kang was trying to sound polished and professional, but he could see she was attached to Eunhyuk.  Figuring this would be his best chance, he made a proposal he hadn’t previously considered the need to make.  “Do you think it would be at all possible to put Eunhyuk in your class with Donghae?  I don’t know too much about how Eunhyuk’s going to deal with school yet; I haven’t really gotten a chance to settle down and get to know him, but I have a feeling it might help.” 

“Of course,” she nodded, jumping at the chance to be of help a little too quickly to maintain her professional air.  “That shouldn’t be a problem at all.  I’ll put in that request as soon as possible.  It should be all squared away for you by Monday.”

“Thank you so much,” he gushed genuinely, putting a hand to his heart. “You don’t know how much of a relie—”

He cut off as the door to the classroom squeaked.  He and Miss Kang looked as one to the crack the door had been opened to.  A sliver of a face looked back at them. 

“Yes, Donghae, we’re coming,” Leeteuk said. 

“Oh good,” the boy spoke back, centering his mouth so he could speak through the crack in the doorway.  “No offense, but I don’t want to be in school on a Friday afternoon.” 

“I’m glad you’ve used this time to bond with Eunhyuk,” Leeteuk half-joked.

“Hey, there’s only so much to talk about.”

Donghae completely missed the irony of his words but Leeteuk cringed a little.

He glanced back at Miss Kang who was smiling lightly with a sympathetic look until she gestured that they could head inside.   Shooing Donghae back into the room, Leeteuk opened the door the rest of the way. 

Eunhyuk was sitting quietly and obediently in the middle of three chairs set up in a row at the front of the room facing the teacher’s desk.

“Hey, Miss Kang, how did you know we’d need three chairs?” 

Leeteuk had to admit, Donghae had a good point.

Brushing over Donghae’s rather informal way of speaking, Miss Kang explained, “I didn’t.  It just so happens that that is the number of chairs I normally need.

Of course, Leeteuk realized:  Three chairs for Mom, Dad, and child.  He felt suddenly a twinge of guilt for not being able to provide that for Donghae and now Eunhyuk.  Why again did Siwon allow him to take these kids in?  He wasn’t a dad.  He was a 24 year old in an apartment who had just decided college wasn’t right for him.  He didn’t know what he was doing with his life.  How was he supposed to be a good parent?  He knew that he was hyung to Donghae, but sometimes he had to be his parent too.  He didn’t feel overly qualified to be acting as one parent, never mind as both mom and dad.  He didn’t have a good example to follow and he worried every day that he’d end up being utter failures like his parents had been. 

Oblivious to Leeteuk’s inner turmoil, the teacher invited them to sit down.  Seeing that Donghae had already skipped over and taken the seat to the left of Eunhyuk, Leeteuk sat in the last, uncomfortably small seat to the right of the boy with vaguely orange hair.  Eunhyuk threw a subtle glance in his direction like he was happy with this arrangement.

“So, just so we all know, this meeting isn’t because anyone’s in trouble,” the teacher said, “this is just a requirement.”

“I know,” Donghae chimed in.

“I know you know, Donghae,” she said with a wry grin, “but knowing you, you probably forgot to mention it to Leeteuk.”

“Oh,” Donghae said, swinging his feet. 

“So,” the teacher continued, “since this is pretty informal I’ll start by asking you, Donghae.  How do you think you’re doing?”

He shrugged, but there was an eager glint in his eyes.

“Go on,” she prompted.

“Okay?” he asked hopefully.

With a smile, Miss Kang agreed, “Better.  Definitely improved.”

Beaming, Donghae looked over at Leeteuk and gave him a thumbs up.  Leeteuk had to work incredibly hard to keep his pride from overflowing into more than just an encouraging thumbs up in return.

“Now,” the teacher continued, “there’s still plenty of room for improvement, of course.  Do you know the first thing you might be able to do to improve your academic standing?”

Tilting his head like a puppy, Donghae offered, “Stop being awful at math?”

Visibly biting her lip to stop a laugh, the teacher then said, “No. How about doing all of you homework.”

“Homework?” Leeteuk said with his best parental tone.  He asked Donghae every night if he’d done all his homework and his answer was always yes.  “Arasso?”

Donghae looked rightfully ashamed and swung his feet, looking at the floor.  “I always mean to but sometimes I have too much fun and forget.”

Exchanging a look because Donghae was too freaking adorable for his own good, Leeteuk gave Miss Kang permission with a furtive nod to pretend to be quite serious about the matter.

“Well,” she began, acting the part, “you have to do your homework if you want to keep your grades up, Donghae.  You have to take responsibility for your own learning.”

“I know.”  He looked like a scolded puppy so Miss Kang added:

“You’re a very bright kid, Donghae.  I know school isn’t easy for you, but you’re still a very intelligent boy.”

Cheering up, Donghae said, “Yeah, my mom used to joke that I was one bright cookie but that cookies didn’t need to learn.”  He had a smile on his face for a moment but the room went silent as his smile faltered a little and he looked down in his lap.  Leeteuk, heart tugging sadly, reached his arm around behind Eunhyuk and put his hand on Donghae’s shoulder.  Donghae looked up at him with evident sadness in his eyes but still managed a smile.

Responding by giving Donghae’s shoulder a slight squeeze, Leeteuk then took back his hand.  Eunhyuk watched these proceedings with a keen eye.  Leeteuk knew that Donghae probably wouldn’t have told Eunhyuk about himself and his past yet.  Even if he’d wanted to there hadn’t been time.  He wasn’t sure if he should tell Eunhyuk anything about Donghae like he’d told Donghae a little about Eunhyuk or if it would be better to just let Donghae get around to it when he felt comfortable.

As he debated this, Miss Kang was already trying to continue the meeting with a delicacy appropriate to the situation.

“Well, I think that if any cookie could learn it’s you, Donghae.”

The boy responded with an encouraging smile.

And just like that the meeting was able to carry on.  Miss Kang was all business, Leeteuk played the responsible adult, Donghae only responded when he had to, and Eunhyuk watched silently.   

. . .

“So what do you think of Miss Kang, Hyuk? . . .

“Yeah, I really like her too.  I think she’s the best teacher I’ve ever had. 

“I’m glad we’re in the same grade. 

“Do you think we’ll see each other a lot? 

“I guess you’re right.”

Leeteuk looked up at the rearview mirror a perplexed look on his face.  Donghae was conducting a verifiable question/answer session but he was the only one talking.  He studied Eunhyuk closely but at no point did the boy make any motion to indicate he was silently answering the other.  He instead seemed fascinated by Donghae’s ability to string an endless number of words together so freely.  Realizing that Donghae was fabricating this whole talk, not that Eunhyuk seemed to mind, Leeteuk warned,

“Donghae, don’t put words in peoples’ mouths, it’s not polite.”

“I’m not.”

“Then where are you getting Hyuk’s answers from?”

“I can just tell,” Donghae shrugged.

Leeteuk met Eunhyuk’s eyes through the rearview to confirm that this wasn’t entirely true and rolled his eyes, matching the boy’s smile that proved him right.

“Donghae, is this what you meant by Eunhyuk talking to you?”

Pouting a bit, Donghae admitted, “I guess.”

“Don’t put words in peoples’ mouths.”

“I’m putting them in my mouth,” Donghae mumbled.

“Don’t be fresh either.”

Donghae folded his arms with a huff and when he thought Leeteuk wasn’t looking whispered to Eunhyuk, “Yeah, I know, he’s the king of being fresh.”

“Heard that,” Leeteuk sang, much to Donghae’s chagrin.

Knowing that laughing would only encourage Donghae’s cheeky behavior, Leeteuk bit his tongue and concentrated on the road.

. . .

“We’re home!” Leeteuk called into the house, swinging the front door open.  Stepping inside, he was surprised to be greeted with the smell of cooking.  The ball of energy and the shadow that had followed him into the house noticed his hesitation.

“Something wrong?” Donghae asked.

“Someone’s cooking,” Leeteuk said with a hint of disbelief as he shrugged off his jacket.

Not quite grasping the importance of this revelation, Donghae looked at Eunhyuk and shrugged. 

“Don’t forget to take off your shoes,” he instructed the other boy, beginning to slip off his own. 

Without haste, Eunhyuk removed his shoes as well.

Leeteuk was far too distracted to notice the two boys hang up their jackets and suddenly disappear further into the home.  After a moment of smelling the warm, sweet air, he shook himself back into reality and took off his shoes, wondering what was going on in his house since he’d been gone.  Someone was actually cooking.  He turned and shut the door before heading into the main part of the apartment. 

It was then that he realized Donghae and Eunhyuk were gone.  He called their names curiously as he went into the living room but they were already out of earshot God knows where.  Putting his hands on his hips, Leeteuk looked left and right and seeing nothing called, “Anybody home?”

Kangin suddenly appeared at his irritable tone.

“What’s up?”

“Wait. . .If you’re out here, who’s cooking?”  Leeteuk could see into the kitchen from the living room but only as far as the sink area where there was no one in sight.  “Don’t tell me it’s Heechul.”

“It’s Han Geng,” Kangin told him with a note of excitement.  “I can’t understand a damn thing he says, but I have a feeling I will quite enjoy his stay here.”

“So. . .Heechul invites a stranger into our house and this stranger decides to. . . cook?”

“Isn’t it great?” Kangin laughed with that infectious eye smile overtaking his face.

“Is he a chef?”

“Nope!”

It was useless to try to fight it when Kangin was in a good mood.  Leeteuk smiled too.  “Then maybe it would make sense for me to meet this Han Geng before he poisons us all.”

“You’d better wait for Heechul,” Kangin instructed.  “I promise you, you will not understand a single word this guy says.”

“I guess you’re right,” Leeteuk said even though by the tone of his voice he didn’t seem to have entirely made up his mind.

“How were conferences?”

“Good!” Leeteuk began encouragingly when he was boldly interrupted.

“Was someone looking for me?”

Heechul flounced into the room in as good a mood as Kangin seemed to be in.

“Oh not you too,” Leeteuk teased.  “We can’t all be happy can we?”

“How can I not be happy,” Heechul said, walking up and throwing his arm around Leeteuk’s shoulder, “when I’ve got such wonderful, kind, and forgiving roommates.”  He planted an exaggerated kiss on the side of Leeteuk’s head and crossed one foot over the other.  Leaning coolly against Leeteuk’s shoulder he added, “That and Han Geng is making Beijing Fried Rice.”

Half with genuine excitement and half playing along, Leeteuk gasped, “What good fortune you have brought to us, Heechul!”

“Don’t joke about Beijing Fried Rice, Leeteuk, this is serious business,” Kangin said grimly.

Heechul piped in, “Since Geng is slaving away in our kitchen do you want to meet him now?  Or are you just going to use him for cheap labor?”

“Actually,” Leeteuk stopped Heechul from leading him to the kitchen already, “why is he cooking in our kitchen?”

“Well he can’t cook not in the kitchen,” Kangin pointed out.

“He said it was the least he could do once I told him he was so graciously invited to stay for a while by the head of the household.”

“How do you always manage to make everything sound creepy, Heechul?” Leeteuk asked in bewilderment, not allowing for time to answer the question as he continued, “and how do you know any of that?  You don’t speak Mandarin.”

“A combination of Google translate, broad gestures, and barely understandable Korean,” he said with a firm nod of his head.

“You’re as bad as Donghae,” Leeteuk laughed at the private joke.

“Where is that pabo, anyway?” Kangin wondered.

“I’m guessing with Eunhyuk in their room.”

“So are they going to be sharing a room?”

Leeteuk’s mouth opened in an “o” as he realized he hadn’t thought of that yet.  Where was Eunhyuk going to sleep?

“We can always take the bed out of the room between Yesung and I at the end of the hall,” Heechul suggested, “if you want them sharing a room.”

“I guess I’ll ask Eunhyuk what he’d prefer,” Leeteuk shrugged, since he wasn’t sure what the right answer was.  Maybe he should insist that Eunhyuk share a room with Donghae so that he was on their side of the house but maybe he was too used to having his own room to change.

“That’s a good idea, but if he wants his own room then we’re going to have to rethink the sleeping arrangement because I’d prefer to have him in our hallway.”

Leeteuk wasn’t surprised by Kangin’s feelings, just surprised that he’d voiced them.  “I agree,” he said, feeling suddenly supported in his endeavor.  Kangin had said Eunhyuk wouldn’t be his responsibility, but he had apparently had a change of heart.

“Is it time to meet Han Geng now, or. . .?”

“Right, sorry, Heechul, let’s go do that now before something else inevitably distracts me.”

Heechul ended up guiding Leeteuk unnecessarily to the kitchen.  Kangin trailed away toward the couch not needing a second introduction.

“Han Geng,” Heechul called when they entered the kitchen.  The tall, rather thin man with overlong brown hair who was hovering over the stove took a moment to react he was fully absorbed in the task at hand.  When he finally turned around, he looked surprised upon seeing Leeteuk.  He half bowed uncertainly, and when Leeteuk bowed back, he bowed again deeper.

Instantly endeared by the stranger’s uncertainty and the fact that in his gray sweatshirt he was reminding Leeteuk of someone, he greeted, “Anyeonghaseo,” with a bright smile.

Han Geng tried to smile back, having understood the greeting, but his gaze was already wandering to Heechul for help. 

He said something hesitantly in Chinese and Heechul answered in Korean, “Yes, this is the guy who owns the building.  This is Leeteuk.”

Heechul wasn’t joking about his exaggerated motions making up a majority of the conversation as his arcing hand came to land hard on Leeteuk’s shoulder, making him wince. 

“Leeteuk, this is Han Geng.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Han Geng.”

Han Geng again attempted to bow as he realized he was being greeted and Leeteuk started to say, “There’s no need,” until he realized Han Geng didn’t understand.  He turned to Heechul with an awkward smile.  “Tell him there’s no need to bow.”

Heechul did exactly that:  in Korean.  And yet Han Geng understood him better and nodded.

“Gomawo,” Han Geng said hesitantly to Leeteuk, clearly uncertain about his pronunciation. 

Leeteuk gathered he was thanking him for letting him stay in his apartment. “It’s no problem,” Leeteuk assured.  “I hear you’ve hit some hard times.”  He said the statement questioningly, looking both at Han Geng to be polite and Heechul to help him get the message across.

Heechul repeated what Leeteuk had said in a low tone.  Han Geng nodded his understanding after a while as if Heechul wasn’t speaking Korean just as Leeteuk had been.

“No. . . danci. . .uh. . .” He looked sheepish as he struggled in a small voice to use the little Korean he knew to communicate.

“He’s a dancer,” Heechul translated, saving the day.  “He just doesn’t have a job at the moment.”

He looked to Han Geng to confirm and was awarded with an affirmative nod.

“It must be hard here on your own,” Leeteuk commented sympathetically.

Perhaps not knowing the words but recognizing the sympathy, Han Geng said, “xie xie,” then corrected, “gomawo.”

“The rice smells delicious,” Leeteuk commented out of the blue, taking his cue from Heechul and acting out what he meant a bit, gesturing toward the pot on the stove and sort of inhaling with a smile.

Han Geng responded again, “Thank you.”

Realizing this conversation was going to go nowhere, Leeteuk decided to excuse himself.  “I’m going to go and check on the boys now, but it’s nice to finally meet you, Han Geng.  You’re welcome here as long as you need.”

Han Geng ducked his head respectfully and Leeteuk, giving Heechul a look that he should follow, left the room.  Heechul paused a moment to give Han Geng an encouraging thumbs up before he followed suit.

“Did I tell you or did I tell you?” Kangin said from the couch when Leeteuk walked in.

“I swear to goodness Heechul has to be a mind reader,” Leeteuk answered in disbelief, understanding Kangin’s statement to be about the ability of Heechul to somehow communicate with Han Geng.

Lacking nothing but a newspaper to be the perfect image of domestic tranquility in his sanctuary on the couch, Kangin wondered lightly, “So what are you going to do now?”   The unfinished thought being:  now that you don’t have to actually make any food.

“Go hunt down the boys,” Leeteuk shrugged.  “Actually. . .” he looked around like he was searching.  “Speaking of which, where’s Yesung?”

As they pondered this, Heechul walked into the room announcing that Han Geng said it was going to be 10 more minutes. 

He saw his roommates staring at each other in confusion and having sort of heard what Leeteuk had asked, he offered, “If you’re looking for Yesung he’s sleeping in his room.”

“Still?” Kangin exclaimed.  His panicked surprise caught them off guard.

“Why?  What’s the problem.”

Settling himself down, Kangin said brusquely, “Nothing. . . It’s just a long time to be asleep.”

Beginning to be infected by a bit of the worry Kangin was trying to hide, Leeteuk offered, “I’ll just go wake him up since we’re eating soon.  Okay?”

Kangin just waved his hand dismissively, but he betrayed himself by darting his eyes in Leeteuk’s direction, revealing his concern.

Leeteuk couldn’t help but shoot the same look at Heechul before he walked off quickly, convincing himself that Kangin was overreacting.  It didn’t mean anything that Kangin was the one who usually told him to stop overreacting.  He refused to address the way his stomach held a tense uneasiness.  What was he so worried about?  What was wrong with Yesung being in his room all day?  He never left the house anyway.  It was a fact they all left unspoken, but it was fact. 

Plus, Heechul had obviously looked in on him if he knew that he was still sleeping:  unless he was just assuming.  Leeteuk shook his head, his fingers trailing along the wallpaper as he approached Yesung’s door.  There was nothing to worry about.  It wasn’t like Yesung was a danger to himself, so . . . Kangin had really overreacted, then. . .

Not taking another moment to doubt and second guess, Leeteuk pushed open Yesung’s slightly ajar door without knocking.  He was met with darkness except where the trail of light flooding in from the hallway fell across the form of Yesung asleep on his bed, lightly snoring.

  Releasing a breath and rolling his eyes at his own foolish concern, Leeteuk walked over to Yesung’s bed and fell against it palms first, his arms stiff so that his action shook the whole mattress.

“Morning, YeYe!”  He announced impishly.

Yesung rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, making a small noise of complaint. 

“Late night?” Leeteuk wondered humorously.

The bundle that was Yesung seemed to shake his head no.

“When did you go to bed?” Leeteuk tried to pull the covers back from Yesung’s grasp.

Sighing in defeat, Yesung let Leeteuk pull back the covers although, since he was face planting into his pillow it didn’t change much.  Then, only moving his hand, he flashed the number 5 twice.

“You went to bed at 10?” Leeteuk exclaimed in surprise.  “Yesung. . .why would you sleep for 20 hours?”  He would have found it humorous if it wasn’t so frightening.  It wasn’t like Yesung had a reason to be tired.

Allowing a note of concern to touch his words he asked, “Are you sick?” 

Heaving a sigh, Yesung rolled over and sat up into a technically upright position.  Rubbing his arm across his eyes he shook his head no.  His actions were dotted with apathy. 

Yesung swung his legs over the edge of the bed and planted his feet on the floor.  Watching the sadly crumpled teenager stare at his feet, Leeteuk asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he dismissed in a barely audible voice, now rubbing his face in an attempt to wake himself up more.

Pushing on the back of the top of Yesung’s head with one finger, Leeteuk didn’t have to try hard to make him look at him. 

“What’s with the face?”

“It’s the only one I have,” Yesung tried to joke, breathing the smallest laugh.

“No it’s not,” Leeteuk chided, “I seem to recall you having one with a bit more of a smile.”

“Did I?” Yesung wondered emotionlessly.

Leeteuk twisted his mouth in sad understanding.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Yesung said disinterestedly. 

Leeteuk, appreciating that the teenager sounded his age for once, put his hand on Yesung’s shoulder and gave him a little push into a standing position.

“Come on,” he urged, guiding the young man forward.  He tried to inspire a more positive outlook.  “It’s a brave new day.”  He couldn’t honestly blame Yesung for being so apathetic.  He understood the feeling:  Why bother getting up if you had nothing to get out of bed for?

Yesung turned his head to give a joyless smile that demonstrated his appreciation for Leeteuk’s effort even though it hadn’t helped much.

Trying to be cheerful, Leeteuk began to say, “Plus, you won’t believe what you’ve missed today. . .”

He halted at the sight of Eunhyuk standing shadow-like in the doorway, peeking into the room. 

After taking a moment to see what Leeteuk was seeing, Yesung lurched back a step but even that motion was lethargic and his eyes refused to widen in surprise.  Eunhyuk watched with his curious dark eyes.  He didn’t seem the slightest bit put off by the appearance of yet another person he didn’t know and studied them with quiet interest.

“Hey, Eunhyuk,” Leeteuk greeted.

Eunhyuk blinked and looked from Leeteuk to Yesung.  It seemed the boy had been there for a while because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness within the room so that he could look at them without strain.

It struck Leeteuk that Eunhyuk was looking around the doorframe but barely seemed aware of the barrier.  He watched them like one watched a movie or a sculpture that couldn’t watch back.

The sound of footsteps drew their attention over Eunhyuk’s head where Donghae appeared.  “There you are!” he exclaimed to Eunhyuk, scolding, “I was looking for you everywhere.”

Donghae looked up at Leeteuk and Yesung as if he was going to say something sternly apologetic when he lost his focus.   

“Why is it so dark?”

“I was sleeping,” Yesung explained, putting in the effort to cover up his tired voice.

 “Oh. . .” Donghae said, as if that explained it all.  He then went on to address Leeteuk. “Eunhyuk kept asking where you went.”  He indicated the boy next to him by putting his hand on his shoulder.  Eunhyuk didn’t really have a reaction to either the statement or the contact.

“I believe you were the ones who disappeared on me,” Leeteuk pointed out.

“Yesung, have you met Eunhyuk?”  Donghae, Leeteuk was fairly sure, didn’t deliberately ignore him, but he was very easily distracted.

“I haven’t,” Yesung answered.

“Well, Yesung, this is Eunhyuk.  He’s going to live with us.  Leeteuk says for forever but that’s probably an exaggeration cause we’re going to get too old to live here.  And also, Eunhyuk doesn’t really like talking, right Hyuk?”

Eunhyuk made a face at Donghae and Donghae nodded.

“Yeah, but that’s okay cause we all have things we don’t like, right?”

“Right,” Yesung responded.

“So please treat him well and don’t cheat in monopoly anymore because you’ll set a bad example.”

Yesung breathed a huff of a laugh.

Leeteuk noticed Eunhyuk subtly pulling on Donghae’s sleeve with a disapproving look on his face and was pleased by the sudden difference in his three dongsaengs:  Donghae’s responsibility, however misguided, Eunhyuk’s annoyance, and Yesung’s small laugh.

“I think it’s time we head back toward the kitchen to see if Han Geng’s done,” Leeteuk interjected.

“Oh, have you met Han Geng yet, Yesung?” Donghae wondered.

“I haven’t.”  Yesung looked at Leeteuk questioningly.

“I’ll explain everything on the way,” Leeteuk promised.

He went to smile down at the two boys in the doorway, but Donghae was no longer in the doorway.  He’d left Eunhyuk’s side and gone to stand next to Yesung.

“Smile,” Donghae told him, taking the older’s hand.  “You haven’t smiled yet.”

A genuine small smile played on Yesung’s features when he looked down at Donghae’s insistent face.

“Much better,” the boy quipped happily.

Everyone blinked and looked up confusedly as the room was suddenly flooded with light.  Leeteuk scrunched his eyes.  Eunhyuk was looking up at the ceiling light with his hand still resting over the light switch.  He seemed satisfied.

Feeling lighter, Leeteuk breathed in deeply before saying, “Well, I think now might be a good time to head back toward the kitchen.” 

Everyone nodded their agreement, even  Eunhyuk, and Leeteuk waited until all three boys had been shepherded ahead of him out into the hallway before he stopped, looked back into the room and turned off the light. 

 
                          “Teuki—!  Oh, there you are.”  Kangin cut off his shout as the three younger members of the family and Leeteuk emerged into the living room. 

Kangin ruffled Donghae’s hair as he and Eunhyuk slipped by but seemed intent on Yesung’s drowsy expression. 

“You good?” he asked the teenager quietly, grabbing him by the arm as he tried to move past. 

“Yeah,” Yesung dismissed airily. 

Without pressing the matter, Kangin let him go. Leeteuk was the last to arrive. 

“Alright?” Kangin wondered.

“A bit,” Leeteuk offered, putting on a resigned smile.

Looking over his shoulder to make sure everyone had already gone into the kitchen, Kangin stepped close to Leeteuk and spoke barely above a whisper, “I don’t want to make a bigger deal out of this than necessary but maybe we should talk to him.”

“To Yesung?  I tried, he said he didn’t want to.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try anyway.”

“What’s with the worry all of a sudden?”

“Because he’s starting to act like you after Woo Jin died!”

Leeteuk visibly flinched at his brother’s name.  He wanted to be angry for a moment but couldn’t find the energy to deny that Kangin was right.  “I know.  . .” he sighed.

“Do you though?”

“Yes,” he snapped, not appreciating the condescension, “but Kangin. . .it’s not like. . . the reason he won’t leave the house is because he’s afraid.  Shindong called it agoraphobia or something.  It’s not the same.”

 “And what did Shindong say?”

“He said he would need to talk to him.”

“Then why isn’t he?”

“Because Shindong doesn’t make housecalls” Leeteuk said carefully, trying to excuse Kangin’s biting tone as worry, “he’s a 19 year old man living here of his own free will and I can’t make him do anything.”

“He’s a teenager who has a psychological problem.  I know that look on his face, Leeteuk.  I saw it in you ever single day for over a year.”

“He oversleeps one day and you want to start diagnosing him?”

“It’s not just one day, Teukie, we barely see him around the house.  I know what I’m talking about, Leeteuk, I know the signs.”

“And you’re saying I don’t?”  Leeteuk meant that he’d lived it personally.  That he would know because he’d lived depression, but he suddenly realized what he was missing and what Kangin’s look meant.  Hadn’t he gone in and woken up his brother like he had with Yesung?  Hadn’t he missed the signs back then?

He hadn’t noticed when he’d had the chance.  When it was up to him, it had ended with a short rope and a ceiling fan.

Guilt welled up in Leeteuk’s heart, and the awful feeling that Kangin was right.  But Leeteuk couldn’t handle that.  He wasn’t going to feel like crap again because of what he’d failed to do and certainly not because of Kangin’s accusing tone. 

“We’re done,” he hissed, going toward the kitchen.

“Teu—”

Kangin started to call him but the word fell on deaf ears.

It was nearly impossible to completely change his attitude in the 10 seconds it took him to walk to the kitchen but Leeteuk tried his best so that no one could tell what was wrong.  He could be pretty good at that.

He walked in to see a completely set and very crowded table.  Donghae was in the process of dragging the kitchen stool over next to his seat at the table.  Heechul, noticing his slow progress and the rather rude sound the stool was making as it undoubtedly scratched the floor, took it from Donghae’s hands and swung it into position.

Yesung was already sitting down, or rather sort of slouching in his chair, watching the proceedings with disinterest.  He did however glance every now and then at Han Geng, who was trying to wash the dishes.  Leeteuk had told him about Han Geng and sort of quickly whispered about Eunhyuk but he tried to imagine what it was like waking up to find that there were 2 more people than normal staying at your house.

Leeteuk emerged into the bustle, dodging Donghae as he dragged Eunhyuk over to what was normally his chair as he himself clambered onto the stool and went up to Han Geng.  He touched the taller man’s shoulder to get his attention then pointed to the table.

“You don’t have to do the dishes now,” he said.

Han Geng reflexively started to look for Heechul to translate, but Heechul was busy sliding the chairs down so they could fit everyone comfortably.  The table was only built for six. 

“Go on,” Leeteuk insisted, giving Han Geng a little push toward the table and reaching with his other hand to turn off the water. 

Han Geng went to stand awkwardly near the table until Heechul gestured him over to one of the empty seats.  “You can sit here,” he said.  Han Geng nodded like he understood his words and sat down.

Leeteuk took one look at Donghae perched on the stool, pushing it back and forth with a squeaking noise as he swung his feet and picked him up and set him down on the floor.

“Hey,” Donghae protested. 

“I’ll take the stool, you sit there,” Leeteuk said evenly, pointing to the other side of Eunhyuk.  Donghae looked like he would have protested but instead he wound up frowning at Leeteuk’s tone and the way he didn’t really pay attention to him as he spoke. 

He walked over to his newly assigned seat and sat down quietly. 

A few moments later, Kangin shuffled into the room and took the last open seat between Han Geng and Yesung.  Leeteuk involuntarily flicked his eyes over at him but Kangin wasn’t looking and feeling a deadened anger gripping his heart, Leeteuk turned his attention elsewhere.

“Bit crowded,” he joked, forcing a smile.

As if everyone could sense the lack of sincerity in his smile, there was a weird silence.  All eyes were on him, but no one spoke.  

“You could say that,” Heechul finally laughed.  Leeteuk couldn’t tell if he was trying to assist him or if he genuinely found it funny.  Knowing Heechul, it was probably the former.  Leeteuk wished he could be as convincing.

Trying to run off of Heechul’s energy, Leeteuk said, “Alright, well, do we all know Han Geng now?  Han Geng who made the no doubt amazing food we’re all going to eat?”

There were weird, reluctant nods and Han Geng smiled awkwardly since he didn’t need help gathering that they were talking about him.

Trying to remain unfazed, Leeteuk rattled on, “Han Geng’s going to be staying with us as Heechul’s guest for a little while until he can sort some stuff out, right?”

Heechul quickly tried to explain and Han Geng looked honestly bewildered and sort of nodded uncertainly.  Everyone else kept staring at Leeteuk.

 “And I know that we’ve all kind of met Eunhyuk, right?”

Again just vague nodding.

The strange tension in the air was palpable.

Leeteuk felt a little guilty that he couldn’t be more genuinely cheerful considering he was probably leaving a bad impression on the newest household members, but another part of him felt angry at the same time.  He was trying.  They could at least try too.

Unable to hide his growing frustration any longer, Leeteuk folded his hands together and rested his chin on them, very lightly saying, “Anyway, I guess I’m just boring you all,” he added a lack luster laugh but it wasn’t well received. 

He took a moment to actually scan some of the reactions he was getting.  Kangin obviously wasn’t giving him the light of day.  Donghae was studying him while Yesung tried to look like he wasn’t be looking slyly out of the corner of his eye.  Eunhyuk was staring at his feet.  Heechul alone seemed like he was honestly trying to interact with him.  Han Geng, as per usual, seemed demurely confused.

Rolling his eyes ever so subtly at the fact that his people had suddenly decided that they should be terribly nervous around him, Leeteuk exclaimed, “Oh come on.  Let’s stop being so formal about things and just eat before everything gets cold, okay?”  He smiled, really trying to lighten the mood and Heechul helpfully joined,

“Now that’s more like it.  I swear Teukie, I thought you were going to talk forever.”

And at that things at least became more active.  Dishes were passed, compliments were poured, but even that faded after a while to the sound of chewing and failed attempts at conversation. 

“So, Donghae, how were conferences,” Heechul asked, trying to start a conversation with someone for the third time. 

“Good,” Donghae quipped, looking at his food.

“Just good?” Leeteuk said with a hint of warning, hoping Donghae would respond to Heechul properly.

“I guess,” Donghae said.

Leeteuk clenched his teeth to stop another comment from escaping his lips. 

Things shouldn’t have been that different even with the addition of the two new people at the table.  Since neither of them could really communicate it shouldn’t have even changed the conversation dynamic.  Leeteuk couldn’t fathom how his normally boisterous and chaotic family dinners had transformed into awkward silences and uncomfortable shuffling.  Was it just because he was a bit miffed?  He had been trying to act positive.  Why wasn’t that enough?  He couldn’t always be perfect, he couldn’t always be happy.  He’d been counting on his little family to help to make Eunhyuk’s homecoming more normal than this.  Kangin had literally not said a word the entire time and Donghae was acting like he wasn’t in the mood to talk.  Donghae was always in the mood to talk.

Seething about the lack of support he was receiving, when Leeteuk heard Donghae say his name, he couldn’t stop the bite in his voice as he snapped, “What?”

Looking hurt and uncomfortable, Donghae said quietly, “I was just. . . wondering if I could go refill the water pitcher.” 

   Anger melting at his dongsaeng’s crestfallen face, Leeteuk said kindly, “Of course you can, you know you don’t have to ask.” 

Donghae nodded and grabbed the pitcher before shuffling toward the fridge.  Leeteuk rubbed a hand across his forehead.  He was angry that everyone was acting differently, he was pissed at Kangin for putting him in this awful mood, but he was mostly angry at himself because he had finally realized what he was doing and he hated himself for it. 

Heechul shot him a sympathetic, perhaps even encouraging look and Leeteuk tried to smile back sadly but failed.

“Thank you, Donghae,” he said when the boy returned to the table.

“It’s alright,” the brown haired boy said in response, famously doing what he knew would make Leeteuk feel better by giving him a small smile. 

Apologizing with the look in his eyes, Leeteuk ruffled Donghae’s hair and then dismissed himself, “I think I’m full.  You guys can keep eating as long as you like.  Han Geng,” he waited until the Chinese man looked at him to say with sincerity, “thank you very much for making this. It was really good.” 

Han Geng understood and said clearly, “You’re welcome.”

Leeteuk made sure he caught everyone’s eyes that he could and gave them a reassuring nod that said he wasn’t mad before he left the table and headed back toward his room. 

The second he shut the door he pulled out his phone and called one of his speed dials, sitting down hard on his bed as the phone was answered on the third ring.  

 “Anyeong.”

“Siwon?”

“Yeah, Teuk?”

Silence.

“This is stupid.  I’m sorry.  I don’t know why I called.”

“Yes you do,” Siwon answered matter of factly, sounding like he had just abandoned whatever he’d been devoting his attention to before the phone call to focus better.  “What’s up?  Is everything going okay with Eunhyuk?”

“It was,” Leeteuk said with a sigh.

“What happened?”

“Everything was going great.  I took him to Donghae’s parent conference with us, he met the family and seemed okay.  Donghae actually really seems to have taken a liking to him,”

“As expected,” Siwon said proudly, “But what happened?”

“Me,” Leeteuk admitted, drowning in guilt.

Siwon waited for him to continue.

“I’m just,” Leeteuk struggled to explain, “I’m not good at this, Siwon.  I can’t be perfect for them.  They need—they deserve perfect and I’m nowhere near it.  They need someone special and I can’t be that for them.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I snapped at Donghae and I was in a bad mood and everyone was acting weird and instead of just being happy and forgetting about myself I got mad at them for figuring out that I was upset and . . . gosh, it was like they were afraid of me, Siwon.  I never wanted to be that.  And I got mad at them for being uncomfortable.”

“Leeteuk, are you even hearing yourself?”

“Yes!  I am.  And that’s why I’m just so angry with myself and for thinking that I could do this because I can’t, Siwon.  You can only do what you know and all I know is how to pretend to be perfect and snap at people.”

“Leeteuk. . .”

“I didn’t even stop and think why everyone was acting that way, you know?  Of course they were all on edge, I live in a house full of people who learned how to read the mood from the way someone breathes or moves their hand.  Every single one of them knew in about 2 seconds that I was mad, obviously they were going to be weird.  It’s a survival mechanism.   I’m just an idiot, Siwon.  You made a mistake in thinking I could do this.

“The fact that you called me to tell me this is the reason I wasn’t,” Siwon answered.

“I’m an awful hyung,” Leeteuk said barely above a whisper.

“Yes, an awful hyung who realized where he went wrong, admitted it, and is now beating himself up over it,” Siwon said sarcastically, “I don’t know, Leeteuk, that sounds like a pretty good hyung to me.”

“I keep making mistakes, Siwon.”

“You have the right to make mistakes.  Remember that.  No matter what you’ve heard growing up, you’re allowed to make mistakes.”

Leeteuk felt too heavy to cry, but he wanted to.

“Gosh, Siwon,” he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, “how do I fix this?”

“You don’t have anything to fix.  You just do what you’re doing.  You’re doing fine.”

“I’m not so sure anymo—”

Jumping, Leeteuk lowered the phone from his ear as the door creaked open. 

“Hey,” he breathed as Donghae walked in, leaning back against the door to shut it again.  The boy was staring at him with those same brown eyes that had first run into him so long ago.

Leeteuk raised the phone to his ear and said, “Siwon, I’ll . . . talk to you later.”

He shut the phone as Donghae walked up to him, crawled up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around his neck.

Leeteuk dropped his phone hugged Donghae back. 

“You’re not a bad hyung,” Donghae said, his voice laced with emotion.  “Hyung, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Clearing his throat, Leeteuk said in a rough voice, “Thank you, Donghae.  I don’t know what I would have done without you either.”

“You can cry if you want to.”

And Leeteuk did want to.  His vision blurred with tears but as he looked toward the ceiling he smiled a smile to God for sending him a family where he’d never had one before.

“I’m not mad that you were angry,” Donghae told him.  “I was just sad that you suddenly weren’t happy anymore.  I know you try really hard for us.”

“Stop making me feel better, Donghae,” Leeteuk said half-jokingly. 

“Why?” Donghae wondered honestly. 

Leeteuk stopped the hug so he could look Donghae in the eyes only to realize there were tears on the boy’s face.  And that put tears in his own eyes.  “Because that’s my job,” he told the boy.

                And Donghae said back matter of factly, “Family isn’t a job.”

                Leeteuk bit his lip and nodded as a few tears escaped his eyes.

                “I think that instead of a job family is just smiling even when you’re crying.”  Donghae smiled.

                And Leeteuk breathed a laugh and smiled too. 

                “You really are one smart cookie.”

                Donghae ran his sleeve across his eyes.

                “And Teukie-hyung?”

                “Yeah?”

                “I don’t want you to be perfect.”  He echoed what Leeteuk himself had once told him.

                Leeteuk’s eyes sparkled mischievously, “I can try Donghae, but it might be difficult.”

                “Heechul said he was perfect but then he tripped so. . .”

                Leeteuk laughed and Donghae joined him.

                “Thank you, Donghae, for making me feel better.”

                “I’ve never had a brother before, but you taught me that’s what a good brother does.”

                “Gosh, what did I do before you, Donghae?  What did I do before any of you?”  He thought hard, but he couldn’t come up with the answer.

                “I don’t know, but at least you don’t have to ask anymore, cause we’re not going to leave you.”

                Leeteuk pulled Donghae back into the hug.  “You sure?” he asked, holding Donghae’s head to his shoulder.

                “I promise,” Donghae assured and then strangely continued, “and you don’t have to worry about Hyuk leaving either.”

                “Why?” Leeteuk wondered.

                “Cause he couldn’t even leave for 10 minutes.”

                Leeteuk turned his head toward the door and lo and behold Eunhyuk was standing there uncertainly.

                “Come on then,” Leeteuk said, patting the open space next to him on the bed.

                Eunhyuk moved silently and sat down on the bed, an odd yearning on his face as he looked at Leeteuk and Donghae. 

                Leeteuk put one arm around Donghae and the other around Eunhyuk.

                “So, Hyuk, what do you think so far?  Are we nutty enough for you?”

                A timid, mischievous light entered the boy’s eyes and he almost smiled.

                “I’ll take that as a yes,” Leeteuk chirped happily.  “I’m sorry for being cranky earlier.”

                The look on Eunhyuk’s face said it was more than alright.

                  “So, I guess here’s the million dollar question:  Do you want to room with this charming, over-zealous young lad here,” he said squeezing Donghae against his side as the boy protested, “or would you like to room alone.”

                Eunhyuk took one look at Donghae, actually smiled, and pointed at him.

                “Daebak!” Donghae cheered.

                “I guess I should see about moving another bed into your room.”

                Donghae looked up at Leeteuk and said, “Oh, I think that Kangin’s already doing that.”

                Sobering a bit, since he knew Kangin typically liked to do work when he was angry, Leeteuk said, “Well, I guess I should go and help him then, shouldn’t I?”

                “Yeah,” Donghae agreed, “he still seemed a little cranky.”

                Patting Donghae on the back, he then instructed both boys, “You won’t get into any trouble while I’m gone right?”

                Donghae shook his head vehemently, “We’ll just bother Yesung or something.”

                “Excellent idea,” Leeteuk grinned, moving to stand.  “I’ll be back after I speak with Kang-zilla.”

                Donghae gave him a little salute.  “Best of luck.”

                Leeteuk nodded, putting on a very serious face and saluted back.

                A few minutes later, Leeteuk found Kangin in the process of sizing up the bed frame in the spare bedroom.  He’d already removed the mattress and placed it on the floor and was now looking over the wooden frame for a possible way to disassemble it.  As he watched, Kangin put his hands on the bed and just sort of shook it as if this was an effective method.    

                “Need any help?”

                At the sound of Leeteuk’s voice Kangin very deliberately stopped and then turned around. 

                “I’m sorry about before,” Leeteuk said sincerely.

                “Are you here to apologize or are you here to help?”

                Taken off guard, Leeteuk stuttered, “Um. . . I’m. . . “

                “If you keep standing there then we’ll never get this thing set up at a reasonable hour.”   

                Taking this and Kangin’s smiling eyes as his apology accepted, Leeteuk came into the room.

                When he came to stand beside his long time best friend, Kangin reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, saying without looking, “And I’m sorry too.”

                “Is sorry a kind of wrench?  Because otherwise I don’t think it’s going to help us with this bed.”

                Kangin glanced over and couldn’t stop his shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress a laugh.

                “What?” Leeteuk asked, smiling.

                “A sorry wrench is probably the only kind you’d have ever heard of.”

                “You do realize I was kidding, right?”

                Kangin just shook his head, smiling so hard that his eyes turned into triangles, and patted Leeteuk’s shoulder in a consoling manner.   

                A moment later, Leeteuk jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket.  Taking it out quickly while Kangin started inspecting the bolts holding the bed frame together, he saw a text from Siwon. 

                Turning around to open it quickly he read:  Everything okay?

                He typed back—Everything’s perfect. <3—and then shut his phone, taking in a deep, happy breath before helping his roommate to orderly dismantle and not destroy the bed.

. . .

                Leeteuk felt his hands slipping and quickly used his knee to help support the large, heavy board he and Kangin were struggling to slide through the small doorway into Donghae’s room. 

                “You got it?” Kangin said in a tight voice, struggling to hold the other side of the awkwardly large board. 

                “Yep,” Leeteuk managed to squeak out as he adjusted his grip.  “Go.”   

                “This. . . is. . . so . . . cool!” he heard Donghae say.  His head barely popped into his line of sight over the board as he reached the top of each bounce.  His bed groaned in protest as he continued to jump on it happily. 

                It was taking all of Leeteuk’s concentration to not drop the extremely heavy board on his feet, so he was unable to do more than shoot Donghae a quick look to demonstrate how un-amused he was.

                “Woah, you okay, Teukie-hyung?  Your face is all red.”  The amused tone Donghae was using sort of ruined the sentiment.

                “Just great, Donghae,” he said as he shuffled by.  He caught sight of Eunhyuk standing over the rest of the bedframe which they had already reassembled next to Donghae’s bed. “Move, move, move,” he said hurriedly and luckily Eunhyuk took notice of him for once and scrambled back.  Donghae stopped bouncing and sat down hard as Leeteuk and Kangin shuffled ungracefully until they had the board centered. 

                “Down,” Kangin ordered.  And as one, they lowered the board across the bottom of the bedframe. 

                Mindful of his fingers, Leeteuk then looked up at Kangin and when he nodded, they both let go of the board, letting it fall a bit heavily into place with a bang.

                “Well done,” they heard a light voice saying as Heechul entered the room.

                “Says you, who isn’t doing anything.”

                “I’m directing,” Heechul tossed over his shoulder as he looked back out the door.  “Right this way,” he said, waving his arms like an air traffic controller.

                Leeteuk was perplexed until he saw the back of Yesung’s head, followed by the rest of Yesung, carrying one half of the twin sized mattress into the room.

                “Oh, no no no,” Leeteuk said, rushing over to take the mattress out of Yesung’s hands only to see to his distress that Han Geng was helping with the other half.  “You really don’t’ have to do. . .”

                “It’s fine,” Yesung reassured. 

                Heechul wrapped an arm around Leeteuk’s neck and lightly pulled him back.  “Just let it happen, Teuk.  I’ve been trying to get these two to make nice anyway.  Yeye’s all suspicious and Han Geng’s playing mute.” 

                Han Geng and Yesung walked over to where Kangin was still standing by the newly assembled bed. 

                “It’s like a party,” Donghae said cheerfully, seeing everyone gathered in his room.  Donghae looked younger than ever wearing a set of light blue fish pajamas.  Eunhyuk didn’t look nearly as ridiculous since he was wearing the plain pajamas that the CPS had provided for him.  Leeteuk realized there was going to be another shopping trip in his near future.

                “Yah, how is this like a party,” Heechul demanded in his jokingly indignant voice.

                “Cause everyone’s here.”

                “That’s not a party,” Heechul huffed.

                Donghae just grinned, bouncing up and down on his bed where he sat at the edge. 

                In the meantime, Kangin had taken Yesung’s spot and with Han Geng’s help had lowered the mattress onto the frame.

                “Thank you,” Kangin said to Han Geng once the mattress was in place.

                “No problem,” Han Geng responded with his small but warm smile.

                “Thank you all,” Leeteuk echoed, adding, “except for you, Heechul.” 

                The other man shrugged, tossing his hair which he’d started to let grow out again. 

                “Now everyone out,” Leeteuk said.

                Confused, no one made a move to leave.

                “Out!” Leeteuk insisted, waving his hands and shooing the extra people out of the room, an impish grin on his face. 

                “Night then,” Yesung said, the first to comply and leave of his own volition.

                “Goodnight,” Leeteuk agreed.

                Heechul grabbed Han Geng’s arm and pulled him along.  “Goodnight to you all,” he said with an unnecessarily silly bow. 

                “Night,” Donghae said back, giggling.

                Then it was just Kangin, Eunhyuk, Donghae and Leeteuk left.

                Kangin was too busy inspecting the bed to notice at first that Leeteuk was staring at him. 

                “What?” he wondered when he realized.

                “You too,” Leeteuk said, hands on his hips.

                “Why me?”

                “Unless you’re going to make the bed that is.”

                “Night,” Kangin said, needing no further encouragement.

                “Goodnight,” Leeteuk sang as he hurried from the room.

                Now that everything had settled, Leeteuk smiled at Eunhyuk and Donghae saying, “Much better.”

                He went and retrieved a spare set of sheets from the cupboard as Donghae said, “How hard do you think it’d be to learn Chinese.”

                “There is no one Chinese language,” Leeteuk explained, “you’d have to learn Mandarin or Cantonese.”

                “Oh, well how hard do you think it is to do that?”

                “Probably pretty hard.”

                He tucked a corner of the fitted sheet under the mattress. 

                “Is it hard to learn Korean?”

                Unfurling the top sheet across the bed, Leeteuk mused, “I’d imagine.”

                “So how’s Han Geng going to learn?”

                “Maybe he won’t have to,” Leeteuk pointed out, “if he can find a way to go back home.”

                “But what if he can’t?”

                Leeteuk slipped the pillow into the pillowcase cover.

                “Then I guess he’ll just have to stay here.”

                “And learn Korean from Heechul?”

                “Well,” Leeteuk said, laughing as he grabbed the comforter and laid it over the nearly finished bed. “We better hope that doesn’t happen, right?”

                He didn’t get an answer, so after he put the pillow in place he turned to see Donghae still sitting with his feet dangling off of his bed.  It took him a moment to spot Eunhyuk standing quietly over by the dresser. 

                “What?” he asked.

                “I don’t know,” Donghae said deep in thought, “I think I’m just happy.  I’ve run out of things to say.”

                “Happy and probably tired,” Leeteuk pointed out.

                “I guess that too,” Donghae agreed.

                “What about you, Eunhyuk?”

                The boy just shrugged noncommittally. 

                Leeteuk decided that he should really get the boy a notebook or something so that he could write down his thoughts instead of just nodding and shrugging awkwardly.  He knew that he didn’t want Eunhyuk using writing as a crutch to communication, but he also recognized that it might be a while before he got the boy talking again.

                This was day one, though, and even if it hadn’t been anywhere near perfect, they’d made it in one piece. 

                “I know it’s Friday night but it’s been a pretty long day, don’t you think?”

                “Aw, come on Teukie-hyung, don’t say we have to go to bed now.”

                “You don’t have to sleep,” Leeteuk conceded, but you do have to stay in bed, okay?”

                “So Hyuk and I can still talk?” Donghae asked.

                “I suppose,” Leeteuk responded, knowing that it would be an incredibly one sided conversation.

                Leeteuk put his hand on the bed post of the newly made and assembled bed.  “Come on, Hyuk, it’s all yours.”

                Eunhyuk smiled and uncertainly approached the bed, crawling up onto it and sitting happily in the middle.  He observed the room from his new perch and Leeteuk could tell he was studying the layout of this new room.

                “If you need anything I’ll be in my room down the hall,” Leeteuk told him.  “You can bug me whenever you want.”

                “Or me,” Donghae added.

                Eunhyuk looked at them both but didn’t give any kind of motion that he understood.

                “You good?” Leeteuk asked.

                Eunhyuk met his eyes and he seemed a little overwhelmed, but nodded.

                “Alright,” Leeteuk said, feeling weird that his role was suddenly over, “I guess goodnight, then.  I’ll see you both in the morning.”

                “Goodnight,” Donghae said from where he was already snuggled into a bundle under his covers.

                “Goodnight,” Leeteuk said, going over to the doorway and flicking off the light.  He waited before he shut the door for his eyes to adjust and then asked, “Still good?”

                “Yeah,” Donghae answered.

                He saw Eunhyuk nod.

                “Okay. . . Goodnight.”

                “Goodnight,” Donghae repeated.

                Leeteuk walked out of the room and pulled the door too.  He waited for a few moments until he heard Donghae starting to chatter away before he felt comfortable enough to walk away and let the day end as next to normal as it was.

                The kids were alright, he could leave them for a little while. 

                He smiled.  The journey was only beginning.
 

A/N  How can I be such an awful, evil, mean author with such beautiful, kind, wonderful subscribers/commenters like you guys. <3 <3   Gosh I missed you. 

You guys didn't think I was gone forever, did you?  <3 <3 <3  I missed you all so much.  It took a Hurricane and Teukie leaving but I finally finished this chapter.  It's a little long, it's a little sentimental (you can actually see my mood swinging as I monitored all of the news about our Angel Teuk leaving on his short journey,) but it's done. 

I'm posting it before I comment respond because I'm far too late, but I promise as I have before I'm not giving up on this story, just like I'll never give up on Super Junior.  <3

Thank you, all of you.  Those of you who just subscribed to me.  Those of you who have been here all along.  Even those of you who have lost interest in the story.  It's okay.  Thank you for being with me so far. <3 <3 <3

I hope this chapter lives up to the rest of the story.  I'm a little rusty in my writing skills. 

I can't begin to thank you for your patientce.  I had a couple of super busy weekends the past 3 weeks but I can't believe how bad an author I've been. 

The story isn't over yet though.  It's just beginning. 

Saranghae Saranghae Saranghae.  Mianhe. Mianhe.  Mianhe. 

As always, feel free anytime to ask me questions, compliment, or criticize. 

Subscribe if you have the perogative to have a little fun.  Comment if you can't contain your feels. 

And hold leaderTeuk's hand. <3