There is a saying that the sun shines brighter after a summer storm. The bright rays of sunlight shone through the window, lighting up the room. Kibum’s eyes fluttered open; he almost forgot where he was, but when he felt Mir’s warm body next to him he remembered. He gently squirmed away from his brother and sat up, yawning and stretching his arms out.

“What does it matter if I go out with him? He’s my best friend, Leeteuk, not to mention the father of my son.”

Kibum froze and tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling; it was a bit muffled, but he’d definitely just heard that.

“Well I’m sorry that we can’t go out  on dates all the time, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hang out with Hongki.”

Heechul sounded angry, much angrier than Kibum had ever heard him, and honestly that was a little worrying. Kibum leaned over and quickly shook Mir awake until the younger boy blinked opened his eyes and groaned.

“What?” Mir grumbled, cuddling closer into the blanket.

“Do you hear that?” Kibum whispered, pointing to the ceiling as Heechul’s voice was to be heard once again. Mir opened his eyes and shrugged carelessly.

“Yeah. Mama's are just fighting again. It's nothing new, they do it all the time,” Mir informed Kibum as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Kibum frowned slightly and furrowed his brows. Heechul fought with Leeteuk? He’d never heard it before nor would he have suspected it; they were always so loving towards each other.

“Really? Why?” Kibum asked curiously as he quickly followed Mir out of the room. Mir shrugged and walked towards the kitchen, heading straight for the cabinet to fix himself a bowl of cereal. The conversation died there and Kibum sat down across from Mir and waited while he ate so they could get dressed and go out and do something. It was going to be a nice day out and despite it being all muddy he wanted to go into town to hang out for awhile instead of being stuck inside like yesterday.

Ten minutes later, Kibum left the kitchen and headed up the stairs. He glanced towards Heechul’s room but was surprised to see that the door was closed. But what was even more shocking was that he could hear the sound of heartbroken cries coming from the other side. He felt his heart clench painfully when he realized the Heechul was in there crying because of his fight with Leeteuk, that his hyung was hurting. Rather than go hang out with Mir, Kibum wanted to run in there and give Heechul all the hugs in the world to make him feel better, but unfortunately he knew that it probably wasn’t the right moment. Heechul probably wanted some time alone right now. But it just killed him to know that Heechul was crying. Still, after getting dressed he walked across the hall and softly knocked twice on the door.

“Heechul? Me and Mir are going out for awhile, okay?” Kibum said. He paused for a moment, but before he turned away he also added, “I love you, hyung.”

With that, he turned and headed back downstairs where Mir was waiting for him outside. There wasn’t conversation as they walked towards town, but the atmosphere was uncomfortable. Mir watched Kibum out of the corner of his eye as they walked together. He could obviously tell that Kibum was bothered by what they’d heard this morning since he’d never heard Heechul fight before. So, wanting to be able to enjoy their time in town, Mir decided to make sure that Kibum was okay.

“You know, it’s nothing to worry over. Everything will be okay. Like I said, they fight all the time,” He said, grasping Kibum’s hand into his own and squeezing it reassuringly.

“But why?” Kibum asked softly.

“Because Teukie umma doesn’t like them living apart and gets annoyed that umma and appa spend more time together. Umma wants them to live together too, but he’s says it’s not the right time yet. I don’t know. I think it has something to do with Henry’s real dad, but umma won’t talk about that,” Mir explained, summing up everything he’d learned over the years.

“Oh,” Kibum replied, frowning slightly as he didn’t know what to think of that. Why didn’t he realize earlier that both Heechul and Leeteuk didn’t actually enjoy living apart? He knew they were dating, but never thought that living apart was something that bothered them. Adult relationships were such a strange concept that he just didn’t understand.

“So, just ignore it, okay? Let’s just go out and have fun,” Mir said as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Come on, this time I’ll buy us ice cream,” Kibum decided with a smile. Mir agreed enthusiastically and from there they raced into town. As the ice cream shop neared into sight, they both slowed down their pace because of the weird looks they were getting. People probably thought they were some strange, deprived children who gripped over ice cream as if it were something holy.

“I’m sorry, let’s just go home,” Kibum said, reaching for Mir’s hand. Mir pulled his hand back and crossed his arms, staring crossly at the ground and shook his head no.

“I’m going over to my Dad's house,” He mumbled, turning away and taking a few steps.

“Wait, Mir, please? Just ignore him, what he says isn’t important. You know we all love you,” Kibum said exasperatedly, quickly following after him. But Mir whipped around, stopping suddenly, with tears in his eyes that threatened to spill over any second.

“Don’t! Just leave me alone, Kibum. You don’t understand! I don’t care, okay? I just don’t care. I’m used to it, alright? Just leave me alone, I just want to be alone,” Mir cried, looking away as if he was ashamed.

Kibum sighed knowing that it was futile to argue; Mir was clearly upset.

“Fine. Just text me when you get there, okay?” Kibum said softly.

“Whatever,” Mir grumbled, turning away once again. He took a few steps, but before he got anywhere Kibum stopped him one last time.

“I really am sorry, Mir,” He said, but Mir continued walking without a look back. Once Mir had disappeared from sight, Kibum sighed and turned to leave as well. He wanted to hurry home so and get his phone for when Mir texted him, if he even would at all.

Once home, Kibum instantly headed up the stairs with the intention of going to his room, but once in the hall he saw that the door to Heechul’s room was open. Unable to forget about this morning, he quickly shuffled in where he sat Heechul sitting on the side of his bed with his phone in hand, seemingly concentrated fixatedly. Before Kibum had a chance to make his presence known, Heechul’s tranquil voice filled the air.  

“What happened to Mir?” He asked, turning his head to look at Kibum as the younger boy walked over to him. Sighing softly, Kibum perched next to him.

“This guy from town was messing with him again and Mir got mad and went over to Hongki’s,” Kibum explained, twiddling his fingers together. He felt guilty that he hadn’t done more to make Key back off of Mir, but he just didn’t have a dominant personality. He was a pacifist.

“Again?” Heechul inquired, raising a brow. He didn’t like that someone was messing with his baby and this was the first time he was hearing of it.

“Key, that’s his name, called me a murderer and Mir stood up for me, so Key called him a freak. Then yesterday we found Key in the park and he was crying so I went over to see what was wrong, because that’s what you did when you found me and I thought that he deserved the same but he pushed me into a puddle. Today he started again and Mir tried to make him leave me alone but Key told him he didn't understand how anyone would ever be friends with him and that his family would never love him…but I didn’t stand up for him like he did for me,” Kibum said, his voice trailing off.

Heechul chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around Kibum, pulling him in for a hug.

“Don’t feel bad, baby. Mir isn’t going to look down on you for it. He loves you and I’m sure he understands why you won’t do anything about it,” He said kindly. Kibum tilted his head up to look Heechul in the eyes.

“Do you really think so?” He asked hopefully, not wanting Mir to be mad at him. Fighting with his brothers was something Kibum thought was the worst thing in the world.

Heechul gently smiled down at him and nodded.

“Of course I do. Now, Hongki called and said Mir’s going to stay with him for a few days. What do you think about going to visit Donghae? I’m starting to miss him,” He said brightly. As soon as it was said, Kibum could see right through it. Miss Donghae? He didn’t doubt that Heechul did, but he knew right away that this was simply a ploy to spend time with Leeteuk, to make peace of their fight. But still, he agreed anyways.

“Sure, I miss him too,” He replied with a smile.