Sunday morning found Minho leaning against the wall outside of the men’s room at the mall with Roo in his arms. Luna had randomly decided that they would have to take a trip to the mall, and Jinki agreed easily enough. They split up into two separate groups, Jonghyun, Minho, and Luna, and Taemin, Key, and Jinki. They were, more or less, shopping for Jonghyun’s birthday. It was a bit difficult to do, being that Jonghyun couldn’t be left alone, and if Minho went off without him, he would wonder why.

Minho had a plan, though. If he saw something he knew Jonghyun would like, he would wait until the other was distracted and send a picture to the appa. That way, Jonghyun would never guess what he was getting. Roo suddenly whined and popped her head up to start Minho’s face. He wasn’t very fond of dog slobber, but he didn’t mind too much considering the dog herself. He would be lying if he said he didn’t stake some small claim in her himself.

“Minho?” Minho looked up automatically, and he was surprised to see a few kids he had known at camp. “Hey, how have you been?”

“Oh, hi.” He said, looking a bit stunned. The last time he had seen them was when he was going home from camp, just before the flashing blues in his driveway caught his attention. “How have you guys been?”

“Well.” The one in the middle said, shaking his head slightly in an obvious attempt to display his new, blonde hair. “We’re still alive.”

“He can see that, Heechul.” The one to the left of the blonde said. Minho rolled his eyes.

“I see you haven’t changed, Kyuhyun-hyung.” Minho said. He shrugged. “What about you, Nickhun-hyung?”

“I got a new car.” He said, shrugging. He looked slightly uncomfortable, and Minho didn’t have to wait long to find out why. “I...I wanted to apologize for the way we acted. We didn’t realize what was going on.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Minho said dismissively.

“Did you ever end up finding him?” Heechul asked, and Minho nodded. Heechul smiled, then raised his hand to reach out to the dog in Minho’s arms. Minho interrupted his hand before he could.

“She’s on duty.” Minho explained, pointing to her harness. Heechul blinked a few times.

“Why do you have a service dog?” Kyuhyun asked.

“She’s not mine.” Minho explained, glancing up at the door to the men’s room. What was taking Jonghyun so long?

“Is he doing alright?” Nickhun asked, and Minho nodded.

“He was really freaked out at first. He didn’t leave the house for almost a month, but he’s doing fine now.” Minho said, watching as the door finally opened. Jonghyun came out, a slightly oblivious smile on his face. “Jjongie, are you ok?”

“There was a little boy that couldn’t reach the sink, so I helped him.” He said. “And then he was telling me about his new kitten at home. It took a little while for his dad to pull him away.”

“Ah.” Minho said, easily handing Roo over to the shorter male. He didn’t miss the small laugh that escaped Kyuhyun’s lips. He raised a brow at his hyung.

“I didn’t realize you were dating someone so much...younger.” Kyuhyun said, obviously making fun of Minho. Jonghyun stiffened.

“I’m going to be seventeen this Saturday.” He said, looking insulted. Three sets of eyebrows went into the air.

“You’re his hyung?” Heechul asked. Jonghyun nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable. Minho wrapped an arm around him.

“Jonghyun-ah, these are my friends from camp.” Minho said, introducing them each in turn. Jonghyun greeted them all politely, especially after finding out that each boy was older than him. He turned to Minho a moment later, a nervous expression.

“Where’s Luna?” He asked, and Minho pointed to the electronics store across from them.

Minho, who had been the most reluctant to accept Luna, had ironically been the first to slip and call her “Umma.” He had gone extremely red in the face, checking to be sure no one had heard him. Taemin, of course, had been the only one to catch it, and the one to repeat it when Minho refused. They had been surprised to see him get so angry about it - it really was just an accident, and Luna had been flattered - but he locked himself in the bedroom and refused to come out until Luna picked the lock herself. She was just full of surprises.

“She said she had to get something.” Minho explained, and Jonghyun nodded. “Do you want to go in?”

“Kind of.” Jonghyun admitted. He still wasn’t terribly fond of new people, but he did take a moment to smile up at Minho, his tongue poking out from between his teeth. Minho’s eyes widened, and he pulled Jonghyun into a tight hug.

“Aigoo...Kyeopta..” He mumbled, kissing the top of Jonghyun’s head. Jonghyun laughed, hugging Minho back softly.

“Watch out for Roo.” Jonghyun reminded him, and he pulled back to pet the dog apologetically. Minho glanced up at the three who were still hovering awkwardly around them.

“I have to get going.” Minho said. “It was nice to see you.”

He grabbed Jonghyun’s hand and pulled him along into the store, his eyes combing through the clumps and crowds of people in the store. Jonghyun had his lips pulled thin, but it was a happy expression. He seemed to be getting happier and happier as time went on, and with his birthday less than a week away it was perfect timing. They had agreed to a small party, but small or not, they wanted him to enjoy it.

“Umma!” Minho called out when he caught sight of Luna. She turned automatically, a smile on her face as she waved them over.

“You guys were gone for a while, are you feeling alright?” Her question was directed at the shorter of the two, who just nodded. Minho rested his chin on Jonghyun’s head a moment later.

“What are you doing in here?” Minho asked.

“I just figured I would get something for everyone.” Luna said, holding up a bag. Minho eyed it curiously, and she reached into the bag. She pulled out an iPod touch with a smile. “One for everyone.”

“Seriously?” Jonghyun asked, his eyes wide. Luna nodded, then looked embarrassed as they thanked her. She laughed and shrugged, changing the subject.

“Do you guys want to go anywhere?” She asked.

“Ani, let’s just walk around until we have to meet the others for lunch.” Minho said, and Luna was about to agree when Jonghyun shook his head. They both looked at him in surprise.

“Where do you want to go?” Luna asked. Jonghyun blushed a bit.

“Can we go to the music store? There’s...there’s a few CD’s I wanted.” He said sheepishly. She smiled and nodded.

“Absolutely.”

It was on their way to the music store that Jonghyun finally eyed something with enough interest that Minho texted the appa. There was no picture needed - there was only one, and he knew the appa would go get it as soon as Minho told him they were away from the store.

It was a fairly good day, all in all, and when they were ready to leave Jinki lead Taemin and Key to his car, while Luna took Minho and Jonghyun to hers. Luna had not so subtly suggested they go see a movie, but the closest theatre was half an hour away, so it was going to be a bit of a drive. They all buckled in and took off toward the the theatre, Luna leading with an amused expression.

“He tried to take me to this theatre for our first date.” Luna said. Jonghyun glanced up at her with curious eyes. She grinned. “He got lost.”

Jonghyun snorted, covering his mouth with his hands as Minho laughed in the back seat. They had actually given him a GPS for christmas, just to prevent him from getting lost anymore. Jonghyun smiled absently as he glanced in the side mirror just in time to see Key striking up conversation with the appa.

“You never told us when the wedding was.” Key accused, and Jinki shrugged.

“We were actually just going to have you plan it.” Jinki admitted. Key grinned.

“If that’s what you want.” He said, shrugging. Jinki glanced over at him, slightly concerned, but Key changed the subject. “So, are you guys going to have a baby?”

Jinki stiffened in his seat, the question shocking him so badly that he actually swerved a little into the next lane. He looked over at Key, who seemed unsurprised by the reaction and was still patiently waiting for an answer. He swallowed hard, then sighed.

“Kibum...” He started, then his lips. “No, we’re not.”

“But why?” Taemin asked. “Don’t you want to?”

“Of course I do.” Jinki said, his tone regretful. “But it’s just not possible.”

“Waeyo?” Key asked, and Jinki looked uncomfortable.

“I got really sick when I was a baby.” He said softly. “My fever got so high I nearly died. It damaged my reproductive organs. I literally can not have children.”

It was silent in the car after that, Key and Taemin feeling equally guilty for pressing the issue, but Jinki reached across the console to fluff up Key’s hair. Sure, it was a sore spot, but it was natural for them to be curious. It wasn’t like he hated the defect completely anyway - without it, he may never have met his boys.

“Maybe we’ll adopt one of the little kids.” Jinki said, shrugging. “Who knows?”

Key shrugged, still staring awkwardly at his lap. It was uncomfortably quiet for a few minutes, until Key suddenly looked up again.

“Do I get to plan your honeymoon too?” Key asked, and Jinki shook his head. “What? Wae?”

“There isn’t going to be a honeymoon.” Jinki said, shrugging.

“What are you talking about?” Taemin asked, and Jinki rolled his eyes.

“Do you really think I could leave you guys alone even for one night? I would be too worried.” He said. “And I don’t trust anyone but Luna to watch you guys.”

“Well...” Key said, crossing his arms and thinking for a moment. “What if we just go on vacation, and you get married while we’re there? Then you can watch us, and have your honeymoon.”

Jinki’s eyebrows shot up and he shot a glance at Key before looking back at the road.

“That’s actually a great idea.” He said.

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So, Jonghyun's showing some serious improvement, and we now know why Mr. Born-To-Be-A-Dad has no biological children. :/

Any guesses on what everyone's getting Jonghyun for sweet 17? You might be surprised~