Dongho remembered the first time the twins cried in front of him.

It was late at night (a few days after their first day of Kindergarten) and normally Dongho would be fast asleep, not waking up until morning came. But that night was different, some inexplicable feeling in his guts woke Dongho up. Something was wrong.

Dongho tossed himself off the bed and walked out of his bedroom. He stopped and listened, trying to hear anything out of the ordinary. That was when he heard them, soft sniffles coming from somewhere in his apartment.

Dongho decided to turn on the lights in the hallway, letting some light seep into the apartment. He stopped again to listen, trying to pinpoint where it came from. He walked to the twins’ bedroom door and pressed his ear against it. Nope, it didn’t come from there.

He walked past the twins’ room to the living room, the light from the hallway illuminating the room slightly. He padded softly across the floor, while still trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he saw a small figure curled up in a fetal position on his couch.

He rushed over to the couch in a worried frenzy. He knew only one person that wore pink pajamas in the apartment.

“Minki,” he said softly, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Minki, are you alright?”

Minki looked up to meet Dongho’s eyes, and the sight made Dongho’s heart clench. Minki’s eyes were red and puffy and there were fresh tearstains on his cheeks. “Uncle Dongho?” Minki whispered, “Is that you?”

“Yes, yes it is,” Dongho scooped the boy up in an embrace, “What’s wrong Minki? Why are you crying?”

Minki threw his arms around Dongho’s neck and buried his face in Dongho’s shoulder, letting out soft sobs as the boy started crying once again. Dongho rubbed his back in an attempt to calm him down enough to at least tell Dongho what was wrong.

“Mama and papa,” Minki choked out, “I-I want mama and papa.”

Dongho’s shirt was starting to get wet from Minki’s tears, but he didn’t take notice of that. His mind drew to a complete halt as soon as Minki said those words. Dongho remembered reading a letter from his sister that whenever Minki had a nightmare he would sneak into his parents’ bedroom and cuddle in between them. Was that why he wanted his parents?

“Did you have a nightmare, Minki?” Dongho asked.

Minki let out a sob and nodded his head, still clutching onto Dongho for dear life. “M-mama and papa were leaving me,” Minki sniffed, “Why did they leave me? I didn’t want them to go.”

Dongho briefly wondered if Minhyun was awake as well, but he abandoned the thoughts in favor of comforting Minki. He lifted Minki up from the couch and placed Minki on his lap. He softly rubbed his back, listening to the small boy sob.

Dongho felt absolutely helpless as the boy kept crying into his shoulder. He didn’t know what to do in these types of situations. He could just easily tell Minki that no, his parents would never leave him, but it was the bitter, unavoidable truth. They did leave him, albeit unintentionally. They were gone to a place no one alive could reach, and they left a pair of twins that were too young to fend for themselves.

Dongho let the boy cry for a little while, before sighing and patting him on the head, “Minki, you know your parents love you. If they had the choice they would never leave you.”

“I miss them uncle,” Minki murmured into his shoulder, “Did Minki do something bad so they left us?”

“Not at all,” Dongho said, startled, “What made you think that?”

Minki shook his head, not speaking up. Dongho decided to wait until Minki decided to tell him, but he didn’t. Minki’s hold around Dongho’s neck sagged, and the soft sniffles were replaced by soft, even breathing. Minki had fallen asleep. Dongho sighed once again, a little disappointed that he didn’t get an answer, but that could always wait. At least Minki had calmed down enough to fall asleep.

“Minki? Uncle Dongho? Where are you?”

Dongho’s head snapped towards the direction of the voice, and he was surprised to see Minhyun, walking towards the living room area in small steps. And he was crying.

“Minhyun,” Dongho whispered, carrying the still sleeping Minki and rushing towards Minhyun, “What’s wrong?”

A look of relief washed over Minhyun’s face and he shook his head, wiping his tears with the back of his sleeve. “It’s nothing uncle, I just wondered where you were,” Minhyun said, barely above a whisper.

“Minhyun, you were crying. Come on, tell uncle what’s wrong,” Dongho coaxed.

Minhyun seemed to hesitate for a while, before shaking his head once again and murmuring a ‘no’. His eyes shift towards Minki before shifting away again in a nervous manner, hands twitching at his sides. Something inside Dongho’s mind seemed to click, and it took all his courage to ask:

“Has this been happening a lot?”

Minhyun eyes widened a fraction, and he hung his head low, not wanting to meet his uncle’s gaze.

“Maybe.”

It was Dongho’s turn to have his eyes widen a fraction.

“Did this ever happen during the time you stayed here?”

Minhyun hung his head lower, shifting uncomfortably under his uncle’s gaze, not offering a response. But Minhyun’s lack of an answer had been all the answer Dongho needed. How could he not have noticed? How come he only noticed then? How come none of them felt the need to come to him when this happened? Didn’t they trust him? Or did they already go to him but he never woke up? Curse his horrible sleeping habits!

Before Dongho could say anything, Minhyun tugged him towards the direction of their bedroom, effectively distracting him.

“Minki’s sleeping, you should put him on the bed.”

Dongho suddenly remembered about the sleeping boy he was still holding and silently complied, following Minhyun into their bedroom and tucking Minki in under the blankets. Minhyun wasted no time in jumping under the covers and snuggling up next to Minki, holding the younger boy close.

Dongho smiled slightly at the sight, and as he turned to head back to his own room, Minhyun spoke up, “Uncle Dongho.”

Dongho turned to face Minhyun, who was sitting up slightly to look at Dongho straight in the eyes. Minhyun’s cute face was hardened into a serious expression and his eyes were sharp and steely, Dongho internally cringed by the fact that someone so young could look that serious.

“Please,” Minhyun’s voice cut through the heavy silence, “Don’t ever leave us.”

And with that, Minhyun slid himself under the covers again and held Minki close to him. Dongho, slightly stunned speechless, walked out of the room and quietly closed the door. He opened the door to his own and jumped onto the bed with a groan, not bothering to close the door.

Not being able to fall straight to sleep, he decided to use the time to reflect on everything. Minki had been having nightmares, and, if his assumptions were correct, Minhyun was the one to comfort him each time. But for some unexplainable reason, Minki decided not to go to Minhyun for comfort and cry his eyes out on the living room couch. Which made the situation come to light.

And to think they were so cheerful and hyper everyday.

Dongho knew they might have been traumatized by the whole situation, and he always made sure to keep a lookout for it. But he really didn’t think it would come hitting him in the face like a bus, and to add to that, they never went to Dongho for help.

Dongho sighed, he really wanted to help the twins, but he really had no clue how to. For the past few days, he had been busy with college and his part-time job (Junhong, the nice kid, took it upon himself to babysit the twins when Dongho works), and he had been seeing less and less of the twins. They were always cheerful around him, though.

Dongho snuck under his covers, and contemplated the situation once more. He could just forget this night ever happened and ignore a potential depression, but that would be too cruel. Not only were these twins his late sister’s, they were the sweetest kids Dongho had ever laid eyes on. His parents made a mistake of not giving them a chance, and he was not about to not give them a chance.

But…would trying to pry into their minds really what an uncle would do? Ah, who cares! He could worry about that later! These twins lost their parents and they needed someone to help them and become their parents! And if no one else was willing to do it, Dongho would take it upon himself to become a father to them! With that resolve in mind, Dongho drifted to sleep.

This chapter is a bit more somber (AND SHORT!!!) compared to the rest. But I just want to get this part done with. My aim for this story is for some light-hearted family fluff. Not angst. This was supposed to be a stress-reliever, not to cause me more stress. But hey, I'm already at work with the next chapter, and it would be the first time Dongho and Aron get to know each other! >w< Hope I can finish it soon~

Thank you to all suscribers, commenters, and generally just anyone who took the time to read this!!! You guys are the best!