It was the twins’ second week at Kindergarten, and after taking them home, he asked Junhong to watch over them while he went grocery shopping. Junhong happily agreed and Dongho was immediately on his way, but not before saying his goodbyes to the twins.

The twins happily waved him off, Dongho waving back with a smile on his face, but as soon as Dongho was out of their sight, Dongho let out a sigh.

It had been days since the incident with Minki. They were as cheerful as ever. It was as if the night Dongho found Minki crying on the sofa never happened. And every time Dongho tried to talk about that night, they would skillfully avoid the subject by distracting Dongho (“Uncle, I think your food’s burning!”, “Uncle we’re out of milk!”, “Uncle, don’t you have h-ho-homework to do?” Things like that).

It didn’t help that his time with the twins had been drastically reduced with things like college, work and social life (or lack thereof).  And all the twins liked to talk about those days were what they did in Kindergarten, what they played with the Jonghyun kid, how goofy their teacher were acting, etcetera, etcetera.

As much as it was entertaining hearing about a grown man acting like a kid, it wasn’t something Dongho was interested in talking about. He wanted to talk about the nightmares Minki allegedly had, so that he could help them. But it seemed that he had to wait.

The walk to the supermarket was shorter than he expected, but he immediately set out to get a cart and began his trek around the supermarket. Normally all the things he needed could fit into a grocery basket just fine, but with two more mouths to feed, he needed to buy more things. He was lucky that his parents still sent him money once a month, or else he would’ve been broke by the time the twins are five.

He was in the vegetables section—not forgetting to buy Junhong some cherry tomatoes as thanks—when he bumped into a familiar figure. His eyes widened when he saw the twins’ teacher, Aron, picking through the cabbages. Aron took notice of him as well and gave him a friendly wave before jogging over to Dongho.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Aron smiled, “I didn’t think I would see you here, I haven’t seen you in a week.”

Dongho smiled back and nodded. It had been a week since they last talked to each other, during the twins’ first day of school. While Dongho did see Aron, the other would usually be busy with other kids and Dongho was in too much of a hurry to properly greet him. Silence falls between them, and before it could get more awkward, Dongho decided to speak up.

“So, how are the twins at school?”

Aron’s face lit up, “They’re a pleasure to teach. A bit on the mischievous side, but isn’t every kid like that? Plus they’re so nice to Jonghyun.”

Dongho vaguely remembered that the twins had said Aron was always taking care of their friend Jonghyun.

“I’m glad they’re doing well then,” Dongho said with a smile, turning back to grocery shopping.

Aron also turned back to his shopping, and the two were once again enveloped in silence, slightly awkward silence that Dongho didn’t know how to break. It wasn’t until a few minutes that Aron spoke up again.

“If you want,” Aron said, “We can finish up and walk home together. I’d like to get to know you more, if you don’t mind.”

Dongho didn’t know what he was thinking at that time, but he ended up agreeing anyways. They went their separate ways to finish their shopping and met outside of the supermarket as soon as they paid. Dongho was carrying two rather large shopping bags, and Aron was carrying a smaller shopping bag.

“Wow, are you sure you don’t need help carrying those?” Aron said, eyeing the plastic bags.

Dongho shrugged, “It’s fine, it’s good exercise for the arm muscles. You should try it sometimes.”

“I exercise too!” Aron said, slightly offended.

Dongho laughed and they began their trek back to their respective houses. “By the way, Dongho,” Aron asked, “How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen years old this year,” Dongho looked up to see Aron looking at him with a look of horror, “What?”

“You’re younger than me?” Aron exclaimed.

“You’re older than me?” Dongho shot back; equally surprised.

“I’m twenty this year, but never mind that, I thought you were my age! Choongjae-hyung mentioned you were my age, but I didn’t think you’d be younger than me!”

“Same here,” Dongho frowned, “You don’t look twenty at all.”

“And you don’t look eighteen at all!” Aron stated, before a look of realization suddenly took over his face, “Don’t tell me your friend is eighteen too.”

“Jongup? Yeah, he just turned eighteen.”

Aron groaned, “Eighteen and you already have rippling muscles? That’s just not fair. What did your parents feed you? Steroids?”

Dongho laughed, “You should see a friend of ours, he’s still sixteen and towers well over all of us!”

“I’d rather not, you’d make me feel more like a midget than I already do.”

Both of them burst out into laughter, earning a couple of strange looks from passersby, but they just ignored them.

“Kids these days, they grow up too fast,” Aron shook his head.

“You just grow up too slow, hyung,” Dongho teased.

“Heh, cheeky brat. First time we properly talk and you’re already teasing me.”

A sudden wave of realization hit Dongho at the revelation. He didn’t realize he was actually being rude. It was just that talking with Aron was…comforting? Dongho didn’t know how to describe it, but talking to Aron felt nice. Like talking to an old friend. Dongho wondered why.

Sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, Aron chose to quickly amend the situation, “Not that I mind, in fact I like it! I don’t have many friends here, so it’s nice to get a new friend. If you want to be friends that is.”

Dongho felt his shoulders sag in relief, and he smiled at the other, “Sure, we can be friends. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to if the twins decide they want to play with Jonghyun for a little longer.”

Aron smiled, “You’re a great guy, taking care of your sister’s twins even though you’re still so young. I couldn’t imagine living with a kid 24/7 at this age!”

“But…” Dongho said, a little confused, “From what I heard you sound like Jonghyun’s guardian…”

“Oh, oh no! No! I take care of Jonghyun but I don’t live with him.”

“So he’s not like Minhyun and Minki?”

“No, well, sort of,” Aron hesitated for a second, “His parents are both alive and well, but they’re just…busy.”

“Oh, they both work?”

“Yeah, and that usually leaves Jonghyun home alone. I’ve been his babysitter ever since I moved to the apartment next to him, so I felt like it’s my duty to take care of him.”

“I see…”

“I just feel a little sorry for Jonghyun,” Aron went on, “His parents are barely there, and he doesn’t know how to make friends and interact with people other than me. I was afraid he’d be a loner. But the twins came and took him under their wing. I nearly broke down with relief when I saw them playing with him!”

“My sister liked to mention that they are friendly to everyone they met in her letters,” Dongho smiled at the recollection.

“Your sister must have been a nice woman,” Aron nodded, “She raised such wonderful kids.”

The two fell silent once again, but it was a comfortable sort of silence. Just walking down the road back to their respective homes. The two didn’t feel the need to break the silence, until Aron’s cellphone rang.

Aron quickly fished his phone out of his pocket, looked at the caller ID for a second, before answering it. “Hello? …What, do you need help? …Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Aron ended his call and shot Dongho an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I have to go somewhere right now. But I’ll see you some other time, okay?”

Before Dongho could even reply, Aron shot down the street. Dongho blinked as he watched Aron rush down the street, before shrugging and walking down the opposite street. It wasn’t until a little later that he realized, belatedly, that he forgot to ask Aron for his phone number. That and when did it get so late?

Dongho’s eyes widened and he made a dash to his apartment. Junhong and the twins are going to kill him for taking so long!

I hate the ending and how abrupt it is. But I don't know how to end it any other way so... ._. Yeah...sorry about that...The chapter's short too...BUT Aron and Baekho talked to each other! And are friends! Isn't that great? XD Next chapter we'll shift focus to the Minren's POV.

Thank you for reading, subscribing and/or commenting!!! It really means a lot to me! :)