Hyukjae leads him to small house just a few minutes away from the abandoned building they were just in. It may seem short but for the seven year old, it was the most agonizing few minutes of his life. In every block, there was always at least three people who greeted Hyukjae and it scared Sehun; the fact that he’s so close to getting caught. Thank goodness the older male kept most conversations short. Nobody had time to ask about him.

“Nearly there,” Sehun hears the older mutter. He doesn’t know if the statement is directed at him but it relieved him nonetheless.

They turn left at a busy street, then left again halfway through the block and into an alley. Sehun thinks it’s a shortcut so it surprised him when Hyukjae suddenly stopped walking.

“You’re not afraid of heights right?” he inquires, a small smile still plastered on his face. He points up and it’s only then that Sehun notices the fire escape ladder. He shakes his head, not trusting his voice at the moment. He never was a good liar.

“Maybe you should move over a bit. I don’t wanna accidentally hit you or anything.”

Sehun backs up five steps.

Hyukjae doesn’t even crouch down. He just shoots up in the air (Sehun is reminded of a monkey and he tries really hard not to laugh), grabs a hold of the last bar of the ladder and lets gravity do the rest.

“You go up first. Just wait for me at the top okay?”

Sehun walks closer to the ladder and puts on a brave face. Showing his weakness to others is one of the many things his father has told (beaten into) him never to do.

He looks up and tries to figure out how on earth he was even going to reach the first step. The last bar was too high for him to reach and he didn’t want to make a fool out of himself by jumping then failing.

The older chuckles and Sehun glares.

“You could have asked you know?” Hyukjae says in a sing-song tone and before Sehun has a chance to ask him what he means, he feels the other’s strong hands on his waist. Panic rises in him slowly when he realizes he can’t feel the ground below his feet anymore.

“Hurry and grab the bar Sehun-ah. We might miss breakfast. Mama’s making bacon and eggs today,” Hyukjae half-screams at him, pulling him out of his slight trance. He shakes his head and grips the metal bar for dear life. The older’s grip on his waist loosens a bit but he doesn’t let go, not yet.

The seven year old smiles, trusting the other boy to not let him fall. Pushing the fear and the urge to look down at the back of him mind, he reaches for the next bar. Then the next, then the next until he’s all the way up on the top. His legs feel like jelly when his feet touch the metal flooring of the fire escape and he surrenders to it, his unceremoniously meeting with the cold metal.

Hyukjae is by his side in no time, offering his hand, his ever-present smile sending chills up Sehun’s spine and making his stomach do flip flops. He takes the older's hand and stands up, half-expecting Hyukjae to let go afterwards. The older doesn't and instead tugs at Sehun's hand, wordlessly telling him to follow me.

They walk past window upon window before stopping in front of a glass door with a metal frame. Hyukjae taps on the glass a few times before another person appears. He smiles at Hyukjae, fiddling with the lock on the door before pulling it open.

"You're late. Mama's been asking where you were. Donghae's keeping her busy thank goodness. It's so hard to lie to her now that she's watched all those detective shows."

A sheepish grin makes it to Hyukjae's face, apologetic, before he sidesteps and pushes the hiding Sehun to the front. The other boy looks confused a first, then surprised but laughs a little when he sees the little boy. He pulls the hood off Sehun's head before asking, "What's your name little one?" with a friendly smile, bending down so that he's eye levels with Sehun.

The youngest looks up at Hyukjae who just chuckles, "It's alright. This is Sungmin-hyung. He won't hurt you."

Sehun looks at the older boy in doubt but whispers a small, "I'm Sehun," before blushing.

Sungmin squeals, pinching Sehun's cheek with his short chubby fingers, "Aren't you just the cutest? Where on earth did you pick this one up Hyukjae?"

 A yell calling for Sungmin interrupts Hyukjae before he could answer. The oldest pouts and mouths a later to Hyukjae before answering with a yell that he was coming and that Hyukjae was home.

"Come on, you must be starving," Hyukjae says, placing a hand on the small of Sehun's back and pushing him lightly towards their noisy dining room.

-----

Breakfast was noisier than what Sehun was used to. The meals he had at home were mostly spent in silence. He would have breakfast with his caretaker by his side on most days, lunch at school and dinner with his mother who was mostly busy talking to clients over the phone. By the time his father would come home, he'd already be fast asleep.

In the Park household though, everyone was noisy. Sungmin and Donghee were talking loudly about something, sometimes giggling while Donghae and Hyukjae shouted over them, talking to each other and laughing over things Sehun didn't understand. Joonmyun was pretty quiet through-out most of breakfast, occasionally trying to make conversation with the youngest but mostly just smiled at his hyungs antics while Mama and Jungsoo had left to run errands right after Hyukjae introduced Sehun to them briefly.

"Hyukjae-hyung," Sehun calls out to the older boy who was right next to him on the run down couch, laughing like there was no tomorrow. They're all in the living room with the exception of Joonmyun who headed to his room right after breakfast. Sungmin and Donghae were on the floor, eyes focused on the game of mario kart they were playing and Donghee was in between them, cheering for Sungmin while simultaneously trying to distract Donghae.

"Hmm? What is it?" Hyukjae asks after he regains his composure. He leans in closer to Sehun, trying to hear what the younger is saying over the yells of the other three occupants.

"Who am I staying with?" the youngest says in a little over a whisper. He looks down, eyes focused on his lap as he fiddles with his fingers. (Hyukjae still notices the tinge of pink on Sehun's ears though.)

"Well the four of us," he says, pointing to the other three then himself, "share a room so you could probably room with Joonmyun. Oh and I haven't introduced you to Jongin yet," Hyukjae suddenly gets up, pulling Sehun with him out of the living room.

"He has fever right now but he should be fine in a few days. He's around your age so I'm sure you'll get along with him," the older explains to Sehun on the way to what Sehun thinks is Joonmyun's room.

Hyukjae pushes the door open slightly, poking his head in before knocking on the door lightly, "Knock knock. How's the patient?" he asks before pushing the door open fully and dragging Sehun in with him.

Jongin's glaring at the older, obviously not okay with the disturbance. His face then turns to that of confusion once he lays his eyes on Sehun. Joonmyun just sighs from his place on the chair next to Jongin's bed and puts the bowl of soup down on the bedside table. Muttering something about it being too early for this much noise.

"Sehun-ah, this is Jonginnie. Jonginnie, Sehun-ah. He'll be sharing a room with you guys from now on," Hyukjae says in the most cheery voice Sehun has every heard, "Sehun-ah's the same age as you Jonginnie. Isn't that fun? Now you have a playmate that's your age."

Sehun just smiles shyly at Jongin, bowing a little but otherwise not saying anything in fear of further angering the other boy.

To his surprise, Jongin doesn't get angry and instead smiles back. He looks at Joonmyun with hopeful eyes, "Can I play with Sehunnie Joonie-hyung? Pretty please with cherry on top."

"No. You still have a fever Jongin."

"But I want to play Joonie-hyung. I'm sick of lying in bed all day," Jongin whines. He looks up at Joonmyun with puppy eyes and a pout this time.

Joonmyun sighs, giving up (he never wins against the puppy eyes anyway).

"Only if you finish your soup and drink your medicine."

 Jongin lets out a loud Yay! before turning to look at Sehun, toothy grin in place and Sehun smiles back just as wide, excited about playtime as well.

"Why don't you wait in the living room with the hyungs Sehun-ah. We'll be out in a few minutes okay? Promise."

Sehun nods, still smiling. Hyukjae laughs and leads the youngest out and back to the living room. They go back to their former spots on the couch and wait.

-----

A/N: un-betaed. sorry for the long wait. school and life got in the way OTL if you guys catch any typos or errors pls inform me and I'll change it asap. it's 4am right now and I have school in a few hours. til my next update lovelies =3=