“Mama, I have to go potty.”

Of course he did. Just a few feet away, CAP was a part of what I assumed was one of the most terrifying meetings of his career and my child had to pee. The secretary was gone on her break or something, and I was nowhere near brave enough to knock on Andy’s door, so I set out on my own to find a restroom.

At the end of the hall was a boy, about two or three years younger than me, with blonde hair heading in the direction I’d just come from. He looked at me warily as I approached, but didn’t say anything. Somewhere in the back of mind I registered that he looked oddly familiar.

“Excuse me, is there a restroom around here?” I asked him. He was starting at a squirming Min Ki so it took him a second to answer.

“Um…yeah, on the other side of the elevators,” he said, pointing.

“Thank you.”

As I hurried Min Ki along (who was whining “hurry Mommy”) I swore I heard the boy say something along the lines of “that kid looks like hyung.”

We made it to the bathroom in just enough time. I let out a sigh of relief that we’d avoided at least one disaster so far. Min Ki was given a warning not to wait so late the next time and we made our way back to the office. Once we got there we bumped into the same boy from earlier, accompanied by four others. Upon our approach all five boys grew silent and stared at us.

“Um, ma’am are you supposed to be here?” one of them asked.

Thinking about it, I realized that the boys were CAP’s members. The one I’d talked to before was L.Joe and it was Ricky addressing me now. It was kind of weird to look at them and know their habits and such when we’d never been introduced.

“Yes Ricky, I’m supposed to be here…and don’t call me ma’am. I’m not that old,” I added.

It was cute to see his eyes widen at me calling him by name. Yeah, he’d grown up some but he was still the adorable fake maknae.

“You know us?”

“Yes Niel, I know all of you. Very well, actually.”

“Exactly how do you know us? I don’t think we’ve ever met you before.”

“Minsoo told me all about you guys Chunji.”

“Mama, are these Daddy’s friends?”

Changjo’s jaw dropped to the floor, but it was Niel and Ricky’s twin screams of surprise that made the door to Andy’s office open. L.Joe’s statement of “I knew that kid looked familiar,” was barely audible over the commotion.

“I see you’ve all introduced yourselves,” Andy said pleasantly.

“Not exactly,” Changjo said. “No disrespect intended, but exactly who is she? And this kid…did he just refer to CAP hyung as ‘daddy’?”

“To answer your questions, I’m Anna, and yes, he called Minsoo daddy.”

“Um noona, exactly what’s up with you and hyung?”

I glanced at CAP. We hadn’t gotten around to talking about our relationship yet. His eyes looked as lost as I felt. “We’re Min Ki’s parents,” I finally said.

L.Joe raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He seemed the most wary of Min Ki, who was enjoying being the center of attention. I have no idea what the child was talking about but he had Ricky and Niel’s full attention.

“Miss Anna, may I have a word with you?”

Andy’s quiet request made my heart pound painfully in my chest from fear. I nodded and followed him into the office, closing the door behind me. It was similar space to Chan Hee’s office, but the atmosphere was completely different.

I sat down across from him. We regarded each other in silence. I didn’t like that I couldn’t read his expression. It was like his eyes knew better than to betray his thoughts.

“When I arranged for CAP to go to that place, it was only for companionship,” he began. “I was never a leader of a group, but I know the toll being in charge can have on a person. CAP especially is more of the quiet type. Even if he did want to talk, bosses aren’t the easiest to go to, and no elder goes to someone younger for advice…at least, not seriously.

“You were personally recommended, so even though I had my doubts, I was assured I could trust you. For a while, I truly believed it was a good idea for him to have met you. He was talking more, smiling and joking with the kids.

“And then you left.” At this point, Andy’s voice turned stern. “You disappeared and he was worse than ever. He moped. He was sullen and his quiet spells became more severe.”

“And it was my fault,” I finished for him.

“Yes.” No explanation, no denial, just a simple yes. “CAP was so attached to you and I hadn’t even noticed. He loved you and you left him broken.”

For a moment I couldn’t speak. Had I really had that much influence over CAP? The thought had never crossed my mind. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t. You were more concerned with your other suitor, correct?”

Ouch. That was hurtful. “I cared about CAP. I didn’t know how to handle it then. I’m older now, more mature.”

“If you have to proclaim how much you’ve matured, you really haven’t grown as much as you think.”

We stared at each other. I could almost imagine lightning crackling between our gazes.

“Why did you come back?”

“It was the right thing to do.”

“Do you have any idea the position you have put me in with your selfishness? The media is going to have a field day with this. I can see the headlines now: Teen Top’s CAP’s secret child revealed.”

“It’s good to see you worried about your boys,” I said icily.

“Those boys out there are like my own children. Their well-being has been my only concern since I brought them together, and that includes worrying about their image.”

“Whatever.” I had things to do and the supposed adult across from me was spewing poison. “Whether you like it or not, Minsoo is a father now and Min Ki and I aren’t going anywhere as long as he wants us around. I will not disappear just because you disapprove.”

He laughed. He actually had the audacity to laugh at me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’m still not all too fond of you, but I can respect anyone who can stand up for themselves.”

“Have a good afternoon.”

I slipped out of the office door, trying not to slam it, and made my face as smooth as possible to hide my annoyance. The boys had mostly cleared out except for L.Joe, surprisingly, and of course CAP.

“Where’s my kid?” I asked, glancing around.

“The others took him.”

“Took him?” I repeated. “Took him where?”

“To get something to eat. They left just a minute or two ago.”

I sat down in a chair next to L.Joe and closed my eyes. The day had been more mentally exhausting than I’d anticipated. Cleaning the house would have to wait another day.

“Are you okay?” I opened my eyes at L.Joe’s question. “You were making a weird noise. Is something wrong?”

CAP was giving me a concerned look.  “I’m fine,” I assured both boys. “Why don’t we join the others and get some food?”

“Are you actually hungry or do you just want to leave?”

“A little bit of both.”

CAP got up first. I started to follow after him, but L.Joe asked me if he could talk to me for a second.

“What is it L.Joe?” I asked.

“This all isn’t some kind of elaborate prank, is it?”

The question took me by surprise. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s just a lot all at once. There seems to be way too much happening at the same time which means either there’s a hidden camera somewhere or life just got weird.”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but life just got weird.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but the concept…hyung…with a kid. That makes no sense. It’s like those stories fans write on the internet have come true.”

I had to laugh. “Fan fiction will rot your brain. Do you think you can wrap your mind around all this?”

“Eventually,” he said with a smirk. “You’re pretty cool, aren’t you?”

“I try to be.”