You are an 9~12 year old boy; your name is Shin Donghwan (신 동환). You're the flower boy runt that everyone picks on for being too pretty and too small. You often get into fights with others, and you're a bit rude. Shindong catches you binging on ramyeon at the convenience store late at night while running errands and talks to you. Alternate universe with no military service~ Wild Teukie's first reappearence since chapter 1, I think & this will loop a little back to Ryeowook's installment. Mild language warning.

A Familiar Heart

Just you wait, you numpties. I thought angrily as I opened another container of instant ramen. This was my seventh or eighth serving, and quite honestly, I started feeling sick about five containers ago. But I need to eat more to grow bigger and show those jerks. I begin picking at the scabs on my arms and the new cut on my cheek and lip; they were itchy.

"Don't do that, kiddo," A large man with one arm loaded with cleaning supplies and snacks pulls my fingers away from my face. "It'll scar."

"Mind your own business, ajusshi," I growled, not in the mood. I'm tired, I hate ramyeon, I wanna go home.

He squashes my baseball cap down over my eyes, laughing heartily. "Kiddo, you've got some tongue on you, just like some other little brothers I know. Go home and stop eating so much junk, you'll make yourself sick. Then you'll look like me."

I stared at him. "What if that's my goal? I'm sick of being the pretty little runt. Those bastards--"

"Watch your mouth, kiddo."

"Those bastards. B. A. S. T. A. R. D. S. Keep treating me like a girl. They hid my PE uniform, too, and left me a girl's uniform. Then last week, they took my class uniform pants away and told me to wear a skirt instead. I need to get bigger to get back at them for this." I began picking at my arms again, and the large man stops me.

"Brat, they're just jealous."

"Yeah, su~ure."

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Shin Donghwan."

He laughs heartily again. "Another child prodigy! Listen, kiddo. Hyung has to go right now, but just go home instead of stuffing yourself." He squashes my cap again and leaves.

What a weirdo.

The next night . . .

"Oh, Donghwan-ah!" I look up from my ramyeon at the big Buddha-like ajusshi. "Aish, stop eating that, you'll get sick, kiddo!" He pulls away the half-eaten container and I glare at him.

"Ajusshi, give it back, please," I hissed, trying to remember my manners.

"That's Shindong-hyung to you, not ajusshi, kiddo," Shindong says, catching my arm as I reach for my ramyeon. He looks at my arm and his eyes widen. "Yah, brat, where did you get all these bruises--"

"I fell." I snapped, trying to yank my arm back, but he holds on tight.

"Come with me." It wasn't a request; he was dragging me out of the convenience store.

"Ajusshi, help! It's a kidnapping!" I holler to the old store clerk for help, but the kind old man just smiles and waves at us, telling us to go safely.

"Oh, you're back," A blond man looks up from a newspaper that he was reading on the floor. Then he sees me and frowns. "Donghee, that's not your son, is it?"

A short man with grayish, blueish, blondish -- rainbow-- hair pokes his head out from the kitchen and a poker-faced girl slightly younger than me is clinging to him. "Shindong-hyung's the first among us to marry AND have a kid now? Teukie-hyung, congratulations on becoming a--"

"Oppa," the girl tugs on his apron. "The pot is bubbling over."

"Ah! Sorry, Miho-ya," and the two of them duck back into the kitchen as I hear the hiss of water hitting the range.

"Ryeowook!" The blond man yells after the shorter man, and a bizarre, high pitched laugh comes from the kitchen.

"Hyung, he's another child prodigy," Shindong says, holding my shoulders and pushing me in front of him. "Donghwan-ah, this is Leeteuk-hyung."

I look at Shindong, who's smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Hastily, I remembered my manners an bowed to the blond man. "Hello, I'm Shin Donghwan."

"Oh, your brother or cousin then?" Leeteuk asks.

"I'm not related to this ajusshi," I sulked.

"Shindong-hyung. I'm not that old yet but Leeteukie-hyung--" Shindong stops as Leeteuk glares at him. "Nevermind. Hyung, can you watch him a bit? I need to drop this off at Nari's."

"Sure, we run a daycare service now, thanks to Ryeowook," Leeteuk says as Miho walks over and sits next to him. And Shindong left us.

"More like night-care, Teuk-oppa," the girl says monotonously, nodding at the clock. He fluffs her hair and she looks back to the kitchen at Ryeowook.

"Miho . . . Are you sure you're not related to our Ryeowook somehow?" Leeteuk sighs. "You guys talk exactly the same way."

She blinks at him a few times before staring at me and pointing. "This thing attends the same school as me."

"I see . . ." Leeteuk says.

"Hey, I'm not a thing!" I glare at the bratty girl.

"Donghwan-oppa, right?" she says, tugging on Ryeowook's arm as he sits down. He fluffs her hair as well.

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"You're the one that all the sunbaes push around and the unnies hate you because you're prettier than them," she says bluntly. Then quickly, she apologized as Ryeowook gives her slightly disapproving look.

"From what he's told us, Shindong-hyung was bullied a lot in school, too," Ryeowook says. "For his weight. We still poke at his body mass, but he's a good hyung."

"But that's Donghee. I don't see why Donghwan gets bullied," Leeteuk says, examining my bruises. 

"It's 'cos he's like me," a husky voice says from the doorway. A tall, pretty woman enters the room, kicking Ryeowook lightly on the before sitting on the couch behind Leeteuk and flipping TV channels.

"Heechul-hyung . . . " Oops. It's a man.

"Well, kiddo? Why do they pick on you?"

I hunched my shoulders, not wanting to say anything. I'd rather talk to Shindong-hyung than you guys . . . I find myself thinking. But why would I rather speak to that hyung than these hyungs?

"I'm ba~ack," Shindong calls from the doorway, taking off his shoes. "Ryeowook, could you put these in the fridge?" He hands a couple of plastic containers to the little guy. "Nari made these. And I don't want to mess up the order you place things in the fridge."

Ryeowook gets up, sticking out his tongue as he does so. Miho follows him to the kitchen.

Leeteuk yawns. "I'm going to sleep, since everyone's back now. Don't wake me up unless you're about to die." And he leaves, too.

"It's not like it's that easy to get you to wake up," Heechul quips, following him.

Shindong also yawns, stretching out his mass on the floor. "So?"

I stare at him.

"Does talking to a bunch of weird hyungs make you feel better?" He squashes my cap again. "Just ignore what the others do to you and don't let it bother you. Just smile and laugh and you'll turn out fine like me." He laughs as I just stare at him. But I feel myself smile; it was nice to find a familiar heart.

END

20131020 - Jaedelle is seriously running out of ideas! >_> Sorrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy T_T