Half an hour later, as the six members gather together and prepare to leave, the present that lures in their attention are the white bags and boxes with their Matoki symbol on it with matching ribbons laced into the handle. Quickly grabbing the items they follow after the staff as they are ushered into their van and back towards the dorm. Once inside, they spread out the presents in the living room. By the time they had gone through nearly all of the presents, the living room is a mess, covered in wrapping paper. The only ones left are the ones from the most memorable fan.

“He seemed to have enjoyed himself.” Yongguk asks and a mischievous grin graces his lips. “Until Zelo made him cry.” There was no need to mention who, the others already knew.

“Hyung~! I didn’t mean to! I just said his bunny was pretty and asked if I could see it.” He pulls out the piece of paper Shin gave him, unfolding it. ‘Hyung, I hope to grow up to be big and strong like you. I want to be as talented as you are.’

“How old is he? He can write already?” Yongguk opens his note, smiling widely at the message. “Where did he learn this?”

“What did he write?” Himchan leans over and grins. “Hyung, how can I be cold if someone as hot as you is here?”

“What? He wrote that?” Daehyun crowds on the other side of Yongguk. “He really did.”

“What does yours say?” The leader asks the vocalist.

Daehyun pulls out his note and unfolds it, turning it right side up. ‘I’m happy to be here because you’re as bright as the morning sun and as warm as the sand on the beach on a summer day.’ He looks up from the note with a grin so big it might tear his face in two. “How does he know how to write this?”

“What did he write for me then?” Himchan pulls out the note from his back pocket. ‘Hyung, don’t be such a tease. Just because you’re pretty, I’ll forgive you once.’ He drops his arm dejectedly, falling quiet with a smile on his face as the other members .

“He said he hopes I like his present and that it’s hard to find.” Jongup announces, looking around the room for the bag. “I wonder what it is.”

“Just look.” Zelo pulls the bag over and puts it into the older man’s hands.

“Oh!” Jongup grows happy at the sight of Chris Brown albums, despite them being in Youngjae’s grubby hands. “What’s this?”

“Yah, hyung!” Zelo squeals at the object in his hands, turning it towards Jongup. “Look! It’s an autograph!”

Daehyun’s eyes budges out of his socket as the framed autograph leaves Zelo’s hands and goes into Youngjae’s. “This is amazing. Does he know Chris Brown?” He grabs the picture frame, unintentionally pulling it away from Jongup’s hands. “Is this even real?”

“How can you say that? It has to be real right? He said it was hard to get. Maybe someone helped him get it.” Himchan pulls the autograph away from the vocalist’s hand, giving it back to Jongup who hugs it tightly like a lover.

“Yah, Jung Daehyun. Look at what he wrote me.” Youngjae hands the note over to the slightly older man. The note had made him both smile and confused. ‘This is for you. Please share it with that hyung if he shares his present with you.’ Youngjae grabs his present and pulls out two bottles of high grade honey to soothe his throat.

“What did he give me that I need to share?”

“If it’s you hyung, it must be food.” Jongup declares as Daehyun pulls out his present.

“There are two.” Daehyun reaches for the second box as Himchan takes the first one out of his hands. “Oh! Cheesecake!”

“Yah, look!” Himchan points to the words on the cover of the second box. ‘This is made for you with my own hands. Please enjoy them.’ “He even put a smiley face on it for you.” He glares playfully towards Daehyun. “First, he gives you a kiss, and then he gives you food. Is he trying to win your heart?”

“He doesn’t have to win it, he already has it.” Daehyun smiles brightly and grabs the cake in Himchan’s hand. “That’s mine.”

“Who’s next?” Yongguk asks, tugging over his remaining present. “There’s only, Zelo, Himchan and myself left.”

“NO!” Zelo grabs the present and pulls it into his arms, hugging it close to his chest. “It’s mine! You can’t see!”

“What is it?” Daehyun walks over to the maknae, reaching for the bag. “We just want to see. Give it here.”

“No, you can’t have it. It’s mine.” Zelo stretches his long arms away from Daehyun as the older man sits on him while reaching for the dangling bag. “Hands off!”

“Yah, Choi Junhong.” Youngjae moves over and grabs the tall maknae by the waist as he attempts to throw Daehyun off. “Someone grab it.”

Jongup smiles and laugh at the other members’ silly antics as Himchan pluck the bag from Zelo’s fingers.

“Give that back!” Zelo tries to struggle against Daehyun and Youngjae as they each have one of his arms and legs held captive. “You can’t take that. He gave it to me!”

“Oh! Cherry tomatoes!” Himchan pushes one of the red jewels into his mouth. “It’s nice and sweet.” He feeds Jongup one and pushes another pass Yongguk’s lips. “It’s organic.” Himchan feeds the two soldiers battling the bound Zelo their reward, putting the card with the farm name back into the bag. “It’s sweet.”

“It’s mine! It’s mine!” Zelo whines, pulling and twisting his arms and legs. “Give it back.”

“Yah, let him go before you all get hurt.” Yongguk smiles at the pouting maknae. “What? We can’t eat it? Not even a little?”

“Maybe I should feed your Tigger collection some ketchup.” Zelo taunts with a pout. “And some ice cream with soda. Or take them for a swim in the toilet.”

“Okay, okay.” He hands the giant maknae back the ruby fruits.

“Daehyun hyung has cheesecake, I have honey, Jongup has CD and a signature, and Zelo has cherry tomatoes…”

“LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CHERRY TOMATOES!!” Zelo jumps up in ecstasy, waving the piece of paper around like it’s a lottery ticket. “I can have all the cherry tomatoes I can eat!”

“What?” Youngjae grabs the paper and looks through it. “Yah, a lifetime supply of organic cherry tomatoes.”

“Aren’t you happy?”

“He loves you lots.” Himchan declares with a look of jealousy. “You have to treat him well. Buy him food next time.”

“What did hyung get?”

“Oh!” Yongguk puts the cover of the box down, smiling at the brand new box of music sheets. “I was looking for these!” He opens a velvet box to find a custom made ‘pencil’ for the music sheets with lifetime supplies.

“Aren’t those the ones you said are water proof and can only be written on with special charcoal?” Himchan glides his fingers down the smooth papers. “Yah, it’s smoother than my skin.”

Yongguk finds touchy hands all over his music sheets, their owners comparing it to anything smooth they can think of. “Stop before you ruin them!” He closes the box and pulls it close to his chest.

“We should clean up.” Daehyun looks around the room. “It looks like a garbage dump.” He begins grabbing the wrapping paper and dumping them into the trash. He snatches the empty bag of treats lying in the middle of the room and a half full bag. He empties its contents into his stomach and tosses the bag away.

The three younger members grab the presents and put them into their owners’ respective rooms, tidying up the living room and putting away the precious presents before they get damaged.

“What else?” Himchan asks, glancing around the room. “Is that everything?”

“Yah Himchan. Did you open the one he gave you?”

“Who?” Himchan asks as he puts the cushions back in place.

“The little boy.”

“Hm? I don’t see it.” Himchan pushes away the many gifts and searches for the large box.

The front door opens and their manager walks in. “There’s one more in the van.” He hands the box over to Himchan. “I almost lost it when I unpacked some stuff of mine. I knew immediately it was yours because our kid made that kid cry.”

“Manager hyung.” Youngjae greets as he and the maknae line join the older members in the living room. “You’re here?”

“I just came back to drop off one last present.” He waves a finger towards Zelo. “Yah, stop making smaller kids cry, kid.”

Zelo smiles and shies away from the manager’s gaze. He nods his head in acknowledgment. “I will.”

“Have fun kids.” The manager heads towards the door with Youngjae following after him.

“What is it? Did you open yet?” Youngjae sits down with the others, his eyes glued to the box in between them.

Sitting in a circle around the box, they anticipate the moment it’s opened. All the other presents were something meaningful, something that it took time and effort to put together instead of something done quickly or bought. Even the items that were bought needed to be found. It was purely by chance whether or not they could be bought.

Himchan opens the box, noting how the strong magnets on the sides of the lid hold the cover securely on the box itself. Once the cover comes off, he finds himself looking at wrapping tissue. Pulling it off one by one, it reveals a large book. A note is attached to the cover of the book.

‘Hyung, mommy told me that she had always wanted to give you this, but she couldn’t. Mommy’s not here anymore so I’m going to give you this for her. The clue to open it is inside the presents.’

“It’s locked.” Yongguk looks through the box for a key. “How are going to open it?”

“Yah, here.” Youngjae puts down the other five presents from the child.

“When did you go get them?”

“Oh, there’s a number on the bottom of the bag.” Zelo points out, interrupting Himchan’s question. “It’s an eight.”

“Mine is zero.” Youngjae says, glancing at the others.

Jongup runs off and returns with a piece of paper and pen. “I have eight.”

“It’s another eight.”

“A one.”

“Another zero.”

“Eight, zero, eight, eight, one, zero.” Jongup jots down the numbers.

“What is the right order?” Daehyun nudges Himchan with his elbow. “Does this make sense to you?”

“Is it a place? An address maybe?”

Zelo glances down at the piece of paper as Jongup move the numbers around. “Is that right?” He reaches for the album and pulls it over, putting the numbers in the order Jongup wrote on the piece of paper. “Ah.”

The sound of the lock clicking enters their ears.

“You’ve figured it out??” Himchan pulls the large book back, setting it down on his lap.

“I guessed that it’s a date.” Jongup turns to them with a smile.

“What date is that?” Daehyun asks as the owner of the book tugs it out of Zelo’s hands. He opens it completely and finds the key taped to the inside cover.

“Himchan…” Yongguk whispers softly, his eyes glued to the contents of the book.

The book is, in reality, a photo album and is covered in photos of child starting from his early days of infancy. The first few pages contains the sonograms of the grow fetus. The first ultrasound is labeled three weeks, then fifteen weeks, twenty weeks, twenty eight weeks and thirty two weeks. Each of the following pages are labeled with the date and place the photos are taken. There are pictures showing the child in different clothes, from his first time crawling to attempted walks. Nearly a quarter through, a CD gracefully slides into Himchan’s lap.

“It’s a CD.” Taking the CD, Daehyun pulls it out of its protective sleeve.

“Put it in.” Youngjae pushes the man over to the DVD player.

Daehyun loads the CD into the player and turns on the TV set. “Is it playing?”

Himchan freezes at the sound of the familiar voice filling the dorm. The memories come rushing back at her voice, cooing at the giggling child on the screen.

 “H-hyung.” Daehyun turns towards the frozen man. For a short amount of time, they had forgotten about this issue, mostly because of their busy schedule.

“Hyung…” Youngjae puts a comforting hand on Himchan’s back, patting him in a comforting gesture.

“It’s okay, hyung.” Jongup wraps his arms around the older man’s shoulder from behind as the said man lowers his head, his hand clenching the photo album he closed moments before.

“We’ll be here for you.” Yongguk squeezes his friends shoulder, exhaling deeply to calm himself. It wouldn’t be ideal to lose his composure now when his best friend needs him.

“Shin, come to mommy. Come get the pretty bunny.”

 

 

---

Isn't Shin thoughtful? :D He really did put some effort into his gifts. What's Himchannie gonna do now? Anyone know why Shin cried because Zelo said his bunny was pretty? Anyone? The last part is kinda a clue...I think. :P