“I screwed up.” Himchan mumbles into his hands. “He hates me.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Daehyun stuffs a fried chicken drumstick into the visual’s hand while eating his own.

“He’ll forget all about it tonight when we go back. If not, then we can just give him a present to cheer him up.”

“He didn’t even look at me this morning.”

“Yah.” Yongguk nudges his shoulder. “Do you know what you sound like now? The Kim Himchan from six years ago.”

“Hyung would sulk then too? But Shin’s only five.” Daehyun grabs another piece of chicken, pushing the box closer to the tall maknae.

“Does that mean hyung didn’t grow mentally?” Youngjae smirks behind his chicken.

The door slams open and Manager Kang walks in. “Do they think it’s a daycare here?” He sits down and puts the two pizza pies down.

“Did something happen?” Yongguk grabs the pizza boxes and places them in the middle of their circle, taking a deep breath of the delicious aroma of the pies.

“There’s a kid walking around the building. He ran off before I can catch him.” Manager Kang turns at the doubt of do door opening. “Yah.” He points a finger at the child standing at the door.

“Where did he go?”

Seeing the security guards, the child slips into the practice room, runs across quickly slides under the bench, covering himself with the pile of bags and jackets. Peeking from underneath, he notices the surprise faces.

“Excuse me. Did you see a kid running around here?” The guard asks, tugging on his cap.

“He…”

“Hyung, have some pizza.” Zelo pushes the slice towards their manager.

“This isn’t enough food, hyung. You should have gotten more.” Daehyun complains with a pout, moping as he stuffs himself.

​“Hyung, didn’t you say you want to challenge Jongup to see who can eat faster?”

“Yeah, hyung.” Jongup grabs a slice, getting ready to eat.

“Come on! Go Jonguppie hyung!”

“Is there a child running around? Why is he by himself?” Yongguk asks the guards. “Did a noona bring in her kid?”

“We don’t know. We’re trying to catch him now.”

“If you see him, tell us, okay?”

“Yes!” The six members cry as the manager is being stuffed with food.

The two guards leave while mumbling about sneaky children and irresponsible mothers. One of the guards shouts in the hall about mothers who don’t watch their kids properly.

The members withdraw as the door closes after the guards. They either turn away from their angry manager or try to avoid his gaze. Daehyun wipes his lips and keeps his head down, his fingers clenched together instead of around the drumstick. Youngjae glances towards the child under the bundle. Himchan is nervous, confused, slightly curious, and afraid of the child’s presence. He did anger the boy after all. Who knows what the child might say as revenge. The maknae line steals glances towards each other like a couple of lovebirds as they try to stop themselves from laughing. They catch Yongguk looking at them, scolding with a look of disapproval and quickly hush up.

The leader turns towards their manager. “Hyung.”

“What’s going on here? Who’s the kid?” Manager Kang questions, cleaning his lips of the tomato sauce. “Who does the kid belong to?” He shouts loudly, causing the members to flinch.

“Why do you expect it’s us…?”

“Why else would you help him? Huh? Do you think I was born yesterday? Don’t think you can fool me, okay.”

“I can tell you.” The child crawls out from the jackets, putting them neatly on the bench. “I can tell you everything. What do you want to ask me?”

“Um…yes.” Manager Kang turns his body and moves to sit in front of the child. “Who are you?” He asks politely, his previous anger gone.

“Hello, my name is Sang Min, Park Sang Min.” He bows his head politely.

“Park Sang Min.” Manager Kang nods his head. “Where is your mother? Does she work here? Did she bring you to work with her?”

“My mother is not here. The people in black put her in the ground last month. She doesn’t work here.” He answers with respect, glancing over to the members behind the large man.

“But why are you here? Who brought you here? How did you get here?”

“No one brought me here. I took the bus and walked the rest of the way here by myself. And I’m here because…” He glances towards the members again, watching as they mouth silently towards him and telling him not to say anything. “I’m a fan.” He smiles brightly at the surprised manager. “I came here because I’m a fan. I brought food for B.A.P hyung.”

“Food?” Manager Kang frowns at the child’s empty hands. “Where?”

“I had to hide it when the guards were chasing after me. They said they were going to beat me up and throw me into the streets.”

“Yah…why are they so mean?” Slightly more comfortable with the child’s presence, Manager Kang takes his hand and gently pulls him forward. “Did they hurt you?”

“Nope. I got away safely, but I had to hide the food.” Sang Min pouts, sending waves of aegyo towards the manager. “The food is going to get cold soon. I have to get it or it won’t taste good anymore.”

“Okay, okay. I go get it. Where did you hide it?”

“They’re in blue bags behind the door of the third floor studio.” Sang Min pouts and lowers his head. “I hope no one takes them.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go find them now.” The manager quickly stands up and leaves the room.

“Shin.” The authoritative tone in Yongguk’s voice grabs Shin’s attention. “Come here.”

Shin walks over with his head lowered. “Yes, hyung?”

“How did you get here? Don’t lie to me.”

“Tatsu brought me here.” He wrings his hands together, afraid to look up at the man currently staring down at him. He can feel the glare weighting heavily on the top of his head. “Tatsu helped me get on the bus. I even paid for the trip here. I didn’t do anything wrong. Honest.”

“Shin.” Yongguk lowers himself to the child’s level. “Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be out in the streets alone? What if something happened to you?”

“Nothing would happen. Tatsu would protect me. He promised he would.”

“I know Tatsu can protect you, but what if he can’t? What if there are too many people? What would your mommy say if she knows you went outside alone?”

“Tatsu can beat them all up. He’s strong and can fight off twenty people. And mommy would pat me on the head and say I’m a good boy for going with Tatsu.”

Yongguk frowns at the information, finding it unlikely for the mother to do something like that, considering… “Who’s Tatsu? What does Tatsu look like?”

“Tatsu’s my friend. He protects me and takes care of me when mommy can’t.” A frown spreads on Shin’s lips. “I don’t know what he looks like.” Shin replies with a shrug of his shoulders. “Tatsu always has a hoodie on. He doesn’t like it when people keep staring at him.”

“Why? Did he do something bad?” Daehyun questions with his mouth full of food, making the child frown. “What?”

“Hyung, you shouldn’t talk when you’re eating. Mommy almost died once when she choked on her food.” He lifts his finger and places it on Daehyun’s lips.

“Yah, did he just…?” He starts choking as his airway is blocked, making Youngjae pat his back, a little harder than needed to punish the vocalist. “I’m choking on food and you’re trying to kill me off? What kind of friend are you?” Daehyun gulps down a mouthful of soda to wash down the chicken. “Aren’t you my best friend?”

“Says who? Who’s your best friend?” Youngjae grin when Daehyun wraps an arm around his and pouts like a child. “Are you stupid?”

“You’re so mean.” Youngjae grabs a tissue, wraps it around the last drumstick, giving it to Shin. “Eat this. Manager Kang will be back with your food soon.”

“Thank you.” Shin sits down next to the leader and eats the crispy chicken.

“Did Tatsu do something bad? Is that why he keeps his face covered?” Himchan watches the chubby fingers wrapping around the drumstick. “Is he hiding from the police?”

“Why would he be hiding from the police?” Youngjae glances towards Shin. “Tatsu’s probably an imaginary friend.” He waits as Yongguk cleans Shin’s mouth of the oil. “Shin, are you the only one that can see Tatsu?”

“Tatsu doesn’t like people bothering him so he only comes out when I’m by myself.” He slides the tip of the drumstick into his mouth, gnawing and biting it. He pulls out the bone free of meat and crispy skin.

“I wanted to see his face, but he would ignore me if I try to take off his hoodie. One time, this ahjusshi tried to pull it off, Tatsu punched him and broke his nose.”

“How can he go around punching people? That’s a bad guy! A bad guy!” Himchan shouts, upset at the company around the child. “Did you tell your mommy?”

“Tatsu told her. I wanted ice cream but mommy couldn’t take me so Tatsu did. The ahjusshi’s friend tried to steal from Tatsu and when he couldn’t, he pulled out a knife and tried to hurt Tatsu and me. He punched the ahjusshi to protect me.”

“That’s still not a good thing. If he gets into trouble, you’ll be in danger.” The thought of the child stabbed and killed does not sit well with Himchan. He’s upset, not due to the relationship they share, because honestly he still can’t accept it, but because of being simply human and caring for the child.

“What’s wrong?” Yongguk whispers with a nudge on his friend’s arm. “You okay?”

“N-nothing. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not ‘nothing’, Himchan.”

“I was thinking that Shin has a bad father figure, I mean…it’s not like this Tatsu guy is his father figure, but what if he grows up to be violent?” Himchan watches as Jongup and Zelo listen to the child’s story about Tatsu. “He should have… I should have…” He bites his lips and swallows the words, letting out a heavy sigh instead.

“You didn’t know. How could you do anything if you didn’t know?”

“I don’t know and that might be my biggest problem. I mean, I told her everything, but I never had time to listen to her stories. She would comfort me or encourage me whenever I’m down, but I wasn’t there for her. I still don’t understand why she made me go get guitar lessons or piano lessons.” He scoffs at the memory of it. “I didn’t understand why she would use the only time we had together like that.”

“She wanted what was best for you. She saw it as a way to help you in your dream.” Yongguk puts an arm around Himchan’s shoulder. “She couldn’t do anything with music like singing or dancing so she puts you in those classes.”

“It was hard, with school and all.” Himchan smiles at a memory. “I skipped class a few times, but she wouldn’t say anything when I show up at her door. She didn’t even say anything when I crawled in bed with her and stayed there the entire night.”

“She probably doesn’t even remember your schedule at that point.” The elder sighs and leans back on his arms, ignoring the giggles from the other side of the practice room. “There are things you don’t know about her. She’s busy with her schedule and you have yours. Even with the lessons, I don’t think she has time to lecture you about missing them. Besides, she would always try to get the teacher to make up the hours for you.”

“What are you talking about? Do you know something I don’t?”

“Do you really think the teachers would stay late for you?”

“Are you saying she did something behind my back?”

“She did a lot of stuff behind your back.” Yongguk retorts with a grimace. “You were just too clueless to know.”

“What are you saying?” Himchan keeps his gaze at the older male’s as suspicion shrouding over his attractive features.

“Yah…” Manager Kang returns tugging on a wagon. “Why do you have so much food with you? The kids are going to be fat.” He pushes the wagon over to Shin. “Are these yours?”

“Matoki!” Shin squeals and grabs the nearest doll. “Did you come to find me?” He cuddles the toy close and rubs his face on it. “I missed you too, pretty matoki.”

Jongup smiles as he watches Shin makes kissy faces at their visual’s matoki counterpart. His eyes glances over to the wagon and his body freezes.

“What’s wrong, Jongup? You look like you just seen a ghost.” Youngjae puts a comforting hand on the dancer’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, hyung.”

Zelo tugs on Jongup’s arm as Youngjae gets distracted by the matokis on the wagon. “That was real, right? It’s not just my imagination, right? The matoki just…” He receives an elbow to his side and a silent ‘hajima’ from the older male. Zelo bites down on his lip, looking at the matoki from behind Jongup’s shoulder as if the other possesses some supernatural ability to protect him for whatever happens.

“What’s all this?” Manager Kang asks curiously, the aroma of the food grabbing his attention and yearning of his stomach.

“It’s food!” Shin cuddles the matoki with one arm and hurries over to the wagon, pulling out the nearest thermo container. “This is for hyung for working so hard.” The container is pulled out from the reusable nylon bag… “This is for Daehyunnie hyung.” …and pushed into the vocalist’s hands. “There’s one for everyone.” Shin hands out the thermo container, each decorated with a matoki, to the respective owners.

“Wow…that looks good.” Manager Kang glances around at the smell of delicious looking soup. “I’m kinda jealous.”

Shin pulls out another container and hands it over to the manager. “This is for you. I have one for everyone.” Shin smiles proudly as the manager takes the thermo container from his small hands. “I made them by myself.”

“Really? You made this by yourself? With no help?”

“Mommy didn’t think only girls should learn how to cook so she taught me. She said a guy who knows how to cook is better and more attractive than one that doesn’t.” Shin sits down and holds his matoki toy close. “Mommy always teaches me and when she’s sick, I make her porridge to help her feel better.”

“Really?” Manager Kang pats his head with a large smile. “You’re such a good kid, aren’t you? What do you know how to make?”

“I can make kimbap, porridge, ddukbokki, jajangmyeon, japchae, ramyun, kimchi fried rice, bibimbap, omelet, and more.” He smiles proudly at his accomplishments. “I have lots of practice when mommy is too busy to cook. She’s always busy writing and reading. We have our own library in the house with lots of books to read.”

“Does mommy get sick often?” Himchan asks, trying not to be suspicious about his question and probably unnecessary concern.

“Mommy doesn’t get sick much, but when she is, she doesn’t want to get out of bed and I have to take care of her. I make her food and give her medicine. Then when I get sick, she stays with me and we stay in bed all day.”

“You’re a big boy, aren’t you?”

“I don’t have a daddy so I have to do daddy’s job and take care of mommy.” He glances towards the members before lowering his head back down. “It’s okay. I don’t need daddy.” He hugs the matoki toy tighter.

“This is good.” Daehyun finishes the soup and scoops out the remaining drops with a spoon. “What soup is this?”

“It’s to help with stamina. Hyung sing and dance so stamina is a must.” Shin puckers up his lips cutely. “Do you like it? Does it taste good?”

“It’s delicious. Did you really make it? You didn’t buy it?”

“Hyung~!” Shin puffs up his cheeks and turns his lips into a pout. “I did make it myself~!”

“How can you even reach the stove? It’s dangerous.” Youngjae scolds lightly. “Did no one really watch over you?”

Shin lifts up his legs, squishing the matoki between his body and legs. “No one’s home.” He mumbles quietly. “Mommy used to hide behind the corner to watch, but…”

Yongguk reaches into the wagon and grabs the Shishimato toy. “Ah, it’s not a plushie?” he examines the matoki carefully. “Wow. It’s made of plastic.”

“It is?” Himchan takes the toy and turns it around in his hands. “It’s not hard like plastic at all. It doesn’t even feel like plastic.”

“You shouldn’t do that.” Shin takes the matoki back and places it back on the wagon. “He doesn’t like to be touched, especially by strangers.”

“Why? I’m not going to dirty it.”

Zelo grips Jongup’s arm harder and a shiver go up his back. “H-hyung.”

“I know.” He glances over to Daehyun and Youngjae who are too busy bickering like spoiled brothers to notice what he and Zelo witnessed. “Maybe you shouldn’t touch them, hyung.” He suggests with a frown, trying to keep his fear hidden. They can smell fear, right? Or is it just with animals? “They must mean a lot to him if he doesn’t want anyone touching them, right?”

Shin brushes the imaginary dust off Shishimato’s head, arranging the five matokis nicely in the wagon closest to the handle before putting Tatsmato back in between Shishi and Keke. He takes the empty thermo containers and places them in front of the matokis.

“Okay! Let’s get cleaned up and go back to practice!” Manager Kang ushers the members to work. “We have lots to do. Let’s go! Let’s go! It’s off to vocal practice.”

Shin tugs on the Manager Kang’s pant leg. “Can I come too? I want to see.”

“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.” Manager Kang ponders the thought over in his head, sighing heavily at Shin’s pout and gives in. “Alright, but you have to keep quiet okay?”

Shin bobs his head excitedly and rushes to help the six members clean up the trash. Grabbing the handle of the wagon, he waits excitedly, jumping from foot to foot in anticipation.

 

 

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He's pretty mature, isn't he? :P

And what's with the matoki dolls? Do they mean something? Why are Jongup and Zelo scared of them?