“He’s heavy for a five year old.” Himchan shifts the child in his arms, grunting at his weight. “What did his mother feed him?”

“He’s going to be a second Daehyun hyung.” Youngjae smirks at the glare sent his way from the Busan man. “Am I wrong?”

“Yah, there’s no way he can eat as much as me.”

“Stop arguing. You’re going to wake up Shin.” Heading towards the bedroom he shares with the leader, Himchan places the sleeping child in his bed.

“Are you going to sleep with him, hyung?”

“Yeah.” Himchan frowns at the look on the other’s face. “What’s wrong Guppie?”

“Um…I think it’s better if he sleeps with me.”

“Hyung.” Zelo tugs on Jongup’s sleeve, a pout on his face.

“What if you kick him off the bed or something? That would be really bad for him.”

“Jongup’s right. Shin’s just a kid. He can’t take your kicks as well as we can.” Yongguk grins at the frown on the visual’s face. “Jongup, take Shin to your bed.” He squeezes Himchan’s upper arm in comfort.

Zelo follows after the dancer, his fingers still holding Jongup’s shirt. He glances back into the living room where Daehyun and Youngjae are bickering over the remote control like disagreeable siblings, silently wondering if he’s heading to his death.

“Yah, take these too. Leave them in the corner. I’ve already cleaned the wheels so it won’t leave dirt anywhere.” Yongguk pushes the wagon with the six matoki toys into Zelo’s arms, much to the boy’s dismay. “We don’t want Shin to cry in the middle of the night if he can’t find them.”

“You rather make me cry.” Zelo mumbles as he follows Jongup into their shared room, frowning at the black eyes looking up at him. It’s going to be a long night if he can’t sleep knowing six pairs of eyes are staring at him. It’s already hard with a dorm full of Tigger plushies and toys. They have six more to worry about and these six are giving him bad vibes.

“Hurry up and shower.” Yongguk urges Himchan towards the bathroom as he shoves to bickering brothers apart and send them to sit on either side of the couch, plopping down in the middle. “Can’t the two of you stop it already?”

“Hyung, why would you do that?” Daehyun asks, taken back by Yongguk’s body dividing him from Youngjae.

“Yeah, hyung. You’re in the way. Move.” Youngjae pushes Yongguk off with the help of his legs, shoving the older male off the couch.

“Yah, is this how you treat me?” He scoffs at the treatment given to him.

Daehyun sticks his tongue out at the older and moves closer to the younger vocalist with a smile. He wraps his arm around Youngjae’s, holding the said arm with his other hand and resting his head on Youngjae’s shoulder. “Shoo, hyung, shoo. Don’t bother me and my best friend. We have a movie to watch.”

Youngjae turns away with a look of disgust, pretending to gag on Daehyun’s words. “I think I’m getting sick.”

“As long as you’re not sick of me, it’s okay. I’ll just have to play nurse and take care of you until you’re all better.” He looks up at Youngjae from the vocalist’s shoulder. “Should I wear a nurse’s outfit? With the hat and stuff?”

“Yah, if you’re wearing a dress or skirt or whatever, I’m going to take a bunch of pictures and put it on the internet for all the BABYs to see, understand?”

“I don’t mind. I’ll just have to make sure to get that large needle to go with the outfit and I’ll have Yongguk hyung take a picture of me giving you an injection with it.”

“Please leave me out of your weirdness.” Sitting on the opposite side of the couch, Yongguk grabs a cushion and builds a barrier between him and the weird couple to prevent whatever disease they’re infected with.

“Bathroom’s free.” Himchan walks out in sweatpants and a black tank.

“MY TURN!” Zelo shoves the visual aside and rushes into the bathroom, slamming the door with a bang.

“Yah, what was that for?” Himchan shouts at the closed door, rubbing at the sore spot on his shoulder after slamming into the wall, a result of being twirled around by Hurricane Zelo.

“Sorry hyung!” Zelo’s playful voice rings from behind the bathroom door.

Himchan enters the living room while drying his hair. “I’m tired.” He grabs the cushion, throws it at Daehyun’s face because it’s irritating him with his pouty lips, and sits down next to Yongguk, leaning on the older man’s lean and muscular body. “Tired.” He lets out a large yawn.

“Then sleep.”

“I’m tired, not sleepy. There’s a difference.”

“Somehow, I knew you would say that.”

Himchan lifts his gaze with a confused frown. “Really? Why?”

“It’s something she would say.” Yongguk replies absentminded before realizing what he said exactly, and freezes. “I mean…um…”

“Hyung, what are you hiding from me?” Himchan sits up with his eyes glued to Yongguk’s face. “Who’s ‘she’? You don’t mean…her…do you?”

Daehyun and Youngjae freezes as the atmosphere between the two eldest growing weird and uncomfortable. They glance towards each other and sit up, their previous playfulness gone.

“It’s nothing, Himchan. Just…just forget about it.” Yongguk stands up and turns to leave, but finds himself stopped as a hand wraps around his wrist.

“Tell me.”

“Um…I’m gonna go now. I forgot I have something to do.” Daehyun stands up nervously, gesturing for Youngjae to follow.

“Yeah, me too. I have some fan messages to reply to.”

The two quickly hurry off, grabbing Zelo as he leaves the bathroom and attempts to walk towards the living room.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Zelo’s voice rings as he’s suddenly kidnapped into his room.

“What’s going on?” Jongup sits up in bed with a jolt. “Is Yongguk hyung and Himchan hyung having an argument?”

“Don’t go out there if you want to live. They look like two alphas trying to rip each other apart.” Daehyun shivers from the image, gross out by his own thoughts. 

“It’s more like the alpha being challenged for his position.” Youngjae adds, frowning at mere thought of it.

“Himchan hyung wants to be leader? Why?”

“Silly Zelo, that’s not what I meant.” Youngjae pats the maknae’s head, smiling at the pout the other sends him for being treated as a kid.

“I remember Yongguk hyung saying something about a girl hiding things behind Himchan hyung’s back and Himchan hyung was questioning Yongguk hyung about it.” Youngjae frowns as the gears in his head turns.

“When? Why don’t I know about this?” Daehyun asks, putting his hand on Youngjae’s shoulder and leaning in as if to listen to a secret.

“You were too busy stuffing yourself with the soup Shin made to hear anything. I even have to rescue mine from your greedy hands.”

“Yah. I can’t help it. It was delicious, okay.”

“Okay, I’ll forgive you. Only because it’s true.” He glances towards the wagon. “Where are the thermos?”

going down his back. It feels as if they are being watched. By who, he doesn’t know. “Hyung, do you feel something’s weird with the matoki toys?”

“Himchan hyung took them to clean.” Jongup glances towards the matokis, a shiver going down his back. It feels as if they are being watched. By who, he doesn’t know. “Hyung, do you feel something’s weird with the matoki toys?”

“What’s wrong with them?” Daehyun reaches and grabs the Kekemato doll from the wagon. “It’s pretty. It’s well made and looks good enough to be sold at a good price. Do you think we should sell it?” He jokes as he continues to flip the toy around. “It’s like a matoki version of a bear brick toy. It’s big enough to have a high price.”

Jongup’s ears picks up a sound and turns towards the source, quickly grabbing the two feet toy, with ears is three feet, from Daehyun and returning it to the wagon. “They belong to Shin. We shouldn’t even joke about that.” He places a hand on the Dadamato toy, brushing his fingers against it smooth surface. “What if…they’re the only things his mother left him with? What if they’re the only things he has left of her, to remind him of her, and to remember her by? Just because we can sell them doesn’t mean we should.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I was only joking.”

“I don’t think we should even joke about it. Shin’s still young. He won’t understand that we’re only joking. He might think we’re going to do it and not trust us.” Youngjae reasons with a frown, wondering if they had already said something to hurt the child without knowing.

“Yah, why are my cute dongsaengs suddenly so thoughtful?” He nudges Youngjae’s arm. “When did you become an expert on children?”

“We had our own children to take care of, but Jongup is an adult now.”

“Does that mean Zelo is our baby?” Youngjae coos at the tall maknae reaching his arms out to him. “Come give hyung a kiss.”

“No, hyung. No.” Zelo leans back his head while keeping the older male away with his elbow. “Don’t kiss me.”

“Baby Zelo is shy.” Daehyun leans over, pushing down the two younger members and teaming up with Youngjae to kiss their tall maknae while Jongup watches on with a smile.

Backing up from the playful members and Zelo’s taller frame, Jongup glances towards the door, trying to pick up whatever the two eldest is talking about. Instead, his ears pick up a sound again. It was a whirling sound, like a camera.

“Wait, wait.” Daehyun tenses up with a frown, pulling himself off the pouting Zelo and the affectionate Youngjae. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what? I don’t hear anything.” Youngjae frowns with concern. “Did you just imagine…?” He freezes as a chill goes up his spine.

“You heard that, right?” Daehyun slowly sits back down, noticing the fear in the younger members’ eyes. “Come on.”

The younger trio hurries after the vocalist, aiding him in grabbing the grumpy parents, much to their relief. It was too awkward and uncomfortable to stay in their topic of discussion.

not appreciating their tackle.

“We think the place is bugged.” Daehyun whispers seriously towards the leader. He points a finger towards the direction of the bedrooms.

“Yah, what’s wrong?” Yongguk pulls Daehyun and Youngjae’s arms away from his neck,

Concerned, Yongguk stands up and heads towards the bedroom. He frowns at the sound of whirling. More sounds, sounds that reminds them of tapping sounds on a keyboard, follows it. He carefully opens the door and… “Shin?”

Shin looks up from his spot on the floor and in his hand is a player, a cassette tape player. It clicks as a button pops up. He lowers his head again, ignoring the group.

“Shin? What’s wrong?” Himchan sits down next to the child, eyeing the device in his hands.  “What’s that? Can I see?”

“It’s mommy’s.” Shin opens and closes the cover. “Mommy would play me songs and record me messages. When I couldn’t write, I would send mommy a message with this. It was fun. Mommy would always play with me.”

“Do you…miss mommy?”

Shin takes opens the cover, pulling the tape out the same way one would pull out money from a wallet. He puts the tape back in its case and into his bag before pulling another one out. “Not as much as mommy misses daddy.” The tape slides in and he closes the cover with a snap. His finger hovers over the button and presses down. He can feel the vibration of the device as it plays the tape.

“Shin…” Himchan is cut off at the sound of a door opening played on the cassette tape.

“Mommy? Do you miss daddy?” Shin’s voice rings clearly from the tape, despite its age. “Do you wish daddy was still here?”

“What’s the matter? Are you lonely?” There’s the sound of a chair scraping against a wooden floor. “Come here, precious.” Her voice is clearly at the end, signaling the shortened distance as a result of the child being picked up.

“I’m not lonely.” Shin’s voice is muffled from snuggling into his mother’s chest, yet still audible. “Sometimes, I feel lonely without daddy when everyone has one. They make fun of me for not having a daddy and I want to cry.”

“Do you cry a lot?”

“No, because I have mommy so I’m not lonely.” Shin looks up at his mother, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Do you think daddy is lonely? Daddy doesn’t have mommy anymore, do you think daddy is lonely?”

“He won’t be lonely. He has lots of friends with him, I know he does.”

“My teacher in school said friends are different. She said everyone needs a special friend so they don’t feel lonely. Do you think daddy has a special friend? Who was mommy’s special friend?” Shin leans comfortably on her, enjoying her arms around him and the warmth radiating from her. “Mommy?”

“Daddy was mommy’s special friend.” She puts a hand behind his head lovingly, pressing her lips against his forehead. “Daddy was mommy’s only special friend.” The chair slides back as she stands up, balancing the sleeping child in her arms. “You shouldn’t stay up late when you’re sick, pumpkin.”

The device in Shin’s hands go quiet. “I got sick and mommy had to take care of me. She was really tired too.” His finger hovers over the stop button as the sound of a door opening and closing echoes from the small device. “Mommy was always tired, but mommy never told me to leave her alone. She would always take care of me and play with me. I’m happy mommy loves me.” He lifts his sleeve to his face, rubbing his eyes. “But when mommy has to stay up to work and can’t sleep, I’m sad and I want to cry.”

“Shin…”

“Why?” Shin lifts his head as he wipes away more tears. “Why did daddy leave? Did he find another special friend? Did he not want to be special friends with mommy anymore? If daddy didn’t like mommy anymore, then…” He sniffles and clears his blurry vision. “…then why am I here? I’m here because mommy and daddy are special friends, right?”

If Himchan didn’t know what ‘special friends’ meant, he sure does now. “Listen, Shin. I think there’s some misunderstanding. You see, your daddy loves your mommy, but he didn’t know if your mommy loves him the same way. He thinks your mommy just treat him as a friend.” This would clear it up…right? After all, she was always keeping a distance between them and…

“But…Uncle Pororo is friends with mommy too, but she doesn’t let him sleep in her bed.” Shin’s tears are cleared away by a caring Youngjae. “Mommy said only two people are allowed to sleep with her on her bed.” Shin turns his puffy eyes to stare into Himchan’s bloodshot ones. “Are you sad, hyung?” He lifts his hands and places them on Himchan’s cheeks. “Mommy says that when your eyes gets red, it means the tears want to come out and that you need to cry or you’ll get sick.” He leans in and wraps his arms around Himchan’s neck in a hug. “You should cry. It will make you feel better.”

“Who are the ones that are allowed to sleep in mommy’s bed?” Daehyun asks, slightly dreading the answer.

“The people that mommy loves most in the whole wide world.” Shin grins happily at his reply. “Me and daddy.”

At that moment, Himchan feels as if the ground opened up and swallowed him whole as he plunges into the darkness of his own despair.

 

 

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Uncle Pororo, lol. :D