Jonghyun doesn't expect to open the door to Kibum and Hara. Kibum is crying, although he's not looking up at him, and Jonghyun immediately hooks an arm around Kibum's waist to pull him inside. Hara has a look of confusion on her face as she innocently looks to Kibum when he holds her tighter. He's crying silently, but she's still aware that something is wrong, very wrong.

"I lost the apartment, Jonghyun," Kibum chokes out, and it's then that Jonghyun notices the four bags he's struggling to carry with the arm Hara isn't in. "I couldn't make the rent, and the landlady kicked me out, right to the curb. I barely had time to get out things."

Jonghyun takes the bags from Kibum, setting them next to the door for the time being. They weren't as important as Kibum. Kibum begins crying harder, barely holding onto Hara at this point, so Jonghyun leads him to sit on the couch.

"You have a home here."

"This isn't my home anymore," Kibum sobs, nuzzling Hara. "I need to know where I messed up. I just want to take care of my baby."

Jonghyun doesn't respond to the last part. He leans forward slightly, wrapping his arms around Kibum tightly. Hara gets squished in the hug too, but she doesn't seem to mind the extra warmth. Jonghyun doesn't know if the hug is making anything better, but it's better for him because it's been too long since he's properly been able to hug Kibum.

"Kibum, stop crying. You're going to make yourself sick."

Hara looks up at Kibum now, reaching one chubby hand up to pat at her father's cheeks. She knows something is wrong, and it's obvious she wants to help but doesn't know exactly how.

"I don't care. I have a lot to cry about."

"Then come back. Kibum, just come back. We can get our own apartment... a nice apartment. You don't need to work if you're with me, Kibum. You can focus on the baby. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I don't want to be with you!"

Jonghyun stares at Kibum with wide eyes, pulling away suddenly to look at him properly. He'd thought that getting back together would be just like in the movies. Jonghyun would hug Kibum and apologize, sleep with him and he'd come crawling back to live happily. Jonghyun hadn't planned for Kibum refusing to get back together.

"But Kibum... What about Hara?"

"Hara doesn't even know you, Jonghyun!"

"Why is it everything I try to be nice to you, I just get slapped in the face?!"

Jonghyun raises his voice and scares Hara in the process, and she begins to cry in Kibum's arms. Kibum sighs and glares, standing up to bounce her to calm her down. Jonghyun sees now just how exhausted Kibum is as he watches him with their daughter.

"Thanks a lot, Jonghyun."

"Give her to me."

"I'm not giving her to you! You scared her."

"Kibum, give her to me. She's my daughter too. I have every right to hold her."

Kibum glares at Jonghyun for a moment but hands Hara over. She refuses to look at Jonghyun for a time and only reaches for Kibum but slowly settles into Jonghyun's arms when he coos softly to her. He can't believe how big she's gotten in just a few weeks of not seeing her. 

Kibum takes the time without Hara in his arms to calm himself down, rubbing tears out of his eyes before sitting on the couch again. Hara is looking sleepy in Jonghyun's arms, and she rests her head against Jonghyun's chest.

"I graduated," Kibum says softly after a while. "Barely... but I did it."

"Congratulations..."

"If you saw the grades I graduated with, you wouldn't be congratulating me," Kibum brushes some of his hair behind his ear, reaching forward to rub Hara's back. "I had a lot on my plate."

"Kibum, please come back."

"Jjong..."

"If you don't stay here, where are you going to go?"

Kibum looks down. "I'll find somewhere."

"Do you even have any money?"

"About a hundred thousand won. I have a double shift tomorrow, and I make pretty good tips, so I should have more soon..."

Jonghyun sighs. "Kibum, you can't keep doing this. You can't. Are you just going to uproot Hara every two months when you can't play the rent and refuse to let yourself to admit you still love me?"

Kibum doesn't respond, staring at his daughter in Jonghyun's arms again. "I'll stay here for the night, I guess... Anywhere I'd go wouldn't have a crib, and I'm afraid she'd roll over and hurt herself... But I'm not sharing a bed with you."

"You can stay in my room. I'll take the couch. I saw the roll out bed you were sleeping on in that apartment."

---

Kibum sits in Jonghyun's bed, legs hanging off the edge. The lamp is still on, and he opens the nightstand to see what Jonghyun has stashed away. He knows he shouldn't be looking through Jonghyun's things, but he can't help his curiosity.

It doesn't take Kibum long to find his locket hidden under pages of discarded song lyrics. The chain is still snapped, he notices. He wants to put it on, but he knows he can't wear it any longer, not unless he gets back with Jonghyun.

There's a picture of Hara and Kibum at the very bottom of the drawer. It's the first one Jonghyun snapped of the two together. Kibum can't help but smile at how terrible he looked after having Hara. 

He sets the photo and the locket back in the drawer before seeing Jonghyun's cellphone.

As he goes through it, he's surprised to see that the last text message or call that he sent or received was days ago, and they were all to his father. There are a few shorter calls to Kibum's phone from a few days ago, ones that obviously never went through.

Kibum sighs and drops the phone back down before laying down. He knows he won't be able to sleep tonight, especially with Hara being all alone in the other room. He feels like she isn't safe there when he's become so used to her sleeping next to him.

---

Jonghyun has breakfast started when Kibum comes out of the bedroom, already clad in his uniform.

"You're actually going to work?"

"Jonghyun, I was only staying for the night. I'll be out of your hair when I get back. Please watch Hara closely. She likes to get into things now."

Kibum passes through the kitchen, bowing to Jonghyun's mother as he passes. She's surprised to see Kibum, but he's gone out the front door before she can say anything to him.

"Kibum came back?"

"Not exactly."

His mother nods slowly. "The baby is here?"

"She's in the nursery. I know you missed her a lot, Mom."

"I did," she pauses. "Oh, the realtor called for you yesterday about your apartment. Are you really thinking of moving out, Jonghyun?"

"Mm, I am. I'm turning twenty soon, Mom. I should be shipping out... Anyway, it'll cut my commute to the office in at least half, and I could walk to school. It's more convenient. You know I'll still be close. I'll come for dinner every night if you want."

His mother smiles. "I'll have to lock the doors. Do you think Kibum will come?"

"I'm hoping..."

---

Jonghyun doesn't think that Kibum would return home so late, but he does. It's already after dinner time when Hara is already asleep when Kibum walks in. He looks ragged, and Jonghyun bites his lip.

"I'll grab my things and go..."

"Kibum, wait. Sit, have dinner. I need to talk to you for a little bit."

Kibum is too tired to argue with Jonghyun, so he places himself at the table. Jonghyun pushes a bowl of his mother's signature stew toward Kibum, and he begins eating as soon as he picked up his spoon. Not only did he miss home cooking, he ached for anything Jonghyun's mother made for dinner. Kibum thinks she's a wonderful cook.

"What do you want, Jonghyun?"

"Hear me out, okay?" Jonghyun watches Kibum eat before continuing. "I just finalized a lease for my own apartment. It's in the middle of the city so my commutes are shorter. It's got three bedrooms... more than enough for the three of us. You can have your own room; you don't have to share with me. Hara can have her own room too. You'll be safe there, Kibum. I don't know if you really never want to get back together, but I feel like it's still my responsibility to provide for Hara... and you. It's more important that you focus on Hara, not on working these insane hours every day."

The longer Jonghyun talks, the less Kibum eats. He begins stirring the stew with his spoon, knowing that he shouldn't let the offer slip away. These first few months are important in Hara's development and leaving her with a babysitter almost every day isn't helping her grow.

Kibum thinks for a long while before nodding slowly. "Alright, but... I'm doing this for Hara, and if you start making moves, I won't hesitate to leave. I just... I know that I should be with Hara to teach her new things. She's learning every day, and I miss it all."

"I'm missing it too, Kibum."
 
Kibum looks up at Jonghyun at that, eyes wide. There are times where Kibum forgets that he hadn't made Hara all by himself.

"Then... I'll move in with you... I only have the few bags anyway... Hara-- Hara needs clothes though. She's growing like a weed, Jonghyun. I bought her as much as I could afford when I could afford it, but then I'd turn around, and she's already be outgrowing it. Right now, she's only got a few things, and it makes me feel like I'm failing as a parent."

Jonghyun sighs. "That doesn't mean you're failing as a parent. She's well fed, isn't she? That's what she needs most," he leans back in his chair slightly. "Tell you what. We'll go out first thing in the morning to pick her out new things. We can get a few bigger things too, so she has time to grow into them rather than out of them. On one condition."

"And that'd be?"

"You need to call your boss before we leave to tell him that you quit. I'm not having you work those kinds of hours anymore when you have a six month old waiting for you to come home every night."

Kibum bites his lip but doesn't put up an argument. "Fine, I'll do it, but you'd better not kick me out when I have no source of income."

"Kibum, we both know that you know I wouldn't do that. You could stab me in the back a hundred times, and I'd still feel the need to make sure you're taken care of."

---

By morning, Kibum realizes how comfortable Hara had gotten with Jonghyun while he was at work. Two days ago, she'd barely let him touch her, but now she's reaching for him from her crib. Kibum picking her up isn't good enough; she wants to be in Jonghyun's arms.

"I wonder if she can tell who you are," Kibum watches Jonghyun with Hara from the rocking chair in her room. "She doesn't usually warm up to new people so quickly. Do you think she remembers you subconsciously?"

"Maybe," Jonghyun hands her a toy that was stashed away in the closet before setting her at his feet. "But I was also very affectionate to her yesterday. She just wanted to be held and paid attention to."

Kibum rubs his arm. "I've been lacking in that department recently."

"I thought so. Well, today is a new day. We can start fresh, right?"

Kibum nods, sliding onto the floor from the chair when Hara comes close. "We'll give you a whole bunch of love, Boo."

"That's like the second time I heard you call her that. Is that your nickname for her or something?"

"I guess so. She liked the word boo when I said it once, so I kept saying it and just started calling her it after a while. It stuck."

"It's cute."

"Thanks..."

---

Kibum feels better when Jonghyun purchases Hara two big bag full of baby clothes. It's enough to fill the dresser up back home. 

Now, Kibum doesn't have to spend every night worrying if his little girl will have something proper to wear when the sun comes up.

Kibum isn't quite sure how to thank Jonghyun, so he doesn't. Not with words, at least. When Jonghyun falls asleep on the couch that night, Kibum touches a ghost of a kiss to his lips.

Kibum doesn't know that Jonghyun is still very much awake.

-----------

Surprise quick update for anyone who started Jonghyun! He always does the right thing.