Index:

(BH) - Baekhyun speaking
(DH) - Daehyun speaking
(JU) - Jongup speaking
(Z) - Zelo speaking
(JI) - Jin speaking

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thirteen years have passed since Young Jae, Seohyun, and Yuri left the Orphanage. The children at the Orphanage had either been able to find new homes or they moved on once they were of age to live on their own. It didn’t seem all that fair that not all of the children had been able to get adopted, but when was life ever fair? It just depended on where fate would lead each and every one of them.

Sadly, Daehyun had been one of the few children that hadn’t gotten adopted. This may have discouraged Daehyun as the years passed by, but that slowly didn’t matter too much to Daehyun. His dreams of becoming a real hero were something that he wanted to grasp. Sure, he couldn’t have super powers or be someone with an awesome suit and gadgets, but he could be something close enough. Something like a fire fighter, a lawyer, a police officer, or even a teacher seemed like all great careers to pursue. However, one specific career just seemed to hold his attention.

Becoming a doctor was something that Daehyun really wanted to do. He studied long and hard, keeping his grades up as much as possible in order to pursue his dream. Daehyun had even gotten a job in order to start saving up money for his college funds, but something kept him from going. Even when he was determined to go, he kept himself from going.

Along with Daehyun, Jongup hadn’t gotten adopted as well. Daehyun considered Jongup his younger brother, so he had to watch over him. Since they were on their own, Daehyun had given up his dream for the time being to let Jongup follow his own dream. It made sense to save money first before going, right? Medical school wasn’t necessarily the cheapest thing for just anyone to go to, so Daehyun figured that it may be better this way. At least this way, Jongup would get the education that he deserved and hopefully live a better life.

Plus, as long as he managed to keep his promises, then Daehyun didn’t mind. Yes, even after thirteen long years, Daehyun has been constantly thinking about Young Jae and the promises he made with him. He’s questioned it constantly, wondering what Young Jae has been up to, how his life is going, and if he even remembered him. Daehyun had wondered at times if it was worth thinking about him. After all, they were just kids at the time and after a while, their memories of the past fade eventually, but he managed to hold onto that hope.

Yes, he will admit, he’s gone on a few dates here and there. Considering his feelings for Young Jae, Daehyun had first assumed that he was at least biual. It was a bit confusing, but after going on a few dates with some females, Daehyun hadn’t really been all that interested in them. Sadly, even after dating a few males, Daehyun would constantly think of Young Jae. So, Daehyun stopped dating altogether. It may have been a hopeless cause, but Daehyun wanted to wait until Young Jae himself had rejected him.

At the same time... he was kind of scared about that happening. Even though he continued to brace himself for such an outcome, he didn’t want that happening. For some reason, he truly thought he would end up marrying Young Jae. It was a possibility, right? There was just something about Young Jae that made him different from everyone else and... well, he wanted to make it work somehow.

Until then, Daehyun would just have to wait until the day that he could meet Young Jae again.

Going back to his current life, Daehyun and Jongup had moved to the city so that they were closer to Jongup’s University. It was better than having Jongup travel to and from the Orphanage, where, to Daehyun’s surprise, they would end up owning one day. Mr. and Mrs. Kim couldn’t have any children of their own, so when Daehyun became of age, the two had asked Daehyun if he would be willing to run the Orphanage once they’re gone. Daehyun didn’t want to think about the day that the two would be gone, but he agreed to it regardless. He loved the Orphanage and he felt like it shouldn’t go to anyone else that didn’t care enough for the place.

Either way, it would be a long time before he took over the Orphanage.

For now, all that mattered was making a living. With Jongup’s University, it had been rather pricy to keep up with. Daehyun had to take on multiple jobs to pay off the expenses he had. It was tiresome, but Daehyun found it worth the trouble as long as Jongup was serious with his studies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within a room, a twenty-one year old was currently sleeping peacefully. Sure, he had been rowdy during the night and the pillows had been tossed off the bed and the blanket was pushed off to the end of the bed, but at least the bed cover was still holding strong. The curtains were blocking out as much of the sunlight as possible, though the room was taking in the color of the green curtains thanks to the sunlight. The room itself was rather messy.

Clothes were strewn all over the place, the closet door was folded open to reveal an overflow of dirty or clean laundry on the floor, and there were various other objects lazily tossed onto the floor. In a way, it was near impossible to walk on the floor without stepping on something. If one was unlucky enough, they may end up stepping on something that wasn’t just normal clothing. Luckily, the people living in that apartment knew how to navigate the floor.

Slowly, the bedroom door slid open as it pushed aside the clothes that had been tossed in front of the door the night before. A person slowly peeked their head inside as a small ‘tsk’ escaped his lips. He looked around as his memories of his constant nagging came up. He had constantly told the owner of this room to clean up, but did they seem to listen? No, not really. Still, he wasn’t going to give up. One way or another, he was going to get them to clean up somehow. Until then, they had to go about their busy schedule.

Stepping into the room, his eyes instantly fixated on the covered window. Although it wouldn't necessarily wake the sleeping figure in the slightest, it would still at least brighten up the room a bit. Navigating carefully through the room, the figure soon took hold of the curtains before pulling it open. The sun instantly lit up the dimly lit room, showing the majority of the objects that had been hidden away in the dark. Turning to face the room, the male let out a few more ‘tsk’ sounds before making his way over to the bed.

Placing his hands on his hips, the male looked down at the slumbering figure. The person in bed was mostly laying on his right side with his back towards the window, though he was still fairly spread out on the bed. He wore a plain sleeveless undershirt with light blue boxers which only seemed to show off the slumbering person’s figure a bit better with how he was currently positioned. Shaking his head a bit, the male that was currently standing raised his hand before swiftly bringing it down onto the slumbering male’s bottom. “JONGUP! WAKE UP!” (DH)

“Hngh...!” (JU) Jongup let out a whine as he moved away from Daehyun before attempting to go back to sleep. Sadly, Daehyun had to be a little rough with the poor guy in order to get him to wake up. Jongup was a relatively stubborn male when it came to waking up, so it was the only way to get him up. Getting onto the bed and standing on his knees, Daehyun looked down at Jongup before letting out a small sigh.

“Jongup. I’m giving you until the count of five to get up. One..” (DH) He waited, but there was still no reaction from Jongup. However, instead of counting up to five like any normal person would, Daehyun had a different plan in mind. “FIVE!” (DH)

Daehyun jumped, landing roughly on top of Jongup before wrestling with the poor boy. Jongup let out a confused whine, his sleepy eyes finally opening as he looked around in confusion. His arms and legs were currently confined, keeping him from being able to move as he felt his arms being pulled back in a painful position. Jongup struggled to get free, but it didn’t seem like he was going to be able to escape from Daehyun’s grasp. “Brother! L-Let go! I’m up!” (JU)

“So?! Why haven’t you cleaned up your room like I told you to?!” (DH) Daehyun pushed Jongup’s torso a bit more, causing Jongup’s arms to be pulled back in response. Jongup let out a pained moan, struggling once more as he tried to escape the pain that Daehyun seemed to be able to easily inflict on him.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll clean it up when I get home, I promise! Let go already!” (JU) The two stayed in this position for a moment longer before Daehyun finally released his hold on the younger male. Jongup panted a little, quickly getting off of the bed as he turned to look at Daehyun. Jongup rolled his shoulders around a bit, rubbing it every now and then as he frowned. “Man, that hurt! Why do you have to be so rough?” (JU)

“Would you wake up if I wasn’t rough?” (DH) Jongup would have said yes, but the two of them both already knew that that was a complete lie. Letting out a small sigh, Jongup shook his head as he let out a small yawn. Daehyun chuckled a bit as he soon got off of the bed and back onto his feet. “Anyway, get ready for school now. I’ll make us breakfast.” (DH)

“Okay...” (JU) Jongup scratched the side of his abdomen as he watched Daehyun leave the room. He mumbled under his breath, his eyes looking around his messy room. How exactly was he supposed to clean all of this up when he got home? Most likely, he was going to have to clean it all before Daehyun came home that night too. Jongup let out a small groan as he picked up his towel and made his way out of his bedroom.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two sat at the island at the edge of the kitchen where they would normally eat their meals. As they ate, Daehyun mentally went over the schedule that he had to do before his thoughts began to dabble with Jongup’s schedule. Looking at Jongup, Daeehyun nudged Jongup with his elbow in order to get his attention. “Hey. Do you have to do anything today?” (DH)

“Hm? Uh.. Besides class... Mm.. I only have Anime club today.” (JU) Daehyun nodded as he continued eating. That meant that Jongup would be at school a little later than usual, which he had known about already. Well, he normally didn’t get back home until around eight at night anyway so it didn’t really change anything if Jongup stayed at school a little while longer. “Hey, brother? I think I saw Zelo at school today.” (JU)

“Zelo? From the Orphanage?” (DH) Jongup nodded as he took in a spoonful of rice and egg. Daehyun thought for a moment as he tried to remember the kid. It had been a rather long time since they’ve seen him, so he couldn’t really imagine how Zelo looked like as an adult now. “Are you gonna talk to him?” (DH)

“I.. uh..” (JU) Jongup turned a little red as he looked down. Daehyun briefly glanced at Jongup, slight confusion and a little suspicion kicking in. Why was Jongup acting like this? It’s not like they didn’t know the guy. In fact, they had been friends for a few years before both Yongguk and Zelo ended up getting adopted. Sure, they hadn’t been in contact since then, but it would be a good chance to reestablish friendships.

“What is it?” (DH)

“Well.. Um.. It’s nothing. I’ll talk to him if I see him again.” (JU) Daehyun nodded, though he was certain that there was something that Jongup was hiding. Well, as long as it wasn’t anything bad that he was hiding, then Daehyun wasn’t going to pry for the time being. It was Jongup’s choice after all.

“Okay. Finish up. We should get going soon.” (DH) Daehyun finished the last bite of his food before getting up from his seat. Picking up his dirty plate and his almost finished drink, he walked over to the sink before setting the plate down. He let the water run a bit, quickly finishing his drink before he set that in the sink as well. Once the water was off, Daehyun went to wrapping up any leftovers before looking over at Jongup, whom had just set his dirty dishes into the sink. “Make sure to wash the dishes when you get home, okay?” (DH)

“Yeah, okay.” (JU) With everything put away, the duo soon left their apartment before making their way downstairs and out of the apartment building.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Mr.and Mrs. Kim’s help, Daehyun had been able to purchase a used truck that was still in good condition. Daehyun wasn’t really much of a truck person, but he had needed a truck for all of the moving that him and Jongup had done at one point. At this point though, he decided to just keep it until it was no longer usable. With the money he was making, it’s not like he would be able to get another car anytime soon.

After dropping Jongup off at his University, Daehyun was now currently making his way to his first job. It was a simple job at a mini mart where he just stocked everything at its respective spot, but it was still a job that paid him relatively well. Plus, he got quite a nice discount from any groceries he bought from there, so it helped him save a little more money.

As he drove, his thoughts began to roam a little. For some reason, he had begun to think about his life at the Orphanage. Maybe it had been because Jongup brought up Zelo, but his time there had mostly been a nice experience. Daehyun even wished that he could go back in time to experience the fun he had at the time, but he couldn’t do anything but move forward at this point.

Still.. his thoughts seemed to always drift back to Young Jae. He had been ten at the time when he first met Young Jae, but it was definitely an experience he never wanted to forget. At first, he didn’t know about his feelings for Young Jae. Experiencing something like a crush was confusing at the age of ten, but after that kiss.. Daehyun was certain that he could consider Young Jae his first love.

Biting his bottom lip, Daehyun turned slightly red as he thought about the kisses he had shared with Young Jae. It was a different feeling kissing Young Jae as opposed to any of the people he had dated since then. He did wonder how it would feel now that they were older. Who knows? It might feel even... better to kiss Young Jae now.

He shook the thoughts out of his head as he focused back onto his driving. Why was he still thinking about Young Jae? Sure, he had promised to keep Young Jae happy, to meet him, to marry him, to be his hero, but.. there was no guarantee that Young Jae even remembered who he was. For all he knew, Young Jae could have completely forgotten about him. After all.. he hadn’t heard a single word from Young Jae since he left the Orphanage.

Still... he held that hope for as long as he could.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As usual, Daehyun had arrived at work relatively early. He had lounged around for a bit, waiting until the owner finally opened the store up. Once inside, Daehyun had clocked in as usual before he went about his usual day.

It was normally the same thing everyday. There was one employee whom stocked everything up on the shelves, one employee whom was in charge of inventory, and one employee whom worked as the cashier. This was the morning and afternoon crew since it wasn’t usually as crowded as it would get once evening began to draw in. Luckily, it just made it much easier to remember fellow employee names.

Besides himself, whom worked as the one that stocks the shelves, there was the owner, whom was also his boss, who was in charge of inventory and then there was Jin, the cashier up at the front. Well, his name is Seokjin, but he just prefers to go by Jin since it’s shorter. He’s a bit nosy at times, but he’s a fairly nice person. He just.. doesn’t know when to not get into other people’s business from time to time.

Since there weren’t any customers out at the moment, Jin was currently helping Daehyun stock the shelves. After all, if he wasn’t seen doing anything productive, then he was most likely going to end up getting yelled at by the store owner. As nice as the store owner was by actually keeping them on his staff, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to scold them like the children he’s never had.

Looking over at Daehyun, Jin narrowed his eyelids a bit. Jin had only started working here about a year ago and yet, he still didn’t know much about Daehyun. Sure, he knew that Daehyun was an orphan and that Daehyun was single, but Jin wanted to know a bit more about him. Yes, he was interested in Daehyun, but not to the point that he was falling for the older man. It was more along the lines of.. wanting to find that perfect someone for his fellow employee and friend.  “Hey Daehyun! What do you look for in a person?” (JI)

“Huh? What do you mean?” (DH) Daehyun briefly glanced over at Jin before turning his attention back to stocking. Okay, so he did know what Jin meant, but he was hoping to be able to avoid the question. Sadly, he already knew that Jin wouldn’t be strayed from trying to find out whatever answers he was searching for.

“You know.. What do you look for in romance? What kind of person do you want to date? I need to know!” (JI) Jin set down one of the items he held as he stood up straight. Letting out a small sigh, he bent backwards to stretch his back a bit before lightly slapping Daehyun’s back. “Don’t hold back any juicy information either, okay?! If you tell me everything you look for in a date, then I’ll make sure that you get it!” (JI)

Daehyun smiled a bit as he shook his head. What, was Jin playing matchmaker or something? He may not have known whether or not Jin had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, but Daehyun still doubted that Jin had a crush on him. Still, as much as Daehyun appreciated the act, it wasn’t going to work. “Don’t worry about it, alright? I’ll find someone on my own.” (DH)

“That’s no good at all! Come on. Let me help you. You’re like, what, twenty-three now and still single? You’re getting old!” (JI) Old? Twenty-three was still pretty young, or at least, that’s what Daehyun thought. Anyway, Daehyun thought for a moment. Should he tell Jin anything in what he looked for? Did it matter? Probably not, but he might as well tell him something just so that he could get Jin to drop the topic.

“Hm.. Well.. if you’re curious..” (DH)

“Yes! Yes! I want to know! Tell me!” (JI) Daehyun chuckled once more as he finished stacking the items in the third box that they had opened up. Setting the empty box off to the side, Daehyun opened up the last box before he crouched down and began stocking the items inside. Jin crouched down as well, pulling the box between them as he constantly looked at Daehyun. “Are you gonna tell me?” (JI)

“Well, I like someone that’s.. pure and innocent. Someone that always has a bright smile and if they need to cry, then they can easily turn to me and cry on my shoulder. I would like someone that wants to always be in my company, someone that relies on me, but can also handle themselves. Someone... that I..” (DH) Daehyun quickly realized what he was saying as he smiled and shook his head a bit. He looked at Jin, whom would have been on the edge of his seat if he had one. Daehyun chuckled a bit as he ruffled Jin’s hair just to mess with him a bit. “Heh.. Don’t worry about it.” (DH)

“Noo! Don’t hold out on any information! Someone that you what?! Someone that you what?!” (JI) Daehyun only gave him that usual cat-like grin of his before he went back to working. Jin let out a groan as he fell back onto his bottom. How could Daehyun just tell him such information and then not finish it?! Letting out a small sigh, Jin ruffled his hair in frustration before crouching once more. “Come on! You have to tell me! Give me a little more to work on. Liike... looks! What do you want in a person? Do you want to date a male or a female? A little more information like that at least!” (JI)

That was a bit more difficult to describe. After all, the person he described was Young Jae and the last time he saw Young Jae was back when they were children. Young Jae’s appearance could have changed since then, but.. maybe he could still describe Young Jae. “Well.. I like someone with a slightly small mouth but with really soft lips and a bright smile. I.. like pinchable cheeks and a slightly small nose. I... also like males.” (DH)

Jin nodded, but the mental image he had made the person Daehyun liked rather... weird looking. It was like he had completely ignored the slightly part and just overly exaggerated the features. Still, Jin was fairly satisfied for the time being and he had decided not to continue trying to force information out of Daehyun. Just as he got to his feet, the sound of the bell at the front door quickly pulled their attention. Looking towards the door, Jin yelled so that whomever had entered could hear him. “Welcome!” (JI)

“You should head to the counter now. I’ll finish up here.” (DH) Daehyun looked up at Jin, whom was about to say something. However, that cat-like smile of his always made Jin want to follow Daehyun’s instructions. With a small sigh, Jin nodded before he finally went off to go keep the cash register company.

Putting up the object he currently held, Daehyun let out a small sigh as he began to daydream a bit. How would Young Jae look like now? He always did have difficulty trying to imagine Young Jae as an adult, but he knew that Young Jae must be rather handsome now and he probably hasn’t changed much since then.

“Hey! Get back to work, Daehyun!” Daehyun looked up, seeing his boss standing over him. He instantly held a nervous smile as he quickly nodded and went back to stocking the shelves. This was no time to be thinking about the past. He had work to do and if he continued daydreaming like this, he wasn’t going to ever get any work done.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Standing by the usual tree he liked sitting under, Jongup turned from left to right and vice versa as he waited. He had already finished his hour long class, so he had some time before his next class started. So here he was, waiting patiently for the person he was looking for to show up. He had only caught a brief glance of him, so it might not even be the person that he thought it was, but Jongup could only hope.

Taking in a deep breath, Jongup closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the tree. He felt the wind lightly caress his skin as he heard the leaves rustling both above and around him. Did Zelo really attend this school too? Jongup had heard that Zelo had wanted to enter the music industry, but Jongup hadn’t heard anything about this campus' music department. Maybe it had a good music department, but he wouldn’t really know. Jongup was part of the art department since he wanted to become a Manga Artist. Of course, he was also learning traditional art just so that he could become an artist in general.

“Hey, Jongup! What are you doing? Blanking out again?” (BH) Jongup opened his eyes and tilted his head back down before his eyes landed on one of his friends, Baekhyun. Baekhyun grinned as he held the straps of his backpack. “Well? Were you daydreaming about something? Maybe a girl you like?” (BH)

“Eh? O-Oh, no! Nothing like that. I just, uh.. was waiting for time to pass.” (JU) Baekhyun eyed Jongup with suspicion before letting out a small sigh. He sat down, taking his backpack off as he hummed a bit. Jongup sat down as well, turning his head here and there as he attempted to locate whom he assumed was Zelo. Thinking about it for a moment, he looked back at Baekhyun as a question popped up in his head. “Hey, you’re in the music program, right? Is the music program here any good?” (JU)

“Hm.. Yeah, it’s pretty good. It’s been ranked within the top ten.” (BH) Well, he assumed it was ranked in the top ten. Baekhyun tended to over exaggerate things, but did that ever stop him from doing it? No, but at least it wasn’t hurting anyone. Plus, who was ever going to do research on what rank the school’s music program was at? “Why do you ask?” (BH)

“Ah.. uh.. no reason.” (JU) Baekhyun scratched the side of his head before merely shrugging it off. Maybe Jongup was interested in switching his majors, but why would he want to do that? Jongup was already almost done with University, so it didn’t really make much sense to switch now. “Um.. do you.. know a person named Zelo or Junhong?” (JU)

“Ze- Waaaiiiit a minute. So THAT’S what you were waiting for! You have a crush on this person, don’t you?!” (BH) Baekhyun had a silly smile on his face as he playfully poked Jongup. He didn’t really know who this person was, but the way Jongup was acting made it clear that he had a crush on this person!

“I-It’s not like that, really! He’s just an old friend that I haven’t seen in a while..” (JU)

“Uh-huh..” (BH) Baekhyun held his smirk as he leaned back a bit. It was practically written on Jongup’s face that he had a crush on this person! If he did, then Baekhyun definitely wanted to help Jongup out. After all, what were friends for? “Hey! So, what does this person look like? Uh.. What was their name..” (BH)

“His name is Zelo, or Junhong.” (JU) Baekhyun nodded a bit as he thought for a bit more. Wait. Jongup liked men? He’s been friends with Jongup since his first year here and he was just now finding out that Jongup is gay?! Well, that was okay. “And he-” (JU)

“Jongup..?” (Z) Both males looked up to see a rather tall and lanky male standing a few feet away. When he did get a reaction from the male, Zelo instantly grinned as he made his way over to the two. “Puppy Uppie!” (Z)

Sitting down next to Jongup, Zelo wrapped his arms around Jongup’s shoulders before rubbing his cheek against Jongup’s. Jongup turned a bit red, especially when he realized that Baekhyun was staring at them with an amused smirk on his face. Even so, he hadn’t expected Zelo to turn up out of the blue and hug him like this! He didn’t even know that Zelo was attending this school, so how come he hadn’t seem him for the past three to four years that he had been at this school? “Zelo..! Um.. I, uh..” (JU)

“Hm?” (Z) Zelo pulled away a bit as he finally realized that Baekhyun was sitting there too. Narrowing his eyelids a bit, he examined the other male before moving as close to Jongup as possible, almost as if he was marking Jongup as his. Zelo did have a tendency to be a bit.. possessive over people he had grown quite fond of. “Who are you?” (Z)

“It’s considered rude to ask for someone else’s name before giving your own.” (BH) Baekhyun could see the anger practically bubbling in Zelo’s eyes, but Zelo seemed to be able to keep himself in check for the time being. “Buuut.. I’ll be polite. My name is Baekhyun and you are Zelo, I presume?” (BH)

“Junhong to you!” (Z) Zelo only ever let people close to him call him Zelo. He had started doing that around his teenage years and it just seemed to stick to him. Putting his arm around Jongup, he pulled the male in as close as possible as Zelo let out a small ‘hmph’. Though, instantly, a single thought flickered through his mind as he looked at Jongup. “Oh! Jongup! I have class soon, but here! Let’s play like before later!” (Z)

Zelo quickly rummaged through Jongup’s pockets before pulling out Jongup’s cell phone. He quickly dialed in his number and saved it to Jongup’s contact list before handing Jongup’s phone back to him. Getting to his feet, Zelo grinned happily as he began walking away, waving a bit as he walked. “I’ll see you later Jongup!” (Z)

“W-Wait..!” (JU) Sadly, his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Zelo began running to make it to class on time. With a small sigh, Jongup looked down at his newly saved contact before smiling a bit. He hadn’t expected it to go that easily, but he also knew that Zelo was one to be quite forward and rather.. well, random. Someone clearing their throat soon pulled Jongup’s attention as he quickly put his phone away.

“Soo.. That was Zel- Ah.. Junhong? That’s the person you like?” (BH)

“I-It isn’t like that, really! He’s just a... really close friend.” (JU) Baekhyun merely nodded, though he already knew the truth. Getting up to his feet, Baekhyun dusted himself off before looking back down at Jongup.

“Okay, well I gotta get to class too! See you later!” (BH) With a wave, Baekhyun was off. Jongup scratched the side of his head as he tried to think. Baekhyun didn’t have class for another hour, so why was he going so early? His eyes widened as a single thought crossed his mind. Getting to his feet, Jongup put his backpack back on before chasing after Baekhyun.

“BAEKHYUN! DON’T!” (JU)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[ My Own Thoughts:

Okay~!
The first chapter of everyone being all grown up. x3
I hope that it’s enjoyable >3<...
(Though, when Young Jae comes in, I’m not entirely certain.)
Sooo... yeah. I wanted to get this chapter in before I became busy with schoolwork again. xD

Anyway ~!
Comments are loved!
I love to see what everyone thinks of the fanfic. x3 ]]