Chanyeol tried to distract himself by throwing everything out onto the plain of the canvas but nothing pleased his eyes until Kris Wu came through the door of his atelier. He left it unlocked like he always does. He knew Kris will be coming.

"Bad day, huh?" Kris asked, dragging a stool behind him and placed it beside Chanyeol before sitting. Chanyeol simply shook his head and let his hair bobbed the way he liked it. His hair almost reached his shoulder since he always forgot to get a haircut at the saloon across the street.

His eyes saw a big mess on his canvas through his bangs which covering half of his face. It always messy when he looks through his hair. He tried it a few times before, looking through his golden hair strands at his painting. Mesh of hair and golden thread covered his view from the ugly sight of his art. His hair were beautiful when he let it down his face, even more beautiful with his ugly painting as its background. He could live with that, not without his paint brush and his golden hair.

"Let me help you with that." Chanyeol held in his breath when Kris's hands reached for his hair and pulled it back into a pony tail and tied it with a rubber band Chanyeol used to keep his brushes together.

"Why would you-" Chanyeol reached out for his pony tail and combed the mess of it with his fingers just as Kris placed his stool right before the painter.

"You look pretty with your hair down but I guess it's better to keep it all behind your head while you're pouring out your emotion looking for a piece of mind. Something's bothering you, Chanyeol. May I know what it is?" A hand landed on his shoulder and once Kris gave it a squeeze, his whole world crumbling down. The brush fell out of his grip as well as his weak heart. He can never paint again, not without his paint brush and Kris Wu.

"It's you."

Chanyeol came home that night with wet clothes covered in colour and tears. The rain droplet soaked everything it touched, including the somber man walking home with head and shoulder down. His eyes swollen so much from crying that he can barely see the pavement he walked on. After unlocking the door, he stepped into the house and heard a sound of water drizzling from the tap in the kitchen.

There was Suho standing alone with wet plate in his left hand and sponge on the other hand. Both hands busy doing their job and Chanyeol took that cue to get close to Suho and wrapped his arms around him from behind. The younger gently put down the ceramic plate and sponge back into the sink and let the water ran on the skin of his hands. Seconds later, pale wrinkly hands touched Chanyeol's forearm over his torso, didn't even bother by the coldness from Chanyeol's wet clothes that dissolved into his skin.

The longing came back into the warm embrace as the past rushing through their minds. The past was something that Chanyeol told himself not to remember but in the end, he failed to do so.

"Chanyeol-ah, what do you think of Kris?" Suho looked at Chanyeol who was eating before him. The kid looked up at the older boy before he shrugged.

"Jerk." Some rice flew out of his mouth when he tried to talk with his mouth filled. Suho laughed it off and picked the rice that stuck on Chanyeol's chin and put it into his mouth instead.

"He's wonderful, really..." Chanyeol shrugged again and this time Suho pinched his cheek lightly with a chuckle and lifted his bowl of rice to finish their dinner.

One and a half year, it had been perfect for them both. Losing both of his parents hasn't bother him anymore as long as Kris were there with him to get through his rough life raising his little brother.

Kris took his liberty to look after his brother when Suho went out for his part time job at a family restaurant and spicy rice cake vendor after school. Kris treated Chanyeol like his own brother, taught him everything that Suho left out; algebra, simple English and Chinese, girls and boys.

Eventually, love blossomed like sakura in the spring.

Chanyeol shrugged it off, he loved Kris - loved him being around when Suho left for work. No other lingering feeling. Kris was a jerk when he asked what colour Suho would like for his boxer or what kind of shampoo did Suho used that make his hair smells like honeydew and morning breeze. But Kris never asked him why Suho grew chubbier than usual or why he always vomitting to Chanyeol's eggroll. Or maybe both of the boys knew something that worth keeping from Chanyeol. Chanyeol shrugged it off, like any other curiosities.

"Watch him when he steps down the stairs, Chanyeol." Kris left the message with a squeeze on his shoulder like every other day when he came to visit Suho after the small boy dropped out of school.

15-year-old Chanyeol closed the door behind him and slipped into their tiny bedroom where he saw Suho in the bed lying on his side, sleeping soundly with a protective hand on his bulging stomach. Chanyeol switched off the light and rested his body next to Suho who was sweating through his pajama. He removed the blanket off his pregnant brother and pulled the end of it to wipe at Suho's sweaty face.

"How far along are you, hyung?"

"Four months to go, baby boy. I have to start counting days. We couldn't afford the monthly visit. Too expensive, with the ultrasound and the pills. I can't burden Kris anymore with all the extra care. He'd done enough." Suho whispered with a hand rubbing circle at the back of Chanyeol's hand.

"He's the father, hyung. Let him do what he thinks best for you. All you have to do is sit tight and let me and Kris do all the work." Chanyeol pulled Joonmyun into his arms but the older quickly wriggled out of it.

"What are you? A furnace?" Chanyeol chuckled and put a good distance between him and his brother. Suho had trouble sleeping because of the heat. His body felt hot even though Chanyeol had turned the air conditioner on at the lowest temperature. He would sleep without blanket but Chanyeol was worried he might catch a fever sleeping without it. So, Chanyeol used his body as the blanket though he himself couldn't withstand the coldness digging into his bones. Luckily the bed was small and his brother couldn't complain about him being too close. The bed wasn't big enough for them both anymore when Chanyeol's growth spurt caused him to grow a few inches taller during the past winter. 

"Chanyeol-ah, you're my responsibility. I'm the one who supposed to take care of you. And Yifan...He had done everything to help me to secure our family house. He brought his family lawyer to help us out. It was noble and I couldn't wish for more help or for him to love me more than anyone or anything. It's too much for me to ask." Though he was sleepy, he still forced his eyes to stay open. To stay awake until he was sure his brother has fallen asleep. But Chanyeol were as stubborn as always.

"You know I always doubt Kris's kindness. I'm sorry, hyung but now, I respect him for helping us with the house. He must have loved you so much. He wanted you to get comfortable with the baby."

"And you, Chanyeol. He wanted all of us to get comfortable with food on the table, roof on top of our heads and heater when it gets too cold. Told you he's wonderful, little brother." He yawned as he closed his eyes and laid his head on the pillow he shared with Chanyeol. With a sigh, Chanyeol pressed a hand on Joonmyun's belly and rubbed it softly.

"Hyung will protect you for all you worth, Sehun. Everything will worth it when you