The better I got to know the older man standing in front of me, the more confusing he became. MinJun stood beside me, wearing thick sunglasses that covered half his face, a fancy looking cap that was twisted to the back with only a small tuff of copper colored hair sticking out the front in a perfectly styled flip. It kinda looked like he was one of those celebrities trying to be incognito, though for what reason it wasn’t exactly clear. But we were standing in the middle of a shop, and he was flipping through racks upon racks of multi colored, tight fitting, underwear.

   “For Christmas.” He said as he handed me a pair of fluffy red velvet boxer briefs that had a thick black belt around the hip, it took me a moment to realize that they were made to look like Santa’s pants. “I dun think ya’ should dress up scary for Halloween, leave that to Taec . . . you should go with a more cutesy approach.” MinJun murmured as he flipped through a rack of different costume themed underwear and pulled out, grinning like an absolute ert as he held it up for me to see. “Perfect!”

   I looked at the black spandex underwear and upon noting that the fabric was missing a substantially large space where the went, what made me question him was the set of black fuzzy cat paws and tail that went with it. “You expect me to wear that?”

   Of course, his grin only widened. “If ya’ want people to pay to see ya’ shake dat boy then you gotta dress like you really want it, love~” With a smack on my , MinJun handed me the cat costume and then grabbed several more of different themed underwear sets, piling them all in my arms

   We walked around the mall, actually I followed him around the mall with my arms full of bags while he strolled with his chin up, practically talking non-stop. “On the way to the club ta’night, I’ma stop and get some hair remover and a bleaching kit.” I just stared at him cluelessly until he caught on and his eyes wandered down and he motioned down to the front of my pants. “For your . . . areas.” He added and then laughed at my blush. “I made an appointment at the spa, you need a mani and pedi because those cuticles look like you came out tha’ jungle fo’real.” His hands were running through my hair and I kinda wanted to smack it away, but he just sighed. “We definitely gotta do something with this hair. I’m thinkin’ you’d look good blonde.”

   “Can you stop touching my hair?” I cringed at the sinister smirk that curved his lips just slightly as he leaned in.

   “What’s wrong big boy,” MinJun breathed into my ear, for a moment, I wondered what the deal was with him and Taec using that nickname but my mind wasn’t left to linger on such miniscule things for long, since he was practically pushing me against a wall in the middle of the crowded shopping center. “You got a thing for hair pullin’?”

   I paled, wondering how the hell I could be such an open book to him. “No, I just don’t like being touched.”

   “Liar~” He sang as he turned away and I just followed him. “I could play rough with ya’, if that’s wut yer kink is.” Momentarily stunned by the offer, I was still a little unsure whether or not he meant it until another glance back at me and he lowered the thick black frames at the bridge of his nose, and with a sly wink, I questioned no more.

   Before I could turn too flustered by the way he eye ed me in public, a muffled and rather fitting moan rung loudly from inside his pocket and he pulled out his cell phone, answering the call and leaving me to stand awkwardly listening to a one sided phone conversation. “Taec baby, waddup?”

*

“We gotta talk.” I cringed at the gust of hot air that hit my ear from behind and tried to shake away the body that clung fervently to me against my will. “C’mon daddy, don’t be that way~” MinJun said with a grin when I finally managed to get out from his grasp and shot him daggers that would surely kill him if they could.

   “How many times have I asked you to refrain from calling me ‘daddy’?” I rubbed the back of my neck, still glaring at him.

   For a moment, it looked like he was actually counting in his head. “Twelve.” I wasn’t sure which was scarier, the fact that he had kept count, or the fact that I wasn’t at all surprised about it. “Aish! It’s a compliment, jeez.” He complained to which his grievances fell on deaf ears.

   “It’s disgusting.” I corrected. “What do you want to talk about?”

   “You’re not gonna like it.” I knew that already. I knew I wouldn’t like it by his feigningly innocent smile and the way he stared at me like I was candy. I knew it simply because it was MinJun having to talk to me about something, anything, therefore . . . I was doomed to not like it.

   “Then why do you want to talk about it?”

   “Wooyoung’s homeless.”

   I’ll be honest, this was definitely not what I had expected, and the topic may have struck the smallest of nerves but was quickly buried behind my unexplainable dislike for the petite dancer. “Why come to me because of that?” It was a lot harder pretending to be an .

   “Because you have that big house with a spare bedroom just going ta’ waste and I’ve got a teeny tiny apartment with quite limited space.” And so was revealed why this sneaky weasel was standing in front of me.

   A glance at the boy on the other side of the room, completely oblivious to our conversation as he stretched his leg on the bar that hung across the mirrored wall and I already knew the answer. “Never.”

   Before I could walk away, MinJun grabbed my arm and pleaded with me. “Seriously, Bruh, you gonna jus’ walk away from a kid that has nowhere else to go?”

   “Don’t try and guilt me into this!” I snapped at the older man, my conscious already eating away at my decision and making me question if I was really as good of a person as I thought I was. “God, I hate you. Why do I keep working here?”

   “Taec,” It was odd how suddenly serious MinJun seemed, like with that one word he flipped over and was no longer that crazy annoying guy and a serious, well mannered human being was looking me directly in my eyes. “He needs us. Seriously.”

   With a sigh from my defeated lungs, that smirk was back on MinJun’s lips and he pat my shoulder proudly. “And he’s willing to pay rent.”

   “I don’t want his stupid rent.” I grumbled but we both knew I would appreciate the cash. “If he makes one comment about my brother, just one, I’m kicking his , then I’m kicking him out.”

   “That is very acceptable.”

*

To give a clear idea as to what it was like being near the tall man that was my co-worker, just imagine being a thin, short little green bean . . . and then suddenly the biggest zucchini you’ve ever seen rolls up and towers over you. Yup. That pretty much summed up me standing next to the beast known as Ok Taecyeon.

   Welcome to Intimidation Island.

   Did I mention he had a cold stare that could make your bones shake?

   And to top it all off, I was absolutely, one hundred percent sure that he disliked my very existence so why, oh god why, did MinJun convince him to give me a place to stay?

   Because the old bat is ing crazy.

   He was some weird, ego tripping, fashionista wannabe, drug artist, sauvé hipster and he had somehow managed to put me through hours of facial torture to give me ‘the perfect complexion’ along with a full manicure on my hands and feet, and my natural almost black hair was replaced with a deep golden brown color that sparkled in every window I passed – a nice compromise to his idea of giving me feather blonde hair.

   The scariest part was the waxing . . . my legs . . . my arms . . . some other parts that still ached as I walked up the porch steps to the ordinary looking suburban home. It wasn’t the nicest house on the block but it was still better than anything my family could ever afford and it made me wonder about the man’s upbringing. Before I could wonder for long, the front door opened and I found myself facing a very normal looking Taecyeon, dressed modestly in white sweat pants that looked a size too big for him and a black t-shirt.

   “Come on in.” He said as he unlocked the screen door and let me inside.

   I took off my shoes and looked around the place. It was filled with so many children’s toys it looked like a day care center. Taecyeon just stepped casually over a stuffed animal that was lying on the floor as he led me deeper inside the house. “Bathroom’s here,” He pointed to a closed door and I made a mental note to remember that one. “Kitchen’s through here, living room . . . My bedroom’s upstairs,” He motioned to the single door at the top of the stairs and then led me down the hallway, we passed a room with a bright red colored ‘Chan’ that looked like it was written by a child’s hand but he didn’t stop or say anything about it.

   When Taecyeon opened the door at the back of the room I peered in curiously only to be filled with disappointment. It was a plain white bedroom with a simple mattress on a frame, looked like no one had stepped foot in it since moving day. “This is the spare room . . . If you wanna paint, that’s fine – decorate it how you want.” Taec said as he handed me a key and I took it graciously. “House rules . . . No loud music or noise after ten o’clock. No smoking in the house. If you’ve got alcohol, keep it in your bedroom. Basically, keep the place kid-friendly.”

   A part of me was reminded of something I’d heard MinJun say about the man once, and before I could filter myself, I asked. “You’re a single dad?” I was going to drown myself in stupid I might as well do it properly. “It’s not a bad thing . . . I thought you were gay, that’s all.”

   He looked at me like I was crazy, and I was, I was suffering from a very hysterical case of ‘foot-in-mouth’ disease. I could already feel the suppressed anger in his unspoken words as he parted his lips at the exact same time that the front door opened.

   “Hyung!” A voice called out, deep and boisterous, silencing Taecyeon as the owner of the voice found us with a big smile on his face. “Hyung, lookit noona got me!” I couldn’t help the smile that grew at the corners of my mouth as I watched the man of equal height and girth holding a bag of soft candies up to Taecyeon, bouncing on his feet like an excited child. “Noona says I wait ‘til hyung lets me eat them! Can I hyung? I wants them!”

   In that moment, I’d never seen Taecyeon look more tired, but he looked over the bag and then gave the other a warm smile. “You can have five pieces now,” He held up five fingers and the other mimicked him. “And you can have five more after dinner . . . the rest we’ll save for tomorrow.”

   Just before the boyish man could run away in excitement, Taec grabbed his arm and motioned towards me. “Chansung, this is Wooyoung.” Two huge cow eyes peered at me and I felt my smile disappear behind a blush. “He’s going to live with us for a little while.”

   Chansung bowed politely, having just now noticed my presence, but still looked cautiously as he summed me up. I tried to smile more, waving my hand. “Hi, Chansung . . . Nice to meet you.” I said like a dork.

   “W-Wooyoung is nice?” Chansung looked at his older brother and Taecyeon just nodded before he went ahead and stepped over to me. Chansung reached out and touched the tip of my nose with his finger. Part of me wondered if I should bat his hands away, but they were warm, and soft, so I didn’t mind him squishing my cheeks together while he looked me over. He suddenly smiled at me with more happiness than I’ve ever seen anyone possess and then turned to his brother. “I like small hyung, he gots squishy cheeks!”