Yunho stared at Changmin’s tummy as he breathed in his sleep. It’s been a few hours since they all went to bed but Yunho couldn’t seem to fall asleep, that afternoon’s events deeply etched in his bothered mind.

Truth was Yunho was ecstatic to finally hear his baby brother speak his first audible word. Yunho had to admit that there was a slight twinge of guilt knowing that Changmin’s first word was about a mother and it wasn’t really their mother as Changmin was obviously referring to Jaejoong. At the thought of the guy, Yunho turned his neck to look at the sleeping form across the room on the other bed holding little Junsu in his sleep. Carefully sitting up so as not to disturb his sleeping brothers, Yunho couldn’t help but stare at Jaejoong who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Yunho couldn’t deny it any longer to himself. He has fallen in love with the guy. What started as appreciation for all the help that Jaejoong has given him and his brothers turned out to be a deeper appreciation for the guy he really was. It wasn’t hard to love Jae. His kindness and thoughtfulness to others seemed so natural not to mention how much he obviously loved Junsu. Jae had a fierce protectiveness about him that Yunho admired. It reminded him of his own mother which was exactly why it was such a big deal to him that Changmin’s first word was ‘eomma’.

He remembered the awkward conversation he and Jae shared that afternoon after walking in on him and Minnie the afternoon he called Jae, eomma.

“Yunho, I…” Jae said his smile faltering.

Yunho blinked. “Wow,” he finally said after a momentary silence, “Minnie’s first word huh.” He added reaching for his brother who squealed in delight as Yunho took him from Jae.

“Uh, yes. He… Min… Changmin, he… he must have heard it from the older boys earlier.” Jae stammered.

Yunho looked at him and felt Jaejoong’s hesitation. Yunho nodded saying, “I’m sorry about that. It’s just that, you’ve always been there, you know?” Yunho said soberly trying to explain to Yunho that Changmin didn’t know what he was doing.

“Uh, yeah. I know.” Jae said nodding and looking away.

Yunho rubbed his palms on his face. That afternoon’s event made him realize that while Jaejoong loved his brothers, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t feeling burdened by them as well. Sighing deeply, Yunho knew he needed to do something to be able to unburden Jae of himself and his brothers. He also wanted to show Jae how much he appreciated him and Junsu for “adopting” him and his brothers.

Resolving to get a job in the morning, Yunho finally felt exhausted by his turbulent emotions and fell into a fitful sleep.

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Jaejoong sighed as he folded the last of the laundry while keeping an eye on Changmin who was playing on the floor. It’s been two days since the afternoon Yunho heard Changmin call him eomma. Truth was he was delighted that Changmin uttered his first word since the boy has been babbling since he was at least 7 months old but has never truly said an intelligent word until that fateful afternoon. Jae also felt happy by the fact that Changmin singled him out by the way that the little boy’s hands were squeezing his cheeks as if confirming Yoochun’s earlier comment about how he reminds him of their mother.

Unfortunately, that also put Jaejoong in a bind because Jae didn’t want Yunho to feel as if he was trying to take the place of Yunho’s parents. But since Changmin was only a few weeks old when they came to the orphanage, he literally was the only “mother” that the boy ever had.

Finally putting away the clothes, Jae began thinking about their future at the orphanage. He had a few months more before he turned an adult recognized by the state, while Yunho following closely, a couple of weeks behind him. Soon, he and Yunho would have to leave the orphanage. While they didn’t mind since they could both look for work, they were not willing to leave their brothers behind.

“Ma!” Changmin suddenly screamed as he stood and hurriedly half-walked half-crawled towards Jae.

“What baby?” Jae asked looking at the little boy.

Changmin held his arms up begging to be carried and Jae obliged. Changmin began to lay himself on his chest, his little head resting on the crook of Jae’s neck as he huffed a little puff of breath tickling Jaejoong’s ear.  “Ma.” Changmin said again as he patted his hand on Jae’s shoulder as if confirming his thoughts.

Jae couldn’t help but smile at the sweet boy. Hugging him tightly, Jae inhaled Minnie’s sweet baby scent and gave the little boy a kiss on top of his forehead. “Yes, baby, eomma’s here.” He whispered.

Closing his eyes, Jae knew what he had to do. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure that how Yunho would think of his plan.

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Yunho raised the collar of his coat looking up to the sky as droplets of rain began to fall from the sky. Making sure that his bag was secure on his shoulder, Yunho made his way through the throng of people trying to get to the subway as fast as he could. He couldn’t wait to share with Jae his good news.

Yunho couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Jae. Try as he might to resolve his feelings for the older guy, Yunho finally gave up and allowed himself to feel what he felt. But then he suddenly felt scared that Jaejoong might figure out what he was feeling and so unintentionally he started ignoring Jae these past couple of days. Yunho knew that he was still lacking in many areas and Jae has definitely led him to be more forgiving of himself if he made mistakes. And so he figured that if he really wanted to do right by Jae, he had to be better if only for his brothers’ sakes.

Unfortunately, Yunho realized that Jae’s attention has been divided instead of being able to focus on Junsu alone. While he knew that Junsu didn’t feel that way seeing as how he absolutely adored Yoochun, Yunho still felt bad that Junsu had to share in Jaejoong’s attention which was why when Junsu came up to him earlier that morning after breakfast and asked him if he could be his ‘appa’ (upon which he promptly started coughing as a piece of rice got stuck in his air pipe and Yoochun started thwacking away at his back), he couldn’t help but say yes.

Grinning to himself as he finally get a seat on the subway, Yunho looking at the piece of paper he was holding, Yunho thought of how things would be a lot better for him and his little “family” soon. Losing that job last week was a huge blow to Yunho who has been saving every single cent he could. Since he was nearing the legal age of adulthood, he knew his time at the orphanage was running out. It also meant that he would have to leave his brothers behind which would raise the chances of them being adopted.

Sometimes Yunho questioned himself if he was being selfish for wanting to keep him and his brothers together. Sometimes he thought of Yoochun who kept getting bullied in school for being an orphan or Changmin who never knew what it was like to have a complete set of parents, something that he will forever feel guilty for seeing as he was the only one out of the three who ever truly experienced what it was like to have a happy and complete family.

However, that afternoon when he entered the room in time to hear Changmin utter his first word, Yunho couldn’t help but be happy. He understood that it would be normal for Changmin to think of Jae as his mom since the guy has always been there to nurture him. It did however make Yunho feel more guilty for adding another burden on Jaejoong’s shoulders.

When he arrived at his stop, Yunho passed by the little provision shop on the corner near the orphanage and got the older boys a few treats. As he was about to leave the shop, Yunho caught a glimpse of something near the counter. Approaching the item slowly, Yunho called out to the shop owner and asked if he could take a look at the item.

The shopkeeper obliged and Yunho took it carefully into his hands. Twirling it slowly around his fingers, Yunho couldn’t help but smile as the item reminded him of Jae. Thinking of how much the item would set him back a bit, Yunho shook his head and decided that Jaejoong was worth it and asked the shopkeeper to wrap it up for him.

Thanking the shopkeeper, Yunho fought the urge to skip home as he neared the orphanage. He couldn’t help but feel his heart pound just a tad bit faster at the thought of seeing his brothers and little Junsu and his Jae. “Omo.” He said feeling flustered at the thought ‘his’ Jae. Looking at the little bag where Jaejoong's gift lay, Yunho couldn’t wait to show everyone his purchases especially Jae who he prayed would like his present.

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Short chap up but hey it's better than nothing right? Had a crappy day guys so your comments would totally make it better... *hint hint* heehee... Seriously though I do appreciate each and everyone who comment and as most of you know, writers are comment- XD so even though this chap a bit, i would love to hear your thoughts on this... like... what could Yunho's gift be? Heeheehee...