"Thank you, come again," The female waitress politely said, bowing her head. Donghae simultaneously did the same before giving a smirk that had erased all mental sanity of the woman. A soft crimson blush formed on the girl's cheek as she gave a shy smile, and soon after Donghae walked out the food shop with a plastic bag of take-out in hand.

Donghae worked at a well known studio and building in Seoul and was the dance instructor for the advanced class of the company he worked for. Classes were from Monday to Thursday, starting at 5PM and ending at 9PM. He didn't get paid a lot, if you thought about, but it wasn't as if he needed too much money to raise himself. And his passion for dance could not be compared to money in any way possible. Sometimes he hated his job, thinking that there really was no use to it, but knew he had to get around independently.

Every class had a thirty minute break beginning at seven o'clock, and Donghae usually bought food from an adjacent shop a block away from the studio as he did today.

The male was currently walking down a sidewalk in the busy streets of Seoul, with the light of lamp posts brightening up the midnight blue sky. Billboards sat atop of buildings of varying heights, not too far away from satellites. Stores had neon lights after a long day of being kept off, and food carts were becoming busier by the second due to pedestrians looking for a quick snack.

Donghae tucked in his free hand onto his dark grey jacket, earphones already put on his ears. The weather was cold enough for him to wear a dark blue hoodie without a zipper underneath his jacket. He was sauntering down the sidewalk, looking ahead of him though he knew his direction around Seoul by heart, but accidentally bumped into someone. 

Looking down, he realized it was a little boy dressed in a grey long sleeve shirt, with Mickey Mouse printed on it. His pajama pants had black and white sheep on light blue cloth (causing Donghae to mentally smile at how he had about the same pants), and ebony leather sandals that had two blue velcro straps. Donghae mumbled a 'sorry' at the little boy and was about to leave until he took notice of his facial expression. The little boy was wiping his right eye with his fisted hand and was letting out uneven breaths every other second. He was shaking due to his continuous crying and had a frown on his face. After realizing that the little boy had no guardian, Donghae suddenly became concerned and stopped the other from going on to walk. "Hey," he greeted, squatting down to be in level with the boy. When the little boy didn't respond, Donghae just continued to speak. "Where's your umma and appa?"

"No umma, and appa mad at me," The boy mumbled, sniffing in his runny nose. The thought of his shouting father caused him to cry more, and Donghae couldn't help but kneel down and hug the vulnerable boy, ssh-ing him and assuring things will be fine.

"Why is your appa mad at you?" Donghae asked, standing up to now carry the boy with his free arm. On most occasions this would be some sort of stranger danger for children, but the little boy didn't care at that moment and thankfully Donghae did not fancy children in a e-sense. In fact, he was awkward around kids, and would ignore them most of the time, but the little boy with him right now looked too innocent. And considering the fact that most bad people were out during the night time, Donghae decided to stay with the boy for the meantime.

"Appa yell at me," The younger replied, and Donghae nodded urging him to continue on. "He likes Kyu-hyung better than me...." He sadly mumbled.

"Want me to take you home?" Donghae asked, watching as the little boy wiped his eyes once again. He shook his head and Donghae pursed his lips in brief thought. But he remembered that he had less than fifteen minutes to return to his class and eat his food, so Donghae looked at the boy once again. "How about I take you to my work, and we go find your appa after?"

When the child nodded, Donghae continued walking the path to the building his studio was at.

Once back inside the studio, Donghae put the little boy down and watched as he scanned the room, which probably looked very unfamiliar to him. Their gazes met, and when Henry brought his hand up  to hold onto two of Donghae's fingers, the latter gave a friendly smile and led him further into the room.

The students were chatting in small groups, eating their food, but did not fail to notice that their hot teacher (according to the majority of the students) had brought a little boy with him. The girls started gushing about how the little boy was so cute and came to a conclusion that they will for sure be jealous of the lucky person Donghae marries. "Who is he, oppa?" One of the girls asked.

"His name's Inchan," The instructor replied, looking down at the boy as he spoke, feeling the small hand tighten around his fingers from hesitance, "and he's going to be staying with us for the rest of today's class."

When the students went back to their small conversations, Donghae sat by himself across of Inchan with his back pressed against the mirrored wall. "Have you eaten dinner yet?" The older asked, legs crossed as he opened his styrofoam to-go box. His meal consisted of rice, grilled slices of meat, and a salad on the side.

Inchan shook his head slowly, his eyes looking down on the laminated, wooden flooring. "You want some of my food?" Donghae asked, sounding slightly awkward. He honestly did not know what to talk about or do with kids, hence he hadn't made his own family despite being twenty-six years old already.

When Inchan's stomach growled, the little boy blushed crimson upon hearing Donghae chuckle. "I guess you're really hungry," He jokingly said, and Inchan giggled. The older of the two then used his chopsticks to gather some rice and meat, opening his own mouth, implying for Inchan to do the same.

And as planned, the boy opened his mouth before Donghae fed him the food. "You like that?" He asked, and Inchan cheerfully nodded as he chewed the food, much to Donghae's amusement. He then continued to feed the boy, forgetting about his own hunger. 

The class resumed and for the next couple of hours, Inchan was left to watch Donghae teach his class. Every now and then Donghae would have the class dance to fun songs they had learnt about before, and Inchan had told him his favorite was the dance to "Candy" by H.O.T—and Donghae only knew this because the boy was making a cute attempt to describe the dance upon being asked which he liked the most.

Class had ended, and after the last couple of students had left the studio, Donghae changed from his dancing attire of sweat pants and a white wife beater to the clothes he had worn earlier when he went out for his break. Inchan was long distracted by the other's iPhone, playing different games on it. But when Donghae called his attention, the little boy looked up. 

"Before we go to your house, I'll introduce you to my friend," Donghae said, referring to his friend Leeteuk who worked a floor below his studio. Sure, Donghae had a good time being with the child, but he thought Leeteuk was much more mature in handling issues. When Inchan nodded, Donghae picked up his sports bag, and carried the boy with his two arms.

Leeteuk was a radio show host for a local but successful radio station, and had been doing his job for a little over five years. He knew Donghae for the sole reason of working in the same building, and sometimes got together outside of work to eat out or drink. He finished his shift a bit later than Donghae had, but the latter had no problem waiting.

Once the "On Air" sign had been turned off, Donghae was allowed to go inside the recording room, where Leeteuk was now gathering his belongings. "Hi, hyung," The younger greeted and got one in return.

Leeteuk was smiling until he caught sight of the little boy Donghae was holding, finding him oddly familiar. "Hello," he kindly said to the four year old, "what's your name?" Before Inchan could reply, Leeteuk's phone started to vibrate in his pocket.

Gesturing something that spoke 'one-moment-please' to the two, the radio show host turned the other direction as he answered his phone. "Yoboseyo?"

"Leeteuk-hyung! I-I can't find him! He ran away and and and we looked around every street, asking nearly everyone in the city! No one has seen him, hyung!" The voice was crying in complete panic, and his words were slurred. "Hyukjae, breathe," Leeteuk calmly replied, "and repeat what you said in a slower manner." "Hyung, I can't find Henry! I got mad at him and gave him time-out, but he ran away! Hyung, what do I do???"

And that's when it hit Leeteuk. The boy Donghae was with was Hyukjae's son, no doubt about it. He then looked at the little boy, who was playing with Donghae's shirt, and suddenly remembered who he was. "Hyukjae, he's with us right now."

"What? Why? How did he get there??"

"I'm not so sure, since my friend had just brought him to my studio."

"Can I talk to your friend? Please."

"Okay, hold on."

Leeteuk immediately passed the phone to Donghae, who was surprised at first but took hold of the device and brought it up against his ear. "Yoboseyo?"

"Hi, do you have my child?! Please, please, PLEASE tell me you do!"

"I'm pretty sure I do, did he run away a few hours ago?"

"Yes, he did! How did you find him??"

"I just saw him crying and walking by himself when I came out of a store."

"Is it okay if you, him, and Leeteuk stay inside the building? I'll be there in a few minutes!"

"Of course, see you in a few."

When Hyukjae had hung up the call, Donghae bit his bottom lip slightly, holding back a small smile that wanted to escape. He knew it was rude to say this about a person panicking about his lost son, but Donghae found his voice very nice to listen to.

And just as promised, Hyukjae arrived in a few minutes, and the redness as well as puffiness of his eyes were evident signs of crying. Donghae watched as the father took hold of Henry from his arms and put him down on the floor. He kneeled in level with him and kissed his forehead, his cheeks, the tip of his nose, and practically all over his face. "Never run away from appa and Kyu-hyung again, arasso?" He asked, hugging his son.

"Appa don't love Henli; he hate Henli very much," Henry replied quietly, not returning the hug Hyukjae was giving him.

Hyukjae widened his eyes from the shock of hearing that and pulled away from the embrace to hold his tiny hands. "Of course I love you, baby. You know you and your big brother mean everything to me!"

Henry's lips started quivering as Hyukjae just watched him. "Appa yell at me, and he loves Kyu-hyung more," he mumbled, a stream of fresh tears now spilling out from his eyes. Donghae assumed that Inchan's older brother was the little boy who arrived with Hyukjae, and who also had slightly puffy eyes from crying.

"Henry-ah, I love both of you equally," Hyukjae replied, feeling his own eyes water once again seeing Henry wipe his small eyes. The father then moved his little fist, and instead wiped the boy's tears with his thumbs. "Appa was only upset with you because you were being a bad boy. I'm sorry for doing that, baby. I can get mad at times, but I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Appa loves Henli?" Henry quietly asked, and Hyukjae did not hesitate to reply.

"Very, very, VERY much, Henli," Hyukjae said in return, and finally let his tears fall out when Henry slowly hugged him.

"Henli sorry for being bad today," Henry mumbled. Hyukjae hugged the boy tighter, his tears now pouring out of his eyes.

"I love you so much, Henry. Please don't run away like you did, or appa will become sad again," The father said. 

Henry nodded and pulled away from the hug only to meet gazes with his most favorite (and only) brother in the world. "Kyu-hyung!" The boy exclaimed, running away from Hyukjae to go to said person, who was standing by the entrance. The two brothers hugged, causing the three adults in the room to smile. "Kyu-hyung cry?" Henry asked in surprise, not once seeing his brother cry.

The boy, though reluctantly, nodded. Even at an early age people already knew Kyuhyun was not one to express mushy feelings, and instead responded to them calmly. But the thought of never seeing Henry again was enough to make Kyuhyun let out tears from his heart, which he definitely did not wear up his sleeve. "Henli no run away ever again, okay! Bad Henli!" He scolded as if he wasn't just a five year old. As harsh as he sounded for a child, both Hyukjae and Henry knew that that was his way of expressing his care.

Henry let his brother hug him tighter, and didn't notice the small amount of rebellious tears falling out of the older's eyes. "Sorry, hyung."

After watching the two, Hyukjae wiped his last bits of tears, standing back up. He was about as tall as Donghae, but was nearly half an inch shorter—not that it was noticeable. "I'm really sorry if this whole situation gave you a hard time," Hyukjae then said, looking at Donghae. "I'm Hyukjae." The two then bowed their head slightly, and once their heads were up, Donghae smiled.

"Donghae," said person replied, and soon Hyukjae found himself nibbling down his lower lip, preventing himself from letting out the small smile that wanted to show itself. "Inchan was no problem at all."

There was just something about his voice that started to make Hyukjae feel nervous yet jumpy at the same time. Maybe it was how soothingly deep it sounded, or how a small dialect accent was heard as he spoke—or maybe even both.

But Hyukjae was caught off his trance when he realized that Donghae had called Henry by his Korean name, Inchan. "Henry told you his name was Inchan?" Hyukjae asked in surprise, and Donghae slowly nodded, not understanding why it was much of a big deal. Children with English names typically have Korean names, too.

"Why?" Donghae confusedly asked. Hyukjae just forced a smile and shook his head to abort the question, mentally wondering why Henry introduced himself by that name. Donghae thought that maybe Hyukjae didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't even know him enough to have the right to know. But it didn't stop him from wondering about why Hyukjae became surprised.

Hyukjae then turned to Leeteuk, who was listening the whole time. "Sorry for bothering you, too," The boy said, embracing the other. Leeteuk hugged back, kissing the other's cheek in a friendly way before pulling away.

"Don't apologize," Leeteuk replied, smiling softly at the shorter male, who was two years younger than him. The two had known each other since middle school, back when they lived just a couple of blocks away from each other. Despite the , both were very good friends. "I would've gone psycho if he was my son." Both friends laughed and Hyukjae turned back to Donghae.

"Thank you so much for watching over my son. I owe you so much," the father said, and Donghae chuckled. "It's probably not enough to show my gratitude, but here..." His last couple of words came out as mumbles as he pulled out his wallet, opening it to take out a $100 bill.

Donghae's eyebrows shot up the air when she saw the money. Hyukjae's arm was reaching out to him, expecting him to take it, but Donghae frantically shook his head and moved his hands in front of his own face, gesturing 'no, please, no!' The father scrunched his eyebrows, and Donghae began to speak.

"Keep the money," He said, and Hyukjae tilted his head. "It really was no big deal. I don't need anything in return." The father of the two unconciously pouted and put his money away with the feeling of defeat, Donghae inwardly laughed at the cute gesture.

"Actually," The dance instructor said after thinking about something. Hyukjae was about to tuck his wallet into his back pocket, but instead froze in that position, staring at Donghae with questioning eyes. "Instead of giving me money, how about we hang out this Saturday?"

Hyukjae's mouth opened just the tiniest bit, feeling dumfounded upon hearing Donghae's question. He didn't realize he was gaping at the other with widened eyes until Leeteuk pushed the back of his head, bringing him back to reality. When he noticed Donghae watching him with smiling lips and hopeful eyes, Hyukjae felt his cheeks burn, but didn't make an effort to do anything about it. 

"I don't think that's a good idea since my kids won't have a guardian at home and I have to clean up around the apartment anyways. I think I also have work that day, so I'll be pretty busy and—"

Hyukjae was cut off from slurring out pathetic reasons when Leeteuk spoke up. "Hyukkie, it's been almost three years since you went out without the kids. You don't even have work during the weekends!"

"But—"

"You've been so busy being a father that you have yet to let yourself take a deep breath and enjoy your young age," Leeteuk reasoned out, wrapping his arm around the younger. Hyukjae bit his bottom lip, looking down at the suddenly interesting floor. "You should let your adorable, playful, and humorous side out once in a while; if not, people will probably think I'm the younger of us two! Nothing will go wrong, I promise."

Hyukjae laughed through his nose, his lips now smiling softly without meeting the eyes, and brought his gaze back to Leeteuk, wanting some sign of assurance to appear in the latter's eyes.  "Kangin and I will take care of the kids," Leeteuk added. "Just go, Hyukjae-ah." He encouraged.

Hyukjae then felt his cheeks burn once again as he turned to look back at Donghae, who was patiently waiting for an answer. The two stared at each other once again, but when Hyukjae let out a nervous laugh, Donghae couldn't help but laugh as well, which led to the other laughing more confidently. "I.. I guess it'll be fine," Hyukjae then said, now flashing a bright smile at the other, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Donghae didn't understand the feeling he was experiencing upon seeing such a beautiful smile, not once having felt it before. It was as if his stomach was jumping and butterflies were flying inside him, but he knew it was a good feeling, especially when he felt his heartbeat race just a bit faster than the ordinary. "I'll pick you up at 12 noon," He stated, and Hyukjae nodded. Both boys kept the smiles on their faces even as they exchanged phone numbers and bid their goodbyes.

"Get some!" Leeteuk teasingly yelled once Donghae was out of the studio. Hyukjae couldn't help but let out a goofy smile, leading Leeteuk to laugh at his dongsaeng's actions.

Henry stopped chatting with his older brother and looked at the two confusingly. "What does 'get some' mean, appa?"

----

a/n: no cliffhangers this time c: comments would be very kawaii, please and thank you (ﾉ◕⌒◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧