Changmin POV

We were out of the restaurant, walking comfortably. Well, I was. Jaejoong was running in circles around me, seemingly more hyperactive than ever. 'It's gone, Oppa!' he would say, 'Oppa made it gone!' I would nod my head and smile, sometimes laughing when the cuteness got to me.

We went to where I had left Yoochun and Yunho earlier. It seemed they weren't there. Jae tilted his head cutely. 'Now THEY'RE gone!' he exclaimed, hands raised dramatically in the air.

I chuckled. 'It's okay, Jae. We'll find them.'

I had a sneaking suspicion on where they would be, so I took him to a well known electronics shop. They seemed to be well off, so I predicted that they'd be there.

It turns out I was right (yay me~). Yunho and Yoochun were bent over a glass counter, with Yoochun looking beyond bored and Yunho seemed to be reading something.

'Yunnie~!!' Jae yelled, running towards them. Yoochun looked up at the sound as Jae jumped and landed on Yunho's back, latching his legs around Yunho's waist and arms around Yunho's neck. Seriously, is he made of stone? He didn't even fidget when Jae slammed into his back. That must be some ripped body under that suit.
I came to them, a smile on my face.

'Hey, kiddo!' Yoochun greeted me, after he finished ruffling Jae's hair, 'Took you long enough.'

'Just be happy I gave you enough time to flirt,' I answered, a cheeky smile on my lips. Yoochun ignored this and draped an arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer. I squirmed out of it, and Yoochun hyung hit me in irritation. I hit him back. He hit me in return. I hit him too. Our dumb game continued, seeing who would hit who faster and who could dodge it. I swear I never giggled so hard.

I saw Jae peck Yunho on the cheek when he became to absorbed in the brochure and had lapsed into silence. Not that he talked that much anyway.

'Yunnie, aren't you going to ask about Jae Jae's time?' he enquired, resting his chin on Yunho's shoulder.
'Did you have fun?' Yunho asked nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving the brochure.

'Yeah!' Jae answered excitedly. 'Oppa bought me cake!'

'Really now? You sure took a long time. What did you do?'

'Nothing much. Oppa said he had a big appetite, so he ate lots!'

At his words, Yunho looked up at me, a certain look in his eyes that I could only grin cheekily and flash my best eye smile to. 'Big appetite...?' I heard him say, an eyebrow arched in my direction.

Yoochun reacted by suddenly giving me a noogie, taking me by surprise as his arm constricted around me head and his free hand ruffling my hair painfully. 'Yah!' he yelled, 'Don't teach him vulgarities! I'll skin you alive if he ever picks up f-bomb language from you!'

'Arghhhhh!' I screamed. My position wasn't really the most comfortable right now. 'Okay, okay! Lesson learned! Let go! Now let me go!' I squirmed wildly, my arms flailing around as I struggled under his grip. 'HEEEEEEELP!'

Jae seemed to see me struggle, as he jumped off Yunho's back and came to the two of us. 'Chunnie hyung~ Let go! You're hurting Oppa! Let go!' He started beating Yoochun's chest in an attempt to let me go. Yoochun hyung let go, laughing loudly as he ruffled my hair for the final time. I straightened up, a pout on my lips as I rubbed at my sore scalp pathetically. Jae ran to me and hugged me around the waist protectively.

'Chunnie hyung is not allowed to hurt Changmin Oppa~!!' he scolded. This made Yoochun laugh even more. I guess I must've looked pretty pathetic, with a small boy protecting me from a big bully.

'You're lucky Jaejoong likes you,' he grinned, as he shook his head. I stuck my tongue out at him, wrapping my arms around Jae's shoulders.

'You can't hit me with Jae around~' I teased, provoking him.

'You can't hit me with Jae around~' He was making fun of me!

'Copying my words? Pathetic hyung~'

'Copying my words? Pathetic hyung~'

'Yah! Enough!'

'Yah! Enough!'

'Stop copying me!'

'Stop copying me!'

'Hyung!'

'Hyung!'

'I'm stupid!'

'You're stupid!'

Okay, this guy was good.

'I'm awesome!'

'I'm awesome!'

We were interrupted by a loud whine from Jae. The both of us looked at him, surprised. He had a pout on his face as his eyebrows slanted downwards towards the middle. 'Enough!' he yelled, 'All that noise makes my head hurt.'

I shut up, while Yoochun came forward and carried Jae up by his armpits, as one would a baby. 'Aigoo~ Jae's head hurts?' Jae nodded cutely, latching on to Yoochun's side. 'Manhi apayo?'

Jae shook his head. 'Just a bit...'

I guess when Yoochun hyung labeled himself as a permanent babysitter, he wasn't joking. It seemed both Yoochun and Yunho seriously babyed Jae, doting on him like an only child. I couldn't blame them though, if Jae was mine, I would spoil him senseless too. He was just too cute. And did I mention pretty?

Man, was he pretty. If I was his mom, I'd crossdress just for the heck of it.

Creepy ahjushi mode is back on!

Jae leaned his head on Yoochun hyung's shoulder, looking like the world's cutest -and biggest- baby. He seemed to have fallen into silence. He yawned cutely, even making that cute yawning sound babies did when they were tired.

Man. Was he cute or what?

'Tired, Jae Jae?' Yoochun asked.

'Eung...' Jae replied, wrapping his arms around Yoochun's neck.

Aww... The little baby was tired...

'You wanna sleep?'

Jae shook his head, squirming out of Yoochun's arms. Yoochun placed him down as Jae rubbed his eyes.
'Yunnie~' he whined, coming to him, completely ignoring us as he walked past, 'Jae Jae is tired... Hurry up, okay?' Jae said as he leaned against Yunho's arm.

Yunho glanced at him, holding a hand up to Jae's forehead. 'You feeling alright?'

I saw Jae nod. Bored as I was with no one to play with, I came to stand beside Yunho.

'What are you doing?' I asked politely.

Yunho barely gave me a glance as he went back to studying the brochure. 'Choosing a phone for Jaejoong.'
I was kinda surprised he'd answered. I expected him to totally ignore me. I pushed forward to get a breakthrough in him. 'What kind do you have in mind?'

Yunho shrugged. 'I'm not sure.'

'Well, what kind of phone do you want, Jae?' I asked, focusing my attention to him.

Jae shrugged. 'What is Oppa's phone?'

'A Samsung Galaxy S ll.'

'And Yunnie's?'

'A Blackberry S Series.'

'Chunnie hyung's?'

'iPhone 4S,' Yoochun answered, as he came to stand beside Jae.

Jae's eyebrows furrowed in frustration. 'I don't know...'

'Well... If you want a practical phone that you can do lots of work on and act as a second computer, you should get something like Yunho-shi's phone. If you want something diverse and versatile, take Yoochun hyung's phone. Or if you want something that goes along with the trend, I guess mine would be the best.'

Jae frowned. 'Surprise me.'

I looked up to Yunho. I was surprised to see he was looking right back at me. He was looking me straight in the eye, completely focused on what I was saying. I guess I got nervous, seeing those piercing things. I gulped and my lips, trying to at least regain some composure. 'Um... Do you plan on registering Jaejoong for a line or using a prepaid card...?'

Yunho frowned. 'What's the difference?'

'Well, if you take a prepaid card, it'll be easier to curb his expenditure. But it'll also limit the phone usage by a lot, and it might also case some inconvenience if the prepaid card expires, or even if the money runs out in times of emergency. A line is paid by bill, and there is no limit to the phone usage. It's easier and more manageable, though a bit more expensive.'

Yunho continued staring at me, even when I already finished talking, and I smiled awkwardly. He blinked and looked away.

'I guess I'll just take a line then,' he said.

I nodded. 'Now the only thing left is to do is pick out a phone for Jae...joong.' I bit my lip hesitantly. I didn't know whether he would be alright with me calling Jae by his nickname.

Yunho finally decided on taking an iPhone 4S for Jae, similar to Yoochun hyung's. Within minutes, the new phone was in Jae's hand, as he excitedly ran around, brandishing his new phone in Yoochun's face, excited by the fact that their phones were similar.

It was about ten minutes later, as Yunho and I were sitting side by side on a bench, watching Jae and Yoochun hyung run around. Or rather, watch Jae run around and Yoochun reluctantly chase after him. He was like a mother hen, always watching over Jae and heeding to his every request, smiling and nodding his head along to everything the little one did or said.

Finally, Yoochun hyung seemed to grow tired of their never-ending chasing and he called Jae forward with a wave of his hand. Jae, hyperactive as always, ran to him, hugging him around his waist. Again, I was struck by how small Jae was. He was barely shoulder height to Yoochun hyung, who wasn't even the tallest person out there. I saw Yoochun hyung take out his phone. I think he said something. I wasn't sure because his back was to me and he was quite far away.

I saw Jae put on a confused look, and take out his own phone to place it on Yoochun's outstretched hand. I saw them fiddling with the phones. Since they weren't young much, I quickly lost interest.

I glanced to look at Yunho, who was staring at the two of them with his head resting on his own shoulder, arms outstretched behind him as he leaned, his own arms supporting his body weight. There was a father-like aura radiating from him as he looked at the two, even though his own face remained passive. I expected he cared for the two of them a lot, especially the little one.

'You really love him, huh?'

Yunho glanced at me, moving his position to sit properly. He was quiet for a while, and I began to think that he was going to ignore my question, when he answered. 'Yes. He is the light of my life.'

I saw his eyes soften. If anyone else had said that, it would've sounded extremely corny. But for some reason, it sounded right coming from him. It sounded touching.

I smiled gently. 'Yeah. I can tell.'

Yunho turned his head to look at me. 'You don't know anything.'

I blinked at the ice cold answer, totally taken in by surprise. I usually had a clever retort to anything anyone said, but I was left at a loss for words for him.

I felt the mood drop, and the tension rise. Luckily, Jae suddenly ran to us, totally ignorant of the atmosphere.
'Yunnie! Yunnie, Yunnie look!' Jae said, sitting himself on Yunho's lap, showing his phone to him. He had the Angry Birds application on, as he began playing in front of us.

Yunho wrapped his arms around Jae's waist as Jae leaned into his chest, still playing the game. He looked up at him when he lost, eyes sparkling. 'Chunnie hyung downloaded it for me. You should try playing! It's fun!'

Yoochun hyung came to sit beside me as Yunho shook his head. 'No thank you, Jaejoong.' He was so gentle and soft when it came to Jae that I wanted to pout.

'Try it!' Jae whined insistently.

'You should try it, Yunho-shi,' I encouraged. I wasn't going to be put off by his attitude. If anything, I was going to work harder to make him like me! 'The game's actually quite fun!'

Yunho sighed, but accepted the game, playing with it while Jae gave pointers on how to play. Pretty soon, Yunho had climbed up to the last level, never even losing once. I was impressed. Even I hadn't reached this far.

There was a 'Woah...' coming from Jae as Yunho easily won, defeating those silly pigs. I whistled. 'You're good,' I said, smiling as he looked up at me.

'A stupid game. I doubt anyone would have any difficulty playing.'

My smile faltered as Yunho got up, Jae tagging along, the two walking hand in hand.

I huffed silently as I crossed my arms, making a puffer fish face. Man, was I frustrated.

'Why does he hate me?' I whined, looking at Yoochun hyung, who had an amused look in his eyes.

He laughed in response to my question, and I kicked him hard in the shin. He raised an eyebrow at me, not really reacting to the pain in a way that I would expect. What, was he made of steel? 'Real mature, Changmin,' he mumbled.

I growled, and he held up his hands, smirking slightly.

'He doesn't hate you, Minnie ah. That's just his normal reaction towards strangers. Chill out, kiddo. He's actually a nice guy, you just gotta dig way, way deep to find that side of him.'

I pouted. 'But he doesn't treat you that way. And he's really nice to Jae! It's not fair.'

Yoochun laughed again, before reaching up to ruffle my hair. 'You're a sweet kid, Changmin. It's actually touching to see you put in effort to get on Yunho's good side. That's just the way he is. Just try a bit harder, and I'm sure he'll act nice to you sooner or later. Just don't stop trying. No one's ever tried to befriend him, so he probably doesn't know how to react.'

I blinked, surprised. 'He doesn't have any friends? School? Work? NONE?!'

Yoochun shook his head. 'He was abused at home, and bullied quite badly at school, plus he's naturally reclusive, so don't expect so much. I've known him for about sixteen years and he has yet to completely open up to me.'

I tilted my head. 'But what about Jae?'

Yoochun smirked. 'That, my friend, is a little something called 'love'. Love works wonders, so that doesn't really count.'

My eyebrows shot up. 'So they're really dating? Seriously? But Jae is like... A kid!' I had the gut feeling since long ago, but for someone to really say it out loud... Wow.

Yoochun hyung shrugged. 'Age, gender, religion. Its all redundant. Love, as one said, undermines all.'
I smacked his arm. Freaking philosopher .

We got up to catch up to the two of them.

Yoochun's words had fueled my desire for Yunho to like me even more. Now I seriously wasn't going to give up!

It seemed Jae's attention span was quite short. He had already pocketed his new phone, whilst most teenagers his age would be playing endlessly with it.

I came to stand beside Jae, who looked up to me with a bright smile. 'Oppa!' he said in greeting. I smiled back at him, my hand placed gently on his head. I looked up to steal a glance at Yunho, who was ignoring me, his attention focused on the front. I guess that made me a bit sad.

I was used to attention okay. Laugh all you want, but I am an attention . I get restless being ignored for more than ten minutes. And people like me. I mean, look at my face! I could melt the hearts of millions, men and women alike. Who can resist me? I'm cute, friendly and funny.

Apparently, Yunho can.

'Um... So, Yunho-shi. Where are you guys going after this?'

Yunho shrugged his shoulders, still not looking at me.

Jae seemed to sense the awkwardness between us, and thankfully started a conversation.

'Yunnie, can we go grocery shopping after this?' Jae asked, tugging at Yunho's hand.

Yunho looked down at him. 'Why? We've never done grocery shopping before.'

'I know, but it's my birthday. Let's go grocery shopping, ne?'

Yunho tilted his head to the left slightly, thinking, before nodding.

'Oppa, come with us?' he asked, peering back at me.

I glanced hesitantly at Yunho. 'Um... I better not. Yunho would want to spend more time with you, since it's your birthday and all...'

Jae's face practically fell.

'If you want to come, then come. Jaejoong likes having you around, so I won't mind,' Yunho said.

I guess he could sense Jae's sadness.

Jae practically lit up, looking at Yunho, then back to me. 'Come, Oppa. Come with us.'

I grinned in return. 'Okay then. Thanks.'

I was almost glowing with pride. Yunho had invited me to come with him. That was one step closer right? Even though he was thinking of Jae foremost, he still invited me right?

SCORE.

We continued walking, until we passed a DVD shop. It was one of those fancy expensive types, which had LCD TVs on the front of the store protected by glass, usually displaying the latest DVD releases. We were just walking by it, when I guess the screen caught Jae's attention, since he had stopped in his tracks to stare at it.

The three of us backtracked when we continued a few steps forward only to see that Jae was fixed to the spot.
'What'chu watching there, Jae Jae?' Yoochun asked, as we came to him.

Jae didn't answer, only staring at the screen with a small frown. The three of us looked at the movie playing.

Ah... I knew this movie. I had forgotten the title, but I remembered the synopsis. It was about this fat black girl who was regularly abused by her mom, only to get and fall pregnant by her own step-father. I remember watching the movie clearly. I was halfway through when Karam broke out in tears and Appa forced me to switch movies. I never really got the heart to continue watching. It was one traumatising movie.

The scene currently playing was one where the mother was repeatedly hitting the fat black girl with a pan, screaming vulgarities at her, as the girl cowered in fear, crying her poor lungs out.

It was too much for me to handle, so I looked away. Jae sensed my discomfort and looked up at me, pure curiosity in his childlike eyes. 'Oppa?'

'Yeah, Jae?'

'Are all mommys that mean?'

I tilted my head and smiled at the innocence of the question. 'I'm not sure, Jae.' I answered truthfully.

He frowned, before asking again. 'Was Oppa's mom like that mommy on the TV?'

I smiled painfully. 'I don't know, Jae. Oppa doesn't remember.'

'Is she dead?' I looked up to see that it was Yunho who had asked that question. He was looking at me with an expression that I couldn't really name.

I smiled. I didn't mind the bluntness of the question. I didn't really remember her anyway. I shrugged my shoulders. 'I'm not really sure. I don't think so. I never really bothered to find out.'

'Why not, Oppa?' Jae asked.

'Hmm... Oppa's mommy never really cared much for me.'

'Why?'

I hesitated, but answered anyway. The past was the past. It wasn't going to affect my present or future, so heck with it. 'Oppa's mom dumped me when I was still a baby. When I was about three days old, I was found in a dumpster covered in ants. From there I was brought to orphanage after orphanage. I was adopted a few times, but I was usually brought back before I got adopted to my current foster family.'

'Oh...' Jae and Yoochun hyung said simultaneously.

'I'm happy with where I am now, so it's all good.'

Silence descended upon us, before Yunho surprisingly spoke up.

'You turned out better than me.'

I looked up, not really sure whether he was seriously talking to me. 'Pardon...?'

Yunho turned to look me dead in the eye, and I swore I shrunk several inches. 'I said you turned out better than me. I wasn't abandoned, but I was abused a lot at home. My mom hated me, and she let me know it.'

I blinked, before hesitantly asking. 'Why did she hate you?'

'My mother was by a couple of gangsters when she was still a teenager. One of them conceived me, I guess. I was merely a bad memory to her. She didn't want me, but her parents wouldn't let her throw me away. So she vented a lot.

'We suffered an equally bad childhood, but you turned out better than me. That's good.'

I was frozen to the spot in shock. For someone suffering from so much, he sure acted like it was nothing. No wonder he was such a cold person. Now I couldn't help but pity him. He must've had a pretty rough childhood.
'Um... Thank you...' It seemed like an appropriate answer.

Jae came to hug me around the waist, and I looked down to see him resting his chin on my chest, staring straight back at me. 'Oppa doesn't need to be sad. We all don't have mommies. But Jae is here. We're family, ne? You don't need to be related to be a family. Me, Chunnie and Yunnie are family. Oppa can be our family too. So Oppa doesn't need to feel sad. No sadness, ne?'

I smiled at his innocence. 'Yeah,' I answered. 'Oppa isn't sad anymore.'

He smiled and let go. Yoochun hyung was looking at us weirdly. I was feeling clingy, so I came to him and hugged him around the shoulders from behind. 'Hyungie~' I said, resting my head between his shoulder blades, 'Why so sad?'

He sighed and I let go, looking at him puzzledly. 'Hyung?'

He turned around and patted me gently on the head. I frowned, as Jae came and hugged him around the waist. It seemed he was a better comfort person (Woah that sounded weird) than me.

'Chunnie hyung, no more seulpo, arachi?' he said, as Yoochun hyung rested his chin on Jae's head, wrapping Jae in a lazy hug.

I heard Yoochun chuckle softly. 'Ara~' he answered.

I tilted my head, confused. 'Hyung just misses his Umma every once in a while...'

Ah... That was why...

I bet his mom was nice. If he missed her a lot, she must've been a really nice person.

'His mom died in a fire when he was younger.'

I jumped at the sudden appearance of a voice seemingly out of nowhere, and turned my head sharply to the left, only to see Yunho standing beside me. 'Oh...' was all I could answer.

Yunho glanced at me, and I stared right back, not wanting to seem like I was afraid of him. He unexpectedly shook his head, as if in silent disapproval. I blinked in confusion, but didn't say anything.

The four of us started walking again, and Jae ran ahead, making Yoochun hyung chase after him. So it was just Yunho and me a distance behind them.

I took this an opportunity to talk to him again.

'So... Yunho shi...'

'How old are you, Changmin?' I blinked at his sudden interruption and the fact that he was talking so informally to me. I guess I was stunned into silence, when Yunho said, 'I don't like repeating myself.'

'U-umm... Ne?'

'And I don't like slow people.'

Okay, that seemed to snap me back into reality. 'Twenty one.'

Yunho nodded as if he was approving my age. 'I'm twenty six.'

'O-oh.' was all I could manage.

An awkward silence ensued between us, until I stupidly realised what was going on. 'Do you want me to call you hyung? Or I could just keep calling you Yunho shi. Or do you want me to call you sunbae? Or hyungnim? Sunbaenim?' My head unconsciously tilted to the side as I tried to list off all those titles.

Yunho shrugged casually. 'It doesn't matter. You can call me whatever you want. Just Yunho is fine. Or hyung if you want.'

I was surprised. 'You're fine with me calling you Yunho? But you're older than me.' Honestly, Yunho looked like the type that would bite your head off if you happened to step on his toes.

'I don't care. No one calls me hyung, so it doesn't matter.'

I guess that statement made me a bit sad. Did no one choose to show him any respect? He looked scary enough to command it.

I guess Yunho was actually a nice guy after all.

I was seriously tempted to call him Yunho. I've never seriously talked to someone older than me as an equal, so the thought that I could be on the same level as Yunho excited me. But...

'Hyung.' I said, patting my fist into my open palm, as if I had just uncovered a great mystery. 'I'll call you hyung.'
Yunho looked up at the answer, slight surprise in his eyes.

I tilted my head. 'If that's okay with you...?'

He paused for a while, before nodding. I grinned at his approval.

'Yunho hyung!'

'What?'

'Nothing. Just tasting the name on my tongue.'

I thought I saw something. I came closer to Yunho hyung, a gentle hand on his shoulder, as I looked at his face with narrowed eyes. 'Did you just... Smile?'

All trace of it had disappeared by the time Yunho looked back at me.

'No.'

'Yes you did! I saw!' I was ecstatic. He had smiled. At me!

Yunho looked back at me with dead, cold eyes. 'No I didn't.'

I was about to argue, a cheeky grin on my face, when Jae suddenly slammed into Yunho, automatically latching his arms around Yunho's waist. I was surprised at the sudden intrusion. Yunho looked down at him as if he had expected the whole thing.

'Yunnie!' He chanted, 'Yunnie, Yunnie, Yunnie!' He was hopping up and down, trying to get Yunho's attention, which he succeeded in. Instead of sounding cute however, he was sounding insistent, as if there was a huge emergency out there.

I looked on. What had me worried wasn't the fact that he seemed to be gritting his teeth in apparent pain, or that he was sounding more insistent by the second, but the fact that it had started up again. That thing where he broke out in a cold sweat and began shaking and shivering violently.

Yeah. THAT thing.

'Jae?' I asked, fully concerned, 'Are you okay?'

Jae glanced at me, before shaking his head violently, as if he badly wanted to tell me a secret but couldn't. There was pain in his eyes.

Yunho cupped his face, stopping the shaking before it turned into whiplash. 'Jaejoong. Look at me. Look at Yunnie. Tell me what's wrong.'

Jae let out a high pitched whimper, gripping on to Yunho's wrists, as tears started to spill over his pretty face. He scrunched his eyes shut, his teeth grit together.

'Jaejoong!' There was a panic in Yunho's voice as he shook Jae lightly.

And just like that, the boy collapsed. I mean literally collapse. One moment he was standing, the next his knees had buckled.

'Jae!' I yelled, shocked out of my skin.

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A/N: First of all, very, very sorry for late update. Been kept busy :p

And I hope you can pray for one of the writers here, whose name is Hauntress. She has suspected thyroid cancer, and has been down most of the time, so if you want (or can) go cheer her up! Heheh, its the thought that counts :)

And lastly, Happy New Year :DD