Gulping down half of a water bottle you tried to stop that grumble of your stomach. The hunger was so obvious but you didn’t want to give in. No way in hell you would, you have your own pride which made you so stubborn. To your luck, you did get the liquid before you let yourself log in in the van while the guys were eating in some restaurant. The mix of anger and disappointment was still running through your veins, and you pressed your jaws tightly together, their words kept echoing in your ears.  

You couldn’t help but let the scowl be evidence on your face even as the guys came back after an hour, loading the trucks full with whatever you ignored. But the steamed puffed away the moment you saw the next location you got in and you couldn’t help but feel your heart getting weak, being stared at from large innocent pure but also broken eyes. Eyes of lost children, thrown away in a building, forcing it to be their home; an Orphanage.

The building was unknown to you but the guys went in with determined steps as if they were there so many times before. You were surprised what children could do to adults. In a matter of minutes, the lost energy of so many hours of practice came back into their veins, just like that with simple laughter of toddlers.

You’ll stay there for the rest of the day, you learned from Manager Kang and you realized that Manager Kwon wasn’t with you. It also you just now what they’ve loaded into the car: presents and foods for the children. You could tell that the small humans were broken but the smiles spread immediately on their faces as the guys entered the room, their tiny bodies surrounding the tall men in an instant.

“Hyungs!”

“Oppas!”

“Hey little buddies”, Yongguk laughed freely, squatting down to the kids, blinding them with his wide gummy smile, “you all have grown so big! We’re sorry for the late visit. And hello, new faces”

“Hyung, Hyung, Hyung!”, a little boy called, pulling on Jongup’s shirt. You expected to see an annoyed answer from the main dancer but he showed the small bundle that infamous angle smile you used to see on camera.

“What is it, Nam ah?”

“Jihoon Hyung got adopted!”, the little guy answered, climbing onto Jongup’s strong tights.

“Really?”

“Yes! And I miss him, Hyung”

“I miss him, too. Did you miss me?”

The kid nodded with so much vigour which brighten the smile on Jongup.

“I missed you, too. But be happy for your Hyung that means you’ll be in a family soon as well”

“Really?”, the small angel asked with wide eyes, hope sparkling out of them.

“Of course. Have I ever lied to you, Nam ah?”

Nam shook his head immediately and snuggled closer into the warm chest of the older.

Without you knowing, a small smile formed on your lips, the scene easing your disturbed mind for the moment. A similar occurrence happened with Himchan and you wandered off to the halls of the building, leaving the guys with the kids, giving them their time to reunite. Honesty, this was a nice change from all the running from one hectic hour to another the past days.

The doors of the rooms were all open, clearly showing the insides, letting the house look brighter through the natural light of the sun. Most of them were full of bed bunkers or with rows of beds by the walls and you frowned about the dullness in some rooms. But most of them have bright colours with cute drawings. There was this feeling tugging on your head, telling you it was the work of some idols in the main hall.

Your feet halted in front of one closed door, the only between open frames. And you titled your head for this to be, seeing none closed but this one. And within a second, panic overtook you, heart thumping faster in your chest as your body tensed up. Is this one of those rooms, where the isolated kid is? Being all alone and not speaking to anyone? You didn’t want a child to be in such situation and it was like your hand moved on its own, pulling on the knob, opened up the hard wood.

To your surprise, a room only with beds greeted you and you let out the breath you’ve been holding in. At least there was not one kid who got shut out in this orphanage.

“What are you doing, Hyung?”, a light voice asked behind you and you spun around, covering the flinch you got caused by the sudden surprise.

A small girl greeted you, her expression full of curiosity, her eyes shining bright. She was so small and thin in her blue jumpsuit, her doe eyes you in, the smile so sweet on her lips. But the short hair destroyed all the sweet cute girl you expected to see. A mini version of a tomboy was presented in front of you and you cracked a small smile. With all the mud on her face and clothes, she was more than charming for you.

Being eye levelled with her, you removed some grass strands gently off her hair.

“Hyung? Shouldn’t it be Oppa?”

She, however shook her head lightly, “the guys said I should address all older brothers as Hyungs”

“But you’re a girl”

“No, everyone says I’m a boy. Even the people who comes to adopt children”

You frowned at her words. That’s cruel to accuse her for being a boy just because of her appearance.

“Okay. I’m Shin. What’s your name?”

“My name is Lina!”, she grinned widely.

“So Lina, if you’re really a boy, you wouldn’t mind me helping you clean you up, right?”

A big pout was on her lips as she thought about your words and you bit back a girly squeal because of the sugar in front of you.

“But Ahjumma said that I shouldn’t get washed by guys”

“But you’re a boy. There shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

After a hard time of thinking she nodded her small head, still unsure if her agreement was right or wrong. In the end you washed her, clothed her in (her drawer was full of boy clothes), and dried her hair. She was so shy as you pealed her off her jumpsuit but laughed when she got your lumberjack shirt wet. In conclusion, you had lots of fun and you could feel your heart thump for this one sweet girl. And you wondered about the reason, why she got abandoned from her parents.

The two of you went back to the others and she ran off to the guys with a bright smile, her arms clinging around the right leg of Youngjae’s, pressing her face against it. He put his hands under her armpits and brought her up, planting a quick kiss on her soft cheek. For some reason, you felt your heart flutter by the sight, a warmth pooling in the pitch of your stomach, your heart throbbing hard in your chest as he suddenly looked at you because Lina pointed at you. You felt awkward but still gave them a smile before walking away, assuming that she’ll stay with him.

..ღ..

It was time for the children to play outside. But before they could go out, the guys pulled out the gifts, presenting them with brand new jackets, perfect for the season (and they bought quite a lot). Though, the out handing wasn’t as simple as you thought it would be. They made it like an auction, splitting the kids into groups by their age. It was fun, honestly, because everyone got a laughing even the ones who has to wait.

B.A.P started with the youngest age group (because they were the most impatient ones), hanging up all of the fitting jackets for them, letting the children ogling at each clothes until they know which one’s their favourite. And then Himchan started pointing, asking who wanted that particular clothing. Of course, every jacket has a number of children who wanted it and the ultimate tactic (according to the tall guys) to solve the problem was a match with rock-paper-scissors.

To your surprise, there was no fighting, because there was another alternative for every child either way. And it disturbed you a bit that Lina only put her hand up to a boy jacket. As the “auction” was over, you and the guys helped the children to put their new possession on. Jongup and Zelo went out with the first few ones which was all fine, the caretakers also helped as well. You loved to see the brightness in each pair of eyes, reading the happiness out of them because they got pampered by you guys (actually, they were capable of doing that themselves).

Clueless how this could happen, you found yourself standing alone with Youngjae and Lina, the latter waiting for one of you to help her, though neither of you moved. There was this awkwardness in the air and you could feel your body getting tense by each silent second. It didn’t last long because you saw Lina fidgeting to do it by herself, finally getting impatient. She somehow tangled herself with it, so you automatically reached out for her, just at the same time Youngjae did.

Your hands were brushing and you froze on your spot, staring wide eyed at him. You touched him. You broke another rule. Just in two days. Your face blanched as the realisation hit you, feeling dread overtaking you. Actually no, you’ve broken three from the first time you were there by rearranging his blanket for him. 

“It’s fine”, you heard Youngjae say, “you didn’t do it on purpose. Though we didn’t mention them, there are exceptions”

Before you could give out any respond (because your mind needed too much time to comprehend his words), tiny hands grabbed you, “Hyung! Are you alright? You look so white”

Blinking your lids to Lina, you shook your head to pull yourself together and ruffled her hair to distract her, pulling out a squeal from the child, “I’m fine, thank you for worrying about me”

“Hyung!”

“It’s Oppa, Lina ya”, you and Youngjae lectured at the same time. Again.  

Both of you stared at each other with surprise and the happy laugh between you two caused you both to give out helpless chuckles yourselves. And your heart secretly fluttered by seeing his smile so up close.

..ღ..

Having a seat on the wooden bench, you observed the playground of the orphanage. You came out later because you gave your body too much water for it to keep it all. The kids were running around merrily, enlightening the easy atmosphere this place should have. Daehyun, Jongup and Zelo played soccer with some childr