“Can I name him?” Luhan asked, poking his head between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat in the SUV so he could send both of his parents puppy dog eyes. “Minseok got to name-“

“Luhan.” Kris’ voice was firm. He didn’t like remembering that day, nor did he ever bring it up when the small pup was around.

“Sorry.” Luhan shot a look back to Jongdae in the back seat, but the little orange pup was too busy playing I Spy with Kyungsoo, Yixing, and Baekhyun to be paying attention to what was going on in the front of the car.

“You’re okay.” Joonmyun reached back and ruffled the boy’s strawberry blond hair. “But we don’t know how old this pup is yet, he might already have a name.”

“He’s not a baby?” Minseok peeked his head next to his brother’s to look at their Appa. “Is he little like Tao?”

The toddler who sat in between Minseok and Luhan giggled at the sound of his name.

Joonmyun shrugged, “We don’t know. They haven’t really told us anything about the pup except for that he needs a new home.”

“He’s not gonna be beaten up like Kyungsoo, right?” Minseok’s voice was so quiet that his parents could barely hear him.

“I hope not.” Joonmyun turned his attention back towards the road, trying to see if they were close. Of course that had been a worry for him when they caught wind of the boy who needed a new home quickly. He would probably go ballistic if he came across another beaten pup.

“We’re almost there.” Kris reached a hand out to rest on his mate’s leg to try and help him relax. He felt like there was something off about the situation they were going into, but he didn’t think it was that. He hoped that it wasn’t that.

“Can we play once we get there?” Luhan asked. The nine year old was already shaking with excitement and energy. He had already been with his parents for picking up five other pups and knew that Joonmyun usually spent at least an hour talking with the caretakers to make sure the pup was healthy and had no allergies and a bunch of Appa stuff like that.

“If you watch out for your brothers.” Joonmyun answered just like he did any other time the kids wanted to play outside. Usually Luhan and Minseok did a great job of watching out for the smaller ones when they went outside to play. “We’re gonna keep Tao with us so you won’t have to worry about him.”

“Cool.” Minseok and Luhan exchanged cheeky smiles. It wasn’t that they didn’t like playing with the little pup, but it was a lot more work looking out for the two year old.

“Can we play hide and seek?” Baekhyun asked from the backseat, already bored with the game they had been playing. He looked just as restless as Luhan.

The rest of the boys cheered excitedly, already suggesting places to hide even though they were heading to an unknown place. They also didn’t care that they were in the car with the people who’d be searching for them later, they freely spoke about what types of places they like to hide.

After a few more minutes they pulled up to a rather luxurious looking house surrounded by other large houses. It looked like it belonged in the middle of a gated community on a tv show instead of on the outskirts of the woods.

“Minseok’s it!” Luhan yelled the second everyone was out of the car. And that was all it took for the six boys to take off running.

“They’ll be fine.” Joonmyun laughed when saw Kris attempt to follow all six boys with his eyes at once. “Just get Tao and let’s go inside. I want to meet our newest little pup.”

Kris scooped Tao off his feet and tossed him lightly into the air, causing the little one to giggle. He knew he was excited at the prospect of having another little cutie like Tao.

Joonmyun knocked on the door and waited, just as restless as the kids had been in the car. Though the excitement was battling with nervousness that was pitted in his stomach.

The door was answered by a very pretty woman with long, brown hair and a slight bump to her belly. Was that the pup she didn’t want?

“Joonmyun, right? And you must be Kris. Hello, I’m Sora. Come in, please. I know you must have a lot of questions.” She invited them in to the living room where some food had been laid out for them. “Is this little Baekhyun?”

“Baek?” Kris was confused for a moment, “No, this is Tao. How do you know Baekhyun?”

“I used to know his mother,” Sora replied sadly as she sat on the couch, “She hadn’t really been the same after the elders sent her pup off, and we kind of lost touch. But that’s how I found out about the two of you and how you guys take in pups. Are the others at home?”

“They’re outside running around.” Joonmyun replied as he sat down on the couch across from Sora, feeling a little odd about this whole set up. Usually when they picked up pups, there was some crying or anger, the parents had never provided food or made it seem like friends getting together. Overall, the place looked really homey with a few pictures above the fireplace and on the walls. With all the decorations, it seemed that the family had the means to support a child. “So what exactly is going on?”

Sora looked down at the bump in her stomach sadly before looking back up towards Joonmyun and Kris. “I can’t go through it again. Don’t judge me, but I can’t take it. I need him gone.”

Joonmyun looked over at Kris, who made himself comfortable with Tao on the floor, in confusion. Was she really talking about the baby in her womb?

But the conversation was interrupted by the pitter patter of little feet running towards them. “Umma! There’s kids outside, can I go play?”

A little boy appeared. He looked to be around Baekhyun and Jongdae’s age with big eyes and big ears that stuck out from his head adorably. By the way he was jumping up and down, it was obvious that he was excited at the prospect of playing with other kids.

Before Sora could answer, the front door opened and Jongdae came in and dove straight for Joonmyun’s lap. “Appa, I fell down.”

Joonmyun’s attention went straight to his son as he checked him over for injuries. To help, Jongdae held his arm up so his father could see his elbow that had been scratched up.

“My poor baby.” Joonmyun kissed Jongdae on the forehead before turning towards Sora, “Do you have a first aid kit?”

“Of course.” The mother got to her feet and took off to find the kit, not even glancing at her son who was still standing in the room.

The boy pouted and was about to disappear down the hallway he came from, but he had caught Jongdae’s attention.

The orange haired boy jumped off his appa’s lap and walked over to the taller kid, “I’m Jongdae. What’s your name?”

“Chanyeol.” The boy’s pout disappeared and was replaced by a bright smile. “Were you playing outside?”

“Yeah, we’re playing hide and seek. Do you want to play?” Jongdae grabbed the taller boy’s hand, ready to pull him outside.

“Stop.” Joonmyun got up and walked over to them, “You need a band-aid for your arm first, and Chanyeol needs to ask his mom if he can go outside.”

“Oh yeah.” Jongdae giggled and turned towards his appa, “Can you hurry up? Luhan is probably almost to a hundred.”

Joonmyun laughed and picked Jongdae up into his arms. “Just wait a few more minutes. They’ll still be outside when you’re done.” He then turned his attention to the unknown boy, “So Chanyeol, how old are you?”

“I’m five.” Chanyeol proudly held his hand out with all his fingers extended to show his age.

“Chanyeol, why don’t you go back to your room?” Sora still didn’t look at her son as she entered the room and handed Joonmyun the first aid kit.

Chanyeol looked like he was ready to cry, but obediently listened to his mom and left the room.

Joonmyun shared a look with Kris of confusion. But they didn’t comment on it, instead Joonmyun made quick work of bandaging his son’s arm and carrying him outside. Jongdae asked about Chanyeol when Joonmyun put him down to go play, but Joonmyun just sent him out to play with his brothers.

He took a deep breath before returning to the living room. “You were talking about Chanyeol, weren’t you?”

Sora at least had the decency to look guilty, “I can’t do it. He has too much energy and he’s already running around and I’m worried this one won’t make it.” She took a deep breath, “This isn’t my first pregnancy since him, but he’s just too much to handle and the stress of him breaks me down until I just can’t carry another baby. You have to take him. He’s all packed and ready to go, just please, take him.”

Kris would have jumped across the coffee table separating him from the woman if Tao hadn’t been getting tired in his arms. He knew losing a baby could be devastating, but how devastated was Chanyeol when he found out his mom didn’t want him anymore?

“Take him?” Joonmyun was amazed at how it sounded like they were there to pick up a couch or something. “Just take him?”

“Please, I don’t want him.”

Without another word to her, Joonmyun headed down the hallway Chanyeol disappeared down until he came across the only room with the light on.

Carefully, Joonmyun opened the door to reveal a bare room with a bed and a nightstand, and that was it besides the little boy with a duffle bag who was staring out the window.

“Chanyeol, can I talk to you?” Joonmyun didn’t enter the room until the small five year old looked towards him and sent a nod. “So has your mom told you about, well, everything?”

Chanyeol nodded, “She wants another baby because she doesn’t like me.”

Joonmyun sat down next to Chanyeol. “She loves you, she’s your mother. She just doesn’t know how to show you.”

“Are you here to take me away?” Chanyeol seemed to completely ignore what Joonmyun just told him.

“Not if you don’t want me to.” Joonmyun answered honestly. He wouldn’t take the poor boy if he didn’t want to go. “I want you to be happy, I just don’t know where you’ll be the happiest. If you want, you can join our family. There’s me, my name is Joonmyun but the boys call me Appa, and there’s Kris who they call Baba. Then there’s Luhan, Minseok, Yixing, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and little Tao.”

“That’s a lot of people.” Chanyeol’s eyes widened in surprise. “You must yell a lot.”

That comment caught Joonmyun off guard, “What? Why would that be a lot of yelling?”

“Umma yells a lot.” Chanyeol answered quietly. “If I run too fast or eat too fast or want to go play or try and talk to her when she busy or talk too loud or have nightmares or wake up too early or play too much she yells. Umma always yells. Don’t you yell?”

“I’m sorry about that.” Joonmyun ran what he hoped was a comforting hand up and down the child’s back. “But to answer your question, I do yell sometimes. When I’m afraid the boys are doing something dangerous where they might get hurt, I yell at them to stop because I don’t like them getting hurt. Or if I tell them a bunch of times to do something and they don’t, I sometimes yell because they aren’t listening. But that’s it. If they’re playing really loud, I tell them to go outside. If they eat too fast, I try and make them slow down because I don’t want them to choke. But I don’t think I yell as much as you say your mom does.”

Chanyeol looked at Joonmyun, his eyes tearful and hopeful, “Do you lock them up too?”

This time, it was Joonmyun’s eyes that widened, “What? She locks you up?”

The five year old nodded, “When her friends come over, she locks me in the basement so I don’t annoy them.”

Joonmyun was ready to run the boy out of the house, but he wanted Chanyeol to want to come with them. So he answered honestly, “I’d never do that to my boys. Even when they’re bad and don’t listen, I’d never lock them up. No one ever gets locked up. Never.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol stood up and grabbed his small bag, “I want to go.”

“Are you sure?” Joonmyun stood up as well, happy to get the small boy out of such an environment. But he still felt extremely sad that this child had to go through this.

Chanyeol nodded, “She can be happy with the new baby.”

As they walked through the living room, Joonmyun was preparing for some tears. But Chanyeol didn’t even look at his mother, instead, he just walked straight out the front door. And when Joonmyun looked back at Sora, she looked relieved. “Kris, let’s go.”

Without saying goodbye, the family got outside and Kris called out for the boys. Joonmyun helped Chanyeol put his bag in the trunk and was about to introduce him to the boys, but Chanyeol just climbed into the car and sat in the back.

“Where’s the pup?” Luhan asked loudly as he ran over to the truck.

Kris shushed him. “Okay boys, Chanyeol is in the car, but he’s feeling pretty sad right now. He’s five, so he’s the same age as Baekhyun and Jongdae. Once he’s ready, I hope you all can play together, but for now just let him be, okay?”

“Okay Baba,” Luhan answered for all his brothers before turning back to the rest of them, “We can wait for him, right?”

They were so excited that as they climbed into the car they all said hi to Chanyeol, but then when they remembered to give the boy space they sat down and distracted themselves by looking around at anything and everything.

The entire car ride back to their home was silent. Besides Tao, the rest of the pups kept staring at Chanyeol. Joonmyun attempted to ask about their play time, but they really didn’t care about anything besides the new pup in the car with them.

If Chanyeol noticed, he didn’t say anything. The five year old kept staring out the window and not even saying a word. Joonmyun was already worried about him, but knew Chanyeol was going to have a much different time adjusting to their home. Minseok had been the oldest pup they took in at three, and despite that being only a two year difference, the situations were worlds away. Minseok hadn’t been given up for a new baby.

When they got back to the house, Joonmyun showed Chanyeol to the room he’d be sharing with Jongdae and Baekhyun and then told the rest of the boys to give him some space. Hopefully Chanyeol would come around, but Joonmyun wanted to give the boy some space.

So once Joonmyun left the room, Chanyeol turned the lights off and finally let himself cry. He knew his mom was unhappy with him, she always had something to complain about whether it be how his personality was or even how much he looked like his father instead of her. He also knew that she wished for a daughter, she never had any interest in having a son. She tried to get him to do things she deemed as girly such as tea parties or painting nails and he went along every time, but when he started to act up by either smearing the wet paint or eating all the snacks and spitting out the tea, she got upset. Then she’d yell.

He was then startled out of his thoughts when the light flickered on. He really just wanted to be alone right now so he could cry in peace and not make anyone mad. His crying used to make his mom mad. He just kind of really wanted to be alone, not in a house stuffed with kids.

And it wasn’t like he wasn’t thankful for this family taking him in since his mom could have found worse people, but before now he had never spent the night away from his mom. Now he’d be spending the rest of his life away from her. So being able to cry alone in peace didn’t seem like it would be too much to ask for at this moment.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jongdae turned the lights back off when he noticed the tears running down Chanyeol’s cheeks. But instead of leaving, Jongdae crossed through the dark and cuddled himself into Chanyeol’s side – completely ignoring the way Chanyeol tensed next to him.

For a good five minutes, Chanyeol stopped crying and just sat there in confusion. He couldn’t see Jongdae’s face because the lights were off, but by the steady breathing, Chanyeol suspected him to be asleep.

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol finally decided to ask.

The smaller boy let out a yawn, “Cuddling. Me and Baek cuddle when we feel sad.”

Chanyeol thought about the last time he felt sad, and that made him feel even more depressed. “When I used to get sad, my mom used to tell me to go to my room. She used to cuddle me when I was real little, but then after she went to the doctor once, she just got mad. She just yells at me to go to my room. She doesn’t love me anymore.”

“I don’t remember my mom.” Jongdae answered honestly. “I lived here since I was really little. But I’m happy here. Baba gives us piggy back rides and plays airplane with us. He’s really tall so you can almost touch the roof! And Appa cooks really yummy food and plays hide and seek with us and we color a lot too!”

Chanyeol wasn’t listening as Jongdae continued to rattle about what his parents did with him. He was too busy focusing on the fact that Kris and Joonmyun weren’t Jongdae’s real parents. Joonmyun had been so caring when Jongdae came in earlier with a scrape on his elbow. Chanyeol couldn’t remember the last time his mom was so caring when he injured himself. Usually she would yell at him for playing carelessly.

“Where’s your umma?” Chanyeol cut Jongdae off.

Despite the darkness that still surrounded them, Chanyeol could feel the slightly older boy shrug, “I don’t know. But I know she must love me because she gave me to Appa and Baba. And I love them more than anyone else, even Baekhyun. But don’t tell him I said that. He doesn’t know his umma either, I don’t think any of us do except Minseok. His umma is nice, but he can’t live with her.”

Chanyeol was intrigued by the boy next to him. “None of you have an umma?”

“We don’t need one.” Jongdae answered. “Appa and Baba are the best.” He then stood up in the dark, “I’m gonna check on dinner. If you want, everyone is in the living room.”

Chanyeol heard as the smaller stumble out of the room and greet someone in the hall before running off. He thought he was alone again, but the lights . This time, it was one of the older boys with messy, strawberry blond hair. But he didn’t turn off the light like Jongdae had. Instead he sent Chanyeol a sad smile. “Hi, I’m Luhan. Come with me.”

“Why?” Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows, but still got up.

“I can’t talk about it here.” Luhan said as he took Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him down the hall. He pulled the younger all the way to the backyard and sat down in middle of the grass.

Chanyeol watched the other as he lay out under the stars, but didn’t join him. He really just wanted to go back to his room and sleep or cry. He wanted to be by himself.

“At least sit down.” Luhan sat up so he could tug at Chanyeol’s hand. Once the younger was sitting, Luhan took a deep breath. “Your mom loves you.”

“No she doesn’t.” Chanyeol responded instantly. “She gave me up.”

“Minseok’s pack was in middle of a war.” Luhan informed him. “His appa died in the fighting and his umma was afraid he’d die too. She loves him so much that she had to give him up. She brought him to Appa and Baba to protect him.”

“We’re not at war. They just hate me.”

“Kyungsoo’s Appa used to hit him. I think he hated Kyungsoo” Luhan went back to laying out across the grass, as if he wasn’t talking about such a heavy topic. “He would drink a lot of beer, then hit Kyungsoo. When we met him, Kyungsoo’s eyes were purple and he had bruises everywhere. His umma loved him so she had to get Kyungsoo away from his appa.”

Chanyeol went silent at that. His parents had never done something like that to him, but he was still hurt that his parents gave him up – and to a bunch of strangers. Not that they weren’t nice, Joonmyun seemed like the nicest person on the planet, but they were still strangers.

“Can you keep a secret?” Luhan suddenly asked as he pulled Chanyeol down to lay next to him. “You have to swear you’ll never tell anyone, okay?”

Even though he was upset, his curiosity got the best of him and Chanyeol found himself nodding.

“Jongdae’s umma didn’t give him to Appa and Baba. I told him that when we got Kyungsoo because Kyungsoo’s umma was the first umma he met.” Luhan was whispering so quietly that Chanyeol found himself leaning close to the older.

“Why doesn’t he have his own umma?” Chanyeol asked just as quietly.

“We found him in the woods.” Luhan turned so he was looking Chanyeol straight in the eye. “We got Baekhyun from his pack because his umma and appa were from different packs so they didn’t want him. On our way home, we found Jongdae in the woods. He was really hurt and really tiny and Baba thought he was gonna die. Chanyeol, your umma found you a home where you would be safe and fed and where you can have a family. She didn’t leave you to die in the woods when you were a pup. I don’t know why your umma gave you up, and I’m really sorry that she did, but she loves you Chanyeol. It’s okay to be sad, I would be really really sad if I were you, but don’t be sad forever. We are loud and sometimes rough, but we love each other. We be happy together, we be sad together, we do everything together and it’s a lot of fun.”

Luhan then lay back so he could stare up at the stars. Chanyeol mimicked his actions and lay out, staring up at the stars. Back in his pack, they never really spent time under the stars. During the day sometimes they’d go out into the forest to hunt for food, but at night they usually stayed back in the house unless it was a full moon. Chanyeol tried to get his parents to let him out at night, but they told him it was too dangerous for him to go out by themselves and that they were too busy to go out with him.

“I like the stars.” He declared as he reached a hand out, as if he could grab them in his fingers. “Do you guys like the stars?”

“We love them.” Luhan smiled brightly. “Baba really likes to come out at night and just lay here. When we get sick, he brings us out here and says it’s good for us. Then Appa comes out and says we’re gonna catch a cold and tells us to go inside. It’s kind of funny because they do it every time.”

Chanyeol smiled, that reminded him of a time back when he was little, back when his parents acted more caring. “Do you have an umma?”

Luhan shook his head, “Nope. Appa and Baba found me in the woods, too. I was older than Jongdae though. I know they loved me for the time we spent together. I may not remember them, but Appa says that I was really happy when I was little, so he says my umma and appa must have been really happy, too. He thinks maybe I got lost or they got hurt.”

“Do you miss them?”

The older pup shook his head. “I don’t remember them, so I don’t know what to miss. Besides, Appa and Baba have always been there for me. They kiss my owies and taught me how to read and feed me my favorite food when I’m sad. Plus, if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t know Minseok or Yixing or any of them. They’re my best friends. Most of the time, I forget they’re not my real-birth parents. They’re not my birth parents, but they’re my real parents. I don’t care if their blood is different than mine, they’re my parents.”

Joonmyun and Kris sounded like amazing people. They took Luhan in and made him feel like their real kid. The other six probably felt the same way. That meant they probably had no more love to give Chanyeol. They would probably be too busy with the rest of the pups.

“Why do you look so sad?” Luhan propped himself up on one elbow so that he could run his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair.

“They must be really busy.” Chanyeol sighed. And while he felt sad about that, he was loving the way Luhan’s fingers ran through his hair. It had been a while since someone showed him such affection.

Luhan seemed to think about it for a second before nodding, “They are busy. But no matter how busy they are, they do everything. They’re amazing.”

“Don’t you feel lonely?” Chanyeol questioned. “Don’t they have to help everyone else?”

“That’s why they’re amazing. They make time for everyone.” Luhan sat up, but continued running his fingers through the younger’s hair. “When they found me, it was just them. The other kids weren’t there yet, so they always spent time with me. Then Yixing came and at first I didn’t like it. They kept playing with him or telling me to share and I didn’t have to do that before. But then, I started playing with them when they played with Yixing and we became friends. Then I wanted to share my stuff with him. Then Minseok came, but they always did their best to play with us all and it wasn’t too different until Baekhyun and Jongdae came.

“They were both really little and couldn’t play, but they needed a lot of attention. They couldn’t eat by themselves or use a toilet so they took a lot of Appa and Baba’s attention. They made me really mad. But once Appa and Baba learned how to take care of them, they started playing with us more. They can’t play with us every second of the day, but you know the best part of having such a big family? There’s always someone to play with. Even with Kyungsoo and Tao, Appa and Baba learned how to play with all of us. So I’m sure they’ll be able to show you as much love as the rest of us.”

“Do you really think so?” Chanyeol asked, still skeptical.

Luhan smirked. “Just go walk into the kitchen and see.”

Feeling curious, Chanyeol jumped up to his feet and went back into the house. He quietly crept through the halls until he came across the kitchen. He cautiously took a step into the room, and was instantly greeted by Joonmyun’s smile.

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Joonmyun turned off the stove and focused his attention on the five year old. “Do you like mac and cheese? I saw a picture at your house with mac and cheese all over your face when you were little, so I thought you might like it.”

That was all it took for Chanyeol to launch himself into Joonmyun’s arms for a tight hug. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.