Jaebum doesn’t quite know why he feels so tired the next day.

He’s pushing through the last of the powerpoint slides for the next meeting, Jaehyung’s being a prick by flooding his kakaotalk with messages asking him what he should eat later, and he’d stubbed his (still recovering) toe on the doorway on the way in, so when he hears a timid knock on his cubicle wall he almost blows right there and then.

“What? What,” is all he manages to grit out without letting anything particularly offensive slip, looking the kid standing beside his cubicle up and down, standing awkwardly in her high school blazer, hands folded uncomfortably in front of her. “Who are you?”

“M-my name’s Kim Dahyun!” the girl stutters, clearly intimidated by Jaebum’s rough demeanour. “I was, uhm, Sunye-ssi, she told me to report here for the attachment today.”

“She’s here for the job shadowing, genius,” Jungyeon pipes up from the booth beside him, before skirting out on her swivel chair. “Hey, Dahyun, right? Go to Jaehyung-ssi, he’s the slacker on the other side of the room, second booth from the pantry.”

“I don’t slack,” Jaehyung’s head pops up, scowling from behind his oversized glasses. “#IPassTimeWithStyle, ladies and gentlemen.”

“How do you even trust someone who uses hashtags in dialogue?” Younghyun’s disembodied voice sighs somewhere from the booth opposite Jaebum’s.

“You sit on them until they stop,” Jaebum mutters, and Jaehyung swells with indignance.

“Excuse you, Mr Hipster Glasses and Indie Films, but what would you know about something as cool as hashtags?” he shoots from across the room. “There’s a line between vintage and just plain outdated, Jaebum-ah.”

“Can you all shut up and work,” Sunye peers in, and they snap back to whatever they’re doing at once. “Dahyun-ah,” she says, considerably more kind. “Why don’t you shadow Jaebum today? Yes, that one, the grumpy one you had the misfortune of talking to first today. Jaehyung,” her eyes flash, and the brown dyed tips of Jaehyung’s hair seems to wilt in fear, even from within the protection of his booth. “You’re taking the meeting slides. Don’t mess up. It’s not like you prepared anything for the intern, anyway. Carry on,” she leaves with a deceptively graceful wave, then, and there’s a collective sigh of relief.

Jaebum exhales through his teeth, not knowing if he should feel grateful or annoyed about this new development- Yugyeom’s proved that high school kids aren’t all as bad as they seem, sure, but then again Yugyeom “doesn’t have friends around here” and doesn’t seem to care half as much as usual kids do about their SATs, so it’s not like Jaebum can rely on him to give the best estimate of the average contemporary teenager.

“Get a chair and sit down,” he grunts, gesturing in the vague direction of the wall, where some foldable chairs are leaning. “What are you here for again?”

“It’s a holiday enrichment programme, a job shadowing experience,” Dahyun says nervously, clearly having memorised this description, unfolding the chair and trying to sit as unobtrusively as possible. “We’re supposed to go to different places and try out different jobs, Jaebum-ssi.”

“Cute,” Jaebum mutters. “So I’m supposed to show you what we do around here right?”

Dahyun nods anxiously, and Jaebum wonders if all high school kids are this timid. You’d think there’d be at least one kid with attitude from this generation.

“Okay, I guess we’ll start with, uh…some data input and spreadsheet filling?” Jaebum’s dealt with interns before- they all have, and these high school hopefuls should be pretty much the same, right? Just dump a couple of brain numbing tasks on them and get them friendly with the photocopier and coffee machine- shouldn’t be too difficult. “You’ve learned basic input in school, right?”

“Uhm, no?” Dahyun looks slightly taken aback. “I’m in my second year, we don’t start Accountancy until third.”

“Guess we’ll have to start from the beginning, then,” Jaebum grumbles. “Hang on, just let me send these slides off to Jaehyung. What school are you from, kid?”

“S-sejong Science High School,” Dahyun mumbles. “We’re not really well known.”

“Hey, that’s…” Jaebum frowns, confirming it in his head, a little amused at the coincidence. “That’s the school by the park, right? The one with the blue and yellow walls?”

“Yeah! I mean, yes it is, Jaebum-ssi,” Dahyun looks surprised. “How did you know?”

“My bus takes me past that school every morning, and besides, I know someone who goes there,” Jaebum chuckles. “You know him? Kim Yugyeom- he’ll be your senior, he’s in his final year.”

“Senior…?” Dahyun says uneasily, then, after a pause. “I’m-…uhm, maybe we’re not talking about the same school.”

“What?” Jaebum’s only half-listening, more intent on sending the slides. Dahyun clears , as if unsure if she should speak.

“I don’t have any seniors, Jaebum-ssi,” she says, a little more clearly this time.

Jaebum’s fingers slow to a halt, before he turns to give her a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

“I’m from the pioneer batch, the first one, Jaebum-ssi,” she says, a little more tentatively. “This school opened two years ago- unless there was a holding school before this I never heard of, I don’t have any seniors in school.”

“That’s not right,” Jaebum chuckles, puzzled. “Yugyeom’s graduating- the school with the blue and yellow walls right? And the cork oak trees?”

“Yeah, we planted the saplings for those during our first year, they’re in the eco garden at the back,” Dahyun says nonchalantly, before scrunching up her nose. “Carried the tables and chairs, too. And painted the lecture theatre doors. Lots of manual work.”

Jaebum’s frowning, now, looking at her properly. Something’s not right.

“I could…show you?” Dahyun’s already got her phone out, Pororo keychain clinking against her baby pink ice cream phone case, thumbs moving like lightning, before turning the phone to show him the screen, looking slightly uncertain. Jaebum’s eyes flick through the webpage of the school, still at its bare minimum, showing the initiation year as, indeed, two years ago. “Maybe the boy you know…he meant another school? There are a couple of high schools in this neighbourhood.”

It’s as though the other shoe finally drops, then- impact sinking low and cold in Jaebum’s gut.

Yugyeom lied. He’s not schooling at all now.

“…yeah,” Jaebum says, suddenly uncomfortable- sweat’s prickling at the back of his neck, something that feels a lot like a quiet, frightening sort of dread twisting his innards. “Yeah, maybe. Hey, listen, how about I get someone to show you the photocopier and the other facilities? We’ll start on the basics once you get back,” he doesn’t wait for Dahyun to nod, or to see the confused expression on her face from his reaction.

“Nayeon,” he cranes his neck out, catching his co-worker in the middle of staring dreamily at the calender picture of some local drama actor on her desk, making her jump, flushing as she shoves the calender back into her pile of things. “Can you show Dahyun around the office? I need to settle a couple of things first.”

“Yeah, yes, okay,” Nayeon stands, straightening her pencil skirt, trying to look like she hadn’t been whiling away paid office time. “Dahyun, right? Let’s just show you around to get you familiar with things.”

As soon as they’re both out of earshot, Jaebum fumbles with his phone, calling the first number on his speed dial and waiting impatiently for the recipient to pick up. His fingers drum on the table with each ring, met with silence on the first, second, third-…

“Hyung?” Jinyoung’s melodic voice settles some degree of calm in the mini storm that’s started at the pit of his stomach, then, and he sighs in relief. “What’s wrong? Need me to fax you a document from home or something?”

“No, no, it’s just,” Jaebum hesitates, momentarily frozen. The normalcy of everything hits him, then- a stark contrast to the horrifying scenarios that’d been playing out in his head just now.

He realises how stupid this is going to sound all of a sudden, as some thumping and delighted screaming resounds in the background, no doubt from the two Yugyeoms playing some game of catch around the house. Jaebum thinks back to everything Yugyeom’s done this past three days, from saving Jinyoung to taking care of the kids to helping him out with the groceries- why would someone like him lie about his high school? “I, I wanted to check on things at home. Are things-…are things okay?”

“Uhh…” Jinyoung drags that syllable out, like he usually does when he wants to let Jaebum know how dumb he’s sounding without saying it straight to his face. “Yes? Well there was a lizard in the bathroom this afternoon and Gyeommie did sort of catch it after kindergarten and feed it to our neighbour’s bird and I’m not sure if that bird’s going to live, but other than that things are fine…? Why?”

Jaebum falters, thinking back to what Dahyun had said about him mistaking the school for another one. There had to be a few high schools around that park, right? Maybe they all have blue and yellow walls and cork oak trees? Public schools do that whole standardisation thing, right?

“Nothing,” he deflates eventually, shaking his head, shoulders moving in an automatic shrug. “Just-…just wanted to know if you need me to pick anything up tonight.”

“Now that you mention it,” Jinyoung says, and the knot in Jaebum’s heart loosens a little at the sound of the mischievous smile in his voice. “Could you get some bread? The wholegrain one, none of your milk bread nonsense- this family’s going to eat healthy, if it’s the last thing I do. And some ham and tomatoes, too- I’m going to try out some recipes to see what Yugyeom will like in his lunchbox next year when he starts school,” he blows a kiss into the receiver, and Jaebum chuckles at the sound of their son eww-ing excitedly from somewhere in the house, something learned from Bambam, no doubt.

“Okay,” he says, pulling a post it off to note the things down, as Nayeon and Dahyun return, the latter holding a company mug of hot chocolate and regarding the former with tremulous admiration. “Hey, I gotta go now, babysitting a high school kid here. See you tonight.”

“Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow,” Jinyoung croons, before hanging up, as Jaebum rolls his eyes.

He’s probably just overreacting, as usual, he tells himself, as Dahyun settles back in her seat, bright eyed and bushy tailed for the coming lesson, and takes a deep breath to steer his thoughts in the right direction, away from the fear that so constantly weighs it down.

*

The plastic bag of groceries rustles in Jaebum’s hand as he pushes open the door with his shoulder, before setting it on the table, along with his coat, looking forward to a hot shower after braving the cold outside, and some food.

“Hey hyung,” Jinyoung calls from the kitchen, probably washing up from dinner preparations. “How was work?”

“Work was okay,” Jaebum says distantly, gaze instinctively spinning across the empty room. “Jinyoung-ah-…Jinyoung, where’s Gyeom?”

“Oh, Gyeommie’s out with Yugyeom right now,” Jinyoung comes out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel, raising a brow at the look on Jaebum’s face. “Yugyeom wanted to bring him out to the park to play a bit after kindergarten. Why?”

“Yugyeom?” Jaebum’s brow furrows, voice sharpening when he speaks next. “When? When did they leave?”

“Uhm,” Jinyoung’s clearly a little unsettled by Jaebum’s tone of voice as he glances over at the clock. “Three, maybe? A little after that?”

“Jinyoung-…that was five hours ago,” Jaebum drops his bag near the table, taking his keys out of his pocket again to reopen the door. “Who brings a kid out for five hours? It’s dark outside right now, for crying out loud-…”

“Hey, hey, relax, they probably just got held up,” Jinyoung tugs on Jaebum’s arm, concerned. “What’s wrong?” Jaebum remains stormily silent for a while, his hand on the door handle, before Jinyoung prods again. “Does this have something to do with why you called this afternoon?”

“Jinyoung-…” Jaebum steels himself with a breath. “Yugyeom-…I think Yugyeom lied to me, about his high school. He’s not in school at all- Sejong Science High, the one in the park, it opened just two years ago, so he can’t be in his final year. And now he’s out there somewhere with our son, and it’s ing dark out-…”

“Jaebum,” Jinyoung says firmly, picking his phone up from the table. “Listen, it could’ve been a misunderstanding- there’s more than one neighbourhood high school in this area, you could’ve gotten it mixed up. How about we just call him and ask where they are?”

Jaebum waits, taking deep breaths, feet shifting impatiently as Jinyoung puts the phone to his ear, but he doesn’t have to wait long, because Jinyoung’s lowering it, frowning slightly. “I think his phone’s flat- it didn’t start ringing.”

“Forget it, I’m going down to look for them,” Jaebum pushes the door open, barely waiting to pull on his shoes, ignoring Jinyoung’s protests as he takes to the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. His head is buzzing with all the possibilities, mapping out all the areas they could’ve gone, imagining a hundred worst case scenarios all at once.

He’s running down the last flight, down into the lobby, already planning out a route to the park, then to the police station, if necessary. Automatically bristling at the temperature, he pushes the door open, bracing against the rush of cold air into the area-…

…-before he’s met with a strikingly familiar sight.

Jaebum freezes.

“Daddy?”

Jaebum’s breathing unevenly, frowning in confusion at the soft outline of the two boys sitting on the bench under the streetlight. His son’s turned around, eyes inquisitively wide, legs dangling over the edge, figure dwarfed by that of the taller teenager next to him. “It’s cold, why aren’t you wearing your jacket?”

He blinks once, twice, staring at the two kids, now staring back at him, faces eerily similar under the glare of the streetlight. How had he missed them when he was going up just now?

“Where were you?” he says, trying not to sound like he’d been worried.

“We went to the park,” the older Yugyeom says, getting up, little Yugyeom hopping up after him, balancing a cup in his hands. “Then we went to get a chocolate shake,” he adds, like it’s an afterthought.

“The bent straw’s hyung’s one, and mine is the straight one,” little Yugyeom holds up the plastic cup, almost finished. “We went to lots of places, Daddy. But we didn’t want to go up yet, because Papa will get mad if he knows I drank more than one chocolate shake this week.”

“It’s late,” Jaebum says as he watches the little boy finish up the last of the chocolate shake with relish, feeling this mix of relief and a little embarrassment, but also major confusion. “It’s getting cold too- it could’ve been dangerous for the two of you to be out.”

Yugyeom looks around, staring into the sky like he’d just noticed the dark and the stars, before looking back. “I guess we just lost track of time,” he nudges little Yugyeom’s shoulder with his knuckles, smiling slightly. “Didn’t we?”

“Well, come on up, then,” Jaebum mumbles, gesturing. “It’s getting cold here and Jinyoung’s worried.”

*

“So,” Jinyoung whispers, brow raised as he slides into bed after Jaebum that night, and Jaebum sighs. The night had gone on rather uneventfully- they’d eaten, washed up, and Jaebum had busied himself with looking over Gyeommie’s Math assignments that night, purposefully ignoring the existence of the teenager puttering around their kitchen and living room.

“I don’t get it,” he mutters, staring at the ceiling. “Why’d he lie to me about his high school? What is he doing here exactly?”

“Or, it could just be an incredibly huge misunderstanding that you’re not clarifying with him because you’re a proud jerk,” Jinyoung says fondly, curling into Jaebum’s side, head tucked into his neck.

“Huh,” Jaebum mutters, unwilling to admit that that could very well be true. “Either way, they shouldn’t have stayed out so late.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, hyung,” Jinyoung yawns. “Speaking of sleep, let’s sleep.”

“You’re not worried?” Jaebum grunts, eyelids feeling heavy despite himself.

“No…? Because I know he’s a good kid who just needs our help for these few days?” Jinyoung murmurs. “Besides, he’s going home tomorrow, hyung. Tomorrow’s the fourth day, remember?”

Jaebum inhales at the thought- he hadn’t thought it’d come so soon. He supposes he should feel relief, that the nagging worry about Jinyoung and Gyeommie’s safety won’t surface anymore, but to be honest, all he feels is this aching sort of confusion, now.

Yugyeom’s four days here have posed nothing but questions for Jaebum, one stacked up on another, all repressed under the mask of civility he wears, and it’s strange, because he’s never wanted so much to just understand someone else. Each resolution to keep quiet and carry on is undercut by feelings of regret, like he’s squeezing his eyes shut to windows of opportunity. It’s confusing and inexplicable and it frightens Jaebum, that someone he barely knows could derail him this much.

“I gave him a couple of sets of your old clothes and I’m going to make him some things to bring home to eat tomorrow,” Jinyoung mumbles sleepily, half to himself, into Jaebum’s neck, warm puffs of breath spiralling along his skin. “He’d just gained a little bit of weight, you know, and now he’s going back there, and I don’t know if he’s going to even get three meals a day. I opened the invitation for him to come back and have dinner with us sometimes, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jaebum rubs at his eyes tiredly, taking his phone from the dresser and unlocking it, wincing slightly at the glaring light. “I just want to get this over with- I’m sick of everything that’s happening right now.”

Jinyoung huffs a little against his shoulder, turning around so his back’s facing Jaebum, fast entering the first stage of sulking, if Jaebum’s prior experience serves to inform him correctly. “Whatever you say, hyung.”

Jaebum’s too absorbed, though, flitting through all his messages to see if there’s anything he’d missed in the chaos of tonight, when his eyes land on a certain text message sent much earlier this evening.

Get ur car outta my garage!!! Also u owe me bbq + soju, tell me when ur free

“, I forgot to collect the car from Junho hyung’s garage this evening,” Jaebum groans, letting his hand flop back onto his pillow. “I’ll have to get it tomorrow, or he’ll start accusing me of neglecting him again.”

“Is that hyung?” Jinyoung perks up, previous cold shoulder tactics forgotten, as he reaches over to reply Jaebum’s text, probably snatching the opportunity to reinforce his position as Junho’s favourite dongsaeng again. “You can just pick it up tomorrow, it’s not like he’s going to combust if you don’t,” he says dismissively, probably typing out an aegyo-filled, cutesy message signed off by himself.

“You don’t have to go anywhere with Gyeommie by tomorrow, right?” Jaebum mumbles, sighing. “No classes or anything?”

“Nope, not that I’m aware of,” Jinyoung’s still typing, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth, and Jaebum rolls his eyes. “Besides, it’s not like we’re crippled, we can still take the bus, you know.”

Jaebum makes a noncommittal sound, giving his phone a fruitless tug before Jinyoung pulls it away, smiling cheekily at him. “What’s this about meat and soju I see that I wasn’t invited to?”

Jaebum half-laughs, half-yawns, pressing his lips on Jinyoung’s chin in a placating kiss as he finally retrieves his phone from the other man’s clutches. “You know Junho hyung’s always going to like me better.”

“Liar!” Jinyoung pounces on him, grinning, the edges of his eyes crinkling like parchment paper and autumn leaves, and Jaebum pretends to struggle- not that he has to do much pretending. Jinyoung’s stronger than he looks, both physically and mentally, all wiry muscle and razor sharp words. Jaebum’d heard from Sungjin that a couple of kids on the playground had once pushed Yugyeom over and yelled that he had faggots for fathers, and Jinyoung happened to be close by enough to hear. To Jaebum’s surprise, those kids somehow managed to make it back to their parents alive.

“You know we could just drop Gyeommie off at Mark’s place for an evening and go with Junho-hyung together, right,” Jaebum slides his hands around Jinyoung’s waist, long aware that the best way to win a battle like this is to come in peace, and sure enough, Jinyoung settles contentedly, much like a smug kitten, on Jaebum’s chest.

“And leave him all alone over there with them?” Jinyoung pulls a face, and Jaebum rolls his eyes.

“You were fine with Yugyeom bringing him out.”

“Yeah, but Yugyeom doesn’t lecture Gyeommie on his direction in life and try to give him uality education every five seconds,” Jinyoung says primly, and Jaebum snorts, rolling the other man off him.

There’s silence for a few moments more, before Jinyoung straightens a little, rolling over on his front to look at Jaebum properly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Jaebum echoes in exhaustion, raising a brow.

“I wouldn’t tell you this if I wasn’t completely sure you’d handle it properly,” Jinyoung says meaningfully, a clear message in his tone to not freak out, please. “Because it’s just a little thing and you’re not going to jump to conclusions, right?”

“Sure,” Jaebum grumbles, offended.

“Gyeommie, tonight-…” Jinyoung hesitates. “I thought it was just the cold, but his eyes were a little puffy.”

Jaebum frowns. “And?”

“Well, he never cries, so,” Jinyoung shrugs with practised nonchalance. “It’s pretty obvious when he does. Something must’ve made him cry when he was out with Yugyeom just now.”

Jaebum sighs, letting his head fall back on the pillow. “I don’t understand why you tell me these things and expect me not to freak out.”

“I’m just saying,” Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “It could’ve been kids at the park bullying him again.”

“We should’ve told Yugyeom to stay away from that part of the park.”

“Or this could mean Yugyeom stood up for Gyeommie, right?” Jinyoung argues, and Jaebum chuckles drily.

“You’re going to stick up for him forever, aren’t you?”

“Don’t lie, you’re attached to him too,” Jinyoung says dismissively, curling back up on the pillow beside Jaebum, hand brushing the other man’s shoulder. “I saw the way you tried to get Mark to get off his case yesterday- he’s a good kid, I’m telling you.”

“Mmh, alright,” Jaebum pulls Jinyoung closer, yawning deliberately to show that this is the end of the conversation, and Jinyoung, ever childish, sticks out his tongue at him.

He can’t help but think there’s an element of truth to what Jinyoung’s saying, though, because predictably, Jinyoung’s the one to know him the best, at the end of it all.

As Jaebum’s drifting off, though, the look in his eyes says it all- he’ll die before ever admitting something like that.

a/n: the fourth day is at their doorstep! and y'all know what that means \o/ the end is nigh wooooooh

so this was a chapter i initially didn't even include, but then i felt this was needed to properly flesh out yugyeom and jb's relationship T.T also so far, the ending's been changed about five times, and i'm currently hovering between two possible endings (though with this chapter, i'm probably going to go for the first ending i had in mind) ;A; i'm so incredibly grateful for all your comments, really- they gave me the strength to properly finish this chapter XDD as an explanation for why these chapters have been coming a little later, my beta's busy with stuff, so i've been proofreading alone ahaha. but the other reason i've been busy is because!!!

7fics has opened its doors for applications again! just for clarification: 7fics is a tumblr blog dedicated to filling got7 centric prompts. if y'all are interested in filling got7 prompts and have some time on your hands, why don't you try applying? we've been working hard to revive the blog, and i'm really excited to see all the new apps coming in (we've got over nine since we put out the announcement on sunday and it's been amazing reading all their stories <33) and on a sappy sentimental note, it's incredible for me to be able to see the blog at where it is now since its conception T.T it's really just a fun place to request fics and read others' requests, and it'd be cool to see some of you around! >.< yup ok shameless advertisement over, back to actual fic now XD

thank you once more for your comments, and more concrit/thoughts on this chapter would really be appreciated as well hehe! love you guys <33

-angel :)