~Protecting You~

Youngjae awkwardly wrapped his arms around me and I fell deeper in his embrace.

“Please, promise me that you will tell me wherever you go.” I softly whispered to his ear.

“W-why?” he asked softly. I tightened the hug.

“Because I won’t let anyone hurt you.” I tried to reason.

“W-why?” he asked again.

This time, I found nothing to say. I kept silence. Slowly, I felt something wet my shirt.

“Wh-why? Wh-why? Why are you so kind to me?” he asked in his trembling voice.

I wrapped him tighter if that was possible, “Because… it hurts me too.” I whispered softly to him, just enough for him to hear it.

Slowly, he pulled away from the hug and looked at me deeply. I knew he wanted to question me again, but I didn’t let him. I whipped away his tears with both of my thumbs.

“Don’t cry. They are not worth your tears.” I said. He looked up at me, nodding.

“T-thank you. N-no one ever s-stand for m-me. S-so…”

“Ssst. Don’t say anything. Should we go home? You said that your baby brother was sick, right?” He nodded. I grabbed his hand and intertwined with mine.

“Oh. Come closer. I don’t know your house yet, Jae.” I said. It got him chuckled. I stopped walking and looked at him. He looked at me confused.

“You know… you really need to laugh more often, Youngjae-ah.” I said as we walked again.

“Because you are beautiful when you laugh.” I mumbled.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“What did you say?” he asked me casually. I think he’s been getting used to my presence and my hold.

“Uuuuhhh…” I trailed off. Suddenly, there were children running around, I reflex pulled him to me, “Watch out!” he stumbled in to my chest. When he realized that we stood too close, he walked back, muttering a small thank you. Then, he walked away faster. I chuckled and ran a bit to match his steps.

~^^~

After walking for more than half an hour, we finally arrived at his house. Or I should say, his apartment building. He lived in the small apartment. I panted hard because I never walked that far before.

“Why didn’t we take bus, Jae? If I know your house was this far, I would suggest to go with my driver.” I said, clutching my shirt.

“Sorry.” He said, chuckling. I stood up right, “Okay. Where is your house?”

“Uhm… in the fifth floor.” He said, stepping inside to the stairs.

“Wait! You don’t…”

“Come on, hyung. You insisted to know my house. Now, I am taking you there, but you complained so much.” He pouted.

“No elevator?” I asked, looking around. He shook his head as he started stepping the stairs. I got no choice, so I followed him behind.

After stepping more than a hundred staircases, we arrived in front of a door with number 506.

“You lived here?” I asked, trying to arrange my breaths.

He shook his head, “No. I lived the next door. I want to pick my brother first.” He knocked the door. In a moment, there was a middle aged woman came out.

“Oh, Youngjae-ah… you are here, dear!” she hugged Youngjae.

“Yes, ahjumma. Where is Jaemin?” he asked politely. The woman looked at me before smiling, “Oh, are you Youngjae’s friend, young man?” he asked me.

I politely bowed to her, “Yes, Ahjumma. I am Jaebum, Im Jaebum. Youngjae’s classmate.”

He scanned me deeply before chuckling, “Thanks, God, finally Youngjae found someone. He is so shy, but he is nice kid. You are good, right?” she caressed Youngjae’s hair. I saw as his face brightened by red colors. I chuckled, knowing that he must be shy.

“Yes, ahjumma. So, where is Jaemin?” he asked again.

“Oh, right. He is sleeping. He had just drunk his medicine, Jae. Come in.” she walked in, leading the way. We entered one small room where a boy, around three years old is sleeping on the small bed, his lips parted and his cheeks are chubby with sheer pink colors. He doesn’t resemble Youngjae, although his cute cheeks are the same.

“Jaemin-ah…” Youngjae softly called him, shook his body a little. The little boy opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a few times, “H-hyung?”

“Yes. I am here. Let’s get you to our home, Jae.” Youngjae slowly picked him up. The little boy is clinging to him.

“Here…” I reached out for his bag. Youngjae looked at me questionably.

“Your bag.” I simply said.

“Oh.” I helped him taking off his bag. After that, we immediately went to his home, the room next door.

~^^~

It’s nothing fascinating. Just a small room with a bed that fit two persons only, a TV, a small closet, a small fridge, small kitchen,  and one smaller room that I supposed to be bathroom. Everything here is small. I looked around and found no picture hanging on the wall, except Youngjae and Jaemin’s picture.

Youngjae put his brother on the bed and wrapped him in the blanket.

“H-hyung… w-will you go t-to w-work t-today?” he asked Youngjae, pleading. Youngjae scooted closer to him, planting a peck on his forehead.

“Yes. I must go, Jae. Why?” Seeing Youngjae and his little brother, making me wonder about the thing that Taecyeon said earlier. I helped myself alone as I sat beside Youngjae, watching Jaemin pouted cutely.

“I don’t want to be alone, hyung.” he hold back his tears. Youngjae caressed his head, “But, I must to, Jae. You know that, right, baby?”

“Your brother is sick, why don’t you call a day off, Youngjae-ah?” I tried to give my opinion.

Youngjae looked at me, “I can’t… I have to go, if not… uhm…”

“Why?” I asked, curiously.

“…uh, nothing.”

“H-hyung?” Jaemin called him softly.

“Yes, Jae?”

“Can I… can I follow you to your workplace, hyung?” he asked hesitantly as if Youngjae would be angry if he said so.

Youngjae took a deep sigh, “Jaemin-ah…”

“Oh, Youngjae-ah… I’ve got an idea!” I smirked satisfy at him. He and Jaemin looked at me confusedly.

~^^~

I sat on the chair, next to the window at the corner of the room. I watched Youngjae smiled brightly, greeting and serving the customer in the café.

“Hyung! I want that cake, hyung!” Jaemin’s voice rang in my ear. I smiled to the little boy who sat beside me, pointing to a pick cake that someone ate. Yes, I suggested Youngjae to take Jaemin to the café where he works and here I am… baby sit his brother for him. What a good change of me!

“Oh, you want to eat again, Jae?” I asked him. Jaemin nodded his head excitedly, laughing louder, making Youngjae turned his head to our direction. I gave him a simple yet sweet smile.

“Alright. Let’s go to the counter, Jae.” I picked him up and walked to the counter.

“What, hyung?” Youngjae greeted me again with his smile.

“Hyung! I want that cake!” Jaemin excitedly said. I laughed at him.

“But… Jaemin-ah…” Youngjae is ready to refuse our order, but I grabbed his hand, “Youngjae-sshi. I and Jaemin here are your customers, right?” I asked him in my polite tone.

Youngjae let a big sigh as I smiled at him, “Okay. So, what can I help you, Sir?” he smiled with his business smile.

“I want that strawberry cake three, one choco milk, one Americano, and one sweet caramel macchiato.” I said my order. Youngjae looked at me suspiciously, but he said nothing.

“Okay. It will be 18000 won, Sir.” He said, receiving the money from me.

“Please wait a little while. I will bring your order, Sir.” He smiled, giving the changes money to me. I laughed at him.

He took our orders to our table by himself, muttering, “You sure ordered a lot, hyung.” I found myself chuckling at his cuteness. He is surely the cutest boy I ever laid my eyes on. Before he’s walking away, I grabbed his hand and forced him to sit down across to me.

“What? I have work to do, hyung~” he whines.

“You’ve got your rest for 15 minutes, Youngjae-ah. I asked your manager by myself.” I grinned widely. Finally, getting the chance to talk with him.

“Okay. So?” he put down the stray that he used to bring our orders.

“Here… eat this. It’s really delicious.” I took a spoon of the cake and feed it to his mouth. Youngjae hesitant a bit before opening his mouth.

“Thank you. I can eat by myself.” He pouted. I chuckled, pushing his drink and cake in front of him.

“Mind to tell me your story?” I carefully asked. I supposed he would be shock, but to my surprised, he didn’t seem to be shock at all, like he’s been expecting it before.

“I know you will ask.” He mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He sheepishly said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Youngjae-ah…” I called him. He looked up at me. I didn’t know why, but I felt so content with him. Like… uhm… soulmate? I don’t know.

“I know that you knew about my secret, hyung.” he let a sigh, looking at me deeply. “But, I didn’t know how much Taecyeon hyung told you. He probably didn’t know the full story.” Youngjae looked at Jaemin deeply. Jaemin is busy eating his strawberry cake.

“You can trust me, Youngjae-ah. I am your friend, right?” I assured him. Hearing the word ‘friend’ from my own mouth making me feel a little sting in my stomach. I didn’t like that word. Maybe because I am falling hard for him just yet.

Youngjae told me the full story and I listened to him attentively. I could feel all his emotion thru his story and shaken voice. Apparently, Youngjae was an orphanage when he was seven. Both of his parents died in the car accident, only him survived. He was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Jung. He told me that they were nice persons actually because they loved Youngjae, at first. But, suddenly, when Youngjae was twelve, Mr. Jung went bankrupt because of gambling, but that didn’t stop Mr. Jung from gambling.

Then, he got some prize because of gambling. That huge prize attracted Mrs. Jung. Then, both of them started to gamble a lot, until they forgot about Youngjae. They often left Youngjae alone, just making sure he didn’t starve. But, as the times went by, Mr. and Mrs. Jung often came home in drunken state and soon they released their stress to Youngjae, telling him many hurting words, but no physical hurt. Just enough to break his little heart.

Jaemin was born unintentionally. Youngjae thought that Mrs. Jung was kind enough not to abort her pregnancy. Jaemin was born when Youngjae was fourteenth. And because their gambling habit, Jaemin was left with Youngjae to take care. Youngjae was struggling for his own life, but he also couldn’t left Jaemin alone, not when he was still baby.

One night, Mr. and Mrs. Jung came home drunk and hurriedly told Youngjae to leave home with Jaemin. They gave him some money to go far away from the city. Youngjae left with no choice since Mr. and Mrs. Jung told him to ran away quickly.

“They… they… just said… p-please, just g-go, Y-youngjae-ah… and… p-please take care of J-jaemin well.” Youngjae is sobbing now. Jaemin stopped eating as Youngjae started sobbing his heart out. The other customers are looking at us.

“T-the l-last thing I know about them… t-that they were died in a-accident as t-they ran away f-from police b-because t-they robbed a bank, h-hyung… a-and… a-and… Taecyeon h-hyung knew it… h-he w-was in the s-scene at t-that time…” Youngjae lowered his head. I felt bad for him, for all of things that happened to him. I grabbed his hands, but Jaemin was faster. He climbed down the chair to hug Youngjae.

“H-hyung~ Don’t cry~” Jaemin soothed him. Youngjae lifted Jaemin to his lap and cried his heart out. I changed my position, so I could wrap them in my embrace.

“Sssh… Youngjae-ah… Don’t cry. No one will hurt you as long as I am alive. Trust me. I’ll protect you and Jaemin. Please, stop crying, Youngjae-ah…” I soothed his back, trying to calm him. His sobbed became louder.

That day, I went home late at night after I took Youngjae and Jaemin to their home. And that night… my heart beats crazily just from the thought of Youngjae. Don’t worry, Youngjae-ah. I really will protect you.

~^^~

i wanted to progress faster with the story.

And... I just love the idea if Youngjae with a baby. Kkkk~

I hope you like this chapter as well. I wrote it in hurry, not really checked for any mistakes.

Enjoy!