For some reason, Yongguk could barely get a wink of sleep. The thought of leaving Daehyun outside of the room to sleep alone was weighing heavily on both his heart and mind. There was always the urge to go out and check on the boy, but he held it back, just because he was afraid he would be defeated by Daehyun’s sad kitten face and ended up letting the boy into the room.

                He took a look at the time on his phone, squinting at its bright screen in contrast to the dark room. It was still very early in the morning, even the sun has not risen yet. Nonetheless, he decided it was time to get up. His stomach was growling hungrily from the lack of sleep.

                Yongguk looked directly towards the couch right after he opened the door, hoping to see Daehyun sleeping soundly over there. It was pointless though, since all he saw was the back of the couch. He had to go to the living room for a better look. However, there was something under his sole when he first stepped out of the room.

                It was a lump of blanket; the one he had given to Daehyun last night. He wondered why the blanket was there in front of his bedroom when it should be on the couch instead. Wishing to pick it up, he bent down before grabbing the hem of the blanket, only to uncover a ginger fluff curled into a ball beneath it.

                “Daehyun?” Yongguk was surprised to find the cat sleeping there. Crouching down, he tried to wake Daehyun up by caressing his soft fur.

                Daehyun stretched his body, his stubby feet were reaching out as far as they could get while opening his mouth widely in a long yawn. Slowly, he blinked his feline eyes as he looked up to the person who had disturbed his deep sleep, which was very hard for him to get. But once his drowsy brain registered that the person he was looking at was actually Yongguk, his eyes rounded and there was not even a tiny bit of sleepiness left. He immediately changed back into human form before wrapping his self with the blanket.

                “Did you sleep here all night?” Yongguk asked and felt his heart clench when Daehyun nodded his head. “Why didn’t you sleep on the couch?”

                Still sitting on the floor, Daehyun kept his gaze low all the time. “Daehyun couldn’t sleep on the couch…” he murmured. “Maybe it’s too far from hyung…”

                Yongguk was rendered speechless to hear that. He already felt guilty to let Daehyun sleep on the couch and to know that the precious boy was sleeping on the floor instead made him feel like a trash. He knew Daehyun had gotten used to sleeping together with him, but he didn’t expect Daehyun to have a hard time sleeping without being by his side, to the point that sleeping on the floor was better than the couch for the boy as long as it was the closest distance they could be with each other.

                Letting out a heavy sigh, Yongguk stood up on his feet. “Come on, get up,” he told Daehyun. “Put on some clothes. I’ll make us breakfast.”

                The dining table was exceptionally silent as they ate. It was strange not to hear Daehyun’s amusing remarks at how tasty the meal is. Yongguk knew that Daehyun might still be feeling down over the mistake he made yesterday. The boy never lifted his face while eating. There was only a few grains of rice at the end of his chopsticks when he put them into his mouth, but the way he hardly swallowed it down made them seem like it was way too much.

                Yongguk cleared his throat, making Daehyun flinch. “Have you reflected on your mistake?” he asked while staring at the boy.

                Daehyun just weakly nodded his head for a couple of times.

                “Promise me, don’t do it again okay?”

                Daehyun nodded again.

                Yongguk sighed at the feeble response. “You have to answer me properly.”

                Then, Daehyun muttered under his breath. “Daehyun promise…”

                Yongguk wasn’t satisfied, so he shook his head. “No, you have to look at me and say that you won’t do it again.”

                Slowly, Daehyun looked up without lifting his head. The moment their eyes met, Daehyun’s lips curved downwards as tears began to well up in his eyes.

                “Daehyun promise…” he said in a cracked voice, trying to choke back his tears but failed anyway. “Daehyun won’t do it again…”

                The sight of tears streaming down Daehyun’s flushed cheeks caused Yongguk to panic. He quickly got up and rushed to the other side before taking the latter into a hug. “It’s okay, don’t cry,” he made an attempt to coax the boy.

                “Please don’t be mad at Daehyun again,” Daehyun pleaded with his face pressed against Yongguk’s chest, wetting the man’s shirt with his tears.

                “I’m not mad at you anymore,” Yongguk said softly while rubbing Daehyun’s back that shook every time he sniveled. “You’re sorry, right?”

                “Daehyun is very sorry,” Daehyun cried even harder into Yongguk’s chest.

                “I know, I get it. So, stop crying now,” Yongguk tried to calm the boy down again. He was still patting Daehyun’s back, but more desperately this time since his ears started to hurt by Daehyun’s high pitched wailing. However, the boy didn’t seem like he was going to stop crying any time sooner. So, Yongguk thought of another way to make it happen.

                “You’re already a big boy. Big boys don’t cry.”

                In instance, Daehyun turned quiet before pulling apart from Yongguk’s hug. Looking up at the man with his big teary eyes, he asked, “Big boys don’t cry?

                Yongguk shook his head. “Nope.”

                With one last sniffle, Daehyun immediately used the back of his hands to rub the tears off his face. Yongguk was seriously relieved when the crying had finally stopped. He helped the boy wiped his tears before pushing back Daehyun’s fringe.

                “That’s right.” Yongguk praised Daehyun by the boy’s soft hair. “Finish your meal.”

                At last, Daehyun could really put on a happy, genuine smile on his face. He turned back to his meal and continued eating, whereas Yongguk returned to his seat. He found himself smiling in relief to see Daehyun back to being his usual cheerful self again.

                “I’m going out for a while later,” Yongguk uttered. “You stay home, okay?”

                “Hyung is going to work?” Daehyun asked.

                “No, I’m not going to work today.”

                “Where is hyung going?”

                “I just have an important matter to deal with,” Yongguk answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

                “Okay.” Daehyun nodded his head almost too eagerly because he knew he needed to redeem his mistake and regain Yongguk’s trust.

                “Promise?” Yongguk raised his brows at the boy.

                “Promise,” Daehyun assured with a thumbs up.

                Yongguk went out in the afternoon and returned home shortly after that. Daehyun was still reading a story book while lying on the couch as how he left the boy before. With a small shopping bag in his hand, Yongguk went to sit on the empty space at the end of the couch.

                “You haven’t finish that book ever since I left?” he asked about the book Daehyun was reading.

                “Daehyun finished it, but wanted to read it again.” Daehyun got up and sat with his legs folded next to Yongguk.

                “You’ve been reading it every day. You must really like that book,” Yongguk commented.

                “Yeah! This is Daehyun’s favourite book!” Daehyun exclaimed when Yongguk’s guess was spot on.

                “Really?” Yongguk raised his brows before taking another look at the book on the boy’s lap. “The Princess and the Frog? Why?”

                “Because the prince was cursed into a frog, but he could change into a human again,” Daehyun explained, pointing at the handsome prince on the last page of the book. “He’s just like me.”

                “But unlike you, he’s a prince,” Yongguk teased the boy, earning an adorable annoyed pout in return. “He even got a kiss from a princess,” he added just because he found it fun to pick on the boy.

                Daehyun sighed. “Yeah, Daehyun was so lucky that Daehyun could drink a magic potion, because Daehyun has been kissed by so many people before.”

                Yongguk was taken aback when Daehyun looked at him with bottom lip jutting out. It was as if the boy was bragging about it. But it was hard to tell when Daehyun had those large doe eyes staring at him that could make people think the boy was as innocent as a child.

                “But nothing happened.” Daehyun sighed again with a shrug. “Nothing happened when Daehyun kissed hyung too.”

                Yongguk felt his cheeks getting warmer up at that, but he quickly cleared his throat and brushed it off. “That’s because those were not a true love kiss. You understand what love means, don’t you?

                “Of course,” Daehyun immediately answered, full of confidence. “True love is like how mom and dad felt for each other.” His smile dimmed along the line. He averted his eyes down and for a moment, he just stared at the prince and princess on the book, hugging each other with a broad smile on their face. “True love can bring happiness to someone…” he trailed off in a quiet murmur.

                This was not the first time Yongguk saw Daehyun became sad when the boy talked about his parents. He could see how much pain it gave to the boy. It almost made the images of Daehyun smiling and laughing seem unreal to him. He was truly amazed at how Daehyun had survived until today since he was still a kid when he had lost both of his parents. There was no doubt to him that Daehyun was really brave and strong despite his vulnerable appearance.

                Yongguk couldn’t let Daehyun to be immersed in sadness any longer. So, he took the story book from Daehyun’s lap, causing the boy to look up at him. “I have something for you.”

                Daehyun was thrilled to hear that, thinking that he might be getting more books. But then, he realized he could be wrong when Yongguk reached into his pocket.

                “Here.” Yongguk held out a key to the boy. “It’s the key to my apartment.”

                Daehyun gasped before slowly taking it from Yongguk. “Wow…” he breathed out as he marveled at the small shiny thing in his hands. “But… Didn’t hyung tell Daehyun to stay home?”

                Yongguk shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I realized that it was not wrong for you to go out. It was wrong when you didn’t close and lock the door. So, I thought that I’ll let you go out anytime, on condition that you lock the door,” he said, pointing to Daehyun’s button nose to remind the boy.

                Daehyun let out an excited squeal in respond. “Thank you, hyung!”

                “Don’t lose the key,” Yongguk reminded the boy again.

                “Daehyun will take good care of it, hyung. Don’t worry,” Daehyun guaranteed, grasping the key tightly in his fist.

                Yongguk smiled at that. “One more thing, you have to tell me beforehand if you’re going out. In that case, I got you a cell phone,” he said before slipping his hand into the shopping bag.

                Daehyun gasped even louder than before and once the small rectangular thing came into his view, he just went all out screaming.

                Yongguk quickly plugged his ears with his fingers for the whole ten seconds of Daehyun’s shrill voice. “Damn, my eardrums are melting!”

                Daehyun’s scream had finally stopped, but his mouth just wouldn’t close. His hands were cupping his cheeks as he gawked at the black phone in Yongguk’s hold.

                “Have you calmed down now?” Yongguk asked.

                Daehyun shook his head. “Daehyun saw that everybody have a phone, so Daehyun always wondered what it feels to have one…”

                “Really? How does it feel like?”

                “Daehyun feels more…” The boy looked away for a second to think of the best word before returning his gaze to Yongguk again. “…human.”

                Yongguk didn’t expect it to be so painful just hearing the last single word coming out from Daehyun’s mouth. He wondered if the boy was feeling the pain even more than he did. It broke his heart just to think about it.

                “You’ve always been a human, Daehyun,” he said, taking Daehyun’s hand before placing the phone in his palm.

                Daehyun’s lips curved into a broad smile, although it was slightly quivering. It warmed Yongguk’s heart to see the boy at the edge of crying. Even if he did, it would at least be tears of happiness and he would be glad to be a part of it.

                “It’s so nice,” Daehyun commented while checking out the phone’s external design.

                “It is, isn’t it?” Yongguk smiled as he gazed at the boy. “Come here.” He wrapped an arm around Daehyun’s shoulder before pulling him closer. “I’ll teach you how to use it.”

                “Alright, hyung.” Daehyun shifted closer in his seat, getting excited all over again. “Oh, but before that, thank you so much, hyung.” He looked up at the man beside him before flashing his toothy grin that came together with his whisker-like dimples.

                Yongguk had never felt so satisfied and appreciated when someone said a simple thank you to him. It seemed like he had just found his happy pill. “You’re welcome,” he replied while ruffling Daehyun’s hair.