“You must be Changmin.” as Jae joong extends his hands to shake Changmin’s hands, the kid was stunned with the beauty right in front of him and forgot to extend his hands. Junsu tap Changmin’s shoulder and introduce their mother. “Ahh, sorry.”, Changmin extends his hands to Jae joong, “Good day Mr. Kim, I’m in your care starting today. Ah here, this is from my Appa. I hope you’ll like it.” Changmin gave the paper bag to Jae joong containing the premium beef from Yunho. Jae joong accepted the bag and said, “Please tell your Appa my sincere thanks for this Hanu, and please call me Jae joong, auntie, or uncle.. Anything that you want. Mr. Kim is a little bit cringey for me, plus I feel old.” Changmin nod in agreement. “And with that let’s have beef for tonight’s dinner to welcome Changmin! Yoochun, Junsu, lead Changmin to your room so that he could put his bag, after doing that please help me setup the table.”

Truth to be told Jae joong was quite worried with what he will cook for tonight’s dinner. He is confident that the twins will eat anything that he’ll serve even if its canned goods or just a steam egg, but he is not quite sure with Changmin. He asked Jang Hoon to make this weeks’ salary as food from the restaurant and the giant man agreed. 

When Changmin entered the house he noticed that the house was not that big and spacious unlike theirs, but he could feel that the house feels warm and ‘welcome-y’. It's not that he doesn’t like their house here in Korea, but with the only two of them Changmin feels that something’s lacking. Changmin’s grandmother offered Yunho to live with them, but he declined, saying that he and Changmin are okay leaving on their own. Changmin also thought that if his mother and brothers are with them it will be fun and happy home.. He will be complete. He came back from reality when Junsu gave him the plates. “Here are the plates Minnie-ah… please help us. “ Changmin took the plate and place them nicely on the table. When they’re done setting up the table and side dishes the trio sits, and wait for the food. He was amazed at how Jae joong cooks, its likes he was dancing. Each ingredients is joining Jae joong’s rhythm, and he was really amazed with Jae joong’s appearance and he can’t figure out what’s happening to him. A few minutes after a generous serving of stir-fried beef and vegetable was served on his plate. Jang Hoon arrived to have dinner as well, he was introduced to Changmin. They gave their praises and thanks to God and they started to eat. The twins and Changmin told stories about what happened today at school and what scores did they get on their test scores. Jae joong is happy that Changmin is really enjoying the conversation by sharing things happened to them at school. 

“So Changmin, do you have any brothers or sisters?” asked Jae joong striking a conversation to get to know more about Changmin. “I don’t have. I’m an only child, but I know I have a twin brothers same age as me.”, replied Changmin. “Oh, really? It must be wonderful! Are they in the same section as you?” Jae joong continues. “No, they are not in my school, I’m not together with them.” Changmin sadly replied. “Oh Changmin, I’m sorry for asking I didn’t know.” Jae joong lightly taps Changmin’s shoulder to say his sorry. “Its ok, you didn’t know. Its just I didn’t get to know them. I overheard my Appa talking to his friend that my mother left with my twin brothers and left me with my dad because my Eomma didn’t want me.” The supposedly happy and welcome dinner full of fun stories, immediately turn into a sad one. Jae joong immediately hugged Changmin to comfort the child and said, “Don’t think like that, maybe your Eomma has reasons he couldn’t tell you and your Appa. I lost one of my child too. If you want you can call me ‘Eomma’, I can act as your mother because you are so good to my twins.” “Thank you Auntie.”, replied Changmin, the twins join the hugging session of Changmin and Jae joong. In the moment of the hugging session the giant man said, “Ehem, if you’re done I’ll get some pudding downstairs so we could have dessert. I think I have 5 pudding left for today.” The twins gleamed with joy since they love Jang Hoon’s pudding. Jae joong muttered a word of thanks to Jang Hoon for making the mood lighter and happy once again. 

After the dinner, Jae joong told the twins to spend their time playing with Changmin on their room or do their assignments and not to help him with the dishes so that they could really enjoy their sleep over project. The twins and Changmin gladly accepts and told their mother that tomorrow they would help him with the chores. The trio quickly run to the room and started to play video games brought by Changmin. Changmin suddenly asked, “Is Uncle Jang Hoon your dad?” both of the twins laughed, Changmin was taken by surprise. Yoochun was the first one to recover and said, “Ah no, Uncle Jang Hoon was our Eomma’s boss, he owns the restaurant downstairs. He said that Uncle Jang Hoon helped him to get back on his feet after some tragic event happen when me and Junsu are still babies.”

“What is that tragic event? Is it about the lost baby that your Eomma is saying?” asked Changmin.

“Well, yeah. Like I told in class we didn’t get to know our Appa so probably that’s it. Enough about that, what’s done is done we must focus in the present.” said Yoochun.

“Let’s just play! Changmin, you brought your game console right? swi-switch?” asked Junsu.

Changmin stood up to get the nintendo switch from his bag and the twins helped him setup the game, and the trio enjoyed the night playing.

After Jae joong finished with the dishes and cleaning, he pour himself a cup of tea and settled himself on the bench stares at the sky enjoying the peacefulness the night brings him. Thankful that his sons have made a new friend who is a lonely boy, abandoned by his mother. He was disturbed from his thoughts when Jang Hoon arrived carrying a cup of coffee for himself. 

“Are you thinking about that boy?”, Jang Hoon asked. 

“Well yeah, I feel that child needs me. I don’t know why I’m like this. Maybe we are in the same situation? I lost my baby, I didn’t get to name him and hold him. I’m totally happy with my life right now, but there are times that I feel incomplete.” Jae joong answered. 

Jang Hoon gave a nod of agreement with what Jae joong said, “Well, it’s totally understandable you are a carrier, you have that maternal instinct. The reason that I help you before is because I know that you are a good and kind-hearted person.” 

“And with that, thank you Hyung! I hope I will not disappoint you. I’m thankful that you, Heechul, and Leeteuk are there with me or else I’ll probably be crazy right now and the twins will be left on their own.” Jae joong and Jang Hoon continue to enjoy their coffee and tea. 

It’s time for breakfast and Jae joong went upstairs to wake up the trio as they need to prepare for their trip to the zoo, Jae joong thinked it's a good idea to bring the twins and Changmin since it's been a long time since they've been to the zoo. When he entered the room, he was surprised that the three boys slept together like a sticky rice that cannot be separated. He wake them up slowly, by kissing their cheeks. 

Jae joong went to wake up Yoochun first, “Good morning Yoochun-ah, did you have a good night sleep?” Yoochun even though still sleepy opened his eyes to give Jae joong a morning kiss. “Good morning Eomma..” Yoochun sat up and wipe his sleepy eyes.

Jae joong went to Junsu’s side and wake up the sleeping boy, “My dearest Junsu, time to wake up.” and kiss his cheeks. Junsu wipe his eyes and said, “Eomma, I want to sleep more.” and went back to sleep. Jae joong whispers something in Junsu's ear that he stood up and gave Jae his good morning kiss.

Jae joong hesitated to wake up Changmin ‘coz he don’t know what are the boy’s habits especially in the morning, he scoffs off and said ‘Whatever’ in his head. He went to Changmin’s side, gently pats the boy’s head and whisper, “Changmin-ah, good morning... It’s time to wake up and prepare for today’s activity.” Hearing Jae joong’s voice made Changmin wants to sleep more, is this what it feels like to have mother with him? Then waking up in the morning is a pure bliss! Jae joong once again pats the boy's head but this time he kissed them! Changmin's eyes opened! He did not expect that Jae joong will do that, especially to someone like him who is not a family. Jae joong laugh when he saw Changmin's expression, the twins joined the laughing spree, since they also saw Changmin's surprised expression. Changmin's face blushed, but laugh after a few second. The trio stood up, clean up the the mattresses they used and start to prepare. 

It was a sunny day when the Jae joong and the kids arrived at the zoo. They were greeted by Heechul near the gates. “Aunt Heechul!” the twins exclaimed upon seeing Heechul, the twins run to greet him. Heechul hugs and kiss the twins, “I missed you so much! Its been a while, did you miss me?” still giving them lots of hugs and kisses. “Hey guys, be careful. Aunt Heechul must not fall, he's in a delicate situation.” as Jae joong and Changmin arrived at the gate, the twins nod in agreement. Jae joong introduced Changmin to Heechul, “Changmin, this is your Aunt Heechul. This person helped me a lot in the past, well, till now too. Heechul, this is Changmin, this is the kid assigned to the twins for the performance task in school. They are friends, so he is not just a classmate.” Changmin bows to greet Heechul formally which Heechul said, “No need for formalities, please call me Aunt Heechul, if you are my twins’ friend then you'll be like my son too. Come on let's go inside I already bought the tickets its my gift since I wasn't able to attend your birthday, since I'm not allowed to leave the house before. You too Changmin, its my welcome gift to you.” Changmin smiled and gave a nod of thanks. Heechul grabbed the twins hand and proceeded at the entrance to hand over their tickets. Jae joong grabbed Changmin's hand and said, ”Changmin, come let's go and catch up with them. Let's enjoy todays activity.” Changmin tightly hold Jae joong's hand and gleefully smiled at Jae joong. This is one the best day in his life since he returned to Korea. They've taken tons of pictures, enjoyed the activities that the zoo could offer. There's this hand painting activity, safari musical show, picture with the baby tiger, and the python, which made Junsu run for his life since he is scared with snakes, but after the convincing powers of Jae joong and Heechul he was finally be able to take a photo as well. After doing all the activities they decided to take a rest and eat. The trio enjoyed the bento Jae joong brought for all of them, after having their lunch the kids decided to play at the playground.

Watching them play makes Jae joong happy, Heechul suddenly said, “Your having fun right? It shows on your face.”

To which Jae joong replied, “Yes, I'm so happy. Its like Changmin is like my real son. The baby that was taken away from me few hours after giving birth.”

Heechul nod in agreement, “How I wish, we've known it a bit earlier so that we were able to protect you from that family. Sorry Jae, I think me and Teukkie are at fault too.” caressing his pregnant belly.

"What are you saying? You and Teukkie helped me a lot in raising the twins, maybe the baby is not just for me, for us.” Heechul gave Jae joong a gentle smile, called the twins and Changmin as they will continue to tour the zoo. After they finished exploring the zoo, they (Heechul went along with them) went home so that the twins could prepare their things for the 24-hour activity at Changmin's house. While the twins and Heechul are packing the stuffs they need to bring, Jae joong called Changmin to the living room. “Changming-ah, did you enjoy your time with us?” Changmin gratefully replied, “Yes, Auntie Jae I did enjoy my time with you. I hoped I am welcome to come back and play with Yoochun and Junsu.” Jae joong smiled and said, “Of course, you are most welcome to come back. Ah here,” Jae joong placed a winter scarf on the table, “Take this as my gift to you, I made that scarf, I know you have a lot of scarves at home but please accept this as my gratitude for being a good friend to my sons and as a welcome to you as a family. My son's friends are like our family.” Changmin likes to cry after hearing what Jae joong said, he stood up and hugged Jae joong tightly, “Thank you Auntie Jae. I'll use it well.” truthfully told Changmin didn't know what's gotten into him why does he feel so emotional when he is with Jae joong maybe he really wants a mother too. Changmin didn't know that Jae joong is the same, but somehow Jae joong is good at hiding his emotions. “Ok, you go back to the room to pack I'll just call you when your father arrives to pick you up. I'll go back to the kitchen to finish your snacks.” Changmin went back to the room to finish his packing.

The trio eventually finished packing and was at the living room with Heechul, entertaining them about his pregnancy adventures and weird food combination which made them cringe and laugh at the same time. The doorbell rang and they assume that it was Changmin's father. Heechul stood up to open the door because Jae joong is still busy with the bento meals he is preparing. 

“Good evening, I'm Changmin's father, Jung Yunho.” 

Hello guys, sorry for updating now. Things got real busy with work and graduate school (I've returned). I really tried to write when I have time, but was only able to write a few sentences. I hope you will like Chapter 8. Next stop Yunho's house! What will appa feel with the twins? Please look forward for the next chapter! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! 😘😘😘