The kid wouldn’t leave him alone.

In the next week or so, Changmin thought he could simply ignore the 106cm addition to their household by refraining from speaking a word to him and keeping his distance. Sure, they went shopping and spent the day at a kids’ café on Saturday together as a family, but Changmin was well-aware that when he went back to school on Monday, things would go back to normal.

Thus, he figured he could spend his after-school days doing schoolwork and playing with his best friend, Choi Minho, who lived only a block away.

But, unlike him, who wasn’t the most sociable of children his age (something his Papa often worried about because he wanted him to have a lot of friends, but Changmin was satisfied with just one friend), Minho was very friendly and loved meeting and making new friends.

So, when the athletic 8-year-old heard about the intruder (disguised as Changmin’s “brother”), he insisted on coming over one day after school and meeting the little pipsqueak.

Which was how Changmin found himself glaring from across the backyard as Minho taught soccer moves to Samuel, while Changmin was stuck watching and keeping score. He was feeling a little bitter because Minho never let him win whenever they played soccer, but there he was, pretending that he couldn’t chase a ball so that Samuel could score a goal.

And Minho was supposed to be his best friend!

“Minho! We have to finish our homework!” he yelled out to him.

From where they were “fighting” over the ball, Minho moved to the side, allowing Samuel to kick the ball into the makeshift soccer goal (made from two chairs with a blanket draped over them). He picked up the little boy around the waist and shook him in glee, shouting in joy as he praised him.

Changmin’s best friend was an idiot sometimes.

“Samuel-ah, we’ll play again another time, okay?” Minho said to the little intruder, as they approached an indifferent (on the outside) Changmin.

Minho ruffled Samuel’s hair and the kid eamed and giggled before looking at Changmin with his big hopeful eyes and toothy smile.

“Hyung, you’ll play with us too next time, right?” he asked, excitedly.

“Yeah, Minnie. Next time, you, me, and Samuel should play together,” added Minho.

Changmin only coughed and shrugged. “We’ll see. Let’s go.”

Ignoring Samuel’s pout, he went back inside the house through the kitchen door, the other two following behind him. His Papa had been making cupcakes while they were playing and they were ready to be iced now.

He looked up from the tray of goodies on the counter as the three children entered. “Hey, guys. Did you have fun playing soccer?”

Samuel immediately bounded up to him, lifting his hands in a silent plea to be picked up. Their Papa did. Changmin’s nose flared. The kid was such a baby! Changmin, himself, deemed himself too old to be picked up now.

“Papa! It was so fun! Minho-hyung is so good at soccer! And he taught me so many things! Next time, I want to play with Appa and Hyung!”

“That sounds great, honey! I’m sure they’d love to play with you too. Maybe this Saturday? Right, Changmin? Minho, you should come again, Samuel really likes you.”

Minho, that friendly idiot, nodded with enthusiasm, prompting the little intruder in their Papa’s arm to cheer.

Meanwhile, Changmin cleared his throat. “Minho and I going to do our homework now, Papa,” the 8-year-old said.

Jaejoong-papa looked a little sad at his declaration and Changmin didn’t know why. Nonetheless, he put Samuel down on the floor and grabbed a plate before placing some cupcakes he had already iced on it. He then gave the plate to Samuel.

“Give this to your hyung, please.”

Again, Samuel’s eyes shone as he carefully toddled over towards Changmin, who began shifting on his feet, uncomfortable.

“Hyung, this is for you.”

Changmin swallowed, nervously, before taking the plate without making eye contact. “Thanks.”

With a nod to his Papa, he led the way into the living room, Minho following behind him.

…………………..

Aside from practically taking not only his fathers’ attention but also his best friend, Changmin also often found himself waking up at night to Samuel’s cries and occasional screams. Sometimes, he would hear the bedroom door open and his Papa or Appa’s soothing voice attempting to comfort and coax the 6-year-old back to sleep.

Once, Changmin had gotten up to see for himself what was going on and saw his Appa coming out of Samuel’s room with the younger boy clinging to his arm. He watched from behind his door as his Appa brought Samuel into his and Papa’s room and felt a bit annoyed.

He was jealous. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept in his Appa and Papa’s room with them. At that moment, he had been tempted to go up to their door, knock, and ask to sleep there too.

But, he restrained himself at the last minute and went back into his own room. Because he was a big boy now! He didn’t need to sleep in his parents’ room anymore.

And, besides, the little bugger was just so annoying sometimes. Whenever they were at home, Samuel would follow him everywhere. Sometimes, he would just be quiet and not say a word and Changmin could tolerate him during those times. But, other times, he would talk and talk and ask Changmin questions about one thing or another.

(“Hyung, what’s your favorite food?”, “Hyung, what do you like to play?”, “Hyung, my favorite color is red. What’s yours?”).

It annoyed Changmin so much that he wouldn’t answer at all. He knew he was being rude but why couldn’t this little bugger just leave him alone?

He was just so caught up in his constant irritation and jealousy that it took him an entire month to notice.

It was one of those days where Samuel kept following him around the house as Changmin tried to find something among his toys to entertain himself with. He refused to play with the 6-year-old, no matter how much he begged.

“Hyung, Appa bought a new board game, let’s play!”

“I don’t want to.”

The little footsteps behind him kept pottering. “Please, hyung? It looks really fun!”

Annoyed, Changmin suddenly turned around to face the annoying creature.

In shock at the sudden action, Samuel fell back with a squeak, landing on the wooden floors of their living room.

Changmin was about to scold him to be more careful when he saw it. It was faint, barely noticeable, and had been covered by the little boy’s shorts but Changmin prided himself in eating a lot of carrots and had good enough eyes to catch it.

He pointed at the faint, but definitely there, bruise on Changmin’s thigh. “What’s that?” he demanded.

Samuel covered it with a hand. “Nothing,” he said in a meek voice.

“No, it’s not. Don’t lie. Lying is bad.” He didn’t like the look of that ugly green patch covering the side of the kid’s thigh.

Samuel startled at that and his lips began to quiver. “I… I fell.” He looked scared and much smaller than he actually was.

For some reason, Changmin didn’t believe him. Nonetheless, he didn’t say a word – not to his fathers nor to anyone. It wasn’t his business.

But, from then on, he kept a closer eye on the 6-year-old. Every time his Papa or Appa picked him up from school and then picked up Samuel from the kindergarten, he would watch the younger boy like a hawk, looking for signs of those mysterious bruises again.

Samuel didn’t seem to understand the sudden attention on him but he seemed to like it. He was still chasing after Changmin and kept begging him to play with him. It came to the point where some days, he would just give in and play with the younger kid, just to get him to stop annoying him.

“Is it just me or is Changmin getting closer to Samuel?” he heard his Appa say once, while they were in the living room watching a movie.

He and Samuel were nestled in a nest of blankets on the floor in front of the T.V., their fathers cuddling on the couch behind them. The 6-year-old’s arm was touching his and Changmin was too lazy to move away, so enraptured by the movie. But, not enough that he couldn’t hear the whispers behind him.

“See? I told you they would get along well,” his Papa answered. “Our Minnie may be a tough nut to crack but he’s a real softie.”

Changmin wasn’t sure what that meant but he was definitely NOT getting closer to Samuel! He was just curious as to why the kid had bruises from falling too many times. Sure, he was a little clumsy but to have that many bruises on his leg seemed a bit much – he should really be careful.

…………………..

“Hey, you have another bruise?” Changmin pointed at the boy’s leg.

Samuel, who was strapped to his booster seat next to him in the car, attempted to cover the ugly blue patch with a hand.

“N-No…”

Too late. In the driver’s seat, their Jaejoong-papa looked at them on the mirror.

“A bruise? Samuel, did you fall again?”

“Um… Y-Yes… S-Sorry…”

Changmin frowned the boy’s quivering lips before glaring at the bruise. “Are you really that clumsy?”

“Changmin, be nice,” Jae-papa scolded. “Samuel, we’ll ice it when we get home, okay?”

“O-Okay, Papa.”

When they got home, Jaejoong-papa made Samuel sit down on the couch and got him some ice for his bruise.

Changmin sat on the other side of the couch, munching on after school snacks of apples and oranges while he watched and listened as their Papa lightly scolded the little boy and telling him to be more careful.

When their Papa got up to go to the kitchen, Samuel turned to Changmin.

“Hyung?” he called out in a timid voice.

Changmin hummed in response, attention still on his snacks.

“Do you hate me, hyung?”

The 8-year-old paused, a piece of apple halfway to his mouth. He looked thoughtfully at the pitiful looking 6-year-old on the other end of the couch.

Did he hate Samuel? Sure, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about the kid at first. As soon as he had laid eyes on him at the orphanage, he found him cute, pretty, and charming… and that he got all the adults’ attention with just a quick flash of his teeth.

He had heard stories from the other kids at school about being ignored by their parents after a new baby that was much cuter had arrived. Suffice to say, it had made him nervous because Samuel was indeed very cute and although Changmin had no qualms about his own cuteness, he knew he was growing up and losing all his baby fat. Even though he would never admit it to anyone if they asked, he was scared of being replaced.

“Hyung?”

Samuel’s voice broke him out of his reverie and he realized that he had been staring blankly into space for a good while and hadn’t answered the younger’s question.

“That’s a stupid question,” was all he said before picking up a piece of orange and handing it to the 6-year-old. “Here. Just eat and stop being clumsy all the time. You’re worrying Papa and Appa.”

Samuel looked surprised at the gesture, but nonetheless, took the orange slice.

“T-Thank you, Hyung.”

The 8-year-old hummed in acknowledgment as he placed the plate in between them on the couch and continued to eat.

The two brothers remained there on the couch, silently finishing their snacks.