The day started off normal and ordinary as always. Jaejoong woke up to his soft alarm, made a healthy breakfast of eggs, sausages, and vegetables, and got lunchboxes ready. Then, he proceeded to wake up the three most important people in his life.

First, he went into Changmin’s room, shaking the 8-year-old awake. “Minnie, time for school, get ready,” he said, in a soothing voice.

His son opened his eyes, blinking blearily at him and nodded with a yawn.

Leaving him to get ready, Jaejoong went back into the master’s bedroom. He climbed up on the bed just as Yunho’s morning alarm went off. His husband’s hand appeared from under the covers, fumbling to turn off the alarm. Then, the body turned around and the hand grabbed Jaejoong, bringing him forward onto his husband’s chest.

“Yunho!” He couldn’t say much more as lips descended on his into a deep kiss.

Jaejoong sighed into the touch. “Morning,” he managed against Yunho’s slightly chapped lips.

A soft chuckle and another peck later, Yunho held him against him with a giant, happy smile. “Morning, yeobo.”

Jaejoong looked up at him. “You’re in a good mood this morning.”

Yunho shrugged, his fingers tap, tap, tapping against Jaejoong’s shoulder blade. “I don’t know. I just feel like today will be a great day.”

He was always so sentimental and cheery. Jaejoong loved that about his husband.

Chuckling, Jaejoong patted him in the arm before gently extricating himself from his husband’s hold.

“Alright, get up, you big baby. Breakfast is ready. I still have to wake Samuel.”

Playfully, Yunho smacked him in the rear as he walked away. Turning red even though he was used to it, Jaejoong just stuck a tongue out at him before closing the door.

He walked down the hall to his youngest son’s room and gently opened the door.

The 6-year-old was lying on his stomach, stuffed bunny clutched tight against his chest. Jaejoong sighed in relief at the sight. Samuel slept through the night last night.

It had been two months since they had taken him home and after the first few nights, they discovered that their new son was prone to nightmares. Often, either he or Yunho would wake up and comfort him before staying with him the entire night. Sometimes, Samuel would come to them, opening their unlocked door and crawling into the little space between them.

Jaejoong had considered taking the child to a therapist to get to the root of his nightmares but lately, the bad dreams had become less frequent and Samuel was finally sleeping through the night. They figured that it might just be stress from the transition. Still, he and Yunho continued to leave their door unlocked, just in case.

Quietly, he sat on the edge of the bed and just like with Changmin, gently shook him awake.

“Sammy, time to get up, baby,” he cooed.

Samuel twitched and stirred, opening his eyes before closing them again. Jaejoong chuckled and shook him again.

“Come on, little prince, let’s get ready for school.”

Samuel pouted, eyes still closed. “I don’t wanna,” he whined.

Unlike Changmin who was easy to wake up and was always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every morning, Samuel took a little more coaxing to get out of bed. The boy loved sleep as much as his brother loved food.

Five minutes later after various poking and teasing and tickling, Samuel finally allowed himself to be picked up and out of bed so Jaejoong could give him a quick shower and get him dressed. When he was finished with Samuel, the 6-year-old went downstairs for breakfast so Jaejoong, himself, could get ready for work.

After a shower and changing, he walked into the kitchen for breakfast. He couldn’t help but stop at the doorway to watch as the two children enthusiastically dug into their food while his husband read the paper, a mug of coffee in his hand. In Jaejoong’s place next to Yunho, a plate was already prepared for him along with his own mug of coffee.

His heart warmed at the sight of his family. His wonderful and perfect family.

When he realized he was gay at age 16 and had no interest in women whatsoever, he thought that he would spend his adulthood alone and unloved. He never thought he would meet the handsome and charismatic Yunho at a college party Yoochun had dragged him to, date him for three years, and later on marry the guy and have children with him.

“Jaejoongie, what are you doing there?” Yunho’s voice broke through his reminiscing. His husband was flashing him a look of concern. “Come eat.”

Smiling, Jaejoong took his place at the table. He watched as Changmin shoved eggs into his mouth, Samuel sneakily trying to put his vegetables into his brother’s plate, and Yunho’s brows scrunched up as he read the business section.

And as he dug into breakfast, he considered himself really blessed, indeed.

Yunho was right. It seemed like they were all going to have a good day, after all.

…………………..

It was his Appa’s turn to pick them up that day and he always took them out to ice cream after. But, that afternoon, his Appa to talk to Samuel’s teacher about an upcoming field trip to the zoo so the ice cream outing had to wait a little while.

Changmin tried to be patient as he sat in the backseat of Yunho-appa’s car as they drove to Samuel’s kindergarten.

When they arrived, he obediently held his Appa’s hand as they were led inside the school building. It wasn’t as huge as Changmin’s Elementary school but there was a playground and had a lot of cool pictures on the walls. They entered a classroom and it was almost empty except for a few kids and their parents and the teacher

“Hello, Mr. Jung,” greeted the teacher with a bow. Changmin and his Appa bowed back. “Samuel is in the playground. I’ll go get him.”

“Hello Miss Nam,” greeted his Appa. “I actually need to talk to you about that zoo trip, if that’s okay? My husband has a few concerns that he wants me to bring up, but he’s still at work today.”

The teacher nodded. “Of course.”

Yunho-appa turned to Changmin. “Minnie-ah, why don’t you go find your brother and play with him while I talk to seonsaengnim? Then we’ll get ice cream.”

Changmin nodded and walked out of the classroom and down the hall towards the playground in the back. He already knew the way. There were times before when they were late in picking him up so Samuel would always pass the time waiting for them in the playground. He was always in the swings or the slides, which were his favorites.

Changmin wondered if Samuel was finally playing with the other kids. He only talked about this one friend named Dino, but they never met him since Dino always got picked up immediately by his older brothers after school. Apparently, he was part of a really huge family, but exactly how huge, Changmin didn’t know.

He made it to the playground and scanned the area. There were a few kids playing on the swings and the slides but none of them were Samuel. There was a teacher sitting on a bench nearby, reading a book as she guarded. Changmin approached her.

“Excuse me, seonsaengnim,” he said, politely as she looked up at him with a smile. “Where is Samuel?”

“Oh, you’re Samuel’s hyung!” she exclaimed. “I saw him playing hide and seek so he’s probably hiding somewhere. You can wait here with seonsaengnim until they finish the game, if you want.”

Changmin considered it but he recalled his Appa’s words about their ice cream outing later. If he didn’t find Samuel quickly, the more time he had to wait for his ice cream. And Changmin had been looking forward to it all day.

With a thank you and a polite bow to the teacher, he left to go in search for the elusive little bugger.

Of all days to play hide and seek, it had to be today.

He searched the nooks of the jungle gym and the crannies of the little playhouse, but no Samuel. So, he asked the lone little girl playing with her doll in the sandbox and she pointed him towards the side of the building where the garden was.

“I saw him there, oppa,” she said. “There are others there too.” Then, she bit her lip and looked up at Changmin, frightened. “They’re really mean to him,” she whispered.

Changmin frowned at that. Mean kids? That didn’t sound good. Changmin had his fair share of bullies in his own school, but he fought back a few times before finally telling a teacher and they left him alone.

And if Samuel was with these mean kids…

His heart suddenly quickening against his chest, he jogged towards the garden.

It wasn’t like he cared. No, of course not.

That little intruder came into his life, all cute smiles and charming personality as he stole his parents’ attention away. That little invader who kept annoying Changmin, calling him ‘hyung’, as if they were really close brothers and not just two children who happened to live in the same house, being taken care of the by the same parents.

So what if sometimes, it was nice having another kid to watch Power Rangers with when Appa and Papa were too busy? So what if Papa cooked more food and bought more snacks because there was an extra person to feed so Changmin could have thirds and fourths? So what if there was another person to play soccer with if Appa was busy or Minho wasn’t home? And so what if Saturday morning watching cartoons with a bowl of cereal weren’t lonely anymore?

He didn’t care. He just didn’t want his Appa and Papa to be worried.

“What’s up with his hair?! Is that even a real color?!”

“His eyes are weird too!”

“That nose looks like a witch’s! Is your mom a witch?!”

“He wouldn’t know! He doesn’t have one!”

Changmin skidded to a stop at the sound of the laughter. Ahead of him was a crowd of kids, five of them. They were gathered in a circle, one lone kid in the middle, sprawled on his hands and knees on the ground.

Samuel wasn’t crying, but his lips were quivering and his eyes shifting as he held in his tears. On his legs were brand new bruises and patches of dirt covered his shorts.

Changmin had always thought the dirt on the kids’ clothes were from playing. Papa often scolded him for it.

But, now, he knew that that wasn’t the truth. His little brother was being bullied.

His brother…

“I heard him tell his little friend that his brother doesn’t like him.”

“If he was my brother, I wouldn’t like him either!”

And with those words, all of a sudden, Changmin could only see red. He felt like he was burning all over and the only way to cool off was to yell. Before he realized what he was doing, his own feet were already moving forward towards the crowd of kids… towards Samuel.

“HEY! GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!”

Shocked at seeing an older (and certainly a much bigger) kid running towards them, the kindergartners broke their circle, allowing Changmin to run in and stand beside the surprised-looking Samuel.

“H-Hyung…” the 6-year-old said.

Changmin looked down to glare at him. “Shut up, you! Why didn’t you tell me these jerks were bullying you, huh?!” Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to the other kindergartners who seemed unsure on what to do now. “Hey, you punks! Stay away from my brother, you hear me?! Don’t touch him! Don’t talk to him! Don’t even look at him! I have a good memory so I’ll remember all your faces! If I see one little bruise on his leg again or any part of his body, you’ll all be sorry! You hear me?!”

One of the little punks began to tear up as they all took a step back.

Changmin narrowed his eyes at them. “Scram!”

Frightened, the kids ran off, two of them already wailing and crying for their moms.

Changmin watched them disappear around the corner of the building before turning back to the 6-year-old, who had gotten up from the ground while he was yelling.

Samuel dusted off his shorts before looking up at him with a toothy smile.

The 8-year-old scoffed. “You should have told me you were being picked on.”

Hanging his head in apparent shame, Samuel scuffed his sneakers against the ground. “I didn’t want to make you mad.”

Changmin tilted his head to the side. “Well, now I’m mad because you didn’t tell me. Next time those punks pick on you, you’re telling me or else I’ll be even madder.”

Samuel gasped in horror before bounding up to him and wrapping his arms around his waist, lip quivering and his eyes glistening. “Don’t be mad at me, hyung! I’m sorry! So sorry, hyung! Don’t be mad! Please don’t hate me!”

The kid rubbed his cheek against Changmin’s shirt.

Caught off-guard, Changmin blushed and coughed. Placing his hands on both of Samuel’s shoulder, he gently pushed him off.

Samuel pouted at the action.

But, Changmin wasn’t done as he squeezed the shoulders, comfortingly. “Look… I know I wasn’t the most… nice… to you-.”

“But, you are nice, hyung!” Samuel piped.

Changmin coughed again. “What I mean to say is that… I don’t hate you, okay? I’m your big brother. You have to trust me. And you’re supposed to tell me things like this so I can defend you. It’s my duty.”

At that, the kid eagerly nodded his head, smiling. “I will! I will!” Then, he pouted again. “You’re not going to tell Papa and Appa, are you?”

Changmin raised his eyebrows. “Why not?”

His lips quivered. “They will worry. I don’t want them to worry and cause trouble. I want to be a good baby to them.”

Changmin felt a prick of guilt. So, the kid remembered what he had said before about worrying their fathers. That must have stuck in his head so he didn’t say anything about being bullied.

“Fine, I won’t tell them. But, you’re going to tell me from now on.” He held up a pinky. “Promise me.”

Breaking into a toothy smile, Samuel hooked his pinky into his into a swear. They had made a pact. As brothers.

Clearing his throat, Changmin pulled his hands away and ruffled the kid’s mop of hair.

“Come on, you little twerp. Appa is taking us out for ice cream.”

Without another word, Changmin puffed out his chest and began to walk away to head back into the school. Footsteps behind him and a small hand clutching the back of his shirt indicated that his little brother was right behind him, faithfully trusting him.

And Changmin let him.

…………………..

“Minnie-ah.”

Changmin looked up at his Papa, who was tucking him in for bed after reading him a story. Jaejoong-papa was looking at him with that look and it made Changmin shrink under his covers until only his nose and eyes showed.

“Did something happen today with Samuel? His clothes were all dirty and he has all these bruises. And he’s clingier to you.” Jaejoong-papa tilted his head to the side. “You know that if something happened, you can tell me.”

Changmin didn’t want to lie. The guilt always made his stomach feel weird. But, the thought of betraying Samuel didn’t sit well with him either. So, he chose to remain silent.

Finally, his Papa just sighed and ruffled his hair. “Alright, you don’t have to tell me now. But, I am quite proud of you.”

Changmin tilted his head to the side in confusion.

His Papa smiled. “Samuel was telling me about how you played with him today and told him that he can trust you because you’re his brother. He was really happy.” He pressed a kiss to Changmin’s forehead. “You’re a wonderful kid Changmin. A very good son and an amazing brother. I love you very much.”

Changmin smiled under the blankets. “I love you too, Papa. And Appa too. And… Samuel.” He sat up, quickly and added. “But, please don’t tell him! It’s embarrassing!”

Laughing, Jae-papa nodded and gently pushed him back to lie down again. “I won’t. I promise. But, someday, you’ll be able to say that to him.”

Changmin stubbornly puffed out his cheeks. “No way.”

Still laughing, his Papa nodded again. “Okay, okay. If you say so.” He kissed Changmin’s forehead again. “Good night, Minnie.”

“Good night, Papa.”

The lights were turned off and the door closed behind him.

Changmin snuggled under his covers, feeling tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes and felt himself slowly drifting into sleep.

He wasn’t sure how much sleep he had when he was awoken by several taps on his arm and a soft, “Changmin-hyung.”

Groaning awake, Changmin opened his eyes to see the familiar mop of dark brown hair, glistening brown eyes, and a quivering lip.

“What?” he mumbled out, tiredly.

Samuel pouted, clutching his bunny close to his chest. “I had a nightmare. Can I sleep here, hyung? Please?”

Changmin squinted his eyes. “Why don’t you sleep in Appa and Papa’s room? You always go there.”

“I… I know…” Samuel hung his head and stared at the blankets. “But... I want to sleep next to you tonight, hyung. I…” He swallowed. “I had a bad dream about the bullies…”

At that, Changmin could feel his heart soften.

Well, the kid did look pitiful, standing there by Changmin’s bed. And it would be a bother to their parents if they woke them up now. And Changmin was already awake anyway.

Sighing, he scooted over to the other side of his bed. “Fine, you little intruder. But, stay on your side.”

Looking relieved and happy, Samuel climbed up onto the bed and under the covers, his bunny under his arm.

“Good night, hyung!” he piped.

Changmin grunted a replay before turning around, his back to the kid, and closing his eyes so he could go back to sleep.

Just as he was drifting off, he felt movement and heard the rustling of sheets.

“Hyung, are you still awake?” Samuel whispered.

Not feeling like answering, Changmin remained still, pretending to sleep. He almost flinched when he felt arms slide around his waist and a nose poke at his back.

“I love you, hyung,” Samuel mumbled, sleepily.

And a few moments later, there was only silence as his brother finally fell asleep. Changmin waited a few more moments before sighing and patting the hand at his waist.

“I told you to stay on your side, you little intruder,” he mumbled before closing his eyes.

So, this was what being a big brother felt like. He guessed it wasn’t so bad if he felt like this kid’s hero once in a while.

But, he swore that he would never tell him. After all, he was still an intruder.

end.