Minho swallowed thickly as he straightened from putting the last box into their new apartment. It seemed nice enough, with pretty painted walls and mahogany wooden floors. The building had just been built last year and it was only ten minutes from where his university was. Coming furnished was also a selling point, but the rent was steep because they required no credit check. The boxes from the moving truck were littered around the living room and leading into the small dining room attached to the kitchen. Down the hall to the left was the two bedrooms and the bathroom. The balcony drapes were pulled back allowing bright late morning light to come through the big glass doors. No matter how decent the place was, it would never feel like home without his mother there with them.

           “Hey, Bud come choose what room you want.” When he didn’t hear any movement or sign of the four-year-old panic began to rise in his chest, his voice becoming more breathy as he called out again, “Minseok? Come on Bud. This isn’t funny. It’s not the time to play hide and seek.”

           He stepped over and around boxes, checked behind the couch, under the dining room table, and around the kitchen island. He jogged back through the hall to look into the bathroom and both bedrooms. He muttered breathlessly to himself, finding it hard to breathe. “Come on Minho. Don’t say you’ve lost him this soon.”

           The door was left wide open as he stood just outside, looking each way down the hall. “Minseok!”

           “I’m guessing this belongs to you?”

           Rising his gaze toward the voice he found a man a few inches shorter than himself, a sweet smile on his face as he flipped his hair from his eyes. He adjusted what he was holding and it was then Minho recognized he had Minseok on his hip. He rushed forward to take the boy from him, “Oh my God. Where did you find him?”

           “I had my door open until I could place my groceries down in the kitchen.” The man laughed lightly as Minseok nuzzled into Minho’s neck. “I turned around to close it and there was a little one playing with my dog.”

           “What did I say about running away, Bud?” Minho softly asked against Minseok’s hair before he looked back over at the man. “Thank you. I’m sorry he barged into your apartment like that. He really likes dogs.”

           “It’s alright. He’s a cute dog burglar.” Then he offered his hand, “I’m Lee Jinki. I guess you’re the new tenant.”

           “Choi Minho,” The man’s hand was soft and warm, but the handshake was firm. “And yes. The place seems nice so far.”

           “The people are pretty nice. There’s an older man in the apartment at the end of the hall that always needs help with his television. He may come ask you for assistance, but he pays in cookies and unwanted life advice, so I guess it’s worth it. If you need anything, you know where I am.” Jinki leaned against his doorway, just a foot to the left on the other side of the hallway. His arms were crossed over his chest casually, “And this little cutie is welcome any time he wants to play with Peanut.”

           “Thank you again.”

           Jinki shook his head with a wave of his hand. “It’s better he ran for my dog than finding the elevator and going to any one of a dozen levels. It’s nice to meet you both.”

           “You too.” Minho bumped his nose against Minseok’s head. “Say bye to Jinki, Bud.”

           “Bye Jinnie!”

           Jinki snorted. “I guess that works.”

           As they returned to their new apartment, Minho set the boy down and quickly locked the door behind them. “You almost gave me a heart attack Minseok. You can’t run off like that.”

           “I was bored. I wanted to play with the puppy.”

           “You’re lucky Jinki was nice enough to let you play with his puppy and that Peanut was sweet.” Minho ran a heavy hand over his face as he sighed. “Do you want to go pick which room you want before we start unpacking?”

           “I get to choose?”

           “Yes.”

           The boy was off like a rocket down the hallway, leaving his groaning big brother behind in his dust.

-----

           The only light in the room was the light from Minseok’s turtle lamp beside his bed. The bed was far bigger than his old one, but he could get in and out of it without assistance. Minho had just opened up the book they were reading as a bedtime story when Minseok softly asked, “When’s Mama coming home?”

           Minho felt a lump form in his throat and like his blood was ice running through his veins. He swallowed thickly as he lowered his gaze from the innocence of Minseok’s expression, tapping his fingers gently against the pages of the book in his lap. He had been told questions such as these would be asked, but he hadn’t known how to answer them then and even more so now. His eyes were closed just long enough for him to take a deep breath and exhale before he looked at Minseok’s face with as much of a comforting smile as he could muster. “Bud, she’s not coming home.”

           “Like, she doesn’t know where we live now?”

           “No, not like that.” He softly rubbed Minseok’s tummy through his blanket, more of a comfort to himself than the young boy. “Remember Fluffy?”

           “The cat?”

           “Yeah, the little black one we had a couple years ago.”

           “A little. Mama said he went to a better place.”

           “Yeah,” Minho let out a little laugh, remembering the memory a little fondly. “Mama went to that better place too.”

           “So, she isn’t gonna come back?”

           “No, Bud. I’m sorry, Minseok.”

           “But I miss her.” His little lip trembled slightly as his eyes became glossy.

           “I miss her too.” Minho wiped his cheeks with his thumbs before running a hand over his hair. “Would you like to sleep with me tonight, Bud?”

           “Yes please.”

           “Alright, c’mere.” He opened his arms and smiled as Minseok scrambled out from the covers into his lap. He grabbed the stuffed teddy bear next to the pillow and pushed off the bed to head toward his own bedroom. He had other things he should be doing, but right then, none of them seemed that important as he laid down beside his little brother and held him close in comfort. “Goodnight Minseok.”

           “G’night.”

----

           “Where are we going?”

           “To check out the daycare they have on campus.” Minho softly responded as he buckled the boy into his booster seat.

           “Why?”

           “If it’s nice, that will be where you’ll be taken care of while I’m in my classes.”

           “Why?” He heard the boy just as he opened the front seat door, slipping into the seat easily.

           “Because I can’t take you into my classes with me all the time.” The seatbelt was sticking weirdly as he fought it to fasten.

           “Why?”

           “Because that’s just how it is!” Minho froze when he realized his voice had risen in volume. He ran a hand over his face before sighing and twisting to look at him. “You’ll only be there until 4 when I’m done with my work study job, and if something happens I’ll be close enough to be able to run there for you.”

           “But why do I gotta go to a new one?” Minseok was fidgeting with his action figure, making the arm move up and down slowly as his bottom lip jutted out.

           “Your old daycare is across the city near where we used to live, Bud, and it’s really expensive.”

           “But why?”

           “That’s just how it is, Minseok.” He the playlist he had made over a year ago of the songs he knew Minseok to enjoy and with that, the conversation was stopped. He glanced in the rearview mirror as he adjusted it and sighed deeply seeing how his brother was pouting. He hated changing more things for the boy, but there was no way he could afford the placement at his old daycare.

           He put the car in reverse and pulled from the parking spot, heading toward his school.

----

           The side of the diner they were sitting in was completely empty save for them. They had been coming to this place since Minho was Minseok’s age, and he was going to keep up the tradition. Minseok hummed happily as he bit into his chicken nugget, small hand reaching for the rim of the chocolate shake they were supposed to share. Minho wrapped a finger around the thin part of the base and tugged it just out of Minseok’s reach, getting a whine of disapprovement. “You have to eat more of your vegetables before you can have more shake, Bud.”

           “But I ate all my peas!”

           “Hiding it under your fries isn’t eating them.”

           Minseok frowned deeply. “No fair.”

           Minho took a sip of the shake before pushing it over. “Just take it slow.”

           The boy didn’t listen and a few moments later he was whining about a brain freeze as Minho tried very hard not to laugh.

----

           As he lifted him into the big part of the basket, Minseok asked, “If we ate, why are we here?”

           “Because we have no food at home.”

           “Ah.” He leaned back against the cart, looking up at Minho as he began to push the cart forward. “Can we get dino oatmeal?”

           “It’s on the list, Bud.”

           “Good. I like Dino oatmeal.”

           As they passed the third aisle passed the produce section, Minho turned. He stopped in front of the array of different juices. “Do you want apple juice?”

           “Juice boxes?”

           Minho pressed his lips together but bent down past the bottles to grab the package of juice boxes. They were a dollar more expensive, but for the time being he’d deal with it. Their mom always bought the juice boxes instead of the big bottle and he remembered being told to try and keep as many things the same as he could. After handing them to Minseok to place in the cart, he pushed forward. “And don’t open that yet.”

           “But juice!”

           “You gotta wait until we get to the car, Bud.”

           “That’s stupid.”

           Minho gazed at him sternly. “Bud.”

           “Mama, let me drink one.”

           After softening slightly, Minho softly admitted, “She did, but it was wrong to do. You have to wait.”

----

           “Puppy!” Minseok pulled against Minho’s grip on his hand in his attempt to run toward the poor canine. Somehow the four-year-old mustered up enough strength to rip his hand away.

           “Minseok, stop!” He sighed quietly as he jogged to catch up to the boy, trying his hardest to keep the brown bag of groceries level in his left arm. “Don’t pester Jinki and his dog.”

           But it was too late. Minseok was already sitting on the floor with the little dachshund lapping at his face as he giggled. Jinki scowled lightly, “Now what did I say about , Peanut?” Then his gaze lifted with a sweet smile. “And it’s not pestering. Peanut loves attention.”

           “He’s wiggly.” Minseok quips happily, giggling even more as the dog wags his tail harder.

           “Very wiggly.” Jinki kneels then, running a hand over the length of the dog. “You should see how he wiggles when it’s dinner time. He’s fallen over from the motion being too strong.”

           “Really?”

           Jinki nodded before looking at his dog, “Hey Peanut, guess what time it is? Yes! It’s dinner time.”

           Sure enough, the little dog’s wiggling increased dramatically, tongue sticking from his mouth. Minseok looked over with the biggest smile and crinkled eyes. “Look!”

           “I see, Bud.” He adjusted the bag once again, keys jingling at the movement. “We need to go put the groceries away. Your popsicles are melting.”

           "But!”

           “I need to head to work anyway.” Jinki smiled warmly even as the boy pouted. “I’ll see you around soon, I’m sure.”

           Minseok slowly rose from the floor, little arms crossed as he basically stomped toward their door. Minho rolled his eyes at the drama of it all, before smiling at Jinki. “Have a good night, Jinki.”

           “You too.”