Seungcheol stepped in after Jihoon and shut the door softly. When he turned around again, the kids were peeking around the corner, much like earlier but with more pairs of eyes. Mingyu launched out at Jihoon, who caught him in a hug. Seungcheol awkwardly scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with words to convince the children that he came to apologize. 

"Uhh...." He fumbled with sounds stalling for time.

Mingyu continued to stare at Seungcheol out the corner of his eye. He burrowed his head into Jihoon's chest whenever their eyes met. Ah, Mingyu must not like him at all. Taking in a deep breath, Seungcheol looked down. Sometimes the floor was the best solution in awkward situations, a plus when he doesn't see judging expressions.

"I'm sorry for yelling at Jihoon. My tension was high from work and life related things and I took it out on you guys." He finally huffed out, raising his head prepared for whatever reaction. When he received none, he didn't take it to heart. He just wanted forgiveness.

Squatting down to the babies level, he gave them his best puppy eyes. Children can't resist puppy eyes, can they?

"Forgive me please?" 

Silence. Maybe they just don't like him.

Eyes were staring at him and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Aish, what if they don't forgive me? What am I going to dooooo? He groaned internally. Just then, Jihoon patted Mingyu on the bum and ushered him to Seungcheol. Pointing with his eyes, he indicated for Mingyu to accept Seungcheol. Mingyu hesitantly walked up to Seungcheol, the 2 other babies crawled up behind him. 

"I..." Mingyu started, "....forgive you." 

Seungcheol's face lit up into the brightest smile at their acceptance. 

"Thank you." Mingyu returned the smile with his own.

Mingyu then excitedly tugged Seungcheol into the living room with the babies toddling behind. It almost felt like the entire ordeal never happened. Not that Seungcheol minded.

"I'm Kim Mingyu!" he repeated.

 The babies scrambled to the couch. Climbing onto the couch, they stood up trying to reach eye level (clearly they are still too short...). 

"I'm Lee Seokmin!" He had a bright smile that showed his 8 tiny front teeth, his eyes crinkled in eye-smiles and gave off a warm feeling similar to the sunshine. Fluffy brown hair flopping on his forehead.

"...Seo Myungho..." Myungho was hanging onto Seokmin and was peeking out at Seungcheol, he was clearly shy. Cute. He was much thinner than Seokmin, not that Seokmin was big, they were both thin, Myungho was just thinner. Seungcheol frowned at the though of them not eating enough but quickly gave a small smile and a wave when he caught his gaze.

Mingyu skittered over to the two babies crawling and climbing around with binkies. 

"This one, " He lifted the baby with Western facial features onto his lap, "Is Hansol Vernon Chwe. Hansollie for short!" Hansol slapped his hands together in glee when Seungcheol frowned again. Hansol and Seungkwan are 2, aren't they suppose to be able to run, climb up and down, and do things? He was worried. It's not weird for Seungcheol to know the milestones of children, nope not at all (he LOVES children....babies).

"Hey Hansol, it's nice to meet you." Seungcheol greeted.

The other baby crawled up to Mingyu's leg and climbed into the available spot next to Hansol before glomping the other. 

"And this is Boo Seungkwan. They are both 2!" Seungkwan was a little more chubby, and in Seungcheol's eyes, the healthiest baby he has seen so far. Seungkwan's cute cheeks bobbing up and down as he chewed in his pacifier.

 "Nice to meet you, Seungkwan." 

Seungcheol reached out his large hands and the babies played with his fingers. Moving the 2 babies off his lap, Mingyu placed them in Seungcheol's lap before running over to the crib. Seungcheol picked up the babies into his embrace and followed Mingyu. Seungkwan and Hansol began poking and grabbing at his face and hair. He peeked into the crib and saw the baby Jihoon was comforting earlier. He was fast asleep with a binky in his mouth. Mingyu put a finger over his lips in a be quiet gesture. 

"This is Lee Chan. He's our youngest. Just 1 years old." He whispered. Seungcheol nodded. 

"Sorry baby Chan, I startled you earlier and I feel really bad. I hope you would forgive me when you wake up." He murmured. 

He continued to look at baby Chan in facination, then Seungkwan and Hansol were getting bored and began squirming in his hold whining. Sensing their discomfort, Seungcheol put them back on the ground and watched as Mingyu took care of his siblings. Mingyu was mature for his age. He must help around often. Not spotting Jihoon, he looked around for the short boy. Following the sound to the kitchen, Jihoon was cooking dinner. He moved the chopped vegetables into a pot, capped it, took the rice out of the cooker to cool, then turned to make baby formula. When he turned, he finally noticed Seungcheol staring at him from the entrance, jumping slightly at the discovery. Awkwardly making eye contact, Jihoon looked away first. 

"Sooo... Sorry. Jihoon right? Need any help?" Seungcheol offered, wringing his wrist with his hand.

Jihoon fidgeted with his fingers before shaking his head no. 

"I.. want to help and I want to get to know you better." He didn't want Jihoon to do all the work when there was a perfectly fine "adult" around.

Seungcheol insisted he helped so Jihoon gave up and taught him how to prepare the children's formula silently. 

"Sorry for being a bother, thanks for letting me in." Jihoon nodded. Seungcheol decided to talk a bit about himself to warm up. Ice breakers, doesn't everyone love them.

"My full name is Choi Seungcheol, I own CSC Entertainment, a music company. I'm 21 years old, unbelievable right? Uh, my birthday is 8 8, August 8th." Jihoon nodded at the information. 

"And you? Jihoon?" Jihoon hesitated but he gestured to Seungcheol to sit down. 

"A-anyeongh-haseyo, my name is L-lee Jihoon. I-I'm 17 y-years old. Birthday November 22." 

Mingyu came bounding in with the two toddlers. He responsibly placed them in their boosters and put their bibs on. Jihoon turned to move plates on to the table. Seungcheol knew it was kind of rude but he was really curious. 

"This is rude of me but are you afraid of me? Is that why you stutter and not talk much?" 

Jihoon stiffened. When people learn about him, they always look at him funny. Mingyu headbutted Seungcheol in the side. 

"Don't judge hyung! Hyung is just a bit special." 

"Special..?" 

"S-st-" Jihoon struggled to get his words out, waving for Mingyu to stop but to no avail.

"Hyungie, has slight autism... savant syndrome too." Seungcheol gaped at the kid. Where did he learn such big words? Wait, not the point.

"M-Ming-gyu!!" Jihoon cried. Mingyu hunched his shoulders and looked down apologetically.

"Sorry hyung..." Jihoon turned back to Seungcheol and waited for the look. Seungcheol looked stunned. He must not understand yet. Jihoon ducked his head and walked to the living room, deciding to busy himself and avoid confrontation. When he returned with the 2 year olds, he quietly placed them in high chairs and avoided eye contact with Seungcheol. He slowly arranged the table; placing dishes of vegetables mixed with small pieces of chicken and rice for the toddlers, softer vegetables and porridge for the 2 year olds, and a plate with more chicken and rice for Mingyu. He also served Seungcheol before he went and returned with baby Chan in his arms. He sat at the seat across from Seungcheol and began feeding Chan his milk, still not looking up. The children also began to eat. Mingyu began with feeding Seungkwan and Hansol before occasionally cleaning Seokmin and Myungho's faces. Seungcheol continued to watch Jihoon. He observed all the interactions and movements of the other, he really wanted to say something but the telltale signs Jihoon shows tells him not to do anything at the moment. They ate dinner silently.

After dinner, Seungcheol pulled Jihoon aside after promising to Mingyu that he wasn't going to hurt him. Mingyu was extremely protective of Jihoon it seems.

"Jihoon..." He started with a sigh. Jihoon only looked down, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He knew what was coming but he wished that Seungcheol would be different.

"Jihoon, I didn't even notice you were ....autistic. You really don't look like a person with that kind of problem." 

Jihoon looked up. Seungcheol hyung didn't think of him as disgusting? He didn't look like an autistic person? He... doesn't hate him? 

"I wouldn't know what you have gone through because I'm not you but, I'm most definitely not like others." 

Pulling Jihoon in for a hug, he Jihoon's hair. This might be going too fast for they only met a couple of hours ago, but Seungcheol is a very caring person, nobody rejects a nice hug from the big teddy bear.

"You're as good as the other kids out there. Just a little slow with words but I understand you." he pieced together a coherent sentence, explaining himself.

Jihoon nodded in his embrace, still a bit stiff. After a warm embrace, they both went back to the living room where Mingyu bombarded Seungcheol with questions regarding their talk, if he did anything bad to Jihoon or not. 

"Chill, Mingyu, I didn't do anything." he chuckled as a response. Jihoon only looked on amused. This was another side of Mingyu that Jihoon rarely got to enjoy. Then he remembered the letter. He shuffled over to the table in the hallway and picked up the letter. Returning with the letter in his hands, he nudged Seungcheol for his attention. 

"Hm? What's up Jihoon?" Jihoon handed him the letter and excused himself and the kids to bathe. 

"See you later Seungcheol hyung!" Seungcheol waved. Focusing onto the letter, he began to read.