That Saturday, Sungjae waited patiently outside of the orphanage for Sooyoung, having arrived early as usual. Sooyoung arrived shortly after and they headed into the orphanage together. Just as they walked into the orphanage, Mrs. Yang came running out of her office excitedly and beckoned to Sooyoung and Sungjae.

“Sooyoung-ah! Sungjae-ah!” called Mrs. Yang excitedly.

“Neh, Mrs. Yang? Why do you look so excited?” asked Sooyoung.

“We’re seeing some improvement with Minjae!” replied Mrs. Yang.

“Jinjja?” squealed Sooyoung. “How do you know? What’s been happening with Minjae?”

“He actually plays more with Yoondo, Yura and Eunbi now. He even talks a little to them, especially to Yoondo!” replied Mrs. Yang excitedly. “He still doesn’t interact much with the other children but I think this is tremendous improvement for Minjae!”

“That’s great!” gushed Sooyoung.

“What’s more, he hasn’t thrown a single tantrum since that day!” added Mrs. Yang.

“That’s wonderful, Mrs. Yang,” said Sungjae with a bright smile. “I think bottling up all his feelings without knowing how to express them must have turned him into that state that we saw before. Him crying everything out after that incident must have helped a lot. Thank goodness for that. I was so worried that he would completely shut himself off from us after that day.”

“That was my main concern initially too,” said Mrs. Yang. “But I think all those tears have helped him wash away his barriers. He actually sleeps with the teddy bear that you gave him and screams if anyone dares to try to take it away.”

“Omo! That’s so sweet! Who knew Minjae would treasure the bear so much?” cooed Sooyoung.

“I think you should go see him for yourselves. I won’t hold you two up any longer. Have fun today!” said Mrs. Yang with a beaming smile.

“We will, Mrs. Yang. Thanks for telling us everything,” replied Sungjae.

As Sooyoung and Sungjae walked into the main playroom, Yoondo saw them walk in and ran up to them.

“Sungjae-hyung! Sooyoung-noona! Come play with us!” said Yoondo excitedly.

“All right, we’re coming, Yoondo-ah,” laughed Sungjae, as he saw Yoondo’s excitement.

Minjae heard and looked up at Sungjae and Sooyoung. For the first time since Sungjae and Sooyoung started their project at the orphanage, Minjae flashed a toothy smile at them, before turning back to play with his Lego set. Sooyoung cupped upon seeing Minjae’s smile and turned away. Sungjae saw and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sooyoung turned to look at him and Sungjae saw that she had teared up a little. Sungjae put an arm around her and patted her back knowingly.

“I’m so happy, oppa,” mumbled Sooyoung in a slightly choked voice. “Minjae’s finally starting to open up to the people around him.”

“I know. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” replied Sungjae, as he continued to pat her back comfortingly.

Sooyoung suddenly felt someone tug on her jeans and turned around. Minjae was standing behind her holding two small Lego structures that he had built.

“Sooyoung-noona, this is for you,” said Minjae, as he handed her the structure in his right hand.

Sooyoung knelt down and took the structure from him, before pulling him into a tight embrace. “Thank you, Minjae-ah. I love it.” She started crying a little as she said it.

Minjae noticed and pulled away from the hug, before wiping her tears away with his free hand. “Noona, why are you crying?” asked Minjae.

“No, I’m not crying. Don’t worry, Minjae-ah,” replied Sooyoung with a smile, as she hurriedly wiped away her tears with her hand.

Minjae smiled and turned to Sungjae. “Sungjae-hyung, this is for you,” said Minjae.

“Thank you, Minjae-ah. I like it a lot,” replied Sungjae with a big smile.

Minjae smiled and beckoned for Sungjae to come closer. Sungjae knelt and, as he did so, Minjae leant in and gave Sungjae a hug. Despite being caught slightly by surprise, Sungjae returned the hug and ruffled Minjae’s hair. Minjae then pulled away and went back to playing with the other three children. Sooyoung smiled at their exchange and went to play with the four children. Just as Sungjae stepped forward to do the same, a sharp streak of pain flashed through his head, causing him to nearly stumble.

What was that?

Thankfully, Sooyoung and the children had not noticed. Sungjae shook his head and went on to play with the kids.

…

The weeks passed and Minjae warmed up more and more to Sooyoung and Sungjae, so much so that he would wait for Sooyoung and Sungjae’s arrival every Saturday morning at the main gate of the orphanage. However, on the first Saturday of their third month at the orphanage, Minjae surprised the both of them with a request.

“Sungjae-hyung!” shouted Minjae from the main gate, as Sungjae walked down the street towards Sunflower Orphanage for their weekly visit to the orphanage.

“Minjae-ah!” waved Sungjae with a laugh, as he saw the little boy jumping up and down behind the gates of the orphanage.

“Sungjae-hyung! Where’s Sooyoung-noona?” asked Minjae. “I’ve been waiting so long for you all.”

“She’ll be coming along soon,” said Sungjae, as he bent down to ruffle Minjae’s hair. “Do you miss her that much?”

“Of course! I can’t wait to see my eomma and appa every week!” declared Minjae proudly, as he nuzzled his head into Sungjae’s chest.

Sungjae blushed when he heard this. He could not deny that both of them loved Minjae very much, so much so that Sungjae had started seeing Minjae as his godson. Their godson. Minjae had been the one he and Sooyoung had become closest to ever since the incident at the picnic, despite Minjae being the most difficult one to handle at the start, and the other children in their group could see it too. They weren’t jealous because they knew that Minjae was the one who felt the greatest impact from the absence of his parents.

“Yes, I will call you appa from now on,” quipped Minjae.

“Yah! Sooyoung-noona might be angry if you call her your eomma!” warned Sungjae.

“No, she won’t! I’m sure she won’t mind because she loves me too!” insisted Minjae, who looked like he was going to cry if Sungjae and Sooyoung refused to let him have his way.

“I won’t mind what?” said a voice behind them.

Sungjae and Minjae turned to see Sooyoung standing behind them. Minjae’s face lit up and ran to give Sooyoung a hug.

“Sooyoung-noona! Can I call you my eomma?” asked Minjae.

“Omo! Where did this come from?” asked Sooyoung, as she threw Sungjae a puzzled look. Sungjae shrugged in amused helplessness, as he looked at the both of them.