A blaring sound coming from Kyungsoo’s phone broke the silence of his room. The petite boy grunted in slight annoyance, it being so early in the morning for his sleep to be disturbed by his mom who he has already identified by the ringtone he has assigned whenever his mom calls him. He reached out to his nightstand for his phone and swiped at the device.

“Good morning, young man,” his mother chirped from the other line, voice full of enthusiasm. “Are your stuff ready for your two-month stay with your brothers? I’m going to pick you up later at nine.”

Kyungsoo sighed. He had completely put off readying his things for the last minute, not particularly keen with the idea of staying over at his stepbrothers’ house. Being an introvert in nature, he was completely opposed to being babysat by eight complete strangers who are only connected to him through his mother’s marriage to their father. He had only met them once, which was during their parents’ wedding, and even then, he didn’t interact with them and had kept to himself, only shaking hands and giving small smiles here and there.

“Mom, do I really have to stay with them? I mean, I’m already used to living alone.”  His mom has moved in with his stepfather after the wedding while he opted to stay behind in their house. Despite that, his mom has always made sure to drop by daily and drive him to school every morning. She also comes to their house during her lunch break from work to feed his pet dog, Meokmul, and to cook him dinner. Basically, it’s like his mom still stays with him except she doesn’t sleep in their house anymore. “Besides, I don’t want to be a burden to Uncle’s children.”

“Hey, I told you to call him dad already. It’s been a week since we got married and you’re still calling him that? Insungie will be upset when he hears you calling him uncle. And, baby, I told you, you don’t have to get used to living alone. You’re always welcome to move in with us. And to answer your question, you do have to stay with them, at least for the next two months. I won’t enjoy my trip knowing you’ll be staying at that house while I can’t look after you.”

Kyungsoo let out another breath. “I already told you, Mom. I don’t think I can handle living with too many people. Besides, this house is closer to my school.  And, Mom...”

“Yes, baby?”

“Please don’t call me baby anymore. Especially not in front of Uncle—”

“You mean dad,” his mom interjected.

“Um... yeah. Especially not in front of D-Dad and his sons.”

“But, Soo, you’ll always be my baby!” his mom exclaimed. “Even if you have two younger brothers now. Anyway, I’ll pick you up later. See you, baby!”

*****

Kyungsoo had just gotten out of the shower when the doorbell buzzed. After immediately putting on a plain white shirt and his favorite Pororo boxers, he grabbed his phone and hurriedly ran to open the front door.

“Just a sec!” Kyungsoo called out. He had anticipated that the person on the other side of the door would be his mom so it came as a surprise when he was greeted with the sight of a young man instead. He quickly hid his body behind the door, embarrassed at the prospect of someone other than his mom seeing him in his Pororo boxers.

“Uh, hi. It’s me, Jongdae. You remember me from our parents’ wedding?” The guy was smiling at him brightly, lips curving at the edges, resembling a cat’s.

Honestly, Kyungsoo didn’t really recognize him. “Uh, y-yeah,” he lied, not wanting to offend the guy who’s apparently his stepbrother.

“Great! So... your mom—or our mom, I suppose—had an emergency meeting so she called me to pick you up since I was around the area. Did she tell you?”

As if on cue, Kyungsoo’s phone rang with his assigned tone to his mom. “She’s calling now. Um... please come in.” He stepped away from the door, opening it widely. He led the other man to the couch while he answered his mom’s call.

“Hey, Mom,” he greeted.

“Soo! I’m sorry I can’t pick you up. I sent Jongdae though to come and get you. Is he there already?”

“Yes, Mom. He just got here.”

There was a commotion at the other end of the line. “Hey, baby. I have to go. I need to fix some emergency matters before I leave for Europe.  See you later, okay? Bye.”

“Bye, Mom.” Clicking his phone shut, he turned to Jongdae. “Do you want anything? Juice? Coffee?”

“Oh no. Please don’t bother. I just had my breakfast a while ago so I’m still full. Nice boxers, by the way.” Jongdae added the last statement as an afterthought and Kyungsoo felt his cheeks turn red.

Is Kyungsoo supposed to say thank you? “Um… Y-Yeah… I…” Damn, he’s so bad at this.

Jongdae gave him a sheepish smile, noticing his obvious discomfort. “Oops. Sorry. I don’t have a brain-to-mouth filter so I tend to blurt out nonsense. Please forget I said anything.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “It’s okay. I’ll just get dressed and finish packing.”

*****

Kyungsoo came out of his room, luggage bags held in both hands and a backpack slung on his narrow shoulders. He noticed that Jongdae wasn’t sitting at the couch anymore a