How did this happen! Why am I doing this?! Peniel drove along the road with six, slightly hyperactive children in the back of the van. He kept flashing back to the moment, trying to figure out what he could’ve done or said to have made the situation gone differently. So far, no solution.

“The mall?! Why the hell do you have to go there?!”

“Well, clearly,” Doojoon smiled. “We don’t have any well fitting clothes. Yoseob’s clothes help but if we’re gonna be stuck like this, we’ll need something to wear.”

“I told you I’ll look for that fortune teller tonight! Can’t you boys be patient!!”

“Maybe I’ll call Joonkun and he can buy us some clothes.” Kikwang smiled. “I can also explain how you lied to him earlier.

“You evil, sadistic little brat!!” He lunged at Kikwang as he jumped back.

“Nah-ah-ah!.” Kikwang pulled out a phone. “You touch me and I call Joonkun. And if not me, one of the other members will.

Peniel groaned and he stuck his hands in his pockets. He knew the boys had him in the palm of their hands.

“Now,” Doojoon spoke up. “Let’s get going.”

“But I don’t even have a car! How do you expect me to get to the mall.”

“You have a license, right?” Yoseob inquired.

“Yes but-”

Junhyung tossed him a set of keys which he promptly caught. “For the Beast van. Let’s go already.”

“But-”

“Appa~” Yoseob whined. “Let’s go!”

Peniel knew he had no choice in the matter. These kids would not leave him alone until they got exactly what they wanted. He sighed heavily and opened the door waiting for the boys to shuffle out.

There he was. On the way to the nearest mall. Unfortunately, his lousy sense of direction made the journey exceptionally difficult. And the boys in the back only made things worse, with their childish complaints about touching and pushing. He could swear they were punishing him.

He arrived at the parking lot and turned around to the boys. “Alright. Decide what you want now. You get one outfit each and a pair of shoes! I don’t wanna stay long! In and out! That’s it!”

The boys exchanged glances at each other as well as smirks filled with pure evil. He knew the boys had heard him but had chosen not to listen. He braced himself for what would surely be a long day.

The trip to the mall began just as Peniel expected. The boys we impatient, loud and indecisive. Yoseob kept kicking off shoes because he hated the way they felt and Kikwang refused to wear any shirt he couldn’t easily take off. Junhyung spent the entire time complaining and Hyunseung refused to come out of the dressing room until he found his exact style. Doojoon spent more time in the sports store looking at soccer gear, than picking out any clothes of his own. Eventually, Penial had to drag the young leader out by his oversized collar. The only one who behaved in any way was Dongwoon.

After several grueling hours , the group finally arrived at the food court for lunch. All 6 boys had gotten shoes but only half of the clothes were chosen. Yoseob and Dongwoon were both swinging their legs in their new outfits, while Hyunseung scowled at the exhausted Peniel.

“Appa!~ I want ice cream.~” Yoseob whined.

“We have to eat  lunch first, Yoseob”

Yoseob pouted before proceeding to throw his burger at Doojoon.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t do that, Seobie,” Doojoon said wiping the ketchup off of his cheek.

Yoseob stuck his tongue out and the leader hurled his chicken sandwich across the room, missing his target completely. Yoseob laughed as Doojoon lept out of his chair and grabbed Yoseob in a headlock. He rubbed the visual’s hair vigorously and  Yoseob proceeded to laugh. Dongwoon smiled before standing and walking into the candy store.

“Doojoon! Yoseob! Stop causing a scene!”

The two boys ignored Peniel’s commands as they wrestled each other to t he ground. Juhyung walked over from a soda stand with 2 large cokes in his hand. He sat at the table setting one coke down and drinking the other.

Thanks Jun,” Kikwang reached for the other coke before his hand was immediately slapped away. “ Don’t even think about it.”

Kikwang pulled back his hand and Dongwoon returned from the candy store with 3 large bags of candy.

“Whoh! Whoh! Whoh! Where’d you get that!” Peniel said in slight anger.

“Candy store. It only cost about 23,000 won.”

“You spent that on candy?! You’ll give yourself a stomach ache!”

Dongwoon shrugged his shoulders and began stuffing the sugary confections into his mouth. As Doojoon released Yoseob, the visual began to whine again.

“Appa! Let’s get some ice cream!~”

“After what you two just did?! Why would I buy you ice cream?”

Yoseob pouted and folded his arms. “Our managers get us ice cream.”

Peniel paused, looking down at the the pouting aegyo prince. He knew that this child was the hardest to say ‘no’ to, not just because of his threat to tattle, but his cute appearance. Peniel sighed and turned his head away toward the ice cream stall. “One scoop each.”

Yoseob’s eyes lit up as Peniel dropped several coins and bills into the cute boy’s hands. He then skipped over to the ice cream stall. Peniel turned to address the rest of the children.  

“Ok. Let’s wrap this up, quickly.” he spoke. “I’m tired of this place and if I’m gonna search for the gypsy tonight, we’ll have to finish this trip as soon as possible.”

“But I haven’t found anything I like,” Hyunseung whined.

“Who cares!” Peniel spoke out. “You won’t be wearing it long! Just pick out something and go with it.”

Hyunseung narrowed his eyes at Peniel, as the other boys all averted their gaze. They knew that if there was one thing Hyunseung was very particular about, it was his clothes. Peniel took a look at the doe-eyed boy and felt his pride drop. The evil in the boys eyes seemed to away his very soul. He knew he was at the losing end of the argument.

“Ok, Hyunseung. You pick whatever you want and I’ll try and get the rest of these kids dressed. Deal?”

Hyunseung nodded slowly, feeling satisfied. He then turned his gaze toward the ceiling, drifting away in thought, as Yoseob came back with rack of soft serve ice cream cones. He handed a cone to Dongwoon, who took a handful of m&ms and sprinkled them over the frozen vanilla treat. He then started devouring the treat, lapping at it like a dog.

Junhyung was given chocolate which he ate slowly, alternating between eating and sipping coke. Hyunseung was given strawberry but it took him awhile to realize the ice cream had been given to him. Kikwang took the other vanilla cone leaving Doojoon and Yoseob each with swirled.

Peniel sighed heavily as he looked over all of the boys happily eating their ice cream. Geez. The brat didn’t even bother to offer me one. That selfish little-. Before Peniel could finish his thought, a slight tapping was felt on his shoulder. He turned around to see a young Yoseob holding up a cone for him. “Here, Appa. I hope you like vanilla.”

“Yoseob.... thanks.” He took the soft serve out of the boys hand and proceeded to eat it slowly as he thought to himself. Maybe they’re not as bad as I thought. He scanned over all the boys. It was the first time  they’ve been quiet since the day began. He watched the small maknae devouring his soft serve coated in candy. He watched the irritable rapper slap Kikwang’s hand from his coke.He smiled, watching the leader smearing bits of his cone on the aegyo prince and the doe eyed redhead drifting off into a land of his own. He began to feel that he could finally handle the kids. Maybe it won’t be so bad being a father.

His sense of relief was short lived as the shopping trip resumed. Peniel’s stress level began to build for the boys made the shopping as difficult as possible. Hyunseung hauled himself up in a dressing room with a pile of clothes. Doojoon insisted on juggling a soccer ball and bouncing it off of walls and shelves, angering the managers. Kikwang and Yoseob kept wandering off to play with toys, while Dongwoon sat on the ground eating as much candy as he could stuff into his tiny cheeks. Junhyung thoroughly amused himself with the other boys’ antics as well as Peniel’s frustration. He only became a nuisance once his and Doojoon’s “adult language” got Peniel scolded by concerned parents.

After hours of stress, Peniel managed to get all of the boys dressed and situated, except for the very particular Hyunseung. “Come on, Hyunseung! Just pick something! Anything! I really have to go if I’m gonna look for the fortune teller before midnight!”

Doojoon and Junhyung were leaning against the wall to the dressing room as Yoseob sat on the ground, playing with a new toy he coaxed Peniel into buying him. He quietly sang to himself a familiar 4Minute tune. “♪-Deo groovy hage stylish hage like it, like it♪”

Dongwoon swayed back and forth, holding his stomach.

“Just give me a minute!” Hyunseung yelled back and Peniel grew more frustrated.

He massaged his brow with his forefinger and thumb before looking up and scanning over the group. “Where the hell is Kikwang?!”

“Ahem!” Peniel spun around to come face to face with a scowling old woman, her hand firmly clasped around Kikwang’s wrist. “Is this your kid?!”

“Kinda.” He answered nervously. “W-what seems to be the problem!”

“Your boy was flirting with my teenage daughter!”

Peniel peered around the woman to see a rather plain looking teenage girl wearing a  Beast t-shirt from their ‘Shock of the New Era’ Album. “No offence but I think he’s way out of her league.”

The woman then tossed Kikwang into Peniel and glared at him. “I suggest you work on your parenting skills, immediately!”

The other boys chuckled as Kikwang gave the girl his signature eye smile and made a heart with his fingers. The girl chuckled and walked away.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Peniel asked as he looked down on Kikwang.

“What? She’s a fan! It’s just fan service.”

“You do realize that in your current condition, she wouldn’t be able to recognize you, right?”

Kikwang ran his hand through his hair as he smiled at Peniel. “Oh yeah. Guess I forgot.”

Peniel mentally face-palmed himself as he returned to the dressing room door. “Hyunseung! Hurry up! We’re ready to go!”

“Alright! Alright! I’ll be out in a second!”

Yoseob suddenly jumped up and ran over to Peniel, tugging on his arm. “Appa!~ I have to go potty!~”

The other boys started laughing at Yoseob’s comment, with the exception of Dongwoon. Peniel cringed as he looked Yoseob in the eyes. “Then go yourself! You’re a grown man!”

“I would if I was tall enough! Hurry up, Appa! I have to go now!”

“Yoseob! Please! Can’t you hold it!”

“Not likely! Appa! I have to go, now!~”

Peniel held his head as he gazed down at Dongwoon, the poor maknae holding his stomach. He approached the child, still holding onto Yoseob’s hand. “And what’s wrong with you?”

Dongwoon then stood up and bent over Peniel’s shoes, unleashing the load of sugary treats his stomach could not digest. Yoseob looked in disgust as both Junhyung and Doojoon fell over in laughter. Kikwang turned his gaze away and Hyunseung finally emerged from the dressing room, only to return after seeing the horrid sight. Peniel’s eye twitched when scanning over all of the boys. HOW IS THIS MY LIFE?!

It was another hour before they all made it to the car and were well on their way back to the Beast dorm. Dongwoon had fallen asleep and Peniel was forced to buy a pair of new shoes and socks, after vigorously scrubbing his feet with hot water. He played soft music slowly in hopes it’d soothe the other boys to follow Dongwoon’s example, but so far, he had no such luck.

♪naega tteonajulge niga sirheojige. ije deoneun gwichanke maedalliji anke♪

His phone kept ringing as the other members of BtoB desperately tried to reach him. He glanced up at the rear view mirror and could see all the boys of Beast quietly chatting amongst themselves.

“Appa?” Hyunseung spoke up.

Peniel sighed as he answered. “Yes, Hyunseung?”

“Thanks for the fun day.”

Peniel paused and thought to himself. Thank you? Did one of them actually thank me? Peniel gazed through the mirror to see the members of Beast finally falling asleep. He hated to admit it, but when the boys were like this, they were actually kind of cute.

Once they arrived at the dorm, Peniel carried Dongwoon on his back as they managed to maneuver through the halls and elevator without anyone seeing. They arrived at the dorm and the boys headed to the table to eat the take out they had picked out just before they arrived. Hyunseung, on the other hand, headed toward the bedroom, carrying all the clothes he had forced Peniel to buy. Fortunately he bought outfits for the other boys as well.

“I guess I’m out of here. I have a lot of Seoul to search for that fortune teller.” He turned around toward the door before he was stopped by a gentle tug on his shirt. “Hmm?” He bent down to see Doojoon stopping him in his tracks. “Hmm, what is it, Doojoon?”

“Hold out your hand.”

Peniel hesitated at first but then obeyed. He closed his eyes but opened them as he felt a small metal object land in his hand. “What this?”

“A key to our dorm. In case you fail to find the fortune teller right away. It’d be troublesome if our caretaker couldn’t get in.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I probably won’t be your caretaker much longer.”

“Yeah. Well. Just in case.”

Peniel nodded as he exited the dorm, waving goodbye to Beast members. He didn’t know why but he hooked the key to the lanyard he already had around his neck. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that he’d need it.

It was nearly four o'clock in the morning when Peniel returned to the BtoB dorm. After searching all night he was unable to locate the fortune teller’s shop. He knew he’d have to give up the search for the night, meaning he’d have to play ‘Appa’ for another day. The thought of that made him uneasy but he mainly felt exhausted from the preceding day. When he arrived in the bedroom, he climbed up onto his bed, careful not to wake the other sleeping members. He pulled out a flashlight and his journal and proceeded to write.

Journal entry 102 Date September 12, 2012

Guess who’s a father.

A/N: GAME TIME♪♪

Congrats to Seoblove for guessing chapter 3's song!! YEY!! The honorable mention is yours and you're in the running for the grandprize at the end of the fic

Songs for Chapter 3:
I'll Back Off So That You Can Live Better- G.Na

We have 2 songs mentioned here in chapter 4. Be the first to name both for that honorable mention and I'll see you all next Sunday. 
Kamsahamnida!~