Part One: My Child 

Chapter One

Joonyoung buried his head into his pillow and threw the comforter over himself to block out the sound of the doorbell’s incessant ringing.

“Go away!” he mumbled into his pillow.

“Riiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiing!” but the doorbell continued to pester him.

He tried to sleep again, thinking someone else would open the door for him until he remembered that there was no other soul in his single-bedroom apartment but his.  

Joonyoung had been living in different countries all his life because of his dad’s job. Because his family moved so often, Joonyoung was rarely able to settle down and make good friends – well, he did actually at some point, but he had to say goodbye to them eventually when he and his parents had to transfer to some other part of the world.

Getting tired of that kind of life, Joonyoung flew back (not literally, of course) on his own to Korea. He decided to pursue his dream – becoming a musician. And because he was tall and good-looking, Joonyoung also became a model (Joonyoung is an ulzzang, by the way).

“Yah!” Joonyoung screamed at the door, his patience finally at its end. “It’s still so early in the – “ he looked at his alarm clock only to realize that it was almost noon.

He sighed and got up reluctantly to open the door. He was quite curious, actually, about what idiot would dare to disturb his sleep.

“Click.” The door creaked as Joonyoung opened it. The ringing of the doorbell finally stopped.

Right at his doorstep stood a chubby little boy who was holding the leash of a fat Maltese who was barking madly at him.

Joonyoung looked at the dog, then at the boy. He was puzzled why some kid he didn’t know was there.

“It’s not yet Christmas. It’s not yet time to go caroling, kid. Go back home,” Joonyoung shut the door.

“Riiiiiiiiiiiing!” the doorbell started ringing again.

“Yah!” Joonyoung yelled, irritated. “What do you want!?”

The boy, startled by Joonyoung’s sudden outburst started to cry.

“Ah…eottokae?” Joonyoung scratched his head. “I’m sorry,” he said as he bent down to be face-to-face with the child. He was starting to feel guilty for making an innocent little kid cry. “Are you lost or something?’

The boy didn’t reply. He just continued weeping.

Joonyoung sighed once again, completely clueless on what he should do. “What’s your name?”

The child, with tears still in his eyes and all over his rosy cheeks, pointed at his name tag that said, “I am Roy Kim. Please take care of me.”

“Roy Kim?” Joonyoung asked, “Is that you name?”

The little boy nodded.

“Do you know where your parents are, Roy?”

The little boy shook his head this time.

“I...umm…I’m Joonyoung hyung,” Joonyoung introduced himself as nicely as he could. “Why don’t you come in while I call someone who can help us find your mommy and daddy?”

Roy meekly followed Joonyoung into the apartment. He had finally stopped crying, much to Joonyoung’s relief. Roy sat in the middle of the mess on Joonyoung’s couch. He had his hands on his lap and his head bowed down – he looked very uncomfortable.

Joonyoung felt sorry for him. It must have been hard to be in an unfamiliar place, lost and lonely. Joonyoung continued to observe Roy from the corner of his eye as he dialed the number of the child welfare department on his phone.

“Yeobosayo,” a pleasant female voice answered. “What can I do for you?”

Joonyoung explained the entire situation to the lady, only to be answered with a, “I’m sorry, sir, but no one seems to be looking for that child. I’ve looked up the police reports of missing children, and none of those descriptions match Roy. I’ll update you as soon as possible if someone does look for him.”

“Can anyone else take care of him for now?” Joonyoung asked.

“I’m afraid no one might be available for the next few days – unless if you’d like the child to stay at the orphanage temporarily.”

Joonyoung looked at Roy who was now staring at him with adorable pleading eyes.

“Is there really no other place?”

“Well, he could stay with you for the mean time. You’ll be fully responsible for him.”

“I – “ Joonyoung started to say.

“I’m sure you’re a good man!” the lady cut in. “Please take good care of him, sir. Have a nice day!” With that she hung up, leaving Joonyoung speechless. How could he possibly watch over this child for the next few days?

“Crash!” Joonyoung and Roy turned to the direction of the sound.

There stood Sangcho on his hind legs as he knocked over a bowl of left-over ramyeon. He wagged his tail and looked at them with a proud expression. “Look! I found food,” his eyes seemed to say. Noodles spilled all over the kitchen counter and on the floor.

“No, Sangcho! Bad dog,” Roy scolded as he got off the couch and ran to his gluttonous dog.

Joonyoung was starting to regret his decision of not sending Roy to the orphanage. Once again, he was running out of patience. “Yah, if you can’t control that dog of yours, I’m gonna throw him out.”

“Please don’t,” Roy begged, his lower lip started to quiver like he was about to cry. No matter how hard-headed Sangcho was, Roy still loved the little Maltese.

“Ah, no! Of course, I won’t throw him out. I was just kidding,” Joonyoung quickly consoled Roy.

“Let’s just clean this up,” Joonyoung suggested. But Sancho had already eaten most of the spill. “Or not.”

“Joonyoung hyung – “ Roy said in a very shy voice.

“Do you need to go to the toilet?” Joonyoung asked, panicking at the mere thought.

Roy shook his head. “I’m hungry.”

Joonyoung was able to breathe again. “I’ll cook something for you,” Joonyoung replied as he opened the cupboards – only to realize that they were empty. There was no food left in the apartment.

“Wait right here,” he told Roy. “I’ll wash up and get changed. We’ll go out and buy some food, okay?”

Roy nodded his head obediently.

When Joonyoung came out of his room, he found Roy trying to clean up his messy living room. Even the little boy couldn’t stand the sight of how unorganized things were in his apartment. He just scratched his head in embarrassment.

“Roy, you don’t have to do this,” Joonyoung said as he took the pile of dirty clothes from Roy’s tiny arms and threw them in the hamper.

“It’s okay,” Roy answered. “I want to anyway.”

“How about we continue cleaning up after we go out to eat?” Joonyoung said.

“Can we bring Sangcho too?” Roy asked, sounding hopeful. Joonyoung gave him the look.

“Okay, let’s not,” Roy said in a small voice

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The two walked together down the street. Roy looked around curiously at his surroundings, occasionally tugging at Joonyoung’s shirt to ask him, ‘What’s this? What’s that? Where does that road lead to?”

Gone was the meek little boy that Joonyoung met when he opened his door that morning. Instead, there was talkative and hyperactive Roy who didn’t seem to run out of questions and silly jokes.

“Roy, stop fooling around. You might get lost.”

Roy nodded but didn’t seem to listen.

“How old are you, anyway?’ Joonyoung asked.

“Five,” Roy answered with a smile as he raised five fingers to Joonyoung.

Joonyoung couldn’t help but smile back. As annoying as Roy could be, he was an adorable and sweet child.

Joonyoung and Roy finally arrived at the restaurant that Joonyoung frequently ate at.

The cashier, an elderly man, greeted them. “Is that your son?’ he asked Joonyoung.

Joonyoung immediately denied. “Is he your brother then?”  

“Let’s just put it that way,” Joonyoung answered. “Roy, what do you want to eat?” he turned and realized that Roy was no longer beside him.

“Roy?” Joonyoung called out as he searched for the child. But Roy was nowhere in sight.

“You’ll be fully responsible for him,” the social worker’s voice echoed in Joonyoung’s ears.

“Crap. I’m dead if I don’t find that kid,” Joonyoung worried. “What if something bad happens to him?”

“Roy!” Joonyoung called out again. But still, Roy didn’t respond.

“Ahjussi,” he asked the cashier, “did you see where that little kid with me went?”

The man pointed at the direction of the TV set, “He’s right there.”

There Roy was, sitting on the table, eyes glued intently on the screen.

Relief washed over Joonyoung as he thanked the ahjussi.

Roy wouldn’t budge away from the TV, so Joonyoung decided that they’d just eat there instead of taking the food home. He watched Roy take huge bites and drink sips of water in between. Joonyoung realized that Roy must have been really hungry.

“Do you want me to order more food?” Joonyoung asked as he placed another serving of rice into Roy’s bowl.

“No, thank you,” Roy managed to say even with a mouthful of food.

“You seem to like watching TV so much,” Joonyoung noticed.

Roy nodded and swallowed. “Yes, I do,” he smiled, making his eyes smaller. “I watch TV so I can learn to be a comedian when I grow up.”

“A comedian?” Joonyoung asked, surprised.

Roy nodded in affirmation. “I want to make people laugh. What about you, Joonyoung hyung? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“Me? I’m already grown up,” Joonyoung answered. “I’m a singer and a model.”

“Really?” Roy asked. “How come I don’t see you on TV?”

“Because I’m so handsome that all the girls would go crazy if TV stations showed my face,” Joonyoung answered with a serious expression though he was just joking. Roy seemed to believe him though. Joonyoung stifled his laughter as Roy nodded with an amazed look on his face.

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“Roy, stop running,” Joonyoung said as he, completely out of breath, chased Roy who was sprinting away. Roy had suggested that they race back to the apartment. Joonyoung had disagreed, but stubborn little Roy went off running anyway.

Roy laughed as he weaved through the crowd, leaving Joonyoung behind. His eyes sparkled with joy and his cheeks were red from laughing. He looked back to see Joonyoung walking – almost crawling, actually – exhausted and panting for air. Roy cheered him on.

“Joonyoung hyung, you can do it. Just walk a little more.”

Joonyoung exhaled. How did Roy get to the apartment so quickly? He stopped to catch his breath. “God, it’s so hard to watch over this kid…how were my parents able to raise me?” Joonyoung shook his head in wonder.

Roy ran to Joonyoung and took his hand. “I’ll walk you back home, hyung,” Roy said affectionately.

“You have to carry me,” Joonyoung said.

Roy’s eyes turned wide. How could he possibly carry Joonyoung who was more than twice his size?

‘I’m kidding,” Joonyuoung said with a mischievous grin. “Come on. Let’s go.”

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Joonyoung came back home from buying groceries. He shut the door as gently as he could so as not to wake Roy who was sleeping soundly on the couch.

It was past 10 in the evening already. Joonyoung went grocery shopping as soon as Roy fell asleep. He came back as soon as he could since he didn’t want to leave Roy alone for too long.

Sangcho who was sleeping on the floor drowsily raised his head to look at Joonyoung as he entered the room. Seeing that Joonyoung had no food for him, Sangcho went back to sleep.

“What a lazy dog,” Joonyoung muttered as he turned off the lights.

He went to the couch to check on his little guest. Roy hugged his blanket tightly. Sensing that Roy was cold, Joonyoung decided to transfer Roy to the bed. He carefully carried Roy to his room. Joonyoung laid him gently down the bed and tucked him in with a blanket before laying down beside him.

“I miss my mommy and daddy,” Roy murmured in his sleep.

“I miss my mommy and daddy too,” Joonyoung said as he storked Roy’s hair until he, too, fell into a deep slumber.