"He's fine," The nurse tells Chanyeol. "His appendix were so swollen that they erupted."

 

"Oh thank God!" Chanyeol sighs in relief.

 

"There's more, though. He kept talking about this thing. A figure? I'm not really sure. He just kept talking about it and how it whispered in his mind," the nurse shakes her head.

 

"," Baekhyun mumbles behind Chanyeol.

 

"Pardon?"

 

"Nothing," Chanyeol covers up. He mentally curses Baekhyun. People may not be able to see him but they can hear him. "Can I see him?"

 

"Sure. Right this way," the nurse guides Chanyeol to a small, sterile room.

 

Chanyeol sits by Kris' bed and places his hand over Kris'. "God dammit."

 

"You okay?" Baekhyun asks.

 

"No! I haven't even started dating him and they're starting! This isn't fair! Aren't they supposed to give me a fair chance?"

 

"Yes, but they don't have to play by the rules," Baekhyun reminds him.

 

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

 

"Protect him."

 

"How? It's not like I can live at his house," Chanyeol mutters.

 

Baekhyun gives Chanyeol a look. A look that says I have a plan.

 

"No. Baekhyun. Absolutely not! No!"

 

"Why not? It's perfect!"

 

"I can't lie to him like that!"

 

Baekhyun looks at him cautiously but sternly. "You already are."

------

 

"Chanyeol," Kris groans grogglily. Voice full of sleep. 

 

Jesus, Chanyeol thinks. That voice.

 

He composes himself and smiles down at Kris. "Good morning!" He says cheerily.

 

"Did you stay here all night?" Kris wonders. 

 

Chanyeol nods softly. "I did. I was worried."

 

Kris blushes a scarlet red. 

 

"Ready?" Baekhyun whispers in Chanyeol's ear.

 

Chanyeol takes a shallow breath of preparation. "Kris, I want you to meet someone."

 

Through the room door, emerged a human Baekhyun. 

 

Chanyeol stands and puts his arm around the visible man. "This is my boyfriend, Baekhyun."

 

Kris blinks a few times. Is this real life?

 

Baekhyun smiles at Kris' thought. "It's real, if you were wondering. We've been dating for a few months."

 

Kris' breathing shallows and his heart beat is audible in both his ears, making his head throb.

 

Chanyeol opens his mouth to speak, but Baekhyun holds him back.

 

"Please go," Kris barely chokes out.

 

"Kris-"

 

"Please. Go."

 

Baekhyun leads Chanyeol out of the room, leaving Kris in his own sorrow.

 

"Why didn't he tell me?"

 

"Hyung!!" The boys run into Kris' room. 

 

"Hey," Kris chuckles.

 

Sehun, Luhan, Jongin and Kyungsoo run into Kris' arms, hugging the older.

 

Kris looks up and sees Luhan's mom. 

 

"Thank you," he mouths.

 

She nods. "I am going on a business trip with my husband and then we are planning a late honeymoon. Could you-"

 

"Yes," Kris interrupts.

 

"Thank you so much," She smiles.

 

Luhan runs to hug his mom. "How long will you be gone, mommy?"

 

"A few weeks."

 

"I love you," Luhan starts to cry a bit. 

 

Kris' emotions finally spill while watching the bitter sweet moment.

 

"Hyung!" Sehun calls, crawling up to Kris. "Why are you crying?"

 

"Hyung is just a bit sad is all," Kris replies.

 

"Wanna watch tv?" Kyungsoo asks.

 

Kris nods and hands them the remote.

 

"Wait," Kris stops Kyungsoo in mid channel surf.

 

Chanyeol's face appears on the screen, a burning house in the background with firefighters trying to tame the violent fire.

 

I have no where to go.

 

"No. No. No. Nope. Nuh-uh," Kris shakes his head.

 

The kids and Luhan's mom stare at him. 

 

"Hyung?" Sehun asks confused. "No what?"

 

"Huh? Oh. Umm....no we can't eat out tonight," Kris stutters.

 

"Nobody asked if we could," Jongin states.

 

"Right. I must still be loopy from the pain killers," Kris covers.

 

No. I am not letting him into my house. He has a boyfriend for sake! But still.....I do feel bad. Can I be friends with him? Can I endure this heartache?

-------

 

"Thank you so much," Chanyeol says as he sets down his bags in the foyer of Kris' house.

 

"No problem. You might regret it though once you meet the animals," Kris chuckles.

 

Chanyeol laughs. "It's okay. I like children," Chanyeol smiles. 

 

Kris looks at him warily.

 

"N-Not like that!"

 

Kris leads Chanyeol to the dining room where each child impatiently waits. 

 

Luhan and Sehun are playing with each other's faces. Digging for gold, mostly. Nose picking.

 

Kyungsoo is picking food out of Jongin's messy hair.

 

"Guys?" Kris calls.

 

"Hyung!" Sehun squeals. 

 

The children stand up and see the new face behind Kris.

 

"This is Park Chanyeol. He'll be staying with us for a bit," Kris explains. "Chanyeol, this is Kyungsoo."

 

"Hello. Nice to meet you," Kyungsoo bows politely. Such a good kid.

 

"This is Jongin," Kris points out. 

 

"...." Jongin says nothing.

 

Kyungsoo pushes Jongin's head down, forcing him to bow.

 

"Tch. I hate you," He says to Kyungsoo.

 

"And this is Luhan, the neighbor's kid and Sehun."

 

Sehun hides shyly behind Luhan. Luhan takes a bold step forward. "Ahjussi. You scare my Sehunnie."

 

"Luhan!" Kris scolds. 

 

Chanyeol just chuckles lightly. "It's okay. He'll warm up to me."

 

Kris looks over at the hiding Sehun and in air through his teeth making a "shhtt," sound. "Sehun, are you hungry?"

 

"No," Sehun answers in a small voice.

 

"Then stop chewing your nails," Kris commands.

 

"Wow. You run a tight ship," Chanyeol chuckles for the tenth time.

 

"I'll show you to your room," Kris says and leads Chanyeol upstairs.

 

As they pass Kyungsoo and Jongin's room, Chanyeol stops to look in. In the closer he sees the black creature that always haunts him.

 

Leave him alone.

 

"Chanyeol? Are you coming?"

 

"Yeah!" Chanyeol shouts. As he walks away he shoots dagger glares at the creature, warning it not to mess with Kris or any of Kris' family. 

 

"So this is it."

 

Chanyeol walks into a quaint room with pink bunny wallpaper. It has a two person bed with a baby pink comforter.

 

Chanyeol looks at Kris questioningly.

 

"Yeah..." Kris scratches his head awkwardly. "Kyungsoo used to think he was a girl."

 

Chanyeol bursts into laughter. Kris soon joins.

 

Something occurs to Chanyeol, though. "Why did Kyungsoo move into Jongin's room?"

 

Kris stops laughing. "When my parents died, Jongin would have really terrible nightmares. He would wake up screaming his brains out. He would never want me to comfort him. He would always want Kyungsoo. Whenever he was with Kyungsoo he would be happy, so they started spending all their time together. They still do to this day." Kris smiles a bit.

 

"Do they love each other?"

 

"I think so. Jongin is adopted so it's not wrong or anything. They're still young though."

 

"8 and 10, right?"

 

"Yep," Kris answers.

 

"You love them, a lot."

 

"I gave up my whole life for them. And I would do it over and over again if I had to."

 

Chanyeol smiles. "You're a really awesome guy, Kris."

 

Kris turns to look at Chanyeol. He swallows hard, trying his best to control his hormones. The butterflies are flying at a rapid pace, eating his insides. 

 

To Kris' surprise, Chanyeol starts moving closer first. 

 

Kris' heart beats as fast as a cheetah. This is wrong. Wrong. But it feels....right.

 

"Hyung!!!" The two hear a high pitched Sehun screaming from below.

 

Kris turns abruptly, walking fast down the hallway and stairs.

 

"." Chanyeol curses. He falls back on the bed and lets out a sigh "Damn you, Baekhyun."

 

"What?"

 

Chanyeol  practically jumps out of his skin. "What the hell?!"

 

"Sorry," Baekhyun chuckles.

 

"How am I supposed to get out of this?"

 

"Invite me over for dinner," Baekhyun suggests.

 

"What will that possibly do?"

 

"I'll treat you like . Maybe even hit you a few times," Baekhyun smirks at this. Hitting Chanyeol sounds fun. Maybe it'll knock some sense into him. Probably not.

 

"Kris will kill you."

 

"I'm willing to sacrifice my face. Besides, it won't actually hurt." Baekhyun steps back a bit, letting his white, shining wings flow out behind him. "I'm an angel, remember?"

 

Chanyeol contemplates this option for a few minutes. 

 

Should I? It would show Kris' true emotions, but I don't want the kids to see that. Maybe I can send them away to a brothers bonding camp or some .

 

"Ugh! Fine."

--------

 

A/N: I'm on a roll lately! Let me know what you think! I hope you all are liking the story!