Hand in hand, they walked out of the house with every reason to eliminate their presence from their parents.

Kibum was oblivious of their parents fighting this time. He thought everything was going absolutely well. The family of four had gathered around the TV pretty peacefully and their parents started a small argument about what they were watching.

No, it wasn’t even about what they were watching, but what was happening in the show.

Jonghyun ignored it at first, keeping Kibum sitting in between his legs as they just watched the mystery unfold on the TV. Kibum disregarded the argument because it was just a TV show. But Jonghyun noticed his mother decided to bring up a situation parallel to the mystery event and it got them going.

Jonghyun sighed, letting Kibum swing their hands as they walked somewhere. He didn’t know yet, but he guessed the park would be at Kibum’s delight the most. He didn’t feel like going to Tiffany’s. He didn’t feel like crying. He didn’t feel like talking to her parents.

He felt like walking, holding Kibum’s hand.

It wasn’t too hot out, so Kibum hadn’t complained nearly as much from being outside. It was past noon, so the sun hadn’t beat down on them.

  “Where are we going, Hyung?”

Jonghyun looked down at, smiling, “The park.”

Kibum hopped at the name and sped up, already knowing the way to his destination. It wasn’t often Kibum got to go to the park, so it was a treat when he could.

The boy ended up dragging Jonghyun to the park, the same smile on his face as always. Jonghyun couldn’t help but to brighten up himself. It was always better when Kibum was happy—happy and oblivious of his parents’ misfortunes.

Kibum begged Jonghyun to push him as soon as he landed his on the swing, hands clenching the chains with that very same smile on his face.

Jonghyun chuckled to himself, readying himself behind Kibum as he grabbed on to the sides of the seat, slowly pulling Kibum back and pushing him forward, stepping aside to avoid any collision when the younger would come back.

The younger laughed bubbly, enjoying the swishes of air around him as he went back and forth. Jonghyun leaned against the pole, crossing his arms with a smile as he watched, finding the sadness in the pit of his stomach evaporate bit by bit before he knew it.

Jonghyun hoped as Kibum got older that his parents’ issues wouldn’t make too big of an influence on his personality. The kid was so bubbly, so happy, and if their parents twisted that up into something completely different, Jonghyun would be ready to snap ribs.

He had to make sure Kibum stayed the way he was. Of course Jonghyun would let him age, get older, mature, find different happiness in different things, but in no way could he let his parents change him. He could only be hopeful with his efforts.

Kibum continued swinging, staring up at the sky, the same smile plastered on his face even though it wasn’t what he was feeling.

He realized Jonghyun took him out, which always meant something happened with his parents. They were only in front of the TV . . . Oh. They fought over the show. Right.

He could see Jonghyun’s smile and small chuckles, but was he really okay? Jonghyun always had to make sure he kept out of their trouble, and that caused the elder to go through trouble to keep him away.

Kibum sighed a little, Jonghyun not noticing. Was this fair to Jonghyun? He was barely even a teenager and he was like a tiny-single parent.

The weight was back on the younger’s shoulders, unable to keep the furrow of his brows away. How long was Jonghyun going to last before he snapped again?

Kibum hated being so young; so needy. If he could take care of him self just a bit more, Jonghyun could live at least a little easier without the burden of watching a kid all the time. Jonghyun could go hang out with friends or all of the sort, like he always liked doing. But that became rarer the more their parents grew to distaste each other.

Jonghyun’s social life was suffering because of the combination of him and his parents. His brother was always stressed out and he couldn’t do anything about it. He could only be the little kid he watched over because he had to.

Kibum needed to be more careful. He had to be sure to tell Jonghyun that sometimes he didn’t need company or that he was okay alone in his room. Kibum shouldn’t speak too much but not give him the silent treatment. Kibum needed to be considerate. That’s what Jonghyun needed, right?

  “Kibum?” Jonghyun asked as the swing slowed down.

The boy perked up, looking at his brother with another smile, “Yeah?”

Jonghyun poked his back until the younger one laughed and got off. The elder smiled and pointed to the rest of the park, “We’ve got a lot of time, you know.”

The younger blinked with a nod, hustling to somewhere else in the park, Jonghyun trailing on behind him.

And the sad thing was, Jonghyun couldn’t enjoy the park as much as Kibum wanted him to.

----Note~----

Oh.... hai.

I really... lacked lately. On updating and writing. 

I'm sorry guys?

I had some things to do and I still have stuff going on, but I'm still gonna try, mkay?

Short chapter is short, but what can I do?

/Not edited

Bye guys. :P

~FlaMinhoe