"Lauren, mummy has to go away for a while." Nichkhun said, craddling his child in his arms one last time. They were now at the airport, waiting for Nichkhun's flight to arrive.

"Mama?" Lauren said, puzzled. She tipped her head sideways to make out what her mother said.

"Yes, mama go." The Thai repeated.

"Go? No~!" She finally understood what he meant instantly and wrapped both her arms tightly around his neck. "No go!"

"Baby..." Nichkhun felt a sense of defeat inside him. Lauren was sobbing hard against his neck, wetting his collared shirt with tears. He tried to loosen her grip but she refused to budge. And then he turned to Wooyoung and gave his lover a knowing look. Wooyoung reached forward to grab Lauren away, but the toddler started screaming at the top of her voice, refusing to let go.

Taecyeon, Minjun and Junho helped out next, while Chansung took care of the luggages. Lauren kicked and screamed until her face turned red and even after Nichkhun promised he would be back soon, she wouldn't stop crying. A crowd was gathering around them. When the intercom came on, announcing the flight to Thailand, it was time to say goodbye. Nichkhun leaned forward and gave his daughter one last kiss on the forehead. She reached out her arms, crying out for him to take her but he simply couldn't. He had to push down the stinging pain in his throat. 

"MAMA!!!!"

"I'm sorry, baby." Tears were welling up in his eyes. Wooyoung gave him a  chaste kiss on his lips and promised to take good care of Lauren. The other guys gave Nichkhun a farewell hug before wishing him goodbye. "Say hi to your mother for us. And tell her we're sorry to hear about your grandmother. She will be remembered."

Nichkhun simply returned a sad smile at them, grabbed his luggages and then left. Yes, that was the lie he told them. His grandmother had passed away and he'll be helping out with the funeral. It's only for a week.

Just a week.

From far, he could still hear his daughter screaming out for him. "MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!!!! No GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She was practically screaming her lungs out.

But he did not stop. He just kept walking without looking back, until eventually he disappeared from their sight. The last word he heard from her was Mama. "I'm so sorry, baby. Mummy will be back soon." The pain inside him was almost unbearable, but he stilled his trembling body and went through the boarding gate. He had no plans in mind. In fact, he doesn't even know where his father is. His mind was too hazy right now. The only person he could think about was his daughter, Lauren.

_________________________

"Lauren, it's okay. Mummy is only going for a holiday. Ok, baby? Shh...don't cry." Taecyeon said, trying to calm her down. Even after Nichkhun disappeared, she was still screaming. In fact, the screams got louder. She kept thrashing about in Wooyoung's arms until he had no choice but to pass her over to Taecyeon. The bigger guy had a stronger grip so he managed to keep her still. "Shh...appa will take care of you until mummy come back. Ok?"

"NOOOOO~!!!! MAMAAAAA!!!! Mamaaaaa~" She choked on her sobs a few times, but she still called out for Nichkhun, sniffling, "Mama...."

"Lauren, look here. Look at daddy." Minjun called her. She turned to look at him and he gave her the silliest face he could pull. "Blek~" With a tongue sticking out, he made his eyes all droopy and then he twitched his nose to finish the look. "Woof!" It was a face of an old dog. Junho and Chansung were suppressing their desire to burst out laughing.

Lauren actually found it rather amusing. She calmed down a little, blinking her tears away.

"Do you want to see a turtle, baby?" Wooyoung cut in. He quickly flattened his face and puffed up his cheeks. The result drew in a catastrophy amount of laughter from the guys, and a few people in the crowd who happened to pass by. Lauren giggled slightly, slapping the puffy areas on Wooyoung's cheeks with both her hands and started laughing when it deflated, sprinkling out spittle of saliva. "Ewww~! Appa!"

"Do you like Turtle Appa?" Wooyoung asked innocently.

Lauren nodded her head, wrapping her arms around Taecyeon's neck when Wooyoung went all turtle-ish on her again. He slowly approached her until their faces were within inches of each other. "Appa!" She yelled out, giggling against Taecyeon's shirt. Wooyoung smiled at her brightly in return before placing a kiss on her cheek.

The guys were just glad Lauren wasn't crying anymore. "I guess taking care of a child can't be so bad." Junho said.

Boy, was he wrong!

____________________________

"The diaper! OMIGOSH!!!! Get it out of my hair!!!" Junho wailed, running towards Chansung who was obviously avoiding him.

"HYUNG!!!!!" Chansung yelled out, calling for help, but his useless hyungs were just standing at the side, debating whether to grab the diaper off or not. It might risk getting poop on their hands. How the diaper landed on Junho's head was a mystery to begin with. It started with a dare. The boys were not looking forward to the dirty job so they played kai-bai-bo. Junho, unfortunatey, lost the game.

I guess I should be telling this story, because I'm the owner of the diaper anyway. My daddies are being stupid again. They don't want to change my diaper because mummy's not here. If mummy's here, I would be clean and sparkly by now. But no, my daddies had to bet to see who does the job. Appa Nuneo loses the bet and I guess he must be sad. His eyes are not smiling. The other daddies just smile sneakily at him. Oh, I feel so bad for Appa Nuneo.

Junho sat down in front of Lauren and pulled up her dress. There were a sudden burst of gasps and whispers from the useless audience behind him. "Oh, that ert." Taecyeon's voice was heard.

"I never knew he had it in him." Minjun added jokingly, snickering at Junho.

The younger guy whipped his head around and shot them a menacing glare. "I could hear you, hyung."

"Forget I say anything then." Minjun said, putting both hands up as a surrender. Junho returned to the task at hand, looking at Lauren straight to her eyes. She was also waiting for him to change her diaper, curious eyes fixed on him. "Lauren ah, you should be thankful to appa one day. I'm about to clean your mess."

It's your job anyway, appa. But because I feel sorry for you, I'll thank you when I'm able to say 'thank you' properly.

"Here goes." He unstrapped the diaper and heaved slightly at the sight of Lauren's squishy brown poop. The smell was amazingly foul too. 

"Junho ah, be fast. We're dying here." Wooyoung's voice said.

"Shut up. I'm doing it now."

He took the diaper off and heaved some more when some of the poop left its trail on the cloth underneath. Just as he was about to roll the smelly diaper up, Chansung came behind him, on Minjun's and Taecyeon's request, and gave Junho a big fright. The diaper was flung upwards and landed directly, poop down, on Junho's head. A massacre of screams escaped afterwards, and everyone panicked.

"GET THE ING THING OFF MY HEAD!!!" Junho begged. He didn't want to touch it. It was so sticky and wet and OH MY GOSH, the SMELL! Instead, he ran towards Chansung, hoping to share some of his misery on the giant. Chansung ran for his life, climbing onto the bed and rolling around the floor just to get away. He was unable to escape from the bedroom, not when Junho was hot on his heels and Minjun was blocking the exit.

"Hyung, let me out!" Chansung pleaded, but Minjun simply smirked at him.

"You're not getting anywhere until this is on you too, Channie." Junho said.

While this was going on, Taecyeon, Minjun and Wooyoung were standing at the side, debating whether to grab the diaper off or not. "If we grab, we stink."

"Well, you suggested it to Channie, hyung." Wooyoung muttered, hoping that Junho did not hear them. The younger guy was still too busy chasing the giant fortunately.

"I ain't grabbing no diaper. I changed one before. It's not pretty." Taecyeon quickly objected.

"I've got some work to do on my laptop right now. Let's leave them here and disappear quietly."

The three of them quietly unlocked the bedroom door and sneaked out. Chansung saw this chance and bolted for it. Junho dashed forward to block the giant and suddenly, all five of them were lying on the ground in a heap of bodies in front of the bedroom. "YAH! Get off me, you bunch of idiots!" Minjun yelled out, swinging his free arms around on the two giants above him.

"Oww....my head." Taecyeon whined, starting to get up. Wooyoung was trapped underneath Junho and Chansung was basically on top of everyone. The diaper, however, had slid down from Junho's head and landed directly on top of Wooyoung's forehead. It was nothing short of epic....and disgusting.

"Junho..." Wooyoung whispered quietly, catching only Junho's attention.

"Yes?" The younger boy asked, shock evident on his face. This wasn't meant to happen, and anger seemed to be radiating from Wooyoung's face.

"As much as I want to murder you right now, I think it's not fair to put all the blame on you. I should let you know, the one who suggested the idea in the first place was Minjun-hyung."

"You traitor!" MInjun exclaimed angrily. He was taken aback when Junho shot him a glare. Wooyoung removed the diaper from his forehead as Junho got up and wrapped it into a ball. "Good thing I can endure this smell. Right now I need a bath."

"Wooyoung, there's a little dripping down your temple." Taecyeon suddenly interrupted.

"I know that. Why? Do you want to it?" Wooyoung suggested jokingly, causing Taecyeon to wince in return.

They slowly gathered themselves up from the floor. Wooyoung and Junho rushed off for a shower, while Taecyeon finished cleaning Lauren up, with a little help from Minjun. Chansung offered to prepare dinner that night.

The guys were unaware that this was just the start of a coming disaster.

__________________________

The following day was a Monday, and weekdays meant a busy schedule. Wooyoung and Minjun were the first ones up, having to rush for work or risk getting stuck in a traffic jam. While one bathed, the other prepared breakfast for all of them. Wooyoung was usually the one who packed boxed lunches for Chansung and Junho. Once Minjun was done, he'll rush to the kitchen for breakfast while Wooyoung took his turn to bathe. 

On this particular morning, however, Lauren's cried started vbrating through the whole house the moment Minjun finished his bath. He rushed to Wooyoung's room, still clad in his towel and checked on the baby. The baby was probably hungry. Wooyoung came in moments later and asked, "What's wrong, hyung?"

"I don't smell an apocalypse. I assume she's hungry." Minjun said. The younger guy smiled when he heard his hyung mentioned 'apoalypse'. It was a nickname they had given to Lauren's poop, and the name popped out when they playing poker the night before. "Youngie, did you prepare her milk?"

"Milk? Yeah, I'll go get it." Wooyoung went off to get the bottle while Minjun craddled the baby in his arms. "Good morning, Lauren ah. I hope you slept well last night."

Lauren wouldn't stop crying. She was obviously hungry. When Wooyoung returned to the room moments later, Minjun thanked him and took the bottle. He began feeding her. Every so often, his eyes would stray towards the wall clock hanging near the vanity table. The traffic jam would be starting soon and Lauren was only halfway through her bottle. This was taking too long. He would be late for work. Wooyoung had gone off for a shower minutes ago, so he was pretty shocked to see Minjun, still clad in his towel, feeding Lauren her milk.

"Hyung, we're going to be late if you don't hurry." Wooyoung said, frowning.

"Take her and let me put on some clothes." Minjun ordered, handing the baby over to the younger guy. Wooyoung carefully took Lauren into his arms and craddled her, singing a sweet lullaby to calm her down while she fed on her milk. 

She simply stared up at him, listening to his soothing voice. There was one worrying absence the boys had noticed since Nichkhun left yesterday. Usually Lauren would call out for her mummy and daddies if she needed anything. There was always an 'Appa!' or 'Mama!' echoing through the house because she found out the fastest way to grab their attention was by calling them. However, for the last one day, Lauren had said nothing. No whisper or even a hint of weird noises. Instead, she cried for attention.

"Lauren ah, say appa." Wooyoung urged the baby. As expected, she said nothing, but at least she finished off her milk bottle.

When Minjun was all suited up and ready for work, he called the others up before returning to Wooyoung. Junho was the first to get out of bed, dragging his feet to the kitchen for a cup of hot tea. Chansung and Taec got up next, each wiping their eyes before disappearing into the bathroom for the next thirty minutes. This was their routine. It had always been their routine.

But things had to change, and some people had a job. So instead of the usual thirty minutes in the bathroom, Minjun told them to take twenty minutes only because Lauren needed attention. And then Minjun and Wooyoung were out of the door and into the car, speeding off for work.

Junho and Chansung quickly prepared for classes. Books and everything unnecessary to their education was stuffed into their backpacks, along with the lunchboxes that Wooyoung had packed for them. Taecyeon, on the other hand, had nothing planned for the day so he was in charge of Lauren. After bading farewell to his two dongsaengs, he went into the bedroom and played with Lauren for a while. Well, he had the whole day for himself so he thought he might as well spend it properly.

By mid-morning, when the sun was already high in the sky and the fridge was beginning to look empty, he gave Lauren a bath and dressed her up for the market. With only 30,000won in his pocket, he planned to buy some minor groceries like Pocky sticks or whatever, before getting lunch for himself. Good thing there was still ample supplies of milk powder and clean diaper.

Off to the market they went ten minutes later. In the middle of scavenging for some cheap instant noodles, his phone suddenly rang. Taecyeon whipped out his phone and was shocked to see his team's manager's face plastered on the screen. "Oh ." He cursed softly, shushing Lauren who was getting impatient of sitting in the trolley. She wanted to be carried.

"Hello, Young-hyung! What's up?" The big guy greeted into the phone. There was a momentary silence as the other end answered. And then Taecyeon said, "What? Now? But isn't it my day off?" He frowned at the sudden change of plans. His eyes were on Lauren the whole time, calculating what he should do with her. He knew there was no way he could excuse himself out of this. There was a risk of losing his job. "Hyung! They really can't do it themselves? I mean, I've got a lot of plans today."

He closed his eyes in a pained expression as the manager began screaming curses at him, bringing up the lecture about being responsible for one's own team and all that bull. When that was done, Taecyeon opened his eyes again and said, with a defeated look, "Arasseo....I'll be there in an hour. Ne~" The call ended and Taecyeon was at a loss.

"Lauren ah~ what is Appa supposed to do now?"

Lauren simply stared at her daddy, wondering what's going on.

Appa, is everything ok? Why do you look sad? Did Lauren hurt you? She contemplated on this as Taecyeon took her back to the apartment with a heavy heart. There was no way Minjun and Wooyoung would have the time to watch over her. He made an urgent call to Junho along the way, telling the younger boy his plans. Junho was a little pissed off when he found out. The lecturer had been eyeing him suspiciously since just now and the sudden need to excuse himself from class for a while simply made matters worse. Now he had to leave class for good in the middle of a lecture and that wouldn't score well in his end-of-the-year student review.

"I'll be there, hyung...." The call ended and he thought about dragging Chansung along, but the big guy was so immensed in the lecture that Junho decided against it. He heaved a deep sigh and prepared for the worse.

______________________________