Caliginous, moist, and gloomy -  that was the atmosphere Nichkhun felt around him as he passed through a small pathway hiding behind the darkness leading to his apartment complex. The moon, which sat upon the stars up in the sky, gazed down at him as if it were its job to make sure he got home safely. Considering how late it was that night, Nickhun figured everyone would have already called it lights out, so the fear of anything happening to him hadn't visited. Even the vandals had to take breaks sometimes, right?

A sudden vibration coming from his right pocket, so faint that he might not have been able to hear it if it weren't so dead out, made him stop his tracks; a text message, he assumed. He snatched his phone up to check, knowing that it was most likely his annoying brother. 

 

______

Where the could you be at around this time?!

                                                           Minho

______

With only a quick glance at the bright screen, Nickhun returned his phone into his pocket and proceeded with walking, ignoring his brother's message like he always did. As Nichkhun neared the complex, though, a sudden noise in the dead silent night caught his attention; the garbage bins near the apartment parallel to theirs was suddenly shaking. 

"Of course. Just when everything seems to be going fine and I'm almost to a safe place, something bad has to happen," he thought.

He chuckled to himself, the images of funny horror movie remakes appearing in his mind, but the chuckles soon turned into goose bumps once he realized what was going on. With slight hesitation and many what-if's as to what could happen to him if he continued standing there completely defenesless, he rushed towards their apartment door and practically threw himself at it.

As the door cracked open, another sudden noise rung out as if something had just fell, and it gave him a nerve racking feeling.

"What was that?" Nickhun's mischievous and annoying brother, Minho, complained as he pulled the door all the way open, letting the knob hit the wall behind it, like always.

"I have no idea," he replied, wondering if this were some kind of prank being pulled on him.

Minho inhaled then exhaled deeply, as if he were wondering if going near the noise would get him killed or not.

"Let's go check it out! I'm sure it won't be anything scary, even hough you're such a big baby and anything scares you,"  he avouched.

Nichkhun just rolled his eyes as he moved out of the doorway and let Minho lead the way. Why he was even listening to his brother was beyond him, but he really had no other choice. While Minho was completely fine and walking with confidence, he, on the other hand, was shaking all over, afraid of what could be out there. We can't die tonight.

He took his phone out and its assistive light, hoping to be able to see what laid hidden in the darkness.

A stong and loud wail made Nichkhun shiver as they continued walking. He thought about making a run for it; if his brother's idioticness cost him his life, he surely wasn't going down with him. 

A hand suddenly grabbed Nichkhun's arm from the midst of the darkness and he flailed, trying with all his strength to break free, hopinh his screams would wake somebody up. 

"You didn't have to scream like a little girl!" Minho came out of the darkness looking like his regular self, chuckling.

"Guess what I found!"

Nichkhun gulped. A dead body? What could he have possibly found?

Minho pulled his arm, which he wasn't able to tear away from, and dragged him towards the garbage bins. He almost thought he was dreaming once he was what it was.

"H-how can there be a ba-ab-" 

"Baby!" Minho interrupted.

It took a second and a few pinches for Nichkhun to get back to his senses.

"Minho-ah, do you think the parents are nearby?"

Minho thought for a moment.

"If they were, they would've found him already. Plus, I don't really think the parents would think to look near some garbage bins in an apartment complex if they did lose their own baby. Probably just abandoned it here."

"Uhh...," Nickhun paused, "Why did you just call it an it?"

"'Becuase I don't know it's gender, you idiot! Besides, there's no time to argue about that right now. We need to bring this baby inside. You make it at home, and I'll run to nearest convenience store to buy whatever babies need."

Before Nickhun could even stutter a response, Minho ran off.

It was  then that Nickhun realized just how more mature his own brother was than himself. He never really thought about associating Minho with that term, but there he was, doing that exactly.

 He realized there wasn't any time to waste though as he stood there in thought. He frantically panicked while holding the baby, wondering what to do with it. "There's an apartment right next to you, idiot," he heard somewhere in his mind, swearing that Minho had said it. He carried the baby into their apartment and placed it on his futon. After making sure it was comfortable, or at least what looked comfortable to him, he grabbed the thermometer from the medicine cabinet and stuck it under the baby's right armpit. The baby started to cry like it had done when they were at the garbage bins, which made Nickhun hysterical. He quickly took the thermometer away from the baby, grabbed the blanket from Minho's futon, and made sure to cover every inch of it. He then take a quick glance at the thermometer;

 39.2 degrees.

"Great, the baby has a fever. Just what we need," he said to himself.

He clutched his phone and wondered if calling Minho was a good idea. After a few minutes, he came to the logical solution and in the phone number.

"Answer fast you idiot!" Nichkhun screamed into to his phone, knowing nobody could hear him on the other line.

"Hello?" Minho answered at the fifth ring.

"Minho, the baby is ing sick!" Nichkhun shouted, his heart beating fast. He didn't want to have a dead baby tonight. We wouldn't. 

"W-wait, what?!"

"No time to say more details. Meet me at the hospital near the shopping center in a few minutes."

"Got it."

Nichkhun hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket. Carefully, he carried the baby and ran to the nearest hospital. Running with a baby wasn't the easiest thing, if you asked him. 

After running forever, or what seemed to be forever, Nichkhun finally arrived at the hospital's entrance. As soon as he felt a rush of relieve over him, another wave of tiredness crashed into him as well, making him feel as if he could faint at any minute. He tried to endure the unbearable feeling his body was painting all over him and trudged  into the hospital, but when he tried to speak to one of the nurses, his vision went pitch black.

-----

Nichkhun's eyes slowly opened,  and all he saw was white.

"Is this what Heaven is like?" he asked himself while chuckling, but stopped soon because he had a killer headache.

He looked around and noticed a needle  inserted into his left hand, which led to a long tube that was connected to a dextrose bag.

"How are you?" He heard a voice speak out from his side. He looked, and saw Minho.

"Where am I?" He dumbly asked while trying to get up from the bed.

Blood rose up in the thin tube, which he guessed was coming from his  hand.

"Whoah, don't force yourself too hard." Minho stated in a somewhat caring manner.

"G-give me my phone." 

"The doctor said you got sick because you've been overworking." Minho stated "What the hell, all you eat for lunch is a piece of bread.. You don't even eat dinner!"

"How do you know?" 

"I took the liberty of contacting your friends while you were unconcious."

"Do you know what privacy means?"

"But seriously, why don't you eat?! Overworking is already stress, but doing that while not eating?"

"Shut up." I arrogantly said "Now give me my damned phone."

"No."

"Why?! you." Nichkhun gave a pissed face.

"You shall stay here and rest until you get better." Minho reprimanded "How now, I shall take your phone from the time being."

Something suddenly appeared on Nichkhun's brain.

"What about the baby?" He asked.

"She's okay.. I think.. She's on the fourth floor.. We're still waiting updates on her.."

"So.. It's a girl.." Nichkhun realized "I hope she'll be okay.."

"Anyways, the doctor said you could probably be checked out at around eight in the morning."

After Minho said that, a person in a white dress coat came in the room. Nichkhun knew he was the doctor.

"Hello, how are you doing?" The doctor asked.

"I'm fine.. I think.." Nichkhun responded.

"You've been overworking yourself more than what your body can handle.." He stated "How many days have you been without meals?"

"Um.." I thought for a moment "I'm not sure.. Around.. Four to five days I think.." 

Nichkhun gulped, nervous with what Minho might react.

"What the actual ?!" Minho reacted with an irritated face.

Nickchun was unsure of what to say.

"Last week was our exam week.. I had no time to eat.." He gave a paranoid look on both of them.

"I see." The doctor scribbled on his clipboard "If you wouldn't want this to happen again, you must atleast in take enough calories your body needs for the day's activities." The doctor's face became serious.

"I-i'll try.."

      A nurse in a really short skirt came in with my meal. She put the tray on top of the side table and went out. Nichkhun knew right at that moment, something is about to get wrong.

"She's hot." Minho whispered to himself, not knowing that Nichkhun overheard it.

"Don't start" Nichkhun warned, knowing what Minho will do.

"Hey.. I'm just enjoying my teenage years.. Unlike somebody.." Minho rolled his eyes.

"Enjoying doesn't mean doing 'it' with every hot girl you see!"

"But--" He gives a sad look, a begging look that is the secret weapon against his hyung.

"Alright then, go do whatever you like." Nichkhun , unable to say no.

Nichkhun doesn't really want to spoil his younger brother, Minho. For him, being only the two together while their parents are dead, he wants Minho to cherish his brother's happiness to forget about it.

Minho jumps in excitement, which is pretty much like him.

"Thanks hyung!" Minho grabs his hyung and begins to hug him.

Nichkhun pushes him away and slapped his hand on his mouth.

"With every favor, comes a condition."

"What would you want?"

"My phone."

Minho unwillingly gets his hyung's phone from his pocket and gives it to him.

"Go take your time." His hyung chuckled.

"Um.. Hey, do you have some cash?" He smiles.

Nichkhun anticipated for  it.

Nichkhun reached for his wallet from the side table, grabbed a few thousand won, and gave it to Minho. At the right panel of my wallet, Nichkhun saw a picture of our family, a complete one. The last one they ever took. He felt a deep and heavy sadness come inside him. The thought of their parents dying at a very young age made Nichkhun feel weak.

Minho noticed Nichkhun reminiscing over their parents. He pats his hyung's shoulder and then hugged him. The warmth Minho gave off made Nichkhun feel a bit at ease. He allowed him to him me some more because he knew this time it was a sincere hug from his younger brother.

"You're not comforting me like this so that I won't get mad at you when you come back sooo late later right?" Nichkhun asked

He grabs his hankerchief from his pocket to wipe Nichkhun's tears away.

"Not really.. We're brothers! We shared the same feelings when our parents passed away.." Minho nods his head "I know you've been working hard to manage your studies and your part-time job, but that doesn't give you the right to not eat proper meals and overwork yourself! You don't know how much I worried about you when I arrived here and was told you fainted!" He raises his voice.

Nichkhun suddenly felt bad. He made his brother worry about me because of his own neglection. 

"I-I'm sorry if I made you worry.." Nichkhun stated "But else what can I do? Our parents just passed away and it's only the two of us!"

The mood in the room shifted.

Minho walks towards the side table and takes the apple from the tray.

"Hey.." 

Nichkhun notices that Minho took his apple.

"Tha-that's mine!"

Minho continues munching over the apple, making Nichkhun smile seeing my cute brother's face like a spoiled child.

"I thought you were going to go for her?" Nichkhun asked, to change the topic.

"I changed my mind." Minho replied "There are a lot of other hotter girls out there. Besides, my priority right now is to stay here and watch over my brother." He added, making a quick wink.

"I-I feel so touched!" Nichkhun punch him on his arm

"That just hurts."

Nichkhun ignored him while he laughed all over.

-----

"Hyung ah!" Nichkhun heard a loud voice, he ignored it and went back to sleep.

"Hyung ah! Wake up already!" Nichkhun now slightly opened his eyes and saw his brother waking him up.

The smell of freshly boiled ramen was all over the place, Nichkhun looked underneath the blanket and saw himself in casual clothes.

Who the hell changed my clothes. He thought

There were two nurses in front of him: One was putting the dextrose needle from his hand and the other was with a wheelchair.

"The doctor said it would be effecient if we check out now.." Minho remarked "Being young siblings with no parents, I bet that's a good idea."

"What time is it?"

"A quarter before eight O' clock in the morning."

"Damn, I'm late for school!"

"Stop. You just recovered from this, and you're going to overwork yourself again!?" He gave a cringing yell.

Nichkhun's stomach suddenly churned, probably out of hunger. He pointed out to where the ramen was as a sign of want. Minho took the rolling side table and moved it towards where he can eat comfortably.

What happened last night? Nichkhun curiously thought at the back of his mind

All he remembers is after the laughters he  gave to Minho's attempts to make me laugh, everything turned dark.

"Wha-what happened last night?" He inquired

"After those laughs you gave to my effortless jokes.." He turns his eyes towards Nichkhun's "You fainted again."

"Why did that happen?"

"Your body gave up on you."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry it just needed some rest. You're fine now."

Nichkhun exhaled deeply as a sign of relief.

A sudden knock on the door made Minho look at his watch.

"The door's open" He said

A man wearing a surgeon's uniform, a hospital staff, came into the room and told something important to Minho. He hesitates for a moment, but goes back to himself.

"I'll be going out, be back in a few minutes." He tells his hyung.

"Are going to go out with somebody?"

He slaps his face.

", why will I do that in a time like this?" He sighs "I'll just pay the bills."

Minho suddenly runs out of the room without getting money from Nichkhun. The nurse who took the dextrose needle also went out.

Nichkhun tried to stand from his bed, but ended up falling back.

"Sir you shouldn't do that unless you have enough strength already.." The nurse who was left with him informed.

Nichkhun tells the nurse to give him some privacy and go out for a while.

"But sir, can you take care of yourself already with no one around?"

"Yes I can." He announced, annoyed with her.

Show bows as a sign of respect and goes out.

Nichkhun grabs the pair of chopsticks from the tray in front of him and began eating the ramen ravenously. The only reason he made the nurse go out of statement my room is because he didn't want her to see him like this. He chuckled a little about his need to show good impressions to people. He lift up the bowl to drink some soup. The intense hunger he felt made him lose my manners.

After finishing the bowl of ramen, Nichkhun took the peach on the left side of the tray and began munching on it. The peach tasted really good, it was soft, chewy, and very sweet. He couldn't believe he enjoyed munching over the peach so much.

A few minutes after finishing his first complete meal in a few days, Minho enters the room carrying a baby.

"How is she?" Nichkhun asked

"She's fine now, just had her final check up at the pediatrician."

"By the way, I was wondering.. Where did you get the money to pay for the hospital bills?"

Minho pauses for a second.

"I- I used my savings."

That simple and short statement he gave made Nichkhun feel enlightened. The way he looked at his brother changed. It made him realize how even though he's a playboy and a troublemaker.. He can become reliable once situations like these come.

"Did I surprise you or what?" He gave a huge smile.

A question suddenly popped in Nichkhun's head.

"What are you going to do with her?" Nichkhun points his finger at the baby.

"I wanna keep her." He confidently declared. "Since we were the ones who found her, maybe it's God's will for us to take care of her."

"How about the expenses?" 

"I'll try to get a part time job as soon as possible."

"No." Nichkhun said with strong emotions.

He frowns his head, any time he could explode into a tantrum.

"You won't part time.. All you have to do to keep her, is to promise me that you'll be responsible enough for her." Nichkhun declared "And no more random with girls."

"Well.." He thought for a moment "Sure! Why not!" 

Minho then grabs Nichkhun's left arm and begins to jump, his arm going up and down.

"Stop."

He returns my hand to my lap and stands straight.

"What shall we call her?" I inquired

"I want.. Dani."

"Why Dani?"

"Because I just want that.. Don't complain, I'm the one in charge of her."

"Okay then." He said "Now let's go back home."

-END OF PROLOGUE-