Sehun had fallen asleep again. He only awoke when someone shook him. Upon waking he first looked at the time to see that it was almost 11:00.

Grumbling he sat up wondering why he his alarm hadn’t woken him up. Ki Hoon was sitting up on the bed beside him looking wary and somewhat impatient.

“Man come.” He seemed to announce.

Sehun gently pressed his hand down onto the boy’s head before getting up to get dressed. It didn’t take long to realize that his phone, his wallet, and his keys were nowhere to be found. Searching around the clean room brought him upon frustration and impatience.

He had placed them clearly onto his desk yesterday. Where could they have gone if they hadn’t grown their own feet?

Pausing in step he turned to look at Ki Hoon who was starting to climb off the bed.

“Did you say someone came in here?” Sehun asked.

Before his son could reply there was a knock on the door which quickly sent Ki Hoon running toward him. Grabbing his leg Ki Hoon hid behind him as if he were a tree.

It was one of the maids that took charge of cleaning the upper level of the mansion. There were some clothes in her hands.

“A change of clothes for him,” the maid explained, “his bath is ready.”

Sehun gelt Ki Hoon’s small hands tighten around his leg.

“What?” Sehun asked.

“For the boy…” the maid seemed timid, as she spoke her head slightly lowered as if it were a violation to look into Sehun’s face.

“He’s my son,” Sehun clarified a little roughly as if he wanted everyone to acknowledge it. “Where are my stuff? Who came into my room?”

“I don’t know, sir,” she answered. “I was just told to deliver the clothes.”

Sehun felt like blowing up at her for being so general with her answers. He had a feeling she knew more than she was saying, but he couldn’t waste time being angry with them. The very thing on his mind was to return Ki Hoon home.

“Is there breakfast?” Sehun asked.

The maid nodded.

“Bring some up.”

The maid set the clothes aside before leaving the room. When she left Ki Hoon poked his head to the side before letting go of his leg. Since there was no one to trust and cling onto, Ki Hoon had no choice, but to do so to Sehun who he only knew here.

Kneeling down onto a knee Sehun turned his son toward him, “Do you want to take a bath? Get clean?”

Ki Hoon stared at him silently as if he’d forgotten that he’d just talked with Sehun earlier.

“Want Han Han.”

Sehun stared at his son quietly.

“Call Han Han.” Ki Hoon said before adding, “Please.”

And it melted Sehun’s heart with all the innocence in Ki Hoon. Of course, of course he’d do anything for his son.

“I’ll call him,” Sehun promised. “You stay here, ok?”

Excitedly nodding Ki Hoon smiled.

Making his way downstairs Sehun walked from room to room for the home phone. His parents should both be out at work attending some conference or traveling by plane to their destination for whatever. It wasn’t hard for him to see that his mother was trying to keep him in the house; him and Ki Hoon.

She would go to all ends in order to prevent Ki Hoon from returning home, but Sehun would do whatever he could to return him. Then he’d find some way out of this hell hole. A part of him always believed his mother had some good to her, that part of him was quickly melting now. Once she dragged his son into their mess, it was all over for him.

Ki Hoon would have no part in his struggle with his mother.

Sehun started up the stairs toward his room in a peaceful manner with no hindered thoughts, but at the top of the stairs he could hear Ki Hoon crying. It wasn’t just the normal wailing of a child, like when he returned yesterday to hear him bawling. It wasn’t like that at all.

The cries were a bit hysterical, heartbreaking, and of confusion. Ki Hoon’s breath seemed to heave out loudly every time each cry came to.

Panicked, Sehun ran down the hallway toward his room where two strange persons who weren’t a part of the staff at home were with Ki Hoon. One of them, the assistant, was holding tiny Ki Hoon down; the other with a syringe in hand.

At the fact that they had meagerly forced his son down to draw his blood exploded every nerve within Sehun’s body.

“What are you doing!?” Sehun screamed from the top of his lungs, dropping the phone to the floor, and rushed forward. The men had just finished what they were assigned to do, but that didn’t make Sehun any less enraged.

They had touched his son without his permission. Ki Hoon was crying and he was in pain and he couldn’t do anything about it, because he’d come late.

Harshly shoving the men away he quickly wrapped the bandaid on the side over his son’s arms before embracing him.

The men were packing up beside him loudly; stuffing their tools into a tool box they’d brought with them.

As Ki Hoon wailed into his ears devastated by what had just been done Sehun turned to glare at them, the urge to slam their heads against the wall overwhelmed him.

“Get out of here,” Sehun threatened with a hiss, “before I get my hands on you.”

When they finished packing up they quickly sent him bows before hurrying out of the room.

Holding Ki Hoon close, Sehun his back for comfort, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. It’s gonna get all better soon.”

After Ki Hoon calmed down, Sehun set him onto the bed before pulling some candy out of a drawer.

“Your mommy’s favorites,” Sehun told as he peeled the wrapper off and handed them to Ki Hoon, “open up your mouth. Like this, ah….”

Ki Hoon closely watched Sehun bare open his large mouth and copied with his head tilted back. Chuckling Sehun tucked the drop of candy into Ki Hoon’s mouth before poking his droopy cheek.

“Your mommy fed you well. You’re so plump,” Sehun commented all the while Ki Hoon dangled his feet against the bed. “The candy won’t spoil your appetite, will it?”

Staring at the door he wondered why breakfast seemed to be taking so long. Then he noticed the new clothes for Ki Hoon sitting on his desk.

“Do you want to take a bath with bubbles?” Sehun questioned. “You can eat your candy in the bath.”

It had always been part of his dream to spend time with his son like this. After undressing Ki Hoon he sent the maid to wash his clothes. To sooth Ki Hoon’s earlier trauma Sehun warmed up the water in his personal bathroom and filled it up with an overwhelming amount of bath mix. Ki Hoon had watched in awe as the water foamed up.

Sehun watched from joy as his baby amazed himself with all the bubbles. Ki Hoon shrieked with laughter and joy forgetting the pain in his arm as he moved around in the tub and swished around in the water. His tiny breath blew the bubbles bath and forth. When it landed on Sehun’s face Ki Hoon laughed louder, clapped his hands, and returned to his game of exploration.

Everything here was new to him. Sehun wanted to give him the best quality of it all.

“Is it fun? Do you like it that much?” Sehun asked.

“Like!” Ki Hoon answered with a broad smile, his mouth parting while he raised his arms up to drag the foam up.

“I bet you have much more fun with your mommy.”

“Mommy?” He repeated. “Mommy mad, but….but miss mommy. Want Han Han.”

“Ok,” Sehun smiled, “I’ll call your mommy. Lets get out now, shall we?”

Grabbing the large fresh towel from beside him he placed it across his chest before lifting Ki Hoon out of the bath.

“You’re such a big boy!” Sehun commented happily as he folded the towel around Ki Hoon.

Part of him had ached for this moment, but Ki Hoon wasn’t calling him father and it hurt a little. Even while with him, Ki Hoon continued to mention the Han Han he loved. Sehun didn’t blame him. Namjoo had explained to him before that Ki Hoon had grown up with Luhan as if he were his father.

That was completely understandable. But if only…if only Ki Hoon called himd ad just once.

+++

Luhan hadn’t gone in for work. Namjoo hadn’t slept the entire night, so he’d stayed up with her quietly watching the TV until he knocked out. When he woke up she was still awake with death and exhaustion in her eyes.

When he finally made her a cup of coffee and got her to drink it she finally seemed to doze off, so he carried her into the guest room she used to lay her down. It was late afternoon and she still hadn’t woken up. He felt sorry that he couldn’t share her burden or her feelings. It was ok though. He had his own burden.

He was afraid for Ki Hoon. His little man could be anywhere with anyone. Ki Hoon got scared easily if he wasn’t with an adult he knew. Luhan worried that Ki Hoon might panic and do something uncalled for that would put him in a bad place.

Sitting made him uneasy so he paced back and forth through the house. His mother had gone to the train station to pick his father up, who’d been on a trip to the sea. He wanted to hurry back for Ki Hoon’s sake.

Luhan could only hope that his little man was in safe hands with someone who had a soft heart for children. If anything happened to his little boy, he’d go to even to the depths of hell for revenge.

The ringing of a phone inherently shocked him that he turned around so abruptly the room seemed to move with him. It echoed in his ears before he hurried toward the couch where Namjoo’s bag was. Digging through it hurriedly so that Namjoo might be able to sleep longer he pulled the phone out.

A number he didn’t recognize popped up on the screen.

“Han Han!” Ki Hoon sounded excited and happy from the other end of the line his heart raced.

“Hoon!?” Luhan almost couldn’t believe it. “Hoon! Oh my god…where are you?!”

“Han Han! I miss you. Sc…scary woman…here…here…”

“Hoon? Where are you? I’ll come get you. Do you know where you are?”

“Han Han! Han Han!” Ki Hoon continuously called out, but frustrated Luhan.

He wanted to know where Ki Hoon was. He wanted to go fetch him home immediately, but Ki Hoon wasn’t telling.

“Miss you. Bye bye.”

The phone call ended and Luhan stared at Namjoo’s phone before rushing into his room without further thought. Grabbing his phone he called a friend he from work. Luhan remembered being told from his co-worker that he knew someone who worked at the police station. If Luhan could get in touch with him he wanted to trace the call.

“It’s me. Can you do me a favor?”

+++

Sehun glanced at Ki Hoon who was handing the phone over to him. Grabbing it he pressed it against his ear to hear the dial tone before smiling amused.

“You hung up,” Sehun told then set the phone aside. “Now that you call, we eat. Ok?”

It’d been a while since Sehun had sat on the ground. This time Ki Hoon gave him a reason to.

Pulling the tiny table he’d requested for over, he grabbed the spoon. This table had been his when he was younger, but it’d almost been a decade since he last saw it. Scooping some rice with a fair share of meat and veggies he held it out for Ki Hoon. He’d never done this before. Sehun was just copying what he saw in movies.

Ki Hoon obediently opened his mouth for the food, but spat out the meat.

“What? Why’d you do that?” Sehun asked.

Ki Hoon looked up at him with hesitance before going on to say, “Hard.”

Frowning Sehun place a strip of the meat into his mouth and chewed. It seemed fine to him.

“Is it hard for you to chew?” Sehun asked.

Grabbing a strip of the cooked meat he grounded it against the plate with the spoon and handed it to Ki Hoon. He spit out the meat again and looked at Sehun as if he were stupid. They could just bypass the meat, but Sehun wanted Ki Hoon to eat it in order to grow up well and be strong. So trying again he bit the meat somewhat with his teeth before handing it over to Ki Hoon, who stared at it strangely before awkwardly opening his mouth to take it.

“Is that ok?” Sehun asked watching closely for any form of acceptance.

Ki Hoon nodded with approval to Sehun’s delight. Breakfast went on by easily and Ki Hoon wasn’t at all hard to handle. Sehun actually thought that Ki Hoon liked him much more now compared to those moments when they first met. Instead of clinging onto Namjoo he could cling onto him now.

+++

When Namjoo first awoke she couldn’t remember anything at all. Everything seemed dark and dull to her. After sitting up she felt the remnants of yesterday wrack at her soul. She felt like an abandoned ship at sea that had been sailing alone for hundreds of years.

Her heart was sore, she was depleted of life, and her body was numb to all.

Swinging her legs over the bed she stood up and walked out of the room. Luhan’s house was empty and she wondered if he’d gone to work. Turning her head toward the kitchen she saw that she was the only one in the house.

Alone.

With a light sigh she stepped out wondering if there were any news about her son. Walking toward her bag on the couch she started a search for her phone, but when she couldn’t find it the doorbell rang. The silence seemed to become even louder when she turned to stare at the still door and slowly headed toward it.

She recognized the man standing on the doorstep almost immediately. He was the one who opened the door to the car for Sehun’s mother and drove her around like a queen. With one glance she caught sight of the car ahead of her; the Chauffeur bowing toward her quietly.

Accommodated to the signal she closed the door behind her and stepped forward. He walked alongside her like an old friend she hadn’t seen for a few long years as if allowing the silence to bring back some familiarity. When they reached the car he walked over to open the door and as graciously as ever stepped out Sehun’s mother in the triumphant way that was hers.

Namjoo was very confused about why she was here. It wasn’t as if she’d spoken with Sehun at all. Right now, she decided, she cared more about her son than she was worried for Sehun.

The woman smiled very victoriously in front of her as if she’d done something that was a thousand times greater than Namjoo. Remaining calm Namjoo stared back at her waiting for her to say something as she always did.

“How much do you want?” The woman asked.

Namjoo’s mind blanked. “Excuse me?”

She whipped out a checkbook out of her wallet with a pen in hand. “How much do you want in order to trade your son over? We’ll compensate you for your loss.”

Namjoo’s eyes water as the heat of anger boiled up within her immediately. Without hesitating she slashed her hand out to chuck the checkbook toward the ground.

“My son is not going anywhere!” Namjoo boldly determined. “I thought I warned you not to talk about him. His value is too high for a person like you to mention him.”

Sehun’s mother’s eye twitched, but she calmed herself within a split second. The Chauffeur bent down to pick the checkbook up.

“Don’t you understand?” The woman questioned. “Why do you think my son approached you again? Think hard, fool.”

Namjoo felt her teeth chatter as if she were standing in the cold again with only a summer dress. Her heart shook. She was terrified and upset.

“We want your son. So,” she said, “how much?”