Min opened up her front door when she heard a car pull into her driveway. Min was a widow of three years; her husband had been a military man and died when a routine grenade exercise went horribly wrong. For about six months, Min had been seeing Jae; the two had met at the coffee shop where Min worked. Jae was a widower of about five years; his wife had died of a rare cancer.

          “Hi Jae, glad you and your son could make it,” Min called as Jae and his son walked up to the front porch.

          “Yeah, took this little guy an hour to get in the car,” Jae informed as he ran a hand through his son’s dirty blonde hair. The boy pushed his dad’s hand away and hid behind the man when Min looked at him.

          “Hello there, your dad has told me so much about you,” Min introduced as she knelt down to the child’s level. “My name’s Min, what’s your name?”

          “Hankyung,” the blonde replied shyly as he gripped his father’s coat.

          “That’s a nice name; how old are you?” Min asked.

          “Ten and a half,” Hankyung stated.

          “I have a son who’s nine who would probably like to meet you, would you like to meet him?” Min wondered.

          Hankyung shrugged. “What’s he like?” the boy questioned.

          “He’s very quiet and shy, and loves to read, but he’s sweet,” Min explained.

          “So he’s a geek?” Hankyung summarized.

          Jae gently slapped him on the back of his head. “Hankyung, don’t be rude. You haven’t even met him yet,” he scolded.

          “Heechul is upstairs in his room if you’d like to go talk to him,” Min offered as she let Jae and Hankyung inside.

          “Hankyung, why don’t you go upstairs and get acquainted with Heechul while Min and I talk down here,” Jae suggested.

          “Whatever,” Hankyung said as he walked upstairs.

          Jae turned to Min. “Sorry about that. He’s been hesitant to attach himself to women ever since his mom passed. He tries to be tough for me, but inside he’s still upset,” Jae informed.

          “It’s alright, Heechul’s been the same way ever since his dad died; never said a word for about four months, buried himself in books, tried to do everything he could to keep his mind off his dad. There are still nights I go inside Heechul’s room and hear him crying for his dad to come home,” Min explained.

          Hankyung walked down the hallway upstairs, and turned to Heechul’s room, opening the door slowly. “Hey,” Hankyung said to Heechul, who was sitting in his bed surrounded by books.

          “Hello,” Heechul muttered as he shyly looked up from his book.

          The two looked at each other silently for a few awkward seconds. Hankyung looked around Heechul’s room before he said “Um, I’m Hankyung.”

          “I’m Heechul,” the small raven haired boy replied.

          “How old are you?” Hankyung questioned.

          “I’m nine,” Heechul said. “How old are you?”

          “Ten,” Hankyung stated. “So are you like a geek or something?” Hankyung asked as he picked up a couple of books Heechul had on the stack on his bed. “I don’t think even the library has this many books.”

          “No, I’m not a geek; I just like to lose myself in books, it’s a coping mechanism I use. Mom says I’m gifted, but my peers call me a freak since I stay quiet and don’t socialize much,” Heechul corrected as he turned another page in his book.

          Hankyung observed some of the reading material Heechul owned. He was in elementary school and was already reading books at a high school level. “Do you play video games or sports?” Hankyung asked.

          “I test the waters of the video game world and I don’t like sports, too violent,” Heechul responded as he closed the book and looked at Hankyung.

          “Where do you go to school?” Hankyung wondered as he sat down on the bed next to Heechul.

          “Angelwood Elementary,” Heechul informed.

          “That’s where I go,” Hankyung realized as Heechul grinned.

          “Does this mean we can be friends?” the dark haired boy wondered.

          Before Hankyung could answer, Jae called them down for dinner. “Heechul, did you introduce yourself to Hankyung and make friends with him?” Min asked as they sat down and began to eat.

          “I introduced myself, but as far as friends go, you know that no one wants to be friends with a freak,” Heechul muttered, pushing food around with his fork.

          “Sweetie, I told you that you aren’t a freak, you are gifted,” Min replied.

          “Mom, everyone at school calls me weird, no one wants to be friends with me,” Heechul reminded.

          “Hankyung, do you consider Heechul your friend?” Min wondered.

          “I guess, I mean we have nothing really in common with each other though,” Hankyung said.

          “Well, maybe you guys can have a lot more time to get to know one another and try to become friends,” Jae said as he pointed his fork at both of them.

          “Why do you say that dad?” Hankyung asked.

          “Because Jae asked me to marry him,” Min announced. “We’re all going to be one big happy family.” Hankyung and Heechul looked at each other. Heechul grinned shyly while Hankyung sighed. 

          “Aren’t you excited son, you’ll get a brother like you always wanted,” Jae reminded Hankyung.

          “Yeah, I will,” Hankyung muttered, but then thought; I never thought it’d be with this weird kid.

          About a month later, Min and Heechul moved in with Jae and Hankyung since their house was bigger and closer to the boys’ school. Hankyung walked into Heechul’s new room and saw that he was unpacking boxes of books and technology. “Need any help?” the blonde offered.

          “I’ll get it on my own,” Heechul replied quietly.

          “Are you okay?” Hankyung asked walking over to his new stepbrother.

          “Yes, please go away,” Heechul requested.

          Hankyung noticed that Heechul was refusing to look at him, so he grabbed Heechul’s arm and turned the raven haired boy to him. The smaller Korean had a bruise on his face. “Where did that come from?” Hankyung questioned.

          “Nowhere,” Heechul replied as he yanked his arm out of Hankyung’s grasp and started unpacking again.

          “Someone hurt you?” Hankyung asked.

          “I just had a misunderstanding at school,” Heechul lied.

          Hankyung stopped Heechul and grabbed his shoulders. “Who hurt you?!” he demanded. Heechul froze before starting to cry. “What’s his name?” the blonde asked gently, realizing he’d scared his brother. “Tell me his name Heechul, and I promise he’ll never bother you again.”

          “It's this boy at school named Kyuhyun. He punches me all the time, calls me a freak, it’s no big deal Hankyung,” Heechul promised as he turned back to the boxes.

          “It is a big deal. You are my brother now, and I will protect you from anyone who tries to hurt you,” Hankyung stated.

          “You don’t have to do that. It’s how he treats me every day,” Heechul said. “I just learn to deal with it.”

          “Look at me Heechul,” Hankyung demanded as he turned Heechul to him. “I will not let this go undealt with. Now you either let me deal with it, or we get dad and Min involved with it.”

          “Okay,” Heechul muttered as he lowered his head.

          Hankyung lightly gripped the raven haired boy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he never bothers my brother again,” he said before helping his stepbrother unpack the rest of his things. “I’ll look out for you.”

          “Thank you,” Heechul whispered.