Eunhyuk's P.O.V.

Saying that he was shocked would've probably been an understatement.

Not because of the orphanage, but more of the fact that he couldn't believe how cruel life could be. Especially to the pure souls of innocent children.

He felt how his heart clenched when realization hit him like a rock and how he got reminded of his own past once again.

Children deserved more, so much more than some people seemed to be able to give them even though it seemed to be one of the most elemental things in the world.

Love.

A home.

And a family.

But as cruel as life was, it also had its kind sides, blessing the kids with a loving person like Donghae, who he happened to meet just an hour or two ago and he could still feel the pureness of the other, shown between childishness and the serious expressions of an adult, appearing from time to time when the children didn't look at him.

The sincere concern, love and fright his eyes reflected had nothing to do with the emotions of a child at all.

And now there he stood, watching the man who knelt in front of him, treating those little humans with so much love and gentleness he never even experienced from his mother.

He embraced every single one of them just in the right way, well or at least as much as Eunhyuk could tell as a stranger that the other did, because no matter how old they were the love in their eyes was just too obvious to be faked or wrong.

Just looking at them made him jealous in a weird way. Neither had the blonde used the word `love` so many times while thinking nor had he felt it in the same amount of different situations and atmospheres.

The brunet really seemed to be something special.

Currently he was talking to a little girl with long brown hair, he assumed was the sister of the twins. And like expected all of her shining personality appeared alike with her brothers.

They were special.

Holding the sleeping Jinwook in his arms, Hyuk's gaze traveled back to the old house right I front of him. He couldn't see much because it was pretty dark outside, but at least he could guess how it looked from what he was able to see.

It wasn't huge nor small, but just right for its occupants. The white painting was more of a grey than the white it once had been, what showed that it hadn't been refreshed for a long time. The roof was black, or better said it would be black if not for the snow on it.

The entrance had a covered veranda in front of it and invited to have a seat in one of the comfy looking chairs on it. Smoke came out of the chimney and some windows were lightened. All in all it really seemed to be cozy, the garden was beautiful and some paintings on the walls were a proof of some loving efforts to keep the house inviting, but it also was in a bad shape and needed some renovations.

Lovingly taken care of or not, you couldn't do much on your own if it came to do a whole new painting on the outside and other stuff.

It was just too much.

Eunhyuk got distracted in his thoughts when the door opened again and two elder woman came out.

They both had short grey hair and were pretty much alike. The more friendly looking one came out to the steps of the veranda and said:

'Don't you all want to come in and warm up? You've been out here for more than 15 minutes now. You should watch out or else you will catch a cold a few days before Christmas.'

Smiling at her Donghae nodded and turned around to the children.

'You heard what Miss Lissy said. Let's get inside', then he looked at Eunhyuk and said:

'You too Hyukjae. I owe you a hot chocolate after all.'

The brunet winked at him in a friendly way and walked up to the building followed by the kids, who cheered that her friend was back.

Between all this family atmosphere the blonde felt a bit uncomfortable and even though he had accepted the offer he suddenly felt like declining it, so he just stood there with Jinwook in his arms, not knowing what to do.

Donghae was long time gone, busy with all the others.

Feeling someone tugging on his jeans he looked down to see Jaemin staring up to him with the serious expression he had been wearing before.

'You don't want to come in right?'

Taken aback by this direct question, Hyuk didn't know what to answer.

'Ah no … that's not it … you see I …'

'You just want to leave, don't you?', the boy's eyes getting all sad.

'No!'

'It's fine. Many people came here and just left like this. We are used to it. Just wake up Wookie so we can go back in. I only wanted to say thank you for saving us. That's why I waited until the others were gone. And now it is time to say good bye right?'

The blonde remained silent, not sure what to do and seriously surprised by the honest words of Jaemin.

'Huh please Hyung can't you just come in and meet the others? I don't want you to go.'

There it was again, this heartbreaking expression of a lonely child he couldn't stand.

'Fine I will come with you.'

The smile he received in return was so heartwarming that he could only think it was the right thing to do.

When the three of them walked into the kitchen, the familiar smell of the chocolate and cookies was filling the air.

On the left hand side you had the stove, the frigde, well the whole kitchen and on the right hand side a huge, old table where all the kids were sitting at and waiting to get to know their new guest better. The walls were decorated with a few painting and drawings of the children. Around the door frame were small and colorful hand prints, each with a name under it. Above of them you had the hands of the adults. A few toys were lying around on the floor like someone had forgotten to put them away.

In the end you could say this orphanage wasn't only a place for left children but also a home. It just had the right amount of the influence of grown ups and the energy of the

younger.

“Hyukjae come in and take a seat. Welcome to our humble home”, Donghae said pointing to a chair next to him.

“Thank you, Jaemin invited me in after I hesitated. I am sorry I am not really good with new situations though.”

Seeing the surprised look on the others face, the blonde started to feel uncomfortable.

“Is there something wrong?”, he asked.

“No, no not at all. It is just a little bit surprising. Please have a seat already, you must be tired.”

And indeed the flight and the long drive had him reaching his limits.

He only realized it when he finally sat down and took a few seconds to take a deep breath.

At the same time Donghae took the sleeping boy from his arms to give him a little space.

“Don't you want to put your coat away young man? It is pretty warm inside of here and I bet it would be more comfortable as well”, the elder woman, who had told the kids to come in a while ago, said.

“Yes thank you Miss... I am sorry I didn't get your name earlier Ma'am”, Hyuk said and looked down to the floor. He was actually good in remembering names, but this time he didn't even recognize it.

“Haha no worries dear, I guess it would be useful to introduce ourselves. I am Elisabeth Smith, but you can call me Lissy like everyone else does. And next to me is my twin sister Charlotte, also known as Charly. It is nice to meet you.”

The women smiled at him warmly and he couldn't help but do the same.

“The pleasure is mine Ma'am.”

“Oh my look at you, such a well mannered boy”, Lissy said, pinching his cheeks.

“Lis would you please stop it, he isn't five years old anymore and you might be creeping him out with your love for skinship and fangirling.”

“Well Lotti at least one of us has to have some motherly emotions, don't you think so?”

“Oh excuse me but I have two children on my own and they never complained that I didn't love them enough or...”

“Ehm ladies I guess now isn't the time to fight”, Donghae said and pointed to Hyukjae, sending him and apologetic look.

“Haha it is fine don't worry I know how it is to have some arguments between siblings. It means that you love each other. But well how about I introduce myself to you guys?”, he asked, turning to the children, who only waited to get his attention.

They cheered loud and dragged him to the living room. He took a seat in one of the armchairs, with the others sitting on the floor, looking at him with curious eyes.

The adults went in as well and made themselves comfortable in the back to watch him talking to the kids.

But before he could say anything the guy with the long, black hair stepped in and introduced himself in a mocking way.

“Well before you all start your lovely talk about things we don't care about, let me introduce myself, since my cute cousin here always seems to forget me” with that he pointed at Donghae, who looked at the elder with an apologetic expression.

“Anyway I am Kim Heechul. My little Dongsaeng's favorite Hyung so if you ever try to hurt him be aware of my revenge.”

Gulping in the face of the scary man all Eunhyuk could do was nodding.

The other leaned back with a satisfied smile on his face and made a gesture for him to continue talking with the children, who were already waiting to get the strangers attention back.
 

The first two to introduce themselves were two tall and good looking boys named Blake and Johnny. They seemed to be the eldest among the kids and pretty intelligent.

And even tho they had the same hobbies, the blonde had a feeling that they were different in their way of seeing things.

The next was a feminine looking boy with long blonde hair, who always stood near a little black boy with blue eyes. They probably shared a deep friendship and it was great to see something like that in their young age. A dream team named Benjamin and Billy.

The two beautiful young ladies introduced themselves as Lauren and Brittany.

Seeing Tanners love for fashion he could have bet she was Heechuls favorite.

But it was only a suggestion. The last one he Hyukjae didn't know about was a quiet boy named Jayden, who was also the best friend of Jinwook.

The twins and their sister Minhee didn't need to be introduced anymore by now.

Seeing the energetic group of children in front of him the blonde felt happy. It had gotten rare to get the feeling of a big family, but right now he was remembering it.

While they were all asking him a bunch of questions he tried to answer the best he could, a new guy entered the room and looked a little bit out of breath. He guessed it was the said Sungmin Donghae had talked to on the phone a few hours ago.

He seemed to be a bit older but still too cute to be taken serious as a man from the first impression. But still, Eunhyuk never dared to judge people only by their looks.

It wouldn't be fair towards them.

The only thing he knew was that more than just one pair of eyes was watching him now.

Donghae really some protective guys in his life, but the blonde considered it as a good thing for now, even tho the glares he got from time to time send chills up and down his back.

Only looking at the brunet without permission of his Hyungs seemed to be considered a crime, if you read their body language the right way. And Hyuk knew how to do that, the past had told him for the sake of surviving.

They wouldn't let him off easily if he would ever dare to do any harm to their friend. Not that he would ever consider to hurt a good person like Donghae.

So he watched his actions and only send a glance to the other whenever he felt save from the piercing eyes that were following his every move, which was pretty hard to do.

As time went by he kinda got a liking to Sungmin, because he just leaned back after a while and let him be. But Heechul was quite a pain in the . Eunhyuk bet if the guy could cut throats only with his glares he would already be dead.

The blonde really had fun to talk even though it was a bit exhausting, but soon enough Donghae got up from his seat and told the kids that it was time to bed.

Many of them tried to protest while they were jawing and already half asleep.

With Sungmin and Heechul to help him, the brunet left with the youngsters after they had all hugged their new friend.

So it was only him and the two older ladies left in the cozy living room.

“They are really charming” he said to them to not feel awkward.

“Yes they are quite something, but we would have a hard time if not for Donghae to take care for them as well. We are not getting younger and our energy has its limits” Lissy said and sat next to the blonde.

“He really seems to be something special Ma'am. The way he treats the children and especially how he cared for the twins. I mean when he came running to me he was so concerned and so emotional it was as if he was their real father. I was shocked when I fund out he wasn't. They would build a great family together with Minhee.”

The two women smiled at him an nodded in agreement.

“You are right. From the moment he saw them he took care of them and gave them all the love a father could ever give his children. Unfortunately for all of them the circumstances how they met weren't the best, even though they might be the cause why the four of them are as close as love can bring people together.”

Being curious what they shared to have this strong bond Hyuk wanted to know more.

“May I asked what happened?”

“Well we don't know much either. It was the summer when Donghae had started to work here and help us to take care of the children as much as possible. He was a good boy who filled the life of the children with laughter and joy and he never complained about all the nights he had to stay over, because one of them couldn't sleep or was sick.

He stood by their sides no matter what and always wore a smile to give them strength.

Then one day he called us with a panicking voice and asked if we could afford to take in three other children and that he would explain everything later. After he had helped us so many times we agreed and soon enough Jinwook, Jaemin and Minhee came into our lives. Their faces and bodies were covered in bruises and cuts and they looked just miserable. But what shocked us most was that Donghae didn't look any different. His arms had a lot of cuts and his whole appearance was one of a broken boy.

When the kids had fallen asleep he told us that he had found them on the street on his way home. They had a car accident and their parents were already dead when he found them. Unfortunately it was a total damage and the three of them had been caught in the back. Oil was coming out of the tank and spanks were emitting all around the place. It was for their cries of help he turned around and used all of his strength to pull them out of the car and drag them away to call the police. The only thing he had heard was the sound of an explosion he had told us before he had passed out with the kids in his arms.

Poor boy. His parents had died in an car accident as well and he had been the only one to survive. We guess that's the reason why he felt near to them and took care of them after they got out of the hospital. And since then he wouldn't let any harm get to them.”

After hearing that heartbreaking but at the same time amazing story, Eunhyuk couldn't help but feel awe towards the young man.

It was once more proof enough of how brave a good soul was able to become in times it was needed to prevent any other harm.

“How did he manage to get through all this and still being so kind?”

“We don't know young man. He barely talks about himself and his past. I guess you will have to ask him himself, if he is going to tell you something. There are things he had to experience that are still hunting him from time to time.” Charly answered and got up to prepare the dining table for the next morning.

“You know Donghae was a blessing for all of us. He helped us to raise the babies to the great persons they are now and even took a part time job to help us with the finances for birthdays and especially Christmas.”

“Why Christmas?”

“Well as far as I know it is because his parents died a few days before Christmas. I guess he knows how it is to be alone during days that should be filled with love. And that's why he always tried to make Christmas something special for all of us.

He worked hard and the heavens know how many nights he had to stay up to earn money so he could buy the children the presents they desired.

But it is only a suggestion. We don't know why exactly he is always trying to make this time of the year perfect.” Lissy said and got up as well.

“Let me tell you one last thing Hyukjae. People like Hae got rare in this world so be a good friend to him from now on okay? It has been a long time since I have seen him as happy as he was today.” With that she send him one last smile and went away to help her sister.

Leaning back, the blonde watched the flames of the fire while his thoughts went far away. Never had he met someone like Donghae and he was really impressed by the boy.

He seemed to have an inner strength one could only dream of. He was as much of a mystery than he was an open book. His emotions were for everyone to see, but his deepest thoughts and wishes only remained in his heart he seemed to keep away from the world.

It was hard to tell what was beyond the mask the brunet was wearing, but it was something Hyuk desired to know because he wanted to get to know the other.

He wanted to know so much more than the twins had told him and he decided to keep at least the few information's to himself he just got.

He knew he would find out more when the time was right to.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” he heard the soft voice behind him and turned around. The blonde hadn't noticed that Donghae was back until he called out to him.

Smiling one of his Gummy smiles, he got up and put on his coat.

“Sure” he said and waited for the brunet to get ready.

When they went out of the house, he couldn't help but to admit that he liked the boy next to him whom he had just met.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone!!

I am finally back with another update of this story.

I survived my midterms and was able to write again.

I know it took me quite some time and I am really sorry for that. I hope you are all doing fine and that your duties are not keeping you too busy.

Please enjoy reading and leave a comment to tell me what you think if you want to^^

Take care of yourselves and hopefully see you soon!

Regards Slade

PS: Please check out my other story as well if you have the time for it. I worked on the plot for years by now and I finally decoded to actually write it.

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/882635/a-ghost-s-whisper-forgotten-secrets-angst-drama-eunhae-fantasy-kyumin-romance-superjunior

Thank you very much!^^