Jongin was completely in shock. He stared into the birthday cake with a '24' candle burning on top of it.

Was that cake...

For him?

Kyungsoo had gone to the kitchen to take one glass of water and gulped it down. Truth was, the CEO feeling slightly embarrased with what he had just done.

CEO Kyungsoo? That Do Kyungsoo? Celebrating someone's birthday?

Kyungsoo almost choked on his own saliva. It just so not him.

"H-how..." Jongin blinked. "How do you know... That..."

"Your id card." Kyungsoo replied without turning his back on Jongin. "It's all clearly written there."

Jongin frowned. "Id...?"

There was a few seconds pause before Jongin let out a shriek.

"Oh my God! My id!"

"You are so slow!" Kyungsoo roarred in irritation. "I guess you wouldn't even realized that it's missing until I tell you."

Jongin blinked before returned to his cake.

Is this a dream?

Kyungsoo got him a cake?

Kyungsoo felt awkward when he got no answer from Jongin. He cleared his throat.

"I-, I'm doing this... For no special reason. It just... It just I know that... Your birthday is coming... And it's today, so I... Well..." Kyungsoo stuttered and he cursed himself for that.

, what if Jongin didn't get what he was trying to say? He's not trying to impress Jongin, for sure!

"I didn't do this on purpose, you know? There's extra cakes on the birthday party and I didn't know what to do, so I bring it home." Kyungsoo started to blabber nonsense. "It's n-not like I personally prepare it for you, okay? You are not that special. Okay?"

Still no reaction from Jongin and it drove Kyungsoo even crazier.

"Hey." Kyungsoo called out. "Kim Jongin!"

That's when Jongin snapped his head and stared into Kyungsoo's eyes.

Into. Kyungsoo's. Eyes.

The tanned boy cried.

Kyungsoo's breath hitched when he saw a tear rolled down Jongin's cheeks. His heartbeat stopped and he froze.

Did he... Say something wrong... Again?

Jongin bit his trembling lower lip. More tears rolled down from his eyes.

"W-what happened to you?" Kyungsoo asked immediately. He panicked as he crouched down and took a closer look at Jongin. "W-why are you crying? D-did I do something wrong?"

Jongin sobbed and shook his head.

"T-then?" Kyungsoo went puzzled. Jongin's tears pierced right through his beating heart and turned it off.

"Than-thank you..." Jongin whispered with a shaky breath.

Kyungsoo widened his eyes. "Huh?"

"Thank you..." Jongin shook his head. "...thank you...so much..."

Kyungsoo still gaped his mouth open. He really didn't know what to say.

"This... Is my... F-first time..." Jongin sobbed as he dried the tears on his face with his sleeve. "...to get... My birthday-, c-celebrated..."

Kyungsoo still stared into Jongin's crying face in silence.

"I'm-, I'm so... T-thankful..." Jongin cried out. Then he couldn't say anything. He just cried hard there, burrying his face between his palms.

Kyungsoo blinked and looked around groggily. Jongin's reaction was beyond his expectation. He didn't know the other would cry like that.

When he realized that Jongin didn't stop crying, the CEO finally sat down beside Jongin and awkwardly put his hand on Jongin's back. He drew a comforting circle around Jongin's back.

After a few minutes, Jongin's cry slowly slowed down. He just let out a few sobs without raising his face away from his hands.

Kyungsoo sighed as he saw the other finally calmed down. "This is your birthday, yet you are starting it with tears."

Jongin didn't answer. He just kept his face between his hands.

The two fell into one more silence before Jongin slowly lifted his head.

"The last time someone celebrated my birthday... Is when I was 16..."

Kyungsoo turned his head toward Jongin when the boy suddenly spoke.

"It was... Just... My dad. He didn't buy anything fancy, j-just a small tart for celebration. B-but it... It meant the world f-for me. I... I was s-so happy." Jongin's voice trembled. "T-then after that... My dad..."

There was a slight pause before Jongin continued his words.

"...passed away."

Kyungsoo's lips parted open. So Jongin's dad was indeed died.

"S-since then.... N-no one ever celebrated any birthday party for me." Jongin shook his head. "...no one."

Jongin sobbed.

"I-, I always feel jealous... Whenever I see families out there celebrating birthdays. W-with their mom and dad... I... I wish it could be me."

Kyungsoo's eyes averted on the floor.

"That's why... I was angry... When you rejected to go to the party..." Jongin shook his head. "...you are lucky, you know? You got to celebrate your birthday... With your family. You... You wouldn't understand my... My feeling..."

Kyungsoo gulped down. His throat suddenly went dry. Jongin's painful voice shot him right on his heart, squeezing it tight.

Kyungsoo understood Jongin's feeling.

He understood it clearly.

"I wish that I could celebrate my birthday with my dad..." Jongin sobbed. "... I wish he was still alive..."

Kyungso closed his eyes, trying to block the pain on his heart.

"...what about your mom?"

Jongin stopped crying when he heard Kyungsoo's question.

"It must be hard... For you and her..." Kyungsoo said while kept his eyes on the floor.

"I don't have a mom." Jongin's cold voice forced Kyungsoo's attention back to him.

"What?"

"Someone who leaves her family for billion thousands won... Will never be called a 'mom'." Jongin stressed those words with hatred flamed on his eyes.

Kyungsoo was stunned with Jongin's words. He stared into the trembling boy with curiosity. "W-what do you mean?"

"She promised dad an eternal love..." Jongin's hands fisted into a tight ball. "...yet she left. Because of those money! She left my dad-, because of that rich man!"

Tears streamed down Jongin's face as he shook wildly on his seat.

"-, I... I will never forgive her..." Jongin whispered. "...and all those rich people out there who grabs our happiness away..."

Kyungsoo realized Jongin had grew furious.

"With their filthy money, they bought my mom away! That woman was seduced with golds and silvers! She-," Jongin broke down into one more cry. "-, she never knew... How hard I cried every night since she left... S-she didn't know she broke my dad into pieces... Because of her, dad fell sick and gone!"

Jongin clutched into his hurting chest. His emotion had burnt his heart away and his throat hurting badly.

"SHE MADE ME SUFFER BECAUSE OF THAT MONEY! JUST WHAT KIND OF ING MOM DO THAT TO THEIR FAMIL-,"

Kyungsoo immediately pulled Jongin into a tight hug. He couldn't stand hearing and seeing Jongin in that state.

"That's okay... That's okay..." Kyungsoo whispered as he patted Jongin's head lovingly. "...don't cry... Stop crying..."

Jongin widened his eyes when he felt Kyungsoo's strong pair of arms wrapped around his body. Kyungsoo's warmth spread throughout all his body.

He felt save.

"Don't cry anymore, okay? It's your birthday, yet you cry like this..." Kyungsoo still spoke with his unusual gentle voice.

Jongin's eyelids fluttered close as he relaxed his body inside of Kyungsoo's arms.

"I just..." Jongin whispered in a broken voice. "...want to be loved... I want to grow in a loving family... But it just too much..."

Kyungsoo tightened his hug around Jongin.

"It's just too much to be fulfilled..."

Kyungsoo stared into Jongin's smaller frame underneath him. He let out an inaudible sigh.

Poor boy.

Kyungsoo kept on hugging Jongin for a few more minutes until the other calmed down.

Jongin on the other hand found Kyungsoo's arms very comforting. So warm, strong, and protective. Inside of it, Jongin felt save.

Jongin also laid his head on Kyungsoo's broad chest and he closed his eyes.

It felt so comfortable.

Just like a home.

...

...

Wait...

Home?

Jongin widened his eyes when he realized he hadn't gone back home.

!

"W-what time is it?" Jongin pulled his body groggily away from Kyungsoo.

"12.25." Kyungsoo replied.

"Heck!" Jongin gasped. "I should've gone home!"

Kyungsoo widened his eyes and grabbed Jongin's wrist before the other rose himself from the sofa. "You crazy? Go home at this hour?"

"B-but!" Jongin stuttered.

"No. You are staying here tonight." Kyungsoo shook his head.

"B-but..." Jongin was still trying to find an excuse to leave.

"No buts. You are staying here either you like it or not." Kyungsoo said.

"Ah..." Jongin bit his lower lip. "Kyungsoo... I..."

Kyungsoo ignored Jongin and rose himself from the sofa.

Jongin watched as the older made his way toward his closet.

Kyungsoo pulled out a pair of white pajamas and turned toward Jongin. He then threw the pajamas toward Jongin's direction and let the other caught it.

"Now take a bath and then take a rest. Don't worry, I will not do anything to you."

Jongin's mouth gaped open. "B-but..."

"I said I wouldn't do anything to you." Kyungsoo tsked. "What? You can't believe me?"

Of course I won't!

Jongin mentally screamed.

"Geez, after everything that I've done to you tonight, you still won't believe me? I mean no harm, you know."

Jongin still stared into Kyungsoo's eyes, totally hesitating.

"If I let you go home tonight, who knew what would happen on the journey back?" Kyungsoo crossed his arms. "It's so late, and drunken bad- are out there fillin their night out. You will be a tasty feast for them if you are walking alone back this late."

Jongin pressed his lips shut.

Kyungsoo's right. And moreover, Jongin stayed in the slum area where drunken and bad people could be easily found. There would be no security around since no one pays them to.

It left Jongin