hello, once again, after another long break, it's me >_< i admit that lately motivation has been lacking. there are still no news as to what happened with infinite's contracts, meanwhile woollim leaves woohyun to get eaten alive by bad rumors instead of stepping in ;; but hearing dongwoo talk about them preparing something raised my mood again! i still hope we can get ot7 again T_T and that all of the boys can be happy once more..

i hope you guys will be happy to have an update during these hard/dark times. let's believe in Infinite and continue waiting >.< (i know you guys are pros at it)

i also recently got into PD101/Wanna One and i'm so in love with Seongwoo (Ongniel ngggh!!!). did anyone else watch? you should give them a chance!

sorry for the rant, now have fun :')

Hours passed with Sunggyu playing around with the toddler or working on his project when he was finally asleep. By the time Haneul woke up hungry, he had prepared lunch for him. It was just milk again since he wasn’t quite ready for another attempt at different food. The boy drank it eagerly this time, not making a fuss at all. Sunggyu put him in his cradle afterwards for another nap. Woohyun still wasn’t back by the time he managed to make Haneul sleep once more, so Sunggyu went back to packing boxes by himself. He sorted Seungah’s stuff into things he could sell (of course the money would go into Haneul’s bank account), things to give away to people in need (normally, Sunggyu wouldn’t care about something like that but it seemed like something Seungah would do) and lastly, things he’d keep in memory of his sister. Getting over her didn’t mean he had to delete her existence from his life. Sunggyu wanted to have pictures or items to remember her by; things to show Haneul when he grew up. Maybe Woohyun also wanted to keep something…

“Where is that idiot anyways?” Sunggyu muttered, suddenly feeling annoyed by the other man’s absence.

The bank was quite a walk from Seungah’s apartment but it surely didn’t take that long? Maybe the bank still has problems and refuses to give him access to his money? Sunggyu ruffled his hair. Why am I worrying over him? I should be glad he’s gone. But Sunggyu wasn’t. At the start, he had been worried about Woohyun lying and his anger over Seungah’s loss and her “boyfriend” leaving her with the kid hadn’t helped the situation. Sunggyu had tried hating the man, but there seemed to be nothing bad about him. He could hate the Woohyun who punched him but both of them had been hurt and angry at that time, so it would be unfair to blame it all on the younger man.

“He couldn’t have possibly gotten lost, right?” Sunggyu grabbed his phone and moved to call the other man, but then he realized they had never exchanged numbers.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and stared at the window. What if Woohyun was late because he wasn’t coming at all? He finally had access to his money, so maybe the younger man had taken the chance to run away. Maybe Sunggyu and Haneul had just been a convenient roof over his head. He didn’t want to believe this was the reason, but neither could Sunggyu totally cross out the possibility. Woohyun had been desperate before but now he was less dependent on the older man. There was also a chance that Woohyun hadn’t just run away but was planning to use his money to get Haneul back through other ways.

The more time he had to think, the more possibilities Sunggyu’s mind seem to find. He had started to believe in Woohyun but now the doubts were growing again in his mind. Sunggyu flinched when a cry pierced the silence of the apartment. He waited to see if Haneul might calm down again by himself but it was clear that wasn’t the case. He sneaked into the nursery and noticed the toddler had managed to throw all of his pacifiers out of his crib. Sunggyu gave him a long look.

“You know, you wouldn’t have to be upset about not having a pacifier to on if you’d just stop throwing your entire supply out of the crib. I left four with you! Four!” The baby just gave him angry, demanding cries in reply. Sunggyu sighed and picked the dirty ones up.

He got two clean ones and put one in Haneul’s mouth. The cries stopped and the toddler looked at him with watery but content eyes. Sunggyu left the other one at the side of the crib and his nephew’s head slowly. “There, there. Now go back to sleep.”

Sunggyu was just straightening up again when the baby spit out his pacifier and cried out once more. His heart ached at the sight of the wailing toddler. It was obvious this was more than just being a stubborn baby to annoy the people in charge. Sunggyu had to learn the hard way that babies were clever creatures who could fake crying. The tough thing was deciding when it was real and when it was just a test. This wasn’t a test - that much was sure.

He lifted up the little body with his right hand and stabilized the head with the other one. Sunggyu let Haneul rest against his upper body and rubbed the baby’s back gently. “Did you have a nightmare? You’re usually a good sleeper during the day.”

For a while, he tried the cuddling approach but then Sunggyu had to try other stuff. He changed the diaper but it didn’t help and then he decided to abort the sleeping mission and let Haneul play instead, but the toddler went from crying to screaming the second Sunggyu tried to put him down in his playpen. “Come on. You need to stop crying! You’re going to dry out.”

Not like he’s going to listen to you. Sunggyu was about to despair when he heard the lock of the front door clicking. He hurried over to check and spotted Woohyun entering the apartment. The younger man gave them a surprised look and froze in the doorframe. Haneul moved in Sunggyu’s arms and it was obvious to him what it was the toddler wanted. He grudgingly admitted defeat and pushed his nephew into Woohyun’s arms. The other man quickly dropped everything he had been carrying. Haneul nuzzled against the brown-haired man with contentment. Woohyun did the same Sunggyu had done but this time it worked. It somehow annoyed the older man but he just puffed his cheeks and closed the door.

Woohyun gave him a short smile before carrying Haneul in the direction of the nursery. Sunggyu looked at the stuff the other man had dropped in a hurry. There was a suitcase, a shoulder bag and some other plastic bags from different places. Had Woohyun gone shopping while Sunggyu was here worrying over everything? He pursed his lips. Sunggyu looked at the suitcase again and remembered Woohyun saying something about having kept his belongings in a locker at the station. If he had his belongings now, that meant the younger man had access to his money. He put the things aside and decided to check on Haneul’s status instead.

The toddler was back in his crib and Woohyun was crouching next to it, one hand disappearing into the crib. Sunggyu quietly stepped closer and saw that Haneul was holding on to Woohyun’s thumb with his clenched fingers. The baby’s eyes kept closing and then opening again for a split second, as if to check Woohyun was still there. Sunggyu pursed his lips. “He must’ve been afraid you wouldn’t return.”

Woohyun gave him a short glance before looking back at his son. “I’m sorry I took so long, Haneul. I won’t ever leave you, okay?”

Haneul’s heavy eyelids fell again and this time the toddler seemed to have fallen asleep. Woohyun knew better than to tear his finger away immediately though. Everyone had a light sleep when they first drifted off, babies included. A sudden movement or sound now and Haneul would be awake again. Sunggyu decided it was better to leave the room instead of standing there in silence. He went back to the living room and sat down on the couch, leaning back as he waited for Woohyun to come out. In the meantime, he’d try to sort out his thoughts. He felt like shouting at Woohyun for being late but the thought of another argument with him gave Sunggyu a headache. Not to mention that could wake Haneul up again. Woohyun had returned, that was most important, but how reliable was he really? Could Sunggyu really trust him to look after Haneul while he was working? It was obvious Woohyun loved the boy, his son, but the younger seemed unreliable at times. Going outside for grocery shopping without money, staying away for longer than necessary without informing them and what was it with Woohyun’s terrible luck? Just remembering the story of what happened in the US made Sunggyu shudder.

“Hey.”

Sunggyu jumped and immediately felt embarrassed that Woohyun had caught him by surprise like that. He glanced over his shoulder. “Took you long enough.”

“Well, Haneul- oh, that’s not what you meant, is it?” The brown-haired man grimaced shortly. “Settling things at the bank took quite some time and then I wanted to grab my things from the locker. I need fresh clothes to wear and all my other valuable stuff was in the suitcase as well. I really didn’t plan on staying away for so long.”

Woohyun sat down next to him on the couch and sighed in exhaustion. Sunggyu unconsciously crossed his arms. “And the other bags?”

“Obviously, I couldn’t put everything in one suitcase when I left the US. Most of my stuff is still on the way, so I went and bought some basic supplies I’ll need. I don’t want to keep stealing your toothpaste for example.” The younger man chuckled at the joke but Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at him. What else had Woohyun used that wasn’t his? “Listen, do you remember all that talk about trust we had? I know we’re pretty much strangers still but you treat me like a criminal on risk of flight. I’m not going to run or double-cross you, so please at least trust me on that, okay?”

Woohyun gave him that look; the one that made Sunggyu feel like he was looking at a puppy and unable to be mad. He didn’t even like puppies! The older man pursed his lips shortly. Now he felt bad for doubting Woohyun still. The brown-haired man had a point. Sunggyu didn’t have to trust him blindly, but it seemed only fair to give Woohyun a little more trust than before. “Fine. I’m sorry for thinking you ran away with your money.”

The other man huffed. “Thanks for confirming. So you really thought that.”

He seemed a little disappointed. Sunggyu internally slapped himself for his words. “I- It’s not like that was my first thought, you know. I didn’t doubt you during the first hours…”

That made Woohyun smile again. “That’s a start! Next time, don’t doubt me at all, hyung!”

“Next time-- you-“ Sunggyu bit down on his lip. “Give me your phone number. You’ve got a working phone now, haven’t you? At least I’ll be able to contact you next time you’re out.”

They exchanged numbers quickly and Sunggyu spent a few minutes pondering over what he should name Woohyun’s contact. In the last second, he decided on ‘annoying puppy’. Woohyun stood up. “I’m going to prepare our lunch or did you eat already?”

Sunggyu shook his head and then watched as the other man disappeared into the kitchen. He leaned back and turned the TV on. He could get us