Read the A/N at the end, please.

Hakyeon was peacefully lounging on the couch when he sensed a presence near him. Feeling slightly invaded and watched, Hakyeon whipped his head around and raised his eyebrow in question when he saw Taekwoon looking at him, his stance relaxed but face calculative. "What?", Hakyeon snarled, he wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone today, especially Taekwoon. The two had been in a banter a few days back, arguing over basically nothing but neither stepped down; both blessed with high ego and short temper.

Taekwoon watched as Hakyeon's face contorted into one of annoyance and mentally chuckled at the sight. The latter was too prickly for his own good, and Taekwoon decided to be the bigger person in the relationship. He wasn't about to let a friendship of years go down the drain over a silly fight. It wasn't even that big of a deal, Taekwoon thought. He had come home on the day of the fight and was immediately interrogated by Hakyeon on to whether he had paid the bills and passed their monthly rent to the landlord. It had been a busy week for Taekwoon, and so he prioritised his assignments over anything else and the errand of settling the bills had pretty much slipped his mind. He tried explaining to Hakyeon but the latter got pissed at him for delaying it and after numerous attempts of explaining, the confrontation turned into a verbal fight. And it was not pretty.

It had been exactly 3 days since the two last talked, and even the other tenants noticed the tension between the two. Ken tried asking Hakyeon what was up but the latter told him to just mind his own business. Hyuk too tried asking Taekwoon what was going on but the older dismissed the question. The other two same aged tenants didn't even bother asking (they didn't really care).

The three days worth of tension brought them to this day, with Hakyeon lounging on the couch and Taekwoon analysing him at the side. Hakyeon whipped his head around again, his anger slightly rising as Taekwoon didn't answer his question.

"If you're just going to stand there all day and stare at me, you might as well take a picture, it lasts longer", Hakyeon quipped Taekwoon didn't miss the apparent edge in his tone. Taekwoon chuckled (outwardly this time), "Let's go out for lunch", he said casually. It wasn't a question, nor was it an invitation, it was a friendly command, and Hakyeon immediately knew Taekwoon wanted to mend things over. But Hakyeon was Hakyeon, and he wasn't one to let things slide so easily. "What makes you think I want to have lunch with you?", he asked, his gaze already turned to the television.

Taekwoon scoffed, "Fine, I'll just go have mandarin chicken all by myself then", he stated airily before making a move to walk away. He didn't manage to go so far though, as Hakyeon lunged himself onto his back, consequently messing with his bearings, "Okay okay I'll have lunch with you, but only because of mandarin chicken, not you or anything", Hakyeon said beside his ear before throwing himself off and walking away to his room, leaving Taekwoon snorting to himself.

。。。

"Are we taking your car?", Hakyeon asked while putting on his shoes, he was cladded in all black, his signature colour. Taekwoon who was waiting for him outside was casually dressed in a loose tank top and black skinny jeans, shook his head. "It's only a few blocks away", Taekwoon said and Hakyeon got up from his squatting position sighing, "It's hot out though", he whined childishly. Taekwoon glared at his friend and that was enough to shut him up.

The two walked under the scorching hot sun in silence, which was a rare case since Hakyeon's mouth was always geared to say something, no matter how pointless. Taekwoon cleared his throat, he was used to silence and serenity but not with this particular friend of his, so it was making him a tad bit uncomfortable.

"I paid the bills and met the landlord yesterday", he squeaked and Hakyeon surprisingly hummed in response. "I know, the landlord told me yesterday", Hakyeon replied while fanning himself. Taekwoon quirked up at the response, "Is there something going between you and the landlord? Why would she tell you?", he asked, his voice laced with nothing but mock. "Is there something-- what the hell?!", Hakyeon snarled, his previous fanning movements turning into abusive hits, all directed towards Taekwoon's toned arms. The latter tried dodging the attack but to no avail, as Hakyeon was not only quick, he was also persistent.

"Stop it!", Taekwoon half yelled and the hitting ceased. Hakyeon puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, "I was just starting to forgive you, you know?". Taekwoon snorted, "It was an honest question!". Hakyeon turned his head sideways and glared at his friend, "We've been friends for years and you seriously think I would have an affair with a married woman? A 50 year old at that!", he scoffed bitterly. Taekwoon raised up his hands in surrender, "Well, personal taste can change over the years, and I wouldn't judge if you suddenly favour old women", he playfully said and he received a hard slap on his back as a response.

。。。

"Two servings of mandarin chicken and one salted egg fried rice", Hakyeon ordered and the waiter repeated the order again before walking away. Hakyeon tapped his fingers on the table, and Taekwoon looked up from his phone at the clicking noise. "It's been so long since we last came here", Hakyeon said while looking around the restaurant, the interior was tweaked a lot, only the colour of the wall remained soft orange and Hakyeon assumed it was because of the mandarin chicken, it was their signature dish after all. Taekwoon hummed, his gaze also directed all over the restaurant, "Uni got to us, it was easier to slack in the first year", he said thoughtfully. The two used to come here a lot, when it was just the two of them in the apartment and when they were much more free. Ken moved in a bit after, followed by Hongbin and Ravi and the youngest, Hyuk. Taekwoon decided to cook more after that. It was more economically friendly and the cost of groceries didn't cost as much as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner combined outside. Their order came and the two inhaled their food, both enjoying the distinct taste of mandarin and their juicy chicken. The interior and whatnot changed, but their mandarin chicken stayed and tasted the same.

。。。

The 26 year olds headed to the park after lunch and were now eating ice cream and sitting on the bench together. Kids were scattered around them, some supervised and some playing by themselves, their parents checking in on them from afar. Taekwoon's face light up as he noticed a kid, who's probably around 4 or so, skipped around the playground happily with his stick of cotton candy. The little boy looked so happy to be on the playground, and the fact that he had candy with him definitely contributed to his happiness even more. Taekwoon's face quickly contorted into one of horror as he witnessed the little boy fell face flat onto the ground, all due to his excited prancing. Taekwoon quickly got up from his seat and nudged Hakyeon, who was beside him, mindlessly dazing into nothing. Hakyeon too got up and watched as Taekwoon ran over to a kid. He quickly followed his friend's footsteps.

"Are you okay?", Taekwoon calmly asked the little boy, but Hakyeon heard the frantic in his voice. The boy nodded at the question and was thankfully not crying, but his eyes were a bit watery, but Hakyeon noticed how the boy's gaze was directed towards his now-on-the-ground cotton candy stick and seemed more concerned at that than the fact that he just fell face flat. Hakyeon nudged Taekwoon and the latter looked at him questioningly. Telepathically understanding Hakyeon's gaze, Taekwoon nodded and the former left the scene. Taekwoon turned back to the boy and helped him stabilise himself. Taekwoon raked his eyes all over the boy, trying to check if there were any injuries and thankfully, there was none. "What's your name?", Taekwoon asked while directing the boy to the nearest bench. "Manse", the boy answered after sitting down next to Taekwoon. The latter nodded, "Do you feel hurt anywhere?", he asked. Manse shook his head, "Daddy said don't talk to strangers", he plainfully stated while looking at Taekwoon with his doe-like eyes, his gaze careful.

Taekwoon chuckled, "I'm not a bad guy".

"Daddy said that's what kidnappers say", he answered back smartly before puffing out his cheeks.

Taekwoon looked at the boy, impressed at his intelligence and act of caution. "What else did your daddy tell you?", he asked seriously and Manse turned around, looking alarmed. Before he could say anything though, Hakyeon came back huffing, a stick of cotton candy in hand. He silently passed the cotton candy to Manse but the latter just looked at it skeptically.

"Daddy also said don't take candy from strangers"

Taekwoon let out a hearty laugh and Hakyeon looked at the boy quizzically. "Huh? So you don't want this?", he asked snappily. He just ran all the way to the store to buy this ungrateful kid candy floss to replace the one that fell and had he known that the kid was going to reject his act of kindness like this, he wouldn't have bothered to be nice in the first place. Taekwoon took the candy from Hakyeon's hand and held onto it and the latter huffed before plopping down next to the kid.

Manse looked at Hakyeon and stuck his tongue out mockingly, and Hakyeon was Hakyeon, so he childishly stuck his own tongue out. Taekwoon who was watching the whole interaction intently, sighed to himself. His friend was 26 years old but he sure acted like he was 9.

"Dad!", Manse suddenly screamed out excitedly and the duo turned around to see a middle aged man running towards their direction. Taekwoon quickly got up in alarm as Manse hopped up from his seat and ran to his dad clumsily, consequently falling down (again). Hakyeon, who was now also standing, snorted at the sight and Taekwoon turned to him with narrowed eyes, and Hakyeon simply stuck his tongue out.

"Manse! Where'd you go?", his dad scolded the younger boy and the latter laughed sheepishly before pointing his finger to the two friends, "These hyungs wanted to kidnap me, dad!" and the said boys paled at the accusation.

"Why you little brat", Hakyeon snarled and marched ahead before getting pulled back by Taekwoon. The latter looked at Manse's dad- who was now looking at him scrutinisingly, and held up his hand in surrender. "We're not kidnappers, your son just fell down so we helped him since he was alone", Taekwoon explained and the dad sighed out in relief before smacking his son's head softly.

"Don't make accusations like that", he nagged and Manse just grinned at him in response. "Yeah, you little rascal. Listen to your dad on this one", Hakyeon quipped and Taekwoon shook his head before glancing up to look at Manse's dad, and the latter seemed to understand his pleading gaze and just smiled in response.

"Well, thank you for tending to him. Sorry for the inconvenience this little rascal caused", he said while looking at Hakyeon with a knowing look and the latter turned flustered at the comment. "No problem, he was very smart to be cautious of us", Taekwoon said back and Manse shook his dad's arm before grinning, "Hyung said I'm smart!" and the two adults laughed at his exclamation. "I'll be going now. Thank you, again", Manse dad said before walking away and Taekwoon nodded before waving to Manse and the latter waved back excitedly.

Hakyeon mentally scoffed at the 'heartwarming' sight before noticing the candy stick in Taekwoon's hand. He snatched it away from him, leaving the latter startled and ran to the direction where Manse and his dad had gone. "Sir!", Hakyeon screamed out and Manse's dad stopped his track and looked back to see Hakyeon running towards his direction. He raised an eyebrow in question, "Yes?". Hakyeon breathed heavily before silently passing the candy stick to Manse, who this time didn't reject the candy, but instead accepted it wholeheartedly. "Oh, thank you", Manse's dad expressed and Hakyeon waved him away.

"He didn't want it at first, saying his dad told him not to accept candies from strangers", Hakyeon explained. "I bought him a new one because his fell down when he fell down", Hakyeon snorted. Manse dad's nodded, "I'm glad he reacted that way. But thank you for buying him a new one, how much was it?", he asked, his hand already shoved into his pocket to retrieve his wallet. "Oh no! No it's fine!", Hakyeon flailed his arm, "it's okay, really", he stressed. Manse dad's nodded and nudged Manse, "Say thanks. This kind hyung bought you this".

Manse looked up from his candy before flashing Hakyeon a smile, "Thanks, kidnapper hyung". Hakyeon gaped at the little boy before narrowing his eyes. "Yah, you rascal", he said before laughing and ruffling Manse's hair. He mildly smiled as he watched the two walked away and walked back to Taekwoon when the two disappeared from his sight.

"I swear to god. I think having kids are a bad idea", Hakyeon expressed on the way home and Taekwoon just shook his head, amused.

"Spawns of satan, I tell you!"

To jjongkeylover, YangIceTea and ardhii93, this Neo chapter is for you all! And to PowerVocal who specifically asked for Neo with kid(s), the scene at the park was aimed for you. This particular chapter might not meet your expectation (if there was even any) but I do hope you guys enjoyed it!

This chapter somehow turned a little mellow at the start and it was purely unintentional. But fret not, there will be an another Neo focused chapter (because lbr, one isn't enough!) and that one will hopefully be more light and filled with the usual snark.

*Requests are still open, and you can request more than once. I've gotten Neo, Hyuk and Keo so far and if anyone else wants something else, comment away! Specific situations are honestly more encouraged (eg: Leo talking to his crush, Idol X meets Hyuk etc).

**Also, if you didn't notice, I decided to forgo roman numerals and title each chapter accordingly. Yay, or nay? Comments are welcomed, always!