Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As Seungmin continued to walk forward, a sting of cold air hit his cheeks and his breath came out in gasps. Even though it was cold, sweat poured down his forehead, merging with the mud and the dust that covered his soft face and hands. He was in pain. His little legs hurt because of the constant walking and fight against starvation and thirst.

As he rounded a corner, a sight caught his eye: a large white house in the distance. Soft glows from inside the house shone from the big windows. The front yard was marked by bushes whose branches were gracefully rocked by the slightest wind and from which a lonely bird feeder hung from a nearby tree branch. The gate of a brown fence groaned as it slowly swung back and forth with the slight breeze that was gently drawing him forward.

Seungmin picked up speed with a little excitement while he moved towards the back yard, hoping to find food and maybe he could sleep under a tarp, or under some bushes. The backyard came into view, and his eyes locked onto a familiar sight: a big blue dumpster just by the side of the house. It was an ever-glowing ray of hope and a saving hand during his dire moments.

Covering the pain in his body, fueled by the feverishness in his heart, he kept moving forward. He couldn't give up now, this might mean food, a shelter from the biting cold, and a break from the fear of not knowing where would he end up next. Checking to make sure no one saw him, he made a dash for the dumpster.

One thing Seungmin had learned about people with big houses: they usually had lots of money. And people who had lots of money didn't really care about leftover food; they paid no mind to throwing it in the garbage.

Seungmin couldn't be upset at them for wasting food, it meant food for him.

Seungmin was small even for his age, and he tried to climb up to the tall dumpster, but found that he couldn’t get to the top.

He huffed annoyed, and looked around, finding big stepping stones the led from the gate back around the side of the house to the back patio. He struggled to pick them up, but after some fighting he stacked four large stones atop each other and hoisted himself up and flipped open the lid to the can.

What the kid didn't account for was the wind picking up and blowing the lid back, making it slam against the back of the bin, a loud crash being heard through the quiet night.

Chan, Minho, and Changbin, chose to watch their other four roommates compete in Mario kart and laughing at Hyunjin's whining as he was in 11th.

The laughing came to a halt when there came a loud bang coming from outside of their kitchen window. The game was paused, and the five men all looked to their oldest in question.

"Um, I'm going to guess it's not anything. It's pretty windy, it could've been the bin's lid slamming open." Chan said, truly not worried about it at all.

Satisfied with that answer the others resumed their game.

Minho, was not as convinced and off to the kitchen he went. There he grabbed a glass of water and hung out for a second peeking out the window. Though he couldn't see anything in the dark.

He began to make his way back when there was another crash from outside once again. He set his cup down quickly, and headed for the back door.

Seungmin waited for a minute to see if anyone would come out to check what had made the crash from the bin lid, but after no one did he began to lean down trying to reach the bag at the bottom of the can.

Seungmin stretched his small hands attempting to pull at a bag. Yet the bag proved to be much heavier than the small boy, and Seungmin went falling straight into the trash can.

For a moment, Seungmin lay stunned amidst the discarded trash, his heart racing as he tried to process what had just happened. The stench of rotting food filled his nostrils, and he gagged, fighting back the urge to retch.

As he struggled to regain his bearings, Seungmin's mind raced with fear and his eyes filled with tears. What if he couldn't get out? What if he was stuck in this filthy dumpster forever? Panic bubbled up inside him, threatening to overwhelm him completely.

"What the fuck?" Seungmin snapped his head up at the voice to see a man standing over him. Seungmin screamed in fear.

"Shh, hey no I'm not gonna hurt you." The man's voice was soft and sounded kind, and despite every instinct telling him to run he wanted to trust the man's soft words.

Seungmin tried to sink impossibly smaller, but the man just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Chan would be so much better at this." In one instant Seungmin felt hands underneath his armpits and he was pulled out of his predicament.

"Seungmin flailed trying to get away from the man but then man just grunted and told him it would all be alright.

And excuse him, it was admittedly already NOT alright.

Seungmin spent the walk into the house trying to hit the man and kick him but the older acted as is he wasn't even aware of his efforts.

Minho slipped on his shoes, and headed out the door to the side of the house where the noises were coming from.

Rustling in the garbage bin made Minho walk in that direction. He figured it was a raccoon, but when he peered down the trash can and saw a little kid he felt his stomach lurch and his heart stop.

"What the fuck?" The little boy snapped his head up to look at him, and his eyes were filled with terror.

Minho took in the sight of the kid, his hair was matted with mud and tangled and he was pretty sure he saw some tiny twigs in there. His face was caked with dirt and grime, his arms not fairing in better. His clothes were ripped and he reeked of garbage.

Minho made the executive decision to bring him in.

The house was warm, and something smelled really good, making Seungmin's stomach growl much too loudly.

"You hungry kid? Is that why you were in our dumpster?" The man finished taking off his shoes and carried Seungmin into a big room where six other scary men sat.

Fear gripped his heart and feel felt as if he couldn't breathe. So many men, like the one Mister Sim used to bring over. And all of Mister Sim's friends smelled like alcohol, and laughed when they made Seungmin try some and it burned his throat and made him cough.

But if he was quiet then maybe they wouldn't do anything to him.

"Minho? What the fuck?" One man with squishy cheeks asked.

Minho who was holding the now scarily still child tsked. "Not in front of the kid Hannie."

A man with black curly hair stood up and crossed over to the two and Seungmin couldn't help but flinch away.

"Hey bud, where'd you come from?" Seungmin didn't answer just continued staring at the man in terror.

"He won't talk. I asked him questions earlier and he didn't respond." Minho responded.

The man holding Seungmin walked over to the couch and gently put him down on it. In an instant Seungmin crawled as fast as he could to the corner of the couch grabbing one of the decorative pillows and hiding his body behind it, the adults could only see his eyes poking over the top.

"He looks like a little lost puppy." A pretty man with long blonde hair said. Then a man sitting next to him spoke. He had big muscles and looked scary.

"Look let's just call the police and they'll come get the kid." And for another moment panic surged through the kid.

"NO!" Every looked shocked at the young boy who just screamed. "No, no, no, no, no…" Seungmin couldn't stop the tears that ran down his face now. The cops would take him back to his foster dad. And he would do things and say things that hurt Seungmin, he couldn't do that. He couldn't go back.

The man with a kind smile and curly hair stepped closer to Seungmin and in a panic he ran.

He threw himself off the couch and made a beeline for the door ducking under the man's arms.

He was so close, but then there were arms scooping him back up and into a chest.

Ugly sobs tore their way out of his chest.

There was a hand petting his hair and he really wished he could enjoy it but he knew he was going to go back home and he would get hurt again, and he would be so hungry and cold again.

"Hey angel, we won't call the cops tonight, okay?" When the words settled into Seungmin's brain he registered that it was the man with the kind smile who was rubbing his hair so gently.

"Pwomise?" The boy's voice was oh so meek and vulnerable, and Chan's heart ached at it.

"Yeah bud, I promise. Not tonight okay?" Seungmin nodded and then felt so drained, the warmth of the house made him want to sleep.

There was some soft whispers and then some shuffling and when Seungmin's eyes fluttered back open, standing in front of him was a the man with blonde hair, but it wasn't long anymore? When had he cut it?

"Hey honey, I'm Felix. Are you hungry? My Hyung Minho here makes lots of yummy food would you like some?"

And Seungmin was so enraptured by how nice this guy was, like an angel and Seungmin wanted food. He shyly stuck his arms out to Felix in an attempt to get him to hold him.

The angel man chuckled with his deep voice and grabbed Seungmin with ease and put him on his hip. "Here bub lets wash your hands first okay?" Seungmin washed his hands and watched as Felix heated up some chicken and rice.

The food was set in front of him, but he couldn't eat. Last time he had chicken it was very bad, it made his stomach hurt and he threw up and got very sick.

Seungmin didn't want to seem rude, but with a quiet voice he asked, "safe?" The man gave him a confused look.

Yeah, it's safe I promise." The older had such a nice smile and kind voice that Seungmin really wanted to trust but he was too scared.

"Not poison?" Felix looked slightly taken aback by the question, but reached over and plucked a piece of chicken off of the kids plate and popped it into his mouth eating happily.

"It's very yummy. Want to try?"

If Felix could eat it, so could he, right? The man wouldn't eat poisoned food. He picked up his chopsticks, struggling to hold them and when Felix got up and came back with a fork, Seungmin thanked him quietly.

The sight of the young boy, so fragile and vulnerable, stirred something deep within Felix, a primal instinct to shield and protect this poor kid from everyone and everything.

This was the best thing Seungmin had ever eaten and he ate so fast that Felix had to tell him to slow down and drink some water

"Can you tell me your name sweetie?" Seungmin set his cup down and seemed deep in thought before he spoke.

"Seungmin." And he was rewarded with another one of the blonde man's grins.

"Well now It's very nice to meet you Seungmin. When you're done eating would you like to take a bath?"

Seungmin nodded so quickly he thought he might fall off his chair. The other just laughed.

The little boy felt like he could pop from how much he ate. He kept eating until he felt like he was going to puke, and only when he had pushed the plate away from himself had the other taken it away.

And as Felix gently guided him to the bathroom to take a bath, Seungmin couldn't help but feel a sense of panic wash over him again. Felix wouldn't do what his foster dad did to him, right?

"Okay sweetheart, this is what I'm going to do okay? I'm going to help you bathe, cause I really don't want you to get hurt, but you're going to keep your underclothes on so that you're not uncomfortable." Felix was apprehensive but he really couldn't leave a kid this young in a bath by himself.

And to further try and entice the kid he told him there would be lots of bubbles.

"No looking at me?" Felix felt his stomach twist in nausea at the implications of that question, but he gave a soft smile all the same.

"Nope not at all, I'll only be looking at your cute little puppy eyes." A small giggle slipped past the young boys lips and Felix almost cooed.

Seungmin eventually nodded.

As the warm water began to fill the bathtub, filling the room with steam and a comforting ambiance, Seungmin watched with cautious curiosity.

His heart still raced with fear, but there was a small glimmer of trust beginning to blossom within him. Felix had been nothing but kind and gentle so far, and Seungmin found himself wanting to cling to the older more.

Felix glanced over at Seungmin, offering him a reassuring smile. "All set, kiddo," he said softly, gesturing towards the bathtub. "Just take it slow, okay? And remember, I'm right here if you need anything."

Seungmin nodded, his small fingers gripping the edge of his shirt tightly as he approached the bathtub. The warm water looked inviting, but the thought of undressing in front of someone else filled him with a sense of unease. He glanced up at Felix, his eyes wide with uncertainty.

"It's okay, Seungmin," Felix said gently, sensing the boy's hesitation. "You can keep your clothes on if it makes you feel more comfortable. I just want you to feel safe and comfortable.

With a nod of understanding, Seungmin began to carefully peel off his filthy clothes, his movements slow and deliberate. He kept his eyes trained on the floor, refusing to look up and meet Felix's gaze, making the boy unaware of the fact that Felix had his eyes shut tightly to give him privacy.

The memories of Mister Sim flooded his mind, but he shook his head slightly to get rid of them. Mr. Felix was really nice, and gave him food and a bath, and didn't even look at him, it would be alright.

Felix sat silently, his heart aching at the sight of Seungmin's hesitance. He wished he could erase the pain and fear that lurked within the boy's eyes, to shield him from the horrors of whatever had happened to him in the past. Poison? Looking at him when he was nak-, Felix couldn’t finish the thought without throwing up.

Once Seungmin was settled in the bathtub, Felix turned on the faucet, adjusting the temperature until it was just right. He reached for a bottle of bubble bath, pouring a generous amount into the water and creating a mountain of frothy bubbles.

The scent of lavender filled the air, soothing and calming to the senses.

"There you go, buddy," Felix said with a smile, watching as Seungmin's eyes lit up at the sight of the bubbles. "Now you can have a nice, relaxing bath."

Seungmin nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he reached out to scoop up a handful of bubbles. He let out a giggle as they popped against his skin, the sound light and infectious.

For a moment, the weight of the world seemed to lift from his shoulders, replaced by a sense of joy and wonder that came from being a kid.

Felix reached for the shampoo and began gently rubbing it into the child's hair. Seungmin's bubble popping slowed down at this and he seemed to just be enjoying the gentle ministrations of his hair being washed.

It took a while to get the mud and dirt off his hair, face and the rest of him, but after Felix could see the sweet boy clear as day.

After cleaning him gently and secretly assessing all the scars, old and new on his arms and back and stomach Felix felt the bile rise in his throat.

And as the water grew cold and Seungmin's eyelids drooped with exhaustion, Felix helped him out of the bath and into a warm fluffy towel.

"Hang tight right here and I'll go get you some clothes." Seungmin merely sat on the toilet seat and yawned.

Once Felix left the bathroom and entered his shared room with Han he grabbed a shorter pair of sweat shorts that one of them owned, and a t-shirt that would definitely be a dress on the kid.

Once back in the bathroom he handed the clothes to Seungmin and left him to get changed.

Not too long after the kid emerged from the bathroom and just as he had guessed the shirt reached down to his mid shins and he was holding the shorts up with his hand.

Felix smiled bending down. "Do you want me to make the shorts a little tighter so that they won't fall off?"

Seungmin rubbed his free fist over his eye yawning once again, and then nodded.

Felix tightened the strings and then gently picked the kid up, Seungmin's little arms circling the olders neck and laid his head on Felix's shoulder.

Felix laid Seungmin down in his own bed and covered him up, before reaching over to Han's bed and grabbing the chick stuffie he had, and gave it to the kid to hold onto. In less than two minutes Seungmin was asleep.

Felix left and gently shut the door behind him and made his way to the other room down the hallway.

He entered Chan and Minho's room and saw the two sitting on Chan's bed discussing what to do about the kid.

"Hyung, I-" Felix couldn't finish his sentence because a sob forced its way out of his chest. In an instant he was being hugged tightly.

"it's so bad. He's been hurt so badly, and he doesn't trust anything. The amount of scars all over him was awful."

Felix explained all that had happened, and the fears the kid had and he saw Chan and Minho's eyes fill with unshed tears.

Chan knew he had to figure out what to do with the kid, but first he had to make sure the boy was safe. Above anything else he would not let this kid get hurt again.

Chapter Text

Seungmin woke up and felt as if he was laying on a cloud. He was warm, and the toy he was holding close to his chest was soft and fluffy. The blanket that was wrapped snugly around him was heavy in a comforting way, like a hug.

This was one of the best dreams he’d ever had.

Jeongin watched as the little boy woke up, pulling the blanket closer and smiling, before drifting back to sleep.

Jeongin was curious as to where the kid came from, hell they all were. But for now, the Maknae was put on watch of the kid while Chan and Felix showered, Minho cooked breakfast and Han and Hyunjin still slept curled up together in the olders bed.

And Changbin…Changbin left for the gym, saying he needed to blow off steam.

He was angry, they all saw it. He was adamant that they should have called the police as soon as they found Seungmin. But Chan had insisted that they wait for a day, especially when Seungmin was so obviously terrified of going back to whatever situation he had escaped from.

Quietly, Jeongin reached over and gently brushed a strand of hair away from Seungmin's face, careful not to wake him.
He was so small, he looked no older than four, just a little baby. But after what Minho told them about Felix and Seungmin's night before, he realized that trauma and hurt doesn’t have an age limit.

Seungmin stirred slightly, his eyelids fluttering as he began to wake from his peaceful sleep. The softness of the blanket and the warmth of the room enveloped him like a gentle embrace, and for a moment, he felt safe and content.

Jeongin watched with a small smile as Seungmin slowly opened his eyes, blinking sleepily. He knew that Seungmin must have still been exhausted after everything he seems to have gone through.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," Jeongin greeted softly, his voice warm and reassuring. "Did you sleep well?"

Seungmin blinked up at Jeongin, his eyes still heavy with sleep. He nodded slowly, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Jeongin's heart swelled with affection at the sight of Seungmin's shy smile. He couldn't help but feel warmth spread in his chest. Damn this kid was cute.

"Are you hungry?" Jeongin asked gently, knowing that Seungmin must be hungry, considering that he had been sifting through their garbage bin, he couldn't have been getting enough food regularly. "Minho Hyung made breakfast, and it smells really good."

Seungmin's stomach rumbled in response, confirming Jeongin's suspicions. He nodded eagerly, his eyes lighting up at the mention of food. "Hungy." he admitted, his voice was so quiet Jeongin barely heard it.

Jeongin chuckled softly, almost ruffling Seungmin's hair affectionately, but when the kid flinched when he moved his hand, he decided against it. "Don't worry, we've got plenty to eat," he reassured him. "Come on, let's go join the others for breakfast."

With that, Jeongin helped Seungmin out of bed, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders like a makeshift cape. Together, they made their way to the kitchen, where the enticing aroma of Minho's cooking greeted them.

Seungmin was led over and sat at the kitchen table, his eyes flickering between the faces of the men surrounding him. There he saw the man with a nice smile and curly hair, and there sitting next to him was a man with long blonde hair.

Seungmin looked at him confused, before looking back at the blonde man with short hair who gave him a bath yesterday, and oh…. they weren’t the same person.

Felix approached Seungmin with a plate of food, carefully selecting a small piece of fruit and popping it into his mouth before offering the plate to the boy.

It was a silent sign to show that his food was safe, so that the kid felt more comfortable.

Seungmin hesitated for a moment before tentatively reaching out to take a piece of food, his eyes still darting around nervously.

As Seungmin began to eat, the atmosphere in the room slowly began to shift. There was more quiet chatter, and Seungmin didn’t really understand what the adults were talking about, so instead he focused on eating the yummy fruits in front of him.

Just as the tension seemed to ease, the door swung open, and the man with the big muscles came into the kitchen and when he and Seungmin met eyes, the man became very angry.

"What's going on here?" Changbin demanded, his voice sharp and accusing. "Why is he still here?"

The room fell silent, the air thick with tension as the other men exchanged worried glances around the table.

Chan cleared his throat, his voice tight with hesitation as he tried to stop an oncoming argument.

"We were just discussing what to do next," Chan replied carefully, his eyes darting nervously at Seungmin who kept his eyes trained on the mean man. He shrank in his seat trying to make himself smaller.

"We haven't made any decisions yet."

Changbin's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched in frustration. "Well, I have. We can't keep him here. It's too risky, and who knows, his parents are probably out there looking for him.”

Felix's jaw tightened and pet Seungmin’s hair, which made the boy want to crawl in the other man’s lap. He was nice, safe. He gave him good food, and warm water to wash in, and didn’t look at him, and he even gave him a nice warm bed WITH a stuffie!

"We can't just leave him," Felix insisted, his voice firm and unwavering. "He needs our help, Changbin.

Changbin's expression softened slightly, a flicker of doubt crossing his features. But it was quickly replaced by stubborn shake of his head.

"I won't put our entire future at risk for some kid we don't know." Changbin said, his voice tinged with regret. “He’s not our problem Lix, I’m sorry. I’m calling the cops, so we can find his family.”

And with that, he turned on his heel and left the room, leaving behind a thick air of tension. It was cut when Chan put down his utensils and his chair scraped along the floor as he followed his boyfriend.

Seungmin knew what the mean man said, he was calling the cops, to come get him, and take him to his parents. Except Seungmin doesn’t have parents, just Mister Sim.

Seungmin started shaking his head and it caught the attention of Felix.

“You okay bub?” The man asked.

“Can’t go to parents. Have none.” Seungmin mumbled looking at the strawberry in his hands, it didn’t look as yummy as it did before.

“You don’t have parents?” The man with squishy cheeks asked. Seungmin just shook his head admittedly.

“Then where did you live before this sweetie?” This time it was the man Minho, who pulled him out of the trash can.

He debated on answering, but then figured that they were going to find out when they tried to turn him into the police anyways, so he responded: “Foster home.”

The man with pretty long hair, that wasn’t Felix who gave him a bath spoke now. “Then why did you run away?” Seungmin looked up at them with panic in his eyes.

“He so mean to me! He don't feed me, or let me take baths, or, or, or, he would touch me in places I no like, and h-he made me drink his yucky alcohol drink and it burned my froat. An-an he would just laugh at me! ”

Seungmin stumbled over most words, tears now pouring down his little cheeks.

Felix was at a loss of what to do, he wasn’t sure what he could do that would help, but before he could debate anymore, Minho was there.

He scooped Seungmin into his arms, the little boy wrapping his legs around his waist, and his arms around his neck.

Minho had one hand under his bottom to keep him from falling and the other he used to guide Seungmin’s face into the comfort of his neck.

He rubbed his free hand up and down his back whispering sweet nothings in his ear while he walked back and forth in their kitchen. He motioned for Hyunjin to grab the blanket that was wrapped around Seungmin earlier, and to lay it back on his back wrapping him up.

And after long he decided to walk outside, hoping the crisp air would help the kid calm down. He paced back and forth outside humming a random tune and it seemed to work, for before long the cries stopped and were replaced with little sniffles.

“Hey little bee, are you awake?” Minho couldn’t see his face from where it was, but he got a whispered, “yes.” Giving him his answer.

“Do you want to go back inside?” Minho questioned. There was a headshake against his shoulder, the little boy’s cold nose rubbing against his neck.

“Okay no going inside.” It dawned on the older that Seungmin didn’t eat his breakfast, and that was something he really hoped the kid would do.

“He walked up to the glass door leading back into the kitchen and saw his boyfriends sitting there often glancing over at the pair outside.

He used the hand rubbing Seungmin’s back to make a gesture of eating food, and then pointed at Seungmin, hoping they would get his message. Seconds later the door opened with Jisung handing out the uneaten bowl of fruit.

“Thanks, Sungie.” Minho whispered and Han just winked at him giving a soft smile.

“Hey, love bug, I have your fruit here, do you want to eat some?” There was no response for a minute or two, but then Seungmin nodded and slightly lowered his head and opened his mouth. Minho chuckled at the younger before getting a piece and putting it in his mouth.

And that was how Seungmin ate, Minho fed him each and every fruit in the frankly massive bowl.

He looked down at Seungmin after the boy had stopped moving as much and noticed his eyes fluttering shut and his breathing evening out.

"Do you think it's nap time?" Seungmin let out a small whine just tightening his arms and legs around the older man. Minho’s heart definitely did NOT melt at that.

"I won't let you go bud; we can take a nap together. Sound nice?" With a confirming nod Minho picked up the bowl, stood up and gently opened the door.

He went to his and Chan's shared room and sat up on the headboard. Making himself comfortable, he checked to make sure the kid was comfy as well. Before long Chan came in, two cups of water and a cup of milk.

"Here, I figured you both would want water, and the milk will be really good for him." Minho thanked him and when Chan pulled out the younger's phone he grinned.

"Thank you Hyung." Chan reassured him that it was no problem before giving him a kiss on the forehead and leaving the room, telling him to text him if he needed anything.

He had Seungmin sit up and to drink the warm milk slowly, and when it was mostly finished the boy laid his head back on Minho's shoulder.

With a full belly and a warm chest he laid on Seungmin fell asleep, content to never move again.

With the small boy asleep, Minho couldn't help but feel affection for him. He never really was a kid person, preferring to avoid them if possible. But damn if this kid didn't steal his heart.

Chapter Text

Seungmin admittedly did not want to move, he was warm, and the steady thrum of the heartbeat next to his ear was so calming that he almost did go back to sleep. But then he felt fingers in his hair and a soft voice saying nice things.

"Hey, do you want to wake up now?" The voice sounded different, not like the man who fed him his fruit this morning and held him when Seungmin was scared.

"We can make some food for your empty little tummy yeah? And then if you want you can watch TV, or you can color?" At that Seungmin opened his eyes and sat up.

"TV?!" Seungmin took a minute to register that this was the man with a nice smile and curly hair.

"Yeah buddy, tv." Seungmin wished he could learn these nice men's names. Seungmin took a breath put on a brave and frankly scary face and asked, "Name?"

The man did not seem at all afraid of Seungmin’s scary face, in fact, his smile only grew. "I'm Chan!"

Seungmin nodded before realizing that he hadn’t introduced himself which Mister Sim, always told him was rude.

"M' Seungmin." He stuck out his hand to shake the others like he was taught to do and hoped that the man would be gentle.

Chan grabbed Seungmin's hand softly and barely moved it up and down in a shaking manner.

"It's very nice to meet you Seungmin. You're so polite, well done!" Seungmin flushed from the praise but then squeaked when he was being lifted off the bed and carried out the door.

“Hey Hyunjin! Can you come up with some coloring pages and crayons for later?” Chan called out into the hallway as Seungmin was carried to the living room.

Then a door swung open and the pretty man with long hair looked at the little boy peering over Chan's shoulder with curious eyes and smiled.

“Yeah, Channie Hyung give me a bit!"

Seungmin was placed gently at the table, and then food was set in front of him once again.

This time it was Ramen, and it had an egg on it and it smelled really good.

Seungmin waited until the man who kind of looked like a fox urged him to eat before he took his first bite.
As he sipped the savory broth and chewed the soft noodles, a gentle feeling of warmth replaced the tiredness, so that by the end of the bowl, Seungmin was fully awake.

It didn't take long before he finished and was given something to drink in a small cup with a straw. Seungmin took a sip and it felt like sugar burst on his tongue. Apple juice!

He had, had it once before when he was at the foster home, and he remembered loving it. He finished it within minutes and was disappointed when the fox man refilled it with water this time.

"Hey little one, Channie, said you wanted to watch TV?" He looked at the man who fed him and nodded.

Once in the living room he once again saw Felix, and with determination, he took quiet steps up to him and waited for him to bend down before whispering in his ear, "his name?" He pointed to the fox man and Felix smiled widely.

"That's Jeongin, but you can call him Innie! Okay?" Seungmin nodded before saying quietly, "T'ank you 'Lix."

Felix smiled even wider before gently ruffling the boy's hair and then shuffling him over to sit on the couch next to "Innie".

Felix left the room running into Minho where he loudly announced to the man, "HE CALLED ME LIX HYUNG! I THINK I MIGHT CRY!"

Seungmin's little heart fluttered with anticipation as he sat in between Chan and Jeongin on the couch his eyes wide with curiosity as he was looking at the TV screen.

They had put on a show with a man who had a lot of yellow clothes, and his little monkey.

The hypnotic pictures flickering before him were unlike anything he had ever experienced before, and he caught himself feeling an immense sense of wonder at the magic that was happening right in front of his very eyes.

Despite Seungmin still being a bit skeptical about Chan and Jeongin, he couldn't help but get way too distracted by the show on the screen to pay much attention to the older men. The pleasing colors and cute characters did not only catch his attention but made him so happy he couldn't stop the smile on his face.

The two Hyung's smiled lightly as they watched Seungmin's initial hesitance, but then watched as he relaxed, letting Curious George entertain him.

He laughed with amusement at the silly actions of the little monkey, his eyes twinkling as each new trouble he got into was told.

Seungmin's hair was lightly ruffled by Chan, and he smiled, trying to remain calm. "Are you enjoying yourself, Seungmin?" he inquired gently, his voice being full of heart and warmth.

Seungmin made an affirmative and smiley face with his lips. "It's so nice," he said, his gaze on the screen unblinking.

Jeongin came closer, his nearness giving him warmth as well as the sense of not being disturbed. "I'm glad you like it, Seungmin," he said to him in a soft voice, his words being infused with true warmth.

While Seungmin was captivated by the show, Jisung had watched fondly before slipping into the kitchen planning on making himself something to eat. He reached for a bowl at the top shelf and it slipped, giving him barely a second to move out of the way before it shattered on the floor.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

The shattering of the broken dish resounded in Seungmin's ears, one that was swiftly followed by a sudden flashback triggered by the memory he desperately wanted to forget. In one moment, he found himself reliving the gloomy scene of the dark apartment where he lived for so long in terror.

It began with a shriek - a sharp, furious voice that sliced effortlessly through the stillness. And then the sound that the sound of something being hurled through the air with deadly accuracy.

Seungmin had been struck with sudden fear in his heart as the cup went flying past his head shattering against the wall glass flying up to hit Seungmin's arms that blocked his face. He heart in his throat and the innate impulse to flee, to dodge and survive the danger that loomed very near and threatened to gobble him up alive.

With a shaking body, Seungmin threw himself onto his feet and exhaled quickly, gasping unevenly while his scared mind was flooded with the thought of being hurt again. His eyes feverishly scanned the room, seeking a corner or an escape to get away from the horror that was taking form in front of him.

In a panic, Seungmin ran to the nearest closet where he could hide, the echo of his footsteps reverberating in the silence, while he was in search of a scapegoat for the door. With a trembling hand that felt unsteady, it took him forever to open the door and manage to squeeze in, then fasten it tightly behind with a shaking hand.

By himself in the darkness, Seungmin's sobs echoed back over the walls, his body filled with fear and he felt as if he would puke any second.

Seungmin was brought out of his thoughts to a light tapping on the closet door.

"Hey buttercup, it's Felix. Can I come in?" The man's deep voice carried to the younger and Seungmin felt fear seize him again.

"NO!" The boy yelled back. He was not ready to see anybody right now, not even the nice man.

The longer Seungmin sat there the more afraid he became. He was being bad. He ran off and cried loudly, and yelled at the man, and he was surely going to be in so much trouble when he left the closet.

There were so many of them, and they were all so much bigger than him and they were going to hurt him.

Seungmin began to wail at the thoughts he had, and then the door was opening.

He tried to scramble away but he was being pulled up and into a chest. He figured his only defense now was to apologize.

"I'm sowwy! I'm sowwy! I'm so sowwy, p'ease! Minnie's so sowwy!" Seungmin was too wound up to realize he wasn't being hurt, or yelled at, he was being cradled a shushed.

When Seungmin started to become more aware of his surroundings, he noticed that he was in a darkened room, wrapped up in a blanket, and lying down on a bed curled up in someone's arms.

There was soft humming and he tried to quiet his sniffles to be able to hear the pretty voice, but he was too tired to try and focus.

Seungmin allowed himself to relax into the warmth of the embrace, his sobs slowly subsiding as he drifted into a fitful sleep, dreams of him being taken back to the foster system haunted him, and he wished he had a nice family who would take care of him and love him. Maybe they would get him a toy or two, or maybe even nice clothes.

Chan held Seungmin close to his chest, noticing when the boy's cries stopped and he fell asleep.

He knew Seungmin slept a lot more than normal, but he couldn't help but let him, the boy was exhausted and malnourished and he wasn't going to take any of the rest or food he needed away from it.

Chan also had a good guess as to what had happened with the kid, but he didn't want to assume and so he was left to stay in the dark as he sang the child to sleep.

He had planned to take Seungmin shopping tomorrow to get him some toys, clothes, and some hygiene necessities. And then he was going to head to his first lesson for his license to become a foster parent.

Changbin sat in his room feeling like an asshole. He knew how much his boyfriends had become attached to the kid, yet here he was with a heart of stone telling them to get rid of him. He was just so scared that any minute the police would be at their door arresting them all for kidnapping.

And on top of all of it, Chan and Minho were going to have HIM babysit the kid tomorrow while they went shopping. Their other boyfriends were all working and Changbin was the only one going to be home. He sighed running his hand through his hair and resigning himself to bed knowing that even if he went to bed late he'd still have to get up tomorrow and watch the kid.

If Changbin knew what was going to happen he wouldn't have stayed home.

Chapter Text

After Seungmin woke up from his impromptu nap, he realized this time he was alone. No comforting chest to lay on, or hand in his hair, or rubbing his back. He was surprised to find he missed it a lot.

He got up from the bed and walked as quietly as he could to the door, opening it slightly and peering out. He saw three men standing at the end of the hall, he knew Innie and Chan, but he wasn't sure who the other was.

The unknown man had red-rimmed eyes and he looked very upset.
And Chan had his hand gently rubbing his hand up and down his arm, his voice too low to hear what he was saying. And then they were coming down the hallway toward the room Seungmin was in.

He let out a little gasp before running back to the bed and hopping in it throwing the blanket over his head and pretending to be asleep.

There was a gentle rap on the door before it was pushed open.

"Hey Minnie, you awake yet?" Seungmin sat very still until the blanket was gently lifted off his head, and the kid peeked his head out to see the man who was crying in the hallway smiling at him.

“Hey sweet pea, my name is Jisung. I’m sorry I dropped the bowl earlier and scared you.”

Seungmin was confused as to why he would apologize to him, no one had ever apologized to him before so why was he?

Seungmin remained silent, unsure of how to respond. He watched Jisung carefully, studying his expression for any signs of deception or danger. But all he saw was genuine remorse and kindness in the man's eyes.

"I'm sowwy too," Seungmin finally whispered, his voice barely audible. He wasn't sure exactly what he was apologizing for, but he felt like he should apologize just in case Jisung got mad.

Jisung's smile softened, and he reached out to gently ruffle Seungmin's hair. "No need to apologize, buddy. You ran cause you were scared, no one can be upset at you for that."

Seungmin nodded slowly, still feeling uncertain. But there was something comforting about Jisung's presence, something that made him want to be around the man.

Chan and Jeongin stood in the doorway, watching the interaction with soft smiles on their faces. They could see the beginnings of a bond forming between Seungmin and Jisung, and it filled them with warmth in their chests.

"Hey, how about we all go do something fun together?" Chan suggested, trying to lighten the mood. "Jinnie got lots of coloring things for you. What do you think, Seungmin?"

Seungmin hesitated for a moment, glancing between Chan, Jeongin, and Jisung. He wasn't used to having options or being asked for his opinion. But the idea of doing something fun sounded nice, and he found himself nodding in agreement.

"Okay," he said quietly, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Chan planned on carrying the kid to the living room, but as he stepped closer to the bed Seungmin flinched backing up slightly.

"Okay little bee, do you want to walk to the living room?" Chan asked gently.

Seungmin once again nodded and slid his little legs off the bed having to hop off. He moved slowly watching the three men as they gently backed away from him and the door. Once out in the hallway, he realized he really wasn't sure where to go, and now being alone scared him more than Chan did.

Seungmin turned around quickly eyes full of panic, and in an instant Innie, was there holding out his hand for the younger to hold.

Down the hallway they went, and sure enough there at the coffee table sat the very pretty man, he was surrounded by papers, crayons, pencils, markers, and paints.

Seungmin looked up at Jeongin and he was given a reassuring smile, as he released the kid's hand.

With that, the child toddled over to the coffee table to peek at what the man was drawing. Childlike awe filled his eyes as he gasped.

"Woahhhhh, you so good!" Hyunjin looked up at him a smile breaking across his face.

"Thank you! Would you also like to draw?" Seungmin nodded so enthusiastically that Hyunjin thought his head might fall off.

"Okay, sunshine let's get you some things." The man pulled out any supplies that Seungmin might want to use setting it in front of him and Seungmin picked up a pencil and began to draw.

Jisung watched from across the room, feeling slightly jealous that all of them had been able to have sweet moments with the adorable baby, but he hadn't. He dramatically stuck out his bottom lip in a pout before he felt arms encircling his waist and a chin on his shoulder.

"What's wrong baby?" Felix's deep voice was a whisper in his ears, the action causing goosebumps to rise on his skin.

"Why has everyone gotten to have sweet moments with Seungminnie, but all I've done is give him a panic attack?"

Felix left soft kisses on his neck, the action soothing more than anything else.

"Well sweetheart, what if you go and sit to color with him? Then you can find another activity to do with him later, or you can make him something sweet."

Jisung felt his heart grow light again, the idea of making Seungmin a sweet treat giving him excitement.

Seungmin, who clearly hasn't had many basic needs, much less luxuries such as desserts making his heart pang in hurt. He rushed to the kitchen looking for something to make for the kid.

He searched around the kitchen before deciding to make a lava cake for him. It wasn't extremely difficult or time-consuming, and it would be a lot easier than making a batch of cookies or cupcakes.

Seungmin took his time drawing his picture, it was him and the only friend he had ever had.

He wanted to color it, but he wasn't sure if he should just take the crayons or not.

With careful hands, he reached over gently tugging on Hyunjin's pant leg to get his attention.

"What's up little sunbeam?" Hyunjin set down his pencil to turn all his attention to the child sitting next to him.

"I colou?" Seungmin didn't look him in the eyes, deciding to keep his eyes trained on Hyunjin's pants.

Hyunjin felt as if his heart was being squeezed, and he forcibly had to stop himself from snatching the kid into his lap pressing kisses all over his cute little face, and cuddling him close forever.

"Of course you can! You don't have to ask Starlight you can do whatever you'd like."

Seungmin reached for the crayons mumbling a, "thank you".

"Such a polite baby aren't you." Seungmin was confused by his words.

He wasn't a baby, he was a big boy!

He took his time coloring and felt suddenly sad at seeing his old friend on paper and not in person, but his sadness was interrupted by someone coming up behind him and calling his name.

"Hey Seungminnie, do you like chocolate?" Seungmin laid down his crayon to look over at Jisung and shrugged.

"I don't 'member." Was the response that Jisung was given. Jisung wanted to cry but ignored it and smiled even wider.

"Well I made you something yummy, would you like to come and try it?" Seungmin nodded excitedly and tried to stand but found that his legs felt weird all over.

He sat back down feeling defeated and slightly scared. Why were his legs feeling itchy? Why couldn't he walk?

Jisung bent down and gave him a gentle smile watching as Seungmin's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey baby, it's okay! You were sitting on your legs and they just fell asleep!"

Seungmin cocked his head to the side, looking like a lost puppy.

"When we fall asleep we don't really use our brains to think, but sometimes your legs will fall asleep while you're still brain is still wide awake."

Seungmin tried to understand, but he really just wanted to go eat the yummy treat, so he stuck out his arms hoping the man would pick him up and carry him to the kitchen.

Jisung grinned, picked up the boy, and gently swung him around making a giggle slip past Seungmin's lips.

As Jisung carried Seungmin to the kitchen, the little boy couldn't help but giggle at the feeling of slightly swaying in the air. It was a welcome distraction from the strange sensation in his legs, and he found himself feeling excited about trying something chocolate. He was never allowed to have sweets at Mister Sim's, so this was something new!

Once in the kitchen, Jisung set Seungmin down on a chair and pulled out a plate with a small, warm cake sitting on it. The rich aroma of chocolate filled the air, making Seungmin's mouth water in anticipation.

"Here you go, Seungminnie," Jisung said with a smile, placing the plate in front of the boy. "I hope it's tasty!"

Seungmin's eyes widened with delight at the sight of the decadent dessert. It looked absolutely delicious, and he couldn't wait to eat it, though he waited until he was told he could. With Jisung's encouragement, he picked up a spoon and carefully took a bite, savoring the rich chocolate flavor and the gooey center.

"Mmm!" Seungmin exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across his face. "S'yummy!"

Jisung watched fondly as Seungmin ate the dessert.

Seungmin found himself overcome with excitement. Each bite was like a burst of heaven in his mouth, and he couldn't resist eating until there was nothing left but crumbs on his plate.

But as he took the last bite, a sudden feeling of discomfort washed over Seungmin. His stomach twisted uneasily, protesting against the indulgence of the cake. He tried to ignore it at first, but the discomfort only grew, until finally, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Seungmin's face grew pale, and he felt a surge of nausea rising from his stomach. Before he knew it, he was retching violently, the half-digested cake spewing out of his mouth and onto the table and floor. The once pleasant aroma of chocolate was now mixed with the sour smell of vomit, filling the kitchen with an unpleasant odor.

Jisung jumped up to avoid the puke and a noise of shock left him.

Seungmin's eyes widened in horror as he realized what had happened. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked around frantically, feeling panic wash over him. He was afraid that he would get in trouble for making a mess, and he didn't know what to do.

He couldn't help the wails that he let out, tears pouring down his face. He felt awful, his tummy hurt, and his throat burned, his mouth felt really gross, and he really wanted to be cleaned and cuddled.

Loud footsteps were running toward the kitchen, and the other six men burst into the kitchen, their faces a mix of concern and alarm as they took in the scene before them.

"What's going on?" Felix asked, his voice filled with worry as he rushed over to Seungmin's side.

Chan and Minho were close behind, their expressions reflecting the same concern as they knelt beside Seungmin, trying to comfort him, a gentle hand rubbing his leg.

Though nothing seemed to stop his tears.

Jisung felt a pang of guilt wash over him as he watched Seungmin's distress. He had only wanted to do something nice for this sweet kid, but instead, he had caused him to projectile vomit all over their table.

"I'm so sorry," Jisung whispered, his voice filled with remorse as he looked at Seungmin. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I should have been more careful."

Seungmin continued to cry, his body shaking with sobs as he tried to wipe away the tears that streamed down his cheeks. He felt awful, both physically and emotionally, and all he wanted was for someone to make it better.

Chan scooped Seungmin up into his arms, holding him close and whispering soothing words in his ear. He could feel the boy's body trembling with sobs, and his heart ached at the sight of Seungmin's distress.

"It's okay, buddy," Chan murmured, rocking Seungmin gently back and forth. "Let's get you a bath yeah? And then maybe something soothing for dinner, like some soup."

Seungmin didn't respond to what Chan was saying, but he knew that he didn't feel as icky when he was being cuddled up to Channie's chest, and swayed gently.

"And then you can watch TV for a little longer, and Sungie can tell you a story." Chan continued telling the little one the plan as he started to fill the tub with warm water, and went to find something that might be able to fit Seungmin.

"Sungie tells the best stories, he uses funny voices and gets really into the character." Seungmin had stopped crying, but hadn't removed his face from where it was pressed into Chan's neck, deciding it was a safe spot to be."

In the bathroom, Chan had begun to try and ease Seungmin into the idea of taking a warm bath when there was a gentle knock on the door.

Chan glanced up as the door opened and Changbin popped his head in.

"Hyung, can his bath wait?" Changbin asked gently, not wanting to scare the kid. Despite not wanting the kid around he wasn't an asshole.

Chan grimaced before gently replying. "I mean he's just calmed down, and he really needs a bath. Why what's going on?"

Changbin looked at him face serious. "Han is not doing well, he's been crying and feeling terrible ever since….earlier." Changbin avoided bringing up what happened earlier.

Chan seemed torn, trying to choose between the baby and his boyfriend.

There was a sigh before Changbin opened the door more and reached his arms out.

"Here give me the kid and I'll give him a bath. You just go take care of Hannie, he needs you right now."

Chan was hesitant not wanting to drag his boyfriend into something he didn't want to do, but it also seemed like he did not have much of a choice.

Changbin watched as his oldest boyfriend whispered something into Seungmin's ear, the boy whining and clinging tighter.

And Chan looked defeated, and tired, unable to get the kid to let go of him.

The younger man knelt next to the pair and gently spoke to Seungmin.

"Hey kid, I'm Changbin. I know it might seem like I've been mean, and I'm sorry." He felt as if there was a small victory at the little eye that peaked out from the shoulder it was hidden in.

"But, one thing about Changbin Hyung, is that I give amazing baths. Lots of bubbles and I even have a rubber ducky." Changbin tried to make it seem like a big deal, and it seemed to work when Seungmin lifted his head off of Chan's shoulder.

"Would you like to go with Changbin sweetie? And have a nice, fun bath?" Though hesitant, Seungmin nodded.

Chan transferred him into Changbin's arms and got up leaving a kiss on the man's head before he left the bathroom.

Changbin helped Seungmin remove his clothes, and get into the bath, which was already covered in bubbles.

Seungmin was much too distracted to notice the man turn away and rummage through the cabinet under the sink, but then there was a loud squeak and the boy whipped his head to look and saw the kinda-nice-mean man holding a bright yellow duck.

"Duckie!" Seungmin was quiet with his excitement, his voice barely above a whisper as he gently took the toy from the man.

Seungmin, let the duck float on the water, pushing him through the bubbles and making quiet noises in his little pretend world.

Changbin felt a smile tug at his lips at the sight. He let him play for another minute or two before getting shampoo to lather in his hair.

He took careful ministrations to massage the shampoo into Seungmin's hair, making sure to be gentle and not get any soap in the boy's eyes. Seungmin closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of Changbin's fingers massaging his scalp. It felt nice like someone was taking care of him, and he found himself relaxing despite the events of the evening.

The duck was soon forgotten in favor of the kid trying not to fall asleep at the care he was receiving.

Changbin noted the scars that marked Seungmin's arms, back, and stomach. He felt anger at seeing the marks. Who the fuck would hurt a kid? Especially this one? He was too sweet for his own good.

Seungmin laid his head on Changbin's shoulder as the man cleaned his legs and tummy. Changbin wasn't shocked to find the boy had fallen asleep.

He was careful to not jostle Seungmin too much while getting him out of the tub and wrapped into a towel. Though it was difficult with the kid not wanting to move much at all, little whines of protest slipped from his lips.

The older grabbed the shorts that were left there for the kid and slipped them on, making sure to tie the drawstrings so they wouldn’t slip off. Then he saw one of the guy's compression shirts, it would fit the boy slightly baggy, but not as bad as a regular t-shirt. He slipped it over his head and folded the sleeves up so they were not as long.

He picked the boy up sat him on the counter and got the extra toothbrush that had become Seungmin's ready for use.

"Come on kid, open your mouth so I can brush your teeth okay?" Though half asleep Seungmin still obeyed, dropping open his mouth.

Changbin let out an amused huff and got to work.

Once finished, he made sure to finish towel-drying the boy's soft brown hair and then picked him back up into his arms.

Seungmin wrapped his tiny arms around Changbin's neck, and his legs around his waist, laying his head on his shoulder tuckered out after the long day.

Changbin carried the boy to the kitchen where there he saw Hyunjin and Minho chatting quietly and cooking together.

"Where are the others?" He kept his voice quiet not wanting to disturb the kid, who he had realized wasn't sleeping, just resting.

"Sungie and Channie are cuddling in the bedroom, and Innie and Lixie ran to the store to pick up a couple of groceries, and a couple of things of clothes for the little sunflower." Hyunjin was the one to respond, his eyes cast upon the sweet sight of his tough boyfriend cradling the little boy.

"Here Hyunjin can you take the baby so I can go check on them?" Hyunjin was already moving across the room a grin on his face at the chance to hold the sweet boy.

"C'mon kid, let's let Jinnie hold you." Like earlier when Chan was holding the boy he whined, annoyed at having to be moved again. But then he stopped and tensed not moving a muscle until Hyunjin was grabbing him.

Seungmin didn't mind Changbin per se, he was just very scary and the man definitely didn't like Minnie. So whining when the man clearly did not want to hold him anymore was not smart.

He latched onto Hyunjin just as he had done to the others, and Hyunjin walked back and forth across the kitchen (not where Minho was cooking) and Seungmin almost did fall asleep.

He wasn't sure why he was so tired, when he was at Mister Sim's house he would have trouble sleeping, it was either too cold, or he was hungry. And sometimes there was this big tree outside their house that when it was windy would scrape along the glass. The long branches looked like monster claws trying to creep through the window, and it was very scary.

But here he was fed, and he was warm, and the nice men held him so he wasn't scared to sleep. And now Seungmin was just always so tired.

Like now with the warm hand rubbing up and down his back, he felt the pull of sleep heavy and comforting.

He was half asleep when he heard a voice calling his name.

"Seungmin sweetie, wakey wakey. Time for dinner love." Seungmin blinked slowly the face right next to his coming back into focus.

Blonde hair, deep brown eyes, and freckles. Oh, it was Felix.

"There you are sleepy head!" Felix's smile was so bright that Seungmin almost felt the need to close his eyes at it.

"Here we've got some soup, do you want to sit and eat?" This time it was Minho who stepped into his line of vision.

Seungmin was hungry, but also wary after this afternoon he didn't think they'd be forgiving if he threw up a second time.

"Here you can come sit on one of our laps and eat. Who do you want to sit with angel?"

Seungmin thought for a second, before remembering this morning when Minho fed him his fruit.

"Wan' Min." He pointed to the second oldest who looked slightly taken aback before a small smile crept onto his face.

"Yeah, little pup you can come eat with me." And so once again he was passed from one set of arms to another.

Soon enough Chan came in followed by a sleepy Jisung and a deep in thought Changbin. They all sat around the table and began to eat.

Seungmin was more content to lay his head back on Minho's shoulder, rather than eat.

"Tsk, you need to eat Seungmin." He lifted up the boy's untouched spoon and carried it to the boy's mouth.

"Here you go, nice big bite. Perfect." Seungmin liked the soup, it tasted really good.

But he also did not want to feed himself. As if reading his mind, Minho continued to spoon-feed Seungmin his dinner, bite by bite.

By the time dinner was finished, It had become rather late into the evening.

A cup with a straw was placed in front of Seungmin and he eyed it in suspicion.

It was Felix who set it there.

It's milk sweetie, it'll make you feel nice and warm and very sleepy." Seungmin reached out to grab it and put the straw to his lips.

And yeah, it was warm milk. Before he knew it he had drank the whole thing and his belly was full in a comforting way this time and not in a sick way.

He turned his head burying it in the junction of his neck and shoulder and planned on not moving for the night.

Except then there was shifting and he was passed to another set of arms, except he wasn't very big like Chan, or Changbin. Nor was he as lithe as Felix and Hyunjin, he was in the middle.

"Hey darling, you ready for bed?" A voice whispered in his ear. Ah, so it was Sungie holding him this time.

But wasn't he mad at him for throwing up the dessert he made him? He definitely had a reason to be upset at him.

"He lifted his head to look at the man and the other watched him curiously.

"Not mad?" Jisung was shocked by the question. "Baby, why would I be mad at you? You did nothing wrong?"

Seungmin furrowed his brows as if trying to figure out a really difficult puzzle.

"I 'frew up all the dessert you made for me. Was bad." Seungmin stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

"Nope, that was not your fault. It wasn't my fault either. It was an accident." Seungmin was now very confused.

"Acciden?" Jisung smiled at him. "Yes, lovebug an accident. I forgot you can't eat too much until you get used to eating more often. And the dessert was a little too much on your tummy because you're not used to it."

Seungmin nodded understanding now. "Okay, Was accidend. Sungie good boy. Minnie good boy?"

Jisung pulled him close to his chest and gave him a gentle kiss on top of the head.

"Minnie is the best boy ever."

Seungmin was asleep before they made it to the bedroom, and Jisung wrapped him in blankets keeping him tucked under his arm the whole night.

Chapter Text

Come morning everyone but Changbin, Chan, and Minho had left. It had taken some convincing, but Changbin promised the kid would in fact be there when they got back.

Seungmin hadn't woken up yet, and Changbin was unsure if he should go do that or just let the kid sleep. Eventually, he decided to wake up him so the kid could go down for a nap later on.

He pushed open the bedroom door and saw Seungmin wrapped up in a blanket and clinging to a pillow as if it were a person.

He let out a breath of laughter before approaching the bed.

He sat on the edge observing the child.

He was cute, with his squishy cheeks, and little nose. His long eyelashes accentuated his big brown eyes. And his hair, when he first arrived was matted and covered in mud and debris from roaming around outside and living out of trash cans.

But now his hair had been washed and conditioned, and it was a beautiful fluffy shade of chestnut. He took his hand running it through the hair that fell across the pillow, combing it back away from his forehead.

"Fuck kid, you really stole all of their hearts huh?" Changbin knew his boyfriends were whipped for the kid, and he really couldn't blame them all that much because he also found that his car- NO!

Changbin retracted his hand from the boy as if he had been burnt.

'No Changbin, this kid is going to ruin all of the life you guys have built together. THIS IS KIDNAPPING!'

The man stepped away from the bed and went back to the door where the light switch sat on the wall. He flicked it on before knocking on the wall in an attempt to wake the kid.

"Hey kid, get up now. There's food for you at the table and Hyunjin left some books and art stuff for you at the coffee table."

Seungmin sat up, his hair sticking up in odd ways, and he yawned rubbing his eye with a closed fist.

Changbin walked to Felix's room grabbing the underwear, socks, cute joggers, and matching sweatshirt that he and Innie had bought for the kid yesterday. Back in the room, he tossed them on the bed.

"Here are some clothes that will fit you. Get ready and go to the bathroom to brush your teeth." Changbin watched the half-asleep boy sitting there trying to comprehend what the man was saying.

Changbin turned on his heel and left the room calling down the hallway. "Don't forget to hurry before your food is cold!"

Seungmin was slightly confused. Yesterday the man seemed to mind him, so why was he being so cold today? The way he acted was just like how Mister Sim treated him when he first went to his house. Abrupt awakenings, clothes tossed at him without care, and Seungmin took too long to get to the table his breakfast was gone.

Seungmin threw the covers off him and started getting out of the clothes that he smelled comforting to him, and into the soft clothes that were given to him.

He had to be nicer than Mister Sim because Mister Sim never would have given him such soft clothes and warm socks.

He made his way to the bathroom barely able to see above the counter on his tiptoes. He saw his toothbrush in the cup at the back and he huffed in irritation.

He couldn't reach it.

He opened the cabinet door standing on the inside and yet he still couldn't reach the toothpaste or the brush. He had the option of asking Mister Changbin to grab it for him, but Mister Sim would have gotten very angry for being "incompetent".

Mister Sim used that word with Seungmin a lot, so often that he learned how to pronounce it.

He left the bathroom, guilt pooling in his stomach on the way to the kitchen.

There he saw Changbin sitting at the table on his phone with a cup of what Seungmin assumed to be coffee.

He walked as quietly as he could up to the table sliding into the seat that had food at it, and looked at the bowl with rice and egg with some kind of meat.

Seungmin wasn’t sure if it was pork or chicken, but he brought the food to his lips anyway.

The man ignored him while he ate, and in turn, Seungmin remained silent.

After he was finished he said thank you standing up from the table and reaching up to grab the bowl.

Before he could Changbin stood up grabbed the bowl and took it toward the sink.

Seungmin felt like his blood froze. He was too slow to grab the bowl and now Mister Changbin was mad at him.

Changbin turned to look at the boy as he had just been standing there and what he saw confused him

"There are a bunch of art supplies sitting in the living room, go draw for a bit kid." At the permission to leave Seungmin shuffled past mumbling a quiet "sorry" on his way by.

The apology was odd, but the man brushed it off as to the kid being polite somehow.

Seungmin tried to be as quiet as possible as he pulled out paper and crayons, choosing the furthest side of the table to do his coloring.

He found himself quietly humming and snapped his head up to see that the kitchen was now empty and the older man was nowhere to be found.

Seungmin was so thirsty, and couldn't find any stray glasses of water lying around, their house was much cleaner than what he was used to.

Mister Sim didn't like it when Seungmin helped himself to things in the kitchen, so when he didn't feel like getting the kid water, Seungmin would try to find glasses of water left behind from earlier in the week. The water never tasted good but it was water regardless.

He stood up on shaky legs, fear gripping his heart as he made his way to the kitchen, glancing around to make sure the man was nowhere to be seen before pulling a chair next to the counter climbing both to grab a glass.

~~~~~~~~~

Changbin had been sitting at the island in the kitchen jotting down lyrics and keeping an eye on the kid in the other room. It was sweet, being able to sometimes hear his soft hums drift from the other room.

The man made sure the kid was still sitting at the table in the living room before leaving the room.

He couldn't have been gone for any more than ten minutes, trying to find his laptop so he could work on the song he had been writing.

He was sure he had left it in their home studio, but it was nowhere to be found. His last stop was Jisung's room hiding under his bed. He pulled it out and stood when there was a crash from somewhere in the house.

Changbin threw the laptop on the bed and ran towards the noise. Once in the kitchen, he saw a chair next to the counter the cabinet door opened, and then he looked to the floor.

The first thing that caught his eye was red, all over the floor, and then there was Seungmin's shaky hands covered in blood picking up the glass shards.

It took him a minute before he shot into action.

"Seungmin! Stop!" Changbin had to rush around the Island to get to him and avoid stepping on glass.

Seungmin was crying and didn't stop his actions until Changbin gently but firmly took the glass from his hand.

"I'm so sorry Mister Sim, p'ease don't hurt me! It was an acciden' I'll clean it up." Seungmin kept pleading trying to reach for the mess on the floor until Changbin picked him up pulling him away.

"NO! NO! HE'S GOING TO BE SO MAD AT ME! HE'S MAD! I'VE BEEN SO BAD!" Changbin felt tears well up in his own eyes as the boy kept struggling to get down.

"Shit kid, no one's mad it's okay." Seungmin kept clawing at Changbin's arms from where they were wrapped around the boy's chest.

"Shh, it's okay," Changbin murmured, his heart racing with panic. He quickly assessed the situation, realizing that Seungmin had cut himself badly. Blood was smeared on the kid's hands and now all over Changbin's arms from where the boy was trying to be let go.

Changbin could've cried when the sound of the door opening and closing was heard.

"Help! In the kitchen!" There were rushed footsteps and in came the two eldest in the group.

"What the fuck happened?!" Minho asked shock in his voice.

"He dropped a cup, and cut himself really badly. We have to get him to the emergency room. "

Chan and Minho nodded, and Chan grabbed the car keys from his pocket and they all rushed out to the car.

Minho had grabbed a kitchen towel instructing Changbin to hold the thrashing boy around so he could put pressure on the wound and possibly stop the bleeding.

The three sat in the back as Chan drove much faster than the speed limit allowed.

Changbin laid his head on the back of the boy's fear, and guilt eating him alive.

It was HIS fault Seungmin got hurt. He was supposed to be watching him.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart, I'm so sorry I let you get hurt baby." Changbin wasn't sure where the words came from but he couldn't stop them as they tumbled from his lips.

Seungmin was still in a state of panic and shock when they got there, and then he was rushed off to get stitches.

Changbin realized he probably looked insane, with dried blood all over his arms and hands, his hair a mess, and his face pale.

Minho gently dragged Changbin to the hospital bathroom, pulling him near the sink and washing away all the blood on his boyfriend's arms.

Behind him Chan held Changbin close to his chest, occasionally pressing a gentle kiss to the back of the man's head.

"It wasn't your fault Binnie," Chan said to him gently.

"The cup was something that could've happened to anyone, and his reaction was his past coming back to haunt him, baby."

Changbin furrowed his brows in anger. "I was supposed to be watching him Chan, and yet I failed him. He called me Mister Sim, that must've been his caretaker. "

Chan and Minho couldn't stop the shock on their faces at this.

"He asked me not to hurt him. I-" Changbin was cut off by his own sob forcing its way out of his chest.

His two boyfriends were there for him until his tears were dried, and then back to the waiting room they went.

It wasn't much longer before a nurse was coming to find them.

"Mr. Bang, you're the father correct?" The lady asked clipboard in hand.

There was no hesitation before Chan replied. "Yes, I am."

She nodded writing something down on the clipboard she carried. And asked for them to follow her.

In the room was Seungmin asleep, he wasn't hooked up to any machines but he looked pale, and sickly.

Once there they met Doctor Park, and he began to talk to them.

"Seungmin managed to cut a vein in the palm of his hand, that's why there was so much blood. He only needed five stitches and he's good as new. "

The three men let out identical sighs of relief.

"Though I am extremely concerned about his health though." Doctor Park's voice was solemn.

When he was given no response he continued. "He is extremely malnourished, and very small for his age. "

Minho felt anger at that statement. Yes, they could all see he was malnourished, they were trying to fix it.

"He also seems behind academically, when asked for his age he showed me five fingers. However, when I asked him how many that was, he shrugged. He also is highly nonverbal for a five-year-old."

Chan nodded before realizing that the Doctor was questioning them.

"Doctor Park, Seungmin is a foster kid, and he came from a very bad situation. He's been staying with us for a few less than a week."

Minho decided to jump into the conversation. "We have been feeding him three times a day, lots of protein, fruits, and trying veggies. We make sure he drinks milk before bed as well." He added helpfully.

Doctor Park nodded. "I see. Well keep making sure he eats lots of protein and even some carbs would be helpful to put on some of that weight back on." The three nodded.

"I also will say because of his physical state, he is more prone to sleep. Let him, the rest will help
with his recovery." Doctor Park advised, his tone softening slightly.

Once again they nodded in unison bowing when the Doctor excused himself.

Chan left the room to go sign the boy out, and Minho went to pick up the boy but Changbin stopped him.

"I-I can do it." Minho just nodded letting the younger pick up the sleeping boy gently.

With the weather now beginning to bite at their skin, Minho slipped off his jacket putting it on the boy as they walked out of the room.

The drive home was silent, Seungmin sleeping through the trip.

Once inside their home Felix, Jisung, and Jeongin were sitting on the couch, Chan having updated them on the situation earlier.

"Is he okay?" Jeongin was the first to get to them, his voice quivered though he tried to hide it.

"He will be, he's just very tired now," Chan responded.

Minho noticed an absence and asked, "Where's Hyunjin?" It was Felix who responded.

"He's just now on his way, his boss called a meeting that he couldn't get out of."

Changbin left the room, the boy still in his arms, and made his way to his bedroom.

He laid the boy down in his bed giving him a pillow to curl around and laying the thick comforter over his small frame.

He sat there for a minute watching the boy when there was a soft tap against the door. Jisung popped his head in.

"Hey, we're having a family meeting." Changbin nodded his eyes never leaving the kid. But then he rose and headed to the living room. Jisung slid his hand into Changbin's in a comforting act.

Chapter Text

There in the living room, the seven men made themselves comfortable though the silence they sat in was anything but.

The silence was broken when Hyunjin who had gotten home recently gently lifted Changbin's chin and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips.

“You did good baby, it’s not your fault.” Changbin felt the tears pooling in his eyes again at the gentle tone and love his boyfriend showed him.

"I was such an asshole, and he's just a kid and-" his sentence was stopped by lips on his once more.

This time It was Minho.

"Enough thinking about it sweetheart. You can't change the past, you can only make it up in the future." Minho's comforting words were followed up by a snort.

"Since when did you become a philosopher?" Jeongin said, a teasing lilt in his voice. He received a pillow thrown at his head at the remark.

It didn't stop their youngest from giggling the entire time.

Though the room was not as tense as it was when they all entered, the calm was broken by Felix asking in a small voice, "What are we going to do?"

There was silence.

"As much as we all dislike it, we do have to send the kid back." Minho always the reason of logic spoke softly from where he sat on the couch holding Hyunjin's hand.

The atmosphere in the room shifted, heavy with the weight of the decision ahead. Changbin's heart sank as Minho's words settled in. The idea of sending Seungmin back to where he came from felt like a betrayal, yet the reality of their situation pressed down on them.

Chan sighed, rubbing his temples. "We can't just keep him here indefinitely. As much as we want to protect him, there are legalities to consider."

Jeongin leaned his head on Jisung's shoulder. "But can't we do something? Find a way to keep him with us legally?"

Felix shook his head, his expression troubled. "It's not that simple. We're not licensed foster parents, and the process to become one takes time. Plus, we don't even know if that's what Seungmin wants."

Jisung interjected, his voice firm. "We need to prioritize Seungmin's wants above all else. If he's better off with us, we need to find a way to make it happen."

Jeongin nodded in agreement. "But what if he wants to go back? What if he's scared of staying here?"

The room fell into a thoughtful silence as they considered Jeongin's words. The idea of Seungmin being afraid to stay with them tugged at their hearts.

They were definitely jumping the gun here in the way that they would just assume that's what would be good for them and Seungmin. For fuck's sake he had only been here for a day in a half!

Changbin spoke up, his voice hesitant. "We need to talk to him. We need to understand what he wants and how he feels."

Most of them had given their opinion, all except Chan. The oldest sat there, looking hella guilty.

Felix narrowed his eyes at him. "Hey Channie, do you have something you want to tell us?"

The man visibly stiffened at being called out, and his cheeks and ears flushed red.

"Ah, well, I might or might not have already signed up for a fostering license and taken my first class this morning before you guys were up and maybe we could foster him in a month." Chan sped through each word, making the others struggle to keep up.

"WHAT?" Jisung yelled. Felix reached over slamming his hand over the boy's mouth in an attempt to stop the ruckus he was sure to continue making.

"SHH! You'll wake the baby!" Hyunjin scolded.

Minho fixed his feline-like eyes on his only Hyung.

"Chan, why didn't you tell us about it?" Chan averted his eyes to his lap.

"I'm sorry, I just wasn’t sure if it would work. And Changbin still didn't like the idea, and it was all impulsive and I'm sorry." They all visibly softened at this confession.

They were all too aware of the insecurities that their boyfriend faced and knew that he truly would feel guilty for a long while, trying his best to make it up to them.

Hyunjin shifted on the couch pulling Chan into a hug and tucking him under his chin, for as much as the older would refuse he loved being treated like he was small and loved.

"Ah Chan, you and your big heart."

"Hey Hyung? How are we able to foster in a month?" Jeongin piped up.

Chan lifted his head but didn't remove himself from his boyfriend's embrace.

"Oh well, usually it takes three to six months, but in emergencies, it could be one month." it was as if Chan had told them they had won the lottery, their faces lit up with joy and hope.

But this was so much better than the lottery.

Just as the question of what to do with the boy in the meantime came up soft footsteps were coming from down the hallway.

They all grew quiet and watched as the little boy came tottering into the living and right up to Chan.

They all held their breath, waiting. For what they weren't sure.

Then Seungmin stuck his arms out, a silent show of wanting to be held.

Chan cooed and picked the boy up letting him nuzzle his head into his neck and lay there comfortably.

"I think I might die from cuteness overload," Minho whispered, and they all quietly giggled.

"Hey, who wants to help make lunch?" Felix asked and all of the empty-handed boys offered.

One by one they all filed into the kitchen to prepare something.

Chan held Seungmin close, his heart swelling with affection for the little boy.

"You're such a sweetheart, Seungmin," he murmured softly, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Seungmin's head.

Seungmin shifted slightly, his eyes fluttering open to reveal a mixture of innocence and uncertainty.

"Channie?" Came Seungmin's gentle voice.

"Yes, angel?" Chan replied just as softly.

"You guys keep me?" Seungmin's speech was broken, but Chan understood.

"Do you want us to keep you?" The little boy nodded, and Chan felt as if he was the luckiest man in the world.

"Then yes baby, we'll keep you." And Seungmin smiled, and big genuine smile that left the elder's hearts aching.

Before long Changbin was back to announce that lunch was ready, and Chan carried the boy into the kitchen.

Changin walked behind them and saw Seungmin watching over Chan's shoulder, watching him.

Changbin waved, unsure of what else to do. And thank everything that lives and breathes the sweet kid waved back.

Changbin knew if Seungmin didn't wave to him he would've gone off crying like a kid.

Seungmin still preferred to be fed by Minho, his insistent "Min p'ease," and making grabby hands for the raven-haired man.

He swept the boy from Chan's arms and sat him in his lap feeding him his food bite by bite.

He didn't go down for a nap after, they decided to take him outside for a small walk, figuring that fresh air would do him good.

In the end, it was Chan, Hyunjin, Felix, and Jisung that went. Minho had an afternoon class, Changbin a personal training session, and Jeongin wanted to go to the gym because "watching Hyung in a tank top teach guys how to lift weights is hot."

Chan went because, despite the fact that he really needed to finish the song he was working on, he was too paranoid to take his eyes off Seungmin while out in public.

Seungmin wasn't able to walk for very long, and Hyunjin was more than happy to carry the boy on his shoulders.

Seungmin giggled at the height and the way that the blonde weaved back and forth between his three boyfriends making plane noises.

"PCH, this is Captain Seungmin, requesting permission to land," Hyunjin announced dramatically, his voice filled with mock seriousness.

"Roger that, Captain Seungmin. You are clear for landing," Jisung replied with equal enthusiasm, playing along with the charade.

Seungmin giggled with delight, clutching onto Hyunjin's hair as if it were the handles of an actual plane. "Fast, fast!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Roger that, Captain Seungmin! Hold on tight, we're about to break the sound barrier!" Hyunjin exclaimed, picking up the pace and pretending to steer through imaginary clouds.

The trio continued their playful banter, rushing down the streets with Seungmin's laughter serving as the soundtrack to their walk.

People passing couldn't help but smile at the sight of the group as if there wasn't a care in the world.

Felix held Chan's hand the whole time as if the Aussie could read his mind and tell he was questioning everything that could go wrong.

As they made their way back home, Seungmin's cheeks flushed with excitement, he snuggled closer to Hyunjin, his trust in the men growing stronger with each passing moment.

Once they made it back to the house Chan felt as If he could breathe again, and pressed a gentle and shy kiss to the younger blonde's lips in a quiet appreciation.

Then Felix gasped.

"Seungmin I almost forgot!" He rushed off to his bedroom and returned with a bag in his hands.

"Hey Minnie, I got you a surprise!" Seungmin's eyes lit up with that childhood-like wonder he always lacked.

"Suhpwize for me?" Jisung loudly cooed at his words and Hyunjin gently tugged on his ear, before giving it a gentle kiss whispering for him to stop being a menace.

Felix kneeled in front of the kid and placed the bag in front of him. "Here open it."

Seungmin opened the bag and peeked in, before reaching down and pulling out a bright red firetruck.

"Fiuhtwuck!" And as adorable as it is, Felix knew they really needed to work with this kid on his "R" sounds.

Seungmin pulled out another car, but this time he froze.

And then threw it. "NO! BAD!" Seungmin screamed at the car that skidded across the floor.

"Woah, baby! You can't throw things like that, you could hurt somebody." Felix tried to gently reprimand him without freaking the kid out.

Seungmin looked at him tearfully. "S' bad." Felix nodded at that.

"Yes, and I understand that you don't like something, and you can tell me. But you can't throw things okay?"

Seungmin nodded before taking the fire truck in his arms walking over to where Jisung was and climbing into his lap.

"Chan grabbed the car and knelt down by his blonde boyfriend.

"Did it hit you at all?" The younger shook his head. "No, it didn't hit me. But well we definitely know he doesn't like cop cars."

Chan seemed deep in thought muttering a "or cops" before turning to the other.

"Remember his first night when he freaked out over the idea of calling the cops?"

The blonde's eyes widened. "Oh my God, I'm an idiot!" Felix groaned and stuffed the toy back into the bag and decided to give the boy his other toys later.

Why Firefighters but not cops? Most kids love cops.

Chan pondered before he was broken away from his thought by a giggle from Seungmin as Jisung gently tickled him.

Chapter Text

 Seungmin liked the firetruck, and he spent a long time sitting on the living room floor rolling it back and forth silently.

 At some point, Mister Changbin and Innie got back from wherever they were, and quickly ran to one of the bedrooms, coming out later with red cheeks and smiles. 

He was aware of the others sitting there quietly talking amongst themselves, but couldn't understand what they were saying so he tuned them out. 

Changbin glanced over at the boy, a fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

 He marveled at Seungmin's ability to find joy in the simplest of things, admiring the way he approached the firetruck with such innocence and wonder.

Hyunjin leaned in closer to Chan, his voice barely above a whisper. "He seems so at peace when he's playing like that."

Chan nodded in agreement, his gaze fixed on Seungmin. "It's like he's in his own little world, completely unaware of everything else around him."

After a while, Chan offered to make dinner and Hyunjin followed, leaving Changbin alone with the boy. 

Seungmin looked up at the others left and watched the man before going back to his toy. 

Changbin was hesitant to try and interact with the boy because of their earlier experience, and truly he didn't want to fuck it up more than he already had.

He wanted to do something though, maybe he could talk to him? Offer to play with him, or draw with him?

‘Ah fuck it.’

Changbin gently walked over and knelt down, asking if he could play with him, when the front door opened, and Minho walked in.

Seungmin snapped his head up at the sound of someone entering the room.

Upon seeing the older male that he truly liked smiling softly at him, he stuck his hands up, his silent way of asking to be held.

Minho strode over and swooped down to pick up the boy into his arms and spun them around.

And Changbin was left there feeling like an idiot for even trying.

"Hi, my baby! I missed you while I was gone." Seungmin giggled and mumbled something that was inaudible to Changbin.

"What the hell?" Changbin was floored, never in his four years of dating these boys had he ever seen Minho treat them as sweet as he just treated that boy. 

Well maybe Chan, he was always soft for him.

Minho shot a glare over at his younger boyfriend. "Watch your language in front of the kid Bin." 

 Said man continued ignoring the other. "You've never treated us like that!" Minho smirked.

"Well if any of you were half as sweet and cute as little Minnie, maybe I would." Seungmin laid his head on Minho's shoulder and Minho turned his attention back to him.

Changbin felt his stomach twist with jealousy. He wanted Seungmin to look at him with as much love and adoration as he did with Minho.

"Oh, my poor little bee must be so hungry!" Minho whisked away to the kitchen where despite dinner being made, he ordered Jisung to go get some mochi.

Chan sighed at this. "Min, mochi will spoil his appetite for dinner." Minho bristled at the comment.

"No, it won't, I will still feed him his dinner. Besides he's never had any, you really want to take the experience away from him?"

Hyunjin watched on amused. Knowing that Seungmin had missed so much in life, had already made Chan cry more than once, so it was a dirty trick to pull. But it worked.

Jisung bounded over to where Minho sat at the table and placed the mochi in front of the pair.

"Here you go, my babies!" Before Jisung was able to move away Minho grabbed his shirt pulling him back down and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you Sungie." The man flushed grinning wide, when he felt a gentle tentative kiss on his cheek.

 "T'ank you Sungie." Seungmin was much more worried now, his eyes falling down to his fingers where they twisted themselves around each other. 

 What if he shouldn't have done that?

Jisung thought he might die.

He cupped the little boy's face pulling it up and pressing a sweet kiss on his forehead.

"You're so welcome sweetheart." 

Seungmin became more shy than nervous and he giggled hiding his face back into Minho's neck.

Jisung turned around bounding over to Hyunjin to loudly announce that HE was Seungmin's favorite and HE got a cheek kiss that no one else had.

As Jisung made his triumphant declaration, Hyunjin chuckled and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Sure, sure, Sungie, whatever you say." Choosing not to point out that Seungmin usually gravitated toward Chan or Minho.

Chan glanced over at the playful exchange with a fond smile, his heart warmed by the bond forming between Jisung and Seungmin. It was moments like these that reminded him of the joy and laughter that Seungmin brought into their lives so quickly with a force no one knew was possible.

Meanwhile, Changbin sat quietly, feeling a twinge of envy at the easy affection the others displayed towards Seungmin with the boy willing to accept it. He couldn't help but wonder why Seungmin seemed to gravitate towards Minho more than anyone else. Was it something about Minho's demeanor? His warmth and kindness? Or was it because of the fact that he was the one who had found the boy?

Lost in his thoughts, Changbin barely noticed when Felix entered the room, a small smile tugging at his lips as he took in the scene before him. "What's going on here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Minho feeding Seungmin mochi.

Minho smiled up at him, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just bonding with our little Seungmin," he replied, popping a piece of mochi into Seungmin's mouth. "Want some?"

Felix chuckled and shook his head. "No thanks, I'll pass. I'm just surprised to see you spoiling him like this."

Minho shrugged nonchalantly. "He deserves it. Plus, he's just so cute," he said, nuzzling Seungmin's cheek affectionately.

Felix chuckled again, unable to resist the infectious warmth radiating from the pair. "Well, just make sure he eats his dinner too. We don't want him getting a stomachache from all that sugar."

Minho rolled his eyes playfully. "Okay, Mom Felix." he teased, earning a giggle from Seungmin.

As Minho continued to feed Seungmin bits of mochi, Changbin couldn't shake the feeling of failure that gnawed at him. He wanted to be the one to make Seungmin laugh and smile like that, to earn his trust and affection. 

He once again was startled out of his thoughts, but this time by the feeling of hands wrapping around his waist. 

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours hm?" Chan whispered in his ear causing a shiver to run through the younger and goosebumps to raise on his arms. 

"Nothing." was the curt response he gave, guilt eating at him at his tone that the older didn't deserve. 

Chan clearly didn't like his answer, nipping his earlobe in retaliation. 

"I've known you too long for you to be able to lie to me, Binnie." Changbin sighed knowing the other was right. 

"I just want him to like me too. I know it's my fault that he doesn't," Changbin felt a kiss against his neck and it brought tears to his eyes. "I just wish I had done things differently." 

Then there was silence, everyone watching as Seungmin slipped down from Minho's lap and crossed the room. 

And there in front of Changbin stood tiny Seungmin, gesturing for the older to lean down. 

Changbin knelt down to be on the same level as the boy and Seungmin reached his hand up and wiped away a tear that had fallen. 

"Binnie no be sad." he held out a piece of mochi to the older. "This makes me happy, make you happy too." 

Changbin took the piece and couldn't help the smile or the tears on his face as he thanked the young boy. 

Seungmin turned around and this time stuck out his hands to be held by Hyunjin which the man was happy to comply. 

"See Bin, everything takes time. You didn’t fuck it up." Chan cupped the man's face in his hands, his thumbs rubbing away those pesky tears. 

"Now come on, help me set the table for dinner." Chan walked back over to the stove and Felix crept up beside Changbin. 

"How about you paint with me later?" Changbin turned to look at the younger confusion written all over his face. 

Felix leaned in to whisper, "You can paint the back of my throat." Changbin inhaled sharp enough that he began coughing on air and Felix just laughed manically while Jisung told them to get a room. 

Innie stumbled out of his room from a nap, his hair sticking up in weird places that made Seungmin giggle. Which made the teasing comments from his boyfriend worth it. 

Dinner went without a hitch, Seungmin opting to sit with Minho again, while the older spoiled him rotten by feeding him every bite. 

Eventually, though, Seungmin got bored from sitting there listening to adult conversation, and he slid off the man's lap again and made his way to the living room. 

"I'll follow him." Felix volunteered having already finished his food and stood up, kissing Chan as a thank you for the meal and heading toward where their kiddo was.

Once there he saw the little boy sitting on the floor, his attention captured by the colorful array of crayons spread out before him. Felix smiled, his heart swelling with affection for the sweet child.

"Hey there, Seungmin," Felix greeted softly, crouching down beside him. "What are you drawing?"

Seungmin glanced up at Felix, a shy smile gracing his lips. "Draw doggie," he replied, holding up a crayon sketch of a lopsided dog with big floppy ears.

Felix chuckled, admiring Seungmin's artistic efforts. "Well little dove, that's just a picture of you," he teased, his eyes sparkling with genuine delight.

Seungmin giggled that soft sound of his that made their hearts sore with love. 

"M'not a puppy, M'little boy." Felix placed a kiss on his head. "I must have gotten confused little pup." 

Felix smiled and could see Seungmin eyeing the paper.  "Do you want to draw some more?"

Seungmin nodded eagerly, his eyes lighting up with excitement. Felix grabbed a blank sheet of paper and handed it to Seungmin, watching as the boy eagerly picked up a crayon and began to draw.

For the next twenty minutes, Felix sat beside Seungmin, marveling at the child's creativity as he filled the page with colorful doodles and sketches. Seungmin drew everything from animals to airplanes, and Felix drew his own picture, a silly little picture of them as stick figures. 

Seungmin put the piece he had just finished underneath his other work, Felix not having a chance to look at it before the young boy climbed into Felix's lap.

"Sleepy Lixie." Seungmin yawned through his words. Felix just watched him with love in his eyes.

"Okay baby, let's get you to bed then hm?"

He carried him to the kitchen where the others had cleaned up from dinner and were sharing a cup of tea.

"I have plans with Bin tonight," Felix said with a cheeky grin. "Who wants our little angel tonight?" Five hands shot into the air instantly and it ended with them playing rock, paper, scissors.

Hyunjin had a silent victory as he beat Jisung his last opponent in their game before standing to cross the room and grab the baby from Felix's arms.

Chan crossed the room to where the blonde was and brushed Seungmin's hair away from his eyes, watching fondly as the boy had his eyes closed, his little rosy lips gently parted letting him take his precious breaths. 

"He should take a bath," Chan said gently.

 "Oh come on Hyung, the baby is so tired," Hyunjin whined.

"Yeah Hyung, stop being a mother hen and let Jinnie take care of him." Jisung pulled Chan around to face him, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him into a searing kiss.

It seemed to work for a moment, Chan having stopped fretting over Seungmin, before he was pulling back, another protest on his lips.

Minho and Jeongin seemed to catch onto what Jisung was attempting to accomplish and approached the duo with sweet words and distracting touches of their own.

"Come on Channie, let us take care of you. It's been so long hm?" Minho slid his hand into Chan's dark curls and gave a gentle tug.

The action caused Chan's breath to hitch and he let out a gentle whine. "Min, please." This was all Jeongin needed to swoop the eldest off his feet as if he weighed nothing and carry him into a different bedroom.

Hyunjin watched the three leave before he paused. "Three?"

He turned back to see Jisung standing there a grin on his face and hands clasped behind his back. 

"See I got rid of Channie-Hyung and everyone else! Now I get time with you and Minnie!" Hyunjin couldn't stop the laugh that tumbled past his lips.

"Ah Hannie, always causing trouble."

They walked into Hyunjin's room, the only one still available and said man went to go grab the set of pajamas that were bought for the kid.

Han sat on the edge of the bed where the boy was laid and he ran his hand through his fluffy hair. Seungmin seemed to like the comforting touches, and they were all more than willing to give it.

Just as he began to wonder where his older boyfriend had run off to, the door opened, and in came a flushed Hyunjin, his lips swollen and eyes slightly glossy.

"Aish what the hell. If you were gonna get down and dirty you should've told me so I could've grabbed the clothes."

Hyunjin just smiled and kissed him in an apology.

Before long the three were laid back in bed, Seungmin between the both of them as he curled up into Hyunjin's side.

They chatted about the boy, the future, and what it would be like if they could keep Seungmin forever.

They fell asleep with smiles on their faces, and their hearts full. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Come morning there was a buzz in the air as all of the men got up and dressed to go shopping.

Seungmin woke up alone again, something that made a pout form and stupid tears spring to his eyes.

'Stop being dumb Minnie, they're allowed to not stay with you. ' 

Seungmin knew that they didn't have to stay, but he wanted them to. He liked waking up in their arms.

He threw off his covers and jumped off the bed. He made his way towards the door when it opened revealing a wide-awake Jeongin smiling at him.

"Well look at you already up. Do you want to go brush your teeth and get changed for breakfast?" Jeongin picked up the boy and he nodded.

Seungmin was sat on the bathroom counter as he was given his toothbrush and he began to sleepily do just that.

"Want to know what we're going to do today?" Innie asked excitedly.

Seungmin nodded and blinked owlishly at him.

"Well, we're all going to go to some stores and get you things! We're going to get you lots of new clothes, and toys, and then we're even going to go out to lunch and get some yummy food!" Innie smiled at him, his eyes almost disappearing.

Seungmin was confused. "Me?" He took out his toothbrush, pointing at himself just so the other would understand.

Because Mister Sim never got him new things, all of his shirts, pants, socks, and even underwear had holes in them.

Jeongin nodded gently saying, "Yep all for you little firefly."

And Seungmin couldn't stop the tears that fell or the cries that came from his mouth.

"No, no, no, Minnie too bad!" Jeongin snapped into action bringing him into his arms and kissing his head.

"No baby, Minnie is perfect, and he deserves all of the good things." Seungmin tried to shake his head but the older one stopped him.

"No baby you don't get to say no. You're so good, and we're getting you all these things because you need them, and you don't have to do anything for it."

Seungmin didn't understand. What did he mean he didn't have to do anything for them?

"You deserve a castle, and three whole parks just for yourself. And your own farm full of all the animals you want hm?" 

 Seungmin laughed at that, leaning up to look at the older man.

Jeongin was smiling, and he kept talking. "And you also deserve your own ice cream shop."

this pulled another smile from the boy.

"We can make Sungie run it, that would be funny huh?" Jeongin grinned when a genuine smile spread over Seungmin's face.

"He would complain," Seungmin whispered.

And Innie laughed as well. "He would, very loudly." He wiped the remaining tears from the kids face.

There was a knock on the open bathroom door that pulled the two away from their talk.

"Everything okay in here?" It was Chan.

Seungmin noticed that the man didn't look tired anymore. The dark purple under his eyes was a lot lighter.

"Yep Hyung, we're just about to get dressed!" The man nodded kissing them both on the side of their head before leaving. 

They exited the bathroom heading toward the room with Seungmin's clothes. 

They entered the kitchen shortly after and saw all six of the others sitting there already eating. 

 The kid was passed to Minho to be fed, to which Chan huffed rolling his eyes and telling Minho he was spoiling him rotten. 

It was a feat getting them all in the van they had for all seven of them, but before long they took off. 

As the van pulled out of the driveway, Seungmin gazed out of the window, his mind still processing the morning's events. 

He couldn't believe that they were going shopping just for him, to get him new clothes, toys, and even food. It felt like a dream, one he was afraid to wake up from.

Felix sat beside him, holding his hand comfortingly as they drove through the bustling city streets. "Are you excited, Minnie?" he asked, his voice filled with warmth and affection.

Seungmin nodded eagerly, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy…..this cared for.

As they arrived at the first store, Seungmin's eyes widened in amazement at the sight of racks upon racks of colorful clothes and shelves filled with shoes, socks and underwear and they even had their own section for hats!

Chan led him through the aisles, picking out shirts, pants, socks, and underwear, each item more colorful and vibrant than the last. Seungmin couldn't contain his excitement as the older held up each piece, asking him what he thought of them, all Seungmin could do was nod, too overwhelmed to try and decide. 

"Wow, you look so handsome, Minnie!" Chan exclaimed, his eyes shining with pride as he helped Seungmin try on his new clothes.

The other men went from aisle to aisle picking out everything and anything they thought was cute or would be comfy for the boy. 

They weren't concerned about money, Chan, Changbin, and Jisung being extremely successfull producers with Jeongin as their singer, Minho and Felix owning their own dance studio that they loved, and Hyunjin an extremely popular artist in Seoul. 

To say they had the money was an understatement. 

Though Chan still fretted when they tossed clothes upon clothes into the cart. 

"Guy's he should be growing soon, I don't think we should get this much." Chan watched worriedly before Felix came kissing away the worry and telling him they could donate it when he did grow out of it. 

The thought of being able to help other kids made Chan shut up on his protest. 

Seungmin cried again at all of it. It was silent tears and Minho kissed them all away, reassuring his need for the clothes. 

Then came the next store. A toy store. 

This time it was Chan who ran off with his other five boyfriends, leaving Changbin with Seungmin in the cart. 

"Hey Seungmin, what's your favorite type of toy?" Changbin questioned. 

Seungmin just shrugged. "I don' know." Changbin nodded at this before pushing the cart down the aisle with stuffed animals. 

"Well I have this teddy bear that I love, I had it when I was a kid and it was my favorite toy." Seungmin looked at the man in awe, not thinking that this big scary/nice man would have a stuffed toy. 

"Would you like one of your own?" Seungmin nodded his head fast. 

Down the aisle with the stuffed toys it didn't take long before Seungmin stared at the plush dog, its long brown ears, and its eyes that had a white spot over one, and his nose a pretty pink. 

Changbin huffed fondly. "Do you like that one Minnie?" Once again the boy nodded and Changbin pulled it from the shelf. 

Seungmin held it as if it would break, gently running his fingers over the fur. 

The moment was broken by Chan dumping an armful of kids' things into the cart, grinning sheepishly. 

"Sorry." The others rounded the corner their arms also full of things. Changbin and Jisung found all the musical instruments they could, while Hyunjin picked out every art-related thing he could find. 

Felix and Minho came back with stuffed animals of their own. A wolf, bunny, pig, Ferret, squirrel, chick, and a fox. 

They were smaller, not as big as the one that Seungmin held but he watched them be dumped into the cart as well. 

And then they were leaving once again, each of them with bags in their arms, Seungmin walking this time, his hand clasped into Jisung's. 

On the way home they stopped to get lunch, and ice cream after. 

Seungmin fell asleep in Chan's lap on the way home, his stuffed dog clutched in his arms. 

When they had asked what Seungmin named the puppy he had proudly said, "Minji!" 

Chapter Text

Once back home from their shopping trip, they all quietly entered the house, toeing off their shoes and setting down the bags to be put away later. Chan passed Seungmin to Jeongin who went to put him down for a nap.

They had all decided to sit down and come up with a proper schedule for watching the kid, though when Jeongin came back into the kitchen with the boy still in his arms, they looked at him in confusion.

"He wouldn't let go." He explained. They all quietly cooed, and then made room for their youngest boyfriend to sit, Seungmin still in his arms, face nestled into his shoulder and breathing deep.

Hyunjin laid out a piece of paper, and they all began to think of their daily schedules.

"Well, I have classes from six am to two pm, Monday Thursday, and Friday. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I'm done at twelve though." Minho began.

Felix nodded going next. "I teach the evening classes as we all know, so I start from two pm till eight on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But on Tuesdays and Fridays, I pick up where Min left off, and I teach till six.

Hyunjin nodded writing that down. "Well for me it depends on when I'm commissioned, or when I have to participate in art galleries." Everyone distractedly watched Hyunjin as he chewed on the end of the pencil he was using. "Though we have the basement where we have my mini art studio, so if I use that I'll basically always be around." Before anyone else could speak up Minho cupped Hyunjin by the back of his neck pulling him in for a kiss.

"You're so hot baby," Jeongin whispered not wanting to wake the kid. The older blonde flushed at the compliment before brushing him off telling the last four to give him their schedule.

"Well technically because of my laptop Bin, Sung and I can work from home." They all nodded in agreement.

"We could always throw up some soundproofing in Channie's office so Innie can record in there if need be?" Jisung offered. Chan nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love it if Innie could be around all the time!"

Jeongin rolled his eyes at Chan yet still leaned closer to his to press a gentle kiss against his lips too.

"So most of us can be home, and if most of us have to be out at least one person will be home all the time right?" Changbin asked. With all nods of agreement, it was settled.

The four would go to the studio on Wednesdays and Fridays at one and those would be any kind of recording days they had.

Once settled they turned on a new drama that Jisung and Hyunjin had been begging to watch. After a

while Seungmin was passed to
Felix, because Jeongin had to use the restroom. The room was quiet while everyone had curled up together on the couch the

TV has a soft sound in the background.

Chan definitely took a picture of Felix who had fallen asleep with Seungmin still curled up to his chest. It was something
the Chan set as his background immediately after.

Before long Minho was shaking the two awake, afraid that Seungmin would nap too long and get his days and nights mixed up.

Hyunjin and Changbin took Seungmin with some of his toys outside so he could get fresh air. He brought his toy trucks and cars and tucked under his arm was his stuffed dog Minji.

They played in the grass, enjoying the fresh air and the breeze that made Seungmin's face flush pink.

He looked alive. And though his extent of playing did not go beyond rolling the trucks back and forth, he seemed very content to do just that.

Changbin sat in the grass watching as his boyfriend quietly engaged with the kid, making him giggle softly every now and then.

It was risky, keeping the kid. But there wasn't much they could do. Changbin was man enough to admit that they were all whipped for this kid. Embarrassingly so.

And just because Changbin did like the kid didn't mean that his fear was gone. He knew something was going to blow up in his face eventually, he just wasn't sure when.

It was only when Seungmin whined at the cold and tried curling himself into a little ball that they decided to go in. Hyunjin kissed him on the head gently and apologized.

Hyunjin scooped all the trucks and cars into his arms, watching as Seungmin lifted his arms wanting to be held.

"Oh no baby, I just picked up all the toys." Hyunjin jutted his bottom lip out in a pout, before smiling a wicked grin.

"Binnie can hold you pumpkin!" Changbin froze, he hadn't held or directly talked to Seungmin since the accident two days ago. Seungmin turned to Changbin and looked at him with those puppy-like eyes and Changbin folded so fast.

"Come here bud." He leaned down making an exaggerated noise as he lifted the boy into his arms. Logically the kid just walked, but ever since he had been found running for who knows how long, they had all silently decided that if the boy wanted to be held then they would carry him everywhere.

Jeongin pointed out that the boy's love for being held probably came from a lack of physical affection throughout his life. That made Felix cry, going into the room the boy was sleeping in and curling him into his arms.

Back inside the house, Seungmin wanted to be let down, and though it made Changbin's heart hurt he let the boy down.

Seungmin began walking around the house, peering into cabinets and opening doors through the house checking out each bedroom and bathroom. Chan told them that he was just curious and to leave him be. He had gotten more comfortable in their home and now wanted to see it all.

Eventually, the boy came back and tugged on Jeongin's shirt asking for TV time. Jeongin couldn't say no to the boy.

Five minutes later the TV was playing, some kid shows in English that Minho sat struggling to understand.

That was how they found seven adults and one kid sitting on a couch watching Octonauts.

Too lazy to get up and cook, they ordered takeout for dinner.

After dinner was finished they looked to see that rain had begun to pour outside, basking the room house in the pitter-patter of the drops.

Seungmin furrowed his brows staring at his trucks that Hyunjin brought in for him.

He began to fuss in Felix's lap trying to push his way off. The older let the boy down and Seungmin walked around the living room looking behind his toy bin, the TV stand, and every nook and cranny he could think of. He walked back to Felix and pointed outside.

"Ou'side." Felix smiled at him saying, "Silly Minnie, it's raining and dark out there, you can't go outside right now!"

Seungmin huffed, repeating his earlier request. Felix just shook his head reiterating that it was raining.

Seungmin stopped his foot and turned around. He wasn't afraid of going outside, and if the older man wouldn’t take him out he'd go by himself.

There was a big hand grabbing Seungmin's wrist, stopping him from continuing his path to the back door. It was Chan. Seungmin looked at the man's face taking in the disappointment lying there.

"Seungmin sweetie, you heard Felix, you can't go outside you'll get sick." The kid did not like the look all of his caretakers were giving him, a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Minji n' me ou'side today!" Seungmin shouted, and he really didn't mean to but he had to make them understand!

Minho stepped him picking Seungmin up in his arms and setting him on the kitchen counter to be at the same height.

"Seungmin you do not yell at Channie Hyung. That's very rude and you need to apologize now." Seungmin couldn't stop the tears that welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

"NO!" There was another sigh this time from Jisung. "Minnie baby, how about we go take a bath?" Jeongin stepped up next catching on to what his older boyfriend was saying. "Yeah, that's kind of like the rain!" Seungmin began to cry louder shaking his head and shoving Minho's hands that were resting on his shoulders off of him.

"That's enough now Seungmin, you don't get to act like this." Everyone was shocked to hear that from Minho who had seemed to be the most easygoing with the kid. Seungmin was shocked too, he stopped trying to fight against the man and just pulled his legs close to his chest.

His tears began to fall silently and his body shook, from what they assumed was the cold of the kitchen and the cries that wracked through him.

"I don' wanna go ou'side." He mumbled quietly. "Minji ou'side" There was a quiet "oh my god" from Changbin before he jogged toward the backdoor throwing it open and running out into the dark.

Chan tried to call him back but the younger ignored him. After a minute or two Changbin ran back in, his clothes soaked from how heavy the storm was pouring. In his hand was a bunched up sopping-wet thing of fur.

"MINJI!" Seungmin tried to throw himself off the counter to go get his beloved stuffed animal but Jeongin caught him before he could hit the floor.

Seungmin squirmed until he was set down by the older and the boy ran as fast as he could to Changbin who was currently shedding his wet sweater.

Seungmin threw himself onto Changbin's leg, wrapping his arms around the man and hugging him.

Changbin knelt down and pulled the kid into a proper hug while Seungmin kept muttering quietly "thank you's" to him.

Changbin ran his hand up and down the boy's back and kissed his forehead.

As for his other boyfriends, they all stood there feeling like complete jerks. The way they talked to him was awful.

They didn't understand what he was saying, of course, they should've tried to figure out what the boy wanted instead of assuming he was just being misbehaved.

"We have no clue how to raise a kid guys," Chan whispered to the others and they all nodded their heads in agreement.

Jisung dragged Changbin to their bathroom to get him cleaned and into warm clothes, while Chan volunteered for bathtime for Seungmin, making sure to give him an apology for the way they talked to him. And of course, the sweetheart that Seungmin was, he accepted his apology giving Chan a cheek kiss to show his forgiveness.

Minho took it upon himself to clean and dry the boy's toy, trying to make sure that it wasn’t going to be ruined. He'd go to the store tonight if need be, to get a new one.

Felix read Seungmin a bedtime story, his deep voice always lulling his insomniac boyfriend to sleep when he needed it.

It had been long enough since Changbin ran into the rain to get his toy that Seungmin wondered if he would get it back. And as if reading his mind Minho stepped into the room, Minji in hand.

Seungmin watched as the man walked over to the bed and handed Seungmin his toy. He held it close to his chest taking a deep breath in as he laid his head on the dog's soft head, rubbing the ear over his cheek.

It smelled like all of his Hyungs, their fresh scent that all their clothes had bringing him a warmth over his chest and making him sleepy.

He turned to look and saw that Lixie was gone but Minho sat on the edge of the bed looking awfully weird.

"You gots a weird face on Min." Seungmin gently pointed out, making said man's ears burn red.

"Sweetheart, I wanted to apologize for how ti talked to you earlier. It wasn't fair of me to assume you were just being bad."

Seungmin was confused, why was he apologizing to him? In response, Seungmin climbed into Minho's lap, the older letting out a breath and pulling the younger in.

"I forgive you, Minnie," Seungmin mumbled pressing his ear to the older's heart to hear it beat steadily.

"Thank you, baby. We don't deserve you, my little angel." Minho ran a hand through the boy's hair humming a gentle tune.

Seungmin decided he really liked when Minho sang and thought to tell him so. He fell asleep before he could utter a word.

Before they knew it, a week and a half had passed with Seungmin in their care. They had each taken turns teaching him, starting with how to read and write. There were definitely tears during the process, but Seungmin was smart and tended to catch on quickly.

Seungmin had decided that he did not like writing all that much, it was hard. He liked math though! It was easy! If there were two pencils, and someone took one away there was only one left!

It was as simple as that.

He had gotten more comfortable asking for things, and his speech had improved a lot. Sentences becoming more structured.

Minho still refused to let the boy feed himself, even though when Minho wasn't there the kid did just fine doing the act himself.

Seungmin also loved going outside, he would take his favorite toys and go out back and play for hours if they'd let him. Jeongin had also set up a swing that hung from their tree in the backyard, more than happy to push the boy to his heart's content.

Jisung had become the boy's partner in crime. The older often liked to play pranks on his boyfriends and Seungmin was more than happy to help, giggling in mischief at the harmless acts.

Changbin and Hyunjin still loved to go with the boy while he played, Changbin often watching knowing that eventually the younger boy would come crawling into his lap for a nap.

Felix had taught Seungmin how to play a couple of video games, and though the boy wasn't great at them he still loved playing with the older.

It was a sunny afternoon, the leaves from the trees had long turned beautiful red, orange, and yellow. Changbin sat watching Seungmin run his trucks back and forth, making explosion noises and other various sounds while he played.

The older felt pride at hearing the noises, knowing he had come so far. He looked at the kid, his skin looked healthy, with no more dark circles or sunken cheeks. He had gained some weight too, no longer looking like a tiny skeleton.

They weren't perfect yet, there were still times when they all questioned if they could really do this. And Seungmin still freaked out sometimes. Certain situations would send him reeling back into memories of the past.

Sometimes the kid would still be scared to ask for things, like this afternoon. Chan, Changbin, Jisung, and Jeongin had to go into the studio, which left Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix who wouldn't return till later that evening.

Seungmin had been left to draw while Minho and Hyunjin had left the room. Minho stepped out to take a phone call and Hyunjin went to his art studio in the basement.

Seungmin had been trying to draw his picture of his old friend Minji and him back at Mister Sim's house, but he really couldn't ignore the rumbling in his stomach. It felt like a monster was clawing around and trying to eat him from the inside out.

He thought about trying to find Minho, but he didn't want to interrupt his call, and Jinnie was in the basement and he hadn't worked up the courage to go down there yet.

Besides, he had just eaten! He really shouldn't want more food. But yet the little monster in his stomach told him he HAD TO HAVE more food and NOW!

Seungmin quietly set down his things and tiptoed into the kitchen. He found the crackers that he really liked to eat for a snack and grabbed some. He ate them quietly at the table before he put the box back and cleaned his mess.

Back to the living room, he went sitting back down. It didn't take long before his stomach was growling again. He felt like crying.

He pulled his puppy into his lap. "Minji am I turning into a twash monstuh? I eat so much like a trash can." The dog didn't answer. He got up again and made his way back into the kitchen.

Fear gripped him this time, this was his fourth snack of the day, surely they were going to get mad at him! He found some strawberries and blueberries already prepped to eat in the fridge, and so he ate that too.

He grabbed a big cup of water and drank that too.

And back to drawing he went. His picture was finished now, and yet he had just eaten again he felt his stomach grumbled quietly.

He felt like crying.

Minho stepped back inside and smiled and Seungmin. "Hey Minnie, you ready for a snack sweetie?" said boy jumped up, nodding quickly.

Minho chuckled as he walked into the kitchen Seungmin following closely behind.

He sat at the table as Minho reached into the cabinet and pulled out the box that held the crackers, which were now mostly gone. He made a noise in contemplation before putting the mostly empty box on the counter.

Then reaching for the fridge pulling out the empty container that had earlier held the fruits that Seungmin ate.

Oops.

Minho narrowed his eyes before turning to face the kid.

"Seungmin sweetie, did you eat these earlier?" That question alone was enough to make Seungmin burst into tears.
Minho was taken aback and he crossed the kitchen to reach for the crying boy and kneeled down in front of his chair.

"I'm so hungwy all the time! I eated so much food but the monster in my tummy want mo'e!" Minho tried to piece together what the boy was saying before he understood.

"You've been really hungry baby boy?" Seungmin nodded clutching onto Minho's hand as if the elder would snatch it away from him.

Minho couldn't help but laugh. Standing up he picked the boy up and plopped them down in the chair.

"Oh Seungminnie, this is a good thing!" The boy stopped crying as much facing him with a look of confusion.

"It means you're growing!" Seungmin stopped crying, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

Minho fought the urge to cringe, filing the thought of teaching the boy to blow his nose later.

"G'owing?" Minho nodded. "You're getting bigger baby, so your little tummy is becoming a bigger tummy so it can give the food to your body so it can get bigger!" Minho booped Seungmin on the nose eliciting a giggle.

"Not a twash can monstuh?" Minho laughed gently, kindly. "No Minnie, you're not a trash monster. You're just a growing boy who needs more than light foods till dinner." Seungmin smiled a big toothy grin at Minho at the confirmation that he was in fact not turning into an all-eating monster.

"So how about we get you some good food that'll stick in your belly till dinner hm?" Seungmin nodded enthusiastically at that.

Seungmin began to talk, about what he wanted to draw next, (his trucks) and how when Felix got home he was gonna make him play Minecraft with him. And Changbin owed him a bubble bath when he got back too.

Minho just added commentary where he saw fit, letting the boy talk as much as he wanted, while he made him food.

Before long Seungmin was say with a bowl of steaming rice and meat and he ate it all groaning about a stomach ache.

"Min min, take a nap with me?" Seungmin asked giving him the puppy eyes he knew the older couldn’t refuse.

The boy said he couldn’t move, that he had eaten too much and had to be carried. Minho rolled his eyes fondly.

"C'mon, you little menace." Seungmin giggled again leaving a kiss on the older man's forehead like they often did to him.

"Thank you for the kiss angel. Now go to sleep and I'll wake you when it's almost time for dinner."

And rest he did.

Minh didn't want the boy to know how much it meant to him that he was so hungry. The fact that when they had found him he could hardly eat more than a couple bites without having a stomach ache, to now eating about as much as Jisung did was such an improvement.

He let himself shed a couple of tears before texting the group chat about what had happened. The responses were instantaneous, everyone shedding praise and tears (Felix) and then the unanimous agreement to go to the grocery store to find some snacks the boy could eat that would be more filling than what he had previously.

Minho fell asleep not long after and was woken by a pair of soft lips against his own. He opened his eyes to see Hyunjin standing over him Felix not far behind, holding Seungmin on his hip while the younger played with his hair.

"Hi, sleeping beauty," Hyunjin whispered against his mouth. The younger expected his boyfriend to shove him off and yelped in surprise when Minho pulled him back down on top of him into another searing kiss.

When they finally parted the blonde was blushing his lips a puffy pink. "Hi, Prince Charming."

The two got up and began preparing dinner for all eight of them. There was light conversation as they worked side by side and Seungmin helped cut veggies, his hand holding the knife while Felix held Seungmin's actually guiding the knife.

They packed dinner for their four other boyfriends, planning on taking it to the studio for them.

They got dressed, coats put on, and filed into Minho's car. The drive there was nice, music played over the speakers and the three men sang while Seungmin stared out the window at the fast-passing trees and other cars.

Once at the building, they shuffled in Seungmin being held by Minho, who was the least likely to be approached about the kid due to his somewhat standoffish aura.

This was the first time they had been out of the house other than walking around the neighborhood and the hospital visit.

They reached the studio and knocked gently.

The door swung open revealing Jeongin who grinned when he saw the other boys.

With a mischievous grin, he reached for Seungmin pulling him out of his boyfriend's arms and placing kisses all over the kid's face who laughed quietly.

"Yah Iyen-ah you're going to ignore your boyfriends who brought you dinner?" Minho teased.
Said man just stuck out his tongue pulling Seungmin dramatically closer to his chest and glaring. "My little dove is much more important than you are."

Chan sighed at this standing to take the containers for the others and giving them each a kiss whispering thank you to each one.

Jisung and Changbin did the same in greeting before they sat to eat. Seungmin was passed to Chan who would feed him bites of his food even though Seungmin had already eaten.

None of them pointed it out.

Tomorrow was Saturday, they were all off, and they were going to go grocery shopping to pick out Seungmin's favorite foods.

The three didn't want to go home without the rest of their family, so they all sat there on their phones or quietly watching the four singers work. Seungmin sat and watched some show on Chan's phone until he fell asleep in the later hours of the night.

It was nearing eleven pm when they finally packed it up and headed home. Changbin offered to take the kid off Felix's arms, who gladly accepted so he could hug Chan.

Something they learned was that Seungmin was a heavy sleeper now. Before he woke up at the quietest sound, which was extremely concerning, Though now when Seungmin was sleeping with one of them, he slept like the dead.

They made it home, and though Felix had begun to kiss Chan with more intent now, Chan was much too tired to try anything with him. They had made it to the studio at seven that morning, and the day had caught up with him quickly. So Chan let himself be kissed senseless and then drug to the shower to wash up.

The others quickly tapered off into their own rooms or each other's, and Changbin carried Seungmin to his, and with Minho's help, they changed his and together curled up with him in the middle falling into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning they all woke up slowly and once fully showered dressed and ready they piled into the van on their way to the store.

Once there Seungmin decided that he was a big boy and didn't want to be carried, he wanted to walk!

They let him, one of them holding his hand at all times.

They went through each aisle, asking the kid what he wanted, and putting it into the cart. Honestly, Seungmin was having so much fun despite the fact that shopping was a mundane task, the boys running around poking at him or lifting him high off the ground to reach things on the top shelf (despite the fact that Hyunjin could easily grab it) he would giggle at the act.

Chan tried his best to get them to settle down, pointing out that people were watching them. Jeongin loudly announced that if people cared they could shove it up their- Minho slapped a hand over his mouth.

Then came the ice cream aisle, something Seungmin was super excited about. They turned down the isle and Seungmin looked down it, his blood freezing and heart beating erratically.

There stood Mister Sim, staring right at him.

Somehow Chan had made the boys scatter leaving just the two of them in this isle.

The aisle was packed with people and Chan couldn't push his cart all the way down so he took the boy's hand and placed it on the cart's handle.

"Hey little peanut, I'm going to walk to that freezer right there, and then I'll be right back. Don’t go anywhere." He placed a kiss on the boy's head and briskly walked away.

The fact that it was Saturday clued Chan as to why it was so busy today. He tried to scooch by people, but there were too many, and he didn't happen to be the tallest.

It was less than a minute before he made it back to the cart, but then looked around.

Seungmin was gone.

"Seungmin?" He figured one of the boys came and just grabbed him, but he couldn't see any of them.

He heard them before he saw them, all six boys laughing and tumbling into the aisle.

All child-free.

"Where's Seungmin?" Chan gasped out. All eyes turned to him.

"He's gone?" Minho's voice was hard and angry.

Chan abandoned the cart running through the crowd of people looking for his kid.

He came up empty-handed.

Seungmin was gone.

Chapter Text

Chan pushed people stumbling his way through the aisle till he was at the end of it. His head swiveled back and forth erratically searching for his kid. And yet he saw none.

Changbin seemed frozen as he watched the rest of their group run off in different directions searching for the boy.

He felt the bile rising in his throat, the panic seizing his chest, and then his legs began to move on their own.

He made his way toward the front of the store hoping to call for someone’s help.

He made it to the middle where traffic began to move out of his way giving him weird looks.

And then he saw him.

Walking out of the store hand in hand with a man Changbin definitely had never seen before.

His body carried him faster than he had ever gone in his entire life and he shouted for Seungmin.

Seungmin watched as Chan let go of his hand and put it on the cart. Seungmin opened his mouth to tell him that there was the bad man and begged not to leave him, but Chan gave him a kiss on the head and walked away.

Mister Sim grew closer and closer and before he knew it, he was sitting right in front of Seungmin.

“Seungmin, it’s time to come home hm?” Mister Sim’s voice was enough to send a chill through him, and he shook his head no, glancing over to where Chan had left.

“Don’t make this harder on yourself than it’s already going to be boy.” Mister Sim’s cold eyes showed that there would be pain in the near future for him.

And despite Seungmin trying to find Chan or any of the other caretakers, there were none to be seen.

He knew there was no fighting it, the pain would be worse if he did.

He grabbed the hand that Mister Sim held extended towards him, and then they walked.

Through the aisle, and down through the store.

Seungmin could see the doors, they were so close. He wished he could've pulled his hand away, but the grip that Mister Sim had on his hand left it red and aching.

Seungmin heard feet running behind them, he turned just in time to see Changbin launch himself at his kidnapper.

The boy's hand was dropped at the impact and he took a step away from the two men who wrestled on the ground.

Seungmin let out a yelp as he felt hands under his arms and he was being pulled off the ground, and into arms.

"Shh honey, it's just me. Let's get you out of here." It was Jisung.

Jisung cradled Seungmin's head close to his chest and Felix draped a jacket over the boy so he would be less noticeable to passersby.

They crept out the door, no one noticing the two with all the commotion happening right then.

Once in the van Seungmin let himself cry.

It didn't take long before the door was opened again and Hyunjin slipped through, Minho climbing into the driver's seat.

"Where's Chan, Bin, and Innie?" Felix questioned, trying his best to console the crying boy.

"They'll figure their own way out. We've got to get this kid out of here before the police show up." Minho replied, stepping on the gas and speeding out of the parking lot.

Changbin didn't think before launching himself at the guy. Fuck whoever this dude was.

He could only see red as he swung hit after hit. He only stopped after he saw that Seungmin was gone, and Chan was pulling him off the other man.

Changbin saw the blood that poured from the other's face and he felt satisfaction flood his chest.

"Bin we've gotta go. NOW!" Chan called urgently.

None of them bothered to check and see if someone was helping him, or if someone had called the cops.  They ran out the doors and into the parking lot.

Minho was gone, which is what they wanted, but now they had no way of getting home.

They ran to the bus stop and only had to wait a few minutes before a bus showed up.

The three of them let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. And Jeongin grabbed Changbin's hand tsking at the bruises that covered his knuckles.

Changbin still had the adrenaline rush that came with beating the shit out of somebody, so with too much energy he began retelling exactly what happened to Jeongin.

Chan on the other hand? He was panicking.

He felt his chest tighten and his palms began to get clammy, bile rising with fear.

He felt Jeongin before he heard him.

Gentle hands ran up and down his arms trying to coax him back to earth.

"Hey baby, it's going to be okay, Min, Felix, Jinnie, and Sungie have our baby stop panicking.

"We're going to get arrested." Chan managed to croak out.

There was a kiss against the side of his head and he turned to see Changbin smiling softly at him.

"We will work through whatever happens."

Chan sighed exasperated. "It's going to look like WE stole his kid!" That made the younger two pause, because oh shit it did.

There were no more conversations then, only hands being held and worry passing their minds.

They made it to their stop and found that Minho had parked fairly close to where they got off.

Once in the van Chan was catching an armful of crying child.

"You left me! You told me you would neve' leave me!" Seungmin wailed into Chan's shoulder.

And this made Chan feel like shit. "I'm so so sorry baby, I never should've let you go. I promise it will never happen again."

it took a while to quiet the kid, but eventually, he was reduced to sniffles and stray tears.

Once back home the air was very solemn. Each of them is aware of the weight on them now.

They met in the living room to have a family meeting. Seungmin was now swaddled in a blanket in Chan's arms, neither ready to let the other go yet.

"They have no proof of identity right?" Hyunjin spoke first.

Felix sighed replying, "They have security cameras." Changbin was lost in thought before he spoke up.

"But won't they then see that we entered the store with the kid? The police will be able to side with us then right"

Before anyone else could speak up, Seungmin lifted his head with a frown.

"Mister Sim is a police." Everyone froze.

"That was Mister Sim?" Jisung whispered. To which the boy nodded.

"He a police." Seungmin reiterated. And Chan felt that pull of anxiety again.

"He's a cop. And that's why he never liked police officers!" Felix announced in case anyone was confused.

There was a sinking feeling in all of their stomachs. "He's got the upper hand here." Minho's voice was laced with anger.

"We need to figure out our next move," Hyunjin stated, his voice tinged with urgency. "If Mister Sim is a cop, he'll have resources at his disposal. We can't afford to underestimate him."

Changbin nodded, his jaw clenched with determination. "We need to stay one step ahead of him. But how?"

Felix's brow furrowed in thought. "We'll have to lay low for a while, make sure we're not being followed. And we need to come up with a plan to prove our innocence."

Jisung's voice piped up, quiet but resolute. "We need evidence. Something that proves Mister Sim is and was abusive."

Chan glanced down at Seungmin and remembered his body that was littered with scars, the newer ones had now healed and faded.

The boy was fast asleep which led him to quietly tell the others, "We need Seungmin to witness against him. If we can take it to court then we might have a fighting chance."

Minho's face contorted to one of anger. "I'm not taking my kid to court over this, we might not win and I will not lose him."

Some of the other boys agreed, and some did not. They were split.

"When it comes to the law, we have to do this right if we want to keep him," Chan said it quietly, not wanting to upset the other.

Minho scoffed. "Yeah, I'd rather just run off with the kid and not come back."

Chan felt his own anger now. "Min, we have to do it right." Before either was able to argue more Hyunjin cut in.

"This is not the time to argue. Tension is high and we need to keep our heads on."

And they both knew he was right.

"I'm going to make dinner," Minho stated, standing and leaving the room.

Chan passed Seungmin onto Felix, stating that he needed some time alone.

Jisung dragged Changbin in the bathroom to fix his wounds.

And the house was left eerily silent in their leave.

"Lixie? You going to give me back to Mister Sim?" Seungmin's eyes were glossy with unshed tears and a vulnerability that made Felix and Hyunjin ache.

"Of course not sweetheart. We won't let you go ever again."

Hyunjin shot Felix a glare, a silent warning. 'Don't make promises you can't keep.'

They spent the rest of their night in silence, Chan and Minho not speaking to each other. They needed to, had to sort things out. But they were both too stubborn.

Chan lay in his bed, unable to sleep. He knew the police would come, and technically when they found Seungmin they should've called the authorities. But they didn’t. Because Chan told them not to.

This was his fault. He would take the downfall for it. With this thought in mind, he was glad he had convinced Minho to take the caregiving classes with him, so he wasn’t learning alone.

Now when Chan was arrested for kidnapping, Minho could plead their case and become his caregiver.

Chan knew it was a long shot, with Sim being a cop it made their case a lot more difficult. It was hard to go to court against a cop, he had all the balls in his court. But they had Seungmin, and as long as the boy testified against Sim they might actually win.

No sleep was had that night, between many of the boys. Changbin had claimed Seungmin for the night, even though Minho protested. Chan was worried that Minho would take the kid and leave somewhere, which started another argument.

The next morning didn't seem to fare much better, Minho still glared and Chan, and the oldest just seemed tired, almost sad.

Breakfast was eaten in silence and it was driving Seungmin crazy.

'Why were they not talking? They got him back from Mister Sim, so what was wrong now?'

Seungmin sat in Minho's lap but twisted his body to be able to poke the older.

"Why's eve'yone sad?" He whispered to his Hyung. Minho placed a gentle kiss on Seungmin's forehead but it didn't deter him.

"We are just worried sweetheart." Seungmin was confused at that. "Why you wo'ied?"

There was apprehension between all the boys. And Minho began to speak, "Because-" Felix cut him off stealing away Seungmin's attention.

"Because you haven't shown me all of your drawings, and what they're about. It's made Lixie very sad!" Felix pouted and it made Seungmin giggle.

"No be sad Lixie, I show you!" Seungmin clambered down from Minho's lap and grabbed Felix's hand dragging him into the living room.

Once in the living room Seungmin pulled out all of his drawings and laid them out across the table and floor to show Felix.

Felix looked on at the art, noticing all of his boyfriends in some of the art, but one person didn't look like any of them.

"Who's that my little dove?" Seungmin looked to see who Felix was pointing at before a smile grew on his face.

"Oh, that's Minji!" Now Felix was slightly confused. "Your puppy?" To which their sassy little boy rolled his eyes.

"No silly Lixie my Minji is a toy. This Minji was my friend!"  Seungmin didn't give Felix the time to ask any more questions as he went into explaining what was happening in each paper.

In the kitchen Minho and Chan were back into a heated argument.

"Min, there is no way we're getting out of this one without consequences," Chan argued.

Minho just rolled his eyes. "We're going to fight for the kid, and if we don't get him we will run to Japan."

Chan had an incredulous look on his face now. "What are you on about? There'll be a warrant out for our arrest. Just let me handle it Minho." Said the younger man crossed the room and backed Chan against a counter. Though barely two inches taller, Chan still felt as if he was being towered over.

"Don't start that self-sacrificing bullshit again Chan." Minho grabbed Chan's shirt pulling himself closer.

"I'm still your Hyung Lee Know, and you cannot tell me what to do." Chan leveled his voice, the anger beginning to seep through the cracks.

"That's enough now!" Changbin grabbed Minho's arms pulling him off the oldest and pinning his arms in his own.

Jeongin stood next to Chan, not worried he would go after the younger but afraid he'd stomp off and do something stupid.

"Guys please stop fighting. We're supposed to be boyfriends, we're supposed to treat each other well." They both knew Jisung was right, yet regardless they were angry.

Both left going to their respective rooms.

The remaining four boys felt defeated. What were they supposed to do? Their two oldest were fighting like cats and dogs, and Seungmin was soon going to be taken from them.

Jisung plopped his head on the table with a thunk and groaned. "This sucks." Changbin, Hyunjin, and Jeongin hummed in agreement.

They were so fucked.

Chapter Text

Chan avoided leaving his bed, knowing what lay beyond the confines of the safe four-wall room he locked himself away in.

He knew Minho was going to throw punches if Chan told him his plan, but yet he knew there was no other option. Turning himself in would save his boyfriends from being arrested, and they could have a fighting chance of getting custody.

Chan sat up when he heard a soft knock come from the door. "Come in" He called.

Hyunjin gently opened the door closing it behind him. He climbed onto the bed crawling into Chan's lap.

"Hey Jinnie, you okay?" The blonde simply shook his head no from where it was pressed against his neck.

"I'm afraid our relationship isn't going to make it past this." The younger whispered. That made Chan freeze. He had never thought of that, they were all pretty split on what they should do, and if they proceeded with one plan and it failed they might not be able to pick up the broken pieces.

"Baby, I'm sure we'll make it out of this." Chan rubbed his hand up and down the man's back.

Chan was startled when Hyunjin abruptly sat up and spoke. "I don't think it will Channie! Minho is already so angry with you!" And yeah, Chan knew that but what was he to do?

"I know, I'll apologize to him this morning." Hyunjin sighed and shook his head. "That's not the solution."

Chan sighed, "I'm trying my best Jinnie, I really am."

Hyunjin pressed a gentle kiss against Chan's lips, then another and another until Chan was being pushed back onto the mattress.

Hyunjin progressed to leaving love bites all along Chan's neck, hands roaming all over Chan's now bare chest, his shirt having been pushed up.

"Jinnie, don't tease me please." Chan whined in a way that he would describe as "pathetic" but he was too turned on to care.

"Hush pup, who calls the shots here?" Hyunjin's hand came to tug on Chan's hair and twisted a nipple in the other.

"Y-ah, you do." Chan gasped out.

"Good boy." And Chan was at his mercy.

 Eventually, the younger gave Chan the release he needed, and Chan was left panting and blissed out.

"Thank you," Chan mumbled shyly, and in turn received a kiss.

"Of course Chan, I love you." They lay there for a little while longer till Jisung came barreling into the room.

"Almost breakfast time!" Jisung sang before taking notice of the bare skin and blanket covering their lower halves.

"Aw! You had fun without me?" Jisung pouted dramatically throwing himself onto their laps.

Hyunjin groaned and began pushing at his younger boyfriend. "Hannieeeee you're heavy!"

The brunette simply let out a long dramatic groan. "I never get to play with our puppy, you always get to!"

Chan blushed at the pet name and let out a whine of his own burying his head in Hyunjin's shoulder.

"Jisung stop making Hyung embarrassed." Hyunjin teasingly reprimanded, earning a smirk from Han.

Eventually, they showered and dressed, making their way to the kitchen.

There Chan saw Minho cooking, and they made eye contact for a moment before Chan averted his. There was a soft scoff and the eldest held back a flinch.

It was no secret that he hated conflict, always opting to take the blame, apologize, and move on. And so that's what he did.

"Hey, Min?" Chan called softly, approaching him. "I'm sorry for fighting with you." Minho stopped his movements, turning toward his older boyfriend.

"Apologizing doesn't fix shit, Chan." This time the brunette did flinch.

Chan sighed, "I'm trying to make peace here Min, please." Minho slammed his spatula down.

"You're not doing this shit again Chan, where you apologize and continue with your idea either way, ignoring what we want!" Minho was all but yelling, and a chair scraped as Felix carried Seungmin out back so as to not hear the argument. The others in the room decided to let things play out, choosing to not intervene until it was necessary. 

Now Chan was angry, he didn't get angry often but he felt his blood boil.

"I can do whatever the hell I want Minho, and you can't stop me." Chan sneered.

Minho got into Chan's space all but spitting venom with his words. "Who put you in charge of us hm?" Chan clenched his jaw.

Minho continued, "You can't even be in control in the bedroom, letting anyone do whatever they want to you. So what makes you think you're fit to call the shots in our relationship?"

"Hyung what the fuck? We don't bring sexual preferences into arguments!" Jeongin exclaimed.

"That's fucked Minho," Changbin mumbled.

Minho seemed to realize what he had said, but it was too late.

Chan shouldered past him heading for the front door.

"Chan! I'm sorry." Chan ignored the other, sliding into his shoes and slamming the door behind him.

Minho knew where to hit Chan's biggest insecurity, and boy did he.

Chan was determined to put an end to all of the arguments, and he headed to the police station.

Seungmin sat outside with Felix, confused. "Why' Min and Channie mad at each othe'w?"

Felix frowned. "Well my little lemon drop, sometimes daddy's and mommy's disagree about something and they get upset."

Seungmin nodded taking in the information. "So daddy and mommy are upset at each other?" the little boy questioned.

Felix smiled at the question. "Just for right now sweetie, they'll kiss and make up." The elder replied, not aware of Chan having already left.

Chan made it to the police station and was stopped by a nice lady sitting at a desk.

"How may I help you?" She asked.

Chan took a deep breath. "I need to speak with Officer Sim?" Chan didn't mean to phrase it as a question, but yet it was.

"May I ask who you are?" She knew there couldn't be much threat, as Chan had already made it through security squeaky clean.

"Mr. Bang Chan." He replied, not that Sim would know who he was.

She nodded telling him one moment before she stood walking toward an office with its blinds shuttered.

She returned after a few minutes, nodding in Chan's direction.

And so he crossed the old linoleum floor toward his biggest fear.

He entered the office and was shocked to find it was lit brightly, with pictures of what looked like Mr. Sim and his parents and brothers. He had plants scattered around the room, giving it a more warm atmosphere. Which shocked the younger.

The man himself seemed to be in his mid-forties, his hair a black that had begun to gray around the edges. He had purple and yellow bruises splattered across his face, a busted lip that was slowly healing, and a black eye to rival all others.

He secretly praised Changbin for the damage.

"Mr. Bang! Come in! Have a seat." The officer gestured for him to sit in the chair in front of his desk. Chan glanced at the nameplate sitting on the dark oak desk. It read: "Chief Sim Balguen."

'Well, shit.' Chan thought.

The other man finished signing a document, setting it aside to give his full attention to the newcomer.

"Now how may I help you today?" Chan clenched his jaw at the man's aloof attitude. "Do you know who I am?"

The man across from him smiled brightly. "Of course! How could I not know the friends babysitting my kid while I've been busy." Mr. Sim kept the smile plastered to his face, but something entered his eyes. Something darker.

"Seungmin doesn't want to go back to you," Chan replied coldly. The older man sighed before standing and making his way toward the door. There was a click as the Chief shut it.

"Mr. Bang, be reasonable. Kids don’t truly know what they want." Mr. Sim sat back down at his desk, fixing his tie.

Now the younger was mad. "You abused him!" Chan all but shouted at the other.

"Mr. Bang if you begin to cause a scene I will have you removed from my office," Balguen responded calmly.

Chan took a deep breath, not removing the glare he had set on the officer.

"Look Chan, I won't press charges to your boyfriend for beating the shit out of me at the store." There was a chill sent down his spine at the fact that Sim knew Changbin was his boyfriend.

What else did he know?

 Chan knew there was going to be a "but" to the rest of his statement, so he waited.

"If you quietly give me back my kid, we won't have to get nasty." Sim gave him his ultimatum.

"No. I won't be giving Seungmin back just so you can beat him at will again." Chan spat.

The chief of police gave a disappointed sigh. "I wish you'd have made this easier on me Chan, but you're the one forcing my hand."

Chan stood up abruptly. "You are a fucking disgusting pig, and I'm taking this to court." Chan's statement seemed to be the trigger that made Sim snap.

"I'm the chief of police, you think you'll win against me, kid?" Mr. Sim was standing now, hands splayed across the desk leaning forward.

The younger leaned closer as well. "You're not going to win, Seungmin is going to testify against you." Chan had thought this would cause panic, yet the older man threw his head back and laughed.

"You really think that I'm dumb enough to let that fucking kid just spill everything?" And now Chan was dumbfounded.

"What?" he managed to squeak out.

"He's an idiot, but he was easy to mold into what I wanted," Balguen said calmly a menacing smile spread across his face.

Chan felt like his tongue was lead, he couldn't move, or speak.

Balguen swung his hand as if brushing something away. "Besides, I'm the boy's last living family."

Chan's eyes widened.

"I'm his Uncle, you wouldn't take him away from his Uncle would you?" Mr. Sim smiled, almost innocently.

Chan felt as if he could throw up.

"Now Mr. Bang, please return my nephew to me by the end of the day, or I will be at your door to personally put you in handcuffs for kidnapping." Mr. Sim began shuffling around his papers as if they had finished their conversation.

Chan had no clue as to what he was going to do, but nonetheless, he stood and said, "This isn't over Sim, I'm not going to let this go till you're behind bars."

The police Chief paused, looking Chan straight in the eyes, there was no faux kindness this time, only ice-cold hatred. 

"I'd like to see you try kid."

Chapter Text

Chan left the station already pulling up the number for Child Protection services. It rang three times before a voice answered.

"Hello, this is Yeon-na with Child Protection Services, how may I help you?" Chan took a deep breath.

"Hello. I would like to report a case of abuse." Chan had no clue what to say, he was just going with what he thought made sense.

"Alright Sir, and can you tell me what's going on?" The lady asked already beginning to type something, the key clicking through the phone.

"Um, I am babysitting for….someone, and the kid is covered head to toe in scars," Chan explained, his voice wavering slightly.

“Alright, I need to gather some more information. Can you tell me the child’s name and approximate age?” Yeon-na continued typing.

"Uh yeah, his name is Kim Seungmin, and he is five years old," Chan responded, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Thank you. And who are the parents or guardians of this child?” Yeon-na asked.

"His guardian is named, Sim Balguen." The man responded quickly.

“Do you know the address where the child lives?” Yeon-na inquired, her tone void of emotion.

"Well, not his permanent address, but right now he's staying with me?" Chan stumbled through each word.

There was more typing. "And what is your address, Sir?" The woman asked.

Chan let out a breath, he could answer that. "It's 143, Case Street Seoul."

“Thank you. How did you come to notice these scars on the child? Can you describe the circumstances?” Yeon-na asked, probing gently but firmly.

“Well, I was babysitting, and when he changed his clothes, I saw the scars. They’re all over his body,” Chan explained, slightly twisting the truth.

“Have you spoken to the child about how he got these scars?” Yeon-na continued.

And Chan answered carefully. “He said his Uncle did it, but he seemed really scared to talk about it,” Chan added, feeling a lump form in his throat.

“Thank you for that information. Is the child currently in a safe place?” The woman asked, her voice focused.

“Yes, he’s with my roommates right now, and they're at my home,” Chan reassured her.

She gave a non-committal hum. “Okay, we’re going to send someone out to speak with you and the child first thing tomorrow morning,” Yeon-na informed him.

Chan let out a deep breath, his anxiety finally settling some in his chest. "Thank you so much."

They bid each other goodbye, and the man noticed that it had become mid-afternoon now.

Chan headed back home.

There he found the house silent once again.  He slipped off his shoes but was stopped by hands cupping his face.

"You dummy! Why would you run off like that!" it was Jeongin, worry etched into his face.

"I'm sorry Innie, I didn't mean to make you worry." Jeongin pressed a kiss to his eldest boyfriend's lips. "Don't do that again," he said gently flicking Chan's forehead.

"We need to have a family meeting right now," Chan told him. The younger nodded leaving to round up the rest of their family.

Seungmin was laid down for a nap so that they could speak privately.

Once they were all sat at the kitchen table, Chan began to speak, ignoring Minho's avoidance of his gaze.

He retold what happened and at the mention of his showing up at the police station, the second eldest snapped his head up, eyes wide.

He told them about the conversation with Mr. Sim, and his position at the station.

"For fuck's sake," Felix muttered in English.

He let them know about the call to CPS and their arrival the next morning. They began to talk about what they thought would happen, spending hours going over what it would look like if it was taken to court, and before long it was dark out.

There was a knock at the door, and Chan felt his body freeze, Sim's words flooding back into his mind.

"Now Mr. Bang, please return my nephew to me by the end of the day, or I will be at your door to personally put you in handcuffs for kidnapping."

Each man stood heading toward the door, Chan in the lead, bracing himself for what he knew was going to happen.

He swung the door open, his jaw clenching, and nausea rising in his throat. There stood Chief Sim, followed behind him were two other officers.

Balguen shoved his way in, grabbing onto Chan's arm roughly before pulling it behind his back. The clinking of handcuffs is what brought the others out of their shocked stupor.

"Bang Chan, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Kim Seungmin. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." Mr. Sim had fully cuffed Chan now and Minho tried to lunge for the officer.

Changbin grabbed onto the man pulling him back. Minho let out a raged yell.

"Let my boyfriend go you fucking dick!" Minho screamed and thrashed but his younger boyfriend did not let go of Minho.

"Unless you want to also go to prison for the assault of an officer, I suggest you sit down." Mr. Sim spat at the other.

Just then there was quiet shuffling heard, and they all stopped turning to look at Seungmin.

"Mister Sim?" Seungmin asked horrified. The man just smiled at the kid, shoving Chan into the other officer standing behind him.

"Hey Seungmin, are you ready to go home?" Seungmin looked like he wanted to argue before his face fell into one of neutralism, and he nodded.

Seungmin crossed the little space left, grabbing onto the older man's hand.

"NO!" Felix screamed grabbing onto Seungmin's arm as well.

  "Seungmin no, sweetheart, don’t you want to stay here?" Hyunjin tried to coax the boy into changing his mind.

Seungmin shook his head. "No, I want to go home with Mister Sim now." Felix began to sob inside of Jisung's arms, knowing he couldn't fight a cop unless he wanted to get arrested too.

"Thank you for taking ca'we of me," Seungmin mumbled, before waving goodbye, and then they left.

They watched as Chan was shoved in the back of the police car. Minho finally freed himself from Changbin's hold, bolting out the front door and down the street after car.

The attempt was futile.

 Minho fell to his knees as he watched the car drive away. He let his head fall into his hands, sobs wracking through his body.

There were soft steps approaching Minho, yet he didn't move. Someone crouched in front of him gently running their hand through his mussed-up hair.

"It's my fault! I fucking pushed Chan away, and now he's gone and so is our kid!" Minho ranted.

"Sweetheart, I think it would have happened regardless." It was Changbin.

Minho snapped his head up glaring at his boyfriend. "I could've prevented this! I knew he was going to do something fucking stupid, and yet I just kept pushing him!"

Changbin cupped Minho's face in his hands, rubbing away his tears with a care the elder didn't believe he deserved right then.

"Baby, we're going to work this out, I promise."

They were both startled as Changbin's phone began to ring.

The younger answered it to hear Jeongin on the other end.  "You two need to come back. We think Felix might've found something." Then the line ended. Both boys looked at each other before standing and walking back in silence.

Minho reached over to link hands with his younger boyfriend, lifting it to press a kiss to the back.

"Thank you for always being stronger than I can be." Minho pressed the words against his hand as if he could make them sink into his skin.

Changbin squeezed his hand gently, "I will always be here for you, my love. Always."

They continued on in silence until they reached the house. They trudged up the steps, hearts heavy. The door opened immediately and they were both startled.

Jisung grabbed both of Changbin's hand effectively pulling both men inside.

Inside the living room sat Felix on the floor, papers scattered around the floor around him.

"What's-" Minho began to ask but a hand was slapped over his mouth stopping him.

"Don’t throw off his focus!" Hyunjin hissed. Minho licked his hand in retaliation.

"Ew, what the shit!" Hyunjin wiped his hand on his pants while Minho just smiled at him.

Felix letting out an exclaiming "Aha!" was what regained their attention.

"I knew that this was important," Felix mumbled sifting through a small stack of what looked like Seungmin's drawings.

"Hey Lixie, care to fill us in on what's going on in that head of yours?" Jeongin asked kneeling beside the blonde.

"Minji!" Felix half shouted, holding up a bunch of papers with two kids drawn on it.

Changbin's face scrunched up into one of confusion. "Like Minji the stuffed dog?" And the looks on the other men's faces mirrored those of the rappers.

Felix made a noise of frustration, pulling on Changbin's hand till he was sat on the floor, Felix shuffled around and plopped himself into the older man's lap.

"Seungmin kept drawing this kid, and when I asked about it he said his name was Minji," Felix explained, ignoring all the others peering over their shoulders to get a look at the art.

"What does it mean though?" Jisung questioned, voice watery at the thought of Seungmin.

"Well, he had said offhandedly once that Minji was another foster kid that stayed with him and Sim," Felix explained, and Hyunjin let out a gasp.

"Oh my gosh!" They all turned to look at the blonde, and he was sitting there with horror written over his face.

"Seungmin said that Minji never went back to the foster home." Minho rolled his eyes at his younger boyfriend, feeling an itch under his skin he couldn't get rid of.

"What does that have to do with anything Jinnie?" He questioned, his patience was wearing thin, they should be going to see what the bail for Chan was.

Deep in thought there was a voice that cut through. "Because if he never went back shouldn't he be with Sim still?" Hyunjin asked as if it were obvious.

And yeah, wouldn't he be?

"Hey wait here." Jeongin left heading toward one of the bedrooms, emerging a few minutes later with his laptop.

The youngest plopped himself down on the couch, all of the others scrambling to sit next to him.

Jeongin pulled up the search bar, looking for Sim Balguen first. There were a lot of results, but not many that helped him. Then he pulled up social media and was unsurprised to find he didn't have any. Jeongin huffed in annoyance, he had been digging for forty-five minutes at this point.

The others seemed to sense that this was a dead end, and they all seemed to back off, sulking around the living room. Jeongin went to close his laptop but paused. There was one thing he hadn't tried.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in the Seoul police social pages.

Sure enough, there was a Facebook page, a photo of the team as their banner, with Balguen right in front of his team.

He began to scroll, not seeing too many interesting things. It was when he had scrolled as far as four years when he paused. There was a picture of Mister Sim bent down his arm around a little boy's waist, the boy had his arms wrapped around Balguen's a grin spread across his face so bright it must've hurt.

The boy looked to be around six, and they both seemed so happy.

Jeongin glanced at the caption reading: "Chief Sim adopts six-year-old boy! Boy says he's never been happier!" Jeongin felt as if ice had been shot into his veins.

"Hey guys, I found something." There was shuffling as they all came back looking at the screen.

"I mean that's gotta be Minji right?" Changbin questioned. They all nodded.

"Are there any other photos of them on there?" Minho asked, to which he received a no.

"I'm going to go look and see if I can find any articles about this kid going missing," Jeongin announced. They each nodded, all but pulling out phones of their own to search for themselves.

Minho sighed, before letting them know he was leaving.

"Where are you going at eight at night?" Jisung asked, voice exasperated.

"I'm going to go see if I can see Chan," Minho replied standing and making his way toward the door.

"They won't let you," Felix informed, continuing. "it's past visiting hours." Minho runs his tongue over his teeth, trying to keep his irritation in check. "Then I'm going to bail him out."

"It's too soon to try and bail him out." Hyunjin countered.

The itching grew under Minho's skin, buzzing like thousands of ants crawling. "For fuck's sake! I need to get out of this house before I fucking lose it!" He turned and left slamming the door behind him.

They all sat in shocked silence, glancing at each other in worry.

Minho knew they were right, but he still couldn't get rid of the restlessness in him. He ended up walking to the nearest park instead, kicking the trash can, shoving at the stupid swings and the dumb fucking animals that the kids loved to ride on. He knew he needed to stop, but no matter how much he punched at cause destruction he couldn't stop the anger boiling in him.

It was his fault; he shouldn't have pushed Chan into doing something so damn stupid out of anger. He couldn't do this without Chan, he couldn't take this to court without him. He needed his oldest boyfriend, his only Hyung.

"Fuck Chan, what do I do?" He lay down on the ground, small sticks and rocks poked him in the back, but he didn't care, he couldn't.

He stared at the sky, he wished it was raining, or cloudy, but instead, the stars twinkled at him, mockingly. Tears streamed down his face, landing in the dirt. He took a shuddering breath and sat up.  "Pull yourself together for fucks sake Minho." He wiped away the stray tears with too much aggression and collected his thoughts.

 'They need me. We need a plan, and you can't crumble when you're needed the most.'

He needed to talk to CPS, and then if that didn't work, he was going to take this to court, he just needed evidence.

First things first, he had to apologize to his boyfriends, he was awfully shit to them and he needed to fix things.  He stood up, brushed himself off, and made his way home.

Changbin, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin, had fixed themselves dinner then all headed back to the living room, scouring the internet.

"Guys!"  Jisung yelled, catching all their attention. "Listen to this! Tragic fishing accident causes Police Chief's son to drown." This caught their attention and just as Jisung was going to begin reading the article the door was slowly opened.

They all watched as their present oldest boyfriend slipped off his shoes and crossed the living room keeping his head held low.  "I'm sorry,” Minho began. “I shouldn't have treated you like that. I hope you all will forgive me." Minho said it clearly, shame and regret clear in his voice.

He looked up, meeting each set of eyes watching him. "I promise I will try my best to fix this. We will get Chan out, and if we can't get Seungmin in our custody I promise he won't go back to Mister Sim again."

There was a scoff from their Maknae, and they each held their breath.

"You aren't carrying this all on your back you know Hyung." Minho watched Jeongin's eyes soften and smile gently. "We're all together in this and while we will need your help, we're not all helpless." They all let out soft sighs when Minho smiled gently at him.

The eldest crossed the room, running a gentle hand through the youngest's hair, and cupped his cheek before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," he mumbled against them. He then shuffled to each man, pressing gentle kisses against each set of lips, mumbling quiet apologies and thank you's to each one.

"Hyung as cute as you are right now, we found something that might be important," Jisung told him smiling cheekily.

Han reread the title diving into the article now.

Today on September 22nd, 2022, A cloud of grief hangs over the city today following the tragic disappearance of Minji Sim, son of the esteemed Police Chief Balguen Sim. The younger Kim, a beloved son, and friend was reportedly enjoying a weekend fishing trip with his father and younger brother when a sudden storm struck the coast near Silmido.

According to initial reports, the boat carrying the group capsized in the rough waters. While Chief Sim and his youngest son Seungmin were eventually able to reach shore, young Minji was tragically swept away by the strong current, Chief Sim reports. Search efforts are ongoing, but officials are bracing for the worst.

 "This is a devastating loss for our community," stated Mayor Myeongnim. The incident has sparked an outpouring of support on social media, with residents expressing their condolences and offering prayers for Minji's safe return.

  However, as hours turn into days, hope dwindles. Chief Sim, a respected figure known for his unwavering commitment to public safety, remains silent on the tragedy.

Once Jisung finished his reading they all sat in silence for a moment.

Hyunjin spoke first, confusion written all over his face. "How is it that Seungmin, a four-year-old at the time made it to shore, but the eight-year-old didn't?" And that was the question of the century, wasn't it?

 "I'm sensing foul play," Changbin mumbled.

Felix nodded replying, "Yeah, but how do we prove it?"

 And yeah, how can you dig up evidence from a murder that happened three years ago, and in the water where the police already searched?

It was nearing one am at this point, and each of the boys felt the day's exhaustion pulling on them. They decided to sleep on it and see if they could figure out what to do the next morning.

(psst sorry to ruin the atmosphere but follow me CLICK ME  ...its not a scam its just my twitter.)                                                  

Chapter Text

Chan was shoved into the back of the police car, arms still cuffed behind him. He had time to reflect on his damning decisions.

Chan knew his approach to this was terribly wrong, but he truly couldn't see any other way around this. CPS was going to be at their house tomorrow, and the boys would explain what would happen. But Chan knew someone who would be a child abuser, as well as the risk of being a Chief of police, then he knew his ego was probably reaching the roof. Chan needed the man to shift all of his focus to one person.

With Sim's anger issues, pride, and egotistical attitude, he wasn't going to let someone like Chan win anything. He focused on taking down one man, Chan. Which conveniently, made him forget about the other six extremely smart, and protective boyfriends.

Though Minho was right, Chan was always doing something stupidly self-sacrificial, he truly couldn't see any other outcome. His plan had been to:  Shift Sim's focus onto Chan, pick a fight with him and ignore the rest of the boys, and then call CPS, they'd show up at their door the next day after Chan was already gone.

And the rest would've been up to the others. Though it might've seemed wiser to tell his boyfriends his plan, Minho, Jeongin, and Changbin, were all stubborn enough to pack up their shit, kidnap Chan and the kid and leave. He really couldn't have that. There was no getting out of jail on this one, Sim had the upper hand until it was taken through CPS.

Chan had a sneaking suspicion that Balguen was coming for them soon anyway, might as well start to speed up that process.

He watched as cars blurred by down the highway, and he felt the weight of his choice heavy on his chest.

'Shit, I'm really going to jail.'  More than anything Chan was terrified.  He didn't want to actually do this, but what if it had been Jisung? Or Felix? He couldn't let that happen.

He couldn't even wipe the tears that fell down his cheek, just longing for the comforting hold of his family once more.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the station, and Chan was taken in for his booking and processing.

First, he was put in a room that had a two way mirror, the kind you see in the movies. And he knew the questioning was going to come first.  

He was in there for what felt like hours but could've been minutes, it was hard to tell without a clock. Eventually, the door opened and a man came in.

 He wasn't much taller than Chan, and his belly seemed to hang over his belt, the buttons strained to hold together. He had a coffee in one hand, and a manila folder in the other. He set both on the table, pulling out a chair for himself before sitting in it.

He let out a groan and he shifted to get comfortable. "Mr. Bang." the man said, his voice was rather rough and he burst into a fit of coughs after.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief covering his fit before he stopped taking a sip of his coffee.

"My apologies, the change of seasons always gets me." The officer explained, and Chan nodded somewhat lost.

"My name is Officer Choi." he introduced himself and Chan greeted him politely. "Now Mr. Bang, you're here today for the kidnapping of one Kim Seungmin, correct?" Choi questioned, flipping through the papers inside the folder.

"Um, kind of?" Chan replied, which he knew he really shouldn't speak without a lawyer, but he didn't have anything to hide. Mr. Choi set down the papers now addressing the younger.

"And what does "not really" mean?" Chan took note of the lines that crinkled around Mr. Choi's eyes, suggesting he probably lived a happy life. His left hand bared a gold wedding ring, seemingly older and worn often.

"Sir, three weeks ago, me and my roommates were having a game night. " Chan began, deciding that calling his boyfriends "boyfriends" right then wouldn't be wise.

The officer took out a blank piece of paper and grabbed the pen from his shirt pocket, clicking it open.

"And how many roommates do you have?" The man inquired. "Six," Chan responded easily.

Choi gestured for the other to continue, and so he did.

"There was a bang outside, and we all thought it was the wind, then there was another," Chan explained, and the other man listened intently, no anger, or judgment on his face.

"My roommate went to go check it out, and found Seungmin sitting in our dumpster." Choi blinked obviously surprised.

"He was in your trash bin?" Officer Choi confirmed once more, and the younger nodded.

Chan watched as the other jotted something down before gesturing to continue.

"He brought the kid in, and we were going to call the police, but it was already extremely late, and at the mention of the cops Seungmin freaked out crying and trying to run out."  Now confusion flooded Choi's face.

"Hm that's strange indeed," he picked up his pen writing something else down. He looked back to Chan before breaking out into another fit of coughs.

Once they finally stopped, he took a sip of coffee.

"So you didn't make any kind of report?" Officer Choi questioned. Chan flushed red from embarrassment. "uh, no sir."

"Hm, okay finish your story please." He placed his handkerchief back inside his pocket, shifting around to fit it.

"Well we promised Seungmin we wouldn't call that night, and we fed him and got him cleaned up before putting him to bed." And here came the hard part. "When he was cleaned up he was littered with bruises and cuts, new and old." The older man's eyes grew concerned.

 "It was sickening to see." Chan spat out, feeling anger course through him once again at the thought of Seungmin so hurt.

"And yet you still didn't call the authorities?" Choi confirmed once more. And Chan got defensive saying, "We meant to, but every time we brought it up the kid would start sobbing and begging us not to let him go back." Chan urged.

"Well yes, that is concerning." He closed the folder with a sigh and looked Chan in the eyes. "One day became two, and then he was with us for two weeks," Chan mumbled looking down at the cold metal table, which was covered in light silver scratches.

There was a long-winded sigh from across from him and he glanced up into weary tired eyes.

"Look kid, I don't think you had any ill intent, and you might spend a couple nights in a cell, but we can take your case to the judge and see if we can settle it quickly." Chan felt the anxiety in his pit lessen yet he knew that didn't include Seungmin.

"But sir, Seungmin came from Chief Sim! Seungmin told me he got those scars from him, and that he also raped him!" Chan was urgent, voice on the edge of panic.

"Mr. Bang, unless you have actual proof of this, it is no longer your business. This is something that Child Protection Services and the authorities will now handle." Officer Choi stood picking up the folder and coffee.

"But Sim has them wrapped around his finger! He can get out of it!" Chan pleaded for the other to hear. There was a long sigh as Choi now crumpled his empty paper coffee cup.

"Chan listen to me, we can get you out of this with nothing on your record, but kid you can't go around trying to be the hero." Chan felt his throat dry and chest tighten.

"You wanna help, and we appreciate that, but unless you have evidence it is no longer your problem. If you want to pick a fight you'll get a longer sentence or the judge might not consider what you have to say if you're a troublemaker." Officer Choi coughed a few times before looking at Chan once again.

"Stay out of police business kid, take the few days holding and appeal to the judge, and you'll be home in no time. Until then shut up and keep your your head down." Mr. Choi left the room.

Chan huffed, tears stinging his vision once more. There had to be more he could do, right?

Eventually, another officer came in taking him to an overnight holding cell. Once the cuffs were off Chan rubbed circulation back into his hands, wincing at the tingling that spread through his hands.

He crossed the cold floor flopping onto the thin mattress. He huffed staring at the bare grey ceiling.

Maybe he should leave it alone. There didn't seem to be anything he could do.

The cell was cold, and he felt the lack of his partners more than ever now, their warm presence wrapping him tight to their chest.

'Maybe this is how it was supposed to go?'

Seungmin was laid down for his nap by Jisung, the man pressing gentle kisses all over his face making the boy giggle. Seungmin shyly placed one of his own on Jisung's cheek making the elder grin from ear to ear.

"Why thank you for such a kind gift, my little prince!" Jisung praised.

"Welcome Sungie," Seungmin replied, promptly yawning after.

Seungmin fell asleep to soft whispers and hands carding through his hair.

By the time Seungmin woke up it was dark out, and that seemed wrong. They always woke him up from his nap, but they didn’t today?

He sat up at the sound of yelling that drifted through the house.

"Let my boyfriend go you fucking dick!" Seungmin heard his MinMin yell, and he placed his hands over his ears.  He wasn't supposed to hear those kinds of words!

he slowly slipped his hands off his ears before swinging his legs off the bed and venturing out to see what had made Minho angry.

Down the hallway, Seungmin could see Mister Sim and he felt as if a monster was grinning at him ready to swallow him whole.

He shuffled forward and everyone turned to look at him.

"Mister Sim?" Seungmin's voice wavered and he thought he might be sick.

Mister Sim shoved at Channie which made him very sad but Mister Sim was talking to him now and he had to pay attention.

"Hey Seungmin, are you ready to go home?" Seungmin opened his mouth to scream NO he was not ready! But then Mister Sim's words from a long time ago came into his head.

"You should know you are NEVER to argue with me, you stupid brat!" Mister Sim had grabbed Seungmin's hair pulling it up to face him.

 "yes sir, I'm sowwy sir!" Seungmin gripped the man's arm trying to get him to release him.

 "I fucking hate your damn speech problem kid." Balguen let Seungmin go, the boy dropping to his knees grabbing where his hair was being ripped at.

Seungmin nodded, crossing the space left and grabbing Mister Sim's extended hand.

"NO!" His Lixie screamed grabbing onto his arm as well.

Then Hyunjin asked him, ""Seungmin no, sweetheart, don’t you want to stay here?"

Yes, god yes, he never wanted to leave them. But if he fought Mister Sim would make the beating worse later.

And so he shook his head. "No, I want to go home with Mister Sim now."

He could hardly speak around the lump in his throat, but he managed to mumble a, "Thank you for taking ca'we of me." before they turned and left.

He watched as his Channie was put in a different car than him, and Mister Sim put him in the backseat of the other.

Seungmin looked out the window and Minho began chasing the cars leaving, and he wanted to run to him.

He watched on as the man fell to his knees and began to cry.

He'd never seen his Min cry before. He wiped away the silent tears of his own turning around and placing his hands in his lap.

"Seungmin, we're going to have a conversation about your bad behavior when we get home." Mister Sim called to the back seat, and Seungmin nodded.

"Kim Seungmin, you better stop those tears now. I will not put up with your bad behavior." Said boy looked up meeting the older man's cold gaze through the rearview.

He nods again mumbling a "yes sir" before wiping away his tears with the warm sweater he wore.

They reached the station first, Mister Sim letting Seungmin out and holding his hand again.

This time the officer bent down pulling the kid into a hug. To everyone else, it would look like a heartwarming moment, but in reality, Balguen was giving the boy a warning.

"If you say one thing in here you will regret it for the rest of your life. You'll be just like Minji. Do you want that?" Mister Sim whispered in his ear, and Seungmin rapidly shook his head.

"No Mister Sim, I promise I'll be very good!" The boy pleaded. Mister Sim pulled away giving him a faux sweet smile.

They went inside hand in hand, and Seungmin was taken to Mister Sim's office, being set in the chair and the Chief of Police's jacket being laid over the top of him by the kind lady at the front desk.

Seungmin was left alone for a while staring at the little drinking bird that sat on the wooden desk.

He kind of wished he was like that little bird, as it rocked back and forth drinking water forever. No mean scary men, or worrying about food.

He didn't move when Mister Sim and another officer came back.

"What do you mean you're not letting me conduct the interview?" Mister Sim questioned the other lady angrily.

"Balguen, you're too close to the case, it's regarding your own kid. We can't let you interview him." There was a huff of exasperation.

Interview who? Channie? He wondered if he could be allowed to see Channie once more before he couldn't ever see him again.

"Who is giving the interview? Is it Jae?" Mister Sim questioned, seemingly calmer now.

The lady shook her head saying, "It'll be Choi." And that was the wrong thing to say.

"What?" Mister Sim boomed outraged. "Why the hell is that bumbling idiot questioning him?"

Before the lady was able to say anything he cut her off again.

"This is ridiculous, this man kidnapped my son, and we're sending one of our gentlest officers in there?" Mister Sim snarled.

The other sighed. "Balguen, Choi is good at his job, if he senses anything he will let us know. Besides I've taken a look at the kid and Bang doesn't seem to be much of a threat."

"With all due respect Deputy Chief," Sim began adding as much venom into his voice as he could. "You can't look at someone and make an assumption, that's how serial killers get away with murder." Sim walked around to his desk, bringing his coffee cup to his mouth to sip on.

"Chief Sim, this case was brought to me for your sake, let me handle it." She coaxed gently.

Mister Sim set down his cup and left the room.

Seungmin didn't move from where he was watching the bird.

"Hey sugar, my name is Ms. Lee." Said the lady crouched down in front of Seungmin, blocking his view from the desk ornament.

"Hello, Ms. Lee." He replied quietly.

He earned a smile at his politeness. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?" he was going to deny the request, but then the thought of when he could eat next was brought to his mind, and instead, he nodded hoping she would bring something tasty.

She smiled even more. "Alright, sweetie, give me a moment and I'll bring you back something." She stood ruffling his hair and left the room.

The boy didn't have to wait long before she was back, she had a sandwich and some juice. "Alright, here you are." he took the items, thanking her and she left.

Mister Sim didn’t come back, even after an hour. And Seungmin? He had to go to the bathroom.

Figuring he'd take the consequences he slid off the chair and made his way out the door.

Another officer was walking by the office and he stopped at the sight of him.

"Where are you headed bud?" He questioned, bending down to be eye to eye.

"Bath'oom?" Seungmin asked hopefully, unsure of where to go.

"Oh sure bud," he pointed across the station and to a dimly lit hallway. "If you go down that hallway, then take a right, there are the bathrooms." With a nod, Seungmin began to walk.

He made it to the end of the hallway and saw two doorways, left and right.

Did he say left or right?

Seungmin was so sure he said left, and so he walked through that doorway. Down the hallway he saw another turn towards an office with an open door, there he heard hushed voices.

"I don't know Deji, he doesn't seem guilty at all." A man said urgently.

"I believe you Choi, but why would Balguen lie?" A woman questioned back.  There was a noise of irritation. "I don't know. Look maybe we question the kid tonight instead of waiting for CPS." The man Choi pressured.

Were they talking about him?

"I'll go back and ask him if everything is good at home, but this is CPS's job," Deji responded trying to placate the other.

"Sim won't let it happen if he is the one hurting the kid." The man huffed, before letting out a series of coughs that sounded like they hurt. He spoke again once he had recovered. "Besides, I don't feel safe knowing that kid is going back to Sim's tonight if he is abusing him." There was some shuffling and Seungmin took another step back at the noise, ready to run if need be.

"We have no proof, if the kid doesn't tell us that he's being abused by Sim then the kid goes back with him tonight." The woman responded.

"You're the Deputy Chief, can't you just pull the kid on suspicion?" Choi asked annoyed, and he was given a sigh in response.

"No, Choi. Innocent until proven guilty. The best I can do tonight is question the kid, and then put Bang with a bail, or make a plead against his case to be moved to tomorrow." Deji's heels clicked across the floor as she made her way to the door, and Seungmin turned tail and ran down the hall as quielty as possible.

He set his eyes on the bathroom and locked the door behind him once he was in.

'I won't have to go home with him! I can be honest! 'Seungmin felt a grin on his face. Maybe this was it! He wouldn't go back with Mister Sim if he told the nice lady that he had been hurt by Mister Sim.

Once he had finished his business and washed his hands, he made his way back to Mister Sim's office seeing the nice lady waiting there sitting in one of the chairs. Before he made it there was someone grabbing his arm.

"Seungmin, it's late we need to go home now." Mister Sim, said and he still had residual anger, but something more panicked shone in his eyes now.

"But, I want to say goodbye to the nice lady," Seungmin mumbled, hoping that Mister Sim would let him. Then Mister Sim was whispering. "If you do not follow me now I will break your hand, crushing every bone in it and it will never recover." The boy's stomach sank to his feet and he nodded shakily and let himself be pulled out into the dark night.

Once he was in the back of Mister Sim's car he realized just how much trouble he was in.

Chapter Text

Seungmin watched as Mr. Sim ignored multiple different calls on their way home, each one seemingly aggravating the other more and more. Seungmin was smart enough not to try and talk to Mr. Sim when he was super angry, like now.

Before long they were back at Mr. Sim's house. Seungmin felt the fear crawling up his throat, the consequences of him running away were knocking on the door, and the boy knew he needed to accept it.

The police officer didn't wait for the boy to get out, marching up to the front door knowing the kid would be trailing behind him. Once inside Seungmin braced himself for the first hit, but when he received nothing he peeked open his eyes. Mr. Sim was typing away furiously at his phone, running a hand through his hair the black strands falling back messily.

"For fuck's sake boy, you just always have to cause problems." Balguen hissed, and Seungmin was ready to just bolt back out the front door. "When this blows over you better believe that your ass is getting the beating it deserves." Mr. Sim fixed him with a hard stare, and Seungmin nodded so quickly he thought his head might fall off.

Mr. Sim waved him away, sending him to his room. The boy clambered up the stairs to his old room, finding it had not changed.  His walls were painfully bare, and his bed was still lumpy. The red blanket he had still had the same holes in it.

He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. The familiar musty smell of the room made his stomach churn, memories of countless punishments flooding his mind.

Seungmin sat on the edge of his bed, feeling the springs creak beneath him. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, trying to make himself as small as possible.  He wished he had something to draw on, whenever he was scared at Channie's house he would sit down and draw with someone. But he wasn't there anymore.

Seungmin crawled underneath the blanket, thinking. He was a big, smart boy, he could get out of this. He just had to think.
If even one person came to talk to him about what was happening he would tell them everything. No matter if Mr. Sim beat him again and again if there was a way Seungmin could get out he would.

                                                                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning brought chaos to the Seoul jail, in the form of seven men tumbling in to visit one Bang Chan.

Minho glared at his boyfriends signaling for them to shut up, before turning back a short chubby man. "Sir, we're here to visit Bang Chan?" Minho spoke politely, hoping the man wouldn't take one look at them and send them off.

"I had called the prison, but they had said he wasn't there. And I called this morning and was informed that he was being held in an overnight cell here?" Felix spoke up now, informing the man who had now broke into a fit of coughs.

Jisung opened his bag and pulled out an unopened water bottle, passing it to the officer who grabbed it taking a swig. "Thank you, young man, very kind of you." The officer thanked Han who smiled back kindly.

Minho was impatient, and this man was only taking longer and longer to answer. "Um, sir? What about Bang Chan?" The shorter man seemed to remember why they were there and made an "aha" noise before he turned back to the desk and pulled out some papers.

"This is the form you will fill out if you want to visit him, and only one of you can." The officer responded, sliding a yellow sheet across the counter for the eldest. Minho turned to glance back at his other boyfriends.

Changbin sighed before speaking. "it should be you, Min." The others nodded quickly after, seemingly all having agreed. Although Minho did not.

"I-I don't think he will want to see me." Jeongin huffed, rolling his eyes. Don't be dumb Hyung, of course, he will want to see you."

The eldest watched his family's faces, realizing they weren't going to change their minds he turned back and wordlessly filled out the paperwork.

Twenty minutes later Minho was shown to the back of the station where two single cells were kept. Only one was filled.

Minho watched Chan as the elder lay down, his arm rested over his eyes, but Minho knew better than to assume he was sleeping.

Mr. Choi, as Minho had soon learned his name was, lightly knocked the cell key against one of the bars catching the inmate's attention.

"Hey Bang, you've got a visitor kid." Chan sat up abruptly at this eyes locking onto his boyfriends. He climbed off the bed crossing the distance to the bars where on the other side he saw what seemed like an angel to him. Mr. Choi informed them that he couldn't let Minho in but he'd have ten minutes to talk. And then the officer left.

Chan placed his hands around the bars, and Minho reached up wrapping his hands around Chans. Despite the anger the younger had felt at Chan for so long, it all seemed to dissipate.

"Channie, I'm so sorry for the shit I said." Minho apologized softly, and Chan just flashed him a gentle smile. "Min you should know that I've already forgiven you by now." The elder leaned down pressing a gentle kiss to his boyfriend's knuckles.

Minho chuckled wetly, trying to blink away the tears that threatened to fall. "Fuck's sake Chan, here you are in jail, but you're consoling me." That pulled a chuckle from the other two.

"It'll all be okay Minnie, I promise. I have my hearing today." Chan did his best to reassure the man but Minho seemed worried. "Already? But doesn't it take a while to process?" That had Chan nodding. "Yes, but that officer Mr. Choi, believes that I was just doing what I thought was right and took it up with the Deputy Chief and she took it to the judge." Chan smiled excitedly.

Minho reached his hand to flick Chan's forehead. "Why're you smiling? They might declare you guilty!" Minho asked astounded.

Chan smiled even brighter, catching Minho's hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Well if they find me guilty, then I'll know I at least tried to do what I thought was right." And then the smile fell off the eldest's face. His voice grew solemn when he asked, "Where's Seungmin?"

Minho sighed. "Well, CPS is actually headed to Mr. Sim's as we speak. They're going to question Seungmin." Chan felt dread in his stomach.

"Do you think he'll be too scared to testify against him?" Minho cupped Chan's face with his hand, his thumb rubbing gently at the dark circles that sat under his eyes.

"He's a strong smart kid, I'm sure he will figure out he can trust them," Minho whispered.
They heard footsteps approaching, and Chan let go of Minho's hand but the younger kept his hand firmly where it was on Chan's face, not giving a shit if they had a problem with the act of affection.

"Mr. Bang, Mr. Lee, you have three minutes left." Mr. Choi called to them, not seeming bothered by their closeness.

Minho looked back at Chan and saw fear in his eyes. "Min, tell the boys I love them yeah?" Chan asked wearily.

Minho pulled Chan's face as close as it could get to the bars, leaning in himself to press a kiss to his boyfriend's lips.

"Chan I promise you, you will get out of this. I don't care if I have to come break you out myself." Minho vowed, and Chan laughed.

Then Mr. Choi was back, gently leading Minho back out the way he came.

Mr. Choi coughed for a moment before clearing his throat saying, "Well, Mr. Bang's hearing is at twelve this afternoon. I've heard it's an open hearing." Minho stopped to look at the officer.

The younger's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why are you telling me?" Mr. Choi smiled at Minho's distrust.

"You know Mr. Lee, I'm a family man. Been with my wife for twenty-six years now. My youngest is fourteen. If anything had ever happened to my kids, well let's just say I wouldn't be an officer anymore." The man paused to cough into his handkerchief before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Family is the most important thing you can have in life. You could be poor as dirt, but if you have a family you are more rich than a millionaire."

Mr. Choi continued walking and Minho stood there for a second to process what the other had said to him.
Minho made it back to the front where an officer informed him that the group had been asked to wait outside due to their loudness, and distraction.

He stepped out into the early morning and saw his boyfriends standing there. Changbin paced back and forth anxiously.

Felix saw the elder's expression and pulled him into a hug. Minho received it eagerly and took a deep breath.

"Chan is doing alright. He wanted me to tell you he loves you all." Jisung sniffled trying to hide the tear that fell. Hyunjin pulled Jisung close to his side.

Hyunjin pulled Jisung close to his side

There weren't any questions that could be asked before Minho spoke once more. "Boy's we have to get out our nicest suits, we're going to court." Changbin and Jeongin smiled, while the other three looked mildly surprised.

                                                                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chan watched Minho leave and he sighed resting his head against the cool cell bars, thoughts spiraling.

Once again he picked up the sound of footsteps, though this time it was the click of heels on the old linoleum floor. He looked up, trying to steady his breathing as the sound grew closer.

A woman appeared at the end of the hallway. She was tall and elegant, with a professional air about her. She wore a sleek black suit that was tailored perfectly to her frame, and she carried a leather briefcase in one hand. Her hair was tied back in a neat bun, and her expression was serious but not unkind. She approached Chan’s cell with confident strides and stopped just outside the bars.

“Bang Chan?” she asked, her voice firm yet gentle.

“Yes,” Chan replied, standing up to face her.

“My name is Jang Miyeon,” she introduced herself. “I’m your court-appointed lawyer. I’m here to help you with your case.”

Chan nodded, a mixture of relief and anxiety washing over him. He gestured to the lone chair in the cell. “Please, sit down.”

Miyeon shook her head slightly. “I’ll stand for now. We don’t have much time before your hearing. I need to understand exactly what happened.”

Chan took a deep breath and began to recount the events. “Three weeks ago, my roommates and I were having a game night when we heard a noise outside. At first, we thought it was just the wind, but then we heard it again. One of my roommates went to check and found Seungmin in our dumpster.”

Miyeon’s eyes widened slightly, but she maintained her composure, jotting down notes as Chan spoke.

“He was in your trash bin?” she confirmed.

Chan nodded. “Yes. We brought him inside. We were going to call the police, but it was late, and when we mentioned the cops, Seungmin freaked out, crying and trying to run away.”

Miyeon paused, considering this. “So, you decided not to call the authorities?”

“At first, yes. We promised him we wouldn’t call that night. We fed him, got him cleaned up, and put him to bed. But when we saw the bruises and cuts all over him, we knew something was very wrong.”

Miyeon’s expression softened. “You were trying to protect him.”

“Yes,” Chan said earnestly. “But every time we brought up calling the police, he would start sobbing and begging us not to let him go back to Chief Sim.”
“Chief Sim?” Miyeon asked, her brow furrowing.

“Yes, Seungmin said that’s who hurt him. He said Sim raped him and gave him those scars.”

Miyeon took a deep breath. “Chan, I need you to understand something. Allegations like this are serious, but without concrete evidence, they’re difficult to prove. Do you have any proof of what Seungmin said?”

Chan shook his head, feeling a pang of despair. “No, just what he told us and the injuries we saw.”

Miyeon nodded, making another note. “Okay. Let’s focus on your part in this. You didn’t report Seungmin to the authorities immediately, but you didn’t have ill intentions. You were trying to help him. We need to emphasize that to the judge.”

Chan looked at her, hope flickering in his eyes. “Do you think they’ll believe me?”

Miyeon gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure they do. Now, tell me more about what happened after you found Seungmin.”
Chan continued his story, explaining how they had kept Seungmin with them for two weeks, how they had tried to contact the authorities but had been dissuaded by Seungmin’s pleas. Miyeon listened intently, asking occasional questions to clarify details.

After a while, she closed her notebook and looked Chan in the eyes. “Chan, you did the best you could under difficult circumstances. The fact that you didn’t report it immediately will be a point of contention, but your intention to protect Seungmin is clear. We’ll argue that you were acting in his best interests.”

Chan nodded, feeling a mixture of anxiety and relief. “What about Seungmin? What’s going to happen to him?”

“Child Protection Services will investigate. If what you’ve said about Chief Sim is true, they will take action to protect Seungmin. But we need to focus on your case for now.”

She stood up, smoothing out her skirt. “Your hearing is in an hour. I’ll be there with you, and we’ll make our case to the judge. Stay calm, answer truthfully, and leave the legal arguments to me. We’ll get through this.”

Chan took a deep breath, feeling a bit more reassured. “Thank you, Ms. Jang.”

Miyeon gave him a nod. “I’ll see you in the courtroom.” She turned and pulled out her phone, before making a call.

Chan heard the click of her heels as she walked off and the faint sound of her speaking to someone. "Deji, I believe we should get an officer out to bring the chi-." Chan strained to hear what his lawyer was saying, but he couldn't.

Before long an officer was coming back with a couple of hygiene products, letting Chan somewhat clean himself up before he was put before the court. He appreciated the gesture.

Chan thanked the man but the officer huffed before gruffly saying, "Thank Choi, old bastard is too soft-hearted for this job. Said you should at least have a fighting chance." Chan couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Chan was put in cuffs escorted to the back of a squad car and driven to the courthouse. He was drug up the steps and down the rows of benches. He saw Ms. Jang already there sorting through papers. He was placed down next to her and a cop was standing next to him. He turned and watched as some people trickled in, and then there were louder voices from outside the room.

Chan's eyes widened as he saw all six of his boyfriends come walking into the courtroom. They each caught his eye on the way in, and they each gave him looks of reassurance, or soft smiles, or Jeongin who winked at him. Each of them looked dazzling, wearing the clothes that they had worn for their last anniversary. Chan would've been drooling on any other occasion.

Chan couldn't seem to take his eyes off of his boys, watching them as they whispered quietly amongst themselves. Out of the corner of his eye, Chan saw Mr. Sim come in and sit on the opposing bench, seemingly peeved to have had to even be there.

The courtroom was abuzz with murmurs and whispers, but they fell silent as the door at the back of the room opened. Chan shifted in his seat, his heart pounding as he watched the judge enter.

"All rise," called the bailiff, a tall, stern-looking woman who commanded the room's attention. Everyone in the courtroom stood, the shuffling of feet and the rustling of clothes the only sounds breaking the silence.

The judge, a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and a calm demeanor took her seat at the bench. She adjusted her glasses and looked over the courtroom before speaking.

"You may be seated," she said, her voice carrying a tone of authority that demanded respect.

Everyone sat down, and the judge began to sort through the papers in front of her. Chan glanced at Ms. Jang, who gave him a reassuring nod, her own stack of papers organized meticulously.

"This court is now in session, the Honorable Judge Kim presiding," announced the bailiff.

Judge Kim looked up, her eyes briefly scanning the room before settling on the prosecutor. "Prosecution, are you ready to proceed?" she asked.

A young, confident-looking man stood up from the prosecution's table. "Yes, Your Honor," he replied.

"And the defense?" Judge Kim turned her gaze to Ms. Jang.

"Yes, Your Honor," Ms. Jang responded, standing briefly before sitting back down.

Judge Kim nodded. "Very well. Let's begin with the opening statements."

The prosecutor stood and approached the jury, his movements deliberate and measured. "Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began, "we are here today to address the serious charges against Bang Chan, accused of kidnapping a minor, Kim Seungmin. The evidence will show that Mr. Bang unlawfully took custody of the child and kept him hidden from the authorities."

Chan felt a knot tighten in his stomach as the prosecutor continued, painting a picture of him as a criminal. He stole a glance at his boyfriends, who were sitting in the gallery, their expressions tense but supportive.

The prosecutor finished his opening statement and returned to his seat. Judge Kim then turned to Ms. Jang. "Defense, you may proceed with your opening statement."

Ms. Jang stood and faced the jury. "Your Honor, members of the jury," she began, her voice steady and confident, "this case is not as straightforward as the prosecution would have you believe. Bang Chan did not kidnap Kim Seungmin out of malice or for any criminal intent. Instead, he acted out of concern for the child's well-being. The evidence will show that Seungmin was found in a distressed state, and Mr. Bang and his housemates provided care and protection when they saw that the authorities were not a safe option for him."

As Ms. Jang spoke, Chan felt a sense of relief. She was presenting his side of the story clearly and firmly. He saw the jury's eyes flicker with interest, some of them nodding slightly as they listened.

Ms. Jang returned to her seat, and Judge Kim addressed the courtroom. "We will now hear from the witnesses. Prosecution, please call your first witness."
The prosecutor stood again. "The prosecution calls Officer Choi to the stand."

Officer Choi, the familiar face from the police station, walked to the witness stand and was sworn in. The prosecutor began questioning him about the circumstances of Chan's arrest and the condition in which Seungmin was when he was brought to the station.

Officer Choi recounted the events with professionalism, his testimony clear and concise. The prosecutor's questions aimed to highlight any neglect or suspicious behavior on Chan's part, but Officer Choi's responses were measured, not giving more than what was asked.

When the prosecutor finished, it was Ms. Jang's turn to cross-examine. She stood and approached the witness stand, her questions aimed at clarifying the intentions behind Chan's actions.

"Officer Choi, you mentioned that Mr. Bang was cooperative during his arrest. Is that correct?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Choi replied.

"And did Mr. Bang explain why he and his housemates didn't immediately report Seungmin's presence to the authorities?"

"Yes, he did. He said that Seungmin was in a state of panic at the mention of the police, and they were concerned for his safety."

Ms. Jang nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Thank you, Officer Choi."

Judge Kim adjusted her glasses and looked at the prosecutor. "Prosecution, you may call your next witness."

The prosecutor stood and cleared his throat. "The prosecution calls Mr. Sim to the stand."

Chan's heart skipped a beat. He watched as Mr. Sim, the head of police, strode confidently to the witness stand. The bailiff swore him in, and Mr. Sim took his seat, his expression unreadable.

The prosecutor approached. "Mr. Sim, can you please state your relationship to Kim Seungmin for the record?"

Mr. Sim's voice was steady. "Seungmin is my nephew."

"And did you report Seungmin missing when he disappeared?" the prosecutor asked.

There was a noticeable pause before Mr. Sim responded, "No, I did not."

The courtroom buzzed with whispers. The prosecutor raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Mr. Sim's face hardened. "Because he had done it before. I believed he had run away and would return on his own, like before."

The prosecutor nodded, seemingly expecting this answer. "And were you aware of any abuse or mistreatment that Seungmin might have experienced?"

Mr. Sim's eyes flickered with something like anger. "No, I was not."

The prosecutor concluded his questioning and returned to his seat. Ms. Jang stood up for the cross-examination, her gaze sharp.

"Mr. Sim, you are the head of police. Is that correct?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, his voice clipped.

"And as head of police, you understand the importance of reporting missing persons, especially minors, correct?"

"Of course," Mr. Sim responded tersely.

"Yet, you chose not to report your own five-year-old nephew missing. Can you explain why?"

Mr. Sim's jaw tightened. "As I said, it was a common occurrence."

Ms. Jang nodded, seemingly unfazed. "Mr. Sim, were you aware that Seungmin was found with multiple bruises and cuts, some new and some old?"

Mr. Sim's face flushed with a hint of color. "No, I was not."

Ms. Jang pressed on. "And do you deny any involvement in these injuries?"

Mr. Sim's eyes flashed. "Absolutely. I had nothing to do with it. He was in the same car accident that took his parents. That's where those cuts came from. "

Ms. Jang finished her questioning and sat down. Judge Kim looked to the prosecutor. "Prosecution, you may call your next witness."

The prosecutor stood. "The prosecution calls Bang Chan to the stand."

Chan felt his heart race as he walked to the witness stand. He was sworn in and took his seat, trying to steady his breathing.

The prosecutor approached. "Mr. Bang, can you explain the circumstances under which you found Seungmin?"

Chan took a deep breath. "My housemates and I heard noises outside. We found Seungmin in our dumpster, scared and hurt. We took him in to care for him."

"Why didn't you report this to the authorities immediately?" the prosecutor asked.

"Seungmin was terrified of the police. He begged us not to call. We wanted to help him, and we were trying to figure out the best way to do that," Chan
explained.

The prosecutor nodded. "Did Seungmin ever tell you where his injuries came from?"

"Yes," Chan said, his voice steady. "He said they were from Mr. Sim."

The courtroom erupted into murmurs. Judge Kim banged her gavel for silence. "Order in the court!"

The prosecutor finished his questioning, and Ms. Jang stood up. "Mr. Bang, can you tell the court about Seungmin's state when you found him?"

Chan nodded. "He was dirty, scared, and injured. It was clear he had been through a lot."

"Why didn't you report this to the authorities immediately?" the prosecutor asked.

"Seungmin was terrified of the police. He begged us not to call. We wanted to help him, and we were trying to figure out the best way to do that," Chan
explained.

The prosecutor nodded. "Did Seungmin ever tell you where his injuries came from?"

"Yes," Chan said, his voice steady. "He said they were from Mr. Sim."

The courtroom erupted into murmurs. Judge Kim banged her gavel for silence. "Order in the court!"

The prosecutor finished his questioning, and Ms. Jang stood up. "Mr. Bang, can you tell the court about Seungmin's state when you found him?"

Chan nodded. "He was dirty, scared, and injured. It was clear he had been through a lot."

The tension in the courtroom was palpable as everyone awaited the next developments in the case. The prosecutor sat down, and Ms. Jang rose to her feet once more.

"Mr. Bang," she began, her voice projecting across the room, "can you describe for the court the events that occurred after you found Seungmin?"
Chan took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding. "After finding Seungmin, we brought him into our home, cleaned him up, and provided him with food and shelter. We tried to make him feel safe."

Ms. Jang nodded, prompting him to continue. "Seungmin was clearly frightened and reluctant to involve the authorities. He told us about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of Mr. Sim," Chan explained, his voice unwavering.

"And did you believe Seungmin's claims?" Ms. Jang inquired. Chan hesitated, recalling the fear in Seungmin's eyes and the sincerity in his voice. "Yes, I did. His injuries seemed to corroborate his story, and his fear was genuine."

The courtroom was silent as Ms. Jang absorbed Chan's testimony. She then turned to the jury, her expression resolute. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is clear that Bang Chan acted out of compassion and a desire to protect Seungmin. He and his housemates provided refuge for a frightened and vulnerable child when no one else would." Ms. Jang's words hung in the air, the weight of their truth resonating throughout the courtroom. The jury members exchanged glances, some nodding in agreement.

Judge Kim observed the room with a thoughtful expression before addressing the prosecutor. "Prosecution, do you have any further witnesses to call?" Said man stood but then the courtroom doors were opened and all heads turned to watch the intrusion.

In walked a woman, held in his arms was Seungmin. He had his face hidden and was trembling, and quietly sniffling.

"You honor, I apologize for the interruption, but my team and I have found our last witness." The woman approached the stand and watched Mr. Sim's face closely. The Chief of police looked angry.

The judge let out a sigh. "Ms. Deji, I understand your good intentions, but he's just a boy." Chan glanced at Mr. Choi to see him grinning ear to ear at the woman.

Mr. Sim stood abruptly, and said, "Having a child witness is ridiculous! Kids lie about everything!" Judge Kim, turned to regard the officer.

"Mr. Sim, I advise you to sit and not interrupt again or you will be held in contempt of court," Judge Kim warned sternly, Mr. Sim sat back down with fire in his eyes.

Ms. Deji ignored Mr. Sim's outburst and continued. "Your Honor, I understand the concern, but Seungmin's testimony is crucial to this case. He is the victim here, and his voice deserves to be heard." Judge Kim hesitated, considering Ms. Deji's words. She glanced at Seungmin, who was still trembling in her arms, his face buried against her shoulder.

"Very well," Judge Kim relented, her tone softened. "But I will allow Seungmin to testify only if he feels comfortable doing so. We must prioritize his well-being."
Ms. Deji nodded in agreement and gently approached Seungmin, speaking to him in a soothing tone. After a moment, Seungmin lifted his head, his eyes red-rimmed but determined.

"I'll do it," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Ms. Deji smiled softly and guided Seungmin to the witness stand. The bailiff swore him in, and Chan watched as Seungmin took a deep breath. He was only five, how could he have gone through so much to get here?

The prosecutor approached Seungmin, his demeanor noticeably softer than before. "Seungmin, can you tell the court about how you got the scars you have?"

Seungmin glanced up at Mr. Sim, the man's eyes never left the boys, and Seungmin felt the need to lie again, just like he'd always done.

"If anyone ever asks you where you got these, you say it was in the car crash. Do you understand me Seungmin?"Mr. Sim would always ask, and Seungmin nodded. He knew what would happen if he didn't.

But this was different, right? If Seungmin told the truth Mr. Sim would never touch him again. He felt the tears burn his eyes and he muttered out, "Mr. Sim."

The courtroom began to wreak havoc as gasps were heard and voices began to talk loudly. Chan's mouth hung open in shock, he didn't expect Seungmin to be brave enough to speak out against him, but he had done it.

Seungmin looked up at Mr. Sim, his voice shaky but resolute. "Mr. Sim... he hu'wt me. He hit me and... and...," his voice trailed off, choked with emotion.

Ms. Jang stood, her eyes filled with compassion. "Seungmin, you don't have to say anything more if you don't want to," she assured him.

Seungmin shook his head, tears shining in his eyes and falling down his cheeks. "I have to, you need to know the tw'uth" he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Ms. Jang glanced at the Judge, and the woman nodded for her to continue her questions. "And what else happened to you when you stayed with Mr. Sim?"

Seungmin wiped his running nose with the back of his sweater sleeve and looked at Ms Jang. "He, would no' feed me, and he t-touch me in places I don' like." Anger spread across every person's face at the idea of someone raping a five-year-old, and Mr. Sim looked as if he was either going to run or kill every person In the room.

Ms. Jang never took her kind eyes off of Seungmin. "And Seungmin, how did Bang Chan and his family treat you?" At this the boy seemed to brighten up, a small smile gracing his face. "They bought me a bunch of toys and c'othes, and they fed me all the time."

Chan felt a swell of pride at Seungmin's words. He glanced at his boyfriends sitting in the gallery, their expressions showed love as they watched their boy being so brave. They had all played a part in caring for Seungmin, and seeing the impact of their actions reflected in the young boy's testimony filled Chan with warmth.

The contrast between the love and care Seungmin received from Chan and his family and the neglect and abuse he endured at the hands of Mr. Sim painted a damning picture of the true villain in this story.

Ms. Jang nodded, her eyes filled with understanding. "Thank you, Seungmin," she said gently. "You've been very brave today."

Seungmin nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. He glanced at the other men sitting in the courtroom, his gaze lingering on Chan for a moment before turning back to Ms. Jang.

"Can I go now?" he asked softly, his voice tinged with exhaustion.

Ms. Jang nodded, her smile warm and reassuring. "Of course, Seungmin. You did great."

With that, Seungmin stepped down from the witness stand, his shoulders sagging with relief. The courtroom erupted into murmurs as people processed Seungmin's testimony, the weight of his words sinking in.

As the courtroom settled back into order, Judge Kim addressed the room. "Court will be in recess until a verdict has been reached." Chan's six boyfriends crossed the room to try and meet Chan, but an officer was there putting up a hand. "You are not permitted to speak to anyone in this court hearing at this moment. Please go be seated or step outside of the courtroom."

They each showed their own expressions of annoyance but turned to go sit regardless.

As the recess drew to a close, Chan felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ms. Jang standing beside him, her expression a mix of concern and determination mirroring his own.

"Are you okay, Chan?" she asked softly.

Chan nodded, his jaw set with resolve. "I'm okay," he replied. "But I just hope that Seungmin gets the justice he rightly deserves."

Ms. Jang offered him a reassuring smile. "We will," she said firmly. "We will, Balguen is going to be held accountable for what he's done."

Chan sat with his hands clasped tightly together, his heart pounding in anticipation of the verdict. His boyfriends sat beside him, their expressions a mix of worry and determination.

Judge Kim entered the courtroom, her presence commanding attention. The room fell silent as she took her seat at the bench, her gaze sweeping over the gathered audience. "Court is now back in session," she announced, her voice cutting through the quiet. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

The foreperson of the jury stood up, their expression grave. "Yes, Your Honor, we have."

Chan felt his heart skip a beat as the foreperson handed a piece of paper to the bailiff, who then passed it to Judge Kim. She unfolded the paper and scanned its contents, her expression unreadable.

"Will the defendant please rise?" she instructed.

Chan stood, his breath caught in his throat. This was it—the moment he had been dreading and hoping for simultaneously.

"Mr. Bang Chan," Judge Kim began, her voice steady, "the jury has found you not guilty of the charges brought against you."

A wave of relief washed over Chan, and he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Beside him, his boyfriends let out sighs of relief and reached out to grasp his hands in support.

Judge Kim continued her tone firm. "However, in light of the evidence presented during this trial, Mr. Sim will be under arrest for the abuse, rape, and neglect shown to Kim Seungmin. We will also look into opening up the case on Sim Minji, Balguen's other adopted son."

Judge Kim lifted her gavel saying, "Court is adjourned." before letting it fall.  Chan instantly crossed the room throwing himself into the arms of his family. He let the tears fall freely now. Sob's wracking his body as they circled him, hiding him from the people around them.

He did the right thing. He knew he did.

Chapter Text

Chan wished it was as easy as signing a paper and taking Seungmin home but there was so much more to it and it would take time.
 
Background checks, home checks, paperwork, and now the fact that on technicality Chan had kidnapped the kid, all added up to be an issue when it came to just taking Seungmin home. In other words, it wasn't going to be easy. But before Chan even had the opportunity to try and go see Seungmin, Minho was stopping him with a hand on his arm.
 
"Chan, no. He's with CPS, he's safe." Chan tried to plead with Minho, but the man wouldn't budge.
 
Minho grabbed Chan's arm and began to walk toward the courtroom doors. "I love the kid, but you're my first priority. You need to eat, shower, and sleep, within the next hour." The rest of their little group trailed after the pissed Minho, following like little ducklings. In any other situation, Chan would probably laugh about it, but right now the exhaustion pulling at him was winning against every fight he had in him.
 
 
Chan wasn't aware of the ride home, he knew he was placed between Felix and Han who peppered him with kisses the entire way. By the time they did arrive at their house, Chan's lips were thoroughly red and swollen, his brain was fuzzy, and he was slightly turned on.
 
As they stepped inside, the warmth of the house enveloped them, a stark contrast to the cold, sterile environment of the courtroom. Minho's firm grip on Chan's arm softened, and he gently guided him to the living room. Felix and Han flanked him, their concern evident in their every move.
 
"Sit," Minho commanded, his voice gentler now but still leaving no room for argument. Chan complied, sinking into the plush cushions of the couch. Hyunjin and Minho disappeared for some time, returning with a tray of food—simple, comforting dishes that Chan didn't realize he was starving for until the aroma hit him.
 
"You need to eat," Hyunjin said softly, placing the tray on the coffee table in front of Chan. "No arguments."
 
Chan nodded, picking up a spoon and taking a tentative bite. The flavors burst on his tongue, and he realized just how hungry he was. He ate slowly, methodically, while the others watched, their eyes never leaving him.
 
"Good," Minho said after a few minutes, his stern expression softening as he saw Chan eating. "Now, a shower."
 
 
Chan wanted to protest, just wanted to climb into bed and sleep for days, but then Minho was grabbing him by the hand once again and tugging him through the house.
 
He deposited the elder in the bathroom, going toward their shared room for clothes. Chan stood there, slowly shedding his clothes watching as the steam from the water fogged over the mirror.
 
There was a huff behind him, and he turned to see Minho watching him fondly, his sweater had been shed, but his shirt was still on him. Minho plopped the items on the counter and reached over gently batting his boyfriend's hands away from where they gripped the hem of the garment.
 
Minho slid his hands under the shirt, rubbing his cold hands up Chan's sides, effectively raising the currently offending garment and causing goosebumps to rise on the other's skin.
 
"Min-" Before Chan could say anything else Minho yanked Chan's pants and underwear off his legs, causing Chan to let out a small squeak.  
 
"C'mon Channie, shower time." Chan blushed at the sultry look his boyfriend was giving him, nodding dumbly he turned around and climbed under the hot stream.
 
The eldest sat there, letting the water cascade over his sore muscles and cold frame. He let out a shocked gasp at the feeling of arms encircling his waist.
 
There were kisses being pressed along his neck and he let out a breathy moan. "Min, please." The younger hummed, turning the other around to face him.
 
Chan was surprised to see a look of sadness across his love's face. "Minho, baby what's wrong?" The younger laughed sadly at Chan's question.
 
"I was the asshole, yet here you are comforting me." Minho's voice was meek, yet angry. Chan pressed a gentle kiss to the younger's lips.
 
Before he was able to speak Minho cut him off pressing a desperate kiss to Chan's lips.
 
Minho pulled away, slipping his finger over the elder's mouth to keep him quiet. "Chan I need you to listen. I am so sorry for what I said to you." Minho pushed Chan back up against the shower wall, the cold tile sending shivers through Chan.
 
"What I said was not true, you know we trust you to make tough decisions for us. What I said was awful, and I am so truly sorry for it." Chan smiled at Minho kindly.
 
It seemed as if the younger wasn't done though. "I will do everything I can to make it up to you. To earn your respect again, to earn your love. I don't deserve you or anything you've ever done or said for me, and I abused your love." Chan had, had enough.
 
Grabbing Minho's wrist he moved the finger toward his lips, sucking the digit down to the base, keeping his eyes focused on the younger's.
 
"Chan what the fuck." Minho said breathlessly.
 
"We're even Min. You said some shitty stuff, but I did some extremely fucking dumb shit too." Minho searched Chan's eyes for any sort of lie, or anger. Finding none he pulled Chan's body flush against his, urgently kissing Chan. He ran his hand up his back to gently tug at the older man's curls, earning a soft moan.
 
Minho smirked, placing open-mouthed kisses against Chan's neck now. 
 
The soft noises he earned from his efforts did little more than urge him on. "Min- Minho please, baby please!" Chan let his head thump back against the tile enjoying the love bites that riled him up more. He tried to roll his hips against his boyfriends, but Minho's free hand kept him from moving much.
 
"Hm, please what Channie?" Minho questioned, loving the unfocused look on Chan's face.
 
"Please fuck me. I need it, need you." Chan breathed out, and it had Minho cursing, reaching for the lube they kept in the shower.
 
They were horny men, sue them.
 
 
It didn't take long for Minho to open Chan up, three fingers deep massaging Chan's prostate.
 
"Ah, Min- C'mon, don't tease me please!" Chan was huffing tears gathering in his eyes at being denied his release for another time.
 
Minho chuckled meanly at his boyfriend, ignoring his pleas, and in favor of reaching his free hand around to wrap around Chan's dick. At this Chan let out a cry, bucking his hips into the movement.
 
"I'm gonna-fuck!" Chan panted out trying to signal to the other, which resulted in Minho stopping his ministrations and the tears fell from the eyes of the other.
 
Chan let out a whine, high and loud at the loss of another orgasm. He felt gentle kisses being placed along his back and he sighed at the comforting feeling.
 
"Hyung, please, I've been good! I've been a good boy." Chan was pulling out all the stops, anything he could think of to get him to be allowed to come.
 
Minho hummed, the vibrations rumbling through Chan's body. "You have been good for Hyung, haven't you." It wasn’t a question, but Chan nodded all the same.
 
After another minute Minho removed his fingers, lining himself up instead.  And finally, fucking finally, Minho's cock slides deep inside his hole in one thrust.
 
Chan cries out at the stretched feeling, trying to push back to get the other man to move. He earned a slap against his butt for his efforts. 
"Don't be greedy Channie, patience." Chan nodded once again mumbling quite apologies, half-mindedly.
 
When the younger did move, it hit all of Chan's spots deliciously.  "Yes, Min right there please!" Chan cried out to the other who was now hitting his prostate repeatedly.
 
Chan could feel himself nearing the edge almost embarrassingly quickly now, and he shivered at the words his boyfriend spoke. "You going to come for Hyung baby?" Chan nodded quickly.
 
Minho leaned in close whispering, "Then come." Chan unraveled, covering the shower wall in his cum, and whining at the overstimulation.
 
Before long Minho was releasing deep in Chan, whispering praises of how much of a good by his Channie was.
 
They cleaned properly this time, Chan was basically boneless as Minho did all the work. They shuffled into their shared room and crashed on Chan's bed together.
 
Minho pulled Chan close to his chest, tucking the older man's head into his neck.  Chan pressed a gentle kiss there, murmuring quiet words of love, until he drifted into a much-needed dreamless sleep.
 

Chapter Text

The next morning was a flurry of boys as they got ready, hoping that Chan would let them all go to the orphanage to get Seungmin.
 
Though Chan had just stumbled out of bed,  hair a mess, and still half asleep, every boy but Minho held their breath as he came into the kitchen in search of breakfast. Five pairs of eyes watched him in anticipation.
 
He made himself food and sat down amongst the rest. Three bites in he finally spoke, saying, "Minho and I will go to the orphanage and see what we can do to get Seungmin back today." Then all hell broke loose.
 
"What the hell?"
 
"We want to go see him too!"
 
"Why does Minho get to go but I don’t? He played with me more!"
 
"Hyung that's not fair!"
 
Eventually, Minho just raised up his hand to silence them, and though It took a moment, they all quieted down.
 
"Chan and I are going because we're the ones being put down as the caregivers," Minho explained calmly, ignoring the glares he was receiving from Jisung and Hyunjin.
 
Chan spoke next with a smile on his face. "Plus, no one wants you five in their building at one period of time." This erupted another chorus of complaints till he finished his food.
 
 
After breakfast, the boys dispersed to their respective corners of the house, each pouting in their way. Felix and Jeongin retreated to their room to play video games, their fingers mashing buttons with more aggression than usual. Hyunjin slouched on the couch, flipping through channels without really watching anything, while Jisung scribbled furiously in his notebook, channeling his frustration into lyrics. Changbin tried to lighten the mood with a few jokes, but they fell flat.
 
Chan and Minho prepared for their trip to the orphanage, gathering the necessary documents and discussing the best way to go about trying to have their kid placed back in their care. They knew it wouldn't be easy to convince the administrators to release Seungmin back into their care, especially after the recent incidents.
 
"Do you think they'll listen to us?" Chan asked, his voice tinged with worry as he buttoned up his shirt.
 
"We have to make them listen," Minho replied firmly, straightening his tie. "They've seen the news, the truth. We have that on our side."
 
Chan nodded, though a part of him couldn't shake the doubt. The orphanage had its rules and regulations, and he wasn't sure if they could bend them.
 
The drive to the orphanage was filled with tense silence. The streets were bustling with morning traffic, but inside the car, it felt like time had slowed to a crawl. Minho kept his eyes on the road, while Chan stared out the window, lost in his thoughts.
 
When they arrived, the orphanage loomed before them, an imposing building that seemed even more daunting than ever. They parked and made their way to the front desk, where a stern-looking woman greeted them.
 
"We're here to see Seungmin," Minho said, trying to keep his voice steady.
 
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment?"
 
"Yes, We're here to speak about the fostering rights with Mr. Garam," Chan said quickly, and Minho grabbed his hand, squeezing it, a silent gesture to calm down.
 
The woman sighed and picked up the phone, speaking in hushed tones. After a few moments, she hung up and gestured for them to follow her.
 
"The director will see you now," she said, leading them down a long hallway.
 
The director's office was spacious and filled with shelves of books and files. The man behind the desk looked up as they entered, his expression was kind.
 
"Mr. Bang, Mr. Lee," he greeted them with a nod. "Please, have a seat."
 
Chan and Minho sat down, their nerves evident. Mr. Garam leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on his desk.
 
"I understand you're here about Seungmin," he began. "I must say, it's highly unusual for us to release a child so soon after they've been brought back to the orphanage. We have protocols in place to ensure their safety and well-being."
 
"We understand that," Chan said quickly. "But Seungmin is like family to us. He's been with us for two months, and he already feels like he belongs with us."
 
The director raised an eyebrow. "There have been concerns about recent events.  The incident that led to Seungmin being brought back here was particularly troubling."
 
Minho clenched his fists but kept his voice calm. "It was a misunderstanding, I'm sure you've seen the news by now. We're doing everything we can to create a safe and stable environment for him. We're even working on becoming his official guardians."
 
The director sighed, leaning forward. "It's not just about legal guardianship. It's about ensuring that Seungmin is in a place where he can thrive. We've received reports from Child Protective Services, that he is not mentally well."
 
Chan felt a surge of frustration. "Those reports are true, but. we love Seungmin and we're doing our best to give him a good life. Please, give us a chance to prove that."
 
The director studied them for a moment before speaking. "I'll need to see concrete evidence of the changes you're making. A stable income, and a safe home environment, and he will need therapy. If you can provide that, then we can reconsider his placement."
 
Chan and Minho exchanged a hopeful glance. "We'll get you everything you need," Minho promised.
 
The director nodded. "Very well. I'll give you one month to provide the necessary documentation and therapist and there will be someone coming to your home to ensure it is ready for a child. If you can do that, we'll consider returning Seungmin to your care."
 
 
After a little bit of pleading, Mr Garam allowed them to see Seungmin before they left.
 
The lady at the front desk had fetched him and the two men stood awkwardly, waiting for him to come. Eventually, she came around the corner with little Seungmin holding her hand and looking confused. When the boy finally noticed Chan and Minho tears sprung to his eyes and he came barreling toward them.
 
Chan crouched down to engulf his kid in the hug they both needed. Minho gave them their moment before Seungmin sprang off of Chan and onto Minho's legs.
 
Minho let out a chuckle at the boy putting his hands beneath his arms and pulling him up and into his chest. "Hey sweetheart, we've missed you my little pup."
 
Seungmin tried as he might, couldn't stop the tears that fell. He had missed them so much, and now they were going to finally go home!
 
Seungmin wiggled his way out of Minho's arms and smiled a big teary grin. "I go get my t'ings and we go home!" Seungmin tried to rush off but there was a gentle arm stopping him.
 
Chan looked at him sadly. "Sweetheart, you're not going home with us just yet." 
Seungmin felt his world stop. "What do you mean?" Minho stroked his hair, and he usually would've loved it but now he felt like he might throw up.
 
"We will come back for you, we promise," Minho said gently.
 
Mrs. Kkot's heels clicked loudly behind him her voice gentle as she announced that it was time for Seungmin to go to lunch.
 
Seungmin shook his head. "No, I'm going home now." 
 
All three adults felt their hearts break. "Sweetie, it's time for lunch now." Mrs. Kkot tried to grasp Seungmin's hand but he pushed her off yelling, "NO!"
 
Seungmin grabbed onto Chan and didn't seem to let go no matter what they told him. It took Mrs. Kkot grabbing the boy by the waist and pulling him off and into her arms for the elder to finally be free.
 
"NO! 'M GOING HOME WIT' THEM! DON'T LEAVE ME HE'WE P'EASE!" Chan had wiped the tears away, sobbing in the entryway to the orphanage. Minho held tightly onto his partner's hand, stoic as ever despite the want to cry.
 
"P'EASE DADDY NO DON'T LEAVE ME HE'WE!" Minho grabbed Chan at this and pulled him out the door and into the car.
 
The younger let Chan cry on his shoulder for as long as he needed, silently shedding tears of his own.
 
"We'll be back Channie, I promise." Chan nodded to show he was listening.
 
The ride home was silent, save for a few sniffles.  
 
 
 
Back at the house, the other boys were anxiously waiting for news. As soon as Chan and Minho walked through the door, they were bombarded with questions.
 
"Did you get him?" Hyunjin asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.
 
"Is he coming back?" Jisung added, practically bouncing on his feet.
 
Chan held up his hands to calm them down. "Not yet, but we have a chance. We need to make some changes and gather the right documents. If we can do that, Seungmin will be back with us."
 
The boys let out a collective sigh of relief. It wasn't the news they had hoped for, but it was better than no.
 
"What do we need to do?" Felix asked, stepping forward.
 
"We need to show that we have a stable income, a safe home, and we need to find him a good therapist," Minho explained. "That means cleaning up the house, getting our finances in order, and finding some additional support."
 
Jeongin nodded. "We can do that. We can all pitch in and help."
 
 
For the next few weeks, the house was a whirlwind of activity. They cleaned, organized, and made repairs. Chan took on extra clients at work, writing and producing their songs, while Minho handled the paperwork and coordinated with social services. The other boys did their part, from learning how to cook, to finding good therapists, schools, and extracurricular activities.
 
 
A month later, they returned to the orphanage, armed with documents and evidence of their efforts. The director reviewed everything meticulously, his expression serious.
 
Finally, he looked up and gave them a small smile. "You've done well. Seungmin will be returned to your care, under the condition that we conduct regular check-ins to ensure his well-being."
 
Chan and Minho exchanged a relieved glance. "Thank you," Chan said, his voice choked with emotion.
 
This time when Seungmin saw them he was told he was going home, he cried harder than he ever had in his life. 

 
When they brought Seungmin home, the house was filled with tears and hugs. The boys welcomed him back with open arms, Seungmin finding space in each one. And for the first time in a long while, everything felt right.
 
As they sat around the dinner table that night, Seungmin looked at each of them from his spot in Minho's lap and muttered. "T'ank you for coming back fo' me.," he said softly.
 
"We're glad to have you back," Felix replied, ruffling his hair.
 
 
 

Chapter Text

Hi guys! If you read this story; THANK YOU!!! this was my first real passion project and i'm so happy with how it turned out. There's definitely things i've learned while writing this, and how to improve and things that worked and didn't work.

I know in the previous chapter I said I'd be adding another chapter, but after literal MONTHS of trying to wrap it up I really wasn't sure what else I could add without it having my heart in it. I thought for the respect of this story and my own writing I should leave it as is instead of half-assing a chapter.

If you were waiting, please forgive me. I am writing another kid fic called "homeward bound (one agonizing step at a time) it's centered around Chan, Felix and Jisung, but Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin are kids too. There's only a couple chapters out and haven't been any updates in a while, BUT i am working on it. Or if you're a fan of the age regression stories I have "Catch me if you can" that one has 16 chapters and is about to be wrapped up if you want to catch up on it before I finish out the story.

If you have any ideas for more kid stories you are more than welcome to drop them in a comment and I might write it!!! (sometimes I just need a little idea motivation hehe)

Anyways, the love and support on this story really showed me that my writing isn't complete and utter shit and motivated me to continue with writing as a full time hobby. So really thank you thank you thank you if you ever supported this story, you're the reason my other stories ever came to life.

LOVE YOU MUAH

E_L :)