[M] Chapter 6 (1/1)

“Taecyeonnie?” he said, looking at the child’s scared face. Taecyeon snuffled into his sleeve. Narsha tutted and bent down, picking the boy up and cradling him in her arms. He latched onto her immediately, nuzzling the crook of her neck and hiccupping from crying for so long. After a while,  his breathing had returned to normal and the sobbing sounds stopped, so Narsha kissed his little nose and gently set him down again.“Taec, sweetie, why did you follow us?” she asked softly, stroking his hair to put him at ease.“Seunghyun-ssi was shouting and hurting Kiki hyung, so I was scared. Then you grabbed him and ran off a-and he started chasing you and I-I didn’t know what else to do!” he stammered, obviously terrified and confused. Gikwang held out his arms, beckoning for Taecyeon to give him a cuddle.“It’s ok, Taec. We aren’t angry!” he said earnestly, wrapping his arms around the tiny boy. Taecyeon sniffed and widened his eyes.“You’re not?” he whispered. Gikwang shook his head.“Of course not, you little raisin. We were just worried ‘cause you must’ve ran a long way on your own! But you’re safe now, yeah? Me and Narsh will take care of you.”“I didn’t want to lose you too..” Taecyeon said quietly, obviously thinking about Doojoon Gikwang felt pain stab at his heart but he managed a weak smile.“You’re never gonna lose me, kiddo. Me, Narsh and baby are your family now, ok? We’re not going anywhere.”“Can I help you look after baby?” Taecyeon piped up, suddenly cheerful. Gikwang chuckled and nodded his head. The little boy’s tear-stained face lit up and he smiled, making his cute teeth stand out. Narsha grinned, but then looked worried.“Do you think it’s impolite to take him to the Sons’ too?” she asked Gikwang, who shook his head profoundly.“He’s only tiny and we will look after him; the family won’t have to do a thing. Besides, look at him, he’s adorable. Who could say no to this guy? Also, we have no choice. If he goes back, his life won’t even be worth living when Seunghyun catches him. I’m not putting him in any more danger. Doojoonie would want us to keep him safe, Narsh.” He argued, ticking off the reasons in his head. Narsha nodded and smiled for Taecyeon’s sake.“Right, then. We had better be off! We have a train to catch!” she enthused, holding out her hand for the infant to take. Gikwang held his other hand and the three of them walked off together, heading for a better life. The train journey seemed to go by slowly, despite it not being too far from their destination. Narsha and Gikwang were silent, each overwhelmed by what was going on and wondering if the Sons’ really would be alright with moving so soon. Taecyeon was the only one seemingly hyper. He chatted endlessly to Narsha, who just smiled sadly at him, clearly worried. Gikwang was happy to be going, of course he was, but at the bottom of his heart, there was a sadness about the whole affair. He felt wrong and disloyal to be escaping without Doojoon. They had planned it since they were Taecyeon’s age, every detail about what was to be their great adventure thought about and imprinted into his mind. He wished more than anything that his lover could be sat on the train with them, his protective hands feeling how their baby kicked and his smiling mouth telling Gikwang how much he loved him. He was terrified, too. He didn’t know this family he was supposed to be moving in with and he was scared that they would take one look at the state he was in and send him away. The teenage boy looked out of the window and sighed, while Taecyeon fell asleep leaning on Narsha, finally tired out from all his chattering.The view from the window was a strange one for Gikwang to take in. He couldn’t remember what the outside world was like, having been stuck in the orphanage every day since he was brought there as a toddler. There were so many buildings and carts running down paths. He watched it all go by with curious eyes, wondering who lived in each house and what their life was like. Even the train itself felt weird to be in. He had no idea how it was moving so quickly with so many people inside it- though there were only ten or so passengers. He found his eyes fixated upon people’s clothing, too. He had never seen so many colours being worn at once and tilted his head to get a better look. Narsha saw him staring and patted his hand. She felt so sad that this fifteen year old boy hadn’t a clue about normal life.“Baby, you might want to stop staring,” she warned quietly. “People might think you’ve not got decent motives.” It broke her heart to stop him taking everything in, but people were already looking at him funny and she thought it best to stop him before there was trouble. He then looked away quickly and nodded, used to following orders. Before long, they reached the right stop. Gikwang woke a sleepy Taecyeon up and held his hand as they got off. Narsha then led them to the family’s home in the cold night. They were all freezing and exhausted but they made it in due time, and for the second time that day, Narsha knocked loudly on the door to the Sons’ house. She threw Gikwang anxious looks as she waited for someone to let them in. She knew they had to clean his wounds as soon as possible before the boy met with the same fate as Doojoon did. Gikwang kept wincing, but did his best to make Doojoon proud and didn’t complain, putting Taecyeon first and keeping him smiling so he wouldn’t be scared.The door opened, revealing a tired-looking Dongwoon. Narsha smiled and waved at him. Gikwang, whose mind was hazy from fatigue and the confusion of the day, stared at Dongwoon with huge eyes. His bottom lip quivered.“Doojoonie?” he whispered, his brain playing tricks on him. Taecyeon nuzzled Gikwang’s hand, scared at how his hyung was acting. Narsha combed Gikwang’s hair through her fingers and shook her head softly.“Kiki, this is Dongwoon. He’s the son of the family I was talking about.” She explained. Dongwoon shifted awkwardly on his feet.“Narsha, who’s this?” he asked, having not been there for the conversation earlier.“I’ll explain everything in a minute, Woonie. Would you be so kind as to let us in? We don’t have anywhere else to go right now and I need to speak to your parents.” She pleaded. Dongwoon smiled kindly.“But of course, how impolite of me,” he stepped aside, gesturing for the three dishevelled beings to enter his family house. “Just make yourselves comfortable in the living room. I’ll be with you in a second with some tea and then I’ll get my parents for you!” he said warmly, closing the door behind them as they entered. Gikwang stared at Dongwoon, confused and nervous all in one.“You’re an angel, Woonie.” Narsha thanked him. Dongwoon grinned.“I try.” He joked, sticking his tongue out at Taecyeon, who giggled shyly. “Right, I’ll be back in two seconds with the tea. Is there anything else I can do for you?”“Could we have a bowl of water and a towel? I can get them if you tell  me where they’re kept, but Gikwang here has some rather nasty wounds I need to clean up.” Narsha asked, feeling awkward about asking. Dongwoon’s eyes widened at the mention of wounds.“No, no, I’ll get them, you stay here and make sure he’s ok.” And with that, the tall young man ran into the kitchen to fill a bowl with warm water and grabbed a towel from the clean pile of laundry his mother had left on the table. Before leaving, he noticed the pot of salt on the counter and snatched that up too, walking carefully back to the living room so as not to spill the water.Gikwang’s heart started to swim as he looked around the room. There was too much going on all at once and it was making him feel weak. On top of that, the adrenaline from the escape had worn off, his body beginning to ache all over and his back stinging from the pain of the beating he had endured just hours before. His eyes blurred and he collapsed in a heap on the floor, totally unconscious.“Kiki hyung!” Taecyeon yelled, running over to the teenager and shaking him. His eyes filled with tears as he quickly assumed his hyung was dead. Narsha screamed, rushing to where Taecyeon was bawling and Gikwang was making no movement. She immediately rolled the short teenager onto his back so that the baby wouldn’t be hurt and pressed her ear onto Gikwang’s wrist to hear his pulse. Satisfied that there was still a strong heartbeat, she pulled the boy onto the Sons’ sofa and rested his head on a pillow, sitting beside him and rubbing his shoulder to try and wake him up gently.“Gikwanggie dead?” Taecyeon whispered, tears streaming down his little face. Narsha shook her head violently.“Of course not! He’s just tired out, sweetie. He’s been through hell this last month. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a little sick from the way he’s been treated-” She saw Taecyeon’s face crumple. “No, no! He’s not going to die! He’s safe now, we all are. I promise, baby boy.”“B-but everyone p-promised Doojoonie would get better!” The little infant protested, still crying.Before Narsha could say anything else, Dongwoon walked into the room, setting the water and towel down on the floor and tossing the salt pot next to them. He breathed hard and looked at Gikwang on the sofa.“Is he ok? I heard the little one shout something and you screamed, but I didn’t know whether to ditch the water and go back for them or to bring them-“ he burbled, getting flustered.“Woonie, it’s fine. I’m sorry for scaring you! Poor boy collapsed. I think he’s going to need looking after well for a while. He seems like he’s getting sick.”   A/N: :D hello again~~ I really hope the pace in which I am updating is ok :) i know this story has taken forever to write, but I don't want to just post in a rushed way. Also, welcome, new subscribers! *waves* :D I'd really like to hear what you guys think, too, though no pressure at all as I myself am often a silent reader- it's sometimes calmer that way, right? Just if there's something on your mind, speak~! <3

I shall see you in the next chapter! *salute*