"You're going to be fine right?" 

"I'm going to be fine. You guys should go," Cha Duri made the hand motions of shooing his housemates out. 

Kwon Semo rolled his eyes, but said, "Taeyang's held up in Nav, so you're going to be alone for tonight. Is that cool?" 

"You and Oppa are going on a date, and Dingyo and Pilseung are going with you. Limo-sshi's visiting Obochi, and Y and R are on a date too," Duri said. "Plus, Oppa knows I've been left behind a good amount of times. I have Night to keep me company too." 

"You're technically going to be babysitting Night while we do all that," Cha Hana, his twin, looked concerned. "Are you sure you're going to be fine? The last time we had to care for a baby--" 

"--was before I actually decided I had to get therapy," he finished his brother's statement. "Don't worry about it, Oppa. My therapist also takes care of kids often. It's practically a side-job now." 

"If you need help, give any of us a call okay?" Ju Dingyo gave him a slight hug. 

"We're going to be in the city, but we'll head back as soon as you call us," Oh Pilseung, one of the newer members of the group, offered. 

"I'll be fine," he reassured them for what he hoped would be the final time. "Now go! Shoo! You guys should have fun tonight!" 

"Alright, alright," Hana laughed. "Don't be a stick in the mud, dear brother." 

"I live to please," he joked back, giving his brother a hug before the four walked out the door to get into X and D, who had offered to take them to the city for the double date. 

"He's gotten better, hasn't he?" Semo teased his boyfriend, who laughed and said, "He's gotten really better. I guess all that nonsense with Fuse really helped out. Otherwise, he would still be suffering in the dark." 

"True," X agreed. "I'm glad he's finally finding the help he needs. What did the therapist say when you and Limo showed up last time, though?" 

"She said we can expect him to be released in a month or so," Hana smiled. "It's something I'm looking forward to." 

"Same here," Semo gave his hand a little squeeze. "Want to celebrate it with a party once the day comes?" 

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Alright! But I really hope Duri's okay with Night..." 

"It's Duri, he'll be fine."

Speaking of said dongsaeng, an hour after his friends and brother had left...

"For the sake of all things-- WHERE THE HECK DID YOU GET ALL THOSE CHIPS?!" 

Night looked up, tearing his eyes away from the TV as he turned around to the exasperated programmer, innocently saying, "TyTy gave it to me!" 

Duri mentally cursed out Cartoon Tyler right then for that. He KNEW what would happen if Night ate too many chips. 

And yet he not only gave him chips, but he also gave him TEN PACKS OF THEM. All of which Night had finished. 

He was only gone for half an hour to get the popcorn and everything ready for a TV marathon! Where was Ryan when you needed him? Or Kory or even Demon Taeyang for crying out loud!

Taetae, my lovely Taetae, please, call me or something. How the heck do you deal with Soli? He mentally thought. He definitely needed his boyfriend's advice right now. But of course, Kang Taeyang had texted that something was wrong with some of his friends, so he had to stay. Not that he didn't understand, since he would do the same for his own friends, but he genuinely needed an older brother here. 

As it was, he saw Night begin to tear up--

Oh wait no did he make him sad? 

No no no, he really didn't mean it. He was just frustrated!

"S-Sorry!" he rushed over and scooped the child up before rocking him back and forth. "I didn't mean to get mad. I was just... worried...." 

He tried to breathe deeply as the anxiety rose to his throat. His therapist had told him that if he ever got mad or anxious, he would have to breathe in more deeply to allow the rational side to take over so that he wouldn't do something he would regret later on. He was fine. He was going to be fine. 

"Duwi?" 

He looked down, and looked at Night, who seemed... concerned as his hands touched the other's left cheek, "You'we cwying...." 

He was? 

It was then that he was conscious of the moist cheeks, and he quickly tried to rub them away with one hand (thank God for Pilseung and Pori's martial arts lessons; he's gotten stronger), saying, "I'm fine! I just... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad at you..." 

"Don't cwy," Night snuggled up to him, worry in his tone. "I'm sowwy for wowwying you, Duwi." 

He blinked before he gave Night a pat on the head, wiping the tears away as a smile formed on his face, "Don't worry about it, Night. Just drink a lot of water, okay? Dry stuff can give you a sore throat." 

"A sowe thwoat?"

"Yeah. That means you'll be sick." 

"I don't wanna be sick!" 

"Then drink water kay?" 

"Okay!" Night cheered. "Can we watch now?" 

"Of course," Duri chuckled, patting Night on the head again. "Ready for a cartoon marathon?" 

"Yesss!" 

With that, the two sat down on the sofa, and Duri switched to the DVD section, pressing play on the first episode of the cartoon they had decided to watch. 

And so, that night was filled with laughter, tears, and a ton of head pats which resulted in Night sitting on Duri's lap. 

Duri didn't know when exactly he fell asleep, but he was brought back to the realm of the conscious by a gentle nudge. 

"Ugh...." he grumbled as he rubbed at his eyes after taking off his glasses. "What time is it?" 

"7 a.m.," a familiar voice made him look up to see the violet-eyed holder of Galaxy Weapon 4 standing there with Dingyo. Both were wearing matching white shirts, and Dingyo was smiling gently at him. 

"What time did you guys get back?" he asked, getting up and stretching to get his sore bones warm again. 

"9 p.m., actually, but we couldn't find it in us to bother you two, so we decided to stay at my house for the night," Dingyo answered. "The restaurant had closed down unexpectedly, so we had roamed around while sharing some snacks here and there. What about you and Night?" 

"I just had a ton of moments when I questioned the orphanage where we adopted Ryan, Kory and Night because he didn't seem to understand a lot of things, and one moment when I got a heart attack from Night eating ten bags of chips no thanks to Tyler," he recounted. "But seeing him so happy was kinda worth it honestly." 

"You're already an uncle," Pilseung teased. "I'm expecting a ton of kids when we're adults from you and Taeyang." 

His reply came in the form of Duri throwing a pillow into his face, a flush on his cheeks as he stammered, "D-Don't joke about that!" 

Dingyo laughed, but said, "Night's already upstairs, by the way; Hana and Semo carried him up there." 

"I should give my thanks to Oppa and Semo for that," he mumbled. 

The other two laughed, and Pilseung said, "But you did have fun right?" 

"Yeah," he nodded. "Night apparently really likes head pats, so I gave him a lot of them. When he asks about something he doesn't understand, when he understands the concept... well, you get it."

"That's really cute," Dingyo smiled. 

"I... I really enjoyed it," he admitted, a smile on his face. 

"Should we leave you alone with him often then?" 

"Oh please no. You guys want me to lose my brain cells that much?"

He only got cackles in reply, and so resigned himself to the fact that his friends were a mess. 

But they were his mess, his family, and he loved them that way. 

That was something he was completely sure of. 

Littlexheatwave Here it is! I managed to power through this in one day! I hope you like it even though it's probably really rushed!