Thank you for taking the time to read this adorableness! And for everyone who's wanting me to update my other fics, I'm sorry. Distractions are distracting.
"Yona, Yona!" Yun shouted as he ran down the streets. Coming to a newly constructed building he paused, banging on the door with all his force. "Yona!" He continued yelling. Hearing a cry sound from just under his ears he quieted down, rocking the object occupying his arms and returning his right hand, the one that was banging on the door, to it's original place underneath the object. The wailing quieted as he made cooing noises to calm down the small being.
Just as the sound fully stopped the door in front of him flung open, showing a flustered Yona with a wild look in her eyes. "Yun, what's wrong? Are you being chased again?" Seeing Yun's smiling face she calmed down, finally noticing the object he was carrying.
"Yona, really. That only happened once. I should have known not to show my beautiful face when there's drunks around."
"That doesn't mean it won't happen again. You had to stay there for an entire hour before they gave up. That was pretty scary, you know!" She scolded while removing the bundle from Yun's arms. "Where'd you find him?"
The bundle carried a small, yellow haired baby in a ragged blanket. His smiling, drooling face tempted Yona to poke at it, but she refrained for the time being. His giggles were infectious and soon had Yona giggling with him, unable to resist his warm charm. Yun was able to hold himself back from joining in. Before allowing himself to indulge with this baby he had to tell Yona how he found the child.
"He was left next to a shrine up in the woods. I had just been going to visit briefly to see if Ik-Soo was there when I found the kid crawling around next to a statue. These rags were near-by, so I assumed they were his and he crawled out of them. No one was close by, and the kid was dirty and looked to have been there for a day or two, so I decided to pick him up. It's fine, right? You're going to open the orphanage soon, right?" Yun started to question if this was a good idea. It would be Yona's first time taking care of a child of this age, and it would be for a long period of time instead of the one day tops she would do while babysitting her neighbors' kids. She wouldn't know how to take care of such a young kid, and Yun hadn't done any sort of babysitting before, he was always too focused on his studies.
Ik-Soo was just useless, so there wasn't going to be any help there, either. That man had adopted Yun at the age of eight and at that point he already figured out how to do basic things like getting dressed, cleaning, and cooking simple meals. Therefore all of the house care fell on Yun (after he saw how Ik-Soo destroyed more than he cleaned) as well as the cooking (Ik-Soo was worse at that than he was cleaning). Asking Ik-Soo how to take care of a baby who couldn't be even one year old was the worst idea possible. A three year old might take better care of the kid than Ik-Soo.
Yun is thankful he's such a genius. If he wasn't he wouldn't be able to make it out of childhood with such a useless father.
"Yeah, it'll be opening next week, and most of the rooms are finished. It should be fine to have this little one move in early. There's no way I could allow such a cute little kid to live someplace else for just a week. Come on, help me give him a bath. The poor kid's filthy."
"Do you want me to grab some of the clothes from the back? There's a couple baby things, so at least one should fit." Yun was already heading off in that direction, so asking was fairly useless. Yona called out her 'okay' on the matter and continued up to the second floor where the baths were.
Not wanting to risk something bad happening, Yona grabbed a washcloth and soaked it with water to wipe down the kid's body. He squealed with happiness and kept grabbing at the cloth, so Yona went to get another one. With her eyes off of the kid for over three seconds the active child had already climbed off of the short stool he was sitting on and crawled across the floor, dragging his soapy body over the clear tiles. Yona laughed when she saw this and hurried to scoop up the child before he made a bigger mess.
Yun arrived in the room when Yona started working on the kid's dirtied yellow hair. She had to pick out all of the twigs and leaves before getting to work, but it wasn't too much of a hassle seeing how short the boy's hair was. Yun arrived with an excited look on his face before slipping on the soapy floor.
"Ooooow," He got up, rubbing his back with a grimace taking over his expression. "Yonaaa, why didn't you tell me it was wet?" He asked with an accusatory look, but he couldn't keep the adoration out of his eyes when the little boy giggled. This kid really was the sweetest.
"Yun, were you going to say anything?"
"Oh, yeah! I found out what this kid's name its! It was stitched onto one of the rags, something like Zero. Here." He handed over the cloth and took Yona's place washing the kid's messy hair.
"I think it's Zeno. Hi, Zeno!" She wiggled her finger in front of his face and he grabbed at it, pulling the digit into his mouth. She made cooing noises at Zeno for a while longer before Yun finished up with his hair. Then they dried him off and got him dressed.
"Yun, did you ever find Ik-Soo?" Zeno had gone off to sleep moments ago after drinking some of the milk Yona managed to get. As excited as that boy was, he took no time falling asleep.
Yun's face fell blank, which Yona read as he completely forgot about his adoptive father. He quickly rushed out of the room and threw on his shoes. He was gone before Yona could blink.
"I hope he's okay…" Yona murmured to herself. The likelihood of Ik-Soo doing something such as falling off a cliff was fairly high. It had happened before, unsurprisingly, and Yun had gone into a panic mode. Ik-Soo managed to come out with only a couple of bruises and a fracture in his left leg. The worst of the injuries he sustained due to that incident was Yun hitting him on the head and repeatedly on the chest after he was all healed up.
Yun returned not long after with a dirty Ik-Soo in tow. The man only sported a few more scratches on his cheek and hands than before, but nothing too terrible. It was better than his normal of bruises and skinned knees. After their greetings Ik-Soo asked to see Zeno. The little baby was asleep in one of the cribs they had received a few days ago. Yun and Yona made sure everything about it was nice and usable while making sure Ik-Soo stayed away from anything near the renovation equipment. Even though the man wanted to help in any way he possibly could, there was no way he'd be helpful when it came to construction. Or cooking. Or even living, but that's not the point.
Seeing the little sleeping child he smiled. Slow movements led him to the crib and he placed his hand gently on the yellow hair residing atop his head.
"May the gods bless this little one. He has a great strength within him." Ik-Soo murmured a prayer and lay a kiss on the boy's forehead. Yun resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. His adopted father tended to say that about a lot of people. First Yun, then Yona, now Zeno. The man says he can hear the gods and does what they tell him, but Yun thinks it's a load of bull. Still, he can respect the man for his generosity to everyone. To love all humans no matter what they've done is a power in and of itself.
Ik-Soo walked out of the room just as quietly as he entered, closing the door without a sound. With a shit-eating grin on his face he clasped Yona on the shoulders.
"You'll learn a lot from this child. I do wish you luck with him. Do listen to him, he knows what he's talking about." Yona smiled, the only way anyone knew how to deal with Ik-Soo's random times of insight was to go along with it. Neither her or Yun paid any attention anymore.
"Come on, Yun. We better go home already. Yona had better get as much sleep as she can for now. Who knows how this child will act during the night." Yun was then dragged out of the orphanage by the priest, calling out a quick good night to Yona before berating Ik-Soo for being so forceful and random.
Zeno slept quietly throughout the night, not once waking Yona.
"C'mere, kitty kitty kitty. Yeah, this way. I have a little treat for you, little kitty. Just come over here." Yun was attempting to draw the cat out of it's hiding place under the couch. So far there wasn't any progress and Zeno, for reasons unknown, was refusing to help. A week or so ago, three year old Zeno decided to pick up a cat while he was playing outside. More like the cat followed him to the building and Zeno begged to keep her. She was a pure white kitty who looked around the age of two. The girl was sweet, always climbing on top of people to draw their attention. If Yona was laying on the floor (which happened a lot. Floors are just so comfy) the girl would nudge Yona's arm before placing her head up on Yona's stomach. After a little bit of attention the girl would climb up to Yona's stomach and rub her head against Yona's. Yun didn't let her get so affectionate with him, but he would let her onto his lap and pet her soft fur.
However, as affectionate as the girl could be, she would not go near Yun with that torture device in his hands. Zeno sat with his legs crossed, watching Yun attempt to draw the cat out, a blank look on his face which was far different from the cheerful grin he normally wore.
"C'mon, I'm just gonna clip your nails a little. Don't worry, you won't get hurt. It's just to protect the furniture. Ugh, Zeno, can you help me? She likes you more." Zeno shook his head and continued to watch silently. Yun sighed. "Why not? She'll be alright, you don't have to worry about that."
"There's no reason." Zeno said before pouting. Yun, trying to fight off a squeal at Zeno's cuteness, turned his head away to avoid looking at Zeno long enough to speak.
"What do you mean there's no reason? She might destroy everything in the orphanage. That would be a lot of money to get replaced."
"But she doesn't. No use claws inside. She needs them outside." Zeno was extremely eliterate for his age, at least when he was truly trying to communicate something. It was scary sometimes when he spoke in full sentences without any mistakes. Not that it happened that often. It wasn't part of Zeno's personality to be serious.
"But I need to cut her claws, just in case. You're still young. What if she accidently cuts you?"
"She won't. Kitty is careful. There's no need to cut them." Zeno's expressions did a 180 as he jumped up and ran over to the couch. "C'mon, kitty! Let's go!" The cat maneuvered her way out from under the couch and ran outside with Zeno leaving Yun dumbfounded.
"I just lost an argument to a three year old… Yona's gonna make so much fun of me." He sighed and got to work preparing the kitchen to cook and thinking about what to tell Yona about the kitty's claws. She had asked him to make sure the girl wouldn't cause any problems around the orphanage with potential parents coming to visit with the children.
The orphanage had gained a few more members recently, ranging from the ages three to twelve, Zeno still thought to be the youngest. Yet, even with his young age, Zeno still managed to be the life of the party among all ages. When he felt like it, that is. There would be times he'd stay away from the group and play in the woods. Ik-Soo would take him up to the shrine where he had been found whenever Zeno asked, and Zeno picked up Ik-Soo's clumsiness. Thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as Ik-Soo was, and Zeno was able to heal extraordinarily fast and was a tad more athletic than Ik-Soo was. It was mainly his distracted mind that would cause the mishaps.
Zeno had an extreme love of climbing up trees before jumping down, seeing how many tricks he could do while on the branches be it flips or hanging upside-down. The first hundred times Yona and Yun tried to stop him from doing such dangerous things when he started, age two, but the boy was agile and talented. Plus he would always pull the puppy dog eyes when they tried to get him to stop.
No one can resist. No one.
"Do you think Zeno has any close friends?" Yona asked Yun out of the blue one day. They had just been cleaning up the rooms after one group of messy children stormed through and turned it into a disaster area.
Her question caused Yun to pause in his work, thinking.
"No." He answered plainly after a moment's deliberation.
"Why do you think that is? I mean, he's been here for forever, almost his entire life. Everyone loves him and is friendly, but he doesn't seem close to any of the other kids."
"Maybe he knows they'll all be separated one day. I've heard that children are still affected by what happens to them as babies, even if they don't remember any of it. He might know that his parents left him and now doesn't want to take the chance of anyone else doing that."
"I think it might go deeper than that. The other kids don't seem to have that issue, and it looks like he just doesn't care about any of them wanting to be his friend. It's not like he stays away on purpose, but he just drifts."
"He stays with the cat." Yun said with a pout.
"Oh, stop that. You still get attention from him, even if he's taking care of Hakuryuu. You're a big boy, you don't need to be jealous of a cat." Yona chided.
"You're upset too. Zeno's the first kid you started taking care of. You're always sad when someone comes to look at him for adoption."
"Of course I am. But I still want him to be adopted, even if it means I won't get to be near him anymore. You know that." They both placed their cleaning supplies on the table and sat down. As cute as Zeno was, he could be a problem child. Just not in the normal ways one would think of. The boy avoided getting adopted. He would act different around different potential parents. If a couple was looking for a wild, energetic child Zeno would show his maturity. If a couple was looking for a mature child he would act extra childish around them, making sure to cover their clothing with mud. One by one he scared them away, and all Yona and Yun could do was watch.
It wasn't like they could make him behave in front of people who were there to take him away. His rejection made sense in a way. He didn't want anything to do with people he didn't know, simple as that. While the other children were willing to get to know these couples, Zeno liked his current life. Even at the young age of three Zeno knew where he wanted to be, at this orphanage. With these people to take care of him. They were his family. Yona and Yun knew that, but they didn't want to encourage him. Ik-Soo knew that and he continued to pressure them into letting Zeno do as he liked, saying he would change at some point and then they wouldn't be happy about it, or they would regret not just enjoying the time they have with him.
They just wanted what was best for Zeno, what was best for all of the children. Ik-Soo said they were what Zeno needed.
It's hard to trust a man who says he can hear the words of the gods.
Guess who's next? Everyone's already planned out, but just tell me what you think! It's gonna be a sad-ish chapter (already written ;D)