"Clean it right Han-jae."

"Kiss my ass Hamchan."

"Mom is going to kick your ass."

"I don't give."

"I'm going to tell mom you said that."

Han-jae balked at that and immediately fixed his efforts at cleaning the stove, "Wait no I was kidding."

Kang hummed as he mopped, "That's what I thought." There was the sound of the washer going off, signaling the end of the cycle. Kang didn't stop mopping, "Squirt, can you get the blankets out and move them into the dryer?"

"Got it." He got up to do just that. It was simple, open the dryer and move the wet blankets to the dryer before starting the blanket cycle. He had never lived in a house so when it came to chores, he wasn't as fast as the others when it came to completing them. But at least he was able to do this with ease and if anything, he had gotten somewhat good at folding clothes.

He finished putting the blankets in and with that, he was walking back to the living room, where he could wait for orders to help clean something else.

As Kang had warned, the end of the two weeks was coming up and that meant that Kang's parents were due in a few days to return home. This was why they were all cleaning, something to do with their parents coming home to a clean house but hey, they weren't his parents and this wasn't his house so he wasn't going to complain.

Kang finished mopping and together, the three of them sat down in the living room together, happy that they were finally done for the time being. Now all they had to do was make the beds once the sheets were dried and then they were done, everything was ready for their parent's arrival.

He didn't really know how to feel about them.

He knew that he shouldn't have an opinion about the people who were allowing him to live in their house, or at the very least, he shouldn't verbalize it, but still.

He didn't think that they were bad people. Kang was a good person and so was Han-jae and he doubted they had bad parents. They had to be good people for the kids to also be good people.

He was just nervous.

It was just two more people to meet, two more people to get adjusted to, and to learn how to trust. To make things better, they were Kangs and Han-jae's parents, so if he did anything wrong, they weren't going to be on his side. He already knew that he wasn't important enough to interfere with the bonds they had with their parents and he knew his place anyway, so he wouldn't ask them either way.

A hand running through his hair brought him back to reality. Kang ruffling his hair helped ground him and it wasn't until then that he realized that he was tense, "What got you so nervous?"

It was always weird how Kang could tell when he was nervous.

Feeling some comfort at the action, he had to keep himself from leaning into Kang's touch. "I'm fine." He had to be fine because it's not like he had a choice.

Besides, he was starting to get into his head too much. He was just overthinking it and was as anxious as 032 would be.

Yeesh.

He really needed to get himself together if he thought an apt comparison was 032.

Kang pulled him into his side and it wasn't until then that he realized that it was just the two of them, that Han-jae had left at some point. "You know you can tell me anything right?" His voice was soothing, and he could hear the sincerity in the man's voice.

Humming he nodded. He knew that he could tell Kang anything, but it was just something that he was not used to.

And deep down, he was still scared of being betrayed.

He knew that Kang would never do that to him, he knew that he wouldn't. But after years of being surrounded by people that jumped at every chance to beat him into the ground, it was just a fear that he couldn't get rid of. It was irrational, he knew that it was irrational, but he couldn't just get rid of it.

Honestly, now that he knew what it was like to have someone actually care for him, he wasn't sure if he would be able to cope with being betrayed again. He would never admit it but now that he has the care he wanted so desperately as a child, he never wanted to lose it, as pitiful as it sounded.

The mere thought of being betrayed again, to be betrayed by Kang, filled him with an indescribable amount of anxiety and dread.

That didn't appease the man, because now he was huffing to himself before falling silent, the simple action bringing him back to reality once more. "You know." Kang started slowly," I have nightmares too. More than I'd like to admit really."

He almost started at that. "You do?" Because really? Kang had nightmares too? Kang had never woken him up because he himself was having a nightmare, nor did he have any memories of Kang having one while they were on base.

Kang nodded his head, "Yeah. They uh…they started not too long after I first lost a teammate, back when I served under someone else." And that had been painful. Sure, he understood that people died out in the field sometimes and he thought he had understood it.

He thought he understood it until he was forced to leave them behind, only having the time to yank off their dog tags before taking off to safety.

Kang was positive that his kid also had similar memories and while he wouldn't be surprised if the kid was having nightmares about them, he also didn't know with full certainty if it was those memories plaguing the young man, or if it was something else.

Trying his best to push the images away, he continued. He was taking a chance by being vulnerable with Squirt, but he couldn't expect the kid to be vulnerable with him if he didn't do the same. "They're just so weird but… a common theme is that someone dies. Sometimes they're memories of that teammate, sometimes they're these dreams where someone else died too, or that they survived and someone else died in their place." Though in his opinion, the worst dreams are where one of his men died and just as everyone was recovering from the grief that followed after, someone else died. There was just something about getting double whammied like that made it painful, even if it was just a dream. "One time I even had a dream where I was the one who died and I had to watch everyone else move on. But I think my worst nightmares are when people die in pairs? Or one right after the other? I woke up crying a few times because of that."

One time he had even woken up after having a dream where Dae-hyun had been killed, only for Squirt to follow quickly after because they didn't have a medic to treat his injuries. Like his other nightmares, that one had been hyper-realistic, to the point where even after he woke up, Kang swore that he could feel the kid's sickishly warm blood on his hands.

That had taken him a while to recompose himself after.

There was really no getting used to nightmares like that, but there was something about dreaming that Squirt dying that rattled him up far more than the other nightmares.

"Really? You wake up crying?" Squirt's question brought him back to reality again and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself.

"Yeah. but you know, all of the men have nightmares too. I'm sure you've noticed how some of the men are awake earlier than usual, or sometimes they're just tired." It's happened a few times where one of the men was oddly tired or sluggish, but as soon as he found out that they had a rough night, he would cut them some slack. Not enough for the others to notice, but at least enough for them to take it a bit easy.

It also comforted him to know that he wasn't the only one who had nightmares, even more so when they didn't have to explain why they were so tired, they just understood. No words had to be said. It was a bond all of them shared, as terrible as it sounded.

"For a long time, I thought I was the only one who had nightmares. I thought I was being a baby about it. But when I found out that I wasn't the only one, it got easier. I didn't have to deal with everything by myself and as much as it sucked, it was normal. What helped me feel better was talking about it." And just like that, even though he had been trying to ease his way into it, Squirt stiffened up, his body language doing more than enough to show his displeasure at the idea.

Kang soothed his worries, "I'm not telling you that you have to talk to me, or Han-jae," While it would be nice if his kid confided in them more, he also didn't want his kid to feel like he had been forced into it. "But it does help. Though it took me years before I was able to admit to someone else about my nightmares." That was one thing he regretted. He would have been able to avoid a lot of guilt and self-hatred if he had realized earlier that asking for help didn't mean he was weak or incompetent. Life was just difficult sometimes, and asking for help didn't and would never reflect badly on his character.

Now he just had to help the kid realize that too.

They fell silent, and for a few minutes, all they did was sit together. Kang didn't push for information and he wasn't planning to. All he wanted to do was let the kid know that he was safe to be vulnerable and leave it at that. To push for him to open up would make everything he just said a moot point.

Squirt was still pressed against his side, taking part in the rare, extended hug as he muttered something out. Even if Kang had been paying attention, Squirt had said it so quietly, he couldn't have heard it either way. "Do they ever stop?" Squirt repeated, staring at the floor as if he was going to get his answers from there, "the nightmares I mean." He ended weakly, his shoulders slightly caving in as he showed his distress with the nightmares.

Kang huffed to himself. He would have loved to say yes, but nightmares had the tendency of catching you when your guard was down and if it wasn't that, sometimes your nightmares would be replaced by others. "Sometimes."

Squirt pursed his lips before giving a simple nod and falling silent.

Knowing his kid well enough, Kang knew that for the time being, this was the most he was going to get out of his kid. Even if it would work, Kang wasn't going to try and strongarm an answer out of him. Doing something like that would just cause more damage in the long run and obviously, he wanted to avoid that.

For now, he was going to have to settle with giving the kid one more squeeze before letting him pull away. Well, not without tousling the kid's hair, which brought him to another point.

"Hey. How do you feel about a haircut?"


Try as Kang might, he was not able to convince the kid to get a haircut.

It had been roughly four months since he last got his haircut, meaning that his hair was already curling up at the nape of his neck and covering the tops of his ears. Perhaps it was the military life in him coming out, but he at least wanted his kid to look neat and maintained; his current hair doing nothing to meet that standard. Especially since he was just about to meet his parents, Kang wanted his kid to make a good first impression and his hair was going to work against that objective.

Most of the time, it wouldn't have been a problem getting his haircut. It was usually Han-gyeol who cut his hair and it was as easy as pie.

The problem was, Squirt didn't trust him or Han-jae with his hair (which was fair) and he definitely did not trust a random barber to be in close proximity to his head with scissors. So unless Kang wanted to learn how to cut hair and style it within two days, they were shit out of luck.

And they were because even though he had been trying for the past few days to coax the kid into the idea of getting a professional haircut, it hadn't worked. Which led him to the current situation.

The kid squirmed as he trimmed his hair with a pair of house scissors. "Stop moving." Because seriously, this was hard enough already, he didn't need the kid making it harder with his inability to stay still.

Squirt rolled his shoulders in response, "It's itchy."

Again, Kang had to straighten the kid's head out so he could attempt to make an even cut. "The more you move, the longer this is going to take." His kid huffed but finally stayed still just long enough for him to finally finish up the shoddy haircut.

The moment Kang declared that he was finished, his kid was taking off to the shower, ready to rinse off all of the stray hairs that had fallen into his shirt during the haircut.

As he was walking away, Kang spotted a strand that he had clearly missed.

Whoops.

Alright, maybe his mom could help clean up his haircut when she got home. Assuming that the kid would even let her.

"Hamchan!" Han-jae called out from his room, walking out as he did so, "Mom and dad are already at the airport. Imma go pick them up."

"What?" Kang looked down at his watch, confirming that they still had another hour before their parents got home, "It's still not time."

Han-jae shrugged his shoulder, "Mom forgot about time zones, they're already here." He just huffed at that because of course his mom forgot to account for time zones. Whatever, by the time they get back, he and the kid should be ready to receive them and help settle in.

It shouldn't be too different once his parents come home. Everything was the same, except for the fact that his parents had something of an open-door policy when they were home. But that shouldn't be too much of a problem, he already talked to the kid about it and his parents already agreed to let him have his privacy.

But for now, he was going to be more concerned with his mom forgetting about his kid's personal bubble in her excitement.

"Kang." He turned around and Squirt was there, standing with a towel wrapped around his face and his bangs overlapping his eyes as if he had suddenly entered a phase or something. "Can you cut my bangs again?"

He huffed. "Sure. A barber would have done a better job, you know."

"No."

Oh well, at least he tried.


"Hey, mom." Han-joe greeted as his mother gave him a tight hug, holding onto him for a few seconds and kissing his temple before letting go so he could greet his father, "Hey dad, how was the flight?" swooping down, he grabbed the suitcases from his father's hands and set them down before giving the man a hug as well.

"Good, standard flight. Where's your brother?" his father asked, already looking around for his eldest as his frown pronounced his wrinkles.

Leading them back to the car, Han-jae answered his question. "At home. He was giving Kid a haircut when I left." Though by the looks of it, it looked like they were going to have to take the kid to a shop for his haircut to look more decent.

His mother made a sound of confusion as they exited the airport, "He was giving the boy a haircut? Why didn't he take him to a barbers shop?" It was a valid question, but if they had known the kid for a few minutes, then they would understand why they didn't get him a professional cut.

Han-jae tried to get into the driver's seat, only for his father to shoo him away and send him to the back seat. Huffing to himself, the researcher climbed into the back, somewhat bitter that his father didn't trust them to drive them home. He continued the conversation once they were both in the car, "He tried, but the kid wasn't comfortable with the thought of a stranger being close to his head." It had actually almost caused an argument between the three of them, their stubbornness rubbing against each other until Hamchan dropped the issue.

His father didn't see the problem. "And?"

He sighed, "Not 'and' Dad." He loved his father but this had always been a reoccurring problem within the family. His father had been raised with the authoritarian parenting style, the one where kids listened simply because they were kids and that was his parenting style as a result. While his mother had a similar style, she also gave them far more leeway in the sense of as long as they did the task within a timely manner, she wouldn't badger them. Han-jae could already tell that Hamchan and their father were going to butt heads with the way Hamchan somewhat coddled Kid.

"The kid hates it when he doesn't have a choice. Sometimes he can deal with it, but Hamchan said that the kid shut down on him when he told the kid that he had to leave his dog behind." Everyone hated it when they didn't have a choice, but having the teenager shut down on him was also something they wanted to avoid for obvious reasons. The kid was already quiet, Han-jae really didn't want to see him when he closed himself off even more.

His father did not look happy with that answer, and just as he was about to retort, his mother cut in. "He's old enough to know what he wants." That he was.

"Thank you mom." He said gratefully, ignoring the small huff his father let out as he ceded to his wife.

"How is he doing?" his father asked, switching topics in a way that had Han-jae sighing in relief. "The boy I mean."

"Good. He's really quiet. Hamchan says that he's already warmed up to me but he still doesn't talk much. He won't talk to you unless you talk to him directly. He's a bit socially stunted like that."

"He grew up in a war zone," His father said bluntly, turning onto a side street as he did so, "Of course he's socially stunted. Has he caused any trouble?"

"Nope. He behaves just fine. He's just quiet. And stubborn. He's really stubborn."

"Like that's any different from you and Hamchan, "his mother said lightly, an amused tone in her voice.

He pouted. His mother turned around in her seat, a wide smile on her face, "Don't look at me like that. You two are stubborn and you know it."

Well, he knew that, but still. He sank into his seat with his arms crossed, the pout still on his face. "You didn't have to say it."His parents laughed in response, clearly taking joy in his suffering.

The rest of the drive back was done with a menial conversation, the three of them updating each other on their life events, along with any additional information that had to be exchanged about their new charge. Though Han-jae had just told his parents the same thing Hamchan had told him. Give the kid his space and some time, and everything was going to work out A-okay.

Leaving him to get the luggage, his parents went into the house without him, but when he did, the kid looked completely and utterly confused.

As affectionate as she was, his mother already had her arms wrapped around the kid, giving him a tight hug, "It is so nice to finally meet you," She sighed, the kid stiff in her arms as she pulled away and looked him over her hands still on his arms, "How have the boys been treating you? have they been helping you adjust well?"

He, Hamchan, and their father exchanged looks.

"Yes…" the kid pulled away slightly, unnerved by the excessive contact, and at last, his mother noticed as she pulled away, Hamchan sighing in relief behind the kid, "Kang- Major Kang has been treating me well. Han-jae does too."

Their mother beamed as if she was particularly proud of that, but before she could continue on with whatever she was going to say, Hamchan cut in by clearing his throat. "Squirt," Hamchan stepped forward and just like that, the kid was stepping back, angling his body where if anyone tried to grab him again, he could easily duck behind the soldier, "This is my mom, Ah-In. And this is my dad, Tae-hyung. And, this is the kid I've been taking care of for the last year." Hamchan finished, motioning towards the teen next to him.

As always, the kid gave them a curt nod that had Hamchan elbowing him before he remembered to give them a proper bow. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Their father rumbled out, returning the bow before he straightened up, "Let's get settled in." Just like that, the moment was broken as their parents went further into the house, Hamchan following their parents into the house as he helped them with their luggage and answered the questions they had for them.

The kid and Han-jae were left there at the entrance, watching the others walk away.

"Sorry about that," Han-jae said apologetically, "I told her to give you some space but she must have forgotten, she was pretty excited to meet you."

"It's okay." The kid's voice was quiet, a slightly dazed tone to his voice, "I don't mind. I'm not used to being hugged."

The teenager's words made a pang of pain go through his heart. "Okay." It was almost depressing to hear that the young man had been so deprived of physical contact, he wasn't even used to being hugged, "I'll still tell her to not do that without telling you."

He got a nod. "Thanks."


Kang walked around the house, trying to find his ward to no avail. "Hey, " Han-jae kept on scrolling on his phone, "Hey," He repeated, and this time, his brother looked up, "Where's Squirt?" because there weren't a lot of places he could check before he started to assume that the kid left the house without telling him.

"Oh. He's with dad," Han-jae motioned toward the garage, "Dad wanted him to help him change the oil, you know how he is."

All Kang did was make an understanding 'ah' before he went off to the garage. His father had always done that when he wanted to have a talk with one of them, he would ask them for help with some type of job so they could have at least some privacy to talk. It looked like it was just the kid's turn to have a one-on-one conversation with their father.

Just as he opened the door, there was a loud crash, and then an equally loud silence that followed it.

"Fuck." His father cursed foully, prompting Kang to crack open the door to try and see what was happening.

With a pool of oil at their feet, the squirt rushed to put the fallen container upright again, his father letting out an annoyed groan as the oil started to seep into the cement, no doubt already staining it. "Stop it. You're going to get oil all over your clothes." Squirt paused, before slowly straightening up, black oil dripping from his hands onto the cement in a way that Kang knew annoyed his father.

His father huffed before looking over at the kid. He raised his hand and just like that, Squirt was leaning away, quickly skittering out of the range of his father. His father, who had been in the process of running his hand through his hair, froze. Kang saw the confusion on his father's face turn to horror, anger, and resignation.

Even Kang knew his father hadn't raised his hand with the intention of hitting the kid, but it was clear that the kid didn't know. And it was clear that the kid's assumption that he was going to be hit, truly upset him.

His father's expression softened considerably. "I know you had a bad upbringing, "he started out softly, reaching out for the young man, and ignoring the way Squirt inched away, set his hand onto his shoulders before leaning down to be at eye level with the teen, "But understand that I would never hit you. There is no one in this house who would hit you. Okay?"

Kang smiled.

It was rare for his father to be tender like this, the family man had always been a strict man, but even he knew when the strict attitude was not one that Squirt needed.

Squirt slowly nodded his head, the tension leaving his shoulders.

His father smiled. "Good. Now get out of here." He ruffled the kid's hair, much to his confusion, "I'll handle the rest. Go get ready for bed." The kid faltered for a few seconds, his gaze going between his hands, the oil spill, and the older man, who was already cleaning up the spill.

Squirt looked like he was going to say something, but decided to keep it to himself. "Yes sir."

He had turned around to leave, nearly causing Kang to close the door in a hurry, but his father stopped him. "Kid." His father said firmly, making eye contact with the teenager from his kneeling position, "I'm not your superior. Don't call me sir."

Kang couldn't see his kid's expression from his position, but there was a pause before he finally said, "Yes. Tae-hyung." He added after a pause.

His father hummed in return. "Good. Now go call Chan, tell him to help me."

Fuck.


Kang's parents wanted to take him out to dinner and while he didn't have a problem with that, he was confused with his current situation.

Ah-In reached up towards his face and ignoring the way he leaned away, she continued and took something out from his hair?

"There you go, had a bit of lint." She flicked it off her hand before she continued to mess with his hair and once she was done with that, she fixed his collar, and then his jacket. The entire time, he stayed still, confused out of his mind because what was she doing? "Do you have everything? Did you put on cologne? Deodorant?"

What was happening?

She was waiting for an answer and he was already taking too long to answer. "Oh. Um…I don't have any." Kang had tried to get him one while at the mall, but the moment he walked into the cologne department, he turned right around and walked back out. not only had the smell been overpowering, but he also doesn't find a need for it.

She almost looked scandalized, "Nope, this cant do. Every man needs a good cologne. Hamchan!" Ah-In called out loudly, her voice echoing in the voice as she walked to the cabinet by the door, "Why didn't you get your boy cologne?!"

"Because he didn't want one!" Kang yelled back, his voice muffled behind his bedroom door.

He was still confused as shit.

The Kang matron returned from the cabinet with two small glass bottles in hand, "He still needs one for important occasions! Here," She took off the top for one, put a spritz of cologne into it, and waved it around before holding it out to him, "How does that one smell?"

Uh…okay.

He took the cap and smelled it.

He swore he felt the inside of his nose dry up from the alcohol. Scrunching up his nose, he gave it back, "It smells like rubbing alcohol."

Ah-In took it from her hands and started waving the cap around again, "The alcohol hasn't evaporated yet, hang on." She continued and after taking an experimental sniff, held it out towards him again, "There, try it again."

He still didn't understand why she was doing this but whatever. Again, he took the cap and smelled it.

She was right about the alcohol not evaporating because now it smelled better. It had a clean scent to it and while he didn't know a lot about colognes, it was definitely one that he liked. "This one smells good."

He got a nod of approval. "Okay, roll up your sleeves. Cologne is strong so you never need to use more than three sprays, especially when you use an expensive one." taking his hand, she sprayed the inside of his wrist and instructed them to dab (not rub because apparently, it was important to not rub) his wrists together as she sprayed the base of his throat. And again, she was helping him fix his clothes, smoothing down wrinkles and creases as if he was a child that needed help.

Is this what Kang meant when he said that his mother was doting?

"There we go." Ah-In said happily, a bright smile on her face as she pinched his cheek, "What a dashing young man, just as handsome as my boys when they were your age."

He blanked out.

Ah-In didn't notice as she went off to do something that involved calling out for her husband as he processed what she said.

Slowly, the flush crept up his neck and he could feel the entirety of his face burning.

That was the first time he had ever been complimented like that.

As stupid as it was, it made him feel light and bubbly on the inside, her sincere comment making him smother a smile.

"Goddamn you're red as shit." Han-jae's voice startled him, barely realizing that the man was standing right next to him, leaning in for a closer look, "You're not getting sick right?"

Shaking his head, he pulled his hoodie up, pulling the end of the hood as low as possible so it could cover his face as much as possible." I'm fine." He muttered, his face burning brightly as Han-jae tried to lean in to look under the hood.

"Oh my god are you blushing?" Han-jae sounded too ecstatic for his liking, "Chan! Your boy is blushing!"

" Then leave him alone!" Kang called back indignantly, his voice still muffled behind his door as he defended him. Kang walked out of his bedroom," Wait did you say blushing?" Or not.

Now Kang sounded interested and he wanted nothing more than to die out of embarrassment, "Huh, I've never seen him so embarrassed."

"Me either!"

"I'm right here…"

Kang let out a bark of laughter at that, the man bringing in him for a hug as he pressed a kiss on the crown of his head. "Sorry about that kid. We'll stop poking fun."

He must have nodded his head too enthusiastically because that just made them start laughing again.

Jerks.