Bold - English
Normal - Korean
Italics - Chinese
Bold+Italics - Japanese
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"Sunggie, Roro.. Luki..Milky time." She called as she walked out the kitchen with two sippy cups and Sungchan's botol. The three toddlers then ran to her with their plushies in their arms. That fine day, it was only the three of them turned and she decided to take them to her apartment instead of their playroom since she was alone in the apartment while her mother went on a trip with her friends for a few days.
"Thank you." The three thanked her before going back to the living room to watch some telly.
"姐姐..." Lucas called after she took a seat on the couch. Nara hummed and patted the space beside her for him to sit. Lucas got up from the floor to sit next to her.
"What is it? Is your milk too hot? Do you want 姐姐 to cool it first?" She asked and was about to take the sippy cup when Lucas stopped her.
"No.. Luki's milky no hot." He replied and she pulled him closer into a hug. "Luki just want cuddle." Nara giggled before pulling him to sit on her lap and planted a kiss on his forehead.
After a moment of silence where only the sound from telly was heard, Sungchan and Shotaro came to her and Lucas, pouting and teary eyes.
"누나 ..." Sungchan whimpered as he called her before crying as he suddenly hugged her thigh. "누나 .."
Nara was surprised when he cried, soon Shotaro and Lucas followed. She shifted to the floor and pulled the three of them close to her. She managed to calm them down after a few minutes and the toddler finally told her what was on their mind.
"Sunggie and Roro don't want to leave お姉さん.." Shotaro whimpered as tears continued to stream down his chubby cheeks. "Want to stay with お姉さん."
"姐姐 ... will you still love us after this?" Lucas asked as he sniffled and pouted. "Will you miss us after this?" Confused by the sudden questions from the toddlers and having a bad feeling about it as well, considering that the three of them were called to the office numerous times this month but for the sake of the Littles, Nara just shaken off the feeling and nodded. "Promise?"
"Promise. I will always love and miss you guys." She gave each a kiss on the foreheads and pulled them into a hug again. " 누나 will be with you guys forever. I will never leave you guys."
After that heart breaking scene, the three fell asleep lying next Nara while Nara patted Sungchan's tummy gently sitting in the middle of the sleeping toddlers before receiving a call from their manager, who delivered a news that Nara prayed not to receive. Without her noticing, her tears began to stream down her cheeks as she looked down at her sleeping babies. The call ended just as the doorbell rang.
Nara wiped away her tears and went to the door. When she opened the door without checking the camera, she stared at the guest before breaking down in front of him.
"___.." She whimpered and he went to hug her after closing the door as he immediately calmed her down. "My heart hurts so much." He shushed her before patting her back. "There's nothing that I can do for them. It's not my decision to make them stay."
"There... there... there..." He was confused by her sudden outburst but tried to comfort her and whispering good thing to her ear. "You have to stay strong for them. Giving them a great time and spending more time with them and never cry in front of them, ok?" He said to her, but when he was waiting for answer from her, he heard a soft snore from her, assuming that she fell asleep after all the cry. "Silly girl." He added since the two were still at the doorway.
So he carried her to the living room and gently laid her down next to the Littles after putting a cushion for her head. He let out a sad sigh, feeling sorry for his stepsister as she had to endure this kind of pain since she care deeply for the Littles and hate being apart from them. Knowing about the Littles himself from her and even helped her to take care of them for a while, he love seeing the smile she had and would trade anything to see that forever. But in this case, there's nothing he can do to keep that smile since he doesn't know what the news was about.
He stayed there watching over them until Nara woke up from her nap and made some tea for them as they waited for the Littles to wake up. Alone at the dining area, Nara eventually filled him in on why she was upset before breaking down into tears again.
"You'll still able to meet them after, right?" He asked her and Nara slowly nodded. "Then, it won't be a problem."
"But... _____ , they won't be under my care anymore. I'm only permitted as NCT's caregiver and I won't be theirs anymore. I promised their mothers to take care of them while they're away and I can't do it once they leaves!" She whimpered and her brother went to pull her close as he let her cry on his shoulder and embrace.
"Nana... you are still their caregiver, they are your responsibility. You can still take care of them after this." He softly said to her. "They will come to you when they need you. The company can't stop them from this. Ok?" He patted her back and caressed it as it calmed her down. "So cheer up and you can't show the boys that you're sad or they'll be sad too. Ok?" They pulled away and she nodded. "That's my baby sister."
"I'm not a baby anymore." She puffed up her cheeks as she sulked, making him giggled.
"How are you going to do about the offer then? Have you thought about it?" He suddenly asked, making the small smile she had disappeared. "You don't have to accept if you don't want to. Mr. Lee isn't going to force you. He's letting you decide."
"I know. But..."
"Don't think that you're being pressured into accepting it, because you're not. Ok?" He said and she sighed before nodding.
"But.. The thing is everyone really want me to debut, but I really don't want to." She mumbled and sighed. "I wish no one would remember me as JYP's ex-golden trainee other than being NCT's caregiver."
"Then stop making a surprise performance." He teased and she giggled as she shook her head. "Let's have a talk with Nathan and we'll figure this out together, even though he's 12 hours behind our time now. Serve him right to be on the other side of the world." Nara laughed and her stepbrother just ruffled her hair. "Feeling any better now? It feels good after a good laugh, doesn't it?"
Nara smiled as she nodded and went to hug him, "Thank you for cheering me up, ___. It means a lot to me for you to be here, despite your busy schedule."
"Anytime, baby sis." He hugged her tighter before pulling away. "I'll make sure to make time for you. That until I suddenly have an oversea schedule, but I'll try to make time to call you whenever you need me to." She gave out a big smile and nodded.
A couple of hours later, the three Littles finally woke up from their nap before surprised to see someone they haven't met in awhile and ran to him. The brother greeted the Littles with a big hug and entertained them while Nara made lunch for them. The five of them had lunch together and he accompanied the four of them walking back to SM. Lucas held both Nara and her brother's hand as he walked between them, Shotaro walked holding Nara's right hand while Sungchan was being carried by her brother.
"형..." Lucas called as they walked and the mentioned lad hummed. "How come we rarely see you?"
"Well... 형 had been busy with his schedule and I'm sorry for not being able to visit often."
"Luki no mad at 형.. Luki just happy to see 형 again."
They arrived at the building and the four waved goodbye at the brother since he got a call from his group's member as they were about to enter. He handed Sungchan to Nara and ruffled each of the Little's hair as he said his goodbye.
"Sorry that I had to go. Be a good boy to 누나 and we'll meet again soon, ok?" He said to the toddlers and they nodded. "I'll text you when I arrive at the studio, ok?" Nara nodded and told him to be careful on the way back before he nodded back. "Bye, baby sis. I'll arrange a meeting with Nathan and the three of us can have a talk." She nodded again.
Back in the playroom, Nara was playing with some blocks with Sungchan while the other two were playing with their cars and robots when her phone rang.
- Baby ♡ -
"Hello?" She answered with a smile and the line suddenly turned silence. "Baby? Are you ok?" Nara began to concern when he didn't answered. "Mark, it's not funny. Please answer me." She was about to hang up when a sigh was heard.
"Baby... You never told me that you were a trainee at JYP before." His voice was low and tone sounded hurt and angry at the same time. "I found out about this when Joel told me that he saw in an article about you online. When I looked it up, I was surprised to know you were a trainee at JYP, and you never told me about it! You were there in the same building as me the whole time!"
"Look.. I'm sorry but we promised each other to stay low key about our relationship and I'm sure you were busy with your schedule." She calmly replied and sighed. "I didn't mean it for not telling you about me being a trainee there. I was juggling between my classes, exams and practice during that time. Plus, I never saw you or the other in the building either."
"You could just at least tell me when you got in."
"You guys weren't allow to have phone at that time, how am I going to tell you? Through mail? I can't call the payphone we used." Nara started to get frustrated over the argument and getting teary from it. "Why does it matter now? I didn't even debut there, I quit."
"Baby, it does matter to me. All this time, I could've just come and see you at the trainee's practice room after months of not being able to see or talk to each other. Our last phone calls on the pay phone was when I debuted and the time I asked you to be my girlfriend. Baby, I miss you so much during our time apart and knowing you were there with me under the same building for a few months before you quit and you never told me just hurt." His voice cracked out of frustration and hurt. "I'm really hurt by it, Baby." Unknown to them, both of them were silently crying with tears streaming down their cheeks.
"Baby.. I'm really sorry for not telling you. But just please... let it go. It's all in the past and we can't undo or turn back time. Please?" By that time, the three Littles stopped playing when they saw their caregiver crying and went to hug her. The line went silence again before turning off. Nara bit her bottom lips to stop her from crying and tried to blink away the tears, but her sadness immediately took over and she broke down as she cried harder hugging her knees closer to her chest, leaning her forehead on her crossed arms.
"누나~.." A couple of voice called when they opened the door and was surprised to see their caregiver crying before running to her. "누나, are you ok? Are you hurt?" The two of them started to panic when she didn't answer. As they didn't know what to do, one of them went out again to call the other with their group chat. "형.. 형.. 형... Come to the playroom quickly! 누나 is crying... I don't know why. I tried to ask her if she's ok but she won't answer me..."
A few minutes later, someone came running to the playroom and found Jisung and Chenle trying to calm Nara down, but it doesn't seem to work.
"Taeyong형!" Jisung called as he was glad that the leader came. "I don't know why she's crying. Chenle even asked the three, but they don't know either." The leader nodded and asked the two boys to take care of the Littles. They took the Littles to their room with a few toys in their hands.
"Nana... It's me, Taeyong." The leader softly called as he knelt on one knee next to her on the floor and caressed her back before pulling her into his embrace after being able to uncoil her. "It's ok. I'm here... I'm here..." He patted her back as she continued to cry on his chest. The other members came and were about to ask when Taeyong signalled them to be quiet and signed that he got this. They nodded and went to wait outside while Kun went to check on the two youngest and the Littles in the room.
A few minutes later, her cry turned sniffle as Taeyong continued to hug her and whispered good and comforting words into her ears. Nara sniffled and buried her face to his chest even more as she tightly grabbed his shirt. The two remained in the position even though his knee and leg were starting to hurt but he was determined to endure it until Nara finally calmed down.
"Nana.. Are you ok?" Taeyong softly asked and she shook her head, signing that she was not ok. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head again and he nodded. "Ok. I won't ask you anymore. Let get you freshen up before I send you home, ok?" She sighed and slowly pulled away from him. Taeyong carefully stood up on his feet while trying not to be in pain before pulling Nara up and leading her to the bathroom.
Taeyong left her in the bathroom to wash her face while he stretched his cramped legs outside. In the bathroom, Nara looked at herself at the mirror and was not surprised to see her reflection. Tears stained cheeks, red puffy eyes and red nose. As she washed her face, her mind suddenly went back to the argument. Nara couldn't help but broke down again as she crouched down next to the sink and covered her face with her hands.
"Nana..." Taeyong slowly opened the door to avoid hitting her when he heard a sob and pulled her into his embrace again. "Let's get you home, ok?" He helped her to get up from the floor and told the other that he was bring Nara home. He put her oversized hoodie and mask on her before his own and made sure she had all her stuff and her sling bag.
He called a taxi for the two of them and went to her apartment. Arriving at her apartment, Taeyong laid her down on the couch and removed her mask leaving her hoodie on her. Taeyong took off his jacket and mask before putting it on her coffee table and took a seat on the floor next to the couch. He sighed and caressed her hair when she started to cry again.
"How about I go make some tea? Maybe that will make you feel better. Wait for a second, ok?" Taeyong said to her and was about to get up when Nara held his hand and shook her head.
"Please don't leave me? Stay with me, please?" She whimpered. Taeyong never saw the caregiver so broken before and was hurt to see her like this. He nodded and sat back down, letting his hand to be hug by her. He softly stared at her and gently patted her head with his other free hand, as he studied her features up close. From her puffy hazel brown eyes, her wet long eyelashes, rosy cheeks, cute red nose and pink soft lips. Her features to him were perfectly craved by angels and her gentle kind personality fitted perfectly.
'I wish you were mine, Nara. I fell in love with you the moment I met you, but you're someone's girlfriend and it breaks my heart knowing that your heart belongs to him.'
Time flied and Nara actually fell asleep on the couch after crying her heart out while still holding on to his hand. Taeyong also fell asleep leaning his head on the couch next to her head. Then, a phone rang, waking the leader up from his nap. Taeyong slowly moved to find the ringing phone before finding out it was Nara.
- Big Bro -
Thinking it was Nathan, Taeyong answered it and didn't had the chance to say anything as he was boomeranged with endless questions from the caller.
'Nana!? Thanks God, you answered. I texted you like 50 times and you didn't replied. You always reply my texts. You really got me worried. What happened? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Where are you?' The person asked with a panic tone and the leader can hear someone trying to calm him down in the background. Sensing that the caller was not Nathan, Taeyong was hesitated to answer as the caller was speaking English but he did understood what was being said. 'Nana? You there? Are you ok? Answer me.'
Taeyong thought of waking the peacefully sleeping beauty in front of him, but he didn't had the heart to disturb her rest after what happened. So, he gathered all his courage and answered.
"I'm sorry. Nara can't answer the phone right now. She's asleep. Can you call her again in a few hours?" Taeyong calmly replied while he was panicking inside before the line turned silence. "Hello?"
'Who are you? Who is this? What have you done to my sister?!' The person bawled and Taeyong started to panic even more. 'You better answer me right now before I call the police. Tell me where's my sister?'
"She's sleeping on the couch right now. I swear I didn't do anything to her. I'm her friend from work. I sent her home and stayed with her just in case. That's it." Taeyong answered in one breath.
'I'm just down her apartment street and I'll be there in 5. She'll better be fine by the time I get there.'
With that, the call ended and Taeyong finally exhaled the breath he never knew he held as he was scared. But his mind was confused to when did Nara had another brother since she told them she only had an older brother?
Just then, the leader heard the door's password was being pressed and opened. A figure then came running in with his friend following behind panting. Both the brother and the leader's eyes widened as they were shocked when they saw each other.
"Taeyong 씨?"
"선배님 (seonbaenim)?"
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I tried or wanted to leave a cliffhanger when Yi En called, but I suddenly got excited about writing this chapter and continued on.. Oh well, let's just hope the next one is exciting.. 😅🤷🏻♀️ I guess.