small words || jeongcheol

32: centre of attention.

"Josh, what's taking you so long?" Seungkwan was grumbling as he trudged through to the hallway, running shoes dangling from his left hand. He stopped short when he saw a new face.

And he stopped at the face that this new person was currently sobbing in Nurse Josh's arms over a bear.

"Who is this?" he blurted, having expected Josh's attention on his morning run (which Seungkwan had managed to persuade Josh to allow him to do every morning). He looked at Jeonghan, who just shrugged.

"This is Chan," Josh said with a smile. "Chan, aren't you going to say hello to Seungkwan?"

"No," Chan grumbled, hugging his bear tighter and hiding his face in Josh's tracksuit jacket. He'd finally stopped crying, but was keen to stay in Josh's arms for as long as possible and thereby deny the existence of the real world.

The real world was scary.

"Well, I'm Seungkwan," the blond grunted, sticking out his free hand. "How old are you?"

Chan thrust the teddy Seungkwan's way, replying, "Five."

Seungkwan blinked. His gaze fell to the teddy, and for some reason, he shook it's hand. "Nice to meet you - Chan, was it?"

The new boy nodded silently in Josh's arms.

"Well?" Seungkwan said to the nurse. "Aren't we going?"

"Ah," Josh said, tugging a hand through his dark brown hair. "Chan," he spoke softly, the way one would reassure a child, "I have to go out for a little bit, so you can spend some time with another friend."

"Chan doesn't have any friends," he mumbled. Josh looked pained, and Seungkwan was confused. Jeonghan just stood there awkwardly.

"Jeonghan?" he said tentatively. Jeonghan shook his head, this was out of his depth.

"Who is that?" Wonwoo asked as he came downstairs.

"This is Chan, our newest resident," Josh explained, standing up and straightening his sore knees. He ran his hand over Chan's hair, the boy now feeling brave enough to look around the hallway.

"Hi," Wonwoo said flatly. "I'm Wonwoo." He paused, throwing Josh a look. "He's going to be my roommate, isn't he."

"Yes, I hadn't had a chance to discuss it with you yet," Josh fretted, but Wonwoo shook his head. He walked over to Chan and held out his hand.

"I'll play with you," he said.

Chan blinked up at him, Wonwoo towered over the short boy, though Wonwoo suspected the two were closer in age than it seemed.

"Nurse Josh has to go out with Seungkwan for a bit," Wonwoo said, "Hyung will play with you."

Jeonghan was speechless.

"H-hyung?" Chan mumbled, his grip tightening on his bear.

"Yes, hyung will play with you," Wonwoo repeated, splaying the fingers of his extended hand. "Come on, Josh will be back soon."

"Okay," Chan agreed, latching onto Wonwoo's hand with chubby fingers.

Seungcheol joined Jeonghan at the bottom of the stairs, surprised at the scene before them.