"I've warned you about love, brother."
The hoarse voice broke the silence—soft, measured, just enough not to wake the child sleeping in Kai's arms.
Kai tilted his head back against the chair. He didn't answer. Did he really have to?
"Ugh." He shifted again, eyes drifting to the raindrops racing down his office window.
His brother stood there, tall and as nonchalant as ever—the same man Rei had once met in the library (Chapter: Min-ho [Part I]).
With a frustrated sigh, Kai rubbed his temple. "Not now, hyung... Out of all the shit I've been dealing with these past three years, the last thing I need is your groaning."
"Haa~," his brother groaned. "Give Min-ho to me, it's time for his check-up with the doctor." He smiled faintly, holding out his hands for Kai to place the child in them.
Min-ho was still sound asleep, clinging tightly to his father. Kai raised a hand and gently caressed the boy's soft cheek.
"For him, at least…" he muttered, voice low and weary. "…for our son, I have to bring back the person who gave him life." His thumb brushed over Min-ho's cheek again before he lifted his gaze to meet his hyung's eyes.
"You know Min-ho loves his papa more than I do," Kai said, his stare hollow, filled with an emptiness only Rei could mend—a void that had been left for dead these past three years.
He pressed a kiss to Min-ho's forehead, lingering there longer than needed, as though trying to pour into the child everything he couldn't say out loud.
When he finally loosened his hold, his arms felt unbearably empty. With a slow breath, Kai pushed himself up from the chair, his legs heavy as if carrying the weight of the last three years. He placed Min-ho gently in his hyung's waiting arms, his gaze never leaving the boy's peaceful face.
"Kai…" his hyung called softly, adjusting the sleeping child against his shoulder. "Why don't you just let him figure it out himself, huh?"
"You're so blinded by love that your only way of protecting him is by caging him," Jaehyuk said flatly. "Let him figure it out."
Kai turned, walking slowly toward the wide office window. His eyes followed the raindrops racing down the glass before drifting to the iron gates left open below.
"Hah…" he let out a low groan. "For three years he wasn't curious. What makes you think he will be now?" His voice tightened as he added, "Do you really think he'll ever be my Rei again, Jaehyuk hyung?"
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[End Of Minisode]