The Tells of a Different Childhood

79.A.U: Younger - Introduction

Right, so now that he was home and could actually go to a store, he needed to get new clothes, groceries, and hygienic and cleaning supplies for both him and the kid. Other than canned vegetables and frozen food, they didn't have anything to eat for breakfast. Squirt was still in the middle of his growth spurt and after years of having an unreliable food source, Kang did not want him to skip meals. He really had to go shopping if he wanted to prevent that.

Which brought up another problem.

What was he going to do with the kid?

Kang sighed as he wrote down the shopping list. The stores were always crowded, and save for the clothes, he needed to go and get everything immediately so they could have food to eat and things to clean up afterward. So, he couldn't push it off because they did need it.

The problem was that Kang was positive the kid was not going to have a good time if he tagged along, but at the same time, he really didn't want to leave the kid alone in the house. The kid was going to be thoroughly overwhelmed if Kang took him to the always busy stores, but he had no idea if leaving him alone was going to be better or not. Especially after what Han-jae told him about the kid most likely never being truly alone in his life.

Either he took the kid with him and risked overwhelming the kid even more out in public or he left him behind; where he could potentially enter another downward spiral like he did last night when he had been alone for mere minutes.

Granted, Kang planned to slowly get the kid used to being in large crowds out in public, it was something that he needed to do if he wanted Squirt to adjust. But that didn't change the fact that it was a dog-shit idea to pull something like that after the night they had.

This was more stressful than he thought it would be.

Alright, maybe he should talk to the kid first. He was freaking out something when he didn't even know if the kid was going to react like that to either situation. Maybe Squirt was going to be okay with going out or being left alone and he was just overthinking everything.

He probably was.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Kang sighed to himself again. He needed to do something else to get his mind off this.

Standing up, he carefully crept back into his bedroom. Kang could barely see him with the way the blanket was pulled up, but he almost nodded in approval when he saw that Squirt was still asleep. It was barely noon and considering his difficulty in sleeping, it made sense that he was still asleep, and Kang had no intention of changing that.

Slowly, he grabbed his duffel bag, and taking care that he didn't make too much noise, he crept out of his room. Feeling accomplished that he didn't wake up Squirt, he happily made his way to the bathroom, ready to wash up for the day.

Though the shower was meant to help him relax, Kang couldn't help but think about everything that he needed to do for both himself and the kid. All of them were somewhat urgent, and the only way he felt comfortable with leaving the kid by himself was if they had a method of instant communication. So that meant that he was going to have to get the kid a phone and then hope that would be enough for the kid to reach out whenever he needed help.

Which was another problem because the kid just did not ask for help.

It really does take a village to raise a kid because while these issues have always been present, he always had the other men present to ask for advice. If it wasn't Kang who noticed that the kid needed help with something, it was one of the men who would notice and help him. Now if the kid was in a situation, there was no one to tell Kang or help him figure out the right things to do or say, nor was there anyone to help the kid at a moment's notice.