Chapter Text
One hour in (six more to go) and Seokjin was already regretting the deal he made with his parents after lunch. Negotiation had been tough but with the help of his aunt and his uncle he had managed to get a free-pass to do whatever he wanted on his own that night in exchange for an entire afternoon taking care of his nephews by himself, which he thought would be a piece of cake considering he’d babysitted the three of them multiple times in the past with a 100% success rate.
Except this time they were in the United States on a family trip to Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and not back at his parents’ house in South Korea and he hadn’t considered kids aged three to five years old fueled by sheer joy and happiness would be a lot more to handle than usual in a place that was very much properly called Magic Kingdom. Seokjin could barely contain his excitement himself and he was an adult, how could he expect three little kids to be calm and in their best behavior?
It was the last day of their week-long vacation and his brother, his two cousins and their respective spouses had been more than pleased to leave their kids with him as they parted ways outside of the restaurant, promising they and the grandparents would come back to the park around 8 pm so the fourteen of them could have dinner together and then watch the 9 pm Happily Ever After fireworks showcase. After goodbye kisses and recommendations were given to the children and a few dollar bills were slipped in uncle Jin’s pocket, Seokjin, Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook were on their merry way.
It was almost 2 pm and while the rest of his family was probably relaxing by the pool back at the music-themed hotel they were all staying at, Seokjin had survived the rest of the stroll through Fantasyland with a few scratches: Taehyung and Jimin almost got lost in the queue for the Journey of the Little Mermaid ride, Jungkook had managed to pull Gaston’s pants down when the character walked past them and somehow when he got the kids ice cream bars of different flavors for dessert the stains had ended up on each other’s shirts. So, when he read the description of the attractions near him on the theme park map he quickly shuffled his nephews into a building show where he’d been promised relative calm for about twelve minutes in the form of a 4D film titled Mickey’s PhillarMagic.
Soon enough the employees ushered the crowd into the theatre, asking for the visitors to occupy every seat available as they handed 3D glasses at the multiple entrance doors, and Seokjin was glad to realize he and the three children would be the last ones to be seated in a row by the middle, so they would have easier access to an exit if needed.
He was so busy holding Jungkook’s little hand and keeping an eye on Jimin and Taehyung walking in front of him, telling them to slow down, that the familiar greeting in Korean definitely took him by surprise.
“Hello,” he heard from behind the little table with a bunch of 3D glasses on it, and the first thing he looked for when he glanced up was the tag on the employee’s uniform. There was a little South Korean flag between the American one and another he recognized as French, neatly engraved under the romanized name of this trilingual show-off, Namjoon Kim.
He bowed slightly when he replied to the greeting because his instincts were stronger than his self-consciousness, and the way his three little nephews adorably answered the greeting by waving their hands with shy smiles made him want to clutch his heart. They were so cute, it almost made up for the earlier ice cream fiasco.
Apparently Kim Namjoon thought they were cute too, because he laughed quietly and Seokjin finally looked up to meet his eyes and the tall, handsome man flashed him a big dimpled smile that effectively took Seokjin’s breath away. “Enjoy the film!” he said to him and to the children as he gave each one a pair of 3D glasses, and even if Seokjin had been speaking Korean with his family the entire trip, never had the language sounded so beautiful amidst all the English constantly bombarded at him.
“Thank you!” Jimin and Taehyung said in unison as they held hands and run to the thankfully close enough seats, and Jungkook mumbled the words as he hid behind Seokjin’s leg, not taking his big eyes off Kim Namjoon for one second.
“Thanks,” Seokjin smiled at him the way he always did when he flirted, because Kim Namjoon was cute and he was probably not going to see him again so he had nothing to lose. Jungkook started tugging at his hand like he was asking to go join his cousins and he complied, following him inside the theatre that was quickly filling up with visitors.
After a few minutes of the kids hopping on and off their seats asking if the movie was going to start soon the lights dimmed and Seokjin couldn’t help but notice Kim Namjoon entered the room and closed the door behind him, standing by it like he’d seen many employees do before in other attractions. Minnie Mouse’s voice-over resounded through the speakers to ask visitors to put on their 3D glasses, judging by the display now visible on the screen, and Seokjin turned to his right to make sure his mini pre-school class was prepared for the show.
“Uncle Jin,” Jimin whispered as he pulled the glasses from under him and looked at them worriedly, since he had apparently sat on them by accident and they were now twisted and bent in half.
Seokjin’s hand immediately moved to grab his own 3D glasses and give them to him, the pair playfully put on him like a headband by Jungkook while they waited for the film to begin, but he was cut short when a big, elegant hand reached past him to hand a new pair of glasses to Jimin.
“There you go,” Kim Namjoon said, leaning in to deposit the object in the kid’s little hands, close enough for Seokjin to be able to smell his cologne, and Seokjin hoped he couldn’t hear how fast his treacherous heart was beating. “Those things are easier to break than they seem. Trust me, I know,” he whispered, and somehow that was the exact thing to say because Jimin’s expression of guilt vanished as he thanked him with a cute smile.
Namjoon disappeared as discretely as he’d appeared to save the day when the 4D film began, and Seokjin wondered if that was part of some Disney-employee secret training as he put his 3D glasses on. He was beginning to focus on the screen to follow the story when the first orchestra instrument flung his way and he practically jumped on his seat, trying hard not to curse out loud each time a different object was thrown at the public along with gushes of air and water and scent to the rhythm of classic Disney musical performances.
It was entirely the opposite of a horror film but to Seokjin this was an absolutely unbearable jumpscare fest and he didn’t care Kim Namjoon was a few feet away and witnessing it all, he screamed his lungs out for almost 12 minutes straight. At least Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyung were having the time of their lives, laughing and screeching with joy every time something came at them and stretching their little arms to the front and up to try and reach for the different objects.
Seokjin laughed with the kids when Donald Duck was thrown like a cannonball across the room and got stuck in the wall behind them, but he quietly sighed in relief as the lights turned on and Minnie Mouse’s voice-over as well as the employees asked them to exit to their right. He and the kids followed the slow-moving line of people out of the theatre as his nephews excitedly talked about their favorite parts of the experience, imitating the characters and singing the bits of songs they knew in Korean.
Seokjin turned his head around one last time to see if he could at least wave goodbye to Kim Namjoon but he was nowhere to be seen. A little disappointed, he focused on making sure none of his children disappeared in the crowd until they exited the building and regrouped near the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.
“I want to do it again, uncle Jin,” Jungkook stated, his little finger pointing at the entrance to Mickey’s PhillarMagic, and Jimin and Taehyung manifested their agreement by vigorously nodding and sending puppy eyes his way. Seokjin chuckled; the idea was tempting him and not for the same reasons as the children (his involved a particularly attractive employee) but he looked at the time and the map and decided they would have to get going if they wanted good spots to comfortably watch the 3 pm Festival of Fantasy Parade.
“We can come back later, but don’t you want to see the parade first?” he asked, knowing the answer would be a resolute and excited yes from the children. “Let’s go, then!” he said, grabbing Jungkook and Jimin’s hands as Taehyung held onto his cousin’s arm so they could start walking towards the center of the park.
Not even three minutes of the kids toddling about and pointing at things that caught their attention had gone by when Taehyung gasped and let go of Jungkook to ran the 20 feet that separated them from an ‘employee access only’ wooden gate to the cry of “Mister who speaks Korean!”
“Taehyung!” Seokjin shouted, tightening his hold on Jimin and Jungkook’s hands and walking as fast as the children could walk and as best as he could step around to avoid the few people on his way to where Taehyung had disappeared, exhaling with relief when he spotted the impossible to miss mop of dark hair. “Please don’t run off like that again!” he scolded as he approached the child with his other nephews in tow.
“I’m sorry,” Taehyung mumbled sheepishly, and he glanced up with a little pout. “I just wanted to say thank you to the mister who gave Jiminie a new pair of glasses.”
And if Seokjin’s heartbeat had settled back to normal now that he was reassured he hadn’t lost one of his nephews in Disney World, it began to race again once he looked up and met Kim Namjoon’s eyes for the second time. His uniform had been replaced by a pair of jeans and a casual t-shirt but the same charming dimpled smile was on his face and Seokjin was unequivocally out of words.
“You shouldn’t scare your uncle like that, Taehyungie, worry is not a good look on him,” the employee said with a teasing tilt at the end, and of course Taehyung was already friends with this stranger, which had proven to be a burden before, but this time Seokjin was grateful for the social butterfly disposition of his nephew. “I’m Kim Namjoon, by the way.” he said as he stretched his hand for Seokjin to shake it.
“Kim Seokjin, nice to meet you,” he replied as his mind tried not to linger more than necessary on the firmness of Namjoon’s handshake. “I can see you’ve already met Taehyung, and these are my other nephews, Jimin and Jungkook,” he added, gently placing a hand on their backs so they could come a little forward.
“Nice to meet you, Jiminie, Jungkookie,” Namjoon said with a smile as he looked down. “How are you enjoying Magic Kingdom so far?” he asked the three children.
“We are having fun,” Jungkook said, a bit shy.
“Everything is awesome!” Taehyung exclaimed, raising his hands in the air.
“We are going to watch the parade now, would you like to come with us?” Jimin added, glancing up at Namjoon expectantly.
Seokjin fumbled and he was about to excuse himself for his nephew’s forwardness, but Namjoon laughed and patted the child’s head. “Sure, I’m done with my shift anyway. But only if your uncle is ok with it,” he added, looking at him.
“Please, uncle Jin?” Taehyung asked cutely as he tugged the hem of Seokjin’s t-shirt.
“You can think of me as a personal guide to the park,” Namjoon chimed in, as if ‘yes’ wasn’t the first word waiting to come out of Seokjin’s mouth.
“I’m ok with it,” he chuckled. “I could really use the extra pair of hands,” he added, although he was sure the kids stopped listening at the ‘I’m ok’ part to cheer loudly. “I hope this really isn’t an inconvenience,” he told Namjoon.
“Not at all,” he smiled. “I know the perfect spot to watch the parade. Are we all ready?” he said as he extended his right hand, which was promptly taken by Jungkook with a determination Seokjin had not seen on the toddler before.
“Let’s go, uncle Joon,” Jungkook said, and Seokjin giggled a little when he noticed how much it had caught Namjoon by surprise but also how much he seemed to like it when they started walking.
“Jiminie, Taehyungie,” he called as he offered both children his hands, which were quickly held to follow Namjoon and Jungkook through the crowd.
“Damn, that Flynn Rider is fine,” Seokjin mumbled, apparently forgetting where he was and who he was with, because Namjoon muffled a chuckle next to him as the three children in front of them waved at Princess Ariel and the dancing sea creatures excitedly.
“Right?” Namjoon said in a low voice, “too bad he’s as straight as an arrow. Believe me, I tried.”
Seokjin shouldn’t have felt a pang of jealousy but he did, and the saving grace was that it was accompanied by a sense of relief his flirtatious remarks would not fall on deaf ears.
“Truly his loss,” he whispered, and had this been any other guy he was sure it would have been enough to fluster him, but Kim Namjoon took the compliment in stride and he smirked at him so smugly Seokjin was the one weak on his knees.
“Oh, Hoseokie!” Namjoon shouted as he looked past him, and Seokjin turned around to see one of Peter Pan's lost boys bouncing his way to the kids, giving Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook enthusiastic high fives before he glanced up and smiled brightly at them.
“Hey, Namjoonie, what’s up?” the lost boy said, looking at the five of them curiously. “Have you found a husband and adopted three kids?”
Jimin gasped audibly. “Is uncle Joon your husband now, uncle Jin?”
“That’s why his last name is also Kim?” Taehyung added.
“What? No, he is…” Seokjin started, flustered, but Hoseok grabbed his hand to shake it as Namjoon just stood there, thoroughly amused and holding back his laughter like he was used to this kind of situation.
“Nice to meet you. Name’s Hoseok, a fellow Korean by the looks of it. You have beautiful children.”
Before Seokjin had had a chance to introduce himself or correct him, Hoseok ran off to join the rest of the lost boys for a choreographed acrobatic dance, to the shout of “Let’s meet for beers later!” in Korean, which is why it didn’t seem to faze the park visitors around them.
Namjoon gave Hoseok an enthusiastic thumbs up and chuckled as they watched him get in formation under the disapproving eye of one of his fellow Peter Pan character performers.
“Are you really friends with a lost boy?” Jungkook wondered with big eyes.
“Yes, I am,” Namjoon smiled, and Jungkook hummed and held onto Namjoon’s pants as he continued watching the parade.
“We are part of the same academic exchange program,” Namjoon explained to Seokjin, since the kids were too preoccupied admiring the Disney spectacle taking place before their own eyes. “You know the invitation was meant for you too, if you are not busy tonight.”
“I could really use some time away from my family,” Seokjin half-joked, paying more attention to Namjoon than to the parade, enough to notice how his eyes lit up when he agreed.
“Great! You’ll get to meet Yoongi too, he works in customer service.” Namjoon paused. “He’s not really good at it.”
Adventureland and Frontierland with Namjoon’s help were a breeze compared to Tomorrowland with all his family and Fantasyland on his own with three children, and Seokjin couldn’t have been more thankful Namjoon had agreed to join them for the rest of the day. He knew the theme park like the back of his hand and he translated everything for them, not to mention he was wonderful with the kids and he seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as they were.
Seokjin had been wrong to think he and Namjoon would get to know each other better as they babysat together and strolled through the park and waited in line for attractions, because Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyung were still a handful and their conversations involved the kids and their shenanigans or revolved mostly around them. They were fascinated by Namjoon, who was graceful enough to divide his attention evenly among the three children, and Seokjin was sure that by the end of the day they were going to love uncle Joon as much as they loved uncle Jin if not more.
By the time they were done with all the main attractions suited for small children in this side of the park, including a pause for snacks and meet and greets courtesy of Namjoon and his insider friendships, they had 45 minutes to spare before meeting the rest of Seokjin’s family near the Cinderella Castle. Seokjin asked if there was a quick way to go back to Fantasyland for one last ride, and Namjoon suggested taking the World Disney World Railroad at the Frontierland stop, which they did, to the excited cheers of the children like each time a new activity was decided on.
“Are you sure you want to do this again?” Namjoon asked as they waited in line for Mickey’s PhillarMagic, this time next to one of the entrances for seats closer to the theatre screen. “You didn’t seem to enjoy yourself much the first time.”
And Seokjin’s suspicions were confirmed. Namjoon had watched him make a fool of himself earlier, but he would overcome the embarrassment. He was Kim Seokjin after all.
“I promised the kids we would come back, and I keep my promises,” he replied, holding his hands in the air as if silently asking his nephews for high fives, happily given to him by Jimin and Taehyung. “That’s why I’m their favorite uncle.”
“You are our only uncle,” Jungkook deadpanned, and Namjoon couldn’t help but laugh at Seokjin’s lighthearted affronted expression as he put the hand that was not holding Jungkook’s up so the youngest could high five him.
“Not anymore, we have uncle Joon now,” Taehyung jumped in, hugging Namjoon’s leg.
“Is that so,” Seokjin replied, glancing at him with a smile that Namjoon reciprocated.
“You are going back to Korea with us tomorrow, right, uncle Joon?” Jimin asked, grabbing Namjoon’s wrist with his little hand.
“Oh, I am not, sorry, Jiminie,” Namjoon said absentmindedly, realizing it was a mistake to have put it like that when sad pouts, teary eyes and little gasps replaced the three kids’ cute smiles. He looked at Seokjin in panic but Seokjin didn’t know what to say either because it suddenly dawned on him that this was probably the first and the last time he would get to hang out with Namjoon.
“But I am going back to Seoul in a few weeks, when my second semester here as an exchange student is over!” Namjoon added quickly, crouching down to be at eye level with the children. “We can all meet there again, would you like that?” Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin significantly calmed down and nodded eagerly. “Great, so, until then, who wants to watch Donald messing with Mickey’s magical orchestra?”
The children smiled and answered “me, me, me!” in a good mood once again and Namjoon sighed in relief as he stood up, just in time for the doors to open and the queue of people to start shuffling inside the theatre.
“That was a close one,” Seokjin said amusedly, just loud enough for Namjoon to hear and putting his hands on Jimin and Taehyung’s shoulders to keep them close as they moved forward. “You are lucky I live in Seoul and my nephews live near the capital, because they would have convinced me to go see you even if it was a ten hour drive across the country.”
Namjoon laughed. “I guess it is a date then,” he said, walking with Jungkook glued to his side. “How does a kids café sound?”
“Sounds great,” Seokjin chuckled, but he couldn’t hide how nervous he was getting as they approached the entrance and the 3D glasses station. “I can’t believe I’m doing this again,” he mumbled, then looked at Namjoon. “Just a heads up, at some point I might grab your hand and hold onto it unintentionally hard, so bear with me.”
“Noted,” Namjoon replied with an amused smile. “Does that mean you want me to sit next to you?” he teased.
Seokjin clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes playfully. “Just pick your glasses and get inside,” he said, before smiling politely at the employee handing them and the children five pairs of 3D glasses for the show. “Thank you.”
They did end up sitting next to each other, with Jungkook to Namjoon’s right side and Jimin and Taehyung to Seokjin’s left side, and when the instruments started flying towards the audience Namjoon quietly held Seokjin’s hand and didn’t let go until the end of the short film.