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Tattoos weren't something that Bang Chan was unfamiliar with. In fact, they had always been present in his life in one way or another. Chan lived and breathed tattoos. He had several of his own and he even co-owned a tattoo and piercing shop with one of his best friends, Younghyun, so tattoos were definitely something that Chan knew of very well. Unfortunately, the man also knew the negatives that came with tattoos.
He knew that a lot of people had some very conservative or negative opinions whenever it came to tattoos. He could count on both hands how many times he had people walk up to him in public and share such opinions with him. Over time the man learned to just deal with it and to ignore what other people had to say, they were entitled to their own opinions but that didn't mean he had to listen to them. Chan taught his kids to do the same thing, they were quite young but they could still learn not to judge others or hold anything against people because of the fact that they were covered in tattoos, piercings, or both. The two actually picked on this quickly but nothing could keep their curiosities at bay, especially not Jisung's.
Chan never missed Jisung eyeing his tattoos whenever he wore clothes that exposed them. His son's wide eyes would shine with interest and gleam with curiosity whenever he would sneak peeks at them when he thought no one was looking but Chan would always catch him. He would always have to repress the urge to coo since he didn't want Jisung to get scared of looking at his tattoos just because he got caught staring. He couldn't help but feel some sort of pride as well because of his son's curiosity in tattoos. Jisung was young and curious without having yet to turn judgemental and cruel because of the harsh world.
He was in the middle of brushing his teeth whenever he gets the vague feeling that he has eyes on him. The twenty-one year old glances in the bathroom mirror and sees the reflection of the four year old standing in the bathroom doorway looking at Chan's bare shoulders and back with half-lidded eyes. He bends over the sink and spits out the last of the toothpaste that was in his mouth before he rinses off his toothbrush and put it back in the toothbrush holder that hardly fit on their bathroom's small sink counter. "What are you doing up, baby," He asks, turning on his heel to face his youngest son. Jisung's eyes widened as he jumped a bit at the sudden sound of his dad's voice.
Jisung took a moment to answer, spending a few seconds rubbing at his tired eyes with a half curled hand. "Couldn't sleep. Binnie's light too bright," He answered softly, his words slurred and messy from how obviously sleepy he was. Chan hummed softly, Changbin's night light was pretty bright so he wasn't too surprised that Jisung couldn't go to sleep with it on, he would definitely have to do something about that night light sometime soon. For now, though, he was more focused on getting Jisung to go to bed. "Okay bug, let's go to the kitchen," He stated and held a hand out towards Jisung, grinning whenever the sleepy child slipped his tiny hand into his much bigger one.
"How does some warm milk sound," He asked as he grabbed Jisung's favorite cup, a mug that was shaped and painted to look like Jack Skellington, glancing over his shoulder to look at Jisung sitting at their kitchen table. "Okay, daddy," the young brunet answers as he kicks his legs back and forth, staring at Chan's tattoos once again. It falls silent in the kitchen after that with the slight exception of the hum from the microwave as it heats up the mug full of milk. Thirty seconds later Chan pops the microwave door open and grabs the mug before gently pushing the microwave door shut. He wanted to be as quiet as possible because he already had one child up two hours past their bedtime, he really didn't want to have another one awake as well.
Jisung sat up straight whenever Chan sat down across from him, slipping the mug in front of him. "Be careful 'Sung, it's a bit hot," He warns as Jisung reaches for the mug. The four year old looks at his dad, at the mug, back to his dad, and then to the mug once more before he slips the long sleeves of his Paw Patrol pajama shirt over his hands and wraps those sleeve-covered hands around the mug. Chan can only smile at this because his youngest son was a lot smarter than he let on. It's silent once again as Chan watches Jisung blow softly on the drink to cool it own before he takes a couple of sips.
The sleepy child starts to stare over the top of the mug, glancing at the tattoos on both of Chan's shoulders, before he meets Chan's eyes. He immediately drops his eyes down to his mug causing his dad to chuckle at his actions. "You know you can look at them or ask me about them, right? I don't mind if you do, bug," He states as Jisung sets his mug down in front of him and gives a small nod. The four year old's eyes rake over Chan's tattoos for a moment before they stop on one that's on his left shoulder and points at it, "What's that one?" The young man drops his gaze down to the tattoo that Jisung was pointing at and smiled.
"This is the Roman numerals," He starts to gently trace over the solid black tattoo with an index finger, "for Changbinnie's birthday." Jisung hums softly like he understood what that meant before he presses one of his hands down on the table top after taking a sip of his drink. "What's Ro...man numerals," He asks, each word hesitant and slow as he tried to sound them out. Chan laughed softly as the corners of his mouth lifted up into a small smile at his son's attempts of saying such words. "It's a numeric system," He states and Jisung just blinks at him after that, his dark little brows raised in confusion, almost comically.
"It's a way of counting, bug."
Jisung mouths out a small 'oh' as he nods at what his dad had said. Chan turns his gaze to his other shoulder, reaching over to trace along that tattoo as well. It was another set of Roman numerals that were just slightly different than the other ones. He looked over to see Jisung intently studying the tattoo. "This is the Roman numerals for your birthday," He states, shifting his body so that the child could properly see the tattoo, causing Jisung to clasp his hands together and grin widely.
He was truly a site to see with his slumped posture, clasped hands, and wide, sleepy grin. The four-year old's eyes were half open, his eyelids drooping shut every now and then, so it was quite obvious to Chan that it was definitely time for bed. He stood up and gently grabbed the cup out of Jisung's hands, he didn't put up much of a protest in his tired state, and poured the milk out before placing the cup in the sink. "Come on bug, it's time for bed," He said softly as he stood by Jisung's chair. Jisung blinked slowly for a moment before he shifted around in the seat to face his dad, holding his arms up in the air.
Chan stared down at him for a moment, debating on if he should pick him up or not since Jisung was getting a bit too old to be carried around until he decided to indulge his son just this once. He bent down and hooked his hands under Jisung's armpits before scooping him up into his arms. " 'addy, I don't wanna go bed," He slurred as he laid his head against Chan's chest. Chan snorted as he looked down at Jisung, "Well you got to Jisung." Jisung huffed loudly, his bottom lip jutting out into a wobbly pout.
"But wanna hear more about your 'attoos," He whined causing Chan to coo as he began to carry him to his room. "I'll tell you what, if you go to bed like the good little boy that I know you are I'll tell you about all of them in the morning," He promises his son. Jisung hums softly, wiggling around a bit in his hold as he considered his dad's promise. "Okay, daddy," He whispers as he nuzzles his face into Chan's chest once more.
"Okay bug, now lets get you to bed."