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Minho is sprawled across the couch when he first hears the footsteps. Soft thumping down the hard, wooden stairs turns into light pattering across the carpeted floor, and then there’s a small hand tugging at his sleeve. He opens his eyes to find Felix standing next to him, trembling lightly.
“I had a bad dream,” Felix says, lips wobbling, eyes wide as twin full moons. His grip on Minho’s sleeve tightens until Minho sits up, part to better comfort his brother and part because he’s worried his shirt will rip if he doesn’t. As soon as he’s upright, Felix clambors up the couch and crawls into Minho’s lap. His little arms wrap around one of Minho’s and he clings like a drowning man to a life vest. With his free arm, Minho cradles the five year old to his chest.
“Was it scary?” Minho asks a little dumbly. He’d been fairly close to dozing off himself, and his brain is still turning back on.
Felix nods vigorously into his shoulder, not caring that the answer was obvious. Minho hums, thumb rubbing absently at Felix’s back. “Where’s Mimo?”
“In my room,” Felix says, miserable. He must have forgotten the plushy in his flight from the dark shadows of his bedroom.
“Do you want me to go get Mimo for you?” Minho offers.
“No, no! You can’t!” Felix looks up at him with startling urgency.
“Why not?”
“‘S dangerous,” Felix says solemnly.
“Oh?” Minho tries his best not to smile, puts a serious frown on his face instead. “I guess I have to stay down here and protect you then.”
Felix nods and burrows deeper into Minho’s loose hold. Minho kicks his legs out and settles back against the couch pillows, getting comfortable while Felix slowly calms down in his arms. After a little while, his small voice pipes up again, muffled by the fabric of Minho’s shirt. “Will you sing to me?” Minho hesitates and Felix peeks up at him. “Mommy always sings to me.”
Minho quickly crumbles under Felix’s wide, pleading eyes. “Sure,” he concedes after just a moment. Who’s he kidding, he can almost never say no to that earnest little face. He starts humming aimlessly, trying to figure out what he knows that’s soothing and appropriate for kids. Eventually, he settles on a soft, slow song about the feeling of daybreak that comes when you realize you’re in love. Felix doesn’t understand what the lyrics mean, but the melody seems to do the trick. He curls to the side and snuggles closer to Minho’s chest, breathing turning heavier as Minho sings quietly.
Running a hand through Felix’s hair, Minho’s thoughts wander past the lyrics he knows all too well from tired mornings spent listening to a sleep-husky voice sing along to the track playing through a small speaker a room away. He thinks of dark hair, always cut too sharp and yet somehow still handsome as hell, of warm hands always willing to hold his cold ones when he asks, of loud, unabashed laughter, of nights spent minding pans on the stove, cooking dinner as a team.
When Minho reaches the last line, he hopes for a moment that Felix has fallen asleep again, but then a knock sounds at the front door and Felix rouses in his arms. His head turns to find the source of the noise as if he can see through the back of the couch.
“What was that?” He asks.
“Someone’s at the door,” Minho says, moving to set Felix down so he can stand and answer it. Felix makes a loud, disapproving sound and clutches so tight to Minho he scratches skin through his shirt.
“Ow, ow ! Okay, you can come with me.” Minho heaves Felix up and holds him tight to his side. The boy is not as small as he used to be.
“Is it someone scary?” Felix asks cautiously, now eyeing the door with both apprehension and mistrust. Maybe Monster’s Inc wasn’t the best movie to watch with him before bed.
Still, Minho shakes his head. “Nope. It’s just Binnie. You like him, don’t you?”
“Binnie?” Felix’s whole face lights up and he starts to squirm happily in Minho’s arms.
“Yup.” Minho grins as he reaches for the doorknob. He opens it to reveal Changbin standing at the entryway, illuminated only by the overhead light. The dark night glitters with far off stars behind him.
“Hey,” Changbin says, smiling as his eyes fall to Felix, still nestled in Minho's arms. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be up, buddy?”
Felix pouts and Minho can’t help but laugh. “He had a bad dream,” he explains, squeezing Felix and moving to let Changbin inside so he can retreat back to the couch because his arm is protesting against Felix’s weight.
“Oh no!” Changbin sympathises greatly, closing the door behind himself, kicking off his shoes, and following Minho inside. “Is Minho keeping you safe now?”
Felix nods, presses his cheek against Minho’s chest.
“What a brave big brother you’ve got,” Changbin laughs.
“The bravest,” Felix agrees, raising one hand from where they’d wrapped around Minho’s neck to give a big thumbs up and drive the point home.
“You know who’s pretty brave too?” Minho prompts, looking between the two of them, smiling lightly.
“Who?” Felix asks with wide eyes.
“Changbinnie,” Minho says. “I bet he’s even brave enough to go get Mimo for you. What do you think, Lixie?”
Felix gives Changbin a critical once over. He’s wearing all black under a pale denim jacket that looks almost silver in the dim light. Minho isn’t above admitting he looks a little badass, even with pink socks hiding beneath the hem of his pants. Felix nods. “I think you’re right.” He points in the direction of the stairs. “Mimo fell on the floor in my room. Please save them.”
Changbin salutes Felix and heads off without hesitation. “First door on the right,” Minho calls after him, and then he disappears up the stairs. A minute later, he returns with Felix’s favorite plushy, a sheep that used to be white and fluffy and now is soft and flat, a light beige color. Years of love and cuddles have worn Mimo down, but Felix still adores the sheep all the same. Changbin sits down on the couch, so close his thigh is pressed flush to Minho’s, and hands the plush over to Felix.
“Thank you,” Felix beams. He makes a grabby motion at Changbin, and when he leans in to see what Felix wants, presses a shy kiss to Changbin’s cheek.
Minho laughs as a wide, proud grin splits Changbin’s face. “Our hero,” he says lightly, as teasing as he is genuine. Felix agrees easily, then twists in Minho’s arms to kiss his cheek too.
“Will you sing again?” He asks hopefully.
Minho glances to Changbin. “Can Binnie sing too? He’s very good at our song.”
Felix nods easily, and curls up in Minho’s arms again. Minho’s lips part and the lyrics tumble out again. This time, though, he’s looking right at Changbin, and gets to watch him realize what the song is, gets to watch the way his smile softens as he picks up the tune and sings quietly along with Minho.
They run through it twice, until Minho is sure Felix is nearly asleep again, then Changbin relaxes into the couch and tips his head back. He’s still smiling. Minho reaches out with his free hand to thread their fingers together, and the smile grows. They sit in contented silence, happy to simply be at each other’s sides a while longer.
When Felix’s breaths finally come steady and even and he goes completely limp in Minho’s lap, Minho scoops his brother up carefully and brings him back to his room. After depositing him gently onto his bed and tucking him in with Mimo still clutched loosely in one of his arms, Minho treads quietly down the stairs and returns to the couch.
“Hey,” he says warmly, kissing Changbin the moment he lifts his head and opens his eyes.
“Hey,” Changbin murmurs into Minho’s lips when he pulls back the slightest bit. “Felix sleeping?”
Minho nods, raising a hand to stroke Changbin’s cheek. “”S a good thing he was already tired before you got here or else he never would’ve gone back to bed. He gets so excited whenever you’re around.”
Changbin grins, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “It must run in the family,” he says, settling a hand on Minho’s waist and squeezing lightly. “You can’t seem to get enough of me either.”
Minho pinches Changbin’s cheek with deft fingers. “Don’t get cocky, kid. I just invited you over so you wouldn’t get lonely in that big empty apartment now that Hyunjin’s moved out.”
“Mhm,” Changbin hums.
“Seriously.” Minho suppresses a laugh. “I’m on the job tonight. Babysitting is serious business. My parents won’t be home ‘till tomorrow.”
Changbin has no such qualms about laughing. “Why’re you making it sound like we’re seventeen.” He changes his voice into what’s clearly meant to be an over exaggerated impression of Minho. “My parents will be home tomorrow! What if they find out you snuck over? They’ll ground me for sure!”
“Shut up,” Minho says, half groaning, half laughing. “It didn’t sound like that at all.”
When Changbin’s laughter only gets louder, Minho presses in and shuts him up with another kiss. And they may as well be seventeen again after all for the way they fall from giggles and light pecks to something much deeper, a little hungry, a lot in love.
But eventually, because they really aren’t that young anymore, the hour catches up to them and they part with heavy breaths and swollen, pink lips, and simply melt into each other. Minho slings an arm around Changbin’s shoulder and Changbin leans into him. When Minho is done flicking the television on, setting the volume low, and switching it to a rerun of an old summer blockbuster, he slips his free hand into Changbin’s and twists to press a light kiss to his temple.
They barely make it to the climax of the movie before they both pass out, but when Minho stirs again a few hours later with a crick in his neck and pins and needles in his arm, it’s such an ungodly time that after he nudges Changbin awake, his boyfriend doesn’t even consider leaving. So Minho kills the power to the TV, drags Changbin upstairs, forces him to discard his jacket, and they fall asleep again pressed closely together so they both fit in the tiny guest bed. And honestly, Minho thinks as Changbin’s soft, even breaths warm the skin of his neck and his legs twitch lightly against Minho’s, maybe he’s secretly a sap, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.