Chapter Text
It was an odd family dynamic, there was no doubt about that. There was the father, Junyoung, and the mother, Jihye, who had a fling. It was never meant to be anything serious, but one thing led to another and Chan was born.
Upon finding out she was pregnant, Jihye told Junyoung, making sure to tell him that she would be keeping the baby, and that she did not expect anything from him, all while keeping an eye on his emotions. However, he ended up surprising her with a burst of joy, followed by verbal reassurance that he would be staying a part of the child’s life.
They agreed, though, that they would not be pursuing a relationship outside of being co-parents. Their brief relationship, while not a bad one, was not one that either had any desire to pursue further.
~*~
After little Christopher Bang, also known as Chris, or Chan, was born, life went on, with Junyoung and Jihye getting apartments only two floors apart, to make it easier for Chris to have access to both of his parents.
Junyoung met a woman not long after Christopher’s birth, and they fell in love. Oddly enough, this woman, whose name was Soojin, was a friend of Jihye’s. Soojin joined the odd dynamic with the full support, and occasional encouragement, of Jihye. Originally Junyoung was worried about bringing another mother figure into Chris’ life, but thanks to the relationship that Soojin and Jihye already had, the communication between the three flowed easily, and Chris continued spending time between the two apartments. Soojin and Junyoung got married in 1998, when Chris was a year old.
In early 1999, there were a lot of changes in Christopher’s life. At the wedding of his father and his step-mother, Jihye had ended up meeting back up with an old schoolmate, Jungho. He was fully supportive of her parenting baby Chris alongside Junyoung and Soojin, and soon joined the odd dynamic, as he and Jihye pursued a relationship with one another. At the dawn of the new millennium, Jungho proposed to Jihye, after having asked Chris for his permission. The only thing that would have made Chris happier than the realization that he would soon have two dads, as well as two moms, would be if he could have a little sibling.
Chris had made it no secret that he wanted a sibling. When he realized what brothers and sisters were, he asked his parents, at one of their weekly family dinners, if they could go to the store the next morning and buy one. This led to a discussion which involved some tears, but ultimately an understanding on Chris’ part.
He knew from the discussion he had with his parents that baby siblings could only come from mommies and daddies, so he began asking for one. As a birthday present, and then as a Christmas present, but also just on random days throughout the year. Finally, he got the news that his wish was about to come true only a few months after the dawn of the new year.
~*~
It all began on Monday, February 14, 2000. His Appa and Eomma, Junyoung and Soojin, told him that they had a Valentines gift for him when he had gotten back from his day care. They gave him a brown teddy bear wearing a white t-shirt, with blue letters, that read, “I’m a BEARY good big brother”. Being able to recognize some of the letters, but not knowing what it said, he asked them what it said. Rather than tell him what it said, they encouraged him to bring it to his Mommy and Daddy, Jihye and Jungho, and ask them what it said.
“Mommy, what’s this say?” Chris asked his mom, a slight lisp present as he nudged the bear against his mother’s arm.
Reaching down from her seat at the kitchen table, Jihye grabbed the bear, and looked at the writing on the shirt. Without thinking of what it said, as she was busy beginning to plan for her wedding, Jihye read the bright blue script aloud, freezing as she was about to hand the bear back to her son.
“Are you serious?” She asked as looked at her best friend and the father of her son, eyes wide.
The couple simply nodded, and Jihye broke out into a wide grin before giving out a short scream of joy, nearly knocking over the kitchen chair in her enthusiasm to hug them.
Meanwhile, Chris was looking at the bear, which his mother had dropped in her excitement, with awe. He slowly looked up and asked, “I get to be a bibling?”
For, try as his parents would, they were not able to break the toddler of the habit of saying ‘bibling’, instead of ‘sibling’.
Soojin smiled, crouching down so that she was at his height, and said, “Yeah, you get a sibling. Is that ok?” For she knew that wanting a sibling was one thing, but knowing that you were going to get one was another thing entirely.
Chris simply responded by breaking out into a grin and hugging her, saying, “I’m going to be the best big brother ever!”