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“Why are you eating chocolate?”
Minho jumps in surprise at the sudden voice, scrambles to move the chocolates out of sight. “Felix! When did you get down here?”
“Just now.” Felix peers at the box in Minho’s hands as he tries in vain to hide it from view. “Why are you eating chocolate?” Felix asks again.
Minho stands, leaving the box on the couch and herding Felix away from it. “Why aren’t you in your room? I just put you up for the night.”
Felix pouts. “I’m not tired.”
“That’s because you’re not in bed,” Minho reasons. “Your eyes are wide open, buddy. You can’t fall asleep like that.”
Felix’s little face draws into a frown. He seems to realize that Minho is backing him up, and stubbornly plants his feet on the carpet. “I don’t wanna sleep.” He peers around Minho. “Wanna know why you’re eating chocolate.”
“That’s not important,” Minho says, leaning to the side to block Felix’s view.
“Is too!”
“Well I want to know why you don’t want to go to sleep.” Minho crosses his arms over his chest and stares his little brother down.
Felix pouts like his life depends on it. He crosses his arms just like Minho. For a six year old, he’s quite fearless. Or maybe it’s because he’s six. Either way, Minho is more tired than impressed. “ Felix ,” he chides in the same tone of voice that used to get used against him.
“I don’t wanna sleep. Wanna stay up!”
“Felix, you can’t-”
Minho is cut off by the sound of the toilet flushing. Felix perks up like he’s a puppy and not a boy. He rocks back and forth on his feet to try and see around Minho, and of course , Minho really should have seen this coming. He can hear the sink running, and a few moments later, the sound of the bathroom door opening.
Felix makes a break for it. He shoots around Minho and takes a running leap into the air. “Binnie!”
Minho turns just in time to see Changbin’s eyes go wide as Felix rushes him. “Felix!” His arms open just in time to catch Felix as the boy jumps at him. He grunts at the impact, taking a step back to brace himself against Felix’s weight.
And Felix doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. He just throws his little arms around Changbin’s shoulders and hangs on for dear life. Changbin meets Minho’s eyes over Felix’s back, and Minho has to fight the urge to laugh at the picture.
“Is this why you won’t sleep?” He asks Felix.
In response, he gets nothing but a muffled giggle.
“Come on, Lixie, haven’t you played with Binnie enough? You two sorted pokemon cards for an hour before bed.”
“Haven’t you played with Binnie enough?” Felix shoots back.
Minho gapes. Changbin goes red in the face trying not to laugh. “He is my boyfriend!” Minho says, marching forward to try and peel Felix out of Changbin’s arms.
Felix squeals and wriggles and refuses to let go. “Well he’s my friend!”
“Man, I’ve always wanted a pair of brothers to fight over me,” Changbin says with as straight a face as he can manage (not very). “This isn’t quite what I’d pictured though.”
“ You -” Minho points a menacing finger at Changbin “-are not helping at all .”
“I can’t help it if I’m irresistible.” Changbin grins like a cat that’s just caught a mouse. Minho is so going to have to get him back for this.
“You’d better watch your back, babe,” he warns.
Changbin just winks. Minho hates him. (He loves him.)
“You are a rascal, you know that right?” There’s the slightest smile tugging at his lips that makes his words softer than they’re supposed to be.
“Which one of us are you talking to?” Changbin asks, rocking Felix gently in his arms.
“Both of you,” Minho sighs.
“Binnie?” Felix says.
“Yeah?”
“Why was Minho eating chocolate? Dad says it’s bad for us and we’re not supposed to eat it.”
“He was doing what ?” Changbin says, playful disbelief in his voice.
“Eating chocolate!” Felix repeats. “I saw him!”
“You were eating chocolate without me?” Changbin asks Minho.
“It was just one piece! I wasn’t going to eat it all. You were only gone for a minute anyway.”
“You eat chocolate too?” Felix sounds utterly betrayed.
“Well it’s a special day, buddy. And besides, it’s dark chocolate.”
“Is that better?” Felix asks skeptically.
“Much,” Minho says. “And once in a while it’s okay to have treats.”
Felix twists to eye Minho. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Why’s today special?”
“It’s Valentine's day!” Changbin says. “Wasn’t everyone talking about it at school?”
Felix makes a face at him. “It’s the weekend.”
“Right.” Changbin nods like he’d known this all along.
“You’re silly,” Felix says, moving a hand to poke at Changbin’s cheek.
“Thank you!”
“Come on, Felix. You’re the silly one tonight,” Minho chides. “Let Changbin go. I need to take you back to bed.”
“No!” Felix whines. “I wanna know why you get chocolate!”
“I brought him the chocolate, buddy,” Changbin explains.
“Why?”
“Well when you love someone very much, you want to do nice things for them. I thought it would be nice to share some chocolate tonight so I brought it over. It’s kind of a Valentine’s day tradition.”
“So it was because you love him very much?”
Changbin nods.
“You love me very much, right?” Felix asks, going doe eyed.
Changbin laughs and looks from Felix to Minho. “This guy is good .”
Minho can only nod, helpless. He has fallen victim to Felix’s hopeful puppy look too many times.
“It must run in the family,” Changbin jokes.
“Oh please.” Minho’s arms come up to pinch at Felix’s sides. “Come on, Lix, it’s past bedtime.”
“But I want chocolate too!” Felix cries. “Don’t you love me?”
Minho doesn’t know if he should laugh or hang his head in his hands. Changbin seems to have no question about it; he laughs openly.
“You’re not helping,” Minho hisses. Changbin shoots him a sheepish grin. “Okay, what about this?” Minho points a finger at Felix’s face and waves it around to capture his attention. “I’ll save a piece of chocolate for you and you can have it tomorrow.”
“But I want it now! You’re eating it now.”
“If you have chocolate now you’ll have to brush your teeth again,” Minho reasons. “And you really won’t be able to fall asleep.”
But-” Felix cuts himself off with a yawn.
“See! You’re too sleepy for food right now, Lixie; it’s bedtime. I promise I’ll leave a chocolate for you to have tomorrow.”
“But Dad won’t let me have it,” Felix pouts. This time he sounds genuinely upset.
“Hey, I’ll make sure he knows we made a deal, okay? He’ll let you have one piece.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“He will,” Minho assures.
“Promise?”
“Pinky promise,” Minho says, holding his little finger out for Felix.
“Okay.” Felix detaches an arm from around Changbin and locks his tiny finger with Minho’s.
“Come on now, climb down. Binnie must be very tired from holding you.”
Felix loosens his grip on Changbin’s neck, and Changbin lowers him to the ground. “Binnie is very strong, though,” Felix says.
“Yes he is!” Changbin laughs.
“He doesn’t have unending stamina, though,” Minho says, pointed but teasing.
“Don’t listen to him! I’m incredible!” Changbin flushes.
Felix ignores the both of them, walks around the couch to pick a chocolate out of the box, and comes back to Minho with his choice laid flat on his palm. “This is the one I want.”
“Sure.” Minho ushers Felix into the kitchen and pulls a tiny bowl out of a cupboard. “Put it in here.”
Felix deposits the chocolate carefully and watches Minho place it on the counter. “I’m gonna write a note to put with it for Dad and then we’re going up to bed. Say goodnight to Binnie.”
“Okay.” Felix trots back into the other room to do as Minho says. It’s easy now that he’s gotten what he wants.
Minho finds a scrap of paper and a pen in one of the drawers and writes, For Felix. I promised him he could have it. He secures one corner of the paper under the bowl, tosses the pen back where he found it, and turns to look for Felix. “Are we all ready to go now?”
“Yup,” Changbin says. Minho steps into the room to see Changbin crouch so Felix can press a quick kiss to his cheek.
“Goodnight,” he says before hurrying over to Minho’s side.
“Night,” Changbin waves.
“See you in a bit.” Minho puts a hand on Felix’s upper back and leads him along towards the stairs. The steps creak underfoot as they head upstairs, but other than that, all is quiet.
It takes a few minutes, but Minho gets Felix settled in bed again, ensures he’ll stay this time, and turns on Felix’s crickets for him. Everything done, he closes the door almost all the way behind himself as he leaves.
When he gets back downstairs, Changbin is sprawled across the couch, a chocolate in his hand, an inch from his lips. He pauses before eating it as he sees Minho approach in the dim light.
“All good?”
Minho nods, dropping like a stone onto the couch next to Changbin. “I never think babysitting is going to be as complicated as it is. There’s always something , isn’t there?”
“I think that’s just life, babe,” Changbin says with a measure of sympathy.
Minho lets his head roll to the side so he can look Changbin in the eye. He needs him to feel the disappointment in the gaze.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad, Min.”
“That’s because you were just basking in the attention. You love that he loves you.”
Changbin pushes himself upright and shrugs. “It’s nice to be appreciated,” he says, cheeky.
“I appreciate you lots- shut up,” Minho laughs.
Changbin raises his brows. “Yeah, well… make me.”
Minho has a thought, and leans in. Then he has a better one, and snatches the chocolate from Changbin’s hands just before their lips meet, pressing it gently into Changbin’s mouth.
Changbin makes a muffled sound of surprise before biting into the chocolate and grinning. He swallows a moment later and says, “I think you think you just pulled one over on me, but I got the chocolate, so who’s the real winner?”
Minho smiles sweetly. “Me.” He leans in and presses their lips together for real. There’s another small sound from Changbin and he falls quickly, happily, into the kiss. As it deepens, his lips part for Minho’s, and Minho can still taste the chocolate on Changbin’s tongue. When he pulls back to catch his breath, he’s grinning. “Definitely me,” Minho breathes, leaning his forehead against Changbin’s.
Changbin grins right back and pulls Minho into his lap, leaning back against the cushions. “I think we’re both winners right now.”
“Mm,” Minho has to agree.
“You’re so lucky to have me,” Changbin sighs, teasing.
Minho rolls his eyes, but his fingers are threading through Changbin’s dark hair and his eyes are on Changbin’s lips again. “Mm,” he hums again. Changbin is right. Minho feels very lucky indeed.
Changbin’s eyes go soft at the admission and he tilts his head up to press a light kiss to the corner of Minho’s mouth. “I think I’m even luckier, though.”
Warmth pools in Minho’s chest and spills out through his veins, liquid and happy. He’s so in love. “Happy Valentine's day,” he whispers over Changbin’s lips. “Thanks for agreeing to help me with Lixie tonight so the real adults could go have some fun for once.”
“Anything for you, love,” Changbin says, voice low and sweet and so genuine it makes Minho’s heart feel full to bursting. “We have enough fun already, don’t we?”
Minho bats his lashes like he’s still a bashful teenager. “I don’t know… I think we could still stand to have some more.”
Changbin’s eyes glitter in the lowlight. “You wanna make out until we fall asleep and get teased when the grown-ups get back later?”
Minho nods, already leaning in. “Absolutely.”
And so… they do.
( Minho’s parents do in fact tease them after returning home from their date, but Minho has Changbin warm and content in his arms, and that’s worth all the teasing his parents can dole out- and more. He wouldn’t change a single thing. )