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Junhui is headstrong, reliable, and naturally caring.
That’s why parents in their small town adore him and would always call him to babysit their kids.
And it all revolves perfectly.
Because if you live in their town, the ceaseless couples activities and copious amount of kids make it perfect for this part time job and hobby.
And Junhui loves the company of kids.
He supposes the next great thing about the world, of course after cats, are kids.
They’re tiny and cute and overall balls of curiosity.
So when he got the call to babysit the Lee brothers, he didn’t hesitate for a second.
Lee Seokmin, four years old, and Lee Chan, two years old, are two of the best (Junhui argues that they are the best) and sweetest kids in their town.
Taking up babysitting on a Saturday night is child’s play for Junhui, especially if it’s with his most favorite pair of siblings ever.
***
Junhui smiles as his feet drag him to the Lee household because everything is going as planned.
He bought Seokmin’s favorite fruit, an orange, and he brought the toddler book for dinosaurs Chan loves looking at.
But the problem starts when the door to the house opens.
Because it was opened by none other than Jeon Wonwoo.
His rival.
Okay…
Not that Junhui thinks he’s the only resident college sitter in town (there’s also Mingyu and Minghao, a college couple much younger than him whom some children adore too).
And not that he thinks babysitting is a competition.
It’s not an Olympic sport college students or graduating high school students participate in for extra income.
And because Junhui is no superhero and he can’t babysit all the kids whenever their parents are out and it's the town’s weekly stargazing night or any other activity that isn't designed for kids, he’s grateful for other people’s initiative to look out for these tiny, juvenile citizens.
But because Jeon Wonwoo is another thing.
They’re the same age and Junhui believes it’s Wonwoo’s mission to destroy his babysitting career.
It all started when Mrs Park called him to watch little Yubin because she would attend a singles’ night dinner near the local bar.
Junhui happily obliged because he was free and Yubin’s a good kid.
But to his surprise, on that night, Wonwoo was there before him.
Of course Mrs Park forgot to tell Junhui about it (she said sorry too many times).
Junhui understood and smiled anyway.
But as he gazed at the window and the sight of Wonwoo carrying Yubin burned in his mind, it made his blood boil in annoyance.
And after that, Junhui got fewer calls than usual.
Mingyu even pointed out how there’s this new charming sitter that the parents and the kids turn to.
Then again, Junhui understood and he'll never stop caring and watching out for these kids he cherish so much.
But his obsessive belief and ridiculous claim remains.
Wonwoo is a jealous guy who steals Junhui's clients because he wants all the profit for himself.
And he almost wants to punch the stupid grin off Wonwoo’s face as the other guy opens the door wide for him to enter.
***
Apparently, the Kwon-Lee couple thinks it’s “fun” and “better” if two of the most sought out sitters in town would look after Seokmin and Chan the whole time they’re going out that’s why they called both Junhui and Wonwoo for tonight.
The couple supposes that with Junhui’s reputation and Wonwoo’s rising notability, they would make the night memorable and bright for the kids.
Junhui just nods shyly and smiles awkwardly as the two dads bid their sons soft goodbyes and tight hugs accompanied with kisses on the cheek.
As soon as the couple steps out of the house and the door closes, Seokmin runs towards Junhui and wraps both his arms around his legs.
“Junnie-hyung!”
An overly excited Seokmin exclaimed.
Junhui levels himself with Seokmin’s gaze, gingerly ruffling the four-year old’s hair as soon as their eyes meet.
“Hello Minnie! I bought you oranges, want to peel them together?”
“Yes hyung! Wonnie-hyung is preparing dinner now, can we make orange juice with it?”
“Yes of course we can do that.”
Seokmin pulls Junhui towards the kitchen and the first thing he sees is Chan sitting on his high chair facing Wonwoo who seems to be cooking some vegetables and fish.
The table is already prepped and the atmosphere almost feels like home except Junhui wants to vomit because he can’t stand the sight of Wonwoo, he feels that it would’ve been so much better if only him and the Lee brothers were there.
But for the sake of the kids, he behaves.
Chan looks up at him as soon as his presence has been detected, eyes shining with admiration and cheeks flushed, the two-year old shrieks a bit upon seeing him.
“Junnie-hyung!”
Chan shuffles from his seat and raises his arms up for Junhui to take and carry him in which he happily indulged because he knows how much Chan loves being carried around; the toddler loves being under the impression that he’s tall and Junhui would never deprive him of this.
“Did you miss me bud?”
“Yes hyung! Appa called you?”
“Yup. He says you kept on insisting to see me, is that true?”
“Yes hyung! Play zoo with me, please hyung?”
Chan looks so excited and that elicits excitement in him too, their energies are always in parallel, that he doesn’t have any hard time connecting with the kid.
“Well, we have to eat dinner first, Channie, before we play.”
Wonwoo mumbles as he places the food on the table.
And the moment Jeon Wonwoo’s voice comes rolling inside the kitchen, Junhui feels as if a competition is being held.
Chan nods and motions for Junhui to let him sit again, being excited and all about playing, the kid seems to be rushing up dinner in order to do so.
When his portion of the food made its way to the table, Chan grabbed his spoon and started placing the neatly cut vegetables in his mouth.
Junhui leaves a small promise to Seokmin that they’ll make the orange juice after dinner, so the four-year old gleefully sits on his side of the table, besides Wonwoo.
He manages to calm Chan down with eating, he doesn't want the kid choking on his food that might lead to any minor accident tonight.
The fish and vegetables Wonwoo prepared was excellent, Junhui could never refute that fact but he would never say it out loud either.
He pretends as if he’s the only adult inside and the two kids are the only other people with him.
But Wonwoo shifts his stares at him every now and then, he’s not sure if the guy is ogling him out or sizing him up in this stupid, made-up babysitting competition he’s insisting on their circumstance.
Either way, it’s uncomfortable for Junhui, but he’s not one to back down from any challenge, so he wills his eyes to look at the person he’s starting to loathe on the other side of the table.
The moment they made eye contact, the situation proved intense; Wonwoo’s looking at him intently, eyes burning with familiar passion that Junhui once sported.
He’s not sure what Wonwoo's game is but he’s sure enough he could win, no, he would win.
The dinner continues after shifting his gaze and turning his presence towards Chan who’s eating very chaotically.
Junhui swipes the bib and the smeared sauce on Chan’s mouth disappears like a bubble, the kid looks at him eyes wide open as his mouth erupted into thunderous sounds of laughter that reverberated throughout the whole dining area.
The dinner finished with Seokmin burping out loud after finishing his food and him saying a loud sorry hyungs! and excuse me! which Junhui found adorable, which made Chan laugh again.
***
Junhui can feel a different vibe from all his babysitting activities with this particular night, internally he blames it on Wonwoo who seems to be annoying him in more ways than one.
After dinner, he expected Wonwoo to wash the dishes, but the other guy stood up and carried a giggling Chan and escorted him with Seokmin, out of the dining area.
So Junhui’s left to fix the mess after dinner and to wash the dishes.
To make matters worse, he hears the loud laughing and chortling from the living room.
Normally, he would feel at ease that the children are happy and in a good mood, but this time he feels awful that it’s not him making them happy.
Upon finishing the washing of everything, he makes his way into the living room to get Seokmin and remind him of the orange juice, but Seokmin is currently so focused on a game with Wonwoo, which honestly annoyed Junhui because he wants to spend time with the four-year old.
Seeing how Chan is occupied on the couch with his books, Junhui turns to him instead.
“Junnie-hyung, look it’s Popo!”
Chan points to a cute T-Rex picture in the book Junhui brought as soon as he sits beside the kid.
“Did you miss Popo?”
“Yes hyung! Appa told me he would buy me Popo soon.”
Chan shifts his body towards Junhui and is now facing him, looking at him intently and seemingly thinking what to say next.
“You will play with Popo and me hyung?”
“Of course Channie, hyung will play with you and Popo.”
Chan releases a tiny, happy yelp upon hearing Junhui’s response.
“Wonnie-hyung will play too! You two will be partners!”
Junhui could only smile at the kid’s statement.
Chan takes the book and lays down perfectly at the longer side of the couch, too immersed in his own world for Junhui to bother him more.
“Junnie-hyung! Look at what Wonnie-hyung made! It’s like the castle you used to make!”
Junhui adjusts his focus to Seokmin calling him from the far side of the living room where the toys are placed.
He spots Wonwoo looking at him, smirking.
He makes his way to them and sits near Seokmin who’s looking at him with glee, pointing towards the lego castle.
He sees an opportunity to spite Wonwoo.
“Oh, you’re right Minnie. But I believe I can make it better, don’t you think? Look here, the tower is built weakly, it should be near the main door so it has better support and—look! It looks much better now.”
“Wow! You’re right hyung! I guess Wonnie-hyung isn’t as great as you yet.”
He returns the smirk to Wonwoo, mocking him.
“But he almost made the same! You two must be soulmates or something.”
Junhui gasps at the statement and his eyes send daggers to Wonwoo, assuming that the other guy has been teaching Seokmin nonsense and complete buffoonery.
But to his surprise, Wonwoo is shocked and flustered just like him.
“Minnie, where did you learn that?”
“Oh, hyung, Daddy told us about soulmates yesterday! He said that he and Appa are soulmates because they have almost nothing in common that’s why they complement each other in the most unique ways possible. And he also said that other people have almost all things in common that’s why it’s easy for them to go perfect with each other.”
Junhui can hear the wiring inside his brain, how dreamy and confusing of Soonyoung to say such things to his kids, but then again it’s Soonyoung and Jihoon would probably smack him if he had heard what he said to their kids, it’s almost too funny to imagine.
“You and Wonnie-hyung remind me of the cats I watch on the TV every time too! Appa told me that you are both the same age and that you both love kids. See, hyung, you have lots of things in common, you are soulmates!”
He can’t refute what Seokmin had said either, well, neither he nor Wonwoo could say anything to the four-year old’s statement.
Sometimes it’s better to let kids imagine things and allow them to discover the truth behind everything they hear by themselves, especially if it wouldn’t hurt them.
After seconds of awkward silence that he seems to share with Wonwoo only, an almost heavy weight crashes on his back.
It’s Chan wanting to have a piggy-back ride on him, the kid loves doing this so much that Junhui feels he’s gonna have a back problem in his early 20s every time he’s babysitting him.
He carefully positions Chan on his back and he hears giggling and light taps on his shoulders as the kid exclaims his excitement.
He hears Wonwoo asking Seokmin if he wants a piggy-back ride too, to which the four-year old agreed immediately.
The four of them silently start a piggy-back ride contest, walking swiftly around the couch and the entirety of the living room.
Loud giggling, chortles, and laughter fill the entire house as they all enjoy what they’re doing, briskly pacing the length of the imaginary zoo they all agreed to set up for the kids’ playtime and as Chan had requested earlier.
In that instance, Junhui’s boiling annoyance and anger towards his supposed rival dissipates, his body filling with warmth at their situation, just making the kids happy.
They all stopped after both his and Wonwoo’s bodies felt the tiredness creeping in.
Seokmin announces it’s time for a quick night wash and brushing of teeth after making his way down Wonwoo’s back.
The two sitters forced their almost tired bodies to guide the two kids in their bathroom.
Magic must have descended on the house because Junhui suddenly finds himself working in unison with Wonwoo.
He washes two small towels they would use on the two kids and Wonwoo prepares their pyjamas.
He then hands Wonwoo a towel as Wonwoo guides Chan towards him.
Junhui calls for Seokmin and the kid sluggishly walks towards him.
They wipe and scrub at the kids’ exposed body parts, the arms, hands, legs, feet, and the upper body.
After doing so, Junhui grabs the sibling’s toothbrushes from the sink and spreads on the toothpaste.
He and Wonwoo carry both kids on their bathroom stool to see themselves on the mirror, then they help the two with brushing their teeth, handing them the glass of water to rinse down any toothpaste residue.
The two kids are silent all throughout, tiredness and sleepiness taking full control of their young bodies.
After doing the necessary things inside the bathroom, they guide the two kids on their separate beds, with their individual pyjamas laid out perfectly.
Junhui dresses up Chan in his pyjamas as Wonwoo does to Seokmin.
They finish quickly, with Junhui carrying Chan and laying him down on his bed and tucking him in his blanket.
On the side of his eyes, he can see Wonwoo doing the same thing to Seokmin.
A sleepy goodnight hyungs, thank you for taking care of us comes from the two kids.
Both he and Wonwoo responded with goodnight kids, sleep well and sweet dreams.
Junhui thinks it’s miraculous how he and Wonwoo fall in sync after the piggy-back ride with the kids.
Maybe because whenever it comes to kids, Junhui would push aside anything.
***
Junhui feels the need to quench his thirst so he strides towards the kitchen to drink water.
As he's drinking, he hears someone enter.
It’s Wonwoo.
He watches as Wonwoo grabs a glass from the counter and opens the refrigerator to get the milk which he pours in his glass.
He stands and leans on the counter across Junhui, eyeing him obviously, eyes filled with curiosity.
Junhui doesn’t waste any time, he speaks out.
“What’s your deal Wonwoo?”
He spats Wonwoo’s name like poison.
“I can play nice with you if the kids are watching.”
Wonwoo smiles at him.
“I figured.”
Junhui’s eyes squint from the response.
“What do you want? Destroy my babysitting career?”
“You make it sound like this is your profession. You’re a dance major right?”
“And why do you care?”
“Easy there kitten. You’re feisty.”
“Shut up and get out of my way.”
“I’m not in your way.”
Junhui laughs mockingly, remembering the whole incident with Yubin.
“Oh really. How about that time you stole a client from me.”
“First of all, don’t say client, I feel like this is some business forum. Second, if you’re talking about Yubin, I can explain.”
“Then do.”
“Okay. I didn’t know you already signed up for the job . My mom and Mrs Park are good friends and when they saw each other at the grocery, my mom insisted I look after Yubin because I don’t have business that night. Of course I agreed! I mean I couldn’t really object. And after that, I find this thing enjoyable and fun. And I guess Mrs Park recommended me because I kept getting requests and calls, and the rest is history.”
Junhui stays silent, only looking at the other guy across from him.
Maybe Wonwoo isn’t a rival. Maybe Junhui should stop being so childish. Maybe both of them should.
Wonwoo speaks again.
“Look, I didn’t mean to take some of your job away from you. And to be frank, I only heard good things about you from all the parents and the kids I tend to. Somehow I wanted to meet you because they spoke so highly of you. I thought once you were a kid superhero or something. And I wanted to learn from you because babysitting became my hobby. You see, I don’t have any siblings, and it’s nice to be surrounded by kids younger than me, and to take care of them, even just for a day or a night.”
Junhui releases a deep sigh.
“Fine. I’m sorry I acted so childish.”
“It’s fine. I did too, upon seeing you so riled up, I mean.”
Junhui rolls his eyes as he smiles and he chuckles a bit.
He can see Wonwoo laughing and smiling too.
“So what do you want to learn? Just take note that I’m no expert in this, I’m basing everything on my experiences with my brother.”
“Well, uh… can I learn about you first?”
“What do you mean about me?”
“Just… things about you.”
As swift as their conversation has led into, Wonwoo makes his way to him.
“I don’t know, I find you attractive I guess. Especially when you’re fuming mad or annoyed, you’re so cute.”
Junhui couldn’t speak or respond.
And if he’s being honest, Wonwoo is handsome, very very handsome.
He can see Wonwoo smiling at his flustered expression.
Both Wonwoo’s arms are locking him in his position.
“Can I ask you out on a date?”
His head seems to spin so fast as soon as Wonwoo asks him the question he never imagined he’d hear tonight.
And this night reminded Junhui how Wonwoo acted like a kid, even now, how he’s so impulsive and bizarre.
But fuck it, they’ll never be kids again anyway.
So he says—
“Oh, hyungs! I’m sorry to interrupt your kissing! I’m sorry!”
A tiny shriek comes from the entryway of the kitchen.
Seokmin is standing there with his mouth wide open and eyes shining with fondness.
Junhui and Wonwoo both quickly fumble with their hands as they fix their posture.
“Minnie!”
“I’m sorry to interrupt Junnie-hyung! I felt so thirsty I wanted to drink water.”
“Oh…”
Wonwoo immediately hands Seokmin a glass of water which the four-year old gulps as fast as he can.
“I’m done hyung! You can continue to kiss now! Bye!”
Junhui’s face is flushing so hard he can’t look at Seokmin.
“Hey, kid, let me take you back to your room.”
“No, Wonnie-hyung, I can do it! Just continue your thing with Junnie-hyung, your soulmate !”
Wonwoo escorts Seokmin to his room and they leave Junhui succumbing to his embarrassment.
The kid emphasizes the word soulmate that Junhui is suddenly all shy and discomposed now because Seokmin caught them flirting and that the kid thinks he's kissing Wonwoo.
He doesn’t even know if flirting is the right term, they were just talking, well, Wonwoo was asking him out, so maybe he’s flirting with him a bit?
Before Junhui’s head explodes with all that he’s thinking and feeling, Wonwoo’s back.
“So…”
“God, why did you do that?”
“What? I didn’t do anything!”
“Yes you did! Now Seokmin’s gonna think we were kissing!”
“Technically I was going to kiss you.”
Junhui’s eyes widen and he feels his face flushing hard again.
“What!?”
Wonwoo laughs at him.
“I’m just kidding! You just look so cute when you’re all flustered.”
“I can’t believe you’re finding this funny. What would Jihoon-hyung and Soonyoung-hyung think once they find out we were doing this .”
“Don’t worry, I cleared up things with Seokmin. That kid is so insightful that sometimes I forget he’s four.”
Junhui calms down and nods.
“Well, he’s something.”
Wonwoo smiles at him.
“Kids… you can never know.”
“True.”
After a second of silence, Wonwoo speaks again.
“So… about my question?”
Junhui must have spaced out so much due to embarrassment that he almost forgot the question.
“Oh…”
“Will you go on a date with me… soulmate ?”
He looks at the sheepish smile plastered on Wonwoo’s face, he equals it with an innocent gaze.
He can feel Wonwoo is nervous about all this.
Junhui smiles.
Why not, right?
“Yes.”