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To be fair, he didn't think it would be this hard.
Jake scrambled to get his phone with his free hand while the other one quickly shook the contents of a feeding bottle. On his dorm bed laid his crying seven-month-old nephew, left under his care by his older brother and his wife for the day.
He knew well enough that this was gonna be hard, but oh well, nothing wrong with helping, right? After all, you can't just bring a baby to a full-day conference where they could cause a commotion among guests, so being the kindhearted sibling he was, he volunteered to babysit. He had nothing to do on a Saturday anyway, especially when he had finished all his school tasks. Besides, at least he could use some time with his nephew and be the best uncle he could be today.
He didn't think much about how reluctant his brother was then; he should have . Before they arrived, he assured himself that he could settle literally anything with calmness and presence of mind, but as he currently panicked at the increasing volume of his nephew's cries, his mind didn't even supply him with this earlier thought of his. And though he wouldn't want to admit it, he understood his brother now. At this point, he's just trying his utter best not to cry himself.
It was an hour past noon, and he'd been taking care of the baby for about seven hours now. A great feat if you ask him, yet for some reason it still doesn't sound that great, thinking about how he still had like, nine more hours. The convention was expected to end at 7 in the evening, and who knows what Jake is gonna do until then. His parents were also out of the question because they weren't even in the country in the first place, out on a business trip back in Australia, which leaves him with only one option.
Forget anything about pride, he was gonna get whatever help he could. Right now.
While attempting to feed his crying nephew, he mindlessly dialed a number now memorized by his fingertips in the past month. And as much as he wanted to just send a text to not unintentionally disturb, he physically couldn't. He gave up all hopes of ever seeming cool and reserved and instead silently prayed for his recipient to not be occupied today.
"Hello?" The person on the other line answered at the second ring. Jake tried to ignore how his heart felt like it skipped a beat at the familiar voice, as he currently had more urgent matters to attend to.
The baby didn't feed on the bottle of milk and only continued to cry, so Jake put his phone on speaker and set it down on the bed while he carried his nephew in his arms.
"Hello, Sunghoon," he replied. "Are you busy today?"
"Hey, Jake. Well no, I'm not, do you need anyth– did I hear crying?"
"Yeah, it's my nephew." Jake sighed. He closed his eyes shut. He just couldn't get angry at the baby because it was never his fault—he was just as helpless as him. He was momentarily distracted trying to get him to sleep until he realized that he was talking to someone.
"You know where my dorms are at, right? I... kind of need some help in babysitting right now..." he trailed off, tone almost pleading. At the end of the line, Sunghoon probably heard the tiredness lacing his voice as he chuckled, and Jake could've sworn he imagined the smile on his handsome face.
"Yes, I understand. I'll be there in ten," Sunghoon said, before asking for permission to end the call. Jake nodded eagerly but remembered the other couldn't see him so he replied with a hum.
In the span of the first few minutes of waiting, Jake didn't even know what he was doing anymore. His nephew has now calmed down but has yet to show any signs of sleepiness. He'd already checked his diapers, tried to feed him, gently swayed him around—whatever tactic, really—but to no avail. He could just say this felt like the longest ten minutes he had ever experienced his life.
No sooner had he heard the second knock on the door than Jake sprinted across the room, the baby still held securely in his arms. He opened the door to a ravishing Sunghoon, if Jake would say so himself, save for a few misplaced strands of hair from what Jake assumed to be a rush to his rescue. But Jake knew he was one to think, most especially upon having the younger's hands on his hair to gently tame it down.
"Seems like you had a great time babysitting," Sunghoon said in between laughs. He combed Jake's hair down with his long fingers, and Jake let him be since he couldn't swat his hands away, but did not waste the opportunity to throw the other an eye roll. When Sunghoon motioned for him to hand the baby over, Jake wordlessly did.
"Have you eaten lunch?" Jake asked. Sunghoon nodded, then replied, "Have you?"
Jake shook his head. "Can you hold on to him for a while? I'll just eat something real quick."
"Of course. What's his name?"
"Jaehyuk."
"Alright then, Jaehyuk, let's say goodbye to uncle Jake for now. Bye, uncle~" Sunghoon singsonged while holding one of the baby's arms to resemble a wave. Jake waved back, amused.
He wasted no time in preparing his meal but didn't forget to keep an eye on his two companions. As he ate, his eyes darted over to where Sunghoon was standing on the couch, slowly swaying Jaehyuk from side to side as if to put him to sleep. Jake swore he heard the younger man singing, but they were too far away for him to hear clearly so he let them be.
He finished eating in no time and went to clean his used dishes. Seeing as he didn't have much time, what with the baby being here, he decided to clean the baby bottles as well. While he put them in a pot to boil, he also went to throw away the used diapers outside and pre-soak the baby's soiled garments.
By the time he was done with all of them, he went to check on the two, almost swooning at the sight that greeted him. On the couch lay a sleeping Sunghoon, his long legs hanging past the armrest with Jaehyuk sleeping as well over his chest. In his peaceful slumber, Jaehyuk didn't even stir at the rising and falling of Sunghoon's chest from his breathing.
Jake went back to the kitchen to turn the stove off, then took the pot away from the burner. After putting the bottles to dry properly, he returned to the living room immediately and took his phone out to snap a few photos of the two. Only that his phone wasn't on silent and let out shutter sounds enough to make Sunghoon stir up awake. Quickly, he put his phone away and stood up properly.
"Sorry I took a while. I thought I could clean up a bit while you kept him occupied," Jake explained. He opened his arms, offering to carry the baby instead.
"Don't sweat it." Sunghoon handed the baby to him before standing up, towering over Jake. He ruffled his hair lightly. "What have you done so far?"
"I bathed him and fed him twice, in the morning and at noon. When you were both sleeping, I cleaned the bottles and took out the soiled diaper," Jake spoke, mechanically reciting everything he'd done. "I've only put his clothes to soak, haven't washed them yet."
Unbeknownst to him, Sunghoon took note of the way he yawned in between his sentences. After a minute glance at the room in a quick assessment of what needs to be done, he put his hand over the older's head again. Sure enough, Jake looked too exhausted to even bother slapping it away, even leaning towards it in silent pursuit of comfort.
He was distracted from his thoughts when Sunghoon abruptly—but gently—led him back to his room with a hand on his waist. He sat the older down on his own bed and was about to go back outside if not for Jake calling him back.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna go wash Jaehyuk's clothes then do a bit of tidying up," Sunghoon replied simply. Jake put his nephew down carefully on the bed before rushing over to the younger.
"You don't have to, I can—"
"Shh." Sunghoon put a finger to his lips. "I can do it. You can go nap for a while."
"You sure?"
"Yes, now go to sleep. You need to rest."
Jake didn't have the will to disagree anymore, but he assured himself it was more because of the exhaustion than the adorable pleading expression Sunghoon just gave him. Maybe he was just tired to the point that he'd been imagining things.
He laid down beside his nephew. As he slept, he could hear the rustling of objects being moved around outside his room as though the scattered toys on the floor of the living area were being put away.
It hasn't even been a full fifteen minutes when Jake heard a whine coming from beside him. Jaehyuk was now starting to cry again so he immediately went to check his diaper to find out it was wet.
Even though it was against his will, Jake got up from his comfortable position as the baby's cries were getting louder the longer it felt discomfort. Apparently, the volume reached wherever Sunghoon was because he finally appeared back into the room, rushing to see what's happening.
"Everything okay?" Sunghoon asked, wiping his wet hands on his sweatpants. "I just finished hanging the clothes to dry."
Jake nodded, muttering a quiet "thanks''. Sunghoon's eyes followed him as he reached for the diaper bag on top of his desk, and the younger immediately understood what was happening.
"Diaper change?" Jake nodded again with a hum. "Want me to do it?"
"No, it's fine. You can just hold him instead."
Obediently, Sunghoon went to hold the baby properly to prevent him from moving around and inconveniencing Jake. Changing went far easier than how he did before, Jake thought, and might he just say that he was more than glad to have Sunghoon here today. A smile unconsciously made its way onto his face as he watched Jaehyuk crawl towards Sunghoon, who gladly welcomed him in his arms. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the younger man call out to him.
"What is it?"
"I said, I don't think he'd be sleeping anymore," Sunghoon answered, his eyes darting down to the baby in front of him. Jaehyuk looked very much awake right now, even letting out excited noises in his amazement at Sunghoon's fingers, which was a stark contrast to Jake's still sleepy state.
To solve Sunghoon's predicament, they both decided to feed his nephew again as it had already been hours since he last ate. They stood up from their position on the bed and brought the baby to the dining area. The moment he stepped outside his bedroom, Jake took in straight away how the living room littered all over with toys had been cleared up.
He broke out his reverie and headed towards the table, where the two were now seated. Sunghoon had his nephew seated on his lap, occasionally moving him around, which didn’t fail to make the baby giggle.
"You've become chummy with each other now, huh?" Jake said, making Sunghoon chuckle. He shot a glance at the two as he moved towards his fridge to retrieve the jarred food. He noticed that Sunghoon had put the discarded bottle of formula milk there as well.
"Of course, who wouldn't love this sweetheart right here? Am I right? Am I right?" Sunghoon played with Jaehyuk, who only continued to giggle in response. Jake went to get something from the room then came back with a bib to put over the baby's chest. Finally, he sat down on the seat beside Sunghoon with a spoon and a jar of food in his hand. When he noticed the familiar jar, Sunghoon grimaced in disgust, even unconsciously pulling the baby away from it in the process.
"Isn't that one of those horrible baby food?" he asked. Jake rolled his eyes but couldn't resist a chuckle.
"The container was just refilled with something else. Now open up~" Jake held the spoon up and moved it around to resemble an airplane. For some unknown reason, Sunghoon still wasn't having it.
"What's in it?"
Jake sighed. He brought the jar a bit to his nose to take a whiff of the scent.
"Sweet potatoes."
"Does it taste good?"
"Oh come on, are you his father?"
"I'm just making sure!"
"Fine then." Jake took another spoon. He scooped another bit of the contents and gave it to the younger, who tasted it right away.
"Yeah, it's sweet potatoes."
"See?" Jake snatched the spoon from the other, putting it away on the sink. He shook his head at what just happened, not really minding the slight bickering. He chuckled and proceeded to feed the baby again.
"On second thought, you're surprisingly good at this. Why is that?"
Sunghoon shrugged. "I've had my fair share of babysitting my younger cousins."
"How cute. So they call you Sunghoon-hyung or Sunghoon-oppa, then?" Jake laughed. Sunghoon rolled his eyes.
"Nice hearing that from you, uncle Jake . Right, Jaehyuk? Right."
"Hey, don't drag my nephew into this."
They went on teasing each other until they were finally done with feeding Jaehyuk. This time, Sunghoon offered to clean up while Jake brought his nephew to his makeshift playstation. He let him freely crawl around on the mat but still made sure to keep him from unsafe objects. After several minutes, Sunghoon finally joined them and went to play with them as well.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully, much to Jake's relief. By the time Jaehyuk's parents arrived, they were just lounging around on the couch in front of the television. They ate a quick dinner courtesy of his brother, and Jake was more than glad that he didn't have to take an effort to prepare anything for his guest. After tidying up all the baby's things, they finally left, leaving behind the two of them alone together.
As they stared outside through the threshold of the front door, Jake leaned his forehead on Sunghoon's shoulder.
"Thank you so much. I wouldn't have made through this day without you," he said, sighing. Sunghoon chuckled and pinched Jake's cheeks to make him face towards him.
"Don't think much about it. You needed all the help you could get, and I'm more than happy to give that to you."
"But I took up your whole day. You must've been busy, I'm sorry."
Sunghoon shushed him. He wrapped his arms around the older and brought him closer to an embrace.
"Believe me, I wasn't. Besides..."
Sunghoon cupped Jake's face in between his palms, lightly squishing them as he did.
"I got to see you for the whole day."
For the first time that day, Jake smiled the widest.
“And don’t forget to send me that photo you took of me,” Sunghoon reminded, brows wiggling in an attempt to tease. Jake only managed to hit him lightly on the behind as his cheeks flared up in embarrassment.