Chapter Text
When Hyunjin woke up that morning, he knew that something was very wrong; he felt it in his guts, literally. One moment he was laying down, mind hazy with sleep and an uncomfortable pounding behind his eyelids, the next he was leaning over the toilet seat in their bathroom, puking those traitorous guts right into the ceramic bowl. How he got up and into the bathroom that fast he couldn’t recall; he was just thankful that his muscle memory kicked in before his stomach had the chance to empty itself all over his bedroom floor.
It had been a while since Hyunjin had been this sick to the point of not being able to keep his dinner down. He was sure he had been taking his vitamins and supplements meticulously as well, which made the whole ordeal even more confusing. Before he could add to the already unbearable pain in his head by overthinking his food choices over the past few days, a knock sounded at the door.
“Hyunjin-ah?” a sleepy and slightly concerned voice asked cautiously.
Fuck. He knew it was still too early in the day for anyone to have woken up by themselves, so his mad dash to the bathroom must have woken someone up. And that voice sounded suspiciously like-
“I’m coming in,” came the unprompted reply as Hyunjin’s thought process was once again interrupted by another round of gagging up stomach acid and air. A few seconds later, two hands were running through his hair, pulling it back into a makeshift ponytail and keeping them out of the splash zone.
“Shh, shh, baby it’s okay. It’s going to be over soon, let it all out.”, Hyunjin hadn’t even registered the tears rolling down his cheeks and the sobs wracking through his body, until Minho pressed a cold and wet rag to his face to clean him up. The warmth radiating off of Minho’s body onto Hyunjin’s feverish skin felt both too much and just right at the same time. Weak from his body fighting itself, Hyunjin had no choice but to slump into his Dad’s arms, who was gladly welcoming him with a few warm kisses to his temple.
“Good job, baby. You did really well, I’m proud of you for being so strong.” Anyone who had gotten to know Hyunjin even just a little bit knew that he was a sensitive kid. He was easy to scare and upset, and if there was one thing he hated with a passion, it was having to throw up. If the situation had been any different, he would have suppressed the urge until his body had settled down – but he clearly hadn’t been given a choice this morning.
Fortunately, it seemed like his tummy had gotten rid of everything that had troubled it, and only the pounding headache and the fever remained. Burying his face deeper into Minho’s shoulder, Hyunjin let out a pained moan.
“D-Dad… it h-hurts…”, his voice was trembling and hoarse from disuse, but Minho understood him perfectly anyways. “I know baby, I know. Can you get up for me so I can give you something for the pain? Hm? Or do you want to keep sitting down?”, the older brought a hand to Hyunjin’s head and gently lifted him off his shoulder. Seeing his son’s eyes glazed over and swimming with fresh tears, Minho couldn’t keep himself from cooing and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Seeing any of his children in pain always caused an ice-cold flash to shoot down his spine and he couldn’t rest until he knew that they were healthy and safe again.
Hyunjin nodded slowly and croaked, “Sit, please.”
Minho smiled and nodded. “Okay honey. Here, let me help you sit up properly.” He lifted Hyunjin from his knees onto his butt with his back leaning against the side of the tub and pressed the rag into one of his hands that were resting in his lap. Quickly and never letting his gaze leave his son for longer than a few seconds (in case his stomach decided to rebel once more) Minho got up and rummaged through their medicine cabinet. He found the fever pills at the back and if he recalled correctly, he had last used them for Jeongin’s fever a few months ago - he hoped to God they weren’t expired.
Checking the label and confirming that, no, the pills were not going to expire until another five years, he closed the cabinet doors, filled one of their toothbrush glasses with some cold water and knelt back down next to Hyunjin. Softly, as to not startle the sick teenager, he carded his fingers through his Hyunjin’s long hair. A grunt sounded from his strained throat, and he slowly lifted his head. Sweat had gathered at his hair line and his face was as white as a sheet.
Minho smiled and offered him the painkiller. He motioned for Hyunjin to open his mouth and quickly put the tablet on his tongue, before giving him the glass of water. “Be careful, drink slowly,” he warned. With herculean effort and trembling arms, his son obeyed and slowly sipped on the water until the cup was completely empty. All the while, Minho was carding his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair, knowing that this was his favorite comforting gesture.
Once he was done, Minho took the glass from Hyunjin’s hand and asked, “Think you’re ready to get back to bed yet?” Sniffling, but with a look of determination on his features, Hyunjin nodded. He lifted his arms up as if asking to be picked up – only that he wasn’t three years old anymore and a whole lot heavier with his 17 years now. Minho chuckled, but stood up and took his son’s hands in his, carefully pulling him up into a standing position. “Come on you big baby, let’s get you to bed.”
With an arm thrown over his Dad’s shoulder for support, the two trudged back into Seungmin’s and Hyunjin’s bedroom. Unsurprisingly, the second youngest was wide awake, sitting up in bed reading with his glasses perched on his nose. He had always been a light sleeper and Hyunjin instantly felt bad for waking him at 4 am in the morning.
As the two walked through the door, Seungmin put his book to the side and looked up with a worried line creasing his forehead. “Dad? What happened? Is Hyunjin okay?” Minho sent Seungmin a reassuring smile, “He’s going to be alright, Minnie. He has a fever, and his tummy was very upset with what he had for dinner yesterday.”
Watching as Minho guided Hyunjin back into his bed and tucked him in, Seungmin nodded. His worried look hadn’t left his face. Minho deposited another tall glass of water and a few painkillers on Hyunjin’s nightstand, then leaned down to kiss his damp forehead and caress his cheek softly. “Sleep well, darling. You’ll feel better when you wake up in the morning, I swear.”
Hyunjin’s body was still at war with itself, but he was glad that at least his stomach was feeling better. Drowsily, he nodded and sighed at his Dad’s caring touches. When the older moved to get up, Hyunjin weakly grabbed his arm and turned his head a little to look up and murmur, “Th-thank you, D-Dad. I l-love you.”
Minho felt his heart grow warm. These moments were few and far in between nowadays – he knew that his sons loved him, and they knew that he loved them dearly, but hearing the words, in particular in situations like these, still made his heart pound in his ears.
He still remembers all of his kids as babies, being deposited into his arms for the first time. He still sees their small, round faces scrunched up with the shock of having just been born. He still feels their small hands grab onto his finger, hears their cries of joy and laughter at having just learned how to crawl or walk. He still feels the bittersweet pain of sending them off to kindergarten, preschool, middle- and high school – and had just recently shed another tear at seeing his oldest, Changbin, move out to attend university in the city.
Caring for six rambunctious boys was never going to be an easy feat and being reminded of all these years of struggle, both painful and beautiful, with just a few words made him choke up.
Minho took Hyunjin’s hand into his and pressed a feather-light kiss to his knuckles. “I love you too, baby.” With one last smile, Hyunjin closed his eyes and drifted off to dreamland.
With his sick son taken care of for the moment, he got up and walked over to Seungmin’s bed, who was still sitting up and watching him intently. Minho sat down on the edge of the bed and reached up with one hand to stroke over his cheek. “Everything okay, Minnie?” Nodding tiredly, Seungmin sighed a little. “I don’t like seeing him sick, Dad.”
Minho nodded in understanding. Out of all of his sons, Seungmin had always been the most compassionate. Like his dad, he couldn’t stand to see his brothers in pain. When he was a child, he would often start crying along with them, even though he was not in any physical pain himself. Minho likes to think he gets that character trait from him – although Chan was a very empathic man as well, his husband tended to be a lot more rational about his feelings.
“Can you make sure he takes his painkillers if he wakes up again during the night?”, Minho knew that Seungmin needed to be able to care of his brothers in these situations. When he got like this, Minho made sure to give Seungmin small tasks he could tend to that would satisfy his need for responsibility.
Determined, the younger nodded his head. “Of course, Dad.” Minho sent him a thankful smile, before he offered his hand up so Seungmin could give him his glasses. Getting up and allowing his son to shuffle back down and lay down, Minho turned to put them on the nightstand and turned off the light – the only light source remaining in the room being the nightlight right by the door; a small bear that the boys had had since they were old enough to sleep on their own.
Minho leaned down and pressed one last kiss to Seungmin’s head, wishing him a good night.
“Remember to come get Chan or me when it gets too much, okay, Minnie?”, Seungmin grunted in affirmation. Satisfied, Minho walked out of the room and closed the door silently behind him.
Taking a deep breath to gather himself, he moved on to the twin’s room right next to Hyunjin and Seungmin’s. He hoped that the two were actually asleep and hadn’t woken up from the ordeal. As babies, Felix and Jisung had been a nightmare to put down, only being able to fall asleep laying down right next to each other. Now, as 17-year-olds, the two had developed an unhealthy sleeping schedule that included way too much time spent on their phone and too less in dreamland. That character trait, Minho thought, could only come from Chan.
He loved his husband to the moon and back, but his job as a reputable producer in one of the most well-known entertainment companies in the country had demanded a lot from him during the prime of his adult life. Minho had spent many nights falling asleep alone and waking up disappointed that Chan had either not come home at all or had left for work again. At some point during their marriage Minho had to put his foot down when he saw how much the rigorous work routine was harming the man he loved most. After many uncomfortable and tearful conversations, Chan had agreed to tone down his workhours for his family. Luckily, the company recognized the value of having Chan on their team and offered him a part-time position that could still well supply for their family of eight.
Minho’s heart started beating faster when he thought of his husband. He couldn’t wait to crawl back under the blankets with him, cuddling up to him and feeling his warm skin against his own. Even after almost 18 years of marriage (yes, sue them, they were high-school sweethearts who couldn’t wait to start their own family) he still felt a ridiculous number of butterflies in his stomach whenever he looked at the man of his dreams.
Shaking his head fondly at the memories, he concentrated on the task at hand; make sure his twins were actually with their nose into their pillows and not deep into their phones.
He knew his hopes were crushed as soon as he opened their door just the slightest bit. The quickly disappearing glaring lights told him everything he needed to know. When he stepped into the now dark room, his eyes slid over to Jisung’s bed first – which he found to be empty. Sighing loudly, he knew that this was going to be harder than he had expected.
Minho made his way over to Felix’ bed, which had fairy lights decorating the bedframe all around. He was reaching over the head of the bed to find the light switch, when he heard the smallest sniffle. Startled, Minho turned the lights on, bathing the bed in warm and soothing light. As expected, Jisung was in Felix’ bed, cuddling his brother from behind. When he sensed lights being turned on, Jisung groaned and moved to sit up. Before he could shuffle up fully, Minho placed a hand on his chest to press him back down.
“Dad-“, “Shh, I know. Was it another nightmare?”, Jisung nodded dejectedly and buried his face in Felix’s neck, who, Minho noticed now, was trembling. Once again, Minho’s heart squeezed tight in his chest. One reason why Felix always needed his twin close to him when he was falling asleep was because he had chronic nightmares. While Felix was a sunny and happy kid when he was awake, his mind decided to play tricks on him as soon as he closed his eyes. It hurt to see his baby suffer so much and not being able to do anything about it. Minho was glad that the twins had each other, in particular that Felix had Jisung. Jisung had never complained about his brother depending on him to this extent and had only ever been there for him with open arms and an open heart.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Minho reached a cautious hand out to place it atop Felix’ head. It was clear to him that the two were using their phones to distract Felix from his haunting dreams but were still afraid of their dad scolding them.
“You’re allowed to be on your phones until you fall asleep. Have you tried ASMR today, honey?”, slowly, Minho was massaging through Felix’ blonde strands, trying to get a look at his baby’s face who was curled away from him. Minho could feel a slow shake of the head against his hands and hummed in understanding.
“He told me he doesn’t want the feeling in his ears tonight, Dad,” came Jisung’s small voice from half into the pillow. Whenever Felix was going through an especially bad phase of nightmares, he was largely non-verbal and would only talk to his twin, and that was mostly through gestures and looks, too. In the beginning, it used to upset Minho that he didn’t seem to reach his son when he was suffering this much, but he had learned that Jisung and Felix had a special bond that no one else could emulate. Once the two of them had been old enough, Chan and Minho had sat down with them to talk about Felix’ condition and figured out how to go about it in the long run. The arrangement they had now was beneficial for everyone and both Chan and Minho knew that the two could deal with his on their own. If they really needed the help of their parents, they would come to them in their own time.
Minho hummed again and leaned down to press a warm kiss to both their temples. “I love you guys. You know where to find us if you need us,” he whispered before he got up again, reaching for the fairy light switch. “L-leave it on, please.” Minho smiled. Even when he was in pain and unhappy, and it cost him a humongous amount of strength to utilize his voice, Felix never forgot his manners. Getting up completely and leaving the light as it was, Minho murmured, “Okay honey. Sleep well.” When he stepped away from the bed, Jisung turned around with a tired but grateful smile on his lips and mumbled, “Thank you, Dad. We love you too,” before he turned back to his twin, fishing for his phone hidden under their pillow. Minho had trouble keeping his tears down as he made his way across the room and out the door.
Once outside the twin’s bedroom, he couldn’t help the one or two tears escaping as he squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the balls of his hands against his eyelids. Overcome with love for his kids and his husband, he took in a shuddering breath to ground himself. He had one last room left to check before he could go back to bed in peace.