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Kun is a lot of things, but he likes to think that he’s pretty observant. In the grand scheme of things, it isn’t particularly hard to notice when there’s an obstruction on the road, or a pedestrian trying to cross the street, or a cat family hiding under the shipping containers at the airfield.
So when he steps on one of Chenle’s teething toys and falls ass over tea kettle to the floor of the apartment, Kun doesn’t so much feel the pain from the toy stabbing in his foot, he more so just feels the deep seated embarrassment of actually having fallen over a bright, neon coloured toy. There’s also the fact that Chenle is happily chortling at him from where he’s bouncing up and down in his activity jumper. The little knick knacks jingle and rattle along with Chenle’s laughter and Kun gives himself a few seconds to take a deep breath and knock his forehead against the floor a few times.
It reverberates a lot louder than he expects, and Kun raises his head to rub at his forehead. When he touches it, there isn’t a sensation of dull, lingering pain, so he instead knocks on the floor with his knuckles. For the first rap, it sounds just like he expects it to, but the second one grows much louder, and is followed up by a third one.
Kun lifts his fist up to inspect it. No red knuckles. He presses his ear against the floor next, waving a hand at Chenle and shushing him to see if he can perceive what might be going on under the floorboards. The bouncing baby does nothing of the sort, although his laughter has shifted to general baby babbles.
It only takes a second before he hears a call of his name.
“Mr. Qian? Are you there?”
Before he can even begin to wonder why his downstairs neighbour is knocking on their ceiling and calling his name, there’s another knock, but this time it’s coming from his front door. It only takes a moment before Kun realizes that the knocks he was hearing have been coming from the door this entire time, and he tries to will the flush threatening to take over his face away as he goes to open the door.
The man standing at his door is familiar to Kun. Johnny’s a newer tenant, only having moved in a few months ago. They speak with each other regularly, whenever they bump into each other in the hall or in the main vestibule of their apartment building, but he’s never quite seen his neighbour looking so…wet before.
“What happened to you?” Kun blurts out.
Johnny grins widely, seemingly not caring that he’s practically soaked from head to toe and dripping all over the apartment hallway. “Does it happen to be raining in your apartment?”
Even though Kun knows that it’s not, he looks over his shoulder, just to make sure, and all he sees is Chenle, still happily bouncing, and the glaring, neon toy he stepped on a minute ago. “No?”
“Okay. Well, mine is.”
Kun quickly looks at Chenle one more time to make sure that he’s alright before rushing to the other side of the hallway and peering into his neighbour’s apartment.
The ceiling, for all intents and purposes, is actually raining water into the living room. Kun can’t help but gasp at the sight as he stares at the amount of water pooling. “You need to go upstairs. I think whoever lives above you left their water on.”
“Yup. I thought so.”
“Hurry before it gets worse!” Kun insists, giving Johnny a push towards the end of the hall where the stairs will take him up. “I’ll call the landlord.”
Luckily, his neighbour still has some sense in him, and he goes running for the stairs while Kun goes back into his apartment and rings the landlord. He just hopes that everyone is alright and that the landlord picks up on the first call because he can only imagine how much shit they’d all be in if the water went down through not one apartment, but multiple.
The phone rings five times, and Kun’s heart is beginning to sink in his chest when the landlord finally picks up.
“Mr. Kim? We have a problem.”
~
It turns out that Johnny’s upstairs neighbour had fallen asleep while running a bath, which resulted in it overflowing, and eventually spilling down into Johnny’s apartment. At the very least they woke up when Johnny banged on their door, but the damage has been done.
Kun waits with his door open, peeking into the hall several times to keep a lookout for the landlord or maintenance of some sort to arrive. In Kun’s mind, there’s really nothing more that they can do besides wait to hear what the damages are. He hopes that nothing of Johnny’s got damaged due to another neighbour’s negligence.
“Hey, you keep glancing over at the door. They’ll get here when they get here,” Johnny says.
Luckily, he accepted Kun’s offer to wait in his apartment until maintenance deigns to show up. Johnny’s also wearing one of Kun’s larger shirts and he’s kept the towel he used to dry his hair off with around his neck. In his hands, he’s holding a mug of tea Kun brewed, not having put it down since he got it.
“They should get here sooner,” Kun huffs before taking a sip of his own tea. He doesn’t know how Johnny can be so calm, if it was his own apartment that started raining, he’d be losing his mind right now.
“Unless Mrs. Kang decides to shower again, I don’t think things are going to get much worse. I’ve mopped up as much as I can. You’re a bit of a worrywart, aren’t you Mr. Qian?”
“Kun. I’ve said it before, please call me Kun,” he insists. As far as he’s aware, Johnny is the older one between them.
Johnny smiles, leaning back against the couch and full on slouching on it. “Alright, Kun, I appreciate that you’re worried because I’m pretty sure it means that you care in some way, shape, or form, but please leave the worrying to me for later.”
Kun tries to hold back the sigh that bubbles up, but he knows that it’s better to let it out. The feeling of air rushing from his lungs doesn’t help, not immediately, but it’s a start. “Sorry. I’ve always been the type of person to worry. I’ve been told it’s gotten worse since this one came along.”
He gestures towards Chenle. The boy is sitting in his playpen, happily oblivious to their guest and his troubles. Right now, he’s gnawing on the teething toy Kun tripped over earlier, and there’s already a large stain of drool on the front of his romper.
“Uh oh, are you a helicopter parent, Kun?”
“N-no!” Kun knows that Johnny is teasing, but it isn’t the first time someone has brought it up. “I’m trying…not to be.”
“First time parent?”
“Yup.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. No one ever knows what they’re doing the first time around. Or so I’ve heard,” Johnny’s smile never waivers.
Kun can’t help but smile back. “Thanks. We’re figuring things out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Kun catches movement in the hallway, and when he looks over, he sees their landlord as well as two maintenance workers. Before he can stand up to greet them, Johnny’s already up, setting his mug on the table and holding out a hand to keep Kun from standing.
“They’re here for me, I got it. I’ll let you know what the final verdict is, okay?”
He can’t really do much else but nod.
Johnny hurries over to the door, closing it behind him, but just before it does, his hand slips back in. “Bye Kun, bye Chenle!”
Just because he stayed, doesn’t mean that Kun has to sit around and do nothing. He walks over to the playpen and picks Chenle up. The baby makes an almost inquisitive sound, but happily keeps chewing on his toy. One of his drool-covered hands comes up and pats Kun’s cheek. Long since used to it, Kun nuzzles into Chenle’s soft palm before it moves to the side and starts tugging on his earlobe.
It speaks volumes of how much he’s settled into being a father - Chenle’s father - because he doesn’t try to stop Chenle, even when the tugging becomes a little uncomfortable. Better this than having a screaming baby on his hands.
“You’d probably love it if it started raining in here. You’d think it was one big shower,” Kun says.
Chenle wiggles in his arms, almost an affirmative, and Kun leans in to kiss his forehead.
“Yeah, Thought as much.”
~
“I’m sorry, how much damage was done?” Kun gapes at Johnny as the other man is sitting on his couch for the second time that day.
“The ceiling was leaking. It wasn’t just coming from the vents, the water went through everything,” Johnny says again, ever patiently, like he didn’t just explain to Kun in detail about the assessment that the landlord, apartment maintenance, and a third party contractor had given him after hours of inspecting the damage.
It’s the fact that Chenle is sleeping soundly in his crib in the other room that Kun doesn’t leap up off the couch and run to the apartment across the hall to see the damages for himself. All he can picture is a gaping hole in the ceiling, the entire structure fallen apart since he saw it shortly after Johnny knocked on his door.
“Right, and how long will it take to fix?”
Johnny hums under his breath, leaning back to scratch the back of his neck. “That’s the thing… They don’t know.”
“Any estimate at all?”
“A few weeks? A month maybe?”
How Johnny can just sit and talk about it so casually, Kun has no idea. There’s a pang in his chest when a thought crosses his mind that it’s better than Johnny is the one going through this and not him, but he stamps the guilt down because the logistics of moving with a baby is a nightmare.
“They have a place for you to stay in the meantime, right?”
“Well…”
Kun narrows his eyes at Johnny. “Right, Johnny?”
A soft pinging sound comes from the mug in Johnny’s hand, his nail tapping against the ceramic repeatedly with the same beat that his leg bounces under Kun’s scrutiny. “I’ll have to find a place to stay. Mr. Kim suggested a hotel and we’d discuss reimbursement somehow? There’s a lot of insurance tape to go through first, so I’m just gonna take the L for now and deal with it later.”
“That’s unfair,” is Kun’s immediate reaction. And it is. There’s undoubtedly something that covers a situation like this in their lease contract, as well as the regional residential tenancies act, but Johnny needs answers and guidance now, rather than a few weeks from now.
The pinging stops as Johnny smiles at Kun. “Not much to be done, I’m afraid. Thanks for today though, I appreciate it.” He leans forward and places his mug on the coffee table. “I won’t bother you much longer. I’m going to pack an overnight bag and see if there’s a motel nearby that’s not too seedy with vacancy.”
“Don’t bother.” The back of Kun’s neck heats up with the immediacy of his response, and judging by the way Johnny’s eyes widen as he looks over at Kun, they’re both a little thrown off. Well, Kun can’t just leave things halfway. That’s not the kind of person he is. “Stay here tonight. Hell, however long you need. That way you don’t have to break the bank while you wait for Mr. Kim to sort his shit out.”
“Oh. I- Wow, really? You mean it?” Johnny asks.
Kun’s not sure that he isn’t going to regret it by the end of all this, but he’s too nice for his own good. He and Johnny get along pretty well, from the few times they’ve accidentally bumped into each other and hung out as a result. Plus, Johnny isn't phased by Chenle in the slightest. He’s actually pretty good with the kid. “Yeah. I think I still have a folding bed in storage. The couch probably isn’t long enough for you.”
It wouldn’t be comfortable either. Not for an extended amount of time. Not that Kun remembers if the mattress of the folding bed is any better, but his friends have slept on it often enough without any major complaints.
“I really appreciate that, Kun.”
“Yeah, yeah, now go grab your stuff before I change my mind,” Kun makes a shooing motion with his hands and Johnny is pretty quick to leave after that.
In the meantime, Kun cleans the living room a bit, trying to picture in his mind where they’d put the cot. The problem is, a lot of stuff has accumulated in his apartment in the last few months and all of it is Chenle’s. Kun figures that he could move the couch, but that also means moving the rug, which means shifting the table and finding a different spot for Chenle's play pen. Where once it would be easy to make adjustments, it isn't quite as simple anymore.
Johnny comes back to Kun standing in the middle of the living room, arms crossed over his chest and a hand resting on his chin. "Is that you thinking about kicking me out?"
Kun starts and ends up bumping his shin against the table. He hisses, rubbing the heel of his opposite foot against the sore spot. "Nope. Just thinking about where the cot will go."
"How big is it?"
"Let's run down to storage and grab it."
Johnny, bless his soul, waits patiently while Kun checks on Chenle, then makes sure that his baby monitor app is functioning, and double checks that the front door is locked before they trek down to the basement where Kun's rented a small storage room. It's mostly filled with boxes and other pieces of furniture he's moved out recently, so it isn't too hard for him and Johnny to grab the folding cot.
Then it's into the elevator and back to the apartment, where Kun peeks into Chenle's room quickly after they set the cot down.
"Where are we gonna put this?"
"Good… Good question," Kun says with a sigh as he turns to survey the room. A complicated game of tetris plays out in his mind before he figures it might not be worth a headache. At least for tonight. "Would you mind if we set it up in my room?"
"Kun, you're letting me stay, I will happily do whatever you ask of me," Johnny grins.
The flash of teeth and lightening of his expression has Kun quickly averting his eyes, starkly feeling like he's been staring into the sun. "Alright. Bedroom."
He kicks some discarded clothes off to the side, but after that it's simple for them to set up the cot. Grabbing an extra blanket and a pillow Johnny took from his own apartment, it's ready to go pretty quickly.
"Do you have work in the morning?" Kun asks.
"Yeah, I do," Johnny fluffs his pillow before sliding his suitcase into the corner of the room, where there's just enough space for it to lie down and be accessible.
"I'll give you my door code then, since I don't know if I'm going to be in when you get back."
The cot squeaks a little when Johnny sits on in and he makes a pointed effort of wiggling side to side to test it out. When the squeaking settles, he nods to himself. "Sounds good. You got exciting plans tomorrow?"
"Just groceries. We usually go during the week because it's less busy," Kun, for all that he loves cooking, isn't the biggest fan of actually doing the groceries needed for it.
"What time do you usually go?"
"Depends on the day."
"I can be back by 4:00, if you're okay going then."
Kun sits down on his own bed across from Johnny. It feels good to sit down and just talk about mundane things rather than worrying about what's happening in the other apartments. "You want to come grocery shopping?"
Johnny shrugs. "If you're not letting me pay you rent, I'll buy groceries while I'm here."
"Johnny, you don't have-"
The man across from him lifts a hand. Oddly enough, Kun notices that his palm is pretty long and his fingers were slender and proportionate to the size of his hand.
"I don't have to, but I want to."
Kun swallows around a lump in his throat. "If you're sure. I make all of Chenle's food from scratch."
"Oh yeah. So sure. Super duper sure. Never been so sure of something in my life," Johnny leans back on his hands.
The words, along with the serious look on Johnny's face makes Kun laugh, giggle almost. "Alright. Can't argue against such forceful words."
"Cool, because I've just decided you have no say in the matter anymore."
Somehow the conversation lifts something off Kun's shoulders. Maybe he was lowkey still stressed about inviting Johnny into his and Chenle's home, but any unconscious worries were just swept aside. Now he just has to remain a good host for as long as possible.
~
Kun jolts awake at the sound of Chenle crying. It’s already ingrained in him that he sits up in bed and swings his legs over the side before he even registers what he’s doing. There’s some muttering beside him that he doesn’t immediately clock, but his feet direct him through the dark apartment, a well worn path at this point, and the dim nightlight right next to Chenle’s door keeps him from walking straight into it. The crying increases in pitch when Kun enters, a way in which Chenle acknowledges his presence. He switches on a small lamp next to the crib and squints even at the low light, and reaches into the crib for Chenle.
“Hey buddy. What’s the deal tonight?” Kun mutters as he lifts the baby up to sniff his bottom.
No foul scent detected, Kun holds Chenle against his chest, cradling the back of his head and gently rocking back and forth.
“Another sleepless night, hmm?” He asks as he starts to meander around the room. Not that it’s a particularly large space and Kun is basically walking in a small circle.
The movement helps Chenle settle a little bit, but he still keeps crying. When it’s been ten minutes and there’s still no change, Kun wanders out towards the kitchen to make him a bottle of formula.
While it’s tricky work, making a bottle with one hand, Kun mostly has it down by now. Sure, a good portion of it spills when he tries to transfer it into the bottle, but it’s much better than him spilling the bottle, everything falling on the floor, and him almost slipping and falling, baby in hand.
Not that that’s ever nearly happened before.
He’s staring into the window of the microwave, watching the bottle spin and spin, when the creak of the floor catches his attention, followed by a whisper.
“Is he like this every night?”
Kun tries not to jolt, since any sudden movement will only work Chenle up more, but any vestiges of sleep that may have clung to him loosen their hold and slip away. It’s easy to forget you have a house guest when you have to groggily get out of bed.
“Not every night, but he’s a pretty restless baby, I’m sorry if we woke you,” Kun says, still rubbing Chenle’s back.
“No, I had an idea of what I was signing up for,” Johnny stretches, lifting his hand up over his head and yawning. “Anything I can help with?”
Just then, the microwave starts beeping next to Kun. “Do you mind grabbing the bottle? Cover the teat with your finger and shake it.”
Johnny slips in next to Kun, who steps aside to lean against the counter to give him more space. “Do I need to press down hard or anything?”
“Not enough to compress the teat, just to cover the hole and keep any formula from spilling out,” Kun explains.
Oddly enough, Chenle calms down a little more, his soft cries turning into whimpers as his eyes track Johnny shaking the bottle. He murmurs and whines a bit more, his feet kicking, then digging hard into Kun’s side. Some more swaying side to side gets him to shift, hopefully quick enough that Kun won’t have a sore spot in the morning.
“How old is he?” Johnny asks.
“Almost 6 months now. That’s probably enough shaking.” Kun shuffles his grip on Chenle to hold out his wrist. “Drip some on my wrist. I need to feel the temperature.”
Johnny does so without question, but when Kun confirms that it’s good enough, he tries it out on himself, and makes a humming sound before passing the bottle over to Kun.
As Kun feeds Chenle, Johnny asks a few questions about Chenle’s nightly routines and Kun explains everything that he does. Is it blanket advice? No, but it’s what Kun has found to work with his baby. He continues explaining as he burps Chenle and eventually tucks him back into his crib.
“Thanks for not making a fuss about being woken up,” Kun still feels bad, even though Johnny never showed any inclination of being disgruntled in any way.
Johnny waves a dismissive hand in Kun’s direction as they both crawl back into bed. “I’m a reasonable enough guy. Thanks for putting up with all my questions.”
“I had to learn them all too. Happy to impart knowledge.”
“Good, I like learning things. Good night, Kun.”
“Good night, Johnny.”
~
Shopping with Johnny is an enjoyable experience. He actively listens to Kun talk about ingredients, asks questions, reaches the top shelf without an issue, insists on pushing the cart, and keeps Chenle soothed. Whenever the baby makes a noise, Johnny immediately turns his attention to Chenle and plays with his feet or starts talking to him and referring back to what Kun just finished telling him about. It’s, quite frankly, adorable. Kun’s fingers itch to grab for his phone and take pictures or videos, but he figures that’s a little too much. He loves seeing that Johnny gets along so well with Chenle.
“Chenle’s only recently started eating puréed foods, and he’s a little picky? Like he won’t eat anything with carrots in it, no matter how well I blend it, and he loses his mind whenever peach is involved,” Kun grabs some peaches and puts them in a plastic bag before adding them to the cart, which is already filling pretty quickly now that they have an extra mouth to feed. “Because of that, I purée most of his food myself.”
“So you’re an accomplished cook, is what you’re saying,” Johnny lets Chenle play with his fingers, but he’s looking up at Kun as they’re talking.
Kun grabs another plastic bag and opens it up. “Well, I’m not the worst.”
“I dunno, breakfast and lunch were pretty good.”
As an apology for Chenle waking him up at night, Kun had made Johnny the two meals, since he had to wake up to prepare for Chenle’s breakfast anyways. He’d handed Johnny his old lunch bag before he left for work and had almost had to push it on him to get the other man to take it.
Chenle starts tugging on Johnny’s hair and the other man leans into it, talking about how the baby shouldn't play with it too much because it’s greasy and also don’t pull too hard, all while still managing to steer the cart without issue.
Kun doesn’t manage to hold back his smile as he shakes his head and starts gathering apples.
~
“You know we miss you, right?” Ten’s sitting on one end of the couch, practically wrapped around the armrest as Kun is in the kitchen.
Kun rolls his eyes, knowing full well what Ten wants out of him. “I miss you too.”
Even without looking, Kun can feel Ten’s shit-eating grin boring into his back. He also doesn’t give Ten the satisfaction of acknowledging it as he walks back into the living room with a small bowl of digestive puffs.
Chenle is currently standing on Sicheng’s knees, fingers in his mouth and making gurgling sounds around them, all while bouncing up and down. Even though Sicheng is clearly still uncomfortable with handling Chenle, what with his arms being fully stretched out to hold onto Chenle and his back pressed as far into the couch as it can be, he takes it all in stride, even trying to copy Chenle’s sounds every so often.
Ten and Sicheng swing by when they can, depending on their work schedule. Since they’re often on rotation together, they come by at the same time, but that hasn’t stopped Ten from visiting by himself. Of all of Kun’s friends and colleagues, he’s the one that comes the most, by far.
“Chenle, sit down so you can eat.” Kun shakes the bowl in Chenle’s direction and the baby’s eyes immediately dart over. It only takes a few seconds before he recognizes that it’s his and he tries to sit down on Sicheng’s lap. He needs a bit of assistance, but soon he’s sitting and happily chewing on the puffs.
Sicheng reassures Kun that he doesn’t mind the crumbs. “I even wore pants I don’t mind getting dirty.”
All of them cringe, remembering the last time that they visited, Chenle threw up all over Sicheng’s clothes.
“So this guy who’s staying here-”
“His name’s Johnny.”
“This Johnny, he’s a good guy, right?” Ten adjusts and asks.
“Of course he is,” Kun sits down on the foot stool, taking a sip of his drink and keeping and eye on Chenle to make sure he doesn’t try and inhale the puffs.
Ten stretches his leg and bumps his foot against Kun’s knee. “Good with Chenle too?”
“Honestly, he’s trying a little hard. Always giving Chenle attention when he asks for it. Doesn’t keep Chenle from trying to pull his ear off though.” Honestly, Kun is just happy to have Chenle’s ear seeking hands away from himself for once.
Both Ten and Sicheng wince in sympathy. They’ve all had to deal with Chenle’s seeking hands at one point or another.
“How long is he staying?” Sicheng asks.
“A few more weeks.” Kun already explained why Johnny is staying when they first arrived.
There’s already been some work done on the other side of the hall. Mostly just tearing out everything that’s been water damaged, and Kun had listened in a bit when Mr. Kim came by to update Johnny on the repairs, but it’s a start at least. Kun’s pretty sure that it may have taken longer to start if it weren’t for the fact that water damage was so debilitating.
They sit and chat, catching up as usual. It’s weird for Kun to hear everything from an outsider's perspective now, even a few months down the line. Ten passes on greetings from their coworkers, and Sicheng likes talking about memorable experiences. Kun just smiles and nods, trying to ignore the pang in his heart that wishes he could still be beside him, if only for the sake of Chenle, who is calmly sitting and looking between each of them as they speak.
That’s what Johnny walks in on when he gets back from work. Kun and Sicheng sitting on the couch with Ten stretched out over their laps while balancing Chenle on his own. Chenle is the first to notice him, perking up and pointing in his direction. Three other pairs of eyes turn to look at him.
“Oh, but you didn’t say he was tall and handsome,” Ten says, and he may have said more, if not for the fact that Kun covered his mouth with his hand.
“Hey Johnny, how was work?” Kun asks. He squishes Ten’s cheeks a little tighter when he can feel a snort under his palm.
“Not so bad. I see we have guests,” Johnny’s hanging up his jacket and setting his work bag aside, and seeing that and hearing him say we makes Kun’s traitorous heart flutter.
“Yeah, my old colleagues. Ten and Sicheng.”
The easy way in which Ten sits up and easily lifts Chenle to hand him back over to Kun shouldn't be possible, but he's always been too flexible for his own good. He flits over towards Johnny, hands behind his back and standing on the balls of his feet to look up at the taller man.
"Kun's told us a lot about you," he says, and just by the sound of his voice, Kun can see the smug grin on his face. It's also very untrue. Kun’s only mentioned basic information about Johnny, not wanting to overstep his bounds.
"Oh really?" Johnny looks down at Ten, giving him a smile of his own. "Guess we'll see if you're just like he says you are."
Also very untrue, but Johnny keeps his head high and walks past Ten like it's nothing, leaving the shorter man looking over his shoulder with his mouth open. He walks over to Kun and holds his hands out for Chenle, who reaches out for him in turn.
"Hey kiddo, did you miss me?"
Kun more than happily passes Chenle over, if only so he can turn and chuckle at the shocked look on Ten's face.
There’s a small part of Kun that worries that the small slight might throw Ten for a loop, but it actually appears to make him all the more intrigued. One take out dinner and a few conversations later though, and Ten and Johnny are talking and joking like they’ve been friends for years. It’s equally entertaining and horrifying to watch. The only other person Kun knows that gets along with Ten so well is Yangyang, but even that’s like an older and younger brother dynamic, where Ten and Johnny are on equal footing.
They’re off having their own conversation when Sicheng joins Kun to put Chenle to bed, and they only stop when Kun comes back into the living room with a yawn wide enough that his jaw cracks.
Ten reaches over to pat Johnny’s knee. “Okay, bàba clearly needs to sleep too. Time for us to get going.”
“Wish you’d stop calling me that,” Kun mutters.
“What, isn’t that what you’re going to get Chenle to call you as he gets older? He can’t just call you Kun, y’know.”
A common enough topic, and not one Kun wants to deal with at this moment. Not with Sicheng not so subtlety putting his shoes on and Johnny questioningly looking between him and Ten. “Good night, Chittaphon.”
“Ouch. The full name. Anyways Johnny, it was nice to meet you,” Ten gets up, spreading his arms off to the side and Johnny leans in to give him a hug goodbye.
After Sicheng and Ten leave, Kun and Johnny fall in line with one another, cleaning up after their dinner with Johnny tossing things out while Kun washes the dishes.
“So you’re a pilot.”
“Was a pilot,” Kun clarifies. “I quit when Chenle came into my life. I was doing international flights. You can’t keep that up raising a baby by yourself.”
“Sounds like you enjoyed it though.”
Kun drops some chopsticks into the drying rack with a sigh. “I do. I love it, but I’d give it up ten times over if it meant having Chenle… He’s not actually mine, you know.”
“I know,” Johnny says, matter of factly. He shrugs at Kun when a questioning look is sent his way. “Hey, give me more credit than that. I’ve been living here for seven months and I’m observant enough to notice when the pretty guy across the hall takes in a baby that’s not, like, tiny.”
He focuses on a not so stubborn stain on the plate to avoid having to look at Johnny after being called pretty. “Chenle was nine weeks old. My cousin…had an accident. Everyone was so sorry that he was going to grow up without a mother, but no one was willing to step up and take him in. So I did.”
“And you’re doing great,” Johnny slides in next to Kun to start drying off the dishes. “You’ve sacrificed a lot, but don’t forget to think about yourself too. If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you expect to raise a child?”
“Where’d you read that?”
“Saw it on some hallmark movie, I think.”
“That’s adorable.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
~
When Chenle starts crying that night, Kun sits up in his bed almost immediately. The main difference is that the lump that is Johnny in the cot gets up as well, moving quick enough that Kun catches the moment long enough for him to give pause. A hand settles on his shoulder and gently pushes him back into bed. “I’ll go. You sleep.”
His body relaxes into the mattress once more, eyes already slipping shut as the bedroom door opens, and he almost falls asleep again, but the beep of the microwave pulls Kun out of it again.
He rolls out of bed, more graceful than usual, and pads into the kitchen. The sight he sees is Johnny holding Chenle close as best he can as the microwave starts. There’s a soft shining coming from his arms and Johnny tuts softly. “It’s all good, kiddo. Johnny’s gotcha. I know I’m not your bàba, but you know me, we’re good, right?”
“I never said you could call me that.”
Johnny looks over his shoulder and another pair of tiny eyes peer up as well, red-rimmed and mildly crusty. “Sorry. Want me to say dad? Father? How about pops?”
Kun tuts under his breath, walking over to open the microwave door before it starts beeping. He gives the bottle a good shake and puts it back in when it still feels a little too cold for his liking. “None of the above.”
“So bàba then?”
“Just…” It’s much too early for this, “just Kun. For now.”
“Of course. Whatever you want, Just Kun,” he turns back to pay full attention to a Chenle. “I told Just Kun to go back to sleep, but he didn’t.”
“Just Kun can’t just leave you to do this by yourself. You're our guest, you shouldn’t even be up.”
Johnny gasps loudly, which makes Chenle let out a peal of high pitched laughter. He also bats Kun’s hand away when he tries to reach for the microwave again. “You hear that, Chenle? Just Kun doesn’t trust me to take care of you.”
Somehow, Johnny expertly maneuvers Chenle to one arm so he can test the warmth of the formula after shaking the bottle. He gives a nod, but still holds it out to Kun as well, as if asking for affirmation.
Kun shakes his head, pointedly taking a step back so Johnny can take the lead, like he so clearly wants.
“Just Kun approves, kiddo,” Johnny rocks Chenle back and forth for a few seconds before offering the bottle.
“Just Kun is going back to bed now.”
“Oh, finally!”
Kun shakes a fist at Johnny in response, but he doesn’t even get a proper reaction because Johnny turns back to Chenle and starts chattering to him about a work story.
He leaves the door open, just in case he needs to get up and help, but the gentle cadence of Johnny’s voice reminiscing about a silly blunder during a photo shoot eventually pulls him back to sleep.
~
Seeing Johnny with Chenle is a common sight nowadays. It's a successful endeavour about 75 percent of the time. Chenle doesn't always want to be held, nor does he thrive solely on attention, and he's prone to getting fussy if handled too much.
Today, Johnny seems to have caught Chenle in a cuddly mood. The baby is wrapped around Johnny as much as he can be and gently babbling along with whatever story Johnny's come up with. Johnny treats it like a serious conversation, asking Chenle questions and humming and nodding along long strings of baby talk.
Kun has his phone out, replying to a text from Dejun that's been sitting for a while, so no doubt the young man is getting antsy for a response. At least it hasn't gotten to the point where Dejun blows up Kun's phone with persistent notifications throughout the day. Of course, there are a few questions about his house guest as well, no doubt spurred on by a conversation with Ten after he met Johnny. Not every message is prying though, and when Kun reads a question about how Johnny and Chenle are getting along, Kun instinctively turns his phone to the two of them and snaps a picture to send.
It's only after it's been taken and sent that Kun realizes what he's done. It literally only takes a minute before his phone starts buzzing with notifications.
Sicheng (13:54)
Cute~
Kunhang (13:54)
are all bbysitters that hot??? where do i sign up?!
Yangyang (13:54)
Way to flex your not-boyfriend-neighbour dude
Ten Lee (13:55)
Kun if you don't put a ring on it, istg I will. Time limit is 10 secs starting now.
Did you do it yet?
Pic or it didn't happen and he's mine ;))
Kun groans, rubbing a hand over his face. They're all much too loud.
"What's up, buttercup?"
Kun peers at Johnny from between his fingers before dropping his hand onto the couch. "Nothing. Just my friends being themselves."
Johnny laughs, the kind that comes deep from his chest and makes him smile widely. Chenle giggles along with him, stuffing his hand in his mouth partway through and muffling the sound. "Oh yeah, what did they do?"
His lips suddenly feel dry and Kun licks them, only taking a moment to contemplate his answer. "I just took a picture of you and Chenle and sent it to one of them. He proceeded to send it to everyone else."
"Oh?" Johnny's voice drops and he comes to stand next to the couch. "Can I see the picture?"
Kun opens his picture gallery and holds up his phone for Johnny to see. It's not the best picture he's ever taken, but it's soft, lighted by the proximity of the window. It's clearly Johnny and Chenle, though, with Johnny's hair a bit ruffled from where Chenle was rubbing his grimy little hands through it earlier.
"Can you send that to me?"
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Kun hits the share button and sends it over to Johnny.
Johnny adjusts his hold on Chenle, propping him up on one hip so he can grab his phone. Consequently, it brings Chenle closer to the side of his head and it only takes a second before he's reaching up and tugging on Johnny's earlobe. "Ow. Ow, not too hard, kiddo. I'm trying to look at how cute we are together."
With some gentle coaxing and Johnny covering his ear with his hair to break Chenle's direct eyeline, he manages to properly get the chance to look at the picture on his own device.
"Hey Kun, do you mind if I use this as a lockscreen?"
"You want a picture of my son as your lockscreen?"
"Don't sound too judgemental about it."
"I'm not! I'm not," Kun smiles up at Johnny. "You can use it."
"One cute kid pic, achieved."
"What's your next achievement?"
Johnny winks. "I'll let you know when I get it."
~
"We're going for a walk!" Johnny announces, lifting Chenle out of his activity jumper.
The baby has been fussy since early in the morning, and hadn't gone back to sleep even when Johnny got up, cleaned him and fed him. He'd apologetically roused Kun as well, something he hadn't done before since he started getting up on nights when Chenle cries.
"Give me two minutes to get changed," Kun's about to get up when Johnny's hand pushes him back down onto the seat.
"Sorry, Chenle and I are going to take a walk. It won't be long. That way you can make yourself some tea and take a breather," Johnny says.
Kun shakes his head. "If anyone should take a breather, it's you. You got up earlier than I did to take care of him."
"You've been taking care of him longer. Let me do this."
"You're already helping so much. More than you even know, but I can't rely on having you around. Your apartment will be done next week."
"Hey. Kun, look at me."
Kun heaves a sigh and looks at Johnny. He's a sight to see with clear, sure eyes, looking at Kun without looking down at him with pity. Chenle is still unsettled in his arms, but Johnny holds him assuredly, tight enough to keep him from slipping, but not too tight that Chenle is uncomfortable. He's adjusted surprisingly quickly, or unsurprisingly, Kun isn't sure which of the two would be more apt to say.
Either way, he's gorgeous. And so much more now than just the neighbour across the hall.
"If you need anything, and I mean anything, as little as a cup of sugar or even having to spend the night, I'm literally five steps out the door. And it's not like I feel like I owe you for letting me stay these past few weeks, because we both know I've done my fair share of things around here-" they both can't help but smile at that, "but because I genuinely want to and I appreciate you. Okay?"
"Okay, Johnny."
"Now can we go on our walk?"
Getting up from the couch, Kun approaches Johnny and he places a hand on Chenle's back to press a kiss to the crown of his son's head. "Bàba's had his kiss. Now you can go."
"Do I get a kiss too?"
Kun tilts his head to the side, looking up at Johnny. Being so close, it'd be impossible to miss the way Johnny's eyes flick down to his lips. "I'll think about it."
Johnny tuts under his breath and makes a show of stepping around Kun. "How rude. C'mon, Chenle, let's see if some fresh air will do you good."
~
Kun will always wake to the sound of Chenle crying, even as the cot next to him creaks when Johnny gets up.
There's a gentle shushing sound and the faintest brush of fingers brushing his hair from his forehead.
"Last night. I'll go," Johnny whispers before he slips out of the room.
Kun groans, reaching out to pull his extra pillow against his chest. Chenle’s crying tapers off soon after and before long, Johnny tiptoes back into the room. He tries his best to keep the cot from creaking too much and settles back in to sleep for a few more hours before work.
In the back of his mind, Kun can't help but wonder what it'd be like if Johnny came to lie down beside him instead.
~
"It's a big day."
One would think Johnny would have more on him, considering he's been out of his apartment for a few weeks, but he really just has the one suitcase and his work bag. Most of his belongings had stayed in the apartment, tucked away in the bedroom while it was being fixed.
"I just need to take one step and the big part of the day will already be over," Johnny jokes.
"Don't act like you aren't happy to go back," Kun taps Johnny's calf with his foot.
Johnny twists his back and stretches. "Gotta say, I can't wait to dive into my own bed."
"Well, don't let us hold you up from your dreams," Kun takes Chenle’s hand and starts waving it. "Say bye, Johnny."
Chenle does a very flattering raspberry, spraying Kun's cheek with spittle as he aggressively waves his hand around.
"See ya, kiddo." True to his word, Johnny stretches out his leg across the hall, taking one exaggerated step to get to his door. They wave and linger for a few moments before Johnny steps inside and closes the door.
Kun closes his door as well, but only long enough to pull a nice jacket on for both him and Chenle, and quickly wipe the baby slobber from his face. "Let's give him a few seconds, shall we?"
He tickles Chenle’s stomach to get his son laughing and smile before he opens the door and steps across the hall to knock on Johnny's door.
"Kun? What's up, did I forget something?"
"No. Chenle and I were just wondering if you wanted to go on a date with us. We hear there's a nice Italian place down the road."
There's only a split second of surprise on Johnny's face before he grins, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door frame. "A date with the both of you?"
"Yup."
"Wow, are you sure I'm the right guy to ask?"
A tiny fist flies out, making a grabbing motion at Johnny's shirt, and Chenle babbles at Johnny.
"I think Chenle answered that for you."
"You're right, Chenle. How dare I not immediately accept you and your bàba's invitation. I just have one question though," Johnny says.
"And what's that?"
"Do I get that kiss before or after the date?"
Kun snorts, loud and undignified, but he and Johnny both start leaning in at the same time. "If you accept, yes."
"I'll accept with a kiss. It's a win-win for the both of us."
Kun's never had to lean up into a kiss before, and the feeling of it sends a warm, tingling feeling from his head, down to his toes.
"Achievement unlocked," Johnny whispers, before he hisses in pain when Chenle gets a hold of his ear.
"You deserved that."
"Okay, maybe just a little."