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“It looks a lot creepier in real life than it does on the website,” Hyunjin said as they stood looking at the house they would be staying in for the next month. “Why did we let Jisung pick where we were staying on our vacation again?”
“Because, my dear Jinnie poo, I won the epic rock, paper, scissors tournament that we partook in when JYPE told us they would pay for our holiday,” Jisung replied gleefully. “And with them saying that we could pick wherever, I chose this Gothic looking mansion in dear old England because I wanted to feel like Harry Potter at Hogwarts.”
“And now we're here in the freezing cold when we could have been on a beach in Australia,” Felix said with a dramatic sigh. He then grinned before he nudged Chan. “We could always sneak off and fly there.”
“Oh, yeah sure, because we wouldn't get into trouble at all for that Lix.” Chan replied as he giggled.
“It's not that bad,” Minho added. “Sure the weather isn't great, but the house looks pretty interesting.”
“It also has a bunch of things we don't usually have like private library and sauna and pool and stuff.” Changbin reminded them.
“And a professional style kitchen for Minho to cook for us all.” Seungmin teased before he gave Minho a playful wink.
“On that note, I think we should go and pick our rooms before we're down a member,” Jeongin said before he opened the gate and hurried up the path. “There'll be no nice baby bread in the battle of who gets what room! Prepare to be annihilated!”
“Please try not to shed any blood. I'm sure the company wouldn't appreciate getting that clean up charge once we leave here.” Chan said as he followed Jeongin.
The others followed him along the path and up the few steps to the grand entrance porch. Chan deliberately took his time in unlocking the door. When he had unlocked it and pushed it open, the others hurried inside, pushing Chan forward as they did. Their luggage was abandoned in the entrance hall and they all ran in various directions to look for the bedrooms, turning the lights on as they went. Chan shook his head at their eagerness and laughed to himself. He didn't mind having whatever room was left over. He decided to check out the ground floor while he heard the others running around on the upper floors. He was impressed and a little in awe at the grandeur of the place as he checked out the many rooms. He briefly wondered why one place would need so many living rooms, but then thought it was a good idea as they could all have some space if they needed to.
His walk around on the ground floor brought him back to the entrance hall where the grand staircase was. All was quiet upstairs so he headed up the wooden stairs. He was glad that they weren't too creaky. He reached the first floor and began to look around there. He saw Hyunjin and Felix had chosen rooms next to each other and shared a bathroom that was between the two rooms. Changbin was across the hallway from them and he had his own en-suite. He looked in the room next to Changbin's and saw that it was empty. He assumed that it would be the room he was going to be using. He was impressed at what he saw and the amount of space that was available. He then headed up to the next floor and saw that Minho, Jisung, Jeongin and Seungmin had all chosen their rooms. Minho was across from Han and next to Seungmin. Jeongin was next to Han and across from Seungmin. Now that the rooms were sorted, they all headed back down to the ground floor to get their luggage and began the task of unpacking.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
“Does anyone have any ideas of what we can put in the bridge yet?” Chan asked Jisung and Changbin as he leaned back in his chair.
They were sat in one of the sitting rooms while they were waiting on their food. Inspiration had struck and they had ended up working on a new song. The progress they had made had been good, however they seemed to have reached a block when it came to the bridge.
“Oh! Why don't we use a language we haven't used yet?” Jisung asked as he stopped messing with the camera he was using to film some footage for his latest vlog.
“I think Stay would like that,” Changbin agreed as he nodded. “What language should we use?”
“Well I always wanted to learn Spanish,” Chan replied. “What about you guys? Any suggestions?”
“What about Latin like in Harry Potter?” Jisung suggested in an excited tone. “We could have like some spooky sounding chant going on before the bassline drops and the chorus starts.”
“We could have different bridges before each chorus to mix things up,” Changbin added. He then let out a little giggle before continuing. “Mix the languages up to. Have a Latin one, a Spanish one and so on.”
“We can try it and see how it sounds,” Chan said in a thoughtful tone. His mind was already going over a bridge melody that had popped into his head. “What are we going to do about the languages? Use Google translate?”
The three of them burst into laughter at that suggestion and Jisung almost fell off his chair. Chan caught him before he could. Their laughter died down and they heard the sound of Jeongin and Seungmin play fighting over a game coming from one of the other sitting rooms. It was followed by the faint sound of a timer going off in the kitchen where Felix was busy baking cookies.
“Ohhh Lixie's cookies are ready,” Changbin remarked. “I hope Jinnie and Minho aren't too long in coming back with the food so we can actually have some of the cookies.”
“I hope so too,” Jisung agreed as he stood up and stretched. “I'll be right back. I saw a book in the library that might help us with our language problem.”
He hurried to the impressive fully packed library to get the book he had found when he had gone exploring after unpacking. He had to pass through the other sitting room that Seungmin and Jeongin were in. He saw that they were now involved in a tickle wrestling match which Jeongin seemed to be winning. Jisung chuckled at the two youngest, before he hurried down the hallway to the library. He went inside and over to the glass doored cabinet that had the intricately designed book in it. He opened the door and carefully took it out. It looked ancient and he hoped that it wasn't an antique. When he had briefly looked at it earlier, he was sure the language inside was Latin. It looked handwritten with artistic calligraphy and pretty drawings. He wanted to show it to Hyunjin as there were a lot of plants and flowers drawn in it and he assumed it was an old guide to flowers and things.
He held the book close to his chest as he headed back the way he came. When he headed past Seungmin and Jeongin, he saw that Seungmin was using Jeongin's leg as a pillow while the youngest played a solo game on the games console they had brought. He then headed back to Chan and Changbin. He sat back down and waved the book at them.
“This funky little thing seems to be some kind of guide to plants and flowers, so it would be kind of funny if we just randomly started chanting about them in the middle of our song,” he explained. “I was exploring the library and thought it looked like it belonged in Harry Potter so I flicked through it. I don't understand a word of what's written in here but the pictures are pretty.”
“Isn't this how horror movies start?” Changbin asked with a chuckle. “Some idiots read out a language they don't know and unleash some forces of darkness.”
“This isn't a movie Binnie,” Chan reminded him as he laughed. “I think the worst thing that will happen from reading something from this book will be bad pronunciation.”
“I think I found something that would fit with the beat,” Jisung said as he flicked through the book and stopped on a page. There were detailed drawing of pink daisies, gerbera's, lilies, orchids baby's breath and lilacs. He then attempted to read the words out. “I don't think I did that right but you get the gist of it.”
Chan nodded as he listened to Jisung's somewhat broken pronunciation of the words. His focus then went to the music and he let his creative juices take over. In a matter of minutes he had produced a basic outline of music that would fit the words and link the parts of the song together that they had already done. He was just finishing it up when Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin came into the room and sat on one of the sofas.
“Are Jinnie and Minho still not back with the food yet?” Seungmin whined. “I'm hungry.”
“Minho probably found a cat to pet,” Felix replied with a giggle. “He seems to attract them wherever he goes.”
“Minnie is so funny when he's hungry,” Jeongin teased as he poked Seungmin's cheek. “You sound more like the maknae than me, which we can't have. I have to retain my baby bread title.”
“Okay, I'm done with that,” Chan announced as Seungmin stuck his tongue out at Jeongin in response to his teasing. Chan was then handed a piece of paper that Jisung had scribbled the Latin words on. The book was now closed and sat on the desk beside the laptop and recording equipment. He then looked at the three on the sofa. “Don't laugh, but we're trying something new.”
“I have no idea how to say any of these words,” Changbin said as he frowned at the paper Jisung thrust into his hands. “What does it even mean?”
“I don't know but I think it's something to do with flowers. It sounds kind of cool,” Jisung replied with a shrug. “Okay, play the music Channie!”
Chan hit the play button and the six of them listened to the music. All made appreciative noises at what they heard. Chan then moved the microphone so that he, Changbin and Jisung could reach it. They put their headphones on and Chan hit the record button and they did their first attempt at rapping in Latin. It ended in giggles as they tripped over a few of the syllables. On the third attempt, they managed to get the words out correctly and the recording was a success. Chan ended the recording and noticed a strange silvery trail of light move from his hand and up his arm. It left a tingling in its wake.
“I feel tingly.” Seungmin said from his spot on the sofa.
“Me too.” Jeongin added as he shifted uncomfortably.
“What the?” Felix asked as he too noticed the strange silvery light. The pattern it created as it moved looked like fork lightning.
Chan was about to speak when there was a static like noise that appeared from nowhere. It was followed by the lighting in the room turning green and then there was a noise that sounded like a mini explosion. The lighting flickered and then went back to the usual colour they had. Chan looked over at the sofa and his eyes widened as he saw 3 heaps of clothing where Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin had been sat. He then looked to his left and saw the same for where Jisung had been sat. His eyes met Changbin's and widened further before he looked down at himself. His shock level increased and then everything went hazy before he blacked out.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
“You didn't happen to notice if the kitchen had a microwave did you?” Hyunjin asked Minho as Minho brought the car to a stop outside of the mansion. “Because I think this food is now cold with how long it took us to get back here.”
“It's not my fault we got lost! I was following the directions I was being given!” Minho replied with a sigh. He wasn't going to pout and give Hyunjin the satisfaction of knowing his teasing was getting to him.
“If only it was light out. I'm sure the journey would have been pretty scenic seeing as though we were heading away from civilisation.” Hyunjin added before he quickly got out of the car with the bags of food before Minho could retaliate.
“Hyunjin-ah!” Minho yelled as he scrambled out of the car after the taller male. He heard Hyunjin laugh before he cursed as he stumbled over his own feet. It gave Minho time to catch up with him. “How can you be so graceful in our dance routines yet still stumble around like a baby giraffe most of the time?”
“Because I'm a professional,” Hyunjin remarked just as they heard what sounded like a mini explosion and bright green light flickered from one of the widows. Both he and Minho looked at the window and then back at each other. “Do we really want to go in there and find out what they did to cause that?”
“We could leave the food at the door and then run back to the car and drive to some hotel and leave them to take the blame for whatever just happened.” Minho suggested.
“And for once, I have nothing to do with anything.” Hyunjin stated sounding proud. It earned him a soft chuckle from Minho.
“We should check they're all still alive at least.” Minho said as they both looked at the front door.
Hyunjin nodded in agreement and the two of them walked the short distance. They headed inside and Minho closed and locked the door behind them. They then took their shoes off, adding them to the mountain that already littered the floor. They hung their jackets up and headed further into the mansion.
“We bring food,” Hyunjin called in a singsong voice as he headed into the sitting room that the green light had come from. He stopped dead in his tracks as he did. Minho narrowly missed crashing into him. “What the heck?”
“What?” Minho asked as he moved to Hyunjin's side and looked around. He and Hyunjin then looked at each other and shared a confused look.
“Is this some kind of prank?” Hyunjin asked as he looked at the random bundles of clothing on the sofa and the two children sat at the table where Chan's laptop was, both fast asleep. One looked around five years old, the slightly younger.
“Chan wouldn't let his laptop be left like that if this was a prank.” Minho pointed out. They placed the bags of food on the coffee table. As they did, they noticed the bundles of clothes on the sofa move.
“I hope it's not rats.” Hyunjin said as he eyed the moving fabric warily.
Minho stepped closer and lifted a piece up. He noticed it was the shirt that Felix had been wearing earlier; the traces of flour from his baking still clearly visible. He looked down at the remaining fabric and had to do a double take when he saw a toddler. A very familiar looking toddler. He frowned as he did the same with the remaining piles of clothing. They other two both revealed another toddler and a baby; the last one looking like a newborn. Hyunjin watched him and then his attention was drawn over to near Chan's laptop. It was then he noticed another fabric pile. He copied Minho's actions and revealed yet another toddler.
“Why does this toddler look like Jisung?” he asked. His voice woke up the two toddlers by the laptop. “And these two other kids look like Binnie and Chan.”
“Just like how the three over here look like Felix, Minnie and Innie.” Minho remarked. Hyunjin and Minho shared another confused look before they noticed the vlog camera that was still recording.
“Maybe this will give us an idea of what happened while we were out.” Hyunjin said as he picked it up. He stopped the recording and then rewound it to see what had happened. His eyes almost fell out of his head as he watched the playback.
“What is it?” Minho asked in a curious tone as he came over. Hyunjin passed him the camera as he tried to process what he had just seen. Minho let out a little hum as he watched the footage. “So, what I understand happened from this, is our beloved 3Racha said some random mumbo jumbo and turned into everyone here into actual kids?”
“It's got to be edited. I mean magic isn't real so how could that have happened?” Hyunjin asked as his eyes moved from child to child. “But they do really look like it could be them.”
“Let's just try something,” Minho murmured to him before he put the video camera back on the stand he had taken it from. He then spoke louder. “Chan is that you?”
On hearing his name, Chan turned to look at Minho. He gave him his trademark dimpled smile as he did.
“G'day!” he greeted brightly as he wiggled out of his seat. He landed on his feet on the floor and toddled butt naked over to where Hyunjin and Minho were stood. “Hungry!”
“Nothing much has changed there then,” Hyunjin remarked as he watched. He let out a chuckle as he did. “This has got to be a prank. Okay guys you can come out now. We're not falling for this!”
"How old are you Channie?" Minho asked.
"I'm foive!" Chan replied, proudly holding up his right hand with his fingers extended to emphasize his response.
As Hyunjin spoke, a loud cry came from the sofa. Both he and Minho looked over and saw the noise was coming from the baby. Hyunjin walked over and picked him up to try and offer him some comfort.
“Shh it's okay, we'll get you back to your parents real soon,” Hyunjin soothed as he rocked him. He couldn't help but notice he really did look like Jeongin when he was a baby. The baby quietened down as Hyunjin rocked him and snuggled into his arms. “What do we do? Do we call the company? I mean these kids will need to get home. It's late.”
“You're right Jinnie,” Minho agreed. He pulled out his phone and checked the time difference. “Well it's 3 a.m. in Seoul right now, should we risk waking anyone up when they're supposed to be on vacation too?”
“That's a good point. And if it's not anything to do with the company then they're gonna be super pissed that the guys are pulling pranks on us already and that we woke them up about it.”
“Exactly,” Minho said as he thought about what they could do. He then grinned and whispered to Hyunjin. “Why don't we play them at their own game. Lets look after these kids as if they were the other guys. We can use their spending money to buy clothes and stuff so they're not walking around like how the Chan lookalike is.”
“Are you insane?!” Hyunjin whispered back as his eyes bugged out of his head. “You think we can look after six kids by ourselves?!”
“I think we can. You don't give yourself enough credit for it Jinnie but you have a caring, nurturing side,” Minho assured him before he gave him a genuine smile. He then whispered again. “And when they see how much money it costs for kid things then I'm sure they'll come out of hiding.”
“Thank you,” Hyunjin replied quietly as he blushed slightly . He then continued in a whisper. “Okay, I'm willing to give this a go; mainly to see their faces when this prank backfires on them.”
“So first thing is first. We need to find some place that's open and sells everything we need,” Minho said as he pulled out his phone. He then opened the notes to start making a shopping list. “Clothes and shoes in various sizes, diapers, baby milk, bottles for the milk, personal hygiene items and probably a lot more than I can't think of.”
“Why don't we just eat first and then we can look online for what we will need and where we can get them?” Hyunjin suggested as he watched kid Chan go over to the bags of take out.
“Good idea. I think better on a full stomach.”
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
“Did you actually leave anything in the store or did you buy the whole stock?” Hyunjin asked as Minho finished piling the numerous bags of purchases into the entrance hall.
“This is just the basics that the internet said we would need,” Minho remarked as he closed and locked the front door. “Having kids is expensive. I almost died when they told me how much it came to. I mean car seats alone are insanely priced and I had to buy six of them.”
“I'm not even going to ask because I'm actually chilled out at the moment. I managed to get them all settled; even the baby.”
“How did you achieve that?” Minho asked sounding surprised.
“Got the older ones settled in front of the TV in a big pile of blankets. And for the baby, I wrapped him in a couple of towels and just snuggled him. He settled down when he warmed up but I think he's hungry. Poor thing hasn't had anything since we got back. He's currently sleeping in a drawer I turned into a makeshift crib.”
“Good job Hyunjinnie! And can we just call them by the other members names so it's easier for us?” Minho suggested. He lowered his voice as he added. “Plus if they've got hidden cameras then they'll think we're falling for the prank.”
“Okay,” Hyunjin whispered before he let out a giggle. “What did the poor store workers think when you bought all this?”
“I told them that the airline lost some of our luggage and we had six kids,” Minho began to explain. He laughed before continuing. “They said I didn't look old enough to have six, so I told them that we had a set of triplets.”
“We?!” Hyunjin asked as he frowned a little. It only made Minho laugh hard. It took him a few minutes to compose himself.
“Mmhmm, when we go back to that store, you're my loving wife and mother of my kids.”
Hyunjin did a double take at what he heard before he opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out and he resembled a goldfish for a few moments which caused Minho to cackle loudly. He abruptly stopped when he was hit smack in the face by a pair of soft baby boots. He looked over at Hyunjin who let out a little startled noise. He decided he was going to let the younger sweat a little.
“Don't think that's not coming back to bite you in the ass Hwang!” Minho said in a gleeful tone. “Right now, we should get this stuff sorted and make some food for Innie. Do you want to deal with that while I unpack all the other stuff?”
“Sure, I can do that.” Hyunjin agreed. He then took the bag that Minho held out to him and then headed into the kitchen with it.
He took the things out of the bag and carefully read the instructions on what to do. He had to use a translator app on some of the words he wasn't sure on. He cleaned the bottles and then made up some of the baby formula, double checking each step as he did. When he was done, he headed to the sitting room where he had settled the kids and saw Minho trying to wrestle Chan into some clothes while the other kids giggled at the display. He chuckled himself as he headed to the drawer he had placed on the floor and saw baby Jeongin awake.
“Bang Chan get your butt back here and get your pants on!” Minho demanded as he chased after Chan.
“NOOOOOOO!” Chan replied. His delighted giggle that followed made it clear that he thought this was a fun game.
“Hey Innie, look what Minho brought,” he said as he carefully picked him up and cradled him in one arm. He then held the bottle up as he tried to ignore the sound of Minho chasing Chan. “You have some food finally. I bet you're super hungry huh?”
Hyunjin then brought the bottle to Jeongin's mouth and was pleased when he began to drink the formula. He watched him a few moments before his attention was drawn back to Minho and Chan. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the triumphant look on Minho's face and the pout on Chan's.
“I finally got him in clothes!” Minho stated before he did a little happy dance. “Okay, which one of you are next?”
Jisung happily came over to Minho and gave him a big smile. Minho let him pick a pair of pyjama's out of the ones he had managed to get in his size and got him dressed. Felix and Seungmin followed and then Changbin was last. Minho had gotten pull ups for the younger three as he wasn't sure if they were potty trained or not and thought it was best to be prepared, just in case. Minho then gathered the clothing and diapers for Jeongin and put them on the sofa next to Hyunjin, who was now burping the baby. He had watched a few tutorials on YouTube on how to do it. Minho leaned in closer and whispered into Hyunjin's ear.
“If it really is them, then it might be best if just one of us deals with Innie's diapers. Just in case they remember all this and get traumatised or something.”
“I think that's a good idea. I mean I am his mother anyway until further notice,” Hyunjin said to Minho as he attempted to put a diaper on Jeongin. “Am I even doing this right? I have no idea what I'm doing.”
“I think so? You put the cream on right?” Minho asked in reply. He let out a gleeful laugh as he watched Hyunjin attempt to put a diaper on baby Jeongin. It took him a few attempts but he eventually managed it. He then dressed him in one of the sleep suits Minho had managed to obtain that was decorated with pumpkins.
“Yeah I did,” Hyunjin confirmed as he carefully taped the diaper in place. “I'm scared I'll hurt him.”
“I think babies are tougher than they look.”
“I'm glad that Innie doesn't cry like his dolphin screech.”
“I hope you haven't jinxed us now by saying that,” Minho said with a chuckle. He then playfully added. “The sous vide and air fryer are free if he does.”
“We are not putting a baby skiz in any of those,” Hyunjin told him before he suddenly exclaimed. “Hey Minho! I just had an idea!”
“Don't you think we've had enough catastrophe's for one night?” Minho teased. Hyunjin pouted in response. “Please enlighten me at what your brain just came up with.”
“Tomorrow is Halloween yes?” Hyunjin asked. Minho nodded and Hyunjin grinned. “Why don't we take the little ones trick or treating like what Hannie was raving about on the plane here. Complete with costumes and that whole British thing he wanted to experience.”
“Yes! Let's do it,” Minho replied in a gleeful tone. “The store I was at tonight has some costumes; even for adults. We can pick some up there.”
“What was this store called again?”
“Asda. I think it's the British Wal-mart. It should be fun going there with all these in tow.”
“We'll get two shopping carts and shove them all in one and the things we're buying in the other,” Hyunjin suggested as he picked baby Jeongin back up and cuddled him. “This one, I'm carrying though because he's just too adorable.”
“Oh! We should buy one of those baby sling carrier thingies before we go there. Then you can carry him in that and I can take pictures and tease him when they're all back to normal.” Minho said in a gleeful tone. He was slowly beginning to believe that the other members actually had turned themselves into kids.
“What if it's permanent? Are we stuck looking after 6 kids forever?”
“If it's permanent, what do we say to their families and Stay?” Minho asked in a thoughtful tone. He then chuckled as he realised something. “Upside is you can get Innie cuddles without him pushing you away.”
“I'm getting video evidence to show him in case this is really them and they don't remember any of this,” Hyunjin remarked. “Also if it really is them, how adorable are they.”
“Let's just hope they remain adorable and this doesn't end up being the worst holiday we've ever had.”
Later that night, Hyunjin and Minho had gotten comfy on the sofa bed in the sitting room where the blanket fort was. All the kids had decided they were sleeping in there; except for baby Jeongin who was zonked out in his makeshift drawer crib. Minho and Hyunjin had decided to sleep in the room with them, to make sure that they couldn't get up to any mischief that might hurt them.
“Considering we have zero parenting experience I think we're coping pretty well so far,” Minho whispered after turning over to face Hyunjin. “I think we'll make great parents one day.”
“Is this your way of saying you want to have children with me Lee Minho?” Hyunjin whispered in a playful tone, unable to resist the opportunity to tease the elder.
“You're lucky I'm comfortable, otherwise you'd be getting fed tissues right about now.”
“Can you imagine if this had happened during a comeback?” Hyunjin asked as the thought popped into his head.
“If this happened during a comeback, we could just shove Felix, Sungie and Minnie on stage; Binnie too, and then everyone would just be overwhelmed by cuteness,” Minho whispered. He gave a quiet chuckle as he added. “I would have added Chan to that, but I don't trust kid Chan to keep his pants on. And I draw the line at putting newborns to work.”
“I just had a vision of kid Binnie rapping the start of Thunderous and having the crowd die of cuteness overload,” Hyunjin whispered before he had to bury his face into his pillow to muffle his giggles. “We have to get him to do that and video it. It'll be priceless.”
“We're definitely doing that,” Minho agreed before he let out a yawn. “That's if they're still kids tomorrow.”
“I hope so. I'm kind of looking forward to trick or treating with them.” Hyunjin admitted as he felt his eyes getting heavy. The combination of travelling and the crazyness with the kids finally catching up with him.
“Me too Jinnie, me too.” Minho agreed sleepily. He too was feeling the exhaustion of the day kicking in. It didn't take them long to fall asleep.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
“Okay, so no fighting over the costumes.” Hyunjin told Chan, Changbin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin as they headed towards the Halloween section of Asda.
Chan and Changbin were walking beside Minho, who was pushing a shopping trolley. Chan held onto the trolley and Changbin held Chan's hand. At the other side of Minho, Seungmin held onto the cart. Jeongin was securely snuggled into the baby sling that Hyunjin wore. Hyunjin was glad that his hands were free from having to hold Jeongin as he was holding Felix's hand in his right and Jisung's in his left.
“We won't mum.” Felix assured him before he giggled. Minho let out a laugh of his own as Felix's words as Hyunjin gave him a soft glare. It held no malice as a smile was teasing his lips as he did.
“It's so weird hearing that from any of you. Also I'm surprised that they're following your instructions of calling us mum and dad.” Hyunjin said as he shook his head.
“Well, its a good thing they are. Less people to ask questions that we don't have answers to,” Minho pointed out. Hyunjin nodded in agreement, before Minho asked. “Does anyone have any ideas about the costumes you want?”
“I wanna be a werewolf.” Chan said eagerly as he saw the costumes come into view.
“Harry Potter!” Jisung blurted in an excited tone before he let go of Hyunjin's hand and scampered the few steps to the Harry Potter costume he had just seen.
“I wanna be a cat!” Felix said gleefully. “Meow meow!”
“Scooby Dooby Doooooo.” Seungmin added before he started barking. Felix fake hissed at him before he giggled.
“Mum can I be a devil?” Changbin asked after studying the costumes for a few minutes.
“You already are.” Hyunjin replied playfully and Changbin giggled in response.
“Wow it looks like there won't be any fighting over costumes at all,” Minho said in a relieved tone as he spotted a baby costume. “Jinnie, we have to get this baby burrito costume for Innie. He'd literally be like a baby bread in it.”
“Yes! We need that!” Hyunjin agreed cheerfully after he had seen it. He then turned his attention back to the older kids. “What are you using to carry your treat haul in?”
"A pumpkin carrier!" they all chorused as they spotted them.
"Actually I want a cauldron one." Felix said.
"Okay you can have a cauldron," Minho told him. “Now lets get our costumes.”
Around ten minutes later, the costumes for the kids and for Minho were in the shopping trolley. Minho had a costume in his hand and Hyunjin looked far from impressed by it.
“Come on it will be fun; me as Gomez Adams and you as Morticia.”
“I am not wearing that,” Hyunjin replied as he put his hands on his hips “It looks tight and uncomfortable.”
“Please wear it. If you do, I'll make the food for us all for every meal for the rest of our stay,” Minho bargained. He then grinned before adding. “Or are you chicken?”
“Fine! I'll wear it!” Hyunjin agreed, not wanting to turn down the chance to eat Minho's cooking so much. “But I'm not wearing heels with it.”
Minho gave him a grin as he added it to the cart. He absolutely did not do a victory dance as he did.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"Do you think we have enough candy now?" Minho asked the kids as he surveyed the shopping cart. There were things for dinner and breakfast and a ton of candy; along with the costumes.
"But we might run out!" Jisung said as he looked at him and gave him a cute expression.
"I assure you we won't," Minho told him with a smile. "You guys just want loads so you can eat whatever is left don't you?"
"No." they replied unconvincingly.
"Oh, I forgot to pick up some eggs for tomorrow," Hyunjin said to Minho. "I'll be right back... honey."
"We'll wait here." he replied as he watched him walk away with a feigned look of adoration on his face.
"You look like a doofus!" Changbin told him as he and Chan laughed at the look on Minho's face.
"Hey I can't help it if I'm smitten with your mother!" he replied as he pulled a face at them, causing them to laugh more.
“Can we get this?" Felix asked as he handed him a gigantic bag of M&M's.
"Felix, we already have," Minho began as he counted in the shopping cart. "Six bags just like this one, so no."
"But I want them!" he whined as he stomped his foot.
"You carry on like that Lixie and you won't be getting any candy tonight," Minho told him seriously. "You'll be spending the night watching me and Jinnie eating it and we won't give you any."
"But I really want these!" Felix whined as he started jigging on the spot to emphasize his plea. Minho saw his bottom lip begin to quiver as he did which signalled he was about to start crying.
"Felix!" he warned.
Jisung giggled and Seungmin looked at Felix like he had grown an extra head before he went over to Jisung. Changbin and Chan took the opportunity to sneak off. Jisung went in search of Hyunjin while Seungmin was busy staring at Felix.
"I hate you!" Felix spat as he threw the bag of M&M's on the floor and began to cry. Minho sighed as several shoppers looked at him in disgust.
"Felix, you already have some of those in the cart," he told him in a stern voice. It was to no avail and he continued to throw his tantrum. "Right that's it! You are not joining the others when they go trick or treating tonight!"
"He shouldn't have had so many if he can't control them." Minho heard a shopper say to another as they walked past. Minho glared at them as they did. He then noticed that he was three children short.
"This is just great! That's all I need to lose them in a foreign country when they're kids!" he said with a sigh. "Do any of you know where Chan, Binnie and Jisung have gone?"
"No." Seungmin replied. Felix shook his head as he continued to have his tantrum.
"Why is Felix doing that?" Hyunjin asked as he appeared with Jisung, who was holding one of his hands. He had an extremely large tray of eggs in the other. "And where are Chan and Binnie?"
"He's having a diva moment because I said 'no' to another bag of M&M's," Minho told him as he took the eggs and placed the eggs in the cart. "As for the eldest two I have no idea. I was too busy glaring at two women after one basically said I'm an unfit father."
"They did? What did they look like?" Hyunjin asked in an angry tone. "I want to go and give them a piece of my mind. Only I get to say mean things to my baby daddy."
"Hyunjinnie," Minho said with a snort. "Don't okay."
"Felix sweetie," Hyunjin said as he crouched in front of him. "Come on calm down. We already have enough M&M's in the cart. You're just making yourself look silly and everybody's staring at you."
Felix sniffled as he wiped his tear stained face, which was now bright red. He hiccupped a few times and then looked up at Minho.
"Sorry." He said as he pouted.
"Don't do that again okay?" he asked as he smiled at him. "And if you carry on behaving, I might just let you go trick or treating with the others."
"Mum! Dad!" Chan said loudly as he came running into the aisle. "Binnie's eating doughnuts!"
"What?" Hyunjin asked with a frown.
"Don't worry I've got this one," Minho said. "Where is he?"
"In the doughnut section duh," Chan said as he took hold of Minho's hand and began to drag him towards where Changbin was. "I told him not to, but he just did!"
"Changbin!" Minho said firmly as he took in the sight. He was sat on the floor and had a pack of four pink iced doughnuts in front of him and was now eating his second. "Seo Changbin! You're lucky a policeman didn't catch you! He'd put you in jail for that!"
"What?" Changbin asked as he dropped his doughnut back into the packet. "They can?"
"Yes, they can!" Minho told him trying not to laugh. "Now get your butt off that floor and pick those doughnuts up. When we get to the cashier you have to explain what you did and then apologize okay?"
"Dad!" Changbin whined. Minho was grateful that they had remembered to stick to calling him and Hyunjin mum and dad. He hoped that it would draw less attention to them if they did that.
"It's either that or the policeman takes you to jail!" Minho told him as he took the pack of doughnuts from him. They began to head back to where Hyunjin and the others were. Changbin then burst into tears and Chan laughed.
"Idon'twannagotojail!" Changbin cried without taking a breath so it sounded like one long word. "I'msorrrrrrryyyyydad!"
"What's wrong with him?" Hyunjin asked as he saw how upset Changbin was and how Chan was finding the whole situation amusing.
"MommmyyyIdon'twannagotojail!" Changbin told Hyunjin as he wailed loudly. Hyunjin bit his lip as he tried not to laugh. He looked at Minho and arched his eyebrow. "What did you say?"
"I told him that he had to tell the cashier what he did and then apologize otherwise the policeman is gonna take him to jail." Minho said with a grin. Changbin let out another wail.
"Let's just get to the checkout operator shall we?" Hyunjin asked as he shook his head at Minho.
They headed to the cashier and Minho pushed the shopping cart. Changbin tried to regulate his sobs as they waited to be served. The cashier began to put their things through. Changbin was too busy trying to stop himself crying and never saw or heard Minho having a quick word with the woman at the counter.
"So Changbin, I believe you have something to say to the lady?" Minho said as he looked at him.
"I'm sorry!" he said as he began to sniffle again. "I don't wanna go to jail! I have to go trick or treating! I won't do it again!"
"What did you do son?" the woman asked trying not to laugh. Hyunjin and the other kids were at the opposite end of the cashier desk. Hyunjin was bagging the things they had bought and the kids were laughing at Changbin. Jeongin was peacefully chilling in the sling Hyunjin still wore. Only now he was awake and his expression made him look like he was judging Changbin for his life choices.
"I ate the doughnuts!" he wailed. "I'm sorry!"
"It's a good thing your dad paid for them huh?" the cashier said as she handed Minho his change. "Otherwise you would be going to jail with the policeman over there. You're really lucky today."
"I'm sorry!" Changbin told her. "I won't do it again!"
"You better not!" Minho told him. "What would you have done if your mum and I didn't have the money for doughnuts? You'd be in jail."
"Come on Minho let's go home," Hyunjin said. It was clear from his facial expression that he was dying to laugh. "Changbin can go and spend some time in his room alone to think about what he did."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"Lee Minho!" Hyunjin yelled from where he was stood in the sitting room.
"What?" he yelled back. "And you sound like my mum!"
"Where did you put the candy we bought for the trick or treaters?" he yelled again.
"Uh," he said as he appeared in the doorway that lead to their bedroom. "They're still in the grocery bags."
"No they're not," he told him as he held up the empty shopping bags. "Do you want to know where they are?"
"Where are they?" he asked curious as he made his way further into the room.
"Come see," Hyunjin said as he led him into the kitchen. He stopped and looked at him questioningly. "The candy is in here."
Minho looked and saw five of the kids sat on the floor dressed in their Halloween costumes, each with a huge bag of candy that was now empty. He gave Hyunjin a sheepish look.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"Minho I asked you to put them in the cupboard where they couldn't reach them," he told him with a sigh. "They'll now be on a sugar high when we take them trick or treating."
"They won't be that bad surely?" he asked with a slight frown.
"Maybe not if they only ate one tiny bag of candy," Hyunjin told him. "But they've finished five huge multi packs of candy. It's gonna be hell."
"It'll be fine Hyunjin," Minho reassured him. "We'll handle them no problem."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"I thought you said it would be fine Minho!" Hyunjin yelled as he ran up the street after a wolf and a cat. His movements were hindered somewhat by the Morticia Adams dress and Jeongin in the baby sling. "Chan, Felix! Don't you dare run off!"
"So I was wrong!" Minho shouted back to him as he went after Harry Potter, Scooby Doo and the devil. "Changbin! Just because you're dressed like a devil doesn't mean you have to act like one!"
"Chan! Get off that fence!" Hyunjin shouted as the wolf and the cat tried clambering over the metal fence that bordered the park. "You too Felix!"
"Seungmin get out of the road!" Minho yelled as he grabbed the child dressed as Scooby Doo before he headed further into the road. He was glad that there were no cars coming. "Changbin leave Seungmin alone!"
"I really think this was a bad idea," Hyunjin said as he came up behind him with Felix and Chan. "Can't you kids just behave?"
"But muuuuuum I want more candy!" Felix the cat whined.
"Me too!" Jisung and Changbin said in unison.
"Look another house!" Chan said excitedly as they approached another home.
"Mum can we go and see if they have more candy?" Seungmin asked.
"Do you not think that you've had enough already?" Hyunjin asked him in response.
"You can never have too much candy." Seungmin replied. The kids then set off in unison and ran towards the big white house.
"Slow down!" Minho called as he and Hyunjin raced after them. "I think we need re-enforcements."
"What we need is for their sugar high to wear off," Hyunjin said as he checked that Jeongin was doing okay in the sling. He chuckled as he saw he had fallen asleep again and wondered how he was sleeping through all the chaos. Minho managed to gather Jisung and Felix in each arm. "I'm sure they're re-fueling as they're going around.
"I wouldn't put it past them." Minho replied as they arrived at the front door where the rest of the kids had gathered. They had obviously rung the doorbell as the front door was just opening.
An elderly couple stood at the opposite side or the door and greeted the children with a smile. Hyunjin and Minho placed Jisung and Felix down so they could go and get some candy. Several minutes later, they were chasing after the children again as they headed to the next house.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"I'm sorry I threw up," Felix said as they headed toward along the driveway to the house they were staying in. He was leaning against Hyunjin as they walked. "I didn't mean to."
"Its okay sweetie," Hyunjin assured him. "Just don't ever eat that much candy in one go again okay?"
"I promise I won't," Felix replied before he yawned. "I'm sleepy now."
"Well its a good thing that we're almost back at the house. I feel like I'm about ready to pass out.” Minho said as he walked along, making sure none of them had wandered off anywhere. Thankfully, it seemed like the sugar high had finally worn off. Both Hyunjin and Minho were extremely thankful for it.
They headed inside and took their shoes off. Hyunjin took each batch of candy off the kids and stuck their name labels on. He was making sure that they didn't have any more sugar to make them crazy. The kids sulked but didn't kick up a fuss. They then trudged up the stairs to get ready for bed.
Both Hyunjin and Minho were grateful that the kids fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows in the fort in the sitting room. After making sure the house was secure and switching the lights off Hyunjin and Minho headed to bed themselves. They didn't even have the energy to take their costumes off and put their pyjamas on. They just collapsed onto the sofa bed, exhausted from the day's events.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
“Hey Jinnie wake up,” Minho said softly as he shook the younger one the next morning. “Wake up! You need to see this.”
“Huh?!” Hyunjin groaned out in a groggy tone as he sat up. He rubbed at his eyes as he tried to get them to focus so that he could see what Minho wanted. It took a few minutes for his eyes to focus. When they did, he couldn't help but giggle at the sight. “When did they change back?”
“Literally just before I woke you. I was coming back from the bathroom and this weird light thing happened and right before my eyes they just poofed like that.”
“I'm sad I missed that but also I can't believe that their clothes grew with them,” Hyunjin said still giggling. “They look like they Hulked out.”
“Let's wake them up and get payback for how hyper they were last night.”
“Yes!”
It took only moments for them to annoy the others so much that they woke from their slumber. It took them a few more minutes to get everyone situated on sofas and for Hyunjin and Minho to explain what had happened. They even showed them the camera footage.
“You know, you didn't need to do that,” Chan told them. “At least not for me anyway. I remember everything.”
“So do I.” came the response from the others who had been turned. Jeongin looked a little traumatised.
“Thank you for the best Halloween ever,” Jisung said in a gleeful tone. “I always wondered what it would be like to experience Halloween as a kid.”
“I'm sorry for the whole supermarket meltdown,” Felix said in an apologetic tone. “And for throwing up on the street. As you probably noticed, kid me was a bit crazy.”
“I'm sorry for being that kid who ate things in the store before they were paid for.” Changbin added, looking a little sheepish.
“Thank you for taking such great care of me,” Jeongin spoke in a sincere tone. “I felt so safe swaddled up in the sling. But any of you mention I said this ever again then we'll have a problem.”
“Okay Innie.” Hyunjin said with a giggle
“Yes thanks for taking care of us,” Chan agreed sounding just as sincere. “You two should rest today and let us look after you as a thank you.”
“I won't say no to that.” Minho stated and Hyunjin nodded eagerly in agreement.
Hyunjin and Minho made themselves comfortable in the now empty fort. They were still tired from the chaos that was Halloween and both couldn't help the thought that came to them as they drifted back to sleep. The power of 3Racha was definitely not a force to be messed with.