Chapter Text
Babysitter needed every Saturday evening starting July 7th
Background check required
Starting pay/hr: 16500₩
For more details, please consult XXX-XXXX
Jongin thought it was a rather generous amount for babysitting. He was short on cash, and who was willing to hire a broke kid fresh out of performing arts academy? Not Fortune 500 he was sure.
Bless this ad, he thought to himself as he whipped out his cellphone.
It rang thrice before a deep, somewhat raspy voice came over the line. "Hello?"
Jongin cleared his throat. "Um, hi, I'm calling about the babysitting advert." His tone went up at the end of his sentence, almost like he was asking a question.
"Ah, excellent. May I have your name?"
"Kim Jongin."
"Kim...Jong...in." Jongin shuddered. The way the man said it, with his voice, sounded almost baleful. He heard the sound of pen scratches on the other end. "Age?"
"Twenty-three."
"Alright. So you know the basics, Saturday, every week. 16500 won per hour for starters, depending on how you perform and how much my kids like you, I'll tip or take off accordingly."
"Mm hm." Jongin was starting to feel a little stressed. He'd only been on the phone with this man for less than a minute, and he was already feeling like he could say something wrong and blow the whole thing right then and there. He felt like the man was a land mine just waiting to be stepped on.
They both waited in silence.
"So, uh," Jongin broke the (probably one-sided) tension, "can you tell me a bit about the kids?"
"Ah, yes." The man sounded relieved. "I have three. Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Baekhyun. Five, five, and six respectively. They're rather energetic and feisty, otherwise likable."
"Ok."
"I'll have dinner prepared for each of you, so don't worry about the food."
"Alright."
"Good. I suppose that'll be it."
"Wait!" Jongin interjected.
"Yes?"
"I, um, I actually have a couple dogs at home, but—"
"You can bring them, that's just fine."
"Oh, ok. Can I...uh, your name?"
"Do Kyungsoo. I'd prefer just Kyungsoo."
"But—"
"Kyungsoo," Kyungsoo said firmly. "We're not that far apart in age. I'll expect you at my place by five o'clock."
"And you have kids?"
But Kyungsoo had already hung up.
Jongin tugged as hard as he could bring himself to on Monggu's leash. "No, Monggu, don't eat that!"
Monggu whined.
"We're gonna be late!" Jongin yanked on the leash. Monggu whimpered and followed along, nipping at Jjanggu's tail instead. Jjanggu yapped. "Oh, gods." Jongin sighed and allowed himself into a jog. "C'mon." His dogs trotted along. "Finally." Jongin pulled his pooches into Kyungsoo's lobby, nodded at the guard at the counter, and proceeded to the elevator. Getting off on the twelfth floor, Jongin pressed the doorbell and adjusted his shirt collar, right hand picking at the wrinkles, left hand wrapped around his three leashes.
The lock clicked, the door swung open, the sharp smell of kimchi wafted out.
Jongin wasn't sure what he expected of Kyungsoo, but it most definitely was not this.
Kyungsoo was such a little man, no more than 170cm, Jongin guessed, that he had to look up to stare Jongin in the eyes. Kyungsoo's eyes were wide, bright, something of a deer-in-the-headlights look that made Jongin want to turn around to see if he missed something spectacular behind himself. His lips were unbelievably full and pink, shaped in a heart, coupled with his hamster-esque cheeks gave him an incredibly squishy feel.
"Hello," Kyungsoo greeted, opening the door wider for Jongin to step in.
"Hi," Jongin said blankly. He left his shoes outside and ushered his dogs past the threshold.
"They're cute." Kyungsoo pointed at the trio.
"Thanks."
There was a tense silence as Kyungsoo closed the door quietly and Jongin waited awkwardly.
"Daddy!" A high-pitched voice broke the silence. Jongin turned on the spot to see a little boy running out from the hallway. His smile was wide and his eyes a little droopy, almost beagle-like. The little boy threw himself into Kyungsoo's arms. Kyungsoo broke into a huge grin.
To Jongin, it happened in slow motion. Kyungsoo's thick lips parting, the corners of his mouth rising, his perfect teeth came into view. Even his eyes smiled, his eyebrows tilting up. It was fascinating how fast his serious expression evaporated.
"Daddy, what's for dinner?" the boy asked as Kyungsoo bounced the boy in his arms a few times.
"I made kimchi spaghetti," Kyungsoo cooed. "I know it's your favorite."
The boy laughed gleefully, and Kyungsoo set him down. "Jongin, this is Baekhyun, my oldest." Kyungsoo pointed at Jongin. "Baekhyun, this is Jongin, he's here to watch you guys."
"Hullo!" Baekhyun grinned, his faux plastic glasses sliding down his nose.
Jongin waved.
"Ooh, doggy!" Baekhyun slid on his knees over to Jongin and look up expectantly. "Can I pet them?"
"Of course." Jongin smiled softly.
Baekhyun squealed as the trio crowded around him.
Kyungsoo's faint smile still lingered on his lips as he gazed from his son to Jongin.
"Daddy?" Two more voices echoed from the hall. "Who's here?"
Two children hobbled out into the living room. One was insanely tall for a five year-old and had large ears. The other had a smile plastered on his face that made Jongin think of the ":3" emoji.
"Ah, you two, c'mere." Kyungsoo crouched down and held his sons by the shoulders. "Jongin, this is Chanyeol, my youngest—" the elf-eared one, "and Jongdae, my second." The emoji kid.
"Hi." Jongin waved again, but all three boys were preoccupied with his dogs. Jjanggu appeared to have taken a great liking to Chanyeol, Monggu was sniffing around Jongdae's hair, and Jjanggah pawed at Baekhyun's knees.
"Well, I'll be going. I hope you'll get them to bed by eight thirty." Kyungsoo slipped Jongin a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "Call me if anything happens. " He put on his coat, grabbed his keys, and hefted a cardboard box that clinked and clanged.
Jongin hurried to open the door for him, even hit the elevator button while he was at it.
"Thank you." Kyungsoo gave a pleasant smile before disappearing behind the elevator doors. Jongin nodded, retreated into the house, and locked the door. He turned back around to see all three kids sprawled across the carpet, each with a dog hovering over him.
Jongin sat down on the couch and clasped his hands. "Alright, um, kids?"
The three boys (and three dogs) all paused whatever they were doing and looked at him.
"So, uh, are there any rules in this house that I should know about?" Jongin asked.
Baekhyun pondered this. "Daddy should've told you already."
Jongin hesitated. "He didn't tell me much."
"We're not allowed to touch his cooking supplies!" Jongdae piped up.
"And we have to put the dishes into the dishwasher after dinner," Chanyeol said.
"Also, Daddy doesn't like it when people go in his room," Baekhyun added.
"Oh, alright." Jongin rubbed his hands together. "Well, why don't we go eat dinner first, then we can play with the dogs, or whatever."
The boys exchanged glances and nodded. They stood up and washed their hands at the kitchen sink, all standing atop a small stool in turn, then sat down at the already-set dinner table, swinging their legs.
Jongin noticed four plates sitting on the kitchen counter, three half-filled with kimchi spaghetti, the fourth filled to the brim. He took them two at a time to the table. He sat across from Jongdae and dug in.
The first bite of kimchi was like a whiplash on his tongue.
"Whoa..." He stuck his tongue out and fanned it. "Where's your water?" he asked.
Baekhyun pointed at a full pitcher by the sink. "Cups are in the cabinet above."
"Good, thanks." Jongin hurried to fill a glass for himself and downed it in seconds. "Ok..." He surveyed the kids. "So you kids don't mind the spice, or what?"
Chanyeol looked at him funny. "Ours aren't spicy."
"Oh."
"Daddy likes to make other people's spaghetti super spicy," Jongdae said through a mouthful. "He calls it an intation, er...inition..." The kid seemed to be trying really hard.
"An initiation?" Jongin supplied.
"Yes!" Jongdae beamed.
"Hn." Jongin filled himself another glass and sat back down. "Now, while we eat, why don't we give ourselves a bit of introduction?" The boys nodded absentmindedly. "I'll start." Jongin swallowed his spaghetti. "My name's Kim Jongin—"
"I'm Kim Jongdae!" Jongdae intervened.
Jongin smiled and nodded. Isn't his family named supposed to be "Do"? But he decided not to pry, yet.
"I'm twenty-three years old," Jongin continued. "I like dogs and fried chicken."
"I like dogs!" Chanyeol exclaimed.
"I like fried chicken!" Jongdae said.
"Good, good, y'all have good taste." Jongin grinned. "And my dogs. The little white one is Jjanggah, she's the youngest. The skinny brown one is Monggu, and the chub-chub brown one is Jjanggu."
Baekhyun smacked his lips. "Jjanggu...Jjanggah."
"Yeah, I know, they're kind of similar." Jongin scratched his head.
"Like Jongin and Jongdae," Jongdae repeated his point.
Jongin laughed. "Yeah, like that."
"I might get confused," Baekhyun said quietly. "Jjanggu, Jjanggah, Jongin, Jongdae." Chanyeol snickered across from him.
"Jongin, Jongin, Jonginnie," Jongdae chanted again and again. Jongin smiled despite the lack of honorifics.
"Jonginnie!" Chanyeol snapped his little fingers.
Jongin frowned.
"Jonginnie," Chanyeol continued, "Nini!"
Jongin was blank. "What." But the other two boys bobbed their heads in unison, like they understood exactly what their brother meant.
"Nini, Nini, Nini," they chorused.
"Um..."
"We will call you Nini!"
"Why don't we move on with those introductions?" Jongin suggested. "Baekhyun, you go next."
"Mm, I'm Byun Baekhyun—" Byun? "—I like strawberries, I like to sing, and I have very nice fingers." Baekhyun smiled and proudly held out his small hands. The kid had the prettiest fingers Jongin had ever seen. He nodded and turned to Jongdae.
"I'm Kim Jongdae, I like singing too." Jongdae wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I have cheekbones." Jongdae proceeded to pucker his lips and suck his cheeks in, making his already-prominent cheekbones even more prominent. Those things could cut diamonds they were so sharp.
"Impressive," Jongin noted, then nodded to Chanyeol. "Go on."
"I'm Park Chanyeol—" PARK? "—and I want to be a rapper when I grow up. I also have big ears." Chanyeol put his hands behind his ears like he was fanning out a collar and grinned. He indeed had big ears, like Yoda.
"So how about your dad?" Jongin asked. "Tell me about Kyungsoo. What does he do?"
"Daddy really likes cooking," Chanyeol said. "He's a carter."
"Caterer," Baekhyun corrected.
"Oh, right."
"Is that what he's doing tonight?" Jongin asked. "Is he cooking for other people tonight?"
"Yes," Baekhyun slurped the last of of his spaghetti.
Jongin nodded. "Why only Saturday though? He said he'd be out every Saturday."
"Daddy is very busy," Jongdae said. "He's very popular. He works when we're at school, too."
"He has Sundays off so he can play with us!" Chanyeol added.
How nice. Jongin wouldn't help but smile.
"I'm finished." Baekhyun slid off his chair and put his dish in the sink. He rinsed it clean and propped it into the dishwasher. He returned to the table and asked, "Can I go play with Jjanggah now?"
"Yes, go ahead." Jongin ate his spaghetti slowly. This stuff was seriously picante, and he was on his third glass of water already. Baekhyun hurried to the living room and crouched next to Jjanggah, who lifted her head and nipped softly at Baekhyun's fingertips.
"I'm done too," Chanyeol followed suit and ran off to play with Jjanggu.
"Nini," Jongdae said suddenly.
"Do you have to call me that?" Jongin asked, somewhat troubled.
"Nini," Jongdae persisted.
"Jongdae, just Jongin is fine."
"Nini."
"Okay, okay, what?"
"Will you play hide and seek with us later?" Jongdae scraped the last bits of spaghetti sauce off his plate and placed it in the dishwasher. "We always play hide and seek."
"Oh, sure." Jongin looked at his plate. Almost done. "Just wait till I finish eating, alright? Also, I need to use the bathroom."
Jongdae nodded and joined his brothers in the living room, informing them, "Nini's gonna play hide and seek with us!" To which the boys responded with joyful cheering. Jongin downed the rest of his spaghetti as quickly as his burning tongue would allow.
"So we get thirty seconds to hide," Baekhyun explained. "And then you come looking for us. If you can't find all three of us after ten minutes, then we win the game, okay?"
"Sounds good."
"No peeking!"
Jongin nodded and turned to face a corner in the living room as he started counting down, announcing by the fives. He heard the three boys whispering to each other until he counted twenty-five, then ran off.
"Twenty!" Jongin called.
There was rustling in the hallway.
"Fifteen!"
A door closed. Two doors now.
"Ten!"
Some banging on what sounded like wood.
"Five!"
Someone tripped, scowled, and hurried on.
"Ready or not, here I come!" Jongin whirled around to an empty living room. "Aw man, they took my dogs with them." Jongin stood before the hallway and listened. There was a faint scuffling behind the door to his right. He placed his hand on the doorknob as quietly as possible and flung the door open. "Hah!"
He blinked. No one was in there. It was dark, he couldn't even see the far corners, but Jongin knew the big room was empty. Three beds, some stuffed animals, a dresser, a built-in closet, book-filled shelves, and another door that he assumed led to the bathroom.
More scuffling. Jongin's head snapped towards the closet, where the sound had come from. He smiled knowingly.
He crept over to the doors and opened them.
"Wah!" Jongin scrambled back as something white flew at his face. "Whoa, whoa!" He backed up quickly, until he realized... "Jjanggah!" Jongin picked up his pup. "Girl, what are you doing in the closet? Where's Baekhyun?" Jjanggah yapped. "Where's Baekhyun, huh, girl?" Jjanggah sneezed. Jongin pouted. "You trust Baek more than you trust me now?" Jjanggah licked his cheeks, making him chuckle. "Alright, let's go find those boys." He set off towards the bathroom door, Jjanggah in his arms.
There was a scratching sound from the bathroom, and a bark.
"Monggu..." Jongin opened the door, and another dog rushed at him. "Whatcha doin' in there, buddy?" He set Jjanggah down and stepped cautiously into the bathroom. He flipped the switch and light flooded the bathroom. No one either. No one sat crouched behind the toilet, no one lay in the bathtub. "Hm..." Jongin stepped back out and, for the third time, heard rustling in the closet. "Again?" he wondered aloud as he turned towards it.
He crossed over once more and opened it. A couple of the jackets swayed. Jongin stepped back. "What the..." He waited until they stopped moving. They didn't move again. He got a little closer and reached out, his heart beating abnormally fast. He didn't get to study the jackets carefully, because something that felt like a human hand darted out and touched his leg, then retreated as quickly as it had appeared.
"AH! SH—" Can't let the kids hear me cuss "—OOT!" Jongin stumbled so fast, he tripped over his own feet. He hit the floor butt-first, and a jolt traveled up his spine. "Ow..." Monggu and Jjanggah howled and jumped, circling Jongin, who was on the floor massaging his rear. "Ugh." Jongin swatted the closet doors shut. Behind him, there was a swoosh of someone hurrying past a door. Jongin whirled and glimpsed the shadow of tiny feet disappear out the bedroom door. He got to his feet and sped to the door. Outside, everything was at peace.
"Tough kids," Jongin murmured, and beckoned for his dogs to follow. He slipped his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Five minutes down, five minutes to go. Jjanggah and Monggu followed him into the hallway.
Jongin tried the door to the room across the hall. It yielded to a study. A paper-littered desk against the opposite window-wall. A couple beanbag chairs dotted the wooden floor. The entire left wall, as well as half the right wall, were covered in books. No place to hide here. Unless Kyungsoo's house had those awesome swinging bookcases, but Jongin highly doubted that. For inspection sake he still made his rounds around the room before he closed the door.
"Where are they?" he murmured. He decided to check the living room again.
A large couch, two plush chairs, a television, a carpet, a couple of potted plants by the floor-to-ceiling window. Jongin looked behind the couch, the seats, the TV. Nobody at all.
He then tried the room next to the study. It was a guest bathroom. Just a toilet, a sink, and a shower stall. The ultimate no-place-to-hide. Jongin backed right out.
He looked at the tightly-shut door standing solemnly at the end of the hall. Maybe they're in Kyungsoo's room, Jongin thought. He moved towards it. Should I go in? Or not? But it's Kyungsoo's room, and I was told explicitly he didn't like people going in there. Jongin hesitated. No. He sighed and turned around. Ten minutes should be up by now.
Three pale faces and a loud bark were what he faced.
"AGH!" Jongin lost his footing for the third time that day. As he stumbled, his elbow, funny bone, to be exact, hit the door jamb, and his right arm went numb. At the same time, the long door knob stabbed the small of his back. "OW! Ow, ow, ouch!"
The three faces burst into laughter, the three dogs howled and bayed excitedly.
"Oh, jeez..." Jongin massaged his arm.
Baekhyun stepped forward. "Your time is up."
"I know," Jongin moaned. "Spare me."
Jjanggu trotted forward an nuzzled Jongin's arm.
"You traitor," Jongin whispered, then he looked up at the kids. "Where were you all hiding?"
"If we told you, it'd be no fun," Jongdae said. "But come on."
"We'll show you." Chanyeol tugged on Jongin's arm. "Let's go!"
"Look at my hiding place first," Baekhyun said. Jongin stood up and followed them to the large bedroom with three beds. They led him steadily towards the closet.
"Oh, no no no," Jongin protested. "Not the haunted closet."
Chanyeol giggled. "It's not haunted, Nini, look."
Baekhyun opened the closet doors and pushed aside the upper and lower rows of coats and shirts. He entered, placed his hand on the back wall, and pushed. The wall swung inward to reveal a passageway large enough for Jongin to walk in comfortably.
"Whoa..." Jongin poked his head in.
"Daddy had this made to lead into his walk-in closet," Jongdae explained. "We go through here at night if we have scary dreams, and the hall is creepy at night."
"There's a light switch here," Chanyeol said, flicking a switch on the inside of the passage, "and one on Daddy's end."
"That's so cool," Jongin uttered, mesmerized.
"This was Bacon's hiding place," Chanyeol said.
"Don't call me that," Baekhyun whined.
"I hid in our bathroom!" Jongdae said.
"What?" Jongin whirled on him. "I went in there! Monggu was in there!"
"I know," Jongdae picked at his hair. "I was scared you would find me, but you didn't check under the sink." Jongdae giggled.
"Oh my god." Jongin slapped himself in the face. "And Chanyeol, where were you?" he mumbled through his fingers.
"I was in the study." Chanyeol took Jongin's hand and the trio led him to the study.
"But I checked the study, too."
"Not carefully enough," Jongdae said, almost sassily.
"I can't believe you missed the scratch marks." Chanyeol crossed over to the right wall, the wall with half a bookcase, and pointed at the floor on the half side without books.
Jongin studied the floor. The chestnut wood had two perfectly parallel white lines, scratch marks, as Chanyeol said, lined right up to the wall. "Marks? Of what?"
"This." Baekhyun placed his hands on the edge of the bookcase and pulled with all his might. The bookcase slid aside to reveal yet another passage. "Leads to Daddy's room too, to a panel next to his bed."
"Jongdae came to join me after he ran from the bedroom," Chanyeol added.
"Why the heck do you guys have so many secret paths in your apartment?" Jongin asked, dumbstruck.
"Daddy said 'for the sake of it'," Baekhyun quoted.
"Alright," Jongin said slowly.
"Nini, help me button up my pyjamas." Chanyeol came up to Jongin with his pjs loose.
"C'mere." Jongin buttoned up the shirt and hustled Chanyeol over to his bed. "In you go!" Jongin picked up the boy, swung him around in a circle, and tossed him onto his bed, Chanyeol giggling the whole time.
Jongdae gasped. "Me too! Me too!"
"Alright, here we go!" Jongin hooked his arms under Jongdae's armpits and rocked him back and forth before throwing him up into the air over his bed. Jongdae laughed.
Jongin turned toward Baekhyun. "Baekhyun, you too?"
Baekhyun nodded expectantly, so Jongin picked him up and gave him a quick ride as well.
"Alright, g'night, kiddos." Jongin started for the door, but Baekhyun called him back.
"Wait, what about a bedtime story?" He pointed at the bookshelves.
Kyungsoo unlocked the front door, slipped his keys back into his pocket, and picked up his box of cooking supplies.
"Jongin?" he called softly.
"—and the Three Little Pigs never had to worry about the Big Bad Wolf ever again. The end." Jongin's voice came from the kids' bedroom.
Kyungsoo smiled and moved into the kitchen, setting his supplies down and taking them out one by one—pots, pans, utensils—to wash in the sink. After ten or so minutes, Jongin came out of the room, shutting the door gently.
"Oh, hello, Kyungsoo." Jongin pulled up chair in the dining area.
"Hello," Kyungsoo replied without looking up.
"Need some help with that?" Jongin offered.
"It's alright, I'm good." Kyungsoo finished washing the last of his pots and grabbed a cloth to dry them. "So, how were the kids? Were they alright? Hope they didn't cause too much trouble."
"Oh, we played hide and seek," Jongin said. "I got scared a couple times, found out about your secret passages. Your spaghetti was quite...piquant."
Kyungsoo gave a hearty laugh. "But scared?" Kyungsoo turned around. "How?"
"They, uh...they pulled some poltergeist moves on me with the secret passages and all." Jongin chuckled bashfully.
"Ah, yes, they do that to all the first time babysitters. It's their own initiation."
"Hn."
"Overall, how was it? Will you be willing to take on another job?" Kyungsoo asked.
"Oh, yeah, totally!" Jongin agreed bluntly. "More than happy."
"That's nice to know." Kyungsoo hung the towel on the oven handle. "Care for some tea?" Jongin nodded. Kyungsoo retrieved a teapot, two cups, and packet of tea leaves from the pantry. He started to heat some water. "You should've seen the last time I had someone over to babysit. It didn't turn out very well."
"Why? Was it that bad?"
Kyungsoo leaned back against the counter, facing Jongin. "I had my friend Junmyeon come over, I had a catering that night as well. When I got back, he was balled up on the couch, there was a bruise on his arm, and his hair was an absolute rat's nest." Kyungsoo chuckled at the memory. "The boys were in their room playing with their stuffed animals, and Junmyeon never gave me the details, so I can only guess they had a very intense, very haunted game of hide and seek. After that, Junmyeon made me promise never to leave him alone with the kids again." He put some tea leaves in a net and poured hot water into the teapot, swirling it. He brought the pot and the cups to the table.
"Really?" Jongin found that hard to believe as he accepted the tea from Kyungsoo. "They're a bit mischievous, but that sounds kinda ridiculous."
Kyungsoo shrugged. "Junmyeon's good-willed, kind, but he's not exactly authoritative. He does his best to be a father figure, but he's not quite there yet."
"Ah." Jongin sipped his tea.
In silence, the two downed the entire pot. Then Kyungsoo fished out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to Jongin. "Your pay for today."
"Oh, thank you." Jongin stuffed it into his pocket. "I should get going," he said, standing.
Kyungsoo got to his feet as well. "It's late, do you need me to drive you home or...?"
"Nah, it's okay, I actually don't live too far away. Thanks." Jongin gathered his leashes and ushered his dogs too the door. "I'll see you next Saturday then?"
Kyungsoo nodded and waved until Jongin got in the elevator, then went to check on the boys.
All three were sound asleep in their beds, faint smiles on their faces.
Kyungsoo smiled as well as he sauntered to his own room. Not that bad a babysitter, eh? Kyungsoo thought.