Chapter Text
Chan really didn't know what to do anymore. Between balancing work and taking care of Jisung, he didn't really have time for anything else. Many judged him for taking in a little when he couldn't even take care of himself, but the truth was, he hadn't signed up to take care of the boy all by himself.
"I'll be back in... Well, I really don't know, and it really isn't any of your business." The woman sighed dramatically as she went to put on her shoes.
"Eomma!" the little on the floor cried out, crawling towards the person he had called out to making her huff.
"Christopher, come get this little person out of my hair, please. I really don't have time for this-"
Angrily storming his way over, Chan quickly picked up Jisung from the floor, making him whine and squirm against his hold.
"You could at least pretend you know." Chan spit out his anger.
"Pretend what? That I care for the little monster—"
"That's enough!" Chan's voice boomed throughout the house, making the woman flinch and the little in his hands tremble. Jisung's bottom lip wobbled, and he looked like he was trying his hardest not to start sobbing.
Beside them, the woman cooed sarcastically, "Calling me a bad caregiver, huh? Well, now that you've made the brat cry, see if you can call yourself a good caregiver now." Finally, she walked out of the room and then out of the house.
"Daddy" Jisung's voice quivered.
"Oh, baby, Daddy's so sorry, bug."
The phrase was enough to break the dam as the little's chest heaved with sobs. He hiccuped and coughed as he choked on his own saliva, making him even more worked up.
After Chan was able to calm Jisung a bit, they settled on the couch, and the little finally spoke up, his voice still trembling. "Daddy?" he hiccuped.
"Yeah, bug?"
"Sun'ie monsta'?"
If Chan's heart wasn't already in a million pieces, unable to put them together, it definitely was now. "No bug, no" he held the toddler a little tighter, "You're no monster, baby."
"Bu- bu' eomma say Sun'ie monsta' an- an brat." Jisung looked up at Chan with the roundest, saddest eyes ever. It took Chan his whole strength to keep his tears at bay.
"Jisungie, look at me." Chan held the little's cheeks firmly but oh, so gently, so the little had no choice but to follow the order. "Sungie, you are the most adorable and caring little boy in the whole wide world. You are so clever, creative, and smart. I'm so glad to be your daddy, and I wouldn't change it for the world. You hear me, bug? I love you." Chan said his words so confidently that Jisung had no choice but to believe him, snuggling closer to the man's chest.
"Daddy pway?" Jisung's eyes were now full of excited hope instead of sorrow, and Chan couldn't stop the chuckle that came out. The caregiver couldn't believe just how easily the little moved on, but then again, Jisung was in the headspace of a 4-year-old and had the attention span that came with it.
The older man glanced at his abandoned laptop and work at the question before turning his head again to focus on Jisung and his eyes, which held the universe in them.
"Alrighty, cuddle bug. Is today more of a superhero or prince kind of day, hm?"
Jisung cheered. He knew the question his daddy asked meant he was going to play with him. "Sun'ie awweady pwince!" He squealed. Daddy, my nigh-knigh' in a'mow cus-cus he save me from evil queen!"
Chan could feel his heart shatter all over again. He took a deep breath before facing Jisung. "Alright, your majesty," he said, bowing deeply, making Jisung squeal again in excitement. "Knight Chan, at your service."
Jisung also tried to bow back, albeit clumsily. "Pwince Sun'ie," he giggled.
After chasing dragons and making sure Jisung and his fellow monarch's (his stuffed animals) drinks (Jisung's sippy cup filled with juice) were not poisoned, the caregiver and little duo fell onto the couch, panting and giggling at the memory of their silly games.
"Daddy, 'm hungwy" Jisung sighed, patting his growling tummy.
"How 'bout some dinno nuggets and mac and cheese? Does that sound good, Ji?" Chan asked, standing up from the couch and offering his hand to help Jisung stand up.
"Yes!" The little quickly agreed, rejecting Chan's hand and making grabby hands at the man, preferring to be carried instead.
Chan chuckled. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.
"Okay then!" He quickly took Jisung into his arms, making the little squeal. "One order of dinno nuggets with a side of mac and cheese for the prince!"
By the time Chan finished making dinner for Jisung, the toddler was grumpy with hunger. "Here you go, baby." Chan put the plastic plate, cutlery, and sippy cup with apple juice on Jisung's designated place on the table, helping the boy into the booster seat.
"Thank you, daddy!"
Chan smiled warmly, "You're very welcome, sweetheart." He pressed a kiss to the boy's head before going to his own place on the table to eat dinner. The caregiver knew that the choice of dinner wasn't the healthiest, but today hadn't been the best day for the toddler, so Chan did everything he could to keep his baby happy.
Not even a minute after they had started on dinner, they heard the sound of jingling keys and the door opening.
"Bye, boo! See you tomorrow!" The witch herself walked into the dining room after saying her good-byes to whatever man she had spent the afternoon with.
Chan frowned. Typically, the woman always came home drunk, and after Jisung was put to bed, It was currently 6:30 (Jisung's bedtime was 7:30), and she seemed in her right mind.
Well, look at you having a family dinner without me!" Veronica pouted as if she were actually upset that they were eating without her. "Aren't you going to give Eomma a welcome kiss, Jisungie?!"
No matter how many times the woman had mistreated him, the little always seemed glad to see her. So Jisung, trying to shrink into his seat and looking at her wearily, was something new.
"No? Oh, well." Veronica sighed, going to sit beside Jisung to coo at him. "Look at you. Always so messy, Jisungie," she said, wiping all of the cheese that had made it to Jisung's cheeks (which was a lot). "Look at those cheeks!" She gasped. "You're eating too much, Sungie! You're gonna get all chubbie, and we can't have that, can we? Little piggie"
Chan slammed his fist into the table, making both the woman and the little turn to him with wide eyes. He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. He then exhaled, opening his eyes again and smiling sweetly. "C'mere baby," he said, opening his arms, and Jisung quickly ran into them. "You want your noise-canceling headphones, baby?"
Jisung nodded.
Luckily, the caregiver had them on hand, slipping them easily on Jisung's ears and pressing a kiss to his forehead before finally turning to face Veronica.
"You baby him too much-" she started before Chan raised his open palm, successfully silencing her.
"Enough is enough." Chan stated firmly trying to keep his anger in check for the sake of the little in his lap, who couldn't hear anything and was playing with the caregiver's hoodie strings. "Three years ago, we were children who didn't know what they wanted and decided to adopt a little. You live in my home and come and go as you please, you mistreat my little and think you can get away with it." Chan rose from his seat, smiling at Jisung and signaling for him to go play, which was exactly what the little did. Happily unaware of the discussion the caregivers were having
"Up to this moment, you have been getting away with it, but not anymore. Ji and I will be staying at Changbin's for the night. When we're back in the morning, I hope you have all your stuff packed and are ready to leave." Chan sighed, picking up two backpacks that he had packed earlier and moving to stand in front of Jisung, gently picking him up and setting him on his hip.
"You- you can't do that." Veronica finally sputtered out, too shocked that Chan was finally kicking her out to react properly. "I live here too!" She regained her posture and was now angry.
"Leave your keys on the table when you're done." Chan said calmly, helping Jisung put on his velcro-lighted shoes before putting on his own. "Let's go, Sungie," he held the little's hand, ready to walk out. Except Jisung wouldn't budge. Chan turned around to face the little and saw the tears in his eyes.
"Daddy, it hurts," the boy whimpered, his eyes round and teary.
It wasn't until that moment that he saw the death grip the so called caregiver had on the toddler. Chan's blood boiled. "You let go of him," he demanded. He touched some things on his phone before putting it on the table by the door.
"No." She smirked. "This is my little too, you idiot." She aggressively pulled Jisung closer to her, making the little's headphones fall off in the process. The toddler could only sob harder.
"Daddy, icky!" He hiccuped, trying his best to pull his arm away and scratching the arm that was being held by the woman as well as trying to cover his ears with his free arm to make up for the loss of his headphones.
"Listen to me, little brat," Veronica crouched down and was now eye to eye with the boy, "you are mine as much as you are your daddy's. So, if your daddy wants everything to be okay, he'll stay here and not leave, got it?" She directed the last part at Chan.
"You let him go, Veronica Park!" Chan's voice was filled with authority.
"Daddy!" Jisung continued squirming in Veronica's hold, making Chan's broken heart ache, but if he wanted his plan to work, he needed to be careful.
"Shut up, brat!" The sound of a palm striking skin was heard, then dead silence. Finally, Jisung began to wail.
Chan quickly took action, walking up to the woman and shoving her, which made her realease the little.
Jisung sobbed in pain and relief as he held his cheek and was picked up by Chan as the caregiver quickly collected his things.
"Didn't you hear me, Christopher? You can't legally take him!" She screamed.
"Oh, I can." He said it through gritted teeth. "No little is going to be put under your care once the Little's Protection Agency hears this," he said, playing the audio he had just recorded.
Veronica fumed. Screaming profanities and throwing things around. Chan quickly turned on his heels, calling a taxi before hand as he preferred it over taking his car. He quickly got in, and after telling the driver their destination, he could finally focus fully on a still sobbing Jisung.
"Oh baby, c'mere." Chan cooed, opening his arms for Jisung to fall into. Jisung sobbed for what seemed like the fifth time that day, trying to burrow himself impossibly into Chan. Chan could only rock them from side to side, making sure to whisper reassurances into the toddler's ear.
"Daddy?" Jisung asked after calming down a little, and Chan made sure to put his full focus on the boy, making sure that Jisung knew he was listening. "Daddy.." Jisung hiccuped. Daddy, 'ub me?" he asked, fiddling with his hands.
"Of course Daddy loves you, bug!" Chan affirmed. "That lady was very mean, wasn't she?"
Jisung nodded.
"Well, she was also very, very wrong. If you don't want her to be your eomma anymore, she doesn't have to be, okay?"
Jisung seemed to contemplate for a moment before nodding. "Only daddy," he snuggled closer.
"Alright, baby. Only daddy. I promise."
"Hey, man," Changbin said, welcoming Chan into the spacey apartment with a pat on the back.
"Hey Bin, thanks for taking us in on such short notice." Chan smiled tiredly with a sleeping Jisung on his shoulder.
"It's no problem, really. Im just glad that you finally realized that witch was no good for you and Sungie."
Chan couldn't help but roll his eyes with a smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Where are we staying?"
"Changing the subject, I see," Changbin said, giving him a boyish grin. "Not subtle, but it's working. It's that door over there." He pointed to a white door on the right. "I put a bassinet for Sungie on the side of the bed. My room is right beside yours."
Just then Jisung started fussing on Chan's arms, squirming and making little noises.
"Shhh, you're okay, baby." Chan turned towards his friend, "I'm going to lay him down."
"Sure thing, Hyung." Changbin nodded. "By the way, there's a pool and small park for littles attached to the building in case you want to take Jisung afterwards."
"It's good to have a friend with money." Chan laughed quietly, making Changbin grumble.
"Shut up."
"Night, Bin"
"Night, hyung"
"Daddy?" Jisung squirmed closer to Chan to poke the caregiver's cheek. "Daddy?"
"Yes, Sung?" Chan asked sleepily, not even opening his eyes.
"Daddy, sun's 'wake" Jisung smiled, giggling to himself quietly.
"Mhm, well, daddy isn't." Chan pulled Jisung into a bear hug, making the little squeal.
"Daddy, please. Wan' go play on swings." Jisung whined, squirming in Chan's arms.
"Alright, alright. Let's go get ready, bug." Chan released the cheering little who quickly ran into the kitchen. "Well, guess we're getting up then."
After Chan had changed himself into some grey sweatpants and a black shirt and Jisung into some white shorts and a baby blue bee shirt, they went into the kitchen together, finding a note from Changbin that said he had to go out but they were welcome to help themselves to breakfast and any other things they needed.
After a breakfast of fruit and cereal, Jusung was bouncing up and down, ready to go to the small park.
Okay, honey, hold on." Chan held the little's hand just before they went out the door, making the little whine. "You sure you won't want your headphones?" He asked for what seemed like the millionth time, worried.
"No, daddy! Now le's go!" Jisung tugged on Chan's hand.
Finally out the door, they bumped into one of Changbin's neighbors and their little, who watched them wearily. Jisung quickly hid himself behind Chan's legs.
After wishing good morning to the caregiver, Chan crouched down, offering a kind smile to the little. "Hey sweetie, what's your name?"
The little's eyes seemed to widen in surprise at the nickname before returning a shy smile. "Seungmin."
"Nice to meet you, Seungmin; I'm Channie." Chan finally said, standing up to continue their way to the park as the caregiver seemed annoyed at the fact they had been stopped.
"Bin 'yung?" Seungmin asked, fingers in his mouth.
"He's not here right now, sweetie. I'm sure you'll get to see him later, though." Chan reassured him before the little was pulled by his caregiver to start walking. "Bye Seungminnie," Chan waved.
"Buh-bye Channie," Seungmin said, reluctant to turn around towards where his caregiver was taking him before finally complying.
Chan was going to have to ask Changbin about Seungmin later.
Finally, at the park, Jisung ran off to the swing set without noticing the other man and his little on one of the benches at the small park. Chan looked around before finally settling on the same bench, offering the man and his little a kind smile.
"Daddy look!" Jisung called excitedly from the monkey bars as he went from one bar to another.
"Good job, baby!" Chan cheered, taking a picture of Jisung as he did.
"He's yours?" The man beside him finally spoke up, he was wearing a pink, soft looking cardigan and a pair of faded blue jeans.
"Yeah," Chan smiled proudly. "That's Jisung."
The man chuckled, "I should've asumed after he called you daddy, huh?"
"It's okay." Chan couldn't seem to stop smiling. "And I'm assuming this little cutie is yours," he cooed, waving at the little sitting on the floor in front of the other caregiver.
The baby, who sported an adorable pastel pink onesie and a pair of ankle high my Melody socks on his otherwise bare legs,offered him a few blinks before trying to shove grass into his mouth, making the man groan.
"Bubba, please we've talked about this." The man tried to pry the little's fist open to take away the rest of the remaining grass. The baby, however, did not seem to like that as he fought his caregiver, trying his hardest to keep his fist closed.
Chan had to tear his gaze away from the amusing sight at a call from Jisung.
Look, daddy, I found a lady bug!" He cheered excitedly while staring at his open palm with starry eyes.
"That's awesome, bug! What are you goinna name her?" Chan always tried to indulge Jisung's interests.
As Jisung rambled on with a bunch of name options, he heard a snort from the man beside him, who had finally gotten a hold of the grumpy baby who was now sitting on his lap. "You call him bug?"
Chan grinned "Yeah! His uh-" he cleared his throat, "my uh- old co-caregiver, his old caregiver uhm, used to tease him a lot for being interested in bugs and stuff." Chan looked down at his hands. "She used to call him bug in a derogatory way, and uh- I guess she thought he wouldn't catch on to the fact that the nickname was a bad thing? But he did, and, uhm... I had to work with him a lot before I could turn it into a positive thing." He smiled, still looking at the ground. "Now it's his favorite nickname."
"Oh my gosh."
Chan looked up to see the stranger with his mouth wide open, seemingly bringing his baby a little closer. "I'm so sorry, I-"
"No!" Chan blurted out, waving his hands in front of him, "No need to apologize; I shouldn't have said anything I- I kinda dumped all of this on you." He giggled nervously, scratching at the back of his neck. He was sure that the tip of his ears, if not his whole face, was red by now.
"Well I- I think that the story behind the nickname is beautiful." The man smiled.
Chan smiled back.
Daddy, can I keep Lily?" Jisung ran up to him, still holding the ladybug ever so carefully.
Sorry, buddy, no can do." Chan sighed, lifting Jisung into his lap. "Lily probably has her own daddy that looks out for her when she comes to the park."
Jisung merely pouted, trying to pull the puppy eyes.
Chan raised an eyebrow "What if this nice gentleman decided to take you home because he thought you were cute?"
The man looked at the pair in amusement, and Jisung shook his head.
"Then you know what to do." Chan grunted as he set Jisung on the floor. "Say goodbye to Lily now, Sungie."
Jisung gently set his palm on the floor, letting the lady bug walk out on its own before returning to Chan's lap a little sadder than when he had left.
"Good job, baby; I'm so proud of you." Chan kissed the top of Jisung's head.
Jisung turned to the man besides them, Lily completely forgotten, as curiosity got the best of him. "What's your name, Mr. Man?"
"My name's Minho," the man said, smiling so brightly. Chan thought he was going to melt. "And your name is Jisungie."
Jisung's eyes widened as big as dinner plates, turning to his caregiver and then back at the man before nodding and returning a bright smile. "What's your baby's name? He's cute"
"This is my Hyunjinnie" he said, bouncing the baby a little before turning back to the conversation with Jisung. "And what's your caregiver's name?" This time the man—Minho—turned to look at Chan.
"His name is Daddy." Jisung stated proudly, making Chan choke out a laugh.
"I'm Chan," he offered with a smile.
Minho smiled back before a look of realization dawned on his face. "You're the guy staying with Binnie!" He laughed incredulously, " I should've known; I've never seen you here before."
"Yeah." Chan scratched the back of his neck once again, and Minho noticed this seemed to be a habit of Chan's.
Cute.
Chan and Minho kept on talking for a while as Hyunjin giggled at all the funny faces Jisung kept pulling at him. Finally, Chan stood up.
"Well, we better get going. We've gotta get back to our place, Sungie."
Jisung looked up at him with wide eyes. "No more meany woman?"
Chan gave him a kiss on the forehead. "No more meany woman, I promise."
Minho decided not to comment, fearing to overstep on what seemed a delicate matter. "We should get going too. Hyunjinnie here is on a schedule, and it's about time for his bottle," he said, standing up with Hyunjin on his hip. "It was really nice meeting you, Chan-ssi," he offered his hand.
"Chan. Please." Said caregiver shook Minho's offered hand with the one that wasn't being held by Jisung.
“Daddy are we gonna get to see Jinnie and Mr. Minho again?” Jisung asked, looking up at Chan and Minho with eyes full of hope.
Both caregivers looked at each other, a silent promise of seeing each other again.
“Yeah, Sungie,if that’s okay with him.” Chan smiled down at Jisung before setting his gaze back on Minho and Hyunjin who was drooling all over his fingers.
“I’ll see you both later.” Minho offered both the caregiver and little a smile before walking over to the building’s doors and disappearing behind them.
“Well, looks like we’re gonna get to see a lot more of Mr. Minho now, Sungie.”
Jisung cheered, dancing around on his spot, unaware of the fond look his daddy had.