Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chan was pretty happy with his life. He had a job he loved, a nice apartment that didn’t take all of his money to rent, and a pretty decent group of people around him. What was there to complain about, really? 

However. Chan felt as if there was something missing—something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. 

Chan stretched, cringing at the way his joints clicked and clunked with every move, finally managing to pull himself out of bed after lying and contemplating his life for far too long. He grabbed some clothes for the day and made his way into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he stood in the small hallway of his apartment, wondering whether he should go and make himself some breakfast or crawl back into bed for some sleep that he so desperately wanted. 

Not wanting to be half asleep for the meetings he had that day, Chan decided to get some food. 

There wasn’t that much of a choice and he should have known that. His kitchen cupboards were looking quite depressing with only one instant ramen packet left in one of them. Chan knew that he could definitely not stomach an entire serving of ramen, so just picked up an apple that was questionable at best. It didn’t taste too terrible, so he just decided to suck it up. 

Flopping down on his couch, he pulled out his phone and began idly scrolling through his social media. There were still about 15 minutes before he had to leave for work, so he enjoyed them as much as he could. 

Far too quickly, in Chan’s opinion, the clock on his phone read 8:00, and it was time for him to leave. He forced himself up off the couch and towards his front door. Slipping on his shoes, Chan patted his pockets to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, picked up his bag, and headed out. 

The walk to the train station wasn’t very long, but Chan enjoyed getting outside for a little while before he was inevitably going to be holed up in his studio all day. 

It was nearing the end of summer, so it was still pretty warm out, but Chan could feel the slight chill of the breeze as he walked. It was still warm enough that no one was wearing anything even resembling a jacket, though. 

The train station was packed, just as it was every morning. It wasn’t even rush hour and Chan was still having to somewhat fight his way through the crowds to get to his train in time. When he did manage to step onto the train, all of the seats were taken, so he was left to hold onto the handles and hope he didn’t make an absolute fool out of himself when the train started moving again. 

Chan made it to his company building with about 20 minutes to spare before he was scheduled to meet with the first artist of the day. The company he worked for wasn’t massive, but they had a pretty good reputation in the industry if he did say so himself. Plus, it wasn’t the popularity of the artists he worked with that mattered to Chan. All he cared about was whether they were nice and respectful to him or not. 

The day slipped by so quickly that it felt like one moment Chan was placing his bag down in his office, and the next the clock was reading half past one. How on earth did that happen? 

Chan ran his hands down his face, his eyes feeling tired from staring at a bright screen for so many hours. He was going to be in the office late tonight, he could already tell. There was so much work for him to do that had been piling up over the past few days, there was practically no avoiding it at this point. 

Deciding that he needed a break, Chan saved his progress and turned off his computer. He needed to stretch his legs a bit, so why not go and get himself some lunch from the cafe nearby? Staying an hour or two later than he had originally planned wouldn’t hurt anyone anyway. 

The streets weren’t very busy considering that most people had already returned to work after their lunch breaks, so Chan was able to switch his mind off slightly as he walked down the familiar roads. 

He soon arrived at his favourite cafe and walked inside. Chan greeted the barista and ordered himself a coffee and sandwich from the cabinet. He decided to sit outside as it was still nice outside, and began scrolling idly through his phone as he waited for his coffee. It didn’t take long for it to arrive, and he thanked the barista as they set it down on the metal table and headed back inside the cafe. 

Chan found himself enjoying sitting outside the small cafe much more than he had expected. It was nice to get some fresh air, well as fresh as you could get while still in the middle of a busy city, and just watch the world go by. 

The majority of the people walking past him were mothers with their young children, out for a walk while it wasn’t so busy. As they walked past him, Chan couldn’t help but smile at the curious looks on all the children’s faces as they took in their surroundings. Even the littlest kids in strollers being pushed by their mothers were looking around at the tall buildings on either side of the street. Chan found it adorable. 

He had always liked kids, for as long as he could remember, but he had never even thought about having one himself. He definitely wanted kids, he just didn’t know when. He was always so busy with his work that he hadn’t even considered the fact that most people his age would already be planning out their future children. 

As he walked back to the company building, Chan seemed to take extra notice of every child that walked past him. There was an odd feeling in his chest every time he saw one. It was…strange. 

The rest of the afternoon passed without anything of particular interest happening. Chan had managed to finish recording one of his songs though, which meant that he could finally start working on putting it together, making it perfect. 

It was around 1 a.m. by the time he actually left the company building, however, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to catch the train home. He wasn’t too upset about this though, it was probably good for him to get a bit of exercise after being hunched over his desk for so many hours. 

As he walked, Chan let his mind wander, music playing at a slightly too high volume to block out the world—just as he liked it. For some reason, his mind somewhat immediately went to the topic of kids. What was with him today? Why did he keep thinking about kids? (In a non-creepy way)

Chan idly wondered what type of parent he would be. If he did have kids, he would want to give them the best childhood he possibly could, give them everything he didn't have. His parents weren’t bad by any means, no, they were just…busy. All the time. This meant that Chan was left to look after his two siblings a lot of the time, making it hard for him to actually go out and socialise with people his own age. Yeah, his social skills definitely suffered a bit because of that. No wonder he was so anxious and awkward when talking to people he didn’t know very well. He never really had that ‘typical teenager experience’ of going out and partying, becoming friends with anyone and everyone when you were completely plastered only to ignore them at school the following Monday. 

Then, Chan got to thinking. If he did want kids, how would he even get them? He didn’t have a partner he had biological kids with, and he didn’t have any idea about how adoption worked. Perhaps that was something he could look into? 

Wait. 

Why was he thinking about this in the first place? There was no way Chan was ready to have kids yet. He was barely able to take care of himself and he was always away at work until ungodly hours of the night, kids shouldn’t even be on the table.  

But…

No. Chan, you’re not ready for kids. Stop it. 

———

The next few days went by pretty smoothly, Chan almost completely forgetting his slight baby fever from his walk home. 

That was until his parents called him. 

They called him pretty regularly, and he wasn’t complaining by any means. It was actually nice to talk to them regularly considering they lived about 12 hours away by plane. 

“Hello?” 

“Channie! How are you?” 

“I’m alright, I’m alright. Works keeping me busy.” 

“Oh, they’re not overworking you at that company of yours, are they?” Chan couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his mother. 

“Don’t worry, Eomma. I’m the one who’s choosing to stay the later hours. It just works better—I’m more productive at night.” Chan heard his mother tsk him through the phone. 

“Chan, your Appa and I are worried about that bad habit of yours. You need to make sure you’re getting enough sleep even if you have tracks to work on. Are you eating well? Taking care of your health? How many hours of sleep are you getting?”  

“Yes, Eomma, I promise I’m completely fine. And I’m getting enough sleep. I can still function, so I’m fine. Anyway, that’s enough about me. How are you and Appa? Has Lucas managed to burn the house down yet?” 

“You need to stop teasing your brother like that, he’s at university now, he can take care of himself perfectly fine.”

“Can he really, though?” Chan heard his mother chuckle through the phone. 

“Your Appa is doing good, although he’s struggling with his mobility a little bit. Something’s wrong with his back so we’re taking him to the doctor tomorrow morning.” Chan frowned slightly. 

“Is he okay?” 

“Oh, yes, he’s absolutely fine. Just a little sore is all.” 

Their call fell into a comfortable silence as the two of them both got on with their own tasks. This was a pretty frequent occurrence, Chan and his mother would call each other and just stay on the phone for hours as they went around doing chores. Chan currently had his phone placed just under the TV as he sat and folded laundry in his living room. It was nice—a routine he liked to stick to. 

However, the silence was eventually broken by another voice coming through the phone. 

“Oi, Channie-hyung.” It was Lucas. 

“What?” Chan replied blandly. 

“You could at least sound a little excited to hear me, Jesus Christ.” Chan rolled his eyes. 

“What do you want?” 

“Can I not just want to talk to my darling brother?” 

“Lucas.” 

“What?” Lucas asked in an innocent voice. Chan could just picture his face at that moment, a smug expression on his face as he held the phone to his ear, probably leaning against their kitchen bench or something. 

“When are you going to come visit again? It’s been so boring ever since you moved.” 

“Aww, do you really miss me that much? I was just over for Christmas a few months ago, it really hasn’t been that long, promise.” 

“So you’re saying that you’re not coming back any time soon?” 

“I didn’t say that.” 

“Then when?” 

“Dunno.” 

“God, you’re so annoying.” 

“That’s me.” 

“At least make your next visit exciting, then.” Chan paused for a moment. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Oh, I dunnoooooo. Maybe you have a secret girlfriend you haven’t told any of us about.” Chan could hear his mother calling from the other side of the room “CHAN HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!” 

“Lucas, I don’t have a secret girlfriend, I think you’re just projecting.” Lucas scoffed. 

“Shut up.”

“Oh my god, you totally do. Tell me about her, come on, come on.” 

“I don’t have a secret girlfriend, okay?” 

“Sure you don’t.” 

“I don’t!” 

“Yup, sure.” 

“Oh my god, you’re the most insufferable person on this planet.” There was a brief pause where Chan fell deep into thought. 

“How would you feel about being an uncle?” he blurted out. There was a thud from the other end of the phone and Lucas swearing loudly, quickly followed by their mother telling him off. 

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Chan repeated himself. 

“An uncle?! Chan, you just said you didn’t have a secret girlfriend then asked if I wanted to be an uncle. I think those two statements are a little contradictory.” 

“No, it’s not like that. I just wanted to know what you thought.” There was a long silence. 

“Mate, are you seriously considering having kids?” 

“…Maybe? I mean I thought about it a bit while walking home from work a few days ago. I mean, nothing's set in stone but…I dunno, maybe it’d be nice to have a little person running around?” 

“I feel like you should definitely be talking to Eomma about this and not me, but honestly, I say go for it. No idea where you’re going to get a kid, but as long as it’s not by kidnapping or anything, I’m all for it. As long as you let me give them Uncle Lucas weekends when they’re over.” 

“Oh for sure.” 

Not long after that, Lucas handed the phone back to their mom and Chan had a very long conversation with her about potential future grandchildren. 

By the end of the call, Chan had made up his mind. He wanted kids. He wanted to have kids to care for and raise. 

He spent the rest of the night researching as much as he possibly could about how adoption worked where he lived and the sort of things he could do. For some odd reason, Chan felt drawn to fostering, so he went down that rabbit hole as well. It was interesting to look at all the criteria and what he would have to do if he was actually going to go forward with this. 

Chan decided to take a few days to think about this seriously, then make up his mind. 

Before he knew it, he had found a fostering agency near enough to where he lived and he was collecting all the necessary documents. 

As you’d expect, there was a lot he had to do to actually become a foster parent. He had to have a police background check, provide full proof of identity, provide a full medical report from his doctor, get a few referees, and have god knows how many interviews, along with much more. It was exhausting work getting everything ready, but Chan knew it would be worth it in the end. 

He walked through the front doors of Attacca Foster Agency, hands shaking. He walked up to the reception and cleared his throat slightly awkwardly. 

“How can I help you?” the lady behind the desk asked him. 

“Um, I’m here to have a final interview for registering as a foster parent?” 

“Can I get a name?” 

“Bang Chan.” 

“Ah, yes. Just walk through those doors to your left and wait at the end of the hallway. There should be a few chairs for you to sit on.” Chan thanked her and headed through the doors she had indicated. 

What seemed like an eternity later, Chan heard his name being called. 

He got shakily to his feet and followed a stern-looking woman into what he presumed was her office. He then sat in the chair she had indicated, clutching his papers close to his chest. 

“So I understand that you should have all of your necessary documentation?” she asked him. Chan nodded, handing her the papers he was holding. She scanned through them, glancing up at her computer every so often to presumably double-check something. 

Chan sat awkwardly in the chair, looking around the office to distract himself from the nerves building in the pit of his stomach. It seemed to take hours for her to read the papers, why did it take so long? What was so hard about reading 5 pieces of paper? 

After what seemed like an eternity to Chan, the woman cleared her throat, and he quickly snapped his gaze back to her. 

“Everything seems to be in order so far. I just need to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright.” Chan nodded nervously, trying to look as if he was sure of his answer. 

She asked him a few questions about his home, his income, and other things like that. Chan didn’t quite understand why she had to ask these things, as all of them were on the papers he had just handed her but who was he to question anything at this point? She was the professional in this situation, he had no idea what he was doing if he was being completely honest with himself. 

There was an uncomfortably long pause after the woman asked her final question. It seemed to go on forever to Chan, but he honestly doubted that it was more than 10 seconds based on the clock on the right-hand wall. 

He couldn’t help but jump slightly when the printer behind the woman suddenly jumped to life, making all sorts of whirring noises as it printed off a simple piece of paper. The woman reached behind her and took the piece of paper, sliding it across the table to Chan along with a pen. 

“All you need to do is sign right here, and everything will be formally processed.” Chan couldn’t quite believe his ears. He took the pen in slightly shaking hands and signed his name at the bottom of the paper. The woman took it back and scanned it once more before putting it on top of the rest of the papers Chan had brought with him. She then stood up, and Chan followed her. 

For the first time since he had met her, the woman smiled. 

“We will call you when we have a potential placement for you.” Chan couldn’t help but grin himself, bowing to the woman and thanking her profusely before leaving the office. 

It didn’t hit him until he was driving back home that all of this was real. 

He was going to be a foster parent. 

Chapter Text

To be able to foster younger kids, Chan had had to adapt his work to be able to work from home. It was a little frustrating, but they had got there in the end…after many stern talks from his boss. Chan had changed one of the spare rooms in his apartment into an at-home office in the mean time. His apartment actually had three bedrooms; his own one that he slept in, the one he had turned into a makeshift office, and the final one which he had set up for when he got a placement. 

If he was being honest with himself, Chan had no idea how to set up a room for a potential foster child. What would they need? What if they didn’t like it? What if he messed up and accidentally put something in there that would trigger them? What if he made it suited for kids too young and he got a teenager staying with him? 

In the end, Chan had tried to make the room as plain as possible while still having all the essentials so whatever child stayed with him could decorate it how they liked. 

It had been a few weeks since Chan had officially been registered as a potential foster parent. He hadn’t heard anything from Attacca just yet, but they told him it was normal for it to take at least a month or so before he got even a call about his first potential placement. 

By now, it was almost two weeks into September and the summer warmth was disappearing quickly. What was a warm breeze yesterday now had a chill to it and Chan was wearing more and more layers outside. It definitely wasn’t winter-level cold, no, it was still pretty warm most of the time, but it was definitely cooling down. 

Chan was sitting at his desk—which had taken him longer than he would like to admit to put together—finalising some backing tracks when his phone rang. Taking out his headphones, Chan picked up his phone and clicked the ‘accept’ button before even reading the contact name. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” came a man’s voice. 

“Uh, yes it is, who is this?” Chan asked. 

“This is Attacca Foster Agency, we are calling you about a potential foster placement.” That got Chan’s attention. He sat up straight and cleared his throat. 

“Oh, yes, of course.” He tried his best to keep the slight shakiness out of his voice. 

The man on the other end of the phone then went on to explain the very rough details of the case to Chan. He was told that the kid was about to turn two in roughly a week and didn’t have any special needs, along with a few other very vague details, including his given name. Jisung. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t say anything else over the phone, you’d have to come in to get a more detailed picture.” 

“I understand. When should I come in?” Chan asked. There was some clicking from the other end of the phone as Chan waited for a response. 

“There is an available slot later this afternoon if that works for you?” Chan took a double take. That afternoon? Glancing at the clock in the corner of his monitor, he saw that it was just past 12 o’clock. 

“Yeah, that sounds great.” 

“Fantastic. We will see you at 3:30, then, Mr. Bang.” Chan hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh, running his hands down his face. 

This was real. This was actually happening. 

Chan had no idea what would actually happen when he went in later that day, but that didn’t stop him from stress-cleaning his entire apartment. 

Realistically, he knew that it was highly unlikely that the kid would be coming home with him that day, but then again, he didn’t really know how all of this worked, and you could never be too over-prepared, right? 

By 2 o’clock, the apartment was spotless. 

Chan flopped down on his couch and began scrolling through his phone. He knew that he should probably get back to work, but there was no way he would be able to concentrate now that he knew he could potentially be having his first foster placement soon. 

When looking at social media wasn’t enough of a distraction, Chan began thinking about what type of kid he could be looking after. He really didn’t have much to go off of, but it was still fun to think about. 

Chan honestly hadn’t been around an almost-two-year-old in quite a long time, but that didn’t stop him from being extremely excited. He wondered if he would even get to meet the kid that day. Again, he didn’t know practically anything about the situation, so he wasn’t even sure if the kid was at the foster agency centre or not. If it had been an emergency placement, Chan knew that he would have the kid on his doorstep by that night, but it didn’t seem to be an emergency, so he was able to relax a little. 

Surely they would’ve told him if it was an emergency placement, right? He also thought that giving him an emergency placement as his first fostering experience was a little unfair. Of course, he wouldn’t complain and he would still love and care for the child to the best of his abilities, but he would just prefer a little warning beforehand. 

Painfully slowly, 3 o’clock rolled around and Chan began heading towards his front door. 

He made sure to double and triple-check that he had everything before stepping out of his apartment and heading down towards the parking lot. 

Contrary to popular belief, Chan did actually have his own car. He just chose not to use it very often, preferring to take the train or bus. He wasn’t exactly sure why he preferred public transport over driving himself, but he did. Although, Chan thought that it was probably better for him to drive himself today, just to be that extra bit prepared. 

The drive was relatively straightforward, Chan blasting his music as he usually would. Yeah, he would definitely have to change that habit once he had kids in the car with him. 

Hold on. 

Kids? Plural? 

Jesus Christ, Chan, calm down. You’re only just heading to a meeting about your first placement. Don’t even start thinking about more any time soon. Just take it one at a time. 

It was more difficult than Chan had expected to find a park near Attacca, which meant that he ended up parking a block down the road. He didn’t mind the walk, though. If anything, it was a way for him to get his excess nervous energy out before he entered the building. 

As he walked into the reception, there were what looked like a few other potential foster parents waiting in the waiting room. Chan walked up to the front desk, which had a friendly-looking woman sitting behind it. She looked up as he approached. 

“Hi there, how can I help you?” 

“Um, I’m Bang Chan, I was called about a potential placement earlier today?” The woman began typing away at her computer. 

“Ah, yes, here you are. You’ll just be meeting with one of our case workers who will explain everything to you about the situation. If you just walk through those doors there and go straight ahead, you should find a few seats about halfway down the corridor.” Chan thanked her and headed around to the doors she had indicated. 

Last time he was here, he had gone through the doors on the other side of the reception, so this area was unfamiliar to him. However, just as the receptionist had described, there were a few hard chairs about halfway down the door-lined hallway. Chan sat down on one of them, fiddling nervously with the hem of his sweater. 

Looking around as a way to distract and partially ground himself, Chan noticed a door at the end of the corridor he was in. There seemed to be another corridor that ran long ways from the end of this hallway, perhaps connecting this one to the one he was in last time. The door was made of frosted glass, so Chan could see figures moving around inside, but couldn’t identify any of them. 

Before he could take in much else, the door next to him opened and a young woman stepped out. 

“Bang Chan?” she asked him. Chan nodded and the woman smiled, leading him inside what he presumed was her office. 

“Take a seat,” the woman told him, which he did. “I’m Chaeyoung and I’m Jisung’s caseworker. Now we’ll just start with some general information about him before we go and meet him. If the interaction goes well with him, then you will be given his file to read over before you come in and have another meeting with him. Does that sound all good with you?” Chan nodded. Chaeyoung smiled warmly at him and began telling Chan some details about Jisung’s situation. 

If he was being honest, Chan was so nervous about the fact of meeting Jisung that he wasn’t able to fully process what Chaeyoung was telling him. He guessed that was probably why they were giving him Jisung’s file to read in his own time. 

After about 15 minutes, Chaeyoung closed the file and got to her feet. 

“If it’s alright with you, I think we will go in and meet Jisung now?” Chan nodded eagerly, also getting to his feet. 

“Now, I will be in the room the whole time, just monitoring the interaction between you two, but I won’t interfere unless it is absolutely necessary, alright?” Chan just nodded mutely as he followed her out of the office and down the hall to the door with the frosted glass that Chan had noticed earlier. 

Chan suddenly felt much more nervous. His insides were writhing like snakes and his hands were beginning to shake every so slightly. Chaeyoung obviously noticed his sudden increase in anxiety and gave him a warm smile. 

“You’ll do great, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.” Chan nodded, feeling like he might be sick if he opened his mouth, and followed Chaeyoung through the door. 

They walked into a much larger room than Chan had been expecting. The walls were painted a light blue colour and there were brightly coloured foam mats covering the entire floor. There were a few playsets, one that included a slide, sitting in one corner, but Chan’s attention was soon drawn to the toddler sitting on the floor, back facing the door. Chan glanced over at Chaeyoung, who nodded encouragingly, and made his way over to where the boy was sitting. 

As he approached the toddler, Chan saw that he was playing with a few trucks he had presumably pulled from the open toy box sitting just a few feet away. 

“Hi there,” Chan said in his best attempt at not startling the boy. Jisung turned around, brown eyes wide and sparkling. Chan could feel his heart melting. 

“Hello,” Jisung said before turning back to his toy trucks. Chan shuffled closer. 

“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked. 

“You…you can,” Jisung replied. Chan lowered himself to the floor with slightly more difficulty than he would have liked, but he got there eventually. 

“I’m Chan, what’s your name?” Jisung paused for a moment, looking up at Chan. 

“Jisung.” 

“Well, Jisung, it’s very nice to meet you.” Chan tried to smile at him, but Jisung just stared at him blankly. 

Okay, maybe this wasn’t going as well as Chan had hoped. 

Chan hadn’t been around a child so young for a long time, he felt a little out of practice. His younger brother was almost 10 years younger than him, but even then, Chan had only been nine years old when Lucas was Jisung’s age. 

“What are you playing?” Chan asked in an attempt to strike up conversation again. He was acutely aware of Chaeyoung’s pen scribbling away on her clipboard, which only made him more uneasy. 

“Trucks.” Chan thought it was going to end with that simple sentence, but oh was he wrong. “Can I show story?” 

“You tell me the story.” 

Once Jisung had started, there was no chance of stopping him. He explained to Chan the intricate storyline he had imagined for his two toy trucks. Much to Chan’s relief, the more Jisung talked, the more lively he seemed to become.  

After about 10 minutes of explaining his game to Chan, Jisung seemed to have run out of words. 

“Wow, you’re very creative, Jisung.” Chan’s heart sank as he saw Jisung’s face fall. His eyebrows creased and he looked down at the trucks still clutched in his small hands. 

“Eomma says c—creative is bad,” he said in a tiny voice. 

“Oh, no, no, not at all. Being creative can be a very good thing, Jisung.” Jisung’s face lit up again, a broad grin spreading across his face. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” The smile on Jisung’s face grew impossibly wider, showing off his adorable chubby cheeks that Chan just wanted to squish. 

The two of them sat on the floor for a while longer, Chan eventually being allowed to join in on Jisung’s game of trucks. 

Suddenly, Jisung dropped the truck he was holding and clambered to his feet. He stood looking at Chan, bouncing up at down. 

“Chan?” 

“Yes?” 

“Do you…can we go on slide?” Chan glanced back at the small plastic slide at the other end of the room. 

“Of course we can, let’s go.” Jisung turned on his heel and began running towards the slide before abruptly stopping. He turned around again and ran back to Chan, grabbing his hand and attempting to pull him to his feet. Chan couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t worry,” he chuckled, now being dragged across the room by a surprisingly strong two-year-old. 

They reached the slide in no time and Jisung climbed enthusiastically up the few steps. However, when he reached the top and looked down the slide, all of his energy seemed to vanish. He was suddenly more reserved and nervous, fiddling with his hands and staring down the small plastic slide. 

“What’s wrong?” Chan asked, stepping closer to the plastic slide. 

“I not been on a slide before,” Jisung admitted in a small voice after a while. 

“So you’re a bit nervous about going down it? That’s perfectly understandable.” 

“I’m not scared!” Jisung’s slightly shrill tone of voice said otherwise, but Chan didn’t comment. 

“It’s okay to be scared.” 

“I’m not scared,” Jisung repeated. 

“Okay, you’re not scared. But you don’t have to go down the slide if you don’t want to, you can come back down the steps if that’s better.” Jisung didn’t reply, eyes only flitting between Chan and the top of the slide with a slight pleading look on his face. Eventually, Chan cottoned on. 

“Do you want me to help you go down the slide?” Jisung nodded. “Okay then.” 

Chan walked around to the side of the plastic slide and held his hands out. Jisung took them cautiously and allowed himself to be led to the top of the slide. It took a moment, but he eventually sat down, holding onto Chan tightly. 

“I’ll hold you just here, okay?” Chan told Jisung, moving his hands to hold around Jisung’s middle. 

“Promise you won’t let go?” Jisung asked. 

“I pinkie promise,” Chan replied, even holding up his pinkie to prove it. Jisung linked his pinkie with Chan’s and nodded. Chan placed his hand back around Jisung’s middle and waited. 

“You just tell me when you’re ready, and you can go down the slide, okay?” 

“Okay.” They stayed there for a few minutes while Jisung built up the courage, but Chan didn’t complain. He just waited patiently. 

“Ready,” Jisung said eventually. 

“Okay. Three…two…one.” Chan led Jisung down the slide, taking most of his weight so he didn’t go too fast. When they reached the bottom of the very short slide, Jisung was giggling a smiling, all of the energy he had previously lost back in full swing. 

“Again! Again!” He squirmed out of Chan’s grip and ran up the steps again. 

“Do you want me to hold you again?” Chan offered. Jisung nodded, so Chan did just that. He waited for the all-clear from Jisung and led him down the slide again. 

They continued to do that a few more times, Chan taking less and less of Jisung’s weight each time at the toddler’s request until he was zooming down the slide all by himself. 

Eventually, Chaeyoung got to her feet, a smile on her face. 

“Jisung, it’s time for Chan to go.” Jisung stopped just as he was about to go down the slide again, face falling. 

“I don’t want him to,” Jisung pouted. 

“I know, honey, but he’ll be coming back.” Jisung’s face lit up. 

“You are?” 

“I am?” Chan asked, turning to face Chaeyoung. 

“Yes,” Chaeyoung said to both of them. 

“I guess it’s okay. Only you pinkie promise to come back,” Jisung said to Chan, sliding down the slide to walk up to him. 

“I pinkie promise,” Chan said, crouching down. The two linked pinkies and Jisung seemed to be pleased. 

“Bye bye, Chan,” Jisung said, launching himself at Chan to wrap him in a tight hug. Chan had to try his best to not topple backwards onto the floor, before returning the hug. 

Jisung let go of Chan eventually, and Chan was able to stand up properly and follow Chaeyoung, waving at Jisung as he left. The toddler waved back at him enthusiastically. 

Once they were back out in the corridor, Chaeyoung smiled at Chan. 

“That went very well, you did a good job.” Chan couldn’t help but grin back at her. 

“Thank you.” 

“Now, here is Jisung’s case file,” Chaeyoung said, handing Chan a manilla folder with some papers inside, HAN JISUNG written clearly in the top corner. “I suggest you read through it, and you should get a call sometime in the next few days to make a time to come and visit Jisung again.” Chan thanked her profusely before heading back out to his car. 

Chan returned to his apartment feeling positive about his meeting with Jisung. He hadn’t been too sure at first, but Jisung had warmed up to him eventually. 

Once he had changed into some more comfortable clothes, Chan sat down on his couch and opened Jisung’s file that Chaeyoung had given him. Chan knew some details from their talk before meeting Jisung, but this file had a lot more of the finer details. 

As he read, Chan felt more and more empathetic towards Jisung’s mother. She had been so young when she had Jisung, only 15 the file said, and she had ben thrown out by her parents after they found out she was pregnant. She had tried to work and support both her and her son, but it just wasn’t possible anymore, so she gave him up. Attacca were looking for a place for Jisung to live while they waited to find someone to adopt him, but the notes in the file suggested that his placement was likely to be long-term. 

As he finished reading, Chan let out a sigh. Jisung already had such a tough life and he was only two years old. Now, Chan was more determined than ever to give him a better one, even if he was only going to be with him while they waited to find adoptive parents for him. 

Filled with a new rush of productivity, Chan got to his feet and headed towards the bedroom that he hoped would be Jisung’s someday soon. The room was all prepped for a child to come and live there already, but there were limited options on toys and books, as Chan didn’t know what the child placed in his care would like. However, now that he knew Jisung was potentially going to be placed into his care, he was able to get some specialised toys for him. 

Chan left his apartment building and walked to the nearest train station, deciding to head to the nearest department store to get some things for Jisung. Even if he wasn’t going to live with Chan, Chan could still give him the toys as a present at their next meeting. 

The store wasn’t very busy when he arrived, which Chan was grateful for. He hated crowded places. 

Chan made his way to the toys section, somewhere he rarely ever visited, and began looking at the toys available. When they had been talking, Jisung had told him all about his favourite animal of all time—the quokka. Chan honestly wasn’t sure exactly how Jisung even knew what quokkas were, as they only lived on a few islands in Western Australia, but he wasn’t going to question it. 

He wasn’t able to find any quokka plushies, unsurprisingly, but he did manage to pick up some toy trucks, action figures, and a few miscellaneous stuffed animals. It was a pretty generic haul, but he hoped Jisung would like it. 

———

About a week later, Chan received a call to organise another time to come in and meet with Jisung. Thankfully, there had been an available slot the very next day. 

Chan drove to Attacca again and parked his car in the visitor's car park outside. He gave his name at the desk, just as he had done last time, and made his way to the seats outside Chaeyoung’s office. 

He was only waiting for around 10 minutes before Chaeyoung made her way out of her office and greeted Chan. 

“Unless you have any questions, should we go and meet with Jisung now?” Chan didn’t have any questions, so followed her through the door at the end of the hallway. 

“Jisung, Chan’s here to see you,” Chaeyoung said as she closed the door behind the two of them. Jisung, who had been sitting in the corner of the room drawing on a piece of paper with his back to the door, whipped around and scrambled to his feet, running at full speed towards Chan. 

“Chan! I missed you!” the small boy said as he wrapped his arms around Chan’s knees. Chan couldn’t help but smile. 

“I missed you too, bud.” Chaeyoung smiled at them and made her way over to a chair on the other side of the room. 

“Can I show my drawing?” Jisung asked, looking up at Chan, arms still wrapped around his knees. 

“Of course, I’d love to see what you were drawing.” Jisung grinned and pulled Chan over to where he had previously been sitting on the floor. He picked up the piece of paper and held it towards Chan, looking very proud of himself. 

“Oh wow, that’s really good, Jisung!” In reality, it was just a bunch of brown scribbles on a page with a messily-drawn smiley face in the middle, but Chan wasn’t going to crush Jisung’s reality. 

“It’s quokka!” 

“I can see that, good job, buddy.” 

Their second meeting went just as well as the first, with Chaeyoung smiling as she led Chan out of the room. 

“He’s been asking for you ever since you left last time,” she told him. Chan blinked at her. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” She looked around to make sure they were alone. “I’m not supposed to tell you this just yet, but I think that Jisung is very likely to go home with you sometime soon. Maybe even the next time you see him, you’ll be taking him home. I have seen nothing but positive interactions between the two of you and he seems to have become very attached. His mother even said when she brought him in for today that he wouldn’t stop talking about the nice man he met.” Chan’s heart swelled with pride. 

He had known that Jisung was still living with his mother, but he hadn’t expected Jisung to tell her about him. 

The entire drive home from Attacca, Chan had a smile plastered on his face. 

Chapter Text

Chan was so nervous. He had woken up five separate times before the sun had even risen before he called it quits and forced himself out of bed. 

Today was the day. The day he was bringing Jisung home. 

He was both ready and wildly unprepared at the same time. There was nothing left to do but wait. Chan had double and even triple-checked that everything was in its proper place and that the apartment was as clean as it could be. 

He kept glancing at his phone to check the time. He was supposed to be picking Jisung up at 11 o’clock, and it was only quarter past eight. Chan didn’t have to leave his house for at least another two hours, and the minutes seemed to be crawling by at the slowest possible rate. 

Honestly, Chan couldn’t even remember the last time he had been up and awake this early in the morning. Usually, he would be going to bed as the sun was rising if he went to bed at all, but this was a special occasion. Chan was bringing a child, a child that would be his responsibility from that point on, home with him. To live with him. In only a few hours, there would be a little two-year-old child running around the place. And that child would be all his. All his to care for, love, and raise for as long as Attacca allowed him to. 

Chan was so excited. 

Deciding that there was no point in staying holed up in his apartment for the next two hours, Chan decided to go on a walk. It wouldn’t be a long walk, just a chance to clear his head a little. And hopefully pass the time as well. 

It was nearing the end of September, so the air was significantly colder than Chan had become accustomed to over the summer months. There was a slight nip of autumn chill in the air, but Chan wasn’t complaining. He had always liked the colder half of the year. Perhaps that was because he grew up in Australia and it was normal for school to be cancelled because of the scorching heat towards the end of the year, so the summer had never really been a super enjoyable time of year for him. It was safe to say that Chan had a small smile on his face as he pulled on his favourite big hoodie for the first time of the autumn. It was also made of a soft fabric, which he hoped Jisung would like. 

Chan’s neighbourhood was rather quiet seeing as it was the middle of office hours, but Chan was not about to complain. He had been so much happier since he started working at home, only having to go into the office for a few meetings every now and then. Now that he was going to have Jisung in the house, he would have to do those meetings online more often than not. Oh well, the artists he worked with would just have to deal with it. It wasn’t as if he could take Jisung into the company building with him for meetings now, was it? 

Chan found himself walking to the park sort of near his house out of habit. He had always walked there when he had first moved into his apartment a few years ago, but recently his work had been keeping him so busy that he hadn’t managed to do it nearly as much as he would have liked. 

Perhaps he could bring Jisung here one day. There was a small-ish playground in one corner of the park, and it wouldn’t hurt to have him socialise with other kids. That was if Jisung wanted to socialise. Chan had no idea what his social life was like living with his mother, but he could imagine that he wasn’t having friends from pre-school over very often. 

There were a few small families also in the park, and Chan couldn’t help but smile every time he saw them. That would be him soon. In fact, that would be him in just a few hours. He would never have guessed that he would be so ecstatic about getting a foster child, but here he was, practically buzzing with excitement, unable to sit still for longer than five minutes. 

As he walked, he tried to appreciate the last few hours of the life he had become used to. However, he didn’t get very far. 

He walked along the edge of the river that ran through the park, listening to the rushing water and quacks of hungry ducks trying to scavenge for some food. It was peaceful. The leaves on the trees were still mostly green from the summer, with only a few starting to show any signs of the impending winter months. Music played through Chan’s headphones, and he was able to turn off his thoughts for a little while. 

Chan loved going on walks like this. He used to do it a lot when he was in high school and needed a break from the pressures of everything. The back garden of his childhood home had opened up to a vast bush that he would wander through for hours on end, listening to the birds chirp at each other. Honestly, those walks had gotten him through some of the toughest exam seasons of his high school career, and he hadn’t stopped the habit when he moved to Korea. Sure, there was no longer untamed bush for him to wander through in the bustling city centre, but it was just as fun to explore all the little streets around where he lived. It was also how he had found his favourite cafe near his work, so Chan saw it as a win-win situation. 

Pulling out his phone to change the song, Chan saw that almost an hour and a half had passed. Turning around quickly, he made his way back to his apartment at a slightly brisker pace than he had been walking at previously. He still had plenty of time to get to Attacca before 11 o’clock, but he didn’t want to risk it. 

Chan walked through the front door of his apartment and picked up his bag and car keys from the counter where he had left them. He had already assembled the car seat and set it up in his car, so he didn’t have to worry about that, thank god. Taking one last look around his apartment, Chan took a deep breath. The next time he would be walking into this apartment, he would have Jisung with him. 

The drive to Attacca seemed to go on forever, and Chan couldn’t help but glance at the clock on his dashboard every few minutes. 

Pulling into the Attacca parking lot was the most exciting and nerve-inducing moment of Chan’s life. He was here, this was real, this was happening. And it was happening now. 

He made sure to remember to put the car in park and lock the doors before heading into the Attacca building. Chan walked up to the reception and gave his name. The receptionist indicated for him to go through the same doors he went through on his past two visits. He thanked her and headed to the familiar chairs outside Chaeyoung’s office, a plushie clutched in his hands. 

The wait outside of Chaeyoung’s office felt like hours. Eventually, however, she opened the door and Chan jumped to his feet. 

“Are you ready?” Chaeyoung asked him, a small smile on her face. Chan nodded. 

“I think so.” 

The two of them walked to the playroom at the end of the hall, Chaeyoung leading the way. When the door opened, Jisung, who had been sitting on the floor next to what Chan presumed were his things, scrambled to his feet and ran a full pelt towards Chan, who bent down to greet the child. 

“Chan! Chan!” he said excitedly, wrapping his arms around Chan’s neck. 

“Hey there, buddy,” Chan said, unable to keep a smile off his face. 

“They sayed I come stay with you!” Jisung said, loosening his grip on Chan to be able to look at him properly. 

“Yup, it’s true.” 

“Really?!” 

“Really really.” Jisung began jumping up and down in excitement. “Hey, bud, I have something for you.” That got Jisung’s attention. 

“What is it? What is it?” 

“Well, I heard it was your birthday recently, so I got you this.” Chan pulled the plushie out from behind his back and held it out to Jisung. 

“A sloth!” 

“That’s right, bud, it is a sloth.” Jisung took the plushie from Chan’s hands and held it tight to his chest. 

“What do you say, Jisung?” Chaeyoung prompted. 

“Thank you! Thank you, Chan! Thank you!” Chan smiled and ruffled Jisung’s hair as he stood up properly again. 

“Well, now I just need you to sign here to confirm that you are going to foster Jisung, then I think everything’s in order for you two to go home,” Chaeyoung said, holding out the clipboard and pen she had been holding. Chan took them and signed his name at the bottom of the paper before handing them back. Chaeyoung smiled at him. 

Chan picked up Jisung’s bag, it was only a small suitcase so he could hold it in one hand, and walked back over to Jisung and Chaeyoung. 

“You ready to head out to the car, bud?” Chan asked. 

“Yes!” Jisung said, jumping and still holding the sloth plushie tightly in his hands. 

“Well then, let’s go.” 

As they walked through the hallways of Attacca, Jisung toddled just behind Chan and Chaeyoung. When they entered the reception, which was filled with quite a few people, Chan glanced back to see Jisung still standing in the doorway. He walked over to him and crouched down. 

“What’s wrong, bud?” he asked in a quiet voice. Jisung’s hands clutched the sloth plushie tighter, eyebrows forming a slight frown. 

“There—there’s…” he mumbled. 

“Take your time, bud,” Chan encouraged. 

“There’s lots of people,” Jisung managed eventually. 

“You don’t like how many people there are?” Jisung shook his head. “Okay, that’s okay. It’ll be much quieter when we’re in the car, okay? Do you want me to carry you to the car or do you want to hold my hand while we walk there?” Jisung didn’t reply, only reached out with one hand to grasp tightly onto Chan’s. 

Now with Jisung holding Chan’s hand, they were able to walk out into the parking lot without any problems. Chan led Jisung and Chaeyoung to where he had parked his car and popped open the trunk, putting Jisung’s small suitcase inside before closing it again. 

“The reception will call you when it’s time to come in and check up on everything, but, as you know, there are likely to be surprise inspections from some of our agents, just in case. I highly doubt anything will be wrong, but it’s just protocol, I’m afraid.” 

“Of course, that’s no problem whatsoever,” Chan smiled. Chaeyoung crouched down. 

“I’ll see you in a bit, Jisung. Don’t be too much trouble for Chan.” 

“I won’t! I’m a good boy!” Jisung said, puffing his chest out slightly. 

“I know you are,” Chaeyoung smiled, standing again. She bowed slightly to say goodbye to Chan, who did the same, before walking towards the Attacca building. 

“You ready to go home, buddy?” Chan asked, looking down at Jisung, who was still holding his hand tightly. 

“Yes!” Chan put his hands under his arms and lifted the two-year-old up to walk around to the other side of the car. He placed Jisung in his car seat and strapped him in before walking around to the driver’s side and getting into the car himself. 

“Let’s go home, bud.” 

Jisung spent most of the drive home looking out the window and babbling about anything and everything. Chan hadn’t been around a two-year-old in a while, but he wasn’t sure they were all this talkative. He wasn’t going to tell Jisung to be quiet, though, he enjoyed listening to the thoughts of a toddler. 

When they finally parked in the parking lot under Chan’s apartment building, Jisung was practically vibrating with excitement and Chan couldn’t stop smiling at the boy’s happiness. Seeing Jisung happy made him happy. 

Chan unbuckled Jisung’s car seat and had to stop him from throwing himself out of the car. 

“Woah, woah, careful there. We don’t want you falling onto the concrete.” Yeah, it definitely gave Chan a mini heart attack. Jisung didn’t seem to notice, however, instead just bouncing up and down next to the car as Chan got his suitcase from the trunk. 

As they walked to the elevator on the other side of the parking lot, Chan made sure to always have a hold of Jisung’s hand. He didn’t need the two-year-old running into oncoming traffic less than five minutes after he arrived home. 

Finally, they arrived on Chan’s floor and made their way down the hallway to Chan’s apartment. When they reached the front door and Chan pulled out his keys Jisung’s eyes widened. 

“This it?” he asked. 

“This is it.” Jisung began bouncing up and down as Chan unlocked the door. 

They walked through the door and Jisung let out a squeal of excitement, Chan having to grab him and lift him up so he wouldn’t go running through the house with his shoes still on. Chan took off his little shoes and big coat, hanging the coat up next to his, and then led him properly into the apartment. 

Jisung was so fascinated by every little thing and Chan found it absolutely adorable. He could have sworn they spent a solid 15 minutes in Chan’s office while Jisung examined all the music equipment lying around before he got bored. Eventually, they did manage to make it into Jisung’s room. 

“…Mine?” Jisung asked, standing in the middle of the room, mouth open in shock. 

“All yours, bud.” 

“Woah…” Chan placed down Jisung’s suitcase and opened it, intending to put his things in their proper drawers. However, when he looked inside, his heart panged slightly. All of the clothes were worn with holes in them, and it looked like there was nothing even remotely appropriate for the winter months. Swallowing thickly, Chan began taking out each item of clothing one at a time and folding them neatly before placing them in their appropriate places while Jisung sat on the floor next to him, exploring the bin of toys he had found. 

As Chan unpacked Jisung’s few things, he felt more and more sorry for Jisung’s mother. She had obviously tried her very hardest to give Jisung the best childhood possible with what she had, as evidenced by the toys made from scraps of fabric sewn together. All of the clothes were patched to the best of her ability, but even then there were still lots of places where the fabric had worn thin. 

Chan placed the last shirt into the drawer and was about to close the suitcase when he saw a folded-up piece of paper sitting at the bottom. Picking it up, he unfolded it and read the short note written upon it. 

Dear Bang Chan, 

Thank you for looking after my Jisung. Ever since he met you, he has been talking non-stop about the nice man who helped him go down the slide. I know I wasn’t a very good mother, but I tried. I promise I tried. It was just so hard, being a 17-year-old with a kid isn’t exactly the best way to get a job or accepted into a school. I had dreams of going to college, seeing the world, then Jisung came along. I put everything on hold for him. 

I hope you can love him, and care for him, and give him the childhood he deserves. He’s a good kid. 

Please tell him Eomma loves him dearly. 

Kim Raemin. 

Chan blinked away the tears that had formed in his eyes, sniffing slightly. The noise had caught Jisung’s attention. 

“Are you sad?” he asked, shuffling towards him. 

“I’m okay, I’m not sad. See?” Chan gave Jisung an exaggerated smile just to prove his point.

“What’s that?” Jisung pointed towards the note still in Chan’s hand. 

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it, bud.” 

Chan then made himself and Jisung some lunch, as he expected the two-year-old to be starving after such a big day. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing on the living room floor. Jisung let Chan in on his game, which apparently had a running storyline. Sure, Chan didn’t understand most of the toddler’s babbling, but it was so cute he couldn’t refuse when offered one of the toys. 

Before he knew it, Jisung was yawning over his dinner, blinking slowly. Chan picked him up with a fond smile on his face and carried him into his bedroom to get changed into pyjamas. Once he was changed, Chan led Jisung into the bathroom and sat him on the bench next to the sink. Jisung was growing increasingly tired, so Chan tried to be quick, but still gentle, as he washed Jisung’s face and brushed his teeth. He didn’t want to have his first toddler tantrum less than 12 hours after he had picked the boy up. 

Chan then lifted Jisung off of the countertop and placed him on his hip, carrying him through the apartment and into the bedroom. Jisung crawled into the bed without any complaints, picking up a plush his mother had sewn him and cuddling it close as Chan placed the blankets over the top of him. 

“Goodnight, Jisung,” Chan whispered, brushing his hands calmingly over Jisung’s dark hair. 

“Night,” Jisung mumbled sleepily, adjusting his position slightly to become more comfortable. Chan smiled fondly down at the small boy and placed a kiss on his forehead before getting up and slipping out of the room as quietly as he could, turning off the light as he went. There was a small night light in the corner of the room which was left on in case Jisung woke up during the night, but other than that it was dark in the room. 

A couple of hours later, Chan was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone when he heard some movement coming from Jisung’s room. Pausing and looking up, he saw the boy shuffling into the hallway, lip wobbling and a hand-made plushie clutched close to his chest. Chan put his phone down and sat up properly. 

“Hey, what’s wrong, buddy?” he asked. Jisung’s eyes brimmed with tears and he began sniffling. “Oh, come here, darling, it’s okay.” Chan held his arms out and Jisung threw himself into Chan’s chest, allowing his tears to fall freely down his cheeks. 

“I—I miss Eomma,” Jisung managed through sobs. Chan closed his eyes, heart aching. 

“I know, buddy, I know. But I’m here, it’s okay. You’re okay, you’re safe.” 

“I want Eomma!” Jisung wailed, clenching his hands into fists and screwing up his face. 

“I know, but Eomma’s not here just now, baby. Shh, it’s okay.” Chan began rocking his body from side to side in what he hoped was a calming motion. 

It was a long time before Jisung finally managed to calm down. His eyes were red and puffy, cheeks flushed, and a few tears still clinging to his eyelashes. 

“How about we get you to bed, buddy? I can stay with you until you fall asleep, maybe even read you a story if you’d like.” Jisung, who was still sat in Chan’s lap with his head against his chest, nodded ever so slightly. Chan placed him onto the floor and held his hand as they walked back into Jisung’s room. 

Chan tucked Jisung back into bed, making sure he had his plushie with him. 

“Now, do you want a story before you go to bed, or do you just want me to stay here?” Chan asked. 

“Stay,” Jisung said in a small voice. 

“Okay, I can do that. I’m not going anywhere, buddy.” Chan began stroking Jisung’s hair out of his face in an attempt to calm the boy. Jisung didn’t look at Chan, only clutched his plushie closer to him. 

“What’s his name?” Chan asked, pointing at the plushie. Jisung thought for a moment. 

“Bbama,” he said. 

“Bbama? What a lovely name. I like that name.” 

“Me too.” Chan smiled. 

“Now you try and get some sleep, okay?” Jisung nodded. 

Chan stayed sitting on the floor next to Jisung’s bed long after the two-year-old fell asleep. He just stayed there, watching the slow rise at fall of the toddler’s chest as he slept. A few tears slid down Chan’s cheeks as he watched. He had so much love for this child already, and he was going to protect him with everything he had. 

Chan had promised Jisung’s mother, even if she didn’t know it. He was going to love and care for her son, just as she had asked. 

He wouldn’t let her down. 

Chapter Text

Chan awoke to the sun shining directly onto his pillow. Blinking a few times, he picked up his phone and saw that it was just past 8 o’clock in the morning. Frowning slightly, Chan forced himself out of bed to go and check on Jisung. He had heard his parents complain a few too many times about him and his siblings waking them up at the crack of dawn to not be suspicious. 

As he pulled a hoodie over his head, Chan heard some noise coming from Jisung’s room. Knocking on the door, he pushed it open gently. He found Jisung sitting on the floor, toys spread out around him as he played. 

“How long have you been up, buddy?” Chan asked, walking over to the toddler and crouching down. 

“A bit,” Jisung replied, going back to playing with his toys. 

“Why didn’t you come and wake me up? Surely you got a little lonely.” 

“Eomma said not to. She was sleepy.” Chan sighed quietly. 

“Well, while you’re with me, you can always come and wake me up, okay? No matter what time it is.” 

“Okay,” Jisung said, obviously not interested in the conversation. Chan patted him on the head and got to his feet. 

“How about we go and get some breakfast? You’re going to need some energy for our big day today.” That got the two-year-old’s attention. 

“What we doing?” he asked, toddling after Chan into the kitchen. 

“We are gonna go shopping and get you some new warm clothes, how does that sound?” 

“Good!” Chan smiled fondly down at the boy. 

“But first, what would you like for breakfast?” Jisung thought for a few moments, screwing his face up in concentration. 

“Eggs?” he asked shyly. 

“I’m pretty sure we have some, bud. Do you want scrambled eggs?” 

“Yes please!” 

Chan got the carton of eggs out of the fridge, cracked a few into a bowl, and mixed them up. Jisung was very interested in what Chan was doing and tried to climb up his leg to be able to see over the top of the counter. Not wanting to fall on top of the toddler, Chan picked up Jisung and sat him on the countertop. Sure, it wasn’t the most sanitary thing he could have done, but he could always clean the counter later. 

Jisung was content to just sit on the counter from then on, just watching Chan as he cooked. Chan didn’t even have to warn him about the pan being too hot because he tried to reach over and grab it. Based on the toddlers he had seen, Jisung was a pretty calm kid to look after. Apart from his crying last night, it had been a pretty seamless first 18 or so hours—and it was completely expected for a kid to miss their mum after staying away from her for what was probably the first time. 

Soon enough, the two of them had a plate of steaming scrambled eggs sitting in front of them. Chan handed Jisung a small child’s spoon and grabbed a regular metal fork for himself. The two ate in silence, Jisung devouring his plate much faster than Chan had expected. 

“Seems like you were hungry, aye, bud,” Chan said, taking their now empty plates up to the kitchen and placing them next to the sink. That was a problem for later Chan. 

“Can we go?” Jisung asked as he struggled to lower himself to the ground from the chair he was sitting on. 

“You want to go get some new clothes?” Chan asked, walking over to help Jisung onto the floor. 

“Yeah!” Jisung said, bouncing up and down. 

“Alright, then. But first, we have to get you dressed and your teeth all clean.” 

“Let’s go!” Jisung grabbed Chan’s hand and began dragging him towards his bedroom. Chan should probably start disciplining him a little about dragging people, but it was his first full day with Chan, so he had to be a bit lenient. 

It took a little while, but eventually Chan managed to wiggle some clothes onto Jisung. He was so excited about the idea of going out to the shops that he wouldn’t stand still long enough for Chan to pull his shirt over his head. 

Chan then picked Jisung up and carried him into the bathroom, setting him on the counter so he was able to brush his teeth easier. He really needed to buy a stool, Chan thought to himself. It would make tasks like this so much easier. He made a mental note to look for kids’ stools while they were out at the shopping centre. 

Once Jisung was all ready to go, Chan left him to go play with some of his toys while he himself got ready. He didn’t need to dress up as they were only going to the shops, so he just pulled on some of his old jeans and a sweatshirt that smelled clean enough. It was almost laundry day, there weren’t many options, don’t judge him.

When Chan had washed his face and brushed his teeth, he went back into Jisung’s room, finding him just where he had left him on the floor. 

“You ready to go now?” Chan asked. Jisung turned around abruptly and scrambled to his feet. 

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Chan smiled and Jisung followed him to the front door, where Chan helped him put on his little shoes before pulling on his own. He had checked the weather app on his phone and it said that it was going to be a pretty chilly day, so Chan wrestled Jisung into his coat, ignoring the protests from the boy. 

Double-checking that he had everything they could need, Chan took Jisung’s hand and led him out into the hallway, locking the door to the apartment behind them. 

Jisung was just as fascinated with the apartment complex and its elevators as he had been when they first arrived the day before. Something about the lit-up buttons was so intriguing to the boy. Chan didn’t quite understand, but it was so adorable to see Jisung staring wide-eyed at the floor buttons, squealing in excitement when the elevator dinged at the parking lot floor. 

Chan was careful to check for oncoming cars before leading Jisung across to where he had parked the previous day. It was an odd experience for him to actually be using his car this often, but he wasn’t complaining. 

Okay, maybe he was complaining a little bit about the gas prices, but only a little bit! 

He got Jisung strapped safely into his car seat and hopped into the driver’s seat. 

“The shopping centre isn’t too far away, buddy, so it won’t take too long in the car,” Chan told Jisung as he started up the engine. 

“Okay!” Jisung replied, craning his neck to be able to see out the window properly. Chan chuckled quietly and drove out of the building. 

The drive to the shopping centre was pretty uneventful, with Jisung pointing at random things out the window and asking “what’s that?”. Chan had to try and figure out what the hell the toddler was pointing at without taking his eyes off the road for too long. Safe to say it was a little stressful, but they made it there in one piece. 

Chan was slightly disappointed to see the parking lot pretty full when they pulled up. It was okay, though. It could definitely be worse. He just hoped that there weren’t too many loud kids around to distract or overwhelm Jisung. Chan still wasn’t sure how he interacted with other kids, seeing as there had been nothing about his preschooling in his file, and he didn’t particularly want to find out now. They needed to be home before one o’clock so Jisung wouldn’t be too cranky before his nap. Chan didn’t need to be held up by tantrums in the middle of the shop. 

Leading Jisung carefully across to the entrance of the shopping centre, Chan made sure to keep a firm hold of the toddler’s hand the whole way. He didn’t need him running off and getting lost in the crowds. 

They made their way through the semi-busy mall, Jisung babbling away about things he saw. Most of it was completely incoherent, but Chan wasn’t going to burst his bubble. And soon enough they arrived at one of the generic department stores that had a vast children’s section. 

Jisung looked slightly overwhelmed as they entered the shop, eyes wide at the bright colours and displays. Chan led him over to the shopping carts, picking out one that had a kids’ seat at the front. He lifted Jisung up under his arms and gently placed him in the shopping cart. 

“You ready to go find some clothes, buddy?” Chan asked. 

“Yes!” Jisung replied enthusiastically, bouncing his little fists up and down. Chan smiled and began wheeling the cart towards the children’s section of the store. 

The trip started off smoothly, with Jisung choosing some pretty decent clothes from off the shelves. In actuality, Chan was picking stuff up at random and holding it up for Jisung to either say yes or no. Not that a two-year-old had much of a fashion sense, but it was nice to make Jisung think he had some control over the situation. 

Soon enough, they had almost an entirely new wardrobe for Jisung, including some more winter-appropriate options for the coming months—as well as some stools that would make it much easier for Jisung to see over the countertops. 

However, by this point, Jisung was getting restless and becoming less and less willing to sit still in the cart. Chan, not wanting to experience a temper tantrum in the middle of the shop, made his way quickly towards the checkout. 

Chan had never thought about how difficult it would be to carry bags of shopping as well as make sure a toddler didn’t run off or get lost. 

Turns out, it was quite difficult. 

He was left holding three bags of toddlers clothing plus two kid stools in one hand, and Jisung’s hand in the other. This would’ve been difficult enough, but Jisung chose that exact moment to try and drag Chan across half of the shopping centre. They both almost ended up on the floor more times than Chan would care to admit. 

“Chan! Chan!” Jisung babbled excitedly, attempting, yet again, to pull Chan in another direction. 

“What is it, Jisung?” Chan asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice—they had been through a similar conversation about 20 times in the past five minutes. 

“I wanna go to park!” Chan sighed. 

“Not right now, buddy, I’m sorry. We need to get home, it’s almost time for your nap.” Jisung pouted, folding his arms across his chest. 

“Too big for naps!” 

“No one is too big for naps, Jisung. I take naps sometimes.” Chan knew it was a losing battle trying to reason with a toddler, but he just wanted to go home. Ushering a toddler around a crowded place for an hour was more exhausting than you might think. 

“But park!” 

“I know, I know, buddy. But we can always go to the park tomorrow. We have the whole morning tomorrow.” Chan’s arms were getting quite tired from holding all the bags, so he placed them down on the floor next to where Jisung was standing and crouched down. 

“I wanna go to park!” Jisung’s voice was getting louder and louder with every word and Chan was becoming acutely aware of the few stares the two of them were starting to attract. 

“Okay, listen to me, Jisung.” Jisung paused just as he was about to open his mouth again. His eyes were beginning to look watery and Chan was trying his best not to panic too much. 

“How about, we go home and both have a nap, and then we can go to the park. How does that sound?” Jisung paused to think this through—Chan could practically see the cogs working in his brain as he tried to figure out exactly what Chan was trying to say. 

“I guess,” he grumbled eventually. Chan let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting the toddler to give in to the bargain so easily. 

Chan put the bags of clothes in the trunk of the car and strapped Jisung into his seat belt once more. 

It was a relief to finally settle Jisung back in his bed for his afternoon nap. Now Chan was able to have at least two hours to himself (or that was what he hoped). 

Honestly, with this free time, he should probably have done something productive like clean the toys up that were currently strewn across the living room floor but he really couldn’t be bothered. Instead, he made his way to his office, deciding to play around with some tracks he hadn’t quite finished yet. His boss had been kind enough to offer him a few days of leave while he became accustomed to having Jisung in the house, so Chan didn’t really have to get the tracks done now, but it was always useful to be slightly ahead of schedule. 

Before he knew it, Chan was finished with the two tracks he was working on and even starting on a third. However, his work was interrupted by a noise coming from the hallway. 

Pulling his headphones off of his ear—he had only had them over one ear just in case Jisung needed him—Chan turned his chair around and listened carefully. 

“Chan?” came a small voice from the hall. 

“I’m in here, Jisung. You can come in,” Chan called. There were a few more shuffling noises before the door to Chan’s office was pushed gently open, revealing a messy-haired Jisung clutching his hand-made plushie. 

“What you doing, Chan?” Jisung asked, walking over to Chan’s chair and looking up at him with sleepy eyes. He had very clearly just woken up. 

“I’m doing some work. Do you want to see?” Jisung nodded, so Chan picked him up and placed him on his knee, swivelling the chair around again so they were facing the computer. Chan showed Jisung around his software, answering the toddler’s questions—most of them being “what’s that?”—and even played him the most recent track. 

“I wanna do this!” Jisung said, bouncing up and down on Chan’s lap as the music played. 

“You want to make music?” 

“Yeah!” Chan smiled. 

“You can do anything you want, buddy. Anything your heart desires, I will always cheer you on.” Chan knew that Jisung didn’t properly understand what he was saying, but he still wanted to reinforce the idea that, no matter what, Chan would always be there for him. 

After a while, Jisung was changed and back into his coat, ready to go out to the park. It was getting colder, so Chan really couldn’t put it off any longer. And Jisung was so excited, who was he to crush his dreams now? 

The park wasn’t far away—only a five-minute walk away at Chan’s normal walking speed—so Chan decided that it would be better for them to walk there rather than drive. Jisung didn’t complain, thankfully, and the two of them set off through the city streets. 

Chan made sure to never let go of Jisung’s hand as they walked, not even for a second. He couldn’t risk anything happening to him. Some might call it overprotective, but Chan called it cautious. 

Soon enough, they arrived at the entrance to the park and Jisung led the way over to the small playground in the distance. Now he was looking at it properly, Chan thought that the playground was much too big for the two-year-old, but Jisung didn’t seem to care. He just wanted to get there as fast as possible.

Chan made sure to hold onto Jisung the entire time he was playing, not wanting him to fall and hurt himself. He was even dragged up onto the playground himself at one point so they could go down the slide. However scared of slides Jisung had been when Chan first met him, he now seemed to love them—even if he did need Chan to come down with him. 

Neither of them were quite sure how it happened, but one minute Jisung seemed to be fine and the next he was absolutely covered in mud. There was a broad grin on his face as he smeared the mud all over his face and almost into his mouth. Chan had to react at lightning speed to stop him from sticking his filthy fingers into his mouth. He didn’t want a sick kid on his hands. 

“I think it’s time we head home for a bath, don’t you think?” Chan said. It was less of a suggestion and more of a ‘we are leaving now, you don’t get a choice’, but Jisung didn’t seem to notice, only giggling and following Chan at a trot. 

Chan was careful to not tread too much mud through the hallways of the apartment complex, ending up carrying Jisung from the foyer to the bathroom of his apartment. A two-year-old was much heavier than you might expect when you carry them for that long. 

He ran a warm—but not too warm—bath and told Jisung to stay where he was while he grabbed towels for the boy. Surprisingly, he actually didn’t try to run through the house covered in mud, which Chan was eternally grateful for. He didn’t particularly feel like scrubbing mud out of his carpets. 

Jisung was wriggled out of his muddy clothes, which were discarded on the floor to be dealt with later, and lifted into the bath by Chan. The toddler seemed to have a lot of fun in the bath, taking every opportunity to splash and play with the bubbles as Chan gently washed his skin and hair with kid-friendly soaps. It was safe to say that Chan was on the receiving end of many of said splashes. 

By the end of the bath, Chan’s shirt was almost as soaked as Jisung—something that the toddler seemed to be very proud of. 

“Chan’s soggy,” Jisung giggled as Chan dried his hair with a soft towel. 

“I am soggy. I wonder how that happened,” Chan teased, tickling Jisung’s sides, which made the boy squeal and laugh. Chan didn’t even try to hide the smile on his face. 

He decided there was no point in trying to get Jisung into clean clothes, so just pulled on his pyjamas and called it a day. Then, he left the toddler in the living room where he could see him with some toys while he prepared dinner for the two of them. 

It was a quiet evening after the eventful day, Jisung never once letting go of the plushie his mother had sewn for him—Bbama, as Chan seemed to remember. 

When Jisung began yawning, Chan was quick to take him to the bathroom and brush his teeth before tucking him into bed. Jisung had picked a storybook he wanted to be read to him earlier that day, so Chan picked it up off the stool and made himself comfortable. As he read, Jisung watched the pictures with increasingly tired eyes, and by the time Chan was turning over the final page, the toddler was fast asleep. Chan placed the book back on the shelf and placed a soft kiss on the top of Jisung’s head. 

“Sweet dreams, buddy.” 

Chapter Text

Today was a day that Chan had been dreading for a while. He had booked Jisung a doctor's appointment to make sure he was healthy and growing as he should be, and today was the day of said appointment. However, it had to be done. Chan was just secretly hoping that Jisung didn’t try and scream bloody murder as soon as the doctor tried to do anything. 

The morning started off as it normally did, as the appointment wasn’t until midday. Jisung woke Chan up at the earliest possible moment. Chan was thankful that Jisung had learned he was allowed to wake him up when he needed him, but he wasn’t quite so thankful that toddlers woke up so damn early. 

Jisung had been living with Chan for almost two weeks and it was nearing the end of September. It was becoming noticeably colder outside and Chan really didn’t want Jisung to get sick. 

After breakfast, the two of them sat on the floor of the living room for their usual morning playtime. Chan was starting to really enjoy their little schedule, it gave both him and Jisung a sense of familiarity and routine. 

It was honestly quite cozy sitting on the floor, with the rain pouring down outside the window and the heater keeping them both warm. Chan was enjoying himself. 

Over the past two weeks that Jisung had been living with Chan, Chan had learnt a lot about the toddler—such as the fact that he had a habit of throwing himself at Chan and just trusting Chan would catch him. That had definitely caused some heart attacks and an almost hysterical toddler, but it all worked out in the end. 

“Chan?” Jisung asked, not looking up from his toys. 

“Yeah, buddy?” 

“Where—where we going?” Chan frowned. 

“You mean later today?” Jisung nodded. 

“Said somethink before.” 

“We’re going to the doctor. We’ve got to make sure you’re all strong and healthy.” Chan poked Jisung’s belly, causing the toddler to giggle and kick in the most adorable way. 

“I so strong!” Jisung said, clambering on top of Chan. Chan, who had not been expecting it, almost lost his balance but managed to catch himself on the couch before anything too bad happened. 

“You’re right, you are so strong.” Jisung grinned up at Chan from where he was now sitting in his lap, showing off his cute chubby cheeks. 

“When—when we going?” Jisung asked. 

“To the doctors?” He nodded. “Not until later, don’t worry. We still have lots of time to play before we go.” 

“Oh. That’s good!” Without another word, Jisung clambered back off of Chan’s lap and over to his toys, making sure not to squish any of them on his way past. 

“Where’s Bbama, buddy?” Chan asked, noticing that the plushie wasn’t in the circle of toys around them. 

“In there,” Jisung said, pointing towards the door of his bedroom. 

“Why isn’t he out here? You love playing with him.” 

“He not feel good.” Chan frowned. How could a…plushie not be feeling good? 

“How about we take a look at him? We can be the doctors to find out what’s wrong.” 

“Like how they for me?” 

“Yeah, buddy, just like how they’ll do for you today.”

“Okay!” 

Jisung got to his feet and led Chan into his bedroom, picking Bbama gently up from the bed. As soon as Jisung turned around with the plushie in his hand, Chan could see what was wrong. There was a big rip in one of the seams, which was causing the stuffing to be visible. 

“Oh no! Poor Bbama! You were right, bud, he really isn’t feeling good.” Jisung shook his head. 

“Make better?” he asked, holding the plushie out to Chan. 

“I can make him better, buddy, don’t worry. He’s just got to get some stitches to keep him together.” Chan took the plushie gently from Jisung’s outstretched hands and walked out into the combined kitchen living room, setting Bbama down on the kitchen table. He then went into his bedroom, rummaging around in one of his dresser drawers. Jisung was following him around like a little lost puppy, and it was honestly quite cute. 

Finally, after quite a bit of searching, Chan found a small sewing kit in the bottom of one of the drawers. He held it up to Jisung. 

“This is what’s going to make him feel all better.” Jisung smiled slightly, following Chan back out to the kitchen table. Chan sat down and picked up Bbama, examining the tear closer while Jisung climbed up onto the chair next to him. He had his own Jisung-sized chair further down the table, but it was much more interesting to see what Chan was doing than to sit all the way down there. 

Chan then opened the sewing kit and began trying to thread the needle—it took more tries than he would care to admit, but they got there eventually. Thankfully the rip wasn’t too bad, so Chan was able to sew it back together pretty easily. He tied off the thread and handed the plushie back to Jisung. 

“See, he’s all better now.” Jisung took the plushie and clutched it close to his chest. 

“Thank you, Chan.” 

“You’re welcome, buddy.” 

The rest of the morning went by without much trouble. Since Jisung’s doctor's appointment was at midday, Chan made him a morning snack so he wouldn’t get too hungry and cranky at the appointment. Honestly, he had no idea how long the appointment would take, but he hoped it wouldn’t be too long. Jisung’s afternoon nap was usually around 12:30, so he didn’t want him getting over-tired because he was being forced to stay awake for longer than he normally was. 

There were a few complaints from Jisung about Chan messing with his hair as they got ready to leave for his doctor's appointment, but other than that it went smoothly and before long Jisung was strapped into his car seat and Chan was pulling out of the apartment complex’s parking lot. 

It was a slightly longer drive to the doctor’s office than they were used to, especially because of the traffic. But it wasn’t that bad, especially since Jisung was so fascinated by the ever-changing scenery outside the windows. 

As they pulled up to the doctor's office, Chan mentally prepared himself for a difficult few hours. Even if the appointment itself was quick, Jisung was likely to have a big tantrum of some sort that would probably last for at least an hour after they left. It wasn’t that Jisung was a particularly problematic kid, he was just a regular toddler who had tantrums. No kid was perfect, no matter how much their parents tried to convince you otherwise. 

Chan held Jisung’s hand as they walked into the reception of the doctor's office, the toddler’s other hand tightly clutching Bbama. 

“Han Jisung to see Dr Oh?” Chan said to the man behind the desk. The receptionist began typing away at the keyboard in front of him. 

“Ah yes, the appointment for 12 o’clock? If you’ll just walk down to the waiting room just down this corridor, Dr Oh will come and see you as soon as she is available.” Chan thanked the receptionist and led Jisung, who was still blissfully unaware of what was happening, down the hallway to the waiting room. Chan was starting to believe that Jisung had completely forgotten where they were going, despite their conversation earlier that day. 

Jisung sat on Chan’s lap as they waited, playing peacefully with Bbama. There was a pair of older ladies sitting on the other side of the waiting room who kept pointing at Jisung, adoring smiles visible behind their masks. Chan couldn’t help but smile slightly. Jisung was a pretty adorable kid if he did say so himself, he couldn’t blame the women for watching him. 

Eventually, Jisung’s name was called and Chan lifted him onto the floor, taking his hand again as they followed a short woman with a black bob into her office. 

“It’s very nice to meet you…” 

“Bang Chan. I’m Jisung’s foster parent,” Chan told her, shaking her outstretched hand. 

“And I assume this is Jisung?” Dr Oh asked, looking down at Jisung, who was looking curiously around the office. 

“Yes, that’s him.” 

“Very good. Now, I’m going to start off with some basic questions before get get into the physical examination if that’s alright with you?” Chan nodded and Dr Oh pulled out some paper and a pen to take notes with. 

Most of the questions she asked were pretty generic, like “what is his diet like?”—healthy—“how often is he napping?”—once in the afternoon—“how many hours of sleep is he getting a night?”—roughly 12 to 13 hours each night—and “is he beginning potty training?”—yes. After that, Dr Oh did a little bit of typing on her computer before turning around to face Jisung, who was currently inspecting the scales sitting in the corner. 

“Jisung, do you mind if I take a look at you?” Jisung turned around to face Dr Oh. 

“I’m healfy and strong?” 

“That’s right, I’m going to make sure you’re healthy and strong.” 

“Chan said I was! He’s a real doctor.” 

“Is he now?” Dr Oh looked at Chan eyebrows raised in amusement. Chan smiled slightly.

“He fixed Bbama!” Jisung held out Bbama to show Dr Oh just how good of a doctor Chan was. 

“Wow, very good. You were right, he is a real doctor. But I’m also a real doctor and need to check you to make sure you’re just as strong and healthy as Bbama.” Jisung thought for a moment. 

“Okay.” 

“Great.” 

Dr Oh got out of her chair and walked over to Jisung, picking him up and placing him on the examination table. She did all the regular things, like checking his temperature, measuring his head circumference, taking down his height and weight, and listening to his heart and breathing—which Jisung enjoyed immensely. Whenever Dr Oh placed the stethoscope on his back or chest he giggled loudly, squirming away from the cold metal. Chan felt sorry for Dr Oh, as Jisung was making it quite difficult for her to do her job, but she never complained. She never even seemed even slightly annoyed with the toddler, which Chan was impressed by. Even he himself hadn’t made it that far, still rolling his eyes at the wall when Jisung was being particularly difficult. 

Once the physical exam was done, Chan lifted Jisung off the table and set him on his lap while Dr Oh put in the results. 

“Well, the good news is that Jisung is a perfectly healthy child. His BMI is perfectly normal and he’s measuring where he should be on the growth chart, which you’ll be glad to hear. He is showing no early signs of developmental disorders such as autism from the small screening test I did and seems to be a perfectly normal child. However…” Chan’s stomach twisted slightly. This was the part he had been dreading. 

“…Jisung does seem to be behind on a few of his vaccinations. Because of this, I am going to book for you to go through to the nurses today if that suits you to get his MMR, hepatitis B, Chickenpox, and RV vaccines. I can also add the influenza vaccine to that list if you would like with no extra charge.” 

“That sounds great, thank you so much. And today suits just fine.” Dr Oh smiled at him. 

“Perfect. And I can assure you that even though it sounds like a lot of vaccines in one day, it is perfectly safe to have these doses at once, he will just have to come in for second and third doses of the hepatitis B and RV vaccines at some point, but the reception will just call you to arrange appointments for those directly with the nurses,” she explained. Chan tried his best to keep up with what she was saying, but it was a little difficult. 

They finished up rather quickly after that, Dr Oh giving Chan a slip of paper to give to reception about Jisung’s vaccinations. Chan thanked her and led Jisung out of the office and back out to the reception area. He handed the man behind the desk the slip of paper as he had been told and was instructed to wait in a different waiting room just in front of the reception. Chan thanked the receptionist and sat down in one of the chairs, placing Jisung on his lap once more so he couldn’t run off and try to explore. 

Jisung was content to sit on Chan’s lap again, playing with Bbama and babbling mindlessly to Chan. Chan just watched him fondly, keeping a secure hold around the toddler’s middle so he didn’t fall off. However, Jisung’s willingness to sit still decreased the longer they waited. And they waited for a while. It seemed that the next available slot to get Jisung’s vaccinations was further away than Dr Oh had implied. 

“Chan?” Jisung said, turning around to face Chan in his lap.

“Yeah?” 

“How much longer?” 

“Not too much longer, buddy. Don’t worry. We’ll be home soon.” Chan wasn’t sure that was entirely true, but he hoped it was. It was getting dangerously past Jisung’s nap time and he knew the toddler would start to get cranky soon. He didn’t particularly feel like dealing with a temper tantrum in the middle of a doctor's waiting room. 

Thankfully, only about 10 or so minutes later, a nurse came out into the waiting room and called Jisung’s name. Chan let Jisung walk in front of him, following the nurse to her room to try and get some of the energy out that he had built up from sitting on Chan’s lap for so long. 

The nurse seemed nice, double-checking Jisung’s details with Chan before she went to go get the needles for the vaccines. 

“Now, buddy, I’m going to need you to sit really still for the nurse when she comes back, do you think you can do that?” Chan asked Jisung, who was wandering around the room inspecting the paper on the bed in the corner of the room. 

“Yes!” he replied enthusiastically. Chan wasn’t entirely sure Jisung knew what he just agreed to, but it was the thought that counts, right? 

The nurse eventually came back, another young nurse with her carrying a metal tray with five needles inside. Looking at the needles made Chan feel a little queasy, but it wasn’t as bad as it was when he was younger. Even the thought of an injection to his teenage brain would send him into a full-blown panic attack. Thankfully he had mostly grown out of his fear of needles. 

As Chan set Jisung on his lap, one of the nurses explained to him that they would do one injection in each arm at the same time to get it done as quickly as possible. Chan nodded, holding Jisung still as he was instructed the nurses pulled down his pants so they could clean his legs to sanitise them. 

This was where the problems started. 

Jisung very much didn’t like the feeling of people poking and prodding at his legs, and he very much didn’t like the feeling of the cold sanitiser wipes. He began wriggling around, trying to escape from Chan’s grasp. 

“Buddy, I need you to stay still, okay? You need to stay still so the nurses can do their job,” he said, trying to comfort the toddler. 

“Don’t like it,” Jisung complained, still trying to fight. 

“I know, bud, I know. But it’ll be over sooner if you stay still.” 

“No!” the toddler whined. Chan looked apologetically up at the nurses, who just brushed him off, telling him that it was okay and they had seen much worse. 

It took much longer than Chan would have expected to get Jisung to even slightly sit still. Eventually, Chan had to hold his hips and knees down as tight as he could without hurting the toddler, taking the repeated kicks to the shins without complaint. The nurses counted down from three before sticking the first two needles in, hurriedly switching them for the third, fourth, and eventually fifth needles. Jisung began sobbing and wailing as soon as the needles touched his skin, Chan trying his best to comfort him without letting him move around too much. 

By the time it was over, Jisung was on the verge of being hysterical. Tears were streaming down his face and he was wailing at the top of his lungs, kicking Chan’s shins over and over again while he tried to pull Chan’s arms away from his middle. 

As soon as the nurses were done patching up Jisung’s legs and pulling up his trousers, Chan turned the toddler around to face him and held him close, rocking him from side to side in an attempt to calm his crying. Jisung held tightly onto Chan’s neck, crying into his shoulder. Two weeks ago, Chan would have flinched at the thought of the snot sticking to his shirt at that moment, but it was something you just had to get used to when you had a toddler to look after. 

Chan quickly thanked the nurses, adjusting Jisung’s position so he could stand up, before picking up his bag and leaving the room. He quickly paid for the appointment and vaccines before carrying a still-hysterical Jisung out of the doctor's office. 

Once outside, Chan tried his best to console the toddler. When they arrived at the car, which he had parked a little way down the street, Jisung had thankfully calmed down slightly. As Chan buckled him into his car seat, his eyelids began sliding shut. Chan quickly wiped his face to get the excess tears off his cheeks and walked around to the driver’s side. 

Jisung stayed asleep the entire drive home and was still passed out when Chan parked the car. Not wanting to wake the toddler, Chan carefully unbuckled his seatbelt and picked him up, making sure Jisung’s head was resting on his shoulder and not jostling around too much as he walked. 

He carried a somehow still sleeping Jisung all the way up to the apartment without waking him, the toddler only stirring when Chan attempted to take off his shoes. 

“You feeling a bit better now?” Chan asked, taking off Jisung’s big coat as he spoke. Jisung nodded, rubbing his eyes. 

“Tired,” he mumbled. 

“You must be after such a big day. You were such a brave boy today.” It wasn’t entirely true, but that didn’t matter. 

“Cuddle,” Jisung said, so quietly that Chan almost didn’t hear him. 

“You want to cuddle?” Jisung nodded again. Chan couldn’t help but smile. “I guess we can have some cuddles on the couch. You’ve deserved it today, buddy.” He picked up Jisung and changed him into his pyjamas as quickly as he could. The two of them walked back out to the living room, Chan setting a half-asleep Jisung on the couch while he grabbed a big cuddly blanket from his bedroom. Chan sat down next to Jisung, lifting up his arm so Jisung could cuddle into his side before laying the blanket over the top of the two of them. 

Jisung was asleep in an instant, snoring softly with his cheek smushed against Chan’s stomach. Chan patted his head fondly. 

Sure, he had some work that he needed to do, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick nap, right? And it couldn’t move now that Jisung was asleep on him. 

Before he knew it, Chan was asleep, Jisung still cuddled close to his side with Bbama clutched in his hand. 

Their little family. 

Chapter Text

A whole month had passed since Jisung came to live with Chan, and things were going well. They had had their first inspection from Attacca, which went really well in Chan’s opinion. They hadn’t taken Jisung off of him so he had to be doing something right. 

Now that he knew everything was going smoothly from Attacca’s perspective, Chan decided to enrol Jisung in the local preschool. He did this for a few reasons; one, so Jisung could socialise with kids his own age; two, so Chan could work for longer hours without interruption; and three, so Jisung could develop skills and learn things that Chan simply couldn’t teach him alone. 

When Chan had told Jisung about the prospect of him going to preschool, the toddler had been over the moon. He was so excited about finally being able to go to preschool like the big kids that he wouldn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day. 

It was the night before Jisung’s first day at preschool and Chan had just put the toddler to bed. They had set out everything in his bedroom, including an adorable little backpack they had found at the shopping centre a few days ago. The preschool nearest to Chan’s apartment provided lunch and snacks for the kids, so Chan didn’t have to worry about packing any food for Jisung. He was honestly quite glad about this because he was scared that he would accidentally pack the wrong thing and Jisung would be hungry. 

As Chan sat down at his desk to try and get some work done, he heard the door of his office being pushed open. Turning around, he saw Jisung standing nervously in the doorway, clutching Bbama in his fists. 

“What’s up, buddy?” Chan asked, taking his headphones off of his head. 

“Can’t sleep,” Jisung mumbled, looking down at the floor. Chan glanced at the clock he had on the wall. It can’t have been more than 10 minutes since he put Jisung to bed, but that surely felt like hours to a toddler. 

“Anything in particular that’s keeping you up?” Chan asked, indicating that it was okay for Jisung to come over. Jisung toddled his way over, clambering up onto Chan’s lap.  

“Are you nervous about starting preschool tomorrow?” Chan asked. Jisung nodded, not looking up from where he was holding Bbama. “What’s making you nervous, bud?” 

“What…what’s it like?” 

“What’s preschool like?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well, I’ll drop you off at about nine o’clock and there will be a sort of mat time where you all sit down and listen to the teacher for a bit. They might read you a book or sing a song or something like that. That sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it?” Jisung nodded. 

“You’ll then probably go and do some activities. You like drawing, so you can go with some of the other kids to draw, I’m sure that’ll be allowed. You’ll have some snacks and lunch, then you’ll have a nap and play again.” Jisung was still looking down at Bbama, a small frown on his face. 

“Chan not coming?” Chan stroked his hair. 

“I can come in to drop you off and pick you up, but I can’t stay the whole time, I’m sorry. You’ll have the teachers to look after you, though, don’t worry.” 

“I miss you.” 

“I’ll miss you too, buddy. But I will pick you up at the end of the day, I promise.” Jisung finally looked up at Chan, his cheeks pink. 

“Pinkie promise?” 

“I pinkie promise.” The two linked fingers—or rather, tried to. It was rather difficult to link pinkies with a toddler Chan had found. 

“How about we get you back to bed now, hey? You don’t want to be too tired to do all of the fun activities tomorrow.” Jisung silently agreed, allowing Chan to lift him off his lap with little protest. 

Chan tucked Jisung back into bed and stayed with him, humming a tune under his breath, until the toddler fell asleep. 

He stayed up a lot later than he probably should have that night, working on tracks to send to his higher-ups for approval, only crawling into bed at around three in the morning. It wasn’t the latest he had gone to bed, but it certainly wasn’t reasonable when he knew for a fact that a hyper toddler would be jumping onto his bed at six o’clock on the dot. 

Just as he had suspected, Chan was jolted awake by something heavy landing on his chest. 

“Good morning!” Jisung said enthusiastically. Chan looked up at him with tired eyes, just wishing he could sleep for a few more minutes. Of course, Jisung was never going to let that happen. He practically dragged Chan out of bed, not even wanting to stay for their usual early-morning cuddle session (Chan was slightly offended by this). 

Much more of the morning went according to their routine, however, with Chan making the two of them breakfast before they sat on the living room floor to play for a while. Chan was glad that these types of mornings wouldn’t stop even with Jisung going to preschool. It wasn’t such a massive change, of course starting preschool was a normal transition for toddlers, but Chan still wasn’t as prepared as he would’ve hoped. He wasn’t sure he was quite ready to have the house be quiet from 9 am to 4 pm after having a hyper toddler running around for the past month. 

Soon enough, 8:45 rolled around and it was time to take Jisung to preschool. The preschool was only about a 10-minute drive from Chan’s apartment, so they could leave it quite late before they left. 

Jisung looked absolutely adorable with his little backpack on and Chan couldn’t resist taking a photo—one that would absolutely be used to embarrass him later on in life. That was if he was still with Chan by then…Chan didn’t want to think about that. 

The car ride went smoothly, with Jisung humming and kicking his legs in his car seat all the way. Chan couldn’t keep a smile off his face at how cute the toddler was. 

The parking lot outside the preschool was filled with parents dropping off their kids. As Chan lifted Jisung out of the car, the toddler looked around at all the people, clutching nervously to Bbama—whom he had absolutely refused to leave at home. 

“It’s okay, buddy. I know there’s a lot of people, but the teachers will look after you, I promise.” Jisung looked up at Chan and nodded slightly, holding onto Chan’s hand tightly. 

Chan led Jisung through the front doors of the preschool, which opened into a long hallway with a gate at the end that a young-looking girl was holding open as she greeted the parents. When Chan and Jisung arrived at the gate, she gave the two of them a warm smile. 

“I haven’t seen either of you before, what are your names?” she asked. 

“I’m Bang Chan, and this is Jisung,” Chan told her. 

“Ah, yes, I remember Mr. Kim saying something about Jisung starting today.” She crouched down so she was at eye level with Jisung. “Hello Jisung, I’m Misuk. I’ll be looking after you today, how does that sound?” Jisung looked at her, nervously shuffling back towards Chan. 

“He’s a bit nervous about all the people,” Chan explained to her. “He hasn’t been around many people for long before.” Misuk stood up and smiled. 

“Don’t worry about that, we won’t push him to do anything he’s not comfortable with. If he just wants to sit in the corner by himself for today, that’s perfectly okay. I’ve been assigned to give one-on-one assistance with him for the first few weeks, which is just what we do for any new child coming into our preschool.” Chan was able to let out a sigh of relief. Misuk seemed to know what she was doing, and she certainly seemed kind and good with kids. 

“Thank you so much.” 

“It’s no problem at all.” Misuk crouched down again. “Jisung, do you want to say goodbye to Appa and then we can go put your bag in your cubby.” 

“Appa?” Jisung said, frowning slightly. 

“Yeah, your Appa has to go now, but he’ll be back, don’t worry.” Jisung turned to look up at Chan. Chan had hoped that the preschool would tell the staff that he wasn’t Jisung’s father, but it seemed they hadn’t. 

“You come back?” Jisung asked Chan. 

“I’ll come back, buddy. I pinkie promised, didn’t I?” Jisung nodded. He let go of Chan’s hand to hug his legs tightly before being led off by Misuk. Jisung kept looking back at Chan, eyes already going teary. Chan thought it would be best if he left now, so it didn’t prolong the goodbye process. 

As Chan got back in his car, it felt strangely empty. He wasn’t used to riding in it alone anymore, having become so familiar with having a babbling toddler in the back. It was honestly quite lonely, even when he turned on the radio to drown out some of the silence. 

That day, Chan had a meeting with one of the artists he was hoping to work with, and he had scheduled the meeting at the company building rather than over Zoom, which he had been forced to do over the past month. He wasn’t complaining, though. No, honestly it had been sort of nice to be able to have all of his meetings from his house, even if it meant that he was sometimes interrupted by a bored and curious toddler. 

He quickly drove back to his apartment, going back into his office for a few minutes to grab the things he needed for the meeting before returning to his car and driving to the company building. It was another strange thing to be driving to work. Most of the time before he had Jisung, Chan would get the train, only driving if he slept in too late. 

When Chan entered the company building, he was greeted by a few people who were leaving. He greeted them, politely bowing back before going up in the elevator to where the meeting rooms were. 

A few hours later, Chan was sitting in one of the recording rooms in the building, fiddling around with some recordings he and an artist had trialled. As he stretched, he felt his back crack absurdly. Yeah, maybe he should fix his posture when he sat at desks. None of the recordings sounded quite right to Chan, even though they had tried at least four different versions. It didn’t matter too much, it was only a tester to see if their styles of music worked well together, but Chan 

still wanted it to be perfect. 

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, with Chan getting more work done than he had expected. 

Before he knew it, it was time to go and pick up Jisung. He saved his progress and picked up his bag, heading towards the elevator. It was pretty busy in the building, but nowhere near as busy as it could be, seeing as there was still about an hour or so until the office workers were let out. Chan said goodbye to the people he knew as he passed them and made it out to his car without much trouble. 

However. When Chan began to drive towards Jisung’s preschool, the trouble began. 

The roads were busier than Chan had expected. It was just the beginning of the school rush, so the drive took almost double what it usually would as Chan kept getting caught in traffic lights.

Rationally, he knew the preschool wouldn’t throw Jisung out onto the street if Chan showed up a little bit late, but that didn’t stop his anxiety from running rampant. As he parked in the preschool parking lot, Chan had to stop himself from running through the front doors and making a fool of himself. 

Chan walked down the hallway and saw Jisung standing on the other side of the gate with Misuk. 

“See, Jisung, here he is. I told you he was coming,” Misuk said to Jisung. 

“Chan!” Jisung wailed as the aforementioned walked through the gate before wrapping himself around Chan’s legs tightly. 

“Hey, buddy, I’m sorry I’m late. I got caught up on the way here, I’m so sorry,” Chan said, patting Jisung’s head—who was now crying loudly into his jeans. 

“He thought you weren’t going to come. He said you were going to break your pinkie promise,” Misuk explained. 

“Did you really think I was going to break my pinkie promise, buddy?” Chan asked Jisung. However, Jisung was still crying too hard to respond in any intelligible way. Knowing that he wasn’t going to stop wailing for a while, Chan pried the toddler off of his legs and picked him up. Jisung didn’t seem to protest this, only switching to sob into Chan’s shoulder instead. 

“Thank you so much for looking after him today,” Chan said to Misuk. 

“It was really no trouble at all. He’s a great kid and he seemed to have a lot of fun today once he warmed up to the others.” Chan smiled. 

“That’s great to hear.” 

“We’ll see you tomorrow, then?” 

“Absolutely.” 

Chan said goodbye to Misuk, thanking her again before taking Jisung back through the gate and out into the parking lot. He didn’t particularly want to drive all the way home with a sobbing two-year-old, so Chan climbed as carefully as he could into the back seat of the car and readjusted Jisung so he was sitting on his lap. 

“Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?” As expected, there was no reply. 

“You thought I wasn’t going to come and pick you up?” Jisung nodded into Chan’s shoulder. Chan rubbed his back comfortingly. “And you got scared?” Another nod. “Okay, but I pinkie promised, didn’t I? When do I ever break a pinkie promise?” Jisung took a while to slow down his sobs before he could reply. 

“Eomma did,” he hiccuped, breathing still uneven and cheeks still wet. 

“Oh, buddy, I know. But I won’t. I will never break a pinkie promise, especially not with you, okay? I will always be there, even if I’m a little bit late. You never have to worry about me not being there because I will come. No matter what. If you need me, I will come.” Jisung nodded, rubbing his eyes. 

“How about we head home and we can play together? How does that sound?” Chan suggested, wiping Jisung’s face. Jisung sniffed. 

“Cuddle,” he mumbled. 

“Or we can cuddle, that’s okay. If you want to cuddle and not play we can do that. It’s totally up to you.” Jisung nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s head home and cuddle. Does that sound better?” Jisung nodded again and allowed Chan to strap him into his car seat. 

The drive home was quiet, with the only sound being Jisung’s occasional sniffs. Chan thought about how scary it would’ve been for the toddler, thinking that Chan was just going to leave him behind like his mother did. Chan was now more determined than ever to make sure that Jisung was never alone. 

When they arrived home, Chan took off Jisung’s shoes and coat, placing his backpack next to the door, before the two of them headed over to the living room. It was warm inside, as the heater was timed to turn on just before they got home in the colder months, so the two of them were able to snuggle up together on the couch quite comfortably. 

“Do you want to watch some TV?” Chan asked Jisung, who was currently clambering to lie on his chest. “As a special treat for doing so well on your first day of preschool.” Jisung looked down at him and nodded sheepishly. 

“Okay then, let’s find what there is to watch.” 

Chan settled on some generic kid’s programme, tuning it out pretty fast, but Jisung seemed to be enjoying it. Chan barely ever let him use screens or watch TV, so this really was a special treat. And Chan was quite comfortable lying there, Jisung lying with his face smushed against Chan’s chest as he watched the TV. Soon enough, Chan found himself dozing off. 

However, his peace didn’t last long, as as soon as Jisung noticed Chan was asleep, he began laughing and poking at his face. 

“Sleepy Chan,” Jisung giggled. Chan smiled up at him. 

“I guess I am sleepy. I missed my afternoon nap today.” 

“You nap?” Jisung asked. 

“Yeah, I do.” It wasn’t strictly true, Chan barely ever napped—he had enough trouble falling asleep during the night, how did people expect him to do it during the day?—but Jisung didn’t need to know that. 

“We nap today,” Jisung told him. 

“Did you, now? Was there a comfy place for you to lie down?” Jisung nodded. 

“Very comfy.” 

“That’s good, buddy.” There was a pause where Jisung went to lie back down on Chan’s chest before abruptly sitting back up again. 

“Misuk called you Appa,” he said. Chan frowned, trying to remember what Jisung was talking about. 

“Yes, she did when I dropped you off. Good memory.” 

“Why?” 

“Why did she call me your Appa?” Jisung nodded, frowning slightly. “Because she wasn’t told I’m not your Appa. She just assumed that because I was dropping you off that I was your Appa.” 

“Appa does that?” Chan felt his heart clench slightly. 

“Yes. Sometimes people’s Appa will drop them at preschool, like I did with you today. Sometimes it’s their Eomma, sometimes it’s someone else like their halabeoji or their halmeoni. It just depends on their family.” Chan was trying his best to explain to a two-year-old, but it was proving rather difficult. 

“You drop me?” Jisung questioned, deep in thought. 

“Yes, I did drop you off today,” Chan encouraged. 

“So…you’re Appa?” Chan wasn’t expecting that. 

“I’m…what?” 

“You’re Appa. To me.” Chan really didn’t know how to respond to this. 

“You think I’m your Appa?” Jisung shook his head. Okay, now Chan was really confused. 

“Want. You’re Appa.” 

“You…want me to be your Appa?” Jisung nodded, happy that he had gotten his point across. 

“Can you be Appa?”

“Yeah. Yeah, buddy, you can say that I’m your Appa.” 

They went back to watching the programme, and Chan couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. 

Chapter Text

The next few months flew by and before Chan knew it, Christmas was the next day. Honestly, he had no idea how that had happened. One moment, all of the stores had Halloween advertising, the next everything was covered in Christmas decorations. 

One of the good things about Christmas arriving, however, was the fact that Chan got a chunk of time off work. His company was extra lenient when it came to celebrating holidays like Christmas, giving all of the staff at least a week of around the day. The good thing about this extra leave was that Chan was able to spend a lot more time with Jisung over the Christmas period. 

Chan was determined to recreate all of the traditions that he had loved as a kid, which included stockings. During the day, Jisung had ‘helped’ him make cookies to lay out for Santa, which Chan had baked while Jisung had his nap. Chan had also put up a Christmas tree for the first time since he moved into this apartment. That might sound a little sad, but he had just never seen the need for one when he lived alone. There were now lots and lots of presents under said tree, including a few from Chan’s parents which had arrived a few days prior. Chan was happy to notice they had included some for Jisung in their delivery. 

Jisung carried the plate, which had a couple of their cookies and a carrot on it, out into the living room, placing it carefully atop the stool Chan had placed next to the tree—they didn’t have a fireplace so this would have to do. Chan placed the glass of milk he was carrying next to the plate. Jisung stood back and smiled. 

“He really…really comes?” Jisung asked Chan. 

“Yeah, buddy. Santa really comes and delivers presents for you tonight. You’ll get to open them all tomorrow morning. But if you stay up too late, he won’t come because he can’t risk being seen, so it’s best we get you off to bed.” Jisung nodded at Chan’s words, grabbing Chan’s hand and dragging him towards his bedroom. 

“Hurry! Hurry!” Chan chuckled, allowing himself to be pulled by the toddler. 

Jisung practically threw himself into bed, pulling the blankets all the way up to his chin. Chan smiled down at him. 

“Would you like me to read you a story?” Chan didn’t know why he even asked at this point. It had become a routine for them every night that Chan read Jisung a bedtime story before tucking him into bed. Despite this, Jisung still nodded and Chan made his way over to the ever-growing collection of storybooks they had on a shelf. He chose one of Jisung’s favourites and sat back down on the bed by Jisung’s feet. He opened the book and began reading. 

By the time the story was finished, Jisung was asleep. Chan put the book back on the shelf and tucked Jisung in one last time, placing a kiss on his forehead. He stayed there for a moment longer than he normally would’ve, just looking down at Jisung, so peaceful as he slept. Chan had so much love for this boy that he didn’t know how to express it. In the three months Jisung had been living with him, Chan had become so attached. He knew he should’ve, knew that Jisung would have to leave eventually, but he couldn’t help it. Jisung was such a sweet little boy who just wanted to be taken care of, and Chan just happened to be the one who was there. 

Chan closed the door to Jisung’s room quietly behind him and let out a sigh. Now it was time to do the thing he had been looking forward to all day—setting up Jisung’s stocking. Over the past few weeks, Chan had been collecting little presents here and there that he thought Jisung would like from ‘Santa’. They were all in a pile in his office, hidden in some of the boxes he kept in there, all wrapped and ready. All he had to do was get them out and put them in Jisung’s stocking. Well, Chan kept calling it a stocking, in reality, it was just an old pillowcase because that was what Chan had used when he was a kid. He had wanted to keep the tradition going. Plus it saved them going out and buying another thing they would only use once a year. 

Carefully making his way into his office, Chan picked up the box of presents and carried it as quietly as he could past Jisung’s room and into the living room. He set it down in front of the TV and began taking the presents out one by one, placing them carefully into the pillowcase. There weren’t too many, as Jisung likely wouldn’t use any of the things in six months, but still enough for him to get excited when he saw the full stocking in the morning. Chan had wrapped each present in plain red wrapping paper, another callback to his childhood. He just liked the nostalgia that came with seeing a stocking filled with red presents. 

Once Jisung’s stocking was filled and the cookies were eaten (definitely not by Chan), Chan decided that he should probably wrap his own presents. He had been so preoccupied wrapping presents for Jisung’s stocking that he had almost completely forgotten to wrap the presents from him. He had wrapped the ones for his family a few weeks ago, already having sent them back to Australia, as well as a few for some friends he wouldn’t have a chance to see again before Christmas, but other than that, all of the presents lay on some shelf or another in Chan’s office. 

Deciding to fully get in the mood, Chan brought all the presents out into the living room and sat them on the floor, playing various trashy Christmas songs through his headphones as he wrapped them one by one, labelling them neatly before placing them under the tree. 

It honestly didn’t take as long as Chan had been expecting, so he was able to get everything done and packed away in only an hour. Now he had the rest of the evening to just relax. Or, Chan’s new version of relax, anyway. 

He quickly showered, pulling on his pyjamas before climbing into bed with his laptop. He watched a few episodes of the show he was halfway through before calling it a day and turning off the lights. Sure, it was only about 11:30, but he knew for a fact that Jisung would be jostling him awake at ungodly hours of the morning and he didn’t particularly fancy getting through Christmas Day with a hyperactive toddler on only two hours of sleep. 

Just as Chan had predicted, he was awoken with a jolt as something heavy landed with a thud on his chest. 

“Appa! Appa! Appa!” Jisung chanted as he bounced up and down excitedly next to Chan’s face. Ever since their conversation after Jisung’s first day of preschool, the toddler had taken to calling Chan Appa, and it was honestly quite sweet. None of the people at Attacca had commented on it when they came for their most recent inspection, and it made Chan’s heart warm every time he heard it. And it made Jisung happy, that was all that mattered. 

“Morning, buddy,” Chan grumbled, voice still thick with sleep. 

“Presents!” Jisung was practically vibrating with excitement. 

“Would you like to open your stocking now?” Jisung nodded enthusiastically. Chan thought that the toddler night actually explode if he kept him waiting any longer so pushed himself into a sitting position. 

“Let’s go grab it and bring it back here, then.” 

Jisung ran out of the bedroom and into the living room, where the stocking sat just as Chan had left it under the tree. Jisung gasped and squealed, running over to it. 

“It’s full! It’s full! He came!” Chan smiled sleepily. 

“Look at that, he did come, buddy. I guess you were extra good this year, look at how many presents you got!” Jisung giggled with excitement, jumping up and down as he held Bbama in one hand and the corner of the pillowcase in the other. “Let’s take it back to my room and you can open them there.” In reality, Chan just wanted to call back into the warm nest of his duvet, but Jisung didn’t need to know that. 

Chan carried Jisung’s stocking into his room and placed it on the opposite side to where he slept. He then helped Jisung climb onto the bed before getting back under the covers himself. Jisung looked at him with questioning eyes, pillowcase clutched in his small hands. 

“You can open them now, buddy,” Chan told him. That was all Jisung needed as he dove head-first into the pile of presents. However, he stopped when he saw a piece of paper on the top. He frowned at it before holding it out to Chan to read. Chan took it and Jisung crawled up next to him to look at it over his shoulder. 

“It says, ‘Dear Jisung, I have heard from your Appa that you have been an extra good boy this year. Keep up the good work and you will definitely have a permanent place on my nice list for next year. The reindeer loved the carrots. Did you make the cookies yourself? They were very tasty! From, Santa Claus’. Look at that, Sungie!” Jisung had the biggest smile on his face as he heard what Chan read. He looked so excited at the thought that Santa had left him a note that he couldn’t even form words, only bounding up and down and squealing in delight. 

“How about you look and see what Santa brought you, hey?” 

Jisung turned excitedly back to the stocking and began ripping off the paper of his presents. Chan smiled as he watched the toddler exclaim in delight at every present, making to show each one to Bbama, who was still sitting on the bed next to him. 

When every present was opened, Jisung looked like the happiest kid on the planet. He was grinning from ear to ear and Chan couldn’t help but smile with him. 

“Do you like your presents from Santa?” Chan asked. 

“Yes!” 

“You’re a very lucky boy.” 

The two of them stayed in Chan’s bed for a little longer, Chan trying to wake up a little more while Jisung played with some of his presents. Eventually, however, they did have to get up. 

Deciding to use the excuse that it was Christmas, Chan didn’t get dressed. It was definitely a pyjama day—something that Jisung was very excited about. He had never been allowed to stay in his pyjamas all day before. It was quite special. 

Chan made the two of them pancakes for breakfast, watching Jisung out of the corner of his eye where he was sitting playing while he cooked. 

They watched a Christmas movie as they ate, a random kid’s one that one of the main TV stations was airing that morning. It honestly wasn’t too insufferable in Chan’s opinion. He had definitely seen worse things made for kids over the last three months. And on top of that, Jisung seemed to enjoy the movie, clutching Bbama as his eyes were glued to the screen. 

A little over an hour later, the credits rolled and Jisung was distracted by some toy or other. Chan cleared away their plates from breakfast and came to join him again on the couch. 

“How about we open the rest of the presents?” Chan suggested. That got Jisung’s attention. 

“More?” he asked in disbelief. 

“Yeah, bud. There are still all those presents under the tree for us to open.” Jisung looked around wide-eyed at all the presents still left. He slid off the couch and toddled his way over to the tree, crouching down and picking up one of the presents carefully. 

“How about you put them into piles, aye? One pile for you, one for me. You bring them over to me and I can read who they’re for, then you put them into the piles.” Jisung nodded, carrying over the present he was still holding and showing it to Chan. 

“That one’s for you, buddy!” Jisung smiled as he put it down where he had been sitting. 

They continued to do that until all the presents under the tree were on the couch. Admittedly, there weren’t that many—only a few for each of them—but it was still entertaining for Jisung to hand them out. 

“You go first, buddy,” Chan told Jisung once he was back on the couch. Jisung grinned and picked up a present at random. “Who is that one from?” Chan asked leaning over. “It’s from Auntie Hannah! That’s a special one, that one.” 

“Auntie Hannah?” Jisung questioned, head tilted to the side slightly in the cute way he always did when he was confused. 

“Yeah, you remember Auntie Hannah? You talked to her on my phone a few times with Halmeoni and Halabeoji.” Jisung frowned for a few moments before perking up. 

“Auntie Hannah!” he said excitedly.

“That’s right. Let’s see what she got you.” 

They got through the presents rather quickly until only one was left in front of Jisung. It was from Chan’s parents. Jisung ripped the paper off just as enthusiastically as the rest of the presents revealing a brown plushie. Chan frowned, trying to figure out exactly—

“Quokka!” Jisung cried, clutching the plushie to his chest. Well, that answered Chan’s question. 

“Did Halmeoni and Halabeoji get you a quokka plushie? Can I see it?” Jisung held the plushie towards Chan so he could see it. “Oh wow, that’s a quokka alright. You’re one lucky boy, aren’t you, Jisung?” Jisung grinned pulling the plushie back towards him and picking up Bbama from the couch, holding the two toys across from each other. 

“They’re friends,” he told Chan. 

“Of course they are. Bbama and Quokka, the bestest of friends.” Jisung frowned. 

“Not quokka.” 

“Not quokka? His name’s not quokka?” Jisung shook his head. “What’s his name, then?” Jisung thought, screwing his face up in concentration. 

“Han,” he said after a few moments. 

“Han? What a lovely name. Do you like that name?” Jisung nodded. “I like that name, too.” Jisung smiled and continued playing with the two plushies. 

Later on in the day, once Chan had set Jisung down for his nap, he began cleaning up the mess they had made. You’d be surprised how much mess a two-year-old could make when given excessive amounts of wrapping paper. Chan wasn’t mad, though. It was honestly quite therapeutic to tidy up and organise everything. It also saved him from doing it later when he was much more tired. 

Once Jisung woke up, Chan decided that it was probably time to call his parents. He had promised them that he and Jisung would video call them at some point on Christmas and now seemed like the perfect time. Jisung wasn’t too tired but also wasn’t too energetic, currently focussing on eating up some pieces of chopped banana Chan gave him as an afternoon snack. 

Chan connected to the call and was met with his parents’ smiling faces. 

“Hello! Merry Christmas!” they greeted. 

“Merry Christmas, Appa, Merry Christmas Eomma,” Chan replied, walking over to where Jisung was sitting on the couch. Jisung looked up from his plate of banana as Chan sat next to him, looking curiously at the phone in his hand. When he realised it was Chan’s parents, his face lit up. 

“Halabeoji! Halmeoni!” he said excitedly, almost flinging the plate on his lap across the room in his haste to talk to them—Chan only just caught him in time. 

“Hello, Jisung!” Chan’s mom said, leaning closer to the screen to see Jisung properly. “How has your Christmas been so far, my love?” 

“Good!” 

“How about you show Halmeoni and Halabeoji what you got from Santa,” Chan suggested. Jisung thought this was a great idea and scrambled off the couch to grab him presents, which had been put back into the pillowcase by Chan during his nap. 

They painstakingly went through every single present Jisung had received, but Chan’s parents didn’t seem to mind one bit. They just stayed watching intently, giving the same energised responses to every item as if they hadn’t seen very similar ones about five times before. 

“Jisung, what do you say to Halmeoni and Halabeoji for your quokka?” Chan prompted. 

“Thank you!” Jisung said very dramatically, clutching the quokka to his chest for extra effect. Chan’s parents chuckled through the phone. 

“You’re very welcome, dear. Appa told us how much you like quokkas and we couldn’t resist when we saw one in the shop,” Chan’s mom said. 

The rest of the conversation went pretty well, however, Jisung got bored after a while so migrated to the floor where he was able to play with his toys freely. Chan really enjoyed catching up with his parents. He talked to them relatively often but it was rare for them to sit down and chat like this now Chan was so busy with Jisung and work. 

When it was time to say goodbye, Chan called Jisung back onto the couch so he could say goodbye too. 

“Bye bye!” Jisung said, putting his face very close to the camera. Chan’s parents chucked through the phone, which only made Jisung happier. 

“Bye bye, Jisung. Bye, Chan honey. We will talk to you soon, and Merry Christmas!” 

“Bye Eomma, bye Appa. Merry Christmas, talk to you later.” Jisung waved enthusiastically as Chan hung up the phone. 

As it was nearing the late afternoon, Chan and Jisung decided it was time to have a cuddle session on the couch as they watched Christmas movies. Jisung was still relatively energetic but he could never turn down cuddles with Chan, and Chan loved having the toddler curled up against his side under the blankets. It was warm and cozy as the minutes slipped by. 

After the first movie finished, Chan glanced over at the window, seeing white flakes falling from the sky. 

“Jisung, look! It’s snowing outside!” That got Jisung’s attention. He was up in a flash with his cheeks pressed against the cold glass. Chan cringed slightly at the thought of the hand prints on his clean windows but pushed it to the side. 

“Can we go? Please, please, please?” Jisung asked, bouncing up and down. 

“You want to go outside into the snow?” Chan asked. Jisung nodded eagerly. 

“Please, Appa?” Chan thought for a moment. 

“I guess we can go outside, but you’ll have to change. We can’t have you going out into the snow in your pyjamas.”

Once they were all bundled up in their coats and hats, Chan led Jisung out of the apartment. When they made it outside, they saw a few other families with young children playing out in the snow. Outside of Chan’s apartment building, there was a little grassy, park-like area for the kids to play in, so Chan followed Jisung over to it. 

Some of the snow was settling on the ground as it began to fall more heavily, which only excited Jisung more. He didn’t go over and play with the other kids as most of them were quite a lot older than him, but he was happy to run around with Chan in the cold. Chan followed Jisung, a fond smile on his face as the sound of joyful shrieks filled his ears. 

This was it. This made him happy. 

Chapter Text

Preschool resumed for Jisung not long after Christmas, which gave Chan a lot more free time to work again. 

Everything was going smoothly until Chan got a call one morning after dropping Jisung off. He recognised the phone number as Attacca’s. Stomach twisting slightly, he answered the phone. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” came a male voice from the other end. 

“Yes, it is, how can I help?” 

“I was just calling today about another potential placement for you.” Chan took a second to process what the man had just said. He thought this call was going to be about Jisung, but another child? He hadn’t even considered that. 

“Oh,” he said, unable to think of a response. 

"Of course, if you aren’t prepared to take on another foster child we completely understand and can find another foster home with the availability—“ 

“No! No, no, it’s not that, I just wasn’t expecting to get another placement so soon. Of course, I’m prepared, yes.” 

“Amazing. As you already know, I cannot tell you confidential information over the phone so you will have to come in to receive the child’s file et cetera, but I can give you basic information if you would like it.” 

“Yes, that’d be great, thanks.” Chan heard typing from the other end of the phone. He knew this probably wasn’t the right place to take such an important phone call, seeing as he was still sitting in the parking lot outside Jisung’s preschool, but he didn’t have much of a choice now. 

“The child’s name is Seo Changbin and he is three and a half years old.” Chan hummed to let the man know he had understood. “Now, knowing these very basic details, are you interested in the potential placement?” 

“Yes, of course. It’s not an emergency placement, is it?” Chan was worried as to what exactly he would do about giving Changbin a place to sleep if it was an emergency placement. He didn’t exactly have another bedroom set up yet. 

“No, it is not an emergency placement. He is able to continue living with his current foster parents until another home has been found for him. This also means that you are required to come in and meet him just to see if it is a right fit before we place him in your care.” 

“Of course, of course. When would be a good time for me to come in?” More clicking of a keyboard. 

“There is an available slot with his caseworker tomorrow morning at 10 am if that suits you?” 

“That suits perfectly.” 

Chan couldn’t think properly for the rest of the day. He was trying to think about what he would do to give Changbin a place to sleep if he was placed in his care. They didn’t have any other bedrooms in the apartment, so one room would have to be converted into one. The only option, really, was Chan’s office. This wasn’t really a problem, he could move most of his music things into his own bedroom or the living room, but he would also have to get a whole new bed frame, mattress and…everything else you need for a child’s bedroom. However, since he didn’t know how the meeting would go with Changbin, Chan didn’t go out and buy everything immediately. If it fell through, he didn’t want to be left with unbuilt furniture that wouldn’t be opened until he got another placement. 

When Chan picked Jisung up from preschool, he decided not to tell him about Changbin just yet. He would tell him tomorrow if the meeting went well. Chan didn’t want to get his hopes up either. 

On the drive home, Jisung babbled about everything he did at preschool that day. Most of his sentences were incomplete or the grammar was practically non-existent, but his speech had improved a lot since he had first come to live with Chan. Jisung was now a bubbly, happy child who seemed to just enjoy life. 

The next morning, Chan dropped Jisung back at preschool like he always did, but instead of driving home, he drove towards Attacca. Sure, he knew he’d be pretty early for the meeting with Changbin, but it was better to be early than late, right? Plus, if he had gone home, he would only be there for about five minutes before having to leave again. 

The parking lot outside Attacca was unusually empty as Chan pulled in. This didn’t bother him, though, as he was able to sit in his car for a while replying to work emails without being interrupted. 

When there were only five minutes left until his scheduled meeting, Chan got out of his car and headed through the front doors. 

“Hi, my name is Bang Chan, I should be down for a meeting this morning?” he said to the man behind the reception desk. 

“Ah, yes, I talked to you on the phone yesterday. Just through these doors, I will let them know you’re here.” Chan bowed his head in thanks and headed through the doors to the right of the reception desk. 

When he first came to meet Jisung, the pale corridors of Attacca had kind of freaked him out. They reminded him slightly of a hospital in a bad way. He wasn’t quite sure. Everything inside the Attacca building felt like another dimension. However, now he was much more comfortable sitting on the chairs outside the case workers’ offices. 

After waiting for a few minutes, one of the doors opened, revealing a tall man with glasses. 

“Bang Chan?” Chan got to his feet. “Come on in.” Chan followed the man into his office, sitting opposite the desk. 

“So, you are here about a potential placement, correct?” the man said, looking through his files. 

“Yes, the receptionist said his name was Seo Changbin, I think.” 

“Ah, of course, of course. Well, my name is Baek Jihoon and I am Changbin’s caseworker. I understand that you were given some very basic information over the phone?” 

“I was told his age and his name, but that’s it.” Jihoon nodded, opening what Chan presumed was Changbin’s file. 

“Changbin has been in foster care for practically his whole life. His parents got pregnant by mistake and couldn’t financially support a child. He has lived with his current foster parents for a few years, I would say, but they cannot continue to care for him due to personal reasons.” 

Jihoon went on to explain more about Changbin’s case in detail and Chan tried his best to keep all of the information in his head. It was a little hard to keep up, but he thought he managed it. 

“Now, I think that is all of the information I can give you at the moment. Would you like to go meet Changbin, now?” Chan nodded, getting to his feet. “As I’m sure you know, I have to be in the room supervising during the meeting, but other than that I will not interfere. If everything goes well, you will likely come back for another meeting before he is placed in your care.” Chan followed Jihoon out of the office and down the hallway to one of the playrooms. 

Jihoon went and sat on a chair in the corner of the room as Chan entered. The inside of the room was very similar to where Chan had met Jisung for the first time, but he probably should have expected that. In one corner stood a small boy with curly black hair. Changbin. 

Chan walked over to him and crouched down. 

“Hi Changbin, my name is Chan,” he said in what he hoped was a friendly voice. Changbin didn’t reply, only shrinking in on himself slightly. “Do you want to play?” Changbin glanced over at the box of toys sitting behind Chan before nodding nervously. Chan got to his feet and led Changbin over to the toys. 

It took Changbin quite a while to warm up to Chan, which was understandable, but it didn’t do any good for the anxiety slowly building in Chan’s chest. 

“Do you go to preschool, Changbin?” Chan asked him. Changbin nodded. “Do you like it at preschool?” 

“It’s fun,” Changbin said quietly, holding the toy in his hands a little tighter. 

“Yeah? I bet you have lots of friends.” 

“I have…I have Seongsu.” 

“Is Seongsu your friend?” Changbin nodded. 

“He’s nice. I like him.” 

“That’s good, then. It’s always important to be friends with nice people.” 

After that small conversation, Changbin seemed to become more and more comfortable around Chan. He talked more, even allowing him to play with him properly. 

They played a game where Changbin was a monster who was creeping up on his prey (Chan). It devolved into a pile of giggles when Changbin jumped on top of Chan, who had not been expecting it and collapsed onto the floor. 

“Changbin, it’s time for Chan to go now,” Jihoon said eventually. Changbin frowned. 

“Does he have to?” 

“Yes, he does, I’m sorry.” Changbin sighed, hugging Chan’s legs. 

“Bye-bye, Chan,” he said, slightly muffled against Chan’s jeans. 

“Goodbye, Changbin,” Chan said, patting the small boy’s head. 

When they were outside the playroom, Jihoon turned to Chan, a smile on his face. 

“I’m very impressed. I think there is definitely a possibility of you fostering Changbin in the near future. We will have to arrange one more meeting with him just to confirm, but I suggest you prepare your house and foster child for Changbin to arrive.” 

Chan read Changbin’s file that night after he put Jisung to bed. There wasn’t very much new information, mostly just the same stuff Jihoon had told him in his office. It was still interesting to read, though. He had arranged to come and have another meeting with Changbin at the end of the next week, so it wasn’t urgent for him to read the whole file anyway. 

As Chan sat on the couch, looking out the window, he thought about how he could prepare for Changbin. The next day was Saturday, which meant that Jisung wasn’t going to preschool. This made things a little difficult, but still doable. First, he needed to clear out the things from his office to be able to fit a bed and dresser for Changbin. He could keep the shelves on the wall where they were, but he would definitely have to take the computer and music stuff out. Then he could buy a bed frame and all the other things he would need before finally assembling them and decorating. Oh, and somewhere along the way he would have to tell Jisung that there might be another kid in the house very soon. 

Deciding that it was probably safest to move his desk and computer out of the office without a two-year-old running around, Chan got to his feet and walked into his office. He would have to be very quiet while moving the furniture, but it was possible, right? 

Hours slipped by like minutes as Chan blasted music through his headphones and tried his best to move the furniture around quietly. He had to empty everything out of his desk drawers, unplug his entire computer, move each computer piece individually to the living room, and then finally pick up the desk and carry it through to the empty wall behind the couch all without bumping or dropping anything. Okay, so maybe there was a better time to do this, but he was already committed, he wasn’t going to stop now. 

When Chan’s phone read three o’clock in the morning, everything was finished. His computer was in the living room behind the couch, his music-producing equipment had its own place in his bedroom, and he hadn’t even woken Jisung up once. It was a win in Chan’s books. 

Collapsing into bed, Chan began to think. Six months ago, he would never have imagined that he would have one child in his care and was preparing for another. Even so, he wasn’t mad about it whatsoever. It may not have been the life he imagined for himself, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. Everything was just so perfect. Jisung was a bubbly, happy toddler and Changbin seemed to be a sweet kid, however cautious he had been at the start. 

Chan fell asleep thinking about what it would be like when Jisung and Changbin met, how close they would become, and how chaotic it would be to have two kids under five. 

Jisung awoke bright and early as he always did, and jumped onto Chan’s bed. 

“Appa! Appa!” he said, bouncing up and down to try and get Chan to wake up. 

“Morning, Sungie,” Chan grumbled, still half asleep. 

“Let’s play!” 

“Just a minute, buddy. Let me wake up.” Jisung groaned, collapsing onto Chan’s chest with a dramatic ‘oof’. 

“I’ve actually got some news for you, Jisung,” Chan said, once he had woken up a little. That got Jisung’s attention. He pushed himself into a sitting position, seemingly having no care for Chan’s ribs, and looked at him eagerly. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

“Well, I got a call from Attacca the other day and they want me to take care of another kid like you. Now, it’s not confirmed, but I just wanted to let you know that it is a possibility he will come and stay with us, okay?” Jisung frowned slightly. 

“Another friend?” 

“Yeah, buddy. You’re gonna get another friend that lives with us. His name is Changbin. He’s a little bit older than you, he’s about three and a half, but I bet you can still be very good friends with him.” 

“Changbin…” Jisung muttered to himself. 

“So, today I was thinking we can go out to the shops and get a bed for him to sleep on and things for his room. You can even pick out a toy for him if you’d like. A present from you.” Jisung nodded eagerly. 

“Let’s go!” 

A couple of hours later, the two of them were packed into the car, warm coats wrapped tightly around themselves as it was still January. 

Chan had to be careful as he drove, not wanting to hit any of the ice on the roads. Thankfully, most of the main roads had been gravelled, but the drive up to the parking lot of the shopping centre was treacherous. 

Once inside, they made their way to the kids' store. Chan wanted to get the smaller things out of the way first so they didn’t have to lug a massive box around the whole time. Jisung was very excited about the toy section, practically dragging Chan over to it the second they got in the store. 

“Toy for Changbin!” Jisung said, trying to run down the aisles. 

“You want to get a toy for Changbin?” Chan said, picking up Jisung to stop him from running away. Jisung nodded, smiling at Chan. “That’s very nice of you, Jisung. Let’s take a look, shall we? You can pick out what you think Changbin would like.” 

It took Jisung a long time to decide, but he eventually settled on a pig plushie for Changbin. They didn’t need to get many new toys, seeing as Jisung already had plenty, so once the pig plushie was chosen, they were able to leave the store quite quickly. 

Choosing a bed frame didn’t take anywhere near as long as Chan had expected. They had it packed into the trunk of the car and were driving home only about half an hour later. 

It was quite the mission to get the boxed bed frame up to the apartment, but they managed it eventually. Chan let out a sigh of relief as he leaned it up against the wall of what used to be his office. 

They didn’t put the bed together right away. Instead, they both had a snack and Jisung asked Chan to play for a while. Of course, Chan could never refuse Jisung asking him to play, so the two of them sat down on the floor and enjoyed their time together for a while. 

When Jisung was put down for his nap just after noon, Chan decided that it was probably time for him to start building Changbin’s bed. He took the pieces out of the box and frowned at the instruction book. He had done this twice before, once with his own bed and once with Jisung’s bed, but that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing. Honestly, both times Chan had just guessed and hoped it worked. 

Chan screwed the pieces together, trying not to be too loud as there was still a sleeping toddler in the next room, but there were a few inevitable thuds as he dropped something. If they had woken Jisung up, he wouldn’t come out to investigate, which Chan was thankful for. 

The bed was built and in place in the corner of the room just in time for Jisung to wake up from his nap. He came into the office, holding Bbama and Han sleepily. 

“You made it,” he commented as he noticed the bed. 

“I did make it, buddy. Are you hungry?” Jisung nodded. “How about we get a snack for both of us then you can help me put the rest of Changbin’s stuff in the right places?” That woke Jisung up. 

They both enjoyed a snack of apple before Chan changed Jisung out of his pyjamas and they made their way back into the new bedroom. Chan had an old mattress in his wardrobe from when he had first moved in and slept on the floor, so fished that out and placed it on the bed. Thankfully, it fit the twin bed they had bought. 

As Chan put some of Jisung’s spare sheets on the bed, Jisung decided which toys he was willing to let live in Changbin’s bedroom. Of course, there was the pig plushie he had chosen specially, but there were also a few trains, some trucks, and a doll or two. Bbama and Han were always going to be kept in Jisung’s room, something he was very adamant about. 

“Are you excited to meet Changbin?” Chan asked as he tucked Jisung into bed. Jisung nodded. 

“We’re gonna be best friends,” he said. Chan smiled. 

“That’s right, you are.” 

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, the time had finally come to bring Changbin home. Chan took Jisung to preschool that morning, wanting to give Changbin some time to settle in before meeting Jisung. Chan had told Jisung not to be too energetic around Changbin for the first while, as he would still be nervous about the new surroundings, although he wasn’t sure Jisung had been entirely listening as he was far too excited about the prospect of getting a brother to pay much attention. 

Chan was scheduled to pick Changbin up from Attacca at 1 p.m., which gave him a few hours to kill before he had to leave. He went around the apartment and did some final checks. Some people from Attacca, including Jihoon, had visited a few days prior to inspect the living space one last time to make sure that it was up to standard, but Chan still wanted to check for himself. 

He was a little bit of a perfectionist when it came to stuff like this. Everything needed to be in its proper place, no exceptions. 

When Chan had deemed everything acceptably tidy, he decided to work on some tracks. There wasn’t anything he needed to get done per se, he just liked to be ahead of his workload sometimes. And his boss thanked him for it later, so that was a bonus. 

Chan wasn’t sure how he felt about having Changbin come home. Of course, he was excited for Jisung to have someone his own age to play with at home and was more than happy to give a home to a child who needed it, but he was also nervous. He had only got Jisung four months ago and before that, he hadn’t been around kids this young for at least 10 years. Fostering Jisung had made him less rusty, but there was still that twinge of nervousness that came over him every time he made the tiniest mistake. 

Eventually, 12:30 rolled around and Chan decided to head to Attacca. He would be a little early, but that didn’t matter. He just wanted to get out of the house. 

As he drove, Chan thought about all of the possible ways today could go. Best case scenario, Changbin would settle in quickly and feel comfortable around Chan and Jisung. However, Chan knew that that was a very unlikely outcome. Changbin was only three years old, he wasn’t likely to adjust to new surroundings so quickly, especially since he had been living with his previous foster parents for over a year. 

During their second meeting, Changbin had started off quiet, just as he had the first time, but he had warmed up to Chan a lot quicker. Chan had learnt that he was a very energetic kid when he was comfortable around people, often speaking quite loudly and running around. But Chan didn’t mind, he honestly thought it was cute how excitable Changbin was. He just hoped that Jisung wasn’t too scared of him at first. 

Chan had noticed that Jisung became quite uncomfortable around large crowds where lots of people were talking at once. He wasn’t sure whether it was the noise or the sheer number of people around him that he didn’t like, but either way, he tried to avoid crowded places when with Jisung. Maybe one-day Jisung would explain to him why he reacted the way he did, but for now, Chan wasn’t going to force an answer out of him—especially since the boy was only two. 

Chan pulled up outside Attacca and parked his car, heading through the front doors. It was routine now for him to give his name to the reception worker and then they would indicate for him to go through the doors to the right. Sometimes he would get the same reception worker twice and wouldn’t even have to give his name as he walked in. 

Waiting outside the offices, Chan bounced his leg up and down. Even though he had done this once before, it was still just as nerve-racking to pick up a child and take it home. Attacca was trusting him to have full care over this child, it was quite a daunting task. 

Jihoon walked out of his office and smiled at Chan, who got to his feet. They walked back into Jihoon’s office and sat down. 

“Now, before we give you Changbin to take home, there are some last few finalities to go over. This is likely to be a long-term placement, which means that you need to be fully prepared to take care of this child for as long as we need you to. This could mean that he is in your care for multiple years at the longest, do you understand?” Jihoon said to Chan, reading off a piece of paper in front of him. 

“I understand, yes.” Jihoon nodded and ticked a box on the paper. 

“If the placement doesn’t work out for whatever reason, you need to be willing to care for him until we find another home for him to live in. You cannot simply place him back in our care when you please, do you understand?” 

“Yes,” Chan repeated. 

They went over a few more formalities before Chan was asked to sign the form Jihoon had been reading off. He happily signed and the two of them went out of the office towards the playrooms. 

Changbin was sitting next to his suitcase on one side of the room, fiddling with the zipper. He looked up when he heard the door open. 

“Changbin, Chan is here to take you home with him.” Changbin nodded, getting to his feet. Chan smiled at him as he walked over to where the toddler was sitting. 

“Would you like me to carry your suitcase to my car?” Chan offered. Changbin looked between Chan and the suitcase a few times before nodding shyly. Chan picked up the red suitcase and offered his hand to Changbin before they left the playroom. Changbin didn’t take his hand, but Chan wasn’t offended. He just led the way towards the entrance. 

Getting Changbin into his car seat was a little bit of a mission, but nothing Chan hadn’t had to deal with before. Once everything was settled, they headed home. 

Changbin wasn’t very talkative to start with, just as he had been at the start of each meeting, but Chan hoped that he would eventually warm up to him as he had done before. Chan was now more thankful than ever that he had taken Jisung to preschool that morning. He had been debating keeping him home so the boys could meet beforehand but ultimately decided that it would work out better for them to meet once Changbin had settled in a little bit at home. 

Changbin didn’t utter a single word the whole way up from the car to the apartment, just clutched tightly to the side of his suitcase which Chan was holding. Chan didn’t comment on it, however, just allowed him to be quiet. Everything must be so strange having your whole life uprooted and not fully understanding why. 

“Here we are,” Chan announced as he put the key in the lock to his front door. Changbin looked up at the door with wide eyes. Chan helped him take off his shoes and led him into the house. 

“Would you like me to show you around first or do you want to put your things in your room?” Chan asked. He wanted to give Changbin the choice so he didn’t feel trapped in the situation. 

“Put…” Changbin muttered. 

“You want to put your stuff in your room?” Changbin nodded. “Alrighty, then. Your room is just over here.” 

He showed Changbin his room, pushing the door open and flicking on the light, even though the curtains were drawn back. Changbin looked around the room with curiosity as Chan put his suitcase near the end of the bed. 

“Should we unpack or do you want me to show you around?” Changbin thought for a moment. 

“Look around, please.” Chan smiled and nodded, leading him out of the room. 

The two of them went from Changbin’s room to the bathroom, to Chan’s room, to Jisung’s room, then finally to the joint living room/kitchen. 

“I told this to Jisung when he first came to live with me and I’m going to tell it to you. If you need absolutely anything, if you wake up in the night, if you can’t find something, just come get me, okay? If I’m not in the living room, I’m probably in my bedroom, so you can just come find me. If I’m asleep, don’t be scared to wake me up, I will always be happy to get up if you need me.” Changbin nodded unsurely, eyes scanning the living room. 

“Now that the tour’s done, should we go put your things away in your room?” Changbin nodded again and the two of them walked into his bedroom. 

Chan did most of the unpacking, putting Changbin’s clothes in the drawers he had put together not that long ago, then placing the few toys he had brought with him on the shelves that Changbin could reach. Changbin spent this time walking around the room, investigating the unknown areas and getting to know the space. 

“Chan?” he asked all of a sudden. 

“Yeah?” Chan turned around to look at the boy, who was crouched on the floor next to the door. 

“How long am I staying?” Chan was slightly taken aback by the question. It wasn’t one he had been expecting. 

“You mean how long are you staying with me?” Changbin nodded. Chan thought very carefully about his answer. 

“Jihoon said you’re staying with me for as long as you need to. So a long time.” Changbin didn’t reply, just went back to looking around the room. Chan really hoped that he wasn’t uncomfortable in the space. 

Thankfully, as the afternoon progressed, Changbin seemed to grow more and more comfortable in the apartment, becoming louder and more like his energetic self Chan had become used to at Attacca. 

By the time four o’clock rolled around, Changbin seemed pretty relaxed in the apartment. 

“Changbin?” Chan asked from where he was sitting on the couch. The toddler looked up from the floor. “We need to go get Jisung from preschool now, is that okay? Are you ready to meet him?” Changbin nodded, eagerly scrambling to his feet. Chan honestly hadn’t expected him to be this excited about meeting Jisung. 

“I wanna be friends!” Changbin said, bouncing up and down. 

“I’m sure you’ll be great friends with him.” Chan smiled and the two of them walked over to put their shoes on. 

The drive to Jisung’s preschool was quiet as Changbin didn’t talk much. Chan wondered was was going on in his head sometimes.

Eventually they arrived and Chan helped Changbin out of his car seat. Since he wasn’t able to leave him in the car alone for obvious reasons, Chan had to take Changbin to the preschool to get Jisung. There were definitely more ideal circumstances for the two to meet, but this would have to do. 

When Chan opened the gate to the kids' area of the preschool, Jisung came running up to him. 

“Appa!” he said excitedly. However, he stopped abruptly when he saw Changbin standing next to Chan’s legs. 

“Jisung, this is Changbin. Remember, he’s the boy who we set the bedroom up for.” Jisung looked between Chan and Changbin a few times before nodding. “Let’s head out to the car then, shall we?” 

Chan led the two boys back out of the preschool and towards the car. Before letting either of them in, however, he crouched down so he was at eye level with the two of them. 

“Before we head home, I wanted to introduce you two properly. Changbin, this is my other foster son, Jisung.” 

“Hello,” Changbin said shyly. Jisung didn’t reply, only shuffled further behind Chan. Changbin frowned, looking upset. “Am I scaring him?” he asked Chan worriedly. Chan’s heart melted. 

“Oh, no, don’t worry, Changbin. Jisung’s just a little bit shy is all. He’s like this around new people, but I’m sure he’ll get to know you very quickly.” Changbin still looked unsure but nodded anyway. 

Chan tried to get Jisung to talk at least a little on the drive home, asking him questions about his day, but the toddler didn’t say a word, only looking out the window at the scenery as it slid by. Changbin still looked slightly worried, glancing over at Jisung every so often, but he didn’t say anything either. 

When they were back in the apartment, Chan was starting to worry that the two boys wouldn’t say a single word to each other the whole day. However, as he was cooking dinner, they made progress. 

Jisung and Changbin were both sitting on the rug in front of the couch, playing completely separately. Chan was keeping an eye on them as he cooked. He kept noticing Jisung glancing over at where Changbin was sitting. Chan could tell that Jisung wanted to talk to Changbin, but something was stopping him from doing so. Eventually, however, Jisung mustered up the courage and crawled over to where Changbin was sitting. 

“Can I play?” he asked, so quietly that Chan almost didn’t hear him. Changbin looked up, a surprised expression on his face that was quickly replaced with a smile. 

“Sure!” Changbin then handed Jisung one of the toys he was playing with and the two began babbling to each other. 

Chan couldn’t help but smile. 

Throughout dinner, the two boys didn’t stop chatting. Chan caught a few words every now and then, but he was otherwise lost completely. If the boys were getting along, that was all that mattered. 

After they all cleaned off their plates, Chan put the dishes on the bench to be done later and ushered the toddlers into the bathroom. He grabbed two of their fluffiest towels and a set of pyjamas from each of their rooms before starting to run the bath. 

If he had thought that bathing one toddler was a challenge, it was nothing compared to bathing two at once. Jisung and Changbin were both so excited by having a new friend who was around all the time that they were splashing around and giggling to no end. By the time they were both clean, Chan might as well have gotten in the bath with them for how soaked he was. 

Getting them into their pyjamas and brushing their teeth was no mean feat either. Chan was barely able to stop the two of them from talking long enough to get the toothbrush in their mouths without them choking. The worst part was that Chan could barely understand their babbling so he couldn’t participate in the conversation in any way. Of course, it was great that the two were getting along so well, but, damn, was it hard to try and understand what they were saying at any given moment. The only time he was able to get them to be fully quiet was when he suggested that he read them a bedtime story. 

They decided to read in Changbin’s room, with Changbin also being allowed to choose the book as it was his first night. He chose one that Chan hadn’t read in a long time and the two boys attempted to both clamber into Changbin’s bed at once. Chan couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the two of them squished next to each other. 

Changbin understandably became sleepy towards the end of the story. It was such a big day for him, Chan didn’t want to keep him awake for any longer than he had to be. He finished the book quickly and attempted to drag a complaining Jisung out of Changbin’s bed. 

“Wanna stay here!” Jisung wined. 

“You can’t, I’m sorry, Sungie. This is Changbin’s room, you need to sleep in your own room.” Jisung huffed and grumbled as he slid out from under the covers. Chan tucked Changbin in, reminding him that he was just across the hall if he needed absolutely anything during the night. Changbin nodded sleepily and Chan guessed that he was asleep before he even closed the door. 

Jisung stomped into his room, arms folded as he sat on his own bed. 

“You’re not going to get in?” Chan asked. 

“Wanna sleep with Binnie!” Jisung said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. Chan took a deep breath. 

“You can’t sleep with Changbin tonight, I’m sorry, baby.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s his first night in a new home, we don’t want him feeling too overwhelmed, alright?” 

“Not be alone!” 

“You don’t think he should be alone?” Jisung shook his head. 

“He isn’t alone, Sungie. You are just next door and he knows that. How about tomorrow you give him the toy you picked for him? Then he won’t be alone at night.” Jisung perked up at that idea. 

“Now?” he asked. 

“Not right now, he’s already asleep. We don’t want to disturb him. But you can give it to him tomorrow morning, how does that sound?” Jisung thought this over for a few moments before eventually agreeing. 

Chan tucked Jisung in, kissing his forehead goodnight before heading back out to the kitchen to clean up the mess from dinner. He was fully expecting Changbin to wake up and come out into the living room crying, just as Jisung had done on his first night, but he never did. Chan even stayed up later than he normally would, just in case, but Changbin’s door stayed exactly where it was. 

The next morning, the toddlers were just as excited and energetic as they had been the night before, perhaps even more so now they were fully rested. After breakfast, Jisung pulled Chan into his room and picked up the pig plushie he had chosen for Changbin. 

“Do you want to give it to him now?” Chan asked. Jisung nodded. “Alrighty, then. Let’s go give Changbin his present.” Jisung smiled as the two of them walked back out into the living room. 

“Changbin? Jisung’s got something he’d like to give to you,” Chan said. Changbin looked up from where he was sitting and over at Jisung, who was holding the plushie behind his back. Chan tapped Jisung’s back encouragingly and the toddler shuffled over to Changbin. 

“For you,” he said, holding out the pig plushie. Changbin stared at it for a few moments before tentatively taking it. 

“What do you say, Changbin?” Chan prompted. 

“Thank you,” Changbin said, a big smile on his face as he looked down at the plushie. Jisung also smiled before running back into his room. He returned a few seconds later clutching Bbama and Han. 

“They’re friends?” Jisung asked, holding his plushies out to Changbin’s. Changbin nodded enthusiastically. 

“Best friends.” 

Chan walked over and crouched down next to the two toddlers. 

“What’s his name, Changbin?” Changbin thought long and hard about this. 

“Dwaekki!” he said eventually. Chan blinked. 

“D—Dwaekki?” he asked. Changbin nodded. “Where does that name come from?” 

“Bunny’s my favourite, but he’s pig. Dwaekki.” Changbin explained it as if it was obvious. 

“Of course, of course. I like that name, do you, Jisung?” Jisung nodded. 

“It’s cool.” 

The next few days went very smoothly in Chan’s opinion. Jisung and Changbin only became closer as the days passed and they seemed to enjoy every second they were together. Changbin hadn’t started preschool with Jisung yet. Chan decided that he was going to keep taking him to the preschool he attended while he was with his old foster family. It was a little further away, but it would give the boy a sense of familiarity in the midst of all the recent changes. 

It was the evening of Changbin’s third full day living with Chan that something went wrong. 

Chan had just finished clearing away the dishes after dinner and was leaning on the kitchen counter when he heard a door open. Turning, he saw Changbin shuffling out from his bedroom, eyes teary and lip wobbling. 

“Oh, Changbin, what’s wrong, honey?” Chan asked, hurrying over to the boy. Changbin didn’t reply as he began sniffing and tears fell down his cheeks. Chan ushered him back into his bedroom, flicking on the light before walking over to the bed. He sat down and placed a now sobbing Changbin on his lap. He rubbed Changbin’s back and gently rocked him side to side in an attempt to soothe the crying boy. 

“What happened, Changbin?” Chan asked. Changbin sniffed and rubbed his eyes with the hand that wasn’t clutching Dwaekki close to his chest. 

“Wanna go home,” he mumbled tearily. Chan’s heart broke. 

“I know, I know, baby. But this is your new home.” 

“What—what about Eunsoo and Daehyun?” Changbin sobbed into Chan’s chest. Chan didn’t know how to explain this to Changbin without making the situation worse. 

“They couldn’t look after you anymore, so I offered to.” It wasn’t strictly true, but Chan hoped that his wording wouldn’t make Changbin think he was shoved onto Chan against his will. 

“They don’t care about me?” 

“Oh, no, no, they care about you very much, I promise.” 

“Why am I not home?” 

“This is your home now, love.” Changbin shook his head weakly, rubbing his eyes again. Chan could tell that all the crying had tired him out a lot. He had probably been crying for a little while before he came out to get Chan. “How about you lie down now, hey? I’ll stay here until you fall asleep.” Changbin wordlessly crawled back under the covers, looking up at Chan with teary eyes. Chan began patting his hair slowly in what he hoped was a comforting way, humming a tune under his breath. 

It took a long time, but eventually, Changbin fell back asleep. 

Chan got to his feet as quietly as he could in an attempt to not disturb the boy. He placed a kiss on his forehead and left the room, clicking the light off as he went. 

He then went into his room and sat on his bed. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how confusing it must be for Changbin to have his entire life uprooted for seemingly no reason. Sure, it had seemed fun at first with his new friend around all the time, but eventually that view had to come crashing down and he realised that he wasn’t going home. 

Chan fell asleep with his heart aching.

Chapter Text

Chan was sitting in the apartment watching Changbin and Jisung play happily on the floor. It had been about a month since Changbin had come to live with them. Winter was drawing to a close and Changbin seemed to have mostly settled into the home. There were still a few nights every now and then that he would be unable to fall asleep, but they were becoming less and less frequent. 

They had a pretty quiet day planned. Chan was going to drop Changbin and Jisung off at their respective preschools and then head to Attacca for a meeting. Other than that, nothing else was on the schedule. 

“Alright, boys, I think it’s time we get ready to leave,” Chan announced. There were a few groans from Changbin and Jisung, but they eventually clambered to their feet. Chan followed them into the bathroom and brushed their teeth and washed their faces. There was a slight struggle when it came to getting their shoes on, but eventually, the three of them made it out the door and towards the elevator. 

Chan dropped Jisung off first as his preschool was closer then drove towards Changbin’s. The three-year-old chatted to himself as they drove and it was honestly quite peaceful. Chan liked mornings like this. They were usually the most mundane but there was something special about the little moments that they probably wouldn’t remember the details of the next day. 

Once Changbin was dropped off, Chan made his way towards Attacca. 

He was slightly nervous about the meeting as he wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted to talk about. However, he was trying to convince himself that it couldn’t be too bad because if it was, they would probably have called him rather than scheduled a meeting. 

It was relatively busy in the reception when Chan arrived. He gave his name to the receptionist and they directed him towards the doors on the left of the desk. Chan hadn’t been to this part of the building since he was first confirmed as a potential foster parent, so it was slightly odd to walk through the halls. He couldn’t believe that it had been five months since he first registered as a foster parent. Chan seemed to blink and all of a sudden he had two kids in his care. 

After waiting for a while, Chan’s name was called and he followed a woman into her office. 

“Just to confirm, you are Bang Chan, currently caring for Han Jisung and Seo Changbin, is that correct?” the woman asked, reading off a piece of paper. 

“That’s me,” Chan said, leg bounding up and down out of nerves. 

“This meeting was called today to discuss further placements of children into your care.” Chan immediately felt like a massive weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He wasn’t in trouble, he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was all okay. 

“Is there another kid who is going to be placed with me?” Chan asked. He had only gotten Changbin a month ago, was it usually this soon before he got another placement? 

“Oh, no, no, this is just a meeting we have with all foster parents once they have two kids placed in their care. You see, as of right now, you are currently listed in our system as available to take on more children if needed, however, this meeting is to discuss whether or not you are realistically able to care for another child. Does that make sense?” Chan nodded. The woman smiled. 

“Perfect.” 

The two of them went on to discuss Chan’s current living arrangements and whether or not he physically had enough room to take care of another child. Attacca had a policy that, if at all possible, foster children should not share rooms with other kids when staying with a foster family long-term. It helped to give them their own space after their lives had changed so drastically, which Chan completely understood. 

Chan had already thought about this very briefly on some of the nights he spent staring at his ceiling unable to sleep, and he knew that he wanted to take on more kids if Attacca needed him to. However, realistically, he knew that his current apartment was just too small. There weren’t enough rooms left for him to give another kid their own room. 

By the time he was walking back out of Attacca’s front entrance, Chan had made a decision. He was going to move houses. 

His name had been put as temporarily unavailable to take on new placements, but he was determined to make it available as soon as possible. That meant that when he got home, Chan was immediately in front of his computer looking at real estate websites. He wanted to have a place that was big enough to take on as many placements as he could without it being ridiculous. Although, now that he thought about it, Chan’s definition of a ridiculous number of kids was probably quite different to that of many other people. 

After sitting in front of his computer for a questionable amount of time, it was time for Chan to go and actually be productive. Not that looking for houses wasn’t productive, he just had other stuff he should probably get done.

Picking up his keys and wallet from their little bowl next to the front door, Chan slipped on his shoes and headed down to his car. He decided to do the grocery shopping that afternoon because he realised that he wouldn’t really get another chance to do it before they fully ran out of things. Sure, he could do it the next day, but that was a Saturday and he didn’t particularly fancy doing a full grocery shop with two hyper toddlers following him. Overall, it was just much easier if he did it by himself. 

Chan listened to music as he walked down the aisles, scanning the sales as he went. He made sure to pick up Jisung’s favourite snack packs and Changbin’s favourite yoghurt, even grabbing a little treat for all of them to enjoy later. Supermarkets had always been a place where he just went in, got what he needed, and left, but now he actually quite enjoyed taking his time as he went down each aisle trying to get ideas for what to cook that week. God, he felt like such a dad. 

By the time he got home, Chan realised just how much time had passed. He only just had time to put the cold things in the fridge before he had to leave the house again to go pick up Changbin and Jisung. 

Okay, maybe he hadn’t just gone to the supermarket, but who could blame him for wanting to look around at all the cool equipment that was being sold at the music store right across the street? Chan was a music nerd, what about it? 

Jisung was excited to see Chan, running up to him and wrapping his arms around his legs just as he always did. 

“Hey there. How was your day?” Chan asked as he took Jisung's hand and began walking him out of the preschool. 

“Good! We drawed!” Jisung said, swinging his and Chan’s hands back and forth as they walked. 

“You drew, did you? What did you draw?” 

“Us! And Binnie.” 

“You drew us and Binnie? How sweet. Can I see this drawing?” Chan asked as they reached the car. 

“Misuk has it.” 

“Is Misuk looking after everyone’s drawings over the weekend?” Jisung nodded. “Well, then, can I see it on Monday after I pick you up?” 

“Yes!” 

“Maybe then we can put it onto the fridge next to the other ones.” 

Sure, it was stereotypical, but Chan’s fridge was gaining quite the collection of messy toddler drawings. It was actually quite cute in Chan’s opinion. He liked to see all the things that came from the minds of a two and three-year-old. 

Next on the agenda was picking up Changbin. 

Chan and Jisung waited by the entrance to Changbin’s preschool with the other parents. Changbin’s preschool worked a little differently in the fact that all the kids had one last ‘mat time’ at the end of the day before pickup. Chan didn’t mind waiting, though. He usually just listened to Jisung babble on and on about his day. He had the option to talk to some of the other parents, but he was a little too socially awkward for that at this point. Plus, he was busy enough trying to decode whatever Jisung was saying to pay much attention to the conversations around him anyway. 

After a few minutes of waiting, Changbin came skipping up to Chan and Jisung, curls bouncing and a big smile on his face. 

“Hi Binnie, how was your day?” Chan asked. 

“Really fun! We went on the swings!” 

“How exciting! How about you tell Changbin about your day, Jisung.” Jisung was then off telling Changbin about all the details of his day in a language Chan wasn’t entirely sure was Korean. Changbin seemed to understand, however, so it didn’t really matter. 

The three of them walked out of the preschool building, Chan holding Jisung’s hand and Changbin holding Jisung’s other hand. Chan would definitely have preferred to hold both of them, especially since they were walking into a parking lot where cars would be driving around, but the boys seemed to be having such a good time talking to each other and he didn’t want to break up their conversation. He just made sure to pay extra attention to where Changbin was walking to make sure that he didn’t stray behind at all. 

Much later in the day, Chan was back sitting in front of his computer, scrolling through real estate websites. Occasionally, there would be a house that caught his eye so he opened the sale on a different tab to look into later. There practically weren’t any houses with more than three bedrooms anywhere near the city centre, which was understandable, so Chan focused his search on the more suburban areas of the city. 

Of course, the houses were expensive. With the state of the housing market and the sheer size of the house that Chan was looking for, they were all bound to be expensive. Even so, Chan hadn’t expected them to be quite this pricey. 

By the end of the night, Chan found a few houses that he was pretty interested in taking a closer look at. He saved the tabs on his computer and decided to head to bed—it probably wasn’t the best idea to message a real estate agent past midnight, anyway. 

He took a hot shower and fell into bed, although he knew he probably wouldn’t sleep for the next couple of hours. His mind was too busy thinking about the fact that he was really doing this. Buying a house was something that seemed so inconceivably adult that Chan hadn’t pictured himself doing it for the next couple of years at least. Yet again, he hadn’t pictured himself with two toddlers either and here they were. 

The next week, Chan arranged times to go and look around a few of his favourite houses he had found online. 

He dropped Changbin and Jisung at their preschools and headed to the first house. It was about an hour away from where he lived, but it was quite nice. It had four bedrooms, one less than Chan was hoping for, but there was an office-type room that he could easily convert into a bedroom if necessary. The layout of the house was a little confusing to Chan, but he was sure that he could get used to it eventually. That was if he bought it. 

The second house that Chan looked at was absolutely terrible. It had looked nice online but now that he was actually in the space it was far too cramped and uncomfortable for Chan’s liking. Yeah, that one was definitely being crossed off the list.

The third house was okay, nothing too special. It was decently sized but there were a few little flaws that made Chan a little hesitant to push any further. 

The fourth house was much the same as the previous one he looked at, nothing too bad but nothing too outstanding either.  

By the time spring rolled around, Chan was starting to lose hope. He had looked at so many houses but none of them seemed to quite fit. God, why did being an adult have to be so hard? Since he hadn’t found a house that he really liked, Chan hadn’t even told either of the kids about his plan to move. He didn’t want to get them prepared for something that seemed like it wasn’t ever going to happen. 

That was until Chan found it. 

He had stumbled across the house right at the bottom of one of the pages of a real estate website and immediately fallen in love. The photos were exactly what he was looking for and it wasn’t even ridiculously expensive. He booked a viewing of the house almost immediately. 

“This house has been on the market for quite a while,” the real estate agent told him as they walked up to the front doors. “Because of this, I think we can barter for a slightly lower price than the asking price if you are interested in looking further.” Chan nodded and followed him inside.

It was just as good as he had imagined. 

The front door led them into a short hallway that quickly opened into a joint living room and kitchen. Practically the entire lower floor was one big room, with the staircase to the second floor being on the back wall, an office that could be easily transformed into another bedroom at the bottom of them. Up the stairs was a hallway that had five bedrooms and other miscellaneous rooms as well as the main bathroom—the second bathroom was on the bottom floor.

Chan spent arguably too long looking around the house. He felt slightly bad for the real estate agent by the time he was done. Just to make sure, he booked another viewing of the house, this time planning to bring along Changbin and Jisung to see what they thought. Sure, they were only toddlers but he still wanted them to see the house before he made a final decision. 

Chan decided to tell the two of them over dinner. 

“Boys?” he said, trying to get their attention. The two of them looked up from their bowls of fried rice. Changbin hummed to show that he was listening. “I’ve been thinking that his apartment is getting a little too small for us, don’t you think?” Jisung’s face scrunched up in concentration. 

“It’s big,” Changbin said. 

“Well, it’d get a bit squished if we were to have another kid come and stay with us, wouldn’t it?” Both the boys nodded after a little while. 

“Because of this,” Chan continued, “I’ve been looking at bigger houses for us to move into. There’s one that I’ve found that I like but I wanted you two to see it before I decide, okay? If either of you don’t like it, then we will rethink it.” The two toddlers nodded. 

“Do we have to leave?” Changbin asked, looking around the room. 

“We’d be taking everything with us, Binnie, so it’s not like it’d be completely different.” 

“Bbama and Han?” Jisung asked. 

“Yes, we can take Bbama and Han with us.” Jisung smiled. 

“That’s okay.” Chan let out a sigh of relief. At least they weren’t completely opposed to the idea. 

———

Chan lifted Changbin and Jisung out of the car, having to stop them from running away from him immediately. They were both so energetic that he really hoped they didn’t break anything once they got into the house. 

The real estate agent greeted them politely, Chan bowing his head in return, and they walked up to the front of the house. 

“Feel free to look around the whole house and take as long as you need to. The selling family is away for the whole day so you don’t need to worry about deadlines,” the real estate agent said to them with a smile. Chan thanked him and led Changbin and Jisung inside. 

As soon as they entered, both toddlers seemed to be amazed at the size of the house. They left their shoes by the front door and began looking through. Changbin ran off excitedly into the living room, Jisung not far behind. Both boys were soon giggling and exploring every nook and cranny of the lower floor. 

Maybe it was going to be alright. 

Chan took them carefully up the stairs, not wanting either of them to trip because they got too excited, and showed them each of the bedrooms. Jisung almost immediately tried to claim the master bedroom as his own. 

“My room!” he said, giggling mischievously as he attempted to climb onto the bed. 

“Oh, I don’t think so, buddy,” Chan said, lifting him up so he couldn’t make a mess of the neatly made bed. Jisung began squealing in delight at being lifted, kicking his legs and squirming all over the place. 

“No, Sungie and I share,” Changbin said, joining in on the game. 

“You two will share this room, will you?” Chan asked, putting Jisung back on the floor once he had decided the toddler wasn’t going to make too much of a mess. The two boys nodded, identical grins on their faces. 

“But where will I sleep if you two are in here?” Chan asked in mock concern. 

“Outside!” Jisung said. 

“Outside? But what about all the creepy crawlies outside?” Chan walked over to Jisung and began tickling him, which only caused the boy to get more excited. 

Changbin, not wanting to be left out of the game, began trying to tickle Chan in an attempt to free Jisung. With the two toddlers both attacking him at once, Chan was pushed to the floor and the three of them became a laughing pile of limbs. 

“So I take it you like the house?” Chan asked as they drove back towards their apartment. There was a chorus of enthusiastic yeses from the back seat followed by more giggling. “Me too.” 

Lots of phone calls and negotiations later, Chan was sitting in the real estate agent’s office with the owner of the house, signing the final documents. 

“Congratulations,” said the real estate agent, a smile on his face as he handed Chan the keys. Chan grinned broadly, taking the keys from the man. 

He had just bought a house. 

Chapter Text

The apartment was chaos. There were boxes everywhere, filled to the brim with all the items they wouldn’t be using between now and the move. All the decorations from around the house, Chan’s computer, clothes, everything was packed up. 

Chan was standing in the kitchen, wrapping up the plates and cutlery to put into one box, when Changbin and Jisung came running into the room. 

“What have you boys been up to?” Chan asked them. 

“Playing!” the toddlers chorused. 

“I hope you haven’t taken anything out of its box. We’re moving everything to the new house tomorrow, we don’t have time to pack everything away again.” 

“We didn’t!” Jisung told him. 

Chan still had so much to do, he didn’t need Changbin and Jisung running around the living area of the apartment and causing havoc while he packed the last of their things. He needed to come up with a way to distract them. 

“I have a very special job for you two,” he said. The toddlers perked up immediately. 

“What is it, what is it?” Changbin asked, bouncing up and down excitedly. 

“I need you,” Chan said, kneeling down so he was at eye-level with the toddlers, “to go and get your most special things that you want to keep overnight before we pack up the last of your things. Do you think you can do that for me?” Changbin and Jisung nodded enthusiastically, running off into their rooms giggling and shrieking. Chan watched them as they disappeared before returning to packing up the kitchen.

He just hoped nothing was knocked over or broken by the time he went to check on them. 

Chan finished putting all the plates into a box and taped it close, carefully placing it on top of the pile of other filled boxes. The apartment looked so empty now that everything was packed away. It all felt so surreal. He had lived in this apartment ever since he first moved to Korea a few years back, Chan didn’t quite want to believe that he was leaving just yet. 

He wasn’t upset about the move, not at all. It was the best thing he could do for his, Changbin, and Jisung’s futures. It also meant that he was better equipped to help more children who needed a home. 

Deciding that it was suspiciously quiet in the apartment, Chan went to go check on Changbin and Jisung. 

He pushed open Jisung’s bedroom door and found the toddler sitting on the floor, back facing Chan. 

“How’s finding your special things going, buddy?” Chan asked. Jisung turned around, holding Bbama and Han in his arms. 

“I got 'em,” Jisung said, showing Chan the plushies. 

“Very good. How about we get you some clothes out for tomorrow so we can close up your suitcase? I’ll just get Binnie and then we can all do it together.” Jisung nodded, clambering to his feet as Chan left the room. 

Changbin was sitting on his bed, swinging his legs back and forth and looking up at the opposite wall. 

“Have you got your special things all ready?” Chan asked. Changbin nodded and pointed to Dwaekki on his nightstand. Chan honestly wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he asked a two and three-year-old to get their special things. 

“Good job, Binnie. Come into Jisung’s room and we can choose some clothes for each of you for tomorrow then pack up the last of your things.” Changbin hopped happily off his bed and followed Chan out of the room. 

“How are you guys feeling about moving tomorrow?” Chan asked as he picked out some clothes for Jisung. 

“Excited!” Changbin said. 

“You’re excited? What about you, Jisung?” Jisung screwed up his face in concentration. 

“I don’t know,” he said eventually. 

“Are you looking forward to it?” Chan prompted. Jisung nodded. 

“But…I like here.” 

“So you’re looking forward to it but you think you’ll also miss it here?” Jisung nodded again. “That’s totally normal. I think I’ll miss it here too, and that’s completely okay.” 

“Maybe I’ll miss it too,” Changbin added after a little while. 

“Yeah? But if you feel sad, think about all the fun things we will get to do in the new house. More kids can stay with us and you can have more brothers and sisters. That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?” 

“Mhm,” Changbin agreed. 

Chan ordered them takeout for dinner that night, wanting to have everything packed away before the morning. It was a special treat since he rarely ever ordered any fast food for them to eat. Changbin and Jisung made sure to enjoy the experience since they knew it wasn’t likely to happen again any time soon. 

When faces were washed and teeth were brushed, all three of them went into Changbin’s room to read a bedtime story. It had become a tradition, ever since Changbin’s very first night with them, that Chan would read the two boys a story in Changbin’s room before bed. The two toddlers would cuddle up together under the covers and listen to Chan read a book of their choice. They took turns choosing, which avoided many unnecessary arguments. 

When the story was done, Chan placed it into Changbin’s backpack which was sitting on the floor. Each of them had packed overnight bags for the next day so they didn’t have to stress about unpacking everything on moving day. 

Chan returned to the bed where the two boys were sleepily lying. 

“Come on, Jisung. Let’s get you to bed.” Normally Jisung would have protested, but he seemed far too sleepy to argue. He didn’t even move when Chan spoke. Chan sighed, and picked him up carefully, careful not to wake him. 

“Goodnight, Binnie. Sleep well, sweetheart.” Chan placed a gentle kiss on Changbin’s forehead, trying his hardest not to jostle Jisung too much. Thankfully, all the two-year-old did in reaction to the movement was cuddle closer to Chan’s neck. 

Chan lowered Jisung into his bed and pulled the covers over him. He was about to leave the room when he heard a small voice. 

“Appa?” Chan turned back and walked straight over to the bed, crouching down. 

“What is it, buddy?” Jisung looked up at him with hooded eyes. 

“I still be with you? Even if we not in the same house?” Chan’s heart broke. Did Jisung really think that he would leave him behind just because they were moving house?

“Of course, Sungie. You’ll still be with me, I’ll still be taking care of you, I promise. We are moving house so I can take care of you and more kids like you.” Chan stroked Jisung’s hair comfortingly. 

“And Binnie?” Jisung asked. 

“And Binnie. Binnie’s coming with us too. I’m not going to leave either of you behind. Ever.” Jisung nodded sleepily. 

“Night night, Appa.” 

“Goodnight, Jisung. I love you.” Chan kissed Jisung’s forehead and switched the light off. 

It was many hours later and Chan was sitting on the floor in the living room, staring out the window at the view of the city. He had sat in this exact spot many times when he first moved in, always seeing the city lights like friendly little waves in the darkness. 

It was at times like this when the world seemed to go quiet, just for a while, and Chan was able to forget all his stresses. 

Chan awoke after only a few hours of sleep. The moving people would be arriving at 9 a.m. to start loading all their furniture into the trucks, so he had to make sure that everything was ready to go by then. He pulled on the same outfit he wore practically every day—a plain t-shirt and jeans—and went to go wake up Jisung and Changbin. 

Chan was surprised that Changbin was still asleep when he pushed open his bedroom door. 

“Binnie?” he said gently as he laid a hand on the sleeping boy’s shoulder. 

“Mm?” Changbin grumbled as he was woken up. 

“It’s time to get up, buddy.” Changbin’s eyes were immediately wide open and he was clambering out of bed. Sometimes Chan wondered how kids managed to wake up so quickly. 

One kid down, one more to go. 

Jisung woke up with a similar amount of energy as Changbin and soon the two of them were practically bouncing off the walls. This was going to be a long day, Chan could already tell. 

As Chan was brushing Changbin’s teeth, Jisung was sat on the counter swinging his legs back and forth. 

“Appa?” he said. 

“Yes, Sungie?” 

“How will Chaeyoung know…know where we gone?” 

“You mean since we’re moving?” Jisung nodded. 

“Jihoon too!” Changbin added, mouth still very full of toothpaste. Chan hurried him towards the sink before toothpaste was dribbled everywhere. 

“They’ve been told where we’re moving to, don’t worry. They know exactly where to find us.” 

“Oh. That’s good!” 

“It is good. Now, get off the counter so I can brush your teeth too.” Jisung immediately began complaining. He hated having his teeth brushed. In his words “it was too spicy”. Chan didn’t quite have the energy to argue with him on that one. 

Much later than Chan would have liked, both of the kids were ready to go. He had arranged for them to be dropped off at preschool a little earlier than normal so he didn’t have the added hassle of trying to control two toddlers while moving heavy furniture. 

They rushed out the door, Jisung saying a dramatic goodbye to the apartment as they left. Changbin laughed at him a little, which made Jisung start complaining. 

“He laughed, Appa! Stop him!” he whined as Chan strapped him into his car seat. 

“Nuh, uh! You’re making it up!” Changbin argued. 

“Appa! He—“

“Jisung, stop it. Changbin, don’t laugh at Jisung. Say sorry.” Chan tried his very hardest to leave the exasperation out of his voice. 

“Sungie is fib—“

“Changbin.” Changbin stopped talking at the sternness in Chan’s voice. Of course, he knew Chan wasn’t actually mad—he was far too soft for that—but it was still scary. 

“Sorry, Sungie,” Changbin grumbled, looking down at the floor. Jisung didn’t reply. The only thing that gave away he had heard Changbin at all was the salty pout on his face. Chan was sure they would forget about their argument by the end of the drive, anyway. 

Chan only just made it back to the apartment in time. He greeted the moving company in the lobby, even though they were originally supposed to meet up at the apartment. 

The door was unlocked and the movers immediately started doing their job. Chan tried his best to help with carrying boxes and loading things into the truck, but he mostly had to just stand and watch. It was very hard for him to observe, as he felt very bad about leaving them to do all the work, even though it was quite literally their job to do so. 

As the last box left the apartment, Chan looked around at the empty rooms. His home for the past however many years was…empty. This chapter of his life was over. 

It was easy to reminisce and get lost in the past, but Chan couldn’t do that. As this chapter was ending, another more exciting one was just beginning. There was so much to look forward to, especially since he had two kids to take care of. And Chan had to keep reminding himself that moving only allowed him space to take care of more kids in need. It was for the best. 

———

There were boxes everywhere. Chan hadn’t realised quite how much stuff he owned until now. He had packed the boxes by room, which made it so much easier to organise once he arrived at the new house. 

The large pieces of furniture such as the couch, beds etc. were taken separately, which made things already feel much more homely. Thankfully, the moving people had helped Chan move the beds into their designated bedrooms. There was no way he would’ve been able to do that on his own. 

Now that he was left alone in the packed-away house, it felt strangely lonely. He wasn’t sure what to do first. 

Chan walked through the empty, undecorated rooms, just imagining what they would look like when everything was finished. With the new space, he could take on at least two more kids almost instantly if he needed to. All he had to do was wait for the furniture he had ordered online to arrive. 

It was well into the afternoon when Chan actually started unpacking. He had gone out and found a local cafe to have lunch in as the kitchen was still packed away. It was safe to say that he started unpacking the kitchen first. 

Chan had only just managed to unpack two out of the three boxes full of kitchen things and put them in their proper places before he had to leave to pick the kids up from preschool. He had to leave much earlier than he was used to since they now lived so much further away from the preschools. He knew that sometime soon he would have to arrange for them to change to a local preschool so they didn’t have to drive an hour or so every morning. 

Jisung was lively and talkative when Chan picked him up, babbling about his day in sentences Chan could barely understand. All he got from Jisung’s chatter was that he made a new friend and they had kimchi fried rice for lunch (at least that’s what he thought he said, you could never be too sure). 

Changbin was in a similarly talkative mood when he was picked up, with him and Jisung talking the whole drive home. Chan honestly wasn’t sure how they didn’t get bored, but it was nice to not be asked “are we there yet?” about 50 times. 

Chan parked in the driveway and the car fell silent. Turning around, he saw both Changbin and Jisung with their faces pressed up against the windows, looking out at the new house. He internally cringed at the handprints that would be left on the glass before climbing out of the car and walking around to let the two of them out of their car seats. 

As he walked around to Changbin’s side of the car, he was very surprised to be met with Changbin jumping out as soon as he opened the door. 

“Did you unbuckle yourself?” Changbin nodded, a big grin on his face. “Well done! You’re learning quickly.” Changbin beamed and skipped around to the front of the car to wait for Jisung. Chan quickly unbuckled Jisung and lifted him out of the car so he could join Changbin. 

The three of them walked into the house, the kids running off the second Chan got their shoes off. They giggled and shrieked as they ran through the new house, exploring and playing. 

“Careful of the boxes! Make sure you don’t run into anything!” Chan called, smiling slightly to himself before following the two of them up the stairs. 

Chan eventually found the two boys in one of the kid’s rooms attempting to pull open one of the boxes. 

“Now what do you two think you’re doing?” Chan asked, putting his hands on his hips in mock disapproval. Changbin and Jisung both froze, guilty looks on their faces. 

“Toys,” Jisung said eventually, pointing at the box they had been trying to open. Chan shook his head slightly. 

“That box doesn’t have the toys in it, it has all of your bedding.” Changbin and Jisung looked at each other. 

“Where are the toys?” Changbin asked. 

“You’ll have to find them,” Chan said playfully. Both toddlers groaned. 

“Appa!” Jisung said exasperatedly. 

“Come on, let’s start unpacking. Once we’ve unpacked you can find the toys and play then, how does that sound?” The kids agreed, however unenthusiastically. Unpacking was boring. 

Much later in the day, almost no progress had been made. Almost all of the boxes were still taped shut and none of them showed any interest in starting now. They had found the toy box relatively quickly and after that, Changbin and Jisung were a lost cause. No matter how hard he tried, Chan couldn’t get them to help unpack. He wasn’t actually annoyed, however. He also didn’t feel like unpacking much since it had been a long day, so he only unpacked about half a box as the kids played next to him before giving up. 

Chan made them a simple dinner and they all cuddled up on the couch afterwards, a kid’s program playing on the TV. 

“I have an idea,” Chan said, getting the attention of the two boys. “How about we have a living room sleepover tonight?” Changbin cheered. 

“We sleep here?” Jisung asked. Chan nodded. 

“Yup. We can bring one of the big mattresses down here and all the pillows and blankets and have a big sleepover. How does that sound?” Chan didn’t even get a reply before the two toddlers were off the couch and scrambling up the stairs. He followed them but at a much slower pace. 

Soon enough, the living room was transformed. They had shifted the coffee table over to the corner and put Chan’s queen-sized mattress on the floor. The blankets that Chan had so neatly put away were dragged down the stairs and thrown over each other to make a mountain of softness. 

Both the boys were ready for bed already so there wasn’t must hustle before all three of them were snuggled up together under the blankets—Chan in the centre with Jisung on his left and Changbin on his right. 

After much begging, Chan caved and let them watch just one more episode of their show. Just one more couldn’t hurt, right? The lights were turned on and the episode started, Changbin and Jisung both cuddling close to Chan’s sides. 

By the time the episode was halfway through, both boys were fast asleep. Chan switched off the TV and snuggled down himself, allowing his eyes to drift shut. Normally he wouldn’t even dream of going to sleep this early but he was so warm and comfortable, he couldn’t help himself. 

The next morning, Chan was awoken bright and early by Changbin and Jisung getting up “quietly”. Once they realised he was awake, there was no chance of him getting back to sleep. 

“How about we make you some breakfast? How do pancakes sound?” Changbin and Jisung bounced up and down in excitement as Chan slowly got himself up. When he had gone out for lunch the day before, he had stopped by the local supermarket and decided to get some pancake mix for them as a treat—there was no way he would be able to make them from scratch. 

Changbin and Jisung chatted and played as Chan cooked before they sat down at the kitchen island to eat. 

“Are you guys liking the new house so far?” Chan asked. 

“Yes!” Jisung said through a mouthful of food. Chan chuckled. 

“What about you, Changbin?” 

“I like it!” 

“That’s good, that’s good. I do too.” 

Chapter Text

Before Chan knew it, easter had snuck up on him. Changbin and Jisung were bringing home lots of Easter-related arts and crafts. Honestly, the fridge was becoming a little full at this point. 

The warmer weather was welcomed by Chan. It allowed him to actually get outside a little more, and get some of the kids’ energy out without the chance of things being broken in the house. 

They had unpacked almost everything at this point. You would hope so considering they moved in over a month ago, but when Chan first moved to Korea, there had been full boxes in the corners of rooms for an uncomfortably long time. 

One morning, Changbin and Jisung were practically bouncing off the walls. They had so much energy that Chan just couldn’t keep up. It was 9 a.m. and the two were only just getting started. Wanting to get some of their excess energy out, Chan called them into the kitchen. 

Changbin skidded along the tiles, sliding much further because he was wearing socks. It was his new favourite thing to do, run down the stairs and slide into the kitchen in the morning for breakfast. Thankfully, Jisung hadn’t figured out how to do it without falling over just yet. 

“What? What?” Jisung asked as he hurried up to stand beside Changbin. 

“Would you two like to go to the park today?” Chan asked the toddlers. 

“Yes!” Changbin said, bouncing up and down. 

“Is there…is there slide?” Jisung asked. 

“Yes, it’s the one with the slide. Remember how we went not that long ago? There was the really fun slide.” Jisung scrunched up his face in concentration. “Well, either way, we can go to the park this morning.” Jisung nodded enthusiastically. 

It took a little while to get both kids sorted, but eventually, they managed to get everyone packed into the car. 

The park was about a 10-minute drive away, during which Changbin and Jisung babbled to each other non-stop. At one point, Changbin tried to unclip himself from his car seat to get a better view of something out the window, which definitely gave Chan a mini heart attack. After a few stern words from Chan, however, Changbin stopped his attempt at escape and they all made it to the park in one piece. 

They had come to the park a few times, but not so much recently as there had been a lot of rain. Chan didn’t particularly fancy getting two muddy kids through the house and up the stairs. However, the past few days had been sunny and warm, giving the grass plenty of time to dry out, leaving no chance of mud. 

Chan got the two kids onto the asphalt of the parking lot without too much hassle, having to hold on tightly to Jisung’s shoulder as he helped Changbin out of the car so he couldn’t run away. You know, the normal things when you have two toddlers. 

The park wasn’t too busy, just a few kids running around while tired-looking parents stood to the side and watched. Oh, how Chan understood how they were feeling. 

Since both Changbin and Jisung were still so young, Chan had to stay with them while they played on the playground equipment. He had to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves as well as make sure any older kids playing didn’t push them over and cause any unnecessary breakdowns. 

Chan took Changbin’s hand in one of his own and Jisung’s hand in the other and they were off. Both toddlers wanted to run off immediately, but Chan had to hold them back. He didn’t quite feel like being pulled to the ground just yet. 

Of course, Jisung wanted to go on the slide first. He had gained a lot more confidence with slides since Chan had first met him all those months ago. However, he still preferred to have Chan go down with him the first time. 

Changbin on the other hand wanted to go on the swings. Chan couldn’t split himself between the two, so he had to decide which kid he was willing to disappoint slightly first. 

“Appa! Slide!” Jisung whined. 

“Okay, okay,” Chan said, crouching down so he was the same height as the two kids. “Since Jisung asked first, we will go on the slide first, then we can go on the swings. How does that sound?” 

“I wanna go on the swings,” Changbin complained, pouting. 

“We will go on the swings, just after we’ve gone down the slide, alright? I promise we will go on the swings soon.” Changbin didn’t seem convinced, his heart still set on going on the swings first. Chan didn’t want to push it much further as it could cause a tantrum from either or both of the kids, but if he didn’t do anything soon, Jisung would get frustrated. 

After much negotiation, Jisung convinced Changbin to go on the slide with him. It was only because Chan promised him they would go on the swings after that he eventually agreed. Both the kids knew that Chan never broke his promises. 

Once they had gone down the slide a few times, Changbin practically dragged Jisung over to the swings. Chan was honestly a little scared he would pull Jisung over, but luckily that didn’t happen. 

It might sound kind of sad, but Chan really loved pushing the kids on the swings. He loved hearing their little giggles of excitement as they swung through the air, cheering for him to push them higher and higher—but not too high, of course, because that would be scary. 

There were two swings for younger kids to one side, so Chan was able to push the two of them pretty easily without much fuss. 

Changbin seemed to be having the time of his life, trying to get Jisung to hold onto his hand as they swung, but Jisung was a little reluctant. Chan could see his body language had become more closed off and anxious since they had got to the swings, and he went over to check if he was okay. 

“Hey, what’s wrong, buddy?” Chan asked, crouching down. 

“Too high,” Jisung mumbled. 

“You don’t like how high the swing is?” Jisung shook his head. “Would you like me to push you more gently?” He shook his head again. 

“Don’t like it.” 

“Do you want me to take you down?” Jisung nodded. At this point, Changbin was growing impatient at the fact that Chan was no longer pushing him and began to complain. Chan quickly lifted Jisung out of the swing and placed him on the ground before going back to gently pushing Changbin. 

Chan thought that Jisung would grow bored with nothing to do, but he seemed pretty content to sit by Chan’s legs, picking at the grass and searching for who knows what in the dirt. 

Eventually, Changbin did get bored of the swings and the three of them were able to go and explore some more of the park. However, most of the playground’s other equipment was targeted towards much older kids, which made it difficult to find a way for Changbin and Jisung to get their energy out. 

Deciding that it was probably best to just let the two of them run around the grassy area, Chan sat down at one of the benches and watched the two of them run off after each other. He didn’t take his eyes off them, not even for a moment. 

A little while later, as Chan was still watching Changbin and Jisung, a woman came and sat down next to him. 

“Are those two yours?” she asked, pointing over at the two boys running around. Chan turned to look at her. 

“Yeah, they’re mine.” It wasn’t exactly true but Chan didn’t feel like explaining the fact they were foster kids to this woman he had never met. She smiled at him. 

“My girl’s just over there,” she told him, pointing over to a small girl who looked around the same age as Changbin with long black hair and blue overalls. “Were you and your boys planning on coming to the easter egg hunt here next week?” she asked. Chan frowned. 

“Easter egg hunt?” he questioned. 

“Yeah, some of the local parents are putting it on. It starts at 11 a.m. next Sunday.” 

“I’ll look into it, thank you.” 

“No problem. My name’s Sooyun, by the way. Choi Sooyun.” 

“Bang Chan.” 

“It was nice to meet you, Chan.” Sooyun smiled at Chan once more before getting to her feet and walking back over to her daughter. 

Eventually, Chan had to call Changbin and Jisung over to where he was sitting. They had been playing for so long and were showing no signs of stopping, so he knew that if they didn’t leave now they would be stuck here for the rest of the day. Chan didn’t want to have a cranky Jisung on his hands when he inevitably missed his nap because of this. 

“It’s time to head home, guys.” Of course, there was the usual complaining and whining, but they followed Chan to the car once he took their hands in his. 

Once they were heading back home, Chan decided to bring up the easter egg hunt. 

“I heard that there was an easter egg hunt at the park next week,” he said. This piqued the interest of the two boys sitting in the back. 

“Easter egg hunt?” Jisung asked. 

“Yeah. It’s where they hide chocolate easter eggs all over the park and you and all the other kids get to go searching for them.” Chan wasn’t sure if Jisung’s mother had ever done anything like that with him, so decided to explain it to him just in case. 

“It’s really fun,” Changbin told him. 

“Can we go, Appa?” Jisung asked. 

“Of course we can, if that’s what you guys want.” Both boys nodded enthusiastically. 

It was settled. 

The next week passed without much happening unless you count two more piles of Easter-related crafts coming home.

Far too soon by Chan’s judgement, Easter Sunday rolled around. He was awoken at the very crack of dawn by both Changbin and Jisung jumping onto his bed. 

“Appa! Appa! Easter eggs!” Jisung said, bouncing onto Chan with every word. 

“It’s not time to leave yet, buddy, we still have a few hours before the Easter egg hunt starts at the park,” Chan mumbled, still half asleep. The two toddlers pouted very dramatically, pushing out their bottom lips and giving their best puppy dog eyes. 

“I’m sorry, guys, but I can’t make the time go faster. How about we see if the Easter Bunny visited us last night?” Changbin and Jisung looked at each other in shock. They hadn’t even considered the fact they could be getting chocolate at home. Chan barely ever let them eat sweets, so this was very exciting. 

The toddlers scrambled off the bed and began giggling loudly as they made their way downstairs. Chan, not wanting to leave them alone for too long, forced himself out of bed, sliding on his slippers and pulling a hoodie over his head. It might be spring but mornings were still bloody cold. 

He found the two kids sitting on the floor in front of two piles of Easter treats Chan had set up for them the night before. Of course, they didn’t know it was Chan who set them up and he certainly wasn’t going to tell them any time soon. 

“What one’s mine?” Changbin asked when he heard Chan enter the room. Chan made his way over and crouched down between the toddlers. 

“How about you try and read the name tags, Changbin? Remember what you’ve been learning at preschool?” Changbin got to his feet and picked up the piece of paper with Jisung’s name on it, clearly wanting to show off his reading skills to the younger.  He scrunched up his face as he looked at the paper, trying to decipher what it said. 

“Let me help you,” Chan offered, shuffling closer. “What sound does this letter make?” He pointed at the first letter of Jisung’s name. 

“J!” Changbin said after a little while. 

“Very good, and this one?” 

“I!” 

“What about this one?” 

“S!” 

“Good job, you’re almost there. What sound does this one make?” 

“U!” 

“And what about this last one?”  

“Ng!” 

“Great job, Binnie. Now, whose name does it spell when you put all those sounds together?” Changbin thought long and hard about this, mouthing the letters he had read out. 

“Jisung! Jisung, this one’s for you!” Changbin pointed at Jisung’s pile of chocolate, a proud smile on his face. 

“Well done, Changbin. You’re getting really good at reading. If that one’s Jisung’s, whose is this one, then?” Chan pointed at the other pile of chocolate. 

“Mine!” 

“I think it could be mine, don’t you think? It looks so yummy, I might gobble it up right away.” 

“No, silly Appa, it’s Changbin’s!” Jisung interjected, both kids giggling at Chan. 

“Is it? I suppose I can let Changbin have it then, considering it has his name on it. We shouldn’t take things that aren’t ours.” 

“Don’t worry, Chan, I’ll share with you,” Changbin said, swapping places with Jisung so each of them was now sitting in front of their own piles. 

“Oh, really? That’s very nice of you, Binnie, but that chocolate’s all for you. Make sure you two don’t eat it all at once, okay?” The toddlers nodded in agreement. 

Chan didn’t want them to spoil their breakfast, so took the two kids into the kitchen before they could have too much sugar. Of course, they complained, but Chan couldn’t have two sugar-high toddlers running around before 9 a.m. and still have his sanity intact by the end of the day. 

“If you both eat up all of your breakfast, then you can have one bit of chocolate each, okay? Remember we still have the egg hunt at the park later today, you’ll have the chance to get a lot more.” Begrudgingly, the toddlers agreed, wolfing down their breakfast before hurrying back over to their piles of chocolate in an attempt to sneak more before Chan noticed. Unluckily for them, Chan was already ahead of them and took away the piles of sugar before disaster could strike. He decided to put the treats in one of the top cupboards so treats couldn’t be stolen while he wasn’t looking. Chan wasn’t being mean, he just didn’t want Changbin and Jisung to only be eating chocolate for the next while. 

The rest of the morning passed as it normally did, with Chan getting the two boys dressed and ready for the day before they played in the living room. Chan had the next few days off work for the holiday and he couldn’t be more pleased about it. He finally had the chance to spend more and more time with Changbin and Jisung without being distracted by work. Honestly, he felt horrible about it. Chan knew firsthand how bad it felt to have a parent be distracted by work to the point where they didn’t pay full attention to you. Perhaps there was a way for him to work less, if at all, and still be able to financially support his kids. That was something he would talk to his mom about the next time they had one of their scheduled phone calls. 

Eventually, it was time to head to the park and Changbin and Jisung couldn’t be more excited. They were both practically bouncing off the walls and they hadn’t even had any more sugar yet. Chan could only pray to whatever gods existed that today didn’t end in a meltdown from one or both of the kids. 

The short drive to the park was filled with excited babbling that didn’t stop when they pulled up into the parking lot. There were pastel streamers and banners all over the place and more kids than Chan could count. There was even someone walking around in a slightly creepy bunny costume that would haunt Chan’s nightmares for days to come. Changbin and Jisung didn’t seem to mind whatsoever, both just trying their very hardest to get out of their car seats and into the park. Changbin unclipped himself easily, which made Jisung complain about still being stuck. Chan had to quickly make his way around the car to unstrap the two-year-old, lifting each of the toddlers carefully out of the car. 

However excited Jisung may have been at first seeing the Easter decorations, he was suddenly much more cautious when he saw the sheer amount of people gathered around. He clung tightly to Chan’s trouser leg while Changbin bounced up and down. Chan took each of the kid’s hands and led them over to a table that had “COLLECT YOUR BASKETS HERE” written in big letters above it. 

He smiled when he recognised Sooyun sitting on one of the chairs. 

“Hey there,” she smiled at Chan. “I’m glad you could make it. If you just head over to the sectioned-off area, they’ll open it soon and your kiddos can start searching.” She held out  plastic baskets to each of the kids. Changbin took his enthusiastically but Jisung just hid himself more behind Chan’s legs. Chan ended up taking the basket for him. They thanked Sooyun and headed back over towards the edge of the roped-off area she had indicated. 

Jisung was still cautious, holding tightly onto Chan’s hand. Chan paused, stopping Changbin from running off before crouching down. 

“Do you not like all the people?” Chan asked. Jisung shook his head. “It’s okay, we can stay away from the big crowds, yeah? We can stick together, how does that sound?”

"I'll take care of you, Sungie," Changbin said, letting go of Chan's hand in favour of taking Jisung's free one. 

"That's very nice of you, Changbin. See, Jisung? It's all gonna be alright, even if there are lots of people." Jisung nodded tentatively, squeezing Chan's hand tightly. 

They waited for the initial rush of kids to disperse slightly before walking into the roped-off area. Changbin led the group of them searching for eggs, even pointing to eggs that he found and whispering in Jisung’s ear so Jisung could find them first. Chan thought it was very sweet of him and it honestly made him tear up a little bit. Changbin had only been living with them for three months but he fit in so well you might believe he had been with them all along. 

By the end of the designated hour, both of the kids had baskets full of little chocolate eggs. Jisung had become much more comfortable as the hour went on, even letting go of Chan’s hand every so often to run over and pick up an egg he spotted. 

On the drive home, both of the kids were absolutely exhausted. It was very exciting looking for eggs but oh boy did it tire them out. Chan set them both down for naps when they got home, taking the opportunity to hide the rest of the chocolate they had collected. Perhaps he would let them have an extra egg or two for dessert that night. 

Chapter Text

Their Saturday mornings were usually slow, with Chan letting the kids stay up a little later on Fridays to be able to have a slight sleep in the next day. Sure, it was only half an hour max, but you had to appreciate every minute of sleep you could get when you had toddlers. 

Chan made their breakfast as usual and even let Changbin and Jisung sit in front of the TV to eat as a special treat. There was some kids' show that Chan wasn't paying much attention to playing, but it had the two toddlers completely entranced to the point that Jisung almost spilt his bowl of cereal all over the couch because he was too focused on the screen. 

"Woah there, make sure you don't spill anything or I won't let you eat on the couch from now on," Chan said, tipping the bowl back to horizontal. 

"Sorry, Appa," Jisung pouted, looking down at his now mushy cereal. 

Changbin, being reminded that he did, in fact, still have breakfast to eat, wolfed down everything left in his bowl, holding it out to Chan with large puppy dog eyes. Chan chuckled and took the bowl from him, taking it over to the kitchen and beginning to load the dishwasher with the dishes that had piled up over the past little while. 

Changbin and Jisung went back to watching their show and Jisung finally ate his breakfast. Chan joined them on the couch after a while once he had put Jisung's now empty bowl into the dishwasher and started it running. The show that was playing was a pretty stereotypical children's program with overly bright colours and painfully slow talking, but Chan didn't have the heart to turn it off when the kids seemed to love it so much. This left Chan to somewhat zone out as the morning passed by. However, he was jolted back to reality when there was a loud gasp from the other side of the couch. Turning his head, Chan saw Changbin standing up on the couch, eyes wide as he stared at the screen. 

"What is it, Binnie?" Chan asked. 

"They're making cookies," Changbin said, not diverting his attention even for a second. Chan looked over at the TV and saw that the animated characters were, in fact, making cookies. 

"They are making cookies, good job." Okay, Chan didn't quite know how to respond to Changbin's statement, it was the best he could do. Jisung also got to his feet at this point, excitement building. 

"Can we make cookies?" Changbin asked. 

"I'm not sure if we have the right stuff for cookies, I'm sorry, Binnie." Changbin was not going to take no for an answer.

"Supermarket!" Jisung piped in. Chan really hadn't planned on leaving the house that day and didn't particularly want to go to the supermarket just to get ingredients for cookies. 

"Maybe not today, guys." Changbin finally turned away from the TV, crossing his arms over his chest and popping out his bottom lip. 

"Pleeeeeaseeeee, Appa?" Jisung whined. 

"They get to make cookies," Changbin argued, pointing at the characters on the TV. "Why can't we?" 

"I've told you guys, we don't have the right stuff for cookies at the moment. Maybe we can–"

"Go now!" Changbin said. Chan sighed. There was no way he could get them to change their minds on this one. 

"How about we finish watching this then we can see if you still want to make cookies?" Changbin and Jisung didn't seem pleased by this compromise but returned to their seats on the couch and continued watching the program. 

About 10 minutes later, the credits of the show were rolling and Changbin and Jisung were back on their feet. 

"Can we go now, Chan? Pretty please?" Changbin asked, stumbling over to where Chan was sitting, completely ignoring Jisung whom he had almost trampled. Jisung didn't seem to mind getting squashed, however, only following Changbin a little less gracefully until he too was sitting in front of Chan, puppy dog eyes at the ready. 

"Do you two still want to make cookies?" Chan asked. The two toddlers nodded enthusiastically. Chan pretended to contemplate his options for a moment. "Since you two have been so good recently, I guess we could make some cookies." Changbin and Jisung cheered, immediately trying to pull Chan up the stairs so they could get changed out of their pyjamas. 

It was a little hard to get the two boys changed and ready to leave the house because they wouldn't stop moving. Every time Chan tried to brush their teeth or comb their hair, the kids would squirm and dance out of excitement that they were actually going to be making cookies. 

"If you two keep this up we won't be able to make the cookies today," Chan said finally. "We'll be getting home with the ingredients at bedtime and then it'll be too late." That got them to sit still. Even if it was short-lived, it gave Chan enough time to get both of them ready. 

The drive to the supermarket was full of excited babbling, with both Changbin and Jisung giving Chan at least four separate heart attacks as they tried to unbuckle themselves while he was driving. Eventually, they made it to the supermarket in one piece. 

The supermarket was busy with shoppers getting their groceries for the week. This already made Chan nervous as he was scared of losing one of his kids in the crowd. Well, a better way to word that would be that he was scared of losing Changbin in the crowd. Chan knew that the minute there were more than 10 unfamiliar people in the near vicinity Jisung would be holding tightly onto his pant leg the entire time. Changbin was a little too adventurous for his own good, always wanting to run up to people and explore new places. This was a stark contrast to the boy Chan had first met all those months ago. Changbin seemed to have flourished in Chan's care, very quickly settling in and becoming more comfortable in unfamiliar situations. Attacca seemed to be very pleased with his progress. It wasn't that Jisung was doing badly, quite the opposite in fact, he was just a shy boy who didn't like being around people he didn't know. 

Chan knew the moment he arrived in the parking lot of the supermarket that it was going to be busy, but he hadn't expected it to be quite this busy. Just for safety purposes, he decided to put Changbin and Jisung into the seats in the shopping trolley just to be quite sure nothing could happen to them. Usually, he would let them walk around after him, only placing them in the seats if they got tired, but this time it seemed to be in everyone's best interest that he just sat them there from the start. 

Walking through the aisles, Chan soon realised that he knew very little about how to bake cookies. He knew the basics, of course, having "helped" his mother in the kitchen when he was little, but he didn't actually know everything you needed. 

Pulling out his phone, Chan quickly googled cookie recipes and clicked on the first link that came up. 

"Alrighty then, do you two think you can remember these very important ingredients for me?" Chan asked Changbin and Jisung. 

"I can!" Jisung said immediately. 

"Me too! Me too!" Changbin added, raising his small hand into the air. Chan began dividing the ingredients in the recipe listed among the kids, keeping the website open just in case because young kids were bound to forget something. 

Thankfully, most of the things they needed were in one aisle. Chan allowed Changbin and Jisung to choose the type of chocolate chips they wanted to put into the cookies while getting everything else and placing it in the cart himself. 

While they were here, Chan thought that they might as well stock up on a few things they were running low on. And it would save him from having to make another trip early the next week. Of course, the toddlers began complaining about being stuck in the shopping cart for so long, so Chan quickly finished up and headed back out to the car. 

As Chan packed the groceries into the trunk of the car, he began thinking about what would happen if he had another placement. He now had room in the house for another kid but hadn't even thought about how he would get three kids around. Unless they were older, there was no way he could put them in the front passenger seat and he was dreaming if he thought he could fit three car seats in the back. Perhaps the car was another thing he needed to upgrade to allow for his ever-growing collection of kids. 

Deciding to push it to the back of his mind for now, Chan closed the trunk and wheeled the shopping cart with the kids back into the supermarket. He lifted each of the toddlers out of the seats and held onto their hands tightly as they walked back out into the parking lot. 

However disgruntled they had become inside the supermarket, Changbin and Jisung were back to babbling excitedly about their cookie-making adventure. Chan listened to them, an absent-minded smile falling onto his mouth as he drove. It really was sweet to hear the two kids talking to each other so passionately, even if it was about such a mundane topic. 

They arrived back at the house a little while later and Changbin and Jisung ran towards the front door the second they were let out of the car. They let out all of their excess energy by running around in circles, in and out of the open front door as Chan carried in the few bags of groceries. 

"Come on, guys. Should we start making the cookies now?" Chan called from the door. Changbin and Jisung skidded to a halt on the grass and whipped around to face Chan. 

"Cookies!" Jisung cheered, following Changbin as the two ran as fast as their little legs could manage towards the front of the house. Chan stood to the side and watched them slide through the front door and across the slippery wooden floor. Oh boy, that was dangerous. He would definitely have to think about getting a mat or something to put there so no accidents happened. 

Changbin and Jisung, who were already in the kitchen by now, bounced up and down excitedly. Chan didn't even have the heart to tell them off for wearing their shoes inside. 

"Right then, do either of you know where we start?" Chan asked. Changbin and Jisung looked at each other frowning. "Do you think we should look at the recipe?" Changbin nodded.

"That'd be smart."

"It would be smart, wouldn't it?" Chan pulled up the link he had been looking at in the supermarket and placed it flat on the counter. Jisung stepped onto his tippy toes trying to read Chan's phone screen. 

"It says we need to mix together the butter and sugar, do you think we can do that? How about you two get the butter from the shelf in the fridge." Jisung abandoned his mission to see the recipe and followed Changbin excitedly to the fridge. It took the combined power of the two toddlers to open it but they got there in the end. Chan had made sure to place the butter on the very bottom shelf so the two boys could reach it. Chan thought he heard Jisung mutter something about not knowing which one was the butter and Changbin sighing exasperatedly before almost picking up the wrong thing himself. 

Eventually, the two of them managed to locate the butter and bring it over to Chan, who had already measured out the sugar they needed and placed it in a bowl. 

"Good job, guys. Thank you for being so helpful." Changbin and Jisung grinned identical grins up at Chan as they handed him the cold butter. Chan measured out the butter and mixed it together with the sugar with an old hand-held mixer that he didn't even remember buying. 

Next were the eggs, arguably the most dangerous part. 

Chan got the carton of eggs out of the fridge himself, not quite trusting two toddlers to get them out safely. 

“Can I help?” Changbin asked when Chan returned to the kitchen island, leaning over the countertop from where he was sitting on one of the bar stools. 

“You want to help crack the eggs?” Changbin nodded. 

“Can I do one?” Jisung asked, leaning over towards the bowl with Changbin. 

“There are two eggs in the recipe which means there’s one for each of you to crack. Since Changbin asked first, he gets to crack the first egg.” Jisung pouted but didn’t complain as Chan walked around and placed the bowl in front of Changbin. Chan and Changbin held the egg together, cracking it against the side of the bowl and letting it plop into their butter-sugar mixture. Of course, Chan did the majority of the work, but Changbin didn’t know that. It was all so exciting getting to crack an egg himself that he didn’t even care. 

Next was Jisung’s turn, and this went a little less smoothly. Jisung was so excited about getting to crack his very own egg that he picked one up and dropped it almost immediately. There was egg splattered on the floor and Chan cringed internally. Jisung looked down at the broken egg on the floor as his bottom lip began to tremble. 

“Hey, Jisung, it’s okay,” Chan comforted, wrapping his arms around the boy as tears began to fall from his eyes. 

“I didn’t mean—“ Jisung wailed. 

“I know, honey, I know you didn’t mean to. But it’s okay, we can just clean it up, okay? It was an accident.” Jisung took a little while to calm down, still sniffling and rubbing his eyes when Chan finally went to get something to clean up the broken egg. 

“How about we try that again?” Chan said to Jisung, picking up another egg from the carton carefully. Jisung nodded, stretching his hand out so it was on top of Chan’s on top of the egg. Carefully, the two of them cracked it against the side of the bowl and allowed it to fall on top of the egg Changbin already cracked. 

“Good job, buddy,” Chan said, ruffling Jisung’s hair as he walked past to throw away the eggshell. Jisung giggled and Chan couldn’t help but smile at the sound. 

The rest of the cookie-making went pretty smoothly…in a loose sense of the word. 

When Chan had brought out the flour, he hadn’t taken into consideration that mixing very thin powder with a fast hand-held mixer would mean that flour would go everywhere. It was safe to say that flour did, in fact, go everywhere. Chan was pretty sure that there was flour coating his lungs at this point. 

Of course, Changbin and Jisung thought this was the best thing ever and immediately started playing with the flour that was covering the countertop. They would definitely need a bath after that. 

Eventually, they did actually manage to get the cookies into the oven and cooking. Changbin and Jisung went to play in the living room while Chan tried to clean up the mess they had made. 

Chan could only cringe at the mass amounts of flour that the toddlers were getting into the carpet as they played but there was no way he could give them a bath in the time it took for the cookies to bake. 

The timer on Chan’s phone went off and Changbin and Jisung scrambled around the crouch and over to stand next to the oven. Chan made sure they were far enough away before pulling the door open and sliding the hot tray of cookies out. 

“Can we have one, Appa?” Jisung asked, standing on his tippy toes to get a good look at the finished cookies. 

“Not just yet, buddy. They’re too hot to eat at the moment, we have to wait for them to cool down.” Changbin and Jisung pouted, Changbin crossing his arms for a more dramatic effect. “You can have a cookie after we’ve got you both clean, how does that sound?” 

Chan has never seen Changbin or Jisung run to the bath so fast. 

Once the two of them were no longer covered in copious amounts of flour, Chan allowed Changbin and Jisung to each have a cookie. Sure, it was before dinner but he honestly didn’t want to have them complaining for the rest of the afternoon. 

Later in the evening after Chan had put the two boys to bed, he decided to call his mom. He hadn’t talked to her in a while and honestly wanted some advice about some things. 

“Hi Channie, what’s up?” his mom asked when she answered the phone. 

“Eomma, could you help me with some stuff?” he asked, lying down on the couch and staring up at the ceiling, being reminded of how he used to do this when he first moved to Korea. 

“What do you need help with? Is it something to do with the kids?” 

“Sort of. It’s just…I need some advice.” 

“I am a beacon of knowledge, hit me with it.” Chan chuckled slightly. 

“So you know how I moved house to be able to have more room to take in more kids?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, I didn’t think any further about how I’m actually going to get the extra kids around if and when they come. The car is too small to fit another car seat and I don’t know how I’m going to get any work done if I have three young kids.” Chan’s mom was quiet for a little while, clearly thinking. 

“Chan, I think that you need to make the decision that’s right for you. Regarding the car, obviously, it’s best if you get something that will fit more kids if you need to. Your Appa and I can pitch in some money to help with that if you need it. And with the time problem, maybe it’s best to see how things go when you actually get another kid placed with you. You never know, you might be able to manage the time between work and being a foster parent.” Chan hummed, thinking about what his mom had said. 

“I have some savings put to the side for nothing in particular, I guess I could put that together and get a new car, adding the money I get for selling my current car I think it’d definitely be enough to buy a bigger car.” 

Chan and his mom continued to talk well into the night after that. It wasn’t necessarily about Chan’s struggles with making decisions, but more about anything and everything that seemed relevant. 

It was moments like this that reminded Chan just how much he missed his family in Australia. 

Chapter Text

It was hot. 

Summer was in full swing and Chan was struggling to think at points, feeling suffocated by the heat. Of course, it was nice to be able to take the kids outside more and enjoy nature but did it have to be this hot? 

There was one day that even the kids seemed to be struggling with the heat. Changbin and Jisung were lying spread out on the living room floor while Chan replied to emails on the couch. 

“Appa,” Jisung whined. 

“What is it, buddy?” Chan asked, looking up from his laptop. 

“Too hot.” 

“I know it’s hot, bud, but there’s not much I can do about that. The air conditioning’s on and the doors are closed.” Chan knew that Jisung didn’t really understand what that meant, but it didn’t matter. 

“Can we do something?” Changbin asked, rolling over onto his stomach to look up at Chan. 

“What do you guys want to do?” Changbin and Jisung looked at each other. 

“Dunno,” Changbin said eventually. 

“How about you two come up with something we can do and then tell me, yeah?” 

That left the kids distracted for at least another five minutes which allowed Chan some time to continue replying to important emails. 

A few minutes later, the two boys seemed to have come up with an idea. They climbed up onto the couch and sat on either side of Chan, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. 

“Have you decided what you want to do?” Chan asked, looking between the two of them. Jisung nodded. “What is it, then?” 

“Swimming!” Changbin said, bouncing up and down excitedly. 

“You want to go swimming?” Chan repeated, a little confused. Both boys nodded. Neither of them knew how to swim to Chan’s knowledge so he wasn’t quite sure where the idea had come from. 

“Please, Appa?” Jisung asked, resting his chin on Chan’s arm. 

“Pretty please?” Changbin asked, doing a very similar thing on Chan’s other side. 

“Alright, then.” The two kids whooped and climbed off the couch. God, Chan was a weak man. But how could anyone say no to their cute faces? 

It took a little bit of searching but eventually, Chan found two pairs of kid-sized togs and rash vests. Honestly, he couldn’t remember when he had bought them but apparently he had. 

Chan had to do a little research to find the nearest swimming pool but it turned out there was one not too far away. Jisung and Changbin were very excited by this. 

Chan was a little nervous about what would happen, seeing as neither of the kids knew how to swim, but he had grown up in Australia and learnt to swim from a young age so he could always teach them. 

It was decided that all of them would get changed into their togs before they left to avoid the hassle of the public changing rooms. And once they were changed, Chan had to admit that the boys did look adorable in their little rash vests and board shorts. He couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the two of them with identical grins on their faces and sending it to his mom. 

Changbin and Jisung wanted to leave immediately but Chan had to calm them down slightly so that he could pack their swimming bags. It was quite difficult to explain to a two and three-year-old that, no, you couldn’t just walk around in your wet togs for the rest of the day, that would be uncomfortable. 

Some slightly raggedy swimming towels were pulled out of the back of the linen cupboard in the upstairs hallway and stuffed into their shared bag on top of a change of clothes for each of them. Chan had learnt from many school swimming trips as a child to always put your towel on top so you didn’t have to rummage through the bag to find it and get your clothes all wet. 

Finally, they were ready to go. 

A wave of heat crashed over them as they stepped outside. It also came with a feeling of nostalgia for Chan. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gone to the public swimming pool on a hot summer day. He definitely hadn’t been since he was a teenager at least, having been dragged by his younger siblings many times over the years. 

They had to give the car a minute to cool down so that none of them suffocated from the heat, but Changbin and Jisung were perfectly happy to play around on the grass in front of the house for the time being. Chan had no idea where they got all of this energy from, it was impressive at times. 

After the car had cooled down as much as it could, Chan called over the two kids, who ran up to him enthusiastically. Changbin climbed into the side of the car, plopping himself into his car seat. He had become quite good at unstrapping himself over the past while, but still struggled to clip himself up. And, of course, Chan was happy to help him. 

Chan buckled up the two boys before climbing into the driver’s seat and turning on the engine. Off they went. 

The public swimming pool was about a 20-minute drive from where they lived, but Changbin and Jisung didn’t seem to mind. They chatted excitedly the whole way, asking Chan a few questions every now and then. 

They arrived in no time and Chan let Changbin and Jisung out of the car, holding onto their shoulders until he was sure they wouldn’t run away into the parking lot. 

Both of the toddlers were bouncing up and down in excitement as Chan pulled their shared swimming bag from the middle seat and locked the car behind him. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Chan took Changbin’s hand with his right and Jisung’s hand with his left and led the two of them towards the front entrance. 

The man working at the front desk seemed relatively bored as he told Chan the prices and allowed them through into the pool. 

It was quite crowded, just as you would expect on a day like this. 

There were two pools, a larger, deeper one which was filled with older kids jumping and splashing around, and a shallower, much calmer one off to the side for the younger kids. Jisung, who would normally have hidden behind Chan in a situation with this many people, led the three of them over to the cubbies and practically forced Chan to put the swimming bag inside one of them. 

“Woah there, what’s the rush, buddy?” Chan chuckled. 

“I swim!” Jisung said excitedly. 

“Alright, alright, we can swim.” 

The three of them walked over to the shallow pool after a little bit of convincing from Chan. Jisung wanted to jump straight into the deeper pool but Chan didn’t quite feel like having one of his kids drowning today, so wouldn’t budge on his decision. Jisung of course thought this was very unfair but he would get over it eventually. 

The shallow pool had little steps down into the water, which Chan helped both Changbin and Jisung down. 

Once they were in the water, the two boys were unstoppable. They began splashing and jumping around, having the time of their lives while Chan sat just beside them and watched, a faint smile on his face. 

They stayed in the shallowest end of the pool for a while before Changbin decided that he wanted to venture towards the deeper end. Chan was fine with his, but only if he was allowed to hold on to both of them at all times. 

“I can swim, Chan,” Changbin told him, a pout on his face. 

“Can you, now? I thought you told me on the way here you’ve never been to a pool before.” Changbin’s cheeks flushed at the fact he was caught in his lie. 

“I was fibbing!” he said in an attempt to cover his tracks. 

“Were you?” Changbin nodded. “Alright then, but I still want to hold onto you just to make sure.” 

“But I’m a big boy now, I don’t need help! I’m nearly four!” 

“You are such a big boy, but even big boys need help sometimes.” Changbin crossed his arms. 

“Fine,” he mumbled. 

Jisung was thankfully a lot less difficult to persuade, being much more cautious than Changbin about the deeper water. It was a slight handful to hold onto both of the boys at the same time, but they weren’t going anywhere near water that was over their heads, so it was safe either way. 

Changbin began kicking and splashing happily, squirming around to the point where Chan nearly dropped him multiple times. Thankfully, he managed to keep a hold of him. That didn’t mean he didn’t have several mini heart attacks, though. Jisung, who had been a little nervous at first, soon realised how fun the water was and began splashing with Changbin, both of them laughing happily. 

Once he was sure that the kids wouldn’t run off into too-deep water, Chan allowed himself to sit back slightly and watch his boys play in the pool. It was calming to watch, seeing them jumping and splashing with such childish innocence he only wished he could have. 

About an hour later, Changbin and Jisung were beginning to get tired. Chan could see it on their faces, even though they would never admit it out loud. 

“Should we head out now?” Chan suggested. 

“I want stay,” Jisung pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I guess if we stay we can’t get ice cream then,” Chan said dramatically. 

“Ice cream?” Both kids perked up immediately. 

“I was planning on taking you to the convenience store and getting ice cream but if you want to stay longer then we can just skip that.” 

“No! No! We want ice cream!” Changbin said, holding onto Chan’s arm in an attempt to pull him out of the water. 

“I thought you wanted to stay here longer.” 

“Ice cream!” Jisung joined Changbin’s attempts to lift Chan out of the pool and towards the changing rooms. It’s safe to say they didn’t make much progress. 

“Okay, okay, I guess we can go get ice cream now,” Chan chuckled, getting to his feet and holding both of the kids’ hands so they didn’t run off on the slippery tiles and fall. 

Chan picked up their swimming bag, something the kids almost forgot was needed in their excitement about ice cream, and headed towards the changing rooms. The kids would definitely need a bath after all the chlorine but that could wait until that evening. 

The heat had in no way relented while they had been in the pool. If anything, it was even hotter. Chan cringed slightly at the thought of the kids getting sunburnt from the scorching sun so hurried them towards the nearest convenience store, which was thankfully just a block away. 

There was a freezer with what seemed like endless flavour choices of ice cream that Changbin and Jisung immediately hurried over to, pressing their faces to the glass. Chan cringed internally at the thought of the handprints that would be left there. 

“What flavour do you guys want?” Chan asked, walking up behind them. Changbin looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“Any of them?” 

“Yeah, Binnie, you can choose any of them. You can only have one flavour, though, so make sure you make a good choice.” 

Saying this may have been a mistake, however, because the toddlers spent the next 10 minutes or so trying to decide what flavours of ice cream they should get. Every time Chan thought they had made a decision, they changed their minds and went right back to square one. 

Finally, they made their final decisions—chocolate for Jisung and strawberry swirl for Changbin. Far too basic flavour choices for the time it took for them to decide in Chan’s opinion, but it didn’t matter. He was just glad when he paid for their ice creams and they were heading back out into the heat. 

They found a little bench just down the street and sat down to enjoy their ice creams. Jisung somehow already had chocolate covering half of his face and Chan tried not to cringe when a large dollop of brown ice cream fell onto the front of his shirt. 

“You’re such a grub,” Chan teased, licking his own ice cream as he spoke. Jisung just grinned up at him toothily. Changbin was a much cleaner eater, thankfully. Well, as clean as a three, almost four, year old could get. 

“Did you two enjoy your day?” Chan asked as they walked back to the car. 

“Yes!” the kids chorused, swinging their arms back and forth where they were holding onto each other. 

“I’m glad.” 

Once again, they had to wait for the car to cool down so they didn’t cook alive as they were driving home. Chan didn’t quite fancy having his brain melt while on the road, thank you very much. 

When they arrived back at the house, Changbin and Jisung seemed to have pulled energy out of nowhere. They were running around after each other as Chan unlocked the front door, almost forgetting to take off their shoes before they went past the entrance—only being reminded by Chan calling after them. They skidded around the bottom floor, giggling and shrieking as they went. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to buy them ice cream, Chan thought. 

Not wanting the kids to be running on pure sugar for the rest of the day, Chan decided to make them a late-ish lunch. It was nothing fancy, just some fruit and little sandwiches, but it would hopefully lessen the effects of the sugar from the ice creams they had consumed. 

Yeah, Chan was wrong. 

Having more food only seemed to double Changbin and Jisung’s energy. They chased after each other round and round the living room, tripping over almost everything and very nearly falling flat on their faces multiple times. Not wanting to deal with anything broken, Chan spoke up. 

“How about we head out into the back garden and you can play there?” Changbin and Jisung didn’t verbally respond, only changed the course of their destruction tornado towards the back door. Chan couldn’t help but chuckle slightly as they attempted to figure out how to open the door to the yard. 

He did go over and help eventually, following the kids outside with a drink in hand. Chan definitely wished that the drink was something alcoholic, but that was beside the point. It would be irresponsible of him to drink so early in the day with the two kids around. Perhaps he would treat himself to a glass of something once the kids were in bed. 

Changbin and Jisung continued to run around the back garden, thoroughly enjoying themselves when they suddenly skidded to a halt in front of Chan. 

“What’re you doing, Chan?” Changbin asked, looking down at where Chan was sitting on the grass. While he was watching the kids, Chan had absent-mindedly started picking the daisies from the grass around him and making them into chains. 

“I’m making daisy chains,” he explained to them. 

“Can I make one?” Jisung asked. 

“Sure you can, would you like me to teach you?” Both kids nodded enthusiastically and sat down in front of Chan. 

It was oddly comforting to Chan teaching the kids how to make daisy chains. It only reminded him further of spring days in Australia—the grass was usually dead by the time summer rolled around—picking daisies from his grandparents’ garden and weaving them into chains. 

The rest of the day passed smoothly, with Chan tucking Changbin and Jisung into bed before sitting on the couch and scrolling through miscellaneous websites on his laptop. 

At some point, he wasn’t exactly sure when, Chan found himself looking through car sale websites. He had been meaning to upgrade his car for a while, the conversation with his mom from a little while ago only pushing the idea to the forefront of his mind. 

It was at that moment that he well and truly decided that he would be getting a new car. He needed one that could fit a decent number of people without them being too cramped up all the time. If Chan bought a car with pop-up seats in the back, he could already sense the arguments over who had to be squished in the trunk. 

Hours later, Chan had made his decision. 

He had chosen a larger car that had seven seats with an eighth able to be put up if necessary. Some might call it over-the-top, but Chan didn’t think so. He needed to be as prepared as possible for any kids that might come into his care. 

A test drive was booked for the very next day. Chan dropped the kids off at their new preschool, one that was much closer and more convenient for the new house, and drove off to the car dealership. 

The next few days went by so quickly that Chan didn’t even process that one morning he was driving his old car to the dealership and a few hours later he was driving the new car home. It felt odd to drive such a big car when he was used to his little 5-passenger-max car. It was a good feeling though. It made Chan more excited than ever to get new placements. 

Everything was moving so fast recently that Chan couldn’t even believe that Jisung had been with him for almost a whole year. It seemed like only yesterday he was meeting the shy boy in the Attacca playroom. Now the boy was thriving, absolutely loving living with Chan. It was as if the two of them had been destined to meet at some point or another. Chan loved both of the boys with his whole heart and was prepared to do anything and everything he needed to protect them.

Chapter Text

Changbin’s birthday came up much quicker than Chan realised and before he knew it, they only had a week to plan his birthday party. Thankfully, that year Changbin’s birthday fell on a Saturday so they didn’t have to try and organise around preschool days when to have his party. 

Changbin was adamant that they have a pirate-themed birthday. The kids had recently discovered a kids pirate show and became obsessed very quickly. Everything had to be pirate-themed from then on. 

“Alright, Binnie, who do you want to come to your birthday? Which friends from preschool would you like to invite?” Chan asked Changbin, sitting him down at the kitchen table. 

“Sungie!” Changbin said enthusiastically. 

“Don’t worry, Jisung’s going to be there. What about Chaeryeong? You’re friends with her, aren’t you?” Changbin stopped attempting to climb on top of the table at this, thinking deeply. 

“I want Chaeryeong,” he said eventually. 

“You want Chaeryeong there? Okay, we can invite her. Who else do you want to come?” 

They spent the next little while creating a list of all the friends Changbin wanted to come to his birthday party. Of course, Changbin wanted to invite practically the whole preschool so no one would feel left out, but Chan limited it to 10 kids—those 10 including Changbin and Jisung. Chan could only manage a certain amount of four-year-olds at a time thank you very much. 

The next morning, the three of them packed themselves into the car and headed to the nearest party store. 

As they walked through the front doors and got themselves a shopping cart, both kids got extremely excited, each trying to drag Chan in a different direction. 

“Hey, boys, boys, calm down, okay? We can go look at both the things you want to, but first, we have to get the things on the list,” Chan said, crouching down for a moment to speak to them. 

“But I want to go over there, Chan,” Changbin pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I know, Binnie, but we have to get the pirate things for your party first, remember? If we go over to the balloons first you won’t have any pirate plates or costumes for your party. We can’t have that, can we?” 

“No!” Changbin said in horror, uncrossing his arms. 

“Then let’s go get the other stuff first, shall we? Then we can go get the balloons.” Changbin nodded. 

That was one kid convinced, now all he had to do was convince Jisung. 

“Candy!” Jisung said when he realised Chan’s attention was on him, pointing over to the candy section of the store. 

“Not just yet, Sungie. We can go there in a minute, okay? We just have to get a few other things first.” Predictably, Jisung pouted. 

“Candy!” he repeated. 

“Not just yet, Sungie, we have to get other things first.” 

“But Appa—“ 

“No, Jisung. We will get the candy later.” Jisung let out a dejected sigh and begrudgingly followed Chan and Changbin into the aisle with party plates and streamers. 

But of course, it couldn’t be that simple. 

As Changbin was choosing which pirate-themed cups he wanted, Jisung picked up a set of plates. 

“These ones!” he said, showing them to Chan and Changbin. 

“We’ve already got some plates, Sungie, but it was good of you to try and help out.” Jisung frowned. 

“I want these,” he repeated, pushing the plates closer towards Chan. Before Chan could say anything, Changbin spoke. 

“Those ones are ugly.” Jisung’s face fell, his eyes becoming teary. 

“I like them,” he sniffled. Chan could sense a breakdown coming soon so quickly intervened. 

“They’re very nice, Jisung, but it is Changbin’s birthday so he gets to choose the plates. How about we get those ones and keep them in the cupboard for your birthday party? How does that sound?” 

“He said they ugly,” Jisung mumbled, a tear slipping down his cheek as he pointed at Changbin. 

“I know, but he didn’t mean it. Changbin, can you say sorry to Jisung?” Chan ushered Changbin gently over to Jisung. 

“I’m sorry, Jisung. I didn’t mean to say your plates ugly,” Changbin said. Jisung sniffled loudly and rubbed his eyes. 

“Do you accept Changbin’s apology, Jisung?” Chan asked. Jisung nodded, looking at the floor and still clutching the packet of paper plates in his small hands. “Good job, boys. Now, how about we put Jisung’s plates into the cart and then we keep going with getting Changbin’s birthday things, yeah?” Both of the kids agreed and they kept going on with their shopping trip. 

Five minutes later, the two of them were best friends again, laughing and playing with each other as if nothing had ever happened. God, Chan wished some adults forgave that quickly. 

The rest of the shopping trip went by smoothly, Changbin getting very excited when they finally walked over to the balloons section and chose what colours they would have. Chan had debated on whether or not they should get helium balloons but ultimately decided that that was a terrible idea with two toddlers. 

Over the next week, Changbin’s excitement only grew surrounding his upcoming birthday. Chan remembered fondly how special birthdays were when you were young. Now all he saw it as was a reminder of his youth slipping further and further away. 

However, to his kids, birthdays were still so rare and exciting that he couldn’t help but go all out. 

The night before Changbin’s birthday, Chan put the kids to bed and got to work making the cake. Chan was in no way the best baker, in fact, he was quite terrible, but he would still try his best. Tragedy first struck before the oven had even been turned on. Chan went to get the flour out of the pantry and promptly dropped the entire container, slipping most of its contents onto the floor. If that wasn’t a sign for him to stop, Chan didn’t know what was. However, he persisted anyway, too stubborn to let a small obstacle stop him from giving his son a pirate birthday cake. 

Well, it started off as a small obstacle. 

Once the flour had been cleaned up off the floor, Chan proceeded to start mixing together the rest of the ingredients. He should have seen it as a sign from the gods to stop when he almost dropped the entire carton of eggs on the floor. But, of course, he didn’t. He had to keep going. 

Changbin had requested a chocolate cake and a chocolate cake he would…hopefully receive. 

Mixing the dry ingredients together went as well as it could with nothing being tipped over onto the floor. It was when it was time for the wet ingredients that the real problems started. The cap of the vanilla essence slipped out of Chan’s hand, spilling it everywhere. At least it smelled good, right? An egg had to be dropped on the floor and Chan may have poured a little too much milk into the batter. 

Thankfully nothing went wrong when it was time for the boiling water to be added. God, that could have ended terribly. 

The cake got into the oven smoothly and Chan let out a sigh of relief, looking around at the absolute mess he had managed to create in his kitchen. It was honestly surprising that neither of the kids had woken up throughout that process. Chan had definitely sworn a little too loudly a couple of times. 

It took much longer than Chan expected to get the kitchen cleaned up, but thankfully he managed to do it before the cake came out of the oven. It was slightly burnt on the edges, but the toddlers would be too excited at the fact they got cake to notice. 

Next was arguably the most challenging part. Icing the cake. 

Changbin had wanted to have a pirate-shaped cake, something Chan definitely couldn’t achieve, so they had settled on having the cake be a pirate flag instead. A skull and crossbones were still a little outside Chan’s skill range, but he would try his best. 

Making the icing actually went surprisingly well, with only a small amount of icing sugar being spilled onto the counter. The next thing to do was separate the batch into two bowls and add the black food colouring. 

Chan scooped some of the newly-coloured icing onto the now-cool cake with a spatula and began to spread it out as evenly as he could. Okay, it wasn’t his best work, but that didn’t matter. It was only the base. The most important part was getting the skull and crossbones to…well, look like a skull and crossbones. 

It was much easier said than done. 

Chan used a butter knife and a toothpick he found in the drawer to help make a rough outline. It could look better but it would have to do. It wasn’t like a bunch of four-year-olds would be inspecting his artwork, would they? 

Half an hour later, there was something that slightly resembled a skull and crossbones on the cake. Chan was proud of his efforts and decided to put it in the fridge before anything else could happen to it. 

The next morning, Chan was awoken bright and early by Changbin jumping onto his bed. 

“Chan! Chan! Chan!” he said, shaking Chan’s shoulders.

“Good morning, Binnie,” Chan grumbled, still half asleep. 

“It’s my birthday!” Changbin said, a broad grin on his face when Chan sat up. 

“It is, too. Happy Birthday, Binnie.” 

“Can we open my presents?” Chan pretended to think. 

“Don’t you think we should wait until all of your friends are here later—“

“No! Can we please?” Chan grinned. 

“Of course we can, Binnie. Do you know if Jisung is awake yet?” Changbin scrambled off his bed, running out of the room and down the hallway. 

“JISUNG!” Chan heard Changbin yell, presumably bursting into the younger’s room based on the loud bang that could be heard. Chan chuckled to himself and got out of bed, sliding his slippers on before going to see if anything had been broken. 

Thankfully, everything seemed to be intact when Chan entered Jisung’s room. He was met with the two boys practically bouncing off the walls in excitement at Changbin’s birthday. 

“How about we head into the living room and I can bring down your presents, Binnie?” Chan didn’t even get a response, the kids only running past him and thundering down the stairs. Chan shook his head, unable to fight the smile off his face. 

Chan found the small stash of presents he had hidden in his wardrobe and carried them carefully down the stairs to where Changbin and Jisung were waiting impatiently for him. 

The presents were set in front of Changbin, who immediately picked one up off the top of the pile. He squinted at the little name tag stuck upon it. 

“Fuh…from…from Chan!” Changbin said proudly. 

“Good job, Changbin! Your reading is getting so good!” Changbin grinned broadly up at Chan in the most adorable way that made his eyes crinkle. Changbin then ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a pirate ship lego set. 

“Woah,” Chan heard Jisung mutter from next to Changbin. 

“Pirates!” Changbin cried, clutching the box to his chest. 

“What do you say, Binnie?” Chan prompted. 

“Thank you, Chan!” 

“You’re welcome, buddy.” Chan couldn’t help but slip out his camera and snap a photo of Changbin, cheeks flushed and smile wide. 

They then moved on to the next present. 

“That one from me,” Jisung said, pointing at his name written on the tag. 

“Yes it is, Jisung picked that one out special for you, Changbin,” Chan told him. Changbin eagerly tore off the paper to show the present Jisung had got him—a collection of mini dinosaur figurines. 

“We play together,” Jisung said happily. 

“Yes! Play with the dinosaurs!” Changbin replied, equally as excited. Chan smiled. 

“What do you say, Changbin?” 

“Thank you, Sungie.” 

After they opened Changbin’s presents, it was time for breakfast. Of course, it had to be Changbin’s favourite—pancakes. 

Chan cringed slightly at the syrup that got everywhere as the kids enjoyed their pancakes. He could clean it up eventually. As more kids arrived later in the day, there was bound to be more mess created. 

Changbin was determined to help set up for his party, not leaving Chan alone about it. The decorations were major, just a few pirate-related things here and there. Chan also didn’t want to have 10 sugar-high kids on his hands so tried to limit the number of treats available. 

Thankfully, they managed to get everything set up before the first people started arriving at 11 o’clock. 

There was a knock at the door and Changbin sprang out of his seat, sprinting towards the front door. Chan followed him and opened the door, revealing Chaeryeong and her mom, Sooyin. Chaeryeong was clutching a small parcel in her hands, a shy smile on her face when she saw Changbin and Jisung standing behind Chan. 

“Welcome,” Chan greeted, smiling down at Chaeryeong. She bowed her head politely in return. 

“You can go in, Chaeryeong, honey,” Sooyin prompted, resting a hand on Chaeryeong’s back. Chaeryeong shuffled over the threshold, holding the present out to Changbin, who took it with a grin on his face. 

“Binnie, can you go put that on the living room table? Then the three of you can go and play.” Chan asked. Changbin nodded, grabbing Chaeryeong’s hand and leading her further into the house. 

Chan and Sooyin stayed at the door chatting for a little while. When they heard a slight crash come from up the stairs, Sooyin chuckled. 

“I guess that’s my cue to leave you to it.” 

“Pray for me,” Chan joked in return. Sooyin laughed and waved as Chan closed the door. 

Walking up the stairs, Chan heard laughter coming from Changbin’s room. He pushed the door open slightly to reveal the three kids sitting on the floor, giggling as they played with some of Changbin’s toys. 

“Are you guys having fun?” Chan asked. 

“Yes!” chorused the three kids. 

“That’s good. How about you come downstairs and play in the living room? Then you don’t have to come all the way up here to show everyone else where you’re playing.” The kids thought about it for a moment before agreeing. They scooped the toys in their arms and carefully followed Chan down the stairs. Chan wasn’t going to tell them that he moved them downstairs so he could keep an eye on them as well. 

Over the course of the next half an hour or so, each of the kids that Changbin had invited arrived at the house. Very soon, the living room was filled with giggling and shrieking kids. Chan watched smiling from the kitchen, only interfering when one of the kids got a little too upset over the game they were playing. 

It was a hot day with the sun shining through the windows as the day went on. 

Eventually, midday rolled around and Chan decided that it was probably a good idea to feed the kids. He got the plates and set them on the kitchen counter, taking out the plates of various snacks he had been preparing throughout the past hour. 

“Kids, it’s time for lunch.” All of the kids jumped to their feet, climbing over each other in an attempt to get to the food first. They stood in a line, Changbin at the front, and Chan helped each of them get the food they wanted from the plates. Chan even gave each of them little party hats at the end of the line because they were just so adorable. 

It was decided that they would eat outside to enjoy the warm weather while it was still here. 

The kids lined up on the concrete on the edge of the grass and ate and chatted. Chan, of course, snapping as many photos as he possibly could. 

Every so often, Chan had to remind the kids to actually keep eating their food as they got so distracted babbling away at each other that their plates were left practically untouched. Eventually, everyone had cleaned off their plates and Chan gathered them up, placing them on the kitchen counter to deal with later before grabbing one of the party games. 

“Everyone, let’s play some games, shall we?” The kids cheered, scrambling to their feet to gather around Chan. “Spread out across the lawn and we can play musical statues!” 

“What about the present in your hand?” one of the kids asked. 

“We’re playing with that next, but first we have musical statues.” Thankfully, there were no protests to this and the kids spread out just as Chan had told them. 

Chan played some music through his phone and watched happily as the kids danced—in a very loose definition of the word—around the lawn. He pressed pause and watched as they all hurried to freeze. A couple of them toppled over, laughing their heads off as they tried to act like they hadn’t moved. 

After a few rounds of musical statues, the kids seemed to get a little bored so Chan switched the game. He got the kids to sit in a circle and gave the present to Changbin. 

“Have you all played pass the parcel before?” Chan asked. A few of the kids shook their heads, so he quickly explained the rules. 

As the music started and stopped, Chan watched happily as the kids’ faces lit up as they tore the layer of wrapping off the present. Of course, they didn’t realise that he was stopping it so each of them got at least one of the little toys, but it was still adorable. 

They continued to play various party games for a little while before Chan brought them all inside again. He lit the candles on the cake and carried it carefully over to set it in front of Changbin. 

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Changbin! Happy birthday to you!” Changbin took a deep breath and blew out all of the candles. Chan cringed slightly at the thought of how much spit probably got on the cake but ignored it. 

“Who wants cake?” Chan asked, picking up the plate and taking it back to the kitchen to cut. 

“Me! Me! Me!” chorused all the kids, following right behind him. 

Faces were soon covered in sticky icing, and none of the kids commented on the slightly burnt taste of the cake. Chan even snuck a piece for himself. It didn’t taste half bad if he did say so himself. 

Presents went by in a whirl and soon enough the kids were being picked up by their parents. Chan made sure each of them got a party bag as they left and sighed a quiet breath of relief as he closed the door behind the last of the kids. It was surprisingly tiring looking after 10 hyper kids. 

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, with Changbin and Jisung playing with Changbin’s new presents as Chan cleaned up the mess that was left behind. 

When the evening came around, both of the boys were struggling to keep their eyes open. Chan tucked Jisung into bed first before leading Changbin into his room. Changbin didn’t protest as Chan tucked him into bed, brushing some of the hair lightly out of his face. 

“Did you have a good birthday, Binnie?” Chan asked, crouching down next to the bed. 

“Yeah,” Changbin mumbled sleepily. 

“That’s good, love. Now you get some good sleep after a tiring day.” Chan wasn’t even sure that Changbin had heard him. He got to his feet and flicked the light off, closing the door gently behind him, a smile on his face. 

Chapter Text

It was a few days after Changbin’s birthday when Chan received the call. 

Changbin and Jisung were playing on the living room floor when Chan’s phone began to ring. It was early in the morning so he picked up the phone without reading the contact name. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” came a voice. Chan frowned. 

“Yes, who is this?” 

“This is Attacca Foster Agency.” Chan was immediately awake, getting to his feet and walking over to the kitchen so the boys couldn’t hear what he was saying as clearly. 

“Is something wrong? Was something wrong with Changbin or Jisung’s paperwork? I was told that—“

“There is nothing wrong regarding your current foster placements, Mr Bang. This is about an entirely new placement,” the woman explained. Chan blinked. 

“A new placement?” 

“Yes, we would like to talk to you about a potential emergency placement, if you are willing to take another child into your care.” Chan took a deep breath. 

“Of course. I’ve never had an emergency placement before so I’m not quite sure how it is different from a regular placement.” There was some typing from the other side of the phone. 

“With placements such as this one, I can give you more information than would be standard over the phone and you would receive the full file to read through in your own time when the child is dropped off,” she explained. Chan looked at the two boys still playing on the living room floor, completely oblivious to the outside world. 

“What information can you tell me?” 

The woman on the phone went on to explain quite a few details about the case to Chan. With each word she spoke, Chan could feel his heart melt. The boy was a bit older than the other two kids—only two months away from turning five—but he had had such a hard life already. Chan was told that the boy, Minho, had been removed from his parent’s care late last night after a neighbour tipped off authorities about some concerning behaviour. They found him completely shell-shocked and he hadn’t spoken a word to anyone since being taken into the agency’s care. Obviously, people had tried to get information out of him concerning his parents’ behaviour, but he hadn’t uttered a single word. 

“He is set to be discharged from hospital later today after his physical tests and we need somewhere for him to stay temporarily before we find a more long-term home for him. Many people have already refused the case and you are one of our last options, are you willing to take him?” Chan sighed, running a hand down his face. How could people refuse taking in a boy who so desperately needed a home? 

“Of course I’m willing,” Chan told the woman. There was some quick typing on the other end of the phone. 

“We appreciate it a lot, Mr Bang. He is likely to be released from the hospital at around 3 pm and his social worker will transport him to your house. Expect them to arrive any time from half past three.” 

“Thank you very much,” Chan said, hanging up the phone. He stood leaning against the kitchen bench for a few moments, trying to process everything he had just been told. Chan hadn’t even met the kid yet and he was already willing to do anything to protect him. 

Clearing his throat, Chan walked back over to where Changbin and Jisung were still playing. 

“Boys, can I talk to you?” The two of them looked up at Chan, who crouched down. 

“What, Appa?” Jisung asked, eyes wide with curiosity. 

“This afternoon there’s going to be another boy coming to stay with us for a little while. I want both of you to be very nice to him, but he also will probably be very shy, okay? I need you two to be very grown up and let him have some space if he needs it. Can you do that for me?” Chan explained. 

“Can I play with him?” Jisung asked, looking down at the toys he was still holding in his hands. 

“He might not want to play, Sungie, but that’s okay. Remember how it was scary when you both first came to stay with me? It’ll be just like that for him and you need to be patient.” Chan wasn’t sure how much of his words Changbin and Jisung were taking in, but it was worth a shot. 

“What’s he called?” Changbin asked. 

“He’s called Minho. Now, Minho doesn’t talk much, okay? So don’t be sad if he doesn’t talk to you at first.” Both boys nodded. “We need to set up his room, would you like to help me?” Changbin and Jisung scrambled to their feet, still so excited at the fact they would be getting another friend coming to stay with them that they almost tripped over each other as they ran up the stairs. 

As Chan made a bed for Minho, Changbin and Jisung decided which toys they would let Minho have in his room. The room was pretty bland, but Chan was sure that Minho would make it his own in the short time he was set to stay with him. 

It was another warm day, so Changbin and Jisung played in the backyard once everything was set up for Minho to arrive. They ran around giggling and shrieking while Chan watched from the back door. He didn’t want to go too far away from the house in case Minho arrived early. It was still only 11 o’clock, a whole four and a half hours before he was set to arrive, but it was better safe than sorry. 

Chan honestly wondered whether Changbin and Jisung had forgotten that another kid was coming to stay with them later that day. They were playing together as if it was any other day while Chan’s mind wouldn’t stop racing. All he knew about Minho’s parents was that they had been reported for ‘suspicious activity’. Were they mentally abusing their son? Or even physically? Chan dreaded to think. He had been told that Minho was in the hospital for a physical exam, but that was surely standard procedure, right? They had to make absolutely sure nothing had happened to the kid. But then again, why wasn’t he speaking? There had to be a reason behind it, Chan was sure of it. Just what? 

What felt like years later, 3:30 rolled around. Chan sat Changbin and Jisung down one more time to remind them of everything. 

“I was you two to stay in the living room when Minho arrives, alright? I will answer the door and then bring him inside. Make sure you don’t run up to him and get in his face because he will be very nervous, okay?” Changbin and Jisung nodded. 

“We’ll be good, Appa,” Jisung said, puffing his chest out. Chan smiled. 

“I know you will.” He ruffled their hair and they went back to what they were doing. 

At 3:47 by Chan’s phone, there was a knock on the door. 

The two kids jumped up and Chan got to his feet. 

“Remember, stay here, boys,” Chan told Changbin and Jisung before walking around the couch and towards the front door. 

He pulled open the door to see a woman holding a briefcase. Behind her, peering out from behind her legs, was a small boy with large brown eyes and a mop of dark hair. When he saw Chan looking at him, he hid further behind the case worker’s legs. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” greeted the case worker. “My name is Choi Inkyung and I’m Minho’s case worker.” Chan bowed his head politely. 

“I’m Bang Chan,” he greeted. Inkyung smiled at him. 

“I’m sorry but I can’t stay for very long, I have lots to sort out with Minho’s case. This is likely to only be a temporary placement until we can find a more long-term foster home for Minho. Unless, of course, you are a good fit and are willing to take him long-term.” 

“It’s perfectly alright. Would you like to come in?” Chan stood to the side and Inkyung walked over the threshold, Minho right behind her, still clutching onto her trouser leg. 

Chan crouched down so he was closer to Minho’s height. 

“Hi, Minho. I’m Chan,” he said, trying to seem as friendly as possible. Predictably, Minho didn’t say anything, only stared at Chan with nervous eyes. 

“Don’t be offended if he doesn’t say anything,” Inkyung said to Chan. “I’ve been with him this whole time and he hasn’t said so much as a word.” Chan nodded, returning to his normal height. 

He and Inkyung went over a few more formalities, which included Inkyung giving Chan Minho’s case file and hospital reports to read over. Inkyung then left, bidding both Chan and Minho goodbye. 

As Chan closed the front door, Minho stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room, a backpack that was practically half his size on his shoulders. Changbin and Jisung were eagerly watching the boy from over the back of the couch. Chan sighed. 

“Would you two like to come over and meet Minho?” Chan asked. Changbin and Jisung scrambled over the couch, stopping a little way in front of Minho. Chan crouched down next to Minho. 

“These are my other two foster kids, Minho. That’s Jisung, he’s two, almost three, and that’s Changbin, he’s just turned four,” Chan explained, pointing at each of the kids as he introduced them. 

“I turned four this many days ago,” Changbin told Minho, holding up six fingers. 

“Very good, Binnie. You did turn four six days ago.” 

“How old are you?” Changbin asked. Minho shrunk in on himself slightly at the question. 

“He’s almost five, isn’t that right, Minho?” Minho looked down at the floor, giving the tiniest of nods. 

“Woah, you get to go to real school,” Jisung said in awe. Minho seemed to be growing uncomfortable with all the eyes on him so Chan decided to intervene. 

“How about I show you where you’re sleeping, Minho?” Without a reply, Minho followed Chan up the stairs. 

Chan told Changbin and Jisung to go play in one of their rooms while he got Minho settled. 

Minho stood next to the door of his room awkwardly, fidgeting with his hands. 

“How about we take your backpack off and put your things into the drawers?” Chan suggested, pointing at the chest of drawers that were against one of the walls. Minho wordlessly tried to take off his backpack, struggling slightly with the weight. Chan walked over to help him but was surprised when Minho backed away from him. He stopped in his tracks. 

“You don’t want me to help?” Chan asked. Minho looked down at Chan’s feet, holding the strap of his backpack tightly. Chan crouched down so he was at eye level with Minho. 

“Minho, I’m not going to make you talk to me if you don’t want to. All I’m going to do is help you take your backpack off and then we can go through your things together, how does that sound?” Minho looked at him for a few moments before giving another small nod. Chan shuffled over to him and gently took the weight of the backpack off the boy’s shoulders. 

Chan unzipped the main pocket of the backpack once it was placed on the floor, allowing Minho to see everything he was doing. As soon as it was unzipped enough to reveal the contents, Minho’s hand shot forward and pulled a raggedy cat soft toy out of the bag, clutching it close to his chest. 

“Is that your cat?” Chan asked Minho. Minho stared at Chan for a while. Chan honestly didn’t expect him to give any sort of response, but after a few seconds, Minho nodded. Chan smiled. 

“He’s very cute, do you like him?” Another cautious nod. It might not be verbal confirmation, but it was at least a little bit of progress. Minho was engaging with him, which was all that Chan could ask for. 

The two of them unpacked the rest of Minho’s clothes and put them in the drawers. Once they were done, Chan looked at Minho once more. 

“Are you hungry? I normally give Changbin and Jisung an afternoon snack a bit earlier but we forgot today because they were so excited to meet you. I can make you a small snack as well if you would like?” Minho clasped his hands together tightly at the question, looking back down at the floor. Chan noticed he seemed to do that whenever he got nervous—looked downward to avoid eye contact. 

When Minho took longer than usual to give a response, Chan spoke again. 

“How about you come down with us and you can decide if you’re hungry when you see what the other boys are having?” Minho didn’t respond but followed Chan out of the room. 

Chan fetched Changbin and Jisung from Changbin’s room and the four of them headed down the stairs, Changbin and Jisung thundering ahead of Chan and Minho. 

Chan cut up some apple slices for Changbin and Jisung, handing them each a plate to eat in the living room. He cut up some pieces for Minho and held them out to him. 

“You don’t have to take them if you don’t want to,” Chan told him. Minho looked between the plate and Chan before cautiously stretching his hands out. He took the plate and bowed slightly. Chan smiled. “How about we go and join the others in the living room.” Minho followed him and sat on the very end of the couch, munching quietly on his apple slices while Changbin and Jisung babbled away. 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed, with Chan putting on a program for the kids to watch on TV. He had originally been worried that Minho wouldn’t like the show, but he hadn’t diverted his attention from the screen the whole time it had been playing, eyes wide with interest. Chan took that as a win. 

Dinner was much the same, with Changbin and Jisung talking almost non-stop as they ate, Chan having to remind them to swallow occasionally, and Minho sat next to Chan, quietly eating. He seemed like such a sweet and polite boy that Chan didn’t know why so many homes had refused to take him in. Was it just because he hadn’t talked? Surely people wouldn’t be so close-minded as to turn away a child in need just because they wouldn’t talk. He had just gone through a traumatic event for Christ’s sake, it would be more concerning if he was a loud and bubbly child in Chan’s opinion. 

Chan gave the three kids baths, choosing to bathe Minho separately from the other two so he wouldn’t have to deal with the constant splashing and playfulness. As Chan washed his hair and face, Minho kept a blank expression, lips tightly sealed. 

“Would you like to listen to a bedtime story?” Chan asked Minho once he was in his pyjamas. “I usually read to Changbin and Jisung in Jisung’s room before bed.” Minho seemed to think for a moment before nodding slightly. Chan led him into Jisung’s room, where Changbin and Jisung were already waiting, book sitting on the stool Chan always sat on to read them bedtime stories. 

“Boys, how about we let Minho choose the bedtime story tonight?” Chan suggested. 

“I want this one,” Jisung pouted, clutching the book he had chosen to his chest. 

“We can read that one tomorrow, Sungie. It’s Minho’s first night, don’t you think we should let him choose?” Jisung pouted but eventually gave in, giving the book back to Chan. Chan led Minho over to the bookshelf. 

“You can choose any one of these books, Minho. Which one would you like me to read?” Minho looked between Chan and the bookshelf a few times before shuffling closer, inspecting the books. Eventually, he chose one, pulling it out and holding it anxiously out to Chan. 

“Good choice, Minho,” Chan smiled. Changbin and Jisung both climbed onto Jisung’s bed to be read to while Minho stood back slightly. 

“Come, Minho,” Jisung said, patting the duvet next to him. Minho fidgeted with his hands, looking at Chan who gave him an encouraging nod. Minho then cautiously walked forward, climbing onto the bed and sitting himself next to Jisung. 

When the story was finished, Chan quickly tucked in Jisung and Changbin before leading Minho into his room once more. Minho climbed onto the bed, holding his cat plushie close to his chest as he wriggled under the covers. 

“Minho, if you need anything during the night, don’t be scared to come and find me, okay? You know where my room is, it’s just the one at the end of the hall, and I won’t be angry if you wake me up.” Minho gave another one of his little nods before Chan pulled the covers fully over him. He bid Minho goodnight and left the room, leaving the door open ever so slightly so he could make his way out if he needed to. 

Later that evening, Chan sat on the couch and picked up Minho’s file. He read through everything, heart hurting more and more with every line. Minho’s parents seemed to be such awful people who never should have become parents. Their neighbour had called the police after having heard repeated yelling and bangs from the house. Why they hadn’t called authorities after first hearing noises, Chan would never know, but he was glad they called before anything could have gotten any worse. There was no explanation as to why Minho wasn’t talking, but Chan suspected it had something to do with things his parents said to him. It broke his heart. 

For hours, Chan researched and researched, trying to find any information on how he could make things easier for Minho while he was in his care. He came across something called ‘selective mutism’ which, according to Google, was an anxiety disorder that caused a person to be unable to speak in certain situations or to certain people. Chan suspected that this could be the reason behind Minho’s silence, but he couldn’t be sure. He would have to observe Minho’s behaviours over the time he was staying with him before he came to a proper conclusion. Chan also wasn’t a doctor by any means, it just seemed to fit. 

All Chan wanted to do was make Minho feel as safe as possible. 

Chapter Text

The next few weeks were difficult, to say the least. 

It was already the start of September, almost a month since Minho had arrived, and he still hadn’t said a word. Of course, Chan wasn’t going to pressure him into speaking before he was ready, but it was still stressful having a child who wouldn’t talk. Chan couldn’t help but think that he was doing something wrong despite Attacca’s constant reassurance that he was doing everything the best he could. 

There had been multiple meetings with Attacca about Minho’s placement. Originally, he was only supposed to be with Chan for a few days, perhaps a week max, but after seeing how Minho was flourishing under Chan’s care, Attacca decided to allow him to stay more long-term. 

Changbin and Jisung had been ecstatic when Chan had told them that Minho would be staying with them for longer. Although Minho never responded to the two of them verbally, they had become rather close. It was as if Minho had been there all along. They played together, they practically spent every waking moment together. It was honestly quite adorable. 

It was a warmer day so Chan decided it would be a good idea to take the kids out to the nearby park. They hadn’t been there for a while and likely wouldn’t get many more chances to go before the cold weather fully kicked in. 

Since Minho was a little older, he didn’t need as much help getting ready as the other two kids did. He was actually quite an independent child, which was a little concerning when you knew a little more about his background. However, Chan decided not to comment on it until he knew Minho was ready to talk about it—which likely wouldn’t be for a long time considering the boy was only just about to turn five. 

As the sun was just resting in the middle of the sky, the four of them finally set off. 

The local park was a little further away than the one near Chan’s old apartment had been, so they all got packed into the car before heading off. 

Changbin and Jisung chatted away enthusiastically while Minho looked out the window, watching the world go by. He wasn't left out of the conversation by any means, Changbin and Jisung both made sure to ask him yes or no questions at every opportunity. 

Minho had become much more comfortable answering questions from Chan, Changbin, and Jisung. He gave them more confident nods every day, a big step up from the tiny little nods he had given Chan the first day he arrived. 

When they arrived at the park, Chan's heart sank a little when he saw a couple of families already there. He never expected it to be completely empty but he would have liked it to be a little quieter. 

Changbin and Minho unclipped themselves from their car seats, almost falling face-first into the concrete in their excitement. Chan helped Jisung out of his car seat and they were off. 

Changbin and Jisung were off in a flash while Minho stayed a little closer to Chan. They had only taken Minho to this park once before, so he was still a little cautious about it. 

Chan watched as Changbin and Jisung played and laughed, Minho eventually joining them. It was adorable to watch the three of them playing together. Chan had never understood how parents were patient enough to sit on the sidelines at parks and just watch their kids play, but now he did. It was entertaining to watch, to say the least, and it made his heart happy to know that his kids were having fun. 

At one point, the kids tried to drag Chan onto the playground to play with them. Three toddlers were stronger than you'd expect when they were pulling you with their combined body weight. He didn't give in however, afraid that if he actually climbed onto any of the playground equipment it would break under his weight or that he would get stuck in some tunnel or other following one or more of the kids. 

Okay, maybe his previous statement about not giving in was a lie. The kids refused to leave him alone until he joined them on the playground so he eventually crumbled. Who could say no to their puppy eyes? 

Once Chan was on the playground, there was no escape. The kids had come up with a game where Chan was a monster that they had to keep contained in a tower. Or at least that was what Chan understood, Changbin and Jisung were both talking far too quickly for him to understand properly. Even so, Chan fully immersed himself in the role, acting his heart out for the kids. They loved it, squealing happily every time Chan roared and 'attacked' them. 

Chan knew that he was definitely getting a few weird looks, being a single parent with three young boys, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wasn't going to let a few people's opinions stop him from making sure his kids had a good time. 

Eventually, the kids let him go and Chan continued to watch them play from a bench just to the side of the playground. It was very peaceful, the still warm breeze rustling the leaves on the trees around the park. The sun was warm and Chan couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to eventually bring more kids that Attacca placed in his care here. 

A little while later, Chan could tell that Jisung was getting tired. He got up from the bench and walked over to where the kids were playing. 

"Come on, boys, I think it's time to head home." Changbin and Jisung groaned, Minho giving Chan a very powerful pout. 

"But Chan, we are playing!" Changbin argued. 

"You can keep playing at home," Chan told him. 

"I wanna stay," Jisung said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Alright then, you guys can stay here, you'll just miss out on the surprise I had planned," Chan said, exaggerating his tone as he turned and started to walk towards the parking lot. All three kids perked up immediately. 

"We're coming!" Changbin cried, grabbing both Minho and Jisung by the hand and dragging them off of the playground. There weren't any protests from either of them, however. Chan's surprise was far too exciting to miss out on. 

"Can you drive any faster?" Jisung whined from the back seat. Chan chuckled. 

"I can't do that, Sungie, it's against the rules." Chan could see Jisung pouting in the rearview mirror. 

"But the surprise," Changbin complained. 

"I know, guys, but the surprise isn't going anywhere. It'll still be there if I keep driving at this speed." 

They made it back home and Changbin and Minho tried their very best to get out of the car as quickly as humanly possible. Jisung still struggled with unbuckling himself so Chan helped him, although he was learning bit by bit. 

All three kids were at the front door before Chan could even lock the car, bouncing up and down trying to reach the door knob. Chan smiled as he reached over their heads and unlocked the front door, the three kids bursting over the threshold. 

"Take off your shoes, boys!" Chan called before they could get too far into the house with their dirty shoes. They skidded to a halt, turning on their heels and kicking off their shoes before slipping and sliding on the wooden floor in their socks. They waited impatiently in the living room for Chan to reveal the surprise to them. 

"What's the surprise? What's the surprise, Appa?" Jisung asked, bouncing up and down. 

"Come into the kitchen and I'll show you," Chan said. They hurried back around the couch and into the kitchen, Changbin very almost crashing into the cupboards. 

"What is it?" Jisung asked, swinging off the handle of one of the cupboards. Chan smiled and walked over to one of the cupboards. 

"Since Minho has been with us for three weeks, I decided that we should celebrate a little bit," he said as he opened it, picking up a cake that he had bought from the supermarket—there was no way he was going to bake it himself, that would have turned out terribly. When the kids saw the cake, they got very excited. 

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” chanted Changbin and Jisung chanted excitedly. 

“Yes, we’re having a little treat today.” Even Minho had a smile on his face at the idea of getting cake. 

Chan cut a few small slices out of the cake—he didn’t want the kids to get too sugar-high—and put them on some little plates. He handed one plate each to Changbin and Jisung who both ran over to the couch to eat before handing one to Minho. 

“Thank you,” Minho said in a very small voice, so quiet it was almost a whisper. Chan froze in the middle of picking up his own slice. Did that really happen? Or had he just imagined it? Looking back, Minho was toddling over to Changbin and Jisung, a broad grin on his face. Chan smiled. Amid all his worries that Minho would never speak at all, he had said his first words to him. 

For the rest of the day, Minho continued his silence, but Chan wasn’t as worried about it anymore. They had reached a big milestone that day, he couldn’t ask for any more. 

Dinner was quiet, with all of them tired out from the day. Chan gave each of the kids their baths before tucking them into bed. They read a bedtime story in Jisung’s room like they always did and then went into their respective rooms. As the kids were getting older, they were able to push bedtime back little by little, but they were still always asleep by 8:30 at the very latest. That was unless there were any small issues that usually didn’t take very long to fix. 

Chan tucked Changbin in then walked into Minho’s room to say goodnight to him. Minho was sitting on his bed, looking around at the walls. 

“Are you all ready to go to bed?” Chan asked him. Minho looked up at him and nodded, crawling under the covers. 

“Minho, I just wanted to tell you that I’m really proud of you for talking today. It’s a really big step and you did really well,” Chan said, sitting down on the edge of Minho’s bed. Minho looked at him with a wide smile on his face. 

“Are you proud of yourself?” Chan asked. Minho nodded happily. “That’s good, sweetheart. You should be. Now, time for bed.” Chan stood up, smoothing out the covers and placing a soft kiss on Minho’s forehead. “Goodnight, Minho.” Chan walked over to turn the light off when he heard a small voice. 

“Goodnight,” it said. Chan turned back and saw Minho smiling over at him. Pride swelled in his chest as Chan clicked the bedroom door shut. He would definitely be telling Attacca about Minho’s progress next time they had a meeting. 

As the next few days passed, Minho’s vocabulary only grew. He only spoke around Chan for the first little while, and even then he was always quiet and cautious, but soon he was pitching in one-word answers into group conversations, even suggesting things for games he played with Changbin and Jisung. 

Chan called Minho’s case worker to inform her of his progress. She asked them to come in for a meeting, which they booked for the following week. 

Changbin and Jisung were dropped off at preschool while Minho and Chan drove further to Attacca’s main building. Chan took Minho’s hand and they walked through the front doors together. 

They waited outside Inkyung’s office, Minho kicking his legs back and forth while looking around curiously at the other doors. 

After a short while, Inkyung’s door opened and she welcomed them into her office with a smile. Minho hopped off the chair and took Chan’s hand as they walked over the threshold. 

“I hear we’ve made some progress,” Inkyung said, smiling as she sat back down behind her desk. 

“We have,” Chan confirmed. “Minho’s started talking a little more at home. It’s still only a few words at a time, maybe three max, and he’s quite quiet when he does speak, but it’s definitely a major jump from where we were.” Minho seemed oblivious to what Chan was saying, more interested in scanning the interior of the office than paying attention to the conversation. 

“That’s amazing,” Inkyung said, scribbling on a piece of paper as she spoke. “How often is he speaking?” 

“Still only a few times a day, but it’s increasing every day,” Chan told her. Inkyung nodded as she continued to write. 

“He’s only speaking to members of the household, yes?” 

“Only Changbin, Jisung, and I so far, yes.” Inkyung looked up at Chan. 

“I was thinking that it could be beneficial to start some speech therapy programs with Minho. Especially since he will be starting primary school soon, it would be best to get him more comfortable speaking, even if it’s just around a select group of people. Improving his speech will also allow us to understand more details of why he is so quiet and what happened with his parents, which will be very good to have for the trial.” Chan blinked. 

“Trial?” Inkung nodded, pulling out a piece of paper from Minho’s file for Chan to read.

“There is going to be a trial to assess whether or not Minho’s biological parents will lose their parental rights or not. The court date is currently set for November 22nd, so it is likely that he will stay in your care until at least then.” 

The rest of the meeting went smoothly, with the two of them discussing potential times to start speech therapy for Minho and what said speech therapy would entail. 

As things were wrapping up, Inkyung got to her feet. 

“I’m not strictly supposed to tell you this, but the system has had a recent influx of new children so I would recommend preparing your house for another kid sometime soon. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s always better to be prepared.” She smiled at him as they said their goodbyes. Chan walked back to the car with Minho thinking that speech therapy would probably be very helpful for Minho as well as what Inkyung had told him. Would he really get another kid so soon?

The afternoon was spent with just Chan and Minho at home, Chan playing with Minho outside in the sun. It was honestly a great time for the two of them to bond, playing around and even sneaking the last slice of cake to share as a little treat. Minho didn’t say anything the entire time, but that was okay. Today must have been a little overwhelming once he actually processed what Chan and Inkyung were talking about in the office. 

They picked Changbin and Jisung up from preschool, who chatted all the way home about their days, telling Chan and Minho every little detail they could. Chan liked it though. He knew there would come a day where his kids wouldn’t tell him every single thing that happened in their day and he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. 

Later in the evening, once Chan had put the kids to bed, he was sitting in the living room on call with his mom. 

“Eomma, I’ve been thinking a lot,” Chan admitted. He heard some rustling on the other end before his mom replied. 

“What about, Chan?” she asked. 

“It’s just…now having three kids to look after, it’s getting hard to balance work and the kids. Minho’s social worker said that there are a bunch of new kids coming into the system at the moment and that I could be getting more soon. Three kids is already so hard, I don’t know how I could manage more and still get any work done—especially since the three boys are so young. I don’t know what to do.” Chan sighed, glad to get some of his worries off of his chest. The call was silent for a little while while his mom thought over what he had said. 

“We could support you,” she said simply. 

“What do you mean?” Chan asked, frowning slightly. 

“Your Appa and I. We could support you financially. I know how important the kids are to you, Channie, and Appa does too. Maybe stopping work is the best way for you to put your full time and attention into them.” 

“You mean…become a stay-at-home dad?” 

“Yeah, pretty much. Appa and I could send you through money to support anything you need, and we know you have savings. You don’t have to make the decision right now, but the offer is there.” Chan took a deep breath. He had thought about perhaps quitting his job to become a full-time dad, but it had never been a real possibility. It was always more of an idle little dream that he would never be able to achieve, but now that he was presented with the opportunity…he didn’t know what to do. It was no secret that his parents were loaded, and they knew it, but he had never imagined that they would actually support him financially like that. 

Chan and his mom talked late into the night, considering every option. By the end of the night, Chan was falling asleep to the idea of looking after his kids full-time. 

His two-week notice was sent in not long after that. 

For the first time in a while, Chan felt truly free. He would be able to devote every second of his time to his kids without the worry of getting his work done by their deadlines. 

People would definitely judge him further now, a single stay-at-home dad with three young kids, but he didn’t care, not when he was so happy. 

Chapter Text

Jisung’s third birthday came and went and soon enough October was just around the corner. Chan had just dropped the kids off at preschool, having started Minho at the same preschool as Changbin and Jisung per the recommendation of Attacca. As he walked through the front door of the house, his phone began ringing. Fishing it out of his pocket, he saw that it was Attacca calling. 

“Hello?” Chan said as he accepted the call. 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” came a male voice. 

“Yes, it is.” Chan leaned against the kitchen island as there was the sound of typing from the other end of the phone. 

“I am calling you to talk about a potential future placement. We are aware that there are already three children in your care but you are still listed as available to take more placements. If you are unable to take another child into your care we can change your listing to unavailable if you wish.” Chan blinked. Inkyung had warned him a little while ago that there had been an influx of kids into the system and to expect requests to take another placement soon but he hadn’t even had Minho for two months and they were already asking. Of course, he wasn’t going to deny the placement, he had room, it was just a little shocking. 

The man on the phone gave Chan the basic information about the case and confirmed whether or not he still wanted to go further with the placement process. He said yes and they organised a time for him to come in and meet the kid the very next day. Apparently, his parents were pretty desperate for him to be taken out of their care but refused to have him go into a temporary foster home while Attacca tried to find a more long-term home for him. What Chan found out was that the kid had just turned three, only about a week younger than Jisung, and his name was Kim Seungmin. 

Chan went about the rest of his day, doing housework and such as he thought about what type of kid Seungmin would be. He hadn’t been given a lot of information to work with but that didn’t stop his brain from trying to fill in the gaps. Having another little kid running around would be a welcome addition and only add to the list of reasons why Chan was glad he decided to become a full-time foster parent. 

There were still two other bedrooms that Chan had pre-prepped for if he had more emergency placements so he didn’t have to worry about setting up a whole other bedroom. Even so, he went into the room opposite Minho’s and began to tidy things up a bit. That led him to go through each of the kids’ bedrooms, tidying up the messes they had a habit of leaving on the floor. Changbin’s room had most of the toys in it, being the designated playroom for the kids, so Chan had quite a mission tidying up everything that had been left on the floor. 

When all of the housework was done, Chan still had at least a couple of hours before he had to go pick up the kids from preschool. He allowed himself to relax a little, enjoying the autumn sunshine. 

Chan found himself falling asleep on the couch, exhausted for no particular reason. When he woke up, it was almost time for him to get the kids. 

Changbin, Jisung, and Minho came bounding towards Chan when they saw him waiting for him. They each had identical smiles on their faces, cheeks flushed with joy. 

“Did you all have a good day?” Chan asked. All three of them nodded. “That’s great. Let’s head out to the car, shall we?” Chan ushered the three kids in front of him, careful to watch them closely as they entered the parking lot. 

Minho had a speech therapy appointment that afternoon so once they were all strapped into their car seats, Chan drove back home quickly. Minho’s speech therapy was a little different than Chan had originally expected them to be. They took place at home rather than in one of the specialist buildings. The speech therapist was a lovely woman whom Chan really liked. Ever since starting with her, Minho had made a lot of progress with talking to the people in the house. He still didn’t talk at preschool or outside of the house, but it was definitely progress. 

They arrived at home just in time. The three kids raced upstairs, chatting away with each other as they headed towards Changbin’s room to play. Chan waited downstairs, sure that the three of them wouldn’t make too much of a mess in the short time before the speech therapist arrived. 

There was a knock at the door and Chan greeted the speech therapist with a smile. They fetched Minho from Changbin’s room and headed towards Minho’s bedroom. Changbin’s door was left open so either he or Jisung could come and get Chan at any point while still giving Minho some privacy for the appointment. 

Each appointment was much the same, with the speech therapist going over certain speech-enhancing activities. Most of the time Chan was asked to join in as it made Minho more comfortable having someone he knew closely doing the same things as him. They went around, each taking turns to count or name pictures on little flashcards the speech therapist had. 

Everything went well and about an hour later the speech therapist left. Minho usually spoke very quietly during the appointments, only giving one-word answers to questions, but when it was just the four of them in the house he was much more comfortable. He still spoke quieter than Changbin or Jisung but that wasn’t hard. Minho was speaking in more complete sentences at home, a major step up from when he first arrived. 

The next morning, Chan dropped the kids off at preschool and headed towards Attacca. 

The introduction was quick, Chan met with Seungmin’s case worker only briefly before being taken to one of the playrooms. 

There were a few other kids in the playroom, each with their own potential foster parents. In the very corner sat a small boy with dark hair who appeared to be in his own little world. He was playing by himself with some dinosaur figurines. However, he wasn’t playing the way Chan would expect. Instead of some of the mindless playing Chan had become accustomed to with his other kids, Seungmin was lining the dinosaurs up, carefully readjusting them each time he placed one down. Chan walked over to him and crouched down. 

“Hi Seungmin,” he said kindly. “I’m Chan.” Seungmin didn’t respond, only continued to line up the dinosaurs one by one. He scrunched his lips to one side in concentration as he placed each one down. 

“Are you playing with them?” Chan asked. Seungmin tilted his head to the side at Chan’s question. 

“Playing,” he repeated. Chan thought it was slightly odd that Seungmin hadn’t looked at him once during the interaction but he guessed it was because he was so focussed on the dinosaurs in front of him. 

“Do you want to play a game with them?” Chan asked, reaching forward to take one of the dinosaurs that wasn’t in the line. That finally got Seungmin to look at Chan. Well, technically he was looking at the dinosaur in Chan’s hand but it was close enough. 

Chan tried to get Seungmin to play dinosaurs with him but the boy seemed more interested in lining the toys up rather than playing with them. However, when Seungmin saw that some of the toys that another kid had been playing with were no longer in use, he jumped to his feet and picked them up, bringing them back to Chan in the corner. He had picked up a couple of action figures that Chan thought he recognised from some kids' show or other that Changbin, Jisung, and Minho watched sometimes. Seungmin began playing with them, scrunching his lips to the side again as he did. 

“What’re you playing?” Chan asked. 

“Playing,” Seungmin echoed again. Chan found that the boy often did that. Chan would say something and he would echo one or two of the words from the sentence. It was quite cute honestly. 

“Are those from a show?” Chan asked, pointing at the toys. Seungmin frowned slightly. 

“What?” he asked. 

“Are those toys from a TV program?” Chan repeated, trying to make his question a little more clear. 

“These?” Seungmin asked. 

“Yeah, those ones.” 

“You…you know it?” 

“I do know it. My kids at home watch it sometimes.” That set Seungmin off. He soon began talking very enthusiastically to Chan about the program, explaining every little detail of the scene he was acting out. It was a stark contrast to the one or two-word answers Seungmin had been giving before. Although it was very welcome. 

Seungmin continued to talk and talk about the program until his case worker came over to their corner. 

“That’s all the time we have for today, Seungmin. You get to go home to Eomma and Appa now,” they said. Seungmin frowned slightly at being cut off mid-sentence. Chan got to his feet and said goodbye to Seungmin before heading back out into the corridor. 

“You’re the only person he’s opened up to that much,” the case worker told him as they walked back towards the reception area. 

“Really?” She nodded. 

“We haven’t seen him talk that much before, it’s a very positive start. His caregivers at the moment are quite eager for him to go into a home as quickly as possible so I would expect another call from us sometime soon regarding Seungmin potentially coming home with you.” 

As Chan drove home, he was quite shocked, to say the least. Being told to expect a call telling him when Seungmin would be coming to stay with him after only one meeting was odd, to say the least. He wondered why his parents were so desperate for him to go into a home. Perhaps there would be some more details in the case file the social worker had given him before he left. 

Once he was home, Chan sat down in the office downstairs and opened Seungmin’s case file. Annoyingly, there weren’t as many details as Chan would have liked. There was only a brief medical history and a very vague paragraph about Seungmin’s parents ‘struggling to keep up with him’. Chan wasn’t quite sure what they meant by that but he didn’t like it. Seungmin had seemed like such a sweet little boy the entire time Chan was with him, he couldn’t fathom why his parents wouldn’t want to keep him. Sure, it was a little odd how he wouldn’t look at Chan and how he had been playing with the dinosaur figurines, but Chan just put that down to him being a little nervous about the new surroundings. 

The next few days passed without any word from Attacca about Seungmin. They had told him to expect a call soon but Chan wasn’t exactly sure how soon they had meant. 

A few days into October, just after Chan’s own birthday, he received the call. 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” 

“Yes, that’s me,” Chan replied, walking away from the kids slightly. 

“This is a call regarding Kim Seungmin. We understand that you were willing to take him into your care after your initial meeting?”

“Yes, that’s right.” There was some quick typing from the other end of the phone. 

“Are you prepared to take him into your care this afternoon?” Chan blinked. 

“This—this afternoon?” he stammered, shocked that everything was moving so quickly. 

“We can potentially push it out to tomorrow morning if that is too short notice, but it would be easier for our system to place Seungmin into your care this afternoon.” 

“No, of course, this afternoon is fine. Do I come to Attacca to pick him up?” 

“Yes, he will be dropped off by his current guardians at approximately 2:30 pm so we would appreciate it if you could be there at least 10 minutes beforehand so we can go over the last of the formalities with you.” 

Chan continued talking to the person from Attacca for a few more minutes before hanging up the phone. It was currently 11 am, which gave them at least three hours before they had to leave. 

He walked over to where Changbin, Jisung, and Minho were playing on the living room floor and sat down. 

“Hey, boys, do you remember how I told you there might be another boy coming to stay with us pretty soon?” Chan asked. All three of the kids nodded. 

“Don’t be silly, Chan, of course we remember. We aren’t dumb,” Minho commented. Chan smiled slightly. 

“Of course. Well, he’s coming to stay with us this afternoon.” Jisung jumped to his feet in excitement. 

“This afternoon?” he repeated, bouncing up and down. 

“Yes, this afternoon. We are going to go get him from Attacca at 2:30. Now, I need all three of you to be on your bestest behaviour, okay?” 

“We’ll be good!” Changbin said, grinning. 

“I know you will.” 

The next few hours passed painfully slowly. Chan was so nervous and excited about bringing Seungmin home so quickly that he couldn’t focus on anything. He tried to play with the kids but even that didn’t distract him. 

By the time  2 o’clock rolled around, Chan could barely sit still. He knew that he shouldn’t be so nervous, he had done this three times before after all, but there was something so nerve-racking about bringing Seungmin home. Chan just couldn’t help but feel like there was going to be something different about Seungmin. Trying to rationalise his thoughts, he blamed the excess nerves on worrying about how Minho would react when it came to his speech when a new person arrived. Minho’s speech therapist had talked through everything with the four-year-old but Chan wasn’t sure how much had actually been taken in. 

As they drove towards Attacca, Chan was bombarded with non-stop questions from the boys about Seungmin. They wanted to know every little detail about the boy, and Chan couldn’t blame them. However, it was difficult to describe a kid you had only met once. Chan did warn the other kids that Seungmin might not want to play with them right away though. That was a complete guess, but based on the way Seungmin had been ‘playing’ by himself in the corner while the other kids in the room had all been playing with each other Chan thought that it was a safe bet. 

Attacca’s reception area was one of the only places where Chan didn’t get odd looks. It was so normalised there for parents to bring in multiple kids at a time that no one batted an eye. It was a freeing feeling honestly. 

Changbin, Jisung, and Minho were taken into one of the free playrooms while Chan sorted out the formalities with Seungmin’s caseworker. It was here that Chan found out a few more details about the boy, ones that had been conveniently left out of the case file. 

“Seungmin’s current guardians have been unable to keep up with his needs, which is the main reason they are so eager to have him placed in a home,” the caseworker explained. 

“So he has been in an unsafe environment?” Chan questioned. 

“No, not at all. There are just certain, um, unique accommodations that Seungmin requires and his guardians have been unable to provide him with said accommodations.” Chan frowned slightly. 

“What do you mean by accommodations?” The caseworker sighed. 

“We aren’t sure exactly, we are only able to go off what his guardians have told us and it is safe to say that some of their language is…unsavoury. We have tried to question Seungmin about this but, as you’ve probably guessed, he isn’t very responsive to unfamiliar people.” 

As Chan signed the last of the papers his mind wouldn’t stop wondering what the caseworker meant by “accommodations”. As far as he knew, Seungmin wasn’t physically disabled in any way, so what could they mean? He was left wondering as they walked out of the office. 

Chan decided that it was probably better to not introduce the boys to Seungmin right away. When he walked into the room where Seungmin was, the boy was sitting in the corner once more. He was looking around the room, scrunching his lips to one side as his eyes scanned each wall carefully. 

“Seungmin, Chan’s here to take you home,” the caseworker said kindly, kneeling down in front of the boy. Seungmin looked at the caseworker’s knees, never once looking at her face. 

“Hey there, Seungmin,” Chan said, kneeling next to the caseworker. 

“Hello,” Seungmin said quietly before going back to scrunching his lips to one side. He did that a lot. 

“Do you want to come meet my other kids before we head home?” Chan asked. Seungmin didn’t respond, only got to his feet and followed Chan towards the door. 

When Chan and Seungmin entered the playroom where Changbin, Jisung, and Minho were, the three boys whipped around, scrambling to their feet and rushing over to the door. 

“Remember what I said, boys. Be careful,” Chan warned before the three of them could get too close.” The kids skidded to a halt a little in front of Chan and Seungmin. Chan rested his hand lightly on Seungmin’s shoulder in what he intended to be a comforting manner, but Seungmin just shrugged him off, shaking his arm slightly as if he was trying to get something off of it. Noting that for later, Chan crouched down so he was roughly the same height as the kids. 

“Seungmin, these are my other foster kids. That’s Changbin, this is Jisung, and that one’s Minho.” Chan pointed to each of the kids as he said their names but Seungmin didn’t seem to follow him. Chan then allowed each of the kids to introduce themselves, with the exception of Minho whose mouth was sealed shut, but Chan had expected that. 

As the afternoon progressed and Seungmin became more settled at home, Chan seemed to pick up on a few more things. While the other three kids were all playing together, Seungmin seemed to prefer to sit further away by himself, observing more than actually playing. It was a little odd, but nothing that Chan was immediately concerned about. 

Dinner went pretty well in Chan’s opinion. Seungmin didn’t eat everything he was given but he was experiencing such a big change that it was expected for him to not feel starving. After they had all eaten, Chan decided to let the kids stay up a little later than normal as a treat. It wasn’t ridiculously late but it was enough to make Changbin, Jisung, and Minho all very excited. Seungmin, however, had a slightly different reaction. When 7:30 rolled around, instead of continuing to play like the other kids, he got to his feet and began walking up the stairs. Worried that something might be wrong, Chan followed him into his bedroom. 

Seungmin struggled to pull open one of the drawers that they had unpacked his things into, but when he managed it, he pulled out his pyjamas. 

“What’re you doing, Seungmin?” Chan asked in what he hoped wasn’t an accusatory tone. Seungmin looked up at him, well, rather at his shoulder. 

“It’s bedtime,” Seungmin said as if it was obvious. 

“I’m letting you boys stay up later tonight, remember? As a little treat,” Chan reminded him gently. Seungmin frowned, clutching his pyjamas tighter. 

“No,” he said, voice slightly higher. “It’s bedtime.” 

“You don’t want to stay up a little later with the others?” Seungmin shook his head, expression teetering towards hysterical. 

“No,” he mumbled. “Bedtime.” 

“Okay, it’s okay, you can go to bed, don’t worry, honey.” 

Chan helped Seungmin get changed into his pyjamas, quickly noticing how the boy leaned away from him every time Chan’s hand touched his skin. It was odd, but then again, nothing that Chan was very concerned about at the moment. 

When Chan came back downstairs, Changbin looked over at him. 

“Where’s Seungmin?” he asked, frowning slightly. 

“He was tired and wanted to go to bed, Binnie,” Chan explained. “And I think it’s time for you boys to go to bed soon too.” All three boys groaned, Minho finding his voice a little more now that it was just the four of them. 

Later that night, Chan couldn’t stop thinking about what the caseworker had said about Seungmin’s parents. The little things Chan had noticed after only having him at home for one evening were starting to add up, but he didn’t want to assume anything. Seungmin was just a little kid who had experienced a massive change, it was natural for him to be acting a little differently. All Chan could do was hope that he would settle in soon enough. 

Chapter Text

Much sooner than Chan had initially realised, it was time for Minho to start primary school. Chan knew that the boy was only a couple of months away from turning five when he came to live with him but he hadn’t anticipated how quickly those two months would fly by. So much had changed, Chan even had another kid in his care. 

Minho had been enrolled in the local primary school and everyone was very excited for it—especially Minho himself. 

“You get to go to big school, Minho, I want to go to big school,” Changbin grumbled. Chan chuckled and patted his head. 

“You’ll get your turn soon, Binnie, don’t worry.” 

“But that’s ages away!” 

“Sooner than me!” Seungmin said from where he was sitting. 

“See, Binnie? You don’t have that long left compared to Seungmin and Jisung,” Chan said. 

“I’ll tell you what big school is like,” Minho said quietly, a big smile on his face. Although he had become more comfortable with speaking at home, including around Seungmin now, there were still times when Minho’s voice became almost inaudible. It was usually when he had just come home from preschool or was stressed about something in particular. Chan guessed that it was likely the latter. 

One day, Chan kept Minho home from preschool so they could go and get his things for school. Of course, they didn’t need many things considering it was only his first year, but it was still nice to make Minho feel special for an afternoon. 

The two of them drove to the nearby department store after dropping the other kids at preschool, Minho humming under his breath as he watched the world pass by. It was nice to see how much more comfortable Minho had become around Chan, a stark contrast to the silent boy from only a few months ago. 

They pulled into the parking lot and Chan parked the car. Minho unclipped himself from his car seat and waited patiently for Chan to open the door so he could get out. 

“You ready to head in, buddy?” Chan asked, taking his hand. Minho nodded and trotted next to Chan towards the front door of the department store. 

It was calming as they walked through the aisles, picking out the few books that Minho would need. Chan even let him pick out a new toy just for him as a special treat. Sure, he was just starting school, but when you had a kid like Minho it was important to reward the little things. Chan still didn’t understand or even know anything apart from broad facts about what had happened to Minho as it was still under investigation but he didn’t need to know the details to understand the trauma and mistreatment Minho had been a victim of. He was determined to be a better parent for Minho. 

“Are you excited to start big school, Minho?” Chan asked as they drove back towards the house. 

“Uhhh, excited and scared,” Minho said after a little thought. 

“What are you scared about?” Chan asked gently. Minho was quiet for a little while and Chan was prepared to leave it at that but then Minho spoke. 

“Talking,” he admitted quietly. 

“You’re scared about talking at your new school?” Minho nodded, which Chan only caught a glimpse of in the rearview mirror. 

“Don’t want them to make me,” Minho mumbled. 

“They won’t make you talk if you’re not ready, honey,” Chan comforted. “We can tell your teacher that you’re not ready to talk just yet if that makes it less scary?” 

“Do we have to say why?” 

“We don’t have to say why if you don’t want to, Min.” That seemed to comfort Minho slightly and they went on to talk about all the things he was excited about at his new school for the rest of the drive. 

The afternoon with just the two of them at home was nice. Chan felt like the more kids he took in, the harder it was to spend individual time with each of them. He wouldn’t turn any of them away and he in no way regretted taking in any of the kids, it just got slightly difficult at times to divide his attention evenly between the four of them. As they all settled in further, however, Chan expected it to get easier. 

“Chan?” Minho asked, looking up from his new toy that he was playing with on the floor. 

“Yeah?” Chan replied, sitting up slightly. 

“Why does Sungie call you Appa when he’s not…he’s not your real baby?” Chan frowned slightly. He should have expected this question to come sooner or later from one of the kids but he still hadn’t prepared an answer. 

“He might not be related to me but he’s still my baby. All of you are my babies and I will take care of you for as long as you need me to. Jisung calls me Appa because he asked me when he was little if I could be his Appa. Does that make sense?” Minho nodded slowly. 

“But what if I already have an Appa?” 

“You don’t have to call me Appa if you don’t want to, Minho. It’s just what Jisung likes to do.” Minho nodded again. 

“My Appa isn’t a very good one,” he mumbled. “I think you’re a better Appa than him.” Without another word, Minho went back to playing with his toy. That was the first thing Chan had heard Minho say about his parents since coming to stay with him. He hadn’t expected glowing reviews considering his limited knowledge about the situation but it still hurt to hear those words come from someone so young. Whatever Minho had gone through, he didn’t deserve, and Chan was determined to make sure he knew that. 

When the time came, Minho and Chan went to go pick up the rest of the kids from preschool. Minho stood next to Chan as they waited for the others to come out, swaying slightly from side to side. 

The three of them walked towards the cubby area together, running up to Chan and Minho when they spotted them. 

“Appa! Appa! Appa!” Jisung said excitedly as they approached. 

“What is it, buddy?” Chan asked, crouching down. 

“We got to play in the outside today!” Changbin told him. 

“Did you really? What did you do outside?” 

“Looked for bugs!” Seungmin said, clapping his hands together. Chan cringed slightly at the dirt covering his fingers. 

“And I learned how to swing on the swings,” Changbin said proudly, puffing his chest out slightly. 

“Good on you, Binnie. What did you do, Jisung?” 

“Played in the sandpit,” Jisung said, swinging his and Minho’s hands back and forth as they walked towards the car. Chan thought it was rather sweet how all of the kids held each other's hands whenever they walked in public. There were times when Seungmin wouldn’t join them, saying something along the lines of “hands feel funny”, but Chan didn’t question it. Sometimes Seungmin just didn’t want to be touched and that was completely okay. 

When they arrived back home, Minho was pestered to show the others the things they had got for him starting school. He proudly laid out everything they had bought, telling the other kids what each thing would be used for in great detail. They were all fascinated by it, only growing more and more impatient for it to be their turn to start big school. 

Getting the kids, especially Minho, to settle down for bed that night was difficult, to say the least. They all wanted to stay up later as a treat, all of them except Seungmin that was. Seungmin had a tendency to stick to a specific routine and would become very stressed if it changed even the tiniest bit. Changbin, Jisung, and Minho on the other hand were much more difficult to persuade into bed. Chan even read them an extra bedtime story to try and make them more sleepy but that didn’t work. They all had so much energy that they were practically bouncing off the walls. 

“Come on, boys, it’s really getting late now,” Chan said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice. The kids only giggled, running around more. Chan hurried after Minho, picking him up and lifting him easily so that he was hanging over his shoulder. Minho squealed and laughed, weakly patting Chan’s back in an attempt to get him to put him down. 

“If you don’t go to bed now you’ll be too tired to go to big school tomorrow,” Chan reasoned. “We don’t want to keep you home on your first day.” 

“No!” Minho cried. “I’ll go to bed, I’ll go to bed!” 

“Will you now?” 

“I will, I will! I promise!” Chan chuckled, putting Minho back down on the floor. 

“What about you two?” Chan asked, turning to Changbin and Jisung. “You don’t want to miss out on another outside day at preschool tomorrow, do you?” They shook their heads, grins still prevalent on their faces. 

It took a further 10 or so minutes but eventually, all four kids were tucked in and snoring. Chan let out a sigh, shaking his head as he walked back downstairs, very ready for some much-needed alone time. 

It felt as if Chan had just laid his head on his pillow when he was being shaken awake once more. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes and looked to see which kid was clambering on top of him this early. Through the dim light coming from the hallway, Chan saw the outline of Minho sitting on the duvet. 

“What is it, buddy?” Chan asked, adjusting himself slightly so he could look at Minho. 

“Can’t sleep,” Minho muttered. Chan glanced at the clock that was sitting on his nightstand—it was 1:45 in the morning. 

“Are you nervous about starting school?” Chan asked. Minho nodded. “It’s normal to be scared, Min. Everyone gets scared when they start something new but soon enough you won’t even realise why you were even nervous. You’ll be so excited to see your friends every day that you’ll be running out of the car almost forgetting to say goodbye.” 

“I won’t forget,” Minho chuckled. 

“I’m just teasing, bud. How about you try and get some more sleep? You can sleep in my bed as a treat.” Minho nodded, crawling under the covers and cuddling close to Chan. It wasn’t often that Minho cuddled with Chan like this, but it was extra nice when he did. 

Soon enough, the boy was fast asleep on Chan’s chest, cheek smooshed and quiet snores filling the room. Chan smiled slightly, allowing himself to fall back asleep for a couple more hours until the other kids inevitably came and woke him up. 

Just as he had predicted, Chan was awoken again by Jisung bursting into his room at the crack of dawn. 

“Appa! Appa! Appa! Morning time!” Good god, that kid had a lot of energy. Minho blinked blearily, pushing himself off of Chan and rubbing his eyes. Jisung was soon followed by Changbin and Seungmin, who also clambered onto the bed. 

Their morning routine was much the same as it always had been—breakfast before they brushed their teeth and washed their faces. Then, if they had time, they might even be able to play for a little bit before they had to leave for preschool—or in Minho’s case from now on, primary school. Chan poured cereal into each of their bowls before adding milk and handing it to each of the kids. They all gobbled up their food quickly and tried to sneak to play before Chan could notice. Unlucky for them, he caught on rather quickly. 

“Now where do you boys think you’re going?” Chan asked, hands on his hips. The four boys turned around guiltily before bursting into giggles. “Come on, upstairs, you know the rules,” Chan reminded them, ushering them up to the bathroom. The kids raced up the stairs, laughing and shrieking as they went, almost tripping over every other step they took. 

They took turns having Chan brush their teeth and wash their faces. It was always the same order—Seungmin, Changbin, Jisung, and then finally Minho. He wasn’t sure how the order had come to be but it had stuck and most likely wouldn’t ever change. 

Soon enough, the time finally rolled around for them to head off. Chan dropped Changbin, Jisung, and Seungmin off at preschool like he always did before getting back in the car and driving towards Minho’s new primary school. Minho was quiet during the short drive, looking out the window each time Chan stole a glance at him through the rearview mirror. His legs were kicking back and forth, making light tapping noises that filled the silence. 

When they pulled up outside the preschool, Minho’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“You ready, Min?” Chan asked, unbuckling himself and walking around to Minho’s door. Minho hadn’t unbuckled himself as he usually did, but Chan understood why. His eyes were too busy looking at all of the children walking through the front gates, with or without their parents, before running off to go and play with their friends. Chan unbuckled Minho and helped him out of the car, placing his backpack on his back before taking his hand. 

Chan had been given a brief tour of the school when he had enrolled Minho, so he knew where Minho’s classroom was. He led the boy through the grounds, past laughing and screaming kids. Minho’s eyes were wide as they walked past the basketball courts and towards the main building that contained all of the classrooms. They walked up the stairs and through the front doors, entering a corridor that Chan remembered. 

All grade ones were on the first floor so it wasn’t too difficult to remember which of the classrooms was Minho’s. 

There were colourful cubbies outside each classroom, containing students’ personal belongings while they were in the classroom. When they arrived outside the third classroom down, Chan stopped. This was the room. There was a woman with long brown hair sitting behind the desk at the front of the classroom who had to be the teacher. 

“You want to come in and meet your teacher, Min?” Chan asked, crouching down. Minho looked nervous, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Do you want me to tell her that you’re not ready to talk just yet?” Minho gave a very small nod. “Okay, bud, I can do that. Let’s go.” Chan stood up once more and took Minho’s hand in his, leading him over the threshold into the colourful room. 

As they entered, the woman behind the desk looked around, getting to her feet. 

“Ah, you must be the new student starting today,” she said, smiling widely. 

“That’s right,” Chan said. “This is Minho.” 

“Hi Minho,” the woman said kindly. “I’m Ms. Choi, I’m your teacher for this year.” Minho looked up at her, bowing his head but not responding in any other way. 

“Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you briefly before the lessons started for the day?” Chan asked. 

“Of course, of course, feel free to take a seat.” Ms Choi walked over and closed the classroom door to give them a little privacy before walking back over to her desk. Chan and Minho walked over to the desk, Chan sitting down in one of the chairs, Minho staying close to his side and clutching his jeans tightly. 

“I’ve already talked to administration about this but I’m not sure if you’ve been told yet. Minho is my foster child and he struggles with speaking in situations where he’s not comfortable or doesn’t know the people around him very well. He hasn’t been in my care for very long, only a couple of months, and it took a while for him to start talking at home. I just wanted to let you know that he’s been quite nervous about being forced to talk in class and to not take it personally by any means if he doesn’t talk.” Ms Choi nodded as Chan explained. 

“I understand completely. My goal is to make a safe environment for the kids to learn and not feel pressured to do anything they’re not comfortable with. If Minho would prefer to just listen and not participate verbally, that’s completely okay as long as he is still keeping up with the work we do.” 

“See, Min?” Chan said, rubbing Minho’s back. “You don’t have to talk if you’re not ready.” Minho looked up at him and Chan understood that Minho knew that. 

“Would you like to see which one is your desk, Minho?” Ms Choi asked the boy. Minho gave a small nod. Ms Choi got to her feet and led the two of them through the desks to one on the left side of the room. There was a small label in the corner that read ‘Lee Minho’. 

“This desk is yours for the whole year, so you don’t have to worry about moving or forgetting where it is. You’re sitting next to some very nice kids who I’m sure you’ll be great friends within no time.” 

Ms Choi went on to show Minho around the classroom more, showing him where they stored things as well as which one of the hallway cubbies belonged to him. Chan was very happy that Minho had such a good teacher for his first year at school. 

Soon enough, the bell rang and there was the sound of all the kids hurrying towards their respective classrooms. 

“It’s time for me to go now, Minho. I’ll be here to pick you up at quarter past three, okay?” Minho nodded before wrapping his arms tightly around Chan. Ms Choi took Minho’s hand and Chan left, making his way through the crowds of kids in the hallways. Chan would’ve been more nervous if they hadn’t been able to have the talk with Minho’s teacher before the school day started. 

The day went by quicker than Chan realised, and soon enough he was driving to pick Minho up. 

He arrived slightly before the school was let out, so he waited in the car for a few minutes outside of the school gate. 

As 3:15 came closer, Chan got out of the car and joined a group of parents waiting just inside the entrance for their kids. 

The bell rang through the school and a crowd of children burst through the front of the building, hurrying towards the gates. Chan had been told by administration that the grade ones’ teachers led them out a little after the rest of the school so they could find their parents easier. 

Chan spotted Ms Choi in the middle of a group of young kids and tried to figure out which one was Minho. It wasn’t too difficult, as he ran out from the crowd as soon as he saw Chan waiting by the gate. 

Minho wrapped his arms around Chan’s legs, a broad grin on his face. 

“Hey there, Min. Did you have a good day?” Minho nodded, bouncing up and down as he grasped Chan’s hand and they headed towards where the car was parked. 

“What did I tell you, there was nothing to worry about, was there?” Chan said as they drove back home. Minho shook his head. 

“It was fun!” he said, still grinning. 

For the next hour or so, Chan was told every little detail about Minho’s day at school. It was adorable to hear him talk so freely about something he had been so anxious about. Chan even found out that Minho had made a friend on his first day—a boy named Chinmae. 

Minho’s excitement didn’t stop when the other kids came home. They asked him questions and he gladly answered, telling the awestruck younger kids about his school and the exciting things they had learnt. Chan watched from the kitchen, smiling. 

Chapter Text

It had been about a week since Minho had started school and he had settled in rather nicely. He had become closer with Chinmae, the boy he was sat next to on his very first day. Sure, most friendships at that age started with something along the lines of “Hey, we’re friends now” but that didn’t make it any less special for Minho. He talked almost non-stop about the things that he and Chinmae had done that day at school when Chan picked him up and it was rather sweet. 

Of course with the end of October came Halloween—something Chan had been silently dreading. When he had been growing up, Halloween wasn’t a very big thing. It was always something that was very American and his family didn’t really do anything special. He had been to a few Halloween parties during high school but those were mostly just an excuse to get drunk without parental supervision. Now Chan had four hyper kids who were very much looking forward to the holiday. 

Halloween that year fell on a Tuesday, which gave Chan the weekend to get everyone’s costumes sorted. Maybe they could’ve done their prep a little earlier but Chan was so busy stressing about Minho starting school only a few days prior that he really hadn’t had the time to even think about costumes until now. 

On Saturday morning, the five of them piled into the car and headed towards the local department store, which thankfully had a vast Halloween section. 

On the drive to the store, all four kids were chatting about what they wanted to dress up as. Changbin, of course, wanted to be a pirate with his pirate phase being nowhere near over, Jisung wanted to be an animal of some sort—“a cat, Appa! No, a dog! Oh, what about a bird?”—Seungmin wanted to be a mummy and Minho wanted to be a skeleton. Chan was just praying that the Halloween section hadn’t been stripped of all their costumes just yet. 

They walked into the department store, the kids holding their hands in a line like they always did. Chan got a cart from the front and they headed towards the part of the store that was decorated with fake spiders and cobwebs. Changbin and Minho ran off together down one of the aisles while Chan followed with Jisung and Seungmin. Chan decided that they should take it one kid at a time so that he didn’t get too overwhelmed with all four kids talking to him at once. 

Chan walked over to where Changbin was and crouched down. 

“Should we try and find you a pirate costume, Binnie?” Changbin looked at him grinning. 

“Yes!” They scanned the aisles searching and searching until they finally came across a generic pirate costume. It was very stereotypical—a stripy shirt, eyepatch, raggedy pants, pirate hat, and sword—but Changbin loved it. He couldn’t stop smiling when they found it and refused to place it in the cart, clutching it close to his chest. 

Right, that was one kid out of the way, only three more to go. 

Next was Minho. Honestly, Chan was just going in order from which kids he thought would be easiest to find costumes for. Surely a skeleton couldn’t be that difficult, right? 

Oh boy, how wrong he was. 

They looked through aisle after aisle for a skeleton costume, all of the kids on the lookout for one. When they reached the very end of the Halloween section, there were still no skeleton costumes. 

“Hey, Minho, I think you might have to think of something else to be. It looks like they don’t have any skeleton costumes left,” Chan said gently. Minho stuck out his bottom lip, eyes becoming dangerously shiny. 

“How about, as I’m looking for costumes for Jisung and Seungmin, you try and think of something else you want to be, okay?” Minho nodded eventually and Chan moved on to the next kid.  

Jisung, thankfully, was much easier to please. He had already found the exact costume he wanted. It was a simple lion onsie but it made Jisung so happy Chan couldn’t refuse. As Jisung showed Chan exactly which costume he wanted he began spurting off facts about lions he had learnt from National Geographic. It was surprisingly easy to entertain a group of kids with short documentaries about wild animals, but Jisung was next-level obsessed with them. He practically memorised them after only watching them once and then proceeded to tell anyone and everyone who would listen endless facts. It was adorable. 

Next was Seungmin. 

The only thing that was really left of the mummy costumes were mummy dress-up kits which basically consisted of a bunch of miscellaneous bandages to wrap around the kids. Seungmin didn’t seem phased by this, however, and happily picked one up off the shelf. 

Finally, they were back to Minho. 

“Have you thought any more about what you want to dress up as instead, Minho?” Chan asked, crouching down next to him. Minho shook his head and looked at the floor.  

“We can match!” Jisung said, bouncing up to them with another costume in hand. It was a tiger onesie very similar to the lion one Jisung had chosen earlier. 

“That’s a very nice idea, Jisung. What do you think about that, Minho? Do you want to match with Jisung?” Minho looked between Chan and the tiger costume Jisung was holding out to him before nodding. Jisung grinned impossibly wider and handed the costume to Chan to put in the cart. 

As they walked towards the checkout, Chan heard Jisung telling Minho different facts about tigers he had learnt. And people say kids aren’t cute. 

The next few days leading up to Halloween were a little bit of a mess. There was nothing in particular that happened, it was just all a little bit of a mess. It was safe to say that Chan was relieved when Tuesday afternoon finally rolled around. 

The kids were picked up from preschool and primary school at their usual times before they headed home to get ready for trick or treating. Some of the local parents had put up posters around the neighbourhood about how to tell which houses were open for trick or treating and which ones weren’t and Chan was eternally grateful for them. If he hadn’t seen those while they were on the way to the park that Sunday, he would’ve had absolutely no idea which houses to go to and which ones to avoid. 

As soon as they walked through the front door, chaos overtook the kids. They threw their things to the side and ran up to their rooms to try and get into their costumes. Chan knew that he had approximately a minute before he was dragged to help the kids change. In the little time he had, he tried his best to get things organised in the house so he wouldn’t have to stay up too much later cleaning the four lunchboxes. 

Just as he had predicted, soon there was a voice calling down the stairs for Chan to come help them. Smiling slightly, Chan put down the container he was holding and headed up the stairs to help the kids. 

The person who had called out was Jisung. He was in his bedroom holding the lion onesie in front of him. 

“What is it, bud?” Chan asked as he walked over the threshold. 

“Help,” Jisung said, handing the onsie to Chan. 

“You want me to help you put it on?” Jisung nodded. Chan placed the onesie on the bed before going over to help Jisung change. As it was getting colder out, each of the kids would have to wear some sort of extra layer under their costumes. Chan really couldn’t afford any of them getting sick as as soon as one of them got even the slightest sniffles, all of them would suddenly be sick as well. 

Jisung was a little difficult to get into his extra layer—“I’m not gonna get cold, Appa!”—but eventually they managed it. No one had had a tantrum so Chan considered it a win. 

There was barely any time for Chan to breathe before the next kid was dragging him into their room to help them get ready. Minho and Changbin were both in Changbin’s room, attempting to help each other change but failing miserably. Chan stepped in and helped the two of them. 

Just as Jisung had been, Changbin was difficult to persuade to wear an extra layer of clothing. 

“Pirates don’t do it!” was his chosen argument. Chan had to carefully explain that pirates were usually in hot places while they were in Korea at the end of autumn—a place that wasn’t exactly tropical. 

To make things more difficult, Jisung came and sat in Changbin’s room because he had gotten bored waiting by himself. This added another layer of distraction to the situation, Changbin trying to point out that Jisung didn’t have to wear an extra layer. Chan patiently explained that Jisung was wearing a layer underneath his onesie. 

After a solid 15 minutes of arguing, Changbin finally gave in. In actuality, he only gave in because Chan threatened to not let him come trick or treating at all if he didn’t wear the extra layer of warmth under his costume. Of course, it was an empty threat, Chan would never have actually left Changbin at home while he took the others out trick or treating, but it got the job done. 

Moving on, Minho was thankfully much easier to persuade into his costume. He happily slipped on the thick shirt before pulling his onesie on. He and Jisung ran around together pretending to be enemy cats fighting over territory before Changbin came over with his foam sword and tamed them for his ship. Chan stayed to watch them for a little while before going to check up on Seungmin. 

It wasn’t odd for Seungmin to stay alone in his room, playing with his own toys by himself, but Chan still wanted to make sure he was doing okay with his costume. If he was being honest with himself, Chan thought that Seungmin would be the first one to come to him for help as his costume consisted of a bunch of bandages that he would never be able to wrap around himself alone. 

Knocking gently on the door, Chan entered Seungmin’s room to see him standing in the middle of it, frowning at his bed. Looking over, Chan saw the package of bandages sitting on top of the duvet right where he had left it, already opened so that Seungmin could try and start getting ready himself if he wanted to. 

“What’s wrong, Minnie?” Chan asked, crouching down next to the boy, who was still glaring at the bandages as if they had deeply offended him. All Seungmin did in response was shake his head vigorously. 

“You need to use your words, buddy, otherwise I won’t be able to find out what’s wrong. Now, can you tell me what’s wrong with the costume?” 

“Bad,” Seungmin muttered under his breath. 

“You don’t like it?” Chan asked, slightly confused. Seungmin had been so eager about dressing up as a mummy just a few days ago. What could have changed? Seungmin shook his head again. 

“What don’t you like about it?” 

“Hurts.” Seungmin then clenched his hands into fists, knuckles going white from the force. Chan wasn’t entirely sure what Seungmin was trying to tell him. 

“Did you hurt yourself on the plastic?” Chan asked. Seungmin shook his head. 

“Hurts,” he repeated. Chan couldn’t see any blood, so ruled out the possibility that Seungmin had cut himself on the packaging himself. In an attempt to comfort the distressed boy, Chan reached out and placed a hand on Seungmin’s shoulder. As soon as Chan touched Seungmin, the boy jerked away, almost as if it had hurt him. 

“Okay, I’m sorry, I won’t touch you.” Chan felt terrible that he just didn’t know what to do. “How about we try and get the costume on now, yeah?” he suggested, shuffling over to the bed and picking up the bag. Chan took the first roll of bandage out of the bag and moved over so that he was in front of Seungmin. 

“Do you want to hold out your arm, Minnie? I’ll try my best not to touch you, I promise.” Seungmin looked at the bandage in Chan’s hand for a moment before cautiously extending his arm, jaw clenched tight. Chan placed the bandage around Seungmin’s wrist, carefully wrapping it around and around in an effort to avoid touching him. 

After a few seconds, Seungmin made a distressed noise and wrenched his arm from Chan’s grip, pulling at the bandage with his other hand until it was off and on the floor. The boy continued to try and pull at his arm as if he was still trying to take off the bandages, pained noises coming from him. Chan was frozen. He didn’t know what had happened or what to do. Seungmin backed away until he was against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor, tears now streaming down his face as he shook his arm over and over again. With every sob that escaped Seungmin, Chan felt as if someone was squeezing his heart. 

“Hey, hey, Seungmin, look at me,” Chan said after a few moments, cautiously moving over to where Seungmin was crying on the floor. Seungmin didn’t respond, still crying just as loudly. 

“You’re okay, bud, it’s okay. You don’t have to touch the bandage again, I won’t make you do it again.” Chan scanned the room, desperately looking for anything that could possibly calm Seungmin down. He spotted Seungmin’s favourite plushie, a dog he had brought from his parents’ home, sitting on the bed. Chan grabbed it and handed it to Seungmin, who clutched it to his chest and cried, bouncing his crossed legs up and down as he continued to rub his arm. 

It took a while, but eventually, Seungmin’s crying devolved into occasional sniffles and hiccups. Chan hadn’t left his side the whole time, making sure not to touch the boy but staying close enough to let him know he was there. 

“Hey, you okay, hun?” Chan asked. Seungmin looked up with glassy eyes, cheeks red. 

“Didn’t feel good,” Seungmin muttered, frowning. 

“You didn’t like how it felt. That’s okay, Seungmin, we can just come up with another idea for your costume, yeah?” Chan said in a comforting tone. Seungmin nodded eventually, lips scrunching to the side as he listened to Chan speak. 

The two of them sat there for a little while thinking of ideas for a last-minute costume for Seungmin. Eventually, they settled on a ghost. 

Chan grabbed an old sheet from the cupboard at the top of the stairs and cut some eye holes out of it with some scissors. It wasn’t the most artistic but it didn’t matter. Seungmin was over the moon about it, although Chan thought that some of his happiness could be from not having to wear his original costume. 

Finally, the five of them were able to head out the front door, each kid holding a little pumpkin basket they had picked up when they bought the costumes. 

There were lots of kids out on the streets, all skipping ahead of their parents in little groups as they walked from door to door, and Chan’s kids were no different. They were all ecstatic to be out of the house and trick or treating that they wouldn’t stop talking. Well, except for Minho of course, but he had a smile plastered on his face the whole time as he listened to his brothers talk. 

As they approached the first house, Jisung stayed back and took hold of Chan’s hand. Chan looked down and saw the boy looking nervously at the door. 

“Are you a little nervous, bud?” Chan asked quietly so none of the others could hear him. Jisung nodded. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll be right here, okay? And you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, I’m sure that Changbin and Seungmin would be okay being the only ones saying trick or treat.” 

Before Jisung could respond, Minho turned around, seemingly noticing that Jisung was missing. When he saw Jisung walking back with Chan, he frowned slightly, running up to the boy and grabbing his other hand. Minho beckoned for Jisung to come with him up to the door. Jisung took a deep breath before letting go of Chan’s hand, and following Minho up to the door. The two of them held hands for the next few houses. Chan thought it was sweet how Minho had taken the time to take care of Jisung even though this situation was probably so stressful for him. It just increased Chan’s pride in his boys. 

After about an hour, the kids were getting tired. 

With their buckets full of various different candies and chocolates, Chan ushered them back in the direction of the house. It was beginning to get dark out anyway and he really didn’t want to have the kids out much later than this. 

When they arrived back home, all four of the boys tried to start eating their candy. However, Chan picked up the four buckets before they had the chance. 

“Not just yet, guys. We have to have dinner before we can have treats, okay?” This was met with four groans and much whining. Chan just ignored this, placing the buckets on the kitchen counter, out of reach from any mischievous hands. 

It was leftover night so dinner was ready pretty quickly and all the kids gobbled up their food, eager to be given some dessert. Chan chucked as he gave each of them one of the sweets from their buckets. 

“Can we have one more?” Jisung asked with puppy eyes. 

“Pretty please, Chan?” Seungmin asked. Soon, both Changbin and Minho had joined the pleading and Chan had to give in. However, when the kids approached him for the second time, the same pleading looks on their faces, he didn’t budge. 

“No more candy, it’s time for bed. We can’t have you too hyper for story time.” The kids groaned and grumbled as they were ushered up the stairs but were all ultimately asleep within minutes of Chan tucking them in. It had been a long day. 

Chan walked downstairs and flopped onto the couch, letting out a sigh as he closed his eyes. Okay, maybe he also snuck himself a mini chocolate bar, but he deserved it!

Chapter Text

Around a week had passed since Halloween and Chan had been doing a lot of thinking. Ever since Seungmin’s breakdown when he had tried to get into his costume, Chan had noted down everything that seemed, for want of a better word, different about the boy. It was only when he was confronted with the compiled list that Chan realised that maybe he should talk to Attacca about this. 

It was a Thursday morning and the house was, as it always was, in absolute chaos. Minho was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to hurriedly finish a colouring sheet for a class colouring competition that his teacher was holding while also distractedly eating his breakfast. Jisung and Seungmin were sitting on the floor playing with some toys, both already finished eating and waiting for Chan to come and tell them to brush their teeth. And Changbin…well, if he was being entirely honest, Chan didn’t know where Changbin was. The boy was most likely sitting in his room doing something or other, probably wanting Chan to come and get him to eat breakfast to just be a little difficult. 

Chan walked over to the living room, trying not to trip over the toys strewn across the floor as he went. 

“Seungmin, Jisung, come on, upstairs,” he said. “You too, Minho,” he added, turning around to look at the kitchen table. Seungmin and Jisung begrudgingly stopped their game and followed Chan. Minho on the other hand didn’t move an inch. 

“Minho, come on, you need to brush your teeth,” Chan reminded him, nowhere near awake enough to have to argue with a five-year-old. 

“But the colouring!” Minho whined, pointing at his almost completed colouring sheet. 

“I know, but you need to brush your teeth before you finish it. You can do the last bit when you’re done, okay?” Minho groaned and slid off the chair. 

“Can I go first, then?” the boy asked as they walked up the stairs. 

“No,” Seungmin answered before Chan could even open his mouth. Minho frowned, turning to look at the boy. 

“Why not?” he pouted. 

“Because I’m always first,” Seungmin explained as if it was obvious. 

“But I have stuff to do!” Minho counteracted. “And I won’t have time if I’m last.” 

“It can’t change,” Seungmin said. Minho rolled his eyes. 

“I’m older than you, you have to do what I say.” 

“It can’t change!” Chan decided to intervene before any of the kids got hysterical. 

“Okay, okay, calm down, it’s okay. Seungmin, you can brush your teeth first like you always do then go and get your things ready for preschool, yeah? Then Minho can go next so it doesn’t have to change for Seungmin. How does that sound?” Neither of the kids loved the idea but it was better than what either of them could come up with, so it was settled. 

Surprisingly, Chan found Changbin sitting in his own bedroom. Chan had only gone in there to look for a hoodie to put on as he was getting a little chilly in his thin t-shirt but found Changbin sitting on his bed, staring out the window behind the headboard. 

“What are you doing in here, bud?” Chan asked, pulling a sweatshirt from his drawer and over his head. Changbin looked around, a slightly odd expression on his face. 

“Are we gonna get more kids?” Changbin asked. Chan frowned slightly. 

“Do you mean are more kids going to come stay with us?” Changbin nodded. 

“Is that why you’re going to see Jihoon? We’re getting someone else?” 

“Oh, no, that’s not why I’m going to Attacca today, bud. They just wanted to check and see how things are going with you four. Why? How would you feel if another kid came to stay with us?”Changbin frowned slightly. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “I like new people but…but I don’t want you to get bored of me.” Chan stared at Changbin, stomach twisting at the boy’s words. Changbin was only four, why was he thinking Chan would get bored of him? 

“Oh honey,” Chan said, walking around the bed and sitting next to Changbin. “I’m not going to get bored of you, why on earth would you think that?” Changbin looked down at his lap, shuffling closer to Chan. Chan wrapped his arm around the boy to comfort him. 

“My old home did,” he mumbled after a while. Chan thought he could feel his heart break. 

“They didn’t get bored of you, Binnie. I promise they didn’t.” 

“Then why did they make me go away?” Changbin looked at Chan with teary eyes. 

“They were busy, hun. They wanted the best for you and they thought that wasn’t with them.” 

“Will you send me away if you get too busy?” Changbin asked. 

“No. I will never send you away, okay? I pinkie promise.” Chan held Changbin close, trying to stop himself from crying. There was something about those words coming from someone so young that just hurt. 

Chan got the kids cleaned up and ready for school. They all piled into the car and Chan drove Minho to school, watching to make sure he made it through the front gates okay before driving towards Changbin, Jisung, and Seungmin’s preschool. 

It was a slightly dull drive to Attacca’s main building, with traffic heavy as parents drove to work after dropping their kids off at school. Chan tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for what felt like hours at the same set of traffic lights. He had music playing but it wasn’t enough to fully distract his brain. Honestly, he was quite nervous about meeting with Attacca today. There was so much he wanted to say but he wasn’t sure how it would be received. Chan had his suspicions about what could be causing Seungmin’s behaviour but he was in no way an expert and didn’t want to assume anything. Hopefully, there would be a professional they could be referred to who could give some clarity. 

Chan waited for what felt like forever outside the offices before his name was finally called. He followed the woman into her office and sat down opposite her on one of the chairs there. 

“Mr Bang,” the woman began. “This meeting is to discuss your current foster placements and where you want to go from here. Please feel free to bring up anything that might be of concern or any improvements that you have noticed surrounding any of the children in your care.” 

They went on to confirm the four kids in Chan’s care before going over what Chan wanted to do regarding future placements. He still had more than enough room in his house for more kids and was honestly hoping to get another placement sometime soon. The five of them had their little routine set in stone but it would be nice to maybe have another kid join them. Chan thought that the social worker was trying to persuade him to not take any more placements, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. Eventually, she seemed to realise this and they moved on. 

“Are there any concerns you have picked up on with any of your current placements?” she asked Chan, skimming through some of the papers on her desk. 

“Um, yes actually,” Chan said, clearing his throat and pulling out his phone. He had noted down some of the things about Seungmin in his notes app, which he pulled up and showed to the social worker. She read the list, eyebrows furrowing slightly. 

“When did you first begin to notice these symptoms?” she asked, typing on her computer as she spoke. Chan thought. 

“It was pretty much since I first met him if I’m being honest. He was always slightly different to my other kids but I just thought that was him reacting differently to the big change so I didn’t take much notice of it. But then on Halloween, he had this…I don’t know, tantrum? Or breakdown? It was over the feeling of his costume and it really seemed to upset him so it was after that that I started to note down the little things I’d noticed,” Chan explained. The social worker nodded, still typing. 

“I am by no means an expert in this topic but it seems to me that Seungmin is displaying symptoms of a developmental condition or something of the sort,” the woman explained, stopping her typing to look at Chan. Chan frowned. 

“A developmental condition? What—what do you mean by that?” 

“Well,” the social worker explained, leaning back in her chair. “There are many examples of developmental conditions but in Seungmin’s case, he seems to be displaying symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. Are you familiar with that?” Chan nodded, trying to process all of the information he had just been given. Autism? That wasn’t even something he had considered up until this point. 

“If you’re willing,” the social worker continued, “I would like to refer Seungmin to a specialist in ASD so they can see his behaviour first-hand and perhaps even make an official diagnosis.” 

“Do you think it could be beneficial for Seungmin to get a diagnosis?” Chan asked. He was still trying to process what he had been told. If he was being honest, he didn’t even really know what autism was. Of course, he had a very very basic understanding but that was mostly built on stereotypes from the media and he knew that it wouldn’t be the most accurate depiction. 

They continued to talk about different things regarding Seungmin, going into more detail about each of the points Chan had noted down so they had a better base to go to the specialist with. 

After they had gone through the whole list, the social worker cleared her throat, putting away Seungmin’s file. 

“Is there anything else you would like to bring up about any of your other placements?” Chan shook his head. “Perfect. Before we move on to the last thing I wanted to discuss with you today, I just wanted to ask how Minho was doing with his speech therapy. It says in his file that he has been working with a speech therapist for a few months at this point.” 

Chan felt his heart swell with pride as he explained Minho’s progress. He still wasn’t talking outside of the house but he was improving every session he had with the speech therapist. He had warmed up to her nicely, now feeling comfortable enough to talk to her almost freely. Minho had told Chan one night that he really did want to speak at school but it was just too scary. Chan had stayed with Minho for a long time that evening, explaining to him that he shouldn’t feel pressured to talk just because it was expected of him and that it was okay to feel scared. 

The social worker seemed pleased with Minho’s progress, explaining to Chan that Minho’s parents had just started their trial regarding whether or not they could keep their parental rights. Seeing as the situation was evidence in a court case, Chan still didn’t know what had happened to Minho other than the fact it had been bad enough to traumatise Minho into being scared of talking. 

“I won’t keep you for too much longer but there was one final thing I wanted to talk to you about today,” the social worker said. Chan glanced up at the clock behind her desk and saw that he had been there for an hour and a half already. It certainly hadn’t felt like that long at all. 

“Jisung has been in your care for over a year now, is that correct?” 

“Yes, it’s been 14 months I think,” Chan confirmed. The past year had flown by and he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

“Have you ever considered the possibility of adoption? You see, most children who stay in one foster home for longer than a year are eventually adopted by their foster parents and I was wondering whether that was something you would be interested in.” Chan did a double take. Adoption? That wasn’t even something he had thought about, let alone considered. 

“I mean, well, yes, of course, I would love to adopt Jisung but it wasn’t—I had never—“ Chan stammered. 

“It wasn’t something you thought was on the table?” the social worker finished his sentence for him.
“Yeah.” 

“Well, if it is something you’re ready to seriously consider, we can arrange a meeting in the next few months regarding Jisung’s possible adoption.” 

Chan left Attacca’s building beaming. Jisung could be his, really his, and Chan couldn’t be more ecstatic. Now that it was a possibility, Chan wanted to adopt him. He wanted to adopt all of them. 

———

A week had passed since Chan’s meeting with Attacca and Seungmin’s appointment with the specialist had arrived. Honestly, Chan had not expected them to get an appointment so quickly but he wasn’t complaining. 

The other kids were dropped off at preschool then Chan and Seungmin began driving out towards the appointment. The clinic where the specialist was was a little far away from where Chan lived but not so far that Seungmin would get incredibly bored during the drive. 

As they drove, Seungmin sat quietly in his car seat, appearing to be completely in his own world every time Chan chanced a glance at him in the rearview mirror. That was something Chan often caught Seungmin doing, sitting in the corner of a room in his own little world. 

When they arrived, Seungmin didn’t seem fully convinced. He stayed standing next to the car, staring at the clinic building and frowning. 

“What is it, buddy?” Chan asked, crouching down next to the boy. “We need to go in so you can talk to the doctor.” Seungmin didn’t look at him, continuing to stare across the parking lot. 

“What is it?” Seungmin asked. 

“What’s what?” Chan asked, slightly confused as to what Seungmin was trying to say. 

“What is it for?” 

“The appointment?” Seungmin nodded. Chan took a deep breath, not knowing how to explain this to Seungmin. “Well, Attacca just wanted to make sure that you’re super healthy and doing okay so this special doctor is going to ask you some questions.” 

“Why me?” 

“Because the others don’t need this special type of doctor.” 

“I’m…I’m different?” Chan’s heart broke slightly. 

“Oh no, Minnie, you’re not different. You’re just like the others, we just have to make sure we can take care of you well, okay?” Seungmin nodded, although his face was still set in a slight frown as they walked into the reception of the clinic. 

As they waited, Seungmin sat on the floor next to Chan’s legs. There was a sectioned-off corner of the waiting room for kids to play as they waited for their appointment, but Seungmin didn’t seem interested in it. He much preferred to sit on the floor, examining the little details of the waiting room. 

Eventually, Seungmin’s name was called and the two of them followed a man in a white coat through a hallway and into an office. Chan thought that the white coat was a little stereotypical but to each their own. They sat down on the chairs next to the desk, Seungmin sitting the closest to the specialist. 

The first chunk of the appointment was Chan detailing what he had noticed in Seungmin’s behaviour to the specialist. They went into every little note that the social worker had sent him, with the specialist asking his own questions and writing down what looked like pages of notes. 

Next, the specialist worked one-on-one with Seungmin while Chan was asked to wait in the waiting room. Chan was a little resistant at first to leave Seungmin alone but eventually decided that it was necessary and that nothing bad could happen. 

As the minutes ticked by, Chan felt more and more restless. 

After what felt like hours, the specialist came back out into the waiting room, Seungmin walking behind him. Back in the office, Chan was briefly told that they would have to come back for some more appointments before an official diagnosis could be made but it would be helpful if Chan noted down any things he noticed between now and the next appointment. 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed, even once the other kids were brought home. It was a relatively chilly day but Chan still found himself being hassled to take them all to the local park. One look from Seungmin’s puppy eyes and he was sold. The kids were bundled up in their jackets and sweaters and they were off. 

As soon as Chan put the car in park, the kids were scrambling out of their seats, eager to be the first ones out of the car. Chan opened the door carefully and caught each kid one by one so they didn’t fall face-first onto the concrete and then followed them over to the playground. 

By the time Chan arrived at the edge of the wood-chipped playground, the four kids were climbing all over the place. Minho was sure to teach each of the others tricks he had learnt from the playground at his school. They watched in awe as Minho raced from one side of the playground to the other, detailing the things the older kids could do on the monkey bars. 

As Chan watched, he was reminded of how free childhood was. The most exciting thing for these kids was learning to do tricks on the playground equipment. They didn’t have the worries of getting hurt or not being able to do it right the first time and embarrassing themselves, they just wanted to try it. 

Minho swung upside down on the bar on the underside of one of the platforms and soon enough Changbin, Jisung, and Seungmin were all trying to do the same. Chan was even dragged over at one point to help Jisung reach the bar. Of course, he wasn’t too far away to begin with. He wanted to be as close as possible in case something happened and someone ended up on the floor in tears. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and they were left enjoying swinging upside down before they inevitably got bored and moved on to another piece of equipment. 

It was peaceful, standing in the park with orange-leaved trees surrounding them and the sounds of children’s laughter filling the air. 

Chapter Text

The day started like any other. Chan was woken up at the crack of dawn by one of the kids jumping onto his bed, then he had to act lively and excited even though all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed. The kids were acting so hyper that Chan didn’t even remember that today was the day of the final ruling of the court trial against Minho’s parents. Minho wasn’t super involved in the process, something that Chan was secretly grateful for. The only reason that Minho wasn’t being grilled for every little piece of information was that he simply wouldn’t talk to any of the investigators or lawyers. They had tried to interview him to get evidence against his parents before the trial had started but ultimately gave up. 

“Appa, Appa,” JIsung said, cheeks stuffed full with cereal. 

“Don’t speak with your mouth full, Jisung, you’ll choke,” Chan reminded gently. Jisung swallowed before grinning up at Chan. Chan couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. 

“Appaaa,” Jisung whispered. 

“Yes, Jisung?” 

“Can–can we go to the park?” The other kids immediately joined in on the conversation. 

“Please, Chan?” Changbin asked pleadingly. 

“We’ll be super good,” Seungmin informed him. 

“We will, really, we will!” Minho agreed. Chan sighed. 

“I’m sorry, boys, but we can’t go right now. You all have preschool and Minho has school, there isn’t enough time to go to the park before they start.” All four boys slumped down in their seats, sighing dramatically. 

“What about after school?” Seungmin asked. Chan looked over at him. As soon as he saw the pleading puppy eyes, he crumbled. 

“Alright then, we can go after school. Once Minho and I pick you guys up from preschool, we can go to the park.” The kids cheered. “But if you want to go to the park, you’ll all need to finish your breakfast.” The table fell into silence while the kids began shovelling spoonfuls of slightly soggy cereal into their mouths. 

The school run went smoothly as it always did, and Chan was left to do some housework while he waited for the day to pass. 

Chan was just putting the last basket of laundry down onto the couch in preparation to fold when his phone started ringing. Searching around for where he had placed it, Chan saw that his mum was calling. 

“Hi, Eomma. What’s up?” Chan asked as he sat down next to the piles of laundry. 

“Hi Chan, I just wanted to check how you were doing. We haven’t had a chance to call so much recently and I wanted to talk to you.” Chan smiled. It was true, he hadn’t been able to call his mum as much as he wanted to recently. He had been so busy with getting paperwork processed for Jisung’s adoption but that had to be put on hold because of the trial with Minho’s parents and there were also Seungmin’s regular meetings with the specialist as the assessment process continued. Everything had been so busy that Chan felt as if he barely had time to just sit and breathe for a moment. 

As he folded the mountain of laundry, Chan chatted away with his mum for hours, just getting out everything that was going on in his head. Honestly, despite being busy, Chan had missed these little chats with his mum. They were refreshing and allowed him to escape the world of little kids just for a bit. It wasn’t that he was complaining about having the kids, not at all, he wouldn’t trade them for the world, but it could get overwhelming at times and talking to his parents allowed him to take a step back for a moment. 

“You know, Eomma,” Chan said as he put the last of the folded laundry onto the top of the pile. “Ever since I’ve had the kids, I have a newfound appreciation for you and Appa. How did you put up with the three of us for so long?" Chan's mum chuckled. 

"Because you were all pretty good kids in the grand scheme of things. Sure, there were difficult moments but we loved you all enough that it was okay." Chan hummed as he carried the laundry basket up the stairs.

“I’m nervous about today,” he admitted. 

“With Minho’s parents’ trial?” his mum questioned. 

“Yeah, it’s just…what if they get to keep their parental rights? I don’t even know what they did to him but it had to be bad enough to make him mute. It just makes me so angry. And I know that the courts are really resistant to taking away parental rights even if they really should be. I just don’t want Minho to have to go back to living with them.” Chan was finally able to get out the worries that had been brewing ever since the start of the trial. 

“I know you don’t, sweetheart, and he won’t. When they see how much he’s flourished while living with you, they’ll be crazy to put him back with his parents,” Chan’s mum reassured. “Do you know when the final ruling will be made?” 

“This afternoon,” Chan told her as he began putting away the laundry into the respective drawers. “Minho’s case worker has been attending the trial and said that she will call me once the judge has made a decision.” 

“It’ll be okay, Chan.” 

“I hope so, Eomma. I really hope so.” 

Chan picked Minho up later that afternoon and the two of them headed straight for the others’ preschool, deciding to pick them up early so they could make it to the park before it started to get dark. It was almost December so the sun was setting earlier and earlier each day, almost feeling like it was the middle of the night by 5 o’clock. 

On the drive to the preschool, Minho told Chan every little detail about his day. He often did this after he had been picked up and Chan honestly really enjoyed it. It was nice to hear about what he had gotten up to and what he had learnt, even if most of it was similar to the day before. 

The car became much louder once the other three kids were picked up, with each of them trying to tell Chan what they had done at the same time. Chan noticed that Seungmin had his hands over his ears most of the time in what he assumed was an attempt to block out the noise. 

“Hey, boys, can you keep it down a little bit?” Chan asked. “You can still tell me about your day but try not to be too loud, okay?” Thankfully, they all complied and the car went back to a more bearable noise level for Seungmin, who slowly lowered his hands from his ears. 

Annoyingly, it seemed that quite a few other families had had the same idea as them as the park was quite busy when they arrived. The kids didn’t seem to mind too much, however, all running off towards the playground as soon as Chan opened the door. Surprisingly, Jisung ran along with the others, not even hesitating. Chan smiled slightly. It was nice to see Jisung gain a little more confidence, he only hoped that the boy could continue to grow. 

Chan sat at one of the benches next to the playground and watched the boys play and run around. They seemed to be playing some imaginary game but Chan wasn’t sure. Seungmin was joining in enthusiastically so he assumed that it was probably something to do with a show they had seen before. 

A little while after they had arrived at the park, Chan’s phone began to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he felt his heart leap into his throat as Minho’s caseworker’s phone number was displayed at the top of his screen. Accepting the call with slightly shaking hands, Chan held the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello, Mr Bang. I just wanted to let you know that the court trial just finished.” Chan swallowed thickly, looking over at the boys still playing happily, completely unaware of the situation. 

“And? What was the verdict?” There was a pause, one that felt like it lasted hours to Chan but could have only been a few seconds. 

“The court has decided to strip Minho’s parents of their parental rights.” Chan let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. They didn’t have parental rights anymore, and Minho didn’t have to go live with them ever again. He was safe. 

“What does this mean going forward?” Chan asked once he thought he was able to keep his voice steady. 

“Well, there are a few options but I think it is best for us to discuss them in person. Are you available for a meeting with me tomorrow morning?” 

Chan arranged to meet with the caseworker the next morning at 9:30, just after he had dropped the kids at school. He felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders, it was an incredible feeling. 

Chan decided that he wouldn’t tell Minho about the court’s ruling until after the meeting with the social worker the next day. The boy was bound to have hundreds of questions, even though he wasn't likely to fully understand the situation, and Chan wanted to be prepared for all of them. 

The evening passed just as they always did–filled with chaos and energy before all the kids eventually fell asleep. The next morning also went according to routine and before he knew it, Chan was driving towards Attacca. 

He pulled into the parking lot and headed into the reception, waiting outside the offices as usual. After a little while, his name was called and he walked into Inkyung’s office. She greeted him with a smile as she sat back down behind her desk. 

“I’m sure you’re ecstatic about the court’s ruling yesterday,” she said. Chan nodded. 

“I’m just glad that Minho doesn’t have to go back to living with his parents.” 

“That’s very understandable. Now that the trial is finished, I am able to tell you what is believed to have happened based on evidence found in their house and accounts from neighbours if you would like, but you in no way have to know if you would feel more comfortable that way.” Chan thought for a moment before replying. 

“I think I want to know,” he said after a while. 

“Very well.” 

Inkyung then went on to explain to Chan what had happened to Minho at the hands of his very own parents. The boy had been neglected severely, being told to never speak to either his mother or father unless he was answering a question they asked him. He was even punished if he spoke, whined, or cried. The neglect had been so severe that at one point Minho was just left in the bath while it was running and almost drowned, only being lifted out by his mother while on the brink of unconsciousness because she “didn’t want to deal with the paperwork”. Chan felt sick to his stomach. How could someone treat their own child in such a way? He couldn’t even begin to imagine how horrible it must have been for Minho to live under their care. 

When Inkyung had finished explaining the events to Chan, he had to blink away tears that had formed in his eyes. He had never hated someone he had never met so much in his life. 

“Based on this, it seems pretty obvious where Minho’s mutism has come from,” the social worker said. Chan nodded. “A child psychologist who was interviewed at the trial also said that Minho is likely to have a fear of water and swimming, even if he cannot remember the specific incident. I thought that you should be aware of this before you take him to any public pools or anything of the sort.” 

“He’s seemed fine in the bath up until now, I would’ve had no idea,” Chan admitted. 

“Yes, that is slightly unusual but you can never truly tell how someone, especially a child, will react to a traumatic event. Perhaps he will only panic when it is deep or open water, or if his head is under the water, who knows, but it is best to be careful.” 

They continued to discuss the trial in detail from that point on, going into what exactly it meant for Minho’s parents to have their parental rights taken from them. 

“As I said on the phone yesterday, there are a couple of ways forward from here. One of them is for Minho to remain living with you as a foster child while we wait for a family to adopt him. Another is for him to move in with another foster family–”

“No,” Chan cut in. “I want him to stay with me.” The social worker smiled at him. 

“I expected that to be the case. And the final option is for you to adopt him. I know you have already expressed interest in adopting one of your other foster children so I just wanted to have the option of adoption out there.” Chan stared at her for a moment. He had barely gotten used to the idea of adopting Jisung, having the option to adopt Minho was something that he hadn’t even considered seriously as an outcome of the trial. 

“Do you have any idea which of the two options you wish to consider?” the social worker prompted. 

“I want to adopt him.” 

As Chan headed home that day, he had the biggest smile on his face. He could adopt Minho, really adopt him. The meeting had turned out better than Chan could have ever imagined. 

The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly, Chan keeping himself busy by searching through his office to find all the necessary paperwork specific to Minho's adoption. All of the paperwork regarding Chan himself was already out on the desk, ready for when Jisung's adoption was able to be fully processed, but it was slightly difficult to find all of the notes and files Chan had on Minho. 

By the time 3 o'clock rolled around, Chan was practically shaking with excitement in anticipation of telling Minho that he was going to be adopted. 

The drive home went as it usually did, Minho babbling on about the events of his day with Chan asking questions here and there. As they were pulling up to the house, Chan felt his stomach twisting with a combination of nerves and excitement. He and Minho walked through the front door, Minho making sure to line his shoes up neatly next to Chan's before he ran off to play upstairs. 

"Minho?" Chan called before the boy could get too far up the stairs. 

"Yeah?" Minho replied, stopping abruptly and turning to face Chan. 

"Can you come back down here so I can talk to you about something important?" Minho's face fell slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Am I in trouble?" he asked in a small voice, holding onto the support beams of the bannister. 

"Oh no, Min, you're not in trouble."

"But you said it's important."

"It is important, but good important. I promise you're not in trouble." Minho peered between the bars over at Chan. 

"Pinkie promise?" 

"Pinkie promise." Minho let go of the bannister and made his way down the stairs and over to where Chan was waiting in the living room. 

"Minho, you know how I told you a little while ago that your parents are going to something that will decide whether or not they can still have you?"  Chan asked. Minho thought for a moment before nodding. 

"The big building Inkyung told me about?" 

"Yeah, that's the one, bud. Well, the person who was in charge of that has decided that you don't have to go back to live with your Eomma and Appa." Minho's face fell into an expression of shock.

"I–I really get to stay here?" Chan smiled at the boy. 

"You get to stay here. And, what's even better, I can now adopt you." Minho's eyes went impossibly wider, staring up at Chan. 

"Like you're gonna do with Sungie?" 

"Yeah, Min. Both of you can be mine. No more visits to Attacca or having to talk to Inkyung about what things are like at home. You can just stay here forever. Is that something you would want?" 

"Yes!" Minho cried, launching himself at Chan, nuzzling his face into Chan's shoulder. "So you're my Appa now?" he asked, voice slightly muffled by the fabric of Chan's shirt. 

"I'll be your Appa, Min." 

"Okay, Appa." Chan's heart felt warm at the words. 

When they went to pick up the rest of the kids from preschool, Minho wasted no time in telling them that Chan was his Appa now. That started off a whole conversation of Changbin and, after a little convincing from the others, Seungmin wanted to call Chan Appa as well. Of course, Chan was glad to have all of his kids calling him Appa. Honestly, he was over the moon about it and now even more desperate than ever to be allowed to adopt them all legally. 

That evening was filled with celebrations and happiness, Chan finally allowed all the kids to help him make a batch of cookies for them all to share. A few almost-broken bowls and half a bag of flour later, they were all happily munching on their warm chocolate chip cookies. The kids all had grins on their faces, gobbling down the rare sweet treats before chugging glasses of milk. There was a massive mess in the kitchen but Chan couldn't bring himself to clean it. He walked the kids upstairs to tuck them all into bed, each of them exhausted from the evening. Once the house was quiet, Chan sat in his bedroom, staring out the window at the illuminated houses. 

His kids were his world. He loved them more than words could describe and was willing to do anything he could to make sure they stayed with him.

Chapter Text

Soon enough, December was in full swing and Christmas was drawing closer. Chan was excited to experience his second Christmas with kids, especially since the number of kids he was taking care of had quadrupled since last year. He knew it would be a lot more effort than it had been with just Jisung, but Chan was up for the challenge. 

It was the last day of school for Minho before winter break and Minho couldn’t be more excited. 

“I’ll miss school, but I get to spend more time with you and Sungie and Binnie and Minnie. That’s a good bit,” he told Chan as they drove towards the school. 

“And when you get back to school it’ll be even more exciting to show your classmates everything you got for Christmas,” Chan said. Minho hummed. He still wasn’t speaking at school, and it didn’t look like he would anytime soon. Chan wasn’t disappointed in him for this, in fact, he would never dream about getting upset over something like this. If Minho didn’t feel comfortable enough to talk outside of the house yet, that was completely okay. No, Chan wasn’t actively encouraging the behaviour because he knew how difficult it could become if Minho stayed mute until later in life, but at the same time, he wasn’t going to force the boy to talk. 

Chan walked Minho, who was wrapped in his thick winter coat, to the front gates of the school before letting him run off across the basketball courts towards his classroom. He looked absolutely adorable bouncing around, bag far too big for him. Chan stayed to make sure he got inside safely, not slipping on any of the ice around the grounds, before heading back to his car. 

He had barely been home for half an hour when his phone began to ring. Clearing his throat, he answered the call. 

“Hello, this is Bang Chan.” 

“Hello, Mr Bang, you are listed as Changbin’s contact in our system, is that correct?” Chan frowned slightly. Why was the preschool calling him?

“Yes, that’s correct. Has something happened?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing too major. Changbin’s just feeling a little sick so we decided to call you and see if you could come and pick him up. There’s been a flu-like thing going around the kids so we suspect that he’s caught it from one of his friends.” Chan sighed. 

“I’ll be right there.” 

When Chan walked into the office of the preschool, the lady sitting there gave him a smile and led him through a door into a room with a few chairs along the side. Sitting on one of the said chairs was Changbin, fiddling with his hands in his lap, kicking his legs and looking quite miserable indeed. Chan was slightly surprised to see Seungmin and Jisung sitting on either side of him. 

“Hey there, buddy, what’s up?” Chan asked, crouching down in front of Changbin. 

“I feel yucky,” Changbin mumbled. 

“Oh, that’s not good, is it? Let’s get you home and get you some medicine, okay?” Changbin nodded and Chan helped him off of the chair. Seungmin and Jisung hopped off their chairs and followed them out towards the foyer of the building. 

“What were you doing with Binnie, you two?” Chan asked. “Do you also feel sick?” Seungmin shook his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he looked at Chan’s knees. 

“Binnie didn’t feel good so we waited with him,” Jisung explained. “Wanted to make sure he was okay.” Chan’s heart felt warm as he smiled down at the two boys. 

“That’s very nice of you guys. Thank you for waiting with Changbin, you’re very good brothers. Now, you go back and play with your friends, okay?” Seungmin nodded before grabbing Jisung’s hand and scurrying back into the main area with all the kids. Chan thanked the lady who had been waiting with Changbin before heading back out to the car, Chan carrying Changbin’s backpack and holding the boy’s hand as they went. 

Changbin looked miserable the entire drive home, he was coughing every other breath and his face was pale. Chan was honestly quite relieved when they pulled into the driveway. He unbuckled Changbin from his car seat and carried the half-asleep boy into the house. Changbin nuzzled into Chan’s neck as they walked up the stairs, rubbing his eyes and sniffling. 

“Let’s get you changed into your pyjamas, buddy. Then you can take some medicine to feel a little better before you go to sleep, yeah?” Changbin nodded drowsily as Chan set him down on his bed and pulled a fresh pair of pyjamas out of the drawer. It was a slight struggle to get Changbin into the pyjamas but you get quite skilled at dressing unenthusiastic children when you have four of them. Chan then carried Changbin into the bathroom, searching through their medicine cabinet with one hand until he found the kid-safe flu medicine. 

“Here, buddy, swallow this and you’ll feel better.” Thankfully, Changbin didn’t protest and swallowed the liquid medication before pulling a face. “Good job, sweetheart. Now let’s get you some sleep. How about we cuddle on the couch?” Changbin nodded sleepily, eyes already half closed. Chan quickly packed up the medicine before carrying Changbin back downstairs and cuddling the two of them up under some warm blankets. Changbin clutched onto Chan and was asleep within seconds, his cheek smushed against Chan’s arm. 

After their nap, Changbin seemed to be feeling a little better. He was up and alert at least. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling yucky?” Chan asked, stroking the boy’s hair in a calming manner.
“Eunsoo and Daehyun didn’t…” Changbin trailed off. 

“Did they not let you stay home if you weren’t feeling good?” Chan asked. Changbin shook his head. “Oh, honey. If you ever don’t feel good, even just a little bit, tell me and we can sort it out, okay?” 

“You…you won’t…get mad?” Changbin asked, looking up at Chan with big eyes. 

“I won’t get mad, Binnie, I promise.” Changbin looked at him for a moment before nodding. 

Later that afternoon, Chan and Changbin went to go and pick Minho up from school. 

Minho came trotting across the courts wrapped back up in his coat and clutching a brightly wrapped object. When he spotted Chan and Changbin, he beamed and hurried over to them. As he got closer, Chan saw that the thing he was holding was a little package, presumably gifted to him. The three of them walked back to the car, Minho holding one of Chan’s hands, and Changbin holding the other. 

Once they were back in the car and driving away from the school, Minho spoke up. 

“Look at what Ms. Choi gave me!” he said, holding up the brightly wrapped object. 

“Very nice, Minho. What’s in it?” Chan asked. 

“Candy! She got one for everyone for Christmas!”

“Lucky you.” 

“I’m gonna share it with Binnie, Sungie, and Minnie,” Minho announced proudly. Changbin looked up. 

“You are?” he asked. 

“Yup!” 

“That’s very nice of you, Minho.” Minho grinned broadly and kicked his feet. 

When they got home, Chan told the kids to wait for the other two to get home before they started to eat the candy Minho had been given. It wasn’t a lot, of course, but they were so excited about the prospect of candy that they didn’t even care. 

———

It took a few days, but eventually, Changbin got over his flu and was back to his usual lively self. Christmas was fast approaching and Chan was honestly getting a little stressed. He already had all of the presents and everything, but they hadn’t had a chance to put up the Christmas tree yet. They had been planning to do it at the very start of December but so many things had happened all at once that Chan hadn’t even had a moment to think about the decorations. 

Finally, it was the Saturday two weeks before Christmas and Chan decided that it was time to put up the Christmas tree. He carried the extremely heavy box out of its place in his office at the bottom of the stairs and tried his very best not to trip over any excited kids on his way to the living room. 

Jisung went on to explain how they had set up the Christmas tree the year before to the other kids, going into every little detail of what it had looked like in the old apartment. Chan smiled fondly as he began carrying the few boxes of other miscellaneous decorations into the living room alongside the others. 

“Alright, boys. I’m going to set up the Christmas tree, how about you guys look through the other decorations?” All four of the boys nodded enthusiastically and rushed over to the other box. It took them a couple of tries to open it but they managed eventually and there was no stopping them once they had started. 

Seungmin tried to organise everything into neat little piles by category, asking the others to pass him the decorations one at a time so he could classify them. Chan was actually surprised that the others went along with it. They formed a little line where Minho would take out a decoration from the box and would pass it along to Changbin who would examine it and feel it before passing it onto Jisung, who would do the same thing before finally passing it to Seungmin to organise. It was honestly quite nice to watch as he struggled to put the Christmas tree together. 

There was Christmas music playing through Chan’s phone and Chan was sure that they went through the entire playlist before the Christmas tree was actually complete. In his defence, it was much more difficult to construct a tree when you had four kids asking you “what’s this?” every two seconds. The tree was finished eventually, however, and now they could actually start to decorate it properly. 

All the decorations were organised into neat piles thanks to Seungmin, which actually made it a lot easier to decorate the tree. Of course, the kids wanted to help with every step, so Chan had to come up with a system of who could put which ornaments on the tree. They took turns, each choosing a decoration from the pile before Chan picked it up and checked whether it was breakable or not. Once he found one that wasn’t, the kids were able to hang the ornament on whichever branch they wanted. Sometimes this meant that Chan would have to lift them up so they could reach the higher branches, but he wasn’t complaining. 

Chan was just helping Changbin hang the decoration he had chosen on the tree when Jisung gasped loudly. Turning quickly, expecting to see something broken on the floor, Chan realised that Jisung was staring at the window with wide eyes. Following the boy’s gaze, Chan saw white flakes drifting past the window. 

“It’s snowing!” Changbin cried, wriggling around until Chan put him back down on the floor. All four of the kids ran towards the window, pressing their cheeks against the cold glass. Chan cringed internally at the hand prints that would be left there afterwards 

Of course, all the kids immediately wanted to go out and play in the snow. Chan had to pause all decorating endeavours to bundle the kids up in their coats and hats before finally letting them outside into the garden to play. 

By the time they got outside, the snow had already started to settle on the ground. The kids ran around, shrieking happily as they attempted to pick up handfuls of snow and throw them at each other. Chan knew he should have been suspicious when all four of the kids huddled around each other in the back corner of the garden, giggling with each other. However, he wasn’t, and he paid for this later. Out of nowhere, all four kids ran full speed at him with their arms full of as much snow as they could carry. At once, they all threw the snow onto Chan, who was definitely underdressed—only wearing a thick hoodie and a pair of jeans. 

Spluttering, Chan wiped the snow off of his face. He honestly wasn’t sure how the kids even managed to reach his face, considering they were all only up to his hips at most, but somehow they managed it. 

“You’re all in for it now,” Chan laughed, running out into the garden to grab his own handfuls of snow. The kids laughed and shrieked, running in every direction to avoid getting hit with snow. 

By the end of it, Chan was being pinned to the ground, one kid on each of his limbs so he couldn’t even move if he tried. They began piling snow, which by now was falling thickly and coating the ground, on top of Chan, completely soaking through his jeans. It was unpleasant, to say the least. 

Eventually, Chan managed to escape his snow prison and usher the kids inside. He was met with many complaints but they were all starting to feel the cold so didn’t physically resist too much.

Once all of the kids were bathed and wrapped up in thick blankets, their mission to decorate the Christmas tree resumed. 

When Chan was tucking the kids into bed that night, the lights on the tree could be seen shining up the stairs onto the second floor, slowly changing colour every now and then. That was what Christmas felt like. 

The next few weeks passed in a flash and before Chan knew it, he was reading the kids their bedtime story on Christmas Eve. They had set out the cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa and his reindeer, something that all the kids had been very excited about, and Chan was reading to them all piled onto Jisung’s bed. Seungmin was dozing off on Changbin’s shoulder, arms wrapped around himself, when Chan decided to call it a night. The story was quickly finished and Chan lifted Seungmin off of Jisung’s bed and carried him into his own room, tucking him into bed before going and tucking in Changbin and Jisung. When he walked into Minho’s room, however, he found the boy waiting up for him. 

“Are you all ready for bed, Min?” Chan asked. Minho nodded slightly, but Chan could tell something was off. Minho was sitting over the top of his duvet, hands fiddling with each other in his lap. Chan walked over and sat down next to him. 

“What’s up, buddy?” Minho looked up at him with shining eyes. 

“Will…” he began in a small voice. “Will I still be on Santa’s nice list even if…even if I didn’t talk?” Chan looked down at the small boy, so young but yet so worried. 

“Of course you will be, Min. Santa knows how much of a good boy you’ve been, even if you didn’t talk. You don’t have to say things to be nice. Sometimes actions speak louder than words, remember?” Minho nodded again but Chan could still feel that something was off. “What made you ask?” Chan questioned gently. Minho avoided eye contact, looking down at his hands still resting in his lap. 

“Some of the people at school said that I wouldn’t get any presents because I was too stupid to talk,” Minho muttered eventually. Chan immediately felt anger rush through him, but he had to stay calm. 

“Well, they’re the ones who won’t be getting any presents from Santa this year, not you. They haven’t been very nice so they won’t make the nice list. You’ve been so nice, such a good older brother to Binnie, Sungie, and Minnie, haven’t you? That’ll mean you’re on the nice list for sure.” Minho looked up at him again. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

Chan closed Minho’s bedroom door with a slightly heavy heart. He knew that his kids weren’t going to have the easiest school lives being foster kids, but he hadn’t expected children so young to be so cruel. How could they make fun of Minho for not speaking? He wasn’t stupid, he was actually quite a bright kid, he had just gone through too much at a young age and hadn’t known how else to cope. 

The next morning, Chan was awoken at the crack of dawn by four kids all jumping onto his bed at the same time. He was dragged downstairs into the living room so that they could open stockings. Chan would honestly have much preferred that they bring the stockings back upstairs into his room so he could enjoy a few more minutes in the warmth of his bed, but alas, the kids weren’t going to change their minds. Before Chan let them open anything, however, he made sure to make himself a coffee. It was going to be a long day. 

When he returned to the living room, Minho had given each kid their own stocking, with the help of Changbin. The kids took Chan sitting down as their cue to begin opening their presents and soon enough there was wrapping paper strewn all over the floor. 

Seungmin immediately became obsessed with a soft dog plushie that he got from Santa. He kept running his hands over the toy, enjoying the soft feeling of its fur. Chan was quite pleased that he liked it so much. 

Once all the stocking presents were opened, they made breakfast before moving on to the regular presents. Chan’s parents had sent presents for each of the kids, which made Chan very pleased. It was nice to see a few from his siblings included in the bunch as well. 

Finally, there were only two presents left under the tree. 

“Now, these last presents are very special ones for Minho and Jisung,” Chan said, picking them up off the floor. 

“They are?” Jisung asked, eyes wide. 

“They are,” Chan confirmed, handing one to each of them. 

“What is it?” Minho asked. 

“Open it and see.” Jisung and Minho hesitated slightly before ripping the paper off the presents, Changbin and Seungmin watching intently. Minho frowned at the framed piece of paper, trying to read what it said with his limited skills. 

“Uh…Ah-dop-shun,” Minho muttered, processing what he had just read. Suddenly, his head shot up and he was staring at Chan, eyes wide. 

“We’re adopted?” Chan smiled down at the boys. 

“You’re adopted. You’re mine.” Minho and Jisung jumped to their feet, tackling Chan onto the couch. 

Chan couldn’t be happier. 

Chapter Text

[May]

A few months had passed and Chan was the happiest he had felt in a long time. Jisung and Minho’s adoptions were processed back in December and since then Changbin had been officially adopted and Seungmin was in the process of being adopted. He would have been adopted around the same time as Changbin but since his parents still technically had some of their parental rights, the process was much more complicated. 

The weather was becoming warmer and warmer with each passing day and Chan was making the most of it. He was taking the kids out to the park or out on walks every time he got the chance and they seemed to be loving it. It was nice to watch them run around just enjoying life in a way he wished he could experience again. 

Chan was sitting at the kitchen table with Minho, helping him with some homework that he was given to work on over the weekend. Minho was frowning down at the paper, squinting at the sentence he was supposed to be copying. 

“You just have to copy the letters from this one,” Chan said to him, pointing at the sentence at the top of the paper. Minho sighed and picked up a pencil from the table in his left hand, pulling the paper closer to him so he could write. He traced the letters slightly messily but it was definitely legible. When Minho got halfway across the page, Chan was shocked to see him switch the pencil from his left hand to his right and then continue writing as if nothing had happened. Minho finished the sentence and put the pencil down proudly. 

“I did it,” he said, smiling up at Chan. 

“Did you swap your hands when you were writing that?” Chan asked. Minho frowned slightly. 

“Yeah?” 

“Where did you learn to do that?” Minho thought for a moment. 

“It just makes sense. This side’s closer to the start,” he held up his left hand, “and this side is closer to the end,” he held up his right hand. 

“So you swap to make it easier?” Minho nodded. Chan smiled. “That’s very cool, Minho, you should keep writing with both hands.” Minho grinned up at him and they went back to reading through the next few sentences he had to copy out. 

Soon enough, Minho was finished with his homework and he was able to join the rest of the kids in the living room to play. They had brought down a large collection of toys from Changbin’s room and dumped them onto the floor to create some sort of cross-over game between all of the different toys. Chan was completely lost on the plot when they tried to explain it to him, but Minho jumped in easily and played with them as if he had been there the whole time. 

Deciding to take advantage of all the kids being busy together, Chan went through all of the bedrooms and piled the dirty laundry into a basket. There wasn’t much on the floor as Chan usually remembered to put the clothes into the laundry basket after helping the kids change, but there were a few times when he forgot or was far too tired to walk into the bathroom so the clothes were left on the floor. 

He checked in on the kids as he walked down the stairs before heading into the laundry room and put on the first load before heading back into the living room to watch the kids. They tried to get him to join them in their game but every time he tried, they would tell him he was doing it wrong so he gave up. 

The rest of the morning passed pretty normally, the kids just enjoying their Saturday off from school and preschool. Chan was just preparing their lunch when he felt something pull gently on his jeans. Looking down, Chan saw Seungmin standing there with large puppy eyes. 

“What is it, Minnie?” 

“Can…can we go to the park?” Seungmin asked, rocking his weight from the balls of his feet to his heels as he spoke. 

“Once I’ve made you lunch, sure we can go to the park.” Seungmin smiled broadly and ran off to go tell the others. 

The kids wolfed down their lunch and waited eagerly by the front door while Chan quickly changed over the laundry. By the time he was pulling his shoes on, the kids were getting very impatient. Changbin and Minho practically dragged him out of the front door and towards the street. 

They had taken to walking to the park more often than not on nice days as it got them that little bit more exercise. Chan made sure to watch all of the kids carefully so that they didn’t run into the street but Minho had told the others all about the road safety he had learnt at school so they were all pretty good. 

All four of the kids ran off excitedly the moment they entered the park. Chan watched them from afar as they clambered onto the equipment, the older ones helping Jisung and Seungmin onto the platforms they were a little too short to get onto by themselves. 

It was sweet watching them play. Honestly, it was one of Chan’s favourite things. Sitting on the little benches overseeing the playground and watching the kids just be kids was relaxing in a way. It made him happier than ever to know that each of them was his and only his. He didn’t have to worry about when the next meeting with Attacca would be or what piece of paperwork they would inevitably have to find. Of course, he would much rather have to deal with those things than not have the kids at all, but it could get a little frustrating at times. Especially with the few problems that had arisen when Chan had tried to officially adopt Seungmin, he would be very glad when everything was over. 

Chan allowed the kids to play for a little over an hour before he noticed them getting tired. Seungmin especially was starting to get a little overwhelmed as more and more kids arrived at the park with their parents. These kids were less careful about their volume level than Chan’s kids were, screaming and shouting every other second. Chan got to his feet and called his kids over, helping Jisung climb off of the playground. He would have helped Seungmin as well but the boy was becoming more visibly agitated and Chan didn’t want to push it too far and end up having to calm him down from a meltdown. 

As they walked towards the entrance of the park, Chan fished out the noise-cancelling headphones from his bag and handed them to Seungmin. The boy slipped them over his ears and some of the tension immediately left his shoulders. 

They had bought the headphones a couple of months ago on the recommendation of the autism specialist and Seungmin had loved them immediately, refusing to take them off for the first few days. Chan was happy to see the boy able to enjoy more things than would normally have without the headphones. They still hadn’t received an official diagnosis from the specialist, which was frustrating Chan slightly. The doctor seemed unwilling to say whether or not Seungmin definitely had autism or not when it would allow him access to more accommodations when he started school. Chan was trying his best to accommodate Seungmin’s sensory issues and other things but he knew that other people wouldn’t be so willing unless he had an official diagnosis. 

About halfway through the walk home, Chan’s phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and clicked answer, unable to read the contact name because of the bright sun. 

“Hello?” he said. 

“Hello, is this Bang Chan?” came a voice. 

“Yes, who is this?” 

“This is Attacca Foster Agency. We were calling regarding a new potential placement.” Chan blinked. He hadn’t had a placement in nearly seven months, it was definitely something he wasn’t expecting. Of course, he wasn’t going to turn it down, he had the room, but it was just unexpected. 

Chan asked the receptionist if he would be able to call them back in a few minutes once he got home, which they said was fine, so he hung up the phone and hurried the kids home. 

Once he was sitting in the office, he clicked on Attacca’s contact in his phone and put the phone to his ear. The line rang a few times before it was picked up. 

“Hello, this is Attacca Foster Agency, how can I help you?” came the same voice. 

“Hello, this is Bang Chan. You called me earlier,” Chan told them. 

“Ah, yes, thank you for calling back so quickly, Mr. Bang. We have a three-year-old boy in the hospital currently who has just been taken out of the care of his parents and we need somewhere he can stay until a more long-term home is found. Are you able to look after him for the time being?” Chan felt his heart break. 

“Yes. Yes, of course, I can take him. I would…I would love to.” The sound of typing came from the other end before the receptionist spoke again.

“He is expected to be released from hospital this evening then he will be placed into your care temporarily. His social worker will tell you information about him when she drops him off as I am unable to do so currently. Do you have any questions?” Chan thought for a moment. 

“Can I know his name?” he asked. There was a pause. 

“Jeongin. Yang Jeongin.” 

“Thank you.” 

The call ended and Chan leaned back in his chair, running a hand over his face. The boy was young, so young, and he was already in hospital because his parents presumably couldn’t treat him right. Chan didn’t know anything about the situation but he was already tearing up. When Minho had arrived, he had also been taken to hospital and he hadn’t been harmed physically apart from the blatant neglect. Even so, Chan couldn’t help but let his mind spiral about the horrific treatment Jeongin had probably been forced to endure. 

Once Chan had composed himself, he walked out of his office and up to Changbin’s room where the kids were playing. 

“Boys,” he said as he pushed the door open. 

“What is it, Appa?” Changbin asked, not looking up from the toys he was holding. Chan walked into the room properly and crouched down between Minho and Jisung. 

“There’s going to be another boy coming to stay with us tonight,” Chan began. At his words, all four of the kids looked up at him, eyes wide with excitement. 

“Now, before you ask anything, let me explain something very important, okay?” The kids nodded. “This boy hasn’t had a very good time at home. He’s in the hospital right now being looked after by the doctors. Remember how scary it was when you first came home? It’ll be just as scary for him when he comes to stay with us so I need you to give him some space. If he doesn’t want to be friends and play right away, that’s okay.” There was a pause after Chan’s words before Seungmin spoke up. 

“Is he younger than me? Can I be a hyung?” Chan smiled slightly. 

“He’s the same age as you and Jisung, Minnie. He’s three. I’m not sure when his birthday is so I can’t say if you’re going to be a hyung or not.” Seungmin pouted. 

As the kids continued to play, Chan went into the room right at the end of the hall and began preparing it for Jeongin. There wasn’t too much to be done apart from making the bed and organising the nightstand a little so it didn’t take Chan very long to have the room all prepared. 

For the rest of the day, Chan found himself glancing at the clock every few minutes. Time seemed to be passing painfully slowly and it was driving him a little insane. 

Eventually, it was time for Chan to put the kids to bed. They complained about wanting to stay up to meet Jeongin but he wouldn’t let them. He didn’t know what time Jeongin was arriving considering the person at Attacca had only said “this evening” and he didn’t want the kids to be staying up ridiculously late and then being overly tired and grouchy tomorrow. 

So, Chan was left sitting on the couch just waiting. He tried to watch a drama that one of the TV stations was airing but couldn’t concentrate. His leg kept bouncing and he was barely taking in any of the words the actors were saying. 

At 9:30 p.m. by Chan’s phone, there was a knock at the door. 

He jumped to his feet and hurried around the couch, pulling the door open to reveal a woman in a suit carrying a small suitcase and clipboard with a very small boy standing next to her. 

“You must be Bang Chan,” the social worker greeted. “I’m Park Miseon, Jeongin’s social worker.” Chan invited Jeongin and Miseon inside before closing the door behind them. 

“Jeongin,” Miseon said to the small boy. “This is Chan. He’s the one who is going to be looking after you for a little while.” Jeongin turned to face Chan before bowing deeply. 

“Hello, Sir,” he said when he was standing up straight again. Chan looked at him in shock. 

“There’s no need for you to call me sir, Jeongin. You can just call me Chan, it’s okay.” Instead of replying, Jeongin just bowed again. Chan looked up at Miseon in confusion. She gave him a grim look before putting down Jeongin’s suitcase. 

Miseon explained to Chan how Jeongin had come from an abusive home where he had been forced to clean and work for his parents. He had practically been a slave and it tore Chan’s heart in two. The boy was so little, clearly malnourished, making Chan feel sick to his stomach. He knew there were probably bruises under his sweater sleeves but he didn’t even want to think about it just yet. 

“I’m sorry that I can’t tell you how long he will be in your care,” Miseon said to Chan. Chan shook his head. 

“No, it’s okay. I’m willing to look after him for as long as is needed. Even if that means having him for months, I will take care of him.” Miseon smiled at him. 

“It’s refreshing to see someone so passionate about helping these kids. Most people who already had four kids in their care would be resistant or even annoyed about taking on a fifth but you seem to genuinely care.” 

“Of course, I care. I just want to help them in any way I can.” 

They said goodbye to Miseon after they had finished the formalities and Chan turned back to Jeongin. The boy was standing straight-backed next to his suitcase, hands clasped behind his back and eyes on Chan’s shoes. It was chilling to see such a young child act so…unchildlike. 

“Are you hungry?” Chan asked, crouching down in front of Jeongin. “We can get you something to eat before bed if you would like.” Jeongin swallowed. Chan could see the conflict in his eyes. He wanted to accept Chan’s offer but seemingly didn’t want to be punished for it. Chan got to his feet and headed into the kitchen, beckoning for Jeongin to follow him. The boy did, however cautiously. 

“What do you feel like? We have some fruit, we have rice crackers, I could make you some eggs if you’d like. It’s up to you depending on how hungry you are.” Chan wanted to give Jeongin some choice without overwhelming him. The boy bit his lip slightly, clearly thinking it all over. 

“Could I have some rice crackers, please?” he asked in a tiny voice. 

“Of course you can,” Chan said smiling, happy that Jeongin had spoken to him. 

Chan got out a little plate and placed some rice crackers onto it before handing it to Jeongin, who bowed deeply again as he accepted it. 

“Thank you, sir,” he said, standing closer to the kitchen bench as he began to nibble on the crackers. 

“Would you like to sit on the couch to eat?” Chan asked. Jeongin looked over at the couch, debate displayed clearly in his eyes, before nodding ever so slightly. Chan led him over to the couch and sat next to him, not too close so that he felt as if Chan was watching him like a hawk but also not too far away. 

Jeongin continued to eat the rice crackers until they were all gone. 

“Would you like any more?” Chan asked. 

“No thank you,” Jeongin replied politely, sliding off the couch and heading towards the kitchen. Chan followed him curiously. 

Jeongin pulled the kiddy stool Chan had to one side of the kitchen so that it was resting in front of the sink before climbing on top of it and reaching towards the tap. Realising what he was doing, Chan walked over to him and gently took the plate out of the boy’s hand. Even though Chan had made sure that he could see him, Jeongin still jumped and cowered away from Chan slightly. 

“You don’t have to wash the plate, honey. I can do that later. How about we get you to bed, yeah? You must be tired,” Chan said to him patiently, placing the plate back on the bench. Jeongin looked between the plate and Chan for a few moments before stepping down off of the stool. Chan could see on his face that he didn’t fully trust Chan’s words but would rather obey than go against his words and potentially be punished. 

Chan led Jeongin up the stairs quietly and towards his room. Once they were inside, Chan spoke again. 

“My other boys are asleep right now but we can introduce you to them tomorrow, how does that sound?” Jeongin nodded slightly as he looked around the new room. Chan put down his suitcase and unzipped it. Inside, there were only a few clothes chucked in messily. It had clearly been packed in a hurry. Chan looked through the clothes until he found what he assumed to be Jeongin’s pyjamas. They were worn out and dirty but before Chan could say anything, Jeongin had taken them out of Chan’s hand, bowing as he did, and began to pull off his sweater. 

Chan didn’t want to try and help the boy change for fear of making him uncomfortable so he just closed the suitcase once more and pushed it to the corner of the room to be unpacked later. When he turned back around, Jeongin had pulled on the pyjama bottoms and was in the process of putting on the shirt. Chan caught a glimpse of bandages covering his back and arms along with dark purple bruises all over his pale skin. It physically hurt him to see the pain Jeongin had so clearly endured at the hands of his own parents. 

Jeongin was quickly shown the bathroom so he could use the toilet and brush his teeth before bed, all of which he did without assistance. Some would see that as the boy just being mature for his age, but knowing what he had endured, Chan knew that it was just because he hadn’t had either of his parents to help him and had been forced to learn to take care of himself. 

As they walked back to Jeongin’s room, Chan pointed out his own room. 

“You can come to get me at any point during the night if you need me, okay? I won’t be grumpy with you if you wake me up,” Chan told Jeongin. Jeongin nodded but Chan knew that he wouldn’t come get him even if he needed him. Even so, he wanted Jeongin to know that the choice was there. 

Chan went to tuck Jeongin into bed but the boy didn’t move. Instead, he stood next to his bed, staring at Chan, clearly waiting for him to leave. 

“Thank you, sir,” he said, bowing deeply before gently getting into his bed and lying down, blankets pulled tightly around himself.

“Goodnight, Jeongin,” Chan said, flicking off the light and closing the door. 

Chapter Text

Chan was tossing and turning all night, dreams riddled with ideas of Jeongin’s previous living conditions. Eventually, he just gave up trying to sleep altogether. It wasn’t as if he had never functioned on zero sleep before, he just hadn’t done it with five kids—or any kids for that matter. 

He sat in his room, scrolling through his phone as the early hours of the morning ticked by until he heard some noises coming from one of the kid’s rooms. Frowning, Chan got to his feet and opened his door, peering out onto the landing. He saw light coming from under Jeongin’s door. Pulling on a hoodie, Chan walked over and knocked gently on the door. All the noise inside stopped suddenly before the door was pulled open slightly. Jeongin’s big brown eyes looked up at Chan in the half-light. 

“What are you doing up, Jeongin?” Chan asked gently, not wanting to sound like he was accusing the boy of anything. Even so, Jeongin looked down at his feet shamefully. 

“I was starting on my chores, sir,” he said quietly. Chan felt his heart enter his throat. 

“Oh, no, baby, you don’t have to do any chores here. You’re little, you don’t have to do any chores, okay? Those are for me to do.” Chan crouched down so that he was at eye level with Jeongin. “How about we get you back to bed? It’s still early and you went to bed late last night.” Jeongin looked unsure and didn’t move from where he was standing in the doorway. Chan got a slight glance at the room behind Jeongin and saw that everything was clean, almost unnervingly so. Of course, Chan had cleaned the room before he had arrived but this was a whole other level. 

“Can I come in?” Chan asked. Jeongin nodded, pulling the door back and bowing his head as Chan walked over the threshold. 

Inside, Chan saw a couple of bottles of cleaning products lined up in a neat line on the nightstand, a couple of cloths sitting next to them, each folded perfectly. 

“Where did you get the cleaning supplies?” Chan asked, turning to face Jeongin. Jeongin was looking at Chan’s feet, eyes filling with silent panic. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” he said, bowing deeply. When he returned to standing straight, he walked forward and held out his arm, expression blank. Chan stared at Jeongin for a few moments before it clicked what he was doing. 

“Oh, Jeongin, no, I’m not going to punish you. You’re not in any trouble.” Jeongin looked back at him, clearly not believing him. He kept his arm outstretched, almost daring Chan with his gaze to do it. To hit him. Chan shook his head and crouched down, gently reaching out to Jeongin’s arm. The boy’s muscles tensed as Chan’s hand got closer but he didn’t move, trying not to flinch away. It only hurt Chan more to see. He placed his hand lightly on Jeongin’s forearm, feeling the bandages beneath his pyjama shirt. 

“You’re not in trouble, Jeongin. You don’t have to clean, you don’t have to cook, you don’t have to do any of that in this house, okay? You’re safe here, no one is going to hurt you.” Chan knew that it would take more than those few words for Jeongin to unlearn the behaviours ingrained in him, but it didn’t hurt to say them. “Do you want to try to go back to bed?” Chan asked. He wanted to give Jeongin the choice and allow him to make the decision for himself depending on what he was comfortable with. 

“I can keep cleaning. I’m not tired, sir.” The dark purple lines under his eyes said otherwise but Chan wasn’t going to force him into bed if he didn’t want to sleep. 

“That’s okay, you don’t have to go back to bed, but you also don’t have to keep cleaning. I’m going to put the cleaning supplies back in their cupboard, okay?” Jeongin’s eyes followed Chan carefully as he stood up and collected the bottles of cleaning products from the nightstand, gaze full of mistrust. He followed Chan out onto the second floor and all the way to the cupboard next to the stairs, watching as he put each of the bottles back inside, this time on a higher shelf so that Jeongin couldn’t take them out again. When Chan turned around, Jeongin bowed quickly, taking a few steps back. 

“Would you like to have some breakfast, then?” Chan offered. 

“But I haven’t finished my chores yet. I can’t have breakfast until they’re done,” Jeongin said simply. 

“How about we have some food before you finish the chores, yeah? It’ll be a secret. I won’t tell anyone.” Chan obviously wasn’t going to let Jeongin finish the cleaning, that was far too much work for such a small boy, but if it got him to eat, it got him to eat. Jeongin looked around the room, unsure. 

“I’ll have some food with you, how does that sound? Then you know it’s okay.” Jeongin didn’t reply, only nodded his head after a few seconds, still clearly very uncertain. 

The two of them walked downstairs and into the kitchen where Chan began to prepare some food. It wasn’t anything fancy, just some eggs, but he hoped that it would fill Jeongin up. 

As Chan cooked, Jeongin stood next to the kitchen island, straight-backed with his hands behind his back once more. Chan tried to tell him it was okay for him to go and sit on the couch but he refused. The boy was acting more like a robot than a child, and it made Chan’s heart ache. 

Once the eggs were cooked, Chan put them on a plate and handed it to Jeongin, leading him over to the couch so he would finally sit down. 

Chan watched as Jeongin ate his plate of food. Just as he had done the night before with the rice cakes, Jeongin started eating very slowly and cautiously at first. Once he realised that Chan wasn’t going to tell him off for eating, he wolfed down the food, almost as if he had been starved. Chan didn’t want to think about the fact that the boy very well could have been. 

Jeongin got to his feet and took the plate towards the kitchen. Chan followed him and gently took the plate from his hands as the boy tried to pull the step stool in front of the sink. 

“You don’t have to wash up when you’re staying here, remember?” Chan said to him, placing the plate on the bench to deal with later. Jeongin looked up at him with large eyes before bowing again. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” he said. 

“You also don’t have to bow to me, honey,” Chan reminded, crouching down so he was at eye level with Jeongin. “You’re safe here, you don’t have to do anything.” Chan could see in Jeongin’s eyes how much he wanted to believe him, but he just didn’t trust him. Chan didn’t hold this against him, however. It was completely understandable for Jeongin to not trust adults after how he had been treated by his parents—the two adults who were supposed to treat him with unconditional love. 

Before Jeongin could reply, thundering footsteps came down the stairs. Jeongin flinched slightly at the loud noise, and Chan stood up, turning around to see Changbin and Seungmin leading Jisung and Minho down the stairs. The kids skidded to a halt when they saw Jeongin standing behind Chan. 

“Boys,” Chan said before anyone could say anything. “This is Jeongin.” He stepped to the side to reveal the small boy, who was back to standing with his hands behind his back. 

“Hello,” Jeongin greeted politely, bowing. The kids looked at Chan in confusion. 

“Jeongin, this is Minho, my oldest, Changbin, the second oldest, Jisung, the second youngest, and Seungmin, my youngest.” Chan pointed at each of the kids as he introduced them. Before Jeongin could respond, Seungmin stepped forward, looking curiously at the boy. 

“When’s your birthday?” he asked. 

“8th of February,” Jeongin replied in a small voice. Seungmin grinned. 

“I’m older than you! Appa, I’m his hyung!” Chan smiled at Seungmin, not wanting to tell him that their age difference was only a couple of months. 

“You are, Minnie.” 

“Do you like to play?” Changbin asked, stepping forward so he was standing next to Seungmin. 

“Um,” Jeongin muttered. “I don’t know.” 

“How can you not know?” Seungmin asked. 

“You can play with us,” Jisung said, also stepping forward. 

The boys kept asking Jeongin question after question and Chan could tell that the boy was getting overwhelmed. 

“Okay,” he said over the chatter. All the kids fell silent. “How about we have some breakfast.” Cheers erupted from the boys and Chan didn’t fail to notice the way Jeongin flinched slightly at the noise. 

Chan poured bowls of cereal for each of the kids, including Jeongin, and handed them down to them. Jeongin seemed hesitant to take his bowl but Chan just winked at him and handed it to him. Jeongin followed the other boys over to the couch, looking unsure of where to sit. Chan walked up behind him, being sure not to startle the boy, and encouraging him to sit back down on the couch. 

Once all the boys had finished eating, Chan collected their bowls and carried them over to the kitchen. He noticed that Jeongin hadn’t finished all of his cereal, but that was okay. He just assumed it was because he was already feeling full from the eggs he had earlier. 

As Chan began cleaning the dishes, Jeongin appeared next to him. As the boy began pulling the step stool towards Chan, Chan put down the bowl he was holding, quickly drying his hands and gently stopping Jeongin. 

“It’s okay, honey. I can wash these ones myself. How about you go off and play with the others? I’m sure they’d love to get to know you.” Jeongin looked at him with those familiar unsure eyes before nodding slightly. He let go of the step stool and made his way back over to the living room where the other boys were playing. As he walked, he kept throwing glances over his shoulder at Chan, who nodded, silently telling him that he was allowed to go play. 

When Jeongin reached the other kids, he stood awkwardly at the edge of the circle. When Changbin noticed, he ushered Jeongin to sit next to him, explaining the game they were playing to him. Seungmin and Jisung joined in, adding their input when Changbin forgot things, as Minho watched, tightly sealed lips in a small smile. Chan had never been prouder of his kids than he was in that moment. They had greeted Jeongin with open arms, treating him as if he had been there all along. 

The next few days were hard work. Chan had woken up to Jeongin trying to sneak cleaning supplies from the cupboard almost every morning and each time he had to gently remind the boy that he didn’t have to work anymore. Some might have lost their patience at this point but Chan was determined to be as gentle with Jeongin as possible. It wasn’t because he thought the boy was too fragile, far from it, he just wanted to make sure that the boy knew he didn’t have to rush into things he wasn’t ready for yet. 

It wasn’t until two weeks after Jeongin had been dropped off that Chan finally got to see him smile. He had seen little polite smiles every now and then from the boy but this time it was a real, genuine smile. 

The kids were playing outside and running around together, Jeongin properly joining in for the first time. Chan decided to play with them, running around with them and pretending to be a monster. He chased after the boys, who laughed and squealed in response, running even faster to get away from him. Chan caught Minho, picking him up and spinning him around as he ‘ate’ him. When Chan placed Minho back on the ground, he saw Jeongin standing a little further away, face cracked in a wide smile. His eyes were smushed into thin lines and his dimples were on full display. He just looked so happy. Chan couldn’t help but stand there and just admire the boy. 

The kids continued to play long after Chan got tired. It was impressive how much energy the kids seemed to have. They could run for hours and hours without stopping or even getting out of breath. Chan sometimes wished he still had that energy that came with being a kid. 

Eventually, it was time to start cooking dinner. Chan regrettably made his way inside, leaving the door to the backyard open so he could still keep an eye on the kids as he cooked. 

Jeongin had stayed playing with the kids the whole afternoon, which was a huge step in the right direction in Chan’s opinion. However, as he ran past the open door, he stopped. Chan noticed Jeongin staring at him as he cooked and gave him a warm smile. Jeongin began walking towards the house, carefully making his way inside, making sure to wipe his feet before he walked onto the clean wooden floor. He toddled up next to Chan and stood there. 

“What is it, bud?” Chan asked, looking down at him. 

“I’m…ready to help,” Jeongin said cautiously. Chan could see the contrast between the happy Jeongin who had been playing outside just a few moments before and this Jeongin, straight-backed and serious. He was ready to work. 

“Oh, thank you, honey, but I don’t actually need any help right now. You can go back out and play with the others and I’ll call you in when it’s ready.” Jeongin frowned up at Chan. 

“Don’t…?” he muttered to himself. 

“That’s right. I don’t need any help right now. But I promise I’ll come find you if I do need help, okay?” Jeongin nodded and bowed to Chan before walking back over to the door. He shot one last glance over his shoulder at the kitchen before stepping back outside, Jisung immediately running over to him and grabbing his hand so he could rejoin the game. 

Perhaps they were making some progress. 

It was halfway through Jeongin’s third week of living with Chan that he received a call from Attacca. 

“Hello, am I speaking with Mr Bang Chan?” 

“Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?” 

“We would like you to come in as soon as possible to discuss the recent placement of Yang Jeongin into your care.” Chan felt his heart leap into his throat. Was something wrong? Had something happened? He got into the car and drove straight to Attacca. 

Miseon greeted Chan not long after he arrived in the waiting room and led him into her office. They both took their seats as Miseon opened Jeongin’s file. 

“I’m sorry it took us so long to have this initial meeting. Usually, we would have it much much sooner but due to unforeseen circumstances, it had to be pushed back. We are just here to discuss the next steps regarding Jeongin’s placement in your care and how he is settling into your home.” Chan let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. He had been fully convinced that something terrible had happened and that Jeongin was about to be taken out of his care because of something he did. 

“Right,” Chan managed to say after a while. Miseon smiled at him and glanced back down at Jeongin’s file. 

“The placement of Jeongin in your care was supposed to only be short-term while we looked for a more long-term home for him, is that still what you would like to do or would you be open to being that more long-term home for him,” Miseon asked. Chan blinked. He hadn’t even considered the fact that Jeongin could potentially stay with him long-term. Of course, he would have liked it to happen but it had never been something he had seriously considered because of the nature of the placement, only wishful thinking. Now the option was being presented to him, it all seemed to fit into place. 

“Now, we are aware that you already have four children that you have fostered through Attacca and have adopted so it is completely understandable if you do not wish—“

“I want him to stay,” Chan cut Miseon off. She looked a little shocked at first but quickly replaced her expression of confusion with a smile. 

“That is perfect. Now, since you do have quite a number of children already in the household, some of our representatives will have to come and inspect your house and the living conditions Jeongin has been exposed to, especially since he has come from such a…difficult background.” 

The organised a time the very next day for people from Attacca to come and visit Chan’s home and make sure that Jeongin was living in appropriate conditions. They also asked that Chan keep Jeongin home from preschool that day so that they could ask him a few questions. 

It was safe to say that Chan was stressed. 

When he got home from the meeting with Miseon, he went through the entire house and cleaned everything. It wasn’t like the house was overly messy to begin with, he just didn’t want to give Attacca any reason to believe that Jeongin wasn’t living in appropriate conditions. 

The next morning rolled around painfully slowly. Once the other kids were dropped off at school and preschool, Chan and Jeongin drove back to the house. 

The representatives from Attacca showed up not long after they got home and went looking through the house, focussing their inspection on the kids’ rooms. Chan waited nervously downstairs as he heard them pacing back and forth on the upper floor. He strained his ears to hear what they were asking Jeongin but he couldn’t decipher any words. 

When they eventually came back downstairs, Chan hurriedly got to his feet and walked around the couch. The representatives walked up to him with unreadable expressions, which only heightened Chan’s anxiety. It seemed like forever until they opened their mouths and finally spoke. 

“Everything seems to be perfectly in order. We see no reason why Jeongin is unable to stay in your care long-term.” Honestly, Chan blocked out the rest of what they said to him, too relieved that Jeongin was able to stay with him to focus on much else. 

It was only once the representatives left that it fully hit him. 

Jeongin was staying. And Chan was determined to never let him go. 

Chapter Text

Summer was soon in full swing and everyone was feeling the effects of it. Minho was thoroughly enjoying his time off school, even though his schoolwork never actually felt much like work to begin with. 

Jeongin had settled into their family really well in Chan’s opinion. They still had their off days where he struggled to understand the fact that he didn’t need to work or clean for Chan but mostly he was enjoying being able to just be a kid. Minho had taken a little longer to talk around Jeongin than he had with Seungmin but Chan just put it down to him being a little more nervous about Jeongin’s stiff actions and posture. 

Overall, all five of the kids were flourishing. 

A little after Jeongin had arrived, Seungmin’s adoption was finally officially processed. Chan was over the moon and happier than ever. He had always dreamed of being a dad and it was definitely living up to his expectations. He wouldn’t trade his kids for the world. 

Changbin’s birthday was a little under a month away and he was already talking about starting school. He was even more excited than Minho had been, talking everybody’s ears off about the topic. At one point, Seungmin even turned to Changbin with a completely blank expression and told him to stop talking about it. Changbin had been a little hurt by Seungmin’s comment but it didn’t cause any major conflict. Seungmin had apologised and everyone seemed to forget about it within a matter of hours. 

Seungmin seemed to have gained a lot more energy recently, being much more energetic and bouncy with Jeongin around. The two of them just clicked in a way Chan would never be able to understand. There was only a few months of age difference between them so they had very similar interests. Sure, Jisung and Seungmin were closer in age but Seungmin just seemed to have a special place in his heart for Jeongin. 

Jisung came to Chan one afternoon, looking pretty down. Chan lifted the boy onto his lap and squeezed him tight. 

“What’s up, buddy? Why are you looking all sad?” Jisung looked up at him with large eyes. 

“Why don’t they like me?” Chan frowned. 

“Who doesn’t like you?” 

“Minho, Binnie, Minnie and Jeongin. They don’t like me,” Jisung grumbled. Okay, now Chan really was confused. There didn’t seem to be any conflict between the boys from what he could tell, where had this come from?

“Of course, they like you, Jisung. You’re their brother, they like you very much.” Jisung shook his head. 

“They all have best friends with each other. I’m…I don’t.” Chan hugged Jisung tighter as the boy started to sniffle and cry. 

“You’re their best friend, Jisung. You can have more than one best friend, you don’t just have to choose one person.” Chan was trying his best to comfort Jisung but he wasn’t sure how well it was working. 

“Can you?” Jisung asked, sniffing. 

“Of course, you can, bud. All five of you are best friends with each other, you don’t have to pick just one best friend.” Jisung looked unsure for a few moments before nodding. 

Chan ushered Jisung to go and play with the others, who were currently just outside the back door. Jisung walked a little way before looking back at Chan, who nodded encouragingly. When he joined the others, they immediately gave him things to play with, allowing Jisung to join seamlessly into their game. 

Once that was all sorted, Chan picked up his phone and dialled his mum’s phone number. They hadn’t been able to talk much recently as his parents had been on holiday in the south of Australia so Chan thought that it would be nice to be able to catch up with his mum. 

The line rang for a few moments before it was picked up. 

“Hey there, Channie,” came his mum’s voice. 

“Hi, Eomma,” Chan said, unable to keep a smile off his face. It was nice to talk to her again. 

“How have you been? How are the kids?” She always asked how the kids were, it was nice to have her so involved in their lives. 

“I’m doing well. We’re all struggling a little bit with the heat but it’s bearable for the time being. I just hope it doesn’t get too much hotter. Seungmin’s already complaining quite a lot but other than that, we’re good,” Chan told her, putting the call on speaker phone and resting it on the coffee table so that he could start folding the massive pile of laundry on the couch as they talked. 

“I wonder how they’ll cope when you all eventually come out and visit us,” Chan’s mum chuckled. 

“I think they’ll be too distracted by you and Appa spoiling them,” Chan joked. 

“I can’t argue with you there, they’ll be spoiled rotten from the moment they land.” 

“How have you been?” Chan asked. His mum sighed. 

“Oh, you know, we’re coping.” 

Before she could say much else, Changbin realised exactly who Chan was talking to and jumped to his feet, hurtling over the couch clumsily. 

“Halmeoni! Halmeoni!” he said excitedly right into the microphone. Chan pulled him back slightly so as to not deafen his mum further. 

“Hello, Binnie, how are you, dear?” Chan was impressed that she was able to tell which kid it was just from two words. 

“Good!” Changbin replied, jumping up and down. 

At this point, the other kids seemed to realise what was happening and were scrambling to talk to their Halmeoni. Chan had to let go of Changbin and pick up the phone, giving it to each of the kids in turn so they could get an equal amount of time talking to his mum. 

Although Jeongin had been with them for much less time than the others, he still had a close relationship with both of Chan’s parents, perhaps even closer than some of them. They had immediately clicked and the boy had asked Chan almost every day that his parents were on holiday when he would be able to talk to them next. Now that he was able to, Jeongin was babbling on and on, interrupting some of the other kids as they tried to talk. Chan had to gently remind him that he had to wait his turn. However, Minho, who didn’t seem to be feeling very talkative, said a couple of words before pointing at Jeongin, indicating to Chan that he wanted Jeongin to have his turn. Jeongin was overjoyed at this, bowing to Minho—a habit he still had—before continuing to talk. 

Once all the kids had talked Chan’s mum’s ear off, they went back to playing and Chan was left to talk to his mum in peace. 

“They’re just as energetic as I remember,” his mum chuckled. “Very similar to you when you were little.” 

“I wasn’t that bad, was I?” Chan asked, finally getting back to the neglected laundry pile. 

“Not usually, but if we didn’t go out on one of our picnics at least once a week then you were a menace. You’d run around the house, bouncing off the walls. I’m pretty sure you broke a vase once.” 

“I did not! You’re making that up!” 

“Mothers never lie, Chan.” Chan laughed slightly. 

“I forgot about those picnics we used to go on,” he commented after a few moments of silence. 

“Perhaps you should take your kids on one. They worked wonders on you.” 

After that, it was settled. They were going on a picnic. 

A couple of days later, Chan got to work making each of the kids little packed lunches, packing them into his biggest bag. He fished the old picnic blanket out from the bottom of the cupboard and grabbed everything else they could possibly need, including sunscreen, hats, water bottles, and so much more. 

Chan called up the stairs once he had everything sorted into the bags and was met with the sounds of elephants trampling down the stairs. The kids hurried towards the front door, overly excited and trying to pull their shoes on by themselves. Minho had recently learnt how to tie his shoelaces by himself, being taught by one of the older students at school, so was pleased to show off his new skill. Chan helped the younger boys put on their shoes while Minho tied Changbin’s laces for him, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration. 

Soon enough, everyone was ready to go. Chan did a quick head count to make sure that he hadn’t lost any of the kids (he hadn’t) before opening the front door and ushering the kids towards the car. It was a little difficult actually getting the kids into the car while also trying to pack the bags into the trunk but he managed it eventually. Looking back, Chan definitely should’ve packed the car before letting the kids outside but he hadn’t thought of that. 

He helped buckle in each of the kids, double checking Minho and Changbin’s seatbelts as they were able to do it themselves most of the time now, before climbing into the driver’s seat. 

They were off. 

The car was filled with laughing and singing as they drove towards the centre of Seoul. It was a longer drive which was why they left so early, but it would definitely be worth it once they arrived at Han River. 

The weather was looking promising as midday drew closer, with the sun shining and the temperature on the dashboard of the car telling Chan it was 25 degrees. 

After what felt like forever, they finally arrived at Jamwon Hangang Riverside Park. The kids were exploding with energy as Chan parked the car and started to let them out of their car seats. Chan had to make sure that none of them ran too far away in their excitement before he got all of the kids out of the car. Thankfully, they were all sensible enough to not stray too far away from Chan. 

They unloaded the trunk of the car, Minho insisting on helping out and carrying the picnic blanket, and headed towards the grassy area of the park. 

There were quite a few people there, all with picnic blankets of their own, enjoying the nice weather. Sounds of laughter and chatter filled the air and Chan couldn’t feel happier. 

Once they found an empty patch of grass, Chan and Minho unfolded the picnic blanket and set it down, Chan placing a bag on each of the corners so it didn’t blow away or move. The kids scrambled onto the blanket, kicking off their shoes and trying to peer into the food bags. Chan had to push them back gently to be able to reach the food and he began spreading it out on the ground. 

Seungmin and Jeongin, the little troublemakers that they were, tried to sneak food before it was all set out, but Chan caught them and gave them a look. They shrunk back, giggling evilly as they knew Chan wasn’t actually mad. However, the youngest’s scheme to steal food didn’t go unnoticed by the other kids and soon enough all five of them were attempting to grab little snacks out of the bags. Chan gave up once he saw Jisung grinning, happily munching on an orange slice he had managed to steal from the container of fruit. 

They all ate the sandwiches that Chan had prepared for them individually before moving on to the fruit and other snacks that had been brought along. The kids talked and talked as they ate, Chan constantly having to remind them that they needed to actually chew their food and focus on eating before they talked. 

As soon as Minho finished his food, he got to his feet and walked over to Chan, looking down at him with a questioning look in his eye. 

“Do you want to go play?” Chan asked him. Minho nodded eagerly. “Hmm, I don’t know…can you?” he joked. 

“Appa,” Minho signed exasperatedly. His speech therapist had been teaching him very simple sign language as a way to communicate with Chan if he needed something while they were in a situation he didn’t feel comfortable talking. Chan grinned. 

“Just wait for someone else to finish their lunch and then you can play. I don’t want you going by yourself.” Minho rolled his eyes and gestured to the grassy area surrounding them. 

“I know you won’t go far but I still want you to be with someone. It’s no fun playing by yourself, is it?” Minho crossed his arms and pouted at Chan. Before much else could be said, Jisung clambered to his feet. 

“I’m finished!” he announced, almost trampling Changbin in the process of trying to get to Minho and Chan. 

“There you go, Min. Now you and Jisung can go play,” Chan said. Jisung grabbed Minho’s hand and the two of them ran off together, broad grins on their faces. 

A little while later, Changbin joined Minho and Jisung in their game they were playing around the picnic blanket. Chan was watching them with a smile on his face when he felt someone tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Jeongin standing there, nervously playing with his hands. 

“What is it, bud?” Chan asked. 

“Can…” Jeongin muttered, looking down at where Chan’s hand was resting on the picnic blanket. “Can I go and play with them?” Chan smiled warmly at him. 

“Of course you can. Go and join them.” Jeongin grinned, bowing to Chan before running off and playing. 

That was when Chan noticed that Seungmin still hadn’t moved and showed no interest in playing with the others. He was sitting with a straight back, moving his feet up and down where he sat, looking over at the river. 

“Why don’t you go and play with the others, Minnie?” Chan suggested gently. Seungmin shook his head. 

“No thank you,” he said flatly. He wasn’t being rude, Chan knew that, it was just how Seungmin talked, but it was such an alarming contrast to the animated talking of the other kids that Chan couldn’t help but worry slightly. 

“Are you sure?” Seungmin nodded in reply. “Okay, then. Is there anything you want to do instead of playing with them?” 

“I’m okay.” Chan couldn’t help but sigh slightly. He wasn’t going to force Seungmin to do anything he didn’t want to but it was slightly worrying that he showed such little interest in playing with the other kids. 

The hours slipped by as the kids continued to run around with seemingly endless energy. Chan was lying on his back on the picnic blanket, enjoying the sun, when he heard some snickers coming from somewhere near his feet. Opening his eyes, he saw Minho, Changbin, Jisung, and Jeongin gathering around his feet, evil grins on their faces. 

“Now, what do you lot think you’re doing?” Chan asked. The kids shrieked at the fact that Chan had caught them and they ran off in all different directions, cackling loudly. Chan shook his head and laid it back down on his arm. His boys were so adorable but they were becoming such troublemakers as they got older. 

At one point, Seungmin got to his feet and began walking across the grass. Chan thought that he was going to play with the other kids but quickly noticed that he was walking in the complete opposite direction. Frowning slightly, he watched as Seungmin walked up to a clump of bushes at the edge of the grass and crouched down, seemingly inspecting some of the flowers. He then reached forward and picked a few of them, along with a couple of leaves and some wood chips from the ground, before standing up and walking back towards the picnic blanket. Once he arrived back, he sat down and placed his collection on the grass, careful not to get any dirt on the actual blanket. Chan watched adoringly as Seungmin inspected each of the flowers and leaves closely before moving on to the next one. 

“Do you know what those flowers are called?” Chan asked. Seungmin looked over at him and shook his head. “They’re called bougainvilleas.” 

“Bou…” Seungmin muttered to himself. 

“Bougainvilleas, that’s right.” Seungmin grinned, eyes crinkling. Seungmin turned back to his little pile of brightly coloured flowers, muttering their name over and over again to himself. 

It was becoming late so Chan called the kids back over to the picnic blanket. 

“It’s time to head home, boys,” he told them. He was met with many groans and pleas to let them stay longer but he shook his head. “I know, but we have to get back home before bedtime.” The kids helped him pack up the bags—he had left the remaining food out in case any of the kids got hungry while they were playing—and Chan rolled up the picnic blanket, giving it back to Minho who was holding his arms out expectantly. Seungmin ran back over to the bougainvillea bush and picked a few more flowers before rejoining the group. As they walked back to the car, Seungmin went around to each of the boys and handed them one of the pink flowers. He walked next to Chan and held one up to him. 

“My hands are a little full right now, Minnie. How about you keep a hold of my one for now?” Seungmin nodded and rejoined the kids a little further ahead. 

As Chan had predicted, all of the kids were fast asleep 10 minutes into the drive. They were exhausted from playing for hours on end. Chan hummed quietly along to the radio as he drove, feeling happier than he could remember feeling in a long time. 

When they pulled up to the house, it was nearing 7:30 pm. Chan stretched, cringing at the loud cracks his shoulders and back made. Most of the kids were still asleep, with the exception of Changbin who was already unbuckling himself. He went to open his mouth to speak but Chan caught him just in time in the rearview mirror, holding a finger to his lips. Changbin zipped his own lips dramatically and mimed throwing away the key. Chan smiled and walked around the car to let him out. 

Next was the difficult mission of getting all the kids out of the car and into their beds without waking them up. Chan decided to take Jeongin first, seeing as he was theoretically the easiest to carry. He was tucked into his bed without any issues, which gave Chan a little more confidence. Seungmin’s move went just as smoothly. Jisung’s going similarly. Finally, there was only Minho left to move. Chan picked him up, resting the majority of his weight on his hip as he closed and locked the car—he had gotten all of the bags out of the trunk before moving the kids. 

As Chan walked up the stairs, Minho’s head resting on his shoulder, he listened to the deep, even breathing of the boy. There was something so comforting about hearing the breathing of someone who was so deeply asleep. It was so peaceful. 

Once Minho was all tucked into bed, Chan went downstairs and found Changbin still in the living room. 

“Are you hungry, buddy?” Chan asked, walking into the kitchen. Changbin hummed thoughtfully. 

“A little bit,” he said. 

“How about we get you a snack then you head to bed, how does that sound?” Changbin nodded and walked into the kitchen. 

The two of them ate a banana each, Changbin telling Chan about the games they had played while at the park and how much fun he had had. Chan then ushered him upstairs and pulled his pyjamas onto him before tucking him into bed. 

Walking back downstairs, Chan glanced at the still-packed bags sitting on the bench. He sighed and flopped onto the couch. 

Unpacking could wait until the morning. 

Chapter Text

Changbin’s fifth birthday fell on a Sunday that year, which meant that Chan barely had any time to recollect his thoughts after the birthday party to prepare for Changbin’s first day of school. Minho had been back at school for a week already and Chan was barely able to stop Changbin from running through the front gates after his brother every morning when they dropped him at school. 

It was the evening of Changbin’s first day of school and he and Chan were sitting in the living room with his new backpack he had gotten for his birthday. 

“We need to make sure we have everything in there, Appa,” Changbin was telling Chan. “I can’t get to school and remember I’ve forgotten something.”

“Don’t worry, Binnie, we’re going to make sure that you have everything you need for your first day,” Chan chucked. 

“Do you have my writing book?” Changbin asked, clambering over the top of Chan to try and peer inside the main pocket of the backpack. 

“Yes, your writing book is in there. It hasn’t moved since the last three times you checked.” Changbin leaned back and pouted slightly. 

“I just needed to check,” he mumbled. 

“Let’s get you to bed now, buddy. We don’t want you to be tired on your first day,” Chan said, finally zipping the backpack closed and leaving it resting on the couch. 

“But it’s a special day tomorrow, can’t I stay up as a treat?” Changbin asked, showing off his puppy eyes. 

“You’ve already stayed up late enough, come on,” Chan said, picking Changbin up right off the couch. The boy squealed and giggled, kicking his feet as Chan carried him up the stairs, only putting him down when they were in his bedroom. Even then, Changbin tried to make a run for it attempting to slip past Chan’s legs and back out onto the landing. Luckily, Chan caught him. 

It took a little longer than Chan would’ve liked to get Changbin into his pyjamas and actually under the covers of his bed, but they got there eventually. 

It’s safe to say that Chan collapsed into bed not long after he said goodnight to Changbin, completely exhausted from a full day of five-year-old kids running around his house. 

What felt like five minutes later, Chan was awoken by something—or someone—shaking his shoulders aggressively. Groaning, he rolled over and looked up blearily at, of course, Changbin, who was kneeling on Chan’s bed. 

“What’s up?” he mumbled. Changbin didn’t reply but his bottom lip quivered and fat tears began sliding down his cheeks. 

“Oh, baby,” Chan said, pushing himself into a sitting position so Changbin was able to sit on his lap and curl into his chest. “What’s caused you to get this upset, aye?” 

“What—what if—“ Changbin stuttered through shaky breaths and sobs. 

“Take your time, sweetheart. Breathe and use your words so I know how to help you.” Changbin sniffed and gripped Chan’s shirt tighter, soaking the fabric with tears and snot. Chan rubbed the boy’s back comfortingly, gently rocking from side to side in an attempt to calm him. 

It took a little while but Changbin eventually calmed down enough to speak in coherent sentences. 

“What got you so upset, Binnie?” Chan asked gently. Changbin sniffled and wiped his cheeks. 

“What…” he muttered. “What if I don’t make friends with anyone.” 

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Chan pet Changbin’s hair comfortingly, getting the longer strands out of his eyes. The boy nodded. “You don’t need to be worried about that, Binnie. I know you’ll make lots of friends. Before you know it, you’ll be the most popular boy in your class.” Chan poked playfully at Changbin’s stomach, which caused the boy to giggle. 

“Let’s get you back to bed now.” 

“No!” Changbin said, voice suddenly much higher. His hands were scrunched into fists on Chan’s sleeves, stopping him from getting up. 

“You don’t want to go back to your bed?” Changbin shook his head. Chan sighed. “I guess you can sleep in my bed tonight. Just make sure you don’t kick too much.”

“I won’t!” Changbin crawled over to the side and snuggled beneath the blankets. He was asleep within minutes. 

As Chan stared at the dark ceiling, waiting for sleep to come again, he was reminded of Minho’s first day of school. He too had been so nervous about it that he had come to Chan’s room in the middle of the night crying. Chan wasn’t upset at either of them for it, of course not, but he was glad to know that the kids trusted him enough to come to him in the night when they were upset. 

The next morning, Changbin was up bright and early. Of course, this meant that Chan also had to be up bright and early. 

All of the boy’s worries from the previous night seemed to have disappeared as he rushed around each of the bedrooms, waking up the kids one by one. Jisung and Minho were a little disgruntled at first but quickly perked up when they heard that Chan was cooking them breakfast that morning. 

“Since it’s Changbin’s first day at school, we’re going to have pancakes for breakfast as a little treat,” Chan said to the kids once they were all downstairs. There were cheers from each of the boys and they ran off to go get dressed. Well, most of them did. Jeongin stayed behind a little, walking over to the cupboard where the pans were stored but Chan stopped him. 

“Go upstairs and get dressed, Innie, I’m alright to do this one by myself,” he reminded the boy gently. “Go and ask Minho for help, okay?” Jeongin nodded, cautiously stepping back at first in case Chan called him back before turning around and running up the stairs yelling for Minho. Chan chuckled and got out a bowl where he began mixing the first few ingredients. 

By the time the batter was ready and Chan was starting to cook the pancakes, most of the boys were back downstairs and playing noisily in the living room. Some of their clothing choices were…questionable by Chan’s standards but he was trying to give them a little more independence when it came to things like that. One day they would learn. 

Chan laid out a wide array of toppings for the pancakes including fruits, maple syrup, whipped cream, and even a small bowl of chocolate chips. It was safe to say that the chocolate chips disappeared rather quickly while Chan was left to snack on the blueberries. 

“Is it good?” Chan asked the table. 

“Yummy!” Jisung replied, cheeks stuffed with pancake. Chan chuckled. 

“Super yummy,” Jeongin added, whipped cream covering half his face. Chan didn’t miss the slightly disgusted looks Seungmin was giving the youngest ever so often. 

“I’m glad it tastes good. Eat as much as you want, there’s plenty to go around.”

Once everyone was breakfasted, Chan ushered the kids up the stairs and into the bathroom where he made sure each of them had their teeth brushed and faces cleaned—especially Jeongin who had gotten whipped cream in places Chan didn’t even think was possible. 

Finally, when all of that was finished, there were about 10 minutes before they needed to leave the house. Chan had planned for them to leave a little bit earlier than normal so that he could stay with Changbin and Minho at their school for a little bit longer if Changbin needed help getting somewhere or was a little nervous. 

Everyone was packed into the car, Changbin double and triple checking that he had everything in his bag before leaving the house. The back of the car was filled with the usual chatter and laughter interrupted by the occasional squabbling. It had become a very familiar sound to Chan that he had learnt to tune out over time. 

Before long, they had pulled up outside the preschool and Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin all hopped out of the car. Chan didn’t leave Changbin and Minho in the car for very long, though, being back in the driver’s seat within a minute or two. 

“Are you boys ready?” Chan asked, glancing at the kids through the rear-view mirror. Minho nodded, a big smile on his face. “What about you, Changbin?” Changbin nodded, however timidly. 

The drive to the primary school was short and soon enough, the front gates were within view. Chan parked around the corner and helped Changbin and Minho out of the car. They walked towards the school each of the boys holding one of Chan’s hands. 

There were lots of kids saying goodbye to their parents at the gates before running across the courts to meet their friends and Changbin was squeezing Chan’s hand tighter and tighter as they approached. 

“Do you want me to come to your classroom with you, Binnie?” Chan asked, crouching down as they reached the edge of the gate. Changbin looked between Chan and the school building nervously. He knew which classroom was his, Chan had been in with Changbin the week before to get him familiar with the space. Chan wasn’t quite sure why they hadn’t done the same thing when Minho started school but didn’t want to kick up a fuss about it. 

When it took Changbin a little while to reply to Chan, Minho pulled them away from the crowd and over to a quieter corner. 

“I can show you your classroom, Binnie,” Minho whispered, obviously very cautious about being overheard. Changbin looked at him and nodded. 

“He’s in class four, Min, do you know where that is?” Chan asked. 

“Of course, it’s next to my one, silly.” Chan chuckled. 

“Silly Appa. How could I forget.” Minho turned to Changbin and held his hand. 

“It’s not scary once you get to know your teacher. I’ve heard that Ms. Yu is the nicest teacher in the school, you’re really lucky to have her.” Changbin’s eyes widened. 

“Is that really true?” Minho nodded.

A lot of the stress seemed to leave Changbin’s shoulders as Chan walked the two boys back to the gate. They said their goodbyes, Chan giving each of them a big hug, and he stood there watching as Changbin and Minho walked across the courts together, Minho still holding Changbin’s hand. Chan felt his heart fill with pride as he watched them. Minho was such a good older brother to the other boys and Chan really was proud of him. 

The day was a productive one for Chan when he got home. He got all of the miscellaneous household chores that he had been avoiding for the past week done, which was rather refreshing and definitely a weight off of his shoulders. 

Soon enough, it was time to go back to the school and pick up Changbin and Minho. 

Chan waited with the other parents at the gate and squinted to try and locate his kids in the crowd as they were all let out of the building at once. But as much as Chan tried, he couldn’t find Changbin or Minho in the groups of excited kids. He was beginning to worry when he spotted them. The two boys were walking out of the school building together, much further behind than the majority of the kids. 

Changbin came running up to Chan when he saw him, Minho not far behind. Chan crouched down and caught the two boys as they jumped onto him, laughing with identical grins on their faces. 

“How was your first day, buddy?” Chan asked Changbin as they began walking back to the car. 

“So so fun!” Changbin replied, bouncing as they walked. 

“Fun, was it? I’m glad you enjoyed it. See, there was nothing to worry about, was there?” Changbin giggled. 

“How was your day, Min?” Chan asked when they got into the car. 

“It was good. We learned about butterflies!” Minho said, kicking his feet against the seat. 

“That’s really cool. Can you tell me one thing you learned about butterflies?” 

“They…they…” Minho said, scrunching up his face in an effort to remember. “They have a bit when they’re in a little blanket after they’re caterpillars and they nap in nap time and then they’re butterflies!” Chan chuckled. 

“Good job, buddy, that’s right.” 

The rest of the week went by rather smoothly in Chan’s opinion. Changbin had settled in quickly to school and already had a new friend. All of his previous worries had vanished after the first day and every day without fail he was the first one up and ready, complaining that the others were taking so long as he waited by the front door. 

As it was still August, the weekend was predicted to be sunny and uncomfortably hot. Not wanting to have five overheated and grumpy kids at home, Chan planned a little trip to the aquarium that wasn’t too far away. 

Jisung was the most excited about this trip as he spent almost all of his time either watching National Geographic documentaries for kids or looking through the photos in library books and getting Chan to read him all the facts about the various animals. Minho occasionally joined him when he was watching a show about cats of some kind, but none of the other kids were particularly interested in the animals themselves. However, they were all very excited at the idea of going to the aquarium. 

Just as the weather forecast had promised, Saturday started off unbearably hot. It wasn’t even midday and the temperature was already in the mid-twenties. God, Chan couldn’t wait to get inside the cool, dark aquarium. 

The drive wasn’t a very long one, only about 20 minutes or so from their house, which was nice. Now that he thought about it, Chan was wondering why they hadn’t visited the aquarium sooner, especially with Jisung’s passion for animals. 

They pulled into the parking lot and found that quite a few other families had had similar ideas to them. It wasn’t overly crowded, but enough so that Chan knew it would put Seungmin and Jisung on edge. As a precaution, Chan handed Seungmin his headphones as soon as the boy got out of the car and he slipped them over his ears. Chan made sure that he had all of the kids before holding the hands of Jeongin—because he was the youngest—and Minho—because he was the most likely to run off. Changbin held Minho’s other hand while Jisung held Jeongin’s. Seungmin didn’t seem to want to hold anyone’s hand, but Chan was okay with that as he knew that Seungmin probably wasn’t going to try and escape.

As they walked into the aquarium, the group of them got a few odd looks from other visitors and even a few staff members, but Chan was far too used to this by now to be very bothered. You sort of have to get used to people staring at you when you have five kids, all of whom are under the age of six. 

It was a little complicated getting all of the kids accounted for and allowed admission into the aquarium but they got there eventually. Chan took a map from the stand and they were off. 

Thankfully, it seemed that the aquarium was organised in a pretty linear way, meaning you went in at one exhibit by the entrance and walked around in a circle through all of them before you reached the exit. 

First up was the coral reef exhibit. 

The kids immediately ran up to the glass, looking in awe at all the fish swimming around in the tank. There were a couple of information boards that Minho and Changbin were attempting to read together but they both had to stand on their tippy toes to even see the letters. And even then, Changbin was the only one who would actually be reading aloud and his reading skills were nowhere near perfect yet. Chan walked over and helped them, reading out the interesting facts for all of the kids to hear. 

Next up was the turtle beach. 

It was a much smaller exhibit than the coral reef one, but that didn’t stop the kids from being fascinated by the turtles. Jeongin walked up to Chan and pointed at the turtles. 

“These ones are my favourites,” he said. 

“The turtles are your favourites?” Chan repeated. Jeongin nodded. “Turtles are pretty cool, aren’t they?” 

All the kids apart from Jeongin quickly got bored of the turtles and began heading towards the next exhibit—the penguins. However, Jeongin wanted to stay a little longer with the turtles, which created a slight problem for Chan. He didn’t want Jeongin to have a tantrum in the middle of the aquarium but he also couldn’t leave the other kids alone. To make a deal, he told Jeongin that they could come back to the turtles at the end. 

The penguin enclosure, with the large tank that they could swim in as well as the icy ground that covered half of the enclosure, kept the kids entertained for much longer. 

Not long after they arrived, Jisung began spurting off random facts he had memorised from his animal books and National Geographic shows. The other kids were very interested and listened to each and every fact, even asking Jisung questions about the types of penguins that were in the enclosure. Chan stood back slightly and pulled out his phone, taking a photo of the kids to send to his mum later. 

The next exhibit that got the kids excited was the shark tunnel. They walked through the tunnel, staring up at the ceiling as sharks swam over them. It was adorable to watch the wonder in their eyes. 

At this point, Jeongin got a little scared. Chan picked him up and reassured him that none of the sharks would be able to get him because they were safe behind the glass. He wasn’t fully convinced, however, hiding his face in Chan’s shoulder for the rest of the time they were in the shark tunnel. 

There was an exhibit on pre-historic sea animals, which Chan thought was actually quite interesting, but the kids found it rather dull so they moved on pretty quickly. 

Finally, at the very end of the aquarium, there was a touch tank, which already had a few kids standing around it. Changbin ran up to the edge of the rock pool, staring intently at all the little creatures inside. Jeongin, Minho, and Jisung followed him, all just as excited as Changbin was about the touch tanks, but Seungmin stayed a little further away. 

Chan had to remind the kids to be gentle with the animals as they began reaching into the water. He made sure to watch them at all times when they had starfish or other creatures in their hands to be sure that they wouldn’t hurt them in any way. Chan was actually rather impressed with his kids as all of them were extremely gentle with all the animals. 

Seungmin was still standing away from the edge of the pool when Chan turned around, which made him worry slightly. 

“Do you want to come and touch the starfish, Minnie?” he asked. Seungmin shook his head. 

“No,” he replied flatly. 

“You don’t have to touch them if you don’t want to. How about you just come and look at them?” Seungmin frowned slightly. 

“Don’t want to get wet,” he said after a little while. 

“I’ll make sure you don’t get wet, I promise.” Seungmin took a few cautious steps forward until he was standing close to the edge of the pool. He watched with curiosity as Jisung confidently picked up a sea snail and rested it on his hand, giggling slightly at the feeling of it. 

It took quite a lot of effort to get the kids finally out of the aquarium and back to the car, but Chan managed it eventually—with a promise that they would come back again. 

Chapter Text

It was the last week of August and Chan was getting a little sick of the summer heat. You would usually expect it to become a little cooler towards the end of August but this year it decided to stay warm for a bit longer just out of spite. The kids, Seungmin especially, were also feeling the effects of the heat. Whenever they were home, they would spend hours just lying on the floor with their arms and legs spread out as wide as possible in an attempt to cool off. Chan would have taken them to the local pool on the weekends but every time that idea arose he remembered how Minho’s social worker had said he was likely to have a fear of swimming and water. 

Chan was trying to make the most of the weather, however, by taking the kids to the park and letting them play outside as much as possible. He even bought some water balloons from the department store for them to play with. While Changbin and Minho had a lot of fun trying to throw all of the water balloons at Chan, the younger kids were more invested in actually popping the balloons in their laps than actually throwing them at anyone. 

The only downside to this water balloon plan was the ridiculous amount of little pieces of plastic left all over the lawn the next day. Chan spent more time than he would like he would like to admit crouched down trying to pick up all the individual pieces. At one point Seungmin joined him and helped to clean up but eventually got bored and went back to play with the others.

It was a Sunday morning and Chan was trying to clean up the house a little bit when he heard some noises coming from outside. At first, he didn’t think too much of it, thinking that it was probably just the kids playing in the backyard as they had been doing a lot lately. It was when he was in his bedroom and glanced out the window briefly and saw the kids standing in a circle, all holding hands, with Jeongin sitting in the middle, saying something over and over again that he began to get a little concerned. 

Chan put down what he was holding and made his way down the stairs, wanting to make sure that he didn’t need to rescue Jeongin from any bodily harm. 

As he slid the glass door open, he saw that the kids had all fallen to the ground in a pile of giggles, Jeongin still in the middle of them. 

“What’s going on here?” Chan asked. 

“Jeongin was feeling lonely so we decided to make him feel better,” Minho answered, as if it were obvious. Chan frowned. 

“So to make him feel better you…spun around him?” All five kids nodded. 

“We were showing him he wasn’t lonely and that he couldn’t escape us,” Jisung explained. Chan wasn’t exactly sure how that was supposed to make Jeongin feel better but he decided he wasn’t awake enough at that given moment to ask any further questions. 

“Alright then. You boys have fun, just make sure you don’t stand on him if you decide to spin around him again.” And with that, Chan went back upstairs to continue his cleaning. 

It was only later on that Chan realised just how weird the kids’ actions were. But who was he to judge? If they were having fun, he shouldn’t be the one to stop them. 

That evening, there was a little bit of downtime before the older kids needed to go to bed. Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin were all getting tired so Chan decided to read them a bedtime story separately so they wouldn’t become grouchy. 

When he came back downstairs, he found Changbin and Minho sitting on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling, clearly bored. 

“What are you two doing down there?” Chan asked. Minho rolled over dramatically and looked up at Chan.

“We’re bored, Appa,” he complained, Changbin nodding in agreement. 

“That’s no good, is it? How about we get you off to bed, then you won’t be bored anymore.” 

“No!” Changbin whined. 

“We want to do something!” Minho said. Chan chuckled. 

“What do you want to do, then?” he asked. 

“We don’t know,” Changbin told him exasperatedly. 

“How about we get out the drawing supplies? Then you can each draw something for the fridge before you go to bed, how does that sound?” Chan suggested. Changbin and Minho jumped to their feet, clearly very excited about this idea. 

Chan quietly walked back up the stairs and collected the box of random pencils, pens, and crayons that they had found over the years before bringing it back downstairs and fetching some blank paper out of the printer in his office. 

Changbin and Minho settled in at the kitchen table rather quickly, grabbing out random pens and crayons to begin their drawings. 

Chan watched happily as they sat and drew, enjoying the kids’ light banter over whose drawing was the best before they were even finished. There were a couple of times where he had to break up arguments over who was allowed to use a certain colour first but they were all resolved rather quickly. 

15 or so minutes later, both drawings were complete. 

Changbin had drawn their family, making sure to draw each person in detail with labels so they didn’t confuse who was who. Minho had decided to draw a big tiger in the jungle going on an adventure. 

Chan made sure to put them both up on the fridge next to the others. 

After that, Chan ushered the two kids upstairs and read them a quick bedtime story before tucking them in and saying their goodnights. 

The kitchen table was a disaster, with Chan finding a pencil next to one of Jisung’s shoes. He honestly wasn’t quite sure how it had even got that far but was too tired to question it. There were other miscellaneous drawing utensils thrown around the room, discarded in the search for specific colours, that Chan cleaned up and put back in the tray. 

Once everything was tidied and put away, Chan went up to his room and collapsed into his bed, lying there for a solid 30 seconds as he tried to muster up the energy to stand up and change into more comfortable clothes. 

Chan was in the bathroom brushing his teeth when his phone began buzzing against the sink.

Quickly spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth, he picked it up and answered the phone. 

“Hello, is this Mr Bang Chan?” came a voice. 

“Yes, that’s me, how can I help?” Chan replied, leaning against the sink as he spoke. 

“This is Ahn Mudeok calling from Attacca Foster Agency, I was wondering if you were able to take another child into your care?” Chan blinked. This was the last thing he had been expecting. 

“Um, I—we—yes, yes, of course I can. How soon do you need me to be ready?” Chan stuttered as he tried to organise his thoughts. 

“Tomorrow at midday if possible?” 

“Of course, that’s perfectly okay.” It wasn’t okay, but it was certainly possible. 

“Amazing, thank you so much. We are sorry for such short notice, I have a child here whose current foster family is suddenly unable to care for him due to personal reasons and we need a home to place him in temporarily.” Mudeok sounded very relieved, which made Chan even more determined to take the child in. 

He was given some basic information about the boy—name, age, etc.—before he hung up the phone and attempted to process what had just happened. Mudeok had told him that Hyunjin, the boy, was partially deaf. Now, this wasn’t a problem, Chan was still going to love and care for him just the same, it was just…he had never taken care of a disabled child before. Hyunjin did have hearing aids but he certainly wouldn’t be wearing them all the time. 

Chan stayed up much later than he had originally planned in an attempt to get the office room fit for a child to sleep in. He had intentionally furnished the room with a pull out sofa bed in case they needed to use it as a make-shift bedroom at short notice, so there wasn’t too much he had to do other than make up the bed with bedsheets and clean away some of the unorganised mess. It definitely wasn’t the fanciest of bedrooms but it would certainly do for the time being until they were able to organise more permanent sleeping arrangements. 

Once everything was arranged, Chan stayed up for hours researching hearing aids and deafness, wanting to make sure that he was as prepared as possible to take Hyunjin in. 

The next morning, Chan was woken up early. He wasn’t entirely sure why he thought it would be any different to normal, but there had been a small part of him that had hoped he might have been able to sleep in just a little bit. 

After breakfast, Chan had to tell all of the kids that when they got home there would be another boy living with them. 

“There what?!” Jeongin said excitedly, standing on his chair, hands flat on the table as he stared at Chan. 

“There will be another—“

“Is he younger? Will I not be youngest? Please, I want to be Jeongin-hyung!” 

“I’m sorry, Innie, Hyunjin is actually quite a bit older than you. He’s four and a half, so closer to Binnie’s age,” Chan explained, relaying the information that Mudeok had told him over the phone the night before. 

“I’m still the oldest,” Minho giggled, sticking his tongue out at Jeongin. Before Jeongin could retort, Chan cut in. 

“There’s actually something very important that I need to tell you guys about this boy. He’s actually deaf in one of his ears, do any of you know what that means?” There were a few moments of silence before Changbin cautiously put up his hand. 

“Does it mean he can’t…can’t listen?” he answered. 

“That’s very close, Binnie. It means that he can’t hear out of one of his ears. He can still hear out of his other ear but not as well as you boys can. He does have special devices in his ears that help him to be able to hear better but he won’t be wearing them all of the time at home, okay?” 

The kids had a lot of questions, not all of which Chan could answer, but he tried his best. The reason he couldn’t answer some of their questions was that he simply didn’t know enough about deafness as a whole to give them proper answers. Sure, his research the night before had given him a baseline of information but every kid was different, there was no way to tell what Hyunjin was like before actually meeting him. 

Chan dropped the kids off at school and preschool before heading back home and doing some last-minute cleaning before Hyunjin arrived at midday. Mudeok hadn’t given him a specific time to expect them so Chan kind of just had to wait. 

At 12:45, there was a knock on the door. 

Chan walked over to the front door and opened it, revealing a woman, who he presumed to be Mudeok, standing there with a small boy next to her—presumably Hyunjin. He invited them in and led the two of them into the main part of the bottom floor. 

Chan and Mudeok went over a few formalities, Chan signing a consent form to take care of Hyunjin as well as Mudeok asking a few simple questions about his current kids and Hyunjin’s sleeping arrangements. There didn’t seem to be any problems so she left rather quickly, bidding both Chan and Hyunjin goodbye with promises to the young boy to come back and check up on him soon. 

Hyunjin was standing slightly awkwardly in the middle of the room, his bag sitting next to him. Chan walked over to him and crouched down. 

“Do you want to go and unpack your bag in your room, bud?” he asked and Hyunjin nodded. Chan stood up again and led Hyunjin into what just yesterday had been the office. 

As they unpacked Hyunjin’s few belongings, Chan got to know him a little bit. He was a very sweet kid who really loved to draw. Hyunjin loved to talk about how he had spent hours lying on the floor with the other kids at past homes just drawing anything and everything he could think of. 

Once Hyunjin’s room was feeling a little more homely, Chan and Hyunjin went into the kitchen. 

“Have you eaten lunch? I can make you something if you would like.” Hyunjin grinned, eyes smushing into adorable crescents. 

“Yes please.” Chan smiled and turned towards the pantry. 

Hyunjin and Chan sat at the kitchen table together, both enjoying their sandwiches. As Hyunjin continued to babble on about random things, Chan noticed that he kept making gestures with his hands as he spoke—Chan even recognised a couple every now and then. 

“Do you know sign language, Hyunjin?” Chan asked. Hyunjin nodded. 

“There were siblings in homes who couldn’t hear like me so…so I talked to them.” It wasn’t the clearest of explanations but it answered Chan’s main question. 

“So you were taught by some of the adults?” 

“Yeah,” Hyunjin confirmed. Chan smiled. 

“One of my boys, Minho, is a bit nervous about talking so he uses signs to talk to me and the others if he needs something. Perhaps you two could talk to each other using sign language so you can both have some practice.” Hyunjin’s eyes lit up with excitement. 

“He's like me?” he asked. 

“Not quite, he can hear, he’s just very quiet. Perhaps you can even teach him some things you know so you two can talk better.” Hyunjin nodded enthusiastically, clearly very excited at the idea of being able to talk to someone in the house in sign language.

Chan allowed Hyunjin to draw quietly by himself for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to pick up the other kids from school and preschool. 

Hyunjin was a little quieter on the drive to the school where they were picking up Changbin and Minho first. Chan didn’t pressure him to talk about anything as he knew everything was likely to be quite overwhelming. 

The two of them waited by the gate where Chan always waited, arriving just as the bell rang to signal the end of the day. The regular rush of kids hurried past them and Chan kept his eye out for Minho and Changbin. 

Soon enough, he spotted the two boys, who hurried over to him. 

“Boys, this is Hyunjin. Hyunjin, this is Changbin and Minho,” Chan introduced, pointing to each of the kids as he said their names. 

“You’re our new brother,” Changbin greeted with a large grin. Chan chuckled. Hyunjin waved at Minho, who, after a few moments, waved back cautiously. 

Changbin talked to Hyunjin non-stop as they drove towards the preschool where the other kids would be waiting. Chan eventually had to remind him that Hyunjin had only been with them for the afternoon and it would be quite overwhelming for him to be bombarded with questions. 

Hyunjin’s introduction to the younger boys went much the same as his introduction to Changbin and Minho. They all greeted him with grins, however cautious Jisung and Seungmin were at first. 

Now that they had all of the kids, it was time to drive home. 

You’d be surprised how much fuller the car seemed with only one extra kid. 

Chan was happy to see that by the time they arrived home, Hyunjin seemed to be friendly enough with the other kids. None of them had asked any questions about Hyunjin’s hearing aids yet, which he was thankful for. Although Hyunjin seemed to be relatively comfortable talking about his deafness, Chan didn’t want to push him too far so early on. 

The six kids clambered out of the car one after the other, Chan helping Jeongin hop down onto the ground last so he wouldn’t fall. 

Once everyone was inside, the younger kids went off to play upstairs while Changbin and Minho sat at the kitchen table and started their homework. Chan had a rule that the two of them needed to do their homework first thing when they got home before they were allowed to go play. It may not be the most enjoyable of things for the two boys but it stopped there from being any panicked tantrums later on over forgotten homework. 

Hyunjin stood next to the couch slightly awkwardly as if he was unsure of where he was allowed to go. 

“Do you want to keep going with the drawing you were doing before we left, Hyunjin?” Chan asked, walking over to the boy and crouching down. Hyunjin nodded shyly and followed Chan over to the kitchen table where the drawing supplies were still laid out. 

When Hyunjin sat down, Changbin looked up from his homework—a simple worksheet that focussed on writing skills. 

“What are you drawing?” Changbin asked, kneeling on his chair to get a better look at Hyunjin’s paper. 

“It’s, um…it’s some flowers,” Hyunjin said nervously. 

“Cool! Can I draw with you?” Hyunjin looked up at Chan. 

“Binnie, you have to finish your homework first, then you can draw with Hyunjin,” Chan told him gently. Changbin sat back down and hurried through the rest of his worksheet. 

“Done!” he announced proudly, holding up the completed worksheet to Chan to prove his point. 

“Good job, now you can draw with Hyunjin,” Chan chuckled, taking the paper from Changbin and putting it back into his backpack. Changbin hopped off of his chair and dragged it around the table so that he was closer to Hyunjin and the drawing supplies. 

A little later on, Minho finished his homework and quietly climbed down from the table. Before he could get too far, however, Changbin called out to him. 

“Min! Don’t you want to draw with us?” Minho stopped and looked between Chan, who was standing in the kitchen, and the two boys at the table. 

“You can draw with them if you want to,” Chan said encouragingly. Minho stood there for a few moments before cautiously walking back to the table and sitting in the chair next to Changbin. 

The three boys stayed there for quite a while, Changbin and Hyunjin talking and getting to know each other while Minho listened and drew quietly. At one point, Jisung, Seungmin, and Jeongin came downstairs, Jeongin on the verge of tears because Jisung had taken the toy he had been playing with. Chan went upstairs with them to sort out the little argument and when he came back, found Hyunjin talking to Minho. 

“Chan…Chan told me that you, um, know some sign language,” Hyunjin said nervously. Minho looked up, a surprised expression on his face before he nodded. Hyunjin grinned. “I know it too!” he said excitedly. “I could—I could teach you!” Minho stared at Hyunjin for a while before nodding. Hyunjin bounced up and down in his chair. 

“What about me?” Changbin interjected. 

“I can teach you too! And Jisung, and Seungmin, and Jeongin as well!” 

It was then that Changbin spotted Chan standing at the bottom of the stairs. He hopped of his chair and ran over to Chan. 

“Appa, Appa! Hyunjin is gonna teach us sign language!” 

“That’s really cool, buddy,” Chan said, smiling down at the excited boy. It was sweet to see the kids getting along. 

Chapter Text

Autumn soon rolled around and Chan didn’t know how time went by so fast. It seemed like just yesterday he was signing up to be a foster parent and now he had six wonderful kids in his care.

First, Jisung had come along, all quiet and shy at first before eventually breaking out of his shell. Then Changbin had arrived. He had also been quieter at first but quickly became comfortable around Chan and Jisung. A few months later came Minho, the silent boy who grew to take his role as the eldest very seriously. Soon after, Seungmin had arrived, not understanding why his parents no longer wanted to keep him. Then there was Jeongin, the sweetest boy who had endured too much too young. And finally, Hyunjin completed them. A kid who didn’t let his disability get the best of him. With all of his boys, Chan couldn’t be happier. 

The leaves on the trees outside were turning brown, adding a crunch as the kids ran around the garden. The unbearable heat that had tormented them all summer long was finally being replaced with cool breezes and crisp mornings. Chan honestly felt as if life was perfect at that moment. 

As expected, he was awoken early that morning by Jeongin sneaking his way into Chan’s room. The young boy clambered onto the bed with some difficulty but he got there in the end. He made his way over to a sleeping Chan, crawling on top of him, ready to attack. Chan was given a second warning before Jeongin began to jump up and down on him in an attempt to wake him up. 

“Chan, Chan, Chan, Chan,” Jeongin chanted with each bounce. 

“I’m awake, I’m awake, you can stop jumping now, Innie,” Chan grumbled, grabbing Jeongin’s middle to stop him from abusing his ribs anymore. Jeongin giggled and squirmed in Chan’s grasp. 

“Can you get up now?” Jeongin asked. Chan chuckled. 

“I don’t think you’re gonna let me go back to sleep, are you?” Jeongin gave him a guilty grin, which Chan huffed in response to. “Let’s go downstairs, then, you little monster.” As Chan got out of bed and pulled on a hoodie, Jeongin ran out onto the landing and began making his way down the stairs as fast as he could go without falling. 

Chan followed Jeongin down to the bottom floor, hearing the voices of the other kids as he went. He assumed that they must have all agreed together to wake him up and Jeongin was the one voted to do the job. Perhaps they thought he would get in the least trouble since he was the youngest, even though Chan never told his kids off for waking him up if they needed him. Sure, it was a little annoying at times to be woken at the crack of dawn almost every morning but that was what you signed up for when you became a parent. 

When Chan finally arrived in the living room, Jisung got to his feet. 

“Finally, Appa. I thinked you weren’t gonna come,” he said as he dragged Chan over to their little circle. It seemed that the kids had raided the drawers in Changbin’s room, aka the playroom, and brought down almost their entire collection of Lego to play with all at once. Honestly, it was quite impressive that a bunch of three to six year olds had managed to carry large plastic boxes full of Lego down the stairs without waking Chan up. Perhaps he was more tired than he originally thought. 

The little while before breakfast was spent sitting on the living room floor, playing with the Lego. At one point, Changbin came up with the fantastic idea to build a tower as high as they possibly could, using Chan to help them reach the top to add more pieces once it got too tall. The other kids immediately jumped on this idea and compiled all of the various Lego pieces scattered around the place into one corner before beginning their project. 

Inevitably, once the tower reached Chan’s hip height, it collapsed, falling against the couch and breaking into two pieces. 

“Seungmin!” Minho said exasperatedly, turning towards the aforementioned boy who was standing right next to where the base of the tower had been just moments ago. Before anything could happen, Chan quickly intervened. 

“Hey, it wasn’t Seungmin’s fault the tower fell. It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” he said gently. 

“But—“ Minho said, pointing a finger at Seungmin, who was beginning to shrink in on himself. 

“Minho,” Chan said warningly. Minho let his hand fall back to his side, sighing. 

“What do you say now?” Chan prompted. 

“Sorry, Seungmin,” Minho grumbled. 

Wanting to avoid any further arguments between the kids, Chan hurried off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The boys followed him in a line like ducklings following their mother and each waited patiently for their bowl of cereal to be handed to them. Chan would have liked to cook a proper breakfast more often but with so many of them in the house it just wasn’t realistic. Instead, he saved cooked breakfasts for special occasions like birthdays. 

Once all the kids were breakfasted and considerably less grumpy, Chan ushered them upstairs to get their teeth brushed and their faces washed. Again it was definitely a process, making sure that all six kids brushed their teeth effectively and didn’t leave the house with dirty faces, but Chan had developed something of a routine to make sure that everything was done efficiently and in an organised manner. 

“What do we want to do today?” Chan asked just as he finished washing Hyunjin’s face. He was met with all six kids answering different things at once. Not quite sure what he expected there. 

“How about we go to the park?” he suggested. The kids cheered and immediately ran off to their respective rooms. Chan followed behind the youngest ones, helping them get dressed before double-checking on the older kids to make sure they didn’t need help with anything. 

Soon enough, all the kids were packed into the car and off they went. 

As Chan watched the kids run around the grass, he had a small smile on his face. The kids were having the time of their lives in the leaves that had fallen from the trees all around the park, rolling around in them and throwing them at each other. Chan couldn’t help but take what felt like a million pictures, making sure he sent each and every one to his parents. 

“Appa! Appa! Come play!” Jeongin said, running over to Chan and dragging him by his hand to where the rest of the kids were standing. It seemed like they had been collecting all of the leaves from the surrounding areas and dumping them into one big pile. It was actually quite impressive how big of a pile they had managed to create. 

Chan just began to open his mouth to congratulate the kids on the pile when he felt six pairs of little hands pushing against the back of his legs. Losing his balance completely, Chan fell face-first into the pile of wet leaves. The kids erupted into laughter, pointing at Chan. Chan himself couldn’t help but laugh along with them. 

“If I have to fall into the leaves, you boys have to come in with me,” Chan warned, scrambling to his feet and running towards the kids. They all shrieked and laughed even more, running off in every direction in an attempt to avoid Chan’s grasp. Hyunjin was caught first, and Chan ‘threw’ him into the leaf pile, being careful not to actually hurt him in any way. Next to be caught was Seungmin, then Jisung, then Minho, until finally only Changbin and Jeongin were left. The kids who had already been caught helped Chan capture the remaining two and bring them into the leaf pile. 

By the end of the park trip, everyone was a laughing, leaf-covered mess. 

A few days later, the kids were all wrapped up in blankets with hot chocolates in their hands as they watched a movie that was airing on one of the local channels. Chan was half-watching as he sat at the kitchen table, placing pictures in various photo frames. 

He put the last back onto the frames and carefully stacked them in his arms, walking over to the wall on the right-hand side of the living room. The kids paid no attention to him as he began putting up the pictures on the wall, far too enwrapped in the plot of the movie to notice anything else. 

Chan stepped back to admire his work and smiled. 

Now decorating the previously blank wall were photos, so many photos. There was a photo of Jisung on his first day of preschool, grinning broadly up at the camera with his backpack on his back. There was one of Changbin and Jisung at the local swimming pool, in the middle of splashing each other with water. There was one from their family trip to the Han River of the kids running around the grass together with Seungmin sitting next to the flower bush in the background. There was one of the time Hyunjin decided to be a hairdresser for everyone and almost ripped out Seungmin’s hair trying to give him pigtails, as well as many many more. 

All the happy memories encapsulated in these photos, now able to be seen at any time of the day. 

It was perfect. 

Chan’s life was perfect. He had six incredible kids who were all happy and healthy, what more could he ask for? 

The End.