Work Text:
Chanyeol gets roped into babysitting alongside Baekhyun and the kids try their hardest to set them up. [Based on the Bluey episode ‘Double Babysitter’]
“Uncle Chanyeol's here! Hi… Uncle Yeollie?” Jongin peers around the door hanging wide open. The little boy pouts as the front porch is empty minus the half-dead petunias hanging from the railing. “Where is he?”
Chanyeol surprises Jongin from behind, and grabs the little boy to give him a surprise flurry of tickles.
“Hey kiddo. How are you doing, Jongdae ?” Chanyeol asks as he props the four year old up on his hip.
Jongin giggles and throws his head back to try and get Chanyeol to spin him around in circles like he does when his and Jongdae’s parents aren’t watching. “No, I'm Jongin!”
“What? No…” Chanyeol switches from holding Jongin nice and secure to dangling him by a single foot upside down and heaves him up to eye level. He squints with a mischievous grin. He pokes Jongin’s side for good measure. “Really?”
The rest of the Kim family walks in. Junmyeon gives his brother a small wave as Jongdae is complaining about something to his taller Appa who is more likely to give in to his whines. Another small boy about the size of Jongin hides behind Sehun’s leg. Chanyeol doesn’t recognize him. Chanyeol really hopes he isn’t supposed to recognize him. Sehun would have told him if they had another kid, right? The new little boy watches Chanyeol with wide staring eyes.
Jongin points to his older brother. “Yeah, that's Jongdae-hyung!”
“Oh, I get it know. And that’s Jongseok, right?” Chanyeol asks as he points to the new little boy.
“No, silly! That’s Soo-hyung!”
“This is Kyungsoo, Jongin’s friend,” Sehun clarifies. Chanyeol lets out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding.
Jongdae drops Sehun’s hand to race to Chanyeol and give him a hug. Chanyeol lets out a strangled ‘oof’ as the energy packed seven-year-old tackles him and has to stumble to gain his balance. He works out simply by the nature of his work on an oil rig, but it’s nothing like holding two rambunctious little kids. How his younger brother manages it is beyond him.
“C’mon, kids, let Chanyeol breathe,” Junmyeon chides. He takes Jongin and Jongdae like they weigh no more than a feather a piece. Chanyeol shoots him a silent ‘thank you’. “Appa and I are heading out to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa tonight.”
“Are you putting us to bed tonight, Uncle Chanyeol?” Jongdae asks. He squirms to be let down from Junmyeon’s arms the minute he is picked up. Junmyeon rolls his eyes and drops Jongdae to the floor. He makes a beeline for Kyungsoo. The quieter boy smiles as Jongdae takes his hand and leads him forward to meet Chanyeol officially.
“Yep. You guys get to spend the whole night with me!”
“Hurray!” Jongdae cheers. Kyungsoo simply nods. But that firm handshake he delivers to Chanyeol is like the best seal of approval the tall man has ever received.
“Not hurray…” Jongin mumbles. He hides his face in his Daddy’s neck and whines. Junmyeon pats his bum in response.
“Jongin isn't sure about babysitter putdowns,” Sehun explains. “And with Kyungsoo, he’s in Jongin’s kindergarten class. His mom said he could spend the night to hopefully help Nini’s anxiety. Sorry for not telling you sooner.”
Chanyeol nods along as Sehun checks his watch and panics. The younger man rushes Junmyeon to get his shoes on. Chanyeol shoots him a cheesy thumbs up. “Ah, no problem. The more the merrier. Right kids? And who better to do a babysitter putdown than your Uncle Chanyeol?”
There’s another knock at the door and Jongdae cocks his head. He flings it open harder enough to hit the wall (if Sehun hadn’t predicted that exact thing happening and caught it midway).
“Hello!”
“Uncle Baekkie!”
Jongin and Jongdae squeal at the same time. Jongin forgets his temporary despair at his parents leaving for the night as he races to Baekhyun’s waiting hug. The four-year-old guides Baekhyun’s hand out and Jongdae responds by grabbing Chanyeol’s. The brothers make them meet in the middle to shake.
“This is Uncle Chanyeollie,” Jongin says simply.
Their eyes lock. Chanyeol loses his breath for a moment as Baekhyun becomes the only thing encompassing his entire mind. He didn’t realize it was possible for a human being to be so ethereal with a green sweater and slacks that have a bit of mud stained at the bottom cuffs. Baekhyun freezes in a mirror action of Chanyeol, and the younger hopes it’s because he feels the electricity between them too.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“Baekhyun-hyung, have you met my older brother Chanyeol-hyung before?” Sehun asks as he straightens out his shirt in the hallway mirror. He vaguely gestures over to Chanyeol.
“Um… yeah?” Baekhyun stands and waves to Kyungsoo. The shy boy seems to recognize Baekhyun and has much less fear approaching him than Chanyeol. “Weren’t you the one to fall into the pool at their wedding?”
Chanyeol shrugs. “Probably.”
“Huh.”
“Uncle Baekkie is Jongin’s fairy godmother,” Jongdae explains proudly. “Uncle Minseokie is mine!”
“Ah, sorry Hyun, Chanyeol-ah got in touch last minute and said he’d babysit. You must not have got my message.”
Junmyeon checks his phone to make sure that the message he composed earlier did actually send. Baekhyun immediately waves the issue off. He knows for a fact that he didn’t get any messages this entire afternoon from him or Sehun, but that’s not a big deal. He only lives a ten minute walk away and the evening is beautiful out.
“That’s fine. I’ll head out with you two.”
“No, don’t go!” Kyungsoo complains, latching onto Baekhyun’s dangling hand. Baekhyun is his neighbor and has babysat him as well. For Kyungsoo to voice his opinion, it must be a big deal. Jongdae and Jongin latch onto the other hand and use their body weight to drag him until the man has to hunch over.
“Both babysit!”
Baekhyun awkwardly smiles. “Oh, well, as long as it's okay with your Uncle Chanyeol.”
It’s more than fine with Chanyeol. But he opts for, “Fine by me” rather than getting into that only one minute after meeting Baekhyun.
“Yay!”
“Double babysitters!”
Junmyeon jerks his head to the side and pulls Baekhyun over. He throws in a few gestures to Jongin. Chanyeol guesses he’s explaining the situation to him as well. Chanyeol takes on the task of distracting the little ones until they return.
“That means you have to be double the good, you lot,” Sehun reminds them. He and Junmyeon kiss each of the boys on the forehead. “Love you, good night. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bye bye!”
The door swings shut. Jongdae drags Kyungsoo elsewhere to find some toys to play with. Baekhyun kneels to get eye level with Jongin as Chanyeol hangs back. “Now Nini, tell me why you're not keen on babysitter bedtime routines.”
“Well…” Jongin scuffs his bare foot against the hardwood. “I had one before and I didn't like it.”
“Oh, why not?”
“It was just too different. I don’t like different.”
“Daddy invited Kyungsoo over to play with you so you wouldn’t be too scared, right?” Baekhyun asks. Jongin nods. “And Jongdae’s here too. You’ll all be sleeping in the same room.”
“I guess…”
“Well, your fairy godmother and I will make this exactly the same as an Appa and Dad putdown!” Chanyeol says with the sweetest smile he can muster. It’s not enough and Jongin’s bottom lip wobbles.
“But I don't know you as well as Appa and Daddy.”
“Oh, yeah. Good point.”
Jongin’s not wrong. Chanyeol doesn’t come to the mainland very often due to the living conditions of the oil rig, and so he only sees his nephews maybe three times a year. At least it seems like they’re familiar with the handsome man rubbing at Jongin’s back. Even then, it doesn’t comfort the little boy.
“Well, you just need to get to know us better,” Chanyeol says. It’s simple really.
Baekhyun’s face lights up at the comment. Chanyeol mentally cheers as if he’s won the grand prix. “I know! Why don't we play 20 Questions?”
“Yeah!”
“Wait… what’s 20 questions?”
Baekhyun laughs at his godson, ruffling his hair as the five of them sit in a small circle on the watermelon rug of the playroom. Kyungsoo is squished between the brothers, holding onto Jongin’s sweaty hand. Jongdae happily munches on the cut strawberries Appa left as a snack.
“We ask questions, and they’ve gotta answer them,” Kyungsoo explains. Jongin nods seriously.
“It’s easy,” Chanyeol reassures the boys. “Go on. Ask anything you want!”
“Why don’t you have a wife?”
“Whoa.”
Starting out strong right from the gate. Jongdae’s question hangs in the air and all the little ones stare on expectantly. He didn’t correct Kyungsoo when he said they would answer anything. It could be worse. “Well, I, I’m gay.”
“Oh, like Appa and Daddy,” Jongin says.
Jongdae keeps staring down Chanyeol. “Well then why don’t you have a husband?”
“How do you know I don't have one?”
“Do you have a husband?”
“Well… no.”
“So why don’t you have a husband?”
Chanyeol blanks. He cocks his head to Baekhyun. “Uhhh…. His turn.”
Jongdae turns his rapt attention to Baekhyun instead. “How many friends you got?”
“Oh, maybe three?”
“That’s not a lot,” Kyungsoo says. “I have seven.” A little chorus of ‘yeah’s’ comes from the trio. Elementary school is filled to the brim with kids to call friends, and Chanyeol is certainly a little jealous. He can’t say he has more than one so Baekhyun has him beat.
“Why have you only got three friends?”
Baekhyun puts his hand on Chanyeol’s thigh like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Back to him.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m thirty.”
“That’s old. How old are you? ”
“I’m thirty-one,” Baekhyun answers.
The boys appear horrified. “You’re both gonna die soon. That’s really old.”
“Why do we only see you at Christmas?” Jongin asks.
“Cause I work on an oil rig.”
“Is that why you don’t have a husband?”
Chanyeol bites his lip. “Maybe.”
“What’s an oil rig?”
“It’s-”
“Why is your hair so pretty?”
“Almond milk shampoo.”
Chanyeol’s breath hitches as the hand tightens on his thigh. He turns to Baekhyun who is also covering his mouth from answering the answer at the same time. The little ones think it’s hilarious and are cracking up laughing. Even Kyungsoo is giggling at Baekhyun’s over the top reaction.
Jongdae takes the reins and dictates the conversation again. “Do you want children?”
They answer at the same time again. “Yes.”
He stands now and points right at Baekhyun’s forehead. “Will Changmin be the daddy or the appa?”
The older man quiets. His hand falls from Chanyeol’s thigh and Chanyeol’s heart breaks into a million tiny little shards, unable to ever be put back together. Baekhyun’s face reveals his heart is already shattered. “Um, no. Changmin and I aren't friends anymore.”
Tiny shards can always be put back together with time and Elmer’s craft glue. Chanyeol can get both of those.
“Who's Changmin?” Chanyeol asks quietly.
“No one. Next question!”
But Jongin answers, his little hands pressed up to his chest as he swoons and falls into Kyungsoo’s lap. “Changmin's his true love.”
“Not anymore.” Baekhyun’s jaw tightens.
“But true love is forever!”
“Well, ah…”
“Is true love not forever?”
Baekhyun stares into the pleading eyes of the brothers and Kyungsoo, and the way that Kyungsoo hangs a little bit tighter onto Jongin’s hand. Chanyeol furrows his brow, unsure of what to say or if he should even say anything.
“It is. I mean, I thought it was. It’s supposed to be…”
Chanyeol stands. He taps Baekhyun on the shoulder. “Ah, let's play in the backyard! The weather is too nice to stay inside. Come on! Up, up!”
The little ones cheer, the previous questions forgotten. Their backyard is easy to access from the playroom, with folding doors opening right up to the grass with a nice wide porch. Kyungsoo lets go of Jongin’s hand as they both run away from Jongdae’s screams with giggles. Baekhyun holds a hand out to Chanyeol to help him up.
“Thanks. For the distraction, I mean.”
“Kids will be kids. I always forget how mischievous Jongdae gets.”
Chanyeol takes the offered and hopes that the minute squeeze wasn’t just his imagination.
Jongdae makes a big loop of running. He returns to hang off of Chanyeol’s waist. The tall man immediately starts twisting his hips to send Jongdae flying to and fro. “Can we play the exact same games as Dad and Appa?”
Chanyeol scratches the back of his head. “Okay, what do they play?”
“Chicken-rat!”
“Chicken… what?”
“Come here and go away!” Jongin chimes in.
“Come here and where?”
Baekhyun swoops into the rescue. He snags the keychain dangling from Chanyeol’s hip and spins it around his pointer finger a few times. The man looks so utterly cool that even Chanyeol awaits his answer.
“You don’t need the same games, you lot. What you need is… Light-mouse!”
He hands off the flashlight to the kids while getting low on the ground to crawl around. Baekhyun makes some kind of meowing sound, indicating he’s a cat. Chanyeol joins him after a wave invitation. Kyungsoo catches on first and takes the flashlight from Jongdae’s hands. The wide eyed boy makes a squeaking sound, pretending as if the light beam on the ground is a little mouse. Baekhyun pounces, looking around as Kyungsoo flings the spot of light away.
They play well together- Baekhyun because he likes kids and Chanyeol because he practically is one.
All three kids tire themselves out, and tire out the two babysitters meant to be watching them even more. Baekhyun herds the three little boys inside as Jongin’s giggles become more yawns than not. Chanyeol hangs back to check that nothing fell out of his or Baekhyun’s pockets. His flashlight glints on a bit of metal in the grass. He kneels to pick it up, running his fingers over the tiny metal geometric shape. It’s well worn and tarnishing from skin oils. Chanyeol guesses it’s Baekhyun’s. He pockets the trinket before following in to help get the kids ready for bed.
Baekhyun is in the bathroom with Jongdae in front of him, brushing his hair that’s more of a mullet than not and in desperate need of a trim. Kyungsoo and Jongin are brushing their teeth up by the sink. The younger man leans in the doorway watching Baekhyun fight with the little knots in Jongdae’s hair. Jongin spits into the sink. The youngest comes to tug at Chanyeol’s pants, wet toothbrush still in hand.
“What’s up, bud?”
“That game you made was fun… but let’s not do anything else different please.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I want everything to be exactly the same now,” Jongin says.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
Chanyeol knows for a fact they aren’t going to get Jongin in bed without changing up some part of his routine. The best he and Baekhyun can do is try to still make the night fun. So Chanyeol scoops Jongin up by the armpits and flips him upside down. He raises the little boy above his head until his bare feet can touch the ceiling. “What about this?”
Jongin giggles. “This is weird, Uncle Chanyeol!”
“Yeah, but before you know it, you’ll get used to it. And then it’s not so scary.”
The youngest giggles again and drops his toothbrush to watch it clatter to the floor. “Come and join me, Soo-hyung!”
“Umm…” Kyungsoo looks hesitant and shies away.
“Do me!” Jongdae pleads at the same time. He elbows his way in front of Baekhyun to keep the other boy out of arm’s reach. And that way, Jongin won’t be upset at Kyungsoo not wanting to do it.
“Oh boy… well, I can give it a crack.” Baekhyun captures Jongdae and flips him upside-down instead seeing Kyungsoo’s hesitation.
“Hmm, I don’t know if your Uncle Baekhyun is strong enough, Dae,” Chanyeol teases.
He’s confused as Jongdae cackles his “I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing at you” laugh. Baekhyun rolls up the sleeves of his sweater and flips Jongdae upside down with shocking ease. Chanyeol’s arms were already twitching with exertion just from flipping Jongin, and the kid is half Jongdae’s size! Jongdae fakes walks on the ceiling over to where Jongin is pretending to sit cross legged.
“Hello upside down Jongin!”
“Hi hyung!”
“You guys should use the light like a little campfire,” Kyungsoo says once he’s done brushing his teeth.
“Oh good idea! Uncle Chanyeol, get me closer please,” Jongin says. He points to where Baekhyun is already helping Jongdae over. The eldest of the boys holds his hands out like he’s warming his hands up, even going as far as clapping and rubbing them together.
“Yes… okay… I’m going to try…”
Chanyeol only makes it two steps before his arms give out. He topples to the floor while keeping Jongin on top. Despite being so small, Jongin is heavy when he lands right on Chanyeol’s lungs. The man wheezes as the wind gets knocked out, scrunching his eyes shut. He opens them to Baekhyun’s concerned but very, very amused face.
“You good, Chanyeollie?”
Chanyeol feels like he just died and went to heaven from the way Baekhyun said his name. He can’t make out any words so he opts for nodding instead. Baekhyun pats Jongin to go run off and change into pajamas with Jongdae and Kyungsoo hot on his heels. Now that the kids are gone, Baekhyun squats and taps Chanyeol on the cheek.
“Now that the kids are gone, how are you feeling really? That was a hard fall.”
“Fine…” Chanyeol finally gets out. His lungs are remembering how to work properly again. “Just got… the wind… knocked out of me.”
“Ah, ouch.”
Baekhyun offers out a hand and helps to pull Chanyeol to his feet. But when they walk to the boys’ bedroom, the older man doesn’t drop his hand. He keeps a hold until they’re right outside the door. Before dropping it, he gives Chanyeol’s hand a little squeeze a second time. That definitely can’t be a coincidence. They enter into the chaos of pajamas strewn about everywhere and none of the boys in pajamas. Or any clothes for that matter.
Chanyeol knocks on the door to get their attention. “Come on boys! Pajamas!”
“But I want my teddy bear jammies!” Jongin whines.
“And I can’t find the penguin ones my mommy packed me…”
“I sleep nude , Uncle Baekhyun. You can’t make me wear pajamas!”
Oh boy. Chanyeol bites his lip from bursting out in laughter and encouraging Jongdae any. He opts to help Kyungsoo find his two piece pajama set stuffed somewhere in his backpack. They find it underneath all of his clothes for tomorrow, and the giant patient helps Kyungsoo step into the pants before slipping his arms through the top one by one. Baekhyun is still wrangling Jongdae into one of Junmyeon’s old shirts that’s more like a dress on the boy. Chanyeol takes on Jongin. The youngest has tears pearling in the corners of his eyes as he stands in front of the dresser.
“Hey little man, we’ll find those pajamas… which ones did you want again?”
“He wants his teddy bear jammies. They’re blue and have brown teddies with little yellow bows and they have the foot parts,” Kyungsoo answers for Jongin. “Those are his favorites.”
Jongin nods with a sniffle. He leaves the emotional comforting to Kyungsoo who seems well versed in how Jongin likes to be cuddled and kisses his cheek. He combs through all the drawers of Jongin’s dresser. There’s no sign of the pajamas anywhere. A vague sense of panic bubbles in his chest. Jongin will be so upset without them. Chanyeol does a second look through.
Baekhyun finishes up with Jongdae (the boy has resigned to his fate and is sprawled out on the watermelon themed rug. At least he’s in pajamas now). The elder sidles up to Chanyeol and whispers in his ear. “Can you not find them?”
“No. God save us.”
Chanyeol stares at the way Baekhyun’s face morphs into that of a puppy’s with his cheeks puffed out in thought and eyes scrunching. His heart skips a beat. Has Baekhyun always been this close to him and all Chanyeol had to do was come home more often to meet? Chanyeol breaks out of his reverie when Baekhyun makes his way to the door. “I’ll check the laundry baskets. We’ll find them, don’t worry.”
It’s unclear if he was reassuring Jongin or Chanyeol.
But the relief the two of them feel when Baekhyun returns with the worn teddy bear footie pajamas leads Chanyeol to believe maybe the reassurance was for both of them.
“They were in the clean clothes that Daddy and Appa haven’t folded yet. Now let’s get you snug as a bug in a rug!”
Jongin perks up and lets Baekhyun help him change. Once in the comfy pajamas, Jongin runs to sit with Jongdae and Kyungsoo on the rug. The trio stares at the two adults.
Chanyeol stares back. “What?”
“What?”
“What do you guys want?”
“We need a story before bed,” Kyungsoo says rather matter-of-factly. “All grown ups should know that?”
“Oh do you?”
“Of course?”
“Okay then, how about…” Baekhyun kneels on the ground to get a better look at the overflowing picture book shelf.
But the kids all scream in horror, “no, no, not like that!”
“He’s just picking you guys out a story to read,” Chanyeol says.
Jongdae crosses his arms and puffs out his chest, ready to be argued with. “We don’t want a reading story. You guys have to make one up!”
“...great.”
"And then the prince knocked the dragon with a big prince punch. BAM! BOOM! KAPOW!”
Baekhyun acts out the scene with vigor as Chanyeol rests on Jongdae’s bed with a princess crown on his head. Baekhyun makes eye contact with Chanyeol and blushes beet red. But the little voices cheering him on keep the older man from dropping his character.
“Is the dragon dead?”
“He’s just sleeping,” Baekhyun clarifies very quickly before Jongin cries over the villain dragon that ate four villagers.
“Hooray!”
Chanyeol stands from the bed and clears his throat. He puts on his best regal sounding voice. “Well, Mister Prince. You have rescued me from the terrible dragon. Now, we shall marry!”
“And then the prince replied, ‘no thanks!”
“What?!”
“The prince didn’t think he should marry someone he just met seconds ago. Besides, the princess looked a little funny .”
Jongin giggles and Jongdae starts to laugh while pointing at Chanyeol’s crestfallen expression. The younger man won’t admit how much that simple line just crushed all of his hopes and dreams of running off into the sunset with Baekhyun.
“So he didn’t like the look of her?”
“Well,” Baekhyun starts with a smiling crooking at the corners of his mouth. “Her hair was a bit messy.” He ruffles Chanyeol’s hair and tosses the crown to the bed. “He had these giant ears. And he was a bit too tall for the short but oh so dashing prince, you know what I mean, boys?”
“Hang on, hang on. I wait in a big tall tower all alone, watch you prince-punch the dragon, you take me back to your castle, and then we get married! That was the deal I signed up for!”
“Hey, I didn’t ask for someone to be in the tower. I just wanted to fight the dragon.”
Chanyeol pouts. “You’d rather me stay all alone with the dragon that is now only sleeping ?”
“I’m sure you’re used to him by now.”
“I was, but then I saw something I wanted more than a lonely tower with a dragon.”
Baekhyun freezes in his place. He doesn’t quite look at Chanyeol, but doesn’t look away either. It’s as if he’s looking through Chanyeol. “Princes and princesses are all the same. The prince doesn’t want a princess that he has to be forced to love, and the princess would be better off with the dragon as company.”
“No I wouldn’t. No one said we had to continue as princes and princesses when we leave the tower.”
“Well, tomorrow, the princess will forget that she was ever friendly with the prince and she’ll go off in search of another prince that’s cuter and nicer and better in every way.”
Chanyeol spares a peek to the kids. Jongin and Kyungsoo look utterly lost while Jongdae just looks plain concerned. But in that childlike way, where adults aren’t quite arguing but the boy can tell something is flying right over his head. The younger man clears his throat. “Man, this prince is taking quite some time to finish the rescue!”
“Well the prince is done with the rescue, and takes off in search of a quiet place to read his book,” Baekhyun says, leaning against the wall with a picture book about kittens in his hand. “And they both live happily ever after by themselves. The end.”
“What?!”
“That can’t be the end.”
“Daddy and Appa always make them get married in the end!” Jongin says. “This isn’t like their stories at all!”
“Um, well…” Chanyeol rubs the back of his neck. “Prince Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun crosses his arms and puts on what looks like a very forced calm smile. “Okay, fine, for the sake of the little village orphan children, they get married. The end .”
The little boys cheer and dive into their respective beds, ready to go to sleep for the night. Baekhyun hangs back by the entryway as Chanyeol takes on the role of tucking them in under the covers, nice and snug. He checks on Jongdae first.
“Night night, Jongdae. Did you have a good-”
Chanyeol is cut off by a snore that sounds five times larger than the little body it came out of. Chanyeol has to hide a laugh behind his hand as it sounds exactly like his parents’ horrible sleep sounds. The poor kid really lost the lottery with Sehun’s snoring and Junmyeon’s sprawling out. He smiles and smooths down a wild cowlick in Jongdae’s hair.
“How about you two, kiddos? Did you have a good night?”
“Yes, Chanyeol-ssi! Thank you,” Kyungsoo replies. He’s cuddled underneath the blankets next to Jongin in the small bed.
Jongin, on the other hand, looks anxious. “You won’t… you won’t watch TV while we’re sleeping?”
“Oh, um, we don’t have to?”
“You promise?”
Baekhyun lays a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. The younger man jumps at the soft touch he wasn’t expecting. “Oh, hang on. Was your last babysitter Minseok-hyung?”
“Yes…”
“And let me guess, you woke up while he was watching a football game and was cheering and shouting too loud?”
“Yes.”
Baekhyun smiles and kisses Jongin on the forehead. Kyungsoo is already drifting off during their conversation. He glances up at Chanyeol for a brief moment. “Their Uncle Minseok loves football and gets a little too excited about it sometimes.”
“He sounded scary yelling at the players,” Jongin admits.
“That’s why you don’t like babysitter bedtimes, isn’t it?” Chanyeol asks.
“Yes.”
“Look Nini, you had one bad experience. Tonight will be different.”
“We promise,” Baekhyun adds as he stands, groaning like an old arthritic man. Chanyeol offers his arm for support and Baekhyun lightly whacks him but takes the offered support all the same.
Jongin still doesn’t look convinced. “But how can I be sure it won’t happen again?”
“Well, you can't.” Baekhyun pauses. “But you have to give it a go anyway, or you'll be stuck alone in a forest or up in a tower with a stinky dragon.”
“Okay. I'll give it a go…” Jongin whispers. He yawns. Sleep is near. The last thing he remembers is one final kiss on his forehead and Kyungsoo latching onto him like a koala.
Jongin wakes up some time later.
He blinks, unsure of what he’s doing with his eyes open when it’s still the middle of the night. A part of him panics, thinking that Uncle Baekhyun and Uncle Chanyeol are shouting at the TV. But the only sound he can hear is the soft chirping of crickets and cicadas out in the summer air and a hushed conversation.
Jongin untangles himself from his best friend. The boy tiptoes out of bed, getting closer to his and Jongdae’s window that overlooks the balcony. Both of his uncles are sitting together, staring up at the moon and stars. Uncle Baekhyun has his head resting on Uncle Chanyeol’s broad shoulder and their hands are overlapping on the porch. Despite Uncle Baekhyun’s weird mood earlier, he’s swinging his legs like he’s happy now.
“Absolutely.”
“It's the only shampoo I like.”
“The shampoo is great, but the conditioner . It’s so good, but I can’t even rate the conditioner.”
“Nah, me either. It’s so pricey. But you know, you can't get around with open follicles.”
“And the almond smell is wonderful.”
Uncle Baekhyun turns his head and buries his face in Uncle Chanyeol’s hair. “Yes it is.”
“Oh! Before I forget, here.” Chanyeol hands something from his pocket over to Baekhyun. “I think it fell out of your pocket earlier.”
“... y’know? This was from Changmin. I really don’t want to keep this anymore.”
Baekhyun takes the offered object. He chucks it as far as he can deeper into the backyard, making both him and Chanyeol giggle at the action.
Jongin smiles and goes back to sleep, no longer scared of the unknown.