Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Hyunnie, time for bed!" Minho's voice rings out over the general cacophony that accompanies pre-bed child wrangling. Jisung and Felix are shrieking, running around the living room, probably running on an ice-cream induced sugar high. Changbin is chasing after them, yelling for them to stop running and come take a bath, you gremlins!

Through it all, Hyunjin lies on the hardwood floor in the middle of the living room, printing paper and crayons spread out around him. His legs kick in the air, and he hums a little song while he draws.

Minho sighs, tired yet fond.

"Hyung! Innie called me a bad name!" Seungmin's voice comes from one of the bedrooms. It sounds less sad and more like a 'I want to get him in trouble', so Minho ignores him.

"Hyunjin, come on, it's bedtime," He stands over his younger brother, looking down at what he's doing.

"No," Hyunjin refuses simply, determinedly colouring something pink.

"No?"

"No."

"Hmm… well…" He crouches down picking up the crayons one by one, putting them back into their box. "Too bad."

Hyunjin whines as soon as he sees what's happening "Nooo hyung not yet! I'm almost done. And you're messing up the colours." He makes a little tutting sound with his tongue that sounds very similar to the sound the ajumma from across the street makes whenever the kids run by without giving her a greeting. "Seungmin will be sooo annoyed."

Minho watches in amusement as he organizes the crayons by colour order.

Once all sixteen of the crayons are in their proper place, they sit for a moment. Minho waits for Hyunjin to start the rest of the cleanup. Or just get up and leave the tidying up to him.

"Who's next for a bath?" Chan calls. Hyunjin looks up for a moment, shrugs and then takes a crayon back out of the box and starts colouring again.

Minho sighs, frustrated that his "plan" didn't go as intended.

"Jin come oonnn," It's his turn to whine now. Because he's freaking tired and if he doesn't get to bed soon, he won't be able to wake up in time for his morning dance practice, and if he doesn't make it, his teacher will definitely yell at him or he'll miss some very important change in the choreography. Why did Chan have to tell him to deal with Hyunjin this time?

"You have until everyone is done with their baths, then you have to clean up, okay?" He bargains. When Hyunjin doesn't respond, he asks, "You hear me?"

No response.

“Hyunjin!"

"Fine. After their baths, or hyung puts me in the air fryer. Blah blah blah. Now let me colour."

Minho chuckles, settling down to sit cross legged on the floor, perfectly fine with waiting.

The page that Hyunjin was drawing on showcased a mess of pink and red flowers, green stems and leaves gathered together like a bouquet.

There's a quick pad of footsteps and then Minho's getting bowled over by a child sized projectile.

"You're getting my shirt all wet," He gripes, pushing the boy so that his head wasn't buried into his stomach.

"I can get you even wetter," Jisung proposes, sticking his tongue out and moving to lick his arm.

"Nope, gross," he grabs his face with one hand so that Jisung's mouth is now puckered up like a fish.

"Hyub 'oesn't sekt 'y kishesh," Jisung says.

"You were gonna lick me? How are those kisses?"

"Doggies do it. Seungmin does it." Felix states rather matter of factly as he clambers onto the couch.

"Seungmin licks people?"

"Once," Hyunjin supplies helpfully. "Bleh." He pulls a disgusted face.

"Hyunjin, time for bath," Chan comes out, with Seungmin and Jeongin following close behind. The two clamber on the couch, cuddling close to Felix.

Hyunjin pouts, but complies, setting down his crayon and heading towards the bathroom.

Quickly, Minho scoops up all the supplies off the floor, putting them on the coffee table to prevent them from getting messed up by the other menaces who are quickly piling onto the couch.

“Seungmin, don’t smother your brother,” Minho sighs, picking the kid up and setting him in the space between Jeongin and Felix. Jeongin gasps dramatically, trying to catch his breath.

“Sit up!” Seungmin shoves at Jeongin, trying to make him sit up, despite having been laying on him only seconds before. On the other end of the couch, Jisung leans against the arm rest, already dropping off to sleep.

Minho picks Jeongin up before Seungmin’s insistence on proper posture can escalate into a full blown fight.

A shriek echoes from down the hallway, full of childlike delight and fear. There’s a deeper undercurrent of Chan’s frustrated mumblings, and the pounding of feet against hardwood.

Hyunjin must’ve escaped bath-time then.

Sure enough, five minutes later, a subdued Hyunjin and a rather wet Chan make their entrance to the living room. Changbin is on their tails, looking comically exhausted. He collapses onto the rug next to the coffee table.

"Story time?" Jeongin sounds hopeful. He's leaning heavily against Seungmin, who looks a bit like he'd really rather not be here, but mostly pleased at the entire arrangement, his touch adversity warring against his fondness for his brother.

"What time is it?" Chan asks in return, leaning back as if it'll let him peak into the kitchen and check the time off the stove.

For the past few nights, they've been getting to bed later, meaning that the kids have been deprived of their nightly story. The sudden upturn of routine had been rough for a few of them (all of them really), so this evening him and Chan had made the extra effort to try and get dinner and bedtime earlier.

"Seven fifteen," Changbin supplies, checking the watch on his wrist.

"Story time it is then," Chan concedes, a fond smile curling at his lips.

The kids cheer, a sudden swell of sound that has the older ones wincing a little. Minho joins in the fun, despite it. They'd been reading about a princess, a miner boy and their adventures among the goblins and he really wanted to know what happened next. It’s a fairy tale-esque story, aimed at much younger kids, but somehow, he’s invested.

"Let me just change my shirt and then we can read," Chan says, dumping Hyunjin on the couch between Jisung and Felix. .

Before long, Chan is settling (falling) on the couch right in the middle of the kids, who respond with a mix of delighted giggles and disgruntled complaints about being squished. It takes five minutes of rearranging, but the six of them squish on the sofa meant for three. Minho sits on the floor, leaning back against the couch. Changbin continues to lay on the floor.

And then Chan is reading, and the entire room settles into sleepy silence.

There’s something about the combination of the tiredness that comes right before bed and the atmosphere that comes with being surrounded by warmth that makes the story come to life. Images dance in front of his eyes. Sometimes a one of the kids will make a sound affect or audibly react to a moment, making the story all the more vivid.

Or really annoying.

Hyunjin squeals for the third time that night at a presumably “climatic” point, and Minho is filled with the desire to suffocate him.

Changbin seems to be sleeping peacefully somehow, so that’s nice.

The chapter wraps up with Felix and Hyunjin begging for more (just one more! Pleeeease! It’s not even that late!) and the rest in various states of half asleep. Chan turns them down, because one, they have school tomorrow and two, it’s way past their bed time anyway.

Chan scoops up Jeongin, Seungmin following them, sleepily stumbling towards his room and nearly tripping over Changbin in the process.

Felix and Jisung make their way to their room shortly after, hands linked and identical tired pouts on their faces.

“Hyunjin?” Minho prompts softly, looking over at his brother, who is now studiously studying his drawings he made earlier.

“This one’s for you hyung,” Hyunjin says determined, pointing at the drawing of flowers that he was working on right before his bath. “For your kitties to play in. You still have the kitties, right?”

A little while ago, in a rather random argument discussion about pets, Minho had expressed a desire for cats. Specifically three. Hyunjin, the sensitive soul he is, drew three possible cats and gave them to Minho, to make up for the loss of actual cats.

Since then, the picture, three cat-like blob creatures, had made their home on the corkboard above his desk.

“Oh,” He responds, blinking. “Thank you. I bet the kitties will really like them. But now we need to get to bed.”

For once, Hyunjin actually listens to him, standing and heading to the room he shared with Jisung and Felix.

Jisung and Felix are somehow on the same bed, tangled up in a mess of sheets, fast asleep. Minho laughs a little to himself at the sight, deciding that it will serve well just to leave them alone. So long as neither of them fall out of the bed, they should be fine. He does, though, untangle the blanket and spread it over the both of them so that they stay warm throughout the night.

“Ready?” He asks Hyunjin, standing next to the light switch.

Hyunjin hums, and Minho switches off the light.

Out in the living room, Changbin somehow is still on the floor asleep. Chan is hovering over him, an evil smile on his face.

Minho crouches down so he's level with his ear, and then, in a slightly elevated speaking voice, he says, "Yah, Changbin. Wake up."

The thing about proximity, sound, and being a reasonably light, easily startled sleeper, is that when someone speaks right next to you, at a reasonably loud volume, there is a great chance of you dying from pure fright.

That, combined with seeing a very menacing *cough* ugly *cough* face right above you, well…

Let's just say Changbin nearly ascends into the next plane of existence.

He blinks awake, slowly at first, but then catches sight of Chan's face and startles, sitting straight up, ramming his forehead into Chan's face.

The two groan in pain, Changbin rubbing his forehead and Chan clutching at his nose. Minho snorts out a laugh at their painful misery.

"I think my nose is bleeding," Chan announces, near deadpan. He takes his hand from his nose and sure enough there's speckles of blood on his palm and upper lip.

Changbin starts frantically apologizing, hands fluttering all over Chan. Chan's hands are shaking a little as they grip Changbin's wrists.

It's common enough, bloody noses. Not a regular occurrance, but the younger ones had gotten them enough that treating them was second nature. Even so, Chan getting one because Changbin whammed his head into his face is a flustering sequence of events. And as such, Changbin, with all his concern and care, forgets entirely what to do in these situations.

Minho thankfully, keeps his level head and doesn't. He grabs tissues and and ice pack from the kitchen. By the time he’s back in the living room, Chan is sitting on the couch, leaning forward slightly, pinching his nose. Changbin watches on, obviously nervous and worried.

After a few minutes, Minho hands Chan the ice pack, which he rests on the bridge of his nose.

“You good?” Minho asks, peering down to catch Chan’s eye.

“Yup,” Chan answers, all nasally. He lifts his head up and unplugs his nose. “The bleeding’s stopped, so that’s good.” Minho hands him a paper towel so he can wipe the blood off his face.

"I'm really sorry hyung," Changbin says, a pout in his voice. He bounces on the balls of his feet, hands tangled in a knot behind it's back.

Chan just shakes his head. "Go to bed 'Bin-ah," His tone is quiet and full of affection. It makes Changbin relax, his shoulders dropping from their position by his ears.

"G'night," Changbin whispers, heading to his room.

Both him and Chan finish up last minute clean up, loading the dishwasher and wiping down the table, along with smaller bits of tidying up before they go to bed.

He's just finished up with the last of the dishes, wiping his hands on his shirt. Entering the living room, he sees Chan crouching next to the coffee table, smiling at something.

"What's with the grin?" He asks, coming over to look over his shoulder.

"Nothing," Chan answers, not doing anything to hide what he's looking at.

Hyunjin's drawings he made are spread out over the coffee table. The flowers, some robots that he and Jisung were talking about earlier. A typical landscape complete with a house and a river.

"This one's mine," Minho declares, snatching the flower on of the table.

Chan nods, yawns, and stands up, stretching.

"Cool, let's go to bed now, yeah? You have dance practice early, and I want to make sure you actually eat something before it.

Winter is - rather aptly - melting into spring, which means, of course, random viral colds that have no other explanation past the season changing.

Changbin had been the first to go down, probably inheriting the curse from Yeonjun or Wooyoung or whatever other poor soul had been coughing their lung out at the arcade. For a week, the fever and cold had run its course, keeping him in bed, his siblings plying him with soup, orange juice and water all hours of the day (mostly in the evenings).

And mercifully, no one else had caught it. Changbin knows Chan is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then, there will be three plus needy sick children, demanding every ounce of his attention, and he’ll have to leave school to the side while they ride out the wave.

For now though, they’re safe. Changbin is recovering well, the kids are still up and about, as chaotic as ever, and it feels like maybe, the inevitable Grand Circle of Sickness could be avoided for once.

So long as, you know, everyone washes their hands and stuff. Which is hard, but they try.

It’s been a week since he first felt the telltale tickle of a cold in his throat, and for once in the very very long week, Changbin actually feels like a proper human being.

He’s probably not one hundred percent better. His fever is definitely gone, and his head isn’t as stuffy, but his throat is still a bit scratchy, and the cough is still settled in the centre of his chest. But it’s improvement and that’s what matters.

“How are you feeling?” Chan asks looking up from pouring cereal for a very bright-eyed Jeongin.

“Better,” And ow talking hurts. That annoying really thin, sharp pain right where your nasal passage ends. He winces. “Throat hurts, but no fever.”

“That’s good,” Chan nods, moving the bowl from the counter to the table. Jeongin toddles after him, clambering into his chair and grabbing for a spoon.

“You want eggs?” Minho asks from his position at the stove, four eggs already in his hands, and his eyes shining with the brilliant idea of adding two more.

“Sure,” Changbin says, mildly concerned for the eggs' safety.

His worry is futile as the eggs, soon enough, are brutally murdered and the transfiguration process starts.

“Hyunjin is sick,” Jisung declares, entering the kitchen with Felix. Felix looks positively disgruntled, red indents making their way down the side of his face and an intense cowlick parading like a peacock on the side of his head.

"Is he okay?" Chan asks, looking towards the bedrooms, barely noticing Felix's state. Changbin is having a hard time keeping his laugh inside his chest. The poor kid looks more asleep than awake.

"He's sad," Felix mumbles.

"Let me go check on him," Chan says. He moves around the table and into the hallway.

"Hyung," Jisung tugs on Changbin's shirt, pulling his attention away from the now empty hallway. "Can I have some cereal?"

Changbin gets the two some cereal. Jisung eats his happily, chatting away to a Jeongin who definitely isn't listening. Felix looks about ready to face-plant into his bowl.

"What monster did you fight last night?" Minho asks, placing a plate of scrambled eggs in the centre of the table. He smooths his hand over Felix's cowlick, laughing when it refuses to flatten. "You have lines all the way down your face."

Felix's hand goes up to where he feels Minho poking his cheek, trying to feel what he's talking about.

"How do the lines happen?" Jeongin asks, looking at Felix's face in wonder. Then a moment later, he pats his face with a concentrated frown. "Do I have any?"

Changbin laughs. "No you don't. You know when you sit on your chair for a long time and you get marks on your legs?" Jeongin shakes his head, looking a bit confused. "Okay, but sometimes if you have a lot of pressure against your leg on the edge of something it makes prints on your skin. That's probably what happened with Lix, just on his face. It means he slept very well."

Jeongin nods in understanding, squinting hard at Felix's face. "I slept very well too," He states, almost sounding disappointed, before going back to his last few pieces of cereal.

"I'm sure you did," Changbin says, sharing a smile with Minho.

"Guess who's staying home today," Chan sings out, coming back into the kitchen. He's carrying Hyunjin who's slumped heavily in his arms.

"Fever?" Minho asks. "Eat," He says right after because Jisung isn't taking his plate of eggs.

"Low grade, but knowing him it'll just get worse. By the way, where's Seungmin? He wasn't in the room."

"He ate already," Minho nods to a dirty plate resting by the sink. "I'm letting him read until everyone's ready to wash up."

Chan transfers Hyunjin to Changbin’s welcoming arms. Changbin sits, situating the feverish boy into a comfortable position against his chest.

"Are you hungry?" He asks him quietly.

Hyunjin shrugs, burrowing his face into Changbin’s chest.

So instead of pushing further, he holds his brother, watching as the others eat their breakfasts with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

As soon as Felix is done, he clambers down from his chair, rushing towards the living room, either to continue reading his book before he’s forced to wash up, or to bother Seungmin.

The annoyed whining that comes mere seconds after, means he probably chose the latter.

Jisung follows soon after, his late of eggs half finished. Minho takes one look at them, sighs, and yells toward the living room, “Jisung! Are you done eating?”

“Yeah!” Jisung yells back.

“Are you sure?”

No answer.

Minho shrugs and pulls the plate closer, adding them to his own plate of eggs. Chan leans over and steals a few of them, stuffing them in his mouth and smiling in response to Minho’s glare.

Before long, they’re corralling kids to the bathroom to brush teeth, wash faces, and get hair all in order before they head out the door and go to school. Chan pushes his half finished plate towards Changbin, a few scrambled eggs and a piece of toast on it, before scrambling after an extremely energetic Jeongin, trying to escape the ultimate fate of Kindergarten.

Changbin’s pretty sure Hyunjin’s asleep again, cheek smushed against his chest, practically a dead weight pinning him to his chair. All he can do is surrender to the fate (temporary as it is) of sitting.

Time passes as it should. Changbin lets it, losing track of it quickly. After he's finished with the food Chan gave him, he slips into a tired daze, hunger gnawing at his stomach. His appetite was finally back and (barely) half a plate of food was not enough.

He really doesn't want to leave Hyunjin out of his sight and alone for very long. But, he realizes, he has to trust that his brother can survive on his own for a few minutes. (Really, a few measly minutes. He can let go for that long, right?)

So he deposits him on the couch, pulling the knitted blanket they keep draped over the back of it for these specific occasions, over him. He spares one last look at him, ensuring he at least seems comfortable, before going back to the kitchen to finally make himself some breakfast.

Hyunjin wakes up at some point. He refuses the initial offer of food, instead opting to curl up on the couch. He wraps himself snugly in the blanket and wedges in the corner of the couch.

"How do orange slices sound?" Changbin asks eventually, after they had stared at the wall for long enough.

Hyunjin shrugs, mouth turning down into a pout.

The incertitude is better than nothing, and Changbin would rather have the kid eat something than nothing at all. So oranges it was.

He slices an orange into eighths, hissing as some of the juice starts stinging his skin as it dries.

Rinsed fingers and a bowl of oranges on the coffee table later finds him scrolling through his laptop for his school assignments that he's totally going to do, no doubt about it.

He wiles the day away like that, tabs open on his laptop but unattended to, while he focuses on more interesting things like a Wikipedia rabbit hole he manages to get himself into.

He looks over to Hyunjin every once in a while, just to make sure he’s still okay. The oranges remain half eaten. He would worry about sticky hands getting on the furniture if they weren’t already far past the many accidents that their living room has seen. The TV is on, a cartoon playing quietly.

Changbin goes over to check on him. He’s still curled up in the corner of the couch, watching the screen with bleary eyes. Changbin presses the back of his hand against his forehead. It’s burning. He has no idea what it was like this morning, but he definitely has a fever now.

“How you feeling?” He asks, running his fingers through his hair.

Hyunjin just shrugs.

“Does your head hurt?”

That gets him a nod.

“Throat?”

There’s a downward quirk of his lips, then he swallows exaggeratedly and grimaces. Changbin laughs.

“Okay, so it definitely does. Do you want to try and drink some water?”

Hyunjin looks at him like he just suggested the worst possible thing.

“Hydration is important,” Changbin states, even though he spent the first few days himself without drinking much because of the pain. “We might have a bit of juice if that sounds better.”

Chan had gotten orange juice for him that was strictly off limits to anyone but Changbin, much to the disappointment of the rest of the kids. Now that Hyunjin is sick, he qualifies for the ‘sick only’ juice, and with the way he lights up at the offer, he definitely wants some.

Changbin gets him a glass (along with a strict At The Table policy. He’s not risking any spills today. No sir.) which he dips at delicately. Changbin decides to keep the TV off to prevent any possible migraines from staring at the screen for too long.

“Can you get my sketchbook?” Hyunjin asks, the first words he’s said probably all day. They come out as a rough croak, and Changbin can’t help but wince in sympathy.

“Sure, where is it?”

“In my room.”

Changbin gets up heading to the room, mentally cataloging where the book could be. Chan had got it for his birthday, giving him a more professional medium to draw on and preventing more printer paper from being subjected to the rather lovely fate of Hyunjin’s drawings. It’s now Hyunjin’s most precious possession and he can’t go anywhere without it.

He finds it, after much searching, under his pillow. He wonders if it’s even comfortable, sleeping with a thick book under his pillows, but he supposes the two that he has on his bed negates any feeling he might have for things under them.

He gets his pencil case next, the poor pouch practically bursting from all the pencils, pens, and coloured pencils stuffed in it. Maybe something larger than one of the old school pouches is of order.

He dumps the goods in front of Hyunjin who now is leaning against the table, head in his arms. He gets a thumbs up as thanks.

Changbin finds himself once again stuck in front of his laptop unable to bring himself to do any of the pending work he has. Maybe when Minho and Chan gets back they can help him tackle them. For now, he can spend his time on his phone or something. Maybe do the dishes? They’re sitting on the counter innocently enough.

He stares at the dishes near the sink intensely, debating the pros and cons of doing chores unprompted.

He comes to the conclusion that it will only be worth it if he does it after lunch, which isn’t for another couple of hours.

“Hyung,” Hyunjin’s voice, quiet even in the silence of an empty house, breaks through his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“What should I draw?” He still has his head in his arms. His cheeks are flushed with fever and his eyelids droop. He looks exhausted.

“Do you want to take a nap first?” Changbin asks, reaching over to pet him on the head.

Hyunjin mumbles something unintelligible. Changbin makes the executive decision that maybe it’s better to put him to bed.

He picks him up, taking the sketchbook and pencil case with him. He then sets him down in his bed, pulling his sheets over him. He’s sleeping already, hands curling around the ferret stuffed animal he has laying next to his pillow.

Changbin collapses on the couch once he’s done, feeling surprisingly tired despite doing barely anything. It is only the first day that he’s properly feeling better, so perhaps he can cut himself some slack.

He drifts off to sleep on the couch, catching himself a few times, blinking awake only to drift back off again, until the next thing he knows is Chan leaning over him, hand running through his hair and a gentle smile on his face.

“Hey Binnie,” His voice is soft, gentle in the way that indicates genuine love wrapped around his words.

“Hyung,” His throat aches still, but a lot less since the morning. “Time’s it?” He blinks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“One-ish,” Chan replies. “Came home a bit early.” Changbin knows he usually has a full day of classes at some point in the week, though he can’t remember if that was today.

“Is Jinnie still sleeping?”

“Nope,” Chan’s eyes crinkle at the corners looking behind him towards the kitchen. “Woke up when I got here. Managed to get him to eat something, but he’s been drawing since he woke up.”

The kids have a few hours before they get back, and since Chan’s back early, Changbin decides it’s the perfect opportunity to take advantage of his knowledge.

He slogs through a biology assignment, Chan at his shoulder, scrolling through his phone.

“Why am I here again?” Chan asks looking up from the device as Changbin lets out a frustrated sigh.

“Emotional support,” Changbin says, flipping through his textbook for a specific answer. “What’s the suicide bag of the cell again?”

“Uhh…” Chan’s expression twists into confusion. “I have absolutely no idea.”

Changbin finally flips to the right page, locating the right information. “Lysosomes,” He supplies.

“Ah, right.”

He jots down a few more answers. Hyunjin is just across from him at the table, tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he concentrates on whatever he’s drawing. From what Changbin can see, he seems to be drawing a bright pink blob.

“Done!” He declares suddenly, slamming his coloured pencil on the table, making Changbin and Chan startle at the noise. “Binnie hyung.” He slides the book over to Changbin. “It’s you.”

Changbin pushes his computer aside to get a better look at the drawing.

He… isn’t sure what he’s supposed to be looking at. It’s pink, with a head, body, and limbs. It has a pig’s snout but long ears. Like a rabbit? Maybe? And finally, it has a curly tail.

This is most certainly not him.

“It’s nice!” Changbin says, trying to be enthusiastic.

Hyunjin beams. “It’s a pig-rabbit! A pi-abbit? A pabbit!” He looks incredibly pleased with his new invention.

Chan’s giggling and Changbin wants to shut him up, but before he can, he’s speaking.

“What makes Changbin a pabbit?”

Hyunjin hums, face twisting up in an exaggerated expression of thought. “Well, he eats really well, like a pig, but is very gentle like a bunny. And he likes head pats.” Hyunjin nods to himself like he’s satisfied.

Chan gives him a huge, teasing smile and Changbin rolls his eyes in exchange. Hyunjin pulls his sketchbook closer and tears out the page.

“There,” He hands the piece of paper over to him. “You can keep it.”

Changbin smiles, heart feeling warm as he tucks it under his laptop for safe-keeping.

“Thanks Jinnie.”

Hyunjin gives him a thumbs up. “No problem pabbit hyung.”

Chan’s laughter filters through the air as Changbin lunges at his shrieking younger brother.

For once it’s a day where Chan’s the one picking up the kids from school. Minho’s out for a dance competition and Changbin was planning on going out with some friends straight after school, which left Chan on pick-up duty.

He’s in the playground, deciding it’s the best place to wait.

Soon enough, kids are streaming out of the building, joyous cries filling the air as they gain freedom from their captors.

“Channie hyung!” Jisung’s voice screams out. Feet pound on the concrete as they run towards the playground.

Jisung is dragging Felix along, happy smiles on their faces as they run over to Chan. Seungmin and Hyunjin are shortly behind walking with a little more decorum. Hyunjin has a firm hand around Seungmin’s wrist and a piece of paper clutched in the other. There’s a disgruntled expression on his face as he watches after Jisung and Felix.

Jisung and Felix collide with Chan’s legs, something that would knock him over if he wasn’t prepared for it.

“Hey you guys!” He greats, placing a hand on their heads. “How was your day?”

“Guess what! Guess what!” Felix bounces up and down, a lot more loud now that he’s within reach of Chan. “Today we learned about fr- ”

“You can’t run off like that,” Hyunjin scolds as they approach, interrupting Felix’s impending tumble of words. “You need to wait. And then we go together!”

Jisung opens his mouth to argue but Chan intervenes before he can.

“Thank you Hyunjin, you did very well. Jisung you do need to stick together, but I think today was fine because I was very near.”

Hyunjin pouts slightly and Jisung beams proudly, turing towards Felix to join in the excited explanations.

“We learned about frogs today,” Felix finally says, as they head towards the kindergarten to pick up Jeongin. “Did you know that they start out as a tiny little fish? And then they grow bigger and bigger and get hands and feet and they hop out of the water and are frogs!”

“They’re amphi-beans,” Jisung supplies, nodding along eagerly. “It means they like both water and dirt.”

Chan chuckles at the pronunciation. “That’s really cool guys. What about you two?”

“Frogs,” Seungmin agrees simply, not seeming to want to elaborate beyond that.

It seemed like it was a froggy type of day.

“I drew this in art class,” Hyunjin says, holding up the paper in his hand. On it was a drawing of a male bust. “The theme was mideival clothes so I drew a ruff.” He points at the rendition of a ruff.

The boys gasp over the drawing, crowding around the piece of paper. This slows them down a little, but at this point they’re near the building, so Chan isn’t super bothered.

“You did a really good job Jinnie!” Chan says. “Can you guys stay right here while I go grab Innie?”

They nod and Chan heads over.

Jeongin is picked up effectively and he’s almost caught up in conversation with the teacher on duty but Jeongin insistently pats his face to get him to move.

“How was your day?” Chan asks as he walks back to the other kids. They’re standing in a tight knot probably squabbling over something inane.

“Good!” Jeongin exclaims cheerily. “I found a book.”

“From the library?”

“Mhm. There was some comic books like the one Minnie hyung got before but with cats!”

Chan sets Jeongin down among the boys as he finishes his sentence.

“Cats?” Felix asks, whipping around to face his little brother.

Jeongin starts pulling off his backpack but Chan stops him before he can.

“How ‘bout you show us when we get home.” He says, pulling one of the straps back on to his shoulder. He herds them in front of him, urging them on.

“When’s Binnie hyung home?” Seungmin asks, grabbing his hand as the walk.

“Dinner time probably,” Chan answers. “He went out with friends.”

“And what about Minho hyung?” Hyunjin pipes up from in front.

“He’s coming home on Wednesday, right Hyung?” Felix says, swinging Hyunjin and Jisung’s hands back in forth.

“Yup! He’ll come back when you are in school so you’ll get to see him when you come home.”

They dissolve into conversation, talking about all the things they’re going to do when Minho gets back. Chan finds it endearing how they act like Minho is gone forever when he does competitions.

“What do you guys want for snack?” He asks as he unlocks the door. The boys tumble in, tripping over each other in a race to take off shoes and bags and get inside.

“Cookies?” Jeongin asks hopefully, one shoe still hanging off his foot as he steps up out of the entryway. Chan grabs the shoe before he can get up and rush into the living room.

“We don’t have cookies–” They do, but he’s not giving them for snack. “–but I think there’s some strawberries in the fridge.”

Jisung and Hyunjin gasp, running to the kitchen. By the time Chan manages to follow them, they’ve already pulled the fruit out of the fridge and are trying to prise open the container.

“It’s stuck,” Hyunjin pouts after much crackling of plastic and groans of effort, holding out the carton for Chan to take.

Chan chuckles, taking it and opening it with an ease that makes the kids grumble a little. He rund the strawberries under water, rinsing them.

“Can one of you get bowls please?” He asks, shaking it to drain the water.

He moves over to the counter and soon after, Felix is setting down five bowls.

“You need to split them equally,” He says, peeking over the counter.

“Mhm,” Chan hums, already counting them out.

“One…” Felix mutters, carefully watching as Chan places the fruit in the bowls. “Two… three… four…” He strains on his tiptoes as he sees Chan pause. “Only four?” He tilts his head up to look at Chan, pouting.

“There’s only enough for everyone to have four, see?” He points to each bowl, naming each of the kids. “You, Jinnie, Innie, Sung, and Minnie, and then four for me.” He brings the carton off the counter so that Felix can see it.

Felix counts and then nods satisfied.

“Strawberry time!” He announces, reaching to grab a bowl. There are cheers as the others rush over to get their own.

Another picture finds its home on the corkboard in his studio, stained with pink fingerprints.

Saturdays are streaming days. Sundays are off limits since it’s the only day that all of them are off works (the older ones) or out of school (the younger ones) which logically only left Saturday. There are exceptions of course, when he’s free from classes and needs a break from school work.

This relatively regular schedule meant a relatively regular audience. His “Just Chatting” streams have somehow amassed a number of regulars. He branches out of course, occasionally playing a video game with some of his streamer friends or doing live production as a way to do both schoolwork and actual work.

He enjoys it. Enjoys entertaining and audience and connecting with people, no matter how seemingly para-social those connections seem.

However, because of his regularity and lovely audience he has rather embarrassingly created a brand for himself. A brand of a loving older brother who would kill for his siblings.

(This in itself isn’t particularly embarrassing, though there are moments when he watches clips back courtesy of his devoted clippers where he cringes, body and soul rejecting the fact that he loves those gremlins. Because no matter how cute they are, those kids can be a pain to parent sometimes.)

This brand (he regrets every decision that brought him here as he thinks of it) has led to some well beloved moments in his streams. That is: the time he gets to show off the creative genius of his brothers.

(The chat begs for it pretty consistently. Sometimes, Chan wonders if they’re there for him of for his brothers.)

This stream happens to contain one of those. He’d cycled out some of the art for some more recent pieces, meaning he was obliged to do a showcase and tell little anecdotes about them.

“This one,” He points to a picture of a sunset over the ocean. “Was one of his first attempts to follow a watercolour tutorial.” He chuckles. “He got the proper paper out and taped it down and then stole Min’s phone to watch it. He was probably half-way done before Min noticed it was missing and came storming into the kitchen yelling about it.”

He remembers how Hyunjin had been staring wide-eyed at the entrance to the kitchen and Minho stomped his way in, looking lost amongst the barrage of disgruntled yelling, only for it to cease the moment Minho say what he was doing. He remembers the pause of utter silence before Minho gave a definitive nod and said, “Carry on,” and then left.

“And then this one,” He points to the Juremi face. “Is named Juremi. He was actually invented by Min.” He frowns for a moment, thinking. “Actually, I’m not sure if Min drew that one or if Jinnie did.” He sits down and starts looking through chat.

"They're cute, aren't they?” Chan nods along, laughing at how the chat is cooing over Hyunjin. “My little bro is very talented," He turns back to look at the pictures hanging up, a fond smile on his face.

He turns back, glancing at the chat for any comments.

"Why do I keep them here?" He rephrases a question that catches his eye. He sits back and thinks for a moment. "One day, when he's a famous artist, I'll take out all the pictures and give them to him." He giggles at the thought. "I'm keeping them safe until then!"

He regrets saying it almost immediately, the chat now cooing over him rather than Hyunjin.

‘...’

‘your like a parent who keeps all their kids art projects lol’

‘not chan having more parent energy than mine ever did💀’

‘daddy? ❌ father? ✅’

‘...’

“Guys, oh my god,” He scrubs his face with his hand as the chat goes a bit crazy. “What should I do with you?”

School nights mean an attempt at early bedtimes. They’re about fifty percent successful, some nights putting the kids down at a reasonable hour and others, fighting a seemingly endless battle of emotions.

Some of these nights end in tears at all ends, even the older ones retiring as soon as possible. But more often than not, the three of them spend a few hours in the living room together before heading off to bed. It’s become somewhat of a habit, staying up and chatting for an hour or two no matter how tired they are.

This night is the first one in a while though. Work over the past few days had meant that they’d been getting later nights and all of them had been far to drained to even try to stay up longer than was strictly necessary.

“This is nice,” Minho sighs out, sinking into the couch, practically becoming a puddle in it. “I never want a six hour shift ever again.” He had picked up a couple hours for a friend at the restaurant he served at. The extra money was nice, but Chan had to agree with Minho. He hopes this doesn’t become a recurring thing.

Changbin plops down beside him while Chan takes the chair.

“I hope you never have to ever again,” Chan says, pulling up his legs so he’s sitting cross-legged.

“Yeah, yeah,” Minho waves him off. “As if you don’t take up every extra hour you can.”

Chan just shrugs. They need the money, he can work. It’s not really that much of a problem.

“Speaking of,” Changbin says, cutting through the brewing tension. They really don’t need this argument right now. “How did your stream go hyung?”

Minho perks up at that.

“Really well actually,” Chan smiles. “Got some new subscribers today. We also had a Jinnie’s Art Corner.”

Ever since Hyunjin had started drawing more, Chan had been collecting his art that he’d seemingly forget. He hangs them up in his studio mostly, though some do end up in a file holder for safe-keeping. When he started doing streams, some viewers would ask about the art handing up in the background, which led him to create Jinnie’s Art Corner. It was an opportunity to show off his brother’s work, which he adored.

The practice has thus expanded to other things, like Minho’s dance or Changbin’s songs, but Jinnie’s Art Corner remains a well loved highlight of the streams by both Chan and the viewers.

“Jinnie’s art? It’s been a while since I’ve seen any of his drawings,” Minho muses. “I wonder where he’s kept them. I doubt he’s thrown away any, but…”

“Do you even watch any of my streams?” Chan asks, voice filled with faux offence. Changbin sticks his tongue out at him.

“As if we’re free when you stream.”

Chan giggles. That’s sort of on purpose. He doubts he’d be able to stream at all if he new one of his brothers would be watching.

“But don’t worry about it!” He says. “Jinnie’s drawings are kept in a very safe place.” He feels the wide smile on his face.

“You’ve been keeping them?” Changbin asks.

“Yup! The Jinnie’s Art Corner is an opportunity to brag about my artist younger brother.” He says it with so much pride.

Minho snorts, a knowing smile on his face. Changbin gasps, affronted.

“Just about him!?”

Chan reaches over and ruffles Changbin’s hair roughly. “Of course I brag about my best little pabbit of a bro,” He says through clenched teeth. Changbin yells in offense but is immediately shushed by Minho.

“The kids are sleeping,” He reminds them, swatting the two of them.

“Wait, pause,” Changbin holds up a finger, drawing their attention. “You mean you have all of Jinnie’s artwork?”

Chan shrugs. “Sorta? I pick them up if I find them lying around. He has his sketchbook and stuff, but otherwise I’ve been collecting them and keeping them safe.”

“We should hang some on the fridge,” Changbin muses.

Keeping them very safe indeed.