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From the moment Jihoon stepped into the hotel holding Seungkwan and Chan’s hands, he knew this was going to be a very long three-day weekend.
“Daddy!” Seungkwan gasped as he looked around and tugged on Jihoon’s hand. “This place is really big! Look at how tall the ceiling is! It’s like five hundred metres tall!”
Chan gasped at his older brother’s observation and gripped onto his dinosaur stuffed animal tighter as he looked up and took in the scenery. “Hyung! This hotel is probably almost as big as a Brachiosaurus!”
“No, no, Chan!” Seungkwan said as he looked over at his little brother. “I think this hotel can fit an Apatosaurus inside of it!”
Jihoon sighed as he looked down and watched as his kids squealed at the thought of dinosaurs. He wasn’t exactly sure why they were so obsessed with such prehistoric reptiles, but he was never one to discourage their interest, no matter how offbeat it may seem. “C’mon, you guys, I still need to check in. His sons nodded as they dragged their petite luggages to the front desk where their father was checking his reservation.
“Wah! Hyung!” Chan nudged Seungkwan as he pointed out a guitar case that was almost as big as him. “It’s like the size of a baby Velociraptor!”
Seungkwan looked over as the two little boys watched an older male, probably around the age of their father, pick up the guitar and carry it over to the elevators. They kept an eye on him, watching as his bangs bounced with every step he took, his eyes focused on his phone, and his voice softly humming a tune before heading into the elevator.
“Alright you guys,” Jihoon sighed as he put his room key into his pocket and offered his hands out that were promptly held as he led them to the elevator. “We’re on the eighth floor.”
“Oh! That’s almost as tall as a Scutellosaurus!” His sons cheered as they kept bickering back and forth as to who would push the number eight button, which Chan had won for pressing the button without his hyung noticing.
“Daddy, Channie’s acting like a Raptor!”
Chan puffed his cheeks. “I am not!” He turns to Jihoon and frowns. “Daddy! Seungkwan hyung is being mean to me again!”
Jihoon groaned and tugged at their hands as the three exit the elevators. “Alright, enough fighting or we’re not watching Jurassic Park tonight.” They both whined, mumbling to themselves as Jihoon snickered and opened the door to their room.
It was an average sized room, two queen beds, that proved to be useless for the three of them as Seungkwan and Chan always crawled into Jihoon’s bed in the middle of the night, a desk, perfect for Jihoon to set up his laptop station, and a television on top of the tall cabinets that his sons were trying to reach to turn on.
He unpacked his backpack and pulled out his laptop and set it on the desk. Turning his back, Jihoon noticed that Seungkwan had already taken out all of his dinosaur plush toys as Chan was setting up the blankets and pillows as a prehistoric environment. He shook his head, sitting down at the rolling chair, that was notably more comfortable than his chair at home, and began working on his composition that he was to show at the convention tomorrow at his nine to three panel.
“Dad!” Seungkwan shouted as Chan continued to make growling and roaring sounds. “Can I explore the room a bit?”
Jihoon gave him a thumbs up of approval. “Just don’t wander outside of the room, okay?”
Seungkwan beamed and jumped off of the bed and started opening every possible door. He peaked his head into the bathroom and ooh-ed at how big the shower was compared to the small one in Jihoon’s studio-sized apartment. He went off and opened the closet doors, messing with the lock and accidentally setting it on which captured Chan’s attention.
“Hyung,” Chan whispered as he pointed at another door near the closet. “What is that?”
Seungkwan shrugged and grabbed his brother’s hand as he noticed how timid Chan seemed to be. He smiled at Chan and squeezed his hand before he unlocked the door, every now and then looking over at the desk to see that their father wasn’t looking.
Eventually, he managed to unlock the door. The two, with all of their might, opened the door and were surprised to see another door in front of them.
“Whoa,” Chan blinked. “Are we going into a new world or something?”
“What if we end up in the Mesozoic Era?”
Chan gasped. “Hyung!” he began to shake his older brother. “We have to open this door! I need to see dinosaurs up close!”
Fearing their dad would hear, Seungkwan covered his brothers mouth and complied. Surprisingly, the other door was already unlocked and he peaked inside and scoped around. It was the same setup as their hotel room, only mirrored. He gasped when he saw a guitar case on one of the beds and he nudged Chan. “Chan-ah! Lookie!”
Squeezing his head underneath, Chan blinked when he saw the guitar. “T-that’s the guitar from the lobby!”
They shared a gaze as they came up with the same conclusion. Checking to see that Jihoon was busy at his desk, they slowly opened the other door and walked into the room.
Noticing that nobody was there, they began to walk towards the guitar, slowly and quietly in case the older male they saw earlier was in the area. Seungkwan was brave enough to try to open the case, yelping when the clips sprang up when he pressed the center button.
“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice called out.
The two turned around, staring at the older male from the lobby.
He bent down onto his knee and waved at the boys who seemed scared out of their minds. “U-uh.. hi?”
“Please don’t tell daddy!” Seungkwan pleaded as he got on both of his knees, clasping his hands together and shaking them as he wailed.
“H-hyung..”
“Mister! We just wanted to see your guitar! And the door was open! And- and-”
“Seungkwan-ah! Chan-ah!” Jihoon’s voice called out as he just realized his kids were no longer in the room. “I thought I told you guys to--” He blinked as he realized that he had just step foot into the other’s hotel room. “Oh..”
“Uh.. hi..” the older one coughed, standing up as Chan was patting Seungkwan’s back trying to comfort him. “Y-you must be their dad, huh?” Jihoon responded with a quiet nod. “Ah, I’m Jisoo. Hong Jisoo.” He offered his hand out for a handshake and Jihoon delicately shook. “I realize this is probably.. really awkward for you..”
Jihoon shook out of his thoughts. “N-no! No! I’m sorry!” He went over to Seungkwan and Chan and knelt down at their eye level and began to wipe Seungkwan’s tears with his thumbs. “I thought I told you guys not to leave the room.”
Seungkwan sniffled. “S-sorry daddy.. but the door was open and I saw the guitar and…” He buried his face into Jihoon’s shoulder and continued to sob, Jihoon patting his back and constantly telling him that it was alright.
Jisoo felt a tug at his side and looked down to see Chan hugging his dinosaur plush. “Uh… Mr. Jisoo? Hyung and I really just wanted to see your guitar. That’s why we went over here.” He shuffled his feet shyly around as he squeezed the toy in his hand. “C-could you show us the guitar?”
Looking over to see Jihoon trying to calm Seungkwan down, Jisoo felt like the only reply to give the young boy was a yes. Chan squealed in happiness as he followed Jisoo over to the guitar case where the older lifted the case cover and pulled out a Grand Auditorium acoustic body guitar and sat down on the bed, making Chan giggle as he jumped up a bit on the mattress.
Seungkwan looked over and Jihoon carried him in his arms to sit in the other bed adjacent to Jisoo as he began tuning. His son eagerly sat on his lap and clapped his hands together before wiping his eyes on Jihoon’s jacket sleeves.
“You play?” Jihoon asked.
“Have been for almost ten years,” smiled Jisoo.
“Oh! Almost like you, daddy!” Chan exclaimed before quieting down when he saw Jisoo strum a chord. “Could you please play something for us Mr.Jisoo, sir?”
“Channie, you can’t just ask like that-”
“It’s fine, Jihoon,” Jisoo strummed his guitar again. He looked at how eager the kids were by their facial expressions. “How about we make a song?”
Seungkwan gasped. “You can do that?” Jisoo grinned and nodded as Seungkwan poked Jihoon’s cheeks. “Daddy can do that too!”
Surprised, Jisoo looked at Jihoon who was trying, with all his might, not to blush. “Is that so?”
Chan nodded and answered for his flustered father. “Mhmm! Daddy’s always composing when me and Hyung come back from school and goes back to work after he puts us to bed.”
Jihoon nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Y-yeah.. I’m here for a convention tomorrow. I have to show a new piece I’m working on to a company to see if they’ll hire me.
Jisoo blinked. “You’re here for a company too?” He sighed as he began to play a tune softly. “Yeah, I heard recording companies are here and I’m trying to get recognition. So far, I haven’t had any luck though.”
“Daddy can probably help you!”
“Yah! Lee Chan!”
“Daddy, it’s true!” Seungkwan added before turning to Jisoo. “He knows a lot of people! Maybe he can help!”
“What if you both end up working together?” Chan gasped, the younger two squealin as the adults averted eye contact.
Jisoo coughed to break the ice. “H-how about we discuss this later on tonight.. maybe dinner?” Jihoon smiled shyly and agreed. “But first, I think we should make a song…”
As if they were in their primary school classes, Seungkwan raised his hand, smiling widely when Jisoo called out his name. “Can you make a song about dinosaurs? Maybe one about the Spinosaurus!”
“Oh, yeah! That’s a good one hyung!”
The adults shared a gaze before snickering to each other, Jisoo nodding at the request. “Well… alright. I guess I can try that…”
“Mr.Jisoo, sir?” Chan dangled his leg off of the mattress as he looked up at Jisoo. “Can dinosaurs play the guitar.”
“Chan,” Jihoon sighed. “They--”
“They can’t play the guitar because their arms are too small,” Jisoo replied, taking Jihoon by surprise.
“Oh, yeah!” Seungkwan snaps his left hand. “That makes a lot of sense! Wah, Mr.Jisoo you’re so smart!”
“Yeah!” Chan giggled. “Now let’s make a song about how dinosaurs can’t play guitars.”
With a nod, Jisoo began to come up with a chord progression pattern, looking up at Jihoon and smiling at him as Chan and Seungkwan began to clap and sing along. Jihoon lightly bounced Seungkwan in his lap and started swaying along with the music, thinking that maybe working with Jisoo wasn’t such a bad future plan after all.