Work Text:
It was a beautiful day outside, the birds were chirping and it felt like the sun was singing a happy tune as Jaebum woke up. He had a rough life after his girlfriend left him with their only child, she claimed she had bigger better things to do than to waste her life away with a child but Jaebum already knew she was not ready to be a mother.
However, that didn’t mean he was ready to be a father either.
Yugyeom was a tough kid to take care of and he made it even harder as he grew up, at first when the baby couldn’t walk it was easy for Jaebum to fix up some formula and feed it to his baby but once Yugyeom grew out of formula and grew into chasing nonexistent objects around the apartment things became a bit more difficult for Jaebum to handle.
At first he looked for help within the family and called in his younger cousin, Choi Youngjae, as backup to help with chores around the house and waking Yugyeom when he had to go to work. This worked out until Youngjae went into college and claimed he didn’t have the time to watch Yugyeom anymore and it made matters a hell of a lot worse for Jaebum.
Then he went towards his friends and looked for the assistance of Wang Jackson, one of his college friends, to help watch Yugyeom when he went to work but that only lasted a year as Jackson won a grand promotion and bid everyone goodbye as he left for Hong Kong to help run the business over back in his homeland.
Now, Jaebum decided to finally seek outside help and went straight to a babysitter website.
“Daddy, what are you doing?” Yugyeom asked as Jaebum typed away the requirements he wants for his child so that he could find the best match for the job.
“I’m trying to find you a new friend to watch over you when I have to go to work.” Jaebum spoke nicely and pat Yugyeom on the head. Yugyeom smiled at that and looked up at what Jaebum was writing.
“Make sure he likes video games and candy; also make sure he allows me seconds on food I like!” Yugyeom suggested and Jaebum couldn’t help but laugh. Of course his silly six year old would want all of the things Jaebum was not looking for in a babysitter.
“How about someone who finally tells you to clean your room!” Jaebum jokingly shouted; Yugyeom shook his head rapidly while shouting, “No!” before he ran away to his room as if to protect it from outside forces.
Jaebum chuckled and went back to his search. He looked through a number of possible candidates until he finally spotted a Park Jinyoung and looked at his profile. The boy was the same age as Jaebum and even had college experience; however the boy was unemployed and was looking for something to help him until he could find a steady job. It wasn’t completely ideal, but Jaebum liked the honesty in the profile and liked that this man was the same age as himself, it showed that maybe he could make a friend out of his exchange as well.
It also said on the profile that Park Jinyoung was a cleaning freak and acted like a mom a lot of the times which was a need for Yugyeom since he didn’t have a mom growing up.
“Perfect.” Jaebum whispered and clicked the number into his phone. He hoped the man wasn’t already taken by some other single parent seeking his assistance.
He felt a bit nervous as the phone rang a few times and he almost wanted to hang up at least twice until the phone finally connected and he heard a, “Hello?”
“Hello!” Jaebum shouted then calmed his voice down, “My name is Im Jaebum, I’m looking for a babysitter and your profile is the perfect match.”
“Oh,” Jinyoung spoke quietly as if thinking about the offer, “I’ve been waiting for someone to finally call me I’m just surprised to hear a male’s voice on the other end.” He chuckled softly and Jaebum had to admit that Jinyoung had a pretty smooth voice.
“Ah yeah, girlfriend left me with our kid and I’ve been trying my best to provide the best care for him.” Jaebum explained and scratched the back of his head out of nervousness. “Would you be up for the challenge?”
“Of course!” Jinyoung accepted in a more excited tone, “When can we meet?”
“Tomorrow works for me, it’s my only other day off besides today and I can text you the address to a place close to my apartment.” Jaebum stated with a smile, he was glad the conversation went as smoothly as it did and he was excited for Jinyoung’s excitement.
“Works for me; just text me all of the information plus a picture of yourself so I know who I’m looking for.” Jinyoung confirmed and soon the phone conversation ended and Jaebum was punching in all of the information needed for the next day as well as sending him a quick selca to show who he was.
He was a bit nervous but really he was more excited.
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Im Jaebum was beyond nervous when he stepped into the café close to his apartment. He had a hard time sleeping the night before but he knew this was the best for Yugyeom. Yugyeom was also a bit nervous as he held his dad’s hand in the café hopelessly looking around to see if anyone looked like his new babysitter. Jaebum squeezed his hand in comfort and went to order a small drink for him and his kid before sitting down and waiting for Park Jinyoung to come through the door.
During this time he reviewed the profile of the baby sitter and looked at the photo a few times to make sure he could recognize him when he walked through the door. He didn’t expect to find someone so close to his age but he was happy to have found someone who had good enough rates to keep him from becoming broke. “Daddy, is my new baby sitter going to be nice?” Yugyeom asked innocently and Jaebum couldn’t help but chuckle and pat his son’s head.
“He is going to be the nicest one ever!” Jaebum exclaimed and looked up to see the person he was just complimenting.
And boy was he surprised.
Those pictures did not do the boy justice as Jaebum looked up at Park Jinyoung. This boy looked absolutely stunning and it made Jaebum almost doubt that this would be the right person for the job as there should be a law against men this beautiful working as a simple baby sitter.
“Hello, are you Im Jaebum?” Jinyoung asked in that smooth voice that Jaebum had heard over the phone.
Jaebum was too stunned to actually answer as Yugyeom pipped up, “Yep! That’s my dad!”
Jinyoung turned to Yugyeom at this point and smiled a smile that Jaebum never wanted to see leave his face. “And you must be Yugyeom?” Yugyeom nodded in response and smiled at Jinyoung.
“You must be Jinyoung! Can I call you hyung?” Yugyeom asked in pure innocence that Jinyoung couldn’t help but ruffle his hair and nod to the child. “You can call me whatever you want Yugyeom.” He responded which made Yugyeom doubly as happy.
“It is nice meeting you.” Jaebum finally spoke and stood up to properly greet Jinyoung.
“It is nice to meet you too, Jaebum. I’m glad I got to meet you in person, you look better than your picture.” Jinyoung responded and reached out to shake his hand. Jaebum responded to it and took his hand firmly to shake it.
Growing up Jaebum really didn’t have a huge interest in guys and really only stuck to girls in high school. After he got together with the girlfriend of whom had Yugyeom he had stayed single to take care of the child and make sure that his son was first.
However, looking at Jinyoung, Jaebum had to rethink about his sexuality as he couldn’t help but stare at how stunning Jinyoung looked.
He tried to snap out of it and keep the interest of his son in mind but he already knew the guy was hired the second that he interacted with Yugyeom.
And thus started Jinyoung’s job as the baby sitter for the dear young Yugyeom.
Thankfully, Jaebum didn’t have to see Jinyoung much as he handed off the keys to his apartment to Jinyoung and told him the exact times when he needed to be there for Yugyeom and to leave when he got home from work. Yugyeom went to school in the morning and only needed to be watched from two in the afternoon to around five-thirty when Jaebum would get home, but in those few hours Jinyoung and Yugyeom bonded exponentially well. Jinyoung would pick Yugyeom up from school on those days since Jaebum didn’t like his child walking home alone and Jinyoung was glad to do it as a part of his job with no complaints whatsoever.
Finally after a few months of babysitting Jinyoung proposed an idea of staying for dinner and cooking something for Jaebum as a special thanks for giving him this job. Yugyeom was on board with the idea completely as he loved his new hyung and really wanted his dad to spend time with him as well. Yugyeom told Jinyoung all of Jaebum’s favorite dishes and completely surprised Jaebum when he came home to an already cooked meal and a very happy son.
“Wow!” Jaebum exclaimed as he walked into his kitchen with Yugyeom already by his side and Jinyoung in a nice apron at the stove. Jaebum had been trying really hard to avoid Jinyoung since the first day since he couldn’t help but think about him in a way that was highly inappropriate and seeing him acting so well with his son made it even worse.
“I wanted to surprise you!” Yugyeom shouted and ran over to Jinyoung. “Hyung wanted to help too, we wanted to thank you for working so hard.” Yugyeom smiled brightly and pushed Jinyoung towards his dad. “I’ll wait in my room as you two do some grown up talking.”
Jinyoung and Jaebum were completely speechless as Yugyeom bolted out of the room but not before giving Jinyoung a special wink. Jinyoung brightened up and looked at Jaebum with a sense of shock. Yugyeom had mentioned a few times during the last few months that Jinyoung should get to know his dad but he didn’t think Yugyeom was being so serious.
“So, uh, what do you want to talk about?” Jaebum asked finally and sat at the table with a plate of food already in front of him.
“I, uh, well, how was work?” Jinyoung responded and sat down as well with his plate. He was extremely nervous but didn’t know what else to say. He originally thought that Jaebum was attractive but didn’t think much else since he knew Jaebum had a child and most likely was not seeking out a male.
“It was a bit stressful, my work load has been becoming a lot harder but I’m happy that I have less to worry about at home. You work wonders on Yugyeom and he absolutely loves you, he is a lot more behaved and does his chores without even being prompted.” Jaebum explained as he picked up some of his food with his chopsticks and took in a mouthful when he was done talking.
Jinyoung couldn’t help but smile at his work but really it was only because Yugyeom liked him so much. “You have a wonderful kid, Yugyeom really took to me and there are times where he tells me that I should just be his mom.” He laughed at it but stopped immediately when he saw the blush on Jaebum’s face.
“He wants you to be his mom?” Jaebum asked as if to make sure. Jinyoung nodded in silence; scared that he might have said the wrong thing. “Look, I know that this might seem kind of weird but, would you want to go on a date with me and Yugyeom this weekend?” It felt like Jaebum was taking a leap of faith by asking this question, but he couldn’t help but see so much potential in Jinyoung. It took a while for Jaebum to really acknowledge his attraction for Jinyoung but when it finally set in he just couldn’t help but ponder about the idea of being with the guy. His only reasoning was that there was no way a guy that stunning would be interested in other guys let alone a single father.
“S-Sure.” Jinyoung stuttered but nodded as a blush spread across his cheeks. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Finally! I knew my plan would work!” Yugyeom shouted from the hallway but quickly bolted away to his room before Jaebum could yell at him in embarrassment.
He never knew he would find a relationship behind his need of a baby sitter but he definitely knew one thing for sure; he was going to have to find a baby sitter to replace Jinyoung when he decide to do a little more on their dates that aren’t exactly PG.