Chapter Text
11:47 pm— Seoul General Hospital, August 29th, 10 years in the future:
The waiting room is packed.
Not with strangers.
With hockey players.
7 hockey players and two tiny kids, to be exact. The same 7 hockey players who used to scream-sing karaoke on their team bus. The same 7 hockey players who used to terrorize hotels during their away games.
Except now they’re adults.
Well.
Sort of.
Chan, dressed in his best coaching suit, is pacing the hallway, 3-year-old Haru trailing behind him like a lost duckling.
Minho is trying to stop Daon from fussing.
It's hours past the 18 month-old's bedtime, and honestly, both Minho and Chan are surprised that neither Haru or her brother have had a meltdown yet.
Jisung is vibrating in his chair like a shaken soda can.
Hyunjin is furiously sketching in his sketchbook, fingers white-knuckled around his pencil.
Jeongin is bouncing his knee so hard the whole floor feels like it's shaking.
Seungmin is pretending to be unaffected, slowly pacing the perimeter of the room, headphones on, hands flapping.
Felix, bless that angel,is sitting beside Jisung, whispering: “Breathe, Sungie. He’s got doctors. It's not like he's going to deliver the baby himself.”
“BUT WHAT IF HE DOES?! What if it comes too fast and he has to—he has to—catch it! YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T TRUST CHANGBIN WITH CATCHING!!”
Felix: “Okay but... he did used to catch all of your shit passes our rookie year so....”
“THAT IS DIFFERENT. THE BABY IS ALIVE, LIX!”
Minho puts a hand on his chest. “He’s got it. It’s Changbin. He could bench press this entire OB ward if he wanted to."
Chan lets out a huff, lifting Haru onto his hip, "I feel like I was less nervous than this when Haru and Daon were born."
Jeongin snickered behind his hands, "Maybe it's because we know this baby is gonna be a terror."
"It's Changbin-hyung's," Hyunjin murmured, eyes never leaving his sketchbook, "There's no possibility that he won't be."
***
Finally, after 5 hours of waiting, the nurse peeks her head into the waiting room.
“You can come in now. He’s here. A beautiful baby boy."
And just like that… they all freeze.
It hits in waves.
This is real.
Changbin has a son.
Their scary, intimidating, soft-hearted enforcer hyung has a son.
Felix grips Jisung’s hand.
Seungmin visibly swallows, hands slowing to a stop at his sides.
Hyunjin’s breath hitches as he scrambles to put his sketchbook away.
Jeongin mutters a soft, “whoa” under his breath like the Earth just tilted on its axis.
Chan and Minho look at each other over their babies' heads, eyes saying everything all at once.
They file in slowly, quietly, reverently.
And there he is.
Changbin.
Messy-haired, eyes red-rimmed, glowing, emotional, and holding the tiniest, warmest bundle any of them have ever seen.
His wife, Minjae—whose personality is normally firey enough to keep Changbin in line— is asleep in the hospital bed, her face turned toward them in peace.
And nestled against his chest: a baby.
The Tiniest little fists, clenched against his appa's chest.
Round cheeks.
A little knitted hat on his head.
“Hey, boys.” Changbin whispers. “Say hi to Seo Minchan.”
***
Silence.
Pin-drop silence.
Jisung gasps like he’s been punched in the stomach.
Felix’s eyes immediately fill with tears.
Hyunjin covers his face with his hands and pretends his shoulder's aren't shaking.
Jeongin freezes, mid-step, mouth falling open.
Seungmin says “holy shit" under his breath and then turns away too fast.
Chan blinks. Hard.
Minho clears his throat.
"After... after us?"
Changbin nods, beaming. “Yeah, hyung. After you. We used the same characters for Chan (燦) and Min (旻). The first people who ever believed in me. I want him to grow up to be just like you."
Minho immediately hides a sob in Daon's back.
Haru worriedly wipes at her dad's face with her tiny palm as tears begin to stream down Chan's cheeks.
Jisung is openly sobbing now. “I’M NOT OKAY. I’M SO NOT OKAY.”
Felix buries his face in Jisung’s shoulder, shaking with silent cries.
Hyunjin, who was doing a pretty good job pretending to hold himself together, just sinks to the floor.
Jeongin mutters, “Okay, he wins. He wins the emotions game. I can’t top this. Stupid Binnie-hyung.”
Seungmin, red-eyed and fidgeting, “We are all… absolutely pathetic.”
Chan walks forward last. He crouches beside the bed, one hand resting over Changbin’s.
He looks at the baby—the baby named after him and his husband—and something in him shatters and remakes itself all at once.
“Hi,” he whispers, voice cracking. “Hi, Seo Minchan-ah. You’re gonna have the best dad. And 7 of the loudest uncles in the world. But you're gonna get used to it, okay? Welcome to the team, baby boy. We're all so happy that you're here.”
***
They’re all sniffling messes.
Felix is wiping everyone’s faces with baby wipes.
Hyunjin’s eyeliner is half gone.
Jisung is laying flat on the hospital couch, recovering.
Jeongin and Seungmin are arguing over who’s better godfather material while holding hands and pretending they’re not.
Minho has his arm around Chan, both of them winded like they'd just been hit by a truck.
“I swear to god.” Minho says, stroking Haru's hair, “if our next kid is another boy, and you suggest naming him Changbin, I will riot.”
Chan snorts, wiping his eyes with Daon's drool rag. “And you’re the one who calls me chaotic.”
Haru sleepily mumbles from Minho’s chest, “Daddy is chaotic. Like Daon.”
They both laugh.
And from inside the room, they hear the soft, angelic cries of baby Minchan—welcomed into the world with his first lullaby.
Changbin humming a warm, off-key version of the team’s old goal song.
A team of 8, now a little older and a little bigger.