Work Text:
The light emanating from his phone screen is all it takes to rouse Wooyoung from sleep. Squinting at the sudden assault on his vision, he grabs the device from his nightstand and brings it nearly to his nose to read the multiple notifications that are rapidly popping up.
Cousin Eunji
-Oppa I’m so sorry but I need to drop Sujinnie off with you until your parents get back!
-Eomma had a small accident and we’re taking her to the ER.
-I’m on my way to the building, let me know when it’s okay to come up. I don’t wanna get tased by your doorman or something.
Wooyoung shoots up in bed, suddenly wide awake. His heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest. Both from worry for his cousin and aunt, but also because his best kept secret is about to come walking through the doors at 1 o’clock in the morning.
Me
Of course Eunji-yah! Bring my girl here-
Keep me updated on auntie!-
At her confirmation text that the two are already outside and walking up, Wooyoung leaps out of bed. He runs a hand through his disheveled hair and throws a few pieces of clothes in the hamper in the corner just to do something with his nervous energy. He can smell his own strawberry scent gaining a sharp sweetness to it, and he hopes Sujin’s pup nose won’t be able to pick up on his own mounting stress.
Wooyoung is a fairly open guy. He shares everything with his group members and has enjoyed the successes and struggles over the past 6 years. But there’s one thing he’s kept from them. One thing that only his family members who were there know.
The guys know Sujin as Wooyoung’s adorable seven-year-old sister. What they don’t know is that she’s actually Wooyoung’s biological daughter, born when he was 18 years old.
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Wooyoung is already standing at the door before the knock comes, able to smell his pup’s excitement from down the hallway. It brings a smile to his face despite the circumstance and all he wants to do is pull her into his arms and never let go.
“Hi puppy,” he coos quietly, “Your oppas are sleeping so we have to be quiet, okay?” she nods her head and folds herself into his body, tucking her head into his neck to scent him lightly. She won’t present for a few more years so she still smells faintly of milk and has the lingering sweetness of Wooyoung’s own scent threaded into her skin. Luckily no one else has picked up on that little fact yet, as they’re never close enough to scent her.
Eunji looks a little frazzled and stressed herself, so with a small thank you and a kiss on the cheek he sends her away to make sure her mother’s okay.
Once the door is shut and locked, Wooyoung starts ushering Sujin into his bedroom, but the sound of a door opening makes his heart stutter.
“Wooyoungie?” Hongjoong asks sleepily, and Wooyoung suppresses a curse. Out of all the nights for Hongjoong to be home in bed at a reasonable time it had to be tonight. “Go back to sleep hyung,” Wooyoung tries, but clearly Sujin has different plans as she pokes her head around Wooyoung’s bigger form to smile shyly at Hongjoong.
“Sujinnie?” Hongjoong asks, leaning forward and rubbing his eyes like he’s seeing things. It’s a little comical, but a justified response to suddenly seeing a 7 year old in the dorm in the middle of the night.
“Family emergency,” is what Wooyoung supplies cryptically “She’ll be staying with me for the next day or so until my parents are back in town.”
Hongjoong nods in understanding and smiles warmly at Sujin, his comforting alpha scent subconsciously making Wooyoung relax “Make yourself at home kiddo.”
Sujin tugs on his arm “Can we go to sleep now?”
Wooyoung clicks his tongue and smiles fondly “Of course baby, but only if you brush your teeth first.” With the most dramatic eye roll of the century, Sujin stomps her way to the bathroom. Hongjoong chuckles as she closes the door, careful to shut it quietly despite her previous dramatics.
“She’s a little spitfire,” Hongjoong turns to Wooyoung “She’s like your tiny clone.”
Wooyoung chuckles nervously, fiddling with the hem of his shirt as he feels Hongjoong’s gaze on him in the dark hallway “What can I say? She takes after the best.”
Hongjoong hums noncommittally “Tomorrow we have a light schedule so it should be fine if Sujin comes, but she might be bored.”
“Nah, she’ll be okay, trust me.” Wooyoung reassures him. Hongjoong shrugs and disappears back into his room to get a few more hours of sleep. Sujin returns from the bathroom a few moments later and Wooyoung lets her crawl into his bed. It’s not often he gets to sleep next to his pup and know for certain she’s safe at night, so despite everything he won’t take this for granted.
“Everything smells like you eomma,” she mutters, rooting around in his sheets to get comfy “the scent at halmeoni’s is almost gone.” Wooyoung’s heart squeezes painfully and he swallows to clear the sudden lump in his throat “I know sweetie I’m sorry, I’ve been trying to get home to see you but I haven’t been able to get any time off yet. Eomma will try harder, okay?”
A small “Okay” breaks his heart further, because even though she’s upset about him not being home much, she still snuggles into the safety of his arms.
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Wooyoung wakes to an elbow in his ribs. One thing he doesn’t miss about co-sleeping is having to dislodge limbs from odd places. He rolls out of the bed, careful not to disturb his slumbering daughter.
Quickly gathering some clothes, he figures he has about 10 minutes to shower and change before she realizes he’s gone and goes wandering. One thing he never had to learn when moving into a dorm with 7 other people is how to take fast showers. Being a parent taught him that immediately.
He’s toweling off when the door opens. Generally the members knock before barging in, so he knows who it is even before he smells her.
“Wait Sujin you can’t go in there-” Wooyoung hears Jongho calling out, but he’s resolutely ignored. He birthed this child, she doesn’t care the state he’s in if she needs something. Whether he’s asleep, in the shower, on the toilet , it wouldn’t matter to her if she needs something.
“Can you make me breakfast?”
Wooyoung snorts “Would it be okay with the princess if her humble servant gets dressed first?”
Sujin seems to consider this for a moment, and the serious expression on her face almost makes Wooyoung laugh. “I guess so,” she pouts cutely, crossing her arms against the faded logo of one of Wooyoung’s old t-shirts that she’s temporarily using as a nightgown.
He throws on his clothes and runs the towel through his hair to soak up the moisture. No way he’ll have time for anything but an air dry and a baseball cap today.
As soon as they leave the bathroom. Wooyoung is met with the smell of cooking food, and he can hear sizzling and clanking utensils coming from the kitchen. Seonghwa smiles brightly at the two of them when they round the corner.
“I heard we had a special guest today,” Seonghwa whispers conspiratorially to Sujin “any idea where they might be?” he asks playfully, sending a wink in Wooyoung’s direction as he plates up the food. The younger man sags in relief and gratitude. He would have made anything his baby girl asked for, but it’s nice to have the support, even if the others don’t know how much it actually means to him.
Sujin giggles, loud and unrestricted at Seonghwa’s teasing. A smile creeps up on Wooyoung’s face as he watches the older omega interact with his daughter “ I’m the special guest Hwa Oppa!”
Seonghwa tilts his head in mock confusion “Oh really? So I guess this plate is for you then?” Sujin reaches her arms out, making grabby hands at the plate “Gimme gimme!”
“Sujin,” Wooyoung warns, raising an eyebrow “What do we say?”
The little girl puckers her lips and turns her round eyes back to Seonghwa, “Thank you Hwa Oppa,” she says in a tiny, but polite voice “Can I please have my food?” Wooyoung nods his head in a pleased manner when she finishes asking. They’ve been working hard on remembering manners ever since she started school.
Seonghwa coos softly and leans down instinctively to scent the top of her head. Wooyoung knows it’s an Omegan instinct but he still stiffens when he gets close, worried that he’s going to be able to tell that she’s his through scent alone. Seonghwa has always been a sharp one.
“Such a polite pup,” Seonghwa says, oblivious to Wooyoung’s growing anxiousness “Of course you can have it, I made it for you after all.”
“I knew it!”
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
After breakfast, Wooyoung explains the schedule as he braids Sujin’s hair.
First, they have to go to the recording studio so they can add some adlibs for the upcoming title track. Then, they have a meeting scheduled with some of the suits to discuss the details of their next trip abroad. Lastly, they have dance practice. Sujin will probably enjoy that one most since she’s been enrolled in pre-school ballet.
“Does that sound like something you can handle sunshine?” Wooyoung asks gently, snapping the elastics into place on her twin fishtail braids.
Sujin nods passionately “You can count on me ‘ma!”
Wooyoung smiles at her enthusiasm, and secretly tucks a few snacks and a spare coloring book into his backpack. He knows he’ll need them later for when the boredom inevitably eats at her.
He catches Hongjoong in the hallway on their way out. He almost laughs at the mirror image it poses to last night.
“You headed to the studio too?” Hongjoong asks, Wooyoung nods and grabs Sujins hand to guide her out the door “Great!” Hongjoong beams, “We can all ride together.”
Sujin perks up at this information.
“Car with Joongie! Car ride with Joongie!” She chants down the hallway, and Wooyoung pinches the bridge of his nose in fond exasperation. Hongjoong turns to him sheepishly “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get her riled up.”
Wooyoung scoffs “Oh Kim Hongjoong,” he tuts in mock pity “Just wait for hurricane Sujin to blow through, you haven’t seen riled up yet.”
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Phase One: Recording Studio
Three weary travelers shuffle into the studio. Two of them share glances back and forth, mild headaches already forming even through their amused smiles. One of them bursts through the door like she owns the place, singing her rendition of “under the sea”, her favorite song from The Little Mermaid.
“Sujinnie,” Wooyoung croons, grabbing her attention. The pup tilts her head cutely at her mother’s call “I have to record now, do you think you can listen to Joongie oppa while I’m gone?”
“Yea!”
Wooyoung smiles and tucks a stray curl behind her ear. He turns to Hongjoong, “If she gets too rambunctious I have some coloring books, but she’s pretty curious so she might like it if you explain what all the programs do.” Hongjoong nods and ushers the little girl into one of the chairs next to him.
Wooyoung slips into the booth and puts the headphones on. He records the harmonies and adlibs as directed, but he knows he’s distracted. His eyes keep wandering through the window to check on his daughter.
Sometime within the last few minutes, Mingi had stopped by. He can see the forms of Mingi and Sujin playing some kind of hand clapping game. His eyes narrow when he notices that Sujin is standing on top of a chair, one that seems to swivel back and forth with every movement.
Sujin barely pitches forward, Mingi’s larger hands already reaching to steady her, but Wooyoung has already flown out of the booth. His heart dropped somewhere between the door and the desk where Hongjoong is sitting.
“Sujin!” He scolds, reaching forward to snatch her from the chair and cradle the confused girl in his arms, “You know better than to stand on things like that!”
The stress in Wooyoung’s voice and the swiftness with which he grabbed her must have scared her, because as soon as her lower lip wobbles, the tears are quick to follow.
“I’m s-sorry eomma,” she cried, sniffling as she buries her wet face into his neck, inhaling his scent.
Wooyoung’s heart clenches “It’s okay darling,” he soothes, rubbing her back and smoothing down her frizzy hair “I didn’t mean to scare you, but you have to be more careful, okay?”
Sujin nods and her breathing slows. The tears come to a halt as both mother and daughter get their emotions back under control.
Wooyoung clears his throat, suddenly remembering their silent audience. “Why don’t you go play with uncle Mingi? I’m sure he wants to finish that game y’all were playing earlier.”
Mingi jumps right back in like nothing was amiss “Yeah Jinnie! I can teach you so many others too. Why don’t you go get some juice with Hongjoong and we can start when you get back?” Mingi suggests and Hongjoong jumps at the opportunity. His alpha instincts screaming at him to provide for both the stressed omega and the sad pup.
When the two leave, Wooyoung slips back into the booth. Mingi at the desk this time.
“By the way,” Mingi asks conversationally into the mic “Why am I uncle but everyone else is oppa?”
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Phase Two: Meeting with Suits Marketing Team
After the studio debacle, Wooyoung was nervous to take Sujin into this meeting. He wasn’t nervous that she would cause a scene, now he was more nervous about himself.
It’s cruel to ask him to suppress his instincts around his own child. Even crueler to ask his daughter to suppress hers . All because he’d been too cowardly to broach the topic in all his years with the team and the company.
He’s sure Hongjoong and Mingi have their suspicions by now, and he knows that Seonghwa is aware something more is going on. Maybe he just needs to let them figure it out.
Baby steps, right?
By the time Sujin and Wooyoung show up to the conference room she’s pretty subdued. Wooyoung can tell it’s getting time for her to take a small cat nap.
With any luck, this meeting will bore her to sleep and she’ll be down until practice later. It sure bores him half to sleep.
Wooyoung places Sujin in his lap for this meeting, as there aren’t enough spare chairs to go around. Plus, the thought of putting her in her own chair makes his heart stop a little in his chest. The sheer power she’d have would make his hair fall out.
He pulls out some coloring sheets and crayons and places them next to his own packet he’s received about their upcoming partnerships with brands abroad.
“Look sunshine,” Wooyoung whispers, pointing to her papers next to his “You’re official just like me.” Sujin giggles and leans forward, snatching the crayon to focus on coloring the fairy in front of her.
About halfway through the meeting, Wooyoung feels Sujin wiggle, and to his horror he realizes she’s sliding down his lap and underneath the table.
His spine snaps straight, his eyes darting back and forth to see where she might pop up. He feels like Quint waiting to see when Jaws is going to shoot out of the water.
He finds her through Seonghwa, whose eyes nearly explode out of their sockets at the sight to his left.
Sujin has crawled her way up into Hongjoong’s lap, and settled there like a cat laying the warmest of sunbeams. Her eyes have fluttered shut against his chest, and Wooyoung’s heart leaps at the cute sight of his daughter and pseudo pack alpha.
Hongjoong, to his credit, didn’t flinch. He merely welcomed her like it was the most normal thing in the world to him.
Maybe, Wooyoung thinks privately, at some point it could be.
By the time the meeting ended, Sujin was in between the place of sleep and consciousness. Wooyoung could tell she was fighting it, and with a little magic, he hoped he could get her to settle for at least half an hour.
“Sujinnie,” Wooyoung coos, gathering her from Hongjoong’s arms and tucking her against his chest. He sends the older man a grateful look, but is waved off.
“Ready to go to sleep puppy?” Wooyoung asks softly, purring just enough to comfort her small frame. She curls into him like a koala and sighs “ ‘m tired eomma” she says sleepily.
Wooyoung sways her back and forth down the hallway. Mingi graciously offered his studio for nap time and Wooyoung thanked him with a kiss on the cheek that was promptly batted away.
He settles her on the couch in Mingi’s private studio, then after a moment of deliberation, slides in next to her.
His members know where he’s at. If they really need him they’ll come looking, but he won’t pass up the opportunity to have a moment of peace with his daughter.
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Phase Three: Dance Practice
Someone did end up having to come find him, as he woke to Seonghwa gently shaking him awake so that he could come to practice.
He apologized for disappearing but Seonghwa merely smiled and said that none of them minded.
Now, in the mirrored space of the practice room, he kind of wishes he hadn’t let Sujin sleep so much. She’s running around like an absolute banshee , chasing every member as she tries to take out their legs.
“WOOYOUNG-” Jongho pants, hands dropping to his knees as he hunches over in exhaustion “How is this fair? There’s only 8 of us!”
Wooyoung cackles madly and scoops Sujin right off her feet “I GOT YOU!” he declares, tickling her sides as she shrieks and wiggles to get away.
He lets Sujin hang from arm like she’s an accessory, both of them panting and giggling “I told you hyung,” he addresses Hongjoong “Hurricane Sujin is unstoppable,” he flips her upside down to dangle her by her feet “but she’s so cute!”
“EOMMA PUT ME DOWN IM DIZZY” she laughs loudly, small snorts punctuating her command as she wriggles like a worm on a hook.
Wooyoung is too busy beaming at his daughter to notice the small smiles his members share at the sight.
Suddenly, the door to the practice room flies open, shattering the happy atmosphere “Wooyoung?” one of their managers hesitantly pokes his head in “Your parents are here to pick up your sister.”
It’s like being doused in cold water. Eventually, reality sets in, and all you’re left with is soaking wet clothes.
˖ . ݁𝜗𝜚. ݁₊
Phase Three Point Five: Eomma
Sujin looks at him with wide eyes and he can tell a meltdown is not far behind. She clearly wasn’t expecting them to be separated so soon, and to be honest, neither was he.
He feels like a failure. He hasn’t juggled this life the way he’s wanted. He has two dreams, one he’s achieving with his members and one he’s achieving with his daughter, and he must figure out how to balance both without sacrificing the other.
“I don’t wanna go,” Sujin declares stubbornly, eyes already misting over with unshed tears “I wanna stay with you ‘ma” she pleads. Something in Wooyoung breaks and his throat tightens, eyes beginning to sting as he takes in his daughter’s trembling form.
“I know baby,” he says, voice catching as he struggles to remain composed. “But I promise I’ll come see you this weekend, okay?” He doesn’t care what schedules or commitments he breaks in the process.
Sujin has fully started crying and Wooyoung lets a few tears slip down his cheeks as he cradles his baby girl. He sees his mom peek around the corner, smiling sadly at the sight of them.
Wooyoung sniffs and hastily wipes his wet cheeks, if she sees him crying that will set her off even more. “For now you can have fun with grandma and grandpa, I’m sure they brought you presents back from their trip…” Wooyoung trails off mischievously, trying to get her excited again.
It does the trick and Sujin turns excitedly to her grandmother, tugging on her skirt to ask if she has anything “special” for her.
Before she leaves, she runs back and throws her little arms around Wooyoung’s neck, nuzzling her face against his cheek, “Love you eomma”, she says sweetly, before bouncing off with Wooyoung’s mom, chattering her ear off about their day.
As soon as the door shuts, Wooyoung collapses, a harsh sob making its way out of his throat.
Seonghwa is already there, arms waiting to grab him and hold him steady. To be his anchor when he feels adrift. From every side he feels his members gathering around him, their comforting scents drowning out his grieving one.
They know. They’ve known.
He doesn’t need to say anything, just needs to let himself feel. The loss, the hurt, the love. Today, he’ll grieve everything he missed due to his own fears. Tomorrow, he’ll hold her hand tight and step into the sun.