Work Text:
wonwoo has waited all year for this moment.
he bought annual passes to the local aquarium just last week, and now that he’s taken his accumulated vacation days for the holidays, there’s nothing stopping him from spending as much time with mingyu as he wants. he can’t wait to spend every moment with his baby. he’ll sit through a dozen traffic jams commuting to work if it means he gets to see the way mingyu’s face lights up at his favorite place in the world.
“daddy! daddy, look at my shirt!” the little cries, tugging on his shirt so wonwoo will look at the sharks printed on it.
“i see it, baby sprout, i see it. can you finish putting on your jacket for me?”
mingyu huffs but thankfully listens, shoving his arm into the sleeve of his light jacket as he whines, “but i don’t need it! ‘s not that cold out.”
wonwoo smiles to himself. it really isn’t that cold, and it’s more than likely that the aquarium itself will be unbearably warm, but there’s no way wonwoo is going to take chances when they’ll be spending any time outside. he doesn’t want his baby to get cold or, god forbid, catch a cold while wonwoo takes a thousand adorable pictures of him in front of the cute dolphin statues in front of the building.
“daddy’s just making sure. you don’t want to wear earmuffs and gloves too, do you?”
mingyu slams his hands over his ears and whines, “no!”
wonwoo cups mingyu's soft cheeks in his hands and peppers his face with kisses, even as the little scrunches his nose. “i’m teasing you. let’s go, yeah?”
it’s a weekday, and thankfully, the local school system is still in session, so the crowd is manageable. wonwoo ends up spending ten minutes taking pictures of and with mingyu outside before they finally go in. it feels nice to walk past the regular guest line with their passes, and wonwoo can tell it’s a luxury he won’t want to give up now that he has it. not with how often they end up here.
they make it through the entrance and into the grand atrium. it’s dim but colorful, large screens playing videos and soft, color-changing lights accenting the walls. it's sporadically decorated with sparkling holiday tinsel. mingyu skips forward, looking up at the lights.
wonwoo panics at how quickly the little drifts from his side. it seems ridiculous that mingyu is over six feet tall and wonwoo still worries he’ll vanish from his sight like a real child, but he knows that if the regressor can’t find him, he’ll be anxious just like one.
wonwoo catches up to him, slipping his hand into his. “mingyu, baby, hold my hand,” he reminds him. “i don’t want you getting lost.”
“‘kay daddy,” he replies softly enough that no one hears.
“remember your rules, too,” wonwoo chides. they've agreed on not using 'daddy' in public for discretion, but mingyu sometimes finds it difficult to resist.
mingyu pouts. “but what if i only say it quietly?”
wonwoo doesn’t trust mingyu to keep anything quiet. he’s as clumsy with his words as he is everything else. “no, you shouldn’t. we want to be careful.”
“please?”
wonwoo sighs and lets himself be pulled to the first exhibit.
he watches mingyu giggle and grin at every tank under the blue light. he takes pictures of him, dozens of them, even though he already has hundreds just like them. no two pictures are the same, and wonwoo will never tire of the dreamy look in mingyu’s eyes as he gazes at the fish.
they take a few extra minutes in front of the tropical tank of coral and tiny reef fish, getting a clearer picture of the two of them under the brighter lights in this room. they say hi to all the nemos and dorys in the tank and watch the water-circulating waves lap overhead through the clear glass.
but the whole time, wonwoo is watching mingyu. the younger’s gaze is so innocent looking up at the water, overflowing with anticipation for the next cresting wave. when it finally comes, bubbles sloshing against the glass, mingyu’s smile widens and his shoulders relax.
oh, wonwoo loves him so much.
mingyu loves nature, every part of it. he always has. they already have annual memberships at the natural history museum. the permanent exhibit never changes, but mingyu can’t get enough of the dinosaurs and outdoor trails. he loves sharks, so the aquarium is a given. he loves petting random dogs and they seem to sense how affectionate and gentle he is. mingyu’s love for animals and the outside world has no bounds.
one day, wonwoo wants to live somewhere with a yard. he’s not a gardener and doesn’t see himself as a dog owner, but giving mingyu a space to play and lie in the grass in is a dream he is determined to make into a reality.
anything for his little sprout.
the next exhibit is the freshwater exhibit. mingyu typically flies through this one, not as entertained by some of the “boring” river fish, but he still stops and gapes at the weird looking ones, pointing them out as they go.
“look at that one! it’s so pointy!” he giggles, pointing at a gar.
“you like that one?” wonwoo feels like he asks the question every time.
“it’s silly,” mingyu says as if that answers him.
then mingyu spots the little crawlspace meant for children (and the more agile adults) to get an up close look at the tanks. wonwoo has to hold mingyu by the back of his shirt to stop him from going in, shushing him when he starts to whine.
“not today, mingyu. you nearly concussed yourself last time, remember?”
“huh?”
“you hit your head, baby.”
“nuh-uh!” he denies, but wonwoo still remembers the sound of his head smacking against the ceiling as he crawled out. mingyu is simply too tall and too uncoordinated, and wonwoo would rather not have to talk to paramedics on his special day out (or any day, actually).
“you did, and it hurt a lot, and i can’t let you do that to yourself again. okay?”
“please? i’ll be extra careful this time. please?”
wonwoo eyes the crawl space warily. “no. i’ll cut you a deal. if you skip this one, we’ll do the penguin tunnel together.” it would be borderline cruel to deny mingyu an opportunity to see the penguins up close, even if they have to literally crawl.
“okay,” mingyu agrees. “we have to do that next, though!”
they keep going. mingyu challenges the albino alligator to a staring contest. they happen to see the piranhas during feeding time. the river otters are very cute, but mingyu is just as cute peering over the tops of people’s heads to get a good look at them.
as promised, the cold water section is next. as soon as mingyu complains about the change in temperature, wonwoo forces the regressor’s jacket back on him.
“i don’t need it!” mingyu whines again, wiggling around.
“are you a beluga whale? or an otter? do you have fur all over your body, sprout?” mingyu pouts and refuses to answer, gaze lingering on the beluga whales playfully brushing their (insulated) bodies against the glass. satisfied, wonwoo smiles. “that’s what i thought.”
they finally make it to the penguin tunnel. wonwoo crawls behind mingyu on all fours through the small space, feeling ridiculous despite knowing the outcome is worth it. the viewing area made of clear plexiglass juts out of the crawlspace's ceiling and into the enclosure’s floor, putting them at eye level with the penguins. mingyu lights up when he sees a few of them nearby.
“daddy!!” he whisper screams in excitement. wonwoo pinches him as a scold, but mingyu only switches to slapping his arm for attention. “look look look! there’s two!”
he gets closer to the glass, and wonwoo discreetly snaps a photo.
“that one’s a girl! she’s got a pink bead, see?” mingyu points to the one closest to them. sure enough, there’s a pink bead on her identifying tag. “the other one’s a girl too!!”
they wave hello to the penguins and mingyu spends another minute spying on them before they need to make room for someone else to see. wonwoo knows they’re not mingyu’s favorite, but the little still brainstorms penguin names as wonwoo steers him towards the cafe for lunch.
two overly expensive cheeseburgers later, they’re sitting in front of the largest tank, a whole wall of ocean in front of them filled with weird looking fish, stingrays, and sharks. mingyu’s spent so much time in this exhibit that he remembers the names of the more interesting looking fish.
he sits with his head laid on wonwoo’s shoulder. “how many people do you think the big grouper could feed? it has to be the biggest fish in the world,” he wonders out loud.
“it’s probably pretty close, baby.”
“i bet it could feed an entire family for a week— two weeks— and they’d have to have it every day to finish.”
endeared by his imaginative rambling, wonwoo snuggles closer to his boyfriend. “sounds terrible,” he teases. mingyu hums sleepily.
they stay like that, listening to the calming loop of exhibit music and watching the fish swim by. wonwoo could sit here for hours. he wishes he could take a nap himself, but mingyu has already beaten him to it. wonwoo was counting on that, though. he knew getting up early and hitting most of what mingyu wanted to see before lunch would wear him out, so he lets him rest.
fifteen minutes later, mingyu startles awake as if his body realized it wasn’t supposed to be sleeping. wonwoo winces when their heads collide but huffs out a laugh.
“good morning, sleepyhead,” he coos, taking the corner of his sleeve and wiping the little bit of drool on his mouth. “you ready for the rest?”
mingyu’s second favorite exhibit is the recently added sharks. it’s only one tank, so they find a good place to sit and just watch for a while. something about seeing a real tiger shark— as big and dangerous as they are in the wild— is a bit magical, even for wonwoo. it’s hard to comprehend the size and majestic presence that sharks have. mingyu loves to learn about them.
wonwoo splits his attention between the sharks and mingyu. mingyu is locked in on the sharks, entranced despite them literally just swimming in circles. the smile on his face is one of true contentment, and wonwoo’s heart is full with the knowledge that he did that. he helped mingyu find that happiness.
the holidays aren’t always joyful, especially for mingyu. he doesn’t visit his parents, but he tries to stay in contact with his sister. christmas is a mix of childlike wonder and adult guilt. wonwoo has been trying to save his vacation days so that he can spend time with mingyu properly— not just as his caregiver, but as someone who loves him. wonwoo hasn’t been making "adult" money for very long, but he’s grateful that he is so that he can finally treat mingyu to things like this.
it’s been a few years now since mingyu dropped out of school, and his mental health isn’t the same as it was when they met. recently, mingyu has spent more time in his headspace than out of it. on the one hand, he’s happy when he’s little. on the other, progress for his big self is slow.
it worries wonwoo a little, but he’s decided to take things at mingyu’s pace. after all, mingyu is persistent, and wonwoo will be here for him no matter how long things take.
mingyu tears his gaze away from the glass, checking quickly that no one else is around before looking at wonwoo. “daddy, can we go home now?”
wonwoo smiles. “done for today?”
gazing back at the sharks with his hands clutching at the ones on his shirt, he says, “yeah. i’m all done, i think.”
endeared, wonwoo brushes mingyu’s bangs back from his face. “that’s fine, baby sprout. we can always come back.”
“yeah,” mingyu smiles. “now that we have the pass, right?”
“that’s right.”
still, wonwoo waits for mingyu to get up first. when he does, the regressor looks down at him like he’s the ridiculous one for taking so long. “come on, daddy.”
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
wonwoo sputters and clutches his steering wheel, desperate to dispel the very strong urge to curse while sitting in early rush hour traffic. this is always the part he hates the most. it’s a miracle they could get out of the parking deck at all.
mingyu, staring wistfully at the big blue building from the passenger seat, sighs. “i wish i could live in the aquarium,” he says softly.
wonwoo hums, exhaling his frustration with a sigh of his own. “that would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“we can look at the fish as much as we want without all the other people. and we could sleep under the big tank. wanna make a blanket fort by the tank.”
though he is listening, wonwoo is distracted by some bonehead trying to merge into his lane despite it sitting at a standstill. “sounds fun… it’ll smell like fish all the time too.”
mingyu pulls a face. “ew.”
the cars start moving again, and they finally make progress on their journey home. mingyu watches the city, sometimes pointing out things he finds amusing or interesting with the same childish wonder and joy that made wonwoo fall for him as hard as he did. even if a day comes where mingyu stops regressing, wonwoo hopes he doesn’t lose that spark.
mingyu gives wonwoo cuteness aggression for the rest of the night: attempting to swing his feet at the kitchen table despite his long legs making it nearly impossible; thanking wonwoo for his lame (convenient) dinner with a sweet grin that exposes his pointy little canine; making his dinosaur chicken nuggets roar and fight each other before he chomps off their heads.
freshly cleaned and relaxed from their day out, the settle together on the couch to watch cartoons before bed. halfway through their episode of spongebob, mingyu tugs on wonwoo’s sleeve. “daddy, can we go back to the aquarium? i wanna sleep there instead.”
wonwoo raises an eyebrow at the request. ”we can’t live at the aquarium, sprout. i thought you knew that.”
“we can’t even have a sleepover there?” he asks with the wide puppy eyes wonwoo is so weak for.
he thumbs over the soft skin of mingyu’s cheek. “no, baby.”
“but… i wanted to sleep by all the cool sharks.”
“i… i don’t know what to tell you, mingyu, we can’t.” mingyu whines, deflating against wonwoo’s side. desperate to think of a solution to make him feel better, the older suggests,“we can find a video of a tank just like it, and we have a sleepover in the living room with it on the tv. how does that sound?”
mingyu hums, considering the idea.
“with the lights off, it’ll feel the same, won’t it?”
"i guess," mingyu decides. "i'll go get the blankets! you stay." he seems more excited now about sleeping in the living room than he does pretending they're at the aquarium. he returns with an armful of their bedding, promptly dumping it onto wonwoo's lap before going to get more.
the couch is too narrow to comfortably fit the both of them (they are, after all, two six-foot-tall men), so they layer every blanket onto the carpet until they have a comfortable sleeping space. wonwoo feels the resemblance of the aquarium as he lies down, the dark room illuminated by the blue light of a fish tank screensaver. as if forgetting the very reason for doing this, mingyu faces away from the screen, choosing instead to fit himself into his caregiver's arms with a mischievous giggle.
wonwoo wraps his arms around him. "what's got you so giggly, hm?"
"nothin', daddy."
"feeling sleepy?"
"no..." he promptly contradicts himself by yawning.
"okay, min." wonwoo chooses the path of least resistance, soothing him to sleep with gentle scratches to his scalp.
mingyu hums, pleased. if he had a tail, it would be thumping happily against their blanket nest. "daddy work tomorrow?"
"not tomorrow, sprout," wonwoo is proud to say. he can feel mingyu smiling against him. "tomorrow, we can do whatever you want."