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Yeonjun's toured the world, he's sold out stages, faced mobs at airports, and survived a solo debut in the middle of comeback promotions; he's done it all. People would look at him and think he can do anything.
And yet, none of that prepared him for a baby. Not his own, of course.
He hovers near the living room doorway, hands clasped together in front of him in a way that felt deeply undignified, staring down at the very small, incredibly adorable human currently gnawing with alarming determination on the sleeve of Soobin’s hoodie. If she had more teeth—or less mercy—she probably would’ve torn the fabric clean off. As it is, she settles for soaking it in drool.
Soobin sighs softly, attempting to ease his sleeve free without upsetting her. “She’s strong.”
“So violent,” Yeonjun teases.
The baby—Eunchae, who had been handed to them barely twenty minutes ago along with an overstuffed diaper bag, a printed feeding schedule, and a string of increasingly frantic apologies—blinks up at Yeonjun like she has absolutely no idea she’s just been left in the care of two idols with zero babysitting credentials.
She kicks her feet happily. She's adorable.
Yeonjun crouches down in front of her, squinting. “Idols becoming babysitters,” he says slowly. “We should charge extra for this.”
Soobin finally frees his sleeve, inspecting the damp fabric. “You volunteered.”
“That was before I knew she’d attack designer clothing,” Yeonjun laughs, leaning forward to hold his arms out. “She's fine,” he says confidently, holding her up with ease. “Look at the baby, she's chilling.”
Soobin crosses his arms over his chest, pouting. “You’re saying this like you've done this before. Are you sure you can hold her up like this? I remember I held my sister's cat like that before and she said they find it uncomfortable.”
“It’s alright, I've held plushies bigger than her before,” Yeonjun answers, before pausing and turning to Soobin. “Did you just compare the baby to a cat?”
“Hey, what you said just now wasn't so reassuring either!”
Yeonjun’s about to respond when Eunchae makes a sound of delight, bouncing in his arms like she's happy where she is. He adjusts her without thinking, settling her against his hip while walking into the kitchen like it's nothing.
Soobin stares from the sofa. “When did you learn how to handle a baby like that?”
Yeonjun sticks out his tongue at Soobin, swaying his hips as he answers, “I suppose I've got that instinct.” Eunchae slaps her hand against his chest in agreement. “See, princess approves.”
“Princess?”
“Doesn't she look like one?”
They set her down in the baby seat on the counter, strapped in as securely as she can be (they followed the paper instructions that came with it), and Yeonjun leans in at the list on the fridge.
“Okay, so, mashed bananas, warm bottle, no honey, no salt, no sugar—this is just torture,” he huffs, putting his hands on his hips.
Soobin laughs, shaking his head. “You know, she is a baby. Her stomach can't handle anything complicated.”
Yeonjun peels the banana with his lips pursed. “I'm sorry you have to live this way, baby.”
Eunchae kicks his legs, clearly unbothered. Yeonjun mashes the banana with the back of a spoon, narrating the whole process. Soobin watches from behind the counter as the elder glances over at Eunchae, as if trying to get her opinion on the matter—and if she spoke back answering him, Soobin would dash out of that apartment immediately. Thankfully, all the baby does in response is try to grab Yeonjun's fingers to chew on every time he gets close to her. She's a bit of a muncher.
“That’s a lot of banana,” Soobin comments, watching as Yeonjun fills almost an entire plate, like a baby her size could finish even half of it.
“If you want, you can have some,” Yeonjun says as he scoops up some before leaning over the counter. “Come on, baby, say ah.”
He's joking, surely, but Soobin's eyes still dart down at the spoons and his jaw drops open at the command, not even thinking twice before taking the spoon into his mouth. It catches Yeonjun by surprise, but he doesn't show it as much, feeding the bite to Soobin before getting rid of the spoon, taking out a new one.
“Good boy. Want another bite?” Yeonjun asks in a baby voice, a smirk on his face as he scoops another bite.
“I'm okay,” Soobin answers, the food muffling his voice, and he's thankful Eunchae’s great as distracting as she starts babbling to herself. Yeonjun turns his focus away from him to the baby, asking her what she's trying to say (again, if she answers, Soobin's out of here).
“Eunchae, baby, did you—” he stops when she grabs the spoon all of a sudden, and immediately tries to shove it into her mouth. So she wasn't just a muncher, she just likes putting everything into her mouth. “Okay, let's not do that, shall we?”
Yeonjun pulls it away from her and before she can start crying over it, he starts covering his face, hiding from her. Soobin has no clue what he's doing, but it's somehow working. Eunchae doesn't even care about the spoon anymore, giggling to herself when Yeonjun dips under the counter and jumps right back up.
“Why are you so good at entertaining babies?”
“As I said, I got that instinct,” Yeonjun gloats. He's about to say more when he accidentally knocks his arm against the plate of bananas and they slide straight off the edge of the counter.
By some miracle, Soobin's hand dashes out and he manages to catch it midair. The two gasp and look at each other.
“I've got the Spidey senses.”
“You ruined it.”
-
Yeonjun sits comfortably on the end of the sofa with his legs crossed, plate full of bananas in his hands as he feeds Eunchae. She sits in Soobin's lap, her tiny hands holding onto his arm as she munches slowly on every bite.
“That was a big bite,” Yeonjun coos, nodding his head as she chews. “Well done, princess.”
Eunchae beams as if she actually understood the praise. Yeonjun scoops another bite and glances up at Soobin, a smile tugging on his lips when he sees the way the younger looked. A little anxious, a little nervous.
He was more scared about agreeing to babysit Eunchae, but they were in a tough position. Beomgyu had a shoot to get to, Taehyun had a vocal lesson, and Kai wasn't even in the country. So when their manager walked into the cafeteria and found the two of them lazying around thinking of what to get for lunch—they were the only option available (since apparently, they couldn't trust hiring a stranger to babysit).
“You have experience with babies, you'll be fine,” is what the manager had said to Soobin when he expressed his worries, probably referencing Soobin's nephews. “I trust you two.”
Famous last words, except they were doing a pretty good job. They just had to be with her for 7 hours, that's how long the manager needed to stay away from home—so he could celebrate his 4th wedding anniversary with his wife.
“Wait—Eunchae,” Soobin gasps dramatically as the baby reaches forward and slaps her hand into the plate, splatters of it flying out and in random directions. One of the directions being Yeonjun's shirt, the new shirt that he'd bought just a few days ago (the one he didn't think he'd have to change before being ‘hired’ as a babysitter).
Soobin looks at him with concern, and a faint trace of fear, like Yeonjun would react badly. Which, of course, he doesn't. Because who would get mad at a baby ruining his very expensive shirt that would probably not be able to survive anything despite being so damn expensive.
“Princess,” Yeonjun sighs, looking down at his shirt solemnly. “Look at the mess you made.”
Eunchae giggles. And surprisingly, Yeonjun finds himself joining in. It's hard to stay mad at the baby when she's looking up at him with her silly little bangs stuck to her forehead.
“Do you wanna clean your shirt up? I can feed her the rest,” Soobin offers, shifting in his seat to sneak his hand out and take the plate from him.
“It's okay, but if you insist.” Yeonjun stands up from the sofa and pulls his shirt over his head, snickering to himself when he catches Soobin staring. “Behave,” he says, his ego feeling a strong boost when Soobin struggles to keep his eyes up. “There's a baby in your arms.”
“I didn't say anything,” Soobin mumbles, his ears a burning red.
“You didn't have to, I could see it in your face.”
Yeonjun wipes the banana sprinkles, that's what they could be described as, off his shirt and runs the tap, dipping them in slightly to clean off where they might stain. Standing by the sink, Yeonjun gets a good look of Soobin as he feeds Eunchae, with a pout on his lips as he tells her just one more bite. He's never had the opportunity of going back home with Soobin, which meant he never got the chance to see him with his nephews, see the way he acts around children. The closest he's gotten is when he managed to watch a few clips of Soobin at a variety show with babies, but even that the younger told him to not watch because he felt embarrassed—for what reason, he's got no clue.
So to see him now, so gentle and caring, his voice low and big hands pinching the spoon, like it's as small as the baby in his hands, he likes the view. Likes to see his boyfriend look so…loving. The baby isn't even theirs, and yet he's trying so hard to please her, to make sure she doesn't feel uncomfortable, making sure she's well fed. It brings a thought to his mind that never existed, but he doesn't say it out loud.
-
Yeonjun lays on his stomach, elbows digging into the carpet as he faces Eunchae, watching closely when she puts another block on top of the one he'd put. They've been going at it for a good minute now, she's a focused, hardworking baby. And he almost deceives himself into believing that she might just keep going when she suddenly smacks the tower, knocking it over with the type of glee Yeonjun's forgotten about.
“Okay, rude,” Yeonjun playfully grumbles. “That took a lot of effort.”
He starts building his blocks up again, eyeing the way Eunchae follows in pursuit before reaching over to kick Yeonjun's to the ground. She's a schemer.
“She's winning,” Soobin says, laughing from where he's sat on the sofa.
“She's cheating,” Yeonjun cries, getting up on his knees and easily picking up Eunchae. He spins her around once, unable to stop his own giggles from escaping when she enjoys it.
“Be careful,” he hears Soobin says, and sees the way the younger leans forward, his hands hovering over Yeonjun's waist, ready to catch him if he falls.
“Trust me, baby,” Yeonjun says, directed to Soobin rather than the baby in his hands. Soobin's face lights up again.
A little while later—they were really pulling out anything from their bag to entertain the baby—Yeonjun's in the middle of reciting a play he's never watched off by heart when Soobin's phone buzzes. He ignores it once, then again, and again, and—
Soobin frowns, glancing at his dark screen. “Why is my phone…doing that?”
Yeonjun doesn't even bother looking at him. “The baby demands entertainment, I'm busy.”
Eunchae squeals as Yeonjun gets onto his knees, a baby bottle in his hands as he escalated his performance, as expected of him. “And from behind the curtain, out came—
Soobin's phone starts buzzing nonstop now, causing Yeonjun to falter and look at him with a glare.
“Hyung…” Soobin says slowly. “I think something's wrong.”
Yeonjun finally answers, “Babe, just put your phone on mute. Princess, look at my boyfriend, isn't he just the silliest? Are they blowing up the group chat or something, what could it possibly be?”
Soobin turns the phone around. Notifications. So. Many. Notifications. Mentions, tags, messages—all piling in faster than Yeonjun could even read. He squints, blinking a few times before saying, “Why does it say LIVE?”
They both freeze, eyes meeting in sheer panic. And Eunchae chooses that exact moment to let out a triumphant screech, slapping Yeonjun's chest like she's loving the turn of events. A menace baby, truly.
Yeonjun slowly looks down at her, then at the phone, and then at Soobin. “Oh no.”
Soobin scrambles, fumbling with the screen. “I—I must have accidentally, I mean, I was on weverse earlier, but didn't mean to—”
Yeonjun lunges for the phone. “How long has it been on?”
The comments are already flooding.
beomgyushair: IS THAT A BABY?
fivestarssky: is this a concept trailer???
yeonbinnie: WHY IS YEONJUN ON THE FLOOR
soobinswife: soobin why do you have a child TT
Yeonjun stares at the screen like it's personally betrayed him—to be fair, he should be looking at Soobin like this, but the younger's already anxiously staring down at him, hoping he can fix his mistake, so he can't bring himself to blame him.
“We’ve been live,” Soobin whispers, “for… three minutes.”
Yeonjun called him babe. But he calls everyone with affectionate names, surely this would just be assumed as a friendly remark to his friend of many years, right? And calling him boyfriend…
Yeonjun doesn't hesitate. He leans closer to the phone, dead serious. “Everyone calm down. This is not our baby.”
soobjjunie: YEONJUN CALLED SOOBIN BOYFRIEND DID ANYONE HEAR THAT
lovelanguage:WHY IS SHE SO COMFY WITH YOU THEN????
42ndwink: YEONJUN GIRL DAD CONFIRMED
Soobin snatches the phone from his hand and manages to end the live with shaking hands. They both sit in stunned silence as Eunchae continues clapping and giggling. It's not like she's the one who just accidentally revealed to the entire world that they were babysitting—and possibly revealing their relationship that they've spent almost a decade hiding.
Yeonjun drags a hand down his face, holding his phone in one hand as he scrolls through social media. “They're already talking about it.”
Soobin checks his messages. “Manager-nim just sent five question marks.”
Yeonjun sighs, then glances down as Eunchae reaches up for him again, completely unfazed. He scoops her up easily, settling her against his chest. “Well, Eunchae, would you consider this a hard or soft launch?”
Soobin whines. “Hyung, what do we do?”
To try and calm the mood, because Yeonjun can sense just how stressed Soobin is about this whole mistake, Yeonjun points at Eunchae. “Let's ask the baby. Princess, what do you think we should do?”
Eunchae doesn't say anything, her mouth hanging open as drool spills over. “Yeah, you're so right. Let's take a picture.”
“What?”
“Listen, if we take a picture and caption it something silly, then the fans will think this was all just a joke and nothing more,” Yeonjun says calmly, getting himself and Eunchae ready for a picture. “Now get down here and take one of us.”
Soobin slides off the sofa and holds the phone up, taking a couple. They put on their bestest smiles, holding up hearts and even grabbing her milk bottle just to make it seem as unserious as they could. “I'll blur her face for privacy, even though they've already seen her.”
“Now caption it, babysitter and his sidekick on a mission.”
“Am I the sidekick?”
“Who's holding the baby?” Yeonjun asks with a raised brow, his hands proudly holding Eunchae.
“And what about the boyfriend comment?”
“We'll just pretend I said something else…oh! Like, best friend,” Yeonjun cringes even as he says that, shaking his head. “Whatever, we'll convince them we never said it. Besides, the live won't save and we can just hope no one…recorded that part.”
“Gaslighting our fans,” Soobin murmurs, typing up the post before pressing send. “Damage control, submitted.”
“Good, now go get me some water. I think I deserve that much after the scare you've just caused us.”
-
beomgyu
who's baby did you guys kidnap??
taehyun
why did yeonjun hyungs shirt have so many wet patches
beomgyu
baby drool duh
kai
WHO HAD A BABY
beomgyu
yeonjun hyung
kai
yeonjun hyung gave birth to a baby??????
beomgyu
well idk the solid answer to that
he could've
we would never know
yeonjun
????
i did not give birth
that kid is not my daughter
soobin
@kai we were babysitting
taehyun
and accidentally told the whole world you were dating
yeonjun
i never said that
i said look at my best friend
kai
damn soobin hyung got friend zoned in the big 26
soobin
i hope all of your phones only charge at a specific angle.
“You're not talking about me, are you?” Yeonjun asks, blinking his eyes up at Soobin.
They're both back at the dorms, safe and sound, showered and clean, free from baby drool. It's a lot quieter here, with them both tucked under the sheets of Soobin's bed. Maybe it's a little too quiet, they were starting to get used to Eunchae's giggles, even if she almost started crying near the end of their visit.
Soobin puts his phone away and guides Yeonjun to do the same before they shuffled closer under the covers. “You did well today.”
Yeonjun smiles softly, pointing to himself with pride. “Born entertainer, maybe even babysitter.”
Soobin smiles back and a few moments of silence pass between them before he speaks up. “You know…today wasn't so bad.”
Yeonjun nods, grabbing Soobin's hands. His hands are colder as he rubs them together, trying to warm himself up. “Mhm.”
“I mean,” Soobin sighs, letting out a shiver as he remembers the hours that just passed. “The chaos? Awful. The drool? Criminal. But, I uh…”
Yeonjun looks at him expectantly. “You?”
Soobin look him in the eyes as he answers, “I enjoyed that. It was fun.”
Yeonjun swallows the lump in his throat, feeling relief fill him. “I thought so too.” Yeonjun glances down at their hands for a second before saying, “Guess I should start working harder.”
“What?”
“So you can get pregnant.”
Silence.
Soobin stares at him with a blank expression, trying his best to not look as affected as he feels, but even with the dim lighting of his room, Yeonjun sees the way his face heats up, turning red from embarrassment. “Hyung.”
“What?” Yeonjun laughs. “I'm just saying I'll do my part.”
Soobin shakes his head, but he is smiling now, warmth creeping up his neck. “You say things like that so casually.”
“Because I mean it,” Yeonjun replies easily. “Not as a joke.”
That makes Soobin go quiet.
Yeonjun softens immediately, reaching out to hold Soobin's cheek. “Not now,” he adds quickly. “I know we've got endless schedules, careers that take over our entire life, things to do, so many things to do. I’m not rushing anything.”
Soobin squeezes his hand. “But…”
“But,” Yeonjun says gently, “maybe one day?”
Maybe one day, not today, not tomorrow. Not any time soon. But maybe one day down the line, when their lives have slowed and the timing feels right, when the idea doesn't feel so hypothetical anymore. For now, Soobin thinks, wrapping an arm around Yeonjun's waist and bringing him close, this is more than enough.
“Of course, I'm talking about adoption—”
“I know, Hyung.”