Work Text:
Seungmin becoming Chan’s primary caregiver was by accident; a pure but grateful accident.
The younger had been worried about the leader’s habits of staying far too late at the studio, not getting the proper amount of sleep to be deemed sufficient; the list could go on.
In short, Chan was being distant and unlike himself for far too long, and Seungmin wanted to drag his hyung home.
He wanted the leader to have a proper meal, a shower, comfortable, clean clothes, and sleep in his own bed rather than on the couch; it couldn’t even be close to a makeshift bed.
When he got to the studio after a long argument with the manager about why he should be driving him to the company at three in the morning when their schedules don’t begin again until next week, he immediately took the elevator to the floor with Chan’s studio.
He let himself in with no warning to see the leader crying on the floor with ripped music papers around him and his computer showing an error screen on the television his computer was connected to.
Bad production day. Seungmin was familiar with the way the production unit always got frustrated with the creating process of tracks, but something about this wasn’t right; it wasn't like how they usually reacted to bumps in the progress.
They always reacted in a mutter of a curse, a shout, or a very rare throw of something to the ground around them, something that wouldn’t be the way Chan is crying right now.
Seeing the way the leader is crying feels foreign, never seen by himself living in the same dorm and being in the same vicinity as him for years. He escapes too much into his head before Chan realizes another person is in the room and lifts his head to make eye contact with Seungmin with big, red-rimmed eyes.
Everything about this seems different than how Minho & Jeongin explain the process of bringing an exhausted, workaholic Chan home.
He swallows hard and pushes through to try and get the leader home, fed, and asleep as possibly Minho would, hoping that it goes smoothly.
Chan’s still crying while he stares at Seungmin, his tears crystallizing over his eyes as he turns to his computer again before he reaches for his music book, and the younger suddenly realizes the more he rips, the more Chan will be frustrated and upset with himself later—creating the cycle once more of why he’s upset in the first place.
So, Seungmin’s body lurches for the book, swiping it away from the leader the best he can before he can even get a finger on the remaining pages. He doesn’t even get a verbal response, just more crying and reaching for the book as if he’s a kid wanting a toy from a tall shelf that he can’t reach.
“I’ll give it back to you later, okay?” Seungmin finally speaks, filling water into a river of hope that he can get Chan home and rested finally so their manager can go back to sleep. The crying never stops; the vocalist doesn’t get how Chan has this many tears in him, knowing how his self-care lacks the hydration step. “Let’s get you home and put some comfortable clothes on you and some food in you, then you can sleep in your comfy bed, okay?”
“With Wolfi’..?” Chan blinks, trying to translate Seungmin’s words for a few beats in his brain before he sniffles, blinking, and his eyes turn even more wet and glossy, replying in broken Korean.
His voice is hoarse and cracked beyond repair right now; Seungmin doesn’t have a clue who Wolfie is and why Chan is speaking in broken Korean with a slight lisp, but he nods anyway at the request.
Chan frowns at the shredded paper around him, but Seungmin just locates the trash can Chan always keeps in here. He frowns at the lack of packaging of any drinks or food but tries to pick up his face a bit to not ruin anything right now as he sets it near him to pick up the scraps of music paper.
“Rough day?” Seungmin attempts to create conversation, but Chan just blinks at him before shrugging with a few sniffles. He places the shredded papers in the bin, some tears dropping onto the paper as he picks them up.
Seungmin chimed in to help, rubbing his back with some words of comfort every few handfuls of scraps to possibly help the leader feel better, but he isn’t sure if it really is helping.
When it’s all picked up and the trash can is back in its place, Seungmin helps Chan up. His legs wobble like a fawn's, clutching to the younger’s hoodie like it’s the wall not even 3 inches away from him as Seungmin leans as best he can to try and get rid of the error without messing up the work, saving whatever he finished before his outburst, and shuts his computer down.
He doesn’t even bother to pack it up, knowing Chan needs some days without boring his eyes into an LCD screen and developing a headache even though he would probably find a way to work somehow.
He packs up his other things: his headphones, his phone, his charger, everything he knows goes in his bag, and helps him get his hoodie on before leading him out to the van with a very unhappy manager who says nothing but glares towards Seungmin as he puts the car into drive when they get in.
The rest of the night goes as smoothly as it could; Seungmin heats Chan leftover dinner from that night after he freshens up and grabs his Wolfie that the younger could finally understand who it was—a grey wolf with blue beady eyes—under his arm that he snagged from his dorm.
The night ends with Chan cuddling with Seungmin in the vocalist’s bed after the leader didn’t get the hint that the younger was trying to direct him to his own dorm after he ate something.
“Night Minnie-hyung,” Chan mumbled, snuggling closer to the younger with the wolf squished between them, Seungmin blinking at the ceiling—speechless at Chan calling him hyung.
When he slips the ear of the wolf in his mouth to chew as Seungmin looks at him from his staring at the ceiling, he says nothing but smiles gently at the sight.
“Goodnight, Chan,” Seungmin whispered, trying to seem as chill as possible that his leader just called him hyung.
The next morning came quickly, Seungmin waking up far before Chan, and the vocalist stayed in bed, doomscrolling on the apps on his phone to pass time. After his third app, he began to toss and turn.
“Morning, Chan,” Seungmin spoke gently, and he could feel the leader tense in the bed when he heard the younger’s voice and the wolf still in his elbow. “Chan?”
“I’m so sorry, this is—I promise it’s not what you think it is—”
“Chan-hyung, breathe,” Seungmin cuts him off, raising an eyebrow at the sudden rise of the familiar guilt Chan gets when he allows himself to get bad again, and one of them leads him back home and fixes him. “What are you talking about?”
“I—Seungmin—”
“Chan,” The vocalist cuts him off again, raising his hands to touch the leader’s shoulders, knowing how much physical touch helps him be grounded. Their eyes lock, and Seungmin gently smiles at him. “Whatever happened last night was fine; I don’t know what it was, and I really wasn’t paying attention to it because I was more worried about getting you home and in bed.”
“You—You don’t want to know; just forget this happened, please. Don’t mention this to anyone, please. I’m too old to be taken care of like this anyway; I’m trying to fix my habits. I’m so sorry,” Chan rushes out to say, and Seungmin frowns. “I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”
“You seemed so much better though after I comforted you at the studio; you seemed more relaxed when you got freshened up and had food in you when we got to the dorm. You called me hyung—” Chan makes a noise, close to maybe discomfort or embarrassment; he couldn’t tell, but he continues. “It was cute, I liked taking care of you.”
Chan just frowns, biting his lip, and Seungmin wants to whack him to stop it before he hurts himself. “It’s not—It’s not right. I’m your hyung—”
“You let Minho take care of you,” Seungmin argues, even if he doesn’t know the inside of Minho and Chan’s dynamic without other eyes around them. The older man doesn't even look up or respond, so Seungmin continues. “I’m not asking, I’m offering, Chan-hyung. Whatever last night was, I’m offering to be there so it won’t get bad again and you have a space to feel safe.”
”Minho is—He’s different, he’s never, I mean never, seen me like how you did,” Chan admits, and he feels the ice crack a bit beneath them to finally, hopefully, really help the leader and an explanation of last night. “No one has seen me like that besides my hyungs back when I was a trainee.”
“What was that last night, hyung?” Seungmin asks straightforwardly and bluntly; he doesn’t mean to corner Chan, but he’s tired of the guilting pinball game and him tiptoeing around. “Why were you upset?”
“I—It was a bad day at the studio. I got frustrated and started sobbing, and I just couldn’t take it, so I started ripping up my music notebook, but when I realized what happened, I just got more upset,” Chan was very noticeably picking his words carefully, which didn’t really satisfy Seungmin. Finally, when they lock eyes, he raises a brow. “Seungmin—”
“Hyung, I told you—”
“I know,” Chan quickly replied, looking down at his wrung hands, taking a deep breath. “What I tell you stays between us, please.”
“Lips are sealed.”
“I developed it when I was a trainee; I was so stressed that I even made myself sick some days. I tried everything, even the bad side of trying to release it, but nothing worked until the company made me be assigned a therapist due to how bad my anxiety and depression were getting,” Chan began, releasing his hands to wipe on his pajamas. “She got me to try age regression since I joined the company when I was thirteen and never got to be a child. It worked when I tried one night; I felt better by morning, and I felt as if my chest had decreased in weight.”
“That’s what happened last night, isn’t it?” Seungmin rapidly asked, not letting his words settle in the air. Chan nodded. “Why don’t you come to us for help?”
“You know why, Seungmin,” Chan answered bluntly, and the younger frowned.
“We can still help you, especially when you need to just feel like a kid again. If you just need one person, I can. I want to help you, Chan,” Seungmin didn’t want to seem pushy, but he hated thinking of all the mechanisms the leader tried before finding one that helped, and he seemed so carefree when he finally was relaxed with his help, even if it wasn’t for long. “Just because you're the oldest and the leader doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be cared for and have someone help you with your coping mechanism.”
“Seungmin—”
“Chan, when’s the last time you’ve allowed yourself to do that besides last night?” The vocalist prys; Chan doesn’t respond. The growing silence is loud, but it tells him everything he needs to know. “Channie-hyung.”
He makes a noise in the back of his throat, similar to the noise you hear when someone tries cornering an injured animal. It’s quiet again, the only sound of the leader fidgeting with his sleep shirt.
“Haven’t—Haven’t since 5-Star promotions,” Chan murmured, swallowing hard as Seungmin frowned—knowing how stressful that time period was for all of them, how exhausted they felt getting home every night to only sleep a mere four hours—five if they were lucky—to go to promotions for weeks on end. He knows it must’ve been ten times worse with his insomnia, project deadlines, everything JYPE makes him do that should be a staff member’s job. “It became too much, I guess. I couldn’t even regress properly; I did it so I could sleep.”
“Chan, that’s two years,” His tone seems a bit upset; he doesn’t mean to be, but the anger that his leader is so selfless enough to put his mental health and coping mechanisms aside just for this stupid job is heartbreaking and enough to make anger boil under his skin. “Two years of stress bubbling up and doing so much to just make it worse. Two years is too long, Channie-hyung.”
Chan makes that same sound again, that wounded and cornered animal noise, and everything in him breaks, sobbing against his will, and it takes everything for Seungmin’s heart to stay together for him.
“Hyung, hey, just let it all out,” Seungmin gently spoke, getting a bit closer to the leader, pressing a gentle hand to his back to comfort. “I’m here, just let it all out.”
He expected him to flinch away, to tell Seungmin to go away, to leave to his own dorm, to never speak up about this again, to avoid him, but instead the leader slid himself closer to him, to encourage more than just a rub to his back. “Always got you, hyung.”
After a while of Chan’s crying, it finally bubbles down to a few sniffles before he begins to pull a few strings on his sleep pants, the silence traveling far and wide between them. Seungmin doesn’t really want to say anything, so he allows the silence to grow and Chan lets his thoughts linger to maybe letting Seungmin help.
“Did you really mean what you said? About helping?” Chan’s voice is small and kind of cracky from the crying. Seungmin pretends his heart doesn’t quicken when the thought of the leader asking him to help him passes through his mind.
“Yes,” Seungmin says too fast and probably sounds too eager, but Chan swallows and looks up at him with glassy and red-rimmed eyes.
“Can you—Will you—Can you, uhm, help me? When I regress?” Chan’s voice is shaky, and Seungmin smiles gently.
“Of course,” Seungmin’s smile grows even wider out of his control. “I’ll have to do some research, but I would love to help you.”
“I—I can send you resources if you want,” Chan looks back down to his pants, pulling at the fabric instead of the loose threads. “I—I have a lot on my phone.”
“That would be perfect. I need to shower since I have plans with Jeongin later, but you can send me the links, and I will read them. Then, go on from there,” Seungmin said, feeling the way Chan nods. “See you later, ‘kay?”
He nods again, saying goodbye to Seungmin and grabbing his things—including his Wolfie- and goes back to his dorm, where Jeongin is making ramyeon and turns at the noise of the door opening. “Hey Channie-hyu—you okay?”
“Yeah, just allergies,” Chan murmured, knowing how his face looks for it to not be allergies, and he’s holding a damn wolf doll, but he’s sliding off his shoes and walking to his room before Jeongin can pry.
He clicks open his phone after the door shuts, and his things are placed where they are needed to be, hovering over Seungmin’s contact with the links already copied onto his phone’s clipboard.
He clicks on Seungmin’s contact anyway and pastes it, biting the skin of his thumb as he hits send, tossing his phone on his bed to forget it for a bit while he tries working on his stuff again with his spare computer since his other one was left in his studio.
His phone pings a few hours into his work, followed by more a bit later, which gains Chan’s attention. He pushes his chair out a bit, flipping the phone over to see messages from Seungmin.
A.Seungmin — 11:35 AM
Thank you for trusting me with this, hyung. I’m really proud of you!
A.Seungmin — 11:36 AM
We have a free day next weekend; why don’t we plan something for then? All the members will want to scramble to do something (or I will pressure them to do something), so the dorm will be free; you won’t have to be crammed into my room or yours.
We also need to discuss boundaries and whatever else too. We can do that tonight if you want, to get it out of the way.
I’m fine with whatever; it’s your mechanism. I’m just here to help. :)
Read 01:37 AM
Chan bites his lip, spinning side to side in his chair with his feet before he’s typing his reply.
Me — 01:38 AM
I should be thanking you, haha.
But, yeah, we can do it next weekend; that’s fine. I’ll probably need it anyway before we are busy again.
We can get boundaries and such out of the way; don’t want to make things bad and make this an issue, haha.
Read 01:40 AM
A.Seungmin — 01:42 AM
Well, there isn’t really much to get me to walk away, hyung. Just saying.
Chan would like to argue about that, and he even types out a response before he deletes it when Seungmin rapidly adds to his message.
A.Seungmin — 01:43 AM
Don’t even try to argue with me.
Read 01:44 AM
Me — 01:45 AM
Okay, well. Uh, I don’t have many boundaries. No one has ever actually offered to take care of me, haha. So, I am as blind & learning as you are in this.
But, I guess for some background, I don’t really know the exact age I regress to; I imagine it’s around 3-6. I just watch Pokémon or other cartoons I remember from my childhood or like & try to sleep; sometimes I play a game on my phone. My hyungs used to just help me get into comfortable clothes and in bed, sometimes they would cuddle, but I usually asked them not to because I was always embarrassed.
Read 01:46 AM
A.Seungmin — 01:47 AM
Okay, how about some simple rules then?
No hiding, lying, or pushing down your headspace unless it is unsafe for you to be in your headspace. Be honest with me about things. Try to reach me in any way if anything happens. Sounds good?
Read 01:49 AM
Chan blinked at his phone a few times before texting back an agreement. Feeling somewhat sleepy, the crying definitely wore him out. He closed his phone to stare at his ceiling, trying to fight the happiness swarming in his chest from the thought of finally having a caregiver.
He pretends it’s fine, but his excitement for the day fizzles out to disappointment when their promised empty day in the weekend is suddenly scheduled with a plane to Shanghai for a fansign—something forgotten to be put on the calendar by the staff.
The urge to regress had been growing too strong to resist since he dropped in the studio against his will, and he hated it.
Seungmin tried keeping an eye on him as they got ready to travel to the airport and whispered a promise to him that he could regress in his own or the vocalist’s hotel when they got there, still doing what they planned.
Chan already stayed close as they traveled to their gate, even holding onto his shoulder before his hand slipped to hold Seungmin’s thumb with a squeeze. The vocalist flicked his eyes to the leader in concern, all his thoughts leading back to wondering if Chan slipped or not.
There was so much wrong with the entire situation. It was already crowded enough, too much body heat for their jackets and pants. Seungmin could tell Chan was getting overwhelmed, and every time he flicked over to watch over the leader, he seemed off.
The yelling over one another for responses from the members seemed to never stop; it seemed the airport was going on for miles with no avail to see their check-in so they could have a break from the swarm for a bit.
When they finally got into the frosted doors, away from the fans and the reporters, they were rushed into check-in. Seungmin didn’t even get to whisper a syllable to Chan before they were back out, heading to their gate with fans still swarming them with no avail of the bodyguards’ attempts to get them to stop.
He could sense Chan’s anxiety from miles away, his nervous swallows that couldn’t be hidden much from someone who knew the leader inside and out; he flickered to all his members to make sure they were still in front of him and the fans that didn’t respect their spaces, scared one will make one of the members trip and hurt their wrist like Jisung; the list could go on of how many times something bad has happened to his members because of these crowds.
When they finally made it to the gate for their plane, that felt like the entrance to their freedom and privacy. Chan didn’t look at any of them, only sat in one of the waiting seats as far away and as normal as possible.
He rubbed his chest to try and ease his anxiety so he didn’t slip in front of six people and the random people who were here coming on the same flight who weren’t aware of his headspace.
Seungmin came over quickly after they came inside, bending down to make eye contact with Chan and frowning at the way he looked far gone. “Channie, do you need to slip?”
“Not—Not now, not safe,” Chan muttered with an anxious hitch in his breath, and Seungmin frowned.
“How about we just watch a show for now, and you lie on my shoulder? I promise when we get to the hotel we can slip comfortably in either mine or your room, okay?” Seungmin gently spoke, and Chan bit his lip, looking around the lounge area where they were waiting for their flight. “It’s okay, Channie. It’s okay.”
“I don’—I don’ wan’ them to see,” Chan whispered, his lisp noticeable and his Korean jumbled into a huge mess.
“They won’t think anything of it, okay?” Seungmin gently rubbed the other’s shoulder, opening the already waiting episode of Bluey with AirPods already being offered to Chan’s ears.
Okay, this will hopefully help hold off until they get to Shanghai. Seungmin told himself as he felt the leader lay his head gently on Seungmin’s shoulder, watching Bluey and Bingo on the screen with a contented hum.
Soon, they had to go on the plane, but the TVs had media available, especially Bluey (how convenient, Seungmin joked in his head).
He still didn’t leave the leader’s side; thankfully, their plane had those fancy recliner seats, so Seungmin could be by Chan and still both be comfortable.
And that’s how the plane was spent, Seungmin watching Bluey with Chan just to ease his brain before the stress of arriving at Shanghai with the fans crowding them again.
The leader even fell asleep a bit into the plane ride, his thumb close to his lips, almost to be a placeholder for a pacifier. Seungmin would have to keep that in mind for later.
He eventually turned Bluey off, finding interest in something random on the TV, unsure when one of the members would come prying to cure their boredom or just to wander.
The last thing he needs is a bored Jisung prying into why Chan is cuddling and sleeping with him, and he’s allowing it without playful banter or complaint while Bluey is playing.
Soon, Jisung makes his rounds to cure his boredom, soon becoming bored of the random media he had been playing in his seat next to Minho, huffing as the younger expected when he sees Seungmin cuddling with Chan. Jealousy seethes in Chan’s first kid, muttering with a pout to Minho when he gets back to his seat about how jealous he was of Seungmin being able to cuddle with Chan.
Soon, Chan’s peace is disturbed when they arrive in Shanghai; Seungmin is already preparing himself for the crowds and flashes in his eyes, but he isn’t sure if Chan can say the same.
He seemed spacey in his eyes, and his hands surely couldn’t coordinate with his brain, which meant possible trouble.
Seungmin just hopes nothing could be too suspicious to anyone, even the fans crowding them. He isn’t sure how Chan will react, but he at least needs a base to work with for now.
“Channie, are you small?” Seungmin whispered, hoping no one heard, and Chan responded with his hand going left to right—great. “Okay, stay by me, alright? When we get to the hotel, we can get the room situation figured out then go from there, okay?”
Chan just nodded, holding onto Seungmin’s thumb again just to stay by his side. And just like the younger knew, the fans and media swarmed him and the others with questions and other things he couldn’t distinguish because of how much they overlapped.
The leader squeezed his thumb harder, unsure whether it was from fear or just to signal he was still there, but either way it made the younger wish they could go faster to get to the hotel so Chan could actually regress sooner.
When they finally get into their waiting vans, Seungmin hopes Chan’s different demeanor can’t be picked up by anyone, especially Minho, who knows all of them almost on the same level as Chan, especially the leader himself.
The ride that seemed to stretch on for too long made it harder for the vocalist to check up on the leader that was currently in between headspaces right now, way too far from Seungmin with three other members in the van that really don't seem to pay a mind to his constant checking.
Every single movement from Chan grows a worry out of Seungmin, something that could slip up and pop the bubble he just created with the leader a week ago.
He watches with quick glances as the leader gently rubs his hands on the forearm section of his dark olive jacket, squeezing the fabric every few minutes which makes Seungmin grow even more impatient with how long it is taking.
A few more antagonizing, slow minutes pass in the van before they arrive at their hotel, and Seungmin can’t be any more thankful.
He waits until the other members climb out, their luggage already given to them by staff, before he watches Chan climb out slowly while hovering his hand wherever he can in case the leader needs to lean on him.
They both take their luggage with a bow and thanks to the staff. They join the boys waiting for the elevator in the lobby, keycards already handed out by staff members.
Sadly, Seungmin and Chan are at least 2 doors apart, which makes what Seungmin wants to do a bit harder, but it saves them from any problems if they were sharing rooms.
He doesn’t let his feelings about the room arrangements show, though, just standing by the leader as the elevator moves slowly to the lobby level.
When it dings to announce it made it to their level, they all pile in as soon as the doors open. It is cramped, but Seungmin (and some of the others probably) would rather take the stairs with their luggage than wait torturously for the elevator again.
On their floor, they split to find their rooms and get situated. He can hear Felix and Jisung get excited about being door neighbors while Hyunjin and Changbin whine about being subjected to their antics later.
Minho and Jeongin, not wanting to entertain or watch, already enter their respective rooms while Chan and Seungmin still stand in the hallway.
“Let’s go to your room first, okay?” Seungmin muttered, so it was just between them. “What’s your room number?”
“308,” Chan mumbled, and the younger nodded, heading to the room after figuring out which way to go. The leader gave him the key and unlocked it for him, helping Chan get his luggage in while leaving his luggage close to the door.
He was worried about Chan not saying much since the airport back home, but he hoped that after getting settled and comfortable, he would talk a bit more.
“Do you want to stay in here or go in my room? I’m okay with either,” The vocalist told the leader after placing his suitcase near his bed.
“In here.” Chan bent down to take his skincare out to put it in the bathroom as Seungmin realized he still needed to go in his room, even though there probably wasn’t a point, as they weren’t staying long.
“Okay, I’m going to go put my suitcase down and grab some things. I will be right back. Can I take a card to get back in?” The youngest watches him travel to the connected bathroom. Chan says a small okay before Seungmin takes out the extra keycard, quickly taking his luggage to his room to grab some things.
Chan didn’t really want the younger to leave, as he would be alone in this huge hotel room by himself until he got back; still, he tried busying himself by organizing his skincare in the bathroom and even making Wolfie a very comfy spot on the bed (after checking for bedbugs per Wolfie’s reminder).
By then, Seungmin was back with a small bag of things that caught Chan’s attention when he saw him enter the hotel room.
“I brought some things. You don’t have to use all or any of them; I just thought it would help you slip,” Seungmin explains, flustered, before setting the bag on the bed. Chan sits on the bed and crawls near the bag, trying to get a peek at what he brought, which brings a laugh out of the other. “Nosy.”
Chan pouts cutely as Seungmin pulls out his clothes first, leaving him feeling teased by the younger dragging out whatever is actually in the bag.
After he sets them down, he pulls out the bubble bath, bath toys, bath crayons, and a coloring book with glittery crayons to set on the bed, and he watches as Chan’s eyes sparkle and widen to the size of saucers when he realizes what it is.
“All of these…for me?” Chan looks up to meet Seungmin’s eyes, glittered replications of the stars in a galaxy. The younger nods, and Chan gasps, reaching for the bubble bath to sniff its scent, and he gasps again at the scent. He investigates the coloring book, smiling big at seeing all the possibilities with his glittery crayons. “Thank–Thank you, Minnie-hyung.”
“Of course, Channie. Are you okay with a bath tonight?” Seungmin waits with baited breath; Chan nods without any hesitation, seeming more excited than before in the thought of using his new bath toys. “Okay, grab some pajamas and I’ll get the bath started.”
Chan excitedly gets off the bed as Seungmin walks into the bathroom, and in a bit of time, the leader is in the bathroom too, clothes sitting folded nicely on the huge sink as he waits on the toilet for Seungmin to tell him he can get in.
“Okay, it’s ready. Do you need any help, Channie?” Seungmin asks as Chan shakes his head, pulling off his jacket and taking off his bottoms with ease, but he does get lost in his undershirt, which makes the younger have to help him with that.
He can tell Chan is flustered from getting stuck in his shirt with the way his skin is pink from his ears and cheeks down to the beginning of his chest.
“Thank you, Minnie-hyung,” Chan mutters as Seungmin helps him in; the suds from the bubble bath he added while Chan was grabbing his pajamas are already covering the surface of the water.
Seungmin grabs the small hotel shower bottles to be closer for when he decides to actually give Chan a bath after he unpacks the bath toys and crayons to give to him to play with.
The room fills with Chan’s giggles as he plays with the fun wind-up sea animal toys that made the crayons have no interest in his brain.
He liked watching them race across the water and even accidentally bump into him when he didn’t move quick enough for them; he even asked Seungmin to pick one to race with him to see who would be the fastest.
“Okay, Channie. I have to wash your hair now,” Seungmin spoke after they had what felt like their hundredth race; he watched as Chan pouted, stopping his winding of the green whale. “You don’t want to turn into a giant raisin, do you?”
“No, raisins are gross,” Chan responded, and Seungmin gently laughed at that, coaxing him to tilt his head back as he scrubbed some shampoo into his hair. He turned on the water to the showerhead when he was done so it was easier to wash his hair, making sure to not get any soap in his eyes.
Seungmin moved on to putting conditioner into Chan’s hair when he broke the silence. “Minnie?”
“Yeah?” He dipped his hands into the bath to wash off the excess conditioner before turning on the shower head to wash it out.
There was a long pause before Chan spoke again, a bit hesitant. “‘M glad you are helpin’ me; thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Channie. I’m glad I can help you relax and you are comfortable with me. I should be thanking you,” Seungmin shuts the water off again once the conditioner is all out to grab a washcloth for the body wash, seeing the leader seems to be getting sleepy. “I’ll let you do this part while I dry off your toys, okay?”
“Okay,” Chan responded, blinking slowly now as he takes the cloth from Seungmin after he puts some body wash on it.
He grabs the toys from around Chan as he begins on his arms and chest before doing the rest as Seungmin dries them on a bath towel a bit bigger than the washcloth he gave to him to put them back in the bag with the bubble bath and crayons that weren’t touched.
“I didn’t use my crayons,” Chan comments sadly as he watches him place them near the wind-up toys and bubble bath, a small frown on his face. “Next tim’ ‘m gonna use ‘em.”
Seungmin tries to ignore the way his heart flutters at Chan talking about next time and instead distracts himself by pulling the plug and wrapping Chan in one of the fluffy towels as he steps out.
Chan eventually asks for help slipping on his pajamas when he feels too tired and little to do it himself, and it makes Seungmin feel warm inside to do it, especially when he hears his giggle when he gets tickled for a small while before slipping on his shirt.
They glide through his bedtime routine smoothly after making sure everything is cleaned up and dry. Seungmin snags one of the hotel-given bottles to do his routine even though he could probably just ask Chan to use his & witness him adjust the products on the sink cutely just as he had them before, but he could settle for the sake of getting him to bed quicker.
Chan runs to the bed once they exit the bathroom, mumbling a “Wolfie!” as he collapses on it, snuggling the beloved plush close.
“Do you want to watch something, Channie?” Seungmin asks, slipping into the bed himself after he quickly changes, ushering the little to get under the sheets even if he whines that his body is too tired to move.
“Mmm, sure,” He responds, his voice getting sleepier by the minute as he uses his last energy to scoot closer to the younger. “Somethin’ good, Minnie-hyung. No boring stuff.”
“We watched Bluey twice today. Are you calling that boring?” Seungmin jokes, and Chan shakes his head as he flicks through the channels, searching for kid-safe channels until he finds a channel with a Disney movie playing. “Good?”
“Mhm,” He mumbled as Seungmin turned an alarm on his phone and switched off the light before turning to cuddle Chan again. “Night, Minnie-hyung.”
“Night, Channie,” Seungmin replied as he felt Chan cuddle somehow closer than he already was to him and fall asleep to feel his palms rub gently up and down his back to soothe him.
There wasn’t anywhere else Seungmin would want to be besides here with his Channie, cuddled close to him.