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It was crucial that they got it right.
Jeongguk pinched the tiny bottle of red food coloring between his fingers, his eyes trained steadily on it. He held it over the bowl of freshly made cake icing, taking care not to breath too hard lest he accidentally squeeze too much dye out.
"...You know it won't come out until you squeeze it, right?"
Jeongguk's eyebrows twitched. "I'm concentrating."
"You've been concentrating for 3 minutes."
The boy's hand shook but he quickly moved the dye away from the frosting. With his lips puckered and eyes filled with irritation, his frustration looked rather cute. Namjoon wasn't going to say that out-loud before he made Jeongguk pout harder and look cuter.
"Namjoonie, you're making me mess up!" Jeongguk whined. "I gotta get it right." Namjoon found it slightly concerning that a four-year-old could be such a perfectionist. Then again, the only person Jeongguk could have learned it from was his own dad.
Seokjin was Perfection in human form. It was only natural that Seokjin would want to be a perfectionist in everything he did. And it made sense that the feeling would pass onto his offspring.
Hence why Seokjin’s surprise birthday cupcakes had to go well or Jeongguk would cry.
Jeongguk carefully added three drops of red dye, before taking a large spoon to slowly stir the frosting. The off-white cream faded into a light pink, just the right shade of Seokjin's favorite color.
"Joonie, can you help me? It’s really thick," Jeongguk said, tongue poking out. Namjoon placed his hand over Jeongguk's, smiling as the boy mumbled, "Thank you."
When everything was evenly mixed, Jeongguk grabbed the cupcake tray--filled with strawberry cupcakes --and spooned the frosting on top of them. Once they were all iced, Jeongguk dabbed some red star sprinkles on top before rubbing his hands clean on his apron.
"Done!" He announced, peering up at Namjoon.
"You think he'll like it?" Jeongguk held the spoon snugged in his hands, brown eyes appearing bigger and shinier that Namjoon feared the child would start crying if he hesitated with his answer.
Namjoon's hand brushed over Jeongguk's head and the boy giggled, commenting, "That tickles..."
Jeongguk was the brightest, most endearing child Namjoon ever had the fortunate of knowing. And it was times like this where Namjoon wished he could be more, could do more, for both Jeongguk and Seokjin.
Namjoon would give anything to be a part of their lives more.
“He’ll love it,” Namjoon said, heart warming up at how much Jeongguk’s expression brightened at his answer. Namjoon wasn’t quite sure why Jeongguk was always eager to please Seokjin. One time Jeongguk merely breathed and Seokjin announced how his son had the “greatest lungs ever.” He loved his child more than anything,
Namjoon loved Jeongguk too, like he was his own kid. He also, maybe, kind of, loved Seokjin a lot too.
A lot more than he should.
Jeongguk took off his apron and placed it on the counter, before picking up the tray of cupcakes. “Let’s go surprise daddy.”
Namjoon drifted behind the toddling boy as they went down the hall toward Seokjin’s room. Namjoon opened the door and waited off to the side as Jeongguk entered. Seokjin tended to sleep pass the afternoon on Saturdays, so he was still bundled up in his bedsheets, his Luma plush doll covering his eyes.
Jeongguk placed the tray on the nightstand and scurried up into bed. “Wake up!” Jeongguk plopped on top of Seokjin, half on his face, effectively smothering the man’s snores. But he was also cutting off Seokjin’s oxygen supply, so it was only a few seconds later that Seokjin began coughing and pulling Jeongguk off.
“Wha, Kookie!” Seokjin groaned, rubbing his eyes. “What’re you doing? What time is it…”
Not caring that he almost suffocated his dad, Jeongguk flopped right back onto Seokjin’s chest. “Happy birthday!” he squealed. Seokjin laughed, shaking his head and patting Jeongguk’s hair.
Namjoon watched as Jeongguk excitedly told Seokjin about the cupcakes he made, to which Seokjin frowned slightly. His confusion became deeper when Jeongguk pointed at the tray of cupcakes. “How…”
Jeongguk squished Seokjin’s cheeks, pouting as he said, “They taste really good, I promise!”
“How did you bake them? You know not to mess with the oven by yourself--”
“Here, eat one!”
Namjoon could only sigh as Jeongguk grabbed a cupcake and almost force it inside Seokjin’s mouth. It wasn’t like it was the first time Jeongguk had baked something presumably by himself, though the truth was Namjoon was there to help him each time.
Jeongguk laughed at the pink mess on Seokjin’s face, only to squeak when Seokjin attacked his face with sticky kisses. Namjoon drifted closer to the bed, chest heavy with concrete, wishing he could play around with them. Jeongguk glanced over at Namjoon, arm reaching out to him. “Joo--” But then Seokjin was tickling Jeongguk, and it was all over from there as the boy giggled hysterically and Seokjin couldn’t look more proud.
Seokjin did something weird after that.
He looked over in Namjoon’s direction, expression neutral until his eyes widen for a second. Namjoon’s nerves stiffened, a distant heartbeat quickened, and his own eyes stared Seokjin down. A flash of confusion passed over Seokjin’s face, and then he scoffed slightly, like he was being odd for no reason. He went back to playing with Jeongguk.
How weird. Seokjin looked at Namjoon like he could actually see him.
Namjoon chuckled. That was impossible.
The only beings who could see ghosts were children and animals, and Seokjin was neither.