Chapter Text
Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz…
Hyunjin grabs his phone to stop the shrieking alarm coming from his it. It’s bright and early, and the “perfect” time to wake up to start the day.
5:30 A.M.
Hyunjin barely got any sleep that night anyways. He went to bed at midnight after getting home from a rough shift at the ER and not long after Joon came crawling into his bed around 2 in the morning due to a nightmare.
He looks over to his son with nothing but love in his eyes. “Hey buddy wake up, you’re going to hang out with Uncle Minho today”, Hyunjin says while gently caressing Joon's hair to wake the boy up.
“Mhmmm” he responds while rolling over, “More sleep”. Hyunjin could barely hear his son because his face was smashed into his pillow.
Instead of fighting a losing game with his 3 year old, Hyunjin gets up, stretches, and throws out the idea that he’ll just have to eat waffles alone since Joon doesn’t want to get up.
Just like Hyunjin expected, Joon shot up from his blankets and looked his dad dead in the eyes, "That's not fair, you can’t eat waffles without me” he whined. Hyunjin laughed as he helped Joon out of bed, “then hurry up or they’ll all be gone”.
~
As Hyunjin's popping the waffles in the toaster and preparing his own lunch for work that day his phone starts ringing. It’s his cousin Minho. He grabs his phone and puts the call on speaker so he can resume his tasks.
“Hey Minho, what's up?”
“Hey Hyunjin, so I know I'm supposed to watch Joon today but another instructor at the studio was in a car accident this morning and I have to cover his shift.”
Hyunjin's stomach drops. His mind is immediately racing because he can’t take Joon to the ER, it’s no place for a child who isn’t in any danger.
“Ok let me think for a moment because I don’t have anyone else who can watch Joon today.”
Hyunjin takes a minute to think, Minho can hear his breathing get a little faster over the phone.
“I'm so sorry Hyune, you know I would never cancel if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Ok uhm, Felix is also teaching a class today so he can’t watch Joon, Changbin and Jisung have work today, and Seungmin and Jeongin are both working in the ER today as well…”
Hyunjin's almost in tears because his shift starts in an hour and he has nobody to watch his son.
Jisung is making coffee when he overheard Minho’s conversation on the phone since they're a couple and live together. He walks over and says “I can bring Joon to work with me.”
Hyunjin immediately says no.
Jisung laughs over the phone, “Hyunjin I promise it will be okay, Chan won’t mind, and Joon won't be able to wander off”.
“...Who?”
“Changbin and I’s friend.”
Hyunjin doesn’t really know Chan. He knows that he’s a part of Changbin and Jisung’s producer group called 3RACHA, but that's about it. He draws in a deep breath because he knows he has no other option.
“Okay..”
“Okay! It’s settled, I’ll be there in 20. And Hyunjin I promise it will be okay, Joon will have lots of fun!”
The call ended as Hyunjin finished the waffles. He served Joon the plate and told him he’d be spending the day with Jisung and Changbin.
Joon gobbled down his waffles and kept blabbing about how much fun he’s going to have. He was so happy he got to spend the day with 2 of his favorite people. Hyunjin led the boy to his room to help him get changed, he put on his best looking dinosaur hoodie, and a pair of sweatpants.
“Daddy did you know that chickens are dinosaurs?”
“No I did not, where’d you learn that from?” Hyunjin responded while laughing because his son is notorious for just spitting out random facts about dinosaurs. “Uncle Lixie told me!” The boy said excitedly.
~
Just as promised, Jisung showed up 20 minutes after the phone call to pick up Joon for “the best day ever”. Hyunjin let him in so he could finish getting himself ready for work, and finish packing Joon’s lunch. He was still anxious from earlier and only beginning to calm down while still having so much to do.
“Hyunjin, take care of yourself first, I can finish packing Joon’s lunch. I promise I won’t be in trouble for being 10 minutes late”. Jisung begs for his friend to just take a minute to collect himself, and to not get overwhelmed this early in the morning.
Jisung knows very well that Hyunjin overworks himself to the max and always prioritizes Joon first. He never gives himself a break or any leniency, so taking a little weight off his shoulders is the least he could do.
Hyunjin just stares at him for a few seconds before taking a deep breath in, he just nods his head and walks back to his bedroom to finish getting himself ready.
Meanwhile Jisung looks at what Hyunjin's packed Joon so far. A PB&J, apple slices, goldfish, and his water bottle. “Wow bud, looks like you got a delicious lunch, what else do you want?” he says while showing the boy what's been packed already.
Joon looked over his lunchbox one last time before deciding it was perfect. He snapped the lid shut with a satisfied nod. There was exactly the right amount of everything, packed just the way he liked it, and Jisung didn’t have to change a thing.
Jisung smiled to himself as he watched. It was another quiet reminder that, no matter how much Hyunjin worried he wasn’t doing enough for his son, he was the only person who knew exactly how Joon liked his lunch. The right foods, cut the right way, packed in the right order. The details were so small that no one else would have noticed, yet Hyunjin remembered every single one of them.
And somehow, despite knowing his son that well, Hyunjin still convinced himself it wasn't enough.
Speaking of the devil, Hyunjin came out of his room not much later, he was wearing his scrubs, had his backpack on, and had his coffee in hand. He looked ready for a long shift full of people screaming at him for not doing enough. Hyunjin already hears enough of it from himself, having to hear it at work as well did not help his confidence.
“Daddy!” Joon yelled and ran up to his dad. Hyunjin immediately picked him up with his free hand, Jisung calls that dad strength. Hyunjin hugged his son goodbye and made him promise to behave. Joon was going to a very professional workplace with 2 people who riled him up the most.
“Ready to go buddy?” Jisung asks. Hyunjin puts Joon down and the boy immediately skips to Jisung to hold his hand as they’re walking out the door. “I'm ready Freddy!” he says while giggling.
Jisung gives Hyunjin one last smile before heading out, “It’s going to be okay Hyunjin, Joon will be safe and I will text you updates every hour.”
Hyunjin lets out one last breath before saying his final goodbyes. “I love you Joonie.”
“Bye Daddy I love you!”
~
Chan walks into 3RACHA’S studio, he’s ready for another day of writing depressing lyrics about his recent breakup like tomorrow won’t arrive. His breakup is still fresh and he’s feeling distracted while working on a new project with Changbin. Jisung who is also in 3RACHA is nowhere to be found, it’s not uncommon for him to be late, but sometimes a simple text would be nice.
As if on cue the door opens and Jisung announces his presence like he’s a king…
He’s also holding a toddler.
Changbin gasped in excitement next to him, meanwhile Chan is wondering who he stole some random kid from. His face makes is clear to his friends that he’s clearly very confused on who this child was, and where Jisung found him.
Joon immediately spots Changbin.
“Binnie!” he yells while running to him.
Changbin scoops him up without hesitation.
“I missed you Binnie!” the little boy says while hugging Changbin's neck.
“I saw you yesterday buddy, but I miss you too!”
Chan blinks.
“Whose kid is that?” He asked, figuring it was a fair question given the unusual circumstances. It wasn’t everyday there was a little kid wandering around their studio, especially one who seemed to know both Jisung and Changbin.
Jisung immediately straightens up, “This right here is Joon!” He says acting like this explains everything.
Chan just stares at him… “And where did you get him from?… Who’s kid is this?”
Thank the gods that Changbin decided to answer the question.
“His dad’s Hwang Hyunjin. He’s been my best friend since middle school, and he’s also Minho's cousin, that's how Jisung knows him. We are basically his free babysitters since he works in the ER” Changbin explains.
Chan just takes the situation in and is in disbelief. “So he can’t just put his kid in daycare or hire actual babysitters?”
Changbin and Jisung both look at each other with this knowing look in their eyes. Changbin speaks up. “It’s a really complicated story, I won’t get into it. Usually one of us, Minho or Felix, or one of Hyunjin's friends from work can watch him for the day if Hyunjn can’t.” He then looks at Jisung and asks,”I thought Minho was watching Joon today, what happened?”
Jisung looks up and laughs under his breath for a moment before explaining, “Well he was supposed to watch him, but then someone from his work was in a car crash, had to go to the hospital, and all that fun stuff.” He pauses before deciding to cut off that story before it becomes TMI, “Long story short, Minho had to go in for him today, so when he called Hyunjin this morning to tell him, he started freaking out cause everyone else was busy today. And then I realized that I could bring Joon here instead of Hyunjin having to call off, or panicking even more. Plus it’s not that big of a deal, I know Hyunjin would rather know Joon is with people who are safe rather than strangers who could hurt him.” Changbin shoots him a look that's telling him not to talk about Hyunjin's problems like that, and to wrap up his “long story short”.
Jisung just plays it off by shrugging, “So basically I'm just an amazing friend who was willing to help out.”
Chan was just sitting there taking all that information in while wondering how he’s the only person who has never met this Hyunjin guy before.
~
Throughout the day Joon really warmed up to Chan, and quite quickly. Chan let him press random buttons, which immediately made Joon think Chan was the coolest person ever. He even showed the boy how to make his voice sound funny with this magical thing called autotune. Chan had Joon standing on a stool in the recording booth so he was able to reach the microphone. Joon was laughing so hard into the microphone and making so many noises so he could hear how funny he sounded. He was giggling and at one point started screaming into the microphone. Chan who was in the recording booth with him immediately covers his ears, because the man did that kid have a pipe. Joon simply claimed that's how dinosaurs sounded.
Little did either of them know, Jisung was filming the whole thing. He promised to send Hyunjin updates that Joon was safe and having fun, and this seemed like the perfect thing to send to ease his friend's anxiety.
~
Hyujin finally got a chance to check his phone during his lunch break. The second he unlocked it, a notification from Jisung popped up.
He hadn’t stopped worrying about Joon all day.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Changbin and Jisung. They’d been helping him raise Joon since the day he was born, and since everything was Joon’s mom went down. He trusted them with his life.
He just… wasn’t used to letting someone else he doesn’t really know help watch his son for an entire day. He knows Changbin and Jisung would never let anything happen to Joon, but his anxiety always gets the best of him at times like this.
“You’ve checked your phone at least twenty times today,” Seungmin pointed out as he sat down across from him in the break room.
Jeongin looked up from his own lunch and nodded. “Seriously. Is everything okay? You look like you’ve been hit by a train today… No offense.”
Hyunjin let out a small, embarrassed laugh. “Yeah. I mean… no. Joon’s spending the day with Changbin, Jisung, and some random guy I’ve never met at the recording studio while I’m here.”
“...And?” Seungmin asked expecting more since Hyunjin's stressed out about this so much.
“And I can’t stop worrying.”
Jeongin smiled knowingly. “Hyung, Changbin and Jisung would throw themselves in front of a bus for Joon. And I'm sure this random guy, who's probably not so random because your friends trust him enough to let him around Joon, is a good guy.”
“I know… I just-”
“They adore him Hyunjin,” Seungmin added. “I don’t think it’s possible for him to be in safer hands.”
Hyunjin sighed. “I know that too. My brain just won’t listen.”
“Then check whatever Jisung sent you,” Jeongin suggested. “Maybe it’ll convince your brain to calm down.”
Hyunjin nodded and opened the message.
It was a video.
The moment he pressed play, he heard Joon’s bright laugh before he even saw him.
The camera panned over to Joon sitting on a stool in the recording booth next to a man Hyunjin had to presume was Chan. They set up autotune on the microphone and Joon kept making silly noises into it because it made his voice sound funny. Changbin was in the background laughing as well, he wasn’t even pretending not to smile as he watched the boy scream into the mic.
Joon looked happy.
Not just okay.
But, happy.
Safe.
Relaxed.
Hyunjin hadn’t realized how tightly his shoulders had been tense all morning until they finally loosened. The knot in his chest slowly unraveled as he watched the video a second time, smiling despite himself.
He replayed Joon’s laugh one more time before opening the chat.
Hyunjin: Thank you
A few seconds later he added another message.
Hyunjin: Seriously. I needed that more than you know.
His phone buzzed almost instantly.
Jisung: Told you he’d be fine. He’s having the time of his life.
Jisung: Now stop worrying and go save your patients. We’ve got your kid. <3
Hyunjin laughed quietly, earning confused looks from Seungmin and Jeongin.
“He okay?” Jeongin asked.
Hyunjin smiled as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.
“Yeah,” he said, the tension finally gone from his voice. “He’s having the time of his life.”
~
As the day went on Chan found himself surprised by how easy it was to spend time with a little kid. He’s always said he never wanted children, but he realizes he genuinely enjoys Joon’s company because there isn't any pressure. He just gets to be the fun adult for the day.
By the end of the work day which was around 8:00 P.M., Joon refuses to leave Chan’s side.
“C’mon buddy it’s time to go home”, Jisung tells the boy who has found himself glued to his new best friend Chan.
In protest Joon shook his head no. “I don’t want to go, Channie can’t come with me, it’s not fair!” The boy cried. Jisung found himself in a pickle here. He knew Hyunjin had gotten home and wanted Joon home as well so they could both get much needed sleep. Jisung knew Hyunjin was exhausted, but would never dare fall asleep before knowing if his son was safe, and that’s exactly why he needed to get Joon home.
“Lets make a deal, next I babysit you, maybe we can come back to the studio, and just maybe Chan will be there?” Jisung prayed this would work.
Joon just looked at him, his face was expressionless so Jisung had no clue what to assume the boy would say.
“Hmmmm…” Joon pretended to think it over. “Only if we can get ice cream on the way home!”
Even though Joon was only three, though he would fight you and say three and a half if you asked him, he was far too clever for his own good. Or maybe Jisung was too tired to put up much of a fight, because he gave in almost immediately.
“Deal,” Jisung sighed dramatically.
Joon beamed, looking far too pleased with himself. Somehow, he’d managed to negotiate dessert before they had even left the studio.
Changbin shot Jisung a look that clearly said, I hope you’re proud of yourself.
Chan, meanwhile, was trying, and failing not to laugh.
Joon happily climbed off Chan’s lap, though not before wrapping his little arms around him one last time.
“Bye bye, Channie. I hope I see you again soon.”
Chan’s heart melted, how could it not with such a sweet boy.
He hugged Joon back with a grin. “I hope so too, buddy. Have fun getting your ice cream, okay?”
“I will!”
Joon waved enthusiastically before taking Jisung’s hand, already chatting about what flavor he wanted. Changbin, who was sitting in his chair, was still shaking his head at Jisung for agreeing to the bribe in the first place.
Just before they disappeared through the studio doors, Joon turned around one last time and gave Chan the biggest two handed wave the three year old could manage.
“Bye, Channie!”
“Bye, Joon.”
The door closed behind them, leaving the studio oddly quiet.
Chan found himself staring at the now empty doorway longer than he meant to.
“So…” Changbin said, looking at him with a knowing smirk. “You like him.”
Chan blinked. “What?”
“Joon” Changbin said like it was obvious
“I just met him,” Chan replied. “Plus he’s three years old and super cute, who wouldn’t?”
Changbin just shrugged, “He has that effect on people.”
“Whatever you say,” Chan responded, not knowing what Changbin was trying to get to.
Changbin's grin only widened. “I have to get you to meet his dad, Hyunjin, I think you guys would get along.” Changnin paused for a second before continuing, “Joons just like his dad.”
Chan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
And… maybe he had just met Joon.
But he already had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time.