untitled
Title: untitled
Pairing: suho centric, dad!suho/kid!kai, eventual slight krisho
Rating: PG-13
Genre: slice of life
Length: ~4k for now, will be around 7k when everything is done?
Summary/Warnings: Junmyeon gets a surprise on Christmas
The streets are brightly lit with Christmas decorations, and even when it is after 12am, plenty of couples are still out celebrating, spending the first moments of the holiday together. Junmyeon staggers in his steps, letting go of any control to his body, allowing the light buzz in his head dictate his movements. The atmosphere in the alleyway to his house is vastly different from the main streets; there is no one in sight and litters are cluttering the walk way, making it difficult for him to navigate around.
If not for the soft whine, Junmyeon will definitely not have seen that thing that is hiding behind a trashcan. The flickering lights make it difficult for him to see clearly, prompting him to lean closer to identify the little bundle. It is a little boy who looks no older than five; tear stains dot his chubby cheeks, and he is whimpering lightly as he shivers in the cold.
"Hey, why are you here?" Junmyeon reaches out to poke the boy, eliciting a startled scream before the little boy presses himself closer to the wall.
"Hey I just wanted to know why you are here alone on such a cold day." He mumbles unhappily at the younger boy's reaction. He has always been the most popular uncle among his friends, with children clamoring to play with him during every gathering, and he believes that his charms extend even to strangers. However, this kid is giving him the first rejection of his life (Junmyeon conveniently forgets how Baekhyun's son hits him the first time they met).
The little boy refuses to answer, choosing to snuggle deeper into his thin jacket. For any sane human being, their first instinct will be to find the child's parents, but the few drinks that he had has apparently obstructed his ability to think straight since he simply squats in front of the kid and stares at him.
It is not until he feels a numbing pain in his leg that he voices out his displeasure. "Why won't you tell me what you are doing here? Are you lost?" The young boy answers him with silence, wearing his patience thin. "Fine then," he stands up on the spot, massaging his numb legs slightly before trying to walk, "I'll just leave you alone."
He is taking his second step before he hears a rustling behind him, and shortly after, a small hand reaches out to grab the hem of his jacket.
Junmyeon sigh, squatting down to face the boy, "What do you want?" No answer. "Are you cold?" No answer. "Do you want to go home with me?" No answer.
"Forget it, you are not going to let go of me are you?" Junmyeon tries to tug his jacket away from the boy's grasp only for him to hold on tighter. "I'm going to bring you home," he explains reaching out to hold his hand, but the boy backs away while ensuring his grip on the jacket is tight. "Do whatever you want," Junmyeon finally gives up.
He changes the boy out of his old clothes with much resistance, and flops down to his bed with the boy snuggled close to him (Junmyeon tried to move to the guest room, but that brat refuse to let go again). The day has been too long, and the alcohol is starting to give him a mini headache, he can worry about everything else tomorrow.
Junmyeon wakes up with a start when he stretches his leg, and kicks a soft object on his bed. Multiple thoughts run across his mind as he wonders about the identity of the stranger, slowly turning around to take a look at the intruder. A peek at the boy's face brings all of previous night memories back, and regret slowly makes its way to his mind. He doesn't know why did he bring the boy back, but he definitely know that he is in trouble.
He slips out of bed quietly and makes his way to the kitchen, attempting to seek some solace in his favorite room. The space, although albeit tiny, never fails to cheer him up, ridding him of all negative thoughts as he bustles around the room. He is pouring milk into the cup when the little boy walks into the kitchen. His face is all scrunched up and his eyes are shining with unshed tears which Junmyeon presumes comes from the fear of not being able to find him after he wakes up.
Junmyeon gestures for him to sit down on the chair and pushes the cup of milk in his direction. "Let's quickly finish our breakfast, then we will go find your parents okay?" He didn't expect an answer, and is largely unaffected by the little kid that is sipping his milk quietly in front of him.
It is slightly difficult getting the boy to change back to his old clothes and brave the cold weather, yet it is necessary if Junmyeon wants to be relieved of his responsibility as soon as possible. He doesn't know the younger boy, and it is highly possible that his parents are worried sick.
The bus ride to the police station was relatively smooth, even though the tension from not speaking is killing Junmyeon on the inside; however it is a different case when they arrived at their destination. The little boy starts wailing loudly once he realizes that Junmyeon is trying to find his real parents, and the scene attracted a large group of onlookers, most of them berating him for being heartless (without knowing that he is the victim). In the end, he can only bring the boy and a headache home.
To be perfectly honest, Junmyeon has no experience taking care of a child. The most he has done is to play with his friends' kids, and feed them during dinner time. The only time he babysat, the other party is Ji Eun, someone he has known since she was born, and the two of them has no problem getting along. This though is slightly different as the two of them has been sitting in the living room for half an hour, and the younger boy still refuses to talk to him.
"You have to talk to me," Junmyeon sighs exasperatedly. "I cannot take you in without knowing anything about you or your parents. I'll be like a kidnapper, do you know?" The boy simply gives a confused look at the difficult word, causing Junmyeon to sigh again. "Kidnapper. Someone who steals other people's children."
"At least tell me your namem" He finally concedes, deciding to get the bare minimum and work from there. The boy doesn't answer, and his tone becomes relatively harsher with frustration, "I cannot help you if you refuse to tell me anything. I will have to send you back to the police station."
That finally got the attention of the little boy. "I," he starts hesitantly, speaking in a soft whisper till Junmyeon nearly couldn't catch it, "don't know." The reply did not help Junmyeon in the least, but for a start he got an answer. He rubs his temples tiredly; the next few days are going to be hell.
He took all his accumulated leave at one go, resulting in multiple curses thrown his way by the boss' secretary, but at least he has 3 full weeks to take care of the boy. Living together turns out to be a lot easier once the other boy opens up, a little bit. The boy is still reluctant to talk, choosing to answer with a couple of words, or the nodding or shaking of the head, but at least it is good progress from three days ago. Junmyeon has managed to wheedle out basic knowledge such as the boy losing his memory which is why he answers 'i don't know' to everything he asks, he is attached to Junmyeon for some weird reason, and that he will start crying at the mention of police stations. (Junmyeon wonders what he did wrong in his past life to deserve this)
"Should I think of a name for you?" Junmyeon asks during dinner. He had been calling the other boy 'hey' for the whole week, and it is starting to get weird knowing the fact that he will have to live with the boy for a while longer. "What do you think about Jongin?" He suggests.
The boy's face lit up, and he nods furiously in agreement.
"Okay, so you will be Jongin from now on," He reaches out to ruffle Jongin's hair, before retracting it quickly once he remembers that he is not supposed to be affectionate or get attached so quickly.
"Chanyeol, I'm so tired," He calls his best friend to whine about his situation when Jongin is taking his nap. It has been two weeks since they are living together, and the younger boy has proven to be a handful. He is perpetually curious about everything, poking around the house to explore every crook and cranny, and Junmyeon has to continuously run after him to make sure that he does not get into trouble. Jongin is also addicted to the penguin cartoon Pororo, and he will harass Junmyeon everyday till he gets to watch it.
"I know," Chanyeol replies over the phone. "Ji Eun was a handful too when she was younger."
"Why did I do this?" He complains, plunking his upper body on the dining table with a visible pout on his face.
There is silence from the other side, before Chanyeol asks "Why did you do this? You could have just made a police report without him knowing so that he can find his actual parents."
The pout on Junmyeon's face gets replaced by a frown, as he mumbles, "I don't know. To be honest I don't know. He looks so upset whenever I mention sending him away that I can't bear to do it. He makes me feel like I'm abandoning my kid, and I just can't do it."
"Think about his parents and how worried they will be. You can't be so selfish Junmyeon."
"I know, Chanyeol. I know," Junmyeon replies, burying his face into the crook of his arms.
The three weeks of vacation passes by soon enough, and Junmyeon has to think of alternatives since it is impossible for him to continue staying at home to take care of Jongin. It is impossible for him to bring Jongin to work since he is working in a stressful environment where accuracy is highly important, he also couldn't leave him with his parents, not when they are not in town. Chanyeol will be his last choice, but he is busy enough with his cafe and Ji Eun.
"What should I do?" He asks his best friend.
"Find his parents for him." It is the standard reply that Chanyeol gives whenever they talk. Junmyeon tried asking around, as well as filing a police report, however it is difficult when no real name can be given, and he was told that there is a high possibility that Jongin will eventually be sent to an orphanage.
"I'm trying already," he sighs.
"Why don't you send him to the kindergarten? Ji Eun can accompany him, and I can bring him home first before you get off work." Chanyeol offers Junmyeon the best solution he can think of.
"Sounds good. Thank you Chanyeol, you are my best friend."
There is a snort from the other side, and the phone goes dead as Chanyeol claims that Ji Eun is calling out for him.
"Jongin-ah, do you want to go to the kindergarten? You can make a lot of new friends there," Junmyeon tries convincing the little boy over dinner, bribing him with his favorite fried chicken.
"No!" Jongin shouts adamantly, "I want to stay with you."
"But I'll have to go to work, will you be good and go there?" He tries coaxing Jongin in the most fatherly voice he can muster.
Jongin scrunches him face, a sign that he is going to start crying again. "Kim Jongin, don't cry. If you're going to cry, you will not get dinner," Junmyeon warns. He doesn't want to be so stern, but it is going to be difficult in the future if Jongin doesn't grow up learning the proper manners.
The young boy stops his sniffling, and chooses to pout throughout dinner, ignoring any conversation Junmyeon tries to hold. Junmyeon groans, a Jongin induced headache is becoming way too common.
To say that Jongin caused a scene in the kindergarten will be an understatement as the young boy wails and refuses to let go of Junmyeon no matter the amount of coaxing or threats thrown his way. Every parent’s attention is on them, and Junmyeon has never felt that embarrassed in his life. Chanyeol is of no help as Jongin just refuses to listen to anything anyone says to him. He was pretty sure that he is going to have to take the day off work again before his savior comes in the form of another little boy.
"Don't cry," A sleepy looking boy reaches out to Jongin, "Only girls will cry over everything." His statement earns indignant huffs from mothers and students alike, but Jongin is miraculously listening to him.
"I'll lend you my toy cars too," He offers, taking hold of Jongin's hand. Junmyeon thinks that he has learnt a lot about Jongin from the past few weeks, and if there is one thing that he realized, it will be how much Jongin hates people touching him without asking. Somehow, the other boy manages to get into Jongin's good books without doing anything as Jongin simply follows him without even looking back (Junmyeon will not admit that he is upset because he didn't get a goodbye).
Kyungsoo the boss’ secretary that curses at him nonstop, corners him at work, bugging Junmyeon to fill him in with all the details of his absence. He escapes his grip by rushing into his boss’ room in the pretense of having to ask about the upcoming project. Before he closes the door, he sees Kyungsoo giving him a glare that promises severe questioning during lunch time.
Lunch arrives way too early for Junmyeon’s liking, and Kyungsoo marches to his cubicle, dragging him out to the nearest restaurant (he can still feel Kyungsoo’s grip on him arms). Junmyeon stirs his coffee slowly, averting eye contact with his colleague, not wanting to answer any of the questions that will come his way. He is able to tell Chanyeol about Jongin, and even ask for help since they grew up together, and Chanyeol is already used to him doing things out of his capability. Kyungsoo, on the other hand is different; he isn’t as indulgent with the things Junmyeon do, and he can already envision the lashing he will get.
“Spill,” Kyungsoo orders after fifteen minutes, “with the way you are acting, something must be up.”
“Nothing.” Junmyeon’s voice is muffled by the huge mouthful of pasta he stuffed into his mouth.
“Don’t nothing me,” Kyungsoo warns, his big eyes narrowing warningly. “I can just ask Chanyeol and tell Baekhyun and Jongdae.”
Junmyeon is normally not someone who gets threatened easily, but the four of them is a force to be reckoned when combined together and Junmyeon is not ready to face it again. (They ganged up on him once a few years ago when they realized that he secretly dated, and it is simply not pretty.)
“I got a kid,” He explains, quickly swallowing the remaining mouthful.
Kyungsoo’s huge eyes widen considerably, and Junmyeon realizes that he must have misunderstood. “No, it’s not my kid. I found him on the streets, and then I took him in.”
He can almost hear the cogs turning in Kyungsoo’s brain with the slight furrow of his brows and fiddling of his hands. “You took a kid in?” Nod. “Do you know him?” Shakes head. “Are you crazy, Kim Junmyeon?” Kyungsoo finally exploded after hearing the previous answers.
“I don’t know,” Junmyeon hides his face in his palms. “I’ve made a police report, and they said that he will be put in an orphanage if they can’t find his parents. So, I offered to take him in for the time being.”
His friend nods thoughtfully, taking a sip of his tea. “What do you plan to do next?”
Junmyeon shakes his head, his distress showing visibly.
“Are you going to adopt him?”
Realistically speaking, he should just leave Jongin in the orphanage and continue with his life; he has neither the capabilities nor the time to take care of a toddler. However, he is starting to feel slightly attached to the boy he has only known for three weeks. Jongin is always up to weird antics such as pulling off his socks every time Junmyeon puts them on, or piling all the chicken onto his own plate. Junmyeon gets frustrated at times, but Jongin will always use his weird laughter to diffuse the situation.
“You want to, right?” Kyungsoo’s question voices out the thought that Junmyeon has been squashing to the deepest corner of his mind.
It takes quite some time, but Junmyeon eventually nods affirming that thought.
“Then do it. I still think that it is a reckless thought, but if you can’t find his parents, isn’t it better for you to take him in?” He says with resolve, contradicting Junmyeon’s initial thoughts. He had thought that Kyungsoo will surely berate him before asking him to come to his senses, but he is getting support instead.
Junmyeon sets down his fork anxiously, “You really think that is a good idea?”
“Yes, as long as you are sure that you will take responsibility for him.” Kyungsoo hurriedly puts down his cup of tea before it gets knocked over by the human that barrels himself into his arms.
Junmyeon finds out that the kid who manages to calm Jongin down on the first day of school is called Oh Sehun when he is the only thing Jongin talks about when he comes home. He will fill Junmyeon in with the details of what he learnt when he was asked, but all the answers will be interlaced with what Sehun likes, what Sehun did, and how Sehun will be his best friend.
He is slightly jealous that Jongin opens up to Sehun so quickly, but at the same time he is incredibly grateful that the other boy manages to divert Jongin’s attention so that his absence won’t be noticed (and that he can finally go to work).
“What do you want for dinner?” Junmyeon asks after picking Jongin up from Chanyeol’s house. His best friend had been a life-saver in the past 2 weeks, helping him babysit Jongin before he ends work, and even going the extra mile to teach Jongin guitar even though he is not showing any interest in it.
“Ice-cream,” Jongin replies looking slightly unsure of himself, “can we have ice-cream later, papa?” The last syllable is barely louder than a whisper, but Junmyeon still hears it loud and clear.
There is a sudden rush adrenaline, and his heart beats harder in response to what he heard. “What did you say?”
“I want ice-cream for dinner?” Jongin tilts his head in confusion, raising his neck to look at Junmyeon who is standing by the fridge.
“No. I mean what did you call me?” Junmyeon strides over to where Jongin is standing, and squats to be at eye-level with the little boy.
“Papa.” Jongin whispers uncertainly again, before rushing to explain himself. “Teacher said that we have to live with our family when we are young and that everyone has a papa and mama. You are my papa right?” He flattens his fringe trying to hide his eyes that are shining with uncertainty.
“Do you want me to be?” Junmyeon asks, holding the boy close. He has never talked about adoption or family with Jongin, not knowing how to start explaining the concept to a kid who lost his memories. There is so much that he will not be able to explain, and he is wary of the repercussions. Maybe, now will be a good time to start, if he is going to get the adoption letter this weekend.
There is no tangible change in their interaction after the adoption process other than Jongin calling him Papa and Junmyeon pampering the kid a little bit more than he is supposed to. Baekhyun and Jongdae eventually got to know about it when he didn’t turn up for their monthly gathering twice in a row, earning him naggings that will last for the entire year. On the bright side, they passed him lots of their sons’ old clothing, saving him a significant amount of money (how does kids grow up so fast; Junmyeon swears that Jongin have grown out of the clothes he bought two months ago).
“Open up.” Loud thumps can be heard on the door at eight on a Sunday morning. Junmyeon lets out a loud groan, forcing himself out of the cocoon of warmth. He had been working till late for the past few days, and just when he wants to sleep in, somebody has to come and disturb him.
“Byun Baekhyun, why are you here so early?” Junmyeon complains even before he fully opens the door. There is only one person who doesn’t utilize his door bell, and regretfully, he can’t do anything about it.
“Free breakfast!” He exclaims, “And of course, since Jongin is the newest addition to our army of kids, we should have a playdate.” His cheerful voice is giving Junmyeon a migraine, which gets stronger when he sees all his friends with their kids in tow.
“Can I reject?” His struggle is useless as everyone pushes past him to pile into his living room.
Junmyeon is halfway done with his signature blueberry pancakes (requested by those brats outside) when Jongin rushes into the kitchen and refuses to go out no matter how much coaxing Junmyeon does. Jongin has always been wary of strangers, choosing to steer clear of them or stick close to Junmyeon when there is a need to interact. Right now, with the crowd outside it is no wonder that he refuses to leave this place, choosing to stay by Junmyeon’s side.
Junmyeon tears off a small piece of pancake and feeds it to Jongin. “How is it? Is it good?”
Jongin nods his head eagerly, clearly asking for more. “Why don’t you help papa set the table first? You can have more later.” Junmyeon ruffles Jongin’s hair with his clean hand before pushing him to the closet.
The small dining table is not able to fit all nine of them, and they end up having to hold their plates while eating on the living room floor. All the adults and children seem contented with it, often reaching out to add more honey to their pancakes while Junmyeon continuously worry that they will spill some on his carpet (which might be the only expensive thing in his house).
Luckily, no one is that clumsy, not even Chanyeol their resident accident king who knocks down everything in his way. The group squeezes onto the small sofa, indulging their kids with Pororo while they talk over the noise of the television.
“Jongin is cute.” Kyungsoo comments as he plays with the boy’s hair, not caring that Jongin’s attention is focused on the penguin.
“My Minhyuk is ten times better,” Baekhyun boasts, poking his kid’s cheeks which earned him a loud whine of protest. “But you’re lucky that Jongin is pretty cute for a kid,” he adds, “You can probably use him as a bait to attract a potential partner.”
Junmyeon was about to protest when Baekhyun makes another noise of realization. “But, who will want to date a 32 year old guy who has a child that doesn’t belong to him.” It is supposed to be a dig at Junmyeon for being single, but he can’t help but to cover Jongin’s ears as quickly as possible, afraid that the conversation will hurt him.
Jongin looks up at him in confusion, asking what is going on wordlessly. Junmyeon simply glares at Baekhyun before pointing at the television trying to divert Jongin’s attention. The plan works as Jongin simply turns around again, and squirms in his spot on Junmyeon’s lap so that he can lean against something. His legs are starting to get numb from the lack of blood flow, and the bones from Jongin’s butt is digging into his thighs, but for now he thinks that he can live with it, even if it means that he will be alone for the rest of his life.
mods, i'm sorry that i forgot about the check in deadline ):
Pairing: suho centric, dad!suho/kid!kai, eventual slight krisho
Rating: PG-13
Genre: slice of life
Length: ~4k for now, will be around 7k when everything is done?
Summary/Warnings: Junmyeon gets a surprise on Christmas
The streets are brightly lit with Christmas decorations, and even when it is after 12am, plenty of couples are still out celebrating, spending the first moments of the holiday together. Junmyeon staggers in his steps, letting go of any control to his body, allowing the light buzz in his head dictate his movements. The atmosphere in the alleyway to his house is vastly different from the main streets; there is no one in sight and litters are cluttering the walk way, making it difficult for him to navigate around.
If not for the soft whine, Junmyeon will definitely not have seen that thing that is hiding behind a trashcan. The flickering lights make it difficult for him to see clearly, prompting him to lean closer to identify the little bundle. It is a little boy who looks no older than five; tear stains dot his chubby cheeks, and he is whimpering lightly as he shivers in the cold.
"Hey, why are you here?" Junmyeon reaches out to poke the boy, eliciting a startled scream before the little boy presses himself closer to the wall.
"Hey I just wanted to know why you are here alone on such a cold day." He mumbles unhappily at the younger boy's reaction. He has always been the most popular uncle among his friends, with children clamoring to play with him during every gathering, and he believes that his charms extend even to strangers. However, this kid is giving him the first rejection of his life (Junmyeon conveniently forgets how Baekhyun's son hits him the first time they met).
The little boy refuses to answer, choosing to snuggle deeper into his thin jacket. For any sane human being, their first instinct will be to find the child's parents, but the few drinks that he had has apparently obstructed his ability to think straight since he simply squats in front of the kid and stares at him.
It is not until he feels a numbing pain in his leg that he voices out his displeasure. "Why won't you tell me what you are doing here? Are you lost?" The young boy answers him with silence, wearing his patience thin. "Fine then," he stands up on the spot, massaging his numb legs slightly before trying to walk, "I'll just leave you alone."
He is taking his second step before he hears a rustling behind him, and shortly after, a small hand reaches out to grab the hem of his jacket.
Junmyeon sigh, squatting down to face the boy, "What do you want?" No answer. "Are you cold?" No answer. "Do you want to go home with me?" No answer.
"Forget it, you are not going to let go of me are you?" Junmyeon tries to tug his jacket away from the boy's grasp only for him to hold on tighter. "I'm going to bring you home," he explains reaching out to hold his hand, but the boy backs away while ensuring his grip on the jacket is tight. "Do whatever you want," Junmyeon finally gives up.
He changes the boy out of his old clothes with much resistance, and flops down to his bed with the boy snuggled close to him (Junmyeon tried to move to the guest room, but that brat refuse to let go again). The day has been too long, and the alcohol is starting to give him a mini headache, he can worry about everything else tomorrow.
Junmyeon wakes up with a start when he stretches his leg, and kicks a soft object on his bed. Multiple thoughts run across his mind as he wonders about the identity of the stranger, slowly turning around to take a look at the intruder. A peek at the boy's face brings all of previous night memories back, and regret slowly makes its way to his mind. He doesn't know why did he bring the boy back, but he definitely know that he is in trouble.
He slips out of bed quietly and makes his way to the kitchen, attempting to seek some solace in his favorite room. The space, although albeit tiny, never fails to cheer him up, ridding him of all negative thoughts as he bustles around the room. He is pouring milk into the cup when the little boy walks into the kitchen. His face is all scrunched up and his eyes are shining with unshed tears which Junmyeon presumes comes from the fear of not being able to find him after he wakes up.
Junmyeon gestures for him to sit down on the chair and pushes the cup of milk in his direction. "Let's quickly finish our breakfast, then we will go find your parents okay?" He didn't expect an answer, and is largely unaffected by the little kid that is sipping his milk quietly in front of him.
It is slightly difficult getting the boy to change back to his old clothes and brave the cold weather, yet it is necessary if Junmyeon wants to be relieved of his responsibility as soon as possible. He doesn't know the younger boy, and it is highly possible that his parents are worried sick.
The bus ride to the police station was relatively smooth, even though the tension from not speaking is killing Junmyeon on the inside; however it is a different case when they arrived at their destination. The little boy starts wailing loudly once he realizes that Junmyeon is trying to find his real parents, and the scene attracted a large group of onlookers, most of them berating him for being heartless (without knowing that he is the victim). In the end, he can only bring the boy and a headache home.
To be perfectly honest, Junmyeon has no experience taking care of a child. The most he has done is to play with his friends' kids, and feed them during dinner time. The only time he babysat, the other party is Ji Eun, someone he has known since she was born, and the two of them has no problem getting along. This though is slightly different as the two of them has been sitting in the living room for half an hour, and the younger boy still refuses to talk to him.
"You have to talk to me," Junmyeon sighs exasperatedly. "I cannot take you in without knowing anything about you or your parents. I'll be like a kidnapper, do you know?" The boy simply gives a confused look at the difficult word, causing Junmyeon to sigh again. "Kidnapper. Someone who steals other people's children."
"At least tell me your namem" He finally concedes, deciding to get the bare minimum and work from there. The boy doesn't answer, and his tone becomes relatively harsher with frustration, "I cannot help you if you refuse to tell me anything. I will have to send you back to the police station."
That finally got the attention of the little boy. "I," he starts hesitantly, speaking in a soft whisper till Junmyeon nearly couldn't catch it, "don't know." The reply did not help Junmyeon in the least, but for a start he got an answer. He rubs his temples tiredly; the next few days are going to be hell.
He took all his accumulated leave at one go, resulting in multiple curses thrown his way by the boss' secretary, but at least he has 3 full weeks to take care of the boy. Living together turns out to be a lot easier once the other boy opens up, a little bit. The boy is still reluctant to talk, choosing to answer with a couple of words, or the nodding or shaking of the head, but at least it is good progress from three days ago. Junmyeon has managed to wheedle out basic knowledge such as the boy losing his memory which is why he answers 'i don't know' to everything he asks, he is attached to Junmyeon for some weird reason, and that he will start crying at the mention of police stations. (Junmyeon wonders what he did wrong in his past life to deserve this)
"Should I think of a name for you?" Junmyeon asks during dinner. He had been calling the other boy 'hey' for the whole week, and it is starting to get weird knowing the fact that he will have to live with the boy for a while longer. "What do you think about Jongin?" He suggests.
The boy's face lit up, and he nods furiously in agreement.
"Okay, so you will be Jongin from now on," He reaches out to ruffle Jongin's hair, before retracting it quickly once he remembers that he is not supposed to be affectionate or get attached so quickly.
"Chanyeol, I'm so tired," He calls his best friend to whine about his situation when Jongin is taking his nap. It has been two weeks since they are living together, and the younger boy has proven to be a handful. He is perpetually curious about everything, poking around the house to explore every crook and cranny, and Junmyeon has to continuously run after him to make sure that he does not get into trouble. Jongin is also addicted to the penguin cartoon Pororo, and he will harass Junmyeon everyday till he gets to watch it.
"I know," Chanyeol replies over the phone. "Ji Eun was a handful too when she was younger."
"Why did I do this?" He complains, plunking his upper body on the dining table with a visible pout on his face.
There is silence from the other side, before Chanyeol asks "Why did you do this? You could have just made a police report without him knowing so that he can find his actual parents."
The pout on Junmyeon's face gets replaced by a frown, as he mumbles, "I don't know. To be honest I don't know. He looks so upset whenever I mention sending him away that I can't bear to do it. He makes me feel like I'm abandoning my kid, and I just can't do it."
"Think about his parents and how worried they will be. You can't be so selfish Junmyeon."
"I know, Chanyeol. I know," Junmyeon replies, burying his face into the crook of his arms.
The three weeks of vacation passes by soon enough, and Junmyeon has to think of alternatives since it is impossible for him to continue staying at home to take care of Jongin. It is impossible for him to bring Jongin to work since he is working in a stressful environment where accuracy is highly important, he also couldn't leave him with his parents, not when they are not in town. Chanyeol will be his last choice, but he is busy enough with his cafe and Ji Eun.
"What should I do?" He asks his best friend.
"Find his parents for him." It is the standard reply that Chanyeol gives whenever they talk. Junmyeon tried asking around, as well as filing a police report, however it is difficult when no real name can be given, and he was told that there is a high possibility that Jongin will eventually be sent to an orphanage.
"I'm trying already," he sighs.
"Why don't you send him to the kindergarten? Ji Eun can accompany him, and I can bring him home first before you get off work." Chanyeol offers Junmyeon the best solution he can think of.
"Sounds good. Thank you Chanyeol, you are my best friend."
There is a snort from the other side, and the phone goes dead as Chanyeol claims that Ji Eun is calling out for him.
"Jongin-ah, do you want to go to the kindergarten? You can make a lot of new friends there," Junmyeon tries convincing the little boy over dinner, bribing him with his favorite fried chicken.
"No!" Jongin shouts adamantly, "I want to stay with you."
"But I'll have to go to work, will you be good and go there?" He tries coaxing Jongin in the most fatherly voice he can muster.
Jongin scrunches him face, a sign that he is going to start crying again. "Kim Jongin, don't cry. If you're going to cry, you will not get dinner," Junmyeon warns. He doesn't want to be so stern, but it is going to be difficult in the future if Jongin doesn't grow up learning the proper manners.
The young boy stops his sniffling, and chooses to pout throughout dinner, ignoring any conversation Junmyeon tries to hold. Junmyeon groans, a Jongin induced headache is becoming way too common.
To say that Jongin caused a scene in the kindergarten will be an understatement as the young boy wails and refuses to let go of Junmyeon no matter the amount of coaxing or threats thrown his way. Every parent’s attention is on them, and Junmyeon has never felt that embarrassed in his life. Chanyeol is of no help as Jongin just refuses to listen to anything anyone says to him. He was pretty sure that he is going to have to take the day off work again before his savior comes in the form of another little boy.
"Don't cry," A sleepy looking boy reaches out to Jongin, "Only girls will cry over everything." His statement earns indignant huffs from mothers and students alike, but Jongin is miraculously listening to him.
"I'll lend you my toy cars too," He offers, taking hold of Jongin's hand. Junmyeon thinks that he has learnt a lot about Jongin from the past few weeks, and if there is one thing that he realized, it will be how much Jongin hates people touching him without asking. Somehow, the other boy manages to get into Jongin's good books without doing anything as Jongin simply follows him without even looking back (Junmyeon will not admit that he is upset because he didn't get a goodbye).
Kyungsoo the boss’ secretary that curses at him nonstop, corners him at work, bugging Junmyeon to fill him in with all the details of his absence. He escapes his grip by rushing into his boss’ room in the pretense of having to ask about the upcoming project. Before he closes the door, he sees Kyungsoo giving him a glare that promises severe questioning during lunch time.
Lunch arrives way too early for Junmyeon’s liking, and Kyungsoo marches to his cubicle, dragging him out to the nearest restaurant (he can still feel Kyungsoo’s grip on him arms). Junmyeon stirs his coffee slowly, averting eye contact with his colleague, not wanting to answer any of the questions that will come his way. He is able to tell Chanyeol about Jongin, and even ask for help since they grew up together, and Chanyeol is already used to him doing things out of his capability. Kyungsoo, on the other hand is different; he isn’t as indulgent with the things Junmyeon do, and he can already envision the lashing he will get.
“Spill,” Kyungsoo orders after fifteen minutes, “with the way you are acting, something must be up.”
“Nothing.” Junmyeon’s voice is muffled by the huge mouthful of pasta he stuffed into his mouth.
“Don’t nothing me,” Kyungsoo warns, his big eyes narrowing warningly. “I can just ask Chanyeol and tell Baekhyun and Jongdae.”
Junmyeon is normally not someone who gets threatened easily, but the four of them is a force to be reckoned when combined together and Junmyeon is not ready to face it again. (They ganged up on him once a few years ago when they realized that he secretly dated, and it is simply not pretty.)
“I got a kid,” He explains, quickly swallowing the remaining mouthful.
Kyungsoo’s huge eyes widen considerably, and Junmyeon realizes that he must have misunderstood. “No, it’s not my kid. I found him on the streets, and then I took him in.”
He can almost hear the cogs turning in Kyungsoo’s brain with the slight furrow of his brows and fiddling of his hands. “You took a kid in?” Nod. “Do you know him?” Shakes head. “Are you crazy, Kim Junmyeon?” Kyungsoo finally exploded after hearing the previous answers.
“I don’t know,” Junmyeon hides his face in his palms. “I’ve made a police report, and they said that he will be put in an orphanage if they can’t find his parents. So, I offered to take him in for the time being.”
His friend nods thoughtfully, taking a sip of his tea. “What do you plan to do next?”
Junmyeon shakes his head, his distress showing visibly.
“Are you going to adopt him?”
Realistically speaking, he should just leave Jongin in the orphanage and continue with his life; he has neither the capabilities nor the time to take care of a toddler. However, he is starting to feel slightly attached to the boy he has only known for three weeks. Jongin is always up to weird antics such as pulling off his socks every time Junmyeon puts them on, or piling all the chicken onto his own plate. Junmyeon gets frustrated at times, but Jongin will always use his weird laughter to diffuse the situation.
“You want to, right?” Kyungsoo’s question voices out the thought that Junmyeon has been squashing to the deepest corner of his mind.
It takes quite some time, but Junmyeon eventually nods affirming that thought.
“Then do it. I still think that it is a reckless thought, but if you can’t find his parents, isn’t it better for you to take him in?” He says with resolve, contradicting Junmyeon’s initial thoughts. He had thought that Kyungsoo will surely berate him before asking him to come to his senses, but he is getting support instead.
Junmyeon sets down his fork anxiously, “You really think that is a good idea?”
“Yes, as long as you are sure that you will take responsibility for him.” Kyungsoo hurriedly puts down his cup of tea before it gets knocked over by the human that barrels himself into his arms.
Junmyeon finds out that the kid who manages to calm Jongin down on the first day of school is called Oh Sehun when he is the only thing Jongin talks about when he comes home. He will fill Junmyeon in with the details of what he learnt when he was asked, but all the answers will be interlaced with what Sehun likes, what Sehun did, and how Sehun will be his best friend.
He is slightly jealous that Jongin opens up to Sehun so quickly, but at the same time he is incredibly grateful that the other boy manages to divert Jongin’s attention so that his absence won’t be noticed (and that he can finally go to work).
“What do you want for dinner?” Junmyeon asks after picking Jongin up from Chanyeol’s house. His best friend had been a life-saver in the past 2 weeks, helping him babysit Jongin before he ends work, and even going the extra mile to teach Jongin guitar even though he is not showing any interest in it.
“Ice-cream,” Jongin replies looking slightly unsure of himself, “can we have ice-cream later, papa?” The last syllable is barely louder than a whisper, but Junmyeon still hears it loud and clear.
There is a sudden rush adrenaline, and his heart beats harder in response to what he heard. “What did you say?”
“I want ice-cream for dinner?” Jongin tilts his head in confusion, raising his neck to look at Junmyeon who is standing by the fridge.
“No. I mean what did you call me?” Junmyeon strides over to where Jongin is standing, and squats to be at eye-level with the little boy.
“Papa.” Jongin whispers uncertainly again, before rushing to explain himself. “Teacher said that we have to live with our family when we are young and that everyone has a papa and mama. You are my papa right?” He flattens his fringe trying to hide his eyes that are shining with uncertainty.
“Do you want me to be?” Junmyeon asks, holding the boy close. He has never talked about adoption or family with Jongin, not knowing how to start explaining the concept to a kid who lost his memories. There is so much that he will not be able to explain, and he is wary of the repercussions. Maybe, now will be a good time to start, if he is going to get the adoption letter this weekend.
There is no tangible change in their interaction after the adoption process other than Jongin calling him Papa and Junmyeon pampering the kid a little bit more than he is supposed to. Baekhyun and Jongdae eventually got to know about it when he didn’t turn up for their monthly gathering twice in a row, earning him naggings that will last for the entire year. On the bright side, they passed him lots of their sons’ old clothing, saving him a significant amount of money (how does kids grow up so fast; Junmyeon swears that Jongin have grown out of the clothes he bought two months ago).
“Open up.” Loud thumps can be heard on the door at eight on a Sunday morning. Junmyeon lets out a loud groan, forcing himself out of the cocoon of warmth. He had been working till late for the past few days, and just when he wants to sleep in, somebody has to come and disturb him.
“Byun Baekhyun, why are you here so early?” Junmyeon complains even before he fully opens the door. There is only one person who doesn’t utilize his door bell, and regretfully, he can’t do anything about it.
“Free breakfast!” He exclaims, “And of course, since Jongin is the newest addition to our army of kids, we should have a playdate.” His cheerful voice is giving Junmyeon a migraine, which gets stronger when he sees all his friends with their kids in tow.
“Can I reject?” His struggle is useless as everyone pushes past him to pile into his living room.
Junmyeon is halfway done with his signature blueberry pancakes (requested by those brats outside) when Jongin rushes into the kitchen and refuses to go out no matter how much coaxing Junmyeon does. Jongin has always been wary of strangers, choosing to steer clear of them or stick close to Junmyeon when there is a need to interact. Right now, with the crowd outside it is no wonder that he refuses to leave this place, choosing to stay by Junmyeon’s side.
Junmyeon tears off a small piece of pancake and feeds it to Jongin. “How is it? Is it good?”
Jongin nods his head eagerly, clearly asking for more. “Why don’t you help papa set the table first? You can have more later.” Junmyeon ruffles Jongin’s hair with his clean hand before pushing him to the closet.
The small dining table is not able to fit all nine of them, and they end up having to hold their plates while eating on the living room floor. All the adults and children seem contented with it, often reaching out to add more honey to their pancakes while Junmyeon continuously worry that they will spill some on his carpet (which might be the only expensive thing in his house).
Luckily, no one is that clumsy, not even Chanyeol their resident accident king who knocks down everything in his way. The group squeezes onto the small sofa, indulging their kids with Pororo while they talk over the noise of the television.
“Jongin is cute.” Kyungsoo comments as he plays with the boy’s hair, not caring that Jongin’s attention is focused on the penguin.
“My Minhyuk is ten times better,” Baekhyun boasts, poking his kid’s cheeks which earned him a loud whine of protest. “But you’re lucky that Jongin is pretty cute for a kid,” he adds, “You can probably use him as a bait to attract a potential partner.”
Junmyeon was about to protest when Baekhyun makes another noise of realization. “But, who will want to date a 32 year old guy who has a child that doesn’t belong to him.” It is supposed to be a dig at Junmyeon for being single, but he can’t help but to cover Jongin’s ears as quickly as possible, afraid that the conversation will hurt him.
Jongin looks up at him in confusion, asking what is going on wordlessly. Junmyeon simply glares at Baekhyun before pointing at the television trying to divert Jongin’s attention. The plan works as Jongin simply turns around again, and squirms in his spot on Junmyeon’s lap so that he can lean against something. His legs are starting to get numb from the lack of blood flow, and the bones from Jongin’s butt is digging into his thighs, but for now he thinks that he can live with it, even if it means that he will be alone for the rest of his life.
mods, i'm sorry that i forgot about the check in deadline ):