take care
idol: kim donghyun (ab6ix)
rating: angst, a little bit of crack
warnings: brief mention of death, light swearing (like literally just two words)
genre: non-idol donghyun, non-idol woong, college au, single parent au
lowercase intended. gif not mine!
donghyun sat at the desk in his cramped studio, tapping his pencil against the open textbook. the words on the pages before him stared back at him as he zoned out. it was something he usually did when he didn’t understand the subject he was reading about. but he always tried his hardest to wrap his mind around it, wanting to pass his class with flying colors.
a loud knock at the door interrupted his train of thought. he wasn’t expecting anyone so he ignored it, hoping whoever was in the hallway would go away so he could focus again. he waited in silence for a few seconds, wondering if whoever knocked had left. he heard a second knock, louder than the first, and a woman calling his name out.
‘so they’re not at the wrong door,’ donghyun thought to himself as he stood from his desk. “coming!” he called out in a singsong voice. he walked over to the door and looked through the peephole before reaching for the doorknob.
much to his dismay, the hallway was empty. annoyed and refusing to open the door, he walked back to his room, muttering to himself about how annoying his friends were for distracting him while he studies. everyone in donghyun’s circle knew he was a jokester and loved to play pranks and be pranked. they also knew that when it came down to school, he was passionate about getting the best grades possible so he hated when they would interrupt him while studying or doing homework.
just as he was about to sit down to resume his studies, another harsh knock rang through the apartment. this time, donghyun ran to the door, hoping to open it before his friend could find somewhere to hide, but he was met with an empty hallway once again. he looked to his sides and tried to figure out which direction his friend could’ve ran in or where they could be hiding.
donghyun heard a small hiccup from underneath him and slowly looked down, scared of what could’ve possibly made that noise. he gasped when his eyes landed on a carriage in front of him. it was covered with a light yellow blanket and there was a backpack leaning against it. holding his breath, he knelt down and lifted the blanket, nearly letting out a shriek when he saw a baby looking back at him. there was a note taped to one of the toys next to the baby so he picked it off to read it.
kim donghyun,
this is your daughter. her name is jiwoo. she’s only a year old and she loves the pine tree lullaby, bright colors and milk. i’ve watched her for as long as i could but now it’s your turn. please take care of her for me. goodbye.
seo jiyoung.
after reading the note, he took another look around the hallway, expecting one of his friends to pop out from around the corner, laughing and smiling for pulling off this prank. he put the note in his pocket and grabbed the baby’s hand. “who brought you here? was it woong hyung?” he asked.
when the baby blinked as a response, he chuckled to himself for thinking she was going to be able to reply. he stood up straight and hollered down the hallway, “hyung, this was a good prank but you should really take the child back to her mom.”
there was no response. at least not from woong like donghyun expected. instead, the only thing he heard were the loud cries of the baby by his feet. embarrassed by the looks of shame he got from his neighbors who were walking out to complain, he grabbed the carriage and backpack and took them both into his tiny apartment.
the baby was still crying when donghyun set the carriage on top of the coffee table in the living room. he grabbed a toy from her lap and shook it in front of her, hoping to get her to stop crying but ultimately failing. “no toys? okay… are you tired? you’re probably tired.” he mumbled, mostly to himself. he rocked the carriage back and forth but again, failed to calm her down. “you’re probably hungry then. do you like kimchi? i have a lot in the fridge, i’ll bring some… for you...”
before donghyun could run to the kitchen, he noticed the baby didn’t even have teeth yet. only then he realized the baby could only have milk. panic began to kick in since he didn’t have any baby bottles or formula. he wasn’t ready at all to be in this kind of situation. all he had were the tell-tale signs of an incoming panic attack, a backpack and a crying baby in front of him.
‘the backpack! there should be something useful in it.’ he exclaimed as he dumped its contents onto the table. clothes, clothes and more clothes. ‘no fucking way.’ he mumbled, not knowing if he wanted to laugh or cry at the sight. he checked the pockets of the backpack, hoping to find anything other than clothes. he was surprised with how spacious the backpack was since he managed to find wipes, diapers, rash ointment, formula and two pink bottles filled with water. ‘oh, thank god.’
he quickly skimmed through the directions on the formula container and poured some powder into one of the bottles, shaking it up as he shushed the baby. however, she did not seem to be hungry. she turned away from wherever the bottle was and continued to cry. so she wasn’t hungry or tired. donghyun gulped when he realized she could possibly be crying because of a full diaper. he had never changed a diaper in his life, much less picked a baby up. he let some tears run down his cheeks and accepted his defeat as he began to cry with the baby.
donghyun’s phone rang from his bedroom so he reluctantly went after it, wiping his tears away and clearing his throat so it wouldn’t be obvious that he had been crying, mostly out of frustration. the caller id was one he least expected to see but he had never clicked on the answer button so fast.
“why the fuck did you leave your baby on my doorstep, huh? do you really think i’m going to take care of her while you’re out doing god knows what.” donghyun yelled into the phone, not even bothering to say hello. “you better come back and take her.”
“donghyun-ah, she’s your baby too. you can get a dna test if you don’t believe me.” jiyoung informed him. “i’m calling because i can’t take care of jiwoo anymore. i-” she paused to take in a deep breath. “i don’t have a lot of time left.”
“what? what do you mean?” donghyun asked but jiyoung didn’t reply. there was a moment of silence between the two but within that time, he heard a heartbeat monitor in the background, beeping every couple seconds, which led him to assume the worst.
“please, take care of her for me.” jiyoung whispered. her voice was shaky, as if she was about to cry. “sing the lullaby to her when she cries. let her know that i loved her and don’t let her be sad, ever. if you do these things for me, you’ll do great, i just know it.” she croaked.
before donghyun could interject, jiyoung hung up. the faint sound of her monitor was replaced by the baby’s crying. donghyun sighed in disbelief and tears pricked his eyes once again. he wanted to run to the hospital to see her one last time but he didn’t know which hospital she was in or if she was even in daejeon. he lost touch with her after their argument and she blocked his number the second she stormed out of his apartment.
now that there was a baby in front of him, he wanted to know whether or not she was actually his daughter. if she was, he was going to make it his job to give her anything and everything she wanted. if it was jiyoung’s dying wish for their baby to live a happy life, then he was going to make sure that happened.
but for now, he would have to conquer his fear of babies and pick her up to check her diaper. “jiwoo? hm, your mom picked out a cute name.” donghyun nervously rambled as he scooped her out of the carriage. he held her up and turned her over to sniff the bottom area. ‘well, it doesn’t smell bad...’
by then, jiwoo was no longer crying. she stared at donghyun with big brown eyes and a pout. “what’s wrong? did all that crying make you hungry? i would be if i were you.” donghyun joked. “um, hold on.” he awkwardly turned her around and brought her to his chest, trying his best to imitate the way women carry babies like he’s seen on tv.
jiwoo’s head rested on the crook of donghyun’s arm and his hand held her legs up. she didn’t seem uncomfortable so he figured he was doing something right. with his free hand, he reached for the bottle he made earlier and held it up to her, “there you go. eat up… or drink up, i guess.” he uttered, smiling in victory when she began to drink the milk.
in the middle of feeding, the door to the apartment swung open and in came woong with food and drinks. “is that a baby? like a real life baby?” he asked as he slipped his shoes off at the entrance.
“no, it’s a cat.” donghyun remarked, not tearing his eyes away from jiwoo. with each second that passed, he secretly hoped he wasn’t being pranked anymore. he was surprisingly really starting to like her. “yes, it’s a baby.”
“what are you doing with a baby? i thought you hated them.” woong commented. he took a seat next to donghyun and glanced at jiwoo. her eyelids were starting to close with each sip. “oh, she’s falling asleep. how cute.” he whispered. “whose is it anyway?”
“have you talked to jiyoung lately?” donghyun asked, halfheartedly disregarding woong’s question.
woong quietly took out the contents of the bags and set them wherever they could fit on the coffee table. since it was mostly occupied by the carriage and a bunch of baby stuff, he stacked the plates on a small space on the table and set the drinks on the floor. he shook his head as he opened one of the bottles. “nope, but i heard she’s in the hospital.”
donghyun finally broke eye contact with jiwoo and turned to woong in shock. “she’s where!?” why?” he tried hard to stop himself from shouting and getting up in a rush because of jiwoo. when he spoke to jiyoung, there was still some doubt in the back of his mind. he couldn’t help but think he was still being pranked, knowing how much his friends liked to joke around.
“she got in a really bad car accident a few days ago. eunjin said she had to get surgery as soon as she was rushed in but the doctors told her things weren’t looking too good.” woong informed donghyun with a frown before taking another swig of his drink. “why do you care so much anyway? she dumped you like a year ag- oh…” he pursed his lips together after connecting the dots, letting an uncomfortable silence fill the room.
donghyun carefully pulled the bottle away from jiwoo when he noticed she had finished her milk. he tossed it to the side and turned to woong. “can you get that blanket and lay it on the floor?” he asked, turning his head towards the blanket in the carriage.
“don’t put her on the floor, idiot.” woong laughed, taking the balled up blanket and spreading it out on one of the couch cushions. “there. put her, like… in the corner… so she won’t roll off.” he smiled, proud of himself and his work.
donghyun carefully laid jiwoo on the couch as woong had instructed, not wanting to wake her up. he smiled in satisfaction and stood next to woong. the two watched jiwoo sleep peacefully for a few seconds. “all of this better not be some sick prank.” he mentioned.
“don’t tell me you like the baby...” woong groaned as donghyun slowly but surely nodded. the smile on his face never once faded. “you should probably go see jiyoung before it’s too late then.”
donghyun’s smile quickly faded when he remembered what she told him over the phone just less than an hour ago. he turned to woong again but with a sense of urgency this time. “where is she? which hospital?” he asked, running to the front door and putting on his shoes.
“uh, konyang?” woong answered, scratching the back of his head as if he wasn’t entirely sure. “wait, the baby!” he called out but it was too late, donghyun was already out the door.