I really want something like Jr and Jb have a date on the weekend but Jr's little cousen(youngjae) cames and he (and Jb) must look after him. But Jr becomes jealous and a bit sad as Jb does more things with cutie little Youngjae than with him.
Warnings: None
Author: Jo
Word Count: 4.4k
A/N: sorry for the wait TT-TT i hope you like it, this prompt was rlly rlly fun to write
—–
“Tada!!”
A butter yellow bow,prim and pretty, is clipped awkwardly onto the fringe of Jinyoung’s boyfriend.Youngjae’s only seven, seven-and-a-half specifically if the mentioned ispresent, and in courtesy of not breaking what tiny heart he has managed togrow, Jaebum smiles awkwardly and cheers along softly. He’s curled his handsinto fists and he shakes them in the air along to Youngjae’s small claps, butreally, it sounds like he’s trying not to shrivel and die inside.
It’s not an ideal datenight, Jinyoung laments. What was meant to be their apartment bare and cold asthey headed down to some fusion bullshit hole-in-the-wall restaurant, maybegetting tipsy in the bar next door, maybe making out in the cinema next tothat, and maybe then heating up their place with just their hands andtheir sleepy mouths, has now become a refuge for Jinyoung’s baby cousin.
An endless war zone oftoys, blankets and furniture skewed twenty degrees from their originalplacement, Jaebum had had to rescue his very expensive and verynot-child-friendly film equipment from toppling over tabletops in the firstfive minutes that Youngjae had arrived. They sit safely atop the highestkitchen cupboard, locked shut, because from past experience Jinyoung knows thekid’s a lot wilier than appearances would assume. The cracked screen of his oldlaptop would say so.
It’s not that Youngjae’sa bad kid. Just…danger prone. Precisely the reason why his parents had rungup twenty minutes after Jinyoung had managed to squeeze into his very specialjeans, begging him to take him for the night because their, in child-friendlyterminology, gosh-darn babysitter mcflipflopping cancelled in thelast danging minute and there’s no one else but him that they trust.
Jinyoung loves his auntand uncle. Honestly. They give him birthday presents that aren’t socks, getscoddled and spoilt at every family gathering with cheeks pinched and earstugged since he was two feet tall. It’s that really, that makes him pull thereceiver away from his mouth and sigh quietly, morose about the struggle hetook to squeeze into these gaze-gluing pants that physically pain Jaebum morethan it pains his thighs, and puts on an enthusiastic smile.
Of course we’ll haveYoungjae over. No, no, I wasn’t going to do anything tonight anyway, it’ll be abreeze.
The little packagearrived twenty minutes later, dropped off in two more, and running around theirapartment within five. Stiff, Jaebum had lingered in the hallway upon the alienarrival. Whatever fragile, delicate hyper-masculine ego he had, he wasprotecting by staying a good five meters away from anybody under the age ofadolescence. Jinyoung always found it a little stupid, a little endearing, thatdespite his fondness for kids it was his permanent scowling bitch-face thatchased them behind their mother’s legs. Perhaps in tears, perhaps in mildsniffles, but always with their parental guardian mildly embarrassed and Jaebuminfinitely moreso.
Funny enough, much totheir pleasant surprise, Youngjae had taken a liking to Jaebum. A very attachedliking to Jaebum.
“Hyung, hyung,” Jinyounglooks up from where he’s behind the counter to see Youngjae gripping the sleeveof the older’s jacket, shaking it to and fro while stepping from foot to foot,pointing at the closed door of their shared bedroom “Can I pick up your cat?”
“Uh…” Jaebum glances toJinyoung for permission, and upon seeing the frantic shake of his head, smilesapologetically “Sorry Youngjae yah, not today.” He ruffles his feathery hairand pokes his round, pinking cheeks when they balloon up with a pout.
Two strong baby armssuddenly pull Jaebum’s own arms down and the younger blinks on the widest puppyeyes he can muster, “Jinyoung hyung’s just being mean! Don’t listen to him!”
Jinyoung sighs. Thiskid.
Jinyoung rounds over tothem, huffing out his own cheeks and swoops his cousin into his arms,maneuvering around his overnight duffel and setting him atop a fortress ofblankets that Jaebum had thrown his back over to construct. “What Jaebum hyungmeans by not today is never. You’re allergic to fur, remember?Nora’s locked in our room for a reason.”
“Maybe I’m not allergicto Nora,” Youngjae offers, his lips pursing into a smart smile stretchingacross his face. As much as Jinyoung loves to coo over cuteness, he’s a toughcustomer.
Tutting, he pinches alittle ear. It blooms pink and Youngjae yowls, indignant. “I find that hard tobelieve.”
He turns his back thenand immediately feels the juvenile simmer of a glare. Pointedly ignoring it,Jinyoung retires back to the safe island of his kitchen corner, behind thegrape-juice stained marble and in front of his attempt at pasta boiling over onthe stove. He hurriedly lifts the metal-hot lid with his bare hands, lidclanging on the bench.
Half the time - it’sadmittedly a lot more than half, but no one’s actually counting at this point -it’s Jaebum the one who cooks dinner. It’s nothing Michelin worthy, but theiroptions run shallow. Neither of them have a lot of time, wholly preoccupiedwith their school studies, and even though Jaebum’s extent of culinaryknowledge only extends to chicken-based meals, it is, in Jackson’s words, atough choice between dying of carcinogenic take-away and Jinyoung’s homecooking.
But, you know, wholisten’s to Jackson anyway? Jinyoung snorts to himself as he turns down theheat so the froth isn’t leaking over the side of the pot. All that organic foodis probably growing organic mold in his brain or whatever.
The soft skin of hispalm is protesting red and he’s engulfed in a balmy wave of pearly steam whenhe hears a distinctive grunt of a certain man toppling over with the suddenweight of a certain child leaping on his back.
Lost in white vapour,Jinyoung peeks through to the sight of Jaebum’s knees righting itself from abuckle as his hands hooked Youngjae’s legs into a more comfortable grip againsthis hips so the little boy could grasp his neck better.
“Sorry, hyung!” hegiggles, then puffs his chest proudly, beaming at no one with a toothy smilebehind ruffled hair, “My mom says I’m getting bigger every day.”
Jinyoung wavessauce-soaked wooden spoon, its juices dripping down to his fingers, “Youngjae,be careful.”
He’s pointedly ignored,the little kid turning cheek from him, and Jaebum does no help by laughingbreathily. The pot, a few inches from Jinyoung’s chest and emanating a melting,ferocious heat, bubbles wickedly atop its blue simmer.
He sighs. This kid.
—–
The evening had lulledfurther along into a colder, hungrier hour yet the relentless, unwaning sourceof energy that Youngjae’s life essence seemed to be tethered to, was startingto take effect on Jaebum. His stubbornness, a leaden thing in his stomachalmost heavier than Jinyoung’s, forces him to keep up with all his younger,colourful and kaleidoscope antics.
He’s Youngjae’stransport for a solid half hour. The younger perched upon on his shoulders andmaneuvered around the cramped walls of their apartment, with the glimpse yellowof his shirt and the grey of Jaebum’s appearing from corner to corner. Theflash of a bare ankle, the slip of tousled black hair, and the slip of bluesocks on hardwood at speeds that make Jinyoung fret from where he’s beenbanished in his kitchen corner. Youngjae was still sore about the whole Norathing, apparently.
Dubbed and knighted by awooden metre ruler, a device Jinyoung uses for planning out straight lines atopblue-grid paper and poking Jaebum for the television remote, not for promotingmedieval hierarchal values, Jaebum grins as Youngjae giggles himself silly fromthe now highest perch in their home.
“Hyung, don’t go sofast,” Jinyoung murmurs from where he’s leaning against the countertop. He goesunheard beneath raucous laughter. His phone is beside his elbow, screen smudgedfrom compulsively checking all his sns out of boredom and hoping to distracthimself as the other two boys left him alone. Jackson had sent him a sad winkyface when he tried to explain his predicament and then a link to a youtubevideo Jinyoung’s too wary to open. Mark sent him a snap of his weird dog, and -god knows he was desperate by reaching out to them - Yugyeom had recorded hisroommate Bambam trying to flip a bottle in response.
The repetitive thud ofplastic against a table and sloshing water against its crinkly barrier playsover and over in a loop in his head as he starts to doze out.
“Jinyoung!”
His eyes fly open.Dangling from an arm, Youngjae’s hanging off of Jaebum’s as if he were swingingfrom playground monkey bars.
“Jae’s hungry.”
Jinyoung narrows his eyes,“Well aren’t you two so chummy all of a sudden.”
Jaebum snickers, “Nyoung.”
“What?” He never said hewas above this, “The pasta’s barely warm anymore since you two played for solong.” This bubble of pettiness, shamelessness, pridefulness, whatever, he’snot above it he’ll admit.
Unfazed, Jaebum far tooaccommodated with his antics to even consider taking him seriously, a knack ofhis that makes Jinyoung both unbearably flustered yet also besmirched, hebegins to move his arm up and down. Youngjae smiles like a kid on a joyride, pleasantlythrilled at these babysitting services. Jinyoung does well to ignore hownicely-fitting the sleeves of his boyfriend’s shirt are.
“That’s okay, we’ll justmicrowave it. Is that okay, Youngjae yah?”
Delighted with the easylift of his entire weight, Youngjae giggles and begins swinging impressivelywith his sock-clad feet kicking out into the air, nodding as he hums a “Yep!And after food, can we play more?”
“I don’t know…” Jaebumsqueezes his face so that his nose is scrunched and began feigning a labouredbreath, a playful glitter adopting in his eyes, “I’m feeling…so tired.Youngjae, how did you get so heavy?” He suddenly tilts his supporting arm tothe ground and Youngjae hiccups on a yell as he dips suddenly down, “I don’tthink I can go on any longer!”
“Hyung, no! If I touchthe ground I’ll die!!”
“Well, we can’t havethat can we?” With an impressive maneuver, the boy’s hefted up into Jaebum’shold before being effortlessly lifted above his head, letting his short legsdangle and rest on his shoulders with knees bracketing his neck.
Lost in their own worldthese two become, and Jinyoung’s left to cook his indignant stew on the insideas they forget about him for another good half hour. His crappy dinner growscold on the counter.
When they do eat, thereminder punctuated by Jaebum’s stomach making a painful noise and Youngjaelaughing before his own smaller rendition growled out, the two of them arestill stacked like a totem pole. Jaebum lets Youngjae open the cabinets fromhis perch, grabbing two bowls in his grip and Jinyoung hovers close by,anticipating broken porcelain and a lot of blood and his aunt’s wrath squeezingaround his neck
“Jinyoung.” ComesJaebum’s amused voice and arched brow. Funny how that look makes him moredefensive than flustered now.
“What?
The other man takes thebowls from Youngjae’s hands and places them down, “Nothing,” he sighs, thenshakes his head, “You’re cute.”
Jinyoung’s ears tint alittle pink, “What?” he asks, puzzled.
“You’re cute when you’relike this. Whiny, but pandering.” He hands Jinyoung a bowl, who begins stabbinga wooden spoon into the pot. Youngjae has his thoroughly amused smile hiddenbehind the ruffled bird’s nest of Jaebum’s dye-job.
“I’m not whiny, and whatdo you mean? I’m not exactly bending my back to accommodate your and Youngjae’splaydate,” he makes sure Jaebum’s bowl has the least amount of sauce,that some of it even trickles over the edge and down the side. When he takesthe other bowl - a smaller one with small birds decorating the rim, he appeaseswith a close-eyed sigh to Youngjae’s cheer for more sauce! Please! Untilhalf the contents are drowned in it. What a weird kid.
“Exactly,”
Jinyoung whips his headaround, “What?”
“Nothing,” Jaebumsingsongs, opening the microwave.
—–
Youngjae slowly beginsto deflate by the time the dark fleece of the hour blanketed the horizon.Finally allowed retirement from being some sort of four-legged creature oftransport - Jinyoung doesn’t miss the way Jaebum massages his lower back andshoulders - the two of them resort to scribbling all over what Jinyoung hopesis not his sketchbook.
He’s still banned,apparently, from joining them.
“I guess I’ll just leaveyou kids to do whatever then,” he calls out from the dining table where he’sperched - not sulking - knees tucked to his chest and arms looped around hislegs. His laptop whirrs pitifully at him where a blank search page blinksalmost owlishly. “Don’t mind me at all whilst I do my homework. Like a goodstudent. With a student debt. And little to no career prospects on thehorizon.
Jaebum smiles sheepishlyup at him with a tad of guilt that makes a little huff of triumph Jinyoung’schest, which immediately dampens when the impeccable handsomeness in those thinlips and brow overthrow the reminder that Jinyoung is kind of pissed at themoment. It’s impish almost, the sight of Jaebum and the way he’s forced tocramp his knees to his chest as he positions himself beside the low coffeetable where Youngjae’s little legs fit perfectly under. A bright violet crayonis grasped in Jaebum’s hand and the side of his wrist smudged in a rosy pinkchalk.
They’re lost in a smilefor moment - a honey warm thing. It’s tenderly domestic and the night isquaint, it’s something they’ll place away to look back on later - when Jaebum’schided for losing focus. A small palm pats his face, annoyed, and he mollifiesthe young one by dutifully filling in a crudely drawn chicken in purple.
Ah, loneliness.Jinyoung’s back to being ignored again. The light from the smile dissipatesthrough his chest back into nothing and he rubs his sternum, a littledisappointed. This was not what he was used to at all. He picks up his laptopand pads away into the darkness of their spare-bedroom-turned-workspace,closing the door with a quiet click and letting the darkness be dyed with theblue glow of his screen, foregoing the light switch.
A ridiculouslyphotogenic portrait of Nora hangs above Jaebum’s desk and Jinyoung always hasto smile every time he sees it, affectionate, endeared, still disbelievingafter all these years, as he sits down at his boyfriend’s desk instead of hisown. A ring of coffee stains is permanent in the woodwork. The vinyl of theirchair scratched from their one-and-only girl.
Jinyoung quietly delvesinto his work, scourging through pdf after pdf, as he let’s the signaturesounds of a children’s animated movie starting to play in the background himsubdue over him.
—–
It’s after a solid hourof numbing his mind, that Jinyoung pads quietly out the room. He yawns andstretches, cracking his knuckles as he pulls his elbows over his head beforerealising the sudden lack of hushed whispers as from before. He reaches the endof the hallway and leans around the corner of the to peer into the lounge area.
Jaebum’s conked out,head lolling down into his chest and his chin gone soft as it’s squished intohis pullover. Colours from the movie, clouded impressions of oranges and pinksand blues, dance upon his sharp nose and mussed fringe and the shallow rise andfall of his chest. There’s a slight drooling at the corner of his lips. Hisarms hug a wad of blankets.
A seemingly empty wad ofblankets. Devoid of what should be a small, loud boy child.
“Shit.”
Jinyoung hurries overfor a closer inspection to the cradled bundle. Youngjae-less. He rounds over tothe kitchen island and checks behind the counter. Youngjae-less. He opens everybottom cabinet, even peeks into the oven and washing machine just in case.Still Youngjae-less.
Feeling the cold breathof his Aunt breathing down his neck, he scurries to Jaebum and crouches down,shaking his shoulder with restrained violence.
“Hnnrhgh?” Jaebum snortsunattractively, blindly swiping at him, “Wha? Good morning?”
Jinyoung would simper ifhe wasn’t feeling like he might’ve misplaced a very important living, breathingchild. “Hyung, where’s Youngjae?” he hisses.
Jaebum blinks, thequestion cutting through his fog of sleep and his arms squeeze the blankets inhis arm. It collapses in a shapeless form. Jaebum keeps trying, hands pattingup and down, searching the fabric for something solid and child-shaped.
“Oh,” his eyes widen alittle, then he snorts a little, “Yah, Jinyoung. Stop looking like that, I cansee your wrinkles already. Youngjae’s probably just wandered off somewhere,okay?”
The comfort backfiresand Jinyoung’s eyes fly open in alarm.
“Did we lock the door?The door’s locked, right? You don’t think he’s gone outside do you?”
Jaebum seizes his arm bythe sleeve and drags him down from where he was about to bolt, “I meantwandered somewhere in our home. And yes, Nyoung, I locked the door.”
Still, Jinyoung pullshis bottom lip with his teeth, chewing on it slightly. He pulls away fromJaebum’s hold and shoves his hands into his face, shaking his head andgroaning, “I leave you alone for one moment and you lose the baby and I lose myhead. We’re terrible parents.”
A warm, bumpy solidpresses against his cheek. Jaebum’s hand, cupping him delicately with a crinklylaugh, “I don’t believe that - wait.”
“What?”
“Shh.” A finger silencesJinyoung’s mouth and his brows rise, alert. He strains his ears to hear andfollows Jaebum’s suspicious glare around their apartment, an edgy nervousnesspushing against his sternum. There’s a hiccup of noise in the silence.
A sneeze.
A faint, very telltalesneeze from down the hallway. Jinyoung’s lips round into a small ‘o’ and atrembling relief floods the banks of his chest. A weak smile rises in him. He puffsa small breath out against Jaebum’s forehead and lets his hand come rest on hisexposed collar .
“Told you, youworrywart,” his infuriating boyfriend whispers, smirking, before a frown takesover, “Sounds like he’s caught a cold though.”
They stand up and followthe source of sound, coming to a still in front of their bedroom and theincriminating gap of its door creaked a slight angle ajar. Another sneeze,squeaky and loud. Jaebum hides a snort behind his hand.
“At least it’s not a cold,”he murmurs and pushes the door open, flipping the lightswitch on and engulfingthe walls in a dim light, illuminating Youngjae who suddenly freezes - one handraised tenderly in mid pet over the fur of a curious Nora, her eyes openingfrom a nap in confused, blue slits - and Jinyoung coughs his laughter down histhroat from behind Jaebum’s shoulder.
Nora stirs, her tailswishing at the sight of her owners and she stands on her short legs, backarching and little feline teeth flashing before she leaps down gracefully. Herpaws thud softly on the floorboards. A quiet purr rumbles through their smallroom as she entwines herself around Jaebum’s ankles, content, pleased, a littlewhiney when she begins meowing loudly for dinner. With playful satisfaction,Jinyoung watches, tickled, at Youngjae’s still-turned back, too afraid to evendrop his hand from the air.
“Youngjae yah,” Jinyoungcalls out lyrically, “what are you doing in here?”
Jaebum bends down toscoop up his cat, “Hey, don’t tease,” he murmurs, tucking his girl to his chestand scratching the underside of her chin with a finger, a delighted grintwitching on his face as her eyes close again, tail tip twitching happilyagainst his stomach. Pursing his lips but still reaching over to give Nora agood scratch behind the ears, Jinyoung ignores the two of them and moves aroundhim to get into the room, coming to kneel beside Youngjae.
The boy is pouting, adangerous wobble to his bottom lip paired with quite a heart-wrenching pair ofpuppy eyes bulging in an innocent, allergy-induced watery display. A violentsneeze shakes his body, his chin bumping into his chest. Jinyoung coos.
“Youngjae,” his voiceturns into a soft butter and he pulls his shirt sleeve over his hand, using itwipe the escaped tears trickling down his blotched cheeks, “you know betterthan anyone Nora will make you all sniffly.”
Youngjae’s button nosecrinkles, “But she’s soft.”
Jinyoung breathes asmall laugh, eyes squeezed and head dipping down in a tender, partial mix ofamusement and exasperation. The blunt and unexpected honesty thunking rightagainst his heart. Fondly, he makes to pick the boy up and wipe the snifflefrom his nose, “She is, isn’t she? But that doesn’t mean your eyes won’t getitchy and that doesn’t mean your mom won’t get mad at me.”
Youngjae loops his armsaround his neck, his grabby fingers automatically playing with his collarmindlessly. With a bout of sniffles against his shirt, Jinyoung shuffles out oftheir cat-furred room and into the lounge space, rubbing smooth circles acrosshis back and bobbing his little form up and down in calm bounces until hisrunny nose settled into the occasional sniff.
His heart bumps againsthis sternum when Youngjae’s hold around his neck squeezes into a warm embrace,his fingers interlocking and palms pressing down onto the nape of his neck.Jinyoung shifts him higher into his hold, closing him to his chest. Younger’ssmaller heart was beating steadily against the fabric of his clothes.
“Are you mad at me,hyung?” the voice is tiny. So meek and milky with the late hour, the softticking of their clock is only second-loudest to their gentle breaths. It’soddly reminiscent in the casted shadows of the apartment and Jinyoung feels sorooted, anchored, only by the warm, snotty weight of a child in his arms. Asliver of golden light beams out from his bedroom, splintering against the blueof their walls and falling to colour the top of Youngjae’s hair to a brown. Awarm beacon coming from where Jinyoung knew Jaebum was leaning against thewall, eavesdropping.
Don’t tease. The gentle reprimand rings around his head witha startling, judgemental clarity, as if Jaebum was right beside his ear. Thethought nudges him.
“I’m not, Jae. I’m not.”
“Even though I was withJaebum hyung all night?”
“Mhm.”
“And that I touched Noraeven though you said no?”
“Mhm.”
“And I got mad at you?”
“Even that.”
“Even if I thought yourfood was icky?”
Jinyoung pulls his armsout a little so that he can see Youngjae, twisting his face into a frown withhis nose crinkled like paper and bottom lip indignantly jutting out. Hesqueezes the bridge of Youngjae’s nose, tweaking it, “Hmm, now I think I’mmad.”
His baby cousin laughsand it’s a sweet little sound like silver bells.
“You’re such a handful.Let’s get you to bed.” he sighs, bringing the sleepy face back down to hisshoulder to allow a squishy cheek to press against his sleeve. He rocks himgently, swaying side to side and humming nothing in particular. The faint lightpools at his feet and across Youngjae’s back. His shallow breaths soon evenout, exhausted, into a gradual lull.
Jaebum appears besidehim then with Nora still wrapped in his arms. One of her claws is stuck in aloose thread in his shirt and neither of them seem to mind.
“I think it’s about timewe all slept.” Jaebum punctuates with a wide-mouthed silent yawn. His eyesdroop down into an affectionate smile as he lazily hooks an arm aroundJinyoung’s waist to lead all four of them back to bed.
“Aren’t you forgettingsomething?”
“Hm?” Jaebum blinksblearily.
Jinyoung rolls his eyesand nudges Jaebum’s shin with his foot. He nods down at Nora. “Your little furprincess here is a health hazard, remember?”
Jaebum blinks again.Gradual recognition opens his eyes by a fraction and his mouth curls into an‘o’. “Right, right. Forgot.”
He unhooks the clawtrapped in his shirt and lets Nora go regretfully, placing her down onto thefloor and watches her for a second as she stares up at him, confused about whyshe wasn’t joining them like every night. He scratches the underside of herchin quickly and pads over to a bemused Jinyoung.
“You spoil her toomuch.”
Jaebum snorts butdoesn’t deny it, “I spoil you too much.”
“Huh?” Unwanted heatblotches his neck and Jinyoung scrunches his nose, “No you don’t.”
“Oh, so you didn’t spendthe whole night pouty and jealous over a seven year-old? Okay.”
Jinyoung splutters,words strangled in his throat and the tips of his ears ignite. There was no wayhe was that obvious. Right? His back straightens and he summons his bestscowl, lips tight, and the other man has the gall to just crinkle his eyes athim. Jinyoung forcefully opens their bedroom door by a fraction and squeezesinside without leaving any room for Jaebum to do so too.
“You’re sleeping on thecouch tonight.” He hisses at him, grip on the handle.
Jaebum’s hand catchesthe door before it’s shut in his face, “Nyoung.” he huffs, unbelievingand trying to tame the laugh about to break surface.
“I’m serious!”
He doesn’t understandwhat’s so hilarious about the situation, seriously, but Jaebum’s facebreaks into its blinding grin, one made of all teeth and scrunched crescents,and he easily pries the door wide open, steps forward to cup Jinyoung’s cheekswith his warm hands, and ducks his head down by a slight to catch his refusinggaze. It wasn’t like Jinyoung was actually putting any muscle into it anyway,he does have a child in his arms.
“Jinyoung,” His voicedrops into a low whisper, a deep timber that only appears when they’re alone.It’s unbecoming to Jinyoung, just how much the little things Jaebum does can doto him, just the nuance, the degree, the touches paired with it that are sofamiliar, so ingrained, that it smooths away all the fractures. All ofJinyoung’s barriers drop and he completely leans into his touch, into hissoftened gaze and allows, just a little, the tempered quirk of his lips.
Naturally, it’s onlynecessary for Jaebum to open his big, fat mouth, “Don’t worry. You won’t stopbeing the biggest handful to me, even with Youngjae around.”
Jinyoung is about toclose the door on his foot but unfortunately, it’s such a devious move, Jaebumcatches his scowling lips into a kiss first, a messy press that Jinyoung is tooweak to do anything against but mold himself into, and he guesses it’s alrightif the couch stays cold tonight.