DRABBLE: Where Are You? || Baekhyun & Minjun.
89 - Wash: I’ll write a drabble of our characters showering/bathing together.
It was a growing tradition that once a week or so (if they both could spend a day together), five years old Baekhyun would come over to watch movies and play with a seven years old Minjun. Admittedly (though he’d never say it out loud) Minjun looked forward to these infrequent visits. There wasn’t much room in his life for cute and nice company -what with him being too shy to go play with the other kids in the village so he rather comfort himself by having all the animals living nearby to come and bring him joy daily - so night movies curled under a blanket with a bowl of popcorn in between the two of them were the reprieve he craved.
That was where they were now, Minjun sprawled across the couch taking up most of the space in a big pair of teddy bears printed pajamas, puppy plushy resting idly on his chest. His head was pillowed on an armrest, face turned toward the screen with rapt attention. No matter how many times he saw The Lion King, the part where Mufasa dies still got to him. Averting his eyes from the animated stampede he knew was coming, Minjun nudged Baekhyun’s thigh with a socked foot. “Do you think my grandma would let us eat sweets and those of her delicious pastries at this hour?”
“I don't know, my older brother always tells me it's bad to eat sweets late at night and― Stop keeping your feet warm by rubbing them on me! That's gross,” Baekhyun whined as he looked down at his lounging friend, “I don't mind eating more though, but promise me you won't tell my hyung, okay?” With a small pout, he lightly nudged the legs that were across his lap. While Minjun was laying across the couch and taking most of the space, Baekhyun was sitting up. Well, he was until he laid his upper body down on Minjun and attempted to push the other off. “You go ask your nanny, because she loves you a lot.” He continued to pout as he looked up, his hands poking at the taller’s side, which made Minjun to grin widely, arm extending out to reach for the younger's hair so he could give a strong, yet affective ruffle.
He knows that both of them really enjoyed their time when they’re like this, especially for the shorter one who was now trying to make him go and get something to satisfy his sweet tooth. He feels so related to his friend who surprisingly is gifted with the same ability as him, the ability of being able to understand and communicate with animals. However, there is a slight difference between the both of them. Baekhyun would talk to animals with what normal humans could be able to hear whenever animals are communicating together, while Minjun would speak in human language but animals would still understand him perfectly. However, the creatures would reply back to him in their own way. Either way, he could understand everything properly.
Maybe it was that slight difference that made little Baekhyun for finding it difficult to make friends, that was what Minjun supposed since he himself didn't have that much of friends, but it was mainly caused by his unsociable and shy behavior. Nevertheless, he still would like to spend such nice times with everyone like how his younger friend and himself are spending at the actual moment. In fact, this was the kind of life he wanted. It was such a strong contrast to his daily routine, that sometimes he surprised himself that he could have such different personas. But that wasn’t on Minjun's mind now, what he wanted now was to tease Baekhyun by not wanting to get up instead to find the sweets and quickly come back so the little one could latch himself like a koala onto the him while they enjoy their pastries.
Eventually, Minjun started to grunt but kept on being stubborn by not moving from where he was splayed out on the couch. Nevertheless Baekhyun’s incessant poking made him squirm though, like it always did, and his whines could no longer be ignored. Rolling his eyes, Minjun reached down to pinch his friend’s cheek and tug on it with an exasperated smile. “Fine, but first you have to get off me, fatty.”
Not waiting for him to move, the boy rolled off the couch and out from under his friend, landing on his back with a thump. Meeting the younger’s eyes, he winked at him jokingly and proceeded to flip up onto his feet. He mostly did it just because his flexibility and strength let him to; not to mention there was a silent, ongoing battle between them about who had the best moves.
From the corner of his eyes, little Minjun could see the other furrowing his brow because of the small pinch he gave him. The older thought that his dongsaeng should be use to it at this point, since it seemed like he found the hobby with pinching his fully and squishy cheeks. He couldn't help himself from chuckling when Baekhyun feigned a look of hurt when he spoke, sniffling sadly.
“Meanie,” the younger muttered as he pouted at his older friend. “I'm not fat, don't call me that!” He lightly kicked Minjun's butt in the revenge for the comment, and the show off move, which made the older to jump a little and swallow the embarrassing surprised squeak that was trying to force its way up his throat.
“Alright, alright, you're not fat at all, Baekhyunnie, you're only squishy!” Minjun laughed again, extending his arm out to ruffle the little boy's silky hair. “Hey, I have another idea. Since it's late and my nanny probably won't let us eat more sweets for the night, why don't we go take a nice bath together, so we would be all squeaky clean before going to bed? My grandmommy would also be really proud of us!”
“A bath? But I don't have my swimsuit with me...”
“It's fine, silly. We're both boys, so what do we have to hide from each others? Flip, flop, take off your clothes, jump in the water and we'll have fun! Come on, Baekhyunnie... I'll let you play with my rubber duckies.”
The shorter stared at him, slightly jutting his lower lip as he thought about the idea, then his facial expression went at ease as he smiled back brightly, “Okay, let's take a nice bath together― Kwak. Kwak, kwak, kwak! Kwak Minjun, you're the real duck here,” Baekhyun chanted happily, mentioning that the last name of the older one, indeed sounds like what a duck would say.
“Hey, Minjunnie hyung,” Baekhyun called while the both of them walked their way to the bathroom. “Can we also bath together with real baby ducks? They're our friends, so it would be nice if we're having a nice time with the. Just like my brother would say, the more we are, the merrier it is!”
“Hmm, you're right, but it's late you know. Baby duckies are surely all sleeping with mommy ducky. They're probably tired after swimming on the late all day. Don't you think it would be better to let them rest for now? They deserve it.”
“Ah, I see. I hope they're all having sweet dreams― Hyung, don't put the water too cold but warm enough. I don't want to freeze in the bathtub,” the little boy said before proceeding to undress himself, wrapping his arms around his body as the breeze came in contact against his skin. Then, when Minjun was done, he hopped inside the warm and nice water, exhaling happily as the other hurried to get rid of his own clothes before jumping in, splashing the shorter and laughing loudly when the younger rubbed the water off his face, only to splash back at the other as revenge.
So on, the two little boys shared that moment of joy, forgetting about their small matters but just enjoying what they got there, laughing and helping each other to wash and scrub their back. It was a memory to keep, a memory to remember, a memory to cherish. Now, Minjun, 21 years old, was standing in front of a stand where a few rubber ducks were staring and smiling at him. He took one of them in his palms then squeezed it, the toy replying with a squeaky noise.
A sad smile curved the corner of the man's lips as he put the plastic animal back with its family. He missed the old time where it was so easy to smile all the time. He craved for the time, where he didn't have to fight so hard to stay alive for another day. Life wasn't as easy as it was before and everything has changed since the apocalypse. Yet, all he could think after seeing the toy was about the memory he held about his old friend, the one who could communicate with animals just like him, Byun Baekhyun, the once little boy who had the most adorable cheeks to be played with.
“Yah, Baekhyunnie... Where are you now? Stay safe. I miss you.”
