It was noontime on a casual Saturday.  Seokjin was lounging on the couch, still in his sleepy pants.  Namjoon was about halfway through a bag of chips.  The boys were playing quietly in their rooms.  Soft, smooth jazz was playing in the background for noise.  It was shaping up to be the perfect lzy Saturday.

Until, of course, Hoseok marched right out of the bedroom and right up to his fathers, a stern and determined look fixed upon his eight-year-old face.

“I’m going to stay up tonight to watch the New Year come in!” he raised his small fist high into the air.

Seokjin and Namjoon exchanged glances before nodding.

“Go for it. Is anyone else staying up for the New Year?” Namjoon asked, raising his voice at the question. Four pairs of legs came thundering out of the bedroom, stumbling into each other as they arrived at the couch.

“Me! I’m the oldest!” Yoongi announced proudly, placing his hands on his hips.

“And us! We can stay awake!” Taehyung shouted, grabbing Jimin’s hand and raising it to the air with his own.

“Don’t forget me,” Jeongguk said, grinning shyly.

“And me,” Seokjin whispered, making Namjoon grin.

“Then it’s settled.  We’ll all watch the New Year come in together!” Namjoon exclaimed, and living room erupted into cheers, drowning out the sounds of smooth jazz and any hopes of a quiet, lazy Saturday.

-

That evening, the Kim family was armed with the heavily artillery: plenty of snacks, fizzy drinks the boys weren’t allowed to have normally, and movies to watch together to pass the time.  They were determined to stay up until midnight.  Even the two adults in the family rarely fell asleep past ten.

Once each boy was set with a snack of his choice, they all snuggled in front of the couch in the floor, wrapped in their blankets with animal hoods sewn in, curtesy of Seokjin’s skilled hand. Yoongi was using Hoseok as a pillow while Jimin, Taehyung, and Jeongguk were clustered together in an incomprehensible pile of boy.  Seokjin and Namjoon were perched on the couch, armed with the remote, ready to press play on the first movie of the night, Inside Out.

By the time the movie was over, Yoongi was already passed out asleep in his bowl of Cheez-its. Seokjin and Namjoon exchanged glances, grinning as they got up from the couch.

“One down, four to go,” Namjoon snickered, gathering up Yoongi to take him to bed. 

The other boys looked at each other, their faces a mixture of surprised, impressed with themselves, and determined to stay awake until 2016 became 2017.  Their fathers swept back into the room shortly, resuming their positions on the couch, cuddled under a heap of blankets.

“Alright boys. Which movie should we watch next?” Namjoon asked, readying the remote. 

The boys looked at each other before turning back to look at their fathers and shouting in unison, “Minions!”

-

During their second movie at about 10 pm, Jimin had crawled up onto the couch and settled into Seokjin’s lap, no longer able to asleep. Seokjin quietly carried the sleeping boy to bed and returned to the couch. 

“Two down, three to go,” Namjoon smirked, causing Jeongguk to turn around with his finger to his lips, shushing him.

“Daddy Joon, we’re watching a movie,” he said, and Namjoon held up his hands in apology.

“Sorry buddy,” he said, and Jeongguk nodded his approval and went back to laying on Taehyung.

Namjoon looked at Seokjin, who just shrugged in return.

-

It was almost 11 when the movie finished.  Seokjin and Namjoon were rather impressed that three boys were still awake, though Hoseok was beginning to get a little sleepy.  They decided to just turn the television to some New Year’s broadcast with famous people and bad live music so that they could watch the New Year ring in, and also keep up with time.

A certain singer was performing on the television when Jeongguk announced that he had to go to the bathroom and had jumped up and ran inside the room.  When he didn’t come back for several minutes, Seokjin, concerned, got up to check on him. 

He found his youngest son asleep on the toilet. He laughed, dressed him up and carried him to his room, stopping by the living room to tell Namjoon about it in a whisper.

“Guess who I found asleep on the toilet?” Seokjin asked as if it weren’t obvious.

“It’s Jeongguk,” Taehyung responded.

“Lucky guess,” Seokjin winked before taking the sleeping boy to bed.

“Three down,” Namjoon wiggled his eyebrows.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hoseok said, annoyed, causing Namjoon to laugh.

-

It was five minutes until the New Year.  The people on the broadcast were getting even more excited than they already were, talking too fast and way too loud.  Taehyung yawned.  He hoped that the five minutes would pass quickly so he could finally go to sleep.

With four minutes to spare, Hoseok, stretched and looked around, noticing that Jimin’s snack bowl was still full while his own was empty.  He shrugged and grabbed it before anyone could notice it and began munching.  He was not one to waste food.

Three minutes to go.  Taehyung made a show of folding his blanket and unfolding it.

Two minutes. Hoseok sat up straight in the floor, Jimin’s snack bowl now empty.

One minute. Both boys looked at each other in excitement, counting down with the people on the program.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!” both boys exclaimed, jumping up and hugging each other.

“Happy New Year, Daddies!” Taehyung hollered, pausing his excitement when he didn’t get an answer. “Daddies?”

The boys turned around and saw their fathers cuddled up on the couch, both fast asleep.  The boys gave each other knowing smiles before covering their fathers up in blankets, pecking them both on the cheek, and whispering, “Happy New Year,” before walking back into their rooms to finally catch some sleep themselves.