There were few times in life when Jinki could say he was absolutely certain about something. There were too many times, more than he could count, where he’d look back and wonder what exactly he had been thinking in the moment he made a certain choice in life. Most of the time, he chose whatever path seemed easiest at the time, choosing to live an easy life rather than fight for most of the things he really wanted, and most couldn’t really blame him for it either. However, Jinki liked to think that the things he had fought for were worth every moment he spend for them.

Lee Taemin was one of those things.

The moment Jinki had seen the little infant lying in it’s crib, taking a little nap in the afternoon, he knew this was one thing he would fight for, and his partner was more than willing to join the cause. Jonghyun had been just as enthralled by the child as he had, cooing at him silently so as not to wake the young one. Minutes later when that little nose twitched a bit and the child stirred, he was faced with beautiful little brown eyes staring right back at him, whining from slumber having ended. And with a questioning look to the caretaker in the room and a nod, Jinki was lifting the baby from his crib, a careful hand on the back of his head, and holding him close.

Just a few months later after the last of the paperwork had been finished, little Lee Taemin was laying on a blanket in their living room playing with a stack of blocks and trying to build them up as high as the could go.

Jonghyun hadn’t wasted a single moment in setting up cameras all over the house, not wanting to miss a single moment in which Taemin could be doing something and saving it. During bath times, Jonghyun was sitting by the sink, taking picture after picture of their little baby, sitting in the tub of bubbles, because little Lee Taemin needed as many bubbles as he could possibly get.

Jonghyun would always take his son to work with him, because Jinki’s office job wasn’t the really up for having kids in the building and Jonghyun didn’t need to actually go to his work building everyday. Working from home was just the same as working from inside the building to him and so long as he got his work done and came in when he was asked to, everything was okay. That didn’t mean that for the first few months that they had Taemin, that Jonghyun didn’t go to work every single day with his little baby at his hip and showing him off to every single worker there. Jinki had put an end to that quickly though. It still didn’t stop him from showing off all of the pictures.

Jinki couldn’t help but think that Taemin was the greatest thing to happen to them, and Jonghyun agreed wholeheartedly.

They had enjoyed teaching how to walk. The baby would wobble on his tiny, chubby little legs before plopping back down with a frustrated look, as frustrated as a baby could be, and stared at them. They’d laugh, clapping their hands and making grabby hands at him and Taemin eventually grew tired of constantly falling over and just crawled his way between them, letting whoever it was to pick him up first grab him.

When he finally did walk, it had been five wobbly steps, Jinki counted, before he fell back with the puffy diaper to cushion his fall. He whined at reached up until Jinki lifted him and placed him on his hip, spinning him around because his little boy had finally taken his first steps and laughing when Jonghyun screamed from the bathroom that he had missed it. Taemin was clapping along, even though Jinki had a feeling he didn’t even know what he was clapping about. Still, it was cute to watch.

Taemin didn’t cry much at night either. Only once in a while did he ever wake them up with his cries, and they considered themselves lucky that they didn’t have to deal with constant 2 AM wake up calls.

Taemin wasn’t a difficult child to take care of either. He was picky with his food though, something that always had Jinki groaning when Taemin would refuse without a bit of hesitation to eat his carrots and no amount of telling that it’d make him big and strong when he grew up seemed to help. Of course, those foods that he wouldn’t eat were later substituted for something just as healthy, that would give the same effect, but Taemin didn’t have to know that as a child. So long as he did see the evil carrots on his plait then he was satisfied.

Giving him haircuts were a bit of a struggle. Taemin seemed to really enjoy keeping his hair long, and although he and Jonghyun would have loved to keep it that way, the school was another story. It wasn’t as easy to let them let Taemin have his hair long, and eventually they had no choice but to cut his hair once they got a final warning. Taemin had cried so much that day, Jonghyun had been so close to marching right into the preschool office and giving every single one of them a piece of his mind. Jinki was there to stop him though, a silent shake of his head to let him know that nothing good would come out of it. They had to live by the same rules growing up and simply because they wanted to give Taemin everything didn’t mean they could really bend the rules for him.

Taemin kept trying to grow it out though. Every time he was due for a haircut, he’d cry and sob about not wanting to cut it and never did it become any easier for them. He was a stubborn child.

Even so, they spoiled him a bit too much at times. Jinki wondered if what they were doing was okay, but considering Taemin was their only child, they didn’t see much of a problem with it, so long as Taemin knew his limits. If he didn’t need it, he generally didn’t get it until his birthday or Christmas. That was just how it went, and Taemin seemed to catch onto that fairly early; even started making lists of what he wanted for both days so that he could give it to them and let him know exactly what was he wanted. Santa never failed him.

Taemin was their precious little boy, one who would walk into their room in the middle of the night with his stuffed animal clutched tightly in his grasp and settle himself between them, whether he’d had a nightmare or not. Jinki didn’t think much of it when he wrapped his arm around Taemin and pulled his little boy’s back against his chest. Taemin always snuggled his head right under his chin and Jonghyun would turn to wrap his arm around the both of them. Their was no reason to worry about why Taemin was there or not, it was nice knowing that their son loved them so much.

And when Taemin started hanging out with the boy down the street who was a couple years older, well of course Jonghyun was a bit weary. He wanted to know whom exactly his son was hanging out with during his free time and why he hadn’t met the boy’s parents. Jinki was curious as well, but he didn’t exaggerate as much as Jonghyun did, because he had seen the boy once in a while when he had gone to pic Taemin up from preschool, and he looked nice enough.

It wasn’t until a few months into their little play dates that Taemin actually brought his friend over, and Jonghyun would coo at the two as they played in the living room with their toys or when the boy would help Taemin with his alphabet because Taemin was only four and just learning, and this boy was six and definitely knew what he was doing, or at least he mostly knew. He still had a few troubles of his own.

But they liked the little boy. He was sweet and acted like an older brother to Taemin, something both Jinki and Jonghyun felt Taemin needed.

Their little baby boy had found himself a big brother and they couldn’t have been happier for him.

Kibum had been the luckiest person when he had stumbled upon his child, or the child’s mother if he were being completely accurate. It was all of a sudden, finding that ad in the newspaper about parents who were looking for a good family for their unborn child and Kibum was single, but he was confident he could raise a child fine on his own. The mother was too young to take care of a child, both her and her partner in high school and Kibum understood that even if they wanted to keep the child, the baby was far better off with a family that could properly provide for it and give it everything it deserved.

It had taken months to convince them, and by the time they agreed, the girl was ready to give birth at any moment. He let them keep the right to at least visit their baby, and even let them name the child however they wanted when it was born; it was the least he could do for them considering they were giving him their baby. He wasn’t heartless, he could see the love they held for their child.

And the moment the baby is born, Kibum lets the parents hold their little baby boy in their arms before the child is passed over to him, and Kibum swears in that moment that he’s never seen anything more precious. There’s nothing that compares to the warmth that fills him as he coos down at his little baby and smile up at the parents who were crying at the sight. He puts his baby down in the offered crib, smiling and hugging the both of them, thanking them over and over and promising them that they can visit their little boy whenever they wants.

It was only moments later when the doctor asked for a name and Kibum’s little baby was now named Minho.

Kibum loved Minho with every fiber in his being, giving the boy everything he could possibly give him on his own. He managed well, having read everything he possibly could about taking care of a child in the months that he waited for his son to be born. It was harder than he imagined, spending months with little sleep as Minho would wake up in a fit of crying almost every night. He spent as long as he had to in his rocking chair, soothing Minho back into a slumber before getting as much sleep as he could before he had to wake up and get to work. Luckily said work could be done from home, working as a travel agent had those perks.

Still, his little son was an active one. Minho had started taking his first steps when he was only 10 months old and Kibum had been so surprised when he first noticed his little one waddling his way over to him, taking a few tumbles on the way there, but he kept getting up until he reached his dad’s legs and latched onto them to keep himself up. Kibum doesn’t remember ever having cheered so much in his life, taking his child carefully into his arms snuggling proudly to him.

His little Minho ate anything that was given to him once he could have anything he wanted. Nothing in their fridge was spared from the toddler’s taste buds and Kibum laughed when a friend of his made sure to tell him that his son was an eating machine. Minho always seemed pretty proud of himself when he managed to clear his plate, but he also was just a small boy, and Kibum didn’t think he really knew or cared that much about it.

And it didn’t take long for Kibum to notice how fascinated Minho seemed about almost anything, some of his own personal things particularly. He remembers vividly when Minho was just turning four and the boy had somehow found a way to his make up kit and tried putting eyeliner on just like his father. Kibum laughed the first time he saw the black liquid all over his son’s eyelids. He had led his boy back to the bathroom and applied the eyeliner properly, smiling with how amazed Minho seemed by it, and let him keep it on for the rest of the day. He made sure to remind Minho not to take his make up again though.

He had realized a lot of things about his son within the next few months after Minho started kindergarten. Minho wasn’t the type of child to make much of a fuss, and that was because Minho didn’t like to take the lead. Minho liked to follow what he was told, that was something Kibum couldn’t put up with. He needed his son to learn early that he had to be his own person and not a copy of someone else. That was why when they had gone to the toy store, Kibum had made sure Minho got the toy or toys he really wanted and not ones his schoolmates said he should play with.

That was how he had found himself in an aisle in the store filled with pink, Minho stared down longingly at a doll on the bottom shelf, which from closer inspection Kibum realized was a Barbie doll. He smiled as he walked over, poking his child’s cheek when he noticed Minho’s frown.

“Do you want that doll?” he had asked. Minho’s frown deepened as he hesitated before shaking his head slowly, and Kibum gave him a frown of his own. “Why not?”

“That’s for girls, not boys,” Minho had said, and Kibum smiled gently as he picked up the doll and placed it in his son’s hands.

“Nonsense. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl; any toy can be played with by anyone. You want this doll right?” he asked. Minho nodded, looking at him with those beautiful big eyes and he smiled. “Then let’s get you the doll. Do you want anything else? Remember, only two toys.”

Minho smiled up at him before scurrying off to another aisle. Kibum walked after him, finding his child an aisle over holding a toy truck.

“That one?” he asked. Minho nodded, walking over to him and showing him if the two toys were okay for him to talk and Kibum nodded, happy with his son’s choices. He had made sure to politely correct the cashier when she asked if the Barbie was for his daughter or niece.

Minho had gotten into a little trouble at school after that. He had gotten a call one day that Minho had gotten into a fight with another boy because he was playing with the girls in the toy kitchen and the other boy started poking fun at him. Long story short, Minho had been completely upset by whatever accusations the boy was saying and had thrown a doll at the boy’s head.

Kibum didn’t even want to make Minho apologize, but he reminded himself that these were children and not every child knows any better. The boy provoked him and Minho acted on impulse and the only way Kibum was making his child apologize was if the other boy’s parents made their child apologize as well. That hadn’t meant that he condoned Minho’s behavior. Minho had been put on time out the moment he set foot at home and Kibum made sure that he understood that hitting people was bad and that you should only do it if they physically attack you first.

Time out didn’t last as long as it usually did because, Kibum wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he was secretly proud of his son for standing up for himself, even if he hadn’t done it the right way. An attempt was an attempt.

There had been a few more problems at school, none of them physical this time, thankful, but Kibum still worried about his son. Even as years passed, Minho hadn’t changed much in how he played or what he played with, which had set a few other boys off. It was no longer a problem of it being physical, but calls from the director saying that he needed to correct his son’s habits. It wasn’t long before Kibum moved Minho to a new kindergarten.

It was a few days later, after that which, at a park nearby where Minho was playing with his soccer ball that Kibum noticed another little child there, playing by himself in the sandbox, and he beckoned his child over.

“You see that little boy over there?” he asked, pointing to the sandbox. Minho nodded, soccer ball at his feet as he looked between his dad and the boy. “Why don’t you invite him to play with you?”

“But dad, isn’t it weird to just go up to people? You said not to talk to strangers,” his little six year old said. Kibum sighed, mentally cursing how well he had taught his son.

“You shouldn’t talk to strangers who are much older than you, but he’s just a little boy, and he’s adorable and alone. Why don’t you go make friends? I’m sure he could use one, and you could too. Maybe he goes to your kindergarten; I never saw him in your old one.”

“But dad…”

“No buts Minho. Go introduce yourself to that boy and play nice.”

Minho groaned and Kibum patted his to push him forward, since he didn’t seem all that motivated. He knew Minho was just avoiding more confrontation with other boys, so that the same wouldn’t happen to him again from his other school, but Kibum couldn’t allow his child to be a loner either. Six years old was too young to be a loner in his book.

He had fun showing his friends all the pictures he had taken of Minho and his new, adorable little friend. He had been right all along, because when the little boy raced back to his own parent when called over, Minho was running over to him and begging him to bring him back so that he could play with the boy again. He didn’t even hesitate when he said yes, because seeing the bright smile on Minho’s face was worth it.

Baby 2min will always have a soft spot in my heart. 

Anyway, I'll probably post chapter 2 on Saturday/Sunday (probably Sunday because I think I'm being forced out of my room on Saturday). But anyway, this chapter is pretty much sets the beginning of it all, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think.