(Next weekend – Friday night)

Kring… Kring… Kring…

‘Hello…’ Hyesung picked up his phone without checking the caller ID as he was too focused on the TV.

‘Are you busy?’ the person on the other end asked.

Hyesung blinked his eyes in confusion and when he saw the ID, it was Eric. He quickly switched off the TV and sat up straight.

‘No, I was just watching the TV’

‘Pack your bag for the weekend and come to the address that I’m going to send’

Hyesung blinked his eyes in confusion, ‘But why?’

‘Just do it and I’ll explain later’ he replied shortly and hung up leaving Hyesung clueless. But nevertheless, Hyesung did as what he was told. When he walked towards the entrance door, he bumped into Dongwan and Minwoo who just got back.

‘Where are you going?’ Minwoo asked when he saw Hyesung with a bag.

‘Somewhere. Eric needs my help. I’ll tell you guys later, bye!’ he said hurriedly and left.

After he left, Minwoo and Dongwan looked at each other seriously.

‘Do you think he already know?’ Dongwan asked.

‘No, I don’t think so and let’s keep it that way. Just give me a few days’ Minwoo said. He nearly accomplished his secret mission but some complications occurred.

‘Okay. But make it fast, he’s not dumb’

Minwoo nodded, ‘Alright, I promise’

‘He is so going to be furious with us’ Dongwan sighed heavily.

‘Hell yeah’ he nodded in agreement. It was rare to see Hyesung mad but when he did, it was like letting a demonic satan escape from hell.

The address he received was Eric’s apartment and without wasting any time, he straight way drove there.

Knock… Knock… Knock…

‘Come in, Hyesung’ Eric said when he knew who was at the door.

Hyesung made his way comfortably to the living room and froze when he saw a baby on the sofa.

‘W-Whose child did you kidnap..?’ Hyesung stuttered when he made an eye-contact with the boy.

‘Very funny’ Eric rolled his eyes.

‘He is my friends’ child. They came to Korea from US for a business trip and couldn’t find anyone to babysit the kid for the weekend, so they came to me’ Eric sighed and took a seat next to the baby.

‘What’s his name?’

‘Hwang Akio. But they call him Kyo’

‘Akio?’ Hyesung raised his eyebrows.

‘The mum is Japanese’

Hyesung nodded in understanding and stared at the baby. When he looked at him, he giggled.

‘Why do you need me again?’

‘You’re going to help me babysit him’ he dropped the bomb.

Hyesung’s eyes widen and stood up, ‘To what? I don’t know anything about kids!’

‘But you’re good with them. I saw you that day!’ he argued back.

The loud noises caused the baby to start crying. Hyesung and Eric froze and turned their head to him.

‘What should we do?!’ Hyesung panicked.

‘Let me try carrying him’ Eric said and picked the baby up. He started swaying his body and cooed the baby gently and after 10 minutes, he finally stopped crying and his usual happy face was shown. Hyesung and Eric sighed in relieved.

‘I’ll play with Kyo and you just unpack his stuffs’ Eric said.

‘Where’s the stuffs?’ he asked and Eric pointed to the kitchen.

‘In your room?’ Hyesung said as he took the stuffs from the said place.

‘Yeah, we’ll be sleeping there together’

Hyesung halted his steps and looked at Eric in horror, ‘We? Together?’

‘Yeah, we. Together’ he said monotone and continued playing with Kyo.

Hyesung still looked at him disbelief as obviously Eric didn’t get the point. But nevertheless he just walked into Eric’s room.

‘Eric, I’m going to put his milk and baby food at the kitchen. And I found an empty spot in your closet room, so I put my stuffs and Kyo’s there’ Hyesung explained after he unpacked and sat with Eric and Akio in the living room.

‘Okay’ he replied shortly.

‘May I?’ Hyesung asked as he wanted to carry Akio. Eric nodded and gave Akio to him.

‘Hello, Kyo… I’m Hyesung and this is Eric. We’re going to babysit you this weekend, so please don’t give us a hard time okay’ he pleaded causing Eric to scoff and Akio to giggle.

‘He understand! See…’ he showed him the baby who was laughing.

‘Yeah right’ he muttered.

‘Have you guys eaten?’

‘Yeah. His parents fed him before sending him here’

‘They should be since it’s late to have dinner now’

‘When should babies go to sleep?’ Eric suddenly asked when he realised it was nearly 9 pm.

‘I don’t know. I don’t have a brother’ he said sarcastically.

‘Google it then’ he ordered. Hyesung rolled his eyes and took out his phone to google it.

‘! It says 8’ he cursed but quickly shut his mouth when he realised Akio’s presence.

‘How to make him sleep?’

‘Google it’ Hyesung replied with a sarcasm.

Eric rolled his eyes and googled using his phone, ‘They say that we cannot rely on motion and put him in the dark. Oh, there’s a video for it’ he remarked and Hyesung sat closer to him to watch the video.

‘Okay, we can do this!’ he said determinedly.

They carried Akio inside the room and put him on the bed before switching off the lights.

‘What do we do now?’ Eric asked when they both laid on the bed with the baby.

‘Telling a bedtime story?’ he suggested by whispering.

‘The room is dark’ he pointed the obvious.

‘Then, lullaby?’

‘You sing. I don’t know how’

Hyesung grumbled in annoyance but later he started lullabying while patting Akio gently. Eric was mesmerised by Hyesung’s beautiful voice as he never heard the model sang and hearing it, Eric himself started to get sleepy. It took them nearly 45 to make sure that Akio is fully asleep. Although it was quite a simple task but they both were getting tired.

‘Can we just sleep now?’ Hyesung asked.

Eric nodded in agreement, ‘Yeah, I’m already tired’

‘I’m starting to regret helping you’ he mumbled and stood up to go to the closet room to change his clothes into pyjamas. After him, Eric went next. They slowly laid down just like earlier but more cautiously, fearing that Akio would wake up.

‘Goodnight’ Eric mumbled quietly.

‘Goodnight’ he whispered with his closed eyes.

At 3 am, hell started. Akio suddenly cried out loud while turning his body right and left. Hyesung and Eric frowned in their sleep but later realised that they have a baby to babysit.

‘Hyesung, wake up’ Eric pushed Hyesung’s body.

‘I don’t want… You do it tonight, I’ll do it tomorrow’

‘You do it tonight. I’m so tired today’ he suddenly whined.

‘Fine! If not, I’ll kill you’ Hyesung threatened while he was half dazed.

‘Hmm’ he replied and continued sleeping which Hyesung can hear his perfect snore.

Hyesung growled in annoyance and sat up on the bed. He carried the crying Akio and cooed him.

‘Shhh… It’s okay, we’re here for you… Don’t be afraid, Kyo’ he said lovingly but the baby was still crying. Hyesung continued lullabying and patted Akio like earlier, fortunately the baby fell asleep but it took Hyesung longer time. As soon as he asleep, Hyesung went back to his dreamland.

(Next morning)

‘Da! Da!’

Hyesung felt someone slapping his face lightly causing him to scrunch his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Akio sitting on top of him, he grinned widely at Hyesung while slapping him using his small hands.

‘Good morning~’ Hyesung greeted the energetic baby while carrying him in his arms. He looked beside him and saw Eric who was still sleeping peacefully. Tsk-ing at the guy, when he remembered that Eric told him to take care of crying Akio last night.

‘I’ll make sure he stays awake tonight’ he said determinedly. Wasting no time, Hyesung got up with Akio to make breakfast for everyone. Hyesung didn’t know where to put Akio because there was no baby chair. If he put him in the living room, he was scared if he broke things. If he put him on the table, he was scared if he fell. Hyesung sighed as he had to wake Eric up.

‘Eric… Wake up, help me to keep an eye on Kyo’ Hyesung shook his body.

‘Hmm’ he replied. Hyesung rolled his eyes and shook his body again.

‘Hmm… Just put Kyo on the bed. I’ll watch him’ Eric said in his husky voice.

‘I don’t trust you’

‘Just trust me. I won’t let him fall’

Hyesung looked at Akio who wanted to go to Eric, sighing for the last time, he decided to trust Eric.

‘Please don’t fall’ he begged Akio before putting him on the bed. After he put him down, Akio crawled towards Eric and slapped his face softly like how he did to Hyesung. Eric wrapped his arms around Akio to make him lie down and then he patted the baby softly.

Hyesung : I can trust him for awhile…

Hyesung instantly went to the kitchen to make breakfast fast. He saw eggs and sausages in the fridge, so he decided to make scrambled eggs. As for Akio, he could use the baby food that his parents provided. After the breakfast was done, Hyesung went to the bedroom to call them but halted his steps when he saw Eric who was still lying on the bed while playing with Akio. Whenever Akio tried to run away from Eric, the CEO would carry him back to him with his muscular arms causing the baby to giggle loudly.

‘Kyo, don’t run… Hyesung would kill me if you fall’ he mumbled.

Hyesung smiled faintly and ignored the sensitive word ‘kill’ as he commented, ‘Obviously I would’

Eric was stunned by the sudden reply and when he looked Hyesung was standing beside the bed, he sat up on the bed after picking Akio up.

‘Breakfast’s ready’ he said and took Akio to the kitchen. Eric got out from the bed and washed his face together with brushing with teeth. It was the first time someone made breakfast for him in the apartment and honestly, it warmed his heart. He awkwardly sat opposite of Hyesung who was carrying Akio on his lap.

‘Do you want me to take care of me while you eat?’ Eric offered.

Hyesung shook his head, ‘It’s okay, I’ll manage’ he said and fed Akio with baby food. As usual, all kids would love if adults did imaginary planes or trains to feed them and that went the same with Akio. He opened his mouth wide when Hyesung fed him with the plane sound. At the same time, Hyesung would take a fast time to feed himself. Eric took a glance at him and finished his breakfast quickly so that Hyesung could eat in peace. Putting his plate in the sink, he walked back to the table to pick Akio up from Hyesung together with his food.

‘Let me help since I’m done’ Eric said before leaving to the living hall. Hyesung was touched by Eric’s caring attitude and he finally could focused on his breakfast. At times, he looked at Eric and was surprised to see Eric did the same as he did earlier and it showed how Eric was willing to help and learn to take care of a baby. After eating, Hyesung washed the dishes before joining Eric and Akio at the living room.

‘Shouldn’t babies take a nap?’ Hyesung suddenly asked.

‘Before lunch?’

‘So around 12?’ Hyesung guessed.

‘Sounds good’ Eric replied in agreement. They continued playing with Akio until 12. Taking naps compared to sleeping at night was hard because Akio was still energetic, so it took a long time for him to sleep. They cautiously put him on the bed and leave the bedroom hurriedly.

‘Now that he is asleep, I’m going to go grocery store’ Hyesung announced and took his wallet and car keys.

‘Why?’

‘Because you don’t have food for the weekend. How did you survive, Eric?’ Hyesung rolled his eyes.

‘Mostly I order’ he shrugged his shoulder.

‘Thought so…’

Hyesung bid goodbye and left Eric all alone in the apartment with Akio. Eric didn’t know what to do because he didn’t have much work to do and even if he wanted to watch the TV, he was scared that the baby would awake. So, he went inside the bedroom and laid down on the bed beside Akio and minutes later, he fell asleep.

(An hour later)

Hyesung opened the door using the keys Eric gave and saw that the apartment was very quiet. He slowly walked to the bedroom after placing his groceries on the kitchen table and saw the peacefully Eric and Akio who was sleeping. He smiled and left them alone to cook lunch. He didn’t want to admit this but he never cook before especially meals. Breakfast earlier was an exception! Then, he knew who to ask. Taking his phone out from his pocket, Hyesung dialled a number.

‘Hello?’ the person on the other hand picked up.

‘Dongwan! I need your help…’ Hyesung said as he knew that his cousin loved to cook.

‘What help?’

‘How to make lunch?’

‘Excuse me..?’ Dongwan thought he heard wrongly but Hyesung was really asking him the real thing.

‘Lunch! How to make it?’ Hyesung rolled his eyes.

‘Why would you want to know? You usually order or ask the chefs to cook for you’

‘Just tell me okay!’ Hyesung whispered angrily.

‘Fine… Fine… What do you want to cook?’

‘I don’t know. Anything simple I guess’

Dongwan thought about it for awhile and said, ‘Pasta is nice’

‘But it’s complicated’ Hyesung whined.

‘Yah! It’s the simplest dish you can cook’ he growled annoyingly.

‘Okay. Okay. But how to do it?’ Hyesung asked as he started to look for the ingredients.

‘Pasta and sauce’ he replied shortly.

‘I have red and white sauce’

‘Choose red. It’s easier’

‘Okay. Then?’ Hyesung took out the pasta and the red sauce.

‘Pour water into a pot and boil it’

‘How much?’

‘Just guess’

‘Okay’ Hyesung took the pot filled with water and put on the stove.

‘Done?’

‘Yup’

‘Now, you just wait until it boils. Then, you put in the pasta’

‘A lot?’

‘For how many people you are cooking for?’

‘Two’

‘Then, half’

‘Alright…’

After the water boils, Hyesung put the pasta into the pot and covered it.

‘How to make the sauce?’ Hyesung asked when he took out another pot.

‘Pour water around ¼ - ¾ of a mug sized and boil it for awhile’

‘Next?’

‘Pour ¾ of the red sauce in it and stir it well’

‘Okay’

‘Taste it. If it’s bland, put a pinch of salt. If it’s still bland, pour the red sauce more’

‘Wait! Wait! The pasta!’ Hyesung shrieked in horror and quickly turned off the fire. He sighed in relieved and continued talking with Dongwan.

‘Continue…’

‘Then, you toss the pasta and after that, you put the pasta into the red sauce. You can add meat or chicken slice in it too’

‘Alright, thanks Dongwan!’ he chirped happily as he was satisfied with his first attempt.

‘For the last touch, put some cheese on it!’ he said before hanging up.

‘Got it, boss!’

After hanging up, he prepared the final preparation as well as cleaning up everything before waking Eric and Akio up. As if on the cue, as soon as Hyesung entered the room, Akio woke up and started crying and it made Eric startled in his sleep.

‘What’s wrong?’ Eric hurriedly said when he saw the wailing baby.

‘He just woke up. It’s normal. Anyway, I made pasta for lunch’ he said as he picked Akio up to coo him. Amazingly, he stopped crying.

‘You made this?’ Eric looked at Hyesung when he saw two plates of pasta and it looked like it was from a fancy restaurant.

‘Yup. Pretty nice huh’ Hyesung smirked proudly.

‘Are you sure you didn’t order when we fell asleep?’ he raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

Hyesung rolled his eyes and sat down at the dining table, ‘Whatever you say, Eric’

Eric looked at the food one last time before joining Hyesung for lunch. It wasn’t the best pasta but it was decent enough.

‘So, what are we going to do later?’ Eric asked when Hyesung was feeding Akio.

‘Hmm, watching some cartoons perhaps. Kids like cartoons right’

‘Don’t you want to go out? I don’t think staying indoor is good for babies’

Hyesung thought about it before nodding his head, ‘Sure’ he smiled and continued feeding Akio.

(At 5 pm)

The weather that day was nice as it wasn’t too hot for kids nor too cold. After they all changed their clothes, they headed out and since they didn’t have any baby strollers, they agreed on taking turns on carrying Akio and holding Akio’s bag. They went to the nearest street which was Hongdae Street.

‘Where to?’ Hyesung asked.

‘Toys?’ Eric looked at him unsure.

‘Do you want to go to toys store, Kyo?’ Hyesung smiled at Akio and in return, the baby giggled.

Since it was the weekend, many families were out with the children and of course, the toys stores were their favourite place. As a result, the store they went was so crowded because of the children so they went to another shop in a shopping mall that wasn’t much crowded.

‘This is better than the previous one’ Hyesung commented. Akio’s eyes were already sparkled by the amazing toys that were displayed inside. He leaned forward as if to tell Hyesung and Eric to hurry up and they did. If possible, Akio wanted to buy all the toys there were in the store and everytime he took something, Hyesung or Eric would put it back on the shelf. An hour later, Akio finally found a toy that he wanted ; a pink dolphin.

‘Aww, this is so cute Kyo~’ Hyesung cooed when Akio waved the toy to the both gentlemen.

‘Do you want this?’ Eric asked.

‘Da!’ he mumbled loudly. Hyesung just chuckled lightly and together with the toy, they proceeded to the counter. The cashier was stunned to see Akio holding a PINK dolphin as she asked, ‘Are you sure your son wants that colour?’

Eric who was carrying Akio replied, ‘Yup, this is the final toy that he wanted’

‘Are you certain, sir? I’m sure blue is a nicer colour’ she awkwardly said.

Before Eric could say anything, Hyesung responded, ‘What’s wrong if my kid likes pink? He can like whatever he wants, he is barely 1. Miss…’ he hissed angrily.

‘Y-Yes, of course’ she immediately resumed her work when she saw Hyesung’s cold stare.

‘I cannot believe such a close-minded people still exist’ Hyesung sighed after they walked out the store.

‘Let’s go somewhere else’ Eric said as a way to calm the model down.

‘Okay. Let’s go, Kyo’ Hyesung took Akio from Eric and handed the bag he was carrying to the CEO. It was nearly 6 and they decided to grab some dinner before heading back home.

‘A table for two and a baby chair please’ Eric said when they entered a restaurant.

‘Right this way sir’ the waitress smiled and leaded them to an empty table. Then, she came back with Akio’s baby chair.

‘Eric, what’s good for babies?’ Hyesung asked when he looked at the menu and discovered that many of the food were not suitable for Akio.

Eric shrugged his shoulder, ‘Porridge maybe?’

‘No, I bet they put some MSG’ Hyesung instantly turned down his idea and called the nearest waiter.

‘Excuse me, what’s good for babies?’ he asked.

The waiter smiled and explained, ‘Well, we have kids’ menu but we can alter the food that is suitable for your son’

Hyesung returned the smile thankfully and nodded his head in understanding, ‘Alright. Thank you’

‘What are you having?’ Hyesung asked.

‘Steak maybe. You?’

‘Hmm…’ Hyesung looked at the menu again, ‘Fish ‘N’ Chips’

‘Kyo?’ Eric looked at the baby who was playing with his dolphin.

‘Soup seems good’ he commented and Eric just nodded in agreement.

After they ordered, they had a pleasant conversation.

‘Did Kyo’s parents call you about their child?’ Hyesung asked.

‘Yeah but I mute them’

Hyesung looked at him in disbelieved, ‘But why?!’

‘Because it’s annoying that they call me 24/7’ he mumbled quietly.

‘That means they miss him’ Hyesung groaned in annoyance.

‘They’ll be seeing him tomorrow anyway’ he replied lazily.

‘What time?’

‘I don’t know. Evening maybe’

‘Do you want to stop by at your mum’s house tomorrow? We can bring Kyo’ Hyesung suggested when he realised that Eric didn’t go there this weekend.

‘Is it okay with you? I was planning to go there on Friday but since my friends asked for my help, I cancelled…’

‘Of course. I’m sure they would want to meet Kyo’ he exclaimed while playing with Akio.

‘Then, tomorrow morning then’

‘Okay’ he nodded.

(After dinner)

Even though Eric and Hyesung didn’t do anything that day but they felt like they just went for a hike because they were so exhausted from the shopping earlier. They made Akio sleep earlier than usual after his bath because they also wanted to sleep early, after the baby slept, they washed up and immediately jumped into the bed. Cautiously of course.

(At 3 am)

As expected from a baby who barely 1 year old, Akio started crying and waking up in the middle of the night. This time, Hyesung shook Eric’s body.

‘Eric, it’s your turn tonight. You promise’ Hyesung said in his sleepy state.

‘I didn’t promise you anything’ he protested.

‘Eric, before I push you out the window, you better wake up and take care of Kyo’ he threatened.

‘Hmm…’ was Eric’s reply and he took a few minutes to regain his conscious on real world. He got out from bed and carried Akio to the living room.

‘Kyo… Please don’t cry, I don’t know how to lullaby’ Eric started pleading. Akio kept crying until Eric had to stand up and swayed his body left and right. He knew that relying on motion wasn’t good but it was a desperate measure. Finally after an hour, Akio started closing his eyes to go to dreamland.

(Next morning)

Because of sleeping late last night, Eric overslept and so did Hyesung. Akio played alone on the bed by himself since he had his dolphin but when he got bored, he crawled over Hyesung and climbed down slowly and cautiously with the pillows. He crawled towards the living room and saw a sofa. Having been wanting to sit on the sofa by himself, he tried that morning. It was hard for him since he couldn’t walk properly yet but he won’t give up. On the other hand, Hyesung was soundly asleep and ever since he slept with Akio, it was a habit of his to pat Akio’s back. But when he felt an empty space at Akio’s place, he immediately woke up and had his eyes widen when he saw Akio wasn’t on the bed. He quickly shook Eric to wake up.

‘Eric, where’s Akio?!’ he said hurriedly.

‘In front maybe’ he mumbled in his sleep.

Ignoring Eric, Hyesung rushed to the living room and sighed in relieved.

‘DA!’ Akio exclaimed when he saw his ‘daddy’.

‘Are you lonely just now? I’m sorry for sleeping late’ Hyesung apologised as he picked Akio up.

‘Hmm, should we wake Eric up?’ he asked smiling at the giggling baby.

‘Da!’ he replied excitedly.

Hyesung went into the bedroom and didn’t see Eric in the room, so he figured the CEO must have been in the bathroom. Taking a bath. While waiting for him, Hyesung made breakfast as usual but this time he made pancakes. Who doesn’t like pancakes right?!

‘Oh great, you’re here’ Hyesung remarked when he saw Eric who was already at the dining table with Akio who was from the living hall.

‘Can you help me and feed Kyo? I wanna wash up’ Hyesung said.

‘Hmm, take your time’ Eric nodded his head.

‘And I think babies can eat pancakes. But cut them into small pieces’ Hyesung reminded him before going to the bathroom.

‘Alright’ he gave an OK sign.

(30 minutes later)

When Hyesung got out from the bed, he saw Eric who was cooking. Picking up Akio in the living hall, Hyesung went to the kitchen.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Fishing’ Eric replied sarcastically.

‘Wow, I’m humoured’ Hyesung rolled his eyes. Eric then took a plate and put the pancakes he was making and showed it to Hyesung.

‘This is for you since you haven’t eaten yet’ Eric said and put the plate on the table and took Akio from Hyesung.

‘Now, eat’ he said again and continued, ‘We’re going to my mum’s house right?’

‘Yup’ Hyesung replied while eating.

‘Okay, Akio and I are going to get change now’ he announced and went inside his room.

(15 minutes later)

Hyesung knocked on the door before entering the bedroom. He saw Eric who was trying to change Akio’s clothes.

‘I gotta admit, you’re good at it’ Hyesung praised as he sat on the bed.

‘Thanks. I learnt from youtube’ he smiled faintly.

‘Are we ready to go?’ Eric asked after he was done with Akio.

‘Yeah, let’s go’ Hyesung said excitedly. It had been awhile since he last saw Andy’s and Eric’s mum and he wondered if she was doing well.

(Andy’s house)

Knock… Knock… Knock…

‘Are they home?’ Hyesung asked when no one answered them.

‘Let me call mum’ Eric took out his phone and dialled a number.

‘Hello, mum. It’s Eric…’ he said fondly on the phone.

‘Hyesung and I are in front of your house. Where are you?’

‘Oh okay, we’ll wait for you’ he smiled before hanging up.

‘Mum is on the way. She said Andy is out with Junjin’

‘Okay’ Hyesung nodded his head and since the house was quite cosy and had a backyard with a garden, Hyesung roamed around showing Akio things like the flowers and the swing. After 10 minutes, Mrs Lee arrived and she was stunned when she saw Hyesung who was holding a baby.

‘My my, who is this?’ she smiled at Akio. Akio must sense Mrs Lee’ warm aura that he immediately took a liking towards her.

‘This is Eric’s friends’ child. He stayed with us for the weekend’ Hyesung explained and gave the baby to her when she held out her hands.

‘Where were you from mum?’ Eric asked when they were inside the house.

‘You know, usual place. The hospital’ she replied casually and headed to the living room.

Hyesung knew he didn’t have the right to ask so he kept quiet, ‘Is Husky inside?’ Hyesung asked when he suddenly remembered about the dog.

‘No, he is with the neighbours. I couldn’t let him stay alone in the house’ she smiled and told them to wait for her as she wanted to make tea for everyone. Hyesung already declined her kind offer but she insisted.