"Open your mouth" the doctor said and Taemin did, he stuck a little stick in his mouth and moved it around like brushing his teeth.
Taemin felt awkward, he looked away while the doctor did the paternity test, when he finished he shut his mouth and thanked him before he went out of the clinic and got back to Irene's apartment. 
On his way he stopped at the bakery and bought some patisseries and coffee, he hadn’t been eaten anything since yesterday and his stomach growled at him. 
He was too tired to start his day, the night before he woke up few times to take care of Eunji, unlike Minho he heard her crying in the middle of the night, besides the couch wasn’t that comfy and it felt on his bones.
Damn idiot, egoist, beautiful er! Taemin hated himself for thinking that way about Minho but he did and he had no idea how to stop it. 
When he reached the apartment Shampoo welcomed him like they have been friends forever, he jumped around him enthusiastically and barked "you want to go for a walk? Is that all the thrill?" 
Shampoo barked even louder understanding the meaning of the word 'walk'. 
Taking his leash, Taemin took him out, the dog sniffed every corner of the park and every dog's before he finally peed and pooped so they could go back. 
He fed the dog and cleaned as much as he knew the apartment, he even arranged sheets on the couch so it would feel like a real bed. Eventually he sat with his laptop at the kitchen island and turned it on, Eunji was at the daycare so he had time to work. 
Taemin was a copywriter, he worked for a small company that wrote internet's contents, he usually worked at home but once a week visited at the office, it was pretty convenient and the salary was rewarding, he found that job back then when he studied for his degree and stayed since then, he had no complaints. 
Taemin hadn’t noticed the time passed by when suddenly the phone rang and Shampoo started to bark at the device like telling him to answer it, glancing up from his computer he got down from the stool he was sitting on and went to answer. 
"Bae's" he said shortly, after all it was Irene's phone, a nice woman introduced herself as Eunji's teacher, she said that nobody showed to pick her up. 
Taemin felt anger tickling his whole body, this morning he and Minho argued till he finally agreed to take her from the daycare "I haven't chose it either" he raised his voice at him while bouncing the sleepy whining Eunji in his arms "…and until the paternity tests would tell us which one of us is the father you have no choice but to act like one, we're stuck at the same , so don’t think you're not going to help me" 
"We're not playing in a ing house, do you understand me-?" Minho screamed back at him but had been cut off when he walked out of the apartment.
"Fine! I'll take her!" he heard him screaming at the shut door right before the elevator closed behind him, smiling triumphantly he took Eunji to the daycare. 
"I'm sorry" Taemin mumbled into the line "I'll be right there to take her" 
The woman thanked him and Taemin hung up the call, he hurried to put his shoes and rushed out of the apartment. 

Taemin reached the daycare just to bump into Minho at the gate. 
"What are you doing here?" 
"The teacher called, she said nobody came to take Eunji!" the boy growled at him. 
"But I'm here" 
"You can't late!"
Minho watched the boy as he pushed the gate and walked into the daycare, he followed him frowning, so he was late- nothing happened. 
The teacher was nice as she sounded at the phone, Taemin apologized few times for being late and took Eunji from her hands, the baby snuggled in his arms and made Minho stare at them, something squeeze inside his stomach at the sight- again. 
Taemin passed by him as he went out of the daycare, anger radiated from him, Minho rushed his feet after him and called his name "…why are you so angry?" 
Taemin ignored at first but when he called his name once again he turned to face him "how the hell you could forget her at the daycare?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I usually don't take babies from the daycare!" Minho got angry over the accusing tone "so I was late…it won't happen again" 
Taemin's face softened 'won't happen again' meant cooperating and even though he was angry right now he knew they needed to cooperate with each other, so he in a deep breath and tried to calm his anger. 
Minho smiled, he felt he was being forgiven. When Taemin kept walking he walked by his side quietly, he eyed his beautiful face and probably made him uncomfortable because he stopped and turned to face him, again.
"What?!" 
"Wanna go for an ice cream?" 
Taemin gave him 'where did that came from' look and tilted his head. 
"…Just a thought" Minho said and looked at Eunji asking her the same question. 
Babies had that amazing understanding when it came to things they like, she raised her head and glanced at Taemin like waiting for approval before reaching her small hands toward Minho and throwing herself at him, she wanted the promised ice cream.
Taemin let go of her and watched as Minho caught her, his big muscular arms wrapped around her protectively as she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a serious look that said 'yo dude! Ice cream, now!'.
Minho smiled at her and turned to look at Taemin "I think she's into it" 
"Who can say no to ice cream?" the boy mumbled and rolled his eyes as he dragged his feet after the two, they crossed the road toward a little café and took a seat at the inside tables,  
Minho ordered vanilla ice cream for Eunji and cappuccino to himself before he looked at Taemin with questioning eyes, the boy asked for a cold soda.
They silently waited for the waitress to bring their order, the only one who was loud enough was Eunji who asked about her 'iceam'. 
Taemin looked a little uncomfortable with himself and Minho noticed, his eyes bounced all over the café, he was making him feel weird, maybe because they looked like a couple or a modern kind of family? Either way it made Minho smirk. 
His smirk however disappeared pretty fast when Eunji stood on the chair and smacked her small palm on his cheek for attention.  
Soft giggles escaped Taemin's lips when he saw Minho's shocked face, it wasn’t hurts but pretty surprising.
"Iceam!" she called with disappointed look, like he lied to her. 
Minho glanced at the giggling boy in front of him before he reached his hands to lift and place Eunji on his lap, his face softened and he smiled at the baby, well, guess it was funny. 
"Vanilla ice cream, cappuccino and a soda…?" the waitress reached their table and placed their order in front of them, Eunji who saw the ice cream became eager and bounced from Minho's lap, her small feet kicked his thighs as she leaned over the table toward the bowl of ice cream. Groaning Minho tried to control her and gave up when he saw the beautiful look on Taemin's face.
The boy pushed the bowl of ice cream closer to Eunji before he stuck a spoon in it and placed it in front of , she opened it widely and relished on the sweet taste with a loudly enjoyment giggles.
"She likes it" Minho remarked proudly, after all it was his idea to get an ice cream.  
Taemin nodded and gave the baby another spoon of ice cream, he was having some hard time to hold the spoon because she tried to take it from his hand, he wasn’t fast enough and she wanted more. 
"Let her hold it…" Minho suggested.
The boy glanced at him before he dipped the spoon at the bowl once again "she'll get dirty"
Soft, deep chuckle rumbled through Minho's throat as he took the spoon from the boy's hand and gave it to the baby "like she's clean now…she have paint all over, sand and ketchup on her sweater, she can't get any more dirty than that" 
"I guess" Taemin mumbled with a soft smile. 
They both watch Eunji, laughing at the way she ate her ice cream with huge smiles and giggles, Taemin sipped from his soda and glanced at Minho, though they haven't spoken he felt comfortable sitting next to him, he found a new side about him that made his whole body tingle and to be honest he didn’t hate it so much.  
When Eunji finished her ice cream Minho order the check even if he drank only half of his cappuccino, he glanced at Taemin who sipped the last drop of his soda when the waitress came with the check, he pulled his wallet from his pocket and placed money on the table, the boy wanted to pay but he ignored him as he got to his feet and lifted the baby with him. 
They walked out of the café toward Irene's apartment quietly, Minho paid attention to Eunji while she pointed at random things and said their names, surprised by the fact she knew pretty much a lot to her age, or at least he guessed it was a lot to her age, he was clueless when it came to babies. 
When they reached the apartment Shampoo welcomed them with barks and jumps begging of them to take him for a walk. 
"I'll take him out" Minho said and gave Eunji to Taemin. 
The boy nodded "I'll make her a bath" he said like dividing the tasks between them was a natural thing.
Minho got out with the dog and Taemin carried Eunji to the bathroom, he filled it with warm water and soap while he undressed her from her dirty clothes. 
"He can be nice, right?" he asked her not expecting any answer "I truly thought he's an but he can be ok, I guess, though he forgot you at the daycare and smoothly passed it away. Bastard" 
Eunji smiled like he was telling her a story while he placed her into the water. 
"I mean, at the lawyer's office he freaked, I truly thought he won't show up and I'll have to take care of you by myself, it's pretty scared me…it's always better to have someone by your side even if he's not helping but the thought that you're not alone make it easy to deal with things"
Washing her hair and scrubbing her skin he kept talking "I wonder how your Umma managed to do it all by herself, she was probably scared, if I would have known she wouldn’t have to do it alone, I would have help her with everything she needs but she shove me away"
"Ma…?" Eunji called and her face changed when she heard the word 'Umma', Taemin her face gently and gave her a sad look. 
"I miss her too"
"MA!" 
Tears sprang in his eyes and he leaned to kiss Eunji's forehead "are you mine? Or his? Probably his, right? You look comfortable with him, I guess he could be a good Appa"
The baby lost her patient and tried to stand, he washed her body from the soap and pulled her out of the water, wrapping a towel around her he hugged her and carried her to her room. 
Taemin pulled clean clothes and a diaper from the closet, he dressed her and combed her hair to a little crooked ponytail, it maybe looked funny but he liked it, it was mischievous. 
Pulling her onto his arms he carried her to the living room, she yawned when he placed her on the couch in front of the TV and hugged one of the pillows, her eyes lidded but she tried to focus on 'Pororo' that bounced on the screen. 
Taemin glanced at the clock, it's been almost 30 minutes since Minho went out with Shampoo and haven't came back yet, how long does it takes to walk with a dog?  Shaking his head from thoughts about him he sat to the kitchen island where he left his laptop before he had to run and pick up Eunji from the daycare, he still had work to do.
But he couldn’t focus on work because he kept thinking about Minho and after another 20 minutes he finally walked into the apartment. 
Releasing Shampoo's leash the dog barked in announcement 'I'm here' before he went to sniff Eunji that was already sleeping on the couch, Minho was holding few groceries bags in his hands and Taemin got up from the stool he was sitting on to help him, so that what took him so long. 
"I bought few things, there is nothing to eat in this apartment" he said with a soft chuckle. 
"Thank you" Taemin mumbled quietly as he let out the groceries from the bag. 
"I had no idea what you like to eat and I found out I don’t have your number so I couldn’t call you, I hope you'll like…these" 
Sheepish smile crossed the boy's lips as he mumbled "I'm fine with everything"  
Minho smiled and helped him to place the groceries in the cabins and the fridge "the Ajumma at the market said it's good for babies" he said as he pulled out of the bags a some kind of porridge, biscuits and fruity mash "I hope Eunji would like it"
Taemin nodded.
"Where is she?" Minho asked suddenly noticing she wasn’t around.       
"On the couch watching TV, but I think she fell asleep" 
Glancing at the TV and then at the couch Minho smiled "she was probably tired, it’s not easy at the daycare, you do a lot of tiring things like playing and painting…and then we took her to eat an ice cream! No wonder she fell asleep, I'm pretty tired too…and I just went to work"
Taemin tried to hold his laughter by biting his lip, he looked so y that way and it made Minho's stomach turn upside down.  
Shampoo, who napped on the floor by the couch like a bodyguard, raised his head to see what were all the giggles and laughs he heard, however it wasn’t interesting enough. 
"Are you hungry?" Minho asked to distract his mind of Taemin's puffy lips, Taemin's y innocent eyes, Taemin's iness, Taemin's…
"Just a little" the boy admitted.    
"I bought meat, I can grill it if you'll like…" 
 "Sounds good" 
They both nodded and looked at each other for a long moment before Taemin excused himself and went to take a shower, Minho watched him as he took clean clothes from his unpacked bag and disappeared in the bathroom. God, he'll probably lose his mind if he won't get into the boy's pants anytime soon.     
Taking a pan out of the cabin he poured few drops of oil in it and started to grill the meat with spices, while it cooked he went to the living room and raised Eunji in his arms, he carried her to her room and placed her in her bed, after he covered her with the blanket he made the room darker so she could sleep well. 
Back at the kitchen he started to cook some side dishes of sticky rice and steamed vegetables, he placed the plates on the tables along with the chopsticks and glasses, a bottle of juice as well and waited for the boy to come out. 
The soft smell of body wash followed Taemin all the way to the kitchen and filled his nostrils, he turned to the boy and asked him to sit while he served the food, Taemin his lips with hunger as he waited patiently, he had no idea how much it affected him.       
They ate quietly, Taemin was too busy chewing than talking and Minho was too busy watching him. 
When they finished the boy offered to do the dishes so Minho could take a shower, he agreed and left him to clean after them, he did a quick cold shower that calmed the boiling blood in his veins from thoughts about Taemin and came out with the towel hang low on his waist, he hated to get dressed at the bathroom. 
"I'm making myself some tea-" Taemin's words trailed off when he saw Minho getting into the kitchen with a towel only, he passed by him into the laundry room and after throwing his dirty clothes to the washing machine he came back with a cocky smile on his face. 
"Coffee would be great" he said and saw the way Taemin eyed him, yeah, the boy was into men, for sure. 
Gulping Taemin nodded and turned from him so he could make the drinks, Minho hadn't moved and it made him uncomfortable, his hand shook a little when he tried to lift the kettle. 
Reaching his hand by Taemin's side he helped him to hold the kettle still, the boy glanced at him over his shoulder and let go of the kettle, trying to take a step away from him, he couldn’t, he was stuck between the sink and Minho. 
Minho filled the kettle with water and placed it back in it place as he pushed it button, the boy turned and tried to move away but he hadn’t let him, he placed his hands on the counter and leaned toward him. 
Taemin panted, his eyes roamed over his face and he his puffy lips nervously, his heart pounded wildly in his ears deafening him, he thought that his heart would burst out of his chest when Minho leaned even closer and pressed their lips together. 
Was it his crave for a touch or maybe because Minho set fire in his body since the first day he saw him at the lawyer's office , either way Taemin liked the way his lips felt against his.
Minho Taemin's upper lip and slowly invaded his mouth while pressing his body to the counter, locking him against him, he reached one of his hands to cup his cheek and deepen the kiss, small whimpers echoed through the boy's throat, aroused him, he felt his blood rushing down to his crotch making him hard, the feeling of his small body underneath him made him want more than just a kiss. However the boy ripped his lips from him and gave him a worried look, a muffled cry sounded from Eunji's room and he pushed him away from him to go and see why she was crying. 
Cursing underneath his breath Minho watched him disappearing at the corridor, in his towel a tent started to grow and he knew it won't get to a relief anytime soon. 
He went to the bedroom to get dressed but stopped in front of Eunji's room, Taemin was standing with his back to the door, he haven't noticed him watching the way he held Eunji in his arms while she was crying hysterically, his puffy lips that tasted so good moments ago kissed her forehead now while he mumbled calmly "don’t cry…" 
Eunji screamed, snuggled into his chest, her small hands held his shirt tightly like she was afraid of letting go "Ma…Ma…" 
Even Shampoo got closer to see why the baby was crying, he gave Minho a sad look and howled, getting on two he waved his front legs for attention, Minho his head and went to Irene's bedroom to get dressed before he came back to Eunji's room for Taemin's help. 
The boy jumped when two strong hands held his shoulders, he turned to look at Minho while bouncing Eunji in his arms, his face showed how helpless he was. 
Taking her out of his arms Minho wrapped himself around the baby, his eyes linked with Taemin's, the boy bitten his lip and flushed a little to the thought about their kiss- it's made him look even more desirable in his eyes. 
"Maybe she's thirsty?" Minho asked to distract his mind from the kiss and focus on Eunji. 
Taemin nodded, he had no idea what to do anyway, he went out of the room leaving Minho by himself as he went to make a bottle of warm tea. When he came back he got closer to them and placed the bottle in Eunji's mouth, his hand leaned against Minho's firm chest unconsciously, his face were close to him, the baby kept him busy so he haven’t noticed he was watching him.  
Eunji calmed, small hiccups escaped while she the tea from her bottle hungrily, her eyes lidded and she shared her tired gaze between the two men, Taemin smiled at her while Minho patted her back gently.
It became quieter, Minho eyed the boy, he could feel his warmth, smell his silky hair, his long lashes created soft shadows on his pale cheeks, his puffy lips were inviting a little glossy and red from their kiss "Taemin…" he mumbled softly making the boy raise his head and look at him as he lowered his mouth to kiss him once again. 
It was soft kiss, his tongue parted the boy's lips as he him into his own mouth, tasted him and played with him gently. 
Lips separated Taemin gave him a sheepish look before he looked down at Eunji who fell back asleep, he his lips like keeping Minho's taste to himself as he pulled the bottle from carefully, Minho stared at him for a long moment before he went to place the baby in her bed, they went out of the room quietly as possible and turned the lights off. 
Standing at the hall they both looked awkward, while Minho thought about carrying the boy to the bedroom and him till his brain would pop, Taemin thought about an easy way to avoid him.
Eventually, Taemin was the braver one, he mumbled 'good night' and turned to walk to the living room, however Minho stopped him by grabbing his wrist "the offer is still on" 
The boy frowned "what offer?" 
"To join me at the bedroom, the bed is comfier than the couch" Minho said with a little smile, he was too obvious with his thoughts. 
"No thanks" Taemin said and pulled his hand from him, he wasn’t going to fall for that.