A/n: hey, guys! So I didn’t do a good job keeping up with the ages throughout this story, so if there are some discrepancies, sorry! Lol. But as a heads up, there’s going to be a time jump because I have a lot of ideas for teen Taemin and Jongin. 

“Good shot, Soojung! You go girl! Yeah!”

Kibum could only laugh to himself as he watched Minho in the front yard teaching their little five year old how to play soccer. She could barely kick the ball with her short little legs, but that didn’t stop Minho from shamelessly boosting her confidence. 

The fact that it’s been five years since they welcomed Soojung into the world still blows Kibum’s mind. Although the time flew by, it was some of the best years of his life. Watching Minho learn how to take care of a child from birth really amazed him and he wished he could relive every moment again. 

Flashback.

The wailing two-month-old baby made Minho want to cry right along with her. It’s only been an hour since Kibum left him alone with Soojung, and he already feels like he’s losing his mind. He couldn’t seem to figure out what’s making Soojung so upset. 

Is it because Kibum’s gone? No, because she’s been alone with Minho plenty of times. He’d even say he’s her favorite, but he won’t tell Kibum that. 

Is it because she’s hungry? No, because he’d just fed her before Kibum left.

Is it because she wants her pacifier? No, because she spits it back out every time Minho puts it in . 

“What’s wrong, Soo?” He bounced her up and down while patting her back, hoping it’d calm her down. It didn’t. 

This continued for about 15 more minutes before Kibum came home with his hands full of groceries. After setting the groceries down in the kitchen, he walked into the living room chuckling to himself at Minho’s defeated expression. 

“She won’t stop crying,” he whined. 

“Awww,” Kibum said as he plopped on the couch next to Minho. He held out his arms signaling that he wanted to hold her. “It’s ok, baby. What’s wrong?” He was only answered with more tears from the baby. 

“Do you think she’s teething,” Minho asked. 

“No, it’s a little too early for that.” Kibum paused as soon as he touched Soojung’s diaper. “Minho, did it ever occur to you that maybe her diaper needs to be changed?”

Minho facepalmed himself. “I’m an idiot. How did I not think of that?” 

Kibum gave a gentle smile to his husband. He knows how hard Minho is on himself every time something goes wrong with the baby. He’s still learning, so Kibum never tries to make him feel bad about it. “It’s ok. I didn’t really notice it either until now. Do you want to change her this time?”

Up until that point, Minho had only changed her diaper a total of two times. He was ashamed to admit it, but conveniently enough, Kibum had always been around whenever Soojung needed her diaper changed. The two times he did change her, Kibum was there to help. He knew there would come a time where Kibum wouldn’t be around, so he needed as much practice as he could get. 

He nodded his head and Kibum got up to get a diaper and some wipes. When he came back, Minho was wearing plastic gloves and clear goggles. “I’m ready,” he said with all seriousness laced in his voice.

Kibum burst out laughing. “What the hell, Minho?! You’re changing a diaper, not doing surgery.”

“I know, but the last time I changed her she pissed on me, and the first time I changed her, I got her poop on my hand. I’m not taking any chances this time.”

Kibum rolled his eyes before lying the baby down on her blanket to get changed. He guided Minho throughout the process, and he actually was doing a good job despite how ridiculous he looked. Immediately after Soojung was changed, she stopped crying and even smiled up at Minho. 

“See,” said Kibum, “She’s happy now, aren’t you,” he cooed at her. 

Kibum reassembled her clothes then gave her back to Minho, who graciously accepted her now that she wasn’t wailing in his ear. He kissed her lightly on her head before she started to drift off to sleep in his arms. Kibum watched in admiration. He knew that Minho would be a great father. He’s already proved it. 

End of flashback. 

Yeah. It was quite the learning experience, but Kibum and Minho’s love for each other only grew as they shared moments with the baby. Minho admired how much wisdom Key had with babies. Obviously he has more experience raising kids since he had two before Soojung, but being around Kibum was still very insightful. He learned more with him than he did with any parenting book. Kibum made adjusting to the baby seem not as hard as it could have been. 

The boys have also adjusted surprisingly well, or as Minho likes to call them, the teens. In the last five years, Taemin and Jongin have blossomed well into puberty. 

Let’s start with Taemin. He’s a 17-year-old junior now, and Kibum and Minho couldn’t be more proud of the fact that Taemin has become such an independent and responsible young adult. He’s kept up great grades, is the captain of his school’s dance team, and he’s even got a job at the local movie theater. He hates it, but his hard work has led to him purchasing his own car without the help of his parents. So what that it’s a used, beat-down, loud-engined vehicle? The day Taemin purchased it was one of the happiest moments in his life because he finally felt like an adult. 

Minho and Kibum didn’t fully understand why Taemin wanted to be so independent, especially because when they were his age, they were begging their parents for things like cars, but they appreciate and admire the fact that Taemin’s so driven. Of course they insisted on helping pay for the insurance, which Taemin surprisingly agreed to. 

Jongin on the other hand is a little more dependent on his parents, not that either of them mind. He’s been attached to Kibum at the hip ever since he was born, so he was used to it. He’s very honest with his parents on how he feels about things, and Taemin’s like a best friend to him so he usually tells him things he’s not comfortable telling their parents. 

Despite how attached he is, he’s been able to make some great accomplishments as a 16-year-old sophomore. Although his grades aren’t as stellar as Taemin’s, he’s doing a decent job in academics while also being a star athlete on the high school’s football team. Most would even say he’s popular, but being the humble guy that he is, Jongin doesn’t like hearing that. 

Because of his popularity and height, people often think that he’s older than Taemin, much to Taemin’s dismay. It’s kind of become a running joke in their friend group. Now that they’re both busy teens, they don’t seem to be home as often as Kibum or Minho would like them to be. 

“Minho,” Kibum said as he interrupted Soojung and Minho’s playtime. “You can’t force her into playing soccer with you.”

Minho kicked the ball to their daughter as he answered. “It’s not forcing her if she enjoys it. Look at that smile.” He crouched down to Soojung’s level as she ran back to him. “You like soccer, don’t you, Soo?”

Soojung giggled as she ran into her father’s arms. “Yes, daddy. I love soccer!”

“See!” Minho said pointing to his daughter as evidence. “Besides, Taemin and Jongin don’t look up to me anymore like they used to. Remember when they were huge fans of me before we started dating? Now, they act like their old man is not even worthy of their attention. But Soojungie will be my new fan, won’t you?” 

“Yes, daddy!” She nodded, not even sure what she was agreeing to. 

Kibum tolled his eyes. “So that’s what this is all about? Taemin and Jongin aren’t your ego anymore, so you use our poor little daughter to boost your confidence?”

Minho paused. “Well, when you put it that way-“

“You need help,” Kibum said as he walked back into the house, missing the pout Minho was sporting. 

—

It was the beginning of another school year, and both Taemin and Jongin were dreading it. Summer seemed to breeze by in a blink of an eye. Taemin spent most of his summer in Seoul with Jonghyun. He loved it because staying with Jonghyun meant freedom. His appa let him do basically anything he wanted as long as he wasn’t being reckless. There was no Jongin to annoy him, no school to stress him out, and no Soojung to babysit. No offense to his little sister, because he loved her to death, but sometimes she could be a handful. It was just peace and quiet since his appa worked a lot. 

He did feel a little bad for Jongin though because he had to keep Soojung for most of the summer, but he knew Jongin didn’t mind. He was better with kids, quite frankly because he was still a kid himself according to Taemin. It’s not like he was completely miserable anyway. Sehun and Kyungsoo spent a lot of time with Jongin over the summer, especially since they were still their neighbors. 

After finding a parking spot in the school’s parking lot, Taemin and Jongin walked into the school, heading to the one place all their friends would meet up in the morning before classes, which was the gymnasium. 

“Ugh, I hate being in this place,” Taemin said as he and Jongin walked into the gym and randomly sat somewhere in the bleachers. 

“Same,” Jongin groaned. “At least you already took chemistry. I heard the teacher this year . Like her tests are super hard.”

“You’re talking about Mrs. Kang?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“ for you. I had Mrs. Lee. She was pretty dope.”

“Gee, thanks for the words of encouragement,” Jongin said sarcastically. 

Taemin slapped his brother’s shoulder gleefully. “No problem bro! But honestly, I think you’ll be ok. I know a lot of people who passed her class. Don’t worry. I heard she gives some leeway for student athletes, so at least you have that to look forward to.”

Jongin shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I just don’t want this year to be like last year. I struggled so hard in my classes.”

“What do you mean? You did good. You only made two C’s. The rest were B’s. You should be proud of yourself.”

“I am. It just took a lot to make those grades. I couldn’t even enjoy myself most of the time.”

Taemin sighed. He felt like Jongin struggling last year was some of his own fault because he hadn’t helped him as much as he could’ve with his schoolwork. To be honest, he was proud of his little brother for studying hard and passing his classes while also focusing on sports. He saw how hard it was for him, and he thinks he should’ve done more to help. He’s the older brother after all, despite what the majority of the school thinks. 

“I’ll help you this year, Jongin. I promise,” He smiled as he held out his pinky. Doing a pinky promise in high school may be viewed as childish, but it was traditionally a way for Jongin and Taemin to know that the other was being serious. 

Jongin let out his pinky as well, locking it with Taemin’s. “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

Their little convo was interrupted with Sehun plopping down next to Taemin whole groaning. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Taemin directed his question to Kyungsoo who sat next to Jongin. 

Sehun answered instead. “I can’t believe we’re back in school. I mean we just had summer break. This place is so depressing.”

Taemin chuckled. “Yeah, the time flew by fast.”

“Who are you to talk? I feel like I only saw you once over the summer. How was living with your other dad?”

“Great as usual. I love being over there.”

Jongin scoffed. “You love being away from me, you mean?”

“No hard feelings right?”

Jongin chuckled. “Whatever you say. Just know you missed out on some fun times with the squad. And me and Soojung had a grand time without you. That’s why I’m her favorite brother.”

Taemin rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He clearly knew he was her favorite. He had to be. “Sehun,” he said changing he subject, “how was China?”

He shrugged. “Well, based on the fact that me and Kyungsoo go every year, it was pretty average. We just visited family for two weeks then came back here. Nothing major.”

Jongin piped in my asking Kyungsoo, “Did you enjoy it hyung?”

Kyungsoo’s cheeks blushed now that the attention was on him. “Yeah, it’s like what Sehun said. It was ok.”

“When are you going to take me to China with you,” he asked playfully. 

Kyungsoo gulped. “You mean alone?”

Jongin smiled in excitement. “Yeah! Just you and me. No one else. How does that sound?”

“It um...it sounds nice. We could go during the next school break, I guess if our parents allow it.”

Taemin didn’t miss how shy Kyungsoo became whenever Jongin gave him his full attention. It happened every time, especially when Jongin would unknowingly initiate a lot of skinship. He’s long suspected that Kyungsoo has something going on with Jongin, but he couldn’t be quite sure yet. 

Jongin burst out laughing. “I’m just joking, hyung. I don’t even have a passport.”

The light in Kyungsoo’s eyes quickly dwindled. “O-oh.”

Jongin playfully wrapped an arm around him. “That’s so sweet of you though, hyung.” 

Taemin rolled his eyes in disbelief because his brother’s an idiot. It’s been so obvious to him lately and even now that Kyungsoo is developing a crush on his little brother. He still didn’t understand what he saw in Jongin, but to each it’s own. Sadly, Jongin’s too dense to notice it. Taemin wondered if Kyungsoo would ever tell him about his crush on Jongin. It seems like he hadn’t even told Sehun, so maybe Kyungsoo was trying to keep it a secret. He was doing a terrible job at it in Taemin’s opinion. 

“When does dance practice start?” Taemin asked Sehun. 

Sehun groaned again in agony. “This weekend. You’d think they’d give us a break since school just started back, but I guess not.” Sehun was also on the school’s dance team, which Taemin was thankful for because it made practice less of a pain. 

“Oh, great,” Taemin answered sarcastically. “Kyungsoo, when does choir practice start for you?”

“Oh we don’t really start practicing until we have auditions. You guys should come whenever it is. The auditions are open.”

“I’d definitely come,” Jongin said smiling down at Kyungsoo. 

“I’d love for you to come. I mean any support would be great.”

“Wait, so you have to audition again even though you’re already in choir?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Something about seeing if we made progress in our singing abilities.”

At that, the rest of their friends joined them which consisted of Jimin, Baekhyun, and surprisingly Chanyeol. Despite what happened in the past with the whole bullying thing, Chanyeol and Jongin were on good terms now, mostly because they’re both on the football team and were forced to be near each other. 

Taemin, on the other hand, is on ok terms with Chanyeol. He doesn’t hate him, but he also doesn’t really like him. He still doesn’t see how Jongin could so easily forgive the dude and act like nothing happened. He punched him in the face for peep’s sake. In his mind, he had a reason to hold a grudge against him for the rest of his life. However, it was quite hard to do that since he’s close friends with Baekhyun who is dating Chanyeol. The fact that his friend, who’s such a sweetheart, ended up with Chanyeol behooves him. But he puts up with it because Chanyeol somehow weaseled his way into the friend group. He could be cordial. 

“Hey, guys,” Baekhyun said as he and Chanyeol sat a row in front of them while Jimin sat in the row behind them. 

Taemin said hey to everyone, purposely skipping over Chanyeol. Chanyeol decided to be nice. “Hey, Tae.”

“Why are you talking to me?” Taemin asked with no remorse. So he’d admit, he couldn’t be cordial.

Baekhyun gasped, “Taemin.” He was used to the two bickering, but he still didn’t like whenever Taemin purposely chose to be rude. 

“What,” he asked innocently. 

Baekhyun sighed. “Please don’t be rude.”

Taemin scoffed, “Rude like being punched in the face on the way home from school? Ring a bell, Channie?”

Chanyeol groaned and nearly whined. “You’re still upset about that? I’ve apologized for that multiple times. That was like six years ago!”

“Apologies can’t change what happened. Look, I only put up with you because of Baekhyun and my brother. If it weren’t for them, I could give two s about having you anywhere near me or my friends. Just because everyone here wants to act like nothing happened and like we’re all besties, I’m not going to put on a front. That’s just how I am. Now if you know what’s good for you, you’d shut the up and not talk to me.” At that, Taemin got up and stormed out of the gym. 

There was an awkward silence before Jimin whistled, “Nice going, Chanyeol. You ran my friend away.”

“But I didn’t say anything! He was the one being rude to me. Jongin, can you tell your brother I’m sorry again. I don’t even know what for this time. My presence? My stupid face? I don’t know.”

Jongin pat Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it. My brother’s a little more stubborn than me. You should really consider yourself lucky. You should see how he is at home when we argue.”

Sehun burst out laughing. “Yeah, it’s priceless! Taemin goes in on Jongin every time. It’s quite impressive.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t say every time. I have a few comebacks.”

“Yeah, but Taemin’s louder when arguing, so it makes it seem like he’s winning. Plus he’s your hyung, so he kind of wins automatically anyway.”

Jongin rolled his eyes and looked to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Chanyeol was comforting Baekhyun who looked a little upset. He could only imagine how stressful it had to be for him to have his best friend and boyfriend not get along. Jongin really felt for the guy. 

Baekhyun responded to Chanyeol’s concerns. “It’s ok. I’ll talk to Taemin during first period.”

“Please don’t,” Chanyeol urged. “I don’t want you in the middle of this.”

“But how can I not be? It’s such a weird place for me to be in.”

“I know.” Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun‘s hand. “I know it is, but it’s ok, babe. I have thick skin, and like Jongin said, Taemin’s stubborn so eventually he’ll come around, right?” He asked Jongin, not sounding sure of himself. 

Jongin shrugged. “I mean he should. Taemin’s actually a really nice person so if he sees that you’re trying to get along with him, eventually he’ll feel bad for constantly being a to you. That’s why I said don’t worry. I know my brother.”

Chanyeol nodded and the conversation got lighter after that. Chanyeol and Jongin talked mostly about football, Jimin and Sehun talked about dance, and Kyungsoo and Baekhyun talked about the choir. It was really interesting how their friend group was so vested in performing arts and sports. 

Pretty soon the bell rang and they headed their separate ways as they started the new school year. 

What up, fam! I know it’s been some months since I’ve updated. As I’ve stated before, I have a lot of ideas for this next half of the story. This chapter was more of a summary of how things have gone for the last five years and I wanted you guys to see how the boys and their friends interact as teens. 

Get ready to expect a lot of angst, love, tears, heartbreak, and many coming-of-age moments. Please let me know how you guys feel about the chapter!! And if there are any questions you have, comment them and I’ll try to answer them in the upcoming chapters.