Mark was extremely exhausted from his endless workload at the university, plonking down on his bed right after he reached the comfort of his apartment. Too bad though, his placid state was short-lived.  His phone rang incessantly, he ignored it the first few times, but it seemed like the caller had no intentions of giving up.

“Hello,” Mark groggily said into the phone, not even bothering about the state of his voice.

“Oh, Mark! Finally, you picked up! Something came up at the hospital, could you please, please, please take Chris and Chloe to their swimming class?” Mark’s older sister, Grace, pleaded him in a rushed tone.

“Yeah, um, I’m kind of sle--,”

“Thank you, Mark! I’ll make it up to you! We’ll be there in 10!”

And so began his dreaded babysitting task. (Little did he know, he’ll learn how to be grateful)

The swimming school wasn’t so far away, just a 15-minute drive from Mark’s apartment. The twins were sitting at the backseat with the safety belts and all, chattering non-stop about their excitement to meet their instructor.

“So kids, you like your instructor very much, huh?” Mark asked in an attempt to converse with the twins.

“Yes, Mark oppa! He’s Jinyoung oppa, and he’s very good at swimming!” Chloe exclaimed with unwavering enthusiasm.

“Ah, if only you guys admired me like that, too,”

“But hyung, you can’t even swim!”

Chris’s retort made everyone burst in laughter. But, Mark thought, sadly, it’s true though.

They finally arrived at the swimming school, Mark held both of them in each hand. Chloe and Chris were two adorable children, but honestly, they get too hyper at times. He had trouble catching up with them, since they were bouncing around chanting “Jinyoung oppa!” and “Jinyoung hyung!” Mark helped both of them change, then asked the assistant where the twins’ instructor was. The pool assistant lead him to the other side of the room, where other kids were also swimming around.

“Jinyoung oppa!” Chloe shrieked, just when a dark-haired man approached them.

“Aigoo, Chloe, how are you doing?” The swimming instructor, Jinyoung, Mark had concluded, cooed while pinching his niece’s cheek.

“Jinyoung hyung, Jinyoung hyung! This is Mark hyung! He’s with us today, because he can’t swim too,” Chris teasingly said.

“Hey, hey, I’m here to babysit you guys, okay? Not to learn how to swim,” Mark said defensively.

“Well, hello Mark! I’m Park Jinyoung, and I teach these kids how to swim,” Jinyoung said with a smile, his eye crinkles defining around his eyes, and offered his hand for a handshake.

“Oh, I’m Mark Tuan, I babysit them, as you can see.” Mark said as he took Jinyoung’s hand. It was wet from the water, but he didn’t mind, it was warm anyway.

“Come on, guys! Let’s get started!” Jinyoung clapped while gathering all the kids around. Mark waited and observed from the sidelines. Jinyoung started off the practice with some stretches and exercises, and Mark just noticed how defined Jinyoung’s muscles were – probably from swimming. Anyway, Mark wondered, doesn’t he look too  young to be a swimming coach? Although he silently prayed that yeah, they should be around the same age, because he was definitely Mark’s type. He spaced out for a while, mentally reprimanding himself for thinking about cute boys instead of observing his nephew and niece. He was snapped out of his reverie when he noticed a gaze directed towards him, maybe babysitting wasn’t so bad after all.

An hour had passed, and honestly, Mark was astonished by how Jinyoung works around with children. While they are undeniably little balls of energy, Jinyoung taught them and they actually behave and listen. Maybe it’s because of Jinyoung’s extreme facial expressions and hand gestures, somewhat like storytelling. The practice had ended in a short while, and parents started to help their children to shower and dress. Mark, however, may have struggled because of two overly active children. Just as he was about to enter the shower rooms and probably end up a mess after getting wet, he felt a slight tap on his shoulder.

“You look like you need some extra help,” Jinyoung softly said.

“No worries! Everything’s peachy,” Mark tried to reject Jinyoung’s help out of courtesy, as the bags fell to the floor.

“Mark hyung! So clumsy,” Chris snickered.

“Hey—“

“Yeah, really, let me help you with that.”

What was Mark thinking, going to a place so full of water, and not even bringing a pair of spare socks. He was doomed to get wet when he assisted the twins in the shower. At least Jinyoung was wearing swimming trunks, he can’t feel Mark’s anguish.

When they stepped out of the shower and the twins were done changing, they laughed at Mark’s horrible, drenched state.

“Mark oppa, you look like a wet puppy!” Chloe giggled. Mark heard a snicker from behind, and saw Jinyoung dropping his gaze to the floor, then coughed to his hand.

“If you want, I have spare clothes, so, um, you can borrow, I guess?” Jinyoung offered, smiling sheepishly.

“Are you sure? I will be forever grateful.”

Jinyoung pretends he didn’t think about how he liked the sound of ‘forever’ rolling off Mark’s tongue.

“So,” Mark started as he received the clothes from Jinyoung, “You look too young to be a swimming coach.”

“Ah, I just volunteer here when I have the time, I’m actually a swimmer at uni,” Jinyoung explained.

“Ah, I see. Um, can you watch over Chris and Chloe for a while I get changed?”

“Sure thing.”

It was time to leave, and upon reaching the exit, Chloe shouted “Thank you Jinyoung oppa! You looked handsome today!”

Jinyoung laughed, covering his mouth, “I’ll see you next time, too!” He glanced over at Mark’s direction.

“I’ll see you soon too, Jinyoung. Thank you for the help.”

Next time? He’ll be here next time? Jinyoung thought to himself. Or maybe out loud.

“Of course I’ll be here next time, how else will I be able to return your clothes?” Mark laughed.

Mark decides, if babysitting was like this every time, he wouldn’t mind doing it again and again.

aksnaksnd omg okay

so technically this is just a background-ish of how they met? yeah

imsorry;

anyways, please leave your comments/suggestions/criticisms below! i'd appreciate them very much :)

till next time

-Y