(Later on in the day)

—Onew’s POV—

Tae is sleeping rather peacefully, and he’s been sleeping for almost twelve hours already! It’s about 5pm right now, and I just returned from home with some of Taeminnie’s clothes. I had no idea what he’d like to wear now but I figured that he wants his old clothes back instead of all the maternity clothes.

JongKey were still in the hospital, as well as my parents and Tae’s family. I swear, all of our parents are overreacting about everything. It isn’t as if they haven’t seen babies before, even if the triplets are their first grandchildren. I mean their reactions when they first saw the triplets were… hazardous, truth to be told.

Who else is still around…? Oh yeah, Infinite already managed to get here, like all of them. Kevin and Kiseop had to leave since they have a Music Bank performance later on. Heechul hyung had to go for his civil service and JunSeung had some schedule.

I have no idea where all of them are, but those weirdoes have to be scaring all the babies with them pressing their faces against the glass and whatnot. Taesun may not be the eldest, but he has the most sense left.

I swear the entire delivery drained both Taeminnie and me. It probably drained him more, but I was just dead beat since we had been kidnapped a day ago. Which reminds me, Minho and Minsuk are in this hospital, but they were far away from us. Why?

They were in a detention ward. The police had brought them in about an hour after Tae and I arrived. Apparently they were knocked out due to loss of blood and had to undergo blood transfusion and be stitched up. Up till now, they’re unconscious so the police can’t take any statements. They’d already taken mine though.

[Flashback]

I was about to leave the hospital to get Taeminnie some clothes to change into afterwards when the police stopped me, saying that they had to take my statement. So, I just followed them to some private room where they began interrogating me.

“Explain the entire process of your kidnap, Jinki-sshi,” the policeman asked.

“Ne. I was with my fiancé, Taemin, in my neighbourhood,” I didn’t miss the look of disgust that flickered across his face when I said ‘fiancé’, but I ignored it. “Don’t judge me. Anyway, like I was saying, we were in the neighbourhood to surprise one of our friends for his birthday party. We had been approaching him when I was suddenly hit by a wooden stick and got knocked out. According to Taemin, he’d inhaled chloroform and was knocked out as well.

“Minho injected some kind of sensor into the back of my neck, something that causes me to be electrocuted when he presses a button on his remote. I had escaped by cutting through the ropes with my pocket knife. However, Minho caught me and he assaulted me by kicking me. After that, I was knocked out again by the chloroform. I was woken up again at 5pm by Minho’s brother, Minsuk. Minsuk left us alone and I used my pocket knife to escape again, and I cut through the ropes that were tying Taemin to the chair.

“Minho came back and used his stupid remote, but I overcame the pain and crushed the pathetic thing so that he no longer had leverage over me. I stabbed him in the stomach and was going to escape with Taemin, but Minsuk came back in so I stabbed him in the stomach as well. Taemin called the ambulance because he was in labour while I got us away from the old warehouse that we were in. Then we were brought here and that’s about it,” I explained. Another policeman recorded everything down and the first policeman looked at me.

“Alright. So when did Minho start harassing you?”

“About January last year. He claims to like Taemin too and tried to steal him away. He’s one of the reasons that I was in a coma for a year and a half,” I told him.

“Did you ever retaliate?”

“We told him to back off, but he just doesn’t give up. Once, he purposely hit Jonghyun’s – my friend – car, causing Taemin to almost miscarry.”

“Ah, arasso. Is there anything else?”

I thought about this for a short moment and shook my head. The policeman thanked me and led me out. Obviously, I headed home immediately and got back as soon as possible.

[End of flashback]

I looked at Tae’s sleeping face, smiling to myself unknowingly. I brushed his bangs aside and kissed his forehead, shocked when he suddenly started to stir awake. He blinked multiple times and looked at me before smiling lightly.

“Hi hyung. How long was I asleep?” he asked me. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, already prepared for his reaction.

“Twelve hours.”

One second. Two.

“WHY’D YOU LET ME SLEEP SO LONG?!” he shrieked and tried to get up, but his body was still weak so he almost fell if I hadn’t caught him in time. I helped him back onto the bed and shook my head at him, signalling that he wasn’t allowed to get up just yet.

“But hyung…” Taeminnie whined. “I want to see the triplets.”

Sighing, I nodded.

“I can go get them now, but you have to let the police take your statement first,” I told him. Tae groaned, obviously not wanting to deal with the police and be reminded of the kidnap. “If you don’t, I won’t bring the triplets here. You guys will be transferred over to our usual hospital where Dr. Kim is,” I informed him.

Taeminnie rolled his eyes and gave in. “Fine, bring the damn police in. I want to get this over with.”

I smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, walking out of the room to get the police.

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“Onew hyung!”

I whipped my head around in time to see Sungjong jump on me, knocking me onto the ground. Ouch, that hurt you stupid maknae-diva.

“What? And can you get off me, Jongie?” I requested. Sungjong blushed and nodded, climbing off me almost immediately.

“How’s Taemin hyung?”

“He’s awake and the police are taking his statement. I’m getting the triplets. Are you guys coming along?” I asked. The Infinite members nodded excitedly, all hyped up at the prospect of meeting the triplets properly. I chuckled and shook my head, walking off with them following behind me.

When we arrived at where the triplets were, I saw Jaewon crying, and before long, his eldest sister joined him. The nurse who was in-charge was having a mental breakdown due to the incessant crying of the two.

I sighed and chuckled, knocking on the door. The woman looked like she had lots of experience, but she was having a really tough time with the two babies. It took a few seconds for the nurse to open the door, but she eventually did and she was on the verge of tears.

“Y-yes?” she stuttered. Wow, she must really feel like crying, judging by how she looks and speaks.

“I can help you take care of Jaewon and Eunmi. I’d like to bring them and Eunkyung to their mother,” I told her. She nodded immediately and almost ran in to get the three of them. As expected, Eunmi and Jaewon were still crying, but Eunkyung was surprisingly calm next to her siblings.

I picked Eunmi up and shushed her, rocking her back and forth. Eunmi’s wails softened, and stopped. Next, I carried Jaewon and made funny faces at him. Soon enough, he stopped crying and even began to giggle and blabber in baby language, reaching out for my face. I laughed and thanked the nurse, putting Jaewon back into his cot and pushing the triplets to Tae’s room with the help of the Infinite members.

“They still have their umbilical cords?” Sunggyu asked. I nodded, as if it were common knowledge.

“It just drops off on its own in about two weeks.”

The Infinite members shuddered and nodded, continuing the head to the room.

As we were approaching the room, I saw the police leaving. They were chatting to each other and I could pick up bits and pieces of their conversation.

“Isn’t this weird? I mean two GUYS are fighting over him. Sure, he has a pretty face, but how does he manage to turn two guys gay?”

“I know right? I guess some people just have weird taste.”

After I heard that sentence, I balled my hands into fists and grit my teeth. I felt someone patting me on the back and turned to see that it was Hoya.

“Don’t do it, hyung. It isn’t worth it.”

I smiled lightly at him and nodded, heading into Taeminnie’s room.

“TAEMIN HYUNG!”

In the blink of an eye, Sungjong was on Tae and crushing him.

“… Good to see you too, Jongie. Now can you get off me?” Taeminnie choked out. Sungjong laughed sheepishly and backed off. When his line of sight was no longer blocked, I saw Tae’s eyes light up and he immediately reached his arms out towards the cots.

“Hyung. Pass Eunkyung to me,” Taeminnie ordered. I carried Eunkyung to Tae and he hugged her to him tightly. He must have really been scared when she almost died.

“Aww~,” Woohyun cooed. Taeminnie shot him a look that said ‘shut up’, and Woohyun just laughed.

“That’s the Taemin that we want to see!” Dongwoo exclaimed and grinned.

I made my way over to the bed and sat down beside Tae, settling Eunmi and Jaewon in my lap. Taeminnie and I were immediately surrounded by the Infinite members, and they were all squealing at the triplets’ cuteness.

“Do you guys like, want to carry them?” I asked, raising a questioning brow.

“NE!”

I got the Infinite members to sit on the floor, getting down as well. I then helped Tae to sit with us, and we let the Infinite members carry the triplets, starting with Eunmi. Sunggyu almost dropped her, giving both Taeminnie and me a heart attack.

While the seven of them were busy arguing about whose turn it was to carry Eunmi, I leaned over to Tae and whispered in his ear, “Taeminnie, I know that Eunkyung scared the out of you when she was born, but don’t be so biased arasso? Eunmi and Jaewon will get jealous.”

Tae sighed and nodded, passing Eunkyung to me and beginning to play with Jaewon. Suddenly, I heard crying and it wasn’t coming from Eunkyung or Jaewon. My eyes darted towards Eunmi and saw that she was having a crying fit in Myungsoo’s arms. The poor kid looked frightened and Taeminnie immediately took Eunmi from his arms, passing Jaewon to me.

“Shh, Eunmi. Umma’s here, arasso? Stop crying,” Tae said to her, kissing her on the forehead. Eunmi suddenly laughed and reached out to Taeminnie, slapping his face. Tae pouted, but I know that he was enjoying his time with his daughter.

“Taemin, Eunmi hates me. Everyone carried her and nothing happened, but once she was in my arms, she began crying. What’d I do?” Myungsoo asked sadly.

“Nah, she’s just jealous cause you have such pretty boyfriends,” Taeminnie joked. As if agreeing with her mother, Eunmi giggled and we all melted at the sight.

Eunkyung and Jaewon began to reach out towards Tae, nearly falling off of my lap in the process. I had a mini heart attack but I managed to catch them before they did. I let Sungyeol and Sungjong carry them and damn, were they scared. I have no idea why they had no issue with carrying Eunmi but they’re so afraid of Eunkyung and Jaewon.

For some reason, whenever Myungsoo was carrying the triplets, they would cry. Babies must have a thing against him. By the time he’d carried all three of them, he was utterly depressed.

“Taemin, I swear your kids hate me,” Myungsoo whined.

“Well Sungyeol hyung and Jongie love you. Get over it; it’s normal for them to prefer their umma and appa, right?” Taeminnie winked at me. I grinned and nodded. However, deep inside, I felt somewhat hurt by his words.

“Aigo, stop slapping me, Jaewon-ah,” Sungjong told him. Jaewon giggled and continued slapping Sungjong, and it was all I could do to hold in my laughter.

“He’s slapping your fats off, Jongie-yah,” Hoya said. Sungjong just stuck his tongue out at the elder and kept playing with Jaewon.

After some time, the triplets were tired and fell asleep, so I put them back into their cots.

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At night, Tae and the triplets were transferred to Seoul General Hospital, where we usually go. The Infinite members had gone home hours ago since it was late and they had something on tomorrow. Jonghyun and Key had gone home with both Taeminnie’s and my family. It was just Tae and I left in the hospital, along with the triplets.

Visiting hours may have been over, but I managed to stay behind since I was pretty much family to Taeminnie now. The triplets were also with us in the ward, and Mrs. Kim was teaching us how to feed them properly.

“You see, they’d try to drink from Taemin sometimes, but he can’t produce milk so that won’t work. You have to use formula unless you know someone who’s willing to provide milk to the triplets. Watch carefully and see how I feed them,” Mrs. Kim instructed. Tae and I nodded, watching her intently.

She tilted the milk slightly upwards, and Eunmi just did the rest of the work by on the milk. I was kind of amazed but I didn’t show it cause I felt that it’d make me look stupid.

Next, she showed us how to change diapers since Jaewon conveniently pooped. Again, I never really knew that the sides of diapers had adhesives to tape the diaper on! I could see from the corner of my eye that Taeminnie was gaping as well.

Once she was done, she left us to do something else.

“Tae, you do know that we’ll be doing that when we get home, right?” I asked. Taeminnie sighed and nodded. I completely understand how he feels. I don’t even want to think about waking up a few times every night.

“You know, since Minho’s being detained and stuff, let’s move back to the dorm,” I said. “We’ll buy our own apartment as soon as possible.”

Tae raised a brow and shrugged.

“Why not?”

I yawned and looked at the time. “Yeah, we’ll settle that once you’re discharged. I want to sleep,” I told him, climbing into bed next to him. Taeminnie scooted over to the other side and made space for me, instinctively hugging me as a bolster.

“Goodnight, Tae,” I said and pecked him on the forehead. I can feel Taeminnie smiling and to be honest, it was heart-warming. He replied with a sleepy ‘Night hyung’ and within seconds, I heard his steady breathing that meant he was asleep.

I kissed him again, this time on the lips, and snuggled closer to him.

“Love you.”

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I groaned and opened my eyes at the sound of crying.

“Hyung, help me to check what’s wrong.”

I turned looked towards where Tae was supposed to be and as expected, he was already trying to get out of bed, but he was still not strong enough to do so.

“Arasso,” I pushed him back down and got off the bed, turning the room lights on.

As expected, all three of the triplets were crying, rather loudly, too. I went to check each of them to see if they’d made a mess or were hungry.

“Eunkyung pooped!”

Taeminnie laughed loudly while I sulked, not wanting to change her diapers. If only Tae was strong enough to do this now. Reluctantly, I changed Eunkyung’s diapers – which really stank, period – and let Taeminnie feed Jaewon. I then fed Eunmi and Eunkyung before putting each of them back in their cots once they were asleep.

“God, hyung. How do we survive in the future?” Tae asked me groggily.

“I don’t know, but we’ll handle it. Let’s just hope that they become quieter at home,” I said sincerely. I really don’t need to be woken up at 2am daily.

“Hyung, do you… did you feel bad when I said that it’s normal for the triplets to prefer their appa and umma? I know that you aren’t their biological father, much as I hate to admit it, but you were the one who kept me going while I was pregnant, regardless of whether or not you were conscious. You also accompanied me when I gave birth to them,” Taeminnie told me. I smiled slightly and shook my head.

“I know you meant to refer to me as their real appa, but you can’t change the fact that Minho fathered them. I did feel a little bit sad at what you said, but it’s alright. We’ll watch them grow up and they’ll learn to understand that I’m more worthy to be their appa than Minho will ever be,” I answered, determination evident in my voice.

“I know you won’t mind. It doesn’t prevent me from feeling bad though,” Tae pouted. I drew him into a hug, patting his back in comfort.

“I don’t blame you for anything. Besides, you can have kids with me in the future and give the triplets siblings,” I told him, breaking the hug and grinning brightly at him.

“When we reach that stage, you’d better not be biased,” Taeminnie warned. I held my hands up in surrender and nodded. “Good!”

“Omo, hyung! I forgot to wish Chunji happy birthday and apologise for not being able to make it yesterday! Or rather, two days ago!” Tae exclaimed in horror, reaching out towards his jacket where his phone was. I took it for him and passed it to him. Immediately, he dialled Chunji’s number.

It took a few calls before Chunji finally picked up, and I could tell that Taeminnie was already a little annoyed by how long it took the younger male to pick up the call.

“Yah, Lee Chanhee, happy belated birthday! Let me put you on speaker,” Tae said, putting the call on loudspeaker and placing his phone on the bedside table. Before long, I heard Chunji’s voice from the other end of the call. He sounds real sleepy.

“Mwoh? Taemin, is that you? Why the hell are you calling to wish me happy birthday two hours after my birthday’s over? And besides, I don’t need it,” Chunji added, obviously wanting to get back to sleep.

“WHY NOT?! I missed your birthday celebrations, both of them! I don’t care; let me make it up to you somehow,” Taeminnie insisted angrily.

“Chunji-yah, just listen to Tae. Request something simple, ne?” I advised. Taeminnie shot me a death glare and I shrunk back slightly. An angry Taemin is a scary Taemin. I’ve always lived by that code.

“Shut up, hyung. Chanhee, just request anything you want. I promise I’ll get it done. Your present’s still with me, too,” Tae told the latter, completely blowing me off. Chunji just laughed at our mini quarrel and I narrowed my eyes although I knew that he can’t see me.

“How about letting the Teen Top members visit you and the triplets later on today? We’re free of schedule and we really want to meet your kids. Changjo is especially excited,” Chunji suggested. I smiled victoriously at Taeminnie, knowing that Chunji feels really bad about Tae and me getting kidnapped cause we were going to surprise him.

“…Fine, you win. Come over in the afternoon. Hyung and I really need to get back to sleep,” Taeminnie told Chunji.

“Arasso. I need sleep too. Goodnight hyungs,” Chunji said to us.

“Goodnight Chunji. Sorry for waking you up at this time of night,” I replied.

“It’s alright. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Ne.”

Before we hung up, we heard L.Joe’s voice, probably asking Chunji why he was up. Tae decided to give the couple some space and hung up before we eavesdropped too much.

“Hyung, let’s get back to sleep,” Taeminnie told me. I nodded, yawning. I suddenly realised how worn out I was, even though we both slept for about four hours before being woken up. I crawled back into bed beside Tae and gave him a goodnight kiss.

“Sweet dreams.”

“Love you, hyung.”

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An hour or two later, I woke up to the sound of crying yet again.

Yup, this is the life of being a father.

Isn’t it wonderful?

Here I am with another update~! :D

I hope you guys liked this and imma end it off soon!

I don't have much to sa today but just leave your comments! :)

Annyeong! See you guys next wk!