Rethinking choices

Babysitting with the Stars

It was just another ordinary evening in the Nam-Kim household.

Woohyun was in the kitchen, cooking dinner, while Hyun Su was in the living room watching television.

The front door creaked open, and Hyun Su immediately jumped off the couch and ran to the door to greet Sunggyu who had just returned from work.

“Gyu appa!” Hyun Su practically leaped onto Sunggyu and attached himself onto his appa’s back.

“Ok, ok…” Sunggyu sighed, as he took his shoes off at the entrance way and tossed his bag and jacket to the ground. He paused to sniff the air and smelled a tasty fragrance. He grinned and pulled Hyun Su off his back. “Is Woohyun appa cooking?”

Hyun Su nodded with a smile, and followed Sunggyu who made a beeline for the kitchen.

“I’m home.” Sunggyu announced when he entered the kitchen.

“Oh hey...” Woohyun replied, not even bothering to turn around, and continued stirring something in a boiling pot over the stove. Sunggyu frowned, and glanced at Hyun Su.

“What’s wrong with gross ahjussi?” He asked the youngster in a hushed tone.

Hyun Su shrugged. “Don’t know.” Then he turned around to leave.

“Yah, where’re you going?” Sunggyu asked.

“My TV show’s on appa.” Hyun Su stated in a matter of fact tone, and returned to his spot in the living room to watch some romantic melodrama, that he probably shouldn’t have been watching in the first place.

Sunggyu sighed, and was about to follow, when two slightly muscular arms suddenly wrapped around his waist.

“W-Woohyun what’re you—?”

“I missed you hyung.” Woohyun whispered in his ear and hugged him tighter.

“…Then why did you ignore me before?” Sunggyu asked, quietly.

“Because…” Sunggyu could feel the younger man’s breath on the back of his neck. “We can’t be like this in front of Hyun Su…”

“But he’s just a kid.” Sunggyu replied. “It’s not like he’ll think anything of a hug—.”

“N-Not from that…” Woohyun murmured, as he pressed his lips to the side of Sunggyu’s neck.

“W-Wait…” Sunggyu blushed, and struggled to get out of Woohyun’s hold. “W-Woohyun,” He whispered hoarsely. “W-We can’t—.” He bit his lip, as he felt Woohyun’s hot tongue on his skin.

“H-Hyung…” Woohyun loosened his grip, just enough for Sunggyu to squirm away.

“W-What do you think you’re…?” Sunggyu paused, when he noticed the way Woohyun was biting his lip, and gazing straight into his eyes with a needy look. He kind of lost his self control, at that point and made a grab for Woohyun’s wrist, while his other hand cupped Woohyun’s cheek.

“S-Stop making that damn face…” Sunggyu whined, before pressing their lips together hungrily.

“I was waiting for this the whole day…” Woohyun breathed, as Sunggyu’s mouth traced the veins on his neck.

Suddenly Sunggyu pushed Woohyun away when he seemed to notice something.

“S-Smoking…”

Woohyun blushed, and looked down. “Hyung I’m not—.”

“No, I mean behind you!” Sunggyu pointed at the steaming pot on the stove.

“Oh right!” Woohyun gasped and rushed to the stove to lower the temperature. “I forgot about the food…” He sighed, and glanced sheepishly at Sunggyu.

“So what’re you making?” Sunggyu approached him, and peered over his shoulder.

“Just the usual—.” They were interrupted, by some loud laughing coming from the living room.

They immediately rushed into the living room to see Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Hoya planted on the sofa, while Dongwoo and Hyun Su sat on the floor. They were all laughing hilariously at whatever was happening on the TV.

“Yah!” Woohyun shouted. “When’d you guys get here? And how’d you even get inside?”

“Hyun Su let us in.” Hoya answered, calmly.

“Look Woohyun!” Dongwoo grinned and pointed at the television. “It’s you guys!”

“…What?” Sunggyu and Woohyun glanced at the TV only to see themselves on an episode of Babysitting with the Stars.

“W-What the heck is this?” Woohyun gasped. “Why are you guys—?”

“Aren’t you happy to see us?” Sungyeol paused. “Or are we…” He nudged Dongwoo playfully. “Interrupting you guys again?”

“N-No!” Woohyun stammered, as he and Sunggyu both blushed. “Hyun Su, you shouldn’t let strangers into the house!”

“But aren’t they gross ahjussi’s friends?” Hyun Su blinked.

“No they’re not!” Woohyun exclaimed. “They’re all just a bunch of weird—.”

“We brought you presents.” Hoya interrupted.

“Welcome my lovely friends~” Woohyun immediately put on an excited smile, and held his arms out in a grand gesture to receive his gifts.

Sunggyu could only roll his eyes. “Are you guys going to stay for dinner?”

“Of course!”

“You can’t. I only made enough food for three.” Woohyun said.

“That’s ok. There’s a take out place down the street.” Sungyeol told them. “Why don’t you just go there and pick us up some food Woohyun hyung?”

“What?” Woohyun folded his arms. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Just go.” Sungyeol sighed.

“No! I don’t want to!” Woohyun protested. “You go!”

“I don’t want to either!” Sungyeol retorted.

“But I don’t want to go by myself…” Woohyun pouted, then turned to Sunggyu and sent him the puppy dog eyes. “Hyung~ Come with me?”

“No, I’m tired…” Sunggyu rejected him without a second thought, and collapsed onto the couch like the lazy grandpa he was.

“Hyung…” Woohyun whined childishly and tugged on Sunggyu’s arm.

“Nam Woohyun, you better quit it before I—!”

“Here!” Sungyeol interrupted, not wanting a fight to erupt. “Just take this with you, Woohyun hyung.” He said and shoved Myungsoo towards the older man.

Woohyun glanced at Myungsoo for a moment, before shaking his head. “No! I don’t want this one!” Then he pointed to Sunggyu, who was already dozing off. “I want that one!”

“You’ll take this one, and you’ll like it!” Sungyeol ordered and pushed Myungsoo straight into Woohyun’s arms.

“Fine!” Woohyun huffed. “But don’t blame me, if he starts to like me more than he likes you!”

Sungyeol scoffed. “That’ll never happen!”

++

The minute Woohyun and Myungsoo left the apartment, Sungyeol and Dongwoo grabbed either of Sunggyu’s arms and started dragging him in the direction of the bedroom.

“Y-Yah!” Sunggyu panicked, as he struggled to get free. “What’re you guys doing?! Let me go!” Hoya and Hyun Su turned to see what the commotion was about, and saw the frightened hamster being dragged away into the darkness. “H-Hyun Su, Hoya help me!” He cried.

Hoya shrugged. “We would…”

“But my show’s on appa.” Hyun Su explained, as he was changing the channel.

“And I like this drama as well so…” Hoya added, as the two turned their attention back to the small screen, letting the other two pull Sunggyu into the bedroom.

“T-There’s no vacuums in here!” Sunggyu screeched as Dongwoo and Sungyeol placed him down on the bed in a sitting position.

“Calm down.” Dongwoo grinned. “We just want to have a conversation with you.”

“…C-Conversation?” Sunggyu glanced at them nervously. “I-Is that code for some kind of creepy ual harassment—?”

“No.” Sungyeol sighed. “We really just want to talk to you.”

“Oh…” Sunggyu calmed down. “About what?”

“It’s about Woohyun.” Dongwoo began.

“Ok, what about him?”

“Well, he’s our best friend,” Sungyeol explained. “And since you’ve been dating him for a few weeks now, we have to discuss a few things with you.”

“Uh…like what?”

“Like…” Suddenly Sungyeol grabbed Sunggyu by the shoulders and stared at him with wild eyes. “Get out of this while you still can!”

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“He’s crazy!” Sungyeol exclaimed, while Dongwoo nodded avidly behind him.

“Crazy…?”

“Yeah!” Dongwoo replied. “He even has a shrine dedicated to you in his closet!”

“A-A what?”

“And he gets really clingy!” Sungyeol added, while shaking Sunggyu’s shoulders rather violently. “He won’t let you have any breathing room! And he’s kind of a crybaby!”

“Also he gets really jealous!” Dongwoo pointed out.

“Like insanely jealous!” Sungyeol agreed. “We’re talking, ‘lock you in the basement for the rest of eternity so no one else can have you’ jealous!”

“Also, he’s a total flirt!”

“And he’s really greasy!”

“…I already know all that.” Sunggyu sighed, causing the other two to stare at him in shock. “Ok…well not all of it. I mean I didn’t know about the shrine…”

And? Are you sure you can live with those annoying things?” Sungyeol questioned, before removing his hands from Sunggyu’s shoulders.

Sunggyu rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t really call all those things annoying…”

“That’s how it always is…” Dongwoo nodded. “At first they think those things just make him cuter…”

“Yeah, but you won’t be saying that in a few months time.” Sungyeol folded his arms. “Trust me, we should know, after living with that guy for so many years…”

Sunggyu frowned. “I don’t understand what exactly it is that you guys want from me…”

“We just want to make sure you don’t hurt him.” Dongwoo admitted. “We don’t want you to break his heart.”

“But…it’s not like he hasn’t dated before.” Sunggyu said. “I mean I know he’s been with a lot of girls…”

“Yeah, but this is different.” Sungyeol sighed, before sitting down beside Sunggyu on the bed. “Look, to Woohyun, you’re not just some random girl to date for a few weeks and then say goodbye to.”

“Yeah.” Dongwoo sat on Sunggyu’s other side. “Before you even met him…you were already in his heart…he really loves you.”

Sunggyu blushed, and looked down. “I-I’m not going to hurt him…”

“You better not.” Sungyeol and Dongwoo had uncharacteristically dark expressions on their faces, and that made Sunggyu slightly nervous.

“I-I won’t.” Sunggyu muttered. “…Why would you even think I would?”

“Because…” Sungyeol eyed him skeptically. I just don’t think your feelings are the same…I mean its pretty obvious Woohyun hyung loves you more than you love him.”

“Yah, that’s not true.” Sunggyu stood up, feeling slightly offended. “I know you guys are his best friends, but you don’t know anything about me, so don’t assume you know my feelings.”

Sungyeol and Dongwoo paused, before exchanging a grin and a nod.

“Ok, you passed!” Sungyeol shot him a thumbs up, and Dongwoo grinned.

“Passed…?” Sunggyu blinked. “Passed what?”

“It was a test!” Dongwoo laughed. “To see if you really cared about Woohyun!”

“Congrats hyung!” Sungyeol patted Sunggyu over the shoulder. “You passed.”

“Uh...I don’t—.”

“We’re back!” They heard Woohyun call from the living room.

“Wow that was fast!” Sungyeol cheered and rushed out of the bedroom. Sunggyu was about to follow, when Dongwoo blocked the door way.

“What?” Sunggyu asked.

“You passed, but just…be careful ok? And make sure Woohyun doesn’t get hurt.” Dongwoo said in a surprisingly calm voice.

“I already told you. I’m not going to hurt—.”

“Not you hyung.” Dongwoo interrupted, and then looked down. “It’s just…I know how hard it is to…well to have to hide how you feel about someone…secret relationships and all that. I know it all too well. And it’s not easy. Woohyun-ah…he’s a very sensitive person. Even if he doesn’t show it, he thinks a lot about things, and gets really affected and I don’t want him to get hurt because of what other people say, and stuff like that…”

Sunggyu didn’t know what to say so he just nodded in response.

“Ok, as long as you understand.” Dongwoo smiled.

Sunggyu looked down, mulling it over. He realized he hadn’t really thought about things on such a level. The fact that he and Woohyun would never be able to date out in the open…they would never even get to hold hands. They could never get married. They could never have kids. And when people asked if they were dating or had someone special in their lives they would have to always lie. About everything…

Sunggyu gulped, as reality sunk heavily on his shoulders.

“What’re you guys doing over here?” Sunggyu looked up as Woohyun approached them with a suspicious stare.

“Nothing~” Dongwoo grinned and passed Woohyun by to rejoin the others in the living room.

“Hyung…” Woohyun put a hand on Sunggyu’s shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh…no, its nothing.” Sunggyu nodded, though his troubled expression said otherwise.

Woohyun frowned. “Did Dongwoo say something—?”

“No.” Sunggyu answered, curtly. “Its fine…lets go eat.”

++

That evening, after everyone had left and Hyun Su had been tucked in, Sunggyu lay in bed with a vacant expression and a heaviness in his heart. He kept thinking about what Dongwoo had said to him earlier.

Suddenly Woohyun came out of the bathroom and jumped on the bed beside Sunggyu. He lay on his side and stared at the older man, who seemed to not even notice his presence.

“Hyung…?”

“Huh?” Sunggyu snapped out of his daze and turned to Woohyun. “What…?”

“What’s wrong?” Woohyun sat up, his head still turned in Sunggyu’s direction.

Sunggyu sat up as well, and gazed down at his hands in his lap. “Nothing…”

“Liar.” Woohyun pouted. “Hyung, you’ve been acting strange since dinner…”

Sunggyu glanced at Woohyun before focusing his gaze in front of him. “It’s just…do you ever think about what will happen after…after this ends?”

“After what ends?”

“…You and me…” Sunggyu gestured to Woohyun, and then himself. “Us…when it ends—.”

“End?!” Woohyun’s eyes went wide. “W-What’re you talking about hyung?! We’re going to be together forever!”

“Woohyun…” Sunggyu sighed. “Realistically speaking…we can’t even go on a proper date together out in public.”

“So? That doesn’t matter!”

“And…we can never get married…I mean later on if we want to…”

“Hyung.” Woohyun grabbed onto Sunggyu’s hand. “Let’s go to Spain.”

“…What?” Sunggyu blinked.

“When we’re older, and we want to get married, let’s go to Spain. We can get married there.” Woohyun smiled.

“And then what…?” Sunggyu frowned. “We’ll come back to Korea and we’ll have to pretend again.”

“Hyung…remember what you told me before?” Woohyun matched Sunggyu’s gaze. “That it doesn’t matter what other people think or believe…as long as you and I know the truth. That’s enough. Isn’t it?”

Sunggyu smiled slightly and nodded. “Yeah…”

“Then it doesn’t matter if no one else knows or understands.” Woohyun stated, in a surprisingly cool manner.

“I just meant…if there ever comes a day when you want those things…marriage and a family…” Sunggyu looked down. “I can’t give you those things…I-I can’t give you a child—.” Suddenly Woohyun burst in to laughter. “Y-Yah…” Sunggyu pouted. “Why are you laughing?”

“Sorry, it’s just…the idea of hyung giving birth, it’s pretty funny.” Woohyun grinned.

“I’m serious dummy.” Sunggyu shoved his boyfriend lightly on the arm. “I can’t give you those things, and maybe in the future, you’ll want a wife and kids…but I still….I don’t want to let you go. I wouldn’t be able to…but isn’t that unfair?”

“Its not…” Woohyun smiled. “Because I wouldn’t be able to let you go either, even if you wanted those things…I guess we’re both selfish then.”

“But then—.”

“I don’t know about you hyung…” Woohyun looked down shyly. “But those things…a family and marriage…I only want them if they’re with you hyung.”

“Really?” Sunggyu asked quietly.

“Of course!” Woohyun exclaimed as he took Sunggyu’s hands in his. “Those kinds of things only mean something if you share them with the person you love right?”

Suddenly Sunggyu wrapped his arms around Woohyun’s neck and hugged him tightly.

“H-Hyung…?”

“You’re not allowed to ever leave me.” Sunggyu whispered in his ear. “If you even think of it, you’re going to get it ok?”

Woohyun beamed, “Yes hyung~”

“Never ever, ok?”

“Okay~”

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Howling
Thank you for reading everyone! Maybe we'll meet again in the sequel?^^

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sillhouette31
#1
Chapter 14: I really love woohyun sjhdhdj he's cute
sillhouette31
#2
Chapter 7: dongwoo and sungyeol can't be real seriously shdhsh
sillhouette31
#3
Chapter 6: This chapter is hilarious sdsff love it
sillhouette31
#4
Chapter 5: cute cuteee
sillhouette31
#5
Chapter 4: I really enjoy your writing!
sillhouette31
#6
Chapter 3: woohyun is so cuteee
sillhouette31
#7
Chapter 2: i'm laughing so hard, this part is funny! I love your humour
sillhouette31
#8
Chapter 1: It's gonna be interesting!!!
Simran20 #9
Chapter 51: Really Miss this kind of Fics now a days.
Simran20 #10
Chapter 38: Rereading it after a long time. Still it remains one of my favorite Fics.