Saturday seemed to come too soon, and before I knew it I was on my way back to the community center for the next daddies meeting. The weather was just starting to turn to fall and the city was wrapped in a crisp chilled air.  I looked over at Kyungbin on Kyungsoo’s back as we walked together.  He had a new jacket on and was babbling something incoherent with a cheeky grin on his face.

            When we walked into the center, we saw a familiar figure sitting in the lobby. He was whispering into the ear of a pretty little boy with a very intense look on his face.

            “What is that hyung doing now?” Kyungsoo muttered half to me, half to himself as we approached the man.

            “Got it?”

            “Got it Appa!”

            “Ok go!”

            “Luhan, what are you getting Jaehan to do this time?” Kyungsoo asked the older boy as his little son ran off towards the receptionist’s desk.

            “Oh, nothing.” Luhan said, brushing him off. I followed his gaze to the front desk, where a very pretty girl was sitting and looking rather bored as she typed on the computer.

            Suddenly, just as Jaehan was about to reach the desk, he tripped dramatically and fell forward onto his knees.  The receptionist girl looked away from her computer screen and her eyes widened. Quickly, she ran over to help the little boy as he began to tear up and whimper.

            “Omo, honey are you alright?” She asked, kneeling next to the little boy to check him for injuries. Jaehan continued to cry and wail pitifully as I turned to Luhan.

            “Aren’t you going to do something?!” I asked, shocked at how calm Luhan looked.

            “Shh, just a few more seconds.” He replied, waving his hand at me. “I’m waiting for my cue.”

            I turned to Kyungsoo to ask him what he meant, but all my brother did was shake his head.

            A moment later, the receptionist asked, “Honey where are you parents?” And Luhan sprang into action. He ran over to his son and kneeled down next to the pretty girl.

            “Jaehan!” he gasped in fake surprise. “What did I tell you about running off from Daddy? You should be more careful!”

            “Oh, sir,” the receptionist said, “Is this your son?”

            “Yes.” Luhan apologized. “I’m sorry for bothering you. He likes to run around a lot and, you know, kids can be a handful.” He paused. “Especially when I have to raise him by myself.”

            “Oh,” the girl said, a sad look on her face. “You raise him all alone? That must be so hard on you.”

            “Ahh, its ok.” Luhan said, patting Jaehan’s head as he began to stop crying. “I love him more than anything else in the world. Nothing makes me happier than seeing his bright face every day.” Luhan looked at the girl and gave her a sweet smile.

            “Aww, how sweet of you.” The girl said, smiling back.

            “Excuse me while I go barf.”

Kyungsoo’s voice broke my attention away from the scene. I turned around to see a  disgusted look on his face.

            “What the hell is he doing?” I asked.

            “That?” Kyungsoo responded. “What he does best. Playing the sappy single dad card to pick up girls. It’s low, but it works. Every. Single. Time.”

            “He’s a master.” Kyungsoo continued. “Girls love a guy who is good with kids and he’s pro at playing the pity card. This is just one of his routines, and not even his best.”

            “Routines?”

            Kyungsoo nodded. “What do you think he was telling Jaehan before he ran over? It’s like a game to him and he’s a killer actor. The whimpers, the fake tears, someone should give that kid an Oscar for the number of times he’s helped his dad pick up a girl.”

            I looked back over at the three of them. Jaehan was standing up now and seemed totally fine. He was telling the receptionist some elaborate story in his adorable toddler garble and she was completely absorbed by his cuteness.  As Luhan took over part of the story, she playfully slapped his arm as they laughed.

            “We should head to the meeting.” Kyungsoo said turning away. “They’re going to be a while.”

            When we arrived at the room, the meeting seemed to be in full swing.

            “I don’t care if I made a promise, Junmyeon!” I heard Chanyeol yell. “I am NOT wearing a leotard!!”

            “But you have too! Everyone does, it’s the only thing you can wear when you perform ballet!” Junmyeon said back with earnest.

            “I beg to differ.” Kris interjected. “I’ve seen plenty of ballet dancers who don’t wear leotards. Just look at Jongin!”

            “Kris hyung, just because I don’t wear the leotard all the time doesn’t mean I don’t wear it when I dance.” Jongin stated flatly.

            “You mean you do wear a leotard?” Sehun guffawed. “That I would pay big money to see.”

            “It’s no big deal!” Jongin defended. “Any serious dancer does.” His attention turned to Chanyeol. “I understand where you are coming from though, hyung. Not everyone was enough confidence with their body to pull one off.”

            “Exac- wait what?” Chanyeol sputtered. “What do you mean by that?”

            “Well, if I may be blunt, not everyone can look good in skintight fabric. I can see why you may be a bit concerned with how you would look in one, given your –achem- rotund physique. But not everyone can have a killer body, and well you do have your personality I guess…”

            “I’m not fat!” Chanyeol defended. “I’m just a little pudgy, but only after I eat!”

            “Which is all the time.” Baekhyun interrupted.

            “Hey I- fine. I’ll wear the leotard.” Chanyeol concluded, defeated. “But only so that I can show you all just how killer my body really is.”

            “Oh goody, just what I want to see.” Jongin deadpanned.

            “Hey guys?” Junmyeon interjected. “Do you mind if we start the actual meeting now that everyone’s here?”

            “Luhan hyung isn’t here.” Sehun pointed out.

            “Oh we saw him coming in.” Kyungsoo replied. “He was a bit distracted, though, he’ll show up later.”

            “Close enough!” Junmyeon cheered. “Okay, so I know I told the rest of you last week to come up with something to do with your kids to help us all bond.”

            “How could we forget…” Minseok mumbled, but Junmyeon ignored him.

            “I signed Kris, Luhan, Chanyeol, Yixing, myself, and our children up for ballet classes and they start tomorrow morning.” He continued. “I’m so excited I can hardly wait!” He squealed.

            “I think I could wait.” Chanyeol groaned. “In fact, I could wait forever. Hyung, can’t I just do something else?”

            “No of course not!” Junmyeon replied. “You made a promise and you have to honor your commitment! It would set a bad example for the kids if you didn’t follow through.” He finished with a forced looking smile.

            “Fine, but I won’t like it. What are the rest of you doing?” Chanyeol asked.

            “Oh I know!” Jongdae interjected. “I actually came up with a good idea!”

            “Please tell me it involves teaching you little monsters some manners.” Minseok grumbled.

            “Hey I’m working on that.” Jongdae defended, then continued. “But this is even better. I signed the three of us up for Taekwondo! That way they can continue to beat each other up, but like in a closed, safe environment.”

            “That’s actually one of the best ideas you’ve ever had, Jongdae. I’m impressed.” Kris said.

            “Thank you?” He replied. “Minseokie, what are you going to do with Jin?”

            “I thought I explained to you all how busy we were?” Minseok replied sharply.

            “Please, doing what? Every time I see Jin he just has his nose stuck in some book. You should get him to do something more physical.” Jongdae replied.

            “Sorry, I didn’t know it was a bad thing to culture my child.” Minseok defended. “Better he’s obsessed with books than other people’s pants.” And as if on cue, Daehyuk ran over to the circle, frantically trying to put a tiny pair of jeans on top of his head.

            “Appaaaa!” I heard Ace cry and turned to see him sitting on the carpet in the corner, completely pantsless.

            “God, not again!” Kris yelled, getting up and starting to chase after the pants-napper.

            “Daehyuk, what did I tell you about the pants?” Jongdae scolded, but his little son just giggled as he cleverly evaded Kris’s grabs.

            “Aren’t you going to do something?” Minseok asked.

            “Nah, he will tire himself out eventually.” Jongdae said, shrugging his shoulders.

            “Gotchya!” Kris yelled as he finally grabbed hold of Daehyuk and retrieved his son’s trousers.

            Ace, meanwhile, was still crying on the carpet.

“Kara, can you help your brother put his pants back on?” Kris asked his daughter who was coloring with Jihye.

“Appa, I’m busy!” Kara whined, not even looking up from her princess book.

“Ugh, fine.” Kris replied, trudging over to his little son and gently putting him back in his pants.

“You better be careful he doesn’t do that to the other kids in the class, or else he will get kicked out.” Minseok said to Jongdae.

“This is the last time, I swear!” Jongdae defended.

 “Yea right,” Minseok snorted. “And it’s also the last time Tao wears those awful overalls.”

“Hey, overalls are in this season!” Tao gasped. “How would you know anyway? I’m clearly the only one here with any real sense of fashion…”

“Hey guys, I just got an idea!” Junmyeon announced before another fight could break out. “Minseok, you and Jin should join the Taekwondo class too!”

“Hyung, that is a good idea!” Jongdae agreed.

“But- but, I don’t think Jin will like it, would you, Jin?” Minseok said, asking his nephew who was quietly sitting next to his uncle with a book in his lap.

“Ooh I was just reading about it the other day!” Jin looked up from his book and said, surprising me with how eloquent his speech was for a four-year-old.

“But do you want to do it? It’s a lot of running around and getting sweaty.” Minseok said, trying to sway his opinion.

“But then I’ll be like the ninja’s in my story!” Jin replied enthusiastically. “I want to do it!”

“So it’s settled!” Jongdae said, putting his arm around his friend. “You and me, buddy, Taekwondo masters!”

“More like Taekwon-NO.” Minseok replied grimly.

“That’s the spirit!” Jongdae said, not catching the sarcasm in his friend’s voice.

“Ok, who’s next?” Junmyeon said, reverting attention back to the rest of the group.

“Oh, I’ll go.” Sehun said while holding a drooling Sehee in his arms. “I’ve decided to take Sehee to work with me.”

“What?!” Came the response of about half the boys in the room.

“Sehun, that’s not… the best idea.” Junmyeon said, worried.

“Why not?” Sehun replied. “I feel bad dropping her off a daycare every day and I think she would like watching me work.”

“Did you ask Luhan if you could bring her?” Junmyeon questioned.

“No, but I know he will be cool with it. He brings Jaehan sometimes and the other people love him!” Sehun replied.

“Ok, if you think you can handle it.” Junmyeon said, still looking concerned. “What about you, Jongin?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Jongin replied. “But I was thinking of going to your dance class tomorrow, just to get some ideas.”

“So you want to take the class too?” Junmyeon asked, looking excited.

“No, no!” Jongin said. “I just want to see how you guys all do. To, um, get inspiration.”

“-achem- bull –achem-.” Tao fake coughed.

“Oh yea, and what is you’re great idea?” Jongin asked.

“I actually have a fabulous idea to bond with Nabi.” Tao replied.

“And it is…”

“A secret.” Tao said, turning up his chin at the other boy.

“What? That’s not fair how do we know you’re really doing anything?” Jongin complained.

“You’ll find out eventually, I’m just not telling you now!” Tao said.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door. Chanyong, who was playing closest to it, ran over and locked it.

“Password.” Chanyong said.

“What the f--.. heck?” I heard Luhan sputter from the otherside of the door.

“Chanyong-ah, I know that’s you now open the door!” Luhan yelled while shaking the doorknob.

“Password.” The big eared little boy said, putting his hands on his hips. I glanceed over at Chanyeol, who looked like he was having a fit. He was laughing like a mad-man with a face that looked like a serial killer with crazy eyes.

“Fine, um, Daddy?” Luhan asked.

“No.”

“Candy?”

“No.”
            “Puppy?”

“No.”

I heard a loud sigh come form the other side of the door.

“I’ll buy you some ice cream if you open this door?”

“Yes!” Chanyong said, and immediately unlocked the knob.

“Aha!” Luhan exclaimed as he burst through the door.

“Ice cream.” Chanyong said, looking up at the man and holding out his hand.

“Later, Channie. I promise I’ll get you some.” Luhan said, patting the little boy on the head as he ran off with Jaehan to play with some trucks.

“Wow,” Kyungsoo mused, “So not only can you bribe women into liking you, but little kids too!”

“Hey I did not bribe that lovely lady into having dinner with me next week.” Luhan defended himself. “She did it out of adoration of my adorable son, and infatuation of his charming, handsome father.” He said, giving Kyungsoo a greasy wink. “So, what did I miss?”

“We were just going over what everyone was going to do for their bonding.” Junmyeon said. “And I think only Kyungsoo and Baekhyun still needed to decide.”

“I know what I’m going to do!” Baekhyun announced while bouncing his daughter on his knee. “I’m going to sing.”

“No duh genius, you already do that. For a living, I might add.” Chanyeol said.

“Yes, but this time, I’m going to compose a song dedicated to my precious, beautiful, perfect little Baekha.” Baekhyun replied, pinching his daughter’s cheeks.

“What are you going to do, Kyungsoo?” Junmyeon asked.

“Oh, umm, I was going to sing too.” Kyungsoo replied shyly, rubbing his hands together and shifting in his seat.

“What?”

“You… sing??!”
            Came the shocked response.

“Yes, I know it may be hard to believe.” Kyungsoo said. “But I used to sing a lot and I was thinking of starting again. But, like singing to Kyungbin.”

“That’s so disgustingly adorable.” Jongdae groaned.

“Hey, let’s sing together!” Baekhyun announced and I shot him a confused glare. Obviously, based on the blank look on my brother’s face, Baekhyun had not asked him about this previously like I had suggested.

“Um, it’s okay we don’t have to.” Kyungsoo said.

“Ah, Kyungsoo-ah.” Baekhyun began. “I know you must be feeling a little surprised given how I am a trained, professional singer wanting to sing with your amateur self, but I’m sure you sound fine too!”

“That’s actually not what I meant-“ Kyungsoo started before Baekhyun cut him off.

“Really, it’s no big deal! I’ll be glad to do it, mentor you a bit too, and help you become almost as great a singer as I.” Baekhyun boasted.

Kyungsoo sighed, realizing his words were helpless.

 “Thanks, hyung.” Came his defeated reply.

The rest of the meeting passed by in casual bickering and relatively few meltdowns. As the rest of the boys filtered out, soon it was only me, Kyungsoo, Minseok and Jongdae left in the room.

“Come on, Daehyun, we have to leave!” Jongdae said, dragging one of his sons over to grab his coat.

“No, no!” Daehyun said, fighting his dad the whole way.

“Fine!” Jongdae said, giving up and going to look for his other child.

“Jongdae, did you ever consider that the reason why your kids never listen to you is because you are actually a child yourself?” Minseok mused with a playful smirk.

“What? I’m totally mature!” Jongdae said, just as Daehyuk grabbed hold of his dad’s beltloops and began to pull his pants down.

“Hey hey hey!” Jongdae screeched, grabbing his jeans and beginning to pull them up, but not soon enough for the world to be exposed to his power rangers underpants.

“Jongdae-ah!” Minseok sputtered out between laughs. “Those are for kids!”

“Stop looking!” Jongdae said as his face flushed red. “I don’t make judgy comments about your clothes, even when you wear those god-awful crocs!”

“Hey!” Minseok said, turning an equally crimson color. “That was one time!”

“Yea, the first time! And the time after that, and the time after that…” Jongdae continued as he finally got both of his kids into their jackets.

“Really, Minseok?” Kyungsoo joked. “Crocs?”

Minseok shot Jongdae a death glare, “I’m going to kill you.”

“Easy there, my little steam bun.” Jongdae joked as he playfully pinched the older boy’s cheeks. “No violence in front of the children.”

Minseok playfully hit Jongdae over the head as the two of them left the room. I laughed at their childishness.

“They really are close, aren’t they?” I said out loud to myself.

“Yea.” Kyungsoo responded. “They’ve known each other since grade school. And Minseok’s sister really helped Jongdae out right after the twins were born.”

“His sister?” I asked.

Kyungsoo nodded. “Jin’s mother. She passed away about a year ago. A freak accident. That’s why Minseok takes care of Jin.”

“Ohh.” I said. I had always thought Jin’s parents were still alive and Minseok was just doing them a favor, watching him.

“Jin was about two when the twins were born.” Kyungsoo continued. “Jongdae was still in school but only had about half a year left. Minseok’s sister would watch them while he was at school so that he could still graduate.”

“That’s so nice of her.” I said.

“Yea, I never met her. But from what I’ve heard, she was great.”

“You’re great too, Oppa.” I said, usually never calling Kyungsoo by that name.

“Aww,” Kyungsoo said, faking an aegyo filled voice. “How sweet.” He said, giving me a cheeky smile. “Let’s get home quick.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to practice singing.” Kyungsoo stated. “If I’m going to sing with Baekhyun, he needs to know I’m not some joke.”

“I think he was just kidding about all of that.” I said, defending him.

“Either way, I’ve heard him sing.” Kyungsoo said. “And I’m pretty sure I’m better.” He finished, a smile growing on his face.

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Woah- super long chapter, haha ^.^ I hope you all like it and where the story is heading! And thank you again for the new subbies :) !