Baekhyun was only going to be gone for a few hours, Chanyeol reminded himself. Baekhyun did this every day; it was like a full-time job for him (it sort of was, really). Just a few hours. Chanyeol could do this.

Officially, this was the first time he was to be taking care of their daughter all alone for a long period of time. Sure, he’d watched after her when Baekhyun would go get the mail from downstairs, or even for up to a whole hour when Baekhyun had gone to the store to get this or that. But this was like, full-on daddy duties for at least four hours. To suggest Chanyeol wasn’t a little nervous would very much be a lie.

But then, Baekhyun had been doing this for the past two months now while Chanyeol was gone, and Chanyeol couldn’t keep slacking off forever and not letting Baekhyun live his own life. So he’d assured the older he’d be able to handle their child for as long as Baekhyun needed, and he all but forced the boy out the door, Chanyeol’s guitar on his back.

It was the first time he was going to perform at a bar again since – well, since they’d first gotten Jieun, easily, maybe longer. About a month or two after they’d met the girl, Baekhyun had quit his job in preparation of taking care of her, and he hadn’t worked since, but he continued going to the bars to for gigs. Once their paperwork was finished for Jieun, Baekhyun stopped that too. Chanyeol had finally encouraged him to go back, and that he would be okay alone.

Still, Chanyeol was pretty nervous.

It wasn’t like Chanyeol didn’t know what he was doing entirely. But that didn’t mean he didn’t not know what he was doing. This was all very new to him. He worked all day every day, five days a week, seeing Jieun and Baekhyun on evenings and weekends, but there really wasn’t much for him to get involved in. Baekhyun took care of the girl, Chanyeol admired from a distance. Meaning, tonight was a new challenge for him.

Things started out simple enough. He sat Jieun on the couch and they watched kid shows for an hour, though she ended up on the floor playing with her toys and not really paying attention to the TV. Chanyeol, meanwhile, sang along to all the annoying intro themes and tried to encourage her to do the same. (He was ignored.) When seven rolled around, he headed to the fridge to get the girl’s snack.

“Jieunnie, do you want some strawberries?” he called as he opened the door, retrieving the basket of fruit and getting it ready. He could hear Baekhyun’s voice in his head. Make sure you cut them in half, and don’t let her eat them all. He grabbed a plate and knife, cutting stems off the berries and then halving them as he’d been told. As he did so, he heard the girl’s feet padding across the kitchen tiles, and then hands were patting his knee.

When a dozen were cut up and on the plate, he returned the remaining to the fridge, and Jieun whined, thinking he was putting them all away. But he showed her the plate and then they went back to the couch together. She sat on his lap, and he held the plate for her as she took a berry and stuck it in .

Within moments she was sticky with strawberry juice, covering her hands and face.

“Well, I had to give you a bath anyway,” Chanyeol sighed, picking up the messy child and now-empty plate, taking it to the kitchen before carrying her to the bathroom. “Come on, kiddo. Bath time!”

She squealed and started squirming as soon as he said it. It wasn’t even that she didn’t like baths – but she always put up a fight before them anyway. Tonight was no different. As soon as he put her down and started running the water, she was off, waddling away as fast as her little feet could carry her. He sighed, not even bothering to go after her as he poured an excessive amount of bubble bath in the tub – it was the only way she would take her baths.

When he did get up to go after her, however, he saw she had returned, peeking her head around the corner of the doorway to see why he hadn’t come after her. The moment their eyes met, she giggled and was off again. After a couple minutes of chasing, he got her back to the bathroom, undressed and plopped into the tub (which was more bubbles than water). Jieun laughed and splashed, and Chanyeol gave her her floating duck and toy boat to play with while he began gathering water in his hands and pouring it lightly on her head and shoulders.

As he began washing her hair (with her no-tears, watermelon-scented baby shampoo that Chanyeol thought was adorable – because Chanyeol found everything about baby products adorable, sue him), she did something unexpected. He was rubbing the soap lightly into her hair, causing bubbles to form, when she cupped her hands full of bubbles and reached up to plop them on Chanyeol’s head.

It made him freeze in surprise, because she had never done that before. Maybe with Baekhyun, but not to him. Jieun gave peals of joyful laughter at what she’d done, and then Chanyeol was laughing too, kissing her forehead quickly and then scooping up some bubbles to stack on her hair. She squeaked with joy and splashed again, and soon they were both all bubbled-up and, eventually, Jieun was clean.

With the bath out of the way, they still were only halfway through their evening without Baekhyun. Jieun was entirely unaware of this, only knowing that night was falling and that meant she would have to go to bed soon. Therefore, she went into her room and came back out with a toy, tossing it on the living room floor, and then returned to her room and came out once more with a book. She placed the book on the couch and picked up her toy, going over to Chanyeol, who was in the kitchen once again to get her a drink.

“Daddy,” she said impatiently, and he glanced down at her. She held up the toy in her hand.

“Pororo?” he asked, taking it from her and giving her a cup of milk instead. “What do you want me to do with him?” But she wasn’t paying attention anymore, heading back to the couch. He followed after, then lifted her up onto it, catching sight of the book she’d brought out. It featured the same blue penguin he had in his hand. Apparently, it was a Pororo night. (Though, he was pretty sure every night was a Pororo night.)

Jieun reached out for the toy Pororo, and he sat it on her thighs so she could have it and still hold her cup. But the moment he began reading, she put down her cup (upside down; Chanyeol was glad he saw and caught it quickly before the contents could spill – fortunately it had a lid) and started climbing onto Chanyeol’s legs so she could sit with him. Her Pororo fell to the floor, but he picked it up for her, and then the penguin was in her lap, and she was in Chanyeol’s, and the reading continued.

At the end of the book, Chanyeol closed it and told her, “All done,” but she just flipped it over and opened it. She only gurgled incoherently, but Chanyeol got the message, chuckling. “Again, huh?” So he read it again for her. She didn’t have very many books, but she often made the two re-read them to her. Chanyeol made a note that they needed to buy her more, so she wouldn’t grow tired of the ones she had.

She made him read it three more times, and then he suggested they go find another book to read. So he took her hand and led her to her room, and she found another book to make him read over and over to her. The third time through that book, her eyes began weighing down, and she only stayed awake enough to make Chanyeol read it once more. When he finished the fourth time, she had fallen asleep.

Without jostling her too much, he placed her book and Pororo doll on the table, as well as her almost-finished cup of milk. However, when he went to lift her and take her to her room, she whined sleepily, and so he lay her down on the couch and curled up beside her, turning on the TV to watch the news he’d recorded earlier.

He didn’t make it to the sports section before he’d fallen asleep with her.

“

When Baekhyun walked in the doors, all he heard was the quiet murmur of their TV playing. He slipped off his shoes and headed into the living room, immediately catching sight of Chanyeol and their daughter – both fast asleep on the couch. He smiled at the precious sight, taking a moment to admire it. Then he turned off the TV – which was on a random channel he was pretty sure neither Chanyeol nor Jieun had been watching – and crept over to the couch, kissing Chanyeol’s temple lightly. The younger stirred, and Baekhyun carefully picked Jieun up to take her to her room.

“Hi baby,” he breathed as her eyes fluttered. She made a sound of discontentment, and then began whining. “I know, your life is so hard,” he told her softly, and she rested her head on his shoulder, dozing off again. Carrying her to her room, he placed her on her bed and wrapped her in her little blanket. She woke up a second time and wailed for a moment, but then her eyes were closed once more. “Night, Jieunnie.” He kissed her forehead, and then her cheeks, and then petted her hair. Then he was out of the room, turning the light off and mostly closing her door.

Back out in the living room, Chanyeol was sitting up, eyes not fully open or aware. He got off the couch and met Baekhyun in the middle of the room, pulling him in for a languid, sleepy kiss.

“How was your night?” Baekhyun asked him lightly, dragging him slowly to the bathroom so they could wash up for bed.

“Uneventful,” Chanyeol replied tiredly. “But nice. I liked it just being me and her.”

Baekhyun smiled. “Did you miss me at all?” he teased.

“Mm,” came Chanyeol’s response. Baekhyun loved his sleepy Chanyeol. And he loved sleepy Jieun, even if she cried when she was tired (and that was about the only time). He loved his family, whether they were fully conscious or not.

Though he didn’t entirely love when they made their consciousness very well known when he wasn’t conscious.

After they’d gone to bed, and Chanyeol had fallen back asleep quickly and Baekhyun hadn’t taken too long to join him in dream land, Baekhyun expected not to wake again until morning. They were blessed, because Jieun slept very well through the night, and it wasn’t very often that she would wake up or wake them up. Unfortunately, they weren’t so lucky this night.

Baekhyun was dragged out of unconsciousness by shrill howling from the room next door. He sat up, disoriented, and then quickly filled with concern. The girl’s cries of appa! always made Baekhyun worry, even if he knew it wasn’t likely that anything was actually wrong. Still, he threw off his covers and stumbled across the floor until he reached the door, slipping out and heading into the next room. He switched the light on and saw Jieun sitting up, crying her eyes out.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong baby?” he asked her gently, hurrying over and sitting on the bed. She continued to cry out for him as he picked her up, holding her to him and rocking her. “It’s okay. What’s the matter?”

“Lolo!” she wailed.

Baekhyun gave a small smile. “Did you lose Pororo, baby? It’s alright, we’ll find him.” He glanced around, but the toy was nowhere on her bed. He put Jieun down and began searching the rest of her room, and she shrieked on miserably. When he tried to hand her a teddy bear until he could find the penguin, she just threw it and kept crying.

“Lolo! Lolo!”

“I’m looking for him,” Baekhyun told her. “He can’t have just run away.” But he turned the whole room over and the toy wasn’t there. Finally, he gathered her up and took her out of the room, peeking into his bedroom for a moment. “’Yeol, do you know where her Pororo is?”

Chanyeol grumbled in response, and amongst the mess Baekhyun thought he caught the words “living room”. That was good enough for him. He took the still-bawling Jieun with him, and when he the living room light he caught sight of the toy.

“Look, Jieunnie! There’s Pororo,” he told her happily, but she didn’t see it until he went over and picked it up for her. Once it was in his hand, she stared at it and then her distressed noises ceased, and she reached out for the penguin. Baekhyun handed it to her, relieved how quickly she calmed down the moment she had the toy again. “Let’s go back to bed now, okay?”

Jieun held on tightly to Pororo as she was tucked back into bed and given another kiss from Baekhyun. He told her to go to sleep, and returned to his own bed. With that, silence renewed in the house and he was allowed to sleep for the rest of the night.

“

Life was pretty normal in the Park (slash Byun) home. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were grossly in love with each other, even if they didn’t see one another until early evening (though that probably only made them love one another more because they missed each other all day). They were both painfully in love with Jieun, even when she cried, or woke them up at night, or made a fuss eating certain foods, or made them read the same book half a dozen times in a row. Even when she touched things she wasn’t supposed to, and was difficult when it came to baths and nap time, and crawled into bed with them in the morning. And it was hard for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to be together like they used to be, but they still loved Jieun and they still loved each other and there was just so much love in their family it was kind of unbearable but none of them minded at all. And maybe that wasn’t how everyone was, but that was what normal was for these three.

Baekhyun often wondered if any family was as perfect as theirs.

It sort of made him want to cry, as he watched Jieun growing up. Before he knew it, she could say more than just a couple words; she learned how to pronounce Pororo right, no longer calling him “Lolo”; she could say full (if small) sentences. And there were other things; she began to anticipate when “daddy” would be coming home; she learned how to sing and dance; she started going out more – a lot more, to parks, to go shopping with Baekhyun, to restaurants with both of them…

And then, all too soon, she was off to kindergarten.

Chanyeol handled it pretty well. Her first day, they were all up early, and when he had to leave for work he gave her a kiss and told her to have fun. It was a bit different for him, because he didn’t see her all day anyway. But for Baekhyun, it was a lot harder.

He walked her to the kindergarten building, and she was excited even though she didn’t exactly understand where she was going (Baekhyun had explained it to her, but it was kind of difficult for someone who had never experienced school to grasp the concept of it). But when they reached it and she realized that Baekhyun wouldn’t be staying, she suddenly didn’t seem to want to be there anymore.

“Appa,” she said, clinging to his leg as he tried to go back out the door. “Appa! Where are you going?”

“I’m going home,” he told her, and his heart felt very weak as she stared up at him with confused and worried eyes.

“Why aren’t you staying with me?”

“I can’t,” he explained sadly. “I go home now. I’ll come get you later.”

Tears started to fill her eyes, and Baekhyun could see the teacher giving him a sympathetic look. Naturally, this wasn’t the first time this kind of thing had happened.

“I don’t want you to leave!” Jieun’s voice sounded broken. She was clearly devastated as well as afraid. She had never been away from Baekhyun before – and the times she had, Chanyeol had been there. Now she would be amongst a group of strangers. “Appa! I don’t want to be here without you.”

“It’s okay, baby,” he promised her, trying desperately to keep his voice steady. He couldn’t let her know he was upset about this too. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

And it was hard – it felt like one of the hardest things Baekhyun had ever had to do – but eventually he managed to leave her, and he ended up crying the whole way home and for quite a while after. But he’d known it had to happen eventually. It just felt so soon. Jieun was growing up too fast.

Several hours and tears (and hours of tears) later, Baekhyun was happily returning to the kindergarten to retrieve his daughter. When he arrived, the kids were all playing outside, and he was pleased to see Jieun among them enjoying herself and no longer looking sad. Once he was in earshot, he called her name, and she looked around at the familiar voice. Before he knew it, she was running at him full force, and then she jumped into his arms and hugged him very tightly.

“Appa!” she cried, seeming elated to be able to hold him again.

“Hey,” he said, grinning and feeling very relieved that she was okay and all in one piece. “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah,” she answered happily as she put him down. “Can we go home now?”

“Of course,” he assured her. She was very happy to hear that.

That night when he put her to bed, she asked him, “Can you stay with me at the kindergarten tomorrow?”

He shook his head. “No, sweetie. I wish I could, but I’m not allowed to.”

“Why not?”

“Only kids can go.” Her eyes began to water again. Chanyeol came in then, and seeing the sight his brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” he wondered, but he went ignored.

“It’s not the same without you,” Jieun whispered, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. Baekhyun was very close to breaking down.

“I know, but you still had fun,” he told her. “It’s still fun. I can’t be around all the time.”

“Why not?” she asked again, sitting up and crawling over to throw her arms around his neck and hold him. He felt her tears dampening his shirt, and that was it for him; he couldn’t stop himself when he started crying too.

“I’m sorry baby,” he whispered. “I just can’t.”

“Then can’t daddy go with me?” she asked next, hope somewhat renewed as this idea occurred. But Baekhyun shook his head and she started crying again, and she didn’t stop for a very long time, until she finally cried herself out and fell asleep.

Baekhyun cried himself to sleep that night, too, and Chanyeol just held him and told him that it was okay. It didn’t feel very okay.

For the first week or so, Jieun couldn’t let Baekhyun go from the kindergarten without crying. But gradually she was able to give a firm (if reluctant) goodbye knowing that she would see him again soon enough. It wasn’t quite as easy for Baekhyun to leave her, because at home he was without Chanyeol and now his daughter was gone too for several hours of the day, meaning he was alone a lot. He found it very hard to adjust to; he supposed he would have to get a job soon.

Jieun leaving to begin school seemed to be the tipping point from perfection to something that was much less than perfect and far more of a painful, miserable reality. For the past three years since Jieun had joined their family, Baekhyun had honestly forgotten his own terrible past in favour of cherishing every second with his wonderful daughter and the absolute love of his life. He didn’t wake up in the morning wondering if it would all come back to haunt him again. But with Jieun finally gone, and Baekhyun having so much time to himself, those thoughts returned to him; even if he wasn’t particularly worried about it anymore, they were there.

It was as if those thoughts returning was a summoning.

[To be continued...]

A/n: Oh gosh I left right in the middle of a scene I'm sorry. I was wanting to add more to this but I also haven't updated in forever and I figured half of this would be better than none of it. So this is like, part one of this spin-off. And I'm sorry it's not a different side-ship, but I had Baekyeol on the mind and a lot planned for them and it wanted to be written, so this came out. Anyway, I really will focus on another ship soon enough (although the next spin-off I think will be Kaisoo again), so no worries! I'm getting them all eventually!

I hope you enjoyed the cute Baekyeol family feels while they were there!