thirtyfive
Moving ForwardIndex:
(YJ) – Young Jae speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(JU) – Jongup speaking
(Z) – Zelo speaking
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“Daehyun. You DID make certain that the presents are hidden, correct?” (YJ) Daehyun laughed a bit as he pulled Young Jae closer to him, wrapping his arms around Young Jae’s waist in the process. That was about the fifth time that he’s asked him that day and Daehyun had given the same answer each time. However, he knew how much Young Jae tended to worry about things, so it didn’t really bother him all that much whenever Young Jae asked the same questions over and over again.
“Yes, I did. Now, will you stop asking?” (DH) Young Jae rolled his eyes, but he reluctantly nodded before wrapping his arms around the back of Daehyun’s neck. He rested his head on his left arm, his face facing Daehyun as he closed his eyes. Daehyun attempted to look at Young Jae’s face, but only succeed in seeing his mouth. “Hey… Are you tired? Want me to carry you to bed?” (DH)
Nearly two months had passed since Halloween and since then, Young Jae has been working hard at trying to regain his ability to walk. He can awkwardly walk a small distance now, but his legs would get tired relatively quickly before giving out right after-wards. So, he needed to either keep his wheelchair by his side or to use crutches as he walked. Of course, he found it simpler to have a wheelchair, but he still usually attempted to force himself to walk whenever he got the chance. Sure, it may be bad to be forcing his legs beyond their limit, but he was getting rather impatient with having to rely on everyone else for assistance.
“A little, but I want to continue a little longer.” (YJ) Taking in a deep breath, Young Jae took a moment before finally pulling away from Daehyun. Slowly slipping from Daehyun’s grasp, Young Jae furrowed his eyebrows as he tried his best to remain firmly standing. Now he knew exactly how a baby felt whenever they began to learn how to walk and to put it quite simply, it was definitely the most frustrating feeling to have to deal with.
“Don’t push yourself too much, alright?” (DH) Young Jae looked over at Daehyun, watching as he walked over to the ‘finish line’. Through Young Jae’s request, Daehyun had set up a starting line and a finish line using artist's tape. Whenever Young Jae managed to reach the finish line without falling over at least five times in a row, then Daehyun would increase the distance by a foot or so. Not necessarily back to back, but more like when he was given enough time to rest. They had kept it confined within their room, but sooner or later, they were going to have to extend it into the living room before it, hopefully, became something they wouldn't need anymore. “Okay. Just walk into my arms nice and easy.” (DH)
“I’m not a child, Daehyun. I know exactly what the objective is and it is NOT to walk into your arms.” (YJ) Okay, so it was a tempting idea regardless of whether it was the objective or not. Even if that wasn’t the goal, Young Jae told Daehyun to stand at the finish line and to catch him if he were to fall. It was better to be safe than sorry, was it not? Plus, it was far more simpler to fall into Daehyun's hold as opposed to setting up something soft to absorb the fall.
“Are you ready?” (DH) Young Jae kept his eyebrows furrowed as he nodded. Taking in yet another deep breath, Young Jae raised his foot slowly before he began walking forward. He had been doing this for the past five, maybe even ten minutes at most, but his legs were already starting to feel as if they would give out from underneath him at any minute. In fact, it was a feat in itself for him to have been like this for at most ten minutes at this point! Young Jae greatly disliked this, but he knew that he would be stuck in this kind of situation for another few months. By that time, the babies may end up learning how to crawl already.
Farther and farther he pushed, taking small steps to ensure his own safety as well as his own success. Young Jae was in deep concentration, his eyes focused on his feet as he tried to keep moving forward. How far he could go though, that would be entirely up to his legs. At any given moment, his legs could give out underneath him, but then that would mean another five attempts of reaching that finish line. He just couldn’t let the previous four attempts go to waste like this.
The finish line was so close now. Just a few more steps and he could increase the distance by another foot. Progress would be made and at least knowing that he’s gone a little further just means that he could feel a little more accomplished with his life. Sure, he’s been able to start working again, but that didn’t mean that he could do all of the things as easily as he had been able to do before. “You’re almost there, Young Jae. You can do it.” (DH)
“Don’t pull my concentra-“ (YJ) For that brief moment, the second Young Jae stepped forward with his right leg, the bottom half of his leg weakened, nearly throwing Young Jae off of his balance. He unintentionally wiggled awkwardly in an attempt to keep his balance, trying to shift more of his weight onto the other leg that he was still standing with, which seemed to work. Standing there for a moment, he waited to make certain that he was standing firmly with both feet before letting out a relieved sigh. Then, he looked up at Daehyun, a small glare escaping from his eyes. “Don’t distract me, Daehyun!” (YJ)
“Sorry! Sorry. I didn’t mean to.” (DH) Young Jae let out another sigh before looking back down at his feet as he began walking forward once more. He knew that Daehyun meant well by cheering him on, but Young Jae needed his full concentration on the task before him. Anything that could distract him would most likely successfully cause his downfall and that was the last thing that he wanted happening.
Just a few more steps and he would be at the finished line. Taking in a deep breath, Young Jae forced himself to move as fast as he could, in an awkward trot of sorts, in an attempt to make it there much more quickly. The second his foot stepped on the tape, Young Jae’s leg gave out underneath him, causing him to fall forward. He shut his eyes, keeping his arms out in front of him in order to catch himself as he fell. Of course… he never actually made any contact with the ground.
Once he realized that he was somewhat suspended in air, Young Jae lifted his head and opened his eyes as his gaze was soon filled with the view of Daehyun’s shirt. Lifting his head a little more, he looked up to see Daehyun looking down at him with a smile. “You alright? That was a little reckless, don’t you think?” (DH)
“Reckless, yes, but… I did manage to make it to the finish line.” (YJ) Young Jae had that tired, yet satisfied, smile on his face as he attempted to stand up. Sadly, it seemed like his legs were spent as they soon gave out from underneath him once more. Luckily, Daehyun still had a firm hold on him, so Young Jae didn’t end up plummeting towards the ground yet again.
“Okay, so it’s time for a break.” (DH) Once Young Jae nodded, Daehyun carefully picked Young Jae up bridal style, before carrying him over to the bed. He was about to set Young Jae on the bed, but Young Jae put a hand up to Daehyun’s chest before shaking his head.
“No. I’m not sleepy. Bring me to my wheelchair. I want to check on the babies.” (YJ)
“You sure?” (DH) The two made eye contact with another as Young Jae smiled a bit.
“Yeah.” (YJ) With it being only about five or six days until Christmas, Taeyeon and Sooyoung were given the holidays off to spend time with their own family. Though, Taeyeon did check in every now and then to make sure that the babies had enough of... well, everything really. She did also make sure that Young Jae and Daehyun were fine, considering how busy the Christmas season was. Luckily, Young Jae had gotten him and Daehyun to finish the Christmas shopping back in November, so they just had to wait patiently until Christmas came around. Though, that also meant that they would have to look after their babies while Taeyeon and Sooyoung were out, not that it was a problem or anything. In fact, it was their duty as father’s to be taking care of their own children.
Once Daehyun set Young Jae into his wheelchair, the two made their way out of their bedroom before making their way over to where the babies and Jongup currently were. It seemed like nothing really has changed since they had left their three sons alone about nearly an hour ago. Both babies were still sleeping in the sectioned off area and Jongup was still watching television and he was either really bored with what was playing or he was heavily concentrated on the show. When he saw his parents come out of the room, he instantly brightened up as he sat up a bit. “Are you two done now?” (JU)
“Yeah, we are. Did you have to do something?” (DH) Jongup merely shook his head as he leaned back in his seat and looked back at the television screen. There was nothing important he had to do since he was on winter break. He was just merely glad that his parents were back to watch over his two younger brothers instead of him having to do it. Sadly, it seemed like that plan was going to be cut short relatively quickly.
“Oh, good. Then you can watch your brothers a little longer while me and your father go do some shopping for dinner.” (YJ) Jongup quickly looked up at Young Jae, a look of surprise and distress on his face as he sat up. Daehyun was fairly surprised by this sudden turn of events as well, but he decided not to say anything about it. From what he recalled, they were running rather low on food, but he thought that they weren’t going to be going out for grocery shopping until sometime tomorrow. They did have enough rice and eggs to at least last them for a few more days.
“What?! Why can’t I come!” (JU) Young Jae raised a brow as he leaned back in his wheelchair and folded his arms. He had wanted to treat Jongup like an adult and he had done so on multiple occasions, but it was still clear that Jongup was still a child on the inside. Of course, this was just merely a good way to allow Jongup to get closer to his brothers.
“Because it would be troublesome to have both babies with us while we go grocery shopping. It is much simpler if you were to stay here with your brothers while we go and get the shopping done.” (YJ) Jongup mentally whined to himself as he folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. He didn’t like that he had to be all by himself while taking care of the babies, but he knew that it would be difficult to argue with his mother once he had his mind set. “Come on, Daehyun.” (YJ)
“Alright. Jongup, take care of your brothers while we’re gone, alright?” (DH) Jongup nodded a bit as he saw his parents leaving through the corner of his eyes. When he heard the shuffling of coats being put on and the sound of the door opening and then closing, Jongup let out a sigh before leaning over the armrest and staring down at his baby brothers.
Although he loved his baby brothers, he didn’t exactly like taking care of them. Babies were just a lot of work and it wasn’t all that fun taking care of them. Plus, he would have to drop whatever he was doing just to make sure that they were alright. Jongup still wished that their parents could have just taken them along to go grocery shopping, but he did understand that they couldn’t go when the holiday season was always busiest and thus, it would be troublesome for all of them to go. “I hope you two keep sleeping…” (JU)
Stretching his legs out on the couch, Jongup slid just enough so that he was now comfortably lying on the couch. Letting out a sigh, Jongup reached for the remote on the armrest before pointing it towards the television screen and changing the channel. Well, hopefully no one was out for too long. Sure, it was only about five in the afternoon, but he would assume that his parents would probably be home within the next two hours or so. Maybe Taeyeon and Sooyoung would be back soon as well. Though… he would still be bored until they came back. Should he call Zelo and ask him to come over?
Pulling out his cell phone, Jongup scrolled through his list of contacts before locating Zelo’s name. Just as he was about to press his name, Jongup paused for a moment as he thought about it a little more. If Zelo came over, then he would most likely be loud and end up causing the babies to wake up. That didn’t sound like an appealing idea, so, Jongup ended up putting his phone onto the table before looking back up at the screen. He would just have to tough it out and hope that someone came back soon.
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So far, everything seemed relatively calm. There didn’t seem to be anything that stood out either in a good or a bad way, so it only seemed to extend the amount of time one could relax. How long this nice moment would last, one was never certain. After all, anything could just pop up out of nowhere and turn this once serene scene into a chaotic one.
Of course, it seemed like that moment was just about to occur.
As time had passed, Jongup had ended up falling asleep while watching tv. As fun as cartoons were, Jongup hadn’t exactly had any sleep last night. Why? Well, he was busy playing video games all night. He had attempted to sleep early in the morning, but Taeyeon had burst in and woken him up, forcing him to stay up. Now, at least he finally has the chance to sleep a little more. This was almost the perfect chance for him to catch up on some sleep, though it was most likely a nap of sorts. He probably would have slept a little longer, but the sounds of crying soon penetrated his dreams, forcing him to awaken once more.
Opening his eyes a bit, Jongup looked around through sleep filled eyes before he began rubbing them. He let out an irritated groan, annoyed that his nap had been disrupted by the sounds of crying. Due to his sleep-filled state, Jongup wasn’t necessarily certain where the crying was coming from. At first, he thought that it was coming from the television show that was currently playing, but when he opened his eyes and looked to see what was playing, Jongup didn’t see any sort of baby on it. So, it took him a moment or so to think before he finally remembered that he had been left in charge of his baby brothers.
Leaning over the armrest, he looked down at his brothers. While one was looking around with curiosity, the other was quickly caught red handed in the act of crying. Why he was crying though, Jongup didn’t necessarily know. Letting out a sigh, Jongup stood up before making his way around. Crouching down, Jongup checked to make certain that the baby’s diaper was still clean before picking up one of the nearby rattles and shaking it above the baby. Almost instantly, the crying came to a stop as both babies looked up at the rattle with interest. Jongup stopped shaking the rattle, though both babies continued to stare up at the rattle before one of them began attempting to reach for it. Handing the rattle over to the curious baby, Jongup quickly gave the other rattle to the other one before taking his seat back on the couch.
It had only been three months since his little brothers have been around and already, Jongup was feeling fairly exhausted with them. It’s not that he didn’t love his little brothers, it was just that they were tiring and frustrating to take care of. They needed attention at practically every moment of their lives and despite there being five people around to take care of them, it was still tiring when there were two of them. Plus, if he attempted to draw or study whenever he was around them, there would always be some sort of commotion that would break his concentration. Still… he knew that he couldn’t complain. He would have to just it up and try his best to take care of his little brothers.
Though, at the moment, he was quickly realizing that he was hungry.
Holding his stomach, Jongup slouched in his seat as he let out a small whine. They didn’t have any leftovers and they didn’t have any snacks for him to munch on, so he couldn’t just get up and get something to eat. Well, he could try and look for something, but he didn’t exactly want to get up just yet. If he wanted to look for something to eat, then he wanted to make sure that he was completely awake. At least that way, he wouldn’t end up missing something if he did end up finding something in one of the cabinets.
As he sat there, Jongup stared at the television screen before the sound of the buzzer caught his attention. Sitting up, Jongup turned around to look at the front door before trying to think. Everyone that lived here had a key, so they wouldn’t need to ring the buzzer to get his attention. Then again, who else could it be? He didn’t recall anyone telling him that someone was going to be coming over, so maybe it wasn’t all that important. He was going to slouch in his seat once more, but the sound of the buzzer went off twice, forcing him to get to his feet. Walking over to the front door, Jongup unlocked the locks before opening the door and looking to see a grinning Zelo standing there with two boxes of pizza. “Hey! You finally opened the door!” (Z)
“Zelo? What are you doing here?” (JU) Walking into the apartment, Zelo quickly took his shoes off before he began making his way over to the dining table. Once he set the pizza boxes down, Zelo turned to look at Jongup. Noticing the slightly surprised and confused look on Jongup’s face, Zelo placed his hands on his hips as he leaned on one leg.
“You didn’t get my text message? I told you that I was coming over with food!” (Z) As Zelo went to the kitchen to get plates, napkins, and drinks, Jongup quickly pat his pants for a moment. When he didn’t feel the outline of his phone, Jongup made his way over to the couch before spotting his phone on the coffee table. Picking it up, Jongup unlocked his phone before quickly reading the text message that Zelo had, indeed, sent. “So where’s everyone else? They wanna eat too, right?” (Z)
“Um… I’m home alone with my brothers.” (JU)
“Really?!” (Z) The sound of something clattering onto a hard surface drew Jongup’s attention as he turned to look towards the kitchen. Instantly, he saw Zelo practically rocket out of the kitchen and towards the living room as he made his way around the couches. He looked around, clear excitement on his face before he looked directly at Jongup. “Where are they? Where are they? I wanna play wi-“ (Z)
The sound of a rattle quickly pulled Zelo’s attention as he snapped his head towards the source of the rattle. Instantly, Zelo grinned and his eyes widened as he quickly made his way over to the babies. Practically jumping into the sectioned off area, Zelo crouched down low as he quickly put his index fingers to each baby as close as possible before he began wiggling them. “Hey little guys! Big brother Zelo is here to play with you two!” (Z)
Jongup let out a quiet sigh as he made his way over to the kitchen. He was kind of hoping that he would get the chance to spend time with Zelo, but it seemed like Zelo was more interested in his brothers than him. Well, maybe he could see this as an opportunity to have a break. After all, Zelo seemed like he wanted to take care of his brothers, so might as well let him, right? “Jongup! I wanna feed them!” (Z)
“Um… the bottles are in the fridge.” (JU) Just as Jongup took hold of the plate that Zelo had abandoned, Zelo’s voice erupted from the living room once more.
“Can you get them for meeeeee?” (Z) Letting out a small sigh, Jongup made his way over to the fridge and opened it up before looking at the shelves on the side. Taking out two of the bottles from the shelves, Jongup set the bottles on top of his plate before closing the fridge door. Making his way out of the kitchen, he walked over to the dining table and set his plate on top before taking the bottles off of the plate and making his way over to Zelo. “Jonguuuup! Whe- Oh, hey!” (Z)
Just as Zelo looked up, he had almost instantly spotted Jongup standing by the fence. While still sitting, Zelo used his feet and knees to shuffle over to Jongup before taking hold of the bottles. Once he had both bottles in hand, Zelo quickly made his way back over to the babies before holding the bottles out for the babies to see. “Ooooh! See these? Aren’t they num-num’s? Do you want your num-num’s?” (Z)
Both Daeho and Jaehwa’s eyes were practically glued on the bottles as one of them began to reach for it. With a grin, Zelo practically tore the pacifier from Daeho’s mouth before letting the hungry little baby on the bottle. He cooed a bit, turning from left to right in a somewhat fast motion as he felt the cuteness overload kick in. He hadn’t had the chance to feed a baby before and he couldn’t help but feel as if it was the greatest feeling ever. “They’re so cute, Jongup!” (Z)
“I know.” (JU) Zelo looked up at Jongup, noticing the sort of tired tone in Jongup’s voice. The two stared at one another, blinking only when necessary, before Jongup finally cleared his throat to break the silence. “W-What is it..?” (JU)
“Are you tired?” (Z) Jongup blinked a few times before slowly nodding. With a grin, Zelo turned a little more towards Jongup, making certain that the bottle didn’t move too much so as not to disturb Daeho’s feeding. “Go ahead and get some sleep then! I’ll watch over them as if they were our own!” (Z)
Jongup nodded, though he wanted to eat first before he went back to sleep. As Jongup went to go fulfill that need, Zelo turned his attention back towards the babies. While one was still happily eating, the other one was still swinging his rattle around. Reaching forward, Zelo pulled the pacifier from Jaehwa’s mouth as well before replacing it with the bottle. It seemed like Jaehwa was fairly hungry as well since he was drinking his milk with little to no resistance. The only difference was that Daeho made it evident that he was hungry. “Aw… I want babies this cute too. Jongup! Can your parents have more babies and give them to us?” (Z)
When he didn’t hear a response from Jongup, Zelo let out a small sigh. Well, it was worth a shot, right? One of these days, he would have a little one to call his own. Until then, now would be a perfect time to try and learn how to take care of a baby. Most likely, with the fact that everything would be up to him, then that meant that he would eventually learn something from his time spent with the babies, right? Then, he would be extra prepared for when him and Jongup finally do end up having children!
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“Are you sure we should be leaving our sons alone for this long?” (DH)
“If we don’t, then the opportunity for Jongup to grow closer to his brothers may be lost. He doesn’t have much time left before he starts to attend a college, or possibly even a university and currently, I do not know if he will be going to someplace far, so might as well take advantage of this chance.” (YJ) Young Jae rolled his own words around in his head before nodding a bit. It seemed like a good idea, especially since Jongup only really took care of the babies whenever Taeyeon and Sooyoung were out and if both him and Daehyun were too busy to do so. Well, Young Jae also wanted to let Jongup get a taste of adulthood. Since Jongup wanted to be an adult, might as well let him understand a bit more how difficult it is to be an adult. Of course, there was always the possibility that Jongup would never have kids when he’s older, but that didn’t necessarily matter too much.
“Well, alright. Do we have most of the things we need, or are we missing anything else?” (DH) Young Jae thought on it for a moment before pulling out the list he had written down. Once the paper was unfolded, Young Jae scanned through the list as he eyed the checkmarks on the side. It seemed like they had most of the things that they required, but there were still a number of things that were necessary to complete the shopping.
“We still need a couple of things.” (YJ)
“Let me see.” (DH) Once Young Je had lifted his hand over his head, Daehyun took the list from Young Jae’s grasp before scanning through the list as well. Luckily, Daehyun knew of a number of places that would sell the remaining things that they needed. If they could just get through this line a little faster, then it shouldn’t take them much longer. “Hey. Do you want to head out on Christmas Eve? I heard that there was a market or something in Union Square that’s going to end that day. We could probably go to a few museums as well if you want.” (DH)
Young Jae merely shook his head as the line finally moved forward. As nice as it was to spend some quality time with the family by going out to all these events, he didn’t find the idea enticing by venturing out into the crowded streets of New York on Christmas Eve. It would be difficult to transverse the crowds with how many of them there are and with the fact that they had a crippled and two babies, it would make things far too difficult and annoying to endure. It was already that way now, so he would rather not go out on a day that’s supposed to be a day for joy and family. Of course… he was fairly certain that he was going to be receiving quite a number of calls from his mother that day as well. “We should just stay at home. You already know that our parents are going to be calling us.” (YJ)
“Alright. So… We’re avoiding them again this year?” (DH)
“Yes.” (YJ) Daehyun let out a quiet chuckle as they moved up once more. They usually avoided their parents during the holidays, though Young Jae didn’t exactly tell him the reason behind it. Yes, he was curious about the reason, but Daehyun wasn’t about to prod Young Jae just to learn his reasoning. If Young Jae didn’t want to go, then that was the end of that. Why bother making a scene out of it?
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“Jonguuup…” (Z) Zelo was currently holding one of the baby’s out at arm’s length, his head turned away in disgust as he tried to ignore the bad smell that was emanating from the baby. One of the baby’s had gone potty in its diaper and unlike Jongup, Zelo didn’t exactly know how to change a baby’s diaper. Plus, it was complete invasion of privacy! He wouldn’t exactly like it if someone came in and decided to change his diaper, not that he was wearing a diaper or anything. Why would he? Diapers were for babies and old people of course, though he hoped that he wouldn’t have to wear a diaper when he’s older. “Jonguuuup…! How do I change the diiiiiaper?” (Z)
Sadly, since he was whispering, there was little to no hope of him waking Jongup. Jongup had gone to his room to take a nap, but he’s been sleeping for about an hour already. Zelo frowned as he gently set the baby on the floor, letting him lay comfortably on his back, before Zelo crawled onto Jongup’s bed. Crawling on top of Jongup, he pressed his body against Jongup’s body as he wrapped his arms and legs around Jongup before slowly rubbing his cheek against Jongup’s cheek. “Jonguuuup… Wake uuuuuuup…! I neeeeeed your heeeeeeelllp…” (Z)
Jongup let out a quiet groan as he attempted to move. Sadly, despite being restricted, Jongup had fallen still once more as he continued to sleep peacefully. When a few more similar attempts had failed, Zelo let out a small sigh as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. Looking down at Jaehwa, whom was currently looking up at him now, Zelo let out another sigh before climbing off of Jongup and off of the bed. Crouching down by Jaehwa, Zelo had reached out to poke the baby’s face, but Jaehwa had grabbed hold of Zelo’s finger before smiling. “You’re adorable and all, but I don’t know how to change your diaper!” (Z)
Jaehwa merely stared up at Zelo before turning his attention back towards Zelo’s finger. Letting out yet another sigh, Zelo pulled his finger from Jaehwa’s grasp before picking the baby up and carrying him out of the room. As he crossed through the living room, Zelo quickly glanced over at Daeho, whom seemed to still be lying happily in that small area. Well, at least he only had to worry about one baby at the moment.
Looking back at Jaehwa, Zelo could see that the baby was still looking around with curiosity. If he didn’t change the baby’s diaper soon, then there would be a number of problems that could arise from the situation. Plus, he did say that he would look after the babies, so he had to do whatever it took to actually take care of these babies… even if it did include changing their diapers.
Putting on a determined face, Zelo quickly made his way over to the baby’s room. Pushing the door open with his foot, Zelo quickly used his elbow to turn on the lights before he looked around for a brief moment. Once he spotted somewhere where he could put Jaehwa down, he quickly made his way over to a nearby table. Setting the baby on top of the table, Zelo looked around for another moment. Where, exactly, would they store the diapers? Wait… What else did he need to change a baby’s diaper?
Zelo smacked his head as he looked back at Jaehwa. He needed to clean the baby first! Though… how was he supposed to go about doing that? Did he have to go to the bathroom and actually… wash… the baby? How was he supposed to do that?! All of this was something that he had no knowledge of, but it was difficult trying to wake Jongup in order to get the job done. “Baby! How do I do this? You know, right? You’ve had your diaper changed plenty of times!” (Z)
Jaehwa merely stared at Zelo before smiling, letting out a small cry signaling that he was currently happy. Zelo let out a small sigh as he leaned forward a bit before poking Jaehwa’s tummy. “I know, I know! You’re super duper adorable, but that doesn’t help either one of us in this crisis! How do I change your diaper?!” (Z)
Just as he asked that, his eyes landed on the nearby box that was currently hidden away in one of the compartments that the table held. Now that he noticed it, the table had a weird and very soft cloth of sorts on it as well as a rather tall shelf connected to the back portion of it. Right then and there, he finally spotted the rather noticeable diapers all neatly stacked along the shelves. Zelo instantly grinned as he stood up straight, quickly grabbing hold of one of the diapers before taking the familiar box from its compartment. Staring at the label for a moment, Zelo’s mood brightened as he realized that these were the wipes that he needed. Why hadn’t he thought about using baby wipes? It would have been far too difficult to try and wash Jaehwa! “Jackpot! Now… Let’s get you changed.” (Z)
Well, that was clearly easier said than done. Despite having the necessary items, Zelo didn’t exactly want to change the baby’s diaper. After all, from what he could smell, he would have to deal with poop and that was something he didn’t want to deal with at all. Looking around, Zelo attempted to find something that would aid him in the process, but it didn’t seem like there was anything at the moment. Of course… an idea quickly popped up in his head as he looked back down at Jaehwa and grinned. “You stay right there! I’ll be reeeeally quick!” (Z)
Running off, Zelo quickly made his way into the kitchen before grabbing the cooking mittens from out of the drawers. As he ran back to the baby’s room, Zelo put the cooking mittens on each hand before stopping in front of the table once more. Furrowing his eyebrows, Zelo stared at the baby once more before letting out a small groan.
It felt really weird doing this. If only Jongup could wake up, then he wouldn’t have to worry about this. Either that, or he could at least watch and learn from Jongup as to how to change a diaper. It would be easier if Jongup did it, but he wasn’t waking up any time soon. “Okay, baby! We’re um… we’re have to get this done!” (Z)
Reaching forward, Zelo hesitated for a moment, but one way or another, he urged himself to pull Jaehwa’s socks and pants off. When Jaehwa was left with only his shirt and diaper, Zelo bit his bottom lip as he stared at the diaper. It was a foreign object to him and he probably wouldn’t know how it worked if it wasn’t for the fact that he had the cleaner ones nearby. Looking at the diaper that he had pulled off the shelf, Zelo quickly picked it up and examined it, before taking the mittens off and setting both the mittens and the diaper back down.
Taking in a deep breath, Zelo slowly began to undo the clasps on the baby’s diaper.
Once that was done, Zelo let out a small whine as he slowly began to peel the front half of the diaper back. As much as he loved babies and how cute they were, Zelo definitely didn’t like having to deal with changing a baby’s diaper. In the future, he hoped that Jongup would take care of it, but for now, he would have to endure as best as he could.
With the front half of the diaper finally down, the smell seemed to instantly hit him, causing him to look away in disgust as he shut his eyes and ceased all attempts at breathing. He held this pose for a few seconds before he slowly turned back to Jaehwa, slowly opening his eyes as he attempted to look at what he needed to handle.
Letting out yet another whine, Zelo quickly took hold of Jaehwa’s ankles as he slowly began to lift Jaehwa’s legs up. He couldn’t help but stare in disgust as he looked at the contents that the diaper had held. What couldn’t babies just be born with the ability to go to the bathroom on their own already? It would make things far easier and at least then, he wouldn’t have to endure this kind of torture!
Switching Jaehwa’s ankles into one hand, Zelo reached over and quickly grabbed hold of the wipes before opening up the top flap. He then pulled at the baby wipe that was sticking out of the hole before quickly covering the contents of the diaper. He had done this only once more before feeling rather satisfied about not having to see it anymore, though… that still left one other issue.
Taking a hold of another baby wipe. Zelo looked at Jaehwa’s bottom as he furrowed his eyebrows. Slowly moving the wipe forward, Zelo’s hand began shaking a bit as he focused solely on the task at hand. Although it was technically an invasion of privacy, Zelo knew that it needed to be done. Just as the wipe was about to come into contact, a voice quickly caught Zelo off guard, causing him to jump and let out a small squeak before he turned and looked up at the doorway. “What are you doing…?” (JU)
“I-I’m… I’m changing his diaper!” (Z)
“But you look funny…” (JU) Zelo hadn’t necessarily noticed it, but his left arm, which he had been using to hold the baby’s legs up, was as far up as Zelo would let it. Zelo was also standing as far as he could from the table and with how careful he was being, it looked more like he was doing some sort of science experiment as opposed to changing a diaper. “Um… Let me do it. I think it’ll be better if I do it.” (JU)
“Yes! Do it, please!” (Z) With everything now in Jongup’s control, Zelo watched as Jongup seemed to not care at all as he wiped Jaehwa clean with the baby wipe. He had used three at most before stuffing the wipes into the old diaper and rolling it up. With the contents all rolled up in the diaper, Jongup resealed the diaper with the latches before simply tossing the used diaper into the nearby trashcan. “Woooooahh… So fast!” (Z)
Jongup merely hummed in response as he opened up the new diaper and took hold of Jaehwa’s ankles once more. Lifting Jaehwa’s legs up, Jongup slid the diaper underneath Jaehwa’s bottom before slowly lowering Jaehwa back down. Taking hold of the nearby baby powder and opening it up, Jongup lifted Jaehwa’s legs just once more as he shook the baby powder, allowing some of its contents to puff out onto the diaper. With the baby powder back in its place, Jongup set Jaehwa’s legs back down, making certain that they were on either side of the diaper, before he closed the front flap over Jaehwa. Bringing either side of the back flaps to the front, he sealed the diaper up before picking Jaehwa up. “There. All done.” (JU)
Jaehwa merely stared at Jongup as he continued on his pacifier. Turning towards Zelo, whom seemed to continue to stare with amazement, Jongup held Jaehwa out to Zelo. Zelo stared in slight confusion, but he took hold of Jaehwa, allowing Jongup the opportunity to put Jaehwa’s clothes back onto him. “Wow…! I didn’t know that changing a baby’s diaper was super easy. But… You ARE going to wash your hands, right?” (Z)
“Mhm.” (JU) Thanks to that small nap he had, Jongup was feeling a bit more refreshed than before. He was grateful that Zelo had been able to come over and not only bring food, but also watch over his brothers while he took his nap. “Um… Thank you.” (JU)
“Thank me? For what?! You changed Jaehwa’s diaper for me!” (Z) Jongup turned a bit red as he took hold of Jaehwa. With one hand under Jaehwa’s bottom and the other hand supporting Jaehwa’s head, he held Jaehwa close to him as he looked at Zelo. He had a bit of an embarrassed smile on his face as he looked away a bit.
“For… um… watching Jaehwa and Daeho for me.” (JU) As Jongup began making his way back out into the living room, Zelo grinned a bit as he followed after him. After Jongup set Jaehwa back down with Daeho, Zelo jumped onto Jongup’s back, wrapping his arms and legs around Jongup as he set his chin on Jongup’s shoulder.
“So does that mean you’ll do whatever I say?” (Z)
“But I already do!” (JU) The two stared at one another and Zelo was about to say something, but the cries of one of the babies quickly drew their attention. Daeho seemed to be acting up now, which was causing Jaehwa to act up as well. Hopping off of Jongup’s back, both teens quickly picked up either baby as they tried to calm them down. “Have they slept yet?” (JU)
“Slept? No. Why?” (Z) Well, at least he already knew the reason as to why they were acting like this. Well... they could have been restless, considering the fact that they had slept about two hours ago, but it was probably the only thing he could think of at the moment.
As the two tried to get the babies to fall asleep, it seemed like their attempts were in vain. Finally, Zelo had given up as he grew tired of trying to get the baby that he was holding to fall asleep. Lying down with Jaehwa lying on top of him, Zelo let out a small whine as he closed his eyes. Oddly enough though, it seemed like Jaehwa’s cries had ceased the second he had done this. Opening his eyes once more, he looked down at Jaehwa, taking note that Jaehwa had fallen asleep. “J-Jongup…!” (Z)
“Let me try…” (JU) Jongup laid down next to Zelo, making certain that he was comfortable before he had Daeho lay on his abdomen as well. It took a moment or so, but Daeho’s cries had slowly died down before the baby had fallen asleep as well. Both teens stared with wide eyes before they looked at one another. They had begun laughing, but they quickly stopped as they felt the babies move from the sudden movement. Breathing as evenly as possible, the two laid there as they stared up at the ceiling.
“Um… What do we do now?” (Z)
“I don’t know… I don’t want to wake them up.” (JU) The two laid there awkwardly, lying there in silence as they continued to stare up at the ceiling above them. After a moment or two, Zelo turned his head to look at Jongup before he began to move as carefully as possible. Tilting his head to the side, Zelo could briefly feel Jongup’s head before it came into complete contact with his. Looking up a bit, he could see Jongup now looking at him with a warm smile. “Should we go to sleep?” (JU)
“Night.” (Z) Zelo grinned before closing his eyes, moving his head a bit so that he was more comfortable. Jongup blinked in slight confusing before he did the same, making sure that their heads were still touching as he quietly voiced his response.
“Night.” (JU)
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“Here. Is this too much for you to carry?” (DH)
“No. Make sure the door’s locked before we go.” (YJ) Daehyun hummed in response as he closed the trunk of the car. Locking the car up, he made certain that the bags that he was carrying was comfortably hanging on his arms before he began pushing Young Jae’s wheelchair forward. “Are you okay back there?” (YJ)
“Yeah. No problem.” (DH) With how cold it currently was, Young Jae didn’t want Daehyun’s health deteriorating from having to both push and carry multiple weights at once. However, if Daehyun was alright for the time being though, then it shouldn’t be a problem. When they made it back to their apartment, they just needed to have Jongup assist Daehyun in transporting the groceries from the car to their apartment. At least that way, Young Jae could stay and take care of the babies so as to remain out of the way.
Once they were back up at their apartment, Young Jae unlocked the front door before pushing it open. Stepping inside, Young Jae looked around as Daehyun pushed the wheelchair into the kitchen. Coming to a stop somewhere in the middle of the kitchen, Daehyun moved all of the groceries onto the counter before looking towards the living room. “Jongup? We’re home.” (DH)
When there was no response, Young Jae looked towards the living room as well. Why wasn’t Jongup responding to them? Was he sleeping? He wouldn’t have done something as irresponsible as leaving the apartment without the babies, would he? No. Young Jae was certain that Jongup wasn’t THAT irresponsible. “Go get the rest of the groceries. I’ll go look for Jongup.” (YJ)
“Alright.” (DH) As Daehyun went to get the rest of the groceries, Young Jae moved his wheelchair out of the kitchen and towards the living room. So far, he didn’t see the babies in the sectioned off area. The television was still playing too, so that meant that Jongup had to be home still. The question was… where exactly was he?
Rolling his wheelchair towards Jongup’s bedroom, Young Jae pushed the door open before looking inside. Almost immediately, his gaze landed on the figures whom were currently laying on the bad. Young Jae gave a small smile as a brief chuckle escaped his lips. He hadn’t expected to come home to this kind of view, but it was still a relatively nice view to come home to.
Moving closer to the bed, Young Jae looked at the four sleeping boys. He would have placed a blanket over them, but they were currently laying on the only one that Jongup currently owned. Taking out his phone, Young Jae quickly looked around to make certain that no one else was around, before he quickly held his phone up and took a picture of the four males. Although he may not make it obvious, Young Jae did love his family quite a lot to want to take pictures of them. He didn’t know if Jongup and Zelo would stay together in the future, but it was still nice to have these memories. After all… he didn’t want to end up forgetting anything ever again.
After taking a few pictures here and there, Young Jae put his cell phone away before letting out a small sigh. He would have woken Jongup and Zelo up to help with the groceries, but he kind of wanted to continue letting them sleep. From what he could assume, they had been hard at work, trying to take care of the babies. So why not let them rest up? Of course… it may be better if he could get the babies off of the two teens. There was no telling what could happen if they leave that babies on top of them.
While he attempted to figure out how to transfer the babies elsewhere without waking them up, a hand took Young Jae by surprise, causing him to jump and let out a small yelp before he quickly clasped a hand over his mouth. Turning to look up at Daehyun, Young Jae furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyelids as he glared at Daehyun. Daehyun quietly chuckled as he quietly mouthed his apologies before looking at the four males on the bed. “Guess we should leave them alone.” (DH)
“That is an idea, but we should move the babies to their cribs. I don’t want them getting hurt if either Jongup or Zelo roll around in their sleep.” (YJ) Daehyun slowly nodded as he moved next to the bed. Unlike Young Jae, Daehyun already knew how best to move the babies without waking them. Slowly, he lifted one baby up, making sure to be as careful as possible as he had his arms parallel with the baby’s body. Using the arm that normally supported the baby’s head, he used that hand to support the baby’s bottom while he used his other hand to support his head. Moving as quickly and carefully as possible, Daehyun moved from Jongup’s room before heading off to the baby’s room.
Young Jae stared for a moment, not quite certain as to why Daehyun would carry the baby like that whenever either of them fell asleep. Each and every time he did it, Young Jae always ended up worried that the baby would end up falling or slipping from Daehyun’s grasp, but as long as Daehyun was careful, then Young Jae would remain quiet about it. After all, he had attempted to voice his concerns before, but Daehyun always managed to convince him otherwise… which was relatively annoying.
After Daehyun had transferred both babies safely into their cribs, Daehyun pushed Young Jae’s chair towards the kitchen. He had already brought all of the groceries upstairs thanks to the foldable shopping cart that they owned; it was a lot faster to transfer everything in one to two trips as opposed to bringing it up in three or more trips. “So, we’re gonna cook now?” (DH)
“Well, that’s the current plan.” (YJ) What else did Daehyun think that they were going to end up doing in the kitchen? Okay… so there were quite a number of things that they could do in the kitchen, but now was not the time for such things. They had to get dinner ready, plus, both Jongup and Zelo were here. It wouldn’t exactly bode well if they ended up getting caught by those two. Who knows what kind of questions or possibly notes they would take? It was always a possibility that Zelo would convince Jongup to stay hidden while they took notes of everything they did.
“What are you thinking about?” (DH) Young Jae instantly stiffened upon hearing Daehyun’s question. Did he know what he was thinking about and was just asking a question to catch him in the act? No, no. That was ridiculous! How could Daehyun constantly know what he was thinking about? He just needed to avoid the question, or rather, avoid telling what he really was thinking about.
“Did you… Make sure to put the rest of the presents in the bedroom?” (YJ)
“Yeah. I just have to make sure to wrap it. You know… I’m surprised you got Yongguk and Himchan a present this year. Last year, you just gave them coal and called them naughty.” (DH) Daehyun could still remember Himchan’s expression when he opened the box and saw that piece of coal just sitting inside. If it hadn’t been for Yongguk, Himchan probably would have thrown it somewhere, specifically at Young Jae.
“Hmph… I would have gotten them coal once more, but I believe that they actually aided us quite a bit this year.” (YJ) Coming to a stop, Daehyun let go of Young Jae’s wheelchair before he began gathering the things that they needed to make tonight’s dinner. Young Jae watched, a bit of a smile on his face as he sat comfortably in his wheelchair. In a way, he was used to having everything being done and given to him now. Sure, Young Jae disliked not doing these things on his own, but at least it gave him a bit more time to sta- SCOLD… his husband.
“Hey...” (DH) Just as Young Jae pulled himself from his thoughts, his eyes widened as he felt a pair of lips softly come into contact with his. Reaching up, Young Jae had just briefly touched Daehyun’s jaw line before Daehyun pulled away with that warm smile of his. “That got your attention. What am I supposed to do first?” (DH)
Young Jae stared at Daehyun for a moment as his eyebrows slightly furrowed. That’s the only reason Daehyun kissed him? To get his attention?! Well, he would just have to let it pass for the time being. At least he was able to get a kiss out of it… not that he needed an excuse to get such kisses from his husband. “The… cut the vegetables first.” (YJ)
With a nod, Daehyun turned around before he went towards the sink, where he had washed the vegetables ahead of time. Young Jae turned his wheelchair a bit before rolling it over to where Daehyun was. Looking into the sink, Young Jae watched as Daehyun pulled one of the vegetables out before setting it onto the nearby cutting board. After a few seconds had passed, Young Jae leaned back in his seat as he looked down towards the ground. “Hey…” (YJ)
“Hm?” (DH)
“If… Not that you would have the answers to my questions or anything, but… Do you believe I’ll keep my memories with no other problems?” (YJ) Daehyun completed a single slice before setting the knife down and looking at Young Jae. He could see the uncertainty on Young Jae’s face, but he didn’t exactly have the correct answer to his question. In fact, he didn’t even know what else could happen. A year after the whole time reversal had occurred and yet, it was only then that Young Jae had fallen into a comatose state because of those memories. Still… if he remembered everything now, then there shouldn’t be any more problems, right?
“Yeah… I believe that you’ll have no other problems. We just… have to keep moving forward and hope for the best, right?” (DH) Young Jae nodded as a slight smile came onto his face. He really did end up feeling more confident thanks to Daehyun’s words… not that he wasn’t already confident to begin with. Still, it was nice to know that at least Daehyun would continue to support him.
“Thanks.” (YJ)
“Hey… That’s what I’m here for, right?” (DH) Daehyun chuckled slightly before he went back to chopping the vegetables. Young Jae let out a small sigh as he leaned back in his seat, if he wasn’t already. He really was glad that he had Daehyun all to himself. Yes, he would admit to being happily married to Daehyun, though he wouldn’t admit to it often. Still, he could only smile with satisfaction as he stared up at Daehyun.
Maybe.. they really will be able to move forward.
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
Yay >3<..
An update finally!
Sadly, it’s the last chapter for the fanfic ._.
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading this fanfic!
I know that this story wasn’t as good as the first, buuuut
At least you have a bit of an idea as to what DaeJae’s life is now. X3
(Well… in this story anyway.)
I hope that you all enjoyed it and please, look forward to my future fanfics! ]]
Uh.. I apologize for the tardiness! I'm having writer's block, so please be patient a little while longer >.< Sorry for the wait ;; !!!
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