When January swings around a few months later, Heechul is surprised that the kids are doing the next season of Hello Baby. He and Taemin have grown a lot closer in the last few months, so it seems perfectly natural for the boy to be curled up against his side while they watch an animated Christmas movie Taemin picked out after finishing filming the first couple episodes of the reality show. He gets worried when the boy seems upset about something, not even letting out a quirk of the lips at some cheesy line from one of the characters on screen.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Heechul asks, looking down at the boy he has pulled close to him.

“Nothing,” Taemin mumbles, his eyes not leaving the screen.

“There’s something wrong; tell me.” Heechul urges, running a hand up and down Taemin’s arm in a way that’s become a habit through the last few months.

“It’s that stupid show.” Taemin mutters, letting out a huff, “Key and Minho are just annoying, that’s all.”

“Why don’t you tell me about the show, then? I’ve been curious about it, anyway.” Heechul suggests, and Taemin shifts around for a moment to make himself more comfortable against the man’s side.

“The kid’s cute, I guess; all babies are cute, though.” Taemin says quietly, “It’s just that Minho and Key keep bragging about how the kid likes them best.”

“He’s what, two? How can they even tell?” Heechul laughs, trying to get Taemin to lighten up.

“Those stupid love affection tests.” Taemin grumbles, the expression on his face turning sour, “Stupid kid picked me last and those two won’t let me hear the end of it.”

“Those things are so fake, kid.” Heechul tells him, “He’s a baby; he probably just goes to the first one he looks at.”

“Onew didn’t even play with him! I played with him and talked to him and everything, and he picks Onew over me? What the hell!” Taemin seems so distressed over it that it almost makes Heechul laugh, “They won’t even let me hold him, now.”

The last part comes out quietly, and it confuses the man to no end, “Why’s that?”

“They said it’s ‘cause I was the last place dad in the first episode, so it means I must be the worst dad out of all of us.” Taemin mumbles, “Minho hogs all the kid’s attention whenever Key isn’t in his face.”

“You do know that you’re a kid, too, right?” Heechul jokes, laughing quietly to himself.

“I know, but,” Taemin sighs, playing with the end of Heechul’s sweater, “I just wanna be a good dad, that’s all.”

“I bet you’re a great dad, Taemin.” Heechul tells him softly, his fingers ruffling Taemin’s hair lightly.

“Thanks,” The two continue to watch the corny children’s movie, and Heechul wonders what might happen if those two don’t let Taemin hold the kid soon.

A couple weeks later, Heechul watches from the back of the room as two of s mess around with the baby SHINee are taking care of. He notices how Minho is the one holding him, Taemin standing off to the side as he watches with a small smile on his face. He starts walking towards the small group, and he can tell that he startles the tall boy holding the baby when he speaks.

“Hey, how about you let Taemin hold the kid?” Heechul suggests, and the four turn to stare at him, Taemin with an exasperated look on his face.

“Don’t,” Taemin pleads quietly when Heechul comes to stand next to him, but the man chooses to ignore him as he grins and plays peek-a-boo with the baby, making him giggle.

“Yoogeun,” Heechul sings playfully, “Yoogeunnie, do you know who I am?”

The baby looks at Heechul for a moment before turning back to Taemin, pointing a finger back and forth at the two of them while a few people in the room laugh.

“Does he look like Taeminnie, Yoogeun?” One member asks, laughing.

Heechul takes hold of the baby, laughing when the baby calls him “grandpa.”

“Can you cut this out, please?” Taemin turns and begs the staff, but he doesn’t receive a response, so he turns back to the baby being placed into his arms.

“Hold him, Taemin.” Heechul says softly, smiling at the boy.

Taemin shifts Yoogeun so he’s sitting on his hip, and he smirks before making Yoogeun look in Heechul’s direction, “Who’s that, Yoogeunnie? That’s an old man, huh? Say “old man,” Yoogeun.”

“Old man,” The words are said quietly by the toddler, but Taemin grins and laughs at the look on the man’s face.

“Who is he?” Taemin asks again, laughing harder when the baby repeats, “Old man.”

“Good boy, Yoogeun.” Taemin praises the baby in his arms, patting his cheek and smirking at the man who looks so scandalized in front of him. The others in the room laugh as well, and even Heechul has a small smile on his face.

“High five,” Taemin holds one hand up in front of the baby, and he receives a bright smile from the toddler as a small hand hits his softly.

When they leave the room a few minutes later, Minho is holding Yoogeun again, but Taemin takes the baby’s small hand in his and makes him wave at the people in the room.

“Yoogeun, say “bye, bye, Grandpa Heechul.”” Taemin tells the baby, who repeats the words to the man who looks shocked at what Taemin says.

“Bye, bye, Grandpa Heechul.” The baby says in a sing-song voice, laughing along with the people around him.

Taemin pinches Yoogeun’s cheek carefully as they walk out, completely missing the expression on Heechul’s face as they leave.

Heechul is completely thrown for a loop when Taemin tells the baby to call him “Grandpa Heechul.” The name makes Heechul’s heart skip a beat, and he can’t speak for a moment while the boy walks out with the toddler and his group mate. It’s the closest he’s gotten to Taemin calling him “dad,” and he’ll take whatever he can get at this point.

The thought of Taemin having his “son” call him “Grandpa Heechul” brings the widest smile to his face that some of s have ever seen, and they question him about it until they finally give up when he gives them no answer.

So a few weeks later, when they finally both have time in their busy schedules to spend together, Heechul takes his son out to eat. Taemin requested street food, so they both have beanies and fluffy jackets on as they walk the streets with their food. Heechul can’t help but smile at the boy as they talk.

“You had the baby call me “grandpa.”” Heechul says after a bit, and Taemin looks up at the man after he takes a bite of his food.

“Yeah, he’s cute, huh?” Taemin laughs, recalling the memory.

“Not as cute as you, though.” Heechul tells him, moving to ruffle the back of Taemin’s hair.

The teenager moves his head away, a small grimace on his face, “God, you’re so embarrassing sometimes.”

“How am I embarrassing?” Heechul asks, staring at the boy in disbelief.

“You just, you say things like that.” Taemin whines, “It’s embarrassing.”

“No one’s even around, kid.” Heechul is the one laughing this time, and Taemin pouts at him in retaliation.

“Can I stay at your place tonight?” Taemin suddenly asks, changing the subject, “The members have been getting on my nerves; I need a break from them, even if it’s just for a night.”

“Course, kid.” Heechul agrees quietly, and Taemin nods .

“Thanks.” They’re quiet again for a while, both of them eating in silence as they look at the display windows of various shops.

Later that night, after Taemin successfully ate most of the food in the dorm’s fridge despite having already eaten out with Heechul, the man finds the boy sprawled out on his bed. The teenager is wearing one of Heechul’s shirts, and his legs are tangled in a blanket with his arms clutching a pillow that he’s drooling all over. At first, Heechul sighs at the sight, and he moves to untangle the blanket from Taemin’s legs before he quickly straightens up with a smirk on his face. The man pulls his phone from his pocket, chuckling to himself as he snaps a picture of the slumbering teenager. Taemin’s hair is messy and half falling in his face, one foot has a sock dangling from his toes, and the sweat pants that look suspiciously like Heechul’s are riding up on his right leg. Basically, he’s the perfect picture of a sleeping teenager, and Heechul loves it.

Heechul snorts as he uploads the photo online with the caption, “Mini-Me has invaded my bed.”

After he gets over his amusement of the picture, exhaustion finally takes over and he turns off the light, heading over to the bed to push the boy over.

“Move over, Taemin.” Heechul tells him in a tired voice, and the teenager only whines and buries his head further into the pillow.

Heechul rolls his eyes at the kid, and he pulls the blanket from Taemin’s legs to put over both of their shoulders. While Heechul adjusts himself on the bed, Taemin moves in his sleep so that his head is practically under the man’s chin, and Heechul can’t help but smile at the soft breath that leaves Taemin’s mouth. His fingers play with the ends of Taemin’s hair until he himself falls asleep.

The next morning, Taemin is on his phone while he shovels cereal into his mouth, and Heechul scoffs at the amount of food the boy eats.

“That’s, like, your third bowl, Taemin.” Heechul tells him, “All you do when you come over here is sleep and eat all our food.”

“I’m a growing boy.” Taemin says in a defensive tone of voice, “I need to eat.”

“Just save some for the others, would ya?” Heechul asks, and all he receives is a grunt in response.

They’re quiet for a few minutes, only talking when a few Super Junior members come in and out of the kitchen, most of them ruffling Taemin’s hair on the way to the fridge. Heechul raises an eyebrow while he sips at his coffee when the boy starts to whine about something.

“Oh my God,” The words are dragged out, and Taemin’s face is scrunched up, “This is why you’re so embarrassing!”

The boy shoves his phone across the table, the picture Heechul posted last night on the screen. Siwon leans over from behind Heechul, and he laughs at the picture.

“I look disgusting!” Taemin whines, “Why’d you even take that?”

“You look cute!” Heechul tells him, and Siwon agrees.

Taemin puts his head in his hand as he groans out, “People are gonna think we’re screwing each other or something, now!”

“Hey! Don’t talk like that!” Heechul scolds him, but Taemin only scoffs.

“People ship me with you, you know.” Taemin tells him, his eyes narrowing, “Do you know how wrong that is? You’re my father.”

The boy shivers at the mere thought of it, but all Heechul can process is that the boy has called him his father for the first time since their fight on Taemin’s birthday, and this time, it isn’t because Taemin is drunk and ranting about how horrible Heechul is. The man gets over his initial shock to laugh at the boy and tell him he’s worrying over nothing.

“Plus, you’re, like, an old man. It would be gross even if we weren’t related.” Taemin mutters, and Heechul glares at the couple members who laugh.

“Go get your stuff; you need to leave soon, or you’ll be late for your first schedule.” Heechul tells him, and Taemin groans as he gets up to retrieve his things from Heechul’s room.

“Who would want to be late to record their fake morning with their fake baby? Certainly not me, oh no.” Taemin mumbles sarcastically, but he gathers his things and follows Heechul to the parking garage without complaint.

When they’re almost to where they’re filming Hello Baby, Heechul groans into the coffee he’s drinking.

“I feel like I’m driving my kid to school.” He mumbles, “This is weird.”

“In a way, you kinda are.” Taemin mutters, chuckling a bit as he taps away at his phone, “Except I’m not learning, I’m playing with a kid that isn’t mine but calls me “Taeminnie appa,” anyways.”

Heechul laughs at the teenager’s words, and Taemin glances at him from the corner of his eye.

“What if I started calling you “dad,” hmm? Like how Yoogeun calls us, you can be “Daddy Heechul.”” Taemin says in a teasing tone, but Heechul can’t tell if he’s really joking or if he’s serious.

“You can call me whatever you want,” He tells Taemin softly, but after a moment of thinking, he adds, “So long as it’s not something like “dickwipe,” because believe it or not, I don’t exactly find it the most flattering of names.”

Taemin lets out a loud laugh at that, as if he’s recalling how amusing it was for him to address the man by such a name a few months ago.

“So I guess “ head” is out of the question, then?” Taemin asks, a smirk on his face as Heechul pulls over in front of the Hello Baby house.

“Definitely out of the question.” Heechul tells him in a stern voice, but Taemin only laughs, “Now go, you don’t want to be late.”

Taemin grabs his bag, and Heechul has to remind him to put his shoes back on before he gets out of the car. He’s still wearing the clothes he slept in, and they’re wrinkly and messy, but the puffy jacket at least makes it look a little better. He’ll be changing into the clothes the stylists pick out, anyways, so it’s not such a big deal what he shows up in.

Taemin doesn’t exactly look at Heechul as he closes the door, quietly saying, “Thanks, dad.”

The boy is hurrying through the gate before Heechul can react, but the grin on his face doesn’t leave even when he arrives at his own schedule. That one little word just makes his day, and the way it sounds in his son’s voice bounces around his mind the whole day and puts him in such a good mood that it almost frightens some people.

He even laughs when Taemin sends him a text saying, “I was the first member here. You rushed me for nothing old man.”