Blind

*I'm not educated in Old English, so yuh, sorry if the usage is wrong >.<

“Ugh. He’s so cute!”

Chanyeol makes cooing noises, as he tickles the living daylights out of Kyungsoo. The little toddler shrieks in laughter, as some drool starts dribbling down his chin.

“Jongin, you’re like, the most blessed guy in the planet to have a baby bro this cute. As our literature teacher would say: how can thou not appreciate-eth this? Art thoust blindeth? ”

Jongin rolls his eyes, as he continues to focus on the game at hand. He maniacally maneuvers the game controller, because he’s this close to winning the race. When he passes the finish line first, he punches the air in victory, yelling out a score! Then he promptly grabs a handful of chips from the chip bowl, and shoves it in his mouth.

“Pleash, Chanyur,” the tanned male speaks, mouth still full. Saliva comes out after each word he says, and Chanyeol is disgusted. “He ish such a baby.”

“Well, duh. Kyungsoo’s seven.”

“Seven ish olsh enuff!” This time, spit lands on Chanyeol’s shirt and the tall one grimaces.

Jongin finally swallows and speaks properly.

“Seven is old enough! He’s already seven, but he keeps bugging me to color his coloring books with him and watch Pororo with him. Plus he still wants me to feed him sometimes, or sleep together in bed, or even read him bedtime stories. Shouldn’t he be a little more independent as a seven-year-old?”

Kyungsoo pouts at this as he moves to sit up. “But Jonginnie hyung, Kyungie just wanna play with you.”

“And he also does that weird thing where he refers to himself as a third person,” Jongin waves his hand at Kyungsoo’s direction to gesticulate.

Chanyeol simply shrugs as he pulls Kyungsoo onto his lap. He can see the confusion etched onto the toddler’s face, and he feels bad for the little guy. He glares at Jongin, to which the latter just sticks his tongue out.

“Dude, he’s only seven; of course, you need to give him proper attention. Plus your parents are always out, so you’re all he has. As the older brother, you have to be more considerate of him. You should be thankful you even have a brother. As a single child, I’ve never had the pleasure of having a sibling.”

Jongin just scoffs. He’s not interested in bonding or whatever. He’s more interested in video game marathons, eating junk food, and being undisturbed while doing so. That’s what sixteen-year-olds do.

“You can have him if you like,” the tanned male offers.

When Kyungsoo hears it, his lips start to wobble and his eyes begin to water. Before Jongin knows it, the kid’s sobbing into Chanyeol’s shirt.

“Jonginnie hyung doesn’t love Kyungie!” the small boy whimpers.

Chanyeol gently comforts the child, as he shoots laser beams at Jongin for being a meanie. Jongin just shrugs because, really, having to take care of a younger sibling is tasking. He always has to pay attention to Kyungsoo or else he’ll get in big trouble with his parents. Because it’s summer break right now, Kyungsoo is often left to his care and he can’t always go out with his friends. Kyungsoo’s glued to his side 24/7, and it’s no fun. Baby-sitting .

“You know what Kyungie, Jongin’s just being a grumpy old man,” Chanyeol begins. Jongin throws a chip at him, but the taller ignores it. “Do you want to hang-out with me instead? We can go to the playground at the park and eat ice cream.”

The younger’s crying subsides as he looks up at Chanyeol with wide-eyes.

“Really? Really, Yeollie hyung? You will play with Kyungie?”

“Yeah! Let’s go out and have some fun!” Chanyeol smooches Kyungsoo’s chubby cheeks, and the kid giggles. Jongin fakes gagging noises.

Later on, Chanyeol dresses up Kyungsoo in a white shirt with Pororo on it, and light blue overalls. Then he helps Kyungsoo  put his little feet into the little Pororo sneakers. Lastly, he puts a blue cap on Kyungsoo’s head.

“Ugh. Again, this baby is adorable like a baby penguin~~” Chanyeol carries Kyungsoo in his arms as the little boy starts poking his nose. Chanyeol glances at Jongin who’s busy playing some other game, this time with guns involved. Chanyeol sighs in disappointment.

“Jongin, we’re leaving for our playdate. Are you sure you don’t want to come?” The tall male tries. “Kyungie wants you to come, don’t you Soo?”

“Yessssssssssssss!” The toddler all but claps. “C’mon, Jonginnie hyung! It’s gonna be fun! The playground, Jonginnie hyung! The playgroundddddddd!”

“Meh. I think I should stay to guard the house,” Jongin replies offhandedly, munching on his chips.

Kyungsoo deflates a little, and Chanyeol again, is disappointed.

“Thou art blindeth!” Chanyeol hollers for the last time, as he and Kyungsoo step out.

“Thou art retarded!” Jongin replies.

--

“Sometimes, Kyungie not so sure if Jonginnie hyung loves him…” Kyungsoo says as he a fat stripe up his ice cream. They just finished playing on the swings and chasing butterflies, so now he and Chanyeol are seated on the cool grass, just chillin’. He got a ton of cool leaves too, while they walked around. He accidentally stepped on one and it made a crunch sound. So now, he's got a lot in his pocket for further crunching to be continued at home.

“Aww, of course he loves you Kyungie,” Chanyeol pats the boys head affectionately. “He just… has a weird way of expressing it. And even if he acts like a , you still have me, don’t you? Tell me if he’s being mean to you, and I’ll come over right away to poke his ribcage.”

Kyungsoo giggles because he doesn’t know what a ribcage is, and assumes that it must be a funny thing teenagers say.

“Do you love me, Yeollie hyung?” the kid smiles as cutely as possible, even batting his eyelashes. It makes Chanyeol slap his knee in glee, because that’s really adorable. He wishes he had a brother like Kyungsoo.

“Of course, Kyungie~” The taller sets Kyungsoo to sit on his lap, as he kisses the kid’s button nose. “I love you lots.”

--

Kyungsoo hasn’t bugged Jongin in days. Chanyeol comes over more than he used to.

It’s safe to say that Jongin was having the time of his life.

Because Kyungsoo always asked Chanyeol to come over, the tanned male was relieved of his brotherly responsibilities. He was able to focus on gaming, snacking, and even watched movies freely. He could go out with his friends and do as he pleases. He was free.

It was the life he always dreamed of.

But sooner or later, that high feeling went away, replaced with something like a blank space.

At some point, there was a nagging feeling in his heart that he didn't understand.

There came a time, the emptiness in the house made Jongin feel a little… lonely.

But he wouldn’t admit it.

There came a time, when Kyungsoo excitedly bounced on his feet to be lifted up by Chanyeol, Jongin felt the sting of jealousy.

But he wouldn’t admit it.

There came a time, when Jongin wanted to ask if he could come along in Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s adventures.

But he wouldn’t admit it.

Finally, Jongin notices the changes that reality slapped in his face.

The pictures on the fridge were selfies of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo’s room was full of doodles of Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo never needs him anymore. He’s got Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo always cries a little when Chanyel has to leave.

They say I love you to each other all the time.

Jongin feels empty inside most often.

He actually waits for the ‘Jonginnie hyung’ that never comes.

He sees Kyungsoo smiling up at Chanyeol so genuinely; he wonders when the last time Kyungsoo had smiled at him.

Kyungsoo’s small hands always reach out for Chanyeol’s bigger ones, and Jongin misses the times he was in Chanyeol’s place.

Things are a little lonely now.

The games and the food and the doing-whatever-he-wanted, aren’t as satisfying as they were before.

“Kyungsoo, stop bugging Chanyeol so much,” Jongin once said. “He can’t always make time for you.”

“Yes, he can,” Kyungsoo answered, sure of himself. “He always makes time for Kyungie. Yeollie hyung loves Kyungie. Kyungie loves him lots too.”

Jongin realizes, that maybe, he was blind.