Just Add Water: Part 1

4.1 K

Fluff, Romance, Kid!Jongin

Kyungsoo wasn't expecting much from all the hype surrounding the new dating trend called Grow a Boyfriend so much so that he didn't believe he’d fall in love.

-

"Here Kyungsoo, I got you one since you're so uptight about them."

Kyungsoo eyes a small box with the gaudiest design sprawled on it. It even has the picture of some random model that was probably paid millions to have their image on the box. Kyungsoo looks up at Jongdae; said boy gives him a sly smirk.

"I don't need it, I'm perfectly capable of finding someone who suits my needs anyways," Kyungsoo smacks the hand away. Grunting a bit, Jongdae grabs the boy's hand with his own free hand and lays the box in his hand, "C'mon, Kyungsoo we both know that's bull. You haven't given anyone a chance since Wufan and that's been what... 3 years!?"

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, "Some people take longer to heal than others."

"Bull, here just take the box and try it out. Look, if you don't like it, just send it back what's the worst that could happen?"

Kyungsoo groans out clutching on to the small box. Jongdae smiles when he sits on the opposite side of him. They're currently at a small café in town, Jongdae had to practically drag the boy out of his little man cave. Kyungsoo inspects the box a bit before Jongdae talks aloud, “Besides Minseok and I are getting along just fine. He was small when I got him, but now that he’s nearly my height it’s a bit different waking up to cuddles and kisses.”

“Gross,” Kyungsoo mutters beneath his breath as he tips the box on its side looking at the directions. Jongdae stirs some tea on his table evaluating Kyungsoo’s reaction to the box. Come to think of it Kyungsoo’s rarely tried anything fun lately. Jongdae’s tried to get Kyungsoo on SNS like Instagram or Vine, but boy always responds with his old man reply of ‘it’s too complicated.’

Jongdae sighs.

Kyungsoo might be in for a surprise this time though. His eyebrows rise when he opens the tab at the top opening the flimsy cardboard.

“Who’s this guy, Kim Jongin, what is this?” Kyungsoo flips through the small paper thin booklet, its sprawled with words about to care for this ‘boyfriend’ until he ‘fully matures,’ whatever that means.

Jongdae sets his cup down, “That’s the guy I picked out for you. I didn’t really know who’d you like so I just guessed, but really I chose someone who was different than… well. You know who.”

Kyungsoo snorts, “Picking someone that isn’t Wufan isn’t going to help.”

Kyungsoo eyes the tall guy pictured in the booklet. He got darken skin and he looks almost intimidating. Kyungsoo sighs, “I don’t know, Jongdae. It looks too complicated.”

Jongdae nearly whacks the boy over the head, “Complicated, all you have to do is add water. It’s like owning a plant until it matures. You’ll be fine, plus the instructions are pretty easy to follow.”

Kyungsoo gives another sigh, assuming his fate, “If you say so.”

When Kyungsoo gets home, putting his key in the lock, the last thing on his mind is the box. He sets his stuff on a nearby table, his coat on the coat rack and takes off his shoes. He sighs before taking the stuff off the small table and walks into his living room. The small apartment is cozy and quiet enough so Kyungsoo can work alone peacefully. He sets down his satchel he brought with him when Jongdae brought him to the café.

He’s tired and he wants to get his newest compositions done before the deadline next month. So throws his remaining stuff on the couch before thinking about taking a shower. Kyungsoo hears a clunk as he’s just about to go to his room to change. He turns around noticing, the Grow a Boyfriend box lying on the floor. The top is open and the contents spill out on the plush carpet. Kyungsoo sighs and treads over to the mess, “What is Jongdae thinking, this guy isn’t even my type.”

He picks up a small tube; it has a small adhesive band around keeping the contents inside from spilling. Kyungsoo guess that’s where ‘Kim Jongin’ is. Kyungsoo looks at the tube, it looks pretty interesting.

From what Kyungsoo has seen on the news, magazines, and blog posts this was supposed to be a new ‘safer’ alternative to dating.

Kyungsoo snorts, the whole process seems dumb. Basically they take some guy’s DNA and mix it in with whatever chemicals are in the tube. Once the tube is exposed with water, that’s where the magic happens.

Kyungsoo’s seen the pictures and interviews.

Once the tube has enough time to ‘mature’ you get a small human around the size of a small toddler for a few months. The premise is for you to get attached to this small human then in five months the human grows even more to a larger full sized human. The news sources also highlighted that the latest tubes also have a built in feature that requires the use one’s own DNA, by the prick of the finger, so the human will only ‘love’ you and match to your age when he/she matures.

It’s all too complicated for Kyungsoo to understand, but he guess that’s how some people find love nowadays.

He shakes his head thinking back to the time Jongdae first brought in a toddler sized Minseok into his apartment. The small human barely reached up to his knees and would constantly want attention from Jongdae. The closest thing Kyungsoo could compare Minseok to be that of a small child. Minseok was very naïve and shy so Kyungsoo could only guess how Jongdae felt when he first got his own ‘boyfriend.’

Kyungsoo shrugs his shoulders thinking back on Jongdae’s words… Look, if you don't like it, just send it back what's the worst that could happen?

“ you Kim Jongdae,” he says when he grabs the tube and small booklet and walks into the kitchen. He reads the simple three step instructions.

1. Place a cleaned finger on bottom piece of tube.

Press down firmly as a small needle will activate pricking the finger.

Kyungsoo looks at the tube, setting the small booklet on the counter. He finds a small black circle on the bottom of the tube. He places his finger on the bottom of the tube and press down, “.”

He winces from the small pain. Kyungsoo’s not too good with needles. He wipes his finger off before setting the tube on the counter to read the next step.

2. Fill water in a 10 gallon container.

Make sure water is at room temperature.

Kyungsoo looks around his kitchen; he thought it would just need a small cup of water. He wanders around his apartment for a while finding no ten gallon container until he walks past his bathroom. He back tracks eyeing his bathtub.

He sighs, and he really wanted to take a shower too. He walks back into the kitchen to find the tube on the counter. Kyungsoo notices the tube is mixing a bit; the once clear liquid now is a dark hazy mixture. He grabs the tube before walking back into the bathroom. He fills the bathtub full and makes sure it’s warm. Kyungsoo’s house is nearly freezing since he refuses to turn up the heat; it’s too costly his reasoning is. So he plays with the idea of ‘room temperature.’

Once the bathtub is full he tosses the tube in the water. He waits for a bit expecting a whole light show, but nothing happens. Thinking he did something wrong, Kyungsoo walks back into the kitchen to find the small booklet. He scans the page and his eyes land on the last step:

3. Please allow tube to be submerged in water for 5-6 hours.

“,” is all Kyungsoo says before looking at the clock in his small bathroom. It’s nearly 9 PM. He groans like the overgrown adult he is and turns off the bathroom light and walks back into the living room.

“All there is now is to wait I guess,” Kyungsoo tosses the booklet on the couch before walking off into his bedroom. He really wanted that shower too, but he has to wait until tomorrow. He walks into his small room. It only has his bed, a small desk for work and his dresser. He flops down on his bed before stretching and yawning a bit. He slowly dozes off into dreamland.

-

Kyungsoo stirs when he feels something poking at his cheek. He tries to fleck whatever’s disturbing his sleep, but the poking persists. He moves a bit stretching his limbs and letting out a yawn. He rubs his cloudy eyes, and quickly notices a small figure standing in front of him. His eyes shoot open seeing the small boy looking at him curiously.

The small boy has on a pink button up shirt and he’s wearing jeans with suspenders holding them up. The boy’s skin is a light tan color while his raven hair reaches down to his eyebrows. He looks scared when Kyungsoo leans in closer to him.

“Uh, hello?” Kyungsoo says when the boy’s fingers twaddle together likes he’s nervous. The smaller looks up at him. He hears the smallest voice come out from the little one, “Hi.”

Kyungsoo gives the little boy a smile, his tube thingy must have worked. The little one looks around his room, he head moves around but his body stays still. The boy turns his head a little too far and he’s falling over, losing his balance. Kyungsoo heavily resists the urge to coo when the boy looks up at him. The small boy pouts and holds his arms out grabbing for him.

“What?” Kyungsoo’s not too sure what the little boy wants and he sets himself on the side of the bed; his feet touching the floor.

The small boy’s bottom lip wobbles