But that was okay, because slowly, the little giggles that came from the lips of a forever hungry and sleepy child seemed to be... maybe a little bit worth it.

Jongin would hug the child at night and whisper sweet things to him in his ear, helping him fall asleep before he is taken into the crib Jongin got as a present from the members. Eventually it took a few months but when Jongin warmed up to the kid, he was more than in love with him. He would bring him secretly with them to rehearsals because they couldn't afford getting a care taker for the child and letting people know there is a baby in the EXO dorms, lest rumors arise and threaten to dissolve what little calm they had the past few months. So he had to take care of the baby himself. Which was getting better because apparently like his dad, the baby was more than excited about music and watching the guys dance. The more they spent their time together, the more he felt that Changsung really was his child, a little cute piece of chub that would get excited when he hears music and people dancing around him. And more often than not, he actually didn't bother or ruin rehearsals for the guys, so that was a relief. 

Soon enough Jongin would get attached to the child. He would be inseparable from him and would take him everywhere. If in public? He usually claimed he is babysitting his sister's child. No one could actually dissolve that truth. And his sister who questioned him about these odd rumors around him, he simply would find a new excuse each time. She usually believed him, mostly because she didn't feel like prying not did she think there is any good reason for him to lie to her.

Soon enough even the other members couldn't get enough of the child and the moment the child started crawling there was no member out there that didn't take his phone out to capture the moment on his phone. Or his first words, and steps. Soon enough they would cry at every first the child did and their phones and laptops were filled with precious baby firsts. The child was developing relatively slow compared to others but it was okay. They loved it because that meant that they were pretty much there to witness everything, despite losing almost a full year with the baby. His cute started to overshadow the fact he would still sometimes wake them all up at the middle of the night and cause chaos in the dorms. Although they would all complain then, and hiss and growl and smack Jongin for this, they would never be mad at the baby. It was all Jongin's fault anyway. If anything happened to cause the baby to cry, Jongin would be the one getting the blame while they all fawned over the child in efforts to calm him down. 

"Hey Jongin, I want to have a baby too. You didn't want him at first, right? Does that mean I can have him. He's soooooooo cute I can die. I promise I'll take care of him." He would often hear Chanyeol, Joonmyun and Jongdae say, each in their own version and phrasing. And although at the beginning he would just jump on the opportunity to have this baby someone else's problem, soon enough he was so attached to him that even letting the members hold Changsung would require a lot of convincing. Jongin grew so enamored with the child that he could just gasp at the others and with a scowl, turn away and quickly huff a loud. "No way! Mine!" Before rushing away with his baby into safety. 

He wasn't bothered as the year passed and soon the child was getting big and would prefer waddling on his own rather than letting his daddy carry him everywhere, because he still would. He would hold the huffy, energetic child and walk with him proudly around the dorms or in the practice rooms and would be the father he didn't want to be when the child just entered his life. 

He would obviously melt whenever the child would coo, whine, whimper, push at him, pull at him or just breathe at that point. The more he grew, the more he felt he can see himself in the child. In the cute little nose, that perhaps was a bit thinner and straighter than his own but still a tiny little button in the middle of the baby's face. Or the lips that albeit small, were cute and puffy. His eyes were big and curious and God the way he would giggle or laugh would absolutely make Jongin squeal like a teenage girl and he wasn't even ashamed of that. Jongin was absolutely in love with the child and at some point he began to wonder how he could even get married if he couldn't possibly love anyone more than he loves this adorable mini Jongin. Jongin began to think he didn't need anyone else anyway. He just needed Changsung to remain tiny and his and then he'll be just happy forever. 

He was only ashamed at how long it had taken him to melt into goo at the child's presence and love him more than anything in the world. How could he have looked at this precious soul and be disgusted by it or annoyed by it or anything but completely pliant and submissive to whatever whim Changsung had? It seemed impossible, because if one would look at Jongin now they would never believe this was a man who did not want his son at first. 

"Dada.. nom!" Changsung would yelp whenever he was hungry, pointing into his little mouth with his tiny baby teeth and open his mouth as wide as possible because he expected his father to have food magically appear for him at any time and place. Which soon enough got Jongin into carrying little snacks with him at all times so he could make the child ever so happy and surprised when Jongin would "magically" pull it out of his bag or back pocket and feed it to the child. He loved how cute his tubby tummy was and sometimes he would spend hours just tickling it and blowing raspberries at it until the toddler was crying and squealing and trying to shove his face because he couldn't take it anymore.

"Dada... poo.." He would pout whenever he would feel his diaper is full and gets uncomfortable-- he would still rash up quickly so Jongin was happy his child would tell him when to change his diaper to minimize the possibilities of a rash. In general Jongin tried to have him tell him when he needs to go to the bathroom, and Changsung did start doing so. But often enough he would forget or be too late to tell Jongin he needs to go to the bathroom, so at least he was capable of telling his father about it after he went so his diaper would be changed quickly before he could stink himself up or break into painful redness. 

Generally as he grew, he became more and more restless and jumpy and in need of motion. Especially whenever he was in the practice room and watched the group dancing. He would try to join and dance along with them which once almost made Chanyeol faint from the adorable sight. Jongin would puff up proudly and claim. "That's my son. Future best dancer in the whole world!" Changsung would giggle and smile bashfully while EXO tried their best not to melt. It was hard to concentrate on dancing when Changsung was around and tried imitating his father and hyungs but soon enough they got used to it (As best as they could) and wouldn't stop practice every time Changsung ended up stumbling and flopping onto his and breaking into laughter at his own clumsiness. He was never hurt, given the fact that Jongin would purposely only buy him very puffed up and padded diapers, to keep him bum safe from injuries. Especially because he had chubby legs that sometimes failed under him and caused him to fall down. 

Jongin thought about how when the baby hits 3, he would send him to daycare. But he wanted to take him in a place where he could be liberal and artistic as he seemed to be. Being around the band so long caused him to show greater and greater interest in music and dancing and Jongin wanted to let his son shine. If his son enjoyed dancing, he will let his son dance as much as he wishes. 

Of course at 2 years old, Changsung's dancing was questionable... if one could call the flailing and jumping around the toddler had been up to, dancing. But he was trying, and he seemed to focus and curious when he saw the band practicing dancing and albeit calling what he was doing anything close to what the band was doing, Jongin could see the hidden talent his son has. He will be amazing, Jongin knew it. 

Each time when dance practice was over, Jongin, wet and tired and sweaty and smelly, would run over to pick up his child instantly and spin him around and kiss all over his face as he would compliment the child's dancing. He would always tell him how much better he got and how he was getting better than his daddy and would soon be able to replace him. Jongin would often say how Changsung would become such an amazing dancer that he will make everyone jealous, all EXO and all of Korea itself will be envious at how good his son is. 

Although sometimes Changsung would push at his sticky, sweaty daddy, he would more often than not just enjoy the attention and squeal happily whenever his father praised him like that. 

One would say Jongin was spoiling him and grooming his son's ego too much. But honestly, Jongin couldn't care less. Jongin had to be both a dad and a mom for his child, so to spoil him a bit was something he wanted to do. He wanted to make sure his child doesn't feel like he is unloved, or lacking. And despite the fact that one could argue that there are 8 more guys taking care of the child, it was still nothing close to a monther. Jongin would groom his child up to make sure he won't be missing his mom. Which was the thing that scared him most at that point. 

Whenever Jongin had time, he would take Changsung to parks or open spaces where the kid could run around and release all his energy. Those were the times Jongin enjoyed the most. It was then when he could feel like a real father. Yes, he would have to hide behing glasses and a hat and often they would go to far away, quite remote parks so that no one would be able to see and recognize him and ruin his father-son time. But despite everything, that was his favorite time with Changsung. The toddler walked outside each time as if seeing the world for the first time. He would look around in awe and tug his daddy everywhere with him in the park and ask to be played with and be pushed on swings or lifted onto slides or just anything that would keep him moving. He loved playing with Jongin. And it seemed he remembered nothing about the time Jongin disliked him because for him, Jongin was the sun. Which was ironic because for Jongin Changsung was the world itself, the air, the water, the very reason for him to even exist. 

He would sit on the grass with Changsung and throw him an Ironman rubber ball, playing catch like that. He would lift him up to the smallest slide around and let his son feel as if he was flying. He would push him on the swings. And although Changsung had to cry to convince Jongin to agree, they even played hide and seek together. But only at the dorms, where Jongin knew he could never lose Changsung.

At some point Changsung began liking superheroes so much that he wouldn't agree to wear anything unless it has a symbol of some superhero on it. Specifically he loved Ironman, Flash and Spiderman. The band members would often get him superhero costumes and a bunch of toys and souvenirs from every country they went to. The dorms was filled with Changsung's toys and clothes and everything they would turn, it was a huge mess of baby things. But they didn't mind much, because they all loved him. 

Jongin's leash on his son didn't loose easily but eventually he would allow the members to hold and play with his son too, as long as he first made Changsung promise him to never love any of them more than he loved Jongin. 

On every birthday of a member, a bunch of cake would be left aside for Changsung and the members would spoil the kid so much that at times Jongin was worried they are just stuffing up his child because they are planning to cook him or something at the time of need. But given the fact Changsung was so energetic and could hardly stay still, Jongin was happy to see Changsung didn't seem to pick up any unhealthy weight and was still just cute chubby. There were times Jongin couldn't handle his son's cuteness anymore and would just pick him up whenever he is playing with his band members and take him away, playfully nomming at his tiny hands or chubby cheeks while he's leaving his band members to whine behind him. 

"He's mine. He's cute and I want to nom at him. You can play with him later when I have nommed on my baby enough." He would grumble. 

Yixing was often the only one who Jongin didn't have to steal Changsung from, because he was so often half dormant that while playing with Changsung, he would just fall asleep and Jongin would find Changsung crawling over a sleeping Yixing while watching TV, and then he would just pick up his baby quietly, cover Yixing up and take Changsung to watch TV in another room. 

Sehun and Jongdae were the ones from whom Jongin almost always kidnapped his child. They often got Changsung too exhausted or too stuffed up and Jongin disliked it when they would run him around and he would just pick Changsung up and scold them for torturing the child like that. 

"Now he's going to be tired and want to take a nap and then he won't sleep at night and would cry all night long and it'll be all your fault! If that happens, you're the one going to calm him down, A-holes." He would growl and take his son away, trying to keep him up until his destined bedtime. 

Jongin loved Joonmyun and Chanyeol the most with Changsung. Probably because Chanyeol was a child himself and would easily get along with Changsung and because Joonmyun was such a good parent figure that Jongin always felt calm whenever Joonmyun was around the toddler. He knew Changsung would be safe with these two. 

Baekhyun still seemed to get impatient with Changsung so he didn't like spending alone time with him as much and Kyungsoo was pretty much only feeding him at some point--- honestly Kyungsoo could be terrifying at times and Jongin didn't want to leave those two alone much anyway. 

Minseok was the one that always played ball with him. Which was both adorable and a bit sad. It reminded a lot of them how Minseok and Luhan would always play ball together and they all knew that deep down Minseok needed that time with Changsung to nurse that Luhan shaped hole in his heart. Besides ball games with the kid, he didn't spend too much time with Changsung alone, simply because he got super awkward and would not know what else to do with him.

The more activities the band had, the less time they could enjoy with the child on their own so they would often just play with him while they are all in their van or sometimes at evenings or early mornings if they had time. Sadly enough, eventually it was their manager that ended up spending the most time with him as he took care of the child while they were all doing activities. 

It hurt Jongin to leave Changsung alone for so long so whenever he could, he would ask the manager to bring the child with him to watch their concerts, performances or talk shows but more often than not, when the show was long, Changsung would get cranky and impatient and would end up crying or trying to run away. 

When it became a serious issue and they knew that it is no longer possible for them to take Changsung with them everywhere they went to... Jongin gave in and signed him up to daycare. A little part of him died.