Jongin had never been a fan of kids, really. He just didn’t have the right aura to him that would make kids feel at ease with him.

            Though there were times where he wished that his parents had given him a sibling or two to prepare and polish his child rearing skills, Jongin figured out he would do just fine with zero childcare abilities when the thought of having children has never appealed to him.

            But today, Jongin has taken the self-made decision to change that. He couldn’t just continue living on as a person who became uncomfortable within the presence of children. It’s also very likely that whomever he’s going to marry in the future wants to have kids, so Jongin better start preparing now. Right?

            He has a whole day ahead of him, spent with Kyungsoo and the pair of toddler troublemakers. And he had two goals set in his mind: to get to know the twins, and Kyungsoo.

            It’s an arduous task, he’ll admit. Seeing as Jongin had scant experience with children and he doesn’t know how to approach Kyungsoo who had been acting strangely reserved for the past hour.

            Jongin pays no heed to the abounding thoughts in his head and notices how Jihoon is looking a little heavy-eyed, a stark contrast with his brother, who was vigorously acting out a race between two toy cars. “Are you sleepy?” He asks, opening his arms wide for Jihoon to crawl into his lap. The three-year-old nods lazily and does exactly what Jongin had wanted him to do. Nestling his head on Jongin’s broad chest, Jihoon slowly becomes comfortable in his lap as Jongin.

            “I’ll read you a story and then you can sleep in hyung’s lap, okay?” Jongin’s arm extends to pick up a storybook from the couch.

            Two baby bears who seem to be brothers are illustrated on the cover, giving Jongin the perfect opportunity to point out how much the two bears resemble Jihoon and Jihwan.  The toddler in his lap lets out a short giggle, soon drained out by his own sleepiness.

            Jongin manages to read the book in a relaxed pace, slow enough for Jihoon to still listen to the story and gradually doze off to sleep in the same time. Jihwan’s exuberant car race comes to a halt when he turns his head to Jongin, listening to his storytelling in great interest.

            But Jihwan didn’t close in towards him to listen to the story better. Instead, he turns to look at Kyungsoo, who had also been quietly listening in on Jongin’s display of his storytelling skills. Cleverly mimicking his brother, Jihwan settles himself on Kyungsoo’s lap as he directs all of his attention towards Jongin’s strangely soothing voice that was remarkably capable of pacifying the twins’ childish exuberance.

            When the story finally comes to an end, both of them were deep in slumber as they rested on Kyungsoo and Jongin’s laps. The room is eerily quiet with the absence of Jihwan and Jihoon’s squeaky voices and vibrant laughter.

            The silence that fills the room unnerves both Jongin and Kyungsoo and Jongin was desperate to break it. He just doesn’t know how.

            “Where should we put them? Or should we just let them sleep in our laps?” The blank expression on Jongin’s face wants to make Kyungsoo erupt into a fit of laughter, because really, he’s amazed at how inexperienced Jongin was with children.

            “Sure, if you want to stay glued to the floor all day.” When Jongin recognizes the hint of sarcasm in Kyungsoo’s reply, he visibly cringes at himself for having subconsciously embarrassing himself once again.

            “Oh, right, sorry, I can be really stupid sometimes—“ 

            Jongin wishes to run away and never let Kyungsoo see his face again, especially with the crooked grin he's wearing on his lips, but he has a change of heart as soon as he saw Kyungsoo’s smiling face and plucked his courage to face this like the adult he was.

            Except adults don’t act like schoolgirls fawning over their crush, Jongin thinks as he feels the words stuck in his mouth, begging to leave. The words he wishes to say to Kyungsoo.

            Kyungsoo stands up as he carries Jihwan in his arms; his tiny head slumped on his shoulder as he lets out little snores. Jongin does the same and follows him from behind, keeping a safe distance between the two of them. Just as they did during their first encounter.

            “I usually let the kids I babysit in my room. It feels safer that way,” Kyungsoo says without turning his head to look at Jongin, pacing on towards his room. He then unfastens the door to his cozy, little bedroom. As expected, there weren’t much furniture in sight, with the exception of a bed with navy blue blankets and a wooden wardrobe.

            Kyungsoo gently sets Jihwan down on to the bed, making sure not to awake him in process. Jongin’s eyes are fixated on him, and him only, following and observing his every moment. Childcare, or rather the complexity of it persists to baffle Jongin, even after several hours fully spent with two children attached to him.

            He attempts to lightly lay Jihoon down on the bed and sighs a little too loudly in relief when he succeeds in doing so. Jongin looks at Kyungsoo, who was placing protective barriers around his bed if the twins were to shift their position around the bed during their nap.

            When Kyungsoo’s finally done, he lets out a huge sigh of relief, imitating Jongin’s. “Are you hungry?” he asks out of the blue, taking Jongin by surprise.

            “Hyung, you really don’t have to make anything for me, I’ll just eat home later and order take out or something,” And just as he says this, a loud, grumbling sound coming from Jongin’s stomach seemed to reverberate against the walls.

            “Ah, well. Your stomach seems to think otherwise.”