“Ajusshi! Push harder!” The small boy commanded, and Jongin felt like his arms were going to fall off. He wasn’t unfit by any means but Baekhyun had been forcing him to push him on the swings for the past forty minutes – and that would drain anyone’s energy.

“Haven’t you had enough yet?” He whined, and Baekhyun turned to look at him with a pout.

“No! Harder!” he demanded, kicking his legs out repeatedly in an attempt to emphasise his point.

Jongin sighed and complied with the kid’s wishes. He wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, though.

“Need some help?” A voice sounded from behind him and he started.

He turned to find Sehun – his friend from college – standing behind him with his giant of a kid, Chanyeol.

“You scared the living crap out of me, Sehun.” He whined again, “Stop laughing!”

Sehun’s snickers started to subside and he gave him a smug grin.

“Sorry, you’re just fun to pick on.” He laughed. “Why are you here? Who’s that you were swinging? He seems a little upset with you, honestly.” Sehun commented.

. He turned back to find a sad Baekhyun sitting on the swing, clutching the ropes tightly with his tiny little hands. He smiled at the boy and went over towards him.

“Sorry buddy,” he apologized and crouched down to eye-level. “Ajusshi’s friend came to say hello, do you want to meet him? He has a kid your age, too. His name is Chanyeol. I think you’ll get along well.” He smiled warmly, but Baekhyun wasn’t having it apparently.

He shook his head and stared at the ground, and Jongin remembered that Kyungsoo said Baekhyun didn’t like strangers.

“It’s alright, bud. They’re not strangers. Well, maybe to you, but I know them very well and they’re heaps nice. They really want to meet you.” He urged, until the perfect idea came into his head.

“I’m sure Chanyeol would like to talk to you about Iron Man.” The boy’s head shot up at the mention of his favourite superhero and he took a moment to think about it, before nodding and reaching his arms out to be picked up.

Jongin smiled and mentally gave himself a high-five. Mission accomplished.

He carried the boy over to Sehun and Chanyeol who had taken the opportunity to sit at one of the park benches.

Setting Baekhyun down onto the ground, he gently pushed the boy towards Chanyeol to introduce them.

“Hey, Chan. This is Baekhyun, my friend’s son. He loves Iron Man just like you, and I’m sure he’d love to play with you.” He grinned, but Chanyeol simply stared at the boy in front of him, eyes wide open.

There was a long moment of silence and Jongin and Sehun looked at each other in confusion until;

“Rilakkuma.”

That was the only word spoken before Chanyeol jumped off the seat and squeezed Baekhyun tight. Baekhyun looked up to Jongin in mild panic, only to see shock on the man’s face as well. He cried out a ‘No!’ and squirmed until Chanyeol let him go.

“No. Not Rilakkuma. Baekhyun.” He grumbled.

Chanyeol simply stared at him for a while longer before poking him in the cheek.

“No. You’re tiny. And squishy. Your face looks like a Rilakkuma so you are a Rilakkuma.” The taller boy stated.

“No!” Baekhyun whined. “Baekhyun! Not Rilakkuma!”

Jongin and Sehun were trying so hard not to laugh at the scene in front of them. They hadn’t expected this at all, but looking closely at Baekhyun it made sense that Chanyeol was calling him that. He did resemble the character quite a bit.

“Baekhyunnie,” Jongin called, wanting to stop the argument before it got out of hand. “Chanyeollie really likes Rilakkuma, so if he’s calling you that it means he likes you, okay?” He explained.

Baekhyun pouted at him, and before he could complain Chanyeol cut in with a shout of, “See! Rilakkuma!”

“No, no, no!” He shouted, attempting to hit Chanyeol but his tiny arms couldn’t do much damage, even to someone the same age.

Chanyeol put his hands underneath the smaller one’s arms and lifted him up.

“See? You are small.” He repeated.

Baekhyun kicked his legs out in an attempt to make the other let go of him. Sehun was still laughing, not being any help whatsoever, and Jongin was desperately trying to think of a way to save the situation. He sighed as Baekhyun managed to land a few kicks but Chanyeol was unfazed. Maybe Kyungsoo should make the kid take some kind of self-defence class, in case he’s ever bullied or something.

“Alright. Chanyeol, put Baekhyun down and Baekhyun stop trying to kick him.” He ordered and the two immediately obliged, the tone of authority was something that they were naturally obliged to comply with.

“Look, Baekhyun, Chanyeol here loves Iron Man just as much as you do, okay? What if we go back home and you two can watch Iron Man on TV? We can get some ice cream on the way and I’ll even let you have two scoops!” He suggested.

Baekhyun stared at him, weighing his options before muttering out a quiet, “Okay.” Then proceeding to point accusingly at Chanyeol, shouting, “But he can’t call me Rilakkuma!”

Chanyeol pouted, “But I want to!”

Jongin sighed again, “Baekhyunnie, Chanyeol is calling you that because he wants to be your friend. You know how in movies best friends call each other by nicknames? Like that. He wants to be friends with you. Right, Chanyeollie?” He looked expectantly towards Chanyeol who nodded enthusiastically and smiled his ‘Chanyeol-smile,’ as Sehun had named it. The one where he shows almost every single tooth and his right eye twitches.

Baekhyun looked timidly up at Chanyeol and asked in a small voice, “Really?”

Jongin and Chanyeol both grinned at him and nodded.

“Okay. I will be your friend.” Baekhyun smiled and Chanyeol once again lifted him, only this time to hug him. Baekhyun’s cute giggles filled the air and both Jongin and Sehun smiled at the sight.

Now, the ice cream.

“What flavours do you two want? Remember you get two scoops.” Sehun asked the two as they walked to the parlour.

“Cotton candy and shooting star flavour!” Chanyeol replied instantly.

Baekhyun took some time to think, but ended up asking for two scoops of strawberry.

“You sure? You don’t want to try another flavour?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “I want strawberry.”

“Alright.”

Sehun lined up to get their ice creams and the other three sat down in one of the booths.

“So, Baekhyunnie, when do you start school?” Jongin asked to try and make conversation.

“Appa said I start preschool next year.” He grinned.

Chanyeol perked up at this, “Me too!” He exclaimed.

“Really? Well I guess you two will be going to school together, then. Isn't that great, Baekhyun?”

The boy in question smiled and nodded.

“Okay, here are your ice creams boys.” Sehun appeared and handed the two boys their desserts before sliding into the booth next to Jongin.

As the kids ate, Sehun took the opportunity to ask Jongin who the hell this kid was.

“He's my friend’s kid. You remember Kyungsoo, the one I told you about before? Baek’s his kid. I'm minding him for the weekend while he looks for a babysitter.”

“A babysitter? Why didn't you just ask me?” Sehun inquired.

Jongin looked at him in confusion, “You aren't working for that other couple anymore? What were their names again? Yixing and… Who?”

“Junmyeon. Yixing and Junmyeon. And no, I'm not working for them anymore. Yixing quit his job so they had no need for me anymore. I've been taking on and off jobs ever since.”

“Ah. Well, if he fails to find anyone I'll give him your number.”

Sehun smirked at Jongin, “Is this the guy you have a crush on?”

Jongin laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

“How could you tell?” He asked.

“The way you look when you speak about him,” Sehun began, “It pretty much gives it away. You also treat his kid like you would your own. That in itself gives me enough reason to think he's the son of that guy you like.” He continued.

Jongin’s face flushed red and he avoided eye contact.

“Oh.”

“Appa, can we go now?” Chanyeol asked, holding up both his and Baekhyun’s empty cups.

“Sure, kiddo.” Sehun replied, moving to clean the children's hands and faces with a wet wipe.

They headed home after that, the two boys skipping ahead of the adults. Upon reaching Jongin’s apartment they were both out of breath. Sehun and Jongin made their way to the living room to set up the movie so it would keep the two kids entertained.

They stopped immediately when they heard Chanyeol cry out for them.

“Appa! Jongin! Come, come!” He cried.

Both males rushed into the kitchen where the boys had been playing around only to find a pale, blue-lipped and sweaty Baekhyun wheezing both in an out.

“He won't stop coughing!” Chanyeol yelled, tears in his eyes. “He's going to die!”

“Oh my god.” Jongin muttered, rushing to Baekhyun, “Baek. Baekhyunnie, try and breathe, okay? Take deep breaths for me, buddy. Don't panic. Sehun, get the car. We're taking him to the hospital. I think he's having an asthma attack.” He ordered.

Sehun was rushing to dial the emergency service as he located his keys, wanting to inform them that they'd be coming. By the time he was done Jongin was already halfway to the car, trying desperately not to jostle the boy in his arms to much. Baekhyun’s face was becoming paler and paler by the minute, and the tall male was beginning to get extremely worried. He still had to call Kyungsoo, but that could wait. Baekhyun was priority.

“Will Baekhyunnie be okay?” Chanyeol asked in a concerned voice, his wet eyes not leaving the sight of Jongin attempting to calm Baekhyun.

“I hope so, kiddo.” Sehun replied worriedly from behind the wheel.

A few nurses were waiting for them upon their arrival, thankfully, and took Baekhyun gently from Jongin’s arms and rushed away.

They waited for a while. Jongin had been speaking to a nurse and hadn't yet had the chance to call Kyungsoo, and honestly he didn't want to. He was afraid that the man would hate him for letting his kid nearly die in his care. Seriously, it hadn't even been a day and he'd already managed to hear kill the kid. He'd probably never let him see Baekhyun again.

But he called him nonetheless. The few seconds of dial tone felt like pure torture. What was he going to say? ‘Sorry but I let your kid have an asthma attack in my care and he nearly died?’

God, he was so screwed.

“Hello?” Came the immediate response.

“Hey, Kyungsoo. It's Jongin… I don't really know how to tell you this but…” He trailed off.

“What? What is it? Did something happen? Is Baekhyun okay?” Kyungsoo’s voice became increasingly more worried as he went on, and Jongin seriously did not want to have to break the news to him.

“You see, we went out today and he ran around a lot with my friend’s kid, Chanyeol, and he kind of… Had an asthma attack.” He heard a gasp on the other side of the line, “Don't worry! We took him to the emergency room. I figured it was asthma, and the nurse confirmed it.”

There was no sound from the other line for a while, and Jongin was beginning to get worried until Kyungsoo spoke softy, “Oh my god. I'll be right there. What hospital?”

“The National University Hospital. I'm really sorry this happened. I should have paid more attention.”

“… No. It wasn't your fault. I should have known. I should have taken him to the doctor the minute he started coughing. I'm a bad father.”

“Hey, no, no, no. You're nowhere near a bad father. Who’s the one who refused to leave his son at home alone and took him to work for an entire week? You. You're a great father and Baekhyunnie is lucky to have you. I'll see you soon.” He ended.

“Okay. See you soon. And Jongin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”