Kyungsoo was frantic. The strange teenager he’d been visiting to see if he was suitable for taking care of Baekhyun had tried to talk him into buying one of his many pet turtles and had only had a singular packet of sliced cheese in his fridge. He’d initially been ecstatic at Jongin’s call as it gave him an opportunity to – for lack of a better phrase – get the out of there, but once he heard Jongin’s anxious voice he knew something bad had happened.

The father practically sped to the hospital, disregarding all road rules and not caring in the slightest. The nurse at the information desk had looked extremely shocked when he arrived and demanded to know where his son was, but she stuttered out the room number and Kyungsoo doesn’t even remember what the corridors looked like in his rush to see his son.

He was greeted with the sight of his son, his baby boy, lying in a hospital bed with Jongin running his hand through his bangs. His eyes teared up as the reality hit him, and Jongin looked up in surprise when he heard a soft sniffle come from the doorway.

“Is – Is he okay?” Kyungsoo inquired, voice distorted in his attempts to keep the tears down.

Jongin walked over to him and hugged him gently, “Yes. He’s fine, just resting. They said they’d wait until you got here to talk to you about his asthma.” He mumbled softly into the other’s ear.

Kyungsoo nodded against the other’s chest before pushing himself away from Jongin and moving towards the unmoving form on the bed.

“I can’t believe this happened. I should’ve taken him to the doctor sooner.” He scolded himself.

Jongin moved to sit in the chair opposite Kyungsoo’s, “You couldn’t have known this would happen. And you said yourself that his cough was getting better, right? You didn’t know. And besides, at least now we know, right?”

“I suppose so. It shouldn’t have taken him almost dying to figure it out, though.” He said bitterly.

Jongin hummed in response, not really knowing how to reply to that.

The doctor came in and explained to Kyungsoo everything he needed to know about asthma and gave him the necessary medicines and items for it, and left as quickly as he came, leaving Kyungsoo sitting anxiously in his chair.

He really didn’t know what to do in this situation. Should he apologize again? Comfort him? Hug him? Should he just leave?

A small, “Appa?” interrupted his thoughts.

Kyungsoo practically leapt out of his chair the moment he heard the word and saw his son’s eyes fluttering open. He squeezed the boy close to him and patted his head softly.

“Are you okay, baby? How do you feel? Do you want some water? Are you – ” Kyungsoo stopped his questioning when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

“Let the kid breathe, Kyungsoo.” Jongin smiled.

Baekhyun looked up at the two and smiled, “I’m fine, Appa. Where did Chanyeollie go? Why are we here?” he pouted.

Kyungsoo smiled at his son, “Chanyeollie had to go home, Baek. We need to have a talk, okay?” He said, rubbing his son’s arm in a comforting manner.

“Why?” The boy asked, his big eyes looking up at his father in innocent curiosity.

“We need to talk about your coughing.” He replied.

“Why?”

“Because it’s not just a cough, sweetie.”

Baekhyun tilted his head in confusion.

“What is it?”

Jongin decided that this was the part where he should go, but as he got up to leave Kyungsoo threw him a look, eyes asking him to stay. And stay, he did.

“You’ve got asthma, sweetie.” Kyungsoo explained. “You know how when you run around or play sports you start coughing?”

Baekhyun nodded.

“It’s because of the asthma.”

“Am I not allowed to run around and play sports, then?” Baekhyun pouted.

Kyungsoo looked at his son sympathetically. “Not as much as you used to, baby. But we’re going to give you this puffer so when you do start coughing you can use it to calm down, okay?”

Baekhyun simply nodded again, obviously disheartened at the fact that he could no longer play sports like he used to, and the boy’s father didn’t know what to do. How is he supposed to do this with his son looking like that?

Jongin cleared his throat and moved in to whisper to Baekhyun, “Your Appa will probably buy you extra ice cream because of your asthma, though.” He said while smirking playfully, and Kyungsoo looked at the man whispering to his son in confusion.

Baekhyun smiled and looked up to his father.

“Since I’m sick can we get ice cream?” He asked with an innocent look on his face, but Kyungsoo could see the mischief in his son’s eyes.

The father glared at Jongin who simply shrugged with a smirk, before smiling down at his son and telling him he’d buy him all the ice cream he wanted.

“Thanks for cheering him up.” Kyungsoo said as they made their way out of the hospital, Baekhyun a few meters ahead, enthusiastically greeting all the nurses and doctors, making them smile and greet the cute boy in return.

Jongin’s lips curved upwards at the sight, “No problem. He’s a good kid.”

Kyungsoo hummed in reply, moving his eyes from the handsome man next to him to his son’s adorable antics which made him smile as well.

Jongin had been more of a help to him in the past week or so than he would’ve ever thought. From helping him with Baekhyun at school, to babysitting him on the weekend, to cheering him up when he’s upset about being sick, Kyungsoo was seriously grateful. If he hadn’t already liked the man more than he should, he certainly did now. It wasn’t love – at least not quite yet. But if Jongin kept up with the whole amazing-father act, Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how much longer he could say that.

“Right,” Jongin announced, just remembering his earlier conversation with Sehun. “I think I’ve found you a babysitter, too.”

The drama teacher’s eyes widened. “What?” he asked.

“Sehun – Chanyeol’s father. He used to babysit for a couple but one of them recently quit their job so they had no need for him anymore. Now he’s out of work and when I told him about Baekhyun he wondered why I didn’t ask him.” Jongin explained.

“So he’s willing to take care of Baekhyun? Is he good with kids? Where does he live? Are Chanyeol and Baekhyun on good terms? I don’t want him being stuck with some kid that doesn’t like him, it’ll only cause trouble.” Kyungsoo rambled question upon question and Jongin chuckled at him. “Don’t laugh.” He grumbled.

“Sorry, you’re just too cute.” He said, and Kyungsoo’s face felt warmer than before. “He’s perfect with kids, lives in the same apartment building as me, and you don’t have to worry about Chanyeol and Baekhyun, they only met today and decided to become best friends, I think.” He smiled.

At this, Kyungsoo visibly relaxed. “Oh. Best friends? Jongdae isn’t going to like that.” He chuckled.

Jongin looked at the other in confusion. “Jongdae? You mean, Minseok’s kid? That Jongdae?”

Kyungsoo blinked. “Yes? You know him?”

“Yeah.” Jongin replied, not knowing what to do with the information. “He’s Sehun’s partner’s best friend. Do you know Luhan?” he inquired.

“The one obsessed with soccer?” Kyungsoo asked.

The other nodded.  “He’s Sehun’s partner, and Chanyeol’s father. I guess it really is a small world.” He laughed.

Kyungsoo laughed alongside him, “I’ll have to meet this Sehun, then. Is he free tomorrow? I don’t want to have to bring Baek into school any more than I have to.”

“He should be. It’s not like he has anything to do anyway.” Jongin said with a grin.

-

Meeting Sehun wasn’t anything like he expected. Being Luhan’s partner, he expected him to be kind of similar to Minseok. Not anything like the 180-something centimetre tall man with a well-built body and a model-like face that was standing in front of him.

Jongin had decided they should meet in the same park as yesterday so Baekhyun and Chanyeol could meet up again after the unfortunate incident the day before that cut their playdate short. The two boys had immediately run off towards the swings, although not without a shout from Kyungsoo telling Baekhyun to be careful.

“So, you’re Sehun. Luhan’s partner. I’m Kyungsoo, friends with Minseok. I’m sure you know him.” Kyungsoo introduced himself as they made their way to a park bench.

Sehun smiled and laughed. “Unfortunately. I’m Sehun, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Kyungsoo replied with a polite smile.

“Guys, I can’t do this.” Jongin interrupted. “It’s too awkward.”

Kyungsoo glared at him. “If it’s too awkward then go sit somewhere else.”

Sehun laughed at the other’s snarky reply. “I like this guy already! You need someone who knows to put you in your place, Jongin.” He winked with a smirk on his lips.

Both Jongin and Kyungsoo went pink at the implication and the former whacked his friend across the head.

“Why are you like this?” He whined, and Sehun simply laughed.

“Anyway,” Sehun said, “I heard you need a babysitter.” He continued, wanting to get this part over and done with.

Kyungsoo nodded. “Baekhyun’s last one quit. He’s gone through so many. Although I can’t exactly blame them, he never lets anyone pick him up.” He sighed.

“Ah. That’s why he was so angry when Yeol picked him up.” Sehun thought absentmindedly.

“I think that was actually because of what Chanyeol called him, though.” Jongin added.

This got Kyungsoo’s attention.

“What do you mean?” He asked in confusion.

Jongin chuckled a bit before replying, “He called Baek ‘Rilakkuma’ because apparently he looks like one.”

And the father couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Well, I can kind of see the resemblance.” He laughed.

“Anyway, my services are up for offer, if you want.” Sehun announced.

Kyungsoo thought it over for a minute before agreeing. Sehun was the perfect option. He was his best friend’s friend’s partner, and his kid was apparently best friends with his own. Hopefully Baekhyun would let him touch him, though. But Sehun was a pretty guy, and Baekhyun’s reasoning for allowing Jongin to touch him was that he was ‘pretty like Appa,’ so he thinks the guy has a pretty good chance.

“So when do I start?” The model-like man asked.

Kyungsoo bit his lip, “Is tomorrow okay?”

“Sure.”