‘I’m home.’

And…. looks like the sandals belong to Mrs. Kim from next door.

“Oh, Kyungsoo-yah, you’re home! Come here,” comes his mother’s voice.

What now.


-


He was asked to babysit two of the Kims’ youngest on Saturday because Mr. and Mrs. Kim have a reunion in Bundang (apparently they were once high school sweethearts) and Jongin, the oldest, has a dance recital at his school. So today is the day, and he is standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room, looking at Jongin who fusses around the house collecting his stuff for his dance recital that morning.

The tanned skin boy mutters profanities under his breath as he drops his phone onto the floor, hands holding too many things at once.

Kyungsoo bends down, picks the phone, and takes Jongin’s water bottle, earphones, wallet and handkerchief from his hands. “Where do you want to put these?”

Jongin gapes at him for a full two seconds before the question kicks in his brain. “Um, my backpack. The biggest part.”

Wordlessly Kyungsoo does what he is told.

Jongin doesn’t think he has ever felt nervous hearing the sound of his zip bag closed by someone else. And for a brief moment, he feels Kyungsoo patting the front of his backpack.

“You’re good to go.”

“Thank you.” Jongin stands at the doorway. “I’m so sorry for ruining your Saturday. We don’t usually do this and I-“

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. I don’t really have things to do anyway.” Kyungsoo gives him a small smile. “Now go, you are gonna be late!”

Jongin gives him a guilty smile. “Boys! Don’t trouble Kyungsoo-hyung too much, okay! I’ll be back around noon.”

“Just go already!” comes Sehun’s voice from the couch, eyes glued to his Nintendo.

“Brat!” Jongin shouts before ruffling Baekhyun’s hair and then he’s finally out of the house.
Closing the front door, Kyungsoo turns around and smiles awkwardly at Baekhyun who returns it with his own toothy smile.

-

Taking care of the kids is surprisingly easy for Kyungsoo. Well, not necessarily as easy as doing English essays (Kyungsoo’s a pro at that), but the kids are really well behaved. Kyungsoo finds out that Sehun is quite mature for a kid his age. He likes to mind his own business and truthfully, the seven year old likes to give him judging looks whenever Kyungsoo gets a bit too excited playing with Baekhyun. He swears that look could kill people someday. It’s that sharp. Baekhyun, on the other hand, well, sure, Baekhyun is loud and a bit active, but nothing that the teenager can’t handle.

Now they are done with lunch and are playing video games in the living room.

“Wohoo!” Sehun puts both his hands up in the air, a proud smile plays on his lips as he claims victory over the fourth round of match.

Kyungsoo groans and puts away the game controller. He’s really not good in things like this. He can never understand the art of playing video games.

“S’ okay, Soo-hyung. You’ll get butter.” Baekhyun gives him one of his toothy smiles to comfort the older.

Kyungsoo is about to laugh hearing the toddler’s wrong choice of word, but the sound of the front door opening catches his attention.

In comes Jongin in his worn-out state. “Hey guys.”

“Jongin-hyung!!” Baekhyun screams excitedly and gets up from his position on Kyungsoo’s lap to greet Jongin.

“Hey, buddy.” Jongin ruffles Baekhyun’s hair before lifting the boy into his arm. “Looks like you guys are having fun,” he says, looking at the situation in the living room.

Still in his defeated mood, Kyungsoo unconsciously pouts. “Yeah, fun.”

“Very fun.” Sehun smirks.

Jongin raises his eyebrows, slowly understanding. He laughs. “Did Sehun beat you in every match?”

The smaller teenager clucks his tongue. “Tell me about it.”

“Hunnie-hyung won all four matches! But I told Soo-hyung s’ okay because he will get butter.” Baekhyun helpfully informs.

Jongin laughs merrily again. “Baekhyun, it’s ‘better’, not ‘butter’. Look at my mouth. ‘Better’. BET. TER.” Jongin pronounces it clearly for Baekhyun to follow.

“Better!” The smallest says it out loud. “Better!” He repeats, giggling after.

Jongin smiles proudly. “That’s right! Better!”

Now, Kyungsoo might or might not feel something weird in his chest watching the interaction between the Kims’ oldest and youngest, but he definitely decides that today’s babysitting is worth his time.


-


It’s been raining since Monday.

Taking off his glasses, Kyungsoo then pinches the bridge of his nose. He has been working on his Korean History individual project for days. If he follows his timetable and everything goes smoothly, he can submit it tomorrow, a day earlier from the actual submission date. It’s not like Kyungsoo is very fond of homework and projects, oh he doesn’t. It’s just that he really doesn’t have anything else to do.

He’s an only child, plus his parents are always away from town because of work. Thus Kyungsoo’s interaction with human beings is only limited to school days. Kyungsoo never tells anyone that as much as he appreciates his alone time, he hates how the house is eerily quiet. He tried joining an after school club before to reduce the amount of time he spent alone, but Kyungsoo immediately found out he disliked it.

So whenever his parents are out, Kyungsoo will switches on the television with the volume high and leaves it while he cooks and cleans the house whenever he feels like he wants to. He thinks he needs some noise in the house or he’ll go insane.

Getting back to his paper on the desk, half of Kyungsoo’s mind drifts to the occupants next door, especially the siblings. Kyungsoo lets out a sigh.

He kinda misses them.


-


Amongst all the things that Kyungsoo has imagined for a change in his dull morning, receiving door knocks from Baekhyun on an early Sunday morning is not one of them.

The four year old has tears in his eyes and Kyungsoo is quick to gather the boy in his arms. “Hey, buddy. Why are you crying?” He looks at the surrounding of the neighbourhood. “Where are Jongin and Sehun?”

“Jongin-hyung is dying…” And he wails.

Kyungsoo gapes. “Wh-what?”

“Mommy and Daddy are not here and Jongin-hyung is going to die!”

And the next thing Kyungsoo knows he’s already sprinting next door in his duck-printed pyjama with Baekhyun in his hold.

Arriving at the said house and into Jongin’s room, Kyungsoo gapes for the second time.
A sound of quiet sobs and Kyungsoo averts his attention to Baekhyun still in his arms. Kyungsoo squints his eyes.

Really.

Never believe kids as they are so extra and overdramatic.

Jongin is on the bed, face pale with his body covered by a comforter from neck to toe. Sehun is standing near the bed with hands resting on his waist. He turns towards Kyungsoo. “He’s having a fever,” is what he says before exiting the room like nothing happened.

Kyungsoo can feel a headache coming (although truthfully the idea of taking care of the siblings again especially Jongin is not bad at all. He quite likes it.)


-


Water drips into the bowl as Kyungsoo rinses the towel. He places it back onto Jongin’s forehead, tucking away a few strands of hair to put the material better.

“Is Jongin-hyung going to die?” Baekhyun questions with his lips quivering, about to cry again.

A chuckle comes out from Kyungsoo’s mouth, because apparently the toddler is not done with his ‘Jongin-hyung is dying’ thing. He gives the boy a soft smile. “No, of course not, Baekhyunnie. Jongin-hyung is just having a fever. He will be fine soon.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun timidly nods and lets out a yawn.

“Wanna take a nap?”

“Hm-hm.” Another nod.

Kyungsoo sits up. “Alright. Let’s get you to bed.” Kyungsoo then ushers the boy into his own room. Done, he checks on Jongin again. He pulls the comforter closer to Jongin’s neck. The action however causes Jongin to stir awake. The tanned boy slowly opens his eyes.

Kyungsoo immediately retreats his hand, feeling like he has just done something he should not.

Jongin looks at him blearily.

Kyungsoo bites his lower lip. “I’ve called your mom. She said they’ll try to get here early in the morning.” Looking at Jongin nodding, he sighs. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit better.” Jongin croaks out with hoarse voice. He sounds so tired that Kyungsoo feels guilty for no reason.

“I made you rice porridge with chicken broth. Do you want to eat now?”

Jongin momentarily closes his eyes and snuggles closer to the comforter again. “Hmm…”

Not exactly receiving an answer, Kyungsoo just decides that, well, Jongin needs to eat. “I’ll get you the food,” he informs the other and leaves the room. Upon returning into the room, Jongin is fast asleep again. Kyungsoo does not have the heart to wake the boy, but he needs to eat to regain energy. The taller is awake the moment Kyungsoo puts his hand on Jongin’s shoulder to shake him a little.

Kyungsoo smiles apologetically at the other boy when Jongin opens his eyes again. He settles the food on Jongin’s desk while Jongin sits up and tries to be comfortable.

“Wow,” Jongin mutters after he swallows a bit of porridge. “I can’t properly taste this because my nose is blocking the hell out of the smell but how come this still tastes so good?”
Kyungsoo snorts. “Yeah, right.”

“Yeah, really. I’m not kidding, hyung. You do realize you’re good in cooking, right?” Jongin stares at Kyungsoo hard despite his eyes barely open, like he needs the older to know that he means what he says.

Kyungsoo looks down on his hands. “Yeah, I guess,” he meekly says. He can never handles a compliment. “You only tasted my cooking twice though.”

“Then that means you have to cook for me often.” Jongin says with a lopsided grin.

Kyungsoo huffs in fake annoyance, because he can’t lie to himself that he quite likes it when Jongin is being playful with him. Whatever that means. “I know you are not well right now but strangely I want to strangle you, so you better shut up and finish the porridge. You have to take another Panadol after this.”

“Oh, Kyungsoo is scary,” mocks Jongin.

Now, Kyungsoo can feel his blood seething. “Kim Jongin, you better shut up or I-“

“Or what?” Jongin smirks.

Oh, Kyungsoo wants to wipe his smirk off his face. By kissing him.

What.

Shocked by his own ridiculous thought, Kyungsoo blushes. He tries to act cool. “Nothing. I’ve no mood to play with your little game so please, finish up the food. And how can you act this cocky even when you’re sick, I don’t understand.” Kyungsoo exaggerates by shaking his head.

At this, Jongin chuckles and he finally stops with his teasing and slowly finishes the porridge. “I’m sorry, hyung. This fever makes me weird. I’m not usually like this, really.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

For the rest of the day, Kyungsoo cleans the house, putting up with whatever Sehun and Baekhyun decided to do, and also helps Sehun with his homework.

It’s almost 10 p.m. when he’s done reading a book as a bedtime story to the youngest. Kyungsoo switches off the light in Sehun and Baekhyun’s room after making sure both of them have fallen asleep. He then makes his way to Jongin’s room.

“The fever’s almost gone,” he says after feeling Jongin’s forehead with his palm. “But you still have to eat Panadols for at least two more times.”

“Thank you,” Jongin blurts out suddenly as he eyes Kyungsoo placing back the glass of water on his nightstand. “…for today.”

Jongin looks like he wants to say more, so Kyungsoo sits on the edge of the bed, waiting.
“Honestly, this house, and me myself would be a total mess if you didn’t come. So thank you.” Jongin sincerely says.

“Well, I wouldn’t come here if Baekhyun didn’t tell me that ‘his hyung’s gonna die’ either.”
Jongin chuckles. “I still can’t believe he went to your house alone and crying.”

Both of them laugh remembering the early morning incident. Soon after that, the laughter dies down and silence engulfs the atmosphere. Kyungsoo thinks that he should say something, anything because it’s getting awkward.

“How-“

“You-“

The both of them start talking in unison. They laugh again.

“You first.” Jongin says after they’ve stopped laughing.

Kyungsoo clears his throat. “I was just gonna ask, how could you end up getting a fever? Sehun told me you rarely gets sick though.”

“I had to brave the rain last night getting home from dance practice. Forgot to bring the umbrella.” Jongin smiles sheepishly.

“I see,” Kyungsoo nods. “Well what were you going to ask me before?”

“Oh,” Jongin shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”Jongin is just going to leave it at that but Kyungsoo is already giving him a look. Jongin hesitates. “I’m just thinking…you’re an only child, right? And your parents are always away. It must be nice having the house to yourself.”
Kyungsoo shrugs, looking down on his lap. “I guess you can say that.” And Kyungsoo can’t really pinpoint the reason why his chest suddenly feels heavy, or why he blurts out his next words. “But sometimes it gets really lonely.” Soon, he feels a hand resting warmly on his. When Kyungsoo lifts his head, he sees Jongin with a small smile on his face.

“You know, hyung. You are always welcomed here, babysitting or not. We’d love to have you here.”

Slowly, Kyungsoo returns the smile. “Thank you, Jongin.”


-


“Ugh.”

Kyungsoo throws away the game controller as he admits his defeat on the nth matches against Sehun. Jongin and Baekhyun who have just been watching and cheering from aside just laugh at Kyungsoo’s annoyed face.

It’s weird, to think that it’s just last two weeks that Kyungsoo came to the Kims’ house for the sudden babysit job, and now it’s like he’s a part of the family. Kyungsoo finds himself coming to the house almost every day, whether to just chill with Jongin (by chill, they really mean chill, sometimes they read books), play with Baekhyun or gaming with Sehun.

“I give up,” Kyungsoo pouts.

“Aww Soo… Here, give me that controller. Let me win for you.” Jongin says excitedly.

The smaller teenager doesn’t have the time to comprehend what the younger just said as the game starts.

Sehun snorts. “Like I would let that happen.”

And soon after, Sehun wins the match. And another. And another.

“Give it up already, Jongin.” Kyungsoo sighs. Although Jongin doesn’t look like he’ll give up anytime soon.

Eyes trained on the television, Jongin shakes his head. “No, I’ve said I’ll win for you, so just let me.”

Kyungsoo huffs, and just as he’s about to grumble, Jongin shouts. “Yes!!!”

Sehun gapes. For the first time in many months (months, because sometimes Jongin does win) he’s lost against Jongin. “Whatever, I’m still the pro anyway,” Sehun says to comfort himself.

Jongin laughs happily. “Whatever, brat. But this time I did win,” the tanned male says as he comfortably lays his head on Kyungsoo’s lap.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing, Kim Jongin?” Kyungsoo tries to push Jongin away from his lap.

Jongin pouts. “Aww hyung… No thank you for me? No reward? I won for you, you know.” He looks at Kyungsoo mischeviously.

Kyungsoo starts to blush. “No one told you to. Now get away from me. You’re heavy.”

“Hush, hyung. Just let me rest here for a little while as a reward. I’m tired fighting with Sehun just now.” Jongin sighs in content. “You’re so comfy.”

Sehun gives the both of them the judging look before getting up and starts playing with his Nintendo with Baekhyun watching.

Stopping his attempt to push Jongin away, Kyungsoo looks away from staring at Jongin. “You are acting like a baby.”

“Only for you,” Jongin whispers.

Kyungsoo scoffs.

Jongin’s a terrible flirt.

So terrible, and Kyungsoo is falling.

Hard.

-

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