"Jongin? Why are you here?"

The first thing Jongin saw when he walked into the staff lounge that Saturday afternoon was Sehun, the friend he co-owns the studio with, sitting on the couch hunched over his laptop. His face was extremely puzzled when he looked up to see Jongin walk through the door.

"I thought your sisters couldn't babysit Jiyeon today?"

Jongin knows he just texted him two hours ago, telling him that he won't be able to help him setup for their event, but here he is, bright and early and ready for setup. Sehun's confusion is at least understandable.

"Yeah," he chuckles, dropping his things on the coffee table in front of the couch. "I dropped her off at Taemin's instead."

Sehun's jaw drops, and he starts laughing. "Taemin? You're letting Taemin babysit?"

"They get along well," Jongin shrugs.

The look on Sehun's face at his comment is so full of disbelief he can't help but join him in laughter. His friend also knows Taemin pretty well; they've been friends since the three of them joined the dance company together back in their younger days. Sehun eventually left to join another group, but they kept in touch, hanging out long after they stopped dancing together—which is why he also knows how much Taemin hates babysitting.

"I know, but still. Aren't you worried he'll turn the kid on you?"

Jongin huffs at Sehun's amused look.

"They already gang up to bully me all the time," he rolls his eyes, sitting down on the couch next to his friend. "He's such a soft dad with her, always giving her extra sweets and toys when he thinks I'm not looking. She loves him."

There was a pause—and then Sehun starts sniggering.

"Dad, huh?" Sehun nudges his side with his elbow. "Congrats. When was the wedding?"

Jongin coughs.

The man next to him raises a questioning eyebrow, his smirk clearly saying that he's having a lot of fun with this, and Jongin immediately regrets his poor wording choice.

"Let's just get back to work," he says instead, before Sehun could start teasing him again.

Without another word, Sehun drops the topic, only shrugging with one last grin before he turns his attention back to his laptop.

It's strange. This feels way too easy. Usually, Sehun would pester him a little bit more before he's satisfied. Not that he minds the change. With one suspicious glance at his friend, he moves to get his own laptop and opens it to review today's schedule. They have three master classes today, the last one being his own, and he needs to have his lesson plan down pat—otherwise it would run late. He can't have it end later than it needs to be, because he has to pick up Jiyeon at Taemin's—and even though he trusts his friend, he's not sure what the two of them will do if he's gone for too long.

A tap on his shoulder brings him back to reality. Unknowingly, he's been sitting there for thirty minutes, looking at his documents and the choreography he prepared.

"I'm gonna go get the place set up," Sehun says, gesturing to the glass window behind him that overlooks the dark main studio.

"I'll catch up."

With a hum, Sehun walks out first, and soon the room brightens, light from the studio's overhead lamps filtering in through the window. There's only about an hour and a half left before people will start arriving, according to the schedule and the clock on the wall; he gets up to follow Sehun into the studio, heading straight to the control booth at the back of the room to check on sound and lights.

Jongin was quietly changing the colors of the LED lights lighting the wall when Sehun walks up next to him and starts talking to him again.

"Have you ever thought about dating him?"

The sudden question sounds louder than it is in the quiet studio, but Jongin wasn't paying attention.

"Huh?"

"Taemin," Sehun clarifies. "Have you ever thought about dating him?"

"Nope," he responds automatically. He's more focused on balancing the brightness levels of the purple lights—it looks off when compared to the yellow coming from the other side—than on answering Sehun's random question.

"Really? Never?" Sehun insists as he leans against the wall, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Not even once?"

Jongin pauses, stopping what he's doing to look out into the room. Even after he tries recalling his memories, the answer stays the same.

"No."

Well, at least not as far as he can remember. His mom told him many, many times about how four-year-old Jonginnie used to say he would marry his best friend Taeminnie when he grows up, but he doesn't remember saying any of that. She always used the information to blackmail him into doing chores, saying that she would tell Taemin if he doesn't help her wash the dishes.

Apparently, it was embarrassing enough that his eight-year-old self actually got up from his bear nap to wash dishes.

"Are you thinking about it now?" Sehun smirks. "You should, you know. He's kind of perfect for you."

Jongin wasn't thinking about anything, but his ears grow warm at the other's teasing tone anyway. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sehun scoffs.

"You literally look like a perfect little family of three already. Do I really have to spell the rest of it out for you?"

As if cued by his friend's words, a couple more recent memories with Taemin flit through Jongin's mind; random moments they spent with Jiyeon that made him so happy he felt like he was walking on clouds. Then, there are also those moments when he'd see Taemin laugh—or pout, or blink, or do just about anything—and end up going into a weird trance, a little voice at the back of his head whispering 'oh, he looks so good like this' or 'why is he so cute today'. It's strange—and it's even stranger that it happens so often these days.

After the last couple of times it happened, though, he's started to accept that it's his honest side talking—because he does think Taemin is good-looking. Very good-looking, in fact. He never thought otherwise—except when he sported that embarrassingly hideous bowl cut in middle school. It's not like he can deny Taemin's attractiveness anyway, not when there's a zillion men and women lining up to date him because of his handsome face. Jongin's had so many people come up to him in the past, asking to be set up with Taemin, only for Taemin to reject everyone—except that one guy he actually ended up dating a couple years ago—because he was always too busy.

He snaps himself out of his head when he realizes that his thoughts are going everywhere. Sehun is also still standing there, arms crossed, patiently waiting for the conversation to continue, as if he knows Jongin will reply him even if he does it five minutes later.

"No, I get what you're saying," he says. "We're not like that, though. You know how we work."

Sehun's been around long enough to be familiar with his and Taemin's dynamics, he should know that this whole 'family' thing is just an extension of that. His tiny circle is just widening with his daughter's arrival, that's all. There's nothing else to think about.

Jongin glances at his friend to see him staring back with a scrutinizing gaze, observing him. He doesn't know what Sehun's looking for, but eventually he shrugs and looks away, humming quietly.

"You're missing out. Taemin's your soulmate," Sehun says.

Jongin huffs out a tiny laugh. He may not necessarily agree with the other parts of this random conversation, but at least he agrees that Taemin's his soulmate—though not in a romantic way. They've just been together so long that they're now practically the same person.

"Sure. Still doesn't mean we have to date," he replies. He purses his lips and puts his focus back on the control board he's been absently fiddling with. "Anyway, get back to work. People will be here soon."

Sehun scoffs. "Fine."

-

Taemin can't cook. This is a fact he has come to terms with long ago, and a weakness, as his friends would say, that he never bothered to fix. He has never needed to cook before, aside from maybe making ramyeon and frying simple things, so there was no need to fix anything.

The problem is, right now he needs to cook, because he currently has an overly-excited Kim Jiyeon in his apartment, who's probably hungry and in need of feeding. Not that she said anything—it's just that it's already dinner time, and kids shouldn't eat late.

A couple hours ago, Jongin shoved this toddler into his arms and into his apartment. Apparently, nobody else could babysit and he just happened to recall Taemin telling him that today's his sleep day. His very important sleep day, that was supposed to be his time to lay in bed, space out, and do nothing.

However, because of the one and only Kim Jongin, instead of sleeping on his sleep day, this is what he's doing. Struggling with pots and pans in the kitchen, trying to whip up something decent for dinner because feeding her ramyeon doesn't feel right.

"Daddy."

Focused, he practically buries his face in his phone, unaware of his surroundings as he studies a recipe he found online. It's just a simple fried rice, which should be easy enough for him to do even if he has never cooked before, as long as he follows all the instructions. He has all the ingredients—or at least he thinks he does—and he thinks all the measurements are correct, but if all goes to hell, he'll probably ending up frying some ham and eggs or something.

"Daddyyyyyyy!!!!!"

Taemin groans.

"What? Daddy is trying to cook here!"

The sentence has already left his lips when he realized. He slipped. Again.

Recently, it's been getting harder not to slip and call himself 'daddy' when he's with Jiyeon. That's how she's been referring to him ever since their first meeting, and it's just weird sometimes to respond to the word 'daddy' when she calls for him, but refer to himself as 'uncle' when he replies.

Once, he told Jongin to teach her the word 'uncle' so it's less confusing, but Jongin only rolled his eyes and laughed, saying it's futile. 'If she wants to call you 'daddy' she'll keep doing it, just give up,' Jongin told him. It's not like she doesn't know the word—she calls Jongin's brothers-in-law 'uncle' just fine—she just seems to hate using it when it comes to him.

"Daddy! Pwaay!"

Jiyeon continues babbling at him as she bounces on her heels, her arms full of dolls. She's hugging both her favorite baby princess and her slightly-less-favored teddy bear close to her chest, engulfing her whole figure in a level of adorable that makes it very hard for him to keep all the cooing from escaping his lips.

It doesn't help that she looks like a slightly bigger teddy bear too, with the fluffy bear-eared hood of her fleece sweatshirt flopping down her forehead, almost covering her eyes. She looks lovable and so cuddly; he can almost hear Jongin's rolling laughter in his head, making fun of him for going all soft on her again. 

He can't fall for this. He turns his attention back to his phone and his fried rice, because he knows himself and even a second of inattention will ruin this food. Even his favorite toddler isn't allowed to distract him.

"Daddyyyyy," Jiyeon whines, not taking well to being ignored.

"Daddy is cooking. Can't play right now." He slipped again, but he shakes it off. Who cares. It's not like Jongin is here to laugh at him. "Go play with your baby and teddy in the living room."

Jiyeon huffs, whines, and grumbles under her breath, but Taemin really can't afford the distraction. He's trying his best to be a good dad-uncle and feed her good food. Thankfully, after he ignores her little monologue for another minute or two, Jiyeon wobbles back to the living room, dragging two dolls on the floor on each hand. She's sulking, obviously, but he'll deal with that when he's done with this dumb fried rice.

Surprisingly, it doesn't take very long for him to finish cooking. The fried rice also tastes better than he thought, although it doesn't look very appetizing.

"Jiyeonnie, are you hungry?" Taemin calls out as soon as he sets the food on the dining table.

He turns around to see Jiyeon sitting on the living room carpet, her two dolls abandoned at her side. She's busying herself with hitting one of his sofa cushions that she dragged to the floor while he was cooking; he personally has no clue what's so fun about that, but at least she's not crying.

Taemin kneels in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Jiyeon-ah, wanna eat?"

"No," Jiyeon pouts and stumbles away to another corner of the room, dragging the pillow cushion with her. The pillow is two times wider than her, and running was quite a struggle for her that way. Good thing she didn't fall.

"Jiyeon-ah, let's eat," Taemin follows her, only for her to run off somewhere else.

"Nooooo~" she whines as she runs away from him.

In the end, they just run in circles in the living room, Taemin chasing her as she toddles from one corner to another.

"Come on," Taemin whines. "Aren't you hungry? Uncle is really hungry..."

Jiyeon stops running for a quick second, but when Taemin was about to grab her and pick her up, she giggles and runs again. Unfortunately for her, he's not ashamed of using his long, adult arms to reach her.

"Caught you!" Taemin swings her up into the air, making her laugh as the pillow falls off her hands, lips splitting in a wide, open grin. "Let's eat, now, okay? We'll play again later."

"'ka~y," she says, wrapping her tiny limbs around his neck.

He smiles. "Good girl."

-

"Daddy, up!"

"Again?"

After the dinner that thankfully didn't involve anyone choking from the taste of his food, Taemin has been stuck in his living room, playing with Jiyeon as promised. At first, he thought they were just going to play with dolls and stuff, but no, her definition of 'playing' for the night apparently involves quite a workout. She kept asking to be lifted up and spun around—he's been doing exactly that for her at least ten times, but she's not even getting tired of it.

"Daddy~" she calls again, hitting his leg while giggling.

Being incredibly weak to her soft giggles, he picks her up one more time and spins five times, just for good measure, before he finally stops. He puts her down on the floor and collapses dramatically next to her, making her laugh.

"Daddy, 'ain!" Jiyeon babbles, asking him to do it again. 

"Jiyeon-ah," he turns his head to face her with a fake frown. "You're heavy, you know."

She really isn't, but he still needs a rest. Just because he used to regularly lift and spin adults in the air as part of his job, it doesn't mean he doesn't get tired from spinning a giggly baby.

Instead of humoring him and letting him rest, the girl whines, calling for 'daddy' over and over. Rolling over to the other side, he ignores her and plays dead—but she doesn't fall for it. She chases him, putting her tiny hands on his arm, and tries to shake him awake.

"Daddy!!!"

She keeps trying, and he lets her shake him, hoping she'll get bored or tired. Unluckily, she doesn't get bored, and she doesn't get tired either. Just his luck.

He rolls to face her. "Are you sure you wanna go again?"

"Yeah," she says quietly, her lips spread out in a shy smile. He wonders why she's even pretending to be shy when she was powerfully shaking him just a second ago.

"You're not tired?"

She pouts and stomps her foot. "No!"

Taemin sighs, and rolls over to his other side once again. He can't wait until Jongin comes back—he will definitely be demanding payment from this best friend of his for making him do this on his sleep day.

"Daddyyyy~"

"Ah! Fine!" he groans, getting up into a sitting position. He gives her a look and holds up his index finger in front of her face. "Just one more, and then we'll go to sleep, okay?"

"-ay!!" The toddler cheers, immediately holding her arms out so he can pick her up.

Once again, he swings her around in the air and spins a couple times, Jiyeon giggling happily as she flies. She pouts when he puts her down, but he shakes his finger in front of her.

"Nope, that's it," he huffs, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "No more spins. Time for bed."

"Aw, no," Jiyeon furrows her eyebrows and copies him, plopping down on the floor too.

"You already said okay, Jiyeonnie," he reminds her. "Ask your daddy to spin you again tomorrow."

Her eyes cast down to the floor and the pout on her lips jut out even more. She looks like a kicked puppy, and he feels bad, but it's also nine in the evening. Toddlers should be sleeping at this hour.

"Okay, Jiyeonnie?" he repeats, getting a sad nod in return. "Good girl. Now, where did you put your baby?"

Jiyeon looks up at him for a little bit, and then points right behind him at her baby princess, who is sitting primly on the couch next to the teddy bear. He stands up to grab them and comes back to Jiyeon, making her take the dolls before he picks her up.

"Alright. Let's go to sleep."

-

Taemin isn't picking up his phone. He's not replying his texts either, and now Jongin's sitting in his car, parked in Taemin's guest parking lot, half-worried if something happened. Usually, he won't be so worried, but Taemin's with Jiyeon. He can't hel