(A/N: This story takes place 2 weeks after 'Kittengarten'!!) 

♡

“Heads up!”

Jongin nearly topples over when Luhan tosses a bag of chips at him from his spot on the counter, which hits him square in the face. Holding onto it, Jongin watches as Luhan grabs one for himself, as well as an orange candy bag, before he hops down to the floor. Jonghun squeals as soon as he sees the food and tries climbing up Jongin’s leg with little success, and Jongin makes sure to hold the bag out of Jonghun’s reach as Luhan slams the pantry door shut and skips towards them.

“I think that’s it,” Luhan says with a grin as his orange tail sways in anticipation, and he doesn’t even bother hiding the fact that he’s cheating by ripping his own chips bag open and stuffing a handful in his mouth. He accidentally drops one on the floor, which Jonghun wastes no time in gobbling up off the floor. Luhan gestures at the living room, barely able to contain his excitement as he hops up and down. “Shall we???”

Jongin jumps five feet in the air when a loud clap of thunder fills the air (which doesn’t seem to faze Jonghun at all), and he doesn’t even realize that he’s subconsciously kneading the chips to smithereens within the bag until Luhan points it out. Jongin honestly doesn’t know why Luhan insisted on watching something scary given the neverending thunderstorm outside, but he dismisses the thought and nods. However, none of them get a chance to skip into the living room before the sound of footsteps descending the staircase fills the air.

Sehun runs a hand through his hair, a smile creeping up his face as soon as he sees Jongin, Luhan and Jonghun staring at him with stars in their eyes. A part of him regrets declining Jongin’s offer to let him join them as they watched educational movies with Jonghun, but Sehun knows for a fact that Taemin will be utterly grateful if he helps the latter out with his overdue report. With that in mind, Sehun walks over to the counter and fetches himself a glass of water. As he turns around to face the three again, he notices Jongin and Luhan’s sneakers scattered all across the hallway carpet, which makes him chuckle. “Didn’t I tell you to put your shoes on the rack as soon as you got back from the playground?” He shakes his head ever so slightly and takes a sip.

“Jonghun needed a diaper change, remember??? Which I did, by the way, cause Jongin was too busy complaining,” Luhan scoffs before he proudly grins, and Jongin doesn’t even need to ask to know that he’s definitely trying to earn more babysitting points (given his less than successful babysitting session recently). When Sehun only chuckles and shakes his head, Luhan pouts. “We were in a hurry, okay??? Ask Jonghun, he’ll-”

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” Sehun says and puts his glass down. He adjusts his gray hoodie, which has pretty much been torn to shreds as a result of Jongin’s consistent kneading over the past few months (ever since the day Baekhyun gifted it to him as a hand-me-down, to be exact). With a wave in Jonghun’s direction, Sehun sends Jongin and (mostly) Luhan a pointed look. “Remember what I told you in the car on the way here?”

Luhan blinks before he grabs another handful of chips and stuffs it in his mouth. A few yellow crumbs fall from his lips and land on his black T-shirt, which makes them stick out like a sore thumb. “We’re not gonna watch a horror movie,” he exclaims, voice muffled as he loudly chews, and he discreetly elbows Jongin in the ribs when the latter only responds with a confused ‘We’re not???’. “We’re not.”

Sehun sends them both a look, which has Jonghun clapping his hands in amusement, before he puts his hands up in defeat. “I don’t want a repeat of last month is all I’m saying,” he says and shivers when he thinks back to the time Jonghun woke him up at midnight by wailing and crying over 'a scary person' (whom Sehun would later find out was the ghost girl from ‘The Ring’) standing over his crib, hours after he returned home from Luhan’s first (and last) babysitting session. “But I’m trusting you on that.” Sehun sends Luhan a wink, which has Jongin zooming into his arms less than a fraction of a second later. “Alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t-- I mean, we won’t,” Luhan mumbles, in the most unconvincing tone Sehun has ever heard, as he scratches the back of his right ear. A loud clap of thunder has him swaying his tail in excitement as he gestures towards the living room. He briefly mutters something about Jongin's ‘weird, frickin’ jealousy issues’ as he watches Jongin latch onto the thick material of Sehun’s hoodie, before he stuffs a few chips in his mouth. “I mean, what’s wrong with that, anyway??? I’m 26 and he’s 24, we’re both like, way over the age limit for these kinds of things!”

Sehun sends Luhan a look and gestures at Jonghun, who is running around in circles waiting for them to move to the living room. “And he’s only two-”

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Luhan retorts with a huff, only to beam when a thought hits him. “Okay, so like, what if he like, falls asleep or gets bored or something??? Can we watch a scary movie then?? If it’s just me and Jongin????” he asks and presses his lips together when Sehun only blinks. “It’s not like he'll have nightmares that way, right??”

Sehun clears his throat as he scratches Jongin behind the ear. “I meant--” He closes his mouth and chuckles ever so slightly, which Luhan definitely doesn’t miss. “Nevermind-”

“We’re not gonna have nightmares,” Luhan squawks, clearly offended as he places a hand on his chest (and nearly drops his chips in the process). “I haven’t had a single nightmare since I was fifteen!” he proudly exclaims and discreetly hands a chip to Jonghun, who proceeds to chew it indiscreetly. “There’s like, zero need to worry-”

“I won’t have nightmares, either,” Jongin says with a grin as he plays with Sehun’s blond locks. Not that he’s ever seen a scary movie before (unless seeing lions getting shot on television counts), but Jongin figures that it can’t be nearly as scary as the time he was forced to lie down on a cold, metal bed with strange blue clothed people surrounding him in all directions. He shivers at the memory before he pokes Sehun’s cheek. “Can we watch something scary if Jonghun isn’t paying attention??” Jongin asks and he nearly chops Luhan’s hand off when the latter attempts to touch Sehun’s hoodie after commenting on how ‘strange' it looks. “Don’t touch-”

“We’ll see,” Sehun hums, his voice drowned out by another clap of thunder, and he sort of regrets not informing Luhan about just how possessive Jongin is over his gray hoodie after Luhan blinks in surprise. Despite the glint in Luhan’s eyes, Sehun figures that there most likely won’t be any terrifying movies playing on the television tonight, given the equally terrifying weather outside, so he simply shrugs his shoulders before he goes on to tell them that Jonghun’s movies are inside the top right drawer to the living room bookshelf. “Don’t stay up too late, okay?” He kisses Jongin’s hair before Jongin skips away after Luhan threatens to help himself to his candy.

“Daddy, movie,” Jonghun squeals as Luhan turns on his heel and disappears into the living room. He hops up and down on stubby legs before Jongin bends down and scoops him up in his arms. The fuzzy tufts of fur atop his ears tickle Jongin’s chin as they make their way towards the dark living room (which only reminds Jongin of how fast-growing Jonghun’s ears are), and Jongin carefully places Jonghun down on the couch before he can die from how much his face is itching.

Luhan practically dives head first onto the couch, tail wagging and ears twitching in excitement as he perches himself on the large cushions. He grabs one of the blankets draped across the armrests before he wraps it around himself, only to groan when he sees Jongin walking towards the bookshelf. “Are you actually planning on--” He blinks and buries his face in his hands in exasperation. "To think that I thought you'd lose your kitten status as soon as you got married and became a parent, boy was I wrong," he chuckles but there's no bite in his voice. "Jeez, you really are a teeny, tiny kitten."

Jongin blinks, but he doesn't get a chance to deck Luhan square in the jaw for insulting him like that before a bolt of lightning briefly lights up the entire room and nearly causes him to jump out of his own skin. It doesn’t seem to faze neither Jonghun nor Luhan, which Jongin finds strange, but he dismisses the thought and reluctantly bites his lip, his hand inches from the top right drawer. “But we weren’t supposed to-”

“He won’t have nightmares,” Luhan retorts, only to grow silent when he recalls just how badly Sehun scolded (or rather, verbally massacred) him for exposing Jonghun to an R-rated horror film. “And neither will we and you know it. I mean, we could try to make it funny for his sake, y’know?? If he cares, that is. Then we can get the best of both worlds, right???” He sends Jongin a hopeful look. “At least we won’t have to call him a kitten anymore??? Much less yourself??”

Jongin bites his lip as he watches Luhan stuff his face on the couch. Even though the idea of watching overly saturated educational films geared towards toddlers is on the same level of appealing as stepping out the front door and getting struck by lightning, the idea of thinking scary thoughts for months as a result of caving and watching something scary is nearly equally as (un)appealing - especially given how shaken up Jonghun was for two whole weeks after his night with Luhan (which nearly had Jongin regretting their decision to leave Jonghun back in Manhattan while he and Sehun enjoyed their honeymoon at Disneyland together). Be that as it may, Jongin figures that it wouldn’t be fair to put his own mental endurance on the same level as that of a two year old, so he finds himself turning on his heel and skipping back to the couch. Jongin plops down on of the cushions, but not before accidentally stepping and slipping on a handful of Jonghun's mouse toys scattered all around the floor.

“I know the perfect one!” Luhan exclaims before he hops off the couch and locates Sehun’s old laptop on the floor. Bending down, he quickly types something before he presses a button, causing the screen to light up, which threatens to blind all three of them. “My brother recommended it to me before he moved to New York, so I trust him that it’s at least somewhat decent,” he hums as he sits back on the couch and resumes stuffing his face with snacks. "By the way, no matter what happens, I'm still less of a kitten since I'm three whole years older than you, so keep that in mind, 'kay?"

Rolling his eyes in response, Jongin fights the urge to remind Luhan that if anything, him being a parent automatically strips him of his kittenhood, since Jongin knows that parents tend (and have) to be overly mature in general, but he dismisses the thought as he waits for the movie to load. Jongin figures that even if he does end up getting scared, he’ll just convince Luhan to move his sleeping bag closer to the bed later on. Jonghun plays with his own tail as he remains perched on the armrest, and Jongin sort of wishes that Sehun didn’t have so much work to do right now, because he wants nothing more than to cling to Sehun when a ghostly looking woman pops up on the screen shortly after. At first, Jongin opts to place Jonghun in his lap whilst holding him tightly, but Jongin eventually resorts to stealing the blanket after Jonghun fusses and asks to be let go of. Jongin tries reassuring himself that if Luhan hunts ghosts and scary monsters nearly as well as he hunts birds and rabbits, he’s got literally nothing to worry about.

Luhan only emits a low chuckle when he notices just how flat Jongin’s ears are, and he doesn’t even need to look to know that the latter’s tail is most likely puffed up many times its normal size, as well. “This is just the loading screen, there’s no reason to get scared now,” he laughs and unwraps a taffy with one hand. “My brother actually said that this is the scariest movie he’s ever watched, so you’ll probably scream like a little kitten at all the jumpscares--” He nearly falls off the couch when Jongin tosses a handful of oily chips in his face. “Piss off-”

“I won’t and you know it,” Jongin grumbles, not even believing his own words as he picks up a candy bar, which he ends up giving to Jonghun after he squeals and makes grabby hands at him (even though Jongin knows Sehun will scold him for it if he finds out). With a huff, Jongin nibbles on a chip, his bushy tail grazing his bare foot underneath the blanket as Luhan attempts to figure out how to use the remote. Jongin has a feeling, and hopes, that Luhan will end up screaming louder than Chanyeol did when they pranked him by putting a giant spider in his hair two days ago, but the thought disappears as soon as the movie starts up.

After he lowers the volume, as to not make Sehun suspicious, Luhan leans back against the soft cushions, ears facing the screen as he gestures at the television. “Isn’t this so much better than those dopey baby movies y’all seem to watch on the daily?” he asks, green eyes glittering as they trail across the opening credits, which are in a language neither of them understand. He turns to look at Jongin, who is doing a not so great job at discreetly covering his eyes with a pillow. “You can’t do that, that’s cheating!!” Luhan reaches out and yanks it out of Jongin’s hand, except it backfires when he nearly gets his cheek slashed open against the sharp diamond on Jongin’s wedding ring, due to Jongin whacking him in the face after a loud noise  blares from the speakers. “You can’t do that either, asswipe--”

As Jonghun crawls around on the floor and plays with a couple of mouse toys behind the couch, Jongin feels his ears twitching in all directions as he watches the same woman, with long, black hair covering most of her face, crawl towards the camera, and Jongin tries reminding himself that she looks a lot like Jonghun’s (all too kind) kindergarten teacher as he suppresses the urge to cover his eyes with a pillow (and knows for a fact that he’ll never be able to look at her the same way ever again). Despite Luhan humming in contentment beside him, Jongin blames the godforsaken thunder and lightning outside for adding to the (already existing) creepy atmosphere, and it’s not until said woman suddenly pounces towards the camera that Jongin finds himself scrambling underneath the blanket, saving himself a concussion when Luhan flinches and nearly whacks him in the head.

Luhan removes the blanket from Jongin’s head with a chuckle. “It’s just the thunder, you wouldn’t find it as scary if it wasn’t raining and stuff, y’know,” he says, his words immediately reassuring Jongin, who slowly sits back up. “I once found an episode of ‘Barney & Friends’ terrifying since there was a snowstorm outside, so yeah,” he adds and subconsciously moves closer to Jongin after a clap of thunder nearly shakes the entire house.

Fighting the urge to rush upstairs and force Sehun to keep him company, Jongin pulls up the hood to his baby pink sweater (even though it literally doesn’t cover any parts of his eyes whatsoever) and watches the main protagonist knock on the door to the (very haunted looking) house. Now, even though the thought of living anywhere without Sehun makes Jongin feel cold, he doesn’t ever think he could agree to moving into such a house, even if Sehun begged and pleaded him to. Jongin finds himself practically kneading (or rather, ripping) the blanket to shreds when he sees all the spiders and cobwebs scattered all across said house (while Luhan his lips, inevitably), before he coils his tail around his ankle. While Luhan repeatedly (and irritatedly) questions the main protagonist’s nonexistent intelligence, Jongin reaches for the orange bag, figuring he’ll have an excuse not to look at the screen if he pretends to look for candy. However, Jongin immediately regrets it when the woman’s pale face suddenly pops up all over the screen without a warning, and the next thing he knows, every square inch of the living room floor (at least the carpeted area by the coffee table) is scattered with colorful pieces of candy and chocolate.

Luhan, seemingly too wrapped up in the movie to notice Jonghun eagerly crawling across the carpet and stuffing his face, practically squeezes the life out of Jongin’s arm as he clings to it for dear life. “Ignoring your kitten-like scream just now,” he says, clearly freaked out as he watches the scenes unfolding before him, “this movie’s the frigging bomb, man--” He briefly compliments his brother’s awesome taste in movies before he waves a hand in front of Jongin’s eyes, which seem to be fixated on nothing as he stares off into space. “Are you dead-- You gotta pay attention if you want to understand what’s going on, y’know!”

Diving beneath the blanket again, Jongin ignores Jonghun offering him a candy bar before he covers his ears, a series of ‘I don’t wanna’s spilling from his lips as he steals a couple of chips from Luhan’s bag. Another loud noise nearly shakes the entire room, which is closely followed by a clap of thunder, and Jongin figures that if he had claws, he would be permanently stuck to the ceiling after flying six feet in the air with a loud shriek. At one point during his endless cycle of hiding his face and peeking at the screen, only to scramble back underneath the blankets again, Jongin recalls one of his foster mothers telling him that he wasn't allowed to watch any horror themed movies due to how sensitive a cat's ears are to loud noises, which Jongin realizes is starting to make a whole lot of sense as he keeps his ears covered. He peeks his head out ever so slightly when Luhan remarks that one of the actors looks like a combination of Chanyeol and Baekhyun, which Jongin honestly doesn’t see, at all (but then again, he figures he can’t see much to begin with - with one eye open and the other one closed, anyway). Jonghun tiredly crawls onto the couch and snuggles up between Jongin and Luhan after the two nearly clash heads at another jumpscare. Jongin doesn’t even get a chance to wonder why his loud shrieks aren't sending Sehun flying down the stairs and scolding them to the moon and back before the movie's theme song plays, which only makes Jongin realize that he must have spent the remaining thirty minutes clinging to Jonghun for dear life underneath the blanket.

Jongin tosses the blanket across the room after worrying he might sweat to death (even though his hands feel like he’s been keeping them pressed up against the freezer box for four hours straight) before Jonghun scampers off towards the remaining candy on the floor. Luhan turns the television off, promptly plunging the living room into darkness yet again. Jongin tries to squash the yelp threatening to escape his throat when a bolt of lightning strikes not far from the house, and he doesn’t even realize how fast his heart is racing until he hears his own pulse on loop in his ears seconds later. Another clap of lightning has Jongin stifling a scream, but since he’d rather not sweat to death underneath the thick blanket, he opts to crawl into the furthest corner of the couch, just beside the armrest.  

As Luhan fumbles with the remote, Jongin brings his knees close to his chest as he coils his tail around his ankle. He knows that if Sehun were here, the latter would most likely cheer him up by telling him it’s just a movie and not real, which Jongin tries telling himself as he hops off the couch to run upstairs to Sehun. Except he doesn't make it very far when he accidentally slips on a couple of gumdrops on the floor, which nearly has him falling flat on his face. Jongin doesn’t get a chance to tell Luhan to shut his face, after the latter begins laughing uncontrollably, before the sound of a door opening, closely followed by footsteps descending the stairs, fills the entire house and causes their tails to straighten. Now, even though Jongin knows that he wasn’t one bit scared (mainly since he kept his eyes shut throughout two thirds of the whole film), he blames Luhan’s impulsive actions when the latter nearly knocks the entire couch over as he quickly scrambles behind it. Jongin finds himself doing the same thing, but he instantly regrets it when he nearly sprains both his ears after accidentally headbutting Luhan's chest in the commotion.

Jonghun immediately runs up to Sehun as soon as he appears in the doorway and turns on the light. Sehun blinks as soon sa he takes in the absolute mess on the floor (and the couch and coffee table) and is nearly knocked off his feet after Jongin emerges from his hiding spot and flies straight into his arms. It takes Sehun a moment to realize that he isn’t lying on the floor and suffering the aftermaths of a concussion before he ruffles Jongin’s hair and notices Luhan peeking his head out from behind the couch. “Am I interrupting?” Sehun chuckles, blond hair tousled beyond belief as he brushes a few crumbs from Jongin’s chin. He’s about to ask why Jongin is shaking like a leaf when Luhan walks up to them with an overly exaggerated grin.

“Of course not,” Luhan quickly says and runs a hand through his hair. He figures he must have done a poor job at hiding his bushy tail behind his back, given the look that Sehun sends both him and Jongin seconds later. “It wasn’t-- I mean, it was the lightning, y’know??? All the thunder and stuff outside??” He wildly gestures at the dark windows and attempts a smile. “You’re saying we can’t be scared of thunder or what-”

“Alright, I believe you,” Sehun says, not even bothering to mask the disbelief in his voice as he pinches Jongin’s cheek. He has to swat Jongin’s hand away when he worries that his entire hoodie might fall apart due to how harshly Jongin is kneading it with his fingers, which has Luhan chuckling to himself. “Anyway, I actually came down to put the little one to bed, but seeing as it’s getting late--” He checks his watch and sends Jongin and Luhan a pointed look, to which they only respond with (relieved) pouts.

Luhan watches as Sehun picks up a fussing Jonghun before he follows all three of them up the stairs. “Okay so like, Jongin said I could move my sleeping bag close to y’all’s bed, just so y’know,” he says whilst biting his lip, and Sehun doesn’t miss the way he looks over his shoulder and into the dark abyss that is the living room. “Okay???” He tugs on the hem of Sehun’s hoodie. “Hey!!!”

“Sounds alright with me,” Sehun hums, careful not to trip on the top step as Jonghun makes grabby hands at Jongin (who is much too busy gripping the hem of Sehun's hoodie to notice). Sehun briefly tells them to excuse the mess of papers strewn across the bed before he helps Jonghun brush his teeth in the bathroom, all whilst Jongin and Luhan zoom inside the room and shut the door with a bang behind them. The loud noise makes Jonghun fuss in his tired state and Sehun is about to scold Jongin for slamming doors when Luhan speaks.

“So like, a suggestion,” Luhan says, eyes sporting a wild glint as he anxiously bounces on the balls of his feet, “I say we leave the light on tonight, ‘kay?” He sends Sehun another exaggerated grin, to which the latter responds with a blank look from his spot by the sink, before he clears his throat. “Y’know, could be, uh...could be...useful, I think--”

Jongin frantically nods in agreement, ears twitching in all directions. “It’ll keep us safe from-”

“Jongin, shut the hell up,” Luhan hisses so quietly that only Jongin can hear, before he looks at Sehun as the latter exits the bathroom. “I mean, I think that’s a swell idea, how about--” He closes his mouth when Sehun looks up and raises an eyebrow. “I mean...it’s-- Nevermind, forget it.”

Gathering his papers, Sehun stares at Luhan for another minute before he apologetically shakes his head and gestures at Jonghun trying to button his pyjama shirt all by himself. He sends Jonghun a proud smile after the latter successfully clicks the single button into place with a triumphant squeal. “He’ll be up all night in that case,” Sehun replies and sends Luhan a stern look when the latter unironically suggests that maybe Jonghun could sleep on the floor outside the (closed and locked) door just for tonight.

Sehun organizes the reports on the bed and carefully tucks them inside his briefcase, all whilst he hears Jongin and Luhan attempting to move Luhan’s (huge) sleeping bag closer to the bed. Sehun walks over and realizes that they have placed it so close to the bed that Jongin might be at risk of accidentally stepping on Luhan whilst getting out of bed during the night or tomorrow morning, but neither Jongin nor Luhan seem to care (nor listen) as they contemplate boarding up every single door and window to the house. It’s not until Sehun asks Jongin and Luhan to wash up and get ready for bed that they both exchange worried looks, which definitely doesn't go unnoticed by Sehun.

“Can’t we just--” Luhan scratches the back of his head, avoiding Sehun’s eyes as he clears his throat. “Y’know, brush our teeth in here?” He lazily gestures all around the bedroom, which only has Sehun putting a hand on his hip in exasperation. “It saves water, doesn’t it???” he retorts and scrambles underneath the king sized bed in the blink of an eye after a loud clap of thunder causes the floor to vibrate. “It’s just the lightning, quit staring at me like that, jeez!!”

Sehun stares at the severed tip of Luhan’s bushy tail peeking out from beneath the bed before he internally sighs and runs a hand through his hair, all whilst Jongin tightly clings to him from behind like a terrified baby koala. “You weren’t nearly this scared two hours ago,” he mumbles, mainly to himself (which doesn’t go unheard by Luhan, who only huffs in response). After seeing Jonghun bouncing up and down in his crib, Sehun opens the bathroom door, hoping Jongin and Luhan will get the hint since he knows for a fact that Jonghun will be up all night if he doesn’t get to sleep soon.

Inevitably, neither of them get the hint, and Sehun ends up dragging Jongin and Luhan inside the bathroom (after Jongin effectively manages to get Luhan to come out by reminding him of a scene from the movie, in which the scary woman laid underneath one of her victim’s bunks), and even though Jongin halfheartedly knows (and hopes) that the probability of an evil woman with a spider-like body, and the ability to crawl on walls and ceilings, reaching out from within the mirror and grabbing him is pretty much nonexistent, he finds himself brushing his teeth while cowering inside the bathtub, anyway. As Sehun spins the baby mobile in the bedroom, Jongin watches as Luhan brushes his own teeth whilst continuously glancing up at the ceiling and the vent on the wall (even though Jongin figures that long, black hair emerging from such a place wouldn’t be hard to miss). Jongin figures he probably would have ended up sitting in the bathtub forever if it wasn’t for Sehun forcing him to spit in the sink after checking on them five minutes later, since Jongin straight up refused to even go near the mirror.

“Mom better pick me up early tomorrow, or else,” Luhan mumbles under his breath as he slides his pyjama shirt over his head. He doesn’t even bother removing his shorts as he dives head first inside his sleeping bag and zips it all the way up, only to it when he nearly dies of heatstroke. After getting as comfortable as he can, Luhan goes on to warn Jongin and Sehun that they ‘better not do anything gross whilst he’s in the room’, to which Sehun responds with an embarrassed cough, before he turns to face the window. Except facing the window only reminds Luhan of the woman’s ability to climb up windows (which has him cursing Sehun for not putting up any curtains), so he quickly rolls over, only to internally scream when he recalls the scene Jongin kindly reminded him about just now, after coming face to face with the gaping void underneath the bed. After suffering an internal meltdown, Luhan opts to sleep with his head safely tucked inside his sleeping bag (at the expense of possibly suffocating to death, of course).

Jongin doesn’t even bother changing into his pyjamas and he immediately clings to Sehun’s torso before Sehun even has a chance to get undressed, and Jongin ends up hugging one of their many pillows as he anxiously waits for Sehun to change into a clean shirt. Much to Jongin and Luhan’s dismay, Sehun ends up turning the light off, anyway (since Jonghun fussing until morning is something Sehun would rather not experience more than once in his lifetime), but the moonlight seeping through the windows tints the room a pale violet, which sort of puts Jongin at ease. However, the pouring rain and thunderstorm outside do not, and Jongin finds himself kneading and burying his face in Sehun’s warm chest as Sehun softly his hair. It’s not until Jongin picks up on the distant sound of rumbling in the distance, signalling another upcoming clap of thunder, that he swallows and pokes Sehun’s cheek.

“If something tried to hurt me, would you save me??” Jongin asks, trailing his fingers across the golden ring on Sehun’s left hand. “Like, right now???” He bites his lip, worried that Sehun might have fallen asleep when he gets no response, and he’s about to poke Sehun’s cheek again when the latter finally speaks.

“Of course I would,” Sehun hums and kisses Jongin’s cheek. All he can think about is when Jongin, in his overly ecstatic state, tripped and nearly fell backwards and head first into the fountain as they danced together in the ballroom on their wedding day, which most likely would have happened if it wasn't for Sehun flying over and yanking him backwards in the nick of time. As much as he's dying to remind Jongin about it, Sehun decides against it. “I’d always save you,” he adds for good measure with a playful jab at Jongin’s chest, making the latter yelp.

“Even from evil, black haired women who can twist their bodies to look like spiders and run across ceilings and walls and teleport through vents and mirrors and stuff???” Luhan blurts out without a hint of sarcasm or humor in his voice, before Jongin hears him sitting up in his sleeping bag. A loud clap of thunder fills the air, which makes him dive right back into his sleeping bag less than five seconds later.

Sehun is silent for a moment as he remains completely still, and Jongin momentarily fears that he wouldn’t, in fact, save them from just that (which sort of has him fearing for his own life and safety). “Did you two watch a scary movie?” Sehun lowly asks after a minute’s worth of silence as he sits up, and he figures he gets his answer when Jongin and Luhan flinch like they've been burned. Sehun immediately turns his head to look at Jonghun, who is sleeping peacefully in his crib and thankfully not showing any signs of being distressed. Nevertheless, Sehun isn't convinced in the slightest when Jongin frantically shakes his head, especially when the latter hurriedly covers his head with a pillow after thunder rumbles in the distance. 

“No,” Luhan blurts out way too quickly before he clamps his mouth shut and clears his throat. “I mean--” He sighs in defeat and grumbles something to himself, and Jongin sees his ears nervously twitching for any source of sound as he flops back down on the soft, blue material. “I'm still less of a kitten than-- Nevermind.”

Not wanting to scold Jongin when the latter is shaking like a leaf beside him, Sehun shakes his head and lies back down. “You know that stuff isn’t real,” he softly says (mainly to avoid waking Jonghun) before he teasingly pinches Jongin’s cheek, which has the latter swatting his hand away. “You know I’d never let anything hurt you two, so try to get some sleep, okay?” Sehun waits until Jongin’s ears stop twitching with anxiety to kiss his forehead.

Feeling a low series of purrs erupt deep within his chest after Sehun proceeds to scratch the back of his ear, Jongin finds himself nuzzling his face in the crook of Sehun’s neck as he softly kneads the latter’s chest. Sehun’s natural scent has a tendency to lull Jongin to sleep better than any storybook Sehun could ever read him, and Jongin is on the verge of dozing off when a loud thud has him jumping five feet in the air with a shriek. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that a bird has flown straight into the window, but Jongin still sits up like a bullet anyway as he watches Luhan shake like a leaf inside his sleeping bag. Jongin figures that he might as well kiss any attempt at falling asleep goodbye when a loud clap of thunder and lightning bolt strike at once, and the next thing he knows, he’s emitting a loud shriek after Luhan flies out of his sleeping bag and blindly scrambles onto the mattress.

Over the sound of Sehun telling them to keep it down before they wake Jonghun, Jongin feels Luhan’s bushy tail grazing his leg after the latter dives head first underneath the blanket. Jongin briefly hears Luhan mention something about 'the lady in white coming for him' before he proceeds to wrap himself up in the covers like a burrito. In the commotion, Luhan accidentally kicks Jongin in the stomach, and the next thing they all know, Jonghun is hopping up and down in his crib after being awakened by Jongin's loud hiss of pain. Not wanting to be whacked in the head whilst Jongin attempts to hide underneath the blankets, as well, Sehun flies out of bed and rushes over to Jonghun, who is already wide awake and clapping his hands in amusement. The loud rumbling outside doesn't seem to be bothering Jonghun at all, which Sehun finds both fascinating and relieving, mainly because Jongin and Luhan are practically wrestling each other to death trying to fit underneath the blanket at the same time. Another clap of thunder has Jongin shoving Luhan off the bed so he can keep the blanket for himself, which causes Luhan to scramble inside the closet, all whilst Jonghun tugs on Sehun's collar and repeatedly says something along the lines of 'Food'.

Sehun makes his way towards the door, careful not to step on any of Jonghun's toys as he exits the room to give Jonghun some animal crackers. Inevitably, Jongin and Luhan bolt out of the bedroom like black and orange bullets the moment Sehun approaches the stairs. Sehun thinks it's a miracle that none of them end up tumbling down the steps and breaking their necks after Jongin and Luhan both dash down the stairs before he can blink. Sehun figures that Jongin and Luhan's ability to see in the dark prevents them from trampling each other as soon as they enter the kitchen and locate the light switch. Jonghun immediately requests a bottle of warm milk before he waddles over to his favorite spot on the floor, right next to the shelf on top of which Sehun keeps his car keys, and picks up a red marker. Sehun barely gets a chance to fly across the room with a piece of paper before Jonghun can scribble all over the carpet.

Jongin watches as Sehun turns on the stove before he sighs and perches himself on one of the chairs surrounding the table. Even though the entire kitchen is brightly lit, seeing the reflection of the room in the window has Jongin swallowing thickly, because he figures that they must be sticking out like a sore thumb among all the other houses in the darkness. It's not until the thought of the scary woman possibly watching them all from outside hits him that Jongin automatically turns his face away and looks at Jonghun, who is chewing on the crayon a few feet away. Luhan flies over and practically whacks it out of Jonghun's hand (again with the babysitting points, Jongin thinks) before he sits down on the floor and compliments Jonghun's drawing skills. Jongin attempts to think about the scariest thing he's ever been through - being wrestled down onto the hard, uncomfortable bed a half hour before he gave birth to Jonghun, but he still can't shake the feeling of possibly being watched, which freaks him out even more (especially with Luhan nervously glancing over his shoulder every three seconds to look at the yard outside).

As Sehun prepares Jonghun's bottle, Jongin anxiously bounces his leg up and down and tries thinking the scary thoughts away by mentally replaying his and Sehun's kiss six months ago, seconds after they were officially pronounced spouses for life, as well as how gently Sehun held him while they slow danced together in the middle of the ballroom floor shortly afterwards (whilst Luhan berated Chanyeol for constantly stepping on his toes as they waltzed a few feet away). Jongin is halfway through thinking about how Luhan and his mother nearly hugged both him and Sehun to death after the ceremony when a loud clap of thunder s him back into reality, and the next thing Jongin knows, he's scrambling out of his seat and slamming his hand against the light switch.

Jonghun, being blessed with the ability to see even in the darkest dark, doesn't even flinch as the kitchen - and thus the entire house, is plunged into total darkness, and he simply resumes scribbling what Jongin assumes is a cat-like stick figures (mostly on the floor). Sehun, on the other hand, immediately demands Jongin turn the lights back on after he complains about not being able to see the pot on the stove, which Jongin ignores to the fullest as he rushes to Sehun and clings to the latter's legs like a terrified sloth. It's not until Luhan tells Jongin that the lights being off means that Sehun won't be able to see the woman if she were to be hiding somewhere inside the house (which Sehun finds strange, given that both Jongin and Luhan have near perfect night vision), and thus unable to protect them, that Jongin hurriedly turns the lights back on.

"Learned a little lesson, have we?" Sehun chuckles after Jongin flinches at a series of thunder claps, before he gives the milk a taste. Jonghun turns to curiously look at Luhan when the latter suddenly begins freaking out over 'the woman knowing where they were', to which Sehun responds by assuring them that the sound of rain pitter pattering against the window pane is not, in fact, somebody knocking. After he turns the stove off, Sehun hands Jonghun his bottle before he pours Jongin his own glass. Sehun figures that it might help Jongin relax, given Jongin's tendency to feel exceptionally sleepy after drinking warm milk, but he doesn't tell Jongin about it as he watches the latter practically inhale every drop of it in under a minute.

Wiping his mouth, Jongin avoids looking at his reflection in the window pane as he sets his glass down on the counter. Jongin figures that he's definitely learned his lesson - that trusting your best friend can be harmful to your sanity, as he watches Sehun chase Jonghun across the room before he can run into the living room and get to the candy still spread out all across the carpet (and thus suffer a long, sleepless night full of sugar induced squealing). Despite the fatigue seeping into his system, Jongin promptly refuses to go upstairs and to bed when Sehun tells him to, since Luhan has told him all about how vulnerable one tends to be (to monsters, that is) once they're asleep. Jongin opts to stick to Sehun like glue before Luhan goes on to ramble on and on about how he's too young to be murdered by ghosts, all whilst Jonghun inhales his milk from his spot on the floor a few feet away. It's not until Sehun suggests heading back upstairs that Jongin scrambles back to the chairs, because he would much rather prefer being somewhere with the lights on than upstairs in total darkness.

Sehun checks his watch, which he must have forgotten to take off before he went to bed earlier, and runs a hand through his hair. "Since you two seem to be wide awake, how about tidying up the living room floor?" he asks and he doesn't know if he should laugh or cry when Jongin and Luhan don't even move from their seats as their ears twitch in all directions.

"Are you crazy?" Luhan exclaims, seemingly jolting out of his trance-like state, before he stares at Sehun like he's grown a second head. He goes on to tell them that some monsters could climb straight through television screens and that he would rather not go that way, and Sehun legitimately wonders if he's serious or simply trying to avoid the burden of cleaning up the carpet.

Sehun simply shrugs and makes a mental note to wake them both up extra early tomorrow morning so that they can tidy up (even though he knows he's going to be dragging Jongin out of bed whilst the latter screams bloody murder). "So I take it that you two are going to be sitting there all night, then?" he chuckles before he beckons Jonghun to take his hand so that they can walk upstairs together. "I can't protect you both if you're way down here, just saying--" Sehun only blinks when Jongin and Luhan nearly trample each other to death trying to get up the stairs and to the bedroom less than three seconds later.

♡