Now that the triplets were spending more and more time with them, Jin’s morning routines had to be altered a bit. They weren’t in a preschool yet because Namjoon said it would make more sense to enroll them in one when the new school year began. With Yoongi and Hoseok’s summer break approaching in a month, Jin definitely agreed with Namjoon.

Even though they hadn’t moved yet and the triplets technically had no appropriate place to sleep, the three of them still begged and insisted that they sleep over on certain days of the week. It started with sleepovers only on the weekends. Then Jin agreed to allow them to sleep over on Wednesday too. Then Namjoon added Friday.

So basically, the triplets were staying over for most of the week, and apparently they didn’t care very much about where they were sleeping. Last night, Taehyung fell asleep next to Hoseok while Yoongi slept with Jimin in his bed. Jungkook was initially also lying in bed with Yoongi and Jimin but when Jin woke up that morning, Jungkook was lying on top of a snoring Namjoon. That happened almost every time though. Jungkook would always fall asleep in Yoongi or Hoseok’s bed and then in the next morning he was always found on top of Jin or Joon.

Jin smiled gently at how Jungkook’s cheek was squished against Namjoon’s chest and at how peaceful he looked. Since Seokjin and Namjoon took a day off from work to go take a look at the house they were planning to buy, the first half of his routine was skipped completely. Which Jin was so grateful for and judging by how deep of a sleep Namjoon was in, he was just as grateful.

Careful not to disturb the both of them, Jin slowly and quietly slipped out of bed. Jungkook was the lightest sleeper out of all of the kids. Seokjin stretched and hauled himself into the boy’s room to wake up Yoongi and Hoseok for school.

“Hobi?” Jin called in a hushed voice, of course not forgetting to tap his nose a few times. As always, Hoseok was shifting around in bed with a soft groan. “Careful, sweetie. Taehyung is next to you. We don’t want to wake him.”

Taehyung slept almost as wild as Hoseok did. Both boys were initially just sprawled out on the bed. Their legs were entangled and half of Hoseok’s body was basically on top of Taehyung’s. With Taehyung sleeping on his stomach and Hoseok lying on his back, Jin didn’t know how they even slept comfortably through the night.

Hoseok rubbed at his eyes with one of his hands and held out the other to Seokjin, telling his Appa that he wanted to be held. Without hesitance, Jin slowly hauled the boy into his arms. “You’re getting so big and heavy, sweetheart,” Jin whispered into Hobi’s ear as he held him on his hip.

“I’m a big boy,” Hobi giggled sleepily.

“Yes, you are,” Seokjin agreed as he carried Hoseok to the bathroom. As Jin began preparing Hoseok’s toothbrush, a voice sounded from the doorway, immediately catching Jin’s attention.

“You need some help?” Jiyong questioned groggily. “Namjoon has to be sleep because I hear him snoring from here. Or is that little Jungkook snoring like a grown man?”

If Jin listened close enough, he can also vaguely hear Namjoon snoring. “Yeah, that’s Joon.” How Jungkook was still asleep was a mystery to Seokjin.

“Uncle Jiyong,” Hoseok said with a small wave of his hand in greeting.

“Hey, Hobi,” Jiyong greeted with just as little energy as Hoseok. They both looked so tired.

“Since you asked, can you help Hoseok brush his teeth while I wake up Yoongi for school?” Jin said, placing Hoseok’s toothbrush in Jiyong’s hand while he rushed back to the room. Again, this was his least favorite part of his mornings. Waking Yoongi.

“Yoongi,” Jin called quietly as he gently moved Jimin’s arm from around Yoongi’s middle. Of course, not before taking a mental picture of the adorable image. Jimin whimpered at being moved and almost looked like he was going to burst into tears after being forced to untangle from Yoongi.

The first time Jimin did this, Jin almost considered just allowing Yoongi to stay home from school that day since Jimin seemed so adamant about holding onto Yoongi. Jimin cried every time. But as they slept over more frequently, Seokjin noticed that Jimin just wanted something to hold onto. Some type of warmth close to him. So they invested in a fluffy, brown teddy bear.

Before Jimin’s whimper could turn into anything more, Jin was grabbing for the teddy bear set at the bottom of the bed and placed it firmly in Jimin’s trembling fingers. It took a few seconds of caressing and cooing from Seokjin for Jimin to fall back into slumber, but he eventually did, clutching the bear into his arms as he snuggled in close.

Okay, back to Yoongi.

“Yoongi, love. It’s time for school,” Jin cooed again, moving Yoongi’s body gently. As expected, Yoongi just rolled over onto his stomach. “Get up, Yoongi,” Jin said. “Do I have to get you out of this bed myself?”

It was supposed to be something of a threat, knowing Yoongi’s limits, but Yoongi turned back onto his back and outstretched his arms towards Jin, the same way Hoseok did. “Hold me,” he whispered.

Jin couldn’t find it within himself to deny him. In terms of weight, Yoongi was lighter than Hoseok anyway. Despite the fact that Yoongi’s weight problem has been getting better, it’s been a very slow process. But Jin was proud of any progress at all and couldn’t ask for anything more.

Gently, Jin repeated the same steps he did with Hoseok. Taking Yoongi from the bed carefully as not to wake the other sleeping child and carrying him to the bathroom. But the only difference was that Yoongi was sleep again as soon as Jin held him in his arms.

In those forty minutes it took for Jin and Jiyong to get the boys ready for school, Yoongi had fallen asleep standing up a total of three times.

Jin didn’t even know that was possible.

***

“Namjoon,” Jin called. Rolling his eyes when Namjoon stayed laying there, Jin tried again. “Daddy, wake up.”

“What?” The lump under their covers began shifting and jostling.

“I’m about to drive Yoongi and Hoseok to school. Heechul and Jiyong are awake with the triplets in the living room. Junmyeon should also be over to pick up the triplets. He wanted to spend time with them since he’s off today,” Jin supplied, frowning in annoyance when Namjoon only groaned.

“Did you hear me?” Jin growled, grabbing at Namjoon’s foot that was peeking out from the blankets. Namjoon quickly jerked his foot away, afraid that Seokjin would tickle his feet. Namjoon hated that-- which is just code for he loved it-- and he wasn’t in the mood to be tickled. He also wasn’t in the mood to be talked to seeing that he was literally on the verge of sleeping, but he didn’t want to risk Seokjin getting angry by telling him that.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Namjoon said groggily, shifting to get comfortable again in bed.

“What’d I say then?” Jin said sternly.

“Gosh, Jinnie, don’t you have to bring the kids to school or something. I heard you,” Namjoon insisted. Jin narrowed his brow at Namjoon before sighing and leaving the room.

“Love you!” Namjoon yelled as Jin went down the hall to get to the front door.

“Shut up!” Jin shouted back. “Come on, boys. Tell uncles and the triplets bye-bye so we can get going.”

“Bye, everybody! I’ll see you later!” Hoseok waved at them and was running to meet Jin at the door.

Yoongi was a lot less enthusiastic as he sipped on his nutrition smoothie since he practically refused to eat any breakfast. “Bye-bye.”

“We love you guys,” Jiyong smiled.

“I love you more than Jiyong,” Heechul said with a brighter smile as he pushed Jiyong onto the couch, childishly. The triplets giggled from where they were sitting next to each other on the couch eating crackers.

Unfortunately, Jin didn’t get to watch the fight take place like he-- and Hoseok and Yoongi-- would’ve liked to unless the two would be late.

***

Seokjin kissed both Hoseok and Yoongi one last time before he waved them into class. Lately it’s been a little hard to get Hoseok to go to class without him crying. But, like he always did, Jin found a solution to the problem by telling Hobi to declare several times that he was going to be okay. That his Appa and his Daddy believed in him. In the end, Hoseok would take a deep breath and run off with Ms. Zhang.

Patting himself on the back for getting Yoongi and Hoseok off to class in just five minutes--usually it took about ten to fifteen minutes-- Seokjin was rushing towards parking lot where he parked. He wanted nothing more than to get home and get more sleep. Jin could definitely use more sleep.

Having five kids wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be but it definitely was more tiring than he first thought. Usually always so filled with energy, Seokjin was ready to nap whenever there was time for it.

Jin was right there at his car, opening up the door, before he heard a female voice calling his name. Startled at the suddenness of it all, Jin unexpectedly dropped his car keys. He was even more startled and scared at the fact that he recognized this voice. It was Dayeon’s voice and Jin did not want to hear it.

Why was she even here?

“Did you follow me?” Jin scoffed without looking her way, still moving to unlock the car. “I hope you know how suspicious that makes you.”

“Seokjin, please wait.” Dayeon’s voice was pleading as the constant sound of her high heels hitting the concrete sped up a bit to catch him. The desperateness in her voice was what stopped Jin from jumping into his car and just driving away. He was angry but his anger didn’t change the fact that Seokjin was entirely too empathetic.

With a deep sigh, Jin fisted cold metal of his keys in his hand to ground himself from being too angry.

Namjoon would tell him to stay calm. Remind him that he was standing in the parking lot of their children’s preschool and he should think through the situation before. So Jin took a deep breath and turned to face Dayeon, forcing the nicest smile he could. But even that forced smile was still somewhat of a scowl as he looked at her.

“What do you want?”

“To talk,” she said simply, cornering Jin as she clutched the straps of her expensive looking purse.

“About what? Because I really have to get back home,” Jin said with venom laced in his voice. He narrowed his eyes at her, but her eyes stayed soft instead despite this. If Jin wasn’t so aggravated then he probably would’ve felt a little bad.

“I… Seokjin, I need your help. I really want to fix this,” Dayeon sighed, running a hand through her hair that was gently blowing in the wind. “I’m so sorry for what I did but I do have a right to my son.”

There she goes again with that phase… My son… Jin hated it. Hated that she would say that phrase so freely as if she had the right to. Hoseok was his son. Not hers. Everytime she said that, Jin couldn’t help but feel offended and disrespected. As if these years he’s been taking care of Hoseok meant nothing. Anger was suddenly coursing through him.

“ Please, stop saying that. Stop saying that you have a ‘right’ to see him because you gave up that right when you left, Dayeon,” Jin said a bit forcefully as he fought to keep his voice low and as calm as he could possibly get it. With another sigh, he continued. “I’m glad you’re regretful. It shows that you’ve grown from who you were before. But just because you’ve seemingly matured doesn’t mean that your mistakes are just going to disappear. You left your child and Namjoon. You hurt them. You can’t just come back .”

“I-I… I feel horrible about that. I want to fix it. With Hoseok and Namjoon. And, Seokjin, I will do anything to do that. Anything. ” While her words were pleading in choice, her tone wasn’t. It was determined, somewhat… threatening. Cautious. Warning Seokjin that she would not back down even if she was denied.

He was tired of this.

“You will do anything on our terms. On Namjoon’s, specifically. You hurt him. No matter how sorry you are, you broke him and left him with a one year old child,” Jin said vehemently. “And while I do believe in redemption, it has to be on the terms of the person that was hurt. If Namjoon doesn’t want you around, then I don’t either. Maybe one day, he’ll change his mind, but that day is not today. Nor is it soon. So I would appreciate if you stay away for now until further notice.”

Seokjin had so much more that he wanted to say, but that would take up way too much of his time. So he just ended with something simple. “I’m sorry that I can’t help you, but I do hope that you have a great rest of your day, Dayeon. And please do not ever follow me again.”

Thankfully, Dayeon didn’t say anything further, just backed away while Jin got into the car. A part of Jin actually felt guilty for this. For turning Dayeon down and not giving her a chance. But she had to understand that this wasn’t about her, it was about Namjoon and Hoseok. That she couldn’t just suddenly fix the past and someone’s pain. She couldn’t.

So Jin fought with his empathy to not change his mind or even spare Dayeon another glance because it would only cause his composure to crumble. He hated seeing women-- or anyone in that matter-- upset but, again, there wasn’t anything he could do.

“And this could be the triplet’s room. It’s spacious, and we could put a bed in each corner. What’re you looking like that for? Don’t you think that’ll work?”

“Yeah, but, sweetheart, shouldn’t we give Hoseok and Yoongi the bigger room? I’m sure all five of them will be spending more time in their room than in the triplet’s room,” Namjoon warned while scratching at his chin with his lip upturned in thought.

“The rooms are like the same size, Joon.” Jin rolled his eyes and shoved Namjoon lightly. “You’re overthinking this seriously.”

Namjoon gave a petulant pout and crossed his arms across his chest. “I’m just trying to make sure everything is perfect.”

At the moment, Jin and Namjoon were wandering around the empty, barren house that they were planning on buying, giving it one last look before they made their final decision. Heechul and Jiyong had tagged along too. They were somewhere downstairs, Jin didn’t really know exactly where though. The house was much bigger in person than on the pictures he’d seen. But that was a good thing because it gave Jin much more space to indulge in his creative side.

The large amounts of space in the house rendered Jin incredibly eager to decorate. Heechul-- being that the man literally was the co owner of a fashion company-- insisted that he help with the interior decorating. Jin couldn’t and wouldn’t say no to that of course.

“It will be perfect,” Jin reassured, grabbing for Namjoon’s hand. “It’ll be perfect because we’ll all be together.”

Namjoon cringed at the cheesy line but Seokjin didn’t miss the way his cheeks tinted red at his words. “You’re so cute,” Namjoon chuckled.

Jin quickly pressed a kiss to his lips (well a few of them) before remembering what he really wanted to show Namjoon. “Come with me,” Jin giggled, hurriedly pulling Namjoon along. He pulled him towards the end of the hallway where there was a large, glass door that led to a balcony looking over the backyard.

“We have a balcony?” Namjoon gaped as Jin opened one of the double doors and happily rushed outside. It had to be one of his favorite features of the house.

“Yup! Look at all this backyard space. Imagine all the things we could do back here. It’s gonna be amazing,” Jin marveled as he leaned on the railing with a pleasant smile, his earlier anger slowly disappearing.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to have in the backyard?”

“Wh-What the hell are you talking about?” Jin gasped pushing at Namjoon’s arm a lot harder this time. “I meant like parties and stuff! Not .” Jin punched Namjoon this time. “You’re so nasty. Thinking about when we’re supposed to be thinking about the family.”

“We haven’t had in a long time though,” Namjoon drawled.

“We literally had like two nights ago.” Jin hid his face in his elbow, really not wanting to talk about this. It was always a topic that made Jin blush from head to toe. Yeah, he should be over this childish phase of hiding whenever someone even mentioned but Jin highly doubted that he would.

Seeing how uncomfortable Jin was made Namjoon hug him tightly and place a comforting kiss to the back of his neck. “I know, I know. I just wanted to make you blush… And in the backyard doesn’t sound that bad, does it? Maybe up here on the balcony?”

“Oh my god, Joon,” Jin sighed into the skin of his arm as he used his other hand to pinch at Namjoon’s arm that was wrapped around his waist. He could just imagine that stupid grin on Namjoon’s face right now. “We’re not doing that!... Alright, maybe up here on the balcony but only when all of the kids aren’t here.”

“Ha! I knew you were thinking about it. You’ve always had a small thing for exhibitionism-”

Seokjin was jerking away from Namjoon’s hold before he could finish, not wanting to listen to this anymore. Giggling nervously, Jin rushed back into the house and practically ran down the stairs to get away from Namjoon who was close on his heels telling him to stop running away.

For the next few minutes, Jin laughed uncontrollably trying to get away from Namjoon but eventually got caught when Jiyong and Heechul showed up and unknowingly blocked his escape route.

“What are you two doing?” Heechul raised an eyebrow as Namjoon held Jin tightly so he wouldn’t get away again.

“Being responsible adults and looking around the house,” Namjoon said still giggling at Seokjin’s own residual chuckles.

“You look like you’re just being little kids,” Jiyong bantered. And just like children would, Namjoon and Seokjin made a mocking face in response.

“Anyway, the realtor wants to know what your decision about the house is,” Heechul said, his voice obviously hopeful. It seemed like the two of them were fond of the house also. Luckily, Namjoon and Seokjin liked it too.

“We’re gonna buy it.”

Meanwhile, Yoongi was struggling to fight back tears. A nice boy came over and introduced himself to Yoongi, saying his name was Jisoo but everyone called him Joshua instead. Yoongi really wanted to be friends with the boy because he was from the United States just like his Daddy was, but he was so nervous that he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Yoongi?” Josh asked with a soft smile.

“Yes…” Yoongi whispered. His voice was so low and so small that Yoongi actually thought that the boy would think he was stupid and would walk away. But he didn’t. Josh just sat next to Yoongi with his pencil and paper and smiled even wider.

“You want to do work together?” Josh said, pointing at his math worksheet that the class was happily working on. Yoongi usually always did his by himself, and he never had a problem with that.

“You want to?” Yoongi asked softly.

Joshua nodded his head frantically. “Please!”

The tears that initially were threatening to fall had stopped. He no longer wanted to cry. Instead, Yoongi tried to smile.

Josh seemed so pleased with his smile. Josh even sweetly reached over and poke Yoongi’s cheek with a giggle. Yoongi was shocked that Josh seemed to like his smile. And it made Yoongi so happy.

He couldn’t wait to get home and tell his Dads all about it.