Minho’s POV

“…..okay keep me posted if you need any help, and please take care of Jonghyun hyung. Yes, yes I will let you go now. Take care hyung.” I said my goodbyes to Jinki hyung before hanging up. As I pocketed my phone, I heard a loud wail pierce through the air. Rushing, I made my way to Kibum’s room. When I entered the room, Taemin was sitting on the window with his little arms folded over his chest, giving everyone his back.

“Taemin……baby, come on you need to eat, please come down!” I could hear Kibum plead. He was holding a plate filled with rice and meat.

“NO! I wan Mommyyy!!!! I no weat!” He cried. A look of helplessness took over Kibum’s face. I silently made my over to him as I laid a hand on his shoulder. As he looked over his shoulder, our gaze met for a second before I moved towards Taemin.

“How can all of you treat him like this? He is the Crown Prince! He can punish all of you! Kibum, do you want him to punish you? He can kick you out of the palace! You should not anger Prince Taemin!” I could see him looking over his shoulder sneakily. When I reach him, I purposely kneeled before him and spoke,

“My Prince, how would you like me to punish these criminals? They have wronged you terribly. I shall punish them on your behalf. Shall we start with Kibum?” turning around I addressed the next words to Kibum, “Kibum, you are been punished for making the Prince shed tears. Your punishment is 10 sit ups!” I couldn’t help but smirk at him. He glared a bit but still came over towards Taemin and played along-

“My Prince! Please forgive me for my mistakes. I shall carry out my punishment now!” Saying this, he started carrying out his punishment. I could see Taemin turn around closely as he watched Kibum. I must say, Kibum is a good actor, he groaned and huffed in all the right places, pretending to be tired as he did sit ups. Suddenly, we heard a little chuckle come from our prince as he clapped his little hands. Seeing him happy again, we couldn’t stop smiling! Signalling Kibum to get the food, I picked Taemin up and sat him on my lap. Kibum brought over the plate and we started our distraction/feeding mission together.

“Prince Taemin would you like me to feed you?” Kibum said guesturing at me to in too.

“Yes you should feed Prince Taemin! He needs to eat a lot so he can grow up and become a strong King! Right my Prince?” I asked Taemin.

“YESSSS!!!!” and that is how we spent the next half an hour feeding Taemin.

“Uwncle!”

“Yes?”

“Mommyyy….I wan Mommyyyy” he said sniffling a bit. Sighing, I looked at Kibum, he looked at me and shrugged his shoulder. This is not going anywhere, what do we do? I hope hyung made it back safely. Why has he not called yet?

“Would Prince Taemin like to visit the carnival?” I asked him, suddenly remembering the carnival invitation that I received earlier.

“Cawiwal?”

“Yes! Carnival…..it has lots of games, food and is fun! Would you like to go with Uncle?”

“Fwun? Yesssss…..Taemin go….” Suddenly he leaned towards Kibum and held his hand swinging it lightly as he said “Kidum go….Cawiwal”

“Ehhhh….why do you not go with Uncle Hmmm?” he asked nervously.

“NO KIDUM GO CAWIWAL WIF TAEMIN!!!!!”  Taemin started crying again. Kibum looked scared, but still nodded to Taemin.

“Okay Okay…..Please do not cry! I will come along” instantly smiling Taemin left my arms to go to Kibum.

“Get ready I shall meet you at the front door in half an hour. And if you do not mind, could you help Taemin too?” I asked Kibum who just nodded.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Minho’s POV continued~

“Uwncleeee!!!!!” Turning around I found Taemin running towards me followed by Kibum. He was dressed up casually in ripped jeans paired with black T-shirt. He had pulled a checkered knit jacket over it. As Taemin dashed towards me, I picked him up spinning him a little.

“Ready to go Tae?”

“YESSSS!”

“Good, let us get in then!” I gestured towards the passenger seat for Kibum to get in as I buckled Taemin in his car seat at the back.  I got in the driver’s seat and pulled out of the palace gate, nodding to the guards as we passed.

“Are we not taking a driver?” Kibum asked from beside me.

“I prefer to driver myself.”

“Uwncle!”

“Yes Tae?”

“Taemin divive too!!” we both could not help but chuckle.

“Yes when you grow tall you can drive. But for that you need to eat a lot and grow tall!”

The journey to the carnival was filled with Taemin’s chatter. Sometimes I forget how curious he is. It makes me happy that he was able to survive. His presence has changed Jonghyun hyung so much. A change for the better. As we pulled in the parking lot, I let both out them climb out before parking the car in the reserved parking spot. I had called the Carnival and informed them about our impending arrival. As we made our way in, the person in charge of the carnival came to greet us.

“Your Majesty! Welcome!  Welcome! It’s our pleasure that we are graced with your presence!”

“I hope you had great shows in Dokkam?”

“Yes Your Majesty, we had great shows. I hope you enjoy your time as well. If I may say so His Grace is very beautiful and so is the little Prince!” He said as his eyes drifted behind me to Kibum who was carrying Taemin.

“He is not my husband, and that is my nephew, my older brother’s son.”

“Ah! Please forgive me!” he said hastily, apologising profusely.

“Do not worry as no harm was done. Now, if you excuse us, we would like to check out the Carnival. Our little prince is getting impatient.”

“Yes Yes….Please enjoy yourself!” Gesturing Kibum to follow me, we made our way in. Kibum let Taemin down, as he started squirming.

“Taemin do not run!” Seeing Kibum run after Taemin like a mother hen brought a giddy feeling in my heart.

We went around checking different activities. After eating some snacks, we ended up walking around.

“Would you like to try that Tae?” I asked him pointing towards haunted house.

“YESSS!!!!” He replied excitedly.

“Ehhhhh…..” Turning around at the sound, I saw Kibum looking a bit pale as he stared at the haunted house with barely concealed dismay.

“Are you alright?”

Nodding, he said,

“Why don’t you take Taemin with you? I will wait here….”

“Are you scared by any chance?” I asked him.

“NO! Ehhhh I just do not feel like coming in!”

“You can tell me if you are scared, it is fine…..”

“I’M NOT SCARED!” he interrupted, but before I could reply, Taemin interrupted,

“Uwncle! Kidum! No Fwigt! Kidum come!” he said as he held Kidum’s , no, Kibum’s hand and pulled him towards the entrance. No amount of refusal from Kibum changed his decision. Finally giving in, he let Taemin drag him in.

As we entered the dark house, a blast of air on our ankles greeted us. It was so sudden that both Taemin and Kibum screamed at the top of their voice and ran back towards me clinging on to me from both sides! Taemin started crying. I squatted down and picked him up, as I rocked him to console him.

“Do not cry Taemin, Uncle has got you! Did it scare you?” he lifted his little face from my shoulder and nodded. Tears ran from his eyes.

“Do not cry! I will protect you okay?” he nodded, as he laid his head on my shoulder hiding his face in my neck. Turning around, l looked at Kibum. He had a death grip on my arm as he looked around as if waiting for something to attack him suddenly.

“Are you alright?” he was startled hearing me speak suddenly, but when he looked at me, my heart clenched in my chest. He had fear written over his face. I pulled him towards me, tucking him to my side as I held his shoulders.

“Do not fear, I will protect you. No harm will come to you when you are with me.” He nodded his head with tears in his eyes. It took us some time to complete the course and exit. The funny thing was, halfway through the maze, Taemin lost his fear and whenever a ‘ghost’ came out to scare us, he would laugh and say ‘Hi!’ !!!! This child never stops managing to surprise me! Now Kibum on the other hand absolutely did not let go of my arm and every time someone popped out, his shrill scream would ring out loud! By now, the entire Dokkam must have heard him!

 As we made out, we found a bench and settled down to rest.

“How about we go and play some games? How do you like that Tae?” I patted his back to see if he was fine?

“ Scwarryyy!? Boo!?” he asked excitedly! Aaah, this kid!

“No baby.....it would not be scary. It will be fun! Should we try?” when I got a nod, I turned to Kibum to see if he was fine with the idea. He was leaning with his eyes closed. His fists were tightened over his knees. I grabbed his hand in mine as I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand. Opening his eyes, he looked at me with shock.

“I’m sorry….we should have not gone there. Are you alright now?” I expected a nod but he sighed and replied,

“I…I’m fine…..can we not talk about it please?”

“Sure, how about if we play some game? Are you up for it?”

“Ehh…okay”

We made our way towards the gaming stalls. We let Taemin play some kids’ games as we stood and watched. That’s when a colourful stall caught my eye.

“Taemin-ah come here.” I called him over. When he came running, I picked him up and pointed towards the stall as I asked him,

“Should we try our luck and see if we can get some gifts?”

“YESSS!!! Gwif!  Taemin wan Gwif!!!”

“Okay! Let’s go win some! Kibum, come.” I called out to him as we made our way to the stall. The stall owner seemed shocked seeing me there-

“Your Majesty! What a pleasant surprise! Welcome to my humble stall.”  He greeted, bowing to us.

“Thank you! We will like to try our hand at these shooting games.”

“Sure Your Majesty!” he said as he handed me the gun. Positioning the gun, I looked at Taemin

“What would you like Tae?”  He stood on his tippy toes to look over the counter and pointed at a stuffed Bunny.

“! UWNCEL ”

“Okay…..” I aimed the gun in the centre and shot hitting it right in the centre.

“Congratulations Your Majesy! That was a marvellous shot!” he said as he handed Taemin the stuffed bunny.

“Uwncle…..Taemin wan!” he said as he pointed to a stuffed puppy.

“Okay” bang and the puppy was given to him as I hit the same spot.

“Yeppieee!!! Uwncel…..cee….Daddy! Mommy!” he said as he pointed towards bunny referring to it as his Dad and towards the Puppy calling it his Mom. I heard a soft chuckle and turned to see Kibum smiling at Taemin with loving eyes.

“What would you like?” I asked him

“Pardon?” he seemed shocked.

“What would you like me to win for you?”

“Ehhh….anything is fine. You do not have to…..”

“I want to.” I said as I took my aim again. This time when I hit the spot, the owner came towards us and asked,

“What would you like this time Your Majesty?”

“That….That fox.” Nodding, he handed the fox to me.

“Here.” I handed it out to Kibum.

“Fox?”

“Well…..it kind of looks like you….I mean your eyes…….” I trailed off embarrassed. I do not wish to offend him. When he started laughing, I could help but stare at him in shock.

“If that’s the case, let me win something as well.” he said as he picked the gun to try. I could not stop myself from chuckling when he missed by miles.

“Let me help you.” I said as I held his hand from behind, helping him correct his posture. Having him so close was stirring all those emotions in me that I thought were dead. He seemed so focused, but when I did not help him shoot he turned towards me. Our faces were inches apart, out breath mingled. We stared deep in each other’s eyes, lost to the world.

“Uwncle! Kidum!” Startled, we turned towards Taemin.

“Taemin Huwngry!”

“Okay! We are almost done….” I turned towards the target and pressed the trigger, helping Kibum shoot the target in the perfect centre. Springing apart we pretended as if nothing went by just a second ago.

“I want that….” He said pointing towards a big eyed frog. When he got the frog he turned and handed it to me.

“Seriously! A frog!”

“Well….what can I say…..?”

“Thank you…” I said as I took the frog from him. I couldn’t help but smile.

We settled down to eat after getting some snacks. Kibum sat next to Taemin and fed him.

“Taemin-ah! You are making a mess!” he said as he wiped the sauce from Taemin’s face with a handkerchief. Taemin blinked sleepily as he leaned in towards Kibum.

“Are you sleepy?” he said patting his hair. Shaking his head Taemin pointed at something behind our back and he said-

“Taemin wan go twere…..” we both turn to check what he was point. Giant Wheel!

“Would you not be scared?” I asked him.

“NO! Pweety up!” he said trying to tell us that the sight was pretty from up.

“And how do you know that?” Kibum asked him, chuckling.

“Daddy….Mommy twake Taemin twere!” he told us as he jumped on the chair.

“Okay Okay we’ll ride the wheel. But after that we will call it a day okay?” Nodding, he jumped down and started pulling our hands.

“Cwome! Cwome!”

“Ehh….would you mind taking him alone? I do not do well with heights….”

“Well….”

“No Kidum! Cwome….Pweety!!!!”  Taemin started stomping his feet.

“Okay Okay…..I will come…” saying this Kibum stood up from his chair.

“Are you sure…..I can take him alone.”

“No it’s fine…le…let’s just get this done.” Nodding, we went to towards the wheel. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in a pretty orange glow. As we rode up, I must say the sight was pretty breath-taking. I had Taemin on my lap so he could stare out of the small window. He kept pointing at different things that caught his attention. As we reached the peak, our small cart suddenly jerked and came to a stop. Kibum clinged to me as a squeal left him. I quickly pulled him towards me and held him. He looked at me. He looked ethereal with a soft orange halo in the background. As we stared at each other, my eyes drifted towards his lips. Those soft pink cupid bow lips, that once willing opened for me looked so tempting that I could not help but lean towards him. Suddenly with a jerk our cart started moving again and like a broken spell we sprang apart. Clearing our throat, we looked away.

“Uwncel Kwiss Kidum!” his statement came as a shock as we started stuttering a little.

“What?”

“Daddy Kwiss Mommy win Beel! Uwncle Kwiss Kidum!”

“Ehh…Taemin, your parents are married! They can do stuff like that, we are not married, we cannot do stuff like this” Kibum tried to explain.

“Mwarried?”

“Yes, we are not married!”

“Uwncle! Mwarry Kidum! Twen Uwncle kwiss Kidum!”

“TAEMIN!” seeing both of them bantering over a kiss was pretty cute! A yawn left Taemin as he leaned in my chest. Fighting with Kibum must have tired him out. I patted his back to help me drift off to dreamland. As the cart came to a stop, we both got out. Silence took over us as we made it to the parking lot. Just when I was about to open the back door to set Taemin in his car seat, Kibum interrupted.

“Let me hold him, he would not be comfortable in the car seat.” Nodding I let him get in before handing Taemin over. He let Taemin lay his head over his chest as he kept patting his back. We drove back in silence. As we pulled up at the palace, I got down first and went towards his door to help him with Taemin.

As he got out he held his hands towards me asking to hand him Taemin back.

“I will keep him with me. I do not want him to wake up at night and cry for his mom.” Nodding, I handed Taemin back. As I turned to get the rest of the stuff we bought out, I heard him call out to me.

“Minho”

“Yes”

“Thank you”

“For what?”

“For today….I had fun…..” he said with a light blush on this face. Quickly turning, he left with quick steps.

A smile took over my lips as his words finally registered!