“Wait,” Junmyeon interrupts, clearly nervous. “He’s ok, right? I mean, it’s nothing serious, right?”

Yifan takes Junmyeon’s hands in his own, “Junmyeon, breathe.” And he does. “Keep going, Jongdae.”

“I think he has either an allergy or some type of intolerance, that’s why he hasn’t been eating,” Jongdae explains calmly. “He’s a bit anemic, so I’m giving him some medicine to help, and we’ll probably have to run a few other tests, but, guys, he’s ok.”

Yifan let’s out a breath he’d been holding for days now. Junmyeon seems more relaxed, but he can still see the worry hasn’t dissipated, his hasn’t either. Yifan knows this isn’t over, but at least they can be assured Yixing is getting what he needs.

As soon as he rests assured it’s nothing truly serious, guilt sweeps over him. “I can’t believe I missed it,” he mutters and Junmyeon releases one of his hands from Yifan grip and caresses the back of his husband’s neck. “I’ve been working so much lately; what’s the use of being a doctor if I can’t even take care of my own kids.”

“Yifan, don’t,” Jongdae defends. “These things are hard to miss. It’s easy to just think he was being a picky eater or blame it on his age.” Jongdae looks at Yifan with kindness.

“Neither of us noticed, Yifan.” Junmyeon adds. “We can play the blame game all day, but what’s important is that, now, we know what’s wrong, and we can do something about it,” Junmyeon doesn’t let go of his hold on Yifan’s neck.

-

“Please, Daddy,” a tiny whisper comes from under the covers.

Yifan is trying to get Jongin to sleep, but every time he gets him in his bed, little feet come running back to his own bedroom wanting to snuggle with him and Junmyeon.

“Baby, you know you have to sleep in your own bed,” Yifan tries to convince his youngest. He’d been falling asleep on his bed everyday now and Yifan thinks it’s a habit he needs to break.

“But I like your bed better. It’s a whole lot bigger than mine!” Jongin opens his arms to demonstrate the size and Yifan can’t help but laugh.

“Jongin, listen to your dad,” Junmyeon says, coming into the room and sitting next to Yifan on the small bed. “Your bed is just as comfy and you have your night light here and your teddy.”

Jongin pouts cutely and Yifan knows he’s gone the second he sees it. He lifts Jongin from the bed and carries him to the master bedroom. “Just tonight,” he says sheepishly to his husband who gives him a knowing chuckle. Jongin couldn’t be happier and Yifan knows he shouldn’t indulge him, but he’s his baby boy since Yixing is apparently too old now and won’t even let Yifan hold his hand or kiss him in public.

“Just tonight,” Junmyeon agrees. “But starting tomorrow you sleep on your own bed, got it, mister?” He tickles Jongin’s stomach while he’s in Yifan’s hold.

“Ok, Appa,” he says, holding back a yawn.

It takes him approximately five minutes to fall asleep while in Yifan’s arms, Dad caressing his head.

They are both very tired after spending the rest of the afternoon after coming back from the hospital doing research. They’d gotten some recommendations from Jongdae as to what to do with Yixing’s diet since they weren’t exactly sure what he could still eat or not. Yixing had explained which foods made him feel yucky and which didn’t and Junmyeon wrote them all down for future reference. Yifan knows once they get a final diagnosis everything will be clearer, but for now, they need to help Yixing feel better.

Yixing had looked good after coming out of Jongdae’s office, but as the afternoon went on, he seemed more and more anxious. Yifan’s worry has not yet settled completely.

“Appa? Dad?” Another voice joins them.

“Yixing, buddy, what are you doing up?” Junmyeon asks from the bed. He moves away from his husband to make room for him and pats the space between them.

Yixing may not like PDA in front of his friends, but at home it’s another story. He walks to lie down next to his parents quickly, without a second thought.

“I need to tell you something.” Suddenly the bed sheets become hugely interesting, and Yifan wonders what’s going on in his oldest head.

“You know you can tell us anything, Xing,” Yifan tells him, careful not to wake up the sleeping Jongin lying across his chest.

“Uhm, you see, there’s this boy,” he plays with the covers, twisting them and crumpling them in his hands. “He’s Soojung’s brother, you remember Soojung?”

“We do,” they chorus.

Yixing goes on to explain to them how he, after helping a boy stand up for himself against his bullies, was getting picked on relentlessly by the same boys. “The vocal coach from the after school arts program, Baekhyun, helped me scare them off, but Baekhyun’s not at school all day long,” Yixing sighs and Yifan just wants to hold him against his chest and tell him he’s gonna be fine, he’ll take care of everything. Sensing his husband’s wishes, Junmyeon hugs Yixing tightly.

Yixing stifles his sobs on Junmyeon’s pajamas. “Sweetie, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Junmyeon looks on the border of tears. Yifan is angry at himself and at those boys. He feels like an awful parent today.

“They told me that if I complained to anyone, they’d just go back to Kyungsoo.” Yifan reaches over and wipes Yixing’s tears from his cheeks. “You guys should meet Kyungsoo. He’s very little, Appa, he looks up to me because I protect him. I can’t let those kids bring him down again. He used to be so shy and quiet. You should see him now.”

The smile on Yixing’s face, knowing how he influenced a small boy like that, is priceless. Yifan knows Yixing did the right thing, but he shouldn’t pay for it by getting bullied himself.

“If you want,” Junmyeon says, Yixing’s back, “we can go to your school and talk to someone about it.”

Yixing shakes his head. “Baekhyun told me he knows how to get them to stop. Uncle Jongdae is helping too!”

“Wait, is this Jongdae’s non-boyfriend Baekhyun?” Junmyeon asks curiously.

“Your student Baekhyun?” Yifan adds, surprised Jongdae hadn’t said anything that afternoon.

“Yeah. He said he’d talk to you about it.”

“Oh, he did ask to talk to me but I was kind of in a hurry so I told him it had to be another day,” Junmyeon says after thinking about it for a second.

“Maybe you can talk to him tomorrow? Do you have class with him?” Yifan asks, looking for a tissue in his nightstand to hand Yixing. He manages to find a pack and Junmyeon takes it.

“I do. I will,” he answers giving the tissue to Yixing.

“Are you ok, baby? Is there anything we can do?” Yifan accommodates Jongin on his chest.

“Not really, but if there’s anything, I’ll tell you,” Yixing replies.

He easily gets settled between Junmyeon and Yifan, just like when he was little. Yifan knows they’ll probably fall asleep like this, Jongin on top of him, Yixing by his side, Junmyeon stretching his hand across the bed to his hair, but it’s worth it. Yixing told them something that was probably hard for him to tell, but he did it anyway. He’s immensely proud of his son for everything he’s done. He knows Junmyeon feels the same.

Yixing curls up on Junmyeon’s side and Junmyeon wraps Yixing in his arms while closing his eyes. He’s sure his husband falls asleep that very second. Yifan smiles sleepily and his eyes feel so heavy he just closes them. Sleep comes effortlessly for the first night in a while.

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a/n: Suprise! Ok i got inspired tonight and decided to just go and update. I hope you guys like this c: