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Lee Taemin was snuggled comfortably underneath his warm comforters when a sharp ringing tone violently awoke him from his slumber. A hand shot up from underneath the baby blue covers and started searching madly for the source of havoc—which just happened to be his ringing cellphone.

 

Taemin’s messy nest of a head popped up from his blanket fortress, and he answered the call with zero morning cheer in his voice, “Minho! I thought I told you not to wake me up before ten today," he all but said nicely. 

 

However, despite the teetering urge to strangle his boyfriend for waking him up so early in the morning, Taemin’s foggy head cleared when he heard crying noises and sounds of war in the background while his boyfriend was speaking, with a dangerously high-pitched tone that didn’t match with his calm composure at all. Taemin shot up in bed and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, asking, “What’s wrong, Minho? Where are you?”

 

There were sounds of chaos, shouting, and the blaring song of SNSD. Taemin strained his ear to hear the person on the other end, which was not an easy task. He barely heard Minho saying, “I’m at my aunt and uncle's house. They asked me to babysit their kids! I never knew my cousins were like this behind closed doors—Yoogeun, put that down!—oh my god, Taemin, you have to help me!”

 

The brunette sighed and heaved himself out of the comfort of his bed. He didn’t really have much of a choice but to help his boyfriend, who sounded a ‘tiny bit’ distressed over the phone. But then again, Minho was no one to overreact on anything. The way he shouted over the phone probably meant that something serious was happening, so Taemin decided to sacrifice his sleep time to lend a hand.

 

Only one thought was in Taemin’s mind as he furiously brushed his teeth in front of the mirror;

 

Minho was an idiot to agree to babysit.

 

 

When Taemin arrived at the address Minho had texted him a while ago, he was expecting a few rowdy kids who just wanted to play or eat ice cream and pestered Minho to no end to get what they want. He of all people, did not expect the full-blown riot inside the Choi-Byun residence.

 

Entering the house, he was immediately met with the ear-drum blasting music of the famous girl group, Girl’s Generation, and along with Geeblasting from the speakers somewhere in the house, he heard the cries of the baby coming from the kitchen. Minho was nowhere in sight.

 

Taemin covered his ears with both of his hands and searched for the source of the noise. How could Minho tolerate this madness? The music could blow anyone’s eardrum and induce a seizure!

 

Gee, gee, gee, gee baby baby baby~

 

“Aha!”

 

Upon spotting the massive stereo system in the living room, Taemin ran to it and straight up unplugged the monstrous noise-machine. He heaved a sigh when he no longer felt the bass vibrating his chest and looked around to survey the damage.

 

The whole living room looked like a battalion of children had a war in there.

 

Paint was smeared on the walls, little mischievous handprints staining the beige wallpaper of the room, in all of the colors of the rainbow. On the floor and the couch and everywhere else were toys scattered, as if someone had dumped a whole toy box and threw the toys around. Taemin took caution not to step on a Lego, seeing as that he was only in his socks. He tiptoed over the numerous action figures and Barbie dolls and turned off the television, which was playing Little Einsteins on a low volume.

 

And alas! The grand prize; a huge mess of milk and cereal in the middle of the hardwood floor, and… two small children drawing on the floor behind the couch with crayons. Taemin shifted his gaze to the wall behind him and saw that they’d already finished a mural on it.

 

The teenager threw his head back and sighed deeply. Seriously, the things he did for love.

 

“Kids, stop that right now!” he commanded sharply.

 

The two toddlers, one five years of age and the other three, jumped at the sound of the stranger’s voice and dropped their crayons. The older one, a girl who looked like a little princess with her pretty curls and pretty dress, made a face at him before demanding who he was.

 

Despite the fact that he was more than the triple number of her age, Taemin glared back at the bratty little kid and said, “I’m Taemin and I’m your babysitter number two, seeing as number one couldn’t handle you properly,” he said with an eye-roll. And as if on cue, the wails of a baby started up again the kitchen, and Taemin heard Minho’s voice trying, and failing, to calm him.

 

The brunette boy sighed for the umpteenth time that day and pointed at the two youngsters, “You both stay here and stop drawing on the floor! Your umma and appa will be more disappointed than mad at you two when they see what you did,” he lectured the kids sternly, before picking up a pad of paper on the coffee table and placing it down on the floor, “You draw on paper, not the floor, arrasso?”

 

The young boy, who had large eyes like Minho’s and was still in his pyjamas, nodded obediently and ripped a sheet from the pad. The older one looked a bit hesitant for a moment, but Taemin reminded her how their parents would be sad when they see the drawings on the floor and walls, and she finally gave in and sat down with her brother on the floor with the paper.

 

Taemin smiled in satisfaction. He had taken care of numerous cousins before; this was basic stuff for him. After all, he was the one who had to learn how to change diapers, scold children, put them to bed, make them food, and entertain them, since he reached the age where he was deemed old and responsible enough to babysit. Four kids was easy pie, he'd dealt with worse.

 

Next, Taemin strode off to the kitchen where a siren was blaring.

 

Oh wait—it was just the baby.

 

If it weren’t for the dire situation, Taemin would’ve laughed at the pathetic sight of his boyfriend covered in baby puke and green lumps that resembled baby food. And was that milk and paint splattered on his pants?

 

“Minho, what are you do—trying to do?”

 

Minho sighed in defeat when Wooram, the six-month-old baby he was trying to feed, pushed the spoon away again and proceeded to wail louder than he did earlier. Minho groaned loudly in defeat and slammed the bowl of baby food on the table, “Fine, don’t eat then!” he cried out in frustration, “He won’t eat, Taemin! I’ve been trying for over an hour!”

 

Taemin rolled his eyes and walked over to the high-chair containing the food-stained baby. He picked up the wailing child from its confines and walked over to the refrigerator, where he produced a bottle of milk that was obviously milk. Turning to his mess of a boyfriend, “Yah! Make yourself useful and heat this up for him. What’s his name, anyways?”

 

Minho grumbled but took the bottle in the brunette’s hand, then proceeded to heat it up in a pot of water on the stove, “The baby you’re holding is Wooram. The kids in the den are Lauren and Yoogeun, and the devil incarnate herself is in the bathroom, and her name’s Sulli.”

 

Taemin ignored his boyfriend’s children-induced crankiness and smiled at the baby, who had already stopped crying when Taemin patted his and bounced him in his arms, “Ah, so you’re the reason that I had to wake up so early in the morning, eh? Aish, if you weren’t so cute I would be mad at you.” Wooram studied Taemin's face in return, probably trying to figure out who was this stranger holding him.

 

Minho turned off the stove and fished out the lukewarm bottle. Handing it to Taemin, he reached for a tissue after and cleaned away the rejected baby food from Wooram’s face, before Taemin proceeded on feeding him.

 

“Aish, if I only known he wanted milk instead of baby cereal,” Minho huffed.

 

Taemin sent him a look, “Sometimes babies want their mother’s milk instead of solid food. If you’d only read a book or two…”

 

Minho glared, “Well, excuse me for being inadequate in the babysitting department,” a smirk crept on his face, “But now you know how incapable I am with kids, so when we get married and adopt, you’re the umma.”

 

Taemin blushed just a little bit when Minho mentioned about getting married, but it went away when he reminded himself that he was still angry about being woken up so early. And yes, nine o’clock was ‘too early’. The brunette turned away and pretended that he trying to put Wooram to sleep.

 

“He’s getting sleepy,” Minho noted over the smaller boy’s shoulder. Indeed, the baby’s eyes were getting droopier with each gulp of milk. Taemin started humming a soft lullaby, and rocked gently from side to side.

 

Minho smiled at his boyfriend being such a good father, “You’re really good with kids, Taemin-ah. I think we can adopt five and we won’t even have a problem.”

 

Taemin blushed again, and thankfully he was facing away from the taller boy. For Minho to talk about the future like it was something already set in stone was very flattering for Taemin, and it gave him a whole lot of butterflies when Minho mentioned anything about getting married or having kids. He wouldn't let Minho know about that, of course-- the boy would to no end.

 

"Yah, five is too much, even with my parenting skills," he retorted. Minho just smiled and went away to clean up the mess on the high-chair.

 

Once Wooram’s milk was all gone, the baby was barely awake. Taemin quickly walked back to the living room and placed him on a clear space on the couch. Then, with gentle movements, he massaged Wooram’s belly to help with the digestion, and then picked him up again to pat him on the back. When Taemin heard a tiny burp from behind him, he gave the sleeping infant to Minho, “Put him in his crib?”

 

“Arrasso,” Minho nodded, then disappeared upstairs to put his baby cousin to bed.

 

Then, just when Taemin thought all chaos has ceased, the sound of a door opening and slamming against the wall resonated through the hallway.

 

“Who the hell turned off my music?!” someone, or namely; a thirteen-year-old brat named Sulli screeched at no one, thus disturbing he peace that Taemin thought he’d already achieved.

 

The brat girl, who was wrapped in an oversized bathrobe that reached until her ankles, sighted her target. She glared at Taemin with so much ferocity that the older boy almost felt scared under her burning gaze, “How dare you turn off my music? I was listening to it from the bathroom! Just because I fell asleep doesn’t mean I didn’t wanna wake up still listening to it!”

 

Was this girl serious?

 

Taemin had no worries. He’d dealt with even worse pre-teen es like this. Please, I’ve babysitted Key once! God knows that kid shows more pre-menstrual symptoms than the average girl. By experience, he knew that it was best to ignore Sulli until she realized that her squawking would get her nowhere.

 

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?! How dare you—“

 

Suddenly, a head popped up from behind the couch and interrupted her speech, “Unnie, Taeminnie-appa did nothing wrong. You should listen to him, he’s taking care of us~” Lauren sang. Taemin smiled at her and walked over to give her a pat on the head. Children truly warmed up to him well, and in such a short amount of time. Taemin didn't want to admit it out loud but he was warming up to them pretty fast, too. 

 

Sulli looked scandalized. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared even more.

 

“And he’ll make food for us,” Yoogeun piped up, “Won’t you, Taeminnie-appa?”

 

Taemin grinned and gave the toddler’s head an affectionate ruffle, “Of course, I will. Only if you help me and Minho-appa, though. We’ll make pancakes together, ne?”

 

Yoogeun and Lauren gasped in delight and nodded their heads vigorously, completely forgetting about their papers of art on the floor. They both took each of Taemin’s hands and started pulling him to the kitchen, “Let’s make food now, Taeminnie-appa? We’re hungry,” Lauren pouted.

 

“Ne, ne, but let appa make the pancakes, and you can help with putting the whipped cream and chocolate on it after,” he said, “But first, you have to clean the living room! Your umma and appa don’t wanna see the mess when they get home, do they?”

 

Lauren and Yoogeun agreed wholeheartedly to the proposal and immediately started picking up their toys. Taemin wondered how Minho couldn’t handle these kids; they were so easily to manipulate. Lauren grabbed the turned-over toy box and the two kids made a game of throwing their toys in it from a distance.

 

Smiling, Taemin left them in their little game and went back to the kitchen. He barely heard the sound of Sulli’s stomping as she went up to her room, followed by a loud slam of a door. Taemin just smirked as he remembered how Key acted the same way, the little .

 

 

Minho went back downstairs and found the living room almost toy-less and his two dongsaengs putting their toys and Legos back in the box they had overturned earlier. They smiled at him and Lauren said, “Taeminnie-appa said that he’ll let us make pancakes with him if we clean up.”

 

Wow. How come I’ve never thought of that?

 

Minho nodded and gave both of the kids a pat on the head, “Well, we shouldn’t disappoint him now, right? We need to clean up well!” he exclaimed with a newfound enthusiasm.

 

“Ne, Minho-appa!” Lauren and Yoogeun cried simultaneously.

 

Minho wondered where the ‘appa’ came from, but decided not to ask about it. He sort of liked being called appa. It sounded like the future he and Taemin were to have, and he smiled at the thought.

 

Minho found the cleaning supplies closet and pulled out a rag and a cleaner-liquid. He started with the paint stains on the wall, rubbing it away with the rag, while the kids joined him after they finished putting away their toys and rubbed at their own mess.

 

After cleaning up the living room where it had previously resembled a daycare gone awry, Minho took the two toddlers to the bathroom and cleaned their faces and hands. After that, he took them upstairs to get them dressed in fresh clothes and brought them back down for snack time. Yoogeun apparently had a newfound affection for his Minho-appa and found joy in clinging to his chest, while Lauren skipped ahead, excited for her chocolate pancakes.

 

“Wow Minho, I thought you weren’t good with kids?” Taemin teased as he flipped another pancake on the stove, “It seems as if Yoogeun and Lauren are so fond of you now.”

 

Minho rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s comment, “When there’s food involved, they suddenly love me,” and to prove that statement, Minho fed Yoogeun a strawberry and the child said, “I love you, Minho-appa!”

 

Taemin burst out laughing, almost knocking over the pan and sending the pancakes to the floor. Lauren waddled over to shush him, “Taeminnie-appa! You’re going to spill the food!”

 

“Ani, ani,” Taemin shook his head as he flipped the last one and placed it neatly on top of the pile on the table, “I’m done now, see? Now we can go decorate them!”

 

Lauren squealed and climbed on a stool next to where her Minho-appa was sitting with Yoogeun on his lap. Taemin put the tower of pancakes in the middle of the  table, along with strawberries, banana slices, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, butter and maple syrup for the kids to put on their pancakes. The biggest smile grew on his face when the kids immediately started grabbing at the yummy food, and then thanking him with a heartfelt, “Thank you, Taeminnie-appa!” that just melted his insides. How can they be so messy and yet so adorable?

 

Taemin's smile didn't go away as he got his own pancake and started putting maple syrup and strawberries on it. On the other hand, when Minho remembered that they were missing two children, he gave Yoogeun to Taemin, and went upstairs to get the eldest who was probably still sulking.

 

Upon reaching the room that sounded like Girl’s Generation was having a concert in there with the way the walls were vibrating with the loud music, Minho peeked his head inside the door and waved at his cousin. He didn’t really hate Sulli because she was a pre-teen brat; he just didn’t pay attention to her rants enough for him to be annoyed with her.

 

Sulli looked shocked when she saw her Minho-oppa inside her room. She rushed to the massive stereo in front of her bed and turned off the music, thus letting Minho’s ears stop pounding, “Come down, we made pancakes. Come eat with us,” he said nicely. He knew by experience that if you were nice to kids when they weren’t, they’ll grown on you much faster and trust you all the same.

 

Sulli blushed and nodded, keeping her head down as Minho took her hand and led her downstairs. On the way, they passed Wooram’s room and found that he was awake from his nap already, so Minho carried him with one arm while Sulli held the onto the other.

 

Wow. Maybe I can get used to this? I think I really am a good appa, he thought happily.

 

When they got back to the kitchen, Taemin, Yoogeun and Lauren already had plates of pancakes prepared for them, overflowing with fruits and syrup on top. Sulli grinned and sat down beside her sister, and Minho placed Wooram on his high-chair and prepared him some banana-flavored baby cereal.

 

“Taeminnie-oppa, this is really good!” Sulli delighted as she dug into her chocolate-covered, marshmallow-topped pancakes with strawberries and bananas. Taemin smiled at her, understanding that her praise was somewhat like an apology for what happened between them earlier, “Thank you, Sulli, but Lauren and Yoogeun especially put the toppings for you. They knew you would love chocolate and fruits together,” he said.

 

The two toddlers gave their older sister a thumbs-up, to which she replied with a kiss on both of their cheeks.

 

Minho, on the other hand, was successfully feeding Wooram with the solid mush. Instead of having the food on his shirt, the spoonfuls of baby food was eagerly accepted by Wooram and was even laughing in delight as Minho fed him with airplane sound effects.

 

And at that moment, as delicious pancakes filled their hungry stomachs and lighthearted chit-chat filled the air, Taemin and Minho couldn’t help but feel proud. With each other’s help, they were able to control the four children without as much as a hair on their heads out of place. Who knew what would happen when they have kids of their own? Minho bet that they would be such good parents.

 

With a meaningful glance at his boyfriend, Minho knew the brunette was thinking the same, too.

 

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“Kids! We’re home,” Mr. Choi announced as he and Mrs. Choi took of their shoes in the entranceway.

 

Yoogeun, Lauren, and Sulli who was carrying Wooram, rushed to greet their parents with warm hugs and kisses.

 

“Where’s your babysitter? You didn’t give your cousin lots of trouble, did you?” Mrs. Choi asked as she took  Wooram in her arms. Sulli shook her head and smiled proudly, “We didn’t! Minho-oppa called someone, and he helped oppa take care of us.”

 

“Called someone?” Mr. Choi raised an eyebrow.

 

Lauren and Yoogeun pulled on their parents’ hands and led them to the living room.

 

“Aww, how sweet!” Mrs. Choi cooed immediately at the sight.

 

On the couch were the two teenagers, in deep slumber side-by-side with paint, flour, soil, milk, and syrup stains on their clothes. Minho was still holding onto a baby bottle and in his lap were some toys Yoogeun had put on him to see if his hyung would wake up, while Taemin still had his arms in the pose where Sulli had taken Wooram from when Taemin had put him to sleep.

 

“We played all day in the backyard and in the living room and they just passed out when we were about to watch Spongebob!” Yoogeun reported with a small pout.

 

“Well,” Mr. Choi sighed while surveying the aftermath of what his son just said, “I don’t see why they won’t.”

 

“Come on, kids,” Mrs. Choi smiled, “Let’s let them sleep, they look so tired.”

 

Lauren and Yoogeun ran to the closet and pulled out a blanket, which they then draped over their sleeping babysitters’ bodies.

 

They climbed up on the couch and gave both of them a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Goodnight, Taemin-appa. Goodnight, Minho-appa. We love you~” they whispered softly, bidding each appa a sweet goodnight with a small hug to their passed-out forms.

 

 

And a good night, it had been.

 

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