Joonmyun is really not expecting the intrusion of a man he barely knows in his office, during the one break he’s had all day.

Especially not a man and a baby. But then, his life has never really been the same since Kyungmi – quite literally – fell into it.

“J-Jongdae,” he says, a little – well, a lot – taken aback. “Uh, how did you get in here?”

The man in question smiles pleasantly. “I told one of the secretaries that I was your brother.” He juggles his hold on the baby – who Joonmyun immediately recognises as Shang – and gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Can I sit down? Only, I had to come here on the Tube because Xing took the car, and there were no seats so – “

“Yes, yes.” Joonmyun waves his hands ineffectually. “Go ahead.” He might as well let the man sit down, seeing as he brought the baby and all. The five month old is awake, staring around the room alertly; he supposes he should be glad he’s not screaming this time. “How on Earth did you convince her we’re related? We look nothing alike.” Jongdae’s cheekbones alone mean they could never be mistaken for relatives.

“I said we were half-brothers.” Jongdae shrugs, letting Shang curl one of his hands around a finger as he settles him in his lap; he sets the baby bag by his feet with the other hand and looks at Joonmyun expectantly. “But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.”

“I sort of guessed that.” Joonmyun says dryly, sighing wearily. “What can I do for you?” He decides not to mention that he’d been planning to get food; Jongdae might invite himself along, and then his break will be entirely ruined.

Jongdae doesn’t mince words. “Stop ing around with my best friend, and for god’s sakes, make her feel safe.” He rolls his eyes, cradling Shang expertly; the baby grizzles when he realises that no, daddy is not going to feed him. “If she ends up crying one more time – “

“She’s been crying?” Joonmyun is shocked; he thought that they were doing…okay – not amazing, but he thought that he could fix that.

“ – I will personally chop your off and get one of Kyungmi’s colleagues to preserve it so I can put it on the mantelpiece as a trophy – “

“What the hell do you want with my ? I’m straight!”

Jongdae glares at him, clearing his throat grimly. “Not the point, Joonmyun.” The other man gulps nervously – he never thought that Jongdae, of all people, could be so menacing. The only person less frightening than him is Yixing, and even then, Kyungmi is easily ten times more terrifying than the both of them put together when she gets riled up.

It doesn’t help that Shang is wearing a onesie with a skeleton on it, either; it really only adds to the ominous air in the room.

“I – I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It’s only the threat of -chopping that’s making him stutter. Really.

Jongdae snorts; Shang stares up at him in confusion. “I think you do. Telling her you love her isn’t enough, okay? In her head, you left her – “

“She left me!” Joonmyun is not going to let that one go – the memory is entirely too painful. “How am I supposed to pretend I did the leaving when – “

“ – and you need to make it seem as if you want her around for good.” Jongdae carries on regardless; Joonmyun wonders if he should be worried that he has so little respect for him.

He scoffs, expression softening when Shang tries to put his fist in his mouth. The little boy looks too much like his mother for Joonmyun to ever think of disliking him. Even when he screams bloody murder.

It’s slightly harder to love him when he interrupts , however. Which – unfortunately for Joonmyun – he does on a regular basis.

“But I do want her around for good.” He runs a hand through his hair, desperation creeping into his tone. “Why else would I still be here? It’s not exactly easy for me, you know.”

There’s a piercing kind of clarity in Jongdae’s gaze that frightens Joonmyun; Jongdae is not supposed to be sensible. He’s not supposed to be good at this – he’s just supposed to be Kyungmi’s slightly odd baby daddy. He was happier with that distinction, honestly.

“I know. And I admire you for being able to deal with it all.” That’s a first – Joonmyun didn’t think Jongdae was capable of compliments, unless they concerned Yixing’s skills in bed. He’d had second-hand experience of that horrible little fact when they decided to have at four in the ing morning, and he happened to be staying over. He’d never expected Yixing to be a screamer.

He hadn’t thought Yixing was aware enough to get so involved in , but apparently there are hidden sides to everyone.

“Kyungmi is…special,” Jongdae worries his bottom lip between his teeth, removing Shang’s little fist from his mouth; he wipes the drool on his own shirt. “She’s amazing.” Joonmyun can’t argue with that. “But she can be a lot to deal with. She needs to know she’s wanted. And when you…reassigned her, she assumed you wanted nothing more to do with her.”

His heart cracks because he thought it was the other way around. “I just – couldn’t deal with it if she wasn’t mine and – “

Jongdae waves him off, shifting Shang onto his shoulder so that the baby can snuggle into the crook of his neck. “I get that, I really do. But Kyungmi doesn’t. So when you actually came back, she…didn’t know how to deal with it. And she still doesn’t.”

“Oh.” It’s all he can say, even though there are billions of thoughts running through his head. He wants to verbalise his feelings; to try and explain just how much he loves this infuriating woman who drives him crazy and yet – he can’t bear the thought of losing her again. But he doesn’t know how, and in any case, Jongdae’s not the right person to do that with.

Especially when the baby’s present. Some of the things he feels aren’t appropriate for a five month old to hear.

“She loves you.” Jongdae’s shrug is quite obviously meant as an insult – Joonmyun can sense the I don’t see why without the other man even needing to say it. “And I think you’re one of the very few men who’s even close to being good enough for her.” He looks Joonmyun straight in the eye, face uncharacteristically serious. “So please don’t it up.”

Joonmyun thinks it’s the closest to acceptance he’s ever going to get.

Posted because curionenene said it wasn't terrible and good enough to post, and because Kironstree told me she shipped Kyungmi/Joonmyun. Excuse me while I go die in a pit of archaeological articles.