Shang stares at his newborn brother with no little amount of resentment. It is different, with this sibling. He barely remembers Jongseok's birth, doesn't really have any recollection of a time when he didn't have to share his fathers' love. And when Sunhwa came along, he was almost excited by the idea of a sister, because, well, by then Jongseok's...Jongseok-ness was very firmly established, and no one wanted another one.

But this one – well, this brother is encroaching on territory he thought was safe. Though his mother thinks of his brother and sister as hers, even co-parents them to a degree, they are not hers as he is. He has grown up with the knowledge that to his mother, he is her precious baby, never to be replaced. And – he is not ashamed to admit it – he likes that.

And now this new baby, this impossible, miracle child who belongs to both his mother and the man she loves, has come to mess that up. He's different. He was the complete surprise, and – if he's completely honest with himself – the accident. He was not meant to be born, not meant to link his mother and both of his fathers so intimately. But he did. And that was okay. Until he realised someone else could take his place.

Besides, he's older now. It is difficult to adjust to yet another sibling when he is on the verge of teenhood. His brother and sister came along just as he was young enough to forget what life was like without them; though he'd never admit it, they made his childhood better, more fun, more exciting, and – in Jongseok's case, at least – more terrifying. They have grown up as a team, the last line of defence against their parents' desire for them to behave.

Matthew, quite frankly, is an infiltrator. A very unwelcome one.

“Don't expect me to fawn over you like everyone else,” he informs the baby, arms crossed against his chest. He's only been alive a day, and he's all anyone can talk about – how unfair is that? It's not like he managed to pass his Grade 6 guitar exam, or that Sunny is doing really well at reading, or that, for once, Jongseok hasn't managed to explode anything.

And really, how come the baby gets a whole room to himself when he's too young to even do anything?

“I know mum and Joonmyun love you, and everything, and that's great. But that doesn't mean I have to,” he mutters savagely, taking a erse pleasure in the harsh words. There is, however, a tiny spark of guilt at the words; he ignores it.

“My dad and bàba are mine, do you hear me?” He hovers over the cot, right in his brother's tiny, wrinkled face. The baby gives him a wide-eyed, unfocused stare, as if to say, who, me? “And before you ask,” – the ridiculousness of a newborn asking anything escapes him for a moment – “yes, they're both my dads. No, bàba isn't my stepdad. He's my dad, and that's how it works. Your dad is my stepdad, but my dads aren't yours. Understand?” He is slightly breathless after that tirade, but Matthew gives no indication he understands. He feels vaguely insulted.

He narrows his eyes at the baby for a second. “I don't trust you,” he tells him. “I can tell you're mocking me.” Matthew opens his mouth for a moment, but only to blow what looks like a spit-bubble. “Ew. You're disgusting.” He backs away, slowly. “Please don't do that again.”

To his surprise, Matthew closes his mouth. “Huh.” Cautiously, he comes forward again, and leans against the cot's edge. “You haven't really lucked out in the parental department, by the way,” he adds conversationally, just so the baby doesn't get to above of himself. “Not that I don't love them, they're great.” His face darkens. “And if you ever repeat that, I will not be accountable for what I do to you.”

Matthew kicks one minuscule, be-socked foot at him. He takes that as agreement. “Okay.” He nods. “As I was saying, our family is weird. You might as well know that for your parents' ten year anniversary, your dad pulled strings at work to get mum an MRI scan of her entire skeleton. This is something she's wanted for half her life, by the way.”

He pauses. “Yeah. Sometimes I think mum might actually love bones more than she loves us.” He casts a furtive glance at the door, praying that his mother doesn't hear that. She tends to get awfully hurt when she does. “Just so you know.”

The baby makes one of those peculiar noises that are neither happy nor unhappy; just a verbal reminder that he's here, and he'd like some attention. Shang gives him one long, hard look.

And then Matthew does something that confuses him utterly. He wriggles forcefully, tiny hand reaching up for what appears to be nothing but air as he makes tiny, distressed noises. Shang panics a little. If his baby brother is having a fit, what the hell is he supposed to do? He might not like him, but that doesn't mean he wants him dead. Oh god, oh god –

He moans to himself, and then decides there's nothing for it. He'll have to pick the damn thing up and shove him at the nearest adult so they can fix him. Awkwardly, hesitantly, he reaches into the crib, stretching his hands underneath the warm and surprisingly solid body of his brother.

It is not a smooth movement. His fingers scrabble for purchase, Matthew outright wails as he tips him the wrong way, and it is only when he is standing upright again that he has him in any kind of safe position.

How are you supposed to hold babies again? He has some brief, fuzzy images of holding his brother and sister, but they are not helpful and Matthew is still sobbing. Carefully, he shifts his weight to one arm, letting the other fall under his bottom.

Matthew stops crying, instead staring up at him in what appears to be shock. That makes two of us, he thinks wryly. He stands there for a moment, holding his tiny brother and wondering what next, when Matthew's miniature hand closes over his finger.

It's a strangely human gesture, one he does not associate with a baby because, well – let's face it: are babies really human? And he gets it, in that moment, gets that – unfortunately – Matthew is a person (or at least, is going to grow up into one), and he's here to stay.

He heaves a sigh. “This doesn't mean that I like you,” he growls.

Matthew merely keeps clutching his finger.

I needed to come back to this universe. Hi if you're still reading! I appreciate it.