WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED EXO'S SHOWTIME EPISODE 2, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WATCH IT FIRST BECAUSE IT CAN POSSIBLY SPOIL IT FOR YOU. Other then that, I hope you enjoy reading this.

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s the nagging mother, and Chanyeol’s the lenient father. Tao’s not sure how he got stuck in this predicament.

 

---

 

Tao would like to think he’s mature. He technically is twenty-one this year. That makes him an adult in practically every country, including Korea, even if he’s unfamiliar with said country. So, Tao’s really unsure how he ended up in this predicament. Sure, he’s Exo M’s maknae, but there’s still Jongin and Sehun who are much younger than he is, and definitely less mature. So then, the question is: How did Tao end up being babied by the resident Baekyeol couple?

 

Or… more like babied by Mama Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s just the add-on, lenient father.

 

“Tao! Put on the jacket! You should know how cold Seoul gets at night!” Baekhyun nags.

 

“But, you’re not even wearing one!” Tao retorts, huffing at the unfairness.

 

“That’s because I’m older, and you have to listen to your hyung!”

 

Tao rolls his eyes, but defeatedly puts on the jacket anyway.

 

“Guys ready? Kris and them are already in the van,” Chanyeol calls from the doorway, a large puffy jacket hung over his shoulders.

 

“See, Chanyeol’s wearing a warm jacket! You have to be more like him, okay?” Baekhyun states, his voice growing a pitch higher, as if he was cooing to a baby.

 

Again, Tao cannot stop the muscles in his eyes from rolling in annoyance.

 

“Come on, let’s go, Taotao,” Baekhyun states and insists on holding his arm and leading him to the van.

- - - -

Tao finally gets some peace and quiet while he sits in the back of the van with Sehun by his side. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are, for once, quietly sitting in the seats in front of him. They’re most likely just in their own world right now, and Tao can’t say he isn’t glad they aren’t making a ruckus.

 

He looks out the window of the van, ignoring the wave of sasaengs following them in the car driving extremely close to theirs. He directs his attention, instead, to the bright city lights of Seoul.

 

It’s been a while since they were able to go out and have fun. Since trainee days, Tao has never been able to fully explore Korea, or even Seoul for that matter. He had always stuck with the other Chinese members and the only one that knew the most about Korea was Luhan. And, let’s face it, Luhan was not a very good tour guide for a country that even he was foreign to.

 

And so, today, they were going to check out the biggest nightlife part of Seoul, Hongdae.

 

“Look Tao! Do you see that?” Baekhyun says, excitedly, turning back to look at Tao.

 

Too mesmerized by the bright signs and lit up stands to respond properly, Tao nodded, showing his acknowledgment.

 

“This is Hongdae?” He asks curiously.

 

“Mhm!” Baekhyun hums excitedly.

 - - - -

The van drops them off at an unfamiliar street. Everyone gets off and Tao can’t take his eyes off his surroundings. Everything was just so colorful and bright.

 

“So where should we go first?” Chanyeol asks.

 

No one really responds since Chanyeol is the only one that has ever been to Hongdae, and many times at that.

 

“I wanna go shopping!” Baekhyun chimes, “Let’s go look at some hats.”

 

“Are you cold, Tao? I told you to wear a bigger jacket,” Baekhyun comments when he notices Tao slipping his arm around Kris’, huddling close to him.

 

Tao scoffs and mumbles something about him already wearing the damn jacket. If anything, it should be Baekhyun that was cold. He’s practically shivering in his thin sweater. But, Tao doesn’t say anything when Baekhyun slips his arm around Tao’s other arm.

 

“Just to keep you warm,” he says.

 

Only because Tao loves him.

- - - -

While Baekhyun’s the caring, nagging mother, Chanyeol’s the laid-back dad that takes care of all the bills. Although Tao never likes to admit having Baekhyun and Chanyeol be his “parents,” it can’t harm anyone if he takes advantage of this opportunity once in awhile. After all, they do love to baby him.   

 

So, while they were looking around the tiny shop, Tao spots a very cool, and VERY VERY expensive, jacket that’d he’d very much like to own. It was definitely not in his budget, considering he had spent most of his last paycheck on the new limited edition Gucci wallet.

 

This was his chance to use his agyeo on Papa Chanyeol.

 

“Whoa! This jacket looks so cool! It’s so pretty,” Tao comments, grabbing ahold of the said jacket.

 

“Oh it is nice. Just your style, Tao!” Baekhyun pipes.

 

“How much is it?” Chanyeol asks.

 

Tao flips the price tag over and Chanyeol sees that it’s well over 100,000 won.

 

“That’s so expensive. How are you going to pay for it?” Chanyeol says, chuckling.

 

“Hyung, can’t you buy it for me?” Tao says in his most agyeo voice, even adding in the puppy dog eyes.

 

“No. Too expensive for me!” Chanyeol rebutts.

 

Tao looks over to Baekhyun as if he could possibly change Chanyeol’s mind. Baekhyun notices his puppy eyes, and Tao knows his resolve is crumbling under his almighty agyeo. Baekhyun looks over at Chanyeol, slightly pleading.

 

But, Chanyeol holds his ground. “Too expensive.”

 

“Sorry, Baby Tao,” Baekhyun mutters with a pout and follows Chanyeol out the store.

 

In the end, Tao regrettably places the jacket back on the rack and walks out of the store with Sehun patting pitifully on his back.

 

Cross out “lenient” and replace it with “strict.”

- - - -

Tao swears he didn’t give Baekhyun a panic attack on purpose. As much as he would have loved to prank the elder, he would always feel guilty in the end. And, the earful that he gets afterward was not something he would like to experience again.

 

The incident was definitely not Tao’s fault. He was innocently looking at the hats on the rack when the rest of the members decided to walk out, leaving him alone in the small store, in the big city.

 

“Where’s Tao?”

 

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun turned around, searching frantically with his eyes.

 

“He’s not here,” Kris states nonchalantly, and Baekhyun just wants to slap the coolness out of him.

 

His baby was now missing and they aren’t even doing anything to look for him! What if the crazy fangirls attack him! My poor Tao!

 

“Where’d he go? He’s not here!” Chanyeol finally speaks.

 

“No, really? Thanks, Captain Obvious!” Baekhyun snaps, “What if the fangirls kidnapped him!?”

 

“Baekhyun, stop worrying so much, I’m sure Tao’s fine,” Kris says.

 

“How would you know!? He could have been knocked in the head unknowingly and dragged away by a group of fangirls!”

 

“Hyung, calm down. Breathe. We can just go look for him,” Sehun worriedly says.

 

“Yeah, calm down, Baek. He probably went into a store without us knowing. Call him,” Chanyeol stated, patting Baekhyun on the back.

 

The rhythmic patting was starting to calm Baekhyun. He slowly took out his cellphone and dialed Tao’s number.

 

“I’m sorry. The number you have dialed is currently unavailable.”

 

“I’m sorry. The number you---”

 

“I’m sorry---”

 

“Chanyeol! His phone’s off! What if some fangirl really did kidnap him!?” Baekhyun’s eyes were starting to get glossy.  

 

“Hey, hey. Calm down. Tao’s a grown man.”

 

Baekhyun glared at him. Tao’s still a baby! Chanyeol seemed to notice and sighed.

 

“Look, we can just backtrack and search all the stores we passed. Maybe he’s in one of them,” Chanyeol suggests.

 

They turned back around and walked the direction they came from. A few stores later, Sehun spotted one that had a large group of girls crowding the opening.

 

“Tao’s over there! Look at all those fangirls,” Sehun pointed out.

 

Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol’s arm and sprinted toward the store. As the group got closer, the crowd got louder and crazier.

 

“Tao! Are you in there!?” Baekhyun screamed, “TAO!”

 

“Baek Hyung?! I’m -- I can’t --- out!” Tao’s voice was muffled against the screams of the crowd.

 

“Move!” Baekhyun yelled at the girls.

 

Of course, not many of them moved as he tried to enter the pack of fangirls. Many of them had taken out their phones are started taking pictures as he squeezed himself in between them. The pushing and shoving ensued.

 

“Baek! Where are you?!” Chanyeol’s booming voice could be heard in the distance.

 

Baekhyun was currently in the middle of the crowd, it was getting stuffy from too much bodies.

 

Definitely not enough air.

 

“Chanyeol!”

 

“Baek hyung!”

 

“Girls, please, move out of the way. I think Baekhyun’s suffocating in there,” Kris stated, face-mode on.

 

The girls on the sides began to move away from the crowd, leaving more room. At that moment, Chanyeol spotted Baekhyun’s red hair and charged through the crowd. He finally reached Baekhyun who was leaning on his knees and coughing. Chanyeol grabbed him around the shoulders and pushed his way through and into the store.

 

“Hyung! Baek hyung!” Tao shouted, “Are you okay!?”

 

Baekhyun was finally able to get some air into his lungs. He finally noticed Tao standing next to him, eyes glossy.

 

“Tao!” he screamed as he jumped onto the younger.

 

“Thank goodness you’re alright! Don’t scare me like that again! You are staying next to me at all times, okay!?”

 

Tao nodded as he hugged the older, tears streaming down his face.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” Baekhyun stated and gave him a genuine smile, “ Come on, Kris and Sehun are outside.”

 

Tao nodded as he wiped his tears away.

 

Baekhyun hadn’t noticed where Chanyeol went. When he looked to the front of the store, he noticed that the fangirls were quiet and they even moved themselves into two groups, giving room in the center.

 

“Thank you!” Chanyeol screams and does a mini heart that gets the fangirls screaming in joy.

 

Chanyeol looks back to the pair and gives them a wink. “Come on.”

- - - -

“I’m hungry.”

 

“Yeah, me too!”

 

As the maknaes began to whine, everyone started to get annoyed.

 

“Shush. We’ll be there soon. Oh, wait it’s here!” Chanyeol stated, pointing to the restaurant.

 

They sat down one by one. Baekhyun remembered to keep Tao in his sight, or at least in Chanyeol’s sight, since he had been pushed to sit next to the wall in the corner. As Chanyeol was discussing what to order, Baekhyun leaned over to the side and spotted Tao’s seat was empty.

 

“Where’d Tao go?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“He went to the bathroom. Don’t worry, Kris went with him.”

 

Baekhyun relaxed a bit. The scare earlier tonight was too much for him. He was starting to get paranoid of fangirls. It was hard not to, when they followed everyone EVERYWHERE.

 

When the food came, Chanyeol placed the intestines on the grill, occasionally flipping it.

 

“What’s this called again?” Tao asked.

 

“Mak-chang,” Baekhyun repeatedly slowly.

 

“Mak-chang?”

 

Baekhyun nodded his approval.

 

Many minutes passed and the food was still not done yet. Tao’s stomach was beginning to growl with hunger.

 

“Is it done yet? I’m hungry.”

 

“No, not yet,” Chanyeol states and he cuts the long piece in half.

 

Even more minutes passed.

 

“Is it done now? Can’t we turn up the heat?”

 

“It’s already at the highest,” Kris says.

 

“Tao. Be patient.”

 

Tao pouts at Baekhyun’s reprimand, but quiets down.

 

They end up ordering two more soups and two rice boxes to hold their hunger. After those were devoured, Tao couldn’t help looking at the pieces of intestines that were browning beautifully.

 

“Are they done now?” Tao asks, “Can I eat yet?”

 

“Yes. Fine. Eat. It’s done.” Chanyeol finally says, partly annoyed with Tao’s constant repeat of the same question.

 

Everyone digs in and the grill is cleared in a matter of seconds. They order four more servings of pork. After many orders later, everyone was stuffed.

 

“How was it, Tao? Delicious?” Baekhyun asks.

 

“Mhm.”

 

As they walk back into the street, Baekhyun grabs onto Tao’s arm again, keeping him in his sight and for warmth.

 

“Ooh, let’s try that tteokbokki!” Sehun suggests, pointing to the nearby tteokbokki restaurant.

 

“Can we get the fried stuff, too?” Tao asks, pointing to the freshly fried foods.

 

Chanyeol nods and orders a bit of everything and pays.

 

Tao thanks Chanyeol and they all walk to the tables.

 

As Tao was cooling down his soup, Baekhyun silently points a forked ricecake in front of him, urging him to eat it. Tao takes a bite and is overwhelmed by the taste. It was delicious!

 

He wanted another bite, but he really wanted to cool his soup down. He continued to finish his task at hand. Knowingly, Baekhyun forked another and continued to feed Tao. Each time, he would express his thanks for the delicious food.

- - - -

It was getting extremely late into the night. They still had a schedule tomorrow morning. Eventually, they decided to retire for the night. After eating so much delicious food and exploring the nightlife of the famous Hongdae with some of his favorite people, nothing could beat the happiness Tao was feeling today.

 

Everyone was knocked out from food coma. Only Tao was awake. Staring at the bright lights of Korea. It was much different than his hometown. His hometown was small and near the coast. It wasn’t a big city like Seoul. He was still amazed that even so late into the night, life was still bustling around.

 

Chanyeol groaned in his sleep as his snuggled closer to Baekhyun’s neck, waking the latter up. Baekhyun looked around and noticed everyone but Tao was asleep.

 

“So, how was today? Fun?” Baekhyun asks quietly, so not to disturb the others.

 

“Yeah. Thanks, hyung.”

 

Baekhyun smiled and turned back around. “I’m glad you had fun,” he mumbles before placing his head on top of Chanyeol’s and falling into slumber.

 

Although Tao’s parents and family were miles and miles away, Tao can’t help but think Exo is also family. And, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were the closest things he had to parents. And, he thinks he’s quite satisfied with his life.

 

 

- - - -

In the morning when he sees the jacket, the one he had wanted from that store, hanging on the doorknob of his room door.

 

The grin on his face never leaves his face.

 

“THANKS HYUNG!! I LOVE YOU!”

 

He hears Chanyeol groan from the other room.

Yup. He’s definitely content with the way his life worked out.