It was ten at night and ever since he got off work at six, Ok Taecyeon scurried around his apartment cleaning like a mad man. Minjun would be dropping the boys off tomorrow evening but Taecyeon wanted to make sure everything was perfect. The swiffer mop his mother gave him finally came out of the closet, all his paperwork was neatly stacked on his desk, any breakables were stored on high shelves or placed in high cabinets, and the guest bedroom was purged of any dust. He then pulled out the list he demanded Khun make for him of what he would need to care for two young children for four days and three nights.

“Car seats-check. Bath and bubble soap- check. Bath towels-already have.” He continued to go around checking items off the list. “Food…” Taecyeon looked in his fridge. There was nothing but leftovers and beer. Definitely not kid friendly. He pulled out his cell phone and called his favorite cook in the whole world.

“Yobeseyo?”

“Hi umma, it’s Taecyeonnie.”

“Aigoo, how’s my baby boy been? You haven’t called in ages.”

Ages being three days. “I’ve been fine and my work at the company has gone well. I was calling to ask you a question.”

“Sure.”

“What were my favorite foods as a kid?”

“Let’s see…Kimbap, gamjajorin, dak-bokkeumtang, kimchijeon, dakgangjeong, oh and grilled cheese. Even before we went to America, you loved eating grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Are they easy to make?” he asked as he wrote the names down.

“For the most part. Why?”
“I’m taking care of a friend’s kids for a few days and I need to go grocery shopping.”

“Do I know this friend?” Her voice lilted and Taec could almost picture her raising an eyebrow and giving a half smirk.

“No you don’t know him.”
“Him?” His mother, as well as his father, knew he swung both ways. They had both been pretty accepting of his orientation. The only rule was to keep his relationships out of the media or they would banish him to America. Not a horrible sentence but still.

“It’s not like that umma.” Not yet anyway.

“Whatever you say. How old are the children?”

“They are both boys and they are three and five.”

“Awww. They must be so adorable. If only I wasn’t in Milan.”

“Umma.”

“What? It’s almost every woman’s prerogative to fawn over cute children. When they come over you must send me a picture. Maybe one of their father as well.” He was about to protest but there was some shouting on her end, “I’ve got to go. Some hairdresser is about to go to war with the lighting director. Lover’s spat I think. Don’t forget the pictures.”

“Wait, umma?” He stared at his phone as the screen switched back to the main menu. “Well I guess I can look them up on the internet.” Taecyeon sat down at his laptop, got his pen ready, and opened up the browser.

*     *     *

When the buzzer for the door sounded, Taecyeon ran to the entrance. He threw the door open and was swamped by two small bodies. He pulled the pair into a hug and moved them out of the doorway so Minjun and Khun could enter as well. Minjun was carrying a large bag and Nichkhun had the boys’ toy chest. As the adults walked into the main room the boys babbled about their journey to his apartment.

“We rode in Khun-ajusshi’s car!”

“We had to sit in car seats so he let us borrow Chansung’s.”

“And ajusshi let us bring our toy chest!”

“He said your apartment was no fun so we need to bring toys.”

“Did he now?” Taecyeon sent a glare to his best friend, who just shrugged and helped Minjun take the bag into the spare bedroom.

The boys gaped when they saw the living room and the ceiling to floor windows. “Wow! This is bigger than Chansung’s home!” Wooyoung wandered around looking at everything.

Junho stayed by Taec’s side, “Um…where are we sleeping?”

“In here.” He led them into the spare bedroom where Minjun and Khun were unpacking the large bag.

They cheered and jumped on the bed disturbing the neat piles of clothes. Minjun shook his head with a smile while Khun jumped on to the bed with them and made the whole mattress bounce.

Letting them play, Minjun gestured to Taecyeon to go outside the room. “I know I keep saying this but thank you for watching them.”

“My pleasure. So anything I need to know? Any rules or routines?”

“They take baths every other night unless necessary. Tonight is a bath night. Wooyoung knows the routine so he can help. I put the bag with their toothbrushes, toothpaste, and body lotions in the bathroom. They both can use the toilet by themselves but make sure they wash their hands. Junho tends to forget. Oh are you going anywhere? Maybe we should ask Khun if…”

Taec shook his head, “I have car seats. They are already set up in my car. I was planning on going to the park after lunch tomorrow and then to Vicky-noona’s for dinner. She invited us this morning.”

“Okay. No food restrictions they will eat almost anything once. Wooyoung loves chicken and Junho’s favorite is watermelon. Avoid sugar after seven and since it’s a weekend they should be in bed by nine.”

“Sounds good.”

Nichkhun and the boys joined them in the living room. Junho and Wooyoung immediately attached themselves to Minjun. “Appa are you leaving now?” Junho asked making his tiny eyes as big as they could get.

Minjun knelt down so they could see eye to eye, “Yes I am. I want you to be for Taecyeon-hyung. If you really need to talk to me ask him to call.” They nodded. “Now say thank you to Khun-hyung.”

“Thank you Khun-ajusshi.” They spoke in unison and gave a proper bow.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you on Monday.” The boys then scampered off to go through their toy chest.

Taecyeon followed Khun and Minjun to the door. “Why do they call me ajusshi and you hyung?” Khun complained to him.

“Because you’re old.” Taecyeon teased in a child-like voice.

“You brat!” he huffed. “While we are gone can you try to convince them to call me samchon at least?”

“I’ll try. Have a safe flight. Text me when you land.”

“You sound like Qian. Have fun.” Khun waved as he exited.

Minjun pulled him into a hug, “Thanks again.”

Taec felt his ears go red and stammered, “B-be careful and make sure to enjoy yourself.”

He nodded and left with Khun.  Taecyeon made his way back into the living room and saw a huge pile of Legos in the middle of the floor. Wooyoung was building a tower and Junho was pushing around a toy car. Nuneo was sitting safe on the lid of the toy box. Taecyeon plopped onto the couch catching their attention. “So tonight we’ll eat dinner around six then bath time at seven and if you are good maybe a movie before bed. Sound good?”

Wooyoung looked over at him from his tower, “What’s for dinner?”

“Dakgangjeong.”

“What’s that?” Junho asked.

“It’s chicken.”

“Chicken! Yes!” Wooyoung jumped up and down causing his tower to fall over. He shrugged and started building it again. Junho cheered as well before helping his brother rebuild the tower. Soon enough Taecyeon was dragged into a game to save Emperor Penpen (Nuneo’s royal alter-ego) from the big bad dragon. Wooyoung teamed up with Eddy the Knightly Fox and Junho worked with Pan K the Ninja Panda to fight the mean Dragon Taecyeon.

They played until about quarter ‘til five when Taecyeon announce he was going to start dinner. The boys asked if they could watch TV, so he the Disney Channel to a Phineas and Ferb marathon. With them sufficiently distracted he set to work on frying the chicken.

The food was ready right on time. Wooyoung helped set the table while Junho sat patiently. Taecyeon placed cups of water by their plates promising banana milk if they ate all their vegetables. He gave each boy four pieces of chicken, a small bowl of rice, and a good helping of seasoned spinach. Wooyoung had his training chopsticks with him so made quick work of the spinach and rice so he could savor the chicken. Junho ate with a spoon because he got too frustrated with his lack of grip on the green leaves and control of the rice. When they attacked the chicken they ate every last bit and even asked for more. Taecyeon let them each have three more pieces as he finished his own meal.

With plates polished off, Taecyeon told them to go wash the sticky sauce off their hands and faces while he got them banana milk. Before they could sit and he did an inspection. They were clean but he made a show of hemming and hauhing until they shook with impatience. They gleefully drank the milk and Taecyeon washed the cooking dishes and put the others in the dishwasher.

Once everything was set and the boys finished their drinks he called for bath time. Wooyoung and Junho lead the way to the guest bathroom. Taecyeon worked on filling the tub while the boys stripped down and picked out their bath toys. When they entered the room they squealed in delight at the bubble bath waiting for them. Taecyeon let them play with the bubbles for twenty minutes then he helped them wash up. Wooyoung dutifully told him which soap bottles to use for their hair and helped wash Junho’s hair making the youngest giggle at the attention. Taecyeon let Junho drain the tub when they finished and pulled out two big fluffy towels that engulfed the boys. He dried them off and helped them into their pajamas. Junho was done first so he dashed for the living room. Wooyoung and Taecyeon followed not a minute later and found Junho snuggled into the corner of the couch with Nuneo in a tight hug. Taec noticed a wistful expression crossed Wooyoung’s face before he broke out into a smile and joined his brother. Not sure what to make of it, he ignored it for now. He sat on the couch next to Wooyoung and flipped through the On Demand children’s movies.  He found Disney’s Peter Pan and put that on. The boys fell asleep halfway through.

Begrudgingly Taec woke them up so they could go to the bathroom before going to bed. He then tucked them in together on the large bed with a couple kisses good night.

*     *     *

Taecyeon woke with a start. A glance at his clock told him it was only half-past three. “Why the hell am I awake?” He tried to relax but something was nagging at his gut. “Maybe if I get a drink of water.” He rolled off his bed, stretched his arms, and opened his door. He padded into the living room and was startled by a hiccupping lump on his couch. “Hey Woo. What are you doing out here in the dark?”

The boy quickly rubbed his eyes and nose, ending with a small sniffle before saying, “Nothing.”

“Oh. Then can I turn on the lights?”

Wooyoung sniffled a little louder this time, “Mmhmm.”

Now Taecyeon could see the tear tracks on the puffy cheeks. He sat down on the couch with a friendly smile, “Did you have a bad dream?” There was no answer so he continued asking in hopes of coaxing an answer out of the quiet boy. “A tummy ache from dinner? Couldn’t sleep?”

“Is Minjun-hyung coming back?”

The absence of the word appa alarmed Taecyeon more than anything else in the soft question. “Of course he is. Why would you ask that?”

Wooyoung only shrugged his small shoulders laying his cheek on top of his plushie. Taecyeon remembered the yellow chick from the first time he went to their apartment but he did not remember seeing it in the bags Minjun brought. “I don’t remember seeing your little friend earlier.”

Wooyoung continued to stare at the wall, “I have to hide him. Harabeoji says I’m too old for Bbiyak. He said if he ever sees Bbiyak in his house he’ll throw Bbiyak in the trash.”

“That’s mean.” Who on earth would tell a child to get rid of their stuffed animal? Sometimes to a child the plushie was the only friend they had.

“Harabeoji is mean. He hits hyung every time we go to Daegu.”

Taecyeon felt his blood boil, “Why?”

Wooyoung squished his little chick tighter, “He says hyung is a bad person and he’s disgusting and he’s worthless. He keeps saying hyung should have died in the crash instead of abeoji.”

New tears fell down his face and Taec gathered the five-year-old up in his arms. “Is that why you call him appa and cling to him so much?”

Wooyoung nodded into his chest, “If he could harabeoji would send hyung away forever. Just because hyung likes boys not girls.”

His crying became harder and Taec rocked them back and forth in order to calm the boy. “Shh, it’s alright. Everything will be okay. Your hyung will be here on Monday.”

When he finally stopped crying and his body no longer trembled Taecyeon shifted Wooyoung to look at him. Brushing hair out of the child’s eyes he gave him a reassuring smile, “Do you want to see something special?” He carried Wooyoung into his room over to a shelf above his bed. With his free hand he grabbed an odd looking green cat. “This is OkCat. My sister bought him for me when I was born. I never go anywhere without him.”

“But you’re old.”

Taec tried not to choke on laughter. To someone who was five a twenty-two year old must seem kind of old. “So? When I was ten, we went to America and I slept with him every night. And when I was eighteen and started living by myself, he sat on this shelf standing guard over my dreams.”

Wooyoung stared in wonder at the smiling cat. “It’s okay for me to keep Bbiyak?”

“Absolutely. Maybe he should stay home when you go to your grandparents’ house, but you can keep him with you forever.”
Wooyoung rubbed his nose and smiled brightly at Taecyeon, “Thank you.” He then yawned and snuggled against the man. Without thinking Taec started humming a tune he remembered from his childhood, lulling the boy into dreamland.

As soon as Wooyoung was asleep he carried him back to the guest room and tucked him in next to Junho. Feeling the chill from the blanket moving, Junho whimpered then hugged the new source of warmth that joined him in bed. Taec internally squealed at the adorable brotherly love. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he clicked the camera icon. One picture for his mother and another for his wallpaper. With one last look at the sleeping pair, he quietly left the room.

A/N: These boys are seriously too cute to write. When I was editing I found myself squealing at their adorableness. I've past 60 subscribers for this story I hope this doesn't disappoint.

Oh if you want to know about dakgangjeong click the word. It is a seriously delicious dish and Maangchi is an amazing cook. I use her website whenever I am in the mood for Korean food.

Comments please!