Chapter 3
Miniature Matchmakers
"Luhan, what are we supposed to do? Today is Friday and we're not going to see each other until Monday. I don't want to wait until then—what if my dad finds a girlfriend!"
"It's okay, Sehun. I'll think of something. My dad works on Saturdays so while I'm with my babysitters, I will come up with a good plan!" Luhan reassures Sehun with a pat on his shoulders.
"Okay, that's great. I guess I'll j– wait, did you say your dad is working tomorrow? And that you have babysitters?"
"Yeah, Jongin and Chanyeol are my dad's friends and they always take care of me every Saturday. Why?"
"Because my dad works on Saturday too! And he always gets his best friend Baekhyun to watch me!" Sehun announces and bounces in his seat, much to Luhan's confusion.
"So?"
"So? So they can help us get our dads together! I mean, we are only kids so we can't do much but they are adults! They can help us when we need them!" Luhan's eyes widen after Sehun says this and he slowly starts to smile.
"Oh! Yes, that's good! We will have three adults on our side! Sehun, you're a genius!"
"I know I am." Ignoring that comment with an eye roll, Luhan starts to look around their area for a piece of paper and pencil. When he finds what he's looking for, Luhan scribbles down a phone number and rips it from the paper before handing it to Sehun, who's puzzled.
"What's this?" He asks.
"It's my daddy's cellphone number. He told it to me in case there was an emergency and I have to call him when he's at work. I have a good memory so I remembered it." Luhan answers and quickly puts a flower stamp on the paper so Sehun will remember the number better too.
"Oh, my dad put his in my lunchbox. But why are you giving this to me, Luhan?"
"Duh! For two reasons, Sehun! One is so we can talk when we're not at school and two is so your dad will have my dad's number!"
Later that night, as Joonmyun prepares dinner for them, Sehun sits in his room, playing with his toys until he stumbles upon an old Barbie doll he used to have. The doll's holding a cellphone and then it hits Sehun that he has to call Luhan!
He quickly gets up and races downstairs till he comes to a stop at the island where his dad is chopping up vegetables. Yuck.
"Hey, Bunny, what's up? Why are you so out of breath?" Joonmyun asks, turning around to the stove to stir up what he's got in the pot. Sehun sits at the table and watches as his father goes around the kitchen to make sure everything is right for their dinner.
"Nothing, Dad." Sehun replies and plays with the edge of the counter. "Um, Dad? Is Baekhyun still coming tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course. You know I can't leave you alone while I'm at the clinic, Sehun. You're only eight years old, much too young to stay by yourself and Baekhyun is more than happy to watch you." Joonmyun answers and then pauses, remembering something. "And don't bite him this time, Sehun. I mean it, he was only trying to wipe the food off your mouth."
"Yeah, but I'm not a baby," Sehun grumbles as he crosses his arms. Just then, the Barbie comes back to mind. "Oh, Dad? Do you have your cellphone?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I want you to call this number," Sehun says and pulls out the piece of paper Luhan gave him. Joonmyun wipes his hands on his apron and takes the scrap from his son.
"Whose number is this?"
"It's Luhan! Well, actually it's his dad's cellphone number. Luhan gave it to me so we could talk when we're not at school." Sehun replies and smiles sweetly up at his dad. "So can you call him?"
"You want me to call... Yixing? And tell him what?" Sehun resists the urge to roll his eyes but was it just him or did his dad seem a little bit nervous?
"Ask him if I can talk to Luhan. That's it, Daddy. Please?" Sehun puts on his best cute pout and looks up; his dad was defenceless.
"Alright," Joonmyun agrees and picks up the paper before he starts to punch in the numbers on his cellphone. When it dials, he places it on his ear and waits—just like Sehun who's leaning closer so he can hear too.
"Hello?"
"Hi, um, Yixing?"
"Speaking. Who are you?"
"Oh, this is Kim Joonmyun, Sehun's dad and Luhan's new doctor, ha-ha." Sehun mentally slaps himself, his dad was so embarrassing.
"O-Oh! Uh, hello Joonmyun. I don't want to seem rude but how did you get my number?"
"Well, Luhan gave it to Sehun who gave it to me because he wants to speak with Luhan outside of school."
"Oh, I see."
"Is he there?"
"Yeah, just one moment. Luhan!" While Yixing goes and calls his son, Joonmyun hands the phone over to Sehun and the boy hops off his stool to waddle over to a more private area to talk.
"Hello?"
"Luhan!"
"Oh, Sehun? It's you! Phew! My dad just told me that someone was on the phone for me and I thought he tricked me into talking to my uncle Yifan. He scares me. He once told me that he was going to make me a shirt with all his drawings---or masterpieces as he liked to say and give it to me to wear at school. Sehun, we can draw better than him!"
"No, Luhan, it's just me. I told my dad to call so I can talk to you." He says and then cranes his neck around to make sure his dad isn't anywhere listening. "My babysitter, Baekhyun, is definitely coming tomorrow."
"That's great! Mine are too."
"But how do we tell them about our plan so they'll be on our side?"
"I didn't figure that out yet." Luhan says, a frown in his voice and the line goes silent for a bit while they try to think of ideas. Finally, Luhan's struck with one. "Oh! I know! Tell me your address and I'll make Jongin and Chanyeol bring me to your house. We can ask them to take us out or something and then we can tell them everything!"
"Alright!" Sehun squeals and begins to recite his address as Luhan writes it down. Sehun then hears his dad call him for dinner so he quickly says his goodbyes to Luhan and tells him that he can come around lunchtime.
When Sehun gives Joonmyun back his phone, the boy watches as Joonmyun bites his lip, staring at the screen before saving the contact. Sehun grins as he digs into his dinner.
At Luhan's house, when he gives Yixing back his phone, the boy nervously stands with his healed ankle in front of his dad while the man narrows his eyes down at him. "Why did you give Sehun my cellphone number?"
"I wanted to talk to him when we're not at school." He defends.
"Yes, I know that, Luhan. But why didn't you just give him our home phone number?" Oh, darn.
"Um, I forgot, Dad."
"But you have great memory, Lu." Luhan just shrugs and runs upstairs before he can be questioned about anything else.
☆*:.｡.~.｡.:*☆☆*:.｡.~.｡.:*☆
The next morning when Jongin and Chanyeol come and Yixing leaves, Luhan immediately calls his two babysitters into the living room for a chat.
"What's up, Luhan?" Jongin asks as he plops beside in the couch and Chanyeol does the same on his other side.
"I wanted to tell you that I want to go see my friend today." Luhan answers and s the piece of paper with Sehun's address into Chanyeol's hands. "This is where he lives. Can you please take me? After lunch?"
"Oh, I know where this is. It's just a few block from here." Chanyeol points out and then looks down at Luhan. "But do you really have to go there? Couldn't you just call the fella?"
"No, hyung, we have to go. Please?" Luhan pleads and puts on his best pouty face to sway the two into his favour. It works like a charm.
"Alright, Lulu, we'll go. But on one condition," Jongin begins and glances at Chanyeol with an evil smirk. "You have to eat at least three big spoonfuls of stir fried vegetables." Oh no, Luhan was caught.
"F-Fine, I will!" He declares and runs upstairs to go play with his toys as he waits for lunchtime to roll around. Even from the distance of his room, Luhan can hear the sound of Chanyeol and Jongin high-fiving over their victory.
When the time comes and Luhan finishes his lunch, he quickly scurries to Chanyeol car and hops in the back seat, anxiously waiting for the two adults to come out so they could leave already. Once they're finally on the road, Luhan turns excited.
"So Lulu? Who is this friend of yours?" Jongin asks.
"His name is Sehun. His dad is at work too so he's with his babysitter."
Jongin hums in response before he tells Chanyeol to make a right into Sehun's neighbourhood. A few minutes later they pull up to the large house and Chanyeol cuts the engine. As they come out, Jongin helps Luhan with his seatbelt while Chanyeol goes and knocks on the door. A few minutes later, the door swings open and Chanyeol's greeting dies in his throat when he sees the raven beauty that's standing in front of him.
"What happened to Chanyeol? Is he okay?" Luhan asks after Jongin locks the car and walks along the stoned pathway with the boy. Jongin sees Chanyeol still gaping as well as the man in the doorway. Apparently, both of them looked very smitten.
"Don't worry, Lulu, Chanyeol's just fine." He answers with a smirk before nudging the taller man hard in his ribs. Chanyeol winces but ultimately comes out of his trance and clears his throat.
"Oh, um, hello. I'm Chanyeol and this is Jongin and Luhan." He reveals, pointing to the other two. "Luhan here is Sehun's friend from school and he wanted to come see him. And we're his babysitters."
"Ah, yes. Sehun did mention his friend was coming over. Please, come in." The raven haired man steps aside to let the three of them inside and when they slip off their shoes, he introduces himself. "I'm Baekhyun, by the way. I'm Sehun's babysitter." He puts out his hand and Chanyeol shakes it with a smile. Baekhyun smiles too before he goes to the steps to call Sehun. "Come down, Sehun! Your friend Luhan is here to see you!"
In the blink of an eye, Sehun comes thundering down the steps and he jumps off the last one in front of Luhan. "Hi!" He greets.
"Hi, Sehun." Luhan greets back before he leans into the other boy's ears. "Have you told your babysitter anything yet?" Sehun whispers that he hasn't and asks if Luhan has but the boy says no too. They then turn to their babysitters with serious expressions.
"Actually, the reason we wanted to meet is because we have to tell you guys stuff." Sehun announces, to the surprise of the three adults.
"Us? What on earth do you need to tell us?" Baekhyun asks but the children don't say anything and turn on their heels, heading for the front door. Baekhyun shoots a confused look towards Chanyeol and Jongin but the two shrug and follow the kids.
"Where are you going?" Asks Jongin when he sees Sehun and Luhan putting on their shoes.
"We're all going out for ice cream! Since I don't want dad to come home and find everyone here." Sehun replies.
"But Sehun, you just had lunch. You'll upset your stomach."
"Hyung, I won't eat much. Please, can we go! We have to talk about something very important!" Baekhyun stands irresolute in the doorway and he glances at Chanyeol and Jongin who nod before sighing.
"Yeah, I guess. If it's that important to you two." After he says this, the foyer is filled with two squealing boys as they thank heir babysitters and run out to Chanyeol's car. The adults follow with smiles on their faces and Baekhyun sits in the front with Chanyeol as Jongin squeezes in the back with the kids before they're off.
When they arrive at a local ice cream shop, Sehun and Luhan both get small cups of the sweet treat and they choose to sit outside to talk.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Chanyeol asks, spooning some Rainbow Sherbet into his mouth. Sehun swallows his bite of ice cream and clear his throat.
"What we want to talk about is our dads."
"Okay?" Says Jongin.
"We think they're perfect for each other so we want to set them up together." Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun all look at each other before bursting into a fit of laughs and giggles, attracting attention from a couple of tables.
"But you guys are children!"
"Yeah! What do you know about setting people up?"
"Awh, that's really cute. Wait till your dad hears about this!"
"No, you can't tell our dads!" Luhan shouts and it quiets the laughter. "Sehun and I are being very serious. We saw them together and they look perfect! We think they'd be really happy together. And we would really love your help."
"Yeah. Here is a picture of my dad. His name is Joonmyun." Sehun says, taking out a small photo from his pocket and places it in front of Jongin.
"Chanyeol, you have a photo of my dad in your phone, right? Can you show Baekhyun it?" Luhan asks and the tall man nods as he pulls out his cell. Quickly scrolling through his pictures, he finds a decent one and hands the device to Baekhyun.
"Luhan's dad is named Yixing," Chanyeol tells Baekhyun.
"If you put the pictures together, they look like a good pair. Oh, and both of us have seen them talking and stuff! I bet if they talked more, they could really like each other!" Sehun says, coming to their defence. Their plan wasn't going to get shut down that easily.
"Oh my God, Yixing is just Joonmyun's type..." Baekhyun reveals. "He looks so sweet and he's got a dimple. Joonmyun's a er for dimples!"
"Chanyeol, look! Joonmyun's so handsome and he looks well mannered. Knowing him, Yixing would go crazy over a guy like this. I think... he's ready to date again, especially if it's him. Don't you think too?"
"I know, Jongin..." Chanyeol mutters as he holds the photo in his hands. He turns to the two kids who have hopeful face on and sighs. "Yixing has been our friend since high school. When he went back to China and got engaged, we knew he'd be very happy. But when Mei Lin—Luhan's mother died, Yixing wouldn't even talk to us. He hasn't dated again since then either but when he moved back here, we saw that he's changed. He's more happier now and I think he's finally over her. Luhan, you're his son and if you think Joonmyun would be perfect for Yixing, then Jongin and I are behind you all the way."
"Yeah, kiddo." Jongin agrees and ruffles Luhan's hair. The four of them all look at Baekhyun now who sits with his lip between his teeth. "What about you, Baekhyun?"
Baekhyun sits silent for a few seconds before he finally speaks. "Joonmyun could really use someone in his life... and I don't see why Yixing can't be that person." He answers with a smile and the two kids squeal and high-five each other. Baekhyun's not finished speaking yet, though. "But there's just one problem. There's an annoying paediatrician in Joonmyun's clinic named Son Seung-Wan but she goes by the English name Wendy. She's been after him for a while now and he always tells me how he should probably give her a chance."
"What? Oh no, this !" Sehun wails, shovelling more ice cream into his mouth. "See, I told you my dad might get a girlfriend soon!"
"Not really, she's away on vacation in Canada right now and she won't be back until next week. If we can get Joonmyun and Yixing closer by then, then he won't bother with her!"
"That's great!" Jongin cheers. "But what should we do first? Make them go out on a date? But then how do we do that?" Just as Chanyeol goes to answer, the whole table freezes when they hear a voice they didn't expect.
"Sehun? Baekhyun? Is that you?" Everyone turns and stares in horror as Joonmyun stares back at them, except with confusion on his face. "Luhan, you too? What are you all doing here?" He questions and walks up to them, his groceries swaying in his hands. Baekhyun panics, looking towards Jongin and Chanyeol for help with no avail. Suddenly, an idea hits him and he abruptly stands up before latching himself onto Chanyeol's arm.
"Oh good! Joonmyun, since you're here, I'm going to go off with my boyfriend and his friend now. Okay, bye!" Baekhyun exclaims and pulls Chanyeol up while also motioning for Jongin to follow him. Albeit a bit slow, Chanyeol and Jongin finally catch his hint and they all take off, speeding down the sidewalk and around the corner. Joonmyun watches with a slack jaw before he turns back and stares at his son and Luhan.
"Um..." He starts but is unsure of what else to say. Sehun and Luhan share a look and shrug but then Luhan catches sight of Jongin and Chanyeol peering back around the corner. Chanyeol motions to Joonmyun and then waves his hands like he's driving a car and Jongin holds his hands over his head and it looks like a house. It takes less than a few seconds for Luhan to figure out what they mean. He turns to Joonmyun and juts out his lip.
"Oh no, now I don't have a ride home..." He whimpers, pretending he's on the verge of tears. Now it's Joonmyun's turn to panic and he crouches down, awkwardly patting the child's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Luhan. I'll take you home okay? You know what your address is, right?" The sniffling boy nods his head, to Joonmyun's relief. "Alright then, let's go. You can tell me where you live on the way." As Joonmyun holds Luhan's hand on the way to his car, Sehun walks beside Luhan and whispers into his ear.
"I don't get it. What were your babysitters saying when they did all those hand motions?"
"They were saying that your dad can drive me home and my dad will be probably be all thankful and stuff."
"Oh."
When Joonmyun reaches Luhan's house and walks with the children up to the door, he barely knocks once before Yixing frantically rips the door open. Could you blame him, though? All he got from Chanyeol was a text saying he and Jongin left Luhan "with a friend of Yixing's" and he was worrying his off because he hardly knew anybody here except for them! But when he sees Joonmyun across the threshold and Luhan standing beside him, Yixing's expression changes.
"Oh, Joonmyun. You had Luhan?" He asks, puzzled.
"Um, actually not really." Joonmyun says and goes to explain: "You see, I guess our babysitters took them out because I was coming back from the grocery store when I saw them at an ice cream place. But when my friend Baekhyun saw me, he grabbed one of your guys and said that he could go off with his boyfriend now. And so Luhan had no one to bring him back so I did it."
"He grabbed one of my friends? Which one?"
"Uh, it was the taller one, with red hair."
"What? I didn't know Chanyeol was dating someone..." Yixing mumbles but then brings his attention back to the three of them. "Um, anyway, thank you so much for bringing Luhan back home. I guess I'm going to have to have a talk with my friends about ditching my son, ha-ha." Yixing chuckles. Luhan then sees that the moment is about to be up so he pokes Sehun and winks, mouthing a 'watch this!'
"Dad! I'm so hungry, and I bet Sehun and Mr. Kim are hungry too. Can we invite them to dinner?" Luhan pleads and Yixing blinks.
"Oh, yes. Would you like to join us for dinner? I was just about to make something and it would be a great way for me to thank you. Please, I insist." Yixing says and Joonmyun looks down at his son who furiously nods his head.
"Alright, I guess so. But you can use my ingredients since I went shopping and I can help since I don't want you doing all the work while I'm here."
Yixing chuckles and invites them in. "Fair enough, Joonmyun. Sehun, you and Luhan can go up to Luhan's room and play while your father and I make dinner, okay?" The children agree with excited shouts and they race upstairs leaving the adults behind to cook up a storm.
During dinner, Luhan and Sehun observe as their father talk and talk throughout the whole meal. Even though it was probably about boring adult stuff that the children could care less about, at least they looked like they were having a lot of fun. After dinner, Sehun and Luhan were sitting in the living room but they had the perfect view of the kitchen where their dads were washing dishes and the kids nearly screamed when they saw Yixing playfully shove against Joonmyun's shoulder and then squeal when he got a soapy flick to the cheek.
When it was time to go, Joonmyun lingers silently in the doorway until Sehun punches him in the leg and he finally says goodbye to Yixing, his voice stuttering a little bit. Yixing says goodbye as well and Luhan looks up to see another blush on his dad's face. He turns back to Sehun and fist bumps him before they say their goodbyes too.
[A/N] Ugh, I'm already falling in love with this story! I hope you are too :)
Please comment subs and upvote! :D
Until the next update, Lovelies~
소니아 (\_/)
[MM] It's been 84 years..... jk! Only 2! Hahaha haha ha... Anyway! Double update coming up!
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