Special Delivery [2/3]
Special Delivery [2/3]
jaesu; 3,598 words
They decided to ask Jaejoong's mom for the rest of the baby stuff, figuring she'd be the one that would be a little more okay with the whole, 'a stork gave us a baby' thing. She was more than okay with it, it turned out, and immediately tried to teach Haneul to wink, telling her to "not be a slow learner like Jaejoong". Junsu could only laugh nervously, saying that she probably wasn't going to be like Jaejoong because they didn't even know who the father was.
There was a pause, during which Junsu learned from where Jaejoong got his stare.
Then Mrs. Kim turned to Haneul and said, "Don't be too much like that one either."
//
Junsu lowers Haneul into her new carriage, lips pulling straight as he resists the urge to pick her up when she makes grabby hands at him, whining around her pacifier. He tries to shush her, bringing his finger to his own lips and tapping, hoping that body language was universal and understood by all, even stork babies.
"Junsu, boxes," Jaejoong calls from the doorway, a box already in his hand. "My mom will watch her."
Haneul grabs his finger, looking surprisingly cross, but Junsu suspects she's just making a mess in her diaper. "Uhm, don't think she wants me to help," Junsu says sheepishly to the passing box.
"Why not?"
Junsu tries to pull his finger away gently, showing Jaejoong like he can see through the box he's carrying. "Haneul's objecting." He hears a grumble behind the box and smiles nervously. "Sorry, hyung."
Jaejoong keeps walking and drops the box in the trunk. He takes a baby seat out of it and throws it into the back set. "At least put her in the car, lazy."
Junsu nods, pushing the stroller to the car. He catches Jaejoong's wrist when they pass each other, stopping him with a light pull. "Hyung?" He swings their hands together, and squeezes Jaejoong's wrist in place of an apology. "I promise to help when we get home."
"Okay." Jaejoong smiles weakly at him and leaves to get the last box while Junsu gets Haneul into the back seat and folds the stroller to store it in the trunk.
"You don't think he's too mad at me, do you?" he asks Haneul as he buckles her in.
Unfortunately, her giggle isn't too reassuring
//
Haneul seems to also disapprove of any crib building, made obvious when she doesn't stop crying while Junsu and Jaejoong are reading instructions from a years-old crumbled piece of paper.
"If there is an A-piece, it should be shaped like an A," Jaejoong grumbles as he tilts the instructions, frowning. "And the B piece too, then we could fit the two together."
Junsu chuckles, shaking his head, amused. He finally finds piece A, and snaps it into the piece he's already holding. "Got it!"
"Great. Now we just have to do that twenty more times." Jaejoong starts digging through the pile of similar column looking pieces, holding up each to compare it to the one Junsu had used.
Junsu smiles softly and nudges Jaejoong with his elbow, trying to get him to stop staring at and analyzing piece C. "You could take a break. Play with Haneul?"
Jaejoong seems to gush at him, even though Junsu's not exactly sure why.
He waves his hand in front of Jaejoong's face, "Hyung? Hyunggg?"
Jaejoong catches his hand and kisses he palm and Junsu could have sworn Jaejoong giggled against it but ignores it, going back to putting more piece As into the holes in piece B. He decides to look up what piece C is for much later.
Despite the new attention and even Jaejoong's singing, Haneul's crying doesn't stop. Junsu looks over, feeling bad when Jaejoong's cooing at her and just getting pudgy fists to the mouth. Jaejoong tries a different approach, 'ahh'ing and covering and uncovering his mouth quickly with his hand. Haneul stops, looking on curiously, probably wondering how and why Jaejoong was making that strange, strange noise. Jaejoong takes her hand and claps it on his mouth, making her laugh. She starts doing it own her own, but soon an open palm turns into a fist.
"Ow!" Jaejoong feels his lower lip with his fingers. "That hurt," he says and pouts at her.
Haneul blinks and Junsu's about to say that maybe she really can understand human language before she goes back to hitting Jaejoong's mouth again.
Junsu laughs when Jaejoong's huffs, blowing his cheeks up and keeping his lips pursed. "Fine, fine, do that all you want," he says, sounding funny because she's doing exactly what's he's saying. Junsu turns around to finish putting the crib together.
He hears Jaejoong whisper behind him, "You're just as bad as your Junsu-papa, you know?"
Soon enough Junsu finds himself volunteering to clean up and tidy up the rest of the house to make it baby safe ("Forks on the top drawer, Junsu, top!"), though it's hard not to when he finds that Jaejoong looks absolutely adorable with a baby, not that he'll tell Jaejoong so. That and, he loves the irony of how Jaejoong can't exactly communicate with Haneul. He would have suspected a higher degree of success from someone who seems to use baby babble on a daily basis.
"Junsu, hold her."
Junsu plops himself next to Jaejoong on the sofa, closing his eyes and trying to ignore Haneul's crying. "Hyung, I'm so tired." He tries to help a little though, sticking his arm out and patting Haneul's back.
"That isn't helping." Jaejoong bats his hand away, holding Haneul closer and rocking her gently.
"Like that's much different."
"At least I'm trying," Jaejoong says, getting huffy and frustrated since none of his efforts seem to be working.
Junsu sucks his bottom lip in, watching Jaejoong. "Sorry," he scoots closer, smoothing his hand on Haneul's head and brushing her hair back. "Shh, baby, your mom wants sleep."
"I'm not her mom," Jaejoong pouts at him, sighing as he turns away, rocking the baby in his arms. "Go shower. You smell."
Junsu pulls his hand back, resting it on the couch. He sucks on his bottom lip again, not knowing what to do. He leans in to kiss Jaejoong's cheek, but is nudged away by the man's shoulder, and he ends up just sitting there, leaning awkwardly. "I didn't mean it like that."
As if Jaejoong senses his dilemma, he says, "Just go shower."
He gives it one more try, squeezing Jaejoong's arm and kissing him on the cheek. "Be right back."
Junsu spends his shower thinking about what to say to Jaejoong. He's not familiar with a cold Jaejoong, far too accustomed to warmth and smiles and surprise (but not unwelcome) kisses. He unconsciously holds his breath until he reaches the living room again, ready to apologize fifty thousand times and offer himself as Jaejoong's personal masseur for the next week. "Hyung, I'm -- oh."
Jaejoong's asleep, body tilting over as he leans on the armrest of the couch. Haneul is surprisingly quiet in his arms, sucking on her thumb. He pads over quietly, not wanting to wake him. But Haneul seems to have a different plan, slapping her pudgy palm on Jaejoong's chin and Jaejoong stirs a bit, mumbling a "That's dirty, Junsu." Junsu's expression quickly changes to one of panic. "No, no, no," he hisses and comes over to carefully pick her up out of Jaejoong's arms. "Please don't do that." Haneul blinks at him, and smacks lightly at his mouth.
Junsu sighs, thinking he's probably spoiling her but goes ahead and whispers,"Okay, okay, you can do that." He looks over at Jaejoong again before he walks to their bedroom. "You'll be good so I can get your dad a blanket right?", he asks as he lowers her onto their bed,
And right on cue, Haneul starts crying, not stopping no matter how much Junsu shushes or rocks her, and continues to do so until Junsu says he isn't leaving.
"You know grownup language, Haneul. I just know you do."
Jaejoong wakes up lying down on the couch with legs hanging over the edge. He groans and pulls his legs up, curling into the fetal position, ready to fall back asleep, sure Junsu would bring him a blanket later if anything. Then he shoots up, panicking when he realizes that Haneul is gone and that he had had her in his arms before he fell asleep. He quickly flips over and looks on the floor before getting up and looking around the room, hoping maybe she miraculously survived a fall and was crawling around somewhere. No such luck and he begins to panic, brushing his hair back as he scurries around, looking for a big blob of cute dressed in pink.
He storms into the hallway but halts when he hears the faint sound of Junsu's singing. He tiptoes to the door and peeks inside, and what he sees surprises him: Junsu is on their bed, holding Haneul and singing to her. A smile grows on Jaejoong's face as he watches, not wanting to disturb the peaceful display. Junsu's singing grows quieter, but only until Haneul starts crying again.
Junsu looks up when the bed dips under Jaejoong's weight. "Hey."
"Hi," Jaejoong says and offers a small smile.
"I wanted to get you a blanket but she didn't stop so... so I guess I didn't want to wake you and-"
"It's fine, Junsu." Jaejoong crawls over next to Junsu, resting his head on Junsu's shoulder, watching.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, hyung," Junsu says quietly.
"I know," Jaejoong answers meekly, pressing his lips to Junsu's shoulder before propping his chin up on it. "Make up kiss?" he says and purses his lips at Junsu.
Junsu chuckles and turns his head awkwardly to peck a kiss on Jaejoong's lips. "I'm sorry."
"Talk about it later," Jaejoong says, nudging Junsu. "Sing again?"
//
Junsu thinks that he should have expected Haneul to cry in the middle of the night. He groans, stretching in bed and ready to get up when he feels Jaejoong shift in the bed. "Hyung?"
"I'll get her. You sleep."
He grabs Jaejoong's forearm, effectively stopping him from moving farther off the bed. "I can do it. You took care of her a lot today."
Jaejoong chuckles and Junsu can imagine his smile even if he can't see it right now. "That's sweet but we can't really fight right now." Junsu gets a peck on the nose, and suspects that Jaejoong missed his lips. "Someone's crying and needs immediate attention."
Junsu loosens his hold, letting Jaejoong slip away, hearing him go over to pick Haneul up.
"Shh, baby. Why are you crying?"
Junsu doesn't fall back asleep right away. Rather, he watches Jaejoong's faint outline and listens to him talk Haneul back to sleep, wanting badly for Haneul to quit being bad and just let Jaejoong come back to bed. He tucks some of the comforter under him and and he hugs Jaejoong's pillow, feeling pouty when he can smell Jaejoong's shampoo. He actually prefers sticking his nose in Jaejoong's smelly hair, even if he does push him away a lot of the time.
//
Junsu wakes up to an empty bed. He stretches a hand out to feel Jaejoong's side of the bed; it's already cool. He feels around, just in case he touched the one spot that cooled down. Sitting up lazily, he looks around, no longer used to having the room to himself in the mornings. Over in the crib, Haneul's still asleep, flipped onto her stomach and one of her cheeks smushed against her pillow. He rolls around in bed, stretching and groaning, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes, expecting Jaejoong to walk in any minute. When he doesn't though, Junsu decides to give up being stubborn in favor of looking for a missing boyfriend. He walks over to the crib first, gently moving Haneul onto her back, just to be safe.
She stirs a bit, reaching her hands in random directions. He lets her grab his finger, smiling when she squeezes gently and moves her mouth like she's chewing something. "Cute." He pulls it away slowly when she stops, making sure to not wake her, and embarks on his journey to find Jaejoong.
A journey which is relatively short, meaning it ends as soon as he reaches the dining room, where he finds a Jaejoong leaning over and sleeping on the breakfast table, using his arm as a pillow, fingers curled loosely around a no longer steaming cup of coffee. A glance toward the kitchen shows Junsu that Jaejoong was probably planning on warming up some leftovers for breakfast, the rice still in its overnight container. He walks over and takes a seat next to Jaejoong, shaking him lightly. "Jaejoong..."
Jaejoong groans quietly and turns his head, burying his face into his elbow.
Junsu hands slide to Jaejoong's waist, holding onto him only lightly as he rests his chin on Jaejoong's back. "Breakfast time."
"M'tired," Jaejoong whines, muffled into his elbow.
Junsu presses a kiss to the side of Jaejoong's neck, earning huff from the older man.
Jaejoong turns his head and lays his other cheek on his arm, peeking one eye open at Junsu. He points at his cheek before letting his arm hang limp again.
Chuckling, Junsu leans in a places a kiss on Jaejoong's cheek.
Jaejoong hums in approval, tapping his fingers on his lips next, pursing his lips at him.
Junsu leans in and pecks a kiss, pulling back with a smile. "You have to come here for that one. Makes my neck hurt."
Jaejoong huffs and sits up, throwing his arms over Junsu's shoulders and collapsing toward him. "Spoiled."
Junsu looks down at Jaejoong's pouty face in amusement. "How late did you sleep last night?"
"3... 4 A.M.?"
Junsu frowns a little, not realizing how much later Jaejoong stayed up after he had fallen back asleep.
Jaejoong smiles lightly at him. "We've been up that late before."
Junsu snorts, fingers tilting Jaejoong's head up by the chin for a kiss.
Jaejoong scrunches his features a little. "Morning breath."
Junsu pouts against Jaejoong's lips. "You said you didn't mind."
"Don't," Jaejoong says, chuckling before he nips at Junsu's lips.
Until Haneul starts crying.
Jaejoong groans, Junsu's lip still between his teeth, grumbling around it. "Why now?"
"My turn," Junsu offers, cupping Jaejoong's jaw and giving him another kiss before pulling back. He does his best to ignore Jaejoong's pout as he leaves to the bedroom. Haneul's already holding onto the side of the crib, holding herself up, making Junsu run over, scared she'll fall out. "Shh, just can't leave you alone, huh?" He picks her up, holding her against him and patting her back. She stops crying almost immediately, looking around curiously. "Yeah, you're out of the crib, little trouble-maker," Junsu mumbles, walking her around the room.
"She stopped." Jaejoong is at the doorway, bottle of milk in his hand.
"Yeah, think she just didn't want to be in the crib," Junsu guesses, making his way to Jaejoong. He watches on as Haneul turns around and starts a staring contest with Jaejoong, giggling when Jaejoong's brows press together as he tries to keep his eyes open. She reaches a hand out and smacks his nose, effectively making Jaejoong blink, and holds on to the tip of his nose.
"Alright, alright, you win." Jaejoong scrunches his nose, laughing. He nudges the bottle toward her mouth trying to make her drink.
She presses her lips together turning to hide her face against Junsu's shoulder.
Junsu laughs, turning so Jaejoong can try again. "Haneul, breakfast."
She smacks the bottle this time, whining.
Jaejoong somehow manages to catch the bottle, holding onto it. "She looks mean." He gives a few light taps to her bottom, "Mean baby, mean baby."
Junsu smiles sympathetically at him, taking the bottle and giving it a try. "Come on, Haneul. Don't let him call you a mean baby."
To his surprise, and probably Jaejoong's too, Haneul holds onto the bottle and starts drinking.
"Things come so easily to you," Jaejoong says quietly.
Junsu looks at Jaejoong curiously before tilting the bottle to an angle so that Haneul can drink more easily. "Noisy eater."
Jaejoong's hand is warm on his arm, squeezing twice and smiling at him. He leans in, but looks over at Haneul, who's now staring curiously, still drinking from her bottle noisily. Smirking, he whispers, "Don't look," at her teasingly, and putting his hand up to hide the peck he gives Junsu.
"What was that for?"
"For taking care of things."
Junsu taps the bottle. "Team effort." He can't help but smile back when Jaejoong practically glows.
"Wanna go take care of your stinky breath, Papa Junsu?"
"O-Okay." Junsu blushes at the teasing, handing Haneul over carefully, squeaking when she starts squirming.
Jaejoong frowns immediately, holding her firmly and carefully. "Why are you doing this?
Junsu brushes her hair back, whispering a 'be good' before rushing off to brush his teeth, shaking his head when he hears Haneul start up with the loud baby talk as soon as he leaves the room. When he gets back Jaejoong is sitting on the bed, holding Haneul as she kicks her feet, jumping on his lap. "Getting along."
"I think she'll walk soon," Jaejoong says with a big smile, keeping his eyes on Haneul as she laughs and jumps. "She's got really strong legs."
Junsu ruffles her hair again. "Will you have your camera ready to catch it?"
"Hey!" Jaejoong huffs and reaches up to fix her hair. "She has to look pretty."
"She's just a toddler."
"Yeah but still." He brings Haneul close, looking her in the eye. "You want to be pretty right? Papa Junsu is making you all messy."
She burps in his face.
"Right, forgot to burp her."
//
"Why are you stuck?" Junsu taps the bottle of baby powder impatiently, frustrated with diaper duty.
"You didn't even twist it open, did you?" Jaejoong doesn't wait for an answer, reaching and twisting the top of the cap.
Junsu's mouth hangs open when basically half of Haneul is covered in fluffy white powder. "Hyung! Warning, please?"
"Oops. I'm sure it's not dangerous." Jaejoong laughs behind him and Haneul joins in with giggles of her own.
Junsu shakes his head, taking the new diaper that Jaejoong hands him. He's prepared himself for diaper changing by watching all the how-to videos he could find online, so he figures this should go through without too much trouble.
"Shift it up a little."
"Okay."
"That should be a little tighter."
"Excuse me, backseat changer."
"Better than backseat driver."
"I do not backseat drive."
"So all that talking while I'm at the wheel is just chitchat?"
Junsu huffs, securing the second band of the diaper and picking Haneul up, groaning when he sees that the baby powder he had forgotten about gets all over his shirt. Haneul leaves a baby powder footprint on the side.
"You got stuff all over your shirt."
"Thank you, I noticed." Junsu turns his back on Jaejoong to leave the room.
Jaejoong waddles behind him. "Junsu, here, take off your shirt first. I'll do laundry."
"Hyung," Junsu's voice is tense, "Can I do that later? Kind of occupied?"
"How hard is it to take off your shirt?"
"How hard is it to shut your mouth?"
Jaejoong stops in his tracks, looking shocked, biting on the inside of his lip.
Junsu's quick to explain himself, sighing. "Look, I just don't want you to boss me around."
"I'm just trying to help."
"I know. But I can handle things on my own."
"She isn't yours."
Junsu looks up, surprised.
Jaejoong stands there, biting his lip, before he says quietly, "She's ours. We should take care of her together."
"We are taking care of her together."
"No, like together," Jaejoong motions his hands between them. He drops them and sighs. "Like a family."
"But," Junsu pauses, trying to be careful with his words. "We're not a family." Haneul starts smacking his mouth like she knows he said something wrong. Junsu looks down, at her, wrinkling his brows.
"I know," Jaejoong says after a long pause, making Junsu look up. "I just, thought it would help."
"How would a baby help us?" Junsu stretches his head away from Haneul who keeps trying to hit his mouth. "Does that even make sense to you? Let a baby work on fixing us?"
"You don't want to work on us. You never want to work on us."
"I don't even know what's wrong. You've never said anything before."
"Nothing's wrong, then."
"Good, I didn't think so."
Jaejoong seems to open his mouth to retort but stops when Haneul starts crying, immediately rushing over to try to calm her while Junsu bounces her in his arms. She starts smacking his mouth too. "Ow, rude."
"Shouldn't have taught her that."
"I didn't teach that to her."
Junsu just mumbles 'whatever' and continues walking to their bedroom. "Let's just put her to bed. It's late."
//
They lie in bed, basically just listening to each other breathe, backs to one another, until the bed dips as Jaejoong gets up and leaves the room.
Junsu pushes himself up, leaning on his elbow. "Hyung?"
Jaejoong stops at the door, pillow tucked under his arm. "Good night, Junsu," he sighs and walks out, leaving the door ajar. Junsu stares at the light peaking in from the hallway until he falls asleep.
next »
edited 02.11.2010
jaesu; 3,598 words
They decided to ask Jaejoong's mom for the rest of the baby stuff, figuring she'd be the one that would be a little more okay with the whole, 'a stork gave us a baby' thing. She was more than okay with it, it turned out, and immediately tried to teach Haneul to wink, telling her to "not be a slow learner like Jaejoong". Junsu could only laugh nervously, saying that she probably wasn't going to be like Jaejoong because they didn't even know who the father was.
There was a pause, during which Junsu learned from where Jaejoong got his stare.
Then Mrs. Kim turned to Haneul and said, "Don't be too much like that one either."
//
Junsu lowers Haneul into her new carriage, lips pulling straight as he resists the urge to pick her up when she makes grabby hands at him, whining around her pacifier. He tries to shush her, bringing his finger to his own lips and tapping, hoping that body language was universal and understood by all, even stork babies.
"Junsu, boxes," Jaejoong calls from the doorway, a box already in his hand. "My mom will watch her."
Haneul grabs his finger, looking surprisingly cross, but Junsu suspects she's just making a mess in her diaper. "Uhm, don't think she wants me to help," Junsu says sheepishly to the passing box.
"Why not?"
Junsu tries to pull his finger away gently, showing Jaejoong like he can see through the box he's carrying. "Haneul's objecting." He hears a grumble behind the box and smiles nervously. "Sorry, hyung."
Jaejoong keeps walking and drops the box in the trunk. He takes a baby seat out of it and throws it into the back set. "At least put her in the car, lazy."
Junsu nods, pushing the stroller to the car. He catches Jaejoong's wrist when they pass each other, stopping him with a light pull. "Hyung?" He swings their hands together, and squeezes Jaejoong's wrist in place of an apology. "I promise to help when we get home."
"Okay." Jaejoong smiles weakly at him and leaves to get the last box while Junsu gets Haneul into the back seat and folds the stroller to store it in the trunk.
"You don't think he's too mad at me, do you?" he asks Haneul as he buckles her in.
Unfortunately, her giggle isn't too reassuring
//
Haneul seems to also disapprove of any crib building, made obvious when she doesn't stop crying while Junsu and Jaejoong are reading instructions from a years-old crumbled piece of paper.
"If there is an A-piece, it should be shaped like an A," Jaejoong grumbles as he tilts the instructions, frowning. "And the B piece too, then we could fit the two together."
Junsu chuckles, shaking his head, amused. He finally finds piece A, and snaps it into the piece he's already holding. "Got it!"
"Great. Now we just have to do that twenty more times." Jaejoong starts digging through the pile of similar column looking pieces, holding up each to compare it to the one Junsu had used.
Junsu smiles softly and nudges Jaejoong with his elbow, trying to get him to stop staring at and analyzing piece C. "You could take a break. Play with Haneul?"
Jaejoong seems to gush at him, even though Junsu's not exactly sure why.
He waves his hand in front of Jaejoong's face, "Hyung? Hyunggg?"
Jaejoong catches his hand and kisses he palm and Junsu could have sworn Jaejoong giggled against it but ignores it, going back to putting more piece As into the holes in piece B. He decides to look up what piece C is for much later.
Despite the new attention and even Jaejoong's singing, Haneul's crying doesn't stop. Junsu looks over, feeling bad when Jaejoong's cooing at her and just getting pudgy fists to the mouth. Jaejoong tries a different approach, 'ahh'ing and covering and uncovering his mouth quickly with his hand. Haneul stops, looking on curiously, probably wondering how and why Jaejoong was making that strange, strange noise. Jaejoong takes her hand and claps it on his mouth, making her laugh. She starts doing it own her own, but soon an open palm turns into a fist.
"Ow!" Jaejoong feels his lower lip with his fingers. "That hurt," he says and pouts at her.
Haneul blinks and Junsu's about to say that maybe she really can understand human language before she goes back to hitting Jaejoong's mouth again.
Junsu laughs when Jaejoong's huffs, blowing his cheeks up and keeping his lips pursed. "Fine, fine, do that all you want," he says, sounding funny because she's doing exactly what's he's saying. Junsu turns around to finish putting the crib together.
He hears Jaejoong whisper behind him, "You're just as bad as your Junsu-papa, you know?"
Soon enough Junsu finds himself volunteering to clean up and tidy up the rest of the house to make it baby safe ("Forks on the top drawer, Junsu, top!"), though it's hard not to when he finds that Jaejoong looks absolutely adorable with a baby, not that he'll tell Jaejoong so. That and, he loves the irony of how Jaejoong can't exactly communicate with Haneul. He would have suspected a higher degree of success from someone who seems to use baby babble on a daily basis.
"Junsu, hold her."
Junsu plops himself next to Jaejoong on the sofa, closing his eyes and trying to ignore Haneul's crying. "Hyung, I'm so tired." He tries to help a little though, sticking his arm out and patting Haneul's back.
"That isn't helping." Jaejoong bats his hand away, holding Haneul closer and rocking her gently.
"Like that's much different."
"At least I'm trying," Jaejoong says, getting huffy and frustrated since none of his efforts seem to be working.
Junsu sucks his bottom lip in, watching Jaejoong. "Sorry," he scoots closer, smoothing his hand on Haneul's head and brushing her hair back. "Shh, baby, your mom wants sleep."
"I'm not her mom," Jaejoong pouts at him, sighing as he turns away, rocking the baby in his arms. "Go shower. You smell."
Junsu pulls his hand back, resting it on the couch. He sucks on his bottom lip again, not knowing what to do. He leans in to kiss Jaejoong's cheek, but is nudged away by the man's shoulder, and he ends up just sitting there, leaning awkwardly. "I didn't mean it like that."
As if Jaejoong senses his dilemma, he says, "Just go shower."
He gives it one more try, squeezing Jaejoong's arm and kissing him on the cheek. "Be right back."
Junsu spends his shower thinking about what to say to Jaejoong. He's not familiar with a cold Jaejoong, far too accustomed to warmth and smiles and surprise (but not unwelcome) kisses. He unconsciously holds his breath until he reaches the living room again, ready to apologize fifty thousand times and offer himself as Jaejoong's personal masseur for the next week. "Hyung, I'm -- oh."
Jaejoong's asleep, body tilting over as he leans on the armrest of the couch. Haneul is surprisingly quiet in his arms, sucking on her thumb. He pads over quietly, not wanting to wake him. But Haneul seems to have a different plan, slapping her pudgy palm on Jaejoong's chin and Jaejoong stirs a bit, mumbling a "That's dirty, Junsu." Junsu's expression quickly changes to one of panic. "No, no, no," he hisses and comes over to carefully pick her up out of Jaejoong's arms. "Please don't do that." Haneul blinks at him, and smacks lightly at his mouth.
Junsu sighs, thinking he's probably spoiling her but goes ahead and whispers,"Okay, okay, you can do that." He looks over at Jaejoong again before he walks to their bedroom. "You'll be good so I can get your dad a blanket right?", he asks as he lowers her onto their bed,
And right on cue, Haneul starts crying, not stopping no matter how much Junsu shushes or rocks her, and continues to do so until Junsu says he isn't leaving.
"You know grownup language, Haneul. I just know you do."
Jaejoong wakes up lying down on the couch with legs hanging over the edge. He groans and pulls his legs up, curling into the fetal position, ready to fall back asleep, sure Junsu would bring him a blanket later if anything. Then he shoots up, panicking when he realizes that Haneul is gone and that he had had her in his arms before he fell asleep. He quickly flips over and looks on the floor before getting up and looking around the room, hoping maybe she miraculously survived a fall and was crawling around somewhere. No such luck and he begins to panic, brushing his hair back as he scurries around, looking for a big blob of cute dressed in pink.
He storms into the hallway but halts when he hears the faint sound of Junsu's singing. He tiptoes to the door and peeks inside, and what he sees surprises him: Junsu is on their bed, holding Haneul and singing to her. A smile grows on Jaejoong's face as he watches, not wanting to disturb the peaceful display. Junsu's singing grows quieter, but only until Haneul starts crying again.
Junsu looks up when the bed dips under Jaejoong's weight. "Hey."
"Hi," Jaejoong says and offers a small smile.
"I wanted to get you a blanket but she didn't stop so... so I guess I didn't want to wake you and-"
"It's fine, Junsu." Jaejoong crawls over next to Junsu, resting his head on Junsu's shoulder, watching.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, hyung," Junsu says quietly.
"I know," Jaejoong answers meekly, pressing his lips to Junsu's shoulder before propping his chin up on it. "Make up kiss?" he says and purses his lips at Junsu.
Junsu chuckles and turns his head awkwardly to peck a kiss on Jaejoong's lips. "I'm sorry."
"Talk about it later," Jaejoong says, nudging Junsu. "Sing again?"
//
Junsu thinks that he should have expected Haneul to cry in the middle of the night. He groans, stretching in bed and ready to get up when he feels Jaejoong shift in the bed. "Hyung?"
"I'll get her. You sleep."
He grabs Jaejoong's forearm, effectively stopping him from moving farther off the bed. "I can do it. You took care of her a lot today."
Jaejoong chuckles and Junsu can imagine his smile even if he can't see it right now. "That's sweet but we can't really fight right now." Junsu gets a peck on the nose, and suspects that Jaejoong missed his lips. "Someone's crying and needs immediate attention."
Junsu loosens his hold, letting Jaejoong slip away, hearing him go over to pick Haneul up.
"Shh, baby. Why are you crying?"
Junsu doesn't fall back asleep right away. Rather, he watches Jaejoong's faint outline and listens to him talk Haneul back to sleep, wanting badly for Haneul to quit being bad and just let Jaejoong come back to bed. He tucks some of the comforter under him and and he hugs Jaejoong's pillow, feeling pouty when he can smell Jaejoong's shampoo. He actually prefers sticking his nose in Jaejoong's smelly hair, even if he does push him away a lot of the time.
//
Junsu wakes up to an empty bed. He stretches a hand out to feel Jaejoong's side of the bed; it's already cool. He feels around, just in case he touched the one spot that cooled down. Sitting up lazily, he looks around, no longer used to having the room to himself in the mornings. Over in the crib, Haneul's still asleep, flipped onto her stomach and one of her cheeks smushed against her pillow. He rolls around in bed, stretching and groaning, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes, expecting Jaejoong to walk in any minute. When he doesn't though, Junsu decides to give up being stubborn in favor of looking for a missing boyfriend. He walks over to the crib first, gently moving Haneul onto her back, just to be safe.
She stirs a bit, reaching her hands in random directions. He lets her grab his finger, smiling when she squeezes gently and moves her mouth like she's chewing something. "Cute." He pulls it away slowly when she stops, making sure to not wake her, and embarks on his journey to find Jaejoong.
A journey which is relatively short, meaning it ends as soon as he reaches the dining room, where he finds a Jaejoong leaning over and sleeping on the breakfast table, using his arm as a pillow, fingers curled loosely around a no longer steaming cup of coffee. A glance toward the kitchen shows Junsu that Jaejoong was probably planning on warming up some leftovers for breakfast, the rice still in its overnight container. He walks over and takes a seat next to Jaejoong, shaking him lightly. "Jaejoong..."
Jaejoong groans quietly and turns his head, burying his face into his elbow.
Junsu hands slide to Jaejoong's waist, holding onto him only lightly as he rests his chin on Jaejoong's back. "Breakfast time."
"M'tired," Jaejoong whines, muffled into his elbow.
Junsu presses a kiss to the side of Jaejoong's neck, earning huff from the older man.
Jaejoong turns his head and lays his other cheek on his arm, peeking one eye open at Junsu. He points at his cheek before letting his arm hang limp again.
Chuckling, Junsu leans in a places a kiss on Jaejoong's cheek.
Jaejoong hums in approval, tapping his fingers on his lips next, pursing his lips at him.
Junsu leans in and pecks a kiss, pulling back with a smile. "You have to come here for that one. Makes my neck hurt."
Jaejoong huffs and sits up, throwing his arms over Junsu's shoulders and collapsing toward him. "Spoiled."
Junsu looks down at Jaejoong's pouty face in amusement. "How late did you sleep last night?"
"3... 4 A.M.?"
Junsu frowns a little, not realizing how much later Jaejoong stayed up after he had fallen back asleep.
Jaejoong smiles lightly at him. "We've been up that late before."
Junsu snorts, fingers tilting Jaejoong's head up by the chin for a kiss.
Jaejoong scrunches his features a little. "Morning breath."
Junsu pouts against Jaejoong's lips. "You said you didn't mind."
"Don't," Jaejoong says, chuckling before he nips at Junsu's lips.
Until Haneul starts crying.
Jaejoong groans, Junsu's lip still between his teeth, grumbling around it. "Why now?"
"My turn," Junsu offers, cupping Jaejoong's jaw and giving him another kiss before pulling back. He does his best to ignore Jaejoong's pout as he leaves to the bedroom. Haneul's already holding onto the side of the crib, holding herself up, making Junsu run over, scared she'll fall out. "Shh, just can't leave you alone, huh?" He picks her up, holding her against him and patting her back. She stops crying almost immediately, looking around curiously. "Yeah, you're out of the crib, little trouble-maker," Junsu mumbles, walking her around the room.
"She stopped." Jaejoong is at the doorway, bottle of milk in his hand.
"Yeah, think she just didn't want to be in the crib," Junsu guesses, making his way to Jaejoong. He watches on as Haneul turns around and starts a staring contest with Jaejoong, giggling when Jaejoong's brows press together as he tries to keep his eyes open. She reaches a hand out and smacks his nose, effectively making Jaejoong blink, and holds on to the tip of his nose.
"Alright, alright, you win." Jaejoong scrunches his nose, laughing. He nudges the bottle toward her mouth trying to make her drink.
She presses her lips together turning to hide her face against Junsu's shoulder.
Junsu laughs, turning so Jaejoong can try again. "Haneul, breakfast."
She smacks the bottle this time, whining.
Jaejoong somehow manages to catch the bottle, holding onto it. "She looks mean." He gives a few light taps to her bottom, "Mean baby, mean baby."
Junsu smiles sympathetically at him, taking the bottle and giving it a try. "Come on, Haneul. Don't let him call you a mean baby."
To his surprise, and probably Jaejoong's too, Haneul holds onto the bottle and starts drinking.
"Things come so easily to you," Jaejoong says quietly.
Junsu looks at Jaejoong curiously before tilting the bottle to an angle so that Haneul can drink more easily. "Noisy eater."
Jaejoong's hand is warm on his arm, squeezing twice and smiling at him. He leans in, but looks over at Haneul, who's now staring curiously, still drinking from her bottle noisily. Smirking, he whispers, "Don't look," at her teasingly, and putting his hand up to hide the peck he gives Junsu.
"What was that for?"
"For taking care of things."
Junsu taps the bottle. "Team effort." He can't help but smile back when Jaejoong practically glows.
"Wanna go take care of your stinky breath, Papa Junsu?"
"O-Okay." Junsu blushes at the teasing, handing Haneul over carefully, squeaking when she starts squirming.
Jaejoong frowns immediately, holding her firmly and carefully. "Why are you doing this?
Junsu brushes her hair back, whispering a 'be good' before rushing off to brush his teeth, shaking his head when he hears Haneul start up with the loud baby talk as soon as he leaves the room. When he gets back Jaejoong is sitting on the bed, holding Haneul as she kicks her feet, jumping on his lap. "Getting along."
"I think she'll walk soon," Jaejoong says with a big smile, keeping his eyes on Haneul as she laughs and jumps. "She's got really strong legs."
Junsu ruffles her hair again. "Will you have your camera ready to catch it?"
"Hey!" Jaejoong huffs and reaches up to fix her hair. "She has to look pretty."
"She's just a toddler."
"Yeah but still." He brings Haneul close, looking her in the eye. "You want to be pretty right? Papa Junsu is making you all messy."
She burps in his face.
"Right, forgot to burp her."
//
"Why are you stuck?" Junsu taps the bottle of baby powder impatiently, frustrated with diaper duty.
"You didn't even twist it open, did you?" Jaejoong doesn't wait for an answer, reaching and twisting the top of the cap.
Junsu's mouth hangs open when basically half of Haneul is covered in fluffy white powder. "Hyung! Warning, please?"
"Oops. I'm sure it's not dangerous." Jaejoong laughs behind him and Haneul joins in with giggles of her own.
Junsu shakes his head, taking the new diaper that Jaejoong hands him. He's prepared himself for diaper changing by watching all the how-to videos he could find online, so he figures this should go through without too much trouble.
"Shift it up a little."
"Okay."
"That should be a little tighter."
"Excuse me, backseat changer."
"Better than backseat driver."
"I do not backseat drive."
"So all that talking while I'm at the wheel is just chitchat?"
Junsu huffs, securing the second band of the diaper and picking Haneul up, groaning when he sees that the baby powder he had forgotten about gets all over his shirt. Haneul leaves a baby powder footprint on the side.
"You got stuff all over your shirt."
"Thank you, I noticed." Junsu turns his back on Jaejoong to leave the room.
Jaejoong waddles behind him. "Junsu, here, take off your shirt first. I'll do laundry."
"Hyung," Junsu's voice is tense, "Can I do that later? Kind of occupied?"
"How hard is it to take off your shirt?"
"How hard is it to shut your mouth?"
Jaejoong stops in his tracks, looking shocked, biting on the inside of his lip.
Junsu's quick to explain himself, sighing. "Look, I just don't want you to boss me around."
"I'm just trying to help."
"I know. But I can handle things on my own."
"She isn't yours."
Junsu looks up, surprised.
Jaejoong stands there, biting his lip, before he says quietly, "She's ours. We should take care of her together."
"We are taking care of her together."
"No, like together," Jaejoong motions his hands between them. He drops them and sighs. "Like a family."
"But," Junsu pauses, trying to be careful with his words. "We're not a family." Haneul starts smacking his mouth like she knows he said something wrong. Junsu looks down, at her, wrinkling his brows.
"I know," Jaejoong says after a long pause, making Junsu look up. "I just, thought it would help."
"How would a baby help us?" Junsu stretches his head away from Haneul who keeps trying to hit his mouth. "Does that even make sense to you? Let a baby work on fixing us?"
"You don't want to work on us. You never want to work on us."
"I don't even know what's wrong. You've never said anything before."
"Nothing's wrong, then."
"Good, I didn't think so."
Jaejoong seems to open his mouth to retort but stops when Haneul starts crying, immediately rushing over to try to calm her while Junsu bounces her in his arms. She starts smacking his mouth too. "Ow, rude."
"Shouldn't have taught her that."
"I didn't teach that to her."
Junsu just mumbles 'whatever' and continues walking to their bedroom. "Let's just put her to bed. It's late."
//
They lie in bed, basically just listening to each other breathe, backs to one another, until the bed dips as Jaejoong gets up and leaves the room.
Junsu pushes himself up, leaning on his elbow. "Hyung?"
Jaejoong stops at the door, pillow tucked under his arm. "Good night, Junsu," he sighs and walks out, leaving the door ajar. Junsu stares at the light peaking in from the hallway until he falls asleep.
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edited 02.11.2010