Children (Sehun)

Music was playing through the studio as the members of Seventeen relaxed, dancing like maniacs to the pop music pumping through the speakers. Woozi, as usual, was absent, huddled in his own little space with his laptop as he worked on a new song. Everyone else had opted for a well-earned break.

It wasn’t anything special, just hanging out in the practice room, dancing and singing to whatever happened to come on the radio. Pandora was on shuffle, each member having chosen their own station. One second it was an English pop song, the next it was Japanese rock and then a Korean ballad. The mix of genres and languages was highly amusing to you as the members switched their acting to match the mood of each song.

You sat at the back of the room on the sofa, watching with amusement as the boys went wild. No matter what you were feeling, they always managed to make you smile and you couldn’t help but be grateful for that. To you, working for Seventeen was literally the best job in the world.

Vernon held out a can of soda as he took the seat next to you. “Hoshi hyung has so much energy. I’m exhausted!” As if to prove his point, he huffed dramatically and let his head fall onto your shoulder.

You chuckled, pushing him off you playfully. “You’re all young, you should have an endless amount of energy.” The soda was ice cold and crisp as it went down your throat.

He hummed, turning his body to face you. “What about you? Were you energetic at our age?”

You went to answer but quickly caught yourself, looking away with a sheepish grin. Actually, you had been a pretty lazy kid growing up. Laying on your bed or sitting at your desk and browsing the web, watching videos or playing games. You rarely left your house unless it was necessary.

“Noona?”

“Umm, well… I guess everyone is different.”

Vernon turned smug as he poked your shoulder repeatedly. “You were lazy, weren’t you?”

You scowled, batting his hand away. “I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation.”

He burst out laughing, hopping off the couch and running towards the large pile of bodies in the center of the room, probably to tell everyone the breaking news that their noona was, in fact, a lazy geek.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket, but you hesitated when you saw the caller ID. Why would Sehun be calling you? It had been months since you last spoke and last time you checked, you were public enemy number one to SM Ent. You glanced around the room, satisfied that everyone was pre-occupied, allowing you to slip away from the room without being seen.

You took a few steps down the hall before finally answering the call, setting it to your ear. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” Same old Sehun. He didn’t bother with niceties or greetings, he just got straight to the point.

It annoyed you enough to not answer the question. “That’s really none of your business, is it?” You could hear him scoff on the other line.

“I need you to come to pick me up.”

You raised a brow in question, looking out the window which covered the entire wall from ceiling to floor. It let you have a beautiful view of the snow-covered street. “Do I look like a taxi to you?”

“Just do it. I’ll send you the address.” He hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. True to his word, a text came through just a moment later revealing his location.

You groaned in annoyance, resting your head against the glass. What the hell did he want with you? Did he finally have enough and ran away from SM? But what if he was in trouble? A part of you couldn’t just ignore that possibility. You’ve seen plenty of crime shows to know what’s out there.

You groaned again, this time in frustration, as you headed for the office where Woozi was working. You knocked but didn’t wait for a response to enter. You knew Woozi well, and you knew he wouldn’t be doing anything indecent – he took his music too seriously. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”

He removed his headphones and swiveled his chair to face you. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Umm, a personal issue just came up. I gotta leave early. Can you let your manager know please?”

“No problem,” He wanted to ask what the situation was, but he knew if you wanted him to know you’d tell him voluntarily. That was another thing you respected about him.

“Thanks, Jihoon.” You offered him a smile before backing out of the room, heading for the elevator.

As soon as you stepped out of the building, the cold air hit your exposed skin, stinging like the prickling of a dozen needles. The snow wasn’t deep, but it was enough to be a bit of a nuisance, especially when it came to walking across an icy path. Thank god your boots had a good grip.

You loaded up the address into the GPS on your phone and started up your car. It took about twenty-five minutes to reach the destination, which turned out to be a house in a quiet neighborhood. You parked on the side of the street and stepped out, walking around the stone fencing.

Sehun was sitting on the porch steps, bundled up from head to toe – it was fairly obvious that he was cold, but that isn’t what shocked you. No, that emotion came from the thing wrapped tightly in his arms – it was a child, about three or four years of age.

Sehun scowled at you when you approached. “It’s about time.”

You were too surprised to reply and could only watch as he stood with the boy and headed toward your car. You followed behind, claiming the driver’s seat as he climbed into the back. You didn’t own a child seat for obvious reasons, so he pulled the seatbelt behind his back and around the child so he would be safe. As if it added extra protection, he finished off by wrapping the boy in his arms once again.

You turned on the heater before turning in your seat to get a better view of the pair. “You should have told me you had a kid with you, I would’ve – ”

“Gotten here sooner?” His scowl was still in place.

“Why the hell didn’t you go inside?”

“Gee, why didn’t I think of that?”

You glared at him, not appreciating his sarcastic remark. His eyes softened slightly. “I came outside to get the mail and when I came back, the door was locked. My keys are inside, and the only spare is with my mom.” He sensed the question forming and answered before you could ask. “My mom is on a…. trip with my aunt and cousin. They left this morning and won’t be back for another week.”

“And the kid…?” You started the car and began toward your apartment.

“My nephew, Eun. He was too young to go with them.”

“Okay.” You wanted to ask why he chose to call you, but you figured the best thing to do for now was to get the kid safe and warm. You didn’t really want to open that can of worms, anyway.

You made it to your apartment without a word being spared between the two of you. Your keys landed on the table beside the door and you watch as he sets the boy down in front of the coffee table.

“Do you have any toys or coloring books?”

“No,” you shifted in thought, “But the people next door have a boy about his age. I’ll see if I can borrow something.” You didn’t wait for a reply as you headed back out into the cold. Being around him was stifling, the atmosphere heavy. He knows that the relationship is rocky at best, so why bother calling you? It was driving you crazy, but at the same time, a part of you didn’t wanna know his reasoning.

You knocked on the door, shoving your hands into your pockets. You didn’t have any problems with your neighbors, but you weren’t close to them by any means. Sure, you’d say hello in passing, but that was the extent. As far as you know, they were fairly nice people, though.

The door swung open and a man appeared, probably about thirty years of age. He smiled kindly. “How may I help you?”

“My friend and I are babysitting, but we don’t have anything to occupy him. Do you happen to have some crayons or something we can borrow?”

“Yeah, of course. Please come in.”

“Thanks,” you smiled softly as you stepped inside. The apartment was full of life, with paintings decorating every wall.

A woman exited the kitchen, throwing a dishtowel over her shoulder.

“Honey, this young lady is looking for some crayons for a child she’s watching. Can you go grab a pack?”

“Sure!” She smiled at you before heading farther into the apartment.

The man turned to his son as he played with Legos. “Jaebum loves to color, but he tends to lose or break them, so we keep several spare packs of crayons on hand. How old is the child you’re watching?”

“About the same age as yours,”

The woman came back with a large pack of crayons. “Here you are, sweety.”

“Thank you very much.” You bowed, politely.

“Anytime!”

After saying goodbye, you headed back over to your apartment. Sehun had taken some blank paper and was showing Eun how to make different shapes. You handed him the crayons.

“Thank you, noona.” The small boy squeaked.

You smiled instantly at how cute he was, rubbing his black hair. “You’re welcome,”

“Are you hungry?” Sehun questioned – you noticed that his tone of voice was much softer than the one that you had gotten used to. “I’ll make you something.”

You followed Sehun into the kitchen, taking a seat at the small round table. He gathered ingredients from the fridge. “What took you so long?”

“What?” You hadn’t expected him to speak given the thick tension still hanging above you both.

“What took you so long to come and get us?” His voice was even, but you knew how easy it was to sway his mood – he could get pissy pretty easily, especially when it came to you.

“I was working.”

He scoffed. “With your new boys.”

You raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice. “Yes, I work for Seventeen now.”

He scoffed and it suddenly dawned on you. Your lips twitched up into a grin as you leaned toward him. “Oh my god… You’re jealous!”

“What? That’s ridi – Ow!”

You jumped up when he nicked his finger with the knife. He turned on the faucet and ran his bleeding finger under the water. You came up behind him, your hand over his to keep it under the water, Your free arm rested across his torso.

“You are jealous.” You grinned.

With his infamous scowl, he pulled away from you and went back to cooking. The cut was minor so it quickly stopped bleeding.

For a good minute, you just watched him continue to cut up the onions. “You know I gotta get back to work, right?”

He acted as if he didn’t hear you, not even bothering to acknowledge your words.

You knew teasing him would make him pissy, but it was too hard to resist. “If you need anything, just give me a call.” You set your bank card on the counter beside him. “Feel free to use it.”

He didn’t respond, not like you expected him to. With a sigh, you headed back to the Pledis building.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

You glanced at your watch – it had been about three and a half hours since you returned to work. You figured Sehun would probably need help with Eun, so you decided to call it a night. Just as you were about to approach Coups, your phone rang. The number seemed familiar, but you didn’t immediately recognize it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, dear.” It was the little old lady that lived across the hall. She’s very kind and motherly, probably because she has so many grandkids. “I just wanted to let you know that a group of boys just entered your apartment.”

You recognized the description she gave you – Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Suho, and Kai. “Thanks for letting me know, granny. They’re friends, so don’t worry.”

“Alright, dear. I just wanted to let you know.”

You hung up the phone, sliding it back into your pocket. If the boys are over there keeping him company, there’s no reason for you to go home just yet. Arms wrapped around your shoulders and DK’s face appeared in your vision. “Are you leaving, noona?”

“Nope. Did you guys finish gathering your things?”

“We’re ready~” Hoshi gave you a peace sign as he followed their manager out the door.

“Alright, let’s get going. Who’s riding with me?”

“Me!” DK, Vernon, and Minghao raised their hands and spoke in unison.

You chuckled, following after them. As expected, Hoshi had taken the front seat, leaving the other three to pile into the back. The ride to their dorm consisted of constant radio station changing and loud, purposeful off-key singing.

When you made it back to their dorm, you carried DK and Vernon’s bags inside for them, taking them to their respective rooms while the boys debated on what to eat. Normally, you didn’t mind being the one to order food for them, but since Sehun had your card and you only had about ten bucks on hand, their manager split the bill with a couple of the older boys.

After eating and helping Dino take out the trash, you decided it was finally time to head back to your place for the night. You spent ten minutes saying bye to them – which consisted of one hug each, aside from Hoshi and Dino, who insisted on two hugs each. You didn’t live too far from their dorm, so it didn’t take long for you to reach your apartment. The sun had set by the time you arrived and, upon entering, you found the boys asleep in your living room.

Baek had taken the recliner. Chanyeol was on the floor using Baek’s leg as a pillow. Kai was on the couch with Eun between him and the cushions. Suho was on the floor below them with only a pillow below his head.

You followed the sound of clinking and found Sehun washing the dishes. He must have heard you enter because he spoke as soon as you stepped inside the kitchen.

“Soon is not five hours.”

Pissy Sehun was still around, you see. “Does it matter? You had the boys here.”

He rolled his eyes, muttering about taking a shower. Feeling annoyed at his attitude, you followed him down the hall, stopping the bathroom door from shutting with your foot.

He scowled at you. “What are you doing?”

“Finding out what your problem is.” You scowled back. You entered the bathroom, closing the door behind you before leaning back against it. “You’ve been pissy since I picked you up. If you were gonna act like this, why call me?”

“You’re the one who left.” He was getting angry, but so were you.

“I left because Exo told me to. You all decided I was guilty without even hearing my side. I’m not even allowed in the SM building anymore!”

He bit his lip, knowing that what you said was accurate. You expected him to yell and only get angrier, but his eyes changed – they became glassy and he swallowed hard. “I missed you.”

His tone had been so soft, you weren’t able to catch his words. “What?”

“I missed you!” He grabbed you, wrapping his arms tight around your shoulders. “I thought… I thought you chose Luhan hyung over me…”

“Why would I do that?” You lowered your voice.

He shook his head, squeezing you tighter. “I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too. I figured you hated me like the others.”

“Never,” he slowly pulled away, shoving his hands in his pocket and acting like the hug hadn’t happened. “And the others don’t hate you either.”

You didn’t wanna pull back the bandage any further so you let the subject drop, choosing to remain silent.

“Now get out.” He turned around, pulling his shirt off.

You grinned at his back. “What if I wanna watch?”

“Out!” He threw the rolled-up shirt at you but you dodged, leaving the room before it hit you. You didn’t miss the smirk playing on his lips before the door closed.

Feeling almost nostalgic, you headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to pour yourself some soda. You saw movement out of the corner of your eye and you looked up to see Suho standing in the doorway. He was biting his lip and holding his left elbow, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

When Kris, Tao, and Luhan had left and you took the blame for it, Suho had been the angriest at the time, so being around him now was extremely awkward and tense, but you never had anything personal against him despite everything, so you opted to play nice.

“You uhh… want something to drink?”

“Water… please.” He took a seat at the table and you grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge after pouring your soda. “Thank you.”

You nodded, taking a seat across from him as you sipped your drink to avoid talking.

“I’m sorry.”

You nearly choked, staring at him blankly. Had you misheard him? “What was that?”

He repeated the apology, finally meeting your eyes. You were surprised to see tears welling up. “I over-reacted back then. The things I said… I… I didn’t mean them. I was just…”

“It’s fine, Joonmyun. I understood then and I understand now.”

He nodded, but the tears had already begun to roll down his cheeks. He sniffled, apologizing for beginning to cry. You were about to comfort him when Sehun entered the room, his hair still wet from the shower.

“You made hyung cry?” Sehun pushed you over to the next chair and took your seat.

“No, she didn’t do anything.” Suho palmed at his eyes, wiping his tears away with a small smile. “I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight.”

Sehun watched his hyung disappear into the living room before looking at you suspiciously.

“He apologized.” You said simply, falling back against the chair.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” You rubbed the back of your neck, glancing at him. “I guess he overheard us arguing.”

“Told you he doesn’t hate you.”

“Wipe that smug smirk off your face, brat.”

“Brat?” He scowled. “You’re only three years older.”

“Your point being?” You raised a brow, ruffling his hair as you headed for your bedroom, Sehun at your heels. “Why are you following me?”

“There’s nowhere to sleep in the living room.” He shrugged, pushing past you into your bedroom. “I’m sleeping in here with you.”

You didn’t bother to argue – you knew you wouldn’t win.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

Kai stirred in his sleep, but something prevented him from re-entering dreamland. Something felt off like something was missing. He sat up, rubbing at his tired eyes as he tried to figure out what that something was. And then it hit him like a bucket of ice-cold water – Eun was gone. He jumped up off the couch, forgetting about Suho being on the floor beneath him. Being stepped on forced him awake with a grunt of pain.

“What… What’s happening?” Suho asked, half-asleep.

“Hyung, he’s gone!” Kai whispered loudly.

“Who?”

“Eun! He’s not here!”

Hearing that information knocked all of the sleep out of the older male as he jumped up, eyes scanning the room. “Check the front door.”

While Kai did that, Suho checked the glass door leading out to the balcony. Both were shut and locked tight without any sign of disturbance. From there, they woke up Baekhyun and Chanyeol, and the four checked everywhere for the boy – under furniture, inside the clothes hamper, inside cabinets. Anywhere they could think of. At one point, Chanyeol even checked the cookie jar!

Without any sign of the young boy, they realized what they had to do – face Sehun.

After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Baekhyun, being the loser, slowly pushed open the bedroom door, peering into the darkness. With a gulp, he flipped the switch and bathed the room in light, only to feel his heart skip a beat in relief.

Eun was in the bed, curled up against his uncle while holding your hand tightly in his smaller one. Panic now replaced with mischief, he pulled out his cell phone and snapped a picture before making a quick escape.

The other three looked at him expectantly, but he only snickered and held up his phone. The three let out a collective sigh of relief. After going from straight panic to relaxed, Kai and Baekhyun passed out pretty quickly after – Kai back on the couch and Baek sprawled across the coffee table. The sun would rise soon, and Suho and Chanyeol both had schedules, so going back to sleep would serve no purpose; they headed back to their dorm.

When Sehun woke up that morning, he found himself in bed alone. He entered the kitchen with a yawn. Eun was sitting at the table, eating the pancakes you had made him. You were sitting across, playing on your phone.

Sehun grabbed a bottle of water and leaned back against the counter. “Are you going to work?”

“Kind of have to. I was just waiting for you to wake up.” You answered, putting your phone away and giving him your attention.

“As long as you come back.” He mutters, more to himself. You still heard though and responded with a grin.

“I don’t really have a choice. It IS my apartment.”

“Not funny,” He growls, smacking your shoulder when you walked by.

“I’ll see you later. Don’t trash my place!” You joked as you grabbed your keys and left the apartment.

Sehun ruffles Eun’s hair before heading into the living room.

Baekhyun was waking up and he grinned when he saw the male. “Sehunnie~! Guess what?”

He raised a brow.

Baek didn’t respond, but pulled out his phone and showed Sehun the picture.

He grabbed the phone from his grip. “When did you…?”

“Last night.” He grinned proudly, but that grin disappeared when Sehun started pushing buttons. “What are you doing?”

“Deleting it.”

“What? No!”

By the time Baekhyun got his phone back, the picture had been deleted. He facepalmed, wondering why he hadn’t made copies or sent it to someone first.

Little did he know, Sehun had sent the picture to someone before deleting it; himself.