Chapter Text
Seungmin was big again, for the second time in one day which was almost a miracle. This time he was alone, though. He'd been with Jisung and Chan for a while while the caregivers and Felix talked about something, but he was trying to resist thinking about what that could be. Mostly because it was probably about him, and he probably wouldn't like it.
But he let Jisung and Chan distract him as well as they could. Chan had dragged out their bin of stuffed animals and had introduced Seungmin to them all, and he'd grabbed Daengmo from his room so the puppy could make some new friends as well.
He'd gotten bored after a while, though, and he was still kinda shaken up from seeing Jaehwa that morning so he decided to leave and go back to his room for some alone time, which thankfully the other two littles hadn't questioned because it wasn't super rare for him to want some peace and quiet. Unlike Jisung who needed constant entertainment, Seungmin liked not doing anything. It was relaxing.
So he'd been doing that for a while now. Just sitting on his beanbag chair, watching out the window. One of their neighbors was mowing the grass and he found himself watching him go up and down his yard in a satisfying rhythm.
And sometime during that while of watching out his window, he'd felt himself shifting back into his bigger headspace, which was definitely confusing but he didn't try to fight it. He was alone now, so the fear of saying something stupid or awkward was gone and he was able to just sit in his thoughts peacefully.
It also meant he could think properly about Jaehwa, and what it meant that she had tracked him down. Because he couldn't understand why she would. In his little headspace he'd clung to the idea that she would come back for him someday (even though recently he'd begun to think that wouldn't be all that great—definitely not as great as it was being here) but while big he could understand that Jaehwa definitely didn't want him. Not for the reasons a normal caregiver would want a little, at least.
She had Wooyoung, who had clearly been the only little she'd wanted. Or maybe she would want other littles, but definitely not Seungmin. He'd always been deemed too big for her, even though he felt small. Not small enough for her, though. Sometimes he wondered what Wooyoung thought of her, if he loved her and thought she was an amazing caregiver.
He couldn't think too hard about that, though, because it made his head hurt. So he thought about Sojun, which didn't really help his headache but it was inevitable, really. Because the police still hadn't caught him, at least not that he'd been told. He remembered Hayoon saying something about him possibly having left the country, and he knew if that were the case finding him would be a lot harder. He just hoped he didn't take on another little, wherever he was. Because no one deserved to be under his care, he knew that now.
But what if he wasn't out of the country? What if he were still here? The Lee family didn't live too far from his apartment, and he hadn't really thought about it while little but now that he was big he realized how close he could still be to Sojun. What if he saw him on the streets? Ran into him somewhere? The thought had his stomach fluttering nervously, but hopefully Sojun was far away from him. And hopefully it would stay that way.
He didn't know how long he sat there staring out the window and thinking, Daengmo in his lap as he ran his fingers through his fur, but eventually someone knocked on his door, and when he called out for them to open it Jeongin poked his head in.
"Hi, Seungmo," he said. "You okay—oh, are you big?"
He nodded. "Yeah. To both."
"That's nice, I'm glad you like the beanbag Hyunjin hyung gave you." Jeongin asked, smiling fondly. "Are you feeling tired yet?"
Seungmin shrugged. Kinda, he guessed, but it wasn't quite his bedtime yet. Especially now when he was big, he could definitely stay up later.
"A little," he said, not sure why Jeongin was asking.
"Do you think you'd be up to having a talk with us before bed? Nothing bad," he said, maybe seeing the way Seungmin immediately started chewing on his bottom lip. "We just wanna let you in on something we've been talking about, and get your opinion on it. It can wait until morning, though, if you wanna go to bed now."
But Seungmin slipped off his beanbag. "I can talk," he said. "You're sure nothing's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Jeongin confirmed, holding the door open for him as he walked past. "Like I said, there's something we've been discussing as a family that we want your opinion on."
All of the rest of them were downstairs in the living room when Seungmin got down, and he realized as he faced them that half of them had never met him in his big headspace before. It felt just like this morning with Jisung and Felix, when he'd felt a bit exposed.
"You're big again, Min?" Felix asked, clearly still big as well. "But you were just big this morning!"
"Yeah, I don't know," he shrugged, avoiding anyone's eyes. "It's pretty weird."
"It just means you feel safe here," Hyunjin said. "Trust me, it's a good thing.
"And it actually works out really well for you to be big for this," Changbin added.
"You're making me nervous," he said quietly, approaching the group and plopping down on the living room beanbag. It felt a little silly sitting on it when he was big, but it was familiar and that brought some comfort. "What's this about? Am—am I being adopted?"
He forced his voice to stay steady, to not give away his feelings even though he had to force the words out through a lump in his throat.
"No," Minho started, and then faltered. "Well, not exactly. It is about you being adopted, but…" he trailed off, and took a deep breath. "The thing is, we want to know what you would think about staying here. Forever, I mean."
"Being adopted by us," Jeongin added when Seungmin just stared. He wasn't sure he'd heard right.
"I…," but he didn't know what to say. "Wait, what?"
"Minho hyung first brought it up," Hyunjin said, "but we've all talked about it. We'd like to adopt you, Seungminnie, but only if it's something you want, too."
"And you can think about it," Felix said. "If you're not sure—oh. Don't cry, Seungmo."
But he already was. There were fat tears in his eyes and they slipped out quickly until the room was a total blur. Immediately he could feel two pairs of hands on him, probably Changbin and Jeongin who were closest to him.
"Do you really want to?" He blubbered, feeling like this just couldn't be true. There was no way things could work out so perfectly for him.
"Of course we want to!" Jisung exclaimed, coming over to fling his arms around him. Seungmin accepted the little into his lap with a slight grunt but he definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, he could feel his mind growing a little fuzzy around the edges as he cried, his feelings getting a bit too intense and trying to force him back into his little headspace.
Did this mean he got four daddies? Four? And he didn't have to leave?
"These are happy tears, right?" Changbin asked, one of his hands pushing Seungmin's hair out of his face. "You wanna stay with us, Seungminnie?"
"Please," he cried, sniffling and rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand. This was just embarrassing now, but he couldn't pull himself together. Jisung was still holding him tight and he hooked his chin on the little's shoulder and turned his head so he was hidden a little from the others.
"Don't cry Seungmo," Jisung said, patting his head. "This is happy time!"
"'M happy," he assured him. "Really happy." His arms were around Jisung as well, squeezing him tight.
Changbin's hand was still on his head, and the other came down to wipe a couple tears off his cheeks. "Feeling overwhelmed, buddy?"
"Mhm," he nodded, trying to blink the tears out of his eyes to see everyone better. He noticed Hyunjin and Minho were sitting back a little, the only ones who hadn't moved forward when he'd started crying. He thought he could see an amused glint in Hyunjin's eyes, but he was focused on Minho whose own eyes looked a little misty.
He was blinking them rapidly, though, and soon he pulled himself together enough to make his way over to Seungmin and crouch next to him. His eyes were definitely a little teary but he was too polite to bring it up.
"Don't cry, lovely," he said, just like Jisung, but the nickname only made him want to cry harder. "I don't like seeing you cry."
"Sorry," he mumbled, sitting up a little straighter and getting himself under control.
"You really wanna stay with us, Seungmo?" the caregiver asked. "We promise you're allowed to think about it for as long as you want, there's no rush."
"Don't needa think about it," he said firmly, one hand reaching out to grip Minho's sleeve. "Wanna stay here forever. Please?"
"You don't gotta ask us, honey," Hyunjin said. "We already said we wanna adopt you, yeah? So we're all on the same page."
He nodded, heart clenching. "Thank you," he whispered, sniffling again. "I really wanted to stay here."
"Then everything's worked out perfectly, hasn't it?" Jeongin said, squeezing his arm. It was overwhelming having all their attention on them while they surrounded him, but he found himself liking it.
"Here, Seungminnie." Changbin was handing him a tissue—well, he thought he was but when he reached out for it his hand was brushed away and Changbin wiped his tears for him. "Cheer up, yeah? Like Jisungie said, this is a happy moment."
"I am happy," he told them again. "Really happy."
"And that makes us happy," Hyunjin said, smiling at him. "Though, we did have another question for you. One we maybe should've asked you before we brought up adoption, but Felix told us we didn’t have to worry about it."
He cocked his head, confused.
"They had been talking about how you latched onto Minho hyung from the beginning," Felix told him, but he rushed to continue before Seungmin could panic. "I didn't tell them anything, I promise! I just said that you had a good reason for it, because they'd been worried you only liked Minho hyung and wouldn't want to stay with us."
"What?" He asked, feeling a little panicky even though Felix had tried to assure him. "Of course I want to stay!"
"And that's great," Jeongin said earnestly. "We just wanted to make sure that you know that if you stay with us, all four caregivers would be your daddies, not just Minho hyung. Are you okay with that?"
Jeongin, Changbin, and Hyunjin were all looking at him hopefully, but he couldn't imagine that they really thought he would only want Minho. Maybe he'd been a bit near sighted at the beginning, but…all four of them had been the best caregivers he could have imagined ever since he'd stepped foot in this house, and the thought of getting all of them as his daddies had him wanting to tear up again.
"I want all of you," he said weakly, too embarrassed to make eye contact. "Not just Minho. Promise."
"…Maybe you should tell them why you were so drawn to Minho hyung?" Felix suggested while Seungmin stared fiercely at the ground.
"'S embarrassing," he muttered, not looking up. His face was heating up just at the thought of spilling his secret, but he hated that the other caregivers had been worrying about him not liking them. "And stupid."
"It's not stupid at all," Felix said. "I promise. No one's gonna think it's silly or stupid or anything like that."
The others didn't say anything, but he could see them nodding out of the corner of his eye.
He didn't even know how to explain it, and it took him a minute to find the words but no one rushed him.
"Um…I told Felix and Jisungie already," he said, just for the sake of getting some words out. "Cause we were talking about how Da—Sojun made me feel lonely. And Jaehwa too. But Jaehwa got me ipad, um, cause she liked when I played by myself."
He paused and glanced up briefly to see that everyone was giving him their full attention, and he shrank slightly under their gazes and looked back to the floor because that was less scary. "Um. I go on ipad a lot when I get lonely. Or sad. 'Cause…"
He looked up again bravely, this time towards just Minho. "'Cause I like your videos a lots. And I watch them to feel better and to sleep. And…with Sojun and Jaehwa I pretend you were my daddy, because it made me feel happy inside."
He resisted the urge to look down again as Minho's eyes visibly softened.
"Aw, baby," he said. "You watch my videos?"
"For a long time," he nodded, and he could feel his ears burning. "I really like them."
"Seungminnie said Minho hyung was really familiar to him," Felix told them. "Which makes sense, of course, since he's been using his videos as a source of comfort for years."
"Oh, Seungmo," Hyunjin said. "You have no idea how happy that makes me. How lucky was it that Hayoon called us to take you?"
"Like fate," Felix nodded. "I think you were always supposed to find your way to us, Min."
He blushed impossibly harder and looked up at Minho again.
"Sorry if you thought I didn't like everyone," he apologized softly. "But I know Minho for a long, long time."
"Nothing to be sorry for, baby," Jeongin assured him. "I love that you had Minho with you for the past couple years to cheer you up. His videos are really nice, aren't they?"
Seungmin nodded. "…I like the singing ones."
"Daddy has the best voice," Jisung agreed. "We can watch together! Like a movie! Daddy, can we watch videos on the TV?"
"You want me to put my videos up on the TV?" Minho asked. "I can definitely do that for you."
"Seungmin and me have a sleepover," Chan insisted. "Remember, Seungmin?"
He nodded again. "Channie and I said we would have a sleepover, because I had one with Jisungie."
"Here's an idea," Changbin said. "Why don't we put some mattresses out in the living room and all four of you can have a sleepover tonight? I'll even make you all some popcorn and we can put Minho hyung on the TV."
Jisung and Chan cheered, and Seungmin's heart fluttered at the idea. That sounded like the most perfect night ever.
They all split up, then. Seungmin helped Hyunjin and Jeongin drag mattresses and pillows and blankets into the living room, in front of the couch, while Changbin and the other little popped popcorn in the kitchen. Felix had slipped too from all the excitement and he came bounding into the living room a couple minutes later, almost spilling his bowl of popcorn.
"Here, Seungmo!" He said, handing him a second bowl. "You sleep next to me and Channie? And Jisungie can sleep next to me, too."
"Doesn't this look comfy," Minho said. He'd been closing all the curtains in the room so it could be dark enough for them to sleep, but he'd also taken Jisung's night light out of his room to plug in here so they wouldn't get scared. Then, he grabbed the TV remote and soon enough his own face was on it. "You wanna watch the singing videos, Seungminnie? Or the storybook ones?"
"Storybook," he said, because that sounded the best for them to all watch together, and Minho did something that made all his story videos appear in a long list one after another.
"I've got everything separated into playlists," he explained. "Singing videos, story-time videos, cooking videos. So they'll keep playing when one finishes. Cool, right?"
It was cool, and it wasn't something Seungmin knew he could do.
Pretty soon Jisung and Chan had joined them on the mattresses and under the blankets, and Seungmin had Felix on one side and Chan on the other. Just as he'd suspected, Chan was just as clingy as Jisung and soon he had a leg thrown over he lap and the little's head on his shoulder.
"Say cheese!" Hyunjin said, pointing his phone at them.
"Daddy, you're blocking Minho," Felix complained as Hyunjin stood in front of the TV for a better angle for his picture.
"Alright, alright," Hyunjin said, moving out of the way. "Who wants a goodnight kiss before we leave?"
Predictably Felix, Chan, and Jisung all asked for one, and Seungmin tilted his own head up too when Hyunjin approached him and smiled at the kiss he got.
Changbin, Jeongin, and Minho didn't want to miss out on the kisses, though, and soon Seungmin had gotten one from each of them too until all the littles were giggling, very happy with the attention they were getting.
"Goodnight, babies," Jeongin crooned, the last one to step out of the room. "Come get us if you need anything."
"Night night," Seungmin echoed along with the other three, and then it was just the four of them, cozy and warm under their blankets while Minho read the new animal book Chan had picked out for him at the store. He'd recorded that quickly, Seungmin thought. He hadn't even noticed. Maybe one day he could ask Minho to show him how he filmed the videos.
He felt on top of the world just before he fell asleep, cuddled up to his friends (now siblings?) with the knowledge that this would be his life forever now. He couldn't wait to wake up in the morning and spend his first full day knowing he got to stay here for the rest of his life.
🧸🧸🧸
The next day, the caregivers decided they needed to celebrate, and the littles would never say no to that. They discussed where they wanted to go during breakfast, and Seungmin sucked milk through his plastic sippy cup as the other littles threw out ideas. The milk and sippy cup wasn't something he'd ever had before coming here, but Jisung loved it and he had too when he'd tried it. The sippy cup was only allowed in the morning and at night, though, because the caregivers said it wasn't good for them to use them all the time.
Someone had suggested they go see a movie but that was vetoed because they wouldn't really be able to talk to each other much during a movie, and they'd also decided not to go to the mall since it was a weekend and most likely really busy.
"The park?" Chan said at one point. He was big this morning, and had glared when Changbin had cut his omelet up into little pieces as a joke. "We could bring one of our big blankets and some snacks, and the littles could run around a bit? We could even go to the one that's got a playground."
"Yes!" Felix cheered. "The playground park! Please, daddies?"
"That sounds good," Minho agreed. "If we go around lunchtime I could pack us up a picnic lunch. The weather's really nice today, too."
That was settled, then, and Seungmin had to resist clapping his hands together at the thought of going to the park with his new family.
It had taken him a couple minutes when he'd woken up that morning to remember what had happened the night before. Chan had still been snuggled up against him and he'd fought to get his feet out of the blankets because he'd been so hot from the contact. Felix and Jisung had been on his other side, gravitating towards each other.
It had only been when he'd glanced at the TV that he'd remembered they'd all fallen asleep while watching Minho's videos, and then he'd remembered that they'd told him he could stay. That they wanted to adopt him, and he wouldn't have to go with another caregiver.
It still hadn't felt real when the other four had started to slowly trickle downstairs and start on breakfast, and even when Minho announced it was time for the park a couple hours later he still felt like he was dreaming. Some kind of weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't realized how worried he'd been about leaving and who he would end up with. He'd even heard from Minho that morning that apparently Hayoon had reached out to say the police were closer to finding Sojun, and once they found him he could stop worrying about where he could be and if he would ever see him again.
Jeongin was in charge of giving each of the littles their wristbands, and even Chan got one in case he slipped while they were there. He expected him to complain about it but he seemed to know that the bracelet was for his safety and he put his on with no fuss.
Seungmin did too, and he admired his pretty bracelet proudly. This time, the names written on it weren't his foster daddies, but his actual daddies, and he wondered if they would let him wear it at home too because he liked it so much.
They all got strapped into their car seats (Chan's got thrown in the trunk since he didn't need it now) and soon they were on the road towards the park. Like anytime they were in the car, he paid more attention to the window than what Felix and Jisung or anyone else was saying. He liked to watch the trees go by, and the people, and occasionally he would spot a dog and poke Felix in the shoulder excitedly to get him to look. One dog that they passed looked a lot like Daengmo, and it made him miss his puppy a little but he'd tucked him safely into his bed wrapped up in blankie before they'd left, so he knew his puppy was safe and warm at home. At their home.
Changbin and Jeongin had to stop Felix and Jisung from running straight to the playground, but Seungmin waited patiently beside the car while everyone got out and the caregivers grabbed everything they'd brought out of the truck. He even helped Minho carry one of the bags of snacks.
They picked out a place to set up, close to the large playground area so the caregivers could see them while they played on it. There was so much to see, a sandpit, a swing section, a couple slides, even wooden bridges that connected different platforms of the playground. There was even a forest right behind the park. He didn't know where to start, but Jisung and Felix made the decision for him. Felix grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the caregivers while Jisung followed close behind. Felix pulled him to the bottom of the play set and quickly scrambled his way up the ladder there, leaving Seungmin and Jisung to climb up after him.
It was the most fun he'd had in a long time, running around with Felix and Jisung. They ran across the bridges, went down the slides, and then climbed back up over and over again. He had the most fun on the slides, even though his belly swooped a little when he went down the taller ones.
The playground was busy, too. Lots of other littles and their caregivers were there, so he made sure to stay close to his friends and he glanced back occasionally to make sure his Daddies (the thought still made him smile) were still where he'd left them.
Changbin, Jeongin, and Minho were still at their picnic blanket, but Chan must've slipped because he was with Hyunjin in the sandpit. He wasn't surprised to see that the little had a truck in hand (the caregivers must have brought one of his from home, probably knowing that he would slip) and was pushing it across the sand. At some point, when they'd tired themselves off by running around, Jisung suggested a game of hide and seek. He'd never played that before, but he knew how it worked and it sounded fun, so he agreed. Apparently, Jisung and Felix played it a lot, and Felix always liked to be the first seeker.
"Just don't go into the trees," Jisung warned him. "Daddies don't like it when we do that cause they can't see us."
"That's a stupid rule," Felix complained. "It's not like we're gonna get lost. And the trees are the best place to hide!"
"We're not allowed," Jisung said, and it was the first time Seungmin had heard him sound a little firm with Felix. "You would get in trouble."
"Whatever," Felix said. "Just go hide."
So he ran off with Jisung, looking for somewhere on the playground to hide. They split up quickly, because Jisung insisted they couldn't hide together, and he was a little lost until he spotted a little opening in the play set that was just big enough for him to squeeze into.
It was a little boring in there, though, so he put his chin on his knees and tapped his fingers against the ground as he listened to the sound of littles running around them.
Felix nearly scared him to death when he suddenly appeared in front of him, Jisung right behind.
"Found you!" The little giggled. "Your shoe was poking out, silly."
Oh. It was.
"Well, technically it's my shoe," Felix said. "Now that we're adopting you Daddies should really get you your own shoes."
He did have his own shoes, one pair, but they were really old so he'd been wearing Felix's since he'd gone to stay with him. He didn't really care, though, and the caregivers had bought him his own clothes in the last few weeks so shoes had been at the back of his mind. And besides, Felix’s shoes were cute, they even had little stars on the bottom of them.
"I like these," he told Felix, looking at them. "I like that they're yours."
"Okay," Felix shrugged. "But Daddies should really take you shopping. And you should bring me, cause I love to shop! Oh! Maybe daddies would buy you the cool light-up shoes."
"I want those!" Jisung gasped. "Do you think they would buy us all some?"
"Maybe if Seungmo asked them," Felix said. "They loooove you, Seungmo. It's kinda funny, but I like it. You can get them to buy things."
"Maybe," Seungmin said, blushing. "Who does seeking next?"
"You!" Jisung said. "If you want."
"Sure," he said. "How long do I wait to find you?"
"Give us sixty seconds," Felix told him. "Can you count to sixty?"
"I think so. I'll try."
"Okay, stay right here and we'll hide! And close your eyes!"
So he did, squeezing his eyes shut tight and counting in his head until he reached sixty (which he was kinda proud of). When he opened his eyes, Jisung and Felix were nowhere to be found, like they'd completely disappeared.
So he started looking. They were probably a lot better at the game than he was, and they'd been to this playground before, so they definitely had an advantage over him but he tried not to let that discourage him as he searched. But he looked, and looked, and he couldn't find either of them. He'd hoped that by now he would've found one of them so he could have some help finding the other.
He looked over at the picnic blanket just to make sure they hadn't gotten hungry and decided to go over there instead of hiding, but they weren't there. It was still just Changbin, Minho, and Jeongin and they seemed deep in conversation with some lady on the ground, not looking at him.
So he turned back around to the playground and scanned it, trying to think of where they could be, and he found his eyes wandering to the trees just outside the playground.
Felix had said the trees were the best hiding spot…so is that where he'd gone? Even though Jisung had reminded him they weren't allowed?
He chewed his lip, hesitating as he looked around the playground again. He felt like he'd looked everywhere…and the trees were the only place left he could think of.
Another glance back at the caregivers showed them still talking to that lady, though they were all standing up now. They weren't paying attention to him, and Hyunjin was still busy with Chan in the sandbox so he wasn't looking either.
So he took a couple steps closer to the trees, trying to peer into them to see if maybe he could spot one of them, but he couldn't. So he took another couple steps until he was right at the front of the forest, until the ground under his feet turned slightly muddy and he cringed as he stepped in it.
"Felix?" He called. "Jisungie? Are you in there?"
Another step, until he was properly in the trees. "Felix?"
He was starting to not like this at all. He was getting hungry, and he wanted to find Jisung and Felix and go join the caregivers for lunch, but he couldn't do that until he could figure out where they'd gone.
He walked further into the trees until when he looked over his shoulder he could see the playground but not the blanket that the caregivers were at. He took a small step back, feeling like he really shouldn't be there because he definitely didn't want to get in trouble, especially the day after they'd asked him to stay.
He turned, intending to walk back out and maybe ask for someone's help in finding the others, when suddenly a hand was clamped around his mouth and another gripped his arm tight enough to bruise as he was jerked backwards.
He tried to cry out but not a sound escaped past the hand over his mouth, which was probably its purpose. He tripped as he was yanked back, legs and arms flailing as he grabbed at the hand around his arm and tried to yell.
"Be quiet, Seungmin," someone growled in his ear, and he froze in shock at the voice, allowing Sojun to pull him back further into the trees until the playground faded out of sight.
"Jaehwa and Wooyoung are waiting for us in the car," Sojun continued. "So just come with me, and nothing bad needs to happen."
But Seungmin was slowly getting over his shock and he regained his energy, kicking and flailing again as Sojun dragged him further and further away. Had anyone seen him going into the forest? Had they seen him get taken? What if daddies thought he ran away because he'd decided he no longer wanted to live with them?
He opened his mouth to see if he could bite Sojun's hand while his legs kicked out behind him to try and hit his legs, kicking up mud and dirt in the process.
Sojun grunted as he made contact, and the grip on his arm tightened until he yelped, though the hand was still firmly over his mouth.
"Don't," Sojun warned, his voice dark. "I don't want to hurt you, Seungmin, but I need you to come with me and I'll do what I need to do to make that happen."
His heart was rabbiting in his chest, eyes quickly burning with tears. Sojun had never hurt him like this, never grabbed him so hard until he was crying. He'd never cared enough about his existence to hurt him, so he couldn't think of any possible reason why he was here. He was supposed to be out of the country, supposed to be on the run from the police. So what did he want with him?
"Daddies!" He tried to yell, but it barely came out as more than a slight muffled sound as Sojun's fingers dug into his cheek.
"Shut up," Sojun hissed. "Get in the car, Seungmin."
Sojun stopped suddenly, and when Seungmin looked behind him he saw they'd approached a road that cut through the forest and a car was parked on the side of it, two silhouettes visible inside it.
"No!" His struggling kicked up again as he tried to pull away, head flying back and legs flying into the air as he tried to wiggle himself free, but Sojun was much, much stronger than him and the hold on his arm was really starting to hurt.
But before he knew it they were at the car, and the back door was opening to reveal Jaehwa leaning over from the passenger seat and Wooyoung strapped to a car seat. The little looked spooked, his eyes blown wide as he stared at Seungmin.
He was pushed roughly into the car and before he could fling himself out again the door was slammed shut, and it didn't open when he frantically tried the handle.
"Don't bother, Seungmin," Jaehwa said coldly as Sojun climbed into the driver's seat.
He wailed as the car started to move right away, Sojun swinging it around quickly to get onto the road and start speeding down it. He tried the door handle over and over, tears streaming down his face as he screamed to be let out, watching as he got further and further away from his family.
Wooyoung was crying too now, even though Seungmin doubted he knew what was going on. He was much too little for that, usually only around a year old mentally when he regressed.
"Both of you, shut up!" Sojun yelled, his face red.
"Don't yell and Wooyoung," Jaehwa scolded him, though she paid no attention to Seungmin's screaming.
He felt like he couldn't breathe, chest tight and painful as snot ran down his face, and there were tears in his mouth. His arm throbbed, and his cheek hurt too from where Sojun's fingers had dug into it.
"Let me out!" He screamed, hitting his hands against the window until they hurt, too.
"You're giving me a headache," Sojun said roughly, which was ironic because Seungmin's own head was throbbing from how hard he was crying. "Jaehwa, get him to be quiet."
Jaehwa twisted in her seat to look back at him. "Seungmin, really, this is ridiculous. You know us! We're your caregivers! I always told you I'd come back for you, right?"
"I want my Daddies!" He screamed, so loudly that it hurt his throat and he broke out into a coughing fit.
"Oh, please. You've only known those people for a few weeks. You'll forget them in no time."
"No," he whimpered. "They're adopting me!"
"They're not," Jaehwa retorted. "You're coming to the States with us, and you'll come quietly, or there will be consequences."
His breath hitched at the threat. "Why do you want me?" He cried, still so confused about that. "You don't like me."
"We like you just fine," Jaehwa said, but it was extremely unconvincing and sounded like she had to force the words out. "And we're going to be very happy, okay? Aren't you glad to see Wooyoungie again?"
He glanced at the other little who still had tears streaming down his face, but he wasn't crying out loud anymore. His bottom lip was trembling and he was looking between Jaehwa, Sojun and Seungmin with worried eyes.
"Wooyoung-ah, Seungmin is back!" Jaehwa cooed at the little. "Isn't that exciting? Are you ready to go back home, baby?"
Wooyoung made a little whimpering sound, and Jaehwa sighed, turning back to Seungmin.
"We're all gonna be very happy," she said again, firmer this time. "Seungmin, you and Sojun are moving into the apartment right next to me, Wooyoungie, and my husband. It'll feel just like old times."
"I told you, he's staying with you," Sojun said. "I don't want him at my house all the time."
"That's fine." Jaehwa sounded irritated. "As long as I get the money, I don't care where he is."
"Some of the money. A little bit. That was the agreement, I need the rest of it and you’ve got plenty of fucking money now."
"Whatever. We can sort it out later."
Seungmin was barely listening to them anymore. He was staring out the window, thinking of what the others were doing. Had they noticed he was gone by now? Were they looking for him? He hoped they didn't think he'd run off, but he also didn't know how likely it was for them to assume he'd been snatched out of thin air. And he had no idea where he was being taken, but Jaehwa had said he was leaving the country with them to go live where she was, and his chest constricted at the thought of getting so far away from them.
If Jaehwa and Sojun forced him onto a plane, would there be any chance at all of the others finding him?
He didn't think so.
🧸🧸🧸
Jeongin was having the time of his life. Laying down on a large picnic blanket propped up on his elbows as he watched Felix, Jisung, and Seungmin run around. It was fun, watching all the different littles playing and laughing with each other, and he cracked a smile at the sight of Chan in the sandpit, grabbing sand between his hands and piling it on top of Hyunjin's feet in an attempt to bury them.
It was a nice day out, too. Barely any clouds in the sky, sun out and shining while a light breeze ensured that he didn't get too hot. Everything was perfect.
He watched as the littles began a game of hide and seek, grinning to himself as Seungmin ran around clueless after Jisung abandoned him but finally found somewhere to squeeze into. One shoe was poking out of his hiding spot pretty noticeably and he watched Felix run past it, pause, and then keep going to find Jisung, almost like he wanted to let Seungmin win this round. Cute.
Felix dragged Jisung back to Seungmin's hiding place and pretty soon the two of them were running off to hide from Seungmin who had his eyes squeezed shut cutely. Felix and Jisung knew the playground and its hiding spots better, though, and he knew it would probably take Seungmin a while to discover Felix behind the large dumpster (which technically wasn't even part of the playground but a couple steps next to it, so it was probably cheating) or spot Jisung who'd crammed himself into a bush and would probably be all dirty once he crawled out. Oh, well. As long as they were having fun, a little dirt never hurt anyone. Especially not Jisung.
He was distracted from watching Seungmin run around in search of them by the sound of someone crying out behind him, and he whipped his head around to see a lady who'd toppled over, probably tripped over the fallen branch laying next to her.
He sprang up to his feet and hurried over to her. He could see a small rip in her jeans and a smear of blood, so she must have cut herself on the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked, crouching next to her as Minho and Changbin came over as well. "Did you hurt your knee?"
"Oh, I did." She was sniffling a little. "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing, I can't believe I just tripped like that!"
"That branch had it out for you," Changbin said sympathetically. "Wait here, we've got some bandaids in our bag."
He stepped away to dig through the bag Minho had brought and came back with some tissues and a bandaid."
"You really don't have to, it's just a small cut!"
"Don't worry about it," Jeongin said. "We carry lots of band aids, we won't miss this one. Let us help you get cleaned up a little."
Changbin dabbed at her knee with the tissue to get some of the blood off, and he even wet it a little bit with a water bottle to make it work better.
"Do you have a lot of littles?" The lady asked. "You seem so prepared."
"We've got th—four," Jeongin said, stuttering a little over the number. "Well, officially we have three right now but we foster littles, and we've just decided to adopt our latest foster kiddo."
"Oh, how amazing!" She said, "I bet they're so happy they get to stay with you."
"There were some tears on both ends," Jeongin agreed, smirking at Minho who rolled his eyes. "We're really excited to officially adopt him."
"There you go," Changbin said, sticking the bandaid to the lady's knee. "It's a shame about your jeans, but luckily you weren't hurt any worse."
"I'll definitely take a scraped knee over a broken bone," she nodded. "Thank you so much for helping me, I really appreciate it."
"It's not a problem, we're happy to help." Minho gave her a hand up and Jeongin picked her bag up off the ground since she'd dropped it.
"Good as new, almost," she laughed. "Thanks again for your help! And good luck with your new little!"
She walked off, and they went back to their blanket. Jeongin glanced over to the sandpit to see that Chan and Hyunjin were still there, though Hyunjin was even more covered in sand, but when he looked for the other three, he couldn't see them.
His heart skipped a beat before he remembered that they'd been playing hide and seek, though it was still weird that he couldn't see Seungmin.
"Hyung," he said, addressing both Changbin and Minho. "Do you guys see Seungmin?"
They both squinted. "Uh…no," Minho said. "They were playing hide and seek, right?"
"Yeah." Jeongin looked for him for a couple more seconds, wondering if he was just getting lost in the crowd, but he didn't see him anywhere. He didn't see any of them.
"Felix was hiding behind the big dumpster," he said, standing up again. "Maybe all three of them are back there now. I'll go look."
He started over, scanning the playground as he went but he still couldn't see any of his littles. His heart lurched as he finally got to the dumpsters and found only Felix sitting behind one.
"Daddy, you're gonna ruin my hiding spot," he complained. "Seungmin hasn't found me yet, he's taking forever."
"You haven't seen him at all?" Jeongin asked, turning around again to look over the playground. "We can't find him, Lixie."
"What do you mean?"
The little stood up, looking over the dumpster. "I peeked out a minute ago and he was over by the slide."
"Not anymore," Jeongin said, and he was trying very hard not to panic, because Seungmin had probably just wandered off a little while trying to find the others. "Come with me, baby."
He took Felix by the hand, wanting to keep him close, and pulled him over to the bush he'd seen Jisung slip into all while looking at the others at the blanket and shaking his head stiffly at them.
Minho stood up, and he could see the worry on his face from across the park.
"Jisung," he called. "Come out, please, bug."
He was relieved when the bush immediately rustled and then Jisung was climbing out, dirt on his knees and pants and leaves in his hair. Usually he would smile fondly at the sight but right now his chest felt tight because Seungmin wasn't with him.
"Have you seen Seungmin, bug?" He asked, just as Minho and Changbin came up to them. He could also see Hyunjin staring at them from the sandpit, though Chan seemed oblivious.
"Nuh-uh," Jisung said, confused. "He's the seeker, he needs to find us."
"Well now we're the seekers, okay? We don't know where he is, and we need to find him."
They split up, Changbin jogging over to Hyunjin to let him know what was happening while Minho started calling out for Seungmin until other people were calling for him too, catching onto the fact that a little was missing.
Jeongin felt like he was outside of his body as he dragged Felix around the park, clutching his hand tight so he couldn't get away while he searched desperately. Where could he have gone? Seungmin really didn't strike him as the kind of little that would just wander away, since he was still pretty cautious about most things.
"Felix, can you not think of anywhere he would go?" He asked after another minute of searching what felt like every square inch of the place. "Did he say anything about wanting to go somewhere?"
Felix was biting his lip, looking a little guilty and Jeongin stopped in his tracks. "Tell me," he said sternly, more stern than he usually talked to Felix. "Lix, if you know something you need to tell me right now. We need to find him."
"Well, I was telling him about how the trees would be a good hiding space, even though we're not allowed in there 'cause then you can't see us," Felix told him, eyes wide. "But I didn't hide in there!"
"But maybe Seungmin thought you would?"
Felix gave a small nod, and Jeongin sighed. "It's fine, I'm not mad right now, just worried. Okay? Changbin hyung!" He called, because that's who was closest. "Lix thinks he might've gone into the forest!"
He took off before Changbin could answer, still clutching Felix's hand even though his fingers were starting to feel numb from panic.
Felix got dragged behind him as they entered the forest, and Jeongin was calling Seungmin's name so loud his throat was starting to hurt but that was the least of his worries. Had Seungmin come in here and then gotten lost or turned around? But wouldn't he hear everyone yelling for him? He couldn't have gone that far, right?
"Daddy, look!" Felix cried suddenly, pointing to the ground. When Jeongin looked down he saw footprints in the slightly muddy earth. The outline of the bottom of a shoe, with stars pressed into the ground.
"My shoes!" Felix said, tugging at his arm. "Those are my shoes!"
"Your shoes that Seungmin was wearing," Jeongin nodded. "Okay, so he was here. Good eye, baby."
He could hear someone—maybe Changbin—walking up behind him but he pushed forward without looking back at them, nearly running after the trail of shoes, but he faltered at the sight of another pair that joined Seungmin's and then his star shoes disappeared, replaced by drag lines in the mud as if Seungmin's heels were being dragged through it.
"Holy fuck," he whispered, and his chest tightened to the point that he found it hard to breathe.
"Daddy, you're hurting my hand," Felix whimpered, and Jeongin realized that he'd been squeezing it a lot harder than intended.
He let go with a quick apology and pushed Felix back to where Changbin was a couple feet away, still calling Seungmin's name.
"Stay with Changbin," he said roughly, and then louder, "Changbin hyung! Watch Felix!"
And then he was running, sprinting away with his heart in his throat as he followed the trail of kicked up mud.
"Seungmin!" He screamed, and it felt like his throat was tearing from the volume of it. "Seungmin!"
The trail went in a relatively straight line so he was able to run without having to stop to look for where it went, but eventually he reached a road, and the trail stopped. He was panting, eyes scanning wildly for any movement, any hint of where Seungmin had been, but he didn't see anything.
Until he spotted the faintest tire mark on the very side of the road. It was faint enough that he couldn't tell if it was recent or not, but somehow he knew it was. Because the trail of kicked up mud led right to it, as if Seungmin had put up a fight the whole way through the trees until he'd disappeared into a car.
He took off running again, down the road, but he didn't even know which way the car could've gone. He ran for what felt like a mile before he resigned to the fact that he was never going to catch up to a car, if he was even going the right way.
He sank to his knees at the side of the road, chest heaving, but he only gave himself a second before he was fumbling to grab his phone out of his back pocket. He was halfway through dialing the police when he paused, and called someone else instead.
"Hayoon-ssi," he gasped, breathing so hard he could barely talk. "You need—you needa send me the picture of Jaehwa's car. Right now."
"What?" She said, "I already sent it to my contact with the police, remember? They were going to bring her into the station today to question her about Sojun's location."
"Too late," he heaved. "They should've fucking tracked her down the minute you sent her license to them, cause she's taken him. She's fucking taken him. Send me that picture."
He hung up before she could freak out on him, because he didn't have the time for that. He was already dialing the police as Hayoon's picture came in, and he just prayed they'd noticed Seungmin's disappearance soon enough that Jaehwa wouldn't be able to get too far with him.