#sorry im only uploading it now 😣

[jenoptimist]

he had the personality, looks and kids loved him? the universe was really testing you, huh?

The day you were having was fantastic; the barista gave you three stamps on your loyalty card, the test that you took for your module went smoother than you thought it would, the group project that you had for another module went surprisingly well, and you even found some change on the ground. However as you sat in the diner with your cousin, you had a creeping suspicion that the day you had was to lull you into a false sense of security. 

“I think there’s something wrong with my hearing,” you said in disbelief, slowly dropping your cutlery, “because it sounded like you just said that you want me to babysit.”

Yangyang did nothing but smile sweetly at you. “Nope! You heard right!”

You couldn’t believe it. You and kids? Yeah, you guys did not mix. It was as if you and children were the same opposites of a magnet which was a shame because you actually adored kids. You weren’t ready to have your own at the moment so you became a plant parent instead–your succulents were your pride and joy. You had six in total and as sappy as it was, you named each of them after your friends. Although admittedly, you were missing a plant for Kunhang. Not that he knew, of course. Or, well, at least you didn’t think he knew?

You hummed. “Whose kids are they?” Yangyang gave the name of your aunt, the one with triplets and you swore your cousin was trying to get back at you for something. “No. You know how I feel about those kids, Yang! They’re the frickin’ spawns of the Devil!”

Even though the triplets were only four years old, they have caused nothing but trouble for you. Before, you were swayed by their cute little faces but as time went on, you figured that they had some sort of vendetta against you. Other children usually stared blankly at you when you tried to play with them, clearly unamused by your attempts, but those three? They lived to make your life difficult. But to everyone else? They were absolute angels! It was infuriating. What had you done to warrant that behavior from them?

Yangyang winced. “Well,” you arched a brow at him which had him sagging his shoulders, “yeah.” You nodded triumphantly. “But”–you groaned–“please, y/n?” You declined with a shake of your head. Yangyang pouted at you and clasped his hands together, “oh come on, y/n! Please!”

“Nope! There’s nothing you can do to change my mind.” There was absolutely no way you were going to expose yourself to their beady little eyes. “It’s your own fault you said yes.”

The pouting didn’t stop for the next few minutes. When it did, however, there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes that you could idenitfy. It was the look he had when he used drag you in whatever shenanigans he was planning which, more often than not, resulted the two of you getting into trouble.

“I’ll tell Kunhang that you were the one who knitted him that horrible scarf!” Yangyang wasn’t wrong. The scarf was horrible because when you gave it to him, you had only knitted one or two items during a few weeks at that point. The stitches weren’t anywhere near perfect and there was a slight difference in color because the yarn that you originally used was sold out. But even with your awful craftsmanship, Kunhang never said anything bad about it. Instead he said that he was thankful that someone took the time to make it for him. Those words, paired with his angelic smile, was enough to make your heart flutter.

“You wouldn’t.” You said back, narrowing your eyes. All you got was a smirk in return. “Fine,” you sighed, “I’ll do it.” It was hard to fight your smile at his nonstop cheering.

*

You stood at the driveway of your aunt’s house, gathering the willpower to walk inside and make your presence known. You had spent the whole night mentally preparing yourself but now that you were there, you wanted to book it. You could do this. It was only six hours. What could they possibly do to you in that timespan that they haven’t already?

“Thanks for doing this on such a short notice.” Your aunt said as she moved in a flurry, wrapping her scarf around her neck before shrugging on her coat. The triplets were watching her and you were glad that their attention wasn’t on you yet. That was short lived because as she was hugging her children goodbye, they were watching you like a hawk. You internally cursed at your cousin, typing him a quick text.

from: y/n

to: yang2

you so owe me for this >:(

from: yang2

to: y/n

don’t worry, i already got it covered~

from: y/n

to: yang2

what’s that supposed to mean?????

from: yang2

to: y/n

(>ω^)

You took a moment to pull at face at his response before stuffing your phone back into your pocket. What was he up to now?

“I left some money on the shelf in case you want to order some food,” your aunt informed you as she pulled you into a quick hug. “Thanks again, see you later!”

The sound of the door slamming shut behind you officially sealed your fate. It left you and the triplets staring at each other and you shifted from foot to foot as you thought of something to do to pass the time. When you managed to smile at them awkwardly, your hand going up for a wave, one of them started screaming and ran off. It had a domino effect on the other two and so you were stuck in a house with three screaming children.

You scrambled after them, trying to capture them in your arms and maybe hoist them into the air–kids normally liked that, didn’t they? Unfortunately, they would somehow escape your grasp and blew raspberries at you before running off again. By the time you got them all to sit on the couch to watch a Disney movie, you were extremely exhausted.

When the doorbell rang you groaned, unsure if you could even walk to the door. Your legs felt like jelly and you were sure that if you were to look at yourself in the mirror, your appearance would be haggard. Another ring had you up, eyeing the triplets just in case they made any sudden moves, and made your way to the door.

“Um,” were your eyes deceiving you right now? “Kunhang! Hi!” He was wearing the scarf you knitted which just about covered his entire neck.

“Hey,” he smiled brightly, “sorry I’m late. I had to pick up a few things.”

“Late?”

“Yeah. Yangyang said you wanted my help with the kids?” So this is what that brat meant when he texted you. You didn’t know whether you wanted to yell at him or hug him. Maybe both, in that order.

“Oh, yep! I did. That’s what I said.” You replied with an awkward laugh at the end, stepping aside to let him in. The beautiful smile he was wearing still hadn’t disappeared. In fact, it seemed to grow larger as you led him into the living room where the triplets were, by some miracle, still watching Ice Age.

When the movie ended, Kunhang took the opportunity to introduce himself to them. You watched with a fond smile as they immediately took to him, your thoughts going haywire. Of course the kids liked him. How could they not? The three of them clung onto him and you didn’t know how he managed, but he stood up and started spinning them slowly. They erupted in giggles, excitedly calling out his name.

From there every little thing that Kunhang did with them made your heart melt. The way he paid attention to every single one of them, the way he praised them and his exaggerated reactions that had the kids stumbling in laughter. In turn, the triplets imitated him to get him to laugh and fought for his attention. Kunhang even took to helping them feed themselves, encouraging them enthusiastically and motivating them to finish the entire plate with the promise of ice cream.

The ice cream was a mistake. The children were practically bouncing from wall to wall, leaving havoc in their wake; cushions were thrown in different directions along with their toys. You and Kunhang sent each other twin expressions of horror as they started disappearing up the stairs. By the time they were tucked into bed, Kunhang was looking worse for wear than you were with his hair spewn in different directions and his hoodie had a couple of stains on them.

“We should probably get cleaning.” You suggested, already dreading the mess you were going to face when you stepped downstairs.

Cleaning the house was quicker than you expected. It was probably because you were actually having fun since Kunhang kept making you laugh. By the end of it, the two of you were talking about random things as you collapsed on the sofa. There was a brief period of silence that took over as he leaned his head back to rest on the back of the counch, closing his eyes.

With a soft smile, he murmured, “I hope our kids are as cute as they are.” That had your heart racing as you stared at him incredulously. That had to mean that he had some feelings for you too, right? But as soon as you were about to reply, he seemed to come back to himself. Kunhang shot up from the couch with an awkward laugh. “I mean–! That–! Um.” He groaned loudly, hand rubbing his face.

Again, you couldn’t even begin to respond because your aunt’s voice came from somewhere, announcing her arrival, as she shut the front door. She barely batted an eyelash at Kunhang’s presence, instead thanking the two of you and handed over some cash. She kept talking to the two of you until you exited her house and then a heavy silence blanketed the atmosphere. From the way Kunhang was gripping onto the straps of his backpack, you could tell that he was feeling just as nervous as you were.

“I’ll drive you home.” You nodded mutely at his offer.

How were you going to approach the situation? Clearly he was embarrassed, what with the way he was avoiding your eyes. But he didn’t even give you any time to answer. Knowing him, he was probably thinking that you would reject him or something. Which was entirely false. You have had a crush on him for as long as you could remember and to find out that he was possibly feeling the same? You fought the smile that threatened to creep up on your face. Was him mentioning your imaginary future kids a red flag? Maybe, if you didn’t know him.

After he parked somewhere near your apartment, neither of you made a move to say your goodbyes. Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee was playing loudly until he drastically lowered the volume.

“So,” he started, after clearing his throat. “about, um, what I said earlier.” He trailed off after that, as if he was unsure of what he wanted to say.

“Well,” you said as you felt a surge of courage, powered by the thoughts of Kunhang–about how cute he was, how you have had a crush on him for the longest time and how you had dreamed about telling him how you felt. “You could at least take me on a date first.”

If it were any other circumastance you would have laughed at how his eyes practically popped out of their sockets, his mouth agape. But as it was, you were practically shaking with nerves. All you could hear was the pounding of your heart and your hands were starting to get clammy.

“Date?” The word came out like he was testing it out. “You and me? On a date?” There was a beat of silence and then, “seriously?” You nodded. “Oh wow. That’s– I can’t believe this.”

You gave him a winning smile. “Are you free tomorrow?” Then you frowned slightly. What if he thought that you were too eager? “You know what, how about next week?”

“No! Tomorrow is great! I’m totally free!”

“Great!” The two of you erupted in laughter after a moment of silence. “Well. I guess I better get going.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, sounding dazed. “I guess you should.” You went for a hug and shot him a quick smile after you shut the door of his car.

Just as you were about to walk up the stairs to your apartment, you heard him calling out your name. When you spun around, you found him running up to you with something in his hand that you couldn’t make out.

Kunhang heaved. “Got this for you.” He told you as he bent over to catch his breath, his right arm extending towards you. It was a succulent. A very pretty one at that. “I was gonna give it to you after we left ‘cause I was gonna ask you on a date. But then I said that.”

“I love it.” You took it from his hand gently, staring it at adoringly. “Thank you so much, Kunhang!” Now you had one to name after him. You would put it next to the one you named after Dejun, on the small table next to your bed.

“Now you can have one named after me.”

In your shock, you almost dropped your new plant. “What? How do you know about that?” You didn’t give him time to respond, already knowing the answer. “Yangyang.” You grumbled. When you got your hands on that kid, he was going to get it.

“Yangyang.” Kunhang confirmed, eyes twinkling with amusement. With a quick peck on your cheek, he quickly spun around and sped off to his car. As soon as he drove away, you took out your phone.

from: y/n

to: yang2

you are SO dead

from: yang2

to: y/n

snagged a date though didn’t you? now you can stop telling me about how much you like him ۹⌤_⌤۹

from: y/n

to: yang2

yeah i did but it doesn’t mean that you’ll get away with telling him i didn’t have a plant named after him >:(

from: yang2

to: y/n

ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡