strings & bullets┃hajeongwoo (under revision)

〚 ch: sixteen 〛

"stop smiling, i'm getting chills." junkyu said beside him as he sipped his coffee.

jeongwoo rolled his eyes and went to sit beside the older, he greeted jaehyuk whose eyes were focused on the monitor but nodded without giving him a glance.

he then faced junkyu and sighed, "remember that i'm looking for a babysitter right? yedam hyu-" before he could even finish his sentence, junkyu clapped his hands and smiled widely showing his dimples.

"let me guess, haruto is baby jio's babysitter?" the older's eyes were sparkling with his mouth open and his palms spread out in front of him.

he nodded and stayed quiet when the older suddenly squeaked and giggled as he shook jeongwoo's shoulder. junkyu was shaking him, his face was straight with no emotions as he suffered from the older's hand.

"hyung, stop that. by the way, the intelligence team sent us something regarding hiro's new case."

"jio come heree"

"where are you hiding?"

"hide and seek is done jioo! we're not playing anymore"

"found you! eh, he's not here?"

"jio, where are you? your papa's gonna get mad at me if you won't take a bath"

haruto sighed and his shoulders sagged as he walked towards the sofa. he then plopped his body down and closed his eyes, never expecting babysitting to be so difficult. after what the baby said earlier, he told him they should play hide and seek just to distract him. now they've been playing for an hour, jio was caught multiple times and now he's back to hiding.

"boo!!" the baby appeared unexpectedly when he opened his eyes, causing him to shriek in surprise.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!!" his eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth was open as he looked at the baby with his hands in his chest. jio was on the floor, laughing and pointing his finger at haruto.

haruto smiled and shook his head, realizing how playful the baby is. he got up from the sofa and walked over to jio, who was now lying on the floor with his face flat after realizing how tired he was from laughing. he gently picked up the baby and carried him in his arms, he then tickled him causing the baby to let out cute giggles. he smiled as he stopped and kissed jio's cheek "baby needs to take a bath, is the bathroom upstairs?"

the baby nodded in his shoulders without giving him a look, haruto assumed jio was tired.

he made his way to the stairs and stopped, there were three doors and he didn't know which one is the bathroom. he then turned his body to the side for jio to see the doors so he could ask him.

"where's the bathroom baby?" he asked as he caressed the baby's hair, his voice soft.

"we have bathroom downstairs, but baby takes a bath on papa's room." jio told him.

and haruto was hesitant, he did not receive any message from the officer. maybe he should call him before going inside his room? after all, they barely knew each other. no, just jeongwoo. haruto knows jeongwoo well

"i think we should call papa first, wait a minute baby." he said as he pulled his phone out from his pocket, he searched his contacts but he didn't find jeongwoo's number. he sighed, wondering if the officer had his number but hadn't bothered to save his own. he doesn't have any choice but to use the bathroom in jeongwoo's room.

he entered the room and opened the door, going straight to the bathroom. he shook his head, he's overthinking, he feels like he'd be invading the officer's privacy if he looked around. haruto smiled at the baby, who was staring at him with puzzled eyes. he sat him in the bathtub and turned on the water.

but he didn't expect the baby to suddenly cup his cheeks with his tiny hands "are you okay, mister?" the baby asked.

haruto laughed, the baby was playful yet kind. jeongwoo taught him well

"yes baby."

haruto dashed into the closet to which jio had pointed and grabbed the baby's clothes. he smiled as he finished dressing him and was about to close the closet door when his eyes caught something from the side. a picture frame

he recognized the two students, their eyes twinkling with delight as they smiled. his chest tightened, he averted his gaze, and bit his lower lip. why is he still jealous with the younger? haruto scolded himself, telling himself that he shouldn't be feeling this way. he should be sad because jeongwoo lost a friend, not this way.

"daddy? your phone is ringing" he quickly turned his head to jio, his eyes were innocent as he stared at him.

did the baby just called him daddy? did he heard it right or his mind is playing games with him?

"daddy?" he asked, confused.

the baby nodded and smiled widely, "uncle yedam told me you're gonna be my daddy soon"

haruto shook his head, choosing to ignore what the baby had said. how is he gonna be jio's daddy when his papa doesn't even like him? haruto sighed and answered the call

"hello?"

"hey haruto, how is jio doing?" haruto recognized jeongwoo's voice, he pursed his lips and blinked several times.

"haruto? are you there?" the officer asked. he quickly cleared his throat to answer

"jio's doing fine, he just finished taking a bath. by the way, about the text message.." haruo trailed off, remembering jeongwoo's supposed to text him about everything he needs to know.

"that is why I called. i was unable to text you because i was busy with work. i forgot to tell you that i wrote a note for the babysitter last week, it's on the top of the fridge." haruto nodded as if jeongwoo can see it.

"can i talk to jio?" he quickly passed the phone to jio and told him his papa wants to talk to him.

"papa!" the baby smiled widely as he called his papa, his eyes were sparkling and his left hand was raised in the air.

haruto couldn't hear what jeongwoo was saying, so he simply stared at jio.

"daddy's taking good care of baby!"

his eyes widened, did jio really said that to jeongwoo? he bit his lower lip and approached jio, quietly telling him not to call him daddy.

the baby smiled while covering his mouth with his hand, then turned away from haruto. and haruto was taken aback, now contemplating his life decisions.

"but papa... isn't he going to be my daddy soon?" the baby giggled again, now haruto can only cry in embarrassment inside his head.

the baby turned to face haruto and handed him his phone before fleeing out of the room with a big smile. he then realized the officer was still on the line,

"stop that jio, but.. it's not a bad idea right?"

haruto didn't say anything as he quickly dropped the call. his heart raced in his chest, and he could feel his cheeks heating up as he bit his lips to keep from smiling.

when he lost it, he laughed as if he was going crazy and stomped his feet as he crossed his arms. he sighed and shook his head, he then smiled while staring at his phone.

"you're driving me insane, jeongwoo."

cc.