LITTLE BY LITTLE ☆ SVT AGERE

1.2

Jeonghan is a lot deeper in this than he thought he would be.

He can't help but return to Magnolia again and again to see Joshua and Seokmin. Even the other littles have started to catch on that he's interested in them. Junhui goes as far as intentionally leaving him alone with the two, distracting Vernon so they can have their own time together.

He's been thinking about it, too— what being Joshua and Seokmin's caregiver would look like. Maybe Jeonghan has just a little too much money and too much time on his hands, but in the end, that's what they need. They need someone who can look after them like the home does, full time and with a lot of trust and care.

Jeonghan would be honored if Seokmin and Josh trusted him that much.

"It sounds like they already do," Seungcheol says.

God, he hopes so.

They're sitting in Seungcheol's living room on a Friday night talking over a few bottles and some food. Seungcheol looks ready to pass out, strung out from his day job and only half-listening to Jeonghan's story.

"You think so?" Jeonghan slurs, shoving a bite of dinner into his mouth. "But might just think of me as some nice guy that drops by sometimes. Do you really think they'd really take me seriously as a caregiver after a few weeks?"

"Jeonghan-ah," Seungcheol deadpans. "How would I know? I'm tired. You're tipsy. Let's go to bed. You're thinking about it more than you need to."

"You're grouchy," he retorts. "If you don't believe me, then meet them yourself! Maybe it'll help relieve some of that stress of yours."

Seungcheol sighs heavily, regretting saying anything at all. "I miss your overconfidence."

The next weekend Jeonghan visits the Magnolia Home, he takes Seungcheol with him. He doesn't feel bad for him at all, even when he can't seem to get comfortable simply waiting in the innocent, colorful lobby for Seungkwan to sign them in.

He looks even more awkward sitting by himself in the middle of the playroom. Junhui isn't regressed and Vernon, Mingyu, and Wonwoo all seem especially shy in his presence today, keeping to themselves in their respective corners.

Meanwhile, Seokmin and Joshua are ecstatic to see Jeonghan, breaking out of their own timid shells to jump up in greeting, swarming Jeonghan with suffocating hugs.

They pull him down into sitting with them and he's quickly drawn into the complicated puzzle they've started. He sifts through the pile with them, looking for edge pieces and trying to group them by color.

Joshua and Seokmin seem content to go at it for awhile— even when the younger gets distracted and bored, he just rolls over and babbles about everything he wants to while Jeonghan and Joshua continue sorting the puzzle pieces.

The puzzle is a landscape scene, so Seokmin rants about going to the park and all the animals he likes. Once, he says, his mom took him to the park while the trees were blooming, and they saw ducks and so many cute little dogs there.

"I wanna go 'gain. Was so pretty and we pet so many doggies!"

Jeonghan sees an opportunity to breach the topic of being together and says, "That sounds like fun! I'd love to go, too. Maybe one day I'll be able to take you."

His eyes shine with hope at the suggestion. "Hyung come too?"

"Hopefully," Jeonghan smiles.

"What about me?" Joshua whines, sorting his puzzle pieces with a betrayed little huff.

"Of course you would come too," Jeonghan placates him. "I would do anything for the both of you."

"Anything?" Seokmin echoes in disbelief.

Joshua doesn't buy it. "You can't do anything— that's silly. I bet you wouldn't, like, get eaten by a shark or, uhm, get in a fight with a bear for us."

"I don't know. Maybe I would."

It seems to get Joshua thinking. Seokmin rolls back onto his stomach to continue the puzzle, but Joshua just fiddles with the pieces, distracted by his own thoughts.

He's lost in them for so long that Seokmin swipes one of the pieces from the older's hand in order to add it to his growing collection. It's then Joshua reacts with an annoyed, "Hey!"

The two are distracted for a moment before they settle down again. After another few minutes, Joshua looks up from the puzzle at Jeonghan.

There's clarity in his eyes that there wasn't before. He's serious when he asks Jeonghan in the most precious voice he's ever heard, "Jeonghan-hyung, would you really take care of us? Like, really take care of us?"

The older feels emotional all of a sudden, the weight of Joshua's question hitting him all at once.

They could be his and he could be theirs to love and take care of. They could help each other in unimaginable ways.

"I would," he says. "I would do everything I could to take care of you."

They keep working on the puzzle, but there's a smile on Joshua's face that there wasn't before.

They meet again when both Joshua and Seokmin are not regressed in a separate play room with Seungkwan sitting between them.

The littles ask Jeonghan a lot of questions about his job (a lot of boring work from home) and where he lives (an apartment too big for just himself) and what he likes to do (assembling brick toys and beating Seungcheol at badminton).

In turn, he asks them how long they regress (a week, two at most) and anything important he should know (Seokmin cries easily and Joshua likes making bracelets).

"I haven't been able to make any lately," Joshua admits.

"Too many of the kids would try to eat the beads," Seungkwan explains.

Jeonghan smiles. "I'm sure we can fix that." He makes a mental note to remember to buy Joshua as many beads as he wants.

Finally, they decide on week to test things out. Seungkwan forces them to fill out paperwork and reminds them that— technically— Magnolia is setting everything up and will conduct welfare checks to see how they do together. Seokmin promises Seungkwan he'll be the first to know if something goes wrong.

"Nothing will, though!" he adds. "I have a good feeling about this."