Little Ba Reum AU - The roads not taken

Chapter 12

Hyuk looked at Ba Reum, who was snuggled nicely against him, tucked underneath his arm and the cheek pressed against his chest. The eyes had fallen close just a few minutes ago, halfway through the movie and Hyuk couldn't help but feel content.

The little clearly trusted him enough to fall asleep like that, the thumb tucked in his mouth and his breaths nice and even. It made him wonder if Ba Reum normally took a nap somewhere in the day, or if it was just a coincidence now.

Putting the noise of the television a little lower, he settled a bit better in the couch, so that Ba Reum laid a little comfier. It was nice staying like that, and Hyuk wouldn't have minded to stay put for quite a while longer but a sudden buzz in his pocket startled him.

And it didn't startle just him. Ba Reum shut up, looking wide-eyed and then promptly started to cry, clearly confused.

He had been lying so extremely comfortable and warm against Hyuk and he hated being startled from the comfy nest.

"Shh, it's okay, all okay," Hyuk said, stroking Ba Reum's side until the little woke up a little more, sniffling a little while he tried to calm himself a bit more, his thumb by now in his mouth while he looked tearfully at Hyuk, barely understanding why he was crying.

"Am 'kay," Ba Reum said, wiping his nose, now awake enough to realise that he should not cry like that. Hyuk probably wouldn't like having a cry-baby near him.

"That's good," Hyuk said, taking a tissue and wiping Ba Reum's tears away, holding it up to his nose until he blew, "you know, I'm getting a bit tired from watching the movie. Do you want to do something else?"

"Uhm, like what?" Ba Reum asked, his eyes staring at Hyuk making the big caregiver smile at him.

"How about.... we bake some cookies?" Hyuk asked, and he saw the eyes widen in wonder.

"Like the mommy in the movie?" Ba Reum asked almost breathlessly, "mommies in movies always bake cookies,"

"Yes, mommies in movies often do that," Hyuk said, nodding with a smile, "You want to bake cookies with me?"

"Can we?" Ba Reum asked, almost not believing that someone would like to bake cookies with him. It was a special activity, something he had seen his younger siblings do with his mother, but one he had always been excluded at.

And every time he saw it happen in a series or in a movie, he had felt some low-key jealousy and longing, having wanted to have a mommy who would do that with him.

"Of course we can," Hyuk said, getting up from the seat and pulling Ba Reum up, "let's go to the kitchen,"

"Okay," Ba Reum said, enthusiastically running towards the room, Hyuk following the little with a chuckle, the sight of the diaper just peeking out underneath the long shirt just adorable.

With Ba Reum already gone, Hyuk quickly fished the watch out of his pocket, and checked out the alarm, frowning when he saw the rhythm.

"Must have pressed a button," Hyuk muttered, putting it off, thinking he had done something wrong with it. He put it back in his pocket and joined Ba Reum in the kitchen, the little eagerly standing at the table.

The little shuffled his feet a little, realising that it might not have been so polite to run into the kitchen like that, but Hyuk was still smiling at him, so he breathed a sigh in relief.

"Let's see, how about we bake some chocolate chip cookies," Hyuk said, taking out a recipe book and flipping it to the right page, "I think I should have all the ingredients,"

"Looks yummy," Ba Reum said, looking at the picture.

"I'm sure they will be," Hyuk said, going to the cupboards and taking out the ingredients, "here, can you put this on the table?"