Little Ba Reum AU - The roads not taken

Chapter 22

Ba Reum loved being held by Hyuk. The strong arms of the tall caregiver made him feel safe, and it was with some regret that they reached the bottom of the stairs and the man put him down.

Hyuk did immediately take his hand though, so that made it okay. Ba Reum concentrated on following the man until they reached the kitchen.

"Here, why don't you go sit and perhaps you could play with blankie while I fix us some lunch?" Hyuk asked, pulling back the chair and letting Ba Reum sit on them.

"Blankie?" Ba Reum asked, suddenly eager when he remembered the pink blankie with all those fun fiddly stuff on there. Hyuk smiled at the enthusiastic face and quickly went to get the package.

"Let's open it up completely," Hyuk said, putting it on the table. He turned towards his drawers to take a pair of scissors and before he had found them he heard the tell-tale crinkle of a little who couldn't wait.

Sure enough, when he had turned around, he saw that Ba Reum had taken the package already and was looking at it with fascination, two fingers busy rubbing what seemed to be a butterfly wing and a small smile on his face.

"Here let me free the rest," Hyuk said, cutting through the tape that was holding the package close before unfolding it.

"Ooh, pretty," Ba Reum gasped, looking at the square blanket, each side 1 m wide. It was covered with flowers and bees and butterflies, and it was absolutely the best thing he had ever seen.

"It is. You think you can keep busy while da... I cook?" Hyuk said, wondering if he should start calling himself daddy, or wait until Ba Reum did it from himself. It would be nice to hear the little call him daddy, but he didn't want to force it either.

"Can!" Ba Reum exclaimed, looking at Hyuk with a grin. With his blankie, it would be no problem at all to keep busy, just like mommy...Hyuk asked.

"That's a good boy," Hyuk said, ruffling Ba Reum's hair before going to the stove, glad that he had a smaller table in the kitchen next to his big dining table if he would ever consider entertaining more than Tae Il and Hye In.

He started to cut up some veggies, keeping an eye on Ba Reum was indeed keeping busy with the pink blankie, discovering each sort of crinkle it had, each little bell that was hidden, each sort of fabric or ribbed plastic that was used to create different sensations.

It was adorable to see the look of concentration on that face while he meticulously went through everything on the blankie. Ba Reum looked up, and froze when he saw Hyuk looking at him, the smile dropping from his face and he looked hesitant at the big man, hoping that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"What do you have there, sweetie," Hyuk said, making Ba Reum look at what his hand was holding.

"Bee," Ba Reum said shyly, "it's noisy bee."

"Noisy?" Hyuk asked, and Ba Reum nodded, crinkling its wings, and looking at Hyuk to make sure the man wasn't going to be angry at him for making noise.

"That's not very noisy," Hyuk assured Ba Reum, "you're playing very well."

Ba Reum looked a little surprised, but a smile came on his face, glad that the caregiver didn't mind him making noises. Hyuk turned back to the food and was glad to hear the little playing further. It was a little sad that Ba Reum took most attention as negative.

He tried to not look at Ba Reum too much, scared that the little would think he wasn't being good and in the middle of cooking he heard a thud come from the table, almost simultaneously with an outcry of pain from Ba Reum.

Ba Reum had been very immersed in his play. Seeing that Hyuk hadn't mind him making noises, he still tried not to be too noisy, but made sure that everything from his blankie got a little bit of his attention.