Little Ba Reum AU - The roads not taken

Chapter 30

Ba Reum froze at the question of the man, suddenly realizing once again that it had been something incredibly stupid to say.

Of course, he shouldn't have called the man's son mama. Now Hyuk was going to deny it all, and he would need to scramble for an excuse why he said that.

"It's me," Hyuk said, a small flush on his cheeks. Ba Reum turned to him and stared open-mouthed at the admission.

"Sorry," Ba Reum said before anyone else could say anything.

"Shh, don't be sorry sweetie," Hyuk said, even while Chang Wook looked confused.

"He calls you mama?" the man asked, and Ba Reum turned his wide-eyed stare at him giving a gasp when Hyuk bounced him a little and patted his behind.

"Yes, he does. It's my parental name," Hyuk said, not thinking that his dad would really have a problem with it, but of course, he never had been able to ask before. So far, his dad had always been very open-minded about everything.

"And this is your first weekend together? And you already got a parental name," the man said, a big smile on his face, "I knew you had it in you, son. You are a great caregiver."

"Dad, it's Ba Reum who's great, not me," Hyuk said, a smile on his face, even while Ba Reum looked at them with confusion.

"Uk?" the little asked when he saw the two man look at him, making sure to not use mama. No one seemed angry, but he really didn't understand what had just happened "Ba Reum bad?"

"No, sweetie," Hyuk said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, and patting his back, "good boy. So, going to the park now?"

"Uhm, okay?" Ba Reum asked, for some reason not really on board with it, but not knowing how he could say no, or if he wanted to say no at all.

"That's great. The sun is shining, and I know an excellent restaurant near the park," Chang Wook said with a grin, "my treat."

"That sounds good," Hyuk said, with a grin, before looking at Ba Reum with a smile, "I think I perhaps take a diaper bag with me, just in case. Can I put you down while I go make it?"

"Okay," Ba Reum said, even while he frowned when Hyuk put him down on the floor in the kitchen in front of his dad.

"I'll be right back. Dad, you keep an eye out, he's quite young in his headspace," Hyuk said, and Chang Wook easily nodded.

"I guessed as much," the man said, knowing how his son fell on the caregiver scale. The short observation of the little, and the fact that his son said something about a diaper bag revealed all too well how young the little was.

Ba Reum stood nervously looking at the man, who smiled at him while he heard his mama going up the stairs.

Looking worriedly at the door, it seemed so long his mama was gone, even if it had only been a minute.

"So, you two found each other again?" Chang Wook asked, making Ba Reum look at him again.

"Mama found Ba Reum," the little said shyly, looking nervously at the ground and fiddling with his fingers. He normally would be fiddling with the hem of his shirt, but it was nicely tucked into his overall, leaving his hands with nothing to do.

"Did he now?" Chang Wook said, still looking happy, "and do you like him? Do you like your mama?"

"Yes. Mama nice," Ba Reum said, looking up slightly before looking down again, "mama big."

"He is," Chang Wook easily agreed, hearing the sounds of his son coming back down from the stairs and soon he entered the kitchen, a backpack in his hand.