Chin-hwa woke up about an hour after they arrived at their family house. He woke up to a familiar ceiling and a familiar bed, which was filled with colorful animal plushies, as well as different sizes of cushions.
Slowly, he sat up, took a glance around and mumbled,
"Well, I guess they got me here just fine." But he was rather surprised that he did not see anyone after waking up.
If this was before, he was sure his Hyung and Noona would be by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up.
"I feel hot." Chin-hwa muttered as he got up from his bed. He decided to take a quick shower while there was still peace, changed into some comfortable clothes, and then walked out.
He could hear distant chatter as he approached the living room and there was laughter as well.
'They must all be in the living room.' He thought and then he got there, but what he saw made him pause in his steps. 'Isn't that...?'
Among his siblings, his mother, and both of his fathers was Yun-Tae, who looked like he was telling them a story. He was telling them about Chin-hwa in college and because it was about Chin-hwa, they were more than glad to sit around and listen.
"And then, one time, at the school festival, he..." Yun-Tae paused, noticing Chin-hwa.
Deok-Ryu sniffed the air, getting a whiff of Chin-hwa, and turned around right away, his face lighting up as he found Chin-hwa at the entrance of the living room.
"Oh my, Hwa," He dove in to hug his cute younger brother but Si-woo found a way to beat him to the punch, hijacking Chin-hwa and lifting him to be on top of the world.
"You finally woke up, my munchkin." She snuggled her face on Chin-hwa's.
"Ah, yes. I... I woke up." Chin-hwa said, not finding their actions displeasing in the slightest but his mind wasn't completely there either.
"Hey, no fair." Deok-Ryu declared but Si-woo had already taken hold of Chin-hwa, so he'd have to do a lot more than grumble if he wanted him back.
But while both of them were fighting over Chin-hwa, they failed to recall that their parents were in the same room with them. AKA, Chin-hwa's most loyal and biggest fans.
"Hwa," One of Chin-hwa's fathers called. It was Woo-bin. He stood behind the two of them and stretched his arms to invite his child into his arms.
Si-woo wanted to put up a fight and contend with his father but he had to let go, seeing Chin-hwa wanted to hug their father.
"Daddy," Chin-hwa called, walking towards him and then he hugged him.
"Oh, my little Hwa," Woo-bin seemed normal for a second there, but as soon as he had Chin-Hwa in his arms, he lifted him, twirling and happily declaring, "My baby is so big right now, but I can still lift him, no sweat. Hah, he grows up so fast." He placed him down, hugged him one more time and then let go. "Let me take a good look at you."
He suddenly started examining all around Chin-hwa, checking his height and even lifting his arms to see if they got lighter.
"You grew by half a centimeter since the last time I saw you. Hm, your cheeks seem to have gotten a little less chubby, and your arms too." Woo-bin said, based on his observations, and then he broke into a pathetic display of tears. "Oh, my little Hwa, you've lost weight." He wailed, hugging Hwa and Chin-hwa declared this the finish line for his father.
"Now, now," he heard his mother's voice, Hae-won, and looked up. "Let's not cry so soon. For all we know," he chuckled. "It could be just his baby fat he lost." As soon as he said that, they all laughed.
"Baby fat? But I'm already 21, I don't think I have any baby fat left." Chin-hwa grumbled, but they would not hear of it.
"Oh, come on." Hae-won clicked her tongue. "You're always so adorably chubby in your cheek that I wondered if you were yet to lose your baby fat, and it seems I might've been correct."
"Not possible." Chin-hwa declared, titling his head away. "Dad, help me out here." He said, glancing at his second father, Baek-Hyun. "I don't have any baby fat left, right? Tell them."
Baek-Hyun smiled and said,
"Well," now he was in a bind. If he agreed with him and said he didn't have any baby fat left, Hae-won would ask if he was declaring him a liar in front of their children, and then things wouldn't go well at all.
He wanted to side with Chin-hwa, he really did, but he was in a pinch, as always.
"Even if he says so," Woo-bin said, "It wouldn't make it the truth. After all, it would be two to one, haha." He eyed Baek-Hyun who let out a sigh of relief.
He scaled out through this one this time.
Chin-hwa pouted his lips, dissatisfied.
How come the first thing they tell him after returning home after a while is this?
They still saw him as a baby, yeah, but how could he still have baby fat at 21?
They were teasing him again, weren't they?
"Awn, is my baby sulking?" Hae-won asked, pressing Chin-hwa into a tight hug.
They were both about the same height while the people around them were taller. Yeah, they were all Alpha's so their height was understandable.
The only Omegas in the room were Hae-won, Chin-hwa, and... Let's not forget Yun-Tae.
Chin-hwa went to sit next to Baek-Hyun and got his head pat, as usual.
"I missed you, Hwa." Baek-Hyun said and Chin-hwa nodded, going ahead to hug him, placing his head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I missed you too."
They all watched from the side, internally dying in butter jealousy. It could be said that Baek-Hyun was the closest person to Chin-hwa, and they would even joke around with it that if Kang-woo ended up screwing his chances, Chin-hwa just might propose to their father in the heat of the moment.
It was just a harmless joke they made within their family, while Chin-hwa was not around, of course.
It was simply because Chin-hwa always acted so doting and different with his father.
Maybe it was because Baek-Hyun was unable to express his words and excitement thoroughly like the rest of them did, but he made sure to shower his son with so much love as well as understanding, giving him his ear when he had a problem and trying his best to think of a solution for him.
Chin-hwa could say Daddy Baek-Hyun was the most reasonable Alpha in their household, so he trusted him with his secrets.
But Chin-hwa stopped sharing his secrets when his understanding daddy denied him the one thing he truly wanted without giving him a reason.