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?"
"I can," Ba Reum said, taking the packages that Hyuk gave him and putting them on the table one by one, until everything was neatly standing side by side.
"Let's see, let's measure out the flour," Hyuk said, reading the recipe, "can you spoon it in the bow?"
"Okay," Ba Reum said, opening the bag and clumsily taking a spoonful, being mindful to do it with his right hand. Before he reached the bowl, part of it fell on the table, and Ba Reum's eyes widened.
"Is something wrong?" Hyuk asked, seeing Ba Reum all stiffened up. The little turned towards him and dropped the spoon in the bowl, before ducking underneath the table.
"Sorry, really sorry," Ba Reum muttered, shaking in fright, "can clean it, honestly, can clean it,"
"Hey, sweetheart, come out here," Hyuk said, crouching in front of the table, and seeing the scared little under there, "what went wrong? Can you tell Hyuk?"
"Made a mess, sorry. I try better, promise," Ba Reum said, trying to hold back the tears and barely succeeding. He had screwed up. There would not be baking cookies for him anymore. At best, he would be allowed to watch Hyuk make the cookies, and clean everything after.
"No, you didn't make a mess at all. It's just a little flour," Hyuk said, leaning forward and holding out his hand to Ba Reum, "we'll clean up afterwards anyway, so why don't you come and help me out?"
"Ba Reum can still help? Really?" the little asked, surprise clear in his tone, and even though Hyuk nodded with a smile, he felt his heart break a little at the realisation.
"Of course you can," the man asked, mentally wondering who had hurt the little so bad that he acts like this and picturing the way he wanted to hurt that person.
Still, Hyuk was glad when the smaller hand slipped into his, and he pulled Ba Reum up, letting the little sit next to him.
"Let's see, let's finish with the flour now?" Hyuk said, and together they continued making the dough for the cookies.
Hyuk let Ba Reum stir while he broke the eggs, not thinking it was safe for the small headspace to do it, and Ba Reum seemed to be happy enough to try and mix the firm dough.
"And now, la pièce de résistance: chocolate," Hyuk said, taking out a slab of dark chocolate, not having cooking chocolate in the house, "we need to smash it in little pieces,"
He took out a rolling pin, and left the chocolate in the packaging, rolling over it a few times, pressing down and feeling it crack. Opening the package, it was filled with uneven pieces, and Hyuk fished three bigger pieces out under Ba Reum's watchful gaze.
"Here you go," Hyuk said, making Ba Reum look at the pieces, before he glanced back at Hyuk questioningly, before understanding what the man meant.
With a big smile, Ba Reum took a piece in his hand and put it in the dough.
"Oh, no these are a little too big to put in there," Hyuk said before Ba Reum could put the second one in there, making the little frown at him.
"I make them smaller?" Ba Reum asked, but Hyuk shook his head, taking one of them.
"No, these are to taste. Open up," Hyuk said, holding it to Ba Reum's mouth, who looked taken aback by the suggestion.
"Taste?" Ba Reum said, and Hyuk nodded.
"Yes, of course. Say aaah," the big man said, and Ba Reum hesitantly followed the instruction, not knowing why he was allowed the treat. But the chocolate was delicious, making his taste buds explode with the taste and coating his mouth.
"Mmh," he couldn't help but say, and he didn't' even hesitate to open his mouth when Hyuk held out the second piece, letting it melt in his mouth while Hyuk added all the little pieces of chocolate to their dough.
He watched how the man stirred them under and got out a back tray, using some baking paper before making small circles of the dough.
"Oh," Ba Reum gasped suddenly, feeling his bladder release in the diaper, freezing and sitting still. Hyuk cast him a glance, and Ba Reum tried to relax as good as he could when he realised that there wasn't a puddle forming at all.
Apparently, he succeeded, because Hyuk put the next little ball of dough on the tray. Once Ba Reum was sure the big man was occupied again, he let a hand wander down towards his own crotch. It slipped down under the shirt he was wearing and squeezed the swollen diaper.
It felt heavy under his hands, warm and thick. But he was dry. Lifting up the shirt, he could see that it had grown thicker and discoloured just a little bit. Letting the shirt drop again, he glanced at Hyuk and was glad the man hadn't noticed him looking.
But of course, Hyuk had noticed it, but just had chosen not to say anything. He just filed away the peculiar behaviour of the little, who apparently didn't wear diapers but didn't feel it when he needed to pee until he was busy.
Well, at least the diaper had proved his usefulness. Smiling at Ba Reum, he put the cookies in the oven, putting on a timer. Ba Reum stood in front of it, staring at the cookies backing. The diaper sagged just a little, showing itself a bit clearer peeking out underneath the long shirt.
Now that he was standing, Ba Reum did notice the way it was so thick he couldn't press his legs together anymore, a curious feeling indeed.
"It seems like you'll be here for dinner too. Let's see if we can make something with some vegetables," Hyuk said, opening the fridge, "I got spinach, and carrots and bell peppers, some chicken or beef. You want something special?"
"Is 'kay, already ate," the little said, still feeling uncomfortable about eating and not paying.
"Yeah, I know. Lunch. I'm asking for dinner," Hyuk said, looking at the little, who shrugged and kept his attention fixed on the oven. He was feeling a bit too unsure to give the proper answer and he didn't know what Hyuk wanted as answer either.
"Well, perhaps the chicken would be better, with some carrots and spinach, and we can make a sort of fried rice," Hyuk offered, "how do you like that?"
"Ba Reum okay," the little said, deciding to let the big man interpret this as he wanted, not really having the mental capacity to make an excuse to why he shouldn't be eating.
"Fried rice it is than," Hyuk said, starting to cut up the vegetables while Ba Reum was still looking fascinated at the cookies, before he realised what the man was doing.
"Ba Reum help?" the little asked, going to stand by Hyuk's elbow.
"I can do this by myself, so you can keep an eye on the cookies," Hyuk said, having noticed the little intensely looking at them, "make sure they don't get burned, okay?"
"Can do that," Ba Reum said, standing in front of the oven again, and staring inside intently, wanting to do a good job of the task he was given.
He had been staring so intensely, that he gave a startled shout when the timer went off, even jumping a little.
"They should be done," Hyuk said, getting the baking tray out of the oven an putting the cookies to cool down, "nice, now we have dessert,"
"So many," Ba Reum said, smiling at the golden-brown creations, the chocolate glistening invitingly, and they smelled just divine.
"Yeah, we'll have them after our dinner," Hyuk said, and Ba Reum nodded, standing a little lost in the kitchen while Hyuk cooked.
His task had been looking out for the cookies and making sure they wouldn't burn, but now he was just being useless.
"Here, Ba Reum why don't you stir the dish while I go set the table. Careful though, it's hot," Hyuk said, handing Ba Reum the long stirring spoon, and letting him stand in front of the pot, "just a little further to be safe, yes, perfect,"
Filled with pride to be helping out, Ba Reum stirred the pot, hearing Hyuk set the table, and when he glanced back, he felt happy when he saw the two plates standing, glad that Hyuk had decided that Ba Reum would get to eat as well.
And when he sat at the table, and Hyuk had carefully tested his spoonful to see if it wasn't too warm, Ba Reum put it in his mouth, grinning widely while he chewed the food. He was happy that he had helped making it.
And it was nice that Hyuk smiled at him so much and didn't get mad when he spilled something. Ba Reum hoped the man wouldn't be cross when he discovered he had wetted the diaper, but he could just lie about it when he was asked.
For now, he just ate the food until his stomach was full, and after, Hyuk gave him two cookies. Looking wide-eyed at the man, who winked at him, Ba Reum grabbed it, munching down on them with complete happiness.
This was what he imagined having a mommy would be like. A real mommy, a mommy that loved him.
All encouraging words and smiles and winks and getting cookies he didn't deserve after dinner. Looking shyly away when he nibbled on the second cookie, he felt a tear drop down from his eyes, but wiped it away quickly.
He didn't want Hyuk to think he was sad, because Ba Reum wasn't, not really. He was happy to be here now, even though he realised it would end soon enough.
But for now, he could enjoy it.