That's right. The hyungs are going to take good care of their maknae.
"So..." Hobeom looked around as he surveyed the boys. "Supposedly Jungkookie is a baby now, do any of you know how to handle him?"
The boys looked at each other before bringing their attention to their managers and shook their heads.
Examining the makeshift diaper on the baby, Hobeom could not deny the fact that he was impressed with the boys' creativity. "Nice job there on the diaper. But, moving forward, how are you boys going to cope? It ain't easy trying to handle a baby, you know?"
"Hobeom is right. You guys are barely adults yourself. How do we trust you guys to take care of Jungkookie? I think it is best if we let the bosses know and let them decide how to manage this situation."
"Sejin-hyung! Please, don't tell Bang PD-nim! He will take Jungkookie away from us. We are the only trusted hyungs that he has!" Taehyung pleaded out of desperation after hearing what his manager had said.
However, Sejin shook his head. "There is no way I am not going to tell the bosses about this. Furthermore, how are you guys expecting us to trust you bunch of kids to take care of Jungkookie when we still have to drag you guys out of bed every single time, monitor your diet to make sure that you guys don't eat junk food, if not force you guys to sleep early? You guys can barely take care of yourself!"
The members were slightly panicking now and as Namjoon tried to compose himself to organise his thoughts before speaking up, Jin was a step ahead of him.
"Hyung. Yes, you may have doubts on us in taking care of ourselves, but I think there is one thing that you can be rest assured of. We love Jungkookie as our own little brother and we will never let any mishap falls upon him. We will take real good care of him. Please, you have to trust us on this."
The members chorused what Jin had said, while nodding their heads earnestly with tints of determination edged in their eyes.
Looking at how the boys give their own promise of assurances and emphasised their capability in taking care of their maknae, Sejin relented. "Alright, fine. We will not tell the bosses. But, you guys will be under close monitoring by us. We will be checking on you guys regularly, just to make sure you guys have not killed Jungkookie yet."
The members' thunderous cheers were suddenly interrupted by a shush from Yoongi. "Yah! Lower down your voice volume!"
The boys did not understand until they shifted their attention to the whimpering baby in the eldest rapper's arms. Baby Jungkook had his eyes shut tightly, nose scrunched up, grabby hands hovering over his ears and his pacifier was evidently bobbing up and down rapidly. The poor baby must have been terrified by the sudden loud cheers from his hyungs.
"It's okay, baby. Hyungs are just excited and relieved to be able to keep you with us. We will take good care of you, okay? I promise." Yoongi spoke softly as he coaxed the baby to remove his hands from his ears. There was a fond look on his face, a rare sight that the members had never seen before.
That's right. The hyungs are going to take good care of their maknae.
*******
On the next morning, all the boys were awakened by the early visit from their manager. Slowly, they emerged from their rooms with their heads sporting a bird-nest hairstyle, eyes barely opened and walking like zombies. Hobeom shook his head at the sight of the boys but proceeded to usher them into the recreational lounge.
The manager had turned up excitedly with bags full of supplies for the baby as requested by the boys. They were essentially milk powder, milk bottle, adult diapers, diaper cream, baby wipes and changing pad, since the other things that Jungkook used when he was Little could still be used. Hobeom also brought along piles of parenting books, insisting that it was critical for the boys to gain some basic knowledge about raising a baby.
Hobeom stroke his chin thoughtfully, "Now, where is the baby? We have classes to attend."
"Huh, classes?"
"Yeap, Parenting Class 101."
Lesson One – Changing of diapers
"I trust that you guys know how to bathe him already so let's focus on changing the baby's diaper. You guys said that Jungkookie was a Little before, has he not used diapers before?"
Right now, all of them were gathered in Jin's room, crowding around baby Jungkook. His eyelids were still drooped with sleepiness but had been fidgeting in Yoongi's arms incessantly. The makeshift diaper appeared to be heavily loaded since the baby did not have any change from the previous night.
"Uh... He was usually between 3 and 6, so there was no need for it." Jin answered matter-of-factly.
"Okay, looks like he definitely need it now." Hobeom eyed towards the baby.
Just as baby Jungkook started squirming around in Yoongi's arms and getting increasingly restless, Jin and Taehyung worked together quickly to spread out the changing pad on the eldest hyung's bed. Once the baby was placed down, Jungkook tried turning onto his tummy and attempted to crawl away.
"Yah, yah, yah. Where do you think you are going?" Jin made a beeline for baby Jungkook to grab him by the hips to pull him back closer. The maknae's jingling giggles filled the room as Yoongi assisted in turning the baby onto his back to face them again.
"Aish, this baby. Yoongi-ah, distract him." Hobeom urged.
"Oh, okay." When Yoongi was inching towards the baby, an unexpected strange force pulled him forward. "Ow, ow, ow!" The eldest rapper hissed in pain, while baby Jungkook grabbed hold of the dangling earrings on Yoongi's ear and stared at it enchantedly.
Wanting to free his hyung from his agony, Taehyung quickly diverted Jungkook's attention to his favourite bunny stuffie. The youngest hyung began swaying the stuffie around in the air with his hand as he made funny noises, seemingly trying to make the baby believe that his stuffie had come to life and was playing with him. Baby Jungkook was obviously convinced and kept making gargling sounds behind his pacifier, all while trying to grab hold of his stuffie.
Taking this as an opportunity, Jin, Yoongi and Namjoon started to learn the ropes of changing the diapers from their manager. Hoseok and Jimin only stood one side as they were still not accustomed to the sight of their hyungs touching the naked body of their maknae.
Lesson Two – Preparing milk for the baby
"What kind of food do you guys usually feed Jungkookie when he is Little?"
"Well, I usually make his favourite pancakes for his breakfast, meatball spaghetti for his lunch, chicken nuggets for his snacks and salmon baked rice for his dinner. He doesn't eat much though. His appetite was really just like a toddler."
Taking in the information that the eldest member had said, Hobeom clarified, "Well, these foods are a no-no for him now. It is clear that his digestive system has regressed to the same level as his mental age now, so there is no way he will be able to consume solid food. Formula milk is the answer for him."
Later...
"Yah, Namjoon-ah! What are you doing?" Hobeom exclaimed in disbelief when he saw what the leader had done to the bottle of milk, or whatever creation he had in his hand. "I know you have been obsessed with Milo Dinosaur (A/N: Refer to end notes) ever since we went to Singapore, but you shouldn't replicate it in this situation. I asked you to prepare a bottle of milk for Jungkookie, not Milk Dinosaur! The milk powder is almost the same ratio as the water!" Hobeom could not help but face palmed himself.
Hoseok, whom had been observing from one side, shoved the leader out of the way and poured away the content in the milk bottle into the waste bin, while he beckoned his manager towards him. "Hyung, teach me instead. I believe you should be able to trust me more."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Namjoon protested with a slight hint of annoyance on his face.
"It means, for the benefit of everyone, you should not be handling any food or beverage meant for Jungkookie, lest you want to poison him." Jimin commented with a cocky smirk on his face.
And so, the two roommates were entrusted with the responsibility to oversee the food preparation for the baby, leaving their leader pouting and leaving the kitchen in a huff.
Lesson Three – Feeding and burping the baby
"I assume that you guys allow Jungkookie to feed himself when he was Little?"
"Haha, he rarely has to use his hands. With those puppy eyes of his, everyone was always fighting to feed him!" Taehyung smiled brightly as he strokes the baby's chin. "Isn't that right, baby?"
"Obviously he can't do that now. Now, bear in mind that babies need multiple feedings a day, typically about one feeding every two to three hours. So, you guys have to keep watch of the timing."
"But, how would we know if he was hungry and ready for the next feeding?"
"Look for early signs of readiness to feed or hunger, such as moving the hands to the mouth, sucking on fists and fingers, and lip smacking. Fussing and crying are later cues."
After a while...
"Now, when babies drink from a bottle, they inevitably swallow some air, which goes down into their stomach along with the milk. This result in the gas being trapped in the gastrointestinal system and needs to be released. Since babies do not have the ability to dissolve this, burping can help them to get rid of that gas."
Hobeom walked over and guided Yoongi to shift the baby to straddle on his lap, chest-to-chest with the chin resting on his shoulder. Next, Yoongi's right hand was placed at the baby's lower back while his other hand was positioned at the baby's nape to support the head and neck. "Now, pat Jungkookie on the back gently. Oh yeah, keep a burp cloth over your shoulder in case he spits up."
Unbeknownst to the rapper, Jin had been secretly recording the scene with a snicker. Oh, what a great blackmail material indeed.
*******
With tips from Hobeom, the boys picked up the skills easily and was getting used to taking care of the baby.
"Can't believe we are becoming experts in taking care of babies now. Imagine if we appeared on Return of Superman. That's gonna be so hilarious. Hahahaha!"
Jimin scoffed at his same-age friend, "Hah, trust you to laugh at this kind of situation. This is just the first day so don't be too full of yourself. Furthermore, have you not thought of the repercussion of the world getting to know that we have a Baby and a Little in our group?" Jimin pointed to himself as he concluded his sentence.
Oh right. Their hands would definitely be full.
End notes:
*Milo Dinosaur is a beverage, composed of a cup of iced Milo (a chocolate malt beverage) with undissolved Milo powder added on top of it.