Let Me Love You - Yoonmin

chapter 23

Jiyoon was five months old. Chubby cheeks, chubby legs, bubbly personality, shiny eyes and gummy smile.

Bath time was always the worst part of the day, but necessary.

Jimin sighed tiredly, looking for the tiny hairbrush in Jiyoon's bag. Jiyoon always cried so much during bathtime, Jimin didn't know why - was he doing something wrong?

He had quickly discovered that parenthood was all about thinking: am I doing it wrong?!

Jimin finally found the small yellow hairbrush and ran down the stairs of his house. They had given Jiyoon a bath in the bathroom downstairs.

When he got to the living room, slightly out of breath and eyes quickly scanning the big, wide minimalistic-slash-scandinavian room, he found them, and released a big breath when Jiyoon just stared back at "dada" with big brown eyes, calmly leaning over Taehyung's shoulder. His friend had a day off, and came to Jimin's house to help him for the day.

Jiyoon's relatively long black hair was all over the place, and it would be funny and cute if Jimin weren't so stressed.

Taehyung was literally playing Call of Duty, standing in the middle of his living room balancing the toddler and the xbox controller in his arms like he did that every day. Jiyoon was still with a bathrobe rolled around its tiny chubby body, and already wearing clean diapers.

Jiyoon was oddly calm, holding onto the material of Taehyung's brown t-shirt, while the room was filled with fake gun-shot sounds.

"Taehyung." Jimin deadpanned, trying to be calm and not freak out like he wanted to. Jiyoon smiled happily at Jimin's face when he kept standing so close, and squealed, trying to make him play along. Jimin sighed and put on an honest smile on his face. Jiyoon was everything in his life, such a tiny pretty little thing...

Jimin raised his hand with the tiny hairbrush and started delicately combing the baby's wet dark hair. It wasn't equally grown enough, and Jimin had never cut it, so it was kind of naturally all over the place.

"Where was it?" Taehyung's deep, velvet-y voice brought Jimin back, and he watched Jiyoon snap its chubby head in their "uncle"s direction, squealing again when Taehyung swiftly paused the game, tossed the controller to the sofa near them and got the baby in both his hands.

"In the bag, obviously." Jimin sighed tiredly, but watched with an eased heart as Jiyoon cracked an over-excited gummy smile when Taehyung swayed their bubbly being around in his arms.

"Wait, I'm not finished." Jimin mumbled and Taehyung stopped moving the baby around, letting Jimin have access to the head of hair he was trying to brush.

But Jiyoon, apparently, didn't like the end of the playful swirls Taehyung was giving, because a tiny pout formed in their tiny lips, and Taehyung and Jimin immediately panicked.

"No! Jiyoonnie, not again-" Jimin tried with a forced smile, but the baby was crying again anyways,

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!" little Jiyoon cried and pouted, while Taehyung frantically hugged its tiny body and tried to shush the chubby baby.

"Jiyoon... we were doing so fine..." Jimin whined, feeling like crying himself.

The baby kept crying and complaining while Jimin and Taehyung laid Jiyoon on the sofa and dressed them with a cute overall onesie, green with white hearts all over it. Jimin started singing frantic lullabies to the little one and cradled its flailing body in his arms, crossing the room in big strides.

Jimin got to the kitchen and Taehyung was already there, getting an already prepared formula milk from the fridge and putting it in the microwave. Jiyoon was still crying, loudly, as if it was complaining about something Jimin and Taehyung couldn't fix.

Jimin put one of his hands on the back of Jiyoon's head, caressing their hair that was already all messed up again, and tried to shush his chubby baby.

Jiyoon was a good kid, honestly. A quiet, bubbly baby. But still had some frustrating days and moments. Jimin leaned against the counter and watched the seconds go by in the microwave's clock expectantly, Jiyoon still crying a dry complaint in his ear.

Taehyung handed the nursing bottle to Jimin and he immediately shifted Jiyoon in his arms, making the baby more comfortable and bringing the bottle to its tiny lips. Jiyoon's eyes went wide and started sucking in the milk, concentrated, their hunger now satisfied.

Both Jimin and Taehyung sighed in relief when the house fell silent again.

Taehyung went back to his game in the living room.

Jiyoon kept staring at Jimin's face as it drank the warm milk, as if the milk was coming from Jimin himself.

Jimin smiled through his tiredness.

He would do anything for his little baby.