LUCIUS

Newborns and pacifiers⁓

"I do know who you are , we've been waiting for you both all our lives".

"We?! Who are "we"? " Namjoon probed with querying eyes. Madame Areum swayed her hands in the air, and the little guy watched every movement with rapt attention. "Show yourself," she spoke in a commanding manner, and all with elegance. The boy, in front of him, saw a gust of golden dust, and suddenly there was a beautiful human standing there in all his entrancing glory. He had a smile that was ever so soft, warm and welcoming. The man looked like he was in his late twenties, which the kid could tell since his father was of the same age. "Hey kiddo! I am your hope... you're my hope... I am Jeeyyy-hope. Actually speaking, that's my wolf's name. I just use it because it's got a nice rhythm with the phrase. Now isn't it the best? " Namjoon didn't get a single word that the guy spoke. He was just blinking at the guy that he stood face-to-face with, now that the mysterious guy crouched down to his height. Madame Areum cleared her throat. "Well, he's a bit of a chatterbox. You'll get used to it eventually." "She meant to say that I'm too good at communicating and making friends," J-hope retorted. There was a disconcerting silence present in the room for about two minutes, although it felt like an hour had passed. "You both know magic.Are ya'll witches? warlocks? " "Well well, you do know a lot about this. Where did you get this knowledge from? "Madam Areum interrogated, ruffling his hair. "Uhm—I read loads of books back at home." Namjoon declared, smiling proudly, forgetting the situation he'd actually been put into for a moment. "That sounds marvelous. You were partially right. J-hope here is a witch, the best I've known since time immemorial." Namjoon stared in awe as J-hope struck his legendary pose. "He's very old, though he looks as if he was born around thirty years ago." "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Will you stop teasing me? " J-hope exclaimed in annoyance. The other two in the room just stood giggling at his sudden outburst.

"Alright, enough with all this play. Let me introduce you to the children of this humble home. Tag along⁓" she sang, as she strode through the hallways and down the stairs to reach the ground floor. All Namjoon could spot was the buckram of her skirt, and he followed it . "Well, I think you would love to take a look at this," J-Hope said as he pointed to the inside of the room as he stood by the doorway. Madam Areum stopped midway, turned around, carried Namjoon and held him by her hip as his little feet could only cover a minimum distance and she was in a rush right now. She walked past the other rooms swiftly and reached the kids' bedroom. The sight in front of her made her feel pure bliss. She stopped herself from cooing outloud, afraid that she might wake her babies from their sleep. She could literally spot their full bellies as they peeked from under the shirts they wore. It made her happy that the children had filled their stomachs to the brim. She put Namjoon down and kneeled beside him. "You see them? They are your hyungs.They'll take good care of you, sweetie. You can rely on them no matter what. " "Why are they here with you? Are they yours? " "Ha! They're not, albeit she wishes they were,"Hoseok voiced out with a sad smile. "You see the one in the centre embracing the other two beside him? He is Seojoon.He is the eldest." Madam Areum spoke as she looked at her eldest son ,the first one to light up this house with warmth, love, and pure joy. The kid on the left threw a leg over his hyung and hugged him sideways while sleeping. Madam Areum giggled and pointed to him, saying, "He is Jin." He's such a darling, an innocent precious baby." "Yeah! That he is. On a personal note,I am indebted to him for wiping away my tears once when I felt lonesome. " Hobi smiled, looking back to that day with an unforgettable memory. "Who is he?" Namjoon pointed in the direction of the toddler, who was curled up and was sleeping on the other side of the bed. "He is Yoongi.He's usually grumpy and quiet, but such a tenderhearted and understanding child. Hoseok stood beside them, scoffing at the words being uttered at that moment. " Granting the fact that I've never seen him behave, ever! He always glares at me as if I stole his precious gem away from him or something. I have no idea why! He's been acting up, narrowing his eyes and scowling at me whenever I am playing kissy-face with—"he stopped in the middle of his rant and looked around in a flurry as if searching for something, and when he spotted the particular site empty, he went pale and face-palmed himself, saying, "Gracious sakes! The dumpling is missing!"At that same instant, the wailing of an infant was distantly heard. All three of them panicked. Madam Areum picked up Namjoon and ran up the stairs while Hoseok followed suit. When they reached the first floor, the cries suddenly stopped. Both Areum and Hoseok shared stunned looks, whilst Namjoon was on the verge of tears, fearful at the thought of his baby brother getting hurt.

The door to the nursery on the second floor was left ajar. The terrified trio snuck a look into the room to find two babies on the bed in the centre of the nursery room. The cradle to the left of the bed was empty, as the bambi-eyed owner of the cradle was lying on his stomach on the bed having a staring contest with the dewy-eyed newcomer. Hoseok was the first to spot yet another one in his nappy standing by the door,watching the scene keenly,sucking onto his pacifier with fascination. "Wha—" he paused when the child beside him raised his index finger in the air, his other hand on his hip, his gaze fixed on the scene in front of him. Hoseok sighed, knowing all too well what the action meant. The baby on the bed was about to start crying again. His lips started to wobble around his paci. The little guy beside him got the signal and spat his paci out. He reached forward and smooched the cheek in front of him. Once again, the baby stopped crying and the staring contest began again from the beginning.

Madam Areum sat by the bed and watched the baby sleep peacefully after getting his share of milk."I'm sorry.I was just occupied with your brother asking all those questions. I forgot the fact that you were supposed to be fed at 3," she apologized caressing the baby's head. She thought back to the scuffle that happened half an hour ago and giggled, someone was totally being whimsical today. It was quite odd since baby Kook refused to get off from the bed to return to his cradle. He threw a big tantrum and fell asleep soon after from exhaustion. Madam Areum picked him up from the bed and placed him inside the cradle, switched the night lights on and she also left the door open halfway just in case. 

Hoseok was sitting on the couch with Jimin nestled in his lap while Namjoon stood by the arm of the couch, watching. The baby babbled on about the incident that happened before they reached the nursery. Namjoon was confused as Hoseok nodded along whereas he understood nothing."Okay. I got it dumpling you can now go and play,yeah?Hyung will join you in a moment," he said as he patted Jimin's bum. The thing which went unnoticed were the angry and narrowed eye slits which stood at a distance glaring at the man. Jimin jumped off his lap and crawled off to his destination with his pacifier held between his plump lips. "It seems that Jungkook climbed down his cradle and went up the bed to lie next to Tae when he began crying and kissed his cheek, suprisingly Tae stopped sobbing after that and that's when we reached the room."Namjoon stood there blinking at him, asking, "Did you understand him? just like that? how come?" He sought an answer."Haha!There's actually something cute Jimin does when he explains about something, he envisions the whole thing in his mind and I just read that and nodded along,"Hoseok explained with a shrug of his shoulders."So you read minds??Wooww!"Joon looked at him in awe. The important question that Joon had forgotten to ask was the reason for them waiting for his baby brother and him. Madam Areum was glad he forgot about that due to all the commossion which had taken place, she just thought it was too soon for him to know. Meanwhile, Hoseok thought about the interaction between the two infants on the nursery bed. His eyes widened when a particular thought crossed his mind,

"What the!Are they?My oh my oh my,we're doomed!"

If you've come so far I want to thank you for giving my book a chance,

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!🙇🏽‍♀️

Don't forget to appreciate yourself for the little things you do every day!

Saranghe! I purple you!