clothed
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Yunho's not sure what's happened, but it's happened anyway. It's the morning after his birthday, and just when he's so sure he loves Changmin more than anyone else, anything, and he's just about to crawl into Changmin's bed at 7am and tell him so and kiss him till they're both breathless, he finds himself standing at the doorway of Changmin's room, his jaw unhinged from gaping.
Somehow Yunho just knows it's Changmin, from the way he hugs himself and cries quietly. Instead of the lanky kid he's watched grow up, it's a small bundle of cute. A mini Changmin. All thoughts of love declarations and hot making out dissipate immediately, replaced by a rather apparent maternal instinct he never knew he had.
He gathers Changmin to sit in his lap, startling at how small Changmin feels in his arms. Yunho tries not to flinch as the boy encircles skinny arms around his torso, clinging on desperately, crying into Yunho's t-shirt. Yunho cradles Changmin protectively, gently whispering for Changmin to stop crying and tell him what's wrong.
After much hiccuping and a glass of water and more shuddery breaths, Yunho has Changmin seated at the kitchen table chomping down on the fastest peanut butter sandwich he could make in ten seconds, and he's just about to burst out crying, because Changmin is adorable as a kid, and his grown-up Dong Bang baby Changmin is well, gone.
Changmin's smart as hell too, for a five-year-old.
Yunho's just about done concluding that Changmin's conveniently turned back into a five-year-old thirteen days before his twenty-first birthday and has no idea whether things will ever be the same again when a half-asleep Jaejoong get startled awake by the sight before him, and ends up in the bottom of a pile when Junsu and Yoochun come stumbling down the hallway only to get shocked into falling all over each other.
It's quite a laugh, really, when little Changmin shoots Yunho a quizzical look and all Yunho can do is shrug and pretend nothing's wrong.
Junsu gets rapped on the head more than once by Jaejoong for moaning about missing his football game repeat over Changmin's cartoons. Yunho tries to explain things as best as he can, conveniently failing to mention what he was doing awake at 7am on their rest day. The eldest then decides to interrogate the five-year-old, who (much to Yunho's delight and pain) had decided that I like Yunho-hyung best and settles for being entertained with piggyback rides on Yunho's back.
Junsu gets another rap on the head for saying it was probably something Jaejoong-hyung cooked that made him like this, Yoochun concludes brilliantly that he has no idea what's going on, and Jaejoong's just glad that Changmin can remember all his hyungs, that he is still a member of Dong Bang Shin Ki, and everything else except how he is suddenly a child again.
'So basically, we're stuck with an almost-twenty-one Changmin with a kid's body and personality,' Yunho says.
Yunho tries his best not to wince when he gets an earful from the manager after he says Changmin had to rush off home and he left his kid cousin who also happens to be called Changmin for us to babysit but don't worry, he'll be back pretty soon. Not sure when but pretty soon and all he can hope is that he's right about Changmin being back to normal soon.
With an indefinite hiatus until Changmin "gets back", the hyungs find all ways and means to keep the little ball of hyperactivity entertained. Jaejoong, much to his disappointment, has to reduce the amount of spice he uses in his cooking greatly because of Changmin. Yoochun no longer has an adult Changmin to poke fun at without the little boy bursting into tears and running into Yunho's arms, for which he receives a death glare from Yunho.
Junsu decides that if he had unlimited energy, he has the most fun with the maknae. Kicking a football around, playing video games and mostly losing. Only, he would be a lot happier if Changmin wasn't always winning at video games and calling him 'Duckbutt' in a way that is most adorable and yet most annoying, he would definitely love Changmin a lot more.
Yunho, on the other hand, can't decide if he should laugh or cry.
Especially when Changmin is exceptionally clingy to him when he's tired of 'always winning Junsu-hyung at video games', and just doesn't want to hang out with Yoochun and Jaejoong because they're scary.
And when Changmin decides to crawl into his bed in the middle of the night, steal his stuffed Bambi from his arms with a little pout, and snuggle a little closer under the covers.
Yunho just wants to die, but not before patting himself on the back that he's managed to contain himself thus far.
A week in, and nothing changes. Changmin is still five years old, still a little more hyperactive than they would ilke, and it just about does Jaejoong's, Yoochun's and Junsu's head in that they decide to leave Changmin in Yunho's care for an impromptu shopping trip. That, coincidentally, lasts the whole day. Yunho rewards himself with a playful kiss on Changmin's cheek - that has Changmin screaming at how gross Yunho's being - for managing to coax the child into settling on his lap and reading a book together instead of running around.
Yunho misses the three rolling pairs of eyes when the trio return to find Yunho and Changmin asleep on the couch, Changmin still settled on Yunho's lap, Yunho with a protective arm blanketing Changmin.
The week's almost over, and Changmin is still... Five. Jaejoong wakes Yunho up when Changmin is two days shy of his sixth, no, twenty-first birthday, and drags him unceremoniously out of bed and into the living room until Yunho realizes what's going on.
As the leader, Yunho wants very much to tell them everything will be back to normal, Dong Bang Shin Ki will still continue, they won't be stuck babysitting a five-year-old Changmin permanently, but he can't bring himself to lie to his members, his friends.
'I'll look after him.'
'For how long Yunho? Dong Bang Shin Ki cannot function like that with a five-year-old kid.' Jaejoong. Always the oldest, not always the wisest.
'And we just leave him like that? We can't just do that until we figure out what's wrong with him!' Yunho retorts, voice hard with more anger than he would have liked.
'But Hyung, how do you plan on doing that?' Yoochun adds with a weary sigh.
'I...'
'Yunho-hyung, where are you?'
All heads turn in the direction of the hallway, where little Changmin is padding towards the living room with Bambi held loosely in his hand, rubbing his eye. Yunho just wants to cuddle the little boy back to sleep and stands up.
'I'm here, Changmin-ah. Go back to sleep.'
'But I want hyung to sleep with me...' cue cute little pout on Changmin's face.
Yunho ignores the eye-rolls from the other three when he reaches down to squeeze Changmin's cheeks before scooping the boy into his arms.
'Okay, we'll sleep now,' ruffling Changmin's hair a little. He throws a noncommittal we'll talk tomorrow at the other three over his shoulder, and shuffles back to the bedroom.
He gently sets Changmin down on the bed and crawls under the covers beside him. Changmin almost instinctively shifts in closer until he's got his nose snuggled into Yunho's chest. Yunho cradles Changmin closer, tapping the boy to sleep gently as he whispers a goodnight.
'i love you, Yunho-hyung.'
Yunho falters in his rhythm a little, and continues to tap Changmin to sleep. He doesn't get much sleep that night, spending most of the time whispering I love you too to the ceiling.
Yunho wakes up to Changmin poking him in the side until his squirming from the light tickle. He pretends to snore a little a go back to sleep until Changmin's bouncing on his belly, waking him up with a hard oomph until he has the boy caged between him and the bed and tickles him mercilessly. They race each other to the bathroom, Yunho almost slipping on the bath mat and crashing into the sink. Yunho piggybacks Changmin into the kitchen for breakfast only to find that his other members are very much gone for the day. It's been that way for a while already, and he doesn't blame them. It dampens his mood a little, not that Changmin - who's happily chomping down on cornflakes with milk and strawberries- - notices.
It suddenly dawns on Yunho that everything changed after his birthday. He's not sure why but he asks Changmin anyway.
'Changmin-ah, did you make any wish during chopsticks hour on my birthday?'
'Of course I did, Hyung.'
'Do you think you can tell me what you wished for?'
'Hyung! I can't tell anyone! Then it'll never come true!' Changmin pouts, a line of milk on his upper lip like a mustache.
'But if you tell me, maybe I can make it come true,' Yunho counters, almost sure the boy is about to give in.
'...... Okay Hyung, but you must keep it a secret! I... wished that Yunho-hyung would always look after me.' The last of the sentence muffles into Yunho's t-shirt when Changmin scoots over to bury his face in Yunho's belly.
'Yunho-hyung, you must look after me, okay? You're my favorite hyung.'
'Changmin-ah, I... I will. Don't you worry about it.'
Yunho's distracted for the rest of the day, so often Changmin having to call him more than once before getting his attention. It's crazy, he knows, but it's the only explanation by far.
If Changmin made that wish, this must be it. Him turning into a kid did make me really look after him, which means his wish came true and since the others aren't really helping... It really worked.
After a day of more video games and a walk down the beach to pick seashells and starfishes to keep, Yunho's tucked the boy in to bed with a promise to be there soon, and has the other three gathered on the couch. It's the night before Changmin's birthday.
'He made a wish,' Yunho starts. Puzzled expressions don't get any more enlightened by the statement.
'So... He made a wish,' Yoochun adds tentatively, 'So... what was his wish?'
'I... I can't say. I promised him I wouldn't.'
'And this is helpful... how?' Jaejoong joins in, tone none-too-subtly sarcastic.
Barely suppressing a sigh, Yunho continues, 'He made a wish at chopsticks hour on my birthday. So if we, or one of makes a wish tomorrow on his birthday, things just might be back to normal.'
'But what do we wish for?' Junsu asks, suddenly wide awake.
'I think only one person should make the wish, in case we all wish for something else and it backfires,' Yunho says.
'You do it then, Yunho-hyung. Since it is Changmin anyway. Just... Think carefully about it.'
On Changmin's birthday, the four of them bring him out to an amusement park in the day. A happy day like this is as eventful as it is, with Yunho winning Changmin a stuffed Mickey Mouse plush toy at a ball toss and Yoochun throwing up two hotdogs and a soda after a roller coaster ride. Junsu screams his lungs out just because during said ride, earning an adorable scowl from little Changmin, who refuses to think that squealing like a dolphin can equate to fun.
Jaejoong bites down on his tongue literally, when Yunho shoves an elbow into his rib and gives him the evil eye when Changmin asks if he can have more cotton candy and Jaejoong's just opening his mouth to say no. He pouts, but Leader-sshi doesn't even notice, because Changmin's already pulling him to another game stall. Jaejoong smiles wistfully momentarily, before batting Junsu on the head (for the nth time) for trying to buy himself two cotton candies.
They return home with adrenaline still pumping, barely containing their shrieks of laughter and joy over video games while Jaejoong prepares a big dinner. Yunho declares Jaejoong officially a ninja, when he produces a birthday cake with a Bambi cartoon on it out of nowhere, with one tall, thin candle planted in the middle. Changmin makes his wish, eyes squeezed shut and hands clasped together (Yunho feels his heart squeeze and wrings his hands together), before blowing the candle out.
Changmin's yawning long before ten, so Yunho puts him to bed early and sits at the couch, constantly glancing at the clock, waiting for chopsticks hour. The other three retreat to their own rooms, each anticipating the hour where they make their own wishes. Repeating the wish over and over again in his head, checking over to make sure there aren't any loopholes that might turn Changmin into and eight-legged, two-headed non-human with a tail to match.
The hour and more minutes tick by, and at eleven-eleven Yunho squeezes his eyes shut and laces his fingers together, palm against palm. He thinks as hard as he can, repeats it again and again until he's sure the minute is up. He doesn't open his eyes till a little later, and his vision swims a little from light deprivation. The clock reads eleven-fourteen, and he gets up and makes his way to his room. His breath catches when he places a hand on the knob, and opens the door quietly. He hears, in some distant place, his heart falling and shattering when it's still little Changmin curled up under his blanket, Bambi hugged to his chest, long lashes splayed out on his face as he sleeps.
He climbs into bed with Changmin, pulls the boy closer, and cries. Sleep finds him later. Much later.
He wakes up to a familiar poking in his ribs, and throws an arm over his eyes. They hurt to open, and he groans out a leave me alone, Changmin, I'm tired and turns on his side, away from Changmin. He hears Changmin say something, and in the next second or so he's forcing his eyes open despite the painful protest, and sitting upright in bed suddenly till his back pops in three places. Changmin speaks again, and it's unmistakable. The child's voice is gone, and Changmin's light and slightly hoarse tone that Yunho knows too well is what he hears.
'I woke you up, Hyung, because you were crying in your sleep. Everything okay?'
Yunho brings a hand up to his eyes and rubs away the sleep from it, and looks at Changmin. The still handsome maknae that he remembers, sitting on his bed cross-legged and eyeing him with a look of mild concern.
'It wasn't alright, but it is now,' Yunho manages, a small smile forming on his lips.
They both sit facing each other, enduring a few moments of awkward silence, until they decide to say something, at the same time.
'You first, Hyung.'
'I... You... Do you remember anything from the last two weeks? What you did, where you went, anything?'
'Yeah. I... I remember. I remember everything. Hyung I... I'm sorry. It was my fault, that stupid wish, I shouldn't have even tried, I... ' Changmin continues, but Yunho presses a finger to his lips, smiling gently.
'I made a wish too. Yesterday. Want to hear it?'
'But then it wouldn't come true if you told me.'
'Half of it already did, and I'm sure the other half would too, even if I told you,' Yunho says, cupping Changmin's cheeks in his palm.
'... '
'I wished... that I could take care and love Shim Changmin the way he's supposed to be.'
'... '
'Can I? Can I do that? Will you let me? I wanted to tell you sooner, that morning I found you and you were different. Can I still?'
'Hyung I... '
'I understand, you don't have to tell me now. Take your time,' a soft sigh that Yunho can't suppress escapes him, and he moves to get up to brush his teeth and drown in the bathtub. He's almost out the door when Changmin finally reacts and yanks him hard by the wrist. He almost falls, but Changmin catches him and pulls him closer, an arm around his waist.
'I wasn't done yet,' Changmin almost growls, his gaze never leaving Yunho's slightly confused yet still-hopeful one.
It's all fireworks and rainbows and something blinding when Changmin presses his lips gently against his, sliding his tongue over his lips until he thinks to open his mouth, and then they're really kissing. His hands move on their own to cup Changmin's face and hold him there, neither of them really wanting to part until the need to breathe becomes apparent when they're panting by the time the pull away slightly.
'I take that as a yes, mm?' Yunho smiles as Changmin pulls him in a hug, resting a chin on his shoulder.
'Mm I suppose you could.'
'Can I make another wish?' Yunho whispers into Changmin's ear, warm breath tickling, causing Changmin to giggle a little.
'Maybe? It depends what it is.'
'Always be my baby?' as Changmin pulls them backwards back towards the bed, and cuddles against Yunho with Bambi getting tossed onto the floor. Changmin bats Yunho on the arm before a faint blush creeps into his cheeks, one that makes Yunho squeeze his cheeks. Changmin swats away his hands and laughs until Yunho pins him against the bed effectively. Yunho sticks a tongue out at him, and Changmin dies a little when he finds that too cute to resist.
'Not getting off till I get an answer.'
'I'll think about it.'
'Not good enough, kiddo.'
'Oh alright. Even though I'm not a baby anymore, I suppose I could be if you want.'
Yunho rolls off Changmin and pulls him by the waist, planting a small peck on Changmin's nose, melting a little when it earns him a shy smile. He never understands how Changmin is so confident, yet so shy, and probably never will. Not that he minds a hell lot.
'I do want. I love you.'
I love you too.'
There's plenty of whooping and cheering and eye-rolling when they walk out with their arms around each other's waist into the kitchen. Changmin gets tackled to the ground in a group hug, and Yunho gets forcibly pulled into it when he tries to pull Changmin off the floor. Jaechunsu proceed to yell at Changmin for being an annoying pain-in-the-ass kid in the past two weeks, while Changmin just sticks a tongue out, laughing at Junsu still losing to a five-year-old while Yunho presses a kiss to his cheek.
'Oh stop it, you two. You guys look like happy fools ready to melt into a muddle of chocolate mush with sprinkles on top,' Jaejoong teases, 'I wish my wish would come true too.'
'Then you better hurry up with breakfast. Min and I are taking you shopping after this.'
'We are?'
'You are?'
'Yes, we are, so hurry up.'
'But Yunho-hyung, what about us! We had wishes too,' Junsu pipes up, pointing back and forth between Yoochun and himself.
'As if what you guys wished for can be bought. And as if you guys aren't obvious enough already. We'll be out the whole day shopping, so use your time wisely.'
Changmin and Jaejoong eye Yunho suspiciously, before their eyes widen simultaneously and they're both staring at Yoochun and Junsu. The duo go bright red in the face, glancing at each other before proceeding to stare at their breakfast, waiting to catch fire and burn to ash at the table.
Yunho laughs, and pulls Changmin tight against him while he laughs with Jaejoong at the two burning tomatoes across them. He thinks to himself, I have no idea what to wish for during the next birthday.
