Only minor angst, if it really is angst.

A baby's cries filled the room. Yunho ran toward them, ears red, and picked the small boy up.

"Shh," Yunho rocked him. Once giving the baby his bottle, he calmed down and focused on drinking the milk.

The baby in his arms was Jongho, his little brother of only 18 months.

When many people saw Yunho, they'd turn and frown at him. A young man of only a little over 18, taking care of a small baby? How?

But it was more complicated than that.

A few months ago, Yunho's world came to a halt for the second time after his father passed away. The first was when his mother gave birth to Jongho. The news of his father being struck by a car was just enough to push him over the edge.

However, they didn't stop him. Yunho would keep going.

He took charge of his baby brother after having the option to, as he was 18. Yunho couldn't stand the thought of giving his brother away to a different family. Not when they've gone through so much. He was committed to raising the boy in whatever way he could.

So now they lived in this apartment for themselves.

"Good, Jongie. You'll be well-fed for a few hours." Yunho played with the boy's cheeks. Jongho giggled, his small hands clenching into fists so he could rub his eyes.

Yunho was so occupied with playing around; he didn't feel the first few texts in his pocket. As he opened the messages, he gasped.

"I have to go to the study session. Shoot." Yunho set the baby in his playpen and ran to get his things ready. He would first go to the university's daycare, drop Jongho there, then run across the building to the library so he could meet the new people of his study team.

Believe it or not, he's gotten used to the rush already.

"Alright. I'll be back in two hours if everything goes smoothly," Yunho spoke to little Jongho as if the boy understood. "Can I get a smile, Jongie? One smile?"

Jongho cracked a sweet, gummy grin, displaying the first baby teeth.

"Good boy." Yunho shook his little body with tickles mixed in. After a few kisses, Yunho left his brother at the daycare.
~

"Hey. Sorry, I'm a little-"

"It's all good. You made it two minutes early," Yunho's study partner, Mingi, said. "I was just explaining to one of the new members how we share out."

"Oh." Yunho turned to the male sitting across his friend. He looked older, but definitely from somewhere else. Something about his expression looked different from most new students that transferred to Yunho's college. It looked amicable.

"Hi, I'm Yunho."

"Namjoon."

"Nice to meet you." Yunho awkwardly sat down beside Mingi, waiting for the other students to arrive. He couldn't help but feel Namjoon's stare on him.
~

Yunho wasn't sure how it got to this, but Namjoon ended up speaking to him more than he thought he would. Even as Yunho packed his things up, it seemed as though the older was making excuses to stay extra.

They didn't even talk about essential things—just randomness about the school, the neighborhood, their lives.

The two were the last ones who left the room. They were walking together down the hallway, in conversation, when Yunho gasped.

"What's wrong?" Namjoon asked.

"Uh... I have to go pick up my brother from daycare. Sorry. It was nice meeting you!" Yunho speed-walked down the hallway before deciding it wasn't fast enough and then breaking into a sprint.

"Huh?" Namjoon asked himself. "Daycare?"

When Yunho arrived at the building, he was not happy at what he heard and found. Neither was the staff there.

Jongho was uncontrollably sobbing with tears down his red face. A staff member tried to calm him down, but it only seemed to make matters worse. She handed him to Yunho as quickly as she could.

"Jongho! Jongho, it's me, baby. Look."

Jongho took a moment to calm down in his brother's arms. He seemed to relax from Yunho's soft fingers wiping his cheeks wet from the tantrum he threw.

"I'm sorry I ran late, bud."

"Yunho, we need to talk to you," The woman in charge of the daycare called.

"What is it?" Yunho didn't like her tone.

"Step into my office, please."

"I'm fine here. If it's no problem, I don't mind it being in public."

"Well," Her voice was serious.

"What?" Yunho frowned.

"We can't keep taking care of Jongho here."

"Huh? Why? For what reason?"

"He's made too many disruptions these past few days. It's been prompting the other kids to behave worse too."

Yunho didn't believe this shit. "Jongho's a baby! He's only 18 months! You're blaming a disruption on a baby?! This is a daycare. This is your job!"

"Please calm down, Yunho."

"No. This is unfair. He can be here because the university gave me this option. Where am I supposed to leave him during school? During class?"

Yunho quickly got an answer from the women's eyes. It was the look he always received when he complained about something relating to Jongho. If you can't take care of one thing, why did you agree to take on two? Why didn't you put him up for adoption?

Yunho angrily snatched Jongho's packed bag from the woman's hands and carried his brother on the other hand. In brisk steps, he left the daycare without looking behind.
~

"Hey, it's Yunho and... what do you know? His little brother, Jongho." Mingi smiled at his friend.

"Hey," Yunho tiredly greeted, setting the car seat down beside his chair.

"Another long night?"

"I've been looking for daycares, Mingi. They don't want him back at this one."

"Shit. I'm sorry. What's your plan now?"

"I don't know," Yunho sighed. "I don't know."

"In other news, Namjoon won't be here today. Did you know that?"

Great. More bad news for Yunho. At least it was temporary, right?

That evening, Yunho watched Jongho crawl around, playing with blocks, when he got a text. It was Namjoon, saying hi and apologizing for not being there for the session.

Yunho's eyebrows rose when he saw the next one.

'Wanna drink coffee sometime?'

To say Yunho's heart skipped a beat was an understatement. He was concerned it had stopped beating from the shock.

No. Calm down. Namjoon only wants to have coffee, Yunho. Coffee. That's it. Nothing else would happen.

"Yun... ho." Jongho completed spelling his older brother's name with the blocks. Yunho smiled at him.

'Sorry I'm busy.'

'Next time then.'

Yunho found a small solution for his brother two days later. He'd pay Mingi's sister to take care of Jongho. It wasn't cheap, but it was less expensive than driving to a daycare opposite the university and still paying there.

Yunho saw more of Namjoon the next days after. They'd talk, and occasionally it seemed as though Namjoon was flirting, but Yunho didn't notice. Or at least, he tried not to.

Why should he, when he had no time for a boyfriend?

Today, Yunho was just leaving class when someone caught up with him.

"Yunho!"

"Oh. Hi, Namjoon."

"Hey. Where are you off to?" Yunho felt the older's hands on his shoulder.

"Home. What's up?"

Namjoon shrugged. "Chill. You seem tense. Is everything alright?"

Yunho looked around, noticing the hallway was slowly getting clearer as students left.

"Yeah."

"Really?" Namjoon laughed. "You seem more afraid than me, and this is my third week here!"

Yunho cracked a smile. Namjoon's laugh was pretty cute.

Shit, what was he thinking?

"I mean, you know how school is..."

"I wanted to ask again about going out sometime," Namjoon began. "You available?"

"No, sorry."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I have a lot of homework, and-"

"Well, we could work on homework there," Namjoon reasoned.

Yunho shook his head. "No. No, you don't understand." He turned and started to walk away.

"Okay. Then tell me." Namjoon followed after him.

"Namjoon, I don't think you'd want to know," Yunho stopped to say. He sadly chuckled. "You'd think the same as everyone else."

"About?"

"No... it doesn't matter."

Namjoon held Yunho's shoulder. "I want to-"

"You want to know what?! It's my brother! I have to balance school, work, then take care of my brother for the rest of the day! He's a baby, Namjoon. I felt obligated to take care of him after our parents died. And I... I..." Yunho began to cry.

Namjoon ran and embraced him close, letting Yunho sob in his shoulder. Yunho slowly hugged him back, grabbing Namjoon's shoulders so they could get even closer.

"Sometimes, people ask me why I chose to keep him," Yunho cried. "But I love him. I love my little brother so much, Namjoon. I just can't manage it well."

"It's okay, Yunho. Let's go outside." Namjoon was still holding Yunho as they made their way outside the building.

"I'm not in any position to judge, but what you did wasn't wrong. You had every right to keep your brother with you. What you did was brave. That's a lot of love you must have for him."

Yunho slowly smiled. "Yeah, I do."

"But you're also right. You need help with him too."

"I don't want to lose him."

"Of course not. You won't have to."

"Huh?"

"Mingi told me a bit about Jongho. He told me you're paying his sister to babysit too. Yunho, you don't have to do it alone."

Yunho looked up, alarmed. "I need to go pick him up."

"Yun-" Namjoon felt Yunho take his hand and pull him along.

Namjoon immediately offered to pay for Jongho's babysitting. Yunho carried his brother's car seat with red cheeks.

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

"I..." Namjoon sighed. "Can we talk about this at your place?"

Yunho blushed again as he opened his apartment. It wasn't exactly tidy. Certain areas were a little more crowded than others. Mostly because if he'd stop watching Jongho for a minute, the baby would crawl off and disappear.

"S-Sorry about the mess." Yunho gulped, moving things around frantically. "I just-"

Namjoon grabbed his hand softly, so their gazes met.

"It's fine, Yunho. I want to meet him."

Jongho stared at Namjoon. That's all he did. No smiling, no crying. His round, shiny eyes stared at the male, making Yunho laugh at the interaction.

"At least he didn't cry."

"I guess not." Namjoon booped Jongho's nose. "We'll work on that."

Yunho cradled Jongho for a bit. That's when he felt the awkward silence between them again.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Namjoon thought for a moment. "I like you. That's why I've been asking you out."

"Namjoon, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for dating," Yunho choked out. He felt like crying. That's not what he wished to say. Yunho felt the same way, maybe deeper, but he couldn't.

"Time because your brother, right?"

"Yeah."

"My mom's agreed to take care of him." Yunho looked up.

"Wait, you've already-"

"Yunho," Namjoon set a hand on Yunho's knee. "I want to help you. It's because I like you a lot."

Yunho softly smiled. "Well..."

"Jongho, what do you think?" Namjoon asked the boy, grabbing his soft hand.

This time Jongho grinned. Then he made arms for Namjoon to hold him.

"What does Jongie think? Should older brother Yunho spend some time with me? Should Jongie come too?"

Yunho smiled wider as Jongho started to giggle. Then he nodded.

"Okay."

"Hm?" Namjoon teased. "What was that?"

Yunho chuckled. "I'll go out with you."

"Yes! Yes, Jongho!" Namjoon tickled the baby's tummy. Jongho laughed harder.

Later, Namjoon would take the two somewhere away for a change.

But for now, the three were doing well in the little space, sharing bright, broad smiles.