Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s always the same this time of year - Christmas, that is. It’s a truly joyous occasion, with the boys all on their best behavior the final few days before Santa comes to visit, each determined to earn the most presents this time. Their fathers work hard to make sure they all get the same amount each year, but the boys don’t need to know that. But for Minho, it’s also a sad time. What has essentially become a small case of seasonal depression at this point, the mother of five always struggles a bit with the memory. The memory of how Seungmin came to join them.

Two days before Christmas (Christmas eve eve, as Jisung likes to call it), Minho had a late night at the hospital. It was rare for him even at the time, since he and Chan started adopting the kids. But the holidays are always a little more hectic and short-staffed, so he did his due diligence and helped where he could. To this day, Minho is so incredibly thankful to have been working that night. 

This was before Minho was promoted to head nurse, but he had been there long enough to carry a certain air of authority with him within the staff. Others often turned to him for advice, whether it be for a patient or their own personal gain. He loved his job, he still does, but that night had been one of those times where he really considered a career path. As much as all the nurses love helping people, sometimes it becomes simply too much. The amount of sickness, pain, and death that comes with their day to day jobs can really take a toll, especially when it comes to children. 

Minho had just finished helping one of the doctors with a child who had been in a bad car accident. Everyone lived, but the father had a severe concussion and the 12 year old girl had a broken leg. The drunk driver who hit them suffered little more than a few scrapes and bruises. It was around 3 AM when he exited the room, walking to the end of the hall to take a much needed breather. That’s where he saw him. 

A little boy, no more than seven years old, with the most adorable little blonde puppy ears atop his mess of brown hair. His clothes looked far too wrong on him, the t-shirt entirely too small and sopping wet, looking to press uncomfortably along his neck and arms, the bottom of the shirt stopped just in-line with his belly button. His pants were filled with holes and barely hanging by a tied piece of string around his waist. No jacket, even though it’s December and snowing outside. He looked so small and so scared. He was just standing there, backed into a corner in the empty hallway near the front entrance. To this day nobody knows how he snuck past all the people at the front reception desk, but he did. It was like he was looking for someone. Minho likes to think it was fate that led the little boy towards him, and he did the same. Because one look at the little boy was all it took for Minho to fall in love. He knew, right in that moment, that the boy was his. 

How Minho knew the boy was in the hospital alone, he couldn’t tell you. When he slowly approached the child, whose eyes widened as his little blonde tail wrapped itself around his leg, he gave the gentlest smile he could muster. He squatted down to one knee, holding a gentle hand outwards. “Hi sweetheart. My name is Minho. What’s yours?”

The boy had crooked teeth, poking between his plump little chapped lips. He chewed on his bottom lip, anxiousness radiating from his shaking little form. He hesitated, brown bangs having covered half his face as he studied the nurse for a moment. Finally, in such a hushed whisper Minho had to strain to hear, he spoke: “Seungmin.”

“Hi Seungmin. That’s a very pretty name. Can I ask what you’re doing over in that corner?”

Seungmin shuffled a little, his worn down shoes looking on the brink of wearing right through the soles. The shoe laces weren’t even tied, just shoved in the top of the shoe. “Ma dropped me off.”

Minho gulped, a heaviness in his heart that he had already felt two times before (when he first met his Jisung, and then his Hyunjin). “Your mother dropped you off?”

He nods once, eyes scanning Minho carefully.

“Did she drop you off while she went to park the car, perhaps?”

He shakes his head. Minho feels his throat clogging up. “Is there something you need the hospital for, honey? Are you hurt?”

Seungmin starts to shake his head again, then pauses. He shrugs. 

“Ok,” Minho breathes, trying to keep the wobble out of his own voice. He takes a subtle deep breath, calming himself before he becomes a stressed out, crying mess. “Can I come closer to you, sweetheart? Check and see if you have any injuries? I’m a nurse, so I’d love to help you if I could?”

Seungmin stares at him for a long moment, frozen as his calculating eyes graze over the nurse once more. He looked just a little too skeptical for a seven year old, a little too distrusting. 

Minho thinks for a moment. “You see my ears?” He points to the pointed black ears on top of his own head. “I’m a cat hybrid, and it looks to me like you’re a dog, right? That means you could take me down easy peasy. So there’s no need to be afraid, yeah?” He knows this is very much not true in any sense, and he actually rather hates playing into subspecies stereotypes, but he’s desperate. 

Seungmin narrows his eyes a little, disbelieving. “That’s not true. Cats can be mean. Plus you’re an adult.”

Minho chuckles, a small blush coating his cheeks at being called out so blatantly by a child. “True, but I just wanted to see if that could help make you feel more comfortable. Some cats can be scary, but I’m certainly not one of them, I can promise you that.”

Much to Minho’s relief, the child nods. “Ok.”

Minho doesn’t even stand all the way, just awkwardly waddles on one knee and foot closer to the little boy. He stops right in front of him, still leaving the boy with enough space to not feel closed in. “Can you point to anywhere that hurts?”

Seungmin lifts a shaking little finger up to point at his neck, tugging down the tight collar just enough to see. Minho focuses in and is unable to stifle the gasp that escapes his mouth. Bruises relatively faint, but still very much apparent around the pale column of his throat, as if he were choked. They are shades of purple and green, indicating the injury is at least a few days old, but it’s no surprise to the nurse for the injury to still be tender and sore. Minho feels his heart accelerate further, his throat filling with wet, hot, anger at the sight. He’s not much of a crier, but children are his weakness, and that along with the hellish long night he’s already had, he really is surprised he’s kept his emotions as in check as this. 

Minho doesn’t move closer, just forces a weak little half-smile on his lips. “I see. That looks painful. Can you tell me what happened?”

Seungmin looks vaguely confused at this. “Collar.” His voice resembles Hyunjin’s when he’s being sassy - a little bite behind one of his “duh, Mom”s.

Minho only wished it was something like that. But clearly this kind believes that the word collar is an obvious, and acceptable, answer to the bruises on his neck. “You had on a collar? Why?”

Seungmin’s eyebrows furrowed, a small frown puffing out his lips as he pressed himself a little further back into the wall. “Are you tricking me?”

Minho’s eyes widen, he holds both hands up in a sign of innocence. “No sweetheart, not at all! I really just don’t understand why you’d have on a collar. Is that something normal? I’ve never had one before.”

The little boy's eyes fell to his scraggly shoes. “Cause you’re a cat. Cats don’t wear collars. Dogs do.”

Minho feels like he’s the one being choked now. “You… you had to wear a collar because you’re a dog hybrid?”

Seungmin nods once again.

Minho shuts his eyes, clamping his jaw tight to not release an agitated scream or sob at the mere thought. A child being forced to wear a collar due to his subspecies. It’s sick. It’s inhumane. It’s disgusting . Minho exhales through his nose, opening his eyes to find Seungmin staring at him once more. “I’m sorry that happened to you, sweetheart,” Minho whispers. He locks his own suspiciously damp eyes with the child’s, hoping to portray every ounce of honesty he can gather into the look. “That’s not ok. For someone to make you wear a collar. Especially one tight enough to hurt or bruise.”

Seungmin shuffles in place again. “Ma said it was for bad doggies. That’s why I had the leash and kennel outside.”

Nausea rumbles in Minho’s stomach, threatening to creep through his esophagus and out onto the tiled floors. “No,” he whispers to himself, shaking his head as he keeps his eyes firmly locked onto Seungmin's. He raises his voice half an octave higher. “No sweetheart, that’s not ok.”

Seungmin tilts his head to the side, the fluorescent lights highlighting the pale, ugly green vanishing back behind his throat. “Is that why Ma left me here? Am I sick because of this?” He runs a careful hand along his throat, his fingertips trembling. 

“I… No, I don’t know why she left sweetie. But what I do know is that you’re freezing cold, hm? Would you let me take you to a room with a blanket? And maybe check that bruise of yours just in case?”

Seungmin contemplates this a moment, hands moving down to rub up and down the sides of his arms, as if just remembering that he is cold. He nods. “Ok.”

And that’s how it went. Minho picked the boy up and basically didn’t put him down again for the following two days. Police officers and doctors were in and out of the hospital room, but Seungmin didn’t let go of Minho once, not that the adult would have acted any differently. Only Minho could change his clothes, or feed him, or get him to tell where his mother lived (the answer being near the big park with the blue twisty slide, which thankfully an officer was able to pinpoint fairly quickly). She was arrested and charged with first degree child abuse and endangerment. Since Minho and Chan already had a reputation as foster parents, it was easy for them to take in Seungmin. It didn’t even take a full week before they were trying to officially adopt him as their own, just like Hyunjin and Jisung. 

There was definitely a huge learning curve for the new addition to the family. It was honestly pretty sweet at first. Minho remembers fondly how frantic Chan was the day Suengmin came home, realizing Christmas was (at that point) one day away and they needed presents for the poor boy. He spent hours ravaging the city of Seoul for last minute Christmas presents, generic things that any seven year old would like. He scored big with the books. Though Seungmin was far too shy at the time to give them much of a reaction to anything.

He was pretty much terrified of everyone else in the house at first. One glance at Chan’s wolf tail was enough for him to cower away in fear, and then it was Hyunjin’s intimidating height at the time for an eleven year old. And Jisung was just loud . Seungmin didn’t like loud noises, so it was an instant recipe for disaster. Funnily enough, it was Changbin that really made strides in the puppy’s comfortability in the house. Changbin didn’t even live there at the time like he basically does now, but he was around enough and definitely helped the parents' case for wanting to adopt so many children. Three parents for three children was good odds, it becoming harder and harder to prove when they got their last two. 

Changbin is a real gentle giant though. He’s short but muscular, so Minho had anticipated a similar reaction as Chan got, but when Changbin walked in with his big smile, something in Seungmin just snapped . One look at the man’s rabbit ears and he was sobbing. Great big, loud wails, truly impressive for the small body of a seven year old. Minho was quick to his aid, the puppy burying his face in the cat’s chest as he sobbed. Changbin stood frozen in the living room, face morphed into true despair. But as Seungmin gradually calmed down, he lifted his head just enough to peek over at Changbin and ask: “Can I touch your ears?”

Not only had none of them heard a single request from Seungmin yet, the child was too afraid to ask for literally anything , but to ask to touch another adult at that? It was as shocking as it was welcome. Changin was eager to please, even going as far as to set one of his freshly groomed ears into the little boy's hands. Seungmin was so gentle as he ran the tips of his fingers up and down the appendage, enjoying the soft, black fur. They later learned that Seungmin used to have a little black stuffed bunny rabbit, but his mother had thrown it away when he was “being too loud” one day. They also learned then what Seungmin’s fear of being loud stemmed from. It took the three parents over a year to finally make the puppy comfortable enough to run around with Jisung, to laugh and chase balls and be the playful child he was supposed to be. 

Minho knows that Chan is plagued with the same memories this time of year, his experience drastically different in the beginning. He had been woken up sometime shortly after 6AM. When he answered he was met with a hysterically sobbing partner, sending him into an instant sea of anxiety. He had such a hard time understanding what Minho was even saying through all his blubbering, only making out the words “kid” and “hospital.” He managed to figure things out pretty quickly though. 

The kids were on winter break then, so after Chan dropped Hyunjin and Jisung off at Changbin’s place, he went straight to the hospital, barely even remembering to call in to work that day (the studio was fairly used to it from the wolf, given his new family lifestyle and all). Seungmin, of course, wanted nothing to do with Chan at first glance, but once the puppy was safely asleep in Minho’s arms, Chan was able to step inside the room to gush over the baby to his heart's content. He fell in love just as fast as Minho had. 

Chan however, was the one who had to deal with some of the harsher sides of the situation. He was the one who had to see the house Seungmin was from to gather what little belongings for the child he could. Minho remembers sobbing again that night when Chan told him about the drawer full of collars and the shabby metal crate in the backyard, buried in several inches of snow. Chan was also the one to really get Seungmin to open up about his past. Chan managed to play the whole “ I’m a wolf, which is basically just a big puppy ” card enough to finally set Seungmin semi at-ease. Once Seungmin could stand to be in a room alone with Chan, he gradually started contributing more and more to Chan’s feeble attempts at conversation. It was through this they learned Seungmin didn’t know how to tie his shoes. Oddly enough, Chan had been the one to cry then. 

It always seemed to be the hardest moments that made the most impact for the kids though, for all of them. Chan had his first major breakthrough with Seungmin on one of their worst nights yet. He’d have missed it entirely if not for his nightly dose of insomnia. He was sitting alone in the living room with his laptop open while Minho, Hyunjin and Jisung were peacefully sleeping. It had begun to storm outside, and it was only thanks to his increased wolf-hybrid abilities that he was able to hear the gentle sniffling from down the hall. With gentle steps and an even gentler voice, Chan approached the closed bedroom door with a timid knock. “Seungmin? Are you ok, sweetie?”

He could hear shuffling on the other side, followed by a muffled hiccup. Chan wanted to respect his privacy, they always worked hard to give the kids the space they needed to handle their emotions, but he also had to make sure the child was ok. Seungmin had cried a few times by that point, but it was always in the presence of Minho. Chan wasn’t sure if the kid would be comfortable receiving comfort from him, but he also desperately wanted to let his husband sleep. He tried again.

“Seungmin, honey. Would it be ok if I came inside? I don’t have to stick around if you don’t want me to, I just want to see you with my own eyes really quick to make sure you’re ok.”

A loud clap of thunder sounded from outside, a startled little gasp followed shortly after from the other side of the door. Followed then by a small, timid “yes.”

Chan slowly opened the door, at first not able to make out anything in the pitch black room until the next flash of lightning, highlighting Seungmin for a brief moment, snot and tears coating his face as he held both hands over his mouth, curled into himself on top of his strewn out sheets. “Oh baby,” Chan cooed, taking a careful step inside. He tapped the bedside lamp once, turning it on to the lowest setting. He crouched down in front of the crying boy in bed. “Can you tell me what the matter is, baby? Did you have a nightmare?”

He shakes his head, pitiful sniffles making Chan’s heart physically ache. 

Another crack of thunder. Chan notices the puppy flinch at the sound. Ah .

“Sweetheart, is it the storm that’s bothering you? Are you scared of thunder?”

Seungmin’s eyes widened at that, studying Chan as if waiting for the punchline. As if he expected Chan to lash out at such a simple revelation. As if he’d be scolded or taunted for such a normal fear. The puppy nodded once more. 

Chan resisted the urge to coo again, instead choosing to carefully set one palm face up on the edge of the bed, a small offer of comfort for the boy. Seungmin stared at the wolf's hand for a long moment, the gears rapidly turning in the little boy's brain. Another flash of lighting made the decision for him. Only, instead of taking the offered hand, Seungmin chose to fling himself off the bed into Chan’s arms. 

Of course, Chan managed to catch him, but was quite frazzled by the boy nearly toppling straight out onto the floor. The man held him close, letting the small pup burrow itself into his chest, a fresh wave of sobs accompanying it. He wrapped his arms around Chan’s neck in a vice grip, desperate to bury himself into the man. Chan allowed himself to indulge a little, pressing a featherlight kiss to the side of the boy's head. “It’ll be ok, Minnie. Nothing bad is gonna happen to you. I’m right here, I’ll keep you safe.”

The words seemed to do little actual comforting, Seungmin crying even harder with the sweet words being whispered in his ear. His little blonde ears pressed tightly against his skull, and it wasn’t until another clap of thunder that Chan realized the problem wasn’t his words, but the sounds of the storm. His first thought was to run back into the living room and fetch his headphones, but stumbling around in the dark with the seven year old attached to his front seemed like a poor plan. So he chose the easier option. He started singing. 

He didn’t sing anything special, just some words to a song he had recently written. 

The words were soft, audible only for the pup cradled close in his arms:

“ Let me tell a little story, about the star that couldn't shine or blink

Out of a million, billion, felt like an alien

Then that little star was surely, going to become the biggest thing

Making a fantasy family, beautiful galaxy ”

The song did wonders. Seungmin’s frantic breathing and rapid tears slowed down throughout the song, the boy going a little more lax in the wolf’s arms. He didn’t fall asleep, but once Chan had finished the entire song, the pup lifted his head just enough to make eye contact with the man.

“Thank you,” he whispered, red rimmed eyes shiny in the dim bedroom lighting. 

Chan felt his heart squeeze at the sight, a flood of love coursing through his entire body all at once. He remembers thinking “ this, this right here, this is why we do this.” To this day, that is his and Seungmin’s special song. He ended up sleeping in the kids bed that night, curled around the little pup singing the same song again and again until he finally fell asleep. 

Minho would be surprised to know this, but Hyunjin also associates this time of year with the arrival of his second youngest brother. He had been with the family for nearly a year and a half by that point, but he fully expected to gain more brothers someday when Minho and Chan had adopted him. He’ll never forget the first time he met Seungmin either, his cute little puppy.

He stepped into the living room after arriving home from school and made immediate eye contact with the boy. It was silent and tense, even their mother sitting next to the boy seemed to be frozen in place. Then Seungmin bolted from the room. Hyunjin couldn’t really blame him, there was a solid foot difference between them, Hyunjin being well aware of his lanky status as an eleven year old. He still felt crushed at that moment, his mother having to assure him again and again that he didn’t do anything wrong. Jisung had been the same after all, terrified at first glance of him. He’s a ferret hybrid for god’s sake, the least threatening subspecies of all. But his size made up for it, back at that age at least. 

But Hyunjin was nothing if not perceptive. On that extremely awkward Christmas morning, Seungmin was sitting as far away from the rest of them as possible, even then he was unable to hide the slight rise of his eyebrows when he unwrapped a new picture book. To this day, Hyunjin doesn’t know how his parents managed to get gifts that fast for Seungmin, but he often still to this day refers to them as superheroes, so it really shouldn’t have been all that surprising. But even across the distance of the living room, Hyunjin could see the small gape in the little pup's mouth, his eyes widening as he unwrapped the first book, and then the second later on, and he knew. Seungmin was his little nerd. 

That’s how he made his connection not even a full week later. He gathered all the old books he could find, his own shelf stacked full of them (his parents spoiled him, what can he say?) and took the trip down to the boys bedroom. He knocked twice and nearly toppled over laughing at the shocked look on the other boy’s face when he saw the armload of books in Hyunjin’s hands. He let him in his room easily with that, a moment Hyunjin also treasures close to his heart because at the time, everyone was being careful of intruding on Seungmin’s personal “safe” space. But Seungmin waved him right inside, brown eyes blown wide as he looked over the two dozen books in his new brother's arms. Hyunjin spent the rest of the evening in there with him, silently reading together. The books were a little too young for Hyunjin, but he didn’t mind, not with the look of wonder in Seungmin’s eyes as he carefully flipped through every book. Hyunjin also remembers almost squeezing Seungmin to death from his cuteness when he asked him how to pronounce the word “ forethought .” 

Hyunjin was a little safety sanction for Seungmin after that, the eldest being the first he turned to when he got his first B grade, absolutely terrified of telling Minho and Chan (who reassured the boy endlessly that B was still very much a good grade). Jisung was so confused when he heard that Seungmin was worried about that, always having thought that anything above a C- was considered excelling. 

Hyunjin was also the person he went to when a kid at school started pulling on his ears, making fun of him for having different colored hair and fur. Hyunjin didn’t even need to involve their parents with that one, taking care of the little eleven year old hedgehog hybrid very easily. He prided himself to this day for making the little shit pee himself from just a single threat. He never bothered Seungmin after that. 

Over the past three years, Hyunjin and Seungmin developed a pretty special relationship, actually. Hyunjin can be rambunctious and chaotic, but he also very much relies on his quiet, peaceful time. He gains just as much from that time with Seungmin as the younger does with him. Seungmin is even so in-tune with him now that he knows when to ask the other boys to quiet down. One look and he can tell that his big brother is getting a little overstimulated. It warms Hyunjin’s heart every time. 

Christmas is still a happy time to the eldest boy, but he always thinks a little more of Seungmin. But to him, it’s more of a happy memory than anything. It’s the time that he gained a second little brother. The time when he made one of his best friends for life. His favorite puppy. 

Seungmin has been with the Bang's for three years now. His relationship with each one of them is special, all holding their own precious moments with Seungmin dear to their hearts. And vice versa is true as well. Seungmin remembers the moment he realized that this was his forever family. It wasn’t when Minho found him in that hospital or when Chan sang to him, no. It was when he was sitting on the sofa playing a game with Jisung, one late night after dinner. Minho had just stepped in and told the boys they needed to finish the race in Mario Kart and then get ready for bed. Seungmin didn’t even think about the words before they poured out of him. An embarrassing, petulant little whine and slight kick of his feet. “But Mommy, I’m winning!” He said. 

He remembers the awkward beat of silence. 

Then he remembers the horror he felt at seeing tears spring in his mothers eyes. His real mother. 

He also remembers Jisung ignoring the moment and winning the game, the controller long forgotten in Seungmin’s own hands. Minho just sank down to his knees in front of the boy and hugged him close. Seungmin started crying too, feeling nothing but sheer and utter relief. Relief that his mother was crying happy tears. Relief that he knew his father would cry the same way the first time he said the words to him (Chan did in fact cry), and relief that he was finally at home . He had his real mother and father who loved him. Who didn’t put a collar on him and call him a bad dog when he ate too fast and made himself sick. When he got the zoomies and ran through the house barefoot. When he yipped a little too loudly when he was excited about something. These people laughed and smiled when he did all those things. They scolded him at times sure, but more often than not, they encouraged him, cheered him on, praised him endlessly. They congratulated him for every aced test, every honor roll certificate, every song he sang alone with his father late at night when he too couldn’t sleep. They hugged him after every nightmare, after every painful recalled memory of his past. They kissed him goodnight every time before bed, they kissed him goodbye every day before school, and they told him they loved him every day. So no, Christmas was no longer a sad time of year for him. He no longer thought of the time his birth mother finally had enough and left him alone at the hospital. He thought of the night he met his real mother. And he hopes with time his mother will be able to think the same way as him. He has only been happy since meeting them all, and he knows that will continue being the case for the rest of his life.