Yoongi never thought he'd fall so quickly into the rhythms of parenting.
But there he was—every morning at 6 a.m., awakened not by an alarm or inspiration to write lyrics, but by the sound of tiny feet shuffling and a soft babble of "Appa…?" through the baby monitor.
The first time Yoona called him that—Appa—he froze.
Then melted.
Now, she was his shadow. From his studio desk where she'd sit in a beanbag holding her stuffed cat toy, to the kitchen where she'd tug at his sweats and ask for "mooore banaaa~na," Yoongi was helpless. Wrapped around her tiny finger.
He learned quickly that she didn't like her kimchi touching her rice, loved her food cut into star shapes, and that she had a growing obsession with a gray plush cat named "Nabi," which he'd since bought three more backups of, just in case.
"She's so girly," Yoongi muttered one afternoon, watching Yoona try to put a pink scrunchie on Nabi's ears.
Rhea, seated nearby with her insulin kit, gave him a knowing smile. "I tried not to raise her that way on purpose. But… she just is."
He watched her steady hands inject herself, a faint wince following, and something in him tugged painfully.
"You still hate doing that?" he asked gently.
"Always."
Yoongi didn't say anything. Just got up, walked over, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. It wasn't grand. Just him, quietly holding her in solidarity.
"We'll go together next week," he said. "Doctor's appointment, right?"
She nodded.
—
The day of the check-up, Yoongi was pacing in the living room, phone in hand, typing into the group chat with furious fingers:
Yoongi: Anyone free to babysit Yoona for 3 hours?
Seconds later, chaos erupted.
Jungkook: ARE YOU KIDDING ME I'M IN UNIFORM BRO
Taehyung: SHE'S MINE. I CALL DIBS. I DON'T CARE IF I'M IN THE BASE
Jimin: I will literally break out and run.
Yoongi: yall are in the military. Sit down.
Namjoon: I'm in the building, do you want me to—
Hoseok: I'm free too. I'm already halfway to the café downstairs.
Jin: You had me at babysit. I'm bringing snacks.
So Yoongi packed up Yoona's mini backpack, complete with Nabi, a snack box shaped like a bunny, and two changes of clothes "just in case," and drove to HYBE with Rhea beside him.
"You're acting like you're leaving her in a war zone," Rhea teased as he double-checked Yoona's diaper bag.
"She's delicate," he muttered. "Don't let Jin feed her candy. She gets hyper. And Namjoon can't take her near the stairs. And Hoseok better not teach her dance moves."
Rhea tried not to laugh as she unbuckled Yoona, who immediately beamed when she saw the three uncles waiting in the HYBE lobby.
"Yoona-yah!" Hoseok squealed, crouching down with open arms.
"Do NOT teach her aegyo," Yoongi snapped as Hoseok lifted her.
Namjoon was already making mental lists of toddler-safe activities and quizzing Jin about baby-friendly snacks.
"She likes the cartoon with the dancing vegetables," Yoongi explained. "And don't let her nap past 2:30."
Rhea tugged his arm gently. "She's going to be fine."
Yoongi exhaled and nodded—still tense, still reluctant, but trusting.
And for the next three hours, he sat in the clinic holding Rhea's hand while she got her tests done, while she got lectured gently by the doctor, and while she rolled her eyes at him when he tried to ask questions like a paranoid grandpa.
He just wanted to be involved now.
He had missed too much.
But from that day on, he promised himself—he wouldn't miss another thing.
HYBE Headquarters, 11:47 A.M.
Yoona was perched on Hoseok's shoulders, one hand gripping his hair, the other clutching her sacred plushie Nabi, as she squealed at the sparkling chandelier above the lobby.
"Appaaa~!" she babbled, loud and clear.
A staff member passing by dropped her coffee.
"Did… she just call Hoseok Appa?"
Before Hoseok could respond, Yoona twisted around in his arms and pointed at Namjoon, excited. "Appa!!"
Then at Jin. "Appaaa!"
Jin didn't miss a beat. He nodded solemnly. "Yes. She's mine."
Several staff froze mid-step.
Someone from the marketing team whispered, "Wait… did Jin have a baby? Did Selena and he get married and have a baby that we didn't know about?"
"No way," someone else muttered. "It's probably for content. Like a new Jin and Baby cooking vlog or something."
"Should we call PR?"
But Jin was already spinning Yoona around gently in a circle, cooing in that soft baby-voice no one expected from him: "You wanna go to the cafe with Uncle Jin? Hm? Let's get some lunch and trick your uncles into eating baby puffs again."
HYBE Café, 12:13 P.M.
Disaster struck at the sight of a glass display filled with cheesecake slices. The pink strawberry one sparkled under the lights like a forbidden treasure.
Yoona stared.
And pointed.
"Naaa~!" she demanded.
"Wait, wait," Namjoon crouched down, adjusting her bib, suddenly panicked. "Is that dairy? Is she lactose intolerant?"
"She's a baby!" Jin hissed. "She can't eat cheesecake!"
"She has teeth!" Hoseok countered. "She's practically thirty."
"She's one!"
"Technically," Namjoon added, "she's one year and two months. But can we feed her this? I don't wanna be the reason Yoongi kills us."
Yoona's lip trembled.
Her little finger pressed to the glass.
And then—
Chaos.
One second, they were debating food groups.
The next, Yoona was wailing.
Not just crying. Betrayal sobbing.
The entire café turned to the three grown men frozen mid-panicked huddle around a toddler who had just been denied a strawberry cheesecake.
"I told you!" Hoseok hissed. "Get her something before she thinks we're the worst!"
"Wait, maybe she likes chocolate?" Namjoon said, already speed-walking to the counter.
"Get every flavor!" Jin barked, pulling out his card.
Five minutes later, their table was an explosion of mini cakes: strawberry, chocolate, mango, matcha, even a tofu cheesecake no one asked for.
Yoona sniffled once.
Saw the lineup.
Then—gleeful giggles.
"Appaaa~!" she chirped, poking Jin's cheek with her fork.
The staff at the counter blinked in disbelief. "Is this a show? Is this… real?"
In the background, Hoseok was trying to feed her like an airplane while Jin made "choo choo" train noises, and Namjoon read the nutritional label on each cake like a legal document.
Later, 2:50 P.M.
Yoongi arrived.
He took one look at his child's frosting-smeared face, the army of empty dessert boxes, and his three grown friends huddled on the couch, exhausted like they had just run a marathon.
"I said no sugar."
Yoona waved at him. "Appaaaa~!"
Yoongi melted. Sighed. Picked her up. Kissed her forehead.
Then turned back to his brothers.
"I'm never leaving her with you three again."
"Too late," Jin muttered. "We've already bonded. She's naming her first cat after me."
Yoongi adjusted Yoona's tiny jacket as she nuzzled into his shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed. He turned back to the trio slumped on the couch, each one in some stage of spiritual depletion.
"…Thanks," Yoongi muttered. A rare, genuine note in his voice. "Really."
They all waved him off weakly like war veterans being thanked for service.
As the door clicked shut behind him, silence blanketed the HYBE lounge.
Namjoon was the first to speak, still staring at the chaos on the coffee table.
"…It literally takes a village to raise a kid," he said, voice hoarse.
Jin slumped further into the couch cushion. "I am the village. And the cemetery."
Hoseok let out a breathless laugh, head thrown back dramatically. "How does Yoongi do this every day? With his brooding face and soft voice? That child is like a pink whirlwind with opinions."
"Maybe he has natural talent," Namjoon mused, rubbing his temples.
"Or maybe," Jin said, eyes closed, "he's just been babysitting the three of us and the chaotic Trinity for so long he evolved."
There was a beat of silence.
Then:
"…Damn. That's actually kinda beautiful," Hoseok whispered.
Namjoon nodded solemnly. "Makes sense. Rearing three grown men with three young bloods emotional range and chaos energy probably prepared him for fatherhood."
"True," Jin added, cracking one eye open. "She cried exactly like you did when we hid your gummy bears, Joon."
"Shut up."
"She called me Appa first," Hoseok added smugly, reenergized just enough to gloat. "I'm winning."
"She called all of us Appa," Jin deadpanned.
"Yeah, but I got the shoulder ride," Hoseok smirked.
Namjoon groaned and stood. "I need electrolytes. And maybe a nap."
"Same," Jin muttered. "Let's write this day down in history. The day three men were brought to their knees by one toddler in pink socks and a stuffed cat."
"Long live Nabi," Hoseok saluted.
"Long live Yoona," Namjoon echoed.
They shuffled out in laughing on their own retorts, forever changed.