Archive of Our Own

Jisung sees the way his boyfriends are with children. He sees the adorable way Chan plays with his twin nieces, doting on them and protecting them – even if the only thing he’s protecting them from is themselves and their below average spatial awareness.

The way Hyunjin never fails to send him the most adorable baby videos on Tiktok, squealing about how their cuteness is giving him baby fever, and maybe he means it as a joke, but there’s no mistaking his fondness.

He sees Felix at the grocery store, when little kids stop to stare at his hair and makeup, which often ends in quite a few compliments and at least one comparison to either fairies or princesses, and the way Felix somehow simultaneously manages to both soften and brighten at their words. He’ll talk about those adorable encounters the rest of the day after they happen.

Seungmin and Jeongin are a little more subtle, but Jisung has seen them both smile at babies in strollers on the bus, sometimes even offering little waves, and they always stay somewhere nearby when Chan’s nieces are over. It was Jeongin’s idea to baby-proof their living room, and Seungmin is almost always the one to cut up fruit for the girls' snack time.

And Jisung sees the way Minho and Changbin, at their magic shop, are basically running a daycare at the same time, because when they’re not mixing potions or fixing cursed artifacts, there always seems to be a customer with a little kid there, and nine times out of ten, if the kid is old enough to run around, Changbin will play with them, and if they’re too little, Minho might offer to hold them while their parent is busy.

It’s adorable, and Jisung is more than a little nervous, because he’s not sure any of his boyfriends have ever considered the possibility he’s about to offer them – they’re eight men in a relationship with each other, of course they weren’t going to have biological children – but he sees the way they are with kids, and really, how hard can it be? There’s eight of them. That’s eight versus one tiny kid. They’d have every advantage possible.

So, at their next family dinner, Jisung brings it up, all in one quick sentence, before he can second guess himself too much.

“Uh, this might be really random, but I’ve been thinking, and I’d really like to raise a plant baby with you guys.”

Chan and Minho are still busy passing out plates, and in the bustle of the kitchen, Jisung worries he might not have been heard, but then Changbin turns to him with a grin. “Oh, yeah, sure! We have space in the garden, right?”

Jisung beams, before looking at everyone else. No one is looking at him, their eyes taken by the food, but they all give slight nods or hums of approval.

“Wanna go to a plant shop tomorrow?” Seungmin asks, reaching across the table for the rice bowls Chan just put down. “I can go with you.”

Jisung is quick to wave him off.

“Tomorrow is too soon!” he protests. “I need to research the best seeds, that’s gonna take at least a week!”

He almost huffs out loud at Seungmin’s preposterous suggestion, but figures he can’t be too upset with them. They’re just witches, after all. They don’t understand the importance of seed selection when it comes to making a baby.

Seungmin just shrugs at his outburst.

“Alright”, he drops it easily enough. “But I can still go with you, if you want. Just tell me when.”

Jisung beams at him and nods.

“A new plant would be nice”, Minho adds, also without looking at Jisung, as he scoops some stew onto a plate. “It would definitely liven up our house a bit.”

A bit might be an understatement, Jisung thinks, but then again, all plants start as seeds. They won’t kick up too much trouble right from the beginning.

He doesn’t understand how they can be so casual about this; Jisung himself is almost vibrating off his seat in excitement, brain already pulling up all the different plant species that are compatible with dryad life. As far as he knows, it won’t have any big effects on their development, but in their younger years, before they learn how to eat human food, it might impact their sun and water needs.

Like Jisung said, there’s a lot of research to get done.

–

Felix smiles to himself, nodding at Jisung’s rambles.

It’s been two weeks since he brought up the idea, and he’s barely stopped talking about it since. At this point, all of them know more about indoor plants than they ever thought they would, and it’s all thanks to their dryad boyfriend, who spends many hours reading about plants online and then infodumps on the rest of them over dinner. It’s quite adorable, if Felix is being honest with himself. Jisung gets so animated, and what’s more, he seems to want their input on every little thing: Are dracaena prettier than sansevieria? Is it okay with a plant that wants water thrice a day?

When the moment finally comes, and he announces that tomorrow is the day they’ll purchase the seeds, Felix is slightly disappointed that the daily rants are going to end. But hey, at least Jisung isn’t going to jump out of the bed in the middle of the night because he had a sudden revelation about something plant-related and needs to look it up immediately!

…oh, who is he kidding, Jisung will still be doing that. Just not for plant species.

“The species is called aglaonema”, Jisung informs them all solemnly, while scrolling through pictures on his phone, taking it around for everyone to make sure they get a look at the plant. “If I plant the seeds immediately when we get home, it should only be two or three weeks until I can take them out of the earth!”

Felix isn’t entirely sure what he’s planning to do with this plant, but assumes it’s another dryad thing. Jisung has always been particular about their houseplants. Felix isn’t going to impose on his rituals, just like Jisung doesn’t bother them when they hang moon catchers in every window, or leave cauldrons on the stove for weeks at a time. They’d never have survived an inter-species relationship for this long if they got on each other’s nerves about every little thing.

“That sounds great!” Felix comments, throwing his arms around Jisung, effectively trapping the dryad in his embrace. Jisung huffs, but relaxes.

“Enjoy this while you can”, Jisung grumbles, but the way he turns to putty in Felix’s arms kind of diminishes the pouty expression on his face. “Tomorrow, I’ll be too busy with the plant to cuddle!”

And Felix hears him, loud and clear, which is why he spends the rest of the evening – which just so happens to be a Friday movie night – clinging onto Jisung throughout the entirety of Deadpool 2.

Well, except for the end of it. By that point, the whole room has dissolved into one giant make-out session, any talk of houseplants or plant babies put aside for now.

–

Minho drops his keys on the dresser, sharpening his ears.

“Hello?” he calls out, shrugging his jacket off and hanging it on the shelf by the door. “Anyone home?”

He gets no immediate response, but that doesn’t mean much. Changbin and Hyunjin are still at the magic shop, where Minho left them, and Jeongin has classes, but everyone else might be around somewhere, too deep in their work to hear him, perhaps wearing headphones, or out in the backyard where his voice doesn’t carry.

A peek through the open doorway into the kitchen shows it being empty, and Minho continues down the hallway to the living room, where he stops, clicking his tongue in disappointment. The blankets and pillows are all over the place, and he vaguely recalls Jeongin promising that he was going to tidy up before class today. Clearly, he overestimated his ability to wake up on time. The living room is still the same mess it was last night.

He crosses the room toward the furthest wall, where one opening leads to the staircase to the second floor, and the closed door next to it into a spare bedroom turned music studio, for Chan, Changbin and Jisung. A knock on the door raises no response, but when Minho pushes the door open, he sees a figure sitting in front of a screen, his back to the door. Minho huffs, leaning his hip against the doorframe to watch.

Chan is obviously deep into his work, too focused to notice Minho’s arrival, and Minho is in no rush to make his presence known. He quite enjoys watching Chan in his natural habitat.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually Chan shifts, and he must catch sight of Minho out of the corner of his eye or something, because he turns to look behind himself, mouth quirking up into a smile once he spots who it is.

“Minho!” he exclaims, reaching up to pull off his headphones. “I didn’t notice you. Have you been there for long?”

Minho grins. “Oh, just an hour or two.”

“Yeah, sure.” Chan scoffs, then tilts his head. “Changbin and Hyunjin still at work?”

“Yep. Let’s hope the shop still stands when those two are done.” He finally steps over the threshold, crossing the room and leaning down to let Chan kiss him on the cheek. “Are you home alone?”

Chan pulls him down, onto the chair with him, and Minho lets himself be manhandled onto Chan’s lap.

“Seungminnie and Hannie got back a while ago”, he murmurs against Minho’s neck, and Minho feels a pleasant shiver run up his spine at the sensation. “Seungmin’s been locked in his room since then, I think he’s writing. Said not to disturb him.”

Chan gently noses up the length of Minho’s neck, and Minho squirms in his lap, feeling the way his ass rubs against Chan’s thighs at the motion and barely managing to hold back a moan.

“How- how’d it go with Sungie’s plant?” he forces out, trying to retain some semblance of awareness, even as Chan’s fingers are working their way up his sides, toward his chest.

“Mmm”, Chan hums, gently nipping at the junction right by Minho’s collar, between his neck and shoulder. “Made it home alright. Took the seed out to plant it.”

Minho tilts his head to give Chan better access, any semblance of coherency quickly slipping away from him. He shifts again, trying to turn to face Chan.

“Hyungs come quick!”

Chan and Minho both startle, knocking their foreheads together, and Minho leans back with a groan. “Ow!”

But the panic in Seungmin’s voice is unmistakable, and so Minho is quick to get off Chan’s lap, silently bemoaning the interruption while worrying about what might have Seungmin shouting in such a way. He’s normally one of the calmer people around here. Not much fazes him.

When they step out of the music room, the first thing Minho notices is that the door to the backyard has been thrown wide open, curtains lifting from the floor in the breeze. Exchanging a quick look with Chan, they head towards it, necks craned to try and get a look of Seungmin, wherever he is.

“Seungmin?” Chan raises his voice, stepping out onto the grass in nothing but his socks. “Seungmin, what’s wrong?”

Minho follows him out, and his eyes immediately fall on the bushes at the edge of their yard. There, on the ground right in front of the wild bushes separating their backyard from the forest behind it, Seungmin is crouched next to an unmoving shape on the ground. With another startle, Minho recognizes it as Jisung.

“Hannie!” he shouts, ignoring the dirt that clings to his socks as he rushes across the yard alongside Chan, whose full attention is also taken by the boys on the ground.

Seungmin looks up as they approach, eyes wide and panicked, and the older two fall to the ground right next to him, uncaring of their knees getting stained. Up close, it becomes clear that Jisung isn’t awake, but seems to have passed out, laying on his stomach on the bare ground. His one hand is burrowed into the earth from the wrist up, mud and dirt staining his forearm. And what’s more…

“Why is he green?” Chan asks, hands hovering over Jisung’s body as if he’s afraid to touch. “I thought that was only when they’re born! Why is his skin tinted?”

“I don’t know!” Seungmin panics, looking like he’s half a second away from ripping his own hair out. “He was just supposed to plant the seeds we bought, I don’t know what happened!”

Minho’s eyes trail down to Jisung’s hand again. Well, he got the seeds into the earth, that’s for sure. Why his hand is still connected to them makes no sense though.

“It looks like he’s connecting to the earth”, Minho points out, voice sounding much calmer than he feels. “Magically, I mean.”

“But is he okay?!” Chan frets, finally settling a hand down on Jisung’s lower back, though it doesn’t stir the boy in question. He looks relaxed, like he’s sleeping. If he didn’t have his hand buried in the earth – and currently had green skin – Minho would’ve thought he was just napping.

“Should we call in an expert?” Seungmin asks.

It’s a reasonable suggestion. Since dating Jisung, they’ve all had to learn their fair share about dryads as a species, aside from the Jisung-specific information, but there are still things they don’t know about. Probably always will be, because as much as they try to understand one another, they’ll never be dryads.

“A dryad doctor?” Chan suggests, gently rubbing at Jisung’s lower back. The dryad doesn’t even react. “Maybe he’s sick.”

“If he was sick, the earth would heal him”, Minho protests, because he might not know everything about dryads, but he does know that much. After trying to keep Jisung in bed one too many times while he’s been sick, he’s learned that it’s much better to surround the dryad with as much natural life as possible. Outdoors is the best place for him to recover. “But if this was a normal illness, he shouldn’t be passed out, so maybe…”

A noise from inside the house has all of their heads snapping up to listen.

“Hey, where is everyone?”

Relief washes over Chan’s face, but it’s short lived before the worry returns.

“Felix, out here!” he calls out, and a moment later, Felix comes stepping out through the back door. His eyes find them immediately, crinkling into a smile, before he notices their position. He stops and tilts his head.

“Are you guys okay?” he asks, then he notices the dryad on the ground. “Jisung!”

Felix stumbles over, sinking to his knees on Jisung’s other side, opposite the other three. Unlike Chan, he doesn’t hesitate. His hands go straight to Jisung’s free arm, grabbing hold of his hand. Then he notices where Jisung’s other hand is, and he pauses. Stares. Shakes his head.

“What?” Minho asks, watching Felix’s reaction. “What is it?”

“Was he planting seeds?” Felix asks, sounding strangely hesitant.

Minho narrows his eyes. “You know something.”

It’s not a question; Felix’s reaction has all but confirmed it. As expected, Felix gives a small inclination of his head, the barest nod possible.

“Uhm, well, I might”, he says. Then, his eyes go wide. “Oh. Ohmygods. He literally told us what he was going to do, and none of us realized. Oh gods, we’re so stupid!”

“What?” Seungmin asks, leaning forward. “What is it?”

Felix’s eyes shift to look over at them.

“Uhm, well…” he starts. “Apparently, this is how dryads give birth…?”

Minho blinks. Then he blinks again.

Then it sinks in.

“Give birth?!” he shouts, distantly noticing the two boys beside him make similar exclamations of shock and surprise. “Hannie is giving birth right now?!”

Felix’s wide, panicked eyes are all he can focus on as the other boy tries to wave him off.

“No, no, not like that! Please calm down, guys, I’ll explain, just calm down!”

It takes a minute, during which they all shift closer to Jisung on the ground, forming a protective barrier around the dryad, even though Minho can’t find any physical differences in their boyfriend, sans the green hue to his skin. He’s obviously not pregnant, it shouldn’t even be logically possible, but what does Minho know? He’s never even thought about how dryads are born, assuming it was the same as for any other species.

“Okay, so, dryads are half-plant, right?” Felix starts, now that they’re quiet, all three watching him intensely. Felix licks his lips. “Right, so, to make a baby dryad, I don’t know the specifics, but you take a seed and then sort of… fuse your magic into it? And then it’s supposed to grow underground until it’s ready to bloom.”

Their eyes fall to Jisung on the ground. His chest is rising and falling lightly, clearly still alive, though there’s not much besides that they can say for certain.

“Oh.” Seungmin sounds like he’s come to some life-altering revelation, and Minho turns aside to look. He’s staring down at Jisung. “So that’s why he wanted the seeds.”

“He’s planting a baby?” Chan asks, turning to Felix for clarification. Felix nods. “He’s planting a baby”, Chan repeats to himself, then he panics. “Ohmygosh, he’s planting a baby! There’s going to be a plant baby!”

Their second round of panic is much more intense, and a hell of a lot louder, than the first one.

At least now they know what they’re in for.

–

Changbin stares across the table at Chan, Minho, Seungmin and Felix. None of them look like they’re joking, but they have to be, right? They’re in a polyamorous relationship with eight men. Seven witches, and one dryad. There’s no way for any of them to have biological children without involving someone else, right?

“According to the book about dryads I just skimmed through very quickly”, Seungmin speaks, “Jisung should be in the yard for the next two to three weeks, while the seed grows. But actually, there’s only a 20% chance of success with the seed fertilizing, so it’s kind of impressive that this is happening at all, but if it fails at any point, or stops growing for whatever reason, he should wake up immediately, so at least there’s that.”

Someone tugs at his hand under the table, and Changbin's fist is pried open, even though he'd been unaware that he even curled it up in the first place. A quick glance beside him shows Hyunjin, offering him a small comforting smile, before looking forward again.

“So you’re saying Jisungie is currently giving birth to a dryad baby?” Changbin asks, looking between Seungmin and the other three.

This is certainly not the news Changbin was expecting to come home to. Aside from being utterly unbelievable, it’s not actually too bad. He’s always liked kids. He just can’t reconcile the image of him and the rest of his boyfriends as parents with the idea of a green little plant baby. Honestly, he thought Jisung would have at least brought this up with them before going ahead and having a baby all by himself in the backyard.

He’s about to say that, but before he can open his mouth, his thoughts get interrupted.

“Wait”, Jeongin exclaims, leaning forward in his seat on Changbin’s other side, eyes wide. “Is that what he meant when he said he wanted to have a plant baby with us?!”

Oh gods. Jisung did bring it up with them. And they even accepted it, all of them did! Of course Jisung wouldn’t question it further; he thought they knew what he was asking.

“Oh my gods”, Changbin breathes out, feeling like the whole world is going out of focus. This is a lot to take in. But first and foremost: “Is Jisung okay?!”

He looks between Minho and Chan, panic creeping up on him, but is relieved by the relaxed looks on their faces. Neither of them look like they’re freaking out much, but they’ve had some hours to process this. Changbin, Hyunjin and Jeongin only just found out.

“He’s unconscious in the backyard”, Minho states bluntly. “But for a dryad, that’s pretty normal, so yeah, he’s fine. We’re calling a doctor over, though, just to make sure.”

“If his seed grows big enough to come alive, he should be waking up within three weeks”, Chan continues, a gentle smile on his face. “Minho already ordered, like, fifty baby dryad books online.”

“I panicked, okay!” Minho exclaims, but Chan just laughs, putting his arm around the other and pulling him to his side.

“I know, I know, I’m just teasing. I’m sure we’ll all be scouring those baby books for information the moment they arrive.”

“We need to make a list”, Changbin realizes, staring blankly in front of himself. His hand has gone limp in Hyunjin’s. “Oh gods, we only have three weeks! We need to buy a crib, and oh my gods, what do dryad babies even eat? What do babies need?”

“That’s what I got the baby books for, you dumbass”, Minho retorts, but Changbin is too agitated to take the bait. They don’t have time to argue right now, there’s a baby coming!

And just like that, their panic turns to planning.

–

Once they’ve had a dryad doctor confirm Jisung’s health, and that yes, there is a fertilized seed growing in the earth right where his hand is buried, the house is thrown into chaos. Baby-proofing the house, buying furniture, rearranging the guest bedroom into a nursery, researching strollers and car seats, it takes up every minute of their days now.

Maybe this was unexpected news – to be fair, Jisung did tell them, but it’s not like any of them understood – but everything is falling into place with surprising ease.

They set up a floorless tent in the backyard around Jisung, to protect him from wind and rain while letting him stay connected to the earth, and cover him with soft blankets to keep him warm throughout the nights. They even move their entire dining table into the backyard, so they can be close by in case anything happens. Growing a seed isn’t nearly as dangerous as a regular pregnancy, but there’s still a ton of reasons it could go wrong, and while it carries no risk to Jisung, they’d still like to be there if he wakes up prematurely. It would mean the seed has “died” – not that it ever got a chance to be alive – and while harmless to Jisung, it might devastate him, emotionally.

The doctor tells them that after the first three days, when the most precarious phase is over, Jisung should be waking up for a few minutes every day, and while he’ll be tired and dazed, he should be lucid enough to talk. That’s a relief. They’ve already listed close to a dozen of things they want his input on: colors for the nursery, whether he wants to raise the dryad on a water or milk-based diet, name suggestions… Aside from the regular questions about how he’s feeling, if he can sense the baby yet, and tons of other things they haven’t bothered to write down.

They’re all in the backyard, sitting around the dinner table, the first day it happens.

“Hello?”

Jisung’s voice is weak and tired, but they almost knock the whole table over in their rush to get into the tent. It’s not technically big enough to house them all, but when it comes to personal space, they’re experts at defying expectations. Somehow, they all fit themselves into the small space surrounding Jisung, all managing to touch him in some way: A hand rubbing his back, another cradling his cheek, a third brushing the hair out of his face. It’s near impossible to tell where one person begins and another ends, that’s how close they are. Jisung, if anything, seems to relax a little with his boyfriends all around him. Then, the questions start.

“How are you feeling?”

“Is the baby still growing?!”

“Are you comfortable? Do you want another blanket?”

“Do you need anything? Water? Food?”

Jisung blinks tiredly around at them, eyes moving from one person to the next, before he sighs and closes them again.

“‘m good”, he mumbles, already being pulled back under, going back to sleep. “So’s baby. G’night.”

–

After that, they decide to always have at least one person stationed in the backyard at all times. They carry out mattresses and blankets to sleep in the tent together, and Hyunjin magics the tent fabric so that it starts generating heat, keeping them warm throughout the night. It seems no matter how loud they are, Jisung remains blissfully knocked out – as proven by Minho’s and Changbin’s yelling contest one night when they can’t agree on whose turn it is to do the dishes – so that’s a relief.

It seems Jisung’s wake up time is always somewhere in the late afternoon, early evening, because in the following weeks, that’s when they catch him blinking his eyes open and mumbling to himself.

The second day he wakes up, Hyunjin and Jeongin are sitting in the tent, Jeongin scrolling on his phone while Hyunjin has a tray of beads on a tray next to himself, and is delicately painting them with glow-in-the-dark paint, one at a time. When soft grumbles break through the acoustic guitar music streaming out of Hyunjin’s phone, Hyunjin nearly drops the bead he’s holding. He’s quick to put the paint brush down, exchanging a mildly panicked look with Jeongin, who lowers his phone, before they both turn to Jisung on the ground.

Jisung is slowly blinking his eyes open, fixing them on the grass right in front of his face, then he stiffens. His shoulders pull up, and his body goes taut. Hyunjin’s heart stutters in his chest.

“Hannie?” he tries, searching Jisung’s face for any hint of what’s wrong. “Is everything okay?”

Making no move to respond, Jisung instead flexes his arm, the one with the hand stuck under earth. Hyunjin’s eyes follow the movement, concerned. Is Jisung sensing something wrong with the seed? Is that why he woke up today, because the seed stopped growing?

Seungmin’s foreboding words echo in his head. Only a 20% chance of success, if it fails Jisung should wake up… Jisung has woken up. They’d assumed it was for his daily few minutes of being awake, but what if it’s not? What if it’s because the seed failed?

“I planted three seeds”, Jisung starts speaking suddenly, not looking at either of them, his eyes fixed on his own wrist where it disappears into the dirt. He sounds hurried. “There’s a really low chance the seeds make it, so I planted three, just so hopefully one would take…”

He trails off. Hyunjin and Jeongin lean forward, hanging onto his every word. No one else had been around when Jisung actually planted the seeds, none of them know how it was done.

“And?” Jeongin urges.

Jisung shakes his head. “Uhm, two of the seeds didn’t take… I could feel that when I woke up yesterday. But the third one did.”

“And it’s still growing?” Hyunijn asks hopefully, eagerly. He knows that if it did, their time with Jisung is limited, before he falls back asleep, but he wants to know as much as Jisung can tell them about their little seed before that happens. It sounds like there should be a plant baby growing down there, preparing to join their family soon.

Jisung finally moves his gaze from his own arm, turning his head to meet Hyunjin’s eyes. There’s the barest hint of excitement in the way they’re slightly wider than usual, the look of wonder covering his tired face.

“It split”, Jisung says, and Hyunjin has no idea what to make of that – is it good news? Bad? “I can feel it, the seed split!”

He sounds excited, so it must be good news. Hyunjin can’t stop the corners of his own mouth from turning up, even if he doesn’t really get what that means.

“Is that a good sign?” Jeongin wonders, sounding just as confused as Hyunjin is feeling.

Jisung’s eyelids are already drooping, sleep clearly fighting to pull him back under, and he relaxes against the ground again, but not before getting out a few final words.

“It means there’s two”, he mumbles with a small smile. “Split seed. Identical twins.”

And then he’s out again. It takes a moment, then another, before the news sink in.

“We’re having twins?!”

–

The house is in an uproar for the next couple of days. All the strollers they’ve already looked at, the preliminary plan they had for the nursery, it all gets scrapped, and they start all over again, now looking at twin strollers, and planning for a nursery with two cribs instead of just the one.

“Will we know the genders before they’re born?” Chan wonders, as the three oldest work on clearing out the guest room of all the furniture already in there. “I mean, not that we’re gonna subscribe to gender roles either way, but just, is it possible to know? And do we wanna actively defy gender roles, with like, dresses if they’re boys or a blue room if they’re girls? Like…”

“Chan, chill”, Minho orders, cutting Chan off. “Ask Seungmin, he has the books right now. But the dryads won’t be like human babies when they’re born. They’re less developed. Plus, they’ll be green. As far as colors go, I think matching the green is more important than gendering colors.”

Chan breathes out slowly, nodding along. “Right. Right, you’re right. I’m just a little panicked right now. I mean, they’ll be here in less than two weeks.”

“Just a little panicked?” Changbin echoes from where he’s trying to drag the simple desk through the room all on his own. Minho hurries over to help, grabbing the other side and lifting.

“They need food, and clothes, and a place to sleep when they’re born”, Minho states as they turn to navigate through the open doorway, carrying the desk between them. “And diapers. That’s it. Everything else, we can get once they’re here. And there’s eight of us, so it’s not like we’re short on people.”

“We should also have names for them”, Chan points out, hovering anxiously behind the other two, watching as they lower the desk into the hallway right outside the room. They haven't decided what to do with it, so for now, their hallway is working as a storage space. “I mean, that’s not needed immediately, but we should probably have at least an idea.”

“Alright, let’s all be in the tent tonight, then, and we can talk baby names”, Minho suggests, brushing his hands against each other. “It’s either gonna be two boys or two girls. At least we know that much.”

“They’re gonna be Hans, right?” Changbin voices, looking between the other two. “For the family name, I mean. Since Hannie is the one growing them, and they’ll be the same species as him, it’s more convenient to give them his name, right?”

Minho blinks at him. “I honestly hadn’t even considered anything else.”

Changbin huffs. “Guess that answers my question.”

That evening, they’re all crowded into the tent once more, even before Jisung wakes up. They’re throwing names around, and somewhere, there’s supposed to be a list where they can write the most popular ones, but honestly, none of them have any clue where that list went. It was on the ground by Jisung’s feet ten minutes ago. It’s not there anymore. Oh, well.

“Sangwoo and Gihun!” Changbin yells out at one point.

“Those are Squid game characters!” Minho yells back, practically doing acrobatics across the tent so he can smack Changbin over the head. “You’re just brainrotted, we’re not naming our babies that!”

“Daeho is unironically a kinda cute name”, Hyunjin chimes in from where he’s splayed all over Jeongin, clinging to him like a koala while the younger boy whines about it. “Or Jungbae! That could also be cute!”

“I don’t wanna name our kids after death and depression!” Felix protests, almost elbowing Seungmin in the stomach in his attempt to sit upright. “Squid game is death and depression. Scrap that idea!”

“Okay, what if we mash up our own names?” Changbin suggests, now with Minho’s hand on his head – after smacking him, Minho had burrowed his fingers in Changbin's hair and is now scratching his scalp pleasantly. How that switcharound happened, no one can be entirely sure. “Like, if it’s boys, then we mashup the oldest four of us, and for girls, the youngest four?”

“What would that even sound like?” Hyunjin asks, scrunching up his nose and leaning forward over Jeongin’s shoulder. “For boys, Chanmin, and… Changjin? Hyunbin? No, I don’t like those.”

“Are we going based on meaning, or just whatever sounds nice?” Jeongin chimes in, trying to push Hyunjin further off himself, but only managing to make the older cling on tighter. He pouts. Hyunjin coos and tries to pinch his cheeks, and he yelps, leaning away.

“Whatever’s cute”, Seungmin replies. “Also, do we want the names to match? Like, same first syllable, or something?”

Minho rolls his eyes. “They’ll already be matching in everything else. Let them have their own identities, at least!”

“Eunjung?” Chan suggests, frowning down at his lap, and oh. That’s where the list went. He’s still holding it in his lap. “Jiwoo? That could be either boy or girl.”

“Eunjung and… Youngsoo?” Felix suggests, looking around at everyone else. “Then no one’s syllables get used, so it’s fair.”

No one objects, so it gets jotted down on the list.

“And girls?” Chan asks, looking up again, right in time for an eighth voice to join their discussion.

“Are you talking about baby names?” a muffled voice asks.

Several people shriek and lean over to look at the newly awoken dryad.

“Jisung!”

“Hannie!”

“What do you think about Eunjung and Youngsoo for boys?” Chan raises his voice to ask over the commotion, craning his neck to make eye contact with Jisung, who blinks up at him.

“Oh, uhm… that’s cute. I like it.”

He doesn’t sound entirely convinced, but he also looks a little overwhelmed at having woken up to seven other people crammed into a tiny space on every side of him, leaving him no personal space at all.

“I have an idea for girls”, Changbin speaks up, and all eyes turn to him. “But they’re both based on Ji, so I don’t know, maybe that’s not “fair”, or whatever…”

Chan exchanges another look with Jisung – who looks really, really exhausted, even though he just woke up and has been asleep for almost a week straight at this point – and offers a small smile.

“I think that’s okay”, he says, quickly getting everyone else’s agreement. “What’s your idea, Binnie?”

–

They go with a purple and green theme for the nursery, painting the walls a soft, meadow green, while the light wooden cribs get purple blankets, and Jeongin decorates the window with a purple dreamcatcher. It’s very cute, even though they’ve already crossed the two-week mark since the seeds were planted by the time they finish the room, which is kind of last minute, but the babies aren’t out of the earth yet, so there's still time.

Chan has been working on his laptop in the garden all morning, and at noon, he finally gets up and stretches, casting a quick glance at the tent before heading into the house to find someone else to take over the backyard shift. Some of them had gone to the grocery store, but he thinks Seungmin and Felix should still be around somewhere, maybe up in their rooms.

He makes it all the way to the bottom of the staircase before the cries start.

“They’re coming! They’re coming!”

Jiusng’s voice is yelling frantically, and Chan’s brain blanks for half a second before he pivots on the spot, rushing back the way he’d just come, socks almost slipping on the living room floor as he rounds the corner, jumping out the door and running across the yard.

Inside the tent, Jisung is sitting upright, in a somewhat awkward position, legs still angled behind himself even as both his hands are buried in the earth where the right one has been for the past two weeks, and he’s digging through the dirt, fast, but still careful. Chan sinks to his knees beside him, hands hovering over the ground where Jisung is working.

He doesn’t even get a chance to ask what to do before Jisung is speaking – more like crying out:

“They’re starting to breathe, we need to get them out, or they’re going to suffocate!”

That’s all it takes; Chan shoves his hands into the earth right alongside Jisung, the rest of the world going quiet to him, and all he can focus on is the feel or dirt against his fingers, slipping underneath his nails.

“Careful!” Jisung warns, still digging. “They’re really small, so if you pull them, their necks could snap.”

No one has prepared Chan for this experience, and a cold sweat breaks out over his body, but removing his hands is not an option, not with the knowledge that their babies might suffocate if they don’t dig them up soon. Chan’s heart is hammering in his chest, and his hands shake, but busy as they are with shoveling dirt, he barely notices.

“I’ve got one!” Jisung shrieks what feels like an eternity later, and Chan’s eyes immediately seek out Jisung’s hands, finding the younger brushing dirt aside, no longer going in with his fingers first, but rather sweeping with his whole palm.

Chan notes his method and tucks it away for later, no time to question whether it’s necessary, or why, but knowing that he doesn’t want to, he can’t do anything wrong right now, because the babies depend on it.

Right as something small and round becomes visible under Jisung’s sweeping hand, specks of dirt layered across a green ball, Chan’s own hands touch something warm underneath the dirt, and he pauses. Then he realizes what it is.

“I’ve got the second one!” he cries out, immediately swapping to the technique he’d seen Jisung do, palming his hands and starting to sweep the dirt, rather than digging through it. His pulse is frantic, but he tries not to rush, tries not to think about the seconds passing by, every one bringing them closer to either baby suffocating beneath the earth.

Beside him, Jisung lifts something out of the earth, and at first, it just looks like a muddy rock, but then Chan notices the shape, much shorter than a human baby, but with the same distinct arms and legs, and his heart jolts with relief when the baby opens its mouth to cry.

But he doesn’t have time to celebrate for too long, as Jisung does his best to clean the baby off and lifts it to his own chest, because under Chan’s hand, two tiny ovals are becoming visible, the same green color as its sibling, and Chan freezes.

Jisung gasps. “She’s upside down. Oh my gods, you can’t pull her feet, you have to get your hands underneath so you can secure her head…”

Chan very distantly notes the pronoun, but he can’t spare much attention for the accidental gender reveal, because he still has a baby to get out, and by the way her sister is crying, this one must also be trying to breathe down there, and they’ve only got minutes, maybe seconds, to get her above ground.

Chan sticks both hands into the dirt, on either side of the two tiny feet, and then, once he feels the baby’s head right beneath his fingertips, he scoops up a whole handful of dirt, and hopes that it’s enough to keep the baby safe as he dislodges it from the ground.

As soon as his hands are up in the air again, a lot of the dirt falls off his hands, cascading down onto his lap, but the baby’s face is still covered in dirt, and before Chan can try to rearrange his hold on it, Jisung is there, wiping dirt from the baby’s face with one hand, the other still holding her sister against his chest. He focuses first on the mouth and nose, trying to clear the way for her to breathe.

And finally, the second girl’s face becomes visible, but her eyelids are closed, and her mouth doesn’t open to scream, like her sister had done.

Chan’s heart sinks, his breath knocked out of him. He stares at the tiny, green figure on his hands, barely spanning the width of them both, way shorter than a human baby, and his heart aches. She’s not screaming, she’s not moving…

"No, no, no…" Jisung whispers. "Come on, baby…"

Then, her nose scrunches up. It wrinkles her entire face, and Chan’s heart almost stops again, eyes unblinking as he stares down at the tiny little baby. He doesn’t have any free hands to check for a pulse, the baby laying across both of his palms, and Jisung is still holding the first girl, but maybe he’d checked when he was brushing her off?

Her lips part, and she lets out an ear piercing wail, ten times louder than her sister, and Chan can’t stop from wincing, wishing he had a second set of hands so he could cover his ears.

Jisung, meanwhile, sighs in relief.

“Her lungs are strong”, he comments, raising his voice to be heard over the cry. “She’s gonna be okay. They both are.”

–

By the time Felix and Seungmin make it out to the tent, they already have the girls – their daughters – swaddled in a blanket each, Jisung holding the first and Chan the second. The two stop right outside the tent, eyes wide as saucers, staring at their two boyfriends inside.

Noticing their eyes on him, Jisung smiles, an exhausted but genuine smile. “We got them out.”

Seungmin is the first to react. He gets down on his knees, right outside the opening to the tent, and stares between Chan and Jisung, and the babies in their arms. Then, he turns over his shoulder.

“Do you have your phone?” he asks Felix, who nods. “Okay, call the doctor.”

He turns back inside the tent, eyes immediately seeking out Jisung. He looks happy and relieved, but his arms are shaking as he holds the tiny babe against his own chest, though it’s so small, it can weigh no more than one or two pounds. He frowns, then beckons Felix to join him on the ground.

Felix just finishes typing on his phone, before pocketing it again. “I messaged the doctor.”

“Good.” Seungmin nods, then addresses Jisung. “Hey, Hannie? Would it be okay if Chan and Felix handled the babies for a bit? Let them lay on the grass a little?”

Jisung bites his lip, eyes flickering between the baby swaddled in his arm and Felix, who waits patiently, making no move to reach for the dryad, knowing it would most likely only stress him out more.

“Chan and Felix can take care of them for a moment”, Seungmin continues, making his voice extra gentle. “Just so I can take care of you, okay?”

Jisung hesitates for another second, but then he breathes out, and offers a nod. He doesn’t try to hold the baby out – with the way his arms are shaking, it’s unlikely he’d be able to, anyway. Instead Felix crawls inside, and carefully, very carefully, transfers the baby from Jisung’s arms to his own, cooing down at it all the while, even though it seems calm for now.

“She’s Jiyun”, Jisung mumbles in a low and hoarse voice, then clears his throat and tries again. “She’s Jiyun. That’s Minji.”

He nods at the baby in Chan’s arms, and both their other boyfriends grin, though Seungmin tries not to let himself get distracted from the responsibility he’s given himself, which is to make sure Jisung is fine. The babies will undoubtedly be very popular once the rest of their boyfriends come home, but Jisung has been laying on the ground for two weeks straight, and depleting his magic reserves constantly, even while sleeping. He’ll need just as much help as the babies, at least for now.

Ever so carefully, Chan and Felix make their way out of the tent, taking care not to trip or move so that it might disturb the babies in their arms, their daughters, and isn’t that an insane thought? Two weeks ago, Seungmin would have thought this whole situation impossible, but look at them now.

As soon as the two are out of the tent, Seungmin crawls in, and now that he doesn’t have a baby to focus on, it’s like Jisung collapses. His shaky arms are limp against his sides, and he’s slouching so much, he might as well lay down. Seungmin slips an arm around his shoulders, wordlessly urging him to lay down. It doesn’t take much to get Jisung to comply; he’s practically boneless at this point.

“There you go”, Seungmin breathes, helping straighten Jisung’s legs out, so they’re not stuck in that uncomfortable position beneath him. “How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted”, Jisung mumbles, eyelids drooping. “Like I was just brought back from the dead.”

Seungmin nods. “Makes sense. You’ve barely moved for two weeks, your body needs time to readjust itself to… well, everything.”

Just from looking at him, it’s clear that Jisung has lost some weight. Seungmin might have to enlist Changbin’s help in getting the boy’s muscles back to working properly, because it’s been so long since he even walked. There will definitely be quite a recovery period for him, but it’s lucky that their boyfriend is the most fitness-obsessed person there is, because he’ll probably jump at the chance to make a workout program for Jisung to reacquaint himself with his own body.

Minho, likewise, will probably jump at the challenge of meal planning. Theoretically, Jisung doesn’t even need to eat, he only needs water and sunlight, but he usually eats, anyway. It makes him less dependent on the weather. One day of rain, when you depend entirely on sunshine for nutrients, is equivalent to one week of starvation. It’s just not the most effective way to live, hence why Jisung prefers regular food. Plus, when he eats like humans, it sort of represses the chlorophyll in his body, giving his skin it’s usual honey color rather than the green hue it’s been for the past weeks.

“Do you wanna stay out here, or your bedroom?” Seungmin asks quietly.

Jisung peers up at him, considering.

“Outside?” he requests. “On the grass?”

Given his dryad nature, that’s probably the best place for him to recover. The earth will replenish his magic quicker than anywhere else.

“Alright”, Seungmin agrees, shuffling forward on his knees, ready to grab Jisung. “I’m going to put a featherlight spell on you, just for a minute, so I can take you outside and don’t risk dropping you.”

Jisung just hums, and Seungmin takes that as permission to cast the spell. He’s not a gym nerd, like some other people in this house, but he probably could have carried Jisung the short distance out of the tent on his own. He’d just rather not test that theory right now.

As he lifts Jisung in a bridal-style carry and takes him outside, he spots Chan and Felix with the twins some way off, sitting under the shadow of a tree, holding a baby each. It looks like a good place for Jisung to lay down too, so that’s where Seungmin takes them.

The second he’s back on solid ground, head slightly elevated against the trunk of the tree, Jisung holds his hands out to Seungmin with a pout, still shaking slightly. “Join us?”

Seungmin scoffs, but complies. There was never any question if he was going to sit down with them or not.

–

Once the doctor has confirmed the twins’ and Jisung’s health, as well as documented their birth, and the rest of their boyfriends have gotten to ogle and coo at the newborns, and everyone’s had a chance to settle, they have a barbeque in the backyard. Maybe throwing a celebration isn’t the best way to relax and recover from this huge shift in their family dynamics, but it’s not like they’re planning anything too wild. Just a nice, chill evening in the backyard. Chan and Minho are on cooking duty, with Jeongin assisting them, while everyone else takes turns holding the babies. The grill makes the air feel dry, so they’ve also brought out a humidifier to keep close to the babies, since their plant species prefers hot and humid environments.

Changbin has brought out his laptop and propped it up on the dining table, where he’s now researching the best exercises to start out with after long periods of inactivity. He’s taking his task very seriously. Minho, likewise, has already forced a ton of broth down Jisung’s throat – also after researching the best foods to start with after long periods of not eating.

The twins haven’t kicked up much of a fuss since they were brought out of the earth, but they’re still growing. They’ll have plenty of time to drive their parents crazy later. Some parts of their personalities have already peeked through: While Jiyun is perfectly content gurgling to herself, staring at everything around her, Minji is more vocal, and more than makes up for her sister’s quietness. It’ll be interesting to see if those traits stick around as they grow to show more of their personalities.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’ll let someone else hold you”, Seungmin chuckles as Minji starts scrunching up her face, in what they’ve already come to recognize as the buildup for a very loud cry. He passes her over to Jisung, who’s sitting right next to them, and she instantly settles once her skin comes into contact with Jisung’s. Seungmin pouts at her. “Oh, I see how it is. You only like your dad, no one else, huh?”

“I’m Jiyun’s favorite!” Felix declares from the opposite side of their wonky circle on the ground, holding the girl to his chest with a blinding grin. “She just told me so herself, I heard it!”

Hyunjin rolls his eyes, reaching out to pat Jiyun’s back while Felix holds her.

“No, she didn’t! I’m her favorite”, he argues. “She loves me so much, she even tried to eat my hair!”

Felix scoffs. “As if she hasn’t done that to me too.”

Once most of the meat has been grilled and everyone’s mostly settled down on the ground with a plate, ready to start eating – they’d decided to forego the table entirely and sit directly on the grass, for the benefit of their dryad – Jeongin sidles up to Chan by the grill, glancing over toward where Jisung is sitting near the humidifier with Minji in his lap.

“Are we going to tell him that we didn’t really know about the babies before he planted them?” he asks quietly.

Chan follows his gaze. Jisung is stroking down Minji’s face with one finger while singing softly to her, more quiet and gentle than they’ve ever seen him.

“Nah”, Chan decides, with a slight shake of his head. There’s no need to bring that up now. Instead, he smiles. “I mean, I wouldn’t change a thing, so it doesn’t really matter. Would you?”

Jeongin shakes his head so hard that his hair goes flying into his eyes, and Chan nods, bumping their shoulders together affectionately. He beams at their no-longer-youngest. “All’s well that ends well, right?”