Seungcheol ignored him, eyes dreamy. "Do you think he'd like a telescope? Or maybe a poem about gravitational waves and his smile?"
Cheol groaned so loud it probably registered on seismic detectors. "That's why Mom actually gets done with you sometimes. Gross, dad!"
Seungcheol snapped out of it for a second, blinking. "Gets done with me? Wait, wait-what do you mean by that?!"
"Nope." Cheol began walking away with purpose. "I said too much. I need to get back before Mom sees this mess and deletes me from existence."
Seungcheol scrambled up. "Hey! Come back here! What do you mean by 'gets done with me'?!"
Cheol only waved over his shoulder. "Pray you never find out, old man."
___
Seungcheol stood at the threshold of his room, arms flailing as he tried to push Cheol back toward the glowing hunk of metal and wires they both knew as the time machine. "Go. Back. Now."
"No!" Cheol yelled, feet dug deep into the floor like a stubborn mule. "You can't tell me what to do!"
"I literally can," Seungcheol grunted, shoving harder. "I am your dad."
"Unfortunately," Cheol muttered, folding his arms.
"You said your parents are about to get back home, right? Then get in! I don't wanna see a tear in the timeline just because you wanted to harass your high school-aged father!"
Cheol hesitated. "I'm still mad at you."
"I don't care!" Seungcheol snapped, panic rising. "You came back in time to mock me and almost outed yourself in front of my crush-MY CRUSH WHO APPARENTLY BECOMES YOUR MOM. Get in the machine!"
Cheol looked at the blinking lights, then back at his dad's flustered face. He let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. But only because I don't want to worry Dad-Mom, I mean. And I'm still pissed at you. Not him."
Seungcheol blinked.
That was the moment. The moment it fully registered.
His son had a super soft spot for his mom.
The kind of soft spot that went way beyond just respect-it was pure, starry-eyed devotion.
"You... really love your mom, huh?" Seungcheol asked softly, watching as Cheol stepped toward the machine.
Cheol paused, just at the edge of it. He turned back, raising a brow. "Uh, yeah? Of course I do. He's my mom. For a reason, duh."
Seungcheol stood there for a second, stunned.
"...Joshua," he whispered, completely, utterly gone again.
Cheol rolled his eyes as the machine flickered with life. "God, it's terminal."
Just as Cheol was about to step into the time machine and leave, Seungcheol's voice cut through the air.
"Can I tag along with you?" Seungcheol asked, his eyes sparkling with an innocent eagerness. "Just for a few minutes, I promise! I won't do anything wrong... just a sneak peek."
Cheol paused, narrowing his eyes at Seungcheol. He could tell exactly what was going through his dad's mind. That look... He knew Seungcheol's thoughts were racing towards someone-and he was certain it was that damn boy he couldn't stop thinking about.
"I know what you're thinking, and no," Cheol said flatly, crossing his arms. "No way. You're not coming with me."
Seungcheol's face fell dramatically. "But I-"
T.A.P. - Temporal Access Prototype - 2
Start from the beginning
