"So honey have you heard, Mark has a boyfriend" Marks mum says. "Who is the victim" Mark's dad comments.
"Mommmmm" Mark whines "he's not my boyfriend" he states ignoring his dad's joke. "What you say darling, Ash says you went out for dinner" she says with an eyebrow raised.
"That wasn't anything we went to McDonald's with the KIDS" Mark answers. "What you say" his mom says before trying to get his dad to give his opinion on it as well.
A couple of hours later Mark and Ash leave his parents home from their weekly Sunday family dinner and go back to their apartment where he immediately gets Ash ready for bed.
After putting Ash to bed Mark lies down on the couch and watches some tv. Bored with the uninteresting program he grabs his phone.
He got a text form Yukhei: "Do you have any idea what the kids are learning at school?"
"I think just regular preschool stuff" Mark answers frowning his eyebrows at the question.
The kids are four so Mark doesn't think it's that complicated.
"Well, I took Mei and said we were going to buy basil and coriander. She then asked me what that was, so I told her they were herbs. Then she asked me if we were buying weed. WEED MARK. Where did she learn that she is four. What does Taeyong learn our kids."
At that point Mark was laughing so hard he almost fell off the couch.
"Conspiracy theory: Taeyong is a drugs dealer and training them to be his little helpers" Mark sends back.
"Are you saying he is a drug Santa" Yukhei replies.
And that is how Mark ends his night with a smile on his face.
-----------------------
Mark walks out of his boss office internally swearing. His boss had given him extra work which meant he was never going to be done in time to pick Ash up from school.
He calls his parents but no one picks up. Annoyed he tries this mom's mobile number. "Hi, sweetie is there something wrong?
"How do you know?" Mark asks his mom happy that she picked up.
"Well if it wasn't some type of emergency you probably wouldn't call us why we were on our trip would you".
F*ck, the trip, he remembers his parents talking about it and curses at himself for forgetting it. What was he going to do now?
"No, I just wanted to tell you guys to have a good time I forgot that yesterday" Mark lies trying to sound like he hadn't forgotten.
"Okay thank you darling, tell Ash we said hi, now I need to go, bye" his mom says before she hangs up the phone.
In complete desperation the dials a certain number. "Yes" a deep voice answers.
"Hey, Yukhei I was wondering if you could maybe take Ash with you from school because my boss just gave me extra work so I'm not getting off soon and my parents are..." Marks starts rambling.
"Wow calm down, of course, I can take Ash with me, no problem. You did the same remember? There are no reasons to be stressed out." Yukhei says trying to calm Mark down.
"Okay, thank you" Mark says letting out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
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He is -of course- late when Yukhei makes his way through the hallways of the preschool. He enters the classroom where the kids and Taeyong are waiting.
He opens his mouth but before he can even say anything Taeyong has already interrupted him with:
"Yes I know you are taking Ashton home, Mark called about it". "Oh" is the only thing Yuhei manages to say back. To say he was surprised would be a lie.
"So about Mark" Taeyong starts, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Are you guys..."
Yukhei doesn't even need him to finish the end of that sentence because he already understands what the older man wants to say so he interrupts him this time saying
"Babysitting each other's kids if needed, yeah totally glad you noticed".
"That wasn't what I" Taeyong starts again. Yukhei takes a fake glance at the clock "Oh is it that late already, we must be going then" he says before collecting the kids and making them say bye.
Leaving with the speed of light and a set of thoughts in his head that would keep him busy for the rest of the afternoon.
After they left a man walks into the classroom sitting himself down next to Taeyong. Taeyong lays his head down on his shoulder. "So what is the state on mission Markhei?" Jaehyun aks. "Denial" Taeyong answers and he chuckles.
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It was around dinner time when Mark finally parked his car in front of Yukhei's apartment building. He knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened.
"There you are, come in" Yukhei says greeting him with a smile. That made all the apologies he wanted to say for being so late seem unnecessary.
They walk into the apartment where the kids are stuffing their faces with food. "Do you want some" Yukhei asks. "Oh no you don't have to" Mark says.
"No you need to daddy, this is much better than the food you make" Ash says backstabbing him. "Well, thanks young man" Mark responds.
He sits down and they finish their food. Mark had to admit that Yukhei was indeed a good cook. Boyfriend material indeed.
After dinner, Mark tries to get Ashton to leave but he and Mei are having none of it. "Noooo dad said we would watch the lion king" Mei says.
"I did but you two decided to play a game instead" Yukhei said. "But can't we watch it now" Ash says.
Mei whispers something in Ashton's ear before they both fall on their knees, begging their parents to let them watch the movie. And who are they to say no to so much cuteness.
They get ready to sit on the two-person couch, but the problem is that neither Ashton nor Mei wants to sit in their parent's laps.
"Mei just come over here" Yukhei says getting tired of them throwing a fit. "NO" Mei wines.
So Mark doesn't know what he's thinking when he hears himself say "Okay then I'll take up the offer" and he sits down in a now furiously blushing Yukhei's lap.
"This is okay right?, I'm just so done with their whining and I just want to get over with it" Mark says.
"Yeah yeah totally" Yukhei respond trying to focus on the movie instead of the beautiful brunette in his lap.
-----------------------
As a couple of hours have passed by Mark and Ashton get ready to leave.
Yukhei opens the door only to be hit in the face by snow. "What" Mark mutters looking at the huge pile of snow and the snow storm raging on outside.
"They people from the weather forecast should get fired, seriously" Yukhei says closing the door. Mark chuckles.
"You really can't drive in these conditions, so I think it would be the best if you guys stayed over" Yukhei says.
"What" Mark splutters out again. "Yeahhhhh sleepover" Mei screams as she runs through the tiny apartment, closely followed by an even harder screaming Ash.
"Is that okay with you?" Yukhei asks. Mark doesn't know how but he manages to blur out a yes.
Soon after that, they put Mei and Ash to bed with the excuse that a sleepover requires sleeping.
Mark wishes Ash a goodnight and kisses him on his forehead while he sees Yukhei doing the same on the other side of Mei's bed.
They watch some tv after that until it's time for them to go to sleep as well. "I'll sleep on the couch" Mark says.
Yukhei burst out laughing. "Mark you can't sleep on that small old thing" the latter says. "We can share my bed" he offers.
Mark wonders how he can say that so casually. If Mark had only known how much of a nervous wreck that question made Yukhei.
And Mark can't ever say no to those big brown eyes so he stutters an "O-okay" which is the answer that's the reason why he finds himself fifteen minutes later lying on one side of Yukhei's bed, Yukhei on the other side, dressed in some of Yukhei's spare clothes. -which smell really good by the way- trying to make sense of some of his thoughts and feelings until Yukhei breaks the silence by saying "So let's talk about that conspiracy theory of yours".
It makes Mark laugh so hard Yukhei has to press a hand over his mouth in order to not wake up the kids.
Which is the start of a night of weird ass theories and a lot of giggles until they eventually fall asleep, confusing thoughts and feelings forgotten for the moment.
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Hey guys, thanks for reading! I wanted to let you guys know that I'm working on a second Lumark fic which is going to be a pirate au. I hope all of you have a good day or night, whatever suits you timezone ;) Xxx your author.