"Okay, so this is the list. Yunho knows where to find what and... Yeah, that's it. We will be back around 8 pm okay?", Seonghwa shouldered Jongho's baby bag and checked for his keys again. Today's plan was going shopping for the kitchen and some clothes for Yunho, because his pants were, again, getting short. Other than that, the twins and Mingi had a play date rendezvous with some kids from kindergarten. Hongjoong had told Seonghwa that he wanted to talk to Yunho himself, that his son may be more comfortable if the 'loose' father talked to him about it. So, they agreed on splitting for today and let Yunho have a little privacy with his father. Parents' day was next week, Seonghwa would make sure to bring hell over their teachers for not noticing anything.
"Papa! Come on, we're going to be late!", Mingi yelled from outside. Agreeing yells from San and Yeosang followed close behind.
"Don't let them wait. We will be just fine", Hongjoong assured and kissed his husband goodbye.
Seonghwa nodded and smiled before bending down to Yunho. He cupped his cheeks and lightly pinched them. "While I'm gone you are the man in the house, na?", he joked and earned a faked gasp from Hongjoong but Yunho giggled in an agreeing manner. "Have fun, okay?" Seonghwa smiled and pushed back the sadness that came automatically. He couldn't blend out the thought that his son couldn't tell him that he wasn't feeling well. He kissed him on his forehead and stood up straight again, walking out where Jongho's stroller was standing. They waved goodbye and started walking to the playground. It was quite far and they didn't visit it that much. Much to the kids' displeasure but having privacy sometimes was a little hard and Seonghwa didn't what the boys to be exposed to the media. Of course, being the family of a well-known artist and at the time having the privilege of unconditional privacy wasn't something they could enjoy. There was no way on remaining unnoticed by the media but he sometimes wished there was. It wasn't that he completely disliked that Hongjoong was quite famous, quite the opposite because that meant his husband was loved by many, that his dream came true. But now and then some people were getting annoying and he was tried of filing lawsuits. It wasn't all bad, no, so many were so kind and respectful and had sense of personal space. He found them cute actually, how they would recognize them in public and just wave and smile excitedly. Or how some send presents for the kids to the label when it got revealed that another was on its way. Well, that got banned after Mingi's birth, Hongjoongs label didn't like that. Yes, a lot of them were really sweet to them but these little exceptions made a daily life hard.
"Can we get ice cream on the way?", San asked turning his head back to face his father.
"We can get ice cream with your friends later. Don't you think that would be a lot better?", Seonghwa responded while pushing the stroller. Wooyoung was tightly holding San's hand, while Yeosang and Mingi were running back and forth on the sidewalk. "Hey, no running here! We will be at the park soon, you can play there", Seonghwa sternly said and gave both of them a serious look.
Meanwhile, Hongjoong and Yunho had the house for themselves for the day. They decided to first clean up a little as that would make Seonghwa happy for sure and then went upstairs to change. They couldn't go grocery shopping in pyjamas. Hongjoong was done first so he went to check up on Yunho to see what took him so long. When he arrived in his room, he was Yunho laying out multiple pairs of jeans measuring which one was long enough. "You are growing so fast", Hongjoong sighed and went to help his son.
"One day I will be taller than you!", Yunho laughed. "They barely reach my ankles", he whined while eyeing his pants.
Hongjoong tilted his head to the side. "Well, this type of pants are in fashion right now, you can still wear them... But that way they look a little boring, don't you think?"
"My pants aren't boring!", Yunho responded a little offended and crossed his arms, making his father laugh.
"No, no. But what if we just make them look a little more... exciting?" Now, Hongjoong had Yunho's full attention. He grabbed the short pants and left the room, Yunho following close behind. "Here, take these and wait in the backyard. I'll be right back", he said giving Yunho his pants and then going through the house. They must be in the study. When he came back with his utensils, Yunho's eyes widened. "How about we make them look like new?", Hongjoong grinned while approaching his son with all the paint and brushes in his arms. A bug and wide smile appeared on the young boy's face, he was full with excitement.
The others finally reached the playground and were now searching for their date. The park was big and a little crowded, it would be a challenge to find them. Well, not for Mingi the moment they entered the park he spotted his friends and took off. "Mingi!", Seonghwa yelled but his son was already somewhere between the kids playing. "Yeosang please tell him that I'm sitting over there", he then sighed and pushed the stroller to the bench in the corner. When he sat down, his eyes scanned the playground, searching for his boys. He spotted them at the sandpit with Keonhee and Hwanwoong, the kids from their kindergarten. Wooyoung was with them and clinged onto San, so he was sure he wouldn't get lost. Wooyoung never let go of San, only with force but his older brother didn't care anyway. He liked cuddling the chubby younger whenever he had the chance to.
Just a minute later, the father of Keonhee found him too and they watched the kid's together, having a small talk on the side.
Meanwhile, at the Kims' house a little color chaos broke out. Yunho and Hongjoong where both stained with paint everywhere. They were done a little while ago and were cleaning up their utensils right now. During the painting and re-designing of Yunho's old pants joy was all over the young boy. It was so much fun to paint his old clothes with his father. "Okay it's getting a little late now. We have to wash up and go to the store before Papa is back!", Hongjoong hastily said and rushed his son up the stairs in the bathroom. With a wet washing cloth and soap Hongjoong rubbed off all the paint off of Yunho's face, hands and arms, then proceeded with washing up himself. "You go change, I'll be waiting for you downstairs, okay?"
Yunho nodded and was out of the bathroom the next moment. Hongjoong was waiting for him in the kitchen preparing a sandwiches as they had only eaten breakfast this morning and it was little before noon already.
When little feet came down the stairs and rushed into the kitchen by following the smell of food, a big contend smile appeared on Hongjoong's face. He loved seeing his eldest so happy, the boy had literally the sun in his smiles. Big eyes and fluffy hair, with a little thought to it, he looked like a little puppy. "They look so good, Daddy! Look!", Yunho said, proudly presenting his new-old pants. Now they looked like they were supposed to be a little shorter.
"They look great", he agreed and handed his son one of the sandwiches. While they ate, Hongjoong read over the list and planned how long it would take them to get everything, come back and put it away. "You know where to get what?", he asked Yunho while pocketing his keys and wallet before walking out.
"Yes! We first have to get the vegetables and fruits, they are the closest", his son answered and so, they started their little shopping tour around the area. Comes out Seonghwa is indeed a little picky about where to get which groceries. They started with the vegetables and were now ending it with meat and fish. "Ah, I hope we get pork belly the next days!", Yunho said while getting out of the car for their last destination, the butcher. They walked into the shop together and Hongjoong gave the lady behind the counter his list. While they were waiting, another customer entered. When Yunho saw who had come in, he hid behind his father's legs immediately. No, not here also! It was the upperclassmen from third grade, one of the students who liked to make Yunho's daily school life harder. Hongjoong noticed his son tense up and then his eyes fell on the boy looking at Yunho with a smirk. He did ugly grimaces and gripped his father's pants tight. But he didn't say anything and that's what hurt Hongjoong. He has hoped he would ask him to go home, that he didn't want to wait or that he wanted to wait in the car but Yunho kept quiet and hid being his legs. But thanks to the employee behind the counter their things were done quickly and they could leave.
The car ride was quiet too, Yunho didn't say anything and just sat there and kneaded his small hands in his lap. Hongjoong sighed and purposely took a wrong turn. It would be a long conversation. Yunho noticed that they were taking the wrong way and looked up at his father, but he just followed the road to the highway without giving him a look. "Did you make a lot of new friends in school, Yunho?", he asked.
Yunho first didn't answer, he looked out of the window. "Yeah", he said. "Some"
"I'm happy for you because when your father was in school, the other students weren't that kind", Hongjoong responded giving Yunho a side glance. "You know Yunho, back then I never told my parents what was happening in school because I was the only boy between my siblings. I thought I would be weak if I said something. So I never told anyone anything until the last year of high-school, when I met Papa", he continued and then stopped on the side of the highway, turned on the indicators and got out of the car. Yunho followed him to the rails. The boy looked at the beautiful view in front of him, Seoul's skyline while the sun was setting. "The one who speaks up is always the strongest, Yunho. Don't ever forget that"
And with that, the small boy broke into tears, clinging onto his father, crying out everything they had done and told him in school. Hongjoong listened, hugging his boy tight and stroking his back. He picked him up easily, Yunho slung his legs around his father's waist and held tight onto him. His ear was right above his father's beating heart and it calmed him down, beat by beat. Back when Yunho was a baby, months old, he would sleep like that on Hongjoong's chest. It was a bad habit of him because Hongjoong was the only surface he slept on. But the father never minded, because now thinking back, these days would never come back again.
When Yunho was calmed down, Hongjoong started talking again. "I'm so proud of you, Yunho", he whispered proudly smiling at him. They stood there for a while longer and enjoyed the sun going down before heading back home.
At home, Seonghwa was worriedly pacing around. He had called Hongjoong at least fifteen times by now and full on spamed him but there was still no response. When they came home, no one was there. And they had waited two hours and now it was getting really late. The tall male had made a light dinner and had tucked in the kids a while ago, now desperately waiting for his husband and Yunho. What if something happened? Why isn't he picking up the phone?
It was another twenty minutes later, when he heard keys opening the front door. Seonghwa rushed in the hallway, seeing Hongjoong and Yunho laughingly entering the house, in Hongjoong's hands carrying pizza. Their laughter stopped immediately when they noticed the looks Seonghwa was giving them. "Why are you so late? Why didn't you pick up the phone? I called you a tausend times! Where were until this late? Yunho has school tomorrow, do you know what time it is?", Seonghwa scolded his husband, his eyebrows rose high. Hongjoong and Yunho both looked down, feeling guilty and scared of Seonghwa's eyes. But he just sighed and walked up to them, just to hug Yunho tight and give him a kiss like he always did. "I was so worried about you, baby", he mumbled, not feeling ready to let go of him just now.
Yunho didn't either, instead he wrapped his short arms around his father's neck. "Don't be mad at Daddy. We had a really good time"
His response made Seonghwa chuckle a little. "Papa is not mad, Papa was worried", Seonghwa said and then picked Yunho up from the floor, making the boy shriek in surprise. "But you, young man, have school tomorrow! Bed, now" and with that, Yunho was carried up the stairs.
"You're really not mad at me?", Hongjoong asked Seonghwa when he came back from tucking in Yunho. They were in the kitchen, both munching the rest of the pizza.
"Oh hell I am", Seonghwa responded taking a big bite. "Why do you have a phone when you don't answer it? I thought something serious happened"
"It was on the back seat and on silent. I am sorry, Hwaa~", his husband whined, giving him big puppy eyes and a pout. Oh he knew him all too well, this was his sweet spot. Seonghwa watched with pressed lips and then huffed, stuffing the last pizza in Hongjoong's mouth. He on the other hand, ate brightly smiling. "Ahh, you can't be mad at me, na~?", he smirked.
"You have five minutes to clean up, I'm upstairs", Seonghwa simply said leaving the kitchen without any other comment.