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“Gyugyu, can you give me your pink blocks?” Wonwoo politely asked, looking at his older friend. They were sitting in Kim’s living room, watching Paw Patrol, and playing with lego blocks. Mingyu was concentrated on making a little space ship with big Duplo blocks while Wonwoo was making a cutesy house out of mismatched blocks. He looked at his arranged legos and was disappointed to find only green blocks left. Nonu hates green. Green is yucky.
“No, Nonu! I need pink blocks, they are cute and mine.” Mingyu ‘sternly’ looked at his younger friend. He covered his pink blocks with his both arms, afraid that Nonu will snatch them away. “You chose blue blocks!”
“I ran out of blue blocks! I only have green ones left!” Wonwoo whined, pouting. He pleadingly looked at Gyu, expecting him to cave in and give him his much needed pink blocks. “Please, Gyugyu!”
“No! You always take my blocks, I don’t want green!” Mingyu stomped his fist on the ground, pushing Wonwoo away a bit to guard his blocks. Wonwoo huffed and turned away from Mingyu. He crossed his little arms on his chest. Mingyu pretended he didn’t notice his friend’s disappointment and continued to innocently build his space ship. Wonwoo peeked back at the older boy and didn’t like that his little act hasn’t forced Mingyu to give up his pink blocks. He turned back and huffed a little louder. Still, there was no reaction from Mingyu. He huffed a third time, and there was still no reaction from Gyu, who started using pink blocks on his ship. Wonwoo turned away, lip wobbling a bit. He began silently crying, tears streaming down his chubby cheeks. His whole body started shaking as he tried to stifle his sobs. He was trying to gain Mingyu’s attention at first but, after his failed attempts, he started thinking that Gyugyu hates him. He didn’t want that to happen, all he wanted were pink blocks. Wonwoo couldn’t keep quiet for too long, so he started wailing loudly. Mingyu was sitting oblivious to the other toddler’s despair. He just picked up his ship to examine what he needs to add but dropped it as soon as he heard Nonu cry. It actually startled him and caused him to start crying on autopilot. He didn’t mind his ship breaking at all. Alas, it was because big boy Mingyu is an actual scaredy-cat. With both toddlers wailing in confusion, Mrs. Kim rushed into the living room, worry etched on her face. She crouched down to crying toddlers and pulled Wonwoo on her laps, pressing him to her chest. Wonwoo clutched onto her shirt, pressing his face into it. Mingyu quieted down a bit as he saw his mother came into the room. He was relieved to see his mommy, so he was not scared anymore. However, he did not understand why Nonu was still crying. He silently wiped away his tears and sat next to the younger boy trying to look into his face.
“Shh, baby, what happened?” Mrs. Kim was confused as to what caused them both to wail. She started bouncing Wonwoo on her laps, though, her attempts were futile, the toddler was still crying. “Shh, I got you, little one.”
“Why is he crying, mommy?” Mingyu was petting Nonu’s head. Deeming his actions insufficient, Mingyu went in for a full hug. “I will give you all my pink blocks, Nonnie! Don’t cry, please!” He pleaded tears were threatening to fall from his eyes.
“Y-you d-don’t hate-e me-e?” Wonwoo turned around to look at Mingyu. He tried to control his sobs but couldn’t. “I am s-sorry!”
“Why would I hate you, Nonu?” Mingyu looked at his friend in confusion. Younger boy fully turned on Mrs. Kim’s laps. He finally began calming down, his little hand reached out to his eyes to wipe at his eyes. A bit of snot was running down his cupid bow. Mingyu helped him wiping away stray tears. “I don’t hate you, Nonu. You are my bestest friend!”
“Really?” Wonwoo smiled at him, his hand dirty with snot. He shyly looked up at Mrs. Kim, who was looking at the interaction with the biggest grin on her face. These boys were just too adorable.
“Can I wash my hands, please? It’s yucky.” The woman laughed and hugged both boys before standing up with the youngest in her arms.
“Let’s wash your hands, little one, and then we can all eat some ice cream, what do you say?” A small ‘yay’ was heard from Wonwoo, and a much louder ‘YAY’ was heard from an overly excited Mingyu, who started bouncing and jumping around his mother.
“Can we also have some soda, mom? Can we? Can we? Pretty please?” He started bubbling around, trying to gain maximum from the situation. She gave him an unimpressed look that said to not push his luck. Mingyu sheepishly smiled at his mother and ran back to the living room. Mrs. Kim shook her head, chuckling. She took Wonwoo to the bathroom and helped him wash his little hands as the toddler shyly smiled at her in gratitude.
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Jeonghan was anxiously sitting in his kitchen and drinking his favorite herbal tea. All his kids were missing, and while two older boys were in school, the presence, or the lack of it, of the little one was previously unknown to him. He was not used to having a quiet house. For the past three years, he was always busy with Wonwoo. Either they were playing, learning ABCs or napping, but they always did things together. When Mrs. Kim invited Wonwoo over for a playdate with Mingyu, Jeonghan was ecstatic. He thought it was finally his ‘me’ time to relax and lazily watch some non-kid-friendly tv-shows. However, he ended up sitting in his kitchen stress-eating as he couldn’t hear tiny giggles or footsteps running around the house. Jeonghan keeps checking the clock every few minutes as if that would make time go faster. They initially agreed upon him picking up Wonwoo at 2 pm, and it was 1:53 already. Jeonghan, now, was feeling relieved to have his baby finally home. He even decided to treat Nonu to pizza, though, they would have to keep it a secret or Seungcheol would make them both sleep on the couch. It is weird how tiring it is to raise a child, and you always want a break, but once you have it, you have no idea what to do with it. You just end up missing your child and wanting them back. Jeonghan whipped his head back to the clock and instantly perked up. It’s 1:56 pm, he can finally start getting ready to leave the house! He washed his cup and took the brisket out of the fridge. He made it instead of relaxing because he cannot possibly relax without Wonwoo napping on his chest and Care Bears softly playing in the background. Once he retrieves his child, he will feed him the pizza and force him to nap just to feel his weight and warmth crush his chest. He stood by the entrance, counting seconds. He didn’t want to seem desperate, that is why he made sure to go out of the house at 2:02 pm. It was raining outside, so Jeonghan took Wonwoo’s favorite flower umbrella with him. He walked to Kim’s house, brisket in one hand, tiny umbrella hanging on his elbow and his own umbrella in his other hand. Jeonghan sighed in relief once he pressed the doorbell. The quiet ‘ding-dong’ was heard on the other side of the door. He didn’t have to wait long for the door to swing open. He was confused when he didn’t see a person who opened it until he looked down. There stood Mingyu with a big grin on his ice cream smeared face.
“Hi, Mr. Choi!” He loudly said, still grinning. “What’s that in your hands?”
“Hello to you too, Mingyu! That’s a brisket,” Jeonghan was still awkwardly standing in the doorframe as the boy blocked the entrance.
“Oh! Jeonghan, you came to pick up Wonwoo?” Mrs. Kim appeared out of the corner, ushering Mingyu back into the house. She took the brisket and a tiny umbrella from his hands. “Is that a brisket? Smells wonderful.”
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Kim! It’s my secret recipe, Wonwoo absolutely loves it!” Jeonghan left his umbrella at the front porch and finally let himself in. “Where is Nonu?”
“Impatient, I see,” She joked as Jeonghan awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at the woman. “He is finishing up his ice cream. Made me microwave it because ‘that’s what Hannie appa does’”.
“Oh, yeah! Seungcheol is very adamant about it. You see, Wonwoo gets sick rather easily, so we make sure to avoid any possible risks. Plus, he is already used to an ‘ice cream soup’ as he calls it”. Running was heard down the hallway.
“Daddy!” Wonwoo ran into the hallway, instantly hugging his father. “I missed you.” He quietly mumbled so only his daddy would hear it.
“My sweet little munchkin,” Jeonghan adoringly said, petting his child’s head.
“What’s a munchkin, mom?” Mingyu asked. He pulled her skirt to get her attention.
“It’s a way to endearingly call your baby. Munchkins are actually cats!” She said to Mingyu, who was earnestly nodding his head.
“Wonwoo looks like a cute, little kitten. Can I call him ‘munchkin’ too?” Adults cooed at his question while Wonwoo cutely nodded his head, giving him permission. “Yay! Bye, little munchkin.” Mingyu gave Wonwoo a hug. The latter blushed a little and returned the hug, alas, weakly. But Mingyu didn’t stop there. He kissed Wonwoo on the cheek and hugged him tighter. “I don’t want Nonnie to go!” Mingyu tried to tear Wonwoo off from his appa.
“Baby, Wonwoo needs to go home. His daddies will miss him if he is not home, and they will cry too.” She gave Jeonghan a quick look as if saying to support her. She knew Mingyu would nag and cry about letting Wonwoo go, but if she played it out right, then the disaster could be avoided. You see, Mingyu is a rather very sensible child. If you tell and explain to him how other people would feel about certain things, he will let go. It might take him a couple of hours to stop sulking, but at least he won’t throw tantrums.
“How about you come to our house tomorrow and play with Nonu some more?” Jeonghan asked Mingyu as Wonwoo clung to him like a lifeline, silently pleading to take him home. Mingyu wiped away his tears. He turned to his mother.
“Mommy, can I?” He asked, sniffling.
“Of course, honey bun. Now, say bye-bye to Wonwoo and Mr. Choi.” Mingyu shyly looked back at Jeonghan, waving a little and then reached into his overalls’ front pocket. He fished out a lollipop.
“Bye, munchkin,” He sadly said and shoved a lollipop to Wonwoo. The younger boy was putting on his white raincoat with a bunch of bunnies printed on it when he felt Mingyu put a piece of candy into his overalls pocket. (They both just love and basically wear overalls 24/7 because babies in overalls are my weakness). They both looked at each other, smiling toothily. As Jeonghan finally helped Wonwoo put his little rain boots on, they both bid their goodbyes to Kims and went out the door. Wonwoo opened his cutesy flower umbrella and grinned at his dad. He extended his hand to Jeonghan and hummed in content when the latter took his hand in his.
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It was later in the afternoon (borderline evening) when Seungcheol returned home with Jun and Soonyoung. He picked them up from their taekwondo classes on his way back from work. They entered the house loudly chatting but stopped once they entered the living room. Care Bears were playing on the TV, sounds muted. An empty pizza box was forgotten on the coffee table. Quiet snoring was heard from the couch. There laid Jeonghan, hair styled in a messy bun, some stray strands covering his face. His expression was peaceful, and arms protectively wrapped around Wonwoo’s frail frame. A cat plushy was clutched between his tiny hands and a bit of drool gathered on Jeonghan’s chest. Seungcheol smiled at the sight, cooing inside. He ushered his other kids upstairs and went around the couch to grab a blanket from under the coffee table. Being a good father that he is, he covered Wonwoo with a blanket but not before taking multiple pictures of his lovely husband and his fussy baby. Though, he would have to pay Jeonghan back for not leaving him any pizza…