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“Now you’re just making a mess,” Jeongguk says, raising his eyebrows.
Minjae looks up at him with excited eyes, her face covered in cake flour. Jeongguk can’t help but break into a fond smile and wipe off the flour from his daughter’s face with his sleeves. “Try not to get them in your eyes, honey.”
“Okay daddy! Can I pour this in the bowl now?” Minjae points at the bowl of heavy cream.
“Let’s pour it together, I think it’s a bit heavy.” Jeongguk says. He takes Minjae’s delicate hands and puts it at the edge of the bowl, and they lift it up together and pour it in another bowl filled with cake flour.
Jeongguk glances over to the other side of the counter where his other child Minjung was. Minjung had a pout on his lips as he used both of his hands to stir the dry ingredients.
Jeongguk let’s go of Minjae and walks over to his son, peeking into the bowl. “Stir a little faster.”
Minjung glares at his dad. “Why are we making a cake?”
Jeongguk chuckles. “Because your uncles are coming, remember?”
“Why not let appa bring some?” Minjung says, huffing. “appa owns a cake shop!”
“Yes, but it’s because it’s his job and he sells them. They aren’t free.” Jeongguk says, purposely teasing his son. “Do you have any money to pay appa?”
“Wha— I don’t have to pay appa! appa said what's his is ours too.”
Jeongguk shakes his head. “Not in the business world.”
Minjung’s forehead creases, obviously getting annoyed. Jeongguk just chuckles and ruffles his eight-year-old son’s hair.
“Making a cake is better!” Minjae butts in happily. “There’s secret ingredients. Like effort and love!”
Jeongguk nods, knowing that Jimin had taught Minjae that. Minjae had been the one to inherit Jimin’s love and talent for baking. Jimin has been teaching Minjae the basics when he has the time, and he lets Minjae help him out in the kitchen a lot.
Minjung, on the other hand, didn’t really give much interest in baking, and it was fine with Jimin. But sometimes he still likes helping out his dad when he can, especially because he has a soft spot for Jimin. Minjung is more into drawing and art. Sometimes, Minjung likes watching Jeongguk in his studio while Jeongguk produces songs and writes lyrics.
The three of them continue with baking the cake. As they put the batter in the oven, Jeongguk checks his watch. Jimin will be home soon.
Jeongguk turns to the twins and sees them eating up the left-over melted chocolate. Jeongguk chuckles, shaking his head. “Not too much, guys. We’ll still have dinner later.”
Jeongguk takes out the water from the fridge and places it in front of the twins. “Drink lots of water after that, and wash your hands.”
The two of them nod their heads as they continue dipping their fingers into the small bowl. Jeongguk wipes his hands on his apron and starts cleaning up the messy counter.
A few minutes later, he hears the front door opening. The twins immediately lift their heads in unison and turn towards the entrance of the kitchen. Jimin walks in the kitchen with a smile on his face. “Hi! I’m home!”
“Appa!” The twins yell out in excitement. Jimin walks over towards them and kisses them on the crowns of their heads. He glances at their chocolate stained fingers and then at the bowl where the melted chocolate was. “What’s that?”
“Chocolate!” Minjae answers. “We finished baking the cake.”
“It’s not finished. It’s still in the oven.” Minjung says.
“Oh?” Jimin raises an eyebrow and starts walking over to Jeongguk. Jeongguk leans down so Jimin can give him a peck on the lips. “How did it go, with your two little helpers?”
Jeongguk shrugs. “It was okay, they’re really helpful. Even though little helper number two was a bit grumpy about it.”
Jimin throws his head back, laughing. “Minjung?”
Jeongguk grins. “Yeah, you know how he spends time in his room drawing something at this time.”
“At least he still helped,” Jimin chuckles, and then he bends down to peek in the oven where the cake was. “Hmm, well that was fast. I even tried rushing home earlier so I can help out a bit.”
Jeongguk pulls Jimin by the waist and kisses the side of his head. “It’s fine, you can just help out in cooking the dinner.”
Jimin turns to him, putting his hand on Jeongguk’s chest. “Just leave the dinner to me. I feel bad about heading to work today anyway, even though we both said we’d take a leave because everyone is visiting.”
“Don’t worry about it babe, you were needed at the store anyway.” Jeongguk answers softly.
Jimin gives him a soft smile. Jeongguk feels his heart skip a beat. It’s been years , but Jeongguk’s love for Jimin just keeps growing every single day.
“Alright you two, time to wash up. The kitchen will be off limits because Appa’s gonna start making dinner.” Jeongguk says, taking away the bowl of melted chocolate from them. “And drink up that water.”
As soon as the twins gulp down the water, they start heading to their rooms to wash up. Jeongguk stays in the kitchen to clean up their mess, and Jimin helps him out. Jimin was humming something as he cleans up the counter, a small smile on his lips.
Jeongguk can’t help but chuckle. “You seem happy.”
Jimin glances at him. “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just excited to see everyone again.”
“I am too,” Jeongguk says. “When was the last time we all got together?”
Jimin tilts his head as he thinks. “Almost two years ago, during Christmas.”
“Wow, it has been so long.”
“Uh-huh. Time really flies by so fast,” Jimin says, opening the refrigerator to grab the ingredients he needs to make dinner.
“Yeah,” Jeongguk adds, finishing up his part by wiping the counter. “When I was buying pastries from you just to see you without being weird feels like it was just yesterday.”
Jimin pauses at that, and then he laughs. “I knew it! You only bought my pastries to see me!”
“Hey! Absolutely not!” Jeongguk says defensively. “You know a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Jimin snorts, putting the ingredients on the counter and his hands on his hips. “Didn’t you literally reply to Taehyung’s tweet about me that you wanted to marry me, after just seeing my photo?”
Jeongguk feels his cheeks heating up. “I thought we said we’d never bring that up!”
Jimin laughs, walking over towards his husband and wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s neck. “Well at least you got to marry me.”
Jeongguk’s expression softens. “Yeah. Whenever I wake up next to you, I still feel thankful you know? I don’t know what my life would be if I haven’t met you.”
“Thankfully you don’t have to know,” Jimin says gently, rubbing his thumb on Jeongguk’s cheek lovingly. “But I don’t know what my life would be without you either.”
Jeongguk places a kiss on Jimin’s forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” Jimin replies.
After their short moment in the kitchen, Jimin starts preparing the dinner while Jeongguk heads off to their bedroom for a shower. Once he’s all freshened up, he heads back down to their living room and sees the twins sitting on their carpeted floor with Tokyo, their golden retriever. Minjung is busy playing video games, while his twin sister Minjae is sitting next to him, watching anime on her iPad while petting Tokyo’s head. They both have damp hair and are in a new pair of clothes, just like Jeongguk. They must’ve finished freshening up as well.
Jeongguk glances at the time on the wall clock, and then looks at the twins. “You two don’t wanna take a nap before dinner?”
“Dad, we’re not five.” Minjae says, not looking away from the anime she was watching. Minjung snorts at his sister’s statement.
Jeongguk rolls his eyes. “I’m not five but I still take naps.”
“You’re old. Old people have to take naps,” Minjung says.
Jeongguk gasps, offended. He is not old! He’s literally in his thirties! “How dare you call your father old?”
The twins ignore him. Jeongguk pinches the bridge of his nose and marches over to the kitchen. Jimin glances at him and chuckles. “What’s with the face? They’re making fun of you again?”
“Yes,” Jeongguk whines, plopping down on one of the high stools of the island counter. “Why are our kids mean to me and sweet to you?”
“You make fun of them all the time too,” Jimin says, his eyes focused on the pan. “Take a hint.”
Jeongguk huffs. “Whatever. How’s the dinner going?”
“It’s going fine. I can handle this. I’ll be finished in about an hour.”
“Do you need any help?”
“Not really,” Jimin says. “And also the cake was finished but I left it in the oven for a while, so it’ll still be warm.”
“Well, did it pass your standards?” Jeongguk grins.
“I haven’t tasted it yet,” Jimin chuckles. “But since you, Minjae and Minjung made it, I’m sure it’s more than what I expect.”
“Well, it better ,” Jeongguk puts his elbow on the counter. “Minjung actually asked why we were making a cake when you own a cake shop.”
Jimin snorts. “That’s so typical of him.”
“And Minjae says it’s better if we make a cake because there’s love and effort in it.”
“I taught her that.”
“I figured,” Jeongguk says, getting up from his seat. “Well then if you got everything sorted out in here, I’ll go ahead and stay in the living room.”
“‘Kay. I’ll call you if I need anything.” Jimin says.
Jeongguk starts heading out of the kitchen and grabs his laptop from his studio. He goes back to the living room and plops down next to Minjae, who’s still busy watching anime on her iPad. Jeongguk places his laptop on the coffee table and presses the power button.
“Are you gonna make music dad?” Minjung asks, looking away from his video game to glance at Jeongguk.
“Well, kind of. I’m just gonna check on the stuff I already have, see what I can make out of them.” Jeongguk answers.
“Ohhh,” Minjae pauses the anime she was watching and scoots over to Jeongguk. “Is it the one you’re making for appa?” she whispers.
“Are you finished with it?” Minjung whispers as well, putting down his control to move closer.
“Not yet,” Jeongguk whispers back. “And be quiet, appa is literally just in the kitchen.”
“He can’t hear us, we’re whispering!” Minjae says matter-a-factly.
“You’re going to give the song to appa on his birthday right?” Minjung asks, glancing at Jeongguk’s laptop.
“It’s not just a song, it’s an album.” Jeongguk says proudly. “I haven’t made songs for your appa in a long time, I’m sure he’ll love it.”
Jimin’s birthday is still two months away, and Jeongguk is finished with almost half of them. He wants to make around seven songs at most.
“I wanna make one for appa too,” Minjung pouts. “Can you teach me how to make one?”
Jeongguk chuckles. “It’s a bit hard to explain buddy, but I’ll see what I can do.” He promises. “Wanna listen to what I have so far?”
Minjae and Minjung nod enthusiastically.
“Look how big you guys are!” Taehyung says, opening his arms widely to scoop in the twins in an embrace. “I missed you guys so much!”
“Uncle Tae!” the twins whine as they’re being squished together into Taehyung’s chest.
“Jeongguk-ah, Jimin-ah!” Seokjin calls happily, walking over to them. Jeongguk gives Seokjin a hug first, and then Jimin follows. Namjoon is standing behind them, holding the hand of a six-year-old boy, Haruki. Haruki is the adopted son of Namjoon and Seokjin. The boy is half Korean and half Japanese, and both Jimin and Jeongguk have only met Haruki a few times since they live in New York, and everyone else lives in Korea.
“How was your flight?” Jeongguk asks, patting Namjoon on the shoulder and gently ruffling Haruki’s hair. “Haruki, hi! Do you remember me?”
“Kookie,” Haruki mumbles, blinking at Jeongguk.
“That’s right!” Jeongguk raises his hand in front of Haruki. “High five.”
“Hey everyone!”
“Uncle Hobi!” the twins call in excitement, running over towards Yoongi and Hoseok who were the last to enter. “Uncle Yoongi!”
“Man, Hoseok is still their favorite? Have I not even gone up the ladder?” Taehyung sighs dramatically.
Jimin laughs, launching onto his best friend for a hug. “You know the twins love you just as much, you’re being dramatic.”
Taehyung pouts, but he hugs Jimin back tightly. “Jiminie, I missed you so much.”
“I know,” Jimin teases.
After they catch up with each other, Jimin heads to the kitchen to prepare the food for their dinner with Taehyung. Jeongguk stays in the living room to make sure everyone is all settled. He sees Minjung trying to engage into a conversation with Haruki, while Minjae, who is the more shy one among the two, just repeats whatever Minjung is saying.
“Which hotel are you guys staying in?” Jeongguk asks.
“Roosevelt,” Yoongi answers, crossing his legs and putting his arm behind Hoseok. “It was the nearest one to your place.”
“Oh that’s right.”
“Have you guys not thought of moving into a house in a neighborhood instead of an apartment?” Seokjin asks curiously.
“Well, we did…” Jeongguk says. “But we don’t think it’s worth it.”
Namjoon raises his eyebrows. “Why not?”
“Because we’re planning to go back to Korea.”
“You’re what?!”
“Hey, dinner’s ready!” Jimin calls from the kitchen. “Come on!”
Jeongguk is the first to stand up. “Let’s talk about it with Jimin over dinner.”
“Come on, Haruki!” Minjung takes Haruki’s wrist and starts pulling him to the dining room. “Appa made naengmyeon. You like naengmyeon?”
Haruki nods. “Naengmyeon is tasty. Korean soba.”
Seokjin chuckles at that. “He loves soba.”
Once they’re all in the dining room, Hoseok immediately starts gushing about how much food Jimin had prepared for them. Jeongguk walks over to Jimin and plants a gentle kiss on his cheek. “This is amazing, babe. I didn’t know you were making this many dishes.”
Jimin chuckles, leaning onto Jeongguk. “I missed making Korean dishes, anyway. I enjoyed it.”
“You’re amazing,” Jeongguk whispers, gently squeezing Jimin’s waist.
Taehyung, who was looking at them, glances at Minjung, who is also looking at his parents. “They’re disgusting, aren’t they?”
Minjung turns to Taehyung with wide eyes. "Not really."
Taehyung raises his eyebrows in surprise. Mostly kids in Minjung's age find their parents' affection a little too much, but Minjung seems to not mind.
"How so?"
"Because at least I know they love each other so much."
Taehyung smiles, ruffling Minjung's hair. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
As soon as everyone is seated, start digging in immediately. Jeongguk watches over the twins from time to time, making sure they don’t eat too fast, but they’re both fine.
“So, Jimin, Jeongguk mentioned earlier that you guys are planning to go back to Korea?” Namjoon opens up the topic.
Taehyung sharply turns his head towards Jimin, his cheeks puffy as he chews his food. “You are?!” He asks as soon as he gulps down his food.
“Well, yeah,” Jimin says. “And the twins seem to be fine with moving to Korea,” Jimin glances at his kids.
“Well this is great! We’ll all be in Korea again!” Hoseok beams.
“Why the sudden decision?” Yoongi asks.
“It wasn’t really sudden , per se,” Jeongguk answers. “We’ve talked about moving back to Korea before when the kids are bigger. New York is great and all, but Korea is another story.”
“We both have flexible jobs, so it’ll be easy.” Jimin adds. “But we won’t be moving really soon. Maybe during winter next year? Something like that.”
“But we might spend Christmas this year in Korea to look for a decent house.”
“This is great!” Seokjin beams. “We can have weekly weekend dinners at each other’s house.”
“Sounds good to me,” Hoseok says.
After dinner, the twins bring Haruki with them to their room to play while the grown-ups stay on the table to drink wine. They talk about literally anything, mostly about what’s going on with their respective lives. Jimin laughs at something that Hoseok says, leaning on Jeongguk’s shoulder. Jeongguk smiles softly and presses a kiss on Jimin’s forehead.
“There are still a few people who ask to take pictures with them when we’re walking in Itaewon or wherever,” Taehyung says, referring to his two boyfriends.
“Well, Hobi hyung is practically still an idol.” Jeongguk says. “He stayed in the spotlight while the three of us just stuck to producing behind the scenes.”
“You stayed as well,” Hoseok says, pointing his spoon at Jeongguk. “You still have lots of fans waiting for you to release music.”
“Yeah,” Jimin elbows Jeongguk playfully. “Don’t act meek, babe. There are still people who come by my shop just to ask if I’m really Jeon Jeongguk’s husband and if I can give them an autograph from Jeongguk.”
“Wha—?” Jeongguk turns to Jimin and pouts. “I never knew that! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Jimin rolls his eyes. “They aren’t harming me or anything. Plus, a customer is a customer.”
“Well, I guess... “ Jeongguk mumbles.
Jimin giggles, pinching Jeongguk’s cheeks.
After a few hours, everyone decides to head back to their hotel. Seokjin heads up to the twins’ for Haruki. He comes back down carrying a sleeping Haruki, with the boy’s head resting on his shoulder. Namjoon looks at them fondly, and once Seokjin was back by his side, he gently brushes away the strands of her from Haruki’s eyes.
“The twins are asleep as well,” Seokjin says. “I’m happy they get along even though they don’t see each other often.”
“It’s just something natural I guess,” Jeongguk says,
“See you guys tomorrow!” Taehyung says, wearing his coat. “I can’t wait to go around New York. I haven’t been here in a while.”
“Trust me, nothing has changed since the last time you came here.” Jimin crosses his arms.
“Way to ruin my excitement,” Taehyung rolls his eyes.
Jeongguk just shakes his head in amusement.
Once they’ve left, the apartment is embraced with silence. Jimin rubs his eyes sleepily, to which Jeongguk notices. He gently squeezes Jimin’s shoulder. “Go check on the twins and freshen up. I’ll clean up everything.”
Jimin blinks at him. “Really?”
“Yeah, I got this.” Jeongguk smiles at him. “Now go.”
Jimin smiles back, giving Jeongguk a peck on the lips. “I love you.”
MONTHS LATER
“Dad, something funny happened at school today.”
Jeongguk glances at the rear-view mirror. “What?”
“I have a classmate that brought doughnuts, and he kept bragging about how delicious it was but didn’t share it with anyone.”
“And then?”
“And I found out the doughnuts were from Doughy Delights.” Minjung grins.
“Well, your appa does make the best doughnuts.”
“I wonder if appa will let me bring doughnuts to school and share it with my classmates…”
“I’m sure he’ll love that idea.”
Minjae snorts. “If you want to bring doughnuts to school, just make them with appa.”
Minjung turns to his twin, frowning. “Why would I do that when appa already has tons of doughnuts at his store?”
“So your classmates can appreciate the love and effort you poured into the doughnuts.” Minjae crosses her arms.
Minjung grimaces. “As if I’d give love and effort to them. I just want them to know my appa makes the best doughnuts.”
“Well if you don’t want to make them then I will, with appa.”
“You just want an excuse to make something with appa.”
Jeongguk shakes his head in amusement. “By the way…”
The twins turn their attention to their father.
“So your appa and I decided that we’re really going to move back to Korea. Is it really alright with you two?”
The twins look at each other before turning back to Jeongguk. “It’s fine with me.” Minjae shrugs.
“You sure?” Jeongguk asks again. “How about you, Minjung?”
“I’m okay with it,” Minjung says. “I want to live in Korea.”
“Don’t you have lots of friends in school?”
“We can make new ones in Korea,” Minjae says.
“Haruki is there too,” Minjung says. “At least we already have one friend.”
Jeongguk smiles. “Okay then. Tell appa what you told me okay? He’s worried about you two. You know we won’t do anything you guys won’t like.”
“We know.” They answer in unison.
As soon as they reach Doughy Delights, Jeongguk could already see Jimin standing outside. Once Jimin notices Jeongguk’s car, he immediately walks over towards it and gets in the front seat. He leans over to give Jeongguk a kiss on the cheek and smiles widely when he turns around to look at the twins. “Hey you two.”
“Hi Appa!”
“Here, I brought you churros.” Jimin hands them the paperbag he was holding onto.
Minjae immediately snatches up the paperbag. Minjung frowns and tries to grab it from her. “Hey!”
“There’s a lot inside for both of you, don’t fight.” Jimin says, facing front again.
“Should we just buy takeout for dinner? Japanese?” Jeongguk glances at Jimin.
Jimin nods. “Sounds good to me,” he says. “How was work?”
“It was alright, the usual.” Jeongguk answers. “How about you?”
“The usual as well,” Jimin says. “Thanks for picking me and the kids up today. I really didn’t feel like driving.”
“I figured,” Jeongguk chuckles. “And it’s fine. You know I’d do anything for you in a heartbeat.”
Jimin rolled his eyes, but Jeongguk could see the fond smile on his lips.
After they eat dinner, Jeongguk and Jimin help out the kids with their homework. Once they finish, the two of them spend time watching a movie with the twins until they fall asleep.
“Did you talk to them?” Jimin asks. As soon as the twins’ fell asleep, they both showered to freshen up and decided to spend some alone time in the living room. Jeongguk is sitting on the cushioned seat facing the wall-to-ceiling windows with the view of Manhattan, while Jimin was sitting on his lap.
“Yeah,” Jeongguk answers. “And they said they’re okay with it, so don’t worry okay?”
Jimin takes a deep breath. Jeongguk looks at him worriedly. “Hyung, you don’t want to go back home to Korea?”
“No, I do.” Jimin answers, looking at Jeongguk. “It’s just… I don’t know, I’m scared.”
Jeongguk absent-mindedly intertwines his fingers with Jimin’s. “About what?”
“Well, we’re doing so well here in New York. What if certain problems arise when we move to Korea?”
“Like?”
“I don’t know… just, stuff.” Jimin mumbles.
Jeongguk gently kisses Jimin’s shoulder. “We all want to move back, don’t we? So it’ll be okay. Our friends who are like our family are there. And if we do go through some problems, then we’ll solve it together.”
Jimin visibly relaxes at that. “Yeah… you’re right. I’m sorry.”
Jeongguk nuzzles on Jimin's neck. “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay to be worried.”
Jimin smiles, turning to Jeongguk. “We’ve been through worse, right?”
Jeongguk chuckles. “Absolutely. But in the end, we’re okay. That’s what matters. I have you, you have me, and we have Minjae and Minjung.”
Jimin tilts his head. “I never thought I’d have a family after what happened with Kyuhyun.”
“I never thought about having a family either,” Jeongguk mumbles. “Before I met you, that is.”
Jimin giggles, putting his hand on Jeongguk’s cheek. “I never thought I’d marry someone famous, either.”
“To be fair I wasn’t that famous anymore when we got married.”
“Hmm, do you miss it?”
Jeongguk raises his eyebrows. “What?”
“Your fame. Going on concert tours. Performing in front of an audience, in front of your fans.”
“Well, yeah,” Jeongguk answers honestly. “It’s a feeling I’ll always crave for I guess, as a past-performer.”
Jimin nods in understanding.
“But sometimes performing in front of you, our kids, and Tokyo is fine.” Jeongguk smiles. “You’re all I need.”
“You say the cheesiest things. How can I ever compete in sweet talk with a songwriter like you?”
“You pretend to hate them but I know you love them anyway. I think it’s how I snatched your heart.”
Jimin throws his head back, laughing. “You really wanna know how you snatched my heart?”
“Is it when I made you The Sugar Plum Fairy? ”
“That is a big factor. It’s what made me fall for you hard . But, what made me see you in a different light is just you , in the general. Everything you do, everything about you.”
Jeongguk blinks, feeling a blush creeping on his cheeks. “And you say you can’t compete with me!”
“What can I say? I learn from the best.” Jimin teases.
Jeongguk chuckles, feeling a burst of contentment in his chest. Just being with Jimin, so in love even after years of being together… it’s like a dream for him.
“We’ll start a new chapter of our life once we’re back in Korea again.” Jeongguk says after a moment of silence.
Jimin hums. “Yeah,” he says, looking at Jeongguk. “I guess I don’t mind. Not if you and our kids are in every chapter.”
Jeongguk smiles, rubbing his nose with Jimin’s. “Always.”