Chapter Text
“Daddy! Wake up!”
Hwa-pyung felt rather than hear Seo-jin’s wake-up call when her bony elbow poked his ribs as she wiggled her way under the blanket. “Ahh! Ahh!” He squeaked, “I sensed a little lost duckling!”
“Heheheh!” she squealed and wiggled further under the blanket, trying her hardest to climb over Hwa-pyung to get to Yoon. (She liked to burrow under the warmth of the blankets and in between her dads. It was the best spot!)
“Hmm, is that my Seo-jinnie?” Yoon yawned, petting the blanket for the Seo-jin-shape lump.
“Papa!” She giggled, finally managed to flop over Hwa-pyung, and rolled next to Yoon. “I’m hungry!” She tucked herself to his side, raveling in the warmth and the familiar scent of his cotton shirt.
“Yea?” Yoon said, pulling their four-year-old daughter into a bear hug. “Your daddy should get up and make us breakfast, hmm?”
Seo-jin’s enthusiastic “ yea!” overrode Hwa-pyung’s grumbles. “You two are so good at bullying me,” he said, sitting up and stretching.
“If you’re up for burnt rice for breakfast, then I will be happy to oblige,” Yoon teased.
“Pffff, I know you can cook, mister,” Hwa-pyung leaned over to give Yoon a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” Yoon whispered back.
Between them, Seo-jin giggled and reached out to poke at Hwa-pyung’s nose, “Breakfast, daddy!!!” (She loved her dads so, so much!!!)
“Of course, your highness,” Hwa-pyung tried to do an over-the-top bow but got tangled in the blankets and ended up on his side instead, sending Seo-jin and Yoon into another giggle fest.
Finally, when he’d untangled himself from the cozy nest and away from the two adorable gremlins that were his husband and daughter, Hwa-pyung padded into the kitchen to get started on making that breakfast.
Once he got the rice cooker started and the stew bubbling away on the stove, Hwa-pyung put the coffee on. These days, he relied on caffeine to kickstart the day instead of the ungodly amount of cigarettes he used to smoke.
In the background, Hwa-pyung could hear Seo-jin’s giggles and Yoon’s gentle voice trying to coach her to brush her teeth the right way. It was the morning routine for the Yoon-Choi household: Hwa-pyung would make breakfast and Yoon would help Seo-jin with her morning hygiene. According to Yoon, Hwa-pyung was too lenient with his teeth-brushing instructions. But if you ask Seo-jin, she would say it was because he had a “disappointing” fashion sense and couldn’t help her pick out her outfit for the day. Hwa-pyung had no idea how Yoon beat him in this arena considering he was a priest for a good part of his life, wearing nothing but black shirts and slacks. He knew that Yoon’s culinary skills were barely passable at best, and inedible at worst. So better not to waste food. The one thing that Yoon was clearly superior to Hwa-pyung was his masterful hair braiding skill and Hwa-pyung swore that Yoon won a lot of points in Seo-jin’s eyes for that alone.
For all the grumbles over house chores and the right way to brush one’s teeth, Hwa-pyung couldn’t help but send a silent thanks to his ancestors and all other higher powers out there for allowing him to have this. When he set out to hunt down Park Il-do, he didn’t expect to have come out alive, let alone building a future with a husband (!) and a child (!!).
“Yummm!” Seo-jin said as she ran into the kitchen, breaking Hwa-pyung out of his reverie. Her teeth were freshly brushed and her hair neatly tied up into two little braids. She was rocking her favorite pair of jeans overalls and a Pororo shirt.
“Ohhhhh, look at my beautiful little duckling!” Hwa-pyung cooed as he helped Seo-jin settle in her chair.
“Daddy, daddy!” She said, waving her hands in the air, “We’re going to visit the babies today!”
“Yea? Are you excited?” Hwa-pyung asked as he set the table.
“Yes!!!!!!!!”
“Are you going to read to them from your storybooks?”
“Yea! Papa said I can show them my favorites!”
“Papa also said you can bring one of your favorites,” Yoon clarified as he walked into the kitchen.
“Okay!” Seo-jin nodded, eyes sparkling with mischief. (She wasn’t going to bring one. She was going to bring three !!! Daddy helped her pack them up in her backpack last night!)
The aforementioned babies (three little ones, all were just a few months old) were abandoned at the hospital in the neighboring town and brought over to the orphanage where Yoon worked. He was hopeful that they would find loving families to adopt the babies soon. In the meantime, he’d been bringing Seo-jin to the orphanage on the weekend to keep them company.
Hwa-pyung nodded along but didn’t reveal Seo-jin’s secret. He placed a cup of orange juice and a small Pororo-adorned bowl of rice in front of her and gave her a little kiss on her forehead. “Do you want some strawberries too?”
“Yes please!” She gave him a big thumbs up before taking a sip from her juice.
“I’m going to drop off some things for haraboji before heading over to the market,” Hwa-pyung said, setting the two bowls of rice on the table for him and Yoon.
Yoon nodded, grabbing the steaming pot of stew off the stove. “Oh, this smells so good.”
“Thanks, babe,” Hwa-pyung grinned toothily.
“What are you going to bring to haraboji ?” Yoon asked, sitting down and getting ready to dig in.
“He needs more rice and a few new shirts,” Hwa-pyung said. “We gotta make more kimchi soon to bring him some.”
“Oh!!! I wanna make kimchi too!” Seo-jin piped up, spitting a few stray pieces of rice everywhere.
“Aish, finish chewing before you speak,” Yoon said, wiping the two grains of rice stuck on her chin.
“Can I help, pleaseeee?” She continued asking.
Remembering the Kimchi Incident of last summer, Hwa-pyung hesitated.
“You can help, if you promise your daddy and I that you will follow our instructions,” Yoon said, forever the diplomat.
“Yes!!!!!” Seo-jin nodded enthusiastically, spraying more rice on her side of the table, making both Yoon and Hwa-pyung laugh. It was always hard to say no to their little baby.
+ +
Pulling the car into the Rainbow Orphange’s parking lot, Hwa-pyung pulled out his phone to send Yoon a quick text. Here!
Meet us in the garden? Yoon replied.
Sure! Hwa-pyung grabbed the lunch box and headed around the back of the building. It was a beautiful day, and the crisp ocean breeze was so soothing. Pushing the creaky little wooden gate that led to the garden, he was greeted with Seo-jin’s excited squeal. “Daddy!!!”
“Hi, baby!” He crouched down to give her a big hug.
Yoon slowly walked over to them, smiling fondly. “How’s haraboji ?”
“Oh, you know, same same.” It had been rough, seeing his grandfather’s memory and health continued to deteriorate.
“We should visit him next weekend,” Yoon suggested, giving his husband a gentle, reassuring look.
“Yea, yea, let’s,” Hwa-pyung agreed, letting out a deep sigh. It would be better for Seo-jin to spend as much time with her great-grandfather as possible.
“Ohhh!!!!!!!!! We’re going to see jeungjobo ????” Seo-jin looked up at her dads, grinning. (She loved her jeungjobo ! Even though he didn’t talk a lot, he always gave her sweets and showed her all the best flowers he picked.)
“Yup! He misses you a lot, little duckling,” Hwa-pyung nodded, booping her nose and making her wiggled it around like a little puppy.
“Yay!!!!!!!!!”
“Ok, well, who’s hungry?”
“Me!!!!!” Seo-jin exclaimed.
“Ha! I knew it! You’re a little hungry duckling, aren’t you?” Hwa-pyung teased, tickling her.
Grabbing the bag hanging off Hwa-pyung’s shoulder, Yoon gestured towards the picnic bench, “Let’s go sit over there.”
Hwa-pyung picked Seo-jin up, tickled her a few more times for good measure, before following behind Yoon. “I brought Mrs. Oh’s famous kimbap. She told me to feed you two more since you’re both just, and I quote ‘ skins and bones’ .”
“Next time I stop by the market, I’ll make sure to tell her we’re barely holding on because of your abysmal cooking skills so she will continue to feed us,” Yoon said with a straight face.
“OH! I am so hurt!” Turning to Seo-jin, who was reaching over the table for a piece of kimbap and completely ignoring her dads, Hwa-pyung asked, “Seo-jinnie, do you like my cooking?”
“Uh uh,” she nodded distractedly.
“See!! Seo-jinnie loves me more than my own husband! Oh the tragedy!”