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“I don’t think I’m doing this right,” Hongjoong mumbled as he shifted on his feet. Seonghwa glanced over at the easel Hongjoong was working with and smiled.
“You can’t really paint wrong, Sunshine. That looks beautiful.”
“It’s just red and purple.”
“It reminds me of a sunset,” Seonghwa praised, his smile bright.
“You’re just saying that because you have to.”
“Oh, are you a sixteen-year-old human now? You know I never lie. In fact, I cannot.”
“Yeah yeah,” Hongjoong replies, a smile threatening to spill across his lips. He bites down on his bottom lip as he dips his paintbrush into a dark blue and takes his time filling in the top portion of his canvas. If Seonghwa saw a sunset, Hongjoong would do his best to create a presentable sunset.
It was nearly three hours later when Hongjoong put down his paintbrush. He stared at his creation, doing his best to push down the urge to whisk the painting out of his sight and into the nearest incinerator.
“It’s amazing,” Seonghwa murmurs as he steps into the room. Hongjoong turns around and involuntarily smiles at the sight of his husband. Seonghwa’s long dark blue hair is no longer flowing over his shoulders but instead pulled into a messy bun. He’s switched out of his adorable painting overalls and into the robe Hongjoong got him for their third pre-marriage anniversary. The robe is starting to fray around the edges and Hongjoong itches to fix it, but Seonghwa never lets him; instead chuckling about how the robe is a testament to the length of their relationship. A relationship none of their friends thought would last. The robe is tied around Seonghwa’s waist, but just barely. Seonghwa’s chest is nearly on full display and his long, thick legs are looking mighty...edible on full display.
“I thought we had dinner with your parents this evening,” Hongjoong asks, forgetting about his painting and crossing the room to wrap his arms around his husband.
“Mom canceled. Something about a mermaid taking a human hostage.”
“Every merperson thinks they’re a siren these days,” Hongjoong chuckles, pressing his lips gently against Seonghwa’s neck.
“It wasn’t long ago that you thought I was a siren,” Seonghwa mumbles quietly, his eyes slowly closing as he allows Hongjoong further access to his neck.
“I still think you’re a siren,” Hongjoong laughs before he carefully takes the cup of tea from Seonghwa’s hands and places it on the closest possible surface.
“I think you’re ridiculous,” Seonghwa laughs before he pulls the robe off his shoulders and allows it to fall to the ground.
“Ridiculously good at making you come,” Hongjoong states before he drops to his knees to pleasure the love of his life.
Nearly fifty minutes later, the married couple is laying on the rug in their living room, sweaty and panting and their limbs are entirely tied up together.
“I love you, my beautiful star.”
“I love you too,” Seonghwa whispers as he continues to trace shapes into Hongjoong’s chest.
“Do you remember the first time we made love?”
“Of course I do,” Seonghwa laughs. “We were so young then!”
“Your hair was pink back then.”
“I was going through a phase.”
“It was a good phase.”
“You just liked the pink hair because I was always horny.”
“Yet we didn’t have sex for five months.”
“You wanted to wait,” Seonghwa replies as he presses a kiss to Hongjoong’s nose.
“You had a reputation,” Hongjoong laughs.
“Fucking Wooyoung and San started that fake ass rumor and I’m the one who paid for it! All I wanted to do was bend you over every fucking surface in that tiny house, but no!”
“I wanted you to stay,” Hongjoong laughs. “San was very adamant about your ‘fuck him and leave him’ ways.”
“San will die alone in a bed of his own urine,” Seonghwa states before laughing loudly. “God, he’d curse me if he knew I said that.”
“Do you remember what I said to you the night I proposed?”
“Which time?”
“The last time,” Hongjoong whines, nudging Seonghwa gently with his elbow.
“I do. You said ‘you’ll forever be the brightest star in my galaxy and I promise to love you forever.’ It was sappy as fuck.”
“It’s still true. You’re the brightest star I’ve ever seen.”
“I thought witches were supposed to be cranky brats.”
“No, you’re thinking of succubi. Witches are emotional and often find themselves flowing with the seasons.”
“Thank you,” Seonghwa whispers after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
“For what?”
“Everything. For loving me despite my many attempts to push you away. For staying. For helping me with every small problem that I treated as if it was a hurricane. You helped me through some really dark times in my life and never got angry with me over my blowups. Just...thank you. I love you so much, Sunshine. I’m so glad we found each other.”
“I’ll always be right here, baby.”
“You gave up the city for me. You gave up your job, where you were comfortable. You gave up the loud late-night train next to your apartment that helped you fall asleep. You gave up being close to your sister. And for what? To live in a small cabin in the woods with a forest fairy?”
“I didn’t give anything up, my star. We’re in this together. I go where you go. I was comfortable, sure, but I wasn’t happy. I was dependent on a city that didn’t care about me. You helped me become independent. I owe you my life.”
“I can’t wait for forever with you,” Seonghwa whispers before snuggling into Hongjoong’s chest.
“Forever and ever, my love.”
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The following morning, Hongjoong kisses Seonghwa and watches as his husband leaves their small home and heads to work. Seonghwa works at the FFF, the Forest Fairy Foundation. He’ll be gone for nearly nine hours today and, for once, Hongjoong is happy to see his husband leave their home.
He has a busy day ahead of him.
Not ten minutes after Seonghwa leaves, three bodies come bursting through the front door.
“I’ve asked you all to knock many times,” Hongjoong shouts from the kitchen. He hears his friends laugh as they kick off their shoes and not a moment later, his kitchen is filled with three idiots wearing large smiles.
“Are you ready?” Mingi asks, grabbing an apple off the counter and taking a large bite.
“Of course he’s not ready,” Jongho replies, rolling his eyes. “He’s not wearing shoes.”
“Well we are an hour early,” San chuckles.
“Give me a few minutes to clean up these dishes and then we can go.”
Sure enough, Hongjoong and his friends are out the front door a few minutes later and piling into San’s car, headed for the city.
“San,” Jongho shouts from the back seat. “Tell Hongjoong all about your new boy toy.”
“He’s not a boy toy,” San grumbles, earning a series of laughs from the two men in the back seat. “His name is Yeosang and we met a couple of weeks ago.”
“He’s breaking all his rules for this one,” Mingi adds.
“Oh really?” Hongjoong questions.
“Yeah. He’s...special.”
“Good for you, San,” Hongjoong tells his friend honestly.
The ride to the city is nearly an hour and it’s spent laughing, joking, and gossiping. It’s been a while since Hongjoong has gotten out of the cabin and as much as he’s missed his friends, he’s not sure if he’s ready to face the city. However, luckily for him, Jongho knows a few backroads and before he knows it they’re pulling into the small lot.
“You sure Seonghwa is going to like this?” Mingi asks as they all pile out of the car.
“He’ll love it,” San and Hongjoong say together before giving the other a smile.
Nearly two hours later, they’re all back in the car and on the road back to Hongjoon’s home. His friends refuse dinner and are leaving just an hour after they get back to the cabin.
Hongjoong is sad to see them go but glad to finally be back in his comfort zone. He spends the next few hours before Seonghwa gets home setting everything up. Sure, it should only be a fifteen-minute job but Hongjoong can’t make up his mind about where to put everything. Or what color it should all be. Or if this wonderful surprise is actually a good gift to get your husband on your eight-year wedding anniversary.
He focuses on the small collar in his hands before changing it back to the marsh green it had been fifteen minutes before. Seonghwa loves green. Green is a good option.
But then again...they live in the woods . Everything is green and brown.
Hongjoong hastily changes the collar to a soft yellow.
Like the sun.
But after a moment, he shakes his head and the collar turns a deep purple with blue swirls and a few diamond gemstones.
It’s extra but the moment he sees it, he calms down.
This is it.
He wraps the collar around the new family member’s neck before attaching the leash and heading outside. They go on a walk together, their first outing. Hongjoong feels relaxed and confident when they arrive back at the house, but he slams to a halt when he sees Seonghwa’s yellow scooter in the driveway.
“Fuck,” he mumbles as he attempts to quickly lead the puppy into its new home.
He opens the front door to find a surprised-looking Seonghwa, staring not at the puppy attached to Hongjoong’s leash, but instead at a small kitten.
“Who -” both men start before cutting themselves off. “You first,” Hongjoong says, his eyes wide as he stares at the small black kitten in Seonghwa’s hands.
“Surprise,” Seonghwa attempts feebly, raising the small kitten in the air. The tiny creature lets out a pathetic meow that only brings a smile to Hongjoong’s face.
“A kitten?”
“A puppy?” Seonghwa replies, his eyes practically forming small hearts as he stares down at the small brown puppy.
“Surprise.”
“We’re idiots,” Seonghwa laughs before bringing the kitten over to Hongjoong.
“Happy anniversary, my star.”
“Happy anniversary, Sunshine.”
They spend the next hour with their new pets, bouncing names around and watching as the small puppy and even smaller kitten become quick friends.
“What about….Snowstorm.”
“She’s black.”
“So? Colors are a societal construct.”
“Even so,” Seonghwa sighs, a smile on his lips, “what if you accidentally summon a snowstorm?”
“Well with that logic, we can’t give them any sort of name. I’d just eventually end up summoning a large pile of Emeralds or a tornado or a bouquet of lilies.”
“I’d love a bouquet of lilies,” Seonghwa chuckles. A moment later, an ornate vase filled with eight large lilies appears on the coffee table directly in front of Seonghwa. “It’d be better if you picked them yourself and didn’t summon them with magic.”
“You married a witch and witches can summon items, among other things,” Hongjoong smirks, earning nothing more than an eye-roll from his beloved.
It takes the rest of the night before they decide on names for their new family members.
Pumpkin the Shiba Inu and Skeleton the Chantilly-Tiffany.
The two new family members were quick to make the small cabin their home; with Skeleton perching in the windows, basking in the sun while she purrs gently, and Pumpkin sitting at Seonghwa’s feet while he knits and bringing Hongjoong bones after an excursion outside.
It was hardly two years later when Skeleton returned home different and Seonghwa quickly surmised she was pregnant.
“It’s your fault for not getting her fixed,” Hongjoong had teased as they laid in bed that night. Pumpkin was sleeping peacefully at Seonghwa’s feet while Skeleton purred from her spot on her cat tree, very close to Hongjoong’s head.
“She’s your cat.”
“She’s our cat.”
“You’re such a fucking brat,” Seonghwa laughs.
“Should we keep the kittens?”
“Depends on how many there are. I’m not sure I was eight more cats.”
“San and Yeosang said they’d love one or two and Mingi called dibs on one. Somehow I think all of our friends will soon be cat dads and we won’t have any kittens at all.”
“At least Pumpkin is fixed. Can you imagine having two more Pumpkin’s in the house?”
“We’d have to vacuum every three hours,” Hongjoong laughs, pulling his husband against his chest. “I always imagined I’d have a large family but I never imagined it’d be filled with kittens.”
After a few silent moments, Seonghwa cleared his throat. “Maybe it’s time to add another member to the family. A non-animal member.”
“Just say you want a baby and go,” Hongjoong laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Seonghwa’s head.
“It doesn’t have to be a baby,” Seonghwa pouted.
“I’d love to grow our family, my star. Kittens and puppies and a kid? We’ll have to add another room or three to the house.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we save all of our money and have strong friends who can help us expand our home.”
“We can pay them in kittens.”
“Deal,” Seonghwa smiles.
“I can’t wait to go on this adventure with you.”
“I love you.”