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“Jongin, how about a girl’s day out?” Kyungsoo asks while fixing his rolled-up sleeves. Their kitchen table is full of delicious breakfast that Jongin cooked for the family. The latter calls out to his son again to let him know the food on his plate is waiting.
“But we promised not to go out for two consecutive days.” Jongin puts down the spatula and sits down beside his husband. His unbuttoned royal blue polo shirt with a small shark print on its left made him look more like a football coach than a music teacher.
Kyungsoo leans on his right, stunned by Jongin’s response because he clearly does not understand what he is trying to say, “Ugh, it’s for Mark.” Jongin chuckles, realizing how he thought the girls were them.
“Hon, I think we got enough gayness for our son to know about girls.” The taller man says as he fills up their glasses with orange juice.
Their friends have always seen them as a perfect couple whose compatibility is spot on. Their best way to prove it? Party games and intermissions. No one can beat them in charades, with one look and flick of a hand, the other can guess what musical it is and do not forget how they have costumes ready in their car trunk. They are that extra couple.
A thing that makes their marriage fun and spontaneous is how they influence each other from their differences. Kyungsoo is a lawyer and it is his nature to be more skeptical and logical. He is responsible for creating Mark’s schedule that will help their child have appropriate TV time and teaching him how to become independent (because Jongin still babies him, but that is another discussion for them).
As for Jongin, he is everything about art and movement. He teaches music and busies himself with school stage performances. Not long ago, he was given a chance to become a football coach. He is good at training the students to win the season. Yet, he already felt like a winner because being a gay man and an athlete is an unbeatable combination.
In spite of all the contrasting things in their life, their love has made them decide to adopt a baby boy from South Korea. They named him Mark and it was the best commitment they made in their life together. Skipping the time when their family welcomed Mark wholeheartedly or four years later, their house is filled with joyous giggles from their child and endless talks and tries of the husbands on how to become great parents.
“It’s different,” Kyungsoo opposes. He has been meaning to initiate something to Jongin that will definitely allow Mark to grow up with an accepting mind.
They are gay, yes (so much). But it has nothing to do with parenting; their love and care cannot be judged by it— something that Kyungsoo would put in an argument or speech whenever someone in the airplane looks badly at them, then Jongin will end up paying for everyone’s headsets from embarrassment.
Nonetheless, with that in his mind, Kyungsoo thinks it is still important for Mark to have a feminine influence from a heterosexual being.
“Come on, Kyungsoo. You know I’m not good at riddles.” Jongin says before munching his pancake.
“Oh–” None of it sounds like a riddle. “I think it is best for Mark to have a feminine influence.” He stops dilly-dallying before his husband says something out of context.
“That is not from us?” It is written all over Jongin’s face that he is trying to digest what the smaller man has said.
“Yes, that is not from us.” He confirms and hands the handsome coach a tissue because the honey syrup on his pancake drips on their table. Kyungsoo is in charge of house cleanliness too, which does not need any discussion because he has always been.
Jongin nods, “I can always trust you about these things.”
“Just about these things?” The lawyer scrunches his nose, emitting a tease to his sweet husband.
“I always trust you about everything.” Jongin rubs Kyungsoo's shoulder then slowly leans to kiss his sugared lips.
“Dads, didn’t we talk about this?” They are raising a smart kid. Mark did not forget how they had a conversation about him being awkward whenever his parents showed affection to each other in front of him. It is a normal thing for kids but it's a little different for Mark because he may have the clingiest dad, Kim Jongin.
The two adults part away from their son’s presence, “What took you so long, dear?” Kyungsoo asks, trying to bury their lovely gesture just now. He makes sure that Mark practices being punctual and is able to prepare his school bag every morning alone.
“I’m sorry, daddy. Dad told me to pack all of my art materials.” For Mark, Daddy is Kyungsoo and Dad is Jongin.
“It’s okay, dear. But what– why, Jongin?” He looks at the taller man, his mouth gapes from confusion.
“It’s art day today.” Jongin answers with a smile, it reaches his eyes as he watches his son eat with gusto then run his fingers through the child’s fluffy hair. It is easy to identify that Jongin is the one responsible for the family’s pizzazz.
There is no way Kyungsoo can go against that. He did not question his partner any further and just smiled with them, immersing himself with the time left he had with his family this morning before parting.
Their nights are full of vigor, too. Hearing their child’s stories on what happened at school while eating their dinner, helping him finish his homework, then reading his favorite bedtime story after drying his damp hair because healthy hair in this household is important too or that is something in accordance with his dads’ principles.
The husbands are finally doing their own thing inside their bedroom; Jongin contemplating which shirt is the best match for his blazer while Kyungsoo reads his book but the contents of it are not the only thing he’s thinking about, “Does it sound like a good plan?”
“Yes,” Jongin takes off the shirt he is wearing, revealing his toned stomach, “Hyejin noona is a great mom and Marky likes his auntie a lot.”
Hyejin, Kyungsoo’s older sister, has three kids. She knows a lot about parenting, she may not be the best mother who can stop her eldest daughter from going after her good-for-nothing boyfriend, her middle child from obsessing about grades, and her youngest (the only son) from making weird inventions, but she definitely got experience with kids.
“I’ll tell her when we go to their house tomorrow.” Kyungsoo says, putting down his book. The man standing in front of the mirror nods, “Yeah, let’s do that.”
“Honey, go for the beige shirt.” He is the one getting tired of Jongin’s trouble choosing what shirt to wear.
“Right!” Jongin’s fist clenched from the sudden realization. “I knew it.”
“Mark, dear, don’t forget your hand sanitizer is here, okay?” Kyungsoo reminds Mark before helping him put his fanny pack. They are currently standing at their driveway, his Aunt Hyejin waiting for her nephew to finish getting ready.
“And don’t hesitate to ask Aunt Hyejin to call us when you miss us, okay?” Jongin wraps his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, watching their child listen to their reminders.
“Jongin, Mark will only be away for a few hours.” The smaller man whispers to his husband.
Jongin became the stay-at-home dad when they adopted an eight-month-old baby. He quit his job for two years to take care of their child, which Kyungsoo appreciates so much. So, Jongin cannot help but feel so attached to their little Mark.
“Yes, dad.” The kid answered him anyway. After a tear-jerking moment (for Jongin), at last, bids goodbye to each other with Kyungsoo repeating himself to his older sister to contact him if something happens.
Hyejin starts the car and looks at the rear-view mirror to see the polite-looking kid, smiling widely at her, “Are you ready to have fun with auntie, Marky?”
“Yes!” he beams with excitement.
Mark is holding his aunt’s hand as they enter the mall. The kid is almost the one leading their walk to his favorite ice cream parlor. During the ride, she promised him that they would do everything he likes because Kyungsoo’s sister really wants Mark to trust her more and become the cool aunt.
“Dads say sprinkles are just wax.” Mark responded when Hyejin made a comment about him liking marshmallows and Oreos as toppings, his gaze glued at how the server scoops their ice cream.
“My god, they even teach you that.” The woman says under her breath.
They take a seat in front of the parlor; Mark quietly enjoys his chocolate mint ice cream. There is no doubt that he is the son of Kyungsoo and Jongin.
“Mark, do you know what’s best in going out with your auntie?” Hyejin always observes how quiet Mark can be. She is trying to make things interesting for a smart kid, he and her second child go along well. But he can be extra too due to his parents’ nature, but Mark also has his own personality that sometimes makes his parents tone things down.
“What is it?”
“You can ask me anything about everything.” Hyejin whispers, sounding like a teenager who wants to spill something to her friend.
“Really, auntie?” Mark’s eyes enlarged from what he heard. His aunt nods to him with a wide smile.
“Why do my dads kiss all the time?” The question made the adult taken aback. Her youngest, Youngho, is ten years older than Mark, she passed answering silly questions from him, but she is now receiving those kinds of questions from Mark.
“I think because your dads love each other so much. That’s why they kiss all the time.” She cannot believe that Mark even used ‘all the time’. She is making pointers to what the child is saying to her, “When they kiss you good night, you feel happy, right?”
“I love good night kisses!” Little Marks says, taking another bite of his ice cream. “I think Haelee noona is the same with me.”
“What same, honey?” Hearing her eldest daughter’s name in this conversation is so intriguing.
“She asks kisses from Dylan hyung a lot.” Dylan is Haelee’s boyfriend that she does not like. Hyejin bites her lower lip for she wants to curse but not in front of a kid who likes copying everything he sees or hears.
“When,” she takes a deep breath. “Mark, when did you hear about this?”
“When I stayed at your home because you, uncle, and dads, grandpa, and auntie go to wine tasting event.” It was when all the adults in the family went to an event, like a bonding because she and Kyungsoo still wanted to know better about their father’s new wife or their Stepmother, which they cannot believe that they are having at their age.
“Well, maybe she said…” She is thinking hard, “Kittens?” that does not even rhyme with kisses that well.
“Noona was talking on her phone loudly.” Mark answers her innocently, there is no way the kid will drop what he heard. Haelee is the one in charge of running the house whenever the adults are out because she is the oldest among the cousins. Hyejin will definitely have a word with her later.
“Oh, secrets! How about we talk about our secrets?” She changes the topic.
“Secrets?” the child repeats, “Yes, secrets. I promise I won’t tell your dads.”
“Do you have a secret, Aunt Hyejin?” Sure, the adult goes first.
“I have,” She moves her ice cream cup and leans closer to Mark, “When I was in high school, I sneaked to attend a concert and went home at four in the morning.” For a kid, it is a cool secret.
“Did grandpa catch you?” He is invested in his aunt's story.
“Of course, he did not.” He surely did. Kyungsoo and Hyejin’s father was a sergeant in the military, so discipline is remarkable in their childhood. But that did not stop Kyungsoo from coming out.
“Oh, are concerts fun?” Mark sounded amused.
“It was.” She smiles, ruffling Mark’s hair. It was worth being grounded for three months with no phone connections.
“How about you, Mark? Do you have any secrets?”
“It is not a secret,” he says while scooping more ice cream.
“You can tell me not-secret things too.” Hyejin wipes Mark’s chin with a tissue. She sees how Mark resembles her younger brother a lot.
“Did you know I’m gay?” This is the kind of question from a child that Hyejin never heard of.
Kyungsoo works even on Saturdays. He loves his job, he can be timid at times but his wits always make up for it. Also by his own competency, he got his own office at the firm. He is seated in front of a table where a small Pride flag is sticking on his pencil holder, which Jongin insisted he should have, besides a picture frame containing their family picture.
The lawyer is currently reading a document when his phone rings, startling him because he was too engrossed with the case and Lady Gaga’s music in his background. He picks up the phone and it is a video group call of him, his husband and sister.
“Hey– oh my god, are you in a cubicle right now?” He greets, “Gross.”
“Hi, we’re on water break.” Jongin is on the screen too, wiping his forehead with a towel. It is seen that he is in the field with the bleachers on his back.
“Hey, babe.” The man under the sun looks carefully at his phone. “Hi, noona, why are you alone?”
“Okay, guys, I need you to listen—” For the first minutes of their call, the gays did not give her a chance to speak.
“Do not tell me you lost Mark!” or maybe in the next few minutes too. The phone’s camera is focused on Jongin’s face but it is noticeable how the man stood up from his own shocker thought, “Noona, I’m going to get your smartest kid.”
“What? No! Mark’s not lost and you’re not taking Areum.”
“So you agree that Areum’s your smartest kid?” Kyungsoo managed to put that even in this situation with his sister getting restless inside the public restroom’s cubicle, whisper shouting to both of them, “And babe, Jongin, calm down.” He says, looking at Jongin.
“Kyungsoo, I did not say that.” Hyejin is back at calming herself. “Would you guys please listen to me first?” Jongin is still confused but sits down to listen while Kyungsoo just nods at her.
The woman explains what happened and both dads never expect anything like that from their son, “I don’t know what to say.” Hyejin smacks her forehead with her own hand.
“We need to meet up at lunch and I’m going to pick you up, Kyungsoo.” Jongin decides. Kyungsoo still looked in awe from what he heard. Their initial reaction is not really their judgment about it, there are so many things to unfold in this one. “And babe, please come down.”
The football coach dismissed the student-athletes early for lunch, he immediately hopped on this car and went to Kyungsoo’s office. He did not need to wait for long to see his husband leaving the building with a worried face.
“Hi, honey.” Jongin kisses the cheek that is flushed from being touched by the sunlight.
“Hey,” Kyungsoo did not let go of the hand that reached him, “What do we do?”
“We’ll ask him why he said that.” The father of his child who looks hot in his gym shorts starts driving.
“I mean, isn’t he too young to know that?” Kyungsoo asks. He knows that he is very much gay that he even committed to having a child with Jongin that his younger gay self would have never thought of. Kyungsoo being himself, he just cannot stop asking questions and considering circumstances.
“Honey, I knew I was gay when I attended my first musical.” He was nine at that time. The smaller man tilts his body and leans on the car seat’s headrest.
“Did you really want to become Annie when you were little?” Kyungsoo is trying to picture a little Jongin being a curly redhead wearing a red dress.
“Silly, of course, not! I think I fell in love with the production.” Jongin laughs, stealing a glance at his husband, “You know, how great they deliver their performance and the next thing I know I expressed something else too.” He grew up surrounded by a lot of opportunities to show off his creativeness; that is how Jongin learned more about his sexuality.
“But babe, I don’t think it’s the same with you.”
“We can't put our hands on it yet.” Jongin has a point. They do not even know Mark’s whole story about it.
“Maybe, he’s just confused.” It feels so wrong when Kyungsoo says those words.
“Did you just say that?” Jongin chuckles, “You sounded like your dad when he did not even know what LGBT stands for.” It was history and their relationship with their father is getting better since.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry. I heard myself right now.” Kyungsoo breathes in, “I’m losing my mind, Jongin.”
“We’re almost there.” He rubs Kyungsoo’s knee to calm him a bit. They are headed to Mark’s favorite playground. He took a sharp turn and as they entered the street, he could already see Hyejin gently pushing Mark on the swing.
“Oh, there they are.” The man sitting on the shotgun seat mumbles.
There are only a few people in the playground, the odd peaceful ambiance is just making the situation more serious for Kyungsoo, who is fidgeting his fingers a lot while they are walking towards where they are.
Jongin notices it and reaches to hold his hand, “Hey.” He whispers, the smaller man looks up and sees a reassuring smile. Confrontations are really nerve-wracking.
The latter having a job where he is always on the spot is something he cannot be used to, so a very attentive and supportive husband that is always beside him to calm his nerves is one of the puzzle pieces that completes him.
“Dad! Daddy!” Mark shouts when he sees them, immediately climbing down on the swing, running excitedly to them. He was not told by his aunt that he is meeting his dads for lunch.
“Hi, baby!” Jongin greets back, opening his arms and kneeling his right knee to welcome Mark with a hug. Kyungsoo received a hug too, ruffling his son’s hair.
“Are dads’ work done for today?” Mark did not let go of Kyungsoo’s hand, looking up to his parents with a big smile.
“Oh no, baby, not yet. But we’re going to eat lunch with you.” Kyungsoo answers him as they follow Mark going back to the swing.
“Noona, thanks for calling us.” The taller man says.
“It’s nothing,” Hyejin is smiling when Mark looks back at her but as soon as he goes back to swinging on his own, she puts on her tensed face. “I’m so sorry.” She mouthed.
“There’s nothing you should be sorry for.” Kyungsoo whispers to her sister.
Kyungsoo sits on the swing beside Mark, looking at his husband who is leaning against the vertical beam. Jongin gives him a nod, signaling him to start asking their son.
“Mark, your Aunt Hyejin told us something you said earlier to her.” Their gaze is locked on the kid enjoying his time. “Something about you being gay?”
“What about it?” Mark quickly responds.
Jongin is stunned by it, “Okay, a little aggressive.”
“Uhm, honey, we’re just wondering why did you say that?” Kyungsoo continues asking.
“Because I’m gay.” Their son was not even hesitating with his answers, they looked at each other with his bold response.
“Okay,” Jongin goes down on one knee to be eye level with Mark, “Why do you think you’re gay?”
“We’re learning about it in school.” The adults muttered oh in unison.
“My friend Lily’s parents are Italian, so she’s Italian.” Mark plants his feet on the ground to stop the swing’s motion, “So if my dads are gay, I am gay.”
“That is so adorable, but that’s not how it works.” Jongin gently pinches Mark’s chubby cheeks.
“Why?” an innocent question.
“You see, honey, when you were talking about Lily, it is about her heritage and it is totally different from being gay.” Kyungsoo is carefully trying to explain it to his son.
“What is heritage?” Mark furrows his eyebrows from the unfamiliar word.
“Well, Marky, if you’re talking about heritage, you’re South Korean.” The smaller man supposed it would be easier to tell Mark a true-to-life example to get a young mind to grasp what heritage is.
“Yup, your dads and I are Koreans too, so do your cousins, well half.” Hyejin added. She is trying to help in their situation. Kyungsoo and Hyejin are both born in South Korea, but they grew up in Canada.
“No, I’m not. I’m gay!” Mark is only hearing about all this for the first time.
“Mark, no, you’re in the learning phase— god, did I say phase? I should stop speaking.” Kyungsoo stands up from disbelief at what he blatantly said. The words in his head are getting mixed up.
Hyejin pats his back, “I’m having flashbacks of dad.”
Getting his attention back to his son, Jongin holds both of Mark’s hands, making sure that he is capturing his child’s reactions to understand him more.
“Marky, it's dads’ fault. We don’t give you enough chance to learn about our culture. That’s why you’re being confused.” Jongin is so good with kids that it is one of the things that Kyungsoo liked when they were getting to know each other and now that he is seeing it happen with his husband and child is filling up his heart.
“You know what, honey, your dad’s right.” Kyungsoo squats beside Jongin, “Should we go to a Korean restaurant for lunch? Is that okay with you?” Mark slowly nods as his lips start forming a smile.
“Great! Let’s go.” Kyungsoo’s sister exclaims.
Jongin lends his hand which Mark took. They started walking in pairs, Kyungsoo walked beside her sister who did not exactly handle the situation but still did a pretty good job.
“I know you'd have acted differently if Mark said that when he’s a lot older and experienced.” He knows his sister is trying to comfort him, somehow.
“Yeah, I’m literally all over the place earlier. This is why even now I practice what to say in front of the judge.”
“Hey, it’s fine, Kyungsoo. You’re a first-time dad and you did good.” They grew up being close, they know each other very well too.
“Really?” Kyungsoo confirming things two times might be out of habit.
“Yes, nobody can be a perfect parent. What’s important is you’re a good parent.” She sounds cheesy right now, but her brother needs to hear it.
“That’s nice to hear from someone who’s a great mom.” This prompted a side hug of the siblings.
“I also like the idea of you guys letting Mark taste our culture. I mean it can work on my kids too.”
“Yeah, that’ll help Haelee think things over.” He is very much aware of his niece’s situation.
“God! Haelee,” she remembers, “Your son told me something about Haelee earlier.”
“Mark has a lot to talk about.” It is what Kyungsoo deduced from what his sister has said, “What is it?”
“We’ll talk about it later, I can’t control myself anymore. I’m going to call her right now.” She is picking up her phone as she speaks.
“Oh okay,” Kyungsoo can see how his sister boiled up from the thought, so to give her some privacy and to avoid displacement of anger, he sprints to catch up to his husband and son. He holds Mark’s free hand that makes the child smile at him.
“Did you have fun with Aunt Hyejin today?”
The kid nods happily, “I had choco mint ice cream.”
“Good choice, son.” Jongin says.
They are walking on the sidewalk of the park and opposite of their direction is a mother supporting her baby taking little steps.
“Oh my, so cute.” The husbands utter compliments to the baby who looks about 12 months old.
“Babies are so cute, right, Marky?” Jongin slightly squeezes his son’s hand to get his attention. He wants to know what Mark thinks about babies. The boy looks up to him and shrugs his shoulders, making a remark that he’s not sure about it.
“But I will be dads’ only handsome baby. Just like what you said, Dad.” His son’s eyes are twinkling with innocence and honesty. Kyungsoo looks at Jongin sharply before mouthing ‘Did you say that to him?’ Jongin is alarmed by his husband’s reaction.
The idea started when the adoption agency contacted them, saying a pregnant woman stumbled upon their profile and thinks they are great. It was only a kind nudge to them; a suggestive action and no decision are on the table yet. Nevertheless, it left them a great impression of wanting a big family.
Mark having a sibling will be such a dream to look at. Perhaps the idea of their grand wish is a lot of work of warming it up to their first child. After all, they always figure things out together with their never-ending patience of trying.