Chapter Text
“See? I told you guys, shopping is a fun family activity” said Jungsoo as they drove past rows and rows of cars to get out of the parking lot.
“Only if you let us buy the playstation” Kangin muttered from the passenger seat. “Right, Kyu?”
“Yeah dad, we really wanted it~”
“You know I don’t like drifting from the list. It’s a bad habit to not follow lists—”
“You bought like five white t-shirts and they weren’t on the list”
“Those are a necessity”
“Why do you need five of the same shirt!?”
“They are not the same! They’re different shades of white”
“You are a mad man.”
Jungsoo rolled his eyes.
“Why do I feel like we’re forgetting something?” Kangin asked.
“No we’re not. This is your excuse to go back in and buy the playstation”
“Dad didn’t even let me buy my Halloween costume,” Donghae whined, crossing his arms.
“Halloween’s five months away Hae. And that catboy costume is too provocative, you’re not wearing that”
“Come on,” Kangin nudged him.
“It's black metallic spandex!” Jungsoo whisper-yelled and Kangin instantly realised that his son had wandered off into the adult Halloween costume aisle.
“No catboy for Halloween Hae” He announced, receiving an exasperated response from the backseat.
As soon as they were on the highway, Jungsoo rolled down all the windows, placing an elbow on the edge. The car sailed smoothly on the empty road.
“Isn’t it peaceful?”
“Sure is,” Kangin smiled, sliding lower in his seat. He crossed his arms and shut his eyes, letting the breeze caress his face. “I am loving the silence. Love it more when I don’t have to drive”
Jungsoo chuckled. “I am surprised Sungmin stopped making those sounds while playing with his light stick”
“It’s a lightsaber,” Kyuhyun corrected. “And that’s because Sungmin isn’t here”
Jungsoo stepped on the brakes so hard, everyone dashed ahead.
“WE FORGOT SUNGMIN!?”
“Told you, we were forgetting something”
Jungsoo (35) & Kangin (37) : Married 16 years
“No, we don’t usually forget our kids at department stores,” Jungsoo says, crossing his legs. “but sometimes, you get so engrossed in dragging one son away from a slutty halloween costume and the other two from an eye-wateringly expensive gaming console, that you just forget about your nine-year old running around the store with a light stick”
“Lightsaber,” Kangin politely corrects him. “And we have only three kids. Who’s the fourth one?”
“You”
“I am not a kid!” He frowns, sipping on his chocolate milk with a straw.
Jungsoo smiles at the camera. “.....Of course”
The middle school debate competition was Heechul’s favourite event because his baby brother Siwon loved debating, except he was really bad it.
Heechul was sitting in the front row, clapping the loudest every time Siwon made a point and it didn’t matter whether his points got them a score or not. What mattered was that he was trying his best.
“Honey, calm down, people are getting disturbed by your claps” Hankyung mumbled groggily from the next seat. He was awoken from Heechul’s applause and cheers. (I mean come on, the auditorium had comfortable seats and dim lighting. Who wouldn’t fall asleep?)
“I don’t care if nobody claps. He’s my brother not theirs”
“Somebody take that boy out, he’s affecting the whole team” muttered a mom who was sitting next to Heechul and Hankyung knew at that very moment that the woman was doomed.
“Excuse me!?” Heechul dramatically whipped his head towards her. “You wanna take my brother out? My brother who made some really great points about why Barbie is a poor role model for little girls!? Why don’t you look at your son and teach him NOT to dig his nose on stage for an hour!”
Heechul’s voice washed over that of the children debating on the stage, alarming everyone.
The woman hastily grabbed her purse and shifted to another seat.
“Come on” Hankyung clapped, dismissing the numerous eyes fixed on his husband. “the debate’s up there guys”
Heechul smiled proudly, perking up in his seat. He watched as the debate resumed and completely ignored the girl who had moved into the empty seat next to him. She was wearing a light pink dress, pink boots and had the most sparkly pink lipstick.
“You're fierce…” she said. “We’ve been trying to tell her off for weeks”
“Nobody messes with my brother,” Heechul replied.
“I’m Eunha, by the way. Yoona’s sister.” She extended a hand that Heechul politely shook. “I’m Heechul, Siwon’s brother”
“Oh, nice to meet—”
“Siwon focus!” Heechul whispered aggressively, trying to catch his attention. When he followed the younger’s gaze, he saw that he was looking at his long-time crush, Kim Jaejoong. Heechul angrily slumped in his seat. “This boy and his crushes.”
“So, um, where are you from?” The woman asked.
“Take it down a notch, miss,” Hankyung called, bending over to look at her.
“Oh I didn’t see you got your dad along” She chuckled awkwardly.
“Alright strawberry shortcake, firstly, stop trying to woo my husband and secondly, I AM NOT HIS DAD!”
Heechul giggled. “I think you made that clear with your first point—Siwon FOCUS!”
Hankyung (40) & Kim Heechul (24) : Married 6 months
“Hankyung and I are very different,” Heechul says, his arm lovingly wrapped around Hankyung's. “He’s from the big city, grew up in Seoul, while I am from a small village in Busan. My village is really famous in all of Busan for the…… how do you say it in English?”
“Murders.” Hankyung nods at the camera.
“Right,” Heechul smiles radiantly. “Murders”
Jongwoon rubbed his clammy hands on his pants as he followed the inspection guy. The orphanage wanted to make sure they were “decent” people before approving the adoption.
Ryeowook and Jongwoon followed him as he went around the house with judgement in his eyes.
“What do you think?” Ryeowook asked in anticipation.
“Hmm~” He nodded. “Nice interiors, I like the garden outside too. This is the last place left to see—” Ryeowook jumped in front of him when he tried opening the bedroom door.
“You can’t go in”
The man frowned. “Why?”
Jongwoon mouthed What are you doing!? From behind the inspector.
“This is Kibum’s bedroom and it’s a surprise…. You can’t see it”
His eyebrows strung together in suspicion. “Are you hiding a previously abused child in there?”
“No what the hell???”
“How do I believe you?”
“Sir, it’s really nothing, Wookie, let him see,” Jongwoon requested.
“But it’s a surprise for Kibum and you"
“I need it for the record”
“Okay but only you can go in” Ryeowook opened the door a crack to let the man in, simultaneously keeping a hand over Jongwoon’s eyes.
The man walked out the next moment, blinking hard. “I will need to wash my eyes with soap to get the image out”
Jongwoon glanced at Ryeowook, eyebrows raised in question.
“It’s beautiful okay,” Ryeowook assured. “that man doesn’t have taste”
The inspector handed them the adoption papers and bid the kid goodbye.
Three year old Kibum was sitting on the sofa, his legs swinging as he curiously looked around. His suitcase and bag were stacked nearby.
Ryeowook kneeled to reach his eye level. “Welcome home Kibummie! I am your dad, Ryeowook” He was shivering with excitement. It had been long since he saw a child so tiny and now it was his own.
He tugged at Jongwoon’s sleeve gesturing him to join him.
Jongwoon slowly squatted. “Hey there, my name is Jongwoon. You can call my Jongwoon”
Kibum nodded. He wasn’t a talker and only answered when he was asked something.
Ryeowook pulled Jongwoon into a corner. “Hey, we decided, didn't we? He’ll call me dad and you daddy to avoid confusion”
“I was thinking about it…. and… I can’t do it”
“Why??”
“I don’t know, it’s weird to have a kid call me daddy… after, you know…. you”
“Huh???”
Jongwoon stared at him until it clicked.
“Oh my god” He slapped his arm. “You’re so dirty!”
Jongwoon (32) and Ryeowook (32) : Married for 3 years
“Ryeowook and I have been married for 3…. 3 years now?” Jongwoon looks to his partner for confirmation.
Ryeowook nods, lightly squeezing Jongwoon’s hand that rests on his thigh. “We dated for two years and then got married. And now we wanted to take our relationship to the next level. After seeing Kangin hyung and Jungsoo hyung raise three whole kids, we just…. we wanted that in our lives too”
“Except the crying, slobbering and dirty diapers part,” Jongwoon added. “But we also didn’t want to miss crucial parts of a child’s growth like—”
“Like puberty!”
Jongwoon glances at him, looking discomforted.“I was gonna say, discovering himself, but yeah, puberty” He turns to the camera. “So we decided to adopt Kibum. He’s 3 years old and a quiet child, according to the people at the orphanage”
“I can’t wait for him to meet the family!” Ryeowook squeals.
“You were supposed to look after him!” Jungsoo said with a scowl as they hurried back into the store. The sheer size of it frightened him. His little Sungmin must be so scared all alone.
“I was!!!!” Kangin replied.
“Then how did we lose him!?”
“Okay you got me” He looked down guiltily. “I got a bit carried away by the discount offers on the games”
Jungsoo took a deep breath, conjuring all the patience within him. It would be embarrassing to scold Kangin in a public place, he told himself. “Okay. Alright. Now we can’t waste any more time. Kangin you go east, Kyu go west and Hae—”
“I’ll go north!” Donghae announced, swinging around on his heels.
“That’s south,” Kyuhyun said.
“Who cares! I am going in that direction”
Jungsoo curiously watched his son march away.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kyuhyun asked, tiptoeing to reach his father’s ear. “He’s definitely not that excited to find Sungmin”
“Get going already” Jungsoo nudged him.
“I am going to quit debating” Siwon remarks sadly from the backseat of their car. “I am really bad at it”
“No. You lost because you were busy staring at that older boy” said Heechul.
“Kim Jaejoong is not a boy!”
Hankyung looked at him in the rear view mirror, in horror. “Since when?!??”
“He’s a man”
“Yeah, he’s too old for you, Siwon. He’s like 18!” Heechul reminded.
“Oh, so you can go for an older guy but I can’t?”
Heechul’s jaw dropped at that sudden jab while Hankyung fought the urge to laugh.
“I need to go to the mall where he works,” Siwon explained. “but before that I need to get my white shirt, the silk one, and get the poem that I wrote in calligraphy for him”
Hankyung adjusted the rear view mirror to get a better look at him. “Look kid, not to be mean, but if you put on a puffy white shirt and declare your love for an 18 year old, you’re most probably gonna get your ass whooped”
“Stop the car!” Siwon shrieked, unbuckling the seatbelt and jumped out as soon as the car halted.
Heechul frowned. “See? You hurt his feelings”
“Well, it’s about time he toughens up a little—jeez he’s picking flowers???” Hankyung grimaced looking at Siwon who was carefully plucking lilies from the sidewalk.
“Just let him do what he wants~”
“Fine! Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you though”
“Wonnie’s like his father. Very, very emotional and passionate. My mama was the happiest with him. I still remember the night they made Wonnie. It was wild!”
Hankyung looked disgusted. “Am I the only one who gets uncomfortable when you talk about your mom and stepdad’s overly sexual relationship?”
“It was true love!” Heechul remarked.
“He is a stupid brash youngster with a noisy motorbike”
“He is 40.”
Hankyung flashed a dry humourless smile at the camera. “You don’t have to remind me that I am old enough to be Siwon’s dad”
“Now, time to see your room!” Ryeowook slowly pushed open the bedroom door while Kibum held onto Jongwoon’s finger as they walked in. He looked just as nervous as Jongwoon.
“What the—What is this!?” Jongwoon was squinted at the bright yellow walls. Above Kibum’s bed, was a mural of Jongwoon and Ryeowook as angels flying in the clouds, surrounded by little cupids.
“It’s us!” Ryeowook exclaimed happily. “We’re flying over Kibum, always protecting him like angels”
Jongwoon found it repulsive. He pulled his phone out. “Hey Siri, remind me to buy a can of pastel yellow paint tomorrow so I can cover up this disaster”
“Hey!” Ryeowook pouted.
“When I said you could design the room, I did not mean this” He gestured at the mural.
Ryeowook bent down to whisper to Kibum. “Remember, Jongwoon daddy is angry daddy”
“No, I’m not”
“Fairy daddy!” Kibum giggled, pointing at him.
“See? He likes it” Ryeowook swooped the kid in his arms and kissed his cheek. “Someone in this house has good taste”
“Perfect. You two have fun then. I’ll leave”
“Why are you being so pissy?”
“I’m nottttt”
Ryeowook stepped closer, wrapping a hand around his arm. “What is it?”
Jongwoon sighed. “I haven’t told my family yet… about the, you know, adoption… I couldn’t—”
“I know”
“You do?”
“Yes and you did it because Jungsoo hyung will go on about how having your own kids is a whole experience”
“Yes!”
“And Hankyung lowkey judges all your decisions”
“Right” Jongwoon was glad he understood, but something was off.
“……”
“..….”
“What did you do?” Jongwoon asked, narrowing his eyes at his husband.
Ryeowook slowly traced his steps back towards the door. “Invited them over for dinner” He blurted and slipped out.
“Ryeowook!” Jongwoon followed him out with loud angry steps.
“I had to!”
“You did not! I am calling them and cancelling”
“You’re not doing that!”
“I can’t do this”
“You’re an avoider Jongwoon” Ryeowook said, turning to him. “That's a serious problem….but we are going to fix it, right Kibummie?” He looked at the little boy who stared back with his big doe eyes.
“Fairy daddy!”
“Look, I love my family, okay” said Jongwoon. “It’s just that—that Hankyung hyung isn’t really comfortable with Wookie. Still. It’s been 5 years and he still does this thing where he announces himself before walking into any room we’re in because he thinks Ryeowook and I are always up to something kinky. Like, whips and handcuffs kinda kinky” He shoots side glances at his husband.
“Don’t look at me like that. YOU started with the lie”
*cut to a clip of Jongwoon introducing Ryeowook to his family.
“So, what do you do??” Hankyung asks.
Oh I am a professional do—”
“Dog walker” Jongwoon interjected. “He’s a professional dog walker” *
“I am a professional dom.” Ryeowook says drily. “I mean I used to be. And Jongwoon decided to hide this from his family. HOWEVER,” He dramatically raises his finger. “Hankyung found out about it from a site”
“Okay, we’re not having that conversation now”
“It’s okayyyy~ your brother is into BDS—”
“Bup bup bup”
Jungsoo had been running up and down aisles searching for Sungmin. He was sweating and palpitating, trying to keep the negative thoughts at bay. He had taught Sungmin not to talk to strangers or take anything from them but Sungmin was like a puppy. You could lure him in with a ball or a stick.
Sungmin was playing with a baby who was sitting in the shopping cart while his mom checked out products in the rack. The baby was wearing a Darth Vader mask and apparently Sungmin and the baby were laughing and bonding when Jungsoo found him.
He felt so relieved to see his kid perfectly alright. He watched him in awe. Sungmin was always the most coddled member of the house so watching him act like the older brother was new. It was interesting to watch.
“You’re not Darth Vader, you’re Die Vader!” Sungmin shouted and smacked the kid’s head with his lightsaber.
Jungsoo sucked in a breath.
There was a brief silence before the baby’s cries filled the atmosphere.
Jungsoo shot a quick glance at the mother before grabbing Sungmin and making a run for it.
He thanked the heavens that they stopped having babies after Sungmin.
“That's Kim Jaejoong, the love of my life” Siwon’s eyes twinkled when he saw the teenager standing at his little gourmet popcorn stall in the mall.
Hankyung came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Buddy, I’ll give you as much money as you want for not doing this”
Heechul scowled at him.
“I am 12, what am I gonna do with money?” Siwon asked.
“What are you gonna do with an 18 year old?” Hankyung asked but it probably went unheard because Siwon was already on his way to confess his love for the guy.
Hankyung leaned on the railing, watching the boy. “This is going to be bad”
“Don’t be so negative,” Heechul said.
“Ever seen a 12 year old with that 8-2 hair parting??? That senior’s gonna make fun of him”
I know you’re not really mad about that. You’re angry because that girl thought you were my dad”
Hankyung scoffed. “I don’t care what a Bratz doll looking college kid thinks of me”
“You shouldn’t!” Heechul hugged him from the side, resting his head on Hankyung’s shoulder. “You should only care what I think of you and stop being so hard on our baby brother”
“Our?”
“Yes. He’s my brother and we are married so he’s our brother now”
“Look, I don’t wanna see him make a fool out of himself. I can smell that hair goo from up here”
“Whatever happens there, he needs to learn on his own. You can’t stop him from doing things because you might know what the outcome is….. Sometimes you have to let him fall and learn. What you need to do is be the hand that pulls him back on his feet when he falls” Heechul spoke softly.
Sometime later, Siwon returned, a box of chocolate popcorn tucked under his arm. His body language was the complete opposite of how it was when he left. Shoulders dropped, head hanging low, Siwon spoke sadly. “He has a boyfriend…”
“Aww it’s okay,” Heechul hugged his brother, ruffling his hair. “At least you tried”
“I should’ve known that was stupid”
“Noooo it was brave” Heechul turned to Hankyung, glaring at him for a response. “Brave, right Hankyung?"
“Well, let’s grab lunch now that we’re free?” Hankyung asked awkwardly. He was really hungry. They hadn’t eaten anything since Siwon’s debate started in the morning.
Heechul rolled his eyes.
An elderly woman approached Hankyung with a notepad and pen in hand.“Sir would you like to sign up for the senior book club?”
“I AM NOT AN OLD MAN!” He shouted and stomped away.
Now that Jungsoo had found Sungmin, he was looking for Donghae and Kangin, the two men who were always on their phones. For some reason, they both weren’t answering his calls.
With Kyuhyun and Sungmin behind him, Jungsoo went around showing people a picture of Donghae asking if they had seen him. He started with the clothes section because that’s where Donghae was most likely to be.
“Oh yes, this boy just went into that changing room” an attendant informed.
“Oh thank you!” Jungsoo shook his hand. “Which one is it??”
“The third one”
Jungsoo heard two voices coming from inside the changing room as he neared it.
Oh my god babe, you look so good in this!
I know right! It’s like so perfect!
Jungsoo frantically banged the door
Hey, just a moment, some idiot is banging on the door.
Donghae swung the door open. “What the—Dad…..”
“Oh hi Mr Park” Hyukjae waved from the phone screen.
“I’ll call you back” Donghae mumbled into the phone and hung up.
“WHAT is going on???" Jungsoo shrieked, scanning Donghae from head to toe. He was wearing that catboy suit that hugged every curve of his body. "I told you not to wear this!”
“But Hyukjae wanted to see~”
“That is exactly why I said not to wear it!” Jungsoo scolded. “Okay now quick change into your clothes and be out in five!”
“Dad!” Kyuhyun’s voice was heard from a distance. He strutted into the changing room aisle. “Dad! Dad, Sungmin tripped over his lightsaber, poked himself in the eye with it and knocked down stuff toys from a rack”
Jungsoo blinked. “What…. I left y’all alone for like five minutes”
“What can I say? His motor skills are debatable”
“Did you call Kangin? Where is he??”
*cut to Kangin biting his nails, looking around nervously as he billed the Playstation at the cash counter*
Kyuhyun shrugged. “I have no idea”
“Stay here and make sure Donghae doesn’t call that 18 year old hormone” Jungsoo ordered, clasping his shoulders. “If you hear them talking, bang the door like your life depends on it”
“What if they’re having an interesting conversation?? Can I listen to it and then bang the door?”
Jungsoo stared back, at the brink of losing his shit.
“Message received. No eavesdropping, only banging—okay that came out wrong. I shall bang—nevermind”
Jungsoo hurried off to the aisle where he had left Sungmin.
The boy was on the floor, a hand covering his eye. He was surrounded by a pool of stuffed sharks.
“Oh my god are you okay?” Jungsoo asked, pushing away the toys to get to his son. “How did you even—”
“Sir, what are you doing with the kid?” An attendant interrupted.
“That’s my son.”
The attendant turned to Sungmin. “Hey buddy, is he your dad?”
Sungmin sniffed sadly. “My dads forgot me here and then they came back but my dad again forgot about me”
“Minnie I am literally right here!” Jungsoo tugged at his hand.
Sungmin looked up. “Oh—I didn’t see you because I was covering my eye”
The attendant nodded and let them be.
Jungsoo kneeled down and pulled Sungmin’s hand away from his eye to take a look. It was fine. No injury. Jungsoo felt a weight lift off his chest. “Oh my god I was so worried. Are you okay??? Does it hurt a lot? How did it happen???”
“I’m okay dad… I put the lightsaber down on the floor to look for the sharks and then I went running to the other end and I didn’t see the lightsaber and tripped over it and while I fell, I caught a shark’s fin for support but it only dragged all the other toys down. Then I was looking for my lightsaber in the pile of sharks and I pulled it out and it hit my eye”
Well, Kyuhyun wasn’t wrong about Sungmin’s motor skills.
He smiled, fixing the little boy’s hair. “I’m glad you’re okay! Now let’s go home. Look, Kyu and Hae are here too”
Donghae rushed to Sungmin, lifting him into a bone-crushing hug. “Oh my god my brother! Do you have any idea how worried we were!”
Jungsoo was quite surprised by that.
Kyuhyun spotted Donghae shoving something into Sungmin’s coat as he hugged him.
The three children made their way to the parking lot with their father who was still quite frustrated.
“Kangin isn’t answering my calls. Where is this man?!”
“Dad” Kyuhyun nudged him.
“Yeah?” He asked, phone glued to his ear as he dialled Kangin once again.
“I think Donghae hyung is hiding something”
“Oh my god!”
“Right! Catch him”
“I can’t believe your father did this!” Jungsoo frowned looking at his phone.
“What?”
“He answered my call and said hey you’ve reached Kim Youngwoon. Leave a message after the beep”
“It went to voicemail,” said Kyuhyun.
“No! Kangin answered the call! And said that to me! Look!” He showed him his phone screen. The duration of the call was 5 seconds.
“……wow”
“I swear if he stopped to eat that stupid cotton candy, I will be really mad”
“You know what else you’ll be really mad at? Look at Donghae hyung. He’s wearing something under his clothes” Kyuhyun pointed at Donghae who was walking ahead with Sungmin.
Jungsoo squinted, looking closely.
“Hae”
“Yeah?”
“Are you wearing that cat suit underneath?”
Donghae froze.
“Donghae I asked you something”
He slowly turned around. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?” He sneered at his tattletale brother.
Kyuhyun shrugged. “I don’t want to be known as a shoplifter’s brother”
“Fine! You got me. Can I please please please take it?? I’ll pay for it out of my pocket money”
“NO! Go change right now! And come out with the suit in your hand!”
Donghae grumbled about not having freedom as he trudged back to the changing room.
“Hyung, take your ears” Sungmin called, pulling out the cat ear headband that Donghae had hidden inside his jacket.
“Donghae!” Jungsoo scolded.
“Okay, okay I’m sorry! I’ll put it all back! Stop shouting~”
Kyuhyun chuckled, shaking his head. “Aren’t you happy that not all of your kids are troublesome?”
Jungsoo normally wouldn’t agree to it. He loved all his kids equally. However, today he really was glad that Kyuhyun was a normal boy.
“I guess… yeah. Thanks Kyu”
“Oh don’t thank me” He waved dismissively. “give me a playstation and that’ll be more than enough…. until the next playstation comes out”
Jungsoo’s lips thinned into a smile. “I’ll think about it”
“Think about what?” Kangin asked, appearing out of nowhere.
“Oh my god! Where have you been??”
“I was looking for Sung—oh here he is, my boy!” He pulled him closer, ruffling his hair. “I was searching for you everywhere!”
“Dad said he’ll buy me a playstation!” Kyuhyun jumped excitedly.
“I said I’ll think about it, Kyu”
“Guess I read your mind. It’s in the car already”
Kyuhyun gasped. “Really!?”
“Yes!”
“You’re the best dad!” He hugged Kangin tightly before rushing to the parking lot with Sungmin at his heels.
Jungsoo couldn’t help smiling at how happy Kyuhyun was, but it vanished when he turned to Kangin. “So that’s why you were avoiding my calls??”
Kangin slowly nodded.
“Kangin~ You can’t be giving in to his demands like that”
“Kyuhyun never asks for anything! His grades are perfect, he is always at his best behaviour and he rarely gets in trouble. I think he deserves this”
“He is addicted to video games. Haven't you seen how he plays StarCraft????”
Kangin wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer “Honey~I’ll make sure he doesn’t spend too much time on it, I promise”
“I’m trusting you on it okay?”
Kangin kissed his forehead. “Thanks”
“I can’t believe you did this to me,” Jongwoon said as he helped Ryeowook carry casseroles and plates to the dining table.
“Can you stop sulking and get into the spirit of things? This is the first time they’re going to meet Kibum”
“You have no idea how they’ll react. I have no idea how they’ll react!”
“Jongwoon can you please breathe?” Ryeowook said calmly, placing both his hands on Jongwoon’s shoulders. “It’s going to be fine. They’re family”
Jongwoon’s shoulders drooped. “What if it isn’t?”
“They’ll love him, I promise”
“And what if Kibum doesn’t like them?”
“Oh come on, you’re thinking too much now. He’ll love this big crazy family”
“I hope” Jongwoon muttered, looking down at his feet.
The bell rang and the two men straightened their clothes and quickly fixed their hair.
“You get the door, I’ll get Kibum ready,” Ryeowook said, quickly pressing a kiss on his lips, and disappeared into the bedroom.
“Heyyyy~” Jungsoo slithered in, pie in one hand, he pulled Jongwoon into a hug, followed by Kangin who fist bumped him and the three kids who trotted in one behind the other.
Jongwoon’s nervousness grew as the people made themselves at home in his living room.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming” Hankyung announced, ringing the doorbell multiple times before his head popped in through the crack in the door.
“Oh my god hyung, we are not doing anything dirty” Jongwoon rolled his eyes and paced about in the living room. He was shaking with nervousness and excitement, but mostly nervousness. He almost laughed when he saw Hankyung dressed in a leather jacket and leather boots. Amused, he raised a finger to question it. “What—”
“If you make one comment on my clothes, I swear I’m walking out”
Hankyung finally gave in and got himself some young people clothes so nobody would think he's his husband's father.
“Okkkaaayyy….” Jongwoon clasped his hands together. “so, we have a big announcement to make”
Suddenly all eyes were on him and Jongwoon was too stunned to speak. He glanced back at the bedroom hoping Ryeowook would pop out to support him.
“And the announcement is……?” Hankyung asked, eyebrows raised in anticipation.
“Oh, well, we thought that we wanted to take our marriage to the next level and—”
“That sounds like a bad idea” Hankyung shook his head, walking over to lean against the couch.
“What is that supposed to mean???”
Hankyung shrugged like it was obvious. “People with many sexual partners are more likely to carry STDs. If you’re bored, get a dog”
Jongwoon tried not to snap. “We’re not bored!”
“I support you Jongwoon, because you are not only his brother, you are our brother” Heechul said and though he was smiling at Jongwoon, it was meant to taunt Hankyung.
Jongwoon wasn’t pleased one bit. He clenched his fists, holding himself back from starting a fight.
“Jongwoon come on, I’m sure hyung didn’t mean to be rude” Jungsoo intervened, noticing his seething temper. “I think what he is trying to say, is that kids need patience, and you’re not particularly gifted in that area”
“Uhhh.. okay, that’s not what hyung said, that’s what you’re saying and that is insulting in a whole different way”
“Where’s uncle Wook?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Thank you!” Jongwoon answered loudly. “At least somebody noticed that he isn’t here”
“Oh…. that’s the big announcement. You’re splitting up” Hankyung remarked, taking a sip from his scotch glass. “Well, I knew this day would come. He was a bit of a drama queen”
“No. No, we’re NOT splitting up and NO hyung he’s not dramat—”
The lights go out and a banner unfurls behind Jongwoon, two spotlights on it. It read WE ADOPTED A BABY
Smoke started accumulating over the floor from two smoke machines kept behind the couch and “Circle of Life” from Lion King started playing. Ryeowook appeared out of nowhere, holding Kibum up. He was dressed in a tiger onesie. Yes. Tiger onesie. While doing a Lion King impression. Perfect.
Kibum giggled when he was held up in the sky and everyone clapped happily.
Jongwoon was already frustrated and the song was only pushing him off the edge. Of course his husband was dramatic.
“Can you please turn it off?”
Ryeowook frowned. “No. This is who I am”
“I mean the music!”
Ryeowook put Kibum down and the family flocked to the kid. Scared, Kibum clung to Jongwoon, hiding behind him.
“Hey, hey it’s okay” Jongwoon gently nudged him ahead. “They’re all family” He glanced at Hankyung who was awkwardly standing at a distance. “...and family loves you”
Hankyung sighed. “I’m sorry Jongwoon. I didn’t mean to be rude to you” He shrugged, flashing a pursed smile. “I messed up as an older brother didn’t I? I messed up back then. Still messing up now” He gestured to Siwon.
“I wrote a song about you in the car,” Siwon smiled.
“Of course you did,” He said, unable to form a proper reaction to that act of affection. He turned to Jongwoon who was finally relieved and smiling a little. “I am happy for you brother, bet you’ll make a great dad. Both of you”
Jungsoo beckoned the eldest into the group hug, kids in the centre cooing happily at the newest member and the adults watching them affectionately.
“We're from different worlds,
Yet we somehow fit together.
But love is what binds us,
Through fair or stormy weather.
I stand before you now, only one way left to go,
To let you know my heart is yours, Kim Jaejoong”
“I am raising a hopeless romantic aren’t I?” Hankyung shakes his head reading the letter Siwon had written for his crush.