Chapter Text
“Papa, look! I got two stars today!”
A boy shouts as the door to the Hamada’s residence bangs open, little feet padding towards the living room is where the smell of paint was the sharpest.
Asahi puts down his palette and returns his brush to its repository, takes off his apron, and smiles as he sees his son running to him with such a big smile. Jeongwoo’s hair was messy and a bit wet from sweat. The little boy’s crinkled pants were a shade or two darker on the knees. The right strap of his backpack was barely hanging by his elbow but his smile was so bright Asahi could only think to be pleased. The two little stamps were two barely visible ink smudges on the back of his left hand, shown in a fist he raised to his Papa’s eyesight.
One hug when he gets home, and a kiss after he showers. Asahi lifts his little angel up and spins him around in a hug as his son giggles and hugs back tightly.
“Good job, Jjeongjjeong-ie! Now go and wash up before you tell me about your day.”
“Hello, Woopy!” The child waves at the nonchalant cat barely giving him a glance. It only waves it’s tail in acknowledgement and remains seated on the sofa.
Still energetic, Jeongwoo jumps and runs to his room.
“Sorry about the door. He was so excited to let you see his stars, he ran so fast when the elevators opened.”
The door closes softly and Asahi welcomes Yedam with an embrace. The younger was still on his work clothes, a button down and gray slacks, looking tidy as if he’s just about to start his day.
Yedam has been a permanent part of Asahi's life since the day he moved to Seoul. He was once a barista in a café the older was a regular at, and now he’s become a close friend— almost like family. He has seen Asahi at his (arguably) worst and has been there to be a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on; on the worst days, an errand boy to get him his cravings when he was still carrying Jeongwoo.
“It’s okay, Dammie. It’s cute when he gets excited about his achievements. I hope he doesn’t grow up so fast.” The brunette sees the shine in Asahi’s eyes as he looks at his son’s closed room and smiles at it.
Both men sat down on the sofa and so Woopy stands, tail stiff and upward, buzzing a bit as it walked closer to the visitor. He’s obviously happy to see Yedam.
Asahi glowers at the cat for a bit, offended at the obvious favoritism. The younger only welcomes the cat on his lap and it starts purring with each pet.
“How’s work treating you, hyung ?” The younger asks, eyes so gentle and tone so caring.
“Really, really good. I only have this one artwork left and I’ll be good for the month. And the exhibit’s still in a week so we have a lot of time to plan. I’ll have more time for Jeongwoo now.” Yedam nods and both elders turned their attention to the child’s room as they hear a crash.
Before Asahi could get up, they hear a little “I’m okay!” and so he breathes out, and then giggles at his son’s cute assurance. His five-year-old boy already so mature for his age, never making his Papa worry and making sure he is always on his best behavior.
So lovely and sweet, all for Asahi to adore.
“Such a lovely kid he is. You really raised him well, hyung .” Asahi smiles. It was one of the greatest compliments he could ever receive, really.
Again, Woopy interrupts as it jumps from the brunette’s lap, going somewhere in the kitchen.
“That’s all thanks to your and Hyunsukkie hyung’s help, too. We all raised him well.” Yedam smiles and waves his hand, gesturing a no. So humble, this boy. Asahi will always be grateful for him. Although if Yedam could hear his thoughts, he’d only hear the part where he was called a boy and grumble about how he’s only a year younger (fifteen months!) than his hyung who always teases him about it.
“Oh,” the raven continues, “thanks for bringing Jeongwoo home again. Will you stay for dinner?”
“Let’s take a raincheck on dinner, hyung. I still have to go back to the kindergarten to fetch Yoshi. He’s working overtime again and I promised him dinner.” The younger scratches his nape as he blushes and Asahi pinches his cheeks to tease him.
Because of Asahi’s terrible old job at an accounting firm, he was barely able to fetch Jeongwoo after school and so he always had Yedam fetch his son for him as a favor when he can’t. He owes him a lot. That’s where the latter met Yoshi, one of Woo’s teachers. No wonder Yedam was so eager to fetch Jeongwoo, even insisting he can do it on days Asahi can.
“I mean, it’s on my way to work and I definitely love seeing my chosen-nephew every day! And no, I do not have a crush on that apple-haired teacher!” The budding redness on the younger’s cheeks certainly suggested otherwise.
Really, the things people do for love.
“Look at you still blushing! You’ve been dating this guy for months and you still blush talking about him!”
There. That was the smile Yedam has been wanting to see for a while now— Asahi’s untroubled smile, dimples unrelenting and pronounced. He hasn’t seen his hyung beam as bright as this in months. Maybe he really meant it when he said his new job was treating him well now. The younger hopes he will see more of that smile when he visits again here.
“Hyung!” He whines, “it’s just been four months. A-and what do you mean I blush when I talk about him? Do I really do that?” Asahi laughs a little and nods in confirmation.
“Totally. Like a dork. But I believe Yoshi thinks it’s endearing.” To that, Yedam’s neck reddens and his eyebrows crease, feigning annoyance albeit only looking dear.
Before the younger could grumble, Jeongwoo’s room opens, and there comes the boy with wet hair and inside-out shorts with a big smile. Both adults look in his direction and coo at the sight. How can this little mass of a body carry so much light and warmth? Asahi swears he has never felt as auspicious as he did the day he brought this growing little sunshine to his world.
Asahi’s world is now his’ and Jeongwoo’s. Their own small world.
It has been like that even when he was still carrying Jeongwoo, and even before Jeongwoo was conceived. Though Asahi never liked to dwell in the past, still he finds himself looking back on what it used to be— and on what it could have been.
“I really want a house with big windows, so we can watch the sunset and the sunrise together. And we can even draw on the windows with those wiping markers–”
“It’s wipe-out markers, Jaejae.”
“That’s not the point, babe! We can paint the living room blue or whatever color you’d like, and we can make you an art space and a workspace for me. We can even start making a space for our baby– ow!”
“Quit thinking so early ahead, you’re gonna jinx it!” Asahi hides his blush with a scowl, hitting his lover softly in the chest where he lay his head comfortably. After a sigh he moves up and nuzzles his lover’s neck, breathing in home. Their embrace tightens and Asahi is reminded of how warm his bed is and how much better it feels with Jaehyuk in it.
“Your shorts are inside out, silly!” Yedam laughs and so does the little boy, fingers going up to his mouth as he playfully bites on it.
The brunette ushers Jeongwoo closer and fixes the kid’s shorts and then pats him on the butt, earning a cute little giggle. Asahi gapes adoringly at their interaction.
“Kiss!” The still giggling child demands, opening his little arms for his Papa and so his Papa obeys, scooping him up and smooching his cheeks over and over again until all that filled the apartment was the giggles of three merry boys.
As the laughter died down, Yedam bids goodbye to the two. Before going, he promises Asahi to be with them for dinner tomorrow and tells Jeongwoo not to forget his coloring materials for tomorrow’s activity (totally not a reminder from teacher Yoshi).
As the two were left home, Jeongwoo finds himself going to the kitchen, followed by his Papa.
“How was school, Jjeongie?” The little boy takes a seat at the table as his Papa gets them their bowls and chopsticks. He sets down the utensils and the child fidgets with his fingers, resisting the urge to play with the things on the table as he remembers his Papa scolding him lightly every time he does so.
“Super fun! Teacher Yoshi gave me t-two stars, one for my drawing and one for helping Haruto out with h-his drawing.” He held up two fingers, pertaining to the two stars and pointed at each of them as he counted its reasons.
“I’m proud of you, baby. Is Haruto your friend now?” Asahi asks as he heats the onigiri, tonkatsu, and miso soup he had prepared earlier before he started painting, figuring the painting would take more of his time so he prepared everything for Jeongwoo beforehand.
“I t-think so? He thanked me when I helped him… and… and he smiled at me too!” Leaning by the kitchen counter, he smiles a little looking at his son seated in the high chair.
“That’s progress. Maybe Haruto is very shy.” Asahi inputs and his son nods in retrospect.
Jeongwoo has just started kindergarten this school year, and Haruto was his seatmate who barely talked to anyone. Seeing as his little boy talked about this classmate so much, he must really want to befriend him. Asahi admires how kind and understanding his little boy is at such a young age. Eager yet patient to be accepted by Haruto without feeling the need to pressure him into a friendship.
He learns more from his son nowadays.
The microwave pings and he takes out their food, putting it at the center of the table as he sits down across from his child.
“Careful. It’s still a bit hot.” He blows the soup a little before placing it in front of the child.
“いただきます!” Jeongwoo exclaims before he gets his spoon and starts slurping the miso soup and Asahi smiles at his little angel, copying his words.
“いただきます.”
They talk about Jeongwoo’s recess adventures in the playground where he almost didn’t catch the ball that Doyoung threw and so he fell on the dirt (which explains the dirty knees of his pants). They also talk about Asahi’s new artwork and how he took a picture of a little boy wearing a flowy white dress shirt under the orange skies as a reference. It was from a picture he had of Jeongwoo from a year ago when they went to Busan for Jihoon and Hyunsuk’s beach wedding. Everyone adored little Jeongwoo walking on the red carpet as a ringbearer. It even made Hyunsuk cry a little, imagining it was his’ and Jihoon’s own little one from their own future family.
“I will show you when I finish it, of course! It has to be baby bear approved.” The raven was met with pearly white teeth as his son smiled so bright at the thought of being the first one to see his papa’s work.
“Mr. Jaejae also calls me baby bear!”
Asahi almost didn’t get what Jeongwoo said as he talked with a mouth full of tonkatsu.
“W-who?” He asks, not believing what he first heard.
Jeongwoo chews slowly, swallowing his food first before replying, “Mr. Jaejae! He’s been helping me get close to Haruto a-and they let me play with them after classes when I wait for uncle Yeddie.”
It couldn’t be… right?
The world wouldn’t be too cruel.
“What if he’s a bad man? You shouldn’t play with people you’re not close to, baby.” He sighs, anxiety creeping in his head.
“He’s been t-taking Haruto home, though, Papa. He says he’s Haruto’s uncle just like my uncle Yeddie. They even talk before we go home!”
“Uncle Yeddie and Mr. Jaejae talk?” Jeongwoo nods at that.
Of course, they would. Yedam doesn’t know. And maybe Asahi is just thinking too much. There are a lot of people named Jaejae in the world. And why would Jaehyuk use that nickname? Not when Asahi made that for him. But also, why would it matter if he uses it? Asahi shouldn’t care. Not anymore, at least.
This is nothing, he convinces himself. It’s no one. It’s not him. Quit assuming things.
“Okay then. I’ll talk to uncle Yeddie about that Mr. Jaejae to make sure. And I’ll be taking you home tomorrow, so does baby bear want ice cream before we go home then?”
His son’s eyes double their size, nodding enthusiastically and Asahi smiles as he wipes away the sauce on his boy’s cheeks and pinches it a little. They continue eating dinner, then, as usual, Jeongwoo accompanies his Papa as he washes the dishes. Then, they return to the living room and watch cartoons until bedtime. Good thing his son didn’t have homework, so they just had fun hanging out.
Jeongwoo surprisingly falls asleep ahead of bedtime. Maybe he really had too much fun today, his Papa thinks. He turns off the TV, then scoops the little boy up carefully, and so the boy snuggles his head on his Papa’s neck. This warms Asahi’s heart, gently scratching his son’s back as he sways a little while walking to lull him back to sleep. They get to Jeongwoo’s room and he lays him down softly, tucks him in, and kisses his forehead lightly after he whispers a soft, “Good night, my little love”.
He closes the door gently and then stretches, a yawn slipping past his lips. He should sleep too.
Still, he can’t get his mind off of that Mr. Jaejae. This is a big, big world. The universe should be good to him after all he’s been through. If not for him, then for Jeongwoo who deserves so much more. And he thinks having that someone back again in his life would just be a problem.
He’s been doing so much better. He loves everything in his life right now.
And his little home in this big, big world above everything else, he loves most. And he’s ready to do everything he can to not let the world take that away from him or disrupt its flow. Whatever it may take.
Anyway, he’ll be fetching Jeongwoo tomorrow.
Then, he will see for himself.