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Never in a million years did Yohan imagine himself in a situation like this.
Of course things had changed drastically in the past six years since they came to Switzerland to stay. He's a different man now, more open about his feelings, less paranoid and he's working hard to fix all the traumas his father and the aftermath of the events back in Korea left him through therapy. Yohan is self-conscious that he wouldn't have everything he has now if he had not decided to progress and relent, accept that it was not only him and Elijah anymore, but Gaon too and he had entered their lives for a permanent stay.
Having a life plan hadn't even been in his life plan; before Switzerland, his mind had been revenge ridden, his plans were to take down the people who hurt his family and die along with them at the end. Who would have thought that a single person could change his entire perspective in life and in the world.
Thank God for Kim Gaon and his wonderful nature.
And now, as Yohan chases his four year old son all around the living room, wearing a Marvel's Thanos' interactive glove while Jiyoo shoots spongy darts at him out of his Iron Man armour, he can only thank Gaon for choosing him in the end and giving him the chance he didn't think he deserve.
"Dad, faster!" Jiyoo exclaims, jumping from one couch to the other.
If Gaon could see them now, he would probably be having a nervous breakdown, first because they are being reckless with their games and second because they are rubbing their dirty feet all over their cream colored couches. Yohan will have to make sure to call someone for a deep, thorough cleaning before Gaon and Elijah come back from Korea.
They had gone back for a week to visit Jinjoo and see how she's doing being the new Chief Justice and Yohan, all with being legally a dead man and still feeling a bit uncomfortable with going back to that country, had decided to stay behind, using their son's school as a good excuse. Surely Gaon wouldn't allow their baby to miss a day of classes, much less a week. And he had been right.
"Dad's an old man, baby." Yohan takes a deep breath, leaning against the wall, hand clutching at his shirt.
"But dad!" Jiyoo whines, hopping on his feet as he pulls on the hem of his shirt.
"I'm sorry, Jiji, Iㅡ" Yohan interrupts himself by playfully growling loudly. Jiyoo squeals and runs away with his arms flailing up in the air.
The kid laughs and screeches, jumping up on one of the couches. "Thanos doesn't growl, dad!"
"I'm not Thanos anymore and I'm going to eat you now." Yohan crouches, ready to launch himself at his son. He reaches out, stretching a leg out and hitting the tall table beside the larger couch in the process, where sunlight directly shines through the panoramic windows. The sound of something breaking is loud enough to catch their attention, paralyzing them into stopping their game completely.
Yohan looks at the mess of dirt and ceramic scattered all over the marble floor, his stomach drops.
"Oh-oh." Jiyoo covers his mouth with both his hands. "Dad you broke daddy's favorite suculen."
"Fuck." Yohan grumbles under his breath.
"Daddy says we don't say bad words."
Jiyoo glares at him and all Yohan can do is sigh, because that is Gaon's favorite, very expensive, imported from Mexico ariocarpus trigonus, a type of succulent plant that according to the greenhouse where they bought it from, it's an endangered species.
Gaon has spent, ever since they brought it home, one hour a day, every day, tending to it, catering it, making sure it has the correct amount of water, the correct amount of soil, the correct amount of sunlight, taking care of each little prickly arm, changing the pot as it grew periodically into what it is now.
"No, don't touch it." Yohan tells his son when he sees him reaching for it. "You'll hurt yourself." He runs to the kitchen and brings back a baking glove to pick the plant without pricking himself, handling carefully to not damage the beautiful flower on top more than it already is.
"Daddy is going to be mad at us." Jiyoo says, lips pouting exaggeratedly while removing his Iron Man armour, not feeling in the mood to play anymore.
Oh, Gaon surely will.
"Of course not, baby. He won't get mad at us." Yohan pauses, looks at the plant in his hand, the soil on the floor and then at his son. He sighs. "If we don't tell him."
"Isn't that lying? You always tell auntie Elijah she must not lie to you or daddy."
Yohan grumbles under his breath, cursing out his son's remarkable memory, which he doesn't have anyone else to blame but themselves. Jiyoo is their son, after all.
"It's not lying if he doesn't ask, so then we don't have a reason to tell him what happened, right?"
"But he will notice." Jiyoo points at the dirt on the ground and the broken ceramic pot.
"We just have to get a new pot. How about you go get your shoes and jacket and we go for a ride?" Yohan smiles at his son.
"Can we get churros and hot chocolate too?"
"Yes, of course."
Jiyoo squeals as he runs upstairs to his room, returning a moment later all ready to go.
Yohan sighs in relief when after showing the attendant at the same greenhouse where they bought the plant a picture of the pot, he tells them that yes, he still has one of those left, exactly the same color, size and shape.
He buys it, along with a bag of the special soil Gaon so kindly spent a month reminding him the name and the properties off. Yohan can't help but smile at how happy he had looked after taking the plant back home; he had sat down with it in front of him and Jiyoo sitting right beside him, asking all kinds of curious questions that Gaon had answered with a huge smile on his face.
After getting them both churros filled with dulce de leche and a steaming cup of hot chocolate, they go back home. Yohan is extremely careful when carrying the pot while holding Jiyoo's hand all the way to the door.
"Dad." Jiyoo says, kneeling on the floor next to him, propping his chin up over his hands. "Are you sure you know how to bury the suculen in the dirt?"
Yohan chuckles as he rips the bag of soil open and gets the pot ready.
"That's why we have Youtube tutorials." He says, setting up his phone with a video playing a tacky musical introduction.
It's not as easy as Yohan thought it would be. Filling the pot was nothing, digging into it to settle the succulent is, as it requires a certain technique when using the gardening shovel as to not damage the already grown plant; there is an exact measurement of deepness Yohan isn't quite sure he got right.
Jiyoo observes him from the side, his little face contorted in worry and skepticism, feeding him mini chocolate chips cookies directly from the bag every once in a while.
"You know daddy only lets you eat a cup per day." Yohan reminds his son, tongue peeking between his lips in hard concentration as he very, very carefully settles the plant into the hole.
"I won't tell if you don't." Jiyoo shrugs, eyes fixed on the pot. Yohan narrows his eyes, glaring at his son for what it definitely is a threat.
"You and I are gonna have to have a chat about how it is not okay to threaten your parents, kid." Yohan shakes his head, trying not to show how amused he really is.
"Auntie Elijah does it all the time."
"Auntie Elijah is a mean girl." Yohan stops. "Don't tell her I told you that."
"Okay." Jiyoo nods while shoving another fistfull of cookies into his mouth.
Yohan has the feeling that these little secrets are gonna cost him greatly. Damn his kid for being this dangerously smart.
"Okay. Alright!" Yohan exclaims when he finally, finally settles the succulent into the soil at the perfect angle. It's not tilted and it's not buried more than it has to be. The arms look perfectly prickly and not bent at all. "It's perfect."
"Daddy really won't notice!" Jiyoo exclaims, sounding so amazed Yohan is starting to suspect he never really got faith in him.
"And remember, this stays between us, yes?" Yohan points a finger at his baby.
Jiyoo nods, grinning and Yohan only prays it won't accidentally slip out of him at some point.
Four days later, they are waiting for Gaon and Elijah at the airport.
Yohan ls very well aware of the moment they tresspass the gates and come into view as Jiyoo jumps down the chair and sprints.
"Daddy!" His scream is heard all over the airport, several heads turning in time to see a little boy being picked up by a smiling man, who hugs him tightly against his body.
"I missed you so much." Gaon says while kissing his son's cheeks repeteadly. Jiyoo giggles as he clings onto Gaon's neck after greeting his auntie Elijah as well.
"Eli." Yohan smiles at his niece, who's being oddly quiet, just observing the scene with a content grin on her lips. "No kiss for me?" He turns to Gaon and his son.
Gaon chuckles, frees one hand to pull Yohan in and plant his lips on his for a brief, but sweet peck.
"I missed you too." Gaon whispers against Yohan's lips before he lets go.
Jiyoo promptly wraps him in his overexcited chatter about everything they did while they were away and walk ahead on their own.
"You look worried." Elijah says, walking beside him. Her cane looks brand new, prettier than the last one.
Of course he's worried Jiyoo will accidentally tell their secret.
"I'm fine." Yohan shakes his head. "How was Korea?"
"Nostalgic."
"Is that why you're smiling like that?"
Elijah shrugs, humming softly. "We visited the old house. No one bought it after Gaon left it."
"Who would want to buy the house of the devil." Yohan's voice trails off, there's a distant pang of pain in his chest that threatens to grow, but then he looks at his husband and son right there, buying hot chocolate at a coffee shop and it instantly vanishes, replaced by all the joy and happiness he's felt in the last couple of years.
"You're notㅡ" Elijah sighs, "I have so many memories in that house, you know? More bad than good, but it makes me appreciate what we have here a lot more." She looks at Gaon and Jiyoo too, the two individuals who had marked new beginnings in their broken family in different, amazing ways.
"I've let that go a long time ago." Yohan mumbles.
"Guys, hurry up, please." Gaon calls from the distance. "We're hungry."
"I race you." Yohan grins to Elijah as he walks backwards.
"You little shiㅡ"
Yohan laughs, uncaring of who might be seeing, as he catches up with his husband and son.
Wether Gaon finds out about his plant or not, Yohan is already scheming a very good plan to avoid the wrath. No failures in this one.