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Yugyeom is starting to worry. He's been observing his daddy fiddle with that little black squared box ever since papa left a couple of hours ago with his uncle Mark. They were having a coffee date and kids were not allowed, he was told. It's fine, Yugyeom was not at all interested in spending hours listening to things he couldn't even understand; it wasn't fun, but he had made his appa promise to return with a box of his favorite cookies.
His princess doll is riding her horse on her way to rescue the prince from the horrible dragon witch when daddy lets out a very long, very loud sigh. Yugyeom doesn't understand what is going on, but it can't be anything good if it has his daddy like this. Papa will surely know what to do if he was home, but since he isn't it is his duty to find out and fix the problem like the adult he's becoming.
So he puts down his dolls, makes sure the princess is safely seated on her horse and stands up from where he's been kneeling on the fluffy rug in their living room.
"Daddy." Yugyeom calls. Jaebeom looks up at him, eyes wide in surprise. He had not been expecting Yugyeom to be sitting so close so suddenly. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, baby, why?" Jaebeom frowns.
"'Cuzㅡ"
"Because." Jaebeom corrects him. No son of his will speak like a gangster.
"Because," Yugyeom corrects himself, "you've been sighing a lot. Is that box making you feel sick?"
Jaebeom chuckles. "No. Well, yes, but not physically sick."
"Then how?" Yugyeom tilts his head, curious as ever and adorable in the way he scrunches his whole face, Just like Jinyoung, when he's trying to find something out.
"It's making me nervous. Because what's inside it's for papa and daddy is scared of what he'll say." Jaebeom explains patiently.
"What's inside?" Yugyeom peeks over his arm, but the box remains closed.
"I can't tell you, it's a secret."
"Daddy!" Yugyeom whines, lower lip jutting out as he kicks his legs on the couch stubbornly. "I'm good at keeping secrets, I promise."
Clever, his five year old son is, maybe too much for his age.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" His face lights up.
"Okay, here we go." Jaebeom says as he slowly lifts up the lid, revealing the single gold band resting among the cushioned insides of the box.
"A ring?" Yugyeom groans, unimpressed. "That's boring."
Jaebeom laughs. "It might be boring to you, but if I give this to appa and he says yes, we are going to be getting married someday."
"Married?" Yugyeom perks up at the word. He's heard of that before! "Like those parties we see in the movies you and appa like to watch? With the white dresses and big cakes?"
"Something like that, yes."
"Oh!" Yugyeom exclaims after a moment, as if just remembering something very important. "Ms. Lee told us once that when two people love each other a lot they get married, they live together and have babies."
"In most cases." Jaebeom nods.
"But…" Now Yugyeom is frowning, "you and appa already live together and you have me."
"We might have skipped a few steps at the beginning." Jaebeom smiles. "I want to make appa the happiest man in the whole world."
"Do you know?" Jinyoung's voice startles them both, prompting Jaebeom to scramble with the box in his attempt at hiding it.
"Iㅡ we were justㅡ I didn't hear you coming in."
"You seem preoccupied, I didn't want to interrupt." Jinyoung shrugs off his jacket, leaving it hanging by the back of the couch.
"Appa, did you get my cookies?" Yugyeom asks in the most serious tone only his favorite cookies could pull out of him.
"Of course I did, my sweet little cookie monster." Jinyoung playfully grunts at his son, wrapping his arms around Yugyeom's middle to pull him onto his lap and attacking his neck and cheeks with kisses.
"Appa, no! Stop!" Yugyeom squeals, giggling and screeching while trying to escape his father's attack.
"Alright, alright." Jinyoung relents, letting his son go when he's already having a difficult time breathing and his pretty eyes are filled with tears from so much laughing. "There you go." He hands out the box of cookies and enjoys the sight of his baby's face lighting up.
"Thank you, appa." Yugyeom says while munching on the sweet treat. "This box is more fun than the one with the ring."
"What ring?" Jinyoung immediately asks, eyes fixating on a very shocked Jaebeom.
Jaebeom glares at his unsuspecting son; the cookies do seem to bring the monster out of the five year old human being he helped give life to and this is how Lim Yugyeom repays him.
"Jaebeom?" Jinyoung demands when there is no answer from the father of his child.
"Iㅡ"
"Daddy says he wants to marry you." Yugyeom says like it's not a big deal. He's not even paying real attention and the words seem to be leaving his mouth in an automatic way.
"What?" Jinyoung blinks at him, eyes larger than usual.
"Iㅡ" Jaebeom stops and sighs, defeated and betrayed by his own flesh and blood. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you…" He says, pulling the box from under his thigh, the place where he had managed to hide it when Jinyoung first came in. "But I wanted it to be special, romantic."
Jinyoung smiles then, tender, eyes disappearing behind those endearing crinkles. "This is special, being with you and this little tattletale here." He ruffles Yugyeom's here and the boy barely notices it, too busy plucking out a particularly chunky chocolate chip from the cookie to eat it on its own later. "So go on, ask me."
"Okay, yes," Jaebeom clears his throat as he goes to kneel on the floor, "Jinyoungie, we've been doing this backwards it seems and I know you said you didn't need a piece of paper or to put a label to what we have, but I want to be able to call you my husband, officially. Will you marry me?" Jaebeom lifts the lid of the box, the ring gleaming under the living room lights.
Jinyoung hums. "What do you think, cookie monster?" He asks Yugyeom, squeezing him against his body. The boy giggles and looks at his father. "Should I marry daddy?"
"Will I get to eat cake?"
"I don't see why not." Jinyoung shrugs.
"Then yes appa, you should marry daddy and get a big chocolate cake." Yugyeom nods, his little face contemplating the request.
Jinyoung beams, kissing the top of his son's head. "Of course I will marry you."
Jaebeom's grin is wide and bright as he slides the ring on Jinyoung's finger and rises to kiss him. Yugyeom whines, finding himself squeezed in between his parents.
"I love you." Jaebeom says and kisses him again.
"I lovㅡ"
"Appa let me go! I have to go poo poo." Yugyeom squirms his way out of Jinyoung's arms and hurries into the hallway.
"Who's turn is it to help him wipe?"
"Not mine, love." With one more kiss on the lips, Jinyoung gets on his feet and heads to the kitchen before his soon-to-be husband can protest.
Jaebeom chuckles and follows Yugyeom into the bathroom to stop the kid from making a stinky mess. Oh how he loves his life.