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“Pops, you played basketball?” Yujin asks curiously, staring at a picture hanging on one of their walls.
The picture contains Hanbin dribbling a ball. The background is blurry, making the focus right at Hanbin. He has this serious expression on his face, brows furrowed, and teeth gritted. The ball is in his hand and he's gripping it tightly.
Hanbin blinks at Yujin before looking at the picture as well, and then he grins. “Yep. I was the MVP, kid. Pretty nice, huh?” He says, pointing at another picture where he's being carried by his team and he's smiling widely.
Yujin nods. “The shot is pretty nice too.”
“Of course, it's nice. I took that picture.” Hao enters the dining area holding a plate full of pancakes. He places them in front of Yujin, ruffling his hair before speaking again. “Now, eat your breakfast and do your homework after.”
Yujin frowns, and then he turns to Hanbin. “Pops, dad is making me do homework.”
Hanbin laughs, wrapping an arm around his husband. He presses a kiss on Hao’s cheek, making Hao raise a brow at him. “Let him play today, love. You're too strict.”
“I wouldn't be if he wasn't failing his history class.” Hao says, frowning.
“The only history I want to know is you and pops’.”
“What now?” Hao blinks confusedly.
Hanbin grins widely, pulling Hao closer to him. “You want to know how we got together, kid?”
“Hell yeah.” Yujin grins, leaning his elbow on the table comfortably, ready to listen.
Hao rolls his eyes. “Nope. Go study first, then we’ll tell you when you're done.”
Yujin whines. “Pops?”
Hanbin only laughs, poking Yujin's cheek. “Sorry, kid. He's the boss.” He says, pointing at Hao.
It's always like this. Hao is always the last call, the last decision. Makes sense though, Yujin thinks, because his other father, Hanbin, is too indecisive with things.
Yujin grunts as he finishes his meal, sulking. Hanbin chuckles at him and promises him to tell their love story as soon as he finishes studying. Yujin only nods.
Yujin goes to his room, sighing as he gets ready to study.
—
Yujin was around seven years old when he started believing in genies.
He thinks they're real, especially that he watched Aladdin. He likes the concept of it—having someone powerful grant his wishes in just a second. It's amazing.
And when something suddenly appears in his room—a man, tall, floating—Yujin assumes it's a genie.
“Call me Gyuvin.” The genie(?) says, frowning. “And I can hear your thoughts. I'm not a genie.”
“What are you then?” Yujin asks, eyes wide and curious.
Gyuvin only scratches his nape, thinking. “Uh, a wish granter?”
“That's a genie.”
“I'm not!” Gyuvin throws his hands in frustration. “I didn't come out from a lamp, did I?”
“Oh, yeah. You didn't.” Yujin answers, eyes wandering. “Where the heck did you come from?”
“From you.” Gyuvin grins widely, placing both of his hands on his waist. “Your thoughts, imagination, and desire! And I, Kim Gyuvin, swore to grant one wish from you!”
“Only one?” Yujin frowns. “A genie can grant at least three wishes.”
Gyuvin rolls his eyes. “I'm not a genie, brat.”
“Okay, whatever.” Yujin raises his hands in defeat, and then he grins. “I want the new Nintendo.”
Gyuvin sighs, shaking his head. “I think you misunderstand the concept of my existence, brat. I came alive because you've been wanting something that is not tangible. You're curious about something and you want to know about it.”
Yujin tilts his head in confusion. He wants to know something? What the heck that might be?
Gyuvin finally gives up. “Your parents. You want to know their history?”
“Oh!” Suddenly, it all makes sense for Yujin. He has been thinking about it while studying, curious about his parents’ lives before. He's adopted, after all. He wants to know how they got together, and maybe, how he ended up with them.
Gyuvin grins, patting Yujin's head. “You up for an adventure, brat?”
“Hell yeah!” Yujin exclaims.
“Alright then!” Gyuvin grabs both of Yujin's hands. “Take a deep breath. We'll be time traveling in three… two…”
“Wait.” Yujin says. “What do you mean time travelli—”
“One!”
And then they disappear.
—
Yujin loves flying.
So now that he's floating, and practically invisible to everyone, he feels amazing. He feels like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol—where they float around the memories along with the ghost of the past, present, and future. Now that Yujin thinks about it, maybe Gyuvin is a ghost of the—
“No.” Gyuvin suddenly speaks, palm raising to snap Yujin back to reality. “I can hear your thoughts, brat. I'm not a ghost of some kind.”
Yujin only shrugs. He's holding on Gyuvin's arm, and they're floating at the ceiling of a gymnasium. Gyuvin says that this was his parents’ school.
“There's your pops, playing.”
Yujin follows where Gyuvin's pointing, eyes glinting in awe as he watches Hanbin dribble the ball, running around the court.
His pops looks so natural while playing basketball, a born star. Yujin's mouth hangs open as he watches Hanbin in focus. Hanbin's running so fast and he jumps, shooting the ball swiftly in the basket. The time rings.
They win. Everyone cheers, Yujin as well.
“So cool!” Yujin says in excitement, his grip tightening on Gyuvin's arm.
“There's your dad.” Gyuvin says as he points at Hao.
Yujin follows where Gyuvin's pointing. He sees Hao holding a camera, taking a picture of the moment Hanbin shoots the ball, how everyone approaches him afterwards, how they pat his head and back at the same time to congratulate him. Hao captures everything.
Hao’s just standing by the bleachers, watching everyone celebrate. Yujin can see Hao smiling, obviously proud of Hanbin.
Yujin can see love in his dad's eyes.
—
“It hurts!” Yujin cries.
Hao immediately runs towards Yujin, thumb wiping on the bruise located on Yujin's knee. “Are you okay? Did you fall?”
“I did.” Yujin sobs. “Pops said I wasn't allowed yet to climb on the treehouse because it was unfinished, but I still climbed. And I destroyed a piece of the stairs. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”
“Shhh.” Hao cups Yujin's cheek and wipes his tears away. “It's okay, baby. I understand that you were excited. It's normal. Just don't do it again next time, okay? Listen to your pops when he tells you something.”
Yujin only nods.
“Oh, man. What happened?” Hanbin finally enters the scene, brows furrowed as he examines the broken stairs from the tree house.
“Yujin fell. He got excited.” Hao says.
“Aw. Sorry, kid. I'll build this faster, okay? So you can finally play inside.” Hanbin says, patting Yujin's head.
Yujin blinks, confused. “You're not mad at me?”
“No?” Hanbin blinks back, confused as well. “Why would I be? Being excited is normal. Just be careful.” He adds, and then he points at Yujin's wound. “Get that treated and then come back here so we can build this together. How does that sound?”
Yujin smiles widely, nodding.
Hao leads him back inside their house and treats his wound gently.
—
“Hey.” Hanbin says as he leans his body comfortably beside Hao's locker.
Yujin frowns, maybe a little disgusted. Seriously, this is how his pops flirted?
“Hanbin.” Hao answers as he puts a book inside his locker.
“Saw you taking pictures of me earlier.” Hanbin grins. “Can I see?” And Hao only nods, taking out his camera from the locker.
Hanbin leans closer to take a look at his pictures. Yujin tries to see as well, his jaw dropping as soon as he sees the pictures. They look good. His pops, Hanbin, looks good in the pictures. Yujin doesn't know if it's because of Hao's photography skills or Hanbin's visuals—or maybe both. Double kill, Yujin thinks.
Scanning the pictures, Hanbin grins wider, hand resting on Hao's head to pat it. “Damn. Those are good pictures. How did you make me look that good?”
Hao swats Hanbin's hand away from him, smirking afterwards. “I'm a member of the photography club. What do you expect?”
Hanbin raises his hand in defeat when Hao swats his hand away, and he laughs, “Point taken. But why are there only pictures of me? How about my teammates? Jiwoong? Ricky? Not a single one in your camera?”
Hao's cheek suddenly flushes when Hanbin says that, his hand automatically turning his camera off, hiding the pictures. “I- It's not what it looks like! We were assigned each teammate! Matthew has some pictures for Jiwoong—right, Matthew?!” Hao stutters as he turns to his back, at Matthew.
Matthew flinches in surprise from Hao's action, but he nods. “Yeah. I was the one assigned for Jiwoong.”
Hanbin chuckles. “Okay, you got me there. Well, you gotta do it every time I have a game! I want to treasure every moment of me playing. I'll even pay you, if you'd like.”
Hao tilts his head, lips curling into a smile. “How much?”
“Name your price, baby.”
Yujin almost gags. Disgusting. How can his pops be this lame?
—
“Pops, dad, I can't sleep.” Yujin says as he enters his parents' bedroom.
Hao's the first one to wake up, sitting upright as soon as he hears Yujin. He taps Hanbin gently to wake him up as well.
“C'mere, baby.” Hao says, opening his arms. Yujin hops on the bed, crawling towards Hao to hug him.
“What’s wrong? Why can't you sleep?” Hanbin says, hand resting on the back of Yujin's head.
“I'm scared that there might be a monster under my bed.” Yujin answers softly, burying his head on Hao's chest. It's comforting. Yujin likes hugging his parents.
Hao strokes Yujin's back, comforting him. “I doubt there's a monster under your bed, baby. But if there is one—I feel like it's going to be friendly! And it might hold your hand too so you won't feel that much scared, no?”
A friendly monster? Yujin has never thought of that. “How am I going to know that it's friendly?”
Hanbin laughs dearly, shaking his head. “Do you want to sleep with us tonight, kid? And then tomorrow, we can make friends with that monster. We will help you.”
Yujin pulls away from Hao's hug to look at both of them, and then he smiles. “Okay.” He says, crawling in the middle of the bed. “Let’s sleep together!”
And they do. They sleep together—Hanbin on the left, Hao on the right, Yujin in the middle. Both Hanbin and Hao has their arms around Yujin's body, hugging him close.
—
“I'm telling you, Hao almost lost it there.” Matthew says as he chews his food.
“I've been saying! You got a crush on Hanbin, Hao.” Taerae answers, wiping the leftover food on the side of Matthew's lips.
It feels weird for Yujin to see his uncles, Taerae and Matthew, looking this young.
Hao shakes his head as he takes a sip on his drink. “I don't have a crush on him.”
“Really? You guys were almost about to kiss earlier in the lockers.”
“Matthew!” Hao hits Matthew's head. Yujin cannot tell if it was gentle or not.
“So, let me get this straight.” Yujin starts to speak, eyes still watching his dad and his uncles talk. They're sitting across them at a diner. “Dad has a crush on pops but he pretends he doesn’t?”
Gyuvin nods. “Yeah. Kinda. Your dad's kind of a tsundere, man.”
“Goodluck to pops.” Yujin shrugs. “Tsunderes are hard to get. Pun intended.”
Gyuvin laughs. “It was a little hard for your parents as well, especially that Hao isn't staying true to his feelings about Hanbin. Not until his friends entered the crime scene and helped them have some kind of interaction—a more intimate one. You know, just to have some progress in their relationship.”
Yujin tilts his head. “What did my uncles do?”
Gyuvin snaps his fingers, changing the whole scene around them.
—
They're in some kind of a fraternity house now.
Everyone is gathered in a circle, along with Yujin's parents, and there's a bottle in the center.
Matthew grins widely as he holds the bottle, wrists flicking to spin it. It lands on Hao, and everyone cheers. Hao only rolls his eyes, shaking his head.
“Spin the bottle, Hao! Let's see who you'll have to be in the room with for seven minutes.” Matthew says excitedly, he has his fingers crossed, along with Taerae, and they're chanting Hanbin's name quietly.
Hao rolls his eyes once again before spinning the bottle.
Yujin quietly wishes for it to point on Hanbin as well.
It doesn't. It lands on Jiwoong.
Kinda. And then Taerae pushes it slightly, until it points towards Hanbin's direction.
Everyone cheers.
Hao's jaw drops in disbelief. He's about to complain but everyone starts chanting their name together; Haobin! Haobin!
“The fuck is a Haobin?!” Hao shouts back, brows furrowed.
Hanbin laughs, wrapping an arm around Hao's shoulder. “Let's go. We got seven minutes alone.”
“You weren't even the one—”
“Shhh.” Hanbin places his forefinger on Hao's lips. Hao blushes. “Let's go.”
“Y'all are gaslighting me.” Hao frowns. Everyone laughs.
“Wait.” Yujin says, stopping Gyuvin in his tracks. “Are they gonna do something in the room? Is this family-friendly?”
Gyuvin blinks a few times, confused, and then it hits him, finally realizing what Yujin meant. He laughs. “Yes, don't worry. They're not going to do anything there.”
“Okay.” Yujin nods, following his parents to the room.
—
“The hell are we gonna do for seven minutes?” Hao grunts, laying on the bed.
Hanbin lays beside him comfortably, eyes closed. “Whatever you want. Rest, sleep, you name it.”
Hao raises a brow at Hanbin. “Is that why you wanted to be picked? So you can sleep?”
“Partly, yes.” Hanbin grins, eyes opening to look at Hao. “But also, I want to have you alone.”
Yujin pretends to gag, disgusted. Gyuvin laughs at him.
Hao throws a pillow at Hanbin in annoyance. “You and your words.” He huffs. “This is why a lot of girls like you.”
“But I don't like them.” Hanbin sits upright to level the eye contact with Hao. “Do you know who I like?”
Yujin gasps, tugging the hem of Gyuvin's shirt. “Is this it? Is pops gonna confess?” Gyuvin only shakes his head.
Hao tries to play it cool, but Yujin can see his lips twitching in nervousness. “W-who do you like?”
Hanbin laughs. “I asked you a question, why are you answering it back with the same question?”
“Oh.” Hao clears his throat. “Then, I don't know who you like. I think.”
Hanbin leans closer to Hao, grinning widely. They're maybe five to seven inches away from each other—Yujin cannot tell honestly, but their faces are close.
“Do you wanna know who?”
“Seven minutes up!” Matthew shouts, swinging the door open.
Hao pushes Hanbin off the bed in panic.
Yujin laughs hard.
—
Yujin hasn't honestly seen his parents fight. They're usually disgustingly sweet to each other—well, it's mostly Hanbin. Hao has his own way of showing his love.
“Why can't we get a dog? C'mon, love!” Hanbin frowns. He's currently back-hugging Hao, pressing soft kisses on Hao's cheek and shoulder.
“They're expensive to take care of, Hanbin. Now, stop it.” Hao says, trying to push Hanbin away using his elbow.
Hanbin sulks the whole night.
The next day, Hao comes home holding a maltese.
Hanbin's happy.
—
If Yujin remembers correctly, Hanbin told Hao that he can take a picture of him every time he has a game.
There's no game today, but Hao is in here, in the gymnasium, with Matthew.
It's practice day.
“Your dad is willing to skip his history class just to watch your pops practice.” Gyuvin says, laughing, back leaning comfortably on the bleachers.
Yujin huffs. “I can't believe it. And yet, he's making me study history today.”
Hao's also in the bleachers, his camera out, taking pictures of Hanbin as he plays in the court.
It's only practice but Yujin can see how focused Hanbin is. His expression is serious, eyes like a hawk, ready to move and grab the ball from his opponent any time. He's fast, agile. Yujin admires him so much.
“Hey, Matt?” Hao starts to speak, but his eyes are still at Hanbin.
“What?” Matthew answers, looking at Hao.
“Maybe I do like him.”
Matthew's eyes goes wide, as well as Yujin's.
Matthew raises both of his arms, “Fucking finally!”
“Be quiet! They're practicing! You're distracting them!”
—
“I saw you during our practice.” Hanbin approaches Hao, his body leaning on the locker.
Hao raises his brow. “So what?”
“Aw.” Hanbin smirks, pinching Hao's cheek. “Is it because of me?”
“No.” Hao shakes his head immediately. “I was checking, practicing how to take pictures at better angles. So your pictures would turn out nice on game day.”
Hanbin nods, still smirking. “Whatever you say, baby.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Yujin can see Hao's cheeks slowly burning.
—
“I'll get it for you. I'm the master of claw machines!” Hanbin proudly exclaims, wrapping his palm around the joystick.
He's focused, eyes straight ahead, targeting the Kuromi plush. Yujin's beside Hanbin, watching his pops.
As Hanbin presses the button, the claw drops down, and with not much luck, he fails to capture the plush.
Hanbin grunts in frustration.
They continue to play with the machine, twice, thrice, a lot of times until Yujin cannot count it anymore. Hanbin's determined to get the Kuromi plush for Yujin no matter what.
Meanwhile, Hao's just behind them, taking a picture of them and smiling to himself.
—
“So, we have to film these chia seeds everyday? To see how much they can grow?” Hanbin asks, brows furrowed as he stares at the seeds that Hao just planted.
Hao nods. “Yep. That's our science assignment.”
Yujin nods slowly. He has the same science project in the present as well.
“Huh. That's surprisingly easy.” Hanbin says. He roams his eyes around Hao's room and when he sees Hao's camera, he picks it up.
Hao raises a brow. “What are you doing? I already filmed the seeds for today.”
Hanbin grins, positioning the camera in front of Hao. “Cheese.”
Hao smiles awkwardly, but he still looks at the camera. Hanbin captures it.
They both look at Hao's picture afterwards, head close to each other, feeling each other's breaths.
“You know,” Hanbin starts to speak. “You're always behind the camera.”
“Mhmm.”
“You barely have pictures of yourself.”
Hao waves his hand casually. “Yeah. It's fine.”
“No, it's not.” Hanbin says, cupping Hao's cheek. “You're beautiful, you know?”
Yujin can see Hao's cheek gradually getting red, as well as Hanbin's ears. Yujin can tell that Hanbin's getting butterflies from himself as well.
Hao frowns, but he doesn't push Hanbin's hand away. Instead, he leans more into it, feeling the warmth of Hanbin's palm. “You and your words. Seriously. Stop it, Hanbin.”
Hanbin shakes his head lightly. “You need to know how beautiful you are, Hao. Look at you.” He raises the camera once again, showing Hao his picture. “So beautiful.”
Hao doesn't really know how to respond. He stays silent.
Hanbin speaks again. “I like you, Hao. You're the person I like.”
Hao bites his lower lip. Yujin can see tears forming in Hao's eyes. “I like you too, Hanbin.”
“Let me be the one to take pictures of you.”
Yujin's impressed. He finally thinks his pops has rizz.
Before he can even see them kissing, Gyuvin suddenly covers Yujin's eyes. “Oop!” And then he snaps his fingers, completely changing the scenery.
—
“Your dad won't be home until midnight. What do you want for dinner?” Hanbin asks. He has Yujin on his lap, playing games on his phone.
Yujin looks up at Hanbin. “Pizza!”
“Pizza?” Hanbin frowns, scratching his nape. “I don't know, kid. Your dad told me that we should eat something healthy…”
Yujin pouts, now tugging the hem of Hanbin's shirt. “Pizza? Please?”
It works. Hanbin's heart is melting from Yujin's cuteness. He sighs. “Okay. Don't tell your dad.”
—
“Hanbin?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you guys had pizza for dinner? I saw a pizza box in the trash.”
“Uhm, what—uh, kinda? No?”
“Hanbin.”
“Okay, I'm sorry!”
—
It's game day.
Hao's dressed up, wearing Hanbin's extra jersey, and he even has a sign that says: Go Sung Hanbin!
“Oh my god.” Matthew's jaw drops as soon as he sees Hao's whole fit. “You're not Sung Hanbin's photographer anymore. You're Sung Hanbin's boyfriend now!”
Hao only laughs.
“Fucking finally!” Taerae pumps his fist in the air, wrapping an arm around Matthew's shoulder. “Told you, babe. That seven minutes in heaven helped them have some progress.”
Hao raises a brow at them. He's about to say something but the game's finally starting, and so they settle in their seats.
Yujin feels as tensed as them. He knows Hanbin’s team won here—of course, his dad flexed it—but seeing the actual game live is nerve-wracking.
Everyone in the gymnasium is watching the game intently. They're all as focused as the players, praying and hoping that their desired team can win.
Hao's intensely watching too, but he doesn't forget to take pictures of Hanbin occasionally. Yujin can see the love in Hao's eyes. He can tell how much Hao appreciates Hanbin, how much he's supporting him right now.
Yujin thinks Hao is as downbad as Hanbin. They're the same. A perfect match.
Then, he turns his attention back to his pops. Hanbin's more serious today. Yujin can tell his grip on the ball is tighter than ever.
Yujin suddenly remembers the pictures hanging on their wall. It sinks into him—it's this day. Hanbin's wearing the same jersey.
—
Time flew fast, and the game's almost ending.
Hanbin’s running and dribbling the ball, and he jumps, arm extending towards the basket to shoot it. The ball goes in smoothly. Half of the gymnasium cheers.
They won. Hanbin's team won.
The team gathers around Hanbin to carry him and chant his name. Yujin watches as Hao fishes out his camera again to take a picture of that moment.
Yujin remembers another picture that was hanging on their wall where his pops was being carried by his team. It's this scene, this exact moment. Hao has managed to capture all of it.
Hanbin is also announced as the MVP. Everyone's congratulating him, people around him, surrounding him. It's making it hard for some journalists from their school newspaper to approach him. And so, they choose to interview Hao instead, especially since their relationship is now an open secret.
“Tell us something about Sung Hanbin that we don't know!” The journalist says, leaning the microphone close to Hao's mouth.
Hao grins. “Me and Hanbin are closer than you think.”
—
“Did you enjoy our little time travel about your parents' love story?” Gyuvin asks.
“I did.” Yujin answers, grinning. “But, I want to see one more thing, is that okay?”
Gyuvin blinks. “Sure? What is it?”
—
They're in an orphanage.
Yujin watches as an old lady hands Hao a baby—himself.
Hao accepts baby Yujin on his arms, gentle, eyes full of love. Hanbin's beside Hao, smiling widely and poking baby Yujin's cheeks.
Yujin feels loved.
—
“Yujin! It's dinner time!” Hao knocks on the door of Yujin's bedroom.
Yujin opens his eyes and his vision adjusts. He's confused, head aching as well. He scans his surroundings and it takes a few more seconds before he finally realizes that he's in his bedroom.
Oh, and his history book is on the table.
Right. He's supposed to be studying, but he fell asleep.
Wait, did he?
“Gyuvin?” Yujin calls quietly. No one answers.
Yujin only shrugs. Dream or not, it felt way too real—especially his dizziness after every time travel. Yujin did not expect time traveling to be this tiring.
He cleans his table, setting his history book aside, before going downstairs to the dining room.
Yujin sees his parents there. He watches as Hanbin wraps his arms around Hao's waist, pulling him closer and pressing a soft kiss on his forehead.
They look older. Of course. They've aged, but their love for each other is still the same. The fire, the spark, the affection, the fondness, the desire to want each other—it's all still there. Yujin can see it.
It isn't much different from when they were in high school.