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“Okay! Count to ten, okay? No peeking!” Jay said, pointing a stern finger at Haerin as he scooped up Haru and placed him beside her behind the couch.
“Ten!” Haerin shouted immediately, hands covering her eyes but very much not waiting.
Jay darted down the hallway, Haerin’s chaotic counting echoing after him. “Eight! Five! Two!” Haru repeated gleefully.
Jay’s eyes scanned the hall in a rush—laundry room, too small. Bathroom, too bright. He spotted the hall closet. Perfect. He yanked the door open and slipped inside, pulling it nearly shut again.
He turned—and nearly jumped out of his skin.
“What—” he started in a hiss.
Jungwon’s wide eyes stared back at him from the shadows, hoodie half over his face, crouched awkwardly behind a stack of pillows. “What are you doing here?” he whisper-yelled.
Jay blinked. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? I didn’t know you were in here already!”
“This is my hiding spot,” Jungwon muttered, trying not to laugh.
“Well…” Jay squeezed himself into the narrow space beside him, brushing against coats. “…now it’s ours.”
They both froze as little footsteps thundered past the door. Haerin’s voice rang through the hallway.
“APPA?? EOMMA?? WHERE YOU GO?? HARU, CHECK UNDER THE TABLE!”
There was a thump. Then Haru’s tiny voice from the other room: “No here! Just me!”
Jay clapped a hand over his mouth, muffling a laugh. Beside him, Jungwon’s shoulder shook silently.
The kids checked under tables, beds, and doors. Then—quiet.
Jay leaned toward the sliver in the door. “...Did they give up?”
“Did they forget we exist?” Jungwon whispered back.
From the living room came Haerin’s voice: “Let’s play something else. Hide-and-seek is boring.”
Jay blinked. “...They gave up.”
Jungwon blinked, too. “They gave up.”
For a long beat, they stared at each other in stunned silence—then muffled laughter broke out between them.
Jay leaned back against the wall, grinning. “So… we won?”
Jungwon crossed his arms but couldn’t hide his smile. “Guess so.”
Jay’s grin softened as he leaned closer, noses brushing. “If this is the prize, I’m not complaining.”
Jungwon rolled his eyes but didn’t pull away, voice softer now. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Unbelievably in love with you,” Jay whispered, and before Jungwon could retort, he kissed him—gentle and lingering, in the dim quiet of the closet, the sound of their kids fading into the distance.
The moment stretched warm and calm between them—until a sudden loud BANG made them both jolt.
The closet door flung open. Haerin stood there, hands on her hips like a tiny detective, Haru peeking around her leg clutching his stuffed dino.
“I KNEW it!” Haerin declared. “You weren’t supposed to hide together!”
Jungwon blinked. “We—uh—”
Haru squinted. “Were you kissing?”
Jay grinned. “Nooo, we were plotting… a tickle ambush!”
Haerin shrieked, but it was too late—Jay swooped her up, tickling until she was breathless with giggles, while Jungwon lunged for Haru, who wriggled and squealed.
The hallway filled with shrieks and laughter, feet pounding on the floor, until both kids collapsed in a heap of happy exhaustion.
“You’re mean, Appa… Eomma…” Haru groaned dramatically.
Jay ruffled Haerin’s hair with a grin. “Next time, don’t give up so fast.”
“We got bored!” Haerin laughed.
“Well,” Jungwon said, still hugging a giggling Haru, “we didn’t.”
And when Jay leaned over to drop a quick kiss on Jungwon’s temple (eliciting exaggerated groans from both kids), he winked. “Best closet date ever.”