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Yunho peered up at Seonghwa from where he was perched on the couch. His hands were on Seonghwa’s leg, holding himself up.
“And there’s a baby in there for real?” He asked suspiciously, unsure of whether his mother was telling the truth or not. How could a baby be living in his mommy’s tummy? How did it even get there? “Maybe you’re just fat now, Mommy.”
Seonghwa laughed at the bluntness. He could always trust Yunho to give it to him straight. “There are actually two babies in here, sweetheart. And they are going to be your little brothers.”
Yunho frowned even more at that answer. His mommy definitely looked like he had two babies in him. But if there were two babies, where would he go? What if Mommy and Daddy ran out of space in the house, and they were going to take him back to the orphanage? Yunho couldn’t have that happening. He silently swore to be the bestest kid ever, so they would give the babies back instead. They would have to find a new mommy to live in, because this one was his.
“Yah, Kim Yunho, come here right now!” Seonghwa’s voice rang through the house, reaching the four-year-old who was lying on his bed waiting for his Mommy to find his surprise. He was so excited to see Mommy’s happy face that he ran all the way downstairs even though the rules said he wasn’t allowed to run indoors.
“Yes?”
“What’s all this?” Seonghwa gestured to the colourful drawings –or scribbles rather- on his white walls. He could still see chunks of crayon where Yunho had pressed too hard.
He told Hongjoong that getting white walls wouldn’t make sense if they were going to have children, but his husband had been stubborn, arguing that if Seonghwa got to decorate the kitchen, the bathroom, and their bedrooms, including guest bedrooms, then he should get to be in charge of the living room. Seonghwa still didn’t think it was fair, but relented eventually.
Their home had turned out to be a lovely mix of clean, black and white minimalism, with many pops of colour and homely cosiness. Seonghwa was firm on that front, insisting that he refused to live in a borderline bachelor pad, instead of a warm, inviting home. His husband knew not to disagree with him. However, there was still the issue of the stark white walls, which now had his toddler's artistic efforts all over them.
“I drew you a picture, Mommy.” Yunho beamed at him, clearly proud of himself. “Do you like it?”
The question nearly melted Seonghwa’s resolve.
Keyword: nearly.
“I love it, sweetheart. But why is it on the wall and not on paper?”
“Um, so that it can stay forever?”
“Yunho, you know your Daddy and I love all your drawings very much, and we frame all the ones you want us to.” Seonghwa began explaining patiently, “But I’ve told you many times that your crayons should be used on paper, not my furniture or walls.”
The boy went silent at that, worried that instead of making his mommy a present, he had just made a mistake. Seeing his dejected little frame, Seonghwa reached down to pick him up, unable to stay mad at him for too long.
“Tell you what, I’ll take a picture of your drawing on my phone and when Daddy comes back, we’ll ask him to print it so we can hang it up. But after that, you are cleaning my walls. No buts, because you know better than to draw here.”
“Okay,” Yunho agreed, glad that he wasn’t in trouble. Not really, anyway. Seonghwa set him back down on the ground.
“Now go get Mommy’s phone, sweetheart.”
The boy scampered off, having already forgotten the scolding he just received.
After taking pictures from every angle Yunho wanted, the two got to cleaning the wall. Seonghwa was doing the actual cleaning while Yunho did his utmost best to provide his mommy with moral support. He was four, after all.
That incident, however, had just been the beginning.
Dinner time, a few days later, had just begun, and Hongjoong took a spoonful of the soup, anticipating it. Seonghwa had informed him that he was learning new recipes and was waiting with bated breath for his husband to try the meal. He knew it was good, great even, so when Hongjoong immediately spat out the soup, his eyebrows knitting together, he was dumbfounded.
“Dear?” began Seonghwa tentatively, “Are you alright? Was the soup too hot?”
Hongjoong hesitated to answer, not wanting to further insult his husband after already spitting out the soup. He also knew that Seonghwa valued honesty above all else.
“What- uh, what ingredients did you use? It tastes…different.” He kept a polite smile on his face, trying to get the message across as nicely as possible. Seonghwa stared at him, a pout already about to form, and tasted the soup for himself. It came back out just as fast as Hongjoong’s had, probably faster, and he shovelled some rice into his mouth to get rid of the taste. Why was it so salty? Seonghwa couldn’t understand where he had gone wrong until he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Their four-year-old had been unusually quiet and especially squirmy, uneasily shifting in his highchair as he watched his parents.
Seonghwa raised a brow, “Yunho, care to explain?”
Hongjoong turned to the child, confused.
“Um, I wanted to help Mommy cook, and I saw you put some stuff in the soup, so I thought I could also try…” he wriggled even more under the scrutiny of both parents, tears brimming in his big eyes. Had he done something wrong again? Seonghwa and Hongjoong exchanged glances.
“That was very thoughtful of you, Yunho,” His Daddy started, not sounding mad. “But you aren’t allowed near the stove when Mommy’s cooking.”
“I wasn’t!” he tried to defend himself. “I only put stuff in when Mommy put it on the table, I promise!” He hated getting in trouble and couldn’t bear the thought of getting in trouble for something he didn’t even do.
“Alright, we believe you. Still, it’s very dangerous because you could have gotten burned. Even when it's off the stove, it's really hot and only mommies and daddies are allowed to touch. Also, if you wanted to cook with me, you should’ve told me, sweetheart, we could’ve had so much fun.”
Yunho pouted, feeling guilty. Mommy and Daddy still didn’t sound mad, which was good, but they didn’t sound happy either. They didn’t even eat the rest of his soup, and Mommy took it away from the table, saying it had too much love because Yunho was so sweet. Yunho giggled, and the household was peaceful once more.
Until another few days later, that was.
Seonghwa received a phone call from his husband, which was odd, considering he was at work. Upon answering, he discovered that the four-year-old had taken it as his personal duty to prepare his Daddy lunch, swapping out the carefully thought-out meal from Seonghwa with a half-eaten packet of biscuits, a tiny carton of strawberry milk, and, quite literally, a toddler-sized handful of grapes. And toddlers weren’t exactly known for having big hands.
Seonghwa got a teary confession that he just wanted to give his daddy his absolute favourite snacks. He thought he was doing a good deed by sharing, and Seonghwa had to explain to Yunho that, although it was very kind of him, his daddy needed a bit more food than Yunho needed. Which was why, a few minutes later, Yunho was strapped into his car seat and gone to see Daddy so Mommy could give him the proper lunch box. Yunho got to see Daddy earlier than usual, and Mommy had gotten him ice cream on the way back, so all in all, the mission was a success in his books.
Then, once again, Seonghwa had to gently scold Yunho for making a mess in the bathroom. The child attempted to run a bath for his mommy, seeing how tired he looked (those babies needed to be given back immediately if they were making his mommy so tired), but had misjudged how much water a bath needed, never mind the mountain of bubbles that covered every surface of the bathroom. Standing ankle deep in his flooded bathroom, Seonghwa thanked the child for being so caring, but to tell him next time he wanted to do something. He had reassured him that it didn’t take away from the thoughtfulness at all. Still, he had to call someone to deal with the mess and explain to his very confused husband why their bathroom would briefly be out of commission.
The final straw, however, was when Yunho decided to help Daddy do his job.
He snuck into his work bag and found the book Daddy was always drawing in. Opening it, he gasped, seeing all the pretty pictures. But there was no colour. Yunho realised it was the perfect time to help Daddy with his colouring homework and prove to Mommy that he wouldn’t colour on the walls anymore, only paper. Quietly, he tiptoed to his room and pulled out his best crayons. Daddy was going to be so happy; they were definitely going to give the babies back after that. He would probably even get ice cream for dinner from his Mommy, though nothing like that had ever happened yet.
He was still busy on the first page before Daddy burst into his room suddenly, frightening him and causing him to make a mistake with the green crayon in his hand. Daddy stood still for a moment, but instead of a smile, he looked… upset?
“Kim Yunho, what exactly do you think you’re doing?” His voice was low, and he wasn’t shouting, but Daddy still seemed scary.
“I’m helping Daddy with his homework, see?” Yunho proudly held the book out to his daddy, excited to get some sort of compliment, but when nothing came, he was confused. His daddy took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut tight.
“I’m calling your mother. Stay right there and don’t even think of moving.” Daddy left, and a bit later Mommy came rushing in. He gasped in shock. His mommy explained that Daddy was very upset with him and took some time to calm down. He told him the book was very important to Daddy, and it was basically the same as if someone took his favourite truck without asking, and then broke it. That did sound very serious, and Yunho got worried. Daddy never ever got mad at him. Maybe Mommy got mad at him sometimes when he was very naughty, but not Daddy. Would this make them take him back to that place? The thought made him burst into tears, sobs wracking his little body.
Seonghwa was concerned. Yes, he had just scolded the toddler, but he knew he hadn’t been harsh. He also knew Hongjoong hadn’t said anything substantial to the child, leaving to take a walk and get his emotions in check. Of course, he knew it wasn’t done with malicious intent, but as a fashion designer, his drawings were his everything. He had a deadline he could not afford to miss, and finding his son colouring in his sketch book nearly sent him over the edge.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Why are you crying?” Seonghwa asked the toddler, wrapping his arms around the child.
“D-daddy’s mad at me and now you’re going to give me away!” He spoke with great difficulty, the crying making it hard to get his words out properly.
“Give you away? Who’s giving you away?”
Yunho clutched Seonghwa’s cardigan and took a shaky breath, “You and Daddy! You have two babies now, and you don’t want me anymore, and now I made a big mistake, and Daddy’s mad, but I’m sorry. I don’t want to go!”
All of a sudden, Yunho’s behaviour over the past few weeks made sense to him. His heart broke for the boy in his arms, and Seonghwa pulled him closer.
“Oh, no one’s giving you away, Yunho. You’re our baby, which means that you stay with us forever and ever. Daddy is just a little bit upset, but like you said, it was a mistake, and after you apologise to him, he’ll be fine again. Daddy can’t stay mad at you, sweetheart.” As he spoke, he stroked Yunho’s hair, feeling the child calm down in his arms. “I’m sorry you felt like you were going to have to leave because of the babies. Daddy and I love all of you so much. But from now on, you need to talk to someone if you’re feeling these big emotions, okay? That way, big mistakes won’t happen.”
Yunho nodded, buried in Seonghwa’s chest, and his sobs died down to sniffles. He felt much better now that his mommy explained everything to him. It was a shame that the babies were still staying, but Yunho supposed that after all the mistakes he had made, he could share his parents for a little while, if only to make them happy. Only one thing left to do, he thought dejectedly.
While Daddy was out, he and his Mommy made a special apology card, and he tried to recreate the picture he coloured in. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but when his daddy came back and saw the effort and remorse, he scooped Yunho up.
“I’m really, really sorry, Daddy,” and then, as an afterthought, he added, “And Mommy. I was very naughty, and I’m sorry I made you sad and mad.”
“Hmm, let me think, do I forgive you?” Hongjoong pretended to think about it, enjoying teasing the toddler a bit, before exclaiming loudly, “Alright, but only if you promise to never do that again.”
“I pinkie promise!” the toddler agreed, ready to earn his forgiveness.
“And you also have to promise to give us a ton of kisses tonight.” His Daddy spoke definitively, and Yunho giggled at the seriousness before placing a loud kiss on his cheek, motioning for his mommy to come closer, he repeated the action. Before he knew it, he had both parents placing their own loud kisses on each of his cheeks.
Yunho was back to being an angel the very same night, and occasionally gave two kisses to his mommy’s tummy, claiming that maybe sharing wasn’t too bad after all.