Yongguk's bloodshot eyes bored into the darkened wall of his bedroom. It's been a few days since the incident, and in those few days, he was completely and utterly miserable.

 

Yongguk was positioned in his bed, his covers pulled all the way to his chin. He could hear the rambunctious footsteps of the two children from downstairs. At least they were happy.

He stared down at the floor. 

The footsteps eventually stopped, but he could hear someone coming to his bedroom door. The door creaked open and the worried face of his son came into view. 

"Appa.." Youngjae frowned and pushed the door open, stepping into the dark room. He stepped over Yongguk's littered clothes to his father's side of the bed. 

"Appa... Is it because of pretty ahjussi... that you're like this..?" 

Yongguk stared at the figure standing in front of him. 

"Yeah."

Youngjae slightly jumped at the gravelly consistency of his father's voice. 

"You don't need meanie ahjussi, appa! You can find someone better!"

His son wrapped his arms around Yongguk's neck, hugging his head.

"Meanie ahjussi doesn't deserve my appa!" Yongguk felt Youngjae's voice vibrate from his small chest. 

"Thank you. Youngjae." Yongguk closed his eyes, the will to cry leaving him. 

The sound of the door creaking open disturbed the moment. Daehyun peered into the room. "Sorry if I'm barging in, I just wanted to check on Youn- on y'all." He stepped passed the door and placed a hand on Youngjae's shoulder, "He probably needs some time alone, Jae." Youngjae stared at him, "But-! But he's had enough time!" 

Daehyun shook his head. "Recovering from heartbreak can take a long time. It could even take forever." 

Youngjae frowned, letting go of his father. He leaned down to kiss his father's cheek. "I hope you recover appa..." He glanced at his father's sad expression and turned to leave the room.

Daehyun watched as his boyf- uh, I mean, Youngjae walked out the room.

"Maybe you should talk with Himchan to get some closure, you know?" Yongguk stared hopefully at the kid.

"Yeah.... Thanks."

Daehyun smiled and made his way to Youngjae. But before he could, Yongguk's voice stopped him.

"Daehyun."

"...Yes sir?"

".......Treat Youngjae well."

"What do you mean?"

"You two are dating, are you not?"

"I-I- uh well- I don't exactly know..."

"Make sure to clear that up with him then."

"Y-Yes sir."

The door shut closed behind Daehyun. Yongguk stared at the door, a small smile cracking on his lips.

 

"Sooo? What did you talk to my appa about, Daehyunnie?" Youngjae was bouncing on the couch. Daehyun's face turned red, and he cleared his throat. "Well... I think that... your appa needs to talk to Himchan. But I need to ask y-" 

"That's a great idea, Daehyunnie! Maybe then, appa can come to terms with the fact that pretty ahjussi is actually meanie ahjussi!"

"Y-Yeah, but I need to ask you som-"

"I'm gonna go get my appa's shoes! Thank you for talking to him!"

"But I-"

Youngjae dashed away to another part of the house. A red faced Daehyun stood there frozen. A small smile rose on Daehyun's face. He chuckled and made his way to the sofa, plopping down on the soft cushions. "Maybe some other time."

 

Youngjae burst into his father's room holding Yongguk's dress shoes. "APPA! YOU MUST CONFRONT MEANIE AHJUSSIIII!!!!"

Yongguk flinched at his son's volume.

"Youngjae, I will consid-"

"NO! YOU MUST GO NOW!"

"Youngj-"

"NOW!!!!!"

"OKAY OKAY! FINE! I'LL GO!!"

Youngjae rejoiced, spinning around with his shoes still in hand. Yongguk sighed, slapping his forehead.

"Just- just put down my shoes. I'll get ready. You do know that you'll be alone with Daehyun, right?" Youngjae hesitated but nodded enthusiastically.  

Yongguk didn't question it further, sliding out of his bed and moving to his closet.

 

After Yongguk said his goodbye's, he drove off to the mall. To the cute little shop. To Himchan.

 

He swung the front door open, the scent of sweet pastries immediately hitting his nose. His heartbeat accelerated as the pretty clerk's smile gleamed at the customers. He took a seat at a table tucked into a corner where he would glance over at the clerk time and time again. 

After a while, the crowd of customers slowly dispersed until there were only a handful of customers, including Yongguk himself. 

"Sir, if you're going to order you have to order at the cou-"

Himchan froze when he saw who it was. It was Yongguk. 

"Yeah.. didn't really plan on ordering anything. I need to talk with you, Himchan." Yongguk's tone was low and serious. 

Himchan nodded, taking the seat across from him.

"You haven't been here in such a while, Bbang... Why? Why are you here now?"

"I heard you in your backroom with some... Jaehyo,"

Himchan grew silent, his face contorted in confusion.

"That's why I haven't visited in a while. Don't ing lead me on into believing something could actually happen between us. Don't give me false hope."

Himchan's cute little eyes grew wide, holding up his hands in defense.

"Look... You don't understand. Jaehyo and I.... we didn't do anything of... that nature. We were making the red velvet cupcakes in the backroom and that accidentally dropped the icing tray from the shelf, getting icing everywhere! It was a bother cleaning up... but some of it was salvageable. So we had a little taste test of the icing, which was amazing," Yongguk's lips were pulled into a tight line, nodding. 

"Bbang, I promise you nothing happened! And I'm still up for that... offer, you know." Yongguk's ears burned, remembering the offer he made back at the recording studio. 

"R....Really..?"

"Yeah, I'd love to, Bbang."