The Gateway

“Junmyeon, you are telling Kyungsoo about the baby.”

A grunt.

“Junmyeon, is there a reason why you refuse to inform your brother about our future child?”

A shrug.

“Kim Junmyeon, I swear to God if you’re stalling because you think Kyungsoo is going to be a bad influence on his nephew, I am marching over there right now and telling him myself.”

At this, Suho looked up from where he was washing the dishes, elbow deep in suds, and sighed at his wife. “Eunju, that’s not it… I’m just, I’m just worried about what’s going to happen and I don’t know how to talk to Kyungsoo – I don’t even know if we can call each other family anymore!”

She reached over and rested her hands on the sides of his face. Though his own were wet, he gratefully intertwined his fingers with hers, enjoying her warmth. She always knew what to say, even if he didn’t want to hear it. “Junmyeon, you are just being silly, alright? First off, you are getting too worried about this child. This child is going to be loved and taken care of by so many people. Hell, you're going to have the entire police force doting on this kid, isn't that the definition of safety?"

"You have met them, right?"

"Siwon, Minho, Kyuhyun, Taekwoon, Hongbin and Myungsoo are lovely men even if they aren't exactly the most normal. Don't be mean. They're going to do their best to be good uncles. Now, if bad things happen, then they happen. You can’t control the world. But it’s not about that, is it Junmyeon?”

Dropping his gaze, Suho gently pulled her hands away. “No, it isn’t,” he admitted reluctantly. “We had a bit of a fight where…he told me all sorts of things, Eunju! Magical kingdoms and kidnapping children and creatures nobody can see and I don’t understand how you can just believe him! And I told him off for it, and I could just see on his face that he hated me.”

“Is it really so strange to believe in something like that?” Eunju asked.

“Yes! What proof do we have?”

“I don’t think so,” Eunju said with a shake of her head. “You believe in a prince who walked the ground barefoot and found his way to enlightenment – is that any different? You can’t prove that happened because he died long before your time, just like Minho can’t prove that his favourite football team won the World Cup because he prayed for it. But people believe; it’s what we do: we populate our world with Gods and monsters under the bed and quarks and ideas about each other, we believe in things and ideas and people, and that’s how things happen. If you can believe in that, can’t you believe Kyungsoo?” 

“It’s not the same thing,” Suho muttered, knowing how weak and hollow his logic sounded. “It’s easier for you because you go to temples and churches and all sorts of prayer places because you believe in everything.”

“Sometimes I can’t figure out why you married someone as crazy as me,” Eunju laughed, leaning against his shoulder. Suho ran his fingers through her long dark hair, always loving how soft it was. He remembered how he’d first met her – they’d rescued a child who’d fallen through one of the old mine shafts, bringing them over to a hospital in a larger town, and she’d come running through the corridors, hair coming out of her messy braid and demanding to know who was in-charge and what was going on and thank you so much but she’d take it from here and no Mr Kim I need to get back to work but I appreciate your concern, and he’d near melted at the knees because she was not only the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, in his own humble opinion, but also the smartest and most hard-working. 

“I like crazy.” Eunju arched an eyebrow. Suho huffed. “I’ll…consider it. This believing and holding hands and loving every human being –”

“The sarcasm isn’t necessary! Good, because I have something to tell you later.”

“You can’t tell me now?” he asked with a little pout.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Eunju, that is like the worst thing you can say to someone like me.”

Grinning, she wrapped her arms around him. Suho wasn’t particularly tall, but Eunju was incredibly petite, and he liked wrapp