For Squickz' Shawol Christmas

“Where’s my dad?” said Taemin. To which Kibum rolled his eyes.

“Tae, are you really gonna ask me this every day? You know he’s working.” Taemin stayed quiet. Then he turned and started walking to Kibum’s car. Kibum smiled, shook his head and followed Taemin.

Kibum was a senior at NYU. He also worked as a nanny picking Taemin up from school and making sure he ate and finished his homework (Kibum did his homework too). He got him ready for bed and kept him company until his dad got home from work between 8 and 9. Kibum loved hanging out with Taemin. He really was a smart kid and he practically took care of himself. But even though he tried not to show it, Kibum knew Tae got sad sometimes because his dad worked so much. Like now, Taemin’s locked himself inside the bathroom.

“Taemin, please open the door.” Silence. “Well then give me a sign that you haven’t drowned in the tub. If you die, I don’t get paid.”

Taemin rolled his eyes “I’m not dead.”

“…Are you okay?” Kibum sat on the floor in front of the bathroom door. More silence.

“Is it.. about your dad?” Kibum heard a splash and sighed.

“I know you know he loves you Tae. He tells you every chance he gets” Kibum said with a slight hint of envy. “You’re all he talks about. Everything he does, he does for you.” Taemin and his father, Jinki, had moved to America from Korea when Taemin was four. Friends and family had called Jinki selfish but he knew he could make a great new start for them past the heartache of losing Taemin’s mother shortly after he was born. And so far it had been. They stayed quiet for a bit. “Your dad and I first met when he came to teach a guest lecture for my financial lit class. He was supposed to talk about how to read and decipher stock portfolios but he kept going off on tangents about his beautiful and healthy and wonderful little six year old. When I started hanging out with you too, I thought the same thing.” Kibum recalled the memory with a smile.

“But that was three whole yea-“

“Lee Taemin, don’t get any silly ideas in your head about things changing from then to now. Your father loves you just as much as back then if not more and..” the bathroom door swung open to reveal a teary-eyed, bathrobe clad 9 year old “..and so do I.” Taemin fell into Kibum’s arms.

“I know that, I just miss my daddy.”

“I know baby, I know” With eyes threatening to water as well, Kibum ran his fingers through Taemin’s hair. “Let’s get you to bed.”

-

Kibum was waiting for Jinki at the kitchen table when he got home.

“Hey Kibum!” …Jinki’s smile faltered. “Hey wait, were you crying? What happened? Is Taemin okay?” He looked towards Taemin’s room as he shrugged off his coat.

“Tae’s fine. He’s sleeping.” said Kibum.

“This early?” said Jinki as he sat.

“We had a rough day.” Jinki was about to ask what happened when Kibum continued. “You work too much. Your son misses you. Whether it’s a joke he’s gonna tell you or a place he wants to go with you or how excited he is for Christmas because it’s the next time you’ll have time off, it hurts just to hear him talk about you. I can’t even imagine how it feels for him. How it feels to see the most important person in his life for less than an hour a day.” Jinki felt so guilty. “He cried himself to sleep tonight. It was heartbreaking.” Kibum said quietly.

“Kibum I-“

“He loves you, Jinki. Fix this.” Jinki nodded and Kibum stood up. “I’ll see you guys later.” Kibum opened the door to leave.

“Kibum, wait!” Kibum turned, ignoring the slight increase in his heart rate.

“Thank You.” said Jinki.

-

Taemin woke up to his father’s snoring. Jinki was curled around him. Taemin giggled and grabbed his face, smashing his father’s cheeks until he woke up.

“Good morning, son!” said Jinki with smashed cheeks. They both giggled.

“Okay, kiddo. Go wash your face, I’m making breakfast!” Jinki got up from the bed

Taemin sat up in his bed “What? Where’s Fei?” Fei was the woman who made Taemin breakfast and walked him to the bus stop every morning.

Jinki feigned offense “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with my cooking?”

“Nothing, when it doesn’t involve fire..” said Taemin

Jinki thought for a moment “Cereal it is!” he said before walking down the hallway.

“Wait! Don’t you have to work?” shouted Taemin.

“Not today, my darling! No school either!” Jinki shouted back. Taemin smiled.

Kibum was pleasantly surprised to receive a text that he didn’t need to watch Taemin that day.

-

Jinki and Taemin had just finished another round of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and were relaxing with some snacks on the couch.

“Daddy?”

“Yes baby?”

Taemin fiddled with his fingers “Did Kibum tell you that I cried yesterday? Is that why you took off work today?”

Jinki frowned. “No baby. No.” He brought Taemin face to face with himself. “Look. I know that I work a lot. And I know that you know it’s for a good reason. We can have a nice life and nice things because of the money I make. But you’re all I have in this life and I never want you to feel alone. So I took a day off so that I could remind you of that.” Jinki pulled Taemin into a big hug.

“That’s not true though” said Taemin “you have Kibum. We both do.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right.” Jinki thought. Ever since Jinki hired Kibum three years ago, he’s been there whenever they needed him. He was there to watch Taemin when got into a car accident and had to stay overnight at the hospital, he’s been to all of Taemin’s recitals, he even buys them both birthday gifts every year.

“He likes you, you know.” Taemin jolted Jinki from his thoughts and Jinki choked on thin air.

“What?!”

“Kibum likes you, I can tell.”

Jinki raised his eyebrow at Taemin “How?”

“Well, whenever he makes me dinner, he makes sure there’s enough for you too. He smiles and gets this far away look in his eyes whenever we talk about you, he blushes whenever you tell him you like his outfit..”

“Go on..” said Jinki, quizzically.

“I overheard him talking to his friend on the phone about a party or something but saying that he couldn’t go because you were coming home late and he had to watch me but that was a lie because you never said anything that day about coming home late so I know it was just because he wanted to see you when you got here and that sounds like love to me even my teacher miss Kim said that two boys can love each other if they’re born that way and Kibum says that whether its boys or girls that love is love and-”

“Tae, Tae, slow down. I get it… so what should I do?”

“Well do you like him too?” Taemin asked

“I don’t know that I’ve thought about it before but.. let’s invite him for dinner. I’ll call Fei!”

-

Several hours later when Kibum arrived, Jinki and Taemin were standing in the living room. Jinki was wearing a dark green button up shirt with black jeans. Taemin was wearing a navy blue button up shirt with a white bowtie and white jeans.

“You guys look so cute. You should have told me, I would’ve dressed up too.” Said Kibum, wearing his oversized university sweatshirt and dark skinny jeans.

“You look perfect.” Said Jinki. Kibum fought back a blush. Jinki winked at Taemin and he winked back.

“Let’s eat!” said Taemin.

“Wow, this looks amazing you guys!” said Kibum

“Yea well you know, I cook every now and-”

“Fei made this, didn’t she.”

“Yes she did, dig in!” they laughed

-

After they had eaten.

“This is fun, you guys but what-”

“Ah!” Taemin scooted out of his chair and ran to his room. When he returned, he had signs in his hands. Kibum looked at Jinki and Jinki nodded back to Taemin.

Hello Kibum

Taemin dropped the first sign

Thanks for coming!

He dropped the second one

We just wanted to say

THANK YOU!

For three whole years

You’ve been our friend

You’ve been our family

We love you!

Kibum’s eyes began to water

So we wanted to show you

Just how much you mean to us

The last sign was an arrow pointing towards the kitchen where Jinki was holding a small cake. Kibum blew out the candles and the tears finally fell.

“Happy tears, right?” Taemin asked.

“Yes Tae. Very happy” Kibum laughed and hugged Taemin.

“Kibum” He turned around “I don’t pay you nearly enough for how happy you make us. Thank you.” Jinki wiped Kibum’s tears and kissed his forehead. Kibum froze and Taemin cleared his throat.

“Anyone up for a movie?”

“Sure,” said Jinki. “What are our options?”

“The sandlot or Evolution.”

“Sandlot” said Kibum “you cried last time we watched Evolution.”

“Did not!”

Jinki laughed.

-

Halfway through the movie, Taemin was fast asleep with his head on Kibum’s lap and legs sprawled over Jinki.

“He really is beautiful” said Kibum absentmindedly as he petted Taemin’s hair.

“Just like his mother” said Jinki.

“If you don’t mind me asking” said Kibum “what happened to her?”

“After Taemin was born, she got sick and less than a year later, she was gone.”

“That’s awful.”

“It was hard, but we got through it with help from friends and family. She was a dancer and she had always wanted to come live in America and attend dance schools so we came here to fulfill that wish for her.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Hm. Hey, I’m gonna go take Tae to bed.” Jinki picked Taemin up and carried him down the hall to his room. Jinki tucked Taemin in.

“Coast is clear.”

“Ugh, I thought you guys would never stop talking!”

“Sorry. You gonna be okay in here?”

“Yea dad, good luck.”

Jinki ruffled Taemin’s hair and kissed his forehead.

“Thanks Tae.”

-

When Jinki returned to the living room, Kibum had already straightened up and was in the kitchen washing dishes.

“Hey Kibum” Kibum jumped and dropped the dish he was washing. It cut his hand.

“Ah!” Jinki grabbed the first-aid kit and rushed over to Kibum.

“Oh, oh no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Said Jinki

“It’s fine, it wasn’t completely your fault. I think I’m a bit tense today.”

“Any particular reason?” Jinki feigned innocence as he finished bandaging Kibum’s cut for him.

“I..  uh.” Kibum hesitated “This is probably inappropriate but do you have any alcohol? I think it might help.”

Jinki laughed. “Hm, how about whiskey?”

“Perfect!” said Kibum.

-

A bottle and a half through the night and they were lying on the kitchen floor laughing like best friends

“Kibum, I’m getting old huh?”

“Jinki omg noo, you’re only 26!”

“But my back hurts and I can’t run like I used to. I get tired so easily.” Jinki pouted

“How could you be getting old when you’re still capable of such cute faces like that?”

“You think I’m cute?” Jinki smirked and sat up on his elbow.

“Shut Up.” Said Kibum avoiding Jinki’s gaze.

“No, you said I was cute. You think im cute? Huh?” Jinki teased as he started to tickle Kibum.

“Stop. Ahh! I’m ticklish!” Kibum squealed

“Apparently!” said Jinki.

They continued twisting and squirming until Kibum turned the tables and sat on Jinki’s stomach. They both were breathing hard and staring at each other. Jinki leaned up and brought their lips together. Jinki settled his hands on Kibum’s hips and Kibum fisted his hands in Jinki’s hair. Kibum pulled back first.

“Wait! Oh my god..” He scrambled off of Jinki

“I’m sorry. That was.. I just.. ahh.” Jinki scratched the back of his head.

“Jinki, I..  I’m well aware of the consequences of falling in love with my boss but I did and I really, really like you. If this was just some drunken escapade for you then I don’t want it. I’m perfectly okay with pretending like this never-”

“Kibum.”

“Yes.”

“Taemin told me that you like me and even though I’ve only just recently began to think about it, I’m pretty sure I like you too so if you want to, I mean..” Jinki fidgeted. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Kibum was shocked.“Really? Are you sure? I mean..”

Jinki nodded.

“Of course!”

 -

They awoke to the sound of Taemin brushing his teeth. He was standing over them and staring at where they were curled up together on the kitchen floor.

“So are you guys like dating now or what?” Taemin mumbled from around his toothbrush.

“What?” said Jinki

“Why are you guys in the kitchen? *sniff sniff* Are you dru-”

“Taemin, please..” said Kibum holding his head in his hands.

“Fine, fine. I’ll be in the living room.”

Jinki looked over at Kibum and laughed. Kibum started laughing too.

“I’m gonna go shower.” Said Kibum. Jinki nodded and kissed his temple before joining Taemin on the couch for Saturday morning cartoons.

They hi-fived and Jinki pulled Taemin under his arm and kissed the top of his head. Taemin giggled.

-

“Hurry daddy! He gets out in five minutes!” Taemin whined from the passenger seat. Jinki and Taemin were picking Kibum up from his last final before Christmas break to go Christmas tree shopping.

“There he is!” said Jinki. Kibum was standing out in front of his school library looking rather dreary. When Kibum got in the backseat, Taemin turned to peek at him through the headrest.

“How did it go?”

Kibum sighed.

“That bad?” Said Jinki. Taemin frowned.

Kibum smirked. “Nope... B plus! HA!” They all cheered and Kibum pinched Taemin’s cheeks.

“Okay silly . Sit properly in your seat so we can go find us a christmas tree.” Said Jinki. Taemin turned around and buckled himself in.

“Hey daddy, can we sing Christmas carols on the way to get our tree?”

Jinki turned to see if that was okay with Kibum.

“I think that’s a great idea!” He smiled.

They sang a variety of Christmas carols all the way to the tree lot. Inside the car was a positively cheery atmosphere. Outside of the car, however, was a bit different.

“Why are they all so expensive?” said Kibum as he looked at a rather average looking tree, priced at over $200. Jinki and Taemin sighed. They looked at a few trees and they were all either boring or out of their budget range. Taemin had wandered off to look on his own.

“I’m sorry, Kibum.” Said Jinki

“It’s not yo-”

“Guys, come look!” shouted Taemin. They rushed over to where he was standing in front of a beautifully decorated tree, just taller than the two of them.

“Taemin, this is probably an example tree and way expensive. We can’t buy this.” Said Kibum

“Check the tag” said Taemin. Kibum walked over to the tree and found a card that said ‘PAID’ in huge red letters. On the other side was a little paragraph.

The price doesn’t matter, you deserve the most beautiful Christmas tree. It’s just big enough for three, don’t you think? Kibum, will you spend Christmas with us?

Kibum turned around. Jinki was standing there with Taemin under his left arm, both of them smiling from ear to ear. He looked at the tree again. It really was beautiful. With tears in his eyes, he ran to hug Jinki.

“Merry Christmas, Kibum.” Jinki kissed him soft and sweet.

“Happy tears, right Kibum?” said Taemin

“Yes baby,” he turned to look at Taemin. “happy tears. And of course i'll spend christmas with you guys.” He kissed Taemin’s forehead.

“Ew, yuck!” said Taemin. Kibum and Jinki looked at each other and looked back at Taemin. “Oh no. No guys!” Jinki and Kibum chased the boy down and peppered him with kisses until the three of them were a pile of laughter.

“Okay,” said Jinki as he looked up at the tree “Now how are we gonna get this thing home?”

<3