Chaos. Absolute chaos.

It was the only word Shinwoo could use to describe the current state of his house. Not that he wasn’t used to it; he had 3 sons after all, it was just particularly bad on that specific day. He barely heard his youngest son, 5 years old Chansik telling his older brother he was going to get his finger paint in his room through the screams that came out of the oldest of his sons’ mouth. Shinwoo could always count on Junghwan to be yelling whenever the occasion presented itself. Junghwan was one of the main reasons for Shinwoo’s permanent headache. He was lucky to be this cute.

«No, Chansik!» yelled Shinwoo before running to the staircase where Gongchan was sitting, processing to open the container full of red finger paint.

«Oops!» said Chansik as the container suddenly opened, sending paint flying all over the walls, the stairs and his own clothes.

Shinwoo with a sigh lifted the young boy up in his arms and brought him up the stairs. He made him sit on the bathroom floor and he the water.

«We’ll clean you up» he said, ruffling his hair. He’d talk to Chansik later about this, but he had to clean everything up before Jinyoung was back. Shinwoo dealt with Chansik, Jinyoung dealt with Junghwan and Sunwoo. Chansik cried when he was scolded because he felt guilty, and it made Jinyoung panic. Only Shinwoo could do it in a way that Chansik wouldn’t cry, but would still remember and not do it again. On the other hand, apparently Shinwoo was too soft to deal with the older boys who wouldn’t even listen. That’s why Shinwoo and Jinyoung were the perfect parents when they were together.

Shinwoo could still hear his oldest son yelling downstairs, and his eyes widened as he remembered the paint all over the stairs. He turned off the faucet and told Gongchan to take off his clothes as he ran downstairs, but it was too late.

Red footprints covered the living room. The two 6 years old were in the process of covering each other with paint, but also the living room furniture.

«ENOUGH!» yelled Shinwoo. The boys froze and looked up. The silence lasted only a few seconds before Junghwan was screaming again, running his paint-stained hands through his brother’s hair.

Wait. Shinwoo couldn’t remember anything about blue paint. Chansik made a mess with red paint, when exactly did the blue paint come in the picture?

«IF YOU DON’T STOP RIGHT NOW I’LL TELL DADDY TO COME HOME» yelled Shinwoo, but of course none of his kids would take him seriously.

«Right» snorted Sunwoo before continuing the paint fight. Shinwoo grabbed the almost empty paint container from Junghwan’s hands and threw it away, ignoring his sons’ protestations. He was about to force them upstairs when he heard the crying.

It started softly, only a few sobs, before it broke out into full crying.

«No no no no baby» muttered Shinwoo as he ran to the staircase. Chansik had tried to come play with his brothers but had probably slipped on the paint, falling down the last few steps before hitting his knee against the wall.

«Appa it hurts» he whined, still wailing loudly. Shinwoo checked the leg quickly and could see it would only leave a bruise. He chuckled to himself, his son was crying because he got scared when he fell, not because he was actually hurt.

«Oh! Maybe it’s broken» said Shinwoo with wide eyes. He took his son’s small hand in his and looked directly into his eyes. «If your leg is broken, you won’t be able to play with your brothers» said Shinwoo and Chansik’s eyes widened.

«Appa! Is it broken?» he asked. He wasn’t crying anymore. He was trying to dry his tears with his small hands. Shinwoo still had a very serious look on his face as he helped the small boy bend his leg.

«Does it hurt?» he asked, and Chansik shook his head.

«Good, now that means it isn’t broken» said Shinwoo. He winked to his son who dramatically sighed in relief.

«Thank you appa!» he said before getting up, but Shinwoo caught him before he could run away.

«Where do you think you are going?» the young boy yelled, trying to run away but Shinwoo kept on holding him. He picked him up in his arms and walked to the kitchen where his older sons were now throwing flour at each other.

Pause. Floor? Shinwoo put Chansik down on the floor before running to grab the bag out of Sunwoo’s hands.

Jinyoung would never let him alone with the kids again. Shinwoo was good with crying kids, Jinyoung was the one who managed them when they had too much energy. He was the one who did the discipline.

It was at that moment Shinwoo’s phone rang, as the kids ran away screaming, still covered in a mix of paint and flour.

«Yes?» he answered a little dryly, not checking who it was that was calling.

«Baby? Are you okay?» asked Jinyoung and Shinwoo felt a lot better hearing his voice.

«Yes, I’m okay. Are you having fun with your friends?» asked Shinwoo softly with a smile. Jinyoung once in a while needed time with his friends. Shinwoo could understand, but for once he wished he had gotten a babysitter and had gone out to the movies by himself instead of staying with the devils. They were only nice to strangers, and Shinwoo was exhausted.

«Yes. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. The boys are fine, right? They’re behaving well?» asked Jinyoung, the worry easy to distinguish in his voice. Shinwoo chuckled.

«They’re angels. Go have fun, I love you» said Shinwoo before hanging up. He left his phone on top of the refrigerator where he knew there was no chance the kids could reach it. It was silent in the house, and he knew very well silence wasn’t a good thing.

He started off by cleaning as much flour from the floor as he could. The paint was too much of a mess so he’d clean it up when the boys would be sleeping. Fortunately, it was only finger paint.

He couldn’t find them on the first floor. He was climbing up the stairs when he heard laughter, and he followed the sound to Jinyoung’s office where Sunwoo was holding a permanent marker, Chansik sitting calmly in front of him as his older brother drew whiskers on his cheeks.

«Sunwoo!» yelled Shinwoo as he ran to the boys, grabbing the marker out of his hand.

He thought it wouldn’t get worse, but he was wrong.

And where was Junghwan?

«You know you can’t come in here boys» said Shinwoo as he led them out of the room, closing the door behind them. Sunwoo had drawn all over his arms with the permanent marker, but Chansik still was the one who suffered the most. The messily drawn whiskers on his cheeks accompanied the heart that was drawn on his forehead and a messy ‘sunwoo’ with the s written upside down.

«Why don’t we go take a bath?» asked Shinwoo nicely to his youngest son who nodded. Sunwoo was already running away.

«LAST ONE IN THE BATHROOM IS A LOSER!» Shinwoo heard his husband yell from downstairs. His eyes widened as the two 6 years olds ran up the stairs, screaming. He was able to see Junghwan had chocolate smeared on his face. Junghwan was a magician, because Shinwoo was sure he checked all the rooms on the first floor before coming upstairs. Chansik followed his brothers into the bathroom, already taking off his shirt.

«What are you doing here?» asked Shinwoo softly, his lips turning into a smile. Jinyoung leaned forward to kiss his lips.

«I was missing you too much» he said, and Shinwoo raised an eyebrow. «I could also hear the panic in your voice when I called and I knew that you couldn’t survive without me» he added cockily. Shinwoo rolled his eyes.

«Were the 3 kids really necessary?» asked Shinwoo, and Jinyoung chuckled, taking his husband’s hand in his.

«Our lives would be so boring without them» said Jinyoung, and Shinwoo nodded. He couldn’t help but agree. They were a handful but he couldn’t imagine their lives without them.

«Let’s go before they turn the bathroom into an aquarium» said Shinwoo and Jinyoung laughed, following his husband.