One of the best decisions of his life started with a phone call.

Wonshik and Jiwon were catching up, telling each other about what has happened in their lives since his and Taekwoon's marriage a year ago. With his little sister living in New York for work, he hardly got to see her anymore, and damn timezones meant she was supposed to be asleep, but wasn't, or the other way around.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep that made her ask the question.

“So, hyung,” she started. “Are you two thinking about getting kids?

He should've seen it coming from a mile away. He put his face into his hand, rubbing his cheek. “I mean, Woonie and I have been talking about it, but it's only been a year, and I want us to take it slow, you know?”

“Well, what about Taekwoon? Does he want children?”

“Of course he does. But it might be too soon, you know?”

“Too soon?” She laughed at him. “Hyung, you two have been married for years. There's nothing to get used to, because you two are already used to it. All that's happened in the past year was signing papers, exchanging rings, and a fun party.”

“Jiwon, but-”

“Hyung, being married isn't about getting used to things. It's about taking on new things together. And you two are past the point of getting embarrassed when one of you farts in front of another.” She giggled, and Wonshik blushed.

“Jiwon, I know that.”

“So what's stopping you?”

“I guess,” Wonshik sighed. “I guess I'm just scared. What if the kid doesn't like me? What if I mess up somewhere,  and they turn into a delinquent?”

“Hyung, as much as I love mom and dad, you practically raised me. And look at where I am now. New York, hyung. Living my dream.”

“Which I don't approve of,” he pouted. “You're too far away.”

“My point is,” he could hear her smiling from the other end. “I think you would be a fantastic parent. You're just too harsh on yourself to see that. But hyung, any child would be lucky to have you and Taekwoon as parents. Trust me.” She paused. “But that won’t happen if you don’t consider it, right?”

Her brother let out a breath, exasperated because his sister knew all the answers. “Right.”

~~~

The day of their anniversary came, and Wonshik was antsy as he stood in the kitchen, watching Taekwoon sleepily walk into the room. His shirt was slipping off his shoulder, his hair mussed up from sleep. He blearily looked around, before settling his eyes on the table, and making his way to it.

“Hey, Woonie? I need help with some paperwork. It's on the table in the manila envelope. “

“Wonshik, I just woke up.”

“Please?”

Taekwoon sighed, and slid the envelope closer to him. “What's it for?”

“Something about income, household care, insurance, and whatever else.” Wonshik made himself look busy. “Just open up the folder and look it over, I'm grabbing some pens.”

Wonshik heard the scraping of wood against the kitchen tile, and the rustling of paper before the sheets slid out of the envelope. There was an audible gasp behind him, and he did his best to suppress his smile. When he turned, Woonie was there, the stack of papers spread out across the table, his mouth open in shock.

“Wonshik?” and it was a voice so quiet, he had to lean in to hear him. “What is this?”

He knelt down onto the floor, and took his husband's hand into his own, unfurling Taekwoon's fingers to slip a pen into his hand. He looked up, and saw tears forming in the other's eyes.

“Did you not read the top?” he teased. “With the official looking logo? I highly doubt I caught you that much by surprise.”

“Oh, Wonshik.” Taekwoon sighed. “I can't believe you. I always thought you wanted to wait a little longer.”

“I did, originally. But then I realized that we’ve been waiting for so long. Too long.” Wonshik gripped his hand. “I want to do everything with you, Taekwoon. I want to live this life I thought I would never live, to fulfill these dreams I never had, to live this life with you, and a child of our own. Maybe more.” He smiled up at him, and there were tears in his own eyes now, and he’s kicking himself for not doing this sooner. “I want it all.”

Taekwoon, who was teary eyed too, thank god, nodded his head and gripped his hand back. “Ok.”

And they looked back at their mess of a kitchen table, and put themselves to work, the cold of their rings slowly growing warmer, the adoption papers slowly beginning to fill with ink.

~~~

They haven’t heard anything.

It’s been four months since they gave back their papers, answered all the questions, gone through the interview. It’s been three since an agent came to check out their apartment, talked them through the procedures and technicalities and benefits, and gave them the confirmation that yes, they were top notch candidates for adoption.

And their second bedroom still sat empty.

No matter what Wonshik did, he couldn’t concentrate on the movie. His mind was heavy with the notion that maybe, maybe, something had happened. Perhaps their papers got lost, maybe they were last in a queue of people, maybe it was because of their ual orientation- but that couldn’t be; the agency had told them it didn’t matter. Right? It shouldn’t matter. They passed the tests, they showed their capabilities, they did it all right-

He felt a painful flick on his forehead, and he yelped as he brought a hand up to his forehead. His eyes met Taekwoon’s, and his husband was looking up at him from his lap, the emotion on his face as stoic as ever.  

“Wonshik, I’m pregnant.”

“You are?!”

Another flick to his forehead, and Wonshik cried out in surprise.“No, stupid, I’m not.”

“Then why would you say that?”

Taekwoon looked up at him, and blinked.

“Is this your weird, twisted way of telling me you want kids?”

“Yes.”

Wonshik laughed at his husband’s ridiculousness. “What sort of children do you want Taekwoon? A girl? A boy? An energetic child? Maybe someone quiet, like you?” he teased, poking Taekwoon’s belly.

“As long as they’re our child, Wonshik.” He snuggled into husband’s stomach, rubbing his face into his belly button. “I’ll be happy.”

“We will, Woonie,” Wonshik stared at the phone. “We will.”

~~~

The phone rang one day, a simple chime that echoed throughout the apartment, and Wonshik continued peeling apples as Taekwoon picked up the phone.

“Hello?” A pause. “Yes, yes, what do you want?” The voice on the other end spoke. Wonshik made ears out of the apple skin. “Oh! Um, yes, of course! What time will we be expected?” Huh. It can’t be a dentist appointment, that’s for sure. “And this will be at your branch across the city, yes?” Wonshik raised an eyebrow as he worked on adding ears to the next apple. “Alright, ok. Thank you. This means a lot. Thank you so much.”

“Woonie?” He turned to his husband. “What was that all about?”

Taekwoon was standing over the phone, and at the sound of his name, he turned to him. Wonshik was shocked to see his biting his lip, eyes quivering with tears.

“Th-That was the adoption agency.” Wonshik’s eyes widened. “We’re going tomorrow. We’re going to be able to choose a child.” Taekwoon’s voice was breaking. “We’re going to be parents.”

And it was all he said before Wonshik dropped the knife and ran to Taekwoon, lifting him up and spinning him around their kitchen, laughing as he felt his husband’s tears on his neck, and the apartment got just a little bit cozier, built for three.

~~~

But as the day came closer, Wonshik couldn’t help but feel the anxiety bubbling in his stomach.

Tomorrow, they would be going to the adoption center. Tomorrow, they would be playing with children. Tomorrow, they’ll find someone who would suit their family, and accept who they were. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, everything was going to change.

Wonshik was out on the balcony, the moonlight silently listening to his woes as he paced in the small area, bare feet cold against the stone. He heard the door slide open behind him, but he paid it no mind. Until, a voice spoke up.

“Wonshik, what are you doing out here?”

He turned, and there was Taekwoon, arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot. Wonshik gulped before answering. “Freaking out.”

His husband raised an eyebrow. “I see.” He stepped closer, reaching out to the other frantic man. “Is there anything I can do to get you to rest? Tomorrow is a big day, you know that.” Woonie held his hand, his palm with his thumb.

“C-can we just, go over some things? Please? Maybe it will soothe me.” Wonshik ran his free hand through his hair.

His husband smiled at him, the moonlight softening his features. “Alright then. Shoot.”

“Ok, so what are we going to say when we walk in?”

“...Hello, we are here for our adoption appointment?”

“Yes, yes, and then?”

“... We follow them to wherever we need to go?”

“And?”

There was silence. “We walk with them?”

“No, no we do whatever they need us to do!” Wonshik slipped his hand out Taekwoon’s hold, rubbing his head furiously, frustrated.

Taekwoon sighed. “Wonshik, you are freaking out over nothing.” He said as he opened the door, but Wonshik held him by the wrist, halting him.

“Woonie, we are about to add another human being to our family.” He took his hand away from his husband’s wrist, running it exasperatedly (again) through his hair. “I’m a little more than stressed out, ok? We’re going to have to feed them, bathe them, change their diapers, make sure not to drop them-”

“But, most importantly, Taekwoon pressed a kiss to his cheek, “We will have to love them. And I know you, Shikkie. You are more than capable of that.” His hand went up to his cheek, and Wonshik leaned into it, calming down.

“Shikkie, huh?” he said. “You only use that when you’re really happy.” He kissed the palm on his cheek, and sighed, the butterflies in his stomach calming down.

Taekwoon smiled. “If only you knew.”

~~~

“Hello! Are you Kim Wonshik and Taekwoon?” A voice chirped from the front desk. There was a woman at the desk, the name “Sunny” on the tag on her shirt. They walked up, and Sunny smiled at them, waiting for their answer.

“Yes, we are.” Taekwoon squeezed his hand under the counter.

“Ah, alright!” She flipped over some papers (their files, probably) and looked up at them. “We apologize to have kept you waiting. The administration is always, um, hesitant, when it comes to couples like you.” she looked up at them, apologetically. “It took quite a bit of our efforts to get you an appointment."

“And we are here now.” Taekwoon bowed slightly, and Wonshik followed suit. “Thank you for that.” When they raised their heads, they found the woman smiling back at them, before she caught herself staring, and hurriedly went back to reading their papers.

“Well then, let’s get started!” she cleared before looking back up at them. “Do you have a child in mind?”

“Yes, a toddler-”

“We know that.” the lady bit her lip. “What I’m trying to say is, do you have any preferences when it comes to a child?”

“Oh. Oh!” he looked to Taekwoon, who nodded and smiled.

“We’d like to meet the children first,” Wonshik settled.

Sunny smiled at him, as though he said the right answer. She waved lightly at them, batting her hand as they made their way behind the front desk.

“It’s playtime right now, so they’ll be a bit preoccupied. They won’t notice you right away, but I’m sure that after a few minutes, they will all want to get to know you.” She laughed.

She opened the door to the room behind the counter, and everything seemed to brighten. There were squeals of laughter as children (there seemed to be 20? 30?) chased each other, feet padding on the alphabet covered floor. Some were holding tea parties, others rolling toy trucks across, and some of the older children were reading to the younger, despite the noise.

Wonshik had assumed that finding a child was going to be like the first time he had set eyes on Taekwoon. That he would just know. Apparently, that wasn’t true, because he immediately wanted to adopt everyone.

“We’re one of the smaller orphanages, because we’ve been newly established. We take care of some of the children when other branches find themselves with too many.”

When he looked back at Taekwoon, his husband had a look on his face that said, No Wonshik, we are not adopting all of them.

It was during his distraction when something amazing happened. A weight, solid and warm, hit his legs and making him buckle. A small voice cried out, and Wonshik was alarmed as he heard a high pitched gasp from below him, followed by a loud thump. He looked down, and saw a mop of dark hair shake itself before looking back up at him, eyes tearing up, lips in a pout.

Wonshik immediately kneeled beside the sniffling boy. “Are you alright? did I hurt you?”

“N-no, I’m not hurt.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“It’s just, the seeker is coming to get me now, because I fell. I-I was hiding, and now I’m trapped, and I’m going to get caught now all because of youuuuuu!” and the little boy burst into tears, his fists rubbing at his eyes and he was sobbing, his vocal chords screaming, and the tears were running down his face-

Wonshik had an idea.

“Hey, little buddy! They can’t catch you if they can’t find you right?”

“Y-y-yeah…”

“I’ll help you hide then. Come on, come on,” Wonshik urged, wiping down his face. “What’s your name little buddy?”

“J-” a sniffle. “Jaewhan.”

“Hi Jaewhan. My name is Wonshik. Kim Wonshik.” He continued rubbing his face with his sleeve, watching his features scrunch up where the sleeve followed, and he couldn’t help but be amused.

“Mr. Kim! We have to hide soon!” Jaewhan shoved his hand aside and tugged on his sleeve.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked as he stood up, easily matching the stride of the young boy.

“Hiding place, hiding place, my secret hiding place!” Jaewhan sang, his happy, energetic nature soothing the adult in his hand.

Wonshik looked back at Taekwoon, who was currently getting surrounded by children. In the midst of the chaos in the playroom, they smiled at each other.

They knew.

~~~

As Wonshik drove the car, he looked into the rearview mirror. Jaewhan and Taekwoon were in the back seat, the three year old sleeping soundly on his husband’s lap, Taekwoon texting away on his phone. Jaewhan’s overnight bag was in the front seat, filled with stuff for his week stay, just to see if he was a “good fit”, as the agent had put it.

(He was more than a good fit, even if it had only been a few hours since they met. It was like a puzzle piece had been fitted into place, of Taekwoon’s and his puzzle of life.)

His husband finally looked up from the phone, looking down at the tiny boy and his hair. The smile on his face was one of the gentlest he’d ever seen. The car was silent, but never had it felt more comfortable.

“Who were you texting?” Wonshik asked, curiosity breaking the silence.

Woonie smiled, small and knowing.

“Your sister.”

☆☆☆

thank you all for your patience!!! this took me awhile to write, due to some block i've been having, but i'm glad i got it through.

anyway, this isn't unedited, but there's bound to be mistakes somewhere.

thank you for reading, and i hope to see you soon!!!!