A/N:This fic takes place somewhere in America because i am not as familiar with South Korea as i would like to be and i would not want to make a mistake. Sorry, but it’s an AU anyways lol

New Year’s Day, 2017. Pink and baby blue streamers are hung up in every doorway. A handmade banner that reads “Happy 1st Birthday, Sungminnie!” is tacked to the kitchen cupboards, and another one which says “Happy New Year!” is taped to the front doorway. The spacious house is a mess of two celebrations, and the high-pitched sounds of children’s delight can be heard at every corner.

On his way to the bathroom, a little boy of six years old passes by the kitchen at the speed of light, feet pounding on the laminate like a drumbeat.

“Henry!” A deep voice shouts in English from the kitchen, “I said no running around!”

The boy stops in his tracks and walks back to face his father, head hung with shame, “Sorry, Daddy.”

Shindong clucks his tongue at his son, “Don't apologize to me,” He gestures towards one of the couples across the table, “This is Siwon and Heechul’s house.”

Henry bows slightly in apology, upswept bangs drooping slightly, “I’m really sorry!” He peeks one eye to see if his bow is satisfactory, and then stands up straight when he sees it is. Siwon is smiling at him sweetly, saying “It’s okay,” and Heechul waves him off, too occupied with feeding Sungmin strawberry yogurt. Henry looks back to his father, nods, and leaves to the bathroom.

“As I was saying…” Shindong starts, but is interrupted by his middle son’s voice.

“Henry!” Zhoumi shouts all the way from the playroom, “Hurry up!”

The toilet flushes, and Henry scrambles past the kitchen in a rush, essentially disobeying his father’s orders.

“Aish, that boy…” Shindong shakes his head, turning back to the other men at the table.  His eyes are met with four other pairs, all differing shades of brown. He runs a hand through his short black hair, sighing, “He never listens.”

“The youngest is always the most difficult,” Jungsu smiles empathetically, his lone dimple showing. He has light auburn hair and rectangular glasses set atop his nose. “Kyuhyun hasn't exactly been the easiest child, right Youngwoon?”

Youngwoon looks up from his paperwork, oblivious, “Hm?” His hair is dyed platinum blond and swept back loosely.

Jungsu huffs, “I thought I told you not to bring work with you. It’s New Year’s, and this is a birthday party…”

“What?” Youngwoon shrugs nonchalantly, “I promised to have these graded by tomorrow. My students wanted their exam grades as a New Year’s gift. You know how they are...”

Jungsu’s cheeks grow red in anger, but he eventually lets it go. Shindong can smell the tense aura surrounding the Kim couple; it has wafted in the air ever since they adopted Kyuhyun as their third child.

“Oh, Jungsu-hyung, don't be so hard on him!” Heechul chides, flipping his shoulder-length black hair out of his face. Sungmin has made a big mess of his yogurt that his father needs to clean up. “They’re only statistics problems; it will take him a few minutes! It’s not like he’s staring at the stock market on his laptop, 24/7,” he shoots a look at his handsome husband.

Siwon throws his hands up comically, “I’m not part of this conversation!”

Shindong laughs, a booming sound, “See, this is why I spend time with you guys!” These three families have been best friends and neighbors for the past two years; the Choi couple moved into their house soon after marrying, and the Kim couple moved into their present house once they realized that their apartment wasn’t big enough to have three children. Shindong and his three sons have been living here ever since his eldest was born.

Heechul smirks, wiping Sungmin’s dirty hands. The baby giggles cutely, as if he made the mess on purpose. Heechul wipes his child's cheeks, saying, “It’s not because your son is head over heels in love with mine?”

It takes a few seconds for the words to process in Shindong’s mind. In disbelief, he sets his hands down on the table, scrunching his eyebrows, “What did you say?” He wonders which of his sons Heechul is referring to. Is it Hyukjae, whom he suspects is dating Heechul’s son, Donghae? Where are those two, anyways?

Heechul’s eyes widen, “Uhh…”

Suddenly, there is a loud crash, and Henry comes running into the kitchen with urgency. “Daddy, Daddy!” he shouts, tugging on his father’s hand, “Kyu is being a big meanie to Wookie!”

Shindong raises his eyebrows, looking over at Youngwoon and Jungsu, who get up and rush over to the playroom where most of the boys are. Shindong watches Heechul lift Sungmin out of the high chair and take him into the living room, all conversation forgotten.

He’ll let it slide, just this once.

~

Kyuhyun is getting tired of the loud noise. Ryeowook is crying, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. He clings to his older brother Jongwoon, bawling into his crisp white T-shirt. The twelve-year-old boy holds onto his younger brother, comforting him. Zhoumi is nearby, picking up the mess that the younger boys made.

Curled up in the corner of the room, Kyuhyun hides away from everyone. He is playing on a Nintendo DS, trying to forget that he threw a game controller at Ryeowook, when his parents come hurriedly into the playroom.

“What happened?” Youngwoon shouts, looking immediately for Kyuhyun. The youngest keeps his eyes trained on the Pokemon battle. He hates when Youngwoon yells at him, even though he is always guilty. “Kyuhyun?”

Kyuhyun pouts, “I didn’t do anything.”

Youngwoon comes stomping towards him, “I knew I shouldn’t have left you kids alone. Did you hurt Ryeowook?”

“N-no…” Kyuhyun glances back and forth between his game and his adoptive father.

“Then why is he crying?” the man snatches the DS from Kyuhyun’s hands.

The seven-year old grits his teeth, “Why do you always think I did it?”

“Because Henry told us,” Jungsu walks over, Ryeowook lifted up in his arms, crying softly into his neck. Even at eight years old, Ryeowook still prefers to be carried. “Kyu, please be nice to your brother.”

Kyuhyun purses his lips and looks away, “Yeah, whatever.” He can dislike Youngwoon with a passion, but he could never hate Jungsu, whose smiling face is the first he can remember.

“Say you're sorry,” Jungsu tells him and turns Ryeowook to face his brother. Ryeowook’s eyes are glossy with tears.

“Sorry, Wook…” Kyuhyun mutters, tugging on his own straight brown hair.

Ryeowook nods in response, turning his face back to Jungsu, “Umma, can I have a cookie?”

“Me too! Me too!” Henry suddenly pops up.

Jungsu chuckles, “Let's go ask Heechul and your father, okay?” Then the three of them leave.

“And no more games.” Youngwoon states, picking up the Playstation from the carpet. He steps out of the room, leaving Zhoumi and Jongwoon to themselves. The two middle schoolers are watching a movie on Heechul’s laptop while eating pizza.

Left without a single game console, Kyuhyun grabs the first book he sees. He opens it and tries to read, but everything is just a jumble of letters; he picked up one of Donghae’s books by accident, so he cannot read it. Kyuhyun is only in second grade.

Bored, he sets it down and leaves the playroom, wandering through the hallway down to where the two teenagers are. He hears boisterous laughing and pokes his head inside a bedroom. The boys are sitting on Donghae’s bed, wrapping a big box.

The first to take notice of him is Hyukjae, his lips spread in a gummy smile, “Hi Kyu!” His honey blond hair is spiked slightly up in the middle and he's wearing a leather jacket, contrasting his innocent expression.

“Hi there!” Donghae grins, waving at Kyuhyun to come in and close the door. His hair is dark and he's wearing a band T-shirt.

“What’s that?” the maknae asks curiously, climbing up on the bed and peering at the half-wrapped box.

“A present for my baby brother!” Donghae opens one of the flaps and lets Kyuhyun look into the box. Inside is a large, fluffy, bright orange pumpkin plushie.

“Whoa!” Kyuhyun grins widely, something he hardly does around Ryeowook or Youngwoon. His frustration from earlier melts away. “Where’d you get it?”

“At the fair.” Donghae says, “Hyukkie and I won it yesterday for Minnie.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes sparkle, “I want a plushie like that!”

Hyukjae chuckles, ruffling the child’s hair, “Maybe next time we go, we’ll take you too.” He closes the box and gestures to him, “Do you want to help us finish wrapping it?”

“Yeah!”

~

Seated on the scarlet red couch in the living room, Heechul watches Sungmin play with a set of toys on the rug. He bangs on a xylophone, making discordant music, and then, when he gets bored of that, starts stacking colorful blocks. He coos when he plays, trying to speak, and grins happily.

Heechul smiles. This is entirely new for him: a new husband, a new house, and now, a new baby. When he and Han Geng adopted Donghae all those years ago, the boy was already six years old. Heechul never had the life-changing experience of taking care of an infant, but now he does.  

Sungmin looks up with his dark, round eyes. His hair is thin and black, and his lips are the perfect shape of a Cupid’s bow. The boy is wearing a red and white shirt with blue pants, a pink-and-blue polka-dotted party hat stuck over his head, symbolic of the chaos of two celebrations. He quietly crawls over to Heechul, tugging on his shiny silver pant leg.

The father lifts him up, setting the baby on his knee and bouncing him. Laughing, Sungmin smiles, exposing eight pearly white teeth. “Daddy!” he squeals.

Heechul nuzzles his nose against Sungmin’s, kissing his chubby cheeks loudly. The infant giggles hysterically, grasping his tiny hands in Heechul’s long black hair. “Your Daddy love you, Minnie,” Heechul coos, “Yes he does!” He kisses the top of Sungmin’s head and hugs him. Sungmin hugs back just as tight.

Although he is adopted, Sungmin is surprisingly very much alike to Heechul; fun-loving, adorable, and he loves the color pink so much that Heechul could’ve sworn he was adopting a girl instead. Sungmin seems to love his adoptive parents and is entirely at home here.

Now that he is one year old, entirely new experiences are going to arise. This birthday is one of the most important ones in his home country of Korea, but now that Heechul has moved back to America, he doesn’t want to celebrate in the traditional, old-fashioned way. Plus, it’s New Year’s as well. So, he invited his three best friends and their families over for a little pizza, cake, and nighttime fireworks. Simple, yet exciting and fun for all of the children.

While playing with Sungmin’s tiny hands, Heechul looks around the room. He and Siwon decorated it last night, in between watching a movie and making out on the couch. Sungmin had decided to let them alone for the entire night; not a single peep was heard from his crib.

Donghae, on the other hand, did not want to leave the couple alone. He had difficult geometry homework to do, and Hyukjae was calling him at the same time, so the teen kept pestering his parents about what to do, breaking up the make-out as soon as it had started. Siwon was tolerant of his step-son’s bothering, but Heechul was hot and bothered.

Heechul presently sighs, pouting. He and Siwon haven’t had a true moment to themselves ever since the honeymoon. Not that they don’t love spending every minute with their two sons; Donghae is a precious softie and Sungmin is the cutest baby Heechul has ever seen.

“Something wrong?” A baritone voice says behind Heechul’s head. He looks up at his husband of almost two years standing behind the couch. He comes around to sit next to Heechul, who takes notice of his growing beard.

“When are you going to shave that thing?” he cringes.

“What?” Siwon purses his thin lips, rubbing his prickly cheeks, “I thought you liked my beard.”

“Well, I changed my mind,” the elder states, and then Siwon suddenly grabs one of Heechul’s hands and rubs his palm all over his beard. “Ah, Wonnie!”

“Appa!” Sungmin giggles, rubbing his tiny hands on his own soft cheeks.

“You’re welcome,” Siwon snickers, not releasing Heechul’s hand. He laces their fingers together and places them on his own thigh. “Anyways, I think Kyu’s in pretty big trouble; Youngwoon came back with all of his games and looked furious. He’s outside with Shindong now, talking.”

“I hope they’re not speculating about Hae and Hyuk as well…” Heechul doesn’t comment on Kyuhyun’s punishment; the kid is an absolute devil child, and Heechul has to constantly keep himself from telling that to his face. The two of them don’t exactly have the best relationship.

“Ah, they might be. I can’t believe you let it slip so carelessly.” Siwon scolds lightly.

“I’m sorry,” Heechul purses his lips, holding Sungmin to his chest, “I didn’t think it was such a big deal. Wouldn’t it make sense for Shindong to be okay with Hyuk dating a boy? We’re almost all gay here.”

Siwon shrugs, “It might be something else. But I’d still rather let Hyukjae and Hae tell him on their own.”

“Okay…” Heechul sighs. Sungmin has fallen asleep already. “Hm, where’s Jungsu?”

“Getting Wookie a cookie,” Siwon laughs at his own pun, a frequent occurrence. “Henry too. I told them it was alright. Poor Ryeowook has a big bruise on his forehead.”

Heechul shakes his head, “Kids are so rough these days.” He looks down at his baby son. “Luckily our Minnie doesn’t dare play like that.”

His husband smiles, “Donghae neither. He’s such a sweet boy; he would never do anything dangerous.”  

~

Donghae loves danger. He loves the rush of adrenaline that rollercoasters and sneaking out at night give him. He didn't use to feel this way about danger; the mere thought of skipping class gave him a migraine.

Everything changed once Hyukjae came tumbling into his life.

Presently, they sit next to each other on the bed, placing the bow on top of Sungmin’s present. Kyuhyun decorates the sides with scented markers and shiny stickers. Donghae sneaks his hand down to Hyukjae’s, squeezing it in secrecy. The elder glances at him and blushes.

“Anything else to add?” Donghae asks his partner.

Kyuhyun interrupts, “I’m not done yet! Let me finish!”

The boyfriends chuckle at his answer, gripping each other’s fingers. Kyuhyun scribbles amateurish drawings of a truck and a baby seal on the last side of the wrapped box. Then he sticks puppy dog stickers on the ribbons of the pink bow and sets everything down, declaring, “Done!”

“Thank you for all your help, Kyu!” Donghae grins, letting go of his lover and picking the box up. “Let’s hide it in my room until the fireworks, okay?” He places it behind his headboard.

“Okay!” Kyuhyun’s cheeks are rosy from concentration. “What else can we do?”

There’s only one thing Donghae really wants to do, but he can’t really do that with Kyuhyun in the room.

“I have a new PSP game we could play!” Hyukjae smiles at the kid, so oblivious to the heated glare Donghae is giving him.

Kyuhyun grins widely, but then his face falls, “Oh, I can’t. Uhm, Appa said I’m not allowed to play games today.”

Donghae wasn’t there to see what happened, but he could hear Ryeowook crying from a mile away. Kyuhyun always bullies his older brother, usually by hitting him. He must have hit Ryeowook really hard this time.

“Oh, right…” the blond boy pouts. He stares off into space and taps his chin, considering other things they could do.

Donghae answers for him, “We could eat. Hyuk and I haven’t had pizza yet.”

“Oh! Me neither!” Kyuhyun gets off the bed, “I’ll go get some!” Donghae is surprised by how nice the boy is being. Usually he’s selfish and mean, but he’s a little different today.

Maybe he’s just comfortable here, with Hyukjae and Donghae.

As soon as Kyuhyun leaves, Donghae has his eyes on Hyukjae. This time, the other knows what Donghae wants, and he responds to it.

The elder grips Donghae’s hand and yanks him back onto the bed, leaning on top of Hyukjae. He raises his lips to his boyfriend’s and they kiss like they are the only two people in the house.

Donghae, of course, knows that they aren’t even close to alone, but he can’t find a reason to care. Hyukjae is a constant temptation, and Donghae wants him so badly.

They kiss with fervent passion, lips moist and red. Donghae runs a hand under Hyukjae’s shirt to caress his sculpted abs, and the elder tangles his fingers in the younger’s hair.

They are in a world of their own until Hyukjae pulls back abruptly, “Hae, that’s enough. Kyu will be back any moment.”

“I don’t care,” Donghae ravishes the elder’s neck, pulling on his honey-blond hair.

“Damn you,” Hyukjae curses, tugging on the younger’s shirt, “Why are you topping me?”

“Cuz I feel like it…” the younger whispers, kissing the shell of Hyukjae’s ear.

There is the sound of footsteps in the background. If Donghae wasn’t so terribly , he would leave his boyfriend alone for fear of getting caught.

But the rush is there.

Danger! Danger! The footsteps are louder, closer. They are surely right next to the door.

Danger! Danger, indeed. Donghae is drawn in, gaining from the kisses and the adrenaline rush. His heart pounds for more reasons than one.

The knob turns, the door clicks.

“Hae!” Hyukjae pushes away, trying to squirm out of Donghae’s grasp, but he is steadfast.

The door swings open.

What if it’s Hyukjae’s father?!

Donghae sits up suddenly, snapped out of his daze by the sheer memory of his boyfriend telling him all those months ago: Don’t let my dad know.

The boys glance over at the open doorway. Siwon stands in it, Sungmin asleep in his arms and a smug expression on his face. It’s not Hyukjae’s dad, but it is Donghae’s step-father.

“Really, Hae?” Siwon comments.

~

    Hyukjae’s heart was pounding like a drumbeat, but once he saw it was Siwon, a calm washed over him.

    Siwon is Donghae’s step-father, a goofy, charming, and understanding man. Hyukjae has found himself confiding in Siwon often, as if he was his own father, since his dad is not as reasonable as him.

Hyukjae and his dad do not have the stablest relationship, mostly because the teenager likes to sneak out at night and steal away into Donghae’s bedroom, or just ride his motorcycle to the pier and sit with his feet hanging over the water. Also, he doesn’t bother doing his homework if it’s too labor-intensive, and his dad scolds him often for that.

If his mom had stayed, she could have placated Shindong every time Hyukjae messed up.

“Really, Hae?” Siwon comments, leaning against the open doorway, “Can’t handle yourself for one day?”

“Nope,” Donghae sticks his tongue out childishly, lying back down and wrapping a protective arm around his boyfriend. Hyukjae blushes, trying to push him away. Donghae nuzzles his neck, still talking to his father, “Did you want something, Appa? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

One half of Hyukjae wants to escape this bed right now, but the other half knows that Siwon really doesn’t mind, as long as Donghae is happy.

Siwon rolls his eyes is response to Donghae, “Just wanted to tell you that I’m going to put Sungmin is his crib to nap, so keep it down. I hear Kyuhyun coming this way, so let him know that as well.”

Donghae nods against Hyukjae’s cheek, “Okay, Appa.”

Siwon leaves with a small smile upon his face. A bigger smile forms on Hyukjae’s face when he looks back to his boyfriend.

“Hey,” the elder whispers, “Kyu will be here in a second.”

Donghae whines, rubbing his nose against Hyukjae’s shoulder in complaint, but he eventually releases him and sits up.

“Hae! Hyuk!” Kyuhyun shouts from the hallway, “I’m back with pizza!”

Donghae bounds off the bed and rushes to open the door, shushing Kyuhyun as he ushers the child inside. “Minnie is asleep. Keep quiet.”

“Oh,” Kyuhyun covers his mouth with his hands when Donghae takes the plate of cheese pizza from him, “But I wanted to play with him...”

“Eat first,” Hyukjae insists, “Minnie will probably wake up by the time we finish eating.” Donghae shoots him a warning look, as if he shouldn’t have said that.

“Okay!” Kyuhyun exclaims, and the teenagers shush him.

They each grab a thin slice of pizza and a napkin from Donghae’s hands. The pizza is greasy and barely warm since it was laying out on the kitchen table for a while. They finish off the pieces in a few minutes, Kyuhyun with sauce all over his face. Hyukjae leans over and wipes him up, but the kid insists he can do it himself.

Kyuhyun smacks his lips, “Mmm, that was yummy!”

Donghae and Hyukjae smile, hoping that he has forgotten about…

“So is Sungmin awake yet?” Kyuhyun asks with a grin on his face.

Donghae groans, “No, Kyu. Minnie is a baby, so he needs his sleep. Let’s just play here? What would you like to—”

“But I wanna play with Minnie!” Kyuhyun shouts, and the two try to quiet him, but he doesn’t listen. “Why does he always have to sleep?” He pouts, crossing his arms.

“Because he’s a baby,” Donghae shrugs, “I don’t know.”

“Maybe you can play with some of the other kids?” Hyukjae suggests.

“No! They don’t like me! I wanna play with Sungmin!” Kyuhyun pouts, dropping to the floor in a huff. “I wanna play!”

“What do I do?” Hyukjae whispers to his boyfriend, who jabs him in his ribs and whispers that he shouldn’t have given Kyuhyun false hope in the first place.

“Kyuhyun,” the younger addresses the youngest, “If we wake him up, he’ll cry.”

“No he won’t!” The seven-year-old adamantly claims, “My face will calm him down; he always smiles for me!”

Hyukjae doesn’t know whether that’s true or not, but he does know that they are all in a pickle.

“Well, then,” Hyukjae insists, and he has a feeling that this might be his worst idea yet, “let’s try that out. Wake him up.” Donghae’s eyes are shooting daggers, but what else could possibly placate an angry Kyuhyun.

Hyukjae follows the two of them into Sungmin’s bedroom, to the far wall where his crib is pushed against. There is a little step stool Siwon bought for the kids to use to see sleeping Sungmin whenever they come over. Kyuhyun places the stool next to the crib and climbs up on it, hovering over the infant.

Although this is probably going to get them in trouble with Heechul and Siwon, Hyukjae can’t help but smile. Seeing Sungmin asleep like this reminds him of when his little brothers were babies as well. Zhoumi would always hum in his sleep, and Henry had the cutest, pudgiest cheeks. Hyukjae used to hang over their cribs all the time, just watching them sleep.

Kyuhyun smiles down at the baby, whispering, “Hello little Minnie. Hello? It’s me, Kyuhyun.”

Sungmin sniffles in his sleep, tiny hands gripping his blankets. Kyuhyun reaches in and taps the baby on his nose. “Hi Sungminnie. Aren’t you going to wake up for me? I want to play.”

Donghae grabs the kid under his arms and lifts him away from the crib, “Okay, Kyu. That’s enough. You’ll wake him otherwise.”

“But that’s what I want to do!” Kyuhyun shouts, struggling from the teen’s grasp. Hyukjae loosens Donghae’s grip and lets the kid go back to the crib. Donghae gives him a disapproving look, but rolls his eyes and sighs, giving up.

“Sungmin? Sungminnie?” Kyuhyun shakes the infant’s shoulder, “Minnie, wake up! Wake up!” Sungmin sniffs again, but doesn’t wake. “Rise and shine! It’s time to play! Let’s build a tower, Min-Min!”

This is going nowhere; Sungmin is in deep sleep. But Hyukjae is determined in getting Kyuhyun what he wants. So, ignoring Donghae’s glare, the blond reaches into the crib and jostles the baby once more, which is enough to send Sungmin into a crying fit of disturbed sleep.

“Ah, you’re awake!” Kyuhyun exclaims, barely audible over the infant’s wails, “Look, look, Minnie! It’s me, Kyu!”

Donghae shoves Hyukjae away and picks Sungmin up out of the crib, rocking him in his arms. Sungmin keeps crying, and from the looks of it, Donghae has never rocked a baby before.

“I don’t think he likes that!” Kyuhyun pouts, “He likes it when I make silly faces! Lookie here Sungmin!” He sticks his tongue out and crosses his eyes, but that only makes Sungmin’s cries worse.

The bedroom door behind them abruptly opens and someone clears their throat, “Why did I have a feeling it was you three?”

Heechul walks over and lifts his son out of Donghae’s hands, holding him correctly and shushing him gently. Sungmin’s cries slow and then stop in mere seconds. He nuzzles up against his father’s chest, trying to go back to sleep. Heechul smiles at the infant, and then gives the three boys a death glare. “Who woke Minnie?”

All fingers are pointed at Hyukjae.

~

Jongwoon and Zhoumi finish their movie-watching spree at eight o’clock. They didn’t leave the room for anything except a piece of cake, although they did hear everything that was going on outside the room. They heard Sungmin’s loud wails and Heechul’s scolding, though they were mostly paying attention to their movies.

Zhoumi yawns, “Is it time for fireworks yet? I can hear them going on outside.”

Jongwoon checks his watch, “Not yet. Appa said at eight thirty, because everyone needs to leave by nine o’clock.”

“Okay,” Zhoumi runs a hand through his burgundy hair. “Want to play some video games until then?”

“But my dad took them all away. Sorry, Mi.” Jongwoon apologizes for something he didn’t do, as he usually does.

“That’s okay,” Zhoumi shrugs, “How about we go out of the playroom and actually socialize with people?”

Jongwoon snorts, “Yeah, that would probably be a good thing to do.”

They get up and walk down the hall to the kitchen. Inside, they find Henry and Ryeowook drawing on the kitchen table with Jungsu watching from the counter.

Jongwoon’s father waves and smiles, “Hi, boys.”

“Hi Umma,” Jongwoon grins. Zhoumi nods politely.

Upon hearing mention of his brother, Ryeowook looks up from his drawing. “Woonie! Mimi! Come draw with us!”

Henry turns around, a cute smile on his chubby face, “We’re using crayons. You can get color pencils from Mr. Choi’s office if you wanna!”

The two middle schoolers decide to join their little brothers in order to pass the time until the fireworks. They draw on scrap pieces of paper from Heechul’s studio, using the box set of fifty crayons that Henry brought with him. Jongwoon helps Ryeowook draw jungle animals, which all end up looking quite good. Zhoumi, on the other hand, doesn’t do much assisting in Henry’s illustration of musical instruments, aside from passing him the correct color crayon.

The four boys get so engrossed in their art that they don’t notice when everyone else starts gathering into the kitchen.

“Ready for fireworks yet, boys?” Youngwoon rests a hand on Jongwoon’s shoulder. “Oh, what nice drawings you made!”

“Yeah, Appa! I drew a giraffe and a lion and a croc!” Ryeowook exclaims, his glasses nearly falling off his nose with excitement. “So we can do fireworks now?”

Youngwoon straightens his son’s glasses, nodding.

“Wait, wait! Not yet!” Donghae and Hyukjae come rushing into the room, a huge wrapped box in their hands. “I have something for Minnie!”

Sungmin looks up from the toy in his hands, eyes wide with wonder. Siwon carries him to the present and assists him in ripping it open. Zhoumi and the boys walk over to get a better view of the inside of the box. When Siwon lifts a massive pumpkin plushie out, Sungmin squeals in glee, hugging the toy immediately. Everyone sighs and smiles when they see the infant’s expression.

“You’re welcome, Sungminnie!” Donghae grins, kissing the top of his brother’s head. Sungmin abruptly grabs his older brother’s face and kisses his cheek wetly. Donghae laughs, and so does everyone else. Even Kyuhyun, who would be hiding away in his room sulking if they were at home.

Donghae carries his little brother outside, and the others follow with fireworks in hand. The adults hand the children one sparkler each, with the exception of Sungmin. Donghae refuses the sparkler and insists that he’d rather help light one of the fountains later. Hyukjae says the same. Jongwoon, Zhoumi, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, and Henry gather in front of their families at the edge of the sidewalk and wait for their sparkler to be lit.

“Only one at a time, boys,” Shindong says, lighter in his hand.

“Aww,” Henry pouts, puffing out his cheeks, “But I wanna see them all at the same time…”

Shindong wags his finger, “No. In fact, I shouldn’t be allowing you to hold one of those.”

Henry shuts up immediately, holding tightly onto his unlit sparkler. Jongwoon watches Shindong come over to him and light his sparkler with a short warning.

“Don’t let it get too close to you or anyone else,” he says. The middle schooler nods and holds his firework far away in front of him as it burns. The other children huddle behind and next to Jongwoon, eyes alight and mouths spread wide in wonderful smiles.

“Ah, so pretty!” Ryeowook shouts.

All the colors of the rainbow crackle from the little stick that Jongwoon is holding, and those hues reflect in the children’s eyes. Some of the adults watch from afar; Heechul in his husband’s arms, Jungsu talking with them. Youngwoon and Shindong are standing closer to the kids, engrossed in the colors.  

“Wahh…” Kyuhyun says, shaking his sparkler when Jongwoon’s goes out. “Light mine, light mine!” He holds it up to Shindong joyfully. As the adult lights his sparkler carefully, Jongwoon smiles at the expression on his youngest brother’s face. This is the Kyuhyun that should be around all the time, not the evil bully he was when they were playing in the playroom earlier today.

“Happy birthday, Minnie!” Kyuhyun shouts, looking back at the infant held in Donghae’s arms. Sungmin doesn’t answer since he has fallen asleep, and that makes everyone else laugh.

Then Jongwoon puts an arm around his brother as they go back to staring at the wondrous firework. Kyuhyun blushes lightly, before shrugging his brother’s arm off and turning his head away, embarrassed.

~

Some time after everyone leaves the party, Siwon lies down on the red couch with his husband on top of him to watch some TV. Earlier, Donghae insisted that he could put his sleeping brother back into his crib, and then stole away to his room to do some winter break homework, so the couple is alone.

“What time is it?” Heechul yawns, tapping his fingertips Siwon’s chest.

The younger looks at his watch, “Almost midnight. Want to go to bed?”

His husband laughs, “No, I’m okay. But,” he rolls off of Siwon and stands up, “stay here. I have something for us.”

Siwon raises an eyebrow when Heechul leaves the living room with a wide smile on his red lips. He comes back a minute later with a greenish bottle and two glass flutes.

“We never had a toast last night.” Heechul pouts, “We were too busy decorating, and then got too tired so we just forgot.”

Siwon smirks, sitting up, “You know I don’t usually drink.”

Heechul snorts, “This isn’t usual.” He pops open the champagne bottle carefully, but it foams up and spills over the lip anyways. He catches most of it into the flutes, but some spills onto the coffee table.

“Fine,” Siwon smiles, taking a glass from his husband’s hand. Then he pulls the elder onto his lap, an arm around his waist.

“To the new year! And to our two amazing sons,” Heechul grins, clinking their glasses together.

They drink the champagne in celebration, and when Siwon pulls his husband into a loving kiss, he sincerely hopes this year will be perfect.

He hopes so.  

A/N: Hello guys and welcome to “Grow Up, Super Junior!” Please subscribe and comment below; it’s all appreciated and I always answer. This first chapter is super long and I thank you for reading it, but future chapters *probably* won’t be this long. I plan for there to be 26 chapters this time (i think you’ll figure out why that number soon). I updated once a week for my last fic, but I will do once every two weeks on this one (unless i finish a chapter super early and i deem it is time to to update haha). This is because I know finals are coming up for me probably by the time i post chapter three, and then who knows what my dad wants to do for summer vacation so idk where i will be.

THANK YOU FOR READING ANYWAYS!

Please comment any criticism, praise, or what you would like to see in this fic, and I will try to accommodate it all.

(P.S. If you like SiChul, please feel free to read my other fic “You’re Magic and I’m the Devil” :-)

Link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1062008/you-re-magic-and-i-m-the-devil-angst-heechul-sichul-siwon-superjunior-cinderella-princecharming 21 chapters and quite a bit of angst)