Sunggyu was getting dressed in his room as Sungyeol intently looked at the things inside his fridge, and both had one question in mind: would Myungsoo and Woohyun join them today? The adult was a realistic person so he didn’t think so - because no message arrived with a yes or no, and he didn’t want to press it - but the child had some faith they would come.

Thinking about his brother's optimism made Sungyeol sigh. But, with or without Myungsoo and Woohyun, another question remained: what would be the right amount of food to pack? He didn’t want food to go to waste but he also wanted to bring enough. After another long sigh, the tall man started moving, taking everything he had prepared, and hoping they would be able to carry everything. At least until they reached the car.

Sunggyu emerged from his room a few seconds later - with his chessboard and a few other games in his hands - and moved to where an almost ready Sungyeol was trying to fit his coffee bottle into a bag.

“Hyung, can we bring these?”

Sungyeol looked up and evaluated. “The chessboard might be too heavy…” 

Sunggyu’s eyes moved from his brother's eyes to his hands. Instead of getting upset, he smiled, tossed the games on the couch, and approached the elder. “I knew it, I knew you’d bring food for them.”

“Don’t get too excited because Myungsoo didn’t confirm anything,” Sunggyu's smile expanded and his eyes disappeared in amusement just for the elder annoyance. “It’s just… it’s better to be safe than sorry.” That’s all Sungyeol could add before slightly changing the subject. “And it’s a bit heavy so you’ll have to help me carry some stuff.” He said and pointed to a picnic mat neatly folded like a bag and a small bag with cutlery and napkins which were light enough for the boy to carry. “You can bring games if you can carry them, just not the chessboard today, ok? It’s too big.”

Sunggyu grabbed his Uno cards then moved to the bag and dropped it inside while Sungyeol gave up on his bottle of coffee and decided to leave it at home. Five minutes later, they crossed their door and while the eldest closed it, Sunggyu tried knocking.

“Woohyunnie? Myungsoo hyung?” He called after a few knocks but after a minute without an answer, Sunggyu sighed and gave up. “Maybe they are still sleeping.” He said with evident disappointment, even though he tried to be positive, and that squeezed Sungyeol’s heart a bit.

“It’s early, maybe they’ll join us later.” He tried to help with his brother's spirit even though he didn’t believe his own words. “Either way, it’s better if we go ahead and find a nice spot under a tree or something.” Sunggyu sighed but it didn’t take more for him to start walking.

The parking took more time than the ride to the park but, by the time they arrived there, Sunggyu was already chatting away and playful teasing his brother. The bag with food was a bit heavy, but Sungyeol couldn’t help but smile. It was not like Sunggyu’s words and teasing were extra amusing, but when he compared the boy with the Sunggyu of a year ago… he liked this one more, way more.

As they walked (with some difficulty on Sungyeol’s part), parents passed by them strolling their babies to the exit, and smaller kids were up and about in the playground. Sunggyu liked Woohyun and a few other kids from his class, but he couldn’t exactly deal with kids half his age or smaller, so he didn’t like to mingle much. When Woohyun was around, he did interact with other kids around his age, or a bit older (whom he played chess with once or twice), but the older kids usually arrived later.

Having no one interesting to talk to yet and because Sungyeol made promises, he pulled his brother towards the swings as soon as he spotted them empty. The elder almost tripped over his feet but, in the end, just told the boy to go ahead and walked at his own pace until he reached it. He dropped his bag where Sunggyu had dropped his and intended to catch some breath, but the boy was already fully seated and swinging his feet. 

“Hyung, push me!” Sungyeol did what he was told to help the boy with impulse, but Sunggyu wasn’t completely satisfied. “Hyung, let’s see who can go higher.” Sungyeol looked at the swing beside his brother’s and hesitated. “Hyuuuuuung~~!” The boy pleaded/insisted.

Sungyeol looked around. The kids were running around and hanging from different playground toys, and their adults seemed to be running after them, talking to each other, or simply not caring about others, so he finally sighed and tentatively tried to sit on it. When he was sure the swings could take his weight, he started pushing himself. “I’ll probably need to start exercising, I’ll probably have my arms killing me later.” He commented.

“Hoya hyung says you and Jongie hyung should go to the gym.” The boy replied with a speech that seemed copied and pasted from Hoya’s mouth.

Sungyeol promptly scoffed. “His opinion about this doesn’t count.” He didn’t want to go as high as Sunggyu was going, but it felt nice to play on the swings after some time and he felt himself relaxing a bit. “Maybe I should play a sport instead of going to the gym?” He wondered.

“Basketball?” Sunggyu suggested as he passed in the opposite direction.

“Despite my height, I’m terrible at it, Myungsoo completely humiliated me the last time.” Sungyeol smiled at the memory. He had lost but his one-on-one game with Myungsoo had been interesting, to say the least. If he compared the game Myungsoo displayed in court against an adversary… their body contact had been a bit different, and it was deeply encouraged.

“You can ask for some tips,” Sunggyu said as he passed by Sungyeol again.

“Eh? Naaah.” Sungyeol's cheeks flushed red and he felt mortified with the suggestion. “As I told you yesterday, Myungsoo and I barely talked but, when we did, we talked about Woohyun. I wouldn’t be able to ask for some tips out of nowhere.”

When he said that, Sunggyu started to slow down his swings until he matched Sungyeol's pace. “You don’t need to play, you could use it as an excuse to go out alone, Woohyunnie thinks his training is boring so he doesn’t like to watch.”

Sungyeol laughed. “That’s not a bad suggestion, I’ll think about it.” He put his feet on the ground and waited until he completely stopped to get up. “There is a nice tree over there. It's better if I go set our stuff before other people also find the spot interesting.” He pointed and Sunggyu looked at it.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, it’s ok. I can see you from there, you can continue playing on the swings and I’ll call you when everything is ready.” 

“Okay.”

“Don’t go anywhere.”

Sungyeol moved to grab his basket and Sunggyu’s bags then tried to balance everything as he moved to a tree - that provided a lot of shadows and an excellent view of the playground, but made him slightly hidden from half of the parents there - so he could set stuff up and keep an eye on his brother. 

Sunggyu didn’t stop swinging but kept an intent eye on his brother. The elder's slightly uncoordinated movements seemed so amusing he didn’t notice steps getting close until a voice was directed at him.

“Sunggyu?” At first, the said boy almost jumped out of his skin, but, once he recognized the voice, he turned around and opened a big smile.

“Hyung! Woohyunnie!” He gasped and immediately used his feet to stop the swings. Woohyun could barely say hi before his friend was hugging him. “I’m so glad you’re here!” 

“Are we late?” Myungsoo asked.

“Of course not, we just arrived.” Sunggyu cheerfully said before he let go of his friend and looked from him to the elder only to see that they both looked serious. “Is everything ok?”

The pair shared a look and Myungsoo his lips nervously before trying to dodge that question with another one. “Where is your brother?” 

Woohyun pressed his lips in amusement because of that question but Sunggyu turned to point at Sungyeol's back, not noticing his best friend’s amusement. “He is over there.”

“Hum.” Myungsoo merely looked ahead but didn’t move or say anything.  

Woohyun quickly cleared his throat but as Myungsoo didn’t get the hint and stayed frozen, the boy made sure to be crystal clear. 

“Go!” Sunggyu frowned because that sole word seemed like an order that had left the elder nervous but, the next thing he knew, his friend was going behind the elder and pushing him. “I said: go!”

“Yah!” Myungsoo finally complained and dodged his son, then straightened himself. “Can I trust you’re gonna stay here?” The boy nodded but Myungsoo still half glared at him then turned to Sunggyu. “Keep an eye on him until I reach your brother.”

Sunggyu dumbly nodded and Myungsoo took some deep breaths before walking in Sungyeol’s direction. Both kids watched him for a few seconds before Sunggyu hesitantly repeated his earlier question. “Is everything ok between you two?”

Woohyun grabbed Sunggyu by the wrist and pulled him to the swings before he spoke. “We talked.” He said without moving his eyes from Myungsoo’s back. “And I apologized about what I said the other day.”

“Did that help?”

“He said he wasn’t mad…” Woohyun said awkwardly and Sunggyu opened up his mouth to say something but the younger one continued. “And he said I don't need to forgive him for everything right away, then he was the one apologizing to me.”

“That’s great.” Sunggyu opened a big smile but after a second he had doubts, the two neighbors seemed weird. “Why are you two weird then?”

Woohyun finally cast his eyes away from Myungsoo to look in his friend’s direction and he scratched his head before sighing. “It just feels awkward to call him dad right now.”

“Ok,” Sunggyu said carefully but since his friend didn’t elaborate, he pressed a little. “Does that mean anything more?”

“I don’t know.” Woohyun shrugged and the older boy understood it as if the younger didn’t want to share. Even so, there was one thing that worried him and he had to ask about it.

“Will you go to Incheon for good or…” He wasn’t able to finish his question because Woohyun had to chuckle.

“No, silly.” Woohyun peeked at the adults before smiling at himself and returning his attention to his friend. “We are still a team so we’ll live together again, Uncle Moonsoo even brought my things yesterday.”

“That’s awesome.” The notice of Woohyun staying in Seoul made Sunggyu madly happy but he remembered his brief conversation with Myungsoo the day before and got a bit uneasy. “Myungsoo hyung told me yesterday that you’ll only play when you feel ready.”

Woohyun made a guilty expression. “Sorry hyung, I still don’t feel like playing that much.” Sunggyu was about to make a sad expression but Woohyun was quick to prevent it. “But he said I can see you whenever I want, and I wanted to see you today so... maybe I’ll feel like playing after we talk more?”

Sunggyu sighed but nodded, at least that was good enough in his book. “He told me yesterday… it’s just… he said you still need a lot of talks and, now that you’ll live with him again, maybe things will be this awkward for a while.” 

“Yes, but he promised that he would change that and that, whenever I want to talk, I just need to ask.” 

Sunggyu noticed that Woohyun wasn’t talking about Myungsoo using anger, distrust, or desperation, and that puzzled him a little. “And you trust him again?” The older boy raised an inquiring brow. 

“I believe him now.”  Woohyun’s answer came so fast and with such conviction that Sunggyu got curious.

“What made you change your mind?”

“He told me everything,” Woohyun said, but that answer made Sunggyu confused.

“Eh? I thought he had already told you everything.”

“Not my everything, that everything.” Woohyun said as he peeked again at the adults and moved his chin to make it clear what he was talking about.

Sunggyu looked from Woohyun - that had interest practically dripping from his eyes - to the adults, who seemed to have engaged in a conversation where they both seemed uncomfortable with it. As if identifying the kids’ eyes on them, the adults looked back, and Woohyun pulled his friend by the arm to make him stop looking. 

“Don’t look, hyung.” Woohyun warned with a certain fear in his tone.

Sunggyu didn’t know why but he tensed. “Why? What is going on?”

“They are talking.” Woohyun replied while wondering why that wasn’t obvious for the elder boy.

“Sungyeol hyung said they exchanged some texts so…” Sunggyu was about to inform them that what he just heard wasn’t any breaking news when Woohyun pulled him as close as he could. 

“Myungsoo shi told me yesterday why they fought and they need to talk about it, so let them talk.” Woohyun eagerly shared but that made Sunggyu enter alert mode. 

It wasn’t because it seemed completely weird that Woohyun was calling his dad by the name, but because he wasn’t sure what exactly Woohyun was referring to. The adults gave them an ‘official’ reason but Sunggyu knew there was more to it, and he didn’t think his friend would have a favorable reaction to that truth or to the fact that he knew everything all along. Whatever it was, Sunggyu decided the best thing to do at the moment was to play dumb and try to figure out what exactly ‘everything’ meant for his friend.

“It’s because of school stuff and Sungyeol hyung becoming his teacher, no?”

“What? No!” Woohyun made a frustrated expression but, when Sunggyu blinked in internal despair, he continued. “There was that too so yes, but it wasn’t the whole reason for their fight.” The younger dutifully informed.

“There is more?” Sunggyu tried to carefully continue his tactics - controlling his features was a bit difficult (and he looked a bit constipated) but it wasn’t like Woohyun noticed. 

“Argh hyung, I’ve been so dumb and you were so smart.” Woohyun rubbed a hand over his face to show his frustration but, once he took it away, he had a pleased smile on his face. “Love bloomed hyung, and they were dating under our noses.” Sunggyu gasped in surprise with the news that Myungsoo revealed his feelings to his son, but it was not like Woohyun was done. “They broke up when that thing in their school came up, but they need to talk so they can apologize to each other and date again.". 

With that Sunggyu choked.

_____________________________________________

Sungyeol was trying to unfold the mat when someone arrived behind him and cleared their throat. It felt a bit too close, so the taller man momentarily stopped his task to identify the ‘perpetrator’. He ended up having a nice surprise.

“Do you need any help?” 

The elder took a few seconds - in which Myungsoo wanted to kill himself a bit - to process the younger presence but then found his voice again. “Oh no, I can do it.” 

Myungsoo shifted in place awkwardly and while Sungyeol turned to set the mat, he cursed in his head. He didn’t want to sound that uninviting and it wasn’t like he was angry at anything but the younger body language made him feel like he hadn’t been welcoming. To change that, and because it was obvious Myungsoo wasn’t there because of him, he decided to start an amicable conversation. 

“I didn’t know you would come or that you got into coffee.” The elder said while he kicked his shoes off and made a gesture for Myungsoo to do the same.  

The younger one, who had completely forgotten he had been holding a small-sized cup of coffee, finally passed it to the other. “This is actually for you. I wasn’t sure we’d come but Woohyun decided to surprise me…” Myungsoo chose to not finish his sentence but the elder didn’t think much about it.

“Thank you.” Sungyeol smiled and immediately sipped on it as the younger one kicked his shoes off and sat beside him. “This was a lifesaver, I had to leave my bottle home.” He said as threw a glance at the kids.

“A gift from Woohyun, a little bribery from me,” Myungsoo explained and Sungyeol looked at him for two seconds before laughing. “What?”

“I should thank Woohyun for the gift but since when do you need to bribe me?” The elder said as he beckoned Myungsoo to help him to take things out of the bag. “I should be apologizing again for the light on your face yesterday.”

“Well, I felt it was fitting and you don’t need to apologize for that.” The young dad tried to justify himself, not yet moving. “Besides, Woohyun insisted and I’m not in a position to say no.”

Sungyeol slightly frowned a bit, Myungsoo seemed tense? Nervous? In the end, he decided not to dwell on it. “It’s ok, I can’t say it caught me by surprise.” He offered a smile to calm the younger. “Either way, it is nice to see you.”

“Thank you.” Myungsoo blurted right away.

“What?” Sungyeol cracked right after. He wasn’t expecting such an answer - or any words, really - but Myungsoo seemed to be holding his breath and looking at him confusedly so he wanted to make sure he wasn’t poking fun at him or anything. “I say it is nice to see you and you say thank you? What kind of answer is that? You’re... something today.” He didn’t want to say the word endearing to not put extra pressure on the man next to him. But, if he could, maybe he would take the initiative to pat the younger or squeeze him - though it would be something completely new for him even with all the advancements he had in the past year.

Myungsoo seemed to have question marks flying over his head, so the elder just pressed his lips to not show his amusement but ended up failing, and showing a foolish gummy smile. Despite not expecting that, Myungsoo seemed to relax and trip over a small smile himself. 

“No, not about that, for being patient and understanding about it.” The young dad looked down and took the initiative to take things out of the bag so he didn’t need to look into the elder’s eyes.

“I could try to play it cool and say I was trying some character development but the truth is... you two were needing to talk and I know you’d jump at the opportunity.” Sungyeol shrugged and waited for his turn to take things out of the bag. “Giving him some time to cool down was a good idea but lately - according to Sunggyu - he started to suffer because of your absence.”

Not that the boy hadn’t hinted at him, or had said a few things expressly, but hearing that squeezed Myungsoo's heart a bit. “It was killing me too.” The young dad confessed as he and Sungyeol continued to take turns. “On a side note, it made me feel weird to have such an amount of free time… even if I tried to occupy myself, there was a lot of time left.” 

“Eung.” Sungyeol agreed. “And kids fill the apartment. It feels empty when they’re not there, at least that’s how it felt when Sunggyu went to Jeju with your parents.”

“YES,” Myungsoo stressed the word with a higher volume to say he also agreed and continued to take things out of the bag as Sungyeol stopped and fixed his stare at him. “This is not a picnic, it’s a four-course meal.” He whispered to himself.

Sungyeol heard it but didn’t take offense. To be honest, he couldn’t care less if Myungsoo thought he had exaggerated with picnic food, because there was something that made him feel a bit confused and concerned.

“Myungsoo?” The younger one didn't raise his eyes to look at him and Sungyeol scratched his head before just going ahead with the question he had. “How is this picnic supposed to go?” 

Myungsoo's movements stopped, and he recoiled his hand into his lap so he could quickly process the avalanche of words, feelings, and even memories that decided to jumble in his head at that very moment. The conversation with his son the day before had brought up many things that he had to do (and of course ‘how’ had been overshadowed) but, even before that, he had made the boy a promise. He had briefly forgotten about it and, after yesterday it was something that he should share if he remotely wanted to keep it.

Noticing how Myungsoo looked frozen like a statue, Sungyeol tried to explain himself. “I mean, how should we behave in front of the kids? I know we can't talk about certain topics and there is so much small talk we can do before everything feels weird and…” He stopped babbling only to mutter some curse words.

These words made the younger reconnect with reality and identify different feelings through him. He had been resentful because Sungyeol hadn’t let him offer alternatives to their break up so he felt his heart warm a bit when he was asked such questions. It felt like that particular problem was something that could be solved between them.

”I don’t think we’ll escape awkwardness, especially today.” He said with a defeated tone that made the other frown but knew he should explain a thing or two soon. “We just need to go with the flow and talk a bit, and once the kids eat, we can try to play a game or something. Besides, we survived their first playdate, and the recent events, it can’t possibly go worse than that.” 

Which flow was Myungsoo talking about? Was he aware Woohyun didn’t want to play anything lately? Sungyeol swore a bit in his mind, the morning would be stressful, wouldn’t it? “Right…” The elder said for the lack of a better reaction, but his tone made evident he was a bit confused. 

As these thoughts passed his head, he noticed that the young dad turned to check the kids and he ended up doing the same. Sungyeol got the feeling that the kids were observing them, but, upon being caught, Woohyun pulled Sunggyu to break eye contact. That seemed strange, but he couldn’t dwell much on it because Myungsoo started talking to him.

“You know… I promised a few things to Woohyun yesterday.” 

The elder frowned a bit. That seemed a bit random and even contradicting, considering Myungsoo’s answers to his questions, but if the younger was providing a seemingly innocent topic, he wouldn’t complain about it. Besides, Sungyeol had a feeling that the younger one wanted to be asked about those promises.

“What kind of promises? Keepable ones?” He tried to collaborate with the conversation.

“I’m not sure,” Myungsoo said after scratching his nape. “But I’m sure you’re gonna tell me what you think about them.”

“Me?” Sungyeol asked with some confusion but once Myungsoo shifted uncomfortably he decided to just ‘go with the flow. “Ok then, shoot.”

“I promised a bunch of things and there is a lot I want to share with you - if you want to listen later -” The young dad looked embarrassed but tried to fix his expression to get serious. “But I need to talk about one in particular.”

“Ok…” Sungyeol carefully agreed, he didn’t know what but it felt like something was up and it sounded like a new problem. 

“Among other things, I promised I would start talking to you today.” The young dad revealed.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about it, we are talking right now.” Sungyeol said as he glanced at the kids to not show he felt a bit bitter about that.  

Right at that moment, Sunggyu started to choke out of nowhere and Sungyeol was about to get up to check on him, but Myungsoo put a hand over his forearm to prevent him. It only took him half a second to glare at the younger - that immediately recoiled his hand -, but when he looked back, the maknae was trying to breathe, and Woohyun was rubbing circles in his back. Another half-second passed and Sunggyu threw him weird looks before Woohyun pulled him to the climbing structure not far away.

_________________________________

“Are you OK?” Woohyun asked worriedly as he rubbed circles on Sunggyu’s back. The elder boy took a few breaths and seemed to get better so when he tried to warn his brother with his eyes, Woohyun pulled him away. “Let's wait a bit over there.”

Sunggyu stopped coughing but he didn't feel that he was breathing normally yet. The air perhaps was entering his lungs but he felt like there was something stuck on them. He followed his friend in shock but once they reached the toy, and Woohyun started to climb some bars, he finally was able to speak. “What?”

Woohyun merely glanced down at him before continuing with his climbing. “Come here, I will tell you everything.”

The boy didn't need to say twice and Sunggyu didn't like climbing but he eagerly followed his friend.

_______________________________

“Gosh, what a fright.” Sungyeol breathed in relief before throwing an apologetic look. “Sorry.” The younger dismissed the elder apology with a hand as he kept his eyes on the kids.

“His saliva must have gone through the wrong pipe, it happens, he will be fine,” Myungsoo commented. He had a feeling that it happened because Woohyun had told the older boy there was no secret anymore, and he wondered if Sunggyu would reveal that he knew everything all along.

“Yeah, that must be it.” Sungyeol looked at the kids again and saw that Sunggyu was eagerly climbing, so there was nothing much to worry over. He then looked back at the younger. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“About how I promised Woohyun I’d talk to you today.” The younger one repeated, hoping this time the elder would perhaps read his mind and just know what he was trying to hint.

“Yeah, right. From the way I see it’s not something to worry about, because we will always need to do it, if not for us, for them.” Sungyeol said as he briefly thought about the past month. It felt like the more they wanted to pull away, the more they ended up tangled, it was like they could never completely cut ties. That thought comforted and stressed Sungyeol at the same time, sure it could make room for them to be always close but if things didn’t work between them, it could bring pain to them both.

“It’s a big deal though.” Myungsoo disagreed. “He won’t be satisfied with us just being able to put up with each other.” He tried to direct the elder to the point he wanted to talk about but Sungyeol understood completely wrong once again. He felt like it was his fault, he didn’t know how to be direct, he was simply not used to it.

“You’re right, he probably wants us to be close friends.” The elder sighed deeply, he was in for the closeness but he wanted distance from the word ‘friends’. Whatever happened, everyone would need to accept the situation and learn how to deal with it and he thought that, sooner or later, Myungsoo would need to explain that to his son. For now, he decided he wouldn’t chastise his ex-lover about it. “Hoya hyung said the truth might impact Woohyun for life but, regarding things between us, I don’t...” He was very ready to make his opinion clear but the younger one took two deep breaths and interrupted him.

“Maybe it’s better if I told you some things that happened yesterday to give you more context.” He tried again in an urgent tone only for Sungyeol to stop altogether and give him his undivided attention. “ I know I’m not very forward when I’m trying to express myself, but I will try to summarize everything so you understand why I had to make this promise. I mean, before the kids get too hungry and interrupt us.”

The mix of curiosity and concern that appeared in the elder’s features almost sidetracked him, but Myungsoo took another deep breath to share things that could, and definitely would impact their situation.

“I… I had a wonderful conversation with Woohyun yesterday. He can’t forgive me right away - and that was expected so I’m not in a hurry - and he can’t call me dad - and that hurts but cut him some slack today if it feels weird, ok?” Sungyeol couldn’t help being a bit shocked and Myungsoo checked his reaction for a second before continuing. “He said he missed me, opened up to our old habits, and asked if we could still be a team, so I think we will be able to fix our relationship eventually.”

“I’m really happy that things progressed a bit between you two. The part where he stops calling you dad probably but, all in all, the result was good, right?” Myungsoo promptly nodded but that seemed to worsen the elder's concerns. “Why do you sound so apprehensive then?”

“Because there was a round 2 which will have a big impact on you and me from here on.” 

Sungyeol didn’t know why but he felt a shiver run down his spine. Myungsoo was in trouble again, wasn't it? He automatically, and innocently, just accepted things between them would need to be postponed even more and urged the younger. 

“What happened?” He asked.

“All I wanted was to make small talk so he could open up more, and pass your picnic invitation along, but things snowballed and…” The young dad rubbed a hand nervously on his temples. “The last thing I know we were talking about you, you and me, our fight and… hyung, he knows.”

Sungyeol felt his body get rigid and some adrenaline rushed through his veins. “He knows what exactly?”

“From Incheon to details on our break up and some of my latest decisions?” Myungsoo offered in a mix of relief and anxiety and Sungyeol felt the air escaping from his lungs. 

___________________________________
“Woohyunnie, did you just say they were dating? Are you sure?” Sunggyu asked as soon as he finished climbing.

   “Yes, hyung.”  The boy replied right away. “They have been dating since the last break. I mean, I think it was since our last break, Myungsoo-shi didn't tell me any specific date or anything… I'm gonna ask about it later, I’m sure he’s gonna tell me.” Woohyun blabbered as he waited for his friend to find a comfortable position to sit while the older boy looked down, calculating if he’d break his arm again if he fell from such height. “When he told me yesterday I thought you already knew,” Woohyun said with furrowed brows.

Sunggyu immediately looked up but became super afraid of his friend's reaction and stuttered. “Why-why would I know?”

“Because you know about Sungyeol hyung feelings for longer than I do and we even fought about it?” Woohyun said as if it was obvious, completely erasing most of Sunggyu’s arguments.

“Yeah, but…” He hesitated and then found some words that could allow him to stay in neutral territory. “I just thought it would be nice at the time.”

“Forget it, it doesn’t matter if you knew or not, I don’t care about that.” Woohyun turned to look at the adults talking and Sunggyu could only sigh in relief.

“But… you hated the idea when I brought it up,” Sunggyu argued.

“That was before I knew everything, ok?” Woohyun turned to his friend to half glare at him but instead of being upset, Sunggyu started to smile.

“So… Do you support them now?”

Woohyun nodded and confidently added something else. “Even mom does, she said it was ok when she visited me in my dreams, that was what she was trying to tell me since back then.”

Sunggyu almost squealed in happiness but remembered something halfway. “So you didn’t feel betrayed when you discovered it?”

Now the young boy scratched his nape before replying. “I did a bit.” He confessed but then shook his head. “But when he told me everything, I understood why he didn’t tell me.”

“Did you?” Sunggyu hesitantly asked.

“Yeah, he was afraid that I would discover he is not my dad right away. He was also scared of my reaction and he didn't want me to hate Sungyeol hyung.” Woohyun said with a hint of guilt. “He said it isn't so but I feel it was my fault because I was being so dumb.”

“Dumb?” Sunggyu raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yes, dumb.” Woohyun immediately confirmed. “I mean, now that I know they have feelings for each other, everything makes sense. It is so obvious, I should have figured that out myself sooner.” He added a dramatic sigh right after.

“Hm? ”

Woohyun thought a bit before speaking. “Like… Do you remember when Sungyeol hyung apologized to us and they started to let us play?” Sunggyu immediately nodded. “They were awkward in the beginning, but later they started to get close, and then we went together to Incheon and everything changed. They didn’t become best friends as we - I - thought, they started dating because Myungsoo-shi confessed back then.” Sunggyu's eyes grew as big as they could. “After that, they started to do everything together and they got happier, nicer and they also hung out together whenever Uncle Moonsoo and Sungjong took care of us. And Sungyeol hyung cooked for us and came to watch Myungsoo-shi play and then Myungsoo-shi organized a birthday party for your hyung. With a gift! I had never seen him buy his friends a gift before! He also asked Sungyeol hyung for advice on everything and they were always gossiping!”

“Yes, that happened.” Sunggyu tried to hide it but ended up letting a smile appear on his face. He felt proud of his friend for realizing everything and trying to make sense of every moment the adults spent together to convince him of something that he already knew. “They seemed very happy before their fight.” 

Sunggyu looked at the adults and Woohyun did the same. Myungsoo seemed to have said something that shocked Sungyeol and the taller man looked at them as if he was in fear or something. Both kids promptly looked away and while Sunggyu seemed curious/confused about that reaction, Woohyun behaved as if nothing had happened and resumed their conversation.

“Which was a breakup.” Woohyun corrected before continuing. “Before that, Sungyeol hyung had those eyes, like in dramas, and even said I love him or something next to me once - and, urgh, at the time I didn’t understand because Sungyeol hyung is smart and tricked me - and Myungsoo-shi… I don’t think I ever saw him that happy.” He finished only to sigh deeply. “Now it makes sense why he was so weird and upset and Sungyeol hyung cried and couldn’t sleep.”

“It was terrible.” Sunggyu agreed, promptly forgetting his brother's early reactions so he could scoop more information out of his friend. “They even tried to avoid each other.”

“Tell me about it.” Woohyun rolled his eyes then his shoulders dropped in a defeated manner. “I didn’t understand anything back then, I just wanted everything to be the way it was before because, after that fight, everything was so weird.”

“But, now that we know that,” Sunggyu said, making sure to include himself in the sentence to not raise suspicions that he knew everything way back. “Should we come up with another kind of plan or something? To get them to forgive each other and so on?”

“Why? Do you think the song you sang yesterday won't work?” The younger one asked and Sunggyu felt his body getting cold.

“Woohyunnie, that-that was about how I feel about a bunch of other things.” Sunggyu tried to reason (or bluntly lie) but Woohyun squinted his eyes at him.

“Hyung, I know you and I know what you were trying to do.” Sunggyu gulped hard when he heard that but Woohyun rolled his eyes. “I’m not angry!” Woohyun said and the older boy felt relief washing over him. “Do you think it worked?” He asked with interest.

“No, Sungyeol hyung threatened to ground me for embarrassing him and Myungsoo hyung didn't even notice, this is why we should try something else.”

Woohyun processed that information for a few seconds before giving up. “Nah, it's better if we don't do anything this time.”

“Why not?” Sunggyu asked in confusion. “We always meddle, I want to meddle.”

“He said it would be hard and he would need time - and there was a chance of things not working - BUT” Woohyun stressed the last word and Sunggyu perked up. “Myungsoo-shi is ready to talk to Sungyeol hyung.” Sunggyu gasped in shock and Woohyun opened a proud smile. “And I made him promise he would start making up with Sungyeol hyung today.”

Now that was so unexpected that Sunggyu lost his balance.

__________________________________

Sungyeol managed a gasp a second later and looked desperately at the kids only to look back at Myungsoo the same way. “Oh my god, he must hate us.” He said in exasperation.

“No, hate was what he had for me this past month.” Myungsoo waved his hands and looked at the kids only to see them returning to their conversation. He pulled his legs to his body and crossed his arms over it. “Compared to that, he is just slightly upset and it's aimed at me, not at you. Besides, he's willing to forgive us both for this one.” Myungsoo said with confidence.

“Do you think it is possible?” Sungyeol voiced his inner thoughts aloud. 

“Yeah, I’m 100% confident about it,” Myungsoo repeated in the same tone and that triggered the elder's suspicion. The young dad wasn’t a person who showed how confident he was and he was pretty good at hiding how unconfident he felt so assertiveness was different.

“And you know because…”

“Because he said so.” The younger one said, and it wasn’t a lie but he didn’t feel like explaining details about how he and Woohyun came up with this promise and how it didn’t feel like the younger was bargaining anything but giving an extra push and reassurance.

“And you believe him? You just said he is upset!” The elder pointed with a certain doubt.

“Well…” Myungsoo was about to start when Sungyeol interrupted him.

“Please, just tell me that you didn’t end up in a situation where Woohyun controls your life in some way again.” The elder begged.

“What??? No, no, no!” Myungsoo strongly denied that and a glimpse of amusement could be seen on his face. “I can’t deny it seems like that but I swear it isn’t.”

“Then?” Sungyeol asked and he could swear he could hear Myungsoo gulping some saliva. After that, the young dad didn’t say anything right away. He didn’t seem completely hesitant, more like he needed to give some bad news or face a difficult situation, and that unnerved Sungyeol a bit. “You know, I’m all ears.” He insisted and Myungsoo pressed his lips together before speaking.

“He was angry at me for a month - with all the right in the world - but he never said a thing about the fact that I'm gay.” He started and the elder nodded to show he was following. “Then yesterday, when we talked about this invitation, I told him I was ready to interact with you again and, aside from telling me to apologize, he suggested that you and I start dating.”

“WASDFGAHjk WHAT? He what?” Sungyeol gasped with even more shock than when the younger told him the boy knew everything.

“You heard it correctly,” Myungsoo said then remembered Woohyun saying he couldn’t date just anyone but Sungyeol, and that memory made him want to dig a hole, hide in it and disappear for the next century. Thankfully Sungyeol was so shocked that he didn’t notice Myungsoo trying (and of course failing) on becoming invisible. Aside from that, the young dad had never had the chance to be so clear or upfront in his life, and now that he was, he had never felt so , even though he was fully clothed.

“He was always so possessive, I didn’t think… It never crossed my mind… I thought a relationship between us would always be a problem for him, even if you told him the truth.” The elder said, still confused, he had a conversation with the boy before, which indicated one day he could change his mind about them, even though he had always thought that would take more time. “What a surprise…” 

“I think he still is but he is also delighted with the idea because his love for you only grows.” He looked at the kids to avoid facing the elder eyes and tried to continue in a cool way even though inside he felt like shaking. “I wasn’t expecting that so, of course, I freaked out a bit and that was all he needed to connect the remaining dots. After that, I didn’t think I could or should hide everything between us.” The younger one explained.

“And that’s when and why he got upset…” Sungyeol concluded.

“Not exactly.” Myungsoo turned to look at his ex-lover and watched a confused expression appear on his face. “He was disappointed in me, in us, because we hid our relationship, but that seemed to be forgotten when I explained our story and how my secrets and fears about his situation prevented me from telling the truth. But what frustrated him to no end was: 1- to discover we broke up, 2- to discover we lied to him instead of our college, and 3- the worst of all - to discover we talked, but nothing much changed and I just accepted the end of our relationship.”

“Woohyun is your son through and through.” Myungsoo couldn’t help but shrug at that. Sungyeol sighed deeply, slumped his shoulders, and looked at the ground. “So to just accept we are over is one of those latest decisions you mentioned earlier?”
____________________________________

“Hyung, be careful!” The younger boy scolded as he held his friend's shirt and waited until Sunggyu found a good position to balance himself again to let go.

“Thank you.” The boy said as he finished adjusting and then looked at the adults. “There is something wrong, Sungyeol hyung is weird.”

Woohyun immediately turned his head to look at them. If he hadn't had a conversation with Myungsoo the previous night, he probably would have understood everything wrong, as if the two adults were beginning another fight. But, despite not being able to see both adults' expressions fully, he had a hunch this wasn't it.

“Well…” Woohyun was about to come up with some explanation but Sungyeol seemed to be in shock mode. As for Myungsoo, he was speaking nervously but avoiding meeting the elder eyes, he seemed to be uncomfortable but Woohyun deemed it in the best way possible. “Awnnnn, dad is shy.” He said delightedly, which made Sunggyu frown, not only at the happiness the younger boy was feeling but at the word that escaped the boy's lips. 

Sunggyu didn't say anything for a few minutes in which he paid attention to Woohyun only, hoping his friend would realize his mistake(?). After waiting and only being able to watch Woohyun go from delighted to worried, he concluded that the younger boy either Woohyun didn't care or didn't notice the words he used and there was something else that had his entire attention. 

He looked at the elders just in time to see Myungsoo speaking seriously and Sungyeol's posture shrinking as he looked at the ground. “I think there is something wrong.” He voiced his concern.

“You’re right,” Woohyun said in a slightly desperate tone but, a second later, he straightened himself. “But he promised me…” He said with such confidence that made his friend frown. “Let's just… let’s just wait and see.” The boy suggested and both moved on the playground toy to fully face and watch the adults without shame.

_____________________________________
“No.” The young dad denied it a second later. “I accepted our end because I was forced to and even though you explained yourself, everything prevented us from doing anything else. But the future… we still haven't had a chance to talk about that thoroughly.”

Myungsoo thought that sort of answer would lift Sungyeol's mood at least a bit but then the elder still seemed down.

“Then... This whole conversation is because you exchanged it for forgiveness?” The taller asked, already showing disappointment. It was nice that Woohyun wasn't a problem anymore but he didn't want to be in the boy's favor to force Myungsoo on anything. Up till now, it seemed to him that Woohyun blackmailed his dad, and Sungyeol wasn't comfortable with that - if there was no free will, it seemed meaningless and he didn’t want it.

Myungsoo sighed deeply, the disappointment on the elder face made evident what he was thinking and the young dad couldn’t completely refuse it or admit it. 

“It's not what you think.” He ended up saying. “He knows things now but he knows me…” 

Myungsoo made a pause that had more meaning than if he were to try to explain himself. Sungyeol pressed his lips together as he processed that sentence weight and then decided the only way he could interpret it was as if the younger wanted to hint he had been hesitating. He just didn’t know if the younger had been hesitating on his decisions (perhaps even feelings) or just about the timing of the current conversation. 

“So when I shared my concerns he just…” The young dad said as he gulped hard and felt his cheeks get warm. “Instead of demanding anything, he encouraged me…  and that was so freeing for me.” The younger finally explained and his whole body seemed to considerably relax.

Meanwhile, Sungyeol had his heart invaded by relief. There was no talk about feelings yet but at least it seemed like one of Myungsoo’s heaviest burdens had been lifted from his shoulders. Not only that, it seemed like he had been released from a self-created cage and now he would be able to do whatever he pleased. The taller one wanted to say a few words about how he was genuinely happy about such development, but Myungsoo interrupted him just as he opened his mouth.

“Look at them now, waiting to see if I’ll do what I promised...“ The taller followed the younger eyes only to see Woohyun raising his thumb, but looking anxious and Myungsoo replied by raising the palm of his hand up. Sungyeol wasn’t sure about the true nature of that small interaction between father and son, but it almost felt as if Myungsoo was telling the boy to wait. 

________________________________________
Woohyun raised a thumb because that was how he thought he could ask if everything was ok without climbing out of his spot and approaching the adults to ask. The atmosphere between those two seemed a bit tense (for the lack of a better word) and both seemed too nervous or anxious, but he figured if he interrupted them it would worsen things.

Myungsoo didn’t reply and that could disappoint him easily, but he also didn’t reply with a thumbs down, which was a huge relief. Instead, he just raised the palm of his hand and that was enough for him now. 

“They need more time hyung, are we ok?” He turned to Sunggyu to explain and despite feeling like his belly was about to grow, the older boy could only reply one thing.

“I’m willing to skip lunch and even dinner so they can talk and make up.”

Woohyun smiled to himself and appreciated his friend even more. This is why Sunggyu was his best friend, they always ended up aligned.

________________________

Sungyeol felt his heart speed up after that. He was glad Myungsoo updated him and gave him a heads up on information he might need to survive this morning, then he was disappointed a few seconds ago, but the younger words - especially the last sentence -  made him feel like their conversation just changed directions once again. 

Now he was inclined to believe he was in a situation he wanted but never, ever, had imagined happening like this: in a park, being watched, and having no time to process the outcome before the kids came and asked questions. He immediately pitied his near-future self because of what he was about to do but he had read situations wrongly before, so, just in case, he decided to confirm things.

“When we started talking, I interpreted your words literally.” He said and that made Myungsoo look back at him. He pressed his lips nervously and unconsciously held his breath before continuing. “Did I interpret things wrongly again, or… what exactly did you promise Woohyun?”

“Some of my promises were not to him but to myself, about my individual growth after such talk or how to change to fit him better from now on. I’m still trying to figure out how to do that.” Sungyeol wanted to say that didn’t exactly answer his question when Myungsoo raised a hand for him not to talk and continued. “But what can give you a lot of answers - not only to this particular question but others you might have, and be waiting for - is: I promised to have this conversation with you because I promised to pursue my individual happiness at the same time I’ll try to fix my relationship with him.”

“What-what does that mean?” Sungyeol stuttered as his heartbeat became so louder he could barely hear his thoughts, and Myungsoo quickly nodded to confirm the elder thoughts despite feeling his cheeks grow hotter.

“I thought it would be better if we talked when I had all the answers I’m searching for but, since it came to this, I have a few things I can already tell you,” He confessed.

“Ok?”

Myungsoo took a deep breath before confidently saying the words of a speech he had prepared once Woohyun fell asleep. “You already know that everything we experienced was very new to me but, aside from your actions, I still don’t know if I was disappointed by my idealization, even if I wasn’t conscious of it. Maybe I was. But I only know that, no matter how many times I try to, I can’t deny how strong the things you make me feel are. I can say I felt a whole spectrum of different feelings towards you, but, good or bad, I have this urge to direct them at you, to live them with you. They make me feel so alive but at the same time it’s the reason why I still feel a bit hurt.”

Sungyeol could relate because, before Myungsoo, everything felt kinda dead, like something was constantly missing even during those times he had been accompanied by other people. Problems and secrets aside, Myungsoo didn’t offer an adrenaline-based love. His way of loving was quiet, but Sungyeol’s heart did the weirdest (but greatest) fast-paced beats because of him. It wasn’t only that, the minute he said sorry, Myungsoo welcomed him in his life and treated him like he had that good side - that, if it existed before, it had been buried a long time ago - until he felt so relaxed in their relationship that he ended up manifesting it.

But the last part of Myungsoo's speech made Sungyeol’s eyes sting. He knew he had hurt the younger one greatly, and he knew things had changed somehow after they had talked a couple of times, but, to hear that Myungsoo was still hurt, made him enter a loop of guilt he had barely left behind him. It didn’t matter much though, he deserved it, he deserved it!

“I’m a terrible person.” He sighed and curled over his long legs as he felt his eyes sting.

Seeing that, the young dad placed a hand over the elder's forearm and gave it a little squeeze. “You aren’t, even after the letters, I don’t think so.” Sungyeol turned to look at him with disbelief.

“How in the world…?” The elder managed to ask as he tried to dry his eyes with his left hand, trying his best not to move the arm Myungsoo placed his hand over.

“You got worried about those letters not because of your bullying past - because you had told me the essentials of it - but because of some of the actions described there, right?” Myungsoo asked and Sungyeol couldn’t help but nod in shame. “I confess they worried me a bit and made me think I might be at a disadvantage. But even though you meddle in my life just as much as Sunggyu meddles in our relationship, I can’t say I ever felt manipulated. Maybe I was influenced or encouraged, but never into something that would harm me or trick me - and maybe that’s what Sungjong was referring to when he said you’re a good person to have anyone’s back. Besides, more often than not you end up hurt or disappointed by the outcome of your actions and you also carry a lot of regrets - but I didn't need to read the letters to know that.”

As Myungsoo said that Sungyeol felt his heart squeeze. He regretted acting in certain ways in the past, and he had some regrets towards Myungsoo too, but he just remembered he meddled in the younger's professional life and he wasn’t sure how he would react to it. The conversation seemed to be going to a good place but he wanted Myungsoo’s decisions to be solid and he also didn’t want to lie or hide anything.

“But before you finish your speech, I think I need to tell you something …”

“About my job?” Myungsoo asked seriously. Sungyeol gulped hard and that was everything the younger one needed to know the answer to his question. The young dad glared (not that hard but made sure to show annoyance) and watched terror appearing in the taller’s eyes, but before Sungyeol could say anything, he decided to let it go (for now). “I didn’t want to believe you meddled with that but Hoya hyung didn’t seem surprised when I said I signed a contract, so I knew you guys did something.”

“It was just an email, which without your natural talent wouldn’t be enough so...”

Myungsoo sighed and waved his hands in the air. “I don’t want to know details right now, hyung, we don’t have that much time today and I still have a lot to say.” Myungsoo said with an annoyed tone, which already hinted at Sungyeol how he felt about it or at least made it clear he was annoyed about being interrupted. 

“Go on then?” The elder offered.

“I lost track of what I was saying…” Myungsoo confessed and seemed to think for a few seconds until he remembered. “What I found in the letters, and weighed on my decision making, was to discover that, even when you have difficulties understanding your mistakes, you don’t run from the consequences and you try your best to learn things from it.”

Sungyeol fumbled with his fingers. “The hardest lessons I ever received were not taught in school… and I have learned a lot from you this past year, directly and indirectly.”

“I know,” Myunngsoo assured. “But it’s this side of yours that, hurt or not, made me feel comfortable with the idea of dating you again.”

After such a built-up speech, Sungyeol knew that the conversation might have been going to a favorable outcome, but even so, he still couldn’t quite believe it. “For real?” He asked.

Myungsoo nodded as his cheeks grew pink and Sungyeol's heart started to feel relieved and excited, so he looked away. He looked at the kids, which looked at him curiously, and then he chose to move his eyes around the park and not face anyone. “I want to but there is a gap from where we are now to that.” The younger one said before Sungyeol jumped to conclusions.

“I know.” Sungyeol sighed then pulled his sleeve and fully cleaned his face. He snuffled a bit before looking at his ex(?)-future(?)-lover. “But what, in your opinion, can we do to close that gap? I mean, aside from letting time work too. ”

Myungsoo sighed deeply and stretched his lips, in an almost imperceptive sad smile, when he thought about the irony of Sungyeol asking about his opinion now and not having what to say. “That’s the part I couldn’t think of properly yet.” He confessed in an apologetic and frustrated tone.

Sungyeol blinked and scratched his chin. “It’s ok, I didn’t even think you would appear today, much less have this kind of conversation with such … revelations. Maybe it was enough for today… “The elder tried to take some pressure from the younger shoulders but Myungsoo wouldn’t just take his words and end the conversation like that.

“Don’t say that, it makes me more frustrated,” Myungsoo complained and the elder could only frown.

“Why?”

After sighing one more time, the young dad decided to share something that had been making him dizzy every time he thought about it. “It’s just… a month ago I promised Woohyun things would return to normal and he reminded me of that yesterday.” 

Sungyeol looked alarmed as soon as he heard that. “Myungsoo, you told me you weren’t in a position where Woohyun controls your life, but are you aware of how this particular promise can impact you?”

“I know,” Myungsoo said firmly but that didn’t convince the elder. “But I talked to him about it and he said trying would be enough. It’s not him that is bothering me.”

Sungyeol was suspicious, there had to be more than that and he wanted to know all about it if it would have an impact on them, but figured that sort of question was for later. “Then? What has been bothering you?”

Myungsoo didn’t even blink before letting it all out. “At the time I had something else in mind but now, from what I understood, he wants the smooth dynamic everyone had when we were together and hiding. But I - even though I want that again somehow - I can’t pretend that nothing happened…” 

Sungyeol shifted his weight and interrupted. “Regardless of my intentions at the time, I know I screwed up, so you don’t have to pretend that nothing happened because I don’t have any intention of forgetting it too.”

“That comforts me a bit, but maybe things still need to change…” The younger one warned.

“They already did. It’s not like we’re new people now, or one changed the other to something unrecognizable, but I’d like to think that everything that happened made us grow a little, therefore we’re not the same anymore. And of course, for things to remotely change or improve, we will need to agree on some adjustments and act based on it.” The elder assured. “But don’t be hard on yourself right now, you just said you couldn’t think about every single thing and that’s understandable. When you do, all you need to do is tell me and then we’ll see.”

Myungsoo nodded, but he still felt awkward and had to look away to voice what was in his head at the moment. “That’s another problem.” Sungyeol immediately frowned in confusion, did he miss anything? What was Myungsoo referring to? “I don’t know how… You’re so straightforward and I-I feel so uncomfortable because it’s not something I’m used to doing... Today... This conversation is so…” He halted his words, not knowing what to say to properly explain his thoughts without embarrassing himself.

Like in comics or cartoons, a lamp lit up on Sungyeol's head and now he had a strong idea of what this was about. The younger might have been successful for a while in hiding his insecurities, but his roundabout ways of talking had made it clear since the beginning that he had trouble expressing himself. It was a bit annoying but Sungyeol didn’t think it was a big problem as long as he got to the point eventually, after all, more than just talking to each other, they needed to communicate. When it came to the kids Myungsoo could do it, but when it came to them a little more patience would be needed.

“Is it because of me? Because our beginning had a lot of judgment?”

Myungsoo stopped to think. Yes, sometimes he feared Sungyeol judgment but he couldn’t exactly blame the other for a part of him that already existed. “I think I have always been like this.”

“Have you forgotten I’m the one who has trouble interacting? I don’t even bother with other people most of the time, much less explain myself or apologize.” He ended up chuckling, once it was over, he made his expression serious. “I can say you made me practice that a lot, especially recently, and it’s still uncomfortable every time, but you win over that.” Sungyeol thought maybe he was too serious, so he tried to voice his thoughts another way. “You don’t need to place me above anything - I had always been comfortable in the position I occupied before - I’m just trying to say that you can do it too, you did many other times.”

“In roundabouts, like in the day I confessed, or the day in the restaurant, or now. My palms are sweating, and I feel my face hot since I arrived..” Myungsoo lifted his palms in the air and then tried to clean them on his pants.

Sungyeol watched his ex-lover's movements but despite seeing with his eyes how flustered Myungsoo seemed to be, he didn’t believe that what the younger was trying to say was something set in stone.

“It is hard for you, I get that, but it’s not something you can’t do. You were very direct, with Jihyun, with Woohyun, with your father, with Sunggyu a couple of times, over the phone with me the other day, when I invaded your apartment twice and you kicked me out, and whenever you were not overthinking.” Myungsoo seemed startled for a moment as he thought about it and Sungyeol used that to conclude his thoughts. “Besides, nothing is restraining you now, so maybe you will be more direct after some practice.” 

“I don’t know.” Myungsoo conceded and after a long sigh, he crossed his arms over his legs again. “Sometimes I just wanted to restart my life from scratch…” He confessed with a frustrated tone but immediately thought better. “Or maybe just a part of it.”

Sungyeol seemed to think about it a bit and he had an idea. “Maybe we can do that.”  He thought quickly over and seemed satisfied with himself. “You’ll do it with Woohyun, maybe it will also be good for us.”

“How? I’m not exactly starting from scratch with him.” The younger asked with confusion all over his face so Sungyeol interrupted to put his ideas into motion and offered his hand for a handshake.

“Hi, my name is Lee Sungyeol.” 

Myungsoo looked at him incredulously. “Hyung, we can’t go back to that.” 

The elder promptly ignored such protest and insisted. “Come on, third time's a charm...”

It amused Myungsoo a little to think Sungyeol was counting the first time they met when they were kids (which both could barely remember) as a start - so the past months would be their 2nd try, and now would be the 3rd - but it wasn’t enough to change his expression.

“Hyung, maybe I can pretend about a variety of things, but we can’t pretend I don’t know how things happened between us or I didn’t feel the things I felt.”

“And it’s great I’m not asking you to do that.”

The younger one looked at the elder hand and then back to his serious face. “And what are you asking then?” 

“I’m asking to start from the beginning and, because we know what happened, we will skip the unpleasant parts until you have time to think about how you want things to be. When that happens, we can change the course of action and create a new path.” He explained.

Myungsoo squinted his eyes with doubt. “I’m not sure this is gonna work till then.”

Well, it was not a foolproof plan - because they quickly fell into some patterns before dating that Sungyeol wasn’t sure Myungsoo wanted to repeat - so he had to somehow agree. 

“Well, probably not.” He conceded. “But maybe it can work until the end of this picnic, and, instead of being awkward, we can do that to make things amusing for us and troll the kids a little.” He shrugged and looked at the kids in the distance. “Look at them, waiting to ambush us and make us uncomfortable.” 

Myungsoo looked at the kids and indeed they seemed to be waiting just the right time to attack them. He figured things would be awkward all morning but, like this, at least they had a safe script to go through. 

When Myungsoo didn’t reply, Sungyeol turned to him. “What do you say? Do you want to try that?” Myungsoo briefly thought about the way Woohyun asked him the same thing yesterday and how he replied, and then he had his answer.

“I’m Kim Myungsoo.” He finally shook the elder's hands and pointed ahead. “And that tiny boy over there is my son Woohyun.”

Sungyeol smiled brightly and looked ahead too, much to the kids' confusion, and pointed at them too. “I think he got friendly with my brother, the small-eyed one, Kim Sunggyu.”

Not knowing what else to say, but wanting to show he was fully on board, Myungsoo decided to test the waters about some of their past experiences so he squinted his eyes at the boy. “I think they go to the same school.”

“No way!” Sungyeol faked a surprised gasp that made Myungsoo press his lips together to not smile. “Is he THE Nam Woohyun in Yongsang Elementary? The one in teacher Jang's class?” The other shortly nodded, holding his growing amusement. “Gosh, Sunggyu talks so much about him. It’s Woohyunnie this, Woohyunnie that…”

“My son talks a lot about Sunggyu too… and about wanting to play together,” Myungsoo said carefully, to see how Sungyeol would react to something that had been an issue before but the said man didn’t even blink to answer.

“By all means, we should set a playdate.” The elder offered a warm smile. “I mean when you have the time.”

The young dad pressed his lips together and tried to hold his expression, but after looking at Sungyeol's eyes for a second he couldn’t help but reveal what was on his mind. “I can’t remember things ever happening like that.” He said in between laughs.

Sungyeol scratched his nape and looked seriously into the younger’s eyes. “Well…”  

Meanwhile, Myungsoo didn’t mean to make an accusation (it wouldn’t benefit both of them at the moment) or rub anything on the elder face, especially when he was trying to take the first step toward making up. He just found the suggestion funny (and it made his heart warm on the same side) because it was the opposite of what his ex-boyfriend wanted at the beginning, but, when Sungyeol kept his expression serious, Myungsoo thought he was being misinterpreted. He got ready to apologize when Sungyeol first showed his gummy smile and then dissolved himself in giggles as well.

“... me neither.”

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AN: Hello folks! I said over and over that I would finish this story no matter what, and I'm sorry for the longest break ever, but I finally managed to write (and publish) the ending. Despite having a rough idea for it since the beginning, some things were moved to earlier chapters (ex: originally woohyun was supposed to suggest them dating in this chapter but then I thought it was better if he suggested it before the picnic conversation happened) and I had to rewrite things accordingly, which took a while bc I rewrote like 5 times. I also felt that despite planning the ending like this, it wouldn't be fair to you or the characters so I planned (and wrote everything already) an epilogue, which surprised me with its length. That being said, I will decide if I'll publish it in one go or divide it into 2 parts. Either way, you should expect something between Friday-Monday and then I'll start checking English mistakes here and also publishing the remaining chapters on AO3.
Thank you for all the support for me and my fic, see you guys soon.