A month before Mark and Jaemin’s wedding, both families became very busy. Mark had to visit Jaemin’s grandparents in Japan with his and Jaemin’s entire family to formally ask Jaemin’s hand in marriage. Although they already knew the answer, Jaemin’s father Hansol asked his mother-in-law and father-in-law to test Mark a bit. He wanted to make sure that Mark won’t leave his son in whatever circumstances they might face in the near future; even though he trusts the younger he just had to make sure. Jaemin’s grandparents were fond of Mark, how he learned Japanese, not only that but the Kansai dialect just to be able to communicate with them. They saw the boy’s efforts and how good his family was how well they had raised him but they knew that Hansol only wanted the best for their youngest Jaemin so they had to comply with that small request even though Yuta had already told them that Mark means well and he’ll take care of their Jaemin. Yuta’s parents had two houses, a modern one and an old traditional manor they decided to stay at the old traditional manor that time to make everything special for them. Jeno behaved properly since his older brother told him that it’s really important for his fiancé’s grandparents to have good impressions on him not only that but his entire family.

Mark’s family would tour around Osaka with Jaemin’s family and would offer Jaemin to come with them since it’s a good thing that Mark spends time with the latter’s grandparents; a couple of days won’t hurt right? Mark did everything the elders had told him without hesitations no matter how tired he was. His first task was to get buckets of water from the nearby well to water the plants, it was very basic but he had to be careful to not to put too much water on the plants or they might die. Although his back started to ache, he didn’t complain he wasn’t used to doing housework and it was really a disadvantage for him but he had to prove his worth for their grandson. The second was to clean the entire house; it was a piece of cake until he had to clean the tatami floors in which he had to do by hand with a rug since they had no mops around. It took him hours to actually finish with the second task, the old manor was huge, and he had to thoroughly clean from room to room. The third task of the day was to chop some wood that was going to be used to light a fire later in the cold evening; Mark had totally thought that he was screwed. He had never held an axe before let alone chop wood but he had to do it because they were going to use it. His first attempt was not well, he had thought his uncle Yuta’s parents were literally judging him right now and it wasn’t the Donghyuck kind of judging that he usually gets. He tried so hard so he continued until after a couple of tries he already got used to it after a couple more tries. He had the smile of a victor when he had done it correctly; he turned around only to see Jaemin’s grandfather was left. He had an unamused expression on his face and it wasn’t good, the latter bowed at him and continued to chop the rest of the woods when the old man turned around to go back inside the house and he had a small smile on his lips.

When the others came back from their day out, Jaemin was absolutely worried seeing Mark’s condition his shirt became quite dirty that it wasn’t like how it used to be that morning before they had left. The older had a few bruises and cuts here and there and he was bathing in his own sweat as he was getting more buckets of water from the well again. He smiled brightly at Jaemin and to his parents despite of how tired he was and how his body was sore from all the work he had done, he wiped Mark’s sweat using his handkerchief and kissed his forehead while mumbling an ‘I’m Sorry’ to him. The older brushed it off telling him that he was okay with all of this so he could prove to them that he’s worth of Jaemin’s love and that he’ll do everything for the younger. “Minhyung come in and change your clothes before dinner starts” he heard his mother call out to him as his tone of voice was laced with worry. Yuta wasn’t talking to Hansol when he saw how Mark was when the latter went inside to greet them politely before heading to the bathroom for a bath and a change of fresh clothes. Jaemin followed the older after grabbing the first aid kit from the kitchen; he knocked on the door and peeked in after receiving a small hum of recognition from the older. He sat on the mini stool beside the tub and grabbed the loofa sponge then scrubbed the older’s dirty arms gently, “I’m sorry that you had to go through this, my mom and dad had a fight because of this” he said before grabbing a bottle of shampoo squeezing a hefty amount of it on his palm before applying it on his hair. Mark smiled at him, “it’s okay…I want to prove to them that I’ll do everything for you” he kissed Jaemin’s cheek and soaked on the water some more. “If uncle Hansol finds you here with me in the bathroom, he’d probably bury me alive” he chuckled, “it’s not like we already had or anything…we’re pure innocent souls” Jaemin patted the older’s head. “Rinse yourself then dress up; I’ll wait for you inside our room so I could treat your cuts” Jaemin went out leaving Mark inside the bathroom to finish cleaning up himself. When he was done, he quickly dressed up and went inside his and Jaemin’s room while towel-drying his hair the younger smiled at him and started treating his cuts before taking him back to the dining room where the others were waiting for them.

The dinner was filled with chatter except for Yuta who kept on ignoring his husband. “Mom, why aren’t you talking to dad? He looks like he's about to cry any moment” Jaemin asked when he looked at his father who tried to keep a straight face. “He knows what he’s done…” he replied to his son in Japanese while poking his food which he got scolded by doing so, Taeyong and Ten looked at each other worriedly. Yuta and Hansol rarely fought and it’s a first seeing Yuta like this towards his husband and it was getting worrisome after seeing Jaemin’s worried face, “I’m done…” Yuta mumbled quietly and excused himself before going out of the manor. “Dad, aren’t you going to follow him?” Jaemin nudged his father who was completely lost right now; Hansol excused himself as well and followed Yuta out.

Hansol saw his husband sitting on the grass near their small koi fish pond, he hesitated for a while but he manned up and sat beside Yuta. The younger’s parents often told him that whenever Yuta was upset, he’d watch their koi fishes swimming because it calms him down whenever eating Takoyaki won’t solve whatever he was feeling. The older watched the koi fishes as well; he didn’t know where to start. He and Yuta haven’t fought in a long while ever since their kids came and they also rarely fought before their kids came as well. “I told you not to do it… Minhyung really loves Jaemin why are you being like this?” Yuta was the first one to break the silence, he was always so vocal, slightly savage but he’d always speak his mind and that’s one of the things he loved about his smaller husband. Yuta was always so positive and outgoing in contrast of Hansol’s reserved and soft-spoken behavior, the younger would always lead him. Flashback of memories came by his head and it took him minutes before answering, “Whenever I see Jaemin right now, I see how fragile and vulnerable he used to be. How we prayed so much that he’d be alive during his first few months with us. When the doctor had declared him to be healthy when he was 5, we thought that Jaemin would be alright but we were wrong. When we had Hina live in Japan with your parents, we thought that we’d have time for him but we didn’t until that day Jaemin collapsed at the daycare and he almost died. You know how the doctor told us to keep Jaemin from expressing and especially hiding so many feelings because we don’t know until when he’ll be with us” Hansol spoke up, his eyes never leaving the sight of the fishes swimming below the lotus flowers. “Jaemin is already fine when he started playing soccer during high school; it kept him going…the doctor said that this time, our baby is already better. You can’t treat him like a 5-year old forever” He looked at his husband, he now had glossy eyes. Hansol knew that Yuta is about to cry, whenever he’s frustrated or disappointed he’d always cry but. The younger never liked crying in front of him nor everybody and it also took him a year before he could actually see Yuta shed a single tear but nevertheless it still broke his heart. He took the initiative to wrap his arms around the smaller, “I’m sorry…I just wanted to make sure that our Jaemin doesn’t go through those kinds of pain like he did before” he felt his shirt getting soaked up with Yuta’s tears but he didn’t mind. Honestly, he likes this kind of arrangement. They rarely talk like this, unlike Ten and Taeyong who usually talk through everything or Jaehyun and Doyoung who barely keep things to themselves or Johnny and Taeil who were almost similar like them but unlike him Taeil was a bit more open. “I’m sorry too~” he heard Yuta say in between sobs, he wrapped his arms around the smaller tightly and kissed his forehead.

Mark woke up very early the next day since it was their last day; he knew that Jaemin’s grandparents would wake up at that time as well to start cleaning and to prepare for their breakfast so he decided to willingly help. He saw that Hansol and Yuta were already up and they were drinking some tea, “Mark, you’re up early” Yuta said while grinning. He eyed Jaemin’s parents, ‘guess they’re okay’ he thought “I decided to help around” he smiled before excusing himself to help Jaemin’s grandmother who was sweeping the garden. He told the elder that he’ll do it and she should just go inside, she gave him the broom and went to sit down on the table with Hansol and Yuta. “He reminds me so much of Hansol when he first came here. He did everything to make us like him for Yuta even though were a bit mean to him at first. He came through though” Yuta’s mother commented while placing her hands on top of Hansol’s and Yuta’s, “he won’t hurt him…I can see it” she said with a smile.

When it was time for them to leave Japan so they could meet Mark and Jeno’s grandparents in Thailand, Mark did a 90-degree bow and thanked his fiancé’s grandparents for treating them well, for welcoming him and his family warmly and for humbly accepting him and Jaemin’s relationship and also for giving their blessings to them. The elders hugged Mark and Jaemin and wished them both well; they also hugged their son and Hansol as well as Mark’s parents and Jeno. “We’ll meet next time, okay? I can’t wait to meet Hina’s boyfriend too” Mrs. Nakamoto told them and waved at them.

They were now on the plane to Thailand, Jeno kept on chanting ‘pad thai’ and ‘som tam’ and it was annoying the hell out of his older brother but he knew better because Jeno is still a kid. They’ll meet the others there as well; they have considered Thailand as their vacation spot and Jaehyun. and Doyoung wanted to bring their kids with them. Johnny’s bringing his husband as well so everybody will be able to spend time with them and relax. “Uncle Doyoung told me that your mom’s house is huge…he kept on saying that” Jaemin chuckled while staring at the clouds outside the window, “it depends on that” Mark replied with a cheeky grin. The 6-hour flight to Thailand consisted of Jeno spitting some random Thai words and most of them were food making Ten and Taeyong laugh. When they had arrived, Ten’s parents had sent a car to fetch them from the airport and to their house. Jaehyun’s family and the others had arrived a day before them and they were waiting for them at home. Jaemin looked around it awe when he saw his uncle Ten’s house, it reminded him of Mark’s house back in Korea but that house back there is bigger ‘I thought that uncle Taeyong’s parents made uncle leave uncle Ten because they were not that rich’. “While we were still staying in Canada, my grandparents’ business got bigger. They wanted us to come here and live with them but mom said he wanted to be independent when raising me” Mark answered as if he could read the younger’s thoughts, they stepped out of the car and greeted Ten’s parents politely as their bags were being taken to their rooms. “Grandmaaaaa!” Jeno ran towards the elder and hugged her; “Jeno…greet properly first then hug grandma” Ten reminded him. Jeno placed his palms together like a prayer and smiled at his grandmother before bowing his head slightly, the tip of his nose touching the tip of his fingers “sawadeekrap” he said before hugging his grandmother again. Mark and Taeyong did the same and so did Ten and Jaemin’s parents, when it was Jaemin’s turn he copied what Jeno had done earlier and greeted Mark’s grandmother nervously. She smiled at him and hugged him, “welcome to our family~” she said in English before motioning him to come inside.

“What took you guys so long?” Jaehyun asked when they were settled in the dining room for some snacks, “duh it’s a 6-hour flight you dufus” Yuta rolled his eyes. “Mommy I want some pad thai and som tam” Jeno pouted as he was trying to get away from his father’s grip on him, “mommyyyyyyy!” the kid wailed when Ten wasn’t paying attention to him. “Jeno really likes those dishes…but I thought he can’t handle spicy food?” Jaemin asked while eyeing Jeno, “mom craved a lot of Thai food when he was pregnant with Jeno especially pad thai, som tum, tom yum goong and yam nua…dad had to call my grandparents to ask them how to make those dishes. Dad didn’t want to buy them from the Thai restaurants around. He wanted to learn how to make it in case mom requests for them again or when mom’s homesickness comes” he explained. His grandparents came to sit with them a little later, “Mark, it’s fire Friday…where are you taking them later?” his grandmother asked, she spoke to him in English so everybody would understand, the younger shrugged a bit “maybe take them to check out the street food?” he smiled as he saw his friends’ eager faces. “And you, Ten?” he smiled his mother in response “I see…it’s Paragon again” Ten grinned cheekily and made a v-sign. “Hansol hyung, Yuta hyung and Taeyong can’t take spicy food…it’ll be useless to have them try every street food we have” he replied nonchalantly, “yeah I remembered when Taeyong was already at his wits end when we made him eat that chili…Hansol hyung coughed and hiccupped as well” Johnny laughed remembering that scene. “So we’re going to Paragon later?” Doyoung asked and Ten nodded, “Jeno you’re coming with us” Taeyong eyed his younger son and the boy pouted.

They had roamed around the streets of Bangkok enjoying their free time, Hina and Jaemin bought a lot of souvenirs and so did Jisung and Donghyuck. They were currently at different food stalls tasting all the food being served there, “I wish Herin was here…I feel like a 5^th wheel” Jisung sighed as he eyed the his couple friends. “It’s okay, she misses her dad. It’s good that they spend time together” Mark ruffled his hair and continued to eat their bowls of Gaeng Tai Pla(Fish Kidney Curry). Ten was still at home preparing to leave then he heard a faint cough from the hallway, he saw Jeno walking past his old bedroom while coughing as he was dragging his hyung’s favorite stuffed animal. He quickly ran towards the younger boy and made him look at him, “are you okay baby?” he placed his palm on the younger’s forehead and gasped. “My baby is sick…what to do?” he looked around and carried Jeno back to his room. The younger had been a bit cranky earlier but it was always normal for them for their youngest to be cranky, he took off his shoes and made him stay on the bed before dashing downstairs to get a basin of warm water and a towel. His mind was going haywire, Jeno hasn’t been sick for a while and it’s really alarming, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he nearly jumped “Ten, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” he looked at Hansol who was looking at him worriedly he shook his head and ran upstairs. The older knew something was up so he immediately followed Ten and saw Jeno having a coughing fit, his breathing was uneven as well. He saw the younger’s mother scrambling around the room looking for something, he heard Ten muttering a ‘where is it’ with his voice almost breaking. “Ten what are you looking for?” Hansol took a step inside the room and placed the warm towel on Jeno’s forehead, “J-Jeno’s inhaler…I know it’s here” he took all of their clothes from the luggage and the room became messy in a split second, he had found the purple colored inhaler and rushed towards the boy with it. Jeno’s breathing became steady. “Do you want me to call the others?” the older offered and Ten just shook his head, the others already went to Paragon before him because he had to do a couple of errands. Hansol said he’d go with Ten since he wanted to rest a bit more “it’s okay hyung…I don’t want to ruin everyone’s vacation. You can go ahead, I’ll stay here” he forced himself to smile even just a little bit and Hansol had bid him good bye.

Ten could remember it clearly when Jeno had his first attack about a year and a half ago.

He and Taeyong were fast asleep until they heard Mark banging on their door loudly, his husband jolted awake and went to open the door to scold Mark but when he opened the door, he saw their youngest in Mark’s arms and he was barely breathing. Taeyong woke him up as their eldest was bringing Jeno inside the car, they quickly followed after without even fixing themselves but they didn’t care. Luckily when they had arrived at the hospital, there were only a few patients and they had quickly given the younger some medical attention “your son is safe, don’t worry about it. The attacks might come back from time to time but please make sure that he doesn’t tire himself so much” the doctor patted his and Taeyong’s shoulders and left.

Hansol had arrived at Paragon where he saw the others waiting for him, “where’s Ten?” Doyoung asked. “He told me to go ahead, he has a lot to do at home” he lied, Taeyong grabbed his phone to call his husband but the 2^nd oldest stopped him “n-no...he said we should have fun without him” he pulled Yuta and started walking ahead. “Ten loves being in Paragon, it’s weird of him to actually stay at home” Taeil wondered and Johnny nodded. The others were now lined-up for their food but Hansol and Yuta stayed on their seats with a sulky Taeyong. “So tell me, why did my husband lie about Ten having lots to do at home?” Yuta eyed his husband before pinching his arm earning a yelp from the older, “Ten doesn’t want to ruin everybody’s fun” he blurted out. “Ha! See? You were really lying” Yuta pointed at accusatory finger at him, “hyung why would you lie?” Taeyong asked. The older heaved out a sigh and looked down, “Jeno’s sick…he had a mild attack earlier” Taeyong abruptly stood up and went out.

“Hyung! Maybe you should buy this for Jeno” Donghyuck picked up a souvenir shirt and showed it to Mark, “that’s nice” he grabbed the shirt from the younger and paid for it. After having filled their stomachs, they decided to shop some more at the Bangkok night market. “Jaemin, maybe mom and dad would like this” Hina handed her younger brother a couple shirts as well and Jaemin paid for them. “Weird, they haven’t called us yet” Jisung swiped his phone to unlock, “Herin hasn’t messaged me too” he pouted. Mark held Jaemin’s hand again as they walked deeper into the night market stalls, when they felt that there was nothing left to buy and explore they had decided to go home. Mark immediately looked for his younger brother, he expected that Jeno was sleeping inside his bedroom but he wasn’t so he went to look for him. “Dad where’s Jeno?” he asked, Taeyong had brought him to his and Ten’s room where they saw the younger was trying to read a children’s book with Ten guiding him. “He had an attack?” he asked when he saw the younger’s inhaler on the bedside table, he sat on the bed and hugged the younger and kissed his forehead “are you okay now? I’m sorry…hyung didn’t know, I should have come home quickly” the younger smiled at him, “hyung had fun with Jaemin hyung and the other hyungs and Hina noona…it’s okay, mommy and daddy~~” he covered his mouth to yawn “were here~” he smiled tiredly. “Come on, let’s sleep” he picked Jeno up and smiled at his tired mother “mom, you should get some rest to…I’ll watch over him” he kissed Ten’s cheek before heading out. “He’s sleeping with us?” Jaemin asked as he was fixing their bed, the older nodded and placed Jeno down. “He had an attack earlier” he sighed and tucked the younger under the covers, “go and get some rest too…you must be tired” Jaemin complied and pecked Mark’s lips before settling under the covers “good night… I love you” he mumbled before going to sleep.

Jaemin woke up the next day seeing Mark cuddled up with his younger brother, he saw his dad leaning against the door with a smile on his face. Jaemin smiled at his father before following him downstairs, “dad why are you up so early?” he hooked his arms with his father’s as they proceeded outside for a walk. “I was worried about Jeno, is he okay?” he asks, his son nodded “Mark seemed so worried, I got worried too” he replied. “Minhyung got to sleep when I went to your room at 5am. He didn’t sleep; he kept on watching Jeno the entire night. I doubt Ten had some sleep too, I kept on hearing a few doors opening and closing and I heard Ten’s voice” Jaemin bit his lip a bit sorry that Mark hasn’t rested well unlike him. “I think…Mark is the best choice you’ve made. I know he’ll take care of you really well” he smiled at his youngest, Jaemin pounced on him and hugged his tall father tightly repeating the words ‘thank you and I love you’ over and over again. When they went back an hour later, everybody was already awake including Jeno but Ten and Mark were still asleep. “Are you feeling well now?” Jaehyun asked as he picked up Jeno who was hugging Taeyong’s leg, “he’s better now, don’t worry” Taeyong gave them a reassuring smile while patting Jeno’s head gently. “Don’t play too much okay? Your mom and dad and hyung were really worried” Doyoung pinched the boy’s nose making him scrunch his nose cutely.

Taeyong had spent his morning with Jaemin talking randomly about everything; they tried to get to know each other well since the younger was going to be part of their family soon. He learned a lot about Taeyong’s feelings when he had to forcefully leave Ten and Minhyung, how he was during their 18 years of separation. “I remember back in college, Ten was a freshman walking inside the cafeteria with books on his arms. I saw Taeyong look at him intensely but Ten never saw that, all he wanted was to eat and go dancing” Yuta sat beside Jaemin as his son and Taeyong were talking, “Taeyong was smooth, he stood up and asked for Ten’s number. He was really straight forward” Taeyong and Yuta chuckled. “Your mom kicked your father’s shin during their first meeting because your father, Hansol hyung at soccer” Taeyong added making Jaemin laugh, “we were weird college kids…Johnny was the only normal one among us but we had met Johnny during our last year in college where he was already in a 7-year relationship with Taeil hyung.” “Doyoung and Jaehyun met at the coffee shop where Ten was working part-time,  Jaehyun was a regular customer and Doyoung dropped by to give Ten his lunch…Jaehyun kept on pestering Ten for Doyoung’s number until dear Chittaphon got pissed off and wrote Doyoung’s number on Jaehyun’s arm using a marker which took him a week to completely remove it” Yuta narrated as he tried to remember how Ten and Doyoung were back then.

“Uncle Tae?” Jaemin looked at the older.

“Hmm”

“When I first looked at him, I always had this feeling that he’s really for me and I was right. Thank you for giving me Minhyung hyung” Jaemin smiled before excusing himself so he could check on Mark.