---

 

Burnt oranges, reds and dim yellows paint the sky’s horizon as the sun bids farewell to the sky. The darkness from the night slowly swallows up any last bits of day life as the seconds tick by, leaving behind clusters of stars twinkling in the distance against the midnight blue canvas. It’s mesmerizing to witness such a slight and silent, yet drastic shift in the world. It reminds Seungyoon that he’s just a spec of dust on this planet. He takes a moment to admire this small moment, before he forces himself back to reality.

The reality that was dull, grey and boring.

 

He’s alone in the cramped room that he shares with two other people, who were now free from the confines of their pitiful office. Seungyoon vaguely remembers Yoongi and Jinhwan inviting him to tag along for dinner, to which he proceeded to decline. Yoongi snorted and rolled his eyes at Seungyoon’s predictable response.

Stray papers are cluttered everywhere and he can barely see the surface of his desk with the piles of files he’s got laid out. He’s also pretty sure Jinhwan has been secretly eating in the office during lunch again. The office reeks of Chinese takeout.

 

Friday nights where Seungyoon gets to come home early and have some time for himself had became a rare event. It came as an expected downside to his job— a career in the banking industry requires long boring hours at the office, filled with dry paper work and serious phone calls. But it pays big bucks and Seungyoon has a very hungry and demanding mouth at home to feed.

 

Seungyoon was barely finished with his report but his eyes are starting to hurt and all he wants to do is to go home to his son. He’s already missed dinner three times this week. Being a single father was taking a large toll on Seungyoon. His shoulders had started to ache with the accumulated stress for the past few days. He doesn’t remember the last time he had sat down with Taehyun and listened to the five year old’s exaggerated recounts of his day. He misses the small pleasantries, all the tiny joys in his life that was taken away by the demands of his work.

He misses the lazy Saturday mornings where the two of them could cuddle in Seungyoon’s warm bed for as long as they wanted. He misses spoiling his son with kisses (even though Taehyun always whines and wiggles out of Seungyoon’s grip, he knows Taehyun secretly loves the attention).

He misses his son, his family, his home.

 

It’s 9:25pm when he decides that enough is enough, and he shuts off his desktop with a loud sigh.

He rummages through the pile of papers and documents on his desk to retrieve his phone. His stomach drops when he sees five missed calls and six unread messages. It’s from Seohyun, their babysitter. Missed calls from her always meant bad news, and Seungyoon might start crying.

 

Seungyoon-sshi, what time would you be back home?

I allowed him to watch Peter Pan because he was upset. Hope it’s okay.

When will you be done?

Please pick up my calls! It’s urgent.

I have to leave soon, when can you be back?

Call me back asap!

 

Seungyoon calls her back in a heartbeat, but it goes right to the dial tone. He curses under his breath, and rushes out without wasting another second.

♡

 

Seungyoon lets out a loud sigh as he stands outside his apartment door, mentally preparing himself for the worst. His mind conjures up the worst-case scenarios; his kitchen had caught fire (highly unlikely, he’s pretty sure his gas stove doesn’t work anymore), Taehyun had ignored Seungyoon’s constant nagging (reminders) to stay away from the sharp scissors in the cabinet and he’s bleeding profusely out all over the living room couch.

 

He braces himself for the worst when he opens the door, but is instead greeted by the sight of Taehyun and Mino on giggling on the said couch. He sighs in relief.

 

Taehyun was sitting on Mino’s lap, arms wrapped around the older man’s torso as Mino excitedly whispers into his ear with bright twinkling eyes. Taehyun pretends not to be phased by the blatant excitement, but more giggles escape his lips.

Seungyoon raises an eyebrow, wondering if he should be concerned. Mino has always been a bad influence.

Mino whispers something to Taehyun, causing the five-year-old to turn back to look at Seungyoon, who was still standing by the door. “Appa!” Taehyun screams loudly, and wiggles off Mino’s lap. He runs over to Seungyoon, his tiny feet padding loudly against the wooden floorboards.

 

Seungyoon breaks into a wide grin, all the anxiety and stress floating away from his shoulders as his son jumps into his arms.

“Taehyunie!” Seungyoon calls back while carrying the kid in up and resting Taehyun on his forearms. “Have you eaten?” He presses a sloppy kiss on Taehyun’s soft chubby cheeks.

Taehyun has a violated look on his face as he exaggeratedly wipes his cheek with his hand. He offers Seungyoon a small nod. “Mino hyung bought pizza.”

Seungyoon hums in acknowledgement and then smothers Taehyun with more kisses, causing the young boy to squirm in his hold and whine loudly. “Stop, appa! It’s gross!”

“I just miss you.” Seungyoon whines back with a Busan accent, a habit of his that just unconsciously slips out when he’s at home. Taehyun continues to squirm about and Seungyoon’s forced to let him go. He runs off to somewhere, probably to his and Seungyoon’s shared room.

 

Seungyoon turns to Mino, who was looking at the father and son pair with a small smile on his face. He was dressed in a white button up with sleeves rolled up to his elbows with the first few buttons undone. He had changed into his black sweats and his hair is messed up.

Seungyoon walks up to the couch and plops himself down beside Mino with a loud sigh. “Sorry for the trouble, Mino. You must’ve been tired after work.” Seungyoon knows how ed up Mino’s sleep schedule is. He knows Mino’s habit of spending hours and hours at the studio and coming back home at ungodly hours.

“It’s fine, you know I don’t mind.” Mino winks. He gestures to the pizza box on the coffee table. “Have some.”

Seungyoon grabs a slice, smiling when he realizes it’s his favourite pepperoni pizza from his usual pizza joint down the street. It’s not the best quality pizza; it’s greasy and heavy, but it’s cheap and it remind Seungyoon of the pizza his mom used pack for him for lunch back in high school.

Seungyoon grabs a bite and uses his free hand to loosen up the tie that now felt like it was suffocating him. He was undoing the first few buttons of his shirt when he catches Mino staring at him with an indescribable expression in his eyes.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.” Mino says, but he still has that expression on his face. Mino’s gaze stays affixed on Seungyoon. (Not that Seungyoon notices, or anything.)

 

♡

The first time Seungyoon met Mino, was on an eventful and disastrous Saturday. 

 

First, him and his team had to go back to work to meet a client. But then, the client decided to drop out of their contract deal at the last minute, triggering chaos. When Seungyoon had returned to the office all irritated and pissed off, the new intern accidentally deleted an important Excel spreadsheet that took Seungyoon almost two days to finish.

To top it all off—the giant bow on top of the box of that was his day, the barista from the coffee shop near their office complex spilled steaming hot cappuccino down his expensive cotton Armani button-up, a gift from his mother. When the barista, Jimin, tries to wipe his shirt with a dirty dishcloth, he finally cracked. He was typically a cool headed guy, with little to no temper and an impressive amount of patience. But on that day, it seemed like the universe was set against him. The silent treatment and glares Yoongi threw at him for the rest of the day didn’t help either.

 

Taehyun was at Sandara’s place for the weekend, as per their agreement. Their divorce had just happened a year ago. It was odd, coming home to an empty apartment, but it was better off like this. Their split wasn’t messy, there was no screaming exchanged, no dramatic arguments or tears. Sandara is a great woman, and Seungyoon hopes that she will eventually meet a great man who could provide her with that one thing Seungyoon couldn’t; love.

On that fateful day, all he wanted at the end of all the tiring and gruesome events was to lie down on his soft mattress and hibernate; for preferably for ten years. But of course, things had to get worse.

 

It was sort of pathetic.

He’s standing at the front of his apartment door, re-evaluating his life choices when he realizes that he had left the keys to his apartment at his office. Great. Seungyoon briefly contemplates breaking into his own apartment, but he hasn’t eaten dinner and he’s pretty sure he couldn’t even take another step forward without losing his balance from exhaustion—let alone take down a door.

 

So, he just turns around, slams his back into the door and slides down in defeat.

 

He’s too emotionally and physically drained to go back to his office to get his keys, so he figures he’ll just grab them the next day. So he sits there, back pressed against the cold metal, feeling pity for himself, wondering what the hell did he do to deserve this. He curls up into a fetal position, legs folded in and rests his chin on his knees. He closes his eyes and falls in and out of sleep, moping by himself in the hallway.

 

He doesn’t know how long he was sitting there, but suddenly a voice broke the silence.

 

“Hey, you okay there?”

 

Seungyoon jumped at the unfamiliar and unexpected voice, head shooting up and eyes suddenly wide open. He takes in the image of the man standing in front of him, who was looking down at him with concerned eyes. The stranger’s short hair is dyed dirty blonde, styled messily. He’s wearing a simple green parka, some obscure band tee and ripped skinny jeans. It makes Seungyoon feels silly in his odd mix of a spare graphic shirt with a corporate straight laced, fitted blazer.

 

“Uh…” Seungyoon smartly replies, like the sharp and charming man he is.

The handsome stranger laughs at Seungyoon’s response. The man’s chuckle is low and deep and it makes Seungyoon’s palms sweat like a high schooler talking to their crush. “Are you alright? I mean, what are you doing here at the hallway at 1am?” To Seungyoon’s dismay, the stranger squats down to meet his gaze.

 

The stranger’s skin is deliciously tanned and his sharp features even more gorgeous up close. He was the textbook definition of tall, dark and handsome. my life, Seungyoon yells internally. The man offers Seungyoon a kind smile, but it doesn’t help calm down Seungyoon’s internal struggle. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I just... uh,” He lowers his voice, embarrassed. “Forgot my keys.” He ends it off with an awkward cough.

 

Seungyoon expects the man to just laugh it off and walk on, leaving Seungyoon’s pathetic alone in the hallway so he could resume his one man pity party, but the man plops himself beside Seungyoon with a soft groan. “Man, that must a lot.” The man pops open a can of beer he dug out from his backpack. Is this man crazy?

 

Seungyoon pretends he doesn’t stare at the man’s Adam’s apple as he takes huge gulps of the beer. “I’m Mino. Song Mino. You are?”

 

“Kang Seungyoon.”

“I haven’t seen you around before.” Seungyoon thinks out loud.

 

Mino grins. “That’s probably because I just moved in a few days ago.” He points to the door directly opposite Seungyoon’s own apartment door.

 

“Oh.” Seungyoon’s too sober for this. He needs alcohol in his system, preferably the stash he’s got stowed in one of the top shelves in the kitchen. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you or anything…”

 

“Nah, it’s fine. At least there’s a cute guy to keep me company.”

 

Seungyoon freezes because oh my god, is Mino flirting with him? “R-Right…” His cheeks and ears feel hot. Seungyoon already knows he probably looks like a giant tomato, all red and flustered. He’s too old for this.

 

“You don’t have to stay here, you know.”

 

“I don’t have to… but I want to.” Mino shuffles around his bag once again and pulls out another can of beer. He offers it to Seungyoon. “Want one? You seem a little stressed out.”

 

Seungyoon politely takes the can with a small smile. “Is it that obvious?” He grimaces. Of course it’s obvious, . I probably look like , Seungyoon internally yells at himself.

 

“Don’t take it the wrong way, handsome. You look pretty great, actually.” Mino winks, as if he had read Seungyoon’s mind. His eyes scan Seungyoon up and down, blatantly checking Seungyoon out. Seungyoon freezes, suddenly overly conscious about every muscle in his body.

 

“I like your Kanye shirt.”

Seungyoon awkwardly laughs. “Thanks? But it’s borrowed,” he explains. He had to take off his coffee-stained button up shirt and exchange it for one of Yoongi’s spare workout shirts. (He didn’t even know Yoongi goes to the gym. Maybe he should tag along some day.)

 

“Ah…” Mino seemed to be deep in thought for a brief moment before he continues “Girlfriend? Wife?”

 

Seungyoon’s mind goes blank. Was he dreaming? Did he actually faint from exhaustion in front of his apartment and this whole cute-guy-flirting-with-him was all a hallucination?

 

“Unless it’s… your boyfriend’s?” Mino seemed anxious as he waits for Seungyoon to reply.

 

“W-What? No! I don’t have any of those! Someone spilled coffee on my shirt so I had to borrow it from one of my colleagues.”

 

“Oh, that’s good!”

 

Seungyoon coughs at Mino’s oddly cheerful tone.

 

“I mean, not the fact that someone spilled coffee on you! But like, good as in… you know… uhm,” That you’re cute and single, Mino thinks to himself. I can’t say that! He struggles to find a reasonable excuse to say out loud, making some weird choking noises but he ends up laughing it off. He takes another huge gulp from his can of beer.

 

“So, are you just going to stay out here all night?” He tries to change the topic.

“Not like I have another choice.” Seungyoon fiddles with the unopened can of beer in his hands. It was no longer cold.

“Then, you want to spend the night in my apartment?” Mino asks casually.

“What?!” Seungyoon’s face burns hot red in embarrassment.

Did he seem like an easy man? Seungyoon knows he looks pathetic and sad, but it was uncalled for.

 

Mino bursts out in laughter, shoulder hunched over and he clutches his stomach as he tries to catch his breath. “Not like that, ert—” He tries to continue his sentence but he just couldn’t stop laughing. Seungyoon sends him a death glare. “Just crash on my sofa or something. It’s not really safe to be out here all night.” Mino finishes, desperately gasping for air.

 

“Oh,” Seungyoon just wants to curl up in a ball. Maybe if he squeezes himself as small as he could he could disappear from this world and never have to see his cute neighbour ever again. He just thought that Mino wanted sleep with him. How embarrassing. Seungyoon mentally scolds himself.

Then again, he was dead tired and beat. The thought of him sleeping on some sort of cushioned surface and not the cold hard cement floor of their apartment building sounded like heaven. Mino also seemed like a good and friendly guy, so why not? …Right?

 

“C’mon, you’d be my honourable first guest.” Mino prompts him, jiggling his apartment keys in front of Seungyoon’s face as if Seungyoon’s some kindergartener being tempted with candy.

 

“You sure?”

 

Mino smiles brightly. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, cutie.”

 

♡

Seungyoon learns that Mino has an extensive comic book collection, which he briefly appreciates. He’s too exhausted to ask about it more, and Mino probably had noticed it because he doesn’t attempt to make any further conversation. He just offers Seungyoon a t-shirt and black sweats and points him to the toilet.

 

When Seungyoon goes to the living room, all changed in Mino’s spare clothes, Mino had already placed a pillow and blanket on the couch. They exchange brief goodnights.

 

Seungyoon fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

 

♡

They exchanged numbers. Mino had saved his contact name as “my hot neighbour” in Seungyoon’s phone, probably as a joke.

(Seungyoon still hasn’t changed it, because it’s very much true. Don’t tell Mino that, though.)

♡

 

They stay friends, exchanging text messages frequently. And by frequently, Seungyoon really means everyday. Mino likes to give Seungyoon updates of his life, sending him random pictures of his meals to empty packets of crisps piled up in his recording studio.

Seungyoon learns that Mino is one of the main producers at a huge entertainment company, likes to collect comic book figurines and has a habit of staying at the studio until dawn. Either that or he stays cooped up in his apartment for days, spending hours at his home studio setup.

Seungyoon smiles when he hears the songs Mino had produced on the radio. He also had downloaded some songs to his iTunes account and listens to it when he commutes to work and back home, even though hip hop music isn’t his favourite.

 

It’s not a crush, Seungyoon tries to convince himself.

♡

 

When Mino first meets Taehyun, he’s got an unreadable expression on his face. He looks shocked, almost betrayed. Seungyoon knew it was bound to happen, Taehyun was always there during weekdays and Mino lives just across their apartment.

They meet coincidentally at the hallway one morning. Mino was dressed in a black leather jacket with matching leather pants and his eyes are lined gently with black eyeliner. He looked absolutely sinful.

“Hi.” Taehyun waves to Mino, captivated by the man. Mino breaks out of his trance, recovering from the initial shock.

“Hey kiddo!” Mino waves back to Taehyun. He looks up at Seungyoon, eyes filled with confusion and expectation. He wanted answers.

“Taehyunie, this is Mino, our new neighbour.” Seungyoon fixes Taehyun’s bag straps as he explains. He then looks up and smiles apologetically to Mino. “Mino, this is my son, Taehyun.”

 

“Nice to meet you! I’m five years old!” Taehyun shouts loudly, his voice echoing through the hallway. He holds up five chubby fingers proudly.

Mino nods, obviously trying to absorb the new information. He gives Taehyun a big, friendly smile. “Hi Taehyun! Nice to meet you. I’m twenty seven, so call me hyung, alright?” Mino holds his hand up, prompting the younger to give him an enthusiastic high five.

“Okay hyung!” Taehyun giggles happily.

 

♡

 

“I wished you had told me earlier, though.” Mino gently nudges Seungyoon’s side as they wait for the elevator to arrive.

“Sorry, I just…” didn’t know how to say it. Seungyoon bites his lip.

“No, it’s totally fine.” Mino shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugs. He smiles gently at Taehyun who was playing with his Spider-Man action figure by himself. “He’s really cute. Just like his father.”

 

It works out, somehow.

♡

 

“Seungyoon-ah, you should buy this!” Mino ran up excitedly to him, holding a box of funfetti cake mix and showing it to him.

 

“No, Mino.” Seungyoon rejects his suggestion calmly, too busy inspecting the label of a can of peas to spare Mino even a glance. He sees Mino deflating at the corner of his eye. Seungyoon imagines Mino as a giant golden retriever, eyes drooping sadly at his owner’s rejection. “Please put it back Mino, we don’t need it.”

 

“You don’t need cake but you need peas?!” Mino asks, utterly offended. “I thought you were a good man, Kang Seungyoon!”

Seungyoon sighs.

 

He doesn’t even know why Mino cares so much, it wasn’t like they were living together or anything. Even Taehyun seemed uninterested with the whole conversation, just sitting calmly in the trolley, playing with a bag of potatoes. Then again, Seungyoon knows Mino well enough to not question his intense passion for cake.

 

“Fine, Mino. Just one.” Seungyoon finally surrendered.

“Yay! You’re the best!” Mino cheers in happiness, giving Seungyoon a bag hug out of pure joy as he hands Taehyun the box. Seungyoon rolls his eyes. Sometimes he wonders if Taehyun was the only five year old in the vicinity. Mino’s like an excited oversized child, it’s almost adorable if Seungyoon hadn’t psyched himself out to think that it was annoying.

 

 

“Jinwoo seonsaengnim!” Taehyun suddenly shouts, waving the box of cake excitedly.

They follow the kid’s gaze to see a beautiful tall man with pale skin and shiny doe eyes. There’s some sort of glowing heavenly aura surrounding the man. He looks like an angel, with kind eyes that shines brightly as he smiles at Seungyoon’s son. “Taehyun-ah! It’s nice to see you here!”

“Oh, is this your father?”

 

Seungyoon could feel Mino’s hand still wrapped around his waist with a firm grip. He laughs awkwardly and offers Jinwoo a handshake. “Hi! It’s nice to finally meet Taehyun’s favourite teacher! I’m Seungyoon.”

Jinwoo takes his hand and bows politely. “Taehyun loves to talk about you! It’s great to meet you.” He looks at Mino expectedly. “And you are?”

“Mino,” was the short reply Jinwoo received. Seungyoon turns around to give Mino a glare, warning the man to be polite. Mino just gives him a nonchalant shrug.

 

“Hyung, what are you doing here?” Taehyun asks the teacher innocently, wide eyes staring up at the angelic man.

“I’m buying groceries, of course!” Jinwoo laughs. The man’s laugh reminds Seungyoon of silver bells ringing gently on a hot summer’s day. Mino pinches his sides. Seungyoon lets out a-not-so-manly squeak.

 

 

“Ah, Taehyunie, have you told your dads about the talent show?”

 

Taehyun nods excitedly. Seungyoon smiles and ruffles Taehyun’s hair out of pure adoration. He knows how hard Taehyun has been working on his performance. He knows this because of how many times he’s been kicked out from the room to let Taehyun rehearse for the talent show. (“It’s top secret, appa. You can’t see.” Taehyun reasons.) But for some reason, Mino was allowed to stay and watch Taehyun. Mino refuses to let Seungyoon know about Taehyun’s performance. Ungrateful brats.

 

“I know you’re very busy but I really hope you and your husband can make it!”

Husband? Wait, what?

 

“We’re not—” Seungyoon tries to explain.

“Of course we’d be there. Wouldn’t miss our Taehyunie’s special performance.” Mino interrupts him, hands tightening around his waist.

Seungyoon just freezes. His mind goes blank and his heart skips a beat. Uhm.

 

“That’s great! In that case, I’ll see you both there!” Jinwoo seems to be thrilled by the news. He pinches Taehyun’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Taehyunie.”

 

♡

 

“What was that?”

 

“What was what?”

 

Seungyoon rolls his eyes as he passes Mino another plastic bag of groceries. Thank god Mino had a car. The back trunk was packed with about a dozen bags of groceries. Seungyoon wonders how hard his life would be without Mino (and his car, Seungyoon mentally notes). “You know what I’m talking about! The thing with Jinwoo.”

 

“Tch. Shouldn’t I be asking you about it instead?”

 

“What are you talking about?” Seungyoon asks, completely baffled.

 

“You were obviously flirting with him. I didn’t know you were into the pretty boy type.”

 

Seungyoon raises an eyebrow.

 

“Then what kind of boys did you think I like?” He teases.

Mino pouts exaggeratedly and gives Seungyoon his best set of puppy dog eyes. “Me.”

 

 

Seungyoon chokes and splutters, caught off guard at the whole situation. His heart thumped rapidly against his rib cage, as if it was about to burst from his chest out of pure bliss. Heat rises up to his cheeks and the back of his neck, flustered at Mino’s response. He tries to resist the smile trying to creep onto his lips, failing miserably.

 

He gathers up the remnants of his sanity and shoots back. “But you’re a pretty boy too.”

“Wait, so you like boys?” Mino’s eyes widen in confusion.

 

“Only the pretty ones, apparently.” Seungyoon winks at Mino. He laughs when Mino blushes. Yeah, very pretty. He flicks Mino’s forehead, ignoring Mino’s hiss of pain and rolls his eyes. “You’re such an idiot.”

 

♡

 

“Does he and your appa sleep together in the same bed?” Jihoon asks, tapping his index finger on his chin, deep in thought. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration. Jinhoon is a six year old on a mission.

 

“Sometimes… when Mino hyung is too lazy to go home.” Taehyun answers. He went to Jihoon hyung because despite his short structure, he was probably the wisest friend Taehyun had.

 

“Does he come over frequently?”

 

“All the time!”

 

“Does he give you kisses and cuddles and presents?”

 

“Yes! I love them a lot!”

 

“Then, does he kiss your appa?”

 

Taehyun thinks intensely. He remembers Mino hyung pressing gentle kiss on the back of his appa’s hand once when Seungyoon had to leave for work. He also remembers that one night. His appa was sleeping on their couch, tired from a long day’s work. His head was resting on Mino hyung’s lap as if it was a pillow and Mino hyung was wearing a small smile as he leans down to give a brief peck on the sleeping man’s lips. He looks up and catches Taehyun’s curious gaze. Mino hyung smiles and presses his index finger on his lips. Keep this a secret, okay? Taehyun nodded enthusiastically in silent agreement. Mino hyung then gave him a thumbs up.

 

That kiss was their secret, shared between Mino and Taehyun. But Taehyun figures Jihoon could know about it. What Mino hyung doesn’t know won’t hurt him. “Yes he does!”

 

“Then, they’re dating, of course!” Jihoon concludes proudly. “Congratulations, Taehyunie.” The older boy pats Taehyun’s head despite being several centimetres shorter.

 

Taehyun couldn’t stop smiling the whole day.

 

♡

It was another busy day at work that flew by in a blink of an eye. His phone buzzes as he receives a new message from Mino.

 

i know you’re still at work!! :( u should go home early and eat dinner with taehyunie today. ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨

 

 

Seungyoon catches Yoongi staring at him. “You’re smiling. Girlfriend?”

 

“W-What? No, no, no. It’s no one. No one at all, hyung.”

 

“Right. That’s very convincing, Seungyoon-ah.” Yoongi deadpans.

 

It was already the end of the day. Seungyoon had only realized it was half past six when Hyejin from Human Resources knocks on the financing department door. She’s wearing high heels today and the sound echoes loudly throughout the almost office, alerting everyone in the vicinity about her presence. Not that she needs any more presence. Seungyoon sometimes has nightmares about her angrily yelling at him when he asks for a day off.

 

“You guys are still working? Everyone’s going home.” She says, one eyebrow raised up.

 

Yoongi, his senior and team mate groans loudly and takes a huge gulp from his cup of convenience coffee. The interns are terrified of him because he seems to always wake up at the wrong side of the bed and he always just gives him an uninterested grunt when they ask him for advice. Seungyoon’s the one who then goes in to try to mend the situation with his signature friendly smile and warm encouragements. He doesn’t blame Yoongi though. He’s a good worker, and he understands. He understands the long hours and the high expectations, and Yoongi also understands the struggle of being a single father.

 

“Yeah, yeah I’m going. Now piss off, Ahn.” Yoongi tries to shoo Hyejin away, but she just rolls her eyes in return.

 

“Whatever, you guys are in charge of locking up.” Finally, she leaves them alone, heels clicking away into the distance.

 

“I thought you still had to complete those files, hyung?” Seungyoon notes, fingers busily typing away at the office keyboard. The company should really invest in new keyboards that are less annoying. He swears his space key is malfunctioning. It lags every time and he has to click on it twice to get it to work. He sometimes likes to blame the said space key for his delayed reports.

 

“Yeah, I do. But it’s Jihoon’s sixth birthday today. I promised him I’d eat dinner with him. That brat.” Yoongi has a soft smile on his face. It’s a rare sight.

 

Jihoon, huh? Seungyoon knows Yoongi has a son, but they don’t really talk about it. He knows Yoongi’s a single father because of the picture of him and his son (who’s like a carbon copy of him; small, pale with sharp eyes) displayed proudly on his desk. He also knows Yoongi’s not married because he openly flirts with the barista from down the street. Also his left hand was missing a ring. Seungyoon just simply puts the puzzle pieces together and figures it out by himself.

 

“Oh, have fun hyung. Say happy birthday to Jihoon for me.” It’s kind of ridiculous, since Seungyoon has never met Jihoon. Yoongi chuckles anyway and pats Seungyoon’s shoulder as he walks past him.

 

“You better head home too.”

 

Seungyoon thinks about it for 0.1 seconds. “I still have—”

 

“Oh shut the up. When was the last time you picked your son up from school?”

 

Seungyoon doesn’t know how to answer him.

 

Yoongi throws the empty cup of coffee at him. It hurts, but Seungyoon’s in no position to complain. “Go home, Seungyoon-ah. You’ve worked hard.”

 

Seungyoon watches Yoongi walk out of their office. He notices the slight spring in his step and the new found ease of his usually tense shoulders. Seungyoon knows he hasn’t been home a lot lately, but he’s trying his best. He stares blankly at the paperwork cluttered around his table. He sighs, deciding that today’s the day he tries even harder to be the best father ever.

 

♡

 

Seungyoon decides that today’s the day he becomes the dumbest father ever.

 

It’s raining heavily- too heavily. The strong winds make it worse, drenching the both of them despite having umbrellas. Their clothes are soaked, fabric now heavy and sticking to their skin, chilling them right down to the bone. Seungyoon winces awkwardly when his leather shoes make loud squishing noises with every step he makes. His socks are wet. Gross.

 

They’re safely at the lobby of their apartment complex, but Taehyun’s less than amused. “You should’ve just called Mino hyung to pick me up. He owns a car.”

 

Seungyoon is mildly offended. “Yah, is this what you say when your father finally takes time off to pick you up? Mino hyung isn’t your father!” Nonetheless, he fishes out a packet of tissues from his briefcase and squats down to his son’s level to pat Taehyun’s face and hair dry.

 

“At least I wouldn’t have gotten wet.” Taehyun smirks mischievously.

 

Seungyoon gasps dramatically. “What are you trying to say?!” Seungyoon feigns fainting, falling against the floor with a soft thud. “Are you disowning your own father?”

 

Taehyun’s eyes widens as he looks around in panic to see if anybody was around. His pale and chubby face slowly becoming bright red, matching the red shirt of his uniform. “Stop it Appa! You’re so embarrassing.”

 

Taehyun leaves and walks up to the elevator, leaving Seungyoon sprawled on the floor in the middle of the empty lobby. Seungyoon laughs for a good minute before Taehyun yells at him to hurry up because the elevator had arrived.

 

♡

 

The elevator music softly fills up the comforting silence in-between them, the gentle melody sounding like a warm welcome home. “You should marry Mino hyung.” Taehyun suddenly says.

 

Seungyoon chokes on his saliva. “W-What?” He splutters out, looking at his son as if Taehyun had grown another head. The five-year-old looked like had just thought of the best idea ever. “Marry him for his car.” Taehyun reasons helpfully.

 

He can’t believe the words that are coming out of Taehyun’s mouth. “I have standards, Taehyunie.” Seungyoon ignores the creeping heat making the way to his cheeks and the way his heart is beating faster at the thought of him and Mino, married. Holding hands, cuddling, kissing, living together happily. Pft, how ridiculous. The kid’s got a sense of humour.

 

“Your face is red, appa.” Taehyun giggles.

 

“Have I not taught you that you should respect your elders, Taehyun?”

 

 

♡

 

“Mino hyung, do you love me and appa?” Taehyun asks Mino with a soft and small voice, sniffling at the end of his question. He was sitting on Mino’s lap, face buried in the older man’s chest. Seungyoon doesn’t know what Taehyun is crying over, but he figures that if he was more comfortable with telling Mino more than himself, he was okay with it. He knows he could trust Mino with his son. Hell, he’d trust Mino with his own life.

 

 

So, he stays hidden behind the wall, waiting for Mino’s answer.

 

Mino gently Taehyun’s hair in comfort, trying to ease the sobs from the boy. There’s a slight pause for a few seconds. A few seconds that felt like several lifetimes for Seungyoon. Then, Mino finally speaks.

 

“Of course, I love you and your appa. More than anything in the world.” Mino says as he embraces Taehyun in a big hug.

 

 

Seungyoon leaves quietly, leaving the two alone to have their moment together. He tries to ignore how much he likes Mino saying the words I love you.

 

♡

They learn a lot about each other.

 

Mino knows how hard Seungyoon works, so he sometimes drops by his office during lunch break to pass him a convenience store bought lunch set, or his favourite cup ramen and his usual brand of canned coffee.

 

Seungyoon knows Mino hates bean sprouts and peas, so he gained a habit of taking them out of his recipe when he makes jjigae, even when Mino isn’t visiting. They fall into some sort of routine, Mino picking Taehyun up from school on Fridays spending the night at their apartment. He also knows that Mino loves the smell of the fabric softener Seungyoon uses. When Seungyoon asks him why he keeps doing his laundry at their apartment, Mino smiles gently. “It smells warm and soft, like home. Reminds me of you and Taehyunie.” Mino explains.

 

Seungyoon couldn’t agree more.

 

 

 

“That and also because my washing machine broke. It’s too expensive for me to repair it.” Mino continues babbling on, ruining the moment.

 

Seungyoon throws handful of hangers at him. “Get out.”

 

♡

 

Mino’s fingers feel scorching hot as they feather his ghostly cold skin, fingers lightly pressing against his temples as Mino brushes a stray hair away. Seungyoon frowns and tenses slightly at the sudden affection and close proximity. “Hyung, what are you doing?”

 

“Hm?” Mino simply says in return, paying no attention as he runs his fingers through Seungyoon’s hair.

 

“What you are doing?” Seungyoon’s voice cracks slightly at the odd sensation.

 

“Why are you trying to--” Seungyoon mumbles out, trying to continue when Mino doesn’t respond but gets interrupted by the latter.

 

“You’re working late tomorrow, right? You need all the rest you can get.”

 

Seungyoon hums in appreciation, already half asleep; too tired to fight back and retaliate. In the darkness, the cuddles they shared felt like a little touch of heaven. The warm and cosy sensation at the bottom of Seungyoon’s stomach when their hands and intertwined together and their bodies are pressed against each other. Seungyoon wishes the moon would never leave the night sky, so he could stay closer to Mino, safe in his warm embrace. Seungyoon rests his head on Mino’s chest, sighing deeply in contented. Suddenly Mino’s arms are wrapped around Seungyoon’s waist and it brings him to a peace he’s never known before, a vast difference from his usually chaotic life. 

 

“You don’t have to phone for Seohyun, I’ll take care of Taehyun tomorrow.”

 

Seungyoon opens his eyes and blinks up at Mino. “You sure you can handle it?”

 

“Of course!” Mino whines, scoffing in disbelief.

 

Seungyoon tries to contain his laughter in. “You almost cried when Taehyun chased you with a pair of child-safety scissors.”

 

“H-Hey! He’s a scary kid! I swear, he was trying to maim me.”

 

“Don’t call my kid scary.” Seungyoon softly pinches Mino’s side and pouts playfully. “He’s literally five years old. He’s not going to maim you.”

 

“That’s what they all say.” Mino retaliates in a serious tone, but pulls Seungyoon in closer until he could feel Mino’s soft breath against his cheek. A hand ran through his hair, petting it gently.

 

“Now, sleep.” Mino says, with his voice that is deep and warm, a voice that sent a thousand tingly sensations down Seungyoon’s spine. He presses a soft kiss on Seungyoon’s temple. Wordlessly, his other hand rubs small circles on Seungyoon’s back, setting Seungyoon in a trance. Seungyoon sighs in complete content.

 

You take care of me so well.

 

Seungyoon suddenly realizes, as if he had suddenly gained a missing piece of himself when it was right under his nose all along. He remembers all the moments they’ve had for the past two years, the cups of coffee in the mornings, the encouraging emoji-filled messages Seungyoon receives when he had to work long hours into the night. He remembers moments like this, when he’s in Mino’s arms under his thick duvet.

 

In these moments, he feels like there is nothing in the world to fear. All there is is the dim moonlight streaming through his bedroom window, and warmth and safety wrapping around him.

 

“You do too.” he hears Mino say and then it dawns upon him that Seungyoon had said those words out loud.

 

 

Neither of them talk about it in the morning, because it’s okay like this (at least, Seungyoon tries to believe it is). They’re perfectly content with what they are right now. They’ll say these sweet words and share each other’s warmth at night, but in the morning they’ll go back to their regular, dry routines.

 

When Mino leaves for work in the studio and Seungyoon drives off to his office, often before the sun had fully risen in the sky, Seungyoon must stand alone again. Suddenly the heavy reality returns, the dream-like filter gone and the headache of the world returns to throb at his temples. Mino and Taehyun are the only medicine Seungyoon needs.

 

They are his light in the darkness, stars shining brightly in an otherwise vast and empty sky.

With the both of them by his side, Seungyoon doesn’t mind reality at all.

 

 

 

END.

---

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tbh i struggled to write this bc i'm having such a huge writer's block right now and i had to squeeze this one-shot out of me like my life depended on it lmAO ;; it was fun to write something that's not angsty for a change though! tell me what u thought abt it (^o^)/