Mae, 3 Years Old

“Oh my gosh, Khunnie she looks so cute!” Wooyoung gushed over his daughter as he lead her down the road by the hand to the brightly coloured building at the other end. He saw Nichkhun nod affectionately at the pair of them from his side, his other arm interlinked with the older man’s. Nichkhun smiled at the little girl who wandered eagerly next to his husband, happy but also slightly emotional.

Today would mark Mae’s first day at school, and whilst she appeared to be rather excited about the whole thing, her parents couldn’t help but be at least a tad hesitant, since it was the first day she would spend apart from them - even if only for a few hours. As he took in her appearance, red pleated skirt and matching cardigan with little white socks, shiny black shoes and hair pulled into two loose ponytails, Nichkhun especially felt himself becoming distraught at the fact his baby (well, she wasn’t really a baby anymore) wouldn’t be at home all day any longer.

Still, he and Wooyoung both were incredibly proud of how well Mae seemed to be taking things - the prospect of being away from her fathers for a few hours didn’t seem to phase her much, which put the both of them at ease.

“Papa, is that school?” She asked sweetly, turning her head to look at Wooyoung with her giant brown eyes as she pointed at the single-storey building that had appeared on the left of them. Wooyoung nodded, moving his head to take in the appearance of the exterior of the school. It was fairly modern - built only a decade before, the website had said - with cheerful walls painted yellow and images of sunflowers and butterflies pasted over them. It had a flower garden at the front, and a gate that lead to a pathway wrapping around the side of the building to a small private playground at the back.

When they had first seen the place, Wooyoung and Nichkhun had immediately agreed that it was the best they had viewed so far and pretty much instantly signed Mae up there.

“Yes, Pumpkin, that’s school,” Nichkhun laughed, answering for Wooyoung as they turned off the pavement and entered through the gate at the front that separated the place from the road. Wooyoung finally let go of his daughter’s hand, allowing her to run forth into the building in front of them, whilst remaining linked with his husband as they followed her in.

A teacher approached the three of them, and they recognised her from their earlier viewing of the school prior to that day. She was a kind looking young lady, blonde hair scrunched into a tight bun and blue eyes, coming from somewhere in Europe.

She outstretched her hand first to Nichkhun and then to Wooyoung, greeting them briefly before bending down to meet Mae at eye level.

“Ahh, you must be Miss Mae Jang-Horvejkul,” she said, mimicking the action she had done to her parents by sticking her hand out with an open palm. She grinned as the little girl accepted her hand with her own and shook it loosely, nodding politely. The young lady pointed to the colourful name badge, which had been decorated with sunflowers and butterflies like the wall outside. “I’m Anna. I’m your new teacher. It’s not very often we have someone here with famous daddies, so I’m happy to meet you!” She chuckled.

She stood back up and faced Mae’s parents, “We only use our first names here because it's easier for the younger kids to remember,” she explained, shrugging happily as the two men nodded at her. She greeted them goodbye, and they watched as she ushered Mae and a few other children who had recently arrived down the corridor and into a classroom.

Once they had disappeared out of sight, Wooyoung turned to his husband and was surprised to see him sniffling quietly as he wiped his eyes. Out of the two of them, Nichkhun had always been the more emotional one when it came to big events involving their daughter - ever since they had brought her home, he was the one who always ended up crying out of joy at something.

“Are you crying, baby?” Wooyoung laughed quietly, bringing his husband close with a hug whilst not wanting to draw attention to themselves. He looked around them, and luckily not many of the other parents had seemed to recognise who they were, so he breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was to be pestered about their lives or their daughter especially when they were both feeling a bit emotional.

Nichkhun whispered back to him, smiling at him as he said, “Shut up, you know what I’m like when it comes to these things.”

He took a look around them, at the walls filled with childish artwork made by previous students over the years, and at the photos of whole classes of years past. He grinned as he thought about Mae’s own class being up there one day, on their last day of kindergarten - it was a long way away, but Nichkhun couldn’t wait to see what his daughter would look like at that age.

Wooyoung took his hand into his own as they walked out of the lobby; Nichkhun was still slightly tearful, so his husband wondered how to cheer him up. He remembered something, and curled his mouth into a smile as he asked, “Do you remember that park we went to on our first date? Let’s go there…”

A little while later they sat on a wooden bench overlooking a large duck pond - it was in front of the same pond, in fact, where they had shared their tentative first kiss. The both of them smiled at that memory, realising how long it had been since then.

Nichkhun glanced at a nearby oak tree, which had low lying branches leaning out over the surface of the water, and now had grass growing long about its roots. “We were so scared of each other back then and neither of us wanted to say anything,” he chuckled, recalling how long it had taken for the two of them to pluck up their courage and admit their feelings for the other.

The younger man beside him, whose head rested on his shoulder as he took in the beautiful view of the lake beyond them, laughed, “Yeah, and if I remember right, it was me who got fed up and asked you out here.” He looked up at the man he leaned against, grinning at his expression.

“Hey, I was still the one who kissed you first!” Nichkhun exclaimed, ready to dispute Wooyoung’s own opinions on the matter. He interlaced their fingers together with one hand and pointed with the other, “Right over by that tree…”

Wooyoung hummed as he agreed, “Fine, fine, you win…” He smiled at his husband as he raised his head. He leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek, which had become cold from the air outside, and muttered, “But I’m going to kiss you first this time.”

He grabbed the lapels of Nichkhun’s thick winter coat, angling him so that he faced his direction and wasted no time in dragging his body closer to his own. Nichkhun smirked at him, but made no move to kiss him, waiting for Wooyoung to do so. Sure enough, the younger man connected their lips, angling his head slightly so they connected more.

Nichkhun’s eyes fluttered shut and he realised that even after all this time, Wooyoung still had an effect on him. He supposed that he always would and vowed to never let the feeling of butterflies in his stomach go away, because he loved it so much. He wrapped his arms around his beloved man, sighing into their kiss in satisfaction. He swore it just kept getting better each time.

Wooyoung, whose hands remained firmly attached to the front of Nichkhun’s coat, smiled as he felt the other man’s strong arms wrap around his torso and pull their bodies flush with each other. He was suddenly glad it was so early and they were the only ones in the park, and slowly released Nichkhun’s collar, looping his arms loosely around his neck instead.

As they pulled their faces away from each other, he heard Nichkhun say something that made his heart beat even faster than it currently was.

“Thank you for cheering me up, dear. I love you, Youngie.”