Mark was exhausted by time their plane touched down in Incheon. International travel was tough on its own, but he'd never done it before with a kid in tow. Lou was, blessedly, generally well-behaved, but that didn't necessarily mean he could endure an over fifteen hour flight without getting bored and whiny. Mark himself felt like getting whiny during several parts of the flight, but kept himself in check for Jinyoung's sake. Even though the flight to see his parents was a long one, Jinyoung was anxious about it from the moment they lifted off the ground.

All the planning it had taken to get to this moment had kept him distracted at the beginning. They'd wanted to announce and finalize the engagement first—informing Mark's overjoyed family, buying the engraved rings that were now on their fingers—before they moved into the task of negotiating with Allison about letting Lou go to Korea with them. She and Jackson had had their reservations, but in the end agreed that it was important for Lou to have the chance to meet his international future-grandparents and hopefully smooth along the process of getting said grandparents to accept the marriage plans of their son in the first place.

Jinyoung had thrown himself into arranging the trip, getting the plane tickets, and packing when summer came. It was only when they were in the plane with hours of traveling ahead of them that he started freaking out about everything else he'd put off thinking of.

“What if we go all this way and they still won't accept the engagement?” he'd asked, squirming in their cramped seats. “What the heck are we going to do?”

“Shouldn't I be worrying about that?” Mark had asked. “If they send us packing again, isn't it because they don't think me and Lou are right or good for you?”

Jinyoung had looked horrified. “Don't even say that. There's no way they won't like you two, it's just not possible. If they don't want me to get married to you, it means they think I'll be a horrible father to Lou and will just mess up your life when I should be making it better.”

Mark highly doubted that. Jinyoung's parents probably adored their son more than anything and would see Mark as the one pushing him into a complicated life as the step-father of a grade schooler while Jinyoung was only in the first year of his professional life.

Still, Mark was far too sleepy and jet lagged to be too apprehensive as they made their way through the airport. He thought he would keel over at customs, but just barely made it through with both his luggage and Lou in hand to head out to the walkway where the sight of people lined up against the barrier holding signs for their arrivals reminded him that he certainly had something to be apprehensive over.

“Well,” Jinyoung said softly in Mark's ear, nodding towards two people at the edge of the crowd. “There they are.”

Mark wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but the Parks were fairly normal looking people. They weren't all that different from Mark's own parents back home—middle aged, pleasant looking, and dressed in the same clean, simplistic style. When they caught sight of Jinyoung, they couldn't hold back the smiles on their faces. Just as Mark thought, anything they may have felt over what was going on in Jinyoung's life didn't change their love for their son.

As soon as Jinyoung was in front of them, they threw their arms around him and spoke to him in an unending stream of Korean which Mark couldn't even begin to follow. They hadn't seen Jinyoung since he'd flown home for Chuseok a few years back, so Mark couldn't blame them for their excitement. It had been a long time.

When they finally drew away, they turned their attention to Lou and Mark. Mark introduced himself in the basic Korean Jinyoung had taught him before they'd left. “I'm Mark. I'm happy to finally meet you. This is my son, Lou.”

Lou had roused himself from his sleepiness to peer curiously at the two new strangers in front of him. “Halmoni?” he tried, using the form of address Jinyoung had taught him. “Halaboji?”

Jinyoung's parents beamed. Apparently, it wasn't going to take much for Lou to charm them, whatever they thought of Mark. “Lou,” Mrs. Park repeated. “How old?”

Lou lifted up seven fingers—he'd just had his birthday a few days ago. “I'm going to be in second grade!” he said brightly in English.

Mr. Park nodded to Mark. “He very cute.”

Mark smiled. There was nothing he liked more than someone complimenting his son.

It was also the last bit of English directed to him for awhile. With Lou and Mark safely introduced, the three Parks were off talking to each other in Korean again, nothing Mark could even come close to understanding. He simply followed after them, holding Lou's hand so he could also keep up.

They made it to a parking garage, where they all piled into a van. While they were buckling themselves in, Jinyoung finally leaned in towards Mark. “They said they think you're very handsome, like a model,” Jinyoung whispered to him. “Better suited for an actress than me.”

“Ah, yes, and actresses are just lining up to be with me.”

“More like the single mothers of Lou's classmates, but close.” He gave Mark's arm a squeeze. “You'll be fine. It's impossible not to love you.”

“You're a little bit delusional on that subject, but thanks.”

Lou dozed off again during their drive to the house, which was an hour outside of Seoul in Yangpyeong, and Mark felt a little like passing out himself. Still, he kept an ear open, listening to everything that was passing between the three Parks that might have to do with him or his son. Surely they had something to do with what they were talking about, but if so, he couldn't say with evidence. The words all blended together into one, and even the few words Jinyoung had taught him in his native language didn't leap out at him.

Mark must have drifted off at some point nonetheless, because Jinyoung shook him awake when they arrived at the house. It was on the small side, ideal for just two people living there, but when they showed him inside, it was clear they had a guest room to set aside for Lou. Mark and Jinyoung would be sleeping on futons in the main room, a neutral solution to deal with the lovebirds. They'd be together, but since they would be out in the open, there would be no real risk of them doing anything shy of some quiet skinship.

Mark excused himself for a moment to tuck a sleepy Lou in to bed. He mumbled incoherently as Mark got him into his pajamas, then promptly crashed on the bed, out like a light. Mark stayed in the room with him for awhile, nervous about going outside again, but finally in his breath and went back out.

Jinyoung and his parents were in a small sitting room, pouring light drinks to go around. Mark accepted his politely, then took a seat next to Jinyoung.

“Mark,” Jinyoung said slowly. “My parents have some things they want to say to us. If you don't mind, I'll translate everything for you, and if you have anything to say in return, I'll translate that as well.”

Mark nodded stiffly. This was the part he'd been dreading.

Mrs. Park went first. The look on her face wasn't as harsh as Mark worried it might be, but Mark wouldn't exactly call it overjoyed either. It seemed like they really weren't planning on accepting the engagement just like that.

After a few minutes, Jinyoung began translating. “She says that she knows I'm an adult,” Jinyoung said. “I've been living independently for a long time now. She can't tell me what to do, and she doesn't intend to force me into something with a woman if I don't plan on obeying, which I don't. She sees me so little that she doesn't want to fight and see me even less. She would have been upset about the grandchildren issue...but...it looks like I found my way around that.” He smiled thinly. “But her concern is about Lou.”

Mark's forehead wrinkled. “Lou? Why?”

Jinyoung nodded to his mother, who continued on. “Right now, he's young,” he translated. “He accepts without questioning, because he doesn't know to question. But in a few years, the things that seem easy to handle now will be difficult. Having such a complex family...having to explain to people...about us.” Jinyoung stared down at his hands. “She says if it was just us, it would be fine. But it's not right to make life hard for a child.”

Mark's cheeks flushed. “But if it's okay with Lou that we're together and it makes him happy, it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks. If other people hate us for it, why should their feelings count more than Lou's?”

Jinyoung translated, and Mr. Park answered this time. “Because if Lou spends his middle school and high school years being made fun of because of us, he won't be happy anymore,” Jinyoung said quietly. “We'll have made his life harder when it doesn't need to be.”

Mark in his breath. The incident Mrs. Sheffield had told him about with Lou's family picture had alerted him to the possibility, but he hadn't really wanted to look into it too deeply. It was the other kids' problem for not being understanding, not Lou's. But what if they were right? What if they were dooming Lou to endure years of taunting as the guy with a gay dad? Adolescent boys were the worst about that kind of thing, calling each other wimps and wussies and all sorts of terribly childish and hurtful things, and what if they used him against his Lou?

He tightened his fists. Was it really any better to prove himself a wimp by backing down easily? Things in America were changing, but they wouldn't change any faster if no one took any risks. There would probably be taunts, and Lou would probably have to face discrimination on their behalf. But he'd get another father who loved him out of it. He'd find out who his real friends were. Mark didn't think Kit would turn his back on Lou; in fact, he was pretty sure he'd stick up for him no matter what, especially given the fact that Kit had allegedly thrown a temper tantrum about having to be away from Lou for a few weeks when the Bhuwakuls told him he couldn't go to Korea with Tuans, according to BamBam. And Lou would find others to take his side. For all the people who didn't understand, there would be people that did. Maybe Lou would be able to change people's minds. Who really knew what would happen in the future? Mark didn't want to give up without giving them a chance to actually try.

“You can tell them that if I wasn't absolutely, 100% sure that you were the right person to raise Lou together with me, we would have never made it this far,” Mark said firmly. “My son's future is also one of the most important things to me, and I believe that whatever any of us might go through, we'll get through it by banding together.”

Jinyoung smiled tenderly, then relayed this message to his parents. They talked among themselves for a few moments before finally turning back to Jinyoung and giving him an answer.

“They said you speak well. And that you know Lou better than they do, so they'll take your words to heart.” Jinyoung touched Mark gently on the shoulder. “But they want to see for themselves. They said they'll witness if you and I and Lou really mean it, then reflect on giving their blessing again.”

Mark nodded. He didn't think he could expect much more for the time being. Based on what Jinyoung had told him about his native culture, it seemed they had been fortunate that his parents were even willing to hear him out at all instead of outright denouncing him as their son.

The difficult part out of the way, the Parks moved on to quizzing Mark about his life. How was his ex-wife? Jackson? His parents? How stable was his job? How much money was their household bringing in? Was his apartment good? Did he drive? Was Lou receiving a quality education? Mark's head was spinning so much that he was relieved when Jinyoung eventually insisted that they were tired from the flight and needed to catch some sleep.

At long last, they laid out the futons and snuggled into them, exhausted and still a bit disoriented. Before they closed their eyes to get some much needed sleep, Jinyoung crept closer to him, wrapping his arms around Mark's back. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Mmm?”

“For standing up for me. For saying I'm the right person to help you raise Lou.”

“Well, you are. You have been. Pretty much since day one with the gingerbread cookies and the Christmas tree and going sledding. I think you may have even won me over with how much you won over my son.”

“Thank you. As long as that's not the only thing you love about me.”

Mark smiled. “Of course it isn't. I'll prove that to anyone with doubts, too. There's no way I'm giving the rest of my life to anyone but you.”

He felt a little bit less anxious the next day with Lou up and about being his normal self. Jinyoung's parents probably understood only 20% of what he was saying most of the time, but it didn't seem to stop them from getting wrapped up in his energy. They recommended an outing to the zoo in Grand Park to show him around the area a little bit, which wound up being a hit with Lou. At each exhibit, they would stop and teach him the Korean names for all the animals, which helped them communicate a lot smoother through the day. Mr. Park also had a lot of fun imitating all the animals as best he could, which practically had Lou rolling over with laughter. Almost every five minutes, he would beg Mr. Park to pretend to be a lion again. “Saja! Saja!”

Mrs. Park lingered closer to Jinyoung and Mark. “Like little Jinyoung,” she said to Mark in broken English, nodding to Lou.

“He was like that as a kid?” Mark asked.

Mrs. Park nodded. “Energy. Many questions. Laugh a lot.”

“The complete opposite from now,” Jinyoung joked. “I'm 100% serious all the time, no energy.” He translated his comment for his mother too, who snorted and responded back to him in Korean.

“She says I did get too serious when I was older,” he told Mark. “And worried about a lot of things I shouldn't have. She says if I didn't worry so much, I wouldn't have had to go to America.”

“Is she right?”

Jinyoung shrugged. “I overreacted about the situation a little, probably. But I won't say I did the wrong thing. I was able to meet you because I went to America, right?”

Mark smiled and nodded. That was definitely the best way of looking at it. Still, Mark did feel a little bad for Mr. and Mrs. Park. They probably didn't know the details, but they'd essentially lost a huge part of watching their son grow up because he'd been rejected by a childhood crush. Maybe that's why they were worried on Lou's behalf—maybe they felt like they'd failed their own son.

Mrs. Park said something else, and Jinyoung hesitated for a moment before turning back to Mark. “She says...you can't tell children what to do. You try, but they'll make their own paths and make their own mistakes. You just have to wait for them to come back, box their ears for being fools, then make them a warm dinner for being your beloved child.”

“Spoken from experience?” Mark asked gently.

Jinyoung nodded sheepishly. “But she says I'm not coming home a fool this time. I'm taking a difficult path, and she wants to make sure I understand that and don't make things difficult for others.”

“Do you understand it?”

“Please don't forget who's known about their uality since they were a teenager. I've never assumed my life was going to be easy.” He took Mark's hand. “But the thing is, I didn't think it was going to be happy, either. If I had to be proven wrong about one thing, I'm glad it was that. It was worth a few foolish mistakes. And getting my ears boxed.”

“I'm personally hoping Lou forgets to have a rebellious phase, though.”

“Well, he's yours and Allison's kid, right? He's got some pretty good genes working in his favor.”

A few minutes later, Mr. Park pulled Mark aside and asked him to help him pick out some ice cream for Lou at a nearby kiosk. Jinyoung offered to join them, but Mr. Park gently turned him down. He clearly had something to say to Mark without needing an interpreter around.

“So,” Mr. Park said as they examined the different flavors. “You marry girl before. Why you want marry son?”

Mark sighed. Jinyoung had warned him this subject would come up, but Mark wasn't even sure he had the right words to answer. He was fairly ambiguous when it came to his own uality, and it had essentially stopped mattering to him when he'd fallen in love with Jinyoung, since whether it was a guy or a girl, he had zero intentions of falling in love with anyone else. But he doubted Jinyoung's parents would easily understand his feelings on the subject. It was complex, but there was one simple thought at the heart of it.

“I love Jinyoung,” he said simply. “That's why I want to marry him. My previous marriage doesn't change that.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Park said. He pointed to the board listing flavors in front of them. “Mint or peanut butter?”

Mark wasn't sure what that response meant, but he let it go for the time being. He understood well enough that he was being carefully observed for them to decide if he was right for Jinyoung or not. He wasn't exactly sure what evidence they were looking for, but he wasn't going to allow them to misunderstand the fact that he was really, truly in love with their son.

Lou was waiting eagerly for them when they got back. “Daddy, daddy!” he said jumping up and down. “Daddy Jinny can do the saja roar, too! Listen!”

Jinyoung did muster a fairly credible roar, but Mark was smiling more at Lou's endearment for Jinyoung than anything. He hoped a moment like this was the right proof the Parks were trying to find. Lou looking up at Jinyoung with his awestruck, happy eyes, Jinyoung more content and confident than he'd ever been before, and Mark wondering what he'd ever done to have been so blessed, having so much love right there in front of him after turning his back on it for so long.