Ziyu woke up to the delicious smell coming from his most favorite part of their home. Baba must have made his favorite for breakfast. The little boy groggily sat up from the bed, hair a mussed up cloud on top of his head, and his one side of his chubby cheeks was filled with lines from lying on his comforters for too long.

When he finally emerged from his bedroom, a smiling, jolly Luhan baba greeted him a good morning before ushering him to his spot at the table. “Guess what I made for breakfast!!” Baba said merrily.

The little boy scrunched his nose, and pretended to think deeply, although he’s already quite sure what the answer is. “Hmm…” he sniffed. “Ohh...Is it waffles, is it waffles?!” he replied.

 

It is when Luhan Baba clapped his hands and ruffled his hair before serving a plateful of waffles (with blueberries!) on the table that Ziyu got his answer.

 

In the middle of their meal, while the little boy  was busy munching on his second serving, a set of knocks came on the door and Luhan baba was quick on his feet to see who it was. Probably his Uncle Baekhyun who never fails to drop by every week to check up on them. But, when he had hopped off of his chair and went to see, the person by door looked far from his Uncle Baek. It was Baba’s friend, and also his dance teacher!

“Sehunnie hyung!!” almost screeching, Ziyu bolted towards the elders and quite literally flung himself on the elder.

Sehun, on the other hand, had been caught off guard. His arms automatically reached out to catch the little boy. “Ziyu baby, be careful.” he lightly laughed, setting him down carefully and closing the door behind him. Luhan could only watch the two in awe, and admired how gentle the other was to Ziyu.

 

 

Actually, the two had started off on the wrong foot. with Ziyu constantly pouting whenever it was Sehun who will be teaching them for the day. Luhan had thought twice about letting his son continue his dance classes, but eventually, the pouting stopped and Ziyu began to come home with a bunch of stories about his teacher Oh Sehun. They grew closer ultimately. And the dance-school Moms, Ziyu’s classmates, and Luhan himself became bare witnesses to Sehun’s endearing fondness towards the little boy in their small class of ten.

 

---

 

As Luhan could recall, It was even his son who had introduced Sehun to him one Friday afternoon after the little boy had finished helping out in folding the mats in their dance studio. He had (literally) dragged his father inside where his teacher Sehun was busy sweeping the floor. Luhan, although he’d never admit it out loud, was instantly smitten by the dance teacher’s sharp looks. He managed kept it cool though, or as he liked to tell himself.

On the other hand, the taller of the two adults had been the one who fumbled with the broom in his hand when Luhan had reached out for a friendly handshake. “You must be Ziyu’s...brother?” Sehun had asked him.

Luhan guffawed, his jaw looking like it’s going to fall off of his face. Yet still, Sehun thought he had never seen anyone quite as celestial. Beautiful. The word nearly spills from his mouth had he had not been careful enough. The last thing he wanted was to weird out his student’s parent, all the more since Ziyu was one of the kids he had grown a little too fond of. The other shook his head and said, “Oh no, no! I’m actually his Father, Luhan.”

The little boy followed with an “uh-huh, this is my Baba, teacher.”

Sehun cleared his throat, muttered an apology and introduced himself to the other. “I’m really sorry about that. I honestly thought you--I mean--uh, you look very young.” he replied.

That’s really cute, Luhan thought to himself. No wonder his son liked this teacher a lot.

Ziyu had then wiggled in-between the two and, with the most irresistible puppy eyes, asked his Baba if he could let him attend more days in the dance class since he only attended the classes three times a week. That would mean coming  to the studio during Friday afternoons, which is practically not possible due to Luhan’s job. “But baby, you know Baba works really late on Fridays, remember? Uncle Baekhyun can only pick you up from school and look after you at home.” Luhan reasoned.

It led to a Ziyu profusely pouting, and Luhan pouting back at his son. And Sehun, on the side, was caught in-between the two; not surprised by how similar they were. With much familiarity towards situations where kids squabble with their parents, Sehun decides to offer his services--because, why not?

“Ah, uhm..excuse me.” he mumbled, loud enough to catch their attention. Ziyu’s pouting face was facing him, and it then hit Sehun that it was nearly impossible to say no to the kid. He had done it a couple times before for the other dance-school parents. From accompanying them while they wait for their parents to helping them get back to their homes before daybreak, Sehun had been diligent. “If it’s alright with you, Mr. Lu, i could pick up Ziyu from school during Fridays and bring him home.”

For some reason, his palms began to sweat coldly at the possibility of rejection from the other. Then again, he thought, generally parents usually don’t just leave their kids to other people--much more to someonone they’d just met. Nevertheless, before Luhan could even answer, Sehun already got a very excited and squealing Ziyu leaping into his arms. It was then followed by a brief discussion and a still a bit hesitant Luhan, but was eventually settled.

Albeit his still clammed up hands, Sehun felt nothing short of elated. It wasn’t that he had any motive other than helping his student out, but it would nice--he thought--to get to know the Luhan more.

From then on, things had only looked up.

 

----

 

Now, in the present time, as the trio sat in the cozy table and munched on the delicious food, the awkward air no longer existed between the two adults. Both sehun and luhan found it hard to believe there was actually a moment in time when they would tango around, telling the other to speak first whenever they ended up talking at the same time.

Ziyu--if it’s even possible--had grown incredibly fonder of his dance teacher, even going as far as dragging Sehun towards their table and feeding him his own share of his Baba’s cooking. “Say aaah, teacher!” he had cutely said, to which Sehun eagerly opens his mouth to.

“Be careful, you might spill the food.” Luhan, who was sitting across the two, laughed lightly at the amusing scene. He never really expected anything out of the time Sehun had approached him about helping out with getting his son extra days for his dance classes, since it was probably something he normally does for his students. And yet here they are, months later. Although the thought still looms with caution in his head, Luhan was glad the his son had found a friend in the elder. And although he still doesn’t want nor like to admit, he had found the other’s presence comforting as well.

To Sehun, he was grateful.

He was struck with the warm feeling of solace just by observing how the two interacted with each other. So familiar that, if one from a different perspective looks at them, it almost seems as though Sehun is a part of their small family.

In their humble two-bedroom home, where the walls are covered in bright floral patterned wallpapers and the floors are made of wood that gets a little too chilly at night. Luhan allowed himself to a crisp daydream of what it’d be like to have Sehun be a part of home.

He froze. Rewind. Delete. Don’t be silly, Luhan thought to himself. Silly how one can easily mistake another’s kindness for something more.

“--Han…Luhan hyung? You okay?” Sehun’s voice brought him back. The look on his face, questioning.

“Huh? Y-yeah, i’m fine. Just remembered something.” Luhan answered, offering a smile to the two, although Ziyu had missed it as he was busy snacking on his waffles.

Sehun nodded, then mentioned the other’s plan to visit the mall to buy stuff for Christmas. It was a shot in the dark, but it surprised Luhan that he’d offered--again--his help. “I mean, if it’s okay with you. I could help carry the stuff.” he said.

“Is Ziyu coming?” the little boy perked up from his seat, his equally little feet swung to and fro.

“Of course you are, bud!” Sehun answered for him. The little boy squealed.

And even though Luhan did not mean to, he felt something fluttering in his chest.

 

----

 

It was a bad idea, coming to the mall this late. He should have listened to Baekhyun when he had offered to shop with him weeks ago. The mall was packed and had there been no Sehun to accompany them, Ziyu would be on a tantrum by now.

The first stop was the mini-Japanese novelty store. Luhan had long given up debating on whether he should buy clothes or settle for things they could actually make use of at home, and just went for the latter. It would be fun--he thought--to see his co-worker, Kyungsoo, stare at him with his owlish eyes while questioning why in the hell had he bought him a banana slicer.

They had fun picking out the weirdest things to gift Luhan’s friends with and chasing Ziyu down the aisles. Seeing Sehun carry the little boy on his shoulders was also a great sight to see. And when they went to pay for the stuff they bought, Luhan hadn’t noticed the blushing red that had crept up Sehun’s face until his ears when one of the store clerk complimented them for being such a cute family.

The last thing Sehun wanted was another awkward air between them though, so he kept it cool, put on his best stoic face and said that they were just friends. A line that’s been told way too many times.

He, too, missed the pout on Luhan’s face on their way out.

 

 

After that, the trio continued to walk around the mall, Sehun’s shoulder brushing up against his--though he pretended not to notice--and looked for more presents to buy. Regardless of the crowd that filled the place, the christmas decors that were placed all over  helped distract them, especially Ziyu who was beginning to get a bit restless.

Luhan, though, had been preoccupied with unwarranted thoughts since they left the novelty store. There, in a corner of his heart, were stirrings. Almost like feelings, but not quite. And they were all for the person walking by his side. Weird, because they had spent a significant amount of time in each other’s company (plus Ziyu) and yet he hadn’t felt a thing. Or at least he thought so.

Perhaps it was there after all and only needed to be magnified. He isn’t sure.

“Hyung, will you buy that for me? I’ll sing you a Christmas song in return!” Ziyu’s voice rang in his father’s ears, snapping him out of reverie. He sees the two standing in front of a toy store and the little boy ogling at the Ironman action figure on display.

Sehun, in return, chuckled and said he would as long as Ziyu sings him two songs. And when he turned to Luhan--perchance--to seek an approval, he then again felt his cheeks burning and turning red at the sight of the other beaming at them. There, in the midst of the sea of people walking around and stumbling across each other, Luhan looked ethereal. Cheesy as it may sound, but it was then that Sehun finally figured out what he wanted for Christmas.

“Baba, can we buy the toy? Please, oh please!”

“Well, alright. But you better start practicing on those Christmas songs, okay?”

 

----

 

They were pooped out by the time they reached home. Ziyu was already fast asleep in Sehun’s shoulder, though the Ironman action figure was still held tightly in his arm, and Luhan was ready to hit the sack as well. On the other hand, Sehun had volunteered to bring their newly bought presents to the living room after putting the little boy to bed.

“Sehun-ah” Luhan called out. “Are you coming over tomorrow for Christmas Eve dinner?” Honestly, he’d felt a little excited about asking. But that rush was quick to die down when the other said he wasn’t sure if he could.

“I might have somewhere to go, so...raincheck?”

Despite his efforts in hiding the disappointment in his voice when said it was fine, it didn’t go unnoticed. “Well if you ever decide to, We’re having christmas turkey.”

“Alright. Merry Christmas Lu.”

“Merry Christmas, Sehun-ah.”

 

----
 

The following day finds Ziyu running around the living room with his seemingly newfound favourite toy while his baba busied himself with preparing their dinner. He’d made sure to make everything special despite it being only the two of them who’ll be celebrating Christmas day. Luhan sighed in the middle of his work when the memory from last night flashed inside his head again. ‘It’s not like i was expecting or something’ he pouted, and continued with the table napkins.

“Hi, Baba. Can I help?” It was his little boy, peering from the other side of the table. What would Luhan do without this angel?

They worked side by side in putting the plates in place along with the spoons, forks and knives. With  Ziyu playfully bumping hips with him (well, it was more of a hip to leg ratio), the elder was quick to forget about what had happened the night before. Well...until, “Baba, do you like Sehun hyung?” the boy asked.

“Hmm, of course baby. He’s a very nice person, right?”

Ziyu nodded in reply and continued, “well, do you more than like hiiiim? Like, love him? Can he be my other baba?”

Caught off-guard, Luhan almost flings the fork in his hand at the question. He hadn’t seen this coming, but he knew all too well that his son would become curious at some point. Though it took quite some time, it had crossed his mind too. From the small talks they’d have whenever Sehun brought Ziyu home, to the random text messages they’d send and get from each other, in between those moments, Luhan let himself wonder if he should just ask where they stand.

Unsure of what to tell the little boy, Luhan diverts the conversation to the Christmas presents.

Hours later, when Ziyu had been stuffed full after his third bowl of pasta, the child began to pout once more about the absence of a particular someone. “Is hyung coming? He missed the turkey! It’s delicious (dewicious), Baba!”

Luhan laughed, squeezed his cheeks and said that he was busy so they would just have to wait and see, but most importantly, he reminded him that he needed to go to bed on time so Santa can drop off the presents for tomorrow. Ziyu squealed in glee.

 

----

 

“But I’m not sleepy yet~” Ziyu whined, even as he yawned for the third time since his baba tucked him in bed. It only took several lines from his favorite lullaby for the boy to finally fall in slumber, though. “Goodnight, my love.”

Luhan, on the other hand, still had a stack of dirty dishes waiting for him at the sink. They’d left the dinner table several minutes ago and had turned the lights off except for the kitchen. Even though his eyes were on the verge closing, he went to finish the chores and stack the leftovers, until he heard a scrambling noise inside his living room. Holy . Every trace of drowsiness disappeared as his heartbeat sped up instantly at thought of some scumbag ruining their Christmas.

Luhan grabbed the nearest thing to him--a damn spatula. really?--and walked as stealthily as he could to where the sounds had come from. “WHO’S THERE?!” he called out. And when there was no answer, he bolted towards the light switch and flicked it open.

It’s when the figure appeared right before his eyes, tripped all over the presents, almost knocked over the Christmas tree and fell on the couch. "IT’S ME! IT’S ME, LU!”

Sehun. Sehun. Sehun. “WHAT THE F--HECK!? You scared the crap out of me!” Luhan breathed out in relief.

The other, who looked a lot perplexed by what had just happened, took off his santa hat--which had unusually stayed on after the mess he’d made--and ruffled his hair. “Sorry I scared you, Lu. But uh, uhm...surprise? This is for Ziyu--and you, of course.”

Luhan could only sigh, albeit shakily. “It’s fine, it’s fine” he said, though still kind of anxious  about the fact that the other just sneaked into their home at such an ungodly hour. “You didn’t have to do this, you know.” There were around six more presents that scattered on the floor, he began to pick them up.

“I wanted to. I thought it’d be cool to surprise Ziyu as Santa, though it sorta backfired, obviously.” he chuckled before joining the other.

“Wearing a hat doesn’t qualify you as Santa.” luhan teased.

Sehun scoffed. “Stop roasting me, it’s Christmas.”

Silence fell between the two as they finished putting back the gifts in place and fixing the tree, only the dull sound of the air-conditioner and muffled music from across the street filled the dimly lit room. They move from the couch to sit beside the Christmas tree. It was then that Sehun decided to break the quietude. “What did you wish for this Christmas?” he asked.

“For Ziyu’s wishes and dreams to come true, you?” Luhan turned to his company.

And Sehun replied with, “Me? I...I wished for you.”

It was a strange feeling to stand there and be the receiving end of a confession. Luhan could barely remember the last time anyone had pronounced their feelings for him, aside from Ziyu--and Baek. He was almost left speechless, until it came back to him how much he’d tried to find the courage and just ask Sehun what they were exactly; if those times he’d shared a spoon with him while they ate ice cream had been anything more than just a platonic date to the park for Ziyu, or if that time Sehun lent him a shirt, because he arrived to the dance studio drenched in rain, meant nothing much at all.

“Wha--what do you mean?” he finally asked.

“I honestly didn’t prepare my confession speech, Lu. Can we shelf that one up for another moment?”

Then, a smile appeared on Luhan’s face. “What a dork, this Oh Sehun.”  

“I love you, I think--no, I know.” the other blurted out. “In a way that is hard to explain or describe.” he cleared his throat. “This is harder than i thought.”

Luhan giggled, and he really just wanted to engulf the other in his arms. But, he’ll let him finish.

And Sehun continued to tell him: “it took me a while to finally get there, because i didn’t want to impose my presence between you and Ziyu, but i think maybe that was a good thing. It strengthened my resolve, and i thought, it’s really you who I like--and love.”

It was hard to find words, Luhan thought, because his ears were now beet red and his heart felt like it’s going to jump off and rip through his chest. It felt like the words would only turn into incoherent sounds and happy tears would burst out along with it. So, he settled for the simplest thing that summed up what he felt.

“I love you too, Sehun-ah.”

And then came the kiss. They met halfway, and sparks ignited so bright that even the fireworks that lit up the night sky felt ashamed to be in par with it.

“This is really cheesy.” Sehun announced, grabbing the Santa hat from the floor and putting it back on. “How about this...you wanna be my hoe, hoe, hoe this Christmas?”

That earned him a smack on the head and a cackling Luhan. Sehun shut him up with another kiss. And another. And another.

Little they did know that another presence had appeared and saw them.

Ziyu had woken up from the sound that came from the living room. Though his eyes were still laced with sleep, he’d jumped out of bed and peeked through his door. And, oh! There he saw, a thing that he’d never thought he would see even in his wildest dreams. Baba was kissing Santa Claus? Oh, but he was too sleepy, maybe he was still actually dreaming. It looked very real, however. Maybe if he went back to bed, Ziyu thought, he’d wake up and find out.

 

----

 

Christmas day began with quite a bang for little Ziyu. He was first to wake up and wasted no time to check on his presents, and with luck, he saw that it had multiplied. “BABAAAAAAAA!” the child squaled. Unaware of the other person next to his father, he jumped on the couch to wake his baba up. “MERRY CHRISTMAS BABA! I LOVE YOU! ZIYU WOULD LIKE TO OPEN HIS PRESENT, PLEASE!”

Luhan jerked up from his spot, still a bit disoriented. It’s when Ziyu straddled him, took his face in between his tiny hands, and asked him which present can he open did Luhan finally shook the sleep off. “Good morning, baby~ Merry Christmas. Shouldn’t we have breakfast first?” he glanced--nervously--at the other who had woken up as well at sound of Ziyu’s voice.

Somehow they ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms on the couch, as cliche as that may sound.

The little boy noticed and greeted him with the same amount of excitement, he’d mentioned the missed turkey and asked why he had not come earlier. Sehun explained that he was busy doing Christmas stuff, which the boy bought right away.

“Hmm...okay.” Ziyu fake-pouted. “Then, can Ziyu open two presents after? One from Baba and from hyung?” Luhan nodded in reply.

 

----

When breakfast was done, and three were huddled around the Christmas tree and Ziyu ripping through his third present, the boy remembered, “Oh! And Baba, I think I had a really weird dream last night. I came to the living room because of the noise and you were kissing someone!” the boy added.

“What”

“You did, Baba! I swear I saw!  Was it santa? Why wasn’t he wearing a suit? And when did he lose weight and got younger? My dreams are sooo weird.” Ziyu continued to babble on, completely clueless of blushing red creeping up on his Baba’s face.

Sehun listened in amusement, while Luhan just wanted to melt into a puddle like a snowman in spring.

“Ziyu, baby. I think you shouldn’t eat too much before you go to bed.”

“Hmm, I think so too, Baba.” Ziyu replied.

And Sehun couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore.

 

 

Oh Sehun, you big dummy.