"I stretched my hands out to the sky,
We danced with monsters through the night;
This is gonna be the best day of my life"
-COREY GRAY//AMERICAN AUTHORS, BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

Mingyu’s phone vibrates in his pocket as he walks aimlessly around his office in Busan, staring at the clock, waiting for the business guest to finish the meeting in the conference room so he could say his proper goodbyes and take his leave. He checks the message in his phone and he panics more, distress going up a level as he sees Jeonghan’s text, telling him that Wonwoo is just half an hour away from the operating room for his caesarian section.

Luckily, as soon as he hits send for a confirmation that he’ll be there as fast as he can, the business guests approach him to send mutual farewells. He always held Wonwoo’s hand during the operation to avoid the older man’s anxiety, but now that he’s far away, it might not be possible at all and add the fact that they’re already months divorced. Mingyu’s willing to throw that status out the window just so he could be there for Wonwoo, but time doesn’t allow such thing.

Hot on his heels, he runs straight down the building, not even waiting for the elevator as he chose to run down the stairs to the parking lot. He starts the car in record speed and prepares for the three hour drive back to Seoul. There’s no traffic, no accidents, none of that sort, but still he couldn’t make it on time. How could one even shorten a three hour drive into thirty minutes?

Sweat matted his hair on his forehead as he ran inside the hospital, frantic as he asked the nurse about what room Wonwoo is in since Jeonghan called his this time, telling him that the operation finished successfully and Wonwoo’s taking his rest.

Mingyu finally reached the room and there he saw from the glass window, Wonwoo’s sleeping state with Jungmin sleeping on the chair beside Wonwoo’s hospital bed. He was about to open the door when Seokhwee approached him from behind with a curious look on his face.

“Appa? Why are you here? You look so tired.” The teenager points out. “You’re sweating a lot. You should drink something first.”

Mingyu can’t help but nod at his eldest son’s suggestion, sitting on the waiting chairs outside, back slumped. A cold bottle of water was pressed against his cheek, courtesy of Seokhwee who had a small smile on his face as he sat beside his father. “Was your mother in a lot of pain?” he asks.

“Yes, he was.” Seokhwee replies, “But that was before the operation since they put him on something so he wouldn’t feel a thing. Before we sent him to the hospital though, he said Haru was kicking a lot in his stomach and it hurt so much.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here early. I handled unexpected business in Busan.” Mingyu sighs before drinking half the contents of the water bottle that was handed to him.

Seokhwee shook his head and let out a pout which he made sure that his father would notice. “It’s really okay, appa. Mom said not to call you no matter what happens. I think he’s still mad at what happened.” He says. “I want you here appa, but umma might be stressed post operation if he sees you and you look like you really need some rest.”

“Oh.” Mingyu kept his head down.

“You can go see Haru in the room for babies before you go home though, appa.” Seokhwee places a hand on his father’s sweaty back and rubs it comfortingly. “You should go there before umma wakes up.”

Mingyu was about to say something to his son, but he decided against it. If Wonwoo doesn’t want him there, then that’s it. There’s no way that he’s going to force the older man to endure seeing his face if he’s in that state, especially if he hated Mingyu that much. What Wonwoo wants, Wonwoo gets. He loves Wonwoo like that, even though they’re already divorced, he still does with his every being.

He waves a goodbye to his eldest son and looks at the room window lastly before making his way to the babies’ ward, looking for their baby through the wide glass pane. His heart swells when he sees their bundle of joy on one of the glass cribs, covered in baby pink, all smiles with eyes tightly closed was their baby Haru. Mingyu tears up in a mix of both happiness and sadness since he doesn’t know if Wonwoo will let him near their youngest child. He really wanted to go inside and hug their baby, but he’s really covered in sweat and the nurse might not grant him such permission.

He exits the hospital and cries himself to sleep in his car.

Wonwoo on the other hand, woke up a few hours later, hand reaching out to caress Jungmin’s head. “Baby, did your appa come? Is he outside?” he asks, voice raspy from sleep.

This broke Jungmin’s heart. He wanted their father to come so badly, he even begged Jeonghan to flood Mingyu with texts and calls, but he never saw him come. He frowns deeply, upper teeth digging on his lower lip as a newfound hate started building up for Mingyu. “He didn’t come, umma.” Jungmin says through gritted teeth, wanting to look away when he sees Wonwoo starting to cry flood of tears.

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