2 weeks later:

Taemin rolled his suitcase down the street toward the train station, he thought Dave would walk him even though they had their conflicts, but he hadn’t. Last night, he had called him, asked him to change his plans one last time, when Taemin refused he threatened their relationship, said he won’t be there when he’ll come back. Taemin thought about his threat, he wondered how lonely he would feel without him, after all, his loneliness it’s what brought them together in first place.

At the train station, Taemin bought a one-way ticket to Paris and headed the platform, while waiting, he glanced at the station clock, Minho and Yoobi’s flight would land soon, he, on the other hand, had a few hours ride. He wanted to take an earlier train, but couldn’t find anyone to changed shifts with him, he told his ex-husband they’ll meet at the Disney park so they won’t wait much for his arrival.

When the train arrived moments later, Taemin settled in his seat, he pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Minho to inform him that he’s on his way.

 

~

 

Minho had some hard time to hold Yoobi in place, she was too excited when they had left the airport and headed to the train station, next stop is DisneyLand.

After buying tickets and settling at their seats, he finally reached his phone, he received a text from Taemin, saying he’s on his way, and texted him back, informed him they had landed.

“Appa, are we there yet?” Yoobi asked while jumping from one seat to another.

“No. Please sit well…”

“I want to be there already”

“Me too, but you don’t see me jumping, do you? Now, please sit”

Pouting, Yoobi took a seat by her father’s side “where is Taemin appa?”

“On his way”

“Is he coming by plane?”

“No sweetie, by train”

“So he’s on this train too?!” she asked excitedly.

Minho chuckled “no sweetie, there are a lot of trains in Paris, just like in Seoul, he’s on another train”

“Oh...I want to see him already, I miss him”

Minho smiled at his daughter, in a matter of fact, he wished to see his ex-husband as well, it’s been a year since the last time he saw him, since he moved to London.

 

~

 

Taemin got off the train in downtown Paris, even though only a few of the signs at the station were in English he managed to find his way and switch trains to Disney park. When he arrived an hour later, he called Minho who was already inside.

“Hi, where are you?” Minho’s deep voice filled the line.

“Just got off of the train”

“We’re inside”

“I’ll get rid of my suitcase and join you”

“We’ll wait at the entrance, room reservation over Choi, room number 201. See you”

Taemin hummed and hung up the call.

Heading the hotel, he was welcomed by Mickey mouse at the lobby, the big mouse waved at him happily as he walked to the receptionist.

“Reservation over Choi” Taemin said shortly and waited for the receptionist to give him a key before he reached the elevator to the second floor.

The room was big and looked very comfortable, it had 2 kingsize beds and a single one for Yoobi, her suitcase was already on it, wide open with many of her dresses scattered around, it reminded him her messy room.

Smiling to himself, he placed his suitcase on one of the kingsize beds before he left the room to meet his daughter and ex-husband.

 

~

 

“Appa!” Yoobi called at the moment she saw Taemin, she let go of Minho’s hand and ran toward him excitedly.

A Huge smile crossed Taemin’s lips, he kneeled down and stretched his arms to catch his daughter who threw herself at him, hugged her so tight she lost her breath. Raising her in his arms, he looked at Minho who slowly got closer, his heart fluttered in his chest for seeing him after so long, he hadn’t changed at the last passing year, still as beautiful as always, his golden skin wrapped around big muscles, though his eyes covered with sunglasses he could see the small laugh wrinkles around it, his lips curled up in a smile that melted his inside, he never stopped loving that man.

“Minnie” Minho’s deep voice turned a little sheepish. It’s been awhile since he saw his ex-husband, his stomach squeezed like it always did when he was around, he hadn’t changed much at the passing year, the same beautiful young man he fell in love with years ago.     

Unaware of her fathers’ awkward moment, Yoobi reached her arms and brought them all together in a group hug, their faces close, made them both flush as they looked into each other’s eyes.

“Hi” Taemin whispered with a soft smile before he freed himself from the hug and placed Yoobi on the ground.

“Hi. How was your ride?”

“It was ok”

“Sorry we walked in without you”  

Taemin shrugged and looked down at their daughter, knowing she was the impatient reason.

“Appa, look” Yoobi called and pulled Taemin’s hand for attention “Minho appa bought me this” she showed him her finger, a Minnie mouse ring decorated it.

“It’s beautiful”

A satisfied grin crossed Yoobi’s lips “appa, would you ride the rollercoaster with me? Minho appa said it’s too scary, so he doesn't want to come with me”

Taemin chuckled and looked at his ex-husband who defensively said “I said it’s too scary for girls her age”

“It’s not!”

“Well, sweetie, appa right” Taemin said, he tried to stay serious while his daughter pouted at him “you’re too small and young for it, I’m sure there are a lot of others facilities you can ride instead”

“Come’on appa” Yoobi rolled her eyes “everybody knows you need to be that high” she said gesturing with her hand her own height “and they would let you in”    

Minho and Taemin shared a smiling gaze before they reached their hands for her to hold. “Well, let’s go inside first, then we’ll decide”

 

~

 

Yoobi ran around the park with endless powers, followed by her exhausted fathers, eventually, after taking 3 rides on the rollercoaster, mad hatter’s tea party carousel, Dumbo’s carousel, Alice in Wonderland maze, Peter Pan's flight and many photos with all of Disney’s characters, she was finally getting tired as well. She agreed to go back to the hotel only after her fathers promised they’ll go to see the ‘Disney parade’ tomorrow night, on their way back they bought hot dogs for dinner.  

At the room, Yoobi, who hadn’t finished her dinner, took a seat by the table, she the TV and watched the Disney channel while chewing. Taemin went to the bathroom for a shower while Minho arranged the beds for them and placed the suitcases into the closet.  

“Did you had fun today?” Minho asked his daughter as he leaned to kiss her top.

Yoobi nodded and pushed the last bite into .

The bathroom door opened and Taemin got out with a towel around his waist, Minho glanced at him, he was no longer a scraggy boy, but a man, his arms shaped and small muscles decorated his flat stomach, made his body tingle with crave for something he couldn’t have.

He should have looked away before their eyes met, his heart raced and his palms sweated when Taemin gave him a sheepish smile.

“Yoobi” he called as a self-distraction “go take a shower”

Yoobi, who hadn’t noticed the atmosphere in the room, jumped from her seat and headed the bathroom.  

Left alone, they kept looking at each other when suddenly Taemin’s phone rang, the sheepish smile vanished from his lips when he reached the device and saw the caller's name, he headed the porch for some privacy before he answered. Minho guessed it was his partner, it set jealousy in his heart.

Outside, Taemin’s voice was muffled, he couldn’t understand the words he said but his tone was unmistakable, anger and disappointment, his body leaned stiffly on the rail as he spat words into the line. Minho had tried to look busy when he hang up the call and headed back into the room with, forced a calm expression on his face, but he knew him better.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

Taemin hummed, tears of anger made his eyes sparkle.

Minho reached his hand and held his “Tae?”

Taemin shook his head, dismissed his concern. He couldn’t tell him Dave had made him angry, luckily, Yoobi got out of the bathroom and created a distraction.

Pulling his hand from Minho’s, he said “go take a shower, I’ll help her to get dress”  

Minho nodded, he took himself a pajama before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Taemin helped Yoobi to choose her pajama, he let her have her privacy when she got dressed by closing his eyes as she wished him to, when she finished, he combed and braided her hair.

Yoobi hopped on one of the kingsize beds while her father dressed behind the closet door, though she had her own bed, this one looked much more comfortable.

Taemin smirked when he saw his daughter lying in his bed “you do know you have your own bed, right?” he teased.

Yoobi nodded “yeah, but this one is better”

Laughing, he leaned to kiss her top before he got under the covers by her side.

“Can I keep watching TV?”

Taemin hummed with approval and Yoobi snuggled to his side, he hugged her tightly and kissed her top once again before he rested his head on the pillow. She fell asleep moments later.

Minho smiled when he came out of the bathroom and saw the two lying in bed, it spread warmth in his body, reminded him old days “she fell asleep” he mumbled the obvious and turned off the lights.

Taemin looked at their daughter before he reached his hand to the remote and turned off the TV , he fixed the covers on her little body as he said “well, it’s been a long day, for all of us”

Yoobi sighed in her sleep and mumbled something they couldn’t understand.

“I thought she’ll never want to go to sleep” Minho said amused as he got into his own bed.

Taemin his side to face his ex-husband, he hugged the pillow to his body and stretched his bones to a comfortable position “thank god she was getting tired, apparently I’m getting too old for roller coasters and carousels”

They both chuckled quietly.

“Remember the day we brought her from the hospital?” Taemin reminisced.  

“Hmmm…”

“She was so small and delicate, now look at her, such a big girl”  

“I remember her crying all night long, I think the whole neighborhood heard her cries”

“And we called your mother for help” Taemin said amused.

“Hmmm. I was relieved when she came, she calmed her almost immediately”

“We fell asleep on the couch that night, exhausted”

“I was terrified when my mother went back home at morning, wondering how we’ll manage when Yoobi would cry again”

“I think we did well…”

“So what went wrong?” Minho asked, his tone changed.

Heavy silent fell in the room, though it was dark, Taemin could see the gloomy expression on his ex-husband’s face, it made his heart clenched in his chest. Three years ago, he was the one to end their marriage, he wanted to be a free man and having a child, a family, was a lot of responsibility, though Yoobi’s birth brought a lot of happiness into their lives, it also brought stress, it made a lot of changes and it made Taemin re-think about his choices.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up” Minho mumbled.

Taemin tried to gulp his memories, the pure, innocent, simple life he shared with Minho seemed from another lifetime. He wondered if it was longings that pushed him out of his bed, glancing over his shoulder, he made sure Yoobi was still asleep before he got into Minho’s bed.

“Tae?” Minho gasped when his ex-husband stuck to his body, his reaction probably placed a doubt in his heart because he raised unsure eyes at him.

“I-I just...” he needed a hug, because suddenly, he wasn’t sure of anything, his conversation with Dave an hour ago undermined him.

Understanding him, Minho wrapped an arm around his ex-husband’s body and hugged him.

Taemin buried his head at the crook of Minho’s neck, his scent tickled his nose, reminded him nights he used to fell asleep in his arms, tears sprang in his eyes and a lump stuck in his throat for those bitter-sweet memories.

“I have a partner” he whispered.

“I know”

“You do?”

Minho hummed “Yoobi blurt it out when she came back from London, she said you met up for lunch”

Taemin moved so he could look at his ex-husband’s face “it was a disaster”

Though Minho wanted to gloat, he hadn’t, Taemin sounded disappointed for the unsuccessful meeting.  

“They couldn’t understand each other, Yoobi got bored, at that moment I realized I was wrong to bring them together, but I truly thought that if Dave would meet Yoobi, he could understand how much she’s mean to me”

Minho listened quietly, unsure what to say.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you about him”

“You don’t owe me anything”

Taemin reached his hand and cupped Minho’s neck, his fingers brushed his smooth skin lovingly, the tears in his eyes slowly rolled down his cheeks as he angled his head and pressed their lips together with a soft kiss, his tongue its way into his mouth, him, tasted his sweetness.

Hesitatingly, Minho hugged Taemin closer, the saltiness of his tears on his tongue sat hunger in his body, he wanted to comfort him with his touch, keep him safe in his arms, but their lips ripped from each other when Yoobi tossed in bed, reminded them they're not alone.

Heart pounding, both turned to look at their daughter, they relieved when they saw she was still asleep.

Facing each other again, Minho turned reasonable “we should go to sleep, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow”

“Can I stay in your bed?”

Though Minho knew it would probably be wrong, he nodded, he reached his hand and wiped Taemin’s eyes before he fixed the covers on his body “good night, Minnie”

“Good night, Minho”