He’s already late for work and the employers are taking their sweet time making his coffee. At this rate, he might just get to work before he clocks out. An exaggeration of course, because that’s just how Kim Kai is. Impatient, stuck-up, any word that describes an arrogant person; that’s Kim Kai. But for some reason, everyone swoons over him. There’s a reason why he’s the most desired bachelor of 2018. They all thought he was perfect.

 

He looks around to see phones pointed towards him and the familiar looking dispatcher that won’t leave him alone. He also glanced at a little kid that looked really similar to him. When he tried to look at the kid again to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, he was nowhere to be found. Jongin sighs and unlocks his phone, looking to see if there have been any important emails that needed to be answered.

 

He feels something tugging his pants. He looks down. It’s that little kid, who looks like five years old. To Jongin’s surprise, the kid did look just like him. Jongin panics and starts to rethink of all his flings and whether or not he used a . But wait. I’m gay. No, wait. What about that one girl. I swear I used a . Oh my god what if it broke. Oh .

 

“Hi Daddy!” The kid squeals, revealing his heart-shaped smile. Jongin’s eyes widened. That's it, There goes my life, oh GOD. This is so bad.

 

Multiple gasps can be heard and the dispatcher’s camera flash goes off, scaring the little kid.

 

“Taeoh! Oh my goodness, you gave me a heart attack! What did I tell you about talking to strangers! I’m so sorry-”the man gapes as he looked up to find Jongin staring back down at him- “oh no.”

 

“But papa, he looks just like me. Is he not daddy?” Taeoh pouts.

 

Jongin’s eyes are still wide but for a different reason this time. The man was the prettiest person he’s ever seen in his entire life. He had big eyes that were so expressive and adorable, lips that seem too kissable, and his height was perfect for hugs and cuddles. This day just got better for Jongin.

 

“Is Kai your husband?”

 

“Was this a result of a one night stand?”

 

“What is the meaning of this Kai?”

 

The man shields Taeoh from all the flashes and tries to ignore the dispatcher’s questions about him and his son. Oh , I completely forgot about that.

 

“Follow me.” Jongin grabs the man’s wrist and quickly runs out of the cafe, into his car. He drives off to his condo. So much for the coffee and going to work.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

“Papa! House is so BIG!” Taeoh screams, running around Jongin’s house.

 

“Taeoh, stop running, you might get hur-”

 

“Welcome back Ka- oh my goodness why is there an adorable little boy here!” The maid walks in and coos at Taeoh.

 

“Does daddy live here?” Taeoh looks at the maid with his big eyes. The maid looks at Jongin with a puzzled look.

 

“Look, kid. I’m not your daddy.” Jongin sighs, he can feel a migraine coming along.

 

“I apologize for my son’s reckless behavior.” The man speaks up, Jongin had completely forgotten about the beautiful man.

 

“Hey Haeun? Can you play with Taeoh while I talk with his father?”

 

“Of course I will! Taeoh follow me!” Taeoh nods and holds Haeun’s hand, walking out of the living room.

 

Jongin motions the man to follow him to the kitchen. And wow, is it huge.

 

“Would you like some coffee?” Jongin asks, a little nervous. No. Why am I nervous?

 

“For a well-known businessman, you sure are dumb Kim Kai. We were just at a cafe, I already had coffee there.” the man laughs. Jongin’s hoping his blush isn’t too obvious.

 

Jongin sits down on one of the stools and asks, “You know who I am, yes?” God, why do I sound so condescending.

 

“You don’t have to be so condescending. Yes. I know who you are.” The man rolls his eyes.

 

“And I’m assuming you know how serious this situation is, yes?” Jongin raises his eyebrow. Why can’t I be nice for once.

 

“Hey can I be honest here? You’re being really annoying right now and just cause you’re the most successful business man in South Korea doesn’t mean you can step over people like me.” The man says. “If you have a damn problem with me and my son, I’d like to leave this place right now.”

 

“You can’t. The media thinks Taeso-”

 

“TaeOH.” The man interrupts.

 

“-Taeoh is my son and unless I want my reputation to be ruined, I either have to act like his father or I tell the media that Taeoh mistook me for his father.” Jongin groans, thinking about how either scenario would turn into chaos.

 

“Why can’t you just tell them you aren’t his father?” The man is starting to get impatient.

 

“That's what I’m planning on doi- hold on. No. I’ll be his father.” Jongin realized something. If he were to act like Taeoh’s father, he’ll get more attention as not only the best businessman but the greatest father!

 

“Absolutely the not,” the man retorts, “I’d rather be dead than have Kim Kai as the father.”

 

“DADDY!” Taeoh runs into the kitchen and runs towards Jongin, holding his arms up.

 

“Come here baby, I’ll hold you.” The man tries to carry Taeoh but Taeoh doesn’t budge.

 

“It’s alright. Come on buddy!” Jongin carries Taeoh and he chuckles while Taeoh claps his hands.

 

Taeoh smiles. “Daddy is strong! Daddy can protect Papa with me!” Jongin feels as if he's been cast under Taeoh’s spell of cuteness.

 

“Hey! When did I start needing protecting, Tae?” The man pouts, his hand on his hips. Adorable, Jongin thinks.

 

“Since the day Taeoh turned 3!” Taeoh puts three fingers up and starts giggling. Jongin smiles.

 

He hears a light chuckle and turns around to see the man chuckling to himself. Wow, Jongin thinks, can he get any prettier? The man catches Jongin staring at him and quickly goes back to glaring at him. Okay, looks like he isn’t the biggest fan of me. Jongin rocks Taeoh back and forth and Taeoh’s laughing like he’s having the time of his life.

 

“I think I’ll be a great father.” Jongin smiles.

 

“I never agreed Kai.” the man glares.

 

“Daddy? Is Taeoh and Papa gonna to live with Daddy?” Taeoh asks with his big doe eyes.

 

“Yes Taeoh. You and Papa can live with me, only if Papa agrees.” Jongin looks at the man.

 

“Papa?” Taeoh pouts, “Please?”

 

The man sighs, it seems like he has no choice but to agree. “Mhm Taeoh, We’ll be living with Daddy.” The man smiles.

 

Taeoh screams with delight, hugging Jongin and kisses his cheek. Jongin looks at Taeoh and smiles. The kid’s happiness sure is bleeding into Jongin’s life and he doesn’t have a problem with it. He’s more than okay with it. Maybe with Taeoh in his life his reputation would change for the better.

 

Jongin realized something. He turns around to the man. “Hey I never got your name?”

 

“Kyungsoo,” he says while smiling, “Do Kyungsoo.”

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

He sees a happy family of five sitting in the living room, laughing and looking like they’re having the best time of their lives. Taking a closer look, Jongin realizes that it’s his own family. His two older sisters fighting over who gets to change the channel next, his parents being all gross and in love with each other. He really misses those times. Right when the channel switches, he wakes up to the sound of a phone ringing. Is it really time for me to wake up?

 

Jongin groggily opens his eyes and reaches for his phone, only to see the name “Oh Sehun” bright on his screen. Jongin groans and answers the call.

 

“What do you want, it’s like four in the morning?”

 

“Because someone decided to not tell me they got someone pregnant.” Sehun replied sarcastically. Jongin can hear the sly smile on his face.

 

He tries to reason with Sehun. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

 

“Jongin. A kid doesn’t go up to some stranger and say daddy.”

 

“Hey, maybe Taeoh saw me on TV and though that I was his dad. That happens sometimes.” On the other end of the line, he can hear Sehun sigh. “I didn’t get Kyungsoo pregnant!”

 

“Then tell me who they are!”

 

“I just met them yesterday and one thing led to another and now I’m dating Kyungsoo, who’s the father of Taeoh, by the way. Oh, Taeoh’s the kid that called me daddy and he’s really cute. Anyways, uh, everything seems ok but really isn’t-”

 

“Shut up for a bit,” Sehun interrupts. “Breathe. Now let the oxygen get into your brain. Because what you just told me doesn’t make sense. What do you mean you just met this Kyungsoo and started dating him?” Sehun snapped.

 

“I didn’t wake up early in the morning and pick up your call to be attacked like this.” Jongin said. “It’s not even that big of a deal, he’s really cute anyways.”

 

“NOT EVEN THAT BIG OF A DEAL? Jongin, you went from desired bachelor to father in ten seconds. It’s a big deal!”

 

“But he’s… cute though…”

 

“This isn’t middle school, Jongin.” Sehun sighs. “Whatever, if that makes you happy then I won’t bother. Don’t miss the meeting.” The call ends.

 

Jongin looks at the time, 5:23AM. Don’t miss the meeting my , I still have three hours before I have to get ready. He presses his lips together in annoyance. If there’s anything he hates in the world, it’s not using his precious time wisely.

 

The door creaks open and Taeoh’s head pops in.

 

“Daddy?” Taeoh looked like he had just woken up.

 

“Hm?” Jongin gave up on correcting Taeoh. Well, who needed to correct him when he’s going to be his father soon anyways?

 

Taeoh rubs his eyes and Jongin finds it hard not to laugh with Taeoh’s bedhead. “The bed was cold and lonely. Can I sleep with you?”

 

“Of course, come here baby.” Jongin said. Taeoh walks over to his bed and puts his arms out. Jongin reaches over and pulls him into his bed.

 

“Warm?” Jongin asks with a smile. Taeoh nods, slowly drifting off into sleep.

 

Taeoh quickly opened his eyes. “Daddy?”

 

“Yes baby?”

 

“You make papa happy.” Jongin stills. What does that mean?

 

“And how do you know that?” Jongin asks.

 

Taeoh smiles. “Cause papa has been happy since we came here.”

 

Jongin smiles back. “Really now?”

 

“Mhm! When papa was looking mad, his ears were red! So red! That means he’s happy!” Taeoh giggles and claps his hands.

 

“Thank you for telling me baby. I’ll reward you with one kiss.” Jongin bends down to kiss Taeoh’s cheek.

 

Taeoh giggles. “That tickles!”

 

Jongin knew he was going to enjoy Kyungsoo and Taeoh’s stay at his house. Especially when Taeoh keeps telling him interesting facts about his cute father.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

Kyungsoo wakes up and reaches out for Taeoh, only to realize Taeoh isn’t in his room. He shoots up from his bed and looks around with wide eyes. He panics for a bit, noticing that the interior of the room was nothing like his bedroom. Then he remembered he was in Kim Kai’s room. Or one of his rooms. He had too many rooms to keep track of.

 

Someone knocks on the door. “Mr. Do? Kai would like to see you.” Haeun says.

 

“Oh, uh, where’s my son?” Kyungsoo feels a little shy. The maid caught him with his messy hair.

 

“He’s downstairs with Kai making breakfast.” She smiles and winks.

 

Kyungsoo feels his face getting hotter. “Oh okay.”

 

“Don’t think I haven’t seen you ogling at Kai,” Haeun wiggles her eyebrows and walks towards him. “He is quite attractive if you ask me and he’s also,” she leans up to Kyungsoo very closely and whispers, “gay.”

 

Kyungsoo can only hope his face doesn’t look like a tomato right now. “I-I have n-not!” He stammers.

 

The maid laughs and exits the room, leaving Kyungsoo feeling as if he’s having heart problems. Stupid Kai, stupid media, stupid ME! Kyungsoo mentally berates himself. Kai is such an , but why does Kyungsoo’s heart skip a beat whenever he sees Taeoh with him. It’s because of Taeoh. Not Kai.

 

It’s been a week since Kai announced that he was Taeoh’s father. Kyungsoo’s phone was bombarded with messages from his friends with which he decided to answer “No time to explain. Very Busy. Will update soon.” He hasn’t gone outside at all. He was too scared that he might run into the dispatcher and make the situation worse. He felt caged in, felt his every move was watched by the whole world. Kai and his son seemed to have gotten closer together. It got to the point where Kyungsoo started to think Taeoh enjoyed being with Kai more than him. He felt his eyes starting to water by the thought of losing Taeoh. He felt so vulnerable and insecure.

 

“Papa!” Taeoh runs into his rooms and jumps on the bed, “Me and daddy made pancakes! Let’s eat together!” He giggles.

 

Kyungsoo feels his insecurities dying down. “Of course baby, let’s eat together.” He smiles.

 

Taeoh stops giggling and tilts his head. He reached for papa’s hand and held it. “Papa? Are you crying?”

 

“No baby, I wasn’t crying.” Kyungsoo smiles. How was Taeoh able to know he wasn’t feeling well?

Taeoh has a stern look on his face. “Papa, lying is bad.”

 

Kyungsoo gapes. “I’m sorry baby, I’m just tired,” He weakly smiles. “I’m alright though, really.”

 

“Do I need to call daddy here to make you happy?”

 

“No baby that’s not needed-”

 

“Papa I said lying is bad. DADDY!” Taeoh cuts him off.

 

Jongin comes running into the room. He has a worried look on his face.

 

“What’s wrong Taeoh? Did something happen to you? Are you hurt?” Jongin checks for cuts on Taeoh but doesn’t find any.

 

Taeoh shakes his head. “Not me daddy. Papa! He’s crying and you can make him happy.”

 

“No I wasn’t. He’s just saying random things, ignore him.”

 

“That doesn’t explain the tears I see in your eyes.” Jongin says softly, sitting on the bed.

 

“I’m fine. Everything is fine. Can you please leave so I can change?” Kyungsoo really badly needed Jongin to leave before he actually starts crying.

 

“Okay then. Once you feel comfortable around me, maybe you can open up to me.” Jongin smiles weakly and leaves the room.

 

“Papa! Now you made daddy sad!” Taeoh said angrily.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Daddy’s sad now!” Taeoh pouts. He’s been pouting a lot lately, as if he’s been copying someone…

 

“Oh. Then what should I do to make him happy?” Kyungsoo asks.

 

Taeoh puts his hand on his chin and thinks. “Hm. Oh I know! Tell him a funny joke papa! Daddy really likes bears so tell him a bear joke!”

 

Kyungsoo smiles. “What joke should I tell him then?”

 

Taeoh giggles and whispers his plan into his father’s ear. Taeoh’s plan was something Kyungsoo would never think of doing but he would do anything for his son.

 

“Alright then baby. I’ll go get changed and we’ll start ‘Operation Make Daddy Happy’, ok?” Kyungsoo starts getting ready. Taeoh nods and smiles.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

Taeoh drags Kyungsoo downstairs towards the kitchen where Jongin is.

 

“Hey budd- oh. Hello Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo’s heart breaks a little when Jongin’s tone changed after he saw him. Taeoh nudges Kyungsoo’s leg and nods to him.

 

“Hey, uh, Kai.” Jongin turns around.

 

“What kind of hugs do polar bears give?” Kyungsoo shyly says.

 

“What kind of hugs?” Jongin asks.

 

“Bear hugs!” Kyungsoo says and hugs him. Taeoh giggles and claps his hand.

 

Jongin feels his face turning red. “Hey, I would love hugging you for longer but I think the pancake is burning.” Jongin says sheepishly.

 

“Oh!” Kyungsoo lets go of Jongin quickly, missing the warmth already. Wait. What does he mean by “love hugging me for longer”? “I’m sorry.”

 

“Hehe daddy and papa’s faces are so red!” Taeoh giggles. His plan was a success!

 

“Taeoh you brat! I’m going to tickle you so you learn your lesson!” Kyungsoo chases Taeoh around and laughs. He catches Taeoh in his arms and starts tickling him.

 

“Papa-hahahaha-stop it! Daddy help!” Taeoh screams and laughs.

 

“Daddy Nini to the rescue!” Jongin tackles Kyungsoo and starts tickling him.

 

“Hey! That’s not fair.” Kyungsoo laughs. He realizes Jongin is right above him, pinning him down. He’s thankful the room doesn’t have the lights on. He doesn’t want Jongin to make fun of him blushing.

 

“Hey! Daddy, let go of Papa! You’re hurting him!” Taeoh crosses his arms and stomps his foot, glaring at Jongin.

 

Jongin stumbles off of Kyungsoo. “O-oh. Sorry” He sheepishly says.

 

“Come on daddies!” Taeoh holds onto each of their hands, “Let’s go eat pancakes!”

 

Kyungsoo and Jongin couldn’t help but smile.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

Two months has passed and the two seem to have improved their relationship. Kyungsoo started going outside, though he was cautious of every action he made. There was still one thing that bugged Jongin. He plays around with his lunch that Kyungsoo made for him.

 

“Hey if you’re not gonna eat your lunch, I’ll gladly take it” Sehun slides into the seat across from him.

 

“I’m eating it right now.”

 

“Poking the food is not ‘eating’. You know lately you’ve been terrible at roasting people. What’s up man?”

 

“It’s nothing.” Jongin mumbles, stuffing himself with kimchi spaghetti.

 

“It’s about Kyungsoo, isn’t it?” Sehun smirks and wiggles his eyebrows.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Aren’t you guys fake dating? Did you catch feelings?”

 

“Well, yeah but I- probably like him. I-I don’t know. I mean the moment I saw him, it was love at first sight for me but for him it was hate at first sight. I mean it’s probably because of my reputation but it’s been two months now and I think he’s starting to open up. But I don’t know Sehun I-”

 

“You tend to ramble a lot when we talk about Kyungsoo. Get to the point.” Sehun interrupts.

 

“I told him to call me Jongin once but he won’t stop calling me Kai.”

 

“You’re ing kidding me.”

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“I thought this entire time Kyungsoo rejected your sorry but it’s cause he’s calling you Kai? Since when did that bother you?” Sehun questions.

 

“I don’t know how to explain it.” Jongin fiddles his thumbs.

 

“Well I guess all I can say from the information you’ve told me is go talk to him about it. If you open up to him, maybe he’ll do the same for you.” Sehun steals some of Jongin’s lunch.

 

“But what if he doesn’t? What if he ignores me or runs away to never see me again?” Jongin starts to worry.

 

“With the media buzzing around, I doubt he has the freedom of running away, Jongin.”

 

“Oh my god he probably hates me for that. It’s all my fault.” Jongin hides his face into his hands.

 

“Hey, hey. I think you should go home and rest. You’re overwhelming yourself and not in the right mind to work. I’ll take care of the rest.”

 

“When did you become considerate?”

 

“I’m doing this for Taeoh.” Sehun winks. Sehun winking is never a good sign, Jongin thinks.

 

Jongin drives back home with the thought of Kyungsoo calling him Kai. He wasn’t actually Kai. Kai was just some character made for the media. It was built for his company and he never intended it to stick to him for life. Kai was a strong character, willing to step on others to rise to the top. Jongin was a caring person, wanting nothing but love and support from those he holds dearly. He didn’t want Kyungsoo to think he’s just some arrogant person that’s using his situation for fame.

 

He drives into his driveway and sighs. He didn’t know how to approach this topic with Kyungsoo. He opens the door to his house and walks inside to a silent house. It seems like today was one of those days where Kyungsoo wasn’t at home. He never realized how much of an impact Kyungsoo and Taeoh made on his life. Sure, the beginning was hard and Jongin may have thought it might ruin the reputation of Kai, but he was able to experience a lot of things with those two and he couldn’t be more happier with what he had now.

 

He walks up to his room and drops his bag to find Kyungsoo and Taeoh in his bed sleeping. He goes near his bed and coos at the sight. Jongin really badly wanted to take a picture of the two but he fought against it as it was a little creepy. Kyungsoo seemed to notice a presence in the room and slowly started to wake up.

 

Kyungsoo rubs his eyes and sees Jongin. “Welcome back Kai. Do you want me to make something for you?” Kyungsoo whispers.

 

“No, it’s fine. You can go back to sleep.” Jongin says softly, bending down to cradle Taeoh’s head. He starts turning around to leave the room when he feels a hand tugging his wrist.

 

“No, sleep with us.” Kyungsoo moves Taeoh over to make space for Jongin.

 

Never in his life did he imagine being in the same bad with someone like Kyungsoo. It felt surreal to be that close to him and with Taeoh right in between them. Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle and hold Kyungsoo’s hand. Kyungsoo looked surprised when Jongin held his hand, but soon relaxed into it. Kyungsoo didn’t hate the feeling of warmth and security he felt whenever he was around Jongin.

 

“Wake me up before it gets dark.” Kyungsoo says. He feels his eyes getting droopy.

 

“I’ll try, but I can’t make promises.” Jongin laughs softly.

 

Kyungsoo sleeps with a soft smile on his face.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

Kyungsoo was the first to wake up. He looked down to make sure Taeoh was comfortable. Then he looked up at Jongin and he lost his breath. Jongin was beautiful. His perfectly sculpted jaw, his plump lips, the soft look he has, everything was beautiful. Kyungsoo unconsciously started tracing the structure of his face, everything about him was perfect. The touch of Kyungsoo’s fingertips woke Jongin up but he didn’t want to wake up, as it was calming to him. Kyungsoo starts to comb through Jongin’s hair when Jongin decides to open his eyes.

 

“Good morning.” He said.

 

Kyungsoo quickly retracts his hand. “U-uhm I-I-I need to clean up the house!” He scrambles out of the bed and rushes out of the room. Jongin chuckles. Taeoh starts whining and reaching towards a source of warmth. Once he finds Jongin, he clings onto him and continues sleeping.

 

Kyungsoo felt embarrassed that he was caught tracing over Jongin’s face. He was suppose to hate him, especially Kai the arrogant . But he just couldn’t. Not when he sees Jongin smiling with Taeoh. Not when he sees the way Jongin’s eyes turn into sun crescents when he’s laughing at a bad joke Taeoh made. Not when Kyungsoo’s falling for him.

 

Kyungsoo slaps himself. NO!, he thinks, you cannot. He’s way out of your league and he’s loved by everyone and he’s able to get with someone better than you and he’s-

 

“You’re deep in your thoughts I see.” Haeun says. Kyungsoo jolted.

 

“U-uh, just busy cleaning the room!” Kyungsoo takes a photo frame and moves it slightly to the right.

 

“Mhm, I just cleaned this room sweetie. Tell me what’s going on in your mind.” She places her hand on his shoulder and smiles.

 

“I-uh-I don’t have anything on my mind! Just thinking about Taeoh, that’s all.” Kyungsoo smiles.

 

“You’re not fooling anyone with that smile,” Haeun pulls Kyungsoo’s arm. “I hope you’re okay going outside in those clothes because we’re going to have a talk.” She drags him to a nearby park.

 

“You’re either going to spill everything or I’ll start interrogating you.”

 

“I ju-just feel so insecure.” Kyungsoo starts off. “Do I deserve living with Kai? Aren’t I just a burden to him? He seems to be enjoying his time with Taeoh but I just feel like I’m dragging him down. That he could do so much better without me.” Kyungsoo feels tears pricking his eyes.

 

“Oh honey,” Haeun pulls him into a hug, “Jongin cares so so so much about you. He doesn’t say it but you can tell by the way he acts around you. Remember the first two days you and Taeoh started living with us? He was trying so hard to reject the idea of getting to know you.” She laughs at that thought.

 

“Trying?” Kyungsoo pulls away from her.

 

“Yes, trying. It was love at first sight when he say you. He loved you from the very beginning and he’s fallen deeper in love with every passing day,” She wipes the tears falling out of Kyungsoo’s eyes.

 

“I see him staring at you whenever you play with Taeoh. You can see the soft look in his eyes. It almost seems like he wants attention from you, Kyungsoo. But he just doesn’t know how to approach you without hurting you.”

 

“B-but how do you know? ”

 

“I’ve known him since he was a tiny little boy so I know when he loves someone.” She places both of her hands on his shoulders, “Kyungsoo. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Yes, he is a well-known businessman and a stuck-up sometimes, but you know the real Jongin. You know he’s none of that.”

 

“O-okay. Thank you Haeun,” He smiles. “I’ll make sure to go to you whenever I’m in a dilemma.”

 

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! It’s starting to get dark so go back to get your man!” She cheers.

 

“Wait, are you not coming back with me?”

 

“As much as I would love to see you two become a couple, I have things to do. Adios!” She waves at him and starts walking the other direction.

 

Kyungsoo walks back to Jongin’s house and opens the door, only to find a frantic looking Jongin and Taeoh waiting for him.

 

“Kyungsoo! Where were you? You were gone for two hours and it was starting to get dark out and I thought you might’ve gotten lost and Taeoh was starting to get scared and I-I’m just glad you’re safe.” Jongin scratches his nape. Is this what Haeun meant? Kyungsoo thought.

“Papa!” Taeoh sniffs, letting go of Jongin to be held by Kyungsoo.

 

“I’m sorry Taeoh. Did I scare you?” Kyungsoo looks down to see Taeoh teary-eyed.

 

“He thought Papa left him forever and he started crying. I tried to reassure him that it wasn’t the case but he didn’t listen” Jongin sighed.

 

“Taeoh, I’m so sorry. Papa is never going to leave okay? Papa is always going to stay with you no matter what. Papa loves you so so so much.” Kyungsoo kisses Taeoh’s chubby cheeks. Taeoh giggles.

 

“It’s getting late, I should start making dinner. Taeoh do you want to help Papa?” Taeoh nods quickly.

 

“You too, Kai. Do you want to help us?” Kyungsoo asks.

 

He’s never seen Jongin agree so quickly. He laughs. Jongin looked like a newborn puppy, waiting for attention and once he got it, he’s the happiest puppy on earth. This might be a fun cooking session, Kyungsoo thought and grinned.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

He was wrong. It was the complete opposite of fun. He should’ve known that putting two troublemakers would cause a mess. They’ve wasted so much food and it’s only been ten minutes. Kyungsoo could do nothing but watch and sigh.

 

It was Taeoh who noticed Kyungsoo’s change in attitude. He tugged on Jongin’s sleeve and whispered, “Daddy,”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Papa’s upset.” Taeoh points to Kyungsoo who has his back against them.

 

“Oh. Now how do we make Papa feel better?” He asks.

 

Taeoh giggles. “With a funny joke! Papa looks like Pororo so a penguin joke!” This plan sounds familiar…

 

“Do you have a joke in mind baby?”

 

Taeoh nods and whispers the joke to Jongin. Jongin grins.

 

“Hey Kyungsoo!”

 

“Hm?” He turns around to find Jongin really close to him.

 

“What do you call a happy penguin?”

 

“Pororo?” Kyungsoo tilts his head. Why is he so cute?? Jongin thinks.

 

“Pen-grin!” Jongin grins. Taeoh giggles in the back.

 

Kyungsoo giggles. He bends down to kiss Taeoh on the cheek, then does something unexpected. He goes up to kiss Jongin on the cheek. Jongin is trying so hard not to squeal but he’s sure his face being beet red is giving it away.

 

“U-u-uh,” Jongin stutters. “I-I’ll make the table.” He rushes out the kitchen.

 

“Papa!” Taeoh makes grabby hands towards Kyungsoo.

 

Kyungsoo picks him up and rests him on his hip. “Let’s make daddy’s favorite!” Taeoh claps.

 

Kyungsoo tilts his head. “Kai has a favorite?”

 

“Kai? You mean daddy! Daddy said he loves your kimchi spaghetti!”

 

“Did Ka-daddy tell you to keep it a secret?” Kyungsoo smirks.

 

Taeoh puts his hands to his mouth. “Oopsie! Papa don’t tell daddy!”

 

“Don’t worry, the secret is safe with me.” Kyungsoo smiles. He lets Taeoh down and begins to make dinner.

 

After Jongin finished setting up the table, he goes to lie down on the sofa. His mind kept going back to Kyungsoo kissing his cheek. He gets back up and slaps himself in the face. Why is his face never leaving my mind? He lies back down and closes his eyes. Only to be slapped in the face.

 

“What the f-” He hears giggles.

 

He sees Taeoh. That brat! “Daddy! Dinner!” Taeoh tries to drag him but he ends up being tickled.

 

“What did I say about hitting people Taeoh?”

 

“HAHAHA-that-HAHAHA-it’s bad-HAHAHA-daddy!”

 

“Did you learn your lesson?” Taeoh nods. “Alright, let’s go eat dinner. Papa must be waiting.”

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

“Thank you for the food!” Jongin and Taeoh say after eating their hearts out.

 

Kyungsoo smiles. Jongin melts at the sight. “It’s getting late. Taeoh you need to take a bath soon.”

 

“Daddy let’s take a bath together!” Kyungsoo stills for a moment.

 

“What about Papa?” Jongin asks. He can see the sadness in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

 

“Daddy only. This is an important meeting for the members of ‘Protecting Papa’!” Taeoh says with a determined look.

 

“Hm,” Kyungsoo looks at Taeoh and then at Jongin. “Don’t play around okay?”

 

“Mhm!”

 

But who are they to listen to Kyungsoo. They were playing around but quietly so Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to hear them.

 

“Daddy?” Taeoh asks while making a bubble beard on Jongin.

 

“Yeah baby?” Jongin says while making a mohawk on Taeoh.

 

“Do you like papa?”

 

The question threw Jongin off. “W-what?”

 

“Daddy is the happiest with papa. You smile wider and your eyes sparkle when you look at papa.” He says, “Done with your beard! Have you told papa you like him?”

 

“Baby, I can’t just tell him I like him.” Jongin sighs.

 

Taeoh drops his hands. “Why not?” Jongin can see tears are starting to form.

 

“Oh baby, don’t cry. I just meant that he might not like me back so I can’t just tell him that.” He wipes the tears off of Taeoh’s face.

 

“But daddy’s saying ‘might’. Daddy doesn’t know. And daddy won’t know unless he tries.” Taeoh pouts.

 

“Ah, when did you become so wise.” He smiles. “If I were to tell him, how should I?”

 

“With a joke!” Of course he would say that, Jongin thought. He laughs.

 

“Let’s get out. We’re gonna turn into prunes if we stay any longer!”

They got out of the shower and quickly changed into the clothes Kyungsoo had prepared for them.

 

“You two took an awful long time,” Kyungsoo eyes them suspiciously. “You guys played around didn’t you?”

 

“Of course not!” Jongin says sheepishly.

 

“We were having a meeting!” Taeoh says.

 

“Well then. Taeoh you took a very long time so now it’s your bedtime.” Taeoh whines.

 

“Baby, don’t whine. Come on let’s get you to your room and snuggly in bed.” Jongin pushes him towards his room.

 

“No! Taeoh can go by himself. A big boy can go to bed by himself! Good night papa and daddy!” He runs up to them and kisses them on the cheek. Then he runs upstairs to his room.

 

“Do you think he’s really going to sleep?” Jongin asks.

 

“I doubt it, But we can go check later.” Kyungsoo replies.

 

Jongin fiddles with his fingers. “Hey can we, can we talk?”

 

“About what?”

 

“L-let’s take this to the living room.” Jongin holds Kyungsoo’s hand and leads him to the living room.

 

When they sit down on the sofa, Kyungsoo realizes that Jongin is fidgeting a lot. He must be really nervous. He puts his hands on Jongin’s.

 

“Hey. Are you okay?”

 

“I-I wanted to talk to you about my name. Uh, well, actually, it’s not that big of a deal-let’s go to sleep-”

 

Jongin stands up but he feels Kyungsoo’s hand wrapped around his wrist.

 

“I think you should let it all out. It must be bothering you, right?”

 

“Okay,” Jongin sits back down and sighs. “I might ramble but please don’t interrupt me.” Kyungsoo nods.

 

“I don’t like being called Kai. It’s more of a stage name. Kai, the arrogant businessman who would do anything to get his own way. Kai is a character that I created so that I would survive in the business world. It’s a tough and scary world out there and I thought if I showed weakness, they would just gobble me out. I-I don’t like it when people I love use it cause it makes me feel like they only know Kai and not Jongin.

 

“I-It bothers me whenever you call me Kai. I know we started off with a rough start but I really really like you and it makes me so sad when I see you hiding something and you can’t tell me about it. I know how media portrays Kai and I know you view me as Kai but I thought that if I open up to you about maybe it’ll show my feelings and how I care for you.”

 

Silence filled the room. Kyungsoo had his head down the entire time Jongin was talking and when he looked up he saw Jongin crying.

 

He wipes the tears off of his face. “I’m so sorry I kept on calling you Kai. I thought by calling you Kai it would remind me that you’re just using this situation for your own good but it turns out it was hurting the both of us,” Kyungsoo bitterly smiles.

 

“Since you opened up, I guess I will too.

 

“I regret starting off with you on the wrong side. It was never my intention to do so but I just couldn’t help but see you as ‘Kai’. But the more we lived in this house, the more I was able to get to know you. You were never arrogant, always thinking about others. You would never go to sleep unless everyone in the house does and you would always do you chores. Sometimes.” Jongin sniffs and laughs.

 

“I may be seen as a strong person and I’m doing it for Taeoh. But I’m really i-insecure. After the scandal happened, I felt trapped in this house and I really badly wanted to go outside. I wanted to be free. But I went outside and I could feel all eyes watching me as if they were waiting for me to trip and fall.

 

“Whenever Taeoh says he’d rather be with you than me, it made me want to hate you more. It felt like you were taking the only person I had away from me. B-but you still reminded Taeoh of how I might feel. Even though Taeoh keeps insisting it’s just a ‘meeting for the protecting papa team’.” He snickers.

 

He lets out a deep breathe and looks up to find Jongin silently sobbing.

 

“Ah, shame on me. I’ve only made you cry harder. Come here.” he tells Jongin while pulling him into an embrace.

 

Jongin nuzzles into Kyungsoo’s neck. “I’m sorry. It was never my intention to make you feel insecure. I never knew and I feel so ba-ad now.” He sobs even louder.

 

“You baby. Don’t feel bad. Being with you for the past two months made me less insecure about myself and this situation.” Jongin looks up and Kyungsoo smiles.

 

“You can’t call me a baby if you’re crying too.” Jongin points out wiping Kyungsoo’s tears away.

 

“I guess we’re both big babies then.”

 

They stay in each others arms for a while, relaxing in the warmth. Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s back until he hears his breathing starting to become normal. They hiccup every once in a while. Jongin looks up at Kyungsoo’s face again.

 

“I-I wasn’t lying when I said I liked you Kyungsoo.” Jongin turns red, “I really really do like you, hell, I really love you and I was wondering, uh, actually hoping-no- I-Will you be my boyfriend?” Jongin hides his face in Kyungsoo’s neck, not being able to handle the embarrassment.

 

“Hey Jongin look at me.” Jongin looks up at him. Kyungsoo kisses his lips. “I would love to.”

 

“Y-you said m-my name.” Jongin starts sobbing again.

 

“I really need to stop making you cry.” Kyungsoo laughs softly and hugs Jongin.

 

Kyungsoo carries Jongin with much difficulty to his bedroom and tucks Jongin in bed.

 

“Can you stay with me?” Jongin asks softly.

 

“Of course you baby.” Kyungsoo smiles.

 

The night consists of Kyungsoo calming Jongin down and cuddling with him. Oh, not to mention Haeun and Taeoh watching everything happen. But shhh. Don’t tell them.

 

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

 

Jongin slowly wakes up and feels around the bed to find Kyungsoo. But he wasn’t there. He quickly got up and acniked. Was it all a dream? He rushes downstairs and hears Taeoh’s squeals. He goes to the living room and finds Taeoh watching Pororo. Jongin smiles. Wait no I’m being distracted. Where’s Kyungsoo? He hears clanking in the kitchen. When he reaches the kitchen, he finds Kyungsoo’s back facing him. He quietly walks up to him and back hugs him.

 

“What-Oh my god Nini! Don’t do that again you gave me a heart attack!” Kyungsoo puts his hands on his chest. Jongin freezes.

 

“N-nini? Did I do something wrong again? Oh I’m so-”

 

“Soo you’re so cute! Calling me Nini! Never expected this from you, you should show me more of your cute side.” Jongin coos and hugs him again.

 

“I-I am not cute! Let go of me!” Kyungsoo tries to pry him off.

 

“But I don’t want to.” Jongin pouts.

 

“You’re starting to act an awful lot like Taeoh.”

 

“Well that’s cause I’m his father, aren’t I?”

 

“Uhm, about that. Are we still pretending?” Kyungsoo hesitantly asks.

 

Jongin was about to make fun of Kyungsoo but soon realized it was his insecurity showing.

 

“No Soo. We’re not pretending anymore. This is all real. I’ll be Taeoh’s father until the world goes away.”

 

Kyungsoo turns around and kisses Jongin on the nose. “Okay.” He smiles.

 

“Papa! Daddy! That’s not fair! Where’s Taeoh’s hug?”

 

“Well come here then!” Kyungsoo says, opening his arms out.

 

Jongin looks at the two and couldn’t believe how his life changed from the moment they started living with him. He never thought he would meet someone like Kyungsoo that would change his demeanor. If you had asked him a year ago if he would settle down for someone he would’ve laughed and said no.

 

But now settling down with Kyungsoo, didn’t seem so bad after all.