Yoogeun expected that like most couples his parents would be out on a date when he returned home that night but rather they were at home and waiting up for him. They started drilling him with questions.

“Did it go well?"

"What did you do?" 

"Did she end up saying yes? You don't look so well though. Could it possibly have been a no? I wouldn’t think it possible.”

“Eh, honey, you do know she's Key's daughter, and you know how Key can be.”

“If you guys stop talking for a second, I'll tell you everything.” His small chuckle in this rather noisy situation revealed how pretty good he was feeling despite Lauren's little escape episode.

They obediently sat down on their love seat and held each others hands nervously for support as if they were about to hear a ghost story.
 

“I ran into her after Kyungsan had confessed. I gave her my pin and chocolates that said my confession on them. She just seemed shocked and didn't say anything for several seconds but she accepted them. So I gave them to her, kissed her on the forehead, and told her that I was serious and hoped she' d think about it. Then after school me and Kyungsan ran into her and asked who it was going to be and she ran away without answering. Well I was pretty ticked at him and determined not to talk to him ever again, then he said that he was just faking to get us together and that Lauren would definitely say yes to me. That's it so far.”

“Whoa, that's a lot in one day,” Minho said in surprise.

“Teenagers these days have so much drama....”

That was ironic of Taemin to say, considering his past, but at least his first relationship had been drama-free. There hadn't been competition for Minho since really Minho had only had eyes for him and vice-versa.

“Well, it's certainly not bad news. You'll just have to wait it out. You're going to see her at the potluck so maybe she'll give you an answer. We'll be sure to get you some time alone.”

“Thanks,” he grinned.

They thought it was great how smiley and talkative their son was already. Lauren was good for him and would surely be a good girlfriend and influence in the future. Yoogeun then went straight up to do his homework on a Friday night. They couldn't believe it but every time they checked up on him it was true. Minho went to Taemin and hugged him from behind in the kitchen. He snuggled his chin on his shoulder and stayed silent.

“What are you moping for, chagi?” Taemin asked knowingly.

“I was just thinking I have to be nicer to Yoogeun now.”

“And the problem with that is?”

“Well, if I'm not scolding him, I'm not sure what else to say.”

Taemin chuckled in amusement. “You guys are alike in too many ways. He doesn't talk to you much because he doesn’t know how to act either. You both are so shy, brooding and awkward.”

“Am not,” he tried to deny then Taemin turned and gave him a challenging look. “Okay, so I am. Help me talk to our son?”

Taemin smiled warmly and leaned in to peck Minho. Minho pulled back, looking down at his lips hungrily, then dived back in where Taemin was willing to give him more. Minho soon was distracted and had him pinned to the oven, kissing him enthusiastically, his hands crawling down the back of Taemin's jeans as Taemin clung to him breathlessly.

“Ugh, there goes my eye-sight and my lunch,” Yoogeun said in disgust as he came in the kitchen.

They jumped back guiltily and straightened their clothes and hair. Yoogeun however was ignoring them as he went for something in the fridge. It wasn't the first time he walked in on them and a snide comment usually followed.

“You don't have to talk, just go do something,” Taemin whispered, then forced Minho forward.

Minho stepped up to the open fridge and leaned around to see his son drinking milk from the carton. He coughed falsely and Yooguen immediately stopped, wiped his mouth and put it back, acting cool like like he hadn't just gotten caught red-handed doing the thing Taemin hated the most. Of course, Minho got caught for it all the time and that's where he picked it up. Minho was saving his this time since Taemin hadn't seen that yet.

“Are you done with your homework yet?”

“Yeah, almost. Just a few more math problems.”

“Oh, really? That's good. I never liked math either.”

Minho could see Taemin was watching them with a smile and gesturing his hand for him to continue.

“Yeah, it bites. When am I ever going to actually use any of that in real life?”

“You probably won't. So, Yoogeun, um... do you want to play ball with me? Maybe there's something you need to work on.” He scratched the back of his head out of nerves as Yoogeun looked at him in surprise.

“Well, there's nothing that you could really help me with...”

Minho felt instantly disheartened and embarrassed. He was about to turn away when he caught his son giving him one of his rare, charming smiles which seemed promising.

“But I'm always up for some ball with my old man.”

His face lit up in a big, youthful grin. “Great. I'll go get the equipment.”

Taemin came up to Yoogeun after Minho dashed out of the kitchen and pat his shoulders.

“What?” Yoogeun asked knowingly, still keeping that smile on.

“You just made him so happy. He'll feel so much younger too.”

Yoogeun understood the deeper thing his umma was getting at—that him and his father were reconciling and regaining some of the closeness they used to have before he hit his teens but he decided to play it off.

“Neither of you are old and appa's really great at any sport. He should have been a pro-athlete or a coach.”

Taemin chuckled. “Well, he’d be ecstatic if he heard you say that.”

“Nah, he doesn't need his ego inflated more. Not when he's worshiped by most of the female and male population in this country.”

Taemin nodded, giggling again as he went back to the stove. “That will be you someday when you make the national team.”

“I'll try my best but what kind of parents put that kind of pressure on their son?” he teased.

“We just know what our son can do. You’re the best.” Taemin gave him a cheesy thumbs up.

He smiled brightly. He was always grateful for his parents never-ending support and confidence in him. They'd come to every one of his games, bought all of his equipment, helped him get extra coaches, watched games with him at home, paid for tickets to a ton of pro games and just fed and encouraged his hobby in every way they could. Yoogeun still loved baseball and it was his dream to make it on the team, especially because it would make his appa so proud and give him a way to experience a dream that he had decided not to fulfill.

“Son, you ready?” Minho called in near childish excitement as he came in the kitchen with bat, gloves and balls.

“Yeah, let's go,” he said excitedly as well.

They went out back and played in front of the old swings him, Kyungsan, and Lauren used to jump off of until it got too dark to see. Then they went in for an excellent meal Taemin had cooked.

Key and Jonghyun got back late from their date. They had gone to a massage place where Key had surprised Jonghyun by being allowed to give him a full body massage with edible chocolate wax privately. Even though it was a public place, they couldn’t resist taking it all the way, resulting in a very big mess. They'd gone to apologize for it but the staff had insisted they were used to it with all the couples that came in here as massage was a very sensual thing. “I’ll say,” he'd said and Key had smacked him as he turned red and made the girls around giggle.

They'd then gone out for a romantic dinner and Jonghyun had prepared an event where he went up on stage and sang a sweet ballad that was called 1,000 Years Always Be By My Side and spoke about wanting to spend an eternity together with full accompaniment. Key did end up crying, as he always did when Jonghyun played for him—no matter how many hundreds of times it had been now—and he'd taken a picture as proof. Him smiling big with his head up next to a red-eyed, tear-streaked, sniffling, gorgeous Key.

They’d ate chocolate cake though Key had insisted Jonghyun wasn’t allowed to eat much because he' d get fat plus he still had the ones Key had made for him at home. They were excited to get home and see Lauren and a little anxious as well. They wanted to know how her day went and they were hoping that she'd have her first boyfriend that she'd tell them all about with excitement. When they got home though, they didn't see her greeting them with a bright smile at the door saying 'guess what, guess what' like they'd expected.

“Lauren, honey, we're back!”

“How'd everything go, babygirl? We missed you.”

They took off their shoes and started searching for her. She didn't call them to tell her where she was so they almost figured she wasn't at home. They found her on the couch cradling her knees to her chest, absently staring at the TV. It was on one of her favorite shows that usually left her giggling like crazy but she wasn't even cracking a smile or blinking. Even when they came in and sat down next to her, she didn't turn her head. She was totally zoned out. They counted to three then kissed her on both cheeks at the same time, making her startled.

“Umma! Appa! You're back! I didn't hear you,” she flipped her head between them, sounding guilty.

“Yeah, seriously. We could have been robbers. What's got you so zoned out?” Jonghyun teased.

“Did your day go good, sweetie? No big news to tell us?” Key asked in a sugary voice as he snuggled up to her and brushed her hair with his hands.

"That's right! I'm not talking to you guys anymore. I disown myself. I'm moving to Japan.”

“What did we do?”, “What's wrong?” they asked in concern, immediately holding tight on to her arms.

She stayed angry and stared at the TV. “You were keeping a secret from me and laughing behind my back. You could have told me those two liked me and they were planning to confess today!”

“We didn't know for sure,” Jonghyun insisted.

“That would have ruined the fun of the surprise,” Key said.

“Well, it wasn't a fun surprise for me and now I'm all confuzzled. I'm having the crisis of my life!”

“Really, why? You don't like them?”

“No, she has to like one. Who did you say yes to?”

“I said neither yes nor no to either of them. And I don't know how I feel. I think I like both of them.”

Jonghyun and Key gasped.

“You mean this love triangle's going to turn into a ?”

“No, that can't be. They'll turn gay and leave you. You have to pick one fast and let the other down easy!”

“Wow, you guys have a really active imagination. And you're talking too much for people who need to think on their crimes,” she said sarcastically.

“I know you're upset right now, sweetie, but I couldn’t tell you. I didn't know how you felt either,” Key whined and cuddled her close.

She suddenly collapsed into him and buried her head in his chest, shaking. Key looked surprised and turned to Jonghyun who looked down and then up at him with confusion.

“She's crying,” he mouthed.

Then Jonghyun seemed really worried. All their anticipation and excitement flew away when they realized their daughter was torn up by not understanding her heart, not knowing what to do and worried about hurting her best friends.

“I told you not to think so much, Ren. This is what it does to you,” Jonghyun whined as he laid on her side and hugged her tight.

“I just don’t know but no matter what, I'll hurt somebody and things will never be the same,” she burst into more sobs.

Jonghyun and Key held her tighter, rubbing her back and shh-ing her soothingly like she was a baby.

“No, honey, it won't be so bad. You'll all figure things out and you're going to be friends forever, I'm sure.”

She shook her head violently so Key decided it was best not to argue with her now when she was this out of her senses. He wasn't sure how Kyungsan and Yoogeun were feeling but he doubted they would ever stop being friends because of Lauren—they weren't the petty, overly jealous type. They were probably both more concerned for Lauren's feelings right now than their own.

They held her until she fell asleep right there on Key's chest and Jonghyun's lap. They stayed there for awhile until the middle of the night, then Jonghyun near broke his back picking her up and carrying her to her room. They went back to their room and cuddled, feeling unusually exhausted, mostly emotionally.

“I don't think I’ve seen her cry like that since her cat got run-over when she was eight. That was awful,” Jonghyun said, seeming shell-shocked.

“Yeah, it really was. She'll be okay though. We have to rest and think about getting through the potluck tomorrow. Go to sleep, baby.”

He nodded and curled onto Key’s chest. Key absently brushed his hair long after he was asleep and snoring softy which was therapeutic to both of them usually but he couldn’t sleep. He was too worried about Lauren, wondering if she was up and crying again. With some objection in a little low puppy whine from Jonghyun despite that he was conked out, Key slipped out of his arms and off the bed. Lauren was as he feared half-awake, tossing and turning around and whimpering. As soon as he laid down, she cuddled to his chest, clung to him and settled down.

“Umma,” she choked out, burying her head in his chest.

“Shh, babygirl. I'm here,” he whispered, holding her and brushing her hair. “Everything’s going to be okay. They won't hate you, I promise. Rather than tearing yourself up over it just let things happen naturally. You’ll be with the guy you're meant to be with and there may even be more than one. I know growing up , especially in relation to love. You may love one more than the other already and don't even realize it.”

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