“So…you ended up on a date with Minnie-chan?” the chubby boy ponders for a moment with fingers to his chin, much to the surprise of a flustered Kyuhyun on how ‘mature’ his supposed son looked the minute he told him about his and Sungmin’s plan for the night.

“You sound like a 40 year-old, you know? And you’re just 7…” Kyuhyun answers in mild grimace, though he felt quite silly for asking his son permission. “And it’s not a date! It’s just dinner, Sandeul. While I’m at it, Teukie-hyung can take care of you” he presses with a dignified sigh before pushing his glasses higher to his nose.

Sandeul merely blinks at him. “Neh, it is a date, daddy. Don’t deny it. What else can you call two people going out for dinner, then?” he raises one of his thin eyebrows and giggles at the blush on his adoptive father’s face. “Daddy’s got a date~”

“Sandeul” Kyuhyun starts, sounding stern and serious albeit the colors on his cheeks. Sandeul only laughs at him and he reaches out to pat Kyuhyun’s shoulder with his small hands,

“Neh…tell Sandeullie when’ll be the wedding day, okay?” he smiles with all the cruelty a 7 year-old can get and Kyuhyun stiffens, visibly shaken by his son’s words and how smug he looked. “W-What have you been watching on those late night shows, Sandeul?” Kyuhyun asks, a spine-tingling chill going up and down his body as soon as Sandeul gives him another eerie-looking smile.

“Oh nothing…cartoons of some sort” he whistles, batting his eyelashes like the innocent child he was. “Hahaha, I’m a matchmaker!”

“A what?!”

“Nothing daddy, you can go get dressed now”

“Sandeul. I demand you to tell me what have you been—ow!”

“Go, go, go! Don’t keep Minnie-chan waiting!”

“I’m not going until you tell me what—stop kicking me!”

“Get dressed! Teukie-umma’s at the door already!”

“CHO SANDEUL!”

“I’ll get the door! You better be dressed like a King when I check on you later daddy!”

And as if talking in mid-air, Kyuhyun finds himself obeying the ‘orders’ of a 7 year-old kid, which was, by the way, a great shame since he, a lawyer slash College Instructor got owned by a mere preschooler. Sighing to himself as he fixes the tie around his neck, Kyuhyun chuckles in front of the mirror as he whispers,

“He’s grown up to be just like me…”

--

“Bye, daddy! Don’t get too drunk and get carried away…you’ll end up—mmppphhh!!”

Kyuhyun waves goodbye, again, shaken, as Sandeul struggles to grasp away from the hand on his mouth, “I’ll pay you back, Teukie-hyung. I promise” he answers back, sending the nervously laughing man a small wave before disappearing behind a flight of pristine stairs. He walks leisurely by the time he reached the ground floor, fixing his scarf and his tie, straightening out his suit and brushing his pants,

I’ll see you at the park. 8:00 pm, right?

He stares at his phone and the name of the sender (Sungmin gave him his phone number with a help from Sandeul, of course.), inhales the cold chilly air and smoothes back a hand to his crown of auburn hair before dashing out to the streets and into the nearby park.

By the minute he arrived, he spots Sungmin seated on a swing, looking rather dashing as he listens to some music from his headphones. Kyuhyun smiles, and just for the heck of it, hides behind a tree trunk and sends the humming man a message,

You’re looking quite lonely for a man with beauty such as yours…do you mind if I take you away?

Sungmin gasps and flushes red at the message, and he immediately stood up to look for Kyuhyun, “Kyuhyun, you flatter me. Why don’t you come out from the shadows and fulfill your words?” he replies with eloquence and grace, a charm Kyuhyun finds to be quite alluring as he sneaks up from behind and holds the chain that cradles the swing,

“You look beautiful tonight” he whispers, close to Sungmin’s ear to make sure he hears it.

Sungmin spins in surprise, and the blush on his cheeks only made the pride in Kyuhyun flare up a bit. “You have a way with words, Mr. Cho Kyuhyun” he laughs and finds his heart fluttering at the actions he was making.

Oh god, we’re flirting.

Regaining his composure, he tucks his hair at the back of his ear and clears his throat, “So…uhm, who’s taking care of Sandeul today?” Kyuhyun shoves his hands on his pockets and takes his steps slowly, “Leeteuk-hyung. He’s a neighbor of ours…he’s great with kids and has a lot of patience”

Sungmin nods in answer and he timidly walks beside the grinning male with hands behind his back, “So…where to?” he asks, feeling electricity run through his system each time their arms brush against each other. Kyuhyun looks at him with that goddamn heart melting smile and takes his hand into his own without hesitation, “I know a few good restaurants around here…but since this night is special and you’re a special person for Sandeul, I’ll take you to the best one yet” he gives him a sly wink; and with a squeeze to Sungmin’s hand, he holds him close and keeps him within an arm’s reach.

“B-But…isn’t that too much? I…I mean that’s not fair for you since you’re paying and all” Sungmin stutters, still unable to clearly understand the word “special” ever since Kyuhyun gave him that wink. “At least let me pay for the food too” he tugs at the sleeve of Kyuhyun’s coat, but the man, as stubborn as he is charming, only gives back another smile before hushing the smaller man with a finger to his lips, “My treat, okay?”

“Mmm” Sungmin can only nod in embarrassment, earning him a hearty chuckle and a faint ‘cute’ before Kyuhyun drags him to the fanciest restaurant he has ever seen in Seoul.

--

And from there, everything went from holding hands to candle-lit dinners and fancy wines. Sungmin blushes when Kyuhyun stares at him, those mocha eyes melting like honey with the intensity of his gaze, “Uncomfortable?” he says, chuckling when Sungmin bites his lower lip as if to confirm.

“Sorry…I can’t help it” another smile, and Sungmin swears he’ll end up dead from the gazes Kyuhyun had been giving him. Can’t he be more straightforward?

And just as he is starting to get giddy from those smirks and meaningful stares, Kyuhyun raises his goblet of wine and asks, “I’m curious…Sungmin, what do you do that makes people like you?”

“Pardon?”

Sighing with a bit of his pride shedding off, Kyuhyun takes a sip from his glass and stares straight at Sungmin’s wide, expressive eyes, “Sorry…let me rephrase. How do you make people interested in you?”

Blinking for a few seconds, Sungmin bursts out into a fit of giggles that makes Kyuhyun even more flustered, “I understand, Kyuhyun” he laughs as he wipes a tear from his eyes, “Well…my students say I’m quite soft-spoken…and that I am rather patient”

Kyuhyun leans forward and Sungmin smiles as he continues, “And maybe because I don’t give them false hope…”

“False hope?” Kyuhyun inquires; curiosity all over his features.

“I mean…I also am a homeroom councilor. After my classes, I give time for my students and tell them various stories and fairy tales…very much alike to those that parents read aloud to their children before they drift to sleep. I figured that by telling these children some stories…it’ll give them an overview of what life they should receive. I know they are just mere fairy tales and are only a product of fiction, but through these, I may be able to give them hope”

“Hope?” Kyuhyun asks again, undeterred and curious as ever, “Hope for what?”

“Hope that love will, one day, overcome everything. Love overcomes anything that seems impossible…even if it as dark as hell itself” Sungmin ends with a small sigh, laughing at the rather satisfied expression on Kyuhyun’s face. “I am guessing you’re not a fairy tale person, am I right?”

Kyuhyun can only laugh. “You’re right. I never grew up in a family whose nights were spent cuddling in bed telling bedtime stories. My dad was a drunkard…and he beat up my mom a lot. When they got a divorce, I went with mom and took care for her for about a year until she decided to get married again. I guess you can call us happy…well, mom was happy. I merely described myself as satisfied back then…so yeah, not much about princes and knights and dragons for me when I was in Sandeul’s age”

Sungmin seals his lips at the sudden confession and is about to reach for Kyuhyun’s hand when the latter surprises him again by producing a white rose from his jacket, “But I think I’m beginning to appreciate those so-called fairy tales now”

“You’ve taken my fancy…Lee Sungmin” Kyuhyun’s words slide from his tongue and it goes straight to Sungmin’s pink-tipped ears, “Stop that! You’re making me blush” he scolds half-heartedly, taking the single rose from Kyuhyun’s hands and covering the tip of his nose with it,

“Like I said, I can’t help it…” Kyuhyun whisks willfully, raising his glass and coaxing Sungmin to do the same. “To future…dates. I’m looking forward for another night like this”

With a clink of their glasses and a sip to their bitter-sweet wine, Sungmin keeps the smile on his face for the rest of the evening.

--

“Thank you for the wonderful evening. I enjoyed your company” Sungmin shyly rocks back and forth on his heel as he stands in front of his apartment door. “You shouldn’t have taken me home; really…treating me to dinner was enough”

Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows, blinks at the shy smile on Sungmin’s lips and takes Sungmin by surprise (for the umpteenth time that night) by kneeling on one knee, “You shouldn’t say that to your Knight”

Sungmin’s blush creeps down to his neck, “Knight?”

With a deep gaze, Kyuhyun looks up, takes Sungmin’s hand and plants a chaste kiss at the back of it, “I am your Knight…” he whispers as he stands up. Sungmin makes a sound at the back of his throat, but before he can pull away to make some distance between them, Kyuhyun hooks an arm around his waist and continues with a voice Sungmin can only describe as silk mixing with velvet:

“You’re my Prince”

--

A/N: Should I apologize? Yes, I should...Sorry for the late update! T__T college is never easy.