A/N: Hi, guys! I am so, so, so sorry that this very last update took so long. D:

I've just been so busy with some personal stuff lately, so my time was really limited, even if I'm still on summer vacation. Also, if I'm going to be honest, on those rare moments that I do have free time to write, I'm stuck on both "lazy mode" and writer's block for this story. And, yeah, that's not a good combination at all. D:

So, I totally had to wait until I was in the perfect mood for writing. Because this is the last one, after all, and I didn't just want to throw out some half-baked chapter. This one has to be good.

I just hope I succeeded in actually making it good, though. XD

Also, the chapter is nice and long again, because I wanted everything covered. And may I ask you guys not to scroll down no matter what and risk seeing the ending until you actually get there while reading it. Because I really want it to end perfectly for you, guys, okay? :D

So, yeah, I'm rambling too much here already, and I've kept you guys from this last update that I'm sure everyone's waiting for long enough as it is.

So, without further ado, the last chapter! Let's all get this over and done with! Get  ready to meet a couple of little people! :D And please, don't judge me for their names! It's all Changmin's fault! :P

Fighting! XD

9 years, 10 months after the Epilogue:

October 2023- DBSK PoV

“Maxi!”

The shout was ignored, and more giggling and running around just followed.

“MAXI!”

Again, the same response.

Ignoring.

Giggling.

Running.

“Shim Maxine!”

The six year-old girl just giggled some more, dodged the arms of her father that were trying to catch her, and ran off again around the dance studio.

“Maxi, come on!” Changmin all but begged desperately on his knees already. All the hard training that they’ve received throughout the years, even when they were still under SM and being worked to death, had never tired him out so much as running after his daughter did. “Please! Just stop running around! If you ruin your clothes or fall and hurt yourself, your mother will kill me!”

Changmin had been running after her at full speed (not that it helped him in catching his daughter very much), so it took quite a few excellent maneuvering skills on his part to not fall on his face when he had to stop right away when Maxi suddenly just stopped running.

All the prayers that Changmin was sending up in his relief that his daughter finally listened to him were put to a screeching halt when Maxi turned around and looked up at him with a very confused and serious expression on her face.

“But, Daddy…” she said slowly in a very honestly puzzled tone. “Mommy already always kills you, doesn’t she?”

Yes, his daughter was very much aware that Changmin still got into Erin’s nerves a lot and that this leads him to often be in trouble with his wife.

Changmin could only splutter for a moment or two, while he heard snickers and snorts from behind them.

“Y-yes, well, will you already stop running around, then? So that Daddy won’t be killed by Mommy again this time?” Changmin managed to reply to his daughter eventually.

“Nope. You should already be used to being killed by Mommy now, anyway, shouldn’t you, Daddy?” Maxi said in a matter-of-fact tone, her face still showing the earnestness of an innocent child.

Changmin could only look down at her, his mouth hanging open, unsure what else he could possibly say in reply to that. The snickers and snorts from behind them just got louder.

When it became apparent to his daughter that Changmin wasn’t about to anything anytime soon, Maxi just shrugged a bit to herself, as though she thought her dad was being rather odd again, and then took off running and squealing with laughter around the dance studio once more.

Yep, she certainly got her wit and smarts from her mother. And the ability to use her brain and mouth together to leave Changmin stunned and speechless.

And if Changmin couldn’t get even the tiniest bit annoyed when it was Erin doing to it him, he was even less than capable of annoyance when it’s his little princess being like this. Especially when Maxi completes the delivery with a very sweet and innocent look on her face.

So, between Erin and Maxi, Changmin was pretty much toast. Or doomed. Yeah, ‘doomed’ sounds more appropriate.

And right now, Changmin just wanted to rip his hair off in exasperation.

The fact that his hyungs were just there, laughing at him, just made it all worse.

“Why don’t you idiots just stop laughing and help me here?!” Changmin demanded at the two of them, turning around to glare at Yunho and Jaejoong.

“Watch your mouth, maknae. And, sorry. No can do. I’m busy here,” Yunho smiled a bit at Changmin, amusement sparkling in his eyes, before going back to start practicing some dance steps in front of the mirror wall on one side of the studio.

Changmin shot him a dirty look.

Busy! Yeah, right! He knew for a fact that Yunho had stopped dancing about ten minutes ago already, and had just been watching him run around after his daughter.

Jaejoong, for his part, was sitting at the table, sorting out some documents for their company that Yunho needed to review.

Yunho had been an awesome CEO; he was great at heading their company, as they had all predicted before, and the company thrived under his hands. But Yunho was just helpless at organization, and he’s been saying about at least three times a week that he would have been doomed if he didn’t have Jaejoong helping him sort out the papers that he needed to look through.

So, when Changmin was done glaring at Yunho and turned his eyes to Jaejoong to plead for help, Jaejoong just shrugged at him and went back to the papers.

“Sorry, Changmin-ah, I’m busy over here, too,” the eldest member of DBSK replied, keeping his eyes on the papers. “Besides, I’m doing you a big favor already right now by keeping your son accompany.”

Maxi’s younger brother, Max, had just turned four years-old recently, and, at the moment, he was busy happily eating some rice cakes while he sat on the chair next to Jaejoong’s.

Changmin didn’t really see what was this “big favor” that Jaejoong was talking about.

“Max will be fine there by himself! He’s always fine as long as there’s food!” Changmin told Jaejoong exasperatedly. Really, Jaejoong should know that fact by now!

“Just like you, then,” Yunho paused again from his dancing to smirk at Changmin. The leader just chuckled at the withering glance that his maknae gave him.

Throughout the years, Changmin’s love for food hadn’t lessen one bit. In fact, it’s grown even more with each passing year. And he’s passed on the fondness for food to his daughter and his son.

Much to Erin’s great dismay.

I mean, you’d be dismayed, too, if every time you went grocery shopping for the week, you had to buy so much food that it’s as if you’re panicking about a worldwide food shortage, right?

“But Max likes sitting next to his favorite Uncle Jae, don’t you, Max?” Jaejoong ‘whispered’ loudly to Max in a conspiring tone.

When it comes to their honorary uncles, it seems like Maxi and Max have practiced something like ‘divide and conquer’. Maxi had their Uncle Yun and Uncle Su eating at the palm of her hand, while Max took over when it came to their Uncle Jae and Uncle Chun. And, as both kids had their father wrapped in their pinky fingers, it was probably safe to say that DBSK was totally under the control of the two little Shims.

The young boy just looked up from his food for a second to smile at Jaejoong, then carried on eating with much gusto.

Jaejoong rolled his eyes. Like father, like son, indeed.

“Besides, Erin will kill you if she finds out that you just told me to leave your son unsupervised,” Jaejoong added in a huff to Changmin.

“Unsupervised?!” Changmin said incredulously as he tried again to catch a speeding-by Maxi. “We’re all here with him, aren’t we?!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t push Erin if I were you, Min,” Yunho added in agreement with Jaejoong as though Changmin hadn’t said anything at all. “I mean, I really think that she still hasn’t forgiven you even until now for naming both your kids after your stage name.”

“Maxine and Maximillian are both perfectly okay names!” Changmin scowled at Yunho, then frowned deeply as Maxi expertly dodged his arms again. “I mean, ‘Maxine’ is like a combination of my ‘Max’ and Erin’s name. And ‘Maximillian’ has a regal ring to it, don’t you think? And it’s similar to Maxi’s name.”

“Yes, but really? Three Max’s in your home? I’m surprised Erin hasn’t gone mad yet,” Jaejoong shook his head at their youngest.

“There aren’t three Max’s in our house, hyung, don’t exaggerate!” Changmin rolled his eyes. “Maxine is ‘Maxi’, Maximillian is ‘Max’, and I’m rarely called by ‘Max’, anyway, especially not at home. Erin insisted on maintaining some differences on how we're called, at least…”

“And can you blame her for that?” Yunho asked Changmin pointedly. He turned to Jaejoong and said, “If you meant ‘crazy’ when you said that Erin still hasn’t gone mad a while ago, then yes, she’s not mad yet. But if you mean ‘goddamn angry’, well, we all know that she’s already given Changmin hell when she found out the true reason why he picked out those names for their kids. And she’s done so quite a few times already.”

Jaejoong snorted and nodded emphatically in complete agreement, but Changmin paused from running after his daughter to glare at Yunho.

“What do you mean by ‘the true reason’? I’ve already told you a while ago why their names are Maxine and Maximillian.”

“Yes, and but apart from those reasons, you chose those names because you knew it would drive Erin nuts. You just wanted to get on her nerves again,” Jaejoong told Changmin, giving him a look that totally said ‘don’t-even-bother-denying-it!’.

“Well, that might have been the next-in-line reason right after the ones I’ve just mentioned,” Changmin shrugged easily, really not bothering to deny it, although there was slightly sheepish look on his face.

“Even after all these years, you just can’t help yourself when it comes to getting into Erin’s nerves, can you?” Yunho rolled his eyes.

When Changmin and Erin had finally gotten together all those years back then, the leader had been extremely positive and sure that he wouldn’t be subjected to anymore of their fights. And he had been very glad for it. He had been very glad that his life would be peaceful now, when it comes to those two, at least. He had thought that he wouldn’t have to stop them from killing each other anymore.

Yunho was greatly mistaken in thinking that, though.

And that fact was slapped right across his face just on the very next day after they had found Erin again already.

Flashback

The hotel suite had always seemed so spacious for them before, but now that all the Super Junior members were there, it just seemed so goddamn small and tiny.

After lunch, Yunho and Jaejoong squashed themselves together on the armchair. Yoochun and Junsu shared the two-seater couch as usual. And Changmin and Erin curled up together on the sofa. The members of Super Junior were sitting, scattered on the different places of the suite- some were on the floor, some on the dining table’s chairs, some on the dining table itself, and some were even on the kitchen counter. Kyuhyun, however, didn’t really feel like sitting anywhere except on an actual couch, so he managed to fit himself at one end of the sofa by Changmin and Erin’s feet.

Changmin kept kicking him, though, scowling and glaring at his best friend to get off the sofa so that he could have it to himself and his girlfriend.

While the other members of DBSK and Super Junior were talking and joking around, Kyuhyun just ignored the kicks of Changmin with years of experience of dealing with the maknae of DBSK. Even if Changmin’s kicks were progressively getting stronger and stronger.

Erin was having none of it, though.

“Will you stop kicking Kyuhyun oppa?” she hissed at Changmin when she finally reached her patience’s end. Since Erin was wrapped up in Changmin’s arms, she was also being rocked every time Changmin kicked Kyuhyun. Not to mention that she didn’t think that kicking your best friend was a very nice thing to do.

Changmin paused from sending another kick at Kyuhyun to scowl down at Erin. “But he’s taking up our space!”

“There’s plenty of space on the sofa! We don’t need all of it!”

“I don’t want us to share with him!”

“Stop being so selfish!”

“It’s not being ‘selfish’! It’s not just myself that I’m thinking about! I’m mainly thinking about you!”

“Well, if that’s really the case, then know that I really don’t mind Kyuhyun oppa sitting with us.”

“But I don’t want him here! It’s my sofa, I get to decide who I share it with!”

Erin could only roll her eyes in exasperation.

“It’s not yours,” Kyuhyun huffed at Changmin. “I mean, I don’t see your name written anywhere on this sofa.”

“Yes, but my name’s written on the documents that says very clearly that I own this whole hotel that the sofa is in,” Changmin shot at him.

“Oh, don’t go playing ‘Mr. Big Time Hotel Owner’ on me,” Kyuhyun simply said airily as he slumped back even more against the sofa and made himself comfortable.

“Stop being such a jerk!” Erin snapped at Changmin.

“Why are you siding with him?” Changmin shot back at her. “I’m your boyfriend!”

Erin pulled herself from Changmin’s arms and sat up properly. She gave him a piercing glare. “Yes, you’re my boyfriend, and you’re also being an again right now! So, I’m at perfect liberty to chew you out for it!”

By now, Erin and Changmin were shouting themselves hoarse and had gotten the attention of everyone.

Jaejoong just shook his head at the two of them. He knew it would only be a while before they started ripping off each other’s throats again. They wouldn’t be Erin and Changmin if they didn’t. When he glanced at his lover’s face, though, Jaejoong was shocked at what he saw. Yunho looked like all of his dreams and aspirations were trodden on and totally crushed.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yunho ignored him and just demanded at Changmin and Erin, “Why are you two fighting?!”

Everyone just looked at DBSK’s leader oddly.

“Because they’re Erin and Changmin and that’s what they usually do?” Yoochun answered Yunho in a ‘duh’ tone.

“But you guys are in love and together now!” Yunho all but yelped.

Erin and Changmin just blinked at him.

“Well, yes… but why on earth should that mean that we won’t be fighting anymore, oppa?” Erin asked, genuinely puzzled at what Yunho was going on about.

Yunho could only stare and gape disbelievingly at them, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

Heechul was the first to react-

Hangeng had been sitting on one of the dining table chairs with Heechul perched on his lap, and he and the chair nearly toppled over as the diva shrieked with laughter.

And Changmin and Erin just looked bewilderedly at Yunho while everyone else also doubled-over, laughing, as DBSK’s leader grabbed one of the couch’s pillows and repeatedly smacked himself on the face with it.

End of Flashback

“Yeah, well, you know how much I like getting into her nerves,” Changmin told his leader honestly.

Then, he glanced surreptitiously to make sure that Maxi was running around in a far area of the dance studio and that Max was too preoccupied with eating to listen properly to what they were saying.

Yunho and Jaejoong raised their eyebrows when they saw Changmin do this. Over the years, whenever anyone checked to make sure that Maxi and Max couldn’t hear them, it already gave the others a hint that what that person was about to say was rated or, at least, not for the ears of the little kiddies.

“I mean, when I get into her nerves so much, Erin gets angry,” Changmin continued in an undertone after making sure that his kids had no chance of hearing him. “And I like it when Erin’s angry. It’s… hot.”

The Yunjae couple just rolled their eyes at him.

“Well, of course I think she’s always hot, but god, when she’s angry…” Changmin continued to ramble on with a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes.

“Okay, okay!” Jaejoong said loudly, quickly cutting him off. “We get it! No need for details, that’s like our little sister you’re talking about!”

“I wasn’t going to give you details,” Changmin snorted. “That’s private.”

“Good to know,” Yunho said dryly as he resumed practicing again.

“Alright, now stop giving us mental images of stuff we’d rather not know about and just goddamn catch your daughter,” Jaejoong told Changmin dismissively, shooing the maknae away as the eldest turned back to the papers.

“You’re one to talk! What about how you two have traumatized all of us all these years?!” Changmin retorted, frustrated. If his being a food monster hadn’t lessened one bit, Yunjae definitely didn’t get any quieter at all in the past years.

When Yunho and Jaejoong didn’t reply to him anymore, Changmin just rolled his eyes and started running after Maxi again.

After about ten minutes or so, however, Changmin fell back down on the empty chair beside his son, finally admitting defeat.

“Still no match for your daughter, huh?” Jaejoong leaned around from Max’s other side to smirk at Changmin.

“I don’t know where she gets all the energy from,” Changmin groaned tiredly as he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel. Forget training and practice- having Maxi for a daughter gives him more than all the daily exercise he needs! And add Max to the equation, and Changmin just feels like he should just totally retire, too wiped out to carry on.

“Probably from all the food you feed her and her brother,” Yunho answered promptly as he walked over to the stereo to change the music, already having finished practicing for the current song that was playing.

“Yeah, you feed them too much, Min,” Jaejoong shook his head, looking pointedly at how Max was now eating his fourth rice cake.

Changmin wiped his son’s mouth clean with a napkin (though he didn’t know why he bothered, because as soon as Max resumed eating, he had food all over his mouth again), before answering Jaejoong. “They’re growing little kids! They need all the food that they can get!” Changmin told Jaejoong huffily.

Erin usually husband for this, saying that his paranoia with her safety was extending over to their kids’ food intake. Nowadays, Changmin always worried about two things: whether Erin was safe, and whether Maxi and Max were full and well-fed.

Changmin couldn’t see what the laughing matter about that was at all. Safety and hunger were serious matters! (And, of course, being hungry was worse than being in danger, in Changmin’s book, at least.)

“What’s your excuse for yourself, then? You eat at least twice more than Maxi and Max eat together! And you’ve already passed your growth phase years ago! You’re not a ‘little kid’ anymore, you tall giant!” Jaejoong snickered as he put the stack of papers that he had finished organizing for Yunho into an envelope. Then, he opened another envelope and began to sort through the papers in that one.

“You try having two balls of pure energy for kids and see if you won’t be gorging yourself with food any chance you get!” Changmin retorted.

“What about before you and Erin had Maxi and Max, then?”

Jaejoong smirked in triumph as Changmin just crossed him arms and pouted and sulked, looking more like a little boy than his son did at the moment.

“Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask…” Jaejoong changed the topic as he frowned down at the new stack of papers. “Are Maxi’s and Max’s clothes already set and ready?”

“Clothes?” Changmin asked his hyung, perplexed. “What clothes?”

Jaejoong looked up from the papers and shot him a dirty look. “What do you mean ‘what clothes’?! Why do you think everyone’s been going to dress shops for the past few weeks to get fitted?!”

“Oh,” Changmin said blankly. “I don’t know. Ask Erin.”

“You could at least pretend to be concerned about our wedding plans!” Jaejoong snapped, getting irritated at once. “We need all the help that we can get! The wedding date’s getting nearer and there’s still a lot to do!”

Changmin rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Geez, relax, hyung! Your wedding’s not going to be until about another eight freakin' months! That’s still ages away!”

“That’s not ages away!” Jaejoong shrieked, not even paying attention to the papers anymore as he glared at Changmin. “Next thing you’ll know, it’ll already be our wedding the next day and we still haven’t gotten everything ready for it!”

“Calm down, Jae,” Yunho said soothingly, walking over to stand behind Jaejoong and wrapping his arms around him. “I’m sure we’ll get everything ready soon enough.”

“God, I’m so glad Erin didn’t turn into a bridezilla like you when we were preparing for our wedding,” Changmin muttered under his breath. Jaejoong still heard him, though, judging from the steely look that he was giving the maknae.

“Count yourself lucky, then,” Yunho told Changmin seriously. Or as seriously as he could when he was also chuckling at the same time.

Yunho's chuckles were cut short, though, and he hissed in pain as Jaejoong angrily jabbed his elbow backwards to hit him on the stomach.

“Yes, I was so thankful back then that Erin herself cringed at the thought of a big and grand wedding,” Changmin said. “I was really glad I wouldn’t have to be involved and caught up in so much wedding planning drama at all. Of course, I didn’t realize that I’ll be experiencing it anyway, years later, when it’s time for your wedding. I mean, Yoochun hyung, Junsu, Erin, and I are all getting stressed because of a wedding, and it’s not even ours. Heck, Erin and I already got our wedding done and out of the way eight years ago!”

Changmin was smirking evilly at how Jaejoong was red with anger by the time he had finished his mini rant.

“Listen here, Shim Changmin! I-!” Jaejoong began to thunder out.

“Dad…?” Max said quietly, looking up from his food and effectively interrupting Jaejoong.

Saved by my son, Changmin thought happily. Then, he focused on Max, completely ignoring how Jaejoong could only stew and simmer in anger behind his son.

“What is it, little man?” Changmin asked Max.

Maxi was “Daddy’s little princes”, and Max was Changmin’s “little man”. His little man on whom he could count on for some male bonding time when Erin and Maxi became too much for Changmin that he felt that his testosterone levels were lowering at an alarming rate. Though Changmin sometimes suppose that it wasn’t really their gender that made Erin and Maxi crazy that way. Maxi drove Changmin nuts because she got that ability from her mother, and Erin was like that because… well, that’s just how Erin really is.

Anyway…

“When Mama come back?” Max asked his father, his eyes big, and round, and totally sad.

“Soon, buddy, soon. She just went shopping for a bit with Uncle Su, remember?” Changmin told him softly.

“More like Junsu dragged her to go shopping with him. Erin wouldn’t have gone willingly,” Jaejoong laughed. Erin hated shopping. It was the only activity that she and Junsu disagreed with as best friends.

“Yes, and Yoochun was also caught in the mess and dragged along, too,” Yunho smiled.

Erin had been determined that if she couldn’t escape Junsu’s clutches, she wouldn’t be the only one suffering from yet another shopping trip. So, she had grabbed onto the poor, unsuspecting Yoochun who had just arrived and walked in the studio’s door mere seconds ago, and they were both dragged along by Junsu.

“How soon is soon?” Max asked more insistently.

“They’ll probably be back within an hour or so, Max.”

It was clear to the three members that this was still too long for Max, based on the look on the boy’s face. Yunho, Jaejoong, and Changmin could clearly see that Max already misses his mother and wants her back here with him.

Max might be Changmin’s “little man”, but Changmin knew that when it comes down to it, his son was really a “Mama’s boy” through and through. And Changmin couldn’t blame him for it. Because Changmin himself would be first in the line of people that’s completely under Erin’s spell.

Also, Changmin felt the same way as Max right now. He misses her, too. Call him a pathetic, lovesick fool if you will, but Changmin wished with all of his being that Erin was back in his arms again, even if she’d only been away from him since a couple of hours before lunchtime that day.

Max still looked a bit forlorn, so Changmin pulled him into a tight hug.

“Oh, cheer up, little man. Your Mama will be back before you know it. Also, who knows, she might have a treat for you when she comes back, right? And, to pass the time, there’s still half a plate full of rice cakes in front of you! Come on, eat them up before you hurt their feelings for ignoring them!” Changmin told Max cheerfully, ruffling his hair fondly.

Yunho and Jaejoong rolled their eyes in sync at how Changmin ‘comforted’ his son. Of course, cheer the boy up with food, because it should make him feel better! That was so Changmin!

Hearing that from his father, Max gave a small gasp and quickly turned to his food. “I’m sorry, rice cakes! I won’t ignore you anymore!” he apologize seriously to his food. Then, he grabbed another one and began chewing on it again.

And that particular response from Max had Yunho and Jaejoong facepalming.

The father and son tandem could really be quite… unbelievable… at times. Especially when those said times involved food.

Just then, Changmin had the air knocked out of him as Maxi came running to him at full speed and threw herself at her father.

“Maxi, careful, princess!” Changmin grimaced, sounding winded, as he sat his daughter more comfortably on his lap.

Maxi just completely ignore that, though.

“Yeah, Daddy, didn’t Mommy say that when she comes back, she’ll have a surprise for me and Max? What kind of surprise is that? What’s she bringing back for us?” Maxi’s questions practically flew out of so fast that Changmin had to focus hard to understand what she was saying. The young girl’s eyes were bright and shining with excitement.

“I don’t know, princess,” Changmin told her gently, brushing her hair back from her face. “And even if I did, I shouldn’t tell you, should I? I mean, that’s why it’s called a ‘surprise’, after all…”

“But I don’t like surprises,” Maxi pouted at her father.

Yep, Maxi also did Erin’s puppy-dog eyes and pout perfectly. No wonder Changmin felt so helpless.

“Don’t be like that, Maxi. Surprises can be fun, too, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be funner if I knew about them,” she said petulantly.

In a very ‘Max-like’ manner, her brother said to Maxi, “Wonder if Mama’s ‘prise is food? I hope it’s food!”

“Yeah, I hope it’s ice cream!” Maxi said enthusiastically, her disappointment about the ‘surprise’ aspect being replaced with excitement again because of her brother’s reminder that the surprise might be food.

“Or cake! Cake would be good!” Max piped up.

“Ice cream and cake would be better!”

“Yes! Ice cream and cake!”

“Ice cream and cake! Ice cream and cake! Ice cream and cake!” both Maxi and Max began to chant happily.

“Well, they’re definitely your kids,” Jaejoong told Changmin wryly. Maxi and Max were definitely little food monsters. Just like their father. Only smaller.

“Why, whose kids could they possibly be other than mine?” Changmin snorted as he tried to stop an excitedly bouncing Maxi from falling from his lap.

“Well…” Jaejoong began to say, smirking wickedly.

“Shut up,” Changmin told him shortly before he could continue on.

“Yeah, Boo, don’t bait Changmin,” Yunho laughed. “Don’t feel so complacent just because Maxi is sitting on his lap; I’m sure Changmin could find some way to get back at you. I mean, a jealous Changmin is dangerous to your health, after all. Actually, you know what? A jealous Changmin is dangerous to your life!”

Changmin just decided to ignore them both and concentrate on stopping his kids from squealing so much before his ears bled. After a while, he managed to bring Max’s attention back to the rice cakes.

“Daddy, will you fix my hair?” Maxi asked Changmin with that puppy-dog look on her face again.

And since she was wearing that look, what else could Changmin do but say immediately, “Of course, princess!”

“Uh-oh,” Jaejoong said as he and Yunho exchanged worried looks.

“Changmin, I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Yunho said carefully.

“Yeah, remember what happened last time?” Jaejoong added.

Changmin just ignored them again as he helped Maxi off him and they went together to Maxi’s Disney Princesses backpack that was on the other side of the room to get her hairbrush and hair ties.

“Well, your own head be it,” Jaejoong muttered, shaking his head as he went back to his papers. He only looked up again from them when he heard Changmin say proudly after a while, “There we go! Now, I did quite a good job, if I do say so myself!”

Jaejoong’s mouth dropped in shock when he saw the ‘hairstyle’ that Maxi was now sporting.

“Good job? Changmin, are you goddamn kidding me?!”

“What?!” Changmin said defensively. “She said she wanted pigtails!”

“You call those pigtails?!”

“Uncle Jae, why are you being mean to Daddy?” Maxi said, not pleased with how her uncle was acting towards her father.

Seeing that Jaejoong was at lost for words on how to explain it to Maxi, Yunho walked over to the father and daughter duo and took Maxi’s hand, leading her over the mirrors on the other side of the room.

“That’s why, princess,” Yunho told her quietly, pointing at Maxi’s reflection on the mirror.

Maxi didn’t only have a "pigtail" on either side of her head, but she had loads of them. There were about five on the right side and seven on the left. And they were all pointing at different directions!

“I like them,” Maxi said, after looking at her reflection and deliberating about her hair for a bit.

“See? She likes them!” Changmin huffed.

“Well, we don’t! This is one of the reason why we should all be fervently thanking God that you became a K-pop idol instead of a hairstylist! No wonder Erin had warned you to steer clear of Maxi’s hair!” Jaejoong just ranted on.

Changmin was about to answer back sharply when his eyes fell on his son, who was still eating happily at the table.

“Max! What have you done?!” Changmin yelped, panicking as he ran towards Max.

This time, Max didn’t only have food all over his mouth, but also on the front of his shirt as well!

Erin was so going to murder Changmin for this!

Max was startled and he looked up at his father with wide, teary eyes. “What I do wrong, Dad?” he asked fearfully, his bottom lip already quivering.

! And Erin will kill Changmin even more if he made their son cry!

“Hey, no, you didn’t do anything wrong, buddy,” Changmin said quickly, trying to keep himself calm and rubbing the back of his son to comfort him at the same time. “It’s just that- well, we need to get you cleaned up before your mom comes back. Otherwise, your dad will be dead meat.”

This just seemed to have upset Max even more. “Mama won’t like the mess I make, will she? Mama will be mad at me?” he asked Changmin as tears really did start to well up in his eyes. As a “Mama’s boy”, the thought of making his mother displeased about anything really made Max upset.

“No, she won’t be mad at you, of course! If anything, it’s my blood that she’ll be after,” Changmin assured his son.

“Why? I made mess, not you,” Max said, puzzled.

Maxi had remained standing by the mirrors and had been amusing herself by twirling around and making funny faces at herself. Upon hearing what her brother said, she paused from her play and told him seriously, “Yeah, but everything is always Daddy’s fault, remember?” Then, she turned back to the mirror.

“Oh, yeah…” Max nodded thoughtfully at his older sister’s words.

Changmin grimaced. Yunho and Jaejoong snickered at him, and he threw them a dark look, before turning back to Max.

“See? So, Mama won’t be mad at you,” Changmin smiled a bit for him.

“But I don’t want Mama mad at you, either,” Max told his dad.

That made Changmin’s smile widen. Well, at least he could still count on his son for back-up. After all, them guys have to stick together. Right?

“Don’t worry about it, buddy. We’ll get you cleaned up in a bit.”

And sure enough, after about fifteen grueling minutes and a dozen sheets of wet wipes later, Max’s shirt was completely free of any traces of rice cake, albeit it was a bit damp.

“See, Max? Good as new! Just don’t tell your mom, okay?” Changmin told his son happily.

But then-

“Don’t tell me what?” Erin’s voice from the door said, making Changmin freeze on the spot.

Oh, dear.

End of DBSK PoV

Sore and aching feet were an expected aftereffect of a shopping trip with Junsu, and I had to drag myself with them as he, Yoochun, and I made our way up to one of the upper floors of the building owned by DBSK’s company to where the dance studio that they usually practiced in was.

Changmin’s voice flitted out the door of the studio as Yoochun opened it for us.

The three of us went it just in time to hear Changmin perfectly clear as he said, “…Just don’t tell your mom, okay?”

As tired and worn out as I already was, at hearing those words, I immediately tensed up and went on high alert.

“Don’t tell me what?” I asked sharply, my eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Changmin froze, shocked. Then, he quickly hurried over to me, going all, “Oh, hey, baby! You’ve been gone long. I missed you. Did you have fun, though? I-“

Oh, no! I wasn’t letting him sweet talk his way out of this one!

“Tell me what, Shim Changmin?” I demanded again.

“Er,” he stuttered, gulping nervously. He rubbed the back of his head as a sheepish expression graced his face. “Oh, it’s n-nothing. It’s just that- that-“

The rest of Changmin’s rambling “explanation” was drowned out by the shouts of our children.

“Mommy/Mama! Uncle Su! Uncle Chunface! You’re back! You’re back!” Maxi and Max shouted joyfully as they raced towards us.

Yoochun glared and grumbled at the suddenly smirking Changmin.

Changmin was the one who got them into calling Yoochun ‘Uncle Chunface’, after all. And as much as I knew that I shouldn’t be encouraging Changmin with annoying his hyungs through our kids, well- let’s just say that I also enjoy Yoochun’s reaction every time they call him ‘Uncle Chunface’ too much to tell Changmin off for it.

Maxi and Max ran straight to me, attaching themselves to one of my legs each.

“Hi, my little babies. What did you two do get yourselves into while I was-“

My smile and words were lost as I looked down at them and my brain processed Maxi’s appearance.

“Maxi, what happened to you?!” I all but shrieked in horror as I took in the monstrosity that was now my daughter’s hair.

“Do you like it, Mommy?” Maxi beamed up me, smiling toothily. Or not so toothily, seeing that she was missing a few teeth. It was utterly adorable, but, for the first time, I couldn’t bring myself to coo like an annoying mother over my daughter’s cuteness. I was too horrified by her hair. I couldn’t even bring myself to answer her.

Instead, I just glared at my husband, whose nervous and sheepish expression was back on his face. In fact, it had increased ten-fold.

“Shim Changmin, what the hell did you do to Maxine’s hair?!” I snarled at him.

Changmin could only stutter in fear at me. Behind us, his four hyungs were watching in amusement. They loved witnessing their maknae get in trouble with me. Maxi and Max just looked up at us with confused expressions, though.

“I- I-“ Changmin stammered out eventually when he realized that my glare won’t relent until he gave me a satisfactory explanation. Though I really doubt that I would find any kind of explanation good enough for what happened to Maxi’s hair. “W-well, M-maxi asked me to fix her hair…”

“Yeah, I asked Daddy to do pigtails on my hair, Mommy,” Maxi told me earnestly, giving her dad a tentative look.

Pigtails?! I didn’t know what kind of hairstyle Changmin was after, but I never would have guessed that it was simple pigtails, judging from what was on Maxi’s head right now!

“Pigtails!” I shouted incredulously at Changmin. “You call these pigtails?!”

“Yeah, I had a similar reaction, actually,” Jaejoong smirked at the cowering Changmin.

“Boo, shut up and don’t send Changmin to an early grave. I know he’s annoying, but he’s still our maknae,” Yunho advised him.

I took in a few deep breaths to calm myself.

“What did I tell you about when it comes to Maxi’s hair?” I asked Changmin in a much calmer tone after a while, though my eyes were still narrowed dangerously.

“That I’m never to attempt to even style a single strand of hair on her head,” Changmin replied immediately.

Well, I suppose I should give him credit for remembering the words I all but pounded into his head during that time when he tried to help Maxi with her hair and ended up literally butchering it. It took a couple of months and quite a few trips to the hair salon to get our daughter’s hair even just remotely normal again after that incident.

But still…

“Well, why did you try to ‘style’ her hair now?!”

“Uhm, because she asked me to?” Changmin answered me hesitatingly.

And I knew at once that that was the truth.

The very simple and even lame, though completely true, reason why he ignored what I had told him before about not touching Maxi’s hair again. Just because Maxi “asked him to”. I knew for a fact that Changmin would stop at nothing to get the sun, the stars, and the planets if Maxi simply asked him for them.

It made me smile right now despite myself.

Though I couldn’t understand for the life of me why Maxi still keeps on trusting Changmin with her hair, when she was in tears because of that ‘hair-butchering’ incident.

I suppose she really was just that much of a “Daddy’s girl” that way.

That made my smile widen even more. Changmin and Maxi really were just too cute together.

Actually, Changmin was just too cute when he goes into “loving-father” mode to both our kids.

“What if Maxi asked you to jump off the building, then?” Jaejoong now asked Changmin, raising a challenging eyebrow.

“But, Uncle Jae! I’d never ask Daddy something like that!” Maxi gasped out, honestly shocked that Jaejoong would even suggest something like that.

“It’s just hypothetical, princess,” Jaejoong quickly assured her.

“What’s hy-hypo-thetical?” Maxi and Max both asked together, struggling a bit with the “big” word.

And now Jaejoong looked totally unsure about how he would explain that to the two kids looking up most curiously at him.

Ha, serves him right, I suppose.

“Let’s go leave your mom and dad to ‘talk’ about things, huh?” Yoochun now butted in. He put his hands on Max’s shoulders and led him firmly to the table at the back of the studio.

“Yeah, Uncle Chunface and I will tell you about our shopping trip!” Junsu squealed excitedly as he offered his hand out for Maxi to take. Junsu’s enthusiasm successfully distracted Maxi from hers and her brother’s question, and she happily took her Uncle Su’s hand.

Yoochun blanched at the thought of having to go through and talk about the shopping trip. Because it was really more of a shopping nightmare for our part. It was really just Junsu who honestly enjoyed it.

Changmin and I were left by the door with Yunho and Jaejoong.

“So, that’s what you meant before? You were telling Maxi not to tell me what happened to her hair? Did you seriously think I wouldn’t have noticed and guessed right away that it was you that had happened to her hair?” I asked him disbelievingly.

I mean, God! I’ve known him for about fourteen years now, been with him for ten years, married to him for eight, and I still couldn’t completely understand how his sometimes genius, sometimes completely idiotic brain works!

“Er… yeah… actually… about that…” Changmin said nervously, fidgeting and scratching the side of his neck.

“He wasn’t telling that to Maxi, he was talking to Max,” Jaejoong informed me almost giddily, making me look at him questioningly.

“Jae, what did I just say about not getting Erin to kill off Changmin?” Yunho sighed wearily.

“Can you blame me for trying? It’s so fun watching Changmin being so whipped! Erin’s the only one that he can get into trouble with, after all!” Jaejoong insisted stubbornly.