A male is humming with no sense of rhythm in the living room as he watches the news, his long legs crossed casually with one foot wiggling intermittently.

Agile footsteps hurrying across the floor from above causes the man to pause.

“Jongin…?”  The man mutters to himself as he looks upward.

A pubescent young man is coming down the stairs, with bed-ridden hair and wrinkled pajama attire.

Yifan glances back at the television in front of him when out of nowhere, he receives a gentle tackle from behind, as nimble arms lightly wrap around the jet black-haired male’s neck.

“MORNING, PAPA!” Eight-year-old Jongin greets his father in the living room.  His father is slightly taken aback by the greeting that was a little too loud for his ears.

How strange, the father thinks.  He’s usually never the type to be up this early in the morning.

“Morning, Jongin-ah, you’re up quite early.  Your father’s just started cooking up breakfast.  What seems to be the occasion?”

“WHAT?!”

Frowning, Yifan blinks as he is puzzled by the loudness of the question.  He turns to stare at Jongin and checks on his son’s ears.

Ah, of course.  Jongin’s not wearing them yet.  Yifan sighs softly with a smirk.

“I said, ‘you’re up early. What’s the occasion?’” The father enunciates with a slightly stern look.  “And where’re your hearing aids?  Don’t you know you need to put them on sometime shortly after you wake up?”

“Sometimes I don’t feel like doing that, Papa…”

“Hey, your father also has those, too; but he’s wearing them at the moment.  He’s not complaining.  How else will you hear us properly?” Yifan chides.

[Not need. Us-two sign can.]  Jongin has a small coy smile on his face.  (I don’t have to.  We can sign.)

Yifan gapes before he lets out a sigh.  “Mister, that’s not the attitude I’d appreciate at this time of the morning…but…whatever.” [Young man, no-no I not appreciate now…‘no-matter’.]  With a small smile, he lightly pats on his son’s bottom before raising his hand to ruffle the top of his son’s head.  He then gives a nod to the kitchen as he points in the same direction.  “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and greet your father.” [Us-two say hi, your father.]  Jongin beams, dimples showing.

Yifan stands up to full height and Jongin has to tilt his head back to look up at his father’s face.  Yifan sees the look of slight awe on his son’s face and, with a soft chuckle, bends down with his back to Jongin.

“Hop on.”

Slender arms wrap loosely around Yifan’s neck and legs wrap almost tightly around (but not interlocked) Yifan’s midsection as Jongin latches onto his father for a piggyback ride.  As a precaution, Yifan has one arm holding onto Jongin’s legs to prevent slipping.

“Papa, you’re so tall.  Will I get to be tall like you some day?” Yifan hears Jongin muttering softly as he feels his son’s head resting on his shoulder.  They enter the kitchen area and Yifan’s spouse is seen heating up a pan at the stove, with his back to them.

“If you eat your vegetables, exercise and have plenty of sleep, yes.  You will become as tall as I someday.”

“Really? I’d like that, Papa...” Yifan senses that Jongin is getting sleepy, due to a quick burnout of energy from earlier.  He smiles as he slows to a stop next to his spouse, his free arm wrapping around the torso. 

Yifan plants a kiss on the side of his lover’s head, minding the hearing aid in the shorter male’s ear.  As he stoops a little so that Jongin can also see his other father at eye-level, the male turns around with a smile to his husband, before his expression changes into surprise at their kid.

“Mooorrning, Daddy!” Jongin giggles.

“Babe, why are you up so early?  It’s not even your wake-up time yet!”  Joonmyeon lifts a hand to cradle the back of Jongin’s head, before planting a kiss on the side of Jongin’s head.  He notices that Jongin is not wearing his hearing aids, so he brings his hand over one of Jongin’s ears and affectionately tug on it.

Yifan blinks at his spouse, pretending to feel insulted.  “Morning, babe.”

Joonmyeon chuckles before leaning closer to give his husband a peck on the lips.

“Morning to you too, love.” Lowering his hand from Jongin’s head, he beams with a smile before turning his attention to Jongin.  Yifan goes back to full height, and so Joonmyeon slightly tilts his head back to look up.  “My child, you should rest a little more,” he croons as he rubs his hand downward on Jongin’s back gently, “Breakfast isn’t ready yet.  The table’s not been made either…”

“I’m not sleepy, Dad…” There is a light yawn and movements as Jongin adjusts himself to peer at what his father is making.  His eyes light up at the sight of a bowl of light yellow, whisked eggs and a cutting board topped with diced vegetables.

“Dad, are you making an omelette??”

Joonmyeon chuckles.  “Yup! I’m making us all a big omelette.  There’re some of your favorite vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms and spinach!”  He points to some of the mentioned vegetables.

“YEAH!!”  Jongin chirps cheerily.

“But Jongin-ah, why are you up early?  Breakfast isn’t until 7, and it’s only 6:30 right now.  The rice is still cooking and the fruits are not diced.  I’ve barely started on the omelette…”

Yifan chuckles. “Yeah, Jongin-ah…what’s the occasion that you’re up this early, hmm?”  He gives his son a little nudge.

“Today’s the day when we have a new classmate coming to our new school!”

“Oh? Is that so?”  Joonmyeon pours in the some of the vegetables onto the hot, greased pan.

“Uh huh!”

“Well I wonder who will it be…” Yifan thinks out loud.

“I don’t know too, but I can’t wait to meet the new classmate!”

“Jongin-ah, either.  I don’t know either.” Chuckling, Joonmyeon stirs up the vegetables before he gives his son with an amused look.  “My child, you really sound excited for this new classmate…”

“Because the teacher said I will be his desk partner for the school year!”

“Ohhh…” Both fathers drawl in understanding as they look at each other. They exchange smiles of amusement.

“Well then,” Yifan speaks up, a smile creeping on his lips, “this breakfast will be an awesome one for you!  You want to look your very best when you meet your new classmate and deskmate, okay?”

“YEAH!!” Jongin nods with enthusiasm.  Both fathers chuckle at Jongin’s energy.

“Alright, babe, why don’t you go ahead and wash up, while I cook up the omelette.  By the time you’re done with showering and have changed clothes, breakfast will be ready for you,” Joonmyeon instructs his son with a gentle smile.  [‘Sweetie’ go shower while I cook this.  *He points to the pan* When finish shower clothes change, morning-eat ready will for you.]

“Okay, Daddy.”  Jongin nods and on cue, Yifan squats down to let him hop off his back.

Jongin half-runs, half-skips his way to the stairs and with a gracefulness of a male ballet dancer, there is hardly a sound as he hops up the stairs with the handrail as his support.

Yifan takes the moment to fully hug his husband from behind, resting his chin on top of Joonmyeon’s head.  Joonmyeon chuckles and continues to stir the heated vegetables before he takes them out, placing them on a dish.  He then grabs the bowl of whisked eggs and poured the contents onto the pan.

“Yifan…I think I know who’s the new classmate.”

“Oh, really?”  Yifan moves his head to hang atop Joonmyeon’s left shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s our new neighbors two houses from here.  The parents’ names are Ryeowook and Jiseon.  They have three children, Baekhyun, Jongdae and Kyungsoo.” Joonmyeon slightly turns his head to the left, catching the sight of Yifan’s side profile for a moment.  He looks back down to the pan.  “Kyungsoo might be the new classmate in Jongin’s class, because I remember meeting the boys a couple days ago and they had told me their ages.  Baekhyun and Jongdae are twins, but are a year older than Kyungsoo, and are also actually a grade above him.  Kyungsoo started school a little late, so he’ll be in the same grade as Jongin.”

“Kyungsoo, huh?”

“Mhm,” Joonmyeon nods as he tests the edges of the cooking omelette with a spatula.  Seeing that it is not ready to be flipped yet, Joonmyeon sets the spatula aside.

“And what do you think of Kyungsoo?”  Yifan gently turns his husband around so they can face each other, and wraps his arms around Joonmyeon’s lower back, moving with Joonmyeon away from the stove.

Dark hazel eyes study the dark chocolate eyes as the latter soften in glow of the morning light peeking through the blinds of the kitchen window nearby.

“I think…Jongin might like him.  He’s an adorable, sweet kid with big eyes,” Joonmyeon makes a gesture that signifies eyes widening as he explains, “though I’ve heard from Ryeowook and Jiseon that he can be a bit playful at times.  He probably got it from his older brothers.  When I met him, he was somewhat shy, and his older twin brothers were very energetic.  But eventually, he warmed up to me and I was surprised at how mature he was.  He’s only in the 3rd grade, Yifan…” The male has a soft expression.  “Jongin will definitely like him…”

Yifan hums in acknowledgement, a little amused at how easily Joonmyeon spaces out.  “We should invite the family over sometime, get to know them and whatnot,” he suggests.

“I was just about to ask you that, love,” Joonmyeon breathes out a soft laugh.

“This Friday night?” Yifan inquires, a small smile on his face.

“Hmm…I don’t see why not.  It’s four days from now, right?” Joonmyeon checks the calendar that is near the stove, hanging on the fridge door.  “Yep, it’s four days from now.  I can go over and ask Ryeowook and Jiseon tomorrow when I get back from work.”

“Great, it’s settled then.”

Yifan smiles and lowers his head to Joonmyeon’s so their noses can rub against each other in an Eskimo kiss.  He hears Joonmyeon giggle before he pulls back with a slightly confused look.

“I don’t understand why you like this kind of kiss.  It feels so funny sometimes…” Raising his hands to link around Yifan’s neck, Joonmyeon grins at his husband to the point where his eyes disappear and it always causes Yifan’s heart to accelerate.  “Not exactly weird, but it’s quite…interesting every time we do this.”

“Excuse me, you’re the one who’s weird, babe…but that’s one of the things about you I find endearing,” Yifan says coyly with a smile, watching Joonmyeon’s eyes as they flicker down to read his lips.  After he said his line, he sees Joonmyeon turning pink, before he plants a surprise kiss on Joonmyeon’s lips.  There is a soft ‘mm’ eliciting from the shorter male.

Joonmyeon then re