After their botched attempt at being a complete family, Chanyeol assumed that he would never find anyone who fit so well together with him like Baekhyun. After he realized that his temperamental ex-boyfriend was serious about not getting back together with him, he tried to look for a rebound, hence the awkward date with Yixing, but it felt all wrong. And after realizing that he took Yixing’s first kiss, he apologizes profusely and tells the blushing man about Yifan’s crush on him.

He then proceeds to not date for the next 4 years.

He has to admit, that even though he’s still so in love with Baekhyun, he’s wonder how things would have turned out if he hadn’t chickened out of pursuing Yixing. Would Yixing love him as much as he loves Yifan? Would Yixing look at him with those soft eyes full of unconditional love that was only reserved for Yifan?

No, he’s in not in love with Yixing at all, but he does miss pressing against a warm back at night and having someone to kiss him after he tucks Kyungsoo into bed.

He doesn’t intend to start anything serious with Jongin. Jongin, the intern whose demeanor is serious as he works, but when he’s off the clock he blushes and can’t look Chanyeol in the eye when he asks him out. He’s noticed how the young intern’s been staring at him, quickly looking away when he discovers he’s caught. The kiss with Baekhyun had been a huge setback to what little progress he’d made in getting over him, and he hoped that maybe a date with someone who liked him would get him back on track.

He takes Jongin to the movies; a simple date, but Jongin’s excitement is akin to a child going to Disneyland. Chanyeol quickly discovers that just like himself, Jongin’s stomach is a bottomless pit and the cost of their snacks combined is twice the amount he paid for their tickets. The teenager insists over and over that he’ll pay for his own food and blushes when Chanyeol express that he wants to take care of him for the night.

Chanyeol fully intends for that movie to be their only date, but at the end of the night he finds himself wanting to get to know the teenager who’s full of confidence at work but can barely form a sentence around Chanyeol.

After five months of dating and getting to know each other better, they’re finally going on their first trip alone together. Jongin felt so awful about leaving the pre-Christmas trip early that he planned a short getaway for just him and Chanyeol to go on.

On Jongin’s birthday, the younger man shows up at Chanyeol’s apartment, the bottom half of his face hidden by his puffy, winter coat. Chanyeol smiles and s the coat far enough so he can give him a kiss. “Happy birthday. Now people won’t give me a weird look every time I tell them how old you are.” Jongin rolls his eyes but smiles up at his boyfriend.

“Are you ready to go?” Jongin slips into the apartment and grabs Chanyeol’s keys from the table beside the door. Even though it was his own birthday, he wanted to keep the location of their trip a surprise and stated that he would drive.

Chanyeol walks into the living room to retrieve his coat’s that lying over the back of the couch and pulls it on. “Just about. I need to take Kyungsoo back to Baekhyun first.” Jongin tries unsuccessfully to hide his frown. “It’ll just take a second so you can stay in the car, alright?” Jongin hums and leans into the arm Chanyeol slings around him.

“Hyung!” Kyungsoo drops his little backpack at the entrance of his bedroom when he spies Jongin and runs up to him. “Guess what, guess what! I’m six now!” Kyungsoo proudly holds up six fingers and beams up him.

Jongin gasps. “You’re already six? You’re getting so big!”

Kyungsoo nods in agreement and hugs Jongin’s legs. “Bà ba said that today’s your birthday, so Appa is gonna help me make a present for you.” Jongin smiles and kneels to give Kyungsoo a proper hug.

“You’re one of my most favorite people in the whole world, Kyungsoo.” He kisses the top of Kyungsoo’s head and the six-year-old immediately turns red and runs away to hide behind Chanyeol.

“I’m starting to think that you like my son more than you like me,” Chanyeol comments as he picks up Kyungsoo’s backpack and ushers the six-year-old to the door.

“Because he’s cute.” Kyungsoo lets out a high-pitched squeak.

They quickly leave the apartment in order to drop Kyungsoo off at Baekhyun’s. Jongin still insists on driving and waits in the car as Chanyeol holds Kyungsoo’s hand and disappears into the house for a few minutes. Chanyeol looks amused when he returns, so Jongin feels obligated to ask how Baekhyun doing.

“He’s moody. Well, more than usual.” Chanyeol fiddles with the radio knobs. “He’s upset because he’s showing earlier than he did with Kyungsoo, and I said something about it when I noticed. He was four months along with Kyungsoo when he finally showed, and honestly I sometimes thought he was lying about being pregnant before then.” Jongin simply nods but stays very quiet. “Sorry… I won’t talk about him if you’d like but remember that I chose you over him, alright?”

Jongin nods. “I’m not that jealous anymore. It’s just still weird to think about you having a baby already. Not that I don’t like Kyungsoo!” He clarifies. “I just feel like you’ve lived a lot more than I have, and I don’t know,” he shrugs. “It makes me feel even younger than I already am.”

“Are you kidding? You’re working for your favorite photographer!  And even though I love Kyungsoo, I never want to relive telling my parents that I got someone pregnant just two months after moving away.” Chanyeol shudders just thinking about that moment.

“My parents act like I’ve done something wrong though ever since I told them about Kyungsoo.” Jongin rolls his eyes “They went on about how I’m too young to be a stepparent or whatever, but it’s not like we’re married yet, so I don’t know wh-“

“Yet?”

“Huh?” Jongin takes his eyes away from the road momentarily to look over at his boyfriend.

“You said we’re not married yet.” Chanyeol grins widely at Jongin.

Jongin’s eyebrows disappear into his hair and he sputters for a few seconds before changing the topic. “Anyway, since it’s my birthday you have to completely go along with whatever I want to do today. No complaining, alright?”

“Which means we’re doing something I don’t want to do.”

“I promise it’ll be fun.” Jongin turns up the volume on the radio so Chanyeol can’t protest anymore and speeds up a little. They arrive outside a carnival a little over 10 minutes later. “We’re here!” Jongin announces as he pulls into a parking spot. “And don’t you dare roll your eyes,” he warns Chanyeol.

“Are we teenagers now?” Chanyeol looks around the parking lot and unsuccessfully tries to spot any couple that didn’t look like high schoolers.

Jongin shrugs and takes off his seatbelt to turn to Chanyeol. “Honestly… I came here last year for my birthday.” He fiddles with his fingers. “My ex-girlfriend took me here for my birthday, but she bought the tickets before we started fighting so much.”

Chanyeol frowns. “So why did you want to come back here?”

“Well, her new boyfriend was waiting for her at the entrance and she handed me my ticket and told me we were through.” Jongin scowls. “Of course, I didn’t go in and ended up taking a bus home.” Chanyeol leans over and kisses the frown off his boyfriend’s lips.

“Well, I’ll make sure you’ll have the best birthday today ever okay?” Jongin smiles and nods, excited to spend the day with his boyfriend.

Four hours later, the couple has gone on every ride, including a kiddie teacup ride and the Ferris wheel where Jongin convinces Chanyeol to make out with him a little bit. Chanyeol even agrees to go into an arcade and play a dance game against Jongin. Of course, Chanyeol almost immediately fails while Jongin keeps winning and a crowd forms around him. Jongin finally gets off the machine when it’s clear that he’ll keep winning, and a girl immediately comes up to him and begins flirting. Jongin shyly smiles at her and puts up with her flirting for a little while before he retreats to Chanyeol who’s silently seething behind the crowd. Chanyeol’s never been the vocal jealous type, but Jongin could tell from his stance and slight frown that he wasn’t too please with the girl flirting with his boyfriend.

“Thanks for coming with me here, even though it seems… childish, I guess.” Jongin ducks his head slightly in embarrassment.

“No, it’s fun! I haven’t done anything like this in a while, and Kyungsoo’s still a little too young to do this, so I’m really glad you invited me.” He pulls Jongin into his arms and kisses his cheek.

“Speaking of Kyungsoo, can we go see him before we go back to your apartment? He said he would make a present for me, and I really want to see it.”

“Mmm, alright.”

The two of them lace their fingers together as they walk out to the car and continue holding hands as they drive back to Baekhyun and Junmyeon’s apartment. They’re still holding hands when they knock on the apartment door, but Jongin loosens his hold when Baekhyun answers the door.

“Sorry to bother you, Hyung, but I wanted to see Kyungsoo before the day ended.” He pulls his hand away from Chanyeol’s and clasps his hands together. “…If that’s okay with you.”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, but he steps aside and motions for the two of them to come in. “No, it’s alright. I planned to call later anyway because Kyungsoo really wanted to give you your present today.” The couple step inside, and while Jongin’s back is turned, Chanyeol mouths ‘be nice’ to Baekhyun who just shrugs and closes the door behind them.

Kyungsoo is sitting in front of the television watching a Spongebob video, but he immediately slides off the couch when he’s spies Jongin. “Hyung!” He zips over to him and holds on tight to his legs. “I have your birthday present!” He lets go of Jongin’s legs, but grabs onto his hand, jumping up and down. “Come see! Come see!” He pulls Jongin into the living room and gets a chair from the kitchen table to push against the counter so he can see over it. “Appa made the cake, but I decorated.” He beams up at Jongin, proud of himself and waits for a reaction.

Even if Kyungsoo hadn’t told him, Jongin could have guessed that he decorated from the haphazard way it was frosted. The cake is a plain white, but it’s decorated with little candy hearts and Jongin’s name is written on the small cake in messy blue icing. Jongin’s eyes immediately start to tear up because in his twenty years of living, no one has ever homemade a cake for him, even his own mother.

“I love it, Kyungsoo-yah. Thank you.” Without really thinking, he pecks Kyungsoo’s cheek, and the six-year-old turns beet red and hides his face in his hands.

“Happy Birthday, Hyung,” he mumbles, as soon as his face stops being so red. “I love you,” he adds after a slight pause. Jongin can’t hide the shock on his face when he realizes what Kyungsoo told him, and he has to sit at the kitchen table to process it for a bit. Naturally, Kyungsoo gets nervous when Jongin doesn’t say anything back so he shyly approaches him with his head down and tugs at his sleeves. “Do you love me too, Hyung?”

Jongin pulls the boy into his lap and holds him tight. “Of course, I love you too, Kyungsoo… I was just surprised when you said it. How could anyone not love you?” Kyungsoo smiles and hides his face in Jongin’s shoulder.

After a while, Chanyeol and Jongin decide to leave before Junmyeon gets in from work. Baekhyun has his arms crossed in away that shows his growing stomach even under his oversized sweater, and Jongin timidly congratulates him on his new addition. Baekhyun scowls but thanks Jongin. On their way out, they can see Baekhyun turning side to side in front of a mirror in the living room.

“Are you that happy that he likes you?” Chanyeol asks when they get into his apartment. Jongin hasn’t stopped smiling since their visit.

“He loves me.” Jongin corrects. “And yes I am.” He disappears into the kitchen to get a fork to eat his cake with.

“At this rate, I think I might really lose my boyfriend to my son.” Chanyeol stands next to Jongin and opens his mouth for cake. Jongin teasingly wrinkles his nose but gives Chanyeol a forkful of cake.

“I can wait 12 years for someone who tells me they love me,” Jongin jokes.

Chanyeol hums and wraps his arms around Jongin’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Then what would you do if your current boyfriend said he loved you?”

Jongin’s fork freezes halfway to his mouth. “Are you… are you asking or telling me?”

“Both.” He turns Jongin around to face him. “Happy Birthday.” He kisses him. “I love you.” Before anyone can bat an eyelash, Jongin drops his fork and tackles Chanyeol to the ground in a tight hug.

“If you’re just doing this because it’s my birthday, I swear I’ll-“

“Do you really think I would tell you that because it’s your birthday?” Chanyeol sits up and Jongin moves so he’s straddling Chanyeol’s lap. “I’m sorry it took me a little longer to say it, but I didn’t want to tell you until I could say it and really mean it.” He kisses Jongin again, but this one is slower and softer, like their first kiss. “I love you,” he repeats.

“I love you too.” They sit on the floor for a while, just holding each other as they quietly said whatever was on their mind. The cake is not forgotten though, and Jongin moves the plate to the floor, feeding cake, made by a little boy he loves, to the man he loves

(and who finally loves him back).

I started this about 2 months ago, and this weekend I was suddenly super motivated to finish. Of course it's been a while since I wrote the beginning, so I apologize if anything seemes disjointed Let me know what you think!

Also, if there's any prompts that you feel don't fit into the main story but you'd still like to see (i.e. side/minor pairings) this is the place to leave them.

Also, follow me on tumblr where I spend entirely too much time crying over 12 idiots.