Epilogue

The sun is peeking through the drawn curtains but it fails to provide enough warmth in the chill of the 24th December morning. It doesn’t help that your blanket is trying to run away from you.

Yunho grumbled in his sleep when his blanket was being tugged away for the fourth time. He knows it’s somebody trying to sneakily pull away his only source of warmth but he was too lazy to argue. Maybe if he’s quiet, the annoyance would go away. Sure enough, the person stopped the blanket snatching and Yunho smiled in his sleep.

His bliss was short-lived when the he felt a weight on his chest, as seconds passed the pressure on his ribs increased and Yunho gasped and finally woke up.

“Good morning!” Changmin said cheerily, too cheerily by Yunho’s reckoning.

“what is good about this morning! Are you trying to kill your father?” Yunho pouted at his now 13 year old son. Apparently he picked up the pouting habit from his wife and kids.  

“I had to wake you up from hibernation. It’s for your own good Appa.” Changmin now sat on his father’s stomach, but Yunho couldn’t care less as he was grabbing the blanket again to sleep. “yah Appa! It’s past 9. Umma’s going to get angry if you're not out of bed.”

Yunho sneaked a glance at the clock on the bedside table and gasped for the second time that morning when the digital clock read 9:14. “!” Yunho cursed ignoring the shock Changmin feigned when his father cussed. He tried to sit up, but the boy to whom he passed his tall genes had made a chair of his father. “Minnie, get off me!” instead Changmin stuck his hand in front Yunho’s face.

“I need money.” If Yunho found that unexpected, he didn’t say anything. Jaejoong and Yunho were both expecting Changmin to act out when he turned 13. The extremely intelligent boy has proved them wrong so far. If anything Changmin has become clingy to his parents and frankly neither mother nor father have any complaints. Changmin however has a sharp tongue and there has been more than one occasion where either parent has been called because Changmin has managed to make a student or teacher cry because of his sharp words and biting speech. In the end it wouldn’t matter because Changmin was always able to justify his actions as that of the asocial student being singled out or bullied by the teachers and other students respectively.

“why do you suddenly need money?” Yunho wasn’t grilling just curious.

“I’m going out with my friend.” Changmin answered and rolled his eyes when Yunho gave him an incredulous look. It was expected though. Changmin wasn’t a social butterfly per se. his good looks attracted a lot of attention, especially among his female peers, but, like mentioned before, he preferred to stay by himself and interacted minimally with other kids his age. It worried his parents but Heechul suggested to not put pressure on him. He spent most of his free time in art. The closest thing he had to a friend was his classmate Kyuhyun. But Kyuhyun was spending Christmas with his grandparents out of town. So Yunho knew that Changmin’s ‘friend’ is just a cover up. But he chose not to push it.

“get off me so I can get my wall-” Yunho was cut-off mid-sentence when Changmin fished out his wallet from somewhere and shoved it with flourish, still very much seated on his father’s stomach. Yunho muttered something on the lines of ‘heavy sons’ and ‘trying to asphyxiate his father’ and pulled out a few bills.

“not enough.” Changmin said and Yunho pulled out 3 more bills.

“take this and now let me breath.” Changmin didn’t need to be told twice. In less than a minute, he rolled off his father and jumped off the bed. Before he could leave the room, Yunho called out to him. “where are you going in a hurry?”

“I told you I’m going to meet my friend.”

“you can’t go now. Everyone’s going to be here soon for the party.”

“but Umma gave me permission and I’m not going out for long. I’ll be back before 12. I just meet my friend at the mall and am back before halmoni and harabeoji are here. Please Appa, please, please please!”

“okay fine.” The happy boy was already glomping his father in thanks, “alright, but not too long. Where’re the girls?”

“breakfast.” Changmin answered hurriedly before running off again. He ran down the hallway to his bedroom and grabbed his bag and jacket. He stuffed the money in the bag as he descended the short flight of stairs.

Two years after their marriage--dating, they moved to a bigger duplex apartment when Jaejoong was expecting her second child with Yunho. Initially, Yunho moved into Jaejoong’s apartment and his sister moved into his former bachelor pad because Jihye could no longer afford the rent of her apartment after her roommate got married and left. The crisis came when Jaejoong became pregnant and neither her apartment nor Yunho’s could accommodate the latest addition. So they went house-hunting and though the males thought the new baby would do well in a suburban home, the moody expectant Jaejoong wanted a home in the highrise. She claimed that she couldn’t do without the view and so Yunho and Changmin turned to looking for penthouses with enough rooms. Their search ended in this duplex apartment of a new construction that came up near Changmin’s school, that’s how they found it. The large house boasted of 5 bedrooms, two on the lower level that was adjoining the living area were converted into Yunho’s home office and Jaejoong’s soundproof music room. The 3 rooms up the stairs were the couple’s master bedroom, Changmin’s room and they baby’s nursery each equipped with its own bathroom and a significantly sized closet. An added advantage was an apartment in the same building was available too and Park Yoochun’s wife had him wrapped around his finger. So the Park family was nearby as well.  

Changmin was briskly walking towards the main door, but was stopped short by a shrill squeal.

“yes, yes, I didn’t forget you Yoolie. You really have a set of pipes like aunty Junsu.” Changmin teased the infant girl in the high chair beside the dining table.

“your Appa gave you permission?” Jaejoong asked setting the bowl of baby food on the table and spooning some of it for her daughter.

Changmin just nodded because his sister was demanding his full attention. Jung Jiyool, the usually quiet 7 month old baby girl, would baby-babble nineteen to the dozen with her brother. Changmin too was always willing to entertain her. The adults would often ask him what she’s saying and Changmin always replied with a serious face- “the pros and cons of capitalism” or the most recently “if cookie crumb ice-cream is better than choco-chip.”

“so what’s Yoolie saying today?” Yunho came entered the dining area while stretching his stiff muscles. he gave a peck to his daughter and a chaste kiss to Jaejoong before accepting the coffee Jaejoong offered.

“she’s saying she’s bored of baby food and wants milk.” Changmin replied. He gave a kiss to his sister and a short ‘later’ to his parents and left the house before Jiyool’s brother demanding cries echoed.   

~~~

“Umma! You're early!” Yunho gave his mother a one-arm hug because he was carrying Jiyool.

“yeah, I thought I’d help Jae with the cooking.” Eunhye grabbed her granddaughter and walked to the kitchen.

“whaddup bro!” Jihye hollered the moment she saw Yunho.

“Jihye, we discussed this. You’re not a high school student. Speak your age.” Jihoon corrected her and Yunho agreed with his father.

“whatever! Where’re the kids?”

“Minnie’s gone to meet his friend. He’ll be back soon.”

“and Jiyool let that happen?” Jihoon had an eyebrow quirked in amusement.

“don’t remind me!” Yunho sighed, “she screamed like we’re torturing her or something. She calmed down 15 minutes ago, but only because she got exhausted.”

“aw! It’s like you and Jihye when you were kids. Jihye could bring the roof down with her cries every morning you left for playschool.” Eunhye said as she sat on the couch beside her husband and kids while holding the bottle of milk to Jiyool’s lips.

“psh! Like I’d waste my voice over this bonehead.” One thing Yunho was sure of is Jihye wouldn’t let him forget about his stupidity 3 years ago even if Jaejoong did. Yunho took his daughter from his mother and held the infant in front of face and spoke seriously.

“Yoolie, don’t be like your stupid aunty, or you’ll hurt Minnie’s feelings like your aunty hurts mine, okay?” before Jihye could punch Yunho, a loud crash resounded from the kitchen.

Everyone rushed to the kitchen and found the floor littered with small fragments of broken china. To the side was a tilted box and Yunho knew that the damage inside it would be worse.

“Oh god Jae, are you okay?” Jihye voiced when everyone’s gaze landed on the woman huddled behind the kitchen island. Jaejoong straightened herself and looked sheepish.

“sorry, I was just trying to get the plates from the loft.”

“Jae, I told you I’d get it. You can’t reach there anyway.” Yunho scolded lightly but stilled kissed the pout away.

“now what do we do? Everyone will be here soon and we don’t have any plates. What do we serve them in? Paper napkins?” Jaejoong was about to burst into tears soon.

“no need to cry over a few broken plates dear.” Eunhye walked carefully through the glassy mess and gave Jiyool to Jaejoong who snuggled her daughter to console herself. “Jihye grab the broom and clear this. Jihoon-ah will you help me finish up the cooking?”