It wasn't until the two of them had fully stuffed themselves with pizza did Joonmyun think it to be a suitable time to bring up Jongin's drawings. If he was going to discuss them with his son at some point, he may as well do it now when Jongin was happily munching on the last piece of pepperoni.

"So I was speaking to your teacher earlier" he began and waited until Jongin had finished his last bite before he continued to speak
"He showed me some drawings and I noticed that in these drawings you were always sad whilst there is always a lady in there with you looking angry. Can you, well, can you tell me why you always draw her and you like this?" he asked.

"It's because mummy was always like that" Jongin replied with a shrug, whining when Joonmyun cleaned some mess away from his mouth with a napkin
"Always like what?" he asked
"Like that; always angry, always shouting at me even when I didn't do anything!" Jongin exclaimed but quietened down when Joonmyun shushed him for being just a bit too loud.

"In your drawings, you're always in a different location-"
"She was always angry. No matter where we were she would always end up being angry or shouting at me for some reason" Jongin interrupted, waiting to see if his dad was going to say something before he continued.

"She would always say stuff like how she couldn't cope, I was always in the way, she wish she never had me. Other times it would be because I was hungry but we wouldn't eat until she cooked at whatever time, or if I felt unwell, or the time I said I wanted to take ballet lessons and she said she didn't want a cissy for a son... what does that even mean?" he asked his big, glassy eyes turning to Joonmyun.

"It... it's a word you don't need to know Jongin" Joonmyun replied gently before smiling
"So you want to do ballet?" he asked
"Yeah! Whenever nanny had some time off from looking after papa she would go out and have some time to herself. One time she took me to see The Nut... uh.."

Seeing his son struggle, Joonmyun couldn't help but let a tiny laugh out before deciding to help him out
"The Nutcracker?"
"Yeah! She took me to see that and I liked how the people danced on stage so I want to do it too!" Jongin replied excitedly.

"Do you still want to do it now?" Joonmyun asked as Jongin nodded his head
"Well, there is a ballet studio in the city. If you like, I could ask about booking you into some lessons which you could attend after nursery" Joonmyun suggested
"Really?" Jongin asked and when Joonmyun nodded his head, threw his arms around him and kept muttering 'thank you's' until Joonmyun sat him back down with a laugh.

"Alright, alright, now finish up your drink before we leave" and watched as Jongin finished his drink, muttering to himself how he was going to tell Kyungsoo all about the good news when he next saw him. The whole time Joonmyun sat there listening and watching him with a smile on his face.

"Joonmyun?"

Joonmyun recognised that voice anywhere. Whipping his head around, he found his friend stood there, staring at him with a frown

"C-Chanyeol!" he replied in surprise and jumped out of his seat
"What are you doing here?" he asked
"I'll be meetng Baekhyun in a bit when he's on his lunch break and he asked me to pick up some pizza along the way" Chanyeol replied, finally noticing Jongin who was sat there watching the two of them intently.

"Hey, who's the little guy? Did you brother finally have a kid?" he asked
"W-well-"
"Daddy who is this guy?" Jongin asked and Joonmyun could only watch as Chanyeol's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Daddy? Y-you... you have a kid?" he screeched, Joonmyun smacking a hand over his mouth and telling him to be quiet before turning back to Jongin
"Me and Uncle Chanyeol here are just going to have a quick word, Jongin. I want you to stay here like a good boy, don't talk or go with anyne and if a stranger approaches you scream, okay?" and when Jongin agreed to what he had asked for did Joonmyun grab Chanyeol by the arm and drag him away.

"You never told me you were a dad" was the first thing Chanyeol said, making Joonmyun sigh
"I didn't even know myself until recently, okay? And I never told you nor anyone else because I'm still in the midst of trying to cope with being a dad. It's only recently I've told my parents... I haven't told my brother or anyone else in my family yet!" Joonmyun exclaimed.

"I thought you were gay" Chanyeol muttered and Joonmyun nodded his head
"I am! It's just... remember when you, me and the others went to that new nightclub that was opening downtown?" he asked
"I vaguely remember it" Chanyeol replied and Joonmyun rolled his eyes before he continued.

"Well you see, like you guys, I had a bit too much to drink and well... there was this student from Japan who also had too much to drink and well" and finished off his explanation with a few hand gestures before Chanyeol got what he meant.

"Promise me you won't say anything to anyone. I want to be the one to tell them and explain what happened. There have also been a few problems with Jongin right now so I'm trying to sort everything out with him as well... promise!" Joonmyun pleaded
"Alright, alright, I promise" Chanyeol replied and backed up his point by pretending to seal his lips.

Joonmyun had every confidence in his friend. From past experiences he knew that Chanyeol was going to be able to do a ver good job of what had been asked of him. Joonmyun was more concerned about himself and how long he was going to be able to keep it hidden from everyone else until he had to reveal the truth.

That night as Joonmyun went to check on Jongin, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. Watching him sleep, he found it almost heartbreaking that the boy was only four years oldand yet understood the concept that his mum was angry at him, that he was the one supposedly ruining her life, he was being called names that he didn't even understand the meaning of.

Would things have been different had Joonmyun been there from the beginning?

He didn't ponder on the question for too long. It was all in the past and Joonmyun no longer wanted to look back into the past and ponder on what could have been. From now on he was going to look towards the future and be there more for his son than what he had been previously.

This new dad roll of his had certainly grown on him...

I like this chapter and I enjoyed writing it, especially with Chanyeol and his freakout over finding out Joonmyun was a dad...

Until the next chapter!!