"Seriously, we drove all this way just for a picnic?” Jiyong asked incredulously, marveling at Seunghyun‘s dedication in planning their day out. How did he even find this place? Two of the most famous guys in Korea taking their secret baby out for a picnic was no ordinary feat. They couldn't exactly stroll down to the neighborhood park like a brand new family in love.

“Come on Soonie, let's go have fun while grandpa grumpy pants looks for his smile, let's just hope he didn't forget it at home.“ Seunghyun freed Soonie from her car seat prison and enlisted her help in carrying the stuff from the car. She took her new duties very seriously, wobbling as she carried a teddy bear twice her size like she was transporting the crown jewels. Jiyong chuckled, both at Seunghyun's newfound role as the perfect wife and at that little monkey of theirs who was just too cute to handle. He was so happy it scared him to death. Both Seunghyun and Soonie were on loan, he was living on borrowed time.

"Oh there it is! Soonie! He found it!“ Seunghyun called after her, but she was too busy to give him any attention.

"So now he must be free to help out with some of this stuff.“ He mumbled as if he was speaking to himself, but as he passed him with a box full of food he gave him a cheerful wink. Jiyong's gut dissolved into butterflies, his eyes involuntarily following the back of Seunghyun‘s head as he walked to the picnic site, as if they were glued to him. They might have strayed from Seunghyun's head a couple of times, checking the rest of him out. What were they doing?! He tore his eyes away with force and went to the trunk of the car.

He had expected to find a blanket and a couple more toys for Soonie, but the car was full of stuff. He had thought of everything. There was a football, badminton rackets, a frisbee and the entire inventory of at least two toy stores, and food to last them a week. They were just here for the day, right? Not sure what to bring, he just randomly grabbed a couple of blankets and some toys and brought it over.

"You've got to taste this!“ Seunghyun said adamantly, both he and Soonie knee deep in a vat of chocolate cake, looking more like they were bathing in it rather than eating it.

"That's okay, I'm fine.“ He said, sipping his wine. He was more than fine. His stomach was smiling after having been stuffed with a gourmet meal and his heart had somehow gotten it in its head that it was a hummingbird, fluttering its invisible wings at light speed, making all his insides tingly.

"No, I'm serious.. here!“ Seunghyun's sticky fingers shot out and stuck a piece of cake into his mouth.

"Wow, that's...wow...yum!“ he said with his mouth full, that was some good cake, although the one feeding it to him was even sweeter. Seunghyun grinned happily at his reaction, looking like an oversized 5 year old who had fallen into a tub of chocolate, it was everywhere. So cute. There were those butterflies again, maybe they just liked the outdoors.

"Yaaam.“ Soonie copied, helping herself to more cake. This was not going to end well.

Hyped up on sugar, Soonie was spinning like the Tasmanian Devil, so they decided to play some family football to release some of that energy. They said it was for Soonie, but Seunghyun was no better, his eyes glazed over in a sugar high. They started as everyone against everyone, but that might have been too high level for Soonie, so after a few tumbles and some crying, Seunghyun decided to be her avatar. He did the running, while she did the kicking. They looked so adorable as Seunghyun held her in mid air and she kicked the ball with all her might, barely managing to move it, stealing it from Jiyong. Jiyong could have just kicked it and made the winning goal right there, but instead he pretended to collapse dramatically in defeat, "Nooo, you got me!“. Soonie let out a monstrous laughter as she fervently kicked and kicked, finally getting the ball into the goal with some help from daddy Seunghyun.

"Yaaaay!“ Seunghyun screamed in joy, both of them dancing a victory dance, that ended with them rolling around in the grass, giggling and hugging. Jiyong felt a tiny bit left out, but didn't dare join in, scared that his heart that had now become a fluttering bird would just fly away, escaping the confinement of his stuffy chest. He could see Seunghyun whispering something into Soonie's ear, and moments later he was attacked by a squad of chocolate monkeys. It felt like they were ten and not only two, there was tickling and pinching and hugging and squeezing, until they all collapsed in a heap on the ground, utterly exhausted. So exhausted in fact that it took him a while to realize that his head was resting on Seunghyun's upper arm. He could feel his body stiffen and his lungs forget how to breathe. Soonie was lying on top of them in the middle, playing with the zipper on Seunghyun's sweater.

Without meaning to, he glanced at Seunghyun who looked right back at him, their eyes meeting. Seunghyun's eyes were smiling. He couldn't help but smile too. As long as Seunghyun was there, everything was fun. He made it fun. Maybe it wasn't just a weird phase, maybe this wasn't just a best friends thing... maybe, just maybe... he was falling in love with him. His stomach twisted, realizing they had passed the appropriate time limit of a normal exchange of looks, both still gazing into each other's eyes. He never wanted it to end, but it had to end, else his little secret would be exposed.

"So! What do you have planned for us next?“ he said awkwardly loud, sitting up. Soonie was almost asleep, but if they let her nap, what were they going to do in the meantime, just lie there and cuddle? Not that it sounded all that bad, but he wasn't ready for that just yet. What if he was mixing friend feelings with feelings of love? Once he drove down that road, there was no turning back. No U-turns allowed. And what if Seunghyun didn't like him like that? No, it was all way too risky. Besides, being friends was enough for him, he cherished every day and every moment they spent together.

"Hahh! Something amazing!“ he gave him a charismatic wink and stood up, cradling a sleepy Soonie in his arms. "Reach for that basket over there and hand me the blue-green thingy.“ He instructed him. The blue-green thingy? Could he be more vague? Watching out for any hidden surprises, he stuck his hand in there with his eyes half-closed, half-expecting his fingers to get bitten by a baby alligator, or worse. He fished it out, and indeed, it was a.. thingy. He had no idea what it was. It was a really, really long cloth. It was too thin to be a blanket, too weird to be a scarf.

“Can you help me tie it, I googled instructions, there are pictures and everything.” Seunghyun threw his phone at him. He barely caught it. There were pictures on it on how to wrap up a baby, so you could hold it hands free. It seemed simple enough.

“Okay, wait, hold Soonie and I'll start wrapping.” he instructed Seunghyun, who positioned Soonie on the middle of his chest.

“So uhm.... this goes like... over your shoulder, and uh... then around... and you've got to fold... uh...what?” Jiyong was getting confused. Seunghyun and Soonie looked more like a mummy in the making than anything resembling the pictures.

“What if I turn around like this...” Seunghyun did a full circle, only tangling them up even more.

“This is like baby origami!!” Jiyong exclaimed in frustration, starting over.

“Oh! Oh! I think I've got it! Third time's the charm!” Jiyong grinned proudly. Slowly, he let go to see if it was holding, making sure he would catch Soonie if something were to come loose. It was holding.

“Uuuhm.... where's her right leg?” Seunghyun asked concerned, looking freaked out. Jiyong's heart did a double take, he was right, she only had one leg dangling out of that spider web of fabric in which she was trapped.

“I'm serious, it's just not there!” Jiyong said in a panicked voice, trying to look for an opening to stick his hand in and try and make Soonie whole again.

“That tickles.” Seunghyun giggled. Jiyong froze, realizing he was basically just feeling up Seunghyun's abdomen in his quest to find Soonie's missing leg. His stomach did relentless cartwheels as he retracted his hand. Soonie was getting annoyed at all this fuss, she just wanted to be left in peace so she could take her nap.

“So uhm... if she's not complaining... maybe it's okay that she has only one leg?” Jiyong suggested not entirely convinced.

“Our one-legged monster.” Seunghyun giggled, ruffling her hair lovingly. She closed her eyes and was asleep in under two seconds, cuddling up to Seunghyun's chest like it was more comfortable than any bed she had ever slept in. Jiyong couldn't help imagining what it felt like, his cheeks turning into two furnaces.

“Surprise!” Seunghyun whisper-yelled as he conjured up a tandem bike. Jiyong chuckled shyly, that was just too romantic. A picture perfect family outing.