“Daddy Jiyong, you take the lead of course.” Seunghyun did this weird over the top semi-bow meets curtsy, while making sure Soonie stayed put in her kangaroo pouch, offering him the front seat of the tandem bike. He wouldn't have guessed it, but being papa-kangaroo, all wrapped up like an idiot over his designer shirt, just to make his baby-Soonie more comfortable, made him look more manly than he had ever looked before. It really suited him. He looked grown-up. Like someone he could rely on. Someone he wanted to rely on. Someone he wanted to be his.

They got on the bike, but it was harder than it looked. Not only did they have to work together, but they had to be in sync. There was a reason Big Bang wasn't the typical K-pop dancing group, Seunghyun danced to his own tune, and that tune had some weird rhythms. It took them a while to get the hang of it, but after a dozen or so disastrous failed starts they were flying along at the speed of a slow turtle.

It was really nice, biking through the woods, enjoying nature as a family. He took a deep breath as he watched the trees... well, not rush by, but slowly, slooowly crawl by. It relaxed parts of him he hadn't even realized had been tense. The air felt cleaner, the sun seemed warmer. It really was a good day.

He noticed that the trees were taking longer and longer to pass them by. He could feel as the drops of sweat threw themselves off his forehead, risking sudden death just to get away from him. His lungs demanded more and more oxygen, and when they didn't get it fast enough, they protested by setting fire to themselves. He couldn't believe he was this out of shape. A few minutes of the slowest bike ride ever, and he was on the brink of death by exhaustion. He promised his muscles that he would be more diligent in following his workout schedule from now on if only they would cooperate. Because of Soonie, he hadn't really had time to do any extra curricular activities lately. Even so, this was overkill.

He turned around to see how Seunghyun was doing, and the sight that greeted him nearly caused them to crash. He couldn't believe his own eyes. Seunghyun just sat there, grinning like an idiot, resting his feet comfortably on the cross bar, enjoying the ride, low key giggling and marveling at his own genius. That little traitor!

“Hey!!” he saw red. Regrettably, not because he was mad, but because Seunghyun was so cute that he saw hearts everywhere.

“So, should we start packing this stuff up?” Jiyong suggested when they got back, the sun was starting to set. He gathered some of their things and carried them to the car. Seunghyun protested like a five year old, throwing himself down onto the grass, not lifting a finger to help. He was just an oversized baby.

“Hey, Soonie! Catch!” Seunghyun yelled excitedly as he stood up and kicked the ball a little too enthusiastically in Soonie's direction, hitting the poor unsuspecting toddler right on the head, knocking her over. It was quiet. Too quiet. Jiyong had expected an eruption of tears of epic proportions, but there was no sound and she wasn't moving. His heart jumped and got lodged in his throat, blocking his airway. He threw the stuff he was carrying on the ground, running faster than lightning to her.

“Soonie-ya, Soonie-ya, are you okay?” he said in a soft, extremely worried voice. She had her eyes open and she seemed to be breathing. Carefully, he helped her up, but she just stood there in a stupor, blinking.

“You broke her!” he yelled at Seunghyun, worried she might have sustained some kind of brain damage.

“Come on... it's part of growing up to get a few cuts and bruises.” Seunghyun waved it off like it was nothing, but he could hear it in his voice that he too was scared. They looked her over from top to bottom but couldn't find anything obviously wrong with her. Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned around and ran after a butterfly that flew by.

“Phew!” they both sighed in unison and collapsed on the grass.

Watching Soonie zigzag after that butterfly made them both laugh, more out of relief than anything else.

“That was close.” Jiyong said and looked at Seunghyun, who was looking right back at him. It sent a jolt through his gut. Seunghyun blinked in agreement. It felt like he was staring straight into his soul. Jiyong started to feel a bit shy, which was ridiculous because this was his best friend right there, they had gone through everything together, the bad and the good. Seunghyun put his hand on Jiyong's shoulder, patting it twice and then giving it a soft squeeze, his eyes smiling. And with a quick wink, he was off chasing down their little butterfly-hunter.

Jiyong took a deep breath. Those eyes. So beautiful, but what kind of thoughts were they hiding? He almost got the feeling that he wasn't the only one reevaluating their friendship, but that was probably just wishful thinking. What if it wasn't?

“Oh, no!” Jiyong jumped up as the sky came crashing down on them, literally, in the form of water, lots and lots of water. He ran to the car to get an umbrella, but they only had one. Seunghyun came running, covering Soonie with his shirt to shelter her from the rain.

“Here, take her! I'll get the rest of the stuff. Don't get wet!” he pushed Soonie into Jiyong's arms under the safety of the umbrella, before running back to the picnic site, getting drenched in the pouring rain.

Somehow Seunghyun managed to get all of the stuff back in one trip, but he was soaking wet, the poor thing. There was not a dry spot on him. Jiyong put a blanket on the driver's seat so he wouldn't get the seat wet. Once inside, Seunghyun swiftly took his shirt off, catching Jiyong completely off guard. He had seen him countless times, but lately it had started to feel different. His pecks were a work of art. Jiyong caught himself staring, looking away a little too abruptly.

“Hah! What? I'm just that ugly that you can't bear the sight of me?” Seunghyun chuckled, reaching for a fresh shirt in a bag on the back seat. “I know I've been lazy with going to the gym these days but come on, it's not that bad!”.

“What? Oh, he he I thought I saw a squirrel run across the field and up into that tree over there.” Jiyong pointed unconvincingly to the tree at which he was staring. That had to be the worst 'save' ever.
Seunghyun sneezed.

“Oh no, don't tell me you caught a cold. Let's go home and get you into something warm.“ he said, saved by a sneeze.

“It was a good day though, wasn't it?” Seunghyun grinned at him, proud of himself for coming up with it.

“The best.” Jiyong smiled back.