Epilogue

Seven Years Later

Sungmin entered the house while whistling a merry tone, his hands filled with heaps and heaps of heavy shopping bags but the slight strain he was feeling was crushed under the happiness of the occasion for which his lovely wife had sent him shopping. Finally that time of year had arrived when Sungmin’s house would be filled with guests and friends… especially the one he missed and cherished the most.

As he stepped through the main door, a satisfied smile made its way on his pink lips, seeing the decent and beautiful looking decoration around the main hallway and the common sitting area. Balloons in color of blue and green adored the walls and so did the words ‘Happy Birthday Baby’ that covered most of the adjacent wall. This part of the house was fully decorated, Sungmin noted, therefore he directed himself to dining area, which according to Saeun needed a few touches of decoration since the cake would be cut there.

Sungmin’s beaming smile fell off once he stood in the door way of vast dining room, eyes falling on a couple- who was supposed to be blowing balloons- cramped in a corner while hungrily seeking out each other’s lips… and they soon might start blowing each other if Sungmin had not cleared his throat out expensively.

“Seven years of being married, and you guys are still not out of your honeymoon phase,” Sungmin noted, while calmly putting the shopping bags in his hands on a side cupboard. “At least think of the fact that there are children in the house as well.”

With a jolt, the lip locked pair hastily stepped away from each other. Lips pink and swollen, eyes widen in horror for just two seconds until they realized who walked in, thus releasing a sigh of relief Kyuhyun’s back slumped against the wall as he panted slightly, apparently too out breath because of the intense kiss.

“We did,” Siwon cried out indignantly. “That is why we were doing it in a secluded corner, knowing children were out playing.”

“Secluded corner?” Sungmin scoffed. “I gave you a whole room to do your ‘romantic stuff’ in… why are you dirtying my dining area?”

“We were just kissing,” Kyuhyun hissed loudly, eyes slanting at Sungmin’s teasing smile. “And I would let you know, we arrived to America no more than seven hours ago- meaning we can’t actually go to our room to do ‘romantic things’ when clearly you were waiting for us to come and decorate your damn house when it’s your son’s birthday and we are supposed to be the honorable guests- and Siwon flied in from England, since he was there for some business deal for last FIVE days… therefore I have every right to kiss the one I missed the most for several days. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Hear, Hear.” Siwon mocked, giving a smirk to Sungmin’s ‘what-I-got-myself-into’ expressions.

“No, of course not,” Sungmin raised his hands in surrender, eyes slightly widen in surprise. “By all means go and kiss the living day out of your husband, I have no problem with that.” Sungmin’s lips twitched in a small smile as his eyes moved from Kyuhyun’s flushed face to Siwon mirth filled one. “I thought I was the only one who had to deal with Saeun’s PMS-ing but man!! Siwon, I see your hands are as full as mine.”

Sungmin ducked out of the dining room, laughing loudly, with a seething Kyuhyun throwing small plastic plates and cups on him. Sungmin literally ran toward the living room area, trying to save himself from Kyuhyun’s wrath, which he very well knew he had called upon himself with his big mouth.

Back in the sitting area, Sungmin came to a skidding stop seeing Saeun and Donghae widing ribbons around the polls of tall lamps.

“Donghae?” Sungmin’s shout of delight earned him a beaming smile from his cousin before the two guys were giving each other a manly embrace. “When did you arrive? And did you reach safe and sound?”

It just so happened that Sungmin had sent a couple of cars to airport this morning, but only Kyuhyun, Siwon, Leeteuk and Heechul were seen climbing out of the car. They had ever so kindly- after of course tackling Sungmin to ground as greeting- had explained how Donghae and his family had gone to Thailand a couple of days ago and would be catching the flight to America from there. Since Saeun had ed a long list of stuff she needed for tonight’s party and Sungmin needed to make a quick trip to his company- otherwise his dad would whack him with his walking stick- therefore Sungmin had stepped out of the house for a few hours and apparently Donghae had arrived while he was away.

“They arrived not ten minutes after you left,” Saeun supplied helpfully, smiling slightly seeing the happiness shining on her husband’s face. “By the way, did you get all the things I asked for?”

“Yes my Lady,” Sungmin gave a mock bow, slightly grinning at Saeun’s my-husband-is-crazy expressions. “I dropped off the things in dining room but don’t go there just yet… Kyuhyun and Siwon are being disgustin- OUCH!”

“We were not being disgusting!” Kyuhyun cried resentfully after slapping back of Sungmin’s head when the latter had no idea that Kyuhyun was standing just behind him for last whole minute. Sungmin rubbed his head while miserably, seeking for some attention from his wife but the said wife just shook her head at her immature husband and left to do the much needed chores for tonight’s party while Kyuhyun and Siwon shared their warm greetings with widely beaming Donghae.

“Where is Hyukjae?” Sungmin asked, settling on the long couch with his friends. “And what about Minho, Changmin and Suho?”

“Well, Minho and Irene along with Leeteuk and Heechul went to Kris and Chanyeol’s house,” Kyuhyun supplied, throwing his head on the headrest of the tall chair, tiredly, lazily looking at Sungmin. “I would have loved to go as well but Kimmy Noona asked me and Siwon to help decorate the house… something you should be doing since it’s your son’s birthday…” Kyuhyun gave a pointed glare to Sungmin, who rolled his eyes at the continuous whines of his friend. “So I guess I would meet them tonight and go see their new house tomorrow. And as you already know Yoona is in her ninth month of pregnancy so she and Suho couldn’t come… while Changmin and Seohyun went to their honeymoon, in Paris… they might arrive just before the birthday bash.”

Changmin was last one of them to get his life on tracks. Running after the most oblivious and naïve girl, the love of his life, and not earning the kind of affection he craved… one day Changmin snapped and shouted how much he loved Seohyun and how she was ‘mean’ to not return his feelings nor do tell him to stop… blushing and stuttering Seohyun confessed that she really liked Changmin but never realized that other’s sweet gestures were because he liked her too, Seohyun always thought that Changmin treated her like a sister because she was his best friend’s sister. They both flushed in embarrassment when they realized they had confessed to each other while standing in the middle of a crowded market where Seohyun had come to get vegetables for a new vegies dish she was trying to invent since her dream of becoming a chef came true a few years ago, and Changmin, like always, was there to help her.

Thus finally getting married to the one he loved and going for his dream honeymoon, it was quite understandable. So, Sungmin nodded his head in understanding before turning to expectedly look at Donghae.

“Hyukjae is up in the room, trying to put kids to sleep, not wanting them to whine at night… you know, because of jetlag and stuff.” Donghae explained, earning a thoughtful hum from Sungmin before the latter let out a chuckled on his own.

“Say, how many kids you have now?” Sungmin asked jokingly.

It was a renowned inside joke among them, seeing how Hyukjae was a er for kids and had the softest heart- something that came as a surprised for most of them. Seven years ago, as promised by Donghae, he did everything in his power to start a fashion designing line for his beloved husband once his business started blooming and with Hyukjae becoming a famous and one of the most sought out designer, he started visiting places for sake of fashion shows and started attending charity shows… with all that came Hyukjae’s inner parenting feeling pouring out with a blast. At first it was a charity show for a really big orphan house in Hong Kong, where everything started… as soon as the show ended, Donghae received a call from a crying and hiccupping Hyukjae saying something along the line ‘Poor kids’, ‘No parents’, ‘No house’… then two days later Donghae found a small and cute boy hiding behind a timidly smiling Hyukjae. Donghae loved Hyukjae a little too much, the former realized that day. They had planned to adopt kids in near future but Donghae was hoping that near future would come at least 5 or 6 years after their marriage… not 1 year and 10 months later… but he welcomed Jackson as his own just like Hyukjae had wished.

Donghae had believed it Hyukjae’s spun of moment action so he never thought to warn Hyukjae not to make such important decisions on his own in future… after all adoption of a child should be their mutual decision. Belatedly Donghae realized he should have said something because not even a whole year had gone by that Hyukjae returned from another Charity Show from Busan, cuddling with a small girl, who had cling to Hyukjae like a baby koala after seeing Donghae’s baffled expressions. That’s how Hyuna had come in their life.

Donghae had quite kindly tried to explain to Hyukjae that spending a better part of his earning on kids who have no one to fend after them is a good quality, but bringing one home without consulting Donghae was not okay. Hyukjae had gone on a ‘No Talking, No Love Making’ strike for one whole month, until Donghae had to beg for his forgiveness. Then six months later Hyukjae had flied out to Canada for Fashion Show, on his return he has presented a- Korea by Birth but living in Canada- girl called Wendy… silently urging Donghae to dare say Hyukjae was wrong to go and adopt another child without his consent, but Donghae had learned his lesson in that one horrid month of no skin ship and no kissing with his beautiful husband, thus he accepted Wendy as his daughter and signed the required adoption forms without a word. Thus in just two years Donghae became a father of three children.

Donghae waited with breath held, every time Hyukjae would go oversea or out of city for any kind of fashion show, but a year passed without a child accompanying Hyukjae once he would return. Donghae started to ease up, thinking that maybe Hyukjae only wanted three children, that’s why he stopped roaming in random orphanages on his oversea visits. But all of Donghae’s hopes came crashing down after one more year slipped pass them and Hyukjae returned from his Japan’s Fashion week with a beaming and brightly shining eyes boy, no more than 5 or 6 years old. That’s how Nakamoto Yuta came in their life.

Donghae might have seem a little pissed at first but all those adorable kids grew on him and it wasn’t long before Donghae would feel the hurt if his little ones fell down while learning how to ride a bicycle or how to play football or basketball. Those precious four angels became the apple of Donghae’s eyes.

But now as Sungmin jokingly reminded Donghae about his husband’s weird habit of adopting, he couldn’t help but bite off a smile from his lips, as Kyuhyun and Siwon tossed him amused looks… something Sungmin’s sharp eyes caught in a second.

“Don’t tell me…” Sungmin gasped as Donghae’s face showed the somewhat guilty expressions.

“Well, two days ago I had four kids but now I have become a father of five angels,” Donghae supplied before Sungmin’s intrigued eyes would start burrowing holes in his face. “Two days ago, Hyukjae visited an orphanage in Thailand and,