c; 2,422w

“Jaebum! Come in, please!”

Jaebum gives a small smile as he takes off his shoes and steps into the warm house. He gives a strong and firm handshake as Mark grins back to him.

“Jae! You made it safely!” Jinyoung yells over the kids running around and screaming as he wipes his hands off on his already-dirtied apron.

“DAD’S HERE! GYEOMMIE, HURRY UP!” 10-year-old Bambam screams as he runs straight into his father’s arms. Jaebum catches the boy easily and swings him around in a bone-crushing hug.

“DADDY!” Jaebum hears his other son screech as he gets tackled to the floor by 5-year-old Yugyeom just as he’s setting Bambam down on the floor. Jaebum releases a hearty laugh as his two sons climb all over him on the floor, planting wet sloppy kisses all over his face.

“Hey boys, did you have a good time at mom’s?” Jaebum asks as he ruffles Bambam’s hair. The 10-year-old gives Jaebum his biggest, gummiest smile with a missing tooth right smack in the middle.

“Wait, Bam, what happened?!” Jaebum grabs the boy’s face between his large palms and proceeds to squish it.

“Daaaaaaaad!” Bambam whines as Jaebum grins wickedly.

“Look at the boy. Missing a tooth. He ran straight into the glass patio door yesterday,” Jinyoung says with a roll of his eyes, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. Jaebum looks up to the man from the floor and slowly gets up.

“You look great as always, Jinyoungie,” Jaebum sincerely says as he pulls him into a warm hug in which Jinyoung returns it, wrapping his arms around his neck, “likewise, Jae, you look amazing.”

The man at the back looks on, his heart clenching a little as he watches the scene.

-

Dinner is fairly uneventful save for Bambam’s attempt as drinking his glass of cola in one shot, then proceeding to having a bad brain freeze to which Yugyeom screeches in laughter at his older brother’s stupidity. Bambam pouts throughout the rest of the dinner and refuses to play with Yugyeom.

“Come on now, Bam, be the older brother here,” Jaebum nudges his elder son to which Bambam sighs dejectedly and nods his head and runs off to find Yugyeom, not before he sticks his tongue out at his father.

“You little brat!” Jaebum says with a light laugh as Bambam gives his signature mischievous grin and runs off.

 The living room becomes silent as the two boys play in their bedroom and Jinyoung’s upstairs settling the boys for bed.

“How are you, Mark?” Jaebum asks as he finds a comfortable spot on the sofa with a can of beer in hand. Mark switches channels while he hums, “not bad, work’s driving me up the wall but nothing I can’t handle. Yourself?”

“Same old, same old…”

Their conversation dies there as Jinyoung appears, Yugyeom in his arms, “Gyeommie just won’t sleep because he’s such a naughty boy, isn’t he?” Jinyoung teases the little boy in his arms as he rubs their noses together.

“Aww, come here, you little monster.” Jaebum stretches his arms out as Yugyeom wiggles out of Jinyoung’s arms to be with his father. Yugyeom settles on his father’s lap, face buried in Jaebum’s chest as he hugs his tiger plushie close. The plushie was a gift given to him by Jaebum when Yugyeom turned 2, it’s been his favorite ever since.

The television murmurs softly in the background as Jinyoung settles down next to Mark who immediately puts an arm around Jinyoung and pulls him close.

Jaebum peeks from above of Yugyeom’s head and smiles, “aw, you two are so cute.”

Jinyoung’s musical laughter fills in the quiet room.

It’s quiet for the next few minutes as Yugyeom drifts off to sleep and his soft snoring joins the television as background music as Jaebum rocks the tiny boy in his lap to sleep. Jaebum glances again as Jinyoung turns to peck Mark on the cheek and he vaguely wonders, what went wrong between the two of them?

Did their flame die? Did their love slowly fade into nothingness? Was it because Jaebum was a stubborn man or was it because Jinyoung was too demanding? Years ago before Bambam and Yugyeom came into their lives, Jaebum and Jinyoung were inseparable, always attached at the hips to each other. They would whisper ‘I love you’s for no reason, surprise each other at the most random timings during their relationship.

Sometimes, Jaebum does stop to wonder, would things have been different if he stayed? Would things have been different if he fought a little longer for Jinyoung? If instead of packing up and slamming the door in his face, if he cradled Jinyoung in his arms with a thousand apologies streaming out of his mouth endlessly, would things have been different?

But as he watches Mark pull Jinyoung close, as he watches the way Jinyoung stares lovingly into Mark’s eyes, as he giggles when Mark pulls him closer, Jaebum can’t help but realize that he was never the man for Jinyoung.

Sure, Jaebum hated the guy when he first found out Jinyoung had been seeing him after their divorce. Mark had been a close friend to the two of them. Jaebum went as far as to accuse Jinyoung of cheating on him with Mark even before the divorce. That was a bad move; Jaebum couldn’t see his kids for a whole month because Jinyoung simply refused to let him.

They worked things out a few weeks later after Youngjae, Jaebum’s close friend, talked some sense into him.

But how could Jaebum hate someone like Mark? Mark was the same man who helped Jinyoung get back on