Junmyeon opened the side door to his house and stepped inside, carefully removing the rain boots he’d worn to and from work that day and spotting a trail of muddy shoe prints as he did so. He knew they had a mud room for exactly that purpose, but Junmyeon couldn’t help the groan that slipped out—Sehun knew better. For a brief moment Junmyeon contemplated disciplining his son, eventually deciding against that course of action when the mud on the floor caught his eye again. Instead, Junmyeon took off his coat to hang it by the door and called out “Hello Kyungsoo.”

There was a muffled thump and Junmyeon thought he heard Sehun mutter a nervous expletive before yelling a sheepish “Sorry, Dad!” back to him. Less than 30 seconds later Junmyeon caught sight of his younger son and his boyfriend rushing toward him from down the hall. Kyungsoo stopped at the single step separating the mud room’s hardwood from the carpet to bow politely in greeting, but Sehun didn’t bother and barreled right into his father. The boy clung to Junmyeon like an overeager koala and it was definitely the sight of tall, lanky Sehun hanging over his tiny parent that had Kyungsoo giggling cutely. Secretly Junmyeon was glad that his son had somehow avoided the rebellious and angsty stage of his teenage development; he didn’t let his pleasure show, though, because Junmyeon knew that Sehun would think that a little aegyo would help him get away with anything if Junmyeon cracked right now.

“Sehun.” Junmyeon’s voice was hard to hear against his son’s shoulder, but Sehun was waiting for the discipline and heard his name just fine. His embrace tightened and Kyungsoo’s giggles became actually laughter when Junmyeon retaliated with a pinch to his son’s side and a flick to the forehead once Sehun let him go indignantly.

Sehun returned to his boyfriend’s side with a pout on his lips, but one look from Junmyeon had Kyungsoo turning Sehun back around to face his father.

“Appa and I raised you to clean up after yourself, Sehun-ah,” Junmyeon chided gently.

Sehun’s expression turned earnest. “I know that, Dad! Kyungsoo does too!” His boyfriend peeked out at Junmyeon from over Sehun’s shoulder and nodded before giving Sehun an annoyed pinch of his own. “Sorry, babe,” Sehun spoke to them both. “You too, Dad. But we were kind of soaked and it was cold and I figured I could just take care of it before you got home but then time got away from us and—”

Interrupting his son’s rambling, Junmyeon looked between Sehun and Kyungsoo suspiciously and raised an eyebrow. “You better not have been making out on the couch again.”

Kyungsoo flushed a bright red and Sehun literally squawked in embarrassment. Junmyeon considered that enough of a punishment for the two teens and had to hide his smile when he swept his arm across the length of the room to remove the moisture from the mess on the floor. “You know what to do,” he reminded them with a pointed look. Both boys were still red but they murmured their understanding and set to work cleaning up the rest of it.

Junmyeon turned to glance over his shoulder at their progress as he stepped onto the carpet, and couldn’t help admiring their team work as Kyungsoo dragged each individual speck of dirt into a single pile and Sehun used a few mini gusts to transport the whole thing out into the yard. The proud father did allow himself a smile then and, walking down the hallway into the rest of the house, made sure to mention that Kyungsoo was more than welcome to stay for dinner but “Sehun, if I find out from your brother that you two really were kissing on the couch again, don’t think I won’t send your boyfriend home!”