Tree

‘Why don’t we have a Christmas tree yet?’

The question Hyejin had asked last night at dinner kept running through Taekwoon’s head. The answer was simple, really. The sooner they got the tree, the sooner it would suffer from the unruly children and pets, and the worse it would look by the time Christmas Eve finally rolled around. Therefore, their strategy had been to get the tree as late as possible, hoping it would still have a branch or two they could place some presents under in the end.

It looked like that strategy had reached its limit now, with the kids starting to ask about a tree.

The decision was made that they couldn’t drag it out any longer and should finally get that tree, and that was why Taekwoon wasn’t taking the direct way home after picking up his two oldest children from school.

“Appa? Where are we going?” Seojun asked from the back seat eventually. Taekwoon smiled secretively.

“Hyejin said there was something missing last night… We’re getting it now.”

Hyejin spluttered, then tried to think of what it was that was missing. It was only when Taekwoon took a turn to a more rural area that she remembered, squealing so suddenly that if Taekwoon hadn’t been expecting it he would have swerved. He still flinched, though.

“Hyejin, car voice!”

Hyejin reigned herself in, but her words were still tripping over each other when she spoke.

“We’re getting the tree?!”

“Hyejin! Don’t yell! Yes, we are getting the tree.”

Hyejin screamed again, but with closed, gripping her brother’s arm and shaking the whole boy to release her excitement. Both Taekwoon and Seojun laughed, Seojun going limp and letting his sister rattle him like a ragdoll.

“Don’t hurt each other. We’re almost there.”

Too late did Taekwoon think about how it was probably not the smartest idea to take the kids out into a muddy field in their school uniforms. He hoped they had a spare clean one at home for each of them; he had to text Hakyeon as soon as they stopped to make sure…

The many potholes in the small road up the hill where the Christmas trees were cultivated forced him to slow down, adding to Hyejin’s impatience. He was glad when he could finally stop the car and Hyejin could get out; the tension in the small space caused by her impatience and excitement had started to become suffocating.

“Wait until I’m ready to come out, too, Hyejin, don’t run off!”

“Ok. I want that tree!”

Taekwoon followed her extended finger to a massive tree standing next to the small hut where a salesperson sat.

“I don’t think that one is for sale…”

“Then I want that one!” She pointed at another tree a bit further away.

“Let’s look at it from up close in a moment. For now, just wait a minute, please.” He climbed out of the car, opening the back door to let her out, then rounding the car to help Seojun out as well.

“Hurryyy!” Hyejin whined, but Taekwoon didn’t heed her plea, keeping his pace as he helped Seojun out of his booster seat and locked the car.

“Ok, now we can go. Let me just talk to the man over there…” Hakyeon had called before and made the appointment for them to go pick out a tree. There weren’t too many left, since most people already had their trees that far into December. The salesman only nodded at them to go ahead and choose a tree, and call for him once they’d found one so he could come and cut it for them.

As soon as Taekwoon gave the signal it was ok, his children darted off into the field, running around and between trees, trying to find the prettiest. Or tallest, in Hyejin’s case.

“Appa, can we have this one?”

Taekwoon’s eyes widened with slight worry.

“That tree is taller than out house, Hyejin…”

Hyejin ran to the next tree.

“Then this one!”

“And where do we put it? On the stairs? It won’t fit anywhere else.

Hyejin grimaced, the ran further, Seojun hot on her heels.

“This one!”

“Still too tall for the living room…”

Hyejin shook her head.

“No, it’s not. When I stand on my tip-toes and reach up, I can almost reach the top, but I can’t almost reach the living room ceiling!”

Taekwoon shook his head, standing next to the tree and reaching up.

“Oh, really? But, when I stand on my tiptoes and reach up, I can’t reach the top, either, but I can reach the living room ceiling. Are you taller than me?”

Hyejin grumbled, then went ahead slightly more pensive and more critical about the trees. Seojun almost forgot about the trees, just running up and down the rows, singing breathlessly. He fell, once, but got up again quickly and kept running, until he fell again. Then, he just stayed sitting and looked at the trees around them.

“Seojun, please get up from the ground. It’s cod and you’ll get sick.” Taekwoon urged him, and Seojun pouted.

“I’m looking for a tree that looks good from this angle, since we’ll see it a lot while sitting on the floor in the living room, right?”

“You can crouch to do that, but please don’t sit down on the floor. It’s muddy and cold.”

Seojun got up, then ran ahead again.

“What about this tree, appa?”

Taekwoon looked at the tree Hyejin was pointing out.

“Hm… It doesn’t have many branches on the other side, does it?”

Hyejin walked around it, inspecting it critically, then came back shaking her head.

“You’re right. It’s not pretty enough.”

In the meantime, Taekwoon had lost sight of Seojun, looking around hoping to see the dark blue and red uniform peek out somewhere between the trees.

“Seojunie?” He called out, not getting an answer. Worry nestled itself firmly in his gut, and he called again.

“Seojun? Seojun, please come out!”

He walked a couple of steps further, before a weight barreled into his legs from behind, sending him stumbling.

“Boo!” Seojun laughed as he hugged Taekwoon’s legs.

“Seojun! You scared me!”

“That was the point!” Seojun laughed, and Taekwoon couldn’t be mad at him.

“Don’t do that again, you punk!” He scolded halfheartedly as he caught Seojun’s falling hat, ruffled his hair and put the hat back on.

“Ok!” Seojun answered, breathless, then let go and ran off again.

“Appa! This tree! It’s not that tall!”

Hyejin pointed at a tree that was standing fairly alone. It was true, the tree was only about the same height as Taekwoon, but Taekwoon frowned.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it a bit crooked? And it doesn’t really have a tip…”

Hyejin shook her head.

“It has two tips, which is even better, because that way we don’t have to choose between the two stars and can put both on top, one on each tip.”

Seojun came running then, almost barreling into Taekwoon as he stopped next to him and had to grab the hem of his jacket to regain his balance.

“Are we taking this tree? Why?”

Hyejin stemmed her hands into her hips.

“Because it’s standing all alone and has no friends anymore and is getting really sad because no one likes it just because it’s different.”

While Taekwoon didn’t agree to use that logic in their choice for a tree, Seojun saw no fault in it.

“Then we should take it home so it can be happy and knows it’s ok to be different, it just makes it more special than all the other trees.”

Taekwoon was outnumbered.

“So, you really want us to get this tree?”

“Yes!” Seojun and Hyejin answered as if with one voice.

“Are you really sure? Once we ask for it to be cut, we can’t change our decision anymore.”

The kids were sure, though, and Taekwoon flagged down the salesman to come with a saw and cut the tree. He packed it and helped Taekwoon secure it on the car, too, and soon after they were on the way back home.

Seojun was tired, almost falling asleep, while Hyejin spent the whole way home chattering away about the advantages of having a tree that was different from all the others. It kind of sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Taekwoon, and he hoped she wasn’t regretting her decision.

Hakyeon was still at home when they arrived, and helped him bring the tree inside.

“You two, go change into comfortable clothes and then come down here and do your homework before anything else.” Hakyeon shooed the kids off as they kept standing in the way.

“This is going to be fun to try and fit into the holder…” He then muttered when the kids were out of sight, eyeing the bottom of the tree critically, and Taekwoon sighed.

“Yeah… The whole tree is weird, but they wanted it. It has two tips, too… Looks like the original broke off at some point and two new ones came out. It’s crooked, too. The kids felt it was being discriminated against, though, so we had to get it.”

Hakyeon sighed.

“It starts with a crooked Christmas tree, and before long they’re going to want to take in every single stray off the streets of this city… Oh no, Taekwoon! We’ve talked about this, you will absolutely not support that, we have more than enough pets as it is!”

Taekwoon sighed, waving Hakyeon’s words off.

“Yeah, yeah, I remember, you’re right. But it’s not a bad goal to have, you know…”

Hakyeons shook his head, not answering to that. It would lead them nowhere.

“Well… Let’s try putting this up while I still have time to help you, shall we?”

It wasn’t that easy, and Hakyeon soon began to grumble that he would have to shower again before heading out to work at this rate when they tried putting the tree up for the third time, just for the holder to fall off again.

“Maybe you need to get something to fix it against the wall so it can’t fall forward…”

“And put some glue on the bottom, so the holder doesn’t fall off.”

Taekwoon groaned at the suggestions coming from his children.

“Focus on your homework, you two. We know what we’re doing.”

Hyejin snorted.

“It doesn’t look like it…” She sassed, earning a none too pleased look from Hakyeon that made her cower and turn back around in her chair and to her homework.

“Sorry…” She muttered, focusing on the books in front of her for at least five minutes before turning to watch her parents again.

It took some more struggling, but eventually, the tree stood, and Taekwoon cut the net that was holding the branches together tightly to let it unfold. Hakyeon gave it a critical look, and Taekwoon shrugged helplessly. They didn’t want to say the tree was ugly, but… it took an acquired taste to find it beautiful. One they both lacked so far.

Seojun and Hyejin didn’t seem to need any more time to warm up to the look of the tree, whispering to each other excitedly.

“Appa, can we start decorating now?!” Seojun asked excitedly, and Taekwoon rose a sharp eyebrow.

“Are you done with your homework yet?”

Both groaned, turning back around to their books in answer.

“I really need to shower again and I really don’t have time for that…” Hakyeon grumbled, and Taekwoon caught him by the wrist as he was about to rush off, spinning him into his embrace and burying his face against his neck once he was pressed against his chest.

“Smells fine to me…” He murmured where only Hakyeon could hear him, who pushed against him with an exasperated sigh. The force he applied would at best have sufficed to move a loose sheet of paper, though.

“Taekwoon…”

“Don’t shower. Drive safely instead. You can always shower tonight, and until then no one who matters will be able to tell you aren’t a hundred percent clean, anyway.”

Hakyeon sagged slightly in his Taekwoon’s hold, whining.

“Woon, I’m gross…”

“I’ve seen you way grosser and still love you. Please? I know how you drive when you are alone and late to something. I’d rather know you’re driving safely…”

Hakyeon sighed.

“I’m running late already…”

“Then don’t run any later. And don’t stress. Be careful.”

Hakyeon shoved Taekwoon again, this time more playful.

“I should not shower on purpose tonight so you have to deal with my stink, too, for making me go out like this…”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes.

“As if. You’re a clean-freak, you’d never.”

Taekwoon was so right, but Hakyeon was about to give in.

“Can I at least change into a clean shirt? Or are you going to shove me out the door like this?”

Taekwoon chuckled, patting Hakyeon’s sweat-pant clad .

“I’ll be generous and even let you put on some proper pants before you leave.”

Hakyeon looked down on himself, mortified.

“Gracious, I’d completely forgotten I hadn’t changed pants yet!”

Taekwoon laughed, letting Hakyeon go as he wound himself out of his arms and ran upstairs.

“Appa, I don’t know how to do this exercise…” Seojun’s complaint pulled Taekwoon out of the little bubble he still fell so easily into when interacting with his husband, and back to the present. Turning away from the stairs where Hakyeon had just disappeared, he went and joined his kids at the dining table.

“What is it, love?”

Seojun pointed at his homework, and Taekwoon pulled the book closer to read the exercise and help him. He was immersed in explaining the answer to the question to Seojun when the doorbell rang and Hakyeon hurried down the stairs.

“I’ll get it, I’m on my way. I love you, all of you!” He waved, rushing out into the hallway.

“Don’t rush! Be careful!” Taekwoon shouted after him, and while Hakyeon didn’t answer, he was sure he’d heard him. The front door opened, and they could hear voices coming from there, followed moments later by Heejoon walking in. Sanghyuk didn’t follow, even after the door had fallen shut, and Taekwoon assumed he must be busy, too.

“Appa, can’t we finish our homework later and decorate the tree now?” Hyejin begged, but Taekwoon would have none of it.

“Nope. Finish up, and then we can decorate. Heejoonie, help me get all the decorations?”

Heejoon loved helping, so of course he agreed, and Taekwoon took him with him, up to the attic. With his short legs, Heejoon was exhausted after his second trip all the way up to the attic and stayed in the living room when Taekwoon departed for the last trip up, plopping down on the floor right between where he’d set down the small box he’d been carrying and where Suri was sleeping.

The aging cat didn’t mind when Heejoon pulled her closer and buried his face against her fur, starting to purr almost immediately. Out of everyone in this house, she loved Heejoon the most; right after Taekwoon, of course.

“Heejoon, are you going to sleep on the floor?” Taekwoon called for the boy’s attention, who hadn’t even noticed he was dozing off on the floor. He got up then, though, and so did Suri, following him as he walked over to where his father sat down on the couch. Taekwoon helped both of them up, and soon they were dozing again.

“Appa, I’m done.” Seojun announced, holding up his exercise book, and Taekwoon came over to check it.

“I’m done, too…” Hyejin sighed when Taekwoon nodded in approval and handed Seojun his book back. Taekwoon frowned, seeing half of the page in front of Hyejin still blank.

“You are…? You didn’t finish that yet, though…”

Hyejin gave him a dead serious look.

“I’m not done with homework, I’m done with my nerves.”

Taekwoon chuckled.

“Right. Come on, tell me where the problem is and I’ll help you so we can all start decorating sooner.”

Hyejin’s face lit up, and she pointed the questions out, explaining exactly where her problems lay, and Taekwoon did his best to help her. That way, they were done in no time.

It took longer for Hyejin to gather all her things and bring them up to her room again, all the while complaining loudly about how her teachers couldn’t explain things in an easy way that everyone understood, and how it was so much easier for her to understand things when her fathers explained them to her, and that her school should pay her parents for doing the job the teachers were supposed to do. Taekwoon found her tirade quite amusing, in a weird way.

Once she’d put her things away, Hyejin was quick to join the others in the living room again, and together they started lining up the decorations they had there. Hyejin contributed with the glass baubles Wonshik had bought her on the Christmas Fair, being infinitely careful with them and demanding everyone else to be just as careful as she was. That being said, she soon decided that the baubles could in no way go on the lower branches, where they would be in constant danger from her siblings and the dogs; or so she claimed, seconds before tripping and almost falling into the tree herself.

Seojun and Heejoon -who’d woken up and joined them again when they’d started the decorating- didn’t have any concerns about that, just putting everything they found pretty on the tree wherever they could reach. That soon resulted in the tree being very much overloaded up to about half its height, while the top half remained mostly bare.

“Boys, wait up. We have to put the decorations everywhere on the tree, not just down here. Oh no, Seojunie, you are not climbing that chair, put that back. Hyejin, I know, I’ll put them up there in a second. No, you can’t get the ladder from the shed; I don’t want to see you climbing anything, Seojun! Here, I’ll lift you up so you can put the garlands all the way up here… Do we really need that many, though?”

It was a lost cause, the living room slowly sinking into chaos as Taekwoon tried to coordinate the decorating process. He even lost track of where Jieun was twice in the middle of the mayhem. Out of all the time, the little one had to choose now to practice her speed-crawling for the baby-Olympics; at least that was what it seemed she was trying to do, given her determination to cross the room at impressive speed while Taekwoon barely seemed to have time to blink.

Taekwoon was about to give up on trying to maintain any semblance of order in here, resigning himself to having to pick up after everyone later that night when they were all sleeping, when the doorbell rang again.

They weren’t expecting anyone, so the kids paid it no mind, and Taekwoon went alone to open the front door. He found Hongbin standing there.

“Hi, hyung. I didn’t have anything to do and decided to pop by. What are you all up to?”

Taekwoon sighed, stepping out of the way to let Hongbin in.

“Chaos, mayhem and destruction. What else?”

“Oh, so just a normal day in?”

Taekwoon huffed slightly.

“Almost. We’re decorating the Christmas tree. Or… trying to.”

Hongbin arched a curious eyebrow as he put his shoes away neatly in the same moment the sound of something glassy breaking sounded. Taekwoon froze for a second, then darted into the living room, Hongbin close behind him.

“Leave it! Don’t touch that, please, you’ll hurt yourself.” Taekwoon quickly caught Seojun’s hand as he was trying to pick up the shards of what once was a weird frog wearing a Santa hat and holding a ball-shaped present.

One of the uglier decorations Taekwoon didn’t mind at all to see gone, but better didn’t mention the loss of to Hakyeon if he wanted to avoid hearing him go off about how that had been a present from his nephew’s cousin’s great aunt’s sister from that one time she’d gone to tour Europe in winter and how it was a terrible loss. If he never mentioned it again, Hakyeon would never even remember it existed, since he probably found it as ugly as he did and had just kept it as a sense of obligation to the person he got it from.

“Uncle Hongbin! Can you help me put up the baubles in the higher places so no one can knock them off and break them?” Hyejin immediately dragged Hongbin off, before he could get too comfortable elsewhere.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break it… It just… fell?” Seojun crouched next to Taekwoon as he picked up the shards.

“It’s ok, baby. Just try to be a little more careful next time, ok?”

Seojun nodded, and Taekwoon got up, having picked up all the shards.

“Why don’t you go ask Hongbin to help you with the garlands, too? I’m sure he’d love to help you, too.”

Seojun found that a great idea and darted off to where Hongbin and Hyejin were discussing which were the best places for the baubles to make them shine and not drown in the sheer mass of decorations, yet at the same time not put them in danger of being knocked off the tree.

No one noticed what Heejoon had been doing all this time, until Taekwoon joined them again a while later after having put the shards in the trash and located Jieun once again.

“Heejoon… What are you doing?”

Heejoon stepped away from the tree, obviously frustrated.

“I want to-… There need to be-… We need candles on the tree, but-…”

Taekwoon sighed as he crouched next to Heejoon, looking at what the boy had been trying to do; fixing some of the candles Hakyeon made when he had the time to the lowest branches of the tree with sticky tape. With the glass they came in and everything. Of course, the branches drooped, and the candles hung upside down, much to Heejoon’s dismay.

“We don’t put real candles on the tree Heejoonie… We have the other ones, remember? The ones in that box you carried down earlier?”

Heejoon pouted.

“But… Appa’s candles are beautifuler.”

Taekwoon smiled at his son’s protest, his distress obvious in the usage of the wrong word.

“Of course they are, but putting Hakyeon’s candles on the tree is too dangerous, Heejoon. Besides, there is so much on the tree that you wouldn’t even see all the beauty of the candles between everything else.”

Heejoon wasn’t happy, but Taekwoon’s arguments made sense.

“But where do we put appa’s candles?” He asked meekly, and Taekwoon looked around quickly.

“We’ll put them… on the table. The kitchen-table. We haven’t decorated the kitchen yet!”

That appeased the boy, at least somewhat, and he walked off again, presumably to get the artificial LED candles.

Who wasn’t appeased and getting quite tired of not getting any attention whatsoever was Jieun, though, starting to complain from where she sat in between packing paper. Taekwoon sighed, going up to her and picking her up. It wasn’t all she wanted, though, and Taekwoon soon realized the nappy was the problem.

“Go ahead, hyung, I got this.” Hongbin reassured Taekwoon when he saw the torn look on Taekwoon’s face.

“Are you sure about that?” Taekwoon wasn’t, but Hongbin gave him a thumbs-up.

If Hongbin thought he was capable enough to tame all three of the remaining kids at once, Taekwoon wouldn’t waste his breath trying to convince him otherwise. Maybe he was even lucky, and nothing too major would happen. Maybe he wouldn’t be that lucky, and just in case, Taekwoon reminded himself where all the nearest first-aid kits were, where the brooms and trays, and -just in case; one never knew- the fire extinguisher, while walking upstairs to the nursery with Jieun.

He heard no crashes, no yelling and no crying while he cleaned and changed the baby, and wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

A good one, he learned once he returned downstairs. Hongbin really managed to keep the kids happy and out of any danger. The tree was staring to look somewhat presentable, too.

Jieun was still fussy, though, and Taekwoon was sure she was getting hungry; it was close to the time she usually fed, already.

Hongbin gave him an encouraging smile, and Taekwoon went to prepare Jieun’s food. If Hongbin wanted to push his luck, that was on him, Taekwoon reasoned as he heated a meal he’d prepared earlier that day for Jieun.

Jieun ate eagerly, shoving the mashed vegetables into with bare hands. Spoons were overrated, anyway; and hands were much more practical to massage mashed carrot into one’s father’s shirt.

As always, Jieun fell asleep soon after finishing eating, even before Taekwoon managed to clean away the rest of the meal from her face and clothes. He himself would need a change of clothes, too, he decided.

The tree was starting to look really pretty by now, he found when he returned to the living room.

Granted, a few branches had snapped in the meantime, and the ones where Heejoon had used too much tape on lacked a significant amount of needles in some places, but overall, it looked pretty.

Two stars sat on top of it, once on each tip. The overall amount of decorations had decreased on the tree, and those that were on it were more evenly spaced out. Hongbin was just helping Seojun wrap a garland all the way to one of the tips, holding him up as he placed it, and Hyejin watched expectantly. All her baubles survived the adventure, and Hongbin lifted Heejoon up next, with a handful of LED clip-on candles to spread out over the higher branches.

Taekwoon had to wonder, how Hongbin managed to direct the kids into making something as aesthetically pleasing as how the tree looked now, rather than the chaos they had insisted on creating before, both on and around the tree.

“Wow, that looks really pretty. Well done, everyone.” Taekwoon commented, coming up behind the four gathered.

“Appa, look, when we turn on the candles, they make the baubles glitter!” Hyejin told him excitedly as soon as he reached them.

“I can see that. Those are really pretty baubles, too.” And they were hanging even on some lower branches, which Taekwoon didn’t comment on but definitely noted.

“We’re all done decorating the tree. Right, Heejoonie?” Hongbin announced and confirmed with Heejoon, who agreed.

“Now all we need to do is put the rest of the decorations up where they belong, and then put those that are left over away. Who wants to make a wreath for the kitchen table?”

Taekwoon didn’t expect Hongbin to find any kind of positive resonance for his request, but to his surprise the children were eager to help with decorating the rest of the house and putting away left-over decorations.

“You really got this, huh?” Taekwoon asked, half incredulous, half relieved, when the kids scattered.

“I told you I do. You can go just make yourself a coffee, sit down, prop your legs up… Relax.”

Taekwoon wanted to huff at that, but controlled himself and only smiled lightly.

“Thank you… I do need to start making dinner, though…”

Hongbin shook his head slowly.

“Hyung, when do you ever just sit down and do nothing?”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“At night? When everyone’s asleep and everything’s done…”

“That’s called going to sleep…”

“Well… What’s the point of sitting around and doing nothing if you can just go to sleep?”

Hongbin sighed.

“You’re hopeless. Just go make dinner.”

Taekwoon chuckled, mock-saluted and went to the kitchen. There, he suddenly noticed a phone on the counter by the sink. It was weird, he normally never left his phone somewhere, always keeping it in his pocket, but when he felt for it, it wasn’t there.

He unlocked the phone quickly, just to check if it was really his, and found it open in a messaging app.

“Taekwoon’s alone w/ the kids this PM. Just saw Hakyeon leaving. I’m busy tho.” 3:32

“I’m free. Heading over.” 3:40

“Bless your soul. Jaehwan and I are busy, too.” 4:13

“WITH WHAT?!” 4:14

Taekwoon locked the phone again. It was clearly not his, and he didn’t want to see what the others talked behind his and Hakyeon’s back. He couldn’t un-see what he’d already seen, though.

He kept it to himself, for now, though. He had dinner to make, anyway. He didn’t mention it to Hongbin when he called everyone for dinner and handed him his phone back, either, but later that night, when the children were sleeping and Hongbin had left, as he was getting ready for bed together with his husband, he felt the need to discuss it.

“Earlier today, I checked Hongbin’s phone by accident when I wanted to see if it was mine or him…”

Hakyeon turned tilted his head curiously. Taekwoon wouldn’t be telling him this if he hadn’t found something he thought Hakyeon should know, so Hakyeon was all ears.

“What did you find?”

“It was open in a group chat between the four of them, without us…”

Hakyeon frowned slightly. Was that all there was?

“That’s not news. I think they’ve had a chat to talk behind out backs since before debut…”

“I know. That’s not it. I think it was Sanghyuk who’d sent a message about how I was alone at home with the kids, and it didn’t take ten minutes before Hongbin replied he was free and coming over. And another message from Wonshik thanking Hongbin and stating he and Jaehwan were busy.”

Hakyeon thought about it for a moment.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” He asked Taekwoon as the latter climbed into bed, joining him under the covers.

“That’s why I told you.”

“It’s not news that they are spying on us, but monitoring us and setting up a system so that we aren’t alone with the kids… That’s new…”

Taekwoon sighed, relaxing into his pillow.

“It feels… as if they don’t trust us as parents, or as if we’re failing, but… But I appreciate them trying to help? I don’t know, I was at wit’s end and about to give up earlier while decorating with the kids, and then Hongbin came in and took over the rest of the decorating and you’ve seen the result. It looks great, I had time to take proper care of Jieun and got dinner done in time, and everyone was happy…”

Hakyeon hummed, thinking about it.

“They’re really worrying about us, aren’t they…”

It was pretty obvious.

“I feel bad for worrying them… For giving them a reason to worry…” Hakyeon continued, and Taekwoon reached out for him, passing an arm over his middle and bringing them closer.

“It’s a hectic time of the year for everyone… And if they want to help out…”

Hakyeon hummed, snuggling into Taekwoon’s hold.

“Of course… They have a lot of fun with the kids, and the kids love them, too. Them trying to help isn’t worrying me. It’s… the fact they believe they have a reason to worry about us that bothers me.”

Taekwoon sighed.

“We’ll work on it, like always… Everything will be easier once the holidays are over. Let’s get some sleep now.”

There wasn’t anything they could change about anything in that moment anyway, and silence settled over them. Taekwoon was quick to fall asleep, but it took Hakyeon a while longer as he thought about the situation.

It was his fault that Taekwoon was having a hard time dealing with the children on his ow, since it was him who spent so much time away from home. And his fault their friends were feeling the need to step in and help where they could. He felt uneasy about it all, but he couldn’t very well just cancel all the scheduled activities he had in the foreseeable future…

He slept uneasily, and probably wouldn’t have slept at all if Taekwoon hadn’t been holding him in his sleep.

Precious, gentle, understanding Taekwoon… He didn’t know what he would do without him.

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A/N: Hello! Hope you've been liking these updates so far... I'd planned to update every other day until Christmas, but due to a lot of work and very little free time, as well as chapters getting way longer than expected, I haven't been able to finish writing all the chapters I needed to be able to keep up my schedule until today. Since I'll be going on vacation (a well deserved one, might I add! I need it so much...) tomorrow, visiting a friend, I probably won't have too much time to write in the near future, either, so I guess the remaining five chapters will be late. I can't say exactly how late yet, but it's possible they will only be up in January. Sorry, I failed XD