A/N: For some reason comments were disabled for this story and I didn't know it and didn't mean it, either. I'm so upset :( They are enabled again now, and if you have something to say about any of the chapters up so far (or this one), I'd love to know! <3

Also, I'm basing these stories mainly off traditions and customs from the cultures I grew up in between, which are possibly sometimes quite different from the ones elsewhere. This chapter is about the traditions around St Nicholaus, celebrated on December 6, and where I'm from it's common that kids clean their shoes and boots really well the evening before the 6th to prove to St Nicholaus that they're tidy and neat and overall very nice kids, which is then rewarded by good ole Nick filling said shoes and boots with sweets and treats. Since concerns about the hygiene of that act have risen over the last couple of years (not while I was still little, but since then) nowadays kids clean their shoes and put either self-crafted or store-bought boots out that are specifically made to accomodate decent amounts of treats without any foot-smell. Just a heads up for those not familiar with this form of the tradition :)

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Hakyeon sighed as he noticed the chaos in the entrance hallway after taking off his shoes. Seemingly countless muddy boots, scuffed shoes, a lone sandal, two mismatched slippers, gloves and even a couple of toys… everything lay strewn about, thrown together in heaps or discarded on the spot and never touched again. The shelves the shoes belonged on, on the other hand, were almost empty.

This hallway needed to be cleaned up badly. How had he gotten so used to it that he had been able to ignore this chaos all this time? How had no one pointed it out yet? They couldn’t even let anyone inside their house anymore if the first thing a guest would see was this… this trash-pile! And they were supposed to have guests over this weekend; there was no way around cleaning today.

Hakyeon groaned as he sunk right back against the front door he’d just come in through. He’d left home early in the morning before the kids were even awake, he was too tired for this. He didn’t want to. He just wanted to sit down and do nothing… But then again, Taekwoon had been left to deal with the kids’ messes on his own all day long, and Hakyeon felt bad for him. He must be exhausted, too, and he should really go help him. But someone also needed to clean up the hallway…

Just one more minute, he thought as he closed his eyes, not moving from where he was leaning against the door. One more minute before he stepped out of one mess to face another…

He didn’t get his minute, a wet nose bumping against his hand.

Hakyeon opened one eye to peek down at his hand and found a mass of tan fur with a wet nose, pink tongue and kind eyes peeking up at him.

“Hey Chewy, my boy. Don’t rat me out just yet, ok?” He mumbled, petting the dog.

Chewy didn’t rat him out. The high-pitched barking and yipping from Sora did, once he found him. Hakyeon groaned, but petted the Spitz as well in greeting, hoping to calm him down.

“Hakyeon?”

Taekwoon appeared in the doorway, and a tired smile flitted over Hakyeon’s face.

“Hey, handsome.”

Taekwoon smiled, stepping closer.

“Hi… What are you doing out here so long?”

Hakyeon sighed again.

“Thinking about how I really need to clean up this pig stew and how I really just want to sit down and not lift a single finger for at least fifteen minutes for once today…”

Taekwoon hummed, understanding that feeling all too well, and took Hakyeon’s outstretched hand to help him stand up from where he was still leaning. Hakyeon stumbled on purpose, falling into Taekwoon’s arms, who already anticipated it and caught him in a hug. Over his shoulder, Taekwoon surveyed the hallway and flinched. It really looked disastrous.

He rubbed soothing circles into Hakyeon’s back as he helped him out of his jacket, hanging it up while Hakyeon was still leaning against him.

“You worked hard today, huh?” He asked quietly, and Hakyeon made a whining noise.

“Not particularly… it was business as usual, but it felt like five times more than normal. I’m getting old.”

Taekwoon chuckled, plucking the beanie and scarf off Hakyeon and setting them down on their respective shelf as well.

“Aren’t we all, though… Let’s go inside, warm up. We can worry about the hallway later.”

Hakyeon stood on his own reluctantly, but he was willing to let Taekwoon guide him to the living room where they both plopped down on the couch.

“How was your day?” Hakyeon asked then, and Taekwoon shrugged.

“Pretty much normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Seojun scuffed his knee and hand; he fell in school. He’s fine though, and only worrying about his play on the last school day. Jieun tried to stand up on her own again today. When I went to help her, she was already over it and went for a nap, though.”

Hakyeon chuckled, then sighed.

“Not long and one more pair of shoes clutters the hallway. They grow up too fast.”

Taekwoon hummed, pensive.

“They are grown up enough to start cleaning their own mess up, too…”

Hakyeon frowned, giving Taekwoon a questioning look.

“They do clean up, though… What do you mean?”

Taekwoon sat up, thinking for a moment longer before he was satisfied with his idea and ready to present it to Hakyeon.

“Their shoes. They could clean them up and put them away themselves, technically.”

Hakyeon sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head roll against the back of the couch.

“Not without a ton of and complaining, and I really don’t have the nerves for that today.”

Taekwoon shook his head, though.

“Oh, I know a way they won’t…!”

Hakyeon blinked one eye open curiously.

“How? Magic?”

“St Nicholaus.” Taekwoon answered, and it took a moment before Hakyeon understood. A smile bloomed on his face.

“All hail St Nicholaus, the patron saint of weary parents who really don’t want to clean up shoe shelves!”

-----

“Alright, all the shoes into this box; toys too! Whose slippers are these? Who isn’t wearing any slippers? Hey, Hyejin, where are your slippers? Go put them on please. Heejoon, not now, go help Hakyeon in the living room.” Taekwoon instructed, having gathered the kids to help clean up their shoes.

“Why do we have to clean up the shoes? Isn’t it enough to put them into the shelf?” Seojun complained as he threw more shoes into the box Taekwoon had set down on the floor.

“Nope. St Nicholaus only brings sweets for kids who keep their shoes nice and tidy.”

Hyejin grumbled something unintelligible, but after an unimpressed look from her father, she but put more shoes into the box, too. Once they had gathered them all, Taekwoon carried the box into the living room, where Hakyeon had laid out a tarp in front of the couch, and set the box down in the middle of it, next to a box of shoe cleaning utensils.

“Ok. Everyone pick out their own shoes and sort them into pairs. Then take the rough brushes and brush off the worst dirt and mud into the empty box. Let’s go.”

Taekwoon instructed, sitting down on the couch next to Hakyeon, who’d already collapsed back onto it.

“These are broken, I don’t even wear them anymore.” Hyejin complained at the second pair of shoes she pulled out of the box.

“If they are broken, put them aside and we’ll throw them out. If they are still good but don’t fit anymore or you don’t like them anymore, put them aside, too, and we’ll give them away.” Taekwoon explained, and the kids went to work.

Hakyeon winced at the dust coming off as the kids scrubbed at the shoes, but the more dust and mud came off, the happier the kids were, so he didn’t complain. Seojun even took it upon himself to help Heejoon without any prompting.

Half way through the fun, Hakyeon got up to vacuum the hallway and clean the shelves. It was a quick task, now that all the kids’ shoes were gone, and he returned soon after to the living room, where Taekwoon was starting to show their children how to properly clean and take care of their different types of shoes. A handful of them wandered into the washing machine, the others were polished by Hyejin and Seojun.

Heejoon quickly lost interest in the play when no more dust and dirt was involved. He didn’t really have any shoes to be cleaned anymore, anyway. One pair was in the wash, one was being polished by Hyejin, and the other was a pair of rain-boots. There wasn’t much to clean about them. He wandered off to flop down next to Chewy and take a nap with him

The older two didn’t take too long cleaning the rest of their shoes, either, and went to sort them into the shelf in the hallway under Hakyeon’s watchful gaze.

“Appa, is St Nicholaus really going to put the sweets in our shoes? That’s kind of gross. Hyejin has really smelly feet, the candy would be ruined.”

Hyejin wanted to protest the accusation of having smelly feet, but she kept quiet; her candy would really be ruined if it went into her shoes…

Hakyeon saw the problem, and shook his head.

“No. The neat and clean shoes are just to prove St Nicholaus how tidy you are. For the candy, you’ll have to make special candy boots.”

Internally, Hakyeon sighed. It wasn’t quite relaxing and doing nothing, but an arts and crafts session with the kids was still better than cleaning up all those shoes on his own. He didn’t have much to do, anyway, just making a rough carton shape of a couple of boots, and then his children were all too eager to take it out of his hands and finish decorating them with fabric scraps, yarn, buttons, bottle caps (Hakyeon eyed the bottle cap that found its way to the heel of Seojun’s boot skeptically, but somehow, it worked) and copious amounts of glue.

The oldest two worked in harmony together, volunteering to make boots for Heejoon and Jieun, too. In fact, it was so harmonious how they worked together, whispering quietly among themselves, that Hakyeon started to become a little afraid. They planned something, he knew it. They planned something, and he wasn’t sure what, but quite sure that he wouldn’t like it.

“Don’t be so antsy, we’ve survived worse than what they can do with a couple of cardboard boots.” Taekwoon tried to soothe him, but Hakyeon wasn’t quite convinced.

“It’s not what they plan with the boots that worries me, it’s what they plan while making the boots that has me worried!”

Still, he opted to keep Taekwoon company as he went to the kitchen to make dinner, helping him as far as Taekwoon allowed him (which wasn’t more than cutting some vegetables. Taekwoon was adamant Hakyeon would manage to blow up the kitchen one day using nothing more than cayenne pepper and curcuma. Hakyeon had stopped arguing that it wasn’t true since he once accidentally set a dishtowel on fire while arguing back.)

“Appa, where do we put the boots?” Hyejin eventually peeked into the kitchen, Seojun close behind her. Each of them was carrying two boots.

“Put them in the hallway, next to your real shoes.” Hakyeon suggested, but they frowned.

“But Jieun doesn’t have any shoes there…” Seojun argued.

“That’s ok, just put hers with our shoes.” Taekwoon added without turning away from the stove. Hakyeon had a feeling that Seojun and Hyejin weren’t happy with that solution, but they didn’t complain, turning around to put the shoes where instructed.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Hakyeon mumbled again, but Taekwoon merely shook his head quietly in answer, rolling his eyes silently where Hakyeon couldn’t see it.

----

Hakyeon was well on his way to falling asleep on the couch, his head in Taekwoon’s lap, when Taekwoon’s voice rose him from his almost slumber.

“Seojunie? What are you looking for?”

“M-my… keyring. My keyring. I think I left it in my jacket pocket.”

“Your keyring? What do you need your keyring for at this time of the night?”

“I… I just want to have it. Make sure it’s there. I’m scared I might have lost it.”

That was a plausible explanation, at least for Seojun, and Taekwoon let him go. He came back moments later, keyring in hand.

“Found it.” He mumbled, then made to go back upstairs.

“Good night, Seojunie. Try to sleep now.”

“Will do. Good night, appa.”

Hakyeon waited until Seojun was out of hearing range before he made to say something, but then the sound of a door opening that couldn’t be Seojun’s sounded, followed by hushed whispering. Then another door opened, and two closed.

Hakyeon to his back, looking up at Taekwoon.

“I tell you, they are up to something…” He mumbled, and Taekwoon chuckled, running a hand through Hakyeon’s hair.

“Operation: catch St Nicholaus is in full swing.”

Hakyeon smiled sleepily in return.

“How resilient do you think they’ll be?”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“Hopefully not more than us. You need to get to bed and sleep there. You’ll ruin your back.”

Hakyeon sighed, turning onto his side so he could comfortably nuzzle against Taekwoon’s stomach.

“I’m perfectly fine here, don’t worry.”

Taekwoon chuckled, poking Hakyeon’s belly softly to get him to change position again, and Hakyeon squirmed, swatting at his hand and ending up catching it and intertwining their fingers.

“Stop that. I’m fine here.”

“You’ll complain about your back all day tomorrow.”

“I always complain about my back. Let me enjoy some cuddles with my husband, who I haven’t had time to properly cuddle in forever.”

Taekwoon sighed.

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Yes. You might as well stop trying to change that already.”

Shaking his head, Taekwoon merely kept on playing with Hakyeon’s hair as Hakyeon closed his eyes again, burrowing his face against his stomach. It had been too long that they had time to properly cuddle. Usually they were so tired they just fell asleep as soon as they went to bed. This was actually nice.

“You smell really nice today.” Hakyeon mumbled against Taekwoon’s stomach, and Taekwoon chuckled.

“I haven’t even had time to shower today.”

Hakyeon shrugged.

“You still smell nice. Somewhat like tomato sauce and formula and dish soap, but also… you.”

Taekwoon shook his head fondly.

“Sounds delicious… You’re such a weirdo.”

“You love me.”

“True.”

Shuffling on the stairs made both of them look up, and Hakyeon roll onto his back.

“Hyejinie?”

“I’m thirsty.”

They watched as their daughter climbed down the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen. Once she was out of sight, they shared a knowing look, waiting for her to come back.

When she did, her eyes were almost closed, arms half raised in front of her as she walked with swaying steps towards the stairs, then straight past them towards the entry hallway.

Taekwoon bit his lips hard to hide a laugh, and Hakyeon hit his stomach lightly, giving him a warning look.

Despite her ‘sleep-walking’, Hyejin had no problem opening the door to the hallway and stepping past it.

Hakyeon cleared his throat.

“Hyejin-ah, where are you going?”

Hyejin turned around slowly, blinking her eyes open as if she had been fast asleep.

“Where-… Where am I?” She pretended to stutter.

“The hallway. Please come in and close the door. And go back to bed to sleep.”

“Oh… How did I get here…?” She mumbled, but turned around to close the door, then walked back to the stairs.

“Good night, Hyejin.” Taekwoon called softly after her.

“Good night…” She mumbled, trudging up the stairs. On the top floor, mumbling was heard, and shortly after two doors fell shut softly.

“On a scale of one to ten, where would you rank her acting?” Hakyeon mumbled, and Taekwoon chuckled.

“The sleepwalking part needs some working on, but the waking-up-part was a solid nine. I’d say a five over-all.”

Hakyeon pondered over it.

“Without the sleepwalking part, I’d say eight, but with the sleepwalking… still a six.”

“She would have fooled another child, but an adult?”

Hakyeon shrugged.

“She would have fooled Wonshik.”

Taekwoon huffed.

“She could have told Wonshik she was sleepwalking without even pretending and he would believe her. Wonshik is no credible standard. I’d still say five.”

Hakyeon thought about it, then nodded.

“True. You think she would be up for acting lessons?”

Taekwoon exhaled slowly at that.

“You go suggest that. I’m still nursing the burn from when Seojun told us he needed real professional advice and we weren’t fit because we haven’t performed in so long.”

Hakyeon laughed softly.

“Our children really have a way to roast us, huh?”

“They spend too much time with their uncles, is what the problem is. They are corrupting them.”

“They are helping steel them for life.”

“They are turning them into little monsters. Soon we’ll have five Sanghyuk’s running around here.”

Hakyeon laughed loudly at that, muffling his laughter with a hand once he realized how loud he was being.

“The horror!”

Taekwoon hummed in agreement, but a smirk played on his lips, too.

“Did Hongbin say if he could make it tomorrow?” He asked, sobering slightly.

Hakyeon nodded, calming down.

“Not before lunch, though, and he isn’t sure if he’ll stay over at night, but he’s coming. The others are coming and staying for sure.”

“The kids, too?”

“The kids, too.”

Taekwoon hummed.

“I need to check if we have enough food for breakfast on Sunday tomorrow morning. Remind me of that, please.”

Hakyeon saluted, then yawned.

They fell into a comfortable silence for quite a while.

“You think they are asleep yet?”

Hakyeon shook his head.

“The moment we go to bed they’ll be out and checking the boots.”

Taekwoon sighed.

“Rascals.”

Hakyeon hummed.

“If I just put my alarm under my pillow, surely they won’t hear it?”

Taekwoon pondered for a moment.

“If you turn it off quickly enough…”

Hakyeon thought about it for a moment.

“Let’s go to bed. We’ll see what happens.”

Slowly, Hakyeon sat up, putting his feet on the floor, and Taekwoon jiggled his feet.

“My legs are asleep. You’re heavy.”

“And you’re comfy.” Hakyeon retorted, getting up and reaching a hand out for Taekwoon to take, helping him up.

They stumbled upstairs slowly, turning off the lights along the way until reaching their bedroom.

They’d only just clambered into bed when they heard a door open somewhere down the hallway.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Hakyeon sighed, ready to get up again to get the child back into bed. Taekwoon held him back with an arm around his stomach, pulling him back onto the bed.

“Let them. It’s an adventure that deserves to be part of their childhood. We just have to be smarter than them later.”

Hakyeon sighed, giving Taekwoon a doubtful look.

“You do know we are talking about our children? They are not easy to outsmart, you know?”

“There’s no way I could forget. I trust my husband’s abilities, though.”

Hakyeon shook his head, defeated.

“We’ll see if that trust is deserved…”

Taekwoon shut him up by closing his mouth with a kiss as he pulled him down under the covers with him.

-----

Hakyeon shut the alarm off after it had beeped no more than once, instantly wide awake. Taekwoon shifted next to him, sitting up in bed and turning on the lamp on his bedside table.

“It’s time?”

Hakyeon nodded.

“Alright…” Taekwoon yawned, getting up and walking quietly to the door of their room. Meanwhile, Hakyeon laid back down to feign sleep as Taekwoon opened the door.

As expected, the first sentinel was asleep on the floor next to their door. Unfortunately, it was Seojun, who was a light sleeper.

Taekwoon debated what to do, then crouched down next to the boy and shook his arm softly.

“Seojunie, what are you doing here?” He asked sleepily, and Seojun stirred immediately.

“Hm-m… what time?” He asked, still half asleep.

“No idea. Why are you not in bed?” Taekwoon continued as he helped Seojun stand up.

Seojun followed as Taekwoon was guiding him back to his room, too tired to resist.

“St Nicholaus… Was he here yet?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

Seojun woke up a little more.

“Why are you up?”

“Need the bathroom.”

Seojun stopped in his doorway.

“But you don’t get up at night…”

“Too much tea too late in the evening. Sometimes even I need to get up at night. Go ahead, I want to go back to sleep, too.”

Seojun hesitated a moment, then went to his bed.

“Good night, appa.”

“Good night, Seojunie.” Taekwoon yawned, continuing on to the bathroom. He was sure Seojun was spying on him, and he had to keep up his farce.

He returned to his room soon after, finding Hakyeon gone.

----

Hakyeon slipped out behind Taekwoon and Seojun, ducking onto the stairs out of Seojun’s view.

If Seojun was sleeping in front of their door, Hyejin was somewhere else in the house; his bet was the couches in the living room since she wouldn’t want to brace the cold of the hallway or the hard floor at the bottom of the stairs. She wouldn’t sleep there without some sort of alarm system, though, and he found it in a piece of string tied in front of the last step of the stairs, leading to her pinky finger. If he stepped on it, the string would tighten and tug on her finger, waking her up. Smart girl, he thought, stepping over the piece of string and avoiding alerting her.

He creeped on to the hallway, opening the door carefully. It was a good thing he was so careful, since that way the door only hit the tower of hard plastic cups lightly instead of sending them clattering to the floor. Carefully, he removed them from in front of the door, opening the door wide to step through afterwards.

Taekwoon had hidden the sweets in the hallway earlier, safely tucked away in a dusty hat-box on the shelf over the coat rack. All he had to do now is take it down and fill the boots. It was easy and quickly done, and he slipped out into the living room again once he was done, pulling the door closed as far as possible before positioning the cup tower back in front of it and closing it the rest of the way.

Hyejin was still sleeping, and he stepped over the piece of string again, climbing the stairs carefully in the dark, since Taekwoon must have turned the lights off after returning to their room to fool Seojun. He didn’t dare turn them back on, and went on his hands and knees instead to crawl down the hallway where Seojun couldn’t see him from the keyhole of his door. Taekwoon had the lights of the bedroom off, too, so no light fell into the hallway as he slipped into his room.

Taekwoon stayed quiet until Hakyeon climbed into bed next to him, and he could be sure it was really his husband and not one of the children.

“All done?”

“All done. They set up some nice traps, though. Hyejin is sleeping on the couch.”

Taekwoon chuckled.

“So, two people complaining about back pains tomorrow.”

Hakyeon chuckled.

“It’s not that bad…”

“It is a monster. We need a new one.”

“Not before all children are past the age of drawing on furniture.”

Taekwoon groaned.

“That couch will end me one day, and it will be your fault.”

Hakyeon laughed softly.

“Go back to sleep, drama queen.”

Taekwoon huffed, but it didn’t stop him from returning Hakyeon’s good-night-kiss.

----

The next time Taekwoon woke up it was from the noise of doors falling shut and hasty steps on the stairs. He sighed softly. It was still dark out, but there was no way he would get more sleep this morning.

“They’re up…” Hakyeon mumbled from where he’d buried his face against Taekwoon’s side.

“Mhm…” Taekwoon merely hummed, looping an arm around Hakyeon’s back. Only because he wouldn’t get any more sleep, that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least get cuddles from his husband. Hakyeon was pretty much on board with that idea, too, hugging his middle.

“I don’t want to get up yet…” Hakyeon mumbled tiredly, and Taekwoon ran his hand through his sleep disheveled hair.

“We have to, though. Wonshik’s coming with his nieces before lunch, and Sanghyuk and his nephew are coming for breakfast already. Jaehwan won’t be that much later, either.

Hakyeon sighed airily.

“None of that helps convincing me to leave the safe haven that is this bed, you know?”

Taekwoon chuckled.

“I know. There’s no way around it, though.”

Again, Hakyeon sighed, but he sat up.

“Can we at least shower together?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“And let the kids tear down the house in the meantime?”

Hakyeon grimaced.

“I’ll go ahead. Remember to check if we have enough food for breakfast tomorrow.”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

He wasn’t left much time to get dressed before a bang from downstairs had him rushing down. Thankfully, it had only been a door falling shut. He approached said door, leading to the hallway, just to hear mumbling from the other side.

“How could you not notice when they went right past you? Weren’t you at their door?”

“I was! But then appa came out and sent me back to bed. But he only went to the bathroom and then went back to sleep. I waited a long time but neither of them came out again forever, and then I went to sleep because I was way too tired. Besides, you didn’t catch them, either!”

“They didn’t fall into our traps or I would have noticed! The cups weren’t even touched when I checked this morning!”

“Maybe it wasn’t our appas who filled the boots…”

Hyejin huffed.

“If not them, then one of our uncles must have come from outside, but the door is loud when it opens and I didn’t hear anything…”

“You sleep too hard, you don’t hear anything…”

“I would have heard that!”

Taekwoon decided to knock on the door before the kids started to fight earnestly. The talking stopped immediately and Taekwoon cracked the door open to find Seojun and Hyejin sitting in the hallway still in their pyjamas.

“Hey, loves. Did St Nicholaus bring you something?”

“He did!” Seojun exclaimed happily, showing off his overstuffed boot. Taekwoon smiled.

“Wow, that’s a lot. He must have been extra happy about how clean your shoes were!”

Hyejin looked conflicted where Seojun looked happy, though.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Taekwoon asked, tilting his head questioningly at her. She only shook her head, though.

“Nothing, nothing…” She mumbled, and Taekwoon hummed, deciding to let it go. If she was really upset with something he could fix, she wouldn’t hesitate to come to him.

“Alright. I’m going to make breakfast. Bring your boots inside and put them somewhere the dogs can’t reach them. And then wash up and get dressed quickly, Sanghyuk and Eunhyun are probably already on their way here!”

“Eunhyun!” Seojun exclaimed, jumping up. “Appa said we could go out to feed the birds when Eunhyun comes over!”

Taekwoon furrowed his brow a little. Had Hakyeon said that? He might have. Hakyeon would know, and if not, Seojun and Eunhyun would remind him.

“Off you go, then.” Taekwoon patted his son’s back as he squeezed past him through the door, closely followed by his daughter. He heard her mutter on the stairs as she followed Seojun, though.

“How can you be so cheery? Our mission failed!”

Seojun sighed.

“Is it really that important? We got snacks in our boots, didn’t we? Why is it so important to prove that it was one of our appas or uncles? Isn’t it enough to know it was either one of them but they still give us sweets even though they know we know it’s them?”

“Do they know we know, though? It doesn’t feel like it sometimes. They act like we are children!”

A moment of silence passed between them, and Taekwoon thought they’d continued on upstairs. But then:

“Hyejin… We are children. And I’m glad we can be children, and don’t have to be grown up already just because we know the adults only play the roles of Santa and St Nicholaus for us. Why can’t you just enjoy what we have?”

Taekwoon bit his lip, continuing on his way and not lingering to hear more of their conversation. For all his fooling-around and lots of bad decisions, Seojun was a really smart kid when it came down to it. He couldn’t help but admire his son, who sometimes sounded more like an adult than he realized.