“I cannot believe your son assaulted my baby,” Kihyun says jokingly, taking the offered cup of tea from Minhyuk. The slightly-older’s brow creases, and he opens his mouth to defend his Jooheonney, but Hyunwoo stops him.  

“It's been a long time coming,” his husband comments softly. “We all knew it was going to happen since they were small.” Hoseok hums and chuckles to himself, circling an arm around Kihyun's waist beside him.  

“Too bad we don't have a son for Wonnie, too,” he laughs. Minhyuk chuckles lightly, rolling his eyes as he takes his seat beside Hyunwoo.  

“We can just wait a few more years for Yoonho to come of age,” he suggests, shrugging as he brings up their youngest. Kihyun in a breath through his teeth, his shoulders tensing.  

“That's going to take a while,” Kihyun says tentatively. “I mean, there's a seven-year difference between them, for god’s sake.”  

“Wonnie’s too busy with his poetry to worry about love, anyway,” Minhyuk sighs. “He may be aual, actually. I wouldn't be surprised.” 

“But didn't you say yesterday—?” 

“He was actually just asking in more of a scientific sense,” Minhyuk laughs sheepishly. “But, I saw it as an opportunity, and they were both going to be hitting puberty soon, so I figured I might as well talk to them about the birds and the bees.” Hyunwoo can't help but sigh, shaking his head at his rash husband.  

“If your son warps my innocent baby,” Kihyun says lowly, “I'm going to kill you and hide your body where they'll never find it.” 

“Yah!” Minhyuk shouts. “If either of our sons were corruptive it'd be yours!” Hoseok heaves a breath, sharing a knowing glance with Hyunwoo. The two men silently get up and make their way to the kitchen as Minhyuk and Kihyun begin to bicker. They'll finish up in about ten minutes and come to find the other two, as always.  

“Life is a crazy thing, isn't it Hyunwoo-ya?” Hoseok says, sitting on one of the stools set around the kitchen island. Hyunwoo hums, nodding fervently.  

“I never would have expected any of this back in college,” Hyunwoo admits, referring back to the days he and Kihyun had just broken up. He had been so lost during those months, sinking further into despair with every breath he'd take… but Minhyuk had been there to guide him back to life with his beautiful, sunny smile.  

Hyunwoo smiles fondly as memories of those days overtake his mind, something he'd never have thought he'd do all those years ago. 

After their friends leave, Minhyuk and Hyunwoo cuddle up together on the couch. Their sons won’t be home from school for a couple more hours, so they gladly take the opportunity to relax. Minhyuk hums softly under his breath as he taps a rhythm against his husband’s chest. Hyunwoo pets Minhyuk’s hair, allowing his eyes to drift closed in the calm of the moment.  

“Funny,” Minhyuk suddenly mumbles, sounding half-asleep. Hyunwoo glances down, an amused smile dancing across his lips.  

“What is, yaja?”  

“How Jooheonney and Kkungie’s relationship has started like ours…” he sighs, pulling away to gaze lovingly at the older. “Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” Hyunwoo chuckles, nodding in agreement. Minhyuk merely sighs once more, and snuggles even closer to Hyunwoo. He closes his eyes, memories coming to the forefront of his mind. He tries not to look back on those early days, for they only serve to anger him. But, he knows that they couldn’t be where they are now without them, so in a way he’s grateful.  

He can still remember the night Hyunwoo had moved in with him so clearly...  

They hadn’t even been dating at the time. In fact, that night was Hyunwoo and Kihyun’s anniversary. The older had planned this huge evening for them, but by the end of it he’d come to Minhyuk and Hoseok’s dorm. They’d fought again, just like they did at the beginning of the semester. Minhyuk still doesn’t even know what that fight was over, Hyunwoo had never said, but it’s that one fight that had changed the course of all their lives forever. 

Hyunwoo stares off blankly into the dark, replaying the night’s events. He’s pretty sure now, after hours of debate, that breaking things off with Kihyun for the time-being is what’s best. Hoseok’s words from earlier echo in his mind, speaking of low self-esteem and Kihyun crying… He’s never seen Kihyun cry, not once in all their time together.  

His heart pounds in jealousy and outrage. Why does Kihyun trust Hoseok more than him? Are Hoseok and the younger involved, somehow? Has Kihyun been cheating on him with their friend, and he’s just sent the other man into Kihyun’s willing arms? 

The image of Hoseok’s nervous expression from before as he’d tried to explain himself comes to the forefront of Hyunwoo’s mind, and he knows Hoseok would never do anything like that to him. He and Hoseok have known each other for far too long for him to be able to get away with something like that. Besides, it isn’t in Kihyun’s character to cheat on a man with his best friend… Or, at least, it isn’t usually in his character. 

It isn’t usually in his character to lie to Hyunwoo at all. It’s partly because they’d fought so much back in high school, because Kihyun would always voice his concerns in the worst ways possible. But, he’d worked hard at it, and eventually he’d stopped putting his foot in his mouth every time they spoke.  

Hyunwoo thinks of those days, those wonderful days when everything had been so much simpler. Back then, their main concerns revolved around graduating high school and getting into their top choice for college... 

If only they’d known then just what kind of storm college would be for them, personally, just how much everything would change for them once they got there...