Chanyeol was tired and he really meant it but, it’s really worth it.

 

“Daddy, lift me again! Again! Again!”

 

Chanyeol who was currently resting on the couch looked down at the jumpy 5 years old boy who had a glimpse of joy in his eyes, totally persuading Chanyeol to fall into the trap.

 

“But I’m worn out, JunJun. Can’t you give daddy some rest?” Chanyeol pouted and pulled out his own version of puppy face.

 

“No, no, no. Daddy can’t rest. Daddy say I can play with daddy for the WHOLE day!” the toddler uses his whole body to emphasize his words.

 

Damn it. Should have say half day instead.

 

Today was a part of his unusual week.

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m giving you a week off.”

 

Chanyeol who was busy preparing the creamy carbonara, turn off the stove and turn to look at the manager who was quite shorter than him with a confused look on his face.

 

“Chanyeol, I said I’m giving you a week off,” the shorter said again trying to sound more convincing.

 

“What kind of deed that I do to get such a wonderful offer, Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked with his left brow raised.

 

Kyungsoo, the manager, smile and squealed out of nowhere,“I heard from Jongin that JunJun will enter his first day of preschool soon, so I’m giving you a week break to spend your time with Jun!”

 

Chanyeol was about to protest but Kyungsoo beat him up, “It’s final. I’m your boss and this is my order or else I’m going to make you work for a whole month without any day off.”

 

Despite being short in size, Kyungsoo was really feisty and strict thus he was chosen to become the manager of the Estrella Steakhouse. Chanyeol, as the head chef sometimes do had a hard time to prepare his dish due to the constant nagging from the manager. But as time passes the two finally got along with each other up to the point where Chanyeol could trust Kyungsoo to keep his biggest secret.

 

“Fine,” Chanyeol muttered as he was busying himself with plating, “As if I had other choices.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Baby, Daddy will not go to work in another 5 days. Don’t you want to save some game for other day?”

 

Park Yejun, a bubbly and active 5 years old with full of energy stared at his father for a moment before showing off his cute toothy smile.

 

“Okay, Daddy!”

 

Chanyeol silently applaud himself and scooped his son to sit on his lap.

 

“I was thinking we could go somewhere tomorrow.”

 

Yejun tilted his head to the side cutely, “Where to, daddy?”

 

The cute action made Chanyeol squished his son’s face gently and peck the jutted lips. Yejun whined when his father didn’t stop squishing his precious face, “Daddy~”

 

With one last peck, he gently caressed the abused cheeks and chuckled when Yejun smile at him.

 

“I don’t have any idea but let’s see where our feet take us tomorrow,” Chanyeol said as he nudged his nose against his son and made the boy giggled gleefully

 

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

“I’m hungwwy....” little Yejun said and patted his tummy, pouting along the way as the two of them were walking around the mall. Chanyeol chuckled and lifted his son while looking around and lighten up upon seeing McDonald.

 

“Don’t tell uncle Kyungsoo that I let you eat fast food,” Chanyeol whispered and Yejun nodded his head, “I won’t tell uncle Kyungie. JunJun pwomise.”

 

Being the top chef he is, Chanyeol was capable to prepare his son a full course meal without any hesitation but sometimes he needs a day like this where he had the freedom to eat something else apart from his dish. And fast food seems to be a perfect getaway.

 

“Daddy, there’s so many people here,” Yejun pouted as soon as they enter the fast food store. The queue was quite long but seeing the workers rushing around, gave Chanyeol a bit hope that it will not take that long plus most of them was ordering for takeaway, so he lined up.

 

“JunJun, what did daddy tell you about being patient,” Chanyeol decided to start a conversation to distract Yejun from getting bored. Yejun, who was still being lifted securely by Chanyeol, stared at his daddy cutely. “Patient will help to train JunJun to be a better person and be handsome like daddy!”

 

Yejun answer seems to attract some of the customers causing them to coo at the unbelievably adorable answer. But what caught Chanyeol’s attention was when the adorable boy lining in front of him turn around, sending them a very cute eye smile. “He’s cute.”

 

That simple words caught Chanyeol by surprise.

 

“Daddy say that I’m the CUUUUUTEST baby in the world,” Yejun said using both of his hands to draw a big circle, causing the boy in front of them chuckled, “Well, your daddy is not wrong. You are cute.”

 

“Ahjussi is cute too. Ahjussi look like puppy. JunJun like puppy. JunJun had maaaaany puppy toys,” JunJun with glimmering eyes express his true feelings towards the stranger causing Chanyeol to raise his brows questioningly at the sudden confidence in his son.

 

Yejun was wary towards stranger. He will usually turn shy and cowered if anyone tried to start a conversation with him. So, seeing Yejun interacting with this beautiful stranger in front of him surely managed to make Chanyeol’s heart skips a beat.

 

“Puppy? But I’m not a puppy,” the boy pouted and Yejun let out a loud gasp as he felt guilty. “No, no puppy ahjussi are pwetty and cute like puppy. Don’t be mad at JunJun.”

 

The boy giggled and reached out his hand to pinch the tempting chubby cheeks. “I was just joking. My name is Baekhyun, so you can call me Baekhyun ahjussi.”

 

“My name is Yejun! But daddy, Uncle Kyungsoo and Uncle Jongin call me JunJun. Puppy ahjussi can call me JunJun too!” Yejun exclaimed excitedly emitting a soft laugh from Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol hold his breathe when the beautiful stranger, Baekhyun, turn to the side to look at him to say something but was cut off when the lady at the counter yelled, “Next!”

 

Baekhyun smiled sheepishly and ordered for takeaway. Chanyeol never felt so disappointed in his life and he sneakily glared at the lady behind the counter who was oblivious at the petty attempt. He wanted to have a quick conversation with Baekhyun but Yejun excitedly bounce in his grasp as it was their turn to order.

 

The only thing that he got was a small wave from Baekhyun which Yejun happily waved back and watched as the boy walk out from the store.

 

“Can I have your order sir?”

 

“One set of disappointment with a large cup of tears,” Chanyeol mumbled which causes the lady to frown in confusion.

 

“Happy meal!” Yejun chirped which made the lady smiled and type out the order while waiting for Chanyeol’s order. “One large set of BigMac with pepsi.”

 

“Eat here or takeaway?”

 

Chanyeol took one last glimpse around the store and sighed, “Takeaway.”

 

 

 

 

 

After devouring their meal, Chanyeol let Yejun watch the television while he was relaxing in the bath tub thinking about the beautiful stranger name Baekhyun. He chuckled to himself, “Why? Why am I attracted to him?”

 

They met for probably 10 minute but Baekhyun made it easy for him to fall. Deep.

 

“Nah, who am I kidding? It’s just a small crush. That’s it. Yeah, Park Chanyeol, just a small crush,” Chanyeol muttered with determination but little did he know, it was not just a small crush.

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

“Daddy! I don’t want to go~” Yejun whined at the backseat while Chanyeol was driving.

 

So, today was officially the day where Yejun will start his day at the preschool and the small boy was so happy as he wore his new shirt, and wore his Rilakkuma backpack which Chnayeol had filled with coloring books, pencil colors and a small matching Rilakkuma water bottle. But as they were nearing the colorful house, Yejun suddenly started to change his mind.

 

“JunJun, it’s going to be fun. You will meet new friends, you will play with lots of toys and you will be learning lots of fun stuff,” Chanyeol said as he slowed down his car to find a parking place.

 

“But, but....”

 

“No, but. You will be doing just fine, you want to know why?”

 

Yejun looked down and shook his head with a small pout forming on his face. Chanyeol get off from the car and went to the backseat. He lifted Yejun and smile at the adorable boy.

 

“You are Park Yejun. A very funny and charming little boy and most importantly you are my son, so they will love you as much as daddy love you,” Chanyeol pecked his son temple and slowly walked towards the colorful house.

 

Yejun smiled at Chanyeol’s word and slung his chubby arms around Chanyeol’s neck, snuggling affectionately, “I love you, daddy.”

 

“And I love you too, baby.”

 

 

 

 

 

“Mr. Park, it’s so delighted to see you here,” Mrs. Lee greeted with an all smile as Chanyeol and Yejun entered the front gate. Mrs. Lee was a jolly middle aged woman, and she had a very bright smile on her face, as she greeted other parents by the door. They had met each other during registration and Chanyeol felt comfortable talking to her. He had met with the teachers, looked around the place and he felt in love instantly because the place was indeed child friendly.

 

“Park Yejun will be in class number 4. That’s wonderful.” Mrs. Lee exclaimed, “We just had a new teacher and he was assigned to teach class number 4.”

 

Chanyeol turned anxious because he definitely didn’t expect there will be a new teacher. His heart was beating rapidly, praying that the new teacher was as friendly as the others that he met. As if sensing the discomfort look on Chanyeol face, Mrs. Lee let out a soft chuckled. “Don’t worry Mr. Park. He’s a great guy. I’ll call him here, and you can see for yourself.”

 

She disappeared from the door and went inside leaving Chanyeol and Yejun outside only to come back a few seconds later with a man. A very familiar man.

 

“PUPPY AHJUSSI!”

 

Chanyeol almost lost his balance when Yejun decided it was a good thing for the boy to jump out from his arms. Luckily Chanyeol managed to secure Yejun from falling down and safe himself from making a fool out of himself in front of the two teachers.

 

“I see, that you had met Mr. Byun. Perfect,” Mrs. Lee clapped her hands twice, “Are you convince now, Mr. Park?”

 

Chanyeol eyed Baekhyun who had a shy smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m convince.”

 

 

“Daddy, daddy. You can go now. I’ll be a good boy like you told me to, right” Yejun, who he believed had changed his mind, urged his father to put him down, which Chanyeol obeyed. As his feet set on the ground, Yejun darted himself towards Baekhyun and hugged his legs.

 

“Hey there, little one. Are you excited?” Baekhyun ruffled Yejun hair playfully and chuckled when the boy nodded his head enthusiastically. Chanyeol who was in a good mood, decided to tease his son.

“Are you sure? You say you didn’t want to come here today.”

 

“No, I don’t. Daddy, you have to go to work. Or I will tell Uncle Kyungie we eat McDonald,” Yejun grinned playfully when his daddy’s facial expression changed. Chanyeol tickled his son’s belly, “You sneaky little bear.”

 

The sound of the bell rang, indicating that school was about to start. Chanyeol stopped tickling the poor boy and smile when he saw Baekhyun helped Yejun to straighten his shirt. Chanyeol pecked Yejun’s forehead and stared into his eyes, “Daddy will pick you up later. Be good and don’t call Mr. Byun, puppy ahjussi. It’s not polite, okay?”

 

“Okie, okie, daddy. Love you,” Yejun did a kissy face and Chanyeol pecked his son’s lips.

 

“Mr. Park, you can come and pick Yejun at 2,” Baekhyun said politely. Chanyeol loved hearing Baekhyun’s voice. He’s not trying to be bias or anything but hearing Baekhyun’s voice somehow made Chanyeol’s heart felt warm.

 

“I’ll try to come on time,” Chanyeol said, praising himself as he was still able to control himself. Baekhyun then took a piece of paper and a pen, “Is there any possibilities that Yejun will be pick up by his mother? If so, I need the name and her number, please.”

 

Chanyeol’s mind went blank for a moment and his expression turned to solid cold, “No. He doesn’t have a mother. No one will pick Yejun up except for me. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go to work and I’ll be here at 2.” With that, Chanyeol left, leaving Baekhyun in a complete surprised mode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Park Chanyeol, why did you do that?” Chanyeol mumbled to himself as he entered his car, banging his head against the steering wheel. The image of flustered Baekhyun flashed in his mind. The poor boy didn’t know anything about him.

 

Why would he get mad about this subject? It was the past and he had convinced himself that he had move on from the subject. Then, he realized that he still can’t move on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why would you be mad at him?” Jongin, the assistant chef also known as Kyungsoo’s boyfriend asked as he was busy marinating the beef.

 

Apart from Kyungsoo, Chanyeol was really close to Jongin. He had considered Jongin as his younger brother. When the latter first came to Estrella, he was like a lost puppy, trailing after Chanyeol seeking for help and advice. Thus the two grew closer together and considered each other as a family. Sharing his concern with Jongin was like a habit that he had grown to learn as Jongin had a very wise opinion.

 

“I don’t know, Jongin. I can’t help it,” Chanyeol said as he wipe the dishes, “I got riled up when he said that. I know that he didn’t mean it, but...”

 

Jongin sighed as threw the gloves and washed his hands. “I know it’s hard for you to forget about the past but don’t you think it’s time for you to step out from there and start anew?” Jongin grab a glass and filled with plain water before taking a sip of it.

 

“It’s complicated for you to open up about this story and it might be tough for you to forget but this is not the same Chanyeol. If it was that hard then think for a moment. You are not doing this for yourself but you are doing it for Yejun too. Do you think he will be happy to know that his daddy was punishing himself for something that happen in the past? Something that wasn’t your fault?”

 

Chanyeol stopped for a moment and think about Jongin’s words.

 

 

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

Chanyeol walked back and forth, confusing the other parents who had come to pick up their child.

 

The last bell rang, and soon the door was opened. One by one parents left after thanking the teacher while Chanyeol stand on the side, giving room for the other parents first. When he was sure that there’s nobody left, he walked towards the door and saw Yejun with Baekhyun giggling about something.

 

“Yejun, your daddy is here,” Baekhyun said and Yejun smiled when he saw Chanyeol’s figure. “Daddy!” Yejun skipped towards his dad and hugged his legs.

 

“I need you to sign this,” Baekhyun gave Chanyeol a piece of paper that had a word ‘Parents Attendance’ on top. Chanyeol searched for his name and signed. Baekhyun gladly took the paper back with a smile on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow Yejun and have a good day Mr. Park.”

 

“Yes, yes! We can play Lego again!” Yejun said excitedly. Baekhyun nodded and was about to go inside but, “Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and blinked his eyes. Chanyeol wanted to slap himself for being unprofessional. “I’m sorry, I meant Mr. Byun,” Chanyeol took a deep breathe, “I want to say sorry for my behavior this morning.”

 

Taken aback, Baekhyun quickly shook his head, “No, no. I’m the one who was supposed to be sorry. I was being insensitive.”

 

Chanyeol chuckled dryly, “You didn’t know and that was rude for me to act that way. I am so sorry.” Baekhyun bit his bottom lips and smiled. “It’s okay Mr. Park. I hope that we can get along just like me and Yejun.”

 

Chanyeol nodded his head thinking that it was better this way. Having a normal parent and teacher sort of relationship which didn’t involve any feeling. But it changes when Baekhyun decided to continue.

 

“And Mr. Park, it’s okay. You can call me Baekhyun. I like it,” Baekhyun then rushed inside leaving Chanyeol with mixed emotion and a very confused Yejun.

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

“Boy, you are blushing as red as the tomato that grew behind my grandma’s farm,” Jongdae, Baekhyun’s best friend said as the two of them were seating comfortably inside a warm and cozy cafe nearby the place that Baekhyun’s work.

 

“I said I like it when he call me by my name, Jongdae. How embarrassing is that?” Baekhyun said in a quite frustrated tone.

 

“Calm down, you sure do have a hot for this guy, right?” Jongdae wiggled his eyebrows, “And his kid really like you. Don’t you want to try to get to know him?”

 

Baekhyun groaned.

 

Baekhyun entered his class and immediately was met with 20 pairs of curious eyes looking back at him. With a smile on his face he introduced himself in a friendly way and encouraged the children to introduced themselves.

 

Most of the kids were shy,

 

“My name is Kim Joonhee, I have one daddy and one appa,” the small girl said as she played with the ruffle on her pink gown, trying to avoid eye contact.

 

Some of them almost cry but Baekhyun managed to comfort them,

 

“M-my name i-is Oh J-juny-young,” the boy who had tears filled his eyes tried to finish his introduction.

 

And some of them were really confidence,

 

“My name is Lee Minki and I am a handsome boy like my father,” the boy grinned excitedly.

 

Baekhyun chuckled and he looked at the next student and he felt himself smiling when it was Yejun’s turn.

 

Wow, am I being bias right now?

 

Yejun stood up and looked around the class before looking down at his shoes. “My name is Park Yejun and I live with my daddy.”

 

The class went silent for a moment before one girl asked, “Your mommy didn’t live with you?”

 

Yejun pouted and shook his head. “I don’t know where my mommy go.”

 

Baekhyun felt his heart dropped upon hearing the sad tone but he smiled when Minki stood up and hold Yejun’s hand tightly. “I’ll help you find your mommy,” Yejun looked at Minki questioningly, “Maybe a bad dragon caught her.”

 

Yejun grinned and nodded his head. Soon the other kids joined in and vowed to themselves that they are going to fight the dragon and safe Yejun’s mom.

 

“Okay kids. Let’s go and fight the dragon!” Baekhyun joined in and started to assemble the toys, letting the kids to choose their ‘weapon’.

 

“Teacher Byun, you can’t fight the dragon,” Minki said and Baekhyun frowned in confusion.

 

“Why can’t I be the knight too?”

 

Minki chuckled cutely, “Because you are going to be the mommy. You are pretty like a mommy, right Yejunnie?”

 

Yejun nodded eagerly, “Yeah, yeah. You can be my mommy!”

 

It was such an innocent words but it really soften Baekhyun’s heart.

 

“But, who’s going to be the dragon?”

 

Minki looked around and soon a huge smiled form on his face, “ATTACK THE PILLOW!”

 

So, the mess begin.

 

 

Seeing the cheerful looked on the kids face, Baekhyun sure that he had made the right choice. He was reluctant at first when he got the offer but after a few times visiting to this place, he started to feel like home and instantly signed up to become the new teacher.

 

He was busy watching around making sure that everyone was playing safely, before he felt a tugged on his pants.

 

Looking down he was met with a familiar pair of dark brown orbs. “Have you done fighting with dragon?”

 

“No, no. JunJun want to say that I like Teacher Byun soooooooooo much,” the little boy said.

 

With a soft smile playing on his face, Baekhyun knelt down to match Yejun’s eye level and ruffled the boy’s hair, “I like you to JunJun.”

 

 

 

 

 

“JunJun is a kid, he’s bound to like many people,” Baekhyun said as he took a sip of his vanilla latte.

 

Jongdae rolled his eyes, “I’m not saying that you should confess your undying love to his dad instantly. What I’m trying to say is that, give yourself a chance. A chance to go and meet someone new. If there’s a possibility for you two to be together that’s great but if it stuck with being just friends then it’s fine. At least you won’t regret it.”

 

Baekhyun pondered for a moment.“I hate it when you are smart,” Baekhyun glared at Jongdae who only replied with his cheeky grin.

 

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

“Everyone! Are you ready?” Baekhyun chimed happily as he stood proudly in front of the line up students.

 

Today, they were going to go for a walk around the park, located few minutes away from the kindergarten. The kids were really excited and Baekhyun can hear them squealing in excitement.

 

Baekhyun was a little bit disappointed when Chanyeol call in this morning, saying that Yejun couldn’t make it because the poor boy was down with a flu. He wanted to change the date, but seeing those excitement in the other kids eye just made Baekhyun felt guilty so he decided to go with the plan and wish Yejun a quick recovery.

 

“Okay, make sure you hold your partner’s hand tightly and never let go. Stay close with me so that I can see you and most importantly don’t walk away from the group. Understand?”

 

“YES, TEACHER BYUN!” the kids answer simultaneously, obviously too giddy to start their journey.

 

Baekhyun didn’t want to waste their time so he took the lead, holding Minki’s hand since Yejun was absent and every once in a while turned to look at the kids, making sure no one was missing.

 

They sang, they laugh, skipped along the way and finally they reached the park. Baekhyun lay down the huge mat and arranged the food that the parents had provided before settling the kids to sit down.

 

“Before we eat, let’s play a game!” Baekhyun started, “The I spy with my little eyes game!”

 

The kids cheered loudly as it was their favorite game to play, and being outside meant that they can spy a lot of things with their little eyes.

 

Minki volunteered to go first and the kids took turn until they deemed that everyone had their turn. Baekhyun checked the time and it was perfect as it was their usual recess time.

 

“Be sure to eat slowly and don’t make a mess,” Baekhyun said as he gave out a plastic plates along with a piece of tissue to each of them. Once everyone had their own plate and Baekhyun gave them the green light to eat, the kids didn’t waste any time to devour their food.

 

While the kids were busy eating, Baekhyun took his time to enjoy the scenery, but his eyes widened when he saw a kid running towards their direction.

 

“TEACHER BYUN!”

 

All the kids stopped eating and looked at the kid confusedly before all of them smile happily, “JUNJUN!”

 

Baekhyun managed to catch Yejun when the boy ran straight to him. The boy was panting and Baekhyun can see that Yejun was totally not feeling well. His nose was red and runny, his eyes were teary and he was sweating profusely.

 

Having a quick reflex, Baekhyun grabbed a couple pieces of tissues and wipe Yejun’s face from his sweating forehead to his teary eyes and to his runny nose.

 

“I’m sorry, he was so sad that he can’t be part of this trip, so I kind of brought him here.”

 

Since he was busy focusing on Yejun, he didn’t realized that Yejun’s father had already took a seat next to him. Digesting Chanyeol’s words, Baekhyun just shook his head. “It’s okay, but is it okay for him to be here?”

 

Chanyeol chuckled, “Rather than hearing him nagging, whining and begging. I think I made the right choice to bring him here.”

 

Baekhyun laughed and it sound melodious to Chanyeol’s large ears.

 

“Daddy, you’re so mean,” Yejun who was sitting comfortably on Baekhyun’s lap pouted cutely. Chanyeol raised his hands in surrender but with a mischievous grin on his face.

 

“Teacher Byun! Can we play with the slide?” Joonhee asked shyly.

 

Baekhyun looked around and he felt so proud seeing that the kids had cleaned everything on the mat. The plates and cups were thrown in the black plastic bags, the container was closed securely and some of them even inspecting around, afraid that they made a mess.

 

“You can play, but only for 15 minutes because we need to go back,” Baekhyun smiled when the kids cheered before they scattered around the playground area.

 

“Daddy, I want to play too,” Yejun put on his famous puppy eyes and his lips form a very irresistibly cute pout. Chanyeol shook his head, “No, you can’t play with them. You don’t want your friends to get sick right?”

 

Yejun gasped and shook his head, “No, no. JunJun don’t want them to be sick like JunJun. It’s boring.” Baekhyun and Chanyeol laughed at the replied.

 

“Boring?” Baekhyun questioned. Yejun nodded and list all the things that he can’t do when he’s sick. “Daddy said that I can go eat ice-cream with daddy when I’m not sick anymore,” Yejun said and then he lit up, looking back and forth at Chanyeol then Baekhyun. “Can teacher Byun come with us, daddy?”

 

Baekhyun was about to politely declined the cute offer but Chanyeol decided to answer his son question with a simple, “Sure.”

 

“Mr. Park, it wasn’t necessary,” Baekhyun said but then,

 

“Teacher Byun don’t want to eat ice-cream with JunJun,” Yejun sniffled and Baekhyun panic when he saw Yejun’s eyes were getting teary.

 

“I love to go and eat ice-cream with you JunJun but....”

 

“Oh, so you don’t want to eat ice-cream with me?”

 

Baekhyun widened his eyes upon hearing Chanyeol’s word and most shockingly the older decided to pout.

 

“W-why would y-you say that?” Baekhyun stuttered when the pout on Chanyeol’s face still didn’t disappear.

 

“It’s okay JunJun. I guess Mr. Byun didn’t want to be friend with us anymore,” Chanyeol took Yejun from Baekhyun’s lap and his lips twitched when he saw the mortified look on Baekhyun’s face.

 

“I’ll go!”

 

“It’s okay, Mr. Byun. You don’t have to,” Chanyeol had enough teasing and he felt bad for forcing the latter. Baekhyun shook his head and smile, “I’ll go. I really mean it.”

 

“Yeayyy!” Yejun clapped his hand happily and send Baekhyun his toothy smile.

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

So the day of their ice-cream date arrived,

 

Baekhyun was feeling restless as he was waiting outside his house, anticipating a certain giant with a cute little elf to come and pick him up to go and eat ice-cream together. They had been quite busy for the past few days and lastly, they had came to agree on one date.

 

“Teacher Byun!”

 

Baekhyun looked up and saw a red Audi A5 Sportback pulling at his driveway. With a timid step,Baekhyun made his way towards the car. He blushed when Chanyeol get off from the car just to open the passenger door to let Baekhyun in.

 

“Hi, hi,” Yejun greeted Baekhyun from the backseat. Baekhyun turned his head slightly to ruffle Yejun’s fluffy hair.

 

The drive to the ice-cream shop was filled with conversation. Basically it was just Baekhyun and Yejun do the talking while Chanyeol once in a while tried to join the conversation but failed because they already move on to the next topic.

 

“We’re eating here?” Baekhyun asked in an alarmed tone when Chanyeol turn off the engine.

 

“Is there anything wrong?” Chanyeol asked and tried to look around, looking for something threatening.

 

“There’s nothing wrong, just... Umm. Aish, it’s nothing. Let’s go,” Baekhyun quickly get off the car while Chanyeol shrugged.

 

The three of them walked hand in hand with Yejun in between. The boy swing their hands back and forth and constantly looked up to look at Baekhyun then Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol opened the door and let Baekhyun and Yejun to go first while he trailed behind them. Chanyeol was quite confused when he saw Baekhyun was closing his eyes, mumbling something that he can’t hear.

 

“Welcome to... Oh,”

 

Baekhyun froze on his spot, Chanyeol turned to look at the man that was greeting them while Yejun was holding their hands tightly.

 

“Ya, Byun Baekhyun! Why didn’t you tell me that you’re coming here? You even bring a hot guy and a cute little boy along with you. Am I not that important anymore?”

 

Baekhyun pried his eyes open and glared at the man who was adorning his gifted Cheshire cat smile.

 

“Ummm...” Chanyeol started. Baekhyun sighed, “Mr. Park, I want you to meet my best friend, Jongdae. He’s the owner of this cafe.”

 

“Oh, nice to meet you,” Chanyeol reached out his hand for a handshake which Jongdae gladly accepted. “Hoho, no, no. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

 

Chanyeol frowned in confusion while Baekhyun was giving out a weird signal to Jongdae which he decided to ignore.

 

“Come inside and take a seat. I’ll bring out our best seller drinks,” Jongdae urged the three of them to seat at the table by the window.

 

“Ahjussi, can I have ice-cream?” Yejun asked politely. Jongdae smiled, “Of course you can. I’ll bring our best flavor ice-cream, specially for you little one.” Yejun giggled, “With lot of spwinkles?”

 

“With lot of colorful sprinkles and a cherry on top.” Jongdae added and Yejun nodded his head eagerly.

 

Jongdae winked at Baekhyun before the latter sashayed away from the table, leaving Baekhyun blushing like a teenage girl as he looked down at his lap and played with his fingers.

 

Gosh, Jongdae why do you have to be so blunt? How am I supposed to look at Mr. Park.

 

“-hyun.”

 

Baekhyun lifted his head up and met with a questioning gaze from the father and son.

 

“Are you okay, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol asked with a worried look. Baekhyun wanted to squeal when he heard his name rolled out from Chanyeol’s tongue.

 

“I really like it when you say my name,” Baekhyun blurted out.

 

And just like a deer caught in the light, Baekhyun widened his eyes and cupped his mouth.

 

Chanyeol was amused and felt quite satisfied with the reaction. He wonder how cuter can Baekhyun be?

 

“Really? Then I want you to stop calling me Mr. Park. Just call me Chanyeol.”

 

“C-chanyeol?” Baekhyun tested out and Chanyeol beamed in happiness. He never thought that someone calling his name could be this delightful. Or maybe it was just because of Baekhyun.

 

“Daddy, can I call you Chanyeol too?”

 

Chanyeol let out a boisterous laugh accompanied by a soft laughed emitted by Baekhyun.

 

“No JunJun. I’m your father, so you need to call me ‘daddy’.”

 

Yejun scrunched his nose and looked outside the window before he smile to look at Baekhyun. “If you are my daddy, can I call Mr. Byun mommy?”

 

That surely caught the two elders by surprised thus leading both of them to clear their throat. Baekhyun soon let out an awkward chuckled. “I can’t be a mommy.”

 

Yejun shook his head in denial, “You can. Minki said that you are pretty like a mommy. Oh, oh. Or can I call you appa like Joonhee?”

 

“Park Yejun,” Chanyeol said in a warning tone and causes the child to cower.

 

“I’m sorry Mr. Byun,” Yejun softly muttered and went back to look outside the window. The mood had suddenly dampen and Baekhyun tried to stay cool. Seeing the serious look on Yejun’s face, Baekhyun decided to look outside the window too.

 

It broke his heart like a thousand and thousand of pieces of shattered glass when he realized why Yejun was acting that way.

 

Outside, there was a very happy family, walking hand in hand, laughing around. The dad went into the mart. The mom was crouching down to put a hat on her son and Baekhyun can see from the corner of his eyes that Yejun twitched on his seat when the mom smothered her son with kisses.

 

“Here’s your order, I hope you’ll enjoy it,” Jongdae said happily and left.

 

They ate in silence, no words were exchanged.

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to a month.

 

Baekhyun didn’t want to admit it, but he was counting the days since the last time they had the so call ‘ice-cream date’. Yejun seems fine and he was acting as usual. But there’s a huge problem. Yejun was avoiding him. Baekhyun tried to approach Yejun but the boy will scattered somewhere else and busied himself by playing with the other kids.

 

Chanyeol will also be the first one to pick up Yejun and Baekhyun can’t have a proper conversation as he need to entertain the other parents. Although Baekhyun had Chanyeol’s number, he was afraid. Maybe this is it. Maybe it’s the best if they stay like this.

 

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

 

“Park Chanyeol! Just why. Why are you avoiding him now? And most importantly why did you ask Yejun to avoid him too? ” Kyungsoo asked totally frustrated when Chanyeol decided to open up the story during their break time. They sat at one of the table, secluded from the others.

 

“Soo, I don’t know. It’s just that, I feel like we will be a burden to him,” Chanyeol sighed as he ran his his fingers through his hair.

 

Kyungsoo groaned, “Are you that dense? Or are you that stupid? The boy was trying so hard to get closer to you and Yejun and what did you do? You avoid him. Chanyeol, come one. You are not a kid anymore.”

 

“I know Soo, but what if.....”

 

“Chanyeol, you are a great father and a very good example to Yejun. But don’t you think he need other support?” Jongin interfered and Kyungsoo sent him an appreciative smile.

 

“Yeah, because the one who was supposed to be the other supporter left with another man on the day Yejun was born,” Chanyeol said with a quite harsh tone.

 

Instead of getting a reply, Kyungsoo and Jongin was looking at him like a gasping fish.

 

“Umm, sorry to interrupt but I’m here to drop Yejun.”

 

Chanyeol who had his back facing the latter, turned and he felt like a dream when he saw Baekhyun was holding hand with Yejun.

 

“The school end early today as there were a severe malfunction with the air conditioner. I text you but you didn’t show up, so I brought him here,” Baekhyun explained in one breathe.

 

Kyungsoo felt like punching Chanyeol when the giant didn’t move a bit. Being the mature one, he smile at Baekhyun. “That’s very nice of you,” Kyungsoo said and kicked Chanyeol’s foot, “Why don’t you take a seat and joined us for lunch.”

 

“It’s okay, that’s...”

 

“Nope. I will not take no for an answer,” Kyungsoo said and pulled Jongin to join him, “Here have a seat and I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere.”

 

Seeing the fierce look on Kyungsoo’s face, Baekhyun nodded his head.

 

“Sit.”

 

Baekhyun flinched when he heard Chanyeol’s voice. Wow, it’s been that long since he heard that voice. He obeyed but not before he lifted Yejun to sit on the seat next to Chanyeol while he sat on the opposite side, facing Chanyeol.

 

Yejun didn’t uttered a word but the sound of the boy sobbing caught Chanyeol’s attention.

 

“Why are you crying, JunJun?” Chanyeol asked and lifted the boy’s chin to look at him.

 

“I can-can’t do i-it, da-daddy. I l-love Mr. B-Byun s-so much. I w-want t-to p-play wi-th him. I-I’m so-sorry d-daddy.”

 

Chanyeol felt like the biggest jerk of all time. What kind of dad is he? Asking his son to avoid his favorite teacher because of him. It was worst when he saw Baekhyun was also close to tears but the boy smiling.

 

“Yejun, look at me,” Chanyeol started, “Daddy is a bad guy. He is so mean because he won’t let you play with your favorite teacher. Why? Because he was selfish. He was thinking about himself that he forgot that he had a son who needs him. He was useless and such a coward. I’m sorry that you have to have a dad like me, I’m so sorry, JunJun.”

 

Before he knew it, tears were already streaming down his face. Yejun stopped crying and was shocked to see his father crying.

 

“No Yejun. Look at me,” Baekhyun said. Yejun who was wiping his father’s tears away, turn to look at Baekhyun.

 

“Your daddy is a great man. He took good care of you and taught you many things. You are really sweet and polite. You are wonderful just the way you are and that’s all thanks to your daddy. He had shaped you into a perfect young boy that everyone love.”

 

Chanyeol felt warm seep through his heart. He dared himself to look at Baekhyun and realized that Baekhyun was no better than him. The boy was crying river but still managed to control his voice.

 

“Baekhyun, I don’t know if you’ll forgive me. But I am really sorry. I really really do,” Chanyeol said feeling guilty as ever.

 

“It’s okay, Mr. Park. I know you had your own reason,” Baekhyun wiped his tears, embarrassed that he got caught for crying.

 

Chanyeol took a deep breath and stared right into Baekhyun’s eyes, “It’s not okay.”

 

Baekhyun stopped his movement and stared back, waiting for Chanyeol to continue. And he did,

 

“I don’t like it when you call me Mr. Park. I don’t like it when I need to pretend to not see you and I hate it when I asked my son to avoid you and I hate it that I’m such a hopeless coward. And I hate that I can’t even say I love you.”

 

There was long silence.

 

“Why can’t you say you love me?” Baekhyun asked in a hushed voice.

 

“Because I don’t want you to regret letting me and Yejun to enter your life. I am that scared Baekhyun. I’m afraid that once we’re attached to each other, you’ll left. Just like she did,” Chanyeol said and covered his face with his palms out of frustration.

 

“I won’t,” Baekhyun said before he continued, “I won’t let that happen, Chanyeol. I heard what you say to your friend about her leaving. But what make you think that I will leave you two? Oh my god, Chanyeol. You don’t know what kind of effect you and Yejun had on me. Ever since I knew both of you, my life was getting better and better. I had a depression problem back then and I had a hard time to cope with that but meeting you guys for the first time, had slowly change me. And spending time with Yejun made me realized that I am no longer that sad, depressed guy. I have change Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol was stunned to hear Baekhyun’s confession.

 

“I don’t want to hear another sorry, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said when he saw Chanyeol was about to say something. Chanyeol kept mum and then his lips twitch to a smile.

 

“You are amazing Baekhyun. This is so crazy,” Chanyeol said as he took Baekhyun’s hand that was on the table and intertwined their fingers together. “ We met for a couple of times but you are making it hard for me. You are a miracle Baekhyun. Such a beautiful star that came to light up my world.”

 

Baekhyun was once again blushing like a teenage girl. “What are you trying to say?”

 

Chanyeol smile and grabbed Baekhyun’s hand securely.

 

“Would you let me and Yejun in your life?”

 

 

-_-_-_-_-_-

 

 

“That’s how it goes.”

 

Chanyeol groaned and wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s slender waist.

 

“Kyungsoo, aren’t you tired telling the same story? It had been three years.” Chanyeol asked only to be replied by a deathly glared.

 

It was just another day where they had gathered to celebrate New Year together with their friends and families.This year, they had a new family member joining them, Minseok, Jongdae's boyfriend. The new boy was curious about how Chanyeol and Baekhyun end up together, so being the good friend he was, Kyungsoo decided to tell him the whole story. 

 

Apparently after a year after Chanyeol proposed, they got married. During those years, they started to open up to each other and thankfully they can accept each other really well. The most happiest person when they broke the news about their wedding was Yejun. The boy just couldn’t stop jumping around and he even called his grandma to tell the news.

 

“At last. That son of mine was so slow. Let Mammy tell you how Pappy used to propose me.” Chanyeol took the phone away and bid goodbye to his mother.

 

“Come on, let’s go and eat,” Jongin said as he came out from the kitchen.

 

Baekhyun was about to stand but Chanyeol wrapped his arm securely and whined. Baekhyun shook his head and chuckled. “You big baby.”

 

Chanyeol grinned and nudged his nose against Baekhyun’s.

 

“I’m glad you say yes,” Chanyeol suddenly said causing Baekhyun to erupt in laughter.

 

“Chanyeol, you had been saying that for the past years.”

 

“And I will keep on saying that because I love you.”

 

Baekhyun smiled and leaned in closer to give his husband a long loving kiss. “I love you too.”

 

 

“Daddy, Appa! Sunmi draw on the wall,” Yejun yelled.

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun exchange glances and smiled at each other.

 

 

 

Getting to know a person doesn’t mean that you need to fall in love but instead try to think of it as making a new friend. And see, where it will lead us.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE END