“Sungjae-ya, put your toys back to the box after you finish playing with it” Minhyuk talked gently to the 4 years old toddler when he nearly tripped on one of his son’s toys on the floor “Sungjae-ya” Minhyuk called for Sungjae again when the toddler still didn’t change his focus from the TV to him, Minhyuk took a deep breath and off the TV when Sungjae still didn’t want to look at him

“Daddy!” Sungjae finally looked up to Minhyuk with a clearly unhappy face

“You know the rules baby, listen to me when I’m talking to you, nicely” Minhyuk sat next to Sungjae on the sofa

“I want to watch pororo” Sungjae whined

“Sure, after you clean up your toys” Minhyuk pointed to the messy toys scattered around the floor

“No, I want pororo” Sungjae pouted while crossing his arms in front of his chest

“You can watch pororo, I never say you can’t, but you have to clean up the mess first, and it’s dangerous to just leave your toys all over the place like this you know that right? What if someone trapped on it and fell down, you don’t want to hurt anyone do you?” Minhyuk explained gently but when he saw Sungjae still didn’t make a move he talked in more stern tone “Sungjae-ya, if you want something, you have to work on it, you don’t get it for free, that’s how life works” Minhyuk lectured the toddler, he sighed and rubbed his temple feeling frustrated when Sungjae’s eyes turned watery “And tears won’t bring you good in life, not everything can be solved by crying, now go and clean up your toys, you were the one who’s playing with it so be responsible for it” It was a lie if Minhyuk said it didn’t break his heart when Sungjae looked broken with tears swam on his eyes, the toddler was trying to hold his tears because appa told him that only baby cried easily

“But…” Sungjae pouted again

“It’s not a difficult job to clean up your toys right? Daddy is not asking you to clean up the whole house” Minhyuk trying to joke but the toddler still in his own world didn’t move from his spot, and that was the moment Minhyuk realized he and Eunkwang were too lenient towards their youngest son, and it was the time to make a change, Minhyuk didn’t want his son to become a spoiled child and irresponsible, he had discussed about it with Eunkwang and the older agreed about it, when Minhyuk nearly pulled his hair out of frustration Ilhoon came in to the room after watching the drama

“It’s ok daddy, I can help Sungjae to clean up” Ilhoon offered

“No baby, Sungjae has to do it because he was the one who’s playing with it, if you want to watch TV you can watch it inside daddy’s room, after all you HAVE cleaned up your toys and did your homework” Minhyuk told Ilhoon while watching Sungjae’s expression, the 4 years old toddler still didn’t move and suddenly Minhyuk had a good idea

“Well, I give up, Ilhoonnie, help me clean up the mess, indeed you are my one and only beloved child” Minhyuk nearly laughed when Sungjae suddenly turned his face around and stared at Minhyuk and Ilhoon

“Huh?” Ilhoon looked confused by what Minhyuk said but when he saw Sungjae’ s unhappy expression he knew it was just a trick done by his daddy so he followed the flow

“Yay! So I’m your only child now?” Ilhoon grinned

“Of course baby, my child is the only one who knows how to take of their own things and know how to be responsible, since you did good today what do you want as dessert later? Of course only my child will get, how about chocolate pudding?” At the mention of his favorite dessert Sungjae’s eyes fully dilated

“I want too!” Sungjae cheered

“Sorry Sungjae-ya, only my best son here, Ilhoonnie will get, because he’s a good kid, well let’s go now Ilhoonnie, anyway baby if you want that chocolate pudding too you can just help us now, there’s still a chance to be my son again if not then sorry we are not playing with you anymore” Minhyuk held his laugh when Sungjae looked so shocked “Are you going to help us?” Minhyuk offered one more time but as a stubborn boy Sungjae still refused to do “Well it’s your choice, bye bye Sungjae-ya, daddy will play with Ilhoon only from now” Minhyuk said for the last time before he held Ilhoon’s hand and happily chatted with him trying his best not to turn back and hugged Sungjae who looked so sad behind him ‘it’s ok, it’s for his future’ Minhyuk keep telling himself inwardly

 

 

 

 

Sungjae went inside his room and hid himself under the blanket, when his daddy threatened him about his favorite child Sungjae thought his daddy was only joking but apparently his daddy was serious about it, the 4 years old boy silently cried he didn’t like the idea that his daddy didn’t care about him anymore, even ignored his presence and requests, worst thing was he didn’t even get to eat his favorite chocolate pudding! Sungjae opened up the blanket and looked at the wall staring at his picture with his daddy on the wall, and now his daddy didn’t care about him anymore. He might as well leave the home maybe like that daddy would care about him again. Sungjae opened up his notebook and tore a paper with his color markers he wrote a simple letter before he packed few things he thought he needed for the runaway mission he had on his mind. When he was all prepared Sungjae went out secretly, he saw Minhyuk and Ilhoon was still happily eating chocolate pudding in the dining room, and that was his chance to go out and indeed he successfully went out without getting noticed by his family

 

 

 

“I’m home” Eunkwang went inside and was surprised when it was quiet, yes he only has two children but they could be really noisy as much as 10 people inside

“Hi” Minhyuk smiled and walked closer to give a welcome kiss to his husband

“I miss you” Eunkwang said after Minhyuk stepped back

“Heard it everyday” Minhyuk chuckled

“Because it’s true, where are the kids anyway? Why is it so quiet?” Eunkwang looking around but none of his children came to welcome him

“Ilhoon is doing his homework and Sungjae is…” Minhyuk smiled michiveously and Eunkwang raised up one of his eyebrow asking for an explanation, Minhyuk grinned and brought Eunkwang to their dining room shared a cup of tea together while explaining what happened quietly he didn’t want Sungjae to hear anything

“So… he’s now hiding inside his room and haven’t come out for like 2 hours? Without even crying?” Eunkwang asked amusedly when Minhyuk told him what happened in the afternoon

“Maybe he fell asleep, I haven’t really checked on him I didn’t want to give up so fast” Minhyuk sighed and took a last sip before he stood up “Let’s go check on him, and now it’s your turn to lecture him” Minhyuk said while helping Eunkwang removed his necktie

“as your order your highness” Eunkwang laughed when Minhyuk glared at him

 

 

 

“Where is he???!!!” Minhyuk screamed when he didn’t see Sungjae inside his room

“Ummm… maybe he’s hiding somewhere and fell asleep?” Eunkwang said trying to calm an anxious Minhyuk

“No no no, he’s gone Eunkwang. He runaway, look at the letter”

“Don’t look for me, I’ll be ok, thanks for taking care of me” Eunkwang read the letter out loud but instead of worrying about his son he burst out laughing out loud while holding the letter

“Our son is missing and you still dare to laugh???!!” Minhyuk had a sudden urge to kill his husband

“But he’s so cute look at the letter he wrote” Eunkwang still giggling but immediately stopped when he look at over worried spouse in front of him “We will find him baby, don’t worry” Eunkwang said and brought Minhyuk into his hug

 

 

 

“Where do you think we can find him?” Minhyuk asked Ilhoon who was looking for Sungjae together with him, they decided to separate their way so it will be easier, Minhyuk together with Ilhoon looking at the playground they usually went to while Eunkwang went to Sungjae’s preschool place

“It will be very difficult since Sungjae has a very creative mind daddy” Ilhoon reminded Minhyuk and the latter getting more stressed by what Ilhoon said, he was right though and that was why Minhyuk worried that Sungjae went to somewhere he could never think of. The sky turned darker and Minhyuk’s mind playing all the weird scenarios and he wished his mind would stop for a while because he couldn’t afford the thought of losing his youngest son, his baby no he couldn’t. Minhyuk nearly lost his hope when suddenly Ilhoon shouted

“Daddy! Isn’t that Sungjae?!” Minhyuk immediately looked at Ilhoon direction and indeed he saw his youngest son was on the swing, luckily the street light shone at him brightly, luckily Ilhoon suggested to go to the playground they hadn’t been able to visit that time and apparently Sungjae was there

“Sungjae-ya” Minhyuk said in a trembling voice when the toddler still looking at the ground with his favorite soft toy on his hold

“Daddy…” Sungjae’s tears finally dropped on his cheeks and when Minhyuk pulled him into his embrace Sungjae cried hard and Minhyuk who was crying suddenly stopped too amused by his youngest crying sound “Daddy I promise you I will clear up my toys after I play with it, I promise you I will be a better son but please make me your son again, I miss you daddy, I miss appa too, I miss Ilhoonnie hyung too” Sungjae cried getting louder and louder, Minhyuk smiled when Sungjae keep blabbering things on his own words, but Minhyuk clearly understood what his son meant

“I got it baby, it’s ok, you know you’ve been always my son, I will never throw you away, I just want you to be more responsible over your own things” Minhyuk whispered gently and when Sungjae didn’t stop crying Minhyuk carried the toddler on his arm gently rocked him on his embrace while caressing his back

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry daddy, I’m sorry Ilhoonnie hyung” Ilhoon who just now was just watching his family from the side caressed Sungjae’s back too and whispered ‘it’s ok, we can play again later, let’s play your favorite game again tomorrow’

“Hey baby stop crying, it’s ok daddy is not mad anymore, we are ok now, ssshhh… stop crying, let’s go home ok?” When Sungjae nodded on his shoulder Minhyuk smiled, Sungjae suddenly pulled back a little bit and looked at Minhyuk

“So am I forgiven now daddy?” Sungjae said still in between his tears

“Of course baby, now let’s wait for your appa and go home ok? Anyway how did you manage to walk until here, it’s quite far from our home” Minhyuk asked while wiping Sungjae’s tears with his sleeves

“I don’t know I just thought maybe daddy won’t find me here because we haven’t been here before but after that it turned dark and I don’t know how to go home even if I wanted to” Sungjae rested his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder again.

Eunkwang came not long after that and when Minhyuk tried to put Sungjae on the back seat of his car the toddler refused to let go his hug, Minhyuk’s heart swelled with feelings because of that, he looked at Eunkwang and the latter smiled gently, he helped Minhyuk to open the passenger seat beside him and closed the door quietly when he noticed Sungjae was fast asleep on Minhyuk’s embrace

“Such a cute boy, trying to runaway, with a letter but in the end still crying back at his ‘mother’” Eunkwang chuckled while staring at Sungjae peaceful face although his eyes and nose were red

“Next time I lectured him, I’m going to lock our door first” Minhyuk told more to himself while fixing Sungjae’s bangs which covered his eyes

“Our spoiled son, luckily we found you” Eunkwang ruffled Sungjae’s hair , he put on his seatbelt, his car and looked at Minhyuk “Home?”

“Home” Minhyuk smiled, he kissed Sungjae’s forehead before his hand slowly moving closer to Eunkwang’s and held into it tightly “Home” He said again and let himself relaxed on the seat after a long night.