- July 29, 2021 -

“I know it’s weird, Yeonggie, but you’ve gotta try to nap.”

Kibum smiled as Minho’s voice followed him out of the living room. He slipped past the boxes lining the hall, glancing over his shoulder before he made his way upstairs. They only had one more day in the house, so every room and wall was strangely bare. It was a bit off-putting, even for him, so Yeongjin and Hyejin struggling to adjust to the changes was no surprise.

It was just the bedrooms left that needed to be packed into boxes. Which, as soon as he reached it, he magicked the ladder to the attic down and climbed up to grab his trunk. Aside from Minho’s backpack that they would be using as the family carry-on, his trunk would be their checked luggage and would hold everything they needed…until they found a house in Hogsmeade.

Mom and Dad had been shopping around for a place for them, but it was hard to visualize the places they described without being there.

Whatever. They’d be there soon. They could sort it out then.

The trunk clunked onto the floor, and Kibum popped it open, relieved to find it empty. He’d been worried that he'd forgotten that he still had stuff stashed in here, which would just delay them even further with what little they had left of packing up.

He sighed heavily as he went over to their dresser, opening the top drawer to start dumping their clothes inside. Well, that was his intention, at least, until he saw the photobook Mom had given him ages ago sitting on top of their folded socks. Kibum pulled it out, not even bothering to close the drawer, and sank onto the bed as he flipped it open to the first page.

So many captured memories...The first day he’d gotten his polaroid, random little moments around the castle. He flipped the page, frowning at one in particular, then turning the book over as the scene restarted.

The upside-down little blue flower shook in the breeze sweeping over the grounds. Kibum stared at it through the lens of his polaroid, waiting for...well, he wasn’t sure what.

Mom would take pictures like this sometimes. For the Muggle magazines she worked for.

He squinted as he squeezed the button lightly. Was it the right moment? Should he wait longer? He held the camera a little closer to the flower and pressed the button to take the picture just as someone’s feet came into the shot. Kibum panned the camera up before he released the button, only doing so when he saw a very confused but also amused Minho.

“What are you doing?” he asked, a laugh in his voice.

“I’m gonna be a famous photographer someday, just like Mom, so I’m practicing. And you ruined my shot.”

Minho jumped out of the way, moving to sit down beside him. “We have to go to class again, soon.”

“Shh, or you’ll mess up another one.” Minho chuckled as the camera spit out the ruined shot, and Kibum handed it to him to hold as he got back into position.

“God, I was so little, then,” Minho said, startling Kibum out of his memory. He plopped down beside Kibum on their bed as Kibum turned the photobook back around.

“Are they sleeping?”

“For now, yeah.” Minho sighed, smiling. “Hopefully this means they’ll sleep on the plane tomorrow.”

“Let’s not get our hopes up, love.” He glanced down at the photobook in Kibum’s hand, then back up, a question in his eyes. “I know, I said I was gonna pack, but I got distracted.”

Minho fell back into bed, stretching and smiling when Kibum looked back at him. “It’s been a long day already, and tomorrow will be even longer.” He patted the bed beside him, nodding for Kibum to lean back and join him. “A bit of a break won’t hurt.”

Grinning, Kibum relented, resting his head on Minho’s shoulder and sighing when Minho leaned his head against his. He propped the book open on their stomachs, turning the page.

“I know I already said it, but Merlin’s beard, I was so tiny in first year.”

“It was so long ago,” Kibum said, allowing himself a wistful sigh as he turned another page. “Oh my god, do you remember that?” he asked, pointing to a picture of Minho glowering at the camera in sopping robes. He turned his head, looking up at Minho’s scrunched expression of concentration.

“Vaguely.”

“Well…”

Kibum bounced his head lightly against the wall of the study closet, staring blankly at the way the candleglow flickered along the walls and the door. He sat amidst the blankets, fiddling with the polaroid instead of pulling out any of his textbooks. Studying was just no fun without Minho around, so there was no real point in even flipping through any of the books.

Quidditch practice was running really long, wasn’t it? What was taking so long…

He sighed, looking down at his camera, flipping the flash open and closed until the handle of the study closet door jiggled. Without thinking, Kibum raised the camera, pressing the capture button as the door swung outward, revealing a dripping, sour-looking Minho.

“Is it raining?”

“Peeves caught me,” he said through gritted teeth, the door closing behind him as he pulled off his dripping robes and tossed them aside with a loud splat.

Kibum pulled one of the blankets out from under him. “It’s warm already, I’ve been sitting on it,” he said, and once Minho took it, he got up and grabbed Minho’s wet robes, arranging it on the shelf by the candles to dry it off quicker. “What do you want to study first?”

“Well, we have that Potions test tomorrow, right?”

Nodding, Kibum leaned down, grabbing his copy of Magical Drafts and Potions before he returned to Minho’s side.

“ing Peeves…I hope he won’t irritate you too much when you have to teach.”

“Eh, I’m not too worried about it.” Minho’s eyebrow rose, and he smiled in question. “My office will be downstairs, right? And he doesn’t go down there much. Besides, I can always sic the Baron on him.”

Minho sniffed a laugh. “True.”

The puppies leapt onto the bed by the time they reached third year, which caused a bit of a commotion. Comme Des had climbed across Minho to get to Kibum, his face before turning to do the same for Minho. Garcons had clambered up, dropping one of his toys on Minho’s chest then watching him, avidly.

Minho picked it up, not breaking eye contact with him, then chucked it down the stairs, both of the puppies tearing after it. “Hold on, babe,” Minho said, stretching — practically laying, despite Kibum’s muttered protests — across him to dig into his nightstand drawer. By the time the puppies returned, Minho was holding up his Snitch. The wings were already open, and it was straining to get free of his grasp. Comme Des dropped the toy, both of their attention trained on the Snitch.

They were at a standstill until Kibum smacked Minho’s side. “Just let it go.” Minho relented, releasing the Snitch, and grinning back at Kibum when they raced down the stairs after it. “You didn’t have to climb all over me, you know?”

“You’ve never complained about that before.” Kibum snorted and Minho chucked, kissing his temple before he pulled the book up again. “Oh, hey, speaking of Snitches,” he said, pointing to a picture of the pair of them in the hospital wing, their grins transforming into laughs.

“Based off of what they got you, where do you wanna go first?” Kibum asked, tossing aside the box of Every Flavour Beans.

“Zonko’s! Oh, wait, maybe Honeydukes!”

“Whichever you want,” Kibum said, smiling as he looked over at Minho. “You’ve earned it.” Minho looked down at his cake sheepishly. Cutely. Kibum nibbled his bottom lip, looking around the empty infirmary. “Oh! I should go get my camera! Grandma will want to know!”

“You talked to her about this?” Minho called after him as darted off, but Kibum was already too far away before he realized he hadn’t answered him.

He scurried downstairs, ducking into the darkness of the Slytherin corridor. The wall disappeared before he could say the password himself, but he didn’t register who it was who opened the entrance as he hurried back to his dorm. He grabbed his camera, chest heaving, and ran back upstairs.

Once he reached Minho, he slumped beside him on the bed, throwing his arm around his neck and holding the camera up, grinning until the flash blinded him.

“We can wait for you to catch your breath, you know?” Minho said with a hint of laughter in his voice as Kibum rested his head on the pillow, gulping in air like his life depended on it. “I’m sure Grandma won’t mind if we look normal for the picture.”

Kibum let out a tired huff of a laugh, then, “Shut up, Choi.”

Minho snickered, then took a quick bite of his cake when Minho sat up, looking over at Kibum with wide, innocent eyes. His mask of innocence broke when Kibum leaned away far enough to shove him, and he laughed.

“Okay, I’m ready again,” Kibum said once Minho sobered, and he slipped his arm back around Minho, holding him close as he held his camera up.

“Let me swallow my cake first, at least!”

“Should have thought of that before you took a bite,” Kibum said, grinning as he clicked the button. The flash seared his vision, and Minho burst out laughing again. “What?” Kibum asked, unable to keep himself from joining him.

“I’m just really happy, that’s all.”

Kibum brushed his thumb over the picture, smiling when Minho started to laugh once more in the polaroid. “That was a good day. Despite the injury.”

“Yeah, it was.”

Minho sighed heavily, reaching up to flip the page himself. Kibum turned his head, staring at his profile as Minho scanned the pictures. “Do you still miss it?”

He glanced down at him, then did a double-take when he found his gaze on him. “Sometimes.”

“Do…do you regret —“

“No,” Minho said before he could finish his question. “Not at all. It was fun while it lasted, and I have a lot of great memories, but…” He cleared his throat, his brow furrowing slightly. “Just thinking about…about even the possibility of having my own apothecary…it makes me happier than Quidditch ever could have.”

Kibum nodded, relaxing against Minho again as he returned his attention to the photobook as Minho turned the page.

“There aren’t many pictures for fourth year.”

“There wouldn’t be, would there.” Minho rubbed his side, and Kibum leaned closer to him, turning the next few pages until a particular one stood out.

It was of Minho, of course, and they were up in the closet yet again, but he was holding the tiny kitten Jwi up to his face, kissing the back of her head. That was all well and good, but then the camera jerked violently downward without warning.

“What happened there?” Minho asked.

“Here, hold her up, I wanna show Mom.”

“Okay,” Minho said, his voice now slightly muffled by her head, as he stared at the door while Kibum raised the camera to his eye, only to lower it again.

“Can you be normal about it, please?”

“Nope.”

Kibum rolled his eyes, hiding his smile behind his camera as he lifted it again. Just…his nose started to tickle… He sneezed twice, loud and hard enough to startle Jwi into scratching Minho in her scramble to get away from him.

“What was that?” Minho asked, laughing as he covered his red-striped hand.

Kibum rubbed his tingling nose as a picture spit out of the front of the camera. “What?”

“That sneeze?”

He dropped the camera in his lap, pointing at Minho. “Listen, you don’t get to tease me about sneezing.”

“Why not?” Kibum leveled him with a droll glare, but it only made Minho laugh more. “Okay, okay, fair.”

Kibum sniffed, rubbing his nose again as he glanced down at Minho’s hand. “Are you okay?” he asked, scooting closer, grabbing Minho’s hand to inspect it for himself.

“Yeah, it’s just a scratch.”

“The girls might like a cat, you know,” Minho said, grinning annoyingly at Kibum as he sat up on his elbow to glare at him. “There’s a few that are in the park, and —“

“Do you want me to divorce you?” Minho laughed, pulling Kibum back down and snuggly beside him, and Kibum shook his head. “I can’t believe you’d break our vows. Just for a cat.”

“How in the is that breaking our vows? In sickness and in health. It’s not my fault you’re allergic.”

Kibum sniffed, which only made Minho laugh again, as he turned another page. “Yes, well, if you can figure out a cure for allergies in your apothecary then it’ll be okay.”

“Challenge accepted.”

“You’re such a nerd.”

“And yet...you still married me.”

Kibum shook his head, smiling as he dug his elbow into Minho’s ribs.

They only made it a few more pages before one of the girls called out for Minho. Hyejin, if he had to guess. Minho told him he didn’t have to wait for him as he extracted himself from their bed and hurried downstairs, and Kibum looked back at the photos, turning a few more pages until he stopped again.

It was one of the darkest photos in the entire book, lit only by the handful of wands in the frame and the burst of flash. The Laciospecto probably hadn’t been the best place to take a group picture, but, it didn’t make sense to troop everyone out into the common room just to take a picture, did it?

Kibum’s gaze, as it had since he first started looking through the book today, shifted to Minho. How had he not noticed the longing in his eyes then? In the moment? In any of the moments that they had spent together?

He sighed, closing his eyes, almost hearing the dripping of the Laciospecto.

“Guys, come on, squish together! We won’t all fit!”

Minho sat up beside him, his fingers brushing against his as he reached for the camera. Kibum’s heartbeat picked up again, nearly matching the tempo it had been when Minho had leaned in to kiss him mere hours before. “Here, let me. My arms are longer.”

He let him take it, watching him sit up on his knees and position himself slightly out of the way of the lens so that everyone else would fit. “Are we ready?”

He only waited a few seconds before he clicked the button, the flash filling the dark Laciospecto. Everyone groaned, covering their eyes, and once Kibum could see again, he grabbed the ejected picture, inspecting it. Then, he smacked Minho’s arm.

“You’re barely in it! Give that back to me,” he said, taking the polaroid back and stepping over Minho to trade places with him. “Whoever has your wand, light it and hold it up. It’ll make the flash weaker.”

Someone said something behind him, but Kibum didn’t focus on it. Not while he was leaning into Minho’s side, holding the camera up and waiting. Spots of warm light appeared here and there behind them, and Kibum glanced between him and Minho, doing his best to ignore the weight of Minho’s scrutiny. “Are we ready?”

“Yeah!”

He looked back at the camera, grinning as he took another snapshot.

“Falling asleep on me?”

“Hm?” Kibum opened his eyes and pushed up his glasses, turning his head to watch Minho as he crawled back into bed. “Nah, I was just…” He gestured to the picture as Minho settled beside him again.

“Oh, god…I was about to find out that I wasn’t your first kiss, wasn’t I.”

Kibum snorted. “I still say the one with Jjong doesn’t count.”

“Of course you’d think that.”

Shaking his head when Minho turned the page with a dramatic flourish, he glanced over at him. “What did Hyejin need?”

“To go potty. She’s asleep again, though.” Minho leaned his head against Kibum’s, then held the page down when Kibum started to flip it. “When was that taken?”

“What?”

He pointed to a picture of them cuddled together on his parents’ couch, covered with a blanket. “Obviously it’s when you guys snuck over, but…”

“First night? I think?”

Kibum blinked, squinting as he watched Jonghyun’s shadow shrink away. The flash had burst behind his eyelids, waking him, if only barely. Minho sniffed, his head rubbing against Kibum’s as he shifted closer. He smiled, turning his head, his nose almost brushing against Minho’s.

When they were like this, alone, immersed in tranquility, Kibum could picture a whole future. With Minho. Without worry that he didn’t return his feelings. In moments like this, he could easily believe that Jonghyun was right.

He slipped his arms out from around Minho’s, grabbing his forearm and draping it over his shoulders as he snuggled closer to him, wrapping his arm around Minho’s middle.

In a perfect world, he’d never have to leave this moment. But then, this wasn’t a perfect world.

“Aw, babe, you had a crush on me? That’s so embarrassing.”

“Shut the up, you did, too.”

Minho chuckled, grinning as he turned, caressing Kibum’s cheek and guiding Kibum into a kiss. “You’re so cute.”

“Stop -- “ He started to say, smiling as Minho kissed him again. “You -- “ He let go of the photobook to pull Minho closer.

“Do you still have a crush on me?” Minho asked once he pulled away far enough to speak.

“Mhm.” Kibum sighed into another series of slow, lazy kisses. He looked into Minho’s twinkling eyes as he leaned away. “I love you, too.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, and Kibum picked the book back up as Minho tucked himself into Kibum’s side. “Where’d we leave off?”

“Hm…”

They breezed through sixth year, stopping for a few moments when they reached the section where Kibum had put all of the pictures of the Uagadou rainforest so Minho could talk about the different plants. Then onto seventh year and the Tournament.

“It’s still so hard to believe I won that,” Minho whispered.

“Why?”

“Because it was ing insane.”

Kibum snorted, resting his head against Minho’s as he glanced over at one of the pictures Mom had given him. From the final interview Romilda had done after Minho won the whole thing.

“Are you sure it’s better?”

“Yeah, Pomfrey’s the best.” Kibum touched the bruise peeking through the rip in his sleeve, looking up when Minho covered his hand. “I’m okay, babe.”

Kibum pouted a little, stepping a little closer to him. “Let me worry about you.”

“Okay.”

Kibum bit back a smile, glancing over at the others and doing a double-take when he found Romilda walking over to them. “Mind if I ask the Champion a few questions?” she asked, tossing her wavy dark hair over her shoulder with a hot-pink smile.

“Uh, no,” Kibum said, starting to back away until Minho grabbed his hand, holding him there.

She glanced between them, her smile growing. “You two are kinda a package deal, then?” Minho nodded. “How long have you been a couple?”

“Since Christmas. But I’ve been in love with him for years,” Minho answered, seemingly without thinking. So matter of factly. Not even caring that she could print this in the ing Daily Prophet if she wanted. Kibum looked up at him, Romilda’s voice becoming unfocused and distant.

Minho loved him and he wanted the whole world to know.

No matter the distance, they’d be just fine. He knew that for sure now.

Kibum turned the page, finding the newspaper clipping from the Daily Prophet with Minho’s interview with Romilda. “I wonder what would have happened…if you had come with me that night.”

“When we said goodbye?” Kibum nodded, flipping the page once more, glancing through the memories he had captured here in New York before Minho joined him. “I doubt Dad would have found me…especially if I came here with you.” Kibum hummed in thought, the corner of his mouth tilting up in the semblance of a smile when he spotted a few pictures of himself with Nicole and Tyler. “It might be weird to say, but, looking back now, I don’t really regret it?”

“No?”

Minho shook his head. “I think it was good. For me to face my fears and not run from them.”

“It just that your parents were central to your fears.”

“It does, but…” He turned, pressing a kiss to Kibum’s temple. “I’m just lucky you were there for me. Through it all.”

“Of course, Min.”

He smiled, Kibum could tell because his lips were still pressed to his skin, then kissed him lightly again before looking back at the photobook. “Oh my god, I almost forgot about that…”

Kibum laughed, eying the photo of Minho hiding his smile behind his hand as he gathered up the skirt of the satiny red dress Kibum had made for class.

“How does it feel?” Kibum asked, suppressing a laugh as Minho walked gingerly down the hallway toward him. “Is it too tight?”

“I have no idea,” Minho said, holding the long slit closed over his thigh. “It’s definitely tighter than the school robes.”

Kibum snorted. “Merlin’s ing beard, can you imagine if we had to wear these for class?”

“For Quidditch?” He burst out laughing then, falling onto the couch, modesty forgotten for a second.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back,” he said, immediately turning and hurrying upstairs. Ignoring Minho’s calls of What are you doing? He dug through their dresser, pulling out his polaroid before running back down to the living room. “Get back up, I need a few pictures for class.”

“Noooo…”

“Baby…my love, please.”

He stared at Minho with his best attempt at pleading puppy-dog eyes until Minho sighed. “Fine.”

He stood pulling down and smoothing the skirt out a bit before he looked back up. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just…act like you’re the prettiest girl at the ball and I’m your Prince or whatever.” Minho laughed, covering his smile and blush with his hand as Kibum snapped the picture, then another. “Twirl a bit.”

Minho scoffed. “Bummie…”

“Just one more and then you can go slip into something more comfortable.”

“Like what?”

“Our bed,” Kibum said, winking, then laughed when Minho’s eyes brightened just before he twirled for him.

“I should have gotten a wig for you to wear for this, but, alas...”

“A wig?”

Kibum laughed at the incredulity in Minho’s voice. “What? You would have looked cute.”

“You’re just biased.”

“So what if I am?”

Minho sniffed quietly, and Kibum didn’t have to glance over at him to know he was smiling.

There were fewer pictures, now, than before during school. Their lives were busier here, with separate jobs. One or two from where Kibum snuck Minho backstage at Gershwin, introducing him to Natasha, the makeup artists, some of the cast. Minho had taken a picture of Kibum posing with the Act 2 dress draped over him, and then Minho turned the page.

Ah, yes. Quidditch.

Minho cocked his head, a slight furrow in his brow. “Why was I upside down?”

“Are you seriously asking that? You were always upside down.”

“I wasn’t playing at the time, though?”

Kibum cracked a smile, looking back at the picture in question.

Shivering as a too-cool-for-summer wind whipped around him, Kibum glared at the offending overcast sky that always covered the Golden Gables stadium. His hands started to ache as he gripped his polaroid, and he looked back over the pitch, searching for Minho once again in the sky. There he was, waiting patiently -- or impatiently, Kibum couldn’t tell from this distance -- for Mercy to continue the play.

Kibum lifted his camera, aiming at the distant Minho as he started to fly again. He did a few lazy barrel rolls as Kibum captured the scene. Sighing, Kibum watched him, even after he lowered the camera. To this day, he’d never understand why he loved flying, and yet, it was so nice to watch him do something he loved so much. The way his eyes lit up and his cheeks were all rosy after a practice. His hair was windswept, too. It was adorable, really. Well worth Kibum sitting out here in the cold to watch him work.

He found him in the sky again, closer now. Only, this time, he wasn’t searching for the Snitch.

Minho’s eyes glimmered as he flew closer to him, a cute, boyish smile brightening his already bright features as he drew nearer. Out of nowhere, he leaned to the side and flipped, so he was hanging upside down in the air on the broom. Kibum jumped out of his seat, hurrying over to the banister to make sure he didn’t hit his head on it. But he was several feet above it, grinning at him.

“Hey.”

“Why are you like this?”

Minho shook his head, his eyes brighter still as he smiled even more. “Maybe I just wanted a Spiderman kiss, did you ever think of that?”

“Spider...what?”

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

Eying him suspiciously, Kibum stepped a bit nearer as Minho drifted closer. “Aren’t you supposed to be paying attention to practice?”

“Just shut up and kiss me, then, if you don’t want to get into trouble.”

Kibum huffed, trying not to smile, and cupped his cheek, pulling him into an upside-down kiss. Then, without warning, he snapped a picture as soon as he pulled far enough away to do so. The flash made Minho squint, but he was still grinning as he darted away, back over the pitch.

“What can I say, you’re very distracting.”

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry to be such a burden for you.”

Minho snorted, and Kibum grinned, turning the page. More pictures of Quidditch, both practices and games. A few with Jonghyun scattered throughout the pages after his move to New York. Then…

”Oh my god…”

Minho laughed as he smoothed the page out. “Yeah, we went a little crazy with pictures of them, didn’t we?”

Kibum glanced between the captured moments of Comme Des and Garcons. “It’s not our fault they’re so cute.”

He was about to turn the page until one in particular caught his eye.

“Babe, are you almost ready for bed?” Kibum called as he traipsed down the stairs. No reply. “Love?” He turned the corner, starting down the hall, only to stop in his tracks once he reached the living room.

Minho was asleep, sprawled out on the couch, his crutches lying beside him on the floor as a movie played faintly in the background. Both Comme Des and Garcons were curled up on his chest, fast asleep. Kibum smiled, absently fiddling with his new opaline ring as he turned to tiptoe back upstairs. Once he retrieved his camera, he returned downstairs to snap a quick picture of the scene.

The flash woke the puppies, and they scrambled off of Minho, which in turn made Minho stir. “What time is it?” he asked groggily, rubbing his eye as he started to sit up.

“Time for bed, if you’re that tired. Do you want me to help you?”

Minho sighed as he sat up, grimacing slightly as he moved his injured leg. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

“Okay,” Kibum said, leaning in for a kiss. And with a thought of their bed, he swept them both upstairs.

There were at least three full pages of just the puppies, then they were sprinkled in with the sparse pictures of the preparations for the wedding, as well as the wedding itself.

“I’m honestly a bit surprised Mom didn’t take more pictures than she did.”

Kibum hummed. “Same. I’m definitely not complaining though.”

“Maybe she didn’t want to feel like she was working.”

“Mm, probably.”

The next few pages had all the pictures from their honeymoon. Exploring Paris together, learning how to make croissants from an elderly witch in Cour des Dérobé, the Diagon Alley or Salem Boulevard of Paris. Then onto Magiabajo, with the bright lights and vibrant colors of the underground city. And finally, Daegu, with its night markets full of wizarding folk and snow.

Kibum’s gaze landed on the last picture from their time in Daegu, smiling faintly at it.

”I forget, do ghosts even show up on film?” Dad asked, floating behind Kibum as he searched in his bag for his polaroid.

“They do,” Minho said before either he or Mom could answer. “We’ve got quite a few with ghosts in them from Hogwarts.”

“Found it!” Kibum said, whipping out his camera. He slipped out from under Minho’s arm and over to the closest passerby, bowing slightly to her. “Would you mind taking a picture of us? It’s our last night here, and…”

“Oh, of course!” She stepped away from her friend, holding the camera up and waiting for everyone to get arranged. Minho was on one side of him, arm slung back over his shoulder, holding him close as the chill of the snowy night crept over them. Mom was on the other, her arm wrapped around his back, with Dad poking his head in the space between them. “Ready?”

Mom gave her a thumb’s up, and she took several shots in succession.

Kibum touched the picture, his fingertip grazing over the bottom of it, as Minho tucked his finger under the page, preparing to turn it. “It’s sorta funny, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“We thought that was the last time we were gonna see him for a while.”

“In a few days, we’ll be able to see him any time we want.”

Smiling now, he pulled his hand away, and Minho turned the page.

There were only a few pictures with each of the kids they fostered, up until they started looking after Yeongjin and Hyejin. The knowledge that they would just be taken away again sooner rather than later... was hard. Harder than they had expected it to be. But then their daughters arrived, and everything changed.

Minho turned the page once more, finally reaching the last that had any pictures on it. Well, picture. “When did you take this?” he asked, frowning slightly as he inspected it. "Was this yesterday?" Kibum nodded.

”Come on, come on!” Minho said, his voice pitched a little higher as he ushered the girls out into the backyard. The puppies were on their heels, and Kibum, after a moment, followed them out to sit on the back porch step.

The puppies bounded around them, yipping excitedly at getting to be outside with their family, as Minho took the girls to the community garden. “Babe, what do we need?”

“Tomatoes and peppers! And some herbs!”

Minho nodded and directed Yeongjin to pick a few ripe tomatoes. Kibum smiled as he watched them, his heart aching a little just from watching his family. It swept over him at random times, the memories of how alone he had felt for so long. How afraid of the thought that he had been cursed and that everyone he loved would leave him someday.

How blind he had been.

Because he had been so blessed, to live a life so full of love.

Minho’s laughter filled the summery twilight -- Yeongjin must have said something funny -- and it felt as though a hand squeezed around Kibum’s heart. But, in a good way. In the way that you feel when everything is right in your world, so right and so wonderful that you just can’t contain it anymore.

He reached down, taking his wand from his lap and summoning his camera so he could capture the simple moment. Of his happy family.

It reached him as Minho crouched down, holding his t-shirt out like a basket for the girls to put the vegetables they chose into it, and he snapped the picture.

“There are still so many pages here,” Minho said, flipping through the empty ones.

“We’ve got a lot more life ahead of us, don’t we?” Minho smiled, turning to kiss Kibum’s cheek. “Besides, Mom charmed it to never run out of pages.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Daddy?” Yeongjin called sleepily from downstairs, her voice much closer than the girls’ bedroom.

“Oh, , how long have we been sitting here,” Kibum whispered as Minho hurried to get up, setting the photobook aside. “Go see what she needs, I’ll be down in a second.”

“Okay.”

Kibum watched him go, smiling at his sing-song greeting once he descended the stairs, then looked around at the room that still needed to be packed. “Yeah, no…” He crawled up to the headboard, reaching for his wand. “Pack!” he said, with a long sweep of his wand, and the room started to pack itself into his open trunk.

He and Minho barely slept that night, as there was too much to do in preparation for the flight the following day. Once the girls were in bed, Kibum started working on the Sleeping Draught that he would put a few drops into Yeongjin and Hyejin’s juice cups just before they boarded their flight to London. Just like he had done on their way to Seoul. It was much easier, this way, for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Minho did some last-minute checking to make sure they had everything they needed packed away.

At the way-too-early hour of six in the morning, Kibum dragged himself and Minho out of bed, and they woke the girls, stowed the puppies in their traveling crates, and they all were off to JFK. Security was easier than he had expected it to be -- thankfully, he had listened to Minho and put the Sleeping Draught in an empty travel-sized hand sanitizer bottle. The only thing was, they had to be careful to hide the bottle when they were putting it in the girls’ morning orange juice.

Both Yeongjin and Hyejin were fast asleep by the time the plane taxied to the runway, and Kibum tensed as the plane started to take off, soothed only when Minho grabbed his hand, locking their fingers together.

Once the plane stopped ascending, Kibum fully relaxed, his head resting against his seatback. He glanced over at the girls until he heard the shink of the window blind being lifted, then he looked back, finding the Atlantic Ocean beneath them and the skyline of New York shrinking into the distance.

“Is it weird,” Kibum whispered, not looking away from the window when Minho glanced his way, “to be a bit sad to be leaving?”

“I don’t think so.” Kibum blinked, meeting his gaze for a second before looking back at the ocean stretching out far below them. “It’s the end of an era, isn’t it?” He nodded, sighing. Minho lifted their joined hands, kissing the back of Kibum’s. “Just think about it this way…we have a whole new beginning to look forward to.”

Kibum smiled, tears welling up in his eyes before he blinked them away, his gaze still fixed on the coastline as it inched away from them.