둘이면 아버지와 아들, 셋이면 가족이다

A lot of people ask Jongin why he doesn't hire a caretaker for his son. Being a single dad is exhausting, they reason, since Jongin does not only have to work full-time to ensure a stable income for two, but he needs to raise a child as well, and childcare is a lot of work. Everyone else would ask for support, but not so Jongin. For one, he doesn't trust anyone enough to leave his precious Taeoh under their care, and two, he enjoys spending as much time as possible with the small bundle of joy that is his son.

Jongin loves pampering Taeoh. It's one way to make up for the lack of maternal love, but it's also a way to express his adoration for his son. In Jongin's eyes, there is no child more perfect than Taeoh - always cheerful, always happy, and so well-behaved. Taeoh is not spoiled or demanding, never throwing tantrums, neither in public, nor at home, and that only makes Jongin want to cherish his child more and more. Taeoh is a smart, sensitive child, he would doesn’t look like he could develop bad habits and traits at all.

If only he could spend more time with Taeoh, Jongin thinks as he heads towards the kindergarten to pick up his son. Unfortunately, that is not possible since he wants to stand on his own two feet and not rely on his parents. They are worrying about him enough as it is, and having them babysit Taeoh occasionally is already more help than he wants to ask for. They are old, having spent decades with taking care of Jongin and his older sister, so he doesn’t want to stay a burden to them much longer.

Jongin tries to look at the bright side of things. It could always be worse, right? Jongin is lucky to be employed in a company that might demand great performance, but the company gives him a lot of employee benefits as well. As single father, he is allowed to leave work up to an hour earlier than everyone else - at five in the afternoon, instead of six o'clock, as long as they can finish their work within time. His son is also taken care of in the company's own nursery school that is close by the headquarters. Jongin needs about five to ten minutes to pick Taeoh up and another ten minutes to walk home. His company had helped him finding an apartment close by, too, all for the employee’s convenience.

Jongin walks past the fence and peeks into the kindergarten’s backyard, trying to find Taeoh there, but his son is not in sight. He is probably inside, all dressed up and ready to go home the moment Jongin calls for him.

As expected, a tiny body flings itself against his legs, arms clinging to them as the child's cheery voice is screaming daddy, daddy, let's go home. Jongin laughs softly and picks the boy up, smiling at a face that is almost identical to his. The eyes resemble his, he'd like to think, and the complexion, too. Both Jongin and Taeoh tan easily in the sun, and although that had been reason for a lot of teasing when Jongin had been younger, Taeoh seems completely fine with it.

Because I look like daddy, Taeoh had reasoned with him once. And daddy is handsome. Yeri said so. And Yeri's mommy too.

Jongin is aware of how attractive he is. Even as single father, there are still men and women alike interested in him. But, Jongin has sworn to himself that he would devote all his life to Taeoh only, so he doesn't respond to flirtations. He keeps all his relationships friendly and platonic. After all, they are doing okay without a second parent and Taeoh doesn't seem to mind either. Jongin alone is enough. No one else could love his son as much as Jongin is doing. A potential partner might demand more of Jongin’s attention which equals less time to dote on his son if he decides to work it out for his partner to stay. And would that ever happen? No.

"Daddy, daddy," Taeoh whines, the sound successfully drawing Jongin's attention back to the present where his son is still clinging to his neck. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but Jongin doesn’t mind. He laughs softly when Taeoh presses a big, wet smooch to his cheek.

"Let's go home," Taeoh says and wiggles in Jongin’s hold. Jongin puts Taeoh down and chuckles.

"But first, we need to say goodbye to Miss Kwon," Jongin reminds his son who nods and runs back into his classroom obediently. Jongin follows him to the door and peeks inside where the kindergarten teacher is squatting down in front of Taeoh for them both to exchange goodbyes and a hug. When she straightens up, she waves at Jongin before another child demands her attention.

"Let's go," Jongin says, feeling all warm and happy just by holding a small, warm hand in his. It's familiar and assuring, knowing that his son is with him. Jongin still prefers being the one to watch over his little angel, rather than letting someone else do it. Like this, he can confirm that Taeoh is safe.

"Daddy," Taeoh starts chirping happily. He tells Jongin about everything that has happened in class today. It's no different from usual, except once Taeoh stops, Jongin hears smacking sounds and frowns. Glancing down to his son, he sees the boy eating a lollipop that he doesn't remember packing into Taeoh’s lunchbox in the morning.

"Where did you get that lollipop from?" Jongin asks.

"Miss Kwon!" Taeoh replies quickly and gives him a toothy grin. Jongin can't help but melt a bit on the inside. Of course, who else could be giving the kids candy, apart from the kindergarten teacher? It's not like strangers could simply go in and out of the kindergarten without raising suspicion and getting questioned.

"Daddy, look, Uncle Hun is there!" Taeoh says all of a sudden and pulls away from Jongin. He runs towards Sehun who is coming out of the supermarket with a bag of groceries in each hand. That doesn't deter Taeoh from jumping right into Jongin's best friend though, and said best friend drops his groceries to pick up Taeoh, both their laughter carried over to Jongin who is approaching them slowly.

"Did you just get off work, too?" Jongin asks in lieu of a greeting. They are close enough to drop any kind of formality and jump right into conversation.

"Actually, I took the day off," Sehun says, rocking back and forth on his heels to entertain a giggling Taeoh who is still clinging to his neck.

"Wanna grab dinner with us then?" Jongin offers, but Sehun shakes his head, much to Taeoh's dismay. The boy whines softly and Jongin doesn't need to look at his son to know that he is using his puppy eyes on Sehun.

"I'd love to, but I can't," Sehun explains. "I have a dinner date with my mom."

"Let's grab dinner some other time then," Jongin says and helps Sehun to pry off Taeoh who seems unwilling to let go. He smiles apologetically at both his son and Sehun. He doesn't like bothering other people and feels bad for Taeoh to show such a bratty behavior now, but he also feels sorry towards Taeoh who has taken a great liking to Sehun long ago. Jongin can't explain why, but he guesses it must be Sehun's playful and at times childish behavior that makes it easy for Sehun to interact with children. It's not only Taeoh, but his niece Rahee, too, who like Sehun.

"Uncle Hun will see you soon, okay Taeoh?" Sehun asks. Taeoh is still sulking, lips pushed forward in a pout and arms crossed in front of his chest. It's cute rather than intimidating to both adults, who glance at each other and smile, although Sehun is trying to hide his amusement to not upset the child further.

"Okay?" Sehun asks again, and finally Taeoh nods. He walks forward and slings his arms around Sehun's neck when the adult squats down to the same eyelevel.

"See you soon," Taeoh whispers and lets go, his arms now circling Jongin's legs. Sehun nods and gets up, picking up the grocery bags before he takes his leave.

Taeoh is still watching Sehun's retreating form until Jongin ruffles his hair.

"Wanna have fries and hamburgers today?" Jongin asks and bites down his laughter. Taeoh, like every other child, is easy to distract and bribe. Just at the mention of fast food he forgets about Sehun, eyes shining brightly. He tugs at Jongin's jacket in an attempt to pull his father forward towards the family restaurant they frequent.





It's a warm, sunny spring day. After all the snow and cold, Jongin is glad to see the sun shining through fluffier looking clouds. There is life everywhere he goes - people leaving the house to spend time outside and soak up the sunlight, and flowers blooming everywhere.

It's a Sunday, and for once Jongin doesn't have work that he needs to take home and finish in his small, cramped office that is serving as Taeoh's playroom as well. His workspace is small and limited, just a desk in the corner of the room where he put his computer and stacks up files he needs. The rest of the space is Taeoh's personal playground.

Jongin never regretted his decision to spoil his son like that. Taeoh's cheerful laughter and his excited chatter, the wide smiles and animated gestures whenever his son disrupts him while working just to show him something he just discovered doesn't annoy Jongin at all. Rather, he is relieved to find his son trusting him and never hesitating to come running to him at all times, just like now.

It's reassuring to know that Taeoh never walks away too far. He stays within sight, running forth and back, pulling at Jongin's hand to make Jongin hurry up so they arrive at the park sooner, but letting go of the hand quickly to run forward and examine something that has caught his eye, only to come back and run forth again. It's cute to Jongin, who has his phone in his hand, ready to film and take pictures of his adorable son, all to document his baby's childhood, because kids grow up too fast.

Jongin finds Taeoh growing up too fast, too. It feels like yesterday that two months old Taeoh has been handed over to him by a mother who does not care nor love. It took a lot of begging, as well as a lot of money to make the girl he accidentally got pregnant on a drunk night to keep the baby. There were no feelings between mother and father, just a few dates because the attraction was there, not the love. Nonetheless, Jongin couldn't let anyone end an innocent life that hasn’t yet started, even less so when it was his own flesh and blood.

He dated the girl after he learned of the results of that one night, did his best to provide for her and be a good boyfriend, a good soon to be husband. Except, that was not what Heejung wanted. She didn't want an early domestic life. She was dreaming big, of an exciting social life at university, of travelling the world and making career. She didn't want a family – not in my twenties, Jongin – and so they never got married. They just lived together until she gave birth to the most beautiful baby in the entire universe.

Jongin had thought that maybe the sight of her newborn baby would awaken natural motherly instincts, that after giving birth she would have a change of heart and stay, but she didn't, and Jongin didn't pressure her either. People are different, and if she wasn't ready for this, then Jongin would take care of Taeoh on his own.

For some reason, Jongin had hoped for Heejung to change her mind along the way, but it was clear that she wanted a clean cut. Two months after Taeoh's birth, Heejung had given up her parental custody and packed her luggage, and Jongin hasn't heard of her since, only seeing facebook updates and new pictures on instagram. It's not like he cares though. Not anymore. He might not be able to give his son a complete family, but he can handle raising a child on his own. Taeoh has never asked about his mother either. Jongin could perfectly handle both roles. He could be the dad and the mom for his child.

"Daddy," Taeoh shouts, two hands forming a makeshift megaphone around his mouth, as if it would enhance his voice and boost up the volume. "Hurry up."

Jongin chuckles and jogs over to the park's entrance where Taeoh is waiting for him. His son is pointing at the candy floss stand and Jongin ends up buying one that looks like that rabbit character, the one from that messenger app, not minding that it's overpriced. Anything for his child, right?

They walk together, Taeoh pressed to his side because the park is crowded. They are not the only ones who have decided to make use of the nice weather to go outside for a change of air. There are families everywhere - mothers taking care of the youngest children, fathers talking loudly to one another and the other, bigger children running around playing tag and laughing.

"Do you want to join them and make some new friends?" Jongin asks his son who shakes his head. Taeoh just clings to him more, accidentally smearing some candy floss onto Jongin's jeans. Jongin sighs, but doesn't scold Taeoh who looks apologetic. He can't be upset with his son when the boy knows that he has made a mistake and apologized.

"Sorry," Taeoh mumbles, eyes wide and moist.

"It's okay," Jongin says and pulls his son into a hug after picking up the candyfloss. He doesn't need more sticky sugar on his clothes. "It's not going to leave stains. I'll just wash it out later at home."

Truthfully, Jongin is not too sure about that, but if it's really just sugar, it should be fine, right? Even if it left stains, this is just some old washed out pair of jeans. Taeoh's smile is more precious to him than clothes he could dismiss anytime, so when Taeoh finally stops making that sad face, he takes a relieved breath.

"Do you want to finish this candy floss?" Jongin asks and Taeoh shakes his head.

"Daddy can eat the rest," Taeoh says and smiles, and Jongin does, although he doesn't like sweet, sugary things (with the exception of his son, but that is the kind of sweet and sugary that he can tolerate).

"Aw, aren't you two cute together," a very familiar voice coos at them. It takes a longer moment for Jongin to recognize who it is, and his son, who has been quicker, has already left his side to run to Sehun, arms stretched out towards the adult, demanding to be picked up.

Jongin straightens up and sighs softly. He has a hard time to suppress the stabbing feeling of jealousy whenever he sees his son's enthusiastic reactions when seeing Sehun. Sometimes it feels like Taeoh likes Sehun more than Jongin, his own father, and that thought makes Jongin sad, although he would never admit that.

"What a coincidence," Jongin says. Sehun's eyes are twinkling in amusement, mockingly so, as if he knew what was going through Jongin's head. Jongin hopes that his expression hasn't given him away, but it most likely did, especially to someone who has always known him very well. They weren't best friends for no reason, and he didn’t select Sehun to be Taeoh’s godfather for no reason either.

"Yeah," Sehun just agrees and laughs softly when Taeoh demands some of the candy floss all of a sudden.

"Daddy, give Uncle Hun some, too," Taeoh demands, and again, Jongin can't say no. He tries to hand over the stick with the sweet treat, but Sehun's hands are occupied, wrapped around Taeoh's body to keep the boy safe and steady against his chest.

"Feed him," Taeoh demands, so Jongin does, although the feeling of Sehun's lips brushing against his fingers feels strangely intimate. Toointimate. This is not what best friends do, is it? Sehun doesn't show any sign of discomfort, and so Jongin shakes off the feeling and tries his best to regard this as normal. It probably is. Jongin is just overthinking, as always.

They stand awkwardly huddled together with Jongin and Sehun sharing the candyfloss since Taeoh refuses to let go of Sehun. To make up for not playing with Taeoh on the other day, Taeoh insists, screaming when Sehun tries to put him down on the ground, so Sehun keeps carrying him around.

Jongin is embarrassed at his son's sudden spoiled behavior, but Sehun shows nothing but adoration towards Taeoh, so Jongin is assured to some extent, although there are still worries nagging at him. What if Sehun doesn't show his annoyance? His best friend is known for having a poker face after all.

"Should we buy another candy floss?" Sehun asks once they have finished the one Jongin has bought.

"Taeoh, you didn't eat much, right? You should have eaten more," Sehun continues to coo, but Taeoh shakes his head.

"I'm full," the boy says, so Sehun drops him despite the shrieking protests. Jongin closes his eyes, his head hurting for a second.

"If you're full, that means we have to play a lot so you can feel hungry and eat more nice treats again," Sehun says. "Don't you want some ice cream later?"

Jongin shoots Sehun a glare. Although he is a d