Ewon

Hours later Ewon was still fuming over Nichkhun telling Wooyoung they'd find a new home for the boy if he wanted to leave their home. He knew there was some sort of strategy Nichkhun was employing with their son, but he'd been too frustrated and pissed off to ask about it.

Wooyoung had seemed happy and excited, at the outset, to see his room. He touched all of the dolls and ponies that Narsha and Kwanghee had dropped off. He'd asked Nichkhun if he could play with the toys in the room or if they were for the other kids. Nichkhun had reassured him that no other kids would be living with them, but Wooyoung didn't look convinced.

Ewon had badly misjudged Wooyoung's homecoming. He'd figured since the child knew him and Nichkhun that he would just leap into their arms and start calling them "Daddy". It had been a simplistic way to look at Wooyoung's first day with them.

He'd never stopped to consider other paths their first day could have taken. Who could have guessed the little boy would have been drugged to the gills? For the first two hours he'd been at the house, Wooyoung acted like something out of The Walking Dead.

It had only been three weeks since the last day of school. Wooyoung had been bouncing around the classroom that day telling all of the kids in his class that he was going to spend the summer playing Pretty Ponies and going to the beach. Had Wooyoung been told that's what was going to happen or was that a fantasy his mind had made up to cope with what was going on at home with Aunt Rania?

Aside from Nichkhun promising they'd find Wooyoung a new home if he didn't want to stay, the worst part was the boy not playing with his new toys. Ewon could see the excited look in his eyes when he'd gotten a look at the dolls and ponies, but then something stopped him from reaching out to take them off the shelves.

A shudder tore through Ewon's body. He wondered if Wooyoung was beaten or put in time-out if he tried to play with the other kids' toys in the foster home.

Then there was dinner. The boy wolfed down his dinosaur chicken nuggets and smiley fries. Nichkhun had given Wooyoung a second serving of both and they'd caught the boy sticking spare nuggets in the pockets of his shorts.

Ewon had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom to try to pull himself back together. He knew that type of food hoarding behavior meant one thing: Wooyoung had gone hungry. He needed to speak to Nichkhun about how to fix this behavior. When he'd come out of the bathroom, Nichkhun was putting a plate filled with leftover food on the bottom shelf of the fridge and telling Wooyoung that if he was hungry, the food was right there for him.

It was an image that, hours later, he still couldn't get out of his head. Ewon knew he needed to grow up and go talk to his husband about Wooyoung instead of moping around his bedroom. He opened the door to his room and walked across the hall to Wooyoung's room. The little boy was sound asleep clutching his new pony stuffed animal, wrapped in his princess blanket. 

Wooyoung had been unsure if the pretty pink blanket was his and had refused to be wrapped up in it when they'd tucked him in. Thankfully, Wooyoung had grabbed it on his own after he and Nichkhun had left.

Ewon could hear the television going downstairs and took a deep breath. He needed to remember to use his words and then hear Nichkhun out in return. The last thing he wanted was for Wooyoung to hear them fighting with each other.

"Hey." Ewon said, walking into the living room.

Nichkhun was sprawled out on the couch, watching an episode of Hello Counselor. Sitting up, Nichkhun paused the show and turned toward Ewon.

"We've got a lot to talk about." Ewon couldn't help remembering Gain's advice to never go to bed angry. , it was only day two of their married life together and Ewon was already angry at Nichkhun.

:Yeah. I was wondering if you'd come down or if I'd have to go up and knock on your door." Nichkhun smiled sheepishly "Are you still pissed at me? I don't see you shooting daggers at me with your eyes anymore, so that's a good sign."

"Nichkhun, he's our son and you just offered to find a new home for him if he didn't like it here." Ewon tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but knew if could hear the frustration then Nichkhun could too. 

Nichkhun patted the sofa "Come sit." when Ewon didn't move, Nichkhun grinned at him "I promise I won't bite."

Ewon snorted and sat on the sofa.

"Look, what I saw in Wooyoung was fear and mistrust. I knew it would overwhelm him if we told him this was his forever home and we were his forever fathers. That's why I told him he could leave after a week. I was hoping to make him feel like he had some control over the situation."

Ewon nodded. He should have figured that out for himself. He'd seen the mistrust in Wooyoung, but had just figured when the boy saw how good they were to him, he would understand their family was different from living with Aunt Rania "What happens when the week ends and Wooyoung wants to leave like you told him he could?"

"We need to make sure that won't happen." Nichkhun said simply.

"That's easier said than done."

"Did you do that thing at the end of the school year when you asked your students what their plans were for the summer?"

Ewon nodded "Wooyoung said he was going to play Pretty Ponies and go to the beach."

"So we start there. I love going out to Eurwangni Beach. You can usually find huge clam shells, sand dollars and sometimes sea glass." 

Ewon thought about it for a minute "With Wooyoung's possible ADHD walking around looking for beach treasures might be better than expecting him to sit and play in the sand."

"Plus, sometimes kids who were born addicted to heroin have sensory issues as well and don't like the texture of the sand against their feet."

"Right. I've had kids with sensory issues in my class. They can't stand the feel of certain fabrics against their skin or have trouble with shirt tags." Ewon had seen the way these kids suffered and hoped Wooyoung didn't have similar issues.

"We could go out in the morning and get Wooyoung water shoes and a bathing suit. Maybe some sand toys and a princess towel."

Ewon nodded. Nichkhun really was such a sweet man. He had never really given the doctor much of a chance, what with the way Junho kept pushing the two of them together. Now that they were legally married, Ewon really needed to make an effort to get to know his husband better "I think that's a great idea. We'll just focus on having fun with Wooyoung."

Nichkhun reached out and cupped Ewon's face "He's our son. We're not going to lose him. I promise you that, Ewon. He's going to see how much we love him and what a great family we make."

Ewon rubbed his face against Nichkhun's smooth palm. Desire for the doctor pulsed through Ewon's veins. He couldn't help wondering if Nichkhun was feeling the same thing. 

Tilting Ewon's face toward him, Nichkhun kissed Ewon's cheek "This is a dream come true."

"What? Kissing me?" Ewon's heart was pounding so hard, he could feel each beat in his toes.

Nichkhun chuckled "I meant building a family with you. But maybe kissing you would be a dream come true too." not bothering to wait for Ewon's reply, Nichkhun pressed his lips against Ewon's.

Ewon moaned. It was only a quick brush of Nichkhun's lips against his own, but to Ewon, that small kiss lit an inferno in him. His started to fill as he kissed Nichkhun back, reaching out run his fingers through the doctor's dark brown hair. It was just as silky against his fingertips as he thought it would be.

Nichkhun pulled back, his black eyes were darkened with passion. Those dark eyes searched Ewon's.

"Well..." Ewon smiled "...was kissing me a dream come true?" Ewon waggled his eyebrows. It certainly was a dream come true for Ewon. If he wasn't careful, he was going to start falling in love with his husband.

Nichkhun

Nichkhun rolled his eyes "It was until you opened your big mouth." he got up off the couch and headed toward the kitchen. He needed to get away from Ewon, otherwise, he'd end up kissing him again. And again. And probably again. 

Junho and Chansung had been pushing him and Ewon together every chance they got. He had a feeling that was part of the reason why he'd never really given the teacher a second look. Well, that and Ewon's perennially running mouth.

Usually, Ewon was awkwardly hilarious. He'd say things that were just on the line of being inappropriate, but his group of friends never seemed to mind. He also had this way of saying what everyone else was thinking but didn't have the guts to say.

Nichkhun couldn't say he'd admired that in Ewon, but with Wooyoung in the mix now, he had no doubt Ewon would do everything in his power to stand up and advocate for their son.

"Wow." Ewon said from behind Nichkhun "That's the first time a man has kissed me and run off since I was in the seventh grade."

Nichkhun turned around to see Ewon sliding into one of the high-back bar stools on the other side of the kitchen island "Okay, Hot Lips." Nichkhun raised an eyebrow "Why did that boy run off?"

"Well, Choi Minho was a jock, sort of. He always came in first when we ran races in gym class and he was the guy making acrobatic catches when we played baseball. He was super cute with his dark hair, big round eyes and tight fitting blue jeans."

"Christ, you were twelve.  Don't tell me the kid wore skinny jeans back then?" Nichkhun's heart was still pounding. He wanted to lean over the island and plant another kiss on Ewon, but he wouldn't. He couldn't. They needed to raise Wooyoung together and the last thing they needed was to let get in the way of fatherhood.

Nichkhun's didn't like the rationale behind that line of thought. He'd never been very good at relationships in the past and the only thing that mattered right now was Wooyoung. His would have to settle for his right hand.

Ewon laughed "Nah, it was just the way he filled them out. Anyway, we were partners on a group project in science class. We had to come up with a hypothesis and then try to prove it was true. So we were in the school library looking for books about the subject and Minho kissed me. BAM! Just smacked one on me."

"What happened?" Nichkhun found himself drawn in by the story. He wondered what it would have been like to know Ewon back in middle school. Would he have wanted to kiss him then like Choi Minho had done?

"I forgot all about the science project. I can tell you that!" Ewon waggled his eyebrows at Nichkhun "It lasted for a few seconds. Just lips, no tongue, and when he pulled away, he looked terrified and just booked it out of the library. I could hear the slap of his tennis shoes against the tiled floor as he ran away from me."

"What happened after that?" Nichkhun had a feeling he knew what Ewon was going to say. 

"Minho asked to be assigned to a new partner on the project and he never spoke to me again. It was okay because a few weeks after that I was on to my next foster home." Ewon shrugged.

"I can beat that. My first kiss was the worst!" Nichkhun hated that Ewon had been shuffled around from one foster home to another. It didn't give him a chance to make friends or live with a family who truly cared about him. It was no wonder the teacher was closed-off and didn't really share much of himself with Nichkhun.

"Oh, yeah? Do tell."

Nichkhun grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. He opened them both and slid one over to Ewon. He stayed where he was on the opposite side of the kitchen island. He didn't trust himself to be near the other man right now.

Ewon was his lower lips and looking oh so kissable. Add booze into the mix and Nichkhun would have been all over Ewon like a cheap suit "Back in elementary school in L.A., the girls would run around at recess and try to kiss the boys."

Ewon started to laugh "So it's true then about California girls being fast."

Ewon laughed with him "These girls used to run around in a pack, like wolves. They'd target one boy and chase him. There were so many girls that one of them was bound to catch you." 

"So which girl caught and kissed you?"

"I don't remember her name, but she had long blonde hair that she always wore in a crazy French braid. Sometimes it would start at the back of her head and come around the side." Nichkhun snorted "Anyway, she caught me and kissed me on the lips. She tasted like Cool Ranch Doritos. To this day I can't eat them."

Ewon laughed so hard, beer shot out of his nose which made him laugh harder.

Nichkhun handed him a paper towel. For the first time since they'd met, Nichkhun took a minute to listen to Ewon laughing. Why had he never noticed how cute his husband was? Ewon's laugh was rich and full. It made Nichkhun want to learn a bunch of dirty jokes just so he could make Ewon laugh again.

"That's a crying shame. You lost out on a delicious snack because of your first kiss. I guess my experience with Minho wasn't so bad then."

Nichkhun shook his head. He couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if he'd been Ewon's first kiss. Would he have run away too or would he have stayed to see what Ewon would have done next?