Chapter 13: Runaway

Step Away From My Dad, Mister!

 

Juyeon walks into the office that morning with a smile on his face so wide that Younghoon and Jaehyun quickly take notice. 

"Why are you so happy on a Monday morning?" Younghoon asks. 

"Well, over the weekend I told Chanhee that I love him and he told me the same." 

"Good going, Juyeon."

"Yeah, things with you and Chanhee seem to be going pretty well." Jaehyun chimes in. 

"They are. He is the perfect man. He loves watching movies, going on walks at the park, and baking."

"He sounds just like you."

"Yeah, we have some things in common. We're going on a picnic together this weekend and I'm bringing Youngjae."

"Youngjae likes him?" Jaehyun asks. 

"He said he is pretty alright, so I think he just needs a bit more time to warm up to him and then they'll be close." 

"Sounds like Chanhee is the one, huh?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to rush things."

Little does Juyeon know, Eric is talking about Chanhee to his friends too. 

"I don't like that my daddy is spending time with this Mr. Chanhee guy. I want him to spend all his time with me again." Eric says, as he adds sand to the bucket. 

"Then just make him leave your dad alone." Sunwoo suggests. 

"How?"

They all sit and think for a moment. 

"Oh! You can spray him with a hose. Sunwoo did that to me once and it made me mad, maybe if you spray Mr. Chanhee long enough he will get so mad that he will never come back." Hwall proposes. 

"That might work, I will try it this weekend." 

That Saturday afternoon, Juyeon, Chanhee, and Eric all go on a picnic in the park. 

"Youngjae, here is your turkey and cheese sandwich." 

"Thank you, Daddy."

"And here is your ham and cheese sandwich, Chanhee."

"Thank you, Juyeon."

"So, how was your week?" Juyeon asks Chanhee.

"The usual. The dogs I watched didn't give me too much trouble, and I got to watch the cutest lab puppy." 

Juyeon chuckles, thinking about how cute the dog must have been. 

To get Juyeon's attention, Eric smashes the rest of the sandwich into his mouth so he makes a mess. 

"Youngjae, you're going to get messy. Look, you have mayo on your face." Juyeon says.

Chanhee begins to wipe Eric's face, but he whines for Juyeon to do it instead. 

"Calm down, Youngjae. I'm right here." Juyeon responds, as he wipes his son's face. 

"There, all clean. Do you want some fruit now? That shouldn't be too messy." 

"Yes please." Eric answers.

Juyeon reaches into the basket and hands Eric a bag of grapes. Eric crawls into Juyeon's lap and takes the bag. 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome my little prince."

Eric eats his fruit quietly while Chanhee and Juyeon talk. 

"Oh, I made this ice cream cake for dessert. I didn't bring it though because I don't want it to melt. Want to go home and see it?"

"Sure." Chanhee responds. 

Yes, the perfect chance to spray Chanhee with the hose. 

When they arrive at the house, Eric turns the hose on and waits for Chanhee to walk up to the door. Once he is close enough, Eric sprays him with the hose, causing him to fall to the floor. 

"Lee Youngjae, stop that right now." 

Eric shuts the hose off. 

"Go to your room right now young man!" Juyeon orders, taking the hose away from Eric. 

Eric runs to his room and slams the door. Juyeon seems mad at him. What if this makes him love Chanhee even more? What if he forgets all about Eric? He can't stand having Chanhee take his dad away, but it seems like the war is over and he has lost. 

"What if daddy hates me now? I guess I should leave." Eric thinks. 

Eric exits his room and sneaks out of the back door. 

"Goodbye daddy." He waves outside of the house before walking away. 

Eric decides to go to his uncle Kevin's house. Since he is too short to reach the bell, he knocks on the door.

"Eric, what are you doing here by yourself? Did your daddy drop you off?" Kevin questions, after opening the door. 

"Ummm..... yes." 

"Your daddy usually comes with you though. Where is he?"

"Fine, I ran away. Please don't tell my dad." 

"Sorry, Eric. I have to tell him. He will be worried." 

Eric can't let Kevin do that, even if Juyeon does want him back home we will be mad that Eric left without permission. Eric runs away before Kevin can stop him. 

"Eric! Get back here!" 

Eric is just too fast and energetic, he outruns Kevin and hides behind a tree. When the coast is clear, he continues walking. 

At home, Juyeon helps Chanhee dry off. 

"I'm so sorry, Chanhee. Youngjae never acts like this. I have no idea what got into him. I'll go talk to him right now."

Juyeon goes to Eric's room, but doesn't see him. 

"Youngjae, where are you?" 

He looks under the bed, in the closet, and in the toy box, but there is no sign of Eric. Then, his phone rings. 

"Hello?"

"Juyeon, it's me. Eric came by here earlier and I think he is running away from home. I tried to catch him, but he was too fast." 

"What?! Do you know where he went?"

"I'm not sure. I can help you search."

"Okay, thanks." Juyeon hangs up. 

"Is something wrong?" Chanhee asks, as Juyeon walks downstairs. 

"Youngjae ran away from home. I have to go find him. Can you stay and call if he comes back?"

"Of course." 

Eric keeps walking until he reaches the house, luckily for him Hyunjoon and Sunwoo are near the gate. 

"Guys!" He whispers. 

They look over and go to him. 

"Hey, Eric. What are you doing here?"

"I'm leaving home."

"You are? You should come stay with us." Hyunjoon suggests.

"For as long as you want, or at least until our parents catch you." 

"We'll have to sneak you in."

"How?"

After a few minutes, they have a plan. 

"Daddy! Daddy! I got a boo boo!" Hyunjoon yells, running to Jacob who is planting some flowers near the house.

"Aww, where does it hurt?"

Sunwoo and Eric sneak into the open front door behind Jacob's back. 

"On my arm." Hyunjoon points. 

Since Jacob sees no cuts or scrapes, he kisses it better. 

"Is that better?"

Hyunjoon nods and hugs him before going inside. All three of them reunite in Hyunjoon and Sunwoo's room. 

"You can hide in our room until we convince our parents to let you stay." 

"Okay." 

As they are upstairs playing, Sangyeon returns from work.

"Hi, Jacob." Sangyeon greets his husband as he enters the kitchen. 

"Hi honey. How was work?" 

"Good, I sold five cars."

"That's great." 

"Yeah. How about you?"

"Just cleaning and gardening. Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to put the boys clothes away."

"That's okay, I can do it. Where is it?"

"On the dryer. Thank you sweetheart."

Sangyeon goes to get the clothes and goes upstairs to put them away. 

"Oh no, dad is coming." Sunwoo realizes. 

Hyunjoon and Sunwoo quickly hide Eric in the toy chest. 

"Hello, boys." 

"Hi." They reply, as Sangyeon puts the clothes away. 

Sangyeon sees that there are tons of toys on the floor. 

"Boys, you know your toys belong in the bin." 

Sangyeon lifts the lid to show them, but then sees that Eric is hiding inside. 

"Eric, what are you doing in there?"

"Uhhh...."

"Sangyeon, I-"

Jacob pauses when he sees Eric.

"Eric, what are you doing here?"

"There's no play date today?" Sangyeon asks Jacob. 

"No. Eric, does your daddy know that you are here?"

Eric shakes his head. 

"I will call him." Sangyeon says, heading downstairs. 

"Did you walk all the way here?"

"Yes."

"It is so warm outside. Do you want a popsicle?" 

"Yes please." 

"Come on boys, let's go to the kitchen." Jacob says. 

As Jacob gives them popsicles, Sangyeon calls Juyeon. 

"Hello?"

"Hello, Juyeon?"

"No, this is his boyfriend, Chanhee. Juyeon went out to search for his son." 

"Can you call him and tell him that I found Eric? He is friends with my sons and he is at our house." 

Chanhee thanks Sangyeon and calls Juyeon right after. 

"Chanhee? Did Youngjae come back?"

"No, but the Baes called and said that he is at their house." 

Juyeon lets out a sigh of relief and immediately heads over there. 

"That must be your daddy." Jacob says, when he hears the doorbell ring.

He takes Eric's hands and leads him from the kitchen to the front door.  As soon as Jacob opens the door, Juyeon sees Eric and hugs him. 

"I'm so happy that I finally found you." Juyeon tells him. 

Eric hugs him back and Juyeon picks him up.

"Jacob, thank you so much for watching over my son and calling to tell me he was here. I can't thank you guys enough."

"It's fine. If we lost our boys we would be worried and want to locate them as soon as possible too." 

They tell each other to have a good day before Juyeon leaves to take Eric home. Juyeon is quiet the whole car ride home, which makes Eric worry. Is he really mad? What will he do?

When they do get home, Juyeon tells Chanhee that he has to cut the date short so he can deal with Eric. He completely understands and tells both of them goodbye before going home.  Eric is nervous about what his dad will do, so he just says the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Daddy, do you hate me?" Eric questions, with tears starting to run down his face. 

"What? Youngjae, I would never hate you, you're the best son ever. I love you more than anything in this world, you are very important to me." Juyeon says, sitting down to match his son's height. 

"What would make you think such a thing?" Juyeon adds, wiping Eric's tears away. 

"I.... I'm just jealous. I feel like you will like Mr. Chanhee more than me and then he will get all of your attention."  Eric explains. 

"Youngjae, that will never happen, I promise. You will always be the most important person in my life, no matter what. Just because I spend time with Mr. Chanhee that doesn't mean that I will stop spending time with you. You will always come first. Got it?" 

Eric is relieved and joyful to hear that Mr. Chanhee will not replace him and that he will always get to spend time with his dad. 

"Got it. I love you Daddy." Eric says, hugging Juyeon.

"I love you too." Juyeon replies, hugging his son tightly and ruffling his hair. 

"Now, there is one more thing that we need to discuss. You know that it is against the rules to run away from home, right?"

Eric nods. 

"So it is only fair that you receive punishment for breaking the rules then."

Eric nods. 

"That means, you are grounded for two days, one for each hour you made daddy worry. That means you can't watch television or play video games for those two days."

"Yes sir."

"One more thing. Will you promise me something?"

"What is it daddy?"

"Please promise me you will never do this again." Juyeon answers. 

"I promise."

Eric sincerely intends on keeping that promise, because running away was scary and he never wants to leave or worry his loving father again. 

 

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purryaong
#1
Chapter 13: Oh my god! This is the sweetest fic i've ever read! I'll wait for the update hehe ❤️❤️ fighting!!!
butterkeckse
#2
the title is perfect