"You were WHAT?!" 

Halmeoni almost pricked her fingers from her crocheting needles the moment Chung Ae got to the of the story, which was the entire ordeal of them getting lost in the middle of a huge museum with their parents fuming once they found them. Halmeoni agreed to spend time with them today before their father came around for his babysitting duties, something that had been meticulously planned by their parents (the thought sounds absolutely comforting to the point that it makes the kids giddy because of the odds of having someone finding their long lost parent this soon is... well... unlikely even). 

"Halmeoni, we're fine—" 

"My grandchildren were literally running around unsupervised in a museum! I swear when your mother comes home I'm going to—"

"Halmeoni, you haven't even heard the rest of the story."

"What if you were both kidnapped?! What if you never got home?! I would be panicking like your parents—" 

When the words finally registered in her brain, it was like a lock clicked into place, before she looked at the children.

"Children."

"Yes, Halmeoni?"

"Did you intentionally got lost to leave your parents stuck together?"

"..."

"Nam Hee Young and Nam Chung Ae."

"Technically, we're Ji Hee Young and Ji Chung Ae."

"...Were you both aware that a power outage was gonna happen yesterday in the city?"

"Well, no." Hee Young tilted her head. "We didn't really know that the power would go out, but we kinda took it as a chance to get away from them—ow!"

It took a good eight seconds for Halmeoni to pinch their ears, both wailing in pain after she let them go.

"That pinch was for putting yourselves in danger in a large museum. That's unforgivable! If your mother didn't punish you enough, I might do something instead."

"Halmeoni..." The kids pouted with pleading eyes.

"...How long was the lecture?" 

"An hour at least."

"Well then, I'll just add more house chores for the both of you."

"Halmeoni..."

"I'm here to teach discipline too, y'know? I may be Fun Halmeoni, but I'm also going to make sure you two learned your lesson."

The twins sighed. "Yes, Halmeoni."

A beat of silence passed, before Halmeoni leaned in to whisper. "So, how did they look like when you saw them."

They widened their eyes, before exploding into giggling fits. "Well, we were hiding from our spot when we overlooked them, and we saw Appa holding Eomma in his arms."

"Appa's ears were as red as tomatoes." Chung Ae's eyes sparkled in amusement as he recalled their faces.

"Are you kidding me? Eomma's cheeks were redder than his ears!" Hee Young interjected.

"Has your plan worked, then? You think?" Their grandmother raised an eyebrow, an amused smile on her face.

"We think so." The two nodded.

"Think what?" A new voice entered the room.

"Appa!" The children bolted for the door, jumping onto his legs like a tree frog on a branch.

"You missed me already?" He ruffled the top of their heads and squeezed them both. 

"Yes!" They squealed. 

"Chang Wook-ssi?" Halmeoni walked towards the trio, a warm smile on her face. "Would you mind if I talked to you for a moment?"

He nodded. "Of course, Eomeonim." 

The twins loosened their grip on their father as they watched the two adults retreat to a far point in the house, somewhere that they're sure that the children won't overhear the conversation. 

Well, these twins were natural-born investigators, so it was quite easy for them to sneak towards the nearest wall to listen to their muffled voices talk. 

"I heard that you've volunteered at the hospital."

"For a role, actually."

"I see," a rustle of clothes, a shrug maybe. "Have you seen my daughter around?"

"I did. We had a talk about what to do and the schedule for the babysitting before I came here."

"Will there be any custody talk?"

A pregnant pause. "I don't plan on it."

"Why not?"

A beat has passed. 

"Is it safe to assume it's what I've been thinking about?"

Silence.

"I see."

"I... Uh... didn't know she went on a date last time though."

"Ah yes, the date." A creak of wood. "It was pretty eventful, if I heard so myself."

"I'm guessing they all told you what happened already."

"Already planned the punishment, boy. Don't worry."

A sigh. "Eomeonim, if I may, I just... need your advice."

"Go ahead."

"I just... I've acted many different roles in my life, but never would I expect to actually be a father to my own children for real. And it's just... I'm still processing it. I'm confused, and I'm freaking out, and I'm scared for the life of me because I don't know how to be a father. It's like, as much as I try to show effort into being a good father figure and I'm trying to ease my way into their lives it's just..."

Sighs filled the room, and a cracked voice comes up. "Will I ever be prepared for this? Will I ever be a good father to them? What if I give up on this? What if I can't handle that? I love them too much that they deserve someone that is actually prepared to love them wholeheartedly."

A ghost of a chuckle comes out from Halmeoni. "Chang Wook-ssi, no one is really ever prepared to be parents especially from the get go. And even in your situation, I already expected your doubts."

"Really?"

"Even any amount of acting can't hide how unsure you were when my grandchildren ran to you, and you know what? That's okay, because I understand your situation."

A pause. 

"I understand how confused and scared you are, because this is your first time after eight whole years that you found out that you had a family. It's never going to be easy to accept things so easily, especially when something as big as this is thrown at you. Sometimes, you have to let yourself grow into it. It's okay to be confused, and unsure. Believe me, Ji Hyun was as unsure as you were when she held the twins in her arms. She had so many things running through her head, but you know what I said to her? Small steps are learning steps. You'll learn as you go, and you'll understand more things as time allows you to. Don't be too hard on yourself, because you're still on your first tier."

Shaky breaths were muffled through the walls, and then, his voice. "Thank you, Eomeonim. I really needed that."

"Always a pleasure. Now come, it's time you get into the basics of taking care of your babies."

The children scooted away from the wall after that conversation, crawling past the cabinets and onto the living area, where they the television, the dialogue filling the silence between the two.

"So..." Chung Ae started. "Does this mean he doesn't love us?"

"You heard them, Chung Ae," Hee Young sighed. "He's not ready, I guess."

"Is that the same as not loving us?"

"I don't know." Hee Young sulked in her seat. 

A few moments passed as their father and grandmother came back to the living room, only this time, they were met with unusual silence for the twins. Halmeoni looked at Chang Wook before giving him a small nod, and turning her gaze to the kids. 

"I'm leaving! Give Halmeoni a kiss before I go!"

The two ran up to their grandmother and gave kisses on both of their cheeks. "Stay safe, Halmeoni."

"I will. I love you both."

"We love you, too." 

And as the front door closed, Chang Wook, slowly made his way towards the children, sitting nearby to engage them, but he noticed that the two were quieter than before. 

"Did something happen? Did you two get into a fight?"

"No, Appa." Hee Young shook her head. 

"Is there something wrong? You can tell me." He clasped his hands together as he looked at the kids.

Chung Ae looked at him with pleading eyes. "Do you love us, Appa?"

He cracked a small smile. "Of course I do, you're my babies. I love my babies more than anything."

"But... do you want us to be your babies?"

Chang Wook widened his eyes a bit, the cogs on his head turning as he pieced the scene together. "Of course, I do."

"But you said you weren't ready for us."

"Chung Ae-yah!" Hee Young snapped. 

His resolve seemed to dissolve as he leaned back on the sofa. "You... You heard all of that?"

"Eomma likes to call us her little mice, since we like snooping a lot, so..." Chung Ae shrugged.

He sighed as he looked at the kids, his heart breaking at the thought of them hearing those words when he spoke to Eomeonim. Moments like this made him realize how much he wished to be prepared  He doesn't know how much did they hear from that conversation, but as much as possible, he wanted to make things right for all three of them. 

"Did you know that Appa's appa died?"

The twins looked at him as he started his story. "Yeah, Appa's appa died when I was at your age. I didn't have anyone to consider a father when I was growing up, and I wish sometimes that he was still here, to at least guide me and tell me what to do."

The twins slowly crawled towards him, and Chang Wook willingly opened his arms to let them in his embrace. "But you know something? I realized that if I ever became an appa, I would be the best appa they would ever have. I want my babies to feel loved as much as any father would for their children. And, I'm sorry that you two had to hear that, but, Appa's still learning how to be a father. I want to be the best for you both, and I want to be in your lives as much as possible."

"But, we already love you!"

"I know you do, but I want to be the best appa there is, that every dad around us would be jealous. And, I want to learn as much as possible to understand what's best for you. So, I'm sorry if there will be times that Appa won't be enough or if he makes mistakes, but I'll do my best to be the best that there is, only for you two."

They gripped his torso tightly, and he wound his arms around them in response, squeezing them tightly and feeling the warmth radiate from his chest.

"I hope I can be a good father for the both you. I really do. I'll work hard and prove that I'm worthy to be your father."

They would say that having him with them is enough, but it felt too nice to be in his arms that they would rather cuddle instead of speak.

__

"Chung Ae, what did you put?" Hee Young asked as she tasted the batter. It was well over after noon, and they decided to bake some cookies to spare some time after watching a movie.

"Sugar."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! It's literally written on the—oh."

"Chung Ae, that's salt!"

"I just knew it by now!" Chung Ae cried out, a bit of his tears prickling in his eyes.

"Why didn't you check it properly?"

"I just found out about it now!" He finally broke into a sob.

"Hey, hey..." Chang Wook hurried back into the kitchen after a taking a phone call, hearing the distressed cries from his son. "What happened?"

"I ruined our cookies." He squeaked. "I put too much salt in them."

Chang Wook took the small spoon and got a taste of the batter. Yep, that was salty alright.

"That's nothing we can't fix, alright?" He smiled. "We'll just put more sugar, and if it's a little more salty, we'll adjust the ingredients, and they'll be our special salty chocolate chip cookies."

"Salty chocolate chip cookies?"

"Mhm." He chuckled, wiping his son's tears. 

"I'm sorry I cried." He sighed. "Boys were told not to cry a lot."

"Hey," he smiled. "It's okay for boys and girls to cry. We're people, we're allowed to cry. Even Appa cries on TV. It's normal for all of us to be emotional."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "If anyone insults you when you cry, just tell me or eomma, okay? We'll solve it together."

Chung Ae sniffled as Chang Wook cooed him to calm down, meanwhile he was also watching Hee Young trying to peer over what to grab from the high shelves, but she can't reach it. Once he was sure that Chung Ae was calm, he gave his daughter a little boost by placing her on his shoulders, earning a small squeal from her.

"What were you trying to get?" He smiled, as the little girl giggled.

"We hid the parchment paper here somewhere." She said, sifting through the spaces of the cabinets, before pulling out a roll of translucent paper by the corner of the last shelf. "Got it!"

"That's my girl!" He cheered, before spinning her around for a bit and setting her down, giggles and squeals leaving her lips. 

"Me next!" Chung Ae jumped towards him, and Chang Wook laughed as he pinched his cheeks and settled on his shoulders. 

"Alright, little chef." Chang Wook joked, referencing the film they saw earlier. "What do you want me to do?"

Chung Ae tugs on his hair, and Chang Wook makes a show of lifting his right arm to grab the whisk and stir the contents in the bowl. Once they were finished rolling the dough into balls and onto the tray, Chang Wook placed Chung Ae down as they placed it in the oven and cleaned up the counter of its contents. The kids laugh when he accidentally lets the flour explode on his face, and he pays them back by swiping a bit on their cheeks. Laughs and squeals filled the room as they all chased each other, spewing flour on each other. Once it was clear that they were all dusted with the white powder, Chang Wook made sure that the two would make it through the living room without slipping or hitting their head or anything that would endanger their lives (and his life as well, because he's pretty sure Ji Hyun was going to kill him once another hospital visit happens under her shift).

"Kids," he sighed. "Clean up for a bit first, and we'll clean the house after."

"But Appa, can we play a little more?"

"We'll play when we finish all of our housework, alright?"

"Appa..."

"Kids..."

They sighed, knowing they already lost the fight. They both went upstairs, but not before doing rock-papers-scissors on who's going to take a bath first. Bickering ensued, before they both bolted upstairs, leaving Chang Wook to deal with the mess in the living room. As he found the vacuum cleaner, he took his time to take out all of the flour and dust on the carpet and sofa, while looking at the pictures displayed on the desk near the seats. He sees pictures of the newborn twins, both in their mother's arms, all sweaty and tired and pale. The picture leaves a pinch in his heart and the pit of his stomach. He wished somehow that he would be there. He wished somehow that he would at least turn back the time to see them born into this world, holding her hand as she brought their children out to this world. Even if he tried to deny it, even if he tried to bury it deep inside him, it still hurt that he wasn't there during the milestones of his kids. He wanted to see it all: their first words, first walks, first baths, first crawls... It hurt him that he won't get those back, that he won't experience it. It was also another issue that he still felt uneasy with this new role of his, despite his efforts to act like it's okay. It made him feel guilty that he wasn't an experienced person, that he feels like an outsider still, but he was determined to go through this, because he wanted to make sure that his children won't ever feel like they missed a father figure in their life. He looked further as the years went by, and the twins grew, but if there was one thing that didn't change, it was Ji Hyun. If anything, her beauty grew finer as she blossomed into a woman. You can see her maturity in her movements, but her beauty was timeless, like she was frozen in time and that youthfulness still remained in her. But, that uneasy feeling still settled within him as he remembered what she did to him. It felt unforgivable that she kept them a secret, despite circumstances. It wasn't going to be easy when it comes to their reconciliation, given that they're only at a truce because of their children. He was doing this for his family, and he wants to make things right. He just hopes it's not too late though. 

"Appa!" 

A shout comes from upstairs, and he settles the vacuum immediately before running towards their room. 

"What happened?!" He barged into the room, his adrenaline spiking, only to lower again once he saw the situation.

"There's an injured bird by my desk." Hee Young spoke softly, as if she was cooing at the brown sparrow lying on top of the table. "Can we take care of it for the meantime?"

He sighed in relief, a chuckle even escaping his lips as he walked towards them, patting the little bird with the pads of his fingers. "Do you have any names for it?"

Hee Young's eyes light up at the thought. "How about... Luna?"

"Luna?"

"I thought it was a pretty name." She shrugged.

"Alright," he smiled at the bird. "Let's take care of Luna so she can fly better soon, alright?"

The cheer leaving her lips was enough to make him feel content. More than anything, he was hoping he gets to live a long life making sure that his little family would be happy, one way or another.

__

After a gruesome 24-hour shift, Nam Ji Hyun finally pulls up to the driveway of her home, only to be surprised that there was another vehicle near her home. She checked her watch: 11:45 pm, and there was a small light in the living room, as seen glowing through the window. Careful not to disturb anyone, she slipped on her house slippers and opened the door, and it the sight felt like a fever dream to her: Chang Wook was passed out on the couch, with the twins sleeping by his lap, the television playing old cartoons as they breathed slowly in their positions. A half-eaten cookie was on a plate by the table, but what caught her eye even more was a different set of cookies on the counter, with a note attached to it. Reading it felt like a sharp stab to the chest, and she knew, that things were starting to be more different than it should be, and she wasn't sure if she can handle it.

---

A/N: HOW LONG HAVE I NOT UPDATED THIS HDKHKSJHGKSH I'm so sorry! Life has been tough, things have taken a toll on me, I've been crying and working my way through semesters and school, and more than ever, I needed to write about them now because I miss them so much that it makes me cry somehow like I really miss them I wanna see them again and stuff 🤧 Sorry for being inactive for a while, it really was hard writing when you're caught up in your thoughts. Anyways, I hope you're all safe, healthy, and loved. Don't forget to support our OTPs upcoming projects ❤️ love you guys! I'll update to the best of my abilities!