RJ/HC DRFT4:

 

Title: Last of The Disaster Dates

 

Date of Disaster: February 14, 2050

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Hyuck,” Renjun whispered to his husband when he awoke, the slightly younger male snoring lightly next to him on the large bed. “I love you.” He sat up, stretched and groaned before he got up and began to make pancakes - the western treat being one of Mei’s favourites. It wasn’t too long before he heard a shrill scream followed by a thud and continuous footsteps that were bound for his own spot near the kitchen where he was mixing ingredients for the pancake mix.

“Baba! It’s been a year!” He heard his daughter scream, already used to her boisterous nature since this was a usual morning occurrence.

“Congratulations,” he stated flatly, focusing on pouring the right amount of pancake mix into his pan and could imagine his daughter pouting slightly - much like how his own husband did when he ignored him. “I thought you guys officially got together on the fifteenth though?”

“Shhhhh, that’s irrelevant,” Mei replied, coming around from the counter to where he was at the stove to watch him cook the pancakes.

“How is it irrelevant when it’s the start of your relationship?” he asked, chuckling when she whined the same whine that he swore she got from Donghyuck. “Anyway, you still have school so go shower and then your share of pancakes will be done.”

“Ugh, I hate school!” She exclaimed, groaning loudly after and causing Renjun to chuckle even more at her. “Seriously, why the is it so hard?!”

“Hey, language,” he chastised, glaring at her as she quickly changed her expression to a sheepish one. “And honestly, you will be fine as long as you graduate. We’ll always be here for you.”

“Well yeah but I don’t want to like depend on you and Appa forever,” Mei complained, shaking her head before looking back at Renjun with determination. “I want to be independent someday.”

“Maybe you can be when you pass your driving test,” he replied, smile on his face as he flipped the first pancake to reveal the nice brown hue that signalled it was perfect.

“Look, it’s not my fault that the statistics change-“

 

“Why the hell are you two so loud?!”

 

Smiling in amusement, Renjun looked towards the entrance of the kitchen to reveal his husband clad in his pastel blue pyjamas - which matched his own pastel pink ones he was wearing - rubbing one of his eyes sleepily.

 

“Morning Appa!” Mei greeted, skipping down to where Donghyuck was, placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek before running to her room to grab her towel for a shower. He watched in amusement as Donghyuck grumbled back a response and latched himself onto Renjun, warmth spreading across his back as Donghyuck leaned more of his weight on him. He vaguely heard the water running in their bathroom.

“Morning, Hyuck,” he whispered for the second time, carefully taking the cooked pancake in the pan out and pouring in a new one. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Morning babe,” Donghyuck whispered in response, burying his face in his shoulder as Renjun steadily cooked the pancakes. “Happy Valentine’s,” Donghyuck mumbled after ten minutes, sleep slowly creeping into the other’s words. One by one, the pancakes were poured into the pan and cooked with the stove being turned off shortly after, all done with Donghyuck clinging to his back with his arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.

“Hyuck, I need to plate these,” he protested, unable to lean down to the cupboard under the counter to grab two more plates. “I can’t bend if you keep pulling me back upright.”

“But I don’t want to let go!” He heard his husband whine, scoffing in response at the thought of his husband - who was nearly fifty - whining as if he were a child. “You’re warm.”

“Don’t you want warm pancakes too?” he asked and chuckled in amusement when Donghyuck finally let him go, allowing him to bend and collect two more plates. However, when he came back up, Donghyuck immediately resumed his place on top of Renjun’s back. Sighing, Renjun trudged over to where he left the stack of six pancakes, evenly distributing them on the plates and chucking on a few strawberries and blueberries alongside the maple syrup bottle that he forced Donghyuck to get for him.

 

“What if he doesn’t like my present?!” He heard Mei ask from where she was already seated on the dining table, cutlery and placemats set. “What if he thinks it’s too childish?”

“Mei, you made that bear from scratch,” he pointed out, putting down her plate of pancakes before her as Donghyuck placed the two in his hands in front of their seats. “He’ll love it regardless.”

“Plus, you guys are going pretty strong,” Donghyuck piped up, cutting a piece from his pancake and nibbling on it as he thought. “A year is a long time.”

“Nothing compared to the ten years it took you and Baba to get together.” Renjun heard Mei mumble and hit her head, irritated since his daughter never let them live that down. After all, it wasn’t his fault that Donghyuck simply didn’t confess and settled for setting him up on dates!

“We’re a special case,” Donghyuck replied before Renjun saw Mei pout and bite her lip, her fork pushing away a stray blueberry - it had come off as odd since they were her favourite fruit. “Hey, look at me.” He heard his husband say softly as Mei slowly looked up at him, eliciting a smile from Donghyuck who barely functioned in the morning while Renjun sat down in his seat. “Everything will be fine, okay? Junki treasures you.”

“But he treasures everyone!” Mei protested and Donghyuck looked at Renjun in anger since they both knew that she had picked up on Renjun’s habit of denying the truth. “Minsoo-oppa, Minkyu-oppa, Minho-oppa…everyone! Even little Kyunghwa!”

 

Renjun found himself sighing internally at the latest addition to their little family - Kyunghwa, a small and shy little girl of around 6 years who was adopted by Minsoo when he saw her at an orphanage that he volunteered at. He, himself, was not so sure about how he would feel if his daughter adopted a child at the age of twenty-one but Minsoo had always been the more responsible and reserved twin - even if little Kyunghwa didn’t have a mother yet.

 

“He’ll like it, trust us,” he said, cutting a piece off from his half-eaten pancake and offering it to Donghyuck who eagerly ate it. “It’s from you. It’s like if Donghyuck miraculously got me a present for Valentine’s. He could literally give me a dying rose and I would still treasure it.”

“Thanks for the idea,” Donghyuck piped up, unceremoniously shoving a piece of pancake into Renjun’s mouth when he opened it to tell him off. “But I think what your Baba is trying to say is that it doesn’t matter what you give Junki, as long as it’s from you.”

“Okay…okay…” Mei mumbled, finally poking the blueberry with her fork and eating it. “I’ll give it to him,” She said with finality, hurriedly cutting and eating her pancake before she stood abruptly and began to pack her bag, her body merely streaks behind them as they ate.

“Wow, to think its been a year…time really flies…” he said in awe, shaking his head and eating more of his pancake.

“Yeah, I’ve been sleeping next to your annoying for nineteen years, can you believe that?” Donghyuck asked, finishing his pancake as Renjun kicked him from underneath the table.

“Shut up, you love me,” he stated, shoving the rest of his pancake in his mouth and standing up to collect the plates.

“No, you’re not doing that,” Donghyuck stated, immediately grabbing his plate and stealing the one in Renjun’s hands with the cutlery, turning around and literally running to the kitchen. “Have a shower and drop Mei off! I have a surprise for you later!”

“Since when did you boss me around!?” he shouted back as he obediently went to their bedroom, nearly bumping into Mei along the way, and grabbing his towel to shower.

 

He heard lots of shouting while he showered as well as a loud crash and figured that it was just Donghyuck dropping another plate or Mei bumping into another vase. When he came out, he scurried to the bedroom and hurriedly got dressed, throwing on whatever pants seemed clean and one of Donghyuck’s hoodies that was hanging from the cupboard’s doorknob.

 

“You ready?” he called, seeing Mei nod quickly as she struggled to zip up her backpack, a piece of toast in - Donghyuck must have insisted again. “Let’s go.” They both made their way to the family car that was a pretty laid back navy SUV, Renjun climbing into the driver’s seat as Mei got into the passenger’s seat. “Bag?”

“Check,” Mei replied, smiling since they did this every morning to ensure that she didn’t forget anything.

“That one English assignment Mark-hyung helped you with?”

“Check!” Mei screamed when she finally found it crumpled at the bottom of her bag.

“Seatbelt?”

“Check,” Mei replied, clipping in her seatbelt before smoothing her school skirt.

“And Junki’s present?” he asked, already knowing the answer since the special gift bag was on top of Mei’s lap.

“Check,” Mei breathed out, nodding and letting Renjun put his own seatbelt on before he reversed out of the driveway and began driving down to the school. “Hey Baba…” He hummed to let her know he was listening as he put his indicator on. “How many years have you and Appa been married?”

“Hmmm…nineteen?” he asked, shaking his head when he realised that it hadn’t been that long just yet. “No, it’ll be nineteen years in July. So…eighteen and a bit. Why?”

“And you two haven’t like…separated or gotten tired of each other yet?” Mei asked, curiosity in her eyes as she held onto the gift bag and Renjun had a feeling where all this insecurity was coming from.

“Mei…love isn’t a feeling,” he stated, receiving a confused look from his daughter before he elaborated. “Well…it is but technically, it isn’t. It’s more like…commitment. Love is when you can go outside and meet so many new people but choose to go back to the person waiting for you at home. That’s why your Appa and I haven’t separated. We don’t want to, and we’ll keep choosing each other.”

“So, where does cheating come in? Because isn’t cheating breaking your commitment?” Mei asked, biting her lip lightly and Renjun wanted to ask her what exactly was happening and if anyone was hurting her.

“Cheating is…complicated. Personally, if someone was to hit on me and was super cute, I’d probably lead them on for a while,” he answered, giving her a soft smile when she showed him her shocked face. “But if it became more serious to when someone would want to date me or have with me or something while I was already dedicated to your Appa, that’s where love comes in. I’d reject them in the blink of an eye because I have someone waiting for me at home.”

“I…I guess that makes sense,” Mei agreed, nodding her head slightly before looking out the window.

“So, are you going to tell me where all of this came from?” he asked, slowing down to stop at a traffic light but saw Mei shake her head.

“Not yet…I don’t even know if it’s true yet,” Mei answered and sighed, causing him to pat her head lovingly before the light turned green once more. He reached the school and watched as his daughter stepped out of the car, her tanned skin glowing in the sun much like Donghyuck’s.

“Take care,” he said in parting, seeing her smile at him before she repeated the same thing and disappeared into the school’s campus, the buildings hiding her figure from him the further away she walked.

 

Time really does fly…eighteen years and nearing nineteen…wow…

 

“Welcome back!” He heard his husband greet when he entered the apartment, his tanned skin glowing underneath their dim lights and he couldn’t resist smiling wide at the pyjamas that they were still in. “I got you a gift,” Donghyuck mumbled after he had hugged Renjun tightly, his cheek pushed up against his own shoulder and his body spreading so much warmth.

“I got you one too,” he replied, remembering the small scrap book that he had stored in a handy tray that had several book spines glued onto it and placed on their bookshelf. “You better like it.”

“I want to give you mine first!” Donghyuck exclaimed, his face lighting up and showcasing his slight wrinkles that were by his eyes. “It’s brilliant!”

“Okay, give it to me then, Hyuck,” he teased, untangling himself form their hug and walking over to the couch. “I’m waiting.”

“One sec!” Donghyuck screamed, running to their bedroom and coming back to him with a relatively small box that seemed to be quite heavy. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Lee Renjun.”

“Thanks, Hyuck,” he said softly, accepting the box and kissing Donghyuck on the cheek when he sat beside him. “Can I shake it?”

“No!” Donghyuck shouted, hands immediately coming over his to keep the box still. “It’s very fragile and only God knows how we managed to raise a kid when that’s your first instinct with something small.”

“Enough slander,” he stated, carefully lifting the head off the box and revealing a tiny jar filled to the brim with folded notes. “This better not be reasons for getting a pet baby bear.”

“But baby bears are cute!” He heard Donghyuck protest and laughed despite himself, immediately leaning forward to press a kiss to Donghyuck’s lips before opening the jar lid. The first piece of paper that he unfolded read ‘I want you to smile but then you’ll put the sun out of business and the world will have no light so…even if you frown, it’s okay!’ and Renjun’s first instinct was to place the glass jar down on the couch between them where it would be safe. His second instinct was to throw the piece of paper at his husband and his third instinct was to throw one of the couch cushions shortly after.

 

“Jun!” Donghyuck screamed just as the cushion hit his face, a red patch beginning to form somewhere on his forehead. “I wrote those using my brain!”

“We both know that you don’t have one,” he stated flatly, neatly picking up the slightly crumpled piece of paper before he placed it in his lap and picked up another one. This time, the piece of paper read ‘I swear Mei got her whines from you but it’s okay because I wouldn’t want anyone else to raise her’. Renjun hated the way his breath got caught in his throat at the words on the paper, the raw emotion and appreciation bleeding into his soul before he carefully made himself put the glass jar on the coffee table in front of them, hastily shoving the two pieces of paper he had taken out of it back in and then attacking Donghyuck’s face with numerous kisses.

“Hang on-” Donghyuck tried to protest, lips only being met with Renjun’s. “Ren-”

“I love you so much, Donghyuck,” he whispered against one of Donghyuck’s moles on his neck, loving the way Donghyuck’s hands rested on his waist and kept him steady. “I love you.”

“You better,” Donghyuck chuckled, using one of his hands to redirect Renjun’s gaze to his eyes. “I married you.”

“Yep, worst but best decision of my entire life,” he teased, earning a mere eye roll from Donghyuck before they were both laughing.

“I love you too, Jun.” He heard Donghyuck whisper once their laughter ceased, a small smile making its way onto his face before he suddenly remembered his own present.

“Close your eyes, babe,” he instructed as Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, curiosity evident in his eyes. “Your present.”

“,” Donghyuck commented before he immediately shut his eyes, forcing Renjun to heave himself up and grab the scrapbook that was still hidden in their bookshelf. Once he had the book in his hands, he immediately threw it down on Donghyuck’s stomach, laughing when Donghyuck let out a yelp of pain.

“Happy Valentine’s, babe,” he said, sitting down beside Donghyuck as he stared at the cover of the scrapbook that read ‘(Huang turned Lee) Renjun’s Adventures (and bad decisions)’ in neat calligraphy that he had practiced for months beforehand.

“If it’s my gift, why is your name in the title?” Donghyuck asked, voice flat and Renjun took a deep breath, his sharp inhale signalling his prediction of that question.

“So, you don’t forget who gave it, obviously,” he answered, cuddling into Donghyuck side before opening the book. “Hurry and read it.”

 

Together, Renjun spent the rest of his morning cuddling with Donghyuck as they flipped through the pages of the scrapbook that consisted of their first meeting in their last year of high school, the first time they declared each other as best friends, the first few dates that Renjun had been forced to go on by his husband and all the dates and significant kisses that they had shared – together.

 

“I can’t believe you added in the movie date,” Donghyuck had commented when he had closed the book that ended with Mei’s birth. “How is that a significant event?”

“Hello? You slapped me in the face!” he protested, receiving a scoff from Donghyuck before they both decided to lie down on the couch and fall asleep despite it nearing lunch, both of their gifts sitting side by side on the coffee table in front.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Date of Disaster: August 15, 2050

 

“I swear I am going to kill Junki one day!” He heard Mei scream when she came home after a date with her boyfriend. “He is so- ugh!”

“Well, he is Jisung’s son and that kid didn’t even realise that Chenle liked him,” Donghyuck commented, putting one file away as he picked up another for his case on the couch. From where he sat on the other end, Renjun simply continued sketching the newest character needed for the game that the company was going to create.

“What did he do this time?” he asked, erasing out a little bit of the outline and redrawing it smoother.

“He keeps hanging out with that Jieun girl!” Mei screeched, huffing angrily and sitting down directly on top of Donghyuck’s lap, causing his husband to sigh since Mei often did this when angry. “Like hello?! I’m his girlfriend!”

“I’m sure he still loves you,” he reassured his daughter, beginning to draw the hair of the character - a small fairy that didn’t have a gender. For his own amusement, Renjun kept the hair short and was planning to colour it just like the one time that Donghyuck let Chenle dye his hair all of the colours of the rainbow.

“But that’s the thing! What if he doesn’t?” Mei asked, her eyes probably narrowing and glaring at him and Renjun heard Donghyuck sigh once more.

“Mei, come on,” Donghyuck started, using his tired yet authoritative voice that he used many times during Mei’s troublesome teenage years. “Boys have dumb brains but I’m sure he’s still in love with only you.”

“Are you talking about yourself?” he asked, smirking when he felt Donghyuck hit his thigh. “Doesn’t help your case.”

“What I was saying,” Donghyuck interrupted before Renjun would be tempted to say anything else. “Is that Park Junki is still utterly in love with you. How? I don’t know but I’m sure that he is.”

“A hundred percent sure?” He heard Mei ask quietly, her insecurities probably eating her up even though she never really let them bother her before.

“Two hundred percent sure,” Renjun answered just as quiet, smiling softly at her while Donghyuck snorted.

“Now I know why you failed math, Jun.” Renjun immediately threw his sketchbook at his husband, glaring at his daughter when she shouted that he must have failed pretty badly.

 

Neither of them needed to know that he had cheated on his math tests in China and was caught.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Date of Disaster: August 29, 2050

 

“I hate Junki!”

 

Renjun flinched when he heard his daughter scream, her door slamming against its frame loudly as Donghyuck simply shrugged in response to his questioning look.

 

“She’s been like this ever since I picked her up from school,” Donghyuck informed him, sitting next to him on the couch. “But like, Junki was with her and she seemed happy…”

“Great, which one of us is going to talk to her?” he asked, mourning his still steaming mug of tea that he probably wouldn’t be able to drink.

“I tried,” Donghyuck replied, putting his hands up in surrender before reaching down to grab one of Renjun’s hands in both of his. “May the odds be ever in your favour.”

“I ing hate you,” he hissed, ripping his hand out before standing up and making the trek over to Mei’s bedroom, hearing her knock over a few things when he arrived.

“ing Junki!” Mei screamed, Renjun hearing some more things crash against the floor through the door. “Him and his perfect smile! Like, doesn’t he know that Jieun is obviously trying to get in his pants?!” Renjun found himself wondering about this Jieun who Mei seemed to despise. Sighing and mentally preparing himself, Renjun knocked on the door and received a growl in response.

“Before you tear me apart,” he started, thinking back to all the times he had to deal with Donghyuck in a similar state. “At least explain to me why you’re trashing your room.”

“As if you would understand!” Mei screeched, the door opening suddenly and Renjun was met face to face with his daughter who had obviously been crying. “You and Appa have never had something like this happen!” Intrigued, Renjun raised an eyebrow. “As far as I know, you’ve never been jealous!”

 

Oh, so that’s what this is about.

 

“So therefore, you can’t help me!” Mei screamed, slamming the door shut but not before Renjun and put his foot out to prevent it from closing fully. He winced when the door banged on the side of his foot.

“It’s not healthy to keep it in, Lee Mei,” he chastised, stepping into his father role that he only ever needed when his daughter was like this. “Let it out.”

“I just hate it,” Mei whined, tears spilling from her eyes as she let go of the door and Renjun gently opened it to embrace his daughter, leading them to sit on the bed. “Like, what if Junki actually wants her instead of me? I’m nothing compared to her.” When Renjun was about to say something - albeit, stupid - they both heard someone knock lightly on the door and saw Donghyuck leaning against the door frame.

“Hyuck, if you’re going to ask for food, now is not the time,” he stated flatly, already tired of the times when Donghyuck would interrupt a heart-to-heart talk to ask for food. Just like always, Donghyuck scoffed dramatically and stepped inside the room.

“Your Baba here may have never been jealous,” Donghyuck stated as he walked over to the bed and sat on the opposite side of their daughter. “But I have.”

“Didn’t you fail when you tried to talk to her?” Renjun questioned, narrowing his eyes at Donghyuck who glared at him in response.

“Either way, I think I’ll be of more help this time,” Donghyuck pointed out and even Renjun couldn’t argue with that. “So, Mei, you’re jealous of this girl, right?”

“Yeah! Jieun!” Mei screamed, sighing heavily at the end and slumping a little. “She’s our class president and is super pretty! Like literally every guy likes her!”

“Do we have a last name for this Jieun?” Donghyuck asked and Mei mumbled out a small ‘Choi’. “Look, Mei, I was jealous of Mark-hyung like twice.”

“Really?” Mei asked, her face shaping into the same disappointment that had found its way onto Renjun’s face.

“Really?” he echoed and Donghyuck rolled his eyes at the two.

 

“Yeah, since Mark-hyung is Renjun’s ex…well one of them,” Donghyuck explained and Renjun sighed, remembering the time when Mark had fallen into a river while looking for his glasses on one of their dates.

“No way!” Mei screamed, her hands flying up to cover her open mouth. “Baba and Uncle Mark?!”

“Yeah, it was bad matchmaking, I know,” Donghyuck dismissed, waving his hand before getting back on topic. “But my point is that the first time those two went on a date, I realised that I liked Renjun way more than I should have. So, I had decided to give up.”

“Yeah, look at where that got you,” he piped up, keeping a deadpanned face as he tried to fight the happy butterflies that took over his stomach at the knowledge that Donghyuck had been jealous - twice!

“Shut it, Jun,” Donghyuck chastised, turning to Mei and smiling sweetly. “I seriously hated your Baba then, he was so oblivious and it really killed me but I also thought that he was better off with someone who wasn’t me and I know that’s what you’re thinking now but…” Renjun watched as Donghyuck lightly put his palms on either side of Mei’s cheeks and made sure she was looking at his eyes. “Junki is just as crazy about you as you are about him, okay? Trust him - he’s a good kid and won’t cheat even if this Choi Jieun chick tries to get his .”

“A-Appa!” Mei shouted, embarrassed at Donghyuck’s words and Renjun sighed, standing up and dragging Donghyuck out of the room. Once he had pushed his husband out of the door frame, he looked back at Mei and smiled.

“I was jealous once too. Donghyuck had been ogling this waiter and it hurt a lot and I pretty much thought the same things that you are thinking now,” he said softly, smiling a little more at his daughter. “Everything will fall into place soon, I know it.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

Date of Disaster: September 28, 2050

 

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” he asked the trembling boy in front of him - his hands clasped just like how Chenle often held them when he was nervous - who just so happened to be dating his daughter. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I…I would like a blessing to marry your daughter,” Junki repeated, voice much firmer and more confident but still containing a touch of nervousness and doubt.

“Aren’t you like five?” Donghyuck asked from beside him, his legs currently thrown over his lap and Renjun hit his shin lightly to let him know that he was still annoyed since they were in a cafe booth and not at home.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter