'Apba, where are we going?' Zitao whined, hugging his cat plushie tightly.
'You see that big metal bird?'
The toddler nodded.
'We'll sit in that and go up in the air.'
'Up in the sky?'
'Yes, Zitao. Up in the sky.'

Zitao 'ooh'ed and leaned back against Yixing, staring at aeroplanes through the huge window. Sehun was busy playing 'Pat-a-cake' with Junmyeon. An announcement was made over the intercom and Sehun whined as their game was stopped. The adults held the children's hands and picked up their hand luggage, joining the line that was forming by the desk.





























'Are we up in the air, apba?'
'Yes, Taozi.'
'I can't see anything!' he whimpered, hands pressed flat against the window. Junmyeon patted him and distracted him with his cat plushie.
'See, Zitao! Look here! Gucci wants to play with you.'
'Gucci! I love Gucci!'

A few moments later, Zitao leaned back and folded his hands on his lap, calmly closing his eyes with his legs poking out of the seat.
'What are you doing?' Sehun asked, poking his brother's cheek.
'I'm meding.'
'It's 'meditating', Zitao,' Yixing corrected, going back to his conversation with Junmyeon.
'I wanna do meds, too!' Sehun cried out, earning gasps and chuckles from the nearby passengers. Junmyeon's eyes widened and he lightly flicked Sehun's forehead.
'You don't... you want to meditate, Sehun?'
'Yes.'
'Then sit like Zitao and don't talk. And no opening your eyes.'

Sehun pouted but did as he was told, occasionally squirming in his seat. Zitao opened his eyes with a loud sigh and smiled angelically, inevitably creeping Junmyeon out.
'This can't be good,' he thought to himself.

'Let's go to the park to play now,' Zitao suggested in an even tone.
'I knew it,' Junmyeon groaned internally. Sehun perked up, meditation long forgotten.
'Can we? Please~?'
'Tomorrow, okay?'
'Why not now?!'
'It's night, Zitao. Both of you should sleep.'



After a row of protests, the two children quietened down and eventually fell asleep.




























'Mama! Baba!' Yixing greeted, enveloping his parents in a warm hug. Junmyeon handed the children over to Yixing and greeted his in-laws with a big smile, while his husband decided to leave the sleeping children in his old bedroom.



'So, how's work? I heard there're a lot of cases coming up in South Korea nowadays.'
Junmyeon and Yixing exchanged looks. Yixing held the other's hand comfortingly, twining their fingers together.
'I've quit the law firm, baba,' he cleared his throat and stated. Yixing's mother raised her eyebrows.
'Oh, Junmyeon... but you loved working as a lawyer! What happened?'
'The new boss wasn't good, mama,' Yixing in. 'He was just awful.'
'Have you found a new job, my boy?' the eldest Zhang asked, eyes full of concern.

'I'm working as a teacher in a playschool, baba,' Junmyeon admitted, eyes cast downward. 'I'm really sorry.'
'There's nothing to be sorry about, Junmyeon,' Yixing's mother smiled. 'Are you happy with this new job?'
'... I'm happy as long as the children are happy...' he trailed off hesitantly. Yixing furrowed his brows worriedly - was his husband not telling him everything? Sensing some tension, Yixing's father clapped the Korean on his back and bid them for the night, followed by his wife. Yixing and Junmyeon changed into their usual attire before going to the guest bedroom.


'Is everything okay, Junmyeon?' Yixing asked softly, hugging his husband from behind as they lay in bed. Junmyeon slowly shook his head and shuddered at the fingers trailing along his bare torso. All the Chinese male could do was to sigh and hug his husband closer.


























'They should be up by now, right?'
'I don't kno---'
Yixing pulled the door open and jumped forward, stopping his children from opening the gifts.
'Not yet, not yet!'
'Why not~?!' Zitao whined. 'It's my birthday! I can open them if I want!'
'Yeah!' Sehun supplied, hands tightly clutching the yellow wrapping paper that was half undone.

'We'll open them after breakfast, okay?' Junmyeon suggested, picking a protesting Sehun up. The five year old demanded to be let down, scrambling to Zitao and hugging him tightly.
'Who are they?' Sehun rudely asked, looking at Yixing's parents.

Junmyeon knelt and held his arms open for both his sons, patting their heads when they complied.
'You see him? He's Yixing-apba's baba.'
'So that's apba's mama? Zitao asked, pointing to Yixing's smiling mother.
'Don't point, Taotao,' the adult reminded and nodded as the child's answer. Sehun wriggled out of his father's arms and stood before Yixing's parents, huffing his chest out.
'I've never seen you,' he started with a frown. 'Why don't you see us?'
Yixing's mother giggled and picked Sehun up, pecking his cheek.
'He sounds just like Yixing when he was six,' she fondly reminisced. Sehun poked her dimples and slowly smiled.

'We don't see you because we don't live there,' Yixing's father explained slowly in broken Korean. 'Your grandparents are sorry. Do you forgive them?'
Sehun nodded and patted his grandfather's head.
'Can I teach you Korean?'
The two old adults laughed, ignoring their flustered son. Zitao slowly approached them, demanding to be picked up. His grandfather picked him up and gently held his small hand when he was about to his thumb.

'Why not?!'
'If you do that, Zitao... your thum