Double-update! Please check out the previous chapter first if you haven't yet!

'Where is apba?' Zitao asked, hugging Yixing from behind with his small hands rested on the adult's knees.
'Apba is at the playschool, baby,' came the reply as the younger Kim-Zhang stirred the food in the pot and tasted a bit. He switched the stove off and took his apron off, turning to scoop his younger son into his arms. 'Why do you keep asking me that?'
'I wanna play with someone,' the child pouted. 'Hun-ge is still sleeping.'
'What do you want to do, then? Do you want to do some colouring?'
'... Okay...'




















While Zitao was colouring into his book while Yixing was patiently listening to his babblings, Sehun waddled in sleepily and pouted at his younger father.
'Apba.'
'Come here, Hunnie,' Yixing smiled, patting the boy's hair and pecking his forehead. 'Did you have a good nap?'
His elder son nodded and fiddled with his father's shirt.
'Can we play upstairs? I had a dream with dragons and pandas.'
'But... but I want to colour!' Zitao shook his head. The two boys started to argue in shrill voices, ignoring Yixing who was trying to pacify them.

Sehun grabbed Zitao's crayon and hid it behind his back, screaming when the younger pulled his cheeks in response. They started to push at each other and Zitao bawled when Sehun swiped the crayon against his forehead. He pushed Sehun and the elder brother fell on his back, prompting him to burst into tears, too.

'STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!' Yixing yelled over their voices, crouching down to pick Sehun up. He sat down and rested Sehun on one leg, Zitao crawling to sit on the other. Both the boys curled into either side and cried into his shirt, bawling louder than one another with each passing minute.
Sehun was the first to tire out, his cries dwindling down into sniffles. Zitao continued to cry and kicked at Sehun's leg, trying to push him off.
'I'm very disappointed in both of you,' Yixing started once both of them had quietened down. 'Is this how you treat each other? You're brothers!'

Zitao nuzzled his face into Yixing's shoulder, pouting when his father pushed him a little.
'Say you're sorry, Zitao.'
A high-pitched whine.
'Kim-Zhang Zitao,' Yixing repeated in a low, stern voice. Sehun clung to Yixing's side and sneezed into his collar.
'You, too, Sehun.'
'No... I don't wanna!'
'Then neither of you get to play till you both apologize,' their father declared. The boys shook their heads and stared at each other, neither willing to cave in first. Yixing stood up, carefully carrying both the boys and walked to the living room.

'I want you to think about what you've done and come to me when both of you have made up and are good brothers again.'
So saying, Yixing set them both down on either side of the couch and head out for the room that held his musical instruments.






















While he was practicing on the keyboard, he got a call from Yifan.
'Yifan-ge!' he greeted, frowning when he heard the other's quiet voice.
'Is everything okay?'
'I need your advice on this, because I really don't know what to do.'
'Sure thing, what's up?'
'After the day we babysat Luhan... Chanyeol's been hinting about how nice it would be to have a kid running around in the house. He's been... detatched? Nowadays. He spaces out a lot and I just know that he's thinking about... you know... the big step. And it's... I don't know...'
'You're not sure if you want to take that big step?'
'I don't know... I just don't know. I mean, this is my first relationship! And... I do love him but... there are so many "what if"s out there, you know? What if we can't do this together? What if we break things off?'
'Okay, slow down. Do you see him in your future with you?'
'I... Y-yes.'
'Do you imagine yourself without him?'
'No,' came the instant reply.
'Look, take a few days off. Both of you need some time to yourselves to think, especially you. Sort your thoughts out and come back with a resolve, how does that sound?'
'I... I don't know... what did you do?'
'Well... when Junmyeon started hinting at us being together in the sense of long-terms, I drowned myself in work to avoid confrontations. By then, he had stopped with the signs. But when he suddenly popped the question... I said 'yes' almost immediately.'
'How?'
'Mm... I don't know, I just did. Being with him felt right, and I couldn't really imagine us not being together, so...'
'... This is all so vague,' Yifan sighed.
'It is, I'm sorry... but I honestly don't know what to say.'
'... I think I'll do that. Take a week off. Sort myself out.'

The two Chinese men spoke some more, Yifan ending the call with a mumbled 'thanks'. Yixing leaned back in his chair, a light smile on his lips as he reminisced about the day Junmyeon had proposed to marry him. Just then, Zitao and Sehun shuffled into the room sporting meek pouts.

'Have both of you finally worked it out?'
The boys nodded, their hands linked together. Yixing spread his arms and hugged them, pecking their foreheads with a smile.
'See, it wasn't that difficult! Say sorry to each other and we'll go play, okay?'
'I'm sorry, Hunnie-ge...'
'I'm sorry, Taotao...'
The two children hugged each other and sloppily kissed each other's cheeks.

'Can we go to the playhouse now?'
'Let's have lunch and then play a lit