Double update: please read the previous chapter if you haven't yet

Jongdae turned his head to the side and rubbed his nose, carelessly kicking the sheets around as he slowly woke up. He opened his eyes after a few moments, lazily smacking his lips together and looking around. He got up, padding over to the window and looking out - there Minseok was, seeing Luhan off as the school bus pulled up. A smile made its way onto Jongdae's face as he saw Luhan peck Minseok and scurry into the bus. Minseok waved and waited till the bus was out of his line of sight before making his way back into the house. Jongdae stretched his arms over his head and went to the bathroom to complete his morning rituals.




'Jongdae!' Minseok exclaimed, startled at the pair of arms hugging him from behind. He turned in his husband's arms and smiled up at him, leaning in for a sweet morning peck.
'I expected you to sleep in a little more.'
'Just because it's my day off?' the younger cocked an eyebrow. 'Don't you want to spend time with me? It's been so long, already.'
'Of course, I want to spend time with you! Silly man. But you've been so tired lately, I expected you to---'
Jongdae silenced him with a long kiss, grinning boyishly at him and playing with the older male's hair. The two of them silently stood in each other's embrace, lightly swaying from side to side. Minseok wound his own arms around Jongdae's waist and pulled him closer, hiding his face in the crook of his neck.

'By the way,' Jongdae piped up, cupping Minseok's cheeks and gazing at him lovingly.
'Happy anniversary,' he grinned sheepishly and the older shook his head.



'Baba, where's appa? He said he would come home today,' Luhan pouted, hugging his older father's knees together and looking up at him. Minseok patted his head, staring at the television set as Jongdae's interview played on.

'Is today a special day? You seem very nervous!'
Jongdae stared right at the camera, almost as if he was able to look at his husband. Minseok recognized the guilt all over his husband's features and he sighed, quietly lifting Luhan onto his lap and hugging him close.

'I'm just excited that I'm here,' Jongdae smiled, but Minseok saw right through it. He sat through the entire interview, only getting up to put a sleepy Luhan to bed once the advertisements started to play.






11:30pm
2015/12/13

Minseok nibbled on his lower lip out of worry and stretched, lying limp on the sofa as he waited patiently for his husband to come home.

At exactly thirty four minutes past one in the morning, the doorbell rang out loud. Minseok all but jumped up at the sound and rushed toward the front door, throwing it open and bowing to greet Jongdae's manager. His husband followed the manager in, giving Minseok a tired smile - it was more of a feeble curl of his lips. Minseok pulled him in for a warm hug before ushering him in.


'I'm sorry for the trouble, Jimin,' Minseok apologized, offering the manager a glass of water.
'It's understandable,' the man waved off with a simple smile.

'Stay the night, please. It's really late and you must be tired.'
'Thank you for the offer, Minseok. But I live only five minutes from here, so it's no bother. I should leave now, my wife...'
Minseok nodded in understanding, bidding the other a good night and reminding the manager to call him once he'd reached home. Minseok let out a sigh after closing the front door and headed for the master bedroom, only to find Jongdae sprawled out on their bed clad in nothing but his boxers and an old shirt. Chuckling at how the younger male's mouth was open, Minseok closed it and wriggled into bed. He turned to his side to face Jongdae, who was deep in slumber. The older male lightly pecked his husband's forehead and twined their ring fingers together, tracing the other's sleeping features with his eyes. The silence of the night was broken by his phone buzzing with a text - Jimin had reached home. Not moving his left hand away, Minseok replied to the text and faced his husband again.

'Happy anniversary, darling,' he whispered, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep.


'You don't have to feel guilty,' Minseok softly said, reading between the lines of his husband's words. Jongdae closed his eyes and rested their forehead together quietly, the two of them still swaying side to side slowly. Minseok pulled away after a few minutes and gave Jongdae a peck on the lips.

'Let's just all spend time together like we used to before, hm? That would be the best anniversary gift ever, don't you think?'
The younger nodded and brushed their noses together with a small smile.
'Just like we used to,' he repeated.

































The two Kims spent the rest of the morning in a long walk, their hands linked together the whole time. Sometimes they were quiet, sometimes they were found talking in hushed tones that would rise to an excited voice as they had a healthy debate over something over the other. They even fed some of the ducks at the pond, with Minseok fondly chuckling at how Jongdae was talking to the ducks with a baby-voice.

'Take a picture, Min-min. It will last longer,' Jongdae winked, laughing when his husband stuck his tongue out in reply. Minseok frowned and looked around - a few people were staring at them. He noted most of them to be high-school girls. They were whispering to each other and rudely pointing to Jongdae. The rising singer caught his husband's discomfort and stood up, pullimg Minseok up with him.
'What is it, Minseok?'
'Nothing, let's just go,' Minseok shook his head.

During the walk back, Minseok noticed that the girls were following them rather closely. He finally let go of his lover's hand and hid it in his pockets.
'Minseok? Why are you like this?'
But all Jongdae got in reply was the shake of his head. The younger felt upset at how Minseok was even avoiding his gaze. With both of them in a funk, they entered a small restaurant for brunch.



While they were waiting for their food to arrive, the high-schoolers approached their table. Jongdae politely looked at them, asking if they could help them in any way (it was his code for them to go away because he found it rude that they intruded upon them like that).

'You're Jongdae-oppa from JI Entertainment!' one of them exclaimed, squealing when he nodded.
'Are you really gay, oppa?'
'What?' Jongdae raised his eyebrows, discreetly noticing Minseok shrink back in his seat.
'There were rumours that you're gay. Are they true?'

Not waiting for a reply, one of them continued from where the other had left off.
'That's too bad if you are, you know. Oppa can do so much better with a pretty girl than with this man here.'
'Hey! Is tha