Feeling the tension on his shoulders, Heechul cracked his bones blissfully as he swung the door open. He took off his shoes and strode farther into the house. And it did not surprise him that he found everyone already having dinner together without him. But this time, he chose to ignore the slightest sting and chose to numb the pain himself. He would never allow whatever Nara planned to affect him again. Sighing, he put down his bag on the couch, unintentionally catching the attention of everyone in the dining room. 

"I'm sorry I come home this late," Heechul simply said as he unwrapped the thick scarf covering his neck. Jungsoo stopped eating as he was waiting for his husband to come closer.

"Was there an emergency in the bar?" 

"Not really. One of my coworkers called in sick so I gotta fill his position."

Jungsoo could not peel his eyes off Heechul when the latter walked around the dining table to greet the kids. He had insisted that he wait for Heechul until he finished his work but the latter was way firmer in telling him that everything would be okay and he should be home instead. 

"Have you done your homework, Sergeant?" 

Heechul rewarded Hyukjae with a smooch on the boy's crown when Hyukjae nodded proudly, confirming that he had done his responsibility. He turned to the younger one and asked, "Are you eating your vegetables, Lil Donut?" 

Donghae looked at his brother warily before he snapped at his Maw, shaking his head. Heechul beamed and pierced a small piece of carrot. He brought the veggie around imitating an airplane before he put it in Donghae's mouth. 

"Good boy."

Heechul planted a kiss on Donghae's hair and the little angel squealed in delight. Heechul was about to grab some water when Jungsoo suddenly whined, "Where's my kiss though? I've done the laundry, Maw."

For a split second, Heechul could not help but widen his eyes on the unusual cuteness his husband showed him. And he wanted to do nothing but coo at him and give what Jungsoo was asking for. However, an awkward cough was enough to break their little moment. He did not need to know whose throat was itchy from watching him. But today, he was not going to back down. Nara had shown him what she could do and it was his turn. That woman chose to stay in the house, in his house, and he might as well let her see how beautiful this home was. He approached Jungsoo and draped his arms around his form as he kissed Jungsoo's head. 

"Thank you for doing laundry, Daddy."

The mere peck succeeded to send Jungsoo to cloud nine. He was stunned, mouth gaping. It was the first time in a very long time that Heechul initiated intimacy with him. And he easily forgot when and where he was right now. All he could feel was the lingering feeling of the kiss on his forehead along with Heechul's sweet perfume as he was walking away to their bedroom. 

«────── « ⋅♥⋅ » ──────»

"Can I sit here?" 

Upon hearing the question, Heechul paused his series as he looked up and beamed upon seeing his husband, with his belongings like a laptop and a bunch of books, come from behind. He nodded and made a room for his husband to sit on the couch. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Catching up with some series."

Heechul, munching on a bag of chips, tried to answer as he offered a piece of chips for Jungsoo. And their conversation ended with his husband's little hum and him being immersed in watching the series. 

"I can reheat the food if you want—" 

"No no," Heechul immediately stopped his husband and asked him to sit back down. 

"I've had dinner with Ryeowook—" 

Heechul stopped midsentence when he suddenly remembered what Ryeowook said to him when they were having dinner earlier. He gulped, feeling that his throat was drier for he wanted to tell Jungsoo about this. And his sudden silence was, of course, not left unnoticed by his husband. 

"What's wrong?"

Heechul did not verbally answer his husband as he got up and reached for his bag in the drawer. After rummaging the bag and finding what he was looking for, he came back to the living room and Jungsoo had already put his laptop down on the coffee table, abandoning his tasks to give whatever concerned Heechul his full attention. 

"So... It's— Ryeowook said that there was a guy who came to the bar before my shift. He said the man was lanky, with brown hair, and had a scar on his forehead— He," Heechul paused when he noticed that Jungsoo slowly understood where this was going. He took a deep breath and wordlessly handed the folded paper to Jungsoo. His heart began to beat crazily when Jungsoo slowly read the note and it was not even a second later that the paper had been crumpled under his palm. 

"Ryeowook said that he left this note for me. And it's the same damn thing with the note on the rock the other day."

Jungsoo growled lowly as he curled his fists way too strongly that his knuckles turned whiter. Whoever had the audacity to send terrors to Heechul or his family, that person had to have spare lives for he dared to mess with him. At first, he thought that it was only a silly, stupid troll but after knowing that it happened again, to Heechul when he was not even around, he knew something was not right. And he vowed to himself that when he found out how this darn man was, the first one that would greet him was his fist. 

"I'm kinda... I'm scared," Heechul whispered, telling what he truly felt. He never had this kind of experience and it frightened him to death, not only because of his own safety being disturbed, but also the fact tha