“Yeah, hello?” Donghae tiredly answered his cell phone. He was sitting at work, staring at a giant pile of paperwork he had seemingly yet to make a dent in.

 

“Hi, Donghae! So, Hyukjae just came to take Jeno and Lami to their dentist appointment, but since we don’t have written consent from you, I just needed to give you a call!” It was the school secretary, who he really should remember the name of by this point.

 

“Dentist appointment?”

 

“Oh, Donghae, he’s so forgetful.” he heard his best friend on the other end. “We talked about this at dinner last Tuesday!” Hyukjae yelled louder, “They’re really overdue for their dental checkups!”

 

“Is that okay, Donghae? We really don’t have any problem letting them go. I mean, we all know Hyukjae by now. We just didn’t get a note from you, so…”

 

“He’s really overworked these days, I’m sure he just forgot to-”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Donghae answered hurriedly. He needed to get back to work. “Hyukjae can take them. It’s not a problem at all. Tell them I say hi.”

 

----------

 

“Alright, you’re good to go, Hyukjae!” the secretary said with a smile. “Bye, Jeno! Bye, Lami!”

 

“Great, let’s go!” Hyukjae exclaimed, grabbing the small children’s hands as they left the front office. “Time to go to the Dentist! Don’t worry, though, I’ll make it fun for you guys!” He yelled as the made their way out of the building.  

 

Jeno and Lami chatted away happily on the way to Hyukjae’s car. “Uncle Hyukjae,” Jeno pouted outside of the minivan, “Daddy says it’s not good to lie.” Lami vigorously nodded in agreement with her older brother.

 

“And you should always, always, always listen to your daddy.” Hyukjae answered. “However, in these situations…” Hyukjae sighed, afraid of saying the wrong thing. “Look, I’m your Uncle Hyukjae, right?” The kids nodded. “As long as the two of you work hard in school, it’s Uncle Hyukjae’s job to spoil you a little. And what daddy doesn’t understand, is that sometimes spoiling requires a lie or two. But, you two aren’t lying,” he added quickly. “So you’re not disobeying your dad; I am.” Hyukjae nodded, satisfied with his explanation.

 

“But won’t daddy get mad at you?” Lami asked.

 

“Nah,” Hyukjae shook his head, “he could never! Now come on let’s go!” As Hyukjae helped the kids into their carseats in the back seat, his phone rang in his pocket. “Hey Donghae! That took a while,” he laughed, “I was waiting for your call.”

 

“Hyukjae what are you doing with my children?” Donghae was not in the mood to play games.

 

“Oh, I’m just kidnapping them.”

 

“Hyuk.”

 

“I’m just taking them out for some fun, don’t worry,” Hyukjae tried to calm Donghae, as he started the car.

 

“This is the second time this month you’ve stolen my children.”

 

“Hae, our children.”

 

“No, Hyukjae. My children.”

 

“Well, I don’t have any children, Donghae! The least you could do is let me borrow yours a couple times a month!”

 

“Daddy gets mad at us when we whine like that,” Jeno spoke from the back seat.

 

“I do not get -”

 

“You know what, he gets mad when I whine, too, Jeno.” Hyukjae spoke to Jeno, away from the phone.

 

“Hyukjae, please focus.”

 

“Donghae, you’re the one still at work! You focus; your children are fine. Better than fine, they’re with me,” Hyukjae said with a smirk. “They only had, like, an hour and half left of school anyway. I’ll have them home after you get off work, and everything will be fine.”

 

“Ok,” Donghae didn’t have the energy to argue any more. “Be careful. And not too much sugar.”

 

“I want nuggies!” Lami exclaimed.

 

“NO Hyukjae! DO NOT GET THEM FAST -”

 

“Bye, Donghae,” Hyukjae sang as he hung up the phone.

 

----------

 

As they sat at the restaurant, gleefully inhaling greasy fast food, Hyukjae couldn’t help but smile at Jeno and Lami. He loved Donghae’s kids as if they were his own and knew he would do anything for them, even if they were presently the messiest humans to ever exist.

 

“Dino nuggies are the bestest!” Jeno screamed, smashing two chicken nuggets into each other in a pseudo fight. Hyukjae quickly shot out a hand to catch the juice box that nearly toppled over when knocked by Jeno’s elbow.

 

“Be careful, there buddy,” he said, “Dinosaurs can’t live in a pool.”

 

“Mine can!” Lami said happily.

 

“Nuh-uh,” Jeno whined. “Your dinosaurs can’t live in a pool. Only fishes can live in pools.”

 

“Maybe you just have dumb dinosaurs.” Lami stuck out her tongue.

 

Jeno just laughed and answered, “You wouldn’t say that if daddy was here.”

 

“Uncle Hyukjae, please,” she said in a panic, “don’t tell daddy I said something mean.” She pouted.

 

“I won’t say anything if the both of you promise not to fight for the rest of the day.”

 

“We won’t fight!” they said in unison.

 

“Daddy says you’re not our real uncle,” Jeno said suddenly, finishing his fries.

 

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

 

“You’re not daddy’s brother! Uncle Donghwa is daddy’s brother!”

 

Hyukjae faked a gasp. “And here I thought Donghwa wasn’t the real uncle.” He comically widened his eyes and shook his head, earning a laugh from the kids. They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Jeno and Lami shared a look.

 

“Mommy made us dinosaur nuggies when she was home last time.” Hyukjae couldn’t help but drop his smile and look away when Lami spoke. “They didn’t tastes really good like these tastes.”

 

“She bought those nuggies from the store, Lam,” Jeno said almost dejectedly. “That was forever ago.”

 

“I’m sure she’ll be back to see you guys real soon.” Hyukjae tried to put on a smile for the kids, but he knew it wasn’t convincing.

 

“Mommy says,” Lami said, “daddy has issues and when she comes back daddy needs to has no more issues or she can’t stands him.”

 

“She can’t stand him?” Lami’s declaration surprised Hyukjae. “What issues was she talking about?” Jeno and Lami only shrugged.

 

“She says Uncle Hyukjae has issues, too,” added Jeno. “She said something else, then…”

 

As Jeno scrunched his face in concentration, Hyukjae decided it was better if he didn’t know. “Hey the playground!” he said cheerfully. “Let’s get you two cleaned up so you can play!”

 

----------

 

After climbing out of the indoor playground and sitting back at the table, Hyukjae was beginning to feel his age; he certainly wasn’t in his twenties anymore. He watched as Jeno and Lami played and ran around with some of the other kids from the town. “Uncle Hyukjae, look at me!” he heard and watched as Jeno slid down a slide. His smile grew as he heard the familiar laugh.

 

Donghae didn’t complain much, but Hyukjae knew he must be having a hard time. Working full time and raising two kids seemed nearly impossible. Jeno and Lami likely didn’t realize, but growing up in a broken home must be hard on them as well. At least he could help, even if only for one afternoon. He was brought out of his musing when a hand lightly grabbed his shoulder.

 

“Donghae!”

 

“Hey, Hyuk.”

 

“I said I would meet you back at your place.”

 

“I wanted to see you,” Donghae pulled out a chair and sat down to pick at the leftover fries. Hyukjae wanted to remind him that they saw each other a lot but couldn’t find the words. Suddenly, Donghae exclaimed, “Hyukjae!”

 

“What?”

 

“You did not buy them large chicken nuggets!” Hyukjae could only laugh at his outrage. “There’s no way they ate 20 of those greasy processed ers! And fries? What were you thinking?”

 

“Hey, hey,” Hyukjae tried to defend himself. “They were hungry! And Lami didn’t even eat them all. There’s at least four left in there. I know it’s hard to tell because she crushed them all up and covered them in ketchup, but they are there!” The two friends began to laugh uncontrollably at the mess of chicken left behind.

 

“Yeah, she’s no culinary genius.”

 

“She does have your genes.”

 

“Better than whatever your kids will end up with.” Hyukjae didn’t answer, feeling uncomfortable. Instead, he took advantage of Donghae’s distraction to notice the tired look on his face. The bags under his eyes. How hard he must be working. He wanted to give him a hug but chose instead to just place a hand on his shoulder, hoping it was comforting enough. “Did you guys have fun?”

 

“Yeah!” Hyukjae answered. “They’re really something. They’ve got so much energy.”

 

“Tell me about it. I miss playing with them.”

 

“Well what are you doing sitting here, then?” Hyukjae gestured to the playground, saying, “they’re in there! Have at it!”

 

“You think I would fit?” Donghae laughed.

 

“Well, your arms might not fit but that’s your fault for lifting so much.” Donghae laughed harder, and Hyukjae couldn’t help but join him.

 

Suddenly from above them, they heard Lami yell, “Daddy!” and the two kids came down from the playplace.

 

“Hey guys!” Donghae hugged his children tightly, and Hyukjae smiled. “How were your dentist appointments?” he raised an eyebrow.

 

The kids giggled. “We didn’t have dentist appointments, daddy,” Lami explained. “Uncle Hyukjae told a lie,” she whispered.

 

“Well, this Uncle Hyukjae character sounds like a bad influence. If he tells anymore lies, I might have to stop inviting him over,” Donghae said with a hint of a smile on his face. The kids gasped.

 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Hyukjae fought back. “One lie. It was just one lie.” Donghae punched him lightly in the shoulder, laughing.

 

“Is daddy getting ice cream with us?” Jeno asked.

 

Donghae’s eyes widened, “Oh? Ice cream?” Hyukjae gave him a nervous smile.

 

“Yeah!” the kids exclaimed.

 

“Well then, I’ll have mine with fudge, extra sprinkles, and those little jelly candies,” Donghae said, looking Hyukjae in the eyes. “You know, since you’re paying.”

 

Hyukjae nodded slowly, “Yeah, since I’m paying,” but he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed.

 

----------

 

After having their ice cream and being brought outside, the kids immediately began to doze off.

 

“Where did you park?” Hyukjae asked Donghae. Before he could answer, Lami, who was in Donghae’s arms, reached out to Hyukjae.

 

“Uncle Hyukjae…” she mumbled.

 

“Well, you weren’t going to not come over, right?” Donghae said, heading to Hyukjae’s car. When Jeno and Lami were safely buckled in and nearly asleep, the two friends found themselves leaning against the car, not quite ready to leave.

 

“So how was the office?” Hyukjae asked.

 

“Stressful,” Donghae answered with an empty chuckle. “But it pays the bills, so I guess it was great.” Hyukjae just nodded, remembering his earlier conversation with the kids. He didn’t want to tell Donghae about what they had said, but that only made him feel guilty. Luckily, the younger man continued, “Thanks for taking them out today. I’m sure they had a lot of fun, and they deserve it.”

 

“They have fun with you, too.”

 

“Not enough,” Donghae tiredly shook his head.

 

“Hae, you’re doing great,” Hyukjae tried to reassure him, sensing his insecurity. “Really, I know how hard you’re working and how much you give those kids, and they love you. They really do!”

 

“Thanks Hyuk,” he responded with a sad smile.

 

“What’s wrong? You can talk to me about anything, Hae. You know that, right?”

 

“It just gets hard. I don’t know.” he sighed. “I wonder if I’m even doing this whole Life thing right.”

 

“Donghae you have a great life!”

 

“Yeah, ok,” he wasn’t convinced. 

 

“You don’t have to leave your family and move to Paris to have a great life.” Hyukjae said almost angrily.

 

At that, Donghae tensed. “That wasn’t what I was thinking about,” he defended.

 

“I don’t believe you.” Hyukjae said. Donghae just looked away. “Do you miss her?”

 

“No.” he answered shortly.

 

“Did she ever say why she left?”

 

“This just wasn’t what she wanted. It’s what I wanted.” He smiled sadly. “What I thought I wanted. What our parents wanted.” He shook his head. “It’s just hard being a single dad, now.”

 

“You’re not a single dad,” Hyukjae turned toward him. “You have me!” and he flashed his biggest, gummiest smile, successfully getting Donghae to laugh.

 

“Well, good,” he said, “because Jeno wants to join the soccer team, and someone’s going to have to take him to practice.”

 

“Hey, I am all about soccer practice.” Hyukjae said.

 

Donghae laughed, “Well great.” He smiled, and softly added, “I’m glad I have you mostly back.”

 

“Wait, what?” Hyukjae paused for a moment. “What do you mean ‘mostly back’?”

 

“Come on Hyuk, don’t play dumb with me.”

 

“I was always around.”

 

“It wasn’t the same.”

 

“No , it wasn’t the same.” Now, he was angry. “You had a whole family, Hae.”

 

“You were always meant to be part of my family.” Donghae retorted, exasperated.

 

“No, Hae. I never expected to have a family. That was you. Anyway, you know why I had to give you guys space,” he tried to calm them both down, to no avail.

 

“Bull. You never let us talk about it.”

 

“What was there to say? You knew-”

 

Suddenly, they heard a knocking. Turning around, they saw Jeno knocking on the car window.

 

“Hey, little man,” Hyukjae said, opening the door. “What’s up?”

 

“Can we go home, now?” he asked, rubbing his eye.

 

“Yeah, why don’t you just go with your dad. Here I’ll-”

 

“No.” Donghae said, bluntly. “No, you just take them, and I’ll meet you there.”

 

“Donghae,” he sighed.

 

“We’re not done.” With that, Donghae got in his own car and drove away.

 

----------

 

After the kids were safely tucked into bed and fast asleep, Hyukje found himself in Donghae’s bedroom. Somehow, he had never been there before, and that made him even more uncomfortable.

 

“I never asked for space.”

 

Hyukjae sighed, “Maybe not, but we needed it.”

 

“No we needed to talk, and you wouldn’t let us.”

 

“You knew,” he couldn’t stop the bite in his words. “You knew I was in love with you, and you got married to someone else. Was I supposed to stick around?”

 

“So you admit you left?”

 

“Of course I left,” he nearly screamed. “You went and got yourself a wife, and a house, and kids, and a ing babysitter.”

 

“You didn’t want to be around!”

 

“Was I supposed to live in the ing guest bedroom ?”

 

“You could’ve!”

 

“Donghae,” Hyukjae sighed. “I wasn’t going to hang around while you played house. I had my own job, hobbies, and other friends. And I wasn’t going to stop you from getting the only thing you wanted.”

 

“I wasn’t playing house. I just didn’t know that wasn’t what I wanted. And don’t act like you went and got a whole new life, you work at a bar!” Donghae spat, angrily

 

“I ing own a bar! I’m fully capable without you. I have my own place, too.” Hyukjae felt his voice rising, and wished it wouldn’t.

 

“But you still answered my calls; you still talk to my parents; you celebrated all Jeno’s and Lami’s birthdays. Don’t pretend you weren’t always here with me. You’re a part of this family. And you know what, I still wanted this family. I thought you’d be normal with me again after the divorce.” Hyukjae couldn’t look him in the eye. “And then you went and bought a minivan and I thought we- ”

 

“The minivan is for the kids.”

 

“The kids,” Donghae agreed. “The kids.” he repeated, quieter this time. “The kids who adore you.”

 

“Your kids,” he corrected himself. “Your kids from your marriage.”

 

“Are you going to be mad at me about that forever?” Donghae asked gently. Hyukjae didn’t answer. “Because I’m really ing lonely, and I miss you.”

 

“Yeah, it , doesn’t it.” he didn’t want to be angry anymore, but he couldn’t help it.

 

“When you confessed, I didn’t know what to say,” Donghae said, stepping closer to him. “We were still kids and-”

 

“We were eighteen, Hae!” he raised his voice again.

 

“Let me finish.” Donghae said, remaining calm. “We were still kids and I didn’t understand what I was feeling. Everyone and everything in my life was telling me I needed to marry a pretty girl and have kids, so that’s what I did.”

 

“Well, congrats,” Hyukjae said bitterly.

 

“I thought I wanted it, but all I want now is you.” He was looking Hyukjae fully in the eyes, now. “You, here with me and Jeno and Lami.”

 

“Well,” he smiled, no longer upset with Donghae, “I guess since two out of the three of you guys haven’t pissed me off yet…”

 

They both laughed, finally feeling a weight off their hearts. “I’m sorry. Let me try again,” Donghae pleaded.

 

“Well where do you want to start from?” Hyukjae raised an eyebrow.

 

“Senior year. Championship game.” Donghae bit his lip as he ed his shirt. “When we were the last ones in the locker room.” He took his shirt all the way off. “Do you remember?”

 

Hyukjae waited. He had been hoping for a moment like this for the better part of 15 years, and he almost couldn’t believe it. He looked at Donghae, the love of his life, and said, “You played really great today… And you had the cutest on the field.”

 

“Thanks, now come over here and me.”

 

Hyukjae couldn’t help but laugh as he wrapped his arms around Donghae. “That is not what you said back then.”

 

“I’m saying it now.” Donghae laid a hand on his chest, the other began playing with Hyukjae's hair.

 

And Hyukjae kissed him without any intention of ever letting him go.