Jongin was giddy.

For the entire flight back home, he did not stop smiling. Not even when they entered the car that was waiting to drive them back home, not even when they got in the elevator with their luggage.

In fact, his smile only seemed to widen when he left everything by the door and didn’t even bother removing his shoes before diving forward to open his laptop on the coffee table in the living room.

Kyungsoo’s heart was melting at just the sight of seeing Jongin this excited. He left his bag on top of the large suitcase and kicked his shoes off.

“What are you doing?” he asked, the smirk pulling on his own lips as he crossed the living room. He poured himself a glass of water and leaned on the kitchen counter, throwing a curious look towards his suddenly very occupied husband. Jongin’s fingers were quick as he furiously typed something on his laptop, before eventually looking up to him.

The smile he shone in his direction was priceless.

“I’m about to get us a kid.”

Kyungsoo almost choked on the water he was drinking.

He needed roughly two seconds to process that, before the scoff left his lips.

“You can’t just get us a kid. What is this, online shopping? A child is not something you can just…get.”

Jongin rolled his eyes.

“I know that. I meant,” Jongin opened his arms to welcome Kyungsoo who descended on the couch next to him and leaned into his embrace. “That I’ll start working on it.”

Kyungsoo felt the warmth filling his body for probably the thousandth time in the past 24 hours. He laid out his hand on Jongin’s firm chest as he closed his eyes in content, head resting on his shoulder.

“Jongin, it’s almost midnight. We’ve been travelling for over 20 hours. Don’t you think it would be better to do this when we both have some time to sit down and discuss everything properly while we’re not half-asleep?”

“Of course we can,” Jongin’s arm tightened around his shoulders, but Kyungsoo could still feel that impatient tone to his husband’s bubbly voice. He cracked one eye open to throw a suspicious glance at him. Jongin’s lips spread into a wide smile again. “I’ll just call my assistants tonight, okay? I want Mark to get us the best teams to-“

“No!”

Jongin blinked in confusion at Kyungsoo’s sudden outburst.  He straightened on the couch, his hand gliding from Jongin’s chest to his shoulder.

He shook his head.

“No, I-…listen,” he let out a breath and watched something in Jongin’s eyes shifting. The attentive glint was apparent in the chocolate of his eyes now as he grabbed his arm and waited for him to continue. “This is going to be our child. I don’t…I don’t want others to get involved.”

Jongin blinked quickly again, clarity filling his face as he realized where he was going with this.

“I don’t want Haechan or Mark of anybody else to be taking care of this. It is…something that me and you should do ourselves,” Kyungsoo heaved a sigh, before looking up to Jongin. “Does that make sense?”

Jongin remained silent for a few moments, but something about his expression softened. The look in his eyes, the smile on his face – soft and gentle, filled with all the love in the world, as he slid his hands down Kyungsoo’s arms to catch his palms. Their fingers intertwined loosely.

“You’re right,” Jongin ended up saying and his voice was as sweet as honey. “I’m sorry. I got way too excited.”

Kyungsoo smiled then. He reached up to cup Jongin’s face in his hand, pulling him to press their lips together. The kiss was sweet and loving, and his smile was getting in the way.

“I’m excited too,” Kyungsoo whispered against Jongin’s lips when they parted. He sat back and his hand fell down to cover Jongin’s palm, squeezing his hand tightly. “But tonight…let’s rest tonight, and tomorrow, when we come back from work, we will have the entire evening to work on everything. Together.”

Jongin’s nod was solemn, as he opened his arms again and invited Kyungsoo to snuggle closer to him. His legs were thrown over Jongin’s lap when he nuzzled his face into the crook of his chest. Jongin’s arms were wrapped around his middle, holding him close.

“Our child,” Jongin sighed after a while, and Kyungsoo felt his hot breath on his skin when he nuzzled his face into his hair. His husband’s chest vibrated under his touch when he let out a quiet chuckle. “I can’t believe it.”

Kyungsoo bit on his lower lip to try stopping the wide grin from breaking out on his face as excitement surged in his chest yet again. He failed, as he just buried his face harder into Jongin, his fingers curling into the fabric of his husband’s shirt.

The entire day at work felt like a haze to Kyungsoo, whose mind was preoccupied with thoughts about this evening. He could not wait to get back home and do what he had promise Jongin they would do.

He wanted to tell someone about their decision – Baekhyun, who had spent the entire morning in his office, or Jongdae and Chanyeol. Maybe even Sehun.

But he didn’t think that would be right until him and Jongin had made a decision. Besides, he had been the one to stop Jongin from doing anything hasty. It was his turn now to not get over-excited.

The hours, for once, went by quickly, and he found himself rushing home as soon as the clock struck 8. Jongin was already supposed to be there after his photoshoot for Esquire. He sure hoped so. He had no more patience in himself to spare.

“Hey, you’re back!” Jongin said as soon as he saw Kyungsoo wildly barging into the living room. He was at the kitchen counter, setting food in two plates. Kyungsoo threw a suspicious look towards it, and Jongin just broke into a grin. “Don’t worry, I didn’t cook. I got takeout from that restaurant I like.”

That was a relief, Kyungsoo thought, as he set his bad and laptop aside. He walked over to where Jongin was pulling out utensils from the cupboard.

“Wine?” he asked, and Kyungsoo leaned over the counter first, before replying. Jongin caught the hint and met him halfway to press their lips together.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo whispered after they parted from the quick peck. Jongin just smiled at him as he turned to get glasses.

Kyungsoo grabbed the plates and brought them over to the small coffee table, setting one on each side of Jongin’s already set up laptop.

“Impatient,” Jongin remarked from the other side of the room, and when Kyungsoo threw a glare in his direction, his husband only laughed, picking up the two glasses and a bottle of red wine. He was rounding the couch, as he stopped just behind him. He leaned down to press a quick kiss to the top of Kyungsoo’s head. His chuckle was quiet. “Me too.”

They spent the entire evening together on the couch – eating, while reading different sources with information. Kyungsoo was leaning on Jongin as his husband picked up the laptop and brought it closer to them, placing it on his lap.

The minutes were rolling by quickly – they were both reading carefully, discussing every little bit of new information, marking everything important and saving the webpages they thought would be useful again in the future.

“The way I see it,” Jongin started, as he reached out to grab his wine glass. His glasses were riding low on his nose. “We have two options. Adoption or surrogate.”

Kyungsoo nodded thoughtfully. He swirled the wine in his glass, the ruby red distracting him briefly.

If they were to pick a surrogate, one of them would be genetically related to the child. If Kyungsoo could pick, he’d just tell Jongin to go ahead and do it. He wanted the very best for their child.

“If we go for a surrogate,” Jongin said then, almost as if reading his thoughts. “I want our baby to look like you.”

“No way,” Kyungsoo scoffed. “I want our baby to look like you.”

Jongin rolled his eyes, but bit on his lip then. He directed his gaze back to the screen.

“It says here some couples decide to get multiple eggs fertilized, using both parents’ ,” Jongin pointed towards the laptop and the paragraph he was reading. “Then it’s up to nature.”

“That’s an option,” Kyungsoo mumbled quietly, all the information flowing through his brain and making him even more confused than he already felt.

“Or we could always just get two kids,” Jongin grinned then, and Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at him.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

It had been troubling him earlier – they were both so incredibly busy, taking care of a child would probably be impossibly hard to do with their current situation. He didn’t want to voice that out loud, because he knew Jongin and him would find a way – they always did.

But two children? That seemed like a reach. Even for them.

Besides, what did any of them know about parenting? It was better to start out slow. To make sure they were doing the right things.

And speaking of the right things…

“I think we should adopt,” Kyungsoo said hesitantly, throwing a nervous look towards Jongin. His husband nodded slowly, his eyes inquiring on him. Kyungsoo grabbed his hand lightly. “There are so many children out there, some not even born yet, who don’t have a family and are forced into the system.”

Jongin nodded slowly again, his thumb brushing over his skin.

“We could give one of them a home.”

Kyungsoo held his breath as he watched Jongin. His husband only nodded slowly again, his eyes a little dazed as he contemplated the words.

Then he nodded again. A little faster this time around. His lips pursed tighter, and Kyungsoo let the soft smile bloom on his lips. He knew that expression.

“I agree,” Jongin’s thumb brushed over his knuckles, as he smiled back at him. “You’re absolutely right.”

Okay, Kyungsoo hesitantly nodded. His mouth felt dry.

This was the decision they had been waiting to make.

He shot his eyes towards Jongin again, the question written all over his face.

Are you sure?

Jongin’s lips twitches before he smiled at him, the warmth and love oozing from his eyes.

Yes.

Kyungsoo lounged forward to wrap his arms around Jongin’s neck, holding the other man close. He was pretty sure even Jongin could feel the way his heart was beating in his chest madly, the excitement rushing through his veins was probably contagious.

He felt Jongin’s fingers curling into him, when he rested his chin on his shoulder.

“I know you want us to take care of everything, but I think we should still see a consultant,” Jongin offered quietly. “We should hire a lawyer, someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Kyungsoo nodded this time around.

After everything they had read tonight, he knew that they needed the extra help.

And now that they did have their decision, he felt that excitement pumping through his veins getting to his head. It was impatience. The need to take care of all this as soon as possible.

He buried his face in Jongin’s neck and nodded.

“Yeah?” Jongin’s voice was a low whisper, and his fingers were gentle when he his back.

“Yeah.”

It took them a long time to arrange everything, but with Haechan and Doyoung’s help, and with some heavy name dropping, they were able to hire the best adoption consultants money could get them.

Kyungsoo had thought he would feel intimidated, but Jongin was holding his hand tightly, and they both had made up their minds – they knew what they wanted when they walked into the consultant’s office. They both knew what to say and what to ask.

They spent almost two hours talking to the kind woman, who gathered all their information and compiled their file. They filled out their application together. She assured them that with their careers, they definitely had an advantage. Financial stability is not an issue here, she had remarked, her eyes going a little wide upon the sight of their bank account statements.

All documents were cleared within the week, and then there was that.

Then all they had to do was wait.

He got the call in the middle of a meeting with a manufacturer.

The moment his phone started buzzing in his hand, he flinched, and looked down. As soon as he saw the name of the consultant on the screen, he pushed his chair back.

“I’m sorry,” he said towards the manufacturers and Baekhyun, who was giving him a sharp look. He wasn’t sorry at all. “I need to take this.”

He stumbled out of the conference room, the glass door not even completely shut behind him, as he picked up with a breathy ‘Hello?’.

“Hello, Mr. Kim?” the woman started with her sweet voice. Kyungsoo’s ear was almost glued to the phone. “I am sorry to disturb during work hours-“

“Please,” Kyungsoo breathed out. “That’s alright. How can I help you?”

“Well, you see, Mr. Kim. We just received information about a new register entry. We have a 19-year old girl with unplanned pregnancy. She wants to give her baby up for adoption once it’s born,” the woman was speaking so casually, like she was used to it. And she was – it was her job. But Kyungsoo, on the other side of the line, reached up to pull on his tie. There was not enough air around him all of a sudden. “I reviewed their profile and you are the first ones I am contacting – neither the mother nor the father has history with medical complications. If you and your husband are interested, I can arrange a meeting with the girl.”

“Yes!” Kyungsoo blurted out. He clutched at his own chest. “I mean, yes, please. That would be amazing.”

“Very well. Any preference about the day and time?”

“As soon as possible,” Kyungsoo replied again without thinking. He shook his head. “Whenever it is possible. Me and my husband will be there.”

“Good,” the woman from the other side of the line said. “This meeting will be an interview of a sort. It gives the mother the opportunity to get to know you two. It is up to her what family she decides to give her baby to.”

“Of course, I understand.”

“Very well, then,” the consultant said with a cheerful voice. “I will e-mail you the details and will call you back with the time and date.”

“Alright. Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Kyungsoo dropped against the glass wall of the conference room when the call ended. His heart, once again, had started doing somersaults in his chest.

Jongin.

He needed to see Jongin.

“Hey,” a voice ripped him away from his thoughts. When he turned to the side, a head had popped to look at him through the slip of the glass door of the conference room. He saw pitch-black hair and slightly pouty lips. Baekhyun was looking at him like he had fallen from another planet, slight concern lacing his tone. “Are you alright?”

Kyungsoo straightened up then, fixing the front of his suit. Right. The meeting.

“Yes, let’s get this over with,” he said, and his lips were pulled into a smile that made Baekhyun give him yet another confused look.

The faster he finished here, the sooner he could get to the 12th floor of VOGUE and give his husband the good news.

The girl sitting in front of them was young. She looked almost scared when they walked inside the room with the consultant. She seemed to sink even further back in the large chair that was engulfing her.

Kyungsoo looked at her curiously while the consultant was introducing them. She was a pretty little thing, with long, black shining hair and big, round eyes. Her lips trembled a little before she smiled hesitantly and reached out to shake Jongin’s outstretched hand.

“Thank you so much for meeting us,” Jongin used his charming smile. Only Kyungsoo could tell the genuine gratitude that was shining through his eyes. “My name is Jongin, and this is my husband – Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo woke up from his trance when the girl’s round eyes moved from Jongin to him. Her smile was pretty.

He held her hand then in a greeting, and it almost got swallowed in his palm. She was small.

He tried to calm himself down during the duration of the interview, but his heart was beating loudly every time he looked down to the girl’s tummy. She was not showing yet, or at least, he could not see the bump behind the hoodie she was wearing.

It was a relief that Jongin was there, his hand never leaving his thigh as he talked to the girl who slowly eased into the conversation. His fingers would occasionally tighten around his thigh, every time he turned around to look at him with a bright smile.

She was a nice girl. She was well-spoken and kind. After she got comfortable around them, she was funny too. She had her entire future ahead of her. The little baby growing inside her had been an unplanned mistake, that’s what she called it.

Kyungsoo’s eyes shot up then, and he was about to argue at first, but Jongin’s hand on his thigh calmed him down. Instead, he smiled.

“We would be truly blessed if we get the opportunity to raise the baby,” he uttered quietly, his hand falling on top of Jongin’s. The girl smiled at him.

“Do you want to know the gender?” she asked suddenly, and Kyungsoo perked up in his seat. He threw a curious glance towards the consultant, who had a little, pleased smile on her face. It seemed like this was going well.

Then his head whipped towards Jongin. His husband’s eyes were shining, his lips were parted. Kyungsoo contemplated for a moment when Jongin shrugged and raised his eyebrows at him.

“No,” he said, turning to smile giddily at the girl in front of them. “We want it to be a surprise.”

The girl just eased back into her chair. She seemed comfortable around them, she seemed content. Kyungsoo suspected it had something to do with Jongin bringing her an obnoxiously packed gift in a Chanel box (which he was pretty sure was against the rules, but when did Kim Jongin ever care about rules), or maybe the fact that she knew their names and faces even before the consultant introduced them. She seemed even more relaxed after they had spent an entire hour talking to each other.

“When is…the little one due?” Jongin asked then, curiosity unbearably heavy in his voice. It sounded like he had been itching to ask this since they stepped in the room.

“April,” the girl replied, and Kyungsoo tugged on Jongin’s arm. Less than six months.

The consultant was the one who wrapped up the meeting, bringing up application forms and documents. When they said goodbye, Kyungsoo’s eyes lingered on the retreating form of the girl as he went to fill out some more documents.

He leaned into Jongin’s embrace, when she disappeared from their sight, and he finally let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

“I think that went well,” Jongin said quietly, holding him close. “What do you think?”

Kyungsoo breathed in deeply, his fingers sliding between Jongin’s. The truth.

He loved the girl. She was smart, she was beautiful, she was gentle and sweet. And her baby? The little thing inside her that she had called a mistake and that him and Jongin were so desperately waiting for? He wanted it. He wanted it more than he wanted anything else in this entire wide world.

“I think I’ll be crushed if this doesn’t work out.”

Jongin’s fingers tightened around his, as he pulled him even closer. His sigh was quiet, and Kyungsoo understood.

He felt the same way.

Kyungsoo’s eyes were sliding over the drafts pasted into the mock-up. His gaze was shooting between the handwritten notes on the side, the arrows pointing towards pictures and photos, put together with tape.

It was the third time he had to start the page from scratch, because he kept getting distracted.

He gripped the pencil in his fingers tighter, as he forced himself to pay attention.

“So, I was thinking instead of the violet one we can change it to red,” Baekhyun was saying from across the desk. “Christmas is coming so red should be more fitting.”

Kyungsoo blinked up towards the art director.

“Sorry, change what to red?”

Baekhyun set his jaw tightly and looked at him with an impatient glint in his sharp eyes.

“The cover title,” he all but hissed at him, before crossing his arms over his leather jacket. He had a little scowl on his face.

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo winced a little. He was slowly starting to piss off Baekhyun, he could tell by the look on his face. It was good that he still hadn’t reached out to unwrap a lollipop. He wasn’t completely done with him then. “Yeah, red would probably be better.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Kyungsoo nodded at Baekhyun’s warning, as they continued the review of the mock-up before they’d submit it to Jongin.

They were going over the placement of the articles on the pages, and the photos Jongin had chosen from the photoshoot last week.

“This is for the article on Marine Serre’s new collection,” Baekhyun pointed towards a blank spot on the next page. “When can we expect that?”

“I have a writer working on it. Should be ready by tonight,” he sighed, tapping his pencil on the desk unconsciously.

Baekhyun’s gaze shifted again then, from the mock-up to his busy hands, then up to his face.

He let out a sigh, as he leaned back in the chair.

“Okay, what is it?”

“What?” Kyungsoo met his eyes for a brief second, before shaking his head and glancing back at the articles. “Nothing.”

“No, it’s nothing. You’ve been spacing out like this for over a week,” Baekhyun leaned over the desk, not really giving him any space to back up. He raised his eyebrows, and his expression was as hard as steel. He wasn’t going to back off. “Whatever’s gotten into you is making you lose focus and we end up with a goddamn mock-up that’s still not ready by a Friday night. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to go back home to my fiancé a