❝The ability to recognize and respect individual differences is the beginning of successful relationship❞ - Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel.

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5:45 pm

Gayoung pulled over her car by the house, and the home which she was getting used to come back to, and call it hers. 

Her work had held her back from coming home on her usual time so she had asked Mrs. Tae to bring the kids home which she had informed Baekhyun about throughout the text to which she got to know that he'd be coming home before her. 

It's been two weeks since they have gotten married. 

Like every new wedded couple, they were getting used to the feeling of having them around each other to get comfortable being around each other. 

It was a little difficult in their first days, as the next morning of their marriage, Gayoung woke up only to almost kick Baekhyun off the bed but immediately had resisted the moment she realized that she was married now. And the same thing happened to Baekhyun who woke up only to find a woman standing by the dressing table to almost curse out loud until he realized that he was married now. 

Then come a few things of them learning about each other. 

And one of them was how Baekhyun had found Gayoung's hand always clutching his sleeve or either his hand whenever he woke up from his sleep before her, while Gayoung had come to adapt to how Baekhyun always shift his position before getting into a deep slumber but he was still a little sleeper just like Seojun. 

Mr and Mrs Byun had left the next morning as they still had some stuff to take care of. 

Soon enough, the people at their workplace had gotten the news of them being married and they were surely being the talk of it but no one really came with some direct words and if were, that was from their seniors and they weren't embarrassed about it, nor they were forced into it so it was nowhere that they were going to deny it because they had welcomed it. 

That's how their days were going on, their routines were changing, and somehow new habits were being made in those days but they were yet to acknowledge it but in those days there were hardly any long conversations between them since they had gotten busy with their respective jobs. 

Talking about kids, both of them were trying very hard to give their time and efforts towards their children, as it wasn't only them being in a new change but their kids were also a part of it and however it was, they were happy. 

Walking through the front door, Gayoung was greeted with a empty living room instead of Seojun running around or Areum doodling on her drawing book which was her favorite hobby to do as Gayoung came to know about it with not even finding Baekhyun around who had told her about him being at home. 

"Dad, you're doing it wrongly!" 

And that's when she heard Seojun's voice from the kids room, where putting her purse on the couch she walked towards their room not before changing her sneakers into slippers while taking a few steps softly. 

Twisting the knob, she peeked her head through the door without any noise and the sight had her lips smiling as in front of her eyes were Seojun and Areum with Baekhyun between them on the floor doing arts and crafts which was Seojun's favorite hobby to do. 

It was last week when Seojun and Areum came back from Gayoung's house since they were missing Dodo and the family whereas after getting home, he had whined about having his arts and crafts at this home too. And as much as Gayoung didn't like arts and crafts, Baekhyun was quick to give in to his whines to buy him the set which they had been doing most of the time now. 

With Seojun, and Areum, Baekhyun also had taken a liking to this hobby of his, as she would find the trio together doing it, and in those days, Gayoung also realized that no matter how much Baekhyun was cautious about the healthy things, he was still good at spoiling kids. 

But it was still funny how he seemed like a kid between them as Gayoung couldn't help but chuckle and her chuckle was heard by the only one whom she was actually chuckling at as her eyes locked with Baekhyun who was about to shout her name where Gayoung shook her head since she would get forced to do this activity. 

But Baekhyun was still Baekhyun as he just tilted his head with a little smirk on the corner of his lips toward her. "Mommy is here!" 

Gayoung gave him a dumbfounded look to which Baekhyun just shrugged with a playful look and Gayoung squinted her eyes before immediately smiling as she entered inside. 

"What are my babies doing?" 

"Arts and crafts!" Areum exclaimed, and Seojun showed her his work with a proud smile. "Look, I made Spiderman!" 

Gayoung nodded, with a satisfied face while clasping her hands behind her back before looking over to Baekhyun with a frown at his focused work. "And what's that?" 

"That's Oswald." He shrugged, with a little embarrassed look as Gayoung just nodded. "Nice." 

And Baekhyun gave her a look knowing she was being sarcastic where Gayoung just shrugged, with a hint of playfulness behind her little grin and Baekhyun tilted his head with a smirk. "Why don't you show me how good you are then?" 

Gayoung gave him a disbelieving look and Baekhyun just held back his laugh where Areum nodded, smiling. "Yes, mommy!" 

"Uh, you know what, I'll go and make strawberry shakes for everyone!" She exclaimed, taking a few steps back to get out of the situation until Baekhyun spoke again. "So you are that bad at this? I didn't know." 

He nodded, plastering a fake wonder look and literally waking Gayoung's competitiveness to which she frowned. "Who says?"

"You're just walking out like that," He trailed off, shrugging. "But it's okay, some people aren't good at it." 

"I am, okay?" She placed her hands either side of her waist giving a confident look to him and Baekhyun's forehead creased in amusement. "Oh, are you?" 

"I'll show you before I'm done with strawberry shakes!" She stated, turning around with a little stomp of her foot to walk out of the room leaving Baekhyun smiling to himself as he shook his head. "That was easy." 

Half an hour later, Gayoung entered the room with a tray of shakes which she put in on the small table in their room where the two small chairs were around it, before handing it to the kids and another one who was sitting like a kid between them where Baekhyun looked up at her taking the glass from her to shift a little to the side to give her a place to sit. 

Gayoung took her glass before sitting on the floor beside Baekhyun with her crossed legs under with their knees almost touching but both of them were too occupied by the current moment to realize their little moment of theirs which was having its own. 

"Okay, so I'm going to make…" Gayoung trailed off, taking a sip from her glass with a wondering look while kids and Baekhyun watched her with a much anticipated look where she smiled. "Flower." 

And the reaction was not what she expected, as kids just nodded where she frowned to look at Baekhyun who already had his eyes on her with an amused look. 

"Flower." He took a sip, not averting his eyes from her before nodding. "Nice choice." 

"What?" She looked at them confused. "Flowers are beautiful." 

"Yes, just like mommy!" Areum exclaimed, and Seojun nodded. "And mommy waters flowers too!" 

Her nose scrunched, as she smiled toward them before giving Baekhyun a smug little smirk of hers who just rolled his eyes making Gayoung to smile with a shake of her head. 

And that's when they got in the task of doing the arts and crafts, or say Gayoung who was trying everything to make her flower to look like a flower since her drawing wasn't so good and as her flower wasn't getting any better, her pouty lips with her eyes averting to her side to find Baekhyun only to find him holding back his laugh but he wasn't the only one since kids were also doing the same as well. 

Her eyes squinted, where she palmed her hand in the purple paint before planting her palm on Baekhyun's octopus like a stamp leaving the latter to flinch as he didn't see it coming while his wide eyes immediately met Gayoung's playful ones. 

"Really?" He scoffed, and the next moment Gayoung found her flower got stamped by Baekhyun's blue painted palm and she gasped. "Why would you do that?" 

"Because you did it on mine." 

"That's because you were laughing!"

"I wasn't laughing."

"You were, I saw you!" 

And here they were, getting too comfortable to break into a not so sensible banter like kids in front of their kids where Areum and Seojun looked at each other with a sigh but still watched them doing their thing until Gayoung's painted hand had planted on Areum's drawing. 

A huge gasp left her lips as she gave Areum a guilty look. "I'm so sorry, Areum." 

However, the next thing Gayoung felt was the exact paint on her nose by Areum who laughed afterwards while Gayoung was frozen for a moment before laughing where she did it to Seojun who was trying hard not to get to but her mother was fast enough to hold him back. 

And the trio laughed, where Gayoung looked at Baekhyun to find him staring at them with a soft smile on his lips until he saw Seojun running towards him and before he could even react, he was already painted on his cheek by him where both of them broke into laughter. 

And that's how the laughter of their little happiness echoed in their home. 

As Baekhyun was wiping his cheek with his other hand which wasn't painted, his eyes stopped at Gayoung who immediately looked back at him to gesture toward the place to wipe it off by her forefinger pointing out toward his cheek bone where Baekhyun did it correctly to ask with his eyes if it was gone and got a nod from her. 

Until Baekhyun had pointed towards her nose to wipe it off, where Gayoung forgetting about her right hand was painted to wipe her nose right with it only to paint her nose even more and a gasp left her lips as she realized while Baekhyun just looked away smiling only to laugh with a shake of his head. 

"Oh, let's stamp on it together!" 

Seojun spoke, pointing at the white drawing paper where the next moment, four of them had stamped their hands together to make a stamp of their new home. 

Soon, kids went to the washroom to wash their hands, leaving Baekhyun and Gayoung to collect the mess they had created until Baekhyun found himself staring at the picture they just created, their stamp of hands together before he felt Gayoung beside him as he looked at her to find her smiling at the picture. 

 "Their hands are so small and adorable." She cooed, and Baekhyun tilted his head with a pondering look. "I don't think only theirs are small." 

"But your hands are not small." She frowned, as she looked at him confusingly only to greet his done look at her. "I was talking about your hand." 

"My hands are not small." She stated, but still looked at her hand with a serious expression until she found Baekhyun's hand beside hers. "See, they are small compared to mine." 

"Yeah, because yours are long but that doesn't mean mines are small." She stood up, holding out her hand for him where Baekhyun slightly smiled at her gesture before grasping her hand gently to stand up as he smiled. "Okay, let's say yours aren't small." 

But he was sure now since he was holding her hand in his hand. 

Gayoung just rolled her eyes as Baekhyun put the picture on the table, while walking out of the room with Gayoung following him with her realizing that she had painted his left hand with her right ones and Baekhyun who also happen to realize it, just stopped walking only to feel Gayoung's head bumping on his back. 

She just rubbed her forehead with a confused look as he turned around with a 'what did you do' look towards her where a chuckle left her lips as she stared at his hands. "You're like a blue alien." 

She laughed but stopped when Baekhyun didn't give her any reaction. "You were supposed to laugh." 

Baekhyun just stared at her confusingly. "Is it supposed to be funny?" 

"Yes, it was a joke, Baekhyun-sii." She stated, giving him a duh look and Baekhyun's forehead creased. "Well, it wasn't really funny, Gayoung-sii." 

"You could've just laughed." She raised her eyebrows and he turned around with a shrug to walk through the room. "I can't just laugh without finding it funny." 

He walked into the bathroom leaving Gayoung in the middle of the room grumbling behind the door. "Your hands wouldn't have gotten small if you had just laughed." 

And who would tell her that this time he was smiling. 

"Dodo, I miss you because no one laughs at my jokes here." 

Until he heard her again only to shake his head at her much dramatic whine but he was the one to think about it because he, himself, was a big dramatic guy and there was a feeling that she'd match her level with his. 

Time passed with night greeting them afterwards as it was dinner time which was made by both Baekhyun and Gayoung as they were taking part in the activities of the house together to share it while leaving washing the utensils by their everyday turns and today was Baekhyun's turn who had just finished doing it to sit by the stair step leading to the backyard. 

Kids were in their room, as the time was almost 10 which was their sleeping time but they wouldn't find the sleep soon since he could hear Gayoung's giggles along with them until he heard her soft steps toward the kitchen and he didn't had to look over his shoulder to see if he was right because in these days, he had come to adapt this much of her presence around her. 

His eyes were focused ahead, wandering around the empty garden without any thoughts, until a mug of coffee was presented in front of him where he looked up to find Gayoung with a smile while holding another mug in her hand. "Come on, I make killer coffee so have it before it gets cold."

He chuckled, taking the mug from her. "Like your killer strawberry shake?" 

"Oh, you loved it." She sat beside him with a chuckle and gave him an expectant expression as he took a sip. "How is it?" 

"It's sweet," He trailed off, nodding with a satisfied face. "Might not kill me." 

Gayoung just rolled her eyes as he chuckled, where she took a sip with a delighted smile. "Of course, it's sweet like me." 

"Oh, is that why you aren't sweet to arts and crafts." He tilted his head and Gayoung frowned. "That's different." 

"Okay, so why don't you like sweet- I mean arts and crafts?" He questioned, taking another sip which somehow brought a smile on his lips where Gayoung giggled, shrugging. "It's just I'm not very good at it so I can't really enjoy it." 

"That doesn't matter." He spoke, as his eyes met hers with a soft look. "You don't have to be good at something for you to enjoy it, you can just enjoy it if it makes you happy." 

"Oh, are we having a psychology session, Dr. Baekhyun-sii?" Gayoung gave him a playful look and Baekhyun imitated her expression. "So, should I be prepared for the lecture then, Prof. Gayoung-sii?" 

"No, I'm off duty today." She chuckled, taking a sip before her eyes sparkled as she remembered something to immediately face Baekhyun with her crossed legs under. "Okay, you definitely need to know this." 

"Okay." Baekhyun gave a nod, smiling amusingly at her excited sparkling eyes and Gayoung chuckled remembering it. "So, this happened when Seojun was very new to this arts and crafts thing and Dodo brought a guest with him and Seojun had laid out the glue on the chair which he sat on and." 

She raised her eyebrows indicating something to which Baekhyun scrunched his nose, understanding where it went. "No way, seriously?" 

"Seriously." 

"I guess I should be alert next time." 

Gayoung looked away smiling and Baekhyun tilted his head with a squint of his eyes. "You just imagined it, didn't you?" 

Gayoung shrugged, giggling. "You made me!" 

Baekhyun shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee again but a chuckle left his lips as he immediately cupped his eyes and Gayoung bit her lip. "You just imagined it, didn't you?" 

"Thanks to you." He looked at her, 

holding back his laugh but seeing her doing the same thing, both of them just broke out in soft giggles again. 

And their soft giggles echoed in the garden, something which was needed and it was finally here. 

It had been a while since they were having a night talk with someone, because all this while they had been occupying their time for their kids so they didn't know if they would live this moment but here they were, sitting beside someone they were getting to know, with coffee mugs in their hands and laughing at something which made no sense yet it broke them into a meaningful laughter together. 

"Okay, I just remembered this," Baekhyun paused, calming himself as he waited for Gayoung to the same as well before turning to her and now they were sitting face to face with his back against the door frame. "It was back in my high school days, and there was a bully in my class bothering everyone so I laid out the glue on the chair but a transferred student sat on it." 

"Heol." Gayoung gasped, and Baekhyun took another sip. "And guess who it was?" 

"Please, don't tell me it was Dr. Zhang." She gave me a confused look but as Baekhyun just smiled with a shrug, her jaw dropped. "Seriously!" 

"And that's how we became best pals." He chuckled, remembering that day and Gayoung shook her head with a fake judgy look. "So, you were a prankster." 

"And I doubt you were two goody shoes." His foreh