That day Jongwoon woke up with the soft chirping of birds. His eyes opened just enough to notice the ceiling barely lit by the outside light. He could feel a pair of arms wrapped around him, just as Kyuhyun's calm breathing in his ear. Jongwoon adored hearing his velvety voice, but even his silence was comforting.

It was still early in the morning, the sun had yet to rise, so Jongwoon shifted to face Kyuhyun and hug him. His body was warm and being in his embrace was safety and home, so despite his light sleep, Jongwoon could always have a full rest with his heart at ease when Kyuhyun was in his arms. He nuzzled his face against the younger's chest and let himself be lulled to sleep again.

❇  ❇  ❇

It was another morning he woke alone in a cold room. He got up with the pretense of doing his part and acting like the person everybody expected him to be. Dreams, relationships, future plans and ambitions were all selected by others for him, even the clothes he used had to fit a certain mold.

After all, his own wishes were wrong, his love a sin. That's what everyone repeated and what he started to believe.

That's why, searching for acceptance, he did as they told, as their understanding of normalcy dictated how he should behave, how he should love and how he should live. He thought that way he could be happy, but he only felt empty instead.

He felt like a doll, being used as someone else's puppet.

❇  ❇  ❇

It was silent for a couple of hours, their breathing the only sound, until rushed little steps filled the silence. Their room's door opened and the sound of footsteps got closer to their bed. A little girl climbed to it, positioning herself next to the two lying bodies. Tiny hands tugged at their pajamas, trying to wake them up.

"Appa, appa! It's mowning!"

A cheerful and childish voice called for them, waking Jongwoon up. Recognizing the voice, he untangled himself from Kyuhyun's body, gaining an unconscious whine from the younger man, who kept sleeping without problem despite the disturb. After sitting down, Jongwoon could see better the little girl sitting in their bed. She was still wearing her pijamas, a pattern of dinosaurs adorning the fabric. If it weren't evident enough, her bed hair made it obvious she rushed to their room right after waking up. The little lady beamed before hugging him. Jongwoon smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Good morning, Nabyeol-ah."

"Good mowning, Yeye appa."

He kissed her forehead, exaggerating the kissing sound and provoking some chuckles from his baby. Jongwoon released her after they squeezed each other in their arms arms a couple of times.

Nabyeol loved hugs and cuddles as much as Jongwoon, so they oftenly paired up to ask (annoy) Kyuhyun to join them until he gave up and cuddled with them.

Today was no exception. They shook Kyuhyun's shoulders and poked his cheeks to wake him up. The younger man didn't respond, instead snuggling more in the mattress. When the poking didn't end, the grumbling victim only hid his face with the bed sheets before dozing off again.

The little girl observed one of her fathers before looking at the other one, a scowl in her face and a pout in her lips.

"Kyu appa isn't getting up."

"Don't worry, your dad will be up and about in no time." He winked at her before tapping Kyuhyun's face with his hands. It usually wouldn't be a problem to let Kyuhyun sleep some more as he worked from home, but there were days he had to go to his workplace and had to get up early to get ready. And today was one of those days. "Kyuhyun-ah, it's time to get up, you'll be late to work if you don't get up in time. Remember you have to be at the office today."

"Ten more minutes..."

And as expected, Kyuhyun still refused to get up. Jongwoon thought for a while before an idea came to his mind. He climbed down bed and turned to look at his daughter with a bright smile.

"Okay, Nabyeol-ah, I'll make breakfast so your Kyu appa gets to sleep a little more."

Her big eyes became even wider due to the surprise. "Yeye appa food?"

He nodded. "Correct."

"What is appa going to cook?" Nabyeol tilted her head as she asked. It wasn't weird for Jongwoon to make breakfast, but since she heard Kyuhyun was going to wake up early today, she thought he was the one making breakfast.

Jongwoon put a hand in his chin as he made an exaggerated act of thinking deeply. "Mmmm, I don't know. I'll use what we have in the kitchen and see what happens." He shrugged his shoulders simply.

Nabyeol blinked a couple of times before smiling mischievously. "More of appa's experiments!"

The little girl jumped cheerfully as she clapped her little hands in excitement. The experiments tasted horrible more often than not, but it was always funny seeing her dad Yesung doing a mess in the kitchen and how her dad Kyuhyun suffered because of the results (Kyuhyun always ate Jongwoon's cooking. Always). Sometimes she could help in creating the mess! Those experiments were the reason they were temporarily banned from the kitchen in the past (even when Kyuhyun secretly made his own experiments as well), but it was still hilarious to do them.

However, before Nabyeol could ask Jongwoon if she could join him, Kyuhyun sat up. His eyes were still half open, giving him a sleepy appearance, but there was urgency in them. He held Jongwoon's hand, stopping him from leaving to the kitchen.

"I'm awake, hyung. You don't need to make breakfast."

Jongwoon laughed internally, his plan worked as perfectly as always. But before he could say something, their daughter got ahead and greeted Kyuhyun.

"Good mowning, Kyu appa!"

"Morning, little munchkin."

Nabyeol moved quickly and gave Kyuhyun his good morning hug. Kyuhyun enveloped her with his arms, resting his head in hers and doing his best to not doze off again. He looked like a lazy cat as they snuggled in the hug.

Jongwoon looked at the scene with fondness in his eyes before joining them. He climbed on the bed once again, but before he could hug them, Kyuhyun trapped him in his arms, next to Nabyeol. Because of the momentum, they landed backwards in bed, Nabyeol and Jongwoon on top of Kyuhyum. More laughs and chuckles could be heard as they were squeezed in the embrace.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Both adults shared a peek, gaining a little ‘ew’ from the family's youngest. In response, both adults showered Nabyeol's cheeks with kisses. Squeaks and laughter filled the room as they played, but not after long, Jongwoon said it was time to get ready. It was lovely to be hugging like that, but they were going to be late if they didn't hurry. Kyuhyun let him go with a pout.

After getting up, the younger man carried Nabyeol in his arms to get her down the bed, kissing the top of her head before releasing her. Jongwoon crouched down to be on the same eye level as her before talking.

"Nabyeol-ah, do you want to dress yourself or do you want me to help you?"

"I can, I can do it! I'm gwown up!"

Jongwoon chuckled at the eagerness of his daughter and nodded. "Call me if you need any help, okay?"

"Okay!"

Jongwoon got up and she went to her room in hurried steps. During the little interchange of words, Kyuhyun got up and started to get ready lazily. Jongwoon noticed his actions and changed his pajamas as well, quickly putting clothes more fitting to wear outside.

"Do you want anything in specific for breakfast?" Kyuhyun took off his finally ed shirt as he asked, his voice a little hoarse. Jongwoon stared for a bit at the pale skin (more discreetly than Kyuhyun did at Jongwoon's body) before answering.

"Something for breakfast? Not particularly... Oh! Yesterday Nabyeol-ah said she wanted pancakes."

A laugh. "There's no day she doesn't want to eat pancakes."

Jongwoon agreed with a chuckle.

After they got dressed, Jongwoon went to see if Nabyeol needed help as Kyuhyun went to the kitchen to start cooking. The little girl did a very good job with her clothes, so Jongwoon only had to help her with the buttons in her uniform. Then he combed her hair as Nabyeol told him what she dreamed about, a mix of the fairytale they read her last night and the variety show they had been watching lately. He listened carefully, responding in awe, sadness or surprise with every event and twist in the story.

Once they were done, parent and child went downstairs and sat on the table just in time for Kyuhyun to finish cooking. They were ready to eat, but before that they were reminded of an important detail.

"Did you wash your hands?" Eyebrow arched, Kyuhyun asked Jongwoon and Nabyeol, knowing the both of them could be quite the airheads in some aspects.

The duo looked at their hands, as if staring at them would reveal their past actions and their level of cleaning. Jongwoon frowned, he remembered he washed them after going to the bathroom, but that probably wouldn't be enough for Kyuhyun's tidiness standards. Nabyeol even sniffed her hands, but after taking a peek at Kyuhyun's skeptical eyes, she just tugged at Jongwoon's sleeve, asking him to help her washing her hands.

When they returned to the dining room, the first thing Nabyeol saw was her plate with pancakes, making her giggle excitedly. Both Jongwoon and Kyuhyun just shook their heads fondly at her elated expression. Thanks to the bribe it was easier to convince her on eating all her food, except her worst enemy, mushrooms. She wasn't particularly picky, so they didn't worry as much about her not eating healthy enough. They never forced her to eat anything she didn't like, but they still encouraged her to try before saying she hated it. It worked more often than not.

Since it got a little late, they had to be faster than usual when having breakfast, but they still managed to get lots of laughs while talking about silly things. With rushed movements they checked they didn't forget anything and then they left the house. Taking Nabyeol to school was oftenly a chaotic trip, but it was part of their routine and was the source of many funny stories.

And so, another good day began.