One.

The Life of a Father
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Onew walked into his house after work, tripping over a toy on the way in.

“I’m h- Ow!” He clutched his now aching foot. “Okay, who left the toy airplane in front of the door?” Onew called.

“Wasn’t me.” Key said, walking past his father, his eyes glued on the screen of his phone.

“Minho?”

“Me neither, Dad.” Minho, too, walked past his dad into the living room and sitting on the couch.

Onew saw his youngest son run by. Onew crossed his arms.

“Taemin.” Said boy stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned around. “…Yes, Appa?”

“Did you leave the airplane in front of the door?”

Taemin looked down and pouted cutely, kicking his foot back and forth. “Yes, Daddy. Mianhae. I won’t do it again.”

“It’s okay, Tae. Now, where’s my hug?” Onew opened his arms. Taemin smiled widely and ran into the hug and Onew wrapped his arms around his son.

“So what did you do today?” Onew asked once they broke apart.

“I colowed and wrote my ABCs!! Awl awone!!” Taemin excitedly said.

“You did? No way! High five!” Onew exclaimed with just as much enthusiasm and high fived his son.

“What about you two? What did you guys do today?” Onew asked, directing his question at the two older kids on the couch.

“I took the math test that I was studying for.” Minho said.

“How do you even study for math, you froggy weirdo?” Key raised an eyebrow.

“You do math problems, genius.” Minho replied, sarcastically. Key was ready to retort when Onew cut him off.

“Hey, quit it.” Onew stopped them before they started arguing. “You guys ate, right?”

He got a chorus of “Yeah” in reply.

“Good.” Onew smiled. He checked his watch. “Okay. Bed. Now. Everyone.”

He heard groans all around the room.

“Don’t make noises.” He laughed. “Go. You need your rest. Kibum, stay here for a sec.”

“Yeah, Dad?” Kibum turned around as his brothers went up the stairs to their rooms.

“What did you do today, Kibum?”

“Same thing I do every day, Dad. Go to school, pick up Minho and Taemin from school, come home, ord-”

“That’s not what I meant. Are you still hanging around that Jinghun kid?”

“Jonghyun,” Kibum corrected, “and of course, Dad, he’s my boyfriend.”

“He’s not a good influence, Kibum.” Onew told him.

“You don’t know him. You’ve only met him once. You can’t say if he’s a good influence or not.”

“Well judging from the one time, he’s a bad influence.”

Key sighed. “He’s a good guy, Dad.”

“I’ll believe when I see it,” Onew mumbled. “Anyway,” he said normally, “keep an eye on your brothers, okay?”

“Going out on another mission to replace mom?” Key bitterly asked.

Onew sighed. “Key, please. You know better than anyone else that I could never replace her.”

“Then why do you try so hard to?!”

“I don’t try to replace her, Kibum. It’s been 5 years. I’m really lonely. She would want us to move on.”

“Is it that easy for you to move on? Like she was never here?? Maybe it might be for you but not for me!” Key ran up the stairs, into his room and slammed the door shut.

Onew ran a hand through his hair. It was take some time before Kibum would cool down so Onew decided to get ready for his date.

Onew took a quick shower and started putting on his clothes. When he saw that he looked good, he went to check on his kids, starting with the youngest. He slowly and quietly opened Taemin’s door. The boy was peacefully sleeping in his racecar bed. Onew tiptoed over to Taemin.

“Goodnight, Tae.” He whispered and kissed the boy’s forehead.

He walked out of that room, into the one next to it. Minho’s room. Minho was sitting up in his bed; book in one hand, flashlight in the other.

“I don’t want to imply that reading is bad but you need to go to sleep.” Onew smiled softly

“Aww, Can’t I just finish this chapter?” Minho whined.

“…How many pages?”

“9.”

Onew hesitated but gave in when he saw Minho’s pleading look. “Fine, finish it. But as soon as you’re done, you’re going to sleep, okay?”

Minho nodded. Onew ruffled his hair.

“Goodnight, Kiddo.”

“Night, Appa.” Minho said already engulfed in his book again.

Onew headed off to his oldest son’s room. He saw him looking out of the window, at the stars. Onew walked next to him and started looking out the window too.

“You know… she’s up there now. She’s watching over us.”

“I know, dad… Tae looks so much like her. I-I miss her. A lot.” Key said shakily, letting a tear slip out.

“It’s okay to. I do, too.” Onew put an arm around his son.

“So, it isn’t easy for you to move on and forget about her, right?” Kibum asked, starting to fully cry.

“Ani, Key, of course not.” Onew wrapped his son in a full hug. “I can’t possibly forget about her. There’s no way that could happen. And moving on is probably the hardest thing to do, but… we need to. It’s just a part of life.”

Key cried into his father’s shoulder for about 5 minutes more. Onew knew that Kibum missed his mother dearly. Kibum has known her the longest out of the three kids so he was obviously the most attached.

“Sorry. The one time you wear a decent shirt, I ruined it with tears.” Key sniffled with a small smile.

“It’ll dry.” Onew replied with a mirror smile. Kibum went to sit on his bed.

“I love you, Appa.”

“I love you, too.” Onew kissed his Kibum’s forehead. “I’ll be back by 12:30, okay?”

Key nodded and watched his father walk out of his room. Onew left his house, got into his car, and went to the diner where he was supposed to meet his date.

He got inside and spotted his date sitting at a table for two with a glass of water in his hand. Onew rushed over to him.

“My gosh, am I late? I’m sorry if I am. I lost track of time and-”

“Jinki, relax. You’re on time. I was early.” Joon gave a charming smile. Onew went on two dates with Joon previously and they both turned out great unlike many, many other failed dates.

“Really? Ok then…” Onew tried to look smooth sitting down but ended up looking extremely weird.

Nevertheless, Joon laughed. “I see you’re still a

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Comments

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afton19
#1
Chapter 9: I am re-reading all of your great stories again. I am a girl who loves stories with lots and lots and I mean, LOTS of chapters and among many other reasons, that is why I love your stories, that and because you are an extremely talented writer. Thank you for this great story story!!!!!!
Looluu
#2
Chapter 9: I just found this story! it's so cute, I'm in love 🥰 thank you for writing.
gwiboonivy
#3
Chapter 8: reading this again uwuwuwuwu
afton19
#4
Chapter 8: Great story. I hope you update soon please!!!
DreamingofMinho
24 streak #5
Chapter 8: My fave chapter so far! Taemin is so cute I could hug him. And Minho! Lots of Minho. I love it. Key is softening. I really can’t wait for the next chapter! Thanks for the update. <3
DreamingofMinho
24 streak #6
Chapter 8: My fave chapter so far! Taemin is so cute I could hug him. And Minho! Lots of Minho. I love it. Key is softening. I really can’t wait for the next chapter! Thanks for the update. <3
DreamingofMinho
24 streak #7
Chapter 8: My fave chapter so far! Taemin is so cute I could hug him. And Minho! Lots of Minho. I love it. Key is softening. I really can’t wait for the next chapter! Thanks for the update. <3
gwiboonivy
#8
Chapter 8: Sweet :(♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Trina88
#9
Chapter 8: I loved this update. Plan #TeamJoonki was super cute!
Trina88
#10
Chapter 7: What new drama will Kibum cause now? XD Also, curious about Joon's backstory and aversion to kids.