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Daddies do it different
"Hi, um..."
Two almost identical pairs of brown eyes train themselves on the little girl and she shifts nervously, small fingers fumbling with the seam of her dress sleeve.
"I like your doll!" one of the twins, a girl by the name Minhee, pipes up cheerfully while her brother Minsoo returns his attention to the castle they are building with colorful plastic bricks. "Do you want to play with us?"
Immediately, the girl's eyes brighten up and she nods happily, settling down next to the twins before proudly introducing herself as Kim Sarang. Later that day she would just as proudly tell her father about her new playmates and about the awesome games they played until he came over to take her back home again.
The first day at a new kindergarten is a lot less scary with awesome new friends, really.
- + - + - + -
"Ah, Minhee... looks like monsters ate your brother last night, what a pity."
Jongup chuckles as he holds his five years old daughter on his arm, looking adorable in her light green pajamas. Minhee giggles and shakes her head, throwing her small arms around her father's neck before leaning closer to whisper into his ear.
"Soo is in the closet..."
"Oh really? Well, kids who don't stay in their bed at night can't get pancakes in the morning, don't you think?"
Almost immediately, the wooden doors to the closet fly open and a little boy in blue pajamas runs out, clinging to Jongup's left leg with a small pout.
"Dad, that's mean... I want pancakes too..."
"Warriors don't pout but I think there will be pancakes for you too," Jongup smiles, ruffling Minsoo's hair before picking him up on his other arm. "Let's go eat breakfast before I take you to the kindergarten."
- + - + - + -
Himchan is busy flipping through a pile of envelopes that arrived with the mail earlier that morning, hot coffee steaming on the breakfast table in front of him. Mostly bills, he soon realizes and quickly dismissed the task at hand, pushing it back in his daily agenda to focus instead on someone he never spent enough time with anyways.
"Sarang, remember to drink your juice" he smiles, and the little girl lowers her cereal spoon into her bowl to grab her glass with both hands, drinking a huge sip. "Good girl."
"Daddy, can I wear the dress again? My friends, they like it..."
"Oh, you made friends already?"
In all honesty, Himchan is incredibly relieved when he hears his daughter's words. He had been worried all week that his little princess would end up being excluded from playing and befriending other kids at the new kindergarten he had to take her to after they moved, but obviously she inherited her father's natural ability to approach others. It was good to know that she had playmates already, especially since Himchan worked a tight schedule at the office which never left him with enough time for his little girl.
"Their names are Minhee and Minsoo, but everyone just calls them Min and Soo," Sarang explains excitedly, cereal forgotten and Himchan smiles. "They let me play and draw with them and sometimes we play tag!"
"Well, then I'll definitely let you wear the dress, if you want. Now finish up so we can get ready, princess~"
- + - + - + -
Jongup never really got close to other parents at the kindergarten, mainly due to the fact that he's a single father and constantly struggles with every single mother hitting on him whenever he is there with the twins. He understands that, having children of their own, these woman are attracted to someone who can handle kids well, but ever since his divorce from the mother of Minhee and Minsoo, he never bothered to start dating women again. Mostly because he had to focus his whole attention on his kids and his work, but also because none of these woman sparked his interest in even the slightest way and he didn't want to start bringing them home for a few days at a time just as a pastime, since it would just confuse the twins. Instead, he politely declines all of their date offers every morning and afternoon, no matter how stubborn and persistent they are.
When he parks his car in front of the kindergarten the next wednesday morning, he's about to open the door on his side to get out when suddenly a black mercedes parks right next to him and he stops himself just in time before slamming his door into the side of the car, giving the driver a small smile. Jongup wasn't someone to pick a stupid fight over meaningless things, really. He carefully opens his door and gets out, recognizing the other man as one he'd seen around here every morning, despite never really talking to him before. While Minhee and Minsoo jump out of the car, a girl of roughly the same age climbs out of the mercedes and promptly, all three kids forget their parents as the race across the small yard towards the entrance of the building and Jongup hears a small laugh from his left side.
"Well, so much for a proper goodbye."
Turning his head towards the other man for a moment, Jongup smiles and nods, stuffing his hands into his pockets while watching his twins eagerly talking and playing with other kids while being ushered into the building.
"Your daughter?"
"Sarang? Yes. And those two are...?"
"Minsoo and Minhee, twins" Jongup replies proudly and the man smiles, suddenly holding out his hand for Jongup to shake.
"My name is Kim Himchan, by the way."
"Oh... I'm Moon Jongup."
"Now I finally know which playmates Sarang keeps talking about all the time."
"Well, they're both always ready to go on playdates, so if they get along well I'd be more than happy to let them spend time together... if that's okay with you, of course, Himchan-sshi."
Himchan just smiles wider, nodding his head without hesitation.
"Sarang is an only child, I want her to have as many playdates as possible."
- + - + - + -
Three weekends and lots of small talk later, on a rather sunny friday afternoon, Himchan opens the door to two kids immediately running past his legs and over to where Sarang was waiting, without hesitation falling into the patterns of their newly found friendship and both fathers just stand by they still open door, smiling proudly. Only after a few moments does Himchan turn around again to face his other guest and leads him inside. The first hour or so is rather quiet and awkward as they both talk about meaningless things while listening to the occasional shrieks and giggles coming from Sarang's room. Only after a while do they warm up to each other and it's Himchan, being true to his usually eloquent and talkative personality, who first delves into a deeper topic.
"So... Sarang said the twins told her that they don't live with their mother?"
Jongup's expression morphs into a distant and thoughtful one for a moment before he smiles ever so slightly, shrugging his shoulders with a small nod.
"That's true. We're divorced."
"Oh, okay. I was curious, you don't see it quite often that it's the father keeping the kids."
"Well, you have Sarang too, don't you?" Jongup replies and Himchan chuckles, nodding and taking a sip from his glass of water.
"But I her mother wasn't ever my girlfriend or wife or anything of that sort, so that's different, I'd say."
"How come?"
Himchan watches the younger male shift a bit on the sofa, curiously getting into a more upright position to listen more closely, so he continues talking.
"Sarang is my biological daughter, that's right. I've had a surrogate mother for her, since I've always wanted a child, but um..."
"But...?" Jongup prods a bit when he trails off.
"How do I... Let's just say I never found the right man to settle down and adopt kids with, so about six years ago I decided to do this on my own and it worked out well."
Silence falls for a little while and Himchan watches with a feeling of nervousness how Jongup studies him quietly, as if he just grew a third arm. The older is aware of what he just admitted, but Jongup struck him as a nice and tolerant guy and he prays to the heavens that he really is, because he has the feeling they could be good friends and it'd be terrible to destroy the friendship of their children. A few more seconds pass in silence, then Jongup raises his glass to his lips and drinks before flashing a bright smile, visibly not bothered at all.
"I'm happy for you that it worked out. Kids are a struggle sometimes but at the end of the day it's always worth it."
"So... you're not bothered?"
Jongup blinks, looking genuinely confused for a moment. And cute, Himchan adds in his head, but he'd never say that out loud.
"By what? You having a daughter? Why would I-"
"I'm talking about me being gay."
"Oh~" Jongup chuckles and shakes his head as he shrugs his shoulder. "No, not at all. I was just surprised for a moment, that's all. My best friend is gay, I have no problem with that, really. Don't worry."
The genuine concern and warmth in Jongup's last sentence puts a smile on Himchan's face and he lets himself relax a bit further into his sofa cushions, exhaling softly.
"Your best friend is gay?"
"Gay as hell," the younger grins, nodding.
"Is he out yet?"
Jongup seems to think about that for a moment, tapping his chin before he faces Himchan again.
"I don't think he was ever in to begin with. He's the 'let me forget that I'm the secretary of the CEO of a big company so that I can party and drink and until three in the morning only to wake up completely hungover before I drag myself to work' type. He's always been very... sometimes uh... uncomfortably open about the fact that he, well... prefers hot dogs over tacos."
Himchan blinks twice before breaking into the loud laughter he felt bubbling up his throat while Jongup was talking, even slapping his thigh until he manages to calm down a moment later, finding that Jongup had joined his laughter.
"Did he legit say that?"
"He legit said that, and other weird things," Jongup grins, shaking his head. "Sometimes I question why I'm even his friend, but actually he's a really nice guy. Just... strange. I should introduce you to him..."
"Are you saying I'm strange?" Himchan chuckles and the younger man's grin just grows wider, playful now.
"Yeah, and gay. Dominant too, by any chance? He'd like that."
The older laughs and dares to give Jongup's shoulder a small shove, trying to put on a serious expression even though he can feel he's failing already with the smile tugging on his lips while he shakes his head.
"We're not going to talk about my life on the first day here. Especially not with little children next door."
Jongup raises his hands in surrender but he doesn't stop smiling and when, as if on cue, the three kids bounce into the living room, cheerfully declaring that they're hungry from playing, and Jongup actually manages to pick up all three of them at once to carry them into the kitchen with Himchan following behind, the older figures that he can definitely see them developing a good friendship. It's more fun to stick together, and he enjoys seeing his daughter playing and laughing with other kids.
He also enjoys being around Jongup, but that's not so important right now, he tells himself.
so i really didn't forget about this omg but being busy at work as hell wow
anyways here's the short part one aaand part two will come soon (bc i have a free week ahead of me woohooo!)
i'm excited hmmm ;uuu;
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