Word count: 968w

Prompt: wondering if you can write a parents au where one of the girls wants to go on a really expensive school trip and kaisoo has to break it to her that money's a little bit tight because 3 girls or some reason? thanks emma! :D

Jongin loves work, there’s no two ways about it. He loves waking up on time for it, taking a refreshing shower in the mornings before the sun is properly up - he even loves Kyungsoo’s mumbled complaints that sound suspiciously like normal human beings don’t shower at 6am if they don’t have to.

He likes all of that, revels in the feeling of being productive, but there are times when he’s happy to sit back, relax, and take a well-earned day off.

Today was one of those days.

Kyungsoo wasn’t due back home until after lunch, his morning meeting with a client extending far beyond the ‘quick breakfast’ Kyungsoo had described to Jongin earlier that morning. Jongin had gotten breakfast ready for a change - scraped butter across pieces of toast, made scrambled eggs just the way he knew Kyungsoo liked them, got his girls all up and ready for school with twenty minutes to spare.

Now the house is empty, lunch cooked and stowed in the oven, and Jongin lets himself bask in the silence that his house has been steeped in for the past few hours. Soon his husband would be home, and then his three beautiful (and noisy) daughters. He stretches, reaching for his iPad, and winds up watching a tutorial on how to encourage cleanliness - a parent’s guide to spick and span.

He hears the turn of a key unlocking the front door not half an hour later, and moves to sit up on the couch, spreads his arms wide and his lips in a smile when he spots his husband coming through the door.

‘Hey, baby,’ he murmurs, Kyungsoo making his way to him and letting himself get wrapped up in the younger’s arms. ‘How was work today?’

‘I wake up every morning praying I don’t get stuck with clients like that pumpkin head I’ve just wasted hours of my life on,’ complains Kyungsoo, sticking his face in Jongin’s neck. ‘I still have no idea what kind of aesthetic he’s going for, and, if I’m being honest, I don’t think he does, either.’

Jongin pushes his face in Kyungsoo’s hair and takes a deep breath, before kissing his head and speaking. ‘Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad,’ he murmurs, smile never leaving his lips because - well, he has Kyungsoo in his arms, after all.

‘He wanted something, and I quote, “orange, orange all over, but not so that it looks warm”, okay. Tell me you understand that.’ Kyungsoo deadpans, and Jongin chuckles.

They get another fifteen minutes to themselves before the school bus pulls up in front of their house, and Kyungsoo gets up to let his daughters in. He notices slips of paper in Jinri and Soojung’s hands, and he raises his eyebrows in curiosity.

‘What’s that?’ he asks, pointing at the pieces of paper.

‘Daddy!’ squeal Jinri and Soojung, completely ignoring Kyungsoo as they run off to find Jongin.

Kyungsoo sighs, and trails behind them.

‘Daddy Daddy Daddy!’ chants Soojung, hopping excitedly up into Jongin’s lap, making her father wince. ‘Daddy look what Jinri and I got!’ she exclaims, shoving the paper at Jongin, who just barely manages to save it from being torn. It looks important.

‘A letter from the school?’ he observes, fingers deftly unfolding the paper as Sunyoung comes to sit at his feet. ‘A school trip?’

‘Yep!’ Jinri pipes up, hopping up and down a little in her seat. ‘Read it read it read it!’

Jongin obliges, reading the details out loud for Kyungsoo’s benefit. The elder is leaning up against the door frame, sulking somewhat at the lack of attention he’d gotten. ‘Busan?’ reads Jongin, eyebrows raised in surprise. ‘Wait - how much?’

His last words are enough to lure Kyungsoo to his side, and when he does, Jongin hands him the letter without a word.

Kyungsoo’s jaw drops.

There’s no way they were going to be able to afford this, not for both girls, at least.

Jongin clears his throat, glances over at Kyungsoo with worry in his eyes. Kyungsoo decides to speak up.

‘Alright, girls, I see you’re excited for this trip,’ he begins, slowly. He hates saying things that will upset his daughters, but he’s really got no choice, not now. ‘But - I don’t think Daddy and I have this kind of money. Not right now.’

Jinri stares up at him with wide eyes. ‘How come?’

‘Well - remember when we all went on the plane to go to New York for Papa to do work?’ Kyungsoo asks. His daughters nod.

‘Yep! You lost me!’ declares Sunyoung, smugness clear in her voice.

‘We did. It costs a lot of money to go on a plane, and Daddy and Papa - we’re really sorry, girls, but we just can’t let you both go on the school trip. Not right now,’ he says, voice still gentle and steady, even when Soojung’s face visibly falls.

‘I’ll tell you what,’ says Kyungsoo, scooping Jinri up into his lap, ‘You guys can miss out on this trip - with all the gross boys and that really loud teacher you don’t like now, and we can all go another time. Okay? Just the five of us.’

‘Yeah,’ says Jongin. ‘That way we can all go, and Sunyoung won’t have to be lonely waiting for you!’

‘I don’t want Sunyoung unnie to be lonely,’ mutters Jinri, the pout her lips had previously been in already beginning to fade. ‘Can we go soon?’

‘We’ll see,’ assures Kyungsoo, giving his daughter a high five.

Jongin gives Soojung a poke in the stomach, making her laugh. ‘We’ll see.’