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It was with a giddy smile that Joon threw himself onto the soft mattress of the new king-sized bed in his and his lover's room after he'd indulged in the rich magnolia-scented bubble bath upon which Jihoon had insisted while he helped their three year old son get ready for bed. That evening marked the very first that he, his husband of five years and their son would be spending in their new home into which they'd just moved and Joon couldn't help but to feel quite accomplished. Since deciding to marry, he and Jihoon had been diligently saving their money for such an investment as a place to call their very own, in which they could raise the family that they hoped to soon expand. Given that Jihoon had recently been promoted to detective in the police force for which he worked and his salary was increased accordingly, saving proved to be significantly easier even with Joon as a stay-home mother for their little boy. But part of the savings with which they had paid for their home came from the money that they had been saving when Jihoon had only just been recruited and Joon had just graduated from university with a degree in journalism. In fact, it had been because of their career paths that they had met- Joon had been sent to interview the officers involved in a minor drug bust as part of his internship and Jihoon, whom he had interviewed, was instantly taken by the younger man's beauty and sweet charm while Joon found himself attracted to Jihoon's clear strength, intelligence and polite confidence.

Once he had finished his duties, Jihoon had managed to find the courage to ask Joon out that very day and the rest was history. 

"Umma!" The very familiar voice of a little boy interrupted Joon's musings as Jihoon came in, carrying their son whom he had just finished bathing and had helped into pyjamas.

Joon beamed, getting up and taking their little boy from Jihoon, giving Jihoon a kiss.

"Hi Cheolyong," Joon smiled, kissing his son's forehead as the little boy wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. "Ready for a story?"

"He wants the Three Little Pigs," Jihoon informed, handing his partner their son's favorite book with a smile before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

"Come on, sweetie," Joon smiled, carrying Cheolyong to his and Jihoon's bed. "Want to sleep with Umma and Appa tonight?" He added, knowing that their little boy was probably a little scared of sleeping by himself for the first time in their new home.

Cheolyong nodded and smiled, cuddling up to his mother as he clutched his favorite stuffed animal while Joon wrapped them up in the freshly washed duvet.

"Once upon a time," Joon began when they had settled in bed. "There were three little pigs..."

By the time he finished and Jihoon had emerged from his shower, Cheolyong had fallen asleep despite the bedside lamp still being on.

"So what do you think of our new house?" Jihoon asked with a smiled, slipping in to bed beside Joon, with Cheolyong sandwiched in between them, as quietly as he could so as not to wake their son.

"It's perfect," Joon smiled, blushing a little as he noted that Jihoon was without a shirt.

His blush intensified as he noted that "perfect" could very well also describe his very fit husband.

"We're going to have a lot of unpacking to do tomorrow, aren't we," Joon sighed softly, leaning against Jihoon as much as he could without waking up their son.

Jihoon smiled, wrapping his arms around Joon and giving him a kiss. They would indeed, but he had managed to get some time off for a few weeks and he was looking forward to spending some much needed quality time with his family, even if it meant several hours of tedious unpacking and redecorating.

"Want to sleep in tomorrow?" He suggested, cuddling Joon and their son at the same time.

"Yes," Joon smiled, contentedly making himself comfortable amidst the pillows as Jihoon turned off the light.

They certainly would have to, for not more than an hour later, Joon was roused awake by Cheolyong, who apparently needed something to drink.

"Umma, I'm thirsty," the little boy supplied, waking up his father as well in the process. 

"Okay, sweetheart, let's go get some water," Joon managed, half-asleep but trying his best to wake himself up.

"Is everything okay?" Jihoon asked, clearly just as unalert as his lover.

"Yeah," Joon reassured as Jihoon one of their bedside lamps. "We're just going to get some water," he explained, sharing a little smile with Jihoon as he lifted Cheolyong and proceeded to the kitchen.

Perhaps he was still disoriented from having been abruptly woken up but in the shadow cast by the dim light that Jihoon had left on in their bedroom, Joon was quite sure that he saw a person's shadow flit across the hallway wall. Of course, he might have expected to see a shadow in the hallway; Jihoon was there, too, after all. But what had made the shadow odd to him was that the short, spindly shadow seemed to be that of a child, not a six foot tall, physically fit man like his husband.

"...Jihoon?" Joon began as he tucked Cheolyong, who was now almost asleep, back in bed.

"Hmm?" Jihoon opened his eyes at his husband's voice.

"... Did you see... No, never mind, it's stupid," Joon brushed his question off.

Of course he hadn't seen a child's shadow in the hallway; he'd carried Cheolyong back upstairs, himself.

"No it's not," Jihoon smiled, taking Joon's hands in his. "What's wrong?"

Joon smiled, unable to resist how sweet Jihoon always was to him.

"It's just... I thought I saw a kid's shadow in the hallway, but it couldn't have been Cheolyong because I was holding him and...well, did you see anything?"

"No," Jihoon reflected. "I bet it was just the light," he reassured, knowing that Joon was a little unsettled by what he'd seen.

"Yeah, you're right," Joon smiled, convinced that he had indeed just imagined things as he once again settled in bed, happy to have Joon cuddling him.

As relaxed as he was at that moment however, Joon was soon reawoken this time not by his son but by what he was positive were footsteps loudly resounding downstairs.

Now very much awake, Joon's eyes snapped open as he listened then, hearing the footsteps again, this time seemingly even louder, he sat up in bed. Cheolyong was still asleep and Jihoon was as well, apparently having heard nothing. Joon didn't want to wake them up and wanted to go back to sleep himself, but when he heard the footsteps again and was sure that he heard them, he really didn't have much of a choice but to wake up his husband.

"Jihoon?" Joon whispered.

"Hmm? What's the matter, Changsun?" Jihoon asked, sitting up in turn.

"I heard footsteps downstairs," Joon said, trying to keep his alarm to a minimum.

Both kept silent for a moment then the footsteps came again and this time, Jihoon heard them.

"Stay here," he instructed Joon, as Joon the bedside lamp. "And don't open the door until I come back, okay?" He added with a quick kiss before getting up and taking the gun which he had placed in the drawer of the bedside table as he had in their old apartment, in case he was called for in the night.

"...Be careful," Joon said with worry, keeping his arms around their son as he became a little alarmed by how seriously Jihoon clearly viewed the situation.

To Joon's relief, Jihoon returned a few minutes later, but with nothing unusual to report. He'd searched their entire house and while the footsteps had stopped, there was neither evidence that someone was in their house or that there ever had been in the first place.

"We need, to sleep," Jihoon concluded, just as puzzled by the situation as was Joon, although somehow, their son had managed to remain asleep despite the disturbance.

Agreeing, Joon was all too happy to simply stay in bed, but he cuddled a little closer to Jihoon than he might have had he not seen the strange shadow or heard the even stranger footsteps.

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Thanks for reading!

x Angela