“Junho, go brush your teeth so we can read a bedtime story, okay?” Liyin shoos her son to the bathroom while she peels back the covers for them. She climbs into the bed to wait, reaching over to the side for a book.

The Little Prince. Something Junho had picked out on their last visit to the library.

Junho runs back from the bathroom just as she finishes reading the back cover. “Mama, I’m done!”

“Oh?” Liyin smiles. “Let me check.”

Junho opens his mouth obediently and Liyin scans his teeth quickly.

“Good boy,” she cooes. “What book do you want to read?”

“Any!” the kid exclaims, clambering onto the bed, over his mother. He snuggles besides her, and she picks up the book again.

“Any? Then how about ‘The Little Prince’?” She reaches an arm around him and starts reading.

“Once when I was six years old…”

By the time Liyin reaches the part about the flower on the little prince’s planet, Junho is starting to drift off to sleep.

“Of course I love you,” she reads softly, her voice trailing off. “I ask for your forgiveness.”

Liyin thinks of times long gone, when she had been in a situation similar to the little prince’s. Jongdae had been the best person she’d ever known -- except she didn’t realize it. All of his pranks and annoying jokes, how much he seemed to value singing over her, and just how flirty he was with other girls had overshadowed how much he had cared for her and taken care of her. It had been only after she’d broken up with him that she’d heard what he had said as she was leaving.

Jongdae blinked. “You’re breaking up with me? Why?”

They were standing in their (shared) room in their (shared) house, Jongdae in the middle of changing into comfortable clothes.

“I can’t live like this anymore, okay?” Liyin averted her eyes. “I’m tired of waiting for you to come home and realizing that it’s past midnight and I can’t stand watching you flirt with other women when I’m right there beside you and I just can’t take it anymore. Do you even love me?” She’s on the verge of tears, but she refused to let him see her cry. “Don’t answer that. I’m sorry, but I’m leaving.”

Jongdae deflated, slumping down onto the bed. “Of course I love you. I’m so sorry.”

But Liyin had walked out.

“Mama?” Junho asks sleepily, stirring beside her. “Is the story over?”

Liyin sniffs, blinking her tears back. “Oh, Junho-ah.”

“Mama? Why are you crying?” he looks slightly alarmed.

“Mama’s just... thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“About,” Liyin pauses. “Your father.”

“My dad?” All of the other kids in his kindergarten have dads that go to pick up their kids, but Junho comes back with empty hands every Father’s Day.

Liyin had discovered that she was pregnant with Jongdae’s child a few months after they split. “Your father was like this flower. I was the little prince.”

“So daddy lives on another planet?” Junho lights up at the possibility of his dad being an alien.

Liyin laughs a bit. “No, not like that.”

“Then how?” Junho pouts.

“He… he just does,” Liyin sighs. “Do you want me to keep reading, Junho?”

Already, Junho is sleepy, and he mumbles a quiet, “Yeah.”

“Okay then,” Liyin skips the rest of the chapter and continues on.

“Hello, my name is Jongdae. It’s nice to meet you.” Jongdae bowed, a smile lighting up his face. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Liyin smiled and bowed back, though not as deeply. “I’m Liyin. It’s my pleasure.” Her hair fell over her shoulder and the rubber band that was holding it in a ponytail fell out, much to her chagrin.

And Jongdae laughed that laugh of his that Liyin will come to know and love, picking it up for her.

“Why are you still awake?” Jongdae asked, as if he was surprised. Well, he was, actually, but he shouldn’t have been. “It’s way past midnight.”

“Why are you coming back this late? she retorted lightly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “I was waiting for you, why else.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He dropped his bag on the floor and kissed her softly. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

That wasn’t the first time she had waited so late for him, and it certainly was not the last.

They were traveling together for her birthday.

“Liyin,” Jongdae looked serious, something he wasn’t usually.

Liyin was slightly worried by that. “Yeah?”

“If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?” He looked off into the distance, away from her curious gaze.

“Well, why don’t you try?” she teased.

Jongdae turned to her and smiled brightly. “I will,” he promised.

Liyin looked slightly disappointed that it meant “not now, sometime later.”

“What, it wouldn’t have been a surprise anymore!” Jongdae laughed, going back to what he was doing before.

Sighing, Liyin shook her head and gave him a small smile.

Liyin closes the book gently and sets it down on top of the stack of other book by the bed. After checking to make sure Junho is really asleep, she gets up slowly and kisses him on his forehead, patting his hair down. She pulls the covers up to cover him and makes her way out of the room, turning off the light on her way out.

The Little Prince. She hadn’t thought about Jongdae like this for quite a while, after putting him out of her head to take care of Junho. It’s been years now and she wonders how he’s doing.

Jongdae looks both ways before crossing the street. Safety first, Liyin would always say, and it just kind of stuck over the years. The cars stop and he passes, on his way to the school he teaches at. He’d always wanted to be a vocal teacher, and he’d finally passed the civil exam after Liyin left. Probably because music was the only thing that kept him grounded.

He scoots quickly to the side as a kid almost runs him over, only to take a second look at the mom scolding him.

“Liyin noona?”

Liyin is startled and jerks her head towards him. “...Jongdae?”

Junho looks between his mom and the stranger on the street and starts frowning at him. “Who are you? What are you doing with my mommy?”

“Your mommy?” Jongdae echoes, surprised.

“Yes, he’s mine.” She says, “he’s yours” in her head.

“Oh. Well.” Jongdae doesn’t know what to say. “Uh, it was nice seeing you again.”

He must sound like an idiot.

“Yeah, nice to see you again,” Liyin says quickly, Junho dragging her away in his protectiveness.

Jongdae stands there for another few moments, looking after them.

“So.”

“So,” Liyin repeats.

“This is unexpected,” Jongdae comments, smiling.

He looks the same, but older. There are crinkles around his eyes and his eyes are tired. But his smile is the same.

“I didn’t know you worked here,” Liyin says.

“I didn’t know you had a son,” Jongdae replies.

“He’s--” Liyin cuts herself off before she can say that Junho is Jongdae’s.

“He’s?”

“He’s special.” It’s a strange filler, but it works.

“Who’s the father?” Jongdae asks, out of both curiosity and jealousy.

“He’s gone.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Silence.

“Jongdae, I’m here to pick up my son, I’m going to go do that now,” Liyin breaks the silence and leaves him staring after her. She’s doing that a lot now.

Liyin’s five minutes early and Jongdae is right on time. Just like always.

“Jongdae, I have something to tell you,” Liyin begins after he sits down.

There’s a coffee waiting for him, Liyin holding the a cup of her own in her hands.

“Yeah?” Jongdae takes a sip and is pleasantly surprised to discover that it’s his favorite. It meant that she’d remembered.

“Junho. My son. He’s- he’s yours.”

“You never were one to beat around the bush with me,” Jongdae says, clearly amused. “So Junho’s his name?”

Liyin looks at him strangely. “You’re not surprised? Or mad?”

“Oh, I’m surprised, and slightly offended that you kept it from me. Of course I am. But that won’t change a thing.” Jongdae reasons, and Liyin feels like he’s changed a lot, but not at all at the same time.

“Wait, this means that I get to have, like, partial custody, right?”

“Yeah. We can work something out, right?”

“Of course!”

It’s not until the end of their conversation, after they’ve determined another place to meet, when Jongdae finally bursts.

“Liyin, I have a son!” And he’s just smiling so brightly and his eyes are shining and Liyin just can’t help but smile back.

It’s always been that way.

And they’re fine with that.

a/n: this is about as happy as my endings get apparently.