Himchan was going to lose his mind. There was the world’s noisiest symphony going on in his tiny apartment, along with a parade of superheroes and a zoo. It was utter chaos and he desperately needed some time to himself, and wine. A large glass of red wine, filled to the brim, breaking all rules of wine consumption, yes.

            “Boys, please, let’s try to get some order before dinner.”

            His pleas were met with a loud crash. Himchan spun around and saw his six year old with a very guilty look on his face and his five year old who was giggling nervously right behind him. It didn’t take too long for Himchan to find the source of the loud noise. On the floor, now in absolute smithereens was the beautiful vase that he had received as a gift from his grandmother.

            “Sorry,” Daehyun whispered. Immediately, the boy’s eyes rounded and he dropped to his knees in an attempt to clean up the mess.

            “Don’t touch!” His words came out sharper than he intended and Daehyun withdrew his hand quickly. His younger brother peeked over his shoulder, adding a second set of scared puppy eyes to the mix. “You’ll hurt yourself. Now please, take Youngjae to the living room and keep out of here until I cleaned everything up.”

            They didn’t need to be told twice. As if on cue, the two boys scampered out of his way and beelined for the safety of the couch. Himchan grabbed his broom and dust pan and cleared the remnants of the thick crystal with a heavy heart. It wasn’t quite the loss of the vase that made him feel so down. It was just the sheer exhaustion of having to take care of four kids day in and day out. He loved them with all of his heart but sometimes he wished they weren’t all so close in age. Life was definitely more peaceful when it was just him, Bbang and their ratty guitar.

            “Daddy?” The soft spoken voice broke him out of his reverie. Standing in the doorway, holding onto the ears of a large rabbit was his second youngest. Jongup was staring at him.

            “Yes baby?”

            “I’m hungry.”

            Right. In addition to trying to make sure the house wasn’t a total hell hole, he also had to make sure the kids stayed fed and happy. “Daddy will be making dinner soon. Do you want a little snack so you don’t spoil your appetite before Appa comes back?” Jongup nodded before turning around and walking back to the living room.           Himchan gave a tiny sigh. His four year old has always been a quiet child.

            The noise level in the living room was slowly increasing. Clearly, the incident from earlier had ceased to faze his older sons and they were back to their rambunctious selves. It was okay as long as they stayed out of the-

            “Whee!” Daehyun came flying in with Youngjae clasped to his back. The two toddlers charged past his legs, and precariously close to where the shards were still in the dustbin, as they went back out. Within seconds, came a much slower and much more dangerous pair. Jongup was practically dragging Junhong and that was when Himchan stepped in.

            “What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourselves!”

            Jongup screeched to a halt and Himchan winced when his youngest did tumble off and start to whimper. At once, Himchan was back to caring parent mode. He dropped to his knees to coddle his baby and pulled Jongup into his arms for a simultaneous hug. “You two really shouldn’t try to grow up so fast. Leave the ruckus causing to the big boys.”

            At this, Jongup looked up and sniffed. “Me big boy,” he jabbed a finger at his chest.

            Himchan chuckled. “Yes. But not to me.” He grunted a little as he stood with the two of them. He walked out to the mess of the living room and placed his two babies on the couch. “Now stay here until Appa comes back.” He left his two younger sons looking after him and decided that no news from his two older ones was probably good news.

            By the time Himchan walked back to the kitchen he saw that the pan was slightly smoking. He ran forward in a panic and doused the pan in cold water. He glanced at clock. Bbang usually came home around seven. This meant he had exactly fifteen minutes to get dinner right, delicious and on the table. Without a second thought, Himchan pulled out the tried and true packets of ramen. Gourmet be damned. He was a father of four and had no time.

            As he waited for the water to boil, Himchan heard shouts that were slowly rising in volume. He recognized the wide range that was Daehyun’s vocal chords but then heard a much thinner, younger voice add to the ruckus. “You stop it! You can’t take Batman! I’m Batman!”

            “Me!”

            And then there was a loud wail and a harried Youngjae came running in. “Daehyun hit Jongup! Daddy! Daehyun hit Jongup!”

            Images flashed through his mind. Himchan pictured running out to see the two boys tussling with a broken figure between them. Daehyun was shaking with anger and Jongup had an uncharacteristic blush on his face. Junhong sat on the couch, watching the two between them and was sobbing quietly into his sleeves. The room would be a total mess and he would not be able to have dinner ready, not even ramen, by the time his husband came back.

            However, it was surprisingly quiet the moment Youngjae finished his panicked report. Himchan walked out with trepidation. On the couch was Junhong, but he wasn’t crying as Himchan had imagined. He was giggling. Daehyun was tickling Jongup and the younger boy was curled into a ball and swatting at his older brother, who was mercilessly attacking his ribs.

            Himchan let out a sigh of relief. He turned to Youngjae with a slightly raised eyebrow. His second son bit his puffy lips and looked confused. “They were just hitting just now!” He insisted.

            Daehyun looked up. “No I wasn’t!” “Yes you were! You hit Jongup!” “Did not!” And within seconds the fight had escalated but changed targets.

            The headache from before was returning. Youngjae pushed Jongup away as he lunged at Daehyun, causing more arms to fly about and soon Jongup was joining the fray. For a good few minutes, Himchan watched helplessly, unsure if he should raise his voice. He watched, almost in a trance, as Jongup rolled off the couch, hit his temple against the corner of the table and dissolved into tears. Even that, couldn’t get him to move.

            “What is going on here?” From somewhere to his right came a deep voice. Yongguk was back. His savior had arrived.

            Immediately, as if his voice was a silencing spell, the noise stopped. Even Jongup, who had been wailing his heart out previously, was reduced to piteous sniffles. Daehyun and Youngjae immediately got on their knees and both started apologizing. Himchan took one glance and saw that the situation was in control, and walked back to the kitchen.

            The pot had bubbled over. In his haste to make sure nothing had gone wrong, he had forgotten to turn off the stove. The noodles were soggy and he had a mess to clean up. Without thinking, he grabbed the handle of the pot, ignoring the boiling water that had saturated it.

            “Shh,” he hissed, drawing his hand away and trying hard to control his tears.

            “Chan.” His favorite voice was back, bringing his favorite person with it. A pair of strong arms came around his middle and then he was engulfed in a heady rush of soft leather, amber and pine. “What’s wrong?” Yongguk’s right hand trailed down his elbow and saw the angry mark across his palm.

            Acting immediately, Yongguk nudged Himchan to the sink and gently ran cold water under the burn. At the gentleness that came after a whirlwind afternoon, Himchan’s tears finally started to fall. “Baby, don’t cry.” Yongguk gently kissed Himchan’s cheeks.

            “How are the kids?”

            “Let’s not talk about them. Let’s take care of your burn first.”

            Suddenly, Himchan pushed Yongguk away. “I’m so useless.”

            Yongguk brought a chair over and forced him to sit. “What do you mean?”

            “The boys were an absolute nightmare today and nothing I did could make them stop. And then you come in, and it’s suddenly quieter than the morgue,” Yongguk clucked his tongue at his usage of words, “And I don’t even have dinner ready, and they’re hungry and you must be starving. You’ve been at work the whole day. But nothing’s done, and I just.”

            Yongguk’s hug cut his words off. “Shh. Stop right there. You are not useless. You are so helpful to me. I’m always so apologetic you have to work from home to take care of the boys, but you do such a wonderful job. Daehyun showed me the hundred he got in math the other day. And the other three are still so young but they’re so mannerly. Who else could they have learned it from, but you?” Himchan sniffled. But already, his heart was feeling lighter. “And as for dinner, I think it’s time I showed you some of my culinary skills that you clearly did not marry me for.”

            Himchan giggled and pounded a fist on Yongguk’s chest like a flirty school girl. “If I let you cook tonight, we will really be starving.” His husband was chuckling deeply but the look of absolute adoration in his eyes was not missed. Himchan found himself blushing.

            “There you go. Much better. Now, you said the boys had been bad? Give me a minute.” There was suddenly a stern look on Yongguk’s face as he stood up.

            Himchan pouted a little but stood up nevertheless to try to salvage some of their dinner. Right as he was getting the omelets out of the pan, a line of marching boys came in with Bbang in tow.

            “Daddy, we’re sorry for being noisy today.” The four of them chorused sincerely, even Junhong, who was merely just a side character in his older brothers’ antics.

            “And what else?” Yongguk raised a stern eyebrow.

            Daehyun had shot his father a panicked look before turning around and running to hug Himchan’s legs. “I love you, Daddy.” With Daehyun’s initiative, the other three younger ones also ran to show their affections.

            Again, the tears welled up as Yongguk came forward with his arms outstretched for his hug too. “I love you, my perfect family.”

Domestic B.A.P because I need something fluffy to hold me over before they slay us on Wednesday.

I already know this song is going to be akgadjgah

Also I finally retook my LSAT and this time, I feel pretty good about it hehe so fingers crossed! Thank you to everyone for your continuous support.