k-pop; promise you forever 4/5

[tatoeba]

“It’s like a war zone in here,” Baekhyun comments with an amused laugh as he steps over a pile of clothes on the floor and almost trips on one of Misun’s toys.

"I'm sorry it's such a mess," Chanyeol says from the kitchen as he stirs a little bit of some disgusting smelling baby food into a small bowl with a tiny spoon. "Just shove everything out of the way if you have to."

"It's no big deal," Baekhyun says and Chanyeol catches him sliding to the floor next to the little nest that he's made full of blankets and pillows for Misun. "Hey little girl," Baekhyun coos in a rather gross voice, "it's your uncle Baek, oh no don't cry--"

Chanyeol laughs as he puts away the jar of baby food and heads over to join them, setting the bowl onto the coffee table so he can pick Misun up easily. Her face is a little scrunched up but she relaxes in his arms. "Was the icky Baekhyun scaring you?" he asks her and Baekhyun shoots him a glare. Chanyeol just grins.

"She's gonna love me when she's older," he declares. "Everyone loves me."

"That's what you think," Chanyeol replies and he gets a pinch to his thigh for his trouble. "Don't abuse me around my daughter!" he exclaims, drawing Misun into his chest like Baekhyun hurt her, too. Baekhyun shakes his head, bemused, and grabs the bowl, scooping up a bit of the mushy food and raising it to Misun's mouth.

Misun gurgles unhappily as Baekhyun feeds her, face twisting up and mouth opening into a prelude to a wail, but Chanyeol quickly shushes her. Baekhyun makes stupid airplane noises as he feeds her and Chanyeol wants to tell him that she's probably a little too young to appreciate any of that but Baekhyun looks like he's having fun so he stays silent about it. Jongin does the same too, whenever he feeds her, making ridiculous sounds in an attempt to keep her calm. Chanyeol guesses it must work on some level because she doesn't fuss too much when he does it, eating up the baby mush and thankfully not spitting it out two seconds later.

"So what's it like?" Baekhyun asks him. "Being a dad?"

"It's insane," Chanyeol says, honestly. "I mean, just look at our apartment. I might have managed to take a few weeks off from work to stay home with Misun, but even with that extra time, there's stuff everywhere. I don't think we've done laundry in two weeks."

"Gross, Chanyeol," Baekhyun says, wrinkling his nose. "Some things you just keep to yourself."

"If you ever have kids, you'll understand," Chanyeol says. "We knew the first few years were going to be tough, but there is no way you can ever be prepared for how it really is." As Baekhyun feeds Misun the last of her meal, Chanyeol wipes her mouth up with a little bib that has a bunch of cartoon puppies across the front Jongin bought for her before she was born. Misun whines a little, turning her head away as he cleans her. He lets her rest for awhile before he tries to burp her. The last time he'd done it too soon and she'd thrown up all over his shoulder.

"It seems like you're doing pretty well with her though," Baekhyun admits, leaning back on his hands and watching Chanyeol with Misun. His gaze is sincere and Chanyeol appreciates his comment more than he could ever really say. Baekhyun wouldn't let him live it down if he admitted it, either. "Who does she like better?"

"Jongin complains that it's me," Chanyeol laughs, "but I'm with her all the time, since he couldn't take off too much time because of work." He sighs, shakes his head lightly to push that thought away. It hadn't been a very good conversation, even though he knew Jongin couldn't do much about it. He comes home as soon as he can though, and is thankfully around on the weekends, giving Chanyeol a chance to rest as Jongin takes care of Misun. "But I think she notices that he's gone, and she likes it when he's around to hold her."

"He's working right now, too?" Baekhyun asks.

Chanyeol nods, pursing his lips together tightly. "He should be back soon though," he says after a moment.

"What're you gonna do when you have to go back to work?"

"My mom said she'll look after Misun," Chanyeol says. "We never even had to ask her, she told us about it like it was already decided." He chuckles, raises Misun up carefully against his shoulder and rubs her back. "Jongin's sisters offered to help out whenever they could, too. Thankfully we don't have to worry too much about that."

Baekhyun hums in agreement and laughs when Misun lets out a tiny burp. "She's really adorable, Chanyeol," he says. "She looks like you."

"Which means she's gonna be gorgeous as she gets older," he says proudly, lifting Misun up into the air and grinning widely as she kicks her feet. He lowers her down to his shoulder again and continues rubbing her back. "Of course, she's gorgeous now but, in a few years, she'll be stealing hearts left and right."

Baekhyun smirks. "What are you going to do when she's old enough to date?"

The sudden realization hits Chanyeol like a ton of bricks and he's pretty sure he's glowering just at the thought. "I'll lock her in her room," he says seriously which has Baekhyun bursting out in laughter.

"Yeah, we'll see if she likes you then," he says, patting Chanyeol's knee. Chanyeol just frowns, the thought now embedding itself into his head. He'd never looked quite that far into the future before, but now he's suddenly worried.

"Now I see why Jongin wanted a boy," Chanyeol mumbles as Baekhyun shakes his head and reaches out to take Misun from him.

"It's okay, Misun," he whispers to her conspiratorily. "I'll save you from your crazy daddy."

"Or not," Chanyeol snickers when Misun starts to cry and Baekhyun looks half-alarmed and half-wounded, pouting as Chanyeol takes his daughter away and rocks her against his chest. "Guess not everyone loves you," he taunts and Baekhyun pinches his thigh again, twisting at the flesh until Chanyeol yelps so loudly Misun cries even more.

-

When Chanyeol has to head back into work, he’s a little surprised by how hard it is to leave Misun with his mom. It doesn’t help that Misun cries as he hands her over and he just wants to pull her back and call in sick, maybe have his T.A. take over for the day but his mother shoos him out the door, promising him everything will be fine and that she’ll call if something happens.

Chanyeol is definitely distracted everyday for that first week back at work. He checks his phone every chance he can to make sure he didn’t miss a call, and he constantly aches to have Misun in his arms to hold her and play with her. It’s not that he thinks his mom can’t take care of her, not at all, it’s just that he really misses her. He wasn’t really expecting this overwhelming longing.

But even though he’s happy every time he picks Misun up and returns home, the feeling lasts as long as he realizes he’s alone at home. The girl group that Jongin has been working with the past year has finally set a debut date for the upcoming fall and Jongin has been at the studio choreographing almost nonstop. Even when he’s at home and Minsun is either asleep or with Chanyeol, he’s pushed aside the coffee table and danced out a routine while listening to the song on his phone so as to not disrupt Misun. And Chanyeol knows how busy he is, he sees it in his tense shoulders and the dark circles under his eyes. He sees it in the way he falls asleep too quickly when he comes home and is difficult to wake up in the middle of the night when Misun cries.

Chanyeol doesn’t want to push at him, but it’s becoming much more difficult dealing with a Jongin who is barely there now that Chanyeol is back to work. Because now he comes home after a long day feeling exhausted, but there’s Minsun to worry about. To feed her and change her and play with her when she wants attention and to rock her to sleep when she finally is tired. And then to do that all over again each day. It’s not to say that Jongin doesn’t take care of her when he is around, but Chanyeol starts to get a little crankier every morning that he has to wake up and make sure Misun is fed and ready so he can drop her off and not be late for work, too. And he grows a little more frustrated each night that he comes home to an empty apartment and has to eat dinner on his own and grade homework assignments in between trying to put Minsun to bed.

He doesn’t really tell anyone about any of this though, even if he gets comments every morning from his mother and Kyungsoo, though Kyungsoo’s are much less worrying and more sarcastic. They can probably see the irritation in the lines on his face and the tiredness in his eyes, but he just tells them he’s fine, even though he’s not. Not by a long shot.

And it’s probably from that, all the frustration that has coiled inside of him tighter and tighter as the days go on, until it’s too much and it snaps, until he snaps. He doesn’t expect to come home to find Jongin’s sneakers in the doorway or him gym bag in the hall, and he’s not as pleased about it as he should be. It's the first time in a month that Jongin has been home before him and he should he happy but instead he feels a little sick. He steps out of his shoes and drops his bag next to Jongin's, heading into the apartment and toward Misun's room where he can hear Jongin's soft voice.

The door is open and he stops there, watches as Jongin sits crosslegged on the floor with Misun in an arm and a bottle in his hand, holding it between her mouth. He's murmuring soothingly at her and Chanyeol's heart aches.

"Hey," he says, stepping into the room and startling Jongin. He jumps a bit and it upsets Misun, tearing her mouth away from the bottle to scream.

"Oh no," Jongin says, setting the bottle aside to carefully rock her. He smoothes back her hair and says, "It's okay, daddy's here," but it only seems to make her cry harder. He casts Chanyeol a desperate look and Chanyeol walks over to take her from him, holding her up against his shoulder and patting her.

Jongin blows out a puff of air that makes his bangs flutter against his forehead. Misun is already calming down and Jongin stares at her with a troubled expression. "She really likes you better."

"No, she just prefers to be comforted this way," he tells Jongin, and he's surprised at how harsh his voice sounds, "you would know that if you were around."

Jongin reels back like he's been struck, eyes widening in surprise. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asks, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Exactly like it sounds, Jongin," Chanyeol replies. He licks his lips as Jongin stares at him wirelessly and tendrils of guilt slink around in the pit of his stomach. That's easy to push aside though, because now that he's said it, he doesn't think he can stop. "I'm just saying, Jongin, you're not exactly around all that much these days and--"

"You know that's because of work," Jongin exclaims, "it's not like I wouldn't be here if I could."

"You come home late everyday, every day, Jongin. And then half the time you're here, you're sleeping!" Chanyeol retorts, but he's very much aware of Misun in his arms and tries to keep his voice down so as to not startle her. "I get that you're tired, but god, so am I! I'm the one who drops her off every morning and picks her up at night, and I'm the one who has been getting out of bed at some godforsaken time to calm her down while you keep on sleeping--"

"Chanyeol, stop," Jongin pleads. He's wringing his hands in front of him and he looks terribly upset but Chanyeol is upset, too. He has been upset for a month and there's too much frustration wound up inside of him that he can't just let it go, no matter how much he knows he should listen to Jongin and keep his mouth shut.

"It's been really hard lately, having to do so much of this by myself," Chanyeol says, "and I don't know what to do when I can't seem to count on you to help when you're never here."

He doesn't know when he started yelling, but the last of his words seem to echo in the small room and it's enough to get Misun wailing. That makes the guilt Chanyeol tried to ignore flare up once again, too unpleasant to push away, and he feels like maybe someone has just punched him in the gut. He pulls Misun down from his shoulder to murmur quietly at her and kiss her head but she just continues to cry. He rocks her against his chest and flinches when Jongin says, "I thought you said she didn't like being comforted that way."

His voice is quiet, but Chanyeol still catches the shakiness of it. When he looks at him, Jongin's expression is clearly wounded and he's gnawing on his lower lip. He's clenching the sides of his shirt with his fists and he looks at Chanyeol like he's never seen him before. It's another fist to the stomach, that look. Chanyeol doesn't like that look at all.

"Look," Jongin says before Chanyeol can start to figure out whether he should apologize or say anything at all, "I know, okay? I know I haven't been here, that work has been kicking my ass, that you had to go through those first few weeks on your own because my schedules kept changing and I couldn't say no." Jongin swallows audibly and rubs at his eyes with a hand. "I'm sorry, Chanyeol, I really am."

Chanyeol opens his mouth to tell him it's okay, that he's sorry, too, for getting so worked up, but Jongin walks out of the room before he can. "Jongin!" he calls after him, worry prickling inside of him, but it fades away the instant Jongin pokes his head back into the room.

"I'm just gonna take a shower," Jongin says. "Can you--can you get her to finish her milk?" He laughs a little at himself, shaking his head, "Of course you can, she likes you more anyway--"

"Jongin," Chanyeol cuts across him gently, but Jongin just shakes his head again and offers him a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

"I-I'll be right back," he says finally and then disappears. Chanyeol hears him telling their puppies to stay put, and then the rush of the water as he turns on the shower.

He sighs, closing his eyes briefly as he replays what just happened in his head, feeling slowly more and more awful. "I'm terrible, aren't I?" he asks Misun who has started to relax again now that no one is yelling. "I'm sorry for making you cry, baby."

Misun just gurgles at him and Chanyeol kisses her head. He sits down on the floor and grabs the abandoned bottle of milk. There's just a little bit left, so he gently coaxes Misun to finish it up as he sits there impatiently and waits for Jongin to return.

The shower seems to run longer than usual and Chanyeol gets the sinking feeling that Jongin is trying to prolong coming back out as much as possible. Guilt climbs up his throat and he feels ready to burst with a need to apologize. He's not particularly sorry for what he said, but he definitely knows he could have been better about it. It's not Jongin's fault. Chanyeol has really been too quick to put the blame on him, without ever giving him a chance to properly talk about it.

"Do you think he'll forgive me, Misun?" Chanyeol asks his daughter, holding her up so she's peering down at him. She seems to consider his question for a moment and then one of her tiny feet socks him in the jaw. Chanyeol gapes at her as she smiles toothlessly at him, her pretty eyes curving.

A snort of laughter from behind him has Chanyeol turning around quickly as he lowers Minsun back into his arms. Jongin stands by the door, arms crossed over his chest and an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. His wet hair drips down and leaves tiny spots into his grey tanktop.

Chanyeol opens his mouth to say something, anything, but the words get jumbled up in his throat and nothing comes out. Jongin sighs, unfolding his arms as he walks into the room and sits down across from Chanyeol on the floor. He reaches his hands out and Chanyeol hands Misun to him, watching as the sadness he'd seen earlier in his eyes is replaced by immediate brightness, the smile on his lips widening considerably. He pets Minsun's head lightly and says, "Good girl." He glances at Chanyeol, his smile turning into a smirk. "Chanyeol-daddy deserves that kick, right? He was being a meanie."

Misun coos out little noises that Jongin clearly takes as agreement, nodding at her happily. Chanyeol can't help it, the grin that takes over his face as he watches them. This, he thinks, this is what he really loves. Just being together with Jongin and Misun, his family. This is what he's missed most over the past month. He's missed seeing Jongin with her and he's missed spending time with them both together.

He draws his gaze away from Misun and back to Jongin, takes in the lines of exhaustion in his face and the lingering unhappiness in his eyes. "Hey," he says softly, to get Jongin's attention. When he has it, he feels slightly terrified but he knows he has to say this. "I'm sorry."

Jongin's chest rises and falls with his deep exhale and he glances back down at Misun. He shrugs slightly. "I know you are," he says carefully, "but I wish you would have brought it up earlier instead of letting it boil up until...this."

Chanyeol nods solemnly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "You know I'm not the most...tactful person," Chanyeol says lightly and he's glad when Jongin chuckles at that. "But you're right. I should've talked to you about it a long time ago. To be fair though, there haven't been many chances when we've both been at home together and haven't been sleeping."

"Don't make excuses, Chanyeol," Jongin says firmly. "We could have found some time. One hour somewhere. If you'd wanted to talk to me about this, you could've told me and I would have made the time."

He's right. Of course he's right. Chanyeol is an idiot. His shoulders slump as he drops his head into his hands and groans. "I'm sorry," he mutters again. "I really should have talked to you about it long ago."

"Chanyeol," Jongin says softly, coaxing, until Chanyeol is able to finally look at him through his shame. He's smiling at him which makes Chanyeol feel better almost instantly. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad. This isn't all on you, okay? What you said earlier, well. That wasn't wrong."

Misun starts to fuss a bit before Chanyeol gets the chance to speak, and he glances around the room for one of her toys to distract her. There's a little bunny plushie that Yixing bought for her peeking out from under the crib, so he grabs it and bounces it in the air toward her. She gurgles, tiny hands batting out as if to grab it and Chanyeol grins as he plays with her. When he looks at Jongin again after a moment, his expression so affectionate Chanyeol can't help but lean up and kiss him.

Jongin gasps, but then he kisses back, a little hesitant at first but soon with more fervor. Chanyeol's just glad that Jongin's not completely ignoring him for what he said, that this is still okay. They kiss softly until Misun suddenly cries and Chanyeol pulls back laughing, "What's wrong? Do you want kisses, too?"

He scoops her up and kisses her across the face until she starts to smile again. He holds her on his knee so she's facing Jongin and Jongin grins down at her, taking the bunny from Chanyeol to entertain her.

"Don't think I completely forgive you just because of those kisses," Jongin says, and he blushes as he glances up at him.

"I know," Chanyeol says. "I can't say I'm entirely over the fact that you haven't been around as much as you should, either."

Jongin nods. "I know it sucks, Chanyeol. It really sucks for me, too. Don't you think I'd much rather be here helping you with her than at work?"

"I don't know, you do like work a lot," Chanyeol says teasingly and Jongin smacks his other knee. "I'm kidding. I know you would. Is it really that hard to figure out a better schedule that doesn't have you coming home late everyday?"

"I've been working on it," Jongin says. "Please don't think I haven't."

“You haven’t mentioned anything about that.”

“I thought there would be no point in getting your hopes up,” he says, and then chuckles slightly. “Then again maybe if I had told you that, you wouldn’t have felt so abandoned.”

“God, Jongin, I don’t feel abandoned,” Chanyeol says. “I’m just tired and overwhelmed and fuck, I miss you.”

“Don’t swear in front of Misun!” Jongin hisses, reaching out to cover her ears and glaring at him. But then Chanyeol’s words seem to reach him, his jaw dropping slightly. “What?” he asks like he didn’t hear him correctly.

Chanyeol scratches at the side of his face a little as he drops his gaze from Jongin to Misun. "I miss you," he says simply. "You working so much is not just about how I have to take care of Misun so much on my own. It's also the fact that this is the longest we've sat and talked to each other in a month without you having to run into work or me having to take Misun over to my mom's so I'm not late--it's, it's just, I miss you. And I know Misun does, too."

"No, she doesn't," Jongin says and he sounds a little choked up.

"She does," Chanyeol says. "I know you think she likes me more, but that's not really fair. She definitely gets tired of me, and I know she likes it when you come home and feed her or put her to sleep, even if it's rare."

Jongin stares at Misun for a few moments and rubs at his nose, sniffling. Chanyeol nudges his foot with his toes.

"Don't cry," he says and Jongin flushes, pressing his palms to his cheeks.

"I'm not," he whines, shaking his head as if to make his point clearer.

Chanyeol carefully holds Misun in one arm so he can reach out and ruffle Jongin's hair. Spluttering, Jongin swats his hand away, the pink on his face deepening beautifully. Chanyeol wants to kiss him again, but he holds back because there's still something pressing at him.

"Are we okay?" he asks tentatively and Jongin drops his hands from his face to look at him, really look at him.

Then he smiles. "We will be," he says finally and all the tension leaves Chanyeol's body in a whoosh. "We should've had this conversation a long time ago, but better late than never." His smile widens and he turns slightly bashful. "And I've missed you, too."

Smirking, Chanyeol responds, "Oh, really? Care to tell me just how much?"

Jongin smacks his shoulder and climbs to his feet. "No," he says firmly even as he turns redder. He leans down and plucks Misun from his arms. "And besides, I missed her more."

With that he turns on his heel and walks out of the room, leaving Chanyeol on the floor to stare after them both. Except it’s better now, then when Jongin walked out earlier because the sick, bruised feeling in the pit of his stomach has faded away into a pleasant bubbling. Not everything has been resolved, exactly, but they understand each other so much more now. The past month may have been hell, but Chanyeol’s sure that the future will start to be brighter and that’s all that he could ask for.

-

Streams of sunlight warm on Chanyeol's face wake him up earlier than he'd like, groaning into his pillow as he tries to curl away from the brightness. Crunching his eyes tight in an attempt to cling at sleep, he rolls over and is met with a slight oof, then Jongin undoubtedly smacking his arm.

"Are you awake?" Jongin asks softly, and he definitely sounds awake, which is surprising because Jongin sleeps like the head and Chanyeol's pretty sure it's too early for him to even consider being up.

"No," he grumbles back, getting a laugh from Jongin in return. "Why did you open the curtains?"

"So I could see when I took the dogs out," Jongin replies as he gently brushes Chanyeol's hair away from his face and then slings an arm around his waist. Chanyeol scoots closer to him, enjoying the solid heat of his body. "I'm sorry for waking you."

"I'm not awake," Chanyeol murmurs, even though it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes closed. Jongin just laughs again, his breath tickling along Chanyeol's neck, suddenly followed by the slight press of his lips as he kisses his way slowly along the skin. Now Chanyeol feels warm for a completely different reason, heart racing as he's pushed from the lingering claws of slumber and into the brightness of reality, into Jongin's hands winding up his back and his lips meeting his.

Chanyeol is very aware of the fact that he's just woken up and hasn't even had a chance to brush his teeth but it doesn't seem like Jongin cares, or he's just choosing to ignore it. Either way he kisses him slowly until he's gotten Chanyeol onto his back and is climbing into his lap, hands sliding up into his hair.

"Wow," Chanyeol says breathlessly when they pull apart, "good morning?"

Jongin's responding hum vibrates against his jaw. "I think so," he says, and Chanyeol can feel him grin. His fingers leave his hair and instead are slipping up under his shirt, pushing the fabric up his stomach, warm against his skin contrasting with the sudden chill from being exposed. It has him shivering involuntarily as he cups the back of Jongin's neck and draws him up to his mouth again. "I think I know how to make it even better, too," Jongin adds, his eyes bright and Chanyeol only manages a short laugh before Jongin is kissing him again.

It doesn't really take very long for Chanyeol to get worked up; they haven't done this in far too long. Taking care of a baby really gets in the way of any alone time he could want with Jongin, and it doesn't help that when they do have a moment together they're usually too tired to do anything about it. Lately those moments have just been spent watching a movie on TV or catching a few hours of sleep before Misun needs to be fed or changed or something. But right now, it's blissfully silent and Misun is still asleep and Jongin is grinding against him and Chanyeol is pretty sure this is the best way to start the day.

Except the second Chanyeol starts to tug Jongin's shirt off his head, the baby monitor screeches with Misun's wail, startling them both. With a loud groan Jongin collapses against Chanyeol's chest and Chanyeol mutters, "Maybe if we ignore it, she'll stop crying."

That only makes Jongin smack him. "She's probably hungry," he says and he glances up at Chanyeol wistfully. "Fuck, I don't want to move." He whines, presses a kiss to Chanyeol's collarbone. "I want you."

Chanyeol rubs his back and Misun's wails get louder. He winces and Jongin breathes out deeply before he pulls himself up and off the bed. "I'll go," he says, pushing his hair from his face. "You...you should shower. And your breath stinks."

"That didn't seem to bother you five minutes ago!" Chanyeol hollers after him as he walks out of the room. He can hear Jongin shushing Misun down through the monitor as he flops his head back into his pillows and laments the terrible timing. He scrubs at his face with his hands and then peels himself out of bed, shucking off his clothes on his way and jumping into the shower. Taking care of himself with a hand is so incredibly unsatisfying after feeling Jongin pressed up against him not ten minutes earlier, but he deals with it and washes up, trying not to blame his child too much for cockblocking him.

Once Chanyeol's freshened up and put on some clean clothes, he heads out into the kitchen to start on breakfast. It's only a little after eight in the morning and it's terribly tempting to just go back to sleep because this is way too early to be up on a Saturday, but Jongin is still trying to calm Misun down and he figures he can make something for Jongin to eat afterwards. And Chanyeol is pretty hungry himself, too.

Potato jumps off from the couch when he passes by and follows him to the fridge. "You hungry, too, buddy?" he asks, petting Potato's furry head. Potato barks at him and Chanyeol grins, glancing over in the corner where their dog bowls are laid out. They're partially full of water, but no treats, so Chanyeol grabs the bags of food and fills them up, calls for Jjanggu to come eat, too.

With that out of the way, he starts on his own lunch, grabbing some eggs and vegetables from the fridge and starting up the rice cooker. He's halfway through making an omelet when he hears Jongin walking into the room, feet padding softly against the floor.

"Look what Chanyeol-daddy is doing," he says in that cute little voice he uses on Misun. It has Chanyeol grinning widely ashes glances at them over his shoulder. Jongin is holding Misun up in his hands, gently bouncing her in the air toward Chanyeol until he can press Misun's grinning face to Chanyeol's cheek in a sort of a sloppy kiss.

"Good morning, Misun," he says. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, she is," Jongin replies, sliding her back into his arms properly. "And so is Jongin-daddy." He smirks at Chanyeol who aims a kick at his ankles with a laugh.

"Jongin-daddy will just have to wait," he says, and Jongin sticks his tongue out at him.

"Your other daddy is really a meanie," Jongin sniffs to Misun, turning away and heading toward the kitchen table.

Chanyeol returns his attention to the stove so he doesn't burn up his eggs. It doesn't take much lower before he's finished with everything, turning the stove off and grabbing two plates from the cupboard. He spoons out some rice onto them and then the eggs and sets the plates onto the table.

"Thank you," Jongin says, offering him a smile, and Chanyeol ruffles his hair as he passes him back into the kitchen to get Misun's food.

"What's the one she's started to like the most?" Chanyeol asks, picking up the tiny jars one by one to check the labels.

"The carrot one, I think," Jongin replies. Chanyeol finds it toward the back, twisting off the cap and cringing at the unappetizing smell. He grabs one of Misun's cute Hello Kitty bowls with matching spoon, a present from Yura, and tips a little bit of the mush into it from the jar.

He yanks open the drawer by the sink to get him and Jongin chopsticks and then finally returns to the table to sit down with a sigh. "Come here, baby," Chanyeol says, scooping up a tiny bit of Misun's food.

Jongin turns to him with his mouth open and Chanyeol laughs, punches his shoulder lightly. "Not you," he chuckles, "unless you want mushy carrots as lunch."

Jongin scrunches up his nose and shakes his head, closing his mouth with a pout of his lips. Smiling, Chanyeol feeds Misun a tiny spoonful and then switches to chopsticks to feed Jongin, too. Jongin flushes a bit about it, but eats gratefully and Chanyeol takes a few bites himself before he feeds Misun again.

It’s a relaxing, quiet sort of morning that Chanyeol really likes. The three of them simply eating together, Jongin and Chanyeol coaxing Misun to eat as she starts to get fussy. Chanyeol continues to alternate between feeding Jongin and himself and it’s nice, like this. Chanyeol’s favorite thing in the world is spending time together with his family, and since Jongin’s workload has started to get a little lighter, the date of his group’s debut scheduled in two weeks that he hasn’t felt there was much else to help them with, the chances to enjoy mornings like this, to relax together without much worry has greatly increased.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jongin questions suddenly, pulling Chanyeol out of his thoughts with a slight shake of his head.

“No reason,” Chanyeol replies quickly, sliding out of his chair and taking their dishes to the sink. He pulls out a glass and fills it up with some water, turning back to watch as Jongin tries to burp Misun. He smiles at her as she stares at him over Jongin’s shoulder, and says, “Can you believe she’s already about four months?”

Jongin’s laugh fills up the kitchen and Chanyeol’s heart, and he turns to look at him with a wide smile on his face. “Crazy, right?”

“Time really flies,” Chanyeol says, shaking his head. He sets his glass into the sink and walks over to kiss Misun’s head. “Soon she’ll be walking and talking and--”

“And we’ll have to lock her in her room when she’s old enough to date, right?” Jongin teases, a knowing expression on his face.

Chanyeol narrows his eyes. “Yes,” he says seriously, petting Misun’s hair.

Rolling his eyes, Jongin pulls Misun up to look at her and says, “Your daddy’s a little weird, right?” She coos back at Jongin, smiling widely, and Chanyeol gasps in mock-offense as Jongin holds her close again and slips out of his chair, heading off down the hall.

“I’m not weird!” Chanyeol calls after them but he only gets Jongin’s laughter in response and a loud bark from Potato.

-

It really is crazy how fast time goes by. One day Chanyeol’s holding his baby girl in his arms for the first the, and the next, she’s picking herself from the ground and waddling across the living room. One minute he's worrying over how to change a diaper and the next Misun is turning one year old. Chanyeol doesn’t know where the last year went, but suddenly they're passing into the sticky hot July weather and Misun has grown so much. Now Chanyeol spends so much time running after an excited Misun who bolts down the hallway and giggles loudly when she accidentally smacks him in the face with a little fist. He comes home sometimes to find Misun sitting around a pile of toys and a grin on her face, with Jongin flopped out on the couch asleep, Misun's favorite bunny toy in his hand.

They plan a little party for Misun's birthday. It's a Saturday evening and their apartment is possibly the busiest it’s been in years, Chanyeol’s parents, and Jongin’s eldest sister and her family, and most of their friends filling in the empty spaces with giant presents, loud laughter and happy smiles. Chanyeol doesn’t think he’s ever felt more at home than right now, with so many of his friends and family here to celebrate with him, with Jongin grinning widely as he plops himself down onto Chanyeol’s lap after dinner, looping his hands around his neck and drawing him down into a kiss.

“Are you drunk, dear husband?” Chanyeol teases, catching the faint flush on Jongin’s cheeks and the way he’s clingier than usual.

“I may have had one too many glasses of that wine my sister brought,” Jongin admits with a laugh. Chanyeol shakes his head in amusement as he rubs Jongin’s back and across the room he catches Jaehwa’s eyes and she grins at him, the same sort of smile that Jongin has. Misun is in her arms, waving a toy around in the air excitedly. Jaehwa’s younger five year old son, Jaejin, who has taken a liking to Misun, comes reeling into the room and asks his mother softly if he can play with her.

“You have to stay right here on the floor, okay? Be careful,” Jaehwa says, setting Misun down next to a few of the new toys she’d gotten. Eunji nudges Daeho from Junmyeon’s side to go join them and play and he does so tentatively, but when Jaejin hands him a small soccer ball, he lights up and accepts it.

Chanyeol watches everything with a smile slowly growing on his face. “They’re cute, aren’t they?” he asks Jongin, who has already taken out his phone and is snapping photos. He laughs when Jongin nods, spinning around to catch a shot of Chanyeol, too. He snorts when he looks at the outcome and Chanyeol reaches out for his phone to see it because Jongin’s reaction means it can’t be any good, but Jongin quickly shoves his phone back into his pocket and Chanyeol figures he probably shouldn’t stuff his hands there when they have guests over.

“We should really set up some play dates, if you want,” Eunji says excitedly. “I think Daeho would like that.”

“Misun, too,” Jongin says. “I’m pretty sure she gets tired of us all the time.”

“Don’t you mean you get tired of her?” Chanyeol’s mother laughs. Jongin opens his mouth to refute it but she points a finger at him and says shrewdly, “Don’t deny it, dear, of course you do. Maybe not of her exactly, but the energy. You have to constantly watch her now or else she might end up with a coin down her throat or lipstick all over her face.”

“I don’t think we have any lipstick lying around, Mom,” Chanyeol points out, and his father chuckles next to her, frowning slightly when she shushes him.

“Then I guess when she’s older she won’t have to worry about any of those incriminating photos like you do,” his mother replies, smirking, and Jongin shifts in his lap to look at him in amusement.

“Oh, you’re going to have to show me those.”

Chanyeol feels his ears burn in embarrassment but he’s proud of the straight face he manages when he replies, “They’re gone. I burned them.”

“Or so you think,” his mother trills and Jongin leans up to kiss his panicked expression off his face. Chanyeol wraps his arms around Jongin and pulls him in closer to his chest and Jongin gives him a beautiful smile, settling back more comfortably against him. Misun climbs up to her feet and walks toward them, raising her arms up so Jongin can pick her up. She coos and pulls on Jongin's hair, a recent bad habit she's picked up but thankfully only seems to do with Jongin, and Jongin pretends to be hurt until she lets him go.

"Hey, can I hold her?" Baekhyun asks from where he's lounging on the floor next to Yixing. He looks hopefully up at Jongin who nods and holds Misun out, but the second Baekhyun gets her she pulls on his hair and cries. "Why does your daughter hate me?" he whines, pouting at her until Yixing takes Misun from him and she calms down immediately, wrapping her small arms around Yixing's neck and burying her face into his shoulder.

Chanyeol laughs at the completely distressed look on Baekhyun's face, pointing at him and slapping the armrest of the couch in his mirth until Baekhyun throws a plush toy at him and it hits Chanyeol straight in the face. That has everyone laughing as Baekhyun smirks and leans back against the side of the couch, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually, hyung," Jongin says, looking torn between guilt at Baekhyun's plight and amused by Misun's rejection.

"It took ages for Jaejin to like Jongin," Jaehwa says, nodding at her son.

"He still doesn't like me much," Jongin sniffs, and Chanyeol rubs his arm consolingly as he suppresses his laughter.

Jongin's attention turns to Kyungsoo, then, asking him something about a new movie that's come out and Chanyeol lets himself slowly retreat from the conversation, just enjoying the atmosphere and observing. Lu Han has practically passed out next to Minseok, who looks both exasperated by him drooling on his shoulder and particularly fond, while Chanyeol's parents are talking to Zitao; his mother has always been a bit of a fan of Zitao's commercials and photos. She's taken to pointing him out to Misun whenever she finds one in a magazine or sees his ad for sunglasses playing on television, and Jongin tends to do that, too, sometimes. Maybe that's why Misun seems to be as fond of Zitao as she is of Yixing even if Zitao is too busy to be around in person. Chanyeol's not even sure where he was recently, but after Jongin invited him to Misun's party he said he would be there no matter what.

Next to him, Eunji is chatting enthusiastically with Minah, Kyungsoo's fiancee, the two of them laughing and watching over Daeho with fond smiles. Kyungsoo has a hand on Minah's knee even though his attention is completely on Jongin, though he does give Chanyeol a slight nod when he catches his eye. Chanyeol grins back at him, settles in a little more comfortably against the couch, and Jongin shifts on his lap a bit as he rambles on about something or other. His excited voice is soothing to Chanyeol's ears and he thinks he could just sit here in complete peace for hours, with his husband in his arms and his friends, his family, all around him.

As the night dwindles down and they end the party with pieces of delicious red velvet cake that Yixing had made, everyone slowly gathers themselves up and heads home, giving a slowly tiring Misun excited congratulations. Yixing looks a bit like he doesn't want to hand Misun over when he leaves, but eventually presses a kiss to her head and gives her back to Jongin.

"Yifan is really sorry he couldn't make it," he tells them, like that wasn't the very first thing he said when he arrived.

"Don't worry about it," Chanyeol brushes off with a wave of his hand. "We weren't exactly expecting him to fly in from, where is it? Paris? He's working, it's no big deal."

Yixing smiles, showing off his dimple, and shrugs. "He just feels bad, you know how he is," he says. "I'm sure he'll come visit when he gets back."

"Tell him we appreciate it," Chanyeol says, chuckling lightly. "You, too, Yixing. With the cake, and everything. We're really lucky to have you guys, that you'd do so much for Misun and--"

"Hey, hey," Yixing laughs, putting his hands up and Chanyeol clamps his mouth shut sheepishly. "You're our friends, of course we'd be here to help you out. And, not even that, you know? We want to be here because you're our friends, because Misun is the greatest thing that's happened since Junmyeon almost fainted when Daeho was born."

"I heard that!" Junmyeon shouts from down the hall where he's been trying (and failing) to get his son to put his shoes on. Eunji has been watching him struggle with amusement.

Yixing grins and pats Chanyeol's shoulder, and reaches out to pinch Jongin's cheeks because it looks like Jongin might cry from his words. "This was fun," he says after patting Misun's head. "I'll see you guys soon, okay?"

Jongin nods eagerly and waves one of Misun's hand at Yixing as he leaves. Chanyeol makes a mental note to buy Yixing something really nice for his birthday in a few months.

"He's right, you know," Junmyeon says, joining them. Daeho trailing after with his shoes finally on, holding his mother's hand. "You don't have to thank us for things like that."

Chanyeol's throat feels a little choked up, and he only manages to strangle out a, "Thanks, hyung," which has Junmyeon grinning at him, the kind of over-smile that Kyungsoo always says is ugly.

"I'll call you sometime soon so we can set up that play date, okay?" Eunji says excitedly and Jongin nods again.

"We'd like that," he says as he crouches down to let Daeho say goodbye to Misun.

They leave soon after that, the last of their guests to go, except for Chanyeol's parents and Zitao who managed to fall asleep across the couch sometime after dessert. He's probably terribly jetlagged, so they leave him be, and Chanyeol heads off to stop his mother from cleaning their apartment up for them as Jongin goes to take Misun out of her cute party dress and into something more comfortable.

Chanyeol's just about cleaned up the remaining cake, setting pieces into a box of tupperware, when there's a knock at the door. Blinking curiously, he quickly wipes the sticky frosting that he's gotten over his hands onto a dish cloth and and heads off to answer it, stopping his mother from getting out of her chair.

He just figures it's one of their friends coming back because they forgot something. He's surprised to find Jongin's mother on the other side of the door, dressed nicely with her hair done up and a smile that falters slightly when she realizes it's not her son but Chanyeol standing before her.

"Oh, Chanyeol," she says, catching herself quickly. The smile doesn't seem quite as honest, but Chanyeol's pretty sure he's gaping at her, so he can't begrudge her for trying. He shuts his mouth and swallows, his hand tightening around the doorknob. "I-I'm sorry for coming over unexpectedly but--"

"Chanyeol? Who is it?" Jongin's voice cuts over her and Chanyeol can hear him walking up behind him. He glances at him over his shoulder, Misun in Jongin's arms, and can't quite find his voice. When Jongin just raises his brow at him questioningly, Chanyeol steps aside and Jongin looks over, and his eyes widen almost comically.

"Hi Jongin," she says, smiling genuinely now as she stares at him, then at Misun, and there's a look in her eyes there that Chanyeol's never really seen before. Something like despair, maybe guilt, and it pulls him out of his own shock.

"W-Why don't you come in?" he says, gesturing into the apartment. "All our guests have left, uh, just my parents are here and--"

"Yeah, yeah, mom, come in," Jongin says quickly, reaching out to take her wrist and pull her inside. She has a small gift bag in her other hand that Chanyeol hadn't noticed before and he licks his lips and says nothing about it. He knows Jongin had invited her, he knows that even Jaehwa had asked her to come, too, but he never really expected her to show up. Not once in the past year had she ever made the effort to come by, not to see Jongin, or her granddaughter, even though Jongin had asked her many times, and Chanyeol is not sure what made her change her mind. Chanyeol doesn't understand a lot about her, so he keeps quiet and lets Jongin introduce her to his parents. His mother looks equally as shocked as Chanyeol feels, but is quick to welcome her to sit, casting a worried look at Chanyeol who just smiles back at her in response.

"Would you like some tea? We have some cake leftover, too," Chanyeol offers and he's not sure what to do when she smiles at him and nods.

Jongin looks at him gratefully from where he's perched on the end of the couch by Zitao's feet, Misun sitting in his lap, and Chanyeol ruffles his hair as he heads to the kitchen. He hears his mother excusing herself not a minute after, and then she's helping him put on the kettle.

"It's nice, that she came, right?" she says softly, patting Chanyeol's arm.

"Of course it is," Chanyeol says.

"Then stop looking like someone died," she scolds him, tugging lightly on his ear until he laughs.

"I just never know how to act around her," he whispers, fiddling through their different flavors of tea until he finally settles on peach.

"I think she feels much the same," his mother points out and Chanyeol really hates how she's always right.

Chanyeol's mother leaves a few minutes later after making sure he's okay, and Chanyeol can hear Jongin talking excitedly his own mother about Misun, the party, everything. There's soft unfamiliar laughter in between his words that must be from his mother, and when she asks to hold Misun, Jongin is quick to comply, telling Misun calmly that this is her other grandmother who has come to see her and isn't that great?

Jongin's happiness is enough to make Chanyeol push away the unpleasant thoughts, try to unravel the angry coiling in his belly. He knows Jongin has talked to her a few times over the past year but this is the first time he's seen her a long while and even as Chanyeol hides in the kitchen and fills cups with tea and sets a piece of cake onto a dish, Jongin's happiness is practically palpable. And that's really all Chanyeol cares about, so he swallows everything else down and rejoins them with a smile on his face.

"Here you go," he says, handing Jongin's mother a cup and the cake from a small platter he set everyone on, and she takes it from him with another smile. She, too, has the same smile as Jongin. He hands his own parents a cup of tea each and asks Jongin if he wants anything, but he shakes his head and reaches out for him instead.

Chanyeol doesn't want to disrupt Zitao, so he sits on the floor beside Jongin's legs and Misun, who is back in his lap, is immediately making grabby hands toward him. He takes her with a grin, scooping her up in his arms, and grinning widely as she babbles incoherently at him. He catches Jongin's mother's eye for a second and she looks almost surprised by him before she turns back to Jongin, smile on her face.

"Can we talk a little privately?" she asks Jongin. He leans away, taken aback, but then relaxes and nods, glancing down at Chanyeol like he needs confirmation. Chanyeol just squeezes his hand and Jongin lightly kicks at his feet as he stands in response, a smile on his face as he suggests to his mother to head into the kitchen. Chanyeol's curious, but he does his best to not strain his hearing to listen, and instead uses Misun to bother the still sleeping Zitao.

It’s not that long before Jongin and his mother return, and Chanyeol is instantly worried by the way Jongin’s eyes are a little red and watery. But there’s a smile on his face, a real one, and Chanyeol has an inkling, now, what they must have talked about. It makes him smile, too, and he wants to pull him down, kiss him and ask how it went, but he knows better than to do that with his mother still around.

“I should get going,” Jongin’s mother says. She picks up the small gift bag she left by the couch and hands it to Jongin. “This is a little something for her.”

“Thanks, mom,” Jongin says and his voice is choked.

Chanyeol stands up quickly so she can say goodbye to Misun if she wants. She does, turning to her and reaching for a tiny hand, gently shaking it in a goodbye. “She is so beautiful,” she says, and she flicks her gaze up to Chanyeol, who can’t help but grin in response.

She smiles back at him and straightens, nodding toward Chanyeol's parents and telling them it was nice to meet them. Jongin walks his mother to the door and Chanyeol follows after handing Misun over to his own mother.

Chanyeol rests his hands lightly on Jongin's waist from behind and says honestly, "Thank you, for coming. It means a lot, to Jongin." He takes a deep breath and adds, "To me, too."

There's that look in her eyes that Chanyeol saw earlier, but then she smiles again and it's warm, filling up Chanyeol's chest. "I'm sure Jongin will tell you, later, but...I am sorry, for many things. I don't know how I can make that better but--"

"It's okay," Jongin interrupts quickly. "You're here, and that's what matters."

She laughs, reaching out to pat Jongin's cheek. She looks like she wants to refute him, tell him that he's being too forgiving, and Chanyeol feels the same but he also understands Jongin's easy acceptance. He gently squeezes his waist.

"More than being sorry, though," she says after a moment, and she's looking at Chanyeol again as she speaks, "I'm glad that Jongin has you. I really am. Thank you for everything you've done for him."

Chanyeol shakes his head, waves a hand in the air dismissively, even though her words make him feel a bit like a weight has lifted from his heart. It's always been easy to be a little angry at Jongin's parents, but there's also been this lingering desire of approval. He's wanted Jongin's parents to accept him the way his own have welcomed Jongin so happily into their family, he's wanted to be able to share everything important in his and Jongin's life with them the way Jongin does with Chanyeol's parents. Hearing this from Jongin's mother, no matter how long it took, no matter how much Chanyeol has tried to hate her and dismiss her, makes him feel so incredibly lighter.

"I love him," Chanyeol says once he's found his voice. "I'll always take care of him."

She smiles at him and nods, a small but important gesture of approval. Jongin gives her a long hug before she leaves and once the door shuts behind her, Jongin turns gives Chanyeol a hug, too that practically knocks him over from the force of it.

"Hey, it's okay," Chanyeol whispers gently, rubbing Jongin's back and holding the back of his head against his chest. "Everything is okay." He laughs. "Better than okay."

"I'm just really happy," Jongin mumbles into his skin. His fingers tighten into the fabric of Chanyeol's shirt, stretching slightly against his back.

"Then why are you crying?" Chanyeol teases, poking his hip.

"I'm not," Jongin says strongly, pushing himself away and scrubbing at his face. He looks at the ground but Chanyeol knows he's holding back his tears.

"Crybaby," Chanyeol laughs, tapping under his chin and Jongin swats his hand away with a half-hearted glower before he's reaching out and yanking Chanyeol back into a hug by the collar of his shirt. Chanyeol grins widely, even as Jongin's behavior starts to make him feel a little choked up, too. He threads his fingers through his husband's hair and rocks him lightly from side to side and says, "You're okay. You're okay."

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