Married, with Kid
Title: Married, with One Kid
Author: pseudo_shigure
Pairing: Hyukjae/Donghae
Word Count: 4118
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fluff
Disclaimer: na-ah, not mine
Summary: Separate short fics/drabbles of what happen when the other was away, and the other one was left with the kid.
Notes: Series Masterlist
Of Being A Father
They were late, very late. Although actually, like Andy said, "No, Hyukjae. You're the one who's late." And he was right. He had already woke up on time, showered by himself, and even tried to wake Hyukjae up. But Hyukjae being Hyukjae, was never easy to be woken up in the morning.
Hyukjae could already feel that day was going to be a disastrous day the moment Donghae told him he had to take a sample of something (Hyukjae didn't really listen, he knew he wouldn't understand anyway) out of town. And it would take him the whole day. And that meant a whole day that Hyukjae would be left alone to take care of their kid.
Through the few months Andy lived with them, it was mostly Donghae who take care of the kid while Hyukjae watching from the sideline, as he was still couldn't shook off his awkwardness with Andy. And beside occasionally told Hyukjae to get more involved, Donghae didn't really mind since he loved the kid completely anyway. But now that he had to be away, Hyukjae was completely clueless and felt useless.
"Sorry, I make you almost late," Hyukjae apologized as he knelt in front of the kid.
They were successfully reached Andy's class with 3 minutes left. Despite completely sweating and panting from running from the parking lot to the class, and almost breaking every red lights they were passing along the way, Hyukjae considered it a feat. The kid was properly fed (it was only cereal, but still a breakfast, right), his lunch was packed, and they still had 3 minutes to spare. Total victory.
"That's okay," Andy said with a shrug in response for Hyukjae's apology. "Just don't forget to pick me up this afternoon, okay."
Hyukjae grinned hearing the kid reprimand him. "I won't. Promise."
"Okay. See you later, Hyukjae."
"Later, kiddo."
But the kid already turned around and got into his class before he could even finished his sentence. Hyukjae sighed. He watched the kid chatted enthusiastically with his friend once he was on his seat. Already completely forgotten about Hyukjae who was still standing in front of his class.
Hyukjae fished out his phone and made a call, still not leaving from his spot.
"Little monster has arrived safe and sound at school," he said the second his call was picked up.
"Yah! That's your son you're talking about."
"What? It's a term of endearment," Hyukjae defended himself, acting innocence.
He heard the man on the other line sigh. "At least you don't make him late."
Hyukjae bit back his response and decided it would be better for his own well-being to leave the detail about that.
"Hae," he called softly, "How do you leave him at school?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how you could leave him alone in a strange place and not feeling worry about it," the red haired man explained, still quietly watching their son playing with his friends.
"Welcome to the club," teased Donghae in return, half chuckling. "Now you know how I feel everyday. But listen, Hyukkie. He'll be fine. And beside, he's at school, not some strange place. He's with his teachers, okay."
"Hmm," Hyukjae grumbled, still refusing to leave.
And at that exact moment, Andy turned around and saw him, running at him even.
"Shit!"
"Hyukjae, language!"
"He caught me watching. And now he's running to me," he told Donghae in panic.
But Donghae only laughed instead and said, "Give the phone to the kid, I wanna talk to him."
"Why are you still here?" asked Andy once he got to Hyukjae, looking up at him curiously. "Don't you have to go to work?"
"Yes. I'm just reporting to your dad that you're already at school now. And he wants to talk to you." Hyukjae gave the phone to Andy who took it happily.
"Daddy!" Andy called once he placed the phone against his ear.
Hyukjae watched the kid listened to what Donghae was saying to him over the line. And Andy gazed up at him, then giggled.
"But that's silly," he said to Donghae, still looking up at Hyukjae. "Okay. Okay. Bye, Dad." He ended the phone and gave it back to Hyukjae.
"Hyukjae, you're so silly." The kid giggled once again. "Don't worry, I'll be fine at school," he told the man, patting his shoulder assuringly when Hyukjae crouched down in front of him.
The dancer sighed. He should've known Donghae would tell the kid about it.
"Donghae used to cry when I dropped him off at school, espescially on the first few weeks. He always begged me to stay. That's why I'm worried."
"Oh. I'm cool." The kid shrugged his right shoulder nonchalantly.
Hyukjae sighed once again. Being used to grow up with an overly attached kid like Donghae, maybe he was the one who had to get use to live with such an independent kid like his son.
***
"Hyukjae, can I have ice cream, please?" asked the kid after he padded into the kitchen and climbed up the stool on the island.
His tone was all too sweet in Hyukjae's ears since the kid usually acted cool when he was with him, opposite with his cute and spoiled attitude like when he was with Donghae.
"You know you can't eat anything sweet before dinner."
"But you forgot to pack me my sweets for lunch," the kid argued with a pout.
Hyukjae groaned. He tried to ignore his son and focused on the dinner he was trying to make. But the pout was definitely distracting.
"Your dad is going to kill me if he knew I gave you ice cream before dinner."
"Let's not tell him then."
"Andy, you'll be full and couldn't finish your dinner."
"No, I will finish it. Promise!" He swore with his big bright puppy eyes.
Hyukjae was sure Donghae taught the kid how to disarm all his defenses.
"Andy, I can't." Hyukjae winched as his voice came out almost in a whimper. And his body already half turned to open the fridge.
"Pretty please," Andy dragged the last syllable, and then added, "Hyukkie."
For the last time, Hyukjae groaned, in defeat. He opened the freezer and grabbed the ice cream tub from inside it.
He really needed to work on his resistance against the puppy eyes and nickname combo. Both from Donghae and from the kid.
***
"Which book do you want me to read for you?" Hyukjae asked as he watched Andy crawled up his bed and tucked himself under the blanket.
"Um..." he scanned his room. "Daddy has read all the books for me."
"Okay." Hyukjae still stood awkwardly by the bed. "So what do you want me to do? I can't make up a fairytale on the spot like Donghae," he told the kid.
"What about you tell me about Korea."
Hyukjae watched the kid scooted to the corner against the wall, giving more space for Hyukjae to lie down next to him. And reluctantly, Hyukjae did.
"What do you wanna know?"
"What do you used to play back there?" Andy looked up at him questioningly.
"Just like you do here. We used to go to the park and just played there."
"We?"
"Me and Donghae," Hyukjae explained.
Any chuckled then. "Don't you have other friends?"
"Well, I have," Hyukjae smiled almost sheepishly, knowing that he and Donghae always told the kid about their stories, just the two of them. "There's Uncle Siwon and Kyuhyun, remember?" Andy nodded. "But I'm closest with your dad."
"You never fought with him?"
"No, we fought all the time. I always made Donghae cry. And he was never want to take turn when we were on the swing. He always told me to push."
"But you still taking care of him."
"I had to. Umma... My mom that is. She always told me that I have to be good to Donghae, since he's younger than me."
"And you love him anyway," said the kid with a teasing grin.
"Well, yeah." Hyukjae deliberately avoided his son's stare.
"Hyukjae," Andy called up as he yawns, "What do you call your dad?"
"Appa. That's Korean for father."
"Oh." He yawned once again and snuggled deeper against his pillow.
"You're ready to sleep now? Do you want me to leave?" Hyukjae ran his fingers through the kid's hair.
"No. Stay." Andy clutched Hyukjae's shirt lightly.
So Hyukjae settled back down on the bed.
"Hyukjae?" Andy mumbled.
"Hmm?"
"I should call you Appa, right?"
The man was so taken aback by the question that he could only stare at the kid. Until the kid looked up and gazed at him with his sleepy eyes, waiting.
"You know you can call me anything you want, right," he finally said.
"I want to call you that."
Hyukjae was once again silent, letting the fact sunk into his mind.
"Okay. I'd be happy if you call me that." He leaned down and kissed the crown of his son's. "Thank you."
***
All’s Fair in Love and War
When Donghae once again "forgot" to buy him this month supply of strawberry milk, Hyukjae knew it was intentional. Espescially after he saw Donghae fed their kid the white boring milk every morning. He was sure Donghae was trying to marginalize him, making him a minority in their household so he didn't get a say in their milk choosing.
For Hyukjae, the war was on.
Hyukjae waited patiently for his moment to make a move. He had to suffer and watch Andy drinking his milk at breakfast while he was grouchily sucking on his strawberry milk that he had to buy by himself every month because Dongahe just couldn't remember to do so.
He swore Donghae smirked smugly each time Andy finished his glass of milk.
It wasn't until Donghae had a five days conference out of town that Hyukjae finally put his plan into action. You see, Hyukjae would proudly admit that he was somewhat an expert in strawberry milk. He knew exactly the taste from every brand. And for his plan, he chose the one that was the sweetest. One that children would like, guaranteed. He gave Andy two cartons a day, at breakfast and after dinner. And he only satisfied when the kid finally ask for his own daily dose instead of just waiting for Hyukjae to give him. Hyukjae knew the kid had been successfully hooked, and white boring milk forgotten.
So when Donghae came home, and prepared a breakfast for his family, only to find that his kid refused to drink the usual milk and asking for strawberry milk instead, he was furious. He stomped his way to his shared bedroom with Hyukjae and slammed the door open. He yanked away the blanket that currently was wrapping Hyukjae's body and yelled.
"Yah! You're sabotaging my kid's taste!" he accused.
Hyukjae, still half asleep, only groaned and frowned at his lover.
"Welcome home, Hae." He wrapped his fingers around Donghae's wrist and pulled him closer until the brunette lay next to him on bed, Donghae's back against his chest. "How's your trip?" he mumbled against Donghae's neck as he snuggling closer. He didn't even care that Donghae was still in his travelling clothes.
"I left you two for five days and I come home to my son asking for a carton of strawberry milk. What have you done to him? Oh my poor poor boy." Donghae whined dramatically.
"Hey, I didn't do anything, okay. I just give him the taste of a heavenly drink."
"That's cheating!" said Donghae sharply.
"Cheating is you giving him that boring white milk every day and forgetting to buy me my strawberry milk every time."
"I was trying to protect him. You can't give kids such sweet drink every day. And beside, it wasn't cheating if there's no competition."
"There's no competition, yet. You took a head start. That's double cheating."
Donghae had opened his mouth and prepared for a comeback when a cry broke trough the air.
"Daddy, I want my strawberry milk!!" Andy screamed from the kitchen.
"Oh my god," groaned Donghae. "I live with two strawberry milk maniacs. What am I gonna do now?" he whined as he getting up from the bed and dragging Hyukjae behind him to the kitchen.
Hearing Donghae's complaints, Hyukjae only chuckled. "Now, you can just not to forget to buy us our strawberry milk." Donghae shot a glare at him over his shoulder. "I love you too, Hae." Hyukjae smiled with fake innocence.
And although Donghae was still pouting when he handed Hyukjae and Andy their strawberry milk, the sight of his two boys sucking the pink drink happily was enough to melt Donghae's heart a little bit.
Just a little bit though.
***
Between Barney and Long Distance Call
The little boy had already finished his dinner and now he was sprawled down on the couch, with his head propped by his hand, watching a DVD of Barney. Little did he know that his dad was creeping down from the kitchen to where he was laying down on the couch to surprise him.
“Andy!” Donghae jumped on the couch and nuzzling, tickling his son’s stomach until the boy giggled and asked him to stop.
“Dad! It tickles!” the boy squealed between his laughter. But Donghae was persistent and kept doing what he was doing. “Daddy! I’m watching Barney!” said the boy with a pout.
“Oh, okay. Okay. If Barney’s more important than your dad.” Donghae was pretending to sulk. But Andy had been told by Hyukjae all about Donghae’s tricks, so he just laughed at his dad’s antic instead.
The boy let his dad shifted him a bit so he could hugged him from the back.
“Hey, do you miss your Appa?” asked Donghae out of the blue. Hyukjae had left for two days to do a show in another city and wouldn’t be back for another three days.
“Mm-hm,” replied Andy without diverting his attention from the purple dinosaur on the screen.
“Let’s call him then. I’m sure he’s already done with tonight show by now.” Donghae shook his kid’s shoulder gently.
But Andy only looked up at him and said, “Barney.”
“Baby, just pause Barney and let’s call Appa.” Now Donghae started to whine.
“Daddy, I wanna watch Barney,” Andy stated stubbornly.
“I wanna call your Appa.”
“Dad,” Andy said firmly, “you’re a big guy. And Ms. Aldrin said every big guy should be able to make their own phone call. So I’m sure you can call Appa by yourself,” he added as if to assure Donghae of his ability, just like when Donghae convinced him that he was big enough to take a bath by himself.
“Oh, look at you, smart kid, talking like that to your daddy.” Donghae knuckled his son’s head lightly. “Hmph.” He huffed. “Fine, I’ll wait you finish watching Barney, then we’ll call your Appa.”
“Yay!” The little boy threw his hand in the air and grinned as he back to watch the show.
At the first 15 minutes, Donghae was busy tickling or poking Andy’s cheeks, distracting the boy from the purple, bouncy dinosaur. Until he threw a little tantrum and Donghae finally stopped. But no matter immature he was- according to Hyukjae, anyway-and although he still occasionally enjoyed Sunday morning cartoons, watching Barney wasn’t exactly Donghae’s idea of having fun. Besides, after his work, preparing dinner and washing the dishes, he didn’t have any more energy to keep him awake. His eyes started to droop, before he finally fell asleep on the couch, leaving Andy to watch the DVD well into the night.
Just after 11, the phone rang, cutting through all the cheerful voices coming out from the TV. Andy turned his head to glare at the offending object that dare to disturb him while watching Barney. Feeling irritated, the boy paused the DVD and jumped off the couch, stomping his way to pick up the still ringing phone.
“Hello?” he answered not so politely to the receiver.
“Andy?” He heard his Appa’s voice from the other end of the line. “What are you doing still up at this hour? It’s almost midnight? Where’s your dad?”
“He fell asleep. I’m watching Barney.” Andy still felt a bit annoyed that he had to pause his DVD, but he felt slightly better from hearing his Appa’s voice. He did really miss him after all.
“Did he fall asleep on the dining table again?”
“No, he wasn’t working on the dining table. He disturbed me watching Barney.”
Hyukjae couldn’t help to laugh. “I see. He’s really tired then, I guess.”
“Oh! I just remember something, Appa. Daddy said he wanna call you, but I said we’ll call you after I finish watching Barney. But then he fell asleep.” He heard his appa sighed softly on the other end. “I’m sorry,” said the kid.
“Why?” Hyukjae asked, completely puzzled with his kid’s statement.
“You must be missing daddy. And Daddy must be missing you too. But I wanna watching Barney instead of calling you. And now Daddy is asleep.”
And just by the way he sounded, Hyukjae knew how his son must be pouting by now, disappointed at himself.
“Andy, it’s okay. I can call him again tomorrow, you know.”
“Okay.”
“Now, stop pouting.”
“Huh?! How do you know I’m pouting?”
“Because that’s what you and Donghae always do,” answered Hyukjae with laughter, and he heard his kid giggling along with him. He swore he would pinch his two chubby cheeks once he back at home.
“Appa, I’ve put on blanket for Daddy. So he won’t feel cold at night,” said Andy proudly.
“Good kid! You also need to go to bed. You have school tomorrow, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Go brush your teeth after this call, okay.”
“I already brush my teeth.”
“Andy, don’t lie to me.”
“But I did. I swear, Appa!”
“Kid, I know how you are when you’re watching your Barney DVDs, okay.”
“But I paused it. And then I ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Because I know I will miss some bad germs if I brush my teeth when I’m too sleepy. And I don’t wanna have bad germs drilling hole into my teeth. I will have toothache. And I don’t wanna have toothache like Shane, you know my classmate, who has toothache last week, and he couldn’t eat any candies or chocolates. And you know I like candies and choc-.”
“Alright, Kiddo, I believe you,” Hyukjae cut his son’s words. And once again he laughed. “Oh my god, you’re so like your Dad. You just can’t stop talking, can you?”
Andy only shrugged. He didn’t realize his father couldn’t see him on the other end.
“Appa, I’m really sleepy. Can I really go to bed now?” he asked while trying to stifle a yawn.
“Sure you can. Just don’t forget to turn off the DVD and the TV, okay.”
“Okay. But Daddy forgot to bathe me before he fell asleep. And you said bad bugs will bite me if I go to bed without taking a bath.”
This time Hyukjae tried his hardest to stop himself from chuckling.
“Don’t worry about that. I will call the king of those bad bugs and tell them not to bite you tonight. But just for tonight, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Have a nice dream, Kiddo,”
“You too, Appa.”
“See you in three days.”
“Bye bye.”
Once he was sure his kid had ended the phone call, Hyukjae opened up a new message screen on his phone and typed really quickly. He sent the text with a proud grin on his face.
Hae, we have a very smart, very good kid. Can’t wait to see the two of you again in three days.
***
Doppelganger
"I'll get it! I'll get it! I'll get it!" shouted the kid as he ran from the living room to open the front door, even before Donghae told him to.
The brunette man knew it was Hyukjae who was at the door. And he bet everything would be interesting.
"Hae!" He heard his lover called him as he walking through the hallway.
"Hi, Hyukkie. Welcome home." He turned around from the meal he was preparing to greet the other man who arrived at the room with their son carried against his hips.
"His hair is red, Hae!" exclaimed Hyukjae in panic.
"I miss you too, Hyukjae."
"Do his teachers even allow this?"
Donghae sighed. "His teachers won't even see it since it'll be washed off tonight." Hyukjae stared at him disbelievingly. "It's a temporary hair dye, Hyuk. Stop being such a worrywart."
"Can you put me down, Appa? I want to watch that music show," Andy told his father after he saw the man looking more relax.
Hyukjae put his son down. And watched him ran back to the living room. When he turned his attention back to Donghae, the other man raised an eyebrow in amusement and a playful smirk on his lips.
"Whose idea was it to dye his hair red?"
"Andy's."
"Also the leather jacket and the wife-beater?"
Donghae nodded. "Isn't that look reminded you of someone?" teased Donghae, knowing full well Hyukjae knew exactly who he was referring to.
"Well," Hyukjae stood visibly straighter, prouder. "I have an idea. But I thought he loves you the most."
"He might be. But I'm not the one he asked to talk in front of his class for carrier day."
"That's because all the other kid's father has boring job."
"Hyukjae, I work at the aquarium, okay. And yet, our six years old son asks to come to your studio more often than to my workplace."
"He always acts... indifferent with me," Hyukjae argued.
Donghae clicked his tongue impatiently and walked up to his husband. "Listen," He shoved Hyukjae's shoulder lightly. "He hero-worships you, okay. He thinks you're so cool that he feels like he should act like you so you would consider him cool too."
“You think so?” Hyukjae asked, but this time with a smug grinned on his face, instead of the doubt he had earlier. Seeing his gummy smile, Donghae almost regretted telling Hyukjae that. “Do you also think I’m cool?” The taller man wagged his eyebrow suggestively.
Donghae only rolled his eyes. But let himself being pulled closer and held by the waist anyway.
“Do you miss your cool husband?” Hyukjae teased, kissing his way down the underside of Donghae’s jaw, where he knew the other man was sensitive.
Donghae giggled. He cupped Hyukjae’s face and brought it up so he could kiss the other man properly, gently. Donghae’s kisses were soft and short. They were ‘I miss you’, ‘welcome home’, ‘I love you’ which were pronounced every time their lips met.
“Ewww… You two are gross.”
The couple broke away as their kid announced his arrival inside the room, with his eyes shut closed. He quickly grabbed the carton of juice he left at the dinner table earlier before rushing back out of the room.
“Hey!” called Hyukjae with half annoyance.
“Andy, what did I tell you about disturbing me and your Appa?” Donghae reprimand the boy.
“But I don’t want to see you guys kissing. Gross!!” Ten the two men heard a fake retching sound as if he from the hallway.
“Then you can walk around the house with your eyes closed!” teased Hyukjae.
“What?! Appa, that just so mean!”
Hyukjae laughed quietly so the kid couldn’t hear him. But Donghae slapped him softly instead, despite the smile on his face.
“I’ve told you we need to be more careful.”
“We were just kissing. Beside you’re the one who kissed me first.”
“Well you… Tsk! Whatever. Just don’t do anything funny when the kid is around.”
“Oh come one.” Hyukjae pulled Donghae against him once again. And he got a glare in return. “Fine. I’ll just do you in our bedroom later. With door properly locked.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, they heard the TV volume raised, as if their kid deliberately tried to drown the noises they make in the kitchen. And then, Hyukjae noticed something.
“Is that Korean music show he was watching?”
“I just told him that you were once a back dancer for one of the idol group.”
“Oh.” Hyukjae once again gave Donghae his smug gummy grin.
“God, you’re impossible!” Donghae complained, annoyed.
“You think I should teach the kid a move or two?”
“Ugh, whatever! As long as I don’t need to see that annoying grin of yours.”
Hyukjae only laughed heartily when Donghae turned him around and pushed him to the direction of the living room.
***
End.
Author: pseudo_shigure
Pairing: Hyukjae/Donghae
Word Count: 4118
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fluff
Disclaimer: na-ah, not mine
Summary: Separate short fics/drabbles of what happen when the other was away, and the other one was left with the kid.
Notes: Series Masterlist
Of Being A Father
They were late, very late. Although actually, like Andy said, "No, Hyukjae. You're the one who's late." And he was right. He had already woke up on time, showered by himself, and even tried to wake Hyukjae up. But Hyukjae being Hyukjae, was never easy to be woken up in the morning.
Hyukjae could already feel that day was going to be a disastrous day the moment Donghae told him he had to take a sample of something (Hyukjae didn't really listen, he knew he wouldn't understand anyway) out of town. And it would take him the whole day. And that meant a whole day that Hyukjae would be left alone to take care of their kid.
Through the few months Andy lived with them, it was mostly Donghae who take care of the kid while Hyukjae watching from the sideline, as he was still couldn't shook off his awkwardness with Andy. And beside occasionally told Hyukjae to get more involved, Donghae didn't really mind since he loved the kid completely anyway. But now that he had to be away, Hyukjae was completely clueless and felt useless.
"Sorry, I make you almost late," Hyukjae apologized as he knelt in front of the kid.
They were successfully reached Andy's class with 3 minutes left. Despite completely sweating and panting from running from the parking lot to the class, and almost breaking every red lights they were passing along the way, Hyukjae considered it a feat. The kid was properly fed (it was only cereal, but still a breakfast, right), his lunch was packed, and they still had 3 minutes to spare. Total victory.
"That's okay," Andy said with a shrug in response for Hyukjae's apology. "Just don't forget to pick me up this afternoon, okay."
Hyukjae grinned hearing the kid reprimand him. "I won't. Promise."
"Okay. See you later, Hyukjae."
"Later, kiddo."
But the kid already turned around and got into his class before he could even finished his sentence. Hyukjae sighed. He watched the kid chatted enthusiastically with his friend once he was on his seat. Already completely forgotten about Hyukjae who was still standing in front of his class.
Hyukjae fished out his phone and made a call, still not leaving from his spot.
"Little monster has arrived safe and sound at school," he said the second his call was picked up.
"Yah! That's your son you're talking about."
"What? It's a term of endearment," Hyukjae defended himself, acting innocence.
He heard the man on the other line sigh. "At least you don't make him late."
Hyukjae bit back his response and decided it would be better for his own well-being to leave the detail about that.
"Hae," he called softly, "How do you leave him at school?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how you could leave him alone in a strange place and not feeling worry about it," the red haired man explained, still quietly watching their son playing with his friends.
"Welcome to the club," teased Donghae in return, half chuckling. "Now you know how I feel everyday. But listen, Hyukkie. He'll be fine. And beside, he's at school, not some strange place. He's with his teachers, okay."
"Hmm," Hyukjae grumbled, still refusing to leave.
And at that exact moment, Andy turned around and saw him, running at him even.
"Shit!"
"Hyukjae, language!"
"He caught me watching. And now he's running to me," he told Donghae in panic.
But Donghae only laughed instead and said, "Give the phone to the kid, I wanna talk to him."
"Why are you still here?" asked Andy once he got to Hyukjae, looking up at him curiously. "Don't you have to go to work?"
"Yes. I'm just reporting to your dad that you're already at school now. And he wants to talk to you." Hyukjae gave the phone to Andy who took it happily.
"Daddy!" Andy called once he placed the phone against his ear.
Hyukjae watched the kid listened to what Donghae was saying to him over the line. And Andy gazed up at him, then giggled.
"But that's silly," he said to Donghae, still looking up at Hyukjae. "Okay. Okay. Bye, Dad." He ended the phone and gave it back to Hyukjae.
"Hyukjae, you're so silly." The kid giggled once again. "Don't worry, I'll be fine at school," he told the man, patting his shoulder assuringly when Hyukjae crouched down in front of him.
The dancer sighed. He should've known Donghae would tell the kid about it.
"Donghae used to cry when I dropped him off at school, espescially on the first few weeks. He always begged me to stay. That's why I'm worried."
"Oh. I'm cool." The kid shrugged his right shoulder nonchalantly.
Hyukjae sighed once again. Being used to grow up with an overly attached kid like Donghae, maybe he was the one who had to get use to live with such an independent kid like his son.
***
"Hyukjae, can I have ice cream, please?" asked the kid after he padded into the kitchen and climbed up the stool on the island.
His tone was all too sweet in Hyukjae's ears since the kid usually acted cool when he was with him, opposite with his cute and spoiled attitude like when he was with Donghae.
"You know you can't eat anything sweet before dinner."
"But you forgot to pack me my sweets for lunch," the kid argued with a pout.
Hyukjae groaned. He tried to ignore his son and focused on the dinner he was trying to make. But the pout was definitely distracting.
"Your dad is going to kill me if he knew I gave you ice cream before dinner."
"Let's not tell him then."
"Andy, you'll be full and couldn't finish your dinner."
"No, I will finish it. Promise!" He swore with his big bright puppy eyes.
Hyukjae was sure Donghae taught the kid how to disarm all his defenses.
"Andy, I can't." Hyukjae winched as his voice came out almost in a whimper. And his body already half turned to open the fridge.
"Pretty please," Andy dragged the last syllable, and then added, "Hyukkie."
For the last time, Hyukjae groaned, in defeat. He opened the freezer and grabbed the ice cream tub from inside it.
He really needed to work on his resistance against the puppy eyes and nickname combo. Both from Donghae and from the kid.
***
"Which book do you want me to read for you?" Hyukjae asked as he watched Andy crawled up his bed and tucked himself under the blanket.
"Um..." he scanned his room. "Daddy has read all the books for me."
"Okay." Hyukjae still stood awkwardly by the bed. "So what do you want me to do? I can't make up a fairytale on the spot like Donghae," he told the kid.
"What about you tell me about Korea."
Hyukjae watched the kid scooted to the corner against the wall, giving more space for Hyukjae to lie down next to him. And reluctantly, Hyukjae did.
"What do you wanna know?"
"What do you used to play back there?" Andy looked up at him questioningly.
"Just like you do here. We used to go to the park and just played there."
"We?"
"Me and Donghae," Hyukjae explained.
Any chuckled then. "Don't you have other friends?"
"Well, I have," Hyukjae smiled almost sheepishly, knowing that he and Donghae always told the kid about their stories, just the two of them. "There's Uncle Siwon and Kyuhyun, remember?" Andy nodded. "But I'm closest with your dad."
"You never fought with him?"
"No, we fought all the time. I always made Donghae cry. And he was never want to take turn when we were on the swing. He always told me to push."
"But you still taking care of him."
"I had to. Umma... My mom that is. She always told me that I have to be good to Donghae, since he's younger than me."
"And you love him anyway," said the kid with a teasing grin.
"Well, yeah." Hyukjae deliberately avoided his son's stare.
"Hyukjae," Andy called up as he yawns, "What do you call your dad?"
"Appa. That's Korean for father."
"Oh." He yawned once again and snuggled deeper against his pillow.
"You're ready to sleep now? Do you want me to leave?" Hyukjae ran his fingers through the kid's hair.
"No. Stay." Andy clutched Hyukjae's shirt lightly.
So Hyukjae settled back down on the bed.
"Hyukjae?" Andy mumbled.
"Hmm?"
"I should call you Appa, right?"
The man was so taken aback by the question that he could only stare at the kid. Until the kid looked up and gazed at him with his sleepy eyes, waiting.
"You know you can call me anything you want, right," he finally said.
"I want to call you that."
Hyukjae was once again silent, letting the fact sunk into his mind.
"Okay. I'd be happy if you call me that." He leaned down and kissed the crown of his son's. "Thank you."
***
All’s Fair in Love and War
When Donghae once again "forgot" to buy him this month supply of strawberry milk, Hyukjae knew it was intentional. Espescially after he saw Donghae fed their kid the white boring milk every morning. He was sure Donghae was trying to marginalize him, making him a minority in their household so he didn't get a say in their milk choosing.
For Hyukjae, the war was on.
Hyukjae waited patiently for his moment to make a move. He had to suffer and watch Andy drinking his milk at breakfast while he was grouchily sucking on his strawberry milk that he had to buy by himself every month because Dongahe just couldn't remember to do so.
He swore Donghae smirked smugly each time Andy finished his glass of milk.
It wasn't until Donghae had a five days conference out of town that Hyukjae finally put his plan into action. You see, Hyukjae would proudly admit that he was somewhat an expert in strawberry milk. He knew exactly the taste from every brand. And for his plan, he chose the one that was the sweetest. One that children would like, guaranteed. He gave Andy two cartons a day, at breakfast and after dinner. And he only satisfied when the kid finally ask for his own daily dose instead of just waiting for Hyukjae to give him. Hyukjae knew the kid had been successfully hooked, and white boring milk forgotten.
So when Donghae came home, and prepared a breakfast for his family, only to find that his kid refused to drink the usual milk and asking for strawberry milk instead, he was furious. He stomped his way to his shared bedroom with Hyukjae and slammed the door open. He yanked away the blanket that currently was wrapping Hyukjae's body and yelled.
"Yah! You're sabotaging my kid's taste!" he accused.
Hyukjae, still half asleep, only groaned and frowned at his lover.
"Welcome home, Hae." He wrapped his fingers around Donghae's wrist and pulled him closer until the brunette lay next to him on bed, Donghae's back against his chest. "How's your trip?" he mumbled against Donghae's neck as he snuggling closer. He didn't even care that Donghae was still in his travelling clothes.
"I left you two for five days and I come home to my son asking for a carton of strawberry milk. What have you done to him? Oh my poor poor boy." Donghae whined dramatically.
"Hey, I didn't do anything, okay. I just give him the taste of a heavenly drink."
"That's cheating!" said Donghae sharply.
"Cheating is you giving him that boring white milk every day and forgetting to buy me my strawberry milk every time."
"I was trying to protect him. You can't give kids such sweet drink every day. And beside, it wasn't cheating if there's no competition."
"There's no competition, yet. You took a head start. That's double cheating."
Donghae had opened his mouth and prepared for a comeback when a cry broke trough the air.
"Daddy, I want my strawberry milk!!" Andy screamed from the kitchen.
"Oh my god," groaned Donghae. "I live with two strawberry milk maniacs. What am I gonna do now?" he whined as he getting up from the bed and dragging Hyukjae behind him to the kitchen.
Hearing Donghae's complaints, Hyukjae only chuckled. "Now, you can just not to forget to buy us our strawberry milk." Donghae shot a glare at him over his shoulder. "I love you too, Hae." Hyukjae smiled with fake innocence.
And although Donghae was still pouting when he handed Hyukjae and Andy their strawberry milk, the sight of his two boys sucking the pink drink happily was enough to melt Donghae's heart a little bit.
Just a little bit though.
***
Between Barney and Long Distance Call
The little boy had already finished his dinner and now he was sprawled down on the couch, with his head propped by his hand, watching a DVD of Barney. Little did he know that his dad was creeping down from the kitchen to where he was laying down on the couch to surprise him.
“Andy!” Donghae jumped on the couch and nuzzling, tickling his son’s stomach until the boy giggled and asked him to stop.
“Dad! It tickles!” the boy squealed between his laughter. But Donghae was persistent and kept doing what he was doing. “Daddy! I’m watching Barney!” said the boy with a pout.
“Oh, okay. Okay. If Barney’s more important than your dad.” Donghae was pretending to sulk. But Andy had been told by Hyukjae all about Donghae’s tricks, so he just laughed at his dad’s antic instead.
The boy let his dad shifted him a bit so he could hugged him from the back.
“Hey, do you miss your Appa?” asked Donghae out of the blue. Hyukjae had left for two days to do a show in another city and wouldn’t be back for another three days.
“Mm-hm,” replied Andy without diverting his attention from the purple dinosaur on the screen.
“Let’s call him then. I’m sure he’s already done with tonight show by now.” Donghae shook his kid’s shoulder gently.
But Andy only looked up at him and said, “Barney.”
“Baby, just pause Barney and let’s call Appa.” Now Donghae started to whine.
“Daddy, I wanna watch Barney,” Andy stated stubbornly.
“I wanna call your Appa.”
“Dad,” Andy said firmly, “you’re a big guy. And Ms. Aldrin said every big guy should be able to make their own phone call. So I’m sure you can call Appa by yourself,” he added as if to assure Donghae of his ability, just like when Donghae convinced him that he was big enough to take a bath by himself.
“Oh, look at you, smart kid, talking like that to your daddy.” Donghae knuckled his son’s head lightly. “Hmph.” He huffed. “Fine, I’ll wait you finish watching Barney, then we’ll call your Appa.”
“Yay!” The little boy threw his hand in the air and grinned as he back to watch the show.
At the first 15 minutes, Donghae was busy tickling or poking Andy’s cheeks, distracting the boy from the purple, bouncy dinosaur. Until he threw a little tantrum and Donghae finally stopped. But no matter immature he was- according to Hyukjae, anyway-and although he still occasionally enjoyed Sunday morning cartoons, watching Barney wasn’t exactly Donghae’s idea of having fun. Besides, after his work, preparing dinner and washing the dishes, he didn’t have any more energy to keep him awake. His eyes started to droop, before he finally fell asleep on the couch, leaving Andy to watch the DVD well into the night.
Just after 11, the phone rang, cutting through all the cheerful voices coming out from the TV. Andy turned his head to glare at the offending object that dare to disturb him while watching Barney. Feeling irritated, the boy paused the DVD and jumped off the couch, stomping his way to pick up the still ringing phone.
“Hello?” he answered not so politely to the receiver.
“Andy?” He heard his Appa’s voice from the other end of the line. “What are you doing still up at this hour? It’s almost midnight? Where’s your dad?”
“He fell asleep. I’m watching Barney.” Andy still felt a bit annoyed that he had to pause his DVD, but he felt slightly better from hearing his Appa’s voice. He did really miss him after all.
“Did he fall asleep on the dining table again?”
“No, he wasn’t working on the dining table. He disturbed me watching Barney.”
Hyukjae couldn’t help to laugh. “I see. He’s really tired then, I guess.”
“Oh! I just remember something, Appa. Daddy said he wanna call you, but I said we’ll call you after I finish watching Barney. But then he fell asleep.” He heard his appa sighed softly on the other end. “I’m sorry,” said the kid.
“Why?” Hyukjae asked, completely puzzled with his kid’s statement.
“You must be missing daddy. And Daddy must be missing you too. But I wanna watching Barney instead of calling you. And now Daddy is asleep.”
And just by the way he sounded, Hyukjae knew how his son must be pouting by now, disappointed at himself.
“Andy, it’s okay. I can call him again tomorrow, you know.”
“Okay.”
“Now, stop pouting.”
“Huh?! How do you know I’m pouting?”
“Because that’s what you and Donghae always do,” answered Hyukjae with laughter, and he heard his kid giggling along with him. He swore he would pinch his two chubby cheeks once he back at home.
“Appa, I’ve put on blanket for Daddy. So he won’t feel cold at night,” said Andy proudly.
“Good kid! You also need to go to bed. You have school tomorrow, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Go brush your teeth after this call, okay.”
“I already brush my teeth.”
“Andy, don’t lie to me.”
“But I did. I swear, Appa!”
“Kid, I know how you are when you’re watching your Barney DVDs, okay.”
“But I paused it. And then I ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Because I know I will miss some bad germs if I brush my teeth when I’m too sleepy. And I don’t wanna have bad germs drilling hole into my teeth. I will have toothache. And I don’t wanna have toothache like Shane, you know my classmate, who has toothache last week, and he couldn’t eat any candies or chocolates. And you know I like candies and choc-.”
“Alright, Kiddo, I believe you,” Hyukjae cut his son’s words. And once again he laughed. “Oh my god, you’re so like your Dad. You just can’t stop talking, can you?”
Andy only shrugged. He didn’t realize his father couldn’t see him on the other end.
“Appa, I’m really sleepy. Can I really go to bed now?” he asked while trying to stifle a yawn.
“Sure you can. Just don’t forget to turn off the DVD and the TV, okay.”
“Okay. But Daddy forgot to bathe me before he fell asleep. And you said bad bugs will bite me if I go to bed without taking a bath.”
This time Hyukjae tried his hardest to stop himself from chuckling.
“Don’t worry about that. I will call the king of those bad bugs and tell them not to bite you tonight. But just for tonight, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Have a nice dream, Kiddo,”
“You too, Appa.”
“See you in three days.”
“Bye bye.”
Once he was sure his kid had ended the phone call, Hyukjae opened up a new message screen on his phone and typed really quickly. He sent the text with a proud grin on his face.
Hae, we have a very smart, very good kid. Can’t wait to see the two of you again in three days.
***
Doppelganger
"I'll get it! I'll get it! I'll get it!" shouted the kid as he ran from the living room to open the front door, even before Donghae told him to.
The brunette man knew it was Hyukjae who was at the door. And he bet everything would be interesting.
"Hae!" He heard his lover called him as he walking through the hallway.
"Hi, Hyukkie. Welcome home." He turned around from the meal he was preparing to greet the other man who arrived at the room with their son carried against his hips.
"His hair is red, Hae!" exclaimed Hyukjae in panic.
"I miss you too, Hyukjae."
"Do his teachers even allow this?"
Donghae sighed. "His teachers won't even see it since it'll be washed off tonight." Hyukjae stared at him disbelievingly. "It's a temporary hair dye, Hyuk. Stop being such a worrywart."
"Can you put me down, Appa? I want to watch that music show," Andy told his father after he saw the man looking more relax.
Hyukjae put his son down. And watched him ran back to the living room. When he turned his attention back to Donghae, the other man raised an eyebrow in amusement and a playful smirk on his lips.
"Whose idea was it to dye his hair red?"
"Andy's."
"Also the leather jacket and the wife-beater?"
Donghae nodded. "Isn't that look reminded you of someone?" teased Donghae, knowing full well Hyukjae knew exactly who he was referring to.
"Well," Hyukjae stood visibly straighter, prouder. "I have an idea. But I thought he loves you the most."
"He might be. But I'm not the one he asked to talk in front of his class for carrier day."
"That's because all the other kid's father has boring job."
"Hyukjae, I work at the aquarium, okay. And yet, our six years old son asks to come to your studio more often than to my workplace."
"He always acts... indifferent with me," Hyukjae argued.
Donghae clicked his tongue impatiently and walked up to his husband. "Listen," He shoved Hyukjae's shoulder lightly. "He hero-worships you, okay. He thinks you're so cool that he feels like he should act like you so you would consider him cool too."
“You think so?” Hyukjae asked, but this time with a smug grinned on his face, instead of the doubt he had earlier. Seeing his gummy smile, Donghae almost regretted telling Hyukjae that. “Do you also think I’m cool?” The taller man wagged his eyebrow suggestively.
Donghae only rolled his eyes. But let himself being pulled closer and held by the waist anyway.
“Do you miss your cool husband?” Hyukjae teased, kissing his way down the underside of Donghae’s jaw, where he knew the other man was sensitive.
Donghae giggled. He cupped Hyukjae’s face and brought it up so he could kiss the other man properly, gently. Donghae’s kisses were soft and short. They were ‘I miss you’, ‘welcome home’, ‘I love you’ which were pronounced every time their lips met.
“Ewww… You two are gross.”
The couple broke away as their kid announced his arrival inside the room, with his eyes shut closed. He quickly grabbed the carton of juice he left at the dinner table earlier before rushing back out of the room.
“Hey!” called Hyukjae with half annoyance.
“Andy, what did I tell you about disturbing me and your Appa?” Donghae reprimand the boy.
“But I don’t want to see you guys kissing. Gross!!” Ten the two men heard a fake retching sound as if he from the hallway.
“Then you can walk around the house with your eyes closed!” teased Hyukjae.
“What?! Appa, that just so mean!”
Hyukjae laughed quietly so the kid couldn’t hear him. But Donghae slapped him softly instead, despite the smile on his face.
“I’ve told you we need to be more careful.”
“We were just kissing. Beside you’re the one who kissed me first.”
“Well you… Tsk! Whatever. Just don’t do anything funny when the kid is around.”
“Oh come one.” Hyukjae pulled Donghae against him once again. And he got a glare in return. “Fine. I’ll just do you in our bedroom later. With door properly locked.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, they heard the TV volume raised, as if their kid deliberately tried to drown the noises they make in the kitchen. And then, Hyukjae noticed something.
“Is that Korean music show he was watching?”
“I just told him that you were once a back dancer for one of the idol group.”
“Oh.” Hyukjae once again gave Donghae his smug gummy grin.
“God, you’re impossible!” Donghae complained, annoyed.
“You think I should teach the kid a move or two?”
“Ugh, whatever! As long as I don’t need to see that annoying grin of yours.”
Hyukjae only laughed heartily when Donghae turned him around and pushed him to the direction of the living room.
***
End.