Work Text:
As soon as Seungcheol exited the runway, he was searching for his fellow modelling friend Mingyu, but instead his eyes landed upon Xu Minghao, a designer who had spent years climbing the fashion ladder. The said designer was busy adding finishing touches and fixing up those who still needed to show Minghao's latest designs to the world. The styles the younger made were like no other and he had seen Minghao go from small university runways to bigger and brighter stages, and the fact he was modelling on this stage tonight reflected the overdue recognition Minghao and his designs deserved.
Somehow amongst all the stress of the current situation, that of being in the middle of a fashion show, he remembered that he still hadn't sent Wonwoo the documents for the last financial year in regards to the department Seungcheol was in charge of managing financially. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts when Vernon, the head assistant to Xu Minghao, pushed him towards the change room. Of course, he couldn't be thinking about how Wonwoo would kill him when he eventually showed up at work; he still had to finish walking down a runway. Suddenly, he was whisked away into another dressing room and changed into his last garment for the night. He was at the back of the line with other models waiting for their turn to enter the catwalk. As he walked to join the queue, he received a thumbs-up from Mingyu, who had just gotten off the runway.
Soon enough, Seungcheol reached his position in the queue and he stood, nervous despite having done this before. Minghao reached him and pushed the stray pieces of hair out of Seungcheol’s eyes before offering him his arm, which Seungcheol happily looped his arm with. Seungcheol smiled at Minghao before they entered the catwalk together, wearing the pinnacle of Starry Eight's designs. Reaching the front of the runway, Minghao bowed to the crowd filled with journalists, fashion bloggers, fashion critics, and A-listers.
"Good evening, everyone and distinguished guests. Thank you for attending the debut of my line Starry Eight, here at Paris Fashion Week. I am very humbled by this opportunity to share my designs here in Europe, especially at the heart of the fashion world and calendar. My designs encompass the celebration of the beauty and history of China and South Korea through literature and art, whilst maintaining the delicate balance of weaving this past into clothing that upholds its original dignity. I am so very grateful to all who have supported me in getting this far: my family, team, and especially my husband Choi Seungcheol, who has always been my muse. I'd especially like to thank him for modelling for me; I know it is out of his depth, but he was the only person I could imagine in this outfit."
He smiled at his husband, who was dressed in his latest design—one that he wished to see his husband wear for their wedding, but he wouldn't tell him that. They had a civil wedding; the success of Minghao's fashion line had pushed their actual wedding back, and they decided not to have one until things had cooled down. Minghao had secretly wished that, by the time they had their dream wedding, there was a young member of their family that could witness and represent their love and dedication to one another.
~♡~♡~
The couple had a few days left in Paris before they had to head back to Seoul. They were sitting at the bank of the river Seine to watch the sunset, and Seungcheol was laying on his husband's lap whilst Minghao took photos with his camera.
He loved these simple moments with his husband where they just enjoyed each other's company. Seungcheol had never considered modelling as a job he would be fit for until Minghao had asked him. Despite his hesitations, his huge crush on Minghao convinced him otherwise to try it out—that and his belief that Minghao had such amazing talent that needed to be showcased. Now, years later, he was blessed to call Minghao his husband. Truly, being a model a few times each year was an escape from the somewhat boring life of working in finance and also playing cupid—Wonwoo owed him big time for that.
After looking back up to his husband, he was greeted with the lens of the camera pointed towards him and he giggled, not stopping his love from snapping a shot. However, this moment was cut short when Seungcheol's phone rang. He answered, and that was when his and Minghao's prayers had been heard—they were going to become fathers.
~♡~☆~♡~
Standing in front of Little Angels Orphanage was surreal for both men; they couldn't believe that within the building would be their future child. Minghao's hands were shaking slightly, so Seungcheol took his husband's hands and kissed them as a sign of reassurance.
As they entered the waiting room, they noticed the pictures of different groups of children on the walls, all smiling happily. They were met by the kind head caretaker Hyejin, who asked whether they had any preferences regarding the age of the child whilst double-checking papers before showing them to the first room of children. It broke their hearts that there were so many children, so they went around talking to the kids who were huddled in groups, with Seungcheol approaching a group while Minghao stayed back with the caretaker. This led the designer to notice a boy who was all alone in the corner, and wondering why he was alone, he decided to approach him.
Minghao greeted the child who was sitting against the wall, holding a book that seemed suitable for toddlers.
"Ooh, your name is different!" the child exclaimed. "Your name is like mine, I think. My name is Junhui!" he said happily. Minghao put it together that the child must be Chinese.
"Junhui, do you know how to speak in another language?" he asked, gauging whether his assumption was correct. He smiled when the child responded in Mandarin, which led to them conversing in the language. The more he spoke to him, the more he wanted him to become his son, but of course, it was not only his decision but his husband's too.
"I see you've made a friend, Minghao!" his husband commented as he crouched to Junhui's level.
"Junhui, this is my husband. His name is Seungcheol," Minghao introduced him, and he noticed the child's smile softly fall to one of confusion.
"He isn't like us, Hao Hao?" the child asked, with a nickname he had created for the designer earlier in the conversation.
"No, he is Korean, but he's learning Mandarin, Junhui!" he told Junhui ecstatically, followed up by his husband introducing himself to the boy in Mandarin, which made the child chuckle in glee.
As the couple watched the child, Seungcheol leaned closer to Minghao and whispered, "He's perfect, Hao. He is so sweet and he even shares the same language as you." Minghao softly squeezed his husband's hand before smiling back at the boy. Seungcheol left the two to speak with Hyejin about Junhui.
"Hao Hao, will you take me to your house?" he asked. Junhui was a clever one, and he responded with a nod. However, the reaction of the child was not what he imagined as his face suddenly filled with concern.
"What's wrong, Hui Hui?" Minghao asked the boy, who looked sad.
"But what about Hoonie? I don't want to leave Hoonie. Could you also bring Hoonie, please?" the child asked softly, as he looked close to tears.
"Don’t worry, we can bring your stuffed toy Hoonie with you!" Seungcheol interjected, but that only led to the child crying.
The elder left the boy with Minghao while he went to Hyejin. "Hoonie isn't a stuffie, he is a cute baby!" Junhui replied, soft enough for only Minghao to hear before Seungcheol returned with the caretaker to finalise the adoption by heading towards Hyejin’s office.
At first, Junhui calmed down, but the further they walked away from Hoonie's room, the more distressed Junhui became. Seungcheol asked Junhui what was wrong, only to hear “Hoonie” repeated over and over again.
"Could we go see Hoonie, Hyejin? Please?" Seungcheol asked, and it immediately halted the tears from the boy. They turned around and headed to another room, and on the door it said —
TODDLERS
They weren't exactly looking to adopt a toddler, as they preferred an older child, but if it would make Junhui stop crying, then they would look.
On their way there, Minghao told Seungcheol about what the child had said, and it wasn't a lie that Seungcheol wouldn't mind having more than one child, but of course, all decisions they made were made together.
The group walked towards the corner of the newly entered room. “Wow these two seem to think alike,” Minghao thought as he glanced at where Junhui had run off to. He ran towards a little boy holding onto a panda stuffed toy whilst he played with colourful, stacking circles.
Seungcheol and Minghao approached the two boys, and the first thing he noticed about the younger's face was his chubby cheeks which Seungcheol couldn't help but pinch, eliciting a cute noise from the said boy.
He asked Junhui about how he met the little boy named Jihoon, and it was because Junhui had been one of the older kids here and he had found Jihoon the day he had been left at the door.
Junhui had been trying to run away from one of the caretakers when he had almost tripped in the basket where Jihoon had been quietly sleeping in. Ever since then, he had always spent all his time with the young one unless they got separated like they were now when parents came in.
They had learnt the little one was three whilst Junhui had recently turned seven. Seungcheol looked up to Minghao and they smiled at one another. They were going to bring two boys home.
~♡~☆~♡~☆~
It took a while for the two boys to fit in, with Junhui being placed into the same school as Seungkwan and Mingyu's son Soonyoung, who quickly became his son's partner in dancing—Minghao was impressed with how fast Junhui managed to fit in. Junhui had quickly joined the dance school which Soonyoung attended and was enjoying his interactions with a new group of people who would soon become familiar faces.
Jihoon, on the other hand, took a bit longer to get used to his new surroundings, preferring to stay with his parents, especially playing with the colourful fabrics in Minghao's workroom.
The youngest addition of their family especially loved clinging to Seungcheol whenever he was home, calling his appa "Tree! Tree!" while baba was baba.
The couple's favourite time in the day was just before sleeping. Since the first night the boys came home, they had slept in the couple's bed, being scared of sleeping alone. The boys swapped sides each night whilst still being in the middle so they could cuddle their fathers, which warmed their fathers' hearts and was the definite time of day the parents could bond with their boys.
Their bedtime routine consisted of talking about their day, mentioning what they were grateful for, then a story, before each father took turns in singing lullabies to lull their little ones to sleep. They didn't mind not sleeping right next to each other. As long as their family was together, they were fine.
~♡~♡~♡~♡~
November was an enjoyable time of the year for the family since two members had their birthday in the same month. So, the family decided to hold a joint birthday party on Jihoon's birthday.
"Di Di!" Jihoon squealed happily upon the sight of his friend Chan who held tightly onto his dinosaur stuffie, which led to the nickname that Jihoon called him. He ran towards his fellow toddler friend after being released from his father's arms.
The best friends had met one another when Vernon had brought the little dinosaur-loving boy to work one day, as the babysitter fell ill at the last minute and it was the usual day Minghao brought Hoonie in, so the boys had met one another in the textiles room where they proceeded to pull and roll out all the fabrics. The destruction of the young boys was met with much cooing from Minghao's staff because anyone could forgive two cute toddlers who were playing with one another.
"Chan, don't forget Jihoon's present!" Wonwoo, his other father, called to him before handing the little three-year-old his friend's present.
"Happy birthday, Hoonie!" Chan exclaimed before giving the said boy a hug and his present.
"Thank yous, Di Di!" the said boy responded. Jihoon remembered what his appa said about opening all his presents at once, so he ran to give him the present, which garnered his father's attention.
"Tree appa, my pwesent!" he said as he toddled, carrying the box with all his strength. The effort of his youngest son made his father smile before he took the box off, congratulating his son for being a good listener and ruffling his hair.
Seungcheol's close friends Joshua and Jeonghan arrived with their newly adopted son Seokmin, who was five and instantly got along with the young ones, evident with his immediate screeching of "Hoonie!" upon entering the house.
Junhui was playing Just Dance with Soonyoung as his baba and uncles Seungkwan, Jeonghan, and Mingyu finished making lunch for everyone. They were dancing to Bubble Pop! which brought the attention of Jihoon and Chan who were trying to copy the colourful characters on the screen, much to the delight of the adults who were watching them.
Minghao's call from the kitchen beckoned all who were present to head there and gaze upon all the delicious food, which had the central dish being noodles to wish the celebrant a long life. Everyone ate happily and conversed, and then it was time for dessert, which meant it was time for birthday cakes. Mingyu had been put in charge of making them as, despite being a highly sought-after model, he also loved to cook, so he baked both the father and son their cakes.
Jihoon squealed in excitement when he saw his cake, being a panda's face. Minghao's one was a simple matcha cake, decorated with a spool and needle on top. Of course, the thread was rainbow. The two birthday boys were joined by Seungcheol and Junhui who were standing with them for family pictures before everyone sang happy birthday and the boys blew out their birthday candles.
Afterwards, they needed to set up the items for the birthday grab. It was usually done on the child's first birthday to reflect the potential career path of the child, but the couple decided to do it on the first birthday they celebrated with their children, meaning Junhui's would be next year.
Minghao and Seungcheol invited all of their friends to bring an item each to include, as long as it wasn't anything 18+ (that was specifically for a certain Yoon). There was a variety of items ranging from textiles to a stethoscope to a spatula. Everyone was excited because no matter what little Jihoon chose, everyone would only let Jihoon decide the path he wanted for his life. Once Jihoon was let go, everyone held their breath in anticipation. Jihoon carefully toddled in front of each object, looking as deep in thought as a four-year-old could ever be.
"I think your son wants to be all of them," Wonwoo commented, which led to light laughter and a playful jab from Seungcheol.
"Well, whether he picked none or all of them, he would still be an amazing son!" Seungcheol replied before glancing back at his husband, who smiled at him.
After another two minutes, Jihoon had seemingly decided and somewhat broke convention as he picked up Seungcheol's book filled with lyrics from when he was young but also Seungkwan's microphone.
"Little Hoonie is destined to be a great singer-songwriter from the looks of things. I mean, the combination! Don't worry, Hoonie, Uncle Boo will be your vocal coach!" This led to much laughter and excitement amongst everyone. The couple wouldn't object to Seungkwan becoming their son's vocal teacher in the near future if he ever wanted to pursue the path since their friend was a well-renowned singer.
Mingyu proceeded to cut up and distribute the cake. All the kids sat together at one table, including the younger ones who were eating messily, but that was forgiven. The adults sat nearby but not too close to the children at their own table so they could have conversations that they didn't want their children to hear. Minghao and Seungcheol had planned to make an announcement during this time with Seungcheol speaking up, "Guys, Minghao and I have to tell you something."
He waited a few seconds for the usual interjections, but everyone seemed quiet. "Honey, I think you scared them," his husband commented.
Minghao’s comment elicited light laughter before Seungcheol continued, "Minghao and I have decided that we are now happy in our lives, and with our children here, we wanted to have our second wedding." It was silent for several seconds before the couple was showered with congratulations and well wishes.
"Cheollie, I'll be your best man this time since my husband was yours at the last wedding," Jeonghan said, which reminded Seungcheol of the dilemma he faced with his close friends at his first wedding, being the difficulty of choosing between his two best friends who also happened to be married. Upon hearing from the groom they were planning two weddings, with one in the future, the friends reached the conclusion that one would be the best man for the first wedding and the other at the next.
"Of course, Hannie," he specified, which led to much laughter around as the said man proceeded to jump up in happiness and grab poor Seokmin out of nowhere to give him a kiss and announce that he'd plan the best bachelor's party ever, much to the embarrassment of both Seungcheol, since he was already technically married, and Joshua, with just how over the top his husband was. However, everyone else witnessing the scene just laughed, and Minghao realised this would be another precious memory made with his friends and family. To be honest, both men knew in their minds who would be their ring bearers: their lovely sons.
So, if anyone had asked Minghao how he would be celebrating his birthday this year a year ago, he wouldn't have imagined it would be with his two sons and loving husband, but life was perfect. This was a sentiment shared by Seungcheol, who was content with life. Minghao and himself were happy, and they were prepared to raise these two boys, who were now their sons, with so much love.
Their family wasn't so little anymore, but they didn't mind. It was just right.