Chapter Text
Over the years, Seungcheol has gotten somewhat used to coming home to a rather unusual scene in their house.
Once he came home to a ten year old Soonji standing on a chair with Wonwoo standing next to him while they cooked something. Well, while Soonji is cooking something with Wonwoo hovering over him. Seungcheol drops his bag by the couch and quickly moves to his other side and sees him frying his own pancake. "He saw uncle Mingyu make pancakes from scratch and wanted to try it himself." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol feels his heart trying to burst from his chest.
After that it's eleven year old Soonji punching out shapes from his flat cookie dough and immediately asking Seungcheol if he can work the oven for him. That was one of Wonwoo's only rules with him cooking. He can make anything and cook whatever but an adult has to be the one to operate the stove or oven or whatever appliance he uses to cook. Seungcheol definitely agrees and Soonji doesn't even bother arguing because, as he said, "It's not like I don't have at least one of you hovering over my shoulder all the time." This obviously shocks them all and Soonji immediately argues that he doesn't mind which has the two of them laughing. "We are kind of typical helicopter parents." Wonwoo says and as much as Seungcheol knows it's true, he can't find it in himself to admit it.
Then it's Wonwoo working on the kitchen counter while Soonji was elbow deep in what looked like some kind of dough he's kneading on the island. It turned out to be a dough for a loaf of bread and it was the day that the three of them realised the lack of their baking equipment. So they went out to buy some trays and pans and measuring cups and Wonwoo showed him Mingyu's enthusiastic response to the photo of Soonji and Seungcheol in front of a bunch of cookie cutters discussing which shapes are better.
They all know it's Mingyu's fault for making Soonji fall in love with cooking. It was kind of obvious, to be honest. After every weekend or sleepover with Mingyu and Soonyoung, Soonji would end up asking if he can make this and if Wonwoo can get a list of ingredients for it. Wonwoo would gladly take the chance of a break from his work and bring Soonji with him after school to buy everything. Seungcheol would be welcomed by them creating whatever it was when he opens the door, and they enjoy whatever it is after dinner.
Today's not so different.
"Hey dad." Soonji says, not looking up from the bowl he's mixing, and Seungcheol smiles at how Soonji's shirt is a lot less covered in flour than it used to be. "Hey buddy. What are you making tonight?" Seungcheol asks and Soonji wipes his hands on his apron and grabs his cookbook to show Seungcheol a photo of a pie. "Apple pie. But I added mangoes. I think it'll work. It's been on my maybe-it-will-work list since uncle Gyu showed me how to make a pie." Soonji says and Seungcheol walks on over and sees him mixing the fruits in the bowl.
Seungcheol watches him a bit. Watch as he pours the filling in the pie crust and then covers it on another layer of the dough on top to cover it. "That's cute." Seungcheol says as Soonji starts using scissors to poke and cut patterns on top. "It's also so the top doesn't, like, blow up and explode. Uncle Gyu said it's because the fruits let out steam when they cook and if they're trapped inside the pie will look like a balloon." Soonji says and Seungcheol nods. He needs to buy Mingyu something really nice and really expensive for this coming Christmas. Or his birthday next year.
"Oh, and… Uh… Dad was smoking in the garden when I got home. I think it's about work." Soonji says and Seungcheol looks up at his face and smiles at his unsure expression. "Thanks for telling me, buddy. He probably just doesn't want to do his next assignment and ended up arguing with his boss." Seungcheol says and Soonji smiles. "But I get in trouble if I start calling out bullies in school." Soonji says and Seungcheol messes his hair because he knows Soonji hates it and he laughs as his son groans. "Your dad didn't make his boss cry." "I just asked him why he needs to be mean to feel good. Also we don't know that. He probably could. No, wait, he definitely could and he probably already did." Soonji says and he takes a piece of the sliced apple left in the bowl and smiles at Seungcheol as he chews.
Seungcheol is not so sure if he should be terrified or proud. He kind of feels both. He probably shouldn't feel both.
"Dad ordered in dinner so everything's good for dinner." Soonji says and Seungcheol nods. "Be careful with the oven, alright?" Seungcheol says and he heads for their room first. He changed into more comfortable clothes and walked in on Wonwoo's study in sweatpants and a shirt. Wonwoo's face was lit up by the screen of his monitor and Seungcheol can hear the soft thud-thud-thud his foot makes as his leg shakes under his desk.
Seungcheol makes his way towards him and it seems like it was only then did he notice Seungcheol in the room. "Ah, there he is. I thought my husband was somewhere far away." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo chuckles softly as he pushes his chair away from the desk. "He is. He's in his happy place." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol hums. "His happy place? I mean, if he wants to be in his happy place I'll gladly take off my clothes and bring his happy place to him." Seungcheol teases and Wonwoo laughs. "I hope that's not an empty offer because I really need my happy place." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol moves behind him and places his hands on his shoulder.
"Soonji said he saw you smoking earlier. Everything okay?" Seungcheol asks and Wonwoo sighs. "Just work. Hyunmin wants me to, and I quote, tone down the gay, in my works." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol holds in a sigh. "Like? I've made stories about parallel dimensions and alternate universes where people fly and shoot light out of their hands but writing two guys holding hands is creating 'unwanted tension from critics' , or whatever the fuck kind of bullshit that is." Wonwoo huffs out an annoyed breath after that and Seungcheol leans down to kiss the top of his head. "So he didn't like your new idea?" Seungcheol asks and Wonwoo nods.
"It's… Sorry. It'll be fine. I can work it out somehow." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol clicks his tongue. "Don't do that. Talk to me." Seungcheol pulls the chair from the desk behind Wonwoo and takes his hand in his. "I just… Everyone knows about me. About you and Soonji, too. I've gotten away with making my characters not explicitly gay but not straight, too. But this time I want to make it right. I've done enough of gay best friend novels to make it a legitimate sub-genre of literature and it has never felt enough for me." Wonwoo lets out such a heavy sigh that Seungcheol wishes he can make everything right for him.
"Tell me about your idea." Seungcheol says, the same way he did when he'd camp out in Wonwoo's dorm room after an eventful night, and Wonwoo still does the same thing that he always did back then. He'd smile and would try to hide it as fast as he could, push up his glasses on the top of his nose, and then he'd pull Seungcheol next to him as he tells him of one of the endless number of worlds inside his head. Seungcheol listens, honoured that he gets to see the wonder inside Wonwoo's mind, and Seungcheol falls in love with him again a little.
"I think it sounds amazing. It's not too other-wordly but there's this sort of mystery to it." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo smiles at him. "You think so?" Seungcheol nods at the question and he almost falls back on his chair as Wonwoo surges towards him for a kiss. Seungcheol catches himself in Wonwoo's arms but they immediately pull apart when the door opens and they hear a fake gag coming from the door. "Food's here. If anyone's interested in eating actual food and not each other's faces." Soonji says and Seungcheol sighs.
It's a loving sigh, okay? He's just kind of regretting letting Soonji pick Jihoon as his favourite babysitter because he's starting to sound a lot like him.
"Go fix the table and I'll deal with the food. And you-" Seungcheol points at Wonwoo as he's walking out, "get up from there and get ready for dinner." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo nods. "And Soonji made pie and you're gonna love it." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo laughs. "I always love his food!" "You're being too biassed! He needs actual feedback to get better and not just lies born out of love." Seungcheol slams the door behind him and hears Wonwoo laughing at the other end.
"How do you do that?" Soonji asks by the kitchen and Seungcheol looks up at him.
"Do what?"
"Make dad feel better." Soonji asks and Seungcheol watches as he looks down and picks at the oven mitt in his hands as he asks. Seungcheol smiles, holds up a finger to him, runs to the door to get the food that Wonwoo already paid for, and goes back to their table.
"Your dad just… He feels a lot. I have a theory that a lot of people are like that. Like, they have a heart that's a little bigger than others. It makes him feel a lot more and he's really annoyingly good at keeping everything in until he implodes." Seungcheol says and he sees the oven behind Soonji. "He's kind of like the pie. Remember?" Seungcheol says and Soonji turns to look at the pie. "Dad just needed to open up a little to let all the bad feelings out bit by bit so he doesn't blow up or break apart." Seungcheol leaves the food on the table and he walks next to Soonji and leans down to level with his face.
"You don't have to worry about dad. Okay? But I also have a theory that maybe, out of all the things you could inherit from him, you managed to get his big heart. So I want you to know that dad will need a little help sometimes but you don't need to worry. But when you do worry, you talk to us about it, okay? I don't want you to think too much about it on your own." Seungcheol says and Soonji nods. "Once, uncle Hoon said that he thinks dad's tired all the time because he's married to you. But now I think he got it backwards." Soonji said, smiling, and Seungcheol smiled back as he locked a mental image of Jihoon in a box and threw it off a very tall cliff. One with angry waters and very sharp rocks on the bottom.
Dinner was as usual. Soonji tells them about his day, Seungcheol tells them about his day, and then Wonwoo complains that since he's working from home, the most exciting thing that happens to him is when they come home. Soonji laughs at it but Seungcheol holds Wonwoo's gaze from across the table and smiles. Wonwoo helps Soonji when his timer for the pie starts ringing and Seungcheol was tasked to get the ice cream from their freezer as they prepare a slice for each of them. Soonji asks them to take a picture to send to Mingyu but he really didn't have to tell them for Wonwoo to take his phone out and get as many photos as he can. He even films as Seungcheol places a scoop of ice cream on top of it and it melts from the still warm crust of the pie.
And it was good.
It was so good. The mangoes have almost melted into this soft and sweet syrup and the apples are soft but still have a bit of bite to it. Seungcheol doesn't even mind if it's still a little bit hot because it's so fucking good. "Did you look this recipe up or was it just you?" Wonwoo asks and Seungcheol blinks at him and Wonwoo shows him his phone. "Uncle Mingyu said he never told you about adding mangoes to it." Wonwoo says and Soonji nods. "I kind of just thought it would taste better. And we still had some left over from the time we used fruits on a cake." Soonji says and Seungcheol feels like his heart is singing. "Is it okay?" Soonji asks and Seungcheol laughs. "Okay?" This is better than okay! This is so good." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo agrees. "Uncle Mingyu said you have to make this for them sometime." Wonwoo says and he shows Soonji his phone. He asks Wonwoo if he can send them something and Wonwoo hands him his phone. "I am so proud that he can make a pie in itself but to have it taste this good?" Seungcheol says and Wonwoo laughs. "He's always liked making food. But I think the real trigger for this are all the birthday pancakes he's been making." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol can't argue with that. "Uncle Jihoon said he's gonna steal me from you and move to Tokyo where he'll raise me as his son and open a bakery for me to inherit when I'm of legal age." Soonji says and Seungcheol chokes as Wonwoo grabs his phone and takes a video of them while he screams at Jihoon to never come close to their family.
After dinner is their alone time to do what they need to. Work calls, emails, assignments. After that it's them in the living room with the T.V. on but most of the time they're all on their phones or their laptops. "Oh, uncle Hoon said he wanted to invite us somewhere for dinner tomorrow. You two are free, right?" Soonji asks and Seungcheol turns to Wonwoo. Seungcheol's pretty much done for the week and just have a few calls and emails he has to answer, but other than that, he's practically free. Wonwoo on the other hand…
"You know what? Sure. Yeah. I think it'll be fun." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol pulls him to his side and Wonwoo leans back on him. "You sure?" Seungcheol asks and Wonwoo nods. "I think a break would be fine. I need at least ten hours away from any screen." Wonwoo complains and Seungcheol almost laughs. The Wonwoo he knew from college was always lit up by the light of his laptop screen. He always has his headphones on or sometimes it's hanging around his neck. Now Seungcheol can still see the same tired but soft look on his face as he tells Soonji to tell Jihoon to pick the most amazing restaurant he could think of and Seungcheol laughs when Soonji suggests one where they have specific dress codes "because if the restaurant has a dress code it means it's high class" apparently.
Soonji says a weak goodnight to them at midnight, because his usual eleven o'clock bedtime is pushed an hour later when it's Fridays and Saturdays, and he drags his feet as he walks to his room. Wonwoo lies down on the couch and uses Seungcheol's thigh as a pillow as Seungcheol double checks his schedule for the weekend with Chan. "Stop fussing about it and let Chan sleep. I can't even begin to imagine how tired he must be being your assistant." Wonwoo says and he plucks Seungcheol's phone from him and pockets it in his sweatpants. Seungcheol looks down at Wonwoo's playful smile, mischievous and soft like how it has always been, and he hums when Wonwoo reaches for the hair above his ear. "You're getting old." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol frowns. Wonwoo laughs as Seungcheol rocks his legs, letting Wonwoo's head jostle in retaliation for such an offensive remark, and Wonwoo turns to press his face on Seungcheol's stomach.
"Hey, uh… Your brother called me earlier." Seungcheol says and he steels himself as Wonwoo's laugh dies down.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Said he wanted to talk to you about something but you're still ignoring him."
"Did he tell you what it's about?" Wonwoo asks and Seungcheol takes a deep breath.
"No. But I think I know what it's about. I thought that was maybe why Soonji saw you smoking earlier. " Seungcheol hints and Wonwoo looks down at Seungcheol's hand on his knee.
"You're not going to ask me to not go, are you?" Wonwoo asks and Seungcheol's reminded of the scared scrawny nineteen year-old kid he met when he was twenty. He's reminded of the way he wanted to keep every bad thing away from him just so he never has to see this face again.
"I've learned years ago that making you do something you don't want to or make you not do something you do would only come back to bite me in the ass, so no." Suengcheol laughs and Wonwoo smiles at him.
"But I wanted to talk about it, you know? Ask you if you wanna talk about it." Seungcheol offers and Wonwoo's smile shrinks a little.
"Not really. It's not… It's just the same as before. Same as when it was my thirty-sixth birthday last year. Same as when it was Christmas last year. Same as New Years. And Chinese new year. It's always the same thing." Wonwoo sounds so tired talking about it that Seungcheol almost feel bad for bringing it up.
"Yeah. Sorry. I just… I wanted to tell you." Seungcheol runs his fingers through Wonwoo's hair and he smiles up at him.
"I'm sorry if my family drama still isn't leaving us alone. I don't know how you put up with me." Wonwoo says, like he's actually thinking Seungcheol could possibly leave him for any reason at all.
"Please. You've seen me throw up in my dorm shower and then proceed to cry about how gross it is. I don't think anything's gonna amount to what you did for me back then at this point." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo laughs. "That's definitely your lowest. God, I don't know how I managed to help you that night." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol just shrugs.
"You said you liked how stupid I looked and called me cute or something." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo slaps his stomach hard and frowns at him.
Dinner out with Jihoon turned into lunch on a Saturday and it all seems to be more than what they initially thought it would be. Wonwoo had set out some of their fanciest clothes, ironing them himself just so he won't have to fuss about their clothes later on, and the three of them take a photo on the wide mirror they have by the dining area that Seungcheol's gonna need to post on all social media accounts he has. They drive up to a fancy looking hotel and Wonwoo walks up to the front desk to ask for directions while Soonji tugs on Seungcheol's hand to point at Jihoon walking up to them.
Well, Jihoon and someone else.
Seungcheol holds back a laugh at Jihoon's shut-up-or-your-son-will-see-your-own-death-by-my-own-hands stare and he lets go of Soonji's hand to let him run up to them.
"He's new." Wonwoo says from his side and they watch as Jihoon kneels down to greet Soonji and Soonji greets Jihoon's friend with a very energetic hi-five.
"Not new to Soonji, apparently."
"Don't embarrass Jihoon in front of him, please." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol rolls his eyes and slips his arm around Wonwoo's waist to pull him close.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo elbows his stomach lightly as he walks up to them.
"Guys, this is Vernon. He's my boyfriend." Jihoon says with a smile that's more threatening than anything and Soonji walks back to them and stands in front of Seungcheol.
"And these are Soonji's parents. Wonwoo is the author and Seungcheol is my idiot of a bestfriend who happens to be an architect. I still don't know how he managed that, honestly."
"I heard so much about you guys." He says and Seungcheol smiles as he reaches for his hand.
"I honestly wish I could say the same." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo hits his arm as Jihoon sighs. Seungcheol pats Soonji's shoulders and waits for him to look up at him.
"Remember the earmuffs we talked about?" Seungcheol asks and Soonji nods and covers his ears with his hands.
"I don't appreciate you teaching our son how to keep secrets from us." Seungcheol says with a smile and Vernon at least has the decency to look embarrassed about it unlike Jihoon and his smug smirk.
"Cheol. He's your son. I mean, the both of you looking after a kid? He's bound to learn how to keep secrets better than both of you combined." Jihoon says and Seungcheol sighs.
"He has a point." Wonwoo says and Seungcheol turns to his husband with the most affronted look he can put on and Wonwoo shrugs. Wonwoo smiles back at Jihoon and Vernon and Seungcheol grabs Soonji's hands and puts them down.
"Wait, I remember you. You're that idol Jihoon worked with years ago, right? The soloist?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah. We worked on like one album together and it was like, the best one I've released up until now, I think." Vernon says and Jihoon sighs.
"Wait, why didn't you guys just keep working together after? You obviously have great chemistry." Wonwoo says and Vernon smiles at Jihoon, slips his fingers between Jihoon's, and smiles at him.
"He told me he doesn't date people he worked with so I told my manager to find me a different producer." Vernon says and Seungcheol just has to laugh.
"Okay, you're definitely cool. And you," Seungcheol puts his hands on Soonji's shoulders and pressed a little on his neck to tickle him a little, "how long have you known about this?" Seungcheol asks and he stops and lets Soonji turn to them.
"A year? I don't know. He always just drops by uncle Hoon's place when I stay over and he always brings a lot of food." Soonji says and Seungcheol raises an eyebrow at Jihoon.
"I told him not to tell you because you're an idiot. And I told him not to tell Wonwoo because Wonwoo would eventually tell you because you two have no boundaries whatsoever." Jihoon says and Vernon tugs at his hand a little and smiles at them.
"Anyways, we have a table waiting for us at the restaurant upstairs." Vernon says.
"And Soonyoung and Mingyu are on their way." Jihoon says and Wonwoo laughs.
"You're telling Soonyoung about this now? In public?" Wonwoo asks and Jihoon sighs again.
"Why? What's with Soonyoung?" Seungcheol asks and Wonwoo smiles that evil annoying smile Jihoon hates so much that Seungcheol loves so so much.
"He's been the one telling me to date Vernon years ago. He's the reason no one knew about Vernon in the first place."
"I kind of liked being kept a secret. It's kinda fun sneaking around." Vernon says and Jihoon lets go of his hand and grabs Soonji before they walk away.
"If you wanna annoy Jihoon I say go and add fuel to Soonyoung's outburst later." Seungcheol says to Vernon and he laughs.
"Soonyoung probably already forgot about it." Wonwoo adds and Seungcheol shrugs.
"I don't know… He's been pretty good at antagonising Jihoon since college. He probably put it in his phone's notes app just to remember." Seungcheol says and they follow Jihoon and Soonji towards the elevator, talking about other ways to annoy Jihoon through the day.
Seungcheol has never been shy to admit it but he thinks the world of Soonji. He doesn't need anything more than Soonji joking with Vernon to decide then and there that Vernon is cool. Soonyoung and Mingyu came by and given how they haven't seen each other for almost three months, Seungcheol almost had a heart attack when both of them came into view with a little girl walking in between them, holding their hands wearing a cute yellow dress.
"Everyone, this is Yeoreum." Soonyoung says and she smiles brightly at them and pulls out her hand from Mingyu's and waves at them.
"When did you-" "Just a month ago. We wanted to ease her into it but she's really excited to meet you guys."
"So you decided to hijack my thing?" Jihoon teases and he gets up from his seat and introduces himself to her.
She's exactly what you would expect from Mingyu's and Soonyoung's daughter. She's loud and happy and she has this wide eyed curiosity in her that makes you smile when she asks you questions. She also does not like sitting. Like, at all. Something Seungcheol is silently glad that they never experienced with Soonji. She would walk around their table, passing by everyone's seat, and when she's back to Mingyu he feeds her and she goes back to walking as she chews.
Jihoon talked about why he invited everyone out. Mainly it's to officially introduce Vernon but also to tell them that he'll be away for a year. Something that he knows affects all of them in some way.
"I think we can survive a year Ji." Seungcheol teases and Jihoon rolls his eyes.
"So you're gonna go with him for his tour?" Soonyoung asks and Jihoon nods.
"Well the tour is like eight months and we can kind of slip a few vacation days here and there but we were planning on extending our vacation a few months more and coming back home around late January."
"Cool. So dDo you need us to like, look after your place or something?"
"That'd be nice, yeah. But also just a heads up that I can't babysit for a while, I guess. For both of you."
"Ji, that's fine. Honestly. My mom's been nagging me for making you guys look after Soonji when she's been constantly asking us to let her take care of him. Don't worry about that." Seungcheol says and Jihoon laughs.
"The tour starts here, though, so if you guys want tickets-" "Babe, no. It's fine. I think we can just have lunch or dinner the day before we leave." Jihoon cuts Vernon off and they all laugh.
"My friends are years past their concert going days. Trust me." Jihoon says and Vernon laughs along.
"No they're not. I'm still good for a concert." Wonwoo argues and Soonyoung does as well.
"I have my own studio. I think I can manage a concert." Soonyoung adds and he turns to Mingyu. Mingyu turns to Seungcheol and they both laugh.
"Well, I have a very bad lower back from working a nine-to-five desk job that requires me to hunch over scale models and floor plans so I'm good with a backstage pass, I think." Seungcheol says and Wonwoo nudges his elbow as everyone laughs.
"I'm planning on being a work from home dad until Yeoreum is at least thirteen so I'm good with video calling Soonyoung." Mingyu adds and as if to prove his point, Yeoreum emerges from behind him and tugs on his elbow for a bite before walking off, again."
"Can I go?" Soonji asks. He asked Jihoon then slowly turned to them.
"I don't know… my first concert was when I was fifteen." Wonwoo says and Soonji turns to Seungcheol.
"Mine was when I was twenty-two and it was the one where you forced me to come with you." Seungcheol adds and Wonwoo pinches his leg under the table.
"There are like, seats that are close enough that you don't have to stand up at all and, you know, backstage passes." Jihoon adds because if there's anyone who's as weak as them to Soonji, it's him.
"Okay. But you're getting those safety noise cancellation headphones things kids wear for concerts." Wonwoo says and Soonji smiles and nods.
The rest of the night is just them talking specifics. Where to meet up, who'll pick up who, and in the end they all figure out a plan. They took photos, enjoyed dessert, and set up another date for them to get together before Jihoon has to be gone for so long. Soonji tugged on Wonwoo's hand as he talked to Vernon and Seungcheol watches from the other side of the table as they moved from Vernon to Mingyu who had Yeoreum on his lap. Soonji introduces himself to her and she hides her face by hugging Mingyu.
"Soonji's always seemed so small to me but seeing Yeoreum next to him and remembering that we first met him at that age too makes me want to cry." Jihoon adds besides him and Seungcheol hums.
"Yeoreum's five?"
"Soonyoung just told me. You really didn't know?"
"I mean, they've been asking us stuff since we got Soonji so I didn’t think much about it when they started asking again."
"And Wonwoo? It's that time of the year again."
"He's… coping. I think he's more stressed now that Soonji's been asking."
"Asking?"
"They had a project about family trees and when Soonji asks about Wonwoo's family he just kind of gives him bland answers."
"Because Soonji will ask more if he doesn't."
"Yeah."
"Hey. It'll be fine."
"I know. I mean, look at them." Wonwoo was sitting on the seat next to Mingyu now with Soonji standing between his legs as they talk to Yeoreum and Mingyu smiles as she answers them.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm living with two Wonwoos. And the smaller one is somehow smarter, if that makes sense."
"Oh, it does. I'm waiting for the teen angst to fuel that brain of his so you two will finally break and this perfect family image you have will finally be gone. It's sickening seeing you happy all the time. Honestly." Jihoon teases and Seungcheol laughs.
"We love you too Hoonie." Seungcheol says and he stares at Wonwoo and Soonji, smiling, laughing, and the mental image of teen Soonji rebelling and giving Wonwoo a hard time seems even more ridiculous to Seungcheol.