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Chan had just come out of his room when he saw a man in a crisp burgundy suit coming out of the kitchen. “Good morning, Minho.”
“Hm.” Minho stared back at him for a couple of seconds before he nodded a bit and hummed in reply.
“Come on now, what do we do when you see Uncle Minho?” Chan looked at the two children, partially hiding behind him.
He missed how the other’s face scrunched up in disgust.
“Good morning, Uncle Min!” The child from the right jumped out and waved enthusiastically at Minho, his face so bright full of smiles. The freckles on his face popping out like the sparkling stars in the night sky.
Uncle Min? Chan was surprised with how his son called Minho familiarly.
“Morning, Felix.” Minho replied, casually.
The little guy smiled brighter and more pleased with the reply.
“Good morning, Uncle Min.” Another greeting came out from behind Chan.
Chan was really surprised because he did not expect Jisung to say anything but seeing his kid do a little wave and smile, albeit shyly, makes him wanna tear up. His son hated to be around strangers, after all. It takes him a couple of months before he would warm up to someone new but seeing him greet Minho without anyone really pushing him makes him so proud of him.
“Good morning, Jisung.”
The reply came immediately and this made Jisung’s smile brighter.
When Chan looked back at Minho, he froze up.
Did Minho just smile? Doesn’t his whole aura seem happier than when he first saw him this morning?
Chan was confused because as soon as the smile appeared, it also disappeared as fast.
He shook the questions from his mind and smiled at Minho. “Are you on your way to work already? Do you want to go with us? I’ll just drop off the kids at the daycare.”
He didn’t really expect Minho to accept his offer so he was not surprised when he declined, saying how he still had some things to do before going to work.
The three of them waved goodbye at Minho as they boarded Chan’s car. Driving away from their house, Chan could see Minho still standing at the entrance of their house staring at their car from behind.
It has been a bit over a month since he got to know Minho.
Over a month since they started living with him in his large house - palace, according to the kids.
Over a month since he married Lee Minho.
It was an arranged marriage set up by their grandfathers since before they were born. But as soon as Chan said he wasn’t interested and instead ran away with his late fiance, the arrangement was called off. Minho’s family didn’t mind it as much, either.
Chan was ready to live a happy life with his fiance and their unborn twins but fate wanted to play with him. Giving birth to the twins led to complications for his fiance and she did not end up surviving the labor. But before she totally left them, she managed to tell Chan to live the best for hers and the twin’s sakes.
He nodded and agreed with her words, not at all intending to accept anyone else in his heart.
But the trials he faced didn’t end there. Some of the people his father trusted were found out to be doing illegal things behind his back using his company’s name. This led to his father becoming ill, needing him to be hospitalized 24/7.
He had no choice but to go back home. He left his normal blue-collar job behind and took over his father’s company, trying to save it from total destruction. It was the company his forefathers had worked hard to build, after all. He can’t just let it be ruined like that.
Chan has been doing amazing cleaning up the company but he needed more help to stabilize things. That’s when Minho’s grandfather came to him in person. He offered to help him in exchange for fulfilling the deal that once was broken.
Chan vowed to himself to never let anyone else in his heart when his fiance died but marrying someone doesn’t have to mean giving them their heart. The moment he met Minho, he straight up told him he only wanted mutual respect from his future husband, nothing more.
Surprisingly, Minho was easy to talk to. He agreed immediately. So they sealed the deal.
When Chan broke the news to his 5 year old kids about marrying another person that is not their mother, he wasn’t really expecting them to understand anything. But, surprisingly, the kids listened to him well and assured him that they don’t mind, as long as their father is not sad.
Chan wants to help his family’s business as much as possible, but he doesn't want to do it at the expense of his children, which is why he emphasized to Minho how he will always put his children as his top priority. And Minho accepted it, without much questions.
He had his twins meet Minho three times before the actual ceremony. There weren’t many conversations between Minho and his sons but it was a good sign seeing them comfortable around him. So he had good expectations for their future.
The ceremony was simple. Just them and their immediate families.
As soon as the ceremony and simple lunch with family ended, Chan and his twins moved into Minho’s house. It was one of those old traditional Korean houses, its backyard was also wide and well-kept. It has always been the house of the Lee’s main family, and now Minho owns it.
Both Felix and Jisung were in awe at everything they saw. Even when they were grabbing onto both of Chan’s legs on both sides, they couldn’t help but let their eyes wander everywhere. It was a new sight for them who had only lived in a small downtown apartment area.
The three of them got settled in their new home in no time. There were a total of six people working in the house, Chan found out as soon as they moved in. They introduced themselves to the three new family members.
Minho even made sure there was a person who has knowledge and experience dealing with kids. But since the twins were shy around new people, they would still need a bit more time to warm up to their nanny.
A month passed by so fast and Chan barely knew anything about his husband.
They would eat dinner together every now and then. They would pass by each other on mornings before work. Even on weekends, Chan would rarely see Minho home. He doesn’t have enough time to know about Lee Minho.
He doesn’t want any romantic relationship with him, but he wants to at least get to know the person he’ll be spending the rest of his life with, right?
Just as he was racking his brain with how to spend more time with his husband, Jisung came running at him, carrying a big book.
Chan faced his direction and caught the toddler before he trips on his feet. “Are you alright, Sungie?”
The toddler nodded his head enthusiastically and asked to be let down. Chan did as asked and took in the excitement Jisung was beaming with.
“Dad! Dad! Did you know cheetahs are the fastest animal on land?! They can run up to 70mph! I don’t know what that means but I know it’s reeeeally fast.” Jisung was literally bouncing with so much excitement as he showed Chan the open book with the page about Cheetahs.
Seeing his son exude so much happiness gets him happy, too. “Really? What else do you know about Cheetahs?”
Jisung’s eyes grew bigger seeing how his dad was interested in what he liked so he kept on listing down whatever he could remember. Some phrases Chan had to supply with his own interpretation but it was amazing how much knowledge his son could absorb.
He nuzzled his nose with Jisung’s, who giggled with him. “My son is so smart. I wonder who you took it from?”
“Of course, from my dad! You are the smartest person I know!” Jisung declared proudly and Chan hugged him tightly as his son giggled in his arms. “Oh! But Uncle Min is also really smart!”
The random comment surprised Chan. How did Minho come into the conversation?
“Oh, really?” He couldn’t help but ask.
Jisung nodded surely. “Yeah! I think he knows almost everything about the animals in this book. As well as the other books in our room.”
This only confused Chan more. How did his son know about that?
Now that he looked at the book closer, it was something he never bought for Jisung. He has bought his son a lot of books about random things because Jisung liked learning them. But he doesn’t remember buying him a book about animals in the wild.
The book doesn’t also look as new as the ones Jisung has. It looked like it was an older book and signs of usage over the years are visible, too.
“This book looks interesting. Where did you get it, baby?”
“Uncle Min gave them to me! He also gave me a lot more other books, too. Wanna see them?”
Even before Chan could give him an answer, Jisung had already grabbed his dad’s hand and dragged him to his and Felix’s room. There he saw Jisung’s bookshelf stacked full with books, a lot of them unfamiliar to him.
“Did your Uncle Min give these to you?” He asked as he tried to hide his amazement.
“Yup! He also helps me read them, too!”
Now that’s another piece of new information. He tried asking more from his son about Minho and he found out that Minho actually picks them up from school, instead of their nanny and then spends a couple of hours in the afternoon playing with them.
Felix came up to them in the middle of Jisung telling Chan about Minho, and the freckled little boy also joined in, telling Chan about how Minho would also bake sweets with them.
He knew Felix was interested in sweets but he didn’t know he was interested about baking until he heard the stories from them. Felix also proudly showed his dad the cute apron Minho gave him. It had a cat embroidery in it, too.
Another thing that he found out was how the sweets that always welcomed him when he got back home were baked by Minho with the kids’ help! He always thought it was store-bought and was prepared by the maids.
Even the delicious chocolate cake for his birthday was baked by him! He thought he only got a short greeting from Minho in their usual morning run-ins but he never thought he actually received a homemade gift from him, too!
Chan feels overwhelmed by the amount of information thrown at him at the same time.
Isn’t he too cute?! Chan can’t help but think to himself after internalizing everything he learned about his husband.
Now, he feels a lot more curious about Minho. He wants to know more about him.
“Oh! You and Uncle Min were both born in October! Just like me and Lixie were born in September!” Jisung declared and Felix cheered with his brother.
Now that he thought about it, he did not know when his husband’s birthday is but Minho knows his! Chan couldn’t help groan at the realization. But he cheered himself up. He will take time to get to know his adorable husband.
He’ll take one step at a time. And it starts with asking his children when Minho’s birthday is.
~o0o~
Minho usually goes home a couple of hours in the afternoon just to spend time with the twins. They were extra adorable and Minho couldn’t help but spoil them.
He could only do it behind Chan’s back though. He doesn’t know how his husband would react to him doing so.
“You don’t have to go back home later tonight, by the way. I cleared up all your schedule for today.” Hyunjin, his secretary, came up to him and practically pushed him out of his office.
“Hwang Hyunjin, what do you think you are doing?” Minho glared at him but it had no effect on his friend of 13 years.
“I am forcing you to go back home and rest, hyung. Don’t worry. There’s nothing important you need to do today, or tomorrow for that matter. So go get you ass back home right now. We don’t need you here. So scram.” Hyunjin kept on pushing him until Minho was in the elevator, and he handed him his bag and car key.
“I don’t know what you are scheming, Hwang, but make sure to be prepared for your funeral tomorrow.” Minho threatens his friend but it has no effect whatsoever.
“Have fun tonight, hyung!” Hyunjin waved goodbye at him as the doors to the elevator close.
He knows his friend was scheming something but he doesn’t have any idea what. For now, he’ll just go back straight home. He would usually fetch the kids at this time, but the nanny told him they had to go home earlier today so he could come straight home, instead.
As soon as he got back home, he asked where the kids were and the maids told him they were in the kitchen.
They didn’t tell him they were alone.
He was surprised when he suddenly heard screams from the kitchen and when he ran up straight to the area, he searched around for the kids and when he saw them, unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn’t realize the extra presence inside the kitchen.
“Uh…welcome home, Minho.”
Minho was startled to hear an unexpected voice coming from inside the kitchen.
He looked over and saw a sheepish smile on Chan’s white face, scratching his cheek, rubbing off the flour stuck on them.
Chan straightened up, helping his kids dust up the flour covering their bodies.
“I’m sorry I ruined your kitchen. We were planning on surprising you with a homemade cake but we failed the first one.” Chan explained, glancing at the brown goo at one side of the kitchen. “And as we were trying to bake the second one, the flour kinda went all over the place when we turned the hand mixer on.”
That’s when Minho finally got to take in the whole picture. His brown kitchen suddenly became white. He doesn’t know how they ended up spilling so much flour in his kitchen but he can’t help but snicker at the idea of what might have occured.
This didn’t escape Chan’s attention.
Minho really laughed.
“We’re sorry, Uncle Min.” Minho felt a tug on his coat and saw Jisung staring up at him with glassy round eyes.
“We were trying to bake you a birthday cake as a surprise…” Felix came up from behind Jisung with the same sad look on his face.
Then it hit him. It was his birthday. That’s why Hyunjin wanted to send him home ASAP. And now his new family was trying to bake him a cake. He never was one to celebrate his birthday, but thinking about spending the rest of the day with the twins and his husband was something he would really love to do right now.
Minho bent his knees and hugged the twins. “Thank you, Lixie, Sungie. I’m not mad. I’m actually really happy you want to bake me a cake. But do you know what would make me happier?”
The two kids stared at him expectantly. “What?” They asked in unison.
“I want to eat dinner with you two. And maybe watch a movie after that.” Minho glanced at Chan who was standing still at the same spot. “Of course together with your dad, if he wants to.”
Hearing this, the twins’ eyes grew rounder and whipped their heads towards their dad who was surprised by the sudden attention. They were begging him with just their eyes, Minho could see. He also knows Chan wouldn’t deny his kids when they do that.
“Yes, of course I’ll join you.” This made the kids cheer as they jumped up and down in excitement. Chan could only shake his head and smile in defeat.
“But before that, we should clean yourselves up first, okay?” Chan declared before his kids pulled him together. “We’ll be done in no time. Sorry about the mess again.” Chan tried to say before the twins disappeared with him out of the kitchen.
Minho smiled at him and waved at him. “Don’t worry about it. Go. I’ll be waiting for you three.”
~o0o~
It was a hard battle for Chan to keep his boys still in the bath as they excitedly washed themselves, almost leaving without getting rid of all the flour stuck in their hair. But they still managed to get done in thirty minutes.
When they were done, the maids led them to the backyard where there was a table set up for a simple samgyeopsal.
Minho was already setting up the meat and vegetables. Chan hurried up and helped him while the kids also helped arrange their plates and utensils.
The sky was already getting dark, but the moon was large and bright in the night sky. Stars were also shining brightly. It was such a nice atmosphere for a simple dinner.
Chan volunteered to cook the meat for them, placing the first cooked meat on Minho’s bowl. The three of them stared at Minho expectantly. And he couldn’t help but pick up his chopsticks and got a bit of the meat and rice.
As soon as he smiled, savoring the food, Chan placed the meat on both Felix and Jisung’s shared plate, and more on Minho’s bowl. Before Chan could cut the twins’ meat in bite size, Minho had already reached for it and cut it before giving it back to the boys.
They said their thanks together before taking a bit of their food, too. Chan could see the adoration in his husband’s eyes for his kids. It makes him wish Minho would also look at him like that.
And before he could entertain more silly thoughts, Chan focused back on the meat and the meal.
The dinner ended with them all full and satisfied.
Usually, the boys would be really tired after having a full meal but they seem too excited to watch a movie with Minho.
They were trying to pick out movies they would watch and Minho was listing down children’s movies. “It’s your birthday so you should choose what you want to watch.”
Minho looked at him surprised. He was hesitant but he finally said, “But I like scary movies.”
This made Chan flinch, and it did not escape Minho.
“Let’s just watch what the kids want. I like animations, too, anyway.”
“I like scary movies, too!” Jisung chimed in.
“Me, too!” Felix added.
Chan groaned. It wasn’t the first time he watched something scary with his kids. He made sure the ones they watched weren’t graphic but they were all still scary and full of jumpscares. And Chan is weak against those.
Minho stared at the kids and back at him, confused.
After a big sigh, “It’s alright. The kids love watching them. As long as it’s not graphic you can watch scary movies with them.”
“But you don’t seem to like the idea.” Minho pointed out.
Chan groaned again. “I don’t do well with scary movies.” He finally admitted, and before Minho could change his mind again, Chan assured him. “It’s fine, Min. I may get jumpy but I can watch it with you guys. Just be prepared. I might scream a lot or maybe grab you.”
Chan didn’t realize he changed the way he called his husband. That's why he was confused when Minho suddenly turned away from him, as if hiding his face.
“I’ll have them prepare the popcorn then. Why don’t you get the kids settled in my room while waiting?” Minho told him, still facing the other way before he walked back into the house.
Chan wanted to confirm something but Minho was already out of his view.
He said they’ll be watching in Minho’s room, right?
Chan has never been in Minho’s room. Despite being married, they both have separate rooms. Though they were close to each other, Chan still hasn't been in there and now they’re supposed to watch a scary movie there?
Before Chan could think more about this, the twins started dragging him towards Minho’s rooms, as if they were already used to being there.
And he thinks they really must’ve been in his room a lot, seeing as how they were familiar with where Minho kept his extra pillows and blankets, or how to turn on his large screen tv.
By the time Minho came, the twins were already lying on their bellies at the foot of Minho’s bed that was facing the tv.
Chan came to help Minho with the popcorn he was holding. Minho passed one bowl to the kids who looked at the caramel popcorn, almost drooling. As if they haven’t had just dinner a while ago.
This makes Chan laugh every time. And this time wasn’t an exception. And it made Minho curious.
“Oh sorry. I just find them so adorable.” Chan saw the weird face Minho made. “Yah! You know it so well, too! My twins are adorable.” He whisper-screamed in protest and Minho giggled.
Chan wanted to squeeze Minho in a very tight hug right then and there but he had to hold it in. He can’t scare his husband just as they’re starting to get to know each other. He could only pretend to get angry, facing his back towards Minho, exaggerating a huff.
And this only made Minho giggle more.
Chan is so weak for cute things. Sue him.
“Dad, can we watch now?”
“Can we?”
There were suddenly two tiny humans popping up in front of them, eagerly waiting for their answer.
Minho only laughed a bit and then started searching through the lists of movies and picked the most children-friendly film.
“Come on, now. We’re starting the movie.” Minho said, motioning for the kids to get comfortable again before he presses play.
Chan thought scary movie nights would always be hard for him, but tonight proved it wrong. He doesn’t know how it happened but Minho held his hand most of the time the movie played. And as if Minho already knew, he would squeeze Chan’s hand gently before a jump scare would happen. It doesn’t remove all the fright for Chan, but it made it better knowing when something would pop out.
But what made everything better was how Minho’s tiny soft hand would caress his hands gently after Chan gets scared. It soothes him so much that he almost thinks he never watched a horror movie, at all.
As soon as the movie was done, Minho let his hand go and pretended as if nothing happened. Chan felt sad when the warmth on his hand disappeared.
Minho got the empty bowl of popcorn from the kids, who were both visibly too sleepy already. But they both tried to keep their eyes open.
Chan stood up and was ready to usher his kids back to their rooms for the night when Felix asked, “Daaad, can we sleep here tonight? I’m too tired to go back to the room now.” His words were already drawling from sleepiness. Jisung, beside him, was nodding sleepily, wanting the same thing as he does.
“Lixie, baby. We can’t do that. Your Uncle Min also needs to sleep.” Chan replied.
But he wasn’t prepared when Minho spoke.
“They can sleep here. I don’t mind, even if you sleep here with us, too. The bed is wide enough for the four of us.”
Minho was staring straight at him with his straight face, but Chan has the feeling that he wanted them all to sleep together.
Chan sighed in defeat. “Okay, then. Since your Uncle Min already gave his permission, you can sleep here. But you have to go brush your teeth first. Okay?”
Hearing that, the kids immediately ran up to their bathroom to brush their teeth. This made the two adults laugh at them.
Chan looked at Minho. “Are you sure we’re not overstepping here?”
Minho sighed. “Chan, what are we?”
The sudden question surprised Chan. “Husbands?”
Minho laughed while rolling his eyes playfully. “Why does it seem like you only dreamed about our wedding ceremony last month, Channie?”
The sudden affectionate name from Minho’s mouth surprised Chan and he thinks he like Minho calling him that, even when he’s teasing him right now.
“Yes, we are in fact husbands, Channie. There should be no wall between us. So sleeping together in one bed is definitely not overstepping anything. I have actually been waiting for a while for you to ask for it.” Minho added the last sentence in a whisper.
But before Chan could ask about it, two running torpedoes came crashing onto the bed between them.
“Daaad, Uncle Miiin, why are you both still not ready for bed?” Jisung asked, looking at the elders with an almost annoyed look.
“Come on! You both should go and get ready for bed because I’m really sleepy now.” Felix added, pushing his dad to move.
They both have no choice but to do as they were told while shaking their heads in disbelief.
The moment Chan got back, Minho was already in a soft looking black set of pajamas. He has already taken his position beside Felix at the left side of the bed. Jisung was beside Felix, leaving him the space next to Jisung at the right side of the bed.
He walked over there and lied down as comfortably as he could. Minho was right. Even with the four of them there, the bed was large enough.
“Uncle Min?” Felix’s voice came up.
Minho, who was tapping Felix on his stomach over the blanket, answered with a simple “Yes, baby?”
“You and dad are married, right?”
Chand and Minho was surprised with the random question and they stared at eo before Minho looked back again at Felix.
“Yes, baby. Why?”
“Does that mean me and Sungie have two dads?”
Chan doesn’t know where his son was leading the question to so he could only look at Minho’s face, looking for a sign of discomfort. But he found none. In fact, Chan saw happiness.
“Yes, you both have two cool dads now. Isn’t that right, Channie?” The sudden attention passed to him slightly startled him.
Jisung beside him was staring at him with his large beady eyes. “Yes, you both have two cool dads.”
Getting this confirmation, the two smiled widely, but just as when they thought they were done asking questions, Jisung screamed, “Papa Min, happy birthday! We love you.”
“We can call you Papa, right?” Felix asked him, expectantly.
Minho’s eyes became glassy as he stared at Chan who smiled at him. He looked back at both Felix and Jisung, nodding happily, and then both kids crawled onto Minho to give him kisses on his cheeks.
Chan couldn’t be any happier seeing his kids happily accept another person in their lives.
When the two calmed down, it didn’t take too long til they fell asleep and Chan watched Minho stare at them with so much adoration.
“Thank you, Channie.” Minho suddenly spoke.
“What for?”
“I’m thankful for both you and Lia for bringing very beautiful boys like them into this world. They are the best gift I could ever hope to receive.”
Chan was surprised but he felt more satisfied. No one has ever thanked him or acknowledged their late mother before. This was the first time. And he can’t express how happy he is right now.
He never thought he could find someone else who would love his kids as much as he does.
But…
Maybe his heart actually has enough space for a certain Lee Minho.