the entire family sat at the dining table in awkward silence as seonghwa chewed away on a piece of steak.

his brother quietly shushed seonghwa's niece to sleep in his arms and his wife played with their older daughter at her doll house.

"so champ, how's work going?" his father asked as he slung an arm around his son's shoulder, seonghwa smiling at the gesture. it was an ice breaker to the awkward silence.

the male looked up to the ceiling and thought about it for a bit since his week had been quite eventful.

"it's going really well! this week i met many little kiddos, unlike usual when i meet teenagers," he replied

seonghwa's mother chuckled as she fed another bite of steak with fried rice to her younger son. despite pushing forty in a few years, seonghwa loved getting pampered as the youngest in his family. from the day he was born, he was the youngest that everyone would pamper like a baby.

"did another teenager ask you for your number this week?" his older brother chimed in, teasing him.

seonghwa gagged.

"shut up. we do not talk about that."

"so you're popular amongst the younger generation, huh?" his father teased

"dad! it's actually annoying, they think im twenty one or something! like i'd ever date them even if i was twenty one, that would be disgusting, plus it would be illegal," seonghwa shuddered at the thought of it.

"a few days back he told me a seventeen year old slipped a note under his note pad before leaving," his brother snickered as his father started laughing.

"look i understand they are teenagers and have hormones, but do they really have to ask out a doctor who is over fifteen years older than them? damn you i was already in college when they were being shoved out of the vagina!" the male ranted with a clear repulse in his voice.

his parents laughed at the argument their sons had. it wasn't like something they weren't used to, they would argue all the time as kids over the most useless shit. once their younger son even ripped out a part of his older brother's hair when fighting for a car to play with. he was left with a bald spot for three months.

"so, hwa, are you planning to get married anytime soon? do you have a girlfriend?" his mother suddenly asked as the rice he was chewing on went down the wrong hole, causing him to choke.

"i'm sorry what?"

"are you planning to get married anytime soon? you're turning forty in a few years you know," she said before she took a bite of a cut up apple.

"not yet, i dont have anyone."

"your dad and i got married when we were twenty three and then had your brother a year later! i mean you didn't have to get married so early but you're growing older by the day and so are we, i want to meet your children!"

seonghwa sighed.

"i dont know-"

"ahyeon, leave him alone, he'll get married to the girl of his dreams when he's ready. hes probably filling his bank up so that he could spoil her when he gets one, huh?" his dad cut him off mid sentence which he was grateful for, he didn't want to explain to his mother why he didn't have a girlfriend at his big age. at least his dad saved him from that embarrassment. he just simply smiled through the pain.

he had tried several relationships throughout his career yet not a single person was set for him. out of the eight relationships he had, seven turned toxic, the eighth one was amazing but they fell out of love and hence he decided that relationships weren't his forte. he would much rather stay single for the rest of his life with just a dog; which he already had.

"do you have a secret girlfriend you're not telling me about?"

"what? no!"

before his mother could shoot anymore questions at him, he got up from his chair and ran to play with his niece at her kitchen set. he was done answering his mom's questions about his 'dream' wedding that probably wouldn't happen any time soon.

he had to yet drop the bomb to his parents about the fact that he was permanently going to start conducting therapy sessions for young kids four times a week.

--|--

hongjoong stared blankly at the two weeks worth of groceries that sat in a pile on the small kitchen counter. he had bought it with half his pay from work. he sighed before starting to arrange everything into different cabinets, some things into the fridge too.

"ugh, everything is so expensive nowadays," he mumbled as he pulled out a few pots and pans from the cabinets below. everything was very expensive and he had to sort out all the money he had for groceries. hongjoong always decided to remain sort of a disaster to save up money for yechan since money was always tight in their house.

he was still wearing clothes from four years ago, his hair had grown up until his shoulders since it hadn't been cut in over a year and his entire body was hairy since he couldn't afford any hair removal products other that a razor for his face. which that too, he had been using for eight months now. although that was all okay for him, as long as his son was happy.

the male opened the fridge to fetch some ingredients to make dinner for yechan. just as he did, he felt a tiny presence next to him along with a tug on his blue sleeveless tank top. he turned to see his son peeking through the side of the door of the fridge along with his giant panda plushie in his arms. this sight brought a huge smile upon hongjoong's face.

yechan's eyes were half closed like a kitten who just woke up from a food coma, his hair was all over the place and his car's t-shirt was all crumpled. he had the giant panda plushie he always slept with in his arms, it was practically half his size.

"hey baby, how was your nap?" hongjoong asked his son as he placed the tomatoes that were in his hands on the counter and kneeled down to his son's level. he combed yechan's hair with his fingers and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. oh did he love this little human being so much.

"it looks like the nap was really good hm?"

yechan simply nodded as he used his tiny fists to rub his eyes. some days, yechan didn't feel like talking at all and went non verbal. those were the hardest days yet one of the most precious days for hongjoong. he felt like he could get closer to his son in ways he never knew he could, he could communicate with his mini self in unique ways. these were one of those days where yechan spoke little to nothing at all. though right now it seemed like he was willing to speak enough to communicate with his father. though sometimes he wouldn't know how to express his feelings which would lead to misunderstandings and eventually, meltdowns.

"chocy," he said, pointing to the fridge, knowing his father would've bought him some from the grocery store.

"not now baby, after lunch okay? but, daddy is making something special for you for lunch."

yechan pretended to think for a bit, scrunching his nose up and tapping his index finger on his chin as he looked up at the ceiling. it was the most adorable thing hongjoong had witnessed the entire day.

"a little birdie told me that my sweetheart chanie loves cheesy tomato pasta, i wonder who,"

yechan's eyes lit up when he heard the name of cheesy tomato pasta. it was his favorite safe food that his father made for him. he loved his father's cooking in general, but this was one of hiw favourites. he giggled and started jumping around the kitchen in excitement, making hongjoong chuckle at his son's endearing behavior.

"do you wanna sit on the counter and watch me make the pasta?" hongjoong asked and yechan aggressively nodded. he loved watching him cook while playing with his panda plushie lily.

"okay then, love,"

before starting cooking, hongjoong picked yechan up and placed him on the empty counter next to the sink which was covered.

he might have had his son at a very young age, but he was so grateful for having him in his life, he was a gift.

--|--

i love reading comments so comment if you guys wanna :DD (i hope this book doesn't become a flop)