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The afternoon sun streamed into the living room, and there were far too many toys scattered across the floor.
“Dad! Look!” a cheerful voice called out.
Eight year old Jisoo ran across the room with a plastic dinosaur in his hand. He almost slipped on a sock, but Han quickly caught him in his arms.
“Hey, careful!” he laughed.
Jisoo lifted the dinosaur.
“It wants to eat you!”
Han widened his eyes dramatically.
“Then I’m in trouble.”
From the couch, Minho watched them with an amused expression.
“That dinosaur has already destroyed half the apartment today,” he remarked.
Jisoo frowned.
“No! Just your socks!”
Han laughed and leaned against Minho.
Minho poked him lightly.
“Traitor.
Jisoo sat at the kitchen table at his grandparents’ house, drawing robots with colored pencils.
Han sat beside him, sipping tea. Han’s father was at the stove, cooking soup. His mother was doing a crossword in the living room.
“Jihoon, could you pass me that towel? I spilled a bit of tea,” Han asked.
“Grandpa?” Jisoo replied.
“Yes?” the man answered.
Jisoo tilted his head.
“Why does Daddy call you by your name?”
The spoon paused mid-air.
Han froze.
The kitchen suddenly went quiet.
Han’s father just smiled lightly.
“That’s a long story,” he said calmly.
Han quickly added, “Yeah… just a family thing.”
Jisoo thought for a moment, then shrugged and went back to drawing.
But Han glanced briefly at Minho.
Minho understood the look.
And he knew that question was coming.
Outside, rain pattered against Jisoo’s bedroom window.
Han sat at the edge of the bed, finishing a bedtime story.
“…and the dragon finally understood that it didn’t have to be evil.”
Jisoo snuggled into the blanket.
“Dragons are sometimes just sad,” he said seriously.
Han smiled gently.
He was about to turn off the lamp when Jisoo spoke again.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you call Grandpa by his name?”
Han froze.
Minho stood quietly in the doorway.
Han moved closer to his son.
“You see… he isn’t my real dad.”
Jisoo blinked.
“What do you mean?”
Han took a deep breath.
“My real dad… he passed away.”
The room went silent.
“He died?” Jisoo repeated softly.
Han nodded.
“He was sick. He had stomach cancer.”
Jisoo thought for a moment.
“How old were you?”
Han lowered his eyes.
“Eleven.”
Jisoo slowly sat up.
“So you were little too.”
“Yes.”
Minho sat beside them and placed a hand on Han’s back.
“When I was little, he carried me on his shoulders. And he used to say I was his little star.”
His voice broke.
A tear slid down his cheek.
Jisoo immediately reached out and hugged him.
“Daddy…”
Han held him tightly in return.
“I didn’t want… you to think you didn’t have a grandpa,” Han whispered.
Jisoo shook his head.
“But I do have a grandpa.”
Then he thought for a moment.
“And another one too.”
Han blinked.
“What do you mean, another one?”
Jisoo pointed upward.
“Up there.”
Han could no longer hold back his tears.
Minho hugged them both.
Do you have a picture of him?” Jisoo asked quietly.
Han stared into space for a moment.
“Actually, yes, I do.”Han got up and took the frame he pulled out of the forgotten box.
“I wanted to put it on my nightstand, but I wasn’t ready to tell you so I hid it for this occasion.”
Jisoo perked up.
“Is that you and grandpa?”
“Yes, I’m about eight in this picture.” Han said.
“He looks happy, he must have been very funny.” he said enthusiastically.
Han smiled.
“A lot.”
“So I know who makes you so funny, dad.”
“What?” Minho said offended.
Jisoo smiled and added, “Of course you’re both funny, you’re just sometimes less so.”
Minho got up from the bed and immediately ran to Jisoo and started tickling him and everyone started laughing uncontrollably. Minho finally stopped tickling him and sat down next to his son, ruffling his hair.He would definitely be proud of you" he fixed his gaze on his husband and son. Han looked at him sadly and added.
,, He would love you I know for sure"
,, I hope being your husband is really hard sometimes" Minho said amused.
,, You will call it off I am a great husband" he said and Han with a pout.
,, You are the best dad and that is why I love you" Minho said and gave Han a kiss on the cheek.
Jisoo looked at them disgusted and added
,, please I am still young for this" he said and covered his eyes with his palms. Both his parents looked at him and started laughing and giving him kisses and apologies.
"Now he would really love you more than anything, you would be the best grandson he could ever ask for," Minho said.
Han looked at them and nodded.
"Dad is right, you would be the best grandson and you are, he is definitely looking at us now."
Jisoo smiled.
"I hope he is looking and seeing how happy we are all." He said and hugged his parents.
"And how did you spend your time together?" Jisoo asked a new question.
,,Well, we used to skate a lot, he liked to show off that he was the best at it," Han chuckled.
,,Was he very good at it?" Jisoo asked
,,A lot "
,,I was never very good at it, I kept falling and crying that I wasn't good at it"
Jisoo and Minho started laughing.
,,At least now you know why I taught you and not dad" Minho said to his son and both Han and him started laughing.
,,We actually watched a lot of animated series together" Han said nostalgically.
,,And which ones?" Jisoo said excitedly.
Han started laughing and added.
"SpongeBob" said Han. Minho grinned at his husband and said.
"I remember you telling me you guys watched it"
"Yeah it was great, I always watched it before school when I was getting ready" Han added.
"We have to watch it sometime" Jisoo said.
Minho and Han nodded. Jisoo quietly even though he didn't really want to, he wanted to sleep and was already falling asleep and stopping yawning. Minho got up, stretched and added.
"Okay man it's time for bed we can talk more tomorrow.
"Good night dad" Jisoo said sleepily. Han and Minho kissed him on the forehead and wished him good night.
"Don't forget to take the frame so you can put it on the nightstand" Minho said to Han and stroked his hand and left. Han took the frame, smiled and left the nursery straight to the bedroom where his husband was already waiting for him. Han put the frame on the table and lay down next to Minho.
"It turned out better than I expected to be honest" Han muttered. Minho hugged him around the waist and gave him a little kiss.
"Yes I'm glad it turned out well, Jisoo is a good and smart boy I knew he would understand.
"Good night love" said Jan.
"Good night honey I love you" added Minho
"I love you too" said Han who is on the verge of sleep.
The morning went smoothly since the previous conversation and there was no sad atmosphere.
They didn't have anything planned so they were at home, Jisoo played dinosaurs, Minho read some random book he found and Han played games on ps5 and got angry as always.
"Fuck it, it's such a damn game, I really won't play it, I swear" Han said angrily.
"Hannie, a bit like a tongue, is OUR child here" Minho added amusedly because he loved it when his husband got angry over such a primitive game.
"Sorry Min" Han said and took off his headphones because he just couldn't kill the boss today and would try again tomorrow.
"Could I play sometime too?" Jisoo asked innocently.
Han sighed and prayed that he had misheard because he didn't want his son to experience such pain. He doesn't want him to come to him saying he couldn't kill the boss fight and that he has to help him because he was barely able to do it himself.
"Well, maybe, but let's start with something easier, what do you think?" he asked. Minho sighed quietly and added.
"Damn, are you telling me that our son will be screaming at the TV that he can't beat some Rat King?"
"Hey, it's a really hard boss fight," Han said offended. Minho sighed again and added.
Okay, but then don't come after me because he's always playing games and not going out like you," he blew him a kiss and winked at him.
Han smiled at Jisoo and said.
,,So what do you want to play?"
Jisoo jumped up excitedly and immediately ran to sit down with his father.
,,I want to try something so we can play together," Jisoo said excitedly.
,,Well, I have a place where we can cook together, do you want to try it?"
,,That won't go well," Minho said teasingly.
,,Hey, go ahead and read your book about cats that you've read about three times," Han said amusedly.
,,In my defense, there are nice pictures in there," and he put his hands up as a sign that he was giving up.
,,so, shall we go for it?" Han asked.
Jisoo took the other controller in his hand and nodded.
They played together for about three hours, of which neither of them knew how to play. It was fun, they laughed about it, and Minho even put down his book, which he was still stuck on page five, and watched his two most important people rejoice and argue about who burned the meat.
"That was fun, are we going to play again sometime?" Jisoo asked.
Han smiled at him and said.
"Of course it was fun, are you going to play with us sometime?" he fixed his eyes on Minho.
Minho blinked and looked at them incomprehensively.
"Well, I'd rather not, I'll just watch," he smiled at them.
"That reminds me of the old days when I used to watch my dad play." Han remembered.
Did he play too?” his son asked.
“Yes, he played all the time and I really enjoyed it and then when he died I missed him so I started playing too,” Han said sadly. Minho looked at him sympathetically and patted his knee.
Jisoo was silent for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
“How did you know he was sick?”
Han’s smile slowly faded.
“He started to get really tired.”
“And his stomach hurt.”
Jisoo lowered his eyes.
“And they didn’t cure him?”
Han shook his head.
“They tried.”
The room was silent.
“Were you sad?” Jisoo asked.
Han smiled weakly.
“A lot.”
Jisoo immediately hugged him.
“I miss him a little too.”
Han blinked in surprise.
“But you didn’t know him.”
Jisoo shrugged.
“But he’s your dad.”
A tear rolled down Han’s face.
Minho hugged them both but he himself fought not to fully collapse over the loss of a loved one, loving his husband’s parents.
“I love you,” Minho said with tears in his eyes that were already falling discreetly down his face.
Later they decided that they could introduce their son to his real grandfather. They went to buy flowers. Han’s stomach clenched a little as they went there, he used to come here often now when he goes with his son it has a slightly different atmosphere.
The sky was gray as they stood in the cemetery.
Han held a bouquet of white flowers in his hand.
Minho stood next to him, holding Jisoo’s hand.
Han slowly read the name on the tombstone.
“Dad…”
Jisoo stepped closer.
“Is that him?”
Han nodded.
Jisoo placed the flowers on the grave.
“Hi, grandpa,” he said quietly.
Then he thought.
“Dad said you played a lot of games, you were good at them.”
Minho smiled weakly.
“And made stupid jokes,” Jisoo added.
Han felt his eyes fill with tears again.
“That’s our son,” he whispered toward the tombstone.
The wind gently stirred the leaves on the trees.
Jisoo turned to Han.
“Do you think you’d play with me?”
Han knelt down in front of him.
“Jisoo… he would play with you all day.”
Jisoo smiled.
Minho squeezed Han’s hand gently.
“I think,” he said quietly, “he would be so proud.”
Han looked at the flowers on the grave.
And for the first time in a long time, he felt that the memory wasn’t just pain anymore.
It was also love.
And it stays.
Forever.
That evening, they had a rest period, and it was the weekend so they could go to bed whenever they wanted. Minho insisted that they were here for Han now and that he wanted to spend time as a family. Now, the three of them were lying on the couch, all spread out, watching fairy tales.
“I forgot how funny Shrek is,” Han wiped a tear from his laughter.
“That’s my favorite movie, but do you know what’s even better?” Minho asked Han.
Han didn’t understand and said.
“Part two?”
Minho chuckled and nodded to Jisoo to turn it off. Han didn't understand what they were planning to do to him, but he was watching what his son was playing and noticed that he was putting their flash drive on the TV.
,, So what are we going to watch?
asked Han nervously.
,, You'll see, love, you'll see,
said Minho and slowly saw his son find something to watch.
,, So yeah, dad, you'll like it,
said Jisoo enthusiastically.
Han didn't even see the name of what he was playing, it was just letters or numbers everywhere, he didn't know at all. That is, until a familiar jingle sounded, which played to him every day at six in the morning when he was getting ready for school.
Han looked at Minho and his son with tears in his eyes and at that moment it sounded.
,, SURPRISE!!!!!!!"
,, You must be kidding me,
said Han and started crying.
"We wanted to surprise you because I realized that since your dad is gone, you haven't seen SpongeBob, we wanted to make you happy," Minho said lovingly and kissed him.
"And I was sorry that I never saw it and I want to see what you and grandpa watched," Jisoo said and hugged his dad.
"I love you guys," he said without tears.
"Do you realize that I know all the episodes so I'm going to tell you ALL the lines?"
"You can't know them all, please," Minho added. And at that moment Minho slightly regretted letting it go at all, because Han knew every single line. They watched an entire episode that night. They agreed that their dynamic perfectly suited SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward.
"How many episodes does it have?" Minho asks, resigned to the fact that they'll probably watch it every day now.
"13 but I don't know the last one at all" Han said calmly.
"I like that, it's funny" Jisoo said.
"Well 13 is a lot but what wouldn't I do for you" Minho said and gave Han a kiss on the top of his head. Everyone was happy. Especially Han and when Han was there, so was Minho.
When it was after midnight they fell asleep with smiles on their faces.