Seungcheol stared at the white tomb stone as he held onto the hand of his youngest son. The deathly silence hovered around them as quiet sobs coming from his five sons surrounded him. 

"Say the last goodbye to your father" He whispered in tears then little bits of sorries filled his ears. He turned to go back to his car but his children where no where to be seen. They had completely vanished and suddenly, he found himself in a deep dark hole struggling to get out. He saw his face, his husband standing looking at him with pain in his eyes.

"Jihoon, get me out!" He pleaded but that dark haired small man shook his head wearing a sad smile.

"I'm sorry Cheollie, I can't do that" 

He vanished. 

"Jihoon! Jihoon!" He yelled. There was no reply until he saw a head poking into the hole. 

"You are mine Choi Seungcheol. You are never getting out of that hole" The stranger whose face he couldn't see whispered in a shrill voice. 

"Who are you? Get me out of here!" He cried but the stranger began to laugh, crossing his arms as he watched him trying desperately to leave.

Seungcheol woke up sweating heavily. He looked at the clock on top of the wall. It was just three a.m. Now he wouldn't be able to sleep. He groaned and got out of bed. As he stepped out, he saw his youngest walk past him slowly. 

"Chan!" He shouted after him. 

The boy didn't reply and continued walking. Seungcheol sighed. Chan was sleep walking again. He walked towards the boy and carried him gently as he whispered soothing words into his ears. He got into the room where two of his other sons slept. Chan's bed was near the window and he dropped him there covering him up with a blanket.

"Don't go, second Daddy!" The child whispered, clutching the blanket with his eyes still closed. Seungcheol knew he was dreaming of his other Dad. He gave the boy a quick kiss on the head and left. He couldn't stand to see him like this. Those kids brought so many memories with them. He went to his living room and walked to his wine cabinet. Pulling out one of his wine, he took a quick sip hoping it would make him sleep but nothing. Then he played some nice classical music and it helped. He slowly drifted off to sleep.

An heavy shake in his arms woke him up from sleep.

"Appa, irona!" He could hear Chan and Seungkwan's voices. 

He ignored them and continued to sleep.

"Appa, it's nine O clock" A voice he recognized as Minghao's yelled and he bolted. 

"What?" He shouted and checked the clock on the wall. Indeed, it was ten minutes to nine. He got up quickly.

"Aish, I'm late!" He shouted.

"Appa, I'm hungry" Chan cried. Soon, the room was filled with cries.He scratched his head. 

"Wait here " He said and walked off to the kitchen. He opened the fridge. There was nothing. He had even forgotten to buy groceries. He was confused. 

"Appa...." The eldest Seokmin whispered.

"Do you have school today?" He asked. The boy shook his head.

"Ani, we are still on holiday" He answered. His father sighed in relief. 

"That's good" He contemplated calling for pizza but it might take sometime to get there considering that they lived at the outskirts of town.

His cellphone began to ring continuously. He had a meeting in the next one hour. He desperately needed a maid.

"Seokmin, I'm counting on you. Make sure that you and your brothers are all clean before I come out from the bathroom. We are going out to eat"

Seokmin nodded understandably. He knew the usual routine. Seungcheol flew to his room and had a quick shower and brushed his teeth. He wore his office clothes and came out with his briefcase and car keys.

"Kids, are you ready?" He yelled. There was no response. He went to their rooms. The oldest two Minghao and Seokmin were still fumbling with their clothes. He quickly helped them with their clothes and shoes then hurried off to the other room where his three youngest children was. They hadn't even bathed. Seungcheol sighed. He was definitely going to be late. 

"Inside! All of you" He commanded pointing at the bathroom. The children obeyed all stripped off their clothing. Seungcheol filled a big bucket with water and gave each of them soap to wash their body as he poured water over them. They washed thoroughly as he inspected them carefully. They finished bathing and Seungcheol wiped them clean then he creamed their bodies and watched as they wore their clothes. Seungcheol personally dressed his youngest making sure that they were okay. It remained only thirty minutes. He knew he was late but he didn't want to get there inexcusably late. 

"To the car!" He yelled and the boys all ran out of the house with him behind them. He locked the house and opened the car door. They all entered shouting at the top of their lungs

"Stop shouting" He groaned but they didn't listen. 

"Appa, where are we eating?" Seokmin asked.

"Jerry's spot!" He answered and they all shouted happily. Seungcheol sped to the eatery. It was only five minutes from his apartment. They arrived and they all came out. The children ran inside the eatery. 

"Hey be careful!" He shouted but they didn't hear him. He just sighed. 

Jeonghan looked up when he heard the loud noises coming from the eatery door.

"The sound of music are here" Wonwoo his fellow worker said as he wiped the counter.

"Sound of music?" He whispered. He saw the father of the children racing after them trying to no avail to keep the children at ease. He was a handsome man but he looked haggard and tired.

"We all know him around here" Another worker called Jun said. Jeonghan nodded.

"All those kids are his?" he inquired.

"Two are adopted but the other three are his biological children" Wonwoo added.

Jeonghan nodded again. "What about his wife?"

The two men smiled at eachother. It felt conniving. 

"What?"

Jun laughed. "He didn't marry a woman. It was a man and he is dead"

"Oh...." He whispered.

Jeonghan suddenly felt bad when he heard that last part. Here they were gossiping about a widower who was probably experiencing the worst time of his life. 

The man suddenly raised his arm looking towards their direction as he and his kids were already seated around the table.

"Go take their order newbie" Wonwoo said to Jeonghan.

"I don't think...."

Jun frowned. "Go or I will tell the boss that you refused to serve a customer. You know it's your first time here and you need to prove yourself. Let's see if you can handle that family of six" 

Jeonghan gathered courage "Alright, I'll prove you all wrong" He said and straightened his clothes. He walked towards the family wearing a big smile as he held onto his note pad. 

"welcome to Jerry's spot" He said brightly. The man didn't even look at him as he spoke.

"Please bring me the breakfast set. Six servings and hot chocolate coffee"

Jeonghan stood numbly. His head calculating. What was the break fast set again?

"Ma'am, you are really pretty" Said one of the children. He had chubby cheeks and looked so cute. Jeonghan blushed. Though he had cut his long blonde hair and made it shorter to frame his face so that he would look less feminine,  it was obvious it hadn't worked out well.

Jeonghan laughed "Sorry kid, I'm a man"

The father had suddenly looked up to see him and Jeonghan realized his heart was beating really fast. How long had it been since he had felt like this? He gripped the note pad tightly as those dark eyes underneath the long eyelashes assessed him closely. He gulped until the man broke the silence.

"Seems like you are new. I haven't seen you around here before" He said. 

Jeonghan bowed. "Hello, I'm Jeonghan"

Seungcheol scoffed "Choi Seungcheol...."

He paused as if he didn't know when he had just told him his name. He cleared his throat.

"Em talk to your colleagues about the break fast set, I'm kind of in a hurry" He said. 

"Alright then" Jeonghan said and left quickly. As he approached the kitchen, Jun met him. 

"What's with the smile on your face? I hope you aren't falling for that man"

Jeonghan sighed "I have no idea what you are talking about" 

"You do but you had better stop there. Many have tried and failed"

"Like you?" Jeonghan said. Jun just laughed answering the question. They went into the kitchen and collected their respective meals. Jeonghan went to and fro more than two times to get the family's meals.

"Thank you Jeonghan" Seungcheol said in a clear voice causing Jeonghan to blush. As he turned to leave, one of the children cried loudly. He turned and saw the youngest wailing. 

"Appa, Chan stained his clothes with Tomato sauce!" The older said. 

"Choi Lee Chan!" Seungcheol said crossly. He looked confused. Jeonghan noticed the frustration in Seungcheol's eyes. The single dad was having a really tough time.

Without thinking, he rushed to the crying child and brought out a small neat napkin from his pocket. He began to dab at the stain doing a good job of getting most of the stain off. The family quietened including the patriarch. Jeonghan could feel his eyes lingering on him.

"Big boys don't cry! You're a big boy aren't you?" He whispered softly. 

The boy nodded wiping away his tears and sniffing. He finished and stood up. 

"Good boy" He whispered. Jeonghan gave him a sweet smile and the boy laughed. 

"Thanks" Seungcheol said and Jeonghan nodded. He left them and returned to the counter. They finished and Jeonghan rushed back to them. Seungcheol paid him. 

"Thanks for today" Seungcheol said and Jeonghan bowed and watched as he hurried the rowdy kids. Chan stopped and neared Jeonghan 

"Thank you. You're an angel" He giggled and ran to join his brothers. Seungcheol gave him a small smile before they all left. Jeonghan knew that something had happened to him after his encounter with this family but he didn't know what. He walked back to his counter and his Co workers burst into laughter. 

"He's in deep" Jun laughed. 

"Shut up Jun" Wonwoo said with laughter in his eyes but Jeonghan remained quiet.

Seungcheol dropped his kids at his neighbors house. Indeed, he was late when he arrived at work but he managed to salvage the situation. He was the assistant branch manager at an investment company and now they were holding up a deal worth billions of dollars. He was going to do his best because if all went well, he would get a promotion which meant shorter work hours and a fatter salary. 

He returned home at half past ten and went to his neighbors house to get his kids. He thanked the old woman profusely as they went back. They were tired and sleepy when they got back to the house.

"I got you ice cream...we'll eat it tomorrow alright?" He whispered.

The kids didn't respond. They just said goodnight and went to bed. He tucked them all in bed and once they were asleep, he took out a bottle of whiskey and looked at the picture of Jihoon on his phone and smiled as he took a sip of the drink. 

"Today, someone remind me of you" He whispered.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, Jeonghan sat in front of his window looking at the stars as he looked at a picture in his hands, a bottle of soju at the window pane 

"Today, my heart beat for someone else other than you" He said and took a sip of his drink. 
Neither of them knew that their destinies would cross in a way they never expected 

Thanks so much for reading. We hope you enjoy this first chapter. Love you all!