It was a few days later when Youngjo arrived from work later than usually. He had many cases and paperwork and forgot to call Hwanwoong to let him and Hwanjo know he'll be late, but since the babysitter's working hours were from 7am to 8.30pm, it wasn't much of a big deal. Tired from all the work, he parked his car and walked to the front door. Despite his eyelids wanting to fall shut, he was still excited to see his shining stars.

He closed the door behind himself and faced an empty hall. Only two happy voices were heard from the living room. In their own world. Taken off his boots he still didn't see anyone welcoming him. ,,Hey! Where's my welcome party?" He shouted, crossing hands on chest and putting on a fake pout. Almost immediately the reply came as an excited yell. Hwanjo ran out behind the wall, jumping into her father's lap and making Youngjo lose his balance so he fell backwards onto the floor. They both started laughing happily, the girl wrapping her hands around his neck and hugging him tightly. Hwanwoong's head appeared behind the wall and he smiled seeing the cute chuckling bundle on the floor. The two together, it was always such a heartwarming sight.

,,You came late." Hwanjo stated, retreating from the hug and looking at her father with a sad look. She fiddled with his shirt collar, folding it in different ways and then letting go.

,,I'm sorry, sunshine." Youngjo said, pushing a hair strand behind her ear and booped her nose, making the smaller giggle cutely. ,,It won't happen again, I promise."

,,It's okay, daddy. What matters is that you came and that you're alright." She smiled. Hwanjo was so afraid of losing him to violent people it even rummaged through Hwanwoong's heart, making him cherish the two even more. He watched something flicker in Youngjo's eyes before he continued.

,,I love you." Youngjo said softly, kissing his daughter on the forehead as she smiled back. They shared meaningful looks before Youngjo started laughing suddenly, eyes widening in surprise. The sudden tickle attack by the younger made him wiggle back to escape. Finally he succeeded grabbing the girl's hands, stopping her actions just to pay back. Hwanjo's lovely high-pitched laugh echoed through the floor as Youngjo's one hand tickled her and the second held her hands so she couldn't fight back.

,,Hwanwoongie! He...Help!" She managed to yell between laughter. Hwanwoong doubted a few seconds but seeing the suffering made his legs move by themselves and he approached Youngjo with a sly look. Seeing the reinforcement made the older put Hwanjo down and jump up, putting his hands between himself and the other naughty two.

,,This is reinforcement! Two against one! This isn't fair!" He said, unable to believe this injustice.

,,But you're way bigger than us!" Hwanjo spoke, placing her hands on her hips importantly.

,,Good point." Youngjo admitted, holding back a laugh. He was eyeing Hwanwoong from the corner of his eye and when he saw him being dangerously close, he knew he had to use some kind of stratagem to escape. But which one exactly, he didn't know. While thinking, all three had a vague staring contest. Then Youngjo's head shot up. ,,Look!" He said, pointing somewhere. And when the other two turned their heads towards the unknown, Youngjo slipped away from the space between them straight to the living room. He was laughing so hard at the two falling for the eldest joke in the universe. It had proven its imperviousness once again. The officer found it so hilarious that he had to lean against the table to not to fall over.

Hwanwoong and Hwanjo came quickly, eyes focused on their target, determined to pay him back for fooling them like that. Then Hwanjo pointed at Youngjo. ,,There he is!" She said, eyes sparkling in happiness and fun. ,,The Hwans are about to start the tickle attack!" She announced and they started running closer to him, hands threateningly up in the air. Youngjo backed slowly. The two parted ways and approached the eldest from both sides, coming around the big dining table. All of the sudden, Youngjo felt his back hit something hard behind him. He was trapped, and seemingly, there was no way out. He saw the Hwans slide closer to him from left and right. His end was nearing within every passing second.

Hwanjo yelped and fell on the floor, holding her leg. Youngjo forgot about the game right away and fell on his knees next to her. ,,Hwanjo! What is it? What happened?" He asked, worried as hell. His heart was racing in fear. The girl whimpered and looked somewhere behind him.

,,Hwanwoong, now!"

,,Wha-" Youngjo didn't get to finish his sentence when felt tickles run along his sides as Hwanwoong hopped forward and attacked him. It had been a clever trap. Youngjo couldn't help but laugh and fuss around. His mind was telling him to escape. To stand up and run. As quickly as possible. He needed to or else he was about to die in laughter. Using all of his will and clear minds, he somehow managed to pushed Hwanwoong's hands away a bit and stumble over Hwanjo who was about to tickle him too. He fell forward but managed to stand up, turning around sharply to see Hwanwoong being faster than the small girl, following him. He put his hand between them again, stopping the boy. ,,No." He said firmly. His strict police officer self pushed through for a few seconds, making Hwanwoong stop in his tracks. ,,Hwanwoong, don't."

Not listening, the shorter moved around him to his other side and jolted forward, making Youngjo literally jump backwards. He was wearing a playful smirk when Youngjo tried to warn him again. Hwanwoong then waved with his hands like he was about to tickle him and Youngjo stumbled even more away in fear of being titillated. But he fell on the couch behind him. His first reaction was to grab something to stop himself from falling. That someone happened to be Hwanwoong. The two males fell on the sofa, the younger on top of Youngjo, straddling him. Hwanwoong gained his senses quickly and started attacking the bottom. The older laughed loud, eyes forming small crescents as he was trying to protect his sides with his hands. But when Hwanjo joined Hwanwoong, he didn't have any chance of surviving. His beautiful laugh sounded through the whole room, making Hwanwoong smile widely. He loved this sound so much. It was like music to his ears and he found himself not wanting to stop his actions because they caused it. How could someone be so precious?

Eventually, the Hwans got tired and stopped. Hwanwoong sat back, smiling as widely as he could, and let himself fall on the empty room besides Youngjo, panting. Hwanjo climbed to Youngjo and put her head on his leg. And just like that, tiredness washed over all of them. Weary, but happy, they laid in silence. They stared at the ceiling until Youngjo looked down and chuckled softly.

,,She fell asleep." He whispered. Hwanwoong glanced at him and saw love unlike no other in his eyes, and then at Hwanjo who was calmly resting on her father's leg, chest rising up and down slowly.

,,It's a beautiful sight." The younger said, sounding dreamy.

Youngjo fidgeted, making himself more comfortable as his eyelids started to feel even heavier than before and he had a hard time keeping them open. He turned at Hwanwoong who was laying besides him. ,,It is."

There was something in his voice that made the babysitter look at him. Youngjo's eyes were big and beautiful. You could easily drown in them. And that was happening to Hwanwoong right now. He couldn't turn away. Not anymore. He was too drawn already. He didn't even mind being this close to him. Being with Youngjo felt just so comfortable and natural. He would've wanted to stay like this forever. He would've wanted to scoot closer, knowing that the male wouldn't mind. But something held him back. Something from the past. Something painful. So, instead, he just placed his head on Youngjo's chest, listening to his calm and soothing heartbeat. It felt homey.

Because of his action, Youngjo's mind started thinking of Hyungu's words. His answer. Youngjo had a choice to make. Probably something life-changing.

It's now or never...

Slowly, he raised his hand, moving it over to Hwanwoong's side and rested it on him. He spread his fingers and breathed in as he made contact with the boy. His mind that was basically telling him to do it just seconds ago, was now screaming at him. What was he doing?

Hwanwoong couldn't process this. He was...shocked. Was this normal for Youngjo? Because all he had been told his entire life was the exact opposite. He wanted to pull away but he couldn't deny he liked this. Conflicted.

Nevertheless, the both stayed like that. It felt right. And slowly, the loud and confused thoughts faded, leaving room for calmness only as Hwanwoong drifted off to dreamland, the sound of Youngjo's heart being his lullaby. Something he would've wanted to hear forever. And a few minutes later, the other male followed him, head falling to the side. Close to Hwanwoong's. As his eyes closed and the fatigue took over. Like that, there was no more worrying of what the other thinks or feels because everything can be possible in dreams.

•
hi guys! i actually started writing this while at my great uncle's house! and that time it was so exciting to be there - i walked around the place trying to capture every detail there were and saw that i made a few mistakes when describing this house in this book. yes, my brain adapted his apartment kind of living place for this book for hwanjo and youngjo to live in. so that place actually exists! i don't know why my brain did that but it's perfect in my opinion ^^

also, i'm this close to ulting CRAVITY too, someone please stop me from doing so.

otherwise, this chapter was better before my phone deleted it but i still hope you enjoyed it :/. take care everyone, and see you next time!