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Wooyoung was pretty sure he was going to have an aneurysm one of these days, and San was definitely partially to blame.
“I think it’s funny!” San chuckled, hoisting their toddler up onto his shoulders as they continued their walk down the beach and back to the condo they were staying in during their vacation. Yuna squealed at being lifted and patted her appa on his head as she gleefully looked out at the ocean beneath her flowery bucket hat. She was covered head to toe in sand, having absolutely refused to brush any of it off until they had left the beach, so Wooyoung took a small bit of pleasure in knowing that San would be uncomfortably sandy for a while until he was able to shower himself.
“You would,” Wooyoung huffed, glaring at his husband. “It’s not insulting to you!”
San shrugged as best as he could with Yuna’s chubby legs on his shoulders. “It’s not that insulting.”
Wooyoung huffed and said nothing, choosing instead to hoist the towel bag further up on his shoulder and speed walk back to the condo, leaving San and his chuckling behind him.
Once he reached the door, he kicked it twice with a sandal-clad foot as his hands were full of towels, beach toys, sunscreen, and snacks. The door opened partially, just enough for Mingi’s bleached blond head to pop out and frown at him.
“Why are you kicking the door?” Mingi asked, frowning as he looked around. “And where are San and Yuna?”
“They’re coming,” Wooyoung said, not caring to elaborate as he shoved the towel and snack bags into Mingi’s arms. “I’m going to take a shower.”
After a long shower and changing into his softest lounge pants and tank, he finally felt calm enough to rejoin his group. He really shouldn’t let him annoy him so much, but what was so unbelievable about it? It frustrated him to no end that this happened often enough, and never to Wooyoung’s benefit.
He emerged from their room to find Yuna out on the patio being hosed off by Seonghwa in a small kiddie pool. He chuckled as he noticed there was now a decent amount of sand at the bottom of the kiddie pool courtesy of his overly sandy child. Her glee and infectious giggles from being sprayed with the hose were slowly melting away the annoyance he had felt over the whole incident, and when Seonghwa caught his eye and winked at him, Wooyoung couldn’t help but give a genuine smile back.
But then he heard what the rest of them were talking about in the kitchen.
“Seriously? At the beach?” Hongjoong was laughing as he, Mingi, Yunho, and San stood around the island, each with a margarita in hand. All of them were laughing, and it was all Wooyoung could do to not groan before he stepped closer, smiling as San saw him and waved him over.
“Feeling better?” San asked, kissing his shoulder as he pulled him in closer for a hug.
“A little,” Wooyoung admitted, stealing San’s margarita and taking a generous few sips. “Where are Jongho and Yeosang?”
“Still at the beach,” Yunho said, his hair perpetually windswept ever since they arrived. “I think they were going to walk to the lighthouse for dinner.” He reached over to the counter where the blender was and poured Wooyoung his own margarita. Mingi passed him a straw and a tiny pink umbrella and then together they slid it over to Wooyoung, who accepted it gratefully.
“So,” Hongjoong said, smirking at San and Wooyoung, “I heard it happened again.”
“What happened again?” came Seonghwa’s voice from behind them, carrying Yuna wrapped in a fluffy blue towel and eyeing them curiously.
“Someone thought San was Yuna’s bioparent again,” Hongjoong said with a chuckle. Wooyoung wanted to strangle him.
“Again?” Seonghwa sighed, fortunately choosing to be on Wooyoung’s side, for which he was eternally grateful. He passed Yuna to San, who took her to her room to get her changed, then sat in San’s chair and sipped from his margarita. “How did that come up this time?”
“Some kid came up and wanted to help us build the sandcastle with Yuna,” Wooyoung explained with a sigh. “His parents came over too and we started talking, and as soon as they found out that Yuna was ours, they asked if we had adopted, because apparently they had adopted their son.” He took a long sip from his straw and continued. “Once we said no, they both looked directly at San and said, ‘Oh, so she’s yours then?’!”
Seonghwa looked affronted while Hongjoong snickered, earning him a death glare from his wife and causing him to quickly go back to drinking his margarita.
“Well that was uncalled for,” Yunho frowned. “Is that how it always goes?”
“Oh there’s all kinds of variants,” Wooyoung sighs, waving a hand in front of him. “Sometimes they flat out say it, sometimes it’s just implied, but not once have they ever assumed that I was her biological father.”
“I mean, I can’t entirely blame them,” Mingi said carefully, gesturing towards Yuna who had come back out with San freshly dressed in a strawberry patterned dress and a beaming smile on her round face. “They even have matching dimples!”
It was true, and the similarities didn’t end there. She had nearly black eyes, just as dark as San’s, and she had the insane ability (though terrible for San and Wooyoung’s hearts) to jump off anything and everything she could. They already had to place a jumping ban on her when she was 18 months old, which she continued to steadfastly ignore, so they gave up and created a separate account where they could save up for the inevitable hospital bills they would undoubtedly need when she finally broke a leg or arm jumping off something she shouldn’t. Currently she looked nothing like Wooyoung unless you looked at his baby pictures, and suddenly you’d see that they were nearly identical as toddlers. His mom had gotten weepy about it on more than one occasion.
To be honest, it wasn’t that Wooyoung minded that people thought she looked like San. He was her appa just as much as he was, and they treated her as their child through and through. He understood the similarities in their appearance and personality, and commented on those himself all the time. No, that wasn’t the real issue…
“I just don’t understand why this is so upsetting to you!” Hongjoong said, frowning as he stared at Wooyoung with a slight sway to him. If Wooyoung had to guess, that was not his first (or perhaps third) margarita of the afternoon. “So what if she looks like San? Hell, we all wish we were that lucky!”
“Yunho, cut him off,” Seonghwa sighed, his head between his hands. “What he’s trying to say in the dumbest way possible is that you don’t usually get upset about us saying she looks like San. So why does this bother you?”
Wooyoung groaned and leaned back to look at San, who thankfully took pity on him and hugged him from behind, silently comforting him. Or so he thought.
“He doesn’t like that none of them believe he would have actually slept with a woman.”
“CHOI SAN YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT THAT!”
Hongjoong, who had been taking his last sip of his drink, spit it clear across the counter and burst out laughing. Mingi and Yunho joined in, unable to stop themselves, and even Seonghwa couldn’t help himself from smiling, though he at least had the decency to cover his mouth and look away.
San had no fear though and ignored the murderous look on Wooyoung’s face, choosing instead to place a kiss on his forehead. “They were going to find out eventually anyway. And don’t you feel better now that you’re not keeping that secret anymore?”
Wooyoung crossed his arms and grumbled “No,” petulantly. San only chuckled more.
That really was the kicker though. Wooyoung wasn’t ashamed of being gay in the slightest. His parents told him they even suspected he was gay as a child, so it’s not like it came as a surprise to anyone. The word “flamboyant” was used frequently to describe him, and he wore it with pride. Not once had he ever considered a woman as a sexual partner…
…except for once when he was 24, heartbroken, thinking there was no way his best friend San would ever love him the way he did, and he had been stupid enough to go out drinking, getting near blackout drunk with no friends to hold him accountable (because telling someone where he was going would have been the SMART thing to do), and decided in his state of inebriation to try having sex with a random woman, Gyeong, that he had been chatting with earlier in the evening…
She was mortified when she realized how drunk he had been and apologized profusely for the sex they apparently had while he was heavily under the influence, but honestly Wooyoung barely even remembered the events and didn’t think much of it until about two months later when he got a call from her explaining that she was pregnant. Understandably that came as quite a shock to him, especially as he had zero recollection of that evening’s events, but by that point he and San had gotten over their idiocy, confessed their love for each other, and had finally started dating. Gyeong had agreed to meet with him to talk about their options, and Wooyoung hung up only to burst into tears in San’s arms and explain the whole situation.
To say San was surprised was an understatement, and if anything he was furious at Gyeong for, in his opinion, taking advantage of Wooyoung’s unable-to-consent state. But Wooyoung remembered the moment where San stared straight into his eyes and asked, “Would you want the baby?” and while he had always considered wanting to be a parent, he hadn’t thought it would happen so soon. San agreed to let him think about it until their meeting with Gyeong, which he had insisted on attending with him.
Their meeting was heavily awkward, none of them knowing how to initiate the conversation and ignoring the topic for the first fifteen minutes of their meet up at the cafe. Finally Gyeong had sighed and said bluntly that she never wanted to have children, still didn’t want them, but was willing to carry the pregnancy to term if Wooyoung wanted it.
He remembered clearly the moment he had looked at San, who had nodded at him with the warmest smile on his face full of love and support and squeezed his hand tight. Wooyoung squeezed back and said to Gyeong, “I would really like to be a father.”
Seven months later they met their daughter for the first time in the hospital, not a dry eye to be found. Gyeong had only asked to hold her once before passing her off to Wooyoung and San with a quiet, “I’m glad she gets you two.” It was quite possibly the best day of his life, right up there with when he and San finally tied the knot just before Yuna’s first birthday.
So yes, long story long it was a petty thing that annoyed Wooyoung to the point of him acting like he was the one having a toddler temper tantrum.
“I mean, what is so unbelievable about me possibly sleeping with a woman?!” he sighed exasperatedly. He didn’t miss the look exchanged by all the adults present. “Oh come on, it’s not that impossible!”
“We’re not saying it’s impossible,” Seonghwa soothed, “just that… well… you don’t give off straight-guy energy.”
“You’re one to talk,” Wooyoung snarked.
Seonghwa held up his hands in defense. “I know perfectly well that I’ve never once been straight-passing.”
“We’re just saying that, well, compared to San, one of you looks more like you’d have had an experience with a woman than the other,” Hongjoong added unhelpfully, earning him a sharp smack on the arm from Seonghwa. “Ow! Come on, it’s not like it’s a secret!”
“Why do I even bother being friends with you guys?” Wooyoung groaned, dropping his head to the counter.
That evening after everyone had already gone to bed, Wooyoung sat in bed reading the absolute trash romance novel he had brought specifically for his beach vacation. They were only two days into their week-long vacation, but he was already halfway through his book. San teased him about it, but sometimes he just wanted some nonsense to read to take his mind off of reality for a bit. He loved being married, he loved their daughter, and he even begrudgingly admitted he loved their stupid friends who were the best uncles Yuna could ever have in her life. But sometimes he just needed a minute to breathe.
He felt the bed shift and he looked over to see San climbing in beside him. He took his glasses off and set them on the bedside table, then rolled over to snuggle against Wooyoung’s waist.
“Are you still mad at us?” San asked, his voice muffled against the blankets.
Wooyoung bookmarked his page and set his book down with a sigh. “I’m not mad at you guys.”
“Annoyed then.”
“Well then yes, slightly annoyed,” Wooyoung admitted, “but I’ll get over it.”
San shifted and pulled Wooyoung down further into the covers so he could wrap himself around him. “You know,” he began softly, “I think you could pass as straight if you wanted to.”
Wooyoung let out a snort. “That’s not a very husbandly thing to say!”
San beamed at him, completely unfazed by any of Wooyoung’s moods. “It’s true though. You are quite possibly the sexiest person I’ve ever seen. We could totally dress you straight and send you out to win the hearts of all the women.”
“Do you even hear yourself right now?!” Wooyoung squawked, completely bewildered. “Are you trying to hook me up with women?”
“No,” San said, squeezing him tighter, “I’m greedy and I don’t like to share. I’m just saying you could, so that you can realize how ridiculous this is and stop letting it drag you down, especially on our vacation.”
Wooyoung really hated when San was right.
“Ok fine,” he conceded, running his fingers through San’s hair as he spoke. “I will let it go. It is a silly thing to get upset about, isn’t it?” San nodded into his chest. “Besides, I like that Yuna looks so much like you.”
“I do too,” San said, his voice coming out as a low rumble that reverberated through Wooyoung’s chest.
“Truly it’s impressive how much she looks like us and how little she looks like Gyeong.”
At this, San let out a barking laugh, sitting up to see the mirth on Wooyoung’s face. “You’re a bad person sometimes, but I love that about you.”
He leaned in and kissed Wooyoung, who immediately wrapped his arms around San’s neck to hold him there, deepening the kiss. For one blissful moment Wooyoung thought his evening was about to drastically improve, but just as he pulled San down on top of him, they heard soft whimpers that shortly turned into cries coming from the room next door.
“She has the worst timing,” Wooyoung groaned into San’s neck.
“Just let Seonghwa get her, he loves Yuna snuggles,” San said, clearly determined to stay in the moment. But no, Wooyoung was a sucker and couldn’t say no to Yuna’s late night cries ever.
“I’ll just go tuck her in and come right back,” he insisted, slowly extracting himself from under San. San groaned and reached for him, but allowed him to leave with grumbled protests.
Wooyoung quietly opened their door and moved towards Yuna’s room. Just as he touched her doorknob, the door across the hall opened to reveal a half asleep Seonghwa, his hair disheveled and eyes half open as he squinted at the hall light.
“She ok?” Seonghwa asked with concern.
“She’s fine, just in a sleep protesting stage,” he assured him, patting his shoulder. “Go back to bed, Seongie, thanks.”
Seonghwa grinned blearily then turned back into his room as Yuna made a particularly distressed wail. Wooyoung shook his head and opened the door before she woke up more well-intentioned uncles. Yuna’s tear-stained face greeted him as he walked in, chubby arms reaching up to be held.
“Appie,” she sniffled, snuggling into his chest as soon as he picked her up.
He rubbed her back and shushed her gently. “What’s wrong baby?”
“Is dark,” she hiccuped.
Wooyoung glanced at where her nightlight was supposed to be and realized it had fallen down at some point in the night. “Well no wonder, you don’t have your nightlight on! Appie will fix it for you.”
He walked over to where her light up owl now lay on the floor instead of on her bedside table, Yuna still held in his arms. He picked it up with one arm, pushed the on button and smiled as stars and moons now lit up her room with a gentle yellow and green glow.
“There you go, all better now.” He sat on Yuna’s bed with her and gave her a kiss on her head. “Is that better, baby?”
She nodded, but clung to his neck tighter. “Thank you Appie.”
“You’re welcome honey,” he smiled softly and laid her down on her bed, pulling the covers back up to tuck her in before passing her her favorite stuffed kitty. “Now go to sleep ok? You’re going to be cranky if you don’t sleep.”
“Stay,” she whispered, tugging on his shirt. Her eyes were wide and pleading. “Please stay. Lay down Appie.”
Well, Wooyoung had always been weak-willed in the face of cuteness. It was his downfall with San too.
“Just for a few minutes until you fall asleep, ok?” he whispered to her, thinking San would forgive him for taking a bit longer. He laid down next to her, humming her lullaby softly to help lull her to sleep, letting his eyes close just for a minute…
When Wooyoung woke up in the morning, he felt beyond cozy, snuggled up in what felt like the warmest blankets. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself not only wrapped in blankets, but people. He had apparently fallen asleep in Yuna’s bed, a slight he really should have foreseen considering this has definitely happened more than once. She was curled up against his chest, still snoring away, and on his other side was San, awake and smiling at him gently.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked, his voice rough from sleep.
“You never came back to bed,” San replied, a knowing grin on his face. “I figured you fell asleep putting Yuna to sleep… again…”
“I can’t help it!” Wooyoung exclaimed, then quickly brought his voice down to a whisper as Yuna shifted against him. “She tricked me into laying down with her for a bit.” San raised his eyebrow knowingly at him. “She used her puppy dog eyes…” he admitted.
San chuckled and poked him in the face. “You’re a big softie, you know that.”
“What can I say,” he smiled, squeezing his two favorite people close as Yuna stirred some more. “I can’t say no to cute things.”
“Well, you did marry me.”
“My previous statement still stands.”
San hummed and placed a kiss on his neck. “Feeling better about yesterday?”
Wooyoung considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, actually. I don’t think it’s going to bother me anymore.”
“Really?” San said, surprised at this sudden turn of events. “What made you change your mind?”
He shrugged. “I guess I’m just older and wiser now. Petty things like this don’t bother me anymore.”
“…You’re older and wiser after one night?”
“The point is,” he continued, sitting up as Yuna did to ignore the bewildered smirk on San’s face, “what’s the big deal with people we don’t know making incorrect assumptions about what happened? It happened, and we got this amazing nugget out of it,” he added, squeezing Yuna in a tight hug that made her let out a high-pitched squeal. “What more is there to it?”
“I not a nugget,” Yuna squeaked indignantly.
“That’s right, you’re a baby nugget,” San teased, ruffling her hair. He then turned to Wooyoung. “For what it’s worth, I’ve never given a thought to anything a stranger has said to us. All I care about is what you think of us.”
“I know,” Wooyoung said, giving him a kiss and then a gentle shove off the bed. “Why don’t you go make us some breakfast and I’ll get the nugget dressed.”
“Not a nugget!” Yuna wailed, giving her dads’ the sternest look she could muster before giggling again.
“Sounds like a plan,” San agreed, then left the room, leaving Wooyoung with Yuna. Things were looking up, his family and friends were amazing, and he had finally let go of the stupid grudge that had been plaguing him since Yuna was born. Nothing was going to bring him down.
“Hey,” Jongho’s voice came from the door, his head poking in with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I heard from Hongjoong that someone else pointed out that you’re the gayest looking of us.”
Well, a bit of murder wouldn’t be a bad way to start his day…