Work Text:
🌹
"she's not in her room!"
a panicked voice alerted the entire mansion, informing the lees and the parks of the unfortunate situation. the lees had a family tradition of an arranged marriage with the parks, courtesy of their ancestors who were good friends. however the tradition was limited only to the eldest child. and it was the only reason that lee heeseung was currently present in the mansion. if he had been forced to an arranged marriage, he was sure that the person who had run away would be none other than him.
he did have to thank his parents for having him later than his cousins. he was glad that naeun was able to get away from the mansion safely. she had been in her room since yesterday. she might have escaped at night which meant that it was too late to try to find her. heeseung wasn't close with her, but he wasn't ready to witness his cousin lose the life in her eyes.
all's well that ends well.
heeseung hoped that, at least now the elders would abolish the tradition. park jungwon was the younger brother of park sunghoon, the heir and first child of the parks. jungwon and heeseung had grown pretty close owing to the numerous parties and gatherings. the younger and him had a lot in common which helped to strengthen their bond.
"so what if naeun ran away?" one of the elder lee began, attracting everyone's attention at once. the man's eyes suddenly shifted to heeseung whose blood ran cold wishing that the man wouldn't say what he was thinking.
"we still have heeseung, don't we? he's much more qualified than naeun. i'm sure you'd love to have him in your family." the man said, addressing the parks. to heeseung's horror, the parks didn't seem to be apprehensive of the suggestion. instead they had smiles on their face. "gosh, i'm so sorry, hyung." jungwon muttered.
nothing mattered now.
did he mention that park sunghoon was his ex?
he could feel the above mentioned man staring at him but he resolutely kept his gaze down. his parents tried to convince them otherwise but,
"no, it's alright. i want to marry heeseung."
heeseung immediately looked up at the man, unable to contain his surprise. he was met with the same dark brown eyes, an emotion in them that he couldn't decipher. he was forced to look away, unable to bear the intensity in the man's eyes. he was done for now. sunghoon wanted to extract revenge from him for breaking up with him.
his life was going to be hell now.
heeseung blinked back the tears that had formed in his eyes, angry at himself for letting his emotions get the best for him. he dug his nails into his palm, a bad habit that he was trying to get rid of. a hand was placed on his knee. heeseung managed to shoot a thankful smile to the younger who was sporting an apologetic look even though he had no part or control over it.
heeseung was so busy trying to contain the tears that he failed to notice the pair of eyes studying every move of his. words of congratulations were being exchanged while he drowned in his misery.
the day when he had broken up with sunghoon was still vivid in his mind, even though a year had passed since then. he remembered everything, from the outfit sunghoon was wearing, every word he uttered to the tears rolling down his face as he left a broken-hearted sunghoon behind and ran.
he ran for as long as he could, wanting nothing more than to mourn his loss. heeseung may have broken sunghoon's heart but in the process he had also broken himself beyond repair. his heart still beat for the blond. but by the time, he became aware of the entire truth, it was already too long. too far gone to go back and make amends.
heeseung's family were worried for him and decided to move away to give him a fresh start. and that was exactly what he had needed, irrespective of the dull ache in his chest every time he caught sight of a blond male. he had to remind himself that they were completely out of each other's lives and there was no returning back.
or so he thought.
because when he accepted the invitation for his cousin's wedding, the last thing he expected was to see his ex as the groom.
he had cried himself to sleep that night.
and now he was going to marry sunghoon.
karma really is a bitch.
🌹
heeseung was preparing dinner for him and ni-ki. he could hear the boy's giggles every now and then, eliciting a smile on his face. the fact that he could provide a shelter for a boy who had lost everything made him proud of himself.
heeseung had found ni-ki, abandoned after the death of his parents. and he didn't know why but he had a strong urge to take the boy in his arms and protect him. and that was how he became a father, at the age of twenty-two.
and he never regretted it, not for a single moment. he had loved ni-ki the moment he set his eyes on him and he still did. the boy was one of the biggest source of his happiness. "papa, someone's at the door!" ni-ki's yell interrupted heeseung's train of thought.
he quickly switched off the stove and pressed a kiss on ni-ki's head, thanking him for informing him. he made his way to the front door, not even bothering to check through the intercom because who else could visit him apart from his family and friends?
a mop of blond hair, and a beautifully sculpted face with brown eyes, tall nose, prominent features and pink lips greeted him the moment he opened the door. he remained frozen in place, eyes wide opened. a tug to his sweater brought both of their attention to the small boy.
"who's this, papa?" ni-ki asked, pointing at sunghoon.
it was the blond's turn to be gobsmacked now, before quickly schooling his face into an emotionless expression. "can i come in?" a recovered sunghoon asked when it seemed like heeseung was still in shock and had no intention of opening the door or inviting him in.
the black haired male managed to nod his head, opening the door wider. "hello, my name is ni-ki." his angel spoke, instantly brightening up the atmosphere. heeseung hadn't expected his son to speak up considering how shy he got in front of strangers.
he was even more surprised when sunghoon replied to ni-ki. he knew first-hand how sunghoon didn't exactly get along with kids but there was a genuine smile on his face.
they could've been a family happy.
heeseung blinked rapidly, willing those useless thoughts to go away. there was no use in crying over spilt milk. ni-ki led sunghoon inside and the black haired male followed quietly.
he wanted to ask sunghoon why he had come here, but he was engaged with ni-ki and heeseung didn't have the heart to interrupt their bonding time. he slipped away to the kitchen to fetch some snacks and drinks, not wanting the blond to leave on an empty stomach.
he was placing the food items on a tray, trying to distract himself when a pair of strong arms wound around his waist, pulling him close to a well-built chest. the feeling of being enveloped in these arms was so familiar yet unfamiliar. it was like laying down on your bed after a long trip. it was comfort.
but the comfort couldn't last long.
"let go, sunghoon." heeseung spoke, voice soft, disregarding the pang he felt as those words left his mouth. however, the arms only tightened. "never." the brunet flinched, goosebumps erupting on his skin, clearly having not expecting the blond to whisper into his ears.
heeseung tried to break free but no avail. "don't worry, ni-ki is busy with his toys."
the black haired male let out a sound of frustration. he had no idea what was going on in sunghoon's mind. "if you're here about the wedding, then don't bother. i'll be going away within a week." heeseung said in a single breath.
he would gladly go away than be trapped in a marriage with a person who hated him.
"don't. don't you dare go away from me." sunghoon had turned him in arms so that they were facing each other. heeseung immediately dropped his gaze to the floor. a finger on his chin lifted his face till their eyes met.
"listen to me, okay? no interrupting. lee heeseung, you're the biggest fool on this planet if you think you can fool me," heeseung's breath hitched, only confirming what sunghoon had presumed, "i knew that something was up the moment you broke up with me. your eyes tell, baby. you couldn't even look me in the eyes."
sunghoon's eyes were filled with love and adoration, as if he was looking at the most precious person in his life. "don't you hate me?" heeseung whispered, chest constricting. "nevertheless, i broke up with you. i broke your heart. you should hate me!"
he hadn't even realized that he was crying, until sunghoon wiped his tears away. he picked the black haired male and sat him on the counter, placing hinself between his legs. he wrapped his arms around the lithe waist of his fiancé. "what about you? what if i had broken up with you? would you hate me?"
heeseung's silence was enough of an answer for him.
"babe, i could never hate you. i love you and i always will. lee heeseung, will you be mine again?"
heeseung let out a sob, before dissolving into tears, sunghoon only chuckled fondly before embracing the elder, hugging him as tightly as he could. he was finally home. heeseung melted in his embrace, breathing the familiar mint scent. the strong arms around his waist were so familiar and only made him cry more and bawl his eyes out. they stayed like that for what felt like hours but actually lasted minutes and heeseung's sobs reduced to sniffles and whimpers.
a soft, "hoonie, did you make papa feel better?", broke their bubble.
heeseung lifted his head from sunghoon's chest, shooting a confused look to his fiancé who winked in response. the blond turned to face the boy and lifted him in his arms, "sure i did, you see those tears on papa's face? they're happy tears." sunghoon said in a soft voice, smile widening when ni-ki let out a shriek, clapping his hands.
"so, do i have your permission now, young sir?" the blond asked. ni-ki brought his hand to his chin, tapping and pretending to think seriously.
heeseung was so lost and confused but assumed that it had something to do with their conversation before sunghoon came into the kitchen. the sight he was beholding was so adorable and domestic that his heart hurt. in a good way.
it was funny how within a span of some hours, his mood shifted from the lowest of lows to being the happiest person on earth. muffled giggles broke his train of thought and he saw the two important boys of his life sharing glances and snickering. now, he was getting really curious.
"what's so funny, ni-ki? papa wants to laugh too." heeseung asked, lips pulled into a pout unconsciously, trying his best to ignore the way someone was staring at him or rather his lips.
ni-ki motioned heeseung to come closer and he did.
"hoonie has my pwermission to marry papa."
did he save the whole world in his past life? was he allowed to feel this happy? heeseung was scared that his heart would burst with how much he was feeling at the moment. why was park sunghoon so perfect? it didn't make sense.
it didn't make sense but he was his, so he wasn't complaining.
"oh, does he now?" heeseung asked, a chuckle leaving his mouth.
ni-ki nodded, "hoone said he'll make papa happy. if papa is happy, ni-ki's also happy."
heeseung let out a squeal before wrapping the both of them in an embrace. it was a good day to be thankful to be alive. suddenly a pair of lips were pressed to his. heeseung was bewildered, mentally sighing in relief when saw that sunghoon had covered ni-ki's eyes.
heeseung smiled into the kiss, feeling the blond reciprocate it. they eventually pulled away when ni-ki had had enough and was trying to rip away sunghoon's hand from his eyes.
ni-ki then placed a kiss on both of their cheeks. the two adults did the same, in unison, heeseung couldn't wait for it to become a regular occurrence.
they shared a look.
a look filled with love which had been tested and yet it had triumphed over the obstacles, a look of unbreakable trust and affection and adoration and hope and love, just pure love.
their love was like a polaroid love. love, that old-fashioned feeling, yet it never failed to make their heart beat faster, as if their heart was racing.