Hearing his name, Donghae finally woke up and looked around, disoriented.

"Yes, Uwonnie?"

"He woke up!" Uwon shouted.

Donghae tried to comb his hair and got up from the carpet. He saw their friends were ready to leave. "God, I'm so sorry, I just closed my eyes for a minute, I swear."

"We know, we saw you were awake earlier," said Hyukjae.

"The carpet is very comfortable," explained Donghae sheepishly.

They all laughed. Hyukjae bit his lip.

"We were just leaving. Uwon, say goodbye to your uncle Donghae." 

Donghae's eyes lit up at that name.

Uncle. He had never been one.

"Goodbye, uncle Donghae hyung." He said it in an adorable way and Donghae hugged him softly. The toddler laughed and they parted.

"Thank you so much for playing with him, Donghae. He has a lot of energy." 

"It's no problem at all, whenever you want he can come and play."

"You're so kind," said their friend. We'll visit more often, right Hyukjae?"

"I don't know, you didn't even wash the dishes," he joked, earning some laughs. "Take care, you guys." 

Once without the small family, Donghae sighed. Hyukjae took off his sweater.

"I don't know how I fell asleep." He turned to look at his boyfriend, who was bringing his sweater closer to Donghae's body. "What are you doing?"

"You're freezing, put it on." 

Donghae obeyed. The sweater was warm and he felt a pleasant sensation run through his body as he perceived the scent of his boyfriend's perfume.

"Go to sleep, you're tired" said Hyukjae.

"No, no. I'll help you tidy up."

Hyukjae nodded and they silently put everything away.

Once in bed, Donghae sighed. It had been a long day of playing with his friend’s child, he was exhausted. 

“That baby was so cute.”

“Hm. I told you. He's adorable.”

“He's so small and funny, he has a lot of imagination.”

“They say that children stop being creative with technology, but I feel that Uwon has more imagination than me at his age.”

“He does, doesn't he?” They both smiled. Donghae sighed again.

“Aw, what is it?”

Donghae lifted his shoulders.

“Ah, it's just that... I always wanted to have a big family, you know.”

“Of course I know, your eyes were sparkling with Wonnie. Plus, kids adore you. Well, some of them.”

Donghae had already started to tear up. “I... you know I'm grateful for everything I've been given in life, and I know I'm lucky to have received so much… but I always feel the same way when I play with a child. I feel so happy, but at the same time…”

Hyukjae approached his boyfriend.

“I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“I know I never say it, but sometimes I imagine myself as a father. It's something unavoidable to think about, isn't it?”

“Hm.”

“Even if I don't know anything about it, I'd like to feel that pride sometime. To be an example for someone, try to do better for them.”

“You'd make a great father. A fun one, that's for sure.”

“I guess I would.” There was a long silence. “Donghae, you know... if it were possible... I'd be very happy to have a child. I mean... with you.”

“Come on, don't talk nonsense.”

“I mean it.” Donghae stared at him. “I’m serious. And I'm not talking about the future, if we could have a baby right now, I'd be the happiest person in the world.”

Donghae laughed, “I'd like that too, Hyuk.”

His voice was a little higher than usual, as if he had a lump in his throat. Hyukjae looked at him and he pouted at Donghae’s gloomy expression.

“Aw, what happened?” Hyukjae hugged him, “I didn't want you to feel sad,” he said in a regretful voice and kissed his hair. “Don’t cry...”

“I’m not crying.” He was so close to crying, though. You just said the sweetest thing in the world, of course I’m gonna be emotional. Hyukjae sounded so determined, it just made Donghae think about how different their life could be. He hugged his boyfriend's torso. “I love you, Hyuk.”

“I love you too.”

“It means a lot to me what you said, really.” Donghae kissed his cheek.

They stayed there, comforting each other. Hyukjae broke the silence a minute later.

“If we had a baby, what would she look like?”

“Oh? You wanna have a girl?”

“I guess. I don’t know. I always liked having an older sister. So we could have a girl and then a boy,” he joked.

Donghae chuckled.

“That’s so cute. I hope they get your lips.”

“Imagine if they have your eyes... they would be so pretty.”

Donghae didn’t know why, but that sentence made his eyes tear up again.

“Okay, let’s stop or I’m gonna cry for real.”

Hyukjae kissed his hair again.

“Okay."