you had been here enough times that you already knew where everything was and the house was definitely not unknown territory for you, still you couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as you walked inside

but that last lingering feeling disappeared as soon as you got through the kitchen doors,

maybe it was the way his mother immediately started asking whether you were hungry, or the way his father greeted you with a warm smile and a hand on your shoulder, or the way his sister appeared from upstairs solely to yell your name before pulling you into another hug

ohyul stood there watching the whole thing with his hands in his pockets, a small smile tugging at his mouth

“i’m starting to think none of you actually missed me,” he said,

his sister looked over at him, “you’re right, we didn’t,”

you laughed and his mother shook her head, softly giggling too, “don’t listen to your sister, we’re happy you’re here too,”

“too?” ohyul repeated, looking offended,

you squeezed his hand and his sister immediately burst out laughing, “she gets it,”

ohyul gave you an unimpressed look, but there was no real annoyance behind it ofc because if anything, he looked far too happy to be surrounded by all of you,

and that was how the afternoon began

it was his mother who brought out the photo album a little later,

you had been sitting on the living room floor with his sister, sorting through some old family pictures while ohyul was helping his father bring things in from the car

you were completely relaxed and unsuspecting when his mother sat down beside you with a thick album in her lap,

“do you want to see ohyul when he was little?”

you looked at her with immediate interest, “yes!”

“no,” came a voice from behind you,

you turned around and ohyul was standing in the doorway holding two grocery bags, staring at the album like his mother had just pulled out a weapon,

his sister’s face lit up, “ohh my god this is gonna be so good,”

“mom,”

his mother smiled innocently, “what?”

“please don’t,” ohyul sighed, throwing his head back in despair,

you shifted closer to her, “now i definitely want to see them

“you’re making a mistake,” ohyul warned,

“you’d be surprised how willing i am to take that risk,” you laughed as his mother opened the album

the first few pictures were harmless enough. there was a tiny ohyul sitting at the dinner table, cheeks full of rice, looking deeply offended by whoever had interrupted his meal,

another showed him standing in front of a birthday cake with frosting smeared across his nose,

you smiled at each one, but his sister was clearly waiting for something better,

“keep going mom,”

“please stop,” ohyul said again but his mom already turned another page,

and there he was, probably around 7 or 8, wearing an oversized yellow sweater, shorts that were far too long for him, and a plastic crown sitting crookedly on his head

his expression was so serious that you actually had to look away for a second because you could feel your laughter building,

“oh my god,” you managed,

ohyul dropped his head, “why are we doing this??”

“you look so serious,” you said laughing

“because i was,” ohyul defended his younger self

his father, who had just walked in, glanced at the picture and immediately started laughing, “that’s when he decided he was a prince,”

you looked at ohyul, “a prince?”

“dude i was 7,”

“he made us call him prince ohyul for almost a month,” his sister added,

“that is not true,”

“it is,”

“it wasn’t even a week,”

“it was 3 weeks,” his mother corrected.

and you laughed even harder, “what happened?”

his father sat down in the armchair, “he wouldn’t eat unless his mother served him on the blue plate,”

“i just liked that plate,”

“and he cried when his sister touched his crown,”

his sister grinned, “because i broke it once,”

“you threw it,”

“because you tried to bite me,”

“doesn’t ring a bell,” his sister shrugged her shoulders, grinning a little too amused, “but that was probably deserved tho,”

you had to put the album down because you couldn’t stop looking at the pic without laughing now,

ohyul looked at you with a mixture of embarrassment and betrayal, “is this fun to you?”

“yes actually,”

“i can tell,” he sighed,

you reached for his hand and tugged him down beside you, “come here my prince ohyul,”

“don’t call me that,” he groaned, but he sat down next to you anyways,

“sorry your highness,” you joked again and his sister nearly choked on her drink,

ohyul stared at the ceiling as though asking for patience from a higher power, but you caught the little smile he was trying to hide

and despite all his protests, he didn’t move away from you

in fact, when you leaned your head against his shoulder to look through the next page, his hand settled quietly over your knee

the embarrassing pictures only became more ridiculous from there,

his mother found one of him at 13 with a haircut that looked like it had been personally designed to ruin his future dating prospects (it was bad)

his sister found a picture of him asleep on the couch with a stuffed animal tucked beneath his chin, which was lowkey cute

and there was even one of him at some school event wearing a costume that nobody could quite explain

overall, you were having the time of your life, “i’m keeping all of these,” you nodded satisfied,

his sister nodded too, “i’ll send them to you,”

“thank you,”

“that lowkey sounds like future blackmail material,” ohyul muttered,

you looked at him, “you know what? i think these make me like you more,”

his expression softened a little, “really?”

“yeah,” you reached up and fixed the collar of his shirt, “i like seeing you like this,”

“like what?” he smiled, lookinf down at you, “in my prince era?”

“no just.. you.. before i knew you,”

something about that answer made him go quiet, his eyes stayed on you for a second longer than necessary before he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to your forehead,

his sister groaned dramatically, but there wasn’t any actual annoyance behind it, “okay calm down big guy we’re doing family bonding, not whatever this is,”

you laughed, “sorry.”

“you’re not sorry,” his sister laughed, throwing a pillow in your direction

“i’m not no,” you grinned,

ohyul smiled against your hair, “that’s what you get for pulling up these pics,” he said, pointing at his sister

later, after his mother and sister were busy setting the table, you found yourself alone in the kitchen with his mother,

you had insisted on helping, even tho she kept telling you several times that you were a guest and didn’t need to do anything, but eventually she’d given up and handed you a bowl of vegetables to prepare,

“you know,” she started, “you really don’t have to help me every time you come here,”

“i know,” you smiled, “but i like it,”

she watched you for a moment before turning back to what she was doing, “i’m glad,”

the kitchen was warm, filled with the quiet sounds of cooking and conversation drifting in from the living room

you were reaching for something on the counter when she spoke again, her voice softer this time, “he’s very happy with you,”

you looked over, “ohyul?”

she smiled, “who else?”

you laughed softly, “he makes me happy too,”

“i know,”she smiled as she rested her hands against the counter, turning towards you with a loving look, “you know, when he was younger, he was always very private. he didn’t tell us much if something was bothering him. even when he was happy, sometimes we’d only know because he’d suddenly start humming around the house.”

you smiled, “he still does that,”

“i know,”she laughed, “but lately, whenever he comes home he always talks about you. little things. things you probably wouldn’t even think were important,”

your cheeks warmed, “really? like what?”

“sometimes he’ll tell us something you said. sometimes he’ll complain that you’re not eating well or sleep too little,”

“that sounds so mother like,”you snorted, which made you both laugh

then her expression softened, “but mostly, he talks about how comfortable he feels with you,”

you stopped what you were doing, “he said that?”

“not in those exact words, “she smiled again, “but i’m his mother, i know him,”

you nodded quietly and she reached over and gently squeezed your hand,

“you make him feel loved. that’s all a mother really wants for her child,”

your eyes stung a little as she continued, “and i hope you know that you don’t have to earn your place here,”

you looked at her,

“you already have one,” she added,

and for a moment, you didn’t know what to say, so you simply leaned over and hugged her,

she laughed softly, wrapping her arms around you, “see? this is why we love you,”

“i love you guys too,”

when you pulled away, ohyul was standing in the doorway,

he looked between you and his mother, “what happened here?”

his mother smiled, “nothing,”

“why do you both look like you’re about to cry,”

“we’re not,” his mother laughed softly,

you wiped beneath one eye, “your mom was being sweet,”

ohyul sighed, “aaahh yeah she does that,”

his mother gave him a look, “you should try it too,” she joked,

“i am sweet,”

you turned toward him, “sometimes,”

he walked over, slipping an arm around your waist, “sometimes is enough,”he leaned down and kissed your cheek,

his mother laughed and shook her head, “go help your father,”

“why?”

“because i want a moment with my daughter,” she said as she playfully shooed him away from the counter,

you laughed as ohyul looked between his mother and you, “that’s actually rude,”

“go,”

“fine,” he sighed, but before leaving, he leaned down and whispered into your ear, “i’m stealing you back later,”

you smiled, “we’ll see,”

his father found him outside a little while later,

the evening air had cooled and ohyul was standing near the edge of the garden with his hands resting on the railing

through the open door behind them came the muffled sound of you and his sister laughing about something,

his father stood beside him without saying anything at first, they’d always been comfortable with silence

“she’s good for you,” his father said eventually,

ohyul smiled slightly, “yeah.”

“you seem different than before,” his dad added,

and ohyul glanced at him, “different?”

his father shrugged, “you’re lighter,”

that made him smile, “i feel lighter yeah,”

his father nodded, looking out over the garden, “i like her,”

ohyul only hummed in response, not knowing what other words would justify in the moment,

“your mother really likes her,”

“yeah,” ohyul snorted, “i know,”

“and so does your sister,”his father smiled before becoming a little more serious, “yk when you were younger, i used to worry about you,”

ohyul looked at him, “about what?”

“whether you’d let someone close like this,”

ohyul was quiet so his father continued, “you’ve always had a good heart. but you keep a lot inside. i wasn’t sure you’d ever find someone you could actually relax around, your mom and i spoke about it a lot,”

ohyul looked through the glass doors and you were sitting at the table now, listening to his sister tell some ridiculous story, your laughter carrying faintly through the doors, just enough to be heard in the comfortable silence outside

“i didn’t know either,” he admitted to which his father nodded,

“but she seems to understand you,”

“she does,”

“and you understand her?”

ohyul smiled, “i try to,”

“good,” his father gave him a small nudge with his shoulder, “because that’s the part that matters,”

ohyul looked down at his hands, “i really like her dad,”

his father’s expression softened, “i know you do son, don’t take it for granted,”

ohyul nodded and his father was quiet for a moment before adding, “and don’t think loving someone means you have to make everything perfect for them,”

ohyul looked over, “what do you mean?”

“you’re going to mess up sometimes. she’s going to mess up sometimes. you’ll have stupid arguments. you’ll misunderstand each other. but yeah.. that’s.. normal,”

his father smiled faintly, “just remember that when you’re angry, she’s still the same girl you love,”

ohyul let out a small laugh, “that’s actually good advice for once,”

they both laughed, then his father looked back toward the house, “she fits here,”

ohyul followed his gaze, you were leaning over the table, laughing at something his sister had said while his mother brought food over to you,

his father watched the smile spread across his son’s face, “you really found a good one,”

ohyul nodded, “yeah,”

there was a quiet pause then his father patted his shoulder, “take care of her,”

ohyul looked at him, “i will,”

his father smiled, “good,” then, after a beat, he added, “and don’t get her pregnant before you’re ready,”

ohyul nearly choked, “dad!”

his father laughed so loudly that all 3 of you looked toward the garden through the glass doors,

“what happened?” his mother called out,

“nothing,” ohyul shouted back, his father was still laughing when ohyul covered his face with one hand, “i cannot believe you,”

“you never know what happens son,” his dad grins, patting his back in this fatherly way

by dinner, the house was loud in that comfortable way family homes often were,

everyone talked over one another, his sister kept interrupting his stories to correct details, his mother kept putting more food onto your plate despite your protests and his father occasionally joined in with some embarrassing moments about ohyul’s childhood

and you fit right into the chaos, ohyul noticed it every time he looked at you

you weren’t sitting quietly at the edge of the conversation, waiting for him to include you,

you were right in the middle of it, laughing with his sister, asking his mother about the recipe, teasing his father when he joined in on the stories

at one point, his sister leaned toward you and lowered her voice, “i still don’t understand how you ended up with him tho,”

you glanced at ohyul and he was pretending not to listen, “honestly?”you smiled, “i think i just felt sorry for him,”

his sister nodded, “makes sense,”

ohyul looked up, “i heard that,”

you laughed, “good,”

underneath the table, his hand found yours, his fingers slipped between yours and when you looked over, he was already smiling at you,

“what?” you whispered

“nothing,”

“you’re looking at me weird,”

he squeezed your hand, “because i like having you here,”

your expression softened, “that’s cute,”

his thumb brushed slowly over your knuckles, then he leaned closer and pressed a small kiss to your temple

you smiled, “ohyul,”

“what?”

“your family is here,”

“i know,”

his sister looked up from her plate, “we can see you btw,”

ohyul didn’t even look embarrassed or bothered at all, “good for you,”

his mother laughed, “let them be,”

his father shook his head, smiling into his food and somehow, that made the whole moment even sweeter.

because this wasn’t some perfect, movie like family

they were loud and nosy and embarrassing, they teased each other relentlessly and knew exactly which buttons to press,

they argued over stupid things and laughed 5 minutes later

but they loved each other.

and somewhere between his mother’s kitchen, his sister’s teasing, his father’s quiet advice and all those ridiculous childhood photographs, you had become part of that love too,

ohyul looked at you one more time,

you were laughing at something his sister had said, your hand still warm inside his

and he thought, with a quiet certainty that settled somewhere deep in his chest, that maybe this was what home was supposed to feel like,

not a place, not a house

just a table full of people you loved and the person you loved most sitting beside you

mlist ツ