Happy Wife, Happy Life

Part 4

the next instance happens a little something like this :

Sunoo and Jungwon walk into the living room, both giggling over something on Jungwon's phone, pointing and joking among themselves.

just by the sound of their laughter, jake feels his mood lift up a little. he dog-ears his current read, a Michio kako physics book, before asking, "what're you laughing about?"

sunoo glances up from the phone screen, smiling, "riki's family placement. he says jay hyung is the dog."

"oh, he's going to be so mad," jungwon laughs, delighted.

that piques jake's curiosity. "what am I?" he asks, tilting his head and smiling so as not to be a problem.

sunoo and jungwon exchange looks, before sunoo says, "you're the mom."

jake blinks. riki called him 'mom' from time to time, as a way to tease, just to see Jake's reaction. But he still hadn't expected that. Maybe an older brother, maybe the cool uncle, but the mom? " I am? " He asks, befuddlement coloring his question.

And Jungwon scrunched his face up in his signature are you dumb? look, judgement on full blast when he replies, " yeah? Obviously? "

" What do you mean 'obviously'? " Jake asks, but he gets no answer as Heeseung mutters a little hello once he enters the living room.

" Oh, dad's here! " Jungwon cheers, and Jake feels his heart drop. Of course Heeseung is the dad in Riki's eyes, and Jesus Christ, it doesn't help the predicament that's been haunting him for days now. Jake was their mom, Heeseung was their dad. Heeseung was their dad, Jake was their mom.

Sunoo immediately runs to Heeseung to tug him inside, " hyung, explain why Jake hyung is the mom of our group. "

Heeseung laughs, throwing his head back in good humor. " Isn't it a little self-explanatory? " He asks, sauntering to the couch. As he nears, Jake has the growing urge to grab a broom and swat at Heeseung, or to keep it in between them for distance. These days, he couldn't breathe right around Heeseung.

" Nope, " Jungwon chirps, " I mean, it is for us, but not for him. "

and yet, heeseung plops himself beside jake, letting a long arm stretch on top jake's backrest. heeseung sighs, thinking for a second, before saying, "well, he's very good-natured and gentle. he hardly gets mads at us, no?

"right!" sunoo agrees, "hyung is a sweetheart", he smiles, and both sunoo and jungwon are looking at jake expectantly.

jungwon giggles. "yup. best mom we could ever ask for- you help riki stay playful too, so that's that"

"but dad keeps him in line," sunoo jokes.

"well, someone's gotta do the disciplining in this family." heeseung scoffs, then there's a hand grasping his shoulder and rubbing it tenderly. jake thinks he might just have a stroke when heeseung asks, "right, wifey? "

sunoo and jungwon burst out into laughter. the older boy claps as jungwon chortles, and jake finds himself smiling along with them, but not quite laughing. it's not very funny to him—after all, how could he laugh when his stomach is tying itself into knots and his head is getting dizzier by the second?

jungwon then breaks his laughter to whisper something to sunoo, showing something on his phone—a shopping website—to ask for sunoo's advice. they soon close themselves off into their own little world.

jake gulps, not sure where to go from here.

he jolts when he feels a hand play with the hair on the back of his neck, goosebumps running down his neck and spreading to his arms.

heeseung turns his head to face him, and jake quickly takes a moment to appreciate how attractive he looks like this: legs spread carelessly, a lazy smirk on his face, sprawled out like he owned the place.

he tilts his head and narrows his eyes minutely, inspecting and studying, and jake gulps.

sunoo and jungwon are turning louder, and yet, jake hears heeseung's question loud and clear.

"do you like being my wife, jake?" heeseung asks lowly, low enough for only the two of them to hear, and there's a little smile on his face that could pass as regular teasing.

jake laughs, loud and boisterous, pushing heeseung away because he's too fucking close, but when he feels his face heat up and his pants get tighter, he knows he's fucked.