The Mannequin - Minsung

one hundred ten

Jisung was still grinning ear to ear as they left Felix's daycare, walking hand in hand with Minho toward the car. His voice was filled with excitement as he rambled about the kids.

"Did you see Hana's little bow? It was so adorable! And the way Ren just climbed onto my lap like that..." Jisung laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's so cute, I can't believe it!"

Minho smiled, watching Jisung as he animatedly relived the entire afternoon. "Yeah, they're pretty great. You were a natural with them."

"I'm glad... I'm so happy they like me!"

"I knew you'd be good with them. You've got that, like, soft teddy bear energy or something."

"T-Teddy bear energy? What does that mean?"

"You know, soft and cuddly... irresistible." Minho winked, teasing.

Jisung's cheeks flushed a little, but his smile didn't waver.

He was quiet for a second, biting his lip as if he was thinking about something, then he suddenly blurted out, "Hey, Minho... do you think we could, like, have kids of our own someday?"

Minho nearly choked on his breath, coughing as he looked over at Jisung with wide eyes. "W-Wait, what?"

Jisung blinked at him, completely oblivious to Minho's reaction. "Yeah, like, you knoww... kids. Our own little Hanas and Rens running around!"

Minho stared, still trying to process what he just heard.

"Kids... of our own?"

Jisung nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! I mean, think about it! You'd be such a cool dad, and I'd... well, I'd try not to mess it up too badly... Also, in your books—"

Oh no, not the damn books again.

He let out a half-laugh, half-sigh, rubbing his face with one hand.

"Sungie, that's... that's a pretty big question to just drop on me after playing with daycare kids for an hour."

"I know, I knowww! But they were just so cute! I couldn't help thinking about it!"

Minho leaned back against the car, still looking at Jisung in disbelief. "You really just... dropped the 'let's-have-kids' bomb like it was nothing."

Jisung's face turned a bit pink as he realized what he'd just said. "S-So... We can't... have kids...? Wouldn't it be fun? Little Minhos running around, causing chaos..."

"Little Minhos?" Minho raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What about little Jisungs?"

Jisung grinned wider, leaning closer. "Of course! We can have little me's too! We'd have the cutest kids, don't you think?"

Minho let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Y-Yeah but..."

Jisung giggled, wrapping his arms around Minho's waist. "Well, just imagine it. We could dress them up in cute little matching outfits and take them on trips, and—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Minho interrupted, holding up a hand.

"Sungie, listen... I get where you're coming from, and trust me, I love the idea of us with little Minhos and Jisungs running around. But... it's not that easy, you know..."

Jisung tilted his head. "Why? We can just fuck like in the books and—"

Minho placed his hand against Jisung's mouth to shush him. "Ahh seriously, what's with you and fucking? Anyway... my point is that... two men having kids? That's not exactly a simple thing..."

Jisung blinked, clearly confused. "What do you mean? I thought we could—"

Minho sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, yeah, we could, but it's... complicated. You know, with adoption or surrogacy and all that. It's not like we can just—" He paused, searching for the right words. "—poof, have a kid. Like, no magic wands or anything."

Jisung pouted, his lips pressing into a thin line. "So, no poof?" He waved his hands in the air dramatically as if casting an imaginary spell.

Minho chuckled, grabbing Jisung's hands to stop him. "No poof, unfortunately."

Jisung dropped his hands, a small sigh escaping his lips. "Awww... I mean, I know we can't just snap our fingers and have kids, but I thought maybe... it'd be easier?"

"Trust me, I get it," Minho said, pulling Jisung closer until their foreheads were touching. "It's not impossible, it's just... harder for us, you know?"

Jisung frowned slightly. "So, we can't have kids?"

Minho softened, shaking his head. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying. We can—but it takes time, planning, and a lot of paperwork or other options we'd have to figure out. And if we decide to do it, we'll make it happen. Together."

"So... it's just harder? Not impossible?"

"Exactly." Minho smiled, brushing a thumb across Jisung's cheek. "It's harder, but you're not in this alone. If we decide one day that we want to go through that journey, we will. We'll figure it out, step by step."

"Oh! So... we can still have little Minhos causing chaos?"

Minho let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, we can. And little Jisungs, too. Imagine the combined chaos!"

Jisung giggled, hugging Minho tighter. "And we'll make it work, right? No matter how hard?"

"No matter how hard. I promise, Sungie."

Jisung pulled back slightly, looking up at Minho with a soft smile. "I'm sorry for dropping that on you out of nowhere... I didn't mean to freak you out..."

Minho chuckled. "You didn't freak me out. You just caught me off guard, that's all."

"Well... I'll warn you next time I say something like that."

Minho smirked, pulling him in for a kiss on the forehead. "Please do."

To be continued...

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