BLOSSOMED | SEOKSOO FF

PART 48

As the day wound to a close, Seokmin and Jisoo dragged themselves back to the park's entrance, where Soonyoung and Jihoon were coming, looking suspiciously refreshed.

Sunoo was still fast asleep in Seokmin's arms, while Dino trotted ahead, regaling Jihoon with tales of his "epic rollercoaster adventure."

“See we’re back early!” Soonyoung said cheerfully, clearly oblivious to the exhaustion radiating off the two.

Seokmin shot him a look. “Early? It’s nearly closing time! You said you’d be back hours ago!”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow at Soonyoung, who was busy pretending he hadn’t heard Seokmin. “We might’ve lost track of time,” Jihoon admitted, though there was a hint of guilt in his tone.

“Lost track of time?” Seokmin sputtered. “Do you have any idea what we’ve been through? Dino’s sugar rush, Sunoo’s tantrum over dropped cotton candy, and—oh, let’s not forget—getting soaked on the log flume with no change of clothes!”

Jisoo crossed his arms, clearly backing Seokmin. “We had plans, you know. Plans that involved just us. Seokmin convinced Jeonghan to let me out today, and that was no small feat.”

Soonyoung blinked innocently. “Wait, Jeonghan on a sunday? He actually let you go? That’s a miracle!”

“Exactly!” Seokmin groaned. “And you ruined it! Do you know how hard it was to get him to say yes? He interrogated me for an hour about my ‘intentions.’”

Jihoon couldn’t help but smirk. “Sounds like Jeonghan.”

“You’re laughing?” Seokmin gaped. “Jihoon, your husband abandoned his kids with us and skipped off with you like it’s no big deal!”

At this, Soonyoung finally had the decency to look sheepish. “Okay, okay, maybe it was a little unfair. But you two looked like you could handle it! And I gave them to you for a... uh.. Practice.”

“Duh... We did handle it!” Jisoo snapped. “Barely!”

Jihoon sighed, gently pulling Sunoo out of Seokmin’s arms. The toddler stirred but snuggled into Jihoon’s shoulder, still clutching his stuffed bear. “Thank you for taking care of them,” Jihoon said sincerely. “We owe you this one.”

“Oh, you definitely owe us,” Seokmin muttered, glaring at Soonyoung.

“I’ll buy you dinner!” Soonyoung offered with a grin.

“Dinner?” Jisoo raised an eyebrow. “You think dinner fixes this?”

Seokmin groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Just take your kids, Soonyoung. And next time, hire a babysitter or something.”

As they walked away, Jisoo leaned closer to Seokmin and whispered, “That dinner offer doesn’t sound too bad, you know.”

Seokmin sighed, the corners of his lips twitching up. “Fine. But only if it’s expensive.”

Jisoo chuckled. “Deal.”

And while their day hadn’t gone as planned, as Seokmin glanced at Jisoo’s amused expression, he couldn’t help but think that maybe it wasn’t a total disaster.

The moment Seokmin and Jisoo stepped into the house, the tension was palpable. Jeonghan was sitting on the couch, arms crossed, a sharp glare fixed on Seokmin like a hawk spotting its prey. Seungcheol stood nearby, clearly trying (and failing) to mediate, his expression a mix of exasperation and mild amusement.