If I Could Dance With You Again

IICDWYA: 66

Chapter 66

Soonyoung's birthday crept closer with every sunrise, though he hardly felt the excitement that usually came with it. The kids, however, were a different story. Faline—his youngest and the loudest alarm clock he never asked for—had been reminding her brothers every single day since the month began.

"Appa, what's your birthday wish?" Leo asked that morning over breakfast.

It was Soonyoung's rare day off, and he planned to spend every second of it with his children. Work had swallowed him whole these past weeks, and guilt tugged at him for every bedtime story he'd missed.

He tapped his chin dramatically, eyes drifting to the ceiling as if the plaster might whisper an answer. Truthfully, he didn't need anything. He had his kids. He had their laughter, their chaos, their warmth. For years, that had been enough.

Until he saw her—the woman he once loved so fiercely he imagined a lifetime with her. The woman he lost because of his own mistake. The woman he had no right to want back.

A sleeping demon in his heart stirred, whispering selfish wishes he could never voice.

He had cheated.
He had slept with someone else.
And the consequence of that sin now sat in front of him—three beautiful children who deserved the world.

"Nothing," he finally said, smiling at the three pairs of eyes watching him. "I already have you."

It was simple. Honest enough. Something children should understand.

But Faline, being Faline, had other plans.

"But we want you to get married," she declared, loud enough to make him choke on his own saliva.

They were three—turning four soon—but somehow already experts in ambushing him emotionally.

"I don't know if Appa can do that," he admitted.

Their faces fell instantly.

Leon, the eldest and the quietest, lifted his gaze. "Why? Because you have us?"

The question hit harder than he expected. Leon always thought too deeply for his age, and Soonyoung often wished he could shield him from growing up too fast.

"Ani," he said softly. "It's Appa's choice. I'm happy with you three. I love you, and you're enough to make me happy every day."

He hesitated before asking the question he'd been avoiding for years.

"But... do you want to have a mommy? Or meet your mommy?"

His voice cracked. He bit his lip. It was the hardest thing he'd ever asked.

"Appa, knowing Eomma would be nice," Leo said.

Guilt stabbed him. He had promised to find their mother. He had failed.

"I will fin—"

"But an Eomma who loves Appa and us would be nicer," Faline cut in, swinging her legs.

Leon nodded. "If you're happy, we're happy."

Soonyoung's chest tightened. His children—his sweet, undeserving-of-his-mistakes children—were thinking of him first.

Then Leo added, "How about the woman in your wallet, Appa? Make her our Eomma."

Soonyoung blinked. "What?"

"Oh! She's a pretty Eomma like me," Faline chirped. "But Appa, I want to introduce you to my ssaem. She's pretty and cool. Strong, too. She dances like you."