you got pregnant pretty young—nineteen and already swollen with life. it was terrifying at first, but one thing you always held onto was the comfort of knowing you wouldn’t be alone.

you and sunghoon had been high school sweethearts. young, naive, and so deeply in love. things were good for a while—even better when your first son came into the world. but by the time your second baby was born, everything had changed. your love turned into something quieter, more distant, until eventually, you two decided it was better to split.

there was no drama, no screaming matches or custody battles. just two people growing apart and doing their best for the two little boys you brought into the world. sunghoon moved on, found someone new. and you? you stayed single, raising your two monkeys with sticky fingers and bright eyes and endless energy.

on a whim, you decided to take them on a small camping trip. it was something you used to love back before motherhood consumed you, and you wanted to share that joy with your boys.

what you didn’t expect was to see them charging out of their dad’s house with backpacks bouncing and beaming smiles, practically yelling across the driveway.

“we told daddy about camping! he wants to come!”

you blinked, halfway through stuffing their sleeping bags into the trunk. your hands stilled.

“you told him?”

they nodded eagerly, liam—the oldest—stepping forward with wide eyes and a hopeful grin.

“yeah! he said he doesn’t have work and he wants to come too!”

you weren’t sure what to say. part of you wanted to say no, that this was your thing. just you and them. but another part, the softer one, remembered how sunghoon used to be—the way he’d carry both kids like they were weightless, the way he used to make you laugh when you felt like crying.

so now here you were, slicing carrots at the foldable table while sunghoon chased the boys around the massive tent you’d wrestled with earlier that afternoon. their laughter echoed through the trees, light and contagious. for a moment, it felt like nothing had changed at all.

then, without warning, sunghoon stepped out of the tent, brushing some leaves off his jeans and walking toward you. he stopped just beside the table, catching your eye with a sheepish little smile.

“hey,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “need help with anything?”