"You have been cleaning that spot for a good ten minutes now."
Those words snapped Jeonghan out of his daydream as his eyes absent-mindedly shifted down landing on the blue wipe he was holding unto. When his sense finally came back to realize they were at the end of the day in the middle tidying the classrooms, the long haired male quickly turned around, trying to hide his cheeks blushing into a light shade of pink, yet it didn't escape Wonwoo's judging gaze who let out a low chuckle before asking:
"Alright, come on, what happened to our Jeonghannie during the weekend?" Clearly hinting at the dinner that Jeonghan now regretted having carelessly mentioned to his friend.
The blonde male bitted his lower lips a few times, a habit he inconsciently does whenever he tries to find his words, and slowly started after a few minutes:
"Well... you already know that Chan and his dad invited me to dinner" the latter nodded in replied with an anticipating stare that pressed him skip to the part he hasn't heard already "The food was great, it was the best I have been to that was both reasonably priced yet insanely delicious, they even had bruschetta on their menu"
Sensing his friend's growing impatient feet taping, Jeonghan knew he couldn't stretch his story any longer: "and it was getting quite late when we came out, so Seungcheol, Chan's dad, of course you know him, he invited me over to stay at their guestroom for the night..."
He was now mumbling increasingly faster, yet voice diminishing at each syllable: "And I saw him neck and asked him whether he'd like a massage, and we were just chatting, but before I even knew what happened, he leaned in and..."
Jeonghan gulped before continuing with a tone as low as a whisper:
"kissed me..." and buried his face into his hands.
A sharp exhaled gasp could be heard which is followed eagerly by:
"What did you do after that?"
"What do you think I would have done? I pushed him off and ran back to the guestroom..." groaned Jeonghan, still embarrassed by the scene happened days before and weakly defended himself once he saw his colleague's judging glare:
"It was so sudden; I was scared ok?"
"That sounded like a freaking eight-o-clock drama that my mom would watch." snorted Wonwoo picking up the broom he left behind, and continued on after a few moments of silence:
"So what did he say after that?"
The question made Jeonghan's memory wandered back to the morning after the chaos,
He didn't manage to find much sleep that night and in the following morning, still digesting the shocking revelation about Chan's birth adding to that unexpected intimate moment, his head felt too heavy to process anything. Jeonghan walked around his room for quite a while, anxious to face the man that has been on his mind all night and ended staying inside his room way longer than it's probably appropriate.
When the short knock on his door followed by Chan peaking in with a wide grin, Jeonghan could only reciprocate the smile as best as he could and wrapped his fingers around the outreached small palm.
As he follows Chan down the stairs, a pleasant sweet smell has already filled the first floor.
Seungcheol greeted him good morning before announcing breakfast will be there soon and offering both of them to take a seat.
Jeonghan ended awkwardly sitting in front of Chan on their high kitchen stall in front of a high pilled plate of pancakes and soon after, Seungcheol joined them and everyone was eating quietly, to the exception of the father occasionally correcting his son's manner of holding a fork, without a word directed to him, or without any mention of the kiss.
A small part of Jeonghan tried to brush for the latter's behavior by the thought that the conversion about last night shouldn't probably be done in front of a toddler.
After helping with the dishes and buckled inside the elder's car on his way back to his apartment,
the raven male still doesn't seem wiling to open his mouth anytime soon.
When reaching his limit of the turmoil and confusion eating him alive inside, his blonde male gathered all his courage and started when another voice echoed at the same time:
"About last night..."
Seungcheol's hand signaled the latter to speak before him, yet Jeonghan insisted that the older to go ahead first.
Yet, the long haired male would soon regret, sensing his whole body frozen unto place as if someone has poured a bucket of ice water from the top of his head at the following declaration:
"I'm sorry about what I have done, I was a little drunk and wasn't in my right mind, let's not talk about it again."
Jeonghan let out a heavy sigh at the thought of the flashback to which Wonwoo took the hint of not asking any further and shyly patted his in the back trying his back to comfort the blond male.
The latter chuckled at his friend's awkwardness and added mischievously:
"Enough about me, so how are things going with that high school teacher next door that follows you around? What was his name already? Minu? Mingu?"
"Mingyu" corrected Wonwoo before rolling his eyes and hissed "And what about him? I have told you already, he's a stalker and a psychopath that's convinced that since we went to the same high school and both have brown eyes, we are meant to be soulmates."
"Awnnn" Jeonghan squealed "our Wonwoo is blushing." That earned him a wipe thrown at his face.
Jeonghan hasn't seen the raven haired man for quite a while after that, Seungcheol hasn't contacted him for babysitting, and Jihoon was almost always the one that came to pick up Chan at the end of the day. And even when the raven male did come, his gaze would shift away as soon as their eyes locked to which Jeonghan forced to hide a frown from the obvious avoiding.
But he didn't have to time contemplate about this whole mess and cry out his wounded feelings, another headache soon came after.
It all started with a late night phone call with his younger sister in London.
"Oppa it is raining everyday here" whined Jeonghwa. "The sky is always grey."
Jeonghan chuckled, picturing her pout he was accustomed to before before retorting:
"Would you prefer come back to mom and dad then?"
She groaned loudly in response at his teasing and changed the subject:
"By the way, have Lizzy eonnie told you yet?"
"Tell me what?" Jeonghan asked carelessly chewing on a piece of bread, and choked on it once he heard the next part of the sentence.
"That she is moving back to Korea and signed up Soonyoung to your kindergarten."
So there he was, trying to silence the constantly talking class of toddlers, with another child on his heels curiously looking at the group of kids in front of his eyes.
When the quietness finally reigned back,
Jeonghan cleared his throat pushing the unfamiliar child to the front and announced:
"Class, we are having a new friend today and-"
a high pitched voice cut in before he could finish:
"Hello! My name is Soonyoung!" the was grinning widely, eyes sparkling in excitement before proudly raising his head and added hugging onto the adult's leg "And Jeonghan is my uncle"
The young teacher face palmed internally, Soonyoung has really taken after his mother, eager to open his mouth whenever he can. How silly of him to worry he might have been nervous to meet his new classmates?
Jeonghan soon continued after his inner grumble and mumbled lowly to his nephew:
"It's Jeonghan hyung to you, young man" before pushing a hand pressing unto his back to bow to his classmates and asked louder: "sweethearts, he just came back from America and-" and couldn't finish since someone has decided to cut him once again
"Vernonie is from America as well English as well" Seungkwan jumped unto his feet hyped all of a sudden dragging the said boy along with him as if to show he was telling the truth.
"Seungkwan, it is impolite to speak when others are speaking" Jeonghan corrected the younger and concluded: "please take care of him and help him with Korean ok?"
The toddlers agreed with a unified "yes" and looked amazed to be able to have a new foreigner (not really, but Jeonghan let that slip because he was too tired already and it was only eight in the morning) joining them.
After half of day of lessons, Soonyoung has already befriended more than two third of the class, and seemed to get along especially well with Seokmin and Seungkwan as Jeonghan could almost see more headache coming now the trouble duo has added a third member, the kind of "Prepare for trouble, and make it triple".
He was supposed to loosen up his stressed mind once seeing his nephew blending well into his new surrounding and made so many friends, yet another unexpected problem came along.
Chan has been a lot more cheerful and talkative since their babysitting moments to his delight and Jeonghan has hinted more or less intentionally Soonyoung to play more with the younger. Yet, the two couldn't stand each other and one of the other would always find a way that ended whether with Chan crying "Soonyoung hyung is a meanie" in a corner or Sooyoung storming away yelling "Chan is a baby" and refused to speak to the other again.
The younger child has also become the targets of BooSoonSeok's (as the cool nickname they made for themselves) many pranks and jokes. No matter how many time Jeonghan has scold them or put them on timeout, they always seem to manage to sneak their tricks behind his back.
During one of their breaks between classes, when Chan's opened his arms and stared at him with his puppy eyes, Jeonghan hasn't thought twice before bending down and let a pair of tiny hands wrapped around the back of his neck until the string of the blue apron he was wearing was detached by another pair of small fingers.
In his back, Soonyoung stared at them with arms crossed in front of his chest and brows furrowed before saying:
"Stop clinging unto Jeonghan hyung all the time!"
Chan pouted and for once bickered back, probably due to the adult's presence:
"Jeonghan hyung is not yours!"
"He is not yours either" Soonyoung rised his voice now as well.
Before he could stop the two, the noise attracted the attention of the other children who all join in and seem has their little words to add as well.
Pinky was the first to yelled out: "Jeonghan hyung is mine! He said will marry me when I grow when we played house yesterday."
Alright, he definitely didn't expect his harmless promise would backfire this quickly.
"No, he'll marry me!" argued back Minhyuk, one hand holding unto the corner of his shirt, the other hand holding his friend Jooheon.
"He is not yours! At least he is my uncle!" Soonyoung continued on to quarrel with Chan
Chan's cheeks grew bright red, looking angry that his little brain couldn't find the best comeback but eventually yelled out "He is also my dad's boyfriend! They kissed!"
"Oh my" Jooyeon who was looking after the kids with him brought a hand to her mouth and chuckled with an amused grin: "Woo, that's an interesting revelation"
Jeonghan's face was flushed bright red and felt light headed. Juggling between trying to quiet down the children and figuring out how in the world Chan found out on top of brainstorming as fast as possible to make up an excuse to his coworker.
Seeing how flustered the other was Jooyeon gave a pat on his back and clarified:
"Relax, there is no rule that forbids teachers to date parents" before blinking playfully "but I got to say Mr.Choi is quite a handsome one"
"It's not what you think!" the long haired male desperately tried to convince her, and repeated endlessly to the soon to know entire school staff because of her talkative nature (better known as her big mouth), yet nobody really believed him.
After that scene that drained all his energy the other day, Jeonghan gave up of trying to make the two friends and let them be as long as he made Soonyoung promise to tone down on his mocking attitude and stop initiating fights with the younger.
The days went on peacefully for a while without more scenes until one afternoon.
They were at the park two blocks away from the kindergarten to let the children breath some fresh air and Chan was playing by himself in the sand building castles and towers until a shadow obscured his view. When he raised his eyes in confusion, a taller and older kid he never saw before was staring at him and has snatched the pink plastic shovel the younger was holding unto without any words.
His lips were already trembling dangerously, yet he remembered that Jeongahan hyung told him to be strong and share with others and said with his small voice:
"We can play together, but you have to share"
"No!" The other kid shook his head and bend down starting to dig "I want to play by myself"
Chan stood up as well and tried to take it back as the other continuously shoved his hand away.
In the middle of their tugging war, another pair of small legs ran towards them and Soonyoung asked furrowing his brows to the taller child rising his chest defensively:
"What are you doing with my dongsaeng?"
"He took Channie's shovel" Chan replied pointing towards the pink object the other was holding. "And he don't share."
Soonyoung turned towards the elder opening his palm and ordered: "Give it back!"
Yet the other kid yelled a loud "No!" before pushing both of them down and kicked sand unto them preventing them from approaching any closer.
Chan broke into a loud cry as Soonyoung tried to cover both of their faces with his palms and yelling him to stop.
Fortunately, a teacher noticed their cry in no time and rushed in their direction.
The older kid quickly threw the toy back at Chan and ran away once he heard an adult approaching them.
As soon as he was close enough, Jeonghan's gaze immediately landed on the puffy and blood shot eyes of Chan that the toddler was furiously scratching and the bawling almost broke his heart.
He lift the younger in his arms and examined closely his eyes before asking:
"Channie What happened?"
Between sobs and hiccups, the younger replied:
"Meanie kicked sand in my eyes"
After blowing into them for a few minutes, Jeonghan shifted his glance to the older kid sitting in the sandbox and scolded:
"Kwon Soonyoung! How can you do that? You have gone too far this time! You could have hurt Chan's eyes!" with a furious expression replacing his usual calm and welcoming attitude.
The boy being criticized was on the edge of tears as well yet bite it back, trying to stay strong but said nothing and turned on his back.
As Jeonghan was to open to lecture his nephew again, Chan and said with a small voice
"It is not him, Soonyoung saved me and fight the bad guy."
This statement left the teacher perplexed for a moment and after some difficult explanation due to the small amount of vocabulary the younger had, the misunderstanding was clarified and Jeonghan felt the guilt ravaging him.
"I'm sorry Soonyoungie" apologized the blonde haired male to the still pouting kid back facing him and suggested:
"How about I make it up to you and make you fried chicken tonight, you can even pet Mr.Putter that you have missed so much?"
Many promises later, Soonyoung finally turned around and demanded:
"I want hamburger steak as well and two stories before bed!"
Jeonghan nodded and said:
"Alright, let me tell your mother and Chan's dad so we can go to my home after school."
As Jeonghan expected his nephew to complain at the mention of bring Chan with them, he walked towards the younger and said: "Sorry to call you a baby, you are not a baby, Let's be friend" before reaching his hand forward and as the younger shyly took it and added:
"But you have to call me hyung ok?"
and once the shorter boy nodded, a wide grin spread across his lips from cheek to cheek and soon the latter followed and before Jeonghan knew, both of the children break into laughter.
The blonde male couldn't stop himself from joining as well at how funny the scene was seeing both of them with their previously clean clothes now covered in sands with red puffy eyes laughing together yet the simplicity of happiness and purity on their little faces melted Jeonghan's heart into a puddle of goo reminding him the reason that he chose his profession.
After a quick text message to both of their parent (even though Wonwoo nagged him to call Seungcheol, but Jeonghan couldn't find the courage to hear the latter's voice, not when their situation is still unclear like that), the young teacher arrived home with two excitedly talking preschoolers on his heels.
Soonyoung was the first to rush inside and ran towards the white ball of fur peacefully bathing in the sun laying in the chair.
Chan followed behind and both of them took turns to hug (read: squeeze) Mr.Putter in their arms.
Jeonghan chuckled at the scene and his pet's desperate meowing. After checking one last time that his cat isn't suffocating, he turned inside the kitchen and started preparing the supper demanded by the two little princes who are staying over.
At first Jeonghan was slightly worried that the two toddlers might start arguing again in the course of the evening, yet they got along perfectly and his nephew even helped the younger child tie his apron during dinner and offered him the last piece of fried chicken in the plate (which shocked Jeonghan, since even his most beloved uncle didn't get that kind of treatment!)
As promised, once faces cleaned and tooth brushed, Jeonghan let each one choose a book from his large shelf. Soonyoung chose a story about knights and dragons and Chan has shyly pulled out the book that Jeonghan said was favorite and that the child never seems to grow tired of.
"Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, 'I love you right up to the moon- and back'. Jeonghan closed the book and asked both toddlers: "Did you like it?"
"Did you like it?"
"Yes!" answered back Soonyoung raising his hand up as Chan eagerly nodded with a wide smile.
Jeonghan chuckled at the sight and asked again:
"Then who is someone that you love to the moon and back Soonyoungie?"
"My mom and dad!" the older kid quickly replied happily without hesitation.
"And Channie?"
After a short moment of thinking, Chan answered:
"Daddy..." yet added quietly with a sad voice
"But daddy doesn't love Channie to the moon and back"
Those words made Jeonghan's eyes grew round:
"Why would you say he doesn't love you Channie?"
"He always pick up Chan late and when he is home, he is always too tired to play with me" pouted the child crossing his arms.
"Channie" softly explained Jeonghan "Your dad is so busy because his job needs him, but he does spend time with you whenever he gets a break right?"
Chan thought for a few minutes before saying:
"We went to the aquarium last time and saw a huge shark!" waving his hands around showing how big it was.
Jeonghan continued:
"And he also help protect everyone around us, him and his collegues work very hard to protect me, you, soonyoungie, all of your friends and everyone you love, he is so brave to fight bad guys, shouldn't you be proud of him?"
Chan answered without hesitation this time:
"Yes! Daddy is like a superhero and all the vilains are scared of him"
"See, I am sure he misses you a great deal as well when he can't come home on time or pick up you late.
I can promise there is no better feeling for a daddy or mommy to love and care for their child, and I am sure your daddy feel the same."
Jeonghan grinned seeing the bright expression coming back the younger child who then asked curiously:
"Would you like me if I was your child?"
"Of course" giggled Jeonghan running his fingers through the younger's soft locks and added: "and Soonyoungie too"
The next morning, Lizzy was the first to arrive for Soonyoung. It wasn't until late in the afternoon when Chan was supposed to attend his swimming class that the doorbell rang again and Jeonghan felt his heart suddenly ran up to his throat.
The one that been has disturbing his sleep for the past few weeks, wandering around in his dreams at night was there smiling politely at him, even that simple casual t-shirt looked incredibly good on him.
"Hey"
Jeonghan couldn't bring himself to speak, the words and the questions that has been burning in his tongue for weeks couldn't find its way out. Instead, he just foolishly stood there with his mouth hanging open.
Chan also came to the door once he heard the doorbell and ran towards his father.
Seungcheol carried the child up in this arms and quickly thanked him to which Jeonghan weakly nodded, barely visible.
The pair was about to leave when Jeonghan's body proceeded to act before his mind could think all the way through.
The blonde male startled stared down to his own fingers crawled into into the raven male's white t-shirt.
The latter's gaze was asking him the reason of the sudden stop. The blond male opened and closed his mouth a few time yet no sound escape and he could sense his cheeks burning up as he cursed himself internally why was he making a fool of himself until an idea flashed in his mind before trying to contain himself from stuttering: "I-I forgot a coat at your place, in Chan's room, I'd like to go get it back, if it is alright with you."
The elder crook an brow at his explanation yet nonetheless accepted.
Once assured Chan safely entered the pool, the ride back was silent, even with his favorite singer's song playing through the speaker, the tension was so noticeable that Jeonghan felt like suffocating.
The quietness lasted until the familiar house that he has visited in weeks entered his view.
Seungcheol gallantly opened the passenger seat for him and Jeonghan gulped before walking out.
Once inside, the elder male's eyes scanned around Chan's room and shuffled through the cushions asking:
"Do remember where you left-" when he nearly jumped as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his waist from the back.
Seungcheol felt the younger burring his face unto his back, voice muffled by the material of his shirt:
"Can we talk?"
The raven male let out a quiet sigh but then replied:
"Of course." entangling the younger's arms and guiding him somewhere outside of the room.
Head low, Jeonghan felt his face heating up and the embarrassment slowly come back to him, yet he couldn't chicken out right now.
Once arrived at the balcony with the view on the small garden in the back of the house, the raven opened the window screen and gestured the younger towards on one of the two chaises longues, before coming back after a while with two glasses of golden brown liquid.
"I hope you don't mind rum, there isn't many options in the drink cabinet of a single father." apologized Seungcheol taking a seat on the other chair.
He said nothing more after this, only to stare quietly at the late evening sky fading into a mauve-orange shade, some of the stars has appeared already, as the clouds calmly floated by.
Jeonghan knew the latter was waiting for him to begin, but all thoughts and emotions were tangled into a mess with the latter's alluring and soothing cologne still lingered in his memory racing his heart rate even more. He tried to avoid his gaze to land on those slightly parted lips, reminding him the euphoria of those pressed against his own. The blonde male took a few deep breaths before starting:
"I have thought a lot, for the past few weeks, about that night..." and hurried on as he saw the latter open his mouth:
"I know you have said you don't want to discuss about it anymore, but I really just can't pretend it didn't happen."
Seungcheol looked down and took a large gulp of his drink, and Jeonghan chewed on the inside of his cheeks before asking:
"Why did you do it?" his fingers inconsciently brushing over his lips.
The raven male sighed again and said defeated robbing his temples:
"To be honest, I don't quite know why, whether it is because I was too tired or you looked just too good to be real, all that said, all that matters is: I didn't mean it to happen, and again, I want to apologize for it, I shouldn't have done it-"
"But you did! You did kiss me!" Jeonghan abruptly cut in, finally spitting the word that suddenly has became taboo between them and shook his head "I don't want your apologies... have you thought that, maybe, maybe I didn't hate the kiss, Seungcheol?"
The elder male eyed him a knowing look that pleaded him to swallow his next words,
but the adrenaline got the best of him and before he knew, those words that has rolled around the tip of his tongue since forever escaped:
"Have you thought that maybe I love you?"
The night has fallen and the darkness has casted a deep shadow unto their figures yet neither of them bothered to turn on the light, or even noticed, too immersed into their own world where there seems to be sorely the two of them,
Seungcheol reached forward grabbing the younger's hand and stroke it as he said, eyes luring in the starlight:
"You are still young, very young compare to me, you still have lots of time to look around for nice men or women around your age that share your passions and your interests. There is still so much in this world for you to see, at your age, you will crave thrill, adventure, stuff that gives you adrenaline rushes, and all those that I can't give you. Jeonghan, I am already thirty, and I have a son. Do you seriously think we could work it out?"
"But ten years in not that much" Jeonghan defended "And in love, ages don't matter"
Seungcheol cracked a chuckle at that reply "Just saying that proves my point, how young and naive you are"
"But you like me too, don't you, the young and naive me? Otherwise why would you have kissed me?" Jeonghan replied voice hinted with hope.
The elder male shook his head with an uneasy grin, maybe even a little sad "How confident of you, I admit have been intrigued by you, but I don't date people, men or women, younger than me." and added firmly "There is no exception."
"Then I'll be that exception" Jeonghan concluded eyes shimmering in determination "I am not giving up like this, if I have to chase after you than I would."
The blonde male than stood up and quickly bowed to him before disappearing behind the door.
Seungcheol sat there in the dark, once he heard the front door shut, his gaze trailed on the glass of liquor left untouched, the ice hasn't still fully melted.
From that time on,
Seungcheol has started to contact him again for occasional babysitting and greeted him like usual when he came to drop or pick up Chan.
Their relationship was balancing on a thin line of equilibrium, that nobody dared to cross.
Even though he made some pretty strong-willed declaration on the balcony, Jeonghan has been too flustered and lost to actually do anything.
Truth be said, he has never really had to make the first move on anyone before (to which Wonwoo muttered under his breath that he's lowkey bragging about his looks), and to be honest, his romantic knowledge is pretty much limited to those badly scripted dramas that he watched with Jeonghwa and his mother.
The worst is the fact that he doesn't have anyone that he could rely on.
He could ask Wonwoo who has been especially keen to mock him whenever he can of how cheesy that 'I'll be the exception' sounded, but he knew the younger probably wasn't much of of a charmer either considering how awkward he behave around that hot high school teacher, Minhu or something. Lizzy and Jeonghwa weren't also the best candidates since if they ever knew, then probably his whole family would know it as well the next day. His older cousin Minki might have looked like a tempting option in the beginning, but knowing how protective he can get, the elder would probably fly back from Paris and hire private detective to stalk on his crush.
On top of that, he needed to learn more about Seungcheol, about his likes and dislikes, about what he did in his freetime, and there is only so much he can get out from Chan before it gets suspicious.
Jeonghan ruffled his hair and let out a groan of frustration, as he bangs his head on the table where Chan left his unfinished drawings.
When suddenly someone appeared in his head, that person would definitely know Seungcheol well, probably knows everything about him but would he have the courage to even ask him? Would he even want to help him?
The sudden doorbell disrupted his thoughts, and as the door opened, Jeonghan truly wondered if God can actually hear his prayers.
Jihoon walked in and frowned at the latter dumbly hanging his mouth open, before resting a grocery bag unto the kitchen table and explained nonchalantly: "Seungcheol told me to drop those by, he said the fridge is empty and you have no car to go to the supermarket, I didn't want Chan to starve to death since apparently you told him deliveries are bad for children's growth." before his eyes wandered around for the small child to which Jeonghan quickly clarified:
"Chan is taking a nap right now."
The short male nodded and directed his feet towards the door but Jeonghan quickly stopped him in the way with pleading eyes.
"Can I ask you something?"
He took the silence as a green light and grabbed a notepad out of his apron before listing:
"Can you tell me what Seungcheol like to do in his freetime, like any pastimes? Also what kind of movies does he like? What kind of desserts does he like? And what kind-"
"Why do you think I would tell you?" Jihoon cut him coldly, with an expressionless face.
A blush creped unto Jeonghan's cheeks as he lowered his head with a small voice:
"I thought you might be nice enough to tell me."
"I don't like you" stated the shorter male bluntly "Seungcheol doesn't need his heart to be hurt twice like that."
"I won't do that" frowned the blonde male and précised "I won't hurt him"
Jihoon replied with a mocking scoff: "You can say that now, and why are you interested in him anyway? it is because he is rich, isn't it?"
"Why do you have to believe the worst in people? And I don't want his money at all!" Jeonghan defended, suddenly frustrated as well "You don't even know me"
"I have heard enough about you and how Seungcheol feel about you to know you are very potential to become another him."
"Who's him?" the blonde male was dumbfounded by such a sudden mention.
"You really know anything do you?" Jihoon shook his head in defeat and bite his lips a few times as if he was debating whether to tell or not, before he sat down on the tall kitchen chair and sighed: "Might as well tell you right now, so you can give up faster and leave his life back to normal."
Jeonghan imitated the latter taking a seat and waited patiently for him to begin:
"Two years ago, Seungcheol met a boy around your age who was still in college. His name was Dooyoung. I have never seen Seungcheol love someone so much before and they were the epitome of happy couple envied by everyone. Dooyoung seemed so lovely and kind as well and even got along well with Chan who was can be quite difficult sometime since he was a shy child that rarely opened up to others. Seungcheol was about to propose to him when he ran into Dooyoung with another man, in his house doing all things imaginable. It almost destroyed him, but he had to get himself together because he still has Chan to take care of."
Jeonghan felt his heart dropped even further with the next sentence,
"When Seungcheol questioned him why Dooyong did all this, you know what he said? Because he quickly got bored of his routine and monotonous way of living but didn't want to let go such an easily accessible open bank account."
"Does it sound familiar? What makes you think you won't become a second Dooyoung?" asked Jihoon, staring him intensely in the eyes.
Yet to his slight surprise, Jeonghan though shaken by his story, still fiercely alleged staring back with the intensity:
"Because I am not Dooyoung and I am truly fond of him and Chan, not because of money or power, but for who they are, and that I believe Seungcheol deserves to be happier than anyone else."
The blonde male then pouted:
"At least give me a chance, I'll prove you wrong, prove to you that I'll love him more than he loves me"
Jihoon frowned yet said nothing, instead he turned on his heels towards the exit again
and just as Jeonghan was about to wave him goodbye, the latter mumbled:
"Cherry pie"
"What?"
"It's his favorite dessert "
Chan proudly presented his father a colorful poster in front of his face as soon as he came back.
"What is that for?" curiously asked Seungcheol starting to read the piece of paper.
"It is the upcoming school festival!" answered excitedly Chan as his eyes stared at Jeonghan coming out of the kitchen with a batch of freshly baked cookies.
"Ohhhh, what are you going to do then?" The father grabbed Chan and threw him in the air playing airplane making the child giggle in the process.
"Soonyoung and him have prepared a dance number," replied Jeonghan setting the plate down and handing a cookie towards the small kid still in his father's arms.
Indeed, Soonyoung and Chan's friendship has grown incredibly and the older kid has started to teach the younger dances he learnt in America before. Together with Jun and Minghao, they even formed a dance little crew. Chan has also developed an obsession that neither Jeonghan and Seungcheol would have saw it coming.
"Soonyoung hyung said I can do Michael Jackson in my number!" announced happily Chan towards his dad. In fact, Jeonghan was pretty sure that 'Michael Jackson' has became almost became the third most said word after 'daddy' and 'Jeonghan hyung' in that toddler's vocabulary.
After showing them the moves he has prepared, Chan turned towards Jeonghan once his stomach growled and asked: "Jeonghan hyung, what are we eating?"
"We are having Kimchi Chigae!" smiled back the blonde male, as his peripheral view lands a slight surprised yet pleased look from Mr.raven haired's face.
Thanks to Jihoon who reluctantly gave him a few hints about Seungcheol's preference for all kinds of things, Jeonghan has so far been successfully at least to stay true to his words in term of chasing after Seungcheol ( or more like his stomach).Jeonghan has never felt a greater accomplishment than seeing Chan and Seungcheol's eyes light up and devour all the food he prepares for them. It was silly, but each time Seungcheol praised his cooking or smiled gratefully towards him, Jeonghan felt he was a little closer to wining his heart. As long as he continues to work hard, he will eventually get Seungcheol to love him back, right?
The school festival happened on a gorgeous summer day. The sun was shining brightly, and a small breeze that gave a small touch of freshness well needed towards the hard working teachers preparing since the early morning. Jeonghan placed the last piece of the scene into place before wiping the back of his hand his sweating forehead. Jooyeon threw him a can of cooled soda before whining and stretching her tired limbs: "Finally done. Who'd thought it'd be so tiring to organize a show just for toddlers? Thank god I am not teaching at a higher level"
Jungah approached them and offered:
"By the way, Raina wanted to let you guys know they are making pastries for the small cafe she organized in her classroom, so don't forget to go grab some at the end of your shift."
"What kind of pastries?" Wonwoo who has never had a sweet tooth feigned interest resting his head on Jeonghan's shoulder.
"She said stuffs like chocolate cupcake, cookies, muffins..." Jungah listed on "and cherry pie I believe"
Jeonghan's eyes automatically shift towards her because despite his amazing cooking skills, he never knew how to make a pie.
His mind wandered towards it wondering if he could ask Raina after this to teach him someday.
The parents filled the seats in front of the open stage set up for the day, there was so many people that the kids themselves had a hard time finding their parents with their eyes from the backstage, but Jeonghan's eyes were glued on the well built figure in a form fitting suit from the moment he stepped in.
Yet he didn't have time to admire the perfection created by God before he got called back to prepare for the starting.
Seungkwan has proclaimed himself to be the MC of the show along with Seokmin, because they kept on arguing over it ever since the notice was out and trying to show Jeonghan their talent, transforming most of his classes as funny talk shows (as Jeonghan didn't find them not so funny anymore at the end) so he had to make them co-MCs to solve the issue.
Most of the classes chose to perform one number, but since his class was all full of talented (read: hyperactive) kids, Jeonghan had to be in charge of three numbers.
Once Pinky, Nayoung and some other classmates finished their play of snow white, it was the turn of Chan who was slightly nervous but Jeonghan did his best to reassure him he'll do great.
And indeed the small dance unit finished their performance with a loud around of applause and Jeonghan couldn't help but grin and be proud that Chan overcame his shyness and was excitedly waving at his father.
At the end, their class finished their show with a choir of twinkle twinkle little star in which Seungkwan and Seokmin had each a solo part (since Jeonghan learnt the hard way that if you give one something, you better get the other one as well) and Jooheon and Hansol (or Vernon as he called himself because it's "cool") added a rap part to which Jeonghan didn't had a heart to refuse. Fortunately, his worries vanished hearing the positive response from the audience.
Once the show ended, Jeonghan directed towards well the parents sat moments before and after being greeted by numerous parents of children of his class thanking him for his good work, he finally reached the one he was searching for in particular, and asked shyly:
"How was it?"
"It was very entertaining" smiled sincerely Seungcheol "Congratulation for such a great show. You did a wonderful job."
Though he received many compliments, this was the one that made his heart fluttered the most.
Jeonghan tried to calm down by changing the subject :
"Are you going to stay or you have to go back to work?"
"I got a full day break, Chan told me he wanted to show me the school and play a few games that they set up, so I'd be probably following him around"
"Do you want to have dinner together?" asked nervously Jeonghan playing with the corner of his shirt "There is still some pork that I left in your fridge and I was thinking we could have samgyeopsal..."
"Sure" answered warmly Seungcheol "I'd be around, text me when you are done and we can go home together."
The mention of "home" made Jeonghan warm inside, and brightened up his day. He quickly waved at the elder before rushing towards Jooyeon that just called him.
Seungcheol's gaze lingered behind Jeonghan's figure slowly disappearing in his field of view, when suddenly a familiar female voice called him:
"Seungcheol?"
Jeonghan was happily humming as he handed out to plastic plates parents at the end of the cafe's line.
His colleagues all noticed his sudden change of behavior, and Jooyeon was the first to tease him,
"What made our Jeonghanie of such a good mood all of a sudden?"
"Don't ask such an obvious question," smirked Raina "It has to be a certain Mr.Choi isn't it?"
"Nop" Jeonghan tried to fake a serious expression, but his wide grin gave it away
"Ohhh, then who are you keeping that for?" asked Jungah wiggling her brows slyly point towards the best piece of cherry pie he especially asked Raina to keep aside for him.
"Myself" shrugged Jeonghan flashing them a even brighter smile.
At the third call with still no response, Jeonghan finally hang out up and set his phone down. The festival has reached its end and he has been trying to contact Seungcheol for a good half an hour now. After begging Jooyeon to fill in for the rest of his shift, Jeonghan decided to look for the raven haired male himself grabbing the piece of pie he packed previously.
He searched around the main events and classrooms for a while with no success, and went on to check the gym as well knowing Chan met wanted to his father this corner of the kindergarten,
As he took the short cut by passing from the small well hidden garden on the back of the school,
someone caught his attention.
It was a couple, more precisely, a man and a woman. The man was back facing him and from their proximity the woman's fluttering eyelashes with her eyes shut,
he could tell they were kissing.
And no matter how much he wanted to hypnotize himself that the man in front of his eyes is a stranger,
his heart knew better it was none other than Seungcheol wrapping his arms around the woman.
The paper bag he was holding slide from his fingers into the cold ground,
Jeonghan's lips curved into a self mocking smile,
Maybe he was too confident,
Maybe Seungcheol really doesn't love him, not at all.