"So I'm assuming everything is sorted between you and Minhyuk, then?" Hoseok's mother asked, appearing next to Hoseok with a mug of tea nestled between her two palms.
"Yeah," Hoseok nodded as he watched Hyungwon and Minhyuk play hide-and-seek with the children outside. "It's funny. I found out Minhyuk's had a crush on me for like six years - probably even longer."
Hoseok's mother slapped him upside the head before clicking her tongue.
"Hey, what was that for?" Hoseok whined, rubbing the back of his head to ease the pain.
"For being so oblivious," she answered, focusing her gaze on the children outside. "Everyone could see he was mad about you."
"Wha-!" Hoseok tripped over his own words as he stared at his mother in shock. "You knew too?"
"Everyone did," Hoseok's mother shrugged like it was some simple issue. "I'm pretty sure Hyungwon knew as well."
Hoseok tried to come up with a suitable reply but couldn't, and just huffed as he too turned his attention back to Hyungwon and Minhyuk. Hyungwon now had three kids by his side as he went seeking out the others and Minhyuk.
"What's Minhyuk doing here anyway?" His mother asked, pausing to take a sip of her tea.
"He didn't have anything to today and also he's great with kids. You should employ him," Hoseok lied, despite only half of that being a lie.
He still wouldn't tell his mother about Minhyuk secretly hating Hyungwon and coming here to make things right between them.
"Give me a break," she muttered and walked off, leaving Hoseok to chuckle at his attitude before he heard someone exclaim out in pain from outside.
Turning his attention back to the game of hide-and-seek, Hoseok saw Hyungwon laying on the concrete ground with a hoard of children on top of him. Remembering the injuries Hyungwon had sustained from two days ago, Hoseok made quick work of rushing to Hyungwon's side to ensure they wouldn't get worse.
"Hey, hey, come on; that's not how you play hide and seek!" Hoseok clapped to get the children's attention before tilting his head to the side. "Come on, off of him."
The children did as they were told. Although Hoseok was the goofy kind of silly teaching assistant, he still knew how to be firm when he needed to be. And the children respected him a lot for that.
Once the children had climbed off of Hyungwon, Hoseok extended an arm out to his boyfriend and helped him up off of the ground, not-so-subtly snickering at the dirt covering his clothes.
"Thanks," Hyungwon said simply before leaning in and quickly kissing Hoseok, to which all the children - plus Minhyuk - showed their distaste for.
"Ew, aren't they disgusting?" Minhyuk teased, laughing as the other children all made sounds of mock disgust.
Hoseok searched Minhyuk's face for any signs of pain and when he found none, he smiled at his best friend. Minhyuk really was happy for Hoseok, and he was glad that he still had a best friend after all the shit he pulled.
Minhyuk sure was one lucky guy.
~*~
chapters are getting shorter because the book is nearly finished lol