ROUND 01: GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT (EVERYTHING YOU NEED) (PROMPT #34) PT. 1
Title: Give You Everything You Want (Everything You Need)
Pairing: Sehun/Jongin. Slightly implied Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Rating: R
Word Count: 17,300 w.
Warnings: None.
Summary: When Sehun moved to a little town far from everything he'd ever known, he wasn't expecting get feelings for anyone. Even less for his daughter's annoyingly perfect kindergarten teacher.
Prompt #: 34
A/N: Thank you for this beautifully fluffy prompt! I hope I was able to make justice to it. Please enjoy! (Also, sekai with kids will be the death of me).
Part 2. This is Part 1.
Give you everything you want (everything you need)
For the thousandth time since he'd packed their whole lives into the back of a moving truck, Sehun wondered if he'd made the right choice.
It had seemed so at the time, the idea of a new beginning, a new job and a new house, sounded like everything he could ever need.
But now, after driving for hours away from everything and everyone they knew, Sehun wasn't so sure anymore.
Sora was asleep in the back seat, plushie puppy still tucked tightly against her side. Saying goodbye to their house had been hard on the two of them, but the just-turned four-year-old had been extremely supportive, even if he knew the idea of living somewhere else made her nervous.
He was doing it for her, after all. How could he say no when they offered him a transfer if that meant he'd have more free time to spend with his little girl?
Salty humidity hit him as soon as he stepped out of the car, making him grimace. Sehun wasn't particularly pleased with the idea of living by the seaside, and the constant stickiness, even when it was so cold outside everything seemed on the verge of freezing, was just the beginning of it.
"Sora, baby," he unbuckled her seatbelt, pushing her hair away from her face when she stirred, "Come on. Don't you wanna see the new house?"
That seemed to do the job. Blearily, she opened her huge chocolate eyes, so alike her mother's, and blinked with interest.
"We're here?" she slurred, holding her puppy close to her chest.
"Yep. Slept well?"
Sora nodded, raising her arms in a wordless request for him to pick her up.
It was moments like this that Sehun liked the best, when she was sleepy and cuddly and still his baby.
It wasn't easy to open the door while trying to carry both his daughter and the few bags they had with them, but somehow he managed.
Inside, everything was... well, empty. Not a single piece of furniture, not a single nail in the walls. Just dust. And sand. Great.
The moving company wouldn't get there for a couple of days, hopefully less, but Sehun had learnt long ago that with those kinds of things hoping for the best rarely worked.
Sora, who was now not only awake, but squirming in his arms, demanded to be put down, immediately running into the rooms, only to come back a few moments later, face dirtied with dust and a small, hesitant smile on her lips.
That was enough for Sehun.
~~~~~
"Don't worry daddy. I can stay with you if the dark makes you sad," Sora explained as she settled her purple backpack in Sehun's inflatable mattress.
Sehun nodded seriously, suppressing a smile as he thanked her for being so thoughtful.
The next couple of days were hectic. Surprisingly, the moving company had arrived with their stuff when they said they would, and Sehun (with Sora's help, of course) got down to work. He still had almost a week until he had to start his new job, and he knew that he'd be way too tired afterwards to finish setting everything.
By the third night, all of which his daughter had spent in his bed, refusing to leave her dad to battle his fear of the dark on his own, the house was already looking livable.
There was one thing that worried Sehun, though. Sora would have to start in a new kindergarten soon. He'd done his research the best he could, finally picking what seemed like the nicest school around, small and apparently perfect. School had started months ago, but with the craziness that was moving in and everything; he hadn't really had the chance to worry about it.
Over the phone, he'd been promised an interview with the principal whenever he could make his way there, but every time he even tried to approach the subject with his daughter, she'd close off, getting teary-eyed at best and full-out-sobbing at worst.
The idea of leaving the most precious being in his life somewhere unknown by herself didn't settle well in Sehun's stomach either. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd be treated nicely, or if her classmates would be mean to her. God knows toddlers can say the most hurtful things. They had before.
Sora was worried about it too.
"They'll make fun of me because I don't have a mum," she'd mumbled late one night, right before falling asleep.
They'd talked about this many times before. She was aware that they didn't know what they were talking about, and that she had to ignore them until they went away. If they didn't, she could always tell a teacher, Sehun had reasoned. Still, being used to it didn't make things any easier, not for Sora, not for him.
She'd never been an extremely energetic kid, quieter and more reserved that children her age, more mature. Sehun was one of the few people with who she could really act like the child she was, which was really an issue considering she'd spent most of her day away at school.
He got her, he really did. After all, she had inherited the lack of social skills and underlying anxiety from him, but it wasn't as if Sehun had a choice either. The hospital administration needed him by Monday, all the neglected files and stuff he'd been hired to take care of waiting for him.
With that thought, early Friday morning they made their way to the kindergartner. Sora had eventually come around the idea of going there, but she was unusually quiet, even for her standards.
'The Oak' looked like every single kindergartner Sehun had seen. The sunlight bounced off the walls filled with hundreds of drawings and bright colors, making everything look nice and shiny, but cozy nonetheless. Sora seemed to like it, too, her hold on his hand loosening minimally.
"Hi! Can I help you?"
Sehun was startled when a kind-looking man approached them, carrying a box of what looked like painting utensils almost as big as Sora. He settled it on the floor before waving at her, smile brightening when she waved back.
"Uhm. I'm... Oh Sehun? This is my daughter Sora. I-"
"Oh right Sehun! I'm Byun Baekhyun, we spoke on the phone the other day. You're here to see the Principal, right?"
"Yes. I mean. If he's not busy. I wouldn't want to-"
"Of course he's not! Principal Yixing loves meeting new students. Here, let me take you to his office."
Principal Yixing was, indeed, extremely pleased to see them. For a moment, Sehun felt as if he'd stepped into an alternative dimension, where everyone was nice and pretty and smiled too brightly. And had dimples.
On their way out, after signing all the paperwork and being showed around by the Principal, Baekhyun bid them goodbye, smile as bright as ever and clothes with a considerable amount of paint on them.
~~~~~
"Hi Sora. Nice to see you here."
Once again, Baekhyun was the one to meet them first that Monday, way too smiley considering the sun was barely out yet.
Sehun looked at his daughter. She looked a lot more relaxed than what she had for the past weeks, her mood improving exponentially after their visit last Friday.
That didn't mean he wasn't skeptical about leaving her there, expecting to get a call from the school sometime throughout that day to let him know that she wouldn't stop crying. The thought almost made him cry himself.
Baekhyun was still talking to Sora, all smiles and enthusiasm, when a taller man carrying a guitar came into the front hall from the special classrooms.
"Tell me, Sora. Do you like music?" Baekhyun asked, grinning when she nodded with a shy smile of her own, "Great!"
"Yeol!" he called out, making the man with the guitar jump a little before turning to them and waving.
"Hey!"
Sehun had definitely entered a different dimension. There was no way everyone in that town smiled like that.
"Yeol, this is Sora, and her dad Sehun. Sora likes music," Baekhyun sent a meaningful look his way, which didn't go missed.
After a polite shake of hands with Sehun, 'Yeol' crouched to Sora's height.
"So, you like music, huh? I'm Chanyeol, the music teacher. Baek and I were just about to go make instruments out of bottles and stuff like that. Would you like to come?"
Sora nodded once again, letting go of Sehun's hand as Chanyeol's offered his.
Sehun was left dumbstruck, staring at her until they left from where they'd come.
"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine, I promise," Baekhyun smiled reassuringly, "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have plastic instruments to make."
~~~~~
It didn't take long for Sehun to miss his daughter. It was stupid, he knew just as much. But that didn't make it more bearable.
Working in the administration side of one hospital wasn't much different than working on another. By midday he had his small office settled down, and, despite not being hungry, he made his way to the cafeteria.
Zitao, the nurse that had been in charge of showing him around when he got there and with who he'd instantly hit it off, chuckled at him.
"It has been like what, three, four hours since you last saw her? You're making me nervous and I don't get nervous. Ever."
Sehun huffed, "I'm just worried about her, that's all."
"Of course you are. She's your baby. I get it. But you have to let her go, you know? I'm sure she's having fun."
"What if she's not? What if she's scared and crying and alone and I'm not there?"
Zitao smiled at him, patting his arm before turning back to his food. He had it bad.
~~~~~
Sehun had come to the realization that there were few times in his daily life when he felt as uncomfortable and out of place as he did surrounded by dozens of middle age women waiting to pick up their children.
They were smiling, too, and it was honestly kind of freaking Sehun out a little bit.
He'd been the center of unwanted attention since he'd gotten there, all those women fussing over him, asking about Sora, his new job, his new house, whether he had enough food for the week, whether he needed the number of a really great gardener. It was suffocating.
It hadn't been that bad back in the city. There, people didn't really seem to care that he was so young, or that he was raising his daughter on his own.
But this wasn't the city any more, and he should have expected the weird looks.
It wasn't that bad, after all. Just... condescending. As usual. Sometimes, grown people could be mean too. They didn't understand either.
He felt his nerves increasing steadily every moment closer to the end of the school day.
Then, one by one, the children began to leave the classroom, getting together in the front hall for their parents to pick up. Most of them looked like a rainbow had thrown up on them, paint everywhere, from their hair to their shoe soles.
Sehun frowned. Sora wasn't one for getting dirty, usually too worried about things being nice and clean to do so. Another thing she'd gotten from him, he guessed.
That's why, when a tiny girl with purple paint all over her face and fingers ran to him, it took him a moment to recognize her as his baby.
"Daddy!" she hugged his legs, forgetting about the paint until it was too late. "Ups," she tried rubbing the paint off, only managing to make everything worse, "Sorry."
After a moment of shock, and, afterwards, regret over the stain of his quite new suit, Sehun picked her up, pecking her cheek in one of the only clean spots on her face, "Don't worry about it. Did you have a good time?"
Sora seemed about to launch into a fully detailed description of her day before Baekhyun approached them, looking almost as colorful as the rest of the kids.
"Hey! Sorry to interrupt you, Sora, but I wanted to tell your dad that the paint is washable. And not toxic. And sorry about your suit," he explained, looking sheepish.
Sehun couldn't help but to smile at him a little bit.
"It's fine, seriously," Sora called his attention back to herself, "Thank you. See you tomorrow."
"Sure. Bye, Sora!"
~~~~~
It wasn't until she was seated in her car chair, everything protected from the paint as much as Sehun could, that Sora had the chance to speak again.
"It was great daddy! First Yeol and Baek and I made instruments. Did you know you can cut a bottle and it sounds nice if you blow on it? I didn't but it really does. And then the other kids came and I was nervous but they were okay. Chanyeol played a song and then we learnt the words for it and then we played the bottles that sounded nice. And then we went to another classroom and Jonginnie and I painted and he drew his puppies and they were so pretty! Daddy, can I have a puppy?"
Sehun, who'd been following the story as much as he possibly could, almost lost control of the car.
"What?"
"A puppy. Can I have a puppy? But home you said I couldn't 'cos we didn't live in a house but now we do so can I have one?"
No. Puppies meant mess. They meant constant care and hair everywhere and teaching them not to destroy their furniture. But he didn't feel like crushing his daughter's dreams yet again.
"We'll see. Now, tell me about this Jonginnie. Is he a new friend?"
Sora giggled, "Nope. He's old."
"What do you mean 'he's old'?"
"I mean he's an adult. A teacher. My teacher. But he doesn't like to be called seonsaengnim so we call him Jonginnie. Kyungsoo-seonsaengnim likes to be called seonsaengnim. He's so cute daddy! His eyes are like" Sehun looked up at the rear view mirror just in time to see her opening her eyes as much as she could, making him chuckle, "And he's so squishy! But he didn't like it when I called him that. His face got weird and he looked a little bit scary."
"It's not nice to talk about people like that, Sora. Even less in front of them," he chided with no heat.
"I know. Jonginnie told me that. But he still smiled when I said it. But I don't think he saw that I saw so it doesn't matter."
"You seem to like this... Jonginnie."
"I do. He's perfect. He's like.... like a prince. But better because he has puppies," Sehun hummed, a little bit ticked off despite himself, "I'm gonna marry him when I grow up!"
Sehun spluttered. This couldn't be happening. He knew it would someday, but he hoped he'd have a couple of years before it came.
"Didn't. Didn't you say he was old?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm despite feeling stupidly upset, "If he's like... like me. That means he's old enough to be your father!"
"That's why I said when I grow up, daddy," Sora said condescendingly, "then I'll be old too and we'll be the same age."
"That's not how it works, baby."
"I'm not a baby anymore, daddy. Babies are little. I'm a girl."
Sehun wasn't going to cry. Nope. Not at all.
At least, not until he was home and on his own.
~~~~~
"How did you say he was called?" Zitao asked before taking a bit of his pizza.
Sehun slumped against his chair, frowning.
"I don't know his real name. Sora only calls him Jonginnie," he stabbed his salad with his fork, "I hate him."
Zitao chuckled at him before stopping suddenly.
"What did you say her kindergartner was called?"
"I didn't. It's 'The Oak' or something like that. Why?"
"Oh man. Your daughter has a crush on Kim Jongin. You're screwed."
"Wait what? You know him?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Sehun, there really isn't a lot of people around here. We tend to know everyone."
Sehun groaned, "At least tell me he's nice so I don't have to go and kill him."
"Of course he's nice. He's more than nice. A prince. And fucking sex in a stick. Mixed with flowers and puppies. Your daughter has good taste."
"She's four!" Sehun felt like crying again.
"Hey, I'm just saying. I'd totally tap that."
When Zitao's eyes went dreamy, he knew trying to pull his friend back to the conversation would be useless. Not that he would want to, either.
~~~~~
'Jonginnie' became his nemesis after that. He hadn't even met the man yet, but he was positive that he'd despise him the moment he saw him.
How dared that man, who'd only known his daughter for a couple of weeks, steal her heart? Sehun's position as The Best Man in his daughter's life seemed to have been snatched from him by a grown man with the personality of a child who seemed to be doing wonders to his daughter's self-esteem and social anxiety issues. Not like he himself had been trying to do that for years, besides taking care of her since she was born.
He even dreaded asking her about school lately. All he seemed to hear was "Jonginnie this", "Jonginnie that". Not that she didn't mention her other teachers, and sometimes even classmates, once in a while, but it seemed like Jonginnie was the only one that really mattered. And Sehun absolutely hated him.
~~~~~
It was late and he was tired and there were few things he wanted to do less than to go to the supermarket. But they were running low on everything and he tried not to encourage Sora to eat take away, so in the end there was nothing he could do but go.
Sora, on the other side, loved going to the supermarket. Even Sehun had to admit the children section was awesome, with little chairs to seat and read the few books on sale and working toys flashing their lights around.
Still, the whole store was small enough that Sehun didn't worry much about losing her, even on days like this when he was too tired to run around after her.
So, he left her to her own devices and went to do 'grown up stuff', as Sora liked to call it.
Sometimes he couldn't believe he was a grown up. Much less a grown up with a four years old, who paid taxes and owned a house. One who was at the supermarket at seven pm on a Friday because they were running out of essentials like milk or bread.
Or, even more essential, chocolate milk. It was the only thing Sora would drink in the morning, so he'd ended up stoking on it even if the amount of sugar in it made him cringe.
There was only one other person in the aisle where he knew the chocolate milk was. Stretching up to get to the top shelf, a sliver of soft skin peeked from where the guy's shirt rode up. Sehun found his eyes fixed on it, a heat he hadn't felt in quite a lot of time pooling on his stomach. His fingers itched to touch, and he took a deep breath before blinking because timing.
He was left blinking at nothing when the guy stepped down from the tip of his toes, his back turned to Sehun, who shook himself out of his momentary rush of hormones and belatedly remembered what had brought him there.
Right in front of where the guy had been moments ago, the chocolate milk shelf was empty. Mockingly so. Of course.
"Fuck," he muttered. Okay, he told himself. It wasn't such a big deal. The only other store in town was probably closed by now, so he'd either have to drive the twelve miles to the other town really quick or he'd have to handle a moody four years old for 24hs. He wasn't thrill about either of them.
"Are you okay?"
Sehun sighed before turning to the soothing voice, intended on dismissing it with a fake smile and going back to pitying himself until his daughter came looking for him.
Instead, he came face to face to the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen. It wasn't even an exaggeration. Big, chocolate eyes glinted with a hint of amusement, the corners of (very kissable) lips turned upwards.
"What?" Sehun said dumbly, almost kicking himself until he heard a chuckle.
"You cursed," the guy said matter of factly, reminding Sehun of a ten year old threatening to rattle on him with his mother.
"Yeah," he ran a hand through his hair, shaking himself into motion. There was a hot stranger standing in front of him, now wasn't the time to act like an idiot, "They're out of chocolate milk. I need chocolate milk."
Well. Good for not making a fool of himself.
The stranger didn't seem to mind, though, because he raised his hand, holding what seemed to be the very last carton of milk.
"Sorry. Looks like I beat you to it," he smiled teasingly, only seeming happier when Sehun practically whined.
"You're kidding me."
"Nope. I like chocolate milk quite a lot, too."
"It's not for me, actually," Sehun frowned, pouting a little.
"Oh? Who is it for, then? Your girlfriend?" there was genuine curiosity in his voice, maybe even a little bit of flirting.
Sehun snorted, quite unattractively. What the fuck was wrong with him? He used to have game, back in his day. But now he was a 24 years old who flirted over chocolate milk and used expressions like 'back in his day'. Oh, how the tables had turned.
"No, actually-"
"Daddy?" came an all too familiar voice from somewhere on the surrounding aisles.
"Over here," Sehun replied automatically, watching the stranger tilt his head like a confused kid. He was a grown man. He had no right to look that adorable.
"Did you get the chocolate milk already?" he could hear quick footsteps approaching them, and he turned just in time to watch his daughter appear by the end of the aisle, going on and on about how he'd taken too long and she'd gotten bored.
It was then that she lifted her head, blinking at the scene in front of her before breaking into a huge smile, rushing towards them.
It took Sehun a moment to realize she wasn't running towards him, but to the hot stranger. He'd crouched too, a soft smile on his face when she jumped into his arms.
"Jonginnie! Hi! What are you doing here? Are you buying food too? Daddy said we had to come today because we ran out of food, did you run out of food too? Is that chocolate milk? I love chocolate milk!"
Sehun gaped at her, feeling his hands go a little bit numb. So this was 'Jonginnie'? This was the man who'd stolen his daughter's heart? Well. He could say now he knew how. Jonginnie seemed the kind of guy who could steal anyone's heart.
Damn. He hated it when Zitao was right.
This was his nemesis. He was supposed to hate his guts. No one made his little girl happier than him.
And oh, she was happy. 'Jonginnie' was still crouched, gently explaining to her that no, he hadn't ran out of food and yes, that was chocolate milk. He seemed to remember Sehun's presence with that, standing with a sheepish smile that made him look younger.
"Sora? Aren't you going to introduce us?"
His daughter nodded excitedly, jumping in her place a couple of times before taking her dad's hand.
"Jonginnie, this is my daddy. His name is Sehun, but grandma calls him Sehunnie," she squeezed his hand, smiling brightly up at him, "And daddy, this is Jonginnie. I told you about him, right?"
Sehun nodded, albeit distractedly.
"It's actually Jongin," Jongin chirped in, sticking his hand out for Sehun to shake. And, if he let his hand linger in Jongin's warm one, well, nobody could really blame him.
"Sehun."
Jongin giggled, "I know."
"Hi," Sehun smiled back. He had the feeling he'd smiled more in the past ten minutes than the past year. Jongin's effect on him was preoccupying.
"Hi yourself."
It wasn't until Sehun felt a tug in the hand that his daughter was still clasping that he remembered where he was, and, most importantly, who he was with.
"Daddy, can we go now? I'm bored."
Sehun nodded. Sora looked more tired than bored, and if she was asking to be taken home when "her Jonginnie" was there, then she must have been exhausted.
He picked her up, settling her on his side before turning to Jongin.
"We... we better get going. We'll see you on Monday, right, honey?"
Sora nodded, smiling at her teacher before leaning her head in her father's shoulder.
Jongin smiled back, waving as they turned to leave.
"Wait!" Jongin reached their side a moment later, smiling brightly, "Don't forget your chocolate milk," he placed the carton in his cart.
"But-"
"No buts. It looks like you need it more than I do," he nodded towards the already asleep girl in his arms, flashing him a smile and a wink before disappearing from where he came.
~~~~~
Sehun should've known better.
Seriously, he'd known Zitao for almost months now, and yet he fell for a newbie's mistake.
Who even tells the biggest gossip ever about their crush? Nobody in their right mind, that's who.
So, right from the moment he opened the door to find a smiling Zitao, he knew something was up.
"Stop looking at me like that. I'm your best friend and I wanted to meet your baby girl. It's that so weird?"
"Who says you're my best friend?"
"I'm your only friend, Sehun. Now shut up and let me in."
Worst of all, he and Sora had hit it off instantly. Sure, it helped that Zitao had brought the sugariest cookies ever with him, but still. That could be a very dangerous friendship, and if Sehun wanted to keep his dignity intact, he'd have to keep an eye on them.
He'd started to let his guard down when it happened.
"So, Sora. Your dad told me Jongin is your teacher, right?" Zitao had begun.
Sora nodded, glad that his new friend had brought up one of his favorite topics.
"He's really cute, don't you think? And pretty," Zitao took a cookie, waving a dismissive hand at Sehun's murderous glare from where he was perched by the counter.
"He's really really really pretty. Like a prince. But nicer. And fluffier, like his hair. It's really soft and nice to pat. And he likes puppies. And he has puppies. A lot of puppies. Like... ten. And the other day he taught us how to dance like ballerinas, spinning really long without falling. And he's perfect."
It was Zitao's turn to nod. They really did think alike.
"And, tell me. What would you say if your dad and Jonginnie got together?"
Sehun choked on his tea, watching in horror as Sora fixed her smart eyes on him before turning back to Zitao.
"What do you mean with 'got together'? Like being boyfriends?"
"Yep. Exactly like being boyfriends."
"Why would they do that?"
"I don't know. We're just playing. But they'd look nice together, right?"
Sora regarded her dad for a minute, tilting her head in consideration.
"I guess. But I don't want it to happen," she stated before grabbing another cookie.
Something felt wrong in Sehun's chest, and he didn't really want to look into why it did.
"Why not?"
"Because daddy is mine! And Jonginnie is mine too! And if they have each other then they won't have me and I don't want that to happen," she had started to look teary eyed half into her response, Sehun rushing to her side and sitting her in his lap.
"Hey, baby?" Sora was still frowning, but she cuddled closer to her father, "You know I'd always have you, right? Whatever happens, you're the most important person to me, ever. And.... you'd have Jonginnie too, if that ever happened. But it won't, because Zitao here was just playing, okay?"
Sora nodded, offering a small smile before grabbing for another cookie. Sehun held back a sigh. If she kept this up all that sugar would make it impossible to get her to bed.
"So," a guilty-looking Zitao broke the silence, "Who wants to watch a movie?"
~~~~~
Sehun was trying really hard not to panic right now, and failing miserably. It was barely after lunch when he'd gotten the call from Sora's school, an annoyingly vague Yixing asking him if he could please go and pick up Sora. No need to rush, he'd said.
Well, he'd definitely rushed. He'd probably broken a couple of speed limits, too. Everything between the moment he hung up his phone and when he got into the principal's office was quite a blur, honestly.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but somehow the scene in front of him managed to be both better and worse. There wasn't any blood, nobody was screaming, and the police didn't seem to be around, either.
It was just... silence.
Principal Yixing welcomed him with a small smile, attempting to soothe his obvious agitated state as he explained that Sora was fine, at least physically. That didn't make him feel any better.
He led Sehun to a classroom apart from the others, musical instruments lined up on the wall. He could see Baekhyun standing to the side next to Chanyeol, who looked worried and uncomfortable and unlike himself.
Sehun wasn't paying them any attention, though. Because in the middle of the room, in a chair way too small for him, sat Jongin, his little girl huddled in his arms.
He took a tentative step forward, feeling wrong and unsteady, and Jongin finally looked up, waving for him to come closer. It was easy to see Sora was sound asleep from that distance, but that didn't stop Sehun from scanning his daughter's features in search of... something.
She was covered in paint, much like she'd been that first day of school. Her wet lashes and flushed complexion where the only confirmation he needed, and despite knowing literally nothing he felt like crying himself a little bit.
Which was dumb. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen his daughter cry before. She was a four-year-old, for crying out loud. She sometimes cried when she didn't feel like eating her cereal.
But there was something about knowing his daughter had been sad, that she'd had cried enough for the school to call him, about knowing that she'd been by herself, without him by her side, that made everything so much worse.
"What happened?" he asked, his low voice sounding foreign to his own ears. Jongin studied him for a moment before sighing and standing up, carefully transferring the sleeping Sora to his arms.
He was covered in paint too, Sehun noticed as he followed Jongin to another room, one with adult-sized furniture and a coffee-maker. He didn't say anything until Sehun had a cup in front of him, telling him to drink before sitting in front of him.
Sehun felt minimally better after a couple of sips, letting out a long breath, and Jongin seemed to relax a little bit after that, too.
Offering a tentative smile, he studied Sehun's expression.
"Hey. Look at her," he told him, "She's fine. Sad? Sure. But she'll need you to be fine when she wakes up, and right now you look like somebody died. Breathe."
Sehun nodded. She did look fine. He concentrated in her deep, regular breaths, her familiar weight, her warmth. She was there, and she was fine. He nodded again.
"Tell me."
It was Jongin's turn to nod, taking a sip from his mouth.
"Mother's day is in a couple of days, you know."
Right. Sehun felt like banging his head against the table. He settled for closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, only opening them when he didn't feel like punching something anymore.
Jongin took it as a queue to continue.
"We were painting flower pots. Sora's was coming out really nice, with puppies and balloons and literally anything you can imagine," Sehun smiled a little bit at the thought, feeling not so miserable for the first time since the phone call, "And then this kid asked how her mother was like, and she told him she didn't have one. I... I wasn't far from them, and I could've intervened, but Sora was handling it so well I didn't think it'd be necessary. And it wasn't, until another kid said it was impossible to not have a mom," he paused, and for the first time that day Sehun noticed how uncharacteristically tired and sad he looked, "Kids this young, they... repeat what they hear at home. He said that it'd be wrong if she didn't have a mother. That... she'd be wrong."
Sehun felt dread in his stomach, the unsettling feeling like wanting to cry coming back, and he tightened the hold he had in her daughter's sleeping form.
"Sora's really strong, you know. She didn't even blink when Kyungsoo took the boy away. It wasn't until we were taking the flower pots to dry that she came up to me, away from the other kids, and told me she didn't feel well. She started crying as soon as I picked her up, and didn't stop until she fell asleep."
Sehun tried to swallow the lump in his throat, the lukewarm coffee doing little to help.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until Sehun felt more like himself, like talking was no longer impossible.
"It's my fault."
Jongin startled with the sound of his voice, staring at him with those gorgeous intense eyes of his.
"How can it possibly be your fault? You weren't even here."
"Exactly."
"She's safe here, you know. Accidents happen."
When he didn't answer, Jongin sighed, running a hand through his paint-stained hair.
"Can I ask you something? You can not answer if you don't want to," Sehun nodded, feeling the tension of the day start catching up to him, feeling worn out and stiff, "What happened to her mother? I mean, was it... recent? Sora doesn't seem to think about her a lot, but she's a private child, so I can never be sure."
Sehun finished his last sip of cold coffee, thinking his answer. It wasn't the first time someone asked him about it, but it was the first time he actually wanted to answer it. Jongin had that effect in him.
"It isn't. Recent, I mean. She left before Sora was five months old. We were in college, and had only dated for a while so... We tried to make it work until Sora was born. I knew from the moment I set eyes on her that I'd never be able to leave her. But Minhee... She wasn't ready to be a mother. So we decided that she'd leave, and I would stay. That way, everyone got what they wanted. She got her freedom back, and I got my baby girl," Sehun couldn't help but to smile at the memory. Those first few months had been chaotic, and it had taken really long for him to get his life back together, but he wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
"And what about Sora?"
"I don't think Sora remembers her at all, honestly. It's not really something that we talk about a lot, but I try to answer as best as I possibly can every time she asks. She knows about her mother, and she knows how things are now. But still, every year around this time, I get especially careful about this sort of stuff. Kids tend to be mean without meaning to a lot. So, I'd ask her school when they'd be working on the presents and then make her skip school that day. Take her to the park or something. I forgot about it completely this year."
"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier."
"It's okay," Sehun repeated with the hint of a smile, getting one of Jongin's beautiful smiles in return.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" he asked, getting up to place their mugs by the sink.
With a little difficulty, he got up too, maneuvering Sora until she was in a comfortable position again.
"Yeah. We will be."
Jongin smiled again, brushing the hair out of Sora's eyes.
"Come on. I'll walk you to the door. I left Kyungsoo to deal with all the kids by himself, and he won't be happy at all."
It wasn't until they got to the door that Sehun finally remembered what he'd been meaning to tell Jongin since he'd first walked into the music room that afternoon.
"Hey, Jongin?" said man turned to look at him with a questioning smile and an open expression, and Sehun could feel the shift from first-sight 'omg he's so hot' attraction to something that involved feelings. "Thanks. For taking care of her, I mean."
The smile he got in return was blinding.
"My pleasure."
~~~~~
They had been talking almost daily since then. Now Jongin went outside to greet the parents, too, and the self-centered part of Sehun really wanted to believe it had something to do with him.
~~~~~
Sehun's first thought was to outright refuse. Camping trips meant dirt, sleeping on the floor, and bugs. And he wasn't particularly fond of none of those things.
But then, how could he possibly refuse when both Sora and Jongin were giving him the puppy eyes? Which, he could have expected from his daughter, but not so much from Jongin. That was cheating.
The worst thing was that it actually made sense. As Jongin had pointed out, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting Sora go away for a whole weekend, even less so after the incident before Mother's Day. So, it was the natural thing to do to accompany the class to the camping trip, right?
At least, that was what Sehun kept telling himself when he got into the bus with twenty excited four-year-olds, Sora letting go of his hand as soon as she spotted her Jonginnie.
Jongin looked as excited as any of the kids, possibly even more. He was clearly in his element here, and it helped settle some of the nervousness in Sehun.
After Jongin was sure that everyone was seated properly and bucked up, he went to sit beside Sehun in the front row. Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, he flashed a smile at Sehun before turning back to his class.
"Okay, everybody. Who's ready to go camping?"
Sehun couldn't hold back a smile. Maybe that weekend wouldn't be so bad.
~~~~~
The plan was simple enough. Jongin and Kyungsoo would take the kids there by themselves, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol waited at the camping site making sure everything was in order for their arrival. Once there, each of them would have five kids in charge. Sehun's job, as the teacher explained, was just to be there and make sure everyone was having a good time. Maybe even take some pictures to send to the parents later. Apparently, two mothers were going to get there later, but by how Jongin made it sound, that was nothing to be excited about.
The place wasn't even ten minutes away from the school, so there wasn't much time for the kids to get antsy from sitting too long.
Jongin was the first one to hop out of the bus, followed by Sehun and the kids, while Kyungsoo, who'd been the designated driver so far, made sure nobody was left behind.
It was an odyssey to get the kids to sit down in front of their teachers, and by the time the group was finally settled, Sehun was filled with admiration for the teachers who did this every day without dying or killing someone.
Chanyeol, whose level of excitement seemed close to Jongin's, explained
the basic rules. No one could go into the small beach or the forest without an adult, same when they needed to use the toilet. Every couple of hours, they'd call everyone to put on sunscreen and bugs repellent.
When it became obvious that the kids weren't paying attention, the staff decided that it'd be more useful to start making the groups.
As Sora refused to be in any other group but Jongin's, Sehun found himself tagging along with them. Jongin and his daughter flashed similar bright smiles at him, and suddenly everything seemed to be worth it.
It was nice seeing her daughter in her natural habit, too. She wasn't a social butterfly, not really, which was quite expected if you considered Sehun was one of the least socially outgoing adults he'd ever known. But still, she seemed to get on well with all the kids in her group, making sure they could see whatever it was that Jongin was showing them.
By mid-afternoon, when all the groups got back together in the main area, they had already walked around the forest, eaten fruit under a tree, tried to find as many different kinds of leaves as possible and imitated the sound of at least a dozen animals. Sehun had also taken about a hundred photos, swatted at five million mosquitoes and helped put on about two litres of sunscreen.
Some of the kids seemed to be sleepy already, so when Kyungsoo suggested a much needed nap, most of them gladly (and tiredly) followed.
Sora wasn't one of them, though. She looked fresh as a leave, whining when most of her friends left with Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun crouched in front of her, patting her head before telling her he and some of the kids who didn't want to sleep either were going to paint using the leaves they'd found earlier. Her moodiness seemed to be gone as soon as it had come, following Baekhyun with a spring on her step as she rattled about how she was going to paint the ladybug she'd seen that morning.
Sehun was honestly tired enough to follow the other group for a nap, but instead he sat in one of the tables in front of the small building where the kids would be sleeping that night. Using his arms as a pillow, he leaned against the table, closing his eyes for just a moment. Kids were exhausting. Adorable, but exhausting. He loved his daughter to death, but if he could barely keep up with her, keeping up with five equally energetic children was way out of his league.
"Tired already?" came a teasing voice.
Sehun groaned, lifting his head and blinking to adjust his eyes to the sunlight, "Don't mock me. I'm dying."
"Oh, poor you. Will coffee help a little bit? It's good, promise."
Sehun took the cup that was offered to him gratefully, scooting over to leave room for Jongin beside him.
Sehun had to admit he'd spent almost as much time observing Jongin as he had watching the children. There was something amazing about him, something that made Sehun's chest feel warm and sunny. He was obviously his happiest around kids, had an ease to talk to them and make them feel cared that Sehun deep down envied. It became pretty obvious why Sora loved him so much when he first saw the way Jongin got to her eye level, talking to her calmly and as an equal. Jongin was like a child himself in many ways, with his undying enthusiasm for the little things in life and fierce care for everyone that he loved.
Jongin was different around adults all together, looking out of place and uncomfortable whenever someone not close to him was around, what had been unexpected at first but now was something just as Jongin as the bright smile he always had for Sehun. Sehun had to admit he was unusually comfortable around Jongin too, and despite not knowing the reason, he was glad it was like that. In the short few months they'd known each other, every little thing that Sehun found out about him made him want so much more. He hadn't felt like that in forever, wasn't sure if he'd ever had, and if he wasn't so excited he'd be terrified.
"You look kind of red," Jongin commented, making him blink out of his reflexive state, "Did you put on sunscreen too?"
"Shit," Sehun dropped his head back into the table, when he remembered that no, in fact he hadn't. Which, considering that he was white as a sheet and had had to put on sunscreen every time he left the house for as long as he could remember, it was quite stupid. At least he hadn't forgotten to put on Sora's. His daughter was as pale as him, and he'd gone through enough sunburns to know how terrible they were.
"It's okay. We have cold cream inside. I'll make sure to bring out some tonight before bed."
Sehun smiled gratefully, taking another sip of his coffee. He was really hoping it'd be enough to keep him up until nighttime, but he doubted it did. After all, it was Friday, and just because he'd skipped work that morning it didn't mean the tiredness of the whole week wasn't catching up to him.
"Hey, speaking about tonight. Wanna sleep with me?"
Sehun promptly choked on his coffee, watching from the corner of his eye as Jongin turned beet red, shaking his hands in front of him.
"Not- Not like that! I mean in the tent! Do you want to sleep with me in the tent oh my god shut up," Jongin groaned, hiding his burning face in his hands until Sehun's coughs had turned into borderline hysteric laughter.
Sehun nodded, still catching his breath, when the voice at the back of his mind pointed out that in either case he'd have said yes, but he pushed that thought back for later.
"Because Baekhyun and Chanyeol are sharing one and the mothers another and Kyungsoo is staying with the kids so I thought that... Ugh don't make me say it again," he rushed out, skin tone looking somewhat normal again.
"Yes, Jongin. I want to sleep with you. In the tent," he bit his lip to stop the remaining hysterics from making him laugh again, enjoying the way Jongin's cheeks dusted pink again.
"Good."
"Good."
They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, watching the warm wind ruffle the leaves. Summer was coming fast, and in a town so close to the sea everything was becoming increasingly stickier.
Sehun ran a hand through his slightly damp hair, catching sight of the other two accompanying mothers looking at him from inside the building.
"I don't like them."
"Uh? What?" Jongin followed his line of sight, "Yeah, they are..."
"Mean? Nosey? Always acting condescendingly?"
Jongin nodded, "Pretty much. Parent-teacher conferences are not fun at all."
"Well, at least now I know they're not like that just with me. I thought it was a 'young single parent' thing. They wouldn't be the first," Sehun chuckled.
"Sometimes, adults are mean without meaning to, too. But you know not everyone is like that, right?"
Sehun turned to him, gaze sweeping over his features, before breaking into a smile, "I know."
Jongin seemed satisfied, flashing him a smile before jumping to his feet.
"Come on. We should get some sunscreen on you before the kids wake up."
Sehun followed after him, hiding a smirk when he caught the nosey mothers' eyes on them.
~~~~~
That was the last time Sehun was able to sit down and do nothing in the whole evening.
After the kids were up and the ones painting were clean, they sat them for an afternoon snack, handing out juice boxes and cookies and running around making sure the kids were actually eating them.
When everyone was done, they led them outside for the 'Epic Treasure Hunt', as Chanyeol called it. It was both extremely fun and nerve wracking. The kids seemed to be having the time of their lives, following the clues all around the camping site. But for Sehun, having to keep an eye in everyone was making him dizzy. At least Sora was wearing her favorite pink ballerina skirt, so she wasn't exactly hard to keep an eye on.
The sun was already going down by the time the prize was found and divided between the kids.
The skin of Sehun's nose was already hurting a little, so when Kyungsoo asked for help setting up the dinner for the children, he shyly offered himself.
It was nothing fancy, just some pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, but the kids devoured it in record time. Sehun didn't think it was even possible for someone their size to eat that much.
The adults tried to eat something themselves, knowing full well that they'd rarely get another chance to do so, but with twenty kids at their charge, there was seldom a moment without anyone calling for their attention.
Some kids had started dozing off by the time dinner was over, so the teachers directed them outside, helping them put on their jackets before sitting in a wide circle in the park.
Sehun welcomed the cool night air, the sun having set somewhere around dinner. The first few stars had appeared minutes ago, and now the whole sky looked like a blanket of little shiny spots. It was breathtaking, one of the few good things Sehun hadn't managed to get used to from living away from the city and its lights. It was Sora's favorite thing too, her tiny figure sitting with the head thrown back, gaping at how pretty the sky looked.
When Chanyeol started to play his guitar, a soft background melody for the bedtime stories his co-workers were taking turns to tell, Sehun felt all the tension of the day leave his body, leaving him pliant and sleepy.
He wasn't the only one, apparently. Most of the kids looked on the verge of falling asleep when their teachers decided it was enough for the night.
After helping the kids up and leading a couple of groups to the toilet, Sehun helped settle every kid in their respective sleeping bag, making sure they were comfortable. It had been a good idea to get all the kids to sleep together indoors. Easier to keep an eye on, too.
By the time Sehun got to his own sleeping bag, in the coldness of his shared tent, he wasn't tired anymore. In fact, he didn't think he'd been more alert since they'd left for the trip after lunch.
Jongin had been demanded by a couple of wide awake kids, Sora included, so he'd be alone for at least a while. He couldn't help but to be a little bit bitter at the memory of Sora clinging to Jongin's neck, telling him to not worry and go to sleep. That Jonginnie would tell her a story. Not like Sehun had told her bedside stories every day since she was born. Who cared about that? Apparently, not his daughter.
The worst thing was that he couldn't even blame Jongin anymore. It had been easy to do so at the beginning, when he didn't know him and he could easily picture him as an evil guy set on stealing his daughter from him.
But now that he knew Jongin, really knew him, it wasn't a possibility. Deep down Sehun knew it had never been one, but it was different.
Sehun had feelings for Jongin. Maybe not that deep yet, but he could see himself getting there eventually. In that case, it was a good thing Sora liked him so much.
It was the first time since Sora was born that Sehun was seriously considering a relationship, a real, serious one, and he was so freaking scared. He knew he'd take the chance without doubting for a second if Jongin presented it to him. It all felt so natural around him, the light flirting and discussing heavy stuff without feeling that crushing weight in his chest. Sehun wasn't used to it, but he found himself getting addicted to it.
Sehun knew he wasn't exactly an easy person. He was hard to get to know, mostly because of the barriers he'd put around himself throughout the years. He'd never had a lot of friends, Jongdae being his closer one, his college roommate and best friend, the one who'd been there for him when he found out that Minhee was pregnant and when she left. He'd even been the one who babysat Sora a couple of times, practically ordering him to get out and hook up with someone.
Few guys and girls had caught his eyes, but it was fine. Sehun had never been one for one night stands, anyway, and he knew having a daughter so young didn't exactly make him a catch for long term relationships.
So, after a while he'd begun to turn down Jongdae's offers. He was happy that way, liked spending time with his daughter. He'd never been one to dwell on things, and he'd accepted that he'd remain single for the rest of his days long before he commented it to Jongdae. His friend hadn't understood, incredulous at first, frustrated later. How could he not want a relation? It wasn't like Sehun had given up. He wasn't depressed and mopey and grieving something he'd never really had. Far from it, actually. They were fine like they were, just him and Sora. And he didn't see why that had to change.
And then had come Jongin. With his shy demeanor and bright smiles, he'd managed to wove into their lives when Sehun least expected it, not changing anything drastically, but making everything just a bit happier. It freaked Sehun out a little bit, how easily he'd managed to see right through him, to wake feelings he didn't know if he was willing to have anymore.
Even Jongdae had noticed something was up with him in their last weekly Skype session.
"You look happier," he'd simply said, but it had been enough. They'd been friends for too long for Sehun to think his friend didn't know exactly what was going on, the teasing, warm smile on the other side of the screen making him smile, too. He'd tell him some other time. Nothing was rushing them.
Sehun almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the tent's zipper being pulled open. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Jongin approaching.
He waited until he'd zipped the tent close again before speaking in a hushed whisper, not wanting to disturb the peace of the night.
"Is everyone asleep?"
His eyes had gotten used to the darkness, enough for him to see Jongin twitch, startled. He sat in his own sleeping bag, and for the first time Sehun noticed just how small the tent was. He was surprisingly okay with that.
"Yeah. They were pretty tired, so it didn't take that long. Did I wake you?"
Sehun shook his head despite knowing Jongin couldn't see him, "Not really. Couldn't sleep."
Jongin hummed in acknowledgement, "Sora is fine, you know. She was one of the first ones to fall asleep. I checked on her before leaving."
"She isn't usually up this late. I think she wanted to impress you," he heard Jongin chuckle beside him, "Thanks. It's weird not sleeping under the same roof."
He felt Jongin shrug more than he saw it, "You miss her, I get it. I miss my dogs."
Sehun snorted, "Are you seriously comparing my beautiful baby daughter to your dogs?"
"Hey, they are my babies, okay?" he heard Jongin ruffle to his backpack, pulling out a plastic back almost the size of his head, "Want a candy?"
Shuffling to sit up, Sehun watched as he grabbed what looked like a packet of Oreos before opening it and taking one, "How many things do you have in there?"
"I don't know. I went to the grocery store and got one of each."
"Oh god. You're actually twelve," Sehun shook his head, surprised by how fond he sounded.
"Nope. I didn't have money when I was twelve. Now I'm all grown up and it's a perfectly reasonable decision to spend my well-earned salary in sweets. You're just jealous."
"I'm not," he stuck his tongue out, enjoying the way Jongin's eyes turned into half-moons.
"Besides, we are camping! What kind of camping trip would this be if we didn't stay up late eating junk food?"
"I wouldn't actually know. Never been camping."
He didn't need to look at Jongin to know that he was gaping at him, his suspicions confirmed with how high his voice was when he asked, "Really?!"
"Yes. What, you have?"
"All the time!" he flailed around, moving until he was right in front of Sehun, "I have two older sisters, you know, and my dad was afraid they'd drive me crazy. So, a couple of times a year we'd pack our backpacks and get out there for a weekend. It was great," he sighed wistfully.
Sehun could feel himself smiling dumbly, Jongin's eyes glistening so close to him he fought back the urge to reach out and touch him.
"What about you? Why haven't you gone camping before?"
"I hate camping."
"But you're here?" Jongin tilted his head, and Sehun couldn't help but to smile again.
"I love my daughter," he shrugged.
"Can tell," Jongin smiled back, offering him a cookie. This time he took it. How could he say no to that smile?
"I think Sora loves you more than she loves me," Sehun blurted after a moment of silence.
Jongin laughed, reaching into the bag for a packet of sour worms, smile growing even more when Sehun took one.
"You know that's not true."
"I know. But close enough. I used to hate you, you know."
"You did?" there was a teasing tone in his voice, "Why was that?"
"All she ever did was talking about her Jonginnie! She wanted to marry you, okay? How was I supposed to feel?"
"I'm her cool teacher who carries pictures of his puppies and tell her stories. You're her dad that makes her eat her vegetables. Of course she wants to marry me!" he grinned.
"Show off."
"You know you love it," Jongin replied smugly.
Sehun kept his eyes on him as he reached for another sour worm, flashing him a smile on his way back, relishing in the way Jongin's cheeks tinted pink.
"So," Jongin cleared his throat, "You... used to hate me. Not anymore, right?"
Sehun hummed, "I don't know. You know, I usually spend a lot of time voluntarily with people I don't really like," he teased.
"Yeah. Me too."
~~~~~
Pairing: Sehun/Jongin. Slightly implied Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Rating: R
Word Count: 17,300 w.
Warnings: None.
Summary: When Sehun moved to a little town far from everything he'd ever known, he wasn't expecting get feelings for anyone. Even less for his daughter's annoyingly perfect kindergarten teacher.
Prompt #: 34
A/N: Thank you for this beautifully fluffy prompt! I hope I was able to make justice to it. Please enjoy! (Also, sekai with kids will be the death of me).
Part 2. This is Part 1.
Give you everything you want (everything you need)
For the thousandth time since he'd packed their whole lives into the back of a moving truck, Sehun wondered if he'd made the right choice.
It had seemed so at the time, the idea of a new beginning, a new job and a new house, sounded like everything he could ever need.
But now, after driving for hours away from everything and everyone they knew, Sehun wasn't so sure anymore.
Sora was asleep in the back seat, plushie puppy still tucked tightly against her side. Saying goodbye to their house had been hard on the two of them, but the just-turned four-year-old had been extremely supportive, even if he knew the idea of living somewhere else made her nervous.
He was doing it for her, after all. How could he say no when they offered him a transfer if that meant he'd have more free time to spend with his little girl?
Salty humidity hit him as soon as he stepped out of the car, making him grimace. Sehun wasn't particularly pleased with the idea of living by the seaside, and the constant stickiness, even when it was so cold outside everything seemed on the verge of freezing, was just the beginning of it.
"Sora, baby," he unbuckled her seatbelt, pushing her hair away from her face when she stirred, "Come on. Don't you wanna see the new house?"
That seemed to do the job. Blearily, she opened her huge chocolate eyes, so alike her mother's, and blinked with interest.
"We're here?" she slurred, holding her puppy close to her chest.
"Yep. Slept well?"
Sora nodded, raising her arms in a wordless request for him to pick her up.
It was moments like this that Sehun liked the best, when she was sleepy and cuddly and still his baby.
It wasn't easy to open the door while trying to carry both his daughter and the few bags they had with them, but somehow he managed.
Inside, everything was... well, empty. Not a single piece of furniture, not a single nail in the walls. Just dust. And sand. Great.
The moving company wouldn't get there for a couple of days, hopefully less, but Sehun had learnt long ago that with those kinds of things hoping for the best rarely worked.
Sora, who was now not only awake, but squirming in his arms, demanded to be put down, immediately running into the rooms, only to come back a few moments later, face dirtied with dust and a small, hesitant smile on her lips.
That was enough for Sehun.
~~~~~
"Don't worry daddy. I can stay with you if the dark makes you sad," Sora explained as she settled her purple backpack in Sehun's inflatable mattress.
Sehun nodded seriously, suppressing a smile as he thanked her for being so thoughtful.
The next couple of days were hectic. Surprisingly, the moving company had arrived with their stuff when they said they would, and Sehun (with Sora's help, of course) got down to work. He still had almost a week until he had to start his new job, and he knew that he'd be way too tired afterwards to finish setting everything.
By the third night, all of which his daughter had spent in his bed, refusing to leave her dad to battle his fear of the dark on his own, the house was already looking livable.
There was one thing that worried Sehun, though. Sora would have to start in a new kindergarten soon. He'd done his research the best he could, finally picking what seemed like the nicest school around, small and apparently perfect. School had started months ago, but with the craziness that was moving in and everything; he hadn't really had the chance to worry about it.
Over the phone, he'd been promised an interview with the principal whenever he could make his way there, but every time he even tried to approach the subject with his daughter, she'd close off, getting teary-eyed at best and full-out-sobbing at worst.
The idea of leaving the most precious being in his life somewhere unknown by herself didn't settle well in Sehun's stomach either. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd be treated nicely, or if her classmates would be mean to her. God knows toddlers can say the most hurtful things. They had before.
Sora was worried about it too.
"They'll make fun of me because I don't have a mum," she'd mumbled late one night, right before falling asleep.
They'd talked about this many times before. She was aware that they didn't know what they were talking about, and that she had to ignore them until they went away. If they didn't, she could always tell a teacher, Sehun had reasoned. Still, being used to it didn't make things any easier, not for Sora, not for him.
She'd never been an extremely energetic kid, quieter and more reserved that children her age, more mature. Sehun was one of the few people with who she could really act like the child she was, which was really an issue considering she'd spent most of her day away at school.
He got her, he really did. After all, she had inherited the lack of social skills and underlying anxiety from him, but it wasn't as if Sehun had a choice either. The hospital administration needed him by Monday, all the neglected files and stuff he'd been hired to take care of waiting for him.
With that thought, early Friday morning they made their way to the kindergartner. Sora had eventually come around the idea of going there, but she was unusually quiet, even for her standards.
'The Oak' looked like every single kindergartner Sehun had seen. The sunlight bounced off the walls filled with hundreds of drawings and bright colors, making everything look nice and shiny, but cozy nonetheless. Sora seemed to like it, too, her hold on his hand loosening minimally.
"Hi! Can I help you?"
Sehun was startled when a kind-looking man approached them, carrying a box of what looked like painting utensils almost as big as Sora. He settled it on the floor before waving at her, smile brightening when she waved back.
"Uhm. I'm... Oh Sehun? This is my daughter Sora. I-"
"Oh right Sehun! I'm Byun Baekhyun, we spoke on the phone the other day. You're here to see the Principal, right?"
"Yes. I mean. If he's not busy. I wouldn't want to-"
"Of course he's not! Principal Yixing loves meeting new students. Here, let me take you to his office."
Principal Yixing was, indeed, extremely pleased to see them. For a moment, Sehun felt as if he'd stepped into an alternative dimension, where everyone was nice and pretty and smiled too brightly. And had dimples.
On their way out, after signing all the paperwork and being showed around by the Principal, Baekhyun bid them goodbye, smile as bright as ever and clothes with a considerable amount of paint on them.
~~~~~
"Hi Sora. Nice to see you here."
Once again, Baekhyun was the one to meet them first that Monday, way too smiley considering the sun was barely out yet.
Sehun looked at his daughter. She looked a lot more relaxed than what she had for the past weeks, her mood improving exponentially after their visit last Friday.
That didn't mean he wasn't skeptical about leaving her there, expecting to get a call from the school sometime throughout that day to let him know that she wouldn't stop crying. The thought almost made him cry himself.
Baekhyun was still talking to Sora, all smiles and enthusiasm, when a taller man carrying a guitar came into the front hall from the special classrooms.
"Tell me, Sora. Do you like music?" Baekhyun asked, grinning when she nodded with a shy smile of her own, "Great!"
"Yeol!" he called out, making the man with the guitar jump a little before turning to them and waving.
"Hey!"
Sehun had definitely entered a different dimension. There was no way everyone in that town smiled like that.
"Yeol, this is Sora, and her dad Sehun. Sora likes music," Baekhyun sent a meaningful look his way, which didn't go missed.
After a polite shake of hands with Sehun, 'Yeol' crouched to Sora's height.
"So, you like music, huh? I'm Chanyeol, the music teacher. Baek and I were just about to go make instruments out of bottles and stuff like that. Would you like to come?"
Sora nodded once again, letting go of Sehun's hand as Chanyeol's offered his.
Sehun was left dumbstruck, staring at her until they left from where they'd come.
"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine, I promise," Baekhyun smiled reassuringly, "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have plastic instruments to make."
~~~~~
It didn't take long for Sehun to miss his daughter. It was stupid, he knew just as much. But that didn't make it more bearable.
Working in the administration side of one hospital wasn't much different than working on another. By midday he had his small office settled down, and, despite not being hungry, he made his way to the cafeteria.
Zitao, the nurse that had been in charge of showing him around when he got there and with who he'd instantly hit it off, chuckled at him.
"It has been like what, three, four hours since you last saw her? You're making me nervous and I don't get nervous. Ever."
Sehun huffed, "I'm just worried about her, that's all."
"Of course you are. She's your baby. I get it. But you have to let her go, you know? I'm sure she's having fun."
"What if she's not? What if she's scared and crying and alone and I'm not there?"
Zitao smiled at him, patting his arm before turning back to his food. He had it bad.
~~~~~
Sehun had come to the realization that there were few times in his daily life when he felt as uncomfortable and out of place as he did surrounded by dozens of middle age women waiting to pick up their children.
They were smiling, too, and it was honestly kind of freaking Sehun out a little bit.
He'd been the center of unwanted attention since he'd gotten there, all those women fussing over him, asking about Sora, his new job, his new house, whether he had enough food for the week, whether he needed the number of a really great gardener. It was suffocating.
It hadn't been that bad back in the city. There, people didn't really seem to care that he was so young, or that he was raising his daughter on his own.
But this wasn't the city any more, and he should have expected the weird looks.
It wasn't that bad, after all. Just... condescending. As usual. Sometimes, grown people could be mean too. They didn't understand either.
He felt his nerves increasing steadily every moment closer to the end of the school day.
Then, one by one, the children began to leave the classroom, getting together in the front hall for their parents to pick up. Most of them looked like a rainbow had thrown up on them, paint everywhere, from their hair to their shoe soles.
Sehun frowned. Sora wasn't one for getting dirty, usually too worried about things being nice and clean to do so. Another thing she'd gotten from him, he guessed.
That's why, when a tiny girl with purple paint all over her face and fingers ran to him, it took him a moment to recognize her as his baby.
"Daddy!" she hugged his legs, forgetting about the paint until it was too late. "Ups," she tried rubbing the paint off, only managing to make everything worse, "Sorry."
After a moment of shock, and, afterwards, regret over the stain of his quite new suit, Sehun picked her up, pecking her cheek in one of the only clean spots on her face, "Don't worry about it. Did you have a good time?"
Sora seemed about to launch into a fully detailed description of her day before Baekhyun approached them, looking almost as colorful as the rest of the kids.
"Hey! Sorry to interrupt you, Sora, but I wanted to tell your dad that the paint is washable. And not toxic. And sorry about your suit," he explained, looking sheepish.
Sehun couldn't help but to smile at him a little bit.
"It's fine, seriously," Sora called his attention back to herself, "Thank you. See you tomorrow."
"Sure. Bye, Sora!"
~~~~~
It wasn't until she was seated in her car chair, everything protected from the paint as much as Sehun could, that Sora had the chance to speak again.
"It was great daddy! First Yeol and Baek and I made instruments. Did you know you can cut a bottle and it sounds nice if you blow on it? I didn't but it really does. And then the other kids came and I was nervous but they were okay. Chanyeol played a song and then we learnt the words for it and then we played the bottles that sounded nice. And then we went to another classroom and Jonginnie and I painted and he drew his puppies and they were so pretty! Daddy, can I have a puppy?"
Sehun, who'd been following the story as much as he possibly could, almost lost control of the car.
"What?"
"A puppy. Can I have a puppy? But home you said I couldn't 'cos we didn't live in a house but now we do so can I have one?"
No. Puppies meant mess. They meant constant care and hair everywhere and teaching them not to destroy their furniture. But he didn't feel like crushing his daughter's dreams yet again.
"We'll see. Now, tell me about this Jonginnie. Is he a new friend?"
Sora giggled, "Nope. He's old."
"What do you mean 'he's old'?"
"I mean he's an adult. A teacher. My teacher. But he doesn't like to be called seonsaengnim so we call him Jonginnie. Kyungsoo-seonsaengnim likes to be called seonsaengnim. He's so cute daddy! His eyes are like" Sehun looked up at the rear view mirror just in time to see her opening her eyes as much as she could, making him chuckle, "And he's so squishy! But he didn't like it when I called him that. His face got weird and he looked a little bit scary."
"It's not nice to talk about people like that, Sora. Even less in front of them," he chided with no heat.
"I know. Jonginnie told me that. But he still smiled when I said it. But I don't think he saw that I saw so it doesn't matter."
"You seem to like this... Jonginnie."
"I do. He's perfect. He's like.... like a prince. But better because he has puppies," Sehun hummed, a little bit ticked off despite himself, "I'm gonna marry him when I grow up!"
Sehun spluttered. This couldn't be happening. He knew it would someday, but he hoped he'd have a couple of years before it came.
"Didn't. Didn't you say he was old?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm despite feeling stupidly upset, "If he's like... like me. That means he's old enough to be your father!"
"That's why I said when I grow up, daddy," Sora said condescendingly, "then I'll be old too and we'll be the same age."
"That's not how it works, baby."
"I'm not a baby anymore, daddy. Babies are little. I'm a girl."
Sehun wasn't going to cry. Nope. Not at all.
At least, not until he was home and on his own.
~~~~~
"How did you say he was called?" Zitao asked before taking a bit of his pizza.
Sehun slumped against his chair, frowning.
"I don't know his real name. Sora only calls him Jonginnie," he stabbed his salad with his fork, "I hate him."
Zitao chuckled at him before stopping suddenly.
"What did you say her kindergartner was called?"
"I didn't. It's 'The Oak' or something like that. Why?"
"Oh man. Your daughter has a crush on Kim Jongin. You're screwed."
"Wait what? You know him?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Sehun, there really isn't a lot of people around here. We tend to know everyone."
Sehun groaned, "At least tell me he's nice so I don't have to go and kill him."
"Of course he's nice. He's more than nice. A prince. And fucking sex in a stick. Mixed with flowers and puppies. Your daughter has good taste."
"She's four!" Sehun felt like crying again.
"Hey, I'm just saying. I'd totally tap that."
When Zitao's eyes went dreamy, he knew trying to pull his friend back to the conversation would be useless. Not that he would want to, either.
~~~~~
'Jonginnie' became his nemesis after that. He hadn't even met the man yet, but he was positive that he'd despise him the moment he saw him.
How dared that man, who'd only known his daughter for a couple of weeks, steal her heart? Sehun's position as The Best Man in his daughter's life seemed to have been snatched from him by a grown man with the personality of a child who seemed to be doing wonders to his daughter's self-esteem and social anxiety issues. Not like he himself had been trying to do that for years, besides taking care of her since she was born.
He even dreaded asking her about school lately. All he seemed to hear was "Jonginnie this", "Jonginnie that". Not that she didn't mention her other teachers, and sometimes even classmates, once in a while, but it seemed like Jonginnie was the only one that really mattered. And Sehun absolutely hated him.
~~~~~
It was late and he was tired and there were few things he wanted to do less than to go to the supermarket. But they were running low on everything and he tried not to encourage Sora to eat take away, so in the end there was nothing he could do but go.
Sora, on the other side, loved going to the supermarket. Even Sehun had to admit the children section was awesome, with little chairs to seat and read the few books on sale and working toys flashing their lights around.
Still, the whole store was small enough that Sehun didn't worry much about losing her, even on days like this when he was too tired to run around after her.
So, he left her to her own devices and went to do 'grown up stuff', as Sora liked to call it.
Sometimes he couldn't believe he was a grown up. Much less a grown up with a four years old, who paid taxes and owned a house. One who was at the supermarket at seven pm on a Friday because they were running out of essentials like milk or bread.
Or, even more essential, chocolate milk. It was the only thing Sora would drink in the morning, so he'd ended up stoking on it even if the amount of sugar in it made him cringe.
There was only one other person in the aisle where he knew the chocolate milk was. Stretching up to get to the top shelf, a sliver of soft skin peeked from where the guy's shirt rode up. Sehun found his eyes fixed on it, a heat he hadn't felt in quite a lot of time pooling on his stomach. His fingers itched to touch, and he took a deep breath before blinking because timing.
He was left blinking at nothing when the guy stepped down from the tip of his toes, his back turned to Sehun, who shook himself out of his momentary rush of hormones and belatedly remembered what had brought him there.
Right in front of where the guy had been moments ago, the chocolate milk shelf was empty. Mockingly so. Of course.
"Fuck," he muttered. Okay, he told himself. It wasn't such a big deal. The only other store in town was probably closed by now, so he'd either have to drive the twelve miles to the other town really quick or he'd have to handle a moody four years old for 24hs. He wasn't thrill about either of them.
"Are you okay?"
Sehun sighed before turning to the soothing voice, intended on dismissing it with a fake smile and going back to pitying himself until his daughter came looking for him.
Instead, he came face to face to the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen. It wasn't even an exaggeration. Big, chocolate eyes glinted with a hint of amusement, the corners of (very kissable) lips turned upwards.
"What?" Sehun said dumbly, almost kicking himself until he heard a chuckle.
"You cursed," the guy said matter of factly, reminding Sehun of a ten year old threatening to rattle on him with his mother.
"Yeah," he ran a hand through his hair, shaking himself into motion. There was a hot stranger standing in front of him, now wasn't the time to act like an idiot, "They're out of chocolate milk. I need chocolate milk."
Well. Good for not making a fool of himself.
The stranger didn't seem to mind, though, because he raised his hand, holding what seemed to be the very last carton of milk.
"Sorry. Looks like I beat you to it," he smiled teasingly, only seeming happier when Sehun practically whined.
"You're kidding me."
"Nope. I like chocolate milk quite a lot, too."
"It's not for me, actually," Sehun frowned, pouting a little.
"Oh? Who is it for, then? Your girlfriend?" there was genuine curiosity in his voice, maybe even a little bit of flirting.
Sehun snorted, quite unattractively. What the fuck was wrong with him? He used to have game, back in his day. But now he was a 24 years old who flirted over chocolate milk and used expressions like 'back in his day'. Oh, how the tables had turned.
"No, actually-"
"Daddy?" came an all too familiar voice from somewhere on the surrounding aisles.
"Over here," Sehun replied automatically, watching the stranger tilt his head like a confused kid. He was a grown man. He had no right to look that adorable.
"Did you get the chocolate milk already?" he could hear quick footsteps approaching them, and he turned just in time to watch his daughter appear by the end of the aisle, going on and on about how he'd taken too long and she'd gotten bored.
It was then that she lifted her head, blinking at the scene in front of her before breaking into a huge smile, rushing towards them.
It took Sehun a moment to realize she wasn't running towards him, but to the hot stranger. He'd crouched too, a soft smile on his face when she jumped into his arms.
"Jonginnie! Hi! What are you doing here? Are you buying food too? Daddy said we had to come today because we ran out of food, did you run out of food too? Is that chocolate milk? I love chocolate milk!"
Sehun gaped at her, feeling his hands go a little bit numb. So this was 'Jonginnie'? This was the man who'd stolen his daughter's heart? Well. He could say now he knew how. Jonginnie seemed the kind of guy who could steal anyone's heart.
Damn. He hated it when Zitao was right.
This was his nemesis. He was supposed to hate his guts. No one made his little girl happier than him.
And oh, she was happy. 'Jonginnie' was still crouched, gently explaining to her that no, he hadn't ran out of food and yes, that was chocolate milk. He seemed to remember Sehun's presence with that, standing with a sheepish smile that made him look younger.
"Sora? Aren't you going to introduce us?"
His daughter nodded excitedly, jumping in her place a couple of times before taking her dad's hand.
"Jonginnie, this is my daddy. His name is Sehun, but grandma calls him Sehunnie," she squeezed his hand, smiling brightly up at him, "And daddy, this is Jonginnie. I told you about him, right?"
Sehun nodded, albeit distractedly.
"It's actually Jongin," Jongin chirped in, sticking his hand out for Sehun to shake. And, if he let his hand linger in Jongin's warm one, well, nobody could really blame him.
"Sehun."
Jongin giggled, "I know."
"Hi," Sehun smiled back. He had the feeling he'd smiled more in the past ten minutes than the past year. Jongin's effect on him was preoccupying.
"Hi yourself."
It wasn't until Sehun felt a tug in the hand that his daughter was still clasping that he remembered where he was, and, most importantly, who he was with.
"Daddy, can we go now? I'm bored."
Sehun nodded. Sora looked more tired than bored, and if she was asking to be taken home when "her Jonginnie" was there, then she must have been exhausted.
He picked her up, settling her on his side before turning to Jongin.
"We... we better get going. We'll see you on Monday, right, honey?"
Sora nodded, smiling at her teacher before leaning her head in her father's shoulder.
Jongin smiled back, waving as they turned to leave.
"Wait!" Jongin reached their side a moment later, smiling brightly, "Don't forget your chocolate milk," he placed the carton in his cart.
"But-"
"No buts. It looks like you need it more than I do," he nodded towards the already asleep girl in his arms, flashing him a smile and a wink before disappearing from where he came.
~~~~~
Sehun should've known better.
Seriously, he'd known Zitao for almost months now, and yet he fell for a newbie's mistake.
Who even tells the biggest gossip ever about their crush? Nobody in their right mind, that's who.
So, right from the moment he opened the door to find a smiling Zitao, he knew something was up.
"Stop looking at me like that. I'm your best friend and I wanted to meet your baby girl. It's that so weird?"
"Who says you're my best friend?"
"I'm your only friend, Sehun. Now shut up and let me in."
Worst of all, he and Sora had hit it off instantly. Sure, it helped that Zitao had brought the sugariest cookies ever with him, but still. That could be a very dangerous friendship, and if Sehun wanted to keep his dignity intact, he'd have to keep an eye on them.
He'd started to let his guard down when it happened.
"So, Sora. Your dad told me Jongin is your teacher, right?" Zitao had begun.
Sora nodded, glad that his new friend had brought up one of his favorite topics.
"He's really cute, don't you think? And pretty," Zitao took a cookie, waving a dismissive hand at Sehun's murderous glare from where he was perched by the counter.
"He's really really really pretty. Like a prince. But nicer. And fluffier, like his hair. It's really soft and nice to pat. And he likes puppies. And he has puppies. A lot of puppies. Like... ten. And the other day he taught us how to dance like ballerinas, spinning really long without falling. And he's perfect."
It was Zitao's turn to nod. They really did think alike.
"And, tell me. What would you say if your dad and Jonginnie got together?"
Sehun choked on his tea, watching in horror as Sora fixed her smart eyes on him before turning back to Zitao.
"What do you mean with 'got together'? Like being boyfriends?"
"Yep. Exactly like being boyfriends."
"Why would they do that?"
"I don't know. We're just playing. But they'd look nice together, right?"
Sora regarded her dad for a minute, tilting her head in consideration.
"I guess. But I don't want it to happen," she stated before grabbing another cookie.
Something felt wrong in Sehun's chest, and he didn't really want to look into why it did.
"Why not?"
"Because daddy is mine! And Jonginnie is mine too! And if they have each other then they won't have me and I don't want that to happen," she had started to look teary eyed half into her response, Sehun rushing to her side and sitting her in his lap.
"Hey, baby?" Sora was still frowning, but she cuddled closer to her father, "You know I'd always have you, right? Whatever happens, you're the most important person to me, ever. And.... you'd have Jonginnie too, if that ever happened. But it won't, because Zitao here was just playing, okay?"
Sora nodded, offering a small smile before grabbing for another cookie. Sehun held back a sigh. If she kept this up all that sugar would make it impossible to get her to bed.
"So," a guilty-looking Zitao broke the silence, "Who wants to watch a movie?"
~~~~~
Sehun was trying really hard not to panic right now, and failing miserably. It was barely after lunch when he'd gotten the call from Sora's school, an annoyingly vague Yixing asking him if he could please go and pick up Sora. No need to rush, he'd said.
Well, he'd definitely rushed. He'd probably broken a couple of speed limits, too. Everything between the moment he hung up his phone and when he got into the principal's office was quite a blur, honestly.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but somehow the scene in front of him managed to be both better and worse. There wasn't any blood, nobody was screaming, and the police didn't seem to be around, either.
It was just... silence.
Principal Yixing welcomed him with a small smile, attempting to soothe his obvious agitated state as he explained that Sora was fine, at least physically. That didn't make him feel any better.
He led Sehun to a classroom apart from the others, musical instruments lined up on the wall. He could see Baekhyun standing to the side next to Chanyeol, who looked worried and uncomfortable and unlike himself.
Sehun wasn't paying them any attention, though. Because in the middle of the room, in a chair way too small for him, sat Jongin, his little girl huddled in his arms.
He took a tentative step forward, feeling wrong and unsteady, and Jongin finally looked up, waving for him to come closer. It was easy to see Sora was sound asleep from that distance, but that didn't stop Sehun from scanning his daughter's features in search of... something.
She was covered in paint, much like she'd been that first day of school. Her wet lashes and flushed complexion where the only confirmation he needed, and despite knowing literally nothing he felt like crying himself a little bit.
Which was dumb. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen his daughter cry before. She was a four-year-old, for crying out loud. She sometimes cried when she didn't feel like eating her cereal.
But there was something about knowing his daughter had been sad, that she'd had cried enough for the school to call him, about knowing that she'd been by herself, without him by her side, that made everything so much worse.
"What happened?" he asked, his low voice sounding foreign to his own ears. Jongin studied him for a moment before sighing and standing up, carefully transferring the sleeping Sora to his arms.
He was covered in paint too, Sehun noticed as he followed Jongin to another room, one with adult-sized furniture and a coffee-maker. He didn't say anything until Sehun had a cup in front of him, telling him to drink before sitting in front of him.
Sehun felt minimally better after a couple of sips, letting out a long breath, and Jongin seemed to relax a little bit after that, too.
Offering a tentative smile, he studied Sehun's expression.
"Hey. Look at her," he told him, "She's fine. Sad? Sure. But she'll need you to be fine when she wakes up, and right now you look like somebody died. Breathe."
Sehun nodded. She did look fine. He concentrated in her deep, regular breaths, her familiar weight, her warmth. She was there, and she was fine. He nodded again.
"Tell me."
It was Jongin's turn to nod, taking a sip from his mouth.
"Mother's day is in a couple of days, you know."
Right. Sehun felt like banging his head against the table. He settled for closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, only opening them when he didn't feel like punching something anymore.
Jongin took it as a queue to continue.
"We were painting flower pots. Sora's was coming out really nice, with puppies and balloons and literally anything you can imagine," Sehun smiled a little bit at the thought, feeling not so miserable for the first time since the phone call, "And then this kid asked how her mother was like, and she told him she didn't have one. I... I wasn't far from them, and I could've intervened, but Sora was handling it so well I didn't think it'd be necessary. And it wasn't, until another kid said it was impossible to not have a mom," he paused, and for the first time that day Sehun noticed how uncharacteristically tired and sad he looked, "Kids this young, they... repeat what they hear at home. He said that it'd be wrong if she didn't have a mother. That... she'd be wrong."
Sehun felt dread in his stomach, the unsettling feeling like wanting to cry coming back, and he tightened the hold he had in her daughter's sleeping form.
"Sora's really strong, you know. She didn't even blink when Kyungsoo took the boy away. It wasn't until we were taking the flower pots to dry that she came up to me, away from the other kids, and told me she didn't feel well. She started crying as soon as I picked her up, and didn't stop until she fell asleep."
Sehun tried to swallow the lump in his throat, the lukewarm coffee doing little to help.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until Sehun felt more like himself, like talking was no longer impossible.
"It's my fault."
Jongin startled with the sound of his voice, staring at him with those gorgeous intense eyes of his.
"How can it possibly be your fault? You weren't even here."
"Exactly."
"She's safe here, you know. Accidents happen."
When he didn't answer, Jongin sighed, running a hand through his paint-stained hair.
"Can I ask you something? You can not answer if you don't want to," Sehun nodded, feeling the tension of the day start catching up to him, feeling worn out and stiff, "What happened to her mother? I mean, was it... recent? Sora doesn't seem to think about her a lot, but she's a private child, so I can never be sure."
Sehun finished his last sip of cold coffee, thinking his answer. It wasn't the first time someone asked him about it, but it was the first time he actually wanted to answer it. Jongin had that effect in him.
"It isn't. Recent, I mean. She left before Sora was five months old. We were in college, and had only dated for a while so... We tried to make it work until Sora was born. I knew from the moment I set eyes on her that I'd never be able to leave her. But Minhee... She wasn't ready to be a mother. So we decided that she'd leave, and I would stay. That way, everyone got what they wanted. She got her freedom back, and I got my baby girl," Sehun couldn't help but to smile at the memory. Those first few months had been chaotic, and it had taken really long for him to get his life back together, but he wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
"And what about Sora?"
"I don't think Sora remembers her at all, honestly. It's not really something that we talk about a lot, but I try to answer as best as I possibly can every time she asks. She knows about her mother, and she knows how things are now. But still, every year around this time, I get especially careful about this sort of stuff. Kids tend to be mean without meaning to a lot. So, I'd ask her school when they'd be working on the presents and then make her skip school that day. Take her to the park or something. I forgot about it completely this year."
"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier."
"It's okay," Sehun repeated with the hint of a smile, getting one of Jongin's beautiful smiles in return.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" he asked, getting up to place their mugs by the sink.
With a little difficulty, he got up too, maneuvering Sora until she was in a comfortable position again.
"Yeah. We will be."
Jongin smiled again, brushing the hair out of Sora's eyes.
"Come on. I'll walk you to the door. I left Kyungsoo to deal with all the kids by himself, and he won't be happy at all."
It wasn't until they got to the door that Sehun finally remembered what he'd been meaning to tell Jongin since he'd first walked into the music room that afternoon.
"Hey, Jongin?" said man turned to look at him with a questioning smile and an open expression, and Sehun could feel the shift from first-sight 'omg he's so hot' attraction to something that involved feelings. "Thanks. For taking care of her, I mean."
The smile he got in return was blinding.
"My pleasure."
~~~~~
They had been talking almost daily since then. Now Jongin went outside to greet the parents, too, and the self-centered part of Sehun really wanted to believe it had something to do with him.
~~~~~
Sehun's first thought was to outright refuse. Camping trips meant dirt, sleeping on the floor, and bugs. And he wasn't particularly fond of none of those things.
But then, how could he possibly refuse when both Sora and Jongin were giving him the puppy eyes? Which, he could have expected from his daughter, but not so much from Jongin. That was cheating.
The worst thing was that it actually made sense. As Jongin had pointed out, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting Sora go away for a whole weekend, even less so after the incident before Mother's Day. So, it was the natural thing to do to accompany the class to the camping trip, right?
At least, that was what Sehun kept telling himself when he got into the bus with twenty excited four-year-olds, Sora letting go of his hand as soon as she spotted her Jonginnie.
Jongin looked as excited as any of the kids, possibly even more. He was clearly in his element here, and it helped settle some of the nervousness in Sehun.
After Jongin was sure that everyone was seated properly and bucked up, he went to sit beside Sehun in the front row. Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, he flashed a smile at Sehun before turning back to his class.
"Okay, everybody. Who's ready to go camping?"
Sehun couldn't hold back a smile. Maybe that weekend wouldn't be so bad.
~~~~~
The plan was simple enough. Jongin and Kyungsoo would take the kids there by themselves, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol waited at the camping site making sure everything was in order for their arrival. Once there, each of them would have five kids in charge. Sehun's job, as the teacher explained, was just to be there and make sure everyone was having a good time. Maybe even take some pictures to send to the parents later. Apparently, two mothers were going to get there later, but by how Jongin made it sound, that was nothing to be excited about.
The place wasn't even ten minutes away from the school, so there wasn't much time for the kids to get antsy from sitting too long.
Jongin was the first one to hop out of the bus, followed by Sehun and the kids, while Kyungsoo, who'd been the designated driver so far, made sure nobody was left behind.
It was an odyssey to get the kids to sit down in front of their teachers, and by the time the group was finally settled, Sehun was filled with admiration for the teachers who did this every day without dying or killing someone.
Chanyeol, whose level of excitement seemed close to Jongin's, explained
the basic rules. No one could go into the small beach or the forest without an adult, same when they needed to use the toilet. Every couple of hours, they'd call everyone to put on sunscreen and bugs repellent.
When it became obvious that the kids weren't paying attention, the staff decided that it'd be more useful to start making the groups.
As Sora refused to be in any other group but Jongin's, Sehun found himself tagging along with them. Jongin and his daughter flashed similar bright smiles at him, and suddenly everything seemed to be worth it.
It was nice seeing her daughter in her natural habit, too. She wasn't a social butterfly, not really, which was quite expected if you considered Sehun was one of the least socially outgoing adults he'd ever known. But still, she seemed to get on well with all the kids in her group, making sure they could see whatever it was that Jongin was showing them.
By mid-afternoon, when all the groups got back together in the main area, they had already walked around the forest, eaten fruit under a tree, tried to find as many different kinds of leaves as possible and imitated the sound of at least a dozen animals. Sehun had also taken about a hundred photos, swatted at five million mosquitoes and helped put on about two litres of sunscreen.
Some of the kids seemed to be sleepy already, so when Kyungsoo suggested a much needed nap, most of them gladly (and tiredly) followed.
Sora wasn't one of them, though. She looked fresh as a leave, whining when most of her friends left with Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun crouched in front of her, patting her head before telling her he and some of the kids who didn't want to sleep either were going to paint using the leaves they'd found earlier. Her moodiness seemed to be gone as soon as it had come, following Baekhyun with a spring on her step as she rattled about how she was going to paint the ladybug she'd seen that morning.
Sehun was honestly tired enough to follow the other group for a nap, but instead he sat in one of the tables in front of the small building where the kids would be sleeping that night. Using his arms as a pillow, he leaned against the table, closing his eyes for just a moment. Kids were exhausting. Adorable, but exhausting. He loved his daughter to death, but if he could barely keep up with her, keeping up with five equally energetic children was way out of his league.
"Tired already?" came a teasing voice.
Sehun groaned, lifting his head and blinking to adjust his eyes to the sunlight, "Don't mock me. I'm dying."
"Oh, poor you. Will coffee help a little bit? It's good, promise."
Sehun took the cup that was offered to him gratefully, scooting over to leave room for Jongin beside him.
Sehun had to admit he'd spent almost as much time observing Jongin as he had watching the children. There was something amazing about him, something that made Sehun's chest feel warm and sunny. He was obviously his happiest around kids, had an ease to talk to them and make them feel cared that Sehun deep down envied. It became pretty obvious why Sora loved him so much when he first saw the way Jongin got to her eye level, talking to her calmly and as an equal. Jongin was like a child himself in many ways, with his undying enthusiasm for the little things in life and fierce care for everyone that he loved.
Jongin was different around adults all together, looking out of place and uncomfortable whenever someone not close to him was around, what had been unexpected at first but now was something just as Jongin as the bright smile he always had for Sehun. Sehun had to admit he was unusually comfortable around Jongin too, and despite not knowing the reason, he was glad it was like that. In the short few months they'd known each other, every little thing that Sehun found out about him made him want so much more. He hadn't felt like that in forever, wasn't sure if he'd ever had, and if he wasn't so excited he'd be terrified.
"You look kind of red," Jongin commented, making him blink out of his reflexive state, "Did you put on sunscreen too?"
"Shit," Sehun dropped his head back into the table, when he remembered that no, in fact he hadn't. Which, considering that he was white as a sheet and had had to put on sunscreen every time he left the house for as long as he could remember, it was quite stupid. At least he hadn't forgotten to put on Sora's. His daughter was as pale as him, and he'd gone through enough sunburns to know how terrible they were.
"It's okay. We have cold cream inside. I'll make sure to bring out some tonight before bed."
Sehun smiled gratefully, taking another sip of his coffee. He was really hoping it'd be enough to keep him up until nighttime, but he doubted it did. After all, it was Friday, and just because he'd skipped work that morning it didn't mean the tiredness of the whole week wasn't catching up to him.
"Hey, speaking about tonight. Wanna sleep with me?"
Sehun promptly choked on his coffee, watching from the corner of his eye as Jongin turned beet red, shaking his hands in front of him.
"Not- Not like that! I mean in the tent! Do you want to sleep with me in the tent oh my god shut up," Jongin groaned, hiding his burning face in his hands until Sehun's coughs had turned into borderline hysteric laughter.
Sehun nodded, still catching his breath, when the voice at the back of his mind pointed out that in either case he'd have said yes, but he pushed that thought back for later.
"Because Baekhyun and Chanyeol are sharing one and the mothers another and Kyungsoo is staying with the kids so I thought that... Ugh don't make me say it again," he rushed out, skin tone looking somewhat normal again.
"Yes, Jongin. I want to sleep with you. In the tent," he bit his lip to stop the remaining hysterics from making him laugh again, enjoying the way Jongin's cheeks dusted pink again.
"Good."
"Good."
They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, watching the warm wind ruffle the leaves. Summer was coming fast, and in a town so close to the sea everything was becoming increasingly stickier.
Sehun ran a hand through his slightly damp hair, catching sight of the other two accompanying mothers looking at him from inside the building.
"I don't like them."
"Uh? What?" Jongin followed his line of sight, "Yeah, they are..."
"Mean? Nosey? Always acting condescendingly?"
Jongin nodded, "Pretty much. Parent-teacher conferences are not fun at all."
"Well, at least now I know they're not like that just with me. I thought it was a 'young single parent' thing. They wouldn't be the first," Sehun chuckled.
"Sometimes, adults are mean without meaning to, too. But you know not everyone is like that, right?"
Sehun turned to him, gaze sweeping over his features, before breaking into a smile, "I know."
Jongin seemed satisfied, flashing him a smile before jumping to his feet.
"Come on. We should get some sunscreen on you before the kids wake up."
Sehun followed after him, hiding a smirk when he caught the nosey mothers' eyes on them.
~~~~~
That was the last time Sehun was able to sit down and do nothing in the whole evening.
After the kids were up and the ones painting were clean, they sat them for an afternoon snack, handing out juice boxes and cookies and running around making sure the kids were actually eating them.
When everyone was done, they led them outside for the 'Epic Treasure Hunt', as Chanyeol called it. It was both extremely fun and nerve wracking. The kids seemed to be having the time of their lives, following the clues all around the camping site. But for Sehun, having to keep an eye in everyone was making him dizzy. At least Sora was wearing her favorite pink ballerina skirt, so she wasn't exactly hard to keep an eye on.
The sun was already going down by the time the prize was found and divided between the kids.
The skin of Sehun's nose was already hurting a little, so when Kyungsoo asked for help setting up the dinner for the children, he shyly offered himself.
It was nothing fancy, just some pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, but the kids devoured it in record time. Sehun didn't think it was even possible for someone their size to eat that much.
The adults tried to eat something themselves, knowing full well that they'd rarely get another chance to do so, but with twenty kids at their charge, there was seldom a moment without anyone calling for their attention.
Some kids had started dozing off by the time dinner was over, so the teachers directed them outside, helping them put on their jackets before sitting in a wide circle in the park.
Sehun welcomed the cool night air, the sun having set somewhere around dinner. The first few stars had appeared minutes ago, and now the whole sky looked like a blanket of little shiny spots. It was breathtaking, one of the few good things Sehun hadn't managed to get used to from living away from the city and its lights. It was Sora's favorite thing too, her tiny figure sitting with the head thrown back, gaping at how pretty the sky looked.
When Chanyeol started to play his guitar, a soft background melody for the bedtime stories his co-workers were taking turns to tell, Sehun felt all the tension of the day leave his body, leaving him pliant and sleepy.
He wasn't the only one, apparently. Most of the kids looked on the verge of falling asleep when their teachers decided it was enough for the night.
After helping the kids up and leading a couple of groups to the toilet, Sehun helped settle every kid in their respective sleeping bag, making sure they were comfortable. It had been a good idea to get all the kids to sleep together indoors. Easier to keep an eye on, too.
By the time Sehun got to his own sleeping bag, in the coldness of his shared tent, he wasn't tired anymore. In fact, he didn't think he'd been more alert since they'd left for the trip after lunch.
Jongin had been demanded by a couple of wide awake kids, Sora included, so he'd be alone for at least a while. He couldn't help but to be a little bit bitter at the memory of Sora clinging to Jongin's neck, telling him to not worry and go to sleep. That Jonginnie would tell her a story. Not like Sehun had told her bedside stories every day since she was born. Who cared about that? Apparently, not his daughter.
The worst thing was that he couldn't even blame Jongin anymore. It had been easy to do so at the beginning, when he didn't know him and he could easily picture him as an evil guy set on stealing his daughter from him.
But now that he knew Jongin, really knew him, it wasn't a possibility. Deep down Sehun knew it had never been one, but it was different.
Sehun had feelings for Jongin. Maybe not that deep yet, but he could see himself getting there eventually. In that case, it was a good thing Sora liked him so much.
It was the first time since Sora was born that Sehun was seriously considering a relationship, a real, serious one, and he was so freaking scared. He knew he'd take the chance without doubting for a second if Jongin presented it to him. It all felt so natural around him, the light flirting and discussing heavy stuff without feeling that crushing weight in his chest. Sehun wasn't used to it, but he found himself getting addicted to it.
Sehun knew he wasn't exactly an easy person. He was hard to get to know, mostly because of the barriers he'd put around himself throughout the years. He'd never had a lot of friends, Jongdae being his closer one, his college roommate and best friend, the one who'd been there for him when he found out that Minhee was pregnant and when she left. He'd even been the one who babysat Sora a couple of times, practically ordering him to get out and hook up with someone.
Few guys and girls had caught his eyes, but it was fine. Sehun had never been one for one night stands, anyway, and he knew having a daughter so young didn't exactly make him a catch for long term relationships.
So, after a while he'd begun to turn down Jongdae's offers. He was happy that way, liked spending time with his daughter. He'd never been one to dwell on things, and he'd accepted that he'd remain single for the rest of his days long before he commented it to Jongdae. His friend hadn't understood, incredulous at first, frustrated later. How could he not want a relation? It wasn't like Sehun had given up. He wasn't depressed and mopey and grieving something he'd never really had. Far from it, actually. They were fine like they were, just him and Sora. And he didn't see why that had to change.
And then had come Jongin. With his shy demeanor and bright smiles, he'd managed to wove into their lives when Sehun least expected it, not changing anything drastically, but making everything just a bit happier. It freaked Sehun out a little bit, how easily he'd managed to see right through him, to wake feelings he didn't know if he was willing to have anymore.
Even Jongdae had noticed something was up with him in their last weekly Skype session.
"You look happier," he'd simply said, but it had been enough. They'd been friends for too long for Sehun to think his friend didn't know exactly what was going on, the teasing, warm smile on the other side of the screen making him smile, too. He'd tell him some other time. Nothing was rushing them.
Sehun almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the tent's zipper being pulled open. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Jongin approaching.
He waited until he'd zipped the tent close again before speaking in a hushed whisper, not wanting to disturb the peace of the night.
"Is everyone asleep?"
His eyes had gotten used to the darkness, enough for him to see Jongin twitch, startled. He sat in his own sleeping bag, and for the first time Sehun noticed just how small the tent was. He was surprisingly okay with that.
"Yeah. They were pretty tired, so it didn't take that long. Did I wake you?"
Sehun shook his head despite knowing Jongin couldn't see him, "Not really. Couldn't sleep."
Jongin hummed in acknowledgement, "Sora is fine, you know. She was one of the first ones to fall asleep. I checked on her before leaving."
"She isn't usually up this late. I think she wanted to impress you," he heard Jongin chuckle beside him, "Thanks. It's weird not sleeping under the same roof."
He felt Jongin shrug more than he saw it, "You miss her, I get it. I miss my dogs."
Sehun snorted, "Are you seriously comparing my beautiful baby daughter to your dogs?"
"Hey, they are my babies, okay?" he heard Jongin ruffle to his backpack, pulling out a plastic back almost the size of his head, "Want a candy?"
Shuffling to sit up, Sehun watched as he grabbed what looked like a packet of Oreos before opening it and taking one, "How many things do you have in there?"
"I don't know. I went to the grocery store and got one of each."
"Oh god. You're actually twelve," Sehun shook his head, surprised by how fond he sounded.
"Nope. I didn't have money when I was twelve. Now I'm all grown up and it's a perfectly reasonable decision to spend my well-earned salary in sweets. You're just jealous."
"I'm not," he stuck his tongue out, enjoying the way Jongin's eyes turned into half-moons.
"Besides, we are camping! What kind of camping trip would this be if we didn't stay up late eating junk food?"
"I wouldn't actually know. Never been camping."
He didn't need to look at Jongin to know that he was gaping at him, his suspicions confirmed with how high his voice was when he asked, "Really?!"
"Yes. What, you have?"
"All the time!" he flailed around, moving until he was right in front of Sehun, "I have two older sisters, you know, and my dad was afraid they'd drive me crazy. So, a couple of times a year we'd pack our backpacks and get out there for a weekend. It was great," he sighed wistfully.
Sehun could feel himself smiling dumbly, Jongin's eyes glistening so close to him he fought back the urge to reach out and touch him.
"What about you? Why haven't you gone camping before?"
"I hate camping."
"But you're here?" Jongin tilted his head, and Sehun couldn't help but to smile again.
"I love my daughter," he shrugged.
"Can tell," Jongin smiled back, offering him a cookie. This time he took it. How could he say no to that smile?
"I think Sora loves you more than she loves me," Sehun blurted after a moment of silence.
Jongin laughed, reaching into the bag for a packet of sour worms, smile growing even more when Sehun took one.
"You know that's not true."
"I know. But close enough. I used to hate you, you know."
"You did?" there was a teasing tone in his voice, "Why was that?"
"All she ever did was talking about her Jonginnie! She wanted to marry you, okay? How was I supposed to feel?"
"I'm her cool teacher who carries pictures of his puppies and tell her stories. You're her dad that makes her eat her vegetables. Of course she wants to marry me!" he grinned.
"Show off."
"You know you love it," Jongin replied smugly.
Sehun kept his eyes on him as he reached for another sour worm, flashing him a smile on his way back, relishing in the way Jongin's cheeks tinted pink.
"So," Jongin cleared his throat, "You... used to hate me. Not anymore, right?"
Sehun hummed, "I don't know. You know, I usually spend a lot of time voluntarily with people I don't really like," he teased.
"Yeah. Me too."
~~~~~