Secret Stars and Summer Wishes [ 4/5 ]
Title: Secret Stars and Summer Wishes
Pairings: Sehun/Suho
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, written just for fun.
Summary: Sehun has been looking forward to spending time with his nephew Tao, but his summer break plans did not include volunteering alongside the (cute) kindergarten teacher, Joonmyun.
Warning: language, side Chanyeol/Kyungsoo, side Lu Han/Sunyoung, kid!Tao, kid!Kris, kid!Infinite, +a few other Kpop singers and SM Town people sprinkled on for good measure
A/N: Originally posted for the 2015 round of Ohunlimited. I haven’t taught preschool for ages so please forgive my inaccuracies. Have a song, have a gif, have some love <3 (and thank you to Holly for the beta!)
Sehun yawns, squinting into the sun that’s decided to show it's face full force today. Of course it would, though. The weather either has to be pouty and spitting crocodile tears, or it tries to take five years off the youthfulness and resilience of Sehun's delicate skin in a scalding temper tantrum. Sehun isn't a fan of any kind of extreme weather conditions, but he might hate summer weather the most of all, the way it can't make up it's mind about what sort of horrible mood it wants to be in. At least in winter he knows exactly what to expect.
"Need to borrow some sunglasses?" Joonmyun slides his own pair down the bridge of his nose to pout at Sehun. Sehun just rolls his eyes and huffs out a laugh, retreating a step further into the shade.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks."
"You're always good." Joonmyun's lips are still pursed in a pouty frown. They look especially pink when he does that, like all the color gets concentrated into a plush rosebud just to taunt Sehun. "Or at least that's what you claim. You're great at taking care of the kids, but you should let others take care of you sometimes, too." He says it all at once, not rushed but it almost sounds rehearsed, like Joonmyun has been thinking along those lines for awhile and waiting for his chance to say it aloud.
Sehun turns to squint at him, confused. "I let Kyungsoo feed me spaghetti last night. Does that count?"
"I don't have any idea who that is, but sure." Joonmyun looks down with a soft smile rippling at the edges of his drooping lips. He kicks at the mulch under his sneakers. A frayed chunk of it flips up and catches in the loops of his shoelace but Joonmyun doesn't bother to remove it.
"He's my hyung," Sehun says, "just my sunbae from school. But he lets me steal his food and sleep on his sofa, and he only kicks me sometimes."
"Oh my!" Joonmyun's chuckle is soft, almost relieved.
Sehun lets his shoulders relax against the wall behind them, relieved himself at the ease in the tension though he's not sure what Joonmyun is feeling right now.
"He sounds like a good friend. You should keep him."
"Yeah, for sure." Sehun wipes his palms on the sides of his jeans. "He's been one of my closest friends since high school, him and Chanyeol."
“Chanyeol?” Joonmyun's listening closely now, Sehun can feel his full attention centered on him through his sharp gaze.
"Oh, Chanyeol-hyung is Kyungsoo's boyfriend," Sehun explains.
"Ah, boyfriend," Joonmyun says with a dip of his head. He's still staring up at Sehun, something questioning in his gaze. He doesn't look uncomfortable or weirded out by the admission though, so Sehun doesn't say anything further, leaving Joonmyun to make the next conversational move. "Sehun," Joonmyun starts to say, tilting his chin to the right as he blinks at him. "Have you ever--"
"Joon-oon-teacher! Teacher help please!"
The sudden wail is unmistakably Qian. Joonmyun peels himself from the wall seconds before Tao and Liyin slam into his legs, knocking Joonmyun back into Sehun's chest. At least five of the kids are still shrieking at the top of their lungs as Sehun tries to sort himself out of the tangle of limbs without elbowing anybody in the face.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Joonmyun's voice is raised to a volume Sehun has never heard it before, but his steady tone cutting through the high pitched screams has a calming effect.
"Hey," Sehun murmurs, scooping Tao into his arms as Joonmyun bends to deal with Liyin's tears. "What's wrong?"
"Hyung! A huge--huge--!"
"Spider!" Qian screams again before Tao can finish. "Teacher, spider! There!" She points above her head to a tiny speck dangling from a tree branch. Tao shudders, burying his gasp in the side of Sehun's neck.
"It's ok, Qian," Joonmyun calls as he rubs his palm in light circles over Liyin's upper back. "Just come away from there and leave it alone, ok?"
"Can't you--can't you kill it?" Qian doesn't sound convinced, though she drops the stick she's brandishing like a scimitar and takes a step back towards the slide. Sehun suppresses the laughter threatening to burst out of him, massaging the side of Tao's neck with his fingers.
"No, sweetie. That tree is the spider's home. If you leave it alone, it won't bother you."
"Ok..." Qian turns to join the huddled mass of her friends cowering on the merry-go-round.
"Don't be scared, Jjong!" Sehun hears Hyejin declare, "I'll defend you!"
Tao raises his head, loosening the grip of knees digging into Sehun's kidneys.
"Are you ok, buddy?" Sehun brushes the hair from his eyes and Tao nods as he slides down Sehun's leg to trail Liyin to the sandbox.
"Sorry!" Joonmyun shakes his head, his bangs sifting over his brows as his hair falls out of its neat part. "They can scream pretty loud, huh?"
"It's ok, I'm not a fan of creepy crawlies, either," Sehun grins, making space for Joonmyun when he wanders over to resume his watch at the wall. He's not sure what is about Joonmyun that makes it so easy for him to adjust, to open up about his friends and taking care of Tao at home, but Sehun feels nothing but comfortable and at ease with Joonmyun.
He's still thinking about it an hour later, after they've rounded all the kids up to go inside for music class with Ryeowook-teacher. Joonmyun and Sehun stay in the classroom for an early lunch, the room strangely quiet without the constant activity of the students surrounding them.
"So I've been meaning to ask you," Sehun says, peeling the top bit of shell from the crown of his hard boiled egg. "...'Joon-oon-teacher'? Where did that name come from?"
"Oh!" Joonmyun looks down with a smile, creasing his napkin in half against his knee. "That was Sunmi, originally. She couldn't pronounce my name well. And even though Sungyeol could, he started calling me that too, out of solidarity I guess. He switched after lunch on the first day of last semester."
"That's...wow," Sehun says, sinking his teeth into the tip of his egg. "That's really sweet of him."
"Yeah." Joonmyun swirls the soup in the cup of his thermos until the miso settling at the bottom redistributes through the broth. "He can be kind of a smarty pants sometimes, but he's got a good heart."
"You know them really well, and how to deal with them." Sehun peels a strip of egg white from around the curve of the yolk, some of the center rubbing off on his fingers like goldenrod dust.
"You've gotten pretty close to them yourself." Joonmyun stabs at a chunk of apple with the tiny cocktail fork Mrs. Lee packed with the lunch she sent today. "You've only been here, what, a week and a half?"
"Yeah." Sehun chews slowly, the little bits of egg white chunky under his tongue. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long. Lu Han and his sister are coming back on Sunday, and the fall term starts a week after that. He still needs to order a couple of textbooks for the lit class he added to his schedule. "How long have you taught here?"
"Just since the start of last semester," Joonmyun says, and Sehun spits his mouthful of egg across the room. It lands on the table next to where Joonmyun is sitting, and he swipes it up with his napkin before Sehun has time to freak out in humiliation.
"Sorry," he says, twisting the foil around his sandwich into artistic representations of aluminum porcupine quills. "I'm just--surprised? You seem so...like, perfect." There's not really any other word for it, at least not that Sehun's brain can come up with at the moment. "At being a teacher, I mean, and taking care of the kids and stuff."
"Wow, thanks." Joonmyun sets his cup of soup down, the burnished steel clinking softly against the laminate tabletop as he swings his legs under his chair. "I'm flattered, but I highly doubt I'm anywhere near perfect. I've only a few more months of experience than you, after all."
"You keep saying that, but..." Sehun's had ample time observe Joonmyun's interactions with his students. The care but also respect he treats them with doesn't seem inexperienced at all.
"But seriously, I only started working here after I graduated in the spring."
"Were you an education major?" That would explain why none of Sehun's friends in the arts department know Joonmyun.
"Yup! Music and Fine Arts Pedagogy. I'm still studying to take the licensing exam, though." Joonmyun sighs, pricking the skin of his apple slice with the fork. "I need to pass it before I can apply to work in a public school, and it'll probably take a few more months of weekends in the library before I'm ready."
"Sounds tough." Sehun scrapes a broken bit of eggshell sticking to his fist off on the knee of his jeans. "But I'm sure you'll do great when you feel ready, Joonmyun."
Joonmyun looks up at the mention of his name, a surprised smile dancing in his eyes. Sehun colors, tearing off a long strip of egg to shove in his mouth when he realizes that's the first time he's said Joonmyun's named aloud.
"Thanks, Sehunnie!" Joonmyun pats Sehun on the head where his bangs sprout stiffly from his hairline. If he notices Sehun's dark blush in response, he doesn't say anything.
Joonmyun is in a cheery mood for the rest of lunch, humming under his breath between the snatches of conversation they exchange between bites of their food. And if he notices Sehun sneaking glances at the way his hair falls into the blink of his dark lashes when leans forward to sip his steaming soup, Joonmyun doesn't say anything about that either.
+++ +++ +++
"Ok, so maybe I don't actually hate volunteering." Sehun sighs, the air rushing from his nostrils with all of the force the mess of feelings swirling inside him are exerting on his gut. Or maybe it's just the extra spicy kimchi fried rice he downed for dinner before he had to run out and pick Tao up from dance class. That is also a viable, perhaps preferable, alternate theory as to why Sehun feels really, really weird, and also wants to punch something.
"Maybe?" Kyungsoo's response sounds less like a question and more like a steely edged call to repentance. Sehun squirms, groaning because he doesn't want to face uncomfortable facts right now. He just wants to roll around on his comfortable sofa and make moaning noises to anyone willing to put up with him.
"Yeah, maybe. Like, the school's not a bad place." Sehun thinks of the quiet classroom he shared with Joonmyun during their lunch break today, how much he had enjoyed their simple conversation about things as mundane as which brand of cheese crackers stays freshest when purchased in bulk, and which corner of the campus library is the least drafty in the dead of winter. "As long as the kids aren't all up in my space. Yeah, maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Well! Ok, maybe I like the kids too. Maybe I--shit, Soo! Why is it already Wednesday? Why is it almost Friday?"
"Wait, I thought you were looking forward to this weekend." That's Chanyeol's voice now, the deep tones of his voice rumbling in the background more muffled than Kyungsoo's quiet but clear comments. "Aren't your sister and Han-hyung supposed to come home this weekend? 'Cause we were gonna go out."
"Yeah, yeah they are." Sehun glances over to his calendar. It’s still stuck on the June page, but he knows the date 8/15 is marked in Tao's purple glitter crayon, a clumsy heart surrounding the box that means Lulu will return.
"Aw! Are you gonna miss little Tao when he goes home? Is that why you're all mopey?"
"I guess," Sehun grunts. He has too many things flip flopping in his gut right now to try to explain them all over again to Chanyeol. He's already been on the phone with Kyungsoo for half an hour. Usually it only takes an average of 11.3 minutes of their banter for Sehun to feel like a new man, ready to go out and compose up a storm of piccolo trills or punch his Econ homework in the metaphorical, equation-plastered face.
"I'll miss Tao for sure, but I can always go hang out at noona's when I want to see him, so..." His next sigh sounds more like the childish huff of Taeyeon, miffed when she doesn't get her preferred flavor of My-chew at snack time, and that thought just makes Sehun want to huff even louder.
"Exactly," Kyungsoo says, triumph tingeing his voice like he's already figured out the problem. "It's not Tao you're worried about missing."
"Oooh ho ho!" The mirth in Chanyeol's chuckle, not even the least bit disguised, makes Sehun's skin prickle under the back of his pajama shirt in irritation.
"Do both of you know something about this equation that I don't? Because I have no idea why it's not balancing out." Sehun would really like his stomach to find an even keel as well, because he wants to finish the remaining half of the chocolate cheese cake ice cream waiting for him in the freezer. He had planned to have a dessert with himself while he watches the late night re-run of We Got Married, which starts in nine minutes according to the timer Tao has set on the DVR.
"Just think about," Kyungsoo says, "carefully, one more time. And don't skim over the details."
"Details!" Sehun moans, forgetting to keep his volume down so as not to wake Tao until Chanyeol shushes him with a loud hiss. "How is this even that complicated!"
"Yup, my question exactly." Sehun can hear Kyungsoo tapping his fingernails against something in the background. "This isn't all that difficult, I don't know why you insist on making your life so hard by overthinking everything."
"Whatever." Sehun rolls off the couch, catching himself on his knees before pushing up to his feet. "I'll have to continue my thinking alone, I guess, because it's time for dessert and a date with my TV."
"That's nice," Kyungsoo says, "don't eat too much ice cream or you'll make yourself sick."
"Got it," Sehun groans, already halfway to his freezer, though he's not sure how anything he ingests could make him feel more uneasy and sick to his stomach right now.
"Bye."
+++ +++ +++
"Does everybody have their wish?" Joonmyun holds up a scrap of paper folded lengthwise with glitter smeared along a line of still drying glue.
"Yup!" Jonghyun dangles his equally soggy looking strip by the loop of yarn tied through the corner.
"Since today is--"
"Star Day! It's Star Day!" Jonghyun is standing on the seat of his chair now, bouncing until his wish flaps wildly from the string.
"That's right, Jjong! Today is Chilseok. Hm, I think our quietest friend may hang their wish first. Who do you think is being the most quiet and respectful when the teacher is speaking?"
Jonghyun flops down into his seat with a sigh and notches his chin into the crook of his elbow.
"What do you think, Sehun-teacher?"
"I think Liyin is being very patient," Sehun says, smiling at Liyin when she sits up straighter and smooths the pleats of her fluffy yellow skirt over her knees.
"Liyin, you may come up to hang your wish! Come on," Joonmyun beckons. He has the roll of masking tape slipped over his wrist, ready and waiting.
Sehun helps Yifan and Howon attach the strings to their wishes once they finish drawing their messages and decorating the outsides. The rest of the kids help clean up the glitter and supplies while they wait their turns, coming up to hang their papers when Joonmyun calls them.
"Sehun?" Joonmyun calls as he's attaching Yifan's ornament at the very top of the galaxy.
"Yeah?" Sehun swipes the last hint of glitter on his palms against the back pockets of his jeans. It probably didn't help much, but he'll scrub his hands more thoroughly before lunch.
"Didn't you want to hang yours, too?" Joonmyun points to Sehun's wish, which Dongwoo had insisted he make. It's lying on it's side at the edge of Hyejin's desk, the ends of the fold curling up with the glue and shrinking as it dries.
"Oh, I guess." Sehun scans the top of Joonmyun's desk, peeking between the scattered piles of books and teaching materials for a stray pencil. He still hasn't thought of a wish to scribble on his paper, but he might as well if he's going to hang it.
"Here." Joonmyun passes him a felt tipped marker.
Sehun uncaps it, squeezing the ridged lid in his palm as he tries to come up with something meaningful. He always spent a good week before his birthday thinking up a special wish when he was a kid, otherwise he got stressed out. Watching the candle flames devouring the colored wax, the time limit imposed on the validity of his heart's desire paralyzed him into indecision while his guests moaned at him to hurry up and blow already.
"It doesn't have to be something big," Joonmyun says, as if he knows what's running through Sehun's mind in nervous trips and false starts. "Small wishes are just as important as the big ones."
"Ok." Sehun takes a deep breath, letting the influx of oxygen wash into his capillaries until all he feels is right about his decision. "Ok." He writes three words on the slip of red construction paper and hands it over. The heavy lines from the tip of the oil marker bleed through the thin paper onto the back, but Sehun isn't worried about anyone seeing his wish.
He moves closer to watch Joonmyun tape the loop of yellow yarn to the wall, up at the top near Yifan's. "Where's yours?"
"Right there." Joonmyun points out the purple square where it's tucked between Sungyeol's and Qian's, just off center on the left. "It looks nice, doesn't it? All the stars together. Kind of like a Christmas tree."
"Where'd you get the idea?" Sehun plucks at the yarn holding his paper in place until it swings. "Or is this something traditional I should already know about?"
"Well, kind of. The legend is originally Chinese, you know, and in Japan they celebrate it too. They hang wishes on a tree outside, so the when the wind runs through the leaves it picks up the prayers and carries them to heaven. Isn't that a nice thought? That when you make a wish it doesn't just stay with you, it goes out in the world and maybe carries its happiness to someone else along the way."
"Yup," Sehun says, still nodding along like he has been through Joonmyun's entire speech. "That is nice, and also super romantic."
"I don't know about that." Joonmyun is blushing again, just like the first time Sehun teased him about it, but he doesn’t look away in embarrassment or frown in defense.
"So when are the wishes supposed to come true?"
"Well, first they have to get to heaven, I guess." Joonmyun slides his fingers through his hair, chewing on the edge of his lip as he considers. "So we had better open the window, huh? Just promise not to tell Choa, since the AC's on."
"Ok, my lips are sealed," Sehun agrees, returning Joonmyun's wink. "Here, let me." He nudges Joonmyun away from his rolling chair before he can try to climb on it, and stretches onto tiptoe to crack open the highest window above their field of stars. The air outside is muggy and still at midday, but with a bit of luck they should be able to catch a breeze when the temperature drops in the afternoon, high cirrus clouds drifting in with the hint of autumn updrafts.
"Joon-oon-teacher!” Sungyeol waves a small package wrapped in wrinkly red tissue paper as he approaches. “Teacher, surprise time!”
"What do you have there?" Joonmyun slides his desk chair forward to examine the ball Sungyeol hands him.
"For you! Open!"
"Wow, ok!" Joonmyun plucks helplessly at the strings of clear tape crisscrossing the wrapping paper until Sehun hands him a pair of scissors with a sigh. "What is it?" Joonmyun asks as he severs the thick bands of tape, careful not to catch the blades on what's inside.
"Let's find out," Seungyeol says with a smile, and Sehun laughs because he sounds exactly like Joonmyun during story time whenever Taeyeon interrupts with a flurry of questions.
"Ooh! This is really nice!" Joonmyun holds up the furry ball to admire while Sehun snatches the crumpled wrapping away to deposit in the recycling. "Very cuddly!"
"You're not supposed to cuddle it!" Sungyeol doubles over in a fit of giggles, leaning into Joonmyun's leg. "Teacher, silly! You don't know either?" He rolls his eyes incredulously at Sehun before turning back to pat the ball in Joonmyun's hands. "It's a star ball."
"I see," Joonmyun says, fluffing the furry top with the tips of his fingers.
"You make a wish, understand me?" Sungyeol grabs the ball and squeezes his eyes shut, his lips moving without a sound until he cracks an eyelid open to stare at Joonmyun. "Got it?"
"I think so! Thank you, Sungyeol! I will take good care of this." Joonmyun pats it again with the lightest touch from his palm and sets it on top of his day planner. "Wow, I feel really special now!" he tells Sehun as Sungyeol drifts off in a zigzag across the room.
"That you should," Sehun says. "He's been planning it all week, I think his sister helped him make it."
"Now that," Joonmyun reaches back to tease the fur as if it's his new pet or something, "sibling team work? That is special!"
+++ +++ +++
"Does Zitao have dance tonight?" Joonmyun pulls a folder and a few books from his bag, reshuffling them into descending height order so his travel mug will fit into the corner space.
"Nope." Sehun hands Tao his other shoe and sets both of their slippers in the cubby. The classroom is getting dark, the rays of the setting sun already dipping below the window's reach. "We're just heading home now."
Sehun stayed a little later than usual to help clean up. He doesn't have anywhere to be this evening, and since he doesn't have to go out to pick up Tao later he's not in any hurry to fix dinner. It's after 5:00 now, and all of Tao's classmates have gone home with their parents or off to their next hagwon lessons.
"Oh yeah?" Joonmyun wraps a scarf around his neck, a light gray colored material that looks gauzy in the thin light.
"Are you...cold?" The scarf doesn't look very substantial, but any extra layer of fabric makes Sehun miserable in the late summer heat.
"No but, the subway..." Joonmyun waves his hand and reaches for his star ball that's waiting on top of his schedule book. "I get chilly when they blast the AC, especially at night."
"Ok," Sehun squints, not sure he's convinced.
"Are you headed to the station, too?"
"Yes, we visit the princess in the station every day!" Tao stands up to open the door, the velcro straps on both of his shoes secured into place.
"The Princess?" Joonmyun waves Sehun through the door first and pulls out his key ring to lock it from the hallway. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"
"We'd be delighted," Sehun says, and Tao nods his approval.
"The Dragon Princess," Tao repeats. "She lives in the cave, but she's afraid of humans."
"Oh this sounds exciting!" Joonmyun lets Tao hold his hand as walk to the end of the hall.
Sehun follows a few paces behind, a little shy for Joonmyun to see his face while Tao explains the tall tales he invented to comfort him.
"Have you met the Princess? Can you introduce me to her, too?"
"No..." Tao’s voice sounds a tinge mournful, echoing in the spaces between the stretching shadows in the quiet hall. "No, because she's shy. I said that already."
"Sorry."
"It's ok, Teacher. But I've heard her! Sometimes she's snoring, and sometimes she...she--snorts?" Tao glances back, his eyes wide in question.
Sehun winks at him to let him know he found the right word, savoring the sweetness in Tao's relieved smile.
"Maybe you can hear her, too."
"Really?" Joonmyun's voice drops to a whisper as he turns to find Sehun's eyes in the half darkness.
"Yes," Tao whispers too, "but only if you're very quiet."
"Ok, I'll do my best!"
The sky is darkening with misty wisps that roll into a heavy cloud cover by the time they make it to the station, most of the color in the sunset obliterated under the threat of rain. The breeze Sehun has been crossing his fingers for since this morning is picking up from the east, and Tao shivers as they hurry down the steps into the shelter of the station.
"Do you want my scarf?" Joonmyun pulls the loose ends from his shoulders to offer it to Tao, but he just shakes his head, pressing a stubby finger to his lips.
"Shh!"
"Sorry!" Joonmyun mouths, and doesn't say another word as they swipe their passes at the turnstile.
The train is just pulling into the platform and Sehun scoops Tao onto his hip to jog down the last flight of stairs. They make it into the nearest train car, swept along with the flood of rush hour passengers, just before the doors swish shut.
"Did you hear?" Tao asks, his eyes worried as they probe Joonmyun's. He nestles his head against the curve of Sehun's shoulder, and Sehun backs into an empty corner to lean against the wall for balance.
"Yes." His eyes are serious, and Sehun smiles into Tao's hair at the sight of Joonmyun's careful nod. "I think so."
"You missed...the loudest...part," Tao says, his words slurred by a wide yawn. "But that was the Princess."
"Her voice is very big, very regal sounding."
"Regal?" Tao cocks his head, twisting to fit the side of his face closer against Sehun's neck.
"That means royal," Joonmyun explains as he steps into Sehun’s space to let another passenger through the narrow walkway. "Like a princess."
"Ah." Tao's sigh is interrupted by another yawn. Sehun reaches up to pet his hair in slow strokes, working the day's worth of tangles from the ends of the dark strands with patient fingers.
"Do you think it will rain?" He forgot his umbrella this morning. Sehun usually keeps it folded up in the bottom of his book bag, but it's still propped open on its spines in the entryway where he left it to dry days ago.
"Mm, I don't know." Joonmyun undoes the buttons at his wrists, pushing back the left cuff to check his watch as if that will tell him the weather forecast. "Maybe. Maybe in a few hours."
"Good." Sehun's sigh ruffles the ends of Tao's hair and he whimpers softly against Sehun's skin. He sounds almost asleep now, nosing even closer into Sehun's arms as the train decelerates to stop at the next station.
"You know, they say if it rains on Chilseok it's supposed to be their tears, Jiknyeo and Gyeonwoo's." Joonmyun smiles, but he's facing away from Sehun. His eyes are a wistful darkness under the glare of the overhead lights in the train car, and Sehun can't examine them any closer from this angle.
"That sounds...depressing. Tears are sad." Exactly the way Sehun feels, the end of his whirlwind stint as a kindergarten teacher rapidly approaching the finish line.
"Mm, but how do you know?" Joonmyun twists to face Sehun, his palm singing against the steel bar he's hanging on to. "They could be tears of joy."
+++ +++ +++
"Hey, buddy!" Lu Han leans into the screen, the towel slung around his neck slipping down his shoulders.
"How's my baby?" Sunyoung bats the towel away from obscuring the webcam and snuggles into Lu Han's chest.
"Lulu! Hi!" Tao waves with both of his hands at the screen as Sehun tilts the lid of his laptop, trying to adjust the picture to the right angle. Nothing annoys him more than a video call in inverse coloration. "Come home soon?"
"Aw, sweetie!" Sunyoung's smile is wide, but Sehun can see the longing drip through at the corners of her mouth as they waver.
"Yup! We'll be home on Sunday!" Lu Han slides his arm behind his wife and rubs the curve of her bare shoulder where her skin glows on the screen between the fall of her hair.
"Sunday?" Tao holds up three of his fingers to the screen. "This many?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Sunyoung sighs, "just three more days."
"Did you have fun at school today?"
"Yes!" Tao answers Lu Han, bouncing in Sehun's lap until the webcam is blurry with the radiating waves of his excitement. "I made a wish!"
"Ooh what kind of wish?" Sunyoung's head drops back against Lu Han's shoulder as his hand moves up to stroke her hair.
"Shhh," Tao says.
"I think he means he can't tell you," Sehun interrupts to explain, "or else the wish won't come true."
"Yeah, duh!" Lu Han teases, dropping a kiss to Sunyoung's forehead.
"Hey, you prickle! You shave first, mister!" She shoves his face away with a palm cupping his chin but Lu Han just giggles, caging her in his arms and nuzzling against the soft waves of her hair.
"Still hard at work over there?"
"Yeah," Sunyoung sighs again. "Sorry, Hunnie, that we haven't had time to call more often. We just finish so late most nights, and then you two are off to school at the crack of dawn."
"It's not my favorite schedule either," Sehun confesses, scratching at his ear. "But I think I'm getting the hang of it."
"Right as it's time for your volunteer stint to be over?" Lu Han's lips stretch into a 'yikes' expression as he shakes his head at Sehun.
"Tell me about." Sehun closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, relishing the comfort of Tao warm in his lap and breathing steadily against his chest. "I'm not ready for the new term to start. Not at all."
"You're such a big baby." Sunyoung snorts and flips the end of Lu Han's towel at webcam. "When are you ever gonna grow up, Hunnie."
"Shut up," Sehun growls, and shifts against the armrest of the sofa. Tao is getting squirmy in his lap again, reaching for the nearest pillow.
"Hey, be nice to my wife!" Lu Han pouts in an exaggerated frown, leaning in to the screen, and Tao cackles in delight.
"Why don't you be nice to her for me?" Sehun smirks as he pushes back his hair from his ears. "I quit being nice to her around the age of three, I think."
"You brat! You were born evil."
"I love you too, noona!" Sehun wiggles his fingers at the screen, stretching his arms in an awkward ring around Tao to make a hand heart.
"Love you too, Lulu!" Tao matches his hands up behind Sehun's in the picture on the screen. Both of his parents burst into an immediate chorus of cooing.
"I think," Sehun yawns, checking the clock at the bottom of his screen, "that it's past Taozi's bedtime."
"Or is it just past your bedtime?" Sunyoung snipes back, but Lu Han is nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, we better not keep you guys up too late, huh? Early day again tomorrow."
"Yeah." Sehun's been trying not to think about tomorrow. But maybe if he goes to sleep early he can still get a good night's rest even if it takes him hours to evade the hurricane of emotional debris floating around in his head and actually fall asleep.
"Aw, ok." Sunyoung makes a heart at them with her own hands. "Goodnight, boys. Sweet dreams."
"Mua! Mua!" Lu Han kisses both of his fingers with loud smacking noises until Tao giggles and smushes his face into Sehun's pillow.
"Goodnight, Lulu!"
"Goodnight, baby!"
"Night, Hunnie and Zizi!"
"Goodnight," Sehun says, and ends the call.
+++ +++ +++
"Well, this is it, I guess." Sehun gestures to the brown paper shopping bag at his feet. His slippers are sticking out of the top next to his travel mug, and a toilet paper roll personally decorated in a rainbow of scribbles by Jonghyun is somewhere at the bottom. It's funny how many objects Sehun managed to accumulate in two short weeks at this not-even-his-real-workplace.
"Yeah, I guess so." Joonmyun's hands are propped on his hips, his fingernails pink against indigo. He's in jeans again, maybe because it's Friday, or maybe just because.
"Do I need to return this?" Sehun dangles his ID badge draped over his hand in question. He stayed late again today, and he's not even sure if Choa or Minseok are still in the office.
"It's got your name on it." Joonmyun shrugs. His hands slips from his belt and he hooks his thumbs in the tight side pockets of his skinny jeans. "If you want to, just keep it."
Sehun drops the tag in his paper bag and it makes a sifting sound as it falls to the bottom, anxieties and expectations and maybes falling away through his fingers.
"Hyung, ready." Tao tugs on Sehun's hand and Sehun looks down to find his sandals already strapped onto his small tanned feet.
"Let me walk you to the station." Joonmyun doesn't have a scarf today, Sehun notices as he steps into the hall, but he locks the classroom door with the same slim key and tucks the key ring into the front of his black work bag. Something else about him seems different, but Sehun can't put his finger on it even though the niggling instinct won't leave him alone all the way to the metro station, the vague unsettled feeling that he's missing some important detail.
"Teacher." Tao's whisper breaks the silence as they step up to the strip of yellow tile marking off the platform into queue sections. "Teacher, look! Oh no!"
Sehun glances over to follow Tao's pointing fingers.
"Oh, what is it?"
"Oh no!" Tao repeats, stumbling backwards until he trips on Sehun's feet and topples into his side.
"Ah, it's just a little beetle. See? So tiny." Joonmyun points too as he squats to examine the insect that has Tao all riled up. "I wonder how he got all the way down here."
"Maybe he's the Dragon Princess' protector," Sehun says, and both Tao and Joonmyun turn to stare at him. "I mean...I dunno," Sehun says, his gaze getting stuck somewhere near Joonmyun's collarbones peeking out the collar of his shirt. He rolled back his cuffs and unbuttoned the top two buttons as soon as they left the classroom.
And then Sehun realizes what's been throwing him off, Joonmyun's dark hair isn't brushing over the back of his collar in shaggy waves anymore. His hairline is clipped in a neat curve and the sides are trimmed in subtle layers over the tips of his ears. In front, though, the silky strands are still long enough to dust over the sweep of his brow, and maybe Sehun wants to touch them, reach out and brush them--
"Joon-oon-teacher!" If Tao wasn't whispering the harshness of his voice would be a yell. Neither Joonmyun or Sehun have to ask why he's excited this time, because the rumble of the incoming train grows loud enough to drown out their words as it approaches.
Joonmyun and Tao’s heads turn in a smooth arc, following the streak of cars sliding to a stop while Sehun watches the beetle scurry for cover. It dives into a crack at the base of a support pillar and Sehun shoves both his hands in his pockets. Joonmyun is still so close, too close, and Sehun's fingertips are cramping up with the need to touch. His whole body is aching with the realization that maybe isn't the word for this feeling at all, it's more like definitely, and that if he doesn't say something about it soon he might not get another chance.
The doors are opening now. Joonmyun pulls Tao out of the way of traffic as a group of students exits in a tumble of awkward limbs and heated giggles, the pleated plaid of their uniform skirts swinging above their knees. The girls look so comfortable together, arms and book bags slung over shoulders and dark hair sifting into a curtain of intimacy as they bend their heads together, cooing at something on a phone screen. Sehun's throat burns with a sudden need to feel the same kind of closeness but he can't even hug Tao at the moment, who is wrapped in Joonmyun's arms as they sidestep a lady with a baby stroller.
"Sehun?"
Cool fingers catch his wrist and Sehun starts, tripping on the yellow rubber caution tiles at the edge of the platform.
"Careful, hyung!"
It's Tao fingers that he feels this time, fisting gently in Sehun's hair as he catches himself on the nearest handhold inside the train car.
"Are you alright?" Joonmyun rocks Tao on his hip, swiveling on the heels of his loafers.
"Yeah, sorry I--" Sehun shakes his head, tries to shake off the need clinging to his skin like a damp T-shirt and also at the fringe of his lashes. "I guess I'm just...tired." He turns to face out the window of car door, even though there's nothing to see but the shadow of the dark tunnel walls rushing past. He can't even make out the texture of the cement at this speed.
"Ah, I understand."
Joonmyun sounds almost disappointed, but Sehun can't read anything in his downturned gaze. His chin is tucked against the top of Tao's head and he rocks him slowly to the sway of the wheels on the tracks, to the rhythm of this moment that's drawing Sehun closer and closer to the shelter of Joonmyun's comforting wings folded around Tao and also rushing him forward to the station where he will transfer and exit and walk home and never go to kindergarten again.
Three stops later Joonmyun unwraps a sleepy, snuffling Tao from his embrace and Sehun slides in to cradle him to his chest.
"Go home safely," Joonmyun says, his eyes lingering on Sehun’s for a heart quickening moment, and then he's lost in the sea of bodies flowing out onto another platform to silence another Dragon Princess on another Friday night that doesn't feel ordinary at all to Sehun.
"Hyung," Tao whispers. His lips are chapped and the rough skin tickles against Sehun's throat. "Hungry."
"Me too." Maybe if Sehun fills his stomach with something solid all these wishy washy feelings will go away. Maybe. "What do you want to eat?"
Tao just hums as he rearranges his limbs. His knee digs into Sehun's side and Sehun backs into the newly vacated corner behind him because he doesn't have the strength to support them both just on the soles of his own unsteady feet.
"How about chocolate ice cream."
Tao doesn't answer, his breath coming in even sighs against the collar of Sehun's T-shirt as the rhythm of the train takes over Sehun’s heartbeat.
+++ +++ +++
"Lulu!"
Tao doesn't scream often, but when he does it is loud. Sehun holds his ears as he hangs back in the hallway, grinning as Tao rips open the heavy front door of the apartment and leaps into Lu Han's arms.
"Hey, buddy!" Lu Han smacks a wet kiss onto both of Tao's cheeks and almost trips over the heap of Sehun's air jordans and sandals spilling across the entryway.
"What about me? How about a kiss for your mama, huh?" Sunyoung tosses her curls over the shoulder of her petal pink trench coat and leans around Lu Han to present her upturned cheek. Tao throws his arms around her neck, his slender hips still caught in Lu Han's arms, and twists to pepper her face with kisses.
"He really missed you guys." Sehun is still standing on the other side of the shoe mountain with Elsa in his hands. They were in the middle of giving her a bath in the dish drain when Tao's parents rang the intercom, and Elsa is wrapped in a scrap of flannel dusting rag Sehun's mother left here after one of her cleaning rampages.
"Aw! Missed you too," Sunyoung says, and cups the line of Tao's jaw in her palms. "But you had fun with your uncle, didn't you?"
Tao nods his head up down, twisting away from his mom to give Sehun a big smile.
"I hope he didn't give you too much trouble." Lu Han looks a little worried as he kicks a stray Birkenstock aside to set Tao down on the floor.
"Nah, of course not." Sehun leads them around the corner into the kitchen, where Tao's backpack propped on top of his suitcase has been packed and waiting since the night before. "It was nice to spend some time with him, since I've been so busy with school. Do you want anything to drink?" He thinks he has some beer left in the fridge, shoved to the back behind the bottle of Tao's apple juice, but Lu Han shakes his head while Sehun’s hand is still reaching for the door.
"It's pretty late. It took forever to get through customs this time, probably because we were traveling with all our equipment."
"Oh yeah! Do you need help with that? Is all your stuff still in the hall?" Sehun pulls out a chair for his sister and Sunyoung sinks onto the creaky seat with a shake of her head.
"It's already in the trunk, don't worry," she murmurs, her cheek pillowed on her forearms crossed against the table top. "We just transferred it to from the taxi before we came upstairs."
"Alright. Glad you could find your car back in the maze down there!" Sehun's building has an underground parking garage but he never goes down there because he doesn't have a license yet, despite Kyungsoo's constant nagging that he's almost a senior now and should start driving his own ass to places.
"Hyung!" Tao reappears in the entrance to the kitchen holding his baseball cap in one hand. "Hyung, Elsa's pretty shoe! Gone."
"Gone? But we put them in the medicine cabinet before her bath." Sehun frowns, peering into the palm Tao holds up to him. Sure enough, only one blue plastic stiletto is leaving a trail of silver glitter in the curve of his small hand.
"Gone!" Tao's shoulders quiver as the frustration twisting his facial features in a series of angry pouts and confused frowns building up into imminent tears.
"Shh, baby! It's ok!" Sunyoun pets her hands along the length of Tao's shoulders, trying to soothe him into composure. "I'm sure hyung will find it soon. It can't have gone far."
"But, Elsa! Her foot will be cold."
"It's summertime, buddy. I think she'll be just fine if she goes home barefoot." Lu Han sticks out his tongue at a ridiculous angle as he tries to fit the remaining shoe on Elsa's rubber toes.
"Hyung! I think you've got that on backwards," Sehun snickers. "Are you sure you're a fashion photographer?"
"I was just experimenting," Lu Han glares, and sticks his tongue out all the way. "Haute couture is supposed to be avant garde."
"And I, for one, am done with avant garde for at least the next month. I'm ready for some sweatpants and the loveseat." Sunyoung groans as she drags herself out of Sehun's chair. "Let's go home."
"Ok," Sehun sighs. The handle of his fridge door is starting to dig into his bicep from leaning against it, and collapsing on his own loveseat with one of his neglected beer bottles sounds quite appealing.
Sunyoung drags the Ponyo By the Sea suitcase out to the hall while Lu Han stuffs the last few items Tao left in Sehun’s bathroom into his backpack. Tao refuses to put on more than one of his sandals at the door since Elsa has to go home half barefoot, so Lu Han hefts both the kid and his backpack onto his shoulders.
"Bye, guys," Sehun waves, peeking his head through the crack of his front door to watch his family retreat down the hall to the elevator. "You better come visit me soon!"
+++ +++ +++
It doesn't take Sehun long to find Elsa's missing shoe. In a rather less romantic parody of Cinderella, he stumbles into his bathroom in a sleepy haze the next morning and promptly steps on something even more painful than a rogue lego.
"Owww!" Sehun howls, the tiny plastic heel stabbing up into the sole of his foot in the tenderest spot between his last two baby toes. He drops to the floor to cradle his foot in his lap and do what he always does in moments of severe physical and emotional pain: speed dial Kyungsoo.
"Hyuuuung my foooot," Sehun whines into the phone.
Kyungsoo grunts at him in answer. He sounds rather annoyed but at least he picked up the call. "It's 8 AM, Sehun. And it is Monday. Why are you awake?"
"I--alarm," Sehun says, realizing that he doesn't actually have to be out of bed yet because he doesn't have to take Tao to class today. Shit.
"I see. And are you calling me because you forgot how to disable the snooze setting?"
"No!" Sehun's head knocks against the cold tile of his bathroom wall as he scrabbles to find a more comfortable position for his cramped limbs on the floor. "Elsa's glass slipper," Sehun groans, his brain still to fuzzy with sleep to explain fully. "I stepped on it and it fucking hurts."
"Ok," Kyungsoo says, "I'm not even gonna ask."
"Mmphrg."
"Do I need to call an ambulance for you, or can you crawl to the kitchen for some beer to numb the pain."
"Alcohol," Sehun moans, "good idea. Thank you, you’re a genius."
"Glad you're acknowledging my superior intellect for once," Kyungsoo snorts. "And be forewarned, I'll be reminding you of this moment for years to come."
"I don't doubt it," Sehun moans. His head is still swirling with the inklings of a migraine, but he's starting to feel a bit more coherent from the clarity the jolt of pain afforded him. "Agh, ow. But at least I found the shoe."
"Shoe?"
"Sorry, it's just--something Taozi's been looking for. We couldn't find it when it was time for him to go home. I guess I'll take it by noona's when I visit this weekend, though Taozi.... Meh, he probably wants it as soon as he can get it back."
"You could always take it to him at school," Kyungsoo says, "since, you know, it's right on your way to campus. And also Joonmyun works there."
"But I don't need to go to campus today." Sehun yawns until his throat relaxes a little, but he probably still needs a few glasses of water to make up for all the coffee he downed last night. He didn't go to bed until 3:00, taking advantage of his quiet apartment to get some work done on his score. "Why, did Xing-hyung text something while I was asleep?"
"I don't know, check your own phone."
"Then why--"
"Because," Kyungsoo interrupts, and now he's starting to sound nettled, "you might want to have a place to go hide if your conversation with Joonmyun doesn't go the way you're hoping it will. And you tend to hide in the library when you want to mope, so. Just a suggestion."
"Wait," Sehun moans, pressing his thumb into the ache between his toes. "Why am I talking to Joonmyun? I just need to give Elsa's evil shoe to Taozi, and then...I don't know." Sehun doesn't usually plan out his vacation days in such detail. Especially not this early in the morning.
"Like I said, it's just a suggestion. But since you spent the whole weekend cooped up inside sending me and Yeol cryptic, self-pitying texts about kindergartens and cellos and Joonmyun--"
"When did I do this," Sehun protests, "I don't remember this!"
"Just check your phone," Kyungsoo says evenly, "and you might even find a few outgoing messages about how much you love beer and also Joonmyun's laugh which reminds you of cellos."
"Shit." Sehun rubs all of his knuckles into his metatarsals, terrified to remember who else he might have been drunk texting last night until he realizes that he doesn't even have Joonmyun's number, thank God. Then, "shit! What if he's not there today, Soo? What if he's sick, or he quit, or all the kids have the measles? I don't even have Joonmyun's number!"
"Calm down, first of all," Kyungsoo sniffs. "I suggest you improve your personal hygiene before you go anywhere. And probably you should have some breakfast and an aspirin or two. I'm going back to bed."
"Aspirin? What the fuck, hyung! I swear I'm not hungover."
"I meant for your foot," Kyungsoo says, and hangs up the phone.
+++ +++ +++
"Hi," Sehun says, ducking his head under a sudden rush of bashfulness as he cracks open the door to the classroom.
"Oh, Sehun? I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon!" Joonmyun beckons him into the room. Before Sehun can get the door closed behind him he has Tao wrapped around his right leg while Sungyeol and Jonghyun jostle for dominance of his other.
"Yeah, well, just helping noona out today." Sehun lifts his head to give Joonmyun a smile. He spent the entire afternoon pacing the aisles of the grocery store, trying to decide between flavors of jam and instant noodles, and also what the hell he was supposed to say to Joonmyun when he saw him again. If he saw him again, heaven willing and measles epidemics notwithstanding.
"Go home, hyung?" Tao pulls on his hand and Sehun nods.
"Yes sir, Taozi. Lulu will be home soon. But your mom had to stay late at work, and also I brought you this." Sehun works his hand free out of Sungyeol's grip to pull the plastic sandwich bag with Elsa's shoe from his pocket.
“You found it! Hyung!" Tao snatches the bag from Sehun and rubs the plastic all over his face before kissing it. "Elsa's foot will be happy."
"I sure hope so!" Sehun chuckles, giving Jonghyun a pat on the shoulder.
"Pick up is almost finished, so," Joonmyun squints a little as he pauses. "You wouldn't have time to, I dunno, grab coffee on the way to the station?"
"Busy," Tao replies for Sehun with a shake of his head. "Tonight is dance."
"Oh yeah, um dance, I forgot." Sehun sighs and pries Sungyeol's fingers from his belt loops. "We'd better hurry then, huh Taozi. Sorry, Joonmyun. But--"
"It's ok, never mind." Joonmyun turns to open the door as Jonghyun's father rushes in, tie loosened around his open collar and a roll of papers shoved under one arm.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, the traffic is terrible today!"
"It's no problem!" Joonmyun helps Jonghyun with the straps of his backpack while Tao slips on his shoes.
"Hyung, let's go." Tao tugs Sehun into the hallway and he follows, dragging his heels for one last glance over his shoulder.
He's kicking himself because he let his chance to say something to Joonmyun slip away, but what is he supposed to do now? Interrupt Joonmyun's small talk with Jonghyun's father to say, excuse me, but I think I really like your face, and also you, and can I touch your hair?
Sehun’s heart sinks into the cracks between the floor tiles with every step from the door he lets Tao pull him. As volatile as the build up of his emotions feels, straining at the buttons of his shirt, Sehun can't figure out a way to pull the plug. The timing of today feels just as off as the cocktail of confusion sloshing in his gut so Sehun ignores the urge to sprint back to the classroom, trying to focus on Tao's narration of his day as he follows him to the metro station.
+++ +++ +++
(part three here) (part five here)
Pairings: Sehun/Suho
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, written just for fun.
Summary: Sehun has been looking forward to spending time with his nephew Tao, but his summer break plans did not include volunteering alongside the (cute) kindergarten teacher, Joonmyun.
Warning: language, side Chanyeol/Kyungsoo, side Lu Han/Sunyoung, kid!Tao, kid!Kris, kid!Infinite, +a few other Kpop singers and SM Town people sprinkled on for good measure
A/N: Originally posted for the 2015 round of Ohunlimited. I haven’t taught preschool for ages so please forgive my inaccuracies. Have a song, have a gif, have some love <3 (and thank you to Holly for the beta!)
Sehun yawns, squinting into the sun that’s decided to show it's face full force today. Of course it would, though. The weather either has to be pouty and spitting crocodile tears, or it tries to take five years off the youthfulness and resilience of Sehun's delicate skin in a scalding temper tantrum. Sehun isn't a fan of any kind of extreme weather conditions, but he might hate summer weather the most of all, the way it can't make up it's mind about what sort of horrible mood it wants to be in. At least in winter he knows exactly what to expect.
"Need to borrow some sunglasses?" Joonmyun slides his own pair down the bridge of his nose to pout at Sehun. Sehun just rolls his eyes and huffs out a laugh, retreating a step further into the shade.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks."
"You're always good." Joonmyun's lips are still pursed in a pouty frown. They look especially pink when he does that, like all the color gets concentrated into a plush rosebud just to taunt Sehun. "Or at least that's what you claim. You're great at taking care of the kids, but you should let others take care of you sometimes, too." He says it all at once, not rushed but it almost sounds rehearsed, like Joonmyun has been thinking along those lines for awhile and waiting for his chance to say it aloud.
Sehun turns to squint at him, confused. "I let Kyungsoo feed me spaghetti last night. Does that count?"
"I don't have any idea who that is, but sure." Joonmyun looks down with a soft smile rippling at the edges of his drooping lips. He kicks at the mulch under his sneakers. A frayed chunk of it flips up and catches in the loops of his shoelace but Joonmyun doesn't bother to remove it.
"He's my hyung," Sehun says, "just my sunbae from school. But he lets me steal his food and sleep on his sofa, and he only kicks me sometimes."
"Oh my!" Joonmyun's chuckle is soft, almost relieved.
Sehun lets his shoulders relax against the wall behind them, relieved himself at the ease in the tension though he's not sure what Joonmyun is feeling right now.
"He sounds like a good friend. You should keep him."
"Yeah, for sure." Sehun wipes his palms on the sides of his jeans. "He's been one of my closest friends since high school, him and Chanyeol."
“Chanyeol?” Joonmyun's listening closely now, Sehun can feel his full attention centered on him through his sharp gaze.
"Oh, Chanyeol-hyung is Kyungsoo's boyfriend," Sehun explains.
"Ah, boyfriend," Joonmyun says with a dip of his head. He's still staring up at Sehun, something questioning in his gaze. He doesn't look uncomfortable or weirded out by the admission though, so Sehun doesn't say anything further, leaving Joonmyun to make the next conversational move. "Sehun," Joonmyun starts to say, tilting his chin to the right as he blinks at him. "Have you ever--"
"Joon-oon-teacher! Teacher help please!"
The sudden wail is unmistakably Qian. Joonmyun peels himself from the wall seconds before Tao and Liyin slam into his legs, knocking Joonmyun back into Sehun's chest. At least five of the kids are still shrieking at the top of their lungs as Sehun tries to sort himself out of the tangle of limbs without elbowing anybody in the face.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Joonmyun's voice is raised to a volume Sehun has never heard it before, but his steady tone cutting through the high pitched screams has a calming effect.
"Hey," Sehun murmurs, scooping Tao into his arms as Joonmyun bends to deal with Liyin's tears. "What's wrong?"
"Hyung! A huge--huge--!"
"Spider!" Qian screams again before Tao can finish. "Teacher, spider! There!" She points above her head to a tiny speck dangling from a tree branch. Tao shudders, burying his gasp in the side of Sehun's neck.
"It's ok, Qian," Joonmyun calls as he rubs his palm in light circles over Liyin's upper back. "Just come away from there and leave it alone, ok?"
"Can't you--can't you kill it?" Qian doesn't sound convinced, though she drops the stick she's brandishing like a scimitar and takes a step back towards the slide. Sehun suppresses the laughter threatening to burst out of him, massaging the side of Tao's neck with his fingers.
"No, sweetie. That tree is the spider's home. If you leave it alone, it won't bother you."
"Ok..." Qian turns to join the huddled mass of her friends cowering on the merry-go-round.
"Don't be scared, Jjong!" Sehun hears Hyejin declare, "I'll defend you!"
Tao raises his head, loosening the grip of knees digging into Sehun's kidneys.
"Are you ok, buddy?" Sehun brushes the hair from his eyes and Tao nods as he slides down Sehun's leg to trail Liyin to the sandbox.
"Sorry!" Joonmyun shakes his head, his bangs sifting over his brows as his hair falls out of its neat part. "They can scream pretty loud, huh?"
"It's ok, I'm not a fan of creepy crawlies, either," Sehun grins, making space for Joonmyun when he wanders over to resume his watch at the wall. He's not sure what is about Joonmyun that makes it so easy for him to adjust, to open up about his friends and taking care of Tao at home, but Sehun feels nothing but comfortable and at ease with Joonmyun.
He's still thinking about it an hour later, after they've rounded all the kids up to go inside for music class with Ryeowook-teacher. Joonmyun and Sehun stay in the classroom for an early lunch, the room strangely quiet without the constant activity of the students surrounding them.
"So I've been meaning to ask you," Sehun says, peeling the top bit of shell from the crown of his hard boiled egg. "...'Joon-oon-teacher'? Where did that name come from?"
"Oh!" Joonmyun looks down with a smile, creasing his napkin in half against his knee. "That was Sunmi, originally. She couldn't pronounce my name well. And even though Sungyeol could, he started calling me that too, out of solidarity I guess. He switched after lunch on the first day of last semester."
"That's...wow," Sehun says, sinking his teeth into the tip of his egg. "That's really sweet of him."
"Yeah." Joonmyun swirls the soup in the cup of his thermos until the miso settling at the bottom redistributes through the broth. "He can be kind of a smarty pants sometimes, but he's got a good heart."
"You know them really well, and how to deal with them." Sehun peels a strip of egg white from around the curve of the yolk, some of the center rubbing off on his fingers like goldenrod dust.
"You've gotten pretty close to them yourself." Joonmyun stabs at a chunk of apple with the tiny cocktail fork Mrs. Lee packed with the lunch she sent today. "You've only been here, what, a week and a half?"
"Yeah." Sehun chews slowly, the little bits of egg white chunky under his tongue. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long. Lu Han and his sister are coming back on Sunday, and the fall term starts a week after that. He still needs to order a couple of textbooks for the lit class he added to his schedule. "How long have you taught here?"
"Just since the start of last semester," Joonmyun says, and Sehun spits his mouthful of egg across the room. It lands on the table next to where Joonmyun is sitting, and he swipes it up with his napkin before Sehun has time to freak out in humiliation.
"Sorry," he says, twisting the foil around his sandwich into artistic representations of aluminum porcupine quills. "I'm just--surprised? You seem so...like, perfect." There's not really any other word for it, at least not that Sehun's brain can come up with at the moment. "At being a teacher, I mean, and taking care of the kids and stuff."
"Wow, thanks." Joonmyun sets his cup of soup down, the burnished steel clinking softly against the laminate tabletop as he swings his legs under his chair. "I'm flattered, but I highly doubt I'm anywhere near perfect. I've only a few more months of experience than you, after all."
"You keep saying that, but..." Sehun's had ample time observe Joonmyun's interactions with his students. The care but also respect he treats them with doesn't seem inexperienced at all.
"But seriously, I only started working here after I graduated in the spring."
"Were you an education major?" That would explain why none of Sehun's friends in the arts department know Joonmyun.
"Yup! Music and Fine Arts Pedagogy. I'm still studying to take the licensing exam, though." Joonmyun sighs, pricking the skin of his apple slice with the fork. "I need to pass it before I can apply to work in a public school, and it'll probably take a few more months of weekends in the library before I'm ready."
"Sounds tough." Sehun scrapes a broken bit of eggshell sticking to his fist off on the knee of his jeans. "But I'm sure you'll do great when you feel ready, Joonmyun."
Joonmyun looks up at the mention of his name, a surprised smile dancing in his eyes. Sehun colors, tearing off a long strip of egg to shove in his mouth when he realizes that's the first time he's said Joonmyun's named aloud.
"Thanks, Sehunnie!" Joonmyun pats Sehun on the head where his bangs sprout stiffly from his hairline. If he notices Sehun's dark blush in response, he doesn't say anything.
Joonmyun is in a cheery mood for the rest of lunch, humming under his breath between the snatches of conversation they exchange between bites of their food. And if he notices Sehun sneaking glances at the way his hair falls into the blink of his dark lashes when leans forward to sip his steaming soup, Joonmyun doesn't say anything about that either.
+++ +++ +++
"Ok, so maybe I don't actually hate volunteering." Sehun sighs, the air rushing from his nostrils with all of the force the mess of feelings swirling inside him are exerting on his gut. Or maybe it's just the extra spicy kimchi fried rice he downed for dinner before he had to run out and pick Tao up from dance class. That is also a viable, perhaps preferable, alternate theory as to why Sehun feels really, really weird, and also wants to punch something.
"Maybe?" Kyungsoo's response sounds less like a question and more like a steely edged call to repentance. Sehun squirms, groaning because he doesn't want to face uncomfortable facts right now. He just wants to roll around on his comfortable sofa and make moaning noises to anyone willing to put up with him.
"Yeah, maybe. Like, the school's not a bad place." Sehun thinks of the quiet classroom he shared with Joonmyun during their lunch break today, how much he had enjoyed their simple conversation about things as mundane as which brand of cheese crackers stays freshest when purchased in bulk, and which corner of the campus library is the least drafty in the dead of winter. "As long as the kids aren't all up in my space. Yeah, maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Well! Ok, maybe I like the kids too. Maybe I--shit, Soo! Why is it already Wednesday? Why is it almost Friday?"
"Wait, I thought you were looking forward to this weekend." That's Chanyeol's voice now, the deep tones of his voice rumbling in the background more muffled than Kyungsoo's quiet but clear comments. "Aren't your sister and Han-hyung supposed to come home this weekend? 'Cause we were gonna go out."
"Yeah, yeah they are." Sehun glances over to his calendar. It’s still stuck on the June page, but he knows the date 8/15 is marked in Tao's purple glitter crayon, a clumsy heart surrounding the box that means Lulu will return.
"Aw! Are you gonna miss little Tao when he goes home? Is that why you're all mopey?"
"I guess," Sehun grunts. He has too many things flip flopping in his gut right now to try to explain them all over again to Chanyeol. He's already been on the phone with Kyungsoo for half an hour. Usually it only takes an average of 11.3 minutes of their banter for Sehun to feel like a new man, ready to go out and compose up a storm of piccolo trills or punch his Econ homework in the metaphorical, equation-plastered face.
"I'll miss Tao for sure, but I can always go hang out at noona's when I want to see him, so..." His next sigh sounds more like the childish huff of Taeyeon, miffed when she doesn't get her preferred flavor of My-chew at snack time, and that thought just makes Sehun want to huff even louder.
"Exactly," Kyungsoo says, triumph tingeing his voice like he's already figured out the problem. "It's not Tao you're worried about missing."
"Oooh ho ho!" The mirth in Chanyeol's chuckle, not even the least bit disguised, makes Sehun's skin prickle under the back of his pajama shirt in irritation.
"Do both of you know something about this equation that I don't? Because I have no idea why it's not balancing out." Sehun would really like his stomach to find an even keel as well, because he wants to finish the remaining half of the chocolate cheese cake ice cream waiting for him in the freezer. He had planned to have a dessert with himself while he watches the late night re-run of We Got Married, which starts in nine minutes according to the timer Tao has set on the DVR.
"Just think about," Kyungsoo says, "carefully, one more time. And don't skim over the details."
"Details!" Sehun moans, forgetting to keep his volume down so as not to wake Tao until Chanyeol shushes him with a loud hiss. "How is this even that complicated!"
"Yup, my question exactly." Sehun can hear Kyungsoo tapping his fingernails against something in the background. "This isn't all that difficult, I don't know why you insist on making your life so hard by overthinking everything."
"Whatever." Sehun rolls off the couch, catching himself on his knees before pushing up to his feet. "I'll have to continue my thinking alone, I guess, because it's time for dessert and a date with my TV."
"That's nice," Kyungsoo says, "don't eat too much ice cream or you'll make yourself sick."
"Got it," Sehun groans, already halfway to his freezer, though he's not sure how anything he ingests could make him feel more uneasy and sick to his stomach right now.
"Bye."
+++ +++ +++
"Does everybody have their wish?" Joonmyun holds up a scrap of paper folded lengthwise with glitter smeared along a line of still drying glue.
"Yup!" Jonghyun dangles his equally soggy looking strip by the loop of yarn tied through the corner.
"Since today is--"
"Star Day! It's Star Day!" Jonghyun is standing on the seat of his chair now, bouncing until his wish flaps wildly from the string.
"That's right, Jjong! Today is Chilseok. Hm, I think our quietest friend may hang their wish first. Who do you think is being the most quiet and respectful when the teacher is speaking?"
Jonghyun flops down into his seat with a sigh and notches his chin into the crook of his elbow.
"What do you think, Sehun-teacher?"
"I think Liyin is being very patient," Sehun says, smiling at Liyin when she sits up straighter and smooths the pleats of her fluffy yellow skirt over her knees.
"Liyin, you may come up to hang your wish! Come on," Joonmyun beckons. He has the roll of masking tape slipped over his wrist, ready and waiting.
Sehun helps Yifan and Howon attach the strings to their wishes once they finish drawing their messages and decorating the outsides. The rest of the kids help clean up the glitter and supplies while they wait their turns, coming up to hang their papers when Joonmyun calls them.
"Sehun?" Joonmyun calls as he's attaching Yifan's ornament at the very top of the galaxy.
"Yeah?" Sehun swipes the last hint of glitter on his palms against the back pockets of his jeans. It probably didn't help much, but he'll scrub his hands more thoroughly before lunch.
"Didn't you want to hang yours, too?" Joonmyun points to Sehun's wish, which Dongwoo had insisted he make. It's lying on it's side at the edge of Hyejin's desk, the ends of the fold curling up with the glue and shrinking as it dries.
"Oh, I guess." Sehun scans the top of Joonmyun's desk, peeking between the scattered piles of books and teaching materials for a stray pencil. He still hasn't thought of a wish to scribble on his paper, but he might as well if he's going to hang it.
"Here." Joonmyun passes him a felt tipped marker.
Sehun uncaps it, squeezing the ridged lid in his palm as he tries to come up with something meaningful. He always spent a good week before his birthday thinking up a special wish when he was a kid, otherwise he got stressed out. Watching the candle flames devouring the colored wax, the time limit imposed on the validity of his heart's desire paralyzed him into indecision while his guests moaned at him to hurry up and blow already.
"It doesn't have to be something big," Joonmyun says, as if he knows what's running through Sehun's mind in nervous trips and false starts. "Small wishes are just as important as the big ones."
"Ok." Sehun takes a deep breath, letting the influx of oxygen wash into his capillaries until all he feels is right about his decision. "Ok." He writes three words on the slip of red construction paper and hands it over. The heavy lines from the tip of the oil marker bleed through the thin paper onto the back, but Sehun isn't worried about anyone seeing his wish.
He moves closer to watch Joonmyun tape the loop of yellow yarn to the wall, up at the top near Yifan's. "Where's yours?"
"Right there." Joonmyun points out the purple square where it's tucked between Sungyeol's and Qian's, just off center on the left. "It looks nice, doesn't it? All the stars together. Kind of like a Christmas tree."
"Where'd you get the idea?" Sehun plucks at the yarn holding his paper in place until it swings. "Or is this something traditional I should already know about?"
"Well, kind of. The legend is originally Chinese, you know, and in Japan they celebrate it too. They hang wishes on a tree outside, so the when the wind runs through the leaves it picks up the prayers and carries them to heaven. Isn't that a nice thought? That when you make a wish it doesn't just stay with you, it goes out in the world and maybe carries its happiness to someone else along the way."
"Yup," Sehun says, still nodding along like he has been through Joonmyun's entire speech. "That is nice, and also super romantic."
"I don't know about that." Joonmyun is blushing again, just like the first time Sehun teased him about it, but he doesn’t look away in embarrassment or frown in defense.
"So when are the wishes supposed to come true?"
"Well, first they have to get to heaven, I guess." Joonmyun slides his fingers through his hair, chewing on the edge of his lip as he considers. "So we had better open the window, huh? Just promise not to tell Choa, since the AC's on."
"Ok, my lips are sealed," Sehun agrees, returning Joonmyun's wink. "Here, let me." He nudges Joonmyun away from his rolling chair before he can try to climb on it, and stretches onto tiptoe to crack open the highest window above their field of stars. The air outside is muggy and still at midday, but with a bit of luck they should be able to catch a breeze when the temperature drops in the afternoon, high cirrus clouds drifting in with the hint of autumn updrafts.
"Joon-oon-teacher!” Sungyeol waves a small package wrapped in wrinkly red tissue paper as he approaches. “Teacher, surprise time!”
"What do you have there?" Joonmyun slides his desk chair forward to examine the ball Sungyeol hands him.
"For you! Open!"
"Wow, ok!" Joonmyun plucks helplessly at the strings of clear tape crisscrossing the wrapping paper until Sehun hands him a pair of scissors with a sigh. "What is it?" Joonmyun asks as he severs the thick bands of tape, careful not to catch the blades on what's inside.
"Let's find out," Seungyeol says with a smile, and Sehun laughs because he sounds exactly like Joonmyun during story time whenever Taeyeon interrupts with a flurry of questions.
"Ooh! This is really nice!" Joonmyun holds up the furry ball to admire while Sehun snatches the crumpled wrapping away to deposit in the recycling. "Very cuddly!"
"You're not supposed to cuddle it!" Sungyeol doubles over in a fit of giggles, leaning into Joonmyun's leg. "Teacher, silly! You don't know either?" He rolls his eyes incredulously at Sehun before turning back to pat the ball in Joonmyun's hands. "It's a star ball."
"I see," Joonmyun says, fluffing the furry top with the tips of his fingers.
"You make a wish, understand me?" Sungyeol grabs the ball and squeezes his eyes shut, his lips moving without a sound until he cracks an eyelid open to stare at Joonmyun. "Got it?"
"I think so! Thank you, Sungyeol! I will take good care of this." Joonmyun pats it again with the lightest touch from his palm and sets it on top of his day planner. "Wow, I feel really special now!" he tells Sehun as Sungyeol drifts off in a zigzag across the room.
"That you should," Sehun says. "He's been planning it all week, I think his sister helped him make it."
"Now that," Joonmyun reaches back to tease the fur as if it's his new pet or something, "sibling team work? That is special!"
+++ +++ +++
"Does Zitao have dance tonight?" Joonmyun pulls a folder and a few books from his bag, reshuffling them into descending height order so his travel mug will fit into the corner space.
"Nope." Sehun hands Tao his other shoe and sets both of their slippers in the cubby. The classroom is getting dark, the rays of the setting sun already dipping below the window's reach. "We're just heading home now."
Sehun stayed a little later than usual to help clean up. He doesn't have anywhere to be this evening, and since he doesn't have to go out to pick up Tao later he's not in any hurry to fix dinner. It's after 5:00 now, and all of Tao's classmates have gone home with their parents or off to their next hagwon lessons.
"Oh yeah?" Joonmyun wraps a scarf around his neck, a light gray colored material that looks gauzy in the thin light.
"Are you...cold?" The scarf doesn't look very substantial, but any extra layer of fabric makes Sehun miserable in the late summer heat.
"No but, the subway..." Joonmyun waves his hand and reaches for his star ball that's waiting on top of his schedule book. "I get chilly when they blast the AC, especially at night."
"Ok," Sehun squints, not sure he's convinced.
"Are you headed to the station, too?"
"Yes, we visit the princess in the station every day!" Tao stands up to open the door, the velcro straps on both of his shoes secured into place.
"The Princess?" Joonmyun waves Sehun through the door first and pulls out his key ring to lock it from the hallway. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"
"We'd be delighted," Sehun says, and Tao nods his approval.
"The Dragon Princess," Tao repeats. "She lives in the cave, but she's afraid of humans."
"Oh this sounds exciting!" Joonmyun lets Tao hold his hand as walk to the end of the hall.
Sehun follows a few paces behind, a little shy for Joonmyun to see his face while Tao explains the tall tales he invented to comfort him.
"Have you met the Princess? Can you introduce me to her, too?"
"No..." Tao’s voice sounds a tinge mournful, echoing in the spaces between the stretching shadows in the quiet hall. "No, because she's shy. I said that already."
"Sorry."
"It's ok, Teacher. But I've heard her! Sometimes she's snoring, and sometimes she...she--snorts?" Tao glances back, his eyes wide in question.
Sehun winks at him to let him know he found the right word, savoring the sweetness in Tao's relieved smile.
"Maybe you can hear her, too."
"Really?" Joonmyun's voice drops to a whisper as he turns to find Sehun's eyes in the half darkness.
"Yes," Tao whispers too, "but only if you're very quiet."
"Ok, I'll do my best!"
The sky is darkening with misty wisps that roll into a heavy cloud cover by the time they make it to the station, most of the color in the sunset obliterated under the threat of rain. The breeze Sehun has been crossing his fingers for since this morning is picking up from the east, and Tao shivers as they hurry down the steps into the shelter of the station.
"Do you want my scarf?" Joonmyun pulls the loose ends from his shoulders to offer it to Tao, but he just shakes his head, pressing a stubby finger to his lips.
"Shh!"
"Sorry!" Joonmyun mouths, and doesn't say another word as they swipe their passes at the turnstile.
The train is just pulling into the platform and Sehun scoops Tao onto his hip to jog down the last flight of stairs. They make it into the nearest train car, swept along with the flood of rush hour passengers, just before the doors swish shut.
"Did you hear?" Tao asks, his eyes worried as they probe Joonmyun's. He nestles his head against the curve of Sehun's shoulder, and Sehun backs into an empty corner to lean against the wall for balance.
"Yes." His eyes are serious, and Sehun smiles into Tao's hair at the sight of Joonmyun's careful nod. "I think so."
"You missed...the loudest...part," Tao says, his words slurred by a wide yawn. "But that was the Princess."
"Her voice is very big, very regal sounding."
"Regal?" Tao cocks his head, twisting to fit the side of his face closer against Sehun's neck.
"That means royal," Joonmyun explains as he steps into Sehun’s space to let another passenger through the narrow walkway. "Like a princess."
"Ah." Tao's sigh is interrupted by another yawn. Sehun reaches up to pet his hair in slow strokes, working the day's worth of tangles from the ends of the dark strands with patient fingers.
"Do you think it will rain?" He forgot his umbrella this morning. Sehun usually keeps it folded up in the bottom of his book bag, but it's still propped open on its spines in the entryway where he left it to dry days ago.
"Mm, I don't know." Joonmyun undoes the buttons at his wrists, pushing back the left cuff to check his watch as if that will tell him the weather forecast. "Maybe. Maybe in a few hours."
"Good." Sehun's sigh ruffles the ends of Tao's hair and he whimpers softly against Sehun's skin. He sounds almost asleep now, nosing even closer into Sehun's arms as the train decelerates to stop at the next station.
"You know, they say if it rains on Chilseok it's supposed to be their tears, Jiknyeo and Gyeonwoo's." Joonmyun smiles, but he's facing away from Sehun. His eyes are a wistful darkness under the glare of the overhead lights in the train car, and Sehun can't examine them any closer from this angle.
"That sounds...depressing. Tears are sad." Exactly the way Sehun feels, the end of his whirlwind stint as a kindergarten teacher rapidly approaching the finish line.
"Mm, but how do you know?" Joonmyun twists to face Sehun, his palm singing against the steel bar he's hanging on to. "They could be tears of joy."
+++ +++ +++
"Hey, buddy!" Lu Han leans into the screen, the towel slung around his neck slipping down his shoulders.
"How's my baby?" Sunyoung bats the towel away from obscuring the webcam and snuggles into Lu Han's chest.
"Lulu! Hi!" Tao waves with both of his hands at the screen as Sehun tilts the lid of his laptop, trying to adjust the picture to the right angle. Nothing annoys him more than a video call in inverse coloration. "Come home soon?"
"Aw, sweetie!" Sunyoung's smile is wide, but Sehun can see the longing drip through at the corners of her mouth as they waver.
"Yup! We'll be home on Sunday!" Lu Han slides his arm behind his wife and rubs the curve of her bare shoulder where her skin glows on the screen between the fall of her hair.
"Sunday?" Tao holds up three of his fingers to the screen. "This many?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Sunyoung sighs, "just three more days."
"Did you have fun at school today?"
"Yes!" Tao answers Lu Han, bouncing in Sehun's lap until the webcam is blurry with the radiating waves of his excitement. "I made a wish!"
"Ooh what kind of wish?" Sunyoung's head drops back against Lu Han's shoulder as his hand moves up to stroke her hair.
"Shhh," Tao says.
"I think he means he can't tell you," Sehun interrupts to explain, "or else the wish won't come true."
"Yeah, duh!" Lu Han teases, dropping a kiss to Sunyoung's forehead.
"Hey, you prickle! You shave first, mister!" She shoves his face away with a palm cupping his chin but Lu Han just giggles, caging her in his arms and nuzzling against the soft waves of her hair.
"Still hard at work over there?"
"Yeah," Sunyoung sighs again. "Sorry, Hunnie, that we haven't had time to call more often. We just finish so late most nights, and then you two are off to school at the crack of dawn."
"It's not my favorite schedule either," Sehun confesses, scratching at his ear. "But I think I'm getting the hang of it."
"Right as it's time for your volunteer stint to be over?" Lu Han's lips stretch into a 'yikes' expression as he shakes his head at Sehun.
"Tell me about." Sehun closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, relishing the comfort of Tao warm in his lap and breathing steadily against his chest. "I'm not ready for the new term to start. Not at all."
"You're such a big baby." Sunyoung snorts and flips the end of Lu Han's towel at webcam. "When are you ever gonna grow up, Hunnie."
"Shut up," Sehun growls, and shifts against the armrest of the sofa. Tao is getting squirmy in his lap again, reaching for the nearest pillow.
"Hey, be nice to my wife!" Lu Han pouts in an exaggerated frown, leaning in to the screen, and Tao cackles in delight.
"Why don't you be nice to her for me?" Sehun smirks as he pushes back his hair from his ears. "I quit being nice to her around the age of three, I think."
"You brat! You were born evil."
"I love you too, noona!" Sehun wiggles his fingers at the screen, stretching his arms in an awkward ring around Tao to make a hand heart.
"Love you too, Lulu!" Tao matches his hands up behind Sehun's in the picture on the screen. Both of his parents burst into an immediate chorus of cooing.
"I think," Sehun yawns, checking the clock at the bottom of his screen, "that it's past Taozi's bedtime."
"Or is it just past your bedtime?" Sunyoung snipes back, but Lu Han is nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, we better not keep you guys up too late, huh? Early day again tomorrow."
"Yeah." Sehun's been trying not to think about tomorrow. But maybe if he goes to sleep early he can still get a good night's rest even if it takes him hours to evade the hurricane of emotional debris floating around in his head and actually fall asleep.
"Aw, ok." Sunyoung makes a heart at them with her own hands. "Goodnight, boys. Sweet dreams."
"Mua! Mua!" Lu Han kisses both of his fingers with loud smacking noises until Tao giggles and smushes his face into Sehun's pillow.
"Goodnight, Lulu!"
"Goodnight, baby!"
"Night, Hunnie and Zizi!"
"Goodnight," Sehun says, and ends the call.
+++ +++ +++
"Well, this is it, I guess." Sehun gestures to the brown paper shopping bag at his feet. His slippers are sticking out of the top next to his travel mug, and a toilet paper roll personally decorated in a rainbow of scribbles by Jonghyun is somewhere at the bottom. It's funny how many objects Sehun managed to accumulate in two short weeks at this not-even-his-real-workplace.
"Yeah, I guess so." Joonmyun's hands are propped on his hips, his fingernails pink against indigo. He's in jeans again, maybe because it's Friday, or maybe just because.
"Do I need to return this?" Sehun dangles his ID badge draped over his hand in question. He stayed late again today, and he's not even sure if Choa or Minseok are still in the office.
"It's got your name on it." Joonmyun shrugs. His hands slips from his belt and he hooks his thumbs in the tight side pockets of his skinny jeans. "If you want to, just keep it."
Sehun drops the tag in his paper bag and it makes a sifting sound as it falls to the bottom, anxieties and expectations and maybes falling away through his fingers.
"Hyung, ready." Tao tugs on Sehun's hand and Sehun looks down to find his sandals already strapped onto his small tanned feet.
"Let me walk you to the station." Joonmyun doesn't have a scarf today, Sehun notices as he steps into the hall, but he locks the classroom door with the same slim key and tucks the key ring into the front of his black work bag. Something else about him seems different, but Sehun can't put his finger on it even though the niggling instinct won't leave him alone all the way to the metro station, the vague unsettled feeling that he's missing some important detail.
"Teacher." Tao's whisper breaks the silence as they step up to the strip of yellow tile marking off the platform into queue sections. "Teacher, look! Oh no!"
Sehun glances over to follow Tao's pointing fingers.
"Oh, what is it?"
"Oh no!" Tao repeats, stumbling backwards until he trips on Sehun's feet and topples into his side.
"Ah, it's just a little beetle. See? So tiny." Joonmyun points too as he squats to examine the insect that has Tao all riled up. "I wonder how he got all the way down here."
"Maybe he's the Dragon Princess' protector," Sehun says, and both Tao and Joonmyun turn to stare at him. "I mean...I dunno," Sehun says, his gaze getting stuck somewhere near Joonmyun's collarbones peeking out the collar of his shirt. He rolled back his cuffs and unbuttoned the top two buttons as soon as they left the classroom.
And then Sehun realizes what's been throwing him off, Joonmyun's dark hair isn't brushing over the back of his collar in shaggy waves anymore. His hairline is clipped in a neat curve and the sides are trimmed in subtle layers over the tips of his ears. In front, though, the silky strands are still long enough to dust over the sweep of his brow, and maybe Sehun wants to touch them, reach out and brush them--
"Joon-oon-teacher!" If Tao wasn't whispering the harshness of his voice would be a yell. Neither Joonmyun or Sehun have to ask why he's excited this time, because the rumble of the incoming train grows loud enough to drown out their words as it approaches.
Joonmyun and Tao’s heads turn in a smooth arc, following the streak of cars sliding to a stop while Sehun watches the beetle scurry for cover. It dives into a crack at the base of a support pillar and Sehun shoves both his hands in his pockets. Joonmyun is still so close, too close, and Sehun's fingertips are cramping up with the need to touch. His whole body is aching with the realization that maybe isn't the word for this feeling at all, it's more like definitely, and that if he doesn't say something about it soon he might not get another chance.
The doors are opening now. Joonmyun pulls Tao out of the way of traffic as a group of students exits in a tumble of awkward limbs and heated giggles, the pleated plaid of their uniform skirts swinging above their knees. The girls look so comfortable together, arms and book bags slung over shoulders and dark hair sifting into a curtain of intimacy as they bend their heads together, cooing at something on a phone screen. Sehun's throat burns with a sudden need to feel the same kind of closeness but he can't even hug Tao at the moment, who is wrapped in Joonmyun's arms as they sidestep a lady with a baby stroller.
"Sehun?"
Cool fingers catch his wrist and Sehun starts, tripping on the yellow rubber caution tiles at the edge of the platform.
"Careful, hyung!"
It's Tao fingers that he feels this time, fisting gently in Sehun's hair as he catches himself on the nearest handhold inside the train car.
"Are you alright?" Joonmyun rocks Tao on his hip, swiveling on the heels of his loafers.
"Yeah, sorry I--" Sehun shakes his head, tries to shake off the need clinging to his skin like a damp T-shirt and also at the fringe of his lashes. "I guess I'm just...tired." He turns to face out the window of car door, even though there's nothing to see but the shadow of the dark tunnel walls rushing past. He can't even make out the texture of the cement at this speed.
"Ah, I understand."
Joonmyun sounds almost disappointed, but Sehun can't read anything in his downturned gaze. His chin is tucked against the top of Tao's head and he rocks him slowly to the sway of the wheels on the tracks, to the rhythm of this moment that's drawing Sehun closer and closer to the shelter of Joonmyun's comforting wings folded around Tao and also rushing him forward to the station where he will transfer and exit and walk home and never go to kindergarten again.
Three stops later Joonmyun unwraps a sleepy, snuffling Tao from his embrace and Sehun slides in to cradle him to his chest.
"Go home safely," Joonmyun says, his eyes lingering on Sehun’s for a heart quickening moment, and then he's lost in the sea of bodies flowing out onto another platform to silence another Dragon Princess on another Friday night that doesn't feel ordinary at all to Sehun.
"Hyung," Tao whispers. His lips are chapped and the rough skin tickles against Sehun's throat. "Hungry."
"Me too." Maybe if Sehun fills his stomach with something solid all these wishy washy feelings will go away. Maybe. "What do you want to eat?"
Tao just hums as he rearranges his limbs. His knee digs into Sehun's side and Sehun backs into the newly vacated corner behind him because he doesn't have the strength to support them both just on the soles of his own unsteady feet.
"How about chocolate ice cream."
Tao doesn't answer, his breath coming in even sighs against the collar of Sehun's T-shirt as the rhythm of the train takes over Sehun’s heartbeat.
+++ +++ +++
"Lulu!"
Tao doesn't scream often, but when he does it is loud. Sehun holds his ears as he hangs back in the hallway, grinning as Tao rips open the heavy front door of the apartment and leaps into Lu Han's arms.
"Hey, buddy!" Lu Han smacks a wet kiss onto both of Tao's cheeks and almost trips over the heap of Sehun's air jordans and sandals spilling across the entryway.
"What about me? How about a kiss for your mama, huh?" Sunyoung tosses her curls over the shoulder of her petal pink trench coat and leans around Lu Han to present her upturned cheek. Tao throws his arms around her neck, his slender hips still caught in Lu Han's arms, and twists to pepper her face with kisses.
"He really missed you guys." Sehun is still standing on the other side of the shoe mountain with Elsa in his hands. They were in the middle of giving her a bath in the dish drain when Tao's parents rang the intercom, and Elsa is wrapped in a scrap of flannel dusting rag Sehun's mother left here after one of her cleaning rampages.
"Aw! Missed you too," Sunyoung says, and cups the line of Tao's jaw in her palms. "But you had fun with your uncle, didn't you?"
Tao nods his head up down, twisting away from his mom to give Sehun a big smile.
"I hope he didn't give you too much trouble." Lu Han looks a little worried as he kicks a stray Birkenstock aside to set Tao down on the floor.
"Nah, of course not." Sehun leads them around the corner into the kitchen, where Tao's backpack propped on top of his suitcase has been packed and waiting since the night before. "It was nice to spend some time with him, since I've been so busy with school. Do you want anything to drink?" He thinks he has some beer left in the fridge, shoved to the back behind the bottle of Tao's apple juice, but Lu Han shakes his head while Sehun’s hand is still reaching for the door.
"It's pretty late. It took forever to get through customs this time, probably because we were traveling with all our equipment."
"Oh yeah! Do you need help with that? Is all your stuff still in the hall?" Sehun pulls out a chair for his sister and Sunyoung sinks onto the creaky seat with a shake of her head.
"It's already in the trunk, don't worry," she murmurs, her cheek pillowed on her forearms crossed against the table top. "We just transferred it to from the taxi before we came upstairs."
"Alright. Glad you could find your car back in the maze down there!" Sehun's building has an underground parking garage but he never goes down there because he doesn't have a license yet, despite Kyungsoo's constant nagging that he's almost a senior now and should start driving his own ass to places.
"Hyung!" Tao reappears in the entrance to the kitchen holding his baseball cap in one hand. "Hyung, Elsa's pretty shoe! Gone."
"Gone? But we put them in the medicine cabinet before her bath." Sehun frowns, peering into the palm Tao holds up to him. Sure enough, only one blue plastic stiletto is leaving a trail of silver glitter in the curve of his small hand.
"Gone!" Tao's shoulders quiver as the frustration twisting his facial features in a series of angry pouts and confused frowns building up into imminent tears.
"Shh, baby! It's ok!" Sunyoun pets her hands along the length of Tao's shoulders, trying to soothe him into composure. "I'm sure hyung will find it soon. It can't have gone far."
"But, Elsa! Her foot will be cold."
"It's summertime, buddy. I think she'll be just fine if she goes home barefoot." Lu Han sticks out his tongue at a ridiculous angle as he tries to fit the remaining shoe on Elsa's rubber toes.
"Hyung! I think you've got that on backwards," Sehun snickers. "Are you sure you're a fashion photographer?"
"I was just experimenting," Lu Han glares, and sticks his tongue out all the way. "Haute couture is supposed to be avant garde."
"And I, for one, am done with avant garde for at least the next month. I'm ready for some sweatpants and the loveseat." Sunyoung groans as she drags herself out of Sehun's chair. "Let's go home."
"Ok," Sehun sighs. The handle of his fridge door is starting to dig into his bicep from leaning against it, and collapsing on his own loveseat with one of his neglected beer bottles sounds quite appealing.
Sunyoung drags the Ponyo By the Sea suitcase out to the hall while Lu Han stuffs the last few items Tao left in Sehun’s bathroom into his backpack. Tao refuses to put on more than one of his sandals at the door since Elsa has to go home half barefoot, so Lu Han hefts both the kid and his backpack onto his shoulders.
"Bye, guys," Sehun waves, peeking his head through the crack of his front door to watch his family retreat down the hall to the elevator. "You better come visit me soon!"
+++ +++ +++
It doesn't take Sehun long to find Elsa's missing shoe. In a rather less romantic parody of Cinderella, he stumbles into his bathroom in a sleepy haze the next morning and promptly steps on something even more painful than a rogue lego.
"Owww!" Sehun howls, the tiny plastic heel stabbing up into the sole of his foot in the tenderest spot between his last two baby toes. He drops to the floor to cradle his foot in his lap and do what he always does in moments of severe physical and emotional pain: speed dial Kyungsoo.
"Hyuuuung my foooot," Sehun whines into the phone.
Kyungsoo grunts at him in answer. He sounds rather annoyed but at least he picked up the call. "It's 8 AM, Sehun. And it is Monday. Why are you awake?"
"I--alarm," Sehun says, realizing that he doesn't actually have to be out of bed yet because he doesn't have to take Tao to class today. Shit.
"I see. And are you calling me because you forgot how to disable the snooze setting?"
"No!" Sehun's head knocks against the cold tile of his bathroom wall as he scrabbles to find a more comfortable position for his cramped limbs on the floor. "Elsa's glass slipper," Sehun groans, his brain still to fuzzy with sleep to explain fully. "I stepped on it and it fucking hurts."
"Ok," Kyungsoo says, "I'm not even gonna ask."
"Mmphrg."
"Do I need to call an ambulance for you, or can you crawl to the kitchen for some beer to numb the pain."
"Alcohol," Sehun moans, "good idea. Thank you, you’re a genius."
"Glad you're acknowledging my superior intellect for once," Kyungsoo snorts. "And be forewarned, I'll be reminding you of this moment for years to come."
"I don't doubt it," Sehun moans. His head is still swirling with the inklings of a migraine, but he's starting to feel a bit more coherent from the clarity the jolt of pain afforded him. "Agh, ow. But at least I found the shoe."
"Shoe?"
"Sorry, it's just--something Taozi's been looking for. We couldn't find it when it was time for him to go home. I guess I'll take it by noona's when I visit this weekend, though Taozi.... Meh, he probably wants it as soon as he can get it back."
"You could always take it to him at school," Kyungsoo says, "since, you know, it's right on your way to campus. And also Joonmyun works there."
"But I don't need to go to campus today." Sehun yawns until his throat relaxes a little, but he probably still needs a few glasses of water to make up for all the coffee he downed last night. He didn't go to bed until 3:00, taking advantage of his quiet apartment to get some work done on his score. "Why, did Xing-hyung text something while I was asleep?"
"I don't know, check your own phone."
"Then why--"
"Because," Kyungsoo interrupts, and now he's starting to sound nettled, "you might want to have a place to go hide if your conversation with Joonmyun doesn't go the way you're hoping it will. And you tend to hide in the library when you want to mope, so. Just a suggestion."
"Wait," Sehun moans, pressing his thumb into the ache between his toes. "Why am I talking to Joonmyun? I just need to give Elsa's evil shoe to Taozi, and then...I don't know." Sehun doesn't usually plan out his vacation days in such detail. Especially not this early in the morning.
"Like I said, it's just a suggestion. But since you spent the whole weekend cooped up inside sending me and Yeol cryptic, self-pitying texts about kindergartens and cellos and Joonmyun--"
"When did I do this," Sehun protests, "I don't remember this!"
"Just check your phone," Kyungsoo says evenly, "and you might even find a few outgoing messages about how much you love beer and also Joonmyun's laugh which reminds you of cellos."
"Shit." Sehun rubs all of his knuckles into his metatarsals, terrified to remember who else he might have been drunk texting last night until he realizes that he doesn't even have Joonmyun's number, thank God. Then, "shit! What if he's not there today, Soo? What if he's sick, or he quit, or all the kids have the measles? I don't even have Joonmyun's number!"
"Calm down, first of all," Kyungsoo sniffs. "I suggest you improve your personal hygiene before you go anywhere. And probably you should have some breakfast and an aspirin or two. I'm going back to bed."
"Aspirin? What the fuck, hyung! I swear I'm not hungover."
"I meant for your foot," Kyungsoo says, and hangs up the phone.
+++ +++ +++
"Hi," Sehun says, ducking his head under a sudden rush of bashfulness as he cracks open the door to the classroom.
"Oh, Sehun? I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon!" Joonmyun beckons him into the room. Before Sehun can get the door closed behind him he has Tao wrapped around his right leg while Sungyeol and Jonghyun jostle for dominance of his other.
"Yeah, well, just helping noona out today." Sehun lifts his head to give Joonmyun a smile. He spent the entire afternoon pacing the aisles of the grocery store, trying to decide between flavors of jam and instant noodles, and also what the hell he was supposed to say to Joonmyun when he saw him again. If he saw him again, heaven willing and measles epidemics notwithstanding.
"Go home, hyung?" Tao pulls on his hand and Sehun nods.
"Yes sir, Taozi. Lulu will be home soon. But your mom had to stay late at work, and also I brought you this." Sehun works his hand free out of Sungyeol's grip to pull the plastic sandwich bag with Elsa's shoe from his pocket.
“You found it! Hyung!" Tao snatches the bag from Sehun and rubs the plastic all over his face before kissing it. "Elsa's foot will be happy."
"I sure hope so!" Sehun chuckles, giving Jonghyun a pat on the shoulder.
"Pick up is almost finished, so," Joonmyun squints a little as he pauses. "You wouldn't have time to, I dunno, grab coffee on the way to the station?"
"Busy," Tao replies for Sehun with a shake of his head. "Tonight is dance."
"Oh yeah, um dance, I forgot." Sehun sighs and pries Sungyeol's fingers from his belt loops. "We'd better hurry then, huh Taozi. Sorry, Joonmyun. But--"
"It's ok, never mind." Joonmyun turns to open the door as Jonghyun's father rushes in, tie loosened around his open collar and a roll of papers shoved under one arm.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, the traffic is terrible today!"
"It's no problem!" Joonmyun helps Jonghyun with the straps of his backpack while Tao slips on his shoes.
"Hyung, let's go." Tao tugs Sehun into the hallway and he follows, dragging his heels for one last glance over his shoulder.
He's kicking himself because he let his chance to say something to Joonmyun slip away, but what is he supposed to do now? Interrupt Joonmyun's small talk with Jonghyun's father to say, excuse me, but I think I really like your face, and also you, and can I touch your hair?
Sehun’s heart sinks into the cracks between the floor tiles with every step from the door he lets Tao pull him. As volatile as the build up of his emotions feels, straining at the buttons of his shirt, Sehun can't figure out a way to pull the plug. The timing of today feels just as off as the cocktail of confusion sloshing in his gut so Sehun ignores the urge to sprint back to the classroom, trying to focus on Tao's narration of his day as he follows him to the metro station.
+++ +++ +++
(part three here) (part five here)