singledad!au

2272 w.

Kyungsoo doesn’t have enough for his son’s birthday present, luckily the handsome cashier pitches in for him.

♡

    It’s been a long day. 

    Despite being free from classes, Kyungsoo still had a long shift at the garden shop, and his back was sore from having to lift bags of soil from the delivery truck. He wants more than anything to go home and dive right into bed.

    The tug on his shirt makes him look down and remember the reason why he was strolling around the plaza at eight in the evening. His son Youngmin continues to pull on the end of his t-shirt, making grabby hands up at him with teary eyes.

    And Kyungsoo knows it’s only going to strain his back even more to pick him up, but he’s not the only one who’s tired from the long day; after all Youngmin had to tag along and play by himself at the store, it was the only way Kyungsoo could balance a job and a kid, and school. He was lucky his best friend Minseok owns the garden shop and happily agreed to Youngmin accompanying him during his shifts. Kyungsoo couldn’t afford a babysitter either, that was another thing.

    Plus, it’s Youngmin’s birthday.

    So he bends down, lifting the now three-year-old to sit at the bend of his arm, kissing his chubby cheek. The giggle that leaves the toddler’s mouth immediately makes Kyungsoo feel ten times better about the day.

    “Where do you want to go?” Kyungsoo asks, bouncing the kid in his arms a little to wake him up. He feels terrible for not giving Youngmin a proper celebration. Minseok did too, booking Kyungsoo in on his son’s birthday—which the latter assured him it was fine. His friend since childhood had bought a small cake and candles for Youngmin to blow out, after a quiet chant of happy birthday in the back room.

    Youngmin was only a kid after all, and didn’t quite understand the guilt his father feels so it was fine, it wasn’t something that was going to scar him.

    But still, Kyungsoo promised himself he would be the best father ever since that day in the hospital room that he met his son, his fingers wrapped around tiny ones.

    Which is why he’s walking around stores, knowing his son loved the rare occasion they’d go out shopping. 

    Youngmin perks up at the sight of a brightly painted building; a toy store.

    Kyungsoo smiles, knowing he had a twenty in his pocket he was more than willing to spend for his son’s birthday. So he walks in, letting Youngmin back on the ground so he could explore the array of toys on the shelves.

    Leisurely following him around he examines the products as well, pointing to things Youngmin might like, but the little boy just shakes his head. It makes Kyungsoo laugh, finding it cute how he already has his own preferences.

    They were the only customers in the store, and the quiet was comforting paired with the telltale smell of wood.

    “Daddy!”

    Kyungsoo follows his son’s voice into the next isle, finding him jumping excitedly and pointing at a box with a huge smile pushing up his rosy cheeks.

    “What’d you find?” he asks, crouching next to him and looking up to where Youngmin’s little finger was directed at.

    “Train!” the toddler answers, getting up on his tippy toes to reach for the box, but failing and looking at his father expectantly.

    Ruffling his son’s hair Kyungsoo grabs the box, a mini train set with a battery powered railway and all. He hands it to Youngmin who brightens up even more. “Is that what you want?”

    Youngmin nods enthusiastically, eyes never leaving the box.

    Laughing at his adorable antics he picks him up, the little one’s head leaning against his neck; no matter how happy about his soon-to-be toy it was still nearing his bedtime and Youngmin is definitely sleepy.

    Kyungsoo navigates them to the front-end of the store, where a counter littered with candy and trinkets is, a cash register sitting on top as well. As he nears the register, a boy pops up from underneath the counter.

    Youngmin only yawns into his dad’s neck, but Kyungsoo is a little startled, especially because the boy is seriously handsome.

    The boy—clad in his uniform which is made up of a red and white striped shirt—grins charmingly. His blond locks contrasted nicely against his tanned skin and he had the prettiest eye shape Kyungsoo had ever seen. He was definitely easy to stare at.

    “Ready to check out?” the cashier asks, hands resting on the buttons of the register.

    “Oh, yes.” Kyungsoo clears his throat, turning Youngmin around in his arms to seat him on top of the counter. The kid pouts when Kyungsoo takes the train set out of his hands, makes that face that immediately sets warning bells off in his head. “Just a second, okay baby?”

    And Youngmin only frowns further, eyes watering, whining and stretching out his arms for the box that’s now in the cashier’s hands.

    The cashier gives Kyungsoo an understanding look which he just replies back with a chuckle. “He doesn’t like sharing his toys.”

    The other scans the box, handing it back to Youngmin who hugs it possessively. “I don’t like sharing my things either,” the boy says to the toddler.

    Youngmin just stares, entranced by the stranger who’s now bent over slightly, elbows on the counter.

    Kyungsoo’s surprised Youngmin hasn’t started crying yet, considering he was quite shy around people he didn’t know. It took a while for him to warm up to Minseok who had been there since his birth. Although he always was more comfortable around males rather than females in result of never having a mother figure around. The closest thing was Kyungsoo’s mother, who was busy with her own career to visit too often.

    So it’s hard not to observe the cashier, finding him more and more attractive as he distracts Youngmin with his fingers, drumming them against the kid’s legs which soon leads to giggles. Kyungsoo gets caught staring when the boy looks up.

    “How old is he?”

    Kyungsoo smoothes out Youngmin’s hair, needing something to do with his hands in the unexpected atmosphere. “Youngmin is three today.”

    At this he straightens up, looking at the toddler with surprise. “It’s your birthday today?”

    Youngmin grins, nodding his head. “Train is mine!”

    The cashier laughs, softly pinching the toddler’s cheeks. “Youngmin you’re so cute!” he coos. He turns to Kyungsoo. “He looks exactly like you.”

    For some reason Kyungsoo flusters because he just said he looked like him and called his son cute—wait of course, he’s a child. He mentally nags himself for being so…whatever this was. “I get that a lot,” he admits. A silence falls upon them, with Youngmin distracted by the fancy pencils showcased in cups. “How much do I owe you?” Kyungsoo questions already pulling out his wallet.

    The cashier announces the total and Kyungsoo tries not to cringe.

    He tries to tell himself he probably has enough, even if he has to count a few coins. Kyungsoo is however proved wrong when there’s only a twenty in there and a candy wrapper. Great. Turning to Youngmin he gives his son a sorry look; he feels like disappointing him on his birthday. “Daddy doesn’t have enough for this,” he starts quietly, watching as his expression falls. “Let’s pick something else, okay?”

    Youngmin stubbornly shakes his head, a fierce pout on his lips and Kyungsoo curses himself for passing on his big eye genes. It couldn’t be helped though, he didn’t have enough for it, with it being the end of the month and all having had to set aside money for bills, it wasn’t possible.

    Looking around the store Kyungsoo picks up a random colouring book. “How about this one? It even comes with crayons, see?” and he desperately points out the extra feature, but Youngmin shakes his head.

    “Train!”

    “Um,” the cashier interjects, looking hesitant on meddling with the father and son dilemma. “You’re only a bit short, I don’t mind covering the rest.”

    “Oh, no, no. It’s fine, thank you though,” Kyungsoo rejects with a kind smile. He really didn’t like being in debt, hence his fixation on always making sure money was set aside for bills, rent, and other expenses. School has been taking a toll on him lately, is all, he just wasn’t able to pick up many shifts.

    “Please, I would love to help make Youngmin’s birthday a good one, think of it as my gift to him.”

    Kyungsoo looks over at his son who is enthralled by the train set, looking at it with longing. This was definitely something he’d never do, but this is his son, the one thing he looks forward to every day, so he up his pride and sighs. “What’s your name?”

    “Jongin.”

    “Okay, Jongin, I swear if it were anything else I wouldn’t accept it, but okay. Thank you so much.” He hands over the money he has and Jongin grins.

    “Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad Youngmin will be happy.”

    God, can he get anymore hot?

    And once the train set is put into a plastic bag, Kyungsoo gratefully takes it from Jongin’s hand, thanking profusely. He picks Youngmin up, pointing at the cashier. “Can you thank Jongin for the toy?”

    Youngmin turns shy, waving his tiny hand. “Thank you Jongin.”

    “Happy birthday buddy.”

    Before Kyungsoo leaves he pauses. “I’ll pay you back, um, so see you next time.”

    He doesn’t let Jongin refuse as he quickly leaves the store with an elated Youngmin.

♡

    It’s a week later that Kyungsoo deems he has enough money. Youngmin waddles along with him hand-in-hand in his new overalls that Kyungsoo’s mother had gotten for him. He looks so cute today in his little baseball cap and denim. 

    As they arrive at the familiar toy store, Kyungsoo starts to second-guess himself. What if Jongin wasn’t even in today? 

    Youngmin pulls him in though, eager to look at toys again. So Kyungsoo helplessly follows, cheeks hot for some reason as he tries to seem nonchalant.

    Jongin is working today, and he spots Kyungsoo immediately. “Hey!” he greets him. He was facing the shelves, making sure everything was aligned and neat.

    Youngmin bounces over to him, staring curiously.

    Crouching to his height Jongin gives him a wave. “Hey buddy, don’t you look adorable today?” He stands up and stretches his arm to the toddler, urging him to take it.

    Youngmin does, letting his little fingers be gingerly held by Jongin’s large ones. Kyungsoo chuckles at the height difference, making the cashier have to bend down a bit to be able to walk with him. He follows the two to the counter, where Jongin leads him to the shelves of candy. He looks over at Kyungsoo with a questioning look.

    Kyungsoo sighs, nodding his head.

    Jongin smiles, turning back to Youngmin.“Pick what you want.”

    The little one observes the racks of candies for a bit, finally deciding on a brightly coloured box of candy covered chocolates. “This one!”

    “My favourite,” Jongin says, taking the box from Youngmin and helping him open its flaps. “There you go buddy.”

    Overjoyed, Youngmin runs up to Kyungsoo reaching his arms up to comfortably eat in his father’s arms. Kyungsoo lifts him up, immediately met with a candy against his lips. He laughs before taking it in his mouth, pretending to bite down on Youngmin’s fingers which results in an adorable squeal. “Thank you. How much do I owe you?” He asks Jongin who stands from his crouched position.

    “Nah, it’s on the house.”

    “We’re not doing this again, are we? I came to pay you back,” Kyungsoo informs. He adjusts Youngmin to sit against one arm as he pulls out his wallet from his back pocket. 

    Before he can pull out money Jongin advances and puts his hand over Kyungsoo’s.

    “Trust me, it’s fine. My parents own this toy store chain, I just work here because they want to instil working habits onto me.” The worker adds a reassuring smile to seal it in.

    “But, I, I can’t just accept this—”

    “It’s honestly fine, but if you’re so adamant,” Jongin begins with a playful twinkle in his eyes. “How about you take me out on a date?”

    Kyungsoo sputters, heat rising to his cheeks. The nerve of this kid. “W-What—”

    “I think you’re hot, you think I’m hot.”

    Turning beet read Kyungsoo tries to hide his face behind Youngmin.

    Jongin chuckles. “Nothing crazy, it’ll only be our first date after all. How about coffee?”

    “How old are you?” Kyungsoo asks with a wary look.

    “Twenty-two. Tuesday sound good to you?” Jongin cooly replies, straightening out his hair with his fingers.

    “I have a son,” Kyungsoo quickly says. He himself is only twenty-three, and having a child so young was definitely a deal-breaker for many of his past dates. Jongin seems like a nice person and was very attractive to add on to it, Kyungsoo didn’t need another heartbreak, ever.

    “Yeah, I know.” He reaches out to softly Youngmin’s cheek and Kyungsoo swoons at the endearing way Jongin delicately touches him. “There’s a coffee place I know that serves great cakes, I’m sure Youngmin will love it.”

    Kyungsoo can’t help but blush again when Jongin straightens up, looking at him eagerly. He was just so handsome and he treated his son so well. He was making it hard to decline.

    “F-Fine. Thursday. I work Tuesdays.”

    Jongin covers his grin of victory with his hand. “Here, let me write down your number,” he says before rounding the cash register and grabbing a pen and paper.

    Kyungsoo mumbles off his digits with a dazed smile and a happy Youngmin in his arms.

a/n:

i actually have a pretty detailed plotline for this so i might add on in the future.

soo's children are going to be so cute help.