"Please Jjong! I really won't have time to drop Taemin off at the daycare center tomorrow. I’ll try to hire someone else to drop him off next time,” Jinki pleaded, giving Jonghyun his best puppy eyes, "Please, I already feel bad enough that I can't drop him off his first day there!"

"Fine,” Jonghyun sighed, “just stop staring at me like that, it's creepy."

Jinki smiled, hugging Jonghyun in the process. Although Jonghyun thought Jinki could have broken the news to him in a different manner, Jonghyun still managed smiled. Jonghyun knew his best friend struggled to maintain Taemin, but seeing Jinki happy even with all the work he had to do, really made him happy. Jinki deserved all the happiness in the world, but that didn't mean Jonghyun would let him off so easily.

"On one condition." Jinki groaned, already knowing this wouldn't be good. "You have to take me to that really expensive sushi restaurant that just opened in town."

"No!" Jinki yelled. 

"Have fun getting Taemin to daycare!" Jonghyun said, making his way to the door. 

"Fine!" Jinki yelled before Jonghyun could make it out the door. 

"I love you!" Jonghyun said, leaving Jinki alone in his home with a sleeping Taemin in his room. 

"So much for best friend." Jinki mumbled. 

Jinki headed upstairs to Taemin's room. He got on the bed, hugging Taemin as he slept.

"I'm sorry Taeminnie,” Jinki sighed, “I'm sorry I can't spend time with you. I'm such a terrible father. I'll work really hard, and soon we can spend all the time we want together."

With that, Jinki let sleep consume him.

"Jinki, Jinki wake up! You have to get ready for work!" Jonghyun whispered, shaking Jinki as much as he could without waking Taemin up.

Jinki groaned, "What time is it?"

"It's 7:00 AM."

", I have to hurry!" Jinki said in a panic and quickly got up.

He rushed to put on his outfit for the day. Before he left, he made sure to give Taemin a kiss on the forehead and thank Jonghyun once again. 

Jinki managed to find a job at his local library as a library assistant. The library opened on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, which fit perfectly into his schedule. The daycare center closed at 6:00 PM, and he got off at work at 5:30 PM in order to help pack up for the day, leaving him enough time to go pick up Taemin. Jinki promised himself that he would find a better job, but for now this would have to do.

 Jonghyun made his way through Jinki's home. As he went upstairs to Jinki's room to inform him of his arrival, he noticed Jinki wasn't there.

"Should've known." Jonghyun said under his breath. He knew better than to check Jinki’s room.

His best friend looked at ease for once while sleeping next to Taemin. Jonghyun almost didn't feel like waking him up, but he knew he had to wake him up, or Jinki would lose his job a lot sooner than he was able to get it.

As Jinki left 20 minutes later, Jonghyun decided to head back upstairs and wake Taemin up. After all, Taemin couldn’t go to daycare in his pajamas.  

"Taemin, Taemin wake up!" Jonghyun whispered, trying to get Taemin to wake up. If there is one thing that Taemin got from Jinki, it was his ability to sleep through a storm. 

"Daddy?" Taemin said. 

"Taeminnie, it's me Jonghyun."

"Uncle!" Taemin said as he quickly got up and hugged his uncle. 

Hearing this only made Jonghyun swell up with pride. Taemin may not be his nephew by blood, but he loved the 3-year-old. Jinki always gets upset because he spoils Taemin too much, but he really can’t help it when he’s around the kid. 

"Come on, let's get you ready for daycare." Jonghyun said as he carried Taemin on his back.

It's too early for this Jonghyun thought. Between Jinki and him, Jonghyun tended to be the one to wake up earlier. However, that didn't mean he was an early bird, but according to Jinki, anyone who woke up before him was an early bird. Taemin on the other hand, seemed really excited. Jonghyun thinks it's because he finally gets to show off his brand new Pororo backpack. The kid is cute, he'll give him that, but you'd think he'd at least be a bit tired. He wouldn't stop playing around so late last night and only went to bed after Jinki read him his favorite story for about the twentieth time.

"Uncle...I-I'm scared." Taemin suddenly stops in front of the daycare center once they arrive. Jonghyun stops in his tracks, looking down at the small 3-year-old. Taemin was playing with his yellow shirt, refusing to look up at his uncle.

"Cute." Jonghyun mumbles.

Jonghyun stoops down to Taemin’s level, but still manages to remain slightly taller than Taemin.

"Taeminnie, look up at me." Taemin looks at Jonghyun with glossy eyes. Jonghyun pauses for a bit, thinking about what to say. Jonghyun was really trying his best not to make himself or the kid cry. He had a soft spot, and he didn't want to risk embarrassing Taemin on his first day.

"It’s okay to be scared. I remember I was really really scared during my first day of school, but I met someone who helped me calm down by making me laugh. We ended up becoming really good friends, best friends in fact. Do you have any idea who that may be?" 

Taemin nodded, "Daddy?"

"Yup! Now let's go inside, I'm sure you'll meet someone as great as your dad!" With that, Jonghyun picked Taemin up and headed inside. The first thing Jonghyun noticed was two very tall men surrounded by small children. Jonghyun could've sworn the wind was knocked out of him as one of the men was heading his way. The person in front of him was really… breathtaking. Yeah, that's one way to put it.

"Hi, my name is Key. Well it's Kibum, but Key is what the kids call me." The man smiles.

"H-hi." Jonghyun said, stuttering in the process. 

"And who may this little guy be?" Key said with a bright smile. Taemin hid his face from Key in Jonghyun's chest, too shy to look at the man in front of him. 

"What's this" Key says, pulling out a small flower from behind Taemin's ear.

Taemin's eyes widen as he smiles at the magic he just witnessed.

Jonghyun laughs, noticing the small daisies sticking out from Key's baby blue apron. “This is Taemin.” Jonghyun says.

Key smiles, "You're a cute kid Taemin, you'll have plenty of friends in no time!"

"Would you like to meet your classmates?" Key says.

Taemin nods, making his way out of Jonghyun's arms. 

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Lee. We'll take care of your son for you."

"Ah, Taemin is not my son."

"He's not? I'm sorry, I thought you were the person that emailed me last week.”

"Ah, that was my friend Jinki, he’s Taemin's father. I'm just here to drop him off, but Jinki will be picking him up. He'll show identification if he needs too, but I think Taemin will be enough to prove that he’s the father. I just don't want you to think that a random man is trying to pick the kid up." Jonghyun laughs nervously in front of the handsome man in front of him.

Key smiles, "Oh that's right, I've been informed of your arrival. I'm sorry for forgetting. Don't worry, I'll make sure to hand him to the right guy! May I know your name?" 

"Excuse me?"

"T-to be able to refer to you. You will be dropping him off again tomorrow won't you?” Key laughs shyly, trying to think of a quick excuse before he says anything that he’ll regret, “Mr. Lee also informed me that you'll be the one dropping him off every morning, or did I get that wrong as well?"

Dammit, stupid Jinki. Jinki specifically told him that he'll find someone else to drop Taemin off and if this handsome teacher wasn't smiling at him so brightly, he would've immediately said no, but god no one in the world knows why he said, "I'm Jonghyun, and yes, I'll be the one dropping Taemin off every morning."

Jonghyun can only smile back and internally groan. If Jinki finds out about this, he'll never let him live it down. 

It was finally 6:00 PM when Jinki arrived to the daycare. The walk wasn't that far, but Jinki really wished he had a car at the moment. 

As Jinki made his way to the daycare center, he noticed that it was really quite once he was inside. 

He made his way towards the classroom and opened the door. Taemin was alone, well not entirely, but he was the only child there along with an older man. 

"Taemin?"

"Daddy!" Taemin says, running to hug his father's legs. 

"Mr. Lee?" A tall man says approaching Jinki in the process. 

Jinki laughs nervously, "Yes, that's me. Are you Mr. Kim? Were all the other kids picked up early?"

"Daddy was late!" 

"Late? Didn't the flier say 6:00 PM?"

"We actually close at 5:00 PM." The young man says, handing him a flier from the daycare center.

Jinki groans while rubbing his face, "Just how tired was I when I looked at this?”

“My name is Minho by the way.” Minho says, extending a hand for Jinki to shake.

Jinki shakes his hand, but before he does, he starts mumbling and the man catches something along the lines like, "I can't pick him up" or "I'm going to have to hire a babysitter, but what if Taemin doesn't like it. He needs to socialize after all."

"Mr. Lee? I didn’t mean to overhear, but It's fine really. I stay here until 7:00 PM. My coworker, Kibum, he has night classes at the college nearby, so he leaves a bit earlier than I do. I have to stay and make sure all the children safely go home. Since Kibum isn’t here as often anymore, I have to plan things a day prior anyways." 

With that, Jinki looks a little bit more relaxed, but also curses himself for letting himself be heard. 

"If it's not any trouble-"

"It's fine,” Minho interrupts, “Taemin is actually a very well behaved child. He's no problem at all, he's rather smart for his age. Your wife must be proud to have someone as smart as him."

"Ah, actually I'm not married." Jinki laughs shyly and continues, "It won't be for long, I'll try to hire a babysitter as soon as possible. I'm really sorry, I really didn't know. It's just that I have a job at the library a couple blocks away and my shift doesn't end until 5:30. If you'd like, I can pay you for the week, but you'd have to wait until I get my first paycheck." Jinki laughs nervously. 

"Mr. Lee, I won't charge you. You don't have to pay for a babysitter, I can take care of him. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I am qualified." Minho says while grinning in the process.

 “Normally I wouldn’t stay this long after hours, but since Kibum has been leaving earlier lately, it takes quite a bit more time to plan everything and manage the daycare center. I mean it’s not like I’m complaining or anything, I’m just trying to say that I have to stay after closing hours, so you don’t really need to hire a babysitter.”

Minho then makes his way towards his desk and writes down something before handing a piece of paper to Jinki, “This is my personal number. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you ever need someone to take care of Taemin for you.”

Minho constantly had to reassure Jinki that he wouldn't mind watching Taemin for a bit after daycare hours. Jinki finally caved in and thanked Minho about a thousand times before he left with Taemin. He'd ask Jjong to take care of Taemin, but Jonghyun works during the afternoons. He would like to say he feels relieved, but he can’t help but feel like a burden. He’ll have to find a way to make it up to Taemin’s teacher.