Hoseok puffs out an annoyed breath, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel to the beat pouring out from the radio. He glances out the passenger window, just in time to see his son walk slowly out the school building. He gets out instinctively, and kneels next to the door to the backseat. Changkyun sights his father immediately and begins running towards him, smiling widely. Hoseok spreads his arms wide as his son propels himself towards him.

“How was your day, Kukkungie?” Hoseok asks, squeezing his son tight. Changkyun giggles at the affection, and presses a kiss to Hoseok’s cheek before pulling away.

“We’re starting a new project for science!” Changkyun replies excitedly. Hoseok chuckles knowingly, releasing his son and opening the door for him.

“That’s great, Kyunnie!” Hoseok tells him as he bends down to make sure his son buckles up. Changkyun does so, a proud smile coming to him as Hoseok ruffles his hair as a reward. He then closes the door and returns to his own seat, hoping to leave the pickup line as soon as possible. Luckily, a lot of the moms haven’t come through yet, and therefore haven’t seen him. If he can make it out of the line today without getting hit on by a soccer mom, it’d be a miracle.

“What’s the project going to be on?” Hoseok continues the conversation after buckling in himself.

“I don’t know yet,” Changkyun answers, bouncing in his seat. “We have to wait until we can talk about it with our partners.”

“Who’s your partner?” Hoseok asks as he glances back in the rearview mirror to check his surroundings, though admittedly he glances at his son more than the cars around him.

“The class president,” Changkyun replies, his bouncing subsiding slightly. “I’m kind of nervous, Appa. He seems really scary.” Hoseok hums, putting the car in reverse and backing up. He’s about to assure his son that it won’t be as bad as he thinks, that he’s sure him and the class president will get along, but a car bumping into the back of his own stops him.

His heart falls, a fender bender being the last thing he needs today. He glances around to get to his insurance information, but pauses. It’s then his foot had been pressed down on the accelerator, not the break.

He sighs at himself in aggravation as he exits the car, telling Changkyun to just wait for a minute. Changkyun dutifully nods, leaning up in his seat to try and see what was going on. Hoseok watches as a tall, lean man exits the car he had run into, a clear look of annoyance set on his face. Hoseok’s steps falter as he goes over to speak with the other parent, the sheer beauty of the man before him taking him aback and turning him into a blubbering mess.

“S-S-Sorry,” Hoseok stutters, his sudden nerves calling his lisp forth. “I was just t-talking to m-my son and, I… Sorry. I’ll p-pay for the damages.” The strange man huffs out an aggravated sigh, glancing down at their cars with an unreadable expression.

“We’ll just let our insurance companies handle it,” the taller says at last, his voice sounding as if he doesn’t quite believe his own words. Hoseok’s eyes widen slightly in surprise despite himself, having fully expected the other to completely go off on him judging by his intimidating silence and cold gaze. Hoseok nods, moving to get his insurance information. The other does the same, leaning into his car to retrieve the materials before returning to hand it over to the one who had damaged his vehicle.

“Sorry again,” Hoseok apologizes, bowing humbly. Hyungwon waves him off with an annoyed hand, snatching back his information and getting back into his car. Hoseok blinks in surprise, biting back a sigh as he follows suit. He buckles himself back into his seat and waits for the other to leave the parking lot. Luckily, they turn separate ways at the exit.

Hoseok can’t get the face of the other male out of his mind. He honestly could be a model with looks like those, or even an idol. He shakes his head, forcing himself to focus on the road. Another collision would just be icing on the cake of today.

It isn’t until they’re pulling into the parking garage of their apartment building that Hoseok realizes how quiet Changkyun has been ever since the accident. As he pulls into a parking spot, Hoseok turns around in his seat, concern in his eyes as he regards his son. The boy is pouting at his lap, anxiety shining in his eyes.

“Kukkungie?” Hoseok asks, his voice causing his son to visibly jolt in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

“Appa,” Changkyun says nervously, chewing on his bottom lip as he blinks rapidly, “that car you hit at school, that man that got out… That was my partner’s appa…”

Hoseok’s heart drops to the floorboard, unable to keep himself from rubbing his face with a hand. Of course it had been. It’s just his luck to have run into the father of his kid’s science partner, who Changkyun is nervous about working with enough as is. Hoseok drops his hand, meeting Changkyun’s almost frantic gaze. He tries for a smile, hoping it doesn’t come out as stressed as he feels.

“Don’t worry,” Hoseok tries to assure his son, “he didn’t seem that mad about it. In fact, he was really understanding.”

“Really?” Changkyun asks, the pitch of his voice heightening in hope. He then sinks back into his seat, his brow creasing in confusion. “But, he seemed so mad…”

“Nah,” Hoseok lies through his teeth, “he understood. It was only a little fender bender, after all.” He then pauses, stretching back to ruffle his son’s hair. “Don’t worry about it, Kyunnie. Appa took care of everything.” Changkyun giggles, fixing his hair as he unbuckles and grabs his bag before leaving the car. Hoseok follows suit, ignoring his heavy shoulders at lying to his son.

No need to make him worry for nothing, Hoseok consoles himself. It’ll be fine. He’s worried enough about working with that kid to begin with. I don’t need to add to it. Parents lie to their kids all the time about way worse stuff, anyway. It’s okay.

On the other side of town, Chae Hyungwon and his son, Kihyun pull into the driveway of their home. Kihyun had been reading the whole ride, as always, and wordlessly gets his things before leaving the car. Hyungwon follows, eyes lingering on the slightly dented metal where that ditzy man had hit him. He fights back a sigh, and ignores the mark to go and unlock the door.

“How was school today?” he asks his son as they remove their shoes at the door. Kihyun releases a breath through his teeth in response, turning to go to the living room. Hyungwon watches his son curiously, following him.

“We got assigned partners for a science project today,” Kihyun tells him, monotone as he pulls books and folders from his bag. “We’re getting the actual topic of the project tomorrow.”

“Who’s your partner?” Hyungwon continues, sitting on the couch by where his son sits cross-legged on the floor. He absentmindedly begins to pet his son’s brown hair, and the boy leans into the touch like a kitten.

“You met his appa in the parking lot,” Kihyun murmurs absentmindedly, pouting slightly as he leans forward to begin on his work. Hyungwon’s blood bubbles in annoyance at the memory, having to hold back an aggravated sigh. Hopefully his son is smarter than him, or else Kihyun is going to eat him alive.