Warm puffs of breath materialised as it joined the cold early morning air. Jonghyun rubbed his palms, blowing into cupped hands to try and heat his frigid fingers. He walked slowly towards the bus stop, following his daily routine and making his way to the kindergarten. His breath stuttered as he heard someone behind him; unsure if they were following him, he speed walked towards the bus stop. Hearing the person behind him also speeding up, he ran frightened; boosting his speed when he saw the bus pull up ahead.

Jumping into the bus as the doors began to close, he turned around catching his breath. He frowned when he saw that the person following him held a camera. Confused he moved further into the bus and stood sideways holding the railing, facing the windows. Biting his lips, he wondered if that person had mistaken him for someone else.

So deep in thought he failed to notice the growing whispers around him. He was surprised out of his thoughts when a camera flash went off next to him. Wide-eyed he turned to a high school student quickly hiding her phone when she realised that she had attracted his attention; it was only then that he noticed the number of people not so subtly looking at him and whispering to each other and the few people now blatantly taking pictures of him. Bewildered he pressed the stop button and got off at the next stop.

Quickly getting off the bus he started walking towards the kindergarten, glad that he only got off a couple stops earlier than usual. He walked quicker, checking his pockets to take out his phone as the feeling of being watched increased. He subtly turned to see behind him from the corner of his eyes when he noticed the same man from earlier. Terrified he noticed more people with cameras next to him, all following him discreetly. He urgently scrambled for his phone; fingers shaky he kept tapping on the phone screen that remained dead with a large crack spreading from the centre.

Tears forming in fear, he prayed for the phone to start working, when his deliverance presented in the form of a loud voice and long legs running towards him,

“Jonghyun-ah!” A loud, manly voice called out as Jonghyun looked up to see a tall, dark haired young man jogging towards him, glaring at the group following behind him.

“Hyung!” Jonghyun whimpered, rushing towards the older man. The man hugged him consolingly. With an arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders, he glared once more at the group of strangers behind Jonghyun before moving him quickly towards his kindergarten. He kept rubbing the arm of the sniffling, scared younger man, “Are you alright Jonghyun-ah?” He asked softly, ignoring the clicks of cameras and growing whispers behind him.

Leading quickly, he took a shortcut glancing behind him to make sure he had lost the following group and hid in a side alley with Jonghyun. Checking to make sure that the group had left, he then led Jonghyun to the kindergarten.

Happy Heart Kindergarten

The older man entered the building pulling Jonghyun behind him and closed the door quickly. He looked at the now calm young man, who looked up at him with a pink nose but no other remaining traces from his panic earlier.

“Are you alright, Jonghyun-ah?” He enquired again in concern, staring down at the younger man.

Jonghyun nodded slightly, “Yes hyung, I’m ok now…It just scared me…I didn’t know them, and it just brought back unwanted memories. Thank you for helping me hyung.” He hugged the older man gratefully. “How did you know I would be there hyung?”

“I didn’t. I was going to pick up my girlfriend, she wanted to go shopping.”

“What? Oh no! Hyung, you should leave right away! Noona must be waiting!” Jonghyun said flustered.

The other man just chuckled, ruffling the youngers hair, “Don’t worry, she won’t be mad. I’ll message her. Besides she would’ve been more upset if I didn’t make sure you were alright!”

Hearing their voices, Mrs. Shim appeared in the doorway dressed for work. She looked at the two men in confusion, “Changminnie? I thought you already left for your date? And Jonghyun-ah what’s wrong? Why do you look upset?”

“Yeah, I was going to Umma but then I noticed that Jonghyun was being followed by a bunch of creepy guys, so I had to get him out of there first.” Changmin replied in answer.

Mrs. Shim rushed over to Jonghyun, pulling him into a tight warm hug. “Oh! My poor baby! You must’ve been so frightened! Are you ok Jonghyun-ah? Have you called the police yet Changmin-ah?”

“Not yet, Umma but I will in a bit. You didn’t recognise any of them Jonghyunnie?

“No hyung, I don’t know who they are, and I haven’t seen them before today.”

“Alright, I’m going to call the police. I can describe them well if asked.” Changmin took out his phone when the phone started ringing before he could call the police. He frowned as it showed Heechul’s name lighting up on the screen. “Hello? Heechul hyung?” He answered the call. Listening to the reply from the caller, he confusedly lowered his phone and the speaker option.

“Jonghyun-ah? Can you hear me too?” Heechul’s frantic voice sounded over the phone.

“Yes hyung, I can hear you, Mrs. Shim is here too. What’s wrong hyung?” Jonghyun asked surprised to be addressed.

“Yah! Why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been trying to call you all morning!” Heechul shouted over the phone.

“I-I think my phone is broken hyung…I dropped it yesterday when I fell, remember?”

“Aish, never mind! Mrs. Shim is there right? Mrs. Shim you need to close the kindergarten for today!” Heechul warned urgently.

“Yah! Heechul-ah, are you crazy? Its nearly 9am! I can’t close the kindergarten! Imagine what the parents would say!” Mrs. Shim shouted annoyed.

“The backlash you would receive if you remained open today would be much bigger than you think Mrs. Shim! Give some sort of excuse, like the piping’s broken and the place is flooded or something, but the kids shouldn’t attend today! Have any of you seen the breaking news yet?” Heechul insisted.

“Breaking news?” Changmin asked, looking at the other two people with him and seeing the same confusion mirrored on their faces.

“Yes! Some crackpot decided they would report as breaking news and now all the tv channels are reporting! Turn the TV on and Mrs. Shim please let the parents know and close the kindergarten today! Please!” Heechul implored desperately.

Bewildered Mrs. Shim sent out a group message to all the parents, apologizing inwardly for causing so much trouble to the parents in the last minute and yet closing the kindergarten as Heechul had urged as she had never heard her son’s friend sound so flustered before. Meanwhile, they all moved to the staff break room to watch the breaking news on TV. Locating the remote, Changmin switched on the TV. Coincidently, the default channel was reporting breaking news and they all stared wide-eyed as a blurred, side-profile of Jonghyun by the bus stop showed on the screen.

“President Lee of Lee Enterprises married his childhood sweetheart in secrecy yesterday. The once most-eligible bachelor had quickly climbed ranks in the conglomerate world to be the youngest, most powerful Company President in South Korea. He has established his rightful place in the ladder in the 5 years that he took his position.” The reporter reported as the trio watched with growing horror. “Not much is known of his childhood sweetheart but News7 are nothing but diligent. We will be bringing you a detailed report shortly.”

Changmin switched off the TV and silence ruled over the break room as the trio tried to process what they had just heard. No sound was heard as Jonghyun nervously wringed his hands; he was so puzzled, the anxious feeling in his chest continued to grow clawing up to his throat.

“Jonghyun-ah…when did this happen? I didn’t know you were even seeing anyone…” Changmin asked finally looking up at the young man in question.

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