In which Hoseok has a surprising first day.

For my lil baby's birthday - I love you lots Taehyung!! 

“They’re all really cute,” Hoseok grinned, scanning his eyes over the loud and excited kids as they ran around the room. “It’s amazing how loud they can be first thing in the morning.”

Seokjin smiled too, his gaze warm as he observed the children. “It gets really tiring after a few weeks, trust me.”

“I couldn’t get tired of them, don’t be silly,” Hoseok said and shook his head.

“You say that now…”

“What about him though?” Hoseok frowned, pointing towards the boy who was sat quietly reading in the corner. “Why isn’t he playing with the others?”

Seokjin followed Hoseok’s finger to the boy and his smile widened. “Oh, that’s Jungkook. Don’t worry he’ll be just as lively as the rest of them in-” he checked the clock “-16 minutes.”

Hoseok was skeptical - how did Seokjin know it would be exactly 16 minutes? - but he decided to trust the older man for now. After all, he had been working here for a good three years.

Exactly 15 minutes later, Hoseok watched the young boy snap his book shut and push himself up from the small beanbag. Jungkook maneuvered his way around the lego bricks and dolls strewn across the floor until he stood in front of the door.

“Here he comes,” Seokjin chucked as the clock signified the last minute passing. It was 8:33 when Hoseok first saw Kim Taehyung, bursting through the door with his mother only a few paces behind.

“Kookie!” the small boy screeched, throwing himself onto Jungkook, toppling them both to the floor. Jungkook squealed, giggling loudly as he and the other boy rolled across the ground.

“Hi TaeTae!” Jungkook greeted, nuzzling himself closer to the cuddly boy who was apparently trying to squeeze the life out of the younger.

“That’s Taehyung,” Seokjin introduced, gesturing towards the boy on top. “He’s Jungkook’s best friend.”

Hoseok laughed. “I can tell!”

***

Watching the two young boys play together was something Hoseok had never seen before. In every job he’s had to work with groups of kids, he always noticed that they were mostly for themselves - while they may play with each other, they were always trying to get the best toys, the best games, the best game positions. Kids didn’t really know how to look after anybody but themselves at that age - Hoseok found it cute.

He would watch as Taehyung snagged the best lego set from the toy box, only to rush over and give it to Jungkook, while Jungkook would always make sure Taehyung got his strawberries at snack time. It was strange, yet slightly heartwarming.

“Those two really are close, aren’t they?” Hoseok murmured to another nursery teacher, Jimin, who grinned widely.

“Yeah! They’re practically inseparable - wait until nap time, they are the sweetest little babies, I swear.”

Jimin wasn’t lying. Each kid was tucked away on their own mat (which they all got out themselves - Hoseok died a little from cuteness), while Taehyung and Jungkook were setting up only one mat between the two of them.

They curled up silently into each other, their fingers tangled together between them as they dozed off and Hoseok was surprised no one tried to stop the pair.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Jimin whispered, a laugh present behind his features. “We’ve tried so many times to get them to sleep separately but they always end up crawling into back to one another anyway.”

“How did they end up so close?” Hoseok asked, completely perplexed.

“Jungkook used to get picked on quite a bit by one of the older kids here. Taehyung was the one to stop the bullying for him by becoming something like Jungkook’s personal guardian. In a makeshift superman cape.”

Hoseok breathed out a laugh. “That’s really sweet.”

“It is. I think they might be somewhat in love - well, as in love as a four and five year old can be. They’re always giggling about their ‘secret’ plans to get married anyway.”

Hoseok turned his attention back to the two small boys. Taehyung was half awake, his eyes falling shut, but he was focused solely on the cute boy in front of him, a sleepy smile on his face.

***

“I wonder what will happen between Taehyung and Jungkook when they grow up,” Jimin mused as he watched the boys hug as if they were never going to see each other again. They would both be back tomorrow morning of course, but it never seemed like it with the way they acted.

“Maybe they actually will end up married,” Seokjin laughed. “It’s nice to think that they will. I hope we get invited to the wedding.”

Hoseok smiled as he helped one of the girls pull her coat on. He couldn’t help but hope for the two children to have a future together too.

taehyung is 19 now... /emotional sigh/. somebody stop him from growing older, he won't even be a teenager next year T_T i wrote cute kid!taekook after prompting from the lovely tryingmydarndest (who writes super cute taekook fics too if you want more good taekook to read...) and this is slightly inspired by my work experience from third year. kids don't really care about anyone else, i swear, it's scary.

anyway!! happy birthday taehyung!! <3