“Daddy,” Chanyeol hears someone whisper, right before he feels a small hand prod not-so-gently into his side. “Daddy, are you awake?”

Chanyeol snorts softly to himself, rolling his eyes. If he hadn’t been awake before, he certainly was now.

Quick as lightning, Chanyeol reaches over to pull his five year old son onto the bed with him, holding him close and tickling.

“Who dares disturb my slumber?” Chanyeol roars (or, as best he can – it’s still early in the morning) over the high-pitched squealing of stop! coming from Sehun. “Why, it’s a little human boy! Perfect for breakfast!”

“No!” Sehun yells, giggling despite his desperate fight to free himself from his dad’s clutches. “No, don’t eat me!”

“I eat anyone who wakes me up before 8 AM!” Chanyeol grins, feeling Sehun’s hand tap his face repeatedly – their equivalent of tapping out. He releases Sehun, who laughs weakly as he tries to catch his breath. “But maybe I’ll make an exception since you’re so cute.”

“Not… cute!” Sehun huffs out in protest, pout on his lips. It’s adorable and, yes, very cute.

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “So I do get to eat you, then?” he asks teasingly.

Sehun’s eyes grow in horror. “Okay, I’m cute!” he yelps, “I’m cute!”

“Yes, you are, Sehun,” Chanyeol agrees, opening his arms in invitation for Sehun to crawl back in them, who does so eagerly. “My little Sehun is the cutest kid in the world!”

“Even more than ‘innie-hyung?” Sehun asks, referring to his best friend at kindergarten who usually was the victim of “cute” accusations. He settles into his father’s arms easily, fists grasping the t-shirt Chanyeol had worn to bed. His hair is an absolute mess (it runs in the family, apparently).

“Even more than Jongin.” Chanyeol checks his alarm clock, eyes widening when he realizes that it’s only 6. “Sehunnie, why were you awake so early? Usually you don’t even like waking up at 7 for school!”

Sehun shakes the hair falling into his eyes out of the way (he’ll need a hair cut soon, Chanyeol notes) and rubs his eyes with the sleeve of his Iron Man pajamas, snuggling further into Chanyeol’s chest. The initial excitement out of the way, Sehun’s eyes have begun to droop shut again. “I just wanted to sleep with you for a little,” he answers faintly. “Before you go to work.”

Guilt fills Chanyeol’s heart at his son’s words; though he tries to keep his overtime to an absolute minimum, he’s not very proud of the number of times he’s had to call Joonmyun and ask him to babysit Sehun for a while after kindergarten. He knows Sehun enjoys spending the extra time with Zitao, Joonmyun’s kid, but he also knows Sehun likes being picked up on time even more.

“Alright, Sehun,” Chanyeol agrees, warmth in his voice as he looks down at his only son. “Let’s sleep together for a little bit, and then we can go and make breakfast together, okay?”

Sehun doesn’t answer, already having fallen asleep, but Chanyeol’s okay with this. He lets his eyes close as well, the sound of his son’s even breaths lulling him back asleep.

For as affectionate as Sehun was in the morning, the moment they walk out the door it’s a different story. Silly Dad was alright, apparently, only when in the privacy of their own home; when they leave the house to walk to the kindergarten together, Sehun could rarely be convinced to even hold his hand. Chanyeol has a shrewd suspicion that it had been that Byun kid from the older class that had planted the idea in Sehun’s head about parents being embarrassing. The deal is that Sehun doesn’t have to hold his hand only if he walks on the grass side of the sidewalk and not too far ahead.

“Sehunnie, wait up!” Chanyeol calls as he watches his son’s head getting further away from him – the Marvel backpack he’d insisted on getting is enormous on him. “We’re supposed to be walking to school together!”

Sehun turns his head around to scrunch his nose at him, though he does slow down. “It’s just Sehun!” is his response instead, exasperated as he waits for Chanyeol to catch up. The thick scarf that Chanyeol had wrapped around Sehun’s neck flutters in the wind, and he’d never admit it to anyone but one of his favourite parts about being a dad is getting to dress Sehun in cute outfits.

“Okay, Sehunnie,” Chanyeol agrees easily, more amused than annoyed by the attitude change in Sehun. He chuckles at the impressive scowl he gets in return.

They make it to the kindergarten otherwise unscathed, with Sehun getting over his temporary irritation after realizing that there wasn’t anyone else around yet. They should be used to the routine by now, where together they make sure everything has been properly packed in Sehun’s backpack and Sehun allows his father a quick hug before he runs off to join his friends. Sehun’s sandwich is cut into quarters in his Pororo lunchbox, and there’s a cookie and a juicebox in there as well. They make sure Sehun’s got his 64-box of crayons (because Chanyeol spoils his kid) and that everything else was in place.

Everything ready, Chanyeol smiles gently at Sehun and opens his arms, asking for a hug. Sehun looks around anxiously to see if everyone is watching and, finding everyone else otherwise preoccupied with toys, accepts the hug.

“Chu~” Chanyeol tries, puckering his lips, when Sehun pulls away.

“Dad!” Sehun complains immediately, “Not at school!”

“Oh come on, Sehunnie, come and kiss your Daddy goodbye before he has to leave for work,” Chanyeol wheedles, grinning at his silly kid, “I’m gonna miss you all day, after all.”

Sehun sighs, biting his lip nervously. “Alright, fine,” he says, long-suffering as he stands on his tip-toes to quickly press his lips to Chanyeol’s before leaning away, cheeks pink.

“Aw, thank you,” Chanyeol coos, unable to resist planting one last kiss on the top of Sehun’s head, who waves him away. “Okay, I’m going to work now! Have fun at school and remember to be good, alright?”

Sehun nods, “I will. Bye daddy!” He waves vigourously, dimples flashing. Chanyeol straightens and waves back, watching as his little boy runs off to find Jongin. It’s with a little chagrin that he realizes that their goodbyes every morning are harder on himself than they are on Sehun, but Chanyeol shrugs as he walks to car, not caring all that much.

Like everyone else, Chanyeol’s favourite time of the day is the end of the day – his work day, at least.

Unlike most other single, late-twenties men, Chanyeol looks forward to Fridays not for going out and clubbing, fishing for hook-ups with his other single friends. Nope, when Chanyeol loosens the tie around his neck in relief at 4:00 pm it’s because he can go pick up Sehun from the kindergarten.

If anyone had told twenty-one year old Chanyeol in college that in a few years’ time he’d be caring for a five year old by himself, he’d have laughed and called for another round of shots. And yet, now, he can’t ever bring himself to regret where he is now. He loves Sehun and his office job is thankfully enough to more than provide for the two of them. Besides, it’s not like he never goes out anymore – his parents are always more than happy to take Sehun from him for a night or two.

Friday nights, though, are dedicated to Sehun.

He makes it to the kindergarten quickly; although he walks Sehun to school in the morning, he always has to double back later to take the car to work. He parks and enters the school, eager to see Sehun.

It doesn’t take long to find him. Sehun’s quietly reading a picture book with Lu Han, who still hasn’t learned much of the language yet.

“Hello, Mr. Park,” Kim Jongdae, Sehun’s kindergarten teacher, greets him cheerfully. Chanyeol likes Jongdae. Respects him. Chanyeol hadn’t seen anyone else manage to calm Sehun down from a tantrum quite as fast as Jongdae, not even himself.

“It’s just Chanyeol, Jongdae, how many times have I told you that?” Chanyeol corrects, laughing at the good-natured shrug Jongdae gives him. “How was he today?”

“He was really good,” Jongdae assures, “Listened well and shared. Just like he is every Friday.” They share a meaningful look; Sehun sure is cute, but he’s not quite the angel he thinks he is.

Chanyeol grins. “The brat,” he says fondly. “He knows he won’t get ice-cream today unless he’s good. Any other day and I’m sure he’d be less considerate. Hi Sehun!” Chanyeol adds as he spots Sehun walking over to him, finally having noticed his arrival.

Sehun doesn’t answer, his lip jutting out in a small pout as he opens his arms in the universal gesture to be picked up. Chanyeol acquiesces immediately, used to this. For as independent Sehun wanted to be in the mornings, by the time a full day away from Chanyeol had passed he was usually extra clingy at pick-up.

Chanyeol stands up, patting Sehun’s hair as the boy lets himself rest on Chanyeol, head secure on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Say goodbye to Mr. Kim, Sehun,” he reminds, turning so Sehun is facing Jongdae.

“Bye-bye,” Sehun says dutifully, waving an arm and smiling toothily. He also calls out a few farewells to the couple of kids who haven’t been picked up yet before Chanyeol carries him out to the car.

“Did you have a nice day today?” Chanyeol asks as they’re walking outside. He feels so much better having Sehun in his arms, especially since Sehun is nestled so comfortable against his chest.

He can feel Sehun nodding against his neck. “Today, we painted on big pieces of paper, and I drew a dragon. Taozi got paint all down his shirt, but I didn’t! I was careful.” There’s a childish pride in Sehun’s voice and it makes Chanyeol smile. “Mr. Kim said we could take them home on Monday ‘cause they need to dry.”

“I’m sure Joonmyun-hyung will appreciate all that paint, huh?” Poor Joonmyun would most likely have an internal fit at the mess, but would still manage to keep face in front of a probably pleased Tao. “What else did you do?”

“Um…” Sehun scrunches his nose in concentration as he’s being buckled into the car. He was small enough that he still needed a booster, despite his protests. “Mr. Kim read us The Little Prince again because Xingie-hyung whined a lot, but this time Mr. Kim picked me to be the Prince and Jongin was the rose!” Sehun giggles at the memory, amused at his poor friend’s character assignment.

“Looks like you guys had a lot of fun today,” Chanyeol remarks, pulling out of the parking lot onto the street. “Are you sure you have enough energy for tonight? Maybe we should just stay home—”

“No!” Sehun protests immediately and Chanyeol snickers internally because not ten seconds before he’d caught Sehun yawning heavily. “I don’t wanna stay home! I want to go on a date!”

Date. Chanyeol still isn’t over how clever he was, naming their weekly Friday night outings together dates. Sehun doesn’t really know what the word means yet, but this doesn’t stop him from bragging about it all the time to his friends. Chanyeol gets a kick out of the indulgent smiles he gets from adults who he hear about it.

“A date it is!” Chanyeol declares, whooping in excitement. “Where do you want to go eat tonight, Sehunnie? Pizza? Hamburgers?”

“Steak,” is Sehun’s decisive answer, face serious from the backseat when Chanyeol’s eyes flicker to the mirror. “I want steak.”

Chanyeol feels a surge of pride. His baby had such good taste. “Steak sounds perfect to me,” Chanyeol confirms. “But you know that means we have to dress up, right? The restaurant only lets fancy people in, we need to pretend to be fancy tonight!”

Sehun shakes his head dismissively, unbuckling his seat belt himself as Chanyeol pulls into their driveway. “I don’t need to pretend, Daddy,” Sehun says primly, grabbing his backpack.

Chanyeol bursts into laughter at this, doubled over. “You’re so right, Sehunnie, how could Daddy forget. I’m sorry.”

Sehun just shrugs and thanks Chanyeol when he comes around to open the door and let him down.

“No pictures!” Sehun complains when he hears the tell-tale sound of a shutter going off. Chanyeol ignores this completely and continues taking pictures of his little man dressed up in a miniature suit and tie.

“You look so handsome, Sehun,” Chanyeol praises, eyes fond as he holds his phone out of harm’s way when Sehun makes a grab for it. “Grandma’s gonna love these.”

Sehun huffs. “No pictures,” he insists again, pouting when Chanyeol just smiles down teasingly at him. “Let’s go already, I’m hungry!”

“Okay, okay,” Chanyeol acquiesces, putting his phone away (for now). “Let me just grab my wallet and we’ll get going.”

When they arrive at one of the nicer steakhouses in town, the hostess falls over herself in excitement.

“Aren’t you two so cute!” she squeals when they walk in, matching ties and all.

“Didja hear that, Sehun? She called you cute!” Chanyeol nudges his son, who scowls.

“I’m not cute,” he corrects, “I’m handsome. Daddy said so,” he tacks on as if that settled the matter.

“Of course you are,” the lady says, still smiling wildly. “What was I thinking?”

“Reservation for Park Chanyeol, please,” Chanyeol says, incredibly amused by the pink tint in Sehun’s cheeks.

“Oh, for two?” If possible, the lady’s smile grows wider when she realizes number two is Sehun. “Right this way, if you please.”

Dinner is fun, because all pretenses of being “fancy” are thrown out the window fairly quickly. Thankfully, having a kid lessens the disapproving stares Chanyeol would normally get tenfold. And, as usual, Sehun kicks up a fuss when Chanyeol cuts up his meat for him. He lightens up, though, when Chanyeol ends up getting gravy on his dress shirt, snickering into his hands as Chanyeol desperately tries to alleviate the damage – to no avail.

They decline the offer of the dessert menu, despite Chanyeol being very tempted by the lava chocolate cake.

“Bomi!” Sehun chirps happily as they walk into their favourite ice-cream parlor instead, a small cozy thing that they frequented religiously each week.

Bomi, a college student that worked almost every Friday night, looked up from her stocking and grinned when she saw the two of them.

“Hello Sehunnie!” she coos, eyes scrunching up in that famous eye smile of hers. “And you too, Chanyeol,” she adds on afterwards, waving. “Don’t you two look dapper!”

“Hi Bomi,” Chanyeol greets, being pulled up to the display by an impatient Sehun. “Sehun chose steak for tonight, so I figured we had to look the part. How’ve you been?”

She shrugs, scrunching her face. “School’s been kinda crappy,” she confesses, “but after this weekend everything should get easier. Besides, seeing Sehun always makes me week better.” She smiles fondly at the five year old, who is concentrating very hard on which flavor he was going to choose. “What about you? Work okay? Met anyone yet? I’m still waiting for the day you bring a date with you here on Friday nights instead of Sehun,” she teases, laughing at the chagrin on Chanyeol’s face.

“Can I get a scoop of mint chocolate chip, please?” Sehun asks, interrupting. “Also, why would Daddy bring anyone else here instead of me?” He looks upset at the idea.

“Why indeed,” Chanyeol repeats, shrugging helplessly. “Silly Bomi, right Sehun? I already have a date – you!”

Sehun nods earnestly, but forgives Bomi immediately with a smile and a thank you when she hands him a cup with his ice-cream in it, topped with all of Sehun’s favourite toppings. Chanyeol pays for their ice-cream (triple chocolate for himself, because he’s just as childish as Sehun is in some ways) and they settle into their usual booth by the window.

It’s as Chanyeol is driving them home – Sehun having passed out in his car seat, tie askew – that Bomi’s words come back to him. True, he hasn’t dated anyone in a long time, not since Sehun’s mother had left, and yes, maybe it would be nice to start seeing a nice girl (or boy), but as he watches Sehun sleeping peacefully in the backseat, he decides he wouldn’t change his usual Friday nights for anything.