Most days in Chanyeol's life began around half past six in the morning when he got up, showered and woke up his little sister. He wasn't exactly a morning person but a shower helped. Oh, and music. As soon as he got up he would turn on either his own music or the radio. Once in a while he would come out of the shower to find little Sohee already munching on her cornflakes like today, awoken by the radio. It happened rarely since she was even less of a morning person, and seeing the second bowl and spoon ready for him always raised his mood a lot.

They would eat their cereal, occasionally fighting over the little choco drops and then re-check Sohee's school bag.
Chanyeol would nag her into filling her lunch box(and once in a while do it for her, if he was feeling like spoiling her) and after they both got ready, he took her to school. And everyday without fail she would remind him that she was very much able to go to school alone by now and that she'd never make any friends at this rate.
To which Chanyeol would simply state that she could always return from school with her friends and that he'll accompany her at least one way until Middle School. Period.

After dropping Sohee at the gates, Chanyeol's actual day began as well.
Today he had the early shift at the craftsman firm, so he headed to the workshop.
He encountered a few fashion students on the way and thought of Kyungsoo being somewhere among them.
It was kind of funny, he thought while passing by the fashion school where he could look into a classroom full of girls waiting for the first lesson to begin.
Just two houses next to me someone of my age goes to school while I'm working.
For a second, he felt a little depressed and older than he actually was.

The feeling vanished, however, when he opened the door and stepped into the workshop only to hear a resounding clatter of things falling and a very familiar voice cursing from the back room.
"You did it again, didn't you?! Can you please go an hour without trying to burn down my business?!"
"I'm sorry Taeil Hyung!" he heard the airy voice of their helping staff, Jongup, call back in genuine apology. Though Jongup was like a cat and would probably have forgotten all about it in a matter of minutes.
Chanyeol nodded over to Zelo and left for the tiny changing room to get into his uniform. Even though their tiny boss kept chiding Jongup and complained about the mess he made, he had never once threatened to fire him. Maybe he secretly also liked the liveliness he brought to this place. Chanyeol certainly did.
Taeil was strict but fair and had a good eye on all of them. He was quite picky with his staff but gave most people a chance who were showing a high working morale and good will.
That was probably the reason why this firm had so many young employees. Besides Taeil himself there were two fulltime workers, two trainees(one in the second, one in the first year), one temporary help and... well, one part-timer, namely Chanyeol.

"Good morning." Zelo called out in a friendly manner when Chanyeol slid in a chair next to him in the entrance area.
"Hey. 'sup?" Chanyeol asked, watching Zelo shuffle around a few papers.
"I'm just doing the office work for now... You?"
"Waiting for Zico Hyung. I'm accompanying him on today's appointments." Chanyeol replied, leaning back in his seat.
Zelo hummed and rubbed his eyes quickly to adjust to the task at hand.
His actual name was Junhong, but he was introduced to him as Zelo, due to his zealous nature.
And they didn't lie. Zelo was only in his first year of training but excelled in most areas.
His main mentor was Yongguk whoms field of expertise was doing carpentry but basically you could be sure that whatever task you would push into this kid's hands(and he was by far the youngest being sixteen), he would surely succeed.

The firm's services could be split in three categories:
There was carpentry with Yongguk as the main expert, electrics with Taeil himself and anything revolving heating installation and plumbing works where Zico was most skilled in.
Every fulltimer had someone to train, even though they changed it up once in a while.
As a part-timer Chanyeol was technically assisting anybody who needed help but at the same time he was equally treated and they never hesitated to teach him stuff.
To sum it up: he really liked this place.

"Yo." a tired voice suddenly said. Chanyeol looked up and dutifully put away his phone.
"Morning!"
And today he was going to assist Zico, like he mostly did.

"Cash or bill?"
"Uhm..." the housewife hesitated, clearly startled.
"He meant to say that we accept both cash, credit card or a written bill you can pay within two weeks. No matter which payment method, if you experience any belated trouble with our services you can come back to us within two weeks and we will re-do it without additional costs if any mistake on your end has occurred." Chanyeol said with a blinding smile and the woman seemed a little overwhelmed for a different reason, but smiled nonetheless.
"If that is so, I'd like to pay by credit card."
Wordlessly Zico prepared the payment and Chanyeol kept flashing her reassuring smiles.
He knew by experience that most customers were fairly intimidated by his mentor who tended to forget about his formal speech.
Zico was good at what he did, mostly because he relied more on his own methods and experiences than any guidelines. Unfortunately he was just not the people person. His looks and language would always send the wrong signals and by now Chanyeol had the suspicion that this was the only reason he was kept around him - to ensure that their customers weren't too put off by his attitude to come again.
"Kay, everything went alright. Good day then." Zico casually said while stacking away the card reader and turning to leave.
"Thanks for requesting our services, don't hesitate to come again." Chanyeol added with a deep bow before skipping after Zico.

"You know-", his mentor began when they had closed the car's door and Chanyeol was busy buckling his seat belt, "I'd love to call you a boot-er if you wouldn't actually genuinely mean all this . I swear all you newbies have too much goddamn positive energy to waste. In a few years you won't be going around saying nonsense like that."
"Maybe. Though I've always been a positive person~" he replied with an easy smile, completely unfazed by Zico's attitude.
At this his mentor let out a disbelieving laugh and gave him a friendly shove.
"Pff, I almost believe it the way you say it."

The two had barely arrived back at the office when Chanyeol's boss called out to him.
"Chanyeol! You have a minute?"
"Oh. Of course!"
Throwing a helpless look to Zico and Junhong who both shrugged, he was already fearing the worst. Racking his brain for what he might have possibly messed up as of late, he carefully stepped into the small office, peeking inside.
"Jesus, Chanyeol. Don't look at me like a kicked puppy, come inside. And close the door, will you?"
Feeling a little better already, he followed the order and sat down across Taeil who took a few stacks of paper from his desk(so he could at least look his employee in the eye without having to stand up which would be very humiliating).
The office was pretty crammed but everything had it's order nonetheless.
"You just returned with Zico? Did everything go alright?" Taeil asked him with the casual voice reserved for meaningless small talk.
"Yes. Everything went smoothly."
"That's good." he hummed, already busy with something on his desk.
He pulled out a couple of papers and looked at him through his golden-framed Harry Potter glasses(I swear to God if I hear this expression one more time you're gonna regret it bitterly! - Yes, boss...).
"Tell me, are you still working at the karaoke bar?"
"Yes." Chanyeol dutifully replied, his hands intertwined in uneasiness below the table.
"And at that other place, the... coffee shop?"
"The bakery."
"Ah, yes. You're still working there as well, right?"
Yes...?" he carefully replied, not sure where this was going.
"Is it stressful, with three jobs?"
"Uhm, no, not at all!" Chanyeol stammered a little too quickly.
At the judging look over the round glasses, he gulped.
"Alright. Sometimes." he corrected.
"Just... sometimes it's difficult to find enough time for my little sister."
Again his boss nodded in contemplation as he held up the paper for him to see.
"You know what I have here? It's your working contract."
Oh my god.
Please don't fire me.
I really like it here.
I won't find anything matching the other job's schedules.
I'll work harder!
"I won't complain anymore!" he suddenly burst out in desperation and Taeil blinked in confusion before rolling his eyes.
"For god's sake Chanyeol, don't start crying now. And if there's a reason to complain you should. If I wanted a robot I'd look for one. Anyway, what I was trying to say before you went all panic on me-", he continued, tapping a pen against his contract, "-was that I have an offer for you. You've been working here for four months now and so far I'm very satisfied with your work."
"Thank you." Chanyeol meekly replied.
"I'll be frank with you. This place cannot afford another trainee and I don't think you're that interested either."
Chanyeol hesitated which served as an affirmation for the other.
"Yes, I figured so much. Currently you're a flexible part-timer and you've done a lot of overtime. We can definitely need you here so I'm offering you to expand your contract and increase your working hours. I wanna do us both a favor though. So if you tell me how many hours you have for one of your other jobs I'll increase your hours here the exact same amount. That way you can quit one of your jobs. Again, it'll benefit both of us. Less stress for you and I don't have an employee who's all over the place and exhausted from swinging back and forth."
Chanyeol looked at him with disbelief.
"Really? D-do you mean that? That would be awesome!"
He pondered for a few moments before deciding.
"I'd actually like to quit the bakery job. Since the working hours are really inconvenient."
"That will be your decision to make. It's just an offer, like I said. So you would like to take it?" Taeil calmly asked, obviously to get the formalities out of the way.
"Yes. Yes of course!"
At this, he jumped to his feet and bowed deeply.
"Thank you very, very much."
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. Stop bowing. Just bring along a copy of your other working contract and we'll figure out your new contract together."
"Yessir!" he exclaimed with a happy salute.
Taeil rolled his eyes but his tiny smile betrayed him.
"Now back to work with you! If you wanna work more hours you better pick up a lot from your seniors!"
"Yessir!"

After his shift he directly went to the karaoke bar where he had the early shift from late afternoon to 9 PM.
He had a light skip to his step which greatly annoyed his quiet co-worker Leo.
"Have you heard the new ballad from Bigbang? 'If You'? Such a beautiful song!" he conversationally began while they were both standing behind the counter, waiting for something to do.
Leo actually really liked ballads but obviously didn't feel like talking and ignored him completely. Which was not all that rare.
Chanyeol liked him anyway and while this alone ticked the quiet guy off to no end, he was still able to work with him. To say that he liked him might be a bit of a stretch since it was hard to tell with Leo. But after two months of Chanyeol being friendly and open-minded(and quiet, once in a while) he managed to get a response out of him.
And now, after two years of working together, Chanyeol knew exactly that Leo was a very sweet and shy person, completely in love with little kids and a very loyal person. He was just... an introvert. And Chanyeol had come to accept that.
As long as someone was a good person, he was determined to give them a chance. That was his motto in life.
For some reason this made him think of Kyungsoo.
That short guy who seemed so caught up in a world very much foreign to him. Some people might have labelled him a weirdo and moved on, but he was sure Kyungsoo was a good person and now he had found another friend. At this, he smiled to himself a little wider.
Well, they might not be extremely close yet, but it wasn't all day that you made new friends. Like in actual friends, not work colleagues.
Which of course didn't mean that he would ever stop trying to befriend Leo.
Today this attempt at doing so consisted of staying dead silent while he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, with a content smile never leaving his face.

It was 9:20 PM when Chanyeol finally entered his apartment. Surprisingly, the smell of fried eggs was in the air.
"Guys! I'm home!"
"Hi!" a male voice called back while he heard the pitter-patter of socks against the floor and the brown mop of Sohee's hair appeared in the hallway.
"Welcome back!" she said cheerfully with a few little stains sprinkled on her shirt.
"Hey sweetie. Did you ruin your shirt again?"
Sohee immediately looked down and then back up again sheepishly.
"Sorryyy..."
"It's okay. We can just wash it, after all." Chanyeol simply said and they made their way into the living room where he was greeted with the sight of his best friend, lazily lounging on the couch. At least he cared enough to wave and look up at him from the laptop lying in his lap.
"Hey there busy-body! How's it going?"
"Hey. Pretty good, actually." he called back while getting himself a bottle of water and returning to the living room where he kicked the legs of the rather short brunette from the couch to haul himself next to him with a sigh.
"You sigh like an old man. Soon Sohee's gonna bring you a can of beer after work." Kyung joked while closing his laptop and placing it on the table.
"Nooo, beer is disgusting!" Sohee chimed in while sitting on the soft carpet between the couch and the TV where she had paused her Harvest Moon game in the middle of feeding some chicken.
"Chanyeol doesn't drink beer!"
"You're totally right." her big brother replied earnestly while grinning at his best friend when Sohee looked back to her game.
"I would never."
"Yeah yeah, I'll drink it all alone then." Kyung replied and they both knew it was no joke at all.

He had known Park Kyung since Middle school where they easily bonded over being fans of manga and rap music. Now, after so many years they had changed their appearance with Chanyeol practically towering over him while Kyung stopped growing at an average height of 1,75. What stayed the same however, was their teeth-rich smile that had earned the duo a variety of nicknames during school.
Park Kyung was first and foremost incredibly lazy. He was a geek in a perpetual state of . At least he had never encountered anyone else talking so openly(and enthusiastically) about . Maybe Chanyeol was just a prude.
Besides being lazy and a ert he was a er for greasy stuff, had no ambition whatsoever, was almost disgustingly cheesy when in love and not exactly good at any type of activity demanding to actually move from his couch.
Chanyeol was allowed to say this because he was his best friend.
That's what best friends did.
And while all of this was true, he also was the most loyal person he had ever met who would set aside all his personal dislikes in favor of helping his friend. He was funny, easy-going, responsible and had a huge soft spot for Sohee.
Never had he even once complained about spending approximately half of his life in Chanyeol's apartment, watching little Sohee, playing with her, helping her with her homework...
"So tell me, Sohee - how did you get those stains on your shirt? You drew something at school?"
"Nooo, those are just fat stains from cooking."
"You COOKED?"
"Yupp! I fried some eggs!" she happily gave back.
...And he was HORRIBLE at taking care of kids.

"She FRIED EGGS?!" Chanyeol repeated with an incredulous stare directed at his friend who shrugged helplessly.
"Well, she didn't want to eat cornflakes, what was I to do?"
"Don't worry Chanyeol!" Sohee quickly chimed in, turning on the floor to pat his knee in a consoling manner.
"I taught him how to do it."
"That's not- You shouldn't-" he began, without knowing how to actually express himself.
Of course he wouldn't get mad at his little sister. So he turned to his useless best friend.
"She's EIGHT, man-"
"I'm almost nine!"
"Of course, sweetie. ...she's ALMOST NINE! You can't let her fry eggs! Don't let her cook anything at all!"
Again, Kyung only shrugged.
"You know I'm useless in the kitchen."
"You're useless in general!"
"Don't be mean to Kyung oppa." Sohee pouted, a little distraught at Chanyeol's raised voice.
Unfortunately he didn't lower the volume at this.
"Don't call him oppa! Don't do that. Oh my god."
"But... But he's older than me and he's a boy."
"He's silly though. He's a special case. Don't call him oppa. Not ever. Gives me the creeps."
"So meaaan..." Kyung replied with a horrible pout as he leaned back in the couch, completely unfazed by the scolding he got.
Chanyeol sighed.
I'm a single father with two kids. How did this happen.
With his head being lowered he caught sight of something else.
"Huh? Is that a new manga?"
"Kyung oppa-... Ah no. Kyung brought it for me, he'll lend it to me!"
"Is this actually ATTACK ON TITAN? Please tell me this is not Attack on Titan."
"It's super exciting with evil giants eating everybody and cool fighters going woosh-woosh-"
At this Kyung discreetly got up and reached for his laptop.
"I think I'll be leaving for now..." he quietly murmured and yelped as the manga hit his head.
"Don't forget this!" Chanyeol called after him, still fuming a bit.

Twenty minutes later Chanyeol was sitting at Sohee's bedside, ready to turn off the light.
"Chanyeol..." she murmured, her big eyes already blinking suspiciously while looking up at him.
"Mh?" he gently hummed back, absently letting his fingers run through her hair.
"Are you mad at me for cooking?"
"No... It's alright." he quietly dismissed her worries.
"Just don't cook alone, I'm worried you might burn yourself."
"I didn't."
"Of course you didn't. So how did the eggs turn out?" he lightly asked.
"Of course they were good!"
At this, Chanyeol chuckled and playfully squished her cheek.
"Stooooop..." she whined and Chanyeol did, with a faked pout.
"But they were not like the eggs we had last week... I made them wrong..."
He blinked in confusion.
"Last week? Ah, you mean when we had Udon? The side dish?"
"Yes... I wanted those."
His spirits sank a bit at hearing this.
"I'm sorry. I'll learn how to make those, if you want to."
"No!" she said surprisingly strong and caught him by surprise.
"I want to learn it. You can cook so many things already. If I know how to make these eggs, I'll always make them for you."
He tried not to smile too wide and encourage her as he gently pressed her back into the cushions and re-arranged the blanket.
"Let's learn it together, then. How does that sound?"
She hummed in content, snuggling into her blanket but changing her mind when Chanyeol attempted to stand up.
"Wait..."
"Mhh?"
"Are you mad at uncle Kyung?"
"Hah, uncle?" he softly laughed before shaking his head.
"No, I'm not mad."
"Okay... That's good." Sohee mumbled sleepily.
"Did you have fun today?"
"Mhm... We went to the city and had lots of fun. We had a free ride."
Chanyeol's smile got a quizzical tilt.
"A free ride? Where to?"
"Uncle Kyung said that a 'free ride' means having fun without spending money... So we tried aaall the video games at the electronic store and tried free food and went to the pet store and the library..."
She opened her eyes once more and cutely tugged up the blanket to her nose.
"Can we get a library card for me? He said I have to ask you first."
He lightly bit his lip and nodded more to himself than anything.
"Yeah." he exhaled quietly, ruffled her hair and got up.
"Of course you can."
"Yay..."

A click and the room went dark, only illuminated by a few plastic stars attached to the walls.
"Good night Sohee."
"Good night Chanyeol."
 

It was 10 PM. Since he had the unusual luxury of a free evening, he shouldn't waste it.
Even if he was a little tired.
So he slid into the chair in front of the little table in the corner of the living room and started his computer. Maybe he'd manage a bit of progress on one of his self-composed songs.
While waiting for the desktop to load all the icons, he reached for his phone and typed a message.

[22:07]
To: KyuCumber
Thanks for today, man.
She loves you.
I'll buy some instant ramen tomorrow so you have at least something.

[22:08]
From: KyuCumber
Come on
We're basically family, why do you keep mentioning it
You know
I could always go and get them myself

[22:09]
To: KyuCumber
No way!
You're not gonna SPEND money for watching over her.
We had this talk.

[22:10]
From: KyuCumber
Yeah yeah
Like a thousand times
FAMILY, man
Whatevs. See ya tomorrow.
I'l be there at five

[22:09]
To: KyuCumber
Got it.
Try to study until then, for a change :P

He looked up and started his mixing program which took his sweet time as usual.
I could definitely use a new computer.
When he returned with a yogurt and a fresh bottle of water the program was ready.
Thinking about belatedly telling his best friend the news about quitting one of his jobs he reached for the phone. And found a message from a different person instead.

[22:10]
From: Kyungsoo
People always joked about me looking like an owl.
I'm beginning to actually FEEL like one though
I bet my eyes will hurt if I step into the light

[22:11]
Sorry, I'm not making any sense
I'm just tired, I've been sitting in this room for 14 hours straight

[22:12]
I'm rambling
Sorry.
Just ignore me

He quietly laughed to himself and typed back.

[22:14]
To: Kyungsoo
I won't!
I don't mind, just keep going.

He could basically see him fussing when no immediate reply came even though the message had been read. Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

[22:15]
To: Kyungsoo
Say, is it difficult to make these eggs you made last time?
The Tamagoyaki?

There you go - that's what Chanyeol's daily routine looks like.
(*sing* Stress, come on!)
Maybe some of you are annoyed by the many non-Exo characters but try to look at it this way: what are the odds of twelve homoual and gorgeous men being each other's best friends?
I wanted all of them to have an individual life.
And Chanyeol has quite a lot of it, considering the many jobs he has.
Enter my all-time bias wrecker dorky Kyung.
I feel like those two would be such a troublemaker duo...

As always, let me know what you think, it might have an impact on what's gonna be up next~

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt c:

P.S.: Don't let this make you delusional about kids - Sohee is a very idealistic and wonderful little girl.
You don't encounter kids like that in reality.