--

baekhyun used to wonder why the other teachers at the elementary school were, in varying degrees, head over heels for sehun. oh sehun, his childhood friend, his younger boyfriend, his husband for a year and a half, had been nothing but a brat—albeit a very handsome, considerate, capable one—all throughout his life. baekhyun, himself, had been nothing but his personal caretaker ("that's a lie, you were more than just a caretaker, you were my, let's say, sugar daddy." "oh my god go sleep on the couch i hate you.") since sehun had been, still was, a living, walking trouble.

so it was truly a miracle that sehun landed a teaching position as a maths teacher at the school in their neighborhood. and his co-workers loved him. too much, in some cases, even, from gossips between mothers that baekhyun had overheard (he refused to use the term eavesdropping because eavesdropping is bad).

from the gossips, baekhyun learned that all the school staff were charmed by sehun soon after he started teaching there. the students were no exception; they actually enjoyed sehun's class, despite it being one of the most hated subjects.

baekhyun had visited the school several times, whenever he needed to deliver sehun's forgotten lunch or to pick him up for a date, and all those times the teachers didn't fail to praise sehun.

"you are such a lucky boy."

"he's so perfect! i wish i had a boyfriend like him!"

"handsome, smart, charming, knows how to handle the students... young men like him are so rare nowadays, i bet you're really happy to have him."

those comments were the ones he could pass with a confused laugh and the thought of are we even talking about the same oh sehun? because he appreciated them, really. he had always felt so lucky and blessed to have sehun in his life, even since before they started dating, and even if none of their friends understood what was so good about sehun.

comments that came from clueless, single female teachers were far worse, however.

"i wonder if he has a girlfriend..."

"do you think i have a chance?"

"i heard he liked the short, cute and kind type, you definitely have a chance with him!"

baekhyun heaved a long, deep sigh.

he wanted so badly to just announce to the whole school that, no, sehun was incredibly taken and incredibly married to none other than him, byun baekhyun, but that would make him seem inappropriate and jealous and possessive. he didn't want to set a bad example, especially to his dearest, precious—

baekhyun started violently and bit back a scream when something cold touched his cheek. a familiar laughter rang in his ears, making him snap his head to direct a glare at the person beside him.

"what are you doing, spacing out here, baekhyun?" the smile he was wearing was teasing as he handed a can of cold oolong tea to baekhyun. baekhyun didn't return the smile, unamused.

"seriously, sehun, you should stop."

but of course, sehun only chuckled like the brat he was, deepening baekhyun's frown. sehun found it extremely cute, as he couldn't help planting a kiss on baekhyun's forehead and lips.

"it's hot today, you should drink that. i'll finish in an hour. you're going to wait for me, right?" he grinned at baekhyun, encircling an arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer to place another kiss on baekhyun's temple. baekhyun sniffled.

"if i wanted to watch a movie alone, i wouldn't be here, would i?"

baekhyun's retort made sehun laugh and ruffle his hair, ignoring baekhyun's disapproving glare. sehun was no stranger to baekhyun's glares; he had been on the receiving end of it for such a long time it didn't scare him anymore. most of the time he didn't mean it anyway. it was just baekhyun reacting to sehun's bratty ways.

sehun suddenly turned his head, looking around them and seeing if anyone was nearby. it was nearing the last period of school, so no single soul was seen outside, and after making sure no one was there to see them, sehun dragged baekhyun up and pinned him against the nearest wall.

"sehun, what are you doing—"

"sssh," was sehun's only reply before he covered baekhyun's lips with his own. baekhyun's eyes widened in horror because this is a school!!! and he started struggling, to no avail, really, because sehun's kisses always made him weak on the knees. in a few seconds, his eyes fluttered close and his hold on the unopened canned drink loosened; it fell onto the ground with a dull thud and baekhyun's hands found the lapels of sehun's suit jacket, pulling sehun closer by them.

the slide of their mouths against each other was slick and hot; sehun teasingly flicking his tongue on baekhyun's lips, making baekhyun whimper in impatience as he tried to on sehun's tongue. sehun smiled, thought very adorable before giving baekhyun what he wanted. baekhyun let out a soft moan and sehun groaned in arousal, gently cradling his smaller husband's face with one hand—his other hand holding baekhyun's hip—and pulling away only to trail bites on baekhyun's white, slender neck.

"i wish we were home right now," sehun whispered against baekhyun's ear, making him in a sharp breath. "imagine the things we could do in the privacy of our bedroom..."

when there was no retort from baekhyun, sehun looked down to see baekhyun's expression and laughed, delighted, at what he saw. baekhyun's face was red, so red sehun thought he was going to pass out from embarrassment. it also brought happiness to him because he knew that baekhyun had never shown this kind of expression to anyone else. he was the only one who could drive baekhyun crazy like this, and no one else.

that also applied to sehun, because even after so many years spent together, sehun was still so madly in love with baekhyun.

after one can of oolong tea and sehun's leaving for class, deciding he did not want to be bored while waiting for sehun, baekhyun got up from the bench he was sitting on by the entrance of the school building, thinking to explore, greet the other teachers and maybe see sehun while he was teaching.

and boy, was he surprised to see sehun teach.

sure, all the staff had nothing but praise for sehun, but baekhyun prided himself in being the see-it-and-believe-it type of person. he hadn't believed all the rumors and gossips surrounding his boyf—husband now, he always forgot they were married, and thought perhaps there were more than one sehun at the school.

but this sehun... this side of sehun that baekhyun didn't know... made baekhyun understand immediately why sehun's co-workers found him charming.

when teaching, sehun was very patient, very affectionate. there was a glass bowl of cookies on sehun's desk (last time it was a small jar full of colorful candies), no doubt sehun was using it to reward a student whenever they got the right answer. when they answered wrong, sehun only smiled, looking at them like they were the cutest thing ever ("they are cute, but they're not you. you are the cutest thing ever." "shut up, sehun, go do the laundry i hate you.") and slowly explaining how to solve the problem. it was as if every single student was a child of his.

admittedly, seeing sehun's different side made him a bit sad. to baekhyun, sehun had always been the brat he was cursed to take care of for the rest of his life, yet sehun was always so mature at school. it was to be expected, baekhyun knew that, considering this was where sehun needed to be professional, but he just couldn't help feeling slightly jealous.

(because sehun was his, not theirs, so why, exactly were they treated so differently? why did they get to see a side of sehun that he wasn't familiar with, what made them more special than him?)

baekhyun sighed, slumping his shoulders as he walked away from the classroom. there was still around ten minutes left before sehun's class would finish, he probably should go back to sitting on the bench outside. and maybe wallow in self-pity because he couldn't believe himself—getting jealous at children? he wasn't usually that childish. baekhyun huffed at the thought, unconsciously jutting out his lower lip. he couldn't be so childish; there was already sehun for that, and besides—

"papa?"

turning around to the source of the soft voice, baekhyun widened his eyes at the sight of a six year old girl in her baby blue one-piece, her small hands holding a maroon backpack. her long hair was loosely braided, rested on her shoulder.

"seulgi!" baekhyun exclaimed as he approached the girl, lifting her in his arms and squeezing her close. "i thought class hasn't ended?" he asked, placing a kiss on the top of her head. seulgi smiled at him brightly.

"the teacher let me out early because i got her question right!"

"really? that's a smart girl!" seulgi giggled happily when baekhyun kissed both of her cheeks, making loud smacking noises to make her laugh even more.

seulgi was his pride and joy; his daughter that he met two years ago. sehun and he only adopted her after they were married, but by then they were already so close, as if they hadn't started off as strangers.

"are you waiting for daddy?"

"in fact, yes, i am. and you're waiting for uncle kyungsoo, right?"

"yeah! he's taking me to dance lesson today!"

"good girl. he told me he'll arrive right when school ends."

seulgi giggled again, leaning closer to loudly kiss baekhyun's cheek. baekhyun loved her so much, he would give her everything in the world. even if sehun decided he didn't want him anymore, baekhyun thought he would be fine if he had seulgi. at the thought, his hold on her tightened. his daughter blinked up at him before speaking again.

"papa, when are we gonna have another dog?"

it was baekhyun's turn to blink at seulgi, confused by the sudden question. "i don't know," he chuckled, bouncing her lightly, "it all depends on your dad, i don't think he wants more pet."

sehun hated animals—completely traumatized since that time he was chased and bitten by a stray dog when he was a kid. their current dog, a samoyed called king, was adopted by baekhyun before sehun and he started dating, therefore sehun had had to accept, with great reluctance. take both or leave both, baekhyun had told sehun sternly when his younger boyfriend had expressed distaste ("i swear your dog was smirking at me!" "oh god sehun please stop drinking expired milk.") towards the innocent dog.

"but," seulgi tilted her head, her expressive eyes steadily looking into baekhyun's, "daddy will do anything for you."

kyungsoo arrived with his car and baekhyun's pet samoyed in the backseat right when the school bell rang, signalling the end of classes. seulgi waved goodbye to him until the car disappeared from baekhyun's sight. he sighed, left to his own thoughts.

"sehun will do anything for me, huh?" he mumbled to himself, watching students slowly trickling out of the school building.

it wasn't like baekhyun was questioning sehun's fidelity to him. he was just being insecure, what with sehun's tendency to flirt as a form of being nice. he should've known that working sehun was different from baekhyun's sehun, and baekhyun had to keep reminding himself that he was guilty of doing the same thing as sehun, too.

strong, warm arms enveloped him from behind, bringing him out of the depths of his thoughts. baekhyun gasped when a familiar pair of lips met the sensitive skin of his neck.

"sehun," he called, wriggling in sehun's hold, "it tickles." he could feel sehun smile before turning him around and kissing his forehead.

looking at sehun now, smiling down affectionately at him with his head tilted slightly to the side, baekhyun understood why sehun's co-workers were so smitten with him. at work, sehun showed his capable side, erasing all traces of brattiness and playful clinginess. they were only shown one side of sehun, but baekhyun? he got sehun's everything. although rare, sehun could be serious in a situation, providing support for baekhyun and becoming his pillar of strength. and yes, perhaps sehun was truly a brat, the brattiest of all, but this was a side only baekhyun and a few close friends knew.

people might think of baekhyun as weird for falling in love with sehun ("seriously though, why do you like sehun?" "i wish i knew..."), with his brattiness and all, but then again, sehun's being a brat assured baekhyun in a way other people couldn't understand. somehow, it meant sehun hadn't changed, that sehun was still the sehun he knew in his childhood. knowing sehun, he probably would stay the same way, and that was important, because sehun was baekhyun's home. no matter what happened, no matter how far they were separated, baekhyun would always go back to sehun.

he might sound masochistic for saying that, but he was happy with sehun.

standing on his tiptoes, baekhyun caught sehun's lips in a gentle kiss, encircling his arms around sehun's shoulders. sehun's surprise was evident in the way he didn't immediately respond, belatedly placing his hands on baekhyun's waist to balance him. baekhyun just suddenly had this intense need to claim sehun, to show everyone that sehun was his. he didn't even care anymore that they were still at school grounds; there were kids and parents and teachers around, staring at them, some sneering, some scandalized, others just stunned.

when they both pulled away, sehun was wearing his widest grin, and the realization of what he had just done made baekhyun's face burn in shame. hiding his red face in sehun's shoulder, baekhyun groaned as sehun laughed.

"that was really nice," he said, raising a hand and petting baekhyun's head, "didn't know you had it in you, though." the snicker that followed prompted baekhyun to slap sehun's chest, which only made his husband laugh even louder. sehun knew that baekhyun hated being too intimate in public. kisses that lasted for more than three seconds were forbidden, which was why he found baekhyun's need to show people that they were in love with each other endearing.

the sound of someone clearing his throat startled baekhyun, and when he turned to see who it was, baekhyun thought he would faint.

"mr. principal," sehun greeted with a nod, still smiling like he just won everything in this world.

the principal smiled gently at him and sehun, "the female teachers are all hysterical." sehun chuckled good-naturedly but baekhyun just wanted to dig a hole and bury himself. "but it's good to see you finally relax, mr. oh."

baekhyun blinked after the principal's leaving back, his face wearing an invisible question mark. sehun caught his gaze and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as an act of nervousness.

"actually... i've been kind of, um, really stressed at work lately," sehun admitted, which made baekhyun frown, then continued quickly, "it's nothing serious, just... kids and exams. and then there's also the thing with some teachers who didn't know i was already married to you." then his mouth formed a sheepish smile.

“you should’ve said something,” baekhyun said, frown deepening in worry, “then i wouldn’t have asked you to go to the cinema—”

“but i want to.” sehun gently cradled baekhyun’s face in his hands, thumbs the apple of baekhyun’s cheeks. “and i’ll do anything to spend more time with you, even if that means postponing my work.”

baekhyun didn’t know if he should feel happy or sad about it, but seulgi’s words rang clear in his head. sehun would do anything for him. he should believe that already and stop being so insecure. what was he so worried about, anyway? he didn’t remember anymore. since their childhood, sehun had always looked at only him, no one else; baekhyun knew that.

he smiled softly. “even if that means no more flirting at work?”

“even if that means no more flirting at work,” sehun nodded, placing a kiss on baekhyun’s nose, “which i never do consciously, so forgive me if i slipped once in a while.”

baekhyun laughed. it was weird how he suddenly felt so full, so secure when just a few minutes ago he was doubting himself, questioning whether he could ever compete with the people who knew sehun’s other side. there was never a competition since the beginning, baekhyun realized that now.

“i’ll forgive you if you make it all up to me,” he said, smiling, hands lightly holding sehun’s wrists. the smile sehun returned was bright, happy, and loving.

“always.”

(“were you jealous of those female teachers? is that why you insisted on picking me up at school?”

“...”

“come on, just say it, i won’t laugh at you~”

“but your ego will inflate, so i won’t say it.”

“aha! so you’re admitting you were jealous!”

“shut up, sehun.”

“...”

“...”

"so does that mean i should make you jealous more often?"

"ugh, drop it, oh sehun, or i'm gonna lock you out of the bedroom.")

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a/n: i hope that was readable and not too awkward orz; this was supposed to be finished by sehun's birthday... but because my writer's block has been severe lately, the ~deadline~ kept being pushed back and it's finally finished now. i'm just glad to be able to finish this one since i still have... lots... waiting to be finished. /cries.

i hope you enjoyed reading. <3