“Sir! I really am very sorry, but my babysitter quit and I can’t leave my son at home. He’s a very placid kid, he won’t be disruptive, I promise. It’s just until I can find another babysitter, please!” Kyungsoo frantically pleaded into the phone, his son was staring up at him with his big, droopy brown eyes from his position on his chest. As if he could sense his father’s emotions, he reached one of his slightly-chubby hands up to his cheek in a seeming attempt to comfort him. Kyungsoo looked down at his son and smiled.

“Is there really no one else who can take him?” A gruff voice sounded from the phone, snatching the short father’s attention back to the conversation.

Kyungsoo sighed. “No. I have no relatives that can take him in, and no babysitters are willing to come at such short notice. My neighbours would normally help out but they’re away on a holiday at the moment. Please, he won’t be a bother to anyone. I’ll keep him with me at all times.”

“How old is your son, Kyungsoo?”

“Three years old, sir.”

“I suppose there’s no other choice. I’ll see you at school, Kyungsoo. Goodbye.” And with that, his boss hung up and Kyungsoo sighed in relief and grinned at his son whose hand was still rested on his cheek.

“So, Baekhyunnie, what do you think about coming to school with Appa today?”

“Yes!” The small child grinned his signature grin at his father – the one that won over the hearts of anyone that had the pleasure to witness it. The father lifted his son and placed him back in his chair, giving him his strawberry milk to finish.

“Okay baby, you stay here and finish that while I go pack some things for today, alright?”

His son nodded and smiled through his straw, waving excitedly as his father walked out of the kitchen and into his room.

They had a reasonably sized house for two people. It wasn’t large by any means, but it wasn’t tiny, either. For a twenty-five-year-old man and his three-year-old son, it was the perfect size. Kyungsoo’s job as a teacher allowed him to get enough money to provide for the both of them while still having enough to buy the occasional luxury item, such as a TV or toys for Baekhyun.

Speaking of toys, he packed a few of his son’s favourite Iron Man figurines into his backpack, knowing that they would keep him occupied for most of the day.

He packed a blanket, a small pillow, some snacks and some colouring books just in case. While his son was not one of the types to throw tantrums every five seconds, he was always excited. And when Kyungsoo says always, he means always. There was never anything that didn’t excite his son. It was something that the young father found unbelievable and adorable about his Baekhyun. Whether it was simply going to the shops or watching a documentary that he wouldn’t even understand on TV, his son was always bouncing up and down with the biggest smile on his face, asking him all sorts of questions that his father was more than happy to answer, regardless of how silly they were.

Some might find Baekhyun annoying, but to Kyungsoo he was all he could ever ask for – and more.

He walked back into the kitchen, backpack and briefcase in tow, to find his son banging his empty juice bottle on the table.

“What are you doing, Baekhyun?” He chuckled, not at all angry at his son’s antics.

Baekhyun’s face brightened the instant he heard his father’s voice.

“Appa! Up!” He cheered, reaching his arms up into the air.

Kyungsoo smiled and dropped the backpack to the floor to lift up his son. Baekhyun giggled cutely when he was raised up high and his father swayed him from side to side while making aeroplane noises.

“Okay little monster, let’s go to school now, yeah?”

Baekhyun clapped his hands together and reached for his backpack once he was set down onto the floor. “Yeah!”

Kyungsoo happily grabbed his son’s hand as they made their way out of their apartment. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to be bringing his son to work with him but he really had no other choice, and it’s not like he minded. He’d spend every minute of his day with Baekhyun if he could.

“Good morning.” Kyungsoo smiled as he entered the staffroom and was greeted with multiple mumbles and exclaims of ‘good morning’ in reply.

Delia, one of the other staff members, was the first person to notice the tiny boy standing behind their colleague.

“Oh, who’s this?” She inquired.

Baekhyun heard the question directed at him and practically jumped out from behind his father’s legs.

“Hi!” He exclaimed with a giant smiled on his face. “I’m Baekhyunnie! Appa had to go to work so I come with him!”

Kyungsoo laughed at his son jumping up and down and looked sheepishly up at his colleagues.

“Sorry, Baekhyun is a little excited. He had to come with me today because the babysitter quit suddenly. Apparently she got a proper job, as she called it.”

A few of the other staff looked at him in sympathy. Kyungsoo had been nothing but a blessing to them ever since he’d first arrived. He was always prepared for work and did not hesitate to help in any situation.

Delia smiled at Baekhyun and crouched down so she could talk more comfortably with the child.

“How old are you, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun smiled and proudly ed three fingers up into the air.

“Three!”

“Wow! Three years old? How cool!” She exclaimed with fake enthusiasm that kids can’t distinguish from normal enthusiasm.

“Yeah!” He smiled and the middle-aged woman felt her heart melt. What a cute kid.

“Is Jongin in yet?” Kyungsoo asked and the others in the room smiled knowingly. The two teachers had been dancing around each other for the past two years. Jongin being the dance teacher that made all of the girls – and quite a few guys, too – swoon, and Kyungsoo being the drama teacher that everyone adored.

“Yeah, he came in a while ago. Should be in the P.E staffroom.”

Kyungsoo thanked his co-worker before setting his briefcase on his desk and grabbing Baekhyun’s hand.

“Where are we going, Appa?” His son questioned in Korean. That was something Kyungsoo had been doing for him, teaching him both English and Korean so that he would have a sense of belonging to his culture.

“We’re going to meet Appa’s friend, baby. Do you want me to carry you?” He asked once he saw his son yawn and rub his eyes with his fist cutely. He took his son’s backpack off and swung it over his shoulder before gently lifting his son into his arms. Baekhyun nuzzled his face into the junction between his father’s neck and shoulder before letting out a puff of air.

By the time they’d reached the P.E staffroom, the small boy had fallen asleep in his father’s arms. He knew that if Baekhyun slept now he’d be wide awake for the rest of the day and as much as he loved his son, that’s not something that he really wants to happen. He gently jostled the boy awake as he knocked on the door.

Baekhyun woke up right as the door swung open and he was greeted with his long-time friend’s bright smile.

“Morning, Soo! Who’s this cutie?” Jongin grinned at him as he reached out to take Baekhyun from his arms.

To say that Kyungsoo was surprised when Baekhyun let Jongin take him would be an understatement. His son never let anyone hold him other than his father, which is why they were constantly going through babysitters. How could you take care of a kid that won’t let you hold them?

Jongin noticed Kyungsoo’s look of shock and decided to a bit.

“What, I’m not going to steal your kid. I take it this is Baekhyunnie?”

It took a few moments for Kyungsoo to get over the shock that his son had just willingly let himself be taken – and by a stranger no less.

“O-Oh. Yeah, this is Baekhyun.” He managed to get out, eyes widened even more when Baekhyun curiously reached his hand out and grabbed Jongin’s cheek.  The other teacher laughed at the boy and Baekhyun’s bottom lip jutted out into a cute pout.

“What’s up little buddy?”

“Cheek isn’t squishy like Appa’s.” The boy mumbled and Jongin laughed again.

“But isn’t my face the most gorgeous you’ve ever seen?” He winked and that snapped Kyungsoo out of his shock completely.

The drama teacher laughed slightly before playfully glaring at the other male.

“Oh, please. Stop poisoning my son’s mind before he even gets to know you properly.”

Jongin put his hand to his forehead in fake offense, “I would never!” he exclaimed.

Kyungsoo held back a smirk, “Sure, sure. Now hand me back my son before you run off with him and I never see him again. He seems to like you too much.”

“And how is that my fault?” Jongin pouted.

“Don’t pout. It doesn’t have the same effect as Baek’s.” Well, maybe it does a little.

Jongin chuckled before handing the shorter man’s smiling son back into his arms.

“Are you off at all today?” He asked.

“I am. Sixth period, but I’ll be taking care of Baekhyun. You can come ‘round if you’re okay with having him talk your ear off, but if you’d prefer to keep your ears then it might be best not to.”

The taller man laughed and said he’d be fine with having his ears talked off and they bid their goodbyes. It was routine for whoever got their second between the two of them to go and greet the other, as their way of saying ‘I’m here today, come see me later.’

“I thought you didn’t like strangers, Baekhyunnie.” Kyungsoo mentioned in regards to the earlier encounter.

Baekhyun look at his father with the same eyes he’d looked at Jongin with earlier.

“He was pretty like Appa.” The child said simply with a smile before moving to hug his father around the neck.

Kyungsoo felt his heart warm at the statement. Baekhyun had always called him pretty, and for him to say he found Jongin pretty as well was a good sign. Maybe he did have hope after all.

Kyungsoo had sat Baekhyun at one of the tables close to his desk, his first class for that day was 10^th grade, and he wasn’t sure how they would react to having Baekhyun in their class. He sincerely hoped nothing went wrong. He didn’t want to have to leave his son at home alone until he found a babysitter.

As his students began to file in and give confused glances towards the kid at the front of the room, Kyungsoo gave a relieved sigh. No commotion had been made as of yet.

Well, that was until the resident chatterbox in the grade walked in. Dania squealed when she saw Baekhyun, ran up to him and attempted to pick him up.

Baekhyun, who doesn’t like strangers, looked terrified and started crying as soon as he was picked up. Kyungsoo panicked; his son didn’t cry often, only when he was extremely uncomfortable or sad. He ran over and took his son from the girl’s arms, cooing soothing words into his ear as he rocked him from side to side.

When the boy finally calmed down and his sobs were reduced to sniffles, Kyungsoo let his attention move to his class. Their gazes were a mixture of curiosity, shock, awkwardness – and on Dania’s part, guilt.

The young girl noticed her teacher’s eyes on her and she moved her gaze from the boy in his arms to his face. “What did I do?” She inquired, upset that she’d made the child cry.

Kyungsoo reassuringly smiled at her, “You didn’t do anything wrong. He just doesn’t like strangers, is all.”

formed an inaudible ‘oh’ and she apologized before going to sit down.

“Well, you’re probably wondering why there’s a kid in here. This is my son, Baekhyun, and he’s going to be coming to work with me until I can find him a new babysitter after my last one quit unexpectedly. Try to ignore him and just focus on your work. If he starts to annoy you, just let me know. He’s constantly excited about everything so yeah, try not to encourage him to be silly, please.” His students nodded in understanding and he went to put Baekhyun back in his chair to begin the lesson; however, his son wouldn’t let go of his neck.

“Sweetie, I need you to let go, okay? I have to teach my students.” He sighed when he felt Baekhyun shake his head against his neck. Great, he’s being stubborn. “Alright. I’ll carry you for a little while.” He relented, knowing that he’d never win against his son’s stubbornness.

It was an odd sight for the students. Seeing their teacher holding a small child while teaching them about the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was not something they expected to see. Ever.

The lesson continued on without a hitch, eventually the students got used to the sight and they began to focus on what their teacher was saying. Before they knew it, it was time for break and a few of them stayed back to pester their teacher about his kid.

One of his nicer students, Damian, walked up to him. “Mr. Do! I didn’t know you had a kid. What was his name, again?”

“His name’s Baekhyun.” As if on cue, the little boy that was currently laying on the floor on his stomach colouring a picture of Batman pink looked up at his father and grinned his toothy grin.

“Man, I thought you were single! You’re not married, though, right?” Damian asked.

“No. I’m not married.” He replied curtly. He didn’t want to sound rude to his student but he didn’t feel like relaying everything about his personal life to a fifteen-year-old boy.

Damian, however, didn’t really seem to get the message, “Oh, does he not have a mother?”

Kyungsoo sighed, “Look, Baekhyun’s adopted, and that’s as much information you’re going to get out of me about my kid.” He shot at them.

At this, Damian and the rest of his students had sent him apologetic looks before leaving the classroom immediately.

After they left, Kyungsoo walked over to his son and sat down next to him on the floor. His son looked up at him and smiled before continuing to colour his Batman a wide array of pinks.

“Why’re you colouring him pink, Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo couldn’t help but ask. His son always coloured his superheroes in the exact colours they were originally, never straying from the proper colours. “They have to be the same or they won’t have superpowers anymore!” Is what his son had said.

Baekhyun didn’t even look up from his paper before replying, “Because pink is the bestest colour! Batman will get extra powers if he wears it!”

The teacher couldn’t help but laugh at his son’s reply. This was the first time he’d seen his son express his love for a certain colour and, of course, it had to be pink. He wasn’t even surprised.

He was startled by a sudden “Knock, knock!” from the doorway. He lifted his head to see Jongin smiling as he walked towards him with two boxed lunches and a smaller one – presumably for Baekhyun.

“Hey little buddy,” Jongin greeted as he sat down next to Baekhyun and peeked at what he was colouring. “Pink Batman? Really?” He chuckled and placed the food in front of the small boy.

Baekhyun had decided to ignore Jongin until he heard the words ‘Batman’ and ‘pink’ come out of his mouth and was now staring up at Jongin, much like he’d done earlier that day. His face broke into his signature grin and Jongin swears his heart turned to mush at the sight.

“Appa’s friend!” The tiny boy got up and clapped his hands together before hugging the dance teacher tightly around the neck, having to stand on his tip-toes even though Jongin was sitting.

“No, Baekhyunnie, this is Jongin, not ‘Appa’s friend’.” Kyungsoo corrected softly.

“He’s not Appa’s friend?” Baekhyun asked innocently, his droopy eyes aghast.

Jongin laughed at the look on Baekhyun’s face and Kyungsoo felt his heart warm at the sound.

“No, I am Appa’s friend, but you should call me Jongin. Or Uncle Jongin. Whichever you want.”

“Can I call you Ajusshi?” Jongin’s eyes widened at the question and he looked over to Kyungsoo who was simply watching the exchange.

“You’re teaching him Korean?” He asked.

Kyungsoo smiled, “Of course. I don’t want him to feel like he doesn’t belong to his culture.”

Jongin returned his smile and looked down at Baekhyun. “Sure, Baekhyunnie. You can call me Ajusshi. Even though it makes me feel old.” He replied in Korean, and the smile on the boy’s face and sparkle in his eyes as he spoke in his native language made it worth it.

Baekhyun then proceeded to – as Kyungsoo had warned him – talk the other man’s ear off about all sorts of things, ranging from why pink is the ‘bestest’ colour to this one time he found a snail on the ground after it rained and accidentally crushed it. Kyungsoo couldn’t stop himself from giggling at the memory, Baekhyun had been so utterly devastated when he crushed the snail that his father had found it adorable.

Jongin didn’t seem to mind the constant chatter, though, which gave Kyungsoo time for a break before he had to deal with another thirty or so children and a toddler for another two hours.