Jongin didn’t know what to think when Kyungsoo had brought his son in to work that morning. Yeah, he’d always been good with kids and he honestly found them adorable, but seeing Kyungsoo so utterly attached to the child made him wonder exactly how Baekhyun became, well, Baekhyun.

He knew Kyungsoo had a kid, and that his name was Baekhyun, but that was basically it. The shorter male always rambled about him, and it made Jongin feel things he really shouldn’t be feeling towards a three-year-old kid. Jealousy.

Now, don’t get him wrong, he’s not out for blood towards the boy or anything, he just wishes that Kyungsoo would look at him with that amount of love in his eyes. Jongin was fairly certain that Kyungsoo was single, seeing as though the drama teacher had not once spoken of or even hinted at having a significant other, which gave Jongin the thought that he at least had some hope.

He figured that getting close to the kid would be a ticket into Kyungsoo’s personal life, because while they were very close friends at work, they scarcely met up outside of it – much to both of their dismay.

The P.E teacher initially felt bad about using the kid the way he was, but after spending one break with him and having the small overly-excited boy talk his ear off about pink Batman for half an hour, he grew to legitimately enjoy the kid’s company.

That’s how he ended up in this situation. He didn’t really know what came over him when he’d asked Kyungsoo if he could take the kid to his class for the next period or so, but here he is, walking down the corridor with a bright red backpack hanging off one shoulder and his left pinkie-finger occupied by a tiny hand. The boy seemed rather excited, and Jongin couldn’t fathom why. Baekhyun was skipping happily next to him, mumbling the lyrics to some song the teacher assumes he heard on the radio or something.

“What’s got you so happy?” He finally asks, looking down at the boy.

Said boy looks up at him with a large, toothy grin and says nothing and continues skipping which only serves to confuse the man further.

“Alright then…” Jongin mumbles as the finally near his classroom and kneels down to be eye-level with the three-year-old. “Okay, mister. You better behave when we go in, alright?” Baekhyun nods adamantly at his tone and Jongin smiles at him before standing up straight again and grabbing his hand.

His class looks at him in confusion, probably wondering why their P.E teacher has their drama teacher’s kid.

“Right!” He exclaims loudly to garner their attention. “Baekhyunnie here is gonna be with us for today, so be nice and don’t pick on him because he’s short, even though he is!” The students laugh slightly at his introduction, and Jongin sits Baekhyun in his chair, getting him out his colouring book again.

“Alright little buddy, you just sit there and colour the rest of your Batman pink, okay? We’re going outside soon so you can play then, sound cool?” Baekhyun nods, his attention already set on gathering every single shade of pink he can find out of his pencil case, and Jongin sighs in relief.

He briefed his class on what they’re going to be doing today before sending them to get changed. By this time Baekhyun had gotten bored of colouring and was currently running around the classroom, examining anything and everything he can find.

When he sees Jongin coming to pick him up he grins cheekily and runs away from him, crawling under the tables and chairs being an easy thing to do for such a small kid.

Jongin huffs in fake frustration before grinning just-as-cheekily back at the boy. “I’m gonna get you!” He yelled before proceeding to chase the now-squealing child around the room. Once he finally manages to catch the deceivingly fast boy, he lifts him into the air and gently throws him upwards and catching him. Baekhyun enjoyed it, if his giggles were anything to go by.

Their chase had probably gone on for longer than he’d planned and his students were most likely out on the field waiting for him. He placed Baekhyun on his hip and carried him outside along with a bag of basketballs.

As he’d predicted, the students were all lounging around on the court, not making use of their time at all.

“Hey! Everyone form two teams, come grab a ball, and let’s play some basketball, alright? I’m being nice and letting you choose your teams.” He smiled, even though he always lets them choose their own teams.

He set Baekhyun on the ground and dug out a ball from the bag.

“Do you know how to play basketball, Baek?” He questioned softly, handing the ball to the boy who just looked at it in confusion.

Jongin laughed, “Obviously you wouldn’t. Your Appa is too short to play, how could he teach you?” He asked rhetorically.

Baekhyun pouted and glared at the tall man, “Appa isn’t short. Appa is tall. Like a prince.”

More like a princess. Jongin thought, but decided to keep it to himself lest he upset the kid any more.

“Yeah, just like a prince.” He smiled.

He grabbed Baekhyun gently by the waist and raised him into the air, the boy still holding onto the ball.  “Alright, Baekhyunnie. You have to try to throw that ball into that hoop there. You see it? The one with the net under it.”

The toddler attempted to twist in his arms to look at his face, but failed miserably, “Why?”

“Because it’s fun. Try it out, you’ll think it’s fun in no time.” He encouraged.

“Okay.” Was the simple reply he got before Baekhyun ed the ball forwards with a strength that a three-year-old should not possess. The ball didn’t make it in, but it did hit the fence with quite an impressive clang.

“Wow! You’re strong, Baek! Do you have some kind of superpowers or something?”

Baekhyun, who had now turned around in his grasp, stared up at him for a moment before his face lit up like a Christmas tree in the middle of Town Centre on Christmas Eve.

“Superpowers? I have superpowers?” The boy asked excitedly, arms and legs flailing around and hitting Jongin in the process.

Should he tell the kid he has superpowers? He didn’t really think that would cause any damage. What’s the worst a three-year-old could do?

“Maybe! Did you see that throw? Maybe you have super strength or something!” He declared.

Maybe he underestimated what a three-year-old could do. It took himself and Kyungsoo an entire hour to get the kid to settle down and stop talking about having super strength or attempting to pick up things or throw things that he couldn’t even lift.

When he’d finally crashed, Kyungsoo had picked him up from his position on the floor and put him into a makeshift bed he’d created out of the blanket and pillow he’s stuffed into his son’s backpack. Jongin had already apologized profusely to the other man, saying he honestly did not know that this would happen. Kyungsoo was understanding, though. There was no way Jongin could’ve known what a three-year-old was capable of. At least he now knew.

“I really am sorry.” He apologized again as they were packing up for the day after the staff meeting had ended.

Kyungsoo smiled at him, the smile that Jongin basically lived to see, “It really is fine. At least you tired him out. He slept through the whole meeting without waking up once. If anything you helped me more than you caused me grief.”

Jongin was glad to hear that, but he still couldn’t help but feel guilty. He was sure that this wasn’t the end of Baekhyun’s fascination with super strength. The kid would probably wake up when they got home and attempt to carry their fridge or something.

“Well, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call me. Baekhyun’s a really cute kid. Really, really energetic, but cute. I wouldn’t mind babysitting him for you if you ever need a weekend off or anything.” Jongin grinned.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened at his offer, “Are you sure?” He inquired as they walked towards the carpark.

Jongin kept his grin on his face, “One-hundred percent.”

“Alright. Thanks so much. I mean, I love Baek to bits but as you said he’s very… energetic, and it can get a bit much at times.” Kyungsoo chuckled. “So thanks for that offer. I’ll surely take you up on it.”

“No worries.” Jongin replied as he watched the other teacher put his son gently into his car seat. “Here’s my number,” he said as he got out a pen and a small piece of paper from his pocket, “just call me when you need me.” And I don’t only mean about Baekhyun. He wanted to add, but didn’t.

Kyungsoo smiled at him one last time before taking the paper, “Okay, thanks Jongin. I’ll see you tomorrow. Or, we will, I guess.” He said as he motioned towards Baekhyun who was still sound asleep in the back of the car.

“Alright. I’ll see you two tomorrow. Drive safely.” He replied.

“We will, you too.” The other male mumbled as he got into his car. He gave one last wave before driving off carefully as to try and not wake the sleeping boy in the back.