Seungcheol squinted as he exited his office building, the late afternoon sun blinding its natural light into his eyes, a stark contrast to the white fluorescents lining the building. He was already tugging at his collar as he made his way to his car, slipping off his “hardworking businessman” persona as he slid into the driver’s seat. He ran a hand through his hair that honestly feels terrible from all of the gel, but it all falls down into his face eventually just like he wanted it to. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it into the passenger’s seat before finally starting his car and pulling out of the parking garage. The journey to the Kindergarten after work was his favorite, because the children got out early, which meant Seungcheol got off of work early because he didn’t have a wife that would be subjected to staying home and taking care of all of that nor does he have any family he can rely on (not anymore)—he did have friends, though, well one friend in particular; Jihoon, who worked from home, had been his main babysitter while he first started working at his current company. Surprisingly, Jihoon had taken a liking to Hansol, and offered to pick the younger up from school, so Seungcheol could work properly, but Seungcheol stubbornly rejected as Jihoon should have expected.

Seungcheol zoned back into reality as he approached the school, pulling into the parking lot smoothly and even securing his usual parking space that’s closer to the exit. He got out of his car with a grunt and somberly thought about how he’s getting old (or at least acting like he was) as he walked up to the building. Hansol’s class was more towards the back, which was the worst part of picking his son up. The teachers loved to stare Seungcheol up and down, even now, when it’s been months and he still hasn’t given them anything juicy to sink their teeth into. He had told them that yes, he was young, and yes, he was even younger when he adopted Hansol. He didn’t elaborate on his relationship situation, the adoption situation, not even his family situation. All he allowed the teachers to know was that he was a well-off enough to take care of Hansol and himself, and that he wasn’t necessarily looking for anything more than what he had at the moment.

“Oh, Mr. Choi, right on time as always,” Hansol’s teacher, a Miss Lee Sunmi, smiled cheerfully and gave him her usual hug; she pat his back firmly before pulling away. Ms. Lee was the only teacher that didn’t make Seungcheol uncomfortable, and it might have been because she was a very obvious lesbian (“It’s not that obvious since the others keep trying to get me a boyfriend,” She had said while rolling her eyes), but it might have also had something to do with the way that she knew when to back away from uncharted waters and instead of trying to sail the never to be known, she talked to Seungcheol about other miscellaneous things—work, Hansol’s day, or the drama that they’re both obsessed with.

“Never not in a hurry to leave work, but also never not excited to see the light of my life,” Seungcheol replied with a casual smile.

“Why thank you, I happen to have that effect on people,” Sunmi joked, and they both laughed heartily. Seungcheol turned towards the rest of the room, eyes scanning the sparse crowd of playing kids for his son. He spotted Hansol within seconds, surrounded by a small group of girls. “those are his best friends, or at least, that’s what Dahyunnie declared the other day. Hansol didn’t refuse, mainly because Chaeng lets him use her 64-pack of crayons and that girl is picky about her crayons.”

Seungcheol nodded along to the information. It being the first time he’s heard any of this. “Is it the one with the sharpener?” He turned back towards Sunmi.

“It’s definitely the one with the sharpener,” Sunmi affirmed with a singular, serious nod.

“Wow, that kid has her life together,” Seungcheol grinned and Sunmi snorted behind her hand and slapped at Seungcheol’s shoulder slightly. Seungcheol bowed before heading over to Hansol and his best friends. “Hey kiddo, having fun?” Seungcheol plopped down next to the group and Hansol smiled big and bright.

“Dad!” Hansol crawled into Seungcheol’s lap, and with a bit of lifting from Seungcheol, wrapped his tiny arms around his dad’s neck. Seungcheol laughed and pressed kisses to his son’s head, soft locks of brown hair brushing pleasantly against his face. “Wanna meet my friends?” Hansol pulled back and looked at his dad expectantly.

“Of course, kiddo,” Seungcheol leaned in and rubbed his nose against Hansol’s before setting the younger down. Hansol crawled out of his dad’s lap and walked the very short steps back over to the girls. “This is Dahyunnie, Chaeng, and Chewy ,”

“It’s Tzuyu ,” The three girls reiterated in unison, amused at Hansol’s pronunciation. Seungcheol laughed along with them, especially since Hansol’s face flushed a bit pink.

The little girl with pale skin and sharp, yet soft eyes stepped up and saluted. “School Meal Club leader, Im Dahyun!” The little girl’s smide was wide, all of her baby teeth showing proudly, and her eyes disappeared as she did so. Seungcheol saluted back to her as he vaguely thought about how she looked similar to a bunny he saw in a storybook recently.

The next little girl stepped up, short back hair and obviously shorter than the others even though they were all fairly tiny. She smiled awkwardly and looked towards Dahyun before saluting with less enthusiasm. “Yoo Chaeyoung—ah, School Meal Club, Yoo Chaeyoung…” The little girl cringed before falling into a fit of laughter and turning away hurriedly before Seungcheol could salute back to her as well.

“Dahyunnie, Chaengie, your mother’s are here!” Sunmi called sweetly and the small group looked towards the door. Seungcheol’s brows raised as four women stood at the entrance of the classroom. Dahyun and Chaeyoung reluctantly gathered their things and hurried over to their moms. Dahyun ran up to women who scooped her up like they haven’t seen her in days , cooing at her and smothering her with kisses. Seungcheol could see that one with black hair pulled back into a messy bun had charming bunny teeth and he smiled while thinking “Like mother, like daughter.” Chaeyoung on the other hand, was thrown up into the air by a woman with shoulder length, blonde hair before being situated on her shoulders. Her other mother, Seungcheol could only assume, scolded the blonde with a light smack to her shoulder.

“Bye bye, Tzuyu, Hansollie, and Mr. Hansollie’s dad!” Dahyun exclaimed and waved wildly, causing all of the adults to laugh. Chaeyoung waved goodbye to her friends as well, and then the group of mother’s were off. Seungcheol took the time to look around the classroom, not knowing how empty it got within the few minutes he’s been here. He turned back towards his son and the last remaining little girl.

The little girl stared up at Seungcheol awkwardly; she had big, puppy dog eyes and what seemed like a perpetual pout on her face. The little girl glanced towards Hansol and then she stood behind him, although it was somewhat useless because she was a tall little girl and her eyes peeked from above his head anyways. “I’m Park Tzuyu,” She said quietly without the “School Meal Club” and the salute.

“Nice to meet you, Tzuyu,” Seungcheol uttered the little girl’s name slowly, but it still came out awkwardly. He smiled his best “goofy and harmless” dad smile and he thinks he sees quirk up a bit from behind Hansol.

“Dad, can we not leave until Tzu-yu’s mom comes?” Hansol asked, also taking his time pronouncing Tzuyu’s name so that he says it correctly this time.

“Sure, kiddo,” Seungcheol agrees because they don’t have anything to do and he really couldn’t take the tug on his heart as the little girl’s shoulders relaxed and her expression eased. She didn’t want to be alone, and it showed in the way she tugged Hansol over to the building blocks to play, smile wide and movements excited. Seungcheol smiled as he watched the two play, this being the first time he’s seen Hansol really play. He wonders if he should have met with the mothers of Dahyun and Chaeyoung so that they could set up a play date one day.

“Sunmi unnie, oh my god, I’m so sorry!” A young woman with light brown hair and big eyes rushed into the quiet room, her voice was loud and breathless and it startled everyone present. “Tzuyu, baby, I’m sorry I’m late,” She whined after receiving a hug from Sunmi, scurrying over to the little girl. She cupped her daughter’s face into her hands and pressed apologetic kisses all over. Tzuyu giggled and kissed her mother back, raising her arms to be picked up, which the woman does, hugging her daughter close. Seungcheol picked himself up from the floor, groaning again as more of his bones pop than they should at the age of twenty-five, and he goes over to Hansol to pick him up as well.

“Mr. Hansollie’s dad, this is my mommy,” Tzuyu leaned into her motherly happily, and the more Seungcheol looks, he can definitely see the resemblances, mostly in the eyes. Tzuyu’s mother had big eyes too, but contrary to her daughter her whose resting face looked a bit sad, her mother’s face was kind and warm.

“Oh, hello, I’m Park Jihyo. I’m really sorry for being late, but thank you so much for staying with Tzuyu,” Jihyo smiled and Seungcheol had to admit, he felt as breathless as she was. She was stunning as is, and even more so when she smiled.

“Choi Seungcheol, and no problem, it was nice to see Hansollie playing with others for once,” Seungcheol grinned as he teased his son about his cute nickname, snuggling the child closer to him. Hansol pouted and flushed pink once again, and Tzuyu and her mother just laughed. Both Seungcheol and Jihyo said goodbyes to Sunmi before leaving the building together, the two children still talking happily together. Seungcheol and Jihyo don’t go into much detail about themselves, but Seungcheol did give Jihyo a deeper explanation of his situation than he usual did; he mentioned how he had a partner that he adopted Hansol with, but the partner unfortunately left him. Jihyo nodded along and explained how she got pregnant unexpectedly with a man four years older than her and he ended up leaving her with a baby in Taiwan.

Seungcheol recounted his story with subtle heartbreak that showed in his eyes, but Jihyo simply laughed her past away. When Seungcheol looked at her questioningly, she just shrugged it off and said it wasn’t so bad. He left her with enough money to fly back to South Korea at least, although he didn’t think about how her mother wouldn’t let her come back and how she had to stay with her struggling college student friends until she could afford to be on her own. Seungcheol still doesn’t think her story is anything to laugh at, if anything, it made his heart break even worse . However, they didn’t have time to press the matter anymore because they were at Seungcheol’s car.

“Sorry I can’t offer you a ride,” Seungcheol said as he buckles Hansol into his carseat, placing his tiny book bag next to him.

Jihyo chuckled. “It’s fine, it’s not anything we’re not used to, right?” Jihyo looked down at Tzuyu who looked as if the day had finally caught up to her. She was tucked into her mother’s neck, eyes blinking slow. “Thank you, again, for staying with Tzuyu, she gets lonely real easy. I hope I can catch you again sometime? I’m sure the kids would love to play over the weekend or something?”

“No problem, I know the struggle of being a bit late, too. It’s hard, but I can see that you’re doing a great job, Tzuyu is lovely.” Seungcheol smiled, warm and light. “And I was just thinking about how I should have gotten Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s mother’s info before they left.” At that, Jihyo brightened and she dug out her cellphone.

“Don’t worry about that, I know their mothers...probably too well.” Jihyo made a disgruntled face, but she smiled and laughed immediately after. “Here, you can give me your number and I’ll contact you when we get home, a good confirmation that we’re safe to ease your mind. I’ll make sure to tell the other’s about you, too. I’m sure Nayeon and Sana are absolutely dying to know about one of the single fathers here, but don’t worry, I won’t tell them too much.” Seungcheol took Jihyo’s phone and put in his number, laughing as she talked about her friends fondly. He handed the phone back to her when he was finished, and she slipped it back into her pocket.

Seungcheol squinted as the sunlight of mid evening shone in his eyes. “Alright, well, I should let you go. Don’t want it to get too dark on your way home,” Seungcheol shut the car door he was holding open, not wanting to keep Hansol shut in.

“Yeah, catch you around,” Jihyo waved and Tzuyu did too after being shaken a bit by Jihyo. Seungcheol softened at the little girl’s slow, tired wave goodbye and he hope it wasn’t too creepy as he watched Jihyo walk across parking lot and out of the school’s gate. He sighed, once again regretting not being able to give her a ride home, and as he slides into his car, starting it up and heading on the journey back to his own apartment, he hopes her home isn’t too far away.