After successfully tucking Sehun in bed, Chanyeol went to his study. After a couple of minutes, the door creaked open.

“Appa?” Chanyeol immediately looked up to find Sehun in the doorway holding his stuffed bear.

“Sehun-ah, what are you doing here not sleeping?”

“I wasn’t sleepy.” Sehun clambered onto Chanyeol’s lap while Chanyeol enveloped him in his arms. Chanyeol looked back at the papers on his desk and sighed. He wouldn’t be getting anything done tonight. He took off his glasses and set his pen down, focusing on Sehun. Sehun stared at the picture frame on his desk for a while. In the picture stood Chanyeol holding a baby Sehun, grinning widely.

“Why don’t I have a mommy? Was I bad? Was that why she left?”

“No, of course not! She just wanted to go on to do bigger things.”

“Were we not enough for her?”

“She loved us.” Chanyeol’s heart clenched with the use of the past tense. Sehun didn’t seem to notice.

“Then why did she leave?”

“I don’t know...” Lies. He knew exactly why she left.

Flashback

“I’m leaving.”

“Suddenly?”

“I can’t stay here doing nothing only taking care of Sehun.”

“As a mom shouldn’t you have been prepared for this?”

“I didn’t think I’d be the only one doing the work.”

“I have to run the company.”

“He’s your son too!”

“That’s why I’m working my off until 2am every single day only to find that Sehun is crying while you seem to be sleeping peacefully. You think you’re the only one doing work? Then who do you think puts him back to sleep and feeds him? Don’t kid yourself. You leave the house and you pass Sehun off to the maid.”

“I need a life too!”

“Just because you have a son doesn’t mean you don’t have a life.”

“I can’t deal with this.”

“Then why did you marry me?”

“I don’t know. I regret it every single day.” Chanyeol just stared at her, disbelieving. “I can’t stand being here for another second. Please. Let me leave.”

“What am I supposed to tell Sehun? You want to leave him without a mother?”

“I don’t care what you tell him.”

“Don’t do this. He’s just a baby.”

“It’s better I leave him now than later. My lawyer will mail you the divorce papers.”

Flashback Ends

“Appa?” Chanyeol snapped back to attention. “Will you leave me for better things too?” Chanyeol hugged Sehun tightly.

“You are my best thing. I could never leave you.”

“I love you appa.”

“Me too Sehun-ah.” They stood there for a few more minutes in contented silence before setting off for bed.

“Good night appa.”

“Good night Sehun. Sweet dreams.”

~~~~~~~

“Good morning class. Before we have free time, I want to talk to all of you guys. Yesterday, people were hurt. I’m not mentioning any names but I want to make sure that we know that we are not to make fun of people’s personal lives. If someone sees someone being mean to someone else, make sure to find either me or another adult, okay? Just standing there and watching someone being hurt by words is very bad and laughing at them is even worse okay?” The class nodded feeling a bit guilty. “Good. Then you’re free to go play.” Sehun came up to Kyungsoo and tugged at her hand shyly.

“Thank you.” Kyungsoo smiled her heart shape smile, chuckling, as she patted Sehun’s hair.

“Thank you for telling me what happened. Make sure to tell me if anything happens next time too.” Sehun nodded before heading off to play with Tao.

~~~~~~~

Chanyeol glanced at the clock. It was 2. He stretched before looking down at his work. There was a few more things to be done but nothing too urgent. He pressed a button calling for Irene. Irene came in moments after.

“Do I have anything this afternoon?”

“There was a meeting but it was rescheduled for next week.”

“Okay. Call me if there’s anything urgent, otherwise I’m leaving for the day.”

“Okay.” With that, Chanyeol took his suit jacket from his chair before leaving to pick up Sehun. He arrived at 2:20 and deciding to wait at the front. As he walked closer, he saw a crowd of moms, also waiting for their children. He sat down at a bench until another woman plopped down next to him.

“I haven’t seen you before, is your wife usually the one picking him up?”

“Um, no. I’m a single father. I usually come late or ask my friend.”

“Oh, you’re single?” At those words the other women came closer, their interest peaked. Chanyeol nodded, slightly uncomfortable.

The woman pushed herself closer to him. “I’m Chanhyuk’s mom.” She stared at Chanyeol expectantly.

“Oh, I’m Chanyeol, Sehun’s father.”

“Oh, Sehun, my son is always talking about him and how he wants to play with Sehun.”

“I see.” Chanyeol inched backwards at the proximity only for Chanhyuk’s mom to inch closer.

“Maybe we could set up a playdate someday. Could I have your number?” She inched closer with every word resulting in Chanyeol standing up.

“I’ll have to check with Sehun first. If you’ll excuse me...” Chanyeol walked off, away from the woman. He sat down once again on a bench closer to the entrance before sighing in relief seeing that no one followed him.