Chansung

Monday was field trip day for the kindergarten classes at Little Wonder Clovers. Chansung had signed up to chaperone the trip over the summer when the 

school schedule was released. There was no way on God's green earth that he was going to miss this trip with Jay.

"Daddy! Is it time to go yet?" Jay shouted as he ran down the hall toward Chansung's bedroom, his bare feet slapping loudly on the hardwood floor.

It was the 500th time Jay had asked since he'd woken up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:00am, three hours before the bus was scheduled to leave the school "Almost buddy!" Chansung was hauling his T-Rex shirt over his head. The one he was wearing was identical to the shirt Jay did everything but sleep in.

Hauling himself up onto Chansung's perfectly made bed, Jay grinned at his father "Hurry up your ." Jay giggled.

Chansung had gotten an email over the summer from the school with a list of classroom parties and field trips. Little Wonder Clovers liked all parents to participate in at least one event during the school year. After quickly scanning the list, he'd known exactly which trip he wanted to volunteer for: The Seoul National Science Museum.

Chansung had gone on several field trips to the museum while he'd been in school. His favorite exhibit had always been the full-sized replica of a snarling Tyrannosaurus Rex. He knew Jay would lose his mind over this exhibit. Kids could stand at the giant lizard's feet and stare up at him or they could take the stairs to a viewing balcony and get eye-to-eye with the hulking apex predator. 

He'd told Jay about the T-Rex and had shown him the pictures posted online, but what he hadn't shared with Jay was the news about the newest exhibit in the dinosaur wing of the museum. He'd save that surprise for when they saw it in person.

"Are you ready to go?" Chansung smiled at Jay.

"Yes!" Jay yelled, hopping down from the bed and running out of the room.

"Shoes and socks or we can't go!" Chansung called from the bedroom, grabbing his own socks out of the drawer. He laughed when he heard Jay's pained groan. That kid would go barefoot in a blizzard with his little Hobbit feet if Chansung let him.

As he and Jay drove the ten minutes it took to get to the school, Chansung tried to figure out what he'd say to Junho when they saw each other. He supposed the more important thing was to get through the morning without letting his mask slip. He didn't want Junho to see how badly he was hurting.

When Chansung got Jay out of the SUV, they headed toward the front of the school. It was organized chaos as the teachers and chaperones checked off names and loaded the bus for the trip. "Christ, herding cats would be easier than this." Chansung said out loud to no one in particular. 

Junho held up a hand in front of his mouth and started to laugh "Language, Chansung-ssi." he raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Yes, Lee-sunsengnim." Chansung snapped off a salute and tried to hide his surprise at seeing Junho. All he wanted to do was pull the teacher into his arms and hug him until the bus driver honked his horn. He stumbled away from his former lover and went up to Kwon Yuri-sunsengnim who was holding the clipboard. He gave her his and Jay's names before they climbed into the bus. He'd have to remember to tell Junho later just how y that commanding teacher tone was when they were finally able to be together again.

He took the seat in front of Jay who was sitting with Lisa. The two of them were talking animatedly about their favorite Toy Storycharacters. For Jay it was Woody and for Lisa it was Rex, who was, of course, Jay's second favorite.

If Chansung had thought the scene outside the bus was chaotic, that was nothing compared to what was happening on the bus. Kids were shouting that they wanted to sit with so-and-so. Someone had to go to the bathroom, which raised a chorus of other kids who needed to go too.

"It is like herding cats." Junho sighed as he got a look at what was going on "Okay everyone!" he bellowed "We're all gonna stay in the seat we have and we'll have a bathroom break when we get to the museum and we're all gonna sit down and use our best manners, right?"

"Riiiight!" all the little voices chorused and then settled down again. 

"Awesome!" Junho grinned, sliding into the seat across from Chansung, a quarter of the way down the aisle.

"How did you do that?" Chansung was stunned that Junho had been able to tame a bus full of whining five year olds. He also jolted when he remembered he wasn't supposed to talk to Junho.

"Years of schooling and practice in the backyard." Junho smiled sadly and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.

Chansung recognized it as the itinerary Junho had emailed to all of the chaperones last night.

"We only have seven hours to see the T-Rex, eat lunch, shop for souvenirs and meet Cliff. Plus it's gonna be a one hour plus commute each way, maybe longer depending on traffic." Junho shook his head and ran his finger down the itinerary again.

Resisting the urge to slide out of his seat and into Junho's, Chansung settled instead for what he hoped was a reassuring smile "We'll see it all, don't worry. And besides, we're dealing with five year olds here, their attention span is what? Five minutes tops?"

"You're right. We'll have time to do it all. It's just that I get nervous being responsible for all of these kids." Junho shrugged and shoved the crumpled paper back in his pocket. 

There were the eleven kids from Junho's class plus the twelve kids from Kwon Yuri-sunsengnim's kindergarten class. Each room had one teacher and two chaperones assigned. It was a twenty-three to six ratio.

Chansung understood why Junho was so nervous. In a small town, it wasn't such a worry, but Seoul was eight times the size. They were all going to need to keep their eyes on every one of the kids "It will be okay, Junho."

"Will it? It doesn't feel that way to me."

Chansung knew Junho was talking about their relationship rather than getting through the museum itinerary in time. He nodded and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. It was the only thing he could do to show the man he loved how he felt. His heart leapt when Junho returned the gesture.

Junho

The butterflies in Junho's stomach were staging a full out riot. He wasn't nervous about keeping watch over the kids or running out of time before everyone could buy souvenirs in the gift shop. Nope, Junho was anxious because he was about to introduce his kids to Cliff.

For the longest time, the Museum of Science only had a few fossilized bones and of course the full scale T-Rex in the atrium. Visiting exhibits displaying complete dinosaur skeletons had come and gone during the last twenty years, but Cliff had changed all of that. 

"Is everyone ready to meet Cliff?" Junho was all smiles. He was happy to realize his smile was mostly genuine. Spending the morning with Chansung had taxed his strength something awful. There were so many times he'd wanted to whisper something to Chansung or just brush his hand, but couldn't do it.

"Who's Cliff?" Yugyeom looked at Jay who shrugged "Is he someone's Daddy?"

Junho laughed, motioning for all of the kids to come closer "Cliff was actually someone's grandfather. That's how he got his name."

"Who's grandfather was he?" Jenny asked curiously.

"No one knows the answer to that question." Junho looked around the circle of kids in his group.

"Oh, it's a mystery!" Youngjae beamed "I love mysteries!"

"Let's go meet Cliff and I'll explain the mystery."

"I'm ready, Lee-sunsengnim." Jay took Junho's hand, looking up at him with adoration in his eyes. His heart clenched in his chest, feeling like an icy fist was squeezing the life out of his battered organ. All of the love in his heart for Jay swelled up within him. He was about to show the little boy something that would make his eyeballs pop out of his head, but he was only able to do it as Jay's teacher, nothing more. 

Junho sighed, leading the group around the smaller exhibits to the huge skeleton "This is Cliff." he held his arms out dramatically like Vanna White would do with a brand new car.

"Holy macaroni!" Jay yelled "It's a Triceratops!" he looked back and forth between his father and Junho "Daddy did you know Cliff was a Triceratops?"

Chansung burst out laughing "I did, buddy. I wanted to see the look of surprise on your face when you met Cliff."

Jay rolled his eyes dramatically and let out a groan before he collapsed to the floor. A second later, he popped back up, his million watt smile in full effect "That's how surprised I was, Daddy!"

Chansung burst out laughing and hauled his son back to his feet "Let's listen to Lee-sunsengnim tell us all about Cliff."

"Thank you, Hwang-ssi." Junho turned back to the class, wanting more than anything to keep his eyes on the blinding smile Chansung was wearing "Cliff was discovered by dinosaur hunters in 2004 in the Dakotas."

"Wow! That's waaaaay before I was born, huh?" Jay giggled, holding onto his belly as he laughed.

"Yeah, buddy that was way before you were born." Chansung shook his head "It took months and months to dig him up, right, Lee-sunsengnim?"  

Chansung was rubbing the back of his head again.

"'Cause he's huge, right Daddy?" Jay held his arms out wide while his eyes danced with joy.

"He is huge!" Chansung stared up at the skeleton "He's thirty feet tall, which is taller than our living room ceiling and he weighed as much as three of our SUVs when he was alive."

"Woooow!" the class chorused, gathering more closely around Chansung.

"Can anyone tell me what Triceratops ate?" Junho couldn't help smiling at Chansung. He loved the way Chansung had studied up on Cliff so he'd be able to teach Jay and the other kids all about him.

Jay's hand shot in the air. He was waving his hand frantically "Ooh, ooh, Lee-sunsengnim! Lee-sunsengnim!" Jay waved his hand harder "Pick me!"

Junho burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Jay's enthusiasm was contagious "I know you know the answer, Jay, but let's see if anyone else knows."

Jay nodded, losing none of his passion.

"Jessica what do you think Cliff ate when he was alive?" Junho looked up at the hulking skeleton before turning back to the little girl. 

"Cheeseburgers!" Jessica clapped at her answer like she got it right.

Yugyeom and Lisa laughed along with her, while Jay vehemently shook his head no.

"BamBam, what do you think Cliff ate?"

"Jelly beans!"

"No, not jelly beans." Junho could see Jay shaking his head again. Junho was afraid if he kept it up much longer, the little boy would give himself a concussion "Okay, Jay, tell us what Cliff ate."

"Cliff ate plants. He's a herby-ore!" Jay crossed his arms over his chest and nodded with a proud look in his eyes.

"That’s right! Cliff was a herb-i-vore. That means he only ate plants. Why don't you all take a few minutes to take a look at him and introduce yourselves?" Junho turned to Chansung who had his iPhone out and was snapping pictures of the kids as they bent backward to stare up at the long-dead plant-eater "How are you getting by?" he whispered.

Chansung offered up a small smile "It's hell not being able to talk to you or touch you, especially here where Jay is having the time of his life." Chansung pointed to Jay who was standing at Cliff's head and staring up at the dinosaur's massive head "I'm still struggling with some of the things Jongup said about the case that had nothing to do with us." 

"What kind of things?" Junho knew their time together was going to end soon, but wanted to spend as much time close to Chansung as he could.

"He told me that custody could not be decided based on my ual orientation. I mean, I kind of thought that was the case, but in this day and age, you never know..." Chansung trailed off, shoving his hands into his pockets "Being gay can only hurt me if Jea can prove I'm putting Jay in danger with my lifestyle."

Junho rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. Chansung was the best father he knew. There was no way his lifestyle was putting Jay in any kind of risk "There are a lot of liberal judges here in Seoul, but it's always possible you'll pull one of the more conservative ones who don't think gay men should be parents."

"Right." Chansung sighed "After Jay went to bed last night, I spent the rest of the evening writing out the list Jongup asked for and trying not to miss you. It didn't work. All I could do was miss you, especially when I went to bed and could smell your aftershave on my sheets.

Junho nodded, remembering what it had felt like spending the day in Chansung's arms, trading slow kisses while memorizing every inch of his lover's skin "Minjun brought over Thai to cheer me up. It didn't work. All I could do was think about being with you and Jay."

"Daddy! Lee-sunsengnim! Come meet Cliff! He's awesome!" Jay was waving his arms frantically. 

Both men laughed, but kept staring at each other "We'll get through this, Junho. I promise." Chansung rubbed the back of his neck and stared into Junho's eyes.

"We will." Junho knew in his heart of hearts they were meant to be together forever. He returned Chansung's gesture.

"I want to go snap some pics of the kids with Cliff before they get to meet the T-Rex. Jay's gonna lose his mind! Come get in the picture. It's the one opportunity we'll get to take some together."

Junho watched with a smile on his face as Chansung whipped out a selfie stick from his backpack and started taking pictures of himself and his students. He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed after his lover, content just to have this time with him.