The boy walked from one lecture to another. He was in his first year at the University and finding his new life difficult. The study load was heavy, he wanted to graduate as an early childhood teacher in three years, and trying to make ends meet was exhausting. Above all he was lonely. He was used to being surrounded by the noisy chaos of a big house full of people that he loved. His life in the city was too quiet.

His tired eyes blinked in the bright morning sun. He'd worked in the restaurant until 1am, tried to stay up to do an essay due tomorrow, and fallen asleep with his head on his desk. He heard a voice call out to him and turned around to see his dorm roommate running to catch up to him. "Hey Baekhyun." The taller boy smiled down at him. "Hey Sehun." He smiled up at the much taller, and very handsome, boy walking next to him. "You got in late again last night." Baekhyun groaned. "I know. But rent is due again, I can't afford to eat, and the restaurant pays me barely anything. I didn't even get any good tips."

They walked in silence for a while. Sehun was also new to the city, he had moved from the country to study accounting, and was serious and quiet but kind. He was also quirky in a way that Baekhyun enjoyed. Baekhyun really lucked out with his roommate. He had heard stories of other people being stuck with parties, drinking, roommates bringing other people back to their rooms and doing all sorts of things. Sehun just liked to study and watch movies. He was also the only person Baekhyun knew in the city.

They split up when the reached the lecture theatre. Baekhyun went into lecture theatre 2A. His class was 'Introduction to Child Development' and he hoped he could stay awake. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and envied the girls sitting near him with their expensive sweaters and their takeaway coffees and their shiny hair and their shiny laptops. He had a laptop he had owned since he was 14. He was 18 now and it was on its way out. He just hoped it lasted the rest of the year.

Baekhyun stared around the room. He was the only boy in the lecture theatre. Baekhyun had grown up in a big family house in the country, one of many cousins all younger than him, and so a career in early childhood education just made sense. He was great with little kids, he loved their honesty and their unselfconscious joy, and their thirst for fun. He had imagined himself seated on one of those tiny chairs they always have in kindergartens, reading from picture books, enjoying the sweet faces of his enraptured audience. He pictured art projects, singing time and sand play. He hadn't pictured three hour lectures on the Circle of Security or 5000 word essays on Erikson's theory of development.

Another yawn attacked his mouth and the noise made some girls turn around and stare at him. He just gave them a dirty look back and they went back to their quiet gossip. Baekhyun couldn't take it anymore. He unlocked his phone, set it to voice record, and put his head down. His eyes closed as soon as they hit the desk.

He woke up to the sound of people gathering their things. He packed up his stuff and checked his phone. There was a text from his boss at the restaurant asking if he wanted an extra shift tonight. He didn't want one but he needed one so he sent back a reply saying yes. Hopefully it would be an early night.

As he walked out of the lecture theatre he overheard one of the girls complaining loudly to another that she had quit her nanny job the day before. Complaining about her boss always being late home, the children being naughty, the house always a mess. Nannying? Why hadn't Baekhyun thought of that before? He had his first aid qualification now and all his clearances had been done too. Applying with a nanny agency might just get him out of the restaurant and into some real cash.

He headed back to his dorm and threw himself down on his bed. As he stared at the roof he remembered the nanny thing.