"I'm with the kids in the park near Hae's daycare."

"I'll be there in thirty minutes, is that okay?"

"Sure, Prof. Park."

After pressing the red button on his phone screen, Heechul took off his jacket and leaned back in the bench, eyes never leaving the two brothers who were playing in the monkey bars with the other kids. He smiled widely when Hyukjae suddenly waved his hand in his direction and pointed at the swing a few feet away, asking for his permission. He nodded and beckoned to be careful, noting what happened the other day.

"May I sit here?"

Heechul turned to the new voice coming from his right. A woman, holding a big bag like the one he used to keep Donghae's necessity, beamed at him politely.

"Oh, sure."

Heechul quickly removed his stuff to give some room for the lady to sit. He knew it would be awkward afterward but he didn't know how to refuse in times like this.

"Which one is yours?"

Heechul was mildly surprised when the woman initiated the small talk. Not understanding what she meant, he raised his brows.

"Pardon?

The woman laughed a little and looked at the kids in the playground to clarify her question. Heechul's eyes shot open when he finally grasped the situation. This woman had to misunderstand him. He vigorously shook his head, his hands in front of his chest.

"Neither. I'm just—"

"Where's your wife? You honestly look so young, though."

Heechul couldn't stop the lady from chattering nonsense. It got worse when Donghae suddenly jogged towards him, waddling with only a shoe on his feet, holding the other one.

"Maw! Hae shoe."

Donghae swayed the other shoe in front of him as he wriggled his foot, to show his Maw what he wanted. Heechul mentally cursed when he heard the lady beside him exclaimed in a low voice as if she just had a new finding.

Sighing, Heechul lifted Donghae's body and put him on his lap before he took out a wet tissue from his bag and skilfully wiped Donghae's dirty foot. He, then, put on the tot's shoe and placed Donghae down when he was done. He couldn't help but smile when Donghae grinned widely, looking at his feet happily, and rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't know that you were— Uhm, anyway, are you, in case, his mother... Figure? He addressed you as his—"

"No," Heechul shifted his gaze to the lady after making sure Donghae arrived safely in the swings with his brother. He inhaled a long breathe before he began.

"I'm neither their parent nor a mother figure whatever it is. It's complicated if I tell you but let's just make it simple, I'm the one who is responsible for them for the time being."

"For the time being? Like a nanny?"

Heechul scratched his nape as he found it hard to explain who he was to this family. However, he had no time to continue his exposition when the woman suddenly continued.

"Anyway, Sir. Let me tell you this. I'm not sure whoever you are to that boy, but he is attached to you."

Heechul frowned, "What do you mean?"

The woman smiled and returned his stare.

"That kid already has a strong bond with you."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Why not? He's literally glancing at you now and then, checking whether you're still here. He was comfortable around you and he even expressed his gratitude through a gesture, not just through words."

Before Heechul managed to seethe the statement, the lady suddenly got up and went to the playground to get her kid after bidding him goodbye. Heechul's eyes landed back at Hyukjae and Donghae as he started to doubt his certainty about what the woman said. But when he noticed that Donghae was, indeed, casting him a glimpse occasionally, he couldn't help but agree to what she said.

And it was not good.

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Vanilla ice cream with blueberry topping, one Strawberry sundae, and one Cappuccino. Thank you."

Heechul gave his order, repeating what the kids pointed at on the menu handed by the waiter before he thanked him. It turned out that his professor took longer than what he said earlier so he decided to grab some sweets for the kids after they ate the lunch box he had prepared—packing what Jungsoo made this morning.

"Maw, why is Daddy not here yet?"

"He has an extended agenda. He'll be here soon, Hyuk."

Sensing that the first son was close to being disappointed, Heechul couldn't be more grateful when their orders arrived and Hyukjae was immediately distracted by them. Hyukjae began to dig in his sundae and so did his brother. Heechul almost choked on his drink when he laughed looking at how adorable Donghae ate his cake, the blueberries smeared on his lips but the kid seemed not to care. Heechul quickly took out his phone and captured this cute moment, to later show it to Jungsoo. 

Speaking of which, the latter was still nowhere to be found although they had stayed for over fifteen minutes now.

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Oh, alright. We're going there now."

After receiving a call telling that Jungsoo was already waiting in the park, Heechul gathered their belongings and walked hand in hand with both kids to