“Daddy, Mommy. Wake up, we’re gonna be late for school!” A female’s voice erupted from the front of the door when I could feel a huge dip on the bed. “And Jonah is already making breakfast, you don’t want him to burn the kitchen down… do you?”

I groaned, my eyes fluttering open to see my daughter staring at me, her big eyes sparkling at the thought of a new day. I stretched, reaching out to bring her towards me to kiss her cheeks and she squealed. For a four-year-old and a five-year-old, my two children were very smart for their age—this also maybe because they got part of the Marvel drug from me but they were quick-witted and sometimes a little bit hard to handle.

Johnny stirred, his eyes lighting up at Dinah who was hugging me when he sat up, his eyes wide open.

“Where is your brother? What time is it?” he asked and I told him that Dinah said that Jonah was trying to cook. Jonah, our oldest, had a certain flair and he always enjoyed doing new things. Dinah was sassy and spoiled, being a daddy’s girl. “Oh —”

“Bad word.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Johnny kissed the top of her head. “Oh, sweetie. I forgot to tell you that you have half day at school today. All of you have show and tell, remember? Mr. Jung said so yesterday.”

“Oh,” she said cutely. “But we’re awake now, Daddy.”

“Honey, those from the Lee house are coming over for breakfast.” I managed to say, rolling over and standing up to put on my robe. “And we both have a meeting. Doyoung will kill us if we miss it, so we can send the kids early and maybe head over?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Johnny said, patting Dinah on the head. “Go and keep your brother company before he actually does burn down the kitchen.”

Every other day; Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun would come over and have breakfast with us. Chenle was always around, but he preferred to stay in his own place with Sungchan and Shotaro with his chickens, his rooster and his new addition to his farm—a small pig. He helped Johnny with his recruitment and the IT department from time to time, but even then, Chenle was finally living the life he wanted to live.

I heard the gate open and a loud “Goodmorning, sunshines!” from Jaemin. The bustling began and I exchanged looks with Johnny, heading downstairs to start the day. I came down to see that Jeno was bouncing Jonah up and down on his lap while Jaemin was frantically trying to tie Dinah’s hair.

“Nana,” I greeted them good morning and Renjun was sitting down, feeding one of his cats with catnip. “I see you brought Milky today, Renjun. New favorite?”

“There is no such thing as favorites in my household,” Renjun replied, not even looking up. “But yes, Milky shall get all the attention today, won’t you?”

Jeno rolled his eyes at Renjun’s cooing, Johnny taking over the cooking and placing pancakes on the table.

“You ready for the meeting today?” Jeno asked Johnny. Johnny had eased a lot of Jeno’s responsibilities, Sungchan having taken his post with Tae-il. But he still overlooked a majority of things and it was obvious that Jeno’s workaholic traits weren’t going to go away any time soon.

“Yeah. You’re coming with us, aren’t you? We’ll send the kids early and then go to the meeting and come pick them up—”

“Oh, I’ll do it!” Jaemin butted in, his eyes lighting up and we blinked. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it. I’ll send them and I’ll pick them up—”

“But I want to stay home today.” Renjun began, Jaemin shaking his head and waving a hand in the air. “You mean, you don’t want me with you?”

Okay, that was weird. Jaemin simply shrugged it off and told us that he had nothing to do so he wanted to keep himself busy. It was weird that he didn’t demand Renjun to come along and I saw Jeno and Renjun exchange glances.

“I mean… You can just stay home. I want to stay with the kids and maybe have some bonding time. Wouldn’t you like that, sweetie?” he cooed at Dinah who beamed at him. “Oh, such a pretty girl. Look at those big eyes. I love you so much—”

“You just want to go see—” Jonah said, Jaemin quickly shoving a piece of toast into his mouth and Jonah coughed, Jaemin giving us a meek smile.

“I will give you two scoops of ice cream today, Jonah. If you’re a good boy,” Jaemin said and I saw him wink at Jonah, my son nodding.

“Sure, Nana,” he said. “Are we going early again today?”

Jaemin nodded eagerly and I watched as he ushered them to go outside. Jaemin loved Dinah and Jonah a lot and he always volunteered to take care of them, but it was obvious that there had been a recent change of schedule recently and he loved taking them to school.

“I’ll wash, dress, and change them,” he said and I nodded, hearing my kids rush up the stairs excitedly. In turn, my children were very fond of him and I turned to Jeno who had his eyes on a disappearing Jaemin.

“Jeno thinks Jaemin is cheating on him,” Renjun said absentmindedly and Johnny’s jaw dropped open. Jeno’s cheeks tinged pink, shaking his head. “Don’t lie, you came to my room last night to tell me that.”

“Okay, fine. It’s just…” Jeno’s voice trailed before he lowered it. “Don’t you think it’s weird? He keeps wanting to go to Jonah and Dinah’s school. He was never like this. Now, he wakes up early and asks to send them.”

“Jeno thinks that Jaemin fell in love with one of the dads from Shinee Kindergarten,” Renjun added and Jeno glared at him. “I told him that he should ask Headmaster Taemin to keep an eye on him but he refused to ask for help. Said it’s a “personal problem”.”

“I don’t want anyone to know about—”

“He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s insecure,” Renjun butted in and I chuckled, sitting down.

“Jaemin is not cheating on you, Jeno. He loves you so much. Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that maybe he just likes staying with Jonah and Dinah?” I asked and Johnny nodded, chewing on a piece of toast. “And he also said that he wanted to be a primary teacher—”

“About that,” Jeno said, sitting up. “He said that, right? And I told him that maybe he can apply to be a primary teacher in another kindergarten—the one that Director Suho put up.”

“EXO Primary?” Johnny asked and Jeno nodded, pushing the food around his plate.

“Yeah, he refused. He said he would only work in Shinee Kindergarten and only Shinee Kindergarten alone,” Jeno told us and I frowned.

“Yes, that’s weird,” Johnny said and I slapped his arm. “I mean, how is that not weird? He wants to be a primary teacher!”

“Exactly,” Jeno mumbled under his breath, a hand going to press against his forehead.

“I’m sure there is a very logical explanation for this, Jeno.” I said and Renjun hummed, looking up.

“He doesn’t even want me to be with him. Usually he wants me to go with him everywhere—”

“Maybe he grew out of it.” I pointed out.

“Jaemin will never grow out of having me around,” Renjun said back and Jeno’s frown deepened.

There was a thud and two sets of footsteps rushed down the stairs and I saw that Dinah and Jonah were ready for school. They were going to get some ice-cream first, they said and Jaemin hopped happily when he went over to Jeno and kissed him on the cheek and then Renjun to bid them goodbye.

“Ice cream tiiiiime!” Dinah cheered, holding Jaemin’s hand, the male going down to tell Mark that it was time to send the kids wherever they wanted to be. Mark still lived with us, Xiaojun and Yangyang still going around critiquing food and I could hear a loud “Uncle Mark! Uncle Mark!” in the background when Johnny spoke.

“Do you want to follow him?” Johnny finally said and I turned to my husband who was chewing on a straw.

“Are you seriously thinking about the possibility—”

“I was thinking of maybe asking Chenle to put a tracker on him,” Jeno said honestly and I threw my hands in the air. “Dana, I swear. Something is wrong.”

“Why can’t you just ask him?” I asked, Johnny scoffing.

“Right, because Jaemin would totally be honest about him cheating.”

“He would. Jaemin can’t lie to you and you know that, Jeno,” I said to Jeno, the male chewing on his bottom lip. “But if it puts you at ease then I guess, go for it. I can guarantee that Jaemin is not cheating on you.”

“Well, if you say so,” Jeno said, pressing his lips together. “I’ll go to the meeting first and then I’ll head straight to Shinee Kindergarten.”

“The meeting won’t be long. By that time, it’d be time to pick up the kids, anyway,” Johnny said, patting my before pushing me towards the door. “We’ll get ready and you should too.”

“Yeah,” Jeno replied, standing up before looking at Renjun. “What are you waiting for?”

“I told you I want to stay home today—”

“You have to come with me. I can’t face Jaemin alone when I catch him cheating!” Jeno said, Renjun grumbling and holding Milky in his arms. “Let’s go.”

“I know, I know,” Renjun grumbled. “Jesus, so insecure.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Shinee Kindergarten]

Renjun had tagged along with Jeno to the meeting, the male simply waiting over there when the meeting ended. Dana and Johnny finally left to handle a few things and Jeno quickly checked his watch, seeing the time and finally telling Renjun to come along. They both entered the car, Jeno starting it before he drove out of the parking lot.

“What are you going to do if he really is cheating on you?” Renjun asked, Jeno’s hands tapping on the steering wheel. Renjun, as much as he hated to admit it, had his own doubts. Jaemin really wasn’t acting like himself and Renjun wondered if it had anything to do with another man.

“The fact that you’re saying that is making me believe that maybe he really is cheating on me,” Jeno said and Renjun sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You said he was loyal.”

“Now, let’s not say that in past tense,” Renjun replied, shaking his head. “He is loyal and holy , are we already here? How fast did you drive?”

“The school bell rings at 2:15,” Jeno said, unbuckling his seat belt when he saw Dinah playing in the playground with her friends. “Look at that, it’s our niece. Where is Jonah?”

“You know Didi is a year younger than Jo,” Renjun said to Jeno. “So maybe her class ended first and Jaemin is waiting for Jonah.”

But Jeno was already out of the car and Renjun quickly got out. He followed Jeno, the male seeing Dinah running around the playground as a teacher stood on duty. Shinee Kindergarten was put up and led by Taemin—or Mr. Minnie and Jeno saw him in his room, talking to a few parents. He entered the building to see Jonah sitting in front of his classroom.

“Jo,” Jeno said and Jonah looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Jeno.

“Uncle Jeno.” He said before looking over to the inside of the classroom. “What are you doing here?”

“To pick you up—” Jeno said and Jonah looked like he was panicking.

“But… Nana is already here and… Oh no, you can’t find out or not we won’t have ice-cream days anymore!” he said and Jeno frowned, wondering what it was he couldn’t find out. He looked at Renjun to see him pressing down on his phone, Jeno’s phone vibrating.

NCT Nightmare (Without Nana)

23 members

Renjun: Jeno thinks Nana is cheating on him.

Haechan: What?

Jungwoo: What?

Taeyong: Impossible.

Jeno: istg.

Jeno: I’m sure something is up. @Johnny @Dana Jo said he’s hiding something and if I find out, the kids won’t have ice cream day.

Dana: Really? Now, that’s weird.

Dana: Johnny is beside me and he also says that’s weird.

Dana: Mark is driving and he also says it’s very weird.

Jeno: I know, right?

Yuta: Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing…

Kun: Maybe we need an intervention.

Lucas: We’re in China.

Winwin: Exactly what technology is for…. Keep us updated.

Chenle: Second that, but don’t accidentally send it in the wrong group.

Jeno pocketed his phone, Jonah looking up at him when he decided to go into Jonah’s room, seeing Jaemin talking to a teacher. Oh, that teacher was very handsome, indeed and Jaemin’s eyes were sparkling.

Jeno: He’s talking to the teacher.

Renjun: Teacher very good looking.

Dana: Maybe it’s just another Mingyu moment.

Xiaojun: Yeah, we all remember that one time he kind of fell in love with Mingyu.

Jisung: Hyung, we promised Nana we would never talk about that time!

Jeno: I’m going in.

And with that, Jeno walked into the classroom. There was only one other kid in there and Jeno stopped a couple of feet away from Jaemin just to hear him say.

“…. My husband can not know about this—”

Renjun: Guys, definitely cheating with Mr. Goodlooking.

Shotaro: Should I do a background check? A sweep?

Sungchan: Wow, didn’t expect that from Nana.

“It’s fine, Jaemin. I’m sure he’ll understand—”

“Understand what?” Jeno asked, crossing his arms across with chest and Jaemin turned around, his face tinging pink at his husband that suddenly showed up. “Understand what, Jaemin?”

“J-Jeno….” Jaemin blinked rapidly, Jonah entering the room and sighing.

“Uncle Jeno insisted on coming in, Nana. I couldn’t stop him!” Jonah said and Jeno glared at Jaemin.

“I can’t believe you included the children in your plan of adultery!” Jeno said to Jaemin suddenly looked confused. “If you were going to cheat on me, emotionally or physically—all you had to do was be honest!”

“Uh…” Jaemin’s voice trailed and he blinked. “Sorry—”

“After everything I do for you—”

“Uh, Mr. Lee,” the teacher said and Jeno whipped his head around, staring the teacher down as the teacher blinked. “Okay, never mind.”

“Wait, what?” Jaemin asked, a hand going out to grab Jeno’s shoulder who swatted it away. “You thought I was cheating?”

Instead of looking mad at Jeno’s accusation, Jaemin threw his body against Jeno’s and started chortling.

“Oh, Jeno! I can’t believe you love me this much… to think that you would be insecure enough to think I was cheating on you!”

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