“Excuse me, Chanyeol-sshi, would you like to go to the Public Art Gallery with me on this Saturday? A very interesting exhibition of Forbidden City is on display this week and I would love to have someone with me but all of my friends are too busy. You told me that you are a fashion designer so I thought you would have some interest in arts. Well, you know what is Forbidden City, right? It was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. You can witness historically valuable artifacts as well as gain more knowledge in history of China. So, what do you say?”

Kris grins in satisfaction as he finishes his long monologue. The politeness? Check. The tone of his voice? Check. The facts on Forbidden City? Check. He is perfect. The only thing is that the man he just recited his well-practiced line to looks identical to himself. He heaves a small sigh as he stares into his reflection before slapping his cheeks to liven up a little. If he can deliver his words of invitation this beautifully in the washroom where his voice sounds funny, it would be no problem to do it out in the bright sun…right?

**

“Umm, so, would you, with me, like to, uhmm – ”

“Let’s go, Nyeol-hyuuuung! I'm starving!”

“Sehun-ah, wait. Your teacher has something to say. Behave, kid.”

“Y-yes, your teacher has something to say, Sehun. It’s, uhm, actually about, umm – ”

“Oh no, did Sehun or Minseok caused a trouble?”

“No! Absolutely, no! They are wonderful, Chanyeol-sshi. The only problem would be that Sehun sleeps too much and Minseok eats a little too much, but they surely do– wait, no, this is not what I wanted to tell you about.”

“Oh, I'm glad to hear that. So, what is it then?”

This is it, Kris. The young principal takes a deep breath as he gazes at the gorgeous man in front of him. Chanyeol looks fantastic as always – even if he has hungry and whiny Sehun clung around his thigh. The designer had come to pick up the Byun brothers, as their parents are too busy to even get some coffee for themselves. Kris caught them before they could leave the kindergarten to ask the question he practiced for the whole week. “If you don’t mind, would you like to go to Forbidden City and exhibit an fashion gallery with me to learn about Ming dynasty?”

Chanyeol’s face scrunches up slightly at the other’s words. “Pardon me, can you repeat that?”

, what the hell did I just say? Kris mentally face-palms and tries not to panic as he rephrases it. “I-I meant to ask whether you would like to go to an art galley with me on this Saturday.” He takes out two tickets from his back pocket, ordering his brain to control his hand that is faintly shaking. Fortunately, he feels all the nerves relaxing as he witnesses the shorter one’s expression getting bright at the tickets.

“Is it the one with an exhibition of Forbidden City?” Chanyeol asks excitedly as he reads what’s on the papers. “I would love to, Kris-sshi. I was dying to go to the gallery but was half-giving up because I heard the tickets are pretty hard to get.” Then he looks up at the principal with huge, sparkling orbs. “Now that you mention it, how did you get them?”

Kris curses himself for not preparing an answer for the basic question as he quickly thinks of something. “Well, it’s actually a present from my parents. They wanted me to have some fun, I guess.” What a lame parents, he begrudgingly thought, who would want their child to have ‘some fun’ in an art gallery...

However, Chanyeol gives a sincere smile at his explanation. “How nice of your parents.” but his bright smile fades a little, “But is it okay for me to go? Maybe it’s better for you to invite someone who’s close.”

Does that mean he thinks of me as just an acquaintance? He forcefully makes a warm smile to cover his hurt. “My friends are all busy this weekend, and I don't mind going with you,” but then he realizes how wrong it sounds and hurriedly corrects his mistake. “I-I mean I would love to go with you…”

Suddenly, Sehun bursts into their conversation. “How about my Baek dad and – ”

Fortunately, Minseok clasps his hand on Sehun’s mouth before his little brother can ruin everything because he is a smart kid like that. “It’s ok, Sehun, I don't think Baek dad and Soo dad would be interested in Golden Castle.”

God, I would buy all baozis in the world for you, Minseok-ah. Kris feels his eyes moisturizing at the considerate boy, wholeheartedly touched by his growth. But it’s Forbidden City, Minseok-ah, but close enough. Then he comes back to his senses when he hears Chanyeol’s light-hearted laughter.

“Well, in that case I don't have any objection! I’ll see you on Saturday then?”

Kris freezes for a few seconds, can’t believe this beautiful man just agreed to hang out with him. “Oh,” then an uncontrollable, wide smile slowly spreads on his face as Chanyeol’s reply finally dawns on him.  “Ok, sounds good!”

YES!

**

Kris was being jittery since he woke up that day. It even continued until he arrived at the art gallery. He came almost thirty minutes early than the appointed time, as he was unable to stay still at his house. Going over today’s schedule again and again, his heart gives an exceptionally loud beating as he finds Chanyeol running towards him. The principal beams at him, internally cooing at the other’s red cheeks and ears, as he stops in front of him before bombarding him with questions. “I’m sorry, did you wait? Was I late? Are you cold?”

Kris gives a light chuckle, “No, you are not late at all. I was a little bit early, that’s all. You are the one who must be frozen.” He resists an urge to warm Chanyeol’s cheeks up with his hands and beckons to the gallery. “Let’s go in.”

The exhibition was much interesting than Kris expected – antique paintings depict the life of emperors, luxurious furnishings from Forbidden City, as well as detailed explanations of every display. They would occasionally exchange their opinions and knowledge, but mostly Chanyeol educating Kris with history and art, and Kris was having a great time until –

“How are you today, sir?”

They turn around to see a man with a black suit standing near them and Kris realizes he is a staff at the gallery. As he looks around, he spots a several staffs helping visitors with exhibitions.

“We are having so much fun, thank you.” Chanyeol replies politely.

“Would you like me to show you around?”

Kris tenses at the staff’s offer, doesn't want to be interrupted his time with the younger. “I-I think that's fine,” he tries, “I'm pretty familiar with Chinese history and the exhibition here.” Then he points at the pottery in front of them. “Isn’t this the flower vase used by the last emperor? It is very exquisite indeed, with all the details and use of colors – ”

“That’s a spittoon.” The staff states, obvious that he is trying not to burst out.

“A spittoon?” Chanyeol raises his eyebrow at the word. “You mean, you put your, umm, spit in it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kris wishes whoever decided to put this here a horrible death.

“Well, I’ll leave you here then and have a wonderful day.” The staff bows to them politely, still fighting with a laughter trying to get out, before leaving them.

However, the moment he disappears from their sight, Chanyeol finally breaks down. He tries to stifle his laughter but it is still loud enough to earn a glare from an elderly woman beside them. Kris feels himself blushing as he rubs the backside of his neck but can't fight back the grin forming at the beautiful sight.

After Chanyeol calmed down a bit, they decided to rest at a café inside the gallery for a while. They chose a seat beside a window and order mocha latte and caramel macchiato.

“Can I ask you something?” Chanyeol speaks up as he stares at Kris drinking his coffee. “Why did you choose a job that involves with children?”

He feels slightly bewildered at the sudden question but puts the coffee cup down on the table before revisiting his past. “I was never like how I am now, actually. By saying that, I mean I was quite a delinquent up until end of my high school. Maybe it was a period of stupid rebelliousness. I would exchange blows every day, didn't attend class, didn't respect my teachers, and everyone would avoid me.”

Chanyeol’s eyes become so huge that Kris worries that they might pop out. “Wow, I could never guess it.”

The older chuckles before taking a sip of his beverage. “Even younger me wouldn't be able to imagine myself as a kindergarten teacher.”

“So,” he tries to find an appropriate word for his question. “What changed you?”

“One day, I wasn't able to move at all in the middle of a street after a rough fight, but no one helped me. They would give me only a look of despise before rushing to their destinations. I felt so unworthy and useless at that time until a little girl came up to me with a band-aid. It was so small that it was not enough to cover my wound but still she gently put it on my head.” Kris gives a light laugh as he remembers the feeling of a warm and soft hand. “And then…she smiled at me. That smile, it was so innocent and pure, so different from judgmental stare adults used to give me. It made me want to protect and cherish it.”

A comfortable silence flows around them and Chanyeol reaches out his hand to hold the principal’s. “I think you are doing a pretty good job protecting then.”

Kris concludes this is the perfect time to confess his strong feeling for the beautiful man beaming at him. He fixes his throat before looking at him with a determination and opening his mouth. “Chanyeol-sshi, I – ”

“Isn’t that Kris and Chanyeol?”

“What? Oh, wow, it’s them!”

Oh my god. Kris notices Byun family waving at them from the outside of the café, but opts to ignore them. He has more important and urgent thing to be done here.

“Was that Baekhyun and Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol shifts his gaze to his right and left to see if he can find his friends.

“Umm, no, I don't think so.” Kris denies quickly as he tries to return his attention back to him. “So, as I was saying – ”

“Nyeol-hyung! Kris-hyung!”

Chanyeol’s face brightens up at his favorite boy’s voice before taking off his hand from Kris to hold Sehun in his arms, not noticing faintly disappointed look on the elder’s face. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see Golden Castle with my family!”

“It’s Forbidden City, Sehun-ah, how many times do I have to tell you?” Kyungsoo giggles at his son’s cute mistake as he appears with Baekhyun and Minseok. The eldest son of Byun’s looks somewhat apologetic if Kris is not mistaken and all the disappointment he felt when he found Byun family is washed away.

“But how come you guys are here? I thought you were not interested in history or this kind of stuff at all.” Chanyeol asks as he puts down Sehun, who goes straight to Kris to say hi.

“We watched a movie, ‘The Last Emperor’, yesterday and it was so interesting that we decided to come to learn the history of Forbidden Castle more!” Baekhyun yelps as he gets hit from his husband on the head.

“It’s Forbidden City, you idiot!”

Everyone laughs at the silly couple before Kris makes a suggestion. “Well then, we should all go together and have fun!”

And the smiles he earned from the boys were priceless.

++

I just combined the last two chapters cus they were pretty short to make it as a whole one chapter. I didn't change anything so, no worries!