Chapter Text
Seungcheol woke up approximately 10 minutes before his alarm went off at 7 a.m. Today is a big day, Yujun starts kindergarten. And Seungcheol is nervous as hell.
Although Mingyu seems more nervous than he is, given the number of texts piling up on his notification bar.
Mingyu:
ARE YOU UP??
IS YUJUN UP???
HAS HE CRIED??
MAYBE LETS WAIT ANOTHER YEAR BEFORE HE STARTS
Seungcheol sighed before texting him back.
Seungcheol:
can you relax?
Mingyu:
NO I CANNOT RELAX
YK HOW ANXIOUS HE GETS
Seungcheol:
ik
im worried too but hes gotta learn
The three dots appeared and disappeared for about 5 more seconds before Seungcheol switched his phone off once Mingyu replied with about 10 frowny face emojis.
After brushing his teeth and giving himself a pep talk in the mirror, he finally headed towards Yujun’s room to wake him up. The curtains were still drawn, morning light leaking through the slivers.
“Yujun-ah, wakey wakey~” he sang out softly.
Yujun whined and burrowed further under the sheets, only a mop of his messy hair visible.
Seungcheol waited a moment before gently tugging the sheets off.
“We talked about this weeks ago.” He said gently. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Yujun’s eyes glossed with tears, “Don’t want to leave Papa.”
Seungcheol’s heart clenched.
“You are not leaving me,” He murmured as he smoothed down Yujun’s hair. “I will come pick you up after. ”
“Promise?” Yujun's lips trembled as he held out his pinky.
Seungcheol locked his own pinky with Yujun’s, “Promise.”
After that, everything was a smooth ride. Or at least what Seungcheol wished his reality was.
Instead, he stained his tie with yogurt, got hit on the face with a strawberry, and spent nearly 15 minutes negotiating with a toddler over why Mr. Moon, his astronaut plushie, could not go to kindergarten with him.
In the end, he managed to get Yujun to kindergarten.
The school was beautiful, with play areas, a sandbox, slides and swings, and many trees and flowers. Yujun looked around with both curiosity and anxiety. His hold tightened on Seungcheol’s finger as they stopped in the hallway, outside his classroom.
“I wanna go home,” Yujun muttered while nervously looking around.
Seungcheol knelt so they were eye to eye.
“I know,” he said as he took Yujun’s tiny hands in his. “It will be over before you know it.”
Yujun frowned as he looked around. There were around 20 more kids, more than half of them crying and screaming.
“At least your son isn’t crying. Is that a good sign?” Seungcheol heard a voice. He looked up to see a man leaning against the wall casually, looking far too relaxed for someone surrounded by 20 screaming children.
He wore an ID around his neck. A teacher. “Usually, the quiet kids are unpredictable.”
“Teacher, uh…” His gaze dropped to the name tag resting against the man’s cardigan.
“Jeonghan.”
Teacher Jeonghan smiled faintly. Without actually thinking, Seungcheol shoved his hand forward. “This is Yujun. I am his dad. Choi Seungcheol.” He said–well, more like he rambled.
Jeonghan awkwardly glanced between Seungcheol’s hand and his face before slowly shaking it.
“Are you my teacher?” Yujun asked quietly, for which Seungcheol was utterly grateful. He probably just made a fool of himself in front of his son’s teacher on the first day. Bravo.
Jeonghan kneeled and smiled at Yujun. Not the faint smile he gave Seungcheol, but a big, bright, genuine one. “That’s right. We are going to have so much fun learning.”
Yujun’s eyes brightened at Jeonghan. He was shaped like an adult but dressed like one of them. Soft yellow cardigan and a colourful beaded bracelet. Nothing like how his Papa dressed.
“Rainbow bracelet?” Yujun brushed his fingers over Jeonghan’s bracelet.
Jeonghan breathed out a short laugh, “Yep, my sister gave it to me.”
Yujun looked up at Seungcheol and said, “Papa, I want a sister so she can give me rainbow bracelet.”
Seungcheol nearly choked on thin air. Heat rushed up his face, “You don't need a sister for that, Yujun-ah.” Yujun looked up at him with worried eyes, as though he had said something wrong.
Jeonghan huffed out a laugh, “He’s funny.” He said, smiling at Seungcheol.
Seungcheol shook his head, “Yeah, he probably gets it from his mother.”
Then he turned his attention back to Yujun and cleared his throat, trying to contain the embarrassment. “Remember what we talked about?”
Yujun nodded, “Be good. Treat with kindness. Call if miss you.”
“That’s right.” He leaned down and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll come back.”
Yujun, once again, held out his small pinky. “Promise?”
“Promise.” Seungcheol smiled as he hooked their pinkies together.
Jeonghan offered Yujun his hand. Yujun looked at him for a moment before holding it.
“Let's go!” Jeonghan said with a gleam in his eyes. Yujun waved at Seungcheol on his way towards the classroom.
Seungcheol waved back and waited till Yujun was in. He stood there for a moment, watching Yujun through the door before leaving.
As he sat in the driver’s seat, he suddenly remembered.
“I should text her.” He muttered to himself before pulling out his phone.
Seungcheol:
just dropped him off
The reply came instantly.
Minsoo:
HOW DID HE DO?????
Seungcheol:
threw a strawberry at me at breakfast
Minsoo:
LMAOOO DESERVED
how about at school?
Seungcheol:
better than i thought tbh
the teacher seems nice
Minsoo:
😭 😭 😭 😭
MY BABYYYYY
GREW UP TOO FAST
Seungcheol:
I KNOW
IM NOT READY
Minsoo:
OK DONT MAKE ME SAPPY RN I HAVE WORK
DONT FORGET TO PICK HIM UP
Seungcheol:
noted.