My Son's Teacher; PG (1/?)
Title: My Son's Teacher (1/?)
Author: keyminhocean
Pairing: Minho/Key
Rating: PG (For now)
Warning: None
Disclaimer: I own no one. It's illegal
Summary: Minho's a single father who never expected to fall in love with his son's kindergarten teacher.
Comment: Hopefully I finish this one since I never finish anything oh my goodness. Ok here we go. Enjoy~
“Yoogeun-ah, are you dressed?” Choi Minho called out to his son. It was the first day of kindergarten for the six year old and he really didn’t want to go. He walked out of his bedroom, dressed in his favorite power rangers shirt and overalls. He looked up to his appa with a frown.
“Minho-appa, does Yoogeunnie have to go?” Minho smiled at his adorable son and knelt down to his level. He pinched his cheek and fixed his hair.
“Yes, Yoogeunnie has to go. Appa has to work.”
“Can’t I just stay home with Taeminnie appa?” That name sent daggers straight to Minho’s heart. It’d been six months since Taemin decided he didn’t want to be a husband or a father anymore and walked out on the two, leaving nothing but a pathetic note taped to the refrigerator that said “It’s over.” Minho called him and texted him every day for a month until one day, a deep voiced answered and told him to fuck off. That’s when Minho realized that Taemin had moved on. That was the part that stung the most.
What hurt the most was seeing the longing in his eyes when Yoogeun asked when his Taeminnie appa was coming back. The young boy had no idea where Taemin went or when he’d be back and Minho had no clue how to break the news to him. He never thought he’d ever be in this position before.
Minho married Taemin when he was only twenty, Taemin being nineteen. Yes, they were young, but they were very much in love. They were happy for the first two years of their marriage. That’s when Minho decided that they should adopt. Taemin wasn’t too thrilled with that idea, since he didn’t like kids all that much, but he couldn’t get through to Minho. In the end, they ended up adopting Yoogeun when he was three years old.
Minho loved Yoogeun the first day he saw him, but Taemin was skeptical. He didn’t think adopting a child was the best thing for them. Still, Taemin tried his best to show some kind of affection towards the child even though deep down inside, he didn’t even like him. The next few years of their marriage were hell. All Taemin did was complain about Yoogeun. How he always had to watch the little brat when Minho went to work. He’d say how he hated to be treated like a housewife having to cook and clean and was never able to go out because he had parental duties. Minho always hated to hear his lover talk that way about his son, so he’d usually spend the night in Yoogeun’s room, watching over him as he slept.
Finally fed up, Taemin left and never saw Minho again after the divorce was settled. Minho stopped trying to win Taemin back and focused on making his son happy. He was the most important person in his life after all. He looked at his son, knowing he was waiting for an answer. Finally, he sighed deeply and began to speak.
“Yoogeunnie,” he began as he took his son’s small hands into his bigger ones. “Taeminnie appa… left.” The young boy cocked his head to the side in confusion.
“When is Taeminnie appa coming back?”
“He’s not Yoogeun. Taeminnie appa doesn’t want to come back.” Yoogeun pouted, his little eyes watering as he heard this news. He always thought that his Taeminnie appa would come back some day. He thought he loved him, but now he wasn’t so sure. The small boy pointed to himself.
“Did Taeminnie appa leave because of Yoogeunnie?” Minho’s heart shattered, because that was the exact reason why Taemin left. Because he didn’t want Yoogeun. But Minho would never let his son think such things, so he was going to have to do something he promised never to do to his son. He lied.
“Of course not. Taeminnie appa left because of Minho appa. He doesn’t love appa anymore.” Even though Yoogeun was young, he knew pain when he saw it, and it was definitely visible in Minho’s eyes. The boy wrapped his arms around his father’s neck.
“I love you Minho appa.” The single father smiled and picked his son up, kissing his cheek and ruffling his hair.
“Appa loves you too. Now go get your backpack. You’re going to be late for your first day.” He put Yoogeun down and patted the boy’s butt lovingly, pushing him in the direction of his bedroom. He went into the kitchen and grabbed the lunch he made for Yoogeun along with his coffee. Yoogeun walked into the kitchen, dragging his power rangers backpack with him. Minho smiled and shook his head at his son’s obsession. He tried to get Yoogeun a different backpack, but the stubborn boy only wanted power rangers, so Minho gave in to him like always.
Both son and father left the two bedroom apartment and rode the elevator to the lobby. There, they were greeted by the doorman.
“Ah, good morning Minho-yah. Good morning Yoogeun-ah. Have a good day.” Minho nodded in response and Yoogeun waved enthusiastically.
“Bye ahjussi!”
The walked to the parking lot and made it to Minho’s car. He strapped Yoogeun in securely before entering the car himself. He took a sip of his coffee before starting the car and driving in the direction of Yoogeun’s new school. When they got there, Minho parked the car and turned around to face Yoogeun.
“Are you ready to go inside?” The boy shook his head and whined. Minho sighed, but exited the car anyway. He had to go to school even if he didn’t want to. He went around to Yoogeun’s side of the car and opened the door to let him out. As soon as he was out of the car, he reached his small arms up towards Minho. Minho smiled, picked up his son, and they headed into the school.
Minho walked up to the front desk and put Yoogeun down to talk to the receptionist. Yoogeun grabbed on tightly to Minho’s hand. He’d never been around so many people before and he was a bit uneasy about it. One of the other kids started staring at him and he turned his head away. He didn’t like school already. There were too many people. He just wanted to go home with his appa. When Minho finished talking to the receptionist, he picked his son up again and walked in the direction of Yoogeun’s classroom.
The room was full of children, all around Yoogeun’s age, and their parents. He entered the classroom fully and a short woman approached the pair.
“Are you dropping your child off today?” She asked with a smile. Minho nodded.
“Yes. Are you the teacher?” The woman shook her head.
“No. He’s not here yet. He’ll be here soon though. I’m the teacher’s aide. My name is Min.” She stuck her hand out and Minho shook it. “You can wait for him if you’d like.”
“I wish I could, but I cant. I have to get to work.” Minho looked at Yoogeun who was already on the verge of crying. “Yoogeunnie, appa has to go ok?” Yoogeun shook his head and hugged Minho around his neck with no intention of letting go. Minho sighed, his heart shattering more than it already had. This was hard enough to do without Yoogeun being uncooperative. He put him down and knelt to his level. Tears were streaming down the boy’s face and welling up in Minho’s eyes. He wiped away Yoogeun’s tears and held his small hands in his own.
“Yoogeun-ah, appa needs you to be good ok? When I come to get you, I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Yoogeun looked at him with interest as he sniffled and wiped his eye.
“S-Strawberry?” Minho chuckled at how easily his son could be swayed with ice cream. He didn’t like to bribe his child, but sometimes he had no choice.
“Any flavor you want.” Yoogeun nodded his head, still not wanting to be there, but he figured he’d do it for the ice cream. Minho held his fists ups. “Hwaiting.” Yoogeun copied the action, bringing his small fists to meet Minho’s.
“Hwaiting.” Minho smiled and kissed him on his forehead. He stood up and met Min’s gaze. She looked at him with admiration seeing as he was such a good father. He bowed to her and she bowed in response.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be taken care of Mr…”
“Oh, Minho. Choi Minho.”
“Mr. Choi.” Min turned to Yoogeun and grabbed his hand. “Do you want milk Yoogeun?” He nodded his head and followed as she pulled him in the direction of the snack table. He looked back to see Minho waving at him. He waved back and Minho walked out of the classroom. Min gave him his milk and he sipped it quietly with tears streaming down his face.
He looked around to see other kids with their parents. Why couldn’t his appa be with him too? Why did his appa leave him? He didn’t want to be their anymore. He had to find his appa. He put his milk down and walked to the same door he entered not too long ago. He opened it to see a man with funny hair coming in. the man reminded him of his Taemin appa, but he knew this man was different. This man smiled warmly at him, unlike his Taemin appa.
“Hello. Where are you headed?” He said to Yoogeun.
“I have to find my appa. I don’t like school.” The man frowned sadly and knelt down.
“You don’t? Why not?” Yoogeun down casted his gaze and played with his fingers.
“Appa left me here. Will he come back?” The man smiled and ruffled Yoogeun’s hair.
“Of course he’ll be back.”
“But… My other appa left and he didn’t come back.” The man was a bit taken aback by this information. It was obvious to him that the child had been going through a divorce of his parents, possibly even separation issues. He’d probably have to work extra hard to make Yoogeun feel comfortable.
“What’s your name sweetie?”
“Jung Yoogeun.”
“My name is Kibum and I’ll be your teacher. You’ll call me Kibum seonsaengnim ok?” The boy nodded and grabbed Kibum’s hand when he reached it out to him. He walked Yoogeun over to a table where come other kids were sitting and told him that was his seat. Kibum then walked to the front of the class.
“Good morning class. My name is Kibum seonsaengnim.”
“Good morning Kibum seonsaengnim!” The class called out enthusiastically, some more than others.
“Today, we’re going to start by telling all about ourselves. Yoogeun, would you like to go first?” Yoogeun raised his head when he heard his name being called. Kibum went to him and grabbed his hand to lead him to the front of the class. Everyone, including some of the parents that hadn’t left yet, stared at him with expectation. “Tell everyone your name sweetie.” He looked up at the man that was smiling at him and felt a little more confident than before. He looked back at the eyes that were peering at him.
“M-My name is Jung Yoogeun.”
“Everyone say hi to Yoogeun.” Kibum instructed.
“Hi Yoogeun!” the children said in unison. Kibum then asked him to tell the class about himself.
“I’m six.” He held out his six little fingers. “I like power rangers.”
“Me too!” Another little boy shouted.
“Really?” Yoogeun asked, his interest finally peaked.
“Yeah! Power rangers are awesome!” The little boy started singing the tune to the TV show and Yoogeun sang along with him. Kibum smiled, happy to see that Yoogeun wasn’t as shy as he thought. He then instructed him to take his seat, which happened to be next to the little boy, and brought a little girl up to introduce herself. Yoogeun didn’t pay any attention to her though. He was too busy talking to his new friend about power rangers.
Minho parked his car in his parking space and rushed inside the building. He was so late. It wasn’t entirely his fault though. Traffic was backed up for miles. He pressed the elevator butted repeatedly as if it would make it come faster. His boss was going to kill him. He’d already let him get away with so many other things over the past six months, but only because he understood his situation. He knew his boss was getting impatient with him though, so he had to do better. He needed this job and couldn’t afford to lose it.
The elevator came and he rushed inside and pressed ten for the tenth floor. While waiting to stop on his floor, he took the time to think about Yoogeun. He hoped that he was coping well with his new school and making some new friends. He took a sip of his coffee and exited the elevator when it stopped. When he got to his office, he noticed a familiar figure sitting on top of his desk. Minho sighed.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I had to get Yoogeun to school and traffic was hell and-”
“Minho-yah, don’t explain. I understand.” He sent Minho a warm smile before getting up and patting his shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m alright Onew-ssi. I’m more worried about Yoogeun. He thinks Taemin left because of him. God, I feel like an awful father.” Minho leaned against his desk with his head hung low.
“He’ll be fine Minho-yah. You’re a great father. You’ll raise him right.”
“Thanks Onew-ssi, for everything.” Onew nodded and smiled a smile that made all of Minho’s troubles vanish temporarily. He headed to the door and left only to poke his head back in.
“Now get your ass to work. We’re losing money.” Minho laughed and nodded. He was lucky to have his best friend be his boss.
Onew and Minho went way back. They’ve been friends since they were in diapers. They were even each other’s best men. When Onew started up his company, he asked Minho to help him. Minho being his best friend accepted the offer immediately. For months the company struggled to stay afloat, but after some time, it grew. They hired more employees and relocated to a bigger building. When that one started to get a bit over crowded, Onew had an even bigger building built.
Onew became very wealthy because of his company and wanted to share that wealth with his friend. He offered Minho a CEO position in which Minho took it immediately. He loved the position and was making triple his previous salary, but then he adopted Yoogeun. Being a CEO meant that he spent more time at the office than with his family and he just couldn’t do that. He loved his job but loved his husband and son more. After only two months of being a CEO, he asked Onew for his previous job back. He knew it wouldn’t make him enough money to provide for his family, but at least he’d see them. Instead of giving him his previous job, Onew gave him a managerial position that had just opened up. He wasn’t making as much as he was, but it was much more than his first salary. Plus, he got his own private office. If anyone had the perfect job, it was Minho. His office phone rang, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Choi Minho speaking. How may I help you?”
The first half of the day went by smoothly. There weren’t many calls and Minho had finished his paperwork. He was now sitting on the terrace that was located outside of the office break room. He hadn’t thought to pack a lunch for himself and he really didn’t feel like going to the cafeteria on the last floor. Everyone was probably there right now and the lines were probably long. By the time he got his lunch, his break would be over. He would just have to wait until dinner. He was staring into space when he heard the sound of plastic hitting his table. He looks down to see a plastic container and looked up to see his coworker.
“I figured you forgot your lunch again so I brought you something.” He said to Minho as he sat at the round black wrought iron table.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Minho exclaimed as his took the top off of the container.
“Not today.”
“Kyuhyun hyung,” He placed his hand on his shoulder. “I love you so much.” Kyuhyun swatted his hand away.
“Minho, I know I’m super attractive to you, but I’m married with a baby on the way.” He laughed and punched his hyung in the shoulder. Kyuhyun handed him a pair of chopsticks and they both dug into their lunch.
“So, how is Seohyun hyung?” Kyuhyun let out an exaggerated sigh and put his head down on the table. Minho smiled around his chopsticks. “That well huh?”
“She’s seven months pregnant Minho. How do you think she is? She goes around the house complain that she’s fat and when I tell she’s beautiful she hits me! Oh and she said she’s never having sex with me again because I’m like carbs and I ruin her figure. Carbs Minho. She compared me to carbs! I can’t with this woman!” Minho patted Kyuhyun on the back.
“It can’t be that bad hyung. Besides, it’ll be worth it when your daughter finally comes into the world.” Kyuhyun smiled. He really was excited to finally see his daughter, but the whole pregnancy process was driving him crazy.
“I’ll just be glad when she’s here. You’re lucky. You adopted your son and didn’t have to deal with a crazy pregnant wife. How is he by the way?”
“He’s ok. Today was his first day of school and he cried a little. I hope he’s not too upset.” Minho started to think about all of the things that could go wrong. What if he got sick? Would they know to call him? He gave them the right numbers right? What if they already called and he missed it? He pulled out his phone to check for any missed calls or voicemails. There were none. That means everything’s ok. Right? But what if he’s crying? What if they’re trying to call me to pick him up and I have no service? He pulled out his phone again to check for service. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that he didn’t have service. He jumped out of his chair, startling Kyuhyun, and put his phone in the air.
“What are you doing?” Kyuhyun asked, looking at the younger as if he grew another head.
“Checking for service. Yoogeun’s school could’ve called and I wouldn’t have known.” Kyuhyun pulled Minho down by his suit jacket sleeve.
“He’s fine Minho.” Minho held his gaze with his hyung before nodding and down casting it. “Are you ok Minho? How are you holding up?” He didn’t really want to go through this again. Every time he explained his situation was like ripping a bandaid off of and an open wound. He raked his hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. Kyuhyun took the hint.
“You’ll be ok Minho, you and Yoogeun.” He gave Minho a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before announcing that he was on the clock again. Minho checked his watch and realized that he had to get going also. He grabbed the lunch container and made his way back to his office.
The rest of the day went by smoothly and Minho was on his way to Yoogeun’s school. He only thought about him today. Did he eat his lunch? Was he playing with the other kids? Was he listening to the teacher? He just couldn’t wait until he saw his on again.
Once he pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car and rushed into the building. He went straight into Yoogeun’s class and expected the worst. What he didn’t expect was to see his son running around and playing with the other kids. A wave of relief washed over him as he watched his son play. There were no tears, he wasn’t sick; there wasn’t a reason to be worried. Yoogeun was playing happily, shooting his new friend with his finger gun. He ran around the table and looked in Minho’s direction. He noticed him and ran towards him.
“Appa!” he yelled as he hugged Minho around his legs. Minho rubbed his son’s head.
“Hi Yoogeunnie! Did you have fun today?” He nodded his head eagerly and looked up at his appa.
“Appa, do we have to go now?” he was astounded to say the least. This morning, he could barely get him to stay and now he didn’t want to leave. He knelt down to Yoogeun’s level.
“You’re really not ready to go?” The single father was tired and could really use some form of sleep. He hadn’t planned on Yoogeun wanting to stay longer. As expected, the six year old shook his head.
“Can we stay? Please?” He had him. There was no way Minho could ever deny his son when he pleaded so cutely. He sighed and smiled. His sleep would have to wait. He stood up and patted his son’s head.
“Yes, you can stay. But only for a little while.” Yoogeun hugged him before running off to play with his friends. As long as his son was happy, he was happy.
“Are you looking for someone sir?” A voice called out from behind him. When he turned around to face the owner of the voice, his eyes met the most beautiful look man he’d ever seen in his life. His hair was blonde, but not bleach blonde. It was a warm bright sandy color. He had the most defined almond shaped eyes. They made him look a bit like a cat. His cheekbones were high and his lips were heart shaped and pedal pink. He had an amazingly sharp jawline. The blonde simply took Minho’s breath away. “Excuse me?” Minho snapped back to reality, embarrassed that he’d been caught staring.
“Oh sorry. Um, no, I’m not. I found my son.” He pointed to where Yoogeun was playing.
“Oh. You’re Yoogeun’s father?”
“Yes.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kibum, Yoogeun’s teacher.” Kibum reached out his hand and Minho shook it. He couldn’t help to notice how soft his skin was. He found himself rubbing his thumb over the back of Kibum’s hand. The blonde male cleared his throat and Minho let go, a tint of pink appearing on his cheeks.
“I’m Choi Minho.”
“While I have you Minho-ssi, I need you to finish the enrollment paperwork.” Minho looked at the teacher confused by what he was saying.
“I thought I already did that.”
“You missed a page. Come over to my desk and I’ll show you.” he followed Kibum to his desk and grabbed one of the small chair to sit in. Kibum laughed at how silly the single father looked.
“You know, we have grown up chairs too. I’ll get you one.” Minho chuckled and smiled sheepishly. He got up from the little chair and sat in the bigger one once Kibum brought it for him. The blonde male sat at his desk and sifted through a stack of papers. Once he found the correct packet of stapled papers, he flipped to the missed page and showed Minho what he forgot to fill out. Minho face palmed himself when he saw that he skipped the most important page.
“Medical records and Emergency contacts. How could I have missed that? But wait, didn’t I already give the school my number?”
“Yes, but I need it for my personal records. They keep the office locked when there’s no one in there. If something were to happen while the office was locked, I wouldn’t be able to contact you.” Minho nodded and filled out the rest of the paperwork. Once he was done, he handed them to Kibum who looked over everything.
“He’s allergic to peanuts? Does he have an epinephrine needle?”
“Yes. Do you need that too?”
“Yes, along with any medications he has to take and a spare change of clothes in case he has an accident.” Minho sighed for the millionth time today. This was so much to do just to get
a child in school. Kibum smiled warmly at him, taking Minho’s breath away once again.
“I know it’s a lot.”
“No kidding.” They both shared a laugh.
“Look on the bright side. At least he’s already adjusted.” They both watched as Yoogeun played with some of the other kids that had yet to be picked up by their parents. Minho was thankful for that. At least he didn’t have to worry about him as much when he went to work.
“I know it’s none of my business,” Minho turned back around to look at Kibum, who now wore a worried expression. “Today, Yoogeun mention his other appa left. I don’t want to assume or pry, but have you gone through a break up of any kind?” He didn’t answer, then again, he didn’t have to. It was written all over his face and evident in his eyes.
“Has he seen a counselor? Divorce can become hard on children.”
“Do you think he needs one?” He looked over to the smiling child and couldn’t help but to smile himself.
“I don’t really think so, but it’s always good to have the number just in case.” Kibum reached into his bag and pulled out a small post it. He grabbed the nearest pen and wrote down his number on the paper and handed it to Minho.
“I’m guessing you’re a counselor too huh?” He raised his left hand.
“Guilty as charged.” They laughed together and continued to talk until Yoogeun came running up to them.
“Appa, can we go home now? I’m hungry.” Minho picked up Yoogeun and sat him on his lap. The child laid his head on his appa’s shoulder and yawn. He was so sleepy from his first day of school. Minho stood up and placed Yoogeun on the floor. Kibum walked them both to the classroom door.
“It was nice meeting you Minho-ssi. I-”
“Please, call me Minho.” His voice deepened a bit, not that he meant to do it. He couldn’t help but to flirt with someone who he though was attractive. Kibum blushed and ducked his head a bit before continuing.
“Alright, Minho. Like I was saying, if you ever thing Yoogeun needs to see a counselor, call me.” Minho nodded and smiled but frowned when he saw that Kibum’s face was scrunched up in distaste.
“What?”
“Have you been walking around like that all day?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Yeah, why?”
“And no one has said anything to you?” he started snickering and Minho felt embarrassed. Was there a spot on his suit? A hole maybe? He looked down to see that his suit was perfectly fine. He didn’t know why Kibum was laughing at him.
“What’s wrong?” He asked in a cute whiny voice. Kibum rolled his eyes and grabbed his tie.
“You tied your tie wrong.”
“Oh. I don’t really know how to tie one. I never had to do it for myself.” Minho shifted his gaze to the floor, not wanting Kibum to see that he was hurt, but he’d already seen. He didn’t want to hurt Minho any more than he already was, so he didn’t pry.
“Here, let me.” The blonde male stepped closer to the taller and undid his tie. He popped his collar upward and retied his poorly tied tie, paying more attention to his Adams apple than to what he was actually doing. When he finished, he lowered his collar and straightened out his suit jacket. “There, that’s much better.”
“You did it for no reason. I’m just going to untie it when I get home anyway.”
“Well, maybe I’ll tie it for you when you drop Yoogeun off in the morning.”
He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see his son pulling him toward the door, interrupting their shameless flirting.
“Appaaaa, let’s go home.”
“Alright I’m coming Yoogeunnie.” He picked his son up and said goodbye to Kibum.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then?”
“Yeah. When you drop Yoogeun off. Bye Yoogeunnie.” He waved at the child and got a wave in response. Minho started to walk out when Kibum grabbed Minho’s wrist. “And, um, if you ever need to talk, or anything, you can call me.” Minho nodded, not able to form a coherent sentence. Kibum waved once more before shutting the door to his now empty classroom. Min handled took the rest of the children to the aftercare room a while ago.
Minho and Yoogeun walked out of the school and packed into the car. As Minho was driving, he couldn’t help but to think that this day couldn’t have been better. His son’s first day of school went better than expected, work was slow, and to top it all off, he met someone he could see himself falling for. Kibum was sweet, loved children, was smart, and had great fashion sense from what he could tell. Even though the blonde male seemed perfect, he had to wonder. Was he ready? It had only been six months since his divorce and he was sure that he was over Taemin, but was it too soon to start thinking about dating again? And how would it affect Yoogeun? He had a lot to think about before he could even think about starting a new relationship.
Author: keyminhocean
Pairing: Minho/Key
Rating: PG (For now)
Warning: None
Disclaimer: I own no one. It's illegal
Summary: Minho's a single father who never expected to fall in love with his son's kindergarten teacher.
Comment: Hopefully I finish this one since I never finish anything oh my goodness. Ok here we go. Enjoy~
“Yoogeun-ah, are you dressed?” Choi Minho called out to his son. It was the first day of kindergarten for the six year old and he really didn’t want to go. He walked out of his bedroom, dressed in his favorite power rangers shirt and overalls. He looked up to his appa with a frown.
“Minho-appa, does Yoogeunnie have to go?” Minho smiled at his adorable son and knelt down to his level. He pinched his cheek and fixed his hair.
“Yes, Yoogeunnie has to go. Appa has to work.”
“Can’t I just stay home with Taeminnie appa?” That name sent daggers straight to Minho’s heart. It’d been six months since Taemin decided he didn’t want to be a husband or a father anymore and walked out on the two, leaving nothing but a pathetic note taped to the refrigerator that said “It’s over.” Minho called him and texted him every day for a month until one day, a deep voiced answered and told him to fuck off. That’s when Minho realized that Taemin had moved on. That was the part that stung the most.
What hurt the most was seeing the longing in his eyes when Yoogeun asked when his Taeminnie appa was coming back. The young boy had no idea where Taemin went or when he’d be back and Minho had no clue how to break the news to him. He never thought he’d ever be in this position before.
Minho married Taemin when he was only twenty, Taemin being nineteen. Yes, they were young, but they were very much in love. They were happy for the first two years of their marriage. That’s when Minho decided that they should adopt. Taemin wasn’t too thrilled with that idea, since he didn’t like kids all that much, but he couldn’t get through to Minho. In the end, they ended up adopting Yoogeun when he was three years old.
Minho loved Yoogeun the first day he saw him, but Taemin was skeptical. He didn’t think adopting a child was the best thing for them. Still, Taemin tried his best to show some kind of affection towards the child even though deep down inside, he didn’t even like him. The next few years of their marriage were hell. All Taemin did was complain about Yoogeun. How he always had to watch the little brat when Minho went to work. He’d say how he hated to be treated like a housewife having to cook and clean and was never able to go out because he had parental duties. Minho always hated to hear his lover talk that way about his son, so he’d usually spend the night in Yoogeun’s room, watching over him as he slept.
Finally fed up, Taemin left and never saw Minho again after the divorce was settled. Minho stopped trying to win Taemin back and focused on making his son happy. He was the most important person in his life after all. He looked at his son, knowing he was waiting for an answer. Finally, he sighed deeply and began to speak.
“Yoogeunnie,” he began as he took his son’s small hands into his bigger ones. “Taeminnie appa… left.” The young boy cocked his head to the side in confusion.
“When is Taeminnie appa coming back?”
“He’s not Yoogeun. Taeminnie appa doesn’t want to come back.” Yoogeun pouted, his little eyes watering as he heard this news. He always thought that his Taeminnie appa would come back some day. He thought he loved him, but now he wasn’t so sure. The small boy pointed to himself.
“Did Taeminnie appa leave because of Yoogeunnie?” Minho’s heart shattered, because that was the exact reason why Taemin left. Because he didn’t want Yoogeun. But Minho would never let his son think such things, so he was going to have to do something he promised never to do to his son. He lied.
“Of course not. Taeminnie appa left because of Minho appa. He doesn’t love appa anymore.” Even though Yoogeun was young, he knew pain when he saw it, and it was definitely visible in Minho’s eyes. The boy wrapped his arms around his father’s neck.
“I love you Minho appa.” The single father smiled and picked his son up, kissing his cheek and ruffling his hair.
“Appa loves you too. Now go get your backpack. You’re going to be late for your first day.” He put Yoogeun down and patted the boy’s butt lovingly, pushing him in the direction of his bedroom. He went into the kitchen and grabbed the lunch he made for Yoogeun along with his coffee. Yoogeun walked into the kitchen, dragging his power rangers backpack with him. Minho smiled and shook his head at his son’s obsession. He tried to get Yoogeun a different backpack, but the stubborn boy only wanted power rangers, so Minho gave in to him like always.
Both son and father left the two bedroom apartment and rode the elevator to the lobby. There, they were greeted by the doorman.
“Ah, good morning Minho-yah. Good morning Yoogeun-ah. Have a good day.” Minho nodded in response and Yoogeun waved enthusiastically.
“Bye ahjussi!”
The walked to the parking lot and made it to Minho’s car. He strapped Yoogeun in securely before entering the car himself. He took a sip of his coffee before starting the car and driving in the direction of Yoogeun’s new school. When they got there, Minho parked the car and turned around to face Yoogeun.
“Are you ready to go inside?” The boy shook his head and whined. Minho sighed, but exited the car anyway. He had to go to school even if he didn’t want to. He went around to Yoogeun’s side of the car and opened the door to let him out. As soon as he was out of the car, he reached his small arms up towards Minho. Minho smiled, picked up his son, and they headed into the school.
Minho walked up to the front desk and put Yoogeun down to talk to the receptionist. Yoogeun grabbed on tightly to Minho’s hand. He’d never been around so many people before and he was a bit uneasy about it. One of the other kids started staring at him and he turned his head away. He didn’t like school already. There were too many people. He just wanted to go home with his appa. When Minho finished talking to the receptionist, he picked his son up again and walked in the direction of Yoogeun’s classroom.
The room was full of children, all around Yoogeun’s age, and their parents. He entered the classroom fully and a short woman approached the pair.
“Are you dropping your child off today?” She asked with a smile. Minho nodded.
“Yes. Are you the teacher?” The woman shook her head.
“No. He’s not here yet. He’ll be here soon though. I’m the teacher’s aide. My name is Min.” She stuck her hand out and Minho shook it. “You can wait for him if you’d like.”
“I wish I could, but I cant. I have to get to work.” Minho looked at Yoogeun who was already on the verge of crying. “Yoogeunnie, appa has to go ok?” Yoogeun shook his head and hugged Minho around his neck with no intention of letting go. Minho sighed, his heart shattering more than it already had. This was hard enough to do without Yoogeun being uncooperative. He put him down and knelt to his level. Tears were streaming down the boy’s face and welling up in Minho’s eyes. He wiped away Yoogeun’s tears and held his small hands in his own.
“Yoogeun-ah, appa needs you to be good ok? When I come to get you, I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Yoogeun looked at him with interest as he sniffled and wiped his eye.
“S-Strawberry?” Minho chuckled at how easily his son could be swayed with ice cream. He didn’t like to bribe his child, but sometimes he had no choice.
“Any flavor you want.” Yoogeun nodded his head, still not wanting to be there, but he figured he’d do it for the ice cream. Minho held his fists ups. “Hwaiting.” Yoogeun copied the action, bringing his small fists to meet Minho’s.
“Hwaiting.” Minho smiled and kissed him on his forehead. He stood up and met Min’s gaze. She looked at him with admiration seeing as he was such a good father. He bowed to her and she bowed in response.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be taken care of Mr…”
“Oh, Minho. Choi Minho.”
“Mr. Choi.” Min turned to Yoogeun and grabbed his hand. “Do you want milk Yoogeun?” He nodded his head and followed as she pulled him in the direction of the snack table. He looked back to see Minho waving at him. He waved back and Minho walked out of the classroom. Min gave him his milk and he sipped it quietly with tears streaming down his face.
He looked around to see other kids with their parents. Why couldn’t his appa be with him too? Why did his appa leave him? He didn’t want to be their anymore. He had to find his appa. He put his milk down and walked to the same door he entered not too long ago. He opened it to see a man with funny hair coming in. the man reminded him of his Taemin appa, but he knew this man was different. This man smiled warmly at him, unlike his Taemin appa.
“Hello. Where are you headed?” He said to Yoogeun.
“I have to find my appa. I don’t like school.” The man frowned sadly and knelt down.
“You don’t? Why not?” Yoogeun down casted his gaze and played with his fingers.
“Appa left me here. Will he come back?” The man smiled and ruffled Yoogeun’s hair.
“Of course he’ll be back.”
“But… My other appa left and he didn’t come back.” The man was a bit taken aback by this information. It was obvious to him that the child had been going through a divorce of his parents, possibly even separation issues. He’d probably have to work extra hard to make Yoogeun feel comfortable.
“What’s your name sweetie?”
“Jung Yoogeun.”
“My name is Kibum and I’ll be your teacher. You’ll call me Kibum seonsaengnim ok?” The boy nodded and grabbed Kibum’s hand when he reached it out to him. He walked Yoogeun over to a table where come other kids were sitting and told him that was his seat. Kibum then walked to the front of the class.
“Good morning class. My name is Kibum seonsaengnim.”
“Good morning Kibum seonsaengnim!” The class called out enthusiastically, some more than others.
“Today, we’re going to start by telling all about ourselves. Yoogeun, would you like to go first?” Yoogeun raised his head when he heard his name being called. Kibum went to him and grabbed his hand to lead him to the front of the class. Everyone, including some of the parents that hadn’t left yet, stared at him with expectation. “Tell everyone your name sweetie.” He looked up at the man that was smiling at him and felt a little more confident than before. He looked back at the eyes that were peering at him.
“M-My name is Jung Yoogeun.”
“Everyone say hi to Yoogeun.” Kibum instructed.
“Hi Yoogeun!” the children said in unison. Kibum then asked him to tell the class about himself.
“I’m six.” He held out his six little fingers. “I like power rangers.”
“Me too!” Another little boy shouted.
“Really?” Yoogeun asked, his interest finally peaked.
“Yeah! Power rangers are awesome!” The little boy started singing the tune to the TV show and Yoogeun sang along with him. Kibum smiled, happy to see that Yoogeun wasn’t as shy as he thought. He then instructed him to take his seat, which happened to be next to the little boy, and brought a little girl up to introduce herself. Yoogeun didn’t pay any attention to her though. He was too busy talking to his new friend about power rangers.
Minho parked his car in his parking space and rushed inside the building. He was so late. It wasn’t entirely his fault though. Traffic was backed up for miles. He pressed the elevator butted repeatedly as if it would make it come faster. His boss was going to kill him. He’d already let him get away with so many other things over the past six months, but only because he understood his situation. He knew his boss was getting impatient with him though, so he had to do better. He needed this job and couldn’t afford to lose it.
The elevator came and he rushed inside and pressed ten for the tenth floor. While waiting to stop on his floor, he took the time to think about Yoogeun. He hoped that he was coping well with his new school and making some new friends. He took a sip of his coffee and exited the elevator when it stopped. When he got to his office, he noticed a familiar figure sitting on top of his desk. Minho sighed.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I had to get Yoogeun to school and traffic was hell and-”
“Minho-yah, don’t explain. I understand.” He sent Minho a warm smile before getting up and patting his shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m alright Onew-ssi. I’m more worried about Yoogeun. He thinks Taemin left because of him. God, I feel like an awful father.” Minho leaned against his desk with his head hung low.
“He’ll be fine Minho-yah. You’re a great father. You’ll raise him right.”
“Thanks Onew-ssi, for everything.” Onew nodded and smiled a smile that made all of Minho’s troubles vanish temporarily. He headed to the door and left only to poke his head back in.
“Now get your ass to work. We’re losing money.” Minho laughed and nodded. He was lucky to have his best friend be his boss.
Onew and Minho went way back. They’ve been friends since they were in diapers. They were even each other’s best men. When Onew started up his company, he asked Minho to help him. Minho being his best friend accepted the offer immediately. For months the company struggled to stay afloat, but after some time, it grew. They hired more employees and relocated to a bigger building. When that one started to get a bit over crowded, Onew had an even bigger building built.
Onew became very wealthy because of his company and wanted to share that wealth with his friend. He offered Minho a CEO position in which Minho took it immediately. He loved the position and was making triple his previous salary, but then he adopted Yoogeun. Being a CEO meant that he spent more time at the office than with his family and he just couldn’t do that. He loved his job but loved his husband and son more. After only two months of being a CEO, he asked Onew for his previous job back. He knew it wouldn’t make him enough money to provide for his family, but at least he’d see them. Instead of giving him his previous job, Onew gave him a managerial position that had just opened up. He wasn’t making as much as he was, but it was much more than his first salary. Plus, he got his own private office. If anyone had the perfect job, it was Minho. His office phone rang, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Choi Minho speaking. How may I help you?”
The first half of the day went by smoothly. There weren’t many calls and Minho had finished his paperwork. He was now sitting on the terrace that was located outside of the office break room. He hadn’t thought to pack a lunch for himself and he really didn’t feel like going to the cafeteria on the last floor. Everyone was probably there right now and the lines were probably long. By the time he got his lunch, his break would be over. He would just have to wait until dinner. He was staring into space when he heard the sound of plastic hitting his table. He looks down to see a plastic container and looked up to see his coworker.
“I figured you forgot your lunch again so I brought you something.” He said to Minho as he sat at the round black wrought iron table.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Minho exclaimed as his took the top off of the container.
“Not today.”
“Kyuhyun hyung,” He placed his hand on his shoulder. “I love you so much.” Kyuhyun swatted his hand away.
“Minho, I know I’m super attractive to you, but I’m married with a baby on the way.” He laughed and punched his hyung in the shoulder. Kyuhyun handed him a pair of chopsticks and they both dug into their lunch.
“So, how is Seohyun hyung?” Kyuhyun let out an exaggerated sigh and put his head down on the table. Minho smiled around his chopsticks. “That well huh?”
“She’s seven months pregnant Minho. How do you think she is? She goes around the house complain that she’s fat and when I tell she’s beautiful she hits me! Oh and she said she’s never having sex with me again because I’m like carbs and I ruin her figure. Carbs Minho. She compared me to carbs! I can’t with this woman!” Minho patted Kyuhyun on the back.
“It can’t be that bad hyung. Besides, it’ll be worth it when your daughter finally comes into the world.” Kyuhyun smiled. He really was excited to finally see his daughter, but the whole pregnancy process was driving him crazy.
“I’ll just be glad when she’s here. You’re lucky. You adopted your son and didn’t have to deal with a crazy pregnant wife. How is he by the way?”
“He’s ok. Today was his first day of school and he cried a little. I hope he’s not too upset.” Minho started to think about all of the things that could go wrong. What if he got sick? Would they know to call him? He gave them the right numbers right? What if they already called and he missed it? He pulled out his phone to check for any missed calls or voicemails. There were none. That means everything’s ok. Right? But what if he’s crying? What if they’re trying to call me to pick him up and I have no service? He pulled out his phone again to check for service. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that he didn’t have service. He jumped out of his chair, startling Kyuhyun, and put his phone in the air.
“What are you doing?” Kyuhyun asked, looking at the younger as if he grew another head.
“Checking for service. Yoogeun’s school could’ve called and I wouldn’t have known.” Kyuhyun pulled Minho down by his suit jacket sleeve.
“He’s fine Minho.” Minho held his gaze with his hyung before nodding and down casting it. “Are you ok Minho? How are you holding up?” He didn’t really want to go through this again. Every time he explained his situation was like ripping a bandaid off of and an open wound. He raked his hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. Kyuhyun took the hint.
“You’ll be ok Minho, you and Yoogeun.” He gave Minho a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before announcing that he was on the clock again. Minho checked his watch and realized that he had to get going also. He grabbed the lunch container and made his way back to his office.
The rest of the day went by smoothly and Minho was on his way to Yoogeun’s school. He only thought about him today. Did he eat his lunch? Was he playing with the other kids? Was he listening to the teacher? He just couldn’t wait until he saw his on again.
Once he pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car and rushed into the building. He went straight into Yoogeun’s class and expected the worst. What he didn’t expect was to see his son running around and playing with the other kids. A wave of relief washed over him as he watched his son play. There were no tears, he wasn’t sick; there wasn’t a reason to be worried. Yoogeun was playing happily, shooting his new friend with his finger gun. He ran around the table and looked in Minho’s direction. He noticed him and ran towards him.
“Appa!” he yelled as he hugged Minho around his legs. Minho rubbed his son’s head.
“Hi Yoogeunnie! Did you have fun today?” He nodded his head eagerly and looked up at his appa.
“Appa, do we have to go now?” he was astounded to say the least. This morning, he could barely get him to stay and now he didn’t want to leave. He knelt down to Yoogeun’s level.
“You’re really not ready to go?” The single father was tired and could really use some form of sleep. He hadn’t planned on Yoogeun wanting to stay longer. As expected, the six year old shook his head.
“Can we stay? Please?” He had him. There was no way Minho could ever deny his son when he pleaded so cutely. He sighed and smiled. His sleep would have to wait. He stood up and patted his son’s head.
“Yes, you can stay. But only for a little while.” Yoogeun hugged him before running off to play with his friends. As long as his son was happy, he was happy.
“Are you looking for someone sir?” A voice called out from behind him. When he turned around to face the owner of the voice, his eyes met the most beautiful look man he’d ever seen in his life. His hair was blonde, but not bleach blonde. It was a warm bright sandy color. He had the most defined almond shaped eyes. They made him look a bit like a cat. His cheekbones were high and his lips were heart shaped and pedal pink. He had an amazingly sharp jawline. The blonde simply took Minho’s breath away. “Excuse me?” Minho snapped back to reality, embarrassed that he’d been caught staring.
“Oh sorry. Um, no, I’m not. I found my son.” He pointed to where Yoogeun was playing.
“Oh. You’re Yoogeun’s father?”
“Yes.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kibum, Yoogeun’s teacher.” Kibum reached out his hand and Minho shook it. He couldn’t help to notice how soft his skin was. He found himself rubbing his thumb over the back of Kibum’s hand. The blonde male cleared his throat and Minho let go, a tint of pink appearing on his cheeks.
“I’m Choi Minho.”
“While I have you Minho-ssi, I need you to finish the enrollment paperwork.” Minho looked at the teacher confused by what he was saying.
“I thought I already did that.”
“You missed a page. Come over to my desk and I’ll show you.” he followed Kibum to his desk and grabbed one of the small chair to sit in. Kibum laughed at how silly the single father looked.
“You know, we have grown up chairs too. I’ll get you one.” Minho chuckled and smiled sheepishly. He got up from the little chair and sat in the bigger one once Kibum brought it for him. The blonde male sat at his desk and sifted through a stack of papers. Once he found the correct packet of stapled papers, he flipped to the missed page and showed Minho what he forgot to fill out. Minho face palmed himself when he saw that he skipped the most important page.
“Medical records and Emergency contacts. How could I have missed that? But wait, didn’t I already give the school my number?”
“Yes, but I need it for my personal records. They keep the office locked when there’s no one in there. If something were to happen while the office was locked, I wouldn’t be able to contact you.” Minho nodded and filled out the rest of the paperwork. Once he was done, he handed them to Kibum who looked over everything.
“He’s allergic to peanuts? Does he have an epinephrine needle?”
“Yes. Do you need that too?”
“Yes, along with any medications he has to take and a spare change of clothes in case he has an accident.” Minho sighed for the millionth time today. This was so much to do just to get
a child in school. Kibum smiled warmly at him, taking Minho’s breath away once again.
“I know it’s a lot.”
“No kidding.” They both shared a laugh.
“Look on the bright side. At least he’s already adjusted.” They both watched as Yoogeun played with some of the other kids that had yet to be picked up by their parents. Minho was thankful for that. At least he didn’t have to worry about him as much when he went to work.
“I know it’s none of my business,” Minho turned back around to look at Kibum, who now wore a worried expression. “Today, Yoogeun mention his other appa left. I don’t want to assume or pry, but have you gone through a break up of any kind?” He didn’t answer, then again, he didn’t have to. It was written all over his face and evident in his eyes.
“Has he seen a counselor? Divorce can become hard on children.”
“Do you think he needs one?” He looked over to the smiling child and couldn’t help but to smile himself.
“I don’t really think so, but it’s always good to have the number just in case.” Kibum reached into his bag and pulled out a small post it. He grabbed the nearest pen and wrote down his number on the paper and handed it to Minho.
“I’m guessing you’re a counselor too huh?” He raised his left hand.
“Guilty as charged.” They laughed together and continued to talk until Yoogeun came running up to them.
“Appa, can we go home now? I’m hungry.” Minho picked up Yoogeun and sat him on his lap. The child laid his head on his appa’s shoulder and yawn. He was so sleepy from his first day of school. Minho stood up and placed Yoogeun on the floor. Kibum walked them both to the classroom door.
“It was nice meeting you Minho-ssi. I-”
“Please, call me Minho.” His voice deepened a bit, not that he meant to do it. He couldn’t help but to flirt with someone who he though was attractive. Kibum blushed and ducked his head a bit before continuing.
“Alright, Minho. Like I was saying, if you ever thing Yoogeun needs to see a counselor, call me.” Minho nodded and smiled but frowned when he saw that Kibum’s face was scrunched up in distaste.
“What?”
“Have you been walking around like that all day?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Yeah, why?”
“And no one has said anything to you?” he started snickering and Minho felt embarrassed. Was there a spot on his suit? A hole maybe? He looked down to see that his suit was perfectly fine. He didn’t know why Kibum was laughing at him.
“What’s wrong?” He asked in a cute whiny voice. Kibum rolled his eyes and grabbed his tie.
“You tied your tie wrong.”
“Oh. I don’t really know how to tie one. I never had to do it for myself.” Minho shifted his gaze to the floor, not wanting Kibum to see that he was hurt, but he’d already seen. He didn’t want to hurt Minho any more than he already was, so he didn’t pry.
“Here, let me.” The blonde male stepped closer to the taller and undid his tie. He popped his collar upward and retied his poorly tied tie, paying more attention to his Adams apple than to what he was actually doing. When he finished, he lowered his collar and straightened out his suit jacket. “There, that’s much better.”
“You did it for no reason. I’m just going to untie it when I get home anyway.”
“Well, maybe I’ll tie it for you when you drop Yoogeun off in the morning.”
He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see his son pulling him toward the door, interrupting their shameless flirting.
“Appaaaa, let’s go home.”
“Alright I’m coming Yoogeunnie.” He picked his son up and said goodbye to Kibum.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then?”
“Yeah. When you drop Yoogeun off. Bye Yoogeunnie.” He waved at the child and got a wave in response. Minho started to walk out when Kibum grabbed Minho’s wrist. “And, um, if you ever need to talk, or anything, you can call me.” Minho nodded, not able to form a coherent sentence. Kibum waved once more before shutting the door to his now empty classroom. Min handled took the rest of the children to the aftercare room a while ago.
Minho and Yoogeun walked out of the school and packed into the car. As Minho was driving, he couldn’t help but to think that this day couldn’t have been better. His son’s first day of school went better than expected, work was slow, and to top it all off, he met someone he could see himself falling for. Kibum was sweet, loved children, was smart, and had great fashion sense from what he could tell. Even though the blonde male seemed perfect, he had to wonder. Was he ready? It had only been six months since his divorce and he was sure that he was over Taemin, but was it too soon to start thinking about dating again? And how would it affect Yoogeun? He had a lot to think about before he could even think about starting a new relationship.