THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟱

"Today Teacher Lee asked us to bring our favorite toy to school. Which one should I bring, Papa?"

Donghyuck was about to tie his son's shoelaces just like always, but the moment his child mentioned his beloved 'Teacher Lee', Papa's fingers quivered. He tried to forget it last night, but the experience of the parent-teacher conference just renewed.

As if it wasn't enough, this whole attack of memories, he also got a call from one of his coworkers. Silencing his phone, he returned to the shoes, and while working on them, he looked up at his child.

"How about you bring Beary Potter?" Donghyuck smiled softly. "Show other kids how cute he is."

"What about July Hopps? She's cuter!"

"Okay, take the bunny then," Donghyuck chuckled, patting his son's shoulder.

Taking his car keys, Papa motioned his son to unlock the door, and they went to the stairwell. They met a few neighbors, greeted them, and then used the stairs to go down even though the elevator was right there.

When they were already on their way to Dongchan's school, Donghyuck had an idea to ask the kid to hold back from talking about their household if Teacher Lee asked anything. But then Donghyuck realized he was getting too paranoid. Why would Mark even ask this? So, he didn't say anything even though he was sure Teacher Lee would approach his son sooner or later.

The time at work passed as fast as never. Donghyuck didn't even do much when the clock had already stroke 1 PM—the time he needed to get off work and pick up Dongchan. Since the job was always kid-friendly and Donghyuck was one of the best employees, Friday was the day the boss let him leave earlier.

So, Donghyuck was on his way to Dongchan's school. He had his son's schedule somewhere in the car, but he never looked at it. Donghyuck memorized it all just after a week, so he was aware that Dongchan had a Physical Education class outside at that moment.

Papa liked to get there earlier, when the class was still in progress, and go closer to see how the kids were doing. He would've done the same if his eyes hadn't caught Teacher Lee. Upon seeing Mark observing the kids, Donghyuck got back to his car and turned away even though the older had his back turned to him.

What was the homeroom teacher even doing here? Didn't he have classes? Donghyuck had been coming here, at such a time, for a while, and he had never seen Mark.

After a few minutes of ignoring that side of the school, Donghyuck finally looked back. The kids were already lining up to leave, and their homeroom teacher was nowhere to be seen. The young parent could sigh in relief, but he didn't step out of the car until he saw Dongchan leaving the building after changing and the usual cleaning duty.

For the weekend, Donghyuck's brothers came over. He was glad as Dongchan really missed his uncles and begged to see them a few days ago. The reason why he loved them was obvious. Dongmin & Dongwoo always brought laptops and tablets, and when they did, Dongchan could drown in the game world full of fantasies!

A normal parent, especially a single one, would seize the opportunity to leave the house and have some fun. Not Donghyuck, though. He thought he already had fun when he was younger. He partied when he was a student in both—high school and university. So, drinking and going to parties was nothing new. Over these years, he learned that the only fun thing was to see his kid happy. So, he sat there, in the living room, together with the three "kids" and watched his favorite series, from time to time looking at them. After a couple of episodes, he called his other family members but remained in the room.

When Dongchan reached his limit—Donghyuck didn't let him play too long to protect his eyesight—Dongmin and Dongwoo stopped playing too. They talked about their studies, and Dongchan talked about his school life! The first grader felt like a university student as he began listing things he had learned. Dongwoo and Dongmin complimented him, letting him feel like he was one of them.