THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟯𝟯

They returned to South Korea on Saturday. Politely, Donghyuck said goodbye to his family and then ran away as fast as he could. Even though he loved them all, he got tired of being together with them and wanted to go home already.

Dongchan missed home, too. But the thing he missed the most was Nyx, so Papa and he drove off to take the cat out of the cattery where she stayed. As soon as Dongchan got the cat back, his mood was better, and all he needed after that was his room. He told Papa he missed his bed. Donghyuck couldn't blame him. No matter how soft the hotel's bed was, their own was way better.

For the next day, they spent the whole morning inside, and it would've continued if Donghyuck hadn't realized that Dongchan wouldn't go to school tomorrow. It was summer already, and he understood that he'd have to drive him to his parents to take care of, as where else would his son be throughout the day? These thoughts pushed him to the idea of taking the child outside and spending their time together, as Papa was sure they wouldn't see each other as often as before.

The weather was too hot for Donghyuck's liking, but he could do everything for his kid, so enduring the temperature by turning on the air conditioner in the car, he managed to stay peaceful for at least eight minutes. This ended as Donghyuck's eyes landed on the playground near a mall. It was a place, where Donghyuck rarely took his child as it was too far from their home. But Dongchan loved everything there, so Papa wanted to make him happy. As always.

He heard Dongchan squealing and forgot about the weather inconvenience. Donghyuck parked his car as quickly as possible as he noticed his son could barely sit straight. Just as the engine was turned off, Dongchan jumped out of the car and urged Papa to come too.

"Slow down," Donghyuck chuckled. "The playground won't grow feet and run away."

"Still!" the kid whined, and the adult melted.

"Fine."

Donghyuck got out of the car, took his bag with him, and headed toward the playground. Upon noticing Papa going, Dongchan scooted to the other kids, talking to a few of them and making friends right away. Donghyuck observed his son joining his new friends as he made his way toward the only bench under a shadow. He then looked around. The number of kids was way higher than the number of their guardians. Donghyuck guessed that some were at the mall and left these little troublemakers here to shop faster. The bigger number could also mean that one parent brought several kids. That was when Donghyuck noticed one papa dealing with a seemingly two-year-old who wanted to join his sister at the slides. The sister looked the same age as Dongchan which then made Donghyuck positively think that they'd be the same in the future.

But that drowned him deeper into his thoughts. He started wondering if his firstborn would really like the new sibling. Even when he wished to get one, he didn't really know what it meant, right? Perhaps, he thought that having a sibling wasn't related to responsibilities but to playing games with his new playmate. He had no idea that a new member joining the family meant less attention from Papa.

"Oh my god, Minju! Don't do that!"

Hearing a shout, Donghyuck snapped from his thoughts and looked over his shoulder. At the same time, Mark passed by him. Donghyuck froze, preventing a flinch. Sitting there like a statue, he locked his eyes on Mark. The teacher just approached a girl.

"Don't stand on the swings!" Mark raged, picking the girl up from the swings and putting her on the ground. "You may fall! And if you fall, you'll get hurt! Don't ever do that!"

The girl didn't like hearing Mark shouting at her, but she obediently nodded, even when it was obvious that it wasn't the first time it had happened. Looking at one, then another, Donghyuck connected the dots, especially when he heard her name, and concluded that it must be the teacher's niece. The one who drained her fish in the bathtub.