puzzle piece | jeong jaehyun

3

"Seriously?! Michael fucking Jackson?!" Yunhui screamed in the shower as her lazy actions made her get shampoo in her eyes carelessly. The annoyingly catchy bass tune of Beat It remained in her brain the whole night even after the new neighbours had stopped singing. And she caught herself unintentionally singing it almost five times that morning since she woke up.

But she wasn't going to lie and say she and Minhyuk did not laugh their asses off as the man next door said 'HEE HEE' loudly into their karaoke microphone.

"Mommy you're wearing two different socks!" Minhyuk said, pointing towards her feet with a giggle as she ran around the house in a rush, trying to button up her blazer, put on earrings and pack his schoolbag all at the same time

"It's okay, no one will notice" she said quickly, dismissing his words quickly

"But they're my socks—"

"Sharing is caring, Hyuk" she said quickly again, running back into the hallway to slip on her heels, hoping her long suit pants would cover the bright green dino sock on her left leg that was probably already cutting off her blood circulation by now.

"Here" she said quickly, passing his bag to him before grabbing her coat and opening the front door

"My lunch bag" he pouted and she let out a frustrated sigh, looking at the watch on her wrist

"Can you go press the elevator button, wait for me" she said quickly before standing running into the kitchen again to grab the dino print lunch bag off the counter, almost falling on her way back out of the apartment. She dug into her coat pocket in search of her keys to lock up her front door, butterfingers syndrome hitting her at the worst time possible

Minhyuk walked to the end of the hallway towards the elevator that a tall man was holding open for him, watching the woman spout a number of curses by her front door as she struggled to lock up. Minhyuk blinked up at the man before standing by the sensor of the elevator, making sure it stayed open so his mother could join them and not be left behind which the man silently cooed at.

'Smart boy'

Yunhui straightened up quickly, pushing down on the handle once more to make sure it was locked before turning around towards the elevator and rushing in. Her eyes caught the man—the source of her misery, she should say—smiling at her smugly as she joined them inside

"Rough night?" He asked as the doors closed, pushing down on the car park button

"Didn't realise that Michael Jackson was my new neighbour" she replied back with a forced smile, eyes glaring at him before turning back around to face the metal doors

"Are you the neighbour?" The little girl piped up from beside her dad

Obviously.

"Yeah. Hi" Yunhui said with a sigh, another forced smile for the kid, without a glare this time

"Hi!" She said loudly, waving towards Minhyuk more than Yunhui. Minhyuk, being the more shy and quiet kid, didn't interact any further, which the little girl simply wasn't going to accept

"What's your name?" She asked, stepping a little too close to the boy to get his attention and he moved back a little closer to his mom as if he was scared of her already

"M-Minhyuk" he replied simply and the girl giggled

"My name's Jinah. I'm five!" She said with a bright smile, and a loud voice that seemed to catch the little boy off even more

"Cool." Minhyuk said simply. Yunhui heard the man behind her scoff a little at his nonchalant response, so she nudged him, reminding him to have some manners

"I'm seven" he added, turning to look at her and noticing the little crest on her jumper, realising they would be in the same school

"Who's your teacher?" He asked, starting up more conversation which was quite new from him, catching both the parents' attention until they realised the same thing

"I don't know...today is my first day" Jinah said, her voice showing a little nervousness

"Don't worry Jinah, you'll have lots of fun. Won't she, Minhyuk?" Her father said, including the boy in their conversation. Yunhui almost shuddered at the way her son's name rolled off his tongue so smoothly

"Well...school isn't that fun. They give you lots of homework. I only go because my mom say she'll buy me ice cream-"

"Hyuk..." Yunhui trailed off with a clenched smile as she heard a deep chuckle from beside her. The man leaned in a little closer to her side before he spoke again

"A-class parenting right there" he said with a deep voice, shaking his head as the doors of the elevator opened up again to let them all out

"See you later Hyuk!" Jinah said with a wide smile, waving to him once more as her father her ushered her out

"My name is Jaehyun, by the way. What's your mom's name?" The man asked, looking down at Minhyuk

"Oh Yunhui, she's 29" Minhyuk replied and Yunhui bit back a groan making Jaehyun let out a chuckle at the extra information the child innocently gave

"See you guys later" Jaehyun said simply before walking towards his car with his daughter's hand in his

"What?" Minhyuk asked innocently as he looked up at his mother still stuck in her place after their interaction

"Nothing" she said, ushering him out as well

"Just glad you didn't give him my credit card details too" she muttered under her breath as she walked towards her car, forgetting the rush that they were previously in.