Prompt: One where Jin is an adult (and presumably over his bullying problems) and he and Kai adopt a kid and they get bullied in school or have been abused/bullied before and are scared to go to school and Jin comforts them?
A.N.- Just going to keep using Jin's and Kai's kids from prompt #5
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"I've got to go or I'll be late getting back to work," Kai said, checking the time. "Keep an eye on Hiro. His forehead was really warm this morning."
"Shut up, I know how to take care of my own kid," I said.
Kai rolled his eyes, getting up and grabbing his cane. He made sure to whack me in the legs with it before heading towards the door.
"Bye, asshole," he called over his shoulder.
"Get out," I said.
He shut the door and I cleaned up his dishes for him. Our son, Hiro, had been home sick from school for two days. Kai had taken yesterday off from work to sit with him and I had taken today off to sit with him. He was too young to leave home alone.
Kai was right though; Hiro's head had felt pretty warm this morning. I should probably take his temperature and make sure he didn't need to go to the doctor's.
I went upstairs to the kids' bathroom and grabbed the thermometer out of one of the drawers. I knocked on Hiro's door and let myself into his room.
He was lying in bed, watching TV. He looked over at and pulled the covers up a little higher.
"Here, put this in your mouth," I said, holding the thermometer out to him.
His eyes widened a little and he shook his head. "I don't wanna."
"I need to know if you need to go to the doctor's," I said.
"I don't!" he said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Hiro, put the thermometer in your mouth."
He shook his head again and I reached out, pressing my hand against his cool forehead. He squirmed a little under my touch, guilty eyes not meeting mine.
"You know, I used to do that too," I said. "I would turn on the bathroom heater and put my face in front of it until it was too hot. Then I'd go tell my mom and dad that I was sick."
"I used the heating pad," Hiro mumbled.
"Why?" I asked, pulling him so he was sitting up. "You've missed two days of school. Dad and I stayed home from work for you."
Hiro's eyes watered. "They're not nice to me at school, dad. They say mean things."
I put my arm around him. I could remember being his age, just a little boy trying to laugh off the mean things the other kids said to me. I thought if I smiled and played along, they'd give up and just accept me. But it had never happened.
"What do they say to you?" I asked, my voice going gentle. My mother would hold me close when I was a child, her gentle tone making me feel like she would protect me from the mean things I endured.
"They make fun of how small I am. They call me a loser and they tell me I'm stupid. No one will play with me at recess, no one will sit with me at lunch, and no one will be my partner," Hiro said, tears leaking onto his cheeks. He looked up at me with desperate eyes. "I don't know what I did wrong. I tried to be nice to them."
I hugged him close, running a hand through his hair. "Sometimes kids are just mean, Hiro. Keep being nice, okay? Be the bigger person."
"I want friends," he whimpered.
"I know. I know you do. And you'll get friends. I promise you will." I kissed his head. I'd do anything to keep my son from suffering the same fate I had. "Hiro, why don't you sit with your sister and her friends at lunch? She would let you."
He wiped at his eyes. "They said I'm a loser 'cause only my sister likes me."
"I like you," I said, rubbing his back. "I like you, your sister likes you, and dad likes you."
"But you're not in my class," he mumbled.
"Hey." I nudged him with my shoulder. "The class party is coming up soon, right? Why don't we bake some of those cheesecake brownies you and your sister love. You can share them with the class and win them over."
Kids could be easily distracted. If I could just get Hiro to win them over until he went to upper elementary school and met new kids, he would be okay.
"Really?" Hiro said.
I nodded. "Sure. Who doesn't love food? And if that doesn't work, we'll think of something else. Dad can go in and hit them all with his cane until they're begging to be your friends."
Hiro giggled. "He would, too!"
"He'd do anything for you. So would I," I promised.
I'd fallen victim to the bullying I'd faced. I'd turned to drinking and repressing my feelings until I was just a shell of the happy little boy I'd been. It had taken me years to recover. Sometimes I still had days where I took more steps backwards than forwards. I would do anything to save my son that awful fate.
"You're not mad I skipped school?" he asked nervously.
"No. But from now on, you need to tell me what's wrong, okay? I can't help you if I don't know," I said, hugging him tightly. "Tomorrow I want you to walk into class with a smile. When they say mean things to you, just tell them being mean doesn't make them cool."
"I love you, dad," Hiro said.
My own relationship with my dad had collapsed when I turned to alcohol. But I would not lose the relationship I had with my kids.
"I love you too." I kissed him. "Head up, kid. I want you to care."
He looked at me curiously but I just smiled and shrugged. Hiro climbed into my lap and I held him close as we watched TV together. I'd give anything to protect my children and keep them happy.
