lean on me » showki

ni

Kihyun never really knew what to do with himself first thing in the morning like this.

Recently, he had been taking afternoon shifts as opposed to full-day shifts. It was nothing bad, just that there was a new teacher in the class and the principal had been hell-bent on giving him the morning shifts so that he could learn how to organise the class and welcome the children.

Kihyun had been working at the nursery for roughly four years now - longer than anyone else in the class he was in charge of - which is why the principal decided to hand his shifts over to the new guy. He didn't mind, and actually found himself getting used to the lay-ins he was having recently.

But, the new guy had been transferred to a new class, and Kihyun was stuck with full-time as opposed to part-time.

At this time in the morning, not many kids turned up (most of them coming in around nine o'clock time) so Kihyun often found himself just standing around awkwardly for the most part, at least until Jooheon showed up.

Hoseok was already here, Kihyun presumed, taking care of the children in his own classroom, which Kihyun respected. Neither him, nor Jooheon or Hoseok were slackers, but they did like to have a catch-up during their breaks once in a while.

Kihyun didn't live a lonely life, but he could safely say that he only had two really good friends: Jooheon and Hoseok. He didn't mind not having many friends, as he often found solace in being alone at home with Netflix and his own home cooking.

He wasn't anti-social, necessarily, but Kihyun did favour staying indoors than going out, unless it was with Jooheon or Hoseok (or both of them).

Kihyun wasn't a social butterfly, but he was good with kids - which was all he needed for his job. (And to not be a sexual predator).

"Kihyun!" A voice sounded from the alternative entrance to the classroom, normally only for children.

The pink-haired male's head turned to the direction of the door, and he felt his eyelids get a little lighter when he saw Jooheon taking off his own coat and hanging it up on a peg behind him.

Jooheon and Kihyun were fortunate enough to attend the same teacher training course, along with Hoseok, and were even more fortunate enough to end up working in the same class. Hoseok was less unlucky, but the three still saw eachother everyday - something that Kihyun was grateful for.

Granted, there were so many more nursery schools around South Korea, but this one was local enough to all three men, and they all ended up working the same shifts there.

Kihyun called it lucky, but Jooheon called it fate.

"You're early today," Kihyun grinned, making his way over to his friend, who was now heading to the kitchen to store his lunch in the staff fridge.

"Thought I'd surprise you for your first day back on the full-time shift," the brunette flashed his friend a cheeky smile, and Kihyun couldn't help but smile back at him.

Funny enough, Kihyun had actually missed Jooheon. He hadn't seen him properly for around three months, and while the two still met up on weekends and during school holidays, it just didn't feel like enough.

Seeing his best friend like this definitely was enough.

"Have you seen Hoseok yet?" Kihyun asked, and Jooheon shook his head.

"Nah, but don't sweat it; we'll definitely see him during our lunch break," the youngest of the two answered, and Kihyun nodded in response. "Hiya, Minhyuk!"

Jooheon waved to the little boy once the two left the kitchen, and Minhyuk looked up from his cars to grin and wave back to the man happily. Jooheon moved on quickly, going to do something else that Kihyun wasn't too bothered about, but Kihyun's gaze remained on Minhyuk.

How could one child look so happy while playing alone? Kihyun was sure there was something behind it, how Minhyuk had always been so happy all day everyday while at nursery.

"Dude, you're actually being really creepy right now," Jooheon commented, suddenly standing next to Kihyun again, and the pink-haired man would've flinched if this hadn't happened so many times already. "Why are you just staring at the kid?"

Kihyun frowned at the comment, his gaze - however - not leaving Minhyuk.

"I'm not being creepy," he replied. "I'm just curious."

"Curious about what?" Jooheon asked, his tone taking on borderline panicking. "I swear if you're thinking what I am, then-"

"No, no! Jeez, dude," Kihyun grimaced. "And you call me the creep! I was just thinking Minhyuk's a little strange - not in an insulting way. He's just always on his own, yet he seems happy. I actually feel kinda sorry for him."

Jooheon shrugged. "His dad is a single parent after all; maybe Minhyuk's used to being on his own."

Kihyun's head turned to give Jooheon a questioning glance.

"How did you know that?" He asked, and Jooheon gave him a confused look.

"Uh, it's in his files," the brunette answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world before he placed a hand on Kihyun's shoulder reassuringly. "Kihyun, I know you haven't been here properly for three months, but don't tell me you've forgotten about the files we keep on each child in every class."

Kihyun frowned and shrugged Jooheon's hand off of his shoulder, starting to wonder why he even missed the younger man in the first place.

"No, I didn't forget," he replied bitterly. "I just didn't know we had access to that kind of information as a nursery."

Jooheon raised an eyebrow. "What? Parents?"

Kihyun blinked blankly.

"It's kind of important that we know who the childrens' parents are to - you know - make sure some random stranger doesn't just pick them up one day," Jooheon explained, and Kihyun still didn't understand. "Dude, are you actually ok? Maybe you should go lay down in the ball pit over there."

"I'm fine," Kihyun sighed, rubbing his eyes. "So, under Minhyuk's parents, does it just have his dad? Is that how you know?"

"Exactly," Jooheon winked, and Kihyun wondered how he'd never noticed before.

Every teacher was required to read through every file for the children in their class just in case they had any special needs, but Kihyun typically brushed over the parents section. Since he didn't know them personally, he never found it important to read up on them. Jooheon obviously thought differently.

"You really look like you need some rest, man," Jooheon commented worriedly, his hand back on Kihyun's shoulder. "Do me a favour and sleep well tonight. Please?"

"Yeah, sure," Kihyun answered mindlessly, seemingly out of it.

~*~

i will say this every chapter: minhyuk is so soft i love him