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"We're home, Minhyukie," Hyunwoo bounced Minhyuk slightly on his hip, trying to stir the boy awake without hassle.

Minhyuk did indeed stir and brought a fist up to his eye to rub it sleepily, and Hyunwoo cooed.

"What would you like for dinner, Hyukkie?" He asked softly, and Minhyuk shrugged.

"Daddy worked hard today?" Was what he answered with, and Hyunwoo nodded as a yes, he did. "Then Daddy gets to choose what's for dinner."

Hyunwoo's smile grew fond as he kissed his baby on the cheek. "Thank you, darling."

"Daddy, can I finish the colouring now?" He asked, squirming about in Hyunwoo's arms, and Hyunwoo put him down onto the floor.

Minhyuk's arms reached up for the piece of paper in Hyunwoo's hand and the male gave it to him without question.

"Make sure it's really pretty for Daddy, ok?" He requested, patting Minhyuk's bottom and the boy giggled, nodding as he ran off into the living room to get his colouring pencils.

Now that Minhyuk was gone, Hyunwoo let out the sigh of relief he had been holding in for a while, beyond glad to be back in the comfort of his own home.

He thought over his options for dinner, and decided to go for something easy to make: something he could just stick in the oven and let cook while he changed.

"Are chicken nuggets ok for dinner, darling?" He asked on his way to the kitchen, spotting Minhyuk laying on his stomach as he coloured.

"Yes, please!" He replied, and Hyunwoo smiled at his son.

Even if he was having a horrible day, Minhyuk always seemed to make it that extra bit better by just being himself.

Hyunwoo fetched the nuggets from the freezer, tossing a dozen onto a tray and sticking them in the oven to cook for fifteen minutes. That gave him enough time to change into something less constricting that his suit and tie and to watch Minhyuk colour for a bit.

When the nuggets were ready, Hyunwoo decided Minhyuk could eat them at the sofa today, since he was feeling generous.

He knew Minhyuk was probably feeling deprived of cartoons, and it was nice for Hyunwoo to watch along too as Minhyuk seemed immersed in the world of Mickey Mouse.

"My teacher kept asking about Daddy today," Minhyuk spoke up halfway during dinner, and Hyunwoo almost dropped his fork.

Why would Minhyuk's teacher be asking about him? Did he find out that Hyunwoo is an incompetent father? Are the authorities going to take Minhyuk away?

"Did he?" He cleared his throat, and Minhyuk nodded. "Was it the pink-haired one?" Minhyuk nodded again.

He figured that was why that teacher - Kihyun? - was looking at him funny when he came to pick Minhyuk up.

Shit.

"What did he ask about me, baby?" Hyunwoo asked, trying to sound calm but on the inside he was freaking out.

"Just about what Daddy does for a job!" Minhyuk answered, looking up at his father. "I told him you have lots of jobs but I only know about one of them!"

"And for good reason, buttercup," Hyunwoo replied, causing Minhyuk to frown slightly.

"Daddy doesn't do bad things for a job, does he?" He asked sadly, and Hyunwoo reached down to stroke his son's hair.

"Of course not, sunshine," he replied with a smile. "Daddy would never do anything to put his baby in danger. Do you think Daddy is a bad Daddy?"

"Never!" Minhyuk exclaimed, shaking his head from side to side with a lot of enthusiasm. "Daddy's the best Daddy ever!"

~*~

Kihyun really should find a hobby.

He could feel Jooheon's judging gaze on his back as he tied Minhyuk's shoelace, the blonde boy humming happily above him as he did so.

Minhyuk was in an even better mood than yesterday, which Kihyun didn't think was humanly possible - but, alas, it was.

"There you go, Minhyuk," the pink-haired man grinned up at the boy who smiled back at him as he stood up straight.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed, running off back outside, and Kihyun made sure to watch him just in case he fell over. He didn't.

"Dude, are you actually ok?" Jooheon teased with a raised eyebrow as he patted Kihyun on the back. "You're really beginning to creep me out; why are you so obsessed with Minhyuk?"

"I'm not obsessed," Kihyun frowned, turning to look at Jooheon. "I'm just observant and I care about children."

Jooheon brought his hands up to his mouth, interlacing his fingers at his chin and tapping his lips with his two index fingers. Kihyun always found that gesture to be outlandishly cartoon-ish, which was what Jooheon was known for.

"Ok, so tell me," he started, eyebrow still raised, and Kihyun rolled his eyes. "What is it about Minhyuk that you're observing? Because he seems perfectly fine to me."

"I'm not observing him, I'm just naturally observant," Kihyun replied. "I see things and I pick up on them. I just think Minhyuk is either an enigma or his dad is a really good dad; probably the second one, if I'm fair."

"How would you know what his dad's like?" Jooheon questioned, and Kihyun turned his back to him, his way of saying he was done with the conversation.

~*~

"What's this I hear about you having a creepy little crush on a student in your class?" Hoseok asked over the lunch table, and Kihyun slammed his chopsticks down on the table, shooting Jooheon a death glare. And if looks could kill then Jooheon would be a pile of ash on the floor by now.

"Jooheon, you really have to choose your words carefully around here," Kihyun scolded. "I really, really, really don't want to get fired and marked as a paedophile."

Jooheon shrugged. "You can't blame me, though. You are obsessed with him."

"For the last time, I am not obsessed with him!" Kihyun whisper-yelled, and Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's the big deal with Minhyuk anyway? Is something happening at home that we should be concerned about?" The silver-haired male asked and Kihyun's scornful look soon dispersed into a look of sad pity.

"No, not at all," he shook his head, picking up his chopsticks again. "There's no concerns about Minhyuk, I'm just keeping an eye on him."

"Yeah, but why?" Jooheon asked, leaning forward in his seat to rest his arms on the table. "That's what we don't understand. Minhyuk seems like just another happy four-year old to us."

"It's something about his dad," Kihyun concluded, and Hoseok snickered. "What?"

"I don't know anything about Minhyuk's dad, but what I can tell you is that he's hot; a real beefcake," he swooned, and both Kihyun and Jooheon looked over at him with raised eyebrows.

"And you say you're not gay," Jooheon quipped, clicking his tongue and going back to eating.

Hoseok simply shrugged.

z~*~

introducing hoseok: probably the gayest character in this book