Chapter Text
The sky was grey outside, a signal of the oncoming rain and a sight that made Seokjin want to curl up in bed and continue hiding away from the world – warm, cozy, and restful.
Unfortunately, a certain four-year-old was not going to let that happen.
Seokjin felt a small hand wrap itself around one of his fingers, pulling his hand away from where it currently was shielding his eyes. His tired eyes were met with a small face with huge shining doe eyes the colour of strong coffee, and small round lips pushed into a pout.
“Daehyunie,” Jin cooed, smiling as he immediately wrapped his arms around his son, pulling him up onto the bed and cuddling him close to his chest, “Papa was trying to sleep.”
Daehyun giggled as Jin blew a raspberry on his small cheek, small hands landing on Jin’s forehead and pushing him backward with a squeal.
“No!” Daehyun shook his head, his voice bright with the grin on his face, “Papa was pretending!”
Jin gasped in mock-horror, pressing a hand to his chest, “Are you saying Papa was lying!”
Daehyun broke into a fit of giggles at this, flopping forwards to burry his face in the crook of Jin’s neck. “Papa is silly,” the boy said, his voice muffled but Jin could still hear the smile in his voice.
Jin chuckled, gently patting his son’s hair, soothing the mess of dark locks that were sticking up from sleep. “You’re right, Papa is silly,” he laughed softly, pressing a gentle kiss onto the crown of Dahyun’s head. “Do you still want to help Papa look at daycares today, Daehyunie?”
There was a soft noise of confirmation and Jin smiled, delicately reaching to grab his phone without disturbing Daehyun’s position on his chest. He swiped the phone open, flicking back to the webpage he’d been looking at the previous night, his other hand idly rubbing small circles on his son’s back.
Seokjin didn’t love the idea of sending his son off to a daycare. In fact, the thought of leaving his baby in the hands of strangers for a whole day brought intense waves of nerves to his stomach. But his boss was losing his patience with him. He’d originally been understanding after the divorce, allowing Seokjin a large sum of paid leave to reorganize his life and recover. Then he’d allowed him to work from home, and then let him bring Daehyun with him when he was needed in the office. But he was growing tired of having a four-year-old running around the workplace and had mentioned the need to look into a daycare when Seokjin had dropped into his office last week, a weepy Daehyun on his hip.
“All of my kids went through childcare before they started schooling, Seokjin-ah. It’d do him well to socialize with other kids and he can continue his learning in a way he can’t when he’s here and you’re working,” Mr Yang said, peering sympathetically over his glasses at him as Seokjin tried to calm Daehyun down. “Plus, it’s disturbing the team dynamic. I’m not saying you’re never allowed to bring him in, but you need to find a better solution, Seokjin. Soon.”
Seokjin sighed, pursing his lips as he looked at the webpage his brother had sent through in an effort to be supportive. The title blared at him, rainbow block letters reading ‘LGBT+ Friendly Schools and Childcares in Your Area!’ and Jin had to fight his urge to immediately shut the webpage and leave it for another day. At least his brother was trying. It was more than could be said for others.
“Oh, how about this one! It has a big playground, and it’s a big centre so you can meet lots of new friends?” Jin asked, tapping lightly on Daehyun’s back as he inspected the pictures of the daycare.
It was…cold. The images made the place look sterile; too professional, Jin thought, for a childcare. However, it had high ratings and lots of reviews from parents listed. Daehyun wriggled around so he could peer at the phone as Jin swiped through some photos.
“Lots of people?”
Daehyun’s voice was small and timid, immediately making Jin pause in his swiping. “Yeah, bub, it’s one of the biggest centres in the area so there will be lots of other kids there,” Jin explained, watching his son’s face drop into a nervous frown. “Does that scare you?”
Daehyun hesitated, before nodding, grabbing part of Jin’s shirt in a tight fist, “Don’t like lots of people…”
Jin fought the urge to smother Daehyun in kisses and cuddles, instead simply running a soothing hand along his back, “Okay then bub, we’ll find a smaller place! Easy peasy!” He smiled at the boy, attempting to dispel his nerves, and pressed a wet kiss to his forehead that immediately had Daehyun giggling and pushing his face away with a squeal.
Laughing as Daehyun attempted to wipe away the wetness on his forehead, satisfied by the smile on his son’s face, Jin continued scrolling. Flipping past a few centres that didn’t hit the brief, a name finally caught his eye. 'Serendipity Kindergarten and Outside School Hours Care'. He raised an eyebrow, noting the small student body and clicking through to the daycare’s webpage.
Daehyun peered up at the phone as Seokjin scrolled through photos, a soft gasp coming out of his mouth when one photo popped up of an admirable pile of soft toys. Jin chuckled, his son was always consistent at the very least. The photos of this daycare were more comforting to Jin. The building was smaller, the whole daycare only on one floor with a series of conjoined rooms. The walls were mostly an off-white colour, but some of the spaces had beautiful feature walls painted – some of them were bright and exciting colours and patterns, others were muted or pastel colours that evoked a calmer feeling. There were notice boards filled with arts and crafts obviously created by kids, a photo of a child-safe kitchen with a serving of messily decorated cupcakes on show, a comfy reading corner in one of the rooms that was decked out like a massive cubby hole with soft pillows and blankets decorating the floor. The whole place gave feelings of warmth and comfort.
“Papa…”
Jin looked down at Daehyun only to see him staring straight back with a serious expression, eyes brows furrowed cutely over his big brown eyes, and a finger pointed at the phone.
“That one.”
“You like this one?” Seokjin asked, ruffling the kid’s hair with a laugh. “I like it too. Papa will do more reading about it to make sure it’s the right one and maybe we can go check it out later today?”
Daehyun grinned up at him, nodding desperately, “Yes! Yes!”
Jin’s heart warmed impossibly, his smile growing tender as he poked Daehyun’s cheek gently, “Sounds good, bub. Now, do you want breakfast?”
~~
“Tae, we only have one more loaf of bread so please stop burning the toast,” Jimin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
A chorus of giggles sounded from the tables behind him, encouraging the grin that took Taehyung’s lips as he gave a two-fingered mock salute, and turned back to the toaster. Jimin shook his head, fighting the smile on his lips, and turned back to help the kids put spreads on their toast.
It was fairly early in the morning, meaning that there were only four kids who had been dropped off as of yet – their parents mostly working early shifts – and taking part in the daycare’s breakfast routine. Taehyung kept up a steady stream of almost burnt toast and Jimin oversaw the spread table, making sure that the right knives ended up back in their right jars and helping out the youngest kids when needed. It was a comfortable, familiar routine for the kids, but also for Jimin and Taehyung.
“Jimin-ah, how many more pieces?” Taehyung asked, grabbing his boyfriend’s attention as he put down another plate.
Jimin handed the plate to the next kid in line, humming in thought, “Maybe…four?”
“JIIIIIIIMIIIINNN!!”
“Make that eight,” Jimin said with a grin, before turning to see a child running full pelt towards him. “Ah! Minjung, we walk when we’re inside!”
The girl laughed, slowing despite her whine, “But I’m hungry!”
“Minjung-ah, there will still be toast here by the time you walk over!” Taehyung called from the kitchen.
“Where’s Hakkun?” Jimin asked, patting the head of short dark, brown hair as Minjung wrapped her arms around his waist tightly.
“He’s with dad, they were being slowpokes,” she said, pointing back to the door as it swung open again.
This time the door revealed a much taller figure dressed in a soft beige sweater and black slacks, sliver-rimmed glasses placed over his nose, and an apologetic smile was flashed Jimin’s way, “Good morning, Jimin-ssi, Taehyung-ssi.”
“Morning Namjoon-ssi!” Jimin all but sang, grinning. His eyes caught on the small figure by Namjoon’s side, fists tightly clenched along one of his pant legs and fierce pout on his face. “Is Hakkunie having a rough morning?”
Namjoon nodded, patting and ruffling the head of fluffy brown curls and earning a huff from the boy. “He didn’t sleep very well so he’s a bit grumpy this morning.”
Hakkun’s pout only got fiercer at this and Jimin resisted the urge to coo at the small boy, instead patting his sister’s head and gaining her attention back, “Minjung, why don’t you help Hakkunie put your bags away and then bring him over for some breakfast?”
Minjung paused, considering Jimin’s words as she glanced back to her twin, before nodding and skipping back over to where her dad was signing them both in. She poked her brother’s cheek, smiling softly, “Come on, Kunie, let’s put our things away.”
Hakkun took his sister’s offered hand and followed her off to the bag racks while Namjoon finished signing them in. He flashed a thankful smile, “Good luck with them today. I have a feeling it might be a long one.”
Taehyung piped up this time, leaning forwards on the kitchen island with a grin, “Don’t stress, Namjoon-ssi. I’ll put Hakkun to sleep with my amazing storytelling skills and it’ll be smooth sailing from there.”
Namjoon laughed and Jimin’s heart clenched a bit when his dimples appeared again. He’d made his way over to the kitchen area, hands in his pockets as he tilted his head in thought. “I’m sad I’ll miss it. Minjung was telling us all about your pirate story the other day – sounded pretty intense.”
Jimin snorted, speaking in a not-so hushed voice, “Don’t tell the kids, but he basically just ripped off the plot of Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“Hey!”
Namjoon’s laughter peeled out like a bell, silencing Taehyung’s complaint and bringing grins to both of their faces.
“Dad! Dad!”
Minjung had appeared at his feet again, Hakkun being towed along by their joined hands. Namjoon squatted down so he was at eye level with his kids, “What’s up, pumpkin?” He tucked Minjung’s hair behind her ear before poking her cheek gently. Jimin had to actively fight the urge to squeal at how cute the sight was.
“Could we please have panjeon for dinner tonight?” Minsung asked, rocking back and forth on her feet. “Hakkunie really, really wants it and I think it’ll make him happy.”
Namjoon put a hand on his son’s head, ruffling the hair slightly, “You want Yoongi hyung’s panjeon for dinner?”
Hakkun didn’t speak, his lips still tightly pressed together, but nodded furiously. Namjoon hummed, Jimin could tell he was fighting a smile, tapping his chin as if in thought, “I don’t know, hyung did say it was my turn to cook tonight…”
Both kids reacted to the seemingly harmless statement, eyes going wide and immediately shaking their heads, letting out squeals of displeasure.
“Please Dad!” Hakkun finally spoke up, voice desperate.
“Don’t make us eat your cooking again this week!” Minjung added, wide eyes pleading with her father.
Jimin couldn’t help but burst into laughter at this, particularly at the disgruntled look that settled on Namjoon’s face. He pressed a hand to his mouth, desperately hiding his grin from the father of two as he sighed.
“You’d think my cooking was poison or something with the way you two react,” Namjoon huffed, a slight pout taking his lips. “Maybe I really should cook tonight, just as a punishment for you being so mean. Even Jimin-ssi is laughing at me now!”
Jimin flashed a sympathetic smile, “Sorry, Namjoon-ssi, they just really painted a picture about what your cooking must be like,” he laughed.
Namjoon sighed, “I’ll admit it’s not great.” He turned back to his kids, “Alright, I’ll talk to hyung and see if he’ll cook tonight, but you’ve both got to promise to be good for Jimin-ssi and Taehyung-ssi today. Okay?”
He held out both hands, pinky fingers raised, and barely had to wait a second before two small pinkies connected with his own with a chorus of, “We promise!”
“Good,” he said, grinning and he stood. “I’ve got to go now, make sure you line up for some breakfast before Taehyung-ssi closes the kitchen.”
Two pairs of arms were quickly wrapped around his waist and Namjoon wrapped his arms around his kids, squeezing them tight. “I love you, I’ll see you this afternoon, okay?”
“Okay, dad!” Minjung sang, going on her tiptoes to press a kiss to her father’s cheek before pulling Hakkun away towards the kitchen.
Namjoon stood, flashing a smile and a brief wave to Jimin and Taehyung, “See you this afternoon!”
Jimin waved enthusiastically, “Have a good day, Namjoon-ssi.”
The door swung shut behind Namjoon and Jimin had to actively hold himself back from fanning his cheeks. He might have a crush on the man but he could not let that information slip out to any of the kids. Instead, he turned to where the twins had joined the breakfast line, plates in hands and chatting excitedly about what they planned on doing today. He smiled as he watched Minjung slowly getting her brother to warm up, his smile growing at the mention of playing with the jewelry-making kit the daycare had recently gotten.
“Jimin-ssi?”
He turned at his name, smiling softly as one of the first graders stood from the food tables and went to clean her dish in the wash basket, her glasses slipping down her nose a bit. “What’s up, Harin?” She was one of their quieter kids, a bit shy but ridiculously smart already for her age.
She stacked her dish on the drying rack, “Can I go read in the quiet corner before Taehyung-ssi takes us down to school?”
Jimin nodded, “Absolutely you can. I brought in a few new books today, do you want me to show you?”
~~
Taehyung cast his eyes around the courtyard, mentally marking a checklist of happy children sitting in groups eating their lunches, as he munched on his own kimbap.
The majority of the kids registered at Serendipity were students from the primary school they were partnered with who came along for before and after school care – usually because their parents were working long hours or racing around after other kids. This meant that the group of kindergarteners the daycare took care of was actually fairly small, only between ten and fifteen kids depending on the day all of whom were around four or five years old.
This led to the daycare shifts being fairly easy, filled with laughter, colouring, storybooks, and simple games to keep their youngest kids entertained and learning basic skills. Most days Jimin and Taehyung took the daycare shifts together, only having extra staff in the mornings and afternoons during the school term. The daycare ran like a well-oiled machine, or at least, as well as a machine could run when taking care of fifteen small, spontaneous and personality-filled tiny humans.
“E-excuse me, T-Taehyung-ssi?”
Taehyung swallowed his mouthful, squatting down to the pouty four-year-old’s height, noting the red rimmed eyes and rounded shoulders. “What’s wrong, Jeongin?”
The child’s lower lip started quivering dangerously, and Taehyung put a soft hand on the kid’s head, patting the soft hair gently as Jeongin spoke, his voice barely above a mumble, “I d-dropped my f-food…”
The boy cast his eyes over to the far corner of the courtyard and Taehyung followed his gaze, frowning at the collection of noodles that had somehow ended up on the concrete. He sighed, standing, “Well, that was a bit silly, wasn’t it Jeonginie?” he said jokingly, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Do you have any other food left?”
Jeongin shook his head, heaving a deep breath and looking down at his hands, “I ated it all earlier.”
Taehyung hummed, nodding in understanding, “Do you want to go see if Jimin can get you something from the kitchen?”
“Y-yes, please,” Jeongin reached forwards, gripping Taehyung’s hand with little sticky fingers.
“Okay, he’s just in the office, can you get a buddy and go see him? I have to stay out here with the other kids,” Taehyung explained, giving the small hand a little squeeze. “Maybe ask if Yongbok will go with you?”
The small boy nodded, already looking a bit calmer, and quickly ran over to where his friend was sitting to drag him inside to find Jimin. Taehyung smiled, watching the boys run off hand in hand, before turning back to watch the other kids.
“Taehyung! Taehyung!”
He held back his smile as he watched Minjung run over to him, dragging her brother along with a massive grin on her face.
“Minjung, why are you dragging your brother around? You’re both supposed to be sitting calmly eating your lunch,” he said, his hands on his hips as he raised his eyebrow at them.
They both giggled, Hakkun wrapping his arms around his sister and hooking his chin over her shoulder as he peered up at Taehyung with big brown eyes, “Minjungie had something to tell you!”
She nodded violently, her fringe flopping dramatically with the movement, and Taehyung couldn’t hold his own giggle this time. They weren’t technically meant to have favorites as staff, but the mischievous twins were definitely high up on Taehyung’s list. “Okay, hit me with it then.”
“Dad said that he will take us to the beach this weekend to see the baby crabs and Uncle Yoo will come and we’ll aaaaaall get ice creams and maybe swim and Dad said that we can get McDonalds on the way back and that we can stay up late and listen to Uncle Yoo’s new song!” Minjung rambled excitedly, not pausing to breathe as she bounced up and down.
Taehyung whistled, nodding in approval, “Wow, that sounds like a pretty fun weekend, I’m jealous.”
Hakkun gasped, eyes going wide, “You should come!”
“Ah, Hakkunie, as much as I would love to come, you’re going to have your hands full taking care of Minjungie, your dad, and Yoongi-ssi,” he laughed, putting a hand on the small boy’s head. “You’ve got to make sure you keep them all out of trouble, right?”
“Right!”
Taehyung grinned, tapping the top of his head lightly, “I knew I could trust you. Now, you both need to go sit down and eat your lunch now, please.”
The twins both grinned, nodding, and ran back over to where they’d been sitting.
~~
Seokjin gripped Daehyun’s hand tightly. “Now, what do we do before we cross the road?”
“Look right, then left, then right again!” Daehyun cheered out, his voice squeaking slightly with his excitement.
“Exactly!” Jin cheered back. “Now, can you show me?”
Daehyun nodded fiercely and checked the road just as he described. Seokjin glanced as well, just to be safe despite it being a dead-end road in the middle of a weekday, and grinned down at his son when he got the affirmative, “It’s safe, Papa!”
“Nice work, Daehyunie,” he congratulated as they stepped off the curb, quickly crossing the road towards the front gate of the daycare.
It was a small building, a simple one-story structure with big windows shaded by awnings and walls an aged yellowish colour. It was clearly well-loved and possibly in need of a new paint job. Over the front door a large sign read Serendipity, written in big bubble letters. Each letter was filled with small drawings following different themes such as space, the jungle, and school - all the pictures were clearly drawn by children. The door was a pastel, lavender purple, setting it clearly apart from the aged walls.
“Okay, bug, are you ready?” Seokjin asked as they walked towards the front door, gently squeezing his son's hand. It was a silly question, really. The four-year-old was practically vibrating with excitement, his eyes shining as he took in the purple door, mumbling a soft ‘Yes!’ as his brain tried to process all the new sights.
Seokjin laughed quietly to himself, pulling open the door and stepping through. The room was filled with quiet chatter and laughter, a few kids spread around in small groups sitting at tables or on the floor doing different activities. They were all young kids, he assumed all kindergarteners, and he spotted a staff member sitting at one table colouring with a couple of kids.
The man looked up at the sound of the door and immediately broke into a grin, standing and heading towards them. He was young, most likely a few years younger than Seokjin himself. He had soft, caramel blonde hair, round, friendly cheeks, and a bright smile with pretty pink lips that immediately put Seokjin at ease. He wore a staff shirt – a black polo with lavender detailing that matched the front door, and the school’s name on the right side of the chest – and delicate silver earrings hung from his ears.
“Welcome!” the man said, bowing to them as he came closer, “You must be Seokjin-ssi. I’m Park Jimin, we spoke on the phone earlier.”
Seokjin nodded, bowing, “Nice to meet you, Jimin-ssi. Thanks for letting us come have a look today.”
“Not a problem at all,” Jimin waved his hand in dismissal, before squatting down and grinning at the child who was currently hiding slightly behind one of Seokjin’s legs. “And you, must be Daehyun! Am I right?”
Seokjin watched as Daehyun nodded slightly, his eyes big and curious as he took Jimin in. “Why don’t you say hello, bug?” he prompted, also bending down to his son’s height and ruffling his hair a little.
Daehyun nibbled at his lip for a second, observing Jimin, before he gave a small wave, “Nice to meet you.” His speech was slightly slurred as he barely opened his mouth to speak, but Seokjin gave him a one-armed cuddle nonetheless, and he received a large grin and returned wave from Jimin.
“Nice to meet you too, Daehyun. Do you want to have a look around with Dad and me?”
This time the response was fast, a quick feverish nod and glance to Seokjin with glistening eyes, a silent question of Can we?
Seokjin smiled, standing again and taking Daehyun’s hand, “I think we’d love that, thank you Jimin-ssi.”
Jimin grinned, jumping back to his feet with a clap of his hands, “Perfect! Well, first of all, welcome to Serendipity!” He turned with a flourish, gesturing to the room behind him. The couple of children who Jimin had been sitting with were listening and let out a chorus of giggles at the man’s dramatics. He sent them a bright smile before turning back to Seokjin, “I’m one of the co-owners and coordinators; Taehyung, who you’ll meet a bit later is the other. We have a few other staff for the before and after school sessions and vacation care.”
He gestured to the room again and Seokjin took it in properly for the first time. It was a large space with linoleum floors and plain walls absolutely covered with posters, children’s art, informative signs, and tapestries. There were sections of wall devoted to different themes – the ocean, space, music, nature and landscapes, books, and even history. One that caught Seokjin’s eye was the space with the word IDENTITY over the top in big bubble letters, a smaller Who am I? written in the same lettering on a sheet of paper underneath. There was a large map on the wall with pins stuck in it holding up photos of kids and cities, surrounded by small print outs of different country flags, each with a little name tag under it. Next to the map was a series of small canvases, each painted with a different pride flag. His breath caught in his throat at the sight, eyes wide. Each flag represented a different subset of the wider LGBT+ community. He recognized the rainbow pride flag, next to the lesbian flag and the trans flag, but there were others that he didn’t recognise, different arrays of colours that brought questions to his lips and a strange warmth to his chest. Each flag had a little card under it with a bit of text, too far for him to read right now, but he assumed they each explained what the flags were.
A string of text lay below the map and flags, written in beautiful sloped writing – ‘All are home at Serendipity!’.
Something caught in Jin’s throat. Jimin must’ve noticed his distraction, eyes moving towards the wall and a cautious smile taking his lips.
“That’s our identity wall. It was the kids’ idea,” Jimin explained, earning a surprised look from Seokjin. He nodded, “We have families from all over, as you can see, and a lot of our families are of different sizes and shapes. It’s part of our core values that we welcome everyone here, and we celebrate our differences. The kids created the flag canvases during pride month last year and wanted us to display them on the wall.”
Seokjin tried to compose himself, nodding at Jimin’s words and looking back to the wall, Daehyun’s small hands gripped into his pant leg. The blonde paused and Jin could feel curious eyes on him, but thankfully Jimin didn’t push. He simply turned and continued to explain the room, leading them as they walked around the space.
“As you can see, along the back wall here, we have all our crafts and activities. The kids are pretty much welcome to come and grab whatever they want to use as long as they put it away neatly afterward. Daehyun,” Jimin crouched down to Daehyun’s height, his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his palms, “do you like making things?”
Seokjin watched fondly as Daehyun nodded slowly, coming out from behind his leg to stand slightly closer to Jimin and all the craft boxes, watching with wide eyes.
“Well, whenever you’re here if you want to make something you can come see me and we can find what you need to make it, okay? We can make jewelry, or draw pictures, or even build things with the Lego – anything you can imagine!” Jimin said, gesturing to the shelves of supplies.
Daehyun broke into a grin and Seokjin’s heart positively melted. Jimin stood again and Daehyun cautiously reached forwards, his small hand opening and closing. Jin had to fight the urge to coo, forcing himself just to watch as Jimin’s face lit up and he took Daehyun’s hand in his with a tender smile.
“Do you want to come see where the others are, Daehyunie? Taetae is doing storytime,” Jimin said, leading them towards the end of the room. It was an area Seokjin hadn’t noticed earlier that was separated from the rest of the space by large glass doors, one of which was propped open with a small, weighted plush tiger.
The lights in the room were dimmed, though enough lighting was provided by the strings of fairy lights that decorated the ceiling like stars. The floor was littered with small children nestled in blankets and pillows. Some were lying down, having fallen asleep, but others were sitting, eyes laser-focused on the man who sat at the front of the room, holding a book and reading aloud. His voice was deep and smooth, lilting playfully as he read the book, so warm that Jin could easily see how the kids had drifted off while listening to him. One of the kids, a small boy with dark fluffy hair, had actually fallen asleep with his head rested on one of Taehyung’s legs, his small body curled up around what looked like a plush toy of a koala.
“That’s Taehyung,” Jimin explained in a hushed voice, smiling fondly at the sight.
Seokjin admired the man, silently impressed at the way he commanded the children’s attention, clearly whisking them into a magical world with his words. Taehyung looked young too, similarly to Jimin, and had a head of fluffy brown curls that sat low over bright, happy eyes. He wore the same staff shirt as Jimin but had a soft brown cardigan pulled around his shoulders too. He glanced up, having heard Jimin’s voice, and flashed them a bright, boxy smile, giving a small wave, and Seokjin noticed multiple bracelets around his wrists made with cheap charms and gems. Taehyung gave them a wink before continuing with the story, eyes darting over the group of kids as he spoke, eyebrows wiggling as he described the adventures of a mischievous rabbit.
They watched for a bit, Daehyun getting drawn into Taehyung’s story with wide eyes before Jimin directed them away. Once they were far enough to not disturb the group, he said, “As you can see, it’s a pretty small group during the days when we just have the kindergarteners. You might've seen online, but we’re partnered with the school next door, so before and after classes some kids come from there if they have guardians who can’t pick them up until later. That’s when more of our staff sometimes comes in too, depending on how many kids we’re expecting.”
Jimin directed them around the rest of the childcare while continuing to go through how the place ran, revealing a courtyard and a small garden filled with vegetables and fruits as well as beautiful flowers that Jimin revealed the kids’ helped to care for, and a small playground with swings, monkey bars and slides that Daehyun’s eyes absolutely lit up at. They eventually ended back in the main room, Jimin with a large grin on his lips and Seokjin with an excitable Daehyun on his hip.
“Thank you for showing us around, Jimin-ssi,” Seokjin grinned, bowing slightly in thanks before poking Daehyun’s tummy softly. “What do you think, bug? Do you like it here?”
Daehyun giggled, wrapping his arms around Jin’s neck, his grin bright and cheesy as he nodded franticly, “Yes!”
Jimin giggled, hands pressed to his cheeks, clearly endeared as Daehyun continued nodding and wriggling happily in Jin’s arms, “Wow, I’m going to have to get used to just how cute you are, aren’t I?”
Seokjin couldn’t help his laugh, throwing his head back, pulling Daehyun in for a cuddle before tickling him gently, “Yeah, he’s pretty adorable.” He pressed a wet and sloppy kiss to Daehyun’s cheek, grinning as his son squealed and giggled, attempting to shove his face away.
Jimin laughed, his eyes becoming squinted, practically disappearing in the flushed rounds of his cheeks as his grin lit up. He tilted his head, a mischievous gilt in his eyes, “I would say he gets it from his dad.”
Seokjin’s eyes widened and he felt his cheeks glow, earning another delightful peal of giggles from Jimin, and he ducked his head. “Ah, thank you…”
“Thank you for coming along, Seokjin-ssi,” Jimin continued, and Jin was grateful for the moment to pull himself together. “I hope we’ll see Daehyunie and yourself back soon. I’ll email through our enrolment forms and processes, please give us a call if you have any questions or problems at all.”
Seokjin looked up to see Jimin in a deep bow before he popped back up with a fond smile. Seokjin bowed in return, quickly wishing him well and ducking out of the building with Daehyun still on his hip, wriggling around to wave excitedly at Jimin over Jin’s shoulder.
When they were settled back in the car, Daehyun safely tucked into his booster seat and Jin making his way back towards home, he glanced in the rearview mirror at his son. “You really like it there, don’t you bug?”
Daehyun’s beaming grin was all he needed to see. A wash of relief hit him at finally having a solution that would keep his son smiling.