SERIES I: DREAM DAYCARE

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renjun woke up bright eyed and bushy tail, ready for his first day coming back to work at the daycare he's grown to love over the years. he's been working at dream daycare for maybe two years already, starting when he was a senior in high school in need of a job to hold up his broke ass.

he was the first out of the seven to sign up and get a spot at the daycare. being there first has some benefits like getting bossing rights and having already known some kids beforehand. all in all, it's good for renjun, the others not so much...well, at least in his opinion.

being the person to pretty much open up the place for the day, renjun made sure each classroom was ready for a new year. each year there would be a new batch of kids, so there were new relationships to be built as well. renjun didn't mind it that much, though he does have some kids that he wishes could stay in his class forever.

was this how it felt like being a parent?

renjun shook off the thought, walking towards his own classroom after checking up on the others. it was the first day so he would be expecting a lot of crying children who would have an iron grip on their parents or guardians. oh, but he has quite the solution to that.

thanks to his smaller, more dainty stature, kids just seem more comfortable around him. wow, he'd never thought his height was something he'd brag about. most of the time, he was teased for it.

guess he was just made for this field. ha, suck on it fucking beanstalks, he cursed, a victory smirk directed to no one in particular.

soon enough, the other boys came with whatever they needed to wake themselves up. it was obvious most of them fucked up their sleep schedules during the summer, having probably slept at around five or six in the morning; give or take.

the most energetic had to be chenle and jaemin. chenle was just naturally hyper, so renjun didn't have much problem with deciphering his reason for being so peppy. jaemin on the other hand had his americano from hell to help him cope with his sleep deprivation. he still didn't know how the boy drinks that wretched drink without cringing at the overly bitter taste.

"new year, new me!" donghyuck announced, strutting into the teacher's lounge as if he were walking across the red carpet.

everyone, including renjun, had migrated to the teacher's lounge to just hang a bit before the kids arrived. donghyuck being donghyuck, arrived fashionably late and still managed to somewhat not look like a total mess.

"it's still the same year hyuck, wrong day buddy." jeno deadpanned, only to have donghyuck completely brushing him off and plopping himself right on an unsuspecting mark's lap.

a shameless man he is.

mark's eyes widened at the sudden weight on his lap, but got comfortable a few seconds later and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist while resting his chin on his shoulder.

"i do not need to see this first thing in the morning." jisung muttered, covering his virgin eyes from the unholy sight in front of him.

"shut up, you act like chenle doesn't do that to you all the time." the tanned male retorted.

"it's different. at least we look cute."

"you really trying to start a fight at the beginning of the year like this huh—" before donghyuck could roll up the sleeves of his sweater and swing at the youngest, renjun intervened.

"the kids haven't even arrived yet, and y'all already trying to throw hands." disappointing coated his words as he shook his head, "i knew i shouldn't have told kun that he could trust you guys. my good words going down the drain for no reason."

donghyuck was about to say something, but was cut off with jeno's mention of the kids that should be here at any moment now.

"we'll continue this later."

"like there is anything to continue."

"bi—"

"guys! just save it for later!"

-🐝-

remember when renjun said he was good with children? well, let's retract that statement real quick.

"bUT I DON' WANNA!! TEACHER LOOKS LIKE A MEANIE AAAAAHHH!!" ah, the sweet sound of high pitched screeching at ass o'clock in the morning. just lovely.

renjun felt really hopeless at the moment because he's tried every trick in the book already. but to no avail, the kid just didn't wanna. the kid's mother looked at him apologetically, while he was this (👌) close to giving up. that was until jaemin came in; originally, he was there to ask for some extra markers, but here he was, getting iron gripped onto by a four year old blabbing things about his cotton candy looking hair.

the chinese male became relieved at the kid's lack of screeching, but then stupidly annoyed because how the fuck did jaemin calm a kid down with the color of his hair? it wasn't even intentional!

"your hair is very very pretty! like...uhmmm...cotton candy!" the kid, named taeho, said pointing up at jaemin's pink hair.

"awe, thank you. i think your hair is very pretty as well." jaemin smiles gently at the tiny human, patting his fluffy locks.

renjun was annoyed to say the least. he deemed this very unfair, that one of his kids had already decided to betray him for the pink haired flirt. no taste indeed, but who was he to say that?

the mother silently thanked renjun for trying and told him to send jaemin her thanks as well, before she quickly made her way out. after calming the kid down and letting him run off to join the other's and walked over to renjun with that stupid shit eating grin on his face. renjun wanted to slap him.

"i guess your time as the child-whisperer ended, because a new child-whisperer has appeared in the flesh." jaemin stated smugly, leaning on renjun's desk.

"you're lucky we're surrounding by children, because if we weren't i'd punch you in the face right now."

"i'm hoping you'll use your lips then." with a quick wink, that effected renjun way more than it should've, he then turned around and left the room; completely forgetting to get the markers he'd originally came for.

(he came back a couple minutes later because of jeno scolding him about how flirting on the job was not allowed. especially in front of children. keeping it pg kiddos.)

renjun was embarrassed enough by his failure to help calm down the kid, and he just had to get dragged even more when one of the little girls pointed out his crimson colored cheeks.

"it's just really hot in here heejin."

"but it's not hot teacher." she cocked her head to the side, brows knitted together in confusion.

"we-well it is for me. let's go a continue decorating your name tag yeah?"

"okay!"

breathing out a sigh of relief, renjun followed the little girl slightly grinning at the way her little pigtails were bouncing with every skip she took. children were adorable when they weren't throwing insane tantrums or being the literal spawns of the devil, but that didn't let his love of children deter one bit. besides, he was a naive kid once too.

-🐝-

mark had totally forgot that his little sister (aka the literal spawn of satan) was going to be assigned to his and donghyuck's class. what makes the situation worse is that she has this 'undying' love for his boyfriend. meaning: if he shows in any way that he was attracted to the boy in front of her, she'd be ready to rain hell on his poor soul. he already has enough of that when he comes to visit or stay over at his parent's house, he really did not need the same at work of all things.

donghyuck on the other hand, thought quite the opposite. he thought mark's little sister was an angel. on the many occasions he'd met the girl, she'd been nothing but wonderful towards him. giving his pecks on the cheek, hugging him like he was a big ol' teddy bear, dragging him over to play with her dolls—she was like his own little sister. he knew about the small crush the kid harbored for him, but he just thought of it as her favoring him over mark.

this earns him bragging rights, but mark couldn't really care less. as long as she doesn't keep donghyuck for long and he gets his 'donghyuck time', he'll be fine. little did mark know, this year was going to be one big fat sibling rivalry.

"hyuckie!" vee, mark's little sister, screamed in delight as she ran towards the honey skinned teacher. her oversized big powerpuff girls backpack bounced awkwardly on her back, but she was way too excited to see her favorite person in the world to care much.

donghyuck enveloped her in a cozy bear hug, smiling against the girl's black locks. her giggles were a bit muffled from her stuffing her face into donghyuck's chest, but that didn't stop her overflowing joy.

mark stared skeptically at the sight. sure, it was cute, but how cute can it be when your boyfriend was cradling the spawn of satan in his arms? okay, maybe he was exaggerating a bit, and was also a bit jealous.

even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, he loved his little sister unconditionally. sometimes he wished she would run to him like that instead of kicking him in the shins, then proceed to carry on with her hasty escape. sigh, the love-hate sibling dynamic really got mark's mind in a twist.

not only that, donghyuck was smiling so brightly, he swore he was melting right then and there.

"vee, go hang up your backpack and join the other kids." mark instructed, not meaning to sound cold or anything, but he guessed it came out that way with how vee was glaring at him with a pout on her face.

"you're always so mean, not letting me hug hyuckie and keeping him all to yourself." she left with a swift turn and an exaggerated harrumph before marching off to the cubbies to hang up her backpack.

he turned back to donghyuck and was met with a disappointed look, "i thought you said you were going to work on that mark."

"i am! i swear it's not just me, she's ten times worse when you're not around." mark whines, acting more of a kid than his little sister who's practically five years of age.

"you say that like i've never seen her devilish ways." the elder's eyes bulged out at that.

"so you know about that, but you still treat her as if she's a godsend?" he spluttered out, incredulous.

"what? it's cute seeing jealous mark staring at our cute bonding moments. besides, i get a clingy mark right after she leaves." donghyuck's tone was too casual for mark not to get annoyed. yet again, donghyuck's mischievous ways were showing and he didn't know whether to choke him or stare fondly.

he'd decide later when they were back at home.

"you're worse than her."

"but you still love me and that's all that matters!" donghyuck singsonged, sending mark a flying kiss then going off the greet a parent and their kid that just arrived.

gosh, mark hated when donghyuck was right.

-🐝-

jaemin was having the time of his life playing around with the plethora of kids surrounding him. they were currently playing duck duck goose on the carpet placed in the center of their garden themed room. one of the kids were waddling around on the outside, patting everyone's head while voicing out 'duck'.

everyone was waiting for him to shout goose. even jaemim was kind of on his toes, ready to book it if the title ever lands on him. what? he was a competitive soul.

"GOOSE!" jeno was chosen.

he went easy on the little one, letting him run till he rounded back to jeno's spot, swiftly sitting himself down. jeno groaned in defeat, making the kids giggle at his loss.

with a little pout, he went around tapping each kid's head, chanting duck with every tap.

jaemin had a sneaking suspicion that jeno was going to pick him, so he readied himself the closer jeno got to him.

he was right of course, because once jeno yelled goose while his hand was placed on his head, he stood up almost immediately. the chase was quick, with jaemin succeeding in catching jeno before he could sit.

the latter whined about jaemin cheating and trying to get the kids to be on his side. not to mention the amount of aegyo he used.

if renjun were here, he'd probably drop kick the boy with no hesitation, but luckily it was jaemin who absolutely adored it when it wasn't being so overdone that is. just the shy blush that paints his cheeks after the act reminds jaemin how cute jeno was, and how undeniably in love he was with the latter.

"i think teacher nana played fair!" one kid next to jaemin claimed, raising her small hand in the air.

jaemin gave her a grateful smile, resulting her to blush and shy away from his gaze. "at least somebody supports me. i can't believe my nono decided to betray me like this, oh the treachery." he placed the back of his hand against his forehead, as if he was in a tragedy and he was saying his final words before death came for him. dramatic indeed.

jeno gave jaemin a blank stare while half of the kids wondered what in the ever fuck was 'treachery'. big boy words, a problem each and every kid has.

"i-i won't bethray you teacher nana!" the girl, jinri, supplies, her little hands clutches into determined fists.

cute, jaemin thought to himself, looking at the girl fondly and noting the tiny lisp she had.

"i know you won't jinri. i'm just kind of sad teacher jeno isn't like you." the other kids giggled at the incredulous look on jeno's face when jaemin made eye contact with him. mischief was all he saw in his eyes, and he just knew jaemin had something planned.

it was rightfully so that he'd be afraid, as the last time he was given that look, he got drenched in water as jaemin ran away with his water gun cackling like a madman.

yet, he still finds that part of him endearing.

jeno's too whipped.

-🐝-

the kids were taking a nap in class bubbles, meaning chenle and jisung were on a break of sorts. since their rooms were kind of reset throughout the summer, the two were in charge to redecorate it once again for the new year.

chenle and jisung were sitting at their conjoined desks (chenle had recommended the idea because one: annoying jisung is his job and two: it made annoying jisung much easier), they had laminated cut outs of sea creatures scattered around their desk, making it more messier than usual. since the light was dimmed down for the kids, they used their computer light to see what they were doing.

chenle, being true to his blood, was cutting off the excess plastic off of a cartoon baby dolphin. while jisung, was doing a chick. yes, you read right; a chick.

they had a small argument about jisung's choice of 'sea creatures' before which when a little something like this:

"if mingming can swim, who said polly can't?!" (yes, he named the 2d chick polly.)

"mingming is a duck jisung! a duck!"

"and why does that matter? they're both birds!"

"thAT DOESN'T MEAN DIDDLY SQUAT. DO YOU SEE A CHICK WADDLING DOWN UNDER WITH THE COLOSSAL SQUID? I THINK NOT."

"WHO SAID POLLY CAN'T TRY? I'M SURE SHE'LL BE GREAT FRIENDS WITH THAT COLOSSAL SQUID. YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THAT YOU'RE NOT AS CAPABLE AS HER."

it ended with chenle officially given up, while a bubbly jisung hummed a joyful tune, bragging about how he got to keep his underwater chick. sigh, the things he has to endure on a daily basis.

a hiss of pain caught chenle off guard, causing him to slightly cut into his dolphin. he didn't have much time to frown upon the mishap before he turned to see jisung; finger in his mouth and tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

"i cuth mythelf." jisung whispers to the best of his ability, as one of his fingers were stuck in his mouth.

the elder male sighed lightly, reminded of the fact that jisung was still indeed a baby. he put down his materials and went through the drawer on his side of the desk, taking out a pack of care bear bandaids and a packet of alcohol wipes.

"out." chenle directs, gesturing for the boy to take his finger out of his mouth so he could tend to the cut.

jisung jutted his spit coated finger chenle's way, making the elder's face scrunch up in disgust as he tried to find a tissue to wipe the spit off.

while chenle was gently patting his spit off, he couldn't help but think how genuinely nice chenle was. they're usually bantering and playing around as kids would, but moments like this? when mature chenle takes the wheel, jisung feels like he's about to implode.

he was brought of his daze when the stinging sensation of the alcohol hit his opened wound. hissing as the contact, he bit his bottom lip to suppress anything his vocal chords decide to spit out.

it wasn't in his best interest to screech in the middle of silent room full of sleeping children. yeah, that's a big no-no for sure.

chenle looked up for a moment and god did he feel like the worst human being on earth. jisung's brows knitted together and bottom lip tucked in between his teeth, obviously in pain.

"how did you even cut yourself ji?"

"i was zoning out and i guess i accidentally ran the blade into my finger." jisung explained, an embarrassed flush across his cheeks.

"of course. just pay attention next time yeah? i don't anything worse than this to happen to you." the raw concern in chenle's eyes made jisung's heart swell.

he keeps of telling himself that he'll fess up and confess his undying feelings for chenle already, but here he is; on the verge of tears while chenle wraps a blue care bears band aid around his finger.

jisung breath caught up in his throat when chenle's lips made contact with his wrapped up finger.

"there, now it's gonna heal quickly and painlessly." a bright smile rested on the latter's face, proud of his first aid abilities.

"t-thanks lele."

"mhm, no problem. now let's get back to work before the kids wake up."

"ew, you make it sound like we're married or something."

"ew yourself you big baby. besides, it's not like you can resist the zhong chenle charm."

oh, he was spot on alright.

-🌈-

yup. i'm doing this, and no one can stop me. the halloween special should be posted shortly :)