Seonghwa's morning ascended upon him in the form of a series of unfortunate events. Right away, his alarm didn't sound when it was supposed to, and he woke to Wooyoung scrambling around in bed when he awoke. One peek at the clock told them that it had run out of batteries overnight. According to Seonghwa's phone, Wooyoung was already an hour late into when he was expected at kindergarten, and Seonghwa had a new message from Yunho.

Hey, will you bring the rascal over today? The room seems quiet without him.

Seonghwa barely had the time to smile about Yunho's indirect question if he was fine. Soon, his mind was on overdrive as he ushered Wooyoung to the bathroom and typed out a response that they would be late at the speed of lightning. All the while, he tried to concentrate his hearing on their surroundings, too, to find out what their resident evil was doing at the moment. The task of harbouring him caused Seonghwa a headache already in the early morning when he speedran the task of brushing his teeth. Wooyoung at his side still blearily blinked at the light. He had the imprints of Seonghwa's sheets on his face and looked adorably ruffled.

His phone peeped again while Seonghwa tried to tame his son's unruly hair with his toothbrush still wedged between his teeth.

"Daaad, I want a ponytail!"

Seonghwa spat the toothpaste including the brush into the sink to deal with later. With a strained smile, he checked on the new message while Wooyoung wriggled in his arms.

Alright, drive carefully. See you soon :)

Wooyoung had begun to dance to some children's song that had penguins sing about their ponytails. Clumsily, he copied their dance movements with his arms while Seonghwa tightened his ponytail with as much caution as possible. As soon as he was done, Wooyoung ran off on his short little legs to pick out his clothes.

A few incidents of Wooyoung wanting to wear what he desperately could not wear in the cooling days of autumn later, both of them emerged dressed and ready. On his way out, Seonghwa picked up his wallet and keys. He peeked into the living room while Wooyoung - still singing - struggled with his shoes.

Hongjoong sat there on the couch and mindlessly stared at the TV. A documentary report about whales played on the screen, and he barely ripped his eyes away from it to glance at the source of the commotion. Seonghwa tried his best smile when their gazes met.

"I'll bring the kid to kindergarten. If you haven't made a shopping list yet, please do, then I will take care of that once I'm back. Cereal is in the cupboard above the sink."

Hongjoong graced him with a mere nod before he continued to focus on his whales. Huffing at his nonchalance and ease, Seonghwa hurried to put on his shoes, too. Wooyoung already bounced on the spot with impatience.

Upon discovering his shoes in the rack where they usually stood neatly together, Seonghwa audibly gasped in shock. In his hurry yesterday, he put his left shoe on the right and the right shoe to the left side of the pair. Albeit a minor mistake, the unsatisfactory image ruined his morning even more. He gravely put them in the correct position in front of his feet. A few minutes later, they left the house in Hongjoong's care. Not Seonghwa's favourite decision, but there was no other option.

The drive to the kindergarten took a mere fifteen minutes. Yet, it was only once his car sputtered and groaned after ten minutes of drive that Seonghwa remembered he had needed to fuel up before they left. He had even left a reminder somewhere in his mind to drive to the filling station in the other direction first thing in the morning. The appearance of a certain demon had cancelled all his plans.

With a deep sigh, Seonghwa ran his fingers through his hair. They would make it until the kindergarten, but once they were there, he would need to take the bus back, get a canister of benzine and then return to his car. He bet that in that time, Hongjoong also nearly starved of hunger.

His day was a mess. An evil migraine already made its way inside his head to add to the stress.

Seonghwa pulled up on his favourite parking spot underneath a mighty acorn tree that had begun to spread its multicoloured leaves all over the sidewalk already. Before he clambered out of his seat, Wooyoung snatched the key from Seonghwa. It had become a custom for the two of them that if Seonghwa dropped his son off somewhere, Wooyoung would get the key until he was ready to be left alone. Usually, it didn't take long since he came here daily and soon let his dad go to play with his friends. Still, Seonghwa had wanted to introduce it in their family as a symbol that he wasn't going anywhere without Wooyoung being confident in his decision.

With the jingling key in his hands, Wooyoung and his little backpack (with Toothless on it, of course) skipped in front of Seonghwa as they went through the colourfully decorated entrance door. Immediately, Wooyoung changed into his slippers and put his yellow raincoat on the hanger with his name on it. Seonghwa smiled about how orderly he was as he followed him further inside.

The key was still pressed tightly against Wooyoung's chest when he shyly knocked on the door to the big playroom. At this time of the day, the teachers usually arranged some games and dances with them that required physical activity. Seonghwa felt bad to interrupt, but thankfully the music didn't stop. Instead, an adult's steps came closer, and seconds later, Yunho peeked through the door. At the sight of the two of them, his face lit up in a sunny grin.

"Oh, hey, Wooyoung! Come on in, Yeonjun and Changbin nearly died doing jumping jacks without you!" His gentle voice fit his general soft appearance of a fluffy light blue sweater and beige pants. As usual, he looked like the most children-friendly, tallest giant Seonghwa knew.

Wooyoung ran in immediately and greeted his friends with a screech. They screeched back at him.

As squirrels did.

Yunho's searching gaze found Seonghwa. With the music still thumping in the background and the two girls who also worked here ordering the kids around like an own small army of minions, he looked him up and down.

Self-conscious, Seonghwa fixed his collar. Inwardly, he cursed himself when he noticed it had indeed been twisted at one point.

Wordlessly, Yunho stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him quietly. They could do for a moment without him. Then, with the expression of a kind and doting golden retriever, he opened his arms to offer his large body.

"You look as if you could need a hug."

Relief flooded Seonghwa once the playful and sweet Yunho returned. That man could be scary when serious.

Without a moment of hesitation, Seonghwa accepted his warm embrace. Yunho's chest was the best chest to lean against, and he always smelled wonderfully of the honey soap the kindergarten used. If he had to die somewhere one day, Seonghwa would like it to be right here in this man's arms.

Yunho leaned his cheek onto Seonghwa's head as he slowly walked them further down the corridor. The quieter it got because of the distance they created from the door, the more Seonghwa's stress eased. The rushing of his blood, as well as the pain in his head, quietened down when Yunho poured his warmth and empathy into Seonghwa's anxious mind.

"Had a bad start into the day?"

Seonghwa hummed into his chest, never letting go of his grip around the man's waist. Through the soft fabric of the sweater, Yunho's body heat seeped into his hands.

"Too much going on. The alarm didn't work, then my shoes were out of order, and the car ran out of fuel right when I pulled up here. I'll probably call the service over that. God, I didn't even start the day yet."

Seonghwa wanted to hit his head against the wall. He refrained from it only because it meant that he would have to pull away from Yunho. Yet, he couldn't help the protesting noise that escaped him when Yunho separated from him. At first, the man faltered, worried that he had hurt him, but once he detected the blush on Seonghwa's cheeks, he smiled anew. His hands rubbed Seonghwa's shoulders and arms comfortingly.

"I can drive you home; the building won't burn down if I'm gone for a while."

Automatically, Seonghwa shook his head.

"No, Wooyoung is here now, you have to take care. Remember when he attempted to lit that pineapple on fire? He's a safety hazard."

With a chuckle, Yunho shook his head. He already reached for his coat when Seonghwa still tried to protest against him. But the tall man with the peachy orange hair was like an immovable object. In the end, Seonghwa was the one having to hurry since he didn't want to hold up Yunho and his chivalry for longer than necessary.

A few minutes later, they sat in Yunho's car once the man had thrown his bag onto the back seat to make room for Seonghwa. Remorse about having bothered Yunho filled his chest as Seonghwa idly massaged his knees.

Yunho, on the other hand, remained a smiling and happy man.

"You do remember to take breaks, right? I have your address, if my Seonghwa-is-doing-bad-detector ever goes off, then be ready to get smothered with chocolates, blankets and cuddles for the whole weekend. You don't want that, do you?"

There was no way Seonghwa could fight the smile that tugged on his lips. The light mood eased his nerves and had him relax onto his heated seat. Satisfied, Yunho grinned at him before he focused back on the road.

"I'll make you another one of those potholders you like so much as thanks. What colour do you want?"

"Make it blue; it reminds me of Wooyoung. I'll bring him home later by the way. Just text me if you need him at a particular time. If not, I will ask him when he wants to leave or bring him once I'm finished."

The car services in their city were notorious for taking forever until they got things done. If they had been any quicker, Seonghwa would have gotten Wooyoung himself.

"Thank you so much, Yunho... Just bring him whenever you have time and tell him he will get his favourite food at home if he gets impatient. I have to go shopping anyway."

Yunho nodded as he pulled into Seonghwa's street. Slowly, the houses of the neighbourhood passed them.

"Can you manage without a car? I could leave you mine and take the bus back for now until you get everything done. Then you can bring it back later."

Seonghwa hastily declined as Yunho pulled up in his driveway.

"No, it's fine! I can really take the bus for that; it's not a problem. It's only one stop away." Seonghwa unbuckled his seatbelt, but he hesitated to leave. Yunho had turned off the engine and shifted to look at Seonghwa patiently. The attention had Seonghwa's eyes dodge him as they wandered.

"Text me if something comes up. I don't mind going shopping with you later when I bring Wooyoung anyway. My car fits even more groceries than yours."

Seonghwa giggled about the entirely useless statement. He had never tried to fill his car to the top with groceries, but he liked the idea of Yunho attempting it. He bet Wooyoung would have fun with something like that, too.

The moment of just standing in the driveway idly with Yunho with no interruption around them had healing properties for Seonghwa. Sometimes, he described Yunho as his lucky charm because the man never failed to shoo all darkness and anxiousness away to bring some light and warmth back to Seonghwa. He had that effect on people, and while many around town appreciated him for it, Seonghwa always viewed it as his personal little ray of hope on stressful days.

He snapped from his nostalgia when a gentle touch to his cheek fluttered across his skin. Startled, he looked up at Yunho, but the man still smiled at him reassuringly when he pushed a strand of hair behind Seonghwa's ear. His touch lingered before it disappeared entirely. Seonghwa's face glowed with heat.

"Don't worry about shopping with us, I will take care of it," Seonghwa mumbled once his voice found back to the earlier topic of their conversation. Yunho nodded and moved back as Seonghwa opened the door.

"Then see you later. Take it easy today and don't worry about Wooyoung."

They exchanged another lingering gaze before Seonghwa thanked him once more and jumped out of the car. He waved after Yunho until he was out of sight before he made his way back inside. On his path, he also got his mail and sighed at the view of yet another bill that was due.

The house was still except for the talking of the TV. Hongjoong had fallen asleep again on the couch, and his wings were on display. He had wrapped the horrific leathery appendages around his body like a blanket, and an empty bowl with some leftovers of milk stood on the table in front of him.

Quiet, Seonghwa put the bowl away and got the demon a blanket before he got to work. He would go shopping first and then prepare food until Wooyoung came home. His job would have to wait until the evening once he hopefully got his car back.

Seonghwa pondered asking Yunho over for dinner as a form of thanks for his hard work. However, the idea disappeared into thin air when the demon on his couch snuggled against some plush doll he had found in Wooyoung's room. With him around, the occasional days when Yunho ate with them would decrease drastically.

When Seonghwa went to catch the next bus, he picked up the shopping list from Hongjoong's side.

It contained a single word.

Egg.