— 'But I'm not tired!' A tiny voice shouted. 'I want to play some more.' The little boy said as he rubbed his eyes, clearly meaning that he was in fact really tired.

Hanbin chuckled and affectionately patted the little boy's head, as he was kicking his blanket. Not a single day passed without one of his students complaining about nap time. But it was still mandatory for children in their second year, so each day, Hanbin just had to try to come up with new ways to shush his student and convince them to go to sleep.

Most of the kids were already settled in their camp bed with their comforter or stuffed toy, as the last group of children were heading out of the bathroom. Hanbin was sure that some were even already asleep. But unfortunately for him, this time, he was running short of ideas on how to make the reluctant kid lie down. As he was about to stutter out the usual 'you will have more energy to play again later!', Zhang Hao came to rescue him. As he squatted next to Hanbin, he said:

'And if I sing you a lullaby, will you promise to close your eyes and try to go to sleep?' He asked the little boy with a smile.

The child frowned a little bit, surely thinking about Zhang Hao's offer.

— 'I think I could try.'

Suddenly, another small voice piped in:

— 'Teacher Hao, I want to hear you sing too!'

— 'Yeah me too me too !'

Hanbin sighted, half pissed and half amused at how his students were so reluctant to go to sleep today. Though this situation was funnier than not. Guess he wasn't the only one who enjoyed hearing Zhang Hao sing.

— 'Yeah, I want to hear you sing too... Teacher Hao.' Hanbin added, a sly smile plastered on his face.

When Zhang Hao heard him call him by the name the kids used to use, he suddenly raised his head, his face forming the perfect ':o' emoji. Quickly, his expression shifted from a surprised one to a knowing smile. Or was it a smirk? Hanbin didn't know.

— 'Right, then I guess I don't have a choice.' Zhang Hao said with a low and amused tone.

He then raised his voice a little so he could be heard by every child in the room:

— 'If I sing, do you all promise to try to go to sleep?'

— 'Yes teacher Zhang Hao!' said everyone in unison, including Hanbin.

Once again, he was making fun of Zhang Hao— or maybe he was making fun of himself, who knew? The latter glared at him, but his gaze softened when he saw Hanbin's subtle mischievous smile, indicating that he was only joking.

Then, Zhang Hao stood up to go to the center of the room where he sat again, so he could be heard by everyone. He took out his phone and quickly tapped on it. Soon, slow music was released from the speakers of said phone. Then, he gently closed his eyes and took a short breath before the first notes of a soft and melancholic melody came out from his lips.

"Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly"

From the slow melody and the first couple of lines, Hanbin could immediately tell which song Zhang Hao was singing. Unsurprisingly, it was a Disney song, one from The Beauty and The Beast. Since he was little, this movie was one of the first Disney movies Hanbin had ever watched, thus it became one of his favorites. It had been a long time since he last heard this song, but it was comforting in a way that he couldn't describe.

"Just a little change

Small to say the least

Both a little scared

Neither one prepared

Beauty and the Beast"

Zhang Hao went on with the song, and just when he finished the first verse, he reopened his eyes for a short moment, just enough to realize that Hanbin was staring at him. He wasn't really staring, only watching him almost adoringly, a fond smile adorning his lips. This time when their eyes met, Hanbin did not turn away, nor did he blush. He just smiled even more widely and mouthed a "you did well" to Zhang Hao. It was the latter's turn to feel embarrassed now and suddenly, the floor was more interesting than anything else.

Despite the fact that he was starting to feel all too warm because of a certain someone, Zhang Hao continued to sing, although with a little bit less assured voice this time. But surely, only Hanbin had sensed it, because none of the kids seemed to have noticed it.

"Tale as old as time

Song as old as rhyme

Beauty and the Beast"

When Zhang Hao gently finished the song, the room was now completely silent and Hanbin still hadn't looked away from him. On the contrary, his smile just grew wider and he clapped in tiny, which drew the attention of the older. The latter gave him a grateful smile in return.

As he was about to stand up to check who was asleep and who was not and to finally leave after closing the door, a sleepy voice emerged from one of the camp beds.

'Teach Hao, can you sing the song from Tangled? The one when they are seeing the lanterns...'

Zhang Hao didn't answer immediately, he rather chose to look at Hanbin, like he was asking for his permission. At first, Hanbin thought that he was just asking if he could sing another song to the students, so he nodded kindly. But then, he saw that Zhang Hao had gently moved to the side and was patting the spot on the floor next to him. Was it to make room for him? Hanbin's eyes grew slightly larger, just like each time he was surprised. He stood up and walked toward Zhang Hao, but he felt like his body had moved on its own. It was when he let himself fall onto the ground next to the older that he realized that the latter was most likely expecting them to sing together. He internally panicked a little, before looking at Zhang Hao.

As expected, the older had this expectant look on his face, which undoubtedly meant that he wanted Hanbin to sing with him.

'Are we... doing this together?' Hanbin asked just to be sure.

'Why? You don't want to?' Zhang Hao asked back, a small pout taking place on his lips.

Hanbin had then no choice but to agree.

[...]

"And at last I see the light

And it's like the fog has lifted

And at last I see the light

And it's like the sky is new

And it's warm and real and bright

And the world has somehow shifted

All at once, everything is different

Now that I see you

Now that I see you"

This time, as the last notes of the melody ended, really not a single sound could be heard in the room and it seemed like everyone was asleep, even the more reluctant kids. Hanbin could not dare to look at Zhang Hao. For some unexplainable reasons, the last song felt different. Or maybe it was the fact that they sang together that made it feel this way. Whatever it was, this moment left a strange but peaceful feeling behind him. And now Hanbin was a bit afraid to look at Zhang Hao. He didn't even know if it was out of embarrassment, or because of something else. He just couldn't point out what he was feeling and why, which was a tiny bit confusing for him.

'We should leave now that they are all asleep.' Zhang Hao whispered.

Hanbin nodded, unable to talk for unknown reasons.

So they got up and silently made their way to the door. They gently closed it as they left the room. Unexpectedly, the soft sound of the door shutting was what woke Hanbin from his daydream. Now that they were out of the nap room, something felt different, maybe more intimate. But it was really strange, until now, they never were nor felt that they were that close to each other.

'I didn't know you knew so many Disney songs.' Hanbin stated, just to recompose himself.

— 'Well, when you teach music to kids from the age of five to seventeen, it's something we do a lot. Makes people from different generations agree.' Zhang Hao said as he leaned onto the closest wall.

Hanbin thought he was only going to use the wall as a support, but the latter carefully slid himself until he was seated on the ground again. He looked up at Hanbin, who was studying him from above. Again, he patted the spot on the ground next to him, still looking up, which obviously meant that he wanted the younger to sit next to him. So Hanbin did the same thing as the older and flopped himself on the ground next to him.

'Honestly, I was surprised you sang a song from Beauty and the Beast first. I mean, it's not the most popular movie nor the most popular song so... I don't know, it was nice I guess.' Hanbin said, in an attempt to continue the discussion from two minutes ago, so things would not get weird. 'You sang really well too by the way. Beauty and the Beast is probably one of my favorite Disney movies. I don't really know why though.'

At this point, he was more rambling than anything else, and when he realized it, he felt heat slowly creep up from his neck to his cheeks. He didn't dare look at Zhang Hao, afraid that his embarrassment will show on his face, so he did not see the amused smile that adorned the latter's face.

'Actually, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie too. Zhang Hao said after a while. It probably has something to do with all the objects and furniture talking. Somehow it was really funny for the five years old me.'

He paused for a minute before continuing:

'And growing up, I think that it was also the idea that love didn't care about appearances that appealed to me. Obviously, outside of a fairy tale, this is no doubt pretty unrealistic. but still, it's nice to think about it sometime.'

When Hanbin finally had the nerve to look at Zhang Hao, the latter slowly turned his head to face him and look him in straight the eye, a smile that could only be described as lovesick, plastered on his lips.

But that's also when Hanbin realized that the position in which they were made them very close, almost too much for two coworkers to be in. That made him even more flustered than he already was if that was even possible. Before he could notice it, Zhang Hao was leaning in closer to him, his smile slowly disappearing, replaced by a lost and somehow hopeful expression.

And before he could think of it, his hand moved on his own and made his way through to Zhang Hao's wrist. He hold it lightly, just for leverage, because he had no idea of what was happening and what he was doing. And before he could understand what was unraveling before him, they both got so close to each other that they—

'Teacher Hanbin? I— I dreamt that I was being eaten by a monster.' Yujin's small voice interrupted them.

Both of them jumped at that. The realization then hit Hanbin like a truck at full speed. Were they about to... kiss? Just like that? That seemed too unrealistic, almost like in a movie scene way, to be true. They quickly separated from each other, both too flustered to say anything.

Hanbin's cheeks were so hot this time that he was sure meat could be grilled on them. Was this how falling in love felt like?

☼ ｡ :*•. ─────.•*: ｡ ✧

i'm not satisfied by the end of this chapter but i have no other idea so yeah, i'm leaving it as it is for now

anyway, let me know your thoughts about this ?