Thursday
Jisung didn't know how to feel about the weather anymore. It just didn't seem to want to make its mind up. Since Monday it had been nothing but amazingly warm and bright, but the blond could sense that come Saturday when it was time for his run that clouds would roll in and cover him in a barrage of rain, biting and numbing his skin. But that was the weekend's prediction. Right now it was Thursday, and Jisung was just about to ring Minho's bell, when the door abruptly opened.
Minho was confused as to why Jisung was here, focusing on the trusting glow in the younger's face. "Jisung? Didn't you get my message?" The aforementioned gazed off as he tried to remember if minho had indeed texted him this morning. In truth he hadn't checked his phone, other than the quick pop onto instagram when he saw that his favorite Thai actor was live. The blond hastily retrieved his phone, blushing and avoiding eye contact with Minho, who simply laughed and shook his head. Surely enough, a notification was sat on Jisung's home screen: "Hey Jisung, I got a day off so there's no need to come over today."
"Oh, I must've, must've missed it," Jisung stated awkwardly, internally beating himself up for caring more about an attractive man's instagram then checking his messages. Although the same could be said for Minho..
"Dont worry about it," Minho chuckled, an idea coming into his head. "Actually, we were just going to head over to the park. Why don't you come along anyway?" Jisung's heart lit up right away at the older's offer, and it must've shown in his eyes because Minho then remarked "I'll take that as a yes" while smiling. The brunette turned in the doorway to look back down the corridor. "Boys, guess who's coming with us to the park!"
A high pitched squeal bounced off the wall of the hallway, making both Jisung and Minho laugh. "Sungie?!" In a flash Heijin was between his dad's legs, looking out and up to see if the blond was there. He was dressed in an oversized green and orange t-shirt that fell to just past his knees, underneath of which a pair of blue shorts could just be seen. He wasn't wearing shoes, but the street and park pavements were safe enough to be bare footed. The small boy had the biggest smile on his face as he tried to get around Minho, almost tripping down the steps. He gave Jisung his usual greeting, hugging the blonds legs together with such a strong grip for a 4-year-old.
"Sungie Sungie, are you
coming to the park with us?"
"I am if you want me to come, Jinnie."
"Yes yes!! Heihyun will want you to come too, even if he doesn't tell you."
The brother in question finally came to the door too, ducking under Minho to see what all the commotion was about. He was wearing a sweet navy blue polo shirt that gave off slight sailor vibes because of the white striped collar, paired with matching blue shorts. Unlike his brother, Heihyun was wearing shoes, converse in the same blue hue as the rest of his outfit. Plus, of course, two clips in his chestnut brown hair; one white, one blue. He smiled shyly as always at Jisung, who reached down as best he could to ruffle the boy's wavy hair.
"Hey Hyun, are you looking
forward to going to the park?"
"Mhm, I'm happy you're coming with us."
Heihyun's face went pink as he spoke, and he quickly looked up at Minho, who smiled proudly back at the small boy. "Well, come on then, the park won't walk itself." Minho announced, bending down to pull Heijin up from the ground. As much as he didn't mind his son playing on the soft park grass without shoes or socks, he was still wary of him hurting his feet on the walk there. As the brunette carried his younger son down the driveway, Jisung looked down at Heihyun. The boy was rubbing his arm, lips pursed in contemplation.
"Ready to go, hun?" Heihyun stared up with his pretty brown eyes, fluttering his eyelashes as he blinked.
"Mister Jisung, can I, can I hold your hand? While we walk." Jisung felt a warmth in his chest at the brunette's request, since he could tell from the way the younger spoke that he was stepping out of his comfort zone somewhat. The blond held out his hand to Heihyun, who carefully held it, the boy's tiny hand barely filling the palm of Jisung's.
"Come on you two," Minho called, smiling while Heijin was running his fingers through his dad's fluffy hair. Jisung and Heihyun walked down to the pavement to join the others, and together the four of them proceeded down the road to the park.
~~~
The time the group spent at the park was an agreeably delightful one for all of them. Most of it was spent at the main play park, where Heihyun soon found a few other kids to play with on the round-a-bout with Minho standing to the side to keep a watch over his older son. Meanwhile Heijin chose to stick with Jisung, the dark haired boy a little less comfortable in making new friends. He much rather have played with Jisung, the blond appearing to be up for any endeavors Heijin put him in. They played on the swings, chased one another around the climbing frame and up and down the slide and even attempted to use the seesaw despite Heijin being far too light to go back down. Still, he'd scream in amusement everytime Jisung would have to lift his legs up to stop them crashing into the ground.
After a while the older two grew tired, not holding the same ecstatic energy that the kids had anymore. Even though they felt somewhat disappointed, Heijin and Heihyun decided to let them take a break, going off to play with each other while leaving Jisung and Minho to relax on a bench. The same bench where the two had first been introduced to one another.
Minho sighed happily as he watched his sons run off hand in hand, before looking to Jisung. The blond was blinking tiredly at the crystal blue sky, a little out of breath after all the running around he'd been doing with Heijin.
"I thought you ran on a regular basis?" Minho joked, to which Jisung gave him a sour look.
"I do," the blond said defensively, "I'm just not used to spriting about that much."
"I see, and is there a difference between running and sprinting?"
"Yes! Well, sprinting is a kind of running. You see with long distance..."
Minho fazed out while Jisung spoke, passively listening to the boy explain while staring at his face. The blond was fitted in a red and white striped top, baggy jeans that were ripped at the knees and fastened with a brown belt, and his white vans that he wore with practically everything. His skin was glistening under the sun, newly tanned due to the temperature of the past few days, and his hair was even more sun beached than usual. Minho should've been listening to Jisung's words, but really he found it much more soothing to just hear the sound of the younger's voice. It held so much life and energy, and as he spoke the blond's face became animated with every single change of emotion.
Jisung eventually noticed that Minho wasn't really paying attention to his ranting, but rather was fixed upon the younger's face. Jisung stopped talking for a moment, and when Minho realised he wasn't hearing any sound anymore, he quickly came out of his trance.
"Sorry, you were saying?"
"It's okay Minho, it's
not interesting anyway."
"No, it is." Minho replied quickly, placing a hand delicately on Jisung's shoulder. That feeling, it came over the two again, like it had done when they first became properly acquainted. That euphoric sensation, like a spark of electricity that traveled through that singular touch.
Minho coughed, removing his hand from Jisung's shoulder and looking back over to the play area. Heijin and Heihyun were busy on the climbing area, one holding up the other's feet as they clambered along the monkey bars.
"They really like you, y'know." Jisung glanced over at the two kids too, smiling softly to himself. "They haven't taken to anyone this much ever before." Minho watched the blond blush a little, obviously embarrassed because he knew what the older said was true.
"You're only saying that."
"I'm not, really! They told me all about how you taught them maths, and I saw for myself their faces when you were doing that play thingy."
"Oh god that was really embarrassing,
please don't mention it."
"No way, it was adorable!"
Minho laughed as Jisung hid his face in his hands, groaning in dismay. Though the laughing soon died down as the brunette remembered something, something that he assumed was going to be on Jisung's mind.
"Did they tell you why?" Jisung peeked from between his fingers, but then sat up once he saw Minho wasn't facing him.
"Tell me what?" Jisung inquired, not fully understanding what the older was talking about.
"About why they're home schooled?"
Jisung paused, running his fingers across his nails as they lay in his lap. He hadn't questioned it, as he didn't feel like it was his right to know. But he was also a little curious, however most people would be about anything.
"They told me they were," the blond replied honestly, "but not why. I assume you're about to tell me?" Minho let out an exasperated breath, running his fingertips across his temples.
"It's quite complicated."
"You don't have to tell me."
"No, but I want to."
Minho turned his body fully towards Jisung, despite being sat forward on the bench, and the blond automatically copied his movement.
"Their mum, we got a divorce some time after Heijin was born. She was required to pay child support despite not having custody, but about a month ago she, she stopped sending it."
Jisung listened intently, as this seemed very important for Minho to talk about. He hadn't expected him to be so open to talking about it, but it seemed that the older had taken to Jisung as much as the two children had.
"Even though I have a good job, I can't afford to send them to school now. I could just about manage a babysitter, and so I picked that instead." Minho suddenly gave a chuckle. "The last one was awful, the boys were right to dislike her."
Jisung laughed too, yet was still thinking deeply about the story Minho had just shared. For some reason he felt guilty; Jisung wanted so badly to go to a university he'd chosen, but he already had the option of community college. Yet Heijin and Heihyun didn't even get to go to elementary school.
"You don't have to pay me." Minho looked up at the younger in confusion, wondering if hed heard his words correctly.
"Of course I have to pay you, it's for
a job. Plus you need it for your university."
"I can work for free, you should keep the money for them to go to-"
"No." Minho said firmly, but then his voice softened again. "Besides, the boys would much rather have you teaching them than some snotty tart." Jisung snorted, and Minho smiled at being able to get the younger to lighten up a bit. As much as he was professional, and well-spoken, Minho didn't like to be so serious all of the time. He felt it made others uncomfortable.
Jisung turned around to check on the boys, faintly grinning as he saw what they were up to. "We should probably get going now." Minho quirked an eyebrow and then looked in the same direction as the blond. Heihyun was curled up on the rubber turf by the round-a-bout, with Heijin bent over him, poking his older brother in the cheek repeatedly.
"Probably, are you okay to carry Heijin if I carry Heihyun? He never walks properly when he's half asleep."
"Sure thing, and hey, thanks for opening up about, about their mum and stuff."
"Thank you for listening, it's nice y'know? Just to talk about certain things."
"Yeah.. yeah, it is."
~~~
It was a few hours later now. Jisung had gone - to the family's disappointment - as he had to attend an evening lecture at his school. In Minho's opinion Jisung was giving himself a lot of work to do, what with his school work, babysitting duties and running days. The brunette couldn't remember his highschool days being so hectic, but it had been a fairly long time ago. Putting it that way makes me seem old.
The Lee family were now seated in their kitchen, about to enjoy their dinner while chatting about various things. When Minho placed his sons' food down in front of them, he noticed how Heijin was intently inspecting his plate, perhaps looking for something.
"Is your food okay, Jin?"
"Yes, but I wanted carrots with it also."
Minho stared at the dark haired boy in utter shock, clearly never expecting such words to ever come from Heijin's lips. "But you don't like carrots?" The brunette said it as a question, to which Heihyun responded with "he does now, but only raw."
Heijin nodded in confirmation. "Yep yep, Sungie taught me that you can eat them raw, and they taste soooo much better!" Minho was completely taken aback, and for a second he just sat with his mouth slightly open. Heijin and Heihyun exchanged judgemental glances, but then went back to eating their food. "Well?" the younger pressed, making Minho come back into the room.
"Yes, yes of course you can." Still stunned somewhat, Minho got up and headed to the fridge to find the carrots. How did Jisung get him to even try it? The brunette's heart buzzed at his mind's mention of Jisung, and to say he got a little overly optimistic about the blond curing his son's desperate hatred of the vegetable would be a significant understatement.
Once he'd cut up a few slices of carrot, Minho placed them on Heijin's place before hesitantly asking "so Jisung got you to like them?" Heijin nodded as he joyfully ate the carrots, almost finishing them off completely in a matter of seconds.
"Sungie is such a good babysitter.
Much better than our last one."
"So you definitely like him?"
"Of course, he's amazing, pretty, kind,
funny, all sorts of good things!!"
"Do you like Mister Jisung, dad?" Heihyun piped up from across the island, his question making Minho a little flustered for some reason. He didn't not like Jisung, but he didn't know in what way Heihyun was questioning it. Jisung appeared uninterested in a guy like him, married once with two kids. Surely he'd be looking for someone younger and more active, with a similar work ethic. At least that's what his mind was telling him. His heart was arguing with just about the opposite, and was picking up on that electric energy going through the brunette's body every time he was with Jisung.
So did he like Jisung? Minho honestly didn't know, but what was more important to him was another question; does Jisung like him?