abc's of love | chapter three: boo boos and dinner with the kims
you're a devoted kindergarten teacher. one of your students is ahead of his classmates and seems ready to advance to the first grade and possibly even the second. you have him stay after school one day to administer a test that will determine if he's ready to move up. during your time with him, you learn that his father is struggling balancing being a single parent and nature photographer. intrigued and wanting to help, you meet the boy's father and offer to assist him in any way you can. the time you spend with your student's father eventually blossoms into something more, and your whole world turns upside down.
strangers to friends to lovers
genre: fluff, angst, and smut
warnings for this chapter: a quick mention of blood
namjoon called you about forty minutes after he dropped gogyul off on monday, saying that he had forgotten to give him his lunch box and would be coming right back to drop it off.
"can you- um- come outside and grab it for me please? if you don't mind? i don't want to disrupt your class or anything," namjoon told you over the phone. the kids were watching an educational movie, so you had a chance to sneak away for a moment and answer your phone.
"yeah, no worries," you replied, your insides bubbling with excitement at the thought of seeing namjoon again. "just text me when you're outside."
"alright, thanks, y/n," namjoon said, and you could hear the smile in his voice before he hung up. you knew that namjoon wouldn't have interrupted the class or anything because the kids were too focused on the movie, but you wanted to spare him some embarrassment, and of course, help out.
you recieved a text from namjoon five minutes later, quickly exiting your classroom and meeting namjoon outside.
he was wearing all black, and gogyul's bright purple and orange lunch box comically stood out against his clothing.
namjoon handed you the lunch box, and as he did, you remembered that you still had yet to tell him about gogyul's test results.
"do you have a few extra minutes to spare?" you asked namjoon, a hopeful look in your eyes.
"sure, i don't have to be at work till 10:30," namjoon replied, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat.
you quickly glanced into your classroom, seeing that they were all still fixated on the movie, before turning back to namjoon.
"i went over gogyul's test results and he actually tested high enough to enter the third grade. i know that that's a very big step, but i thought that you should be the one to decide since you're his father," you explained, feeling as proud as ever of gogyul.
"third grade?? holy shi- i mean cow," namjoon said, nervously looking around like the students had heard him from inside the classroom. "he obviously inherited my 148 iq," he laughed. "but third grade? that is a very big step. he's only five years old and would be in a class with a bunch of older kids..."
he trailed off, thinking to himself as he absentmindedly looked out at the playground. you waited for his answer, frequently glancing into the classroom to make sure the kids were alright.
"i don't- i don't think i want him to jump two whole grades, right now," namjoon finally said, a sheepish look on his face. "he's still really young, and i know that he's gifted, but i don't want him to end up getting pushed around by the older kids or something."
"i completely understand," you said, firmly nodding your head. "for now, i can just assign him more advanced homework so he can continue to exercise his gifted mind."
"that sounds like a good plan," namjoon agreed. "i just want the best for gogyul, you know?"
you started to agree with namjoon when you heard aforementioned child's voice behind you asking to use the bathroom.
"daddy!!" gpgyul squealed a second later, making a mad dash towards his dad. however, he accidentally tripped over his own feet, and fell straight onto the pavement. his glasses fell off his face and surprisingly, didn't break.
your eyes widened and you instantly reached to help him up, but namjoon had beat you to it, comforting his now crying son. gogyul's palms were a little scraped up and bloody, and he looked absolutely shaken up by his fall. namjoon picked up gogyul's glasses, carefully holding onto them.
"i'll go grab the first aid kit," you hastily said before reentering your classroom. the other kids were up on their feet now, as they had heard gogyul crying, and you ushered them to sit back down for a few minutes. of course, curiosity got the best of them, and they watched you clean up gogyul's palms and bandage them through the window.
namjoon was watching you closely, his lips parted in a silent gasp. you carefully took care of gogyul, reassuring him that he was going to be okay and that he would stop hurting. gogyul wouldn't stop crying, though, despite yours and namjoon's attempts to calm him down, so you ran back inside to grab gogyul a toy.
the moment you handed gogyul the toy, he fell silent, sniffling and hiding his tear-stained face in his father's coat. you continued to clean him up, feeling namjoon's attentive gaze on you.
namjoon was in awe of how gingerly you took care of gogyul, like he was your own child. it made namjoon's heart ache, especially considering the fact that yejin never did any of that. for a moment, he imagined you as gogyul's mother, then shook his head, forcing himself out of his delusional thoughts.
he had to remind himself that you were gogyul's teacher, not mother, but the fact that l you were so good with gogyul and children in general, didn't help namjoon's case when it came to imagining you as gogyul's mother.
"all done!" you announced once you had finished fixing goyul up, pulling namjoon out of his thoughts. "are you okay now?"
"mhm," gogyul mumbled, shyly peering at you. "thank you, miss y/l/n." he then buried his face further into namjoon's coat, looking like he wanted to dissappear into the fabric and never return. he was tightly clutching onto the toy you had given him (a plastic dinosaur), his other hand holding onto namjoon for dear life.
"are you ready to go back inside, my little koala?" namjoon quietly asked his son, who instantly shook his head no. you had to stop yourself from cooing at the durable nickname namjoon had given gogyul.
"he can leave early," you told namjoon, not wanting gogyul to stay if he didn't want to. "i'll just grab his items and homework for today."
"thank you," namjoon said, watching you re-enter the classroom and hearing several questions coming from the other kids about if gpgyul was going to be okay. he heard you reply that he was and that he'd be going home to rest, and he found the way you spoke to the little ones absolutely adorable.
you came back out a moment later with gogyul's backpack, lunch box, coat, and his homework. namjoon set gogyul down for a moment to slide his coat onto him before picking him back up, carefully sliding his glasses onto his nose. you handed the other items to namjoon, who couldn't help but thank you once more.
"you've been so courteous lately, y/n. i want to repay you," namjoon told you as he slung gongyul's backpack over his shoulder.
"you really don't have to," you insisted, but namjoon shook his head.
"how about you join the kids and i for dinner tonight at my place? tell me your favorite meal and i'll make it. it's the least that i can do," namjoon said, gently rubbing goyul's back.
you blushed at his offer, grateful that he was just as kind as you were. "sure! that sounds lovely, namjoon," you said before adding, "and my favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs, thank you."
"alright, i'll text you my address and the time later. see you tonight!" namjoon said before leaving the campus with gogyul.
you couldn't wait to see namjoon tonight, and practically raced home when you left campus that afternoon.
later that day, namjoon texted you his address and said to be there at 6:30. you got ready, tying your hair up out of your face and applying light makeup. you put on a pair of light blue mom jeans, a beige sweater, and white vans. you added a few pieces of jewelry to your before heading over to namjoon's place, unable to control your excitement.
you considered namjoon to be a friend, and he felt the same about you. you two got along quite well, and despite only knowing each other for a short time, the two of you were close and trusted each other. being friends with namjoon was just so easy, considering his good and gentle attitude.
namjoon being very attractive and everything you could've ever possibly wanted in a man didn't help your case, as you sometimes caught yourself staring a little too long at him or smiling a little too hard at his text messages.
you didn't want to rush into catching feelings for him just in case he didn't feel the same, so you decided to lay low for now.
you parallel parked outside of namjoon's house fifteen minutes later. his house was small and painted a soft sage green, several different types of plants and trees dotting the front lawn. frankly, you thought namjoon's house radiated namjoon energy.
you got out of your car, locking it behind you before storing your keys in the small crossbody bag that you had brought with you. you suddenly became nervous for no apparent reason, and hesitantly walked up to his front porch. you stood there for a few minutes calming yourself, observing the white wooden bench that sat to the right of the front door and the potted succulents that sat on a little metal table next to the bench.
every little detail of the house's exterior was adorable to you, and you finally summoned up enough courage to knock.
a young girl you didn't recognize opened the front door, and behind her stood a grinning gogyul.
"hi miss y/l/n!" gogyul shouted, frantically waving at you and jumping up and down. you waved back at him, grinning.
"hello," the girl said, smiling tentatively at you. "i'm mijoo, namjoon's daughter and gogyul's older sister."
mijoo, as you had expected, looked nothing like namjoon or gogyul; unlike her father's and brother's brown locks, her hair was jet black and stopped just below her shoulders, neat bangs resting on her forehead. her eyes were also of a lighter brown hue, and her overall facial features were different and more rounded and soft.
"it's nice to finally meet you, mijoo," you softly replied to the girl, gently shaking her hand. mijoo shyly shook your hand back, gogyul curiously watching the two of you interact for the first time.
"hey, y/n," namjoon's voice said behind the kids, and you looked up to see namjoon, who was wearing a white apron tied around his waist. there were a few big splatters of marinara sauce on it, and you held back a laugh.
"hi, namjoon," you replied a bit breathlessy, fully taking his appearance now. he was wearing a white sweater that was rolled up to his elbows, perfectly defining each curve and shape of his muscles. you stopped yourself from completely zoning out on his arms and then smiled at him.
namjoon led you and the kids into the dining room, but only after gogyul showed you his collection of toys on his side of the bedroom he shared with his sister.
you passed by the living room on the way to the dining room, which wall's were decorated with dozens of framed photos of wildlife.
mijoo was awfully nervous and quiet around you, and you assumed that it was because you were someone new that she had just met.
"looks like you got in a fight with the spaghetti, and the spaghetti won," you teased namjoon, playfully nudging his side as you pointed out the sauce stains on his apron.
"shush," namjoon laughed, untying the apron and grinning at you. "i had the kids help me and more sauce ended up on the apron than the actual food."
"that's because gogyul kept stealing the mixing spoon from me!" mijoo exclaimed, an exasperated tone in her voice as gogyul erupted into a fit of giggles beside her.
"i told you he was a handful sometimes," namjoon chuckled as he quickly walked over to the laundry room to place the apron in the dirty clothes basket. when he returned, he opened the oven, carefully pulling out a metal tray containing breadsticks.
you offered to help, but namjoon insisted that you sit down instead. defeated, you sat, watching namjoon serve you, gogyul, and mijoo, and lastly, himself.
it all felt so domestic and it sent a mixed twinge of pain and adoration to your heart; you couldn't resist imagining this turning into your everyday reality.
once everyone was settled down at the table, you all began to eat. the food was absolutely delicious, and you complimented namjoon on his cooking.
"thank you," namjoon shyly replied, giggling quietly to himself as he looked at you. the two of you kept eye contact with each other for a few moments, forgetting that gogyul and mijoo were there before gogyul let out an shockingly loud burp, surprising himself and everyone else.
"oops, 'scuse me," gogyul said, wiping his mouth afterwards. mijoo playfully made a disgusted face at her brother, shaking her head. you and namjoon laughed, breaking eye contact and continuing to eat.
"so, mijoo, what's your favorite subject in school?" you asked the girl, wanting to ease her into being comfortable around you.
mijoo looked at you, slurping up the noodles in her mouth before quietly replying, "oh, um...geography or science."
"oh really? that sounds fun! do you have a favorite color?" you asked, feeling namjoon watching you. you glanced at him and he looked away, acting like he was eating a breadstick.
"uhh, i'd say yellow or green," mijoo said, absentmindedly playing with the sleeves of her sweater. "i think they're both nice colors."
you nodded along to her words, noticing that she seemed nervous.
"is mijoo usually that shy?" you whispered to namjoon once dinner had been finished and the kids were playing in the living room.
"she's never shy, actually," namjoon said as you helped him collect the dirty dishes and utensils from the table. "even around strangers, so i don't know what's up with her. i'll ask her tonight before she goes to bed, though."
you slowly nodded, glancing down at your watch and saw that it was getting late. you wanted to be home before 8, since you had a show to watch and wanted time to do your nightly self care routine of a face mask and eating a fruit salad.
"i should get going now," you informed namjoon, who instantly frowned at your words.
"aw, alright. thank you so much for coming over! i had a great time," namjoon said, turning on the sink to prepare to wash the dishes.
"thank you for inviting me, namjoon. i truly appreciate it. i had a great time as well," you kindly replied, and then the two of you stood there looking at each other.
"bye," namjoon quickly said, breaking the silence before giving you a brief hug. your entire face flushed red at the embrace and you hugged him back, feeling butterflies frantically soar through you.
"bye," you said, poking your head into the living room to say bye to mijoo and gogyul before hastily exiting his house and unlocking your car.
once you were in the driver's seat, you buried your face in your hands as you let out a string of delighted giggles, feeling as giddy as ever.
you sat there for a few moments containing yourself before pulling away from his house, your mind racing with the thought of nothing but namjoon.
"dad?" mijoo asked namjoon as she wandered into the kitchen five minutes after you left.
"yes, my flower?" namjoon asked as he continued to wash the dishes, humming a song he had heard on the radio earlier that day.
"do you have a crush on gogyul's teacher?" mijoo innocently asked him.
namjoon nearly dropped the plate he was scrubbing, freezing and nervously licking his lips.
"um...why are you asking me that?" he slowly asked his daughter, turning to face her.
"because you were looking at her a lot during dinner, and that's what boys do when they like a girl," mijoo replied in a matter of fact tone.
"that doesn't mean that i- that i like her," namjoon wheezed, knowing that he was blushing. he nervously fidgeted with his hands, looking down at mijoo in disbelief.
had he really been that obvious?
"i don't believe you," mijoo smugly said, and namjoon sighed.
before he could say anything else, however, mijoo sighed, "i just hope that she doesn't leave us like my mom did," before leaving the kitchen.
mijoo's words hit namjoon hard, and he frowned, going back to washing the dishes.
fine, he did have a teensy tiny crush on you. he couldn't stop himself; you were so beautiful and worked so well with children, you almost seemed unreal.
namjoon hadn't expected to have caught feelings for you so soon, but everything about you made his heart smile.
he knew that he'd have to take things slow; he didn't want to rush into anything, no matter what.
but first, he had to find out if you felt the same.
