Stray

three

"Alright class," Namjoon starts, "today's a special day. Do you know why?"

"Why?", the whole class asks in unison.

"We're learning about animals today!"

His students clap with him cheerily as he takes out a bunch of cards with pictures and their pronunciations below it. He introduces each animal and they practice together. At the end of the class, Namjoon tests them individually.

Jiah comes up. Shyly, she walks to Namjoon with one arm over the other.

"Hello," Namjoon greets the little girl. He tells a small joke, making her giggle as the shyness from her subsides. Namjoon goes over the cards thoroughly, in which Jiah answers correctly every time. Impressive.

"That's the last one. You did great, Jiah. Gimme a high five."

Jiah's hands collides with his as she shows off her pearly teeth.

"Gather around, future presidents. Alright, you guys really did a good job, I'm so proud of you all! Some of you struggle a bit, but it's fine we can work on that. To boost your motivation, how bout I give you a present after every test?"

The students murmur in awe, bickering with their friends. That one word is enough to make the children interested in Namjoon. "Toys? Candies? How about that, pals?"

Shouts of approval echo within the room, along with the presents they wanted. A bag of Skittles, please! No, I want a tea party set! Can I have a pet crocodile, Mr Kim?

Namjoon laughs at their wishes, telling them to calm down and says he'll consider them. His students erupt in joy once again.

Class ends after the teacher does a little speech on how amazingly talented his students are, a daily thing to keep his students going. He accompanies them goodbye as their parents picks them up. As always, there's only Jiah left in his class.

As soon as Namjoon takes a seat in his teacher chair, a little peek of Jiah's head comes in his view. "Jiah," he chuckles, "may I help you?"

"Bored," she answers, pouting.

"You wanna play 20 questions?", Namjoon suggests, leaning closer with a dimply grin. "Basically, you and I alternately each ask a question, can be about anything you want."

Jiah nods, taking a bean bag so she can sit down. Namjoon chuckles when her petite body struggles to pull the bag that was almost twice as big as her. He helps her and takes another, sitting right beside her.

"I'll start. Speaking of our lesson today, what's your favourite animal?"

"H-hamsters!" Jiah puffs her cheeks, imitating the small furry pet.

"Cute creatures they are, huh? Now you ask me a question."

Namjoon learns a little more about the little girl, like her favourite colour, her favourite superhero, which season she looks up the most to, and many more. One thing he also learns, is she often refers back to her Papa when she talks. H-hamsters look like Papa!, she says, imitating him as she places her short arms on her side like a hamster. Seems like she has a very close relationship with him, which makes his heart swell.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Namjoon looks at the time, 3:46 pm. He shoots his head at the door where the beautiful man stands tall, hands crossed with an amused smile across his lips.

Hair falling under his eyebrows, Namjoon takes a fair glance of his forehead before gulping. A white v-neck shirt lightly covers his body, collarbones prominent enough to put on a show. His outfit was simple, but Namjoon wonders how a man could look so good even with the most casual clothes.

Seokjin kisses Jiah's forehead before giving her a piggyback. Jiah returns the favour by leaving a blueberry kiss on her father's cheeks.

"You two were having quite a conversation there, I hope you weren't talking about me," the black haired man comments.

"Even if we were, only compliments will be shared, sir."

Seokjin lets out a genuine smile form onto his lips, something that doesn't happen often, but lately coming to bring Jiah home was an exception.

The teacher leads the student-parent pair out of the classroom, always keeping his posture straight to avoid more wrinkles forming through his shirt. He asks how Seokjin's day was, in which he replies with it's fine thank you. Namjoon hums, making more small talk with the parent.

Although Jin's responses are short and flustered, Namjoon can't help but take interest in him. The way Seokjin has his full attention on Namjoon when he speaks to him, the way Seokjin looks away and covers his reddening ears whenever Namjoon compliments him. He's intriguing.

When they reach the door, Namjoon crouches down to Jiah. "You did good at keeping me company today so I've got something for you."

Jiah's doey brown eyes go wide with eagerness, almost bulging out of her head as Namjoon hands her a cooking set toy, with colourful plastic stoves and all that. She thanks her wonderful teacher and hugs him tight before squealing at her newfound treasure.

"Mr Kim," Seokjin interrupts, "I- you really don't have to.."

"She's good company, really."

Seokjin hesitates but seeing Namjoon being genuine he calms down. Crouching down to his daughter's height, he nudges her nose, making her scrunch. "Papa's taught you well, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," Jiah giggles, "Papa's the best! So is Mr Kim!"

Surprisingly, Jiah wants to share her gift to the rest of the class instead of keeping it for herself. The elders help Jiah build the cooking set, letting her play as Seokjin intends to talk with her teacher. They sat down on the beige carpet floor, as they were two giants who would break the children chairs if they dare.

"Geez," Seokjin covers his face with his hands, "you really didn't have to, Mr Kim, you're making me feel bad now for not being able to repay you, huh?" he nervously laughs.

"You really think I would let you pay me back, sir? I'm hurt," Namjoon gasps dramatically as he places a hand on his chest. "It's no big deal, I promise you."

"Thank you, Mr Kim, really."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll try to be earlier."

"Hmm?"

"For you."

Dimples popping out, "and I'll look forward to your presence, Seokjin."