Date: November 19th
Time: 4:52pm
Location: Daycare
Mood: Pre-rollercoaster ride Hobi
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Y/n was hired to the daycare because her former boss had written her such a glowing review, the passion for which her new boss sensed she had for caring for children, and because Hyuna would not shut up about her and heavily pressured the daycare supervisor until she relented.

Jimin was hired because he seemed to have a lot of energy (a trait vital when taking care of small children), was a police officer in training, knew child CPR in advance, and because Hyuna would not shut up about him and heavily pressured the daycare supervisor until she relented.

So they were both hired! Jimin was thrilled. It was as if there was an author to their lives magically putting them together so that they would always have interactions, because they even shared a class together.

Actually, it was Hyuna.

She was the author, or better said, the captain of this ship.

It wasn't hard. All she had to do was heavily pressure the daycare supervisor until she relented. Easy. The older woman had a patience level longer than imagined when it came to kids, but when it came to dealing with Hyuna, she couldn't handle her. Or else she couldn't say no to her.

It probably had a lot to do with the humongous crush she had on her.

Oddly, since Thursday night that need for Jimin and his sparks had greatly diminished. Not completely. Y/n still liked him. But since then the feeling wasn't quite as desperate.

Their communication ran once again like clockwork. Good morning red. Good night marshmallow. Have a good day. Have sweet dreams.

Tuesday morning she woke with a new set of butterflies in her tummy. Once they were for Jimin, and maybe some of them still were. Now most were because that after her classes today would be the first day at her new job.

Different people to meet, a new normal to learn. Would the kids like her? Would she like the kids? Children were inherently honest, something that endeared her to them. But what if they were the mean kind of honest?

Then Hyuna would handle it.

That eased her mind. She was not above hiding from a gang of babies behind her best friend. She wished she was, but that wasn't the case.

The daycare was just as a colorful and chaotic as it was in her memory. Hyuna happily clasped her hand tightly in her own and was swinging it to and fro as she skipped inside, practically dragging her along. Hyuna was thrilled because 1) she got to work with her bestie, 2) this would give her more opportunity to help Y/n's relationship with Jimin along, and 3) she was the one training her because she wouldn't stop begging her boss for the opportunity and heavily pressured the daycare supervisor until she relented.

"There's 23 kids in our class and four adults. So you will have on average 5-6 of them that are your responsibility. But," she stopped them outside of a windowed door, "we will all be there so if you need help, do not hesitate to speak up. That's the one occasion where you can't be shy. Okay?"A hand affectionately ruffled her hair just as Jimin arrived.

"I'm late!" He skidded to a halt next to them, his breath slightly labored before sending Y/n a tired smile. "Hi."

Her gaze shot to the floor as she blushed hard while uttering a hello. Somehow she always forgot handsome Jimin was.

"Actually, you're ten minutes early, but it's whatever." Hyuna spoke up quickly, sensing a tension from Y/n. "I was just saying that you will be responsible for 5 or 6 kids at once. I'm training Velma and you'll be watched over by-"

"Lady Hyuna, your German friend iz here!" A blond haired, green eyed young German man opened the previously closed door and snatched Hyuna's hand up. He attempted to bring the back of it to his lips but she jerked away before he had the chance with a roll of her eyes, as though this were a common occurrence.

"Carl?" To her surprise Jimin appeared to know her coworker.

"Imma Carl Vogt, hello hi how you doing everybody." Unlike Jimin, Carl greeted them as if it were the first time.

"Carl, it's me, Park Jimin," he tried again, but the German man paid him no mind. Instead his green eyes zeroed in on Y/n with a look of awe.

"And who iz zis?" Without waiting for an answer he swooped in and gave a short bow, his voice dropping to a low, flirtatious tone. "Du bist wunderschoen. We be close friends, yes? I tink I like you already."

"Yah!" All three jumped as Jimin yelled in outrage. Soon both Hyuna and Carl lost sight of Y/n when he maneuvered her so that she was behind him. "Don't even think about it."

Hyuna was close to swooning. He was so hot.

Jimin was raging, ready to snap anyone's neck that dared look at his mate with any lustful intent.

Y/n, who had been shocked and somewhat afraid of this strange man coming onto her, was glad for Jimin. She didn't know how to handle situations like that.

Carl just wanted to make friends. Preferably attractive female ones.

A group of three year olds stood squished into the doorway, childish eyes peering out at the commotion yet still confused by the scene before them. Adults were so weird.

"Kimmy!"

Out toddled a little girl, on the chubby side and whom was wearing her own pants on her head. The sight did not deter Hyuna at all, especially when the child in question ran to grab her legs in a tight hold.

"Ga-in, your pants. We've talked about this." Though the tone was a scolding one Hyuna clearly favored the little girl. As she ushered her back into the classroom they followed behind, Jimin trying one more time with Carl.

"Carl, you don't remember me? We went to high school together. I'm friends with Kitty. Dude, what happened to you? You disappeared after graduation."

Carl's look was only of puzzlement, his years of high school apparently now a blank in his memory. "Ze cat lady, yes. Parks Shimin, no no. Never we met. Bye bye now."

Y/n couldn't help the giggle that came out when she observed the confused and slightly offended look on Jimin's face. He sent her playful glare at the sound.

"You think this is funny?"

"No." Hastily stuffing her amusement down, she tread over to where Hyuna was crouched down next to Ga-in and fixing her pants back on the correct way.

The classroom looked like a kid's dream play place, which, she supposed, was the intent. Every wall was a different color and each was decorated differently. One possessed previously done projects by the kids. Another with large stickers of different cartoon characters, and a third held a behavior chart with each kids names and different colors next to them. One corner held shelves where their personal belongings were stored and another a giant playhouse.

The multitude of toys and activities was mind boggling. Like the rest of the building it was an organized mess. One section for arts and crafts. Another held building blocks and puzzles to stimulate the brain. If the bright colors and the mess wasn't enough to give you a headache, then the noise level would do it.

Hyuna had cited 23 kids, but as Y/n scanned the area it seemed triple that amount. Not that it bothered her all that much. Her heart thumped happily as she observed them toddling around, exploring their surroundings.

Unexpectedly, Hyuna appeared to have a gift with them, as a single order from her raised voice had them all jump to attention and run to her. The little girl Ga-in sat comfortably on her foot with her limbs wrapped around her leg for support.

"Kids," she said quickly, knowing that more than half of them had the attention span of a goldfish, "these are our new friends. Yoon-ssi and Park-ssi."

There was a chorus of greeting from the little ones. Some saying 'hey Yoo,' a few 'hewo Park,' while the others had already forgotten their names. One put an oversized Lego in his mouth to try out the taste. Another fell over. A kid at the back sneezed onto the back of another's head.

While Jimin wondered what he had gotten himself into, Y/n found herself completely taken by them. All were so adorable, but there was ache in her heart, a part of her that suddenly missed Rosie.

Without missing a beat Hyuna pulled the Lego from the child's mouth while Carl wiped the back of the other's head with a tissue. "You're going to be nice to them, you hear me? If you misbehave, you will go to red!"

A round of gasps erupted after this statement. A different little girl tried to grab the discarded Lego so that she could try the taste too. It had nearly reached her mouth when Carl took it away to disinfect the item.

Outside of the main group, a little scrawny boy that looked too young to belong to this class caught Y/n's eye. He sat separate from the rest by himself, knees drawn up to his chest while a large pair of silver eyes observed his surroundings with apprehension. Her attention was soon drawn back to Hyuna as she dismissed the children and showed both herself and Jimin the behavior chart and what 'going to red' meant. Green was stellar behavior. There were several colors in-between and red was at the bottom of the chart.

Y/n automatically knew she would never put any kid under her charge near the red. She preferred communication over discipline, though knew that sometimes it was inescapable. Once the behavior chart and every color was explained, Carl led Jimin off to begin his training and Hyuna introduced Y/n to the children she would be watching over.

Dea, a little girl with barely any hair and sucking on a pacifier blinked her way and Y/n's heart began to melt at the way her cheeks continuously worked around the rubber in her mouth.

Hee-jin, another girl was slightly bowlegged but never stopped moving.

Yeona, the third female with crooked bangs and pigtails.

Sang-Ook, a handsome little boy and clearly a born charmer greeted her with a tight hug before running away to go play.

And lastly, the small boy who had caught her attention before.

"This is Baek Hyeon," Hyuna's fingers tapped gently over his hair and he blushed in response. "I thought you might be perfect for each other. He's a little shy."

Though at first sight he had interested her, she wasn't sure she shared that sentiment with her friend. Two shy people understood one another, but there wasn't much way for interaction.

A loud crash from the other side of the room and a small wail had Hyuna leaving them. Feeling awkward and unsure she sank to the floor to sit cross-legged next to the Baek Hyeon. The little boy gave her an apprehensive look in return and scooted away. Knowing he was accounted for, she scanned the play area and spotted the other four playing normally with the others.

"Par-ssi. Me too?" she glanced across the room to find Jimin covered in little girls. One on each hip and two more sat on both his feet. A fifth was by his knees and reaching up for him. What was he doing? The man himself looked like he was having as much fun playing as they were.

"Yoon-ssi?" At the sound of Hee-Jin calling her name Y/n turned her attentions back to find the little girl seated in front of her.

"Yes?"

She grinned happily, one small hand coming up to grip a strand of Y/n's hair. "I like rainbows."

"Me too," she smiled softly in return. "What is your favorite color?"

"I like pink and red and green and blue and all."

"That's fun."

"Yeah," she nodded proudly. "I like rainbows."

"I-"

"Bye!"

Before she could reply Hee-Jin shot to her feet and ran off, apparently done with the conversation. After checking to make sure she still saw each child she was responsible for, her gaze slid back to the shy boy. He had come a little closer, but was still quietly observing his fellow classmates. When he noticed her looking he hid his face in his knees.

Knowing how he felt did nothing to help her know how to help him. She felt helpless, maybe as much as he did, and racked her memory for whatever it was that had gotten her to open up to Jimin and Hyuna.

Jimin put his back to her. But this was a child, and one that she was supposed to be watching. Even if he was on the bashful side, kids didn't like feeling ignored. Then there was Hyuna's method. Annoying her until she broke. Probably also not applicable here.

Instead she decided on her own gut instinct and remained quiet, but constant by his side. The others were loud and playful, she would always know where they were. This one she would have to stick close to in order to keep watch over him.

It was an hour and half in. The kids were still running strong like they functioned on batteries that never quit. The little boy had remained next her, unmoving the entire time but had eventually stopped hiding his face.

The first time he looked up at her she patted the space next to her silently. To her surprise he stood and came over, but shockingly sat in her lap instead of the space she had indicated.

And just like that, she decided that she loved her new job.

—
Edited 7/27/22