Finally a new chapter ! I didn't really enjoy writing it, but I hope you enjoy reading it in any case.

Happy reading! ☼

Eccedentesiast : (n.) Someone hiding pain behind a smile.

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The room was dead silent until Hongjoong heard one of the children laughing right behind him. Turning round, his face livid, the man met the innocent gaze of Yeosang, who had looked up from his phone, his fist in front of his mouth to stop himself laughing. Clearly, as soon as his son met his gaze, he couldn't hold back any longer as he burst out in laughter too, his head thrown back as he clapped his hands. Hongjoong turned to the teacher again, ready to apologise, but when he saw his expression, which he would describe as 'magical' because he was so lost, the blue-haired man laughed back. No lie, you and I, he was releasing all the pressure of the ridiculousness of the question asked. Poor Mr Park, who was even more flabbergasted, had turned to Hongjoong, laughing out loud in his turn. But he didn't seem to like it at all, because his face immediately darkened.

"Do you laugh at abuse, Mr Kim?"

The latter stopped laughing very quickly, but replied, with a smile still on his lips:

"Of course not, but that you think so, yes, very much ! Confessed the smaller boy, not realising the seriousness of the situation.

- That doesn't answer my question.

- Why do you think that?

- It still doesn't answer my question."

Mr Park had replied very curtly, too curtly, and handsome or not, Hongjoong had not at all appreciated the look that had followed his words. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily, annoyance now evident on his face.

"- The children can go out, can't they?

- Yes, of course."

He said as he brought his face closer to the other man, despite the desk separating them, announcing that he was willing to tell him what he had to say.

"Boys, I'd like to talk to your teacher alone. Hongjoong announced. Go into the corridor, I'll be quick."

Wooyoung, Yeosang and Mingi were quick to respond and silently stepped out of the doorway without asking for anything, as if they were already familiar with this kind of situation. With a nod, the man opposite told his children to do the same. San and Yunho immediately joined their friends. At the soft slam of the door, Hongjoong saw his interlocutor swallow before looking into his eyes.

"- I'm listening.

- First of all, I'm going to try to speak to you clearly and concisely, even if my vocabulary isn't as elaborate as yours. So, I apologise for taking your children out, but I feel that this conversation is between us, and that you are an authority figure to them. If there's a lesson to be learned or a tone to be raised here, I don't intend to question your role in relation to them. Having said that, I don't appreciate your little game at all. It's one thing to make light of this subject when I don't know you, but it's another to be serious and put me against the wall without me knowing the reason.

Hongjoong took a deep breath, his gaze anchored in the professor's dark orbs.

"- Whether you believe me or not, NO, I don't abuse any of my children. And if you were a little more observant, I'd almost say the opposite. Grumbled Hongjoong, unable to resist adding a touch of 'humour', not wanting the situation to get too heavy either. Now that I've answered your question, and it hasn't done you any good, I'd like you to answer mine."

After a brief moment of hesitation, during which Mr Park cleared his throat, he finally replied, now avoiding the gaze of the man in front of him. He must not have expected this answer.

"Very well, listen to Mr Kim. I... apologise for misjudging you. To answer your question, the problem is that your child acts differently, he's more agitated than average, he doesn't try to learn, he seems to have attention problems, he's also very emotional... But what intrigues me the most is that in just two weeks, Wooyoung can't tear himself away from me when he changes teachers. Even worse, he's afraid of the others. I realise that this could be a good thing, but being attached to a 'trusted' adult because the others scare us, in addition to other signs, worries me."

Hongjoong was about to open his mouth, searching for words. His gaze never wavered from the teacher. Seeing that his eyes were tinged with concern, the father suddenly eased back into the chair, a slight warmth spreading through his chest, he hadn't expected such a pedagogical teacher. A slight smile appeared on his face as he finally found what he had to say, relieved to see that Mr Park was only worried. He replied softly.

"- I apologise too, I was impulsive. I can see that you're worried about Wooyoung. To be honest, I don't want to reveal my life, but let's just say it hasn't been easy for him. I don't have a definite diagnosis but I could see that he was showing symptoms of ADHD, unfortunately I haven't... well, I can't find a psychologist for him at the moment."

Mr Park seemed to understand the message hidden in the youngest's last words, because he nodded without forcing him to dig a little deeper into the subject, a reassuring smile on his lips. Hongjoong then continued.

"I think that explains a lot. And if he's attached himself to you, I'd just say it's normal. The separation from my... ex-girlfriend... wasn't easy, and since then he can't bear to stay away from me. He sees you as a father figure when I'm not around, I think."

He added a confident smile. However, Mr Park had seen his slight grimace at the mention of his ex-girlfriend, but in any case, he didn't pick up on it.

"Thank you for bringing up this difficult subject with me, Mr Kim. We won't keep your children waiting any longer, I think they want to go home. Joked the teacher to ease the still tense situation. In any case, I'll do my best to find out more and adapt to Wooyoung's case, and I hope you'll be free for a next appointment so we can take stock of the situation in a few months' time."

The two men stood up at the same time, and Mr Park accompanied Hongjoong to the door, which he opened before offering him his hand. Hongjoong hesitated to take it - he didn't really like the touch and had already avoided it on the way home - but shook it out of politeness and so that the teacher wouldn't ask any more questions. It wasn't a handshake that was going to put him in such a state either. Not today at least.

"I hope to see you again soon Mr Kim, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

- Likewise, no hard feelings."

Hongjoong was totally relaxed now that the professor couldn't be mistaken and it was all over. In the end, the rendez-vous wasn't as bad as he'd expected. Wooyoung ran to throw himself into his father's arms when he saw him.

"- Dad, we're going home now!"

A laugh escaped his lips as he took his son's hand.

"- Good luck, I can see you're doing your best, you're not a bad father."

The comment healed something inside the young father, as if he needed to hear it.

He waved to Mr Park one last time before heading for the exit, Mingi and Yeosang at his side. As they passed the playground, now empty at this hour, the September sun was still warming the little family's skin.

"Are we going home by bus, Dad? Mingi asked.

- Yes, your grandparents needed the car this afternoon.

- So why is Maddox's car here? Yeosang interjected."

- Maddox's..."

Hongjoong's eyes lit up as he saw his best friend, a big smile plastered on his lips, get out of his car. Kim Kyung Moon was his real first name, Maddox being his nickname but also his stage name, and the kids liked to call him that. The father worked on his music with Maddox, who was already a well-known author, composer and singer. It was thanks to him that Hongjoong had been able to get into the music business; he had only taken up his job as a librarian, which only served to provide for his little family, until he could make a full living from his passion. They approached the car and greeted the young man, who was clearly happy to see the four of them.

"Bonjour, Hongjoong! It's a good thing Mingi answers his messages, you haven't even glanced at yours."

He pulled out his phone, seeing three messages and two missed calls from Kyung Moon.

Goldfish:

- R u home?

- Answer when I call you Hongthoven, I don't have the keys.

- Never mind, I'll ask my godson.

"If Mingi didn't answer his messages I wouldn't have made it. Maddox laughed."

The children did not listen to the conversation of the two adults as they squeezed into the back of the car. Yeosang and Mingi closed their respective doors, Wooyoung having claimed the middle seat as usual. Hongjoong saw his friend's gaze shift slightly from his face, so he turned to follow the trajectory of his eyes. He then spotted Mr Park coming out of the building with San and Yunho at his side.

"- I was on a rendez vous with Wooyoung's teacher. announced the smaller boy.

Maddox's eyes widened immediately, he hadn't understood the sentence at all as he should have...

"- A date with your kid's teacher, and WITH both of your kids ?

- NO! I was talking about a parent-teacher meeting, you moron. He thought I was abusing Woo. spat the father."

Kyung Moon burst out laughing at the information, which he hadn't expected at all, before he too got into the car, followed immediately by Hongjoong.

"I told him it was the other way round... And I explained everything else.

- Everything, or just everything ?

- Just everything, we'll say."

Maddox started the car, and as the Park family passed by on the pavement, Hongjoong's eyes met those of the teacher, who offered him a smile. He didn't even have time to return the smile as he turned the corner. There was a heavy silence in the car, and the father knew that his friend was watching him out of the corner of his eye, he could feel it.

"Say what you have to say, Kyung Moon.

- He's not bad, that's all.

- That's it?

- Mmhmmh."

There was silence again. But Hongjoong knew very well that behind a simple "He's not bad", Maddox was implying more than that.

He certainly had an idea in the back of his head.

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I really like Maddox's character, don't you? 👀