Sugar Daddy

Chapter Twenty-Six: Trifles

Thank you for your patience while I finished this chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

...

When the final bell rings, Taehyung lets out a small sigh of relief. The children immediately hop up from their desks, rushing for bags and lunchboxes stored in the little cubbies at the back of the room. Taehyung smiles as he stands behind his desk, watching the classroom door fling open and a mother peeks her head in. Immediately, the students begin to run for the door, calling out for their mothers.

"Okay everyone, don't push or run now! Have a good night!" Taehyung calls out, which does slow the children down some. But not enough that one or two don't stumble over each other as they try to weave through classmates and the women waiting to pick up their children.

"Bye, Tae Tae!" the little ones call out as they leave one by one. After several minutes only two students are left. Ian and Momo. Momo sits at her desk, happily kicking her feet back and forth while Ian nervously paces with his hands tightly wrapped around his backpack straps.

"Ian, is your mama not coming?" Momo curiously asks before Ian just shrugs.

"Sometimes she waits outside..." Ian mumbles, though Taehyung does not find any comfort in that answer. The parking lot is even busier than the hallways at the end of the school day, and making a four-year-old traverse it sounds like a very dangerous thing to do.

"Well if you want Momo and I can go outside with you once I'm done cleaning up," Taehyung suggests.

Momo immediately hops out of her desk and shouts, "Yeah! Yeah! I'll help!"

She rushes for the small broom and quickly starts sweeping the floor. Ian follows suit, setting his backpack down so he can quickly help gather the trash. Taehyung smiles happily as he moves the desks and wipes them all down. He organizes the books, and when silence fills the classroom, Momo starts to hum, her sweet little voice echoing around the room and bringing a gentle smile to Ian's lips.

He hums along to her song, the cheerful little tune perking him up as he tosses the trash into the small bin at the back of the room. Taehyung hums along too, his deep voice perfectly balancing with their brighter tone. All of them quickly finish, the comforting hum carrying them through it all.

Once done, Taehyung stands in the center of the neat classroom with a bright boxy grin on his lips.

"Thank you so much for the help, you guys! You did such a great job." Taehyung wanders over to his desk, grabbing his phone, notebooks, and pens before shoving them back into his bag.

"You're welcome, Tae Tae!" Momo chimes, skipping to the back of the room where her purple backpack peeks out of its cubby. Ian nods, quietly saying the same thing as he loops his arms through his backpack straps again. Taehyung leads them out of his classroom, one hand protectively hovering behind each of them as they walk down the hall.

"Stand close to me now. It can be pretty busy out here," Taehyung murmurs once they exit the front entrance of the school. A loud cacophony of car horns, shouts, and the never-ending chatter and giggles of students sweep over them like a tidal wave. Instinctively, Ian reaches up and clings to Taehyung's hand, squeezing it tightly with wide terrified eyes. The teacher's heart breaks seeing the fear in this child's eyes, and he drops to his knees, keeping his eye level with the petrified boy.

"It's okay. I've got you. What does your mom's car look like?" Taehyung asks while Momo hurriedly grabs Ian's other hand, giving it a comforting little squeeze.

"Um...its red...red and kinda long..." Ian mumbles, looking at all the cars and students in fear. Rage seeps through Taehyung's veins at the thought of Ian having to face this chaos alone. How could someone do this to a child? He's only four years old. Taehyung stands to his full height, still letting Ian cling to his hand while he looks over all the cars.