Black and Blue | Markmin

𝚂𝚒𝚡.

Jaemin heard the bell ring that was connected to the door, walking in and grimacing as a whiff of baby powder and loud screams greeting his ears. He hadn't even made it two steps into the daycare before small arms latched onto his leg, leading him to look down at the four-year-old who was smiling up at him with a runny nose.

"Nana!" the girl giggled and Jaemin smiled brightly, bending down to pick the child up. He quickly grabbed a tissue from the box waiting to the side and wiped the girl's nose as he walked further into the familiar building.

"Hey JiJi," Jaemin cooed, throwing the tissue out in a trashcan, his eyes scanning the room for the boy he was looking for, "How was your day today?" Then his eyes settled on the green-haired boy who was sitting at a kid-sized table, handing crayons to the kids as they asked for them.

"Lele read a story to us today! That never happens so we all excited!" The girl said loudly and animatedly, leading the boy mentioned to straighten up and turn around, a bright smile coming onto his face as he saw Jaemin.

"Oh I bet you were excited, what was it about?" He asked, keeping the same excitement that the girl had.

"There was a prince a-and, uh, a-and, uh,-"

"And a dragon JiJi, right?" his co-worker finished, taking the girl out of Jaemin's arms and placing her on the floor, "I'm sure Jaemin will want to hear all about it later but Sooie was asking for you over at the crayon table. She's having a hard time choosing what colors to use."

JiJi saluted playfully and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, plopping herself down in the small chair that Chenle had previously been using. Jaemin looked away from the girl and back to Chenle who had an exhausted look on his face.

"I'm so tired," Chenle cried out and slumped his head onto Jaemin's shoulder, earning a back rub from the older of the two, "I had a half-day today so I came in early cause Jungwoo had an appointment for his dog and Ryeon fricking flaked on me."

Jaemin grimaced at the name of their mutually hated co-worker, Yeon Ryeon, whose name even sounded prestigious. She barely ever came in for work and when she did, she did a horrible job. Jungwoo, the owner of their lovely daycare, couldn't fire her either because her father was the mayor of the district they lived in.

"Well, never fret Lele, I'm here to help," Jaemin held the boy up and gave him a bright smile, a tired smile coming onto Chenle's face, "Just let me get my apron on first."

"Thank you so much Nana, I'm sorry this is short notice but I'm so glad that you're here," Chenle smiled and Jaemin ruffled his hair, the boy too tired to fend off the affectionate gesture. Jaemin smiled again before he moved away, walking to the employee room in the back to grab his apron.

His trusty apron which held extra crayons, block toys, tissues, and several pieces of candy. He could never get through any of his shifts at the daycare without his apron.

So he slipped it over his head, tying the back with ease. He rolled his shoulders out after sitting at a desk for the entire day and his thoughts drifted back to Donghyuck and Jeno. He winced as he thought about how he had treated them.

But it would be hard to explain why he was working at the daycare. He needed the money to pay his bills and his friends would question why he needed to pay bills if he still lived at his parents house. And even if he told them it was for extra cash, they would question why he occasionally asked them to buy him stuff. Luckily for Jaemin, or maybe unluckily, the money that he made at the daycare was the perfect amount to pay for lighting, rent, water bills, and groceries.

The perfect amount. No more. No less.

He glanced into the mirror, checking his makeup to make sure that the bruises were still covered (which they were). Jaemin knew that they would be covered, years of experience giving him the power to put just enough on to cover the marks for the entire day. He placed an easy smile on his face before walking out of the room, greeted by the smiling faces of two boys who had been waiting to play with him.

"Hey guys, what are we building today?"

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