#if some bitch pushes my brother off the swingset

[eottoghe]

Little Boxes - Eleven

A Jeonghceol Domestic AU where they live in suburbia with their six year old son Chan. Jeonghan is an active member of the PTA, a soccer dad and chauffeur, and a supportive parent all around. His loving husband cares deeply for his passions and will follow him to the end of the world if it keeps him and his family happy. Follow their journey as they get caught up in fun and zany adventures when they fall outside of the guide lines of your average neighbor. Don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I want to see how many different domestic prompts I can get out of this AU before I run out of steam.

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

NOTE: This takes place before all the holiday stuff. I just can’t plan for shit and write too slow lmao.

Autumn begins to settle in quickly. Warm sunshine accompanies a light breeze. The leaves start to change color and ever so slightly dangle from their branches, ready to fall. It’s sweater weather and warm tea time, but not quite cool enough for fluffy coats and mittens yet. With the sky being so clear and the temperature being just right, Jeonghan decides to take Chan to the park. Other parents in the surrounding area have noticed the scenic day and have brought their own kids to the playground as well. It’s relatively full. Not too much so that he couldn’t easily keep an eye on his kid, but enough to where the other kids could keep Chan company. Once too many has Jeonghan gotten stuck on a slide because Chan just insists on racing with him. He watches from the sidelines and lets him be a rowdy six-year-old for once.

Of course, it doesn’t take long for Jeonghan to garner some unwanted attention, so he puts on a fake smile to greet a parent that frequents this area. She’s rather distracting and he couldn’t remember her name if he tried, but she doesn’t seem to notice. He doubts she even realizes how annoying she is. Or if she does, she probably finds it charming. Apparently, she is in the PTA too but is a little more reserved so maybe that’s why he doesn’t remember her. He cuts his eyes between her and Chan (they call him overprotective, but he says its just diligence). She mentions something about saving pictures in her phone about some hot dad from the bake sale. Before Jeonghan can effectively pry into her gallery, he hears a shout that sounds all too familiar.

His heart stops, stomach drops, and he hurriedly hops over some children just to get to the source of that scream. He starts panicking once he sees his son on the ground in front of the swing sets. He’s got a skinned-up knee and a bloody palm and his crying echoes through the park achingly. Jeonghan runs over and immediately picks up the boy, checking his face for any life-threatening injuries. He sighs when he sees none. A flurry of questions and hushes come out of Jeonghan, instantly soothing the boy.

“What’s wrong baby? What happened?” He’s bouncing Chan on his hip and through broken cries and hiccupping he hears him say something about a girl pushing him. He connects the dots and sees some long-haired child around his kid’s age swinging merrily back and forth. Once Chan sees her again, he begins to cry more, burying his snot covered nose into Jeonghan’s shoulder. The dad knows he should just take the younger home to get him all cleaned up, but not before giving this brat a piece of his mind.

“Excuse me. Can I speak to you for a moment, sweetie?” It’s clear Jeonghan is a bit upset but tries to keep a calm demeanor so as not to trigger the parent that is sure to be lurking. If they are not monitoring their child like they should be, he’ll take that step for them. If they won’t discipline them, he will. A good scolding is necessary otherwise they’ll never learn. The girl continues to swing but does at least look at him with a bored expression. Kids can be so rude these days. “Now I know you probably didn’t mean it...” Even though Jeonghan knows damn well she is old enough to know better, “ …but it’s not nice to shove others aside to get what you want. Pushing someone off a swing is unacceptable behavior.” She has the nerve to yawn, “I’m sure you wouldn’t want your mom or dad to know what you’ve been up to, but I think it’s best if I talk to one of them.”

Before Jeonghan can even ask for the kid to point out their parent, he hears a vicious voice bark out, “Why are you harassing my daughter?"

Jeonghan is so offended because he’s not the one doing the harassing! “Harrassing?” he begins to tell them off, but when he turns around, it’s like the whole world comes to a full, screeching halt. Fate is on some fuckshit today.

 Jang Doyoon. Age 28. Number 19 on Jeonghan’s hit list.

Don’t be fooled. Just because he’s 19, does not mean there’s any less of a loathing for him. In fact, Jeonghan’s list is quite long so he’s still somewhere around the top 20%. It’s just Jeonghan’s luck that he runs into him after so long. It’s a small world (and at this moment he wishes he was on the opposite side of it).

Once, long before, Jang Doyoon seemed hellbent on ruining his whole life. He’d transferred to the same university as him and maybe it was some kind of territorial defense mechanism that had Doyoon making every encounter absolutely terrible. Jeonghan almost fought him once the other “accidentally” bumped into him with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in his hands. Even more, he didn’t even say sorry after staining his blouse and causing minor burns. Oddly, Jang Doyoon vanished after that. Jeonghan never questioned it, just closed that chapter in his book. Jeonghan hadn’t thought anything else of the boy.

That is… until now.

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. He mentally rolls up his sleeves, pulls up his big boy pants and prepares to stand up to the bully he never had the chance to.

“When my son was using the swing, your kid pushed him off.” His tone remains polite yet challenging. Jeonghan is a cordial man with a short temper. His soft exterior shields unsuspecting people from his true wrath.

But Jang Doyoon has accepted the challenge. “Well did she have reason to do so?”

Jeonghan is like a cauldron of molten lava now. His brain stutters, not believing the audacity this man has to ask a question like that. “What did you just say?” He raises an eyebrow.

“If your kid is hogging the swings, don’t you think it’s only fair to take turns?” Jeonghan can tell his cattiness has remained intact all these years later.

“I guess delinquency runs in the family.” Jeonghan leans in real close and his voice gets real low. “If you or your spawn of Satan ever comes anywhere near my child again, I will personally hand your ass over to you on a silver platter.”

Jeonghan makes sure he has a firm grip on Chan, the six-year-old still clinging tightly in his hold. He makes a dramatic exit, not once glancing back at the man who triggered his inner Mama Bear. There’s a cloud of dust in his wake and a couple stunned parents fishing for new gossip. If Jeonghan were to retell the story, be sure to expect explosions in the background, fire—lots of it, and a man quaking in fear.

On the walk home, he’s speaking sweet words to the child easily winding him down. Chan’s still shaken up, never really having been the focus of a bully’s rampage. His bawling has now turned into slight sniffling. He’s just too kind for this world. Jeonghan feels awful that someone so mean could target his precious baby. He hopes Chan never has to see her again (and that he never has to see her father).

He sits Chan on the counter of his bathroom once they get home. Chan knows how it feels to get cuts cleaned. It makes him want to cry all over again at the memory of it. It was too similar to his bike accident a few months ago. He never wanted to go through that again, but here he is. His dad reaches toward him with a cotton ball. He knows it isn’t water soaked through it because water doesn’t burn. And the smell is never that strong. He flinches each time it gets closer.

“I need you to be still, baby. It’ll take longer to clean if you keep moving around.”

“But it huuurts…” The pout is so much like Seungcheol’s that Jeonghan has to refrain from rolling his eyes.

“I know. I know. But it’s the only way to make it better. Can you be a big boy for me?” That seems to do the trick as Chan stops fidgeting on the counter and sits up a little straighter. His eyebrows flatten out into a line as he mocks what he thinks determination should look like. He’s already cried so much today. He wants to be a big boy who doesn’t have a fit when the stinging, burning water like thing gets too close. He nods.

But the contact makes all of that go out the window. He yelps and kicks his leg in surprise. His pout has returned and his wide eyes swell with brimmed tears. Thankfully Jeonghan catches his leg before he gets kicked. Holding it in place, he dabs the wounds a few times and fully cleans up any remnants of pebbles and blood. Even when Chan starts crying again and trying to shy away, he holds fast and tries not to let it affect him as much. It’s hard though. Seeing Chan cry and knowing he’s the one causing the pain makes his own heart wrench. He feels so guilty that he wasn’t able to protect his baby in the first place.

“I’m almost done. I’m so so sorry.” Jeonghan croons. The six-year-old’s fists come to tighten in the collar of Jeonghan’s shirt, an attempt to distract himself.

Jeonghan finishes up with Spiderman decorated band-aids. It’s the only good thing of this whole ordeal because Chan finally smiles seeing one of his favorite superheroes. They don’t have any plans for the rest of their day so Jeonghan thinks it’s a perfect time to watch cartoons and let Chan eat snacks and ice cream before dinner for once.

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