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'Congratulations! You've gotten the job. We are honoured to welcome you to the team…'
Tianlang-jun's eyes ran over the email once again, making note of all the details he had to remember. This was the first time he'd finally landed a job after practically months of searching, which meant he could feel giddiness bubbling in his veins. His grip tightened on his phone. After Xiyan's adoptive father cut her off like that, I'd better make sure this job—
"Tianlang-laoshi! Welcome to the team."
Snapping out of his reverie, he glanced up to see Yue Qingyuan, the owner of the daycare and the man who'd both interviewed and given him his new job, smiling at him. His grey-black eyes were crescented slightly, shining with gentle mirth, and his lips were curled as he stuck out his hand.
Tianlang-jun grinned back and shook that hand. "Hello, Yue-laoshi. Thanks a bunch for this opportunity."
"Oh, there's no need to thank me. I enjoyed your application quite a lot." The man then added in a quieter voice, "In fact, I think you'll do plenty of good for our daycare, given your more…forward views on demons."
Tianlang-jun paused. As a demon himself, he of course knew how difficult it was currently for demons in the modern world, attempting to blend in and live disguised as humans. He'd even once been a Demon Lord, ruling over his demons out in the open in a relatively peaceful society—broken only occasionally by battles with other demons and cultivators—before things had changed. It was thus only natural that he wouldn't have denigrated his own kind, but he appreciated the forward-thinking of these humans all the more for it.
Rather than voice all of that out loud and risk exposing his true identity, however, he just chuckled. "I appreciate it, Yue-laoshi. Though…I have to say that the other man with you—Shen-xiansheng, was it?—didn't seem to appreciate my answers much."
"Ah, Xiao Jiu? Don't worry about him; he's a bit uptight, but he means well, and I'm sure you'll be able to win him over with time. But let's not discuss demon politics at this time; here, allow me to show you everything you'll need…"
Tianlang-jun listened raptly, trying his best to remember everything from cubbie placements to first aid treatments. It was important that he do well in this new job—even if he was more accustomed to lounging about as what was akin to demon royalty.
Still, he felt motivated just remembering the night before, when his darling Su Xiyan had celebrated with him on his at long last successful job hunt, providing wine and a delicious feast. Her usually stoic face had broken out into a warm smile as she'd patted him on the back, telling him she believed in him.
And as for their little ones… Well, Luo Binghe and Zhuzhi-lang had been excited enough enjoying the party—that was until he'd actually told them they would be attending the daycare too…
Zhuzhi-lang had taken it in stride of course—the small, silly snake didn't seem capable of not taking things in stride when it came to following Tianlang-jun—but Luo Binghe had immediately protested, refusing to leave his loving family and take part in the big, scary world. Luo Binghe had been so teary-eyed even on this morning that Su Xiyan had promised she'd do her best to calm him before bringing him and Zhuzhi-lang to class with the rest of the students.
Tianlang-jun sighed to himself as he gathered some supplies he'd need for the first day of class. Perhaps…I really have spoiled the little guy too much, causing him to refuse school so strongly like this… I wonder if he'll be okay later?
He unfortunately couldn't dwell on it much further, as Yue Qingyuan was glancing at the clock and exclaiming suddenly, "Ah, the students will be here any second now. I best get back to my own classroom, but good luck with everything!"
"Wait!" he tried. "What do you recommend I—?"
But the door was already swinging shut behind him, leaving Tianlang-jun to stare with outstretched claws.
"—Do if I have a son who's not happy about attending…?" Sighing, he lowered his hand and shook his head. I'll just have to handle this myself. Come on, Tianlang-jun—think of good dads like Hui Tai Lang from that cartoon your kids are always watching, and what they'd do…
As he mulled over the answer, the door opened again and the high-pitched shrieking of children filled the room, along with the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Tianlang-jun started and whipped around, only to be greeted by a few familiar faces—people that he recognized as actually being demons.
"Jiuzhong-jun, Linguang-jun," he greeted, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you two to have children to enroll."
"Tianlang-jun. This is my little princess Sha Hualing," Jiuzhong-jun announced, revealing with a flourish the small girl whose hair was done up in many braids.
"Hello," he said jovially, crouching down to grin at her. "Nice to meet you, little one. I'm Tianlang-laoshi, and I'll be—"
Thwack.
Jolting back, Tianlang-jun rubbed his forehead as a rock dropped to the floor and rolled away. Somewhat stunned, he blinked from Jiuzhong-jun to Sha Hualing. "Was that…a slingshot?"
"Yeah," Jiuzhong-jun said, smiling down at his daughter. "She's a firecracker like that."
Tianlang-jun managed a chuckle before looking to Linguang-jun. "And you? Do you also have a tiny prince who's actually a firecracker?"
"Nah," he said dismissively, already shoving the child accompanying him forward. He barely even glanced at the boy as he said, "This is my nephew Mobei-jun, and if anything, he's more like a pillar of ice than some firecracker. Do with him what you will."
"Ah." He sure doesn't sound very enthusiastic about his nephew. Tianlang-jun glanced down and smiled but didn't lower himself all the way this time, having learned his lesson from Sha Hualing. "Hello there."
The boy just glared back at him.
"I can see the pillar of ice aspect," he finally joked, when it seemed as if Mobei-jun wasn't going to speak.
"Room for one more?"
Turning, he brightened as soon as he saw the loves of his life walking toward him. "Xiyan! Binghe, Xiao Zhuzhi! Welcome to the class~"
Su Xiyan smiled as she approached, the children trailing behind her with their hands in hers. "How's the new job so far?"
"Not bad," he replied. He smirked and leaned in closer. "But I think it'll be even better if my wife gives me a good luck kiss~"
She lifted a book and blocked his lips, shaking her head in amusement. "Let's try and be professional," she chided dryly.
Tianlang-jun just grinned back at her before kneeling to open his arms for the boys who were staring up at him with big eyes. "Hey, kiddos~ You two look so cute in the daycare uniforms! Look at your little caps~"
"Hi, Jiujiu," Zhuzhi-lang said softly, his lips curling shyly as he was scooped up.
"Baba," Luo Binghe added, gripping him tightly around his neck and burying his face in the older man's clavicle. "I want to go home."
"Awww, Binghe—the day's barely even started. Let's give it more of a chance, okay?"
The boy let out a muffled protest that had Tianlang-jun ready to try and further soothe him, but a loud noise suddenly sounded from the front and he glanced up.
The adults had just left, and seemingly having realized there was not much adult supervision, Sha Hualing and Mobei-jun had already begun to wreak havoc. The former was giggling gleefully as she dodged the not yet fully developed ice powers of Mobei-jun, and Tianlang-jun furrowed his brow.
"Hey, hey!" he tried scolding, despite deep down feeling actually rather impressed by the mess they'd managed to make. "No fighting in the daycare!"
The two ignored him completely, causing him to groan. He looked back at Su Xiyan and handed Luo Binghe and Zhuzhi-lang to her. "You guys go ahead and say your goodbyes. I'm going to handle this."
"Jiayou," she called after him.
"Jiujiu, I can help too," Zhuzhi-lang added quietly, quickly scrambling after him.
And so the chaos began as Tianlang-jun settled into his new role as a caretaker, trying to keep Mobei-jun and Sha Hualing out of trouble. Thankfully, Zhuzhi-lang proved to be quite the little helper, but Tianlang-jun found that neither of the other demons respected him at all. Sha Hualing seemed determined to try and "kill" him, while Mobei-jun exploded at the drop of a hat.
Currently, he was attempting to separate Mobei-jun from fighting some human kids that had refused to stop hogging the slide—a task that proved a lot harder than he'd like it to be.
"Stop, stop, stop." He grabbed the tiny ruffian by the collar and dragged him off one of the weeping humans. Lifting him into the air, Tianlang-jun frowned sternly at him. "Here we don't beat other kids up, got it?"
Mobei-jun shot him a frosty look, his face dark, and began kicking his short, stubby legs in an attempt to escape. Tianlang-jun could already feel a mild ice creeping up his foot, causing him to hiss in mild pain.
That was also when something began tugging on his khaki shorts. "Baba," a small voice called.
"Not now, Binghe," he said distractedly, still facing off against Mobei-jun. "Baba's busy—why don't you go find Xiao Zhuzhi and play?"
"But Binghe wants Baba," the boy insisted, and Tianlang-jun could hear the tears that were forming in his voice.
He stifled an exasperated sigh—this was going to be the third tantrum Luo Binghe had thrown all day—and shifted his attention to his son. "I know you want Baba to play with you, but Baba also has to look after everyone else, okay? So I can't just—ow!"
While he'd been distracted, Mobei-jun had kicked him square in the face.
"Son of a—ugh!" He immediately swung his arm down and let go of the kid's collar, which allowed Mobei-jun to jump to the ground and take off. "Mobei-jun! You get back here!" he yelled as he chased after the boy.
Luo Binghe was left standing there alone with giant pearls beginning to leak from his eyes. "Baba…" He sniffled as his fingers began to curl into fists. "Baba doesn't care about Binghe anymore… Baba abandoned Binghe!" That was when he began bawling.
"Tang-di," Zhuzhi-lang murmured, his golden eyes wide and eyebrows creased. "Jiujiu didn't mean to…"
"No! Baba doesn't want Binghe anymore!" the other boy wailed, rubbing at his eyes. "Then I don't want Baba anymore either!"
"Tang-di…!"
Luo Binghe ran past Zhuzhi-lang, ignoring his cousin's cries. He made his way to the chain-link fence that surrounded the playground, unsure where he was going but knowing that he had every intention of running away. Just as he clasped the metal with his hands and began trying to hook his foot into one of the holes, another voice piped up:
"That's dangerous, you know."
"I don't care," he retorted with another sniffle, lifting his other foot.
"Wait, don't do that," the newcomer said, grabbing him by the pants leg. "You shouldn't—"
"Let me go!"
As Luo Binghe thrashed, the two of them began teetering backwards and the boy pulling on him let out a startled yelp. "Shang Qinghua, help!"
Someone else let out a squeak and rushed forward, but it was already too late. Luo Binghe and the boy fell backwards onto the gravel, with Luo Binghe squeezing his eyes shut and flinching…
Before realizing that he didn't feel anything.
Blinking open his eyes, he shifted his face to the side and saw that his technically unwanted companion had cushioned his fall. He was also grimacing, eyes screwed shut with his giant glasses hanging off his face, and he had his arms wrapped around Luo Binghe's torso.
Luo Binghe gasped and began scrabbling to get free.
"Ah, hey! Ow, ow, ow!" the other boy cried, letting him go as Luo Binghe's elbow jabbed into his side.
"S-S-Sorry," he stammered, quickly kneeling to bow profusely. "A-Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" He sat up and began rubbing his back while his eyebrows drew together and he pursed his lips at Luo Binghe. "What about you?"
He blinked, taken aback that this human boy would ask after him, when he was the one who was more likely hurting. "I-I'm okay."
"But why were you crying and trying to run away?"
Hearing that, his shoulders slumped and he looked down at his hands, which clenched into fists on his knees. "I…"
"Did you see some scary demons? Is that why you were crying?" the third boy—who Luo Binghe had pretty much already forgotten was there, although now he recalled that his saviour had called him "Shang Qinghua"—asked, his eyes huge and eager yet also filled with apprehension. He reminded Luo Binghe of a wide-eyed hamster.
"Demons?" he echoed.
"Mn!" his saviour confirmed, immediately brightening. He readjusted his glasses, which seemed to gleam under the sunlight as he leaned in closer to Luo Binghe, whispering loudly, "Shang Qinghua and I were trying to sneak into the daycare because I heard my Jiu-ge complaining about there maybe being secrets like demons here, and I wanted to see!"
Luo Binghe stared back at him, biting his lip. Is Baba going to be found out? He could hear his brain playing back all his father's lectures about how, as demons, they needed to lay low because humans were afraid of them and how if they were ever exposed, they could lose their homes and be separated from their mom and be kidnapped by the government. Luo Binghe gulped. "You're…not scared?"
"Nope! Why would I be?" The boy grinned back at him. "I think demons are awesome!"
For a moment, Luo Binghe only blinked, not having expected such an answer. Then, slowly, his expression lit up with a hopeful twinkle in his eye, and he closed the gap between him and his saviour completely. Grasping his hands, he asked breathlessly, "Really?"
"Yeah! I like them because Jiu-ge told me they have all these strong powers that they can go like pew pew pew with! And I bet the really big ones can even make things go ka-boom!"
"They can! They really can!" he confirmed eagerly, squeezing his hands.
His saviour beamed back at him. "Do you like demons too?"
"Mn!"
"That's so cool!" His fingers slipped free so that he could clap an enthusiastic hand to his chest. "I'm Shen Yuan, and this is my best friend Shang Qinghua! What's your name?"
"I'm Luo Binghe," he replied, smiling a huge smile. "And…if you like demons, I can show you a tiny secret…"
Shen Yuan's eyes widened. "What is it?"
Luo Binghe didn't even give himself a chance to hesitate, unlocking his abilities and allowing his human disguise to fall away. His eyes flashed a brilliant scarlet as his demon mark manifested itself on his forehead, and he flicked his fingers to create a very small ball of red fire. He knew his features weren't as prominent as a full demon's, since he was half-human—for example, his dad's canines were a lot sharper and he had pointed ears and his eyes were even always a brilliant ruby, unlike Luo Binghe's usual black—but he figured this would be impressive enough.
He peeked shyly at Shen Yuan. "What do you think?"
"You…" The human's mouth had fallen open, and he was blinking rapidly. Disbelief filled his voice as he whisper-shouted, "You're a demon!?"
"I'm a half-demon!" he said proudly. "My baba is a full one though, and he's really really powerful. Mama says he's a Demon Lord."
"That…is…amazing!" Shen Yuan burst out.
"And scary," Shang Qinghua piped up, but even he seemed to be in awe.
Luo Binghe felt his lips stretch even wider. "I can show you more stuff, if you want," he offered, a hopefulness colouring his tone and his cheeks.
"Really!?"
When he nodded, Shen Yuan's gaze sparkled like the sun. "Then let's go! Show me everything please! I'm sure nobody's going to notice if we're gone for a bit…"
"Where is Shen Yuan!?"
Tianlang-jun resisted the urge to drag his hands down his face, but couldn't stifle his groan.
The man who was currently glaring at him with his hand slammed down on his desk, was a lithe man with long legs and sharp hazel eyes, though his beauty was offset by a twist to his lips that transformed him into a blade. His voice was similarly sharp as he snapped, "Don't give me that attitude! What have you done with my boy Shen Yuan!?"
"Shen-xiansheng, I really don't know where your little brother could be," he attempted to placate again.
"You—!"
"Xiao Jiu, let's not be hasty now," Yue Qingyuan tried, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We don't yet know if Tianlang-laoshi had anything to do with his and Qinghua's disappearance."
"Didn't have anything to do with—!" He cut himself off in frustrated rage. "He's clearly a demon just out to snatch up all our kids for his own nefarious means! What are you still calling him a laoshi for!?"
"It's not like demons are really known to eat humans anymore," Tianlang-jun said dryly, but that only earned him another baleful glare.
"You better find him soon, or I'm going to—"
He just barely managed not to roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're going to get me arrested and sued and my life destroyed and everything else that comes with it. I know; you've already ranted about this."
Shen Jiu looked about ready to punch him in the face, but Yue Qingyuan quickly pulled him away and began murmuring placatingly to him.
Tianlang-jun sighed and rubbed his temples. He'd been so busy trying to make sure that the other kids stayed out of trouble, he hadn't expected trouble to find him. Especially since he currently couldn't find Luo Binghe either.
He wasn't too worried about his son because Luo Binghe had always been capable, and even with his separation anxiety, he was a good kid who rarely got into trouble. But he was still worried overall—even more so because Luo Binghe had gone missing at around the same time as Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua.
As he tried to think of what could've happened, there was a gentle pulling on his Hawaiian shirt. "Xiao Zhuzhi?" he asked, glancing down at the boy who'd appeared by his side.
He appeared anxious, his brow furrowed, as he pointed at the window.
Tianlang-jun frowned but followed his finger…before gasping and leaping upwards. "That's…Shang Qinghua! One of the missing children!"
Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan both spun towards the window, and sure enough, there was Shang Qinghua crying as he ran around the playground away from Mobei-jun.
The three adults burst out the door, surveying the playground…and it didn't take long for Shen Jiu to shout, "Shen Yuan!" He surged forward and picked the young boy up, whose hand slipped from Luo Binghe's as a result.
"Jiu-ge?" he gasped.
"Binghe!" Tianlang-jun also called.
"Baba!" As soon as his father lifted him, he looped his arms around his neck and squeezed. "Baba isn't too busy for Binghe anymore?"
"Mn," he said softly. His throat felt slightly tight. "I'm sorry, Binghe. Baba never should've been too busy for you… Are you okay?"
"I am! Better than okay, actually—because I made a friend!"
Tianlang-jun followed his adoring gaze to where Shen Yuan was still being interrogated by a furious Shen Jiu. The human boy appeared sheepish as he fidgeted and explained that he and Luo Binghe had gotten wrapped up in playing after Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua snuck into this section of the daycare from their own section.
Shen Jiu rubbed the area between his eyes as he listened, shaking his head. "I cannot believe you, Shen Yuan," he muttered. "Just…kids these days…"
"Sorry, Jiu-ge…"
The man let out a sigh before lifting his head to face Tianlang-jun again. "It would appear," he said stiffly, "that I owe you an apology."
"It's alright," Tianlang-jun replied. He let Luo Binghe down and rubbed the back of his neck. "It also appears that I'm not all that great at this job anyway… I didn't even notice my own son going missing right away, and Binghe hasn't been a fan of this set-up from the beginning, so maybe I should just step dow—"
"Wait."
The duo turned to Yue Qingyuan, who was gazing down at something with a small, fond smile on his face.
Tianlang-jun tracked his eyes to see that Luo Binghe had quickly rejoined Shen Yuan, hugging him and chatting excitedly. Tianlang-jun's eyes widened at the sight.
"I wouldn't be so quick to give up," Yue Qingyuan continued, placing a reassuring hand on Tianlang-jun's shoulder. "From what I've seen, you're a good dad, and I believe in your abilities as a caretaker. Look; you've made these children happier than I ever saw them in the other classes."
Tianlang-jun looked around the playground. The children did indeed seem to be having fun. Mobei-jun had caught Shang Qinghua but was no longer beating him up, instead forcing the human to sit beside him while he gripped his collar, and there seemed to be a peacefulness to his stoic face that wasn't there before. Sha Hualing was cackling, swinging from the trees, showing off to some human children who'd come out to see what all the ruckus was about. Zhuzhi-lang was standing right beside his uncle, smiling at him and offering some supplies he may need later.
And of course, there was Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan, who were beaming at the adults with their hands intertwined.
Tianlang-jun shifted his attention inquisitively to Shen Jiu.
The man huffed, folding his arms. "I suppose…you have done an adequate enough job for your first day," he finally stated, his voice stilted. "I may still find your background somewhat suspicious, but…" His eyes softened as they landed on his younger brother. "I haven't seen Shen Yuan so happy in a long time, so I won't object to you staying."
Tianlang-jun raised an eyebrow at the gruff yet approving words, and his lips quirked upwards. "Well…that leaves just one more thing…" He turned to Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan, gesturing for them to come nearer. As soon as they were close enough, he wrapped his arms around his son and nephew, asking, "Binghe, Xiao Zhuzhi… It's up to you two now. Do you want me to keep this job and keep coming to this daycare?"
Luo Binghe glanced at Shen Yuan and at his family, breaking out into a huge smile. "Mn!" he confirmed, hugging his father. "Binghe likes it here."
"Me too," Zhuzhi-lang agreed quietly.
Tianlang-jun chuckled, lifting them both into the air. "That settles it then! We'll stay here!"
As the kids cheered at that, Tianlang-jun gazed out at his new "empire" with a giant grin. His heart filled with delight at how his new job had worked out after all.
Xiyan will be so happy too, he thought, squeezing Zhuzhi-lang and Luo Binghe tight. We finally have a place where we belong, and…I'll make sure that other demons feel like they can belong here too. He paused momentarily, seeing Luo Binghe shifting to talk more with Shen Yuan, and the joy in Tianlang-jun's system seemed to grow both stronger and softer, and he laughed. Making this a place just for us…and for those willing to accept us as we are.
(Here's a shot of them in the future hehe~)