Work Text:
Hongjoong pulled up to Harin's elementary school as kids were beginning to stream out of the doors. The parking lot to the school was small, just barely enough space for the administrators and teachers to have designated spaces, but Hongjoong managed to find a space at the end of the lot and put the car in park. He rarely came to pick up Harin from school; the buses were able to drop Harin right at the end of their street, so he tended to take up late afternoon shifts with the knowledge that she'd call him as soon as she reached home safely. Today, though, he'd made sure he was able to come get Harin directly from school. After receiving a notification from Harin's teacher two days prior, Hongjoong hadn't been able to think of anything else besides talking to his daughter and figuring the whole mess out.
He shut off the car and stepped outside, scanning the sidewalks for his daughter. He spotted her walking on the grass lawn, talking animatedly to a shorter girl beside her.
"Harin," he called, catching her attention before she could turn the corner to the bus with the other third graders. Harin's head snapped up, eyes wide with surprise at seeing Hongjoong in the parking lot. She turned and said something to the girl she was walking with, and when she received a nod in response, she turned and pushed through the crowd, running up to Hongjoong's car. As she approached and got a closer look at Hongjoong's surely sour face, her surprise morphed into nervousness.
"Hi, eomma," she said. "I thought you had to go to work today."
"I decided to come home early," Hongjoong said. He leaned to the side and opened the back door. "Come on. Get in." He was sure his face was rather severe, but given the severity of the situation, Hongjoong didn't see the point in pretending Harin didn't have a punishment waiting for her at home. Even if Harin had a perfectly good reason for her behavior, Hongjoong couldn't just let it slide.
Harin shuffled nervously to the backseat and climbed inside, and Hongjoong closed the door harshly. He got in the driver's seat and started the car, and as soon as Harin buckled herself in, he started the car and pulled out of the lot.
"How was school today?" he asked.
"Good," Harin responded, her voice small. She didn't elaborate and Hongjoong didn't ask.
They rode in silence for a few more minutes until Harin summoned the bravery to speak.
"Am I in trouble?"
"I don't know," Hongjoong responded. "Have you done something that would make you be in trouble?"
"Maybe..."
"'Maybe?'"
Hongjoong's eyes darted up to his rearview mirror, and he saw Harin shifting uncomfortably.
"I dunno."
Hongjoong hummed.
"Okay. Tell me when you figure it out."
When they got to their apartment complex, Hongjoong opened the back door to let Harin out and grabbed her backpack from the car. Harin followed behind him in silence, pulling anxiously at the sleeves of her jacket. It wasn't until Hongjoong shut and locked the door that Harin finally cracked.
"Did you get a letter from Minju-seonsaengmin?"
"What would I be getting a letter about?"
"About, um...me getting in trouble at school."
There it was.
Hongjoong turned around and looked down at Harin. Harin was looking at the floor, eyes fixed firmly on her black uniform shoes.
"I did get a letter from her. Can you tell me what you did that was bad enough for your teacher to write to me about it?"
Harin dragged her foot uncomfortably across the entryway. "I, um...I punched Soo-ah in the face."
Hongjoong blinked. He'd known Harin had gotten into a fight with another student, because that's what the notice said. He hadn't known exactly how it had happened. "You punched someone in the face?"
Harin nodded. "And when she fell down, I spit on her."
Hongjoong's head was roaring with a thousand different emotions. Harin still wasn't looking at him, just standing perfectly still with her hands behind her back. Hongjoong took the opportunity to compose himself, turning away slightly and pressing two fingers against the side of his head to try and alleviate the rising stress.
"Why did you spit on someone and punch them in the face?"
"Because she spit on someone else first."
Harin looked up this time, and even though her eyes were brimming with tears, her jaw was set in the way it was when she was about to be extremely difficult.
"She pulled on Jiyoo's hair, and when she asked Soo-ah to let go she spit on her face. And she started crying! There weren't any adults, and first graders are so little she can't explain what happened. So I hit her. And I spit on her too, so she knows it doesn't feel good, and I told her to stop being so mean to little kids."
Hongjoong pushed aside the indignant tone Harin used referring to first graders as "little kids" when she herself was only in third grade and forced himself to focus on the core of the issue.
"Harin, you cannot hit and spit on people. Just because someone else did it first doesn't make it okay."
Harin crossed her arms petulantly, even as she sniffled.
"But she was hurting someone!"
"And you hurt her worse. What if she'd gotten up and hit you in the face, hmm? You wouldn't have liked that either."
"She wasn't going to get up. I hit her really hard."
The look on Hongjoong's face must have been truly terrible, because the first tear finally broke free and slid down Harin's cheek.
"Jiyoo was so sad! She was so little, and she didn't even do anything! It's not fair that I'm in trouble when I was just trying to help and Soo-ah gets to just cry and pretend she didn't do anything when she did! She's the bully, not me!"
"Harin, don't yell."
"I'm not yelling! You're not listening. I'm not sorry I hit Soo-ah or spit on her either. I'd even do it again, too. She's awful and I wish she didn't even exist."
"Harin. That's enough."
Harin's jaw snapped shut even as she continued crying. She ducked her head and wiped her face clumsily with her hands, her shoulders shaking as she tried not to sob outright. She was still in her coat and shoes even though they were inside now. She hadn't had time to take them off before confessing.
Hongjoong let out a slow breath as he lowered to a crouch, eye to eye with Harin. He gently moved her hands away from her face and wiped the tears off himself.
"I know it's hard to be nice to people who are mean," Hongjoong started, keeping his voice neat and level. "And I agree that it's not fair that you're in trouble for helping your friend. But we can't go around hurting every single person who does bad things. What did I say when you started going to this school?"
Harin sniffed. "That it's a really fancy school and I need to be on my best behavior."
"That's right. We're very lucky you get to go to school here and not somewhere else. And you like Minju-seonsaengnim, don't you? And your other friends?"
Harin nodded morosely.
"Right? So I don't want you to do anything that might make them ask you to leave. I know it's hard to be nice to people who are mean, and I agree it's not fair that you're in trouble for helping your friend. But I don't want to see you wind up in more trouble. And I also don't want you to start attacking everybody you don't like, because that's wrong. It's not a good thing to do. Does that make sense?"
Harin's eyes were glossy and water-filled, all her bravado having vanished during her crying fit.
"Yes, eomma."
"Can you promise me no more fights at school? That you'll go get a teacher if you see more bullying?"
"Yes, eomma."
"I don't want to get another notice like this home."
Harin nodded, looking miserable enough to melt into the floor. It made Hongjoong's chest ache every time. He unzipped Harin's jacket and took it off her shoulders, and stood up with a sigh.
"Take off your shoes. Go to your room and stay there until I call you for dinner. And you won't have any TV today or tomorrow either. I'll check."
Harin didn't say anything at that. She pulled off her shoes and lined them up by the door, then went to her room, closing the door with a quiet click instead of the slam he'd expected. Hongjoong closed his eyes against his truly terrible headache, hung Harin's jacket on the hook, and moved into the kitchen to start the task of preparing dinner.
The following days proceeded as normal. The morning after their talk Hongjoong woke Harin up for school, kissed her goodbye, and went off to work like always. He felt a bit guilty for being so harsh with Harin, and hated even more to punish her sense of justice, but they really couldn't afford to be so reckless with administrative lenience. Harin attended the school on scholarship, so they didn't have the sway of affecting the academy's revenue to allow her to remain enrolled there. And even if he might've done the exact same thing at her age, he really couldn't condone violence, no matter how justified.
Luckily, Harin got over her guilt and indignation quickly. Two days later it was back to business as usual, and Hongjoong was back to his long shifts and early mornings. He didn't mind either of his jobs individually, but working two jobs at once, alternating day shifts and night-shifts, always had him feeling drained. Even after years of odd scheduling he was unable to get used to how off-kilter his circadian rhythm appeared. His assistant role paid more money than his old job had, though, so he was able to actually take breaks every now again. Sure enough, three weeks after his conversation with Harin, he managed to snag a rare two days off in a row. To be fair, a day off didn't really translate into a day to actually rest, but Hongjoong was grateful for the opportunity to catch up on various errands and housekeeping tasks he'd let pile up between all his other responsibilities. Not working day shift also meant he had time to go pick up Harin in the afternoon, a rare opportunity for the both of them. Coming to get her now might wipe away the mar of the previous occasion being disciplinary instead of the relaxed time together they both craved.
Due to traffic and his own poor estimations, Hongjoong arrived later than he'd planned, after the initial mass of students had already left, and worried for a moment that Harin was already on her way to public transport, but he spotted her in the parking lot at someone else's car, standing with another uniformed student. He quickly found a spot to park and exited the car, and as he drew closer, he could see it was the same girl from the last time he'd picked up Harin.
The man standing by the car saw Hongjoong first. Before he could ask anything, the girls noticed he was distracted and turned around. Harin's face lit up.
"Eomma! Come here, you can meet Jiyoo!"
Jiyoo? Hongjoong's brain filtered back through the last several weeks of conversations and realized that Jiyoo was the name of the girl Harin had gotten into a fight trying to protect. He stopped a short distance away, nervous to scare the younger girl, who was hiding behind Harin, their hands clasped tightly together. She had long curly hair that was tied back with colored clips, but even then it managed to fall in front of her face.
Harin stood in front of her with all the authority of an older sister, giddy at the opportunity to introduce them. Hongjoong bent down to give Harin a short hug and waved to Jiyoo beside her.
"Hello, Jiyoo. Nice to meet you."
Jiyoo gave a little wave in reply.
"It's okay, it's my eomma. He's nice."
Nice? Well, Hongjoong wasn't sure about that. He was pretty sure Harin was lying through her teeth as well. He turned to the man by the car, who assumedly was Jiyoo's father and bowed politely. Even on the few occasions Harin's class went on an outing or she was invited to someone's birthday party, or any other social function, Hongjoong avoided interacting with other parents as much as possible. Most days he didn't have the energy, and he had a tendency to come off as snappish, which wasn't ideal when he really did want Harin to be able to have friends and other adults who supported her. It was better for him not to ruin her impression with his own standoffish nature. Even moreso, he hated interacting with alphas as a rule of thumb. He'd had frankly enough alphas in his lifetime and wasn't interested in entertaining even conversation with any more. And Jiyoo's father was an alpha all right. Even if Hongjoong hadn't smelt it, he would've been able to tell from a mile away. It was in his body language- he was just too relaxed. Even as Hongjoong approached him he hadn't moved a muscle, completely unconcerned about Hongjoong's potential to do anything to harm him or his daughter. Like he wasn't even there. It made Hongjoong itch all over.
Jiyoo's father bowed in turn and when he faced Hongjoong again, his smile was far more real.
"You must be Harin's mother," he said. "It's great to finally meet you."
"Finally?"
"I've heard so much about you up to know, you can't blame me for being eager."
Hongjoong shot a look at Harin, but she was preoccupied talking to Jiyoo. Just like her to put him in a situation where he couldn't even say the same. Getting anything about school out of Harin required nothing less than an interrogation.
The silence stretched a beat too long, and Jiyoo's father rushed to fill the quiet.
"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Jung Wooyoung. I'm one of Jiyoo's fathers."
"I'm Kim Hongjoong."
"You know, I come pick up Jiyoo almost every day, and I never see you."
"Normally I work. Jiyoo takes the bus home."
"You work?"
A glimmer of irritation formed in Hongjoong's stomach. "Yes, I do."
Wooyoung paused, eyes widening as he realized his mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean- it's fine that you work. Both the omegas in our pack have careers. I didn't mean to come off as surprised."
In our pack. Hongjoong's disdain only increased. Right up there with not entertaining alphas was his complete lack of desire to be anywhere near formalized pack structure. He'd sooner uproot both himself and Harin and move them both across the country than allow them to be absorbed into a pack.
"It's alright," Hongjoong said. "I know what you meant."
"I really didn't mean to offend you," Wooyoung pressed. I'm indebted to you, really. Harin has been so wonderful to Jiyoo, and I'm giving you a terrible impression of us."
"I have to confess I already wasn't thrilled about Harin getting into fights on your daughter's behalf," Hongjoong said plainly. "But far be it from me to punish my daughter for having a strong sense of justice." He smiled, all teeth, and Wooyoung actually leaned away slightly, some sign of anxiety finally showing on his face. Good. Hopefully Hongjoong could increase the size of their "respectful distance" to where he rarely had to be in the same room as anyone from Jiyoo's pack.
"I'm very sorry about that. I hope she didn't end up in too much trouble."
"It was handled. And her choices are her own." Truthfully, it was all water under the bridge. The whole incident was a month old by now, and seeing Jiyoo now, small and shy and clinging to Harin, he understood why Harin might feel compelled to protect her. Not that he was going to waste the opportunity to make Wooyoung sweat.
"If you'll excuse us, we have plans for today," he said as formally as possible.
Wooyoung jolted a bit at the dismissal, but he recognized the interaction as the failure it was and didn't try to convince them to ray.
"Of course. I won't keep you, then."
Hongjoong gave another short bow, more out of habit than anything else, and directed his attention back to his daughter.
"Harin," he called. "Finish up. We need to be going."
"Okay," Harin said, and gave Jiyoo a big hug before beginning to walk back to Hongjoong's car.
"Nice meeting you, Wooyoung-ssi," Hongjoong said.
"Same to you!" Wooyoung said, seemingly sincere. He would've rolled his eyes if it wouldn't have set a bad example for the children. Hongjoong waved to Jiyoo as well, who waved back a bit more enthusiastically this time, and crossed the lot back to his own car where Harin was already inside and waiting.
"Isn't she so cute?" Harin gushed the second Hongjoong opened the front door. "She's so tiny, and her hair is a mess. I think she should braid it but she says her eomma doesn't like doing braids. I could braid it for her though, if she let me. Do you think I could go to her house sometime?"
Hongjoon turned on the car and flicked the radio on. He hadn't been to work in two days, but exhaustion was already settling in his bones just from being around Wooyoung for less than two minutes.
"She can come over to our apartment, but I don't want you going over there."
"Why not?" Hongjoong could hear the pout without even checking. He paused with his hand on the gearshift and turned to look at Harin, who, sure enough, already looked ready for an argument.
His spitting image, through and through.
"Because I won't have you going to a random house I've never been to with people I've never met. And I don't have time to go with you and make sure it's okay. That's why." He began to turn, then paused and said. "Also, you can't invite yourself over to other people's houses. You have to wait for Jiyoo's parents to ask you themselves."
"I bet they will," Harin said. "They like me. Her appa said so."
"We'll see," was all he could give in response as he shifted the car into gear and pulled out of the school parking lot, Wooyoung and Jiyoo fast disappearing in his rearview mirror.