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The kindergarten students of Neo Seoul Preschool were all huddled in the middle of the classroom, sitting cross legged on the mat with snacks in hand. Jungwoo and Taeyong had given them an extra ten minutes of break time because there was something big happening after. Most of the older students, namely Haechan and Yangyang, couldn’t contain their curiosity and pestered Jungwoo about it. Jisung, however, kept quiet and stayed within his circle consisting of Taehyun, Hyuka, and the newest addition, Chenle.
“Alright, class. After your breaktime today, four students from an elementary school will come and play with you!” Taeyong announces as he scans his students for any sort of reaction.
“Mr. Lee! Are they big, scary students?” Soobin speaks up.
“No, no, of course not! They’re all nice and friendly!”
“But you have to be nice and friendly to them, too!” Jungwoo adds.
“Okay.”
“When you’re all done eating your snacks, let’s pack up and make the room nice, okay?” The class erupted in a mix of okays and protests before Taeyong claps his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Now, now. You’ll have to follow Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim instructions if you want to make a good impression on the older kids, okay?”
Twenty minutes later and eight much, much bigger kids enter their classroom and the preschoolers were silent at first. Didn’t Mr. Lee say they wouldn’t be scary? Then how is this one person standing almost half as tall as Mr. Kim?
“Alright class. Please greet our guests for today!” Taeyong orders the class and they followed suit. It was a bit sloppy to Taeyong’s surprise. “Now, why don’t you lot introduce yourselves?” Taeyong motions to the first graders. One of them obliged and took a step forward.
“Hi! My name is Wong Yukhei! But you can call me ‘Cas!”
So Mr – half – of Mr. – Kim’s – height’s name is Yukhei, or ‘Cas or whatever, Jisung thought. The next kid also took a step forward and introduced himself.
My name is Wong Kunhang!
Hi! I’m Xiao Dejun!
Choi Yeonjun!
I’m Lee Chan!
Hi, my name is Chou Tzuyu!
Im Yeri, everyone!
Son Chaeyong!
"Well, now that everyone has introduced themselves, why we don’t let the big kids tell us some stories about their life as elementary students? Wouldn’t that be fun?” Taeyong exclaims to get the toddlers’ curiosity.
“Mr. Lee! I’d like to tell a story!” Yukhei raises his hand in enthusiasm.
“Alright, let’s hear it!” Taeyong encourages the child.
“Okay! The story goes a lot like this… I was going home one day when I heard a noise in one of the classrooms…” Lucas rambles on.
“I don’t like where this is going.” Chenle whispers to Hyuka.
“Then cover your ears.” Hyuka says as he covers his ears.
“And then! When I turned around, the lady was gone! That’s when I knew that she was a ghost!” Lucas retells animatedly.
“Are you sure she’s a ghost? What if she’s just playing around?” Yangyang counters.
“I’m sure she’s a ghost! She doesn’t show up on the mirror inside the classroom.” Yukhei adds.
“Oh.” Haechan exclaims, mortified.
“So, I ran away from the classroom! And while I was running the hallway, I suddenly tripped!” Yukhei explains further. “And then, I heard footsteps and I looked back and she was standing by the door of the classroom! And then, she - ”
“I don’t wanna hear it anymore!” Chenle yells as tears start to form in his eyes. Mr. Kim takes quick notice of this and rushes to the toddler’s side.
“Ssshh, it’s okay, Chenle – ah.” Jungwoo tries to soothe the toddler as he pats Chenle’s head. “It’s just a story, alright? Do you want to play with me instead?” He smiles.
“It’s okay, Mr. Kim.” Chenle replies with a hiccup. “Can I just play with Jis instead?”
“Okay, you can go play with Sungie instead. Go play in the playroom next door, okay? I’ll be there with you in a while.”
“Okay, Mr. Kim.”
“Can you promise me to stay out of trouble until I get there?”
“Yes! You can count on me!” Chenle exclaims. “Yah, Suh Jisung!”
“Yeah?” Jisung whips his head instantly at the call of his name.
“Come play with me.” Chenle orders with a grin.
“Okay.” Jisung complies without a complaint.
The two toddlers then head to the playroom next door and went about into rummaging into the toy basket to see if anything catches their attention.
“Do you want to play with cars?” Chenle asks as he looks through the toy cabinet instead.
“I want to nap.” Jisung deadpans.
“Nap time isn’t until later.”
“I’m tired. Nap now. Goodnight.” Jisung bids as he lays down on the mat and closes his eyes.
“Yah, Jisung – ah! I asked you to come here so you can play with me! Why are you taking a nap?”
“Nap with me.”
“I don’t wanna! ‘m not sleepy!”
“I am.” Jisung reasons.
“No fair! I’m telling Mr. Kim!”
“Okay.” Jisung replies as he closes his eyes.
“You! You didn’t even say anything when I got scared earlier!”
“You were sitting with Hyuka. I thought you were okay.” Jisung counters as he sits up.
“I’m not okay! I was scared!"
“But it’s just a story. There’s nothing scary about it.” Jisung explains.
“Yes, there is!” Chenle pouts.
“Do you want to hold my hand? Baba always holds my hand when I get scared.”
“Okay.” Chenle sighs as he held hands with Jisung.
“Better?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Can we nap now?”
“We’re not playing?”
“I’m tired of playing. I just want to nap.”
“Okay, let’s nap inside the house, okay?”
“Okay.” Jisung agrees with a nod.
The two toddlers then laid down inside the playhouse while holding hands. Jisung fell asleep first, with Chenle soon falling asleep as well. Jungwoo finds them both not even five minutes later and couldn’t find it in him to wake them up.
“Hyung, we may need to write a note to their parents about their sleeping schedule. While it’s cute that they fell asleep together, it’s not okay for them to fall asleep during class.” Jungwoo mentions to Taeyong during their last period for the day.
“I agree. But not today. Today’s the first time, right? I don’t think this will be a reoccurring incident. Let’s write to them when it happens again.” Taeyong explains.
“Okay, let’s do that.”