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On Yunho's first day of kindergarten, he's put in the time-out chair for five minutes because he helped a smaller boy.
Well, that's not why. Apparently it's because he hit another boy, but Yunho thinks the teachers just don't want to admit he's right. That dumb Heechul totally had it coming. Yunho scowls at he looks across the room at dumb Heechul playing with his dumb friends while Yunho has to sit in the dumb time-out chair for five whole minutes. And he would probably get in trouble for thinking the word "dumb" so many times but it's not his fault Heechul is so dumb.
Yunho scowls some more, but as he watches Heechul and his friends play with the blocks that they took from Changmin, he feels his eyes start to burn and looks down, trying hard not to cry. It's not fair that Heechul gets to play and Yunho's the one in time out when Heechul was the one who was being so mean. Yunho was only trying to stop them from stealing Changmin's toys. Changmin was younger and smaller than all the other kids in the class but they were still mean to him, and Yunho didn't think that was nice. Just because he was smaller didn't mean they could pick on him. He didn't even hit him that hard, but Heechul was a big crybaby and the teacher heard them and put Yunho in time-out.
He feels someone looking at him and looks up, quickly rubbing a hand across his eyes when he sees Changmin edging closer to him. He looks like he wants to come closer but is too scared to. Yunho gives him a wobbly smile. "What's wrong, Changminnie?" He only met Changmin today, but after learning that Changmin was a year younger than him he decided to protect him and be a good hyung, just like his mom was always teaching him to be.
Changmin looks a little relieved at the nickname and comes a little closer, but he still looks nervous. "I'm sorry I got you into trouble, hyung," he says, looking at the ground with his hands behind his back, so quietly Yunho has to lean forward to hear him.
Yunho doesn't know why, but suddenly he feels really happy. The urge to cry goes away, and he brightens. "It's okay! It's not your fault, anyway. Heechul was the one being mean," Yunho says, and thinking about Heechul makes him scowl again.
Changmin smiles shyly. "I know, I don't think it's fair that they put you in time-out," Changmin whispers as he tugs on his shirt, as if someone might hear him and he'll get into trouble. "Um, I just wanted to say thank you. For helping me. And if you want to play with me? I have toys," Changmin says eagerly, reaching into his pockets and pulling out two toy soldiers. He offers them to Yunho, and Yunho looks at them enviously. He loves toy soldiers.
But... "I'm still on time-out," he says gloomily, glancing over at the teacher where she is talking to one of the assistants.
"Oh, yeah," Changmin says, his hands falling to his side and his mouth turning down unhappily. Yunho looks at him and realizes he doesn't like seeing Changmin sad.
"Maybe after I'm out of time-out?" he asks hopefully. He really wants to play with toy soldiers, too.
Changmin brightens again. "Okay! I'll wait for you!"
It makes Yunho happy, and when Changmin leaves he doesn't feel so bad about his time-out anymore. He sits in the chair and kicks his feet back and forth, humming happily.
When his teacher comes back, she crouches in front of him. "Yunho, do you understand why I put you in time-out?"
"Because I hit Heechul, and hitting people is not nice," he recites obediently. His teacher smiles and nods, and he adds, "Even if they're being really mean and unfair poop heads."
His teacher stops smiling. "Yunho!" she exclaims. "That was not nice! Do you want to stay in time-out for another five minutes for using a mean word?"
Yunho shakes his head frantically. "No, no, I'm sorry, don't leave me here," he wails, clutching her shirt. "Changmin wants to play with the toy soldiers with me and I love toy soldiers and if he has to wait more then he'll play with someone else and stop being friends with me!" He feels like he's going to cry again.
His teacher sighs and pats his arm, and then picks him up as she stands up. Yunho wraps his arms and legs around her, happy she picked him up. "Alright, alright, don't cry now," she says as she ruffles his hair, and Yunho giggles. "I won't put you in time-out but play nice now, you hear me? And no mean words!" Yunho nods his head eagerly.
"Okay," he says happily. "Only, are you sure that was five minutes? It felt like hours. What if you forgot to look at the time and I was sitting there for so long and then it was time to go home and I didn't even get to play!"
His teacher looks up at the ceiling as if she's looking for help, so Yunho looks too, but he doesn't see anything.
"Don't worry, Yunho, you have plenty of time to play. Run along, now," she says as she puts him down near where Changmin is.
He tugs at her pants as she's about to leave, and she looks at him again. "How much time is 'plenty'?" he asks, and he thinks it's a good question but his teacher just looks at the ceiling again. There's still nothing there, and Yunho frowns.
"Plenty means a lot, so you have a lot of time to play."
Yunho nods reluctantly, even thought he had wanted a number time, but he was already wasting a lot of time he could be playing with toy soldiers and Changmin, so he turns to Changmin.
Changmin was coloring with a boy named Kyuhyun, but when he sees Yunho free from time-out he quickly puts down his crayons and runs to him. "Hyung! You're free!" he exclaims happily, and hugs Yunho. Yunho hugs him back and squishes their cheeks together.
"Do you want to play now?" Yunho asks excitedly, and then Changmin is reaching for his soldiers in his pockets and Yunho forgets about Heechul the poop head.
Later when it's time to go home, his mom comes to pick him up and he runs to her, jumping into her arms and giggling wildly when she spins him around. "And how was my baby boy's first day at school?"
"Mommy, I'm a big boy," Yunho complains. "I went to school all by myself!"
"Yes, you did, and I'm so proud of you!" his mom says, and kisses his cheek. "How was your day? You behaved well, didn't you?"
"Uh..." Yunho didn't want to tell her that he had been put on time-out, but it wasn't good to lie.
She raises an eyebrow at his hesitance. "Yunho, what did you do?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Yunho defends himself immediately. "That dumb Heechul was-"
"Yunho! We never say mean things!" his mother says, sounding shocked, and Yunho immediately feels ashamed. He tries to bury his head in his mom's neck, but she pulls back and doesn't let him.
"Oh no you don't, young man. We are going to talk to your teacher." She puts him down despite his best efforts to cling to her, pouting and then scowling when that doesn't work, and puts her hands on her hips. "Now march."
Yunho marches.
They stop at the teacher's desk where she is stacking her papers, Yunho's chin held high. She looks up when she notices him, smiling at his mother.
"Is there something I can help you with, Mrs. Jung?"
"Yunho tells me he did something bad today," his mom says sternly, giving him the stink eye. Yunho hmphs and crosses his arms across his chest defiantly.
"Ah, yes, about that, I was going to send you an email about it, since Yunho already did his time in the time-out chair, but since you're here-"
"I just want to say that it wasn't my fault!" Yunho says scowling.
"Yunho, what did I tell you about interrupting people?"
"That it's rude and I shouldn't do it," he mutters, looking down.
"And?"
"And I'm sorry, Miss."
"Apology accepted," she says gravely, and then turns to his mother. "Yunho hit another student today."
"Goodness! Why did you do that, Yunho?"
"Because he stole Changmin's toys and wouldn't give it back!"
"Hitting people is not nice, Yunho! We have to talk it out when we disagree with someone!"
"Yeah but that dumb Heechul wasn't listening," Yunho argues.
"That is it, young man! You are going to apologize to Heechul and then we're going to have a long talk at home!"
Yunho pouts at the ground while they called Heechul and his mom over, and then the adults looked at him expectantly. Yunho scowls at Heechul, who was pretending to be scared and hiding behind his mom's legs like the great baby he was.
"Yunho," his mother says warningly.
"I'm sorry I hit you because you stole Changmin's toys and wouldn't give them back even though he asked you nicely and you almost made him cry which also makes you a really bad hyung," Yunho says as sweetly as possible.
When he looks at his mother for approval, she's pinching the bridge of her nose. Heechul is scowling at him, but Yunho just smiles beatifically back.
Heechul's mother sighs. "It seems Heechul isn't completely innocent either. Don't worry, I'll be having a talk with him, too." Heechul frowns harder.
They leave after that, and just as Yunho is leaving with his own mother, Changmin runs to him and hugs him again. "I told my mommy about what you did, and she says that you were very nice," he says happily, and Yunho beams back.
"Did he tell you about the part where Yunho hit him?" Yunho's mom says dryly to Changmin's and Mrs. Shim squints.
"Uh, no, not that part."
Yunho scowls at his mom, but then Changmin is tugging on his shirt again. "Did I get you in trouble again, hyung?" he whispers anxiously, but the adults hear him anyway.
His mother stoops down and smiles at Changmin. "No, don't worry, you didn't. Yunho only got himself in trouble."
Changmin ducks behind his mother's legs and smiles shyly at her, and then pouts when she laughs and ruffles his hair.
"We have to get going now, say bye Yunho."
Yunho hugs Changmin one more time, promises to play with him tomorrow, and then takes his mom's hand as they walk to the car, Yunho chatting about his new friend the entire time.
***
The next day, Yunho and Changmin are making the best block tower ever. It's already up to Changmin's ears, and they're running around it laughing. Yunho is close to tagging Changmin, but then Changmin stops running suddenly and Yunho runs right into him and they both topple over, causing the block tower to come collapsing down.
They both lie tangled together and look at the broken tower around them in dismay, and then at each other.
Changmin looks like he's about to cry. "S-sorry hyung. I didn't mean to..." he says, lower lip trembling.
Even though Yunho was upset at their tower falling, he smiles quickly so Changmin wouldn't cry. "It's okay Changminnie! We can make an even better tower, don't cry!"
That's when they both notice someone else. Heechul is standing near them, looking kind of nervous.
"What do you want?" Yunho says meanly as they both scramble up, Changmin hiding behind Yunho. He peeks suspiciously over Yunho's shoulder at Heechul, Yunho standing in front of him protectively. "Are you here to steal Changmin's toys again? Well I won't let you, even if I get put in time out again!" Yunho crosses his arms in front of his chest to show just how serious he is.
Heechul scowls, but then he bites his lips. "No. My mommy said I should apologize to Changmin and you." He looks down, hands twisting in front of him.
Yunho glances at Changmin, to see what he thinks. Changmin just shrugs at him, as if to leave the decision to him. Yunho sighs, and then looks at Heechul. "Fine, we accept your apology," he says magnemoniously, his eyes narrowed and trying to make himself as scary as possible. "But you're not allowed to play with us." And with that, he takes Changmin's hand and marches away with him.
When he peeks behind him to look at Heechul, Heechul is scowling at them with his arms crossed.
Yunho feels very happy after that.
***
Yunho finds Changmin playing with the blocks a few days later, and taps him on the shoulder. Changmin turns around to look, and then brightens when he sees Yunho.
"Changminnie, do you want to be my damsel in distress?" Yunho asks politely.
Changmin frowns slightly. "What's a damsel?" he questions, drawing the last word out carefully.
"It's someone who is pretty," Yunho explains patiently.
Changmin looks immediately offended. "But I'm a boy! Boys can't be pretty." He makes a face.
"Yes they can! My mommy said so," Yunho tells him.
Now Changmin looks doubtful. "Really?"
"Oh yes!" Yunho says, nodding his head vigorously. "She's says some boys can be very pretty, and I think she meant you."
Changmin's face starts to turn a funny red color, and his voice is all soft when he speaks. "You think I'm...pretty?"
"Yes?" Yunho says, a little puzzled. Of course Changmin is pretty! Doesn't he know that?
"Oh," Changmin says faintly, and then Yunho gets really worried because he's never seen anyone be that red before.
"Wait right here, Changminnie!" And with that he scrambles away to find the teacher.
When he finds her reading to another student, he tugs at her shirt impatiently. She stops reading and looks up, and when she sees him she sighs.
Yunho wonders why.
"What's the matter, Yunho?"
"I think Changmin might be sick!"
Her expression immediately changes and she gets up. "Oh? Where is he?"
"This way!" Yunho says, and runs to where Changmin is, the teacher hurrying behind.
When they get there, Changmin is sitting amongst his blocks looking vaguely confused, but no longer red when he looks up at Yunho and the teacher. Yunho squints at him.
"His face was really red before, I think he might be sick. You should check his tempreture," Yunho says, pointing at Changmin while looking up at his teacher.
"It's temperature, Yunho," she says patiently while crouching down to Changmin's level. "Are you alright, Changmin?" She puts her hand on his forehead, just like Yunho's mom does when she's checking Yunho for a fever.
"I'm fine," Changmin says, still sounding confused.
"Well, he seems fine, Yunho," she says, turning back to him.
"Are you sure?" Yunho asks dubiously. "Only I told him he was pretty and his face got all red. I don't think that's healthy."
His teacher looks at him funny for a second, and then she's laughing out loud. "Oh, Yunho, there's nothing wrong with him. I think he may have just gotten shy," she says, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
"Oh." Yunho squints at Changmin again.
Their teacher walks away, still chuckling to herself, but Yunho has no idea what's so funny.
"So are you shy?"
"Uh...I don't know," Changmin says hesitantly.
"Oh." There's a pause, and then Yunho sits down next to him and says, "So do you want to be my damsel in distress?"
"What's distress?" Changmin asks him.
Yunho thinks for a moment. "I think it's when you're in a dress? But I have to save you."
"From what? The dress? I don't want to wear a dress," Changmin says, his lips turned down unhappily.
"I'll save you from it!" Yunho says quickly, reassuring him.
Changmin thinks about it for a moment and then nods. "Okay, but you have to save me quickly."
"Okay," Yunho agrees. "Also there's a dragon."
"A what?" Changmin squeaks.
"It'll be okay!"
***
It is not okay.
***
Yunho sits pouting at his desk, his cheeks squished from holding his face against his fists. His, Changmin, and Heechul's mom are all gathered at the front of the room with their teacher, probably talking about him. Changmin's mom is holding him in her arms, his arms tight around her but his face is hidden in her neck.
He feels terrible.
He didn't mean to make make Changmin cry. How was he supposed to know that dumb Heechul would be such a scary dragon that he made Changmin cry? Yunho had gotten him the prettiest dress in could find in the dress-up box, and even though he had to convince for five whole minutes to wear it, Changmin finally had. Everything was going great, especially because Yunho was close to knocking down the tower of blocks Changmin was standing inside. But then Heechul who was wearing the dragon suit came hollering at the top of his lungs, even though Yunho told him not to come he knocked the tower down and saved the damsel in distress. Except the dragon was so loud and dragon-y, Changmin got startled and immediately started to cry.
The teacher stopped their playing then, putting Yunho and Heechul in time out and carrying Changmin away, sobbing.
Now, all three of their parents were talking quietly, Yunho's mom occasionally looking back to scowl at him. Yunho scowled right back, even though he'd probably get in trouble for it again later.
After what felt like hours, Heechul's mom left with Heechul in tow, glaring fiercely at his mother, and Yunho's mom and Changmin's mom came over to him.
He got up and looked anxiously up at Changmin, but he wasn't crying anymore, which made him happy. Changmin rubbed at his eyes with his fists and gave Yunho a wobbly smile; Yunho beamed at him.
"So, Yunho. I hear you have some apologizing to do," his mother said, crossing her arms at him and raising her eyebrows. She did not look happy.
Yunho smiles sheepishly, abashed. "Yes, mommy." Then he looks up at Changmin and says, "I'm sorry that dumb Heechul was such a scary dragon and he scared you even though I told him not to come yet."
Changmin giggles. "It's okay, hyung, 'pology accepted," he says. Yunho brightens, because if Changmin was mad at him he would've been very upset, and it wouldn't even matter if his mom took away his soccer ball for using a bad word again.
His mom looks amused, but Yunho's mom just pinches the bridge of her nose. "Alright, thank you, Yunho," she sighs.
"Mommy, can Yunho hyung come to our house to play?" Changmin asks his mom, eyes hopeful.
"Well, if it's okay with his mom, then of course he can," she replies, kissing his cheek.
Changmin grins at her and then looks at Yunho's mom hopefully. Yunho looks at her too, matching Changmin's expression. His mom looks at him for a moment and then sighs. "Oh, alright, stop looking at me like that."
"Yes!" Yunho whooped, jumping up and down. "Thank you, Mommy! I get to see you later Changmin!"
"After you get a good talking to for using bad words," she says sternly.
But Yunho doesn't care, even if he doesn't get dessert that night, because Changmin isn't mad at him and they'll still be friends. He grins up at Changmin and Changmin grins back.