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It was Hansol's favorite day, Wednesday. There is history as to why he chose exactly Wednesday, and not Friday or perhaps, Saturday.
Long story short, Wednesday was in the middle, and if Monday and Friday were buns, and Tuesday and Thursday were salads, then Wednesday was the beef. With Saturday and Sunday as ketchup and mayonnaise as toppings.
But is Wednesday couldn't be that perfect, could it? He still had kindergarten so no, it wasn't.
"Okay mommy, I'm going!" He spoke gingerly, clutching his little blue backpack to his chest.
"Ah~ Don't you want me to walk you off?" His mother, a young and pretty woman, asked, tipping his chin up so she could kiss one healthy, chubby cheek.
"Pff-! No, mommy I'm seven now! You will embarrass me if you go with me, all big boys already go in their own." He huffed, curled his toes in his little shoes and fixed a stubborn, but absolutely adorable pout on his small, rebellious face.
"Of course, Hansol. Go, then! Show them that you're a big boy too."
Hansol's face lit up by the words of encouragement, and he unlocked the passenger seat door, slipped out and pushed them closed. He waved his mom off, giggling at the honk when she passed the fence of the kindergarten, and he would only enter through the main gates when her car completely disappeared in the distance.
•
When the caretaker announced playtime, kids around the long, plastic table bounced up with joy, bunched their cheeks from smiling, eyes turning into little smiley crescents and tubby fingers reaching for toys neatly placed into boxes, but the order was soon to be forgotten in awe of fun and playing and imagination.
Hansol, on the other hand, liked to bring his own toys. He reached for his small backpack, tugging it open and finding a small lunch box in there, and a sticky note from his mom on the top:
'eat well, my little bunny xx'
Hansol rolled his eyes amusedly, giggling at the message but deciding to keep his hamburger sandwich for later; playtime comes first. He took out his five favorite metal car toys, laying them in a line on the table. They were old and worn out, paint coming off on some places, rusty metal showing beneath, but Hansol didn't care.
He loved his little cars and took care of them well, even bathed with them and made sure he washed every wheel and every window!
He wasn't fond of going outside, where other kids went. He did go once, only to find out that that's where all of the boys gathered to tease girls, pull their pony tails or tug at their skirts, and he didn't like the picture. He didn't like girls either; they were too..girly. The noise was outside and the peace was in, right where he sat, driving his cars over the table.
"Whoommm!" He made a small noise through his pursed lips, squinting his eyes and making grimaces as the cars crashed against one another, racing and zooming through the labyrinth he made from picture books.
And that's when he heard it. A little yelp from the back of the room, between the racks of books and toy boxes. He didn't pay attention that much to care, continuing to drive his cars over the slope of the book and-
"O-ow! That hurts!"
Hansol blinked, shyly spun around in his plastic stool, looking over his shoulder at the scene in the corner of the room. Two boys, one crouching and the other, slightly taller and plumper, hovering over the said boy. He was holding something in his hand, something with shiny blonde strands; and only then it occurred to Hansol that that, was a doll.
"Ew! How can you play with this, its disgusting!" The taller boy accused, and he recognized the voice- it was Wonwoo. The tallest boy in class, and also the meanest looking one- one of many reasons Hansol never went too close to him.
"P-please stop--" the crouching one wailed, and Hansol's heart stung. He was watching a crime unfold before his eyes and he wasn't doing anything! He had to stop this! He grabbed a small, black truck in his hand and stood up, marching over towards Wonwoo and the boy he didn't recognize yet.
"H-hey, you!" He called, voice shaky and small but his face was set in a small frown, fixed on Wonwoo. Gosh, he really was tall. He didn't let his expression falter, not a tiny bit, rising his shoulders until they touched his ears, tubby fingers curling into fists.
"Let him go!" Hansol demanded, and Wonwoo turned around completely, his angry expression facing Hansol's way. Oh darn.
"Or..what?" Wonwoo spoke, even growled a little and Hansol fought the urge to jump back, collect his cars and run.
"Or.. I.." He stuttered, soft mouth hanging open, but no words coming out. Or what? What can he possibly do to intimidate Wonwoo?
"Or.. I know. You can give me that car and I'll leave you alone."
Hansol's face paled. His car..? His black truck? He stumbled back, sudden icy feelings stabbing at his toes and he looked down in his closed palm, seeing the black rear peeking out from his fist. That was his favorite toy. He couldn't give him that..he..he couldn't.
Hansol's eyes watered and he sniffed, looking up at Wonwoo with determination. "A-and you promise you'll leave him alone..?" He asked, voice small, and Wonwoo nodded.
"I promise."
And that's how Hansol lost his favorite toy, and decided on the spot that Wednesday wasn't beef anymore. Wednesday was a gross and a soggy tomato, squished between two pieces of green salad.
Wonwoo smirked in triumph as he got ahold of the truck, and he skipped away from the crime scene, making weird noises as be drove the car over the air. Hansol crouched down in front of the boy, that was holding his knees and keeping his forehead pressed to his arms.
"H-hey. Are you okay?"
The boy looked up and he had the most softest, doe eyes Hansol has ever seen. They were round and dark and scared, red at the corners and a little swollen. "Y-yes. I'm okay."
"Big boys don't cry." Hansol murmured, keeping himself in a crouch, bum almost touching the ground. He rested his chin against his folded arms, closely inspecting the boy's face. Round and a little chubby, black hair covering his eyebrows so he couldn't see them. All he could look at were his eyes, and they were pretty, and Hansol didn't even know something on another boy could be pretty.
"I'm n-not a big boy. I'm Seungkwan." The small one answered and Hansol couldn't help but to giggle. He just lost his favorite toy because of a crying boy but oddly, he didn't regret it. Wonwoo will look stupid with a truck anyway.
"I am Hansol, and I have never, ever cried in my life before." He lied, but it was a success because it made Seungkwan widen his eyes and look up at him, lips parting into a tiny 'o'.
"R-really?"
"Yes, really!" He answered with a proud grin, eyes shiny and happy and proud of himself, that he just defended someone from a bully.
"Wait, are those dolls?" Hansol made a disgusted noise at the back of his throat, mouth hanging open. "You're playing with dolls!" He accused.
And immediately, the sadness was back in Seungkwan's eyes, that same fear and timidness, as if he was looking up at Wonwoo again. Hansol's expression fell and he immediately regretted saying those things.
"D-dolls are not just for girls. I l-like playing with dolls. Their hair is shiny." Seungkwan replied in a distant, a little sharp voice, defending. He glanced down at the floor with a frown, brows worried together.
"I.. Seungkwan I'm sorry. Sure dolls are nice I just.. I've never played with dolls." He admitted, now plopping down on his bum as it was getting hard to crouch.
A moment of silence, and then: "D-do you? Want to? Play with dolls w-with me?" Seungkwan asked quietly, sitting up straight, exposing his yellow sweater with a little duckling on it. Hansol thought that was adorable.
It was a decision made in a moment, in a bliss of feelings and thoughts and Hansol could hear himself saying yes, picking out the prettiest doll with long, brown hair, dressing her up in a green dress.
They played together all playtime. They played together the next day, and the day after. He asked his mom if Seungkwan could come over, so they played the day after Friday, too. With Seungkwan's dolls and Hansol's cars, Seungkwan learned how it was okay to be different, to not be ashamed of what he liked, and Hansol learned that it was good to accept new people in his life, to share his toys with his friend(s), he learned that it was good to cry and not to be a big boy, because being a big boy could wait. Right now, he had to be somewhere else, on his fluffy carpet with Seungkwan sitting next to him, showing him off the new barbie doll he had purchase, just this Wednesday.