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The wind comes in gentle gusts, making the cherry blossoms flutter in its wake. It’s an early spring morning, and Sunoo rises just as soon as the sun does. He gets ready, going through his routine with ease. And without much of a scuffle, he’s now standing in front of his mirror, carding through his hair until his fringe fell over his forehead the way he wants it to.
He steps back, eyes scanning his outfit: a gray knitted vest over a cream dress shirt, a khaki blazer, black slacks, and a scarf to wrap it all up. Pleased with how he looks, he grabs his messenger bag, and makes his way to work.
The moment he walks through the gates of the school, he receives a bunch of excited waves and polite bows from the children that were loitering in the playground. And as he always does, he greets all of them with a genuine smile.
Sunoo is a teacher at a small institution named Sunflower Elementary School, he’s been one for the past four years, and it has been nothing but an absolutely great experience. He frankly couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else. He always knew he wanted to be a teacher ever since he was a child himself. There was just something about the thought of decorating the classroom with a colorful array of drawn butterflies, sharing a new song to the class and watching their eyes light up with the tune, and seeing a smile pull on their lips when they finally understand the lesson that sounded so appealing to him. When he graduated college with a degree in child education, his stomach swirled with excitement. And when he got accepted into the school, that excitement quickly morphed into happiness, settling at the pits of his heart like molten liquid. It’s almost the best decision he’s ever made in his life.
He loves children. And they equally love him too! Maybe that’s why he holds this job so close to his heart. They’re drawn to him like moths to a flame. His voice kind, smile warm, hands gentle. They would flock to him during recess, the younger ones fighting over who gets to sit on his lap that day. Sunoo, with so much endearment brewing within his chest, scoops them all up in his arms and ignores the cramp in his leg from holding too many children all at once. Needless to say, he quickly found his place within the school in no time.
“Good morning Mr. Kim!” A little girl, looking no older than eight, stops promptly to bow to him, her pigtails swinging when she straightens her back after.
“Good morning,” He replies, tilting his head in a curt bow, lips pulled into a grin.
He’s like a celebrity in that small three-story building, well loved by both students and staff. Wherever he walks, the sun seems to follow, his smiles warm enough to bring about spring itself—thawing the ice and making the flowers bloom.
Right after he started teaching there, Homeroom and Arts immediately became a crowd favorite amongst the students. It was because Mr. Kim teaches those subjects, the kids would always answer when asked why that subject was their pick of the pile.
Maybe it’s the inner child in Sunoo that makes him connect to them so well. Somehow, he knows just how to hold their attention, knows just how to keep their boredom at bay.
He makes his way to the faculty room, greeting the other teachers there with a chirpy “Good Morning!”
Mr. Lee, or Heeseung, as he insists to be called among the staff, greets him. “Cheerful as ever I see.”
“You know how I am, sunbae.” Sunoo chuckles, placing his bag over his desk, unpacking his things. “I’m just happy to be here.”
“Wow, he wishes he were you.” Heeseung snorts, jutting his chin towards Jongseong who had his back slouched, fingers rapidly typing away on his computer.
Jongseong swivels his chair around to glare at them, pushing his rectangular glasses up his nose, the dark circles around his eyes prominent. “Well, I’m sorry not everyone can smile when they’re running on two hours of sleep.” He hisses, eliciting a laugh from the other two.
“At least I’m like this when only sleep deprived,” He continues, hotly defending himself before taking a sip of his nth coffee that morning. “Not like Sunghoon. He’s like that every day.”
As if on cue, all three of them turn their heads to the teacher in the corner. If Jongseong hadn’t pointed it out, Sunoo wouldn’t have known that he was in the room at all. Dressed in an immaculate white dress shirt and donning his go-to black blazer with a striped tie to match, Sunghoon seems as rigid as ever. He has his eyes glued to his laptop screen, glancing down only once in a while to look at the score of the test papers he was recording.
Before any of them could pipe in another remark, the bell rings. Sunoo gathers his materials. “I’m off,”
The faculty room is on the first floor by the end of the hallway, the garden and playground just on the other side of its windows. Sunoo’s advisory class, 1-A, on the other hand, is on the second floor. It’s a small school really. They have first to sixth graders, and each grade level only has two classes at most.
He makes his way up the stairs, and before he could even reach the top, he sees a handful of his students peeking from the corner of the wall, waiting for him with excited glints in their eyes. The moment they spot him, they barrel over, chirruping an array of “Mr. Kim!”, “Good morning!”, and “Teacher Sunoo!” all while bowing cutely in dissonance.
“Good morning, kids.” Sunoo beams, ushering them back inside to their classroom.
A little boy, only reaching up until his thigh, outstretches his hands in an offer to carry his things into the room for him with a dimpled smile. He doesn’t need to, really. Especially since all Sunoo had with him was a book, a notepad, and a few pieces of chalk. But he supposes there would be no harm done. Kids like feeling helpful after all.
“Thank you Jungwon,” He says genuinely, fondly patting the boy’s head.
Pleased, Jungwon’s smile only widens even more, to the point where his eyes have completely turned into slits. He skips into their classroom, putting Sunoo’s things onto the teacher’s table.
Sunoo doesn’t even have a second to breathe because the next moment, he’s being pulled into the room by a boy named Riki, who is tall for his tender age of seven. He’s surprisingly strong too.
Settling into his seat, Jungwon fails to veil his excitement, his dimples on display the moment Sunoo showed up. “Mr. Kim is my favorite,” He sheepishly tells his best friend, Jake, who is seated to his right.
Jake sniffles, wiping his nose with the hem of his sleeve. “Me too!”
Riki, their other best friend, finally takes his seat to Jungwon’s left. “He’s fun.” He adds. “He’s fun to tease too.”
Although well loved by most of the children, he isn’t safe from some of their antics, Riki’s especially. But he supposes that was simply how the boy communicates. So he shoulders through most of his teasing with all the patience he can muster.
Despite children having quite a short attention span, they feel that the hour had passed too fast, and before they knew it, Sunoo was wrapping up their homeroom period. He gets a few disappointed whines, but he promises them that he’ll have something fun again tomorrow.
Jungwon sidles up to him in the hallway before he could leave, peering at him with such big bright feline eyes. “I’ll help carry your books, Mr. Kim” He says, his s’s passing through the gap of his teeth in a breath.
A hand wraps around Sunoo’s heart and squeezes so hard he fears that he would collapse from the boy’s overwhelming cuteness. “It’s alright Jungwon,” He answers, getting a pout in return. “You should go back inside; your next teacher is here.”
At the mention, Jungwon turns his head, looks over his shoulder and sees Mr. Park, in his flawless suit, on his way towards them. Relenting faster than expected, he barrels back into the classroom, making a beeline for his seat.
The rowdy classroom immediately dwindles into silence the moment Sunghoon enters, his trademark stoicism resting on his face. “Good morning,” He says flatly, not even bothering to look at them, instead flipping through the book he brought with him, chalk in hand, ready for the lesson.
“Good morning, Mr. Park!” They answer in chorus, backs straight and hands obediently laced over their laps.
☆☆☆
It’s their recess time, and the three of them immediately claim the swings before anyone else could. Other kids run around, screaming in delight as they glide down the slide. They prefer to eat their snacks peacefully, all while talking about their teachers like aunts gossiping.
“Don’t you think Mr. Park looks like a zombie today?”
“Which one?”
“Mr. Corn.” At this, the two other boys giggle.
“He does,”
“Mr. Lee is cool,” Riki supplies, complete adoration for their history and music teacher shining in his eyes.
Jake, stepping back a little to give his swing a boost, presses his lips into a tight displeased line. “Mr. Park is so boring,” He complains before sniffing.
“Which one?”
“The boring one.”
“He’s no fun.” On his right, Riki is lazily swinging, indulging himself with an ice cream cone, the sides of his mouth tinged brown from the chocolate treat.
“I’ve never seen him smile before,” Jungwon adds thoughtfully, the two other boys nodding in unison. “He’s not like Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim is always smiling.”
At this, the three kids are left to wonder if Sunghoon is even capable of a grin, or if his facial muscles are stuck to where they are now.
☆☆☆
The next day, Jake arrives a little earlier than usual, his mother dropping him off on her way to the market. There aren’t a lot of kids there yet, and his two best friends haven’t arrived. He thinks Riki is going to be late again because he sleeps in most of the time. Feeling lonely in his almost empty classroom, he decides to take a walk around.
With a skip in his step, he makes his way to the garden, passing by the faculty room.
And that’s when he sees it.
Mr. Park is talking to Mr. Kim.
And he’s smiling.
Jake gasps at the sight, turning on his heel and running back to his classroom, pleased to see that Riki wasn’t in fact late today, and Jungwon is punctual as ever. “I saw him! I saw him!” He announces, slightly breathless, little feet thumping against the wooden floor.
“Saw who?” Jungwon asks, furrowing his brows in a quizzical look.
“Mr. Park” The boy answers, hands moving around theatrically before swiping his sleeve across his nose. “He was talking to Mr. Kim!” Then he leans in, gesturing for the other two to do the same, lowering his voice into a whisper. “And he was smiling.”
The others reel back with a gasp, the news unbelievable to them.
Sunghoon has always had quite the reputation of being quite cold, the complete opposite of Sunoo. He walks around, always wearing a stolid expression, always clad in his crisp corporate attire as if dressing down a little bit would be a crime. It’s true that they’ve never really seen him smile, nor laugh. He was just so stiff and unyielding. One would think that he was a college professor with his sternness and not an elementary teacher.
But he, Mr. Park, in all his tepidity, was smiling, at Mr. Kim.
For the three seven-year-olds, this is a groundbreaking revelation.
☆☆☆
All three of them are outside by the garden, peeking through the windows parallel to the faculty room, and there, they could see the two teachers engaged in a conversation, shy grins playing on their faces while they’re seated next to each other.
“Maybe he thinks Mr. Kim is funny,” Jungwon thinks aloud.
With their tiny fingers gripping the ledge of the flowerbed that hung over right below the window, standing on their toes, they keep their eyes trained on the two adults, watching them intently like prey.
Sunghoon throws his head back in a laugh, his hand flying to Sunoo’s arm before sliding down to his elbow, and all three children gasp all at once, scandalized.
Riki breathes, eyes widening, a whisper rushing through his lips. “He has a crush on Mr. Kim!”
It wasn’t even a question, nor a theory. It was a fact. A fact in which they wholeheartedly believe.
☆☆☆
“What do we do?” Jake asks in a hushed voice. This time, they’re hunched over their lunchboxes in their classroom.
They share glances, racking their brains for a solution. When suddenly, Jungwon’s big eyes glint with an epiphany. “We help them of course!”
A few minutes later, after rushing to finish their food, they finally put aside their lunchboxes to clear their table. Jungwon brings out a colored piece of paper, skillfully folding the paper then carefully ripping it into two. He then hands the paper to Riki, sliding a pack of crayons to him as well.
See, Jungwon is a bright kid—incredibly smart for his age.
“What do I write?” Riki asks, taking a red crayon in his left hand. He’s artsy, that’s why he’s tasked with the aesthetics of their plan.
“Dear Mr. Kim, please meet me in the garden. From Mr. Park.” Jungwon says, leaning over the table to peek at Riki’s work. Obediently, the youngest follows their leader’s instructions, adding a few hearts here and there.
On the other piece of paper, he’s asked to write “Dear Mr. Park, please meet me in the garden. From Mr. Kim.”
Jake moves from across the table to assess the letters, eyes scanning through the message before noticing something and using his little finger to point at it. “Riki you spelled garden wrong!” A grammar nazi this child is. Maybe it stems from the fact that his mother is an English teacher.
Riki sneers at him, but crossing out the word nonetheless, writing it accurately this time. Then he hands it to Jungwon for approval.
The boy holds it out in front of him ponderingly. It’s obviously written by a child, the crayons, the hearts, and the invertedly written letters a quick giveaway. This won’t do.
That is exactly why they find themselves standing in front of Heeseung’s desk in his 5th grade classroom a moment later.
“You want me to what?”
“Please write a letter for us, Mr. Lee,” Jungwon pleads, peering up at the adult with his shining eyes. Heeseung was weak to that look. Maybe Jungwon knows exactly that.
Heeseung sighs, setting aside the sandwich he was snacking on, dusting his hands before stretching it out to them. “Alright, give it to me.”
Excited squeals escape the children’s lips, and they skip closer, now standing to his side. They hand him a clean sheet of pink paper.
“What do you want me to write?”
“Teacher, can you make it look like Mr. Kim’s writing?” Jake asks shyly.
Heeseung’s brow raises at the odd request, but indulges them anyway. “Okay, I can do that.” Sunoo’s writing was curvy. A little round on the edges but with a cursive tail to some of his letters.
“Please write ‘Dear Mr. Park’…” Jungwon says, peering over the table to watch Heeseung write every word, skillfully imitating Sunoo’s penmanship.
“Please meet me…”
“Please meet me…” Heeseung echoes as he pens the words.
“In the garden…”
“In the garden…”
“From,”
“From…”
“Mr. Kim”
“Mr. Kim?” Heeseung’s head whips towards the children, doe eyes wide. They just smile at him sheepishly. “What are you kids up to?” He squints.
Jungwon ignores him, taking his finished product and replacing it with another clean sheet of pink paper. “This time can you copy Mr. Park’s writing?”
The adult blinks, simply at a loss. With skepticism, and without much of a choice, he slides the paper closer to him, angling it so that he could replicate the penmanship. “Wait, which Mr. Park?”
“The boring one,” Riki answers, and he nods in understanding. In contrast to Sunoo’s rounded writing, Sunghoon’s was sharp and angled.
“Dear Mr. Kim,” Jungwon instructs, his big eyes glued on the ink of the teacher’s pen.
“Please meet me in the garden…” By this time, Heeseung already has a clue of what their scheme is, and he can’t help but fight the smile that’s pulling on his lips. It seems that the children took notice of…whatever was happening as well.
“From Mr. Park.” Heeseung signs the paper, eerily managing to copy the nuances of Sunghoon’s penmanship perfectly.
“If I get sued for forgery, I’m taking you kids with me,” He says, handing them the paper with a chuckle.
Riki immediately grasps it in his hands, three of them bowing profusely with elated thank you Mr. Lee!’s. With ear-to-ear grins, they sprint out of the classroom and down to the first floor to the faculty room.
Stealthily, Jake places the letters on the desks, and then they run out into the garden, hiding behind pots of flowers in waiting. A few minutes later, they grow impatient, their faces peeking through a thin veil of leaves.
“Are they going to show up?” Riki whines, feeling pins and needles prick his feet from the way he was squatting. They’re convinced that lunchbreak is going to end with their plan horribly failing.
That is, until Sunoo walks into the small garden, looking around curiously, a piece of pink paper in hand.
“He’s here!” Jungwon squeals, giddiness uncontrollable. With baited breaths, they wait for Mr. Park to show up.
Just when they’ve lost all hope, they hear the pebbles crunching against footsteps, and with hearts racing they turn around to see—
the wrong Mr. Park.
“Jongseong-sunbae!” Sunoo greets, a little startled at the sudden presence. “What brings you here?”
He raises his hand, pink paper in between his fingers. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, a kid dressed in a green sweatshirt jumps from behind the bushes and charges at him.
“Why are you here?!” The child accuses, making Jongseong flinch back in confusion. He glances up to Sunoo to ask for help, but he looks just as lost as he was.
“You’re not supposed to be here!” Jake says, glaring at Jongseong with all his might. It was quite the sight, really. Small hands clenched into fists, frowning, his lower lip jutted out into a pout, puppy eyes trying so hard to stare Jongseong down all while needing to look up. He only came up to Jongseong’s waist after all.
“D-did I do something?” He sputters, looking at Sunoo who in turn shrugs.
“You’re an enemy,” The child continues, making Jongseong’s hand fly to his chest in offense, before he resumes his stance and decides to stand his ground. Behind Jake, Riki and Jungwon come out from hiding.
“What’s your problem with me, kid?” He asks, tilting his chin a little tauntingly.
By this point, Sunoo decides to intervene, picking Jake up and propping him upon his hip. “Sunbae, don’t be mean.”
“Sunoo, that kid is a menace.” He whispers. It’s true. Whenever he comes into their classroom to teach English, the child would always make a show of how much English he knows, haughtily brag about how his English sounds better than Jongseong’s because he spent a few years in Australia.
Sunoo laughs, hoping to placate both of them with it. “He’s an angel.”
He pulls a face, eyes darting from Sunoo to Jake, who, despite being carried and all, was still glaring at him unwaveringly, something trickling down his nose.
“Yeah, a snotty one.” Jongseong states with a grimace before turning on his heel. “I’m out.”
Jake sniffles, wiping his nose with the back of his hand before pulling out his tongue at the English teacher’s retreating back.
Plan A: failed.
☆☆☆
Jungwon doesn’t give up easily. At seven years and a month old, he knows that his mother did not raise a quitter. Partnered with Riki’s mischievous wit and Jake’s brazenness, they are unstoppable.
Today, they decide to take it up a notch.
With spring arriving little by little with the blossoming petals, there are still remnants of winter hanging over them, leaving behind a trail of cold winds. The kids are bundled up in scarves and padded jackets, but discard them as soon as they enter the classrooms, taking breaths of contentment as they feel the warmth of the heater fill the room.
Every classroom has one installed by the farthest back, to provide heat during autumn, winter, and early spring.
And that is exactly why Riki arrives at school, holding the set of screwdrivers he managed to swipe from his father’s toolbox.
All three of them planned this out, managing to convince their mothers to drop them off to school an hour earlier than usual. There isn’t a single one of their classmates in the room yet, and so, with shared grins and playful glints in their young eyes, they get to work.
When Sunoo enters his class, he sees his children shivering in their seats, still bundled in their thick coats, and the frigidness hits him.
“Mr. Kim, it’s cold” Jake whines, attempting to warm his hands in the crook of Jungwon’s arm, the trio huddled together.
“Oh dear,” Sunoo breathes in concern, immediately darting to the heater in the back. Nothing looks out of place; it seems untouched too. But somehow, no matter how many times he turns the knobs, not a single ounce of heat would emanate from the machine.
He racks his brain for a solution. He can’t let these kids shiver here all day. So, he tells them to wait there while he runs to the principal to ask for permission. When he leaves through the door, Jungwon exchanges a giggle with his best friends, who were both clinging to him, hoping to leach off his warmth. They hope it all goes according to plan.
A few minutes later, Sunoo returns, a little breathless. “C’mon kids, we’re going to be staying with our neighbors for now.”
A smug grin hikes up Jungwon’s lip, revealing his dimple.
The classroom next door, class 1-B, is under the advisory of Mr. Park. Not the zombie one, the boring one. Every first hour of the day, everyone has their homeroom. Which only means one thing. Today, it’s going to be a joint period.
Jake fails to suppress his snicker as they fall in line to enter the other classroom. Thankfully having only fifteen students per class, they have more than enough room to welcome another section.
“Sorry about this,” Sunoo tells Sunghoon in a hushed voice as his students file in one by one, carrying their own chairs with them. “The heater suddenly stopped working. The principal told me to room in with you while the technician checks.”
“It’s fine, Mr. Kim.” Sunghoon says reassuringly, before turning his attention back to the students, who have now doubled in number.
After a short discussion on how to handle the itinerary for homeroom, the two adults have decided to split it in two: Sunoo will facilitate the activities, while Sunghoon will tackle the reflection that comes after.
Mr. Park heads to a vacant seat in the farthest row, giving Sunoo the spotlight. He ponders on whether he should check the third graders’ quiz papers while he waits for his turn, but Sunoo’s voice is calming and his smile hypnotizing. Sunghoon, instead of doing any of the things he considered, finds himself paying more attention than anyone else.
“Do you have a crush on him?” Someone asks all of the sudden, plucking Sunghoon from his Sunoo-centric trance. He whips his head to look at the child next to him in disbelief.
“Well?” Riki probes, eyes not leaving Sunghoon’s, and it’s been a while since he has felt his privacy invaded to this extent.
“What do you mean?” He quirks a brow, hoping that the heat he feels rising up his neck doesn’t show.
Somehow, it seems that was all the response that Riki needed, judging by the way he slowly settles back into his chair with an impish grin.
Sunghoon blinks, trying to bring back his attention to his fellow teacher speaking in front. But in his peripheral, he could see three mischievous children seated beside him, watching him with curious eyes. Good lord.
Right after Sunoo is done with guiding the children through the activity, he calls for Mr. Park to switch places with him. With eagle eyes, the three of them watch the exchange between the teachers as Sunoo heads to the back. They were hoping for a smile from Sunghoon at least. But all they get is him nodding curtly at Sunoo before walking to the front to take the wheel.
A little disappointed, they steal glances of Sunoo, who is now seated where Mr. Park was just a while ago.
“Mr. Kim,” Riki whispers once more, leaning in.
Sunoo hums, turning to him with a smile. “Yes Riki?”
“Do you like Mr. Park?”
“I do! He’s a very likeable person,” He answers, cheeks bunching up his face with an innocent beam.
Defeated, Riki turns to his friends, giving them a look. “I don’t think he understood.”
Plan B: Failed.
☆☆☆
Sunoo comes to school the next day with a good feeling. It’s not that cold, the sun is up, and the sky is clear as can be. There’s a shift in the air too.
“Good morning,” Sunghoon says, smile nothing short of shy.
The corners of Sunoo’s lips hike up before he even realizes, giving the teacher the brightest grin. “Good morning,”
In the background, Jay and Heeseung share a knowing glance. Maybe the kids’ plans were working after all. The tension brewing between the two didn’t go unnoticed by the other teachers at all. Ever since Sunghoon joined the faculty half a year ago, they could feel that there was something in the way his eyes lingered on the younger man. Or in the way Sunoo went the extra mile to spend time with him every break, even going as far as packing them matching lunches. They supposed it was because Mr. Park was somewhat a loner. And Mr. Kim, being the sunshine that he is, didn’t like seeing anyone left behind. Regardless if they were children or adults.
It’s Wednesday, and Sunoo is sure that this would be a great day, seeing as it started off with Mr. Park’s timid smile.
He is quickly proven wrong however, when his student runs up to him, eyes wide in urgency. “Mr. Kim! Mr. Kim!”
“What’s wrong Hyeri?” He asks, brows furrowed, voice dripping with worry.
“They’re fighting in the playground!” She says, on the brink of tears.
Sunoo allows himself to be led into the playground, Hyeri pulling on his wrist desperately. When they arrive, there’s a crowd of children gathered around a commotion. From the other side, he sees Sunghoon in a similar predicament: dragged into the field by one of his students.
With his heart racing, he steps between the kids, mentally preparing himself for the worst. Did someone faint? Did someone fall off the monkey bars? God forbid anyone breaking a bone. When he finally reaches the source of the furor, he sees Riki, his hand tightly grasping onto another child’s hair, his other hand clutching the other boy’s collar.
The other boy, Taki, with a cry threatening to rip out of his throat, plants his palms against Riki’s face and tries to shove him away, before resorting to pulling his hair out too.
“Riki!” Sunoo yells, immediately leaping forward to break them apart just as Sunghoon jumps in to pry his student away.
Taki is from 1-B, under the advisory of Mr. Park. From what he knows, the two classes got along swimmingly. Whatever the reason of their fight is beyond him.
They manage to pull the kids apart, stopping them from clawing each other. Sunoo holds Riki flush to his side the moment they’ve been pried off. Breathlessly, he catches Sunghoon’s eyes, who seems to be just as baffled as he was, attempting to comfort his own student.
“Riki,” Sunoo huffs, willing his heart to calm down at the same time. “What happened?”
The child is unmoving, his head buried in Sunoo’s jacket. “Riki?” He tries again.
Finally, the boy cranes his head to look at Sunoo and—
gives him a shit-eating smile.
All of the sudden there’s a flurry of pink and red petal shaped confetti, and Riki unlatches himself from Sunoo’s waist only to push him forward. Similarly, Taki nudges his teacher forward. Flustered, the two of them stumble into each other, faces painted with such confusion it was hilarious.
Sunghoon’s hand reaches out to Sunoo’s waist, steadying him before he looks around at the disarray. “What is going on?”
“Mr. Park!” Jake says from the sidelines, sniffling.
“Don’t you have something to tell Mr. Kim?” Jungwon prods with a dimpled grin, rosy cheeks fluffed up like dumplings.
“Tell you?” Sunghoon echoes dumbly, glancing at Sunoo, getting a shrug in response.
Apparently, they’ve spent too much time staying silent, so much so that the children decide to take it into their own hands (as if they haven’t already).
“He likes you, Mr. Kim!” Taki says from the other side of the crowd with a giggle.
“Mr. Kim likes him too!” Riki answers with a playful smile.
The two adults blink, belatedly realizing that Riki and Taki were friends, despite coming from different classes, and that they carefully staged this. Sunoo scans the crowd, meeting Jungwon’s bright shining eyes, and it dawns on him. This baby-faced angel planned all of this. No wonder he kept asking about Mr. Park that one lunchbreak a few days ago.
He backtracks, mulling over the children’s words, and just as Sunghoon turns to him, he glances at him too. They share a look, disbelief flashing in their eyes before it morphs into realization, then humor. They double over in laughter, at the same time, the children find their smiles slipping off their faces.
For one, they don’t understand why the adults are guffawing, when really, one of them should already be kneeling on one knee in a proposal after their feelings have been unveiled just like that. And second, it’s the first time they’ve seen Mr. Park smile this wide, not to mention his absolutely dorky laughter ringing through the air, woven with Sunoo’s giggles.
It takes a while for them to collect their bearings, and honestly, the children’s befuddled expressions made it all funnier. Sunoo wipes the tears away from the corner of his eyes, forcing himself to calm down so he could talk.
“Kids.” He wheezes. “I don’t know what’s going on, but…” He trails off, glancing at Sunghoon before folding over in laughter again. Sunghoon holds him by the elbow to stop him from completely collapsing to the floor in fits.
“We’re married.” Mr. Park finishes for him, and he can practically hear the children’s jaws drop to the floor.
A split-second later, the kids erupt in incredulity. “What?!” He hears the voice of little Jungwonie amidst the uproar. And to prove it, he gently takes Sunoo’s hand, showing off the matching rings that hugged their fingers.
Jongseong and Heeseung, who joined the crowd out of curiosity halfway through, share a shocked look. The English teacher looks at him as if to ask did you know? Heeseung shakes his head slowly, eyes wide in bewilderment.
“Then why—when—why aren’t you—” Jake is having trouble stringing his words together, face animatedly scrunched up in so much confusion.
Sunoo prides himself for understanding his student immediately. “We wanted to keep things professional.”
All of the sudden, a cry rives through the air, and all of them whip their heads to the source. Jungwon, with his lip quivering, has heady teardrops trickling down his round cheeks.
“Oh no.” Sunoo immediately scoops him up, wiping his face dry with the pad of his thumb. “Shh, don’t cry.” He coos. “What’s wrong?”
Jungwon hiccups, “Why didn’t you invite us to your wedding? Don’t you love us?”
The two share a helpless glance, finding themselves at a loss for the nth time that day, “Jungwon, we got married two years ago.” Sunghoon says, trying to explain, hand gently rubbing the child’s back.
Jungwon’s lips shake, tugged into a deep frown. So what if they were married two years ago? A louder cry hikes up from his throat, burying his face in the shoulder of his favorite teacher. “I wanted to be a flower girl,” He sobs.
Heeseung has tried prying the students out of the playground, but everyone was just so invested. The only way to carry on with the day was to give the children what they wanted. “You can get married again,” He suggests, and the couple flinches towards his direction, both having no clue he was there with Jongseong all along.
“Sorry, what?” Sunoo asks, still carrying Jungwon in his arms.
“You can have a wedding here.” He expounds. “Will that be okay, Jungwon?” At the mention of his name, the boy lifts his head from Sunoo’s shoulder, leaving a puddle of tears on his jacket. Big eyes still moist with the residue of his tears, he nods slowly.
“Then that’s that!” Heeseung claps, ushering everyone into position, picking up a handful of the thrown confetti and giving it to whoever wanted to be flower girls.
A few moments later, Sunghoon stands by the slide, Heeseung on his side. From behind the crowd of students, Sunoo walks, a bouquet of picked flowers from the garden clasped in his hand as Jongseong walks him down the ‘aisle’. He feels his whole face flare up, hiding his blush with the flowers. Through the leaves, he sees his husband waiting for him, wearing a flushed smile, his eyes holding as much love as he did on their real wedding day, if not more.
God, the things Sunoo does for the kids. He can’t believe he’s doing this.
In front of him, Jungwon, Riki, and Jake throw an abundance of petal shaped cut-outs, thoroughly enjoying being part of the entourage. Jongseong then hands Sunoo to Sunghoon, hilariously in character. “Take care of him.” He says, and it takes everything for Sunghoon not to barrel over in laughter again.
The children, being the menaces that they are, start chanting for a kiss. Sunghoon rolls his eyes, grabbing Sunoo’s hand and using the flowers to cover their faces. With a chuckle, he leans in for a peck.
Plan C: Success.
☆☆☆
“What a day,” Sunoo groans as they step into their house, discarding their coats and scarves.
“I can’t believe I married you again in a school playground.” Sunghoon laughs, pulling his husband in by the waist, unsaid words of love playing on the smile he wears.
“I swear to god, kids do and say the darnest things,” Sunoo sighs, closing his eyes and reveling in the touch when Sunghoon nuzzles his nose against his temple.
“I’d marry you over and over again if I could. Doesn’t matter where.” Sunghoon whispers, this time leaning in for a deep kiss. Heart fluttering just as fast as it was on their wedding day, Sunoo smiles against his lips, arms wrapping around Sunghoon’s shoulders to pull him closer.
Deciding to teach at Sunflower Elementary School and being a second parent to such wonderful children is almost the best decision Sunoo’s ever made in his life.
Almost.