Jelly

“I don’t wanna go to the new school!” cried little Soonkyu.

“Now, now, be a good girl. Your new school is a fun place. You’ll make many new friends.” Mommy patted her head and smoothed her hair but she was still upset. And when she was upset, only one thing could happen.

“Daddyyyyyyyyy!!!”

Mommy sighed and sat on the couch, folding her hands as she leaned back, lips pressed in blatant disapproval. The appearance of said Daddy only made her frown more pronounced but Sunny didn’t care. She didn’t want to go to the new school. She missed her friends. She wanted them back. Daddy would help her. He always did.

“What is it, little pupp?” he asked as his arms brought her into a hug designed to comfort her in an instant.

“I don’t wanna go to the new school,” whined little Soonkyu, her eyes blurry with tears. “Can I go back to my old school? Please? Pleaseee?”

“Aww, my poor little Kyu…don’t be afraid. You’re a big girl now. Big girls like you will go to school without crying.”

At the sound of the word ‘cry’, her tears overflowed and she wailed her lungs out.

“Oh, Soonkyu…what is this?”

Little Soonkyu looked at the bag Mommy was holding in front of her. “Jelly!”

“Mhm. You’ll get the whole bag if you go to school today, okay?”

“Okay!” Little Soonkyu held out her hands for the bag of jellies and her tears stopped. Jelly!

~

The new school was colourful but little Soonkyu wasn’t sure if there were going to be monsters or scary teachers in there. What if there were monsters that chased after her and ate her up?

“Mommy, are there monsters in school?”

“I told you not to let her watch that monster cartoon,” said Mommy to Daddy.

She looked up at them and sniffed, her tears b again as her fears spread and grew like zombie bunnies. Daddy squatted and faced her with steady eyes and a big smile.

“You’re our Soonkyu so you don’t have to worry. The monsters won’t dare to come near you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have jellies.” Daddy patted her bag and winked at her. That meant it was a secret between them. Jelly was a secret weapon that could keep monsters away. “Eat your jellies and you’ll be fine.” He hugged her tight and patted her head once more before letting her go. “Now, you’re ready for school.”

~

The new teacher was pretty. Her name was Miss Park Sunyoung. She held her hand and brought her to the classroom where other little children were playing.

“Let’s put your bag over there. Then, you can play with your new friends.”

Little Soonkyu shook her head. “I cannot leave my bag there.”

“But everybody’s bag is put over there. Don’t you want your bag to be there too?”

Little Soonkyu shook her head again. “Jelly is in my bag. I don’t want to put Jelly there.”

“Ah, why don’t you take Jelly out of your bag and carry it with you then.”

“But Jelly is a secret.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll let you carry your bag for today but put it on the floor when you sit down, alright?”

Little Soonkyu nodded. “Alright.”

“And bring a smaller bag for Jelly tomorrow. That way, you can leave your big bag over there and carry just a small bag with you. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Miss Park smiled. She was pretty when she smiled. “Good. Now let’s join your new friends.”

~

“Children, children…” Miss Park called them, “come and meet a new friend. Several of them stopped. Those who stopped noticed little Soonkyu and she put on a smile for them, just like Mommy taught her.

“Smile. All you have to do is smile and say hello.”

“Hello, my name is Soonkyu.”

A few of the children started to giggle and she didn’t like it so she pouted.

“Children, it’s not nice if you giggle at her name. You wouldn’t like it either, would you?”

“No!” the children chorused.

“So, let’s welcome Soonkyu to our little group.”

Miss Park was led her closer to the other children and they crowded around her, looking with curiosity.

“Miss Park! There’s a phone call for you!”

“I’ll be right there, thanks!” Miss Park put her arm around little Soonkyu’s shoulder and smiled. “I need to answer the phone. Is it alright if I go away for a bit?”

Little Soonkyu didn’t think it was alright but phone calls were important. Mommy had taught her to be quiet whenever she was on the phone. “It’s important.” Mommy would say, so this was important too. And she was a big girl. And she had Jelly. So, she nodded.

“Alright.”

Miss Park smiled and patted her head. “Soonkyu is a very good girl. Children, be nice to her, okay? I’ll be right back.”

“Okay!” they chorused and Miss Park left the room.

Suddenly, a big, fat boy pointed at her and said, “You’re short. My father says shorties are like farts. You can squeeze them out.”

Little Soonkyu stood frozen, her eyes growing wet, as a few other children burst into laughter.

“Fart! Fart!” they laughed and pointed.

“I’ll tell Miss Park you said that!” yelled a girl and they stopped laughing. Little Soonkyu looked around, puzzled because she couldn’t see where the voice was coming from and it wasn’t until the big, far boy backed away, that she figured it out—the girl was completely hidden behind the boy. She stared. The girl who yelled was as short as her, fair as snow and her eyes were pretty. “Go away, Hodong, or I’ll kick your .”

Little Soonkyu stood still, amazed to see the big, fat boy go away, without a word. So, it took her a while to realize that the little girl was talking to her.

“Let’s go play,” said the little girl.

“Okay,” she replied and followed the little girl. They ended up at a table. It was blue on top, with black legs. The chairs were blue too. They sat down and she could finally put her bag down on the floor.

“All our bags are over there,” the little girl said, pointing at the bags on the shelves.

“I cannot put my bag there.”

“Why?”

“Jelly is in my bag.”

“Who is jelly?”

“A secret.” Little Soonkyu whispered, “Jelly will keep the monsters away.”

“What monsters?”

“School monsters. They hide in cupboards.”

“I want to see Jelly.”

“Okay. But it’s a secret. Shh.” Little Soonkyu ped her bag and took Jelly out.

“What is this?” the little girl’s eyes were wide open, almost twice their normal size. “This is Jelly?”

“This is Jelly. My daddy said to eat them later and the monsters will not come near me.”

“I want to eat Jelly too. I love Jelly. I love jelly worm.”

“I love Jelly worm too!” Little Soonkyu grinned wide like when she was brushing her teeth. She liked this little girl who liked Jelly worm. They could be best friends!

The little girl stuck her hand out, palm up. “I want a blue jelly worm. Please.”

Little Soonkyu wasn’t sure though. “Can we eat Jelly now?”

“We must eat jelly worm so that the monsters will not come near us.”

That was true. Little Soonkyu opened the bag and pulled out a blue wriggly Jelly worm. “Jelly for you,” she reached in and pulled out another Jelly worm, a pink one, “Jelly for me.”

They giggled and began chewing on their worms. But they barely managed to eat half of their worms before Miss Park came back and found them.

“Kim Taeyeon! Lee Soonkyu!”

Their little heads bobbed up, wriggly worms hanging out their mouths, their eyes bulging in surprise, shock and some fear.

“Who said you could eat these in class?”

Little Soonkyu blinked as little Taeyeon inched her hand up.

“Kim Taeyeon, can you ever get through one day without stirring trouble?”

Little Taeyeon merely blinked, her blue jelly worm now hung listlessly from .

“Not only do you get yourself into trouble, but now you’re getting our new friend into trouble too.”

Was she in trouble too? Oh no. Mommy was going to scold her. But just as she thought that, little Taeyeon reached for her hand and held it. She looked at little Taeyeon and smiled the best she could with Jelly worm hanging from . Little Taeyeon smiled too.

Little Soonkyu changed her mind. It was going to be okay after all. It was going to be okay because she found a new best friend who loved Jelly like she did.

Yay!

~