Both their foreheads were starting to perspire, their hearts racing against their chests, their lungs working overtime and their legs were aching. The adrenaline rush from breaking the rules fuelled their systems to continue running and the endorphins being released caused delirious tired grins to be permanently restedupon their lips. Mr Ham was far back, sorting his class out before he started to chase after the two rebellious students. His face was starting to change from a shade of red to a deadly shade of purple.

Taeyeon and Sooyeon were already near the school exit and were starting to laugh with their impulsive act. With just a few classrooms left before they were out for the clear the girls were starting to slow down. Just as they were about to pass the last classroom, the door opened and another teacher stepped out. They both stopped as fast as they could but their torsos continued on forward, causing the both of them to topple over. The teacher took two quick steps back to avoid the two girls who had just suddenly bowed down to him and stared at them with wide confused eyes.

Sooyeon groaned against the floor. All her insides and outsides were starting to hurt from over pushing her stamina and refused to get up from the cool but dirty floor. Taeyeon rubbed her wrists sorely from the harsh impact that it had just experience and sat up to dust the dirt that she had collected. Sooyeon opened her eyes to check on her friend but was stopped when she was met with a pair of black shoes right in front of her. Cautiously, she lifted her chin up and traced the leg up until she was met with a wide-eyed teacher. Taeyeon massaged her leg for a bit and glanced over at Sooyeon to make sure she was okay but noticed her gawking at something else above them. Her stomach sunk as she too focused on Sooyeon’s point of interest and swallowed hard when she saw the art teacher staring at them both with a blank expression.

Hesitantly, the teacher reached his hand down at the two girls and helped them up to their feet. Just as Taeyeon had stood up, she heard the furious yells of Mr Ham behind them. She quickly bowed in apology to the art teacher before grabbing Sooyeon’s hand again. The art teacher took a step back and watched with a confused expression as the two girls bolted out the school doors. Unsure of what was happening he turned back and was about to head into his classroom when Mr Ham came up to him. He blinked and waited as Mr Ham was double bent, trying to gain his breath back.

“Why... did you let… those two go?” Mr Ham huffed, placing one of his hands against the wall to hold him up. The art teacher continued to stare at Mr Ham blankly. Mr Ham glanced down at the art teachers badge and realised that he had probably used the wrong method of communication again.

“Why did you let those two go?” Mr Ham signed with a frustrated frown. The art teacher raised his eyebrows questioningly and pointed towards the door in which the two girls had escaped just moments before Mr Ham had arrived. Mr Ham nodded once and waited as the art teacher seemed to think silently.

“Kids deserve some freedom every once in a while,” the teacher replied with a soft smile. Mr Ham stared at the art teacher for a long moment. He glanced back and forth from the door to his fellow workmate constantly. With an annoyed sigh, he threw his arms down and let out a frustrated yell.

“Those two are going to regret running away once I’m through with them,” Mr Ham mumbled before throwing Taeyeon’s books that he had picked up before he started chasing the two. The art teacher looked down to see the recent drawing that Sooyeon had drawn and raised his eyebrows inquisitively. He then saw the other sketches within Taeyeon’s book and widened his eyes when he recognised the name on the book.

“I should have just called her parents. This school is much too lenient on that spoiled Kim Taeyeon,” Mr Ham continued to mumble and started making his way back to his maths class. The art teacher picked up the student’s belongings thrown on the floor and stared at Mr Ham’s retreating figure.

“I believe you are much too harsh on Kim Taeyeon,” the art teacher suddenly spoke up. Mr Ham stopped stomping down the hallway and slowly turned to the teacher who had spoken up.

“I’m Kwon Sang-woo, head teacher of the art department, brother of the school’s director and with perfectly fine hearing,” the art teacher introduced himself with a small smile. “I’ve heard your little rants about a certain Kim Taeyeon and I believe that it is not suitable that a teacher in a school designed to help those who are at a disadvantage would say such distasteful things about any students here on our premises.”

Mr Ham glared at the man who was still smiling innocently at him as he felt his stomach drop.

“As you are aware, my brother hates it when people take advantage of the students’ disabilities and I would hate to see how he would react to you mumbling nonsense during your classes,” Mr Kwon continued as he flicked through Taeyeon’s book in his hands. He could see that Taeyeon was diligent in recording everything that Mr Ham had said during his classes and even laughed at the less than flattering picture of Mr Ham that she had drawn.

“The school’s director also has a hearing disability as does most of the teaching department. I’m sure that when they hear, or are informed about this matter your days of mumbling nonsense on this campus would surely end if not be shortened.” Without adding anything further, Mr Kwon turned around and walked into his classroom calmly before slamming the door shut behind him. Mr Ham continued to stare blankly down the hall as the art teacher’s words slowly began to sink in. When the last of Mr Kwon’s words finally processed in his mind, he quickly opened the door to the art classroom and searched for the teacher that had confronted him.

“Please don’t. I can’t find a job anywhere else and my family need me to bring the money home to pay for the bills. I can’t afford to lose this job. Not yet,” Mr Ham uttered desperately when he saw Mr Kwon sitting at his desk, calmly sipping his drink. Mr Kwon chuckled at the desperate maths teacher and shook his head in utter disbelief.

“For someone who has such an ugly attitude, you sure aren’t any prettier when you’re begging,” Mr Kwon scoffed. Mr Ham bit down on his tongue to stop himself from countering the art teacher who clearly had the upper hand. Mr Kwon flicked to the front of the book where he saw a childish drawing of two people. Curiously, he lifted the page up and saw the words that Sooyeon had written specifically for her friend.

“Don’t be in such a rush to grow up.”

“Mr Ham, I’m willing to settle a deal for you,” Mr Kwon suddenly spoke as he continued to stare at the writing on the hardback. “Since you and Taeyeon don’t like her being in your class, I would like you to transfer her over to me for art classes along with Jung Sooyeon.”

Mr Ham’s jaw dropped slightly at Mr Kwon’s offer and was slightly confused as to how this was going to be a disadvantage on his part. Mr Kwon closed Taeyeon’s book gently and turned himself around to give a questionable glance to Mr Ham. He saw the confusion that the maths teacher held and chuckled at how a man like him was suitable to be a teacher at all.

“The two girls have talent and I want to help strengthen that talent whilst providing them with a safe haven. You obviously created a hellish nightmare for the two and I want them to wake up from that. Starting tomorrow, they will be doing art with me in the time they would usually be doing maths. No questions asked,” he finished. Mr Ham could only nod numbly, still not quite understanding what was going on. He couldn’t have been any happier to have Kim Taeyeon transferred to another class and to still keep his job was an even bigger bonus.

“This does not mean you can continue with your ways. I will be checking in to see if you’ve changed. If it turns out that you do not respect your students, I shall not hesitate to report you. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’d rather not have the maths department invade my art studio,” Mr Kwon’s voice lowered to a threatening one. Mr Ham nodded furiously before slowly retreating to the door to return to his maths class. Mr Kwon smiled at Mr Ham’s pathetic desperation and lifted the drawing of the weed up to get a better view.

“I’m willing to give that chance,” Mr Kwon whispered quietly before placing the drawing back into the book.

The quiet breeze rustled the leaves of the trees as barely audible murmurs were carried along with the wind. Taeyeon and Sooyeon were laid flat on their backs underneath a large tree which provided them with shade against the sun that was still high in the sky. Sooyeon was happily enjoying her free time in the secluded park but Taeyeon couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable. She knew she had probably broken at least five rules and she surely would be paying a visit to the principal’s office the next day. What was even more threatening was the possible call to her parents.

Sensing the uneasiness from her friend, Sooyeon turned herself onto her stomach and tilted her head questioningly at the girl who was sporting a worried frown. Seeing how Taeyeon was too occupied with her thoughts to notice her, Sooyeon decided to give her friend a few pokes to her waist. Taeyeon felt the first poke but chose to ignore it along with the next three that came after that. She was much too worried about how she would explain herself to her parents when they would find out that she had just ran out of school premises without an adult or permission from any of the teachers.

Sooyeon huffed in annoyance at Taeyeon and sat up to glare at the girl. Taeyeon waved her hand carelessly at Sooyeon, asking her friend to leave her alone to her thoughts before turning to her stomach and leaning her head against her crossed arms. Disappointed that Taeyeon had dragged her out of school to sit and mope, Sooyeon stood up from the floor and waited for any signs of movement from her friend. When no signs were given, Sooyeon readied herself over Taeyeon’s body carefully. With a mischievous grin, she flopped herself onto Taeyeon’s back and started rolling along the length of Taeyeon’s back.

Taeyeon felt the air being knocked out of her lungs and was not given a chance to regain that much needed air with Sooyeon still placing all her weight on her back. Desperate to get some air into her lungs Taeyeon rolled off to the side, causing Sooyeon to fall onto the grass again. She rubbed her back sorely and glared at her friend who had just caused a possibly large bruise on her back. Sooyeon merely smiled innocently at the deadly stares she was given and pounced on Taeyeon again, this time pushing her onto her back. She then wrapped one of her arms around the back of Taeyeon’s neck and patted her hair in a not so soothing manner.

Taeyeon gripped onto Sooyeon’s arms around her and struggled against it with her legs flailing about, trying to get Sooyeon off her again. Finding no use to her random body movements, Taeyeon decided to use her hands strategically and slowly lowered them to Sooyeon’s waist. Wasting no time at all, Taeyeon started tickling Sooyeon’s waist knowing that it was her weak point. Almost immediately, Sooyeon let go of Taeyeon and fell backwards to escape the ticklish feeling around her waist.

With quick body movements, Taeyeon quickly scrambled up and sat on Sooyeon’s stomach to prevent her from tackling her over again. She then turned around to face the girl that was on her back and stuck her tongue out victoriously. Sooyeon huffed in defeat and wriggled beneath Taeyeon’s weight with not much success. Defeated completely, Sooyeon laid perfectly still on her back and stared up at the leaves that were protecting them from the sun above.

The park was still relatively quiet with the children still in school and only elderly people occupying the public area. Sooyeon had rarely seen this side of the park. Usually, there would be other children running around with their parents sitting nearby to keep an eye on them. She never really liked that side of the park due to the apparent happiness that others had around her. She could see then laugh, see them yell, see them scream but she could never hear them. Sooyeon was always bright and confident around Taeyeon, but when she was surrounded by others who were perfectly normal, she felt intimidated.

But whenever she did see that side of the park, Taeyeon would always be there with her. It was rare that any of them would go anywhere without the other and Sooyeon had grown accustomed to having Taeyeon next to her. In their own little world, Sooyeon and Taeyeon would sit somewhere away from the playing areas and entertain each other in their own ways. At first, Sooyeon felt as though she was holding Taeyeon back from the fun, but Taeyeon has reassured her many times over that she would rather spend her time with her than with the others in the park.

Although it was hard for her to understand, Taeyeon explained to her friend that they were much too noisy for her and caused her ears to hurt after a few minutes. She also feels alone when no one understands her which results in her being casted away any way. If she was going to be cast away, she might as well save the others from frustration and cast herself away beforehand. Sooyeon remembered seeing Taeyeon’s hollow expression and felt that perhaps hearing was not a blessing after all.

Curious to know what it was like to actually hear things, Sooyeon poked Taeyeon’s shoulder repeatedly to get her attention. Taeyeon gave an annoyed glance at Sooyeon, hoping that she wasn’t going to repeat their little skirmish again but to her relief Sooyeon showed no signs of mischief. With hesitant movements, Taeyeon slowly moved herself off Sooyeon and sat beside the girl cautiously. Sooyeon immediately sat up, causing Taeyeon to flinch defensively.

With an innocent grin, Sooyeon held her hand out to make peace with her friend. Taeyeon eyed the hand suspiciously, constantly glancing up and down from Sooyeon’s face to her hand. Still unsure of what Sooyeon would pull, she shook the hand quickly and retreated after a firm shake was exchanged. Sooyeon calmly moved herself to sit beside her friend despite the suspicious gaze that she was receiving. She then calmly placed her head onto Taeyeon’s lap and continued to look up at the leaves again, giving a reassuring smile to Taeyeon who raised her eyebrows questionabl