Sooyoung enjoys the peaceful quiet of the teacher’s lounge, resting on the small couch and slowly sipping on her steamy cup of tea while letting the warm, spring sun shine down on her face through the open window.

“This is so nice,” she sighs to herself, shutting her eyes and listening to the gentle hum of the wind and the lulling drone of bees outside, when Yoona comes bursting through the door, shattering the calming silence of Sooyoung’s meditation time.

“Miss Sooyoung!” Yoona wheezes, hunched over and gasping for air, one hand clutching the doorknob and other hand wrapped around the stitch on her side.

Sooyoung frowns, setting down her cup on the coffee table. “Why are you here?” she asks as Yoona tries to catch her breath. “If you’re here, who’s watching the children?”

“About the children,” Yoona replies, breathing finally regulated and straightening, “There’s been a slight problem.”

“What’s wrong?” Sooyoung rises from the couch, quickly jumping back into professional mode.

“Youngjae is missing,” Yoona answers hesitantly, fidgeting with the hems of her blouse sleeves. “I was doing my rounds and noticed that Youngjae’s mat was empty,” she tries to explain, and Sooyoung chokes.

“What do you mean he’s missing?” Sooyoung tries not to let the panic overcome her, breathing heavily through her nose so she won’t faint. “He’s not anywhere inside the classroom? The bathroom? Playground?”

“I checked everywhere,” Yoona says, following behind Sooyoung as the teacher dashes out the door, running down the halls towards her classroom. She quickly enters the room, followed by Yoona right on her tail.

Sooyoung’s eyes zero in on the mat where Youngjae should be sleeping, in between Jongup and Jiho. And it really is empty, only his soft, yellow blanket kicked off in a pile at the foot of his mat. “No, no, no. Not again,” she whispers to herself, staring up at the ceiling and counting down from ten to keep herself calm and collected.

“Did you want me to check outside again?” Yoona whispers, keeping her voice down to prevent waking up any of the other students.

“Could you?” Sooyoung says slowly, shutting her eyes and frowning as she tries to figure out where the boy might have gone. “No, wait,” Sooyoung calls quietly, stopping Yoona as the teacher’s aide stands halfway out the door. Yoona turns back around and walks over to Sooyoung.

“Yes?”

“Call Tiffany for me, please? See if Kyungsoo is missing too,” Sooyoung instructs, pointing at the phone on her desk. “The extension numbers are listed right next to the phone. Let her know I’m heading over to her class right now.”

“Yes Miss Sooyoung,” Yoona hastily weaves through the sleeping children, picking up the phone and dialing Tiffany’s extension digits. Satisfied, Sooyoung quickly leaves the room, powerwalking down the hall towards her coworker’s classroom.

Being a teacher is so much harder than she’d thought it would be.

Sooyoung ponders whether choosing to become a teacher was the greatest or worst decision of her life, all the way down the several halls until she finally reaches Tiffany’s door. She knocks twice softly before entering the room.

Upon stepping inside, Sooyoung spots Tiffany standing at the center of the rows of children napping on their mats. “Come here,” Tiffany waves her over, having already received the phone call from Yoona.

“Is Kyungsoo still with you?” Sooyoung whispers urgently, gently stepping around the sleeping children and stopping a few inches away from Tiffany.

“Yeah, he’s here,” Tiffany smiles, glancing across the room at Jessica, who’s sticking little star stickers onto stacks of “letter C” worksheets, and sharing amused looks. “But look what else we found here.”

“Hm? Found what?” Sooyoung asks, confused, as Tiffany crouches onto the floor, gently peeling away a baby blue blanket to reveal Kyungsoo and Youngjae (thank god) cuddled up into each other with Kyungsoo’s arm flung protectively over Youngjae’s shoulder.

“Aren’t they cute?” Tiffany laughs quietly as relief washes over Sooyoung from head to foot.

“Yeah, cute,” Sooyoung mumbles, bending down to pick up her student and carry him back to his rightful place. But Youngjae’s tiny fingers clutch onto a fistful of Kyungsoo’s t-shirt, refusing to relinquish his hold as Sooyoung gently tries to pry open his hand.

But it doesn’t work. His grip is too strong.

“You know, there’s only ten minutes of naptime left anyways. Why don’t you just let him finish his sleep here for today?” Tiffany suggests, placing a comforting hand on Sooyoung’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess that could be okay,” Sooyoung sighs, setting back down the still fast asleep Youngjae on the mat beside Kyungsoo. And she can’t help the smile that spreads across her face as Youngjae curls back into Kyungsoo’s space as the sleeping Kyungsoo automatically throws an arm and leg over Youngjae’s body.

“Kids can be so precious sometimes,” Sooyoung says in a low voice as Tiffany stands back up and walks over to her desk to take a sip of her soda.

“They are, aren’t they?” Tiffany replies happily, perching on the edge of her desk. “You know, when they’re not causing trouble.”

And Sooyoung holds back her laugh, remembering again why she’d chosen to become a teacher. “It’s the little things,” she smiles down fondly at her student. “They sure can be troublesome. But sometimes, they do such sweet things that make me completely forget all the other not-so-great things they do.”

“I know, right?” Tiffany hums as Sooyoung rises to her feet, deciding to head back to the teacher’s lounge and use up the remaining time to finish her tea.

a/n: just a little fluff ; u ; still trying to get over this writer's block.