23 years ago

Haerin hated new things: new surroundings and new people in that list as well.  

She not only hated them, she feared them as well.

Haerin dragged her feet on the cemented ground, her eyes downcast on the ugly grey flooring. Her fingers wrapped around tightly to her bag pack straps as she followed the older woman to the little kindergarden. She was only 5 years old and she was scared and it didn't help that it was the height of winter as well. Even when she was dressed in thick winter clothing that were lined with down and hot packs in her pocket, she was shaking. 

She her chapped lips as she slowly dragged her heavy pink boots. Her mother, a slightly plump woman who was busy talking to the teacher of the class that Haerin is going to be in, turned around to look at her. Immediately, Moon Haerin froze in her spot. Her mother's eyes were the colour of coal and it made her squirm internally. Her mother's eyes radiated coldness and her thin pink lips were pressed in a tight thin line showed that she was not impressed about something. 

Or, someone. 

There was a silent message that passed from the older woman to her and Haerin turned away and gripped onto her Hello Kitty bag tighter. If she wasn't wearing her fleece gloves, the strap would have easily leave angry red marks on her baby soft skin. 

"Haerin." She turned to face the voice that was not her mother's and met with dark warm brown eyes. She released a breath and a puff of white smoke filled the space between her and the principal. She gave a soft smile, nothing like how her mother would use to give her. This woman's smile radiates warmth and happiness whereas her mother's smile was more forced, looking more like a grimace than an actual smile on its own. 

"Are you excited to meet your new friends?" The woman asked gently and Haerin just stared at her dumbly, unsure what to answer. 

Friends?

She has a friend and it was her stuffed giraffe named Spot. She had no idea who gave it to her but she had it ever since she was able to speak. 

"Answer her, Haerin." Her mother's voice broke her away from her thoughts and once again her whole body went rigid. She daren't look up to her mother to know her mother was staring at her, boring holes into her side. 

"It's okay, Mrs. Moon. She is just shy." The woman replied to her mother, a smile to on her lips. 

The young girl could almost tell that her mother was rolling her eyes and scoffed at that. She could immediately mirror her mother's thoughts, words that were never said to her teacher but she could almost tell she wanted to tell her a bunch of things about Haerin. 

"I must apologize for my Haerin. Haerin is a handful. For a 5 year old she doesn't know discipline. She is a rebellious child who defies my orders at home." 

And more often than not, the adult would exchange glances from her mother to her: a look of disdain at her and a look of pity to her mother. 

"It must be hard for a single mother..." They would say. 

What about the child of a single mother? Wasn't it hard for her to grow up without a father too?  

"Haerin." The nice woman broke her out of her thoughts again and she nodded to tell her that she was listening. "I know you're scared but everyone behind those doors are nice boys and girls. They are waiting to meet you. So, what do you say?" She realized the young woman had her hand faced up in front of Haerin's chest. 

She looked at the woman in front of her, slowly drinking in her features to see if she was a friend or a foe. Her lips were still in a smile, her cheeks were still rosy from the cold but the older woman didn't seem to mind. She could see in her eyes that they were sincere and gentle. 

Hesitantly, her right hand uncoiled itself from the polyester bag strap and rested on her open hand. With a grin, the woman stood up from her crouched position and held onto her hand tightly. It wasn't so tight to the extent that she wanted to pull away or cry in pain. It was a firm grip but it was gentle at the same time, something she has never experienced before. 

Maybe... Change won't be so bad after all.

---

Grace Fang was busy rolling all over the padded floor in the classroom, tackling a boy who took her Lego block. 

"Give it!" She screeched, her bamboo shaped hands trying to grab the bright red block. The boy, Kim Jaehwan, was equally as round as she was shook his head and tried to hide it behind his back. 

"No!" He screamed louder. 

The classroom of 20 students stopped their crying, playing with the other toys and fixated their eyes on the two mini sumo wrestlers at the far end of the classroom. 

"Give it!"

"There are other red Lego blocks! Why can't you use them?" Jaehwan asked as he tried to shield himself from her clawing. He was lucky that her nails were still short or else he would be coming back with angry red marks along his arms. 

It was true that there were plentiful of red blocks in the Lego box but she wanted this particular one because this was her particular favourite. One might think it was stupid because they all looked the same but Grace could tell them apart. 

It was smoother and slightly more worn out than the rest of them. Also, it was a deeper shade of red and it was slightly chewed on the edges over the years. 

"Because I like it!" the raven haired girl shrilled and bit his arm that was holding the red toy. With a scream, he pushed her off her and she fell on the ground, hitting her head on the non-padded surface in the process. 

In shock and little gasps from the other toddlers, the two children stopped their fighting and stared at each other. Grace's eyes were opened wide, her right hand above her throbbing head while Jaehwan's eyes were glassy from fresh tears, clutching onto his left arm where a red mark and teeth impression were left in its wake. 

'"I am going to tell, Miss Jung!" The Tattle Tale twins named So Ryong and Dae Ryong shouted together and an echo of 'Oohs' filled the silent classroom. 

"Gracie is going to get into a lot of twouble." Someone sing songed and immediately Grace started to sniff from both the pain and from the thought of going to be placed into time out by Miss Jung. 

Just as the door swung open, the other 18 children rushed towards her, one after the other trying to out scream each other. 

"Children, children!" She said her voice suddenly stern and the children stopped talking. "One at a time." She told them and So Ryong immediately spoke up. 

"Gwacie and Jaehwannie fought again." He said pointing at the two of them who looked as white as ghost. Haerin poke her head out from behind Miss Jung's back, her hand still clutching onto her skirt. Yet, she wanted to see who the two kids were. 

Jaehwan had soft black bowl hair cut and slightly brown skin. He had full lips that she felt that a bee stung it a few times on how plump they were and very sharp nose. He wore a bright yellow t-shirt and navy blue pants that made him look like Bob the Builder or Bananas in Pajamas. Her eyes wandered off to Grace who wore a soft pink long sleeved blouse with the words "Peace" and a pair of brown pants. She had her black hair tied up into two pig tails that were loose on either side from all the rolling. Her cheeks were flushed pink from all the rolling and screaming, making Haerin think that she looked like a pink bao. 

"Gwace bit his arm!" Dae Ryong added and immediately Haerin saw the fear flashed before Grace's eyes. 

"I didn't mean to!!" Grace said, panic in her voice and Haerin immediately felt scared for Grace. 

What would they do to her? 

She heard a sigh escaped Miss Jung's lips and looking up, she saw Miss Jung's face turned to an expression of disappointment. Miss Jung sighed. "Gracie, you know what happens when you misbehave in class." Miss Jung let go of Haerin's hand and went over to the cabinet near the door, opening a few drawers to search for something. 

Panic that Grace would get a beating with a cane, Haerin waddled her way towards Grace. Haerin was stick thin but the bag and her many layers of winter clothing was making her waddle like a duck. It would've been easier if she rolled her way towards the other toddler. 

Miss Jung stopped looking when she realized that Haerin wasn't with her and everyone else who suddenly realized that there was a new girl, gave her space as she half ran half hobbled her way to Grace. The plump girl looked shock as her eyes met with a girl with raven hair and sunken cheeks wearing a beige jacket and leaporad printed leggings. Once she reached Grace, she immediately stood in front of her, one hand holding the plump girl's hand while the other was outstretched as if to shield her from an impending doom. 

Jessica Jung looked at the young girl perplexed and straightened herself when she saw the action. Haerin had her eyes squeezed shut and her head turned to the side. 

"Haerin?" Miss Jung looked at her with a confused expression, holding a white glossy paper in one hand as she made her way towards the three children. "What are you doing, my dear?"

Haerin her lips and took a deep breath. "Don't hurt her. She didn't mean it. Hurt me instead." Her voice quiet and shaky, yet there was a sense of courage in her tone when she said it. 

Grace looked at her with a bewildered expression and Haerin continued, giving her a sad smile at the young girl. "Don't worry, I can take it."

Jessica was stumped at first, taking in what the young girl just said. Immediately, Jessica understood what she meant. Jessica Jung walked towards Haerin and knelt down in front of her. Haerin in a breath, waiting for the beating, the stinging of the rattan cane on her skin but it never came. Instead, she felt the kind teacher slowly touched her arm. Haerin, out of natural reflex, wanted to recoil but the brunette woman told her it was okay to put her arm down. As she was doing so, she caught sight of the cigarette buds scarring on her wrists. Her heart dropped when she saw her neck was masked with angry red marks and she had to bite down her lip. 

What has this poor innocent girl done to deserve something like this? 

Grace held onto her glove covered hand and squeezed it to show that while Haerin was there for her, so was she for the new girl. Grace must have missed the fact that this new girl had turned rigid but she only latched onto her hand tighter. "I'm here." Grace said, dragging her knees towards the girl. 

"I am not going to hurt her, Haerin." She told her and Haerin opened her eyes. She looked down at the plump girl before looking at her teacher, searching her eyes for a slight hint of a lie in them. 

"Promise?" Haerin asked quietly and Jessica nodded. She held up the glossy paper with several red stars on it. "I was just going to put two red stars next to her name" And Grace looked down, embarrassed that she has gotten yet another red star next to her name. 

"But," Grace looked up to see Jessica looking at her, her eyes twinkling with fresh tears. "If Grace promises not to fight Jaehwan and apologizes to him, I won't put the red stars on the blackboard." 

Haerin looked as if Christmas came early and she turned around to look at Grace. Grace blinked at her a few times and turned around to look at Jaehwan. 

Grace was slightly proud but the look on Haerin's face and the thought that there won't be any red stars on her never ending list of bad things she has done since the new year, made her swallow her pride. She slowly crawled towards Jaehwan and when she was in front of him, she pressed his cheeks together, his lips becoming like one of a fish. 

"HOI!" he managed to squeak out and she giggled and let go. She threw himself on him and gave him a back crushing hug making him kick air.

"I am sorry, Jaehwannie!" She said and Jaehwan wasn't sure whether he liked Grace the Hulk or this Grace better. 

---

When Jessica watched her last student enter the car, her smile faded and frown lines formed on her forehead. She made her way to her chair and sank down in it, the creases on her forehead only deepen when she sighed. With reluctance, she rummaged through her handbag and pulled out her mobile phone, her thumb hovered over the call button reflecting her conflict as she reflected on the day. 

Haerin and Grace became close friends after that incident and she could see Grace was the more dominant one while Haerin was the more reserved and timid one. She could see how Haerin tends to freeze or to recoil from Grace touch and her heart broke. She sniffed as tears formed in her eyes when Haerin would walk with a slight limp, even without her heavy winter clothing and backpack.

She had seen children from different walks of life: poor, autistic, ADHD, ADD, speech impairment. 

But, never in her many years of teaching and learning on child development, had she come across a child who suffers from child abuse. 

---

A/N: A little on Haerin's past for you. Hope this chapter is up to your liking! Do leave your comments and let me know what you think of it. till then xx