The first child that steps inside the classroom is Seohyun, whose eyes immediately bulge out at the extravagant banner hanging on the wall.

“Good morning Seohyun,” Amber says, stepping down from her stool and standing back to admire the banner which says ‘Happy Birthday Taeyeon’. Taeyeon’s birthday coincidentally happens to be on a child-care day so the teachers decided to take it upon themselves to celebrate the girl’s fourth birthday with her teachers and friends. They had secretly planned the party and took turns supervising the class whilst others ran around running errands. Since Boa organised the event, Luna secretly bought the decorative materials needed for the party and Victoria and Krystal had purchased the food and some gifts, it’s Amber’s responsibility to hang up the decorations and set up the party.

“It’s Taeyeon’s birthday today,” Seohyun voices, also admiring the decorative display before putting her bag into the storage cupboard without being told to. She walks back to Amber and tugs on the teacher’s sleeve who finally pushes the children’s tables together in the centre of the room to form one large table.

“Yes Seohyun?” Amber asks, bending down to match the girl’s height.

“Does Teacher Amber need help?” Seohyun asks, her bright eyes looking up at Amber with curiosity and eagerness written all over her face.

“Thank you Seohyun; would you please place the bags of plastic cups, cutlery and plates on the table?” Amber responds, pointing towards some white grocery bags located beside the playing area before sorting the party hats on the table. Amber places a few bags of snacks, a bottle of apple juice and a carton of orange juice to the side. Seohyun does as she’s told, cautiously placing the unopened packets of plastic disposable cups, forks, spoons and plates in the centre of the table.

“Thank you Seohyun,” Amber repeats, ruffling the girl’s hair before scanning her surroundings and secretly handing her an apple slice whilst she bites on her own. Seohyun stares at the piece of fruit until the realisation dawns on her and she looks up at the teacher with a gaping mouth.

“Teacher Amber is eating before everyone else!” Seohyun states, horrified that Amber won’t wait for the others. Amber chuckles and takes out the packet of apple slices she had stuffed back into her pocket a few seconds before.

“These are mine; I get hungry when I’m working so I always have food on me,” Amber clarifies, smiling softly when Seohyun’s mouth forms an ‘o’ and she nods her head in understanding.

“I’m sorry for making a--assump–”

“Assumptions?” Amber corrects, giggling at how adorable the girl is at learning and saying new words and increasing her vocabulary. She’s definitely the brightest child out of the group.

“Yes,” Seohyun answers, nodding her head when Amber understands what she was trying to say.

“No need to apologise to me, Seohyun. You are technically correct since I’m eating before everyone else has arrived and eaten.”

“But but –”

“Eat your apple slice before Sooyoung sees you,” Amber says, grinning when the girl nods obediently and munches on her fruit.

Amber keeps Seohyun company (she’s always astounded that the child shows up one hour before class is meant to begin and has even asked her if she likes turning up that early) until the other children enter the classroom. She watches as Sunny, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Yoona and Yuri stare in amazement and point fingers at the large banner hanging on the wall. She’s about to stand up from her seat and tell them what the banner means (the children have difficulty reading) when Krystal enters the classroom with a sulking Jessica in tow.

“I want my milk!” The princess whines, crossing her arms in front of her chest and refusing to walk any further into the classroom. Krystal sighs and places her handbag on the teacher’s desk before turning to her sister.

“I told you Jessi; we ran out of milk this morning.”

“I want my milk!” Jessica repeats, stamping her foot on the ground.

“Milk?” A voice pipes up, making Jessica turn around to yell at the person behind her. Instead, gapes open at a confused Tiffany holding a carton of strawberry milk in one hand.

“Milk!” Jessica squeals, tackling the child to the ground. The poor girl whimpers as she’s knocked down and is crushed by Jessica’s arms as they try to grab the milk carton.

“Jessi!” Krystal shouts, shocked at her sister’s behaviour. She pulls Jessica off Tiffany’s body and pushes her to the side before attending to the other girl and checking her for cuts, bruises or scrapes.

“Is your back okay Tiffany?” The woman asks concernedly, panicking when the girl’s eyes glaze over for a moment before Tiffany blinks and looks up at her.

“I’m okay,” The girl answers, looking down at the carton of strawberry milk lying on the floor. Jessica’s eyes follow her movement and widen when she realises that the carton is within her grasp. She’s about to reach out and grab for the milk when Krystal beats her to it and shoots her a stern glare, making the girl cower and step back.

“This is Tiffany’s, not yours,” Krystal scolds, handing the carton back to its rightful owner. Tiffany thanks the teacher and bows. Krystal turns and gives her sister another glare, trying not to smirk when Jessica understands what she has to do, apologising to Tiffany and hanging her head low. Tiffany accepts the apology and joins the group of children staring at the banner on the wall, her eyes gleaming when she notices some pink letters on the cloth.

Krystal turns to stare at her sister again and Jessica apologises again, lowering her head and shuffling to sit down in her seat.

Krystal makes her way over to help Amber finish setting up for the party when she feels a pair of hands tug on the sleeve of her shirt. She places some packets of lollies down before attending to the child.

“Yes Yoona?” Krystal asks, bending down to look at the girl in the eyes.

“Where is Taeng? Taeng isn’t usually this late,” Yoona questions, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

“I’m not sure,” Krystal begins to say, her sentence being interrupted when Victoria comes running into the classroom and pants heavily.

“Taeyeon’s coming!” She squeals, quickly ushering the kids to hide to surprise the birthday girl. As Krystal and Amber help her shield the students from view and pull the blinds down and switch off the lights to make the room dark, Amber tugs on Krystal’s arms and softly whispers into her ear.

“Remember our dare,” She says before helping Sooyoung hide behind her chair. Krystal’s about to open to protest when she hears Luna’s voice approaching the classroom followed by Taeyeon’s adorably lost replies in the conversation.

“Why can’t Taeyeonnie be with pretty-unnie? Pretty-unnie promised playtime.”

“Because you have class Taeyeon. You’ll be able to see Boa-unnie later,” Luna responds, giggling as Taeyeon tugs on her fingers and they end up walking more slowly towards the classroom.

“But but Taeyeonnie wants gummies. Pretty-unnie promised Taeyeonnie that Taeyeonnie will get gummies,” She protests, trying her best to stop the teacher from walking further. Luna shakes her head and smiles softly, ruffling the girl’s hair before ushering her towards the classroom.

“We have something prepared for you Taeyeon,” Luna says, nodding when Taeyeon looks at her with a confused expression and points to the door.

“Something for Taeyeonnie?” Taeyeon pipes up, cocking her head to the side with a baffled expression on her face. Luna nods and gestures for her to go in.

When Taeyeon waddles into the room, she frowns at the lack of her friends and teachers. She’s about to turn around and ask Luna if there really is something for her when the lights switch on and she jumps out of surprise when eight kids and three adults pop up from behind the tables and chairs.

“Happy birthday Taeyeon!” They shout, clapping happily at celebrating the resident dork’s birthday. Taeyeon blinks, not understanding the situation. She turns around and tugs on Luna’s legs, her bottom lip jutting out in confusion.

“Yes Taeyeonnie?” Luna asks softly, bending down so that she’s the same height as Taeyeon.

“Did Taeyeonnie really get something?” The girl asks, not sure why everyone is cheering for her or why there are colourful decorations on the wall. Luna tries not to giggle but she can’t help the smile spreading from her lips as she realises that Taeyeon doesn’t understand she’s turned a year older.

“It’s your birthday Taeyeonnie; you’re now four years old,” Luna says slowly, making sure the girl understands her words. It takes Taeyeon a while to register her sentence but when she does, she blinks and holds up four chubby little fingers.

“Four?” She asks, turning to look at the other three teachers in the room for verification.

“You’re four years old now,” Amber confirms, smiling softly when Taeyeon nods happily. She’s surprised when she hears a loud wail from one of the children and she turns her attention to Sooyoung, who trembles her lips as she begins to whimper.

“That means Taeyeon is the biggest!” The girl whines, her bottom lip quivering before she bursts into tears.

“No no, that’s not true. Taeyeon is not the biggest. Taeyeon is the oldest,” Amber tries to clarify, sighing when Sooyoung won’t stop sobbing and listen to her explanation.

“I’m not the biggest anymore!” Sooyoung sobs, plopping down on the floor and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Amber looks at the other teachers helplessly and they shrug, not sure on how to approach the situation.

“Sooyoung-unnie is still the tallest,” Seohyun utters, effectively silencing Sooyoung’s cries. The child looks up at her friend, who has a soft smile on her face.

“Taeyeon-unnie is the oldest but she’s not the biggest; she’s the second shortest in our group. Sooyoung-unnie is still the tallest out of all of us. Being older doesn’t mean you’re bigger,” Seohyun continues, carefully clarifying what Amber said. It takes Sooyoung a couple of seconds before her head bobs up and down in understanding.

“Okay,” Sooyoung sniffles, wiping her tears and standing up. After making sure that the girl is okay and won’t burst into tears again, Amber approaches the birthday girl with a smile.

“What game would you like to play Taeyeon?” Amber asks, bending down so that she’s eye level with the child. The birthday girl ponders about the question for a couple of seconds and furrows her eyebrows, deep in thought. Amber’s about to prompt her for an answer when the light bulb goes off in Taeyeon’s mind and the girl’s eyes light up as she begins to bounce lightly on her feet.

“Hide and seek! Hide and seek!” Taeyeon exclaims excitedly, running off to hide before the game has even started.

“Eh?” Sunny says, confused about Taeyeon’s behaviour before it clicks in her head and she too runs away to hide, hollering at everyone else to find places to stay out of sight.

Amber shakes her head; she’ll have to teach them how to play hide and seek properly. In the meantime, she’s going to have to find them first.

After successfully playing hide and seek with the students and letting them play with some of their toys, Amber claps her hands.

“It’s present time!” Amber says loudly, eliciting the attention of all the children as they hurriedly put down their toys and clamber over to the woman. The teacher laughs and seats them down before placing Taeyeon at the front of the group and facing the other children. Confused as to why she’s sitting at the front and not with the group, Taeyeon looks up at Amber with large eyes and tugs on her pants.

“Why is Taeyeonnie here?” Taeyeon asks, blinking in bewilderment. She’s about to waddle back to join the group when she notices Victoria, Krystal and Luna return to the classroom with boxes in their arms.

“Pressie!” Taeyeon exclaims, bouncing lightly on the floor and clapping her hands in front of her.

“That’s right Taeyeon; these are your birthday presents,” Amber confirms, taking some of the boxes off Krystal’s arms and placing them neatly on the floor. The kids watch as the pile of presents increase as the teachers place them down beside Taeyeon; their jaws dropping out of surprise as Taeyeon stands up and the pile is the same height as her.

“Is this…all for Taeyeonnie?” Taeyeon asks, pointing a chubby little finger at the pile. Victoria ruffles the girl’s hair and nods.

“It’s all for you.”

“Yay!” Taeyeon squeals, rocking back and forth on her feet as she waits patiently but doesn’t proceed to open any gifts. Cocking her eyebrows at the strange action, Amber bends down and looks at Taeyeon.

“You’re not going to open them?” Amber asks, blinking in surprise when Taeyeon shakes her head.

“Taeyeonnie doesn’t know which one to open,” She replies, twisting her hands into the hem of her shirt. Giggling, Luna hands her a nicely wrapped rectangular box. Taeyeon holds the box in her hands and plops down on the floor before carefully unwrapping the present. She takes off the lid and squeals at the object inside the container.

“It’s a book!” Taeyeon exclaims, taking the book out of the box and scanning its contents.

“Of course it is,” Victoria mutters under her breath once she realises who gifted the present to the birthday girl.

“Can you guess who it’s from?” Amber voices, the corners of her lips turning upwards when Taeyeon nods and giddily smiles at Seohyun.

“Seohyunnie!” She exclaims, running up and embracing her friend. Caught off guard by the action, Seohyun blinks before wrapping her arms around her friend and pats her back.

“Happy birthday Taeyeon-unnie!” She says cheerfully, smiling widely at Taeyeon. The birthday girl gives her a gummy smile and thanks her before making her way to the front of the group and placing the book back inside the box and placing the box to the side. She selects another package and frowns at how small the gift is. Tearing the wrapping paper apart, she blinks at the two keychains in her hands.

The girls jump at Taeyeon’s loud squeal of happiness.

“Ryan! Peas!”

“Pee?” Sunny asks, turning to look over at Yuri.

“I didn’t pee!” Yuri insists, bursting into tears. Luna bites down on her lips to prevent a smile appearing and comforts the girl, shaking her head at Sunny.

“Who do you think gave you this gift?” Victoria asks, chuckling when Taeyeon waves the keychains animatedly in the air.

“Yoongie!” Taeyeon squeals, throwing her arms around her friend. Unlike Seohyun, Yoona seems to anticipate this action because she immediately wraps her arms around the birthday girl and bounces up and down with her.

“I bought it! I bought it!” Yoona cheers, jumping around in circles with Taeyeon. Amber watches them and shakes her head; she can see the hearts coming out of Luna’s eyes and the grin hidden underneath Victoria’s eye roll (she remembers that the older teacher had told her that Taeyeon and Yoona were Satan’s children but she can’t see it; they’re being too cute). She notices Krystal smiling at them fondly and gives her a warning look, as if to remind her of the dare she has to do.

“Thank you Yoongie!” Taeyeon giggles, finally releasing her friend but still bobbing up and down on her feet. Yoona nods happily with an equally large grin on her face and they both return to their seats. This time, Taeyeon selects a bulky package and tears the wrapping paper apart. Her eyes widen at the contents inside the package.

“So many chippies!” She exclaims, staring down at the small packets of chips.

“Oh my god,” Victoria mutters, speechless at the contents of the gift.

“Who gifted this to Taeyeon?” Amber asks, sighing and shaking her head when Hyoyeon, Sunny, Yuri, Sooyoung raise their hands.

“Thank you,” Taeyeon says, giving each of her friends a hug before returning to the front and placing the packets of chips to the side. She then selects a rather awkwardly wrapped gift, tearing the wrapping paper apart before staring down at the present. Her eyes bulge open when she realises what it is.

“Gummies!” Taeyeon shouts, her eyes never leaving the gummy bear.

“Who do you think bought this?” Amber asks, also shocked at how large the confectionary is. She’s surprised people manufacture giant sized gummy bears; aren’t they concerned about cavities?

Taeyeon contemplates about the answer but then it clicks in her head and she waddles up to Jessica.

“Sooyeon?” Taeyeon asks, grinning when Jessica nods shyly and opens her arms up. The two kids hug but when the embrace goes on for a little longer than the others and Taeyeon tries to move back but Jessica continues to cling onto her, Victoria chuckles and separates them. She ignores the glare she receives from the princess and ushers Taeyeon back to the front of the group.

“There’s one child who hasn’t given a gift yet,” Luna voices, looking at Tiffany. The girl looks back up at her before waddling to the front and handing Taeyeon the carton of strawberry milk she had before she entered the classroom.

Jessica’s nostrils flare up once she realises that it’s the same strawberry milk that she tackled Tiffany for.

“I got you milk!” Tiffany declares, blinking when Taeyeon looks up at her with a bewildered expression.

“Taeyeonnie needs milk?”

“Taetae needs to grow taller so I got you milk!” Tiffany states, cowering when Amber gives her an incredulous look.

“Tiffany,” Amber says. She’s about to scold the girl for making fun of Taeyeon’s height when the birthday girl squeals and hugs her.

“Thank you Fany!” Taeyeon responds, releasing her arms from the girl and inspecting the milk carton. Tiffany nods and points to the words that indicate the flavour of the milk.

“It’s strawberry milk so it’s pink,” She says, nodding happily about the milk choice. Taeyeon looks up at her and grins.

“Fruity!” She utters, bouncing lightly on her feet. Amber’s about to correct her that it’s not necessarily fruit but she decides against it; the kid won’t understand the vocabulary she’ll use. She gestures for Tiffany to sit down and waits for the girl to settle back into her seat before taking out two nicely wrapped presents from behind her back.

“This is from Victoria, Luna and myself,” Amber says, holding out the package for Taeyeon to accept. Taeyeon holds the present in her hands and unwraps it, her eyes immediately brightening when she realises what the gift is.

“Drawing!” She squeals, looking up with a giddy smile on her face. Amber nods and points to each of the three components of the gift.

“We know how much you love art and drawing and colouring so we decided to buy you this art set to use. This one is a watercolour pencil set, this one is a scrapbook and colouring book, and this one is a painting set with paint and a paintbrush,” She indicates, smiling softly when Taeyeon jumps up and down in front of her.

“Thank you,” Taeyeon politely says, wrapping her arms around the teacher before embracing Victoria and Luna. They ruffle her hair and wish her happy birthday, giggling when Taeyeon bounces happily back to the front. Amber waits for the girl and holds up a gift that looks like a ball on top of a stick.

“This one is from Krystal,” She says, handing over the present to the birthday girl. Unlike the previous gifts, Taeyeon studies the outline of the object before carefully ripping away the wrapping paper.

“Chupa chups!” Taeyeon squeals, waving the gigantic lollipop around. Krystal tries to hide her grin at the girl’s excitement and almost gives in when Taeyeon crashes into her legs and tightly wraps her tiny arms around them.

“Thank you Soojung-unnie,” She says, looking up at the woman with large brown eyes as if expecting to be showered with kisses. Krystal’s about to relent and cave in but when she meets Amber’s eyes, she sighs and ruffles the girl’s hair.

“You’re welcome Taeyeon,” She says, clenching her fists when it’s not the reaction Taeyeon expects and she juts her bottom lip out. Krystal panics when it looks like Taeyeon will burst into tears but the girl turns away, waddling up to Amber and placing the enormous candy to the side.

“No more pressie?” Taeyeon asks curiously, cocking her head to the side.

“Taeyeon, I have a present for you,” A familiar voice says, making the class turn towards the entrance to the classroom. Taeyeon’s eyes light up when Boa approaches her and holds out a nicely wrapped box. Taeyeon looks up at her with large curious eyes and accepts the package. She sits down and takes her time unwrapping the present. All the teachers and children in the room except Taeyeon jump at the birthday girl’s loud squeal. In fact, it’s the loudest cheer she’s released the entire day.

“Toothy!” Taeyeon exclaims, bouncing vigorously on her bottom as she holds the box up in her hands.

“Its name is Toothless,” Boa corrects, only to giggle when she hands over the plush toy inside the box to Taeyeon and the girl bounces excitedly whilst waving the toy in the air.

“Toothy!” Taeyeon squeals, flapping her arms happily.

“Aigoo,” Boa coos, smiling softly at the bundle of energy in front of her. She’s taken aback when Taeyeon throws her arms around her tightly and nuzzles her cheek, the dragon plush toy wedged between them.

“Thank you pretty-unnie,” Taeyeon mumbles, leaning back to sit on the woman’s lap and bouncing lightly as she waves her plush toy around. Chuckling, Boa brushes the girl’s hair to the side and plants a kiss on the girl’s forehead.

“You’re welcome dear,” She replies, holding Taeyeon’s waist as the girl continues to bob up and down enthusiastically. She giggles as Taeyeon plays with the dragon in her hands and her little bounces become more energetic.

“Shall we eat now?” Amber says, checking her watch for the time. All the girls besides Taeyeon cheer and immediately run to their tables, impatiently waiting for their food. Amber shakes her head and she and the other teachers follow after them to commence the party.

After the girls have eaten their food, the teachers allow them to have some playtime whilst they have a quick bite. Taeyeon thinks deeply about who she wants to play with before waddling up to Krystal and wrapping her arms around her leg. Krystal looks down but when she realises the child clinging onto her, she sighs and tries to pry Taeyeon’s fingers from her.

“I can’t play with you Taeyeon,” Krystal says, gesturing towards the food in front of her. Taeyeon continues to latch onto the woman and pouts.

“Soojung-unnie play with Taeyeonnie!” The girl whines, tugging on the woman’s pants.

“I don’t want to play with you,” Krystal says a little too harshly and she begins to panic internally when she sees the hurt in Taeyeon’s brown orbs. She immediately feels guilty when the girl’s lips jut out and tremble and she begins to wail loudly.

“I’m so sorry Taeyeonnie,” Krystal says, reaching out for the child to come into her arms. Taeyeon steps back and whimpers, crossing her arms and crying loudly from being rejected. Krystal crouches in front of the girl and tries to wipe her face, feeling her heart become heavier when Taeyeon lets out a loud wail and covers her face. Not knowing what to do since she’s never been the cause of Taeyeon’s tears until now, she drops her arms and stares helplessly at the girl.

“What’s going on? Why is Taeyeon crying?” A voice utters, bringing Krystal’s attention to a pair of feet standing by the doorway. She raises her head and makes eye contact with Boa, immediately feeling the guilt increase ten-fold.

“I made her upset,” Krystal admits, lowering her head in shame. She hears footsteps approaching her and braces herself for a lecture, so she’s surprised when Boa crouches down beside Taeyeon and softly calls her name.

Krystal watches as Taeyeon slowly lowers her hands from her face and reveals her teary eyes and her wet cheeks. When she realises who called her name a few seconds ago, Taeyeon releases a loud sob and wraps her little arms tightly around Boa’s neck.

“Boa-unnie!” Taeyeon whimpers, burying her face into the woman’s neck. Boa softly pats the girl’s back and lightly scratches her head, lifting her up and carrying her around the room to calm her down. Taeyeon pushes herself up Boa’s body and sobs quietly, refusing to let go of her hold on the woman.

“Aigoo, the birthday girl shouldn’t be crying,” Boa comments, pecking the girl’s forehead to calm her down and looking at Taeyeon’s tear-stained face.

“Taeyeonnie sorry,” Taeyeon sniffles, holding her bunched fists in front of her cheeks.

“No need to apologise to me, dear,” Boa answers, going back to patting the girl’s back. She shoots Krystal a deathly glare and the younger woman shrinks back, disappointed that she made the child upset. If she hadn’t agreed to Amber’s dare, then none of this would have happened. Taeyeon wouldn’t have started crying because of her actions and she wouldn’t be feeling incredibly horrid on the inside.

“Do you want to go and play with your friends for now?” Boa asks kindly, smiling softly when Taeyeon nods. She places the girl down and watches her run off to join her friends before turning and approaching Krystal.

“How did you make Taeyeon upset?”

“I…Amber dared me to. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have agreed to do it in the first place,” Krystal says apologetically, slumping her shoulders in despair.

“Amber did make me aware of this but I didn’t think you would do it to the extent of making a child cry,” Boa reveals, holding Krystal’s gaze when she looks up at the head teacher.

“I’m sorry.”

“The person who you should be apologising to is Taeyeon, not me. I think you should have some time alone to think and reflect upon your actions before speaking to the girl. She really does love you a lot so she’ll be willing to talk to you.”

“Thank you,” Krystal replies, bowing her head and staring at Taeyeon interacting with the girls before leaving the classroom to reflect upon her actions.

Krystal stares at the floor of the office room as she thinks about how she treated Taeyeon. When she hears a knock on the door, she raises her head and meets Luna’s eyes.

“Krystal, have some cake,” Luna offers, holding a plate in front of her. Shaking her head, Krystal lowers her gaze to her feet. She’s upset at herself for hurting one of her favourite children and she doesn’t deserve to partake in the festivities. She hears Luna sigh sadly and her footsteps fade away into the distance.

When a certain pair of blue socks come into view a few centimetres from her own feet, Krystal lifts her head and blinks at the child in front of her.

“S-Soojung-unnie h-have c-cake,” Taeyeon stutters, hiccupping as she tries to balance the plate in her hands. Krystal’s about to open to not accept the treat but when she sees the hopeful teary eyes in front of her, she nods and reaches out to take the dish from the child. Taeyeon shakes her head and raises her tiny arms higher and Krystal takes that as a clue to place the child on her lap.

Wriggling around so that she’s sitting comfortably on the woman’s lap, Taeyeon turns around and holds a spoonful of cake in front of Krystal.

“Yes Taeyeonnie?” Krystal asks, a little baffled by the girl’s actions. When Taeyeon holds the cutlery closer to , Krystal realises her intentions and smiles softly. She takes a bite of the cake and doesn’t stop smiling when Taeyeon’s chin dimple pops out and she happily scoops another portion of cake onto her spoon. Turning around again, she holds the spoon to Krystal’s lips who obeys and opens to accept the sweet.

Taeyeon’s about to scoop another spoonful of chocolate cake when Krystal holds her waist a little tighter.

“You should eat some Taeyeonnie. It’s your cake,” Krystal says, taking the spoon from the girl’s hands and feeding her. Unfortunately, Taeyeon shakes her head vigorously and hiccups.

“Soojung-unnie no eat. Soojung-unnie has to eat!”

“Aigoo,” Krystal remarks, putting the dish to the side. Taeyeon’s eyes widen and she turns to the woman with a confused look on her face.

“Eh? Why no eat?” Taeyeon says, squirming on the woman’s lap to retrieve the plate. Krystal continues to hold her tightly on her lap, making the girl flail around in her arms. Krystal positions the child so that her stomach is facing upwards and begins to blow raspberries on her, giggling when Taeyeon squeals in delight and thrashes around from the ticklish sensation.

“Tickles!” Taeyeon squeaks, trying to push the woman’s face away from her stomach. It only makes Krystal more tempted to play with the child and she continues to blow raspberries on her.

“Soojung-unnie!” Taeyeon squeals, successfully managing to stop the woman from continuing her actions. She holds Krystal’s face in her chubby hands and grins happily, her chin dimple popping out again.

“God,” Krystal murmurs, helping the girl sit upright before smooching her all over. It elicits another round of ticklish sensations and Taeyeon giggles, leaning her face in for more pecks. When Krystal is finally done attacking the girl with kisses, she leans back and Taeyeon’s hair gently.

“Happy birthday Taeyeonnie. I love you and I’m sorry,” She says sincerely, smiling softly when Taeyeon beams brightly at her.

“Thank you Unnie. I love you too,” She replies, placing a sweet kiss on Krystal’s nose. It makes the woman go cross-eyed and she blinks, startled by the sudden action. When she comes to her senses, she ruffles Taeyeon’s hair and smirks when the child squeals and tries to pat her messy hair down.

Krystal’s about to play with the girl again when Victoria pops her head into the room.

“Krystal, the kids want to play with Taeyeon. They keep asking me where she’s disappeared to so I had to tell them that Taeyeon went to the Land of Sweets with you.”

“The Land of Sweets?” Krystal says, trying to stifle her laughter at Victoria’s made up stories.

“Oh shush you, I tell very good stories,” Victoria retorts, shaking her head when she’s reminded of the time she first taught the class in the afternoon and only Seohyun could understand the meaning of her story. She gestures her head towards the direction of the classroom and walks away.

“Wait!” Taeyeon exclaims, unexpectedly lifting her shirt up to cover her face and attempting to run out the room. Unfortunately, she ends up tripping over her own feet and falls back onto her bottom.

“Oof!” Taeyeon squeals, putting her shirt back down to cover her stomach. Laughing at the girl’s actions, Krystal helps her stand up and pinches her cheeks.

“You clumsy little dork,” Krystal comments, giggling when Taeyeon tugs her cheek away from her fingers and runs out of the room whilst squealing happily down the corridor.

Shaking her head, she follows after the birthday girl and re-joins the group.

“Okay girls, it’s nap time,” Amber announces, clapping her hands for the children to pack up their toys and make their ways to their designated beds. She successfully manages to put Jessica, Yuri, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Sunny and Tiffany to sleep when she hears loud squeals followed by cheerful laughter and the sound of feet running across the floor.

“Yoona! Taeyeon! No more playtime; it’s nap time,” Amber says, beckoning the children to make their ways to their beds. Yoona and Taeyeon both shake their heads; they look at each other with mischievous grins before happily chasing each other in circles. Amber tries not to laugh as she watches Taeyeon run after Yoona with her dragon plush toy, her tiny arms flailing in the air as she squeals excitedly.

“Taeyeon!” Amber calls out, shaking her head at the child. She reaches out and successfully manages to catch Yoona, who laughs and squirms in her arms.

“I’m trapped!” Yoona exclaims, flailing her arms around. Taeyeon stops running and giggles, a large grin on her face.

“Yay! I won! I won!” Taeyeon cheers, jumping up and down and squealing out of excitement when Amber places Yoona on her bed and chases the other girl around. Taeyeon dashes around the room, waving Toothless in the air as she flails her arms. Realising that Amber is gaining speed and close to catching her, Taeyeon runs towards the classroom door to escape, only to fall onto her bottom out of surprise when she crashes into someone’s legs.

“Taeyeonnie?” Boa utters, blinking at the child sitting at her feet. She bites down on her lips to prevent a smile appearing as she watches Taeyeon pout and rub her bottom to ease the pain. Boa almost lets out a squeal when Taeyeon looks up at her with puppy eyes and holds her arms out, her plush toy held tightly in one hand.

“Oof! Bum bum hurt,” Taeyeon whimpers, jutting her bottom lip the furthest she can. It completely wins Boa over and she gushes over how adorable the girl is acting. Squatting down, Boa wraps her arms around the girl and smiles softly when Taeyeon immediately latches onto her and tightens her arms around her neck.

“Aigoo you little dork,” Boa replies, patting the girl’s back and lifting her into the air. She beams widely when the child sniffles and wraps her legs around her waist.

“Bum bum,” Taeyeon murmurs, clinging on tightly to the woman. Boa continues to pat the girl’s back to reassure her, laughing when Taeyeon pushes up her body to receive more comfort. She carries the girl over to her bed and gently sits down, letting Taeyeon slowly sit down. Boa can’t help but release a chuckle as she watches Taeyeon unwrap her arms from her neck but tenderly sit down on the woman’s lap, her facial expression changing from apprehensive to relief as she finally settles down.

“Is your bottom okay?”

“Bum bum okay,” Taeyeon replies, beaming widely at the woman before bouncing lightly on her lap and waving Toothless around in the air.

“Aish you dork,” Boa comments, lifting the girl and placing her down on the bed. Taeyeon gives her an adorably baffled look and Boa lightly flicks her forehead, laughter erupting from her lips as Taeyeon pouts and rubs her forehead.

“Time to sleep, you rascal.”

“No! No sleep!” Taeyeon whines, climbing back onto the director’s lap and bouncing more eagerly than before.

“Taeyeonnie,” Boa sighs, relenting to let the girl play for a few more minutes before putting her to sleep. She smiles softly as Taeyeon bobs up and down and looks up at her with bright eyes.

“Nappy?” Taeyeon pipes up, her puppy eyes looking over Toothless’ head. Boa giggles and ruffles the girl’s hair, her grin widening when Taeyeon beams brightly at her and bounces so that her head hits the woman’s palm.

“Yes you dork; it’s your nap time,” Boa replies, giggling as the girl smiles brightly and snuggles into her neck whilst wrapping her arms around her plush toy and nuzzling into Toothless’ head.

“Nappy,” Taeyeon mumbles, shifting around on the head teacher’s lap so that she’s comfortable before drifting off, her voice murmuring some random words such as ‘Toothy’ and ‘pretty-unnie’ as she finally takes a nap.

“Happy birthday Taeyeonnie,” Boa whispers, the girl’s hair before planting a soft kiss on her forehead and rocking the girl to sleep.

A/N: So me being me, I got carried away writing this story so it's 6000 words. It's also 2 days after Taeyeon's birthday so although belated, happy birthday Taeyeon! (and little Tae!). I hope you like this chapter; thank you to the subscribers, commenters and upvoters. Your feedback and love for this story is invaluable to me.

Also, because only 1 person actually answered my question and you probably don't like commenting (please do, I cherish every single one), I've included a poll you can answer below this section (and above the comment section).

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