“Girls,” Krystal calls out, bringing the attention of the students onto her.

“Today we are going on an excursion. Where do you think we will be going?” She asks kindly, waiting patiently for one of the children to reply. When it seems as though no one will reply to her question, Krystal prepares herself to say out the answer when Seohyun’s hand shoots up in the air. Smiling softly at the child, she nods and gestures for the girl to speak.

“We are going to the zoo,” Seohyun responds, her bright orbs looking up at the teacher to confirm her answer. Krystal smiles softly and nods.

“That’s correct Seohyun. Today we are going to the zoo. What do you think will be at the zoo?”

“Animals!” Sunny pipes up, beaming widely when Krystal nods. She turns to face the person next to her but when she realises that it’s Sooyoung, she backs off and stands closer to Taeyeon.

“Before we go, we need to put you in pairs,” Victoria speaks up, nodding in Hyoyeon’s direction when the child raises her hand.

“Why do we need to be in pairs?” Hyoyeon asks, confused that they cannot explore the zoo on their own. Victoria giggles and bends down so that she’s eye level with the children before addressing Hyoyeon.

“We need to put you in pairs because you’ll have a friend to go around the zoo with you and we need to look out for you whilst we are there. The zoo is a place that we’ve never been to before so we need to be very careful and make sure that we always stick to the adults. Does that make sense?” Victoria clarifies, patiently waiting whilst the girl processes her words. The corners of Victoria’s lips turn upwards when Hyoyeon’s head bob up and down, indicating that she understands the teacher. She lightly ruffles the girl’s hair before standing back up and straightening her clothes.

“There will be five adults with us today, myself and Krystal included. Luna and Wendy from reception will be coming along – in fact, they should already be at the zoo preparing for the day with a special guest,” Victoria announces, stopping when Seohyun’s hand shoots up and the girl looks at her with a baffled expression.

“Teacher, if we need to be in pairs and there are five adults with us today then doesn’t that mean that one of us will not have a friend?” She asks, scratching her head when she can’t think of the answer to this dilemma. To her surprise, Krystal nods.

“That’s correct Seohyun. One student will be with a teacher whilst the remaining eight are paired and assigned a teacher to each pair.”

“Oh,” Sooyoung says after a while before pointing at Hyoyeon.

“Hyoyeon should be the loner!” She boldly voices, only to shrink back when both teachers glare at her. Understanding the terrifying look on their faces, Sooyoung apologises to Hyoyeon and steps to the back of the group.

After making sure that Sooyoung won’t say another thoughtless comment, Victoria scans through the list on her paper and closes her clipboard.

“Sunny and Yoona, you will be paired together with Krystal. Hyoyeon and Yuri, you will be paired together with Luna. Tiffany and Jessica, you will be paired together with Wendy from reception. Seohyun and Sooyoung, you will be paired together with me.”

Victoria scans the children’s faces for their reactions, noting how Tiffany glances over at Jessica with a frightened look and shrinks back into her seat. Jessica looks over at Taeyeon and wraps her arms around the girl, pulling her closer and giving Victoria a sulk. Sunny’s lips protrude outwards as she looks over at Yuri, who seems elated by the pairings and claps happily to herself. Seohyun nods in agreement at the pairings and places her book back into her bag. Victoria tries to stifle a giggle when she notices Yoona glance at Taeyeon and Luna, a frown forming on her face as she realises she isn’t grouped with either of them.

Victoria looks over at Taeyeon and watches how Taeyeon has the slowest reaction to the announcement. When she finally understands the instructions, Taeyeon looks up at the teachers with puffy cheeks.

“Taeyeonnie has no partner?” Taeyeon says, cocking her head to the side out of confusion.

“You do have a partner Taeyeon. You’ll find out who it is at the zoo,” Krystal reassures, ruffling the girl’s hair when Taeyeon’s bottom lip begins to tremble. Victoria almost breathes in relief when Taeyeon nods her head and hugs her Toothy closer to her body.

Krystal checks her watch, her head turning towards the door when Amber sticks her head inside and smiles at the group.

“The bus is ready.”

“Alright girls, time to go to the zoo!”

Luna and Wendy stand patiently as the bus arrives, waving eagerly at the girls as they peer outside the windows. They giggle when Yuri tries to lean her face onto the glass in excitement whilst Hyoyeon and Sooyoung wave their arms in the air behind her. The bus stops beside the footpath and Victoria and Krystal exit the car. Victoria hands Wendy her clipboard, watching as Wendy runs off towards the entrance to sort out their admission tickets. Turning her head around, Victoria opens the bus doors and smiles softly at the girls.

“We’re here!” She says, the smile on her face growing as the girls cheer happily and bounce in their seats.

“Aigoo,” Luna says, helping Yuri unbuckle her seatbelt and grinning when Yuri looks up at her with a goofy smile. She carefully lifts her out of her seat and places her on the footpath. Yuri jumps around happily on the asphalt, placing her fingers in and sticking her tongue out at Hyoyeon. Luna giggles when Victoria places Hyoyeon on the ground and the girl chases after Yuri, the sound of their playful laughter ringing in the air as they run around in circles.

“Careful girls,” Krystal says, shaking her head and helping the rest of the group exit the bus. When Krystal closes the bus door, she feels a tug on her legs and looks down. She smiles softly when Taeyeon’s adorably lost eyes look up at her. Krystal bends down and opens her arms up, giggling as the girl clambers into her arms and snuggles into her neck. She lifts Taeyeon off the ground and stares at her, the beam on her face widening as Taeyeon looks back at her with her baffled orbs.

“What’s wrong Taeyeonnie?” Krystal asks slowly, blinking when Taeyeon flaps her arms up and down and her dragon plush toy in her hands follows the movement.

“Will Taeyeonnie see dragons like Toothy at the zoo?”

“Ha?” Krystal says, confused about the odd question.

“Taeyeonnie wanna see dragons like Toothy!” Taeyeon replies, squirming around in the woman’s arms as she tries to break free to run off inside the zoo. Unfortunately, the arms around her waist stop her from jumping out and the girl flails around in the air.

“Where are you trying to go Taeyeonnie?”

“Taeyeonnie wanna see dragons like Toothy!”

“Hold on, you’ll get to see dragons soon,” Krystal says, struggling to keep the girl in her arms. She manages to place Taeyeon on the ground and hold onto her hand before she can run off inside the zoo. Krystal walks Taeyeon over to join the rest of the group, ruffling her hair as the girl turns her head back every now and then to look up at her with large curious eyes.

“Okay girls, we’re going to split up into our groups now,” Victoria says, nodding at Wendy who hurries over with the zoo admission tickets and some coloured folders. She smiles when Seohyun looks up at her and Sooyoung stands behind her. Luna giggles as Yuri and Hyoyeon wrap their arms around her legs, beaming up at her as they squeal in excitement. Wendy waves at Tiffany and Jessica, snorting at the contrast in greetings when Jessica waves shyly and looks longingly at Taeyeon whereas Tiffany lets out a loud cheer and bounces happily in circles around her.

Krystal high fives Sunny and Yoona, who run up to Taeyeon and give her a warm hug before returning to Krystal’s side. The action makes Krystal giggle and she leans down to kiss Taeyeon’s hair.

Taeyeon turns around, tugging on Krystal’s legs whilst she pouts.

“Where’s Taeyeonnie’s partner?”

“Close your eyes Taeyeon,” Krystal says. She giggles when Taeyeon closes her eyes but bunches her fists and places them in front of her face to cover her eyes. Krystal smiles softly as a figure approaches them and bends down in front of Taeyeon, placing her index finger in front of her lips so that the class doesn’t make any noise.

“Can Taeyeonnie open eyes yet?” Taeyeon asks, dropping her arms down to her side but turning her head in Krystal’s direction with closed eyes. Krystal holds Taeyeon’s shoulders and faces her forward, ruffling her hair as Taeyeon lets out a soft whine.

“Open your eyes Taeyeon,” Krystal says, squatting down beside the girl.

When Taeyeon opens her eyes, she blinks at the adult in front of her.

“Pretty-unnie!” Taeyeon says once she registers the person kneeling in front of her, stepping forward to run towards Boa. Krystal holds her back and she struggles against her hold.

“Look at what Boa-unnie is wearing, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon stares at Boa’s outfit, her eyebrows scrunched together in deep concentration. It takes her three seconds before she realises the costume Boa is wearing and she squeals in delight.

“Toothy! It’s Toothy!” Taeyeon says, bouncing excitedly on her feet. Krystal loosens her hold on Taeyeon and watches as the girl runs into Boa and knocks her over onto her bottom.

“Taeyeon!” Krystal says, pulling the child off of Boa. Boa giggles and sits upright, her onesie hoodie falling backwards as she beams widely at Taeyeon.

“Hi there!” Boa says, squealing when Taeyeon breaks free from Krystal’s arms to wraps her arms around Boa and cling onto her tightly. She guffaws, patting Taeyeon’s back as the girl pushes herself up Boa’s body and wedges her dragon plush toy in between them. Boa lightly kisses Taeyeon’s head and gestures for Victoria to continue her instructions to the class.

“We have split you up into five groups so that you can work with your friend and teacher to have a look at the animals in the different exhibits in the zoo. After each exhibit, you will answer the questions that we have for you and maybe find a little treasure hidden somewhere for all of you. We’ll then regroup and talk about our day. How does that sound?”

“Yes!” The girls cheer loudly, bouncing happily on their feet as they patiently wait for Victoria to hand around worksheets and wrist bands for identification. Hyoyeon and Yuri tug on Luna’s hands, eager to enter the zoo and see the animals. Luna holds the girls back from running away, giggling when Yuri gives her a loveable pout.

“Alright girls, time to have some fun!” Victoria says, placing her papers inside her bag and sticking her hands out for Seohyun and Sooyoung to hold. They enter the zoo, followed by Wendy, Tiffany and Jessica who reluctantly looks back at Taeyeon before she disappears behind the ticket barriers.

After waving goodbye to the two groups, Taeyeon leans back in Boa’s arms and beams widely as she bounces happily and squeals in delight.

“Toothy!” Taeyeon says, holding her dragon plush toy in front of her.

“Hi Toothless,” Boa says, giggling when Taeyeon’s bounces become more energetic by the second.

“Taeyeonnie wants to see dragons like Toothy in zoo!”

“You want to see dragons like Toothy?”

“Mhm!” Taeyeon says, climbing out of Boa’s arms and waddling behind her.

“What are you doing Taeyeonnie?”

“Taeyeonnie wants to fly!”

“You want to fly?” Boa asks, blinking in surprise. She gasps when Taeyeon wraps her arms around her neck and her legs around Boa’s waist from behind, her Toothless plush toy dangling in front of Boa’s chest. Boa squeals when Taeyeon buries her face into her neck before propping her chin on her shoulder.

“Go go go!” Taeyeon says, giggling when Boa stands up from the ground. After making sure the girl is safely on her back, Boa smiles and runs towards the entrance to the zoo.

“Taeyeonnie is flying!” Taeyeon says, squealing happily as she clings onto Boa tightly.

Krystal and Luna just shake their heads before ushering the rest of the girls into the zoo.

Seohyun and Sooyoung walk beside Victoria, holding onto her hand tightly as she points out certain areas of interest. They stop in front of the elephant enclosure and Victoria laughs when Seohyun and Sooyoung crane their necks to look at the gigantic animals.

“Teacher Victoria, is an elephant a her-herb-herbi...I can’t say it,” Seohyun asks, tugging on Victoria’s hand to get her attention. Victoria bends down so that she’s eye level with the girl and nods, understanding what Seohyun’s trying to communicate.

“Elephants are herbivores. What does that mean Seohyun?”

“It means they only eats plants and grass and fruit!”

“That’s right. Sooyoung, do you know the name of an elephant’s front teeth?”

“Is it called a tusk, Teacher Victoria?”

“That’s right dear,” Victoria says, smiling softly at the two girls. She watches as they both stare up in amazement at the enormous animals. Victoria giggles when Seohyun waves at the elephants and squeals in surprise when a baby elephant lifts its trunk and emits a loud trumpet. Seohyun turns around and clings on tightly to Victoria’s legs before returning her gaze to the elephants in the enclosure.

“They’re big!”

“Yes Sooyoung, they’re very big. An elephant’s height is about the same as two of me,” Victoria says, trying to stifle her laughter when both Sooyoung’s and Seohyun’s eyes widen in shock.

“Oh my god,” They both say, shaking their heads in disbelief.

Wendy’s never seen Jessica so intrigued by anything (unless it’s Taeyeon) so she’s completely taken aback when the girl shrieks loudly and pulls her and Tiffany towards the dolphin enclosure. Wendy and Tiffany stumble after her and Wendy helps Tiffany catch up. They almost crash into the metal gates leading to the arena when Jessica suddenly stops and stares down at the pool of water at the front of the arena.

“Jessica? What’s wrong?” Wendy says after leaning on the fence and catching her breath, steadying Tiffany as the girl slumps against her from exhaustion.

“Dolphins!” Jessica says, pointing at the sign on the gate that reads ‘The Dolphin Show’. Wendy smiles and pats the girl’s head, receiving a wide beam in return as Jessica bounces excitedly on her feet.

“Do you want to watch the dolphins?” Wendy asks, jumping when Jessica lets out a squeal and nods her head vigorously. Wendy reads the sign and notes the show times before setting a reminder on her phone.

“The show is at twelve thirty so we’ll have to wait for three hours.”

“Awww,” Jessica says, her head bobbing up and down in agreement as she rocks back and forth on her feet. An idea pops up in Wendy’s head and she bites down on her lips to prevent a large grin forming on her face when she realises that she can use the dolphin show as a way to bribe Jessica to complete her tasks. Bending down so that she’s eye level with Jessica, Wendy smiles sweetly at her.

“If we finish our mission before twelve thirty, we can watch the dolphin show on time.”

“Can we please finish our mission first Miss Wendy?”

“Okay dear,” Wendy says, giggling when Jessica cheers loudly and bounces around in circles. Ruffling Tiffany’s hair and smiling at the girl’s befuddled face, Wendy scans through her folder of work and smiles.

“Okay girls, off to the bird exhibit!”

Luna holds on tightly to Hyoyeon and Yuri’s hands, scared that they’ll run off and become lost in the zoo. She squeals in surprise when they both tug her towards the sheep shed.

“Sheep!” Yuri says, her eyes gleaming with happiness as she waves at the fluffy animals. Luna can’t help but giggle as Yuri steps closer to the pen but immediately backs away when she hears the sheep bleating loudly. Yuri runs back and wraps her arms around Luna’s legs from behind, eliciting a laughter from the teacher who ruffles her hair and pats her back lightly. Yuri raises her head and looks up at Luna before pointing in front of her towards the sheep pen.

“Sheep are scary,” She says, clinging on tightly to Luna’s legs.

“How scary are they Yuri?” Hyoyeon says, squeezing Luna’s hand as she too stands behind Luna.

“Very scary!” Yuri says, shrieking in surprise when the sheep bleat loudly. Luna laughs and ruffles Hyoyeon’s and Yuri’s heads before opening her backpack and taking out her folder of paperwork. She leads the girls over to an empty bench near the sheep pen and helps them sit on the seat. Sitting in between Hyoyeon and Yuri, Luna opens her folder and clips a worksheet to the front cover. She quizzes the girls on each question, each taking turns to answer a question and helping the other when they are stuck. After a couple of minutes, they reach the last question on the page.

“What can we get from sheep that is used to make our clothes and cloths?”

“Wool!” Hyoyeon and Yuri say at the same time, leaning over to high five each other when Luna nods to confirm their answer. She scribbles in their response and gives each of them a high five to reward them for their work. Luna digs around in her bag and takes out two apple juice cartons, handing them to Yuri and Hyoyeon and smiling when they cheer happily and eagerly drink the beverage.

“Well done girls. Now, do you want to say hello to the sheep or shall we go to the next place?”

“Go go go!” Yuri and Hyoyeon say, tugging on Luna’s hands as they try to leave the sheep shed. Luna just laughs and lets the girls pull her away from the bleating herd of sheep.

Krystal giggles as Sunny and Yoona walk in front of her and point at the signs and arrows directing to different exhibits in the zoo. Every now and then, they turn their heads back to look at Krystal who smiles softly at them. They walk for a couple more minutes until they reach the reptile exhibit. Krystal speaks with one of the staff members whilst she holds on tightly to Sunny and Yoona’s hands in case they decide to run off without her.

“Sunny?”

“Yes Yoona?”

“What do you think is here?”

“Animals,” Sunny says, frowning when she thinks the answer is obvious. It’s not quite the answer Yoona’s expecting because she tugs on Krystal’s arm, getting her attention but accidentally interrupting her conversation with the staff member.

“Yes Yoona?”

“What animals are here?” Yoona says, cocking her head to the side in confusion. Krystal smiles when the action reminds her of Taeyeon and she squats down, ruffling the girl’s hair as Yoona continues to look bewildered.

“The animals here belong to a class called reptiles. Some animals we’ll see today are crocodiles, snakes, turtles, lizards and birds.”

“Eh? Birds are reptiles?” Sunny says, the frown on her forehead deepening when it’s her turn to be confused. Krystal nods, holding back her laughter when Sunny’s eyes almost bulge out in surprise.

“Birds are reptiles?”

“That’s correct Sunny.”

“Oh my god,” Sunny says, shaking her head in disbelief as Krystal ushers her and Yoona through the gates to the reptile exhibit. The girls stare with wonder at the different animals featured in the zoo, gasping when the chameleons camouflage with the bark of a tree and change their skin colour as they move onto grass. Krystal points out features of the chameleon, giggling when Sunny and Yoona look at her starstruck.

The trio walk past the snake display and Sunny squeals when a mamushi snake slithers into sight and wraps itself around a tree branch. She clutches tightly onto Krystal’s legs and hides behind her, popping her head out to look at the snake again.

“Are you scared Sunny?” Krystal asks, smiling when the girl nods and hides behind her legs again.

“I’ll only ask you one question about snakes, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What is a snake’s saliva called?” Krystal asks. It takes Sunny a while to answer but when she finally comes up with a reply, she utters it so quietly that Krystal blinks in surprise.

“What was that dear?”

“I-is it v-venom?”

“That’s correct!” Krystal says, giving Sunny a thumbs up. Sunny gives her a small smile but shrieks when she spots a tiger keelback snake slithering on the ground in the enclosure. Yoona watches in confusement as Sunny dashes away from the snakes.

“Aish, this silly girl,” Krystal says, chasing after Sunny with Yoona. They manage to stop Sunny from running far away from them and Krystal searches inside her pockets for a piece of candy. She extracts two lollipops from her pockets and hands one each to Sunny and Yoona, giggling when Sunny begins to relax and accepts the treat. Ruffling the girls’ heads, she watches as they unwrap their lollipops and on the sweet. Holding their free hands, Krystal walks the girls towards the crocodile enclosure and sits them down on a bench. She nods in greeting to a worker who is feeding the animals.

“What do you think those animals are Sunny?” Krystal asks, pointing over at the animal that jumps and opens its mouth to devour the piece of meat attached to a pole that is held by the zoo worker.

“Are they crocodiles?”

“That’s correct! Yoona, is a crocodile warm blooded like us or cold blooded?”

“They’re cold blooded because they eat people!” Yoona says, glancing up at Krystal in bewilderment when the teacher looks at her and can’t help but laugh. Krystal chuckles to herself and coughs, pinching Yoona’s cheek as she wipes the tears from her eyes with her free hand.

“That’s right Yoona; crocodiles are cold blooded but not because they eat people. It’s because they change their temperature according to the outside world around them. If the outside world is hot, then they’ll be hot. If the outside world is cold, then they’ll be cold. Does that make sense girls?”

“Oh,” Sunny and Yoona say, nodding their heads in understanding.

“What are the two main waters that a crocodile can live in?”

“Oh oh! Freshwater and saltwater!” Yoona says, beaming widely when Krystal gives her a high five for her correct answer. She kicks her feet happily in the air and throws her head back to laugh in happiness. Sunny stares at her friend and glances over at the crocodiles in the enclosure. She studies the crocodile’s features and moves her gaze back to Yoona, her eyebrow furrowing as she tries to form a connection in her head.

“Teacher Krystal, Yoona is like a crocodile!” Sunny says, staring at her friend in horror.

“What do you mean Sunny?”

“Yoona’s mouth when she laughs is like a crocodile’s!”

Krystal’s about to scold Sunny for making an insensitive comment when Yoona claps her hands and erupts into a fit of giggles. Krystal’s eyes zoom in on Yoona’s wide mouth and teeth and she snorts, not being able to stop her own laughter.

“Sunny, I think Yoona better resembles an alligator. Crocodiles have v-shaped mouths whereas alligators and Yoona have u-shaped mouths,” Krystal says, holding her stomach from laughing too much.

“Alligator Yoong!”

“Yay!” Yoona says happily, climbing off her seat and proceeding to chase Sunny around with wide open. Sunny squeals and sprints towards the exit to the reptile exhibit whilst Yoona’s laughter rings through the air as she runs after her friend.

Krystal just shakes her head at the silly girls and runs after them before they become lost.

A/N: Hi! It's been agesssss since I last updated any of my stories so I hope you enjoyed reading this one. This chapter is split into 2 parts because I'll be carried away with writing and the chapter will probably reach 8000+ words. I hope you've all been well and are living happy lives because you deserve all the happiness in the world.

See you in the next update (which hopefully won't be too long of a wait but no promises) :)