CHAPTER EIGHT

Smiling, Dara draws on the paper she’s holding while gently pushing the swing she’s sitting  at with her legs. She occasionally raises her head to roam her eyes at her surroundings, and goes back to her work. 

She’s currently at the park near a bus stop around their neighbourhood. It has been a month since she was temporarily dismissed from her regular job as a pre-school teacher. However, instead of moping about it, she did her best to find something she can do while waiting for it to be lifted. 

Lin Yeongjung, her friend and a community teacher who teaches art to the kids in their area, was ecstatic when she informed her about submitting her application as a substitute teacher for her. The former is almost due to giving birth, and with her upcoming maternity leave, she had tried convincing Dara to take over the position countless of times before. Now, with her being the substitute community teacher, Mrs Lin is more at ease to take her leave of absence. After all, Dara herself loves art and teaching kids. Her temporary dismissal seems to be a blessing in disguise since she can now do both of her passions at the same time. 

“Miss Dara, miss Dara,” a small voice of an excited boy running toward her direction catches her attention. She turns to him and smiles, seeing a huge grin plastered on his face. 

“Yes, Mino?” She asked, placing her palms on her paper. 

“Look!” He proudly raised his paper where a house and a family of three were drawn. “This is papa, mama, me, and our home!” He exclaimed. 

Dara gently holds the paper and pats the boy’s head. “Very creative, Mino. Great job!” 

“Miss Dara, look!” This time, a little girl stands next to Mino with her arms outstretched. “This is mine. I drew myself with Choco!” She excitedly explains the drawing of a girl with what seems to be a dog standing next to her. 

“This is very nice, Lily. I think Choco needs a fur cut, don’t you think so?” 

Lily holds her chin, as if thinking, and nods her head while staring at her work. “Hmm. I think so?” 

Dara smiles at her reaction. In the next moments, kids start to flock her area and she can only laugh when she was almost toppled back from the swing. 

“Okay, kids. No pushing,” she gently reminds them and tells them to line up in front of her. They gladly obliged, and moved as they were instructed. 

One by one, they explained their artwork to her and all she did is praise their works and encouraged them to do more art pieces. 

Now talking to the third kid to the last in the line, Dara raises her head to look around when the feeling of being watched creeps into her. It did not take long when she spotted Jiyong, leaning against the tree on her left. His gaze is on her. 

Her eyes widen in surprise. She was not expecting to see him earlier than their arranged meeting time later that day. She smiles toward his direction and nods her head. He returns the gesture, raising a hand in the air. 

“Kids, continue making more artworks, okay? I will just talk to a visitor, then I’ll check your them later. Behave yourselves.” 

“Yes, Miss Dara!” They exclaimed in unison, now settling back to their own areas. 

Dara gently puts her papers on the swing and places a book on top of them to prevent them from being blown by the wind. She starts making her way toward Jiyong’s direction, drinking in his appearance in his formal attire. He looks so carefree despite the sleek look that he did not even bother hiding behind a disguise. 

He pushes himself off the tree and approaches her halfway until they stop in front of each other. She offers him a smile once again. “I was not expecting you at this hour.” 

He smiles. “We just wrapped a meeting with the board when I received your message. I went straight here.” 

“You must be tired then. Why don’t we take a seat first?” 

Jiyong nods and follows Dara when she leads them to a bench, not far from the kids.  

“Sorry to invite you here. I just can’t think of other places on where to meet you,” she says as she takes a space on the bench while he settles himself to the opposite side. 

“No worries. Anywhere is fine,” he responds and nods his head toward the direction where she was seated earlier. “I did not expect to see you there.” 

She chuckles. “The community teacher is on maternity leave. I submitted my application more than three weeks ago, and has been teaching them for almost two weeks now. It’s just a temporary job tho, but it is better than doing nothing at all,” she explains. 

Jiyong nods his head in understanding. Silence surrounds them after before he moves and hands her the paper bag he is holding. “I almost forgot. For you.” Dara curiously stares at it. “I bought this on my way here,” he says and produces a drink out of the bag. 

“Oh. You shouldn’t have troubled yourself.” 

“Nope. No trouble at all, don’t worry,” he smiles at her. She accepts the drink and thanks him. “How have you been?” He asked. 

“Doing good. A little busy, but feeling better than weeks ago,” she turns her head to his side. “Sorry if my response took long. But you know what?” She smiles at him. “I honestly think we have nothing to talk about.”