“… is it really bad to have a girlfriend? I mean they are good girlfriends, right? They don’t fight. They are happy together when I’m with them. Wendy unnie took good care of my sister. But mother and Joy unnie did not talk to each other for three months. September, October, November, Oh yes that’s three, three months. And now, I’m happy because mother is not now mad at them and she is talking to Joy and Wendy unnie now…”

Seulgi’s

“Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” 

 -Pudge

I am mulling over the idea from Miles’ a.k.a Pudge line from Looking For Alaska. It occurred to me to remember those lines because of Ningning’s confession about her sister and Wendy. Yes, in order to escape from a hopeless situation, you just have to imagine the way out. ‘Nothing ever happens if you imagine it will’, oh that’s right, a line from Paper Towns. Oh well, they are all interconnected, I guess. I have a theory for that. But still, I gotta have to imagine my way out, being stuck with these kids and their questions. So I ponder…

“You know what kids, love is really the most powerful thing in the world. Our God loves us, our parents love us, our friends love us, and I love you. You should remember that love and acceptance are always together. We should love and accept all people regardless of any differences like do not judge how others love but rather embrace others for the content of their character. Let’s open our hearts, and as well open our minds. Being someone’s girlfriend is not bad. You said a while ago that your big sister and Wendy are good girlfriends. Is it a bad thing? Of course no and will never be. Everybody deserves to have someone by their side. It’s just that, not all people are very mindful and have the compassion to accept what other people had on their notes about love and acceptance. And as for your mother, I’m glad that she is talking to your sister and Wendy. It takes time when you have to accept something new, or someone new. I bet your mother realized that your Wendy unnie is really a great person and someone who takes good care of your big sister and is always there for her. Because Ningning, your mother loves you and your sister so much and they don’t want anything bad will happen to you. And to the three of you, you will understand all of this eventually when you grow up but always that love will always be there and acceptance is making love stronger.”

I feel like some kind of lump in my throat had vanished. I sighed. I hope I did a good job of explaining the situation.

“Teacher Seulgi?” Karina looked at me, I can in her eyes that there’s something bothering her smart brain.

“Yes, pretty girl?” I replied.

“Ryujin cut her hair short and all the other kids were teasing her. Does that mean she’s a boy?” the kid did not waste a time asking this kind of question. She’s really an attentive one.

“Oh yes teacher Seulgi, I saw kids, the 2nd graders are teasing her. So my best friend Giselle and I went to fight th