for kristinewong

A Bedtime Story

“It’s Cho Kyuhyun and Choi Sooyoung!”

“I didn’t know their daughter is studying here too.”

“They haven’t changed much! He’s still so handsome and she’s still so beautiful!”

“I can’t believe it’s been six years already!”

                Six year old Cho Hanna canted her head to the side as she walked in between her parents; one hand being held by her father and the other being held by her mother. She could hear the barely concealed whispers of the parents of her classmates around her and she could see how she was staring at them like they were out of the ordinary… and she didn’t understand it one bit.

“Appa? Umma?”

“Yes, sweetie?” Sooyoung looked down at her daughter.

“Are we weird?”

Kyuhyun arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because people have been giving us weird looks.”

Her parents exchanged a look at that; Kyuhyun soon grinning. “Don’t mind them, princess. They’re the weird ones.”

“Oppa!” Sooyoung half-heartedly chastised her husband before she added. “But appa is right, honey. Just don’t mind them.”

                Hanna nodded hesitantly at that; all her questions and comments flying out of her mind as soon as she saw her best friend running toward her. Hanna had known Caroline Kim all her life and had been fond of calling her by her Korean name despite her legal English name. Hanna had immediately hugged Caroline in glee, happy that they were now attending the same school, before she bowed politely when she saw her best friend’s parents, Kim Heechul and Jessica Jung.

“Unnie! You’re here!” Caroline squealed as she hugged her best friend again but only after she, too, bowed at Kyuhyun and Sooyoung. “We’re going to be together every day forever and ever and ever!”

“And ever and ever and ever!” Hanna giggled. “I like this school better than my old one because you’re here.”

Jessica smiled as she pointed towards the playroom. “Why don’t you two go and play first? We’ll call you when you have to go to the classroom already, okay?”

“Yes, Mama!” Caroline answered in proudly in English before she turned towards her father. “Papa, is that okay?”

Heechul glared at his smirking wife before he tried he patiently smiled at his daughter. “Minji, appa can’t understand English.”

“Oops!” She gasped, covering with both hands as she switched back to Korean. “Appa, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” His smile grew wider. “Go and play.”

Hanna turned questioning eyes at her own parents. “Can I?”

“It’s–”

“Be careful when running, don’t touch dirty things, don’t remove your socks because your feet will get dirty, sit down when you’re tired–”

Sooyoung elbowed Kyuhyun’s side not so kindly. “Just go and have fun, dear.”

It was his turn to glare at his own wife before he nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Go and enjoy.”

                The two children squealed again before Caroline took Hanna’s hand and led the way to the playroom, where around three to five kids already were. Caroline knew them and immediately, she introduced her to their classmates, proudly declaring that Cho Hanna was her one and only best friend in the whole wide world. Hanna found her new classmates nice and they all immediately went off to play.

Hanna sat down before a miniature cooking set. “You know, those other grownups are weird.”

“Oh?” Caroline sat in front of her, taking a toy spatula in her hand. “Why?”

“They’ve been giving me and appa and umma these weird looks. Umma told me she and appa used to be singers just like your appa and umma.” She pouted. “But how come they don’t look at your appa and umma like that?”

“They used to… They still do sometimes.” The brown haired girl paused thoughtfully. “But Mama says it’s because Papa’s weird but I don’t think it’s true. No one can beat my Papa because Papa is awesome.”