It was nap time…but little Kat and Henry were giggling in their separate sleeping bags and their teacher needed to shush them for the nth time. If only Henry would stop doing the bloated-fish-expression, Kat would definitely hush down. 

She’d been crying the whole time of their recess when the new kid consistently poked her. The transferee, whose family moved in from another city, chose to always bother Kat. But she was nice enough to be patient and asked Henry to be friendly as well; they just drew the new kid’s face as a monstrous walrus with colorful whiskers.

*

It was after a week when they told their teacher about Ilhoon’s behavior, he kept teasing Kat about her cheeks and kept on poking it.

“Ilhoonie, what do you think Kat feels when you poke her face?” Their teacher asked him, while Henry was consoling Kat. The three kids standing in front of their teacher’s desk. “See her face? It’s red already.”

“H-he also pinched me!” Kat blurted in between her sobs and her bestfriend puffing his cheeks, eyes staring holes at Ilhoon.

“Ilhoon?” The teacher called for the boy’s attention who was just staring at the ground, shifting weight on his feet. He slowly looked up blinking his eyes and chewing on his lower lip. “Can I ask why did you do that?”

“Uhm,” Ilhoon stalled, “She’s…her cheeks are so FLUFFY!”

Kat automatically covered her cheeks with her palms, now also digging holes on Ilhoon’s face.

The teacher tried not to laugh so hard. “Still, that is no reason to do that. Boys should respect girls. Would you like someone to do that to you too?”

Ilhoon shook his head.

“What will you say to Kat?”

“I’m sorry?” Ilhoon said looking on the board behind their teacher.

“Please tell that to Kat.” Their teacher smiled, blocking his view and gesturing her hand to face the little girl.

Ilhoon sighed and stopped moving, he looked at Kat, then Henry who was still digging holes with his chinky eyes, then back to Kat again, “I’m sorry.”

“And?” Their teacher encouraged him to say more.

“And~,” Ilhoon gave a few seconds of thinking, “I hope we can be friends.”

Kat and Henry looked at each other, an addition to their group? Henry just shrugged, letting her decide. 

“O-okay.” Kat sobbed but smiled at the same time. And for being good kids and friends, their teacher gave them candies to share and asked them to play in the playground.

But not without Ilhoon poking Kat’s cheek again and doing the same thing to Henry, out of the teacher’s sight, of course.

“Yah!” They both yelled at the laughing Hyena Ilhoon. “What’s that for?!”

“What? Can’t friends do that?” Ilhoon continued laughing, and the other two joined in.

“Of course they can!” Kat exclaimed, a week of being poked at forgotten as the light bulb of playful idea pinged. “Right, Henry?”

It didn’t take Henry a blink to get what she meant, so as for Ilhoon who started backing away from them.

*

The nap time that afternoon was then filled with snoring three little kids, who were smiling in their dreams.



I’m missing the simple life.