“Don’t be shy now, Seung Hyun,” the young mother said gently to her son and pushed him slightly into the daycare. “I’ll come back right after my errands. Play nicely now, okay?”

            The toddler looked up at his mother with wide eyes. “N—no! No!”

            She smiled down at him, let go of his tiny hand, and spoke to one of the ladies running the daycare center.

            The two and a half year old boy, Lee Seung Hyun, trembled and clung onto his mother’s leg. Beyond the small gate, he saw other boys and girls, most of them older than he, playing with toys or running around with each other.

            “No! No!” he cried.

            His mother chuckled and bent down to speak with him. “I’ll be back very soon, Seung Hyun. Be nice to the other children.” She kissed him on the forehead, stood up, and went away.

            The boy wanted to follow his mother, but a lady held him by the arms and led him to the play area where the other little boys and girls were.

            Seung Hyun opened his mouth wide and let out a loud shriek. Tears ran down his reddening face as his cries rang throughout the room.

            All the children stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Some of them covered their ears with their hands.

            “What’s wrong with him?” one boy asked, tugging the shirt sleeve of the lady.

            “Oh, he’s just very shy,” she answered calmly, kneeling down. “Seung Hyun,” she cooed at the crying boy. “Stop crying now. See? You have a lot of new playmates!”

            Seung Hyun kept sniffling, but stopped screaming and crying. “Ma… Umma!”

            “Ya!” the other boy called and stood before him. “What’s your name?”

            Seung Hyun stared up at him. “Su... Sooo. Soo Yun!”

            The older boy’s eyebrows furrowed. “Soo Yun?”

            The little boy nodded enthusiastically and smiled wide.

            “Okay, Soo Yun! I’m Ji Yong and I’m turning five soon. I’m your hyung, okay?” He grinned at Seung Hyun. He took the younger one by the hand and they walked over to the building blocks.

            The lady smiled at the sight of Ji Yong and ‘Soo Yun’ playing together. Just as she was about to stand up, one of the girls approached her.

            “What’s his name again?” she asked.

            “His name is Seung Hyun, Sun Ye, but here, we’ll call him Soo Yun.”

            “Soo Yun, you sit there, okay?” Ji Yong said to Seung Hyun and the little one plopped down onto the matted floor with a soft thud.

            As the older boy took a red building block in his hand, Seung Hyun reached up for it.

            “Mine… Mine!” he said with wide eyes.

            Ji Yong held the block away from the little boy and shook his head. “No, Soo Yun! This is mine.”

            “Miiiiine!” His eyes grew wider as he tried to reach for the block.

            Ji Yong shook his head again. “Mine, Soo Yun!” He picked up a blue building block that was beside Seung Hyun and offered it to him. “Here, this is yours.” He smiled.

            Seung Hyun took the offered block in his hands, examined it for a moment, then looked back at up Ji Yong.

            Ji Yong kept silent, wondering what the little boy would do next.

            The younger one’s lips stretched into a wide smile and he started giggling. Preoccupied with his new block, Seung Hyun sat obediently in his spot as Ji Yong finished the building he had been forming.

            “Look, Soo Yun!” Ji Yong presented his monument a few minutes after.

            Seung Hyun paid no attention to him and continued giggling and waving his beloved blue building block in the air.

            “Soo Yun, look!” Ji Yong repeated and pointed his hands to what he made.

            Seung Hyun looked at him, a smile still on his face, and put his hands together in a loud clap. The blue building block flew from his tiny hand and crashed into Ji Yong’s building, causing it to collapse.

            Ji Yong looked down at the blocks that fell near his feet and looked back at Seung Hyun.

            The little boy’s smile was gone and his eyes were wide. After a second, he started bouncing in little giggly fits.

            Ji Yong stared at him then started to chuckle with him.

            “Block! Block fawwwl!” Seung Hyun cried out, still laughing and bouncing in his seat.

            The two moved from the building blocks to the puppet area. It had hand puppets and animal ears, tails, and masks. Ji Yong placed the cat ears on his head and the bear mask over his eyes.

            “Roar!” he said to Seung Hyun. “I’m a bearcat!” He ran around Seung Hyun and roared loudly.

            “J—Ji Yong!” Seung Hyun yelled, frightened by him. “Stop! Stop!”

            The older of the two stopped running and looked down at Seung Hyun. The tiny one’s face was becoming red again.

            “No, no!” Ji Yong said. “Don’t cry, Soo Yun! I’m not bearcat anymore, see?” He removed the mask.

            Seung Hyun shook his head and shied away from him, patting the top of his head.

            Ji Yong was silent and touched his own head in confusion. Realizing that he still had the cat ears on, he quickly removed them and threw them aside. “There, Soo Yun! I’m not bearcat!” He smiled, trying to reassure the boy.

            Seung Hyun looked at him for a second then smiled again. “No more bearcat!”

            Ji Yong nodded. “No more.” He rummaged through the baskets and found one animal tail that looked like a furry little black ball that was stuck onto a garter for the kids to wear. “What tail is this?” he asked aloud.

            “That’s a panda tail, num-num!” one boy nearby said to him and laughed.

            “Pandas have tails?” Ji Yong asked, but no one answered him. He looked back at the panda tail and wondered what to do with it. Just as he was about to throw it back into the basket, he noticed Seung Hyun wearing a black and white shirt.

            “Panda!” he exclaimed and pulled Seung Hyun into a standing position. “You’re going to be a panda with a panda tail, Soo Yun!”

            “Pa…” Seung Hyun pondered. “Pan-da.”

            Ji Yong nodded. “Yeah! A panda! You’re going to be Soo Yun the panda boy!” He grinned.

            Seung Hyun smiled and started hopping around. “Pan-da! Pan-da!”

            Ji Yong laughed and joined him in his hopping.

            When Seung Hyun’s mother returned to pick him up, the two boys were by the reading corner. Ji Yong was reading about dinosaurs, his mouth opened as he focused on the book. Seung Hyun also had a book in his hands. It was a picture book about cars, but it was upside-down and the little boy was absent-mindedly smiling, not really looking at the colorful images.

            “Seung Hyun!” the mother called and smiled as her little toddler looked up at her.

            “Seung Hyun?” Ji Yong repeated, also looking up at her. “Who’s Seung Hyun?”

            The daycare center lady came into the play area and picked Seung Hyun up from the floor. “This is Seung Hyun, Ji Yong.”

            “Seung Hyun? No! That’s Soo Yun!” Ji Yong insisted. “Soo Yun!”

            Seung Hyun was giggling and bouncing in the lady’s arms. “Soo Yun! Soo Yun!”

            His mother chuckled as she took him from the lady. “He calls himself Soo Yun,” she said, amused.

            “No!” Ji Yong said as she turned away from them. “Soo Yun! Where are you going?”

            “Soo Yun’s leaving now, Ji Yong,” the lady said to him gently. “His mommy came to pick him up already.”

            “Soo Yun!” he cried out. “Don’t go! Stay here!”

            Seung Hyun peeked from his mother’s arms. “Ji Yong! Ji Yong!” he called, still smiling. He wriggled to get down.

            Once back down on the ground, he wobbled over back to Ji Yong and gave him a hug. “Bye bye, Ji Yong!”

            “You’re leaving?” Ji Yong asked softly.

            Seung Hyun nodded. “Come back… tomorrow?” He looked at his mother. “Back tomorrow!”

            The woman smiled and chuckled. “Okay. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

            “Tomorrow, Ji Yong,” Seung Hyun said to him. “Tomorrow.”

            Ji Yong finally smiled and nodded. “Tomorrow. Bye bye, Soo Yun!”

            “Bye bye, Ji Yong… hyung!”

            The older boy gave Soo Yun the panda boy one last hug before allowing his mother to take him away.