You entered the schoolyard to pick Jaewoo up and made your way to the playground. When you got over there though, you noticed the boy sitting on the ground next to the teacher. As well as another boy who was holding an ice pack to his face. You felt your stomach drop as you quickly walked over to them.
"Here's your mother now." the teacher commented to Jaewoo.
"What's going on?" you inquired and looked at Jaewoo. He wouldn't meet your gaze though as he stood up and continued staring at the ground with his lips pressed together.
"Your son punched another student." the teacher informed you.
Your mouth dropped open in surprise. The last thing you expected from this quiet boy was for him to fight with another student. "What? Why?"
"Cause he's mean." you barely heard Jaewoo mumble.
"We encourage students to use their words and talk things out." the teacher stated as he eyed Jaewoo. "Your son decided to involve himself in an other students' argument rather than letting them resolve it themselves."
"Wait," you said, confused. "There's a third student?"
"Her parents already picked her up." the teacher nodded.
You thought about that little bit of information as you glanced between the two children. Things weren't adding up so you knelt down in front of Jaewoo. "What happened?" you asked him.
He bit his bottom lip and didn't say anything to you.
"What was their argument about?" you questioned as you glanced up at the teacher.
"I don't know." he answered. "Your son intervened before I could. I'm sure it won't happened again though. Right Jaewoo?" he asked the boy with a smile
You turned your attention back to Jaewoo but he was still looking at the ground. "Was he being mean to her?" you questioned him.
Jaewoo nudged the ground with his foot before slowly nodding his head once. Then he quietly muttered. "Every day."
You raised your eyebrows. "Every day?" You stood up and turned to the teacher. "That boy is mean to the girl every day?"
The teacher looked at you in surprise. "There have been problems before but I wouldn't say every day."
"If my son says it happens every day, then it happens every day." you countered. "Why isn't anything being done about it?"
The teacher bristled a bit at that. "Something has been done about it. We've.."
"Obviously not." you interrupted, raising your voice. "If you had, then a little girl wouldn't keep getting picked on by a bully every day. So now you're punishing my son for doing your job."
"That is not.."
"Jaewoo was standing up for another student and protecting them." you continued. "Not only is my son not in trouble, but this behavior will be encouraged."
With his mouth hanging open, the teacher stared at you in shock. You turned to look at the two boys to see them staring at you as well with similar expressions. "You did a good thing and I'm very proud of you." you told Jaewoo. Then you smiled at him, "Ready to go home?"
He blinked at you for a few moments before nodding. Then the two of you set off together and left the playground.
On the walk home, you caught him looking up at you a couple of times but you merely smiled down at him without saying anything. Then you came up to an intersection and stopped, waiting for the light change. As you stood there, you inhaled sharply when you felt something touch your hand. You waited while Jaewoo slowly settled his hand in yours before curling your fingers to hold his hand. You didn't look down at him, not wanting him to feel embarrassed or shy, but a tiny grin did form on your face.
Once the light changed, you held his hand and crossed the road. Then you held his hand the rest of the way home.

It wasn't until you got to the apartment that he let go. Then you opened the door and he ran for his dinosaur. He grabbed it and pulled it in for a tight hug before heading to his room. You in turn went to the workroom and checked your work email.
A while later, you heard footsteps and looked over to see Jaewoo approaching you. In one hand was his sketchbook, in his other hand was a broken colored pencil that he held up for you.
"Oh!" you uttered in surprise. "I forgot to buy you a pencil sharpener, didn't I?" You took the pencil from him and opened your drawer. You pulled out your pencil sharpener and quickly sharpened it for him before handing it back. "There you go."
"Thank you." he quietly replied.
Instead of walking out of the room, your eyes widened a little in disbelief when he laid down on the floor and continued coloring the dinosaur picture he had drawn.
Pressing your lips together, you turned back to your computer and slowly smiled. Then you continued with your work.

After a couple more hours, you glanced at the clock and noticed the time. "I better go get dinner started." you commented out loud. You stood up and carefully stepped over the little boy as you went to the doorway.
"Can we have rice?" Jaewoo suddenly asked.
You turned around to see him peering up at you. "Again?" you questioned with a chuckle before smiling. "Of course." Then you left the room and walked down the hallway.
At the kitchen, you started pulling things out for dinner when the front door opened. You turned and looked through the doorway to see Yongguk walk in.
"Hey." you called out in greeting.
He looked over and smiled at you. "Hey." he replied as he slipped his shoes off. Then he made his way over to you and set a couple of bags on the counter.
"What's this for?" you inquired.
"Desert." he answered as he rummaged through one of the bags. "I though we could make sundaes." He pulled out a can of whip cream and took the top off. Then he gave it a few shakes before spraying some in to his mouth.
"I thought you said for desert." you teased and shook your head.
He grinned at you before holding the can up. "Open wide."
You gave him a pointed look before giving in and opening your mouth. Some of the sweet cream entered your mouth and then Yongguk flicked his wrist, spraying some on your nose. You squealed and took a step back before laughing. Then you playfully pushed a chuckling Yongguk.
Yongguk stuck his tongue out at you before turning his head. You followed his line of sight and saw Jaewoo peeking in to the kitchen curiously.
"Hey." your husband greeted as he crouched down. "You want to try some?"
The boy hesitated and glanced at you before making his way over to Yongguk.
"Open wide." Yongguk instructed and held the can up.
When Jaewoo complied, he sprayed a little of the whip cream in to his waiting mouth. Jaewoo closed his mouth and swallowed while Yongguk watched him.
"Do you like it?" Yongguk asked the boy. Jaewoo nodded in reply so your husband held the can up once more. "Here." he offered with a small smile.
This time when Jaewoo opened his mouth, Yongguk did the same trick that he had done to you and sprayed some on the boy's nose. Jaewoo took a step back in surprise and hurriedly wiped at the whip cream off his face before staring at his hand.
Both you and Yongguk chuckled at the look on his face. Then your mouth dropped open when Jaewoo quickly reached for Yongguk, smearing the whip cream off of his hand and on to Yongguk's face.
Yongguk's mouth dropped open in shock as he stared at Jaewoo. You in turn laughed loudly at Jaewoo's payback but then you stopped. You inhaled sharply as you stared at Jaewoo and saw something you had never seen before. A smile. The boy had a tiny smile on his face.
You glanced at Yongguk just as he turned to look at you. You could tell by the look on his face, he was pleasantly surprised as well and he had a big grin. Then you quickly pushed Yongguk on to the floor and he let out a loud yelp.
"Get him Jaewoo!" you yelled and took the can of whip cream out of Yongguk's hand before handing it to Jaewoo.
You held Yongguk down as he laughed and waited for Jaewoo to figure out how to work the can. Then he sprayed a big glob of whip cream on your husband's face. You laughed and cheered before letting out a squeal as you were flipped around.
Laying on your back, you looked up at your husband's face. "Noona's turn!" Then your vision was obscured by the whip cream can and you quickly closed your eyes. Seconds later, you felt your cream sprayed on to your face.
When it was done, you opened your eyes and the sweet cream off your lips. Yongguk fell back, letting you sit up as he chuckled. You let out a laugh as well until you glanced at Jaewoo. He wasn't smiling anymore as he watched you. Almost as if he was... scared.
The smile on your face faded a little. Then you quickly grabbed the little boy and pulled him closer to you. Without hesitating, you brought your face closer and rubbed cream on to his face. Then you pulled back a just enough to rub your nose against his. "There. Now you're messy too." you brightly informed him.
He blinked at you for a moment before the same tiny smile graced his face. He reached up and wiped some of the cream off his face with a single finger. Then he put the finger in his mouth, cleaning it of the whip cream. And he giggled.
It was like music to your ears and the smile on your face grew even bigger. You quickly looked over at Yongguk to see him staring at the boy, his eyes full of affection and a huge smile on his own face. Then he scooted closer and placed a hand on both of you.
"How about we get cleaned up and help noona with dinner?" he questioned Jaewoo.
The boy's eyes widened and he turned to you with a questioning look.
"Alright." you agreed and nodded your head.
Jaewoo mimicked you and nodded his head as well; very enthusiastically and showed a shy smile. Then Yongguk got to his feet and carefully picked the boy up before carrying him to the sink.
You stood up as well but as you did, a dull pain radiated from your stomach. You put your hand on your belly and quickly looked down, your heart hammering in your chest. Then you swallowed and removed your hand. You forced the smile back on your face before joining the two others to get cleaned up.