My Sun-kissed Trampoline
Title: my sun-kissed trampoline
Pairing: chen/lay
Rating: PG
Warnings: kid!fic. daddies!krisho. ninja!chansoo.
Word count: 5,019 words
Summary: The story of how 1st grader Kim Jongdae, resident troublemaker in his classroom, learns that being bad is not so good with the arrival of utterly cute Chinese transfer student Yixing.
Author's note: special thanks to everyone who helped me with this fic <333 written for the chenpionships fic fest.
Kang Seulgi is crying when the teacher approaches Jongdae with a scowl. He hates when she does that, her big nose opens up and he can see everything. It’s disgusting.
“Kim Jongdae! Where is Seulgi’s pencil case?” she demands. Jongdae knows where the pencil case is - he hid it - but that’s not something he should tell the old hag.
He shrugs, putting his best innocent face on. On the other side of the room Kang Seulgi’s crying intensifies. Jongdae wants to chuckle, but then he would appear totally guilty.
“I’m calling your parents!” the teacher announces before marching out of the classroom. Jongdae panics. Baba told him if they were called because of him one more time Jongdae would lose his video game privileges. He likes his video game very much and Daddy said he would take him kart riding this weekend! That old hag will ruin everything!
Jongdae shoots Seulgi an accusatory look before pulling her pencil case from behind the larger bookcase (the one with the toy dinosaurs). The girl runs to him, yanking the item from his hands before sniffing and frowning at him. Jongdae shows her his tongue and Seulgi runs back to her seat, her friend Wendy hugging and comforting her. Tch. What a crybaby.
“Your dads will be mad,” Chanyeol, his seatmate, says when Jongdae returns to their shared table. “My mom says they’ll take you to a brain doctor if you don’t behave.”
It’s very unfortunate for Jongdae that Chanyeol’s and his parents are good friends. He’s been trapped with Dobby as his best friend since he was a baby, and even though Chanyeol is annoying and can’t shut up, it’s a good thing because sometimes he comes with precious information. Like that one.
“Brain doctor? Like a hospital?” Jongdae asks. Someone in his neighborhood was sent to a brain doctor. They never returned. “Like Mr. Ryeowook’s uncle?”
Chanyeol nods. “Because you’re always in trouble.”
“But I’m not crazy!” he protests. Only crazy people are sent to the brain doctor! Like Mr. Ryeowook’s uncle! He talked to Jongdae’s cat and barked at Chanyeol’s dog.
Chanyeol shrugs and says. “My mom said your dad said so,” and returns to his drawing. Jongdae whines, lowering his head to the table. He doesn’t want to go to a brain doctor. And it would all be because of Kang Seulgi and that old hag. He shouldn’t have given the pencil case back.
When the class is finally over Jongdae fearfully walks out of the building, eyes scanning the crowd of parents in search for his own. He spots Chanyeol’s mom, his friend waving goodbye before running to meet her. His daddy is a few steps behind her, hand tight around Jongdae’s little brother’s much smaller one. He doesn’t look happy. Jongdae swallows and walks toward him.
“Get in.” Daddy takes his backpack and ushers him into the car. Jongdae pouts but hops in, not even having the energy to respond when his brother pulls on his shirt. It’s Jongdae’s responsibility to lock Jongin in his seat, so he does it without complaints when the toddler pulls on his hair, clearly annoyed by Jongdae’s lack of response to his calls for attention. Seating and buckling his own seat belt, Jongdae watches his dad drive away from school.
“Are you angry, Daddy?” he asks warily. He knows Daddy doesn’t usually scold him. Baba does, so for now, Jongdae might be safe.
“We’ll talk about what you’ve done later,” Daddy says, not even glancing at him. “Just know that we’re not going kart riding.”
There. That’s what Jongdae feared. He knew he would be punished for hiding Seulgi’s pencil case. It was just a joke, but he knew his dads wouldn’t understand that. They’d see it as him being bad.
He remains quiet the whole ride home and is sent to his bedroom when they arrive. There, Jongdae draws Kang Seulgi with a pig nose and plans to shove the drawing in her backpack. It’s all her fault. That crybaby. She shouldn’t have cried when it was all just a joke.
It’s dinnertime when Daddy knocks at his door telling him to come downstairs. He knows they’re scolding him now because Baba is home and they always do it together. Jongdae peeks at them from behind the staircase wall, catching sight of Daddy loosening Baba’s tie with a worried face.
“We can’t encourage his behavior, Kris,” Daddy is saying. “I’m afraid he’ll grow up to be one of those bullies we see in movies. Shoving other kids’ heads in the toilet.”
“He’s not a bully, he’s just a kid,” Baba says, running his fingers through his blond hair. “This is kid behaviour. We need to teach him that what he’s doing is wrong, not punish him. If you’d read that book Song Qian lent us you’d know.”
Daddy rolls his eyes, “He’s seven. He’ll do whatever he wants out of our sight, we need to reinforce with negative--”
“Are you going Watson and Skinner on our son, Joonmyun?”
Skin him? Jongdae’s eyes widen and he steps out of his hiding before Daddy can answer. Both their heads turn to him.
“Dae, come here,” Daddy waves him over and Jongdae sits between them.
“I’m not a bully Daddy,” he looks up at his dad and shifts his eyes to Baba. “I swear, it was just a joke! I didn’t want to make Seulgi cry! Don’t skin me!”
Jongin, who’s playing on the living room floor in front of them, chooses that moment to yell, “Skin Dae!” Jongdae frowns at his little brother. What is he doing awake anyway?
To his surprise, Baba snorts a laugh, shaking his head in amusement. Jongdae frowns.
“We’re not going to skin you, dude.” He says. “We’re just worried. You can’t keep bothering your classmates, Jongdae.”
“I wasn’t--!”
“Hiding someone’s belongings is not a joke,” Daddy completes. “Nor is convincing your friends to put their socks inside the teacher’s purse.”
Jongdae has to control his laughter. That was a good one. Old hag’s bag smelt like their feet for weeks.
“I’m sorry,” he lowers his head.
“Promise us you won’t bother Seulgi anymore.” Daddy caresses his head. Jongdae used to sleep with Daddy caressing him like that. It means they’re not angry anymore.
“Or any of your classmates,” Baba reminds.
He sighs. “Ok. Can we still go kart riding?” he stares at them hopefully.
Daddy squints and looks at Baba. “Behave. Then we’ll go kart riding.”
--
He doesn’t have much time; Old Hag said she would return to the classroom in five minutes. Jongdae runs his eyes around the room and tries to come up with a fast way to act. Should he hide Seulgi’s pencil case again? No, not Seulgi. She would cry and Jongdae would lose his video game privileges for the second week in a row. Maybe he could mock-draw someone on the board.
“Are you thinking of doing something bad?” Chanyeol’s voice comes in that frightened tone Jongdae knows all too well. He rolls his eyes at his lame friend. “I don’t want you to go to a brain doctor, Jongdae, stop doing bad things.”
“I’m not going to--” Old hag returns to the classroom and Jongdae deflates. There goes a perfect chance to do something cool for the day.
“Who’s that?” Chanyeol asks. Jongdae glances at him before following his gaze to find a boy trailing behind the teacher. A new boy.
“Ok everyone, listen up!” Old hag starts, clapping her hands excitedly. “We have a new student,” she taps the boy’s shoulder and he walks forward. “This is Zhang Yixing. I want you all to welcome him and treat him well, ok?”
A wave of quiet chattering emerges in the classroom, all about Zhang Yixing. The girls want to know where he’s from and if he likes cats; the boys want to know if he likes to play soccer. Chanyeol remains silent and Jongdae feels strange. This new boy is cute. He wears purple pants and a Totoro t-shirt, white Converse, and his backpack is yellow like mustard. His whole face is red and he doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes while the teacher is saying he came from China because one of his daddies is Chinese. His flimsy black hair is cut short, but there’s a wild strand in the back staying up. Jongdae wants to pat it down. He doesn’t know why, though.
Zhang Yixing walks towards an empty spot - the only empty spot - beside Do Kyungsoo. Jongdae feels the strange need to run over and pull the new boy away from Kyungsoo because no one sits with Kyungsoo. If there’s someone Jongdae thinks should go to the brain doctor it’s Do Kyungsoo. There’s clearly something wrong with his head, he doesn’t like people and playing games and being a kid altogether. All he does is sit there and watch the class in silence. During the break he reads these huge books and keeps to himself. Chanyeol tried to befriend Kyungsoo once because “he sits next to us and we should make friends with him”, but was scared away. Meaning no one sits with Do Kyungsoo.
Yet there is the new boy, Zhang Yixing, in all his cute Chineseness sitting right next to Kyungsoo. Everyone turns to look at him, some whispering how crazy he is for taking a seat with Kyungsoo, some laughing at how ill-fated he is. The whole classroom is waiting for Do Kyungsoo to act up and shoo the new boy away. Except it doesn’t happen. Both of them remain silent - not even a hi - for the rest of the class. Jongdae knows they didn’t talk to each other because he kept an eye on them. For the new boy’s protection.
During the break, Kyungsoo goes to the patio with one of his large books and Zhang Yixing sits on a bench, small legs dangling and hands fumbling with each other. He looks so unsure all by himself, watching the other kids run around and play together. So Jongdae walks over. He stops awkwardly in front of Zhang Yixing, not knowing how to act or talk to him, which is very weird since Jongdae always knows how to speak. The boy looks up at him, small, sleepy eyes staring at Jongdae like he’s waiting.
Jongdae coughs, “Your shoelaces are untied.”
Zhang Yixing stares at him.
“Um,” Jongdae feels his whole face redden. How stupid. “Do you know how to speak Korean? If you came from China…”
The boy presses his lips together and a dimple appears in his cheek. It’s like when Jongdae puts on a Disney movie and before the movie starts they show the castle with a lot of fireworks and a nice song. That’s how Jongdae feels. He also feels himself blush. Again.
“I know how to speak Korean,” says Zhang Yixing in a soft, too cute voice.
“I don’t know how to speak Chinese,” Jongdae adds uselessly.
“It’s very easy, Appa learned in a month.”
There’s a small chance that Zhang Yixing won’t turn him down if Jongdae asks to sit next to him. “I’m Jongdae,” he says.
“Baba calls me Xing, but my name is Yixing.”
Jongdae lightens at a familiar word. “I have a Baba, he’s from China too!”
Yixing frowns. “Why you can’t speak Chinese then? Your Baba didn’t teach you?”
It’s not that he hadn’t tried. Jongdae wasn’t interested in learning so he pretended he was sick every time Baba tried to teach him.
“No…” he says weakly.
“It’s ok, I’m not very good with Korean.” Zhang Yixing smiles at him. It’s like the sun is shining right in Jongdae’s face, and something flips in his belly.
The bell announces the end of break and Yixing stands up.
“Wait,” Jongdae says and crouches in front of the new boy, tying his shoelaces. He is an ace in tying shoelaces, so he does it quickly. “There you go. You could fall and get hurt.”
If there was an award for the prettiest smile, Jongdae is certain that Zhang Yixing would win every year. He feels his face warm when Yixing thanks him. They return to the classroom together and Jongdae is oddly happy about sitting next to Do Kyungsoo.
--
There is broccoli on his plate, but Jongdae is so excited that he doesn’t even mind the green stuff. Usually he slips half of his broccoli to Jongin’s plate because his brother will eat anything Jongdae gives him, but tonight he eats the broccoli himself. Baba watches him with an amused face and Daddy is clearly afraid that something clicks in him and Jongdae suddenly stops eating the broccoli. It’s true he doesn’t mind. He’s happy today.
“He’s Chinese, like you Baba! And he let me tie his shoelaces!” he stuffs himself with more broccoli and tries to chew too fast. “He’s so cool! Even Do Kyungsoo let him sit at his desk!” Jongdae swallows, but some broccoli goes down the wrong pipe and he’s thrown into a coughing fit.
“Slow down, dude!” Baba says, gently tapping Jongdae’s back as Daddy pours him some water.
“Dae tie my shoelaces,” Jongin mumbles, letting go of his little spoon and stretching his hands to Jongdae. Daddy smiles fondly while passing Jongdae a glass of water.
“Jonginnie, you’re not wearing shoes right now.” he says as Jongdae gulps the water quickly. “Dae, eat slowly,” Daddy instructs before turning to Baba. “Isn’t there a new guy in your firm whose kid’s name is Yixing?”
Baba halts the chopsticks right in front of his open mouth, “Yeah, there is.”
“You could check if it’s the same boy. Maybe you could arrange a playdate since Jongdae seems to like Yixing so much.”
Oh, that would be marvelous! Just Yixing and Jongdae doing all kinds of fun stuff for a whole day! Jongdae could show Yixing his sketchbook with drawings of his classmates in pig noses! They could play with Cat, Jongdae’s cat, together! There’s so much they could do!
Gasping in excitement, Jongdae looks at his dad, “Can Yixing come for a playdate? Please Baba, please?”
Baba lowers his chopsticks and sighs, “I don’t even know if it’s the same kid. I’ll check with Zhou Mi tomorrow, ok buddy?”
Before he goes to sleep, Jongdae wishes upon every star that he can see from his bedroom window, that Mr. Zhou Mi from Baba’s work is Yixing’s dad.
--
Because of Baba’s friendship with Yixing’s father, they get to spend afternoons together from time to time. Sometimes, Yixing comes over after school and Jongdae teaches him everything he knows about the stars and shows him his sketchbook filled with funny drawings. They play with Jongin and Yixing doesn’t even mind when Jongdae’s little brother falls asleep in the middle of their game. Sometimes, Jongdae goes to his place. Yixing lives in an apartment, the place well decorated and very clean. His room isn’t big, but there’s enough space for them to build a Lego city and play with Yixing’s toy train.
In these afternoons, Jongdae learns a lot about Yixing. He learns that the Chinese boy dislikes the mocking drawings of his classmates (Jongdae learned that the hard way when he showed his sketchbook and Yixing scolded him). He learns that Yixing likes to listen to the old music his dad puts on sometimes and that he loves cupcakes.
Jongdae bothers Daddy to buy cupcakes every time Yixing comes over. He thinks of it as a strategy. Maybe if Yixing likes his house he won’t want to leave.
In school, Yixing still sits with Kyungsoo, but that’s only because Jongdae is stuck with Chanyeol. They still spend break together. Sometimes they play with Chanyeol’s cards, sometimes they play with the rest of their classmates, but Yixing is always with him. He often forgets his pencil case at home (something else that Jongdae learns about Yixing: he’s very forgetful) and Jongdae lends him pencils.
One day he gets home and asks Baba to teach him Chinese.
“W-what?” Baba was drinking coffee and some liquid dripped down his chin and onto his pristine white shirt. He tried wiping it with his fingers, but only stained it worse. “You want to learn Mandarin?”
Jongdae nods.
“But you…” Baba shakes his head. “Never mind, this is great, son! We will start tomorrow evening, what do you think?”
Daddy comes from the living room still in his pajamas carrying a sleepy Jongin on his arms. “What are you starting tomorrow?”
“Jongdae,” Baba looks at him proudly and Jongdae smiles, “finally decided that he wants to learn Chinese!”
“That’s great!” Daddy ruffles Jongdae’s hair. “You can practice with Yixing.”
Yes! Yes, yes, yes that’s exactly what’s on Jongdae’s mind, but of course he’s not going to tell that to Baba; Jongdae is not stupid.
One evening he overhears his parents talking about Yixing. They think Jongdae is upstairs playing with the new puzzle game he earned because of his good behavior.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Daddy is saying. He’s leaning back on the counter while Baba washes the dishes. “It’s been almost two months since the last time the school called us with complaints of Jongdae’s behavior.”
“I thought that was the reason why we bought him a new toy?” Baba rinses a bowl. “Positive reinforcement?”
“Yes, it was but the reason why he’s acting so different. You haven’t noticed?”
Realization flashes across Baba’s features. “Aaaaaaaah. Zhou Mi’s kid. Yixing.”
“Yes!” Daddy slaps his shoulder gently. “Ever since he became friends with this boy, Jongdae’s been acting differently. Instead of stealing his classmates’ belongings, he helps them with assignments. Instead of hiding homework from us, he works with Yixing. And Mandarin?”
“Oh my god that was wicked.” Baba lets out one of his silly laughs and Daddy smiles. Jongdae is confused. He thought wicked things were bad things. Is it bad that he wants to learn Chinese? “He’s been so great.”
“He’s always been great, but he’s better now. And I can’t help but notice it started when this Yixing kid appeared.”
“He’s a good friend for Jongdae,” Baba says as he rinses the last bowl and Jongdae thinks he’s heard enough, turning on his heels and running up to his bedroom.
It’s true. Yixing is good for him. Yixing is good in general and Jongdae is so happy his parents know. He just has to keep the good behavior and Yixing can be his friend for a very long time.
--
Jongdae can’t concentrate on his drawing. He keeps looking at Yixing and how tightly he holds the crayons Jongdae lent him. It’s strange: he feels so happy knowing that Yixing is using his crayons.
“You drew a yellow circle.” Chanyeol says, interrupting Jongdae’s watch.
He turns to his Dobby friend, hoping that Chanyeol can tell by the way Jongdae glares at him how stupid he is for interrupting. “It’s the sun.”
“Yeah, but where are the rays? You can’t have a ball for a sun.” Chanyeol fills pink into one of the blocks he drew before he changes to his broken orange crayon.
“I’m not done yet,” Jongdae assures him, stealing another quick glance at Yixing. He’s talking to Do Kyungsoo. They’ve been talking a lot lately; Do Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to mind Yixing and it bothers Jongdae. That’s not how Kyungsoo is supposed to work; he’s supposed to ignore people and not want to make friends with anyone. No exceptions. Why is Yixing an exception?
“Can I have your red crayon?” Chanyeol asks. “Why are you looking at them?”
“Kyungsoo is talking to Yixing,” Jongdae answers, his fingers holding the yellow crayon with so much strength that it breaks in two. He doesn’t even care.
“What?” Chanyeol jerks in his seat. “Again? Why is Kyungsoo being friends with him if he said he didn’t want to be friends with me?”
That’s an easy one. “Because he’s smart,” Jongdae elbows Chanyeol, urging him to sit straight and not lean into Jongdae.
Something has to be done so Kyungsoo doesn’t steal Jongdae’s precious break time with Yixing. When the bell rings, Jongdae doesn’t waste a second cleaning his desk; he jumps out of his seat and wraps a hand around Yixing’s wrist. The Chinese student looks a little spooked, but once he recognizes Jongdae, he smiles.
“Hi Jongdae,” he says. Jongdae wants to cry. He’s so cute.
“Come! Chanyeol brought his UNO cards!” he knows Chanyeol is probably waiting for him outside, so Jongdae tries to pull Yixing with him, but the boy resists.
“Kyungsoo wanted to show me his book,” Yixing says. “It’s about a boy who’s a wizard and lives many adventures. Do you want to read with us?”
Yixing has plans. With Kyungsoo. He made plans to spend all break with Kyungsoo. Stupid Kyungsoo and his book who are now looking at Jongdae in that creepy way he looks at people from behind his eyelashes. It’s almost like he’s saying Jongdae is not welcome to his little book reading.
“No, you can’t go with Kyungsoo,” Jongdae says. “He’s going to pass his creep to you!”
All Jongdae wanted was for Yixing to come play with him like they’ve been doing all along! He didn’t wish for Kyungsoo to cry and run away. He certainly didn’t wish for Yixing to look at him like his Daddy looks when Jongdae does something bad. Like he’s disappointed. Most of all, Jongdae didn’t mean for the teacher to come asking why Kyungsoo was crying, and he didn’t want Yixing to tell on him with a sad face. He certainly didn’t mean for his parents to know that Jongdae didn’t change after all. He is still a mean kid, one of those bullies who will grow up to dunk people’s heads in toilets.
Jongdae loses his video game privileges, of course. But that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is to see the look on his parents’ faces and know that they’re probably thinking they were wrong.
He cries himself to sleep.
--
As some sort of punishment, Baba decides to go hard on Jongdae’s Chinese lessons. Instead of one hour every day, Jongdae gets two hours and twenty minutes. Thursday is usually a day for pizza dinner, but this Thursday they have spinach soup. It might even not be on purpose, but it looks like they’re working hard on teaching him many lessons in every way possible. He’s a mean kid and not worthy of Yixing’s friendship; he gets it. They didn’t have to stoop so low.
Friday is a sad day at school. Yixing doesn’t speak to Jongdae. And worse: to move Jongdae away from Kyungsoo, Old Hag makes him trade seats with some other kid and he sits on the opposite side of the classroom. He doesn’t even get to be near Chanyeol. During the break, Old Hag asks for Jongdae’s help in cutting some papers for whatever -- clearly another punishment. It’s the worst day ever. He is forced to see Do Kyungsoo smile happily next to Yixing while Jongdae is stuck with boring Lee Kyumi. Usually, this kind of thing would fuel him to misbehavior. He would have drawn Kyungsoo with a pig face or stolen his crayons or something. Jongdae would even have planned something bigger, like a mass escape from the classroom. It’s odd that instead of the will to mischief he simply feels sad. Awfully sad.
When the school day is over, Jongdae leaves the classroom without waiting for Chanyeol (like usual) or Yixing (like he’s been doing), because he doesn’t want them to see him cry. Daddy is there waiting for him, his face shifting to worry once he sees Jongdae’s wet face. He tries asking what’s wrong, but it only makes Jongdae cry harder.
“Dae, don’t cry.” Jongin is already locked in his seat, looking at him with pitiful eyes when he hands his pororo doll to Jongdae in a nice offer of comfort. Jongdae smiles at him, scooting closer and leaning his head on the edge of Jongin’s elevated seat.
“Thanks, Jonginnie.”
The weekend drags on like the summer camp Jongdae attended once that was so boring he asked to come home earlier. He has Chinese classes with Baba, finishes homework with Daddy and reads a lot of books his grandma sent him. Jongin lets Jongdae help him building his own lego city and he gets one hour of TV in the afternoon, but Dads take pity on him and invite Jongdae to watch a movie with them in their comfy bedroom Saturday night.
On Sunday, Chanyeol comes over, but only because his mom has to do something with Jongdae’s dads.
“I asked her to bring me because you left on Friday without saying goodbye,” Chanyeol says when they’re sitting on the couch, the TV on but none of them paying attention. “We all saw you cry.”
Damn it. There goes Jongdae’s reputation. He frowns before spitting, “Did you get a good laugh?”
Chanyeol shakes his head, “Yixing was very worried.”
“He’s not speaking with me,” Jongdae says as if it’ll mean that Yixing wasn’t really worried about him. How could he, when he avoided Jongdae the whole Friday?
“He says you should apologize to Kyungsoo,” Dobby says and Jongdae snorts. Of course he’s not apologizing to Do Kyungsoo -- this is all happening because of him. “Kyungsoo is nice, Dae. We spent break together on Friday.” Chanyeol looks so excited it’s even stupid.
“You can go be friends with him, I don’t care.”
“We missed you,” his friend says in a soft voice. “It’s not the same without you.”
Ok, that’s cool. And Jongdae is totally not blushing. He’s happy Chanyeol is here. Jongdae missed his friends so much.
“Besides,” Chanyeol continues with a serious look on his face, “remember the brain doctor? What if your parents still want to ship you off?”
Yes. Perhaps the best option is to apologize to Do Kyungsoo anyway.
--
Jongdae is back in his own seat with Chanyeol on Monday. He makes an effort not to meet Kyungsoo’s eyes (or Yixing’s for that matter), concentrating on the lesson and making conversation with Chanyeol. Like it’s always been. Jongdae has a plan to corner Do Kyungsoo during the break and apologize, but it has to happen when he’s alone.
Jongdae volunteers to help the teacher tidy the bookcase on break just because he doesn’t want to go to the patio. And because it would give him time to capture Kyungsoo when the latter goes to the bathroom -- Kyungsoo always goes to the bathroom before break ends. Old Hag compliments him on his initiative and says that if Jongdae maintains his good behavior he’s going to turn into a great kid in the future. He doesn’t want to look like it, but it makes him feel warm.
He’s done with the bookcase when he spots Kyungsoo walking to the bathroom. That’s his cue. Jongdae speeds towards him, startling Kyungsoo when the boy turns around and spots Jongdae running in his direction.
Kyungsoo looks like he’s about to scream. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you!” Jongdae rushes, following Kyungsoo into the bathroom. The other looks at him with big eyes, startled. “I want to say I’m sorry. For… That day.”
It’s like Jongdae’s really said the magic words. Kyungsoo’s shoulders ease up, and his eyes return to normal (as normal as they can get). He lets out a long breath. “I’m sorry the teacher called your parents,” Kyungsoo says.
“I’m sorry I made you cry.” Jongdae continues. He feels his whole face burning and his toes keep curling in anxiety.
“It’s ok.” After a few seconds, a tiny smile stretches Kyungsoo’s lips. “Do you want to see my book? It’s about a boy who’s a wizard. There are a lot of books, but the first one is my favorite.”
It feels like a statement of friendship. Seeing Do Kyungsoo’s book. It means he’s ok with Jongdae now. So Jongdae nods, opening a big smile because Chanyeol was right. Kyungsoo is not so bad.
He’s going back to the classroom when someone intercepts him. It all happens so fast. Yixing comes out of nowhere and barely faces Jongdae, stretching his arms to pass a folded paper to Jongdae. His heart speeds up, his palms start sweating and Jongdae is pretty sure his eyes are bigger than Kyungsoo’s.
“Take it, please,” Yixing says; his voice is so thin and low. Jongdae grabs the paper, and as soon as he does it, Yixing rushes to his seat, cheeks and ears pink.
His hands are shaking when he flops on his chair next to Chanyeol, his Dobby friend so interested in the book (one of Kyungsoo’s, apparently) he doesn’t even notice Jongdae’s distressed state. It’s better this way: Jongdae doesn’t feel like sharing whatever is on the paper Yixing just passed him with anyone else. He carefully unfolds it, making sure that Chanyeol is not looking.
It’s a note. A long one. Written in Yixing’s cute handwriting and cute Korean.
Jongdae,
I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you on Friday. Kyungsoo was upset and you were mean to him. But I don’t hate you. Chanyeol says you think I hate you, I promise I don’t. I missed you on break, and I missed you on break today too. I want to be friends with both you and Kyungsoo, but I understand if you don’t want to speak with me.
Do you still want to be friends?
YES ( ) NO ( )
Yixing
That feeling, that thing Jongdae felt when he first saw Yixing -- the thing that felt like a Disney movie starting -- he feels it all again now. If kids could explode from happiness, Jongdae would have blown up already. He grabs the first pencil he sees and marks an X on the “yes” option, because duh, of course, he wants to be friends with Yixing. He’ll always want to be friends with Yixing.
He takes the chance to slip the note back to Yixing when Old Hag is still organizing her things to restart the class. The beautiful spark in Yixing’s eyes when Jongdae gives him back the paper is not a product of his imagination. He watches Yixing open the note and run his eyes across the note. His face blooms with a smile, then he looks up at Jongdae.
“Do you want to go for an ice cream after class? Daddy can take us.” Jongdae asks. He’s sure Daddy won’t mind. Not if it’s Yixing. When the Chinese boy nods, Jongdae continues, “Kyungsoo and Chanyeol can come too, right?”
Yixing looks surprised for a second, but then he smiles, and Jongdae figures he’s said the right thing. He must start learning so he always knows what to say to have Yixing smiling at him like that.
And that’s how Kim Jongdae learns that bothering people and being a troublemaker isn’t a good idea. Things have been going well for Jongdae since Yixing showed up in his life. He earns a little group of friends and proud parents. Old Hag gifts him with a colored pencil box as a reward for his great behavior and Kang Seulgi invites him to her birthday party. Above everything, what Jongdae values the most is the glint on Yixing’s eyes whenever they play catch, the sound of his laughter, and the way he smiles whenever they meet someone new and Yixing introduces Jongdae as his favorite friend.
Pairing: chen/lay
Rating: PG
Warnings: kid!fic. daddies!krisho. ninja!chansoo.
Word count: 5,019 words
Summary: The story of how 1st grader Kim Jongdae, resident troublemaker in his classroom, learns that being bad is not so good with the arrival of utterly cute Chinese transfer student Yixing.
Author's note: special thanks to everyone who helped me with this fic <333 written for the chenpionships fic fest.
Kang Seulgi is crying when the teacher approaches Jongdae with a scowl. He hates when she does that, her big nose opens up and he can see everything. It’s disgusting.
“Kim Jongdae! Where is Seulgi’s pencil case?” she demands. Jongdae knows where the pencil case is - he hid it - but that’s not something he should tell the old hag.
He shrugs, putting his best innocent face on. On the other side of the room Kang Seulgi’s crying intensifies. Jongdae wants to chuckle, but then he would appear totally guilty.
“I’m calling your parents!” the teacher announces before marching out of the classroom. Jongdae panics. Baba told him if they were called because of him one more time Jongdae would lose his video game privileges. He likes his video game very much and Daddy said he would take him kart riding this weekend! That old hag will ruin everything!
Jongdae shoots Seulgi an accusatory look before pulling her pencil case from behind the larger bookcase (the one with the toy dinosaurs). The girl runs to him, yanking the item from his hands before sniffing and frowning at him. Jongdae shows her his tongue and Seulgi runs back to her seat, her friend Wendy hugging and comforting her. Tch. What a crybaby.
“Your dads will be mad,” Chanyeol, his seatmate, says when Jongdae returns to their shared table. “My mom says they’ll take you to a brain doctor if you don’t behave.”
It’s very unfortunate for Jongdae that Chanyeol’s and his parents are good friends. He’s been trapped with Dobby as his best friend since he was a baby, and even though Chanyeol is annoying and can’t shut up, it’s a good thing because sometimes he comes with precious information. Like that one.
“Brain doctor? Like a hospital?” Jongdae asks. Someone in his neighborhood was sent to a brain doctor. They never returned. “Like Mr. Ryeowook’s uncle?”
Chanyeol nods. “Because you’re always in trouble.”
“But I’m not crazy!” he protests. Only crazy people are sent to the brain doctor! Like Mr. Ryeowook’s uncle! He talked to Jongdae’s cat and barked at Chanyeol’s dog.
Chanyeol shrugs and says. “My mom said your dad said so,” and returns to his drawing. Jongdae whines, lowering his head to the table. He doesn’t want to go to a brain doctor. And it would all be because of Kang Seulgi and that old hag. He shouldn’t have given the pencil case back.
When the class is finally over Jongdae fearfully walks out of the building, eyes scanning the crowd of parents in search for his own. He spots Chanyeol’s mom, his friend waving goodbye before running to meet her. His daddy is a few steps behind her, hand tight around Jongdae’s little brother’s much smaller one. He doesn’t look happy. Jongdae swallows and walks toward him.
“Get in.” Daddy takes his backpack and ushers him into the car. Jongdae pouts but hops in, not even having the energy to respond when his brother pulls on his shirt. It’s Jongdae’s responsibility to lock Jongin in his seat, so he does it without complaints when the toddler pulls on his hair, clearly annoyed by Jongdae’s lack of response to his calls for attention. Seating and buckling his own seat belt, Jongdae watches his dad drive away from school.
“Are you angry, Daddy?” he asks warily. He knows Daddy doesn’t usually scold him. Baba does, so for now, Jongdae might be safe.
“We’ll talk about what you’ve done later,” Daddy says, not even glancing at him. “Just know that we’re not going kart riding.”
There. That’s what Jongdae feared. He knew he would be punished for hiding Seulgi’s pencil case. It was just a joke, but he knew his dads wouldn’t understand that. They’d see it as him being bad.
He remains quiet the whole ride home and is sent to his bedroom when they arrive. There, Jongdae draws Kang Seulgi with a pig nose and plans to shove the drawing in her backpack. It’s all her fault. That crybaby. She shouldn’t have cried when it was all just a joke.
It’s dinnertime when Daddy knocks at his door telling him to come downstairs. He knows they’re scolding him now because Baba is home and they always do it together. Jongdae peeks at them from behind the staircase wall, catching sight of Daddy loosening Baba’s tie with a worried face.
“We can’t encourage his behavior, Kris,” Daddy is saying. “I’m afraid he’ll grow up to be one of those bullies we see in movies. Shoving other kids’ heads in the toilet.”
“He’s not a bully, he’s just a kid,” Baba says, running his fingers through his blond hair. “This is kid behaviour. We need to teach him that what he’s doing is wrong, not punish him. If you’d read that book Song Qian lent us you’d know.”
Daddy rolls his eyes, “He’s seven. He’ll do whatever he wants out of our sight, we need to reinforce with negative--”
“Are you going Watson and Skinner on our son, Joonmyun?”
Skin him? Jongdae’s eyes widen and he steps out of his hiding before Daddy can answer. Both their heads turn to him.
“Dae, come here,” Daddy waves him over and Jongdae sits between them.
“I’m not a bully Daddy,” he looks up at his dad and shifts his eyes to Baba. “I swear, it was just a joke! I didn’t want to make Seulgi cry! Don’t skin me!”
Jongin, who’s playing on the living room floor in front of them, chooses that moment to yell, “Skin Dae!” Jongdae frowns at his little brother. What is he doing awake anyway?
To his surprise, Baba snorts a laugh, shaking his head in amusement. Jongdae frowns.
“We’re not going to skin you, dude.” He says. “We’re just worried. You can’t keep bothering your classmates, Jongdae.”
“I wasn’t--!”
“Hiding someone’s belongings is not a joke,” Daddy completes. “Nor is convincing your friends to put their socks inside the teacher’s purse.”
Jongdae has to control his laughter. That was a good one. Old hag’s bag smelt like their feet for weeks.
“I’m sorry,” he lowers his head.
“Promise us you won’t bother Seulgi anymore.” Daddy caresses his head. Jongdae used to sleep with Daddy caressing him like that. It means they’re not angry anymore.
“Or any of your classmates,” Baba reminds.
He sighs. “Ok. Can we still go kart riding?” he stares at them hopefully.
Daddy squints and looks at Baba. “Behave. Then we’ll go kart riding.”
--
He doesn’t have much time; Old Hag said she would return to the classroom in five minutes. Jongdae runs his eyes around the room and tries to come up with a fast way to act. Should he hide Seulgi’s pencil case again? No, not Seulgi. She would cry and Jongdae would lose his video game privileges for the second week in a row. Maybe he could mock-draw someone on the board.
“Are you thinking of doing something bad?” Chanyeol’s voice comes in that frightened tone Jongdae knows all too well. He rolls his eyes at his lame friend. “I don’t want you to go to a brain doctor, Jongdae, stop doing bad things.”
“I’m not going to--” Old hag returns to the classroom and Jongdae deflates. There goes a perfect chance to do something cool for the day.
“Who’s that?” Chanyeol asks. Jongdae glances at him before following his gaze to find a boy trailing behind the teacher. A new boy.
“Ok everyone, listen up!” Old hag starts, clapping her hands excitedly. “We have a new student,” she taps the boy’s shoulder and he walks forward. “This is Zhang Yixing. I want you all to welcome him and treat him well, ok?”
A wave of quiet chattering emerges in the classroom, all about Zhang Yixing. The girls want to know where he’s from and if he likes cats; the boys want to know if he likes to play soccer. Chanyeol remains silent and Jongdae feels strange. This new boy is cute. He wears purple pants and a Totoro t-shirt, white Converse, and his backpack is yellow like mustard. His whole face is red and he doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes while the teacher is saying he came from China because one of his daddies is Chinese. His flimsy black hair is cut short, but there’s a wild strand in the back staying up. Jongdae wants to pat it down. He doesn’t know why, though.
Zhang Yixing walks towards an empty spot - the only empty spot - beside Do Kyungsoo. Jongdae feels the strange need to run over and pull the new boy away from Kyungsoo because no one sits with Kyungsoo. If there’s someone Jongdae thinks should go to the brain doctor it’s Do Kyungsoo. There’s clearly something wrong with his head, he doesn’t like people and playing games and being a kid altogether. All he does is sit there and watch the class in silence. During the break he reads these huge books and keeps to himself. Chanyeol tried to befriend Kyungsoo once because “he sits next to us and we should make friends with him”, but was scared away. Meaning no one sits with Do Kyungsoo.
Yet there is the new boy, Zhang Yixing, in all his cute Chineseness sitting right next to Kyungsoo. Everyone turns to look at him, some whispering how crazy he is for taking a seat with Kyungsoo, some laughing at how ill-fated he is. The whole classroom is waiting for Do Kyungsoo to act up and shoo the new boy away. Except it doesn’t happen. Both of them remain silent - not even a hi - for the rest of the class. Jongdae knows they didn’t talk to each other because he kept an eye on them. For the new boy’s protection.
During the break, Kyungsoo goes to the patio with one of his large books and Zhang Yixing sits on a bench, small legs dangling and hands fumbling with each other. He looks so unsure all by himself, watching the other kids run around and play together. So Jongdae walks over. He stops awkwardly in front of Zhang Yixing, not knowing how to act or talk to him, which is very weird since Jongdae always knows how to speak. The boy looks up at him, small, sleepy eyes staring at Jongdae like he’s waiting.
Jongdae coughs, “Your shoelaces are untied.”
Zhang Yixing stares at him.
“Um,” Jongdae feels his whole face redden. How stupid. “Do you know how to speak Korean? If you came from China…”
The boy presses his lips together and a dimple appears in his cheek. It’s like when Jongdae puts on a Disney movie and before the movie starts they show the castle with a lot of fireworks and a nice song. That’s how Jongdae feels. He also feels himself blush. Again.
“I know how to speak Korean,” says Zhang Yixing in a soft, too cute voice.
“I don’t know how to speak Chinese,” Jongdae adds uselessly.
“It’s very easy, Appa learned in a month.”
There’s a small chance that Zhang Yixing won’t turn him down if Jongdae asks to sit next to him. “I’m Jongdae,” he says.
“Baba calls me Xing, but my name is Yixing.”
Jongdae lightens at a familiar word. “I have a Baba, he’s from China too!”
Yixing frowns. “Why you can’t speak Chinese then? Your Baba didn’t teach you?”
It’s not that he hadn’t tried. Jongdae wasn’t interested in learning so he pretended he was sick every time Baba tried to teach him.
“No…” he says weakly.
“It’s ok, I’m not very good with Korean.” Zhang Yixing smiles at him. It’s like the sun is shining right in Jongdae’s face, and something flips in his belly.
The bell announces the end of break and Yixing stands up.
“Wait,” Jongdae says and crouches in front of the new boy, tying his shoelaces. He is an ace in tying shoelaces, so he does it quickly. “There you go. You could fall and get hurt.”
If there was an award for the prettiest smile, Jongdae is certain that Zhang Yixing would win every year. He feels his face warm when Yixing thanks him. They return to the classroom together and Jongdae is oddly happy about sitting next to Do Kyungsoo.
--
There is broccoli on his plate, but Jongdae is so excited that he doesn’t even mind the green stuff. Usually he slips half of his broccoli to Jongin’s plate because his brother will eat anything Jongdae gives him, but tonight he eats the broccoli himself. Baba watches him with an amused face and Daddy is clearly afraid that something clicks in him and Jongdae suddenly stops eating the broccoli. It’s true he doesn’t mind. He’s happy today.
“He’s Chinese, like you Baba! And he let me tie his shoelaces!” he stuffs himself with more broccoli and tries to chew too fast. “He’s so cool! Even Do Kyungsoo let him sit at his desk!” Jongdae swallows, but some broccoli goes down the wrong pipe and he’s thrown into a coughing fit.
“Slow down, dude!” Baba says, gently tapping Jongdae’s back as Daddy pours him some water.
“Dae tie my shoelaces,” Jongin mumbles, letting go of his little spoon and stretching his hands to Jongdae. Daddy smiles fondly while passing Jongdae a glass of water.
“Jonginnie, you’re not wearing shoes right now.” he says as Jongdae gulps the water quickly. “Dae, eat slowly,” Daddy instructs before turning to Baba. “Isn’t there a new guy in your firm whose kid’s name is Yixing?”
Baba halts the chopsticks right in front of his open mouth, “Yeah, there is.”
“You could check if it’s the same boy. Maybe you could arrange a playdate since Jongdae seems to like Yixing so much.”
Oh, that would be marvelous! Just Yixing and Jongdae doing all kinds of fun stuff for a whole day! Jongdae could show Yixing his sketchbook with drawings of his classmates in pig noses! They could play with Cat, Jongdae’s cat, together! There’s so much they could do!
Gasping in excitement, Jongdae looks at his dad, “Can Yixing come for a playdate? Please Baba, please?”
Baba lowers his chopsticks and sighs, “I don’t even know if it’s the same kid. I’ll check with Zhou Mi tomorrow, ok buddy?”
Before he goes to sleep, Jongdae wishes upon every star that he can see from his bedroom window, that Mr. Zhou Mi from Baba’s work is Yixing’s dad.
--
Because of Baba’s friendship with Yixing’s father, they get to spend afternoons together from time to time. Sometimes, Yixing comes over after school and Jongdae teaches him everything he knows about the stars and shows him his sketchbook filled with funny drawings. They play with Jongin and Yixing doesn’t even mind when Jongdae’s little brother falls asleep in the middle of their game. Sometimes, Jongdae goes to his place. Yixing lives in an apartment, the place well decorated and very clean. His room isn’t big, but there’s enough space for them to build a Lego city and play with Yixing’s toy train.
In these afternoons, Jongdae learns a lot about Yixing. He learns that the Chinese boy dislikes the mocking drawings of his classmates (Jongdae learned that the hard way when he showed his sketchbook and Yixing scolded him). He learns that Yixing likes to listen to the old music his dad puts on sometimes and that he loves cupcakes.
Jongdae bothers Daddy to buy cupcakes every time Yixing comes over. He thinks of it as a strategy. Maybe if Yixing likes his house he won’t want to leave.
In school, Yixing still sits with Kyungsoo, but that’s only because Jongdae is stuck with Chanyeol. They still spend break together. Sometimes they play with Chanyeol’s cards, sometimes they play with the rest of their classmates, but Yixing is always with him. He often forgets his pencil case at home (something else that Jongdae learns about Yixing: he’s very forgetful) and Jongdae lends him pencils.
One day he gets home and asks Baba to teach him Chinese.
“W-what?” Baba was drinking coffee and some liquid dripped down his chin and onto his pristine white shirt. He tried wiping it with his fingers, but only stained it worse. “You want to learn Mandarin?”
Jongdae nods.
“But you…” Baba shakes his head. “Never mind, this is great, son! We will start tomorrow evening, what do you think?”
Daddy comes from the living room still in his pajamas carrying a sleepy Jongin on his arms. “What are you starting tomorrow?”
“Jongdae,” Baba looks at him proudly and Jongdae smiles, “finally decided that he wants to learn Chinese!”
“That’s great!” Daddy ruffles Jongdae’s hair. “You can practice with Yixing.”
Yes! Yes, yes, yes that’s exactly what’s on Jongdae’s mind, but of course he’s not going to tell that to Baba; Jongdae is not stupid.
One evening he overhears his parents talking about Yixing. They think Jongdae is upstairs playing with the new puzzle game he earned because of his good behavior.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Daddy is saying. He’s leaning back on the counter while Baba washes the dishes. “It’s been almost two months since the last time the school called us with complaints of Jongdae’s behavior.”
“I thought that was the reason why we bought him a new toy?” Baba rinses a bowl. “Positive reinforcement?”
“Yes, it was but the reason why he’s acting so different. You haven’t noticed?”
Realization flashes across Baba’s features. “Aaaaaaaah. Zhou Mi’s kid. Yixing.”
“Yes!” Daddy slaps his shoulder gently. “Ever since he became friends with this boy, Jongdae’s been acting differently. Instead of stealing his classmates’ belongings, he helps them with assignments. Instead of hiding homework from us, he works with Yixing. And Mandarin?”
“Oh my god that was wicked.” Baba lets out one of his silly laughs and Daddy smiles. Jongdae is confused. He thought wicked things were bad things. Is it bad that he wants to learn Chinese? “He’s been so great.”
“He’s always been great, but he’s better now. And I can’t help but notice it started when this Yixing kid appeared.”
“He’s a good friend for Jongdae,” Baba says as he rinses the last bowl and Jongdae thinks he’s heard enough, turning on his heels and running up to his bedroom.
It’s true. Yixing is good for him. Yixing is good in general and Jongdae is so happy his parents know. He just has to keep the good behavior and Yixing can be his friend for a very long time.
--
Jongdae can’t concentrate on his drawing. He keeps looking at Yixing and how tightly he holds the crayons Jongdae lent him. It’s strange: he feels so happy knowing that Yixing is using his crayons.
“You drew a yellow circle.” Chanyeol says, interrupting Jongdae’s watch.
He turns to his Dobby friend, hoping that Chanyeol can tell by the way Jongdae glares at him how stupid he is for interrupting. “It’s the sun.”
“Yeah, but where are the rays? You can’t have a ball for a sun.” Chanyeol fills pink into one of the blocks he drew before he changes to his broken orange crayon.
“I’m not done yet,” Jongdae assures him, stealing another quick glance at Yixing. He’s talking to Do Kyungsoo. They’ve been talking a lot lately; Do Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to mind Yixing and it bothers Jongdae. That’s not how Kyungsoo is supposed to work; he’s supposed to ignore people and not want to make friends with anyone. No exceptions. Why is Yixing an exception?
“Can I have your red crayon?” Chanyeol asks. “Why are you looking at them?”
“Kyungsoo is talking to Yixing,” Jongdae answers, his fingers holding the yellow crayon with so much strength that it breaks in two. He doesn’t even care.
“What?” Chanyeol jerks in his seat. “Again? Why is Kyungsoo being friends with him if he said he didn’t want to be friends with me?”
That’s an easy one. “Because he’s smart,” Jongdae elbows Chanyeol, urging him to sit straight and not lean into Jongdae.
Something has to be done so Kyungsoo doesn’t steal Jongdae’s precious break time with Yixing. When the bell rings, Jongdae doesn’t waste a second cleaning his desk; he jumps out of his seat and wraps a hand around Yixing’s wrist. The Chinese student looks a little spooked, but once he recognizes Jongdae, he smiles.
“Hi Jongdae,” he says. Jongdae wants to cry. He’s so cute.
“Come! Chanyeol brought his UNO cards!” he knows Chanyeol is probably waiting for him outside, so Jongdae tries to pull Yixing with him, but the boy resists.
“Kyungsoo wanted to show me his book,” Yixing says. “It’s about a boy who’s a wizard and lives many adventures. Do you want to read with us?”
Yixing has plans. With Kyungsoo. He made plans to spend all break with Kyungsoo. Stupid Kyungsoo and his book who are now looking at Jongdae in that creepy way he looks at people from behind his eyelashes. It’s almost like he’s saying Jongdae is not welcome to his little book reading.
“No, you can’t go with Kyungsoo,” Jongdae says. “He’s going to pass his creep to you!”
All Jongdae wanted was for Yixing to come play with him like they’ve been doing all along! He didn’t wish for Kyungsoo to cry and run away. He certainly didn’t wish for Yixing to look at him like his Daddy looks when Jongdae does something bad. Like he’s disappointed. Most of all, Jongdae didn’t mean for the teacher to come asking why Kyungsoo was crying, and he didn’t want Yixing to tell on him with a sad face. He certainly didn’t mean for his parents to know that Jongdae didn’t change after all. He is still a mean kid, one of those bullies who will grow up to dunk people’s heads in toilets.
Jongdae loses his video game privileges, of course. But that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is to see the look on his parents’ faces and know that they’re probably thinking they were wrong.
He cries himself to sleep.
--
As some sort of punishment, Baba decides to go hard on Jongdae’s Chinese lessons. Instead of one hour every day, Jongdae gets two hours and twenty minutes. Thursday is usually a day for pizza dinner, but this Thursday they have spinach soup. It might even not be on purpose, but it looks like they’re working hard on teaching him many lessons in every way possible. He’s a mean kid and not worthy of Yixing’s friendship; he gets it. They didn’t have to stoop so low.
Friday is a sad day at school. Yixing doesn’t speak to Jongdae. And worse: to move Jongdae away from Kyungsoo, Old Hag makes him trade seats with some other kid and he sits on the opposite side of the classroom. He doesn’t even get to be near Chanyeol. During the break, Old Hag asks for Jongdae’s help in cutting some papers for whatever -- clearly another punishment. It’s the worst day ever. He is forced to see Do Kyungsoo smile happily next to Yixing while Jongdae is stuck with boring Lee Kyumi. Usually, this kind of thing would fuel him to misbehavior. He would have drawn Kyungsoo with a pig face or stolen his crayons or something. Jongdae would even have planned something bigger, like a mass escape from the classroom. It’s odd that instead of the will to mischief he simply feels sad. Awfully sad.
When the school day is over, Jongdae leaves the classroom without waiting for Chanyeol (like usual) or Yixing (like he’s been doing), because he doesn’t want them to see him cry. Daddy is there waiting for him, his face shifting to worry once he sees Jongdae’s wet face. He tries asking what’s wrong, but it only makes Jongdae cry harder.
“Dae, don’t cry.” Jongin is already locked in his seat, looking at him with pitiful eyes when he hands his pororo doll to Jongdae in a nice offer of comfort. Jongdae smiles at him, scooting closer and leaning his head on the edge of Jongin’s elevated seat.
“Thanks, Jonginnie.”
The weekend drags on like the summer camp Jongdae attended once that was so boring he asked to come home earlier. He has Chinese classes with Baba, finishes homework with Daddy and reads a lot of books his grandma sent him. Jongin lets Jongdae help him building his own lego city and he gets one hour of TV in the afternoon, but Dads take pity on him and invite Jongdae to watch a movie with them in their comfy bedroom Saturday night.
On Sunday, Chanyeol comes over, but only because his mom has to do something with Jongdae’s dads.
“I asked her to bring me because you left on Friday without saying goodbye,” Chanyeol says when they’re sitting on the couch, the TV on but none of them paying attention. “We all saw you cry.”
Damn it. There goes Jongdae’s reputation. He frowns before spitting, “Did you get a good laugh?”
Chanyeol shakes his head, “Yixing was very worried.”
“He’s not speaking with me,” Jongdae says as if it’ll mean that Yixing wasn’t really worried about him. How could he, when he avoided Jongdae the whole Friday?
“He says you should apologize to Kyungsoo,” Dobby says and Jongdae snorts. Of course he’s not apologizing to Do Kyungsoo -- this is all happening because of him. “Kyungsoo is nice, Dae. We spent break together on Friday.” Chanyeol looks so excited it’s even stupid.
“You can go be friends with him, I don’t care.”
“We missed you,” his friend says in a soft voice. “It’s not the same without you.”
Ok, that’s cool. And Jongdae is totally not blushing. He’s happy Chanyeol is here. Jongdae missed his friends so much.
“Besides,” Chanyeol continues with a serious look on his face, “remember the brain doctor? What if your parents still want to ship you off?”
Yes. Perhaps the best option is to apologize to Do Kyungsoo anyway.
--
Jongdae is back in his own seat with Chanyeol on Monday. He makes an effort not to meet Kyungsoo’s eyes (or Yixing’s for that matter), concentrating on the lesson and making conversation with Chanyeol. Like it’s always been. Jongdae has a plan to corner Do Kyungsoo during the break and apologize, but it has to happen when he’s alone.
Jongdae volunteers to help the teacher tidy the bookcase on break just because he doesn’t want to go to the patio. And because it would give him time to capture Kyungsoo when the latter goes to the bathroom -- Kyungsoo always goes to the bathroom before break ends. Old Hag compliments him on his initiative and says that if Jongdae maintains his good behavior he’s going to turn into a great kid in the future. He doesn’t want to look like it, but it makes him feel warm.
He’s done with the bookcase when he spots Kyungsoo walking to the bathroom. That’s his cue. Jongdae speeds towards him, startling Kyungsoo when the boy turns around and spots Jongdae running in his direction.
Kyungsoo looks like he’s about to scream. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you!” Jongdae rushes, following Kyungsoo into the bathroom. The other looks at him with big eyes, startled. “I want to say I’m sorry. For… That day.”
It’s like Jongdae’s really said the magic words. Kyungsoo’s shoulders ease up, and his eyes return to normal (as normal as they can get). He lets out a long breath. “I’m sorry the teacher called your parents,” Kyungsoo says.
“I’m sorry I made you cry.” Jongdae continues. He feels his whole face burning and his toes keep curling in anxiety.
“It’s ok.” After a few seconds, a tiny smile stretches Kyungsoo’s lips. “Do you want to see my book? It’s about a boy who’s a wizard. There are a lot of books, but the first one is my favorite.”
It feels like a statement of friendship. Seeing Do Kyungsoo’s book. It means he’s ok with Jongdae now. So Jongdae nods, opening a big smile because Chanyeol was right. Kyungsoo is not so bad.
He’s going back to the classroom when someone intercepts him. It all happens so fast. Yixing comes out of nowhere and barely faces Jongdae, stretching his arms to pass a folded paper to Jongdae. His heart speeds up, his palms start sweating and Jongdae is pretty sure his eyes are bigger than Kyungsoo’s.
“Take it, please,” Yixing says; his voice is so thin and low. Jongdae grabs the paper, and as soon as he does it, Yixing rushes to his seat, cheeks and ears pink.
His hands are shaking when he flops on his chair next to Chanyeol, his Dobby friend so interested in the book (one of Kyungsoo’s, apparently) he doesn’t even notice Jongdae’s distressed state. It’s better this way: Jongdae doesn’t feel like sharing whatever is on the paper Yixing just passed him with anyone else. He carefully unfolds it, making sure that Chanyeol is not looking.
It’s a note. A long one. Written in Yixing’s cute handwriting and cute Korean.
Jongdae,
I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you on Friday. Kyungsoo was upset and you were mean to him. But I don’t hate you. Chanyeol says you think I hate you, I promise I don’t. I missed you on break, and I missed you on break today too. I want to be friends with both you and Kyungsoo, but I understand if you don’t want to speak with me.
Do you still want to be friends?
YES ( ) NO ( )
Yixing
That feeling, that thing Jongdae felt when he first saw Yixing -- the thing that felt like a Disney movie starting -- he feels it all again now. If kids could explode from happiness, Jongdae would have blown up already. He grabs the first pencil he sees and marks an X on the “yes” option, because duh, of course, he wants to be friends with Yixing. He’ll always want to be friends with Yixing.
He takes the chance to slip the note back to Yixing when Old Hag is still organizing her things to restart the class. The beautiful spark in Yixing’s eyes when Jongdae gives him back the paper is not a product of his imagination. He watches Yixing open the note and run his eyes across the note. His face blooms with a smile, then he looks up at Jongdae.
“Do you want to go for an ice cream after class? Daddy can take us.” Jongdae asks. He’s sure Daddy won’t mind. Not if it’s Yixing. When the Chinese boy nods, Jongdae continues, “Kyungsoo and Chanyeol can come too, right?”
Yixing looks surprised for a second, but then he smiles, and Jongdae figures he’s said the right thing. He must start learning so he always knows what to say to have Yixing smiling at him like that.
And that’s how Kim Jongdae learns that bothering people and being a troublemaker isn’t a good idea. Things have been going well for Jongdae since Yixing showed up in his life. He earns a little group of friends and proud parents. Old Hag gifts him with a colored pencil box as a reward for his great behavior and Kang Seulgi invites him to her birthday party. Above everything, what Jongdae values the most is the glint on Yixing’s eyes whenever they play catch, the sound of his laughter, and the way he smiles whenever they meet someone new and Yixing introduces Jongdae as his favorite friend.