Home-schooling came and went like the breeze on an autumn evening. It was bittersweet; Jennie would definitely miss teaching her pup how to count her dino biscuits before she ate them (although to varying degrees of success), what they called the colours of the sun and the moon, and that it was pronounced 'blu', not 'blu-ie', regardless of the 'e' at the end (a particularly difficult concept for Jisoo to grasp). But Jisoo was now at an age where hybrid school was the next logical step, and Jennie, ever the diligent vampire mum, had signed her up almost immediately.
As much as she wanted Jisoo all to herself, she knew it was in the girl's best interests to have her socialize with children and hybrids of her own age. Simply to ensure she had a well-rounded development.
Poor Jisoo, on the other hand, had no idea why her mommy would want to essentially abandon her for five hours every weekday. She'd rather have brussel sprouts as her choice of vegetable for the rest of her life if it meant not having to deal with being huddled in a room with an ingratitude of intolerable little hybrids and a teacher that wasn't Jennie.
Hybrid school was awful, Jisoo had made up her mind.
So that entire morning was a silent, weepy protest between Jisoo not wanting to budge an inch out of bed, and a flustered Jennie juggling getting her lunch packed and sorting out everything else. She stopped when she saw the mopey girl, moments from turning the bedroom floor into a wading pool.
Jennie sighed, knowing where this was going. If she couldn't be there to comfort her then someone was going to have to be. She gave her tongue a knowing click when she settled on the perfect solution.
She knelt down at the edge of the bed, placing her hands on Jisoo's trembling thighs, soothing her nerves.
Delicately brushing a thumb over pinkish, cotton-ball cheeks, Jennie gently shushed her sobbing pup. Jisoo eventually cracked a peek down into her lap where Jennie was holding a very familiar friend.
"Does Jichu need dalgomie to go with?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Jisoo gave a tearful nod against her own chest, unable to lift her head.
Dalgom; a white-coloured stuffed mouse, about as big as a handful of beans. He was a tad smudged, a little thread-bare on the right ear and missing a button eye, but that was all testament to how well loved he was.
Jennie hadn't really thought too much about gifting Jisoo the handmade cuddly. She only vaguely remembered cutting the textile and sewing it up, sealing it with her scent. It was an instant hit, though, Jisoo's favourite little stuffie, accompanying her through indescribably testing times, like when she was left in the living room and Jennie was miles away cooking in the kitchen. He was Jisoo's de-stresser, comforter and stand-in Jennie all at once.
... ...
Jennie stood right behind the fence, holding her thick scarf over her face so Jisoo wouldn't see how her lip trembled. The first day of school hadn't even begun and already Jennie was a flurry of emotion. God, she'd recently started wondering if she'd have to revoke her vampire card if she ever got caught like this. She didn't move until Jisoo was well out of sight.
Bright yellow backpack and jumper to match, Jisoo gave Jennie one last wave before plodding alongside the other hybrid children, little dalgom silently cheering her on from the safety of her coat pocket.
The kids were all over the place; climbing on chairs, chasing each other around while a little white-tailed deer boy pressed himself into the corner and bawled his eyes out. Jisoo sat, quietly taking it all in, making her mind up on how she felt about all this foreign liveliness. Everyone's attention was drawn to the towering male figure who entered the room. Mr. Henry, as he'd introduced himself to a class of wide-eyed students, was soft-spoken and quite fatherly in mannerism. A gentle giant, so to speak. His warmth simmered the tension, and Jisoo visibly relaxed.
"Alright then, now you all know me, how about we all get to know each other?"
Mr. Henry's 1000-watt smile was infectious, making everyone smile along with him.
It was decided they'd take turns introducing themselves anti-clockwise, just to mix things up a bit. "Let's start from the back," he said, gesturing to the little boy who Jisoo had seen crying earlier on, bloodshot-eyes and drying tear stains down pillowy cheeks. He stood on wax knees, shakily scanning his new classmates and twiddling anxious fingers into the seam of his denim dungarees. The boy had a bowl-cut of thick, blazing auburn and eyes the colour of hot chocolate. Not at all deer-like. In fact, had she not noticed his tear-drop, speckled tail, Jisoo would've assumed he was a puppy.
And he had the voice to go with it, too.
"Ho-Ho... Seok..." he gulped, all nasal and shy.
The few words of encouragement from Mr. Henry snipped his puppet strings, and Hoseok slumped down again, all too relieved, chin resting on the table top.
Jisoo wasn't even aware of how focused she was, how well she was observing and listening to each name and face, until –
Jisoo blinked when she felt the class hush, glancing around to see all eyes on her. She swivelled back round to face Mr. Henry, who was nodding at her, signalling it was indeed her turn. Feeling much braver than she had thought she'd be, she stood up a little too quickly. The legs of the chair were abrasive against the rippled floorboards, shattering the stillness and making her wince.
Not the best start.
But everyone was waiting.
"Ji... Ji..."
The rest of her name was jammed in her throat, every attempt at forcing it out choked her, scrubbed her raw with fear. She just stood there, furrowed brows and pencil-line lipped, desperately subduing her nerves so she could speak again.
Sensing the obvious discomfort, her teacher kindly offered to carry on and to get back to her at the end or whenever she felt ready.
"N-no..." Jisoo answered. She could do this; she was determined to.
Clumsily digging into her right pocket, she gave dalgom a squeeze for courage.
... ...
The day couldn't have ended sooner for Jisoo.
Jennie standing at the fence, open-armed, was like a beacon of light sent from the heavens themselves. She rushed towards her, overjoyed. As soon as she was on the other side of the fence, she found herself scooped up and held into Jennie's chest. And the vampiress couldn't stop letting Jisoo know how missed she was.
"Jichu!" her voice muffled into Jisoo's puffer coat as the girl melted into her embrace, "Are you happy to see me? mommy missed you so much, you know?"
Her only reply was those happy crescent moon eyes and a tiny sneeze from the winter cold, prompting Jennie to pull her scarf off herself and wrap it round the shivery puppy.
... ...
"Did dalgomie have a fun day too, baby?"
Trust Jennie not to forget Jisoo had gone to school with her soft toy.
"Yes mommy! Dalgomie helped Jichu make friends," Jisoo's enthusiasm rung gladly, and Jennie was consoled, knowing she'd successfully leapt her first hurdle.
Jennie listened, fully immersed into Jisoo recount her roller-coaster of a day. She clutched him the entire time.
The Dalgom; Like Jennie, his home was wherever Jisoo was, be that nestled into the duvet with her, carried around in her palm, or wordlessly congratulating her when she finally finished that drawing she'd been working so hard on. Jisoo's best buddy; sole protector against the scary outside world and evil forces lurking in the night time... second to Jennie, of course.
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dalgom cameo >:3 sure he's a chewed up homemade stuffed mouse toy but still !! he does all the things real life dalgom does which is keep jisoo safe and comforted ^^
