"i'm sorry my daddy is late again, ms. lee"
Lee YN. Fresh out of university and ready to take on the world. The world of 2nd grade, I mean. When YN chose to become a teacher, she knew she had made the right choice. She wanted a simple life. Stay sin...
I wandered out of my classroom. It was the students' lunch period and they were probably playing in the playground by now. I grabbed my water bottle and my container of cookies before heading out to the playground. Today, I spent majority of my lunch break planning next week's lessons and decided to take a break after eating my lunch.
As I neared the playground, I could hear the excited squeals of children growing louder. I smile to myself as I watch my students running freely around the playground. I spot my usual bench and take a seat on it. I grab my water bottle and unscrew the cap. Before I could bring the bottle up to my lips, a voice yells out my name,
"Ms. Lee!!"
I put my water bottle down and see Chunhei, Noah, and Hyuna, another one of my students, running towards me.
"Is it true that you make good chocolate chip cookies?" Hyuna asks, getting really close to my face.
"Move back a little, sweetie," I giggle as I lean backwards, "And I can make chocolate chip cookies. I'm not sure they're amazing, but I can make them!"
"Your cookies are majestic!" Chunhei squeals from beside Noah. I giggled as she uses a word we came upon during read-aloud this morning.
"I guess they're pretty majestic," I shrug as I hold out my container to the three students, "Wanna taste for yourself?"
Luckily for me, I had exactly 4 cookies in this container, one for each person. Three hands dart into the container, each claiming their cookie. I watch as the kids stuff their face with cookies.
"MMM, these are amazing!! My mommy could never!! She only makes fancy desserts," Noah remarks, scarfing down the rest of his cookies. I giggle at his comment.
"I told you guys!!" Chunhei giggles giving you a high-five.
2:45PM
"Bye, Uncle Jinnie!! See you next week, Noah! I love you!." I mentally awe as Chunhei waves goodbye to her uncle and best friend.
"Bye, Noah! Bye, Mr. Kim!" I wave to the duo as they head to their car.
"YAH! I said to call me Jin! Mr. Kim makes me feel old," Jin scolds as he buckles Noah into his car seat.
"Bye, Jin!" I teasingly respond.
Once again, Chunhei was the last student to be picked up. Ever since she was picked up late on Monday, it has become routine for her to be the last one picked up. We'd wave off her classmates as they, one by one, were picked up then head into the classroom for some chocolate chip cookies and beanbag time.
"Ready for some cookies, munchkin?" I question, looking down at the little girl clutching loosely onto my right hand.
"Always, Ms. YN!" She cheered from beside me.
Lately, after school, Chunhei has resorted to calling me "Ms. YN" instead of Ms. Lee. For the first few days, I'd correct her, but after countless failed attempts, I concluded that it was doing no harm, and she would only address me as that during after school hours.
We walked back into my classroom and Chunhei walked to the back of the classroom and hopped onto her beanbag.
"Careful, munchkin," I warned as I opened my bag and took out her after school snack: my homemade chocolate chip cookies. This has also become routine for us. I'd pack an extra 4 cookies for after school. 2 for Chunhei to munch on and 2 for me. Some days, she'd get 3.
I handed her the container and proceeded to clean around my classroom. Today was Friday, the end of our first week, so I did some more cleaning than I usually did after classes ended.
"How was the first week of school, munchkin?" I questioned the tiny girl. Munchkin has also become her permanent nickname.
"'s okay," Chunhei mumbled, quietly munching on her cookies. This answer caught me off guard. Chunhei is usually very talkative after school. Talks of what her and Noah played during recess and how her puppy, Holly, has been doing, would be rolling of her tongue by now. Today, she was unusually quiet and timid.
I place my broom down and walked towards the back of the classroom, crouching down near the usually bubbly, now timid, little girl.
"What's got you down, bubba?" I question, leaning down to be face to face with her.
Her face drops once she realizes how close I am to her now. She drops her head lower, black hair slowly falling and covering her face. She avoids all eye contact and her usual gummy smile has now turned into a soft pout, her bread cheeks turning even squishier as she pouts.
"You can't eat chocolate chip cookies while pouting, bubba," I try and cheer her up, tickling her tummy slightly.
Her pouty lips slowly upturn into a soft smile. She looks up at me and gazes into my eyes. At this moment, I notice that her eyes are slightly glossed over and her lips have once again turned pouty. Her bottom lip trembles slightly and I swear I can hear my heart breaking inside my chest.
"I'm sorry my daddy is always late, Ms. YN. He's the only one who can pick me up. I don't have a mummy like everyone else.."
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a/n: this chapter was so sad to write :( I hope ya'll are enjoying so far!!
