It was the burning smell that woke Taehyun up. He groggily gets out of bed and sets his eyes at the time on the clock by the window. It was 6:50 exactly. Which was when he usually be up and getting ready for school. He realizes afterwards that he had slept on the mattress and his dad must've slept on the futon on the floor. It was already neatly folded and he could hear his dad making noises in the kitchen.

Usually after he change, he brushes his teeth and try to remember the dream he had from last night. Today he had a dream that was so vivid but he felt extremely scared to be even in his own dream. It was odd that he didn't remember what he specifically dreamt about but the only thing he could remember was him feeling scared and also his dad being in it with him. Was his dad the hero? The innocent citizen in distress? or the villain?

“Hey you're already up?”

The kitchen was an absolute mess. Most of the things in the fridge were either laying out in the kitchen or were already used for cooking one measly sunny side up. Junmyeon knew he wasn’t a michelin star chef or homecook but he was tight on money and didn't want to constantly spend the little money he had on instant food from the convienience store. 

“Just take a seat. I’m almost done.” Suddenly the egg in the pan starts turning into charcoal and it gathers a thick cloud of smog causing Junmyeon to cough profusely. He quickly fans the smoke away with the nearest thing he could find which was a paper plate and directs it out of the apartment. 

He agressively turns off the stove and sees that his last attempt at making breakfast failed. “Aish! What is wrong with this stupid kitchen!” 

Taehyun flinched at his dad raising his voice so he immediately keeps his head down and distracts himself by looking at his superman pants and superman sneakers. 

Junmyeon finally calms down and he discards the burnt pieces of eggs in the trash. He starts noticing the time and knew he was going ot be late for work if they didn't leave now. “Guess we’ll have to skip breakfast. Are you ready to go?”

“Y-y-yes-s-s-s.” 

Junmyeon was still not used to his son talking like that and sighed just keeping himself quiet. He starts putting his shoes on while Taehyun puts on his backpack and made sure he had his cape with him. The two then head down to the bus stop not saying a word to each other. It would look rather odd for a father and son to not talk with each other but they were both ok with it.  

While they waited for the bus, Taehyun put his backpack pouch in front of him and started looking around at the shops by their bus stop. Most of them were just starting to open up for the day while other stores were closed but there were still people heading off to work.  

“When we meet with your principal I don’t want any more trouble. You just apologize to that kid you fought with and take whatever punishment the headmaster gives. You understand me? I don’t want any more calls from the school about you getting into another fight. It’s already troublesome enough that I’m going to be late to work because of this.”

Taehyun just nodded his head while his eyes were casted down on the patterns of the sidewalk as if they were more interesting to look at. They both sat down on the bus bench but Junmyeon and Taehyun sat a distance away from each other while wishfully thinking that this day go by quickly. 

When the bus arrived at the stop by the school, Junmyeon and Taehyun walked to the front gate as other students were being dropped off by their parents. Junmyeon tried to avoid making eye contact with the other parents who were doing drop offs. All he wanted was to just head straight inside with no contact when someone called his son's name. 

“Goodmorning Taehyun!” He wished his son would just keep walking and ignore whoever that person was but his son did the exact opposite and stopped to talk to the person.

Youngchul was being wheeled out of the car by his dad and wheels himself over to Taehyun while Soo Yun hops out of the van last. Taehyun tries to say good morning as soon as Young Chul comes by and gave a little hello. “M-m-mor-mor-n-n-n-ning  Yo-yo-youn-ng-ng-ng Chu-chu-chu-”

“Ah is it really that hard for you to say good morning? Tch it's so annoying.” 

“So Yun that’s not nice you know.” Soo Yun didn’t care if it was hurtful. She just shrugged her shoulders and gave Youngchul his backpack. Young chul's dad Mr. Kim comes to the two with their prepared lunches for today. 

“Alright kiddos, here are your lunches and Soo Yun I made sure to pack an extra serving of radishes in your lunch since Chanyeol told me you started liking them a lot recently.” 

Soo Yun nodded and had a tiny smile when she heard that she got extra servings of her favorite food this week. “Hm thanks Uncle Min.” 

“Yeah thanks Dad.” Young Chul echoed afterwards excited about his lunch today.

Mr. Kim lovingly caresses Young Chul’s head and looks to be greeted with Junmyeon who was awkwardly standing behind Taehyun just keeping to himself. 

“Goodmorning! I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Young Chul’s father, Kim Minseok but you can just call me Minseok.” Junmyeon doesn’t bother saying anything and shakes the father’s hand. 

“Oh dad this is Taehyun. He’s me and Sooyun's classmate.”

“He-Hel-Hel-hello s-s-s-si-sir.” Taehyun politely bows toward Mr. Kim who smiled and ruffled the kid's hair. 

“Well it’s nice to meet you Taehyun. If you like maybe you can come over and play with Young Chul sometime. But only if you're ok with that?” He directed that last question toward Junmyeon who didn’t react or say anything. 

Taehyun just answers for him and nods that he would like that very much. This made Young Chul and Mr.Kim extremely happy while Soo Yun rolled her eyes. 

“Ok! Hey kids I’m heading off now and remember Uncle Chanyeol is going to pick you up after school ok? I love you! Have a great day! All of you!” Minseok just kisses the top of Young Chul’s head and doesn’t forget to pat Soo Yun’s head as well. 

As Taehyun watched Mr. Kim interacting with Young chul and Soo Yun, he suddenly felt a foreign feeling brewing inside of him and he didn’t know what it was. But whatever this feeling was made him want to clutch the straps of his backpack tightly. 

“We’ll see you in class Taehyun!” Young Chul kept waving before Soo Yun took the handles of his wheelchair and started pushing him inside the school. 

Taehyun kept staring at them while they laughed about something funny and then there was that foreign feeling again that he wished he could be like them. He snaps out of his stupor when his dad grabs his hand and continues walking. “Come on. We’re going to be late.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Kim got into his car and doesn’t go just yet. He usually waits until Young Chul and Soo Yun go inside before he left for work. When they get inside the school he smiled but then his eyes drift towards that Taehyun kid and his dad who were walking inside together. 

Besides Soo yun, this was probably the first time he’s ever interacted with one of Young Chul’s classmates. He seemed like a nice boy but his father on the other hand gave him an uneasy feeling. Maybe it was because he never met him during open house which was where he got to know most of the parents. Whatever that feeling was, he was positive it’ll go away once he gets to know Taehyun’s father more and hopefully Young Chul can have another friend come over and play with him. 

Back in the present, it was deathly silent after Mr. Ryu's outburst. I'm sure even the faculty outside the headmaster's door could hear the commotion. However, what certainly took the cake was Mr. Ryu digging up on Mr. Kim's past of being in jail. 

Woori didn’t want to believe it because maybe he was just being over dramatic. People call other people criminals whenever they get pissed right? How come Mr. Kim isn't the slightest bit offended by this? Does that mean he’s not denying it at all? It irked Mr. Ryu that Mr. Kim wasn’t saying anything and just looking at him coldly.

Mr. Kim slowly looks away and clears his throat to talk. “I don’t see how you proved your point by exposing personal information about me but I suggest you focus more on the actual topic of discussion instead of nosing into other people’s personal life. Unless that’s all you’re good for in situations like these. Putting your nose where it doesn't belong.”

“Why you-”

Suddenly Headmaster Wu loudly claps two times to get everyone’s attention on him. Woori even almost forgot he was there but she felt relieved to say the least.  

“Now now let’s just all settle down. Mr and Mrs. Ryu can we please stay on topic? I agree with Mr. Kim, this is mainly about Taehyun and Jeongin.”

“Right, well I want that little juvenile suspended, expelled, shipped across the country. I don’t care as long as he's as far away as possible from harming my son. It's better for everyone that someone like him be kept in military school. Hopefully there they can keep that nasty attitude and anger in check rather than his dad not doing anything about it.”

“Hold on for a minute. Let’s just talk about this first. I wasn’t intending on expelling or suspending Taehyun either way.”

Mrs. Ryu’s voice could almost break the glass windows from how high her voice resonated. “What?! Headmaster what is the meaning of this?!” 

“Yah you’re not going to kick him out of the school?! So what the hell were you going to do to teach him a lesson for punching my son?”

“I was actually going to make him stay after school and write apology letters for Jeongin until he can finally learn his lesson.”

Judging by Mr. and Mrs. Ryu’s disapproving expression they thought Mr. Wu's suggestion was by the far the worst punishment by far.

“No, I won’t be satiated until I can be assured that my child is safe here and won’t be anywhere near that monster.” 

Woori’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. She was a little bothered because of how these parents were insulting a little seven year old. Why couldn’t they just forgive Taehyun? Or try to talk it out more calmly like actual adults do? But then again when were there ever mature adults in real life arguments?

“Mr. and Mrs. Ryu, how about we ask the kids then to find out what happened? Only then will I determine my punishment.” 

“Ask them about what? You heard from the other teachers that were there that Jeongin got punched by this brat. So what more proof do you need? This isn’t like it’s an FBI investigation!”

“Then what about Ms. Kang? What is her whole opinion on this matter? I would very much like to hear who she thinks is at fault.” This time Mr. and Mrs. Ryu directed their attention to Woori who looked like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Ms. Kang, weren't you also there when Jeongin got punched?”

“Y-yes? but I didn’t exactly see what happened. I’m sorry I was distracted with getting the other kids home.” 

Mr. Ryu just waves off her excuse, “Still you’ve interacted with your class before so that means you know who everyone is like in the classroom right? Come on just tell us who you think is the one who started this fight.”  

“Maybe we should ask her if the punishment is even considered fair for a kid who resorted to violence.” 

Headmaster Wu slams on the desk getting everyone startled. The headmaster just simply smiles even though Woori felt a chill crawl up her spine just looking at his neutral smile. Mr. Huang knew he was pissed and stepped back just in case. Junmyeon was calmer than Mr. and Mrs. Ryu who seemed fidgety now. 

“I understand your frustrations Mr. and Mrs. Ryu but this is my way of handling these types of situations and before I decide a fair and just punishment I need to listen to Taehyun and Jeongin’s side of the story first. From there on I will decide Taehyun's punishment.” 

“I’m ok with whatever you decide.” Junmyeon iterates. Whatever was going to get him to work faster.

"Mr. Huang can you please fetch the boys and bring them back here?" Mr. Huang does what Headmaster Wu tells him and quickly exits the office and brings in Taehyun and Jeongin the next second. Both of them timidly walked inside the office but Jeongin's nose definitely looked bruised. It had a big bandage patched over the bridge of his nose while Taehyun looked really fidgety and kept his eyes down. He had casted his eyes anywhere but the adults in the room and it was a good thing he did or he might have cried seeing Mr. and Mrs. Ryu's deadly glares. 

“Hello boys” 

“Good Morning headmaster.” 

“G-g-g-g-good-good m-m-m-mor-mor-morning.” 

“I called you in here because myself and your parents would like to hear about what happened yesterday after school. Can you boys tell me who was the one that started it?” 

“W-w-w-wha-wha-wha what ha-ha-ha-hap-happened was”

Mrs. Ryu scoffs, frustrated with the way Taehyun spoke. “It’ll take all day to hear what happened from him.” 

“Why don’t we let my son tell us what happened? It’ll make this thing a whole lot quicker and plus he's the victim.” 

Woori was taken aback with how rudely they cut Taehyun off like that. How is Mr. Kim feeling about these two disrespecting his child like that? She takes a good look at him and he didn't look angry or sad. He was just sitting there and acting as if everything is fine and dandy. She noticed the poor boy immediately shy away while Jeongin rolled his eyes and then back to Mr. Kim who looked he didn't care about what was being said about his son. 

“Alright. Jeongin you can go first then. Tell us what happened.” 

“Well, school was just over and Ms. Kang was leading all of us out of the class to get picked up. I was in the back of the line when I accidentally tripped and bumped into Taehyun. Then he punched me really hard. Now my nose hurts.” 

After he had finished retelling his side of the story, Mrs. Ryu pouted, feeling sorry for her son’s pain while Mr. Ryu looked furious having to hear the story again. “See I wasn’t wrong! It was all that troublemaker’s fault. All because my son accidentally bumped into him.” 

Jeongin then turns towards Taehyun with apologetic eyes and bowed. “I really am sorry Taehyun for bumping into you. I didn’t mean to make you so angry at me.” 

“Taehyun is what everything Jeongin said true? You punched him because he accidentally tripped and bumped into you?” 

Everyone in the room had their eyes on him while he played around with his tiny fingers before nodding his head. “I-i-it’s tr-tr-tr-true. I-I-I-I p-p-p-punched h-h-h-hi-hi-hi-him be-be-be-be-ca-ca-ca-cause-se-se-se o-of-of-of th-th-that.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ryu shook their heads in shame while Headmaster Wu sighed and rubs his temples before giving the verdict. “Alright since it was only Taehyun who was in the wrong here, I will give him two weeks to stay after school to be disciplined. He will write apology letters, clean up the classroom with Ms. Kang and will have to be seated separately from the other kids during class.”

Mr. Kim immediately shot up from his chair and looked like he was about ready to take off. “That’s fine by me. So are we done here?” 

“Wait a minute. That’s it? You’re not going to suspend the kid?” 

“He committed a first offense on a minor!” Mrs. Ryu screeched. 

“But they’re both kids. So they’re technically both minors and Taehyun hit him because it was a misunderstanding. So I want you two boys to shake hands and I don’t want anymore fighting between you two. You boys got that?” 

“Yes sir.” Jeongin chirps. Taehyun meekly nodded before they hesitated to shake hands but they eventually and it was enough to satisfy the headmaster but not Jeongin's parents. However, what was done was done and that meant Junmyeon could leave. 

Jeongin's parents got up as well but looked too unhappy about it all. “Mr and Mrs Ryu I hope you can understand that Taehyun will never do this again and is truly sorry.” the headmaster didn't have to apologize but felt like it would make them at least somewhat calmed down if he said this at least.

“Tch sometimes people like you are too forgiving to kids like him. One of these days that kid might become his father's present and who knows, he could possibly hurt the whole school.”

Then Mrs. Ryu’s phone beeped and immediately after Mr. Ryu gets a couple of messages and calls on his phone. “Darling we need to go. I'm late for a meeting and so are you.”

“Well we were about done here anyways so let’s go.”

“Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Ryu for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here." 

Before they left they say their goodbyes to Jeongin. “Goodbye Jeongin we’ll pick you up after school.” 

“Bye mother, father.” the moment they left, Headmaster Wu cleared his throat. 

“Mr. Huang, Ms. Kang you can take Jeongin and Taehyun back to class.” Both of them nod and usher the two out the door as it was Mr. Kim's cue to leave when headmaster Wu catches him before he walked out that door. “Junmyeon! Thank you for coming.” 

He was paused right at the door and didn't look at Headmaster Wu. He just walks out and passes Taehyun who avoi