All Rucheng toddlers arrived at school with curious parents and guardians. They also brought along a bag with spare clothes inside them.

Rucheng was busy decorating her class. Her class had different colours on the wall above the shelves. The desks were organised in groups of four with her desk at the back of the classroom. The jars on the shelves each housing a different colour of powdered paint she purchased. She also bought mattresses, blankets and cotton sheets that she planned to make aprons out of.

The children walked in with their parents and were so excited but tried their best to not show it on their faces. The parents and guardians found it distracting.

After leaving her son in his seat, she walked up to Rucheng who was at the back of the class digging in the cupboard, “Excuse me, Ms Qin?”

Rucheng stopped what she was doing and turned around, she looked at the woman trying to think of who she was when she spotted one of her kids waving his arms at her. She smiled and greeted, “Good morning Mrs Shim, how are you today?”

“Oh I am doing just fine, might I ask, why you have silk hanging up on the walls?” she said with a forced smile.

Rucheng smiled, “Well Mrs Shim, this class is boring so I decorated it, don’t worry, it won’t distract your son from the lectures.”

She forced a smile and nodded. Soon Mei Hao’s mother came over after leaving her daughter at the desk, she smiled at Mrs Shim then at Rucheng, “Good morning ladies.”

Stepping aside, Mrs Shim greeted then excused herself. Mei Hao’s mother looked at Rucheng before saying, “My daughter came home yesterday humming a tune. I’m sorry to say but I don’t recognise the tune, what is its name?”

Rucheng nodded as she looked at Mei Hao settle down at her desk, “Well, I sang two song’s for them yesterday so I don’t know which one you are talking about.”

Mei Hao’s mother nodded and smiled, “Well, I did tell Mei Hao to learn the words carefully so that she could sing to her baby brother.”

“I’ll be sure to teach it to her properly so that she can sing it for her brother,” she answered. Touching Rucheng’s shoulder Mei Hao’s mother greeted and left after kissing her daughter on the cheek.

Her eyes scanned her toddlers and she noted that Min Xiao wasn’t here yet and Sang Chul as well. She walked over to her desk and took parchment sheets off of it. She handed sheets to all of them with pieces of coal instructing them to draw a picture for her. She smirked at their curious gazes and walked off to the door.

Leaning against the door frame, she made sure she could see her children and the outside at the same time. A few moments went by of her just standing there when she saw Wol Ryeong and Min Xiao walk over. She groaned inwardly when she saw the look on Wol Ryeong’s face.

Her eyes fell to Min Xiao and smiled. Min Xiao smiled at her and tugged his brother to hurry up. Stopping in front of her, Min Xiao, handed her a flower he picked on the way and ran into class. Wol Ryeong stopped in front of her and smiled, “Good Morning Ms Qin,” he greeted her.

“Good morning Mr Kwan, how are you today?” she asked with a smile.

Wol Ryeong looked at her from top to bottom, “I’m fine thank you, how are you feeling since your accident?”

She shrugged, “I don’t remember much but I am managing, if you don’t mind, the class will get restless, see you when you return in the afternoon.”

He nodded with a smile and watched her turn and leave, the door closed behind her and he had to leave.

∘ ━  ✧ ━  ∘

“I think mice are rather nice.

Their tails long,

Their faces small,

They haven’t any chins at all.

Their ears are pink,

Their teeth are white,

They run about

The house at night.

They nibble things

They shouldn’t touch

And no one seems

To like them much

But I think mice are nice.”

“Teacher, mice aren’t nice, they are annoying,” commented one of the children. Rucheng nodded in agreement as she brushed her head forward on to her lap, combing it out with her fingers she said, “Well, even if they are annoying, does not mean that we should kill them, alright children.”

“What about cockroaches?” Mei Hao questioned. All the children shuddered including herself, killing roaches were like second nature and here she was preaching about not killing anything. Looking at the curious children who were sitting on the mat looking up at her, “Well my loves, a cockroach is nothing but a pest that is looking for something to eat, it’s best that we just leave them alone instead. And go to sleep okay?” she said and started humming.

The children got onto their mattresses and closed their eyes concentrating on her hum only, soon falling asleep.

While they were asleep, she waved her hand and their drawings landed on the walls and sticking to it. Resting against the chair and looking up at the wall, she felt pleased, “Now they will feel some pride.”