WITH GRACE.

15장

at last, the opening day of the long awaited university fair came.

despite having no classes, i carried on my routine of waking up early. the two boys also carried on with their habit of sleeping in, unless agitated by an outside force. compared to usual school days where i force them awake an hour and a half before school starts, i let them extend their beautiful sleep for an hour. they needed their sleep compensated after a couple weeks of staying up late for training. besides, the opening program won't start until ten.

miss lee arranged the entire monday afternoon for the kids' little trip to the fair. sunghoon and i previously agreed to fetch the kids together after lunch.

it was already nine when the two finally woke up. i immediately got them to wash up, change and prepare themselves. we had a simole breakfast before we headed out to the university grounds together.

university fair is one of the few events that lets the high school and college division intermingle. the event lasts for a week. the highlights of the fair are on monday, wednesday and friday. monday is for the opening ceremony and the launching of the booths. wednesday is for the night party where college students can dance the night away. friday, the last day of the fair, is for the high school juniors and seniors' ball. unfortunately, i haven't been to any during my high school years here. two chances were wasted because i got sick in both times. although the event is meant for the highschoolers, some college people can attend the ball through invitations.

"now, let us give a round of applause to ILand University's very own dance crew!" the host's announcement made the crowd went wild.

we were almost at the end of the opening program and the dance crew is due to perform for the final ment. obviously, the crew is immensely popular.

one by one, the members emerged from the backstage. they were wearing an ensemble of blue and white outfits. i spotted my brother and cousin onstage. jay, jake, heesung oppa and even k oppa also stood there in outfits that suited them so well. sunghoon caught my eyes. he was wearing a longsleeved shirt, half blue and half white in color.

wow, heㅡthey look so good in their outfits.

for the first time ever, the crew not only danced. they were also singing. their performance was spectacular, and their song choice sounded so good to hear. the cheers rang throughout their entire performance. despite the sweating and panting, all of them looked especially charming... especially that guy.

it was lunchtime when the opening program had ended. jay, jake, heesung, sunghoon, jungwon, daniel and i ate together in my college's canteen. soon, it was time for sunghoon and i to fetch the kids.

"where are you two going?" jake eyed us with scrutiny, playfulness evident in his tone.

"we're fetching the kids from the orphanage i volunteer at," i explained to them.

"noona, can i come with you two?" dongkyu asked until everyone else did the same.

"well, the kids may get suddenly intimidated with our number. sunghoon and i will go fetch the kids first. you can meet them later and help us look after them," the rest agreed with my suggestion so sunghoon and i proceeded to leave.

"you have a car? and you can drive?" i exclaimed when sunghoon and i reached the carpark.

"do i really look that incapable to you? you're hurting my feelings, eunhye," sunghoon acted hurt.

"sorry, sorry. i was just surprised. i've never seen you drive a car ever since we became friends so i ended up getting surprised,"

"well, at least you know now,"

sunghoon opened the shotgun seat for me like the gentleman he is. when i got in, he closed the door and went to the driver's side.

a chorus of 'noona', 'unnie', 'oppa', and 'hyung' greeted us the moment we arrived. miss lee and an assistant were at the gate waiting with the kids.

"as promised, sunghoon is here to fetch you guys with me today! were you all good kids for the past week?"

"YES!" the kids enthusiastically replied.

"they've been excited since earlier, dear," miss lee chuckled.

"the kids things are all in this bag, but here's another that i specially packed for liho. the diapers, change of clothes and milk are here. i trust you'll be able to handle childcare for the entire afternoon, dear,"

"i'll do my best, miss lee,"

we hauled the kids inside sunghoon's car. good thing he had child-friendly seats today. the space was immediately filled. if the boys ended up coming with us, i don't know how we'll be able to fit all of us in.

liho ended up in my embrace. the little boy was happily babbling and i couldn't help but converse with him even if i could not comorehend most of his words. the kids at the back were full of glee, chatting by themselves and occasionally asking questions to sunghoon and i.

we soon reached the university grounds. because liho loves being carried, sunghoon was the one who ended up hauling the five others on the backseats.

"wow!"

"noona, this place is so big!"

"it's so pretty here, sunghoon-oppa!"

i spotted a herd of guys drawing near us. once they arrived in front of us, the kids immediately took refuge behind sunghoon and i. rohee, seoyul and siho hid themselves behind sunghoon and the rest was with me. only liho was courageously looking at the guys, seemingly curious.

"hello, children!" jake started.

the boys had smiles on their faces.

"kids, these are sunghoon and i's friends. they're good guys, so you can trust them!" i promoted the guys to the kids.

"hi siho, liho, hajun, seoyul, rohee, hayeon! can you still remember me?" dongkyu crouched at their level, bright with expectations.

the kids' round eyes widened in recognition.

"kyu hyung!"

"kyu oppa!"

"dodo oppa!"

"hyungnim!"

daniel smiled widely. well, this was his only chance to be called with honorifics because he's the youngest in their friend group.

"hi, i'm jake!"

"i'm jay, kids!"

"you can call me heesung oppa or heesung hyung!"

"hello, i'm jungwon!"

the guys took initiative to introduce themselves.

"go on, introduce yourselves," i smiled encouraging the kids.

the kids warmed up quickly to the rest of the guys. rohee who has been close with dongkyu since before stuck with dongkyu and jungwon, hayeon stuck with jay, seoyul was with heesung oppa and hajun played well with jake. siho, being the shiest one in the group, stayed with us ㅡ with sunghoon, rather. though they only met once before, but i can already see how much siho trusts sunghoon and how the boy is attached to him.

seeing the kids well-adjusted to their companions, i decided it was time to roam the campus.

"kids, are you ready?"

"READY!" the kids shouted in chorus ㅡ the kids, as in the actual kids and the kids at heart.

the others went ahead of us. sunghoon and i walked together, both carrying a child ㅡ liho's with me while siho's in sunghoon's. we were grabbing the attention from the people. i'm not quite sure if it's because the kids with us are adorable, or the kids and the popular guys in school looks so cute together, or if it's because sunghoon, siho, liho and i who are walking together looked like a... a familyㅡ gee, scratch the weird thoughts!

boy, this is going to be a long afternoon.