Talking to the moon

Chapter 43

Aside from Yunjin and Chaewon, Hanni was probably the only other adult she fully trusted. It was a slow and tedious process to get that level of trust between them. In the beginning of the year Eunchae was cautious of the woman, eyeing her as she walked around the classroom and helped kids tie their shoes or read stories, things like that just felt suspicious. Now she really liked her and would actively seek her out for comfort and attention. So when Yunjin told her over the phone at lunch that she would have to stay a half an hour after school later than she usually would because Chaewon had a court case and she was at a crime scene, she wasn't too upset about it.

Yeri stuck her tongue out at her and Sooyoung as she ran away, throwing the doors open to greet her Mom, finally leaving the two of them alone. Yunjin was going to be there soon, and Hanni was going to take Sooyoung home, something the girl didn't seem all too pleased about. Sooyoung had been pouting all day, and even now asked Eunchae to color with her in the hallway so she wouldn't actually have to spend time with the older woman. Eunchae liked her friend group, the five of them always had a good time, and each offered something different to their dynamic. As much as she liked it though, some people were just closer to others; Yeri and Sooyoung, Eunchae and Kyujin, Lucas the only boy, often accidentally excluded but they made a point to actively rope him into their games.

It still took Eunchae by surprise when Sooyoung decided to speak up, breaking their temporary spell of silence, "Was it hard to leave your Mom?"

Eunchae stopped coloring for a minute, before shrugging, "Kinda. At first it wasn't, but then I realized she wasn't coming back and it got hard."

"My mom wants us to move in with Hanni."

"Is that bad?"

"I don't know." Sooyoung shrugged, "I'll live with them during the weeks and with my Dad during the weekends."

"That sounds like a good plan."

"I just want to be with both of them. I don't want Hanni to be there."

"I like Hanni." Mina mused, "She's a good person."

"I don't like her." Sooyoung pouted, "She's mean."

"How?"

"My parents were fine before my Mom met her."

"That doesn't make her mean," Eunchae pointed out. Eunchae has seen mean people, Hanni was far from it.

"I don't know."

"Remember the family day at the beginning of the year?" Eunchae pointed out, Sooyoung nodded.

That day was a mess. Eunchae had brought it up to her Mom nearly a week before and she said she would try to come, but when Eunchae walked to school alone that morning, it was pretty clear to her that no one was coming. It was just so much the entire day, there were so many people, so much noise, and while everyone else seemed to be enjoying the day, Eunchae felt miserable and scared. Kyujin really tried to include her, making one of her Moms be Eunchae's partner, even Yeri offered one of her parents as well. But Eunchae didn't know them, and when Lucas tried to get his dads to help the floodgates opened. She was just so overwhelmed and terrified. Looking back at it, it was a bit embarrassing, but in the moment when Lucas was proudly holding Taeyong's hand bringing him towards Eunchae, she just went into survival mode; screaming and crying. Everyone stared at her, Wendy tried to comfort her but it wasn't enough, so Hanni took her inside the classroom leaving the next classroom's teacher to combine both classes and handle everything.

The two of them just sat on the beanbags for what felt like hours as Eunchae calmed down. She cried and hid her face into the soft fleece of the chair, but never once did Hanni touch her or hurt her. Instead the teacher just hummed soft tunes, calming her down to the point she could look over at her. Hanni just smiled back at her, her body was too big for the child sized chair, her legs folded at an awkward angle, but she didn't move. Eunchae dictated the pace, something she had never the privilege of doing before. They didn't talk much, instead they laid on the floor and drew while Hanni played soft music in the background. Eunchae tried her damn best to tell Hanni what was wrong, drawing picture after picture of her home. Hanni didn't seem to understand what she was trying to say.