Houseboat

2

"Is Miss Ha going to be here?" The preschool adviser asked, smoothing out papers and tucking them back in her organizers.

Everything inside the room was designed child-friendly and learning charts were all over the walls. Playing mats were on one side and cartoon foam stickers decorated the little spaces on wooden shelves and tables.

Min Tae Gu shifted in his seat. "My wife will be here soon. She had to wrap up a case but she's on her way now."

Though he drops her off every morning here in the kindergarten most of the time, he never really got into the classroom until now. The surrounding decorations were extremely nostalgic and sent him to his childhood memories back at the orphanage.

"Very well," the woman about ten years older than him, gently clasps her hand together on the table. There was an authority in her voice but she warmly looked at him like how a loving mother looks at their son.

"I think I can start telling a few things then," she says to him.

As Hyun Ju progresses to prep, children's fights and other problems within the classroom were more than common. However, sometimes these could reach limits and require the intervention and guidance of adults.

This was the case for Min Tae Gu and Ha Chae Yoon's daughter.

"Hyun Ju is a very kind and quiet child," she looks at him. "She only speaks what goes on in her mind when it's necessary or when she's being asked. I'm sure you already know that, right, Mr. Min?

"Yeah..." He nods, not seeing where she is exactly going with this. He's very much sure he did his best in raising their daughter properly. "Yeah of course, but I don't think I can see any problem with that?"

"There isn't, Mr. Min. There's no problem with that, it's just," the adviser presses her lips together before continuing, "It has come to my notice that most of the kids here have been told to avoid her."

He didn't quite hear that right.

"And I know she's been upset that no one wanted to play with her or paint pictures with her anymore."

He stammered and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

That was the last thing he expected to hear.

Hyun Ju talked well with kids her age and was a very good friend to their neighbor's child, as far as he knew. She'd always share her snacks whenever she can and would never hurt anyone just because.

So this news came to him as beyond unfamiliar, like a puzzle piece that never fit the picture.

"Hold on... this is absurd," he sputters out, "How did this even–"

A gentle knock interrupts them as the door opened—Chae Yoon comes in, still in her coat and casual work clothes.

"Good afternoon," she looks around as her berry-scented perfume fills the air, bringing a familiar calming sensation to Tae Gu. "Sorry if I was late."

The meeting she had with her colleagues went longer than expected and there was traffic on the main highway. She was beeping her car in front of a slow-moving truck when Tae Gu texted her to check if she was on her way.

Now that she has arrived, she looks at her husband who gave her a nod and tapped the chair beside him.

They lived in a small neighborhood, mostly dwelled in by the upper classes and it only takes a few walks from here back to their apartment.

People here know each other and almost everyone around, so words and news tend to spread faster than a wildfire.

When people began to find out about Min Tae Gu's past—because one parent came across an old article about an arrested hostage-taker and his recorded live stream, the news quietly passed around. In the end, most of them collectively agreed to not make any involvement with their family for their own sake.