addicted [hyunho]

[2] family

-family-

"So now that we talked about different families, does anyone want to tell us about their family?" Seungmin asked, smiling softly when a few students raised their hands. "Yes, please Hyejin."

The girl was grinning widely when she started talking. "I have my mom, my dad and my sister and my dog." The young girl said, counting with her fingers to not forget someone.

"Very good, Hyejin. Anyone else? Does someone have a brother maybe?" Again, a few children raised their hands and Seungmin listened to what everyone of them had to say.

Seungmin loved working in an elementary school, just seeing these curious children learn so many new things, fascinated him and they always managed to warm his heart and make him smile.

Today, though, he wore a frown when he noticed that one of the students was very quiet and only looked down, not meeting his eyes. He decided to wait, maybe it just wasn't his day.

But even when the lesson ended and everyone excitedly ran outside to play, Jamie didn't get up and continued staring at the empty paper in front of him. Everyone else had drawn their families at the end of the lesson, but Jamie hadn't moved and it honestly concerned Seungmin.

The boy was usually so bright and bubbly, but today he only looked sad and lost in thought. Carefully, Seungmin walked to his desk and sat down on the small chair next to him. "Don't you want to go outside and play with your friends?" Seungmin asked in a soft voice.

It took a while until Jamie answered and the only word that left his mouth was, "No." Then he let out a sad sigh, still not looking up at Seungmin.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Seungmin's heart ached, seeing him so sad.

This time, Jamie only shook his head and Seungmin's frown deepened.

"Was someone mean to you?" He tried, hoping that yet again, the answer would be no and he let out a relieved sigh when Jamie shook his head again. "You can always talk to me if something happens."

This time, Jamie nodded and Seungmin leaned back, thinking about how to cheer his student up.

"Do you want to stay here then? We could draw something together." He hoped that this would lift Jamie's mood, maybe even make him smile, but it didn't.

"I don't want to draw my family." Jamie whispered, now looking up at Seungmin. The teacher could almost hear his own heart shatter when he saw the tears in the boy's eyes.

"You don't have to draw your family. You can draw whatever you want."

Watching, Seungmin was relieved how Jamie's smile came back when he began drawing butterflies on the paper in front of him, filling it with color and making up stories while doing so.

Seungmin was only sitting there the whole time, listening to him and occasionally answering questions, just like the one that Jamie was asking now. "Mr. Kim, do you have a family?"

Chuckling, Seungmin nodded. "Yes, I do. I have my parents and my sister."

"And do you have a wife and a child?" He curiously tilted his head to the side.

"No, I don't." He had to hold back a laugh at how cute the boy was. "Do you remember how we earlier talked about different types of families? We said being a family doesn't have to mean that there is a man and a woman with a child."

"And if there's only a dad and a child?" Jamie now looked down again.

Seungmin knew how to answer the question, it wasn't difficult, but something inside of him told him to be careful with the answer. "They can be a family too."