[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Marshmallows and Ducks

The sound of people running when school just got out is relatively normal. I mean, Xiaojun would've been running too if he didn't have to wait for Lucas, Doyoung and WinWin to get out.

If it hadn't been for his brain recognizing that the sound of running was coming at him, Xiaojun wouldn't have turned around in time to see Hendery running straight at him. He started slowing down a little too late, so Xiaojun braced himself for impact, ready to catch him.

"Sorry 'bout that." Hendery caught his balance so he wasn't relying on Xiaojun to keep him up, running a hand through his hair to fix it. "So what's up?"

"What's up?" Xiaojun repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I think I should be asking you that."

"Well, Jungwoo has a project to work on so he's staying after, and because Lucas and Mark keep doing things without us like meanies, I thought we could have our own adventure."

"But Doyoung, WinWin-"

"Eh, forget them. Please? The 00 line ditched school today, at least we're not doing that."

"They did what?"

"They ditched. Haechan even blew me a kiss as he passed by my classroom window."

Xiaojun sighed, looking back towards the school to check if anyone was in sight. After a second he managed to get Doyoung's attention and made a rough motion that he was with Hendery.

"Now we can go."

Hendery smiled and put his arm around Xiaojun's shoulders, turning him away from the school.

"You're too good sometimes. This is why we need our own adventure."

"Someone has to be a decent child around here before the parent line goes insane."

"Yeah, but it'd be fun to see them lose it."

Xiaojun jokingly rolled his eyes, Hendery copying the movement even though it didn't have the same effect with one eye.

"So do you have plans for our adventure?" Xiaojun asked.

"I was thinking we could grab a bag of marshmallows, head to the park with the pond, and terrorize the ducks."

"With marshmallows?"

"No, we're eating the marshmallows. I haven't figured out how we're terrorizing the ducks yet."

"I'm sure the park rules can give us some ideas."

Hendery laughed, doubling over as he did.

"I knew you'd appreciate my plan."

The two of them headed into the nearest store to get the bag of marshmallows. It took Hendery awhile to decide between plain ones and the fruity ones, eventually going with the giant plain ones.

Once they were checked out, Hendery opened the bag and started eating them as they walked to the park. Xiaojun swore he only had two when Hendery asked where half the bag went, but Hendery thought he had to have had more. Hendery just didn't realize he really had eaten that many.

They headed for the sign with the rules listed on it once they got to the park, skimming to see if there was anything on there about the ducks. Nothing. They'd have to find ways to terrorize them on their own.

Sitting down at one of the benches near the pond that didn't have a couple being all cuddly on it, they were disappointed to find there was only a goose.

"That's dumb. How are we supposed to terrorize ducks now?" Hendery complained, popping another marshmallow in his mouth as he pouted.

"Don't they migrate to warmer places at this time?"

"Ducks don't migrate, geese do."

Xiaojun slowly nodded before stopping and thinking about it.

"All birds migrate, dumb dumb."

"Little baby ducks migrate? I don't think they can even fly. And what about chickens? They're birds and they don't migrate."

Xiaojun sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Ducklings are born in the spring so they're big enough to fly by winter. Chickens can't fly more than a few feet, so they adapted to not migrate. Do you seriously think ducks don't fly?"

Hendery shrugged, "I've never seen one. Marshmallow?"

Xiaojun declined the marshmallow offer, not wanting to take any more away from his enjoyment. He was also slightly curious if he would actually finish the bag on his own.

"Well there's no ducks and I know better than to terrorize a goose. So now what?"

"We could enjoy nature and the view."

"Sounds boring. Want to throw tiny rocks at that couple making out over there and see how long it takes them to notice?"

The mischievous glint in Hendery's eye was too much to say no to, but he didn't completely agree for legal reasons later on. Hendery knew enough to take his silence as a yes.

Three things were learned that afternoon. One: Hendery can and will eat a whole bag of marshmallows in one sitting. Two: Ducks migrate. Three: It takes thirty-one pebbles to disrupt a couple making out enough for them to chase you out of the park.