As soon as classes ended in the Star Kindergarten, Van and Don could be seen carrying their schoolbags together with Eileen and Kian.
Kian was wearing new clothes and a new schoolbag today. He was swaggering along the way.
But since he was chubby, it just made him look silly. In fact, his ostentatious walk made him look like a waddling duck.
He had been showing off the whole day. He didn't even let anyone come near enough to touch his schoolbag.
And since Van, Don, and Eileen were his friends, he allowed them to touch it.
Don wasn't at all pleased with how his friend was behaving. So he tried to keep his distance from him, quietly stepping back as they walked.
Van walked beside his brother. Upon noticing the siblings' reaction, Eileen slowed down her steps as well. In the end, Kian was the only one walking ahead of their little group.
Meanwhile, the other students were gossiping among themselves.
"The schoolbag doesn't even look that great. Humph. It's nothing special actually."
"Yes. I can just ask my parents to buy me one, too."
"He's so annoying. Who does he think he is?"
Upon hearing that, Don was worried for Kian and asked, "Aren't you worried that someone will beat you up because of how arrogant you're acting?"
"Why would I be afraid since you're here with me?" Kian turned around and realized that all his friends had fallen behind him. He walked back towards them and complained, "You are so slow."
Putting on his best adult impression, Don put his hand on Kian's shoulder and looked at him earnestly in the eyes, "Let me tell you this, Kian. Children like us shouldn't show...What was it again, Van?"
Whenever Don seemed to forget or didn't know something, he would always turn to Van for assistance. His brother was smart after all. He just seemed to know everything.
"You mean to say that children shouldn't show off. We must keep a low profile and don't show off too much. Otherwise, we might get in trouble." Van helped Don explain.
"Yes! That's right." Don turned back to Kian. "Did you hear that? You must listen to what my brother says."
But Kian was just too dense to understand what Van was saying. He scratched his head and asked, "But what does that mean?"
Van was stunned by his own friend's stupidity.
Don simply rolled his eyes.
Eileen, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly pointed at a group of students not too far from them. "Someone's waving at us. It seems like they're our seniors."
Just as the three looked over to where she was pointing, the tallest boy in the group called out Kian's name. He was asking him to come over.
Kian was excited at the prospect of joining the group, but Van grabbed his friend and stopped him. "Don't go."
"Do you even know them?" Don asked.
"It's alright. I know them. We live in the same area. I'm leaving," Kian answered.
Since Kian knew them, Don released him.
It was just the three of them left now after Kian had gone. Eileen said, "I don't like them."
"Who?" Don asked casually.
Eileen turned around and looked at the group who just called Kian over. She stared at them for a while and said, "Those who called Kian over. I saw them trampling Shera's flower last time."
Shera was one of their classmates in the kindergarten.
At this moment, Eileen's aunt began calling her. Adjusting her schoolbag, she immediately went over to her aunt.
Van had a bad feeling about this. He reached out to pull at his brother's arm and said, "We should probably go find Kian. I have a bad feeling that he'll be bullied."
"Really? How dare they? Let's go then." Resting his hands on his hips, Don looked valiant and confident.
Meanwhile, Leon was already at the gate of the kindergarten, waiting for Van and Don. However, his two nephews hadn't come out yet. The others left with their children. Only he and Kian's grandma were left waiting by the gate.
As time passed, the old lady was starting to wonder why Kian hadn't come out yet. Leon tried to reassure her that her grandson was alright and that he would go inside to ask the teacher about it.
Embarrassed, the teacher was about to say something to Leon, but he simply ignored her. He squatted down in front of his nephews and began brushing off the dust covering their bodies.
The teacher was stunned to find out that Van and Don were Leon's nephews.
'I just wronged his nephew. I'm doomed. I'll surely get in trouble for this.'
Two boys were badly beaten up, so she had to make sure that they were sent to the hospital first before dealing with her current situation.
As soon as they left, Leon began praising Don with a smile. "You did a good job!"
"Of course!" Don preened under the praise. He then picked up Kian's schoolbag and handed it to his friend.
"Waah..." The tears that Kian had valiantly tried to hold back began to roll down his cheeks again.
Don said in disgust, "Real men don't cry that easily."
However, he still reached out his hand to wipe Kian's tears away. But Kian grabbed his sleeve and used it to wipe away all the tears and snot on his face.
"Kian!" Don was even more disgusted this time. He quickly took off his coat and threw it away.
Kian trailed after Don, crying out, "Wait for me!"
Van couldn't help but laugh at their interaction. Leon mussed the top of Van's head, smiling as he said, "Kids like you should smile more. Stop acting like your parents. Otherwise, you won't be cute anymore."
"Uncle Leon, what should we do? They bullied Kian, but my brother beat them up," Van asked, raising his head to look up at his uncle.
Pinching his nephew's cheek, Leon said gently, "What do you think we should do? Once we get back, we'll think of what we, the school, your classmates, and Kian should do."
"Okay!" Van knew that his uncle was trying to teach him something.
With that, he tried to look at the incident from different points of view.
Holding Van's hand, Leon added, "We'll go over this another day. For now, let's go to Michelle's house."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You Are The Apple of My Eyes