Chapter Text
The loud chatter of the kids echoed through the evening, the dust of the sand mingling with the gentle breeze that brushed his slightly puffed cheeks. He watched the kids smoothing out the edges of the sandcastle in the sandbox, his legs daggling at the edge of the swing as he picked up any courage left in his thundering heart.
Come on, Jisung. They’re the same as you. There was nothing to be afraid of.
Clenching the shirt above his heart, he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
“Come on, come on. You can do this.” He chanted like a spell that would magically rip out the stacking fear in him before jumping off the swings, his sight still in the dark. Peeling one eye open, his shoulder slumped as if a huge rock had residue on it, his heart seemed to hide itself in the deepest corner of his body to cry. Those kids, the ones he thought would become his friend today—had returned home.
His eyes fell to the ground as he fought the pooling tears from flowing down. Jisung’s fist tightened as his body trembled.
He failed again today.
His tears started to blur his sight.
Why was it so hard for me to make a friend?
A low sniffle escaped him.
“Why are you crying?” The voice came from someone in front of him. A small yellow flower came into view as the figure crouched down, its face invisible behind the petals, its hand stretched to position the flower across Jisung's face.
“I can’t talk to them again. I’m such a coward,” Jisung stammered, finger hastily wiping the tears off his face.
“Oh…then, you can talk to me!” The voice chirped, its voice carried lightly in the air, gentle in a way that one could make it into a lullaby. Something flickered, a warmth that slowly crept into Jisung’s heart, soothing the spike of his fear of not making any friends.
He accepted the flower, and finally, the face behind it turned visible—a boy with soft features like a puppy. The unknown boy tilted his head, a thin smile gracing his face before he stood up. He extended his hand toward Jisung.
“My name is Seungmin!”
Now, this might sound a bit dramatic, but Jisung swore a flower just bloomed inside his heart.
And it would stay like that for a long time…even if the puppy-like boy left him alone for years.
🎞️🎬📷🗒️
“Did you hear that Kim's family returned from the States?”
“Ehh? Why? I thought their son was studying there?”
“Well, they said Seungmin hates it there. I’m sure that wasn’t the case.”
Rushed footsteps shook the hallway as a silhouette zoomed through the crowded space. His billowing jacket and pace almost tripped a girl with a tall stack of papers; she luckily regained her balance, and a scowling glare was thrown in his direction.
This wasn’t the first time, unfortunately. One minute before the bell rang, he appeared, running as if a dog was chasing after him.
The door slid with a dull thud, catching the blonde boy’s attention from his notebook. The blonde shook his head as the red-puffed squirrel boy slumped into the seat beside him. Jisung’s chest rose and fell in a rapid motion, flushing red cheeks puffed out to inhale as much air that was sucked out of him during the run.
From this side, Felix could see a see-through ghost emoji with ‘X’ eyes slip out of Jisung’s parted lips.
“What is it this time that makes you stay awake all night?” Felix asked, twirling the pencil in his hand as he shifted his gaze back to the math problems.
“Thought. Memories. Boy. Lyrics. The usual stuff”
Felix hummed as an answer, fingers punching the numbers into the calculator, and his right hand jotted down the values. He repeated it for a while, lips sealed, eyes running back and forth from his notebook to the calculator.
Jisung lifted his head slightly from the chair’s top rail at the silence, squeezing his eyes to look at the writing on Felix’s notebook.
His body shot up from the backrest as his eyes widened, panic surging inside of him as realization crashed onto him like a tidal wave. He leaned closer to Felix, his head resting by the blonde’s.
“Shoot! I totally forgot about Math!” Jisung cursed, running his hand through his face roughly. His body then leaned into Felix’s side as if he was pulled by a magnet, his finger tugging at Felix’s sleeve.
Once
“Lix. You know that I love you, right?”
Twice. Felix already heaved a big sigh at the second tug, glancing down at his best friend who was…pouting and blinking his big, rounded eyes toward him. He knew Jisung’s next script by heart now.
“Can I borrow your—”
“Alright, alright” He gently pushed Jisung’s face away from him “Let me solve this last question. Remember to give it back to me before lunch”
Jisung’s pout instantly vanished, replaced by a wide grin that could win against the sunset—gentle and full of warmth.
“Hehe, thank you, Lixie!” He beamed, finally able to rest his head on the table. Watching Felix from the side, he caught a glimpse of the blonde’s wristwatch—8.45 a.m. His forehead creased as he noticed the empty tables across from him and how quiet it was in the classroom. No rushed footsteps, no someone stumped their toes onto the table’s legs as they got to their seats, no hushed whisper about forgetting their homework (as Jisung did a few seconds ago, it wasn't his fault he doesn't remember it—math was his least favourite subject after all).
“Did Chan and Hyunjin skip school? Where is Mrs Seo?”
“If they did, your phone would already be bombarded with the news of the earth splitting into two”
“I’m just asking,” Jisung huffed through his nose.
“They’re in the theatre room with Mrs Seo. The carnival is in 2 months, if you forgot again.” Felix’s hand came to a halt when he finished writing the final answer. A glance toward the blonde, Jisung already felt the book being smacked (gently) against his head. The book bounced lightly over his fluffy black locks before it obscured his vision from the beating sunlight.
Jisung grabbed the book from Felix’s grip and sat up straight, hand reaching for his own notebook from his slouching bag on the ground.
And in a blink, the morning’s peace returned when Jisung began focusing on copying Felix’s answer, and Felix quietly finished another volume of the manhwa he was reading.
Quiet. Peaceful. A slow morning as it should be. As Jisung’s heart should be. The exhaustion from the running and the homework shock had dissipated as soon as he got Felix’s notebook.
Nothing could rival the shock he got when his math homework was left undone.
His heart was at peace.
Nothing could shake his heart that hard again—
The wooden door opened, and someone's head peeked from the frame, head turning left and right to search for someone. That wasn't important to Jisung; his homework deserved his full attention now.
“Uhmm, is this Hyunjin’s class?”
Every head perked up in the class, including Jisung's.
Thump!
Jisung’s heart thumped. And somehow it doesn't want to stay still inside his chest.
Not when he was there—