To say that little Kikwang wasn’t a fan of his new school would be an understatement.  He wasn’t allowed to take his toys to school and on the second day these two mean bullies picked on him for being short.  Plus he didn’t know anyone in his class.  Doojoon was a grade higher than him so he didn’t even see him during the day.

“Daddy, can I stay home from school today?” Kikwang asked as he and Doojoon were being driven to school.

“Why would you want to do that?” Mr. Lee asked, looking at his son in the rear view mirror.

“Because I don’t feel good,” the little boy pouted.

Doojoon looked at the boy next to him with a raised brow.

“Are you sure about that?” Mr. Lee asked.

“Yes,” Kikwang nodded, “my um…my tummy hurts.”

“Uh huh,” Mr. Lee thought for a moment, “do you want me to take you to the hospital so that they can cut your tummy open and look to see what’s making it hurt?”

The little boy’s eyes grew wide with fear, “No no!  I’m feeling better! It’s a miracle!”

Mr. Lee just chuckled as he pulled up to the boys’ school.

“Alright you two, you be sure to find each other after school today so I can come and pick you up,” Mr. Lee explained to the two boys who both nodded as they jumped out of the car and made their way to the front door.

“I don’t want to be here,” Kikwang pouted as he entered his class room and took a seat at the desk with his nametag on it.

“Look, it’s little Kiki,” a tall boy said, walking over and poking Kikwang in the head.

“What do you want, Minho?” Kikwang asked the tall boy.  Minho and Taemin had picked on Kikwang since his first day at this school.  It was mostly Minho who did the talking, he was the tallest boy in class, Taemin, his best friend, just followed along.

“I want your lunch money.”

“I don’t have lunch money,” little Kikwang said, matter-of-factly.

“Then give us your lunch,” Taemin said, speaking up for the first time.

“Yeah, give us your lunch,” Minho repeated, taking an intimidating step forward.

“But then I won’t have anything to eat!” Kikwang pouted.

“So?” Minho was about to say something else when the teacher walked in.

“Ok everyone, take your seats!”

Kikwang was safe for now, but he knew there would probably be trouble later.

Kikwang had made it through the day without any more troublesome events.  He was making his way to the front door to wait for his dad to come pick him and Doojoon up when someone pulled his backpack from behind.

“You still owe me, Kikwang,” It was Minho, with Taemin standing just behind him as always.

“Why do you keep picking on me?” Kikwang asked, fiddling with one of his key chains that was shaped like a gun.

“Because, you’re new and you’re short and I don’t like your hair,” Minho teased, crossing his arms.

“That’s not fair,” the little boy pouted looking at the floor.

Minho’s eye caught the little toy in Kikwang’s hand and he immediately made a grab for it, easily taking it from the boy.

“Minho! That’s mine! Give it back,” Kikwang made a grab for his keychain, missing horribly.

“If you want it back, then take it back,” Minho laughed, holding the toy above his head out of reach of the shorter boy.  Taemin just laughed at Kikwang’s efforts.

Kikwang sighed in defeat.  He was too short to retrieve his toy.  He felt tears forming in his eyes, trying his best not to cry. 

“Cut it out Minho,” Kikwang heard a familiar voice say from just behind him.

“Cut what out, Doojoon-hyung?” Minho asked, feigning innocence.

“Give Kiki his keychain back,” Doojoon ordered, with a stern look.

“You know him?” Taemin asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah, he lives at my house now.  You got a problem with that?” Doojoon asked, tapping his foot on the ground in annoyance.

“N-no, Doojoon-hyung.  We didn’t know, sorry,” Minho apologized giving Kikwang his keychain back.

“Just don’t let it happen again.”

Kikwang turned to Doojoon in amazement as he held his toy, “Wh-where did you come from?”

“You dad said to find each other after school right?” Doojoon smiled, “So I found you.”

Kikwang’s mouth formed in to an “o”.  “Why’d you help me though?”

“Because we’re friends, right? That’s what friends do.”

“We are? But we’ve only know each other for a few days,” Kikwang said, happy that Doojoon considered him a friend.

“Well, you shared your toys with me.  That means we’re friends,” Doojoon said with a determined nod.

Kikwang smiled ear to ear.  He was really thankful he listened to his dad when he said to share his toys.  “Yeah,” Kikwang nodded, following Doojoon out to the parking lot where his dad was waiting.  He decided then that he would follow Doojoon wherever he went, whenever he needed him, because that’s what friends do.