Author's Note: (Read to avoid confusion)

This is late but I still want to post this T_T

P.S.: This chapter is dedicated to VIXX's visual/artwork Hongbin!

Warning (LOL): I did this while preparing for the examination week so this may a bit... you have beene warned xD (Next update may or may not come next week though ^-^)

Hongbin, the Humble Man

While Sanghyuk would claim that he, himself, was not evil and Hakyeon would claim that he, himself, was not annoying, Hongbin would claim that he was a humble person—just a bit too honest. Was he wrong when he said that he was handsome? Of course not! Was he lying when he said that girls loved him? Of course not! See? Why would honesty make him boastful?

If he were to be honest, he also did not know how he found out about his undeniable handsomeness. Just, one day, he woke up and realized that he was indeed handsome. But before he was even a person who acknowledged his own beauty, he was actually a shy boy who would usually occupy the seat at the back and would always look at the ground. Yeah, it was hard picturing him as one but he really was like that before.

When Hongbin was seven, he was the most famous kid in their school especially to all the elementary kids. The kids around his neighborhood also knew about him. The only problem was Hongbin really had no idea why he was so famous. Everyday, it seemed like it was a Valentine’s Day for him. He would often receive a lot of chocolates and letters even if he did not even know where those things came from. He was a naïve kid, a shy one. So, he did not know about those things.

That morning when Hongbin arrived to school, he did not know why he was even surprised to see the mountain of gifts that was placed on his chair. “I don’t have a chair again.” He complained quietly to himself. He did not even know why people had to make him suffer like that. With a sigh, he quietly collected the chocolates from his chair. “Maybe the kid who always talks to the cockroaches would like to have these.” He muttered, thinking about the weird kid because there was no one else inside the classroom. Hongbin promised to never hang out with that kid but because he was a senior (and Hongbin did not have any idea on where he could dump the chocolates) he would have to talk to him and to give him the chocolates.

Struggling, Hongbin carried the chocolates with his short arms. When he walked through the hallway, elementary girls started shrieking like they just saw a charismatic cockroach when it was just Hongbin who was walking with chocolates in his arms. Hongbin would have given the girls the chocolates because he could not see the reason why he should not. But he already learned his lesson.

Two months ago, he gave away his chocolates to some girls and the next day, he was surprised because many started calling him their ‘boyfriend’. They even started to nag at him whenever he would talk to other girls. Hongbin was traumatized so he had to stay at home for a whole week before his parents decided to go to the school to put an end to the problem. Hongbin could only shiver at the memory. It was not very pleasant, you see.

“Where are you going?” The other famous kid, Myungsoo, asked. He was a friend of Hongbin who was a year older than the latter and for some reasons (that Hongbin did not know) girls would shriek even louder whenever they were together. “Are you going to give those away?” He asked, pointing at the chocolates.

Hongbin nodded his head for a few times. “Yes, I just had a sore throat. I cannot eat so many chocolates alone. Do you want to have them?” He innocently asked Myungsoo.

Myungsoo shook his head, smiling a bit. “Nope. I also have a lot and I gave them away to my friends. I think that many other kids would like to have those.” He replied.

“Oh…” Hongbin nodded once again. “Okay. I will go first. See ya!” With that, he ran off.

Hongbin continued walking to look for someone to give the chocolates to. As he walked, he heard some teacher talking about his handsomeness and so on. Those comments would make him blush but he would brush it off. He was just a shy eight-year-old anyway. Plus, he believed that he was not that handsome. Myungsoo was but Hongbin believed that he, himself, was not. As a kid, he really could not see what was so good about him and his face.

Hongbin looked around to search for someone who would accept the chocolates (so that he would not waste his time looking for the weird cockroach boy). He saw a kid who was playing soccer. That kid was cool but was scary so Hongbin did not dare to talk to him. The kid met eyes with Hongbin so gulping, the latter turned away and hurriedly left like nothing happened. Hongbin was a peace-loving pacifist. Plus, he remembered what he read from a book called

When he turned to the corner, he saw a familiar kid who was talking to his younger sister. The kid was familiar because aside from he was from the same grade as Hongbin, he would also always stay at the park bench to sleep—weird guy.

“If I cannot be your bodyguard when we grow up, I will be a bum instead!” The boy proudly told his sister.

His sister made a face while Hongbin could only watch in amusement. “That’s not a very good dream. You should dream about getting a job and marrying your dream girl.”

“What is marriage when there is sleep?” The boy shrugged his shoulders without a care. “I would just sleep the whole day without a care. That is my dream in life!” He boasted.

Hongbin scratched his head, not really finding the boy’s dream amazing or praise-worthy. It was actually not a dream that any parents would like to hear from their children. “He deserves no chocolate.” Hongbin muttered, not wanting to give any rewards to such a bad kid. He was a bit like Santa Claus—minus the beard and the excess fats and plus the handsomeness.

Hongbin was already tired but he continued walking with his chocolates still in his arms. He wanted to give those away to someone but he could not find the right person to give them to. As a kid, he was not only handsome, he was kind too. “To whom should I give these chocolates to?” He wondered. He jumped a little when a baby cockroach walked pass him. It was so charismatic and for some reasons, it reminded Hongbin of the kid who was talking to cockroaches. “I bet those two would become good friends.” He nodded his head in agreement with his own words. “I guess I should not give this to the kid who talks to the cockroaches then.” He shrugged his shoulders before heading back to the classroom.

After the class, Hongbin headed to the park with his arms still full of chocolates that were already melting. Earlier that day, he decided to give the chocolate to another kid who was living not too far from their school but that kid with high nose just started randomly barking at dogs and purring at cats. A bit scared, Hongbin chose to just ignore the kid.

As Hongbin walked, he could hear elementary girls talking about him. He even heard a six grader calling him ‘oppa’ when he was a few years younger. Hongbin really could not understand people.

Hongbin was very unaware of his own beauty until the next year. When he was eight, on his third year in elementary, his parents gifted him a mirror. After naming the mirror ‘N’, Hongbin finally realized that he was handsome. He did not know how or why. Just, one day, he woke up and started appreciating his own beauty. It was like N had a curse. He also started becoming friends with the mirrors.

“Ah… I look so handsome.” Hongbin carelessly said as he walked to the park. He was holding his mirror in his hand. He did not need a reason, he just knew that no matter how much he looked and looked, he still could not see a part that is not beautiful. It was like ugliness hated him so it avoided him so much—it was not like Hongbin cared about that ugliness, of course.

Anyway, that time, it was already hard to picture out how Hongbin used to be that quiet kid who was really shy and naïve. Anyone who would look at him would see him as the overly-confident handsome kid. In his defense, the reason why he would always tell everyone the fact that he was handsome was because Pinocchio taught him not to lie. No, he was not justifying his mistake.

“I still want to be a bum.” Hongbin scratched his head when he heard a familiar kid talked to his sister. Hongbin shook his head before continuing to walk. He did not want to deal with that kid. He hoped that he did not have to see that kid ever again.