As you come close to the ‘bully,’ the more you felt the urge to walk faster. He must have known that you were talking about him because he was staring at you, with captivating eyes in which authentic joy and unfathomable innocence is mirrored. You can’t help but admire the courage you sensed in him. But even before you locked the distance between the two of you, he stood up and ran towards your direction, held you hand and – with a bright smile – asked,

“Are you going to play with me?”

Moved and drowned by the overflowing charisma of the child, you conceded and nodded – in the gentlest way you could ever do. For a moment, the tension you were feeling vanished and all you knew was that you were overtaken by the puppy-like smile of purity this little boy is flashing you.

He pulled you to the corner where he was sitting and there you saw sketches which you assume were drawn by him. It was a colourful portrait of two men – an adult and a child – smiling and standing in front of a hospital. It was a sunny day in the picture and all the flowers were in bloom. The clouds were fluffy signalling spring in the scenery.

The kid saw you looking at the drawing so he picked it up and gave it to you. As you took it, he pointed to the adult man in the picture and said, “This is my father,” and moving his index finger on the child, he added “and this is me.”

He looked at you as if looking for traces of other inquiries.

“Why is it in front of the hospital?”

You knew it was a sensitive question; nevertheless, you asked to satisfy your curiosity. And you confirmed that it was because the smile was drawn away from the soothing face of the child. In an attempt to ease away the discomfort and take back what you’ve said, you opened your mouth to say something. But even before sounds were heard from you, he took a deep, loud breath and answered your question enthusiastically – if not fake.

“My dad is sick with cancer. He couldn’t come home so I am visiting him in the hospital instead.” He paused for a while, folded the sketch into four and put it in his pocket. “I was supposed to be there but I really have no idea why I’m here.” He continued.

Oh, so it’s not just you who is clueless about your whereabouts. You wanted to ask, naturally, if he had any idea about what’s happening but you decided not to anymore. This child is too susceptible, you thought. He is too naïve to be distraught by that frightening image you saw on the other side. Instead, you just leaned on the wall, crossed your arms, took a deep breath, then smile as he sat on the floor and started doodling on his sketchbook again.

The calmness endowed upon you by the boy’s presence mystified you. As you stare at him with a smile, you remembered your purpose. You then knelt on one knee and faked a cough to catch the attention of the now-busy kid. But he wasn’t intervened. He continued what he was doing so you decided to speak,

“Anyway, two kids came to me and said you were bullying them.”

The child, without any sign of reluctance and annoyance, replied without looking at you, “I’m not. How can I when they’re obviously older than me? I was just making friends.”

You knew it. He was just trying to build a connection. It was okay for you, but still, you wanted to correct his manner of doing so.

“But do you know that it isn’t right to call people ‘monkey’ and ‘fox’?” You tried to sound as gentle as possible so as not to create the impression that you were blaming him. But to your surprise, he looked up to you with a smile and he let out a short and soft laugh.

“That’s just how I am,” he said, “I was thinking of apologizing but the one in pink ran to you and told me off. So I got afraid that you’ll reprimand me.”

Afraid? That jolly approach was a sign of fear? You laughed the realization off justifying to yourself that this is how a kid really is, and then you broke another question.

“So why are you like that?”

“What am I?”

“Making friends in such manner?”

“Is that wrong?”

“Well, in a way, yes.”

“Oh…”

The child stopped what he was doing and sighed. You tried to catch a glimpse of his face and it broke your heart to see disappointment there. The innocence remained though. As you wait for a reply, you sat next to him and put your left arm on around his shoulders. His is the face that demands comfort.

He looked at you and with pure innocence, he replied, “I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know. My dad would always tell me that I am a good friend to everybody; so I assumed that they were my friends already. And also, he said real friends will understand me no matter what…”

Boom. Those words got you. This kid has seen so much beauty in this world. You would never want to destroy the positivity he is seeing in everyone. You looked into his eyes and see the purity of his soul there. But tears are starting to well-up, so before it fell, you smiled at him and said, “Your father is right. But next time, don’t call anybody names, even if they’re your friends. Okay?”

You stood up at the same time that he did. You tapped his shoulder and messed up his hair tenderly, like how an older brother does to his dongsaeng. As you take one step to leave, he gave you the piece of paper in which he was doodling earlier. You looked at it and the first thing you noticed was the familiar dimple of the man in the picture. It was you.

Touched, you hugged him in lieu of the words ‘Thank you.’ With his face buried on your chest, he told you the sweetest request you have ever heard,

“Can I call you hyung?”

Fighting back the tears, you hugged him tighter and replied, “Of course, you can. Of course. But make sure to apologize to the other two kids, okay?”

You released him to see that the innocent smile and look in his eyes were once again evident.

“Kamsahamnida, hyung.”

Excitedly, he ran to the two kids from a while ago. Contented and proud that you have done something good that day, you walked away.

As you do, you heard the kids’ laughter. Then the innocent one shouted, “Let’s be brothers forever!”

And you knew, a life-long friendship has started.