“I’m using my ultimate combo attack on you so that you fall!”

 

“OH NO!”

 

The little boy falls in slow-motion to the ground imitating the sound of a crash with his mouth.

 

The playground is bathing in sunlight and laughter from children, all caught up in their games of pretend. He catches a glimpse of it as he is lying in a sandbox, pretending to be injured, but not for long. Almost immediately another little boy runs up to defend the fallen one.

 

“I’ve got you partner!”

 

Together they win over  their enemy with some of their “special moves” and give each other a high-five to celebrate.

 

“Good job, BigKid.”

 

“You too, G-ming.”

 

Those are their character’s names.

 

They are in that age when pretending to be action heroes is the coolest thing you can do. Hoseok and Geming might not be the most popular but nevertheless, two of the cooler kids.

 

Through their eyes the playground is a battlefield with bases and obstacles for them to encounter and master.

 

Perfect for the boys’ one-on-one battle.

 

“It’s no fun when you always team up like that,” the defeated boy mutters while getting up from the sandbox.

 

He, like everyone else, is annoyed with Hosek and Geming’s alliance. The two are inseparable, and in their world it doesn’t matter when other people don’t like that.

 

But there is no time to start a discussion about it because a teacher calls all of the children in the crowded playground in for snack time.

 

Hoseok, Geming, and the rest of the boys end their game and head inside to get a seat at the best tables.

 

-----

 

Soon after snack time is over the boys from the playground are running around the playroom. This time they’re using action figurines to battle each other while they are waiting for their parents to come and pick them up.

 

The afternoon sun is starting to settle low and shine bright through the windows with it’s warm light when a girl appears in the doorway.

 

She is still a preteen but a very mature one. Mature enough to be allowed to pick up her baby brother from kindergarten. It is also because their parents are too busy so she has no other choice than taking on that role from an early age.

 

The second Hosek and Geming spots her they drop their toys and run up to greet her with a hug.

 

“Noona,” Geming asks. “Have you come to pick me up too?”

 

“Of course I have,” she says with a smile.

 

Geming’s parents never pick him up. Truth is that he spends more time with Hoseok’s family.

 

The Jung family raised him as their third child from early on, when they had just  moved to China. Hosoek and Dawon are like his real siblings and he is just as fluent in Korean as in his native Chinese, only because it is the language they speak at home.

 

“Come on now, grab your bags and shoes so we can go home.”

 

The two boys gladly obey. Dawon is their biggest idol and they respect her a lot.

 

She basically raised them.

 

When they get home Dawon informs them that she will do homework before preparing dinner and suggests that they should go play in Hoseok’s room until then.

 

They nod convincingly, but they have a different plan in mind.

 

As soon as she leaves them they slip their shoes back on and sneak out to the playground connected to the apartment building.

 

Like the six year olds they are, their creativity never dies. There is always a mission around the corner and there is always a new adventure to encounter.

 

Caught up in their games, they lose track of time. The sun is soon replaced by clouds and a chilly wind blows through their clothes.

 

Geming chivers a little as they are resting on top of the jungle gym.

 

He is just a kid but it is hard for him to block out the reality around him. His real family is poor and never present because they have to work all the time. It is pure luck that he meet Hosek, and his family was nice enough to take care of him. He knows that one day all of that will be gone because he doesn’t actually belong there. It doesn’t feel like it, but he knows it.

 

Just like in story books, all bad things come with good things. Therefor all good things come with bad things too.

 

A raindrop lands on his nose and he pulls his legs up to his chin.

 

Most boys his age wishes for a bicycle or new toys but Geming only wishes for one thing, the one thing he can never actually get: a brother.

 

Most of all, he wishes that Hoseok would be his real brother. Then he would never have to worry about being left alone.

 

The sound of raindrops hitting the leaves on the trees around the playground slowly starts dominating their surroundings together with a light rainfall that the boys refuse to be bothered by.

 

“Hoseok,” Geming’s voice breaks through the long silence between them.

 

“What?”

 

“It's too bad that we aren’t real brothers.” He sighs while staring into the air in front of him.

 

Hoseok looks over to Geming and tilts his head a little.

 

Geming takes a breath and continues.

 

“The other boys don’t like that we always team up but I think that they’re just jealous,” he quickly swallows before finishing the sentence. “But I wouldn’t like it any other way.”

 

Hoseok doesn’t really understand what it is that Geming is thinking about but he can tell that it is something important.

 

“It would be great to be real brothers,” Hosek agrees. “Brothers always looks out for each other. Let’s at least make a pact; it’s us against the world.” He determines.

 

“Like real brothers?” Geming asks with a little doubt in his voice and reaches out his pinky.

 

“Like real brothers,” Hoseok repeats and catches the pinky with his own.

 

They stay like that for a little while until they hear footsteps coming up towards them and they turnaround

 

“There you are.” Dawon says with a relieved voice.