12 January 2005
building bridges김종인 (Kim Jong-in).
The first time these three characters appear, Kyungsoo is looking out of the window into the school hallway, staring into blank space until his eyes catch another pair of eyes. Warm, brown eyes that go slightly wide when they make eye contact.
Then Kyungsoo winces a little at the sharp pain in his wrist. Black characters start fading into view and Kyungsoo almost lets out a scream. He quickly covers his wrist with his other hand, afraid that his classmates can see what had been inked into his skin.
Kyungsoo is twelve and terrified at the thought of a certain boy’s name being tattooed on him.
Homoual couples are allowed in their society but they keep their relationships secret as people are still highly conservative in nature. Most of public homoual couples are high in societal status as no one dares to go against them.
Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo is different. Kyungsoo isn’t born with a silver spoon, Kyungsoo is living in a small apartment with his parents and older brother, Kyungsoo has nothing to his name.
Jongin though, Jongin isn’t like Kyungsoo. Jongin is born to the prestigious Kim family, a family of doctors. his father is the chairman in the board of directors of a local hospital and his mother is the vice-chairman. Jongin is their only child.
Kyungsoo knows all of this because on the first day of school, in first grade, Jongin was in the same class as him.
As with any first day of school, they all had to introduce themselves. When Jongin started speaking, a classmate shouted, “Aren’t you the son of Kim Jongguk?”
Everyone in the nation knows that name – Jongin’s father helped the hospital recover from a fate of bankruptcy. When Jongin heard that, he tilted his head back and laughed a little. “Yes, I am,” he confidently replied with a big smile and a high voice.
Ever since that day, Kyungsoo knew they were worlds apart. Jongin belongs to a world Kyungsoo will never belong to. The tanned boy makes friends with everyone - he has this energy that draws people to him and he soon became the star of their level. It was like the school was entranced by him. He was greeted by loud calls of his name wherever he went and teachers often praised him, be it for his excellent conduct or his meticulous work. Everyone became friends with the boy.
Well, everyone except for Kyungsoo. He avoided eye contact with Jongin despite being in the same class. He never uttered a word to him and acted as if the boy didn’t exist. His parents always warned him to never dream for things. A dream is a goal that can never be achieved. A friendship with Jongin was a dream.
Until one summer day, when Jongin and Kyungsoo were put in the same football team for physical education class. Kyungsoo had missed the ball by a few centimetres and landed on his , hard. A searing pain shot up his spine and he let out an uncontrollable yelp. He tried standing up but only managed to
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