------------------------------------------------------

Doojoon and Yoseob were the best of friends.

You could ask their mothers and they would say how they never are apart, they stick to each other like glue, they’re almost like brothers, and all that stuff mothers usually say…

But recently it hasn’t been like that.

Yoseob is 9 years old, Doojoon being a year older. They always do stuff together. Yoseob always has this daily routine: he would wake up, eat breakfast quickly (ignoring on the pleas of ‘eat slower, you’ll get a stomach ache!’ from his mom), then head straight to Doojoon’s house (which was just 2 houses away).

He would go straight into Doojoon’s house without even knocking - because he does it every day, so by now Doojoon’s parents have gotten used it and just look forward to his arrival. He would politely greet Doojoon’s mom and dad before running up the stairs, turning left, and don’t forget to slow down because he fell several time’s already, and stopping at Doojoon’s bedroom door just to barge in the next second.

Next Doojoon would look up, happiness evident in his eyes as he would ask ‘Did you bring me some food?’. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how Yoseob saves up an amount from his breakfast just for Doojoon. So, back to where we were – Yoseob would smile, hand the food to Doojoon (because Doojoon’s breakfast is never enough for him) and they would eat the food together, preparing for another fun day full of games.

After that they would head out – Yoseob eagerly pulling Doojoon’s hand along with occasional squeaks of ‘Hurry up Doojoonie!’ – and meet up with the rest of their friends. After a full day of playing they would slowly lessen, each being fetched or called by their parents, until it was only Doojoon and Yoseob left. Their parents didn’t have to fetch them, since their house was so near (plus, Doojoon wanted to show that he was brave and that he didn’t need fetching, and promised to be responsible and come home on time).

They would walk home, hands linked innocently as they talked about their day as the sun was slowly starting to set behind them.

That’s how their average day would go.

That’s how it should go.

So our little Yoseobie here did wake up, eyes opening groggily as he slowly walked to the kitchen. He silently sat on his spot on the dining table, saying a quiet ‘good morning’ to his appa and eomma. His watched his mom cook breakfast, already thinking of spending the day with his friends… and more importantly – Doojoonie.

Speaking of which –

“Eomma” Yoseob asked as his mom placed a fresh batch of waffles on the table. “What day is it today?” His eomma smiled warmly at him, ruffling his hair. “Saturday, dear~ Why are you asking?” However Yoseob wasn’t answering this because he was already stuffing a bunch of food in his mouth. “Sorry…” he managed to say, “Doojoonie promised that he would buy me ice cream today! Is it okay if I go now? Bye Appa! Bye Eomma!”

“Yoseob wai – “ his mom hurriedly said but was cut off with a slight bang of the door.

------------------------------------------------------

Knock Knock

Yoseob hummed a happy tune in his head, waiting for someone to answer the door. He had happily trudged to Doojoon’s house, a waffled packed up carefully in a plastic bag safely wrapped up around his arms. Yoseob was really really excited today. Doojoonrarely treated Yoseob to anything… anything that needed money at least. He was always saying how you need to be ‘ready for the future’ and therefore he always advised everyone (his friends) to save money. A week ago, however, Doojoon had lost to a bet with Yoseob and now he had to pay with – and yes, Doojoon is not happy with having to spend his savings of coins – ice cream.

Yoseob looked up upon seeing the door open, seeing Doojoon’s parents there. Yoseob gave them a bright smile, but Doojoon’s mom seemed to be confused.

“Yoseobie…what are you doing here?” she asked, however Yoseob was getting none of this, since he was too busy trying to peek inside. “Where’s Doojoonie? Is he in his room? Can I come in?...Oh…wait…Good Morning!” he hastily said, only to make Mrs. Yoon scrunch her brows. She knelt down to Yoseob’s eye level.

“Seobie, Doojoon is at soccer practice remember?” she said, softly ruffling Yoseob’s hair. Yoseob was silent for a while, still trying to contemplate what Doojoon’s eomma said. Upon realization, loneliness immediately swept over the boy as a pout formed on his lips.

“Ohh…yeah…”

Well, this was not the first time it had happened. It had happened many times already, which means that he has forgotten that his best friend has soccer practice…a lot of times.

Doojoon had been practicing for the trials for the next year’s elementary soccer team (‘This is very important Yoseobie!!!’ ‘Come on, help me practice, kick the ball to me!’) and soon enough had been admitted into the team. Well, that means one thing: more practice. So now all that Doojoon did over the summer was two things: Every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday he would be in their school’s soccer field playing from early morning until night (or whenever Doojoon wanted to go). The rest of the days he would spend with Yoseob, but that doesn’t mean it would be as fun as it used to be. Often, Doojoon would be so tired from practice that all they did was stay at his room, reading books or telling stories and other things that didn’t use much physical effort.

Don’t get Yoseob wrong, he loves staying with Doojoon, he feels happy just being with him. He looks forward to the days when Doojoon’s home – even though all they do is stay up in the room - , so he could take care of him and make sure everything’s okay (I’m fine Seobie, really!’ ‘Let me check! You’ve been much more tired lately and I want you to be healthy!’)

“Yoseobie?”

Yoseob snapped back into reality. He blinked, looking around and seeing that he was still in the front door of Doojoon’s house.

“Yoseobie?” Doojoon’s mom repeated. “Huh? What?” Yoseob asked, eyes widening a bit. The mom laughed. “Would you like to come in? I can make you some hot chocolate and you can stay until Doojoonie comes home”

“Oohh..” Yoseob quickly put up a polite smile and gently shook his head. “No thank you miss” He said, bowing slightly. Doojoon’s mom laughed again. “Ah~ you are so cute! Don’t I always tell you that you can call me mommy? You and Doojoon are so close that you are like a son to me anyway. I bet that how your eomma feels too” Yoseob nodded awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to this ‘mother talk’. She noticed this and ruffled Yoseob’s hair lovingly, “It’s okay, you can go now and have fun” Yoseob nodded once more, turning around and walking away to the park, not before turning back again and waving ‘goodbye’ to Doojoon’s mom.

------------------------------------------------------

Yoseob walked to the park, to their favorite park bench, finding his other friends already there waiting.

“Seobie!”

The next thing Yoseob knew, he was being bear-hugged by Dongwoon, who was taller than him, which resulted in Yoseob slightly being carried off his feet. Yoseob laughed and hugged Dongwoon back. “Hi Woonie”

After being satisfied with Yoseob’s answer, Yoseob was finally released. Yoseob started to fix his crumpled up shirt caused by Dongwoon’s hug when his hand was pulled (by once again: Dongwoon) to the rest of the group. Yoseob smiled at his friends: Hyunseung, who was sitting on the floor, Junhyung, who was sitting on the bench sprinkling leaves playfully on top of an oblivious Hyunseung, and Kikwang, who was…

“Ow!” Dongwoon whined after having Kikwang hit him. He rubbed his arm where Kikwang hit him. “What was that for?” Kikwang puffed out his cheeks angrily, before pouting sadly. “I thought I was your favorite hyung!” he said sadly. Dongwoon’s eyes widened. “Of course Kiki is my favorite hyung! Hyung, don’t be stupid!” The moment he said that, everyone’s head snapped up (which cause the leaves Junhyung worked so hard on to fall off of Hyunseung’s head) and their eyes widened. Dongwoon did a small squeal and covered his mouth immediately after he said that. Kikwang’s eyes were grew wet and big, mouth shaking before completely bursting
.

“Don’t say that word!!!” he practically shrieked, tears forming in his eyes. “My eomma says that’s a bad word and you shouldn’t say it to other people because it’s mean and it can hurt other people’s feelings!!!” His hands then turned into fists as he tried to wipe away his tears.

“My eomma says that too” Hyunseung piped up idly, eyes round and curious as to see what would happen to Dongwoon, who had committed the crime of saying the bad word.

“No!” Dongwoon squealed out, hands on his mouth getting tighter. “I-I’m sorry Kiki!!! I didn’t know why I said that word…I’m sorryyyyy” he whined out the last word. “Dongwoonie’s in trouble~” Junhyung chanted, hands once again delicately putting leaves on Hyunseung’s hair. Hyunseung turned up to stare at him. “Eomma says it also bad if you do that, it makes them feel even gloomier…and stop doing that to my hair” he stated flatly. Junhyung pouted, hands dropping the leaves before looking up at  Dongwoon. “Sorry Woonie” he said, looking back at Hyunseung to see him grinning in satisfaction.

Yoseob meanwhile, had now gone past the still whining Dongwoon (I’m sorryyyy Kiki!!!) – who was now by the way hugging Kikwang very tightly – and the crying Kikwang and sat beside Junhyung. Junhyung looked up at him lips puffed out in curiosity. “Where’s Doojoon-hyung? Isn’t he usually with you? Why didn’t he come?” he wondered out loud to Yoseob. Yoseob, after being reminded about that certain someone, let his head fall down sadly. “Soccer practice” he muttered out. “What?” Junhyung asked, eyes narrowing and head going closer to Yoseob, not at all recognizing the sadness in Yoseob’s gestures and voice. “Speak up, Seobie”

Hyunseung turned around again to hit Junhyung on the head. “Hyung is at soccer practice, remember? It’s Saturday today, you know.” He said certainly. Junhyung scowled and rubbed his head. “Seungie! You don’t have to hit me!” he complained.

Kikwang suddenly chuckled and faced Yoseob with a cheeky grin. “I bet Seobie hyung misses Doojoonie hyung already!” Dongwoon chuckled along with Kikwang, trying to get on his good side, but Kikwang noticed this and just crossed his arms and turned away from Dongwoon, who in return whined once more. Yoseob glared at Kikwang, puffing up his cheeks, but he didn’t say anything. It was true, of course. He just didn’t like anyone else pointing it out to him.

Hyunseung shrugged. “I think we all miss Doojoon hyung. He’s been busy lately” Yoseob smiled happy that Hyunseung is on his side.

“…but it’s obvious that Yoseob misses Doojoon hyung the most”

Yoseob’s head snapped up to glare at Hyunseung, who was chuckling along with the rest of his friends. He puffed out of his cheeks, crossing his arms as he tried to ignore their laughter. Junhyung went over to Yoseob and put his shoulder around him. “Come on guys, let’s stop it now. Yoseobie’s getting all red.” More laughter came. Junhyung waved his hand dismissively at them. “Yah, I’m serious. Anyway, let’s go get some ice cream! I’m hungry” At that, the rest quickly agreed. Kikwang trudged forward, not before Dongwoon instantly tried to hold on to him. Kikwang whined, shaking off Dongwoon’s grip. Junhyung let go of Yoseob and waited for Hyunseung to go beside him before they followed behind Kikwang. Yoseob normally stays with Doojoon, but on days like this he would stick with either one of them or go by himself behind everybody.

He was about to step forward when he felt something cling on to his arm.

“Woonie?” Yoseob asked, seeing the younger grip his arm with a pout on his lips. Dongwoon huffed. “Kiki hyung is still mad at me for calling him….er….well…you know…so I was wondering if I could stay with Seobie hyung for a while” he said, scratching the back of his head. Yoseob smiled brightly, linking arms with Dongwoon. “sure Woonie!”

So off they went, the six…I meant five… of them walking along to get their wonderful cold treat.

But Yoseob couldn’t help but think –

Doojoonie, when are you coming home... I don’t want to get teased anymore…

------------------------------------------------------

When they got there, they would normally say the flavors they wanted, then their biggest hyung – Doojoon – would pay for it, which is all thanks to Yoseob. He was in practice though, so now what they would do is split whatever change they have to buy ice cream. This day they each bought just a simple chocolate flavor drumstick. They were walking along the park, playing ‘eye-spy’, when they all heard a sudden cry from their left.

“Nooo!” Kikwang whined, staring down at his befallen ice cream. They all stopped to stare at it quietly, thinking about the sadness Kikwang must have felt for losing this – what they considered precious – snack. Kikwang let out a cry, doing nothing but pout and look at it.

Suddenly Dongwoon had an idea. E rushed over to Kikwang, and pushed his half-eaten ice cream to him. “Kiki, you can have mine” Kikwang looked up with huge, slightly tear-stained eyes. “Woonie?” Dongwoon shrugged, putting his ice cream in Kikwang’s hands. “You can have it, I don’t like chocolate anyway.”

Kikwang looked at the ice cream on his hands, then at Dongwoon, then back at his hands again. He blinked, before suddenly looking up with a huge grin on his face before tackling Dongwoon in a bear hug.

“Omo! Thank You so much Woooniee!!!” he squealed,  hugging the younger tighter. Dongwoon laughed, “so does that mean that you like me again?” Kikwang let go of Dongwoon, eyes wide – obvious that he forgot that he was supposed to be mad at Dongwoon. He puffed his lips out, thinking, before letting out.

“…as long as I’m still your favorite hyung”

Dongwoon squealed happily, hugging Kikwang once again before taking hold of his hand and happily pulling him along the park. “Woonie, let’s share the ice cream!” Kikwang said, struggling to keep up with Dongwoon’s happy strut. “…and slow down!” Junhyung and Hyunseung followed, their arms also linked, laughing at their two dongsaengs.

Yoseob was left walking by himself behind (“Seobie, want to come with us?” “No thanks Junnie”) the rest. He smiled, chuckling a bit at seeing Dongwoon and Kikwang laugh at each other and share their ice cream. Soon he found himself thinking –

Doojoonie, I wish you were here... then we could share an ice cream and laugh at each other too…

------------------------------------------------------

It was almost evening now, the five sitting on a hill top and watching the sun set. They were all very much tired, yawning and stretching after a whole day of fun and games. After they finished their ice cream, they had a game of hide and seek. Junhyung was last found, seeing as he was five blocks away from the rest (“No one said we weren’t allowed to hide here!”). Hyunseung was ‘it’ at that time, and he whined at Junhyung (“You didn’t have to make it that hard for me!”) before hitting him on the arm.

Now, the two were leaning against a tree, side by side as Hyunseung rested his head on Junhyung’s shoulder. Kikwang and Dongwoon had proceeded to lying down on the grass, watching the clouds and the sky.

Yoseob sat up, blinking . He looked up at the sky, it was getting dark now. He stood up, this motion earning attention from the others. “Where are you going hyung?” Yoseob looked at them, before smiling. “I’m going home, I’m sleepy already” “Oh…well, sleep tight Yoseobie”

Yoseob muttered a ‘thank you’ before running down the hill. He walked out of the park, into the streets as he walked home. Actually, he wasn’t that sleepy, he just wanted to go earlier than the rest. He just felt so lonely that day, even lonelier than the other days than when Doojoon wasn’t around. He blinked, looking up and seeing that he was already in his front door. He entered the house, looking around and seeing that it was quiet. He popped his head in the kitchen, seeing his mom on the stove cooking dinner.

“Oh, home so early Seobie?” his eomma asked, wiping her hands on her apron and looking at Yoseob. Yoseob nodded. “Sleepy” he muttered, faking a yawn. His eomma smiled lovingly, going over to peck him on the cheek. “Alright hon, go on and take a nap on your bed, I’ll wake you up when it’s dinner time” Yoseob nodded, lazily going up the stairs and into his room.

He entered his room, darkness being the first thing he sees. Yoseob the light and went straight to his bed, thinking he should just lie down and do nothing else for the rest of the night. However, he immediately stopped walking upon seeing a big, life-size (for him at least) plush bear. It was the bear Doojoon had given to him for last Christmas.

The bear had a bluish-white color all over, except for its belly and the pads of its hands and feet – which were all white. It also had a baby pink ribbon on it, Yoseob smiling slightly as he remembered what he had said –

“Doojoonie! Why is the ribbon pink, I’m not a girl!” Yoseob whined after examining the bear he got for Christmas. Doojoon, who was sitting cross legged in front of him, chuckled. “Alright, then I guess you don’t want this bear” he said, reaching out to get the bear back.

“No!” Yoseob immediately pulled the bear out of his reach and hugged it tight. Doojoon raised his eyebrows. “I thought you don’t like it…?” Yoseob squeezed the bear harder, before looking at Doojoon. “You already gave it to me, so it’s mine now!” Doojoon put his tongue out to Yoseob after frowning. Yoseob did the same to him. “Plus, it’s really soft and cuddly…” he muttered out the last few words, but Doojoon could still hear it. Doojoon burst out into laughter and rolled on the floor. “See! I got you a pink ribbon because you’re such a girl!” Yoseob glared at him before proceeding to throw some gift wrappers on him. “No I’m not!” ….

Yoseob looked at the bear for a while, before reaching for it and softly grabbing it with his hands. He didn’t bother to go to his bed. He just plopped down on the corner off the room while staring at the bear on his arms. After a while, he suddenly hugged the bear as tight as he could, burying his face in the bear’s back.

Doojoonie, where are you now?

Doojoonie, I miss you…

Doojoonie, come home soon…

Yoseob didn’t move for a while. He didn’t move when he heard the front door open then shut closed again. He didn’t move when he heard his eomma saying ‘oh, he’s upstairs, in his room’ and he didn’t move when he heard footsteps going up and heading toward his room. He still didn’t move when the door to his room opened and shadow came into his view, when the man…boy… who owns that shadow chuckled. “Your eomma said you were taking a nap, but I never knew that you took naps like this”

He didn’t move, but he already knew who he was, from the moment the front door opened.

The boy chuckled again, playfully stating “See, I told you that that bear is perfect for you” he teased. He took a step forward when Yoseob suddenly bolted up, bear still in his arms, and pounced on him, hugging both him and the bear.

“What took you so long?” Yoseob muttered softly. Doojoon smiled, hugging Yoseob back. “Sorry, Seobie” he said, tone as soft as Yoseob’s.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed as Yoseob looked up to glare at Doojoon. Doojoon’s eyes widened innocently. “What did I do?” Yoseob just continued to glare at him before lifting up his bear – with some effort, considering is was as big as him – and flinging it at Doojoon.

“Why do you have to be so good at soccer” he pouted, grabbing the bear to hit Doojoon again. Doojoon tried his best to block Yoseob’s hits, which were – as small as Yoseob is – quite strong. “Yah” he said, shuffling to the right to avoid the leg of the beg hitting his face. “It’s not my fault”

“Yes it is!” Yoseob squeaked out, raising the bear in his arms once more. “Seobie!” Doojoon said, grabbing both of Yoseob’s arms. He looked at Yoseob, sighing. “Seobie, I feels sad too you know” he said, cautiously letting go of Yoseob’s hand, which – to his relief – returned to hugging the bear. Doojoon continued.

“I feel lonely every practice because if want you to be there with me.” He said sadly. It was quiet after that, nothing heard for a few minutes until Yoseob let out –

“I miss eating ice cream with you”

Doojoon blinked, looking at Yoseob before exploding into laughter. Yoseob look at Doojoon incredulously, watching him as he clutched his stomach, laughing way too much.

“Yah” Doojoon breathed out. “You made my tummy hurt” he said, laughing once more. “Why are you so funny Seobie?”

Yoseob scrunched his eyebrows, grip around the bear getting tighter. “I wasn’t trying to be funny” he simply stated. Once Doojoon was done laughing and rolling around the floor he stood up, straightening himself out, Yoseob still staring at him. “Tell you what” he said, grabbing both of Yoseob's shoulders. “Tomorrow, let’s go get ice cream together, my treat” Yoseob scrunched his eyebrows once more. “Hang on…” he said. “You already promised to get me ice cream…so that means…” Yoseob suddenly looked up with so much glee in his eyes. “that means I can get free ice cream for two days!” he exclaimed. Doojoon blinked. “Oh yeah… I should really think before I talk… eomma always tells me that too…” he trailed off, muttering quietly but loud enough for both of them to hear. Yoseob laughed, tackling him in a hug once more.

Doojoon then suddenly piped out “Hey, I saw your eomma cooking dinner, can I eat dinner with you?”

Yoseob laughed. “Sure, but let’s bring Dooseob!”

Doojoon blinked. “Dooseob?” “Yeah!” Yoseob exclaimed, letting go of Doojoon to show him the bear. Doojoon blinked once more. “That’s Dooseob? What’s Dooseob? Why is his name Dooseob?”

Yoseob grinned cheekily.

“It’s Doojoonie plus Yoseobie, silly~”

A/N: Idk where did came from, really XD. I had an idea of drawing this girl hugging a bear at school, then suddenly it ended up being Yoseob :DDDD All m classmates where all O3O and were saying stuff like ‘Is that a boy?’ ‘It’s so weird, why is a boy doing that, shouldn’t it be a girl?’ and I really didn’t want to do anything but stand up, and flail all around them screaming: “ITS DOOSEOB ES!!!!!!!!” XDDD

Yeahh… =3=