Chapter 5: Friends

____________________

BOM'S P.O.V.

“You two need some explaining to do.”  SeungHyun---er...Tabi and I rubbed the back of our necks. We tried to avoid eye contact with his friends but of course, it didn't work. 

SeungHyun was the first one to answer the question.  “We're deskpartners.”

“We're detention partners too.” I added making the boys laugh.

“She was the one who created my black eye!”

“Nuh-uh! My shoes did that!”

“That was just the same!”

“There's a difference!”

Before anything can happen, luckily his friends stopped us.  “Woah woah woah the couple is having a lover's quarrel!”

“NO!” SeungHyun and I shouted in unison. 

“Okay so make your story short and clear then!” A boy who served us awhile ago said. 

We told our story from the very start and up to now. And I must say that for boys, they are very attentive listeners. Their mouths were all opened wide in shock.

“So how did you all meet then?” I clasped my hands together and placed my elbows on the table. It makes me aan interrogator. Hah it's my time to ask! But oh my curious yeahhh!! Oh mianhae I just started singing inside my mind. The boys just looked at each other in a playful manner then clicked their tongues. 

 “You need all the time for our story.”  I accept this challenge. “But I have all the time to listen.” They raised their eyebrows and started on telling the tale.

 /flashback/ ((no one's pov))

Crying can be heard through the hallways of the adoption center. Little SeungHyun is all curled up in a ball-like form on a rainy night. 

“What's wrong?”  SeungHyun looked up to see a boy with crescent like eyes staring at him. 

“The other children said that I look mean and scary!” “But you are not scary! I saw you helping Miss Jang bake cookies and smiling a lot!”

“Re-really?” SeungHyun hiccuped.

“Yes!”  SeungHyun stood up and bowed. “Kamsahamnida! What's your name? I want to be your chingu!”

“Call me DaeSung!”

“DaeSung! I'm D-LITE-d to be your friend!”

From then on, staying at the adoption center was never sad for SeungHyun anymore.  SeungHyun will be adopted tomorrow and DaeSung the next day. They cried and cried that can fill the Han River all over again.

 “DaeSung, thanks for being my friend! I really appreciate you being a part of my life!” SeungHyun bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from crying. DaeSung replied with the same thing with gratitude.

“You look like you don't have anymore, DaeSung!” They parted with laughter as their last memory for each other.

__________

SeungHyun was in middle school when he met his first friend at school.

But it was not the best middle schools at town based on his stepfather's whole being. His stepfather is poor, grumpy, evil, all of the bad qualities all in this person. YoungBae was SeungHyun's classmate. They didn't notice that they were getting closer and closer. 

“Hey SeungHyun! After basketball practice let's go to my house and play video games!”

“Okay YoungBae! It's the last summer before we get into high school anyways!”

The cruelty of his stepfather knew this and prevented SeungHyun to meet YoungBae. But SeungHyun not wanting to bid farewell to another friend, kept on sneaking to YoungBae's house. Which his stepfather never knew. 

__________

When SeungHyun was adopted, his stepfamily asked him to buy illegal things like cigarettes and drugs.

SeungHyun will never do that.  That's why at an alley, his stepfather shouted at him. Luckily, before getting beaten up, the police caught his father, /for life/.  After all the commotion and his father being arrested, the people, most likely the audience, scattered and left the scene.

A boy who was hiding behind his father went to SeungHyun. “I-I was the one who told appa to call the police. I heard the man shouting and saying he was about to beat you up.”

SeungHyun collapsed on the boy's arm and cried. After calming down, SeungHyun was invited inside the boy's house. 

“Want some hot choco?” SeungHyun eyed the whole "house". It was a coffee shop for pete's sake! The boy's father, or what he thought, just poured a hot liquid, on the mug and delicious chocolate aroma filled the room.

While the kids were drinking their hot chocolate, the boy introduced himself. “I'm Kwon JiYong by the way.” He introduced himself with chocolate smeared on his mouth like a mustache.

“I'm SeungHyun. Choi SeungHyun.” 

“Oh and that ahjussi,” JiYong stopped after receiving glares from the man at the counter “right there is my uncle, Yang Hyun-suk. He's my guardian and my parents are busy with their business.” SeungHyun then stayed a night there.

__________

SeungHyun visited his old house to see no one inside.

He looked around to see no traces of his stepfamily's things. He just shrugged. This is better than having them around. He got out of the house for fresh air and went to the park. There were boys laughing from afar.

“SeungHyun! Come here!” SeungHyun ran to the park to see YoungBae and JiYong playing basketball. 

“SeungHyun! The funny part was that when me and YoungBae met, he mentioned that you were good at basketball!”

“Then I said I met you at the coffee shop!”  “Wait until the other guys see you!”

With that, two boys came. 

“Yah! Look I met this kid and he seems fun to be with! He just moved and he's my neighbor! His name is--” The boy eyed SeungHyun (Tabi). “SEUNGHYUN!”  

The other boy nodded.

“Yep my name is Lee SeungHyun.”

“Not you, SeungRi, him!”

“Me?”

“Yes! Don't you remember me? I'm Kang DaeSung!” DaeSung imitated the face that he always do to cheer up SeungHyun. “SMELLLLL~~~”

“You're really DaeSung.”

/end of flashback/

__________

“In the end, SeungHyun got a job at the cafe that Jiyong's uncle, YG, own. We were the ones who called him YG. For the time being, SeungHyun was sort-of-adopted by YG. Like school fees.” 

“Because of two SeungHyuns, Tabi is the Big SeungHyun, while SeungRi is Small SeungHyun.” 

“Tabi was like the Cinderella and we're the mice friends like Jaq and Gus, plus the birds and all. But Jiyong is the cat named Lucifer and he chases SeungRi the mouse.” 

“And it all happened last summer.”

“Oh and we call ourselves Big Bang!”

____________________