Yongguk waited at the entrance of Junhong’s school with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. The kid was late. School ended like an hour ago. Drumming his fingers impatiently against his skin, Yongguk fixed his gaze on the main building, waiting for a familiar figure to emerge.

Seconds passed by. And then minutes. But minutes turned to half an hour.

No sign of Junhong.

Yongguk pushed himself off the wall and decided to find his brother. He entered the main building and wandered about, searching for Junhong’s classroom. He knew the name of his classroom but he didn’t know where the location was. It seemed like he was walking along the same hall again and again. He wondered how the students could remember the way to their classrooms.

After rounding the whole block, Yongguk finally found his twelve-year old brother sitting in a classroom, head buried in his arms that were resting on a desk. Sighing in relief, Yongguk approached his brother and tapped his arm, calling out his name.

Junhong lifted his head and stared at Yongguk confusedly. Yongguk noticed that there were dried tears on his face.

“Did you…cry?” Yongguk asked hesitantly.

Junhong frowned and got up immediately, grabbing his backpack.

“Jello, wait,” Yongguk called out when the boy walked out of the classroom. Before Junhong could go further, Yongguk grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Nothing,” the boy answered simply, followed by a sniff.

“You’re obviously lying,” Yongguk creased his forehead.

Junhong had never kept things from him before. He had always talked to Yongguk whenever he felt troubled or sad.

He’d changed after their parents left them.

“No one wants to be my friend, hyung,” Junhong whispered wistfully, avoiding his brother’s eyes.

“What?” Yongguk raised his eyebrows. Of course, he’d heard Junhong clearly but he was surprised by the statement.

“They didn’t want to be my friend because I have no parents,” Junhong said with trembling voice, his eyes b with tears once again. “They’re so stupid! I hate them!”

“Don’t listen to them,” Yongguk draped his arm around his little brother and offered a small smile. “You do have parents. That’s me. From now on, I’m your parent.”

♦

Junhong entered the classroom with his head hung low and made his way to his seat without catching anyone’s attention.

He’d rested for three days at the orphanage because when he slept the day he got back from Himchan’s house, he found his entire body aching all over. He couldn’t even move—the slightest move resulted to a kind of pain which was indescribable.

Youngjae, his roommate was a nice person. He’d helped Junhong to lie down on his bed every night and bring him his food to their room since he couldn’t move that much. He also tried hiding Junhong’s condition from the warden but they were busted when the warden caught Youngjae carrying a bag of bandage rolls one night.

After finding out about Junhong’s injuries, the warden had brought him to the hospital for proper treatment. He’d asked Junhong how he got the injuries but Junhong stayed silent as always. He’d never talked to anyone since Yongguk’s death. Most of the kids at the orphanage and school thought that he was mute.

Before the warden could come to his own conclusion, Youngjae told him that both he and Junhong had played soccer and got into a little accident.

The warden accepted the answer but he’d given Junhong the longest stare Junhong had ever gotten from him before the warden brought them back to the orphanage.

Junhong was thankful that Youngjae had covered for him. Youngjae seemed to understand him just by looking into his eyes. Youngjae was indeed a good person. He never forced him to talk or make him feel uncomfortable. Junhong wished they were friends for real but Junhong couldn’t call him his friend yet because he hadn’t even talked or opened up to him.

It wasn’t right to label him as his friend.

“Page 150,” the teacher, Yoochun told his students as soon as he entered the classroom.

As always, the students ignored him. All they did was lean back in their seats and talk with their friends.

Junhong took out his textbook and laid it on the table. While flipping through the pages, a crumpled paper hit the back of his head. He could hear someone chuckling from behind. He knew very well who the person was.

He decided to focus on the textbook.

Another crumpled paper hit him at the same spot. Junhong blinked but didn’t turn back for he didn’t want to look at the faces of the bullies. Looking at them would only make him feel like vomiting.

“Did he lose his sense of touch?” Junhong knew that voice belonged to JR.

“Yaa, twig.” Aron called him.

Junhong’s eyes remained still on page 150.

“He’s ignoring us,” Baekho snickered.

“Well, we can always talk later,” Aron muttered darkly.

Junhong could just feel Aron’s stare that was burning hole at the back of his head. Junhong closed his eyes and bit his lips.

He wished he could fly someplace else as long as he wouldn’t meet bad people.

Yongguk hyung, please take me away from here.

♦

“Where’s that little twig?” Baekho asked his friends as the three of them rounded the corner where Junhong had taken previously.

“He’s really good at running away, that retarded kid.” JR said with a low growl.

“Yaa, twig! Where are you?” Aron shouted in the empty hall. “Come out and play!”

Junhong peeked through the door of the storeroom. He’d been hiding there for ten minutes. School had just ended and now the three bullies had decided to come after him. Junhong regretted for not leaving earlier. He could’ve walked among the sea of students and went straight to the orphanage but then the homeroom teacher, Hyosung decided to hold him back just to talk to him about his thoughts of his new school. Junhong had nodded, shaken his head and blinked to reply to her questions. She didn’t mind him being quiet. She did all the talking anyway.

By the time the teacher released him, the school was almost empty. Junhong was thinking of walking out of the school with the teacher but the three bullies had already made their way to him and grabbed him by the arm, telling their homeroom teacher that they were there to take Junhong for a walk.

As a teacher who wouldn’t mind what her students would be doing, Hyosung had dismissed them easily, flashing Junhong a big smile which had always failed to make Junhong feel better.

The moment the teacher left the scene, they had tried dragging Junhong along with them but Junhong made a quick escape by shoving JR, resulting into the three of them bumping into each other like dominoes.

“Maybe he’s already left school.” JR told his friends.

They were still wandering around the storeroom. Junhong was lucky that they didn’t search thoroughly or else, they would’ve found him in there.

“We’re wasting our time here. Let’s just go to the game arcade. We can teach him a lesson tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow,” Baekho said as he laughed with the others.

When Junhong was sure that they’d left, he opened the door wider and stepped outside. No one was at the hall. It was empty.

Junhong made a run for it.

He went down the stairs and opened the door to the back exit when he bumped into someone, causing both of them to stumble to the floor.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you,” the person apologized in a tiny voice. “Are you okay?”

Junhong got to his feet and dusted his uniform when he saw the person’s face. He recognized the person. He was his classmate. Before Junhong left wordlessly, he took a quick glance at the boy’s nametag.

His name was Jongup.       

♦

“Hyung, where are you?” Junhong leaned his forehead against the glass of the telephone booth, his eyes closed.

He was out of breath. He’d run here after he got outside of the school compound.

“I’m still waiting. I told you, I’ll wait forever as long as you will come and take me with you,” he bit his lips and held the receiver closer to him. “Yongguk hyung, I don’t wanna go there anymore. I hate everything. Most of the people are bad. They treated me like I’m a freak. Hyung…please come back.”

Junhong placed the receiver to its original place and stood outside the telephone booth for a while, pondering over his miserable life.

He hadn’t stopped wishing to escape from the cruel world since Yongguk’s death. Everyday, when he woke up in the morning, he would wish for the same thing over and over. He’d always held onto the wish. He wanted it to come true but a part of him kept on telling him that he was being stupid for clinging on something unreal.

He wondered whether his wish would ever come true.

If only- 

“Oh, I think we’ve hit jackpot!” Aron’s voice jolted Junhong out of his thoughts.

Junhong looked up to meet the bully’s eyes. They were dark—full of hatred and evil.

The other two, Baekho and JR stared at each other and exchanged sinister looks. Then both of them draped their arms around Junhong’s shoulders and dragged him away from the telephone booth.

Yongguk hyung, can you hear me?