❣ 3 ❣

November 27^th, 2016

            It was on this day that a ten-year-old Mikyung was allowed to go play at an eleven-year-old Joonmyun’s home. She was excited, because her parents were letting her play with her friend outside of school.

            Joonmyun was equally excited, for he wouldn’t have to see the bullies in the background mocking him whenever he played with Mikyung.

            “This is… a coffee shop?”

            Her mother nodded and smiled. “The Kims live above the shop.” She pointed to the two floors above the small shop.

            Mikyung curiously followed her mother in, and was immediately greeted by Joonmyun’s smiling mother.

            “Welcome! You must be Mikyung! Joonmyun always talks about you,” said Mrs. Kim, stepping out from behind the counter.

            Mikyung shyly nodded, shying behind her own mother.

            Mrs. Kim shook hands with Mrs. Jung, and the two immediately began an introductory conversation.

            Small Mikyung glanced around the coffee shop, eyes darting away from customers, looking for Joonmyun.

            “Mom! Is Mikyung here yet?”

            Her head whipped around and she saw Joonmyun coming out from a door, as if coming down a flight of stairs.

            “Joonmyun! Mikyung and her mother are here. Come say hi!” Mrs. Kim quickly brought her son closer. “This is my son, Joonmyun.”

            “It’s nice to meet you, Joonmyun. Thank you for taking care of my Mikyung,” said Mrs. Jung, smiling at him.

            He shyly nodded. “I-It’s nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Jung.”

            Mrs. Jung smiled before gently pushing Mikyung forward. “Why don’t you go play? I’m sure you two would be too bored listening to the two of us talk.”

            Mikyung shuffled out from behind her mother, and a smile immediately lit up her face as soon as she saw Joonmyun.

            “Joonmyun, take Mikyung to the back of the café and play with her there. Your dad is busy doing some work in his home office,” said Mrs. Kim, gesturing to an empty area of the café, only used when the shop was somewhat overcrowded.

            The two immediately darted off, leaving the two mothers to laugh at their children’s playfulness. Yet there was a sense of relief in both of their eyes. They knew of their children’s difficulties at school, yet no matter what they said, nothing would be changed. And they, much to their dismay, were not in the financial status to send their children to a better school. It was a relief to both of them that their children found each other.

            “Joon, what happened here?” asked Mikyung, pointing to his elbow.

            He shrugged. “Just the usual.”

            Mikyung sadly nodded, but he immediately averted her attention.

            “My mom taught me how to make hot chocolate! Do you want some?”

            “Does she let you use hot water?”

            “Sometimes. I just have to be careful. Let’s go to the kitchen!”

            Mikyung obediently followed the older boy into the kitchen, where two middle-aged cooks greeted them.

            “Are you Joonmyunnie’s friend?” asked an older looking man, hands covered in flour from making small pastries.

            She nodded, now hiding slightly behind Joonmyun.

            “Well, it’s very nice to meet you! It’s about time he brought back a friend! I’m Daeho. If you two want something to eat, just let me know.”

            “Thanks, uncle Daeho!” said Joonmyun, smiling cheerfully.

            Mikyung glanced at the middle-aged man. Joonmyun had never smiled so brightly in front of her. Yet, as they went on to meet the other cook, a woman slightly younger than Daeho, she was able to make him smile just as much.

            Maybe it was because they had known him since he was a baby and were literally like family to him. But of course, the little Mikyung didn’t know, though it didn’t particularly matter. She was determined to make Joonmyun smile like that to her.

            After the older woman, who Mikyung later found out was named Heeyoung, had made hot chocolate for them (because Joonmyun was actually not allowed to use hot water by himself), the two of them went back out and sat down by a window that gave them a simple view of the streets.

            And as they sat there, they had the air of not children, but perhaps early teenagers, maybe even older. Though Mikyung looked no older than an eight year old, they were both maturing quickly in their state of mind.

            They sat by the window, and unlike others their age who would play with toys and dolls, Mikyung and Joonmyun talked, like how they usually did at school. But it was a lot more comfortable, for their peers weren’t there, breathing down the backs of their necks, judging them for being friends, and taunting them even more so.

            Words came much more naturally from their small mouths, and they didn’t laugh. They listened intently on what each of them had to say, though considering how young they were, their attention spans could only last for so long. They would often stray from their main topic, going into more child-like ones such as the latest toys, a cartoon they recently watched, etc. But they would go back to what they talked about before, and that was of how they lived day to day at school.

            Joonmyun would help reinforce whatever was left of Mikyung’s self esteem (which, to be honest, was basically nothing, but he was going to help her build it up, whether he knew it at the time or not), and Mikyung would fiercely tell him that there was nothing wrong with playing with her (which surprised Joonmyun, because he never saw her speak so strongly).

            But Joonmyun and Mikyung’s confidence faded immediately as their mothers told them it was time to part.

            Mikyung would shyly wave good-bye, and Joonmyun would return the wave, but with a small smile as well.

            The two mothers had agreed between themselves that the two could have play-dates once a week, knowing that it was for the best of their children, seeing how they smiled more often when around each other.

            And without their mothers knowing at that moment, Joonmyun and Mikyung had made a deal to play every weekend at Joonmyun’s family’s coffee shop. That was purely because they knew that playing outside of school was easier, more fun, and something they both needed as they progressed in their friendship.

December 20^th, 2016

            On the last day of school, Joonmyun was given a present by his fellow classmates at the very end of the day. And that was a makeover to turn his skin shades of red, green, purple, blue.

            Mikyung was presented with a new haircut, and her new white skirt stained with green paint from a Christmas themed finger painting class. The girls in her class wanted her to have tree leaves on her canvas of a skirt. Her mid-back length hair was snipped messily to end right below her shoulders in jagged, icicle-like shapes.

            Just as Mikyung was about to burst out crying, and as Joonmyun was thinking up a lie to his mother (though he knew she wouldn’t believe it), they crossed paths for the first time that day (for they had gone through torture all day long, and were unable to even spare a second for their friend).

            As soon as her eyes landed on Joonmyun, the tears burst from her eyes. As soon as he saw Mikyung’s tears, he forgot all about forging a lie to his mother, and sat down beside the poor girl.

            He pet her short hair and said now her hair made her look stronger, older. She, through her tears, pulled up his long sleeves and started massaging his bruises to allow the blood to flow. She had picked it up from her mother, who had once done the same when girls in her class decided to push her over once from the swings.

            “What happened to your skirt?”

            “We had finger painting today.”

            “Oh… it looks more colorful this way.”

            “I don’t like it. My mom will be mad at me.”

            “She won’t be. Your mom is nice.”

            “I guess so… Why do you let them hit you?”

            “I’ll get in trouble if I hit them back.”

            “But they don’t get in trouble for hitting you.”

            “They will when we get older.”

            “Will you just wait until they do?”

            “Yes.”

            “Why?”

            “Because then I’ll get used to fighting back. And I’ll get in a lot of trouble when I get older.”

            “Oh.”

            No, they didn’t think like children their age. They learned quickly, picked up knowledge and skills from people around them (specifically their parents, who tried to help them as best as they could).

            So, why didn’t they help in stopping the bullying they each faced?

            They both knew that if they weren’t strong enough to face their own bullies, they couldn’t face someone else’s.

            When Mikyung’s tears dried, and Joonmyun’s bruises started to numb, the two stood up and walked off to the classrooms to wait for their parents to pick them up.

            Mrs. Jung embraced her daughter, quickly bringing her into the car and taking her straight to a hair salon.

            Mrs. Kim immediately pulled her son into the car and drove him home to treat his injuries.

            Neither of their parents was mad at them. They were mad at themselves for not being able to send their children to better environments.

            That Christmas, both families wished for a better life for their children.

author's notes: What's up my lovelies~? Here's a quick update for you all ^^ sorry for not updating earlier D: I have a feeling I might not be able to update frequentlly T.T starting my Junior year and getting pretty stressed already. Anyways! I hope you all liked the update, and I hope it's not too dreary :( Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you guys in my next update :)            

~DespisedSecret

» layout credit