„touch the sky”

It was a day as any other in summer.
Hot and a light wind blowing from time to time even though the day just started and the sun was still rising. Most of the people in this neighbourhood were on vocation, traveling to any places of the world to escape their daily routines.
 

Silently walking around the streets, the soft summer breeze gently hit my face.
The hot and suffocating wind blowing through the silver strands of my hair even in the early morning, brushing it carefully out of my face.
The streets were rather silent in this time of the year.
There were barely noises in the air. Sometimes the birds were tweeting while they flew across the deep blue sky and sometimes the quiet lullaby of the wind was ringing out through the silence.
It was quiet pleasant to be honest.
Boring, monotone but pleasant.
 

Kibum suddenly crossed my thoughts.
Since the day I met the little boy I was thinking of him every now and then.
I was beginning to watch the stars at night, desperately trying to see the magic the feline boy spoke of. I tried to understand the way he seemed to see things and to my surprise, I took pleasure in it.
 

There was this odd growing in my chest whenever Kibum came to my mind.
I needed a few days until I understood the meaning of it. I was missing him.
A new sort of feeling that was making me uncomfortable at first. I didn't know how to cope with it. It seemed so surreal for an angel to miss anything and yet my mind was constantly asking for the little kid.
I tried to figure out the real meaning behind it. Did I really miss Kibum or just the way he made me feel ?
I felt human by his side. He was talking with me, interacting withe me. Something I never did before, but humans; they did that a lot. So was it just the feeling of humanity I was longing for ?
I didn't know.
I couldn't understand.
All I knew for sure was that I wanted to see Kibum again.
 

I continued my path up and down the streets of the neighbourhood Kibum was living. Concentrating on the sounds around me until my ears caught something unnatural.
It didn't fit into the place and listening to the noise it was filling me up with sadness.
It wasn't a natural sound but caused by something else.
It was agonizing, and I knew why.
 

My feet hurried towards the sound. They were jus taking me there without me even really realizing. They just worked on their own in that moment, but I didn't mind anyway.
I ran through the streets in the early morning, desperate to find the source of that painful sound.
The heart inside my ribcage; for the first time in my existence my heartbeat was rising unusually high.
It felt so strange.
What was this feeling ?
Was it ... panic ?
 

My feet brought me pass some ordinary looking houses until my eyes caught sight of a little figure sitting on the roadside of a deserted street.
There he was.
Kibum.
Sitting on the roadside crying in such agony that it made the blood inside my veins freeze to something colder than ice.
It broke my heart.
The tears that were pouring down those brown feline eyes, the flushed and wet cheeks, the black raven hair sticking to the boy's forehead, it was ripping me apart.
I didn't want those honest eyes to cry.
 

I ran over to Kibum and kneeled down to his level.
The boy was pressing his hands on his knee but the bleeding wound under them was already coloring his white legs with the crimson liquid.
Kibum's painful screams were clouding my mind.
I lifted my right hand to his cheek trying to calm him down and get his attention. The crying boy opened his tear dimmed eyes at the touch on his cheek and realization seemed to dawn on him when he finally noticed it was me.
To my surprising, he really calmed down and stopped crying almost immediately.
I gave him a warm smile with the hidden massage to stay strong and bare the pain for a bit longer. He got it and nodded hesitantly. His hands loosened and I gently shoved them away.
Kibum scraped his knee. It wasn't that deep to be honest, but the bleeding seemed to just flow down the wound like it was water.
I laid my own hands on the boy's knee trying to heal the wound.
It was a pretty useful power that angels had and in that moment I was more than just happy to have it.
 

There was a little blue light radiating through the gaps of my fingers and Kibum stared at it in awe.
He was like a curious kitten and eagerly tried to touch the light but I removed my hands before he could even lay a finger on it. It saddened him and a little pout appeared on his plump lips.
I chuckled quietly to myself and wiped the remaining tears out of the boy's angelic face. He looked up to meet my eyes and I could see the thankfulness in them.
The wound was healed and the feline boy mumbled something incorrehent that sounded like 'cool' to himself before he wrapped his small, tender arms around my neck and nuzzled his head into my neck.
His warmth was streaming through my body awakening the lifeless cells in my whole system. I didn't knew where to put my arms. It was the first time I received a hug. It was so odd and strange, yet it felt so good at the same time.
 

"Dino-hyung, where have you been ? Look, I'm hurting when you're not around." he judged me, "You have to protect me."
 

He pouted his lips again as he pulled away from me and I felt the guilt rise inside of me. He still thought I was his guardian angel.
In that night, I simply couldn't tell him about it. Kibum was so happy to see me and if I had told him about the truth, it would have broke him. I just decided to let it slip and to be honest, I didn't expect to see him ever again nor to miss him.

 

"I'm sick, you know ? If I start to bleed, it won't stop." he explained, "The doctor says I have to be veeery careful while running but I'm always so clumsy. Granny would have scolded me again, if she saw that I hurt myself again."
 

So he was sick ? 
That means, if I hadn't been here, Kibum would have probably bled until he lost consciousness or if he had been lucky, someone would have found him.
Something clenched inside of me when I thought about the consequences. I shuddered as I imagined what could have happened, and it got worse and worse as I thought deeper.
And again, there was something unfamiliar twitching inside of me.
I had this urge to protect him.
 

"Thank you for saving me, dino-hyung." Kibum whispered. He was smiling at me and I was smiling too.
His dark eyes just seemed to light up the darkness of my life. It was like he saw the constantly bored expression of my face and tried to change it.
 

He wrapped his arms once more around my neck and let out an excited squeal. Kibum was so full of life that I wondered about him being scared or sad sometimes.
I hugged him back this time. A hug.
I've never thought of a hug as something special, because the humans did it everyday. But I was wrong.
It was electrifying and warm.
I tightened the embrace around his waist and lifted him up into the air, his body perfectly fitting with mine.
 

"Should I accompany you to your destination ?" I asked him, actually wondering where he was heading to alone this early in the morning. He was such a strange kid.
Kibum.
He was special, wasn't he ?
 

"I was going to touch the sky today." he proclaimed in excitement. I chuckled to myself. That was simply him, wasn't it ?

 

"And how do you want to do that ?" I asked in excitement.
 

"Follow me." he whispered into my ear, after he made sure no one was around us and jumped off my arms. He grabbed my hand, his little palm wrapped around two of my long fingers and started running down the street with me.
I don't know what it was about this child but I wanted to be near him.
We just met two times but it was already like I knew him my whole life. There was something that just pulled me to him.
And frankly said, I didn't mind it at all.
 

Kibum eagerly dragged me through the silent streets. The only thing being heard were Kibum's tiny feet rushing on the asphalt with me following.
He seemed so happy to have me with him.
It made me smile.
 

I was still not used to it.
Smiling. Laughing.
I didn't know about these things and yet I smiled and laughed like it was the most natural thing to me. It scared me but I didn't want to change it.
 

Kibum's little feet stopped in front of a playground. He let go of my fingers making the warmth of his hand disappear from my cold skin. Instead he was staggering unsteadily through the sand until he reached the swings.
Turning around to face me he shot an overly happy smile at me.
 

"Yah, dino-hyung, what are you waiting for ? I thought you wanted to touch the sky with me." he called out.
 

I rushed over to him. My feet walking easily through the sand, almost soundlessly.
Taking the swing next to the one Kibum grabbed I sat down and waited for him to tell me more about his plan to "touch the sky".
I wasn't sure what he meant with it. He couldn't literally mean to touch it. That was not possible, not even for me.
I was watching him laboriously trying to lift his tiny body onto the swing. Kibum was a little bit short for the swing so I helped him up. He held on to the metal chains and gave me an loving eye smile before he thanked me.
 

"I'm happy you're here, hyung. I feel safe with you around." he said rather shyly. It was cute. The blush on his face, the little pouty lips. Kibum was truly adorable. A cute, little brat. I started to think that it was simply impossible for anyone to not fall into the spell of this child. Me included.
I tried to satisfy me with that explanation for now.
 

"What now ?" I asked curiously devoting my attention back to Kibum's "touch-the-sky" plan.
 

"You sway your legs back and forth, just like that." he pointed down with his finger and demonstrated me how to move. I did as he said.
I felt the slow motion of the swing rise up as I speed up.
The wind gently blew through my silver strands of hair. The earth slowly moving up and down, back and forth.
I turned my head to watch Kibum and saw how high up he already was before the swing came rushing down again sending him backwards.
 

"You have to swing faster, hyung. And when you are high in the sky let your head hang back and watch the sky !" he shouted into the air laughing. "Try to touch it !"
 

What was the point in trying when it was so obvious that it wasn't even possible ?
The swing was sending you just up and down, not up and up.
Wasn't it rather unsatisfying to have a goal that was impossible to reach ?
 

I was as if Kibum read my mind because he slowed down a little bit and curiously watched my face. He was chewing on his bottom lip staring into my face with such intensity that it made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
 

"You're too stiff, dino-hyung." he said after some time of piercing holes into my body. "You have to watch the sky. Look up. Now, early in the morning, the colors are still dim and still fading from red to blue." he pointed up without averting his judging eyes.
I complied with him and looked up and indeed, he was right again.
The different colors were still present. And in all honesty, they looked truly beautiful.
Did I ever noticed the morning sky before ?
Why did the colors look so new to me ?
 

"The point is to let the atmosphere take you away but still keep your mind open." he stated eventually. "You'll be so near to the clouds that you want to reach out for them, but the swing will take you down again so you try harder and in some point you will feel like you're flying. That's when you close your eyes and let the swing guide you."
 

Kibum's swing stopped completely by know. He examined the probably taken off guard expression on my face. It was truly surprising how his mind was working. And his words, the way he saw the world, the way he just lived and thought about the things surrounding him; it made me curious. I wanted to know more about this kid.
I wanted to learn from him.
I wanted to be there for him.
And most of all I wanted to protect him. I wanted to be the guardian angel he thought I was.
 

A warm touch on my chin brought me back to reality. Kibum's hand gently closed my open hanging mouth. He chuckled at my sight.
 

"Many old people like you don't know how to enjoy life. You don't have to be so shocked, hyung. That's no reason to be ashamed of." he cheekily said before he boldly poke his tongue in my direction.
It was funny how he changed me. It was unexpected and sudden. But it felt good.
 

"I'm glad that you're here with me, hyung." Kibum said turning into my direction. "It is lonely coming here alone every day." I could hear the sincerity in his words.
I kept thinking that I just wanted to disappear from this boring world. I was bored and saw no sense in existing. But now, I guess all I've really wanted was to be found.
And it just happened to be a little five-years old, bold, little boy.
We were both two lonely souls searching for company.

 

I turned my head in Kibum's direction and saw that he was high in the sky again. A big smile decorated his joy radiating face.
He was happy and smiling and I had no interest in making that smile disappear as long I would last.
Kibum was like some rare ray of light slowly enlightening my dark world.

Thank you guys for all the lovely comments on the last chapter.
It really means a lot. ^^

And to all the new subbies ...
"HI :DDDDDD"

Also,  I'll be giving a cookie to everyone who can guess Kibum's illness correctly. ^^

Well~
I'm sorry that this chapter is late.
And it seriously just dawned on me today.
I'm such a bad author o_O Always making you guys wait. ;__;
I know for myself how hard it is to remember previous chapters when the author just updates like once a month or so. xD
I'll try to change that but my tests are taking up most of my free time and I'll be overseas for the whole autumn break starting from October 3 so, yeah ...
I'll seriously TRY to update before I leave.
Pinky promise ^^

- Han