The First Encounter
Pinky-PromisesTaekwoon was at the playground in his neighborhood and building a sand castle. His mom let him go by himself, but only in the daytime. His trips to the park were always the same. The sandbox was basically reserved for him due to the fact that he made constant trips to the playground and only ever built sand castles. If someone else was in the sand box and they saw him coming, they were quick to destroy what they were working on and ran off. There was never a time when a kid stayed or came over to play with him. Even though he was only five, Taekwoon already knew what it felt like to be avoided.
Taekwoon took his place in the sand box and started working on another sand castle. He was already bored of the task, but he didn't have anything else to do at the playground. He was about five minutes into his sand castle when a small shadow fell over him.
"Hi."
Taekwoon looked up to find a cheerful-looking boy smiling at him. Taekwoon wasn't used to being approached by kids his age, so he just stared at the stranger.
"I said hi." The cheerful-looking boy pouted when he still got no reply from Taekwoon. "My name is Lee. Jae. Hwan. That's how you say it. Lee. Jae. Hwan."
In this short amount of time, Taekwoon decided that the boy, Jaehwan, was an idiot. He would never say that out loud, though. Idiot was a no-no word for five-year-old Taekwoon.
"Don't you know how to talk? I like to talk. Talking is fun. Talky talk talk." Jaehwan giggled. "See? Talking is fun."
Taekwoon decided that Jaehwan wouldn't leave him alone until he talked, so he settled for a simple introduction. He quietly said, "Jung Taekwoon." and resumed building the sand castle that he had been working on before Jaehwan interrupted him.
Jaehwan blinked rapidly before grinning widely. He sat down next to Taekwoon and watched as he patted sand into a bucket.
"I like your name. Can we be friends?"
"No." Although Taekwoon was surprised by the question, he didn't hesitate to reply. He wasn't comfortable with someone being suddenly friendly with him since he had quickly gotten used to being avoided by the other kids his age.
Jaehwan fell silent, and Taekwoon continued building his sand castle.He stopped when he heard a sniffle. Taekwoon looked up and began panicking when he saw Jaehwan trying to wipe the tears that were rapidly flowing down his face.
"I'm sorry! Don't cry!"
"I'm not...I'm...not...crying...not crying...no...I'm not crying!" Jaehwan began wailing as he tried denying his tears.
"If you cry, I'll cry! Don't cry, stupid!" Taekwoon had no idea what to do and attempted to comfort the other boy.
"You called me a no-no word!" Jaehwan began wailing louder, and Taekwoon's eyes began tearing up for a reason unknown to him.
"I'm sorry! Please stop crying! Stop...crying..." At this point, both boys were bawling their eyes out while sitting in the sand box that Taekwoon had been building his sand castle in.
"You said that you wouldn't be my friend!" Jaehwan finally revealed the reason behind his tears, and little Taekwoon suddenly felt guilty for being so mean to the other boy.
"I'm sorry! I will be your friend. Don't cry, please!" Taekwoon felt as if he was giving in easily, but he didn't like knowing that he made someone cry.
"You stop crying first!"
"I won't stop crying until you stop crying!"
Both boys abruptly stopped their wailing and roughly wiped at the tears that were still trying to escape their eyes. Taekwoon and Jaehwan looked at each other and stopped abusing their faces with their clumsy fingers. After sitting and staring at each other in silence, Jaehwan suggested that they finish building Taekwoon's sand castle together. Taekwoon was hesitant, but he agreed since he didn't want Jaehwan crying again.
After half an hour had passed, the two boys finished the sand castle. Taekwoon allowed himself a small grin in return for Jaehwan's wide smile. Even though they only built a sand castle, Taekwoon was happy. He felt accomplished for finally doing something with another kid.
The two boys played for a little longer, but the sun eventually began to set. Taekwoon knew that he had to go home, and Jaehwan's mother was ready for them to leave. Jaehwan began to look upset when he saw his mother walking toward them.
"Taekwoon, are we friends now?" Jaehwan sounded hopeful, and he stared at Taekwoon as he waited for his reply.
"...yes...You can't cry anymore, though!" Taekwoon glared at Jaehwan.
"I won't cry anymore, but I'll only do that if you promise we'll see each other again!" Jaehwan pouted at Taekwoon.
"We'll see each other again."
"Do you promise that we'll see each other again?"
"I promise, but do you promise that you won't cry anymore?"
"I promise, but do you pinky-promise that we'll see each other again?"
"I pinky-promise, but do you pinky-promise that you won't cry anymore?"
"I pinky-promise." Jaehwan held up his pinky for Taekwoon to take.
Taekwoon slowly held up his pinky, and Jaehwan tightly linked their little fingers together. Jaehwan didn't let go until he was satisfied.
"Now I know that we'll see each other again! Pinky-promises can't be broken." Jaehwan smiled brightly, and Taekwoon decided that he liked it better when Jaehwan looked cheerful. "Remember, you pinky-promised."
A/N: Yayyyyy first chapter is up! There's so much dialogue... I need to do more story and less dialogue. I'll try to improve on that later on. This chapter is pretty short, but I hope you enjoyed it! *sighs happily* little children and their little children-ness. This will get better later on, I pinky-promise T^T It's developing, but it will get better. Please stick around and bear with me... *throws cookies as a form of bribery*
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