The Past I

For a split second Haru saw how Jongin's facial expression went from complete and utter surprise to expressionlessly unreadable. While Bo Ah's eyes were mixed with recognition and another emotion in which Haru could not define. Haru watched how Mari looked cluelessly at Sehun, who looked as surprised as Jongin. Whispers and stares were quickly directed towards Bo Ah and Jongin. The atmosphere around the two had become heavy, as they had not broken their eye contact yet. Bo Ah was about to say something, when Jongin cut her off before she could utter a word.

"Didn't you hear me? I said move, it's my seat" even though his facial-expression was unreadable, his voice had betrayed him and an unmistakeable anger was directed towards the new student.

"I'm sorry" Bo Ah replied, though something told Haru that the apology was not a result of her taking his seat. Jongin only scoffed, as if it was the most ridiculous, absurd and comical thing he had ever heard, before he roughly placed his backpack on the table, making both girls jump in surprise by the sound it made, as it clashed with the table.

"I guess we'll continue our conversation another time" Bo Ah smiled at Haru before she went to the table in the opposite corner by the door and seated herself, right before the teacher walked in. Haru was so immensely confused. Never had she heard Jongin so angry before. The only thing she was sure about was that Jongin and Bo Ah knew each other. Five minuets into the class, Haru noticed that Jongin's anger had not reduced one bit; his hands were still clenched into fists resting on his laps. Without thinking twice, she subconsciously placed her small on top on his fist. Nothing good comes out from anger, and through her small gesture she hoped that it could somehow ease his mind a bit. Confusion was what Jongin felt, as the small hand made contact with his, but then when he looked at the owner’s worried yet assuring look in her eyes, instant warmth spread inside of him and replaced the anger he felt only a second before. Reminded by why he had left Sehun and Mari behind, as soon as the earlier class had ended, because according to him they were too slow, and hurried to the English class, Jongin flashed the petite girl an assuring smile. Satisfied with the result of her action, Haru was about to retreat her hand and go back to writing notes. But as soon as Jongin sensed what the girl had in mind, he decided to , by turning his hand around so that her hand was now in his palm and quickly but gently tightened his grab, so she could not take her hand back. Confused by the sudden force that made it impossible for her to pull back her hand, Haru looked from their hands to Jongin, who had an incredible teasing smirk plastered on his lips. Seeing the confused look and tinted cheeks on Haru, Jongin decided to take it a step further and laced their fingers, so her small delicate and feminine fingers intertwined perfectly with his big and rough ones.

He watched how Haru turned into the epitome of confusion before his eyes. Multiple times she looked at their intertwined fingers and back Jongin, who had just smiled at her, as if this was the most normal thing to do. Then she quickly scanned the classroom to see if there was anyone watching them, which luckily for her there was not, as her classmates' focus was either on the blackboard or on scribbling down the notes presented. But what made Jongin mentally burst into laughter was when she looked from their intertwined fingers to her pen and back again. Her look gave her thoughts away and it was almost as if he could hear her saying it out loud; *How am I supposed to write down any notes now?* Deciding that he was more than satisfied with his accomplishments, and as a last act of his teasing Jongin leaned dangerously close to her, his lips almost touched her ears, as he whispered;

"Thank you. I'll let you get back to your notes", before letting go. It was almost as if Jongin could feel the heat from her cheeks, created by the blood circulation's quickened pace around the area. And as he leaned back the evidence of his assumptions was before his eyes, as Haru was sitting completely still-looking as if she was holding her breath, her eyes widened and her cheeks had turned from rosy to bright pink. Placing his arms on the table he laid his head down on them to pretend to rest. Firstly because he felt a bit guilty for tormenting the petite girl, and secondly because he was afraid that Haru would faint if she did not breath soon. When his head hit his arms, a long second went by before he heard the girl let out a long breath only to take in a new one. It was not only her cute reaction that made Jongin smile, but it was also the fact that he knew of the effect he had on her that turned his smile into a confident grin. His grin soon turned into a frown though. When he turned his head, his eyes accidentally wandered back to that girl he had not expected to see.

                A few seconds right before the bell rung for lunch Jongin gathered his things and once again leaned in towards Haru and whispered:

"I'm going to the roof, come and meet me there for lunch today", but before Haru could reply anything the bell rung and Jongin was already out of his seat and out of the door, without giving the new girl any glance of acknowledgement, in which she sought with her lingering gaze on him.

"So what catastrophic disaster happened between those two?" Haru heard Mari ask Sehun.

"Well, it's a long story" Sehun shrug it off as if it was nothing. But when he saw the look of determination on Mari's face, which had a I-am-gonna-bug-you-until-you-tell-me-what-happened tone, Sehun gave in and continued,

"Which can wait until we reach the cafeteria and get our lunches" Sehun sighed, making Mari smile victoriously.

"Are you coming Haru? Or are you going to eat with Jongin" Mari turned smiling towards Haru.

"Uhm… I think I'm going to eat lunch with Jongin on the roof today" Haru smiled back, as she took her things in her arms and began to walk.

"Ok. I'll see you later" Mari waved towards Haru, who nodded and waved back in agreement. On her way up to the school rooftop, Haru's mind wandered back to the Jongin's reaction to Bo Ah and she would lie if she said that she was not curious about Jongin's strong reaction and his relationship with the new girl. She was so confuse as to whether or not she was going to ask Jongin about the whole situation. *Who am I to ask him that? What if he doesn't want to talk about and gets angry with me for asking? But he did look rather upset, and as a friend I am allowed to be worried and ask right?" Haru tried to reason with herself on her way up the stairs to the roof door, and as she reached it, she had decided to let Jongin decide for himself whether or not he wanted to talk to her about it. When she opened the door and entered the roof, she was surprised to hear two voices, when she had only expected to hear one.

"Why are you here? How did you know I was here?" Haru heard Jongin ask. His voice vocalised a cold and distant emotion.

"I followed you, because I wanted to explain, to clear things between us, so there wont be any misunderstandings" she heard a voice, in which she recognised to belong to Bo Ah. Haru did not want to, but found herself unwillingly eavesdropping their private conversation, as she had no idea what to do. Even though it seemed like they had not notice her enter the roof, there was the possibility that they would if she was to leave right now, as well as the possibility of her looking like she was eavesdropping on purpose, if they were to notice her. It was first when she had climbed the ladder besides the door to the very top of the roof that she realised what a stupid, stupid, stupid idea it was. Because not only did she have a perfect view to them, which was not her attention at all, but it also meant that they could see her if they paid attention and then she would most definitely look like she was purposefully listening to their conversation. Luckily for Haru though, they were too into their conversation to take any notice in her little 007 stunt. So she laid flat on the rooftop, hoping and praying that it would make her a little more invisible, in which she was not. 

“What? What do you want to explain? Why you left without saying a word, even though you promised you would stay with me? How you never answered when I tried to contact you? Or maybe why I had to find out by myself the reasons you had moved to Russia?” Haru heard Jongin scoff before he continued

“If that’s the misunderstanding that you wanted to explain, then don’t waste your breath. It’s perfectly clear. Now leave” Jongin said with a stern voice. Bo Ah tried to protest, but was cut off by Jongin, who once again had emphasised on his demand for her to leave, in which she did. As Haru heard the door to the rooftop close, after Bo Ah left, she let out a relieved sigh and sat up. With his back to her, Haru watched how Jongin was looking through the rooftop fences out to the city, before he kicked it lightly, while ruffling up his hair, as he let out a frustrating sound. Taking in a few breaths, as well as Seoul’s view for a few minuets, it looked like he calmed down a bit, before she watched him turn around and take out his phone, to touch the screen a few times and then hold it up against his ear. Unluckily for Haru though, her phone began to vibrate, only to be followed by the classic ringtone a few seconds after, which to Haru at that moment sounded like it through a megaphone was calling “JONGIN I’M RIGHT HERE. LOOK UP I’M RIGHT HERE”. Taking out her phone Handsome Jongin was indeed the caller, as she had feared. For a half a second, Haru considered to throw her phone off from the rooftop and lay back down, with the hope that he did not hear it, as she dreaded the incredibly embarrassing explanation she was going to face. But that idea had thrown itself from the rooftop, when Jongin looked up in her direction. It was not that she could see his facial expression, but she could only imagine how confused he must have looked.

"Hi" Haru answered the phone and embarrassingly waved at him. The little noise she heard him make sounded like he was laughing at her, but convinced that he must be angry Haru shrugged it off and believed that she must have heard wrong. Utterly embarrassed, Haru wanted to explain herself and apologise, but she did not manage to start her speech, as Jongin in between his chuckles, which she once again denied and shrugged off, said:

"Stay there I'm coming". It only took him two minuets before he was stepping on to the very top of the roof where Haru was sitting, and by that the petite girl had already sorted out what she wanted to say to him.

"I am so very truly and deeply sorry. It wasn't my intention to listen to your conversation. If I knew Bo Ah-ssi was here and wanted to talk to you, I would've never come up here. But it was first when I entered the roof I heard the two of you and at that point I didn't think straight and couldn't come up with any better idea than this place, because I didn't want to interrupt and I know now that I probably should just have given you notice of my presence, so you could've stopped your conversation. But please please please believe me! I really didn't want to eavesdrop on you. Please don't mad" she took in a deep breath and kept her gaze on the ground, as she did not dare to look at him.

"Why should I be mad? I have nothing I want to hide from you anyway, so you can stop looking like you're a child about to get scolded because you ate the last cookie before dinner" she heard Jongin laugh, and found him sitting beside her trying to get her to look at him, for some kind of conformation that she had heard and understood him, which came in the form of timid nods. Feeling drained from energy and a bit like a tease Jongin's next move made the petite girl freeze on the spot.

"Can we just stay like this, just for a while? I just need to clear my mind" It was more a notice than it was a question, as he laid his head down on her thighs, looking up at her, before he closed his eyes. It surprised her; not only the move itself, but the lack of discomfort Haru felt was also just as surprising, if not more. It was not that she was feeling fully comfortable with the position or anything like that, but she did not mind it either - she did not mind the fact that he had indirectly indicated that she was the source to his comfort. Haru had no clue on what to do, as she had not been in a situation like this before. So she did the only thing she could do, which was keeping her position and try to calm her heart through some deep breaths, afraid that he could hear it beating away. Jongin was waiting for her - waiting for her to ask him the inevitable question about Bo Ah, but it seemed like he waited in vain, as ten long minuets had passed, and the question had still not come. That was also when Jongin’s patience ran out and curiosity took over. 

"Aren't you going to ask?" Jongin opened his eyes and looked up at her and saw that she was looking up at the sky.

"Do you want me to?" she answered him with a question. And as she looked down at him, her long pitch black wavy hair, which had been tugged behind her ears, fell forward and was now acting like curtains, shielding them from the sun, hiding them from the outside world and creating another one, where there were only the two of them.  

 "Yes" Jongin answered truthfully, ready to tell her about his past. But her question once again took him by surprise.

"Are you ok Jongin?" he heard her ask with the purest sincerity reflecting in her eyes and echoing in her voice. It was not very often that Jongin ran out of words to say, but this time he found himself staring speechlessly at the petite girl, who was staring back at him frowning in concern. *She’s worrying about me (?)* He thought, though he was not sure himself whether this thought was a question or a conformation. At that very moment a small wind came and made Haru’s hair sway back and forward tickling his face, carrying her specific sweet fragrance of plum and cherry blossom. Taking in her sweet fragrance his mind cleared and warmth instantly spread within him, lifting off the tiredness, which had been trapped within him and weighing him down after the discovery of Bo Ah’s return. Jongin could not help but let out a smile, carrying and radiating this peculiar, yet pleasant feeling inside him, which was a mixture of warmth and happiness.

“Yeah… yeah I’m ok”, * or at least I am now* he mentally ended his sentence without letting his smile fade, nor cutting off their eye contact. Haru seemed content with his answer, as her frown quickly disappeared and was replaced be a little nod and a smile.   

“But is that all you want to ask? There isn’t anything you else you want to ask me? Anything else you’re curious about” Jongin’s own curiosity asked.

“There is, but I don’t know whether or not it is was allowed… What I mean, since it is something that happened between the two of you, I didn’t know whether or not I could… ask. Or whether or not it would be appropriate? Or whether or not you would be mad?” He observed how she slightly bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, as if she was too afraid to look at him, if he suddenly was to become angry with her.

“Haru” Jongin said with a serious voice, making her eyes innocently pop open, looking at him as if she was ready to be scolded. A few long seconds of silence took place, before he continued his sentence, as he was trying to hold his chuckle back - a result of how endearing and adorable he found her reactions and answers, from the very beginning of their conversation, to be - because he wanted her to know that every word that he was about to say, was something he sincerely meant.

“I’m not going to be mad or angry. You’re allowed to ask and to be curious about me, about my life, about my presence, about my past, because you and I are friends, and because I want you to. Ok?” He watched how her tense shoulders slumbered down, as if a huge weight was lifted off from her, and it also made him a bit more at ease, as he took it as a sign that she had understood him.

"So ask away,” he continued after he sat up and awaiting the questions, with an assuring smile.

"Umm...what happened between the two of you?" Haru summed up all her curiosity and questions, to which Jongin started the story of his past with Bo Ah from the very beginning.

He told her about his first meeting with Bo Ah at age of six, where they were forced to play with each other, a result of their parents’ shared the idea of; one should stick with one's own class. He told her how the little rebellious 6-years-old Jongin hated Bo Ah at first sight. He hated how she was so poised – even down to every breath she took. He hated how she was standing there, all picture-perfect beside her parents; with her hands folded perfectly in front of her stain-free baby-pink dress and her perfect straight dark-brown hair framing the smile, which only seemed to be plastered on her face to complete this flawlessly picture of well-mannered little girl. But after some time and somewhere along those lines, Jongin had stopped hating her and started to enjoy her company and the play dates that had been set up. 

“I think it began at a dinner party at my parents house, where she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up and she answered in all seriousness that she was going to be a famous ballet dancer like Anna Pavlova. Her parents then of course began to excuse their little daughter’s answer and diminished their daughter’s carrier ambitions to merely being a silly dream of a 6-years-old little girl. Then she did something – something that crackled this picture-perfect image of the well-brought Bo Ah. She cut her parents off in the middle of a sentence and repeated with determination and anger that her ambitions weren’t just a silly dream, where after she left the table and locked herself inside my room” Jongin chuckled by the mere memory of that scene, before he continued.     

“Yeah…now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure it was there I began to actually see her beyond the label of one of my parents’ forced friends and an empty doll, I had put on her and hated her for. And as we spent more time together one thing became strikingly apparent to us; she hated her parents, as much as I hated mine. By then we both realised that we weren't that different after all – we were just two lonely kids - neglected by their parents, eagerly seeking their non-existing attention and affection. I guess we found comfort in each other's equally miserable situation" he let out a bitter chuckle, before continuing.

When they became older, and when ‘play dates’ had changed to ‘hanging outs’ and daily contact, Bo Ah had become one of the persons that were closest to Jongin. She knew him right to his bones and he knew her deepest secrets. They were always there for each other; She had his shoulder to cry on, whenever she fought with her parents about her dreams, and she was there for him trough his hard times.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if she hadn’t been by my side, the period right after my grandmother’s funeral. My grandmother she… she was one of the most important persons in my life. She always supported me and showed me the affection and attention my parents didn’t. She was the one, who was there when I got home from school. She was the one, who spend hours after hours trying to explain the logic behind algebra, to me. She was the one, who was sitting by my bed night and day, taking care of me when I had a fever. She was the one who taught me to love reading and books” Jongin smiled reminiscing his late grandmother. Though his smile quickly turned bitter and painful, as he continued. 

“Do you know what my parents did, the day after the funeral? They took the first plane to Japan. They went back to work, as if nothing had happened - as if she never had existed. No grieving, no sorrow, not even one single tear - nothing. During that time Bo Ah was always there for me whenever I needed her. Whether the call was at 3 in the morning or evening, she would always pick up. Whether she had to sneak out or I had to sneak in, her window would always be open and she would always be there to listen to me. We promised each other that we would always be there for one another - together no matter what. She promised me that she would always be there, that she would never leave, but she broke it. From one day to another she suddenly stopped turning up in school. At first I thought that she probably had become ill or something, but when she didn’t pick up her phone, no matter how many times I called and had stopped turning up to her ballet classes, I knew something was wrong. I found out from her ballet teacher that she had been accepted to a ballet academy in Russia, and had moved to Saint Petersburg to attend it. It’s not that I’m angry with her for attending; it had been her biggest dream, since she was little despite the fact that her parents had always been against it. It’s just that she just left! I tried to contact her; but no matter how many emails, calls or messages I sent, none of them had a reply. Just like that; without a word, or warning, or explanation, she just left” Jongin frustratingly ran his finger through his hair.

It became clear to Haru why Jongin reacted the way he did, when Bo Ah suddenly had appeared in his life again. Betrayal was the emotion that emitted from Jongin right now. From his eyes to his breathing, everything screamed betrayal. But Haru knew exactly why the pain in Jongin's eyes overpowered the anger in his voice, and still lingered even after he had finished the story. One had to be both deaf and blind if it was not clear that to Jongin, Bo Ah was more than one of the people, who knew him the best. She was more than someone, whom he held dear. She was more than a friend. Haru was neither deaf nor blind. For a short second it was, as if someone was holding her heart and gave it a quick, yet firm squeeze, to which Haru disregarded to be a feeling of sympathy and sadness towards Jongin situation. Without giving it a second thought, Haru slightly laid her hand on top of his and gave it a light squeeze and caressing it a few times, with her thumb. Not because she felt forced to do so or the need to, but because she wanted to. She wanted him to know that she was there for him. A smile crept up on Jongin, as he looked at the small hand above his own, and he once again became amazed by this calming effect she had on him; there was just something about her every touch and look that made him feel a little less abandoned and a little more at ease. Repeating his movements in the previous class, he turned his hand around and lightly grabbed on to hers, copying her thumb's caressing movements a few long seconds, before he broke the silence.

"And there goes my image; I sounded so pathetic and whiny didn't I?" He chuckled. Looking up he found her eagerly shaking her head in disagreement, which made him chuckle a little louder.

"Did Mrs. Park make her special Kimbap today? " As soon as Jongin asked, Haru withdrew her hand from his and happily took out the lunchboxes Mrs. Park had made early in the morning.

“Yeah. She said she had put extra in yours” She smiled, as she handed Jongin one of the lunchboxes, which he gladly took and opened.

“What are you going to do now? I mean, now that Bo Ah-ssi is back?” Haru’s question, made Jongin abruptly hold back the Kimbap, which was on its way into his mouth, for a second or two.

"For now, I'm going to enjoy this delicious lunch with you" Jongin happily placed the Kimbap in his mouth.

"And as for Bo Ah, my intentions and plans are of an ignoring nature" Jongin casually shrugged, as he ate another Kimbap. Haru wanted to confront Jongin's seemingly indifferent attitude towards the new girl and her return, as it was obvious to Haru that Jongin was everything but indifferent. Before she could utter a word, her stomach decided to remind her that she also was hungry.

"Sorry" she muttered embarrassed and opened her own lunchbox, which made Jongin's chuckle turn into a small laugh.

"Don't be. Eat" Jongin smiled. They managed to finish their lunch before the break ended, as well as talk about everything else than Bo Ah. Five minuets before the next class started, they decided that they had to end their little lunch break. Jongin went first down the latter, while Haru went back to pick up the dropped lunchbox lid. Jongin had just reached the end of the latter, when he looked up and saw Haru standing there, looking down at him, instead of climbing down herself.

"Are you coming?" Jongin asked confused

"Uhm I...uhm I mean could you...uhm maybe please turn around" Jongin heard her stutter, which made him furthermore confused, as he did not understand why Haru would ask him to turn around. Almost as if it was an answer to Jongin unspoken question, a wind passed by her right at that very moment, and lightly pulled the fabric of her skirt to one side, only to release it again. Jongin immediately understood the reason behind Haru's request and instantly turned around, so the petite girl could climb down the stairs, without having to worry about flashing her underwear to him.

"O-of course", *did I just stutter?* Jongin chuckled, weirded out by his own behaviour. Feeling flustered by such a small request was definitely a first for him.

"Jongin?" Haru's voice announced her arrival, as well as brought him back to reality and the two of them went to class. As he was about to step into the class he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him out of instinct turn around.

"You ok?" Jongin was greeted by Sehun and Mari's concerning look.

"Yeah...yeah I'm ok" Jongin' assuring words met an unconvinced Sehun, who decided that a reassuring squeeze or two on his friend’s shoulder would do for now, since they had class to attend. Neither had Sehun time to speak with his friend in private after class and school ended, as they had to meet the rest of their expanded group outside school and go on their planned street-food adventure.

                Arriving by the school gate everyone were already there, except from Kyungsoo.

“Did anyone call or text him?” Chanyeol asked impatiently after 15 long minuets of waiting.

"I texted him 10 minuets ago. He said that had to drop by his father and then he'll be here" Baekhyun answered, as he checked his phone for messages from Kyungsoo that might have passed unnoticed by him. The group chatted away and waited for another 10 minuets, before another impatient outburst was voiced.

"Can't we just go ahead?" Aaerin asked, which resulted in a dumbfounded look from Yejin.

"Did you seriously just ask that?" Yejin's question met an indifferent look from Aaerin.

"Yes, I seriously just asked that" Aaerin mocked Yejin. Before their little word and look exchange could develop into yet another one of their heated discussions, Mari's yelling cut them off.

"There he is! KYUNGSOO!!!!! OVER HERE!" Mari waved while yelling, attracting not only the attention of the boy, but also the rest of the schoolyard's migrating inhabitants.

"I'm sorry, it took a little longer than I expected. You should've gone ahead,” Kyungsoo panted, as he had ran all the way from his father's office to his waiting friends.

"See! Wasn't that just what I said" Aaerin exclaimed, directing it to Yejin, which brought back the tension between the two girls, and not long after their little discussion about whether or not they could have left Kyungsoo behind and gone ahead, had come to life. Haru was about to try and stop the two girls, when a familiar hand clamped roughly around hers and tightened around it. Looking up, Haru found Jongin looking towards the endless of cars, parking inline right outside of the school gates, ready to pick up their owners’ son and/or daughter. Haru quickly realised that it was a certain girl that Jongin's eyes was locked on, before he turned away and back to Aaerin and Yejin - though he still had his focus on this certain girl, from the corner of his eye. Bo Ah on the other hand kept her eyes on their small group. Her look fell upon Jongin and then right down to where Jongin and Haru's hands were connected by Jongin's tight grip, which only seemed to get tighter by the second.  Before Haru could prevent it, misunderstandings had already developed, as a sad frown appeared on Bo Ah's face, before she looked away and disappeared behind the car-door. Watching Bo Ah's car drive away, Haru had no idea of what she was going to do or why she this time felt hurt by Jongin's action, which was almost identical to the one he made earlier this day in class. A sudden too tight squeeze, made Haru snap out of her daze, as she immediately yank her hand out of his. A movement, which made Jongin come back to reality. Looking down, he found the petit girl standing and rubbing the hand he accidentally had held too tight, with her gaze fixed on the ground. Before could put his apology into words, the group loudly decided to move on to the street-food area nearby and Haru was already dragged to the front of the group, with Yejin hanging on her left arm and Aaerin on her right. 

Time flew by fast and at the end of the day it had felt like they had visited a hundred street food stands and as a result gained a couple of kilos, each. Throughout the whole trip though, Jongin had not been able to apologize to Haru, as she was busy either talking with Mari or trying to keep peace between Yejin and Aaerin, who had been at each other ever since the Odeng-stand, which should be mentioned to be in the very beginning of their little adventure. At some point, somewhere between the Ojingeo Gui- and Muneo Dari Gui-stand, Kyungsoo had snapped and told them a piece of his mind, which included things such as; they should start behaving themselves or at least find a way to be around each other without fighting. The two girls had then abruptly ceased the fighting, and looked as if their mother just had scolded them. From then on, the two had only sent disliking looks to each other, whenever they had disagreed on something, which satisfied Kyungsoo, as well as all the others. The two girls hanging on Haru's arms, as if their life dependent on Haru's presence and closeness, through the rest of the day.

                Seizing his chance to apologise to Haru without and unwanted extra listeners, Jongin insisted to follow Haru home, and after a lot of convincing and discussing, the two of them was now walking in silence besides each other on the way home to Haru. Walking pass a playground Jongin decided to break the silence.

"Haru?" He tried to catch the girl's attention, which was focused on the ground.

"Hmm?" She answered with a quick glance at him, only to pin her eyes back on to the ground.

"I just wanted to apologise for earlier, with the whole Bo-" He started his apology

"Jongin do you hear that?" she suddenly cut him off. Looking at Haru, he found her stopping right in front of the playground, looking for something, he could neither see nor hear.

"Don't you hear that?" Haru asked again, and instead of waiting for his answer, she instinctually move in the direction of the sound, she swore was the sound of a little girl crying. The sound became louder, as she came closer to one of the playground's playhouses, when it suddenly stopped for a second or two, only to begin again, but this time it came back as muffed sobs. That was when Haru decided to carefully look inside it. In the farthest corner of the playhouse she found a little girl, who could not have been more 6-7 years old, with frightened wet eyes and her hand clasped over . The little girl was shivering, but whether it was from her being afraid or from the tank top and shorts she was wearing, Haru was not sure.

"Hey" Haru squatted down in front of playhouse’s opening, before she turned around and scanned the empty playground, only to return her attention back to the little girl.

“Why are you in here all alone? Did you get lost?” Haru asked softly, but her sincere questions did not evoke any answers from the girl.

“My name is Haru. What’s yours?” Haru tried asking, but no answer was replied. Haru felt Jongin right behind her, as he bend down to see who she was speaking to. When his face appeared in the opening the little girl only seemed to press herself further into the corner of the playground, looking a bit more scared than before. It was when the little girl’s hands left , to push herself closer into the corner that Haru saw the blood on her lips. The moment the girl’s hands touched the ground, she quickly retreated them, as if she had burned herself on a hot stove, making Haru realize that the blood came from the little girl’s hands.

"You're hurt. Did you cut yourself?" Once again no answer belonging to Haru's question came. Thinking that the girl could either be deaf or mute, Haru tried repeat her questions through sign language, which only made the little girl look strangely and confusingly at her, convincing Haru that the little girl suffered from neither of the mentioned impairments.   

"Can we come in and take a look at your cut?" Haru continued with her voice. Though no answer came back, like all the other times before, the little girl took a quick look at Jongin before turning her focus back to Haru.

"If the oppa stays out here. Can unnie come in and check your cut?" Haru asked encouraging

"We need to check your cut to see whether or not is too deep and it needs to be cleaned so it doesn't get infected" Haru tried to reason, when no answer to her previous question. After a long minuet or two, the girl had still not answered, but only kept her weary eyes on Haru. Seeing that the girl had no intention of answering any of Haru's questions, she took it a step further.

"Unnie is going to get in now, ok" but instead of waiting for an answer, Haru took this time a careful step inside the playhouse to see how the little girl would react. Even though the girl tensed the second Haru came inside, she did not press herself further into the corner, which Haru took as a positive as well as a half agreeing sign, so Haru took a couple of careful steps until she was right in front of the little girl.

"Can unnie see your hands?" Haru asked softly, as she reached out her open hands, waiting patiently for the little girl. Deciding that it was best for him to stay outside, Jongin watched from the little door opening how the little girl repeatingly looked from her injured hand, up to Haru's hands and then back at her own again. A good ten minuets had passed, where no words were spoken, but Haru still had her hand patiently reached out to the girl. Another five minuets passed and neither of them had moved nor spoken, but then the little girl carefully placed her injured hand in Haru's and wearily watched Haru's every move, ready to pull it back if it was going to hurt too much. The little girl's hand was covered in dirt and blood, and the only thing that was on Haru’s mind was that the cut in the middle of the little girl’s hand needed to be cleaned, so they could see how deep it was, but the poor lightning in the playhouse made it impossible to realize neither of those things.

“It’s too dark in here. Would it be ok, for us to go outside, so we can take a better look at the cut?” Haru looked at the girl with an encouraging smile, trying to convince the girl that nothing was going to happen to her. The little girl took her hand back and looked down at it, only to look back up at Haru, as if she was searching for another sign of conformation that everything was okay – or at least that it was going to be ok, if she followed the Haru outside. But it was first when Haru stretched out both her arms, inviting the little girl into her warm embrace that the little girl gave in and carefully stepped into Haru’s safe embrace. With much struggle Haru finally got out from the playhouse and away from the playground, with the little girl arms and legs tangled around her. Jongin was right behind her, when they walked over to a bench and placed the little girl on it, while Haru squatted down right in front of her. Going through her backpack, Haru took out a bottle of water and some tissues, before she asked the little girl once again for permission to look at the cut. Rinsing the palm of the little girl’s hand for semi-dried blood and dirt, the deep cut was now visible for a few seconds, only to be filled with fresh red fluid again, which within seconds over- flooded the cut and ran out on the little girl’s palm.

“Here use this” Jongin handed Haru some shreds of white fabric, as she was going to let go of the little girl’s hand, to hunt for something she could use to put pressure on the cut, wanting to slow down the bleeding. Haru quickly deducted that the shreds of fabric had once been a part of the torn-up t-shirt Jongin was now holding in his hand. She had no idea where the t-shirt came from, nor did she know when Jongin had started to tear up the piece of clothing, but she quickly thanked him and took the shreds of fabric from him.

“We need to put some pressure on you cut, so it stop bleeding ok? So it’s going to hurt a bit” Haru warned the little girl, and started to tightly wrap the fabric around the tiny hand she had in hers. What surprised Haru though was, a part from a few whimps and deep breaths here and there, the little girl did not utter a word – not even a single cry came out of her, when Haru secured the homemade bandage.

“Unnie is going to take you to the hospital ok? The cut is too deep, so we need to go there, to get it fixed or else it wont stop bleeding” Haru said waiting for some kind of sign of agreement, which after much consideration from the little girl’s side, came in the form of another hug, where the girl’s arm and legs were wrapped around Haru’s upper body, like a snake. the little girl’s back a few times, Haru stood up and with Jongin began to walk back to the main road, to catch a taxi. Standing there waiting for the taxi to arrive, Jongin had taken off is school uniform blazer and wrapped it around the little girl. He had tried to offer Haru some help, seeing that she was beginning to struggle a bit carrying the little girl by herself, but that only caused the little girl to tightened her hold around Haru even more, which made Haru decline Jongin’s offer, not wanting to scare the girl even more than what she already was. The two teenagers had tried to get ask the girl all kinds of question; where her parents were. Whether or not she lived nearby. How she had gotten the cut. Her name. But all their questions were met by silence – not even a nod or shrug could they get out from the little girl. As the taxi arrived, Jongin opened the door for Haru to get in and instructed the taxi driver to drive them to the Dr. Lu’s clinic, before he handed the driver a couple of bills, more than enough to cover the stretch from the park to the clinic.

“I’ll stay here, for a while in case her mother is coming here to look for her. But don’t leave the clinic before I come” Haru nodded to his instructions, before he closed the door and the taxi drove off.

                “What if I give you a lollipop?” Dr. Lu waved the pink lollipop in front of the little girl, this time trying to bribe her into telling him her name, but like all other five times before, the girl kept her lips sealed and a nervous look in her eyes.

“I guess that’s a no. Well you can have it anyway, but only because you’ve been a very good girl” Dr. Lu smiled, as he handed her the lollipop, which she after much consideration timidly took and unwrapped. Without a sound or a ‘thank you’ the lollipop disappeared behind her lips and her small hand found its way back to Haru’s.

“Is it ok, if Haru-unnie and I go outside to the hallway and talk a bit?” Ever since the taxi drive, the little girl had been glued to Haru. Even when they started the treatment the she was determined not to let go of Haru, so instead of sitting on the hospital bed, the little girl sat on Haru’s laps - secured in the older one’s embrace, which turned out to work perfectly for all parties. So when Dr. Lu’s directed his question to the little girl, her hand had only squeezed tighter around Haru’s.

“Unnie will only be right outside that door, and when I’m finished speaking with Dr. Lu, unnie will come right back” Haru moved in front of the little girl, looking into her eyes. Unsuccessfully trying to explain to the little girl that she was not going to go far that nothing bad was going to happen, when she was gone. The little girl only jumped down from the hospital bed into Haru, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck, as if her life depended on it. The impact from the little girl, almost send Haru on her bum. Regaining her balance Haru stood up, with the little girl hanging around her neck.

“I guess that’s also a no” Dr. Lu chuckled, as he saw the little girl clinging to Haru, while Haru tried to comfort her with a couple of light . Suddenly the door flew open and a very confused looking woman stepped inside the door, with Jongin right behind her. Her entrance made all three whip their heads in her direction, and it was as if the little girl's grip around Haru tightened for a few long seconds.

"Sera! Where have you been? Do you know how worried you have made umma?" The woman ran over to Haru and ripped the little girl of off Haru, but right before she let go, it was almost - almost as if the little girl held on to Haru a little longer not wanting to let go. The woman put Sera down, before turning back to Haru and Dr. Lu.

"Thank you so so much for finding her and taking care of her. She was helping me cooking dinner and when I wasn't looking the girl broke a glass of water. That silly girl must've been afraid that I would scold her and ran away. Isn't that right Sera?" Sera's mother looked at her waiting for an answer.

"Y-yes" the little girl almost whispered. *You're imagining things Haru* Haru shrugged off the feeling from before and explained Sera's nervous behaviour with the logic of still being afraid of getting scolded by her mother, for causing trouble.

"No, no, not at all Sera has been to no trouble. You have a very good girl Mrs." Dr Lu replied honestly.

"Thank you Dr. How much do I owe you?" The woman started to go through her handbag.

"You don't owe me anything Mrs. We're just happy that Sera's cut wasn't as deep, as it looked like. So luckily it didn't need any stitches, but instead we used something called Dermabond, which is a skin adhesive so it still needs to be kept clean and away from water the first week

"Thank you very much Dr." The woman bowed

"Don't worry about it, it's my job right. But it was actually Haru and Jongin, who found Sera, so I think it's them you need to thank" Dr. Lu smiled.

"Thank you very much. I have no idea what I would’ve done, if you didn't find her. Say thank you Sera" the woman looked at the little girl, once again waiting for an answer.

"Thank you" Sera bowed timidly.

"Don't worry about Mrs. We're just glad that Sera is ok and nothing serious happened" Jongin smiled. As soon as daughter and mother left the hospital, Jongin and Haru also decided to head home.

                Waking Haru home, Jongin noticed that the petite girl's mind was somewhere else than with him.

"Haru, about what happened before, at the gate" Jongin started, stopping on his path. 

"Hmm" Haru answered, as she looked up at him.

"I just want to