I arrived at school and waited at my seat. My memories of my mother always wanted to vanish before school because I didn't want to be too bothered by them, but yesterday's voicemail I left for her seemed to scorch itself into my brain to keep me from hearing anything else. "Hi, Mom. It's me, Kibum. I just wanted to tell you that I finally found a friend, Taemin. I love you, bye." And the agonizing pause before I ended with my "I miss you." to tell her to come back. Because maybe, just maybe, she would listen.

"Hello? Key-hyung? Are you there?" Taemin asked waving a hand in front of my face. I looked over to him and smiled.

"Hi, chingu. Sorry, I was just..... thinking," I responded tiredly.

"About what?" he asked, interested. I was a little flustered from the earlier thoughts about my mom and Taemin, so I blushed. I didn't want to poison his mind, of course, but I didn't need to blush about it.

"Taemin, I'm an idiot for saying this, but I don't feel like talking right now...." I trailed off. He smiled at me.

"That's okay, hyung," he answered happily. I gave an embarrassed smile and looked down at my paper, letting any thought pass through my mind.

"But you won't die, right? You'll stay here forever?"

"Of course, my Kibum. I'll stay here forever, I promise."

You broke your promise, Mom. And I'm the one paying for it.

"No! No, go away!" I blurted out. The teacher stopped talking and looked at me like the rest of the class did. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Kibum, would you like to share something with the rest of the class?" she asked. I shook my head vigorously. "Then why don't you pay attention for a change?" I nodded. She continued to teach, but I sat there, not hearing a thing. I felt a tap on my shoulder, so I looked to see a concerned Taemin.

"Key, please tell me what happened," he demanded.

"Taemin, it's nothing-"

"Fine, then. You can tell me at lunch," he told me. I wanted to get out of it, but Taemin pouted. "Please, hyung?" he asked. He was so cute.... I mean, what?

"Fine," I answered with a sigh. He smiled at me, and have I mentioned that his smile was so perfect, even when it was barely there? Any girl would die for him.

Eventually, lunch came around. Taemin and I sat there silently for about ten seconds, waiting to see who would make the first sound. "Key, tell me," he said simply.

"Taemin-ah, it's not that easy. I was thinking about something random," I told him.

"Tell me what it was, hyung. I promise I won't tell anyone," he said soothingly. I promise.

"Don't ever say that again, Taemin," I snapped back. He was surprised and confused by my words. I sighed. "I think I should tell you now. My mom and I used to have a lot of the same conversations when I was little. 'Come here, Kibum. I have a secret.' And I would go over and she'd hug me and whisper that she loved me and she'd love me until the day she died. One day, I actually found out what dying meant and I asked her if she would stay here forever. She promised she would."

"Then what happened?" he asked.

"She died in a car crash this September," I told him. He looked at me with sorry eyes and his cute smile had faded long ago.

"That's awful! Why didn't you tell me before?" Taemin questioned sadly.

"I didn't want to remember it," I replied quietly. "But it's okay now, because I never have to bring it up again."

"Why don't the others sit with you, to at least support you?"

"I got into a fight with my friends and they left. And since my friends were popular, everyone else was happy with me gone from their group. So I was the loser with no friends."

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Hey, chingus! This chapter ended badly, so sorry. But I hope you liked it! I love you guys' comments! They are so nice, and I love to read them and just smile. So sweet <3 So feel free to keep commenting and subscribing! I love you! Hashi Konata Bye! ^-^