“No Other” by Super Junior: http://www.aimini.net/view/?fid=ntLWLBwAfUczL7pAsi6u

Translations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LICj7J0lQME

~

Hmm…when was the first time I met you?  It was so long ago I forgot the exactly date.  But you knew me before ANY of the other Block B members…well…except for TaeIl-hyung but he doesn’t count.

Our first meeting was in middle school.  You were the new student everyone was talking about because it was odd for students to register in the middle of the school year.  Truthfully, I don’t remember the first day you introduced yourself because you didn’t interest me.  Sorry~ you had long hair back then and I’m more attracted to girls who look good with short hair.  Hehe~ Ah!  But I remember all of the guys were like hungry wolves that were just thrown a new fresh piece of meat.  I guess you attracted people’s attention with your curvy body and large eyes.  Man, for a middle schooler, you looked like a high schooler.  I mean like WOW.  Just- (MinHyuk: Kwonnie.  You’re acting like a ert. …and don’t add hand motions.)

…ahem…anyways…

You introduced yourself to the class with a short bow before taking a seat in the classroom.

Yeah, and that was our first meeting…or I guess that was when I first knew of you… (HaNeul: How much longer is this going to be?  You want to organize your thoughts first…because I can wait.)

REAL MEETING!

~

It was probably about two weeks after you came to our school.  I had stayed longer at the dance academy.  One of the sunbaes asked me to help with closing down for the day.  Unfortunately for me, it got pretty late and I wasn’t in the safest part of town.

“Hey, Kid.”

I turned around slowly, trying my best to get rid of my scared expression.

“What do you want?” I asked toughly, despite my insides turning inside out and doing flips.

“Let’s make this quick.  Hyung needs something to eat.  You’ll pay, right?” the guy threatened, taking out his knife.  I slowly started to back up before I took off running.  Unfortunately, I was much shorter back then and easily got caught by the much taller adult.  I fought in his headlock and cried out for help.

Just when I thought it was over for me, I heard a splash of water.  The mugger screamed in pain and I fell out of his grip.  I ran forward a good distance in case he came after me.  When I turned around, that’s when I saw you with a cup in your hand.  My eyes widened when the mugger closed in on you with murderous intent written all over his face.

But what shocked me more was you…

You, who weren’t afraid and even waiting for him to come at you.

I could only watch as he lunged.  It looked almost like a leopard pouncing on a baby gazelle.  Except you were far from defenseless.

In an instant, you dodged his knife, grabbed his wrist and twisted it around.  He groaned as you forced the knife out of his hand, causing it to clink on the ground.  Before he could react, you slammed into his back, letting gravity do the work for you and pinning him to the ground with your knee in his back.

“ing bastard terrorizing kids again,” I heard you grumble under your breath.  “YAH, DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO GET LOST AND GET A ING JOB, YOU HOMELESS ?!”

He immediately took off running without another word when you let him go.  You sighed in annoyance and picked up the knife.  Finally, you looked over at me.  Your cold, piercing eyes startled me, making me drop my backpack that I was apparently holding in my hand.  As I bent down to pick it up, you walked over.  I was afraid, so I kept my head down.

“Are you hurt?”

I looked up in surprise by your concern, which clashed with the menacing glare you gave me earlier (…and now).  I guess I forgot to respond because you raised an eyebrow and waved a hand in front of my face.

“Anyone home?”

I was shocked again when your face was inches from mine.

“I-I’m sorry!  T-Thank you for saving me!” I bowed in a 90 degree angle out of respect.

…Except I forgot that you were so close to me and hit my head against your forehead.

“Ah!” you yelled out in pain.  My eyes widened and I started spazzing left and right, rambling about sorry, I’m an idiot, first-aid kit, ice pack, and horrible guy.  I thought you would explode out in anger like with that mugger.

But instead, you just laughed.

“You aren’t the smoothest operator, are you?”

I giggled nervously and rubbed my neck in embarrassment.

“This place is pretty dangerous at night…especially for someone so small.  You should be more careful.  There are a lot of guys like him wandering the streets around this time.  Lucky for you I was just closing shop.  Be more careful next time, okay?”

“Thanks…I’ll be more ca-hey, wait!  I’m not that small!”

You just laughed again and ruffled my hair.  It didn’t make me happy that you were taller than me at the time.  I was older than you and you made me feel like a kid!

“Whatever you say, Kid.  Take care of yourself, alright?”

You smiled at me before turning around and reentering the café you came out of.

“Wait!”

I stopped you in your tracks.

“What’s…your name?”

“Lee HaNeul.”

“Kim YooKwon.”

~

The next day, I visited the café right after school hoping to find you.  I could have said something in class, but you have such an intense aura, truthfully I chickened out.

“Welcome-oh, hey, Kid,” you greeted with a generic smile.

“Don’t call me Kid…I’m the same age as you…” I grumbled unhappily.

“What are you doing here?  Aren’t you too young to drink coffee?” you teased.

“I have practice until late at night again…so I thought I would get myself some tea…” I responded while looking through the menu.  I ordered a jasmine green tea (which got me a strange look from you).  After you came back with my order, I noticed there wasn’t anyone else around.

“Is it usually this deserted?”

You shook your head.  “Around this time it quiets down.  It’s usually busiest in the mornings and at night.  Enjoy your tea, Kid.”

“Hey!  Stop calling me kid!  When’s your birthday?” I challenged with a huff.

“November 11^th,” you answered nonchalantly.  I gaped in amazement.

“You’re half a year younger than me and you call me kid?!  You should be calling me oppa!” I argued childishly.  You thought about it for a bit with a nod.

“Nope, I’m still calling you kid.  Maybe if you started acting like someone who’s half a year older than me then I’ll stop calling you kid,” your laughter rang through the café.  You turned to leave.

“Why don’t you smile in school?” I blurted out without thinking.  You stared at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you stalking me or something?” you questioned pointedly.

“No, I just notice that you seem very aloof and unapproachable in class…” I mumbled, taking a sip of my tea.

“If people don’t want to talk to me, why should I bother wanting to talk to them?” you reasoned.

I put my hand up to my mouth and whispered as if I didn’t want other people to hear what I was going to say even though there was no one else there.

“That’s because you’re scary looking…” I admitted openly.  Instead of being offended, you merely laughed.

“Am I?  Then why aren’t you scared, Kid?” you smirked at me.

I beamed back widely and stated in a proud manner, “Because I already know you aren’t scary!  Hey, if you don’t have any friends, I can be your friend!”

“I dunno…not sure if I want to be friends with a kid…” you sighed as if you had a really tough decision in front of you.

“I told you I’m older!”

You just laughed at my frustration and continued, “So what are you doing around here?”

“Oh, I go to a dance academy around here,” I answered with a bright smile.

“You dance?” you laughed boisterously which had me furrowing my eyebrows.

“Why are you laughing?” I felt insulted.

“Sorry, you just don’t seem like the person that would be able to dance,” you turned your head away and chuckled to yourself, covering your mouth as if trying to be polite.

“YAH!  I’ll show you I can dance!  I-I might have just started out, but I’ll prove to you I can do it!” I said with unfounded confidence since really I just started learning how to dance.  But you just grinned warmly at me with a chuckle.

“I’d like to see it,” was the last thing you said before you turned to the new customer coming in and helping him to a table.

~

Your words made me work harder than I ever thought I would work.  I practiced every single day until I was confident enough in my skills.  Even on days that we didn’t have practice, I would keep practicing at home.  My parents got really annoyed at me, but I kept going at it.  I would visit you every time you worked at the café and kept you company at school.  Back then, I wasn’t popular since I looked plain and was a bit chubby.  Hehe~ although…you probably would have been popular if you were more gregarious since you always had the looks without even trying.  I’m sure a lot of the girls were jealous.  You were like the Ice Princess of the school!  But more emphasis on the Ice and less on the Princess…  You were probably more like the- (MinHyuk: Yah, A.D.H.D. boy…back on track.  We’d like to finish this story today before visiting hours are over.)

Right, so the dance academy had a performance scheduled at the mall in our area.  I had been waiting for this day to prove to you what I could do.  You, of course, agreed to come and said even if you were the only person that could stop a meteor from destroying the Earth, you wouldn’t miss my performance.

…I told you if there really was a meteor coming for the Earth to please stop it so I can perform…

You just laughed, so I laughed with you.

As the performance rolled around, I looked out into the crowd and tried to find you.  I frowned and felt dejected when I couldn’t.  At the time, I wasn’t sure if I was sad that you didn’t keep your promise or worried that something happened.  But with or without your presence, I still had to perform.

While the rest of my group filed on stage, I indifferently stood in my spot and stared aimlessly out into the large crowd of people.  Just before the music started, a black placard in neon yellow letters appeared in the very back of the crowd.  My mouth naturally curled into a wide smile.

[KID HWAITING!]

When the music started, the smile became still plastered to my face as I gave it my all.

~

Once the whole show was over, I helped to clean up the stage and pack everything up.

“Yo~” I heard.  I turned around and smiled.

“You came!  I was afraid you weren’t gonna make it…” I pouted at you.

“Hey, I said I wouldn’t miss it even for a meteor shower, didn’t I?”

“So what did you think?  I practiced reaaaally hard, you know!  Ah, my muscles are all sore…” I whined.

“Ah, you still have a lot of work to do.”

I blinked and stared at her with a frown.  I was expecting her to laud me, so I pouted despondently when she spent the next few minutes evaluating me instead.  By the time she was done, I felt all my efforts were for naught.  I thought, “man, if I this much, I might as well just give up dancing…”

“I’m proud of you, Kid.”

Your words contradicted everything you just said a second ago.  However, it instigated a sense of satisfaction and honor to hear you say that.  I really wasn’t sure why I wanted you to approve of me so much back then.  But I shamelessly beamed at you, not even caring that you were still calling me, Kid.  In return, you patted me on the head like an older sister would to a younger brother.  …seriously though, I’m older, okay?  (HaNeul: Uh huh…)

“Ah, but this move here needs to be sharper or else it blends into the next one and it looks like you missed a beat,” you added on right when I thought you were done dissecting my routine.

I sighed and was about to tell you, “Really, just tell me I did well and let’s move on from there.”

Except the words never came out of my mouth because my jaw dropped as you proceeded to show me up by reproducing the events that occurred not too long ago in front of me.

“…Yah, Kid…are you listening to me?”

“You…you DANCE?!” I exclaimed, unable to believe it.  I felt cheated.

“Um, just a bit when I was younger; a friend of mine taught me a thing or two…apparently I’m a natural?” you shrugged like everyone in the world picks up dancing at birth.

“That’s so not fair!  I practice my off and you just…DO IT…like it’s nothing after watching it once!” I whined.  Why couldn’t I have been born with dancing genes?!  You just sighed and patted me on the head.

“Yah, does it look like I care to dance?  Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to.  If you like dancing, then dance.  It doesn’t matter if you more than me or if you’re a flipping genius,” you started with a scoff.  “Remember this, Kid.  There will always be someone worse and someone better than you.  Whether they exist now, before, or later, it happens.  The only thing that matters is that you accomplish what you want to get done.  Don’t give up on something just because of others.  If someone is in your way, bulldoze over them without hesitation because people are ruthless and will do anything to get what they want.”

I stared at you in confusion.  You just smiled back at me.  I’m not sure why but something felt off.

“You’re good, Kid.  I danced roughly half a year and you accomplished half of what I can do in half the amount of time.  You may be naturally good…or you may not.”

You picked up the placard you were holding before and handed it to me.  I took it out of reflex, still not understanding where all of this is coming from.

“But you work hard and you enjoy it.  Perhaps it was because you wanted to prove yourself to me, but you did your best and it showed.”

I stared down at the words taped down on black and looked back up with furrowed eyebrows.

“You…were just criticizing everything…that I did…why are you saying all this now?”

“Ah, because you seemed too cocky before, I had to bring you back down to Earth.  But then you looked as if I crushed all your hopes and dreams in two minutes.  You sure have a soft heart, Kid.  But I can tell…you have a lot of potential…so don’t give up so easily.  I criticized because you have a lot of work to do, to improve.  There’s a long road ahead of you, don’t hesitate to act.  Don’t get full of yourself and don’t forget you can always do better.”

“Are you leaving?”

I’m not sure why I asked this question.  I’m not sure how I knew.  But it seemed my wild guess was right on the spot.  Because you just smiled at me mysteriously without answering my question.

“My mom and I don’t stay in the same place for very long.  After moving around so much and meeting so many people, I lost interest in actively making friends.  I’ve already forgotten the names and faces of those I met at my last school…”

“…but you…I think I’ll remember…Kim YooKwon.”

All was silent to me.  The people running around packing things up.  The commands being yelled back and forth.  I couldn’t hear any of it.  The only thing I could take in was you standing there smiling at me as the wind tousled your long hair playfully.

It almost seemed like everything that was happening was just a dream.  You seemed unreachable even though you were standing there before me.  It was as if you were a part of my dream and when I wake up, you would be gone.  I reached out for you because I wanted to make sure you were real and that everything that had happened would be real.  I wanted to hug you so that I could be sure you had been with me.  But you moved just as I was about to touch you.

“Thank you for everything.  It’s been awhile…” you mumbled, looking down as your voice trailed off.  You looked so lonely standing there…

For some reason, I suddenly understood what you were talking about.  Why you acted so mature.  Why you dissected everything so thoroughly.  Why you look so distant in class.  You were forced to accept everything for what it is.  The world continued to change and you had no choice but to change with it.  Could it be I was the first friend you had?  Probably not.  But somewhere along the way, maybe you had forgotten what it was like to have a friend.  Not just any friend but a true friend.  Someone that doesn’t disappear just because you don’t see them anymore.  Someone that cares about you.  Perhaps we would never see each other again.  But we’d still be friends.

Right?

Is it weird that I didn’t want you to go?  Is it weird that I wanted to comfort you?  You didn’t want to leave me either, right?  We had been such good friends in the short amount of time we had together…

Before I could organize my thoughts, you disappeared.  It was as if the wind swept you away when I wasn’t paying attention.

 “Bye, Kid.”

And just like that, you were gone.  You didn’t let me get a word in.  All you did was say what you wanted and left.  You sure were cruel.

They stayed with me.  I followed your words through everything I encountered.  Whether it was intentional or not, I don’t know.  But I gained more courage and became more humble.  Anything I did, I did with my all.

That’s how I got into Brand New Stardom.

That’s how I got into Block B.

And that’s how I got to meet you again.

~

“HaNeul, we have to leave!  Hurry up!”

Your story…slowly brought out memories that I didn’t even know I had forgotten…

“He’s here.”

=====================================================================

Woohoo~ I have to say that this one is one of my favorite chapters so far.  XD

Apparently Kwonnie said in an interview that his brother is always supporting him but he doesn’t praise him.  They’re such a cute pair of siblings.  :)  And they really do look alike.

I won’t reveal anything except don’t get too comfortable with things making sense yet.  This isn’t even near the end of the story.  :P

Please leave comments!  Comments are love~  :D

Until next time!

Updated: 11/27/11

~Kira :3