a/n: what the hell did i even write.

on the first day of kindergarten, taekwoon sat in a circle of kids who were singing and clapping to children songs. ms. sejin, a humble-looking teacher who sported a short bob haircut and wore glasses that slipped slightly down her nose, didn't seem to notice the kids clapping out of beat with each other. taekwoon sat with his hands in his lap, staring at the floor and uninterested in children's play. he was rather annoyed by the horrible lack of rhythm everyone seemed to have.

one of the kids was exceptionally loud, shouting the words of the nursery rhyme at the top of his lungs and beating his palms against each other repeatedly. he sat on the other side of the circle, dark fringe covering across his small forehead and rather big nose protruding from his face. his untied shoelaces reached the floor and taekwoon sincerely hoped for him to trip on them whenever he stood up later. however, that didn't happen and ms. sejin told everyone to sit in their assigned seats.

taekwoon, being the unlucky one, was to be put next to the annoying kid from earlier ( who, by the way, skipped all the way to the desk and plopped down loudly, kicking taekwoon's chair in the process ).

"annyeong!" he said, smiling at taekwoon. "my name is jaehwan, what's yours?" he did not answer and looked away, scribbling on his desk with a pencil. jaehwan didn't give up and scooted his chair closer to him. "i already know your name since ms. sejin took attendance. taekwoon, is it? that's a cool name. how old are you?" again, he did not reply, so the other continued talking by himself. "you look older than me, but i'll just call you taekwoon-ah. or taekwoonie! how does that sound?"

annoying, taekwoon thought to himself as he tried to perfect the doodle of a stick figure on the desk, now please shut up and go push yourself off a cliff.

"where do you live? do you have any brothers or sisters? do you own any pets? what's your favorite color? do you like unicorns?" jaehwan did the exact opposite and didn't shut up at all. in fact, he probably would have kept asking questions if it wasn't for ms. sejin, who told him to be quiet as she went over the classroom rules and expectations. of course, he raised his hand to ask questions as well and taekwoon rolled his eyes. what was it going to take for this kid to stay silent for a moment?

taekwoon occupied himself with his pencil, drawing zigzag patterns and stick animals across his wooden desk. he ended up drawing a bear, the rough outline sketched messily and paws all deformed but he liked it that way. he smiled a bit at his creation, satisfied with the result. the smile lasted about half a second because then jaehwan leaned over and drew a thick, scribbly mustache in black sharpie on the bear's face.

taekwoon glared at his table partner, who retreated his hand with a laugh. the sound attracted ms. sejin and glanced over at them in horror. "jung taekwoon, you do not draw on the desks! they are school property and need to be respected." she scolded, pointing at the mustached-bear with the end of her ruler. the other kids laughed at the drawing and taekwoon stayed silent, not able to say a word.

the teacher motioned for taekwoon to get up, so he did, and she carried the desk to the back corner of the classroom. "take this eraser and sit here. you are not allowed to move back until everything is removed from the desk." taekwoon sent one last death glare at the culprit who got him in trouble before going to the corner, eraser in hand. jaehwan gulped, eyebrows curving downward in guilt, and he looked like a puppy who had knocked over their owner's precious vase and was pouting for forgiveness-

wait- no, he did not look like a cute, pouting puppy, taekwoon shook his head slightly and turned away from the empty space next to jaehwan, terrified at the comparison that his head somehow came up with. ms. sejin caught the attention of the class again and pointed back to the board, talking about lunchtime rules. taekwoon sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hands as he rubbed the tip of the brand new eraser against the face of the bear he had drawn. it smeared and he rubbed faster until the desk was covered in eraser shavings. when he felt a slight burn in his arm, he blew on the desk and looked at his progress.

a headless bear body with a floating mustache looked right back at him.

"okay, kids! it's time for lunch. if you brought your own lunch from home, you can take them out. if you didn't, line up against the door and i'll lead you down to the cafeteria. ms. yoonju next door will keep an eye on you, so keep the door open." ms. sejin announced and the classroom immediately burst into loud noises and screams of six-year-olds scrambling to the door, pushing and shoving at each other.

only about five kids stayed behind, including taekwoon and, to his dismay, jaehwan as well. the other took a brown paper bag and walked over to taekwoon's desk in the back. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to get you in trouble," jaehwan apologized in a light tone. "here's a present to say sorry." he reached into the sack and rummaged through its contents. taekwoon was half-expecting something worthwhile but when jaehwan pulled his hand out, he was in disbelief.

it was an apple.

jaehwan set the ripe red apple down on the desk, right above where the mustache was drawn, and dusted his hands off proudly. "i hope this cleared things up. sorry about that." he grinned a stupid grin and rolled his brown sack closed, skipping back to his seat. not walking, but skipping.

taekwoon stared at the fruit for a few seconds before grabbing it and aiming for jaehwan's back. then moment the apple left his hand, ms. okdal appeared in the doorway with a flock of kids following her from behind ( she had forgotten her clipboard ). the apple flew across the room in slow motion, arching in the air beautifully before coming in contact with a certain someone's back, causing them to scream ( or screech, in taekwoon's opinion ), stumble, and fall over.

the horror on ms. okdal's face was evident as her eyes grew wide. "jung taekwoon!" the other kids tried to squeeze through the doorway and crowded around to see the fallen child, who lifted his head up slightly and let out a muffled "i'm fine".

taekwoon grimaced and wanted to push himself off a cliff instead.

taekwoon grieved going back to school the next day. his parents had recieved a note from his teacher and he had gotten a scolding from his dad, who threatened to hide his beloved soccer ball for the next two weeks if his behavior didn't improve. after all, it was only the second day.

but it's not my fault, taekwoon thought as he took the eraser and started day two of erasing the drawings on his desk. maybe he shouldn't have pressed down so hard on the desk with his pencil; now it took ages to remove. it was that stupid jaehwan's fault.

speaking of jaehwan, he acted as if nothing had happened and continued to annoy the class with questions and obnoxious sound effects. when lunchtime rolled around, he went to taekwoon's corner with another brown sack and he pulled out another apple.

he set the apple down and taekwoon stared at him, then at the apple, then at him, then at the apple again. "i hate apples."

jaehwan grinned stupidly, as if him hearing taekwoon talk for the first time was life-changing. "how can you hate apples? everyone likes apples!"

"...i hate apples."

"no, you like apples."

"i hate apples."

"nooooooooooooo."

"yes."

"no."

"yes."

"no."

"yes."

"yes."

"no."

"see, you just said 'no', as in you don't hate apples!" jaehwan laughed, jumping up and down excitedly as if he just won a trip to lotte world. "so, eat the apple!"

taekwoon scowled and poked the apple, causing it to roll off the desk and towards the floor. "go away."

"but i dun wanna." jaehwan quickly caught the apple, wiping it with the hem of his untucked shirt. he puffed his cheeks and blew onto the apple, as if it made the fruit free of germs, and took a bite. "but suit yourself," jaehwan said in between munches, "this apple is really good and juicy."

taekwoon ignored him and looked down at his desk. all of his doodles and pencil marks were gone and the only thing left was the sharpie mustache. now, if only he could make him leave him alone...

"taekwoonie, do you know the famous story of the apple?" jaehwan nudged his arm and he looked up. "some famous guy, newton or something, had this crazy white hair that was curly and reached his shoulders. he discovered gravity by getting hit in the head by an apple that fell from a tree. isn't that cool?"

taekwoon blinked blankly at him before taking the half-eaten apple and standing up until he towered over the other. his fingers let go of the fruit and it dropped onto the other's head.

"yeah, very cool."

the following day, taekwoon was allowed to sit at his regular spot next to jaehwan. a brand new and clean desk was placed there while the one with the black mustache stayed in the back, pushed up against the wall. jaehwan was still as talkative as ever and taekwoon found himself returning to the desk in the back during lunchtime. jaehwan followed him and offered him another apple, which he rejected once again, but it was okay because jaehwan ate it for him, always saying it was a shame that he didn't eat it.

the drawings on the desk were long gone but the mustache wasn't, so ms. sejin planned on throwing it out. for some reason, taekwoon didn't want to lose the desk. during lunch, he would continue to draw on it in secret since the sharpie wouldn't come off anyways. he ended up drawing jaehwan; after all, he had a big nose that would go great with the mustache.

when he saw the drawing, jaehwan smiled from ear to ear and tried to give him a hug but resulted in him being pelted with the bag of apples he had brought along with him that day.

"why do you keep hitting me with apples?" jaehwan rubbed his head as he whined. "i brought them for you to eat!"

taekwoon buried his head into his arms on the desk and said quietly, "because you're annoying and stupid and i hate apples." he kept his head down for a moment before lifting it up, only to see that jaehwan was no longer smiling. he looked hurt as he bent down to pick up the apples and place them inside of his bag.

once he was done, he turned around and went back to his regular seat without another word. taekwoon stared at his retreating back, kind of annoyed at the way he just turned around and left, but then wondered if he was being too mean. when lunch ended, taekwoon returned back to his regular seat but for the rest of the day, jaehwan did not speak to him.

taekwoon had no idea why he was thinking so much about this. shouldn't he be glad that jaehwan was finally leaving him alone instead of feeling as conflicted as he was right now?

stupid, he thought grumpily to himself, i don't need him or his apples.

the following day, jaehwan did not come to school. taekwoon felt rather lonely, the absence of his usual nuisance gone. he tried to not care but it was a difficult task to do since the seat next to him was empty. now that he wasn't here, taekwoon finally realized that jaehwan was the only one who actually talked to him at school.

the day dragged on slowly, the seconds seeming to tick by slowly. lunch came and taekwoon headed to the desk in the back, staring at the drawing with his head laid down. he stayed like that for almost the whole break until a small group of kids began to talk loudly about a his fellow apple-lover.

"i'm so glad jaehwan is gone today, he's always so loud and obnoxious. it would be this quiet everyday if it wasn't for him." one of the girls whined, and the boy next to her nodded.

"i know! he's such an idiot, and he's annoying too. sometimes i wish i could take duct tape and wrap it around his big mouth."

"yeah, and whenever he sneezes, his big nose makes it seem like a hurricane is coming! he's so weird."

taekwoon suddenly got very bothered and stood up abruptly, nearly knocking the desk over. the group of kids swiveled their heads in his direction as he march over to them. "don't talk about jaehwan that way!" he said, crossing his arms and glaring. "he is not an idiot. all he does is try to make people laugh and isn't mean to anyone, and... and his nose isn't weird. so stop talking behind his back!"

the kids quieted down, shocked that taekwoon had finally said something to them ever since the school year began, but mainly because they knew how good he could throw something, thanks to his recent show of throwing an apple square at one's back. simply put, they were kind of frightened at what he might do to them.

"what the heck? he's always been quiet all the time and now suddenly he's talking for the first time... and it's to defend that lunatic?" the boy whispered to the others in a hushed voice that taekwoon could still hear. the girl next to him elbowed him and pointed at taekwoon, reminding him that he could still hear them, but he didn't really care and turned around to walk back to his desk when he saw a familiar figure standing in the doorway.

oh no, did he hear that...? taekwoon groaned inwardly as jaehwan skipped in from the hallway, latching himself onto the other's arm. "aw, taekwoonie! i heard everything and i'm so happy! did you really mean all of that?" he asked excitedly, pretending to cry tears of joy as he pinched the bridge of his large nose.

taekwoon rolled his eyes and tried to shake him off my walking to the desk in the back, but he clung on tightly. "...no."

"oh, come on! i know you really meant it." jaehwan grinned, teeth showing and the sides of his mouth stretching from ear to ear. "thanks a lot, taekwoonie!"

he turned red and succeeded in swatting him away this time. "why are even here? you're supposed to be absent."

"ah! about that..." jaehwan laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "i was helping my dad harvest some food from the field this morning and totally forgot about going to school! my dad got too lazy to walk me to school and decided to do it after he had lunch."

"you and your dad harvest food?" taekwoon asked, curious about what he harvested. did he live on a farm? was his dad a farmer? this was when he realized he didn't know much about the boy when the other asked him so many questions about himself, yet he never answered.

he nodded proudly, as if to show that he was a grown-up boy who helped his father with work. "i even brought some along with me! here, let me get it." jaehwan rummaged into his bag and out came some more... apples. "these apples were picked specially, by me!"

what had he been expecting, really? of course he'd be harvesting apples.

for some reason, this made him laugh, and he couldn't help but smile. the chuckle he let out puzzled jaehwan, who lowered the apple in his hand. "huh? taekwoonie, did i say something funny?"

he held back his laugh and reached for the apple, taking a swift bite with one loud crunch. jaehwan looked at him with surprised wide eyes, watching him chew and munch. "is it good? i picked them, so it must be! it is, right?"

taekwoon purposely took his time to swallow before nodding and quietly saying, "it's delicious."

"see? i told you it would be!" jaehwan's face lit up like a bunch of fireworks and he bit into his own apple."but... why were you so against apples before? it's not like apples are poisonous or anything of that sort."

he turned red at the sudden question and looked away, nibbling on the thin skin of the apple. "i found a worm inside of my apple once. so i hated apples ever since and never ate them."

taekwoon expected jaehwan to burst out laughing at his memory, and he actually did. "you were scared of a worm inside of an apple? that's the funniest thing i've ever heard in my life-"

he was shut up with a hit in the head by a half-eaten apple, thrown by a red-faced, embarassed taekwoon.

epilogue:

"hey, taekwoon, guess what i have today?"

the questioned turned around, bothered by jaehwan nudging his elbow. he was trying to perfect his new drawing of jaehwan on the desk since he got a pair of glasses. the mustache looked very much different when drawn on a person with glasses. "uh, hmm... i don't know... let me guess. how about some apples?"

"daeng, you are incorrect!" the other was delighted at the wrong answer and bopped him in the nose with something bright-colored. "i brought oranges today! do you want one?"

oh no, taekwoon groaned as the aroma of citrus tingled his senses, not another fruit. "...sure, give me one."

"here you go!" jaehwan said happily, handing him a particularly large orange. "i might bring bananas next, or maybe grapes! grapes would be fun to eat, wouldn't they? we can try to catch them with our mouth too! you know, throw them into the air and stuff... unless you want to keep eating apples. i know how much you love to eat apples!"

taekwoon sighed, wanting to throw the new fruit at him for babbling so much, but instead broke into a smile when he saw that there was a face drawn on the outer-peel of the orange, complete with a mustache drawn with a black sharpie pen.

stupid. i don't need any apples, or any other fruits... just you.