“Yoochun-ah, Yoochun-ah – Mother misses you.” A haunting, ghostly voice appears in front of him, dressed in a simple pale white silk gown that fell to the ground as she managed to somewhat a step closer and closer to him even if he couldn’t see the traces of her feet walking towards him.

He recognizes the voice and the figure as his mother’s, looking nearly exactly identical to how he last saw her, except she had such dull, spiritless eyes that it horrified him. Those were like how his father’s eyes were when he last saw him as well.

                He traces his steps backwards, foot by foot as he stares up in horror of the sight he was seeing and that his mother was right behind him. Yoochun attempts to run away, but instead trips into the corner instead, his mother’s shadow growing over him as she moved even closer towards him.

                “Where we you mother when we needed you most?  Yoona and I couldn’t do anything when father needed you the most!” He furiously exclaimed as he slid himself backwards in an attempt to escape but was instead stuck by one corner.

A melancholic expression appeared on her face and a feeling of sympathy struck Yoochun deeply, even if it felt wrong for him due to the situation they were in. “I did what was best for all of you and I was aware that both of you would be in great hands even if your father was no longer with the two of you.” Choking sobs were vaguely heard as her figure started flying away from him, her image getting distorted as she went farther and farther.

                “Mother no, why! We need you and please tell us where you are, please mom, I beg of you?!” He stood up as he tried to reach out for her hand as if she was actually there as she drifted away from him. Yoochun shouted as loud as he could as he cried out of frustration and anger, still utterly confused on what was really going on.

                A tear fell down her cheek as she stood by the bright light in which you could see nothing beyond it. “It’s too early for you to understand right now Yoochun but eventually you will. I promise..”

And everything turns to white and he sees nothing but empty darkness as she enters into the light as his eyesight fails to see anything the moment she walked in.

….

Yoochun opens his eyes and the first thing he hears as soon as he gets up is the ringing sound of his alarm clock in his ears, completely irritating him as he gets up in frustration and walks over to their shared bathroom to get changed into his school uniform that he neatly hanged up by his closet.

                “Hey Chun-yah, you should come down now so we can at least have breakfast before going to school!” Jaejoong shouts right into Yoochun’s ears, obviously impatient that he has not even left his bed and that he was already all dressed with his backpack and slung on his back.

                “Why are you waking me up so early, it’s just 6:15 am and we usually have breakfast at 8:30 or 9 am?” Yoochun rubbed his ears in pain and yawned sleepily as he sat up to check his blinking digital clock and looked at Jaejoong in disbelief.

Jaejoong rolled his eyes and grabbed the neatly pinned calendar on his sapphire colored wall and shoved it right at his face. “It’s the first day of school and it takes 15 minutes to get there by foot.”

The younger male stared at him blankly for a few seconds before panicking in realization that he would be late for school if he doesn’t start getting ready and runs right into the bathroom to get ready. In around 10 minutes sharp, he comes out dressed in his uniform with his backpack in his hand and stumbled slowly down the stairs.

                “It’s time for breakfast oppa – What took you so long?” Yoona grabbed her brother’s hand tightly and complained lightly as she pouted at his direction and questioned him so seriously. Yoochun smiled down cheekily and messed up his sister’s hair playfully as he kneels down to her level.

                “Oppa unfortunately forgot that I had to get up for school and eat breakfast earlier, little Yoong.” He bopped his nose on his little sister’s before he got up to sit for breakfast as she giggled girlishly at him afterwards.

Yoochun sat on the cream colored wooden chair in between Junsu by the right and Changmin to the left, with both eating hungrily and eagerly, but especially the one sitting beside him by his left side. He glanced forward to see a large platter of kimchi and a huge bowl of noodle soup directly in front of him and his porcelain plate.

                It brightened up his mood to look around and see how he was in such a loving and accepting environment like he had lived in just like he had before the traumatizing experience he had a few months prior that had nearly ruined his life, though it seemed possible that he would be able to move on from it.

                Deep inside, he did regret he was not able to stay long enough to be able to see his father properly buried and to see him actually be properly laid to rest with a coffin and tombstone. He vowed to his father instead to find out who really ended his father’s life earlier than intended and put him rightfully in jail to be able to truly have his father rest in peace.

He finished up his breakfast and set it aside by the sink before walking off by the doorway where Jaejoong, Changmin and Junsu had been waiting patiently for him to get ready. They had all been about to leave for school, before Mrs. Hwang runs to the doorway with four umbrellas tucked under her arms.

                “The three of you should bring an umbrella, my goodness. I would not like the three of you to get sick, especially if the other kids get sick as well because of the four of you.” She hands out the umbrellas for each of them as she shook her head in disapproval that they did not bring an umbrella for themselves.

                “Mrs. Hwang, we’ll be alright today it’s fine. It’s just very cloudy.. and dark today.” Junsu laughed jokingly as he politely refused their caretaker’s umbrella as he looked up at the skies to see what the weather was, surprised to see that it had started to drizzle and the rain had gotten stronger as the hours went by.

                “I’ll take it one, then, Mrs. Hwang. Just to be sure in case it rains really bad later on.” Yoochun reluctantly takes a charcoal, wrinkled umbrella from her arms and smiles boyishly as he tugs on Jaejoong’s sleeve to get going immediately before they get late for school. 

Mrs. Hwang took a deep breath and shook her head with a smile as she could not really stop their stubbornness. “Teenage boys.” She told herself under her breath.

                “Goodbye boys! Take care all of you and please come home before the sun sets! “ She stood by the large window and waved vigorously as she watched their figures disappear into fog and dim out as they walk farther from the orphanage.

….

                “Changmin-ah, you have to be faster or we’ll be late for school just like last year!” Junsu whined impatiently as they all raced towards the school’s gate that only seemed five minutes away from them or so.

              “You think I’m going to run when the rain is pouring hard on us and we might slip on the pavement instead, hyung?” The younger male rolled his eyes and walked in a slow yet constant pace even though he was behind his 3 hyungs who were all rushing a bit faster than him.

Yoochun takes out the umbrella from his backpack and fiddles it until it opens only to cover Jaejoong and himself. “Thanks Yoochun.” Jaejoong replied quietly, as they took a sharp turn towards their newly painted silver colored gate.

                “It looks like they repainted the gates from last year. Last year, those gates were rusty and looked like they were decaying instead.” Junsu ignored Changmin’s question and turned the lock of the gate to swing it open for all of them to enter.

Changmin walks over next to Yoochun, squeezing himself in between him and Junsu as he begins to talk more about his new school. “We’re not the highest rating middle school in the entirety of South Korea and neither Seoul, but the people here are okay, the teachers are not that bad and if you’re lucky, you’ll have fun.” He patted the older boy’s shoulder and gave a comforting smile as he may have probably felt the nerves from him.

                “I guess it probably won’t be that bad.” Yoochun nervously grinned back, tightly gripping on his backpack as he looked up towards the board where sheets of paper were tacked and tapped on who would be in which class. He browsed through hundreds and hundreds of names where he had a difficulty finding his own or those of his friends.

                 Kim, Kim, Lee, Hwang, Son, Lee, Lee, Hwang, Kim, Kwang  - Jung? He froze for a second as he noticed a familiar name under the section of 8-3. Jung Sooyeon. “Or maybe there’s possibly a hundred more Jung Sooyeon’s in his school?” He asked himself. “Jung Sooyeon’s in this school too? I thought she may have gone to some prestigious private school near Gangnam or something?” Yoochun asked Jaejoong without taking his eyes off the student list, while he did the same.

Jaejoong nodded as soon as he had finished looking for his name and looked at him. “Her brother and she have been studying here from the start, even if they do have private tutors that they sometimes study with by the weekend. “ He replies. “And you’re in 9-5 with Junsu, while I’m in 9-3 with Changmin. Let’s go.” Yoochun followed Junsu as the four of them split as they started finding their classrooms.

                His eyes fly from one label to another, looking to see if the plastered “9-5” would be found anywhere, he feels something bump against his left shoulder and rubs his sore spot before the corner of his eye catches a familiar figure. “Sooyeon-ah, I’m so sorry!” An apology comes out of his mouth immediately, his cheeks red out of embarrassment that he had knocked out an acquaintance he had barely been able to get to know.

He offers a hand up to assist her as she gets up from the cold, marble ground, which she greatly accepts as she pulled on it securely as she stood up straightly again. “It’s alright, Yoochun – oppa. Were you looking for our class as well?”  Her brown colored doe eyes stared right at his as she brushed off the dirt off her skirt and smiled nervously.

                “Yes, I am looking for my class as well.” He scratched the back of his head as he looked around with a confused expression. Suddenly, Yunho comes up beside his younger sister and smiles knowingly at his new friend.

                “You’re in my class, Yoochun.” He wraps an arm around his shoulder in a friendly manner, before the two ran off and continued chattering as they walked to class.

….

It had always confused Yoochun on how everything just seemed to crumble like that when he thought his parents had no problems with one another at all. Every night before he went to bed, he always tried to fix the piece in the puzzle on why was his mother not present during the day of the incident.

He would always go to bed thinking about where his mother had been when their father was killed and it horrified him to think if she was probably the one who did this to him. “It’s impossible – Mother really did love father.” He chooses to say that to himself every night, just to be able to sleep peacefully.

It nearly became a daily habit for him to study just outside the school building in the campus field, with his books neatly piled on the soft, newly cut grass as he rested his body against a wooden tree and shook his head as he was in the process of figuring out his homework.

The dawn of afternoon sunlight shone above him, his long eyelashes and prominent cheekbones being his most obvious features even from afar. He was disturbed from his concentration as he felt something moving behind the staunch trunk, the sound of rustling leaves not leaving his ears. He sets aside his book on top and turns cautiously, a heavy feeling in his heart as he anxiously waited for what would appear behind him. It was Sooyeon.

Her roaring laughter is clearly heard as she pushes her head back as she attempts to hold in her laugh. Yoochun gives a sigh of relief that it wasn’t some dangerous man who would hurt him who jumped out and surprised him, as it was instead just her.

“Wouldn’t think that doing that would work for you but it did work for you. I’ve seen you reading here for more than 30 minutes, are you that dedicated to reading your homework?” She looked at him curiously as she sat down next to him, her fingertips reaching the hard bound covers of the books and browsed through the thin leaf pages as she opened them.

Yoochun paused for a few seconds before retorting a teasing remark as he resumed his reading. “And what is so special about reading for more than 30 minutes – Does that mean you’ve been watching the whole time?”

                She opened as if she was about to say something, but instead responded defensively and crossed her arms. “What makes you think I’d stare at a boy reading his homework for half an hour?” She chirped tenaciously.

He then took his turn in laughing, his eyes turning into half-crescent moons and the corners of his lips, arching up as a hearty chuckle was heard from him. “I was just kidding, Sooyeon-ah.” Yoochun ruffled the bangs on her forehead, as she bluffed in annoyance.

                Sooyeon ped her red colored backpack, revealing what was a chain of freshly picked daisy flowers all locked in securely and gently place them on Yoochun’s jet black hair without him knowing. “Here is a crown for a king – The King of the Fools!” She exclaimed as she waited for him to notice that something unusual was on his head.

                Yoochun looked at her with a confused expression before he reached up on the midsection of the top of his head, with the bristles and the petals of white daisy flowers sticking to his fingers. “What makes me the King of the Fools then?” He complained playfully as she giggled at him.

“That was the only name I could think of crowning you – Why not, The King of the Stars?” She pouted as she wrapped a finger on her chin and thought carefully, before making an exaggerated gesture as she suggested a new name.

                “As long as I’m not a fool, bastard or an idiot, it’s probably good. If I’m the King, then you’re Queen?” He jokingly went with the joke, exerting a majestic aura as he proudly showed off his crown for humor purposes.

Yoochun looked around to see if any daisy flowers were found on the field that they were lying about, but it seemed that only a few sprouts of chrysanthemum flowers were around. He reached out to grab a bunch and squeezed them lightly between his palms, making sure he wouldn’t squish them to bits.

                She noticed that he had grabbed a vine from the branches of the chestnut tree, curling around his fingers as he tried to figure out how to make one in the midst of the books that have swarmed around him. “Do you even know how to make one?”

                “No. What would I know about making a flower crown?”

Sooyeon leaned forward and grabbed the vines and flowers from his arms, only for him to resist her pulling and pull it towards himself instead. “You don’t need to make it for me. You made the one I’m wearing for you.” He explained as he used all of his force to take the vines and flowers from her hands without breaking them into pieces.

               She gave up trying to take them away from them and instead waited for him to say something instead, which failed. “Want me to help you make one instead?” Sooyeon quietly asked.

He nodded as they started to make a flower crown in the middle of the field under a chestnut tree, something he may have never probably thought of doing. Yoochun couldn’t help but just sometimes blank out and stare at her while she was busy explaining on how to make a flower crown with your own bare hands.

                The way her hair bobbed whenever she laughed, the corners of her eyes tightening when she smiled, how she laughed at nearly everything in his presence and her interest in stars, mythology and in space – It made him feel relieved he had a friend like her.

They finished the crown in less than ten minutes, as she neatly placed it on his lap before she told him she needed to go. Yoochun nearly muttered a quick goodbye, but instead quickly locked in the crown on her head and a simple “Thank You” was all he said.

                Yoochun may have sworn that when she smiled before she left, her cheeks went red and she ran off like she couldn’t even look at him in the eye.

….