for me bc i thirdwheel too much sighs.

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Ara feels lonely as she eyes Aesook and Mari on the seesaw together. It was always like this when it came down to the three hanging out together. One person had to be left with no partner and that was always Ara. With a pout, the little girl makes her way over to the other seesaw. It takes two to seesaw and Ara waits for either Mari or Aesook to come to her. Unfortunately, the two seem so invested with each other, Ara is sure they won’t come to her. With a heavy pout, Ara leaves the seesaws and decides to sit herself under a tree. It’s lonely having no one to be with. She’s afraid of bothering her daddies who are busy playing basketball and Jongdae and Junmyeon look like they’re having fun sitting on the bench and laughing with each other. When her eyes fall upon Sehun and Zitao in the sandbox, Ara figures she could go play with the duo, but when she realizes that they have each other as partners, she decides to stay under the tree.

With sad eyes, Ara watches everyone in front her have fun with one another. The five-year-old just doesn’t understand how everyone could have a partner and she doesn’t. She’s an odd number and it’s always been that way. Letting her emotions get the best of her, Ara begins to silently cry to herself, unaware of a presence nearing her.

“Are you crying?! Oh no! Why are you crying?!” a voice squeaks. The next thing Ara knows, there is a body next to her, hugging her awkwardly and rocking her bad and forth in a rather poor attempt. Ara sniffles and tries to look up at the mysterious person but all she sees is a mop of brown hair. Confused, Ara stops crying and the mysterious person next to her discontinues his rocking. He finally shows his face and Ara notices his chubby cheeks. She’s never seen this boy before, but the aura that surrounds him tells Ara that he’s friendly.

“Are you ok?” The boy asks worried. Though strangers, the boy takes Ara’s face in his hands and wipes away her tears with his small thumbs. Ara sits quietly throughout the whole experience, sort of in a daze that a stranger is wiping away her tears. When the small deed is done, Ara  hides her face in her knees. The little boy knows Ara doesn’t like his presence, but he doesn’t like people sulking. Confident, he rearranges himself in the exact position as Ara and just sits with her. Ara doesn’t want to admit to herself that she kind of likes that someone’s paid attention to her.

“Do you see the two boys on the swings?” The boy next to Ara asks, breaking the silence between them. She doesn’t respond, but she does search for the boys in the playground. Just like the boy next to her said, there is two boys on the swings. One of the boys has black hair and he’s being pushed by another boy with brown hair. They’re both laughing and Ara suddenly feels jealousy surge through her.

“The one on the swing is Kibum. The boy pushing him is my younger brother, Jonghyun.” The boy continues. “Whenever momma takes us to the park, Jonghyun always plays with Kibummie instead of me. Sometimes, I think Jonghyun pretends I’m not there…” The boy trails off and there’s a feeling inside of Ara that makes her want to hug the boy.

“But it’s ok! Momma says I’m a strong boy.” He beams up at Ara and she can’t help but smile in return. Her smile fades, however, when she spots Aesook and Mari heading to the monkey bars together. Suddenly, the sadness crawls back inside of Ara and she turns her head away to prevent herself from getting too hurt. The little boy observes Ara’s actions and realizes the situation. Letting out a deep breath, the boy scoots a little closer to Ara. She frowns at the boy’s proximity and scoots herself away from the boy. When he scoots closer again, Ara doesn’t do anything.

“It’s ok if you’re jealous,” the little boy says. “I was jealous of Kibummie for a long time because he took Jonghyun away from me.” Ara can’t help but compare the boy’s situation with hers. They’re identical in so many ways.  “But, everything is ok now because I made a new friend.” The last few words sink into Ara before she looks up at the boy.

“I’m Jinki,” the brown haired boy, Jinki, says, with a blinding smile. He has nice teeth just like Ara’s daddy, so she starts to feel a little comfortable.

“I’m Ara.” They shake hands then Jinki says, “Ara is a pretty name.” Ara flushes slightly and retracts her hand from Jinki’s.

After the handshake, things go back to silence, but an idea pops in Jinki’s head after seeing Kibum and Jonghyun leave the seesaw. He beams at Ara.

“Hey, you want to go on the seesaw?” Jinki asks. The smile Ara presents Jinki’s is the brightest one he’s ever seen. Taking that as a yes, he jumps up and pulls up Ara afterwards. Together, the new friends race to the playground.

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thank you for reading. i hope you guys liked this and yay for gongrinne, byshah and ondora