"Lee Jihoon?"a shrill voice of the director of the orphanage called out.

The boy sighed. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Why did he even have to show up there? No one was ever going to adopt him anyway. At the age of twelve, he was neither a teenager nor a child.Puberty hadn't hit him yet so he looked as awkward as a cow on a crutch. He was slightly shorter than the other boys his age,scrawny and had a slight temper. He was often sent back because of his temper . All the director did was reprimand him,he never knew how to control his temper well.

Reluctantly,Jihoon lined up with the rest of the orphans. The first foster parent of the day turned up,along with a boy around Jihoon's age by his looks. He had big almond shape eyes that sparkled,a lean but  muscular build for his age and a bright smile. Obediently, the boy followed his mother down the line. He stopped in front of Jihoon. The shorter flinched  when the other raised his hand. The other kids laughed at him. Jihoon felt tears prickle in his eyes.

"Oh.I must have scared you.Sorry about that.My name is Seongcheol,what's yours?" The boy chattered on.

"Jihoon.Lee Jihoon" he mumbled,eyes drilling holes into the ground, hoping it would swallow him up.

"Nice to meet you Jihoon," Seongcheol was so cheerful, the opposite of Jihoon,"truthfully, i really want a brother but it seems like my mum's adopting one of the girls.Ugh."

Jihoon looked up at Seongcheol,his eyes showing tell tale signs that he was on the verge of tears. Seongcheol's eyes widened. 

"D-did I make you cry?" Seongcheol panicked,grabbling for a handkerchief in his pocket. His mother had told him to have one on hand at all times. Who knew...it was indeed useful. Cautiously,he offered the handkerchief to Jihoon. 

"It wasn't you ,shorty here is a crybaby.He crys all the time." The boy beside Jihoon snarled, causing the surrounding people to giggle.

"That's not nice,I'm sure Jihoon has his reasons,"Seongcheol frowned at the boy,putting his hand on Jihoon's shoulder.

Jihoon felt his face heat up as he gripped the handkerchief tighter.He didn't want this to happen. Now,it felt better to be ignored by the foster parents.

"Please...just leave me alone... Seongcheol-shii."Jihoon pleaded softly,knuckles turning white from how hard he was clenching his fist.

Seongcheol opended his mouth to say something. His hand dropped back to his side with defeat. Jihoon felt cold again. He felt worse when the feet in front of him disappeared with a soft "sorry". 

"Mum,I know you want a daughter but can we adopted they boy there?Please? He seems to be suffering here."Seongcheol pointed at Jihoon,giving his mother the best puppy eyes he could.

His mum looked at Jihoon and froze. Swallowing hard she gently told Seongcheol that the tarot master said that a girl would balance out the family better. It hurt to see Seongcheol's disappontment. 

"Here give him our address and number. He can come visit anytime." Mrs Choi passed her son a slip of paper and a pen. It was the least she could do. 

Before they left,Seongcheol ran up to Jihoon. 

"Im going to hug you okay?"Seongcheol whispered and enveloped Jihoon into a warm hug.

Tears dripped down Jihoon's face.He had never felt so loved in his whole life. Seongcheol pressed something into his hand,Jihoon didn't know what it was but he figured it must have been important,so he slipped it into his pocket for safety.

"Don't cry okay?See you soon." Seongcheol patted Jihoon on the back and ran off to join his mother. 

That night,Jihoon clutched the handkerchief in one hand and the slip of paper in another.This was only done out of sympathy right?There was no way someone as perfect as Seongcheol would sincerely care for Jihoon. The moment he set foot in,Jihoon knew he was Mr.Perfect. They were polar opposites, no way Seongcheol would wish to be his friend right? The paper said "call when you need a shoulder to lean on". Jihoon scoffed,but even so, kept it in his chest of valuable items.

On the other side of town, Seongcheol sat in bed,thinking. He hoped the handkerchief would give Jihoon some comfort. He hoped Jihoon would call and maybe even visit him. Seongcheol liked Jihoon,he found him interesting. Not loud and obnoxious like the rest of the children. Heck even his adopted sister was annoying. It wasn't even 24 hours into her adoption that she was already stealing all the attention. Not that Seongcheol minded.He liked alone time.

Fast forward two weeks after the whole episode, Jihoon was constantly getting picked on. "Crybaby" "our little " were just some of the insults he had to endure. Once again, Jihoon was in his room staring at the slip of paper. He really needed someone right now. He misses Seongcheol. Even though their meeting was rather brief he felt like he knew Seongcheol for his whole life. With shaky hands, he grabbed the phone and dialed. Good thing each room had their individual phones so he wouldn't risk getting caught by the other kids.

"Who is it?" A voice definitely not Seongcheol's barked through the line.

"Is Seongcheol in?" Jihoon asked, almost whispering. 

"No he's not. Who are you any-"

"Hello?Jihoon?" A soft velvety voice replaced the annoying one and Jihoon felt a shiver run down his spine. All his emotions got the best of him and he started to cry.

"S-s-seongcheol" Jihoon sobbed.

"Oh god Jihoon don't cry. Didn't you promise me not to? What happened?" Seongcheol asked, his voice laced with worry. His heart ached to hear Jihoon's sobs.

"T-t-he other's would stop teasing me. I just can't take it anymore. It's been like this for two weeks Cheollie," for the first time in four years, Jihoon let his vulnerable side show.

"C-c-cheollie?" Seongcheol's eyes widened, surprisingly he liked the pet name.

"Um..sorry...I won't call you-"

"It's fine...Jihoonie" Seongcheol chuckled over the phone, " Feeling better?"

Jihoon heard a bunch if whistles and cat calls in the background. 'He must be with his friends' Jihoon bit his lip. He was definitely interrupting.

"Yes.Thank you....Cheollie.Sorry...I shouldn't have called you over something trivial, I mean I'm sure you were having fun with your friends.Sorry...I'll go now." Jihoon mumbled, his face heating up again.

"No no no,we were just doing a project together. We're almost done though. If you can...would you like to come over?" Seongcheol finished rather shyly.

"Well...I guess I could. No one cares anyway."

"Oh!Yeah. I forgot you don't know the way. I'll ask my mum to pick you up. In about half an hour?" Seongcheol said.

Jihoon replied with a soft "alright" and a word of thanks. They said their goodbyes and hung up.Jihoon grabbed his coat and quietly made his way to the gate.Although there was no need to since no one cared he decided to be safe than sorry.Mrs Choi pulled up at the front of the orphanage and smiled at him.Jihoon bowed and said his greetings before sliding into the backseat,his head bowed down. Mrs Choi looked at the pink haired boy from the mirror and sighed.

"Jihoonie!"Seongcheol ran up to him and pulled him into a hug,"Are you okay?They didn't hit you or anything right?"

Jihoon shook his head and pulled away from Seongcheol, he could see Seongcheol's shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Let's go to my room. Thanks for picking him up mum!!" Seongcheol dragged Jihoon up the stairs into a room with three boys perched on the bed.

"HI!!!" A tall boy bounded towards Jihoon and ruffled his hair. Jihoon tensed .

"Woah slow down Minggyu,"Seongcheol pulled Jihoon to his side,giving Jihoon's hand a squeeze.

"Heh sorry about that.Too excited" Minggyu apologized,smiling sheepishly.

"So...this is Minggyu, Hansol and Wonwoo." Seongcheol introduced ," Oh and Jihoon...I don't know your age..."

"Im twelve," Jihoon mumbled, playing with the hem of his shirt.

"So that makes you my hyung!" Minggyu exclaimed slinging a shoulder around Jihoon.

"Mine too! I'm ten" Hansol draped his arm around the other side of Jihoon's shoulder.

"Hey,I'm Wonwoo,twelve too."Wonwoo waved and grinned at Jihoon.

Jihoon looked up and cracked a small smile.Seongcheol watched from the side, he felt content. His friends were so welcoming. 

"Hyung let's play some ice breaker games. Oh oh i know 007." Minggyu dragged Jihoon towards the bed and plopping down beside Wonwoo.

Seongcheol took a seat between Hansol and Jihoon, glancing at Jihoon once in a while to see if he was okay. As the hours passed, Jihoon started laughing with the rest of them. His dimples showing and his eyes crinkled up.