“Omo,” I gasped, seeing the kid on the foot of the tree. “How long were you there?”

He looked up to me. He seemed unsurprised as if he knew all along I was there. He stared at my unscratched knee.

“Oh...” I said, covering my knee with my hands. “I didn’t hurt my knee, actually.”

“And I care because…” he said, turning his gaze away.

“Arrogance…” I whispered very inaudibly for him to hear. “Remain your composure, Dara,” I told myself.

Then I had an idea.

“Why don’t you join me up here?” I offered.

“I’m not a monkey like you…” he said plainly.

In spite of myself, I chuckled. “Why don’t you just admit that you don’t know how to climb?”

But he remained silent. Maybe he was controlling his temper.

Later, we were eating our lunch. I enjoyed eating all those delicious-looking foods. Everything looks so scrumptious that I can’t stop eating them all. Everyone was happily eating except for the kid. He looked like he doesn’t have an appetite.

While eating, the adults are chatting. I’m trying to listen expecting that his mother would mention his name.

“I’m sorry to ask but, where’s your husband?” my mom asked.

“My husband died…” his mom was cut off when I accidentally dropped my chopsticks causing a clank on my plate.

I stared at the kid. He was looking down. Grief was all over his face. He sobbed. Noticing that everyone was staring at him, he stood up and left running away.

“Hey! Honey!” his mom called. For a while, I thought she’ll call him by his name. But I was wrong.

Before she could stand and follow her son, I beat her to it.

“Dara!” her mom called.

“Let her. They will understand each other because they’re kids,” I heard my mom say.

“I’ll be back, mom and dad,” I called and waved towards them.

I immediately lost sight of him. He sure ran fast. I didn’t know which way he went. And the path I chose to look for him was scaring me but I tried not to think of it. The path had high and thick trees that I could not see the sky and no amount of sunlight can pass through. I don’t even know what time it is. I didn’t even know how to look for him; I didn’t know what his name is.

Then I called him with names. It makes me feel bad but I don’t know what to call him.

“Mister Arrogant!”

“Arrogant Boy!”

“Creased-forehead boy!”

“Angry boy!”

“Stubborn boy!”

“The boy whom I don’t know the name.”

I walked and walked until I got tired. I sat on the foot of a tree and wiped the sweat on my forehead.

“Aish!” I sighed. “If ever I would be his friend, I would never play hide and seek with him.”

A few minutes of rest, I could hear something. Not the gust of the wind, not the birds chirping, or the rustle of the wind. What I heard was a faint sound of someone crying.

“Arrogant boy?” I called.

The crying didn’t stop. I tried to keep quiet and follow the direction of the crying. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

I walked for several steps and found something I didn’t expect – a lake with clear blue water under the vast blue sky. If I said that the place where we’ll be camping has the freshest air, it seemed that I spoke too soon. The lake has the freshest air ever, I can smell the lake water that I just want to dip in and enjoy a swim.

But my reverie was interrupted when the crying continued. I looked to my left and there he was – his knees pulled towards him, his arms crossed and his head leaning on them. I can clearly hear him crying. I walked towards him.

“Kid?” I said, dropping the ‘arrogant’ word.

He stared at me. He seemed unsurprised at the fact that I followed him to here. His eyes were red, his face was bloated. Then he went back to his crying position, now crying silently. But I can still hear him.

“Why are you crying, kid?” I asked. “You know you should go back and finish the food you never even started to eat,” I tried to boss him.

He ignored me.

“Tell me why you’re crying then.”

“No,” he said firmly.

“Why not?” I had my arms across my chest.

“You’re not my friend, that’s why.”

“I can be a good friend, you know,” I said, a grin on my face.

But he never looked up.

“Don’t worry, kid…” I trailed off. I slowly reached towards him. I tried to touch his shoulder to make him turn to me. I hesitated but I still did it anyway. Few inches more… don’t back out now, Dara, I told myself. Then, with the softest touch on his shoulder, a stinging slap met the back of my hand.

I shrieked and stared at him. A glare met my shocked expression. For a while, I got scared. He was angry and lonely. You should not mix these two emotions on him. He becomes furious.

“I told you, I don’t want you to be my friend!” he shouted. “Don’t pretend as if you understand what I’m going through, because I know you don’t!”

Despite the painful words and throbbing pain on the back of my hand, I still reached for him and hugged him tightly to me.

“But I do, and I still want to be your friend,” I whispered. I can feel the weight of his stare on me but I never looked up on him. “Even if your father is not here now, I will always be beside you even if you shoo me away.”

He never pulled away from my embrace, until I sat beside him now. We were both staring at the clear blue lake and the vast sky, and I predicted that it was almost 3 PM.

“So, what happened to your father? If you don’t mind me asking,” I said.

“Not at all,” he said. “He died in a plane crash when he was on his way to Japan.” Although he said he didn’t mind, judging from his tone, he sounded affected.

“Japan?”

“Yes, we used to live there, because of dad’s business. And when daddy died, mom decided to come and live here in Seoul.”

“When did the accident happen?”

“Last year,” he said, looking down. “He was supposed to go home to celebrate my birthday together but I just found myself staring down at my dad’s corpse on the morgue.”

I felt bad. He had such a miserable childhood. He’s still young and he has to go through these kinds of experiences. And it’s going to be on his mind for a very long time. I felt bad that I as being an arrogant and stubborn kid. I want to take back all those words. But maybe I could do things better than that.

I reached for his hand resting between us and held it tightly. “Don’t worry, from now on, I’ll be staying by your side.”

He was taken aback. I can see his embarrassment. But he never pulled his hand away. He just gazed at me with those deep mysterious eyes. However, when he felt the awkwardness between us, he immediately looked away and pulled away his hand.