1.

It's What's Inside That Matters

Wonsik was one of the first few people Hongbin has ever met. Their mothers were best friends and when little Hongbin was born, Wonsik's mother had brought him along for a visit.

As the adults had been talking, the two babies cradled in the arms of their mothers were staring curiously at each other. The slightly older baby slowly reached out one of his small hands towards the other and the latter followed the other's actions. They couldn't reach each other, but when the mothers saw what their children were doing, they brought them closer until their hands came into contact. Hongbin giggled loudly, bringing warmth to those around them while Wonsik just smiles endearingly at the younger. 

As the two grew up, they became best friends. The two went to the same elementary school, middle school, high school and even college, they were always hanging out with each other. Wonsik would constantly try to make Hongbin smile, which really wasn't difficult, while Hongbin would always brighten Wonsik's day with his cute actions.

When the two graduated, they moved out from their parents' house and moved in together to a cosy two room apartment. It wasn't much but to them, it's a place they can call their own. Wonsik managed to make his name, Ravi, known in the music industry as a composer while Hongbin became a photographer for magazine company.

One night, as Wonsik was meeting up with one of his work associates, something strange happened.

Knowing he was early, Wonsik strolled into the cafe and found a spot at one of the corner table. Whipping out his phone, he replied some messages and started scrolling through some social networking sites. This was all so normal for him. When he felt a presence before him, he looked up to see the one he was waiting for. They greeted each other and ordered their drinks, green tea latte for the other and iced mocha for himself. They started discussing about whatever they met up to discuss and soon the drinks arrived.

The other guy took a sip of his latte before grimacing from how sweet it is. The composer, having a natural sweet tooth, offered to exchange the drinks. The other gladly accepted the offer and took large mouths of the iced mocha while Wonsik took a sip of the green tea latte. 

That's when he heard someone shouting a loud 'Don't drink that!'. The blue haired brought the drink away from his lips as he turned to the direction where the voice came from. There stood a lady, eyes wide and mouth apart, as though she was watching some sort of horror film.

After half a minute of staring at each other, the lady finally walked over and whispered, 'Can I borrow you for a minute?' Wonsik turned to his work associate before turning back, confused over what was happening. However before he could react, the composer was pulled away from the table and out of the cafe.

The moment they reached a quiet alley, the lady said in a hushed whisper, 'This may seem crazy but something really weird is going to happen to you. What you have to do is to get a kiss from your true love and everything will be fine.' Wonsik wasn't quite sure but from the way the lady reacted, he must have had some sort of doubtful expression. 'You may not believe me now but it's ok, you will eventually. But it shouldn't be too hard for you right, you are quite good looking and all, you have a girlfriend right?' She continued, an eyebrow raised at the blue haired.

By then Wonsik decided that all that was just a big prank and brushed it off. He continued his meeting with his work associate and plopped down on bed the moment he got home.

When Hongbin heard the sound of the door opening, he saved his work on his laptop before heading towards the blue haired room, not surprised to see the other lying on his bed without even changing his clothes.

'You know something strange happened today.' Wonsik started, eyes closed. Hongbin sat down on his best friend's bed without saying a word, urging the other to continue. 'There was a lady that screamed at me to not drink a drink. She even said that something weird is going to happen to me and I need a kiss from my true love to get everything back to normal. I think the weird thing already happened and that's her screaming at me for no reason.' Wonsik mumbled, slowly drifting to sleep.

'Don't go to sleep yet you sleepy head! Go wash up first.' Hongbin said while lightly hitting Wonsik on the shoulder but was only greeted by the other's snores. Hongbin sighed, what was he even expecting. The brown haired got up and helped change Wonsik out of his clothes into more comfortable ones suitable for sleeping in. He left after pulling the blankets up to the sleepy head's shoulders.

As the sun's rays entered the room through the thin curtains, Hongbin's eyes slowly fluttered open. Turning to his left, he watched the clock's minute finger strike twelve. 

Hongbin had always been an early bird since young. Partly because he shared an apartment with a lazy head named Kim Wonsik, mostly because he just enjoyed the warm sunlight and fresh feeling one gets in the morning. 

The brown haired got up and went on with his usual morning routine. Everything was the same, and it could not have gotten any more normal until it was time for the most tiring part of waking his best friend up.

Everything felt weird the moment Hongbin had pushed Wonsik's door open. The blankets had looked oddly flat, as though there was no one underneath them. Of course that was pretty much impossible considering the fact that Wonsik can never wake up on his own at any time before six. And by six, it definitely doesn't refer to six in the morning. The younger slowly walked nearer to the bed, noticing how it definitely does not look like there was anyone under the blankets. He hesitantly reached out a hand, and lifted the blankets off the bed.

On the bed, there was definitely no blue hair that Hongbin was familiar with. There was the clothes that Hongbin had helped Wonsik changed into the night before but other that that, there seemed to be absolutely no sign of him at all.

The thought of all this being a prank occurred in the younger's head. But could Wonsik have woke up early just to prank Hongbin? No way. That lazy bum would rather have even just five more minutes of sleep no matter how incredibly funny the confused look on Hongbin's face is right now. 

The brown haired immediately started stomping around the house the moment he woke up from his trance. Maybe that sleepy head just desperately needed the toilet in the middle of the night and fell asleep in the bathroom. Maybe he thought that his sleeping habits wasn't bad enough already and started sleep walking. All sorts of weird explanations stared forming in Hongbin's head, although they don't actually explain why the Wonsik's clothes will be left behind but Hongbin had decided that he shall deal with one problem at a time and that is why Wonsik was not in bed.

After three rounds around their cosy little apartment, Hongbin found himself back on Wonsik's bed. He thought to himself that maybe he was just overreacting, his best friend could have just finally gave his morning routine a thought and decided that a run was a much better way of spending his time than laying in bed, waiting for Hongbin to wake him up. 

Just as Hongbin was about to leave the room, a faint sound caught his ear. It sounded weirdly like something was croaking. He traced where the the sound was coming from and realized that there was something underneath the Wonsik's clothes.

A beautiful bluish frog was sleeping where Wonsik usually laid.

For some unknown reason, the frog reminded Hongbin of his best friend. It made absolutely no sense and Hongbin was starting to think he might have gone crazy but the frog just felt so familiar to him even though Hongbin had never seen such a frog before. The ridiculous thought prompted him to try and wake the frog up the way he usually did with his best friend. He prodded, shook the bed, eventually ending the session with a loud clap right next to the head. 

At that, the frog jumped, having been startled awake. The frog then croaked as he laid back down before widening his eyes again as if just comprehending some sort of shocking news.

'Wonsik, is that you?' The brown haired asked hesitatingly, silently thinking in his head that he must be crazy to try talking to a frog.

The frog opened his mouth, looking as though he understood what Hongbin has just asked and was trying to reply. However, all that came out was a soft croak. The frog's eyes widened at the sound he had just made as his face contorted into something resembling a frown. The frog then let out a few more croaks before looking down at his own limbs, looking as confused as Hongbin. 

Thankfully, one of the two recovered from their shock first. 

'Ok, if you are Wonsik, can you croak twice?'

The frog immediately let out two croaks, desperately wanting Hongbin to know he's Wonsik, the blue haired composer that is Hongbin's best friend.

A long two hours later, the two had established the fact that the frog is in fact Wonsik who has probably became what he is now because of the strange encounter the day before. The composer still retains all his memories and his human intellect but now lacks his ability to speak. They have decided that one croak means yes and two means no for the time being, hopefully that will be all that is necessary until Wonsik turns back to normal.

'Ok, so the plan now is for me to bring you to the bar with me and get people to kiss you since one must really like you to kiss those frog lips of yours.' Hongbin said as he laid down the large tub of water, newspapers and a bell for Wonsik to use to get his attention. A croak was heard before a splash and there was Wonsik, swimming joyfully in the water. 

That night, the plan was carried out. The brown haired had managed to engage quite a few girls and guys in conversations. However, all of them fled from Hongbin as though he was some sort of plague the moment he suggested that they kiss a frog on the lips. After every failed attempt, Hongbin would give the chest pocket of his blazer a little pat, not wanting Wonsik that was in there to feel too disheartened over the rejections. 

Just as another lady left while looking at Hongbin distastefully, a guy seemingly in his early thirties approached Hongbin.

'You seem really keen on getting people to kiss your pet frog, not something people usually agree to.' The stranger commented as he took the seat next to Hongbin. The brown haired muttered a soft 'I know' before getting up to try again at the next table. However, he stopped when the stranger said that he would do it. At that moment, both Hongbin's and Wonsik's eyes lit up as they prayed that this guy would be the solution to Wonsik's problem. 

Hongbin carefully reached a hand into his pocket and brought Wonsik out and into the stranger's hands.

'That's an exotic looking frog you got there, it's not poisonous right?' He asked as he caught sight of the bluish skin.

Hongbin responded with a vigorous shake of his head. He was so afraid that the stranger may back out. The latter eventually brought the frog to his lips and gave a chaste peck on the frog's lips. During which, both Hongbin and Wonsik held their breath as they waited for something to happen.

A few moments later, the two felt their hearts sink, Wonsik especially as the stranger just stared at them. After they have recovered, the stranger asked for Hongbin's name and number to which Hongbin replied by leaving the bar for another.

Such happenings occurred a few more times that night. All of those who had agreed to kissing Wonsik were interested in Hongbin instead of the frog. There were of course also many people who refused to kiss Wonsik, some had even made comments about Hongbin being crazy and that it was such a waste of his good looks. All those comments broke Wonsik's little frog heart but Hongbin never failed to try and console him, even cursing some of them under his breath for his best friend.

This went on for quite a while. The frog had managed to keep his career going by composing at home. However, they both knew that Wonsik can't keep living like this and have taken to making daily trips to various bars all over Seoul in hopes that they could finally find someone who can turn Wonsik back. They met tens, hundreds of people and it has even gotten to the point whereby Hongbin was regarded as the good looking weirdo who goes around asking people to kiss his pet frog. Even though neither of them admitted it, they were both starting to feel a little tired.

Hongbin did not have the luxury that his best friend had of working at home and deciding his own working hours. Every morning he went to work and at night, he had to go around persuading people to do him a favour of kissing Wonsik. Furthermore, now that Wonsik was a frog, the younger had to do all the chores, the grocery shopping, the cooking, the driving. He was seriously needing a break but he just couldn't bring himself to tell his best friend that. On the other hand, Wonsik was tired of being a frog. He so desperately wants to return to his usual self, to do whatever he wants, to help his best friend out and give him a break from all this ridiculous trips to the bar. Despite his will, he had absolutely no control over this. Oh how he wished he could go back in time and just not drink that damned green tea latte. It wasn't even his drink, why had he offered to switch. Wonsik's thoughts briefly wandered over to his work associate, wondering if he was also in the same state at himself right then. 

The next morning, Wonsik had woken up on his own. This itself was something that rarely happened since he could always count on his best friend to wake him up even when he became a frog. Sensing something wasn't quite right, Wonsik jumped towards Hongbin's room. His thoughts were confirmed when he noticed Hongbin still in bed when it was already 11 o'clock. This never happens, the brown haired never wakes up his late. Besides, he was suppose to be at work. Wonsik jumped up onto the bed and immediately realized that Hongbin was sick the moment he saw the other up close. The younger was sweating cold sweat and was burning up. Wonsik subconsciously made his way to the kitchen, wanting to get some water, a wet towel and maybe prepare some food for his sick friend. But it was only when he reached the kitchen did he realize that he can do none of this things in his current state. He can't even call Hongbin's workplace to help call in sick for him. Never in his life had he felt so useless. Even when he was a little kid, he could at least help his mother beat the eggs when she was cooking. But right now, all he could do was wake Hongbin up so that he could make the call, take the medicine and get food on his own.

As Wonsik watched Hongbin drag his fatigue body around the house, he decided that he was done being a burden to the one person he cared as much as his own family...

He will leave that night...

Wonsik never thought that a day like this will ever come where he leaves everything behind. He had seen many of such scenes before in dramas but never did he think that it would happen to him. Neither did he think that he would not even bring anything along since his frog self doesn't even allow him to carry a wallet much less wear clothes. Also the fact that he would probably even have to leave by the window as he cannot even open a door by himself anymore was something that had never occurred to him before. 

He silently apologizes to Hongbin as he jumps up the brown haired bed to take one last look at his best friend. They have known each other for 22 years, been there for each other. Now, they will part ways. Wonsik knows that life without Hongbin would be tough, even tougher with his current body. Who knows whether he will ever be able to turn back once he leaves. Despite all the uncertainties he has, there is one thing Wonsik knows for sure and that is him not wanting to make things any tougher for Hongbin anymore. 

Without realizing, the frog moved towards Hongbin's face. 'So this is goodbye.' He thought to himself as he unconsciously connected his and Hongbin's lips.

Sunlight entered through the open window and landed on Hongbin's face causing his eyes to flutter open. Everything was still a haze to him and his body felt exceptionally heavy, making every little movement so difficult. He thought to himself that he must still be very sick.

That was until he looked down and saw bare skin and a mop of blue hair. Lying there on top of him was a body he haven't seen in a rather long time. The body of Kim Wonsik, the human body.

The younger immediately raised his hands and shook Wonsik awake. Never had he missed waking Wonsik up like this so much. When the blue haired finally rouses from his sleep, he mumbled in a deep voice, deep even for Wonsik, for another five minutes. Hearing the voice he had longed to hear for so long, Hongbin instantly wrapped his arms tightly around the older as if he was afraid that Wonsik may leave him. On any other occasion, Hongbin would have screamed at the sight of Wonsik's bare skin much less hug him. But given how things were recently, Hongbin couldn't care less. 

'So how did you turn back?'

 

Another fic inspired by the same tumblr post as my previous fic. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry if it seems a little disconnected somewhere in the middle, I stopped halfway for quite a period of time. Also, happy new year! May 2016 be a good, happy and successful year for everyone!

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taekwonmeover
#1
Chapter 1: This was really cute!
Momoleee #2
This is such a cute story :))) You did really well~ Would there be a sequel?