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of frogs, raincoats and umbrellasHe's wearing a bright green raincoat, with a happy frog printed all over his back. There is a boy squatting by the road, wearing a frog raincoat. Even though the rain pounds on him, Jooheon can clearly see that it's a frog on his back, and not a grasshopper nor a green snake nor any other green animal. It's really a frog.
Someone else likes frogs too!
Ignoring his older brother's calls, Jooheon runs out of the kindergarten porch and into the rain, leaving behind his own frog umbrella with his hyung. Pudgy legs run through puddles, splashing his clothes as he approaches the boy from behind with enthusiasm.
"Hey you!" He pokes the boy on his back. "Hey! I really like your raincoat!"
The boy turns around. Cat like eyes peer underneath a green hood, eyebrows covered by brown bangs. "What?"
Jooheon points to his raincoat. "Frog! I like frogs! Do you like frogs?"
The other boy winces. Sure, it's raining pretty hard, but there's no reason for him to shout. Especially when they're right in front of each other. So he mumbles, "Not really."
"You do?" Jooheon's eyes light up, as if a mama frog just gave birth to tens of tadpoles in the pond back home. (He's been raising them for a few months now.)
The boy frowns. He shakes his head wildly, and repeats himself. "I don't like frogs. I don't like animals."
Jooheon blinks. The smile on his face falters, his dimples disappearing. "You don't? Then... why are you wearing that raincoat?" He points at the frog on his back.
The boy shrugs. "Hyung gave it to me as a birthday present. He bought it with his own money, so I always wear it. Because I love my hyung." Then, he returns back to the weeds growing by the roadside, finger tentatively poking them.
Jooheon pouts. He's never met a fake frog lover before. He feels like sticking his tongue out.
But then hyung is behind him! If hyung catches him doing it, he'll get scolded! And mama won't let him play with his frogs! Instead, he decides to curl his chubby fists and stomp away from the Raincoat Boy. Fake frog lovers can't be friends with him.
(Raincoat Boy is relieved to hear that Frog Boy is going away.)
Just before they're out of earshot, Jooheon pauses. Maybe, he can show the Raincoat Boy how cool frogs are! Then he won't be a "fake frog lover" anymore. Jooheon has plenty of frog-related things, like his backpack, his umbrella, his pencil, and even his Band-aids! Ms Chi even allows him to play with the frogs in the backyard, after it rains and there's puddles all over the soil. If he shows the boy just how cool frogs are, then...then...
"Hey you!" He runs back to the Raincoat Boy, who's wiping his hands on his pants. Jooheon doesn't want to know why.
Raincoat Boy looks up. Will he ever go away? Brows furrowing, he asks, "What?"
Jooheon raises a finger, pointing it at the boy's chest. "If you don't like frogs, I'll...I'll make you like them!" He feels a new kind of energy flowing from him. It's a frog-love-driven kind of adrenaline. "Frogs are cool and I'll show you they are!"
Raincoat Boy is silent. What is he talking about?
"Tomorrow," Jooheon continues. He whirls around to point at their kindergarten. "Tomorrow I will show you that frogs are the best!"
Raincoat Boy is still silent. He doesn't really care, but he rolls with it anyway. "Okay. Whatever." Shrugging his shoulders, he turns around and walks away.
Jooheon is flabbergasted. No "wow! that's awesome!" or "frogs are really cool"? No "I wanna be friends with you because you know so much about frogs"? What kind of person is he?
With somewhat heavy shoulders, he trudges back to his brother, who's waiting by the kindergarten door. He wishes, with all his might, that tomorrow, the boy can see that frogs are amongst the highest creatures on earth and almost nothing can beat them. Except Optimus Prime, because Transformers are slightly more awesome.
He bets that Optimus Prime would transform into a frog himself.
Jooheon can't sleep well. He can't sleep, knowing that someone like Raincoat Boy exists in the world, that someone doesn't share his passion for frogs, nor animals. He doesn't understand how that boy can see his excitement and not feel the same way. He resents that a non-frog lover has the privilege to own a frog raincoat. He feels like that privilege was ripped out of his own hands.
(A frog raincoat and a frog umbrella aren't nearly the same.)
While gazing at his glow-in-the-dark stars, he hugs his Froggy tight, as tight as he can. There's no other toy that brings him comfort as much as Froggy does, because it reminds him of his bestest friends and funnest animals in the world. It's like playing with an actual frog, except it's not slimy and doesn't jump as much.
He thinks about tomorrow. If the puddles will last overnight, so that the frogs can stay in there for longer. If someone accidentally stepped on the tadpoles or kid frogs. Jooheon has cried over dead baby frogs one too many times.
More importantly, he wonders if Raincoat Boy will return. He certainly hopes so, because to who else can he prove his love for frogs? Jooheon rolls over in his bed, anxiety churning in his stomach. It feels like tadpoles are swimming in his tummy, like the time he first entered kindergarten.
He closes his eyes.
The next day, Jooheon tucks his feet into green rain boots and unfolds his frog umbrella. It's raining again, though not as heavy as yesterday. His mom lets him say goodbye to his frog family in the pond, where they're swimming happily, before she walks him to kindergarten. The road is more slippery that morning, as the rain from yesterday hasn't dried up. Jooheon keeps peering into the sewers that line the road, wondering if there were any frogs or toads that happened to swim inside.
Mama tugs his hand. "Jooheon, don't do that. You'll fall." He bounds to his mother's side obediently.
When they've reached the kindergarten, Jooheon prances inside the colourful room. His friends are already at play, trampling all over the toys and soft mat while they chase each other. He gets so excited that he almost misses his mom's farewell.
"Bye mama!" he waves a pudgy hand at her as she steps out of the kindergarten. In an instant, he forgets about everything, leaving his frog umbrella open in the entrance, and rushes to join his friends. They're caught up in having a battle between the Blue Knight and the Yellow Knight. Seungcheol has the blue pig plushie in the air, demanding justice for the Blue Kingdom. Hyungwon has Jooheon's favourite Pooh Bear in his embrace, declaring that they ought to battle it out with honour.
Jooheon is really pumped.
He joins Seungcheol's side, slightly upset that Hyungwon stole his Pooh Bear. As they grab handkerchiefs, plastic blocks and blunt crayons, brandishing it in intimidation, they missed the sound of a loud thud by the entrance. They continue to scream and yell in joy, pretending to save their "maidens" (when it's just Sooyoung and Hyejin playing with the cooking set), unaware of a kid crying.
"Changkyun? Changkyun, are you okay?" Ms Chi's voice rings down the hallway. The play-fight stops abruptly.
A crowd gathers where Ms Chi sits, holding a boy in her arms. Jooheon tries to peek over his classmates' heads, wanting to see what just happened. The sounds of crying was more apparent, now that there was no noise at all. He frowns. No one ever cries around here.
Ms Chi cuddled a boy up close, pressing his head into her shoulder. "Changkyun, it's okay. Shh. Where did you fall? Does it hurt?"
Jooheon frowns harder. Now that he can see the boy, he looks a bit familiar. Like someone with...frog?
Oh. He recognizes the cat-like eyes from yesterday. It's Raincoat Boy.
His other classmates dispersed after a few seconds, interest lost. Only Jooheon's left behind. Changkyun doesn't stop crying, even with Ms Chi's comforting voice and hug. It seems like he really hurt himself.
Jooheon feels really bad for no reason. He tries to think of ways to help, like maybe..."Do...do you want a Band-aid?"
Both Ms Chi and Raincoat Boy look up at his voice. Jooheon shyly walks towards them. "I-I have Band-aids in my backpack! They're a gift from hyung because I fall a lot too, and they're frogs!"
Ms Chi breaks out into a smile. "How sweet of you, Heony. Do you want to have a Band-aid?"
Raincoat Boy doesn't answer. He stares at Jooheon with narrowed eyes. Which makes Jooheon feel weird, but maybe that's how Raincoat Boy smiles. After all, he hasn't seen him smile yet.
With Raincoat Boy in Ms Chi's arms, Jooheon leads them to his backpack hanging on the rack. He tiptoes a little to reach inside it, hand digging between his lunchbox and stock of candies. Coming up with a pack of frog-printed plasters, he presents them to Ms Chi with a big, warm grin.
"Thank you Jooheon! What a lovely boy you are," she says, patting him on the head. Taking the plasters from him, she sets the boy down on the floor. He glances at Raincoat Boy, maybe returning his warm smile as a sort of thank you for giving him his beloved Band-aids.
But he doesn't. Raincoat Boy continues to glare at him beneath his bangs.
After Ms Chi places the frog plasters on his forehead carefully, as well as giving him a kiss, Raincoat Boy still glares at him with hatred. At least, Jooheon's sure it's hatred. No one's ever glared at him this much before.
"And what do you say, Changkyun?" Ms Chi asks the boy. Her hand pets his brown hair gently. Jooheon hopes he'll get a proper thank you this time.
Raincoat Boy- no, Changkyun- crosses his arms. "It's your fault!"
Jooheon's flabbergasted. Twice than before, because I just donated to you my favourite Band-aids!
Ms Chi gasps. "Changkyun, that's not how you thank someone! Do it again. Say thank you, Jooheon."
"It's your fault!" The brown-haired boy stomps his foot. "I tripped because of your umbrella!"
"My umbrella?" Jooheon's confused. Probably the most confused in his life right now. "What did my umbrella do?"
"It's your stupid frog!" Changkyun's close to shouting. "I fell because of your frog umbrella!"
No one, not even his mother at her worst, ever shouted at him like this. Tears prick the edge of Jooheon's eyes.
"I... my umbrella didn't do anything!" His frog umbrella isn't evil. His frog umbrella protects him from rain, and thunder, and the sunshine when it gets too hot. And besides, there's a frog. Frogs are small, excitable and fun. They definitely do no harm.
Ms Chi peeks at the entrance. "Jooheon, I think he means that you left your umbrella on the floor like that." She gestures to the way his frog umbrella lies in the middle of the entrance floor, a potential hazard for anyone coming in.
"See?" Changkyun throws an intense glare at Jooheon. "So it's your fault!"
Jooheon pouts.
"Shh, don't be like that, Changkyun!" Ms Chi places a hand on the boy's shoulder. "He gave you his favourite plaster, too, shouldn't you thank him for that?"
Changkyun doesn't answer, as usual.
Jooheon turns away. Snot is already piling in his nose, threatening to drip out. The tears that pricked his eyes now fell freely. This is the first time anyone's ever shouted at him. It's scary, but it's also saddening.
Will he ever get to show how cool frogs are?
It's play time. Everyone's bellies are filled with their home-cooked lunch, giving them the energy they need to play once more. The whole class gathers into yet another knight-versus-knight play, except they now have the girls joining as well. Hyejin and Sooyoung volunteered to be the female knights, and Wheein probably would, too, but she can't help noticing Jooheon's dejected spirit in the corner of the room.
"Jooheonie! Let's play!" She runs up to him and grabs his hand. "We can fight Hyungwon together, for taking our Pooh!"
Jooheon shakes his head. "I want to play with frogs."
"Frogs? Okay, let's go!" Wheein can't stand seeing bright and happy Jooheon like this, so she'll do whatever it takes to return him to his original state. She takes his hand and tries to drag him to the back door, but he stays put.
"It's okay. You can take our Pooh. I just want to be alone." He sighs melodramatically. Wheein frowns, but she thinks it's probably for the best.
"Okay! I know frogs make you happy, so I hope you'll be happy!" With her beagle-like bounce, she goes to where her friends are, joining the ongoing battle. Jooheon watches them for a while, observing how much fun they're having. He want to join them, really wants to, but he keeps remembering how angry Changkyun looked like and how his umbrella was blamed.
He steps outside to their kindergarten backyard. It smells like rain; sunlight bounces off the morning dew that the plants have collected. Jooheon smiles a bit. He likes plants. He likes rain, too. He likes frogs the most.
Walking down the backyard, he pushes through their potted plants to find their pond. It's not really far off, and sometimes, on his happiest days, he can hear the frogs croaking from afar. It's always been him and the frogs alone- none of his friends were as passionate as him with frogs, though they like to accompany him to his pond trips.
Unlike Raincoat Boy, Jooheon bitterly thinks. He doesn't know if he's scared or angry at him.
Yet, when he arrives at the pond, hidden behind a maze of potted plants and shubbery, that same boy is squatting by the pond. Changkyun puts his finger inside the water, then giggles to himself when a tadpole swims by.
Jooheon stands still. On the one hand, they're kind of- sort of- maybe angry at each other. Changkyun's angry at Jooheon (or his umbrella, to be more specific), while Jooheon is angry that he blamed his umbrella (because frogs are harmless). At the same time, Jooheon still wanted to show how cool frogs are and Changkyun beat him to it, having fun with the tadpoles and baby frogs by himself.
He chooses to be a little angry. Jooheon wants to get equal with Changkyun's level of anger from earlier. And he's a bit jealous that Changkyun's playing with his frogs.
"What are you doing here?" He tries to sound interrogative, wants to sound angry, but his voice comes out as wavering. "Why are you playing with my frogs?"
Changkyun flinches. His fingers make a loud "plop!" when he drags it away from the water. "What? What?"
"Why are you here?" Jooheon clenches his chubby fists.
Changkyun's eyes flicker towards his fists. "I was bored." He takes a rather defensive tone.
Jooheon steps forward. "I thought you didn't like frogs. You called them stupid." He doesn't know if he's angry or not, but to his ears, he sure sounds like it.
Changkyun frowns. "So? I can't play with them?"
Jooheon opens his mouth. Not to say that he can't, though Jooheon really prefers if Changkyun won't. Though he really wants to say "no, you can't," he's smart enough to acknowledge that this is not actually his pond, and the frogs don't actually belong to him.
He shakes his head, anyway. "If you called them stupid, you probably hurt their feelings. They won't play with you the way they'll play with me." Jooheon's not sure what he really means, but he triumphs over his answer when Changkyun's eyes widen.
"And why not?" The other boy challenges.
Jooheon racks his brain. "Frogs are my bestest friends. Best friends won't allow their best friend to be hurt." He tilts his chin up.
Changkyun blinks. He doesn't want to accept the answer, but to his young brain, it makes all sense. Maybe that's why the tadpoles and frogs keep running away from him.
He pushes himself up, standing away from the pond. "Fine. You can play." He steps aside to let Jooheon take over his place.
Jooheon saunters over, squatting right on Changkyun's space. When he greets the frogs, he feels at ease again. The frogs and tadpoles all rush to his shadow, swimming in glee. Within moments, Jooheon's giggling to himself, dragging his finger around the pond and letting them follow.
Changkyun peers over his shoulder, feeling a tinge of jealousy. It's unfair that only Jooheon can play with the frogs. Then again, maybe he deserves it. He did scream at Jooheon's face earlier, and that probably wasn't a good idea.
He scuffs the ground with his shoe. It sends a pebble landing in the pond. Jooheon glances up.
"I'm sorry."
Jooheon pauses. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry." Changkyun's eyes are on the ground, hands clasping behind his back. "I was mean earlier."
Yeah you were, Jooheon almost says. He remembers his manners in time. "It's...it's okay."
Changkyun looks up and meets his eye.
"Well, no, it's not okay. But I forgive you." Jooheon musters as much courage as possible and flashes him a nice smile. Changkyun blinks.
"And, um, I'm sorry you tripped over my umbrella. I forgot to close it," he adds. It seemed like a good time to say it.
The boy opposite him stands still. His hands stop swinging. Jooheon worries that he's said something wrong again.
Then, slowly, Changkyun beams. Jooheon watches the way his eyes curve up and he bares his teeth in a gleeful grin. Deep dimples appear on his cheeks.
"It's alright! I'm glad you gave me this!" And he points to the frog Band-aid on his forehead. Jooheon's heart races.
"You like it?"
"Yeah!"
Jooheon's pleasantly surprised.
There's a silence as Jooheon invites him to sit next to him, patting on the soil with wet hands. Changkyun takes step by step, unsure if it was completely safe to go near him now. But as he squats next to Jooheon, the boy throws an arm around his shoulders. Changkyun feels warm. His shyness is appearing again.
The other boy holds one hand in front of his. "Do you want to be friends?"
Changkyun nods. "Sure."
They shake hands. Changkyun tries not to feel grossed out by Jooheon's wet palms. After all, they were touching frogs just a moment ago.
And so, a strong friendship pact has been formed.
("Can you believe we fought over frogs? Frogs! Out of all the reasons," Changkyun laughs, throwing his head back. Jooheon splutters, the soda in his mouth flying everywhere. Changkyun stops laughing to brace himself, turning away from the spit attack.
"Gross, hyung." He grabs a tissue and wipes off saliva from his face, from the table and from their plate. Jooheon brushes his mouth with the back of his hand.
"That was really embarrassing, okay." Red colours the tips of his cheeks and his nose. The younger knows, after fifteen years of friendship, that he's really embarrassed when he flushes red. Changkyun giggles.
"We were young and stupid. Like, five-years-old stupid. Nobody can be blamed if we were really embarrassing," he says. "Although, now that we're twenty, it's all on us if we are."
Jooheon rolls his eyes. "You tell me that, but you love me anyway."
Changkyun snickers. "Gay.")
hope y'all enjoyed reading <3
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