[Kindergarten]

“Thank you, seonsaeng-nim!” Little Cha Hakyeon screamed at the top of his lungs along with his other classmates right after Ms Nam announced that their little learning session was over that afternoon. It was followed by loud giggles and high pitch chatters as the kids were scrambling out of the classroom. Hakyeon was no different. He ran as fast as his tiny steps could carry him to the door of the classroom. “The last one will turn into a sloth. Seonsaeng-nim said he’s the slowest on Earth!” One kid was yelling so eagerly and it only prompted Hakyeon to erupt in loud laughter as he put on his yellow tiny shoes. “I win!” He announced and proudly stood tall (tiny here) with a cute smug on his face.

It did not last that long because apparently one Jung Taekwoon, the quiet lion cub in his class just ran past him, brushing Hakyeon’s shoulder lightly. “I did.” The other said softly as he left Hakyeon pouting.

“Why do you always need to win Jung Taekwoon?! I hate you!” Hakyeon screamed and soon he was chasing after Taekwoon, leaving their other classmates.

Being the taller one was an advantage for little Taekwoon because he was the first to arrive at the gate of the kindergarten and he could have the swing all to himself without fighting with the rest of the kids while they all waited for to be picked up.

“Yah, Jung Taekwoon!” Unless that kid was called Cha Hakyeon. Taekwoon seemed to have Hakyeon chasing after him at all occasion. During the lesson and even after that. Like right now. “Jung Taekwoon why didn’t you let me win and play with the swing? Why must you run first? Why can’t we run together and be first place together? Hm hm hm??!” Little Hakyeon shoot questions to Taekwoon at a bullet-like speed while he pointed his finger accusingly at him.

“But I want to be first. I don’t want to be sloth.” Taekwoon defended himself and continued to play with the swing.

“Then let’s not be sloth together. Let’s be first. Now, now… Because I’m first together with you, Taekwoon must let Hakyeon play with the swing too!” Hakyeon continued his chit-chat and made Taekwoon frowned at his self-proclaimed first place.

‘No. you are second!’ Taekwoon said. But only in his heart. Because seemingly, his muscles had brains of their own as Taekwoon left the swing for Hakyeon to play with despite the little protest he made in his heart.

Such occasions was not a rare one to happen in the lives of kindergartener Hakyeon and Taekwoon. it can be said that it happens everytime the kindergarten ended for them and Taekwoon would always gave in to Hakyeon just so he could save himself from his friends constant demands and nags.

Today was like every other day. Taekwoon and Hakyeon chasing each other to be the first to play with the swing. But this time, instead of the swing, Taekwoon targeted a small white puppy lingering at their kindergarten yard. Taekwoon was ahead of Hakyeon and soon when he was closer, the frightened puppy ran away hearing Taekwoon’s excited and loud footsteps. Being Taekwoon himself, he did not gave up at all. He chased after the little puppy, oblivious to his surroundings. He did not realized he was already stepping outside the gate and a bicycle was heading towards him until he felt someone was pulling his bag straps and he was forced back only to land on his .

“Jung Taekwoon why are you not being careful?! Seonsaeng-nim told us to look our left and right before crossing the road!” Hakyeon scolded him and Taekwoon instantly cried so loudly. He cried because his hurts. He cried because he was shocked and terrified. And he cried because he let Hakyeon scolded him. His lion cub’s pride was scarred that day.

[Middle school]

Even few years later when Jung Taekwoon was in middle school, Cha Hakyeon was still chasing after him. “I’m worried you’d cross the road without looking to your left and right!” Hakyeon , earning a cold stare from Taekwoon to which, Hakyeon was already accustomed to.

“Grab my strap now. The light about to turn green.” Hakyeon directed Taekwoon as they were both standing at the crosswalk. Taekwoon had developed the fear of crossing the road since that day Hakyeon pulled him back from being hit by a bicycle. Taekwoon was no longer the lion cub in Hakyeon’s eyes. He was a hamster instead. A cute little soft hamster who crosses the road by holding on to Hakyeon’s bag strap. And Hakyeon squealed each time Taekwoon did that, because he felt special.

“Good boy, Taekwoonie~~ Now you can go to your class… I’ll see you for lunch okay!” Hakyeon told him once they get to the school gate. Taekwoon hated this. He hated each time Hakyeon would treat him like he was still the kindergartener Taekwoon when he was already a middle schooler. He was a lion cub. And so, each time he would tell Hakyeon the same thing.

“No! See you only at the crosswalk Cha Hakyeon! Drop the Taekwoonie!” He said through gritted teeth. Hakyeon merely giggled.

Well, Taekwoon might be telling him that over and over again everyday. But in all honesty, Taekwoon would always find himself looking for Hakyeon during lunch break. Because that would be the time Hakyeon would go for his ballet lesson. He needed to be there to protect Hakyeon from being teased and bullied. The other boys, ‘delinquents’ as Taekwoon would call them, would always find the chance to tease Hakyeon for being the only boy in the dance class.

The first time Taekwoon found them, Hakyeon was crying, hugging his knees to his chest as the few boys circled him to call him names. Taekwoon charged forward and scared them away.

“Taekwoonie… a-am I… Am I a girl…? Am I really ugly…?” Hakyeon sobbed and buried his face into his folded knees again. “I don’t want to be a girl… but I… I… like ballet… I’m not a girl…” Hakyeon continued weeping loudly and it put Taekwoon into an awkward position.

“No. Boys also dance ballet. I know a lot of famous boys dance ballet like you. You are amazing just like them.” Taekwoon answered promptly.

“Really, Taekwoonie..?” Hakyeon said between his hiccups after what Taekwoon said had caught his interest.

“Y-Yes!” . Taekwoon thought. He never knew any boy dancing ballet at all. What was he doing. “I can show them to you tomorrow!” He continued. “Now, please stop crying. You will really look ugly.”

The trick worked and Taekwoon came home that day only to busy himself searching for famous male ballerinas in the world on the internet.

Hakyeon was all in good spirit on the day Taekwoon showed him famous male ballerinas. He was inspired to become one and it was his goals to be world renowned famous greatest dancer of all times. Taekwoon felt all too good himself.

The group of boys came again but Taekwoon was faster to greet them before Hakyeon could notice. They fled and Hakyeon was ecstatic to find Taekwoon there. “Taekwoonie~ I thought we only see each other at the crosswalk…” He joked.

“Rule changed. And drop the Taekwoonie.”

The routine repeated itself until the bullies grew tired and went to find their next target.

Supposedly, Taekwoon should no longer wait for Hakyeon but he still found himself walking to Hakyeon’s ballet lesson everyday. Hakyeon doing his most favourite thing was the most beautiful sight Taekwoon ever see his whole life.

[High school]

“Taekwoonie~ What time is your soccer practice? Do you need me to wait so we can walk home together?” Hakyeon asked the same question for the nth time.

“At 6pm. And no I don’t. I promised my teammates to hang out with them. And please. Please drop the Taekwoonie… Hakyeon-ah.” Taekwoon grumbled, clearly annoyed with Hakyeon’s constant chatter. “At least not in front of my teammates.” As soon as he said that, Taekwoon took the advantage of his long legs and his athletic ability to run away from Hakyeon, having more than enough to listen to his best friend constant chatter.

Hakyeon pouted and as per usual, he chase after Taekwoon. “Yah, Jung Taekwoon! Why can’t we run together?!” Hakyeon yelled, ignoring the curios eyes from around him and he tried his best to keep up with Taekwoon. The dance practices might have built up his stamina, but it did not train him to become an athlete like his taller best friend.

Taekwoon had long vanished from Hakyeon’s sight for how fast he was. The latter might already be seated at the classroom. While Hakyeon became slower in his steps. His steps became unbearably heavy and the running caused his heart to palpitate in a disturbing pace. It hurts his chest everytime he tried to breathe in. In the end, Hakyeon was gasping for air. Hakyeon clutched his chest before he fell on his knees for the lack of oxygen.

An hour into the lesson and Taekwoon starting to wonder where Hakyeon had gone to. Taekwoon might not worry if it was only for the first few minutes. Because knowing Hakyeon, the other was probably spending his time at the toilet to fix himself after all the running. But now that it was already time for another subject, Taekwoon grew worried. He checked his phone sneakily and there were no messages from Hakyeon to notify him of his absent.

The worries did not last long. Meeting his teammates and practicing soccer made Taekwoon busy and forgot about the fact that Hakyeon was never present in class for that day.

“Taekwoonie~~” Hakyeon called Taekwoon before he quickly tapped his hand over his mouth. “Sorry! Taekwoon-ah. Miss me?” Hakyeon genuinely asked out of curiosity. He was a bit disappointed yesterday after knowing that there was no text from Taekwoon at all asking for his whereabout. It could not be that Taekwoon really disregard him right.

“Miss you? Why would I?” Taekwoon answered him with another question. His tone was cold as per usual and it would be no problem for Hakyeon at all. But, this morning, somehow that tone broke his heart. It felt like a slap to his face and Hakyeon’s warm smile instantly died down.

“Oh… nothing.” He answered meekly while eventually slowed down his steps causing him to lag behind.

Taekwoon took notice and glanced behind him to find the usual energetic Cha Hakyeon was walking so slowly behind him, shoulders hunched. “Yah, Cha Hakyeon!” He called. “Let’s run together to class!” He continued knowing that Hakyeon would feel so happy to be able to run together and not left behind. But, there was no reply from Hakyeon at all. “Yah! Don’t tell me a great dancer like you can’t run huh! Come on!”

Hakyeon looked up to his front. Taekwoon was already starting his little jog. “You can go ahead Taekwoon-ah… I’ll just walk…” He answered, with a smile not even reaching his ears.

Weird. Taekwoon thought but he just brushed it off.

It was lunch break and Hakyeon was acting even weirder. He chose to sleep in class rather than to join his little group of dancers for practice. Hakyeon even rejected Taekwoon’s offer to walk home together after his soccer practice. For both, Hakyeon only dismissed it with a meek, ‘I can’t’.

A week or so have passed and Taekwoon became accustomed to only walking with Hakyeon to school. There were no more running or Hakyeon chasing after him. He also learnt that Hakyeon already left his dancers group to join another club. The art club, painting club. Taekwoon realized Hakyeon was also good with his hands and he too noticed Hakyeon grew less active. Prefer walking over running. Sitting over standing. And being quiet over chattering like usual.

Taekwoon was curious but he did not asked at all, thinking that it was nothing important. Hakyeon was probably just got hit with puberty and finally found another goal in his life. Or he’s probably matured? It was probably any of that but none were of Taekwoon’s concern until Hakyeon told him he no longer can walk with Taekwoon to school.

“My father will drive me there. You can come along if you want to~ I know our Taekwoonie is still scared of crossing the road…” He said with his usual smile.

But Taekwoon rejected him coldly. “Never mind. I’d prefer walking and running to school.. to keep fit!” He said, smirking. Taekwoon meant it as a joke but it seemed like Hakyeon was hurt by that. His expression changed in a split second after that. “But I can come with you once in a while, Cha Hakyeon must be bored without Jung Taekwoon, right? Besides, you never run with me at me hallway anymore…”

“Okay then, just text me if you want to come along.” Hakyeon replied simply.

“I’ll come with you tomorrow.”

And that was how Taekwoon was inside the car with Hakyeon and Hakyeon’s father was driving them to school.

There were papers sticking out of the back pocket of the front seat and if Taekwoon was not mistaken, ‘Seoul Hospital’ was printed on it. Curiosity grew in him and he was about to take the paper before Hakyeon was even quicker to fetch them.

“What time your soccer practice ends Taekwoon-ah…?” Hakyeon asked him while his hand was crumpling the papers.

Taekwoon merely stared at them crumpled paper. “At 7pm today. Hakyeon.. what was that,”

“At 7pm! Okay you can go home alone I can’t walk with you.” Hakyeon answered Taekwoon quickly before he even got to finish his question with voice louder than usual. It was sudden for Hakyeon to use his loud voice that it caused him to cough.

It prompted Mr Cha to look worriedly through the rear mirror. “Hakyeon are you okay, son..?” The father asked. And Taekwoon only frowned. Well, Hakyeon merely coughed. But Mr Cha looked so overly worried.

Taekwoon turned his attention back to his best friend. Hakyeon seemed to have a hard time to recover from his little fit of coughs. He noticed the strained sound each time Hakyeon tried to breathe and began to wonder if his friend was really okay.

“I-I’m fine… I’m fine Appa… I’m fine…” Hakyeon breathed, and there it was. The answer to Taekwoon’s question.

He shook his head. “I think you need to start to build up your stamina again. All this painting and sitting down made your body weaker.”

At that, Mr Cha was going to interrupt, but Hakyeon stopped his father on time. “Nah. It’s fine. I grow old I don’t even want to move.” Hakyeon replied with a mischievous smile just to brush away his worries. Fortunately it was also time to get off from the car, so Hakyeon quickly waved is father goodbye before he could respond to any of Taekwoon’s words.

Taekwoon snickered. “I won’t have any of that from you. Show me the great dancer Cha Hakyeon.” Taekwoon took Hakyeon’s hand in his after that. Soon, he pulled Hakyeon to run with him together at the school hallway.

Hakyeon was taken aback, but he could not do anything at all. The moment he recovered from the shock, he was already following Taekwoon’s quick footsteps. Hakyeon had tried tugging his hand away but he never realized how strong Taekwoon’s grip had become that he was left with no choice but to catch up. “Taekwoon… T-Taekwoon… Please, slow down.”

“Taekwoon I can’t run with you… T-Taekwoon…” Hakyeon tried to say something but it only seemed like Takwoon turned a deaf ear to his pleas. Hakyeon’s chest tightened once again. It felt like his rib cage was crushing his beating heart with each steps he took. It became even harder for him to breathe or to even voice out his pleas. Everything had slowly became blurry and Hakyeon soon found himself gasping desperately for air.

“I can’t run… Taekwoon.. please slow down…” He begged one last time before his knees buckled and he dropped to the ground with his wrist still in Taekwoon’s grip.

Please take note that I am in no way medically informed of any disease or illness. This was all my imagination ><