When we were young.

Minsung (Minho & Jisung)

~

Jisung had always been a happy kid. Cheerful, bubbly, energetic, a contagious laugh, the whole package. Like any kid he didn't see danger, didn't regard anyone as unapproachable. He had the wildest imagination and when spending time with him there would never be a dull moment.

Minho was quite the opposite.

He was a quiet kid. Not in a bad way, when he did talk he often had very clever things to say, he just didn't do that a lot. It's not like he was gloomy or sad, he was just reserved. He had a strong opinion, even when he was young. If he didn't like you, you would be sure to know.

Anyone would say they were an odd pair. But kids do not think the way adults do.

And maybe that's a good thing.

~

He peeked through a gap in the row of books and frowned. He looked sad again today.

He bit his lip slightly.

This was the fourth day in a row he had seen the boy in the library.

The very first time he had been with his mother and his sister who wouldn't stop babbling about all the books she was going to get.

He didn't particularly like the library, he wasn't much of a reader himself.

But then his eyes fell on the boy he was now silently observing.

He looked cool, with his dark hair and serious eyes.

Problem was he was engrossed in some sort of comic, too preoccupied to notice him.

And he looked kind of sad.

Now he wasn't a person to simply let people be sad. So he had pretended to need books for school and rushed to the library the next day. And the day after that. And now he was here again.

The boy had the same look on his face and he still couldn't make out if he really was sad or if that was just the way he looked when he was concentrated.

No one would be sad four days in a row right?

He huffed a little, contemplating whether he should just go up to him and talk to him. He weighed the advantages and the disadvantages against each other, his face contorting in yet another frown.

"Why were you looking at me?"

He jumped from the sudden voice and a strange sound escaped his mouth. He quickly slapped his hand in front of it, his eyes widened.

"I wasn't" he said.

"What" the boy asked. He removed his hand.

"I wasn't, I was checking out these.." he looked up to see row after row of Chinese language books "these Chinese books. See I have a Chinese aunt whose coming over and-"

The boy chuckled.

"You're a bad liar" he stated.

"Am not" he denied, crossing his arms.

"Are too"

"Am not!"

"Are too"

He huffed angrily.

"Why are you sad" he blurted out. He slapped his hand in front of his mouth again.

The boy looked at him strangely.

"I'm not sad" he answered slowly "why did you think so"

"I mean, when I saw you yesterday you looked sad, and the day before too, and then today too. I don't know, you just always look sad and I want to know why" he stated resolutely.

The other kid smiled.

"So you admit you were looking at me" he teased.

He could feel a blush creeping onto his face.

"Fine" he huffed.

"I'm not sad, really" the boy quickly said.

"Are you sure" he pointed his finger at him accusingly.

"A hundred percent, pinky promise" the boy said, sticking out his small pinky finger. His eyes widened a little.

"I don't even know your name" he stated with a frown.

"I'm Minho" he said, his finger still hovering in-between the two of them.

"Jisung" he answered softly as he linked his own tiny finger with Minho's. "Promise me that if you ever are sad you tell me" he said sternly, not letting go of his finger.

Minho chuckled.

"How will I find you?"

"I don't know, make it happen" he stated.

"Okay, I promise"

~

From that day on they spent almost every day in the library together. When Jisung found out that it was Minho's favourite place he decided it would become his favourite place too. He even got his mother so far to drive him there on the days that it rained.

Today wasn't one of those days.

The sun was shining brightly through the big clear windows, nearly blinding him.

He was draped over a chair, catching upside down glimpses of the book Minho, who was sitting on the floor next to him, was reading. The fact that he came here every day didn't mean he had started to like reading.

He squinted his eyes against the sun and rolled off the chair.

"Minho" he whined. He hummed softly, obviously not paying attention.

"Minho" he whined again, dragging his name. All he got was a nod. He huffed.

Then he got an idea.

He leaped and jumped on top of Minho's shoulders. Minho collapsed forward and dropped his comic.

"What" he yelled as he moved sideways to drop him off his shoulders. He sprawled out on the floor next to him and laughed.

"What was that for" Minho huffed.

"Got your attention didn't it"

Minho groaned angrily and reached for his book again. He slapped his hand away.

"Come on Minho it's great weather, can we like go outside? Please please please" he pleaded. Minho eyed him weirdly, as if it was the weirdest request.

"But it's nice here" he stated hesitantly.

"Yeah, but it's nice outside too" he argued. Minho shook his head.

"I'm not allowed to leave"

"No one will ever know, we'll be back on time I promise" he said with pleading eyes. Minho looked hesitant.

"Oh come on" he groaned. He was ready to get out of there his body buzzing with excitement.

"I really shouldn't. What if my mom comes to pick me up and I'm not here" he shivered.

"She won't, we'll be back on time, please" he pleaded, his hands clasped together.

"Five minutes" Minho finally gave in. He cheered loudly and jumped up from the floor earning an angry look from a mother who quickly dragged her daughter away from them.

"Let's go" he grabbed Minho by the hand and dragged him out of the library and into the afternoon sun.

"Well we're outside, happy now" Minho asked. He was scanning his surroundings, visibly uncomfortable.

"No" he huffed indignant "there's so much more to see, where have you been living, under a rock? No wait, you'd be outside then, that's not possible because you never come outside, maybe that's why you're so pale, probably explains a lot of other things too, you see-"

"Jisung" Minho interrupted. He giggled as Minho managed a smile too.

"Come on" he said and he continued dragging him along.

~

"Now roll down" he stated. Minho looked at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Roll down" he said again, motioning down the hill. It wasn't a steep hill, he had chosen this one especially because he suspected that Minho didn't have experience with these things.

He hadn't seemed to like climbing up the hill so he had hoped that he would like the idea of rolling down it, but apparently that wasn't the case either.

He sighed.

"Like this" he said and gave him a hard push. Minho quickly lost balance and tumbled down the hill. He burst out in laughter before he threw himself after him, rolling down at high speed, praying he wouldn't kick Minho in the face.

When he finally came to a stop he could already hear Minho groaning loudly. He was lying a few metres away from him, his face buried in the grass.

"Why did you do that" he managed to groan.

"I told you to roll" he stated simply as he scrambled to his feet, moving over to check on the still groaning Minho. He was lying flat on his back, his hands covering his face. He giggled softly.

"Wanna go again" he chimed. Minho removed his hands from his face and glared at him. He slowly sat up.

"You know what" he sighed out "sure"

"Race you to the top" he said before sprinting up the hill.

"Hey, wait for me!"

~

"There you are" Minho's mother exclaimed loudly as they entered the library. It wasn't dark outside yet so they had guessed that they still had enough time to get back to the library and not face the wrath of Minho's parents.

Apparently they had been wrong.

She stormed towards them and gripped onto Minho's shoulders, examining him from head to toe.

"Where were you" she asked furiously.

"Outside" he admitted, his voice small and his head hung low.

"What, why? And who is this?" She continued angrily.

Minho looked at him shortly.

"This is Jisung"

"Minho what did I tell you"

"I'm sorry" he said softly, staring at his shoes intensely.

She eyed him angrily, as if everything was his fault.

"I don't want you near my son anymore, is that clear" she asked him directly.

"Yes ma'am"

"Come on" she snapped. She grabbed Minho's arm harshly and dragged him out of the library. He gave him a little wave but he didn't think he saw.

~

"Psst"

He shoved another book out of his view.

"Psst"

Minho turned in his direction and glared at him before shaking his head and returning to his book. He had hidden himself behind a bookshelf to make sure no one noticed him talking to Minho.

"Psst, hey, Minho, over here"

Minho didn't even look at him this time.

He quickly grabbed one of the small pillows that were scattered all around this section of the library and hid behind his bookshelf again.

When he was sure no one was looking he threw the pillow hitting Minho right on the back of his head.

Minho slammed his book shut and glared at him again. He noticed him grabbing a pillow too and immediately ran away from him as quickly as he could.

Minho caught up with him pretty quickly and hit him hard with the small pillow.

He giggled loudly and Minho laughed too. He hit him again as he quickly shielded his face with his arms.

"Stop, stop, please" he pleaded as Minho continued hitting him.

"Minho stop" he giggled. They were making way too much noise but all he could think of was the pillow that was continuously whacking him in the head.

Finally Minho stopped hitting him and dropped the pillow.

"What are you doing" he hissed "you know I'm not allowed to talk to you"

"Yeah, but no one will ever know" he whispered "it's not like your mom is here to check on you all the time"

"I can't talk to you"

"Oh come on, there's no one here to see us. Unless you don't want to talk to me" he continued. He made puppy eyes and pushed out his bottom lip, trying to make Minho feel guilty.

"No, no, I do, I just- can't"

"Please, we won't go outside again I promise"

Minho looked hesitant.

"Alright, but really only inside, I won't be persuaded again"

He cheered loudly.

"Keep it down. Now come and check out my new comic it's great" Minho said excited.

He groaned.

"Not more books" he uttered lowly before quickly following Minho to his spot and dropping himself on a big beanbag.

~

"It's almost my birthday" he mentioned trying to get a reaction out of Minho, who was once again engrossed in some sort of comic.

He only hummed.

"It's almost mine too" he finally said softly.

"Really" he exclaimed "that's cool"

Minho hummed again.

"Hey, Jisung"

Suddenly his sister peeked around a bookshelf.

"Mom says it's time to go" she said "and didn't his mother say you're not allowed to talk to him" she asked curiously.

"No no, that was- someone else. Go back to mom I'll be there in a minute" he quickly said.

He got up from his position on the floor and looked at Minho who was sitting with his back against a bookshelf.

He darted forward, bent down and quickly gave him a small peck on his cheek. His eyes widened as he slowly looked up at him.

"Why did you do that" he asked in shock.

"What?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"It's a goodbye kiss, my mom gives my dad one every day before he leaves for work" he explained. Wasn't that obvious?

"Really? Mine doesn't"

"Oh" he stayed quiet "you don't mind right?"

"No, it's fine. See you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Of course" he said happily. He still waved at him before disappearing behind a bookshelf.

"Did you just give that boy a kiss" his sister whispered as he reached her.

"It was only a goodbye kiss" he said.

"But mom says that boys can't kiss other boys"

"Why not" he shrugged. What was wrong with it anyway?

~

His birthday passed with a big party. He had always been fond of them. Celebrating his birthday was simply the best kind of celebration.

He didn't receive many gifts, but each and every single one of them was precious to him.

His mother's gift especially.

She gave him a bracelet, a dark brown leather bracelet. She said that when he was wearing it she would always be with him, even if she wasn't physically there. It meant the world to him and he could tell it meant a lot to his mother too.

The only downside of the whole thing was that he didn't get to see Minho that day. He would have loved it if Minho could've spend the day with him and his family as he didn't get the idea that he and his mother were that close.

But he was sure he would see him tomorrow.

~

He showed up at the library excited to show Minho his new bracelet.

He skipped around a few bookcases before being told off and slowing down. He moved towards the familiar section of the library, with all its pillows and comics and beanbags. He scanned the area with eager eyes but he didn't see Minho's familiar head of dark hair anywhere.

Strange.

He sunk down on the closest beanbag, a bright green one, and huffed, slightly dissapointed to find his friend not there. But he would wait until he came and then tell him everything about his birthday.

He watched the clock tick further.

He sighed and dropped down on the beanbag as he was starting to feel sleepy.

No, he should stay awake for when Minho came.

He closed his eyes. Only for a minute he told himself.

"Young man, young man, wake up!"

A voice filtered through and he shot up. He blinked rapidly as he came face to face with the librarian.

"The library is closing, I have to ask you to leave" she told him sternly, looking at him with an intensely disapproving face.

"Huh" he rubbed his eyes "no that's not possible, I closed my eyes a minute ago, besides Minho isn't-"

"Young man, it is time for you to leave. Where are your parents?" She was getting angry now so he quickly lifted himself from the beanbag.

"I'm sorry" he said softly and he quickly darted out of the library.

~

He came back to the library every day that week but Minho remained nowhere to he seen.

But he wasn't losing confidence, not yet.

Right?

~

He walked home sulking. Another week passed without him seeing Minho and he was slowly starting to lose hope. His mother even refused to take him to the library any longer as he was just aimlessly walking around anyway.

But he had to keep going.

~

He had actually picked up a book but all he managed to do was stare blankly at the pages. He rolled over a couple of times but couldn't seem to get comfortable.

He was sad.

He wasn't sad often.

He lifted the book again before chucking it away.

"Jisung?"

He looked up hopefully only to meet the gaze of the librarian. It was a different one today.

"You are Jisung right?"

He nodded.

"The kid, Minho, he gave this to me and told me to give it to you" she said while handing him an envelope.

"Minho" he exclaimed "did you see him? What did he say, is he coming back?"

"I don't know sweetie" she answered sadly. He pouted as he stared at the envelope.

"You should read it"

"I'm not really good at reading" he admitted softly. There was a reason he didn't like books, he never really understood them.

"Want me to read it for you?"

He nodded and gave her the letter back. As she opened it something heavy dropped out. It was a little pendant on a leather cord. It was shaped like a book.

"Dear Jisung. Happy birthday, I'm sorry I couldn't be there but please see this as a birthday gift" she started.

"I asked my brother to write this as I can't really write myself yet. We are moving very soon for my dad's job and I'm really sorry but I won't get to see you again. That is why I wanted to write this letter so that I can at least tell you why I can't come to the library anymore. Please accept the gift and know that when you wear it I will always be with you. You have been a great friend to me, thank you for making me happy. Goodbye, Minho"

He felt a tear slip from his eye and he angrily wiped it away.

"Oh I'm sorry honey" the librarian said softly. He sniffed once.

"Do you know if he still has to return books" he asked.

"A few I believe"

"Then can you do something for me?"

~

"There you are finally, diner's ready go sit down quickly" his mother said as soon as he entered the kitchen.

"Jisung, where is your bracelet" she suddenly asked. He stared at his wrist.

"I- I must have lost it"

"Lost it, where?"

"At the library" he shrugged.

"Jisung, how could you lose it!"

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

"It's alright, we'll look for it tomorrow okay" his mother reassured. He nodded and quickly started on his dinner.

~

Ten years later and Minho had faded to a pleasant memory. Sometimes he would think of him and what kind of connection they had as kids. It was probably a lot more than he had realised at the time. He still, after so many years, wore the necklace he had given him and held a special place in his heart for the boy.

It was a long time ago but looked back on it fondly.

He was finally ready to get to college, move into a dorm and finally follow classes in his interest. It did take a toll on him, like it seemed to do on everyone.

So he was currently looking for a place to obtain his daily doses of caffeine. He couldn't go to the coffee shop on campus as he had been there way too often by now, so he was aimlessly roaming around town looking for another coffee shop that sold at least decent coffee.

He scrunched his nose as he passed a perfume store.

Finally he ran into a small, cosy looking cafe and decided this was his best shot.

The cafe was indeed small and cosy, the warm air filled with the smell of cake and freshly brewed coffee. It instantly made him feel better.

He approached the counter his eyes occupied with scanning the menu even though he knew what he wanted to get anyway.

As he looked down his eyes landed on a tall, dark haired boy who looked quite good in his white shirt and black apron. He looked oddly familiar for some reason. Perhaps he had seen him on campus?

"Good afternoon, how can I help you" he asked.

"I'd like a black coffee to go please" he managed to say.

"A black coffee, anything else?"

"No that's it"

The boy moved to get his coffee and then turned back to let him pay directing his attention to his hands. He had pretty hands, long slim fingers and-

A dark leather bracelet that just peeked out from underneath his shirt.

He choked on air and coughed harshly. He was frozen in place, not able to take his eyes off the bracelet.

"Sir, can I get your name?"

"Sir?"

He shook his head and stared at him intensely, looking for some sort of sign in his eyes. But there was nothing there.

"Oh sorry, its Jisung, my name is Jisung"

"I like your necklace" the boy commented.

"Thanks" he said softly "an… Old friend gave it to me" he decided to say as he touched the little pendant.

The boy nodded.

"You can wait there" he said pointing towards where he could wait as he realised he was holding up the line. He nodded and moved away from the counter.

He waited uncomfortably hopping from one foot to the other. Was he imagining things? Was he really that sleep deprived? He rubbed his face harshly but quickly dropped his hands as he heard his name being called. He thanked the person behind the counter and left the coffee shop.

He sipped his coffee and sighed deeply feeling a weird sort of emptyness in his stomach. His coffee cup looked weird, with all sorts of black scribbles on it. Perhaps it was supposed to be a design? He examined it closely and noticed it were actually words written on the cup in black marker. Very poorly written words that is.

I'm still not that great at writing but lucky for you my shift ends in five minutes

His eyes widened as he turned back towards the coffee shop just as the door opened and the boy who he thought to be Minho stepped outside. Their eyes met and he smiled at him brightly.

He didn't hold himself back and leaped forward to engulf him in a tight hug.

"Still as spontaneous I see" Minho commented as he buried his face in his hair.

"I missed you" he muttered.

"I missed you too"