An arm padded warmly with a soft yellow coat hugged his teddy bear to himself firmly, his other hand clutched tightly around a sticky pink lollipop that he periodically popped into his mouth. His large dark pupils darted around the unfamiliar playground as he hard on the soothing sweetness to give himself courage. Hanbin had always been a shy child. His preference to lay in warm patches of the ground to soak in sunlight with his flower friends rather than run about in participation of active games did not make him a popular or easy boy to befriend. But he was admittedly too soft and adorable for them to properly bully so the other kids tend to resort to just leaving him alone to his own devices. He was also unwittingly the teacher’s pet due to his sweet looks and mild temperament coupled with his advanced understanding of their simple lessons. All this led to a lonely but peaceful life in his old kindergarten which he now fully expects to experience again in his new kindergarten. 

But this new place was bigger, brighter and infinitely louder than what he was used to. His new teacher, a soft spoken neat young lady who told him to call her Miss. Lila had given him and his mother a scary tour around the place before the pair of them unceremoniously dumped him at the playground. His mother bent down to give him a quick kiss on his brow and wiped his sticky face thoroughly with her silk handkerchief before gently encouraging him to go play with ‘his new friends’. He had then stood there for a full minute staring after their retreating backs, nervously breathing in the sweet perfumed cloud his mother’s fragrance had left behind before finally accepting his fate and turning around to face the playground.The children here seemed to be bigger and rowdier, with some of them already making the transition towards wearing ‘cool’ kids clothes instead of the choice cutesy outfits for younger children. Hanbin did not like it. But he realised that being six years old instead of five meant going through changes so he swallowed dryly and tried his best to act like he was used to the frenzied activity going on around him. Most of the boys were engaged in a messy game of tag while the majority of the girls were playing their own girly games or sitting around in tiny circles of three or four sharing snacks and secrets. Hanbin knew he was too clumsy and clueless to join tag (he was scared of falling and getting hurt terribly like he did when he was four and got both his knees cut open), but he also did not even consider joining any of the girl posies as he learnt that this was a surefire way to invite teasing from the boys. His lips trembled a little as it struck him what if he is stuck standing at this entrance forever at every playtime, never having anywhere to go or anyone to join. No! Hanbin said firmly in his head. I will not be stuck here. I don't need to have friends to join in their games. I can enjoy myself alone. He brought his hand to his face to determinedly on his melty lollipop again, missing his mouth on the first try and dirtying his face even more with its stickiness. But his face lit up as he spotted a new discovery in the foreign playground. It was an ancient looking tree heavy with many warm old leaves, younger green leaves and budding sprouts just on the cusps of blooming into flowers to welcome the spring. The tree was the least daunting living creature that Hanbin wouldn't mind approaching at the moment so he started towards it. As he neared the tree, a soft giggle and happy sigh escaped him as he sank to his knees on the soft carpet of springy grass growing beneath its leafy shade. He carefully put his lollipop back into his mouth for safekeeping before lying on his back to stretch his short limbs out, his tiny hands starfishing in its softness. His teddy bear had neglectfully fallen out of his grasp and rolled and bounced its way away before stopping when it came in contact with a pair of muddy blue shoes. 

Jiwon stared at the tiny angel so contently enjoying himself by just lying down on the boring grass. His pretty eyes had fallen shut in bliss now, his lashes gently curling towards his rosy cheeks allowing Jiwon to keep staring unnoticed. The boy’s nose sloped at a perfect angle while his mouth might as well be a flower with its plush petal looking lips. Lips that were currently tightly closed around the lollipop he had seen the boy clutching from earlier. Jiwon doesn't know why but he's struck with a sudden urge to taste them. He's sure that those pink petal lips would taste sweet. The boy's whole goddamn face is likely sugary sweet after his time with that damned lollipop. And he still hadn't noticed Jiwon's presence. So Jiwon's gaze flew to the soft curls of black hair that framed the angelic face as one yellow arm came up to brush stray bangs stuck to his forehead. He was wearing a cute yellow coat with blue jeans and his feet were in orange shoes. Jiwon thought he looked just like a little duckling. That is obsessed with . The sun suddenly shifted into place on top of the boy and Jiwon was struck dumb when he caught the split second moment when the boy's serene expression was beautifully illuminated (Jiwon really thinks he might be a real angel now) before his tiny face scrunched up in the face of the sun's glare. Something bubbled up in Jiwon. An irrepressible urge to TALK TO THE BOY. So he did.

"Hey, are you new?"

He watched as the boy started, his eyes squinting open to find the source of the voice from his prone position. He then nearly choked on his lollipop as he quickly sat up, then half dragged and half rolled himself deeper into the shade of the tree before looking up at Jiwon with wary eyes. One grass stained hand freed his mouth from the lollipop safekeeping.

And then his petal lips moved to form the careful words, "Hi… yes, I just moved here."

Hanbin was not scared of the boy. It's just that even after only 5 mins or so here, he can already tell that this boy was one of the biggest and strongest in the kindergarten. You can tell these kinds of things sometimes. Just by looking at the way they and everyone else act around them. And the bigger the boy, the meaner they are.

Jiwon was standing careless with his hands in his pockets. Both his t-shirt and his slightly baggy jeans were dirtied with mud, implying that he had been involved in some sort of wrestling and rough fighting on the ground. His shoes were scuffed and its red color faded after many days of running in the rain and shine.

But then the friendliest smile broke out on Jiwon's face as he bent down slightly to level his eyes with Hanbin's, his hands resting on his knees.

"Okay, I'm Jiwon. What's your name, new boy?", his voice was suddenly louder, spiking higher out of excitement.

Hanbin was surprised by how much the smile made him suddenly want to be friends with the boy. It looked as if a second sun had appeared in his view. It must be magical. It makes him feel less shy as his lips turned up into its own smile, he can't help smiling back if it's magic. He's sure his smile is nowhere near as enchanting but he tries his best.

"I'm Hanbin." He tried hesitantly. 

"Woah you are so cute. Let's be friends!" Jiwon's eyes popped wide in awe at the pretty smile Hanbin just gave him. His eyes shone and dimples showed in his chubby cheeks, making him look even more angelic and beautiful. Jiwon knew straight away that he had to protect that smile (and Hanbin) forever. He stared unblinkingly further when Hanbin's cheeks blushed a warm pink at the compliment.

"Thank you… I would love to be friends with you, Jiwon" Hanbin wondered if he should hold his hand out for Jiwon to shake. But he knew his hands were sticky and grubby. But then both their attention were caught by loud yells from across the playground.

"KIM JIWOOON, COME BACK"

"WE ARE GONNA START PLAYING WITHOUT YOU"

The group of boys playing tag earlier were now clustered together with a ball, ready to start a game of soccer. They were all currently looking towards Jiwon, waiting for him to join them.

Hanbin stiffened, his happy smile from earlier wavered as he realised, of course Jiwon already has other friends. What would he want to do with boring Hanbin anyways? He silently on his lollipop again, his head down and waiting to hear the sound of footsteps as Jiwon left him. But then he heard Jiwon's reply. So loud within this close proximity that it nearly deafened Hanbin. Jiwon had not moved an inch towards the other boys. His feet as if planted in the ground as he yelled back, "GO AHEAD. IM PLAYING WITH HANBIN"

And then he grabbed the teddy bear at his feet and threw himself on the ground next to Hanbin. He landed with a thump and Hanbin feared that it might've hurt as the grass wasn't THAT soft. But Jiwon was seemingly unhurt, sitting back with his legs stretched out before him while his arms propped him up at the back. He arranged the teddy bear between himself and Hanbin. Making it a semi circle of two boys and a teddy bear. Hanbin can still hear the echoes of his final words, “playing with hanbin”. Nobody has ever played with him before. He’s still not sure what games he likes or doesn't like. But he found himself hoping to find all that out with Jiwon as company. He raised his head hopefully to look at him. Jiwon was already staring at him, his eyes in the merry slits as he grinned at Hanbin. 

“So what do you usually do during playtime? You okay with me joining you right? I would invite you to join me and the boys but I figured you don’t like football.” He said all this in a rushed torrent, tripping and skipping over his words. But he shrugged casually at the end of his sentence, seemingly uncaring of how he sounds. His fingers were already wandering on the grass, tugging and pulling. But his eyes were still glued on the pretty face, the blatant staring bringing blood rushing up to those pink cheeks again.

Hanbin took a moment to answer, willing his face to stop being red and his heart to stop thumping quite so loudly in his nervousness. He murmured something about being bad at sports in general. Jiwon raised his eyebrows, suddenly coming much closer and putting his ear right at Hanbin’s mouth, “What was that? I can’t hear you”. Hanbin’s eyes widened in shock while his mouth opened and closed wordlessly. Not hearing anything after a while, Jiwon turned his head to look directly at Hanbin.This close to the other boy, he’s breathing in the pleasant scent of baby powder from him. But he could also smell the sweetness of the lollipop and his eyes inevitably dropped to look at the petal lips again. He didn't think he could resist tasting them anymore.

And then he found himself pushing his face forwards to meet those lips with his own.