Chapter 1: The moment you walked in

*** 

It was a warm summer day when two middle school boys enjoyed themselves by sitting under the trees as they stared into the vast field with bright yellow, bell-shaped forsythia. They had just finished planting a row of sunflower seeds as one of their school’s projects. The shorter of the two was looking more earnest when it came to the fieldwork compared to the taller boy who looked less interested. Nevertheless, he accompanied his best friend since they were paired up as a partner for the project.  

“Is this all? Can we go back now?” The taller turned to the other boy. But he stopped to stare at the sight of the boy beamed widely while looking at the green field ahead of them.  

The soft, warm summer breeze blew through the shorter boy’s sleek black hair, his plump cheeks rose as he smiled too bright on the other's eyes. He didn’t know why every time he saw the boy’s smile, he had this urge to break that smile off from that face, and at the thought, his hand just fast to reach out and poked the boy’s cheek, making the boy turn at him with a raised eyebrow.   

“What?”   

“Nothing. You just look ugly smiling like that Kyungsoo-yah.” 

The boy puffed up his cheeks at the comment and scowled. “You’re the ugliest one.”  

His retort made the taller boy chortled with a laugh. “Let’s go. We should go back now.” The boy held Kyungsoo’s hand recklessly and pulled him to walk side by side. But his motion was drastic as his friend was still unbalanced, which caused Kyungsoo to trip forward and brought him to fall together as Kyungsoo’s hand had grabbing his shirt for support.   

Both winced as their foreheads bumped on each other.   

“Ouch! You shouldn’t pull me so suddenly.” Kyungsoo rubbed his forehead and looked up, only to find the other’s face was just an inch away from his as he laid on top of him.   

His breath hitched a little. His heart thumped erratically, knowing the cause for such effect, he always loved gazing at the boy’s pretty face. And to had it so close before his eyes like this for the first time, made him stare at him breathlessly. Time seemed frozen, his hand absentmindedly reached out and touched the boy’s cheek.   

“What are you doing?” The other threw him a curious look.   

“Oh…” Kyungsoo retreated his hand immediately and averted his eyes looking aside.  

Sensing that they were in an awkward position, the taller boy sat up immediately, eyes still watching the shorter boy before him who suddenly became quiet.   

“What’s wrong? Did you hurt somewhere?”  

Kyungsoo shook his head excessively, brought his bangs covering the shy look in his eyes.   

“Then what’s wrong?” He probed as he caught a complicated look on his friend’s face.  

“Hmm... I’ve something to tell you…” Kyungsoo muttered as he also sat up, facing his friend.  

“Oh, what is it?” His prying eyes followed the shy boy’s every move as the other fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.  

“I think… I like you.” The fifteen years old Kyungsoo blurted out, timidly. A faint blush rose in his cheeks as he confessed.    

“Me too… I like you too.” The taller boy smiled widely.  

Sensing that his friend seemed didn’t get what he meant, “No, I mean I like you greatly. More than... a friend.” Kyungsoo added, innocently.   

There was a moment of silence, as the taller of the two tried to deduce the meaning behind those emphasizing words before he snickered.   

“Seriously, did you mean that kind of like? You meant like... in love?”  

Kyungsoo nodded shyly while gazing up at his friend through his tousled bangs.  

“Oh... Sorry. I’m not feeling that way Kyungsoo-yah.”   

The other looked at him, indifferently now - the look that left Kyungsoo’s heart clenched at the vague memory of it all.   

… 

“Kyungsoo, have you woken up yet? You’ll be late if you don’t get your off the bed now.”  

Kyungsoo's eyes snapped open at the voice of someone knocking on the door. He looked around the room, then reality hit him. He sighed before responding to the person behind his bedroom door.   

“Yes, ajumma. I’m wide awake now. Give me ten minutes and I’ll go down.”  

“Okay honey, hurry up and have your breakfast before you go to school.” The light footsteps of the woman who went downstairs could be heard once she got his response.   

Kyungsoo brought his clenched hand to his chest, his heart was thumping hard due to the dream he just had.  

“What’s with the dream?” He muttered to no one particularly. It was just a dream and yet that kind of dream caused a nagging ache in his heart. As if the feeling of being rejected by that certain someone was real. Was it a presage for me?   

It was just a dream.  

He discarded the negative thought early in the morning, didn’t want to let it linger and disturb his day. Heaved a sigh, he pulled himself out of the comfy duvet, started to get ready for school. He didn’t want to be the last person stepping into the class, that never happened since he was always the earliest person to reach his school. He didn’t want any eyes looking at him if he reached there with the class have already half occupied. He was already in his 12th grade this year, a high school senior. So, he had to keep up, maintaining his current good report card until he graduated, and successfully get into a good college so that he would not be a burden to his foster mother anymore.

“Morning, honey.” The woman greeted him once he stepped into the dining room. A wide smile adorned her fair, pretty-looking face which made Kyungsoo throw the same smile, somehow, she sounded joyful than usual.   

“Morning ajumma.” Kyungsoo greeted with the same cheerful tone while pulling a chair and sat down before her.   

She put down her cup of coffee after a sip, “Let me drive you to school today.”  

“Oh, it’s okay. This is the right time I can make use of that bike you bought for me last year.” Kyungsoo refused politely before pouring milk into his cereal bowl. He used to take a bus, but since he had owned a bicycle now, he had thought to make it useful somehow. Also, he could save on the bus fare.    

“Aigoo… you’re such a decent boy. That’s a gift I got for your birthday. I bought it so that you can go out for some outdoor exercise instead of just cooped up in your room even during holidays.” She said while sorting some files into her briefcase. She was in her mid forty, had a dignified and elegant aura about her with a goddess look. Indeed, she had her own reputation in the public eyes as a famous and successful attorney in the country with her cold appearance, which just added to her beauty. And Kyungsoo was lucky enough to have her as his guardian. He was the only person she had shown her warm side and showered him with motherly affection.  

The sad part was only two of them lived in that huge-landed house. She came from a rich background, inherited some property and wealth from her parents, and was able to provide more than enough for her entire life even without working. But not everyone was perfect and had a happy married life. She got divorced ten years ago, and two years after that she had picked up Kyungsoo from an orphanage. Thus, Kyungsoo never meet her ex-husband and never knew about him. The little information he knew was her ex-husband was also from a well-known background, who owned the biggest real estate company and had migrated to live in the United States with their only son. Thus, left her as the only person who took care of Kyungsoo like a real mother.  

To be precise, she was Kyungsoo’s late mother’s best friend. When Kyungsoo lost his parents when he was just nine years old, she came and offered to be his guardian since then.  

During those years living with her, the only thing he couldn’t and was never accustomed to was calling her mom. At first, she kept complaining, but then she gave up as he still couldn’t change from calling her Mrs. Kim before it slowly changed to ajumma - a bit more intimate. At least the kid had stopped calling her by her first name, so she just surrendered to that.   

“Isn’t it quite far for you to ride your bicycle to school?” She asked.  

“It’s fine since it’s still early in the morning. It’s not that far. I can have my morning exercise too.” Kyungsoo reasoned.   

“But today is your first day as a high school senior and don’t you need to get there early to find a new class?”  

“I can manage that.” Kyungsoo ensured with a smile.   

“You’re such a strong-willed one as always. Okay, I surrendered.” She smiled warmly and took out a thick brown envelope, handing it to Kyungsoo.  

The boy gazed up at her questioningly as he took it hesitantly. “What is th-”  

“That’s your allowance and use it to your heart’s content. If it not enough just tell me.” She cut him off.  

Kyungsoo gasped as he could feel how thick the envelope in his hand was. “No, I think this is too much.”  

“Then keep it. You’re not a boy who I should be worried about how you spend the money.”   

Kyungsoo couldn’t protest. “Thank you ajumma, I’ll study hard and pay you back someday.”  

“I’ve said multiple times that you don’t have to pay me back. But considering how stubborn and persistent you are, well, just do as you wish.” She ruffled the boy’s dark, silky hair as she stood up to clean up the table, but Kyungsoo stopped her.  

“You can leave it to me. I’ll clean up all of these.” She smiled seeing how the boy was always polite and well-mannered after so many years living with her.   

“Oh, by the way Kyungsoo-yah…” She called but stopped midway, looking at him for seconds as if calculating whether or not to say the thing.  

“Yes, ajumma?” Kyungsoo looked up to her.    

“Erm… Nah, it’s okay. I’ll tell you later. I forgot that I have a morning meeting today. I need to rush now.”  

“Oh, okay then... take care.” Kyungsoo nodded and resumed cleaning the dishes. He also needed to hurry up before running late for the attendance call and first assembly of this year.

*  

He was walking through the school gate, rushing to the assembly hall when someone pulled him by the shoulder, stopping him in his track. 

“Hey, why don’t you tell me that you were actually having an awesome holiday with Woo Bin sunbae?”   

Kyungsoo shrugged off from the sudden embrace and turned to the person that grabbed him out of nowhere. “Could you greet me properly first instead of shocking me like that?” He stared at the guy who only showed him a wide grinning face. Chanyeol, the only person he couldn't resist in this school since the other had a hobby of bothering and tailing him around whenever he was free. They had known each other since the first year of high school accidentally when both were forced to do a music performance for the first year. Inevitably, the giant declared they should be friends, since he couldn't stand how quiet Kyungsoo was back then while he was too loud to Kyungsoo dislike. But they became closer eventually.

“How do you know?” Kyungsoo asked wonderingly upon Chanyeol discovered about his short holiday with their infamous, former high school sen