Liu 5

Sometimes, the simplest things bring the most happiness...You do realize that, right? You don't have to go to such a length just for someone to lean on...

"He likes her. It's totally obvious."

"No, she likes him!"

"No, they both like each other!"

"But how could they, when she beat him up just a few weeks ago?"

"I don't know..."

And so on and so forth.

These were the stupid rumors that the kids at my school came up with after what happened that one fateful Thursday. By then, I graduated out of pre-school and kindergarden (yippee) and was now bumped up into 1^st grade, Kibum of course being in the same class as me. Fate wouldn't tear us apart even after two years has passed. Not yet, at least.

Anyway, it's been a peaceful two years without Bang Cheol-Yong but full of Kim Kibum. With every passing day, as I stated before, it’s been full of peace between me and my enemy and full of prosperity with me and my best friend. Pretty soon, even Janice noticed a certain change in me, after watching me with a more interested perspective just months after I first encountered Kibum. This was actually quite a surprise, considering she was so wrapped up in college and all the benefits that it could bring that she hardly paid attention to me before. Oh the benefits one innocent, pure friendship could bring!

It was also surprising that she even remembered my 6^th and 7^th birthdays, to be honest. Nevertheless, those birthdays were more cheerful than others, due to both my sister and Kibum. My parents, unfortunately, were attending another hundredth business trip, but the amazing first trip to Lotte World that Kibum's mother generously took me to perfectly made up for it. I never really stepped out much from within my little neighborhood, the two places I consistently attended being only school and my home, so it was like a breath of fresh air stepping out of that small range and venturing out towards something greater. That, plus his new blue tricycle for me and Janice’s new blue cotton jacket that she bought for me, made me smile harder than even when Kibum made me laugh each and every day.

Soon, I was unable to remember those lonely days in which I was alone in my room, messily doodling a bad image of someone I hated while chewing on a stale peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. Sure, Myungsoo went shopping with her for my present, but at least she got me something. It sort of reminded me of the earlier times, back when she was in high school and was decent enough to give me sweets everyday, and I wondered if the crane has already lifted my wishes to the skies, where God would hear and grant. Even if he didn't get my one and only wish, though, he must've still felt pity for me and my lonesome childhood, for now, loneliness vanished at the bright light of happiness, and my life was hardly dark. I didn't need to look to the sun for restoration because Kibum found infinite amount of ways to make me smile, through his latest new doodles or queer clothes he dressed to school. Queer, yet still fashionable. Although I still wasn't completely comfortable with making other friends, at least I had him.

But, I might as well have tried to get closer with Krystal or Luna all those times they tried to talk me, for this latest ordeal on January 2^nd wasn't something I could easily disclose to Kibum, no matter how much closer we got throughout the days. And there was absolutely no way I could tell my sister; despite her aloof attitude towards me, I knew that if something serious still happened, she would squirt blood out of someone's nose faster than a hose shoots water from its pump. Trust me; been there, seen that, twice.

It all happened when, after eating a delicious lunch consisting of grape-jelly-and-cream-cheese white bread sandwich and thick, sweet banana milk, I headed down to the trashcan to thow my trash away, when I heard rushed running sounds far away. The stampede of shoes quieted down only after a mere second, replaced then by the usual clamor and squealings of the students around me, but that lone sound was enough to stir my curiosity. Signaling a finger towards faraway Kibum to tell him to wait, I ducked and silently crept over where I thought the sound came from, careful to not let the edges of my rubber sandals get caught in the loose cement pieces of our rather dingy cafeteria lot.

It was a freezing, yet dry bitter day as, despite the sun being up, its golden rays failed to heat our shivering bodies, and the lack of moisture in the air made it hard to breathe. The first snowfall did not come yet, even after New Year's, but unfortunately school did, forcing us to endure through needle-pricking winds during recess and lunch, and stuffing us with so much clothing we could hardly walk. Long story short, waddling rapidly became the new trend for us kids attending Suh-Il Elementary School. But, since I only wore one long-sleeved shirt, Janice's old cotton thick enough for me to keep warm, a yellow yarn scarf, and the warmest pair of jeans I could possibly find, it wasn't that hard for me to trudge on through the increasing silence...

...and on...

...and on until I could no longer even see the cafeteria, making me wonder where the hell I was until I noticed that I was heading towards the boy's bathroom. Blushing furiously as I briefly gaped at the stick figure sign that hung over the blue door, I quickly caught myself and whipped around, ignoring the rush of cold wind that came along with it, and prepared to run, when -

"Hey, who's there!?" a familiar voice cried out behind me, hopefully still hidden.

...Uh-oh.

Frozen harder than the cement floor below me, it was all I could do to not turn around and instead bolt like never before, running, running, back towards where I came from. If only I knew how far away I really had come, though, I might've considered another option...

'Cause, before I could retaliate and veer off somewhere not so in the open, someone as heavy as a boulder threw himself upon me, making my tongue bleed from my efforts not to squeal out my shock like a girl and break down. Although my hand was outstretched before me to try to break the fall, it didn't work from the strong force, thus sending me spiraling down to my back, every inch of my body reverberating from the intense effect. But I still uttered no sound. In the back of my mind, I knew that if you wanted them to get off you, you had to look tough and unruffled. Or else, they would just have too much fun with you.

Especially if it was a rascal named Cheol-Yong, looking down on you with a deadly glare, his cold eyes contrasting greatly to his fiery orange hair. Following him were his ever-present hyungs with various colored hair; the immature princes have obviously reunited again now that their little maknae was back.

Laying there, my body trembled incessantly, both from the shock of what happened and the coldness of the ground, but nobody seemed to mind of course; just why would they? I walked into their secret territory anyway. I was nothing but unwelcome at the moment.

"What are you doing here?" he spat out, the very same way he asked me back when he was crying under the huge canopy of a tree. But I wrenched my mind away from the flashback to my current dire emergency, desperately wishing that I never came tip-toe-ing there in the first place. I didn't want anymore stress having to do with this dude anymore; I was finally, truly happy and I no longer wanted him in the picture of my life. Right?

"What's it to you?" I hissed back, again, reminding me of the time he replied in this way after I finally, finally tried to lend a hand towards someone else.

Another snub at the heart.

Annoyed, he scowled before slapping the side of my head again, thankfully without any rings ordianed on his fingers. But, it was also as if he grew twice as stronger, for this time my head throbbed really hard, to no end. Forcing my teeth to not let escape a single whimper or cry, I vaguely wondered, before the abuse continued, just what's fueling this kid to be so mean? No first-grader could naturally be like this; there had to be some reason. But...why am I caring? Right?

"Ugh, stop it!" I finally cried out, my right leg wriggled free from the catapult and aimed high for a kick as, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other boys starting to gang up on me too. Talk about unfair play; who would ever think of 5:1?

But this is when things got really bad, for although I marked my aim perfectly - right at his black cashmere-covered stomach - his footing didn't agree, and so he tripped from the effect and lost his balance...

...thus collapsing on top of me all over again...

...and this time?

His lips meeting mine.

Yup, you read right. At seven year's old, I had my first kiss stolen...

From Cheol-Yong.

Talk about disaster on a high-scale.

Finally realizing what happened - and trying my best to not flush, both at Cheol-Yong's shock and his hyungs' startled cries - my eyes widened for Cheol-yong to only catch a glimpse of my own real shock, and I vaguely recall seeing my own startled expression reflected within his bewildered, gleaming black eyes. Finally they had some feeling etched into them, although I couldn't tell what. Embarrassment?

Hatred?

Or...Just plain, pure surprise?

I really couldn't tell, but it wasn't like I could scream for him to get off me; my lips were uh, kind of occupied at the moment. Warm, soft, and not exactly unpleasant, they somehow managed to make heat surge through every inch of my body, making my skin delightfully tingle. Despite the horrid situation, a small corner of my mind shyly wondered, recalling how much Janice loves to kiss boys, is this what it feels like?

A split second later, though, Cheol-Yong gathered his senses and quickly leapt off of me, casting me a wondrous look before he and his friends dashed away, without ever looking back. Before I knew it, I was left alone upon the cold, rigid cement, gazing at the innocently twinkling golden sun with a kind of dazed expression. Even my head stopped throbbing from a long time ago, having no recollection as to what kind of abuse it went though before the latest new event occurred. Only when my mind really grasped upon what happened did I flush to my very core, the new heat sustaining my face far out-beating that of...his kiss.

What a 'great' way to start the new year, I thought.

Newly horrified, I quickly hopped back up to my feet and absent-mindedly touched my lips with two fingers, before I gathered myself and shook my head, tyring to focus as I awkwardly ran back to where Kibum was, waiting for me within the bustling crowd, a worried expression etched onto his face. With just one glance he was able to tell that something was off with me, but I kept my lips sealed (ha ha), telling Kibum that I just tripped but nothing was really there worth looking at.

Which was true, in a way.

I mean, Cheol-Yong wasn't worth looking at, right? Or obsessing over?

Nope, he clearly wasn't. And now, all I had to do was believe that.

For the rest of the day, though, and the following few weeks to come, I was never the same again. No matter how much I denied it, both to myself and my ever-so curious sister (and even to her boyfriend, much to my displeasure), I knew, deep inside me, that Cheol-Yong took something away from me as he dashed away from that day, casting me a wondrous look I would never forget, whether I liked it or not. Thinking back, I still didn't know just what the heck he was doing there, at the older boys' bathroom, rather than eating lunch with everyone else. But then, it wasn't like I was in much of a position to ask now, was I?

Always lost and in wonder, I grew flustered every time I came across anything considered romantic, and it grew even worse every time I saw Cheol-yong's flaming orange hair bobbing within the huge crowds of our increasing grades. Every time I did notice his presence, however, I quickly scooted away, not ever daring to look back as I fended off Kibum's curious inquiries about my sudden haste. As time sped up and away, of course the shock lessened and the effects wore off.

But the memory didn't. Even now, I remember everything perfctly, at the age of 22.  

I hoped my other classmates during first grade hadn't though, for during that time period, somehow word spread that Immature Prince Bang and Reserved Tomboy Liu had somehow kissed, and before either one of us could ever dare to stop it, thoughts and rumors and lies had spread around Suh-Il Elementary faster than wildifre upon heaps of dry grass. Hence, the judgments that we liked each other. Which was so not true, by the way.

Luckily Kibum, once he heard about it, was wise enough to never ever mention it right in front of me, or to anyone else really. Instead, he defended me bravely every time a classmate came up and embarrassingly asked me about the kiss, making me not only verify that it had really happened but also make me explain how it "felt." How could I remember though, through my terror? Right?

All I could really think though, despite the ongoing jumble of emotions rolling and bumping within my hollow body, however, was...

Just why is he always coming back?

Does this actually mean something or...Am I just going crazy?

Before I fully became an adult, I would know the answers to all those questions.