Bom hesitantly approached the figure sitting on the bench. The sun was setting and the quietness of the park loomed over the air. The noisy children were fetched one by one by their parents. As she went nearer, she avoided eye contact with Ji Yong.

"Park Bom-ah." Ji Yong said as he tried to meet her eyes. He made space for her to sit beside him. Bom sat down but kept some distance between them. She turned to look at Ji Yong and made eye contact.

"Are you with Seunghyun-ssi?" Bom finally asked and the frozen silence broke.

"Ahh, he said to meet him here but I still haven't seen him," Ji Yong answered.

"Oh," Bom frowned. "He also asked me to meet him here."

Ji Yong glanced at Bom's frowning face out from the corner of his eyes. He tried to hide his jealousy.

"Yah, don't frown!" Ji Yong said in annoyance.

"Mwo?" Bom muttered in disbelief.

"You're ruining your beauty." Ji Yong wanted to say badly but he stopped himself.

"You look like my ahjumma instead of my dongsaeng." Ji Yong said instead which annoyed Bom more.

"Yah…" her voice trailed off.

"I was just kidding!" Ji Yong said. "Park Bom-ah, are you dating Seunghyun?"

Bom nearly spat out the melon milk she was drinking. She coughed a bit then looked at Ji Yong and gave him a "are-you-crazy?" look.

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, you were together duri--" Ji Yong stopped himself. "Aish, I forgot she doesn't know I saw them together on her birthday." he tought

Bom shot him a quizzical look.

"I mean, you are supposed to meet him right now~" Ji Yong made an excuse.

"Hmm, it's strange," Bom looked away and gazed at the playground. "Seunghyun told you to meet him here, and he said the same thing to me."

"You're saying he set us up?" Ji Yong asked and started to realize it now. "Ahh, pabo Seunghyun, so sly."

"So this is what Seunghyun means when he said that I will get the answer to my question." Bom thought and glanced nervously at Ji Yong. Neither of them said anything for a while. Ji Yong stared at the empty swing and Bom followed his gaze.

"Want to swing?" Bom suggested as she pointed towards the swing set.

"That's for kids~" Ji Yong replied.

"Aish, you are a kid." Bom muttered under her breath. Ji Yong suddenly stood up and held her hand, much to Bom's surprise. She followed him to the swing set and they took a seat. Bom smiled nervously at Ji Yong.

"I know there's something you want to talk about." Bom said as she swung playfully, getting higher with each turn.

Ji Yong just nodded while staring at the ground. He kicked a small pebble while slowly rocking his swing.

"You can talk to me about it." Bom replied.

Ji Yong stopped rocking his swing and looked at Bom. Bom noticed him looking at her so she stopped too.

"It's about Ms. Kang right? I didn't know you know each other…" Bom's voice trailed as she looked up at the darkening orange sky. A minute of silence the Ji Yong spoke up.

"The truth is she's my stepmother." Ji Yong answered solemnly.

"Mwoya!?" Bom nearly fell out of her chair.

"Or," Ji Yong pouted his lips and frowned. "She was my stepmom, but she divorced my dad around three years ago."

Bom stared in disbelief as Ji Yong spoke. "It's the first time he's ever opened up about his family." Bom thought. Ji Yong started to swing again much higher than before.

"She was also my first love." He said all of a sudden. Bom's eyes widened more.

"F-first love?" Bom repeated.

"Ne," Ji Yong nodded. He stopped swinging again and stared at Bom's eyes. Bom could see the hint of sadness that traced his eyes. "It started when I was in elementary school. Hyun Mi noona was my tutor back then."

Bom just nodded and waited for Ji Yong to continue.

"I fell in love with her. But so did my dad." Ji Yong smirked. "Imagine my surprise when one day noona announced she was marrying him." Ji Yong said the word 'him' with disgust.

"What's wrong?" Bom asked slowly, careful with her words.

"I didn't know how many times I begged noona to back out of the wedding," Ji Yong said as he kicked some sand with his shoe. "I was so desperate that I even confessed to her. But she didn't take me seriously. After all I was just a kid back then."

It took a few minutes of silence before Bom could reply. "Why did you want to stop their marriage?" Bom said while she played with her fingernails.

"It's because noona doesn't know how my father was like." His voice trailed off. Ji Yong's vision was getting blurry, his eyes blocked by tears that wanted to come out. "She doesn't know how violent he is.." He stopped. Painful memories of his childhood returned to his mind -- crying endlessly as he was beaten up by his own dad when he was a small kid. The smell of alcohol, cigarette smoke -- it was all too familiar to him.

"Ji Yong-ah.." Bom stopped swinging and looked at Ji Yong. He was slouched at the swing, his face buried in his hand. Bom hesitated for a while but she reached out to hold Ji Yong's hands. She squeezed his hand as she felt the warmth.

"Park Bom-ah." Ji Yong said surprised with Bom's action.

Bom offered a comforting smile at him. "Let's swing together hand in hand." she said tightening her hold. Ji Yong nodded and they moved their swing together in rhythm. "I'll never let go of this hand." he thought. He glanced at Bom's side and they're eyes met. He unknowingly blushed.

"Uhm," Bom cleared . "What was it that Hyun Mi.. I mean Ms. Kang wanted to talk about that other day?"

"Ahh..that.." Ji Yong held her hand tighter. Bom could feel the cold sweat from his palm. Ji Yong uttered a low mocking laugh. "Could you believe her? After divorcing that monster, she told me she's going back together with him?" Ji Yong could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. His vision started to get hazy but he didn't let go of Bom's hand.

"His hand is really cold." Bom thought as she felt Ji Yong's hand tightened to hers. She glanced at him and saw his half-closed eyes.

"Yah! Ji Yong-ah?" Bom said as she stood and rushed over to his side. He was still holding her hand. She placed her free hand on his forehead.

"Omo, he's burning up!"

"Ji Yong-ah?" Bom shook his shoulder but Ji Yong just grunted in reply.

Bom looked around them. It was already dark and the playground was empty except for them. She tried to lift Ji Yong from the swing but he was too heavy. Bom sighed as she tried to think of a way to help Ji Yong. Using her free hand, she reached for her phone and dialed Seunghyun. He answered on the third ring.

"Yoboseyo?"

"Seunghyun-ssi! Help us."

"Sunbae? What happened?"

"Ji Yong and I are at the playground. He has a high fever and I think he.. he fainted."

"Yah, sunbae I'm coming over to pick you up. I'll be right over."

Bom hung up the phone and looked at the sleeping Ji Yong. She slowly caressed his cheek.

"Ji Yong-ah, you've been through a lot," Bom said to the sleeping Ji Yong. "But you never showed it. You always have a smile on your face as if everything's happy. Why?"

The whole time Bom waited for Seunghyun to arrive, she never let go of Ji Yong's hand.

~~

The drive to Seunghyun's house was silent. He arrived in a chaffeur driven luxury car exactly ten minutes after he received Bom's call. He found  Bom and Ji Yong on the swing set. Ji Yong was unconscious while Bom crouched near him holding his hand. The black car silently turned to a driveway of a large mansion not far away from their school. Bom's eyes widened as she stared at the ornate mansion.

"This is Ji Yong's house?" Bom asked as the driver opened the door for her.

"Aniyo," Seunghyun answered as he got out of the car. Bom helped him to position Ji Yong for a piggyback ride on Seunghyun's back. "This is my house but Ji Yong has been staying with us ever since…" Seunghyun glanced at Bom before he continued. "With his father…"

Bom nodded and understood what he meant. Seunghyun adjusted Ji Yong's position as he led the way to his room on the second floor. Bom could see in the way Seunghyun talked and acted that he genuinely cares for his best friend. He stopped at the door on the left and turned the knob.

"He told you?" Seunghyun asked as he slowly plopped Ji Yong to his bed.

"Ne." Bom answered then looked at Seunghyun. "Seunghyun-ssi, gomawo. Ji Yong is lucky to have someone like you"

"No problem, sunbae. I'll leave you too alone for a while." He said with a smile and closed the door behind him.

Bom found a small towel and soaked it in cold water. She squeezed it dry and used it to wipe Ji Yong's forehead. She also adjusted his comforter so he would get additional warmth. Bom saw that he was still wearing his school uniform. By instinct, she was about to his top so he could get change but she stopped.

"Aisshhh, am I doing." She thought. Bom sat on the floor next to the bed and watched him sleep. She checked the time on her wristwatch.

8:16.

"Omo, my parents must be worried. I need to go." she thought as she stood up. But she heard Ji Yong groaned. She looked back at him.

"Did he just say 'noona'?" Bom thought.

"Don't go. Stay here.. don't leave me Bom-ah." the sleeping Ji Yong muttered in his sleep.

~~

double update <3 GBOM moments and even more to come next chapter, promise!

i'm feeling inspired today to write about GBOM <3 actuallyyyy, tomorrow's my birthday (^.<)~

and a shameless plug but I just released a new GBOM fan fic entitled "I Found Your Cat"

You can read it [ h e r e ] if you're interested.

and lastly thank you to everyone who read, commented and subscribed to My Addiction!