AN: Hi guys~ Well, this is it. Now that I realize, 'The Old Swing' or 'The Haunted Swing' would have been more fitting titles xD Whatever xD

 

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A small boy was walking around the playground happily. If anyone would have asked his name, his answer would have been 'I am Kim Jonghyun, 8 years old.' with a proud smile on his face. He was really happy that finally he was 'grown-up'. He wasn't a 7-year-old baby anymore. No, he was an 8-year-old 'man', who would have to start working soon. Or at least that's what he thought. He decided to go to the swings since those were his favorite, but he had to pout sadly when he noticed that all of them were occupied by laughing children, who were obviously younger than him. Jonghyun knew that he shouldn't make the leave. It would have been rude. So he decided to go into the back of the playground. He knew that there was an old swing there that no one really used anymore. Of course, it wasn't as cool and colorful as the others, but it was better than nothing. 

 

 Some kid told him that that particular part of the playground was haunted, and no one played there anymore, but he wasn't afraid of things like that anymore. He was 8 years old, he wasn't a baby anymore.  Also, he really, really wanted to play on the swings. He walked there slowly, noticing how the grass changed seemed to change into sand once he walked behind the bushed that hid the 'haunted' playground. What he saw there though, made him sigh in annoyance.

 

He noticed a small boy, sitting on the old swing. He was swinging slowly back and forth. Jonghyun wanted the swing, of course, but something about the little boy stopped him from asking for it.

 

 The little boy was around Jonghyun's age, or maybe a bit younger, with short, dark hair  that was a bit greasy and dirty. 'He must have played in the dirt...'Jonghyun thought innocently. He didn't know that the little boy wasn't dirty because of playing. But how could have he known? His umma made him take a long bath every single night. As much as ha hated them (or was it childish rebellion against his umma?), he knew that he had to do it. He never met people who didn't have the choice to bath. He slowly walked closer to the swing and looked at the little boy more closely. He was very small, even smaller than himself, and it made Jonghyun proud. Of course, since he was the shortest in his class. 

 

But the little boy wasn't only shorter than Jonghyun. He was much skinnier too. His old, dirty clothes looked like they were twice, or even three times his size. Jonghyun thought that they must have been his play-clothes, so his real clothes wouldn't get dirty. 

 

The other boy dug his bare feet into the sand as he swung back and forth, sighing sadly. Only then did Jonghyun noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes. 'You're going to catch a cold.'he blurted out as he walked in front of the boy and stopped the swing. 'You should put on your shoes, even in the sand...'he added. The little boy flinched and stared up at Jonghyun with huge, cat-like eyes. 

 

'Eh?' he asked, tilting his head to the right. Jonghyun didn't know, but the little boy didn't know what shoes were. He only understood the first part of what Jonghyun had told him. 

 

'Your shoes... You're not wearing them.'Jonghyun dragged out the sentence, thinking that the boy just couldn't hear what he told him. The little boy blinked and pointed at Jonghyun's shoes timidly.

 

'Shoes?'he asked softly. He reminded Jonghyun of a kitten or a baby. He wasn't sure which, or maybe both, but he nodded. 

 

'Yes. Where are yours? I can bring them to you...'he said. The little boy giggled softly, the sound strangely sad.

 

'I don't have 'shoes'.' The boy answered, not really understand why he needed to wear shoes so much. Jonghyun chuckled, thinking that he was kidding. But the little boy looked serious.

 

'Oh...' Jonghyun mumbled after a few minutes of awkward silence. 'My name is Jonghyun.'he said suddenly, his face lighting up.'And I am 8 years old.'he added brightly.

 

'I'm Kibum.'the little boy, or Kibum answered, a timid smile gracing his pale lips. Jonghyun slowly took off his own shoes and smiled at Kibum. 

 

'Now, if you catch a cold, I will too...'Jonghyun said simply. This made the other boy giggle as he slipped off the swing slowly. For a moment, Jonghyun wanted to sit on it quickly, but somehow, he was more curious about Kibum. 'So, how old are you?'he asked as he followed the tiny boy. Kibum looked back at him. After some counting in his head, he shrugged.

 

'Dunno...'He said softly. Jonghyun was taken aback. How could he not know how old he was? Jonghyun thought that all kids were like him, proud of how old they were.

 

'What?'he asked softly. Kibum just shrugged. 'And... where do you live?' he asked after some time. Kibum pointed at the other side of the playground.

 

'That way.'he said. Jonghyun nodded and smiled. 'Do you live with your umma and appa?'he asked, glad that he could learn at least a small fact about the boy. 

 

'Only my umma.'Kibum replied softly. His face was really sad as he kicked into a small stone, not even wincing when it cut his toes. He was used to it already.

 

'Oh...'Jonghyun said after a few minutes of silence. He didn't know how could someone live with only their umma. To him, living without his appa seemed impossible. 'I live with my parents and my noona. They are really kind.'he said softly. Kibum nodded a bit, then turned to Jonghyun.

 

'I have to go.'he said softly.'Umma will look for me soon.'he said. Jonghyun nodded, he had to go home as well. It wasn't late, but it was much colder than before. The boy noticed that Kibum was shivering a bit. 

 

'Will you come tomorrow, too?'Jonghyun asked him. Kibum nodded and smiled softly before running off.

 

'What a weird kid...'Jonghyun thought. 'I bet he'll ask his umma how old he is...'he added in thought as he walked home slowly. He was really happy that his umma let him go to the playground alone. Or at least without her or his appa since his friends were there with him. But he walked home completely alone. It was a short walk, only about five minutes long, and you couldn't have missed his house since it was really big, but to him, it was a big thing. 

 

He wondered if Kibum was eight too, because he went home alone. Or maybe his umma came to pick him up, and Jonghyun just couldn't see her. He wasn't sure.

 

After he got home, he did his homework and played some videogames before dinner. His parents weren't home yet, which was a bit strange, but he didn't really care about it. His noona was there, so nothing could be wrong, right?

 

At dinner, his parents seemed to be in a bad mood. He didn't understand why. Usually, they would laugh and talk happily during the meal, but this time, it was different. And he didn't like this different dinner.

 

'I met a boy today.'he said out of the blue as he was eating his pasta slowly.'His name is Kibum and he doesn't know how old he is...'he said, his mouth still half-full of the food. Normally, his umma would have scolded him, but this time she just looked at him sadly. 'And he didn't have shoes...'he added, wanting his umma to say something, but she didn't.He hated that day. He knew that something bad must have happened, but he didn't know what.

 

 The next day, he went to the playground again. He ran to the swing that was in the back, the haunted one and grinned when he saw Kibum on it. The little boy's head perked up when he heard Jonghyun's hurried footsteps and he turned to smile at him. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before, but this time, they were even dirtier.

 

Watching Kibum swing slowly, Jonghyun realized something. The other boy was different. He wasn't smiling, he wasn't laughing. He just sat there, a sad look in his eyes. 

 

When he went home, he could hear faint voices coming from the living room. He knew that eavesdropping wasn't nice, but even his 8-year-old mind could understand that something was wrong and he wanted to know what it was.

 

'The poor boy... He couldn't have been older than seven...'he heard his umma's soft voice. She was crying.

 

'But he is in a better place now, honey...'his appa said. His voice too, was hoarse.'What that woman has done wasn't... good. But he isn't suffering anymore...' Jonghyun was confused. He had no idea who his parents were talking about. For a moment, he thought of Kibum but he shrugged the idea off. Kibum was well, he had just seen him.

 

'But still. His own mother had killed him...'his umma whispered. Jonghyun did know what kill was, he had heard the word on the TV numerous times, and he wasn't stupid, but he didn't understand why would someone kill their child. To Jonghyun, who lived in a perfect world, it seemed absurd.

 

He walked into the living room. His parents were sitting on the couch, hugging each other tightly. 'Umma...'he whispered. 

 

Both their heads snapped up and they stared at him with widened eyes.'Baby, why are you here?'his umma asked shakily.

 

'I heard that you were talking about a bad woman...'he said slowly, not really knowing why he was there. All he knew that the something bad was even worse than he thought.

 

'It's nothing, sweetie.' his mom said, smiling at him weakly. 'Now, go upstairs and study or you can't go out with your friends tomorrow...'she said. Jonghyun jumped a bit and ran upstairs. He wanted to go out because he wanted to see Kibum. 

 

But he didn't. When he went to the old swing the next day, the small, skinny boy wasn't there. And he wasn't there on the next day either. 

 

Jonghyun slowly started to put the pieces together. He went to his umma and asked him if the boy who was killed was Kibum. But his umma said no. He told him that Kibum and his umma moved to a much nicer town. 

 

Only years later did Jonghyun find out what happened. The boy, Kim Kibum was seven, just as he thought. He was homeless, living with his mother after his father passed away. That's why he was so sad whenever Jonghyun said something about living with both of his parents. 

 

Kibum was murdered by his own mother. After killing him, the woman seemed to realize what she had done and killed herself. A couple of homeless people found their corpses. 

 

They were buried in the local cemetery. Jonghyun could only hope that wherever Kibum was, he was happy. For years, he would go to the cemetery and visit the boy's grave. He couldn't forget him.

 

Many, many years later a small, puppy-like eyed boy was running around the playground with his friends. His appa was watching him, but he was thinking of something else. He was thinking of the little boy he met many, many years ago.

 

Jonghyun's life seemed perfect from the outside. He had a loving wife and a beautiful son. They were pretty wealthy, and they lived in a huge house that had enough room for three other children. 

 

But Jonghyun could never be completely happy. Whenever he thought of Kibum, and it happened a lot, his chest would tighten and he would feel miserable. His life was never perfect, because even though he had everything, there were people who had nothing. He was happy, but not as happy as others. He barely knew Kibum, but the boy taught him that not everything was perfect. That people were cruel. 

 

There were times, when his wife and son were asleep, and Jonghyun would sneak out. He would go to the old swing, and sit on it. He would dig his toes into the sand like Kibum used to. And he would cry... Cry until he remembered that Kibum was at a better place now. 

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Well, that's it :D

I know it seems a bit confusing, but there are two possibilities of what happened :Kibum was already dead when Jonghyun 'met' him, so the other only saw his ghost (that'd explain why his parents were sad at dinner)