From the moment they'd met, when they were just little kids in kindergarten, Hankyung knew Heechul was different. He simply wasn't like the rest of the children in their class. It didn't bother him though, not in the slightest. It more intrigued him, forcing him to wonder as to why exactly Heechul was different, why he would sit by himself at recess and literally not say a word all day. 

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining with only a brisk breeze, so the teacher allowed them to go outside for recess instead of being forced inside the dim, dusty classroom. The children were ecstatic -- jumping on monkey bars and pushing each other on swings. 

Hankyung was a boy with not very many friends. He tried to make friends, but the other kids simply seemed uninterested, giving him a mere "hello" and moving on. As a result of his lack of social interaction, he spent that day walking around the playground twiddling his thumbs. He din't have much else to do. As he walked past a giant oak tree he noticed a boy, one who he learned was called Heechul, sitting under it's shade, with a book that Hankyung thought he couldn't possibly be reading because it was too big. He must've been pretending to seem smarter. 

Deciding he really had nothing better to do, he sat down next to the boy, who looked at him with a start. "Hi," he waved, half expecting him to run off by his unsure demeanor. "W-what are you reading?"

Heechul still looked scared out of his little wits, and promptly covered his face with his hands. Curiously, Hankyung wondered what that even accomplished. It's not like just by covering your face you could disappear, so doing that in an unfavorable situation seemed to make no sense. Nevertheless Heechul looked upset so, as his mother always taught him to do when people were sad, he tried to console him. 

"Don't be scared," he said, slowly and softly. Heechul separated his fingers just enough to look through them, right at Hankyung. "I'm not mean, I swear!" Heechul removed his hands from his face with uncertainty, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and caution. "What book are you reading?"

Heechul silently lifted up his book off the grass, showing Hankyung a cover with words he could not make out. But, to save his five year old pride, he nodded as if he understood completely, adding, "That's a good one."

The two spent the rest of recess together under the tree, Hankyung doing all the talking as he discussed a book his mother had read to him the night before, about pirates going on adventures and stealing treasure. Heechul didn't talk much at all, but he sure was a good listener. 

Kindergarten came and went. Nap time was replaced by arithmetic in first grade, finger painting by learning how to read and write. Since their encounter at the oak tree, Hankyung had kind of stuck around Heechul. Heechul seemed to be the only person that would more or less tolerate his presence, so he ran with it. Heechul never did really speak, even when Hankyung asked him what sort of game he wanted to play at recess or what snack they wanted to share at lunch. It puzzled Hankyung, but as long as he had something akin to a friend, it didn't matter in the slightest. 

In second grade, a social ladder developed amongst the students. Suddenly they were no longer equals. Some were seen as better than the others, but for what reason Hankyung didn't know. Nonetheless, Hankyung remained uninterested, and therefor at the bottom of this ladder with Heechul. 

"Heechul, can you pass me that marker?" Hankyung asked, needing the perfect shade of blue to color in his under the sea project. 

"Sure," Heechul replied unexpectedly, handing Hankyung the marker and returning to his own work.

A teacher immediately looked their way upon hearing Heechul's voice, and walked over to them, trying to be as friendly as possible which only turned out to be scary looking. 

"Heechul," she said slowly, grin on her face. "What did you say?"

Heechul's eyes widened, and Hankyung noticed his fingers were fidgeting, getting ready to come up to his face at any moment. 

"If you repeat that word," the teacher said. "I can give you a sticker. Would you like a sticker?"

Heechul's hands shot up to his face as if in defense, probably to get the teacher to just go away, Hankyung thought. The teacher sighed, getting up and muttering, "We almost had a breakthrough."

After the teacher had left and returned to her desk, Hankyung put a hand on Heechul's shoulder. "She's gone now. You can open your eyes." Heechul did so, looked around to make sure everything was clear, and smiled at Hankyung.  What an odd kid, he thought.

After that day, Hankyung always tried to get Heechul to speak. He asked a lot of questions and left enough space for an answer, yet he rarely got a spoken one. It didn't particularly bother him that Heechul didn't speak. He really just wanted to hear his voice some more because it was interesting, maybe even pretty. Hankyung didn't exactly know why, but he just wanted to hear it again. 

When the end of elementary school rolled around, the kids started to take advantage of Heechul's differences. 

"Why doesn't he talk? He must be stupid."

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"Hey, idiot! Speak up!"

Heechul didn't seem to mind. He would just walk away, brush it off. It was Hankyung who took offense at their words because this was his friend they were talking about. So what if he didn't like to talk? He was still great at playing games and listening to stories and reading, and he was a great friend.

Middle school began, and by the time they were fourteen Hankyung realized something that sort of shocked himself. Heechul was really pretty. He had long hair that framed his face and eyes that sparkled that Hankyung liked to stare at, although when Heechul caught him staring he'd giggle.

Hankyung had taken quite a liking to Heechul's house. He'd been visiting since third grade, and Heechul's mother was very kind, always giving him food and asking him how his day was. She was a very kind woman who greeted them both with hugs on the days where they walked to Heechul's house after school.

"Hankyung," she said one day while Heechul wasn't in the room. "You do know... what makes Heechul different, right?"

Hankyung raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose he doesn't talk much, but other than that, no."

She smiled sadly and took his hand. "Heechul has something called Autism, do you know what that is?" Hankyung shook his head. "It's something he was born with. He sees the world differently than you and me. His brain works a little differently, so that's why he acts a little strange. Does that make sense to you?"

Hankyung didn't really understand, but he shook his head anyway and she smiled.

The next few days he thought about that. Was this a disease? Could Heechul die from this? That didn't bear thinking about, so he shoved those thoughts away and did some research online. To his relief, he found that this wasn't deadly and actually, quite a few people had this. Hankyung was surprised he hadn't come across someone with Autism before, according to the statistics.

On Heechul's fifteenth birthday, his mother had called to invite him over for a little get together. She said Heechul was so excited, spending the whole day cleaning his room and the rest of the house awaiting people's arrival. Hankyung asked who was coming, and his mother said that other than some family friends, only him. 

The day of the party Hankyung entered the house, wrapped present in hand (he'd put a lot of thought into his gift). Although he walked in expecting at least a few other people, it was only Heechul and his mother. Despite the emptiness of the house, Heechul smiled at him and ran over to hug him, almost knocking Hankyung over. They both laughed as they hugged, Heechul saying softly in his ear, "Thank you." The two simple words sent chills down his spine.

When the time came to open the present Hankyung got him, Heechul's mother squealed in pleasant surprise. "What a splendid idea!'

"It's a notebook set," he said, passing the book to Heechul. "So instead of hoping other people can guess what you want to say, you can just write it down!"

Heechul smiled and opened the notebook, writing something down with the pen that came with the book. When he was finished, he showed it to Hankyung.

You're my best friend.

Highschool began, and what they were told would be the greatest years of their lives turned out to be some of the hardest. 

During lunch, Heechul and Hankyung usually sat together every day, so Heechul not being there was quite unusual. Hankyung waited and waited, and maybe got a little worried, until he saw his friend walk into the cafeteria.

"Hey!" he said, smiling until he saw Heechul's facial expression. "What's wrong?"

Looking on the verge of tears, Heechul grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him through the hallway to the nearest empty bathroom, pulling his notebook out of his bag and and scribbling furiously. Hankyung thought the pen might just go through the paper.

Hurt my feelings.

"Who hurt your feelings, Heechul?" he asked, worried.

People in math. They called me names and made me upset.

Heechul had tears  streaming down his cheeks now, so Hankyung pulled him into a hug, hoping to make him feel at least a tad bit secure. Heechul cried into his neck, gripping the cloth of  Hankyung's uniform jacket tightly, as if he would slip away if he didn't hold on tight enough. 

Heechul slept over Hankyung's that night, which wasn't uncommon. It also wasn't uncommon for Hankyung's arm to be around him, Heechul's head resting on his chest. They were simply close. 

"Heechul," he said, and Heechul looked up at him. "What did those kids call you? In math, I mean."

Heechul sighed and picked up the notebook that was beside him at all times.

Retard. 

To say Hankyung was angry was an understatement. From the moment Heechul was crying in his arm's he'd wanted to go up to those bullies and beat the crap out of them, but for now, he settled for running his fingers through Heechul's hair, Heechul's really soft hair. 

"You're not a retard," he muttered quietly against his hair. "You're not anything those people call you."

Heechul soon fell asleep in his arms. 

Heechul's last period was history, and Hankyung's last period, science, was right down the hall, so they would usually meet up in the hallway between their classes so they could walk home together but today, today was different. Walking down the hall, he heard things coming from the history room he didn't ever want to hear. He ran to the door and peered inside. 

"Your boyfriend's not here to protect you, is he?" a kid said, one much taller than Heechul. Heechul backed up against the wall, fear evident on his face. 

"So not only are you a retard," said another kid. "But a , too. You really are a waste of a human being!" He pushed Heechul against the brick, Heechul wincing in pain. 

Hankyung couldn't take it anymore. He knew Heechul could take care of himself, but this was crossing the line. He stormed into the room, grabbing the kid that pushed Heechul by the back of his shirt and pulling him away.

"Oh look," said the tall one. "Your boyfriend's here to save the day after all!"

"Shut up," said Hankyung through his teeth. 

"Is that all you have to say? Did you catch some of your boyfriend's retarded? Didn't know it was contagious."

That tore it. Hankyung pulled his fist back, getting ready to punch the kid square in the face until he heard a yell. 

"Hankyung! Stop!"

He turned around to look at Heechul, who was vigorously shaking his head with his hands over his face, something he hadn't seem him do since elementary school. 

"Get out of here," he growled to the two bullies. "Get out of here before I kick both your asses, clear?" Looking a little afraid of what Hankyung might do, they quickly left the classroom, leaving it empty except for Heechul and Hankyung, door shutting behind them as they left. 

Once they were alone, Heechul broke down into sobs, running into Hankyung's arms. "Heechul, don't cry," he begged, He hated seeing Heechul cry because he so rarely did. When Heechul cried it felt like the world itself was ending. "Please, Heechul." 

Heechul said something that sounded like "can't" between sobs. 

Hankyung put a hand on his chin, propping his face up so they met each other's eyes. "If you don't stop crying, i'll start to cry, too." And that was true; he felt his own eyes tearing up. 

Heechul looked at him and slowly wrapped his arms around Hankyung's neck, inching his face closer. His eyes were uncertain, but he moved closer until their foreheads were touching. 

Hankyung's heart was beating so fast he was sure Heechul could hear it as Heechul gently put his lips against his. 

Heechul pulled away quickly, looking at him as if asking if he'd crossed some sort of line. Hankyung stared back at him and in that moment, all his feelings began to make sense. It only took him that little kiss to make sense of what he'd always been feeling. He'd always known he'd felt something for Heechul, he'd just never known what that thing was. But now, as he looked into Heechul's eyes and threaded their fingers together, he knew it must've been, or something akin to, love.

The next night when Hankyung slept over Heechul's, they lay in bed together, Heechul as safe and secure as he'd ever be in Hankyung's arms. Alright, fine. Hankyung will admit that they kissed a little, but who wouldn't?

In the morning Hankyung looked at the palm of his hand, and written in black ink were three words.

I love you.