Junhyung and I first met in kindergarten. He was only a couple of inches taller than me, with smooth black hair and mysterious eyes. 

His house was two houses away from mine, and I would often visit with my parents, who soon became best friends with his.

At that time, I had disregarded his prescence. What was the point of becoming friends with such a peculiar and quiet kid anyway?

And so my kindergarten days went. I easily made friends in my new class, and the teacher loved me. Everything was perfect.

Until that one fateful day.

It turned out that even though I could easily make friends in my new class, it didn't necessarily mean that everyone liked me. I hadn't noticed before, when Bora had a birthday party that everyone except for me had gone to, or that the frog placed in my bag was intentionally put there, or when all of my books were ripped up, that people disliked me. At that time, I was too busy absorbing my so called "popularity". Besides, we were kindergarteners then. Kindergarteners couldn't be that cruel, could they?

Then one Thursday afternoon, school was over, and Eunjung was talking to all the girls in the class. I overheard what she was saying, and wanted to join in after I finished packing up my backpack.

"This Saturday, my mommy said I could have a birthday party. Do you guys want to come?" Many of the girls nodded with eager smiles on their faces.

"That's so cool!"

"I remember your house, it's so big!"

"And your mom is so nice!"

"I can't wait, hehe!"

"It sounds cool! Can I come too?"

And suddenly...

Silence. 

I noticed the girls looking at me, then at Eunjung. 

I glanced at Eunjung, and what I had seen was a mix of disgust and irritation on her face as she said,

"Sorry Hara... I don't know you that well, since you know, you only moved here a couple of weeks ago..."

And with that, she shuffled a little to one side, and the rest of the girls followed her, closing into a circle so I couldn't enter, and they continued chatting. As if I wasn't there.

And that was when I understood.

They didn't like me. 

I had scurried out the door of the classroom, clutching the straps of my backpack tightly as I ran and ran and ran, until I arrived at the playground. I plopped down on the swing, and attempted to wipe the tears out of my eyes.

How could they be so mean?

I also didn't notice when three boys came up to me, their shadows looming over my shaking body.

"Hey, what's this little girl doing here?"

"Look! She's crying."

"Such a crybaby"

"My little sister is like that too; girls always cry"

"They're such babies"

And my tears just kept falling and falling, and it felt like I would never run out of tears; like these boys would never leave, and would never stop trying to hurt me like those stupid girls in class.

"Stop being stupid. Just go away."

The voice shocked me, and I moved my hands to see someone's back standing in front of me. The boys had disgusted looks on their faces, just like Eunjung's, but they listened and ran away.

"Are you okay?"

The words I had longed to hear.

I didn't say anything afterwards, just took his hand that was reaching out to me and let him carry my backpack and walk me home.

And I still remember; I remember the warmth of his hand that was tighly wrapped around mine.