“Mom, I thought you already put these on the trash or something?”

It’s Jiyong’s three-day vacation from work and he decides to stay in Korea and just visit his parent’s house. It has been ages since the last time he visited their old house. Christmas? New Year?  Chuseok? He can no longer remember exactly when. He misses his mom’s cooking so much that even if he was offered to go out of country for this vacation, he chose to stay behind.

He’s currently at his old room full of toys and children’s stuffs. It’s like he never aged at all. He went across one toy which caught his attention. All these times he thought these things were already thrown away or donated at charities. All these times he thought he’ll never see this particular toy again. But knowing his own mother, he figured she thought they’re of value to him that she even went as far as to keep all of the toys squeaky clean.

He was sickly when he was a kid. He never got the chance to play outside along with the rest of the kids around their neighborhood. He always ended up hanging around with his sister who always played with scissors and needles. Seeing her cut and sew as a kid changed him as Kwon Jiyong, a famous Fashion Designer.

Who would have thought that playing with his sister will turn him the way he is? Even their own parents were shocked when he chose to enter fashion in college. They expected him to plead to them to let him enter music school. They expected him to ask them to let him do other things but not this. But they’re proud of his achievements. They are proud that he got what he wants. And they’re happy that he even decides to visit them even if he’s so busy with his new life.

“Well, that’s for you to decide dear. Until you tell me to chuck these cute stuffs on the garbage bin, it’ll all stay here and I will keep on cleaning them.” His mom sits on the edge of his bed as she examines a worn out panda plush in front of her son.

“Oh look! Seungri’s still here. It’s been a while since I last saw you!” He picks up the worn out but clean panda plush and pats it as if it’s alive.

“But of course! I told you dear, I will not remove anything from this room unless you ask me to. Besides, whenever I look at these things, I feel like I am back to the days when you were still a kid. How cute you were back then.” Her mom motions for him to sit beside him on the bed.

“Yeah I remember too, mom. Remember when I first snuck out of the house to play with the other kids on the street?” His eyes are focused on the plush as he reminisces his childhood days.

[FLASHBACK]

“Hello! Can I play with you?” Young Kwon JIyong asks a few kids who were playing basketball in the court near his house.

“You’re the kid from that big house right?” One kid asks with curiosity.

“Yes.”

“You can’t play with us.” Another kid states firmly as he tightens his grip on the ball.

“Why not?” Jiyong asks as he attempts to stop himself from tearing up.

“You’re that sick kid. We don’t want to play with you!” The same kid who have the ball on his hand screams and runs away from poor young Jiyong dragging the rest of the kids away with him.

---

“Why don’t they want to play with me?” He questions himself loudly as he sits himself on a park bench.

“Hello, can I sit with you?” A shabby looking boy with a plush panda asks him.

“...” Young Jiyong didn’t say a thing, his eyes still glued on the ground.

“Are you crying?” The kid sits himself right next to young Jiyong and offers his small hanky to him.

“Thanks...” Young Jiyong accepts the offer and wipes his eyes dry with the small cloth.

“It’s ok.”

“It’s rude of me to accept your hanky when I haven’t introduced myself. I’m-“

“-Kwon Jiyong. You’re Kwon Jiyong who lives in that big house over there.” The kid points to his right where young Jiyong’s house is located.

“How did you know about me?” He asks the kid whom he has never seen before.

“My mother is a friend of your mother. And the reason why you don’t see me is because like you, I don’t go out that much.” He smiles as he looks at the trees in front of them.

“Oh.”

“I’m Lee Seunghyun.” He stretches his arms for a small handshake which the other kid gladly takes.

“And this is my panda stuffed toy, Seungri. He’s my friend, my companion, the most important thing in my life.” Young Seunghyun sticks out the stuffed toy’s fluffy arms toward young Jiyong.

“Seungri? Wow, you named your panda as “Victory”. Cool! Can you tell me more of your toy then?” Jiyong asks as he gives the stuffed toy a good look.

“I’ll tell you about him some other time. But let me just say we’re glad to finally meet you.”

“Nice meeting both of you.” He gently nudges the stuffed toy’s arms as his face lit up in a smile.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

“I wish I can go back to those days when I used to play with Seunghyun. I wish he can see how I’ve been now.” Tears start to flow as more memories of his childhood come back to him in flashes.

[FLASHBACK]

“Look at that kid! He’s a boy but he plays with stupid girls’ stuffed toys!” A group of kid advances toward them. All of them are sneering at Jiyong and Seunghyun who were playing with the swings on the other side of the park.

“Don’t mind them.” Jiyong tries to divert Seunghyun’s attention by swinging his own seat harder.

The group of kids halts Seunghyun’s swing from moving. The moment it stops from moving, the biggest kid pushed Seunghyun off his seat while the other kid takes Seungri from him.

“Yah! What do you think you’re doing?! Leave them alone!” Jiyong presses his feet on the ground slowing his own swing down. He jumps off and runs toward Seunghyun as soon as he can.

He helps Seunghyun up who’s curled on the ground. He’s bleeding on his knees which are the result of being pushed off the swing.

When Seunghyun manages to stand up by himself, Jiyong immediately grabs the toy’s left arm and pulls it away from the kid who took it from Seunghyun. But another kid manages to snatch Seungri’s other arm.

“Give Seungri back!”

“No!”

“Give it here!” Jiyong screams, his hands tightly holding onto the plush’s arm tugging on it with all his remaining strength.

He pulls so hard that it ripped the toy’s right arm from its body.

“It’s no longer worth it. Let’s go.” The bullies set out one by one without even apologizing to them. The kid who ripped the stuffed toy throws the thing at them and runs off toward the rest of his peers.

Seunghyun looks at his stuffed toy with tears streaming down his face.

“Seungri, I’m so sorry. I’m a bad friend. I wasn’t able to protect you.”

Seunghyun hugs the now torn Seungri to his chest as he sob beside Jiyong.

Jiyong stands up from his place and sticks out his hand in front of Seunghyun.

“Come with me.”

“W-what? W-where?” Seunghyun fumbles for words to say but he can’t think properly. All he cares about now is his favorite stuffed toy, the toy which is the most valuable thing for him. He couldn’t care less even if he’s bleeding. All he wants is to see Seungri in its old form again.

“Just come with me, please? Everything will be alright.” Jiyong takes one of Seunghyun’s hands and pulls him up and they left the park hand in hand.

---

“Mom! Can you help Seunghyun please?” Jiyong brings them to his house. It’s the first time he brings Seunghyun there and the latter is stunned by the beauty of the Kwon mansion.

Although Jiyong mentions Seunghyun to his family, of how fun it is to hang out with the other boy, they have never seen his good friend Seunghyun before.

“Seunghyun, sit here for a while. Mom will fix your wounds for you. And can I borrow Seungri for a while?” Jiyong ushers Seunghyun to the house’s lavish living room as the kid hands him Seungri.

“Oh God! What happened to you kids?” Jiyong’s mother runs down the elegant staircase, her eyes fixed on Seunghyun.

“Mom, can you help my friend Seunghyun out? And where’s nuna?” Jiyong stride toward the stairs as her mom descends from it.

“She’s in her room Jiyong dear. Are you hurt? Did you get bullied outside? Oh dear....” Her mom hugs him the moment they reach each other.

“Mom, I’m not hurt. I’m fine. Seunghyun isn’t. His knees are wounded.” Jiyong escapes from his mom’s tight grip on him. Mrs. Kwon let him go and goes straight to the new kid who’s sitting on one of their expensive loveseat, his knees gushing out with his own blood.

“Oh dear! Someone get me the first aide kit in here!” Jiyong hears her mom’s scream as he quickly climbs up the staircase.

---

Young Jiyong did not waste any more time and goes off to his sister’s room.

“Nuna! There you are! Can I borrow your sewing kit?” He places the torn plush on the floor as he asks Kwon Dami to help her out.

“Dear brother, what’s the matter? Your clothes are dirtied! What happened?”

“I’m fine but I need to fix these.” Jiyong points at the thing on the floor.

“Alright, I’ll fix them for you.” She’s about to pick the toy up but Jiyong interfered.

“No, I should be the one to fix them. I promised Seunghyun everything will be alright...”

Dami caught a tear fall from his brother’s eye and that’s when she knows what to do. That’s when she realizes that she can only look after him but she can never interfere with his business. That this is his thing and that the best thing to do as his older sister is to support him on whatever it is he needs to do.

---

“Are you feeling better now, dear? Does it still hurt? You want me to rush you to the hospital?” Mrs. Kwon bombards the boy with questions after questions as she examines him from head to toe for unseen injuries.

“I-I-I’m okay now, Mrs. Kwon. T-T-Thank you very much for your kindness, ma’am.” Seunghyun’s lost for words as the beautiful Mrs. Kwon patch him up.

“You’re welcome, dear. You’re my son’s only friend and I am responsible for both of your safety. So then, are you hungry?” She sits beside Seunghyun with her hand on top of his. Seunghyun feels safe. It’s like he’s beside his own mother. Seunghyun can feel the warmth of Mrs. Kwon and the concern she have for him.

“If you don’t want to eat, tell me what happened then.”

“Well, we were playing at the park and then....”

---

“You need to make two major stitches on both ends so the arm will be held in its place.” Dami commands his younger brother as the latter tries to stitch the arm back to its body.

“I can do this.” Jiyong continues to stitch the arm as perfect as he can pricking himself with the needle several times in the process.

“Yes you can. After all those times you kept on bugging me while I sew...”

---

“...so that’s what happened, ma’am...” He concludes, his eyes glued on the floor.

“Oh, those kids!  I’ll talk to their mothers so no one will bully you and Jiyong anymore.” A warm smile erupts her pretty face as she pat the kid’s shoulders for comfort.

“Thank you again Mrs. Kwon.”

“I told you, it’s alright. I’ll do anything for my kid’s friends. Anyway, I’ll get you something to eat. Wait for me here and don’t force yourself to move too much. Your knees are still injured. Later we’ll call your parents so they can pick you up.” She stands up and ruffs Seunghyun’s hair. He watches her retreat to a room on the left.

As he waits patiently, he thinks back on what is happening. He wants to search the house for Jiyong. He doesn’t want to be alone in this house. He feels uncomfortable sitting all by himself without his toy with him.

As Seunghyun’s eyes ganders the interior of the mansion, the world around him starts to swirl. He feels his heart beat rise in his chest. He feels it pounding so hard. He feels his chest tighten and his head erupts in a splitting headache. He knows perfectly what this is. After all, he spends his entire life battling this illness.

“Why now? No, not now please.”

---

A loud thud is heard from the ground floor and a loud cry for help erupts from their mother’s mouth.

“Mom!” Dami and Jiyong immediately run toward the balustrade to see their mother on her knees as she tries to wake Seunghyun who they assume passed out on the floor, a plateful of food clutters beside their mom. Jiyong throws the stuffed toy on the floor as he runs toward his mom and friend.

“Seunghyun!”

“Someone get the car ready, we’ll go to the hospital!”

“Seunghyun! Wake up!”

“You need to stay here Jiyong. I’ll bring your friend to the hospital.”

“No! I’ll go with you!”

“But-“


“Let him come with you, mom. I’ll go too.” Dami descends the stairs as quickly as she can as she holds the almost repaired stuffed toy in her hands.

---

“Sorry, but he’s dead. He died of cardiac arrest. Apparently, Seunghyun is diagnosed with Con Heart Disease when he was a kid and he’s been visiting this hospital ever since. He also has symptoms of previous attacks but he seems to be keeping it to himself.” The doctor explains to Seunghyun’s mother who came half an hour after Mrs. Kwon brought the kid to the hospital.

Jiyong cries his eyes out in the corner hugging the stuffed toy as tight as he can. He feels so sad that the only friend he have in his entire life is now dead.  He feels it’s his fault for asking him to play outside instead of staying at home. He feels responsible for his death. He should have asked his mom to bring them to the hospital instead of just asking her to fix his wounds. Or if they just played somewhere else, this might not have happened.

 He blames himself. He blames himself for not knowing his own friend’s health condition. They’ve been playing for months and he never questioned him whenever he can’t come out to play. He doesn’t know that in those times, Seunghyun’s actually hospitalized. Seunghyun doesn’t want Jiyong to worry so he keeps it to himself. He keeps lying about his whereabouts to Jiyong who’s been waiting for him to hang out together again.

But now, he doesn’t have to wait because no one will come anymore. Seunghyun left him forever and he wants to scream at Seunghyun for leaving him and Seungri behind, for not being careful of his health, for not even bothering to tell him that he’s sick. He wants to punch Seunghyun in the face for doing this to him. But no matter how much he wants to punish him for doing this, there’s no point. He’s gone and he will not comeback.

---

“Jiyong?” Mrs Lee sits beside Jiyong after Seunghyun’s cremation.

“...”

“I want you to keep Seunghyun's stuffed toy for me.” Mrs. Lee speaks holding Seunghyun’s urn closer to her chest.

“But Mrs. Lee, I...”

“I’m not blaming you for his death. No one is. My son’s been sick ever since he was born. We know something like this will happen. He even knows it himself.” Seunghyun’s mom starts to tear up as she speaks about her late son.

“You know why I don’t stop him from playing outside even if the doctors told me not to let him out that much? Seunghyun told me that he’s lonely. He’s my only son and he’s sick. And I told him about you. About the fact that you’re sick too and that both of you are still lucky no matter how bad both of your health are. I told him that you still smile and that you still play even if you’re just indoors. I told him what your mom tells me about you.” She stifles her sobs. It hurts to talk about this now but she knows Seunghyun would want her to share his story to his best friend, the story that he could never speak of himself now that he’s gone off to a faraway land.

“You know the story of that stuffed toy?” She asks him, her eyes bloodshot with tears gushing out of them.

“No.” Jiyong looks at the panda stuffed toy quizzically. Now he remembers asking about the toy but Seunghyun said he’ll tell him some other time.

“Well, the thing is, I bought that for him one time when he was hospitalized. I told him it’ll be his friend till you two can see each other. I told him that he needs to win over his sickness so you can both play soon.” She places a hand on the stuffed toy as she shed more tears.

“He named the thing Seungri to remind himself that he needs to win against his sickness. That he wins in life. That he is victory. And by the time he got better, he kept on monitoring your house to see if you come out so he can introduce himself to you.” Mrs. Lee places the urn next to her and hugs Jiyong and the stuffed toy.

“So I’m giving Seungri to you. Take good care of it for him. This is not goodbye for the two of you. Just always think of him whenever you look at Seungri. Do this for me.”

All he has now is Seungri the stuffed toy, the most important thing for his friend. And he promises to take care of it in his place forever.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

Jiyong hugs Seungri tightly to his chest as he whispers “Seunghyun, are you proud of me? I’m not sick anymore. And I’m a well-known fashion designer now. This is all because of you. I hope that you’re cheering me on wherever you are...”

As he hugs the fluffy thing tightly, his hand felt something hard inside the stuffed toy.

He immediately examines the thing from top to bottom and something caught his eyes. A piece of paper sticks out of a small pocket underneath Seungri’s clothes. He takes the paper out and reads its contents.

Seungri! I’m leaving this letter to you to tell you how grateful I am to have you with me back when I was still sickly. I’m better now! And oh, yesterday, I met Jiyong. Finally after a couple of months of only stories about him, I met him face to face yesterday. You know what, he’s fun to be with and I would want to play with him more. Let’s keep on winning Seungri! Let’s win over my heart disease so I can play with Jiyong more. FIGHTING! –Seunghyun

Tears streams down Jiyong’s eyes as he read Seunghyun’s old letter. Of how happy Seunghyun was to meet him back then. How he wish to bring back the old times when they used to play together. How will it be if Seunghyun’s still alive? But now, he has no regrets on the course of his life. He does not regret to take fashion design in college. Because he know Seunghyun is happy that he can now sew more ripped stuffed toys and that he can now sew new clothes for Seungri, their victory...