Cherry Blossom✿ 

Clear blue skies, marshmallow-like clouds, fresh green grass and pink cherry blossom petals in the air, It is indeed a perfect spring day. Flowers are all in full bloom, and the faint scent of sweetness hangs in the air. As peaceful and as beautiful as this day appears to be, there is this one hospital ward that is pretty much the opposite.

“Did you know how worried I was? My heart nearly jumped out when I saw you on the ground, lying there as if you were already dead! It was so traumatizing!”

“……”

“How could you cross the road without looking at the traffic light? Didn’t your parents or teachers from your previous school – wherever that is – teach you to look left, then right, then left again when you are crossing the road?”

“……"

“Please learn to take care of yourself. You’re not a kid who needs attention every single minute; neither should you act like one! It’s so infuriating,” Yookyung scolded, slamming her hands on the table, startling the boy, whose head was hanging. Bomi was startled as well. She had never seen her best friend flare up to this extent. Hurriedly, she grabbed a glass of water passing it to the furious girl, patting her back to calm her down. “He’s injured, and that’s bad enough. Don’t blame it on him, hmm?” She said softly as she settled the girl on the couch, glancing over to the boy who still had his head hung. He looked pitiful, with both his legs casted, and an arm bandaged. Yookyung glared at the boy, gulping down the glass of water. She was furious, and frustrated at the poor boy, but on the other hand, the boy was rather amused. He could have sworn that it was the first time he heard this quiet girl talk so much. In fact, she babbled on about traffic safety for more than ten minutes.

She’s a perfect traffic police.

“Pfft,” Sungyeol chuckled softly at the thought of that. Ha, a traffic police. The two girls turned to stare (by that, I meant glare) at him. “This boy is nuts,” Yookyung muttered under her breath, her grip tightened around the glass. Sungyeol raised his head, glancing over at the girls, before bursting into laughter. That made the furious girl even angrier.  Why on earth is he laughing on she just gave him a piece of her mind? Sungyeol continued laughing despite the tense atmosphere.  The girls’ hardened expression amusing – it’s pure gold.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard Miss Front-Seat-Neighbour talk that much,” His laughter finally ceased, and he spoke up, a wide goofy grin on his face. Bomi giggled a little, upon hearing the boy’s comment. It is indeed true, that she doesn’t talk that much. In fact, she rarely even talked. Yookyung frowned, nudging her friend with elbow, showing her displeasure. She glared at the boy, and retorted, “Don’t call me that.”

“But I like that,”

 “I don’t. I have a name.”

“But you never said I can call you by your name.”

“That’s because I don’t want you to call me at all.”

“Well… Yookyung,” Sungyeol said, in a singsong manner, a cheeky smile spreading on his face.  The way he was acting doesn’t make him any bit similar to an injured person. He seemed healthy and way too energized to be confined in a hospital ward. Yookyung sighed. When this boy comes back to school, it’ll be chaos all over again. “How I wish I could break your other arm so you can’t go back to school,” She mumbled under her breath, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Bomi burst out laughing loudly at her friend’s ridiculously violent thought, and the boy simply grumbled childishly.

The ward was filled with a mix of emotions on that spring day.

On the day that Sungyeol returned to school, everyone was crowding around him – especially girls – asking if he was fine. The class was buzzing with rumors about his injury. Yookyung could not understand why girls love this annoying boy so much, gushing over him as if he’s the prince of Korea. She grumbled inwardly, ignoring the crowd behind her.

For some reason, she's just so affected by the crowd surrounding the boy. Normal crowds around others do not affect her at all, but crowds around this specific boy affect her. She feels uneasy and grumpy on the inside - as if something is tugging at her heart (which doesn't quite make sense, since she isn't even close with this boy).

She let out a frustrated sigh, pushing the weird feeling away. "It must be because i'm tired these days. That's why i feel like that," She muttered under her breath, trying to convince herself. She knew that it wasn't true. She had good sleep for the past few days, and she didn't do much studying either. There was no way that she could be tired.

She blindly took that unconvincing reason, though, since she had none other.

Bomi could easily spot her best friend's frustration - it was written all over her face. She giggled at the evident frown on the other girl's face, and then looked back at Sungyeol (who could not be seen anymore, since he is surrounded by people). It so obvious that her best friend is irritated by the boy, or the crowd. Bomi thought that it was fine for this boy to receive some sort of concern from the classmates. He did suffer a lot in the hospital.

Furthermore, she likes the crowd. Especially this specific cute boy in the crowd (who makes her heart beat faster, and her face to flush red).

Soon enough (and also to Bomi's disappointment), Sungyeol dismissed the crowd, telling them not to worry and that he is perfectly fine. What a lie. This boy is seated in a wheelchair, with both his legs casted. He had never looked any worse. His hair was dishevelled, his lips were cracking, and his eyebags had darkened.

Is this how a person who is perfectly fine should be looking like?

Classes flew by quickly, and soon, everyone had left the classroom, leaving the trio behind. Yookyung looked out of the window, and sighed softly. It is the first spring ever in her life that she did not have the chance to see cherry blossoms. Was she too busy this year? It's hard to imagine her being busy, actually. She had always been the type to go home immediately after school, and not bother about school activities.

This year is slightly different. She had been staying after school almost every day. It must be this monkey-looking boy's fault. Getting into so much trouble, then acting innocent as if he did nothing wrong. Honestly, he had probably taken up 60% of her free time. She sighed again, gathering her things, putting them into her school bag. Since it's still quite early in the afternoon (and Sungyeol can't cause any trouble considering the state he is in) perhaps she should drop by the cherry blossom field nearby.

"... Bomi. Do you want to see some cherry blossoms with me?" She looked over to her friend, who seems slightly flustered when asked. "Um! I need to rush h-home. Y'know, my mom..." She trailed off, avoiding eye contact. Is she lying? Yookyung narrowed her eyes, but before she could expose her friend's lies, Sungyeol jumped into the conversation, excited and all. "I want to see cherry blossoms! Since Bomi can't go, i'll go with you," He chirped.

Yookyung rolled her eyes, and gave the wheelchair a threatening shove. She wasn't even asking him. Her friend seems to be thrilled about his idea,"Yes! Sungyeol can go with you, and i can go home." She shot the grinning girl a glare, but there isn't anything she can do about it. The two of them seems to have already agreed on this decision, and it's hard to change Bomi's mind, considering how stubborn she is. "Fine," She agreed as well, sighing. She threw a glare at the boy, though, and shoved the wheelchair once again, more aggressively this time. Before she even stood up, her friend had already skipped off somewhere - definitely not back home. She seems too happy to be going home. Perhaps, a date? Yookyung laughed silently at that idea. Taekwondo club's leader who looks like a gorilla has a boyfriend? Probably not.

She pushed the boy's wheelchair towards the cherry blossom field, holding back the urge to push him downhill every time they come across a slope. The boy couldn't stop chattering throughout the whole journey. If his voice is music to her ears, it's definitely dub-step. It is continuous, as if on a loop, with a mix of different sounds. It's noisy. Just like this boy.

He carried on babbling about subway sandwiches (he mentioned that his favourite sub is cold-cut-trio, and he love the cookies. "A must get," He says.), until they reached the field. The ground was covered in pink petals which had fallen, but still looks as great. The trees are beautiful. Yookyung left Sungyeol behind, and she stepped into the field, taking in the scenery. She loves this shade of pink - it reminds her of the feeling of love, especially first love. "Woah," Sungyeol managed to wheel himself to her, after much struggles.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, as a gust of wind blew by, shaking the petals off the tree, showering them with pink petals.

"Yeah. It looks like spring."

"It is spring."

"... I know! It's just a way of describing."

"What? You are weird."

"You are weirder," Sungyeol stuck his tongue out as the girl turned towards him, laughing. He kept on chanting - 'Yookyung is weird, Yookyung is weird'. It makes him look ridiculous. The corners of shot up, and laughter erupted. To him, her laughter was smooth, close to melodic. It tempts him to jump off his wheelchair, to tickle her, so that she wouldn't stop laughing. (Yookyung isn't ticklish, though.)

Her laughter soon ceased, and she leaned forward, picking petals off his head. "I know what cherry blossoms mean," He suddenly said, grinning. Yookyung raised a brow, jerking her head towards him, as if telling him to say it. "Gentleness. Isn't it?" He added,"Just like you right now." He smiled, as if he was serious, but he soon burst into laughter. It was a gentle act for Yookyung to pick petals off the boy's act, but looking at him making fun of her, it makes her want to stuff the petals into his mouth.

"I'm going to leave you here," She threatened, frowning.

"I dare you to," He shrugged, crossing his arms, pretty sure that she wouldn't. To his surprise, she simply walked away, ignoring him. She eventually came back to push him home, anyway. The two got closer, but they still kept their love-hate relationship.

✿ a/n: holy . i'm sorry for dragging this so long. i didn't realise that the previous time i updated was that long ago. yikes. it's the holidays now (in fact, it's ending). i've just wasted my two months on stupid things. haha... /cries. anyway, sorry to anyone who likes dub-step - i have no idea how to describe it, so... ;;; i like dub-step, actually. it sounds nice and jammy u_u ehehe. see you guys at the next update!