It is the autumn of 2000 and Taeyeon is eleven, Leeteuk is twelve.

“Taeyeon-ieeeeeeee!” Leeteuk was calling.

I rubbed my eyes, which were full of sleep. The only thought I had was why he was calling so early in the morning. I checked my bedside clock. 6.59 am, it had read. Exactly 60 seconds to seven in the morning. It was a Friday, and usually school would start at nine.

I threw the blanket of my head and trudged across the floor to my open window. I slept in casuals, shirt and pants and all, and my hair wasn’t the prettiest it could be, but I knew he wouldn’t mind. I knew I couldn’t shout any louder than a mouse at that point because my body just didn’t function properly in the morning, and so I grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote

What? Quick, climb up the ladder by the tree in the backyard.

I folded the paper into a plane shape and clipped the pen onto it, using all my might to fly it downwards. It swirled and turned, making little spins in the air before Leeteuk jumped and caught it. He read it, looked up and nodded.

Minutes later, after I had quickly brushed my hair – hey, I still had to look presentable, right? – Leeteuk came pouncing on my back and tackling me to the floor. I was too shocked to speak and was momentarily stunned. I inhaled Leeteuk’s minty fresh breath as he panted, the cool air tickling my neck as he did so. He laughed. I laughed.

After a few more moments of grinning and teasing, he got up and extended a hand toward me. I took it, and laughed some more; it was as if I couldn’t stop smiling the moment I met him. Well, that’s the Leeteuk disease for you. Symptoms include contagious laughter and continuous grinning.

“I just wanted you… to try… this.” Leeteuk took another deep breath and out popped a cupcake. It was a small one, but I didn't know how or when he made it. Or even how he brought it up here without smashing it into bits. “Try it! I made it myself, with my mom’s recipe.”

The cupcake was dark brown in colour; I supposed it to be chocolate? On top of it was layer of cheese I think. Yellow cheese icing, apparently, if that even existed. I nodded, and took it from his palm, biting into it. It was so small, one bite could have been half a cupcake gone.

“Oh my god this is heaven! What is this?” The taste lingered on my tongue for a little bit more. It was chocolate with rich blueberry filling and an even richer topping of cream cheese. It wasn’t that bad a combination as it sounds, actually!

“It’s just chocolate and blueberry cupcake with cream cheese topping, that’s all. Is it that good?” Leeteuk asked, curiously watching me as I finished the cupcake.

I didn’t answer and walked into the bathroom, washing my hands, looking at him in the mirror. He cracked a faint smile. “Do you know what day it is, Taeyeon?” He asked.

I calculated and did a mental sum in my head. It was October 19^th.

“Why, it just so happens that I don’t. Would you like to enlighten me on what day it is?” I asked, drying my hands with a paper towel, trying to recall what was so special about this day. I suddenly remembered.

“The day we first met.” Our mouths moved together and we spoke the same words. Leeteuk smiled. He seemed pleased that I didn’t forget. It was six years ago, for goodness sake, I bet even he couldn’t remember what happened that day. By the looks of it, he didn’t though. His expression became wistful, as if he was remembering something. I laughed.

“What are you laughing about?”

“That little crease you get between your eyebrows when you’re frowning or thinking.” I answered, slipping past him and grabbing my clothes for the day. Our uniform was simple. For the girls, a cream white dress for an inner and as an outer it was a dark blue vest thing. I didn’t know what it was called though. A school and name badge would have to be pinned on it or you’d get reprimanded by some teacher.

“Psh. It’s not that funny. Hey, I have a question. Why do you never use honorific terms when you’re with me? That’s rude you know.” He muttered. I slipped past him again, closing and locking the door while changing.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you never asked me to.” I replied. I changed out of my casuals, and put on the uniform. Leeteuk was silent until I was done. Then when I came out, he straightened my collar and I straightened his tie. When we were done fixing each other, I grabbed my hair accessories and sat in front of the bedroom mirror.

He watched me pleat my hair and clipped my fringe.

“Where’s your mom?” Leeteuk asked, breaking the silence.

“Oh, she went out. If it weren’t for you calling me in the morning I would’ve woken up to my alarm.” I said, getting up, and picking my things from my bed. We didn’t carry much, just a little backpack with our books.

“Care to come down with me? If not, I’m going to have to lock you out of my house you know!” I said, switching the lights off.

“Aish. I’m coming, I’m coming.” Leeteuk announced, and trailing behind me happily.

I picked up a sandwich by the table and there was a note on it.

Taeyeon, dear, I’ve gone out. Have some breakfast before going to school okay?

Love, Umma.

It was my favourite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly. It was Leeteuk’s favourite too. I unwrapped it and locked the door as we proceeded out. The school was a twenty-minute walk away, but I, of course, preferred to take a bicycle. Once we were old enough, which was, like, last year, Umma let me take one. Leeteuk had one too.

“Oh! Let me have some of that!” Leeteuk leaned over my shoulder and peeked at the delicious smelling sandwich.

“Uh-uh, no way Leeteuk, no way!” I shook my head, stuffing my keys into my back pocket.

“Okay let’s do a trade. I’ll use my bike, which is bigger, to send us to school – that way you get a free ride – for half of your sandwich. Okay?” His offer was too good to pass up, so I agreed.

He told me to wait while he rode over, stopping just before me, and motioning for me to hop on. And so I did. Leeteuk’s bike was special, made for two people. His had a safety strap for the second person, so that I didn’t need to hold on to him to make sure I didn’t fall off. Leeteuk turned to buckle it for me and told me to feed him the sandwich while he rode.

“Hey, you were the one who agreed!” He said, and kicked off.

I shook my head and held the sandwich to his mouth. He bit off a piece from it, and I did after, and then again and again until we reached the school.

This was just one of our mornings to school, in the autumn of the year 2000, 19^th of October.