“Whatcha doin’?”

Junhong looks up into the harsh sunlight to identify the speaker. His hands are covered in mud, squashed orange peels, and possible dead worms from where he was playing. Trying to get a strand out of his hair, he wiped his dirt-ridden hands across his forehead, leaving behind a great streak of brown.

The boy who had been standing above him broke into a wide smile, exposing his bunny teeth.

“Nothing.” Junghon replies. “Why?” He plunges his hands back into the mixture.

“I’m just curious. You’re new here right?”

Seven-year-old Choi Junhong had just moved to the neighborhood with his mother, and he had been enjoying three weeks of absolute friendless misery.

“Yeah. I’m Junhong.” The kid stands up, flicking his legs that had grown sore from sitting in a frog position for so long. He extended his grimy hand.

“I’m Jongup.” The slightly older boy ogles at Junhong’s hand before touching it delicately. “I live in that house over there!” The bright boy points to a cute pink house at the end of the street.

Junhong’s eyes widened as he realized he literally lived right across the street.

“I live right there too!” The blue haired boy clapped his hands giddily.

“No you don’t, silly, that’s my house.” Jongup frowns because Junhong hadn’t pointed where his house was.

“I mean I live right in front of you.” Junhong laughs, realizing his mistake.

“You looked kinda bored, so I was wondering if you wanted to play with my neighborhood friends?” Jongup looked over in direction of the neighborhood playground.

Junhong was thankful for Jongup’s invite because he had been longing to join the cooler, older boys of the neighborhood for quite some time now. He had also been bored out of his mind, forced to play in the mud out of sheer loneliness.

“That would be awesome!” Junhong contested.

Junhong followed Jongup like a baby duck, smiling inwardly at his luck. His feet giddily chased the pavement and he almost ran into his new friend a few times before finally arriving at the playground.

The boy’s eyes widened as he set eyes on the playground. He found himself immersed by the shiny green and blue metal of the monkey bars that glistened in the sun. The empty swingsets invited him tauntingly with the new plastic covered chains, so that he would never get his skin pinched again. The giant yellow slides that never seemed to end compelled him towards them. The whole platform looked like a giant colorful castle that Junhong couldn’t wait to explore.

Only, what would a castle be without its dragons?

Two boys, who looked older than Jongup, stood up top one of the red colored domes of the playstructure. Junhong didn’t know yet what to classify them as. But perched like that on the plastic roof, they seemed unfriendly and condescending.

“Hey Jongup!” The one who was crouched in a frog position greeted Junhong’s new friend.

“Youngjae hyung I brought a friend.” Jongup smiled widely and extended his arms, to present little Junhong.

Well, little was much of an understatement. Junhong was really tall for his age.

“Oh.” Youngjae leapt from the roof down onto the main platform to get a closer look. “Is he new here?” The boy squeaked.

“Yep! He lives right across from me.” The brown haired boy squeezed Junhong’s hand, despite the caked mud on them, to reassure him.

“Well Daedae and I were just gonna play hot lava tag, he’s welcome to join.” Youngjae eyed Junhong up and down with suspicion.

The oldest boy, who had been observing from the roof, suddenly leapt down. His thin frame shook slightly as he landed nimbly on his feet. Junhong couldn’t help by stare at him. He was so cool.

“I don’t want him here.” The boy pointed at Junhong and looked away.

Suddenly, Junhong felt hurt. He frowned and stared down at the soft playground floor to keep tears from stinging his eyes.

“’Cmon Daehyun. Why not?” Youngjae asked.

“Yeah! Why not?” Jongup echoed.

Daehyun shot both of them an angry glance. “He’s too tall. And he hasn’t proved himself.”

Youngjae shifted from side to side, as if to say he was agreeing with Daehyun. Jongup, however, stayed grounded.

“Then isn’t lava tag perfect for proving himself?” Jongup asked innocently, placing an arm around Junhong’s shoulders.

Youngjae whispered something to Daehyun, who pursed his lips as the younger went on.

“Okay. If he can win at hot lava monster then I’ll let him play with us today.” Daehyun squinted and narrowed his crescent shaped eyes onto Junhong.

The seven year old looked up at Daehyun, like his tormentor had suddenly become his savior.

“You know how to play right…uh what’s your name?” Youngjae asked before signaling the start of the game.

“I’m Junhong.” His name felt funny in his mouth. “I know how to play.” Junhong was no stranger to hot lava tag, he used to play it a lot with his friends at his old school.

“Good. Let’s get started. I’ll be the tagger.” Daehyun leapt from the structure and onto the floor, waiting for the three other boys to scramble up to safety. His face contorted into a devilish smile as he eyed Junhong.

Being tall, Junhong wasted no time in running for the monkey bars. He quickly grasped the cold bars and hoisted himself up, so that he was standing on top of them. He nearly let out an inhuman screech as he realized Daehyun was coming right towards him.

He hopped from bar to bar with ease, his feet landing perfectly on each rung without losing balance. He watched Daehyun swat between the bars, trying to reach his feet. He reminded Junhong of a hungry cat trying to catch a bird. But Junhong knew he was safe, the monkey bars were black on the side access and Daehyun couldn’t touch any black parts. He could only jump and hope to jump high enough to touch Junhong.

“Hey! Daehyun! That’s no fair! We’re rotting over here, come and get us!” Jongup perked his head from behind a pole.

Daehyun turned around dangerously to face the younger. He cocked his head slowly as if he was visualizing the way he’d catch the impertinent dongsaeng. Junhong could have sworn he heard Jongup gulp from across the park.

“Be careful what you wish for, Jongup.” Daehyun cracked his knuckles before smirking at Junhong and running in Jongup’s direction.

Junhong regained his breath, and decided to jump to the next structure. The monkey bars couldn’t be too safe. The young boy gracefully sailed from the monkey bars to the next platform. It was surrounded by a blue balustrade that Daehyun could easily climb, but that thought hadn’t yet crossed the winded blue haired boy.

Suddenly remembering his friend, Junhong leaned over the blue structure and looked across the playground to try and get a glimpse of him. His heart beat slowly as he tried to listen for any screams of mercy or plea from the brunette.

It wasn’t until he heard a dark chuckle behind him that Junhong knew he was in trouble.

“Looks like my plan worked.” Daehyun snickered. He was on the other side of the blue balustrade. Without another word, he maneuvered his thin body over it, hung on with one arm and tagged the unsuspecting Junhong.

The blue haired boy stood frozen, unsure of what to do next. He felt his soul shatter into a million pieces as he realized, he had lost. He wouldn’t be able to play with them again.

“Are you crying?” Daehyun taunted. “Hey guys! It’s over!” He called to the two others.

Junhong wiped away the tears before Daehyun had time to turn his attention back to him. He didn’t want Daehyun to see them.

Jongup and Youngjae stood over Junhong, who had brought his milk white knees to his chest in waiting for his fate.

Daehyun looked down at the boy and sneered. “Get lost.”

“That’s not fair!” Jongup defended his new friend.

“Shut up.” Daehyun shot the brunette an angry glare.

Youngjae and Junhong gasped. He had used the … s word.

No one said a word after Daehyun had left his stinging insult hanging in the air.

“You agreed to this.” Daehyun crossed his arms. “Now get off my playground.”

Youngjae shuffled closer to Daehyun, but Jongup remained by Junhong’s side.

“Aw hyung…but can’t you give him a chance?” Jongup protested.

“Jongup if you want to be friends with him, then you can’t be our friend anymore.” Daehyun delivered his terrifying threat.

Jongup looked down at Junhong with the face of an ashamed puppy.  He averted Junhong’s eyes as he took a step backwards.

Slowly, Junhong got up. He tripped over his own, long limbs, before finally turning his back to the trio. Wiping his dirt caked hands on his pants, he looked out towards where he lived. Without another word, he was off. Junhong’s heart felt empty as he burst into tears. He didn’t stop until he reached the mud pit he had been at early.

Angrily, he kicked the grimy mixture, sending mud and dirt all over the otherwise clean pavement. His mother would have spanked him; had she seen him.

He began shredding the orange peels that were randomly strewn in the mud, releasing their relaxing scent. His mother had given him orange pieces as a snack that afternoon, and he had been too entranced by the little critters living in the pit to go home and throw away his scraps. So he had simply added the peels to the end mix.

He could taste the saltiness of his tears as they ran down his cheeks. Junhong only began punching out the rough orange peels harder.  It acted as a surprising stress reliever to the poor boy. His hands reached down into the mud and mixed it furiously.

Small pants from behind Junhong indicated that he wasn’t alone anymore. Suddenly, two hands reached into the pit and began mimicking Junhong’s movements. Junhong looked up and found Jongup, frowning and poking at a shredded peel. The blue haired boy opened his small pink mouth in surprise but no words came out.

“Looks like I’m not Daehyun’s friend anymore. Oops.” Jongup turned to Junhong and smiled at him widely before Junhong tackled him into a hug.