"You look like such a loner playing by yourself, new boy,” Hye Sun said with her signature bluntness, taking the transfer student by surprise. He'd been kicking a football against the school wall; alone. Being the curious girl she was, Hye Sun had obviously wanted to check out his situation.

Sehun had transferred last week, he'd been quite popular with boys and girls equally, due to his good looks and fun attitude...the last thing a wallflower like her would expect was to see him playing alone. Strangely enough, she'd been left alone too...well it was more like she ran away, seeking closure and seclusion. She wanted to be away from the cruel ways of the school playground and decided to lay down, with closed eyes, on the grassy field while everyone else chose to run around playing inside the concrete cage, walled with the dull green wire of immaturity. She was always peaceful by herself on the grass and was reading an interesting book quietly, only to be disturbed by an annoying sound of a ball hitting the brick wall near by.

“Why don't you play with me then?” he suggested, raising his eyebrow slightly. He gave her a welcoming smile, which was slightly different from what she'd imagine he'd do. Anyone else would have pointed out that she was a loner too or ignored her and then she'd walk away.

Sehun watched the girl's expression carefully. Ever since he'd joined her class, he'd noticed her. When he'd first been introduced, everyone was so excited to see a new person they even had a party in the middle of class! But the girl in the very back, by the window caught his attention. Not one of the many chatty girls who'd gone up to him immediately with the intention of becoming his girlfriend (ah...the memories of when we're 10) but the girl who seemed so uninterested in everything. During the 'welcoming party' all the pupils in the class were practically going crazy and dancing, but she only gazed out the window like it was more entertaining.

He'd ended up sitting 2 seats away from her and examined her during every one of their lessons. The only thing she seemed to care about was class and learning. Whenever one of their classmates disturbed the lesson with something immature -though everyone else would laugh- Hye Sun would look at them with annoyed eyes as if angered with their young mental ages and wanted to carry on with the lessons. However, when it was her turn to talk she would become shy and do anything possible to get out of the spotlight. She didn't talk much, but when she did she was known for her sharp tongue and blunt statements. Not very popular on the playground. During break times, she's sit at her desk and start day dreaming or look out the window, while everyone else would play. On rare occasions she'd go outside with a book and start reading. All his friends would play on the concrete but she preferred the grass. Girls would kiss up to the boys in hopes of gaining a boyfriend but she acted as if they weren't even there. To everyone else she was a silent onlooker who ony talked when necessary but not to Sehun; he thought she was more interesting than the lessons.

Sehun waited for the quiet wallflower to take a step towards him, in a sign of accepting his suggestion, but her feet were glued to the ground. She seemed hesitant, but for some reason Sehun desperately wanted to play with her. He wanted to know more about the girl who always stayed near the back of the classroom with the brilliant comebacks and opinions.

“Come on! You said I was a loner, keep me company,” he urged, lightly kicking the ball towards her. She received the ball awkwardly, and fumbled around with it using her feet, almost losing her balance and falling over. 

'So she's not good at sport, huh? I found her weak spot...' he thought in satisfaction.

“Sorry, I'm not very good...” she mumbled, pressing her lips into a thin line due to embarrassment. A light blsush was slowly spreading over her cheeks and he couldn't stop his heart from skipping a beat. 

“It's fine...just play with me, I'm bored...” he encouraged.

“Why don't you just go play in the cage?” she asked, not missing a beat. Her hands were on her hips and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sehun laughed at how she addressed the playground. Something about his tinkling laughter was infectious and Hye Sun had to bite her lips to control the smile threatening to spread across her face.

“They won't play with me, they're too busy worrying about who Dongwoo should go out with now,” he said, rolling his eyes, earning himself a scoff. Though he also was a 10 year old and now known as the class clown, he didn't think things such as love should be rushed like they did in their class. Even he had a bit of matureness in him, unlike all the other twerps.

“I didn't expect you not to care, new boy...” Hye Sun said, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Hey, I may have transferred just last week, but even I know that he and Mi Sun have broken up and gotten back together 10 times since I came...” he joked. His eyebrows jumped in surprised when he the upward curling of her lips. He was completely mesmerized by her smile. The way the corner of her lips curved up ever so slightly so you could see her pearly white teeth made his smile broaden. For a quite, sometimes emotionless girl, she looked beautiful when she smiled. Especially when her round doe eyes morphed into little crescent moons and twinkled brightly.

“Shall we play?” Sehun asked again, cocking his head slightly. She didn't answer, but instead kicked the ball towards him. A laugh escaped his lips again when he received the ball motioned for her to come closer. “Tackle me.” After a moments hesitation, she smiled and ran towards him. Sport may not be her strong point, but she still tried hard to get the ball from in between his legs, while he was doing all those fancy dodging movements that she had a tough time keeping up with.

“Yah! Stop showing off!” she exclaimed, her voice mixed with breath and laughter as she hit him lightly on the arm. He beamed at her and decided -for her sake- he'd go easy on her.

-

The two 10 year olds were surrounded by a comfortable silence, the only sounds heard were their light panting and the cries of the children far away in the distance, far enough not to disturb them, but close enough to remind them that they couldn't escape from reality forever. But in their minds, they'll always imagine themselves being away from the harsh happenings of the world around them, for now they were in their own paradise. After about 20 minutes of playing football together, they decided to seek shelter in the shade. They were hiding behind a group of bushes surrounding a big tree not too far from the 'cage'. Sehun leant against the tree trunk, small smile plastered on his face and a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead. It took her breath away. Hye Sun could only stare in awe as the sun light streamed in and hit his face perfectly, like he was an ange surrounded by a halo.

“I'm hot, aren't I?” the said boy asked, breaking her trance abruptly. A cockly smile played on his lips. She bit back a smile and pursed her lips.

“No,” though her thoughts said otherwise. “This would just...be a really good photograph right now...” she muttered thoughtfully. Sehun smile to himself as she unknowingly began to drift off into her own world again, still staring at him.

“I know, you could take a lot of good photos around here, especially in the fields,” he agreed. He too was unable to look away from her with that soft gaze of his, it could melt anyones heart, in fact the very scenario could melt anyones heart...but she was strongly against falling for him. It was rare for Hye Sun to gain a friend who could overlook her bad qualities -though in Sehun's eyes she had none- she didn't want to ruin her newly developed friendship. She'd rather be friends forever than 'date' for a freaking short amount of time and never talk again.

“What do you want to be when you're older, Sehunnie?” she asked randomly, her voice and eyes suddenly filled with excitement due to her newly realized dream.

“Hmm...a footballer?” he said unsurely. He somehow doubted it, though he was good there were still people who were better than him. Not everyone could be a footballer just because they're 'good'. “I still don't know...You?”

“A photographer,” she said, smiling at him sweetly. “As long as I could take beautiful photos like this, I think it'll be fun.” Sehun smiled at her thoughtfulness.

To the whole class, she was a cold, hostile person who could get shy sometimes and hardly ever spoke unless it was an insult or comeback...but he knew she was much more than that. Sehun got to know more about her the past week than the rest of the class knew in years! She was ambitious and hard working, when she couldn't do something she'd carry on trying until she'd mastered it. She liked smiling, though she rarely showed that dazzling sight in front of the 'immature babies' surrounding her. Also, she was thoughtful, though she doesn't think a lot when it comes to speaking her next sentence -resulting in her blunt and sometimes insensitive words- but whenever she drifted off into her own little world she'd be engrossed in her own thoughts. And just like now she takes her surroundings into account and does things on sudden whims.

“Then...I'll be a photographer, too! We can do it together,” he suggested, beaming at her. Hye Sun only returned his sweet words with a blunt remark.

“Why?” It took Sehun by surprise, but he was somewhat expecting it.

“We can be rivals."

"I don't want to fight with you,” he whined, already thinking he was about to lose a new friend.

“What are you 5?” she snapped again. Her words had no affect on him though, he was as thick as a wall. But then again that's what made them a good pair, besides he could be just as insensitive as her when he wanted to be. “Rivals are two people who use each other as goals and targets so they can become better,” she explained, making him stare in awe at her wide range of knowledge. During class and during real life situations, she would still be as smart as ever.

“Ah, OK!” Sehun agreed. “Promise me!” he said, louder than necessary. Extending his hand, he held out his thumb and pinky finger and waited for her to do the same. Hye Sun only stared at it, like it was something dangerous. Whenever people offered her hand shakes or pinky promises, she'd only stare at their hand until they pulled away awkwardly, she didn't know why but it was a habit by now. Stare for 5 seconds and they'll pull away. But Sehun didn't. He pushed his hand closer to her face. “Come on!”

“B-But what if we change what we want to be when we're older?” she asked. If they found new things they wanted to be then the promise would be wasted and broken. She hated broken promises and equally didn't like breaking them. “Wh-what if we're not friends then, either? Wouldn't we become more like enemies than friendly rivals?” Sehun returned her wavering gaze with his strong, determined one. He didn't care if something went wrong in the future, all he cared about was right now. Though he understood that she was only hesitating because she was thinking about bad things in the future, but his optimistic mindset was different from hers.

“Yah, it doesn't matter! Because we both want to be photographers right now and we're both friends right now!” he said impatiently.

“W-we're friends?” she repeated, as if she didn't understand. Hye Sun didn't have lots of friends, the ones she had either got annoyed with her pessimistic -unchildlike- mind or her blunt words, those girls preferred to think about unicorns and rainbows over reality and human nature. Sehun seemed like one of those people too. Though she always thought she related more to boys than girls, she'd never actually had a boy to call a friend. Seeing Sehun in front of her, looking at her with a big smile, she couldn't help but feel happy. This would be a friendship she wouldn't want to lose. “OK,” she muttered. The little boy's smile grew wider, until it was almost reaching his ears and he quickly grabbed her wrist and her hand towards his. Shyly, Hye Sun entwined her little finger with her and Sehun pressed his thumb against hers.

“We promise that we'll both become successful photographers and be each others rivals,” she said, a massive grin on her face as well. She tried to pull away, but Sehun kept a firm grip on her finger.

“And we'll be best friends forever.”

Though when you're young and 10 years old, you'll find yourself making and breaking friendships everyday until one day you're not sure who you have and haven't befriended yet. It's not even definite those relationships will last longer than a week, but Sehun's and Hye Sun's obviously did, garnering envy from everyone around them for their chemistry. Heck, people were even shipping them together, but they didn't believe a word of those false rumors spread by other people about how much the other party like them because they were used to it, and there were no secrets between them.

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