~Balloon

8. Donghae & Henry

It was the second break of the day, the one the kids could spend entirely on playing. Their stomachs full with the lunch packed from home, they now ran and yelled, skipped and fought with renewed spirits. One kid though, was doing none of that. Standing under a tree in the middle of the elementary school's yard, he was sniffing and tears were streaming down his round face. He was holding both his chubby cheeks, staring at something among the branches of the old lemon tree. Donghae heard him sobbing as he was on his way back to his friends from the canteen. Going closer, he realised it was a younger kid, that Chinese boy that had come with this year's lot of first-graders.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"D-Donghae..." the kid stuttered without adding the proper honorific for his upperclassman, the golden boy of the fifth grade.

Donghae sighed. "Yes, Henry. Tell me."

Somehow, he could overlook the little boy's constant lack of polite speech, even though the rest of his classmates from the older three grades didn't agree.

"It stuck!" Henry gasped for air and sniffed again, one arm reaching up to the tree. Following the indication, Donghae saw what the issue was all about. A bright yellow balloon was trapped between the tree's leaves, swaying at the light breeze and in danger of flying away in any minute.

"Okay," the older boy reassured and patted Henry's head, "I'll get it for you."

"R-really?" asked Henry, and hiccuped after all the crying, his watery eyes watching Donghae steadily climbing up the lemon tree's trunk.

"Whaa! You're so cool!" the boy exclaimed as the older reached the thick branch and straddled it. Donghae smiled confidently, aware that other kids had paused their games to witness his heroic balloon rescue.

"Be careful! My teacher gave it to me! It's a spelling award!" Henry shouted from the ground.

Slowly sliding closer to the thinner branches where the balloon was, Donghae outstretched his arm, his fingers inching closer to it. He grasped the string attached and cheers erupted from the small crowd. "Here goes..." murmured the boy, tugging at the thread. Once, twice, and the balloon - with a loud pop! - blew up.

"No! Why did you do that?!" Henry cried and burst in tears once again. Donghae could only feel his face burning from embarrassment as he remained still on the branch.