chapter iii.

                From days it became months, and from months it became four years, since their lovely encounter in the streets that one memorable afternoon. Kibum was already 11, but in two weeks time, he’d be living as a 12-year-old elementary boy.

                “Dubu, my cheek.”

                It was another ordinary Saturday afternoon for the two boys, lazily lying on the couch, watching TV, while eating whatever came to Kibum’s mind; and this time, it was a chocolate cake.
 

                “Eh?”
 

                “I said my cheek.”
 

                They’ve been eating the chocolate cake for half an hour already, when Kibum just suddenly realized, there was icing on his right cheek. And not wanting to waste it, by wiping it off with tissue, he commanded his pet to it off his cheek instead.
 

                “U-uh, okay.” Dubu was embarrassed of what he was about to do. But it was Kibum who’s telling him to do so, so he’d rather do it, unwillingly, than face death.
 

                Kibum was sitting steadily on the couch, tilting his head a bit, so Dubu would have better access in doing his task. Dubu leaned closer, half of his weight on his hands as he pressed against the soft fabric of the couch. He tilted his head to the left, and pulled out his tongue, ready to do what he was asked to. Kibum twitched at the cold touch of Dubu’s tongue on his cheek, and even more when he started his cheek bone softly. Kibum felt his cheeks become hot, despite the way Dubu bathed his face with his cold saliva. Dubu continued , and soon the movement of his tongue became faster and harder. Kibum closed his eyes and bit his lip, trying to muffle strange sounds from coming out of his lips. He was enjoying it, though he didn’t even know why.

                . Why do I suddenly have this urge to moan? This is so wrong.

                When Dubu’s lips was nearly towards his own, he quickly shot his eyes open and pushed the other away, which made the boy fall off from the couch.
 

                “YAH! What are you doing?!” Kibum shouted, trying to hide his flushing cheeks.
 

                “Y-you told me to… I-I’m sorry. Maybe I got too carried away.” Dubu’s cheeks were already as red as that of a tomato’s.
 

                There was awkward silence between them for a while, until Kibum’s halmoni broke the ice as she passed by the living room.
 

                “Kibum-ah, halmoni’s going out for a while, okay? Be good, so you won’t get me worried, ne?”
 

                “Okay, halmoni. Be safe. I love you!” Kibum faced his halmoni and smiled.
 

              His halmoni turned to Dubu and smiled, “Dubu-sshi. Take care of him for me, okay? He can be a headache sometimes, but please bear with it.”
 

                Dubu giggled and smiled, “I will. Even if you don’t tell me to, I always will.”
 

                Kibum blushed from Dubu’s words and impulsively hit the other’s head. He then turned back to his halmoni, a sad expression lingering in his eyes.
 

                “I’ll be back on your birthday. So, don’t worry, Kibum. Promise me you’ll take care of yourself, ne? And Dubu, too.” His halmoni hugged her grandson’s head and kissed his forehead lovingly, as if it was their last.

                His grandma flashed another smile across her face, before she finally left the two alone in the living room.


 

                Dubu sighed, “You sure are lucky to have her as your grandma.”
 

                “Yeah, I certainly am. How about you? Where is your grandma, by the way?”
 

                They’d been living together for a while now, but that topic has never been brought up by Kibum, until now. Dubu had a sad expression written all over his face, when that question was thrown at him. He didn’t know how to answer that, because he didn’t know either. He never knew of his grandparents, only the parents who left him alone in the cold streets when he was just a little boy.
 

                Earning no response from the boy, Kibum coughed slightly and apologized for the uncomfortable atmosphere.
 

                “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to—“
 

                “No, it’s fine. It’s all in the past, anyway.” Dubu showed a faint smile.
 

                “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it.”
 

                “It’s alright. I want to.”
 

                Then, Dubu started telling the boy about his life. About how he was abandoned by his own parents in the streets when he was just 5 years old, letting him experience ordeals of life alone. He told him all about his painful experiences as an orphan who lived in the cold streets, and how he managed to pass a week without filling his stomach with anything, other than leftovers from garbage cans or sometimes, just oxygen. The whole time hearing the story, Kibum could just bite his lip, trying to prevent sad crystals from falling.
 

                “…and when you found me that day, that was when my life started all over, again. When I became your pet, I thought… I have found a new reason to live.”
 

                Dubu flashed a genuine smile, which made Kibum’s heart give an extra kick. They were staring into each other’s eyes, exchanging thoughts and feelings. But before they got to do something strange, Dubu broke the edgy atmosphere.
 

                “So, what about you? What’s your story?”
 

                “I am the first child, and the ONLYone in my family. I still have both my parents, but it also feels as if I don’t, because since I was just a toddler, they’ve always been away. Up until now, they’re in abroad, working their asses off. They think being a parent only meant being able to provide their son’s material needs, but actually it isn’t. I don’t even feel the presence of my own parents. Do I even have parents? Hah, I don’t really know. I was sad. No, IAM sad. But my sadness right now, isn’t as tragic as it was before. And it’s because of my halmoni. To fill in with the absence of my parents, she took care of me. She took me in in this mansion and pampered me, more than any of my parents could. That’s why she’s the most precious one I have in my life. My one treasure, I won’t ever think of leaving behind.” Kibum smiled and turned to look at his ‘pet’, who had a warm smile spread across his face.
 

                “…b-but… right now, I think… there’s more than just one person, who’s priceless to me.” Kibum bobbed his head a bit, hiding his cheeks, which were dabbed with pink flushes.
 

                And that other person is you.

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Author's Note: Lol. It's been a while since I re-read this story. And it makes me giggle (and sometimes, cringe) knowing I wrote them like this. Like, what the. Sorry. This was my second series (after "IF") and one of my first ffs, so it's not good. NG! NG! :P

By the way, I'm so happy that more people are leaving me FEEDBACKS! YAY! Altho' I seldom reply nowadays (i was busy. :,((), I still read them and appreciate them! ^^;;; GOMAWO~~~