First and foremost:

                        Happy  Birthday  Jung "Leo" Taekwoon!!!  ♥                

I'm happy that he got to meet his idol ^-^ and his idol is going for VIXX's showcase too!!!  xDDDD 

hope he has an amazing day!! ^^ and those in LA who are able to see him on his birthday - you lucky people!!! :P 

They say that folding a thousand paper cranes would grant one wish.

That was all he did. Whatever, whenever, wherever. So desperate for his one and only wish to be granted, it was all Hakyeon did.

He'd always been seen carrying a pack of origami paper, and would start folding a paper crane the moment he had some spare time.

It wasn't like he'd callously fold the cranes. Oh no. He took much pride and effort into folding them, as though he was trying to show his sincerity.

No one really knew the reason why he'd started his obsession with folding paper cranes. They only knew it had started when the quiet, creepy kid in class stopped coming to school. They didn't bother to know his name - they weren't planning to become friends, anyway. But they knew that Hakyeon had always tried to talk to the boy, sometimes even to the extent of following him around during breaks.

It wasn't like Hakyeon didn't have friends. Being the class' social butterfly, he was pretty much friends with everyone. However, Hakyeon had gained much interest in the new kid; such that most of his time in school was dedicated to him, and sometimes even dragging the boy to his apartment where he lived alone.

"Hyung, when are you gonna stop folding paper cranes?" Hakyeon's classmate, Sanghyuk, asked while shaking the former's right hand. Sanghyuk had been one of the smarter kids of his grade, and was allowed to jump a grade when he had first entered high school. Thus, making him the youngest in almost every class he attended.

"Soon Hyukkie, when I get a thousand," it was the same response Sanghyuk would get every time he tried to get the elder to stop with his origami obsession.

"Why, hyung?" Sanghyuk asked, continuing just before Hakyeon opened his mouth to give the standard reply. "What wish do you have? Why do you need a thousand paper cranes?"

He watched as his classmate put away a newly-folded blue paper crane in a small box, pulling out another colored square-shaped paper from its pack.

"Hyung!" Sanghyuk snatched the paper from the elder. However, he seemed unfazed as he took out yet another from the ridiculously thick packet of origami paper.

"Hyung! Stop ignoring me, please?" Sanghyuk pleaded, kneeling down so he could be on eye level with the sitting male. "What happened to you?" He sighed, eyes softening as he noticed the concentration Hakyeon was putting in.

Like usual, Hakyeon didn't reply. Even though it's been a month, Sanghyuk couldn't get used to Hakyeon's sudden change. From the social butterfly that everyone loved, to a creepy weirdo that everyone tried to avoid. It was hard, because Sanghyuk saw it. Sanghyuk saw everything. He saw how the new kid that Hakyeon used to shadow had crushed the poor butterfly between his fingers. He saw the impact the kid made on Hakyeon, and how much impact Hakyeon had on the kid. The only thing he didn't know was why. Why? What had the kid done to change Hakyeon so drastically? Did he promise something? Something along the lines that if the social butterfly successfully folded a thousand paper cranes, he'd do something in return?
 

Hakyeon POV

Four hundred and ninety eight...

Four hundred and ninety nine...

Five hundred! Yes! I've finally hit the halfway point!

"Hyung, when are you gonna stop folding paper cranes?" I felt my right hand being shaken, as well as my classmate's voice in my ear.

"Soon Hyukkie, when I get a thousand," I replied, giving a small, nearly invisible smile.

"Why, hyung?" Sanghyuk prodded. Just before I could answer with my standard explanation, he continued, "What wish do you have? Why do you need a thousand paper cranes?"

I sighed; sorry Hyukkie. I know I'm worrying you by being like this. But this wish... This wish is really important to me. I really need it to be granted. I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything yet. Maybe I will... Once I've finished my paper cranes.

Carefully, I placed the blue paper crane in a blue box. It's a special box that I bring around; something that reminds me of him. It's blue - his favourite colour. I don't care how ubiquitous that colour is as someone's favourite colour; it'll always be his colour. After that was done, I took out another piece of origami paper - time to start on the second half of this project.

Just when I made the first two creases, the paper was roughly yanked out of my hand. At the same time, Sanghyuk whined, "Hyung!" Deciding that it'd be best to ignore him, I pulled out another piece of origami paper for its package. It was a thick package, I know. But it specifically has a thousand pieces of origami paper. So that by the time I'm done with this pack, my wish will come true. Although I'll have to factor in this one piece that Sanghyuk has just crumpled and stuffed into his pocket.

"Hyung! Stop ignoring me, please?" I heard Sanghyuk say, desperation, confusion and exasperation woven into his soft voice. I'm sorry Hyukkie. I'm a bad hyung. Please leave me alone for now. Please?

"What happened to you?" His voice seemed closer. I discreetly side-eyed him, realising that he was kneeling down beside me.

I didn't tell him why I had started I fold paper cranes. I didn't want to. I didn't want to relive the moments, and I absolutely hated it when everyone went up to me to ask "Where's that creepy quiet kid?"

He's not quiet! And he wasn't creepy either. Why did everyone think that of him? Was it just because he didn't talk?

"Hyung," Sanghyuk called again. "Does this have something to do wi-" before Sanghyuk could even finish, I interrupted him by telling him that I had to go to the washroom. I'm sorry Hyukkie, but don't ever bring him up when you're with me. Please?

"Hyung!" I heard my friend call as I made my way to the most secluded toilet of the school.
 

General POV

Hakyeon carefully pushed open the wooden door, hissing at it to shut up when it let out an eerie squeaking sound from the rusted hinges. Brown orbs scanned the small area, making sure that no one was around. It wasn't common, but he had once walked in on someone curled up into a ball, choking on his sobs.

Letting out a shaky breath, Hakyeon stepped into the run-down bathroom. As he closed the paint-chipped door, he desperately tried to erase the memories; the memories that had been scrawled in pen.

"Hey, aren't you the new kid in class?"

"Go away."

"I just want to help you!"

"Just go away."

No no no. Hakyeon chanted, blocking his ears with his palms and shaking his head vigorously. Thinking about that now won't help. It won't. I have to finish those paper cranes.

When Hakyeon wanted to start folding cranes again, he realised that he had left that whole packet back in the class. There was always more than one reason why Hakyeon kept folding paper cranes - one that everyone already knows, and the other, he tells no one. The other reason was to distract himself; while folding the cranes, all Hakyeon could think about would be every fold and crease he had to make for the crane to come out perfect. His mind didn't wander to anything else.

"I'm sorry, Yeon. I don't know when I'll come back."

No! Stop it! This time, Hakyeon actually shouted it out.
 

“No! Stop it!” Sanghyuk heard the familiar voice; one that he could recognise anywhere. Snapping his head towards the direction where the voice came from, Sanghyuk found himself making his way towards one of the most secluded toilets of the school. It was the washroom that many have told ghost stories about, like how there would be whistling when no one was present in the toilet, or how users often saw a figure dressed in white floating across the restroom cubicles. Sanghyuk wasn’t scared, of course. Nothing scared the boy. (Ohkay, except maybe when his boyfriend was angry). Hyuk shuddered as he recalled that one time he had unintentionally angered Hongbin, causing the elder to give him some long and nonsensical lecture.

“Hyung?” Sanghyuk tentatively called out as he pushed the door open, cringing a little at the high-pitched screeches from the rusty old metal hinges. Looking straight, Sanghyuk didn’t see anything but the grime-covered wall. But as his gaze trailed downwards, he noticed his classmate curled into a ball on the floor, hands pressed against his ears.

“Hyung! What happened?” The boy immediately crouched down, shaking the elder.

“Stop… Make it stop…” The elder whimpered, slightly shaking.

“Stop? Stop what?” Sanghyuk asked, confused. He lifted his head up, looking for signs if there really was a ghost residing in the restroom. “Hyung, did you see a ghost or something?” was the second question. Hyuk knew just how much of a scaredy-cat Hakyeon was, and was surprised that the elder would even dare to enter this toilet.

“No…” The latter replied, “Stop. Make all the memories stop!”

“Memories?” Sanghyuk asked himself. Did he mean memories of the quiet guy? Or is there something else troubling Hakyeon-hyung?

“He doesn’t want to get out of my head, Sanghyuk! I want him gone! I need to finish the paper cranes so he’ll be back!” Hakyeon wailed, his shaking gradually becoming more and more violent. Worried that the elder might be experiencing a panic attack, Sanghyuk carefully untangled the sobbing mess.

“Hyung! Look at me! Look!” He commanded, using both his hands to hold Hakyeon’s head in place, forcing the latter to look nowhere else but him. “He’s not here, ohkay?” the former reassured. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but he’s not here. It’s only me and you, see?” Sanghyuk then proceeded to manoeuvre the elder’s head to look around the cramped toilet.

“You’re right…” Hakyeon’s breathing finally slowed down a little. “He isn’t here. It’s just you and me,” he deduced, a faint smile tugging on his lips – probably from relief.

“What happened, hyung?” Sanghyuk asked, crossing his finger that this time, Hakyeon would finally tell him something about the reason as to why he had suddenly picked up the interest in origami. Unfortunately, his hopes were crushed as the elder smile softly, brushing off his question. His grip on the Hakyeon loosened as the elder pushed himself up from the floor, lending a hand to Sanghyuk once he had stood up properly. Before Sanghyuk could further question the shorter, Hakyeon quickly changed the topic, telling him how lunch was about to end and that they should be heading back to class ASAP.

The following weeks were the same, with Hakyeon incessantly folding paper cranes and Sanghyuk trying to weed the reason out of the elder. One would think that Sanghyuk would’ve given up after a month of continuous asking, but nope – he wasn’t giving up so easily. It was only until a group of overseas exchange students from Singapore joined in for lessons that he started noticing changes in his classmate.

“What’s up with him?” Hongbin’s buddy asked him in broken Korean, subtly pointing towards Hakyeon who hadn’t been paying attention to anything their Biology teacher was talking about.

“Him?” Hongbin looked over to confirm that the girl was pointing to Hakyeon. “It’s nothing. He’s been like that for a while; no one really knows why.”

The girl wasn’t exactly satisfied with the answer, but decided not to dig further – it was not really her business anyway. Maybe she would try talking to the origami-maniac during lunch. “What’s his name?” This time, she was able to say the sentence well. It’s one of the most basic things one had to learn of Korean, after all.

“Hakyeon. Cha Hakyeon,” She has a little startled when a new voice replied her. It wasn’t her buddy’s, neither was it his boyfriend’s.

“You… You… You heard me?” She enquired, wide-eyed.

“You don’t speak that softly, you know,” was the snarky reply.

“Joesonghamnida,” It was all she could say. Judging by Hakyeon’s reply, she guessed that he wasn’t too pleased with her.

When lunch break came, she excused herself when her other friends enthusiastically called for her to join them during lunch. A little puzzled, her friends figured out to leave it as that, mumbling a soft “suit yourself” as they filed out of the classroom with their respective buddies.

“Jeogiyo,” she called, causing Hakyeon to look up from his half-folded yellow paper crane.

“Neh?” He replied by reflex. When he got a better look of who it was that called him, he lightly scoffed. “Oh, it’s you. Wae? What did you need?” When he didn’t receive a reply, he looked over to the girl to find her slightly creasing her eyebrows.

“Sorry, you spoke too fast, I couldn’t catch you,” she apologised with a sheepish smile. “I wanted to ask why you keep folding paper cranes.”

“It’s none of your business,” Hakyeon snapped, irritated that more and more people were starting to ask him about his reasons for folding paper cranes. He didn’t care how many people badmouthed him as they eyed him peacefully folding paper cranes. But someone coming up to him asking for reasons was another story.

“Joesonghamnida,” the girl apologised again, her head bent down a little. To be honest, Hakyeon felt bad that he could have unintentionally hurt the girl, but he was too caught up in folding his paper cranes to really mind. I’m close. I think I’m left with about fifty more.

As the ex-social butterfly continued folding, she quietly stated, “it’s because folding a thousand would grant you a wish, wouldn’t it.”

Surprised, he looked up. His eyes landed on the girl reading off her phone, probably reading off a translator. “My name’s Jacelyn, by the way,” she chuckled, happy that she managed to grab his attention.

“Yes… Why?”

“Nothing~” she smiled teasingly. “My younger sister loves origami too. And I help her out a lot in making various origami figurines. Just thought you might need some help,” she continued.

Hakyeon was stumped. No one had ever volunteered to help him in his quest to fold a thousand paper cranes – most just asked him why he was doing it. To have a foreign friend (or acquaintance) offer assistance had Hakyeon pleasantly surprised. Giving a slight nod and a small smile, Hakyeon replied, “Sure, but don’t you want to hang out with your friends?”

“Nah, I’m not really they’re friends. The teacher just told us to stick together,” Jacelyn had stumbled a little at ‘stick together’, and had ended showing Hakyeon a peace sign and then joining her two fingers together to show what she meant.

Not knowing what to say, Hakyeon hummed passing her a lavender origami paper. At the same time, he jokingly asked, “You know how to fold paper cranes, right? Miss ‘my little sister likes origami’?” After receiving a light nudge on his shoulder, Hakyeon decided to focus back on his half-folded paper crane. He was really hoping to be able to finish the last fifty faster after gaining an extra pair of hands to help with this ‘job’.
 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ve never really properly told me the reason why you’re folding the paper cranes,” Jacelyn spoke up on the third day she had knelt beside Hakyeon’s desk folding paper cranes at lunch. “I know we’re not really close friends or anything, but I want to know who or what we’re folding these paper cranes for. Are you hoping for someone to come back?”

Hakyeon stiffened, willing away the memories that were knocking against his mind’s sealed treasure chest, begging to be released. Letting out an awkward laugh, he replied, “It’s nothing. We’re almost done, aren’t we?”

Not satisfied with the answer, but knowing that she didn’t have the position to probe further; Jacelyn only gave a curt nod as she passed him a newly-folded pink paper crane. “We have about fifteen more,” she announced, praying hard that an awkward silence would not ensue.

“Jacelyn!” Someone called, causing the said girl to snap her head towards the door.

“What?” She asked in English. He or she must be one of her friends. Hakyeon thought, not bothering to look up.

“What are you doing? We have to leave after lunch, are you sure you’re not joining us?” The person at the door continued. However, Hakyeon could only pick up the phrase “what are you doing?” and “leave after lunch”.

“I’ll join you later, ohkay?” The girl replied nonchalantly, waving away her friend.

“Fourteen more,” Hakyeon quietly whispered, anticipation and hope weaved in his voice as he put another paper crane away. He knew that he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up, but he couldn’t help but think that it might actually happen.

“Hey,” Jacelyn called, tapping the back of Hakyeon’s right hand. “I really want to finish folding your thousand paper cranes before we leave, so let’s speed up, ohkay?” she smiled. Hakyeon hadn’t thought about when the exchange students would have to leave. But now that he thought about it, he was a little sad that Jacelyn would be leaving. She was, after all, the first person not to be totally creeped out by his origami obsession.

“Thirteen,” they counted together every time a paper crane was put in Hakyeon’s box.

“Twelve,”

“Eleven,”

“Ten,” Excitement could be heard in both teens’ voices as they neared their last few paper cranes. Jacelyn looked up realising that they only had twenty minutes left before she would have to leave. “Two minutes for every paper crane,” she mumbled under her breath, her folding speeding up. Nevertheless, the creases were still accurate and the paper cranes turned out like a carbon copy to the one before it.

“Nine,”

“Eight,”

“Seven,”

“Six,” with each paper crane that the friend placed in Hakyeon’s box, the male’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster and faster, as if something was really going to happen. He wanted to remind himself that his wish might not come true; that this was just a pathetic attempt at gaining something he had lost. But his heart told him to keep the hope going, that something really good would happen.

“Five,”

“Four,”

“Three,” Hakyeon realised that he could hear faint quick footsteps making their way towards the classroom he was currently in, along with a few surprised gasps. Jacelyn, on the other hand, took it that one of the teachers in charge had come back to find her. Quickly, she folded the final crease on the paper crane in her hand and put it away, pulling out another piece of paper from its plastic. That ridiculously thick stack of a thousand papers Hakyeon had bought months ago had now slimmed down to only a thin layer of two pieces.

“Two,”

“One,” The footsteps were getting louder by the second.

“Zero,” the both of them announced with proud smiles on their faces. Looking at each other, they couldn’t help but break out into a larger grin, Hakyeon pulling Jacelyn into a hug. At the same time, Hakyeon softly whispered, “Please come back.”

“Did you find someone else?” A new voice was in the room. A soft and unfamiliar one to Jacelyn, but one he had yearned to hear for months for Hakyeon. Hakyeon’s breath hitched, his mind not letting him believe that all his efforts had been rewarded, but his heart screaming at him to let Jacelyn go and to look at the speaker.

Maybe this myth of a thousand paper cranes really does come true, after all. Hakyeon thought as he pulled himself away from Jacelyn. Looking up, he met the gaze of his beloved standing in the doorway, looking confused a maybe a little bit hurt or jealous as he eyed the girl Hakyeon had been hugging.

Not wanting to believe his eyes, Hakyeon breathed, “Taekwoon.”

ohkay, tbvh, i didn't plan to upload this on Taekwoon's birthday. I wrote it some time ago, and i finished it a few days back, so I just decided to upload it on his birthday ^o^ I hope it was ohkay? >< I think it turned out really....... draggy and didn't really make sense. sigh ): it was fine at the start but everything started spiralling downhill towards the end >< oh! and i've only read through this once, so i'm sorry for any mistakes! >< once again, happy birthday to Taekwoon! and Rene ^^ happy birthday to anyone else who's a November 10^th baby xD