Chapter 1: He’s always been a cheater

“1, 2, 3, 4…20! Ready or not here I come!” 7 year old Kibum yelled as he ran to find his friends.

“Hehehe, he’ll never find me here” little Eunmi laughed to herself as she hid between two bushes in her Uncle Jae and Auntie Fany’s yard. Little did she know that Kibum had already snuck a peek at where she was hiding.

While Eunmi was busy giggling to herself, Kibum crept up behind her and, “BOO!”

“Ahhh! Kibummie!! You scared me!” Eunmi cried.

“Noona, are you ok?” Jonghyun asks. Even at the young age of 7, Jonghyun knew he had to protect his noona.

“Aish, stop crying NOONA!” Kibum yelled sarcastically. Eunmi was technically a year older than Kibum but he liked to think that he was mentally older than her. “Geez, you’re such a cry baby!”

“How did you find me? I found the best spot EVER!” Eunmi whined. She was so finfident that she had found the perfect spot, and could finally beat Kibum at something.

“You’re jut not as good as me,” Kibum laughed triumphantly.

“You cheated! I know you did!” Eunmi explained.

“No I didn’t!” Kibum retorted, but he couldn’t seem to look at either of his friends in the eyes.

“Yes you did Kibummie, I saw you look at where noona was hiding!” Jonghyun backed up his precious noona. He was positive he saw Kium sneek a peek when he though no one was watching.

By now Eunmi had fresh tears running down her face, “I’M TELLING!”

Just then Yoochun emerged from the house after hearing his princess’s cries.

“Princess, what’s wrong?” Yoochun asked his precious daughter.

“We were playing hide and seek and Kibummie cheated!” she whined and cried.

“NO I didn’t Uncle Yoochun,” Kibum retorted.

“What’s going on?” Jaejoong and Donghae appeared behind them. “Why is our little princess crying huh?” as he knelt down to the kids’ level.

“Uncle Jae, Kibummie cheated!” Jonghyun replied as he went to stand behind his father. Jonghyun’s accusation made Eunmi cry harder and tears to well up in Kibum’s eyes too.

“Jjong, let’s go inside first ok?” Donghae said as he started to his son away from the other children; he knew that Kibum and Eunmi needed to sort out their problems with as little people around as possible.

Jaejoong turned to look his son in the eyes, “Kibum, look into appa’s eyes and answer me honestly, did you cheat when you were playing with Eunmi noona and Jonghyun?”

After a moment of staring into his father’s eyes, Kibum burst into tears, “I didn’t mean to, it was only a little peek. I didn’t think it would make noona so sad. I’m sorry appa, I’m really sorry!”

“It’s ok son. But I should be the one you’re saying sorry to,” Jaejoong wiped the tears off Kibum’s face and turned him to face Eunmi who was sniffing against Yoochun’s shoulder.

“Eunmi noona, I’m really really sorry. I promise not to do it again,” Kibum apologized with a sincere look on his face.

Eunmi cracked a smile upon hearing his sincere apology, “It’s okay, Kibum. You’re still my best friend if you promise never to do it again,” she said while sticking out her pinky.

“I promise!” Kibum hooked his pinky with hers with a bright smile.

“Kids come have ice cream,” they heard Tiffany call from the house and broke out into a run for the house.

-----------------------

13-year-old Kibum took one look at the test in front of him and knew he was done for. His parents had just bought him a new camera, and he had been too distracted to study for his test; however if he failed this test, his parents would definitely take his camera away. He looked to his right and saw Jonghyun busily answering the questions; good thing the test was all multiple choice. With with a quick glance to see if anyone was watching, Kibum started to discreetly copy Jonghyun’s answers.

Jonghyun felt a pair of eyes looking at his paper, “Kibum never learns” he thought to himself. This wasn’t the first time Kibum tried to cheat off of his paper. Although he wanted to say something to him, he just couldn’t bring himself to. He was his best friend, how could he confront him about something like that?

“Kim Kibum, what do you think you’re doing?” Mrs. Choi said as she came up behind him.

“What?” Kibum looked up to see his teacher peering behind them with a stern look on her face. “I’m just taking the test Mrs. Choi,” Kibum said trying to play innocent.

“Were you trying to cheat off of Jonghyun?” Ms. Choi accused.

“No ma’am. I was looking at my test only,” Kibum continued to lie. This wasn’t the first time he almost got caught.

Jonghyun watched as his friend tried to lie his way out of trouble again, “He cheated! Mrs. Choi, I know Kibum was cheating off of my paper.”

*principal’s office

“I really didn’t do it Principal Kim, you have to believe me; I wasn’t cheating!” a slightly hysterical Kibum pleaded his case to the principal.

Just as the principal was about to ask Jonghyun a question, Jaejoong and Yuri came into the office. They had both rushed over from the office after the heard that their son’s had been caught cheating.

“Appa! I didn’t do it, you have to believe me and tell Principal Kim that I didn’t do it! I didn’t cheat off of Jonghyun,” Kibum cried to his father once he entered the room.

“Ok son, calm down first. Principal Kim, nice to meet you, I’m Kim Jaejoong, Kibum’s dad,” Jaejoong introduced himself with a bow, and Yuri followed suit.

“Principal Kim, let me get this situation right, are you accusing my son of cheating?” Jaejoong asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Choi caught Kibum cheating off of Jonghyun’s paper. Although Kibum strongly claims that he wasn’t cheating, Jonghyun also very strongly claims that he saw Kibum look at his paper,” Principal Kim explained the situation to Jaejoong and Yuri.

“Jonghyun, are you sure you saw Kibum cheating off of your paper. This isn’t a joking matter; Kibum could get into a lot of trouble. I don’t doubt you, but you have to be absolutely sure of what you saw,” Yuri said calmly. Although she knew that Kibum had cheated a lot at games when they were children, she had trouble believing that Kibum would do something as big as cheat on a test.

“Yes, Umma I’m positive I saw Kibummie cheating off of my paper. I know for a fact that he was looking at my paper,” Jonghyun said with much confidence.

“Appa, I really didn’t do it. Aunt Yuri, I didn’t do it you have to believe me. Why would I cheat on a test?” Kibum pleaded his case. Although he knew he was guilty he had to fight until the end.

Although Jaejoong very much wanted to believe that Kibum did not cheat on his test, he also knew that Kibum had a history of cheating.

“Kibum,” Jaejoong said calmly turning his slighty hysterical son to face him. “look appa in the eyes and answer me honestly like a man, did you cheat off of Jonghyun’s test?”

Finally Kibum let the pool of tears in his eyes fall, “I’m sorry appa! I didn’t mean to cheat! I just didn’t want to disappoint you and Umma and I didn’t want you to take my camera away!”

Turning to Jonghyun, “Jjong-ah I’m sooo sorry I didn’t mean to cheat off of you, I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore but please know that I am really really sorry.”

“It’s ok Kibummie, as long as you know what you did was wrong and you promise never to do it again, I’ll forgive you!” Jonghyun forgave Kibum without a second thought. Kibum is his best friend and he could tell that he sincerely sorry for what happened.

“So Kim Kibum, are you admitting to cheating off of Lee Jonghyun?” Principal Kim asked for confirmation.

“Yes Principal Kim, I cheated off of Jonghyun and I am ready to take whatever punishment you have in store for me,” Kibum answered.

“Good job son. Although I am proud of you for admitting to cheating and taking the punishment like a man, I also want you to know that I am very very disappointed in you for cheating and attempting to get away with it. On top of whatever the school’s punishment is, I am taking your camera away for 3 months and you are also grounded for a month. No tv, no computer, no cell phone, no video phone, nothing. Plus whatever punishment your mother wants to throw in there once she finds of out about what you did,” Jaejoong said with a stern face.

Although Kibum was mortified by his father’s punishment and the thought of what his mother would come up with when she found out what he did, he took it like a man. You do the time, you do the time.

------------

Author's note:

Sorry everyone, I know I for not updating, but I just got settled into my new dorm and everything has been a lot more hectic than I thought. I ended up being more home sick than i ever imagined. Anyways let me know what you think of the first chapter. I know its a bunch of background, but we'll get into the real stuff soon. Please Please Please leave me comments on what you think. I will try my best to update soon but I don't guarantee anything. 

Love,

HurricaneVenusx3

P.S. sorry for the grammar and spelling mistakes