Start It Again

She was smiling when she got on that bus. She wanted him to remember her with a smile on her face. She wanted him to understand that this was for the best. 

He watched her leave with a heavy heart. He knew that she was smiling to reassure him that this was the right choice. He understood that she was right, but his heart was still filled with sorrow. 

As the bus took off, her smile disappeared and his sorrow deepened. She was gone and there was a chance that they would never see each other again. 

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They were 10 when they met. 

Min was the chubby cheeked new girl and Woobin was the solemn face boy his classmates feared. His reputation of being the little brother of a notorious street fighter kept the bullies away, but little Min didn’t have the luxury of having an older brother’s status to stop the older boys from picking on her.

"Hey piggy you know you gotta pay up in order to use the swings?” A pair of brown eyes glanced up at the big boy standing in front of her, but immediately lowered back down. “Hey brat!” The boy grabbed a hold of one of her pigtails and pulled on it hard, pulling her off the swing and onto the sand. “Don’t ignore me-” The boy’s eyes widened as he fell back on his . The small girl was now glaring down at him. “You’re going to pay for that!” The boy jumped up and curled his hand into a fist that collided right with her cheek. Min fell back onto the sand. 

"Get away from her!” The boys heads snapped to the side and immediately a wave of fear washed across their faces. Woobin, who had been calmly eating his tuna sandwich under the oak tree, had dropped his food and was now running at full speed towards them. The group quickly ran off in different directions, crying out apologies. Woobin halted when he was in front of the girl. He wasn’t one to interfere with the local bullying since every time those boys picked on someone, the victim would quickly scurry away crying and then tell one of the teachers, but this girl surprised him. Instead of running away, she fought back. He crouched down and looked her over. She had a hand over her cheek and her head was bowed so he couldn’t really see her face. After a few seconds he saw a tear fall onto the sand. Woobin sighed and looked away, “Idiot. You should’ve ran away”, He mumbled, awkwardly patting her head. This was the main reason he didn’t get involved. He wasn’t very well with handling drama and was very content staying away from it. The girl sniffed and Woobin saw her dry her eyes with her wrist.

He retracted his hand and stood up. “Dummy” He mumbled, then looked away as he waited for the sniffling to stop. He furrowed his eyebrows when he heard chuckle. He turned to her again and noticed she was already standing, but what caught him off guard was the pretty smile on her face. “But if I ran away, then a cute boy wouldn’t have come to my rescue” Woobin mouth opened lightly and he could feel his face heat up. He glared at her and turned away with a scoff. The girl chuckled again and rubbed her cheek. “I’m kidding” Woobin glanced at her. “I can take care of myself, but thank you”, She said, before she her heel. Woobin puffed up his cheeks and grabbed her hand before she walked away further. “You need ice on that, idiot”, He muttered, not bothering to look at her expression after he began pulling her to the nurse’s office.

Min stared at the back of the boy’s head with wide eyes. She wasn’t expecting him to do this. She noticed him earlier eating comfortably all by himself and also noticed how the other students walked around him almost as if they wanted to avoid him completely. After seeing that, she assumed he was someone who was content being alone and even though that small patch of grass under the tree looked inviting, it would be better to hang out somewhere else. The swings were a safe choice since no one really wanted to hang out in the playground on that hot summer day, but it seems that bullies didn’t care about the heat.  

"I’m okay” Min mumbled, trying to get out of his grip, but to no avail. “Your cheek is bruising” Woobin muttered, tightened his grip on her hand and making Min blush. “I’m-” “No you’re not. Now shut up”, He snarled, not bothering to hide his frustration. Min pursed her lips. “You don’t have to be so mean”, She mumbled. Woobin glanced behind his shoulder and saw her glaring down at the floor. He sighed and loosened his grip on her a bit. “Sorry” He said, making Min look up at him with watery eyes, but she immediately took notice of his red ears and to this, Min smiled and gripped his hand tighter. “My cheek is starting to hurt. Are we almost there?” Woobin glanced back at her and with a small smile on his face he nodded and quickened his pace.

After that day it went without saying that Min and Woobin became best friends. While Woobin pretended to be annoyed by her presence, Min brought cheerfulness and fun to Woobin’s school life. As the years passed, nothing changed. Their friendship strengthened and everyone knew that messing with Min would bring out Woobin’s fury and even those who wanted to mess with Woobin would think twice. Min may have been the top student in class, but she was known as a crazy girl. She could be cheerful, friendly and kind, but the instant someone dared touch Woobin, she didn’t care about their size or whether she would get hurt in the process, Min would attack with whatever she found without h