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Of all the mistakes and pranks he could’ve gotten caught and punished for, Jisung's luck just had to run out on him when it came to Hwang Hyunjin. The prettiest boy in the entire 2nd grade.
Don’t get him wrong, he’s in no way infatuated with him. And no, he doesn’t think he's adorable, and kind, and sweet, and pretty. On the contrary he finds Hyunjin annoying and whiny. The boy is always asking him to clean up his table after lunch, and always tells him to put away his crayons in the right order.
He's always so full of himself, and Jisung really doesn’t like him all that much.
Still, he’s not a bad guy, so he does kinda feels bad about sticking gum in Hyunjin's hair just to win a bet with Kim Seungmin. After all, Hyunjin's shoulder-length, brown hair is the only thing he actually likes about the boy. His hair reminds him of his grandma’s long straight hair that he’d always wondered why his Mom never inherited.
Jisung stares at the pink and purple, and green and yellow hair bands on display in the tiny convenience shop and confusion befuddles him. He's never even seen most of these colours in his life, let alone had to make a decision on which to buy for another boy! Though, he has seen Hyunjin sport a rainbow array of several hues, the sheer selection of colours is giving him a visual shock.
It sucks that he landed himself in this mess but he’s gonna have to push through and buy that gift for Hyunjin.
He owes him that much, after all.
Now, staring at the confusing arrays of innumerable colours, and patterns, he’s at a loss for what to buy. He sends a pout towards his sister but she continues giving him the stink eye. And his father is no help either.
If only Mom were here, he thinks to himself, cursing the day he let her leave for his grandparents’ house alone.
“It’s your punishment for pulling that prank on poor Hyunjin, Hannie!” She had said to him before leaving for the weekend.
He bites his lips and moves away from the hairbands display, strolling towards the clips and clutches section. He’s seen Hyunjin wear those too. They look kinda okay on the boy too.
Butterflies, and ladybugs, and ice-cream cones and, oddly enough, little trees. So many colours and so many shapes! He’s far more overwhelmed by the variety of clips and clutches than he was by the hairbands!
Urgh! Hyunjin is so weird! He thinks to himself. Grimacing at the shocking display. How can he even choose from all this?!
Jisung walks away from the clips and clutches display and races towards the rubber bands isle. Another variety of thin bands and thick bands and bands for curly hair and non-elastic bands and WOW! He’s so not interested in this!
“Tired already buddy?” His father crouches down beside him. Patting him on his back in faux understanding.
“Why can’t Misung just choose something for Hyunjin, Dad?!” He sighs dramatically and falls back into his father’s embrace. “I don’t understand what to buy! Nothing looks nice!”
His father laughs heartily and ruffles his hair, pulling him towards another section of the small store. “That’s the idea, kiddo. You need to understand that you did wrong and make up for it by getting something of your choice for Hyunjin.”
Jisung pouts, nodding his head, and continues to searching for the perfect “Apology Gift”.
They head over towards the inner section of the store and there’s an isle filled with just scrunchies of different sizes and shapes and material. There are even some with glitter on them and some that have frills at the ends.
But the one that catches Jisung's eye is a plain, pink, black polka-dotted scrunchie. It’s a little bit bigger than most but Hyunjin's hair is long, right? he tells himself. It doesn’t have annoying glitters on it and the material is soft to touch.
He likes the scrunchie and imagines that Hyunjin would like it too. “I like this!” He excitedly tells his father who chuckles warmly and promptly buys it.
*
The next time Jisung meets Hyunjin, it’s in their classroom two days later. The boy is back to being his annoying self again, all bossy, and strict, and pretty. But Jisung is distressed. Because he had NOT prepared for this!
No no no! NO NO NO! Oh my gawd! No!
“Jisung!” He’s roused by that shrill voice that he hates so much and jerks up sharply at Hyunjin's blooming voice. He looks angry, and Peter would imagine he’d be livid because he can’t believe this!
Hyunjin's long, straight, beautiful locks are no more. Instead, his small face is now framed with a barely any hair at all—just a close undercut. It’s too short to be tied with a scrunchie now.
And he feels SO bad. For Hyunjin because he had to cut his hair off because of Jisung's stupid prank!
And for the scrunchie sitting in his backpack because it’ll never be the “Perfect Apology Gift” he had hope for it to be.
“Well?” Hyunjin asks him again because he’s been so busy feeling bad about that stupid prank of his! “Jisung, you need to sit down! The teacher will he here soon!”
Jisung stares at the boy and the apology is at the tip of his tongue but he’s unable to form words. So, in a feat of embarrassment, he pulls out the scrunchie from his backpack that he had painstakingly wrapped in gift paper the night before.
His cheeks red and his eyes downcast, he pushes the gift into Hyunjin's hands, whispering, “I’m sorry, Hyunjinnie”.
Hyunjin quietly thanks him. Touched by the gesture, and by the mere idea that Jisung actually bought him a gift. He shyly ducks away towards his seat.
Jisung watches him from his seat behind his. Hyunjin is unwrapping the gift and pulling out the scrunchie from it, and prepares Jisung himself for the disappointment in the boy's face, but it never comes.
Instead he watches Hyunjin quietly squeal and promptly wear the scrunchie on his wrist instead of his hair.
The boy turns around with a broad smile on his face, and flashes his new scrunchie-bracelet to Jisung. “It looks nice right, Jisungie?” He asks him and for the first time since 2nd grade started, Hyunjin looks really, really pretty.
Jisung shyly nods his head, suddenly aware of all his classmates’ eyes on him and Hyunjin. He can almost hear their whispers of:
“OMG! Hyunjin is talking to Jisung! Jisung gave him a gift! Are they boyfriends now!? Is Hyunjin gonna marry Jisung now?!”
His cheeks feel hot at the attention but he’s not exactly bothered by it. After all, he likes the scrunchie and Hyunjin seems to like it too.
And maaaaybe he doesn't hate Hyunjin after all?
*
(A few years later)
Jisung glares at the boy his best friend is talking to, and tries not to burn him into the ground with just his eyes. His blood boils at the mere sight of Hyunjin and “the other guy” talking but it’s not like he can tell his friend how much he hates the guy. Because he has no reason for hating him other than the fact that Hyunjin's dating him.
He huffs a sigh of relief when Hyunjin swiftly turns and walks back towards him, the sour look on his face mirroring his boyfriend’s.
“Trouble in paradise?” Jisung asks, trying his hardest not to let his excitement speak for him.
Hyunjin, oblivious as he always is to Jisung's feelings, rolls his eyes and growls back at him in pent up angst, “urgh! I hate him! I can’t believe he was cheating on me with Daebeom!”
Hiding a sly smile behind a very believable facade, Jisung clears his throat as he shrugs, “good riddance, I always say. Jerks like him don’t deserve you anyway.”
“You’re right they don’t!” Hyunjin exclaims, flipping his long, blonde hair away from his face.
The wind picks up as they continue walking towards the bus stop and Jisung doesn’t speak because he knows that his silence is what Hyunjin needs now. He simply watches over the heartbroken boy and almost wishes he didn’t have to break up with that jerk. Jisung hates seeing him so dejected, especially for another guy!
Soon they’re at the bus stop and Hyunjin sighs one last time before shaking his head and wiping away tears that Jisung pretends he never saw. He reaches into his back pocket and produces a scrunchie to tie his hair as he says, “let’s go bowling tonight. I feel like hitting a few balls that look like his face.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Jisung grins back.
His eyes then land on the pink and black polka dotted scrunchie around Hyunjin's wrist. It’s loose now and has faded, and it’s fraying at the ends but he’s seen Hyunjin stitch it up several times trying to save it. A smile travels up his face when the memory of it resurfaces.
He looks at the way Hyunjin ties his hair, taking care not to stretch the scrunchie too hard.
And falls in love all over again.