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“Mom.” Seven-year-old Changbin tugged on his mother’s arm to get her attention.
“What is it, Changbin sweetie? Did you see what you want? What toy has finally captured my son’s attention? I’ll get you any toy you want, my precious.”
“I want that.”
Changbin’s mother looked in the direction that her son was pointing at, faltering when she came to realise what exactly had caught her son’s attention. “Changbin… that’s not something I can get for you.”
“But mommy! You said you’ll get me anything I want!” The child stamped his foot.
“I said I’ll get you any toy you want. But that’s not a toy, isn’t it? That’s a person, Changbin.”
“But I want him!”
“Well, that’s not something you can have, son. We’re almost at the department store now and we can get you anything you want from there, okay? Mommy will buy you the entire store if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want that! I want him!”
The wailing, screaming child tugged free of his mother’s grip and Changbin ran over to where the other child was clinging onto his own mother. Big, round eyes turned to him and plump lips parted in a cry when Changbin made a grab at him.
“Hyunjin! What are you doing to my Hyunjin?”
“Changbin! Stop that right this instance! You can’t just go around demanding to have someone else and try to drag them away with you!”
Eventually, Changbin’s mother managed to separate her son away from the other child, forcefully picking a flailing Changbin up in her arms as she apologised profusely to Hyunjin’s mother before fleeing the scene.
Over his mother’s shoulder, Changbin glanced back at innocent wide eyes brimming with tears, his fingers tightening their grip on the white satin ribbon that he had pulled from the other’s hair.
“Young master, here’s your backpack. I’ll be back with the car to pick you up when school ends.”
“I got it, I got it.” Changbin impatiently took his backpack from his butler. “I’ll be off now.”
Feet pattering on the stone covering the walkway towards the entrance of the elementary school, Changbin ran the short distance to the door, backpack swinging from his shoulders. He dashed in through the opened door, stopping to greet his teacher politely before placing his backpack at the storage cubicle with his name printed on it. Once his belongings had been properly stowed away, Changbin headed into the playroom of the small elementary school.
Jisung and Bang Chan were already in the playroom, the two children bending over a box filled with Lego pieces as they picked out various Lego blocks and parts.
“Jisung! Chan-hyung!”
Bang Chan glanced up with a bright smile as Changbin made his way over to his friends but the younger of the two was so focused on choosing his Lego pieces that he didn’t even look up or acknowledge his hyung.
“Han Jisung! Aren’t you going to at least say hi to me?”
“Hi, hyung,” Jisung mumbled absentmindedly as he examined a small Lego block, dropping it back into the box after some consideration.
“Want to hear something interesting, Changbin?” Bang Chan asked, gesturing for the younger to move closer.
Changbin nodded, blinking in confusion as he shifted towards the other.
“Earlier, I overheard Ms Bae saying that there’s going to be a new kid joining our school.”
“Chan-hyung, that’s not very interesting news.” Changbin scoffed as he reached for the box of Legos and started rummaging through it as well. “It’s just a new kid.”
“But that means we get to make a new friend. Isn’t that exciting?”
Changbin just scoffed again, grabbing one of the Lego pieces from the pile that Jisung had carefully picked out for himself.
“Changbin-hyung! That’s mine!”
“That’s mine now.”
“Give it back!”
The door to the playroom opened and closed.
Busy with fighting over a particular Lego piece with Jisung, Changbin didn’t really pay much attention, head lifting to take a quick glance at the newcomers before his gaze dropped back to the Lego structure he was constructing. Another second passed before he realised what exactly it was that he had caught sight of, head darting back up to stare at the two children standing in front of the playroom door.
Minho was scanning the playroom, gaze roving around the expanse of the room. Hands were clutching tightly onto the sides of the older’s white t-shirt, distorting the giant orange cat printed on the front of the fabric and wide innocent eyes peeked out from behind Minho’s back.
“It’s you!” The loud yell escaped Changbin’s lips before he even realised it and he quickly dropped the Lego pieces in his hand in favour of hopping up and bounding towards Minho and the new kid.
The other had clearly been frightened by Changbin’s yell, burying his head in Minho’s back. Minho’s eyes were narrowed into a fierce glare aimed at Changbin and he came to a stop right in front of the older, freezing completely. “Seo Changbin, why are you being so loud and scaring the younger kids?”
The older patted the hand that was gripping onto his shirt as he started speaking softly to the boy clinging onto him. Changbin had never heard Minho speaking in such a gentle tone before. “Hyunjin, it’s okay. It’s just Changbin. He’s your hyung and he’s really noisy but he’s also nice and would never hurt you. And if he did, I’ll hit him for you. Don’t be scared, okay?”
Those lovely wide eyes peeked out from behind Minho’s back again and Changbin was startled to see the unshed tears glittering in them. “Don’t cry! I’m sorry for scaring you! I won’t yell anymore. Please don’t cry uh… Hyunjin, is it?”
Hyunjin gave a small nod, grip on Minho’s shirt tightening.
“We’ve met before, Hyunjin. Do you remember me?”
The younger blinked in confusion, head tilting slightly before those pretty eyes widened abruptly. “Oh! You’re the boy who stole my ribbon the other day at the mall!”
“You’re stealing other kids’ things now, Binnie?” Minho’s gaze hardened and he was back to glaring at Changbin again.
“I didn’t steal it! I only borrowed it!”
“Return it!”
“I don’t have it anymore! I lost it!”
“D… don’t fight…” Hyunjin’s eyes were still brimming with tears and the younger gave a small sniff. “It’s okay. I still have other pretty ribbons at home.”
“Are you wearing one today too?” Changbin quickly moved closer to peek at the back of the other’s head. He hadn’t been able to see Hyunjin’s hair clearly since the younger had been hiding behind Minho the entire time but now, he could see for himself how the other’s long dark hair had been braided into a delicate pleat which was held together by a pink satin ribbon similar to the one that Changbin had taken from Hyunjin the other day. Unable to resist how pretty the braid and ribbon looked, Changbin reached out to touch the pink ribbon. He had only intended to touch it gently but somehow, his clumsy fingers ended up pulling the ribbon right out of the other’s hair and the braid slowly started unravelling.
Hyunjin must have felt the braid falling apart for the younger reached to touch his hair, letting out a dismayed cry when he realised what had happened. The other’s face scrunched up and Changbin tripped over his words as he rushed to apologise.
“No, w… wait. I… I’m… I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it! It’s an accident! I’m sorry! Please don’t cry.”
Fat droplets of tears were already sliding down Hyunjin’s cheeks and the other started sobbing. Minho pulled the younger into his arms, cooing to him and patting his head. “It’s okay, Hyunjinnie. Did meanie Changbin mess up your hair? I’m sure we can fix it! I know! We can ask Felix. You haven’t met Felix yet, have you? He’s the same age as you and he’s really good with things like braiding. Come on, I think he’s in the classroom. Let’s go find him together.”
Changbin could only stare helplessly as Minho guided a crying Hyunjin out of the playroom.
“Gather around, class. Changbin! Stop staring at Hyunjin and come sit next to me.” Ms Bae patted the empty spot next to her. Changbin reluctantly dragged himself to the indicated spot, sitting down cross-legged next to his teacher.
The other kids joined the circle, sitting down in their respective spots. Hyunjin was sitting between Minho and Jeongin, the youngest gazing curiously at their newest classmate.
“Alright, class. We have a new student today and his name is Hyunjin. He just moved into town last week. Since we don’t know much about Hyunjin and he doesn’t know us either, how about we go around the circle and introduce ourselves? State your name, one thing you like and what you want to be when you grow up. Does everyone understand what to do?”
Everyone nodded obediently.
“Great, then let’s start with Chan.”
“I’m Chan and I like music a lot. That’s why when I grow up, I want to be a music producer!”
“Very good, Chan. You’re next, Jisung.”
Jisung glanced around nervously before taking a deep breath and starting his introduction. “I… I’m Jisung. I like… I like…”
Minho leaned in to whisper something in the younger’s ears and Jisung’s eyes lit up.
“I like quokkas! They’re my favourite animal!”
“Oh, quokkas are very cute animals, aren’t they?” Ms Bae smiled. “And what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be rich! So I can buy myself a pet quokka!”
Ms Bae let out a giggle. “That’s a very nice dream you have, Jisung. Alright, your turn, Minho.”
“I’m Minho! I like cats! And like Sungie, I want to be rich when I grow up. But that’s only because I don’t want to have to work all day like my parents.”
“I… I see. Thank you, Minho. Hyunjin, it’s your turn.”
“I… I’m Hyunjin… and I… I like…” Hyunjin glanced around the room, seemingly realising that there were eight pairs of eyes trained on him before trailing off shyly.
“What do you like, Hyunjin?”
“I… I like… dancing… and when I grow up, I want to be a dancer.”
“You’ll be the prettiest dancer ever!”
“Changbin, no yelling.” Ms Bae visibly suppressed a sigh. “Right, thank you for sharing, Hyunjin. Jeongin, you’re next.”
“My name is Jeongin! I like bread! And when I grow up, I want to be a teacher just like Ms Bae!”
“Well, I hope you’ll make your dream come true one day, Jeongin. Seungmin, your turn.”
“I’m Seungmin! I like puppies and I want to be a dog trainer when I grow up!”
“And I’m Felix! I like brownies and I want to be a baker when I grow up!”
“Those are some really nice dreams, Seungmin and Felix. Alright, Changbin. You’re the last one.”
“I’m Changbin.” Changbin made sure to give a little wave to Hyunjin but the younger wasn’t even looking his way, eyes glued to Jeongin’s cheeks. “I like pretty things. When I grow up, I want to be Hyunjin’s husband.”
“Oh?” Ms Bae hid an amused smile behind her hand. “You want to marry Hyunjin when you grow up? That’s an… interesting dream. And what do you say about it, Hyunjin?”
“I don’t want to marry Changbin-hyung.” Hyunjin puffed out his cheeks, plump lips pouty. “Mommy told me that people get married when they love each other. I don’t love Changbin-hyung. He’s a meanie.”
“Oh dear, Changbin. It looks like your proposal has fallen through. Whatever shall we do?” Ms Bae affectionately stroked Changbin’s hair.” I guess you’ll just have to give up.”
Changbin shook his head vigorously. “No way! I’ll just have to make Hyunjin change his mind.”
“Alright, good luck with that, Changbin. Now, let’s move on to our story-telling session for the today. I’ve picked out an interesting book for all of us. Its title is ‘Beauty and The Beast’. Shall we see what this amazing story is all about?”
Changbin fidgeted with the crayon in his hand, idly adding a random stroke to his drawing as he glanced across the room at where Hyunjin was seated at a table with Minho and Felix. The younger was completely engrossed in his work, the bright red crayon flying across the sheet of drawing block as he coloured in his drawing.
Curiosity had him almost bursting at the seams. Changbin desperately wanted to go over to Hyunjin’s table and take a peek at what the other was drawing but Minho just so happened to be at that same table as well. After the incident this morning in the playroom, Minho had stuck to Hyunjin like glue and every single time Changbin tried to approach them, he would be frightened off by the older’s scary glares.
Letting out a small sigh, Changbin lowered his gaze back onto his own work.
“Oh no, Lix. You should’ve been more careful.” Changbin glanced up from the mess of scribbles on his drawing block to see that Felix had accidentally spilled some water on himself by knocking over a bottle of water that hadn’t been capped back properly. Minho was already next to Felix, grabbing some paper towels from the shelf and mopping up the spilled water. “Come on, Lix. Let’s go find Ms Bae. I think she might have a set of spare clothes for you to change into. You might catch a cold if you stay in your wet clothes.”
Felix nodded obediently, letting Minho take him by the hand to pull him to the corner of the classroom where Ms Bae was putting away some of the equipment from their music session earlier.
Grinning widely, Changbin immediately leaped up, almost knocking into Jisung who had been sitting next to him as he hurried over to Hyunjin’s table. The younger didn’t even look up when Changbin seated himself close to the other and the older’s smile drooped a little.
“Hyunjin.”
“Hm…”
Changbin peeked at Hyunjin’s drawing, noticing that the other had drawn a large flower in the middle of the drawing block and was colouring it in with shades of yellow. It was an impressive drawing and Changbin had never seen anyone draw as well as Hyunjin.
“Your drawing looks really pretty,” Changbin commented.
His words seemed to have finally caught Hyunjin’s attention, the younger looking up with a pleased smile at him. “Really?”
Nodding frantically, Changbin couldn’t keep his happy smile off his lips. He had finally gotten Hyunjin’s attention. “Really! This is the prettiest drawing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life!”
Hyunjin giggled. “Thank you, hyung. Here. I’m done with it. You can have it!”
The younger picked up the piece of drawing before handing it over to Changbin who held it carefully like it was the most precious thing he had ever touched. “I… I can have it?”
“Mmhm. It’s just for hyung.”
“Thank you, Hyunjin! I love it! And I love you too.”
Changbin glanced up hopefully at the other, awaiting Hyunjin’s response but the sound of clapping hands caught both their attention, effectively interrupting their conversation.
Ms Bae was standing in the middle of the classroom with a gentle smile on her face. “Children, it’s time for some outdoor playtime before lunch. Tidy up the classroom quietly, please. Once everyone is ready, then we’ll all go to the playground out front.”
Hyunjin immediately started reaching for his crayons to put them back in their box and Changbin went to put his precious gift in his backpack before he could accidentally dirty or rip it.
Changbin studied each and every single stalk of flower carefully before selecting the one that he thought was the prettiest. He finally decided on a small pink flower, tugging on it hard to separate it from the rest of the plant. Once he had managed to successfully pick the flower, he placed it in the palm of his hand, curling his fingers over it and being careful not to squash it.
With the flower tightly within his grasp, Changbin ran off towards the slides. The other kids seemed to have started a game of tag without him and Changbin had to scan the outdoor area to try to find Hyunjin. The running figures made it difficult for him to make out where everyone was but eventually, he caught a glimpse of the ends of a pink ribbon fluttering in the air and spotted Hyunjin chasing Seungmin behind the slides.
“Hyunjin!”
At the sound of his name, the other halted and turned back, blinking in confusion at Changbin. “Hyung? Do you want to join the game too? We’re playing tag and I’m the one who is supposed to be catching everybody!”
“I want to join the game! But before that, I have a gift for you.”
“A gift?”
“You gave me a gift earlier so I want to give you a gift in return.”
“Oh.” Hyunjin’s eyes lit up as Changbin moved closer. “What’s the gift?”
Changbin showed Hyunjin the flower in his hand. “It’s a flower. Since you were drawing a flower earlier, I thought maybe you liked flowers. I couldn’t find one that looked like the flower that you drew but this flower is really pretty too! It’s as pretty as you are!”
“Thank you, hyung!” Hyunjin reached for the flower, turning it over in his hands and stroking the silky petals gently.
“And I have one more present for you too!”
“Another present? But I only gave you one present.”
“It’s okay. I want to give you this present because I love you, Hyunjin!”
Changbin leaned forward before quickly pressing his lips to Hyunjin’s plump ones. As the older pulled back, Hyunjin blinked rapidly before seemingly realising what had happened. In an instant, those pretty dark eyes started glistening and the younger’s face scrunched up in a familiar manner that Changbin recognised.
“Oh no, Hyunjin. Don’t cry. Did you not like my gift?”
“Mommy said that kisses are really precious and that I should save them for someone I really love. But hyung just stole my first kiss.” Hyunjin started sobbing, voice growing higher in pitch and volume.
Glancing around, Changbin noticed that the younger’s loud cries were attracting the attention of the other children as they gathered around curiously. Minho glanced in their direction, scowling as he caught on to what had happened. The older pushed his way to the front, wrapping his arms protectively around Hyunjin.
“What did you do to make Hyunjin cry?”
“I… I didn’t do anything!”
Hyunjin was still sobbing uncontrollably into Minho’s chest and the older rubbed the other’s back soothingly.
“What’s going on?”
Ms Bae finally seemed to notice the ongoing commotion then, heading over to investigate and picking up Hyunjin in her arms. She wiped away the other’s flowing tears with a piece of tissue, cooing softly to the small child.
“Changbin made Hyunjin cry again!”
“I didn’t!”
“Alright. Don’t argue, the two of you. I’m bringing Hyunjin into the classroom so he can cool down. And Changbin, you should have known better than to make someone else cry.”
Patting Hyunjin’s head gently, Ms Bae carried the other back inside the classroom.
“I… really didn’t mean to make Hyunjin cry…” Changbin mumbled, feeling close to tears himself.
“Seo Changbin, go away. You can’t sit with us. You’ll just make Hyunjin cry again.”
Felix didn’t seem to have the same qualms, shifting over to make space for Changbin at the table. Changbin set his tray carefully on the table as he squeezed between Minho and Felix.
“I came to apologise. Hyunjin, I’m sorry for making you cry earlier at the playground and in the playroom.”
Minho’s expression was doubtful as he picked up a piece of meat from his own plate and placed it on Hyunjin’s. Eyes shining and a pretty smile curving on his lips, the younger immediately placed the piece of meat in his mouth and chewed down on it. “Thank you, hyung! And it’s okay, Changbin-hyung. Ms Bae told me that you are a nice person and didn’t mean to make me cry.”
“I really didn’t mean to.” Changbin picked up a piece of meat off his plate, staring at it sadly for a moment before mimicking Minho’s actions and reaching across the table to place it on Hyunjin’s plate.
“You’re giving Hyunjin your food?” Felix gasped.
“Wow, I guess you really care about Hyunjin and weren't trying to make him cry.”
Hyunjin tilted his head, blinking confusedly as he placed the piece of meat that Changbin had given him in his mouth. “What are you guys talking about?”
“You don’t know this, Jinnie, but Changbin never shares his food. This is the first time that I’ve seen Changbin giving his food to someone else,” Minho explained.
“Oh. Changbin-hyung… cares for me?”
Changbin nodded vigorously. “Of course! Because I love you!”
“But…” Hyunjin picked out a piece of eggplant, adding it into the small pile of eggplants that he had created on one side of his plate before meeting Changbin’s eyes again. “…I’m still not going to marry hyung.”
“Why not?!”
“I don’t love hyung.”
“What can I do to make you love me then? Will you love me if I give you some of my food every day?” Changbin demanded to know.
“Never! I don’t want to marry hyung!”
“I’ll make sure that you’ll agree to marry me one day.”
“Hyunjin, your mother is here to pick you up. She’s waiting for you outside so hurry up and grab your things, okay?”
“Yes, Ms Bae.” Hyunjin handed the llama figurines that he had been playing with over to Jisung before darting up and heading to grab his backpack from the storage cubicles.
Changbin dropped the pig and rabbit figures onto the ground before getting up and dashing to the door. Thankfully, Ms Bae was too busy checking on Hyunjin to notice or stop Changbin as he slipped out through the door.
Hyunjin’s mother was standing just outside the door, eyes widening in surprise as she lowered herself to look Changbin in the eye. “Oh, aren’t you the boy from the mall the other day? Are you my Hyunjinnie’s classmate?”
“I’m Hyunjin’s future husband!” Changbin announced. “Will you allow me to marry Hyunjin please?”
“You want to marry my Hyunjin?” Hyunjin’s mother laughed. “Do you love him that much?”
“Mm. I love him a lot!”
“And what did Hyunjin say? Does he want to marry you too?”
“He says he doesn’t love me and he doesn’t want to marry me. But I’ll change his mind! He’ll marry me one day! I’ll change his mind one day!”
“You’re very determined, aren’t you?” Hyunjin’s mother patted Changbin’s head. “Then, when you and Hyunjin are all grown up, you can come to me and I’ll leave my precious Hyunjin in your care. But you have to make him love you first, okay?”
“I’ll definitely make him love me!”
“And you’ll have to protect my little cry-baby and make sure that no one ever hurts him or make him cry, okay?”
“I will!”
The door was pushed open and Hyunjin exited from the classroom with his backpack. “Mommy! Oh, what are you doing here, Changbin-hyung?”
“I came to ask your mommy if I can marry you.”
“I never said I wanted to marry you!”
“But you’ll still marry me one day!”
“Never!”
Hyunjin’s mother just chuckled as she lifted her son into her arms. “Alright, Changbin. I’m afraid Hyunjin and I have to go home now. You’ll have to ask him to marry you tomorrow instead.”
“Okay! Bye, Hyunjin’s mommy. And bye, Hyunjin! You’ll agree to marry me tomorrow for sure!”
“I won’t! Bye, Changbin-hyung. See you tomorrow!”
Hyunjin was waving cutely to Changbin as he left the school with his mother. Changbin was grinning so widely his cheeks hurt, waving hard to Hyunjin until the younger and his mother were out of sight.
The door opened once again and Ms Bae stepped through the doorway, worried gaze immediately finding Changbin. His teacher’s hands were resting on her hips, the worried expression on her face gradually shifting to one of anger and exasperation.
“Seo Changbin! How could you have slipped out of the classroom like that without any permission? That’s it! I’m giving you a time out!”
“But, Ms Bae, I had something very important to do!”
“There’s nothing more important than your safety. Come on now, you’re going into the time out corner.”
“But, but-“