Chapter Text
"C'mon, Chris. Let's go meet the Lee family. They're here in Australia on vacation to see their grandparents just like us."
Chris' mother tries to talk his son into going outside instead of just staying in, playing with his beloved legos. Chris is not really in the mood to meet new friends today, but being the good boy he is, he gets up from the floor and hops to grab his mother's hand. His mother smiles sweetly at him, silently praising her son.
Just then Chris notices Hannah who is in their father arms, ready to go out too. Now that he's sure he's not going alone to meet new people he's definitely more open to do so.
The whole Bang family gets out of the house just to go to the one in front of theirs, where a kind-looking old lady is waiting to lead them inside.
"Hello, there! Mr. and Ms. Bang, it's nice to see you again! How have you been? Look at the kids! They look so big!"
She greets the whole family sweetly with a warm smile spread on her lips.
Chris feels the need to bow even if they're not in Korea anymore.
The old lady smiles sweetly again at Chris' gesture.
"Hi, Chris! You're such a polite kid!"
She compliments him in a warm tone, to which Chris smiles big and nods.
"C'mon in! Minho and Felix are waiting in the garden. I bet you and Minho can be great friends, Chris! You're almost the same age!"
The old lady says reaching out to take Chris' unoccupied hand. And Chris, being a curious kid, just takes it with eagerness leaving his mother's, walking with the lady to the garden behind the house.
When they get there Chris is met with the sight of an inflatable blue pool in which a kid with dark hair is happily playing alone, splashing water here and there.
In the mean time, there's a smaller kid that is playing with some toys on the short grass. His freckled face lits up as he takes a little chick in his small hands and sways it in the air.
As Chris follows the old lady's steps, getting closer to the pool, the bigger kid looks up at him and it's then that Chris thinks he sees the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen. They are big and round, but also cat-like. They are really pretty, to the point that Chris almost spills that word randomly right there and then.
The lady speaks first, since neither of the two kids says a word.
"Chris, this is Minho. Minho, say hi to Chris. He's the Bang's nephew, you know them, right?"
Said Minho nods and waves weakly at Chris, who's so taken aback by Minho's pretty eyes that he barely registers the other's upcoming words.
"Hi, Chris! I'm Minho and I'm 8 years old in October! Tomorrow we're gonna have a party for my mom's birthday. Do you want to come?"
The old lady -Minho's grandma- giggles happily at Minho's eager words and leaves Chris' hand, patting his head afterwards.
Chris is getting more curious by the second about this new friend he's making and gets all shy, not able to run his mouth about random topics as he's used to doing while making new friends.
"So? Will you come or not?"
Impatient as ever, Minho asks again raising one of his legs, probably ready to stomp it in the water and probably with the goal to wash Chris all over.
"Oh... Yeah, I'd like to come. Thank you, Minho."
Minho nods in approval, but he doesn't seem satisfied as he tilts his head to the side and crosses his arms over his exposed skin. Only now Chris notices Minho is only wearing a swim suit, a blue one with yellowish cats. It looks cute.
"How old are you?"
Minho asks, impatient again. Chris could chuckle over Minho's easy anger, but he doesn't think he's allowed yet. They barely know each other after all.
"I'm gonna be 10 in October. Looks like we have the same birthday month."
"Yeah, October it's a cool month. Because I was born then."
Chris nods because he thinks October is a cool month too: it's Autumn and Chris loves Autumn, with the leaves coming down and the streets being colored of so many pretty shades of red and orange.
Chris looks at Minho standing in the middle of the pool with his arms crossed and feels a bit bad for having interrupted the latter's games.
"You can keep playing at what you were playing before. I'm going to sit here."
"Nah. It wasn't anything special anyway. Do you wanna play with a ball together?"
Chris nods, actually appealed by the idea of ball sports. He's good at ball sports: he gets chosen first everytime his class has to split in teams. He likes playing soccer more than volleyball, but they're both alright if it's with friends.
"Do you play sports?"
Chris asks looking at Minho, who's going to the other side of the pool, water splashing here and there. Minho looks up at Chris again while trying to reach for his mint towel that is put on a chair a bit out of reach, but not too far. Minho's eyes just look at Chris, no thought behind them.
"I don't. But I like dancing. My mom is going to sign me up for a dance school after classes."
Chris nods thoughtfully, liking the idea of something so different from the ordinary. He's never met any friend who dances, but Minho, could be the first one.
Chris is endeared by the idea of dance, but he likes music better. His father made him grow fond of many old groups and Western music. Chris has the dream of singing for many people, but he's a bit too little to do so.
"Do you do sports?"
"Oh, I'm a swimmer. I'm pretty good."
"Have you ever won any medals?"
"A few, yeah."
"Wow! That's cool. And what about other sports?"
"I can play ball sports pretty well, I guess."
"Mmh. I suck at ball sports. We should change our game then."
Chris chuckles at the suggestion, obviously made because he would be better than Minho at playing. Chris likes this side of Minho, it's so new and fresh.
"What are we gonna do then?"
"Let's play with Felix! He's my little brother. It's fun to play with."
"Why is it so much fun?"
"Because I'm better than him, of course."
Chris scoffs at the bold affirmation that only confirms his view of Minho. Chris, thou, is not one who likes to play just to win, but more to have fun. Seems like Minho has a different idea.
Chris follows Minho, who in the mean time has put on a shirt that's getting damp on his shoulders because of the water that's dripping from his hair.
They reach the place where Felix is peacefully playing and Minho suddenly takes the little chick from Felix's hands. The little one looks up at his brother with a pout on his face, but as soon as he sees Chris he looks stuck in awe.
"Felix, say hi to Chris."
Minho orders warmly at his little brother. Despite Minho's first approach to Felix that Chris really didn't like, Chris actually sees the fondess in Minho's eyes as he looks up at him.
Chris, then, smiles warmly at the little boy, crouching down to be at his level of eyesight and waves cutely at him.
Felix looks at him a bit more, until he gets shy and tries to wiggle out of Chris' eye range.
"That's not how you greet people, Lix. C'mon, say hi."
Chris, taking pity on the little Felix who in gripping Minho's shorts to try and hide himself, decides to speak first.
"Hi, Felix! It's nice to meet you. I'm Chris and I'm almost 10, how old are you?"
An easy approach, just like Minho did with him. Chris hears Minho scoff, but Felix doesn't let his brother comment any further and greets Chris.
"I'm 4. Can I call you hyung?"
Felix's question is bold and easy, but still takes Chris by surprise. He surely wasn't ready for this, not from an apparently four-years-old. Chris nods and smiles more at the little Felix.
He decides to sit down in front of the little boy, whose big eyes and cheeks are sprinkled with light freckles. He looks cute.
"Of course you can call me hyung! You look so big, thou, didn't think you were 4. Thought you were bigger."
"He's not 4 yet. He's gonna be in September."
Minho provides with an expression that Chris can't quite decipher. Chris nods anyway and then looks at Felix again, who is sitting more comfortably now that Chris is showing kindess.
"You're such a big boy, aren't you?"
Felix preens at the praise and giggles cutely clapping his tiny hands. Chris smiles so big he thinks his cheeks are gonna hurt from it, sure that his dimples are showing very much.
He hears Minho scoff and puff next to them, so Chris looks up at him and finds Minho looking away with his arms crossed and a pout on his face. Chris tilts his head, but he doesn't have time to ask anything since Felix decides to make his way in Chris' lap.
"Hyung, look at my Bokkie."
Felix says shoving in Chris' face his little chick. Chris takes the toy in his hands as he circles Felix with his arms. He begins to do small talk with the four-year-old.
"Oh, its name's Bokki? That's cute!"
"He's a boy, just like me. But he likes pink stuff. His bow is pink."
Felix says pointing to the little bow Bokkie has around his neck. Chris nods and hums in approval. He looks up at Minho who's looking down at them. Chris can swear he sees a bit of fondess at the sight, but Minho looks away as soon as he makes eye contact with Chris.
Then Minho decides to sit down too after not so long, as Chris and Felix are still talking about Bokkie and their favourite things.
As they sit there, Hannah joins them on the grass, saying her greeting and answering Minho's obvious question about age. Hannah isn't affected a bit as she answers, showing six of her fingers just to be clear. From there, they all get along well, playing with Felix's toys, which, Chris gets to know, were partially Minho's.
They play for as long as they can, until Chris' mother comes to get them home.
"C'mon, Chris and Hannah. Say bye to your friends. We have to get up early tomorrow or we will loose our flight."
Silence comes down on the kids as they process the information. As soon as Chris catches up, he looks at Minho, who he finds already looking at him. His eyes screaming sadness and hurt.
"Mom..."
Chris is able to get out of his mouth as he looks back at his mom. She looks down at them with a frown on her forhead.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"I thought we would stay here longer. The Lee are having a party tomorrow for Minho's mom. He invited us."
Chris' mom looks mortified as she switches between the four kids that are looking up at her expectantly. Then she sighs.
"I'm sorry, kids. Dad has work back in Korea to do. We can't stay here anymore."
She looks apologetic and Chris knows she would have let them stay if she could. He's not angry at her at all. But he feels sorry torwards Minho. He had said yes afterall.
Chris looks back at Minho with a pout on his face, but Minho smiles back at him. Warmth and kindness. That's what Chris sees in that smile. Chris gives back a big smile, trying to look his age, which is the oldest among them. He should act more maturely, he scolds himself.
"It's ok. We can see each other next year."
Minho says, sounding so much bigger than Chris, that Chris himself feels little.
"Of course! Next year you'll get to see each other again. Now let's go. Say bye."
Chris' mother urges them as she pats their heads.
Chris looks at Felix and smiles big, the little one mirroring his actions. Then Chris looks at Minho and gives him another big and gummy smile. Minho is pleased with it and gives one back, trying to keep his eyes open in the process. They all smile as Hannah and Chris say bye to their friends.
Chris is greedy that night, to the point he can't fall asleep. He's so happy he made new friends, as he always is. Chris is an extrovert, he likes staying with people and making them happy.
Making friends is easy, but somehow he feels like these new friends are different. He likes them and the promise they made to see each other makes him even more eager for next Summer to come.
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Next Summer comes, but it doesn't bring Minho and Felix with it. The Lee family has other plans for the holidays this year.
Chris, sad at first, is actually very understanding and tries not to hold a grudge. There will be next year for a get together. Birthdays are every year anyway.
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But that next year that Chris is so eagerly waiting for, just doesn't seem to come easily.
Chris' hope eventually fades away: he gets bigger and older and kinda forgets about that untalked promise he made with Minho. It was a kids' promise anyway. He doesn't give it much credit: Minho probably forgot about him too.
<>
But then Chris' grandma dies and he has to attend the funeral in Australia.