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The first time Alexis was curious about the blonde boy was when he went to the pastry shop in their neighbourhood alone and found him there, in the snowy december. He was a small boy with unruly blonde hair whose skin is as pale as a snow with seemingly gloomy and quiet personality. Actually, he didn’t really know him that well since he never even appeared around the neighbour kids their age. He only knew him as one of the neighbour kids that lived few streets away from their house. The neighbourhood dislike him and his father, including Alexis’s. That is why the blonde boy mostly spends his time all alone as far as Alexis knew.
The blonde boy was right in front of him, Alexis can hear the conversations between him and the pastry shop owner. The boy asked for leftovers to the pastry shop owner and the owner can only spare few of them for him. Alexis can’t help but become curious toward the blonde kid in front of him, whom rumoured to be a bad luck boy that his own father hated, wondering if the boy didn’t even have pocket money to buy himself one of the breads instead of asking for leftovers.
Alexis never really saw his face properly since the blonde boy mostly walk with his head downcasted as if avoiding anyone in sight, so it was the first time he spotted wounds on the boy’s pale cheeks, making Alexis's heart ache in pain. Wondering why an angelic looking boy has to be covered in painful looking wounds.
Then Alexis has an idea of sharing his Christmas cake with the sad looking little boy, maybe it will cheer him up even if it’s just a little. But before Alexis can call him, the shop’s door has been barged open.
“Alexis, here you are! I’ve been called out to you for many times now! Just go home and stop sneaking around and causing problems!”
Without realizing it, Alexis has been staring a bit too long at the blonde that he unconsciously ignored his older sister. He even forgot about the fact that she already caught him in his sneaky acts to buy cake for Santa, “I-Im sorry!”
As his sister pinched his ear, Alexis winced in pain with small tears in his eyes. When he got dragged by his sister with full force, blue eyes stare right into his purple ones. His expression unreadable as he looked at him getting out the store with his sister.
At first, Alexis only thinks of the blonde boy as someone to avoid since his parents always told him not to get close to him. But as he looked back at how visible the red marks on his cheeks, his unruly hair, and his black hoodie that seems unable to keep him warm long enough, a feeling of warm protectiveness enveloped him. To Alexis, it was not the look of someone that needs to be avoided, it was the look of someone who need a caring friend by his side, and he is willing to be one. He decides to sneak around again tomorrow without his family’s knowledge to find the blonde boy. This time, he needs to be more careful to avoid being grounded again.
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Luckily, the next day he decided to sneak around again, his older sibling’s friends are visiting the house for an important science fair project, so Ness can make his way out from his room’s window.
Usually, he would sneak around to find some neighbourhood kids to play or just spending his time building a snowman and played magic tricks, but this time, he can’t wait to meet the blonde boy once again. His heart beats faster at the thought, he was wondering if the blonde boy, unlike other neighbour kids will like to be magician too if he taught him how to do magics to protect himself from pain.
Alexis took quite some time to find the blonde boy as he roamed the neighbourhood. He didn’t know where the boy lived and even if he knew, he didn’t think he can deal with that scary father of the boy. One of his friends has told them how big and scary the father of the blonde boy is, like a monster. The thought of visiting the blonde’s house makes him shudder so he decided to give up.
Suddenly, Alexis got collided with someone and then fall backward to the ground. Alexis feels relief since he didn’t hit his head, it was just a bit painful in his leg and back, but no wounds since the snow around him lessened the impact.
“Sorry.” Alexis can see some lock blonds from the similiar black hoodie as he heard s small voice right beside him. Then the boy turned around and ran. Alexis quickly got up from his position, following the small boy’s movements, he didn’t want to miss his chances of meeting the blonde.
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“H-hey! Don’t you get tired? Wait for me please” Alexis shouted as his legs started to sting since he ran off to follow the blonde boy.
The blonde boy seems to be tired too, so he stopped running and turned around, his once wary eyes turned into a relief once his eyes meet Alexis’s.
“Oh…I thought he was an adult.” The blonde boy said quietly, more like muttering to himself.
Alexis quickly showed the blonde boy his brightest smile as he greeted him, “Hello, do you remember me? I live around here too!”
The blonde boy quickly looked down as he shook his head, “…Sorry, I don’t. W- what do you want?”
Even though the blonde boy’s voice has a hint of warriness, his vulnerability can be heard in it. To ease the awkward situation, Alexis quickly came up with something, “Let’s play! Oh! Do you want to build a snowman? Theres a field ar-“
Before Alexis can finish his sentences, the blonde quickly turned around, ignoring him as he continued to walk further.
Alexis thought that he scared the boy away by chasing him earlier, so he decided to shout once more, “U-ummm, Im Alexis! Let’s be friends! And w-we can play together tomorrow if you want!”
Sadly, the brown haired’s effort was in vain since the blonde boy only sped up his running, leaving Alexis behind with his back turned to him.
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The next time he sees him, Alexis approached the blonde boy with enthusiasm as he asked him once more, “Do you want to build a snowman?
The blonde boy jolted as if he didn’t expected Alexis to get so close to him, so he looked away as he tried to give some distances from him. Alexis was always an oblivious kid, so he thought the boy was just a shy one, so he came up with a childish idea.
He started to palmed a snow and turned it into a snow ball, he planned to make the blonde boy played snow ball war with him until he sees him cowering in fear instead, his arms trembling.
‘Oh no! I think I scared him again!’ Alexis panicked as he quickly bent his legs to make himself the same height as the smaller boy.
“I-Im sorry…I don’t mean to hurt you, I…”
Alexis is desperately thinking of a way to make the boy warmed up to him, so he quickly raised his magic wand and carefuly put it around the boy’s trembling arms, “P-pain, pain go away!”
He repeated the same phrase around three times until the smaller boy started to lower his arms and looked at Alexis with eyes of bewilderment but quickly looked away as he said, “It’s still hurts…”
“Y-yeah?” Alexis asked nervously to the blonde boy.
“My arms still hurt, dummy. Childish phrases won’t heal it.” The blonde said as he sighed.
Alexis thinks this is the chance for him to befriend the boy, so he quickly asked him once more, “Do you want to build a snowman now?”
“No.”
“H-how about magic tricks? I can show you one!”
“Go away.”
This time, the blonde boy just brushed him off, leaving Alexis feeling dejected but not enough to makes his determination stopped.
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“Do you want to build a snowm-“
“Don’t you get tired of following me? It’s been a week.”
The blonde boy who always ignored Alexis’s advance to play, finally talked to him with his eyes stare right into his purple ones. Alexis grinned widely as he said, “I will keep bothering you until you build a snowman with me!”
“…You’re so childish…but fine, just this once.”
Alexis then jumped happily as he cheered at the other boy finally gave in to his request. The blonde boy just rolled his eyes at the taller boy.
“Whatever, just promised me not to bother me like this anymore once you’re satisfied.”
“I promise, I promise! Anyway Im Alexis, whats yours?”
The blonde boy went quiet before he answered with a reluctant tone, “…Michael”
“Michael is an angel’s name, isn’t it? Let’s be friends, Michael!”
Alexis then offers his hands for a handshake which the blonde boy ignored as he turned away, “Let’s just make it quick.”
The nonchalant treatment he got from Michael didn’t make Alexis feels disheartened, instead he overjoyed at the fact that Michael agreed to build a snowman with him. He will show him how good he is in building a snowman to impress the blonde boy.
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It turned out that Michael—the blonde boy—is not good with building a snowman, Alexis has to stop himself from laughing at how sloppy the snow ball that Michael desperately shaped, ‘So this is why he refused to build a snowman with me!’ he thoughts to himself.
Michael, on the other hand, stared quietly at Alexis’s snow bigger yet steady snow ball before his cheeks turned redder, “W-what? I never build a snowman…so I don’t know how.”
“Its okay, Michael! I’ll teach you! It’s actually pretty easy, you just need to follow me!” Alexis said confidently with a puffed chest, feeling proud that he can looks cool in front of the smaller boy. While the other boy just nodded and then paid attention to Alexis as he started to show him how to build the snowman.
“See, its easy! Give it a try!” Alexis then helped watch over Michael as he tried to build a snowman.
“…uggh.” Michael once again fails miserably at building a single snowman so Alexis just helped him until the snowman finally completed.
“Look! It’s the snowman! Anyway, he looks cold, so I’ll give him the scarf!”
As Alexis tip toe to try covering the snowman’s neck with his scarf, Michael can’t help but notice how different the boy is from him. There is no a single wound on his cheek, only the red colored that adorned his cheeks that caused by the cold, unlike him whose face is always welcomed with new wounds.
As Michael wondering why such a cheerful boy want to befriend him, he suddenly feels a warm fabric around his neck, quickly craning his neck to looked up to Alexis’s wide grin. “Your cheeks are like ripe tomatos, you must be cold, I think you need it more than Mr. Snowman!”
The foreign gesture only makes Michael stared at Alexis weirdly, as if contemplating what to do with the situation.
“I don’t like gifts. Take it back.” Michael quickly unwrapped the scarf and tossed it to Alexis.
“Eh, why?” Alexis whined as he took the scarf with a pout.
“I never receive one, I don’t know what to do with it anyway.”
As the situation becomes awkward, Alexis remembered at the first time he met Michael in the pastry shop, so he decided to buy a cake for both of them, “T-then, wait for me! I’ll be back!”
“Huh? Okay.”
It didn’t take a long time since Alexis is afraid Michael will leave him behind once more, he didn’t want to lose a new friend he just acquired, so he panted heavily as he showed Michael the small cake box, “L-let’s eat it together…”
Michael can’t find words of rejection as he sees how Alexis has been trying too hard in befriending him, following him for a week then getting him cake for barely 10 minutes.
‘What a weird kid.’ He thought to himself as he nodded with a curt, “Yeah.”
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“You’re sucks with snowball, what are you good at?” Alexis asked as he munched the cake with sparkling eyes.
“Soccer.”
“Eh, then let’s play it! Im pretty good at soccer myself!”
“I left my soccer ball in my house, I was about to get it after work but then you came and dragged me to build silly snowman.”
Alexis raised his eyebrows as he asked more, he’s curious about what Michael usually do beside playing soccer, “Huh? Work? Children can work too?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? My mom and dad told me that only adults can work! How do you do that?”
“Stealing stuffs. I just get back from working the first time I accidently collide into you.”
As Michael said the word lightly as if it’s not a crime, Alexis widened his eyes as he stooded up, “But stealing is not good!”
“Huh? Is it?”
“It is!!! So don’t do that again!”
The awkward silence once again enveloped them, Alexis can see how nervous Michael is since he casted his head down again as if getting ready for another scolding, so Alexis quickly said, “I-I will get my soccer ball so we can play after this!”
“Oh…okay.”
Alexis didn’t understand Michael, but he think he will get along well with the boy since both of them are good at soccer. Although, some of the neighbours has been whispering as they passed by them while looking disgusted, Alexis wondering why the adults are cruel enough to told him and the other kids to avoid Michael.
“Just ignore them. Im used to it.”
Michael only eats the cake quietly as if it didn’t bother him at all. But Michael’s eyes said otherwise, he looked sad for some reason. Alexis decided to always stay by Michael’s side as his closest friend.
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As days passed, Alexis has been playing soccer with Michael. The usual quiet blonde boy looked more excited as he kicked the ball while running to avoid Alexis taking it. He can see the once hollow blue eyes started to shined like a blue sky. And at that moment, Michael truly looked like an angel in Alexis’s eyes.
“You’re actually good, but not good enough to beat me though.” Michael said with a barely concealed confident tone while looking smug as he hold the soccer ball with his leg.
“H-hey! You’re sucks at snow ball you know!” Alexis protested half heartedly while Michael only chuckled, “Childish games didn’t count to me.”
The days they got to know each other, Michael has been more talkative, especially when it comes to soccer. It was as if hes not the same gloomy boy the neighbourhood accused of.
As both of them sit in the park’s bench, Alexis looked at Michael as he asked the boy, “Why do you like soccer so much? You look the happiest when we played it!”
Having been asked something that never occurred to him, Michael tilted his head, as he murmured, “Happy, huh?”
Does he look that way to Alexis? Michael looked at the bright snowy sky before thinking of an answer that sounds surprising even to himself, “Because it always comes back no matter what I did to it.”
Before meeting the Alexis boy, he recalled the times when he was fed up of his father’s beating, then he vented it out on the soccer ball, he thought it will disappear into the unknown, just like his mother that he never even recognized once in his life. But surprisingly, it returned right beside his leg. That was the time he feels like he was no longer alone.
Alexis blinks once, twice, trying to understand the meaning of Michael words, then smiled brightly, the same smile that fit the summer more than this cold winter, “I see. It’s like a magic soccer ball that really loyal to his magician, huh? It’s sounds cool!”
Michael only stared dumfoundly, he was expecting Alexis to looked at him with disgust, thinking how weird he is, just like how the neighbours has been treated him, but he gives him the usual adorations looks instead.
“Yeah, I guess you can take it that way.”
For the first time, Michael smiled to Alexis, feeling oddly comfortable around boy he was once thought as hard to deal with for someone like him.
“I can be it too!”
“Huh?”
“Since Im a magician, just like the magic soccer ball, I can also come back and find you even if you avoid me persistently like how you used to!”
There was a pause between them as Alexis is still with that idiotic smile of his, while Michael tried to find a right reaction, he was never experienced a single kidness afterall, let alone someone that can find him even when he’s avoiding them.
“Even if I disappeared one day, will you go look for me?” Michael asked quietly as he cast a glance at the sky once more.
Now he felt foolish for asking it, Alexis probably thought he was as king too much, they only knew each other for barely a month. But before he can take back his question, Alexis said cheerfully, “I will use my magic to bring you back to me so we can play together like this!”
Alexis, his foolish friend who keep persistinly chase after him, yet the one who seems to understands him the most. Michael wonders when will the purple eyes boy left his side, because nobody ever stay beside the soccer ball. But for now, he wants to selfishly indulge himself in this newfound friendship.