Chapter Text
Wonpil has known Sungjin a long time.
Longer than he’s known Younghyun; longer than he’s known Dowoon; longer than he’s known Namjoon; and even longer than he’s known Jinyoung.
That’s saying something because he’s known Jinyoung for a long time. If it weren’t for Sungjin, Wonpil would consider Jinyoung his closest friend.
But, Sungjin exists in his life, so he took the spot fairly easily.
Wonpil blinked steadily at the ground. He was squatted down on the sidewalk right outside of his house when a shadow passed over the spot that he was staring at.
“Are you Kim Wonpil?”
Wonpil looked up at the other boy through half-lidded eyes and tilted his head slowly. Then he nodded his head just as slowly.
“Oh, well, I’m Park Sungjin,” the boy said as he looked down on Wonpil. “My eomma told me to be friends with you.”
Wonpil looked back to his own mother talking to Sungjin’s mom (he assumed). Then he pouted—he was perfectly fine with making friends on his own!
…even if he spent his days in a daze more often than not.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to…” Wonpil murmured, looking back down at his feet.
He counted the ants trotting down the sidewalk—or, at least he tried to. He lost count after the first five.
Sungjin squatted down next to him and stared at the pavement as well. “What are you doing?”
Wonpil turned his head to stare at Sungjin. Why wasn’t he going? Usually the other kids left after a bit.
He looked back down and picked up a nearby twig. “I’m looking at the ants.”
He didn’t want to say he was counting them. He would’ve been too embarrassed to admit that he already lost count a handful of times.
“Why?” Sungjin asked, also picking up a twig and mirroring Wonpil’s actions.
Wonpil shrugged and waved the stick around on the patch of grass. Sungjin watched—and then Sungjin followed suit.
Wonpil narrowed his eyes at the other boy—was he making fun of him?
The other kids told him straight to his face that he was weird and a little bit of an airhead (that was an understatement, they just called him an airhead), but this guy…
Wonpil would have preferred it if he just openly made fun of him. This was cruel and…mean.
“I don’t know,” Wonpil said stiffly.
He stood up and walked away from Sungjin.
However, this just prompted Sungjin to follow him. Wonpil glared at him, only to recieve a confused look in return.
What was wrong with this guy?
“Do you not like me?” Sungjin asked as he interlocked his hands behind him and stretched his arms out. “Or do you not want to be friends?”
Wonpil’s mouth dropped open slightly as his face screwed up in a judgemental look. “You said your eomma told you to be friends with me.”
“And?”
“And—” Wonpil huffed and stopped in place—effectively stopping Sungjin in his as well, “—I said you don’t have to.”
“But, I want to…” Sungjin mumbled.
“No,” Wonpil huffed again and stomped his little foot on the ground, “you just said your eomma told you to.”
“But, you said I don’t have to if I don’t want to,” Sungjin said slowly, his own face scrunching up in confusion, “and…I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
Wonpil’s mouth gaped as he struggled to formulate a response. It was as if his voice had left his body, as if he forgot how to speak!
“What?”
“Y-you don’t have to pretend!” Wonpil stuttered and hid his face in his hands. “Your eomma made you, now I’m saying you don’t have to!”
Sungjin looked around him and shrugged. “Even if my eomma told me to, she didn’t make me. If I didn’t want to be your friend, then I would say no.”
Wonpil stared at him intensely; Sungjin looked back curiously. Wonpil narrowed his eyes and Sungjin stood still as he scanned him.
Then, Wonpil shrugged, turned, and walked away.
Sungjin stumbled after him. “Our houses are next to each other! We have to be friends!”
Wonpil rolled his eyes—there it was again: have to.
“And I don’t see anyone else playing with you—”
Wonpil spun around and glared at Sungjin again. It seemed as if Sungjin hit a sore spot for him.
He jabbed his tiny finger into Sungjin’s chest and growled, “I don’t need anyone else.” Tears welled up in his eyes and he rubbed them harshly to get rid of them. “I don’t need you.”
“I-I’m sorry,” Sungjin apologized and looked down regretfully. “I…don’t have any friends. We just moved here.”
Wonpil felt his resolve weaken and he dropped his hand immediately. How could he be so mean to a new kid in the neighborhood?
“I— okay.” Wonpil sighed in resignation.
“No, it’s okay,” Sungjin said petulantly, “you don’t want to be friends.”
“I said okay!” Wonpil shouted exasperatedly.
Sungjin snapped his mouth shut and looked at Wonpil curiously once again. This time, Wonpil stood still as Sungjin stared.
“Why were you looking at the ants?” Sungjin asked again, promptly forgetting about the spat.
Like before, Wonpil shrugged. “I want to see where they take the food.”
“Hmm,” Sungjin humphed and looked down at the pavement, “I want to see too.”
Wonpil puckered his lips and blew out his cheeks. He might have met his match.
“I’m kind of hungry too,” Sungjin said under his breath.
“Maybe they will give you some of their food.” Wonpil giggled.
Sungjin looked at him as if he had the greatest idea in the world and nodded resolutely. “You’re right, let’s go find their stash.”
And so, the two followed the endless trail of ants, side-by-side, to try and find the hill.
“What are we doing in the sandbox?” Sungjin asked Wonpil, who was mindlessly running his hands through the grains.
“I like how the sand feels in my hands,” Wonpil answered and nudged Sungjin to do the same.
Sungjin raised an eyebrow and hummed. “What does it feel like?”
“It tickles a little.”
Sungjin nodded slightly and then moved his hand to mirror Wonpil’s actions.
“Why are you sitting with him?” A boy asked.
Sungjin looked up from where he was sitting in the sandbox with Wonpil. He looked at Wonpil who kept his head down as he swished the sand around slowly and watched the sand grains fell through the spaces between his fingers.
Wonpil was used to these questions from other kids. The questions did bother him at first, but then he learned to ignore them. There was no point in getting upset over something that would happen often.
“Our houses are next to each other,” Sungjin said.
“Did your eomma force you to be friends with him too?” Another boy asked.
“He’s weird, so you don’t have to be friends,” the first boy said, “you can play with us instead.”
Wonpil felt tears bubbling up as his face grew hot. He didn’t need eommas to force their kids to be his friend! And Sungjin wasn’t forced to, he said it himself!
“What?” Sungjin asked, sounding as if he took offense to the question.
“What? Why are you with him?” The first boy asked and then repeated his previous statement. “He’s weird.”
Wonpil sniffed and tried to keep his tears in. He breathed slowly and counted in his head to focus on something other than the other boys being a little mean to him. Sungjin looked at Wonpil in concern and wondered how often things like this happened.
Then he suddenly stood up, causing Wonpil to look up to see what he was doing. His face scrunched up in anger as he pushed the boy harshly. He fell onto the ground and looked up at Sungjin in horror.
“I want to be his friend! Why are you guys so mean to him??” Sungjin gritted his teeth as he glared at them.
The boy’s face scrunched up as he began to wail and the other boy held onto him with one arm. He looked at Sungjin in confusion and then turned his head to find a teacher.
“Y-you’re both weird!” The other boy yelled and once he spotted a teacher, he pointed at Sungjin accusingly. “Seonsaengnim!! He pushed Hojun! Seonsaengnim!!”
Wonpil’s eyes widened in fear—he didn’t want Sungjin to get in trouble. He jumped up onto his feet and tugged on the Sungjin’s sleeve, trying to get his attention.
“H-hyung, you have to leave,” Wonpil said with teary eyes.
Sungjin looked down at Wonpil and shook his head. “No, Wonpillie. They were being mean and asking dumb things.”
“But, you’ll get in trouble with seonsaengnim,” Wonpil muttered.
“It’s okay, Wonpil-ah,” Sungjin said softly and pet his arm just as gently, “I’ll be fine.”
“Sungjin-ah! What did you do?!” Ms. Choi scolded as she rushed over.
“Choi-seonsaengnim! H-he pushed Hojun for no reason!!”
Ms. Choi looked at Hojun and pulled him up gently, then she turned to the other boy. “What happened exactly, Jiho-yah?”
Jiho looked around nervously and stuttered, “w-we were just talking and then he pushed Hojun..tell seonsaengnim, Hojunnie!”
Sungjin narrowed his eyes at Jiho, who lied about the course of events that led to him pushing Hojun.
“Hojun-ah,” Ms. Choi spoke softly, “please tell seonsaengnim what happened.”
“It’s true!” Hojun said through dramatic sniffs. “We just wanted to talk to Sungjin and then—” he sucked in a shaky breath, “—he pushed me. I didn’t even say anything bad!”
“Seonsaengnim! They’re lying!” Sungjin snapped.
“Sungjin-ah,” Ms. Choi looked at him with disappointment.
“B-but, seonsaengnim!” Sungjin sputtered and turned to Wonpil. “Wonpillie! Tell seonsaengnim that they were being mean to you!”
Wonpil looked at Ms. Choi from underneath his eyelashes. She looked at him expectantly, but he couldn’t find the words to help Sungjin tell the truth.
“Wonpil-ah, were Hojun-ah and Jiho-yah being mean to you?” She asked, waiting patiently for Wonpil’s response.
“I-I—” Wonpil stuttered and he looked to Sungjin.
Sungjin didn’t look mad, he just gave Wonpil a gentle and encouraging look. As if, even if Wonpil couldn’t speak, he wouldn’t be mad.
Then, with more courage, Wonpil nodded slowly.
“T-they said Sungjinnie’s eomma forced him to be my friend,” Wonpil sniffed and rubbed his eyes with his forearm, “and they kept asking why Sungjinnie was playing with me. They said I’m weird.”
Hojun and Jiho squeaked in fear and Sungjin only glared harder at them. Ms. Choi tutted in disappointment and corralled them—minus Wonpil—together.
“Come along, seonsaengnim has to scold you three,” Ms. Choi sighed. Before leaving, she turned to Wonpil and smiled. “I’m sorry they were being mean, Wonpil-ah.”
“B-but, Sungjinnie-hyung,” Wonpil sniffed as he stared at Sungjin, whose arm was being held onto by Ms. Choi.
Ms. Choi nodded ruefully and said, “unfortunately, Sungjin-ah still pushed Hojun-ah. We don’t push our friends, do we?”
Wonpil begrudgingly shook his head.
“They’re not my friends,” Sungjin said with a scoff.
“Now, now Sungjin-ah,” Ms. Choi chastised, “if Hojunnie and Jiho-yah aren’t your friends, then who is?”
“Hojun and Jiho are mean to Wonpillie, so they are not my friends.” Sungjin’s lip curled up in disgust as he looked at Hojun and Jiho—the two of them flinched when they caught his stare. Then he looked up at Ms. Choi and said, “Wonpillie is my friend. Wonpillie is good and nice. I like Wonpillie.”
“Ahh,” Ms. Choi chuckled, “okay Sungjin-ah, let’s just have a little talk with Hojun-ah and Jiho-yah now.”
Then she took the three of them away from the sandbox.
Wonpil watched Sungjin’s retreating back and felt a warm feeling in his heart. He was glad to have Sungjin as a friend. He really liked being friends with Sungjin.