Work Text:
"I picked these for you."
Warm.
It was warm and sunny and breezy. It was a beautiful day, and that's why your mother decided to take your 5 year old self to the playground by your house. You were relatively shy but you managed to enjoy the playground just fine by yourself. As soon as you arrived, you let go of your mother's hand and sprinted off to the sand filled playground, towards the swings. Your mom shouted behind you to be careful, but she trusted you. You always listened to her and knew to stay away from strangers.
By the time you reached the swings, some older kids had already sat themselves on them and they laughed and teased you for being too slow. You wanted to yell and cry until they gave up a swing but you never really did like causing any fuss. You stuck your bottom lip out and pouted, hoping it would charm one of the boys in front of you. They weren't much older, just a year or so but since they've already begun kindergarten, they think it gives them some sort of authority over you. So what if they knew how to read Dr. Seuss books? You could already scribble your name out and could tell time on those big, loud clocks that are in doctor's offices and general stores.
One of the boys, who had dusty blond hair sneered and tugged on your hair as he laughed. You yelped a little and pulled back your hair from his grip only to fall back straight on your bottom. It hurt bad. You felt tears start to prickle at your eyes and your pout grew stronger. Your lip began to quiver while you still sat flat on the sandy ground.
"Oh look guys, lil' baby is gonna cry! Gonna cry for your mommy?" The same boy jeered, as the other two near him just watched. "Bet you are! It's cuz you're some baby who can't read! How do you spell cat? Can you do that? Ha! Betcha can't!" He continued and the other boys snickered a little at his insults.
"I can too read! I read big clocks and I can spell cat!" You yelled back, your voice not as strong as you thought it'd be. You looked down as you tried to remember the letters in cat. You hummed the alphabet song but before you could reach that tricky L-M-N-O-P part, the boy spoke up again.
"Wow, what a baby. You have to sing that song every time? What a waste!" You looked up at his words and that's when the tears spilled over. You bent down, clutched a big handful of sand and chucked it at the boy, whose mouth was open in an obnoxious laugh. He began to cough and choke on the sand and you ran away, towards the big tree by the slides. You sat down and pulled your knees up to you chest to hug them. You quietly sobbed as you wished your mom would notice your absence rather than chat idly with your neighbor's nanny.
You continued to cough into your knees until you heard a faint voice to your right. At least, you think it's your right. You'd have to check by doing the L shape with your hands later.
"Um, hi!" A cheerful voice piped into the air. You liked it so you looked up and saw a smiling boy, only to be upset because he was one of the mean boys from the swings.
"Leave me alone. You're a meanie!" You said, looking for something nearby to chuck at the boy. You saw an acorn top and reached for it, only to be stopped by the boy's arm reaching over to grab your hand before it picked it up.
"Listen, I'm real sorry about my friends. They're just weird. They're nice when you get to know them. I promise." He said with a bright smile that could compete with the sun in terms of brightness. You liked it, it felt warm and bubbly like your pool at home. It reminded you of how summers felt, all sticky and sweet in the best way, like getting ice cream on the way home from the beach with sand still stuck in between your toes and the smell of salt tangled in your hair. Suddenly you felt like he was a precious treasure found on the beach, a beautiful seashell untouched by the treacherous waves as they'd crest continuously on the surface, trying to wear down the natural beauty blessed unto him.
"I can talk to Yoongi if you'd like. Make him say he's sorry and stuff." The boy continued, as he kicked the ground gently. "He can be a butthead sometimes but I know he's not too bad if you just talk to him." He looked up from his feet and you suddenly realized that the hand that didn't reach for yours was currently held behind his back, completely hidden by his body.
"I don't wanna talk to that meanie." You said as another tear slipped past your pinkish cheeks. You reached up a half balled fist and scrubbed at your face and eyes, trying to rub away the tears and puffiness. The boy knelt down and tugged away your hands, gently smoothing his own across it instead.
"My mama always says don't rub at your face like that, it'll only make you redder." He said as he continued to gently thumb away the rest of the wetness on your face. "I don't like seeing pretty people sad, so..."
It was then that the arm behind his back pull around to reach in front of you, and you saw what he had. In his slightly dirt stained fingers, were some bright yellow dandelions and a few white puffs, clutched tightly in his grip almost like he was afraid he'd lose them if he held them any looser. "I picked these for you." He chittered all while smiling his beautiful smile at you. "They remind me of you: pretty and nice."
You reached forward and took the flowers from his hand, inspecting them closely. You looked up at him once more and saw genuine care in his face. You pulled out a dandelion from the bundle, the biggest and yellow-iest one of them all and extended your hand roughly at him. He looked at you with confusion. "This one is like you!" You cheerfully said, your bad mood completely forgotten and replaced with glee all because of this nice brunet boy. "It's pretty and warm and bright, like your smile!"
His grin stretched out again and he accepted the flower and asked for your hand to pull you up. After he did, his hand didn't leave yours. "C'mon, let's go sit on the swings!" He said before nearly tearing your arm off to run across the sandy floor.
"Wait! I don't know your name! And my mommy says I shouldn't play with strangers." You mumbled with a slight childish lisp. He looked back and smiled again.
"My name is Hoseok."