loud sounds of children's laughter were the only thing heard in the green lively forest

the sun shone on them brightly as they ran around,one trying to catch the other

"stay right there minsoo! I'll get you!" with that the Little boy with overwhelming joy ran to catch the latter as if his life depended on it

Not being careful the boy suddenly tripped over some broken branches and fell down

the laughter broke down into loud cries and sobs and the boy who was being chased came running towards his friend

"jihwan !?are you okay!?"

not knowing what to do in that very overwhelming situation, seeing his friend cry minsoo started crying with him

"o-oh no jihwan what should we do !? y-you are bleeding!

help ! help !! s-someone please help!"

just then some adults came running in the forest with a worried look on their face and

a woman came forward,grabbed minsoo and hugged him tightly

" where were you!? I was so worried!!"

the woman said with a trembling voice,tears in her eyes

"aunty!! please help jihwan..he's bleeding!"

as a response this was all that the child could say

the woman's expression suddenly went dark with terror in her eyes

she looked at jihwan and then at minsoo

"minsoo,look at me

where did you meet that boy?"

"what do you mean?..he's been my friend since I came here..it's been a month!"

said the boy innocently ,eyes glistening with tears as he was just done crying, sniffling a little

"choi minsoo! that boy is cursed and  he'll bring hell to anyone who goes near him

You need to stay away from him at all costs!

you get that!?"

without having a chance to reply,the boy was dragged away and all jihwan could do was to look at his best friend's now crying eyes

he smiled with pain, physical and emotional

as he bid his friend a goodbye

"j-jihwan!! no!! I'll come back for you! wait for me please!!"

jihwan waved his hand with all the strength left in him, forcing a smile

he already knew this was bound to happen then why did it still hurt so much? Especially when he was prepared for this since the day he met minsoo

Flashback

A summer morning jihwan was playing in the forest,alone as usual

He was born in a small village located in the south of gwangju and as his mother father and grandpa had passed away,he lived alone with his grandma

just as he was collecting flowers he heard an unfamiliar voice

"who are you?"

said a tiny boy looking about jihwan's age

"jihwan,choi jihwan"

" oh heyy my name is choi minsoo! WE HAVE THE SAME SURNAMES !"

minsoo's loud voice startled the latter

"um okay and?"

" let's be friends jihwan!"

" you should stay away from me , didn't the adults warn you about me already?"

"what do you mean?"

"my mom and dad died in a fire that happened on their farm when I was 2 and my grandpa passed away because he slipped while catching fish and hit his head when I was 6

Do you want to know the plot twist?

both happened on my birthday

people say that I'm cursed and the people dear to me will pass away one by one after every 4 birthdays of mine

I'm turning 10 in a month and this time my Grandma will.."

Jihwan broke down into tears as he told minsoo his story

He thought that minsoo would probably be scared and runaway after hearing all this but to his great surprise,he hugged him and started crying even harder than him

"T-that is not true!! ..you're not a curse! let's be friends!.."

And that was the day when their Friendship started

The next day they met again at the same place

"what about you minsoo? tell me something about you"

Jihwan said, his eyes focused on his hands, currently making a tiara out of flowers

"I'm here at my aunt's house for my summer vacation...I'll go back when school starts"

" So you don't live here!?"

" no,I live in Seoul with my parents"

" oh.."

jihwan's expression saddened a bit

"when are you going back?"

"After a month I think"

"don't be too sad missing me!!"

minsoo said with a burst of loud giggles

" w-who said I'll miss you huh!?"

jihwan was already red with embarrassment as he was trying to hide his face with his small arms

And like this they spent every day of the month together ,minsoo would always come to the forest around the morning and go back during the  evening before the sun was about to set

and before they realised it was already minsoo's last day of vacation

"don't you go to school?"

minsoo asked as he was genuinely curious,like what?..does jihwan really spend his whole year playing around in the forest?

"I used to but they recently kicked me out"

"what!? how could they!? That's so terrible and mean! but anyways they're stupid so ignore them.. school is a terrible place anyways, at least you don't have to study now,I had to complete my whole holiday homework so quick to come here for a month ...it's so annoying"

"quit whining Little kid I kinda wanna get the rest of my education done"

"who are you calling a kid huh!? we're both 9!"

jihwan broke out into laughter

"hey! stop laughing at me ! and why don't you come with me to Seoul if you wanna study so bad"

"which school do you go to?"

"Seoul academy

why? are you coming!?"

"No..we don't have that kind of money and I have to take care of my grandma"

said jihwan as he stood up

"the sun is about to set,you should head home"

A deep silence prevailed over for a minute and then minsoo finally spoke up, looking at the ground

"I'm going back tomorrow"

"oh is that so.."

jihwan said as his smile reflected sadness

"don't worry though! I'll be back next year for sure!..can you wait for me...?"

minsoo's voice lowered with every word he spoke as he was anxious about parting from his great friend

"yeah of course I will

I'll wait for you"

jihwan said with an assuring smile as minsoo lit up and ran to hug him tight, jumping around as he was overjoyed

"yay I'm already so excited about next summer!"

"But I have a condition"

"what?"

" for that...you have to catch me first!!!"

saying that jihwan ran away as minsoo chased behind him,both laughing loudly

End of flashback

Minsoo was sent back home and his aunt told about everything that happened to his parents

And just like that he was banned from going to that village ever again

every summer he used to do his homework all at once and then plead to his parents about going to the village ,but they never said yes

And in the blink of an eye 6 years passed and now minsoo was a high schooler

it was 10th January 2031 when he sat on a bench outside his school

He was still in his school uniform as he just got done with school

It was about to be 10 pm in 5 minutes as a sentence rang in his head

"my birthday? It's the 10th of January and I was born at 10 pm too isn't that funny"

jihwan giggled slightly saying that as he stared at the evening sky with minsoo by his side

"Happy birthday jihwan"

minsoo muttered to himself as he stared at the night sky wearing a smile on his face and

Just then a flake of snow fell on his face, startling him a bit

"Is this the universe's way of telling me that jihwan is fine"

he laughed a little but then started crying,he missed him all these years and now it was getting worse and overwhelming

"Ah really,this is so embarrassing"

A few days passed and it was the weekend

"mom,dad I'll be off!"

"be careful son!"

as soon as minsoo stepped out of his house he took out his phone and dialed a number

"youngseo? where are you guys? I just left my house"

"how come you're late when it's actually your business and we're the one interfering!?"

"where are you guys?!"

"AT THE STATION BITCH MOVE YOUR SLOW FEETS YOU-"

"woobin I'd prefer youngseo nagging at me than hearing it from you, please give her the phone back"

"woobin give me my phone back why'd you snatch it- ah anyways minsoo hurry up or we'll miss the train"

And with that the boy ran even faster and reached the station, panting heavily

"woah dude don't die"

"shut up woobin"

"why should I? how come you always side with minsoo"

"because you're not worth it"

"WOW AM I THE THIRD WHEEL IN THIS FRIENDSHIP"

"shut up woobin"

"you too minsoo?I didn't expect that from you at least--"

"quit whining and let's go"

minsoo said as he looked at the tickets again, checking their seats

"So are we finally gonna meet this friend of yours you've been blabbing about for as long as we know you,2 years was it?"

youngseo said as she was pretty curious about the situation

"you guys didn't have to come with me"

" why not,we were super curious..is she your long distance girlfriend by any chance?"

"WHAT!?NO! IT'S A BOY"

"ok so boyfriend"

"what the hell I'm straight"

"you're totally in love with that "friend" shut the fuck up "

"w-woobin you're dumb for a reason YOU SHOULD SHUT UP OR I'LL STITCH YOUR MOUTH"

"can you guys stop fighting for once"

youngseo sighed in disappointment as she lowered her head

" what did you tell your parents"

"uh that we three were going out and will come back at night"

"you're sneaky"

youngseo laughed

"I've heard that people in love does anything it takes"

"youngseo shut him up or I'll kill him"

"Dude your ears are red"

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S EMBARRASSING"

Time passed and they finally reached the village after a 4 hour train ride

"After how long are you meeting this friend again?"

youngseo asked half asleep, yawning as she just got off the train after a 3 hour "nap"

"6 years"

"oh ok..WAIT WHAT!? 6 YEARS!? ..have you been in touch through social media!?"

"uh no"

"woah that woke me up..ok then where are we going?"

"follow me"

After an hour long cab drive they were  finally standing at the entrance of the forest

"wait why are we in a forest"

"don't question, just follow me"

as minsoo reached the spot where they used to spend time together, a wave of nostalgia hit him and he began to tear up

"ok now where do- minsoo!? are you crying?!"

youngseo was taken aback by the sudden situation

"this is where We used to hang out but..jihwan is not here.."

"how about we go to his house?"

" we never went to each other's house"

"so you're telling me we're gonna go back just like this!?"

youngseo turned back and smacked woobin

"what the hell are you doing strolling around!?..do something!"

"ouch! what am I supposed to do!?..um..minsoo do you remember which direction he used to go from here?"

"yeah I think I do"

"great! so let's go in that direction and ask around the village!!"

just like that they were already standing in front of someone's door

As the door opened minsoo's eyes glistened with hope

"my greetings ma'am ..does choi jihwan live around here?"

hearing that the women's eyes went dark and she looked at the ground, trembling as she responded

"t-that cursed boy killed his grandma and ran off somewhere"

youngseo and woobin were shocked hearing that

minsoo's own voice echoed in his head "his grandma died!?"

"when did that happen?"

"This year,on his birthday"

minsoo suddenly remembered what he said on that exact day

"is this the universe's way of telling me that jihwan is fine"

turns out he was wrong about that

"Thank you miss

and one more thing the rumour about jihwan is utter nonsense you should be ashamed of yourself calling a little kid a killer when he must've been in so much pain about his loved one dying

we'll go now"

and as he bowed slightly tears welled up in his eyes

"guess I'll never see him again"

he muttered to himself with a sad smile on his face, trying his best to swallow back his tears