The Bonds We Build

After a few days, Zhask became overprotective of me. Whenever I go, he always stays by my side as he is afraid that I will get hurt. I feel secure and safe with him, but I feel he’s too much.

“Zhask, I appreciate your concern, but do you think is it too much?” I speak.

“Of course not, why would you say that?” He speaks.

“*Sigh* I’m just… worried about you having do this every day. Can you at least turn in down a little bit?” I say and cross my arms.

“*Sigh* I’m just want the best for you. Who know what happen if you hurt and no one is there for you?” He says as he still didn’t accept my words.”

“Zhask, please just… listen to me. You must worry about yourself. I don’t want to see you worrying about me this much.” I said as I pleased him to accept my words.

After few minutes of silence, he sighs and speak

“Alright… I accept your words. But please take care of yourself, okay?” He says with a worried tone.

I nodded as promised to take care of myself. He smiles and we continue our days. Ater that day, he controls his overprotective attitude, and I feel happy that he takes care himself more. At school, everything still normal as usual, but after school… Zhask is waiting for me.

“Zhask! You’re waiting for me.” I speak.

“I can’t let anything bad happen to my brother.” He says and smiles.

“You never get tried call me that?” I ask.

He shakes his head

“I won’t get tired call you, my brother.” He speaks.

We continued to talk for few minutes before Rein and Gepard.

“Zhask! Why are you here?!” Gepard asks.

“Are you waiting for him?” Rein asks.

“Indeed friends, I come to pick him up.” Zhask answer their questions.

“*chuckle* worry something bad happen to him…” Rein says.

“You’re protective brother.” Gepard speaks.

Zhask smiled and hugged me tightly. They chuckle as watching us hug each other.

“Where’s Melisa? I haven’t seen her yet.” I ask.

“She will come up soon. She must be busy with her club.” Gepard speaks.

“Zhask, could you wait for her with us?” I ask.

Zhask nodded and we waited for her to be done with her business. We waited for about 30 minutes and Melisa came out of the school.

“Are you done with your business, little sis?” Gepard asks.

“Yeah, I’m done with my business. We were planning to do Music & Art Festival at the end of semester.” She speaks.

“That’s nice, Melisa.” I speak.

“Thank you, Elvin. Our clubs are excited and prepare for our festival.” She speaks.

Suddenly, I got messages from Adrian on my phone

“Adrian message me and he says want me to try sing his song.” I speak.

“Oh right! I forgot to tell you that.” Melisa says and facepalm.

“Sure, I would love to sing your song. Just tell me when you have free time.” I type.

Few minutes later, he replies to my message

“Great, meet me at music class at 2 PM tomorrow.” He types.

“Alright then, see you tomorrow.” I reply.

I told them about our conversation, and they nodded as we went home for a day. A few minutes later, I wave goodbye to them as me and Zhask went inside. I notice our home is clean and tidy as well and he smiles at me.

“Did you clean the house while I’m at school?” I ask.

He nods and smile

I smile back at him as gratitude to him for cleaning our home. I cook dinner for him as repay for his work, he smiles, and we eat dinner together. Even though we didn’t talk while eating dinner, the situation felt warm and comfortable.

The next day, I waved goodbye to Zhask and went to school. I usually walk to school, but this time I used a bus to get there. I wait for a few minutes while watching the sky full of clouds, some birds flying around, and wind blow gently. I noticed another student who was also waiting for a bus.

“Are you waiting for a bus as well, Sir?” He asks.

“Yeah, I wait for a bus.” I speak.

“I never see you wait in bus stop; is this first time you used a bus?” he asks.

I nod and speak

“My name is Elvin, and you?” I say as I introduce myself.

“My name is Novi, but you call me by my nickname Nov. Nice to meet you” he says.

“Nice to meet you too.” I say and smile.

A few minutes later, the bus arrived, and we went inside. After we take a seat, we talk along the way. A few minutes later, we arrived at the school. We thanked the bus driver, and we went to class.

A few hours later, it’s PE class. All the students wearing swimsuits, I’m sitting at the edge of the pool while I watch them playing in the water. After few moments, notice a male student looking at me, I’m feel shocked and shy. After a few minutes of silents, he speaks.

“Why are you sitting here? Don’t you want to get in?” He asks.

“I’m just waiting for the coach. He hasn’t here yet.” I speak.

“Coach may be late come here; do you want to join with me?” He asks.

“Sure, what’s your name?” I ask.

“My name is Lee Seok Joon, nice to meet you.” He speaks.

“Nice to meet you too. My name is Elvin.” I speak.

“What a cute name you got.” He says and smirks at me.

I blush red and look away from him

“I’m not cute.” I speak.

“Yes, you are.” He speaks.

“Shut up!” I speak.

“Hehe… adorable.” He says while giggle.

A few moments later, I swam alongside him. I notice he’s a good swimmer as his movement is effective. After an hour, we done swim for today. We take a rinse at men’s bathroom and dry up using our towels.

“That was nice swim practice, thank you for keep me accompany.” I speak.

“It was no problem.” He speaks.

“What’s your next class?” I ask.

“I have science class next.” He speaks.

“We’re same class.” I say and smile.

“Nice! I have someone to keep accompany.” He speaks.

I smile and continue our conversation on the way to class. A few minutes later, we went to our seats and realized Gepard was also in the same class. I wave my hand to get his attention. Gepard realized it and went to us…

“Hey Elvin, how was your class?” He asks.

“It was good and meet my new friends from PE class, Lee Seok Joon.” I say as well introduce to him.

“Nice to meet you, Lee Seok Joon.” He speaks.

“Nice to meet you too, Gepard.” He speaks.

They’re stand up and shake hands

The three of us talk until school ends. I met Zhask as usual, pick me up. I will introduce Lee Seok Joon to him. At first, he acts suspicious to him… but he calms down as he didn’t harm me. We got closer and closer until we became BFF. Everything is going well while we hang out together.

One day, Melisa asks me for something

“Hey Elvin, could you give this theme for Kai? I have some business on my club.” She asks.

“Sure, I could help you.” I speak.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.” She speaks.

I went to the art club and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, the door opened and saw one of the students.

“Excuse me, is Kai here? Melisa wants me to give this theme to him.”

“Yeah, Kai is here. Let me call him.” Leader club speak.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” I speak.

Few minutes later

“Are you call me?” Kai asks.

“Yes, are you a student name Kai?” I ask.

“Yes, My name’s Kai.” He speaks.

“Here the theme from Melisa. She doesn’t have time to give it to you by herself.” I speak.

“I understand and you’re Elvin? From music club?” He asks.

“Yeah, that’s me. How did you know?” I speak as well ask him.

“Loo Seok Joon tell me. He’s my old friends.” He speaks.

“I didn’t know he have a friend who is from art club.” I say surprise for not knowing this.

“Look like he forgot to tell you.” He says chuckle.

“Look like it.” I speak.

“What kind of art you paint, Kai?” I ask.

“I paint impressionism type.” He speak.

“I never heard before; I only know realism painting.” I speak.

“You will know more if you talk often with me.” He speak.

“How long do you learn to paint?” I ask curiously.

“I have been painting since I was 10.” He speak.

“That’s nice.” I say and smile.

“I have to go back painting, tell Melisa thank you from me.” He speak.

“Okay then.” I speak.

On the way to classroom, I notice Nov looking at his schedule

“Hey Nov, what’s your next class?” I ask.

“I got math class next, how about you?” He says and asks me.

“I have PE class.” I speak.

“It’s okay, we can talk when lunch time.” He speaks.

“Okay then, see you at lunch.” I say and wave goodbye.

After that, I went to the locker to change clothes. I notice Lee Seok Joon also here changing clothes. I smiled and went to the swimming pool, waiting for him as well as the coach.

“Are you waiting for me, Elvin?” He asks from behind me.

“Yeah, as well the coach.” I speak.

“Want to take a swim for a bit while waiting?” He asks.

I nod to him as a yes, he smirks, and we jump into the pool. We swam for a bit while waiting for the coach and other students. After a few 30 minutes, the coach and students arrived. The coach notices we are already in the pool, waiting for them.

“You two come early…” The coach says.

“Yeah, we come here early.” I speak.

“That’s good.” The coach says.

An hour later, students are leaving the pool area

“Lee Seok Joon, can I ask you something?” I ask.

“Sure, what’s it?” He asks.

“Do you think we can do this often? I like to spend time with you.” I ask.

He chuckles and smirks

“Sure, I would love to…” He speaks.

“Thank you, Lee Seok Joon.” I speak.

He hugs me tightly for few moments

“You’re cute.” He teases me.

“Stop it!” I speak.

“Make me.” He dares me.

I kiss him to shut him up. He shocks at first for a few minutes and he kisses me back passionately. After a few minutes, I broke from the kiss. We pant heavily and look at each other.

“That’s… was amazing.” He speaks.

“You… have feelings for me?” I ask.

He caresses my cheek while smiling to me

“Yes, I do…” He speaks.

I blush red and feel butterfly on my stomach, he still smiling and kiss me again. I caught off guard but, it felt good. We kiss for moments longer as we focus on our passion kiss, leaving other thoughts aside. A few minutes later, we broke the kiss.

“We should head home now. It’s getting late.” I speak.

“Yeah, we should head home.” He speaks.

We took a shower, changed clothes, grabbed our backpack and went home. After a few minutes later, I arrived home. I say thank to him and enter the house. Zhask was waiting for me and asked me why you home late. I hesitate to tell him about our activity but, I must tell him. I explained to him about what happened, and he was shocked and speechless.

“You kiss him because he has feelings for you?!” He asks.

“Yeah…” I speak quietly almost like a whisper.

After few minutes of silence

“You must tell this to them, you know? Don’t hide it from them.” He speaks.

I nodded and messaged my friends about what happened. They’re also shocked and speechless just like Zhask. They ask the same question, and I repeat again. After a few minutes, they accepted it and supported my decision.

“Spill the tea here and don’t let us hang here.” Melisa messaged me in our group chat.

“I won’t let you guys hanging.” I reply.

“You better keep your words.” Melisa replied.

“Take care, Elvin.” Gepard and Rein replied.

“You too guys.” I reply.

I put my phone on my desk and went to sleep. I smile because have a friends like them who always supported me… I’m glad we’re become friends. Our friendship bond is growing strong.

oOo

The next day, I was working on my homework while humming to music. After about 5 minutes, Rein walked toward me and asked me if he wanted me to join them for lunch. I think for a moment and nod. At the canteen, they were already waiting for us.

“You guys are here!” Melisa with a smile.

“Good afternoon, guys.” I say and wave at them.

“Oh! Elvin, Lee Seok Joon tell me to info you about meet up with him at swimming pool.” Gepard says.

“Oh yeah! Thank for the information, Gepard.” I speak.

“No problem, Elvin.” Gepard said and smiled.

“Is there anything interesting?” I ask.

“Well, I heard Lee Seok Joon have swimming competition next week.” Adrian says.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah, he wants someone to keep him accompany while practice and it’s you.” Adrian says.

“I guess you’re right.” I speak.

An hour later, we went to class to continue our study, I was kind of worried for Lee Seok Joon for participating in swimming competition. I know he’s good swimmer but, still… I kind of worry for something bad will happen. Rein noticed my expression and told me that he would be fine.

After an hour and half, I went to the swimming pool to meet him. He is swimming lap while I wait for him on the edge of the pool. His movement are smoothly and effectively… and it’s made me amaze and proud of his hard work. I watch him for a while and hear whispers of negative thought.

You’re useless, I wish you not exist, I’m disappointed with you, I wish you die already…

It’s happening again… the pain from my parents and my fake friends… it’s coming back. Lee Seok Joon done practicing and notice my expression seem to be… struggle with something on my mind. He pulled himself from the pool and walked toward me and I didn’t notice become of the struggle is too much.

He taps on my shoulder, and I was shocking a little bit

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks with a worried face.

I hesitate to answer the question because I’m still shake up by the pain

“Hey, it’s okay. Take a deep breath.” He speaks.

I take a few deep breaths as slowly calm down

“I’m feel better now, thank you.” I speak and smile.

“That’s good…” he speaks.

“Sorry for my attitude. It’s just…” I cut off myself.

“It’s okay, I understand.” He says as if he understands how I feel.

“Thank you for understanding.” I speak.

“No problem.” He says and smile

“So, Gepard and Adrian say that you going to compete in swimming competition.” I speak.

He nods

“I’m kind of worry about you participating in the competition.” I tell the truth.

“There’s nothing to worry about… I’ll be fine.” He speaks.

I’m still worry about him even though he says he will be fine but still… I’m worrying about him. He notices that I’m still need some time to accept his words as he sighs.

“I promise to take care of myself. Don’t worry about me too much.” He says as try to convince me to accept it.

“*sigh* Okay…” I speak.

I hug him tightly

“Please take care yourself.” I speak.

“I will.” He says and hugs me back.

After school, I’m in my bedroom with Zhask. I was writing my journal about today while Zhask was watching TV. I write:

“Dear Diary,

I was still worried about Lee Seok Joon participating in the swimming competition. I’m acting overprotective of him. I wish he do well.”

Zhask noticed my worry about Lee Seok Joon, and he walked toward me. He says that he will be fine as he put his arm around my shoulder. I feel comfort from him and lean on him and thanks for him.

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