Undestined Destiny

That summer

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"