ೃ⁀➷ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏᴘᴀᴛʜ ¬ ᴇɴɢ ᴠᴇʀ

- S E V E N T E E N -

We moved from Australia to Korea before I had to enter the third year of elementary school (or elementary school, as they call it in other places). At that time it took my parents a while to find a good school that would accept kids who didn't speak the language perfectly. I was only seven years old and it was my first time abroad, of course I had taken private Hangul lessons before traveling, but at that age it was not so easy to learn quickly, at least not for me.

At that age, in an unfamiliar country and hopefully knowing how to say hello. I thought it would be difficult, especially being shy as I was back then, but on the first day of class I met a person who made everything the opposite of my thoughts. That lonely boy with a light complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair, who was improvising words, which I personally did not know, in the middle of the recess area.

I was just entering the institution when I saw him, but I ignored him and focused on finding the principal's room, who had told my parents that I had to go introduce myself as soon as I arrived at school. I was totally lost, concentrating on reading every piece of paper I saw, so I didn't notice when that boy had started following me until he spoke to me:

- Hi, what's on your mind? -those same four words he had said to me again, years later, with an innocent smile. At that moment, just like now, I was surprised and didn't know what to say.

- H-hello, I'm looking for this. -a mixture of English and Korean formed those three faint words that came out in a trickle before I showed him a piece of paper that on it said the name of the supposed lady.

- Ah, okay. -He took my hand and gently tugged on it. I must have given him a confused look, so he pointed with his free hand to where we would go, "I'll take you to Mrs. Seo, don't worry, pequitas. -And then she intertwined her hand with mine and led me to the door of that room, I thanked her as best I could and she vanished down the hall.

I went in and greeted the lady who was there, she told me to take a seat and introduced herself. Judging by her young appearance, I thought she was a secretary or something, but she was really the director and her name was American. Scarlett Seo. She told me I could speak to her in English quietly and asked if it had been difficult to get to her office, I told her everything and her response was a big smile.

- Thinking about those features, I'm sure it was my son who guided you here. -His English was very fluent, I understood him perfectly and he made me feel confident, I know you still have a problem with hangul, I talked it over with your parents and I offered to teach you the best way possible, I will send them the details later. You can also trust my son to help you learn everything here. He learned English and Korean almost at the same time, so you will understand each other without any problems. -I replied with a smile, grateful, and he said he would take me to my classroom to introduce me.

We got there after passing through aisles that made me dizzy, he introduced me and told me to take a seat in the only empty seat, the one that would make me a table mate with that boy two centimeters taller than me, who received me with excitement and introduced himself to me quickly.

- See you again, pequitas. I forgot to introduce myself before, but my name is Seo ChangBin and it will be a great pleasure to be your new friend.

He took it for granted and so it was. We spent the next five years sharing a room in that small but cozy school, always sitting next to each other. He helped me a lot in improving my hangul along with his mother, for which I was very grateful. However, when we drifted apart because we had to enter high school, we lost touch and, as time went by and my life changed, I ended up forgetting all those memories.

That's why I didn't recognize him when I saw him sitting next to me on the swings, even though we had been together countless times when we were little. We had been through many adventures together, both good and not so good, but always together.

And now that I had begun to remember, maybe I had had a first love, only that my unconscious had hidden it or what do I know. The only thing I knew for sure, or so I think, is that life had brought us together again and that I did not plan to lose that friendship again.

Not when I had missed him so much without knowing it.