Enchanting Shadows: A Tale Of Love And Magic

12-

Namjoon scribbled the pen on the desk in frustration, he knew he would get insulted back at home by his parents for not scoring good marks in English even after he had a tuition.

It was painful for him to get humilaited for not topping in the subject he just couldn't even when he tried so hard, his parents never looked at his other perfect scores.

His father slapped him last time just because he scored 67 in English, he believed Namjoon was a disgrace for his family.

"77? Amazing." Hae-Jin smiled at him as she stood behind him.

She was his classfellow and only one who didn't find him weird for studying all the time crazily. In fact she stood up for him if someone tried to bully him with words.

She wasn't like this to just him, she was fair to everyone.

"It's pathetic." he mumbled looking down. He crushed it into pieces.

"You know it's good to always improve but it's not right to be harsh on ourselves if we don't do desired one time, we can always work hard for betterment. It's important to appreciate ourselves for small improvements." she sat in front of him as she held his hands, trying to calm his anxiety down as his hands were shaking in fear.

"I am always unable to improve. I am stupid." he mumbled and she shook her head.

"It's fine, you always work hard for it, it's not always about the results but the process too." she smiled at him."You know what I see when I look at you? Someone who works so hard, it almost feels unreal, I feel proud of you."

Even his parents didn't say that about him, for the first time he heard those words from someone.

He didn't have friends because he was always studying moreover his parents found it a waste of time for him to make friends and hang out with them.

Later that evening when Hae-Jin was returning back to home, she stopped by an ice cream stand and started licking the popsicle.

Namjoon was just standing a little far from her, looking at her. He liked her in person, she was always kind to him. He wanted to be friends with her.

She looked at him and he looked away, attempting to run back in embarrassment but his heart fell at ease when she smiled at him and beckoned him to come to her.

He slowly walked to her scratching his neck nervously.

"I am sorry I was following you, you are not mad right?" he asked carefully.

"Which ice cream do you like?" she asked ignoring his words.

She didn't mind him doing that, she knew he was lonely, so she always tried to make him feel better.

"Huh?" he was confused.

His parents didn't let him have ice cream, they were very strict and didn't allow him to eat junk food, so he was unaware to many such things, he knew about ice creams but he never ate them.

"Do you want this one?" she asked pointing at hers, trying not to make him feel weird. He shook his head.

"My parents don't allow me to eat these, so I never have money with me." he spoke embarrassed.

"I will pay for it, don't worry." she picked out a nice ice cream and handed it to him after opening it."Here, they won't know it, enjoy."

He was sceptical but he took a bite and smiled, it was so tasty, he liked it. She bought him another ice cream and had another one too to not make him feel left out.