All Grown Up

One

When I was little, my family moved to Daegu. We moved into this nice apartment with this really nice neighbor across from us with a boy who was four years older than me. Because both of my parents worked a lot, my mom employed the boy, who was in middle school at the time, to start babysitting me. His name, as I found out, was Choi Seung Cheol. He was pretty goofy, and a tall guy, but he didn't seem to mind me being around him.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE FREAK!" I ran down the sidewalk and rounded the corner then my eyes widened as I saw Seungcheol at the store with his friends. I looked behind me at the bullies chasing me then ran to my friend, diving behind him.

"What the- Chan?!" Seungcheol tried to figure out who I was, but stopped as the bullies ran over and stared at the four seniors.

"They're chasing me, Seungcheol!" I whispered and my friend glared at the bullies.

"You got a problem with my friend?!" Seungcheol asked and Doek Min frowned, stepping closer to me.

"He's a little freak!" He said and Seungcheol glanced back at me, but eyed the bullies.

"The only little freaks here I can see are you little fuckers!" He spit and his friend grabbed my shoulder, holding me in place as Seungcheol reached back and grabbed my uniform jacket, holding me close to him.

"Us?! That little freak wears girl's panties!" Doek Min snapped and Seungcheol looked at me, but I frantically shook my head.

"I trust my friend more than you little shits!" Seungcheol argued and looked at the bullies again.

"I'm going to say this once! Stay the hell away from Lee Chan or I'm coming to your class, and I'll make you!" Seungcheol snapped and the bullies ran off. When they were gone, I looked up at Seungcheol and twisted my fingers together.

"It-it's not what you think!" I rushed and he sighed, ruffling my hair.

"Come on, little freak! Let's get you home so you can do your homework!" He said and I smiled, holding his arm.

"What?! Seungcheol-"

"I have to get him home!" He told his friends then we went to the bus stop and got on, riding home. When we got to his apartment, his parents were out and we sat on his bed together, doing our homework.

"So, do you?" I looked at Seungcheol and saw him eyeing me weirdly.

"Wear girl's panties?" He asked and I scoffed.

"No! Those guys attacked me in gym and forced them on me! They took a bunch of photos of me too!" I pouted and Seungcheol sat up straighter.

"They attacked you?" He asked and I nodded.

"They said they'd come for me after school, so I started running home. I didn't think I'd see you, but... Thanks, Cheol." I said and forced a smile, watching as he gave a grim nod.

"Yeah, sure, Chan."

~*~*~*~

"Lee Chan!" I looked up as a girl ran over to me then she grabbed my arm.

"Come on, come on!" I frowned as she dragged me from the classroom then we went outside and I gasped as I saw Seungcheol and his friends here. Then I saw Doek Min being held up by the ankles by one of Seungcheol's friends as my friend swiped through Doek Min's phone.

"That's the last of them, I swear!" Doek Min cried and Seungcheol sighed, dropping the phone on the ground and stomping on it as high school kids gathered to watch the scene.

"You go near Lee Chan, right? You remember what I said-"

"We took those before he ran to you, man! Come on, please! Put me down!" He sobbed and Seungcheol snorted.

"Put you down? If my friend lets you go right now, you could snap your neck! Not that it would be too much of a problem, but do you really want to do that? Broken necks aren't fun, kid!" He said and glanced over, seeing me, then he smirked.

"Channie, come here." I swallowed hard as everyone looked at me then I went over, going to Seungcheol's side. He hugged my shoulders then sighed, glaring at my bullies.

"I'm going to say this one time. Because those photos were taken before I realized what you were doing to my friend here, I'll let it slide. But, if anyone picks on Channie again, I will come after you with my entire baseball team. Are we clear?" He asked and my bullies frantically nodded.

"We're sorry, Chan!"

"Make him let us go!"

"We didn't mean to!" They cried and I frowned.

"Admit it!" I spit and Doek Min frowned.

"Admit-"

"Tell everyone what you did to me!" I yelled and Seungcheol sighed.

"You heard the kid. Tell them what you did." He ordered and Doek Min sniffled.

"Okay! Okay, we-we forced Lee Chan to wear the panties! We attacked him, it was our fault! Everything is because we beat him up!" He admitted and whispers broke out in the schoolyard then Cheol sighed.

"Alright, let him go, Seo Ji." He said and his friend lowered Doek Min to the ground then dropped him.

"Beat it before I beat you!" Seungcheol snapped and my bullies ran off. I watched them then looked up at Cheol.

"You didn't have to do that, Cheol!" I whispered and he chuckled.

"No, but I'm your friend. I'd be a pretty bad friend if I let someone bully you and did nothing about it." He said and I smiled at him.

"You done with school?" He asked and I shrugged.

"All that's left is gym-"

"Get your shit then, let's go get some ice cream." He said and I nodded, going to get my bag and leaving with him. As we sat together in our favorite ice cream shop, he was weirdly quiet as we ate.

"What's wrong, Cheol?" I asked and he glanced at me then sighed.

"I graduate this year." He said and I nodded.

"Mhm, and then you'll be in some stupid office job and I'll come visit you-"

"No, Chan." He cut me off and I frowned, not sure what he meant.

"Huh? But... Aren't you staying in Daegu?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"I got accepted to SNU, Channie." He said and I set my spoon down.

"SN... Seoul?" I whispered and he nodded.

"But you-you can still visit, right? I mean, it's not that far! And-and we can still talk and-" I stopped as he started to laugh then he let out a happy sigh, shaking his head.

"Here I was prepared to say goodbye and you're talking about texting each other!" He laughed and I smiled.

"We're friends, Cheol! Just because you go to SNU before me doesn't mean we can't still be friends, right?" I asked and he grinned wide at me.

"Yeah, we can still be friends!" He grinned and I beamed wide, blushing when he wiped some chocolate ice cream off my chin.