ultraviolet

three

MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND, TAEHYUNG

~

THE BOY HEADED TOWARDS ME slowly and hesitantly. I began to make out some familiar facial features from him. His eyes were a warm milk chocolate under his fallen, dirty blonde bangs, and a shy teethed grin grew upon his face.

"N-Noona, d-do you remember me?" he stuttered.

"Taehyung?" I said surprised as I smiled with raised brows.

Kim Taehyung, one of my best friends since elementary school. He and I, along with another friend of mine, made great memories back then. The three of us were inseparable until I moved away, which caused quite a lot of tear-shedding.

Taehyung would always make my days brighter when I was a child, especially since I was caught up in a lot of drama at home. I'd walk over to his house most of the time, but sometimes he would pick me up when he was just anxious to see me. We perpetually held eachother's hand as we strolled along the sidewalk, with him always on the side closest to the road.

Once we had reached his house, Taehyung would always want to show me a new song he created on his grand piano which stood boldly in the middle of his living room. I loved hearing him play. It had a feeling of comfort, but it was so diffrent that I couldn't receive it from anyone else.

Taehyung always played his songs by memory and by ear. I noticed that a long time ago after hearing him for the first time. His body flowed along with the music and his eyes shut tightly as he emersed himself not only in the song, but in each note the piano sung. That's when I realized Taehyung absolutely loved music. In fact, he even told me he would marry his grand piano if it was legal.

"I've missed you, Taehyung," I sighed, walking beside him as we make our way towards the stairwell at the end of the hall.

"Noona, you can't imagine how much I cried when you left," Taehyung chuckled. He dug his hands into the pockets of his slacks, and his eyes were glued down at his black sneakers.

When we were kids, Taehyung developed a habit of calling me his noona, although we're in the same grade. I wasn't even older than him. Later on in our childhood, I caught on to why he called me noona.

You see, little Taehyung wasn't the best at taking care of himself whenever his busy parents were out working their full time careers. So I would be responsible for him at school, at home, and even just going out to hang out at the nearest playground. Without me, he would've skid his knees and elbows countless times, fallen out of trees, and either get lost or kidnapped. Thanks to his reliable noona, Taehyung was never put into a full body cast or assigned a huge-ass body guard chained to him at all times.

"Yah, I cried too!" I exclaimed.

"Well, I had to change my pillowcase three times that day because it was filled with my tears," he pouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Taehyung-ah."

~

WE FINALLY REACHED THE school, Seoul High School for the Gifted and Talented. I applied for this school because it provided a high-class program for art. I enrolled by slipping in a few pieces of my handmade artwork into the manila package filled with documents regarding my educational information such as grades and conduct. Soon enough, it was sent to the school's head administrators and faculty. Luckily, I made it in with flying colors as I received a letter of acceptance a week later notifying me that they'd love for me to attend school here.