It all started with a lost umbrella, one blue umbrella that rescued me from getting shower wet in the rain on a trip to a village in the mountains. I borrowed it, run through the park, escaped into the first cafe, asked the boy, a nice a handsome Japanese called Yuta if he has a clue whose this could be.
"He's a chubby kid, comes here each day after school to buy snacks. I think he's name is Donghyuck."
So I bought tea, waited for the rain to roll over the next mountain top, found the school, asked around, returned to the park bench were I had found the umbrella, and as a miracle I met the boy.
"Oh I thought it had lost, it would have been the fifth this year," he blushed.
It turned out he was constantly losing things. It happened to me as much when I was his age, my mum even joked wondering what I will lose the next time, whenever I went somewhere. Gloves, jackets, bags, shoes, the list was long.
"Once I lost my laptop, that was no joke, my parents freaked out," explained Donghyuck as we started to walk along the park alleys.
He was easy going, happy, with mischief burning in his eyes.
I stayed in the village for two weeks as I needed my distance to the crazy world I lived in. I was a producer, managed a very talented and successful singer, called Taeil, but after a year of constant traveling and stress I needed a break. Also a break from boys as Taeil and my assistant Sicheng constantly asked me out, while I politely refused, I really didn't need the drama. Suddenly here it was, knocking at my door with a forgotten blue umbrella, and definitely not in this world I could go on a date with a sixteen year old, so we called ourselves friends. I walked him through the park from school, he walked me through the town most attractive places. We had so much fun talking about little things.
Today the evening is cool and I'm at a campfire Donghyuck invited me to. His friends Mark and Jaemin made it, and I guess what my parents would say seeing me sitting around the fire with the 'kids'. One called Jisung shows me his lego plane, a boy called Chenle runs around the place shouting each few seconds. Mark is the oldest and the most mature, he tries to act cool, but it turns out stiff. I see Donghyuck he brings funny hats he was working at the whole evening last night, I get a yellow one with a happy squirrel on it.
It's refreshing to be with guys so energetic and innocent, guys who want to talk, to have fun, play some game, sing camp fire songs or eat sweets till they can't anymore. I'm so tired of the guys who only want something more, something physical, some attention, and some love affairs. They get angry a lot, start to scream and become rude when they hear a 'no', like this jerk who is Yuta's friend, and stalked me the whole week till I told him to really truly disappear.
At the campfire we fight for a bag of candies in a game, me and Donghyuck pair up to become a team. We're quick and smart, so soon the heavy bag is ours, but before we can open it two people walk into the fire light and I see Yuta, and this awful guy he's always with.
"Hi, can we join?" asks Yuta.
"No, it's a private campfire," I jump up, Donghyuck gets a little pale.
"But they're cool," whispers Mark.
"Them?" I look at the boy in disbelief.
"Come on a lady like you can't waist your night with the kids," says Yuta.
I boil over.
"Let's go," I say grabbing the candy bag but Donghyuck is quiet, he gets up and runs into the night, and I feel it's not right to hurt a sweetheart like him.
"Will you really go after him?" asks Yuta's friend.
"Yes," I turn and leave, carrying the heavy candy bag, I search down the path, along the forest and finally I see him on the pier. The lake is smooth like the starry sky above it and Donghyuck is crying when I walk to him.
"They're losers," I say sitting cross legged opposite to him. "Here look what I've got," I lift the bag.
"But... but they're right you should be with a guy your age," he sobs.
"Who says that age does matter in friendship?" I open the bag, spill out all the sweets between us and Donghyuck smiles through the tears. "Looks like we have a lot to do," I grab a choco candy.
"Friends yes," he lifts his hand up and I squeeze it.
"Friends," I mutter looking in his eyes before we start to eat sweets.
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