soul switch│ j.jk ✔

t w o

flashback --

eru was alone by the playground near the school, waiting for her mom to pick her up.

'all of my friends are surely at home now,' she thought to herself as she swung her legs, 'it's so lonely here.'

she noticed someone sitting idly by the swing set so she stood up and made her way towards the swings. she peeped a little only to find taehyung sitting alone. eru did not mind him and just sat there and pushed herself to a slightly high degree then released her feet, the swing launching forward. taehyung seemed startled by the movement and he whirled around only to find eru enjoying on her own.

"you're alone." it wasn't a question but a statement. eru used both her feet to stop swinging and she nodded once.

"it's getting a little late and my mama isn't picking me up yet. i'm getting worried. what if she got on an accident? what if some bad guy kidnapped her? what if i don't see her again?" those words that slipped from her mouth caused her eyes to mist, her hands to shake and her knees to weaken as the very thought of losing her mother scared her to bits.

'what if mama got lost on the way? who will cook breakfast and dinner? papa's a very bad cook. he could not even cook a sunny side-up the way mama does. what will happen to me now?'

taehyung immediately saw eru's worry and he quickly raised his small chubby hand to give gentle strokes to eru's back, somehow assuring her that everything's fine.
"hey, don't cry! maybe your mama's just stuck in the long line of the grocery or her hair got stuck on a plant's twigs or she rested on a bench because her feet ached or maybe she saw a dog on the way and played with it." he said, his innocent and concerned side sticking up.

eru looked up and met him in the eye, her cheeks glowing a slightly darker shade of red, her eyes puffy from her sudden crying, and her nose, pinkish.
"you think so? is my mama stuck on a very long grocery line? is my mama playing with a dog on her way here?" she asked, hopeful that the answer was either of what she said.

"yeah. that's why you should stop crying," taehyung remembered how he mistreated eru and always teased her. to somehow make up for what he did, he asked her to play with him instead to slowly calm her down, "and maybe we could play around here?"

"i don't want to," eru said, shaking her head as if to emphasize her choice, "i will wait for mama here."

taehyung sighed.
"your mama will be sad if she sees you alone when i'm here. do you want your mama to be sad when she picks you up?"

eru hesitated. she did not know what to do.

but she wanted to play too.

just not with taehyung.

but they were the only ones on the playground.

and she really wanted to play.

"okay. let's go to the slide and the monkey bars."

both taehyung and eru started running towards the monkey bars and slide. both of them didn't notice that time was quickly flying when their parents showed up.

both mothers were astonished to see their son and daughter playing peacefully and happily, shouting in merriment and excitement.

children are far too innocent to get angry for too long, and they are far too innocent to not forgive each other.

taehyung realized that eru was fun to be with.

eru realized that taehyung wasn't bad after all.