A Little Braver

CHAPTER 1

| Chapter 1: About Kim Junkyu |

Mashiho pinned on his class president badge on himself and gathered his books to the first class with a sigh. That day was a particularly exhausting day, although it was yet to start. He had a tight schedule that day apart from his daily school classes.

As he approached his class, he couldn’t but let out another sigh. The class was very noisy. And he knew who was responsible for the noise.

He entered the class and put down his back with a little hardly so he could make his presence known. As usual, after a moment of silence as acknowledgement, his classmates diverted their attention back to the person responsible for all the ruckus.

Kim Junkyu.

He was seated his usual spot at the last bench, sharing some of the lame jokes he got off the net, imitating people and overall entertaining the classroom as he did every morning. But Mashiho was one of the few people who didn’t appreciate these morning rituals all that much.

“Mashiho!” Someone called Mashiho as she entered the classroom. It was Ryujin, the latter’s best friend.

“Oh, good morning Ryujin!” Mashiho brightened at the sight of his friend and gave her a big smile.

Ryujin plopped down on the seat beside him.

“Wow. This class is loud.” Ryujin complained and added a huff, looking at the source of commotion.

“Isn’t it always?” Mashiho replied nonchalantly, laying his head down on the table.

Ryujin chuckled. “Must be hard for you, Mr. President who loves silence and calm.” She poked her friend.

“You have no idea.” Mashiho sighed. “But I’m almost used to this noise. I expect it every morning anyway.”

“Agreed.” Ryujin laughed again. “But that Junkyu is a nice person. He’s helped me a lot of times and funny and everyone loves him. He’s not a bad person. He’s just…extremely loud. He’s your neighbour. How is he at home?”

The corner of Mashiho’s mouth slowly tilted upwards as though he remembered some things.

“To be honest, he stays caged within those huge walls of his humongous house, but at times when he’s in the backyard, playing with his dog or something else, he screams a lot. A fricking lot. When his friends come over, you can hear them screaming and laughing from my house.” Mashiho shook his head disapprovingly. “Well, that’s when his parents are not at home. His parents are pretty strict. They’re the rich and discipline loving people but this Junkyu is an odd one when he’s alone.”

Ryujin listened to everything attentively.

“Maybe he just wants to be a regular teenage boy without the pressure of being perfect all the time…” She commented emphatically.

Mashiho shrugged lightly. “Probably. But that’s the high life he’s been born into. We couldn’t do anything if we wanted.”

“But if you could, would you?” Ryujin asked suddenly, turning back towards Junkyu.

Mashiho looked at Ryujin and then at Junkyu and back at Ryujin.

“I don’t know...” Mashiho sighed, “maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell…”

Not a second passed before the chatter in the classroom was disrupted by the loud clicking of heels. Everyone knew who it was before they could even see who it was. As customary, the class quietened down and her presence signified the end of any unimportant conversation.

Park Mira…

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