pitiful sunflower part 1; bayoung, 886 words, g
Title: Pitiful Sunflower, Part 1
Pairing/Focus: AU!Jinyoung/Baro
Rating: G
Word Count: 886 words
Summary: Past. Sunwoo’s side.
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Sometimes, he wonders how it would have been if he had met the older after everything had happened. Perhaps it wouldn’t have hurt as much since the same feelings wouldn’t have developed. It probably hurt as badly as it did since those feelings really did develop. What sucks the most is that he never even had a chance to tell him. Or perhaps he did…he just needed a little more time, was that so much to ask?
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“W-wow! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine!”
“But you’re bleeding!”
“I’m okay! Leave me alone!”
He was only six at the time, Sunwoo remembers, and Jinyoung seven.
Their first encounter was when he was crying under the slides after getting in a fight with another kid. He knew he would get in trouble if he went home with a bloodied lip and a bruised cheek, which was why he stayed under the slides until the sun was setting. Many children came in and out of the playground to have their usual playtime after school was over, before their mothers came to hold their hands to go home. The only child that found him was Jinyoung. Or rather, the only one that didn’t pretend he didn’t see him and find him.
“Here, l-let me just-”
“Quit touchin’ me! Grr-hrmkff-!!!”
He doesn’t remember why he was so stubborn when Jinyoung squatted down in front of him to inspect his wounds. He ponders for a moment and he comes to a conclusion that it was probably because his six-year-old pride was hurt when the older had caught him with tears running down his cheeks.
“It doesn’t hurt!” he even remembers yelling, ignoring the fact that his bruised cheek was numb and whenever his tears touched his busted lip, it stung. He continuously fought off Jinyoung’s hands though eventually, he felt something at the corner of his lip and when his fingertips touched the texture, he realized it was a band-aid.
Before he could rip it off, Jinyoung handed him a bag of bread to occupy his little hands; half of the bread that he didn’t finish during lunchtime.
“Go home before your mommy worries, okay?”
With that, he ran off, leaving Sunwoo sitting there confused, looking from Jinyoung’s back to the bread in his hands…then at Jinyoung’s back again. He grumbled something that the Sunwoo now doesn’t quite remember what it was…before scarfing down the bread hungrily. He waited until it grew dark and chilly before heading home.
He remembers getting a good whooping that night.
The next day, little Sunwoo walked around the playgrounds as if waiting for something…or someone. Not Jinyoung, no way. He was just…hanging around…and maybe if he happened to see him, he was going to say hi. Maybe. Probably not. But maybe.
He sat on a bench and let his feet dangle as his eyes scanned the area. The stupid kid that dared to lay a finger on him wasn’t there, thankfully. He half-hoped he got in trouble and he got grounded. However, the stupid girl that threw sand at him, the day before, was there, stealing mean glares at him. Sunwoo would glare back before turning away; she wasn’t the one he was looking for.
When Sunwoo got tired of looking, he finally showed up. A Big Bird backpack hanging down from his shoulders and all.
“Hey!” he remembers yelling as he jumped down from the bench, considering that he didn’t know Jinyoung’s name. All the kids in the area turned Sunwoo’s way and he wanted to kick sand at all of them. But he didn’t, running for Jinyoung instead before he was able to walk off.
The older glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Sunwoo, smiling as the younger skidded to a stop in front of him.
“Hi-”
“I don’t have a mommy!”
“…?”
“You told me last night to go home before my mommy worried but I don’t have a mommy!”
Jinyoung blinked as his smile slowly faded. Sunwoo specifically remembers because he didn’t like it. He liked it when Jinyoung smiled but when it faded, he didn’t like it.
The younger boy’s shoulders drooped slightly at Jinyoung’s frown before he opened his mouth to speak though Jinyoung smiled again. He took his wrist, walking over to the bench to settle them down. He took off his backpack, placing it on his lap and digging through for something. He pulled out another bag of half-eaten bread, handing it to Sunwoo.
“My name’s Jinyoung. What’s yours?”
“…”
Jinyoung looked at him expectantly and Sunwoo couldn’t help but mumble his name under his breath.
“Sunwoo…”
The older smiled, nodding.
“That’s a nice name.”
Sunwoo found out that day that Jinyoung didn’t have a father. He walked out on his mother and his older sister, as well as him, when he was two. It was a little different from Sunwoo and his mother, who passed away two years prior. But they were both missing a parent and that’s all Sunwoo needed to relate himself to Jinyoung.
After that, Sunwoo always followed him around. He waited at the playground for the older to come home after getting out of school. Jinyoung always gave him half-eaten bread and he always spent time with him before sending Sunwoo home, heading home himself. They grew up together like that.