Marbles - Memories and Remembrance [II]
Title: Marbles (Memories and Remembrance II)
Author: xsilentserenity
Pairing: Kid!Eunhae (Hyukhae)
Rating: G
Genre: Friendship, fluff
Warnings: Age switch; Donghae - 6, Hyukjae - 7 (This part)
Disclaimer: Such a pity.
Summary: From childhood friends, to figurative siblings, to classmates, to innocent crushes, to more; Donghae and Hyukjae’s friendship progresses from a thousand moments engraved into their memories to a future unknown, incomplete, and wholly unexpected.
Note: This is insanely late. I apologize... a lot.
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PREVIOUSLY NAMED "SMILE TO REMEMBER OUR MEMORIES"
~~
Donghae ran through his house on his short legs, smiling widely as he made his way to the parked car outside.
“Hyung, hurry!” he yelled over his shoulder, urgently. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, after all.
Today both his mother and Auntie Lee had decided to let the kids meet up for the afternoon and evening, and Donghae was more than excited, anxious to get there. It was obvious to anyone that that small boy couldn’t wait to see his Hyukjae-hyung and Sora-noona.
“Yah, Donghae-ah, stop yelling! I’m coming,” Donghwa shouted from the hallway. A moment later, he joined Donghae near the car.
Their mother appeared from the garage door about fifteen long seconds later, smiling as she saw how openly excited Donghae was - Donghwa, too, though he tried to suppress it. She unlocked the doors and Donghae and Donghwa hopped it - Donghae in his “big boy” seat again - and his mother drove the five minute drive to Hyukjae’s house.
The moment Donghae’s mother parked the care on the driveway, Donghae unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the vehicle, running to the backyard through a gate. The backyard gate would be unlocked when the Lee’s knew they would be having guest,s so Donghae knew he wouldn’t have to wait for someone to open the door.
To his pleasant surprise, Hyukjae and Sora were already outside, in the backyard patio, playing a game of marbles. When they heard the gate open and close, both looked up, grinning at their younger friend.
“Donghae!” Sora squealed excitedly, and Donghae rushed to her arms and hugged her tightly.
“Hi, Sora-noona! Hi, Hyukjae-hyung!” Donghae greeted, smiling his toothy, open-mouthed grin.
“Hey, Donghae!” Hyukjae laughed, pulling Donghae into his arms.
Donghae hardly fit into Hyukjae’s hold, since they were nearly the same size, but Hyukjae somehow managed the hug. He let go with he saw Donghwa enter through the gates closely followed by Donghae’s mother.
“Hi, Donghwa-hyung! Hello, Auntie Lee,” he waved, and Donghwa joined the other children while Donghae’s mother smiled and greeted Sora and Hyukjae hello.
“Hi, oppa!” Sora waved at Donghwa cheerfully, and Donghwa answered with a grin and a wave of his own.
Hyukjae’s mother came out of the house when she heard the voices of her expected visitors, and she greeted them, hugging Donghae’s mother briefly. It had been about five months since the two families had met, and they had grown undeniably close in that small amount of time. All four children were the best of friends, nearly inseparable. Amber, Donghae and Donghwa’s younger sister, was only a baby, so she remained at home a lot during outings, but she was included nonetheless. The girl had already gained a special place in her Sora-unnie’s heart. Donghae had turned six in October, for which his family had hosted a small birthday party with Hyukjae’s family,
“Did you bring Amber with you?” Mrs. Lee asked, referring to Donghae’s little sister, who was only about seven months old.
Donghae’s mother shook her head. “I left her at home with their father.”
Mrs. Lee nodded. “Well, come inside for a cup of coffee or something. The kids can play here outside,” she beckoned inside, and the two mothers disappeared indoors.
Hyukjae immediately turned to Donghwa. “Hyung, do you want to be on my team? Play marbles with us! Donghae, you too!” he suggested, nearly screaming.
Donghae grinned, taking a seat around the circle, next to Sora. “Noona, you’ll be on my team, right?” he asked, seeing as to how Hyukjae and Donghwa had already partnered up.
Sora laughed and pulled Donghae into a tight hug. “Of course, Donghae-ah!” she giggled childishly and turned to Hyukjae and Donghwa. “Donghae is on my team, okay?” she claimed, still clutching Donghae possessively.
Hyukjae laughed, his gums showing as he grinned widely. “Hurry! Let’s start!”
So, the game of marbles began. Aimless chatter an spouts of laughter filled the air around the four children as they occupied themselves with their fun and games. Soon enough, the young fickle minds, easily bored, lost interest in the actual games, though not the marbles. Once Donghae began fidgeting around where he was sitting, Sora and Hyukjae noticed fairly quickly, and then the idea was planted in their minds too. Donghwa was confused as to why the game seemed to randomly pause, but he went with the flow and stopped playing.
“Can we do something else?” Donghae pouted. “I’m bored!” Donghae’s pout and puppy dog eyes glistened so cutely that it was losing battle to resist from the start.
Hyukjae only laughed. “Sure, Hae-ah. Let’s go inside. I’m bored, too!”
Sora smiled. “Me, too!” she agreed, and all four rose in near unison, rushing to the door to head inside.
“Umma!” Hyukjae called, and Mrs. Lee entered the kitchen a moment later. “Can we have some cookies?” he asked sweetly, professionally exaggerating his prominent pouty lips.
Mrs. Lee smiled and nodded, and Donghae’s mother appeared from the living room. “Kids, remember to clean up outside if you’re finished with the marbles,” she reminded.
Donghwa nodded, being the oldest and “most mature.” “We’ll go and clean up now, then,” he spoke for all of them. Sora agreed with a nod.
Donghae, always being the helper in his family, immediately began cleaning up the marbles, scooping them and dropping the spheres into the bag. Hyukjae joined in while Sora and Donghwa mainly talked.
“Remember when Amber-ah almost swallowed a marble?” Hyukjae laughed, remembering the incident a few months ago.
“That wasn’t funny!” Sora chided. “It’s dangerous! Amber is only a baby!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, but Donghae-ah was there to save the day!” Hyukjae grinned.
Donghae felt his lips curl up into a bright smile, as any small child’s lips did when they received compliment. “Thanks, hyung.”
They continued cleaning the marbles, one by one, placing the individual, different colored spheres into the nearly empty cloth bag laying on its side. Donghae clutched as many marbles as he could with his fairly small palms, still containing some baby-fat, tossing them into the bag.
“Hyung, noona, are you going to help us?” Donghae asked, pouting slightly at the lack of usefulness from the two oldest.
Sora laughed and kneeled down beside Donghae, ruffling his hair fondly. “We’ll help with the rest, okay? You’ve already cleaned up so much!”
Donghwa bent down to help also, mimicking Sora’s actions, but to Sora herself. She scrunched up her face and squirmed away, whining pitifully. “Oppa!” she cried indignantly, trying to comb her hair back down, but there was one tuft of hair that stuck up.
Donghae giggled (in the mostly manly way possible, of course), and smoothed it down for her. “Now it’s all fixed!” he announced proudly, and Sora rewarded him with a big hug, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
The childish banter continued for a few minutes before, once again, the kids got bored again, except Donghwa and Sora were the first to leave. “You finish up the last of it,” Donghwa had requested before he and Sora went and sat down in the porch chairs, way to big for their small frames. Donghae and Hyukjae, being the youngest, were stuck cleaning the marbles until they were finally finished, and Hyukjae closed the opening with the drawstring seal.
“Wait,” Donghae whispered, and he grabbed the bag and opened it again, reaching in and pulling out two small marbles. Hyukjae glanced at Donghae with curious eyes and Donghae answered with his actions. “Watch, Hyukkie-hyung!” he kept his voice quiet.
Silently taking aim with one eye closed and his tongue sticking out from his lips ever so slightly, Donghae launched the two marbles at Donghwa and Sora. One hit Donghwa squarely on the arm while the other went between them, nearly missing Sora’s nose. Donghwa jerked backwards in surprised, turning to Hyukjae and Donghae, who just burst out laughing until their sides were aching and they couldn’t breathe.
“Yah!” Sora exclaimed. “You could have hit me!” she pouted, her eyebrows creasing together.
Hyukjae only paused in his fit of laughter for a few seconds to manage half-saying, half-laughing, “That was kind of the point, noona!” He collapsed into laughter again.
When the boys had finally calmed down, still holding their sides, Donghae wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eyes, still chuckling to himself, grinning widely. He and Hyukjae made eye contact and almost relapsed into laughter again, but somehow contained it.
“What’s so funny anyway?” Sora whined. “You almost hit me! That would have hurt!”
Donghae scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry, noona! We won’t do it again!”
Sora smiled, unable to hold a grudge against Donghae when Hyukjae interrupted with a snort, reaching into the bag for more marbles. “Not ‘we’! I know I will! That was hilarious!” Hyukjae laughed again, throwing a fresh batch of marbles at Sora. Two hit her on the torso while the other barely grazed her arm.
Sora yelped, throwing Hyukjae a pointed glare, but it was soon replaced by giggles. “You better watch out, Hyuk! I’m going to get you!” she yelled excitedly.
Soon, the porch was a battlefield, with Donghae and Hyukjae on one side, hiding behind the pillars, and Sora and Donghwa on the other, ducking behind porch chairs if needed. Flying marbles were being launched in every direction, some missing and hitting the walls or getting lost in the grass, while others hit their target, only to bounce off and hit the ground. Donghae jumped out of the way to dodge another marble, while Hyukjae reached his hand into the bag, groping around for any stray marbles that hadn’t fallen out already. Sora’s mouth was turned upwards in a huge grin, splitting her face from ear to ear and she launched marble after marble towards her brother. Donghwa gave an insane war cry and from behind a patio chair, he threw a handful of marbles into the air before ducking, unable to take time to watch his projectiles’ results.
“Boys! Sora!” a shocked voice interrupted their game. “What are you all doing?”
All movement froze, and the children turned their heads slowly, gazing fearfully at Hyukjae’s mother, who was standing with her hands on her hips in the doorway, a pink apron tied around her waist. The movement of the marbles through the air stopped, too, though a few of the spheres rolled around freely on the flat patio ground.
Hyukjae’s mother sighed heavily before turning around, ready to head back into the kitchen. “Your cookies are ready,” she informed. “But I don’t want any of you inside until the marble bag is brought inside, and every last marble is inside it, alright?” Her voice was stern, but the amused smile on her face made her expression the opposite. “Kids these days…,” she just laughed and closed the door.
There was silence for a few seconds before Donghwa spoke up. “That was fun,” he shrugged nonchalantly and kneeled onto the ground, beginning to pick up the marbles scattered across the area.
The other three children followed suit, and soon the kids were crawling back and forth between the bag of marbles and their specific areas, throwing whatever marbles they could into the bag. The cookies were waiting; that was incentive enough, but with all the tiny, glass spheres strewn everywhere, including the tall strands of grass, picking up every last one was a task in itself.
Oh well, it only meant more time to spend together.
~~
A/N: tesa, bb, don't kill me! I finally got it out, after what? Five days after my "promised date." I'm such a failure. I even put on my determined face and wrote it, and then I just kinda left it there... laying there, in my journal for the past days.
a few updates:
1. Again, sorry for delay. From now on, it'll be faster, I swear.
2. SuJu Quadruple win at GDA! I'm so proud of our oppas and ELF! Great job, everyone!
3. It's finals week, so that means that I go to school, write my two exams, come home at 11:15.. AM! Haha, I'm home early this week, and since I'm home alone, I'll try to get some writing done, but I keep getting distracted... like today.
4. I made a tumblr! It's xsilentserenity on there, too! For those of you with tumblrs, follow me! and for those without, drop me a few Anon questions once in a while, just so I know you're alive! :) It'll keep me motivated to not get distracted, too! :P
Thanks for reading... I hope you haven't forgotten about this. Sorry for the major delay!