the constellation of unclassified stars (1/?)
the constellation of unclassified stars (friendship, sprinkles of romance, coming of age)
part 1
(main: krystal, seulgi, wendy, mingyu, wonwoo, seokmin)
(i. falling leaves and run!)
Fluttering leaves of autumn scatter around the ground, as the wind shakes and moves the heart of trees to shrug the dusts and traces of dead leaves in their arms. And it's not only caused by the wind of course. A little girl in the age of eleven sits on the thick branches, crawls in the wide wood and shake the leaves with wild eyes and a wicked smile.
The fourty fourth leaves fall to Soojung's eyes, and that's when her eyes flutter open, like a pair of butterfly's wings, it flaps repetitively as falling leaves keep descending to her face.
Amidst falling leaves and lukewarm sun filtered through gaps of leaves, she sees twin braided hair and blue overalls, and Soojung screams. She wants to, but her words are caught in her lips, when she hears a loud snap of something falling apart.
Instead of screaming in anger, she ends up scurrying to her feet, black locks with dead leaves swaying as she gets up, and Soojung feels her heart on her throat, even though the term itself doesn't make any sense to her, but she hears it often amongst one of her mother's personal monologue when she feels like doing it.
"Seulgi, don't move!"
Seulgi is laughing, and Soojung frowns deeply and worriedly, light eyebrows knitted, her hands on her hips. Seulgi's legs dangle from the branch, swinging back and forth gleefully, oblivious of the snapping and cracking sound. Or refusing to hear so.
"Soojung came back from the dead!" Seulgi chimes, in a sing-a-song tone, fox-like eyes and bun like cheeks. She keeps moving and shifting all to her pleasure on the branch, and when the branch snaps for the third time, Seulgi falls.
When her eyes flutter open, she realizes that she lands on something soft and a little bit bumpy, and she hears a loud whiny groan from below her. Pushing herself aside, she sees Soojung in her floral fluttery dress reaching below her knees. Scrunched eyebrows and a pained expression is what visible on her face.
"I told you to be careful, Seulgi!" Soojung flares, tearful eyes and red nose, as she rubs the forming bump behind her head, caught in leaves. "It hurts, Seulgi. It hurts."
Seulgi only smiles despite of it all, and hugs Soojung from the back, and spins her around as if she is flying and riding a carousel. Soojung shrieks for the first few times, and then she guffaws out loud merrily, telling Seulgi to keep going and going, even to the point she is dizzy and wobbly from seeing the world spin along with her.
The twin braided girl is on the same age as Soojung is, but she's taller and somehow more fit, a track runner on her school, Seulgi is. Whilst Soojung will be too busy to read books about how galaxies are created, stars clashing to form planets, how the Sun is actually a star, and everything in between, Seulgi will be outside all day. Running across the neighborhood, running across the school's field, and running. Just run, all day long. She runs also from teachers who seeks her attention in class after school.
Soojung's flowy hair that reaches her back is getting in her mouth, and she stops. The pained expression is gone, only to be replaced with rouge cheeks and crescent eye smiles and giggles.
The wind of autumn shakes all the leaves off Soojung's floral dress, her thin and bow legs and pink sandals. It's a little bit cold, but Soojung likes the wind entering her dress and sways her dress in the process, creating a flapping sound of rustling fabrics.
"Soojung came back from the dead!"
"Yes, I am!" Soojung beams at Seulgi despite of their illogical friendship code, and when Seulgi pulls on her hand to run with her across the neighborhood, she follows along. Her four other friends are nowhere to be found, who are so close to her, so close she can almost recognize the way their feets shuffle along the ground.
But it's okay. Seulgi is here, and she doesn't feel alone. Seulgi is enough to make her existence feels precious by this one friend's twisted form of affection.
They both live in a small town, where rice fields and meadows still exist, no skyscrapers and mightily tall buildings to hide the blue, blue sky and migrating birds. Soojung feels thankful to live in such a town, even though access to more knowledge about the galaxy is limited here. Thankfully, her father who travels often to the city brings her lots of books to read, scientific books and also fables, and fairy tales.
She will read it wherever and whenever, even amongst Seulgi and Wonwoo's fist fights and Mingyu, Seungwan, Seokmin watching from the sides, eating from stacks of sandwiches Seungwan's grandmother packed for them. In this age, they almost see each other as the same, as equals with no gender identity.
Puberty is nowhere to be found, even though when Wonwoo's hand accidentally touched Seulgi's left chest, though straight like his, Seulgi still wrestled the hell out of him with Seungwan and Soojung cheering from the sides, because girls support each other and Seokmin laughed hysterically, whilst Mingyu glared at Seokmin for doing so. They were ten when they realized there are limits to everything, even between boys and girls' friendships.
They are different, yet they are the same in the way they smile and get angry over the smallest of things; Mingyu's marbles borrowed by Seokmin only to be lost when he accidentally dropped it to the gaps of his porch, to Soojung's obsession with galaxy and constantly telling them about everything related to it, and then there is Seungwan and her fondness of tending her garden, and Wonwoo's habit of observing people from the telescope in his room (he said that dangerous people exist and he wants to be aware when the time comes, and Seulgi accused him of being a pervert), Seulgi and her idea of travelling, jumping places, climbing trees, unable to stay in the same place without twitching and itching to move. Seokmin tells the funniest of jokes that sends the other five to their knees, rolling on their stomachs and crying in the process.
Amongst autumn leaves, Seulgi's sunkissed skin, Soojung's pallid ones, their hands interlaced with each other, as their dusty sandals dash along the wind and pavements across local neighborhood with elders sitting outside of their porch, reading their newspaper in the afternoon and hissing under their breaths as reckless laughters colour the skies, happiness is there.
Somehow, in someway, Soojung couldn't ask any more of this, perhaps to have the other four here with them.
But now, it's enough. It's enough, and Soojung can't wait to see another day like this, colouring her youth.
(ii. tears and tiny, tiny hands)
Mingyu was born in the thunderstorm.
It was in the beginning of April, on the sixth day to be exact. It shook the whole town, and it was almost a catastrophe, trees falling and people scattering to their house like ants. His mother told him of this whenever he'd disobey her rules, and she'd admonish him for being ungrateful, just because she was going through so much hardships in delivering him out of her womb, to this world.
Today isn't any different. Mingyu turns his face away from his mother to hide the disgusting tears that threatens to fall. The big, disgusting, useless tears that shows how hurt he is. Mingyu is eleven and he already understands being screamed and pointed by his own mother hurts.
"Why are you looking away from me, Kim Mingyu? I ask you one more time, how could you end up getting this, a zero for Math? You are a di-" he puts his hands over his ears and runs out from his house, slamming the door in the process. And he runs to his bestfriend's house, since Wonwoo might be home around this hour. Or not. Soojung's house is right beside him, but Soojung will only talk about her-
"Hey, Mingyu. Where're you going? Why are your face so red?" He was looking down with his small hands on his hips, and half-thinking, his eyes bristling in tears. It falls, then Soojung's voice echoes from the east. He turns his face to see Soojung in pigtails and flushed cheeks, her round eyes stare in wonder. She's as tall as he is now, even taller perhaps. Her fingers are wrapped tightly around the straps of her Barbie bagpack. Her, clad still in her school uniform. She's obviously on her way to home.
Mingyu doesn't like Barbie dolls, and sometimes he doesn't like Soojung too. Only sometimes. She talks too much for his own liking.
He snaps his head away when her eyes widens, and almost jumps into a run when Soojung's small hand holds him back persistently. She ends up using both of her hands, her feet holding her body to the concrete pavement.
"Mingyu, why are you being like this?!" when Mingyu stops struggling, his shoulders fall into a slump.
He still refuses to give in. "Nothing happened, Soojung. Just mind your own business and go read your stupid little fairy tale books!" he spits his words into Soojung cruelly and unnecessarily, his black straight bangs shake as he does this. His hair is in a bowl cut, and he hates his mother for cutting his hair to this horrendous haircut.
Mingyu knows that it's unnecessary for him to say so. But he's irritated, he's angry and he wants to hurt those around him in the hopes that it can make him feel better.
Soojung flings his hand away harshly, eyes blazing in anger and her face crumpled. Her feet begins to scrunch on the autumn leaves. Crunch, crunch, crunch, Soojung is turning red and regret is still not in Mingyu's throat. "It's not fairytales! It's about the galaxy, and it's real! We're living in the Milky Way Galaxy, and if you don't even know that, then you're stupid!"
Soojung begins to push him, and Mingyu wants to push her back also, making her fall. But he's not Wonwoo. As cruel and careless he just sounded, he knows that it's not right to hit girls.
"You won't understand, Soojung. You won't understand," he crosses his arms before him, facing the fuming Soojung. "It's useless if I tell you. You're a smart kid, you won't understand what a stupid kid like me goes through, right?" he scoffs, and when she's about to reach out and pulls on his ear for being so obnoxious, Mingyu becomes all fidgety and he begins to run.
"Mingyu, where are-" as Mingyu bolts away, Soojung finds herself following from behind. She doesn't notice that his mother's eyes don't land on their fading figures, dissapearing into the streets.
"Why are you running away?"
"Why are you following me?"
"You're not answering my question!"
"Neither are you!"
They pass Seungwan's house and they end up walking in a slower pace, and Soojung still manages to slip a greeting to her friend through her panting breaths. "Hi there, Seungwan! Don't step on your own flowers!"
Seungwan in pink shorts and Tamama t-shirt spins her head to the voice, feeling familiar of Soojung's way of greeting. And in the process, she steps on the flowers she was watering. Her black hair in little curly waves ripple against the wind as she frowns, but she ends up shrugging it away. She can always plant it again, she thinks.
"Oops," Soojung giggles nervously, standing by the gate of her house that is taller than she is. She holds on to the black metal gate, her eyes looking into Seungwan's through the big gaps. And Mingyu clicks on his tongue as he stands beside her. Seungwan loves flowers, and even if he doesn't really care, Soojung just ruined it for her. Seungwan probably won't mind, but being a repulsive boy he is now, he wants to provoke her.
"Look, you just ruined Seungwan's flowers," Mingyu motions to the stumped flowers, his eyebrows furrowed and his sunburnt skin gleams under the sun.
She glares at him, then her small arms passing through the gaps, she clasps her hands apologetically. "Open the gate, Seungwan. Let me plant another one with you."
She waves her hand away, and puts her finger in front of her lips, her eyes suddenly wary of something. "Sssh, Soojung. My grandmother is sleeping. Where are the two of you going?" As she approaches them, then her eyes land on Mingyu. "Wait, weren't you-"
"Did you see? Then don't bring that up," Mingyu huffs, crossed arms and a frown. Soojung's eyes fleet between the two of them suspiciously.
"Why am I the only one unaware of the things that happened? What happened to you, really, Mingyu?"
He clicks on his tongue again. Soojung talks too much, she talks too much. "I'm going to Wonwoo's house. And don't follow me, Soojung," he almost shouts at her when she is about to take a step, and when she shrinks back to the gate and becomes tearful at his raised voice, Mingyu turns away. A little tiny guilt edges close to his eyes.
He sighs when he sees Seungwan's grip tightened around the metal gate. This is the so-called members of the Cosmic Children whom Soojung named last year when they were 4th grade, and he still manages to make her cry. Seulgi will be out to fight with him the next time they pass each other, honestly. Mingyu knows this.
Soojung talks too much but her heart is soft. All litte girls' hearts are soft. Mingyu walks away to Wonwoo's house, away from her falling tears and Seungwan's glare.
"Why did Mingyu get so angry at me, Seungwan? What did I do?" Seungwan braces Soojung in her hug when she unlocked the gate, confused by it all.
"It's his mother, Soojung. His mother got angry over his grades again. I saw him being pulled in the ears by his mother on the way home."
"He shouldn't have done that to me still!"
"I know, Soojung. I know,"
As Soojung weeps to Seungwan's curly black hair, her fingers stroking Soojung's back, Soojung silently feels relieved that she didn't pull Mingyu's ears back then.
(iii. sycamore houses)
Seulgi isn't sure why each time a problem comes up, she finds herself finishing it with her fists or even her feets kicking. She's not sure why, but she finds herself doing so most of the times.
But as long as she can remember, she has always enganged herself in fights with boys around her age. Never with the girls, because most little girls around her age are sweet, very sweet. As in sweet with honey coated smiles and powdery skin, blaringly innocent brown orbs that knows nothing close to harm a fly.
Well, not really. Everyone hates flies, insects, especially cockroaches. Who doesn't, really? Even Seungwan hates the green caterpillar that shows up sometimes in her plants. Fat and bulky ones, though she only removes it away most of the times. She said that butterflies are beautiful, and those caterpillars will turn to butterflies someday.
Sometimes, Seulgi can be sweet also, like what her smiles are named by her mother's friends, adorable and drawing hands to pinch on her cheeks. But they never fail to point out her tanned skin, which sometimes she feels inferior of. But she lets it slide off, of course. She likes running and out in the sun accompanying her. Her mother's friends can talk all they want, but by the end of the day, she's happy and that's what matters the most. Seulgi is eleven and she knows where her happiness comes from.
The fights are not very frequent, but she's become known for it since she fought a lot with Wonwoo, and it becomes a show for kids around their age to watch. She mostly fights with him over such small things; Wonwoo not returning her pencil, Wonwoo doodling on her notebook with his pen or colourful pencils, Wonwoo bothering her, or Wonwoo's tongue being spiteful and mocking. She still sits beside him in class since the teacher has signed their seats together. And unlike his teasings and mockery, Wonwoo is the smartest in her class, so she has to suck up to the fact that she needs his help sometimes.
Still, it doesn't hold Seulgi back from kicking his knee outside whenever he annoys her. And Wonwoo kicks back, of course, same like boys around her age. Their fights are involved of brittle smacks and light kicks, and besides Wonwoo is not stronger than her since she is the track runner here who excercises all the time while he spends most of his time in his room, playing video games at day and studying at night. She plays with him, sometimes too.
And now, even after the six of them end up together under the sycamore tree after knowing that Mingyu made Soojung cry, Seulgi can't hit Mingyu. She hits playfully sometimes, and he never hits her back to be honest. She thinks it's unfair to hit those who refuses to hit back, because it's like she's asking for a fight.
Seungyoon, her older brother, despite teaching her to protect herself, always said to fight only with the ones who wants to fight back. Mingyu won't, definitely, for all the life he has. Not when his mother is a strict Math teacher in their elementary school, and his father a biology teacher in a high school around their area.
She notices that Soojung avoids Mingyu's eyes for a while, but after a few moments, she begins to chat brightly with Mingyu, pulling him into a hug while laughing and smiling. Soojung has always been easy to forgive people, that's one of her good qualities for sure.
Today is another Saturday when they find themselves playing here under the big sycamore tree, Wonwoo not holed up in his room and is playing soccer with Mingyu, passing each other the black and white soccerball whilst attempting to do tricks (which fails most of the time for Wonwoo, but not Mingyu, who's a member of the soccer extracurricular program).
Seulgi sits atop a cleared spot as she has swept away dead leaves to make a space, knees drawn to her chest as she watches her friends for a moment; Mingyu laughing when Wonwoo attempts to catch the ball with his feet after he just bounched it to the air, only to end up bouncing to his head, to Seokmin, Seungwan, Soojung and her sits in a half circle, two spots empty.
Seungwan is telling something to Seokmin in whispers and bright eyes, her hair falling to her face and Seokmin listens intently from time to time. It's probably tales her grandmother told her, sometimes she tells them all, sometimes she only tells Seokmin. Seulgi never gets this, but it's probably because she wants to focus to one audience only.
"Soojung, what are you reading again there?" she scoots closer to Soojung to take a peek inside of her book, and Soojung barely looks up, but let the girl in tight little braids to look into her thick book.
"It's a book about planets, and I'm still on Venus now, six more planets to go, since Pluto is not counted," she mumbles, loud enough for her to hear, and that is an enough sign for Seulgi to know that Soojung doesn't want to be disturbed now. She usually lets her read together with her, but it seems like this is a freshly new book for Soojung, and she wants her hand to finish this book fast.
Then, Seulgi decides to climb the sycamore tree. Fleshy hands over the hard wood texture, she places her foot on the right spots and she ends up sitting in one of the branches. Seulgi wants to try to climb higher, but for now, it's enough.
The height is high enough for her to look across the meadow spreads before her, rice fields, corn fields, all crops related. She wonders if it is really true, that there are more to this world than the town she is in now. For Seulgi, her world is big, as she hasn't traveled far from home. But she wonders if the whole world is really as big as what her geography teacher claims, it's unimaginable to see that there are more places like this in the world.
Her legs dangle from the branch, and she feels serene under the brown trees covering her like a blanket from the sun, and as the wind flows into the tree, rustling them in their houses, Seulgi feels drowsy.
She leans back to the tree, her legs in the air. It's too warm to sleep, though, Seulgi mumbles inside of her head. The sun filters through the trees and she puts out her small hand to the light, and she's fascinated as it filters through the gaps of her fingertips. In those moments, she doesn't listen to the sound of her friends laughing, whispering, and Soojung's fingers flipping through the pages eagerly.
Her eyes catch invinsible dusts amongst the light, seen only because of the bright gleam. The things that are unseen, Seulgi seeks to know more about things like that. That's why she runs a lot, she doesn't know much things at home since everything is shown blatantly, nothing to hide.
Well, Seulgi is eleven and that is what she thinks. Families always have something to hide beneath the covers of their bed, always.
"Look, who's daydreaming on the tree, Mingyu!" She quickly snaps away from her daydream at the all familiar mocking whiny voice of Wonwoo, grating on her ears.
Mingyu shrugs it off and plays with the ball persistently.
"Shut up, Wonwoo. Just play with Mingyu and don't bother me," Seulgi turns her body away from him, shifting away from the south. "If you're brave enough to climb this tree, then I'll let you bother me all day," she speaks over her shoulder while smirking. That shuts Wonwoo's lips tight, but of course he is still going to try.
He is going to cheat though. Taking the ball from Mingyu, he begins to complain then Wonwoo throws it to Seulgi's body.
Seulgi's eyes widens for a moment, and she can almost feel herself losing her balance. Seulgi already calculates the effects of the fall; a broken arm, or perhaps her body since she's still a child, though strong, to her mother scolding her and add her father into the mix, then her brother will still understand though he'll tell her to stop being friends with Wonwoo. Words spread around like newspaper being thrown from one house to the other, but her parents just never ask because the fights never cause a bruise or even a cut.
Thankfully, she's fast enough to cling into the huge trunk. She can feel her insides starting to burn, then she climbs down the tree and the fight begins, all over again. Wonwoo, beyond thrilled that he's successful in getting her riled up, and Seulgi, falling to his traps without learning her past mistakes of giving in to provocation.
The other four just watch from the side of course, finding this as something that they are used to, and something that makes them feel connected and familiar with each other, despite how twisted it may seem to watch your friends fight and not trying to stop them.
They are the cosmic children, after all. Their comprehension with each other is beyond the understanding of most kids and adults around them. And that is what makes them different.
Different enough for Soojung to name them with such a dreamy and unworldly name, and different enough to find themselves standing beside each other, despite the differences and conflicts that occur between the six of them.
a/n: ohmygod, i did it >.< hope you like it tho these friendship ships are so crack lmao
part 1
(main: krystal, seulgi, wendy, mingyu, wonwoo, seokmin)
(i. falling leaves and run!)
Fluttering leaves of autumn scatter around the ground, as the wind shakes and moves the heart of trees to shrug the dusts and traces of dead leaves in their arms. And it's not only caused by the wind of course. A little girl in the age of eleven sits on the thick branches, crawls in the wide wood and shake the leaves with wild eyes and a wicked smile.
The fourty fourth leaves fall to Soojung's eyes, and that's when her eyes flutter open, like a pair of butterfly's wings, it flaps repetitively as falling leaves keep descending to her face.
Amidst falling leaves and lukewarm sun filtered through gaps of leaves, she sees twin braided hair and blue overalls, and Soojung screams. She wants to, but her words are caught in her lips, when she hears a loud snap of something falling apart.
Instead of screaming in anger, she ends up scurrying to her feet, black locks with dead leaves swaying as she gets up, and Soojung feels her heart on her throat, even though the term itself doesn't make any sense to her, but she hears it often amongst one of her mother's personal monologue when she feels like doing it.
"Seulgi, don't move!"
Seulgi is laughing, and Soojung frowns deeply and worriedly, light eyebrows knitted, her hands on her hips. Seulgi's legs dangle from the branch, swinging back and forth gleefully, oblivious of the snapping and cracking sound. Or refusing to hear so.
"Soojung came back from the dead!" Seulgi chimes, in a sing-a-song tone, fox-like eyes and bun like cheeks. She keeps moving and shifting all to her pleasure on the branch, and when the branch snaps for the third time, Seulgi falls.
When her eyes flutter open, she realizes that she lands on something soft and a little bit bumpy, and she hears a loud whiny groan from below her. Pushing herself aside, she sees Soojung in her floral fluttery dress reaching below her knees. Scrunched eyebrows and a pained expression is what visible on her face.
"I told you to be careful, Seulgi!" Soojung flares, tearful eyes and red nose, as she rubs the forming bump behind her head, caught in leaves. "It hurts, Seulgi. It hurts."
Seulgi only smiles despite of it all, and hugs Soojung from the back, and spins her around as if she is flying and riding a carousel. Soojung shrieks for the first few times, and then she guffaws out loud merrily, telling Seulgi to keep going and going, even to the point she is dizzy and wobbly from seeing the world spin along with her.
The twin braided girl is on the same age as Soojung is, but she's taller and somehow more fit, a track runner on her school, Seulgi is. Whilst Soojung will be too busy to read books about how galaxies are created, stars clashing to form planets, how the Sun is actually a star, and everything in between, Seulgi will be outside all day. Running across the neighborhood, running across the school's field, and running. Just run, all day long. She runs also from teachers who seeks her attention in class after school.
Soojung's flowy hair that reaches her back is getting in her mouth, and she stops. The pained expression is gone, only to be replaced with rouge cheeks and crescent eye smiles and giggles.
The wind of autumn shakes all the leaves off Soojung's floral dress, her thin and bow legs and pink sandals. It's a little bit cold, but Soojung likes the wind entering her dress and sways her dress in the process, creating a flapping sound of rustling fabrics.
"Soojung came back from the dead!"
"Yes, I am!" Soojung beams at Seulgi despite of their illogical friendship code, and when Seulgi pulls on her hand to run with her across the neighborhood, she follows along. Her four other friends are nowhere to be found, who are so close to her, so close she can almost recognize the way their feets shuffle along the ground.
But it's okay. Seulgi is here, and she doesn't feel alone. Seulgi is enough to make her existence feels precious by this one friend's twisted form of affection.
They both live in a small town, where rice fields and meadows still exist, no skyscrapers and mightily tall buildings to hide the blue, blue sky and migrating birds. Soojung feels thankful to live in such a town, even though access to more knowledge about the galaxy is limited here. Thankfully, her father who travels often to the city brings her lots of books to read, scientific books and also fables, and fairy tales.
She will read it wherever and whenever, even amongst Seulgi and Wonwoo's fist fights and Mingyu, Seungwan, Seokmin watching from the sides, eating from stacks of sandwiches Seungwan's grandmother packed for them. In this age, they almost see each other as the same, as equals with no gender identity.
Puberty is nowhere to be found, even though when Wonwoo's hand accidentally touched Seulgi's left chest, though straight like his, Seulgi still wrestled the hell out of him with Seungwan and Soojung cheering from the sides, because girls support each other and Seokmin laughed hysterically, whilst Mingyu glared at Seokmin for doing so. They were ten when they realized there are limits to everything, even between boys and girls' friendships.
They are different, yet they are the same in the way they smile and get angry over the smallest of things; Mingyu's marbles borrowed by Seokmin only to be lost when he accidentally dropped it to the gaps of his porch, to Soojung's obsession with galaxy and constantly telling them about everything related to it, and then there is Seungwan and her fondness of tending her garden, and Wonwoo's habit of observing people from the telescope in his room (he said that dangerous people exist and he wants to be aware when the time comes, and Seulgi accused him of being a pervert), Seulgi and her idea of travelling, jumping places, climbing trees, unable to stay in the same place without twitching and itching to move. Seokmin tells the funniest of jokes that sends the other five to their knees, rolling on their stomachs and crying in the process.
Amongst autumn leaves, Seulgi's sunkissed skin, Soojung's pallid ones, their hands interlaced with each other, as their dusty sandals dash along the wind and pavements across local neighborhood with elders sitting outside of their porch, reading their newspaper in the afternoon and hissing under their breaths as reckless laughters colour the skies, happiness is there.
Somehow, in someway, Soojung couldn't ask any more of this, perhaps to have the other four here with them.
But now, it's enough. It's enough, and Soojung can't wait to see another day like this, colouring her youth.
(ii. tears and tiny, tiny hands)
Mingyu was born in the thunderstorm.
It was in the beginning of April, on the sixth day to be exact. It shook the whole town, and it was almost a catastrophe, trees falling and people scattering to their house like ants. His mother told him of this whenever he'd disobey her rules, and she'd admonish him for being ungrateful, just because she was going through so much hardships in delivering him out of her womb, to this world.
Today isn't any different. Mingyu turns his face away from his mother to hide the disgusting tears that threatens to fall. The big, disgusting, useless tears that shows how hurt he is. Mingyu is eleven and he already understands being screamed and pointed by his own mother hurts.
"Why are you looking away from me, Kim Mingyu? I ask you one more time, how could you end up getting this, a zero for Math? You are a di-" he puts his hands over his ears and runs out from his house, slamming the door in the process. And he runs to his bestfriend's house, since Wonwoo might be home around this hour. Or not. Soojung's house is right beside him, but Soojung will only talk about her-
"Hey, Mingyu. Where're you going? Why are your face so red?" He was looking down with his small hands on his hips, and half-thinking, his eyes bristling in tears. It falls, then Soojung's voice echoes from the east. He turns his face to see Soojung in pigtails and flushed cheeks, her round eyes stare in wonder. She's as tall as he is now, even taller perhaps. Her fingers are wrapped tightly around the straps of her Barbie bagpack. Her, clad still in her school uniform. She's obviously on her way to home.
Mingyu doesn't like Barbie dolls, and sometimes he doesn't like Soojung too. Only sometimes. She talks too much for his own liking.
He snaps his head away when her eyes widens, and almost jumps into a run when Soojung's small hand holds him back persistently. She ends up using both of her hands, her feet holding her body to the concrete pavement.
"Mingyu, why are you being like this?!" when Mingyu stops struggling, his shoulders fall into a slump.
He still refuses to give in. "Nothing happened, Soojung. Just mind your own business and go read your stupid little fairy tale books!" he spits his words into Soojung cruelly and unnecessarily, his black straight bangs shake as he does this. His hair is in a bowl cut, and he hates his mother for cutting his hair to this horrendous haircut.
Mingyu knows that it's unnecessary for him to say so. But he's irritated, he's angry and he wants to hurt those around him in the hopes that it can make him feel better.
Soojung flings his hand away harshly, eyes blazing in anger and her face crumpled. Her feet begins to scrunch on the autumn leaves. Crunch, crunch, crunch, Soojung is turning red and regret is still not in Mingyu's throat. "It's not fairytales! It's about the galaxy, and it's real! We're living in the Milky Way Galaxy, and if you don't even know that, then you're stupid!"
Soojung begins to push him, and Mingyu wants to push her back also, making her fall. But he's not Wonwoo. As cruel and careless he just sounded, he knows that it's not right to hit girls.
"You won't understand, Soojung. You won't understand," he crosses his arms before him, facing the fuming Soojung. "It's useless if I tell you. You're a smart kid, you won't understand what a stupid kid like me goes through, right?" he scoffs, and when she's about to reach out and pulls on his ear for being so obnoxious, Mingyu becomes all fidgety and he begins to run.
"Mingyu, where are-" as Mingyu bolts away, Soojung finds herself following from behind. She doesn't notice that his mother's eyes don't land on their fading figures, dissapearing into the streets.
"Why are you running away?"
"Why are you following me?"
"You're not answering my question!"
"Neither are you!"
They pass Seungwan's house and they end up walking in a slower pace, and Soojung still manages to slip a greeting to her friend through her panting breaths. "Hi there, Seungwan! Don't step on your own flowers!"
Seungwan in pink shorts and Tamama t-shirt spins her head to the voice, feeling familiar of Soojung's way of greeting. And in the process, she steps on the flowers she was watering. Her black hair in little curly waves ripple against the wind as she frowns, but she ends up shrugging it away. She can always plant it again, she thinks.
"Oops," Soojung giggles nervously, standing by the gate of her house that is taller than she is. She holds on to the black metal gate, her eyes looking into Seungwan's through the big gaps. And Mingyu clicks on his tongue as he stands beside her. Seungwan loves flowers, and even if he doesn't really care, Soojung just ruined it for her. Seungwan probably won't mind, but being a repulsive boy he is now, he wants to provoke her.
"Look, you just ruined Seungwan's flowers," Mingyu motions to the stumped flowers, his eyebrows furrowed and his sunburnt skin gleams under the sun.
She glares at him, then her small arms passing through the gaps, she clasps her hands apologetically. "Open the gate, Seungwan. Let me plant another one with you."
She waves her hand away, and puts her finger in front of her lips, her eyes suddenly wary of something. "Sssh, Soojung. My grandmother is sleeping. Where are the two of you going?" As she approaches them, then her eyes land on Mingyu. "Wait, weren't you-"
"Did you see? Then don't bring that up," Mingyu huffs, crossed arms and a frown. Soojung's eyes fleet between the two of them suspiciously.
"Why am I the only one unaware of the things that happened? What happened to you, really, Mingyu?"
He clicks on his tongue again. Soojung talks too much, she talks too much. "I'm going to Wonwoo's house. And don't follow me, Soojung," he almost shouts at her when she is about to take a step, and when she shrinks back to the gate and becomes tearful at his raised voice, Mingyu turns away. A little tiny guilt edges close to his eyes.
He sighs when he sees Seungwan's grip tightened around the metal gate. This is the so-called members of the Cosmic Children whom Soojung named last year when they were 4th grade, and he still manages to make her cry. Seulgi will be out to fight with him the next time they pass each other, honestly. Mingyu knows this.
Soojung talks too much but her heart is soft. All litte girls' hearts are soft. Mingyu walks away to Wonwoo's house, away from her falling tears and Seungwan's glare.
"Why did Mingyu get so angry at me, Seungwan? What did I do?" Seungwan braces Soojung in her hug when she unlocked the gate, confused by it all.
"It's his mother, Soojung. His mother got angry over his grades again. I saw him being pulled in the ears by his mother on the way home."
"He shouldn't have done that to me still!"
"I know, Soojung. I know,"
As Soojung weeps to Seungwan's curly black hair, her fingers stroking Soojung's back, Soojung silently feels relieved that she didn't pull Mingyu's ears back then.
(iii. sycamore houses)
Seulgi isn't sure why each time a problem comes up, she finds herself finishing it with her fists or even her feets kicking. She's not sure why, but she finds herself doing so most of the times.
But as long as she can remember, she has always enganged herself in fights with boys around her age. Never with the girls, because most little girls around her age are sweet, very sweet. As in sweet with honey coated smiles and powdery skin, blaringly innocent brown orbs that knows nothing close to harm a fly.
Well, not really. Everyone hates flies, insects, especially cockroaches. Who doesn't, really? Even Seungwan hates the green caterpillar that shows up sometimes in her plants. Fat and bulky ones, though she only removes it away most of the times. She said that butterflies are beautiful, and those caterpillars will turn to butterflies someday.
Sometimes, Seulgi can be sweet also, like what her smiles are named by her mother's friends, adorable and drawing hands to pinch on her cheeks. But they never fail to point out her tanned skin, which sometimes she feels inferior of. But she lets it slide off, of course. She likes running and out in the sun accompanying her. Her mother's friends can talk all they want, but by the end of the day, she's happy and that's what matters the most. Seulgi is eleven and she knows where her happiness comes from.
The fights are not very frequent, but she's become known for it since she fought a lot with Wonwoo, and it becomes a show for kids around their age to watch. She mostly fights with him over such small things; Wonwoo not returning her pencil, Wonwoo doodling on her notebook with his pen or colourful pencils, Wonwoo bothering her, or Wonwoo's tongue being spiteful and mocking. She still sits beside him in class since the teacher has signed their seats together. And unlike his teasings and mockery, Wonwoo is the smartest in her class, so she has to suck up to the fact that she needs his help sometimes.
Still, it doesn't hold Seulgi back from kicking his knee outside whenever he annoys her. And Wonwoo kicks back, of course, same like boys around her age. Their fights are involved of brittle smacks and light kicks, and besides Wonwoo is not stronger than her since she is the track runner here who excercises all the time while he spends most of his time in his room, playing video games at day and studying at night. She plays with him, sometimes too.
And now, even after the six of them end up together under the sycamore tree after knowing that Mingyu made Soojung cry, Seulgi can't hit Mingyu. She hits playfully sometimes, and he never hits her back to be honest. She thinks it's unfair to hit those who refuses to hit back, because it's like she's asking for a fight.
Seungyoon, her older brother, despite teaching her to protect herself, always said to fight only with the ones who wants to fight back. Mingyu won't, definitely, for all the life he has. Not when his mother is a strict Math teacher in their elementary school, and his father a biology teacher in a high school around their area.
She notices that Soojung avoids Mingyu's eyes for a while, but after a few moments, she begins to chat brightly with Mingyu, pulling him into a hug while laughing and smiling. Soojung has always been easy to forgive people, that's one of her good qualities for sure.
Today is another Saturday when they find themselves playing here under the big sycamore tree, Wonwoo not holed up in his room and is playing soccer with Mingyu, passing each other the black and white soccerball whilst attempting to do tricks (which fails most of the time for Wonwoo, but not Mingyu, who's a member of the soccer extracurricular program).
Seulgi sits atop a cleared spot as she has swept away dead leaves to make a space, knees drawn to her chest as she watches her friends for a moment; Mingyu laughing when Wonwoo attempts to catch the ball with his feet after he just bounched it to the air, only to end up bouncing to his head, to Seokmin, Seungwan, Soojung and her sits in a half circle, two spots empty.
Seungwan is telling something to Seokmin in whispers and bright eyes, her hair falling to her face and Seokmin listens intently from time to time. It's probably tales her grandmother told her, sometimes she tells them all, sometimes she only tells Seokmin. Seulgi never gets this, but it's probably because she wants to focus to one audience only.
"Soojung, what are you reading again there?" she scoots closer to Soojung to take a peek inside of her book, and Soojung barely looks up, but let the girl in tight little braids to look into her thick book.
"It's a book about planets, and I'm still on Venus now, six more planets to go, since Pluto is not counted," she mumbles, loud enough for her to hear, and that is an enough sign for Seulgi to know that Soojung doesn't want to be disturbed now. She usually lets her read together with her, but it seems like this is a freshly new book for Soojung, and she wants her hand to finish this book fast.
Then, Seulgi decides to climb the sycamore tree. Fleshy hands over the hard wood texture, she places her foot on the right spots and she ends up sitting in one of the branches. Seulgi wants to try to climb higher, but for now, it's enough.
The height is high enough for her to look across the meadow spreads before her, rice fields, corn fields, all crops related. She wonders if it is really true, that there are more to this world than the town she is in now. For Seulgi, her world is big, as she hasn't traveled far from home. But she wonders if the whole world is really as big as what her geography teacher claims, it's unimaginable to see that there are more places like this in the world.
Her legs dangle from the branch, and she feels serene under the brown trees covering her like a blanket from the sun, and as the wind flows into the tree, rustling them in their houses, Seulgi feels drowsy.
She leans back to the tree, her legs in the air. It's too warm to sleep, though, Seulgi mumbles inside of her head. The sun filters through the trees and she puts out her small hand to the light, and she's fascinated as it filters through the gaps of her fingertips. In those moments, she doesn't listen to the sound of her friends laughing, whispering, and Soojung's fingers flipping through the pages eagerly.
Her eyes catch invinsible dusts amongst the light, seen only because of the bright gleam. The things that are unseen, Seulgi seeks to know more about things like that. That's why she runs a lot, she doesn't know much things at home since everything is shown blatantly, nothing to hide.
Well, Seulgi is eleven and that is what she thinks. Families always have something to hide beneath the covers of their bed, always.
"Look, who's daydreaming on the tree, Mingyu!" She quickly snaps away from her daydream at the all familiar mocking whiny voice of Wonwoo, grating on her ears.
Mingyu shrugs it off and plays with the ball persistently.
"Shut up, Wonwoo. Just play with Mingyu and don't bother me," Seulgi turns her body away from him, shifting away from the south. "If you're brave enough to climb this tree, then I'll let you bother me all day," she speaks over her shoulder while smirking. That shuts Wonwoo's lips tight, but of course he is still going to try.
He is going to cheat though. Taking the ball from Mingyu, he begins to complain then Wonwoo throws it to Seulgi's body.
Seulgi's eyes widens for a moment, and she can almost feel herself losing her balance. Seulgi already calculates the effects of the fall; a broken arm, or perhaps her body since she's still a child, though strong, to her mother scolding her and add her father into the mix, then her brother will still understand though he'll tell her to stop being friends with Wonwoo. Words spread around like newspaper being thrown from one house to the other, but her parents just never ask because the fights never cause a bruise or even a cut.
Thankfully, she's fast enough to cling into the huge trunk. She can feel her insides starting to burn, then she climbs down the tree and the fight begins, all over again. Wonwoo, beyond thrilled that he's successful in getting her riled up, and Seulgi, falling to his traps without learning her past mistakes of giving in to provocation.
The other four just watch from the side of course, finding this as something that they are used to, and something that makes them feel connected and familiar with each other, despite how twisted it may seem to watch your friends fight and not trying to stop them.
They are the cosmic children, after all. Their comprehension with each other is beyond the understanding of most kids and adults around them. And that is what makes them different.
Different enough for Soojung to name them with such a dreamy and unworldly name, and different enough to find themselves standing beside each other, despite the differences and conflicts that occur between the six of them.
a/n: ohmygod, i did it >.< hope you like it tho these friendship ships are so crack lmao