"hiss", the cold bottle of water touched his warm red cheeks. He glared at the culprit who only smiled in return. "Your voice is probably hoarse after crying, so drink it"
Han Beom picked the bottle and drank half of it before he laid flat on the bench. He looked up at the young man and asked, "what's your name?"
"Aera~" Han Beom blinked few times until he digested what he just heard, but before he said what's in his mind, Aera cut him with the answer of the question he thought Han was going to ask, "I know~ I know~ It's a feminine name more than masculine, but I can't do anything about that~ My grandpa loved that name, so he asked my parents to name me that whether I came as a boy or a girl... From the moment I was aware of the my surroundings until this day, grandpa kept calling me by that name and woop I got attached to it... I couldn't bring myself to hate it" he mumbled the last part.
Han Beom stared at him quietly, focusing on every move he made until he stopped talking. When he felt it was the right time to talk he patted Aera's head "I was gonna say it fits you, the one who named you seemed to know how you'll grow up to become, and- I was just wondering if your grandfather chose that name for a reason or was it random? Does it remind him of someone?"
His eyes opened wide, surprised by Han's respond, "haha, nah it was a random name, he loved it the moment he heard it and wanted the first born in his family to have it and so I came first!" He stared at Han Beom, then at his hand on his head and giggled "I'm the one supposed to comfort you, not the other way around."
"Well, if we want to state the facts, we both need comfort, right?"
"Right..."
They sat in silence, staring into the night sky, none of them willing to disturb the quietness they're in. Suddenly, something struck into Aera's mind, "hey"
"hmm" responded Han, his eyes are still staring at the sky.
"You didn't tell me your name"
"..."
"I didn't?" mumbled Han Beom.
"Yea" giggled Aera.
"I didn't introduce myself?!" Han jumped from his seat and stood in front of Aera biting his thumb's nail. "Hey, hey, don't take it too seriously like that! I mean... It's your choice if you wanna tell me or nah! So stop biting your poor nail!"
Han flinched at the mention of his nail, he pulled his finger away from his mouth and stared at his ruined nails, "jeez~ Look how terrible they are! You need to treat them better like your health"
"I don't treat my health well though"
"..."
"..."
"What's your name and how old are you?" Asked Aera between gritted teeth.
"My name is Han Beom and I'll be 17 next mo-" Aera jumped from his seat scaring Han before he pulled him by arm. Han Beom wanted to fight back but when he saw worry filling his eyes he stopped struggling and followed until they reached the convenience store.
"What are we doing here?" He asked quietly waiting for a response from Aera. He turned to look at him after he calmed down, "we're gonna buy some stuff to fix you and your habits" he replied with a twitched eyebrow, giving him the 'what kind of question is this?'
Han pouted and looked around, "what will we get from here?" he asked before he turned back and didn't find Aera. He ran between the roofs and shelves until he found him looking at packs of face masks.
When he got closer to him, Aera mumbled "I need to get you good products so you can see how much better you'll be when you take good care of yourself" he turned to look at Han, his hand pulled his hair back to check his face "few black heads here and there but they won't be a problem, hopefully there's no white one or we'll need to get you medicines. We'll get those five masks and I'll get you this cream, you have to put it two times a day on your hands"
Han Beom tried to open it but he was stopped, "not now, check it when you reach home" Aera picked everything he wanted and payed for everything. After they left, Aera separated the stuff he bought into two, he took most of them and gave Han a little so he can use them starting from tonight.
"Make sure to take them on time so we can see their progress!" Han stared at him not saying a word, he wanted to ask something but he was worried, 'will he think I'm weird?' 'Is it strange to ask?' 'Wait, why am I worried in the first place? It's ok to ask since he's the first to approach me!!'
"OI?!! Han!! Lord! You scared me! I kept calling you but you di-"
"Will I see you tomorrow?" He cut Aera, asking him with eyes filled with anticipation. He seemed slightly composed in the outside, but deep inside a chaos was firing, begging him to say yes. Aera stared at him, his sight line moving to Han's eyes that started to be filled with fear.
He gave Han a small smile, his hand reached his long strands, "don't worry, I'm always here, so you can come and meet me anytime~" he reassured him "you have a soft hair Mr. Hansel~"
"ACK!!!!!!!" He flinched taking few steps backward. "Hehe~ You're like a little kitty, haha!"
Han smiled while rubbing his neck. They looked at each other with happiness. If their meeting can change anything in their lives, then they are willing to start building the bridge to meet in the middle, where there will be no secrets between them and always there for each other.
Until that good day comes, Han Beom is gonna do his best to be the best friend Aera ever had and to even be of help to him when he needs one!
"Come on~ Let me drop you at your house!"
"Ah! no need to! It's a bit far so I'm taking the train!"
"Oh! Then let me at least walk you there~"
Yes! They'll both do their best to meet each other's expectations... Even if that means some ugly truths will need to be revealed...
They both will accept them...
Hopefully...