Growing Up in Ferngrave [A Seventeen Fanfiction]

Chapter 9: Summer Before Fifth Grade and the Carnival

  In the summer before fifth grade, most of my time was spent in the meadows at the border of Ferngrave.  It was uncharacteristic of the sidewalk-filled-building-esque area that I lived in.  And for that, I loved it.  The tall grass that acted as home to excited grasshoppers, the flowerbed that acted as bedding to eager bees, and, most importantly, the huge tree that acted as a jungle gym to my not-so-bright friends.

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  "I want to be an acrobat when I grow up!" Mingyu all but declared as he swung upside down on a thick tree branch.  He was hanging from his knees which where hooked about the bark.  Sitting next to his legs was a less-than-impressed Seungkwan, who was tempted to remove his friend's secure grip from the branch.

  "As if you could, you're gonna be too tall for that, dimwit. Acrobats do more than swing on stupid trees."

  "Hey, what did the tree ever do to you?" You mildly scolded Seungkwan from where you stood at the bottom of the tree, caressing the tree's bark as if it were a whimpering puppy. "The only stupid ones here are you three."

  Seokmin pouted from where he had both arms and legs wrapped around the branch opposite of Seungkwan and Mingyu. "I didn't even do anything this time! Why am I lumped with them?"

  "My bad. The only stupid ones here are you two, Mingyu Kim and Seungkwan Boo." As a response to your insult, Seungkwan held his fists out before him with a threatening expression.  Mingyu was too busy swaying back and forth with a funny look in his face.

  "I'm getting dithy."

  Wonwoo, who was quietly sitting by you with his nose stuck in his book, glanced up from his spot and adjusted his new glasses perched on his face. "The blood's rushing to your head, that's why. Best get up from where you're hanging."

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  After a particularly clumsy fall off of the first few steps of our school's entrance, courtesy to bleary vision on Wonwoo's part, Wonwoo's parents were all too eager to buy him prescription glasses upon a visit to an eye doctor.  Mrs. Jeon blamed it on all the late-night reading that Wonwoo was prone to; thus, he was forbidden from reading any time after the sun started setting.  It was practically torture for Wonwoo; and he read as much as he could during the daytime, walking around with a different book tucked under his arm every day.  While other boys were sneaking game consoles and risky magazines to sleep, Wonwoo was sneaking academic literature and Sherlock Holmes novels underneath his bedsheets.

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  "Thay, how about you, Wonwoo?" Mingyu finally sat upright on the branch, and it was Seungkwan's turn to dangle. "What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

  Seokmin jumped out of his spot on the tree just then, landing quite unceremoniously in the grass near to your feet.  Still, with a grunt, Seokmin got up and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "You could be a doctor. Doctors are smart."

  "Or a librarian." You had been the one to shrug and plop down in between Wonwoo and Seokmin. "You like organizing things, especially books."

  "I guess," Wonwoo sighed and closed his book, "but I don't know. My parents are always telling me that I should aspire to be a lawyer or a doctor. I kinda just want to live and see where it all goes."

  "Wonwoo Jeon. Living on the edge as always." Seungkwan couldn't help the urge to tease.

  This caused an eyeroll from Wonwoo, who only glanced back down at his book, not before muttering. "And you, Seungkwan? I always thought working as a birthday party clown would agree with you."