Little Kiku sat under a cherry tree, watching the beautiful pink blossoms on the tree limbs wave gently in the breeze and fall to the ground. He closed his eyes and leaned up against the tree trunk, feeling the wind blow through his black hair. It was so peaceful under the tree, and Kiku had been sitting there all day. The spot under the cherry tree was his favorite place to sit. Usually, Kiku came to sit under the tree when his siblings started to annoy him and he needed some time alone. No one in his family knew about the cherry tree, so it was kind of like Kiku's hiding spot. Under the tree, he was able to seemingly escape from the world around him, and he was able to relax and think to himself.
Today, Kiku had brought some paints, brushes, and paper with him. He placed the paper in front of him and dipped one of his brushes into some black ink. He gracefully began to mark on the paper, concentrating entirely on the brush. The only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling the leaves and cherry blossoms that decorated the beautiful tree.
"Kiiiikuuuu! Where are youuuu? Aniki cooked lunch, and if you don't hurry and come eat, I'm going to take your share of the food!"
Kiku paused for a moment, holding his brush still on the paper. He sighed and started to put up his art supplies, hoping he could leave from under the cherry tree before his younger brother found him.
"There you are; I've finally found you! I've been looking for you for a long time!" Im Yong Soo walked over to Kiku and sat down beside him. "What are you doing over here?"
Kiku leaned his head against the tree and closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply. "I'm painting."
Im Yong Soo saw the papers that Kiku was holding. He took one of them from Kiku's hand and looked at it. There was an uncolored outline of cherry blossoms on the paper.
"Wow Kiku, this is really pretty! I wish I could paint that good…"
Kiku smiled at his younger brother. "You paintings look pretty too; you're a good painter."
Im Yong Soo grinned. "You really think so?"
Kiku stood up and nodded. "Yes, I do." He started walking away.
Im Yong Soo stood up and ran after him. "Where are you going?"
Kiku sighed. "I thought you said Yao-san had lunch ready to eat?"
Giggling, Im Yong Soo ran ahead of Kiku. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!"
The two boys ran and finally made it to the house they lived in with their older brother, Yao. Once they were inside, they sat down to eat.
Yao walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room, carrying two bowls of rice. He placed the bowls in front of his younger brothers on the table. He went back into the kitchen and got a bowl of rice for himself, and then he sat down in the dining room with his brothers.
"Guess what Aniki? I know where Kiku's hiding spot is!"
Yao stopped eating his rice. "Im Yong Soo, what are you talking about?"
Im Yong Soo giggled. "You know how Kiku disappears sometimes and we can't find him for awhile? I know where he's been hiding! I'm going to tell everyone I know where his hiding spot is!"
Kiku looked worriedly over at his two brothers. He didn't want Im Yong Soo to tell Yao about the cherry tree. It was so peaceful sitting under the tree, and if Im Yong Soo started telling people about the tree, Kiku's hiding spot wouldn't be peaceful anymore because people would start coming to sit around the tree too.
"Aniki, his hiding spot is-"
Kiku reached from across the table and covered his little brother's mouth. "Please don't tell him, Im Yong Soo-san!"
Im Yong Soo smirked as Kiku removed his hand from over his brother's mouth. "Why not? I want to tell him!"
"Because I don't want you to tell people where my hiding spot is!"
Im Yong Soo stayed quiet for a minute, thinking. "I won't tell Aniki about your hiding place if you teach me how to paint really pretty pictures, like the ones you paint!"
Kiku was bewildered. He knew his little brother would probably aggravate him if he tried to teach him how to paint, but he didn't want people to find out about the cherry tree.
"…Ok, I'll teach you how to paint, but only if you don't tell people about my hiding spot!"
Im Yong Soo jumped up and down in his seat. "Yay! Aniki, guess what? Kiku's going to teach me how to paint! Let's go paint right now Kiku!" He stood up and waited for his older brother to do the same, so they could go to the cherry tree.
Yao softly laughed at his younger siblings. "It's nice that you're wanting to paint together, but both of you need to finish eating your lunch first, aru!"
Groaning in annoyance, Im Yong Soo sat back down and continued eating his lunch with his two brothers. He quickly finished his lunch and walked over to where Kiku was sitting. Kiku had just finished eating his lunch.
"Let's go outside and paint now!" Im Yong Soo said, jumping up and down with excitement.
Kiku left his chair and the two brothers made their way out the door. Yao chuckled as his two brothers left he kitchen, leaving their dirty dishes behind them. Yao stood up and started to clean their messes, wondering what mischief his younger siblings would be getting into.
The children ran through grassy fields and into a densely wooded forest. The sun was shining and cicadas were calling throughout the forest. Sweat formed on the two boys' foreheads, and they panted as they ran.
There was a small brook running across the pathway Kiku and Im Yong Soo were running on. Giggling, they jumped over the brook and made their way out of the forest until they made it to the hill the lone cherry tree was located on.
Kiku had forgotten to bring his art supplies home earlier, and they were still under the tree. The boys sat down together, leaning against the tree trunk as blossoms waltzed down from above.
Kiku situated all his art supplies in Im Yong Soo's lap and beside him in the grass. Im Yong Soo's eyes brightened as he saw all the colorful paints Kiku had given him to use.
After getting everything ready, Kiku dipped a brush into water. He gave the brush to Im Yong Soo.
"What color do you want to use first?" Kiku asked.
Im Yong Soo dipped his brush into the blue paint. "This one!"
He began marking on the paper, letting his brush loosely glide along to create his own watery fantasy on the page. He cleaned his brush off and dipped the brush in yellow paint, creating a yellow blob, which was soon enveloped by an orange and deep purple sky.
"What are you making?" Kiku asked his younger brother curiously.
Im Yong Soo giggled as he began painting what looked like a type of water bird. "I'm painting a pond!"
Kiku smiled as he watched Im Yong Soo paint. Even though Im Yong Soo had wanted Kiku to give him paint lessons, Im Yong Soo was painting perfectly fine on his own.
Once Im Yong Soo was finished, he turned to Kiku and handed him the paintbrush. "Now it's your turn!"
Kiku was confused. "What do you mean?"
Im Yong Soo handed everything to Kiku. "I've painted half the picture; you should paint the other half! Then we can give it to Aniki as a present!"
Kiku smiled as he began to paint the picture. Behind the pond Im Yong Soo had painted, Kiku marked the paper with a lush green paint.
Im Yong Soo watched his brother intently, following every brushstroke made with his sparkling amber eyes. "Are you making a hill?"
Nodding, Kiku cleaned off his brush and began adding details to the hill. On top of the hill, he made a long, dark paint mark. At the top of the mark, there were blobs of green and pink paint, lighting the hill with vivid color.
"Ooh! I know what that is! It's a cherry tree, isn't it?" Im Yong Soo exclaimed excitedly. After bouncing up and down for a few minutes, Im Yong Soo's happiness faded into worry. "But Kiku, I thought you said you didn't want Aniki to find out where your hiding spot is? Why are you painting the hill and cherry tree on the painting, if we're going to give the painting to Aniki?"
Kiku continued to paint the tree. "Yao-san won't know that the tree on here is referring to the tree we're sitting under right now. He'll think the tree on the paper is just a random tree. He doesn't know about the cherry tree we're sitting under; I'm the only one who knows about it. Well, other than you, I suppose."
Im Yong Soo nodded in understanding. "Oh, ok!"
Once the painting was finished, the two boys gazed upon it with pride.
"We should write our names on it!" Im Yong Soo said happily.
Kiku signed his name. He handed the brush to his brother.
Im Yong Soo wrote his name, and then he wrote several other words under it.
"What are you writing?" Kiku asked.
Proudly, Im Yong Soo held up the painting. Under his name, were the words, "This painting originated in South Korea, da ze~! It's for you, Aniki!" There was a heart beside the sentence.
"Im Yong Soo-san, you just ruined the painting."
"No I didn't! I just improved it!"
Sighing, Kiku shook his head at his brother's immaturity and leaned against the tree trunk again. He looked up to the sky and noticed it was becoming dark, and the sky was lit up with stars. They had been sitting under the tree for several hours, but it had only felt like several minutes.
"Hey Kiku, do you want to go home now? Aniki is probably wondering where we are…"
Kiku shook his head. "No, I want to stay here. The sky looks really pretty tonight."
Im Yong Soo looked up at the stars appearing overhead, and he leaned against the tree trunk beside Kiku. The two boys watched the approach of nightfall until they fell asleep.
Yao trudged through the tall grass on the hill as he walked up to the cherry tree. He smiled as he saw his two younger brothers sleeping sweetly under the tree together. "This must be Kiku's secret hiding spot he and Im Yong Soo were talking about earlier." Yao thought to himself
Walking up to the two boys, he noticed that they had made a painting together. He picked up the artwork and laughed softly once he noticed their signatures, and Im Yong Soo's message. He was impressed by their skillful artistic abilities, and thought it was adorable of them to give the painting to him.
He gently picked up Kiku, and then he picked up Im Yong Soo with the same gentleness. He barely managed to carry both boys and the painting at once, but after situating them in his arms he was able to carry them easier. Kissing Kiku and Im Yong Soo goodnight, Yao carefully made his way down the hill towards home with his younger siblings sleeping in his arms, as nightfall graced the sky overhead.