Hyerin and Jaehyung began to play every time their mothers visited. Sometimes these visits were just for them to play together.

That made Hyerin feel very special.

When the weather became warmer, Jaehyung began getting more and more fidgety as they colored pictures or played with toys inside. He sighed heavily as he moved his toy boat around and looked at Hyerin.

“I want to go outside,” he announced. Before she could answer, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet. He spotted their mothers at the table then walked right into the room without a second thought.

He waited for them to finish their conversation before he spoke up with polite confidence,“Can we play outside instead? We won’t go too far and we’ll be extra careful.”
Their mothers looked at each other with a pair of knowing smiles then turned to the children.

“Jaehyungie, take care of Hyerin,” his mother said. “She’s a lady, you know.”

Jaehyung nodded quickly. “I’ll be extra, extra careful with Hyerin. I promise.”

As the girl in question nodded along with her friend, her mother laughed. “Go play, you two. Be back before sunset.”

With that, the pair ran out the door and down the road, with Jaehyung tagging Hyerin along.

“Where are we going?” she shouted, trying her best to keep up with him.

“The park!” he called back. “You know, the one a little down the road.”

He dragged her to the park and to the swings, gently pushing her towards them so she could sit down. He ran behind her and pulled back before pushing forward. Hyerin held the chains tightly. For a short while, Jaehyung pushed the younger child on the swing, both laughing as she swung higher.

“Park Jaehyung!” came a shout. Hyerin looked over and spotted a group of boys, all looked like Jaehyung’s age.

The boy that shouted spoke again. “What are you doing with a girl? Come play ball with us.”

Jaehyung shook his head, though his pushing on the swing got slower and weaker. “I don’t want to! I’m playing with Hyerin.”

All the boys laughed, making Hyerin blush and look away from them. She was the reason why he wouldn’t play with his friends, wasn’t she? He didn’t really want to play with her; he was just being nice.

“Shut up!” Jaehyung shouted as he started to go pink with anger. “She’s my best friend!”