“Five, four, three, two, one…here I come!” The eight-year-old prince screamed as he opened his eyes and looked at his empty garden. He squint his eyes as he walked around the garden to find where his two friends are hiding. He quietly crept to the flamingo shaped bush and squat down to hide himself from his friends. Two minutes passed and there was still no movement in the garden. Another two minutes passed and he heard a young girl’s voice.

    “Did he went in the castle already?” He peaked from his flamingo bush and saw a rustle in the heart bush. The prince laid flat on the ground and slowly rolled to the heart-shaped bush.

    “But I didn’t hear Uncle Lee calling for him,” Another voice, a boy, replied to the young girl’s question.

    “I’m going to check real quick,” The girl whispered and stepped outside of the bush.

    “Got you!” The prince grasped the girl’s ankle and surprised her from the ground.

    “Jungkook! You cheater!” The eight-year-old servant’s child squealed as she stepped away from Jungkook’s grasp. “It’s a game of hide-and-seek. You’re not supposed to hide from us! I don’t like playing with you.” 

    Jungkook stayed still for a few seconds before the waterworks started. “Eomma!” Jungkook cried as he pulled the grass and shook his legs. 

    “Jaera! What did you do? Uncle Lee’s going to kill us!” 

    “Jimin hyung! Jaera was being mean to me. She said she hated playing with me.” Jungkook wailed as his tears kept streaming down. Jimin, Jaera’s older brother, glared at Jaera. 

    “He’s lying! I said I didn’t like playing with him. I never said hate, I promise. He’s a liar.” 

    “Eomma!” Jungkook cried even louder as he heard Jaera calling him a liar.

    “Shut up you crybaby! You’re overreacting!” 

    “Jaera!” Jimin scolded her younger sister as Jungkook cried even harder and eventually alarming the guards. The guards ran over to the scene as one of them held Jimin and Jaera’s hand while the other try to console Jungkook. 

    “What have you done this time?” The older guard yelled at Jimin and Jaera. 

    “We were just playing hide-and-seek and he overreacted. It wasn’t our fault.” Jaera pleaded with scared eyes as she imagined the horrible things the guards will do to them after making the prince cry. 

    “The Queen is on her way here,” the younger guard informed the older one. “The prince refuse to go anywhere and the Queen is willing to come down.” 

    “Shoot,” the older guard turned to the two kids with their heads down and smack both their heads. The kids flinched but they didn’t dare to fight the guards. “You stupid kids. Do you know what you’ve done? The Queen had to stop her tea time with the Queen of Vous just to get her son to stop crying. And why do you think he’s crying? Because of you stupid child!” He smacked Jaera once more. Jimin quickly grabbed Jaera’s hand and pulled her behind him to avoid any more harm. 

    Jungkook stopped crying as he watched the scene with anger. How dare the guards hurt his friends? How dare the guard hurt a little girl?

    “Hey! What are you doing to my friends?” Jungkook suddenly stood up and went in front of Jaera. 

    “Nothing, my Prince. I’m just teaching them a lesson so that they won’t harm you anymore.” The guard who hit Jaera suddenly stepped back as the Prince glared at him.

    “Well, I have lessons everyday but they never taught me a lesson that way. You’re hurting my friends.” Jungkook bravely said as he held Jaera’s hand. The guard glared at Jaera and she immediately flinched, causing her hand to slip away from Jungkook’s grasp. Jaera looked at the guards eyes and understood his message. 

    You better make this kid stop talking or else I will be punished and I will punish you for that.

    “Jungkook just stop talking. We’re okay.” Jaera said with a hint of fear in her voice. 

    “What is the problem here?” A new voice appeared. An elegant, soothing, mature and feminine voice.  The Queen has arrived.

    “Your Majesty, we apologize for the disturbance.” The guards both bow. The Queen slowly waved her hand up to signal the guards to stand up. 

    “It’s okay, it’s my son anyway. So, what is the problem here Jungkook?”

    “Jaera and Jimin was hit by the gua—”

    “I was calling him names, Mrs. Queen.” Jaera spoke quietly. The Queen smiled at the name little Jaera gave her and the way she cutely fiddled with her fingers because of guilt.

    “And why did you call him names?”

    “Because Jungkook isn’t fun. He cheated in the game.” The Queen laughed as she realised it was just a childish quarrel. 

    “Why don’t you guys say sorry to each other and forgive each other? That way you will have more time playing than quarrelling.” The Queen spoke with a gentle and warm smile on her face. 

    “I’m sorry,” Jungkook spoke first while offering a hand to Jaera. 

    “I’m sorry too.” Jaera replied and she shook his hand. 

    The Queen chuckled and hug the two kids. “I’m proud of you guys. You know it’s really hard to forgive each other once you grow up. I hope you keep this forgiving attitude of yours until the future.”

    “Yes, Mrs. Queen.”

    “Yes, mom.” 

    The Queen hugged Jimin briefly too and went back inside the castle. The guard sigh in relief and one of them thank Jaera for keeping their secret. Jaera faked a smile and the guards went back to their position. 

    “So, what game should we play now?” Jungkook excitedly asks the two kids as he smiled with his teeth showing.

    “Sorry, Jungkook. I think Jaera and I should head back first. We need to help our mom clean the ballroom.”

    “Why? Cleaning is what servants do.”

    “We are servants Jungkook.” Jimin replied as he softly rubbed Jaera’s side of the head where it was smacked twice. Jaera sighed as she felt the pain starting to fade away and leaned her head on her brother’s shoulder. 

    “No you’re not. Your parents are but you’re not. You guys are my friends.”

    Jimin scoffed and whispered bitterly, “What kind of friends put each other in danger?”

    “What?” The prince asked, unsure of what the older boy was muttering. 

    “Well, we will be when we grow up anyway, so why not start now?” Jimin replied with annoyance in his voice as he pulled Jaera to leave.

    Jungkook was about to open his mouth to cry until Jaera quickly interrupted him.

    “Don’t cry Jungkook. We’ll play again next time.” Jaera answer tiredly. Jungkook flinched at the tone she used but kept his tears in. He was just a lonely prince after all. 

    “Bye, friends.”

    3 YEARS LATER

    It was a hot afternoon and the Park siblings were folding clothes in their small living room. They were done with a hundred guard uniforms, which means they have another hundred to finish. Jaera sighed as she saw how there were so many uniforms still left. Jimin watched his little sister frown and his heart ached. He really hated seeing his sister sad because it makes him sad too. If they’re both sad, they will never finish folding the uniforms.

    “Jaera,” Jimin called as he saw his sister stop folding and direct her attention to him. “Let’s make a deal. If you can fold more uniforms than me, you get to pick what we play next. If I win, I’ll call Jungkook and you can spend the rest of the day with him.” 

    “No! I must win then!” Little Jaera panicked and quickly started speeding up. Jimin smiled seeing her competitive sister and purposely fold one uniform behind her so that she will win. 

    Jaera wiped her sweat several times but never stopped folding. In less than half an hour she was done and just as Jimin expected, he was only two uniforms less. 

    “I win! Yes!” Jaera squealed happily with her high pitched voice and prance around the room with a joyous mood. She ran back and forth and even jumped on Jimin’s back to show her happiness. “Let’s play archery!”

    “Whatever you wish, princess.” Jimin teased as Jaera curtsied as a response. “Off we go.” Jimin grabbed their bows and arrows and opened the door. 

    “Hey, guys.” 

    Jimin and Jaera both froze as they saw the young prince standing outside their door with his hand in the air, as if he was about to knock. 

    “Jungkook!” Mrs. Park exclaimed from inside the house. “What brought you here?” The lady questioned as she held her daughter’s shoulder as if she was telling her not to show her disappointment. 

    “I finished my class early and I was wondering if Jaera and Jimin hyung would like to play with me.” 

    “Sure, you can join us.” Jimin answered as he realized rejecting the prince might cost his parents job.

    “Oppa!” Jaera complained but Jimin covered and led her outside with Jungkook following behind.

    “Goodbye Mrs. Park.” 

    “Goodbye Jungkook. Stay safe.” Mrs. Park said as she closed her door. Jungkook turned around and ran to catch up with the siblings. 

    “So what are we playing.” 

    “Archery.” Jaera answered coldly.

    “But I don’t know how to play archery.”
    “Then just watch.” Jaera walked away from Jungkook and started pulling out her arrows to shoot to the target. 

    “Would you like me to teach you, Jungkook?” Jimin asked.

    Before Jungkook could even reply, Uncle Lee, Jimin and Jaera’s uncle, called for Jimin to help the gardeners. 

    “I’m sorry, Jungkook. Do you mind keeping Jaera company?” Jim asked politely, no matter how much he hated the fact that he couldn’t join his sister.

    “Sure.” Jungkook beamed as he walked closer to Jaera.

    “Can you teach me how to use this bow and arrow?” The prince asked with his round eyes sparkling with hope.

    “No. I’m busy.” Jaera shot her arrow and it hits the bullseye. 

    “How are you so good at this? You’re still a child, like me.” 

    “Because I’m talented. You’re not.”

    “Well, mom said some people will discover the talent later than others.” 

    Jaera continued shooting arrows as she ignore Jungkook. She kept quiet every time Jungkook speak or asks her a question. She was beyond annoyed as she realized she folded 101 uniforms for nothing. 

    “Hey! I’m talking to you.”

    “And I’m not! So be quiet! I’m trying to concentrate.” Jaera yelled at Jungkook as he finally reached her limit. 

    Jungkook was quiet for a few seconds, but then his lips started trembling. Before he could even cry he sprint across the field, hoping to get into the castle before Jaera calls him a crybaby once again, which was a bad decision as Jaera was about to let go of her arrow at the same time.

    “Ah!” Jungkook fell as the arrow went past him. 

    “Jungkook!” Jaera screamed and ran to where he was. She kneeled down and turned his body over to find the where the arrow hit him. Her breathing was uneven as she hoped she didn’t kill him or injure him badly. Jungkook moaned in pain as the younger girl flipped him over. Her eyes scanned his leg and saw a small rip on his pants. She opened the ripped part and looked at what the arrow did to him. She sighed in relief as she saw the arrow only grazing his skin. 

    “You drama prince. The arrow only grazed your skin. Don’t cry, I’m going to get you a band-aid.” The girl sprint to her house and came back in less than a minute with water and band-aid.

    “I honestly don’t know how this works so let’s just wash the blood away, put this magic cream and put a band-aid on it.”

    The girl washed the blood away with water and wiped it with cotton. She then apply the antiseptic cream she calls magic cream on the wound and blew softly at the injury. 

    “How do you know how to do this?” Jungkook asked with genuine curiosity.

    “This happens a lot to me whenever I play in the fields and mom would do this to me.” She finished sticking the band aid on him and sat next to him. “I’m sorry.”

    The prince turned to look at her and smiled at her. “Thank you,”

    “Huh?” The servants daughter looked at him with round eyes filled with confusion.

    “Because of you, I didn’t cry.”

    “Oh,” The girl smiled and laughed at him. “You’re welcome then.” 

    It was quiet for a few seconds until the prince suddenly apologize.

    “What is this for this time?”Jaera asked as she sat in front of him to look at his face better.    “I heard you before, earlier in the house. I was there since hyung and you made a deal about not playing with me if you win. I didn’t know you guys hated playing with me that much.” Jungkook looked down as he played with the hem of his shirt. His lips trembled and Jaera began to panic.

    “Hey, don’t start crying now. You were on a role before.” Jaera joked as she softly punched his shoulder. “Listen, we don’t hate you. We’re just scared of you. We’re scared that as we play, you will suddenly cry or you complain to your mom about something we did. Did you know that every complain you tell your mom and every time you cry because of playing with us, we get hit for that?” Jungkook’s ears perked up and he looked at his friend with shock. 

    “They’ve been hurting you?” 

    “Because we’ve been hurting you, mentally and physically. Every time we play tag and you fall, you cry. You cry, we get punished.”

    Jungkook’s eyes were getting watery and it was harder for him to stop himself from crying, but hearing that every tear that left his eye results a punch to his friend, he refuse to cry again. “I’m sorry.”

    “It’s not your fault.” 

    “Yes, it is.” 

    “Well then I’m sorry too.” Jaera said. “For always being mean to you. I’ve always been a team with oppa and you were on the other team alone or when we purposely ignore you when you thought we didn’t hear you.”

    Jungkook smiled as he hear his friend being honest. He felt closer to her already. He felt like they were beginning to become real friends. 

    “Why do you still want to play with us? Now that I think I about it, I wouldn’t have played with someone like me. I was rude.” 

    Jungkook merely smiled and leaned on his hands as he stretched out his legs. 

    “You guys are the only friends I have. I don’t have a brother or a sister. Nobody else lives in this castle. Nobody else are as old as us. I don’t care if you guys are ignoring me, as long as you stay with me and I still see you, I’m fine.” 

    Jaera’s eyes turned sorrow as she realised her friend’s misery. She quickly crawled to his side and hug him. “I promise I won’t leave you.”

    Jungkook hug her back and smiled. 

    “Now, let’s teach you how to shoot an arrow.” 

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