For some people it was an occasion to celebrate love and spend time between couples, while for others it was the time of the year to celebrate a more precious occasion.

It was the 4^th birthday of dear Seonyul.

On this winter day, family and friends were gathered to celebrate the little girl's birthday.

But before the party was able to start, the bell of the Kim's residence rang, revealing the Jung family, their closest friends, on the other side. Parents to parents, they greeted each other, along with their seven years old son, Jung Byunghee, who was standing, in silence, next to his father looking at the little girl that was hiding behind her mother's legs, holding onto the woman's dress. While the parents were still talking, he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

She did look intriguing.

With the cold weather outside, they were all headed to the living room, sitting by the fireplace enjoying the warmth of the room. The fathers were talking about what men usually talk about while the mothers were in the kitchen enjoying a lively conversation.

Seonyul was sitting on her mother's lap, enjoying some chocolate cookies while Byunghee just came running through the kitchen door looking for his mother. Mrs. Kim smiled at the boy who was shyly walking towards the table when he noticed the girl eating her food.

He noticed some tiny crumbs next to her small lips and smiled at his view. His mother turned around and picked him up so he could sit on her lap. “What’s up with you dear?”

“Nothing, I got bored with Daddy.”

“That's something you don't hear everyday~”

“Is it okay if I stay?”

“Of course!”

Seonyul kept eating her cookies as she looked to the boy and his mother keeping up the conversation with her mother. She hasn't said a word since they got here and was dying to know who those people were, especially that little boy who kept staring at her while she was eating, making her a little bit uncomfortable.

Feeling like she was being judged, she started to slowly chew her last bit of cookie and stopped eating as she hesitantly pushed the plate away, quickly finishing her last bite and swallowing it, deflating her puffed cheeks.

Her mother saw what she did and was surprised. Usually she would always finish her plate, not leaving one single crumb on it. She looked at her daughter who was looking down playing with her fingers.

“What's wrong sweetie?”

“Nothing… I'm just not hungry anymore…”

“Not hungry? Are you sure?”

“Mhmm.”

“Why don't you go to your room and play with Byunghee?” Mrs. Jung turned to look at her son who still wasn’t looking away from the little girl until he heard her question. “Do you want to dear?”

“Sure.”

Seonyul looks up and sees the boy smiling at her, making her blush at his sweet facial expression.

They both get down from their mothers laps and leave them in the kitchen as they continued on their earlier conversation. Barely ten seconds later, Seonyul came running back to her mother, pulling on her sleeve and making her bend as her daughter whispered something in her ear, earning a laugh from the lady.

As she finished with what she wanted to say, Mrs. Kim got up from her chair and went to one of the kitchen cabinets, taking the box of cookies and giving it to her little daughter. She smiled, thanked her mother and ran as fast as she could to join Byunghee who was waiting for her by the stairs.

She walked to her room, holding onto the box with Byunghee following closely behind her, without saying a word.

As she was about to open the door, she turned around examining the boy from head to toe, wondering if she should let a simple him inside her room; her special fortress, because once you step inside, she becomes the princess of her kingdom and every princess needs a prince.

She takes a step towards him and looks up to him, puffing her cheeks as she lets her bottom lip out questioning whether or not the boy is a worthy prince.

As for little Byunghee, he is just standing there looking back at her and wonders what is taking so long for her to opened the door to her own room. Seeing her turn around with her little pink cheeks puffed up like balloons, he chuckles at her cuteness and decides to break the ice.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm? No, not really…”

“What is it?”

“This is a special place and I just wanted to know if you could enter.”

“What kind of special place?”

“Well, my room of course, silly!” She starts giggling at his cluelessness and once she calms down, she lightly twirls her body as she looked down, shyly speaking out. “It's just I never had a prince come inside before…”

“A prince? So you’re a princess?”

“Yes.”

He smiles at her response as an idea pops in his head.

He kneels down on one knee and takes her hand in his and kisses the top of hers. She looks at him with eyes wide open, shocked at what he just did.

She takes her hand away and goes to open the door, letting him in with a smile.

Seonyul opened her eyes to a dark room.

From what she could see through the windows it was still night.

With her back on the mattress, she was looking up, thinking about the dream she just had, or more of a past memory from once upon a time.

It was the first time she officially met her dear prince charming. She remembered spending the whole day with him, despite having her friends her own age coming to celebrate her birthday.

They would have games and in the times something went wrong, he would be acting like a true prince, to the point of even taking out his own scarf and hat to place them on her so she wouldn't get sick; she was his princess after all.

Her dried cheeks were getting stained again as she let a few drops of tears falling thinking about her past and how simple her life was.

She closes her eyes, letting the sleep take over her once again.

01.01.03 - New Year's Eve

The Jung family was enjoying the private party at the Kim's residence along with some close friends. While the adults were spread downstairs, Seonyul and Byunghee were upstairs, in the attic, and watching from the big windows the stars in the night sky staying away from the cold winter and embraced in some thick blankets.

They were away from all the noise going on downstairs and only sat in silence, enjoying each other's company without really doing something productive.

They've been here for almost an hour and they haven't even had a proper conversation yet, which was to say a bit weird. To Byunghee, tonight wasn't only to celebrate the start of a new year; he wanted to celebrate something else, something more meaningful.

For about nine years, the teenager fell in love with his princess.

He's been holding it in for so long, he felt as if tonight was the perfect night to confess his love, hoping that she would accept it.

What he didn't know is that she was feeling the same.

Ever since she first met him at her birthday party nine years ago, she always had a special place for him in her heart and it grew to the point of falling in love with him. There was so many times were she wanted to confess but didn't have the courage to do so, afraid of being rejected and screwing up their friendship.

After all, he was older than her and was popular amongst the girls at their school.

There was only ten minutes left before midnight and they both decided to go downstairs and join the party. They arrived at the living room where the adults were talking and keeping up conversations with drinks in their hands. Byunghee's uncle, Ji-Hoon, was hanging out with his older brother and Seonyul's father as well as other men until he noticed his nephew and friend coming downstairs.

He looked at Byunghee, and winked at him knowing about the feelings he had towards the girl.

Embarrassed, Byunghee looked away and walked towards the kitchen to get a drink, bringing Seonyul with him. “Are you okay?”

“Yea, why?”

“Nothing, it's just that… you kind of looked like you have something on your mind.”

“Don't worry about it. It's nothing.”

“You're sure?”

“I promise.”

She nods and goes towards the fridge and picks up something to drink for both of them and later rejoined the party.

The TV was on and everybody was ready for the countdown.

The two kids were standing next to each other, like they did every year, Seonyul ready to receive a quick kiss on her cheek from Byunghee as he would wish her a Happy New Year and she would respond back with a kiss on his cheek and a hug.

Everybody was so preoccupied towards the ball falling, that nobody noticed Byunghee discreetly taking Seonyul hand in his, intertwining their fingers and squeezed it.

She looked down on her feet and smiled as she felt warmth running through her body from his touch.

 She didn't notice that the countdown was coming to an end and that's when she turned her heads towards him only to feel a pair of lips gently pressed against hers. A wave of electricity ran through her body, feeling his soft lips kissing hers, making her cheeks turn red from the moment. Her eyes were wide open and looking straight through Byunghee's dark eyes who was as surprised as her from the turns of event but was also glad as he was finally able to have the kiss he longed for.

For both of them, it was their first kiss and it didn't disappoint.

Byunghee pulled back from the kiss with a small smile on his face.

Fortunately enough, they were in the back of the crowd, so there was a chance that nobody had witnessed the scene, but he was wrong. With a quick turn to the back, Ji-Hoon saw everything that happened: from the moment his nephew held her hand to the moment they kissed, to the moment they pulled away. He lightly nudged his brother with his elbow telling him to turn around and looking at the two lovebirds in the back.

In a matter of seconds, the parents of both kids watched Byunghee and Seonyul, still holding hands and shyly looking at each other. They were happy of the outcome, hoping that their relationship will last, since they wished for something like this to happen. Hoping to reunite their families by marrying their kids and it looks like there wasn't any problem so far, since the chemistry happening between them was undeniable, even though they were young.

As for the kids, Byunghee leaned against Seonyul and whispered something in her ear making her smile and nod to whatever he was saying. As he finished, he left the room and went back upstairs. When he was finally out of sight, she turned around only to see ten pair of eyes watching her with a big smile on each of their faces with a smirk form the last one: obviously, from Byunghee's uncle.

She blushed, turning her already red cheeks to a darker shade and quickly left the room.

She climbed up the stairs, joining Byunghee back in the attic. She was standing at the entrance, with Byunghee facing her with his hands in his pocket and a sweet smile on his face. She slowly walked closer to him, hesitating on what to say.

“So…”

“So…”

“Happy New Year~”

“Happy New Year to you too…”

They were now standing in front of each other.

Taking his hands out of his pockets, Byunghee took Seonyul's hands in each of his and looked down, trying to find a way to tell her what he wanted from the very beginning. He looks back up and straight into his eyes, gathering all the courage he had and went straightforward with his feelings

“Seonyul-ah…”

“Yes?”

“I… I…”

“What's up?”

He lets go of her hands as he cups her cheeks and gives her another sweet innocent kiss.

To shocked to react, she finally gave in as she placed her hands on his and kissed him back.

Even though they were only at the beginning of their teenage years, Byunghee knew, from this kiss, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. A foolish and childish thought for a fifteen years old boy, but he didn't care.

She was the only one for him and that's all he wanted.

He pulls back and looked at her dark eyes, ready to finally say those three words she was hoping to hear.

“Seonyul-ah, I… I love you.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. For a long time now… I don't know how many times I tried to tell you -”

“Me too.”

“Huh?”

“I… love you too, Oppa”

Seonyul suddenly woke up when a bucket full of water suddenly fell on her, making her gasp as she tried to breathe.

She looks up only to see four men standing in front of her; all of them ready for what was coming next.

Something she hoped would never happen.