"Don't make me leave!" Grace screamed at her father, sobbing hard into her father's embrace. 

"Darling, calm down." 

"Rin.. I promised her I will wait for her. I can't let them take her away! She is innocent." She told her father, clutching onto her father's shirt, soaking it with her fresh tears as her father brushed her hair, whispering soothing words into her ears. 

"They aren't going to take her away." 

"H-How would you know that?" She accused, choking with every word and her father sighed. Mr. Alan Fang, a man in his early 30s kissed the top of her head and looked into his daughter's eyes. Her eyes were puffy, tears still streaming down from the corner of her eyes. A wave of guilt hit the young man when he recalled the conversation he had with said teacher a week ago. 

"I can't just let her do this!" Jessica yelled, exasperatedly. Her back facing Alan who was sitting in his chair, watching his friend walk up and down in a tense manner. She looked out of the window, overlooking the Seoul skyline from his office. She gnawed at her bottom lip, something she did when she was trying to control her lips from trembling. 

"I know that, Jess but hear me out. Child abuse is more than just broken bones and bruises you see on the surface. It runs deeper: emotional, mental even. They will be extremely compliant or extremely withdrawn. They aren't like normal children." 

"I know that." The young woman snapped at her old friend. She turned around and glared at him, her tone icy. "Don't ever think for a second I don't know that but what choice do I have? I see her everyday for the past 2 months and she isn't getting better. There are times that she looked so malnourished and there are times that she will just snap and seclude herself in the corner, afraid of anyone would touch her. There are days where her mother forgets about her. I... I can't stand here and watch this." 

"What do you want to do then? If you report to the police, social services will get involved and she will be bounced around from foster family to foster family. It will be-"

"I will take care of her." Jessica announced. 

Alan his daughter's cheek and she sniffed. How was he going to explain to his little girl, a girl of only 5 years old that her friend is being subjected to abuse? No child will ever understand that. 

"She will be okay baby girl. I promise you." As soon as he said it, the door of the principal's office opened and Haerin ran out of the office. Grace immediately let go of her father and went after her, screaming her name as she did so. Haerin ran towards the playground, tears streaming down her cheeks as the police told her what happened to her mother. 

'Your mummy has disappeared, Haerin.' The woman who looked like Santa Claus' wife told her in a soft and kind tone but Haerin felt as if it was her fault.

Was it because she was a bad girl? 

Was it because she didn't give her mother the green bottle when she asked her to? 

Or, did she eat two biscuits instead of one by mistake? 

Haerin screamed when Grace grabbed hold of her waist, pulling her tight. Haerin started fighting her off but Grace, being bigger than her held onto her. "Let me go, let me go!" She screamed, trying to wiggle away from Grace's grip. 

"No, Rin. No. Stop." Grace told her and slowly, the both of them sank down to leaf covered ground. Haerin wailed and sobbed into Grace's chest while Grace cradled her small frame while slowly patting her back to ease her crying. She wanted to push Grace away but she couldn't bring herself too. She was tired, angry and so very confused. 

Why would her mother leave her? 

For a while, neither of them spoke and Haerin's sobs became quieter and the only thing that could be heard was the rustling of the leaves when the cool autumn breeze blew. They knew they should go back but neither one of them wanted to leave the other: both of them contented at the silence as the day came to an end. 

"Gwacie, am I a bad person?" Haerin asked her voice small, her whole body still rigid even though Grace was the closest friend she has ever had in the past couple of months.  

"No, you're not." Grace answered immediately but her voice was soft, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Haerin pulled away slightly, her palms touching the orange coloured leaves, the crunching of the leaves distracted her a little as she watched how her hands able to crack some of them almost easily with the lightest of touches. 

If a heart was like a piece of leaf, she thought, it would sound like this if it breaks. 

"You're a good person, Haerinnie." Grace told her, bringing her back to the present. 

"Then, why did everyone I know leave?" She asked, looking at the other girl. 

"I am still here." Grace said feeling slightly offended that Haerin forgot about her. Haerin's eyes turned away from the leaf to Grace who gave a smile, fresh tears in her eyes. "I am not going anywhere. Friends... Friends do not leave each other." 

"Friends." She repeated, savouring the word and Grace nodded. "Uh-huh. You're my best friend, Rin. I like you... No, I love you as much as I love building castles with my Lego blocks!" She said making Haerin stare at her in disbelief. Her lips trembled and Grace panicked. 

"Rinnie... Don't cry." She said and Haerin covered . 

Her whole body shook as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, her breath caught in . Haerin's whole body was trembling and nothing was making sense. 

I love you. 

It was a simple sentence: three words but so much meaning behind them. 

She never heard anyone told her that she loved her. Her mother simply cussed at her, threw things at her and when she was done lashing out her anger at her, her mother will come crying, her hair and spilling apologies. "I am sorry, Haerin-ah. Please forgive mummy." She will be crying and holding onto her daughter for dear life, her breath reeking with alcohol and smoke. 

"I promise it won't happen again." She told her, over and over again like a mantra but she knew that the next day, when her mother takes another swig of that brown liquid, the beating and the burns will not end. 

I love you. 

This was the first time someone told her that.

"You really love me?" Haerin choked out and a wave of relief washed over Grace's face and she nodded. 

"Uh-huh, you are my best friend and you are like my sister. You stood up for me and never left my side even when you didn't know me very well and... I want do the same for you, Haerinnie." She told her and the girl nodded. 

"We are best friends." Grace told her. 

The girl looked at her with a questioning look, scared, frightened that it was a joke. 

"You will have to promise me, Gracie." She told her. 

"Anything, Haerinnie." She replied. 

"Promise me," Her voice trembling, her eyes never once blinking or leaving Grace's warm brown eyes. "Promise me that we will be best friends forever." 

Grace grinned and did an 'X' across her chest. "I promise." 

"Until... Until we are old and grey?" She hiccuped. 

The child broke into a large smile. "And beyond."

When Grace took Haerin's thin hand, Haerin didn't let go. 

---

3 year old Moon Eunhye and 28 year old Kim Myungsoo sat next to each other outside of Dongwoo's office. They sat there in silence with the occasional chat about Barney and Friends or her teddy bear she named 'Baozi'. In the last 48 hours, the young girl had gone through so much and Myungsoo admired the little girl for it. As a Child Psychologist in the kindergarden she was in, he has watched the once happy go lucky girl grow up. 

He felt sorry for the little girl, to lose a parent at such a young age as well as her grandparents not long before. He met the mother a few times and he could see the distant look in her eyes. He had an inkling feeling that her mother was not the abusive type. He knew she was a victim of abuse herself, looking at the scars that never fully healed on her arm.

Then, he watched her how she would fidgit or how she would not want to let go of Eunhye to nursery. How she would take extra steps in protecting her but at the same time there was something amiss when he met her before. She was a good mother, she never once laid a finger on her. Yet, there was no spark or joy when she was with Eunhye at all, no life in her eyes. 

It dawned on him that Haerin was suffering from depression. 

When he told her to see a psychiatrist, she got better but it was temporary. He saw her slipping away as soon as she went to see one and he knew that she was taking more than the prescribed dosage. 

It was an inkling feeling, the day of her death. Something in him, almost like a sixth sense, told him that there was something wrong. Eunhye was dressed with ribbons in her hair and wearing a nice white dress. When he asked what the occasion was, she said her mother wanted her to be happy. As soon as she said it, a switch inside him flicked, connecting the dots almost instantly. 

Immediately, he told Dongwoo, her lawyer, to check up on Haerin for him, feeling unsettled from what the little girl said. 

And, sadly, his suspicions were right. 

When he and Dongwoo had to break the news to little Eunhye, she didn't believe it at first. She stared at them, blinked a few times before she started hitting Myungsoo, screaming at them.  

His heart broke. He grew so attached to little Moon Eunhye and he didn't want to see her cry or see so broken. He pulled her into a hug, telling her it was okay, telling her that her mother's at a better place. 

He was ready to take care of Eunhye but Dongwoo told him that Haerin's last wishes was for Grace to take care of her daughter. He was furious no doubt since he never met this Grace character before. 

However, Eunhye knew about Grace. 

"Ma always talks about her. She said that they're best friends." 

"Have you met her before, Eunhye?" 

She shook her head. "No, but I could tell she is a nice woman." 

"How?" 

She played with the beads around her neck. "Well, mummy said you can look into someone's eyes and you can tell." 

"Oh? What about me?" 

The little girl narrowed her eyes, her dark brown eyes travelling up and down as she studied him with great intensity. Then, she gave him a toothy grin (minus the two missing front teeth) "Easy. You are a prince."

"A prince?" He said amused by this revelation.

"Uh-huh. All good men are princes." She said before turning around to play with Baozi the bear again.

"Uncle Soo." She tugged his shirt while her other hand was raised, pointing at the door of Dongwoo's office. The door swung open and they watched a girl walked out. Myungsoo felt Eunhye held her breath and held onto Myungsoo's shirt tighter. Myungsoo had only seen a photo of her once and that was when Haerin passed a photo of the both of them when they were in graduation gowns, grinning at the camera.

Unmistakenably, that was her, Eunhye's guardian. 

However, she looked paler and she looked as if she was swimming in the blue dress. Her whole body looked frail and her skin a sickening white Taking the toddler's hand, the both of them stood up and walked over to Grace. 

Eunhye, while she was excited and she has heard such wonderful stories about Grace, she was scared too. She had never met the woman before but her mother always told her that she was like a princess: caring, loving and trustworthy. She had no idea what trustworthy was so her mother explained to her that to tell if someone is lying is to look in one's eyes. 

"Her eyes were like hot chocolate on a cold day, Eunhye-ah. You feel safe just by looking at them. She is very honest, my baby. You can see it in her eyes that she will never lie to you." 

Those words sound so long ago and Eunhye gnawed at her lip as she thought about it.

When Grace turned around, the adult froze in her spot. Eunhye held in her breath and clutched onto her teddy bear and onto her counselor’s shirt tighter. Grace's eyes opened wide, transfixed on the young girl and Eunhye didn't tear away from her gaze. She tried reading her eyes, tried looking into those dark brown eyes that looked tired and blood shot from the sleepless nights. 

Eunhye could see the light in her eyes were gone and replaced with fresh tears and pure horror. 

She watched the woman's body shook and slowly descended to the ground. Myungsoo immediately let go of the young girl's hand and rushed towards the falling adult, calling Grace's name. 

The little girl stared in horror, clutching onto her teddy bear as she watched Myungsoo and Dongwoo rushed towards the unconscious woman. Dongwoo saw Eunhye, her chest rising and falling in a maddening rhythm. Myungsoo turned around and saw that the little girl was going through an anxiety attack. The lawyer nudged Myungsoo to go to her while he brings Grace to the hospital. Carrying Grace bridal style, Myungsoo ran towards Eunhye who looked as if she would go into shock. 

"Eunhye?" Myungsoo said, crouching down to her level but his voice sound so far away, her vision becoming blury from the tears in her eyes. 

This was all too familiar for Eunhye. 

Every second, every minute was too short for the young girl. 

She was only three and she didn't get to spend enough time with the people she loved. 

Her grandfather.

Her grandmother.

Her mother. 

And now, her guardian? 

"She isn't going to die, Eunhye." Eunhye stared at Myungsoo's eyes and he touched her face for her to calm down. His calloused hands brushed the side of her face as he repeated those words. Eunhye held onto the older man's hand, her tiny fingers wrapped around his pinky and ring finger tightly. Her breathing became slower and much more relaxed as he continued repeating those words. "She is going to be okay." 

"Count to three with me." Myungsoo told her. "Can you do that?" She swallowed the lump in and nodded. He gave a small smile and pat her head. 

She closed her eyes. 

"One."

She took in a deep breath. 

"Two."

She exhaled. 

"Three." 

She opened her eyes and met Myungsoo's onyx eyes.

"She isn't going to die." 

Eunhye stared at him. She dropped her teddy bear and raised her right hand. Her fingers were balled into a fist but her pinky stuck out. "Promise?" She asked, wiggling her tiny pinky at him. He raised his right hand and slowly wrapped his finger with hers, sealing that promise. 

"I promise." He told her. 

---

A/N: I wanted to focus on my other stories today but I had an epiphany to continue this one (and working on the next one too). so, hope you guys like this chapter! Comment, subscribe and upvote. Till then xx