On a cold rainy autumn day, a little boy with messy black locks found himself getting introduced to an entirely new world from his own. A world of extravagant castles, fancy cars, and loyal servants. A world where his mother had to work tirelessly till the wee hours of the morning to please and make other people’s wishes satisfied or else she would be severely punished. A world where he had to wait for his mother all day long only to end up falling asleep without a single glance of her tired face. A world where castles and fairytales did exist, only not for him to experience.

The little kid was told that his father was killed in a car crash when he was merely a three-year-old child, leaving his mother to deal with his and her survival in a cruel society all by herself. Being as young as he was back then, the little kid couldn’t really understand the gravity of the loss nor did he comprehend why his mother kept on weeping and praying a better life for her son when he’ll grow up. What was so wrong about their life? He often wondered. His mother loved him and he loved her, not to forget the existence of the best cartoon ever, which was called Pokémon at the time. Chanyeol loved Pokémon.

At first, when his mother used to go to work every single day from the early mornings till late evenings, the curly haired boy was always left for their trusted neighbor, a really odd and old lady, to look after him, but when his mother finally settled on a job for a family named Kim, a really well-known family with a ridiculous fortune to boast about, the little kid had to bid goodbye to the old lady and move to where that family lived. At last his mother managed to secure a stable job that allowed her to bring her son along. She was happy, and Chanyeol was happy because his mother was happy.

The little boy heard a lot about Gangnam from the old lady that used to keep an eye on him, apparently she used to work there as well. It was a place where only the elite of South Korea were allowed to live. The innocent young child had no clue whatsoever how that section of Seoul actually looked like, that’s why he was a bit taken aback by the jaw-dropping sight when he finally saw it with his own doe eyes. The beautiful gardens, and the enormous houses made the kid’s eyes widen and his heart almost run out of his throat from excitement when he first got there with his mother. She squeezed his small hand with a faint smile, and he squeezed hers back in reassurance, a wide contagious grin forming on his round face. He was finally going to live in a castles, Chanyeol was beyond ready and prepared for his fairytale.

As time passed, the curly haired boy found himself getting used to the other servants and the castle-like-house he was living in. Everyone loved and adored his presence; he was a fresh boost of energy for all the workers in that residence. Mr. and Mrs. Kim were no exception, taking into consideration that at the time they had no children of their own yet, Chanyeol soon enough became the whole household's token son. He was constantly dotted on and praised for being a source of joy and energy. Chanyeol felt at home.

♭

Later that year, after the Park family finally settled down and made themselves at home, a six-year-old kid sat down on the floor playing with his giraffe plush toy in his room as rain drops slid down from the window across from him, his mother soon enough interrupting his peace as she walked in with a wide grin on her face and a small child, shyly hiding behind her back.

“Yeollie, this is Do Kyungsoo. Mrs. Kim’s nephew.” Huge eyes blinked behind round glasses. “Kyungsoo-ah, was feeling pretty bored all by himself so I’ve decided to introduce him to you. Be nice and play with him, Yeollie-ah~” The pastel-pink apron clad woman smiled in anticipation.

“Okay mom!” Chanyeol’s mother turned towards the madly blushing kid behind her back and gave him an assuring grin before heading out and leaving the two kids alone in her son’s small room.

“Hello, my name is Park Chanyeol and I love Pokémon! Do you love Pokémon too?” Kyungsoo looked a bit taking aback by the other boy’s loud voice but quickly got over it and nodded shyly.

“I’m Do Kyungsoo…I like…Pikachu.” Said the doe eyed kid with a small voice, barely above a whisper.

“We both wear glasses. That’s why we’re going to be best friends from now on Kyungsoo-ah, okay?” It made no sense but Kyungsoo was too young to understand so he nodded anyways.

“Okay.”

“Do you like my giraffe plush toy? I named it Pokémon because Pokémon is the best!” Kyungsoo nodded again with wide impressed eyes before bringing a small cute penguin plush toy from his turtle ninja backpack out.

“I…have…penguin.”

“Whoa! It’s so cute Kyungsoo-ah! What’s its name?!” Chanyeol asked with a big creepy grin, a tooth missing from the upper row.

“Penguin.”

“Oh…It’s a penguin and you named it penguin…that’s genius!! I love it!! From now on Pokémon and penguin are going to be best buddies!” Kyungsoo smiled shyly, glasses a tad too big for his pale small face.