When I first saw a glimpse of Jung Yong Hwa, two things crossed my mind: first, his Busan accent sounded weird. Second, he had a mischievous smile—the kind of smile I always loved.

It was a balmy July when I decided to visit the river near our house to gather some smooth pebbles. I loved collecting them, I never really knew why. I guess I took a liking to their varying texture and colors. My room was filled with pebbles and I would cry if my mother threw some away by accident. The red pail I carried gleamed beneath the summer sun and my white dress fluttered with the rhythms of the warm wind. I could hear the chirping of the cicadas and the sky was so clear, infinite and cloudless. My feet were already dusty since I only wore a pair of rubber slippers but I never really cared; I washed in the river, anyway.

Beads of sweat were already sliding down my forehead when I arrived. I looked around, and stopped short upon seeing a boy in a blue shirt and white board shorts, sitting by the river with several paper boats next to him. He took one paper boat and floated it on the river. He had the blackest hair I have ever seen, and his sun-kissed skin glowed like bronze. He looked back all of a sudden, causing me to jump up. I was expecting him to drive me away, like the other neighborhood kids would, but to my surprise, he flashed me that warm and mischievous smile of his. He patted his hands against his shorts as he stood up, and we stared at each other.

There was a long pause, and he asked, “What’re you doing here?”

I noticed that the way he said things was different. His face was unfamiliar, so I figured that he was someone new.

“I…” I held up my red pail. “I want to collect pebbles.”

“I'm floating paper boats,” he returned.

Eyeing at the spare boats lying on the ground, I grinned a little. “Why?”

“I was wondering if it could survive until it reaches a river in London.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “London?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Someday, I’ll go there.”

“Where is London?”

He smiled at me, and nodded at my pail. “Want me to help you out collecting pebbles? Do you like the smooth ones or the rough ones?”

“The smooth ones,” was my prompt reply.

“All right then,” he said, as he approached me with an outstretched hand. “I’m Jung Yonghwa, by the way. I’m from Busan and we just moved here.”

I stared at his waiting hand, and took it with caution. After reconsidering something, I decided to shake it. “I’m Park Shin Hye and I’ve been living here in Seoul all my life.”

Yonghwa smirked at me, and signaled me to follow him. “I’m nine years old. How old are you?”

“Eight…”

“Then we’re same-age buddies.”

I nodded in sheer helplessness and before I knew it, I ended up spending the rest of my summer with him. At the age of eight, I learned how to stargaze and how to climb trees. Spending my days with Yonghwa promised an adventure or two and I guess that was what made him shine. We became so close at that time that our parents became the best of friends, too. I would spend a night in their house and he would spend a night in ours. At some point, I questioned myself how I functioned without Yonghwa by my side.

<:>

“Why do you love collecting pebbles, anyway?” he asked one night, when we were hanging out in our porch. We were looking up at the stars, then, and my Mom gave us some hot cocoa and a bowlful of cookies. “I mean, look at your room.”

I smiled a little. “Pebbles are interesting things. They are all different,” I turned to look at him. “Why do you do that with your paper boats? Do you really think it'll reach Wonton?”

“Wonton?” Yonghwa scoffed. “That’s Chinese food. Don’t you mean London?”

“That, too,” I added.

He smirked, and he began to drum his fingers against his lap. “To be honest, floating a paper boat without anything to protect it from the water is pretty hopeless.”

“Then why do you still do that?”

“Because I want the paper to prove me wrong,” he answered in a nonchalant tone. “It’s as simple as that.”

I cocked my head to a side, not really getting his way of thinking. Yonghwa, on the other hand, did nothing but laugh at my expression. “I like unexpected things,” he said. “And a paper boat from Korea reaching London is pretty unexpected.”

I nodded at that one.

“Shin Hye-yah,” he began, after a long, comfortable silence.

“What?” I asked.

“Before I came here, were you always alone?”

I hesitated, but nodded anyway.

“Why?” he followed up.

“They don’t like me,” I murmured. “The neighborhood boys always make me cry and the girls don’t play with me that much.”

“But you’re kind and nice,” he pointed out. “Weird, but kind and nice.”

I shrugged, and Yonghwa sighed. “They don’t know what they’re missing, those kids.”

To be honest, when I heard that from Yonghwa, I felt that I didn’t need the neighborhood kids. Just being his friend was more than enough.

<:>

When the new term arrived that year, Yonghwa and I ended up in the same class, much to my relief. I kept my favorite pebble in my skirt’s pocket and I reached out for it from time to time, rubbing it against my thumb and index finger whenever I felt anxious.

“Shin Hye-yah, Yonghwa’s here to pick you up!” my Mom shouted from downstairs.

I gasped, and rushed out of my room, with my knapsack bouncing behind me. “I’m coming!”

As expected, Yonghwa was there, looking decent in his school uniform. He stood by the sofa with his bag slung behind him. His crooked grin was there, and his smiling eyes made me smile back at him.

“You look like a girl,” he teased.

I scoffed. “Let’s just go. Mom, we’re going!”

“Okay!” she cried back from the kitchen. “Grab your lunch before you do!”

I rushed into the kitchen and gave my Mom a kiss. Yonghwa, on the other hand, bowed politely. We headed for the front door afterwards and with the same pace, walked together.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” I answered.

“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m with you.”

I looked at him. “Are you nervous?” I returned.

“No,” he said.

“They might make fun of your accent.”

“It’s okay. I bet I’m better looking than them,” he replied, making me wonder where he got his confidence from. “My Mother said so.”

“All mothers think like that,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “But still, I’m not nervous because you’re with me.”

The moment we entered the main gate, many heads turned to look at us. It was their first time seeing Yonghwa, after all, considering that we spent our summer days together with Kim Sunggyu, a good friend Yonghwa earned. The girls ogled him while the guys  kept quiet. That was Yonghwa’s charm, you see. No matter what, he held this charisma that could silence a whole auditorium. Despite that, he was warm and nice.

“They’re looking at you,” I whispered.

“I know,” he whispered back, as he took me by the hand. “It’s getting uncomfortable, so we should hurry up.”

At that time, many people tried to befriend him. But then, he would give them nothing but a smile and when the guys invited him over for lunch, he would turn them down in the gentlest way possible and eat with me, instead. In the great divide of boys and girls, Yonghwa and I stood at the middle.

<:>

Yonghwa was ten years old when he held his first musical instrument. We were in a local festival with our parents when we managed to win the second prize in an arcade game—and that was the guitar.

“I will use this to go to London,” he said, grinning.

“The guitar?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I will go around the world through playing the guitar.”

“Do you want to travel that much?”

He smiled, and nodded.

“Then that means you’ll have to leave, right?” I asked again with a quiver in my voice.

“Not now, Shin Hye, but a few good years from now,” he said, as he patted my head. A natural fondness played in his eyes. He turned to my Mom, and after a moment of reconsidering something, he tugged at her sleeve. “Auntie, if I ever travel, I can take Shin Hye with me, can’t I?”

My Mom looked at us, with a warm smile on her lips. I heard Yonghwa’s parents laugh, too. “Yes, you can take her. But you have to promise me that you will protect her no matter what.”

“I will!” Yonghwa cried, with a huge grin plastered on his face. He then turned to me. “See, Shin Hye? We won’t get separated.”

He held out his hand, and I took it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. We saw a stall selling boats in a bottle, and as if sharing the same thoughts, Yonghwa and I looked at each other with a knowing stare.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.

I smiled, and nodded. Just like that, we spent our last money on a boat in a bottle.

The very next day, we headed for the river. Yonghwa was carrying the bottle and his guitar was strapped on his back while I carried a pencil case and several blank sheets of paper.

“We’ll write our promises here,” I said, as I held out the papers. “So that we won’t forget.”

“And we’ll stuff it in the bottle?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “The boat’s in the bottle now, so it won’t sink, will it?”

“Most probably,” he replied, as he sat on the grassy ground. I did the same. He looked at me. “So, Shin Hye-yah, should we start?”

“Yeah,” I answered, while giving him a blue pen and a piece of paper. “Let’s start now.”

We wrote for a while, and we exchanged papers to read what our promises were for each other. After signing it, we rolled the papers and stuffed it inside the bottle through its mouth. Yonghwa sealed it shut and proceeded to throw it into the river. We watched the waves draw the gleaming bottle away from us.

When it was finally out of sight, Yonghwa turned to me, and grinned. “I know how to play a simple song. You want to listen to it?”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling. I pointed at the cherry tree nearby which had green and healthy leaves at that time. “We can go there.”

“Let’s go, then,” he replied, as he led the way.

As I watched him strum, I had the feeling that his dream of going around the world with his guitar was more than possible—it was reality.

<:>

Shin Hye’s promises to Yonghwa:

♥      I will learn how to cook

♥       I will not make fun of your accent anymore

♥       I will learn how to knock before coming in

♥       I will not copy your English homework anymore (but seriously, Yonghwa?)

♥       I will wake up early for school and you won’t have to wake me up

♥       I will trust in you always

♥       We will be best friends forever

♥       I will never leave you

If these promises are broken, I, Park Shin Hye, swear to wear nothing but dresses for a whole month.

Park Shin Hye | Jung Yonghwa (Witness)

Yonghwa’s promises to Shin Hye

★  I won’t nag at you anymore (but seriously you have to stop sleeping in)

★  I will stop teasing you for being so boyish

★  I will compose a song for you

★  I will still eat the things you cook even if they are burnt and smellier than the sewers here in Seoul

★  I will let you cry on my shoulder when we get a little older

★  I will protect your smile

★  I will trust in you always

★  I will never leave you

★  We will be best friends forever

★  I will protect YOU

If these promises are broken, I, Jung Yonghwa, swear to eat the vegetables I detest for a whole month.

Jung Yonghwa   |   Park Shin Hye (Witness)

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
- Proverbs 17:17

I never expected to have subbers all of a sudden ^^ Thanks! And here's the first chapter, you guys~ God bless you ♥