Every single memory has a story. They say that if you want to tell your children good stories; you should live your youth like you want it to be remembered, like you want it to be written as an exciting part of history.

 

Hayi thinks that the greatest thing that’s ever happened to her was to witness her father and uncles’ friendship. She was suddenly reminded about how her childhood was. It was the most treasured part of her life, no matter how many more memories she’s made. Nothing can ever steal her heart from it.

 

-

 

Hayi was just cleaning their house out of habit and for some reason, she has also decided to clean above the cabinets which almost brought her trouble. Luckily, her son came about right in time before a falling book hits her head, he’s got fast reflexes which thankfully made him catch it before it even hits her.

 

Raesung lets out a relieved sigh. “You should be careful, mom.” He scolds as he kisses her cheeks.

 

She smiles at him before putting the duster aside and ruffles his hair. “You’re here.” She beams at him.  

 

“How’s your day?” She says as she goes to the kitchen to make him food.

 

He hums as he puts the book in the coffee table. “It’s okay. My exams are finished today.” He just says before he went to his room to change.

 

He went to the kitchen after he changed clothes and settles himself on one of the chairs. Hayi serves him his soup and goes back to the kitchen counter to get her coffee before sitting on the chair in front of her son.

 

“How did your exams go?” She asks as she sips a bit of her coffee.

 

Raesung shrugged and slurps a spoonful of soup. “Fine, I guess. It was harder than I thought.”

 

She nods and smiles warmly at him. “I know you did your best. High grades are not important for me, you know that.”

 

He smiles at his mom. “I know, but I want to get high grades. For you, I want you to be proud of me.”

 

She chuckles and ruffles his hair. “Aww, are you really my son? You’re just 14 and you already talk like this.”

 

He whines. “Mom.”

 

She laughs and stood up from her seat. “I know, i know. I’m always proud of you, remember that.” She says as she lifts the cup of coffee and walks to the living room.

 

“I’ll just watch tv, finish your food and join me here.”

 

He just nods his head. “I will!”

 

Raesung finishes his dinner quickly and rushed off to the living room. She was watching some random cooking show when he sat beside her. She motions for him to come closer, which he whines about at first before giving in and gave her a hug. She chuckles and pats his head, completely adoring her son. He lets go of her hug and his eyes notices the book sitting on top of the coffee table.

 

“Mom, what’s that?” Raesung asks.

 

“What?” She asks, confused. He looks at the direction of the coffee table, her eyes follow the direction of his sight.

 

She stood up and went to grab the book before returning to the couch next to him. She examines it at first before a memory hits her. She remembers this.

 

“It’s a photo album, Rae.” She says quietly, eyes tearing up a bit.

 

Raesung looks at her worriedly when he sees her become emotional. “Are you okay?”

 

She nods and turns to look at her son. She smiles him, “Yeah. I just remembered something.”

 

He looks at the photo album. “Can I see it?”

 

She nods and handed it over to him. He takes it with both hands and looks at it curiously before opening it. The first page was a picture of seven guys and a little girl, carried by one of them. They were wearing uniforms, all of them looking young and happy. He recognizes one guy with a bright smile.

 

He looks at his mom. “Is this Grandpa Jiwon?” He points at the one standing next to the guy who’s holding the little girl.

 

She nods. “Yes, that’s him.”

 

“Who’s the little girl, then? And the other guys?” He asks again.

 

She holds back her tears and smiles at him. “That’s me. And the other guys… they’re my parents.”

 

Raesung looks at her, confused. “Huh?”

 

She just smiles at him. When she didn’t say anything, he continues to turn the pages. It’s full of pictures of the seven guys, all smiling brightly like they have all the happiness in the world. There are photos taken at the beach, in a house, a school and other places he can’t recognize. When he gets to the last page, a picture of the seven guys greets him again and the girl already a bit older.

 

He looks up at his mom, “Can I ask something?” She smiles and nods. “Who’s the guy that is always carrying you?”

 

She takes the album and looks at the last picture. She runs her fingers across the picture, remembering how the photo was taken. “He’s my father.”

 

Raesung furrows his brows. “But isn’t Grandpa Jiwon your dad?”

 

“No. He’s not my real dad, but he is one to me. And these other guys? They’re also my father.” She mutters, the memory of it all hitting her at once.

 

“I don’t get it.”

 

“They are the people who raised me, along with my real dad. They treated me like their own daughter, and they made me feel loved even when I don’t have a mother.” She sets the photo album aside.

 

“What’s my real grandpa’s name?”

 

She holds her necklace between her fingers and looks at her son fondly. “Hanbin. His name is Hanbin.”

 

He nods. “Is he nice?”

 

She smiles. “Yeah. He’s the best dad I could ever ask for. He sacrificed a lot for me, you know.”

 

“How come you never told me about him?”

 

“Because..” She swallows the lump in , “I don’t think I will ever be ready to talk about him without being emotional.”

 

Raesung hugs his mom. “Would I like him?”

 

She chuckles and pats his head. “Yeah, he’s cool. He can sometimes be lame, but you would like him.” He just nods.

 

“Do you have school tomorrow?” She asks, changing the topic.

 

He shook his head. “No, it’s a long weekend for me.”

 

She hums in reply. “I know you think you’re too old for bedtime stories, but do you want to hear one?”

 

He looks at her. “Story about what?”

 

“About them.”

 

He smiles and nods at her. She smiles back and went to grab blankets for the two of them. They settle themselves comfortably at both ends of the couch.

 

“Each one of them told me their version of this story. But you know what’s amazing? It’s how they all treasured the friendship they shared.” She says before starting to tell him the story.

 

--

 

“Goodmorning, princess!” Hanbin greets his daughter, Hayi, when he saw her running down the stairs. She giggles and runs into his arms. He tickles her as soon as she gets near him, their morning already filled with contagious laughter.

 

He makes her sit on her chair as he prepares their breakfast. “Are you excited to go to school, princess?”

 

Hayi nods her head enthusiastically. “Yes, dad! I’m excited to play with other kids. They were really nice to me!”

 

He chuckles and nods his head. “Of course, they should be!”

 

He walks towards her while hiding the plate behind his back. “Guess what we have for breakfast?”

 

She grins at him. “Pancakes!”

 

He laughs. “Pancakes!” and sets the plate with 2 layers of pancakes in front of her. “You need to finish that, okay?”

 

“Okay!” She beams at him before starting to eat her food. He helps himself with a cup of coffee and watches his daughter eat. He smiles at how cute she is.

 

“How about you dad? Are you also excited for school?” She asks while munching the pancakes in .

 

He chuckles. “Princess, please don’t talk when your mouth is full.”

 

Her eyes widens and she covers with her hands, “Oops! Sorry!”

 

He smiles at her and pats her head. “Well, dad’s excited too.” He says, but he knows he’s not.

 

“Okay!” She smiles and continues eating her food, and tells Hanbin that she dreamt about princesses last night while he listens to her attentively.

 

Hanbin locks their front door before they left their house. He’s holding Hayi’s hand while they walk towards her school, both of them wearing uniforms.

 

“Do I look good, princess?”  He asks his daughter, eyes batting.

 

She giggles and shows her little thumb up. “You look good, dad!”

 

“Really?” He asks and raises his brow.

 

She grins. “Yes!”

 

He smiles and high fived her. “Be a good girl, okay? I’m going to pick you up after my school.”

 

She nods. “Okay. Dad?”

 

He squats down infront of her and looks at her eyes. “Yes?”

 

She gives him a toothy smile. “You should play with other people in your school too, okay? It’s fun to have friends.”

 

He smiles and nods at her. “I will. Now, go inside. They’re waiting for you.”

 

She nods and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Bye dad! See you later!”

 

He kisses her on her forehead. “See you later! Have fun!” He says before letting her run inside the kindergarten.

 

He stands up and fixes his uniform before walking towards his own school. He doesn’t really like going to school, but he has to. For Hayi. Just one more year. One more year and he’s finally going to graduate from college.

 

His classes goes by like always and before he knows it, he’s already in his usual place, spending time alone during lunchtime in the music room and playing the piano. No one is around the classrooms during lunch, students are gathered in the cafeteria with their own circle of friends.

 

Normally, this place would be quiet and he can relax himself; but it seems like today is an exception. He hears a guy threatening someone.

 

‘School just started and there are already bullies?” He thought.

 

He peeks through the window out of curiosity and saw a blonde guy held up against the wall by a tall guy who he doesn’t recognize. He shook his head and returns to sit again in front of the piano. He was about to play when he heard a shout.

 

“No! Please! I’m sorry, it was an accident! I didn’t mean it! I’m really sorry!” It was probably the blonde guy, he thought.

 

“You think I would believe that?” Hisses the other guy.

 

He wants to mind his own business and not interfere with theirs, but his conscience slowly creeps up to him. He sighs and thinks about what is the most rational thing to do, but as always, he still does what he thinks is right and it’s not always the best decision.

 

He grabs his bag, goes out of the room and walks towards them.

 

“I think you should let him go.” He says, trying to sound calm.

 

The tall guy who was holding the blonde in his collar looks at him, “And who are you?”

 

He shrugs. He sees how the blonde looks at him, asking for help. “I’m no one, just a concern fellow student.”

 

The tall guy frowns at him. “Aren’t you taught about minding your own business?”

 

He stares at him blankly. “And aren’t you taught that if you’re caught by a professor, you’ll get detention? Be thankful I stopped you from beating him up.”

 

The tall guy lets go of the blonde and grabs his bag. “Next time, learn to mind your own business.” He hisses to Hanbin and turns to look at the blonde. “I’m not done with you yet.” He says and left them both.

 

Hanbin turns around when the guy left and walks towards his next class.

 

“Hey, wait!” He hears the blonde guy shout before running to catch up to him. He stops and looks at the guy. “Thank you.”

 

He looks blankly at him. “I just happen to pass by. I didn’t do that to help you.” He just says.

 

The blonde smiled at him. “Still, thank you.” He didn’t answer and just started walking. The guy still followed him and walks along. “I know you didn’t just ‘happen to pass by’. You were in the music room, right?”

 

Nothing still changed with his expression. “And how sure are you?” He asks.

 

The guy hums. “Well, I always hear you playing that piano during lunch. You’re really great by the way.”

 

He stopped in his tracks and looks at the guy seriously. “Wait, you always hear me play during lunch? How?”

 

The guy nods. “I usually sit on a bench near the music room during lunch.”

 

He stares at him and nods before he started walking again.

 

“I’m Donghyuk, by the way. And you are?”

 

He thought hard on whether to give him his name or not. But then, it’s just a name. “Hanbin.”

 

The bell rang when Donghyuk’s about to say something.

 

“Well then, see you around Hanbin. Nice meeting you!” Donghyuk shouts. He just waves his hand without looking at him. He hears the latter run off to the other side of the building.

 

It was just a normal day, but Donghyuk thought it was a possible beginning of a new friendship.

 

 

*************************************

 

This is a new one. How was it? I decided to write an OT7 story because I adore my sons' friendship so much.

 

Updates will be alternate between this and WDYL.

 

I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think.

 

Thank you for reading!