When Jisun prayed for a handsome, rich prince to come and love her, she did not expect this.

Sure, Junsu was a boy. Sure he was the heir to one of the largest corporations in Korea. He was filthy rich. God had answered all of her criteria. She just forgot to mention how old her prince should be…

"Welcome, Jisun! Thank you so much for volunteering to take care of our son!" 

Actually, my parents volunteered me without my consent, but hey, money is money.

"The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Kim!" Jisun replied in a silky tone. 

"Such a sweetie," Mrs. Kim smiled. "Well, we shall be off then. We will try to be back within three hours."

"Take your time! Hope you enjoy yourselves!" Jisun said while waving goodbye. 

As soon as she heard the door shut and watched the car drive by through the curtains, she began to search for this kid. This brat that had been placed in her care. What was his name again? Oh, yeah. Junsu.

Jisun hated kids. She despised how much care they needed and how much they loved to command you around and force you to do stupid things. But she wasn't going to take her chances with this one. 

"Yah! There you are!" she yelled once she found him in the living room. 

Junsu was quietly reading a book next to the large window where the sun provided natural lighting for him. In that view, Jisun was amazed at how cute and angelic he looked. Because he was only six, he still had some baby fat left, and his black hair shone in the light. His eyes glistened with excitement as he flipped the pages of the book eagerly. When she had barged in and disturbed his peace, he only stared at her in complete shock.

"Are you my babysitter?" he asked. That voice. Jisun didn't think she heard anything so lovely in her life.

“Uh, yeah,” she said stupidly. Wait, she couldn’t be overthrown by his cuteness. “I mean, heck yeah! You’re under my control now! You have to do everything I say, alright?”

He just stared at her in amazement, but Jisun could see a slow smile creep up onto his face.

“Does this mean you will play soccer with me?” he asked excitedly. “And will you read me these stories once we finished playing?”

Oh no. The commanding child was already taking place.

“Now just a moment—“she began, but she stopped herself when she saw his face suddenly glow with happiness.

“I’ve never had a friend before. Mother and Father never wanted me to go outside. They said the world was bad for me. But you have come! Please play with me!” he begged as he looked into her eyes. Jisun just couldn’t bring herself to say no.

“Ah, heck, sure…wait, you’ve never been outside this house before?”

“I’ve only been around to walk around the property.”

Jisun couldn’t believe her ears.

“That’s it. I’m taking you out,” she said promptly as she reached for her coat.

“What?  But we can’t disobey Mother and Father!” Junsu gasped. Jisun loved how innocent he was.

“What they don’t know can’t hurt them,” she winked as she got his coat too.

Junsu still looked uncertain, but then she found his soccer ball.

“Whoa, this is a top brand!” she said as she began to juggle it on her knee. Thank goodness he liked soccer and not basketball.

“H-hey! Teach me how to do that!” Junsu yelled excitedly.

“Sorry kid. No playing outdoor sports in the house,” Jisun lectured as she watched his last defense crumble.

“What they don’t know can’t hurt them…” he muttered repeatedly to himself as he walked outside with her.

“Oh man, I’m going to get in so much trouble for corrupting him.” Jisun thought, but she still couldn’t get over the fact that he had never gone outside before.

“Where are we going?” Junsu asked while holding onto her hand and looking back nervously at the house.

“To the park, of course! I know a special location where I can teach you my tricks in private!”

When they reached the park, Junsu’s mouth opened in surprise. He had never seen such a place before in his life. There were swings, slides, playgrounds, everything he had only seen in picture books.

“Like it, huh?” Jisun laughed as she patted him on the back. Damn, he was too cute for his own good. She didn’t even mind babysitting him anymore.

“Is this the secret place you told me about?” he asked in a faraway voice.

“This? Nah, my place is even better,” Jisun smirked as she led him away through some trees. When she noticed he had trouble walking over the branches, she picked him up and carried him the rest of the way.

“Here we are. Gorgeous, isn’t it?”

“Wow,” Junsu said.

Before them was a beautiful grassy meadow filled with flowers since it was early spring. On one of the trees, a tire swing hung, gently swaying in the breeze. In the distance, the sun was slowly starting to set, casting a purplish red glow on everything.

“Can we stay here forever?” Junsu asked as he clinged to her.

“Heck no, we’d get busted. I tell you what, next time I babysit you, we’ll come here and have a picnic and read some books. I’ll bring my own food if you promise to keep this a secret!”

“Can we name this place?”

“Uh, sure, I guess,” Jisun said. To her, here was always that place, but hey, if the kiddo wanted to name it, why not?

“Let’s call it Memories,” Junsu sighed happily.

“What an odd name. Why that?” Jisun asked as she started to carry him back.

“Hey, Junsu! I’m here! Let’s go!”

Junsu came flying down the steps. Gosh, he had grown so much in the past two years. He was now level with her shoulders.

“Yeah! I’m definitely going to beat you in soccer today!” he yelled as he threw his coat on.

“Alright, alright,” Jisun tried to sound bored. “But we have to eat these, okay?”

She held up her lunch box. Junsu peered in eagerly.

“Yay! You made us sandwiches!” he smiled.

“That’s right! Let’s get going!” Jisun said as she opened the door for him.

 

“Jisun, what’s love?”

“Hmm, love?” Jisun asked absentmindedly while chewing on the tomato in her sandwich. They were sitting in the grass and were watching the sunset together.

“Love is a strong, warm feeling when you see someone you really care about,” she replied.

“Is love?” Junsu asked.

She nearly spat out her tomato.

“No way. and love are two completely different things. Love is much more meaningful than .”

“Then what is love?”

“Um, well…you’ll understand when you get older,” she said while trying to cover up her embarrassment.

“I am old enough!” Junsu stated, a little vexed she wouldn’t tell him.

“Trust me. Wait till you get older. Even I don’t understand it so much myself,” Jisun replied as she leaned back into the couch.

Junsu’s dark eyes widened. “You mean, you don’t even know what love is?”

“Hardly,” she said, trying to off put him by being as vague as possible. Instead, his whole face lit up as he smiled happily.

“It must be something wonderful if even Jisun doesn’t know about it!” he exclaimed.

“Must be because he’s entering in those years and doesn’t want to play with girls anymore,” she thought as she popped another nut cluster into .

“Jisun?” Junsu suddenly asked.

“Yes, Junsu?”

“What do you think of me?”

Jisun paused in her eating and looked at him. She couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if it was the fading sunlight that caused his face to be red.

“I think you’re a great kid. You’re almost more fun to hang out with than some people that are my age!” she laughed after a while. As an afterthought, she punched him lightly and said, “You’ll always be that six-year-old kid in my eyes who had never been outside before.”

Junsu sat quietly for a while, not saying anything after what she told him. Jisun didn’t think much of it that time.

“Jisun?”

“Yes, Junsu?”

“When you leave for college, will you forget about me?”

“Of course not!” Jisun said in shock. Honestly, what this boy thinks of sometimes.

“I mean, will you find a guy to fall in love with and marry him?”

“Ohh, that…” Jisun said while slightly blushing. “Who knows? Maybe? Only the future can tell us.”

Junsu fell silent again. He started to play with a blade of grass.

“Here,” he said as he roughly pushed what he made into Jisun’s hand.

“What’s this?” she asked as she raised a ring made up of grass blades to the light.

“It’s a promise,” Junsu said shortly while avoiding eye contact.

“For what?”

“A promise that I will never forget you,” he said.

“Aww, Junsu!” she said as she gave him a tight bear hug. “You better promise me that you won’t ever forget that I promised you that I won’t forget you either!” she said in one breath.

Junsu started to laugh a little. When they got up to go back home, Jisun was horrified to see that Junsu was now level in height with her.

“My gosh, Junsu! Look at how you’ve grown over the years!” she exclaimed.

Junsu grinned proudly at her. “Soon I’ll be taller than you!” he said. Then he sighed.

“Jisun?”

“Yes, Junsu?”

“I love you.”

“Ah, that’s sweet, Junsu.”

“Jisun! Welcome back! I’m so happy to see you!”

“Hello, Mrs. Kim! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Jisun said. It had been four years since she left for college. Now she had a degree and was even promised a job near her old home.

“Is Junsu around?” Jisun found herself asking. She really wanted to see him. Because her college was outside of Korea, she did not go home at all until her degree was completed.

“Junsu’s still at school, since he joined the soccer team, but he should be back any minute. You can wait on the couch if you like.”

Jisun did not have to wait for long.

“I’m home, Mom!” a deep voice called through the hall. Was that really Junsu?

“Junsu! Guess who’s back? Jisun’s here!” his mother said as she led him to where Jisun was waiting.

“Oh my gosh, Junsu! Is that really you?” Jisun gasped.

Her little baby Junsu had suddenly transformed into a handsome young man. Instead of his usual black hair, he had dyed it a beautiful brown and had it cut stylishly. Instead of the baby fat that had covered his cheeks, strongly sculpted cheekbones took their place. Even his body no longer looked cuddly as she could see the muscles rippling under his shirt.

Junsu stared at her in surprise. “Jisun?” he asked hesitantly. Then he saw the ring on her finger.

“Hey! It’s me!” Jisun cried as he turned his face away from her in anger. She hadn’t changed that much, had she?

“Get out. I don’t ever want to see you again,” he said coldly.

“W-what?” Jisun gasped.

“Get out! How could you come here knowing my feelings for you and yet wearing that ring at the same time? What happened to the one I gave you?” he shouted.

Jisun nervously her shiny engagement ring. She didn’t know he would react like this. And what feelings was he talking about?

“Junsu, the grass ring fell apart,” she said as gently as she could. “I tried to keep it, but it just crumbled away.”

“Because you broke your promise,” Junsu said, and Jisun could hear the hurt in his voice. “You promised you wouldn’t forget me, and yet you’ve pledged yourself to another man. I can’t believe you. For all these years, I thought of no one but you, and yet you’ve gone and replaced me already. I can’t believe you. I hate you!” he yelled.

“Junsu! What are you saying?” his mother suddenly came running to the room after hearing her son’s raised voice. “Apologize immediately! This is Jisun we are looking at! Jisun, whom you’ve been talking about nonstop these past four years!”

After drying her hair, she thought about everything she had wanted to do with Junsu when she got back home. She actually had recently bought her own house, which was one of the things she wanted to show Junsu. But what she was really longing for was to return to the park with him and just sit and talk with him. She missed him so much. She missed playing soccer with him, missed eating with him and talking with him, but most of all, she missed hearing his beautiful voice.

She sighed at the memories and was about to make herself a snack when the doorbell suddenly rang. Surprised that anyone let alone her family and friends knew she was home, she hastily threw on a bathrobe over her loose pajamas and opened the door. It was Junsu.

There were no exchanges of words at first. Both just looked at each other in silence. Junsu was the first to break the ice.

“Um, well, I…my mother, I mean…wanted me to come apologize to you for my rudeness today,” he mumbled while averting his eyes. Was it just her, or did his face looked flushed?

“Uh, sure. Come in. I don’t think you’ve seen my house before. And how did you get my address anyways?” Jisun asked as she opened the door wider.

“I asked your mother,” he said as he stepped in.

“Here, let me make you a cup of tea,” she said as awkwardness filled in between them. As Jisun left, she forced herself not to cry again. Things had never been so distant between the two before, and it hurt her to see how the connection they used to have was gone now.

When she returned with the tea, she noticed Junsu was still standing.

“What are you doing? Sit down!” she urged, returning to her usual self.

Junsu only took the cup of tea from her hands and set it down without having a sip.

“Jisun?” he asked.

“Yes, Junsu?”

“What do you think of me?”

“Argh, not that again!” Jisun groaned. “You’re like seventeen right now, for heaven’s sakes! Why don’t you have a girlfriend? Honestly, everyone needs to move past their first childhood crush! I studied this in school—“

“Jisun!” Junsu suddenly shouted. Jisun flinched slightly. She had never seen him so angry before.

“Y-yes, what is it, Junsu?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“Stop treating me like I’m that little kid you babysat in the past,” he said harshly. “I’m a grown man right now.”

“Ah, Junsu! I’ve realized that! You’ve grown so much! You’re even much taller than me now!” Jisun exclaimed, happy to be able to relate to the subject. But when he suddenly approached her rapidly, she could detect the faint smell of alcohol.

“No, Jisun,” Junsu said dangerously quiet. “You don’t understand, do you? I’m a grown man.”

He suddenly pushed Jisun roughly onto the couch. She fell flat upon it in shock.

“I’m a grown man,” Junsu repeated. “Which means I have the desires of a grown man.”

“J-Junsu, wait, what are you—“ Jisun tried to say but he silenced her by crashing his mouth on top of hers. She tried to say something, but he wouldn’t let her as he passionately kissed her until she could barely breathe. She could taste the alcohol in his breath.

“Junsu, stop!” she gasped once she was able to talk, but he silenced her again by placing a hand over .

“You never understood how I felt,” he said, his voice filled with lust. “I’ve loved you for so long. Do you know how much I missed you? How my every thought was filled with no one but you?”

Jisun could feel his hands trying to go up her shirt.

“Junsu!” she yelled as his hand slipped off to lift her chest to his lips. She knew nothing would stop him. So she did what she never did before. Using all of her force, she hit him full in the face.

He stumbled and rolled off her body and onto the floor. As suddenly as his lust had overcome him, it vanished. Instead, hot hatred and hurt filled him.

“I knew it,” he hissed as Jisun quickly tied her robe around her again.

“Junsu! What happened to you?” Jisun asked, her voice laced with worry. “How could you go drinking?”

“Stop treating me like I’m a little kid!” Junsu shouted, and Jisun was shocked to see tears falling down his face. “I never could understand it, why could you never see me as Kim Junsu and not the boy you babysat?”

“Junsu…”Jisun said in anguish, but he brushed her hand away.

“Stay away from me. You never cared for me. Why do you…hate me so much?”

As soon as he said that, he quickly rose from the ground and bolted out of her house.

For a long while, Jisun sat on her couch, unable to comprehend what truly just happened. Even when morning came, she still thought about the events of the day before. Did Junsu really force a kiss on her?

That wasn’t what scared her the most. What frightened her so much was the fact that she had actually enjoyed his touch. She had only hit him because she knew something was wrong. Not only with him, but with her too. She realized she had never answered his question. How did she really feel about him? Before, he really was just a little boy to her, a really, really, cute boy. But now, she was uncertain. Now he was tall and handsome, a true man. Whenever she saw him, her heart leapt with happiness.

Then she realized the truth. She was right about the past connection between the two of them being gone. That was because it was replaced by a new one.

She loved him. She didn’t know when she started to love him, but she knew now she did.

She couldn’t believe it took her this long to figure out. She eagerly reached for her phone and was about to call him back when it started vibrating.

“Hello? Junsu?” she said.

“Jisun? Is that you? Thank goodness! Are you looking for him too?”

“Mrs. Kim?”

“Yes, Jisun! We need your help! Junsu hasn’t come home ever since last night, and I’m worried about him! I was hoping that he was with you!”

“Junsu’s…missing?” Jisun heard herself say.

“Oh my gosh. Please don’t tell me you don’t know where he is either. I called all of his friends, but none of them knew where he was.”

Jisun dropped the phone. Junsu was missing, and it was all her fault. If she hadn’t pushed him away, he would not be missing. What if he got kidnapped? What if he was being tortured right now?

“I’m sorry, hon, but I have to find him. He means so much to me.”

“More than me?” he replied in a cold tone.

“Jong Woo,please, not right now…”

“You know, ever since we got engaged, that kid is all you’ve ever been talking about,” he said as he placed his hands next to Jisun against a wall in her house.

“Hey! What are you doing?” she said in a panicked tone. He had never been like this before.

“You know, I’ve been holding back until our marriage day, but I’m not so sure if I can anymore,” he said while giving her a sickening grin.

“Jong Woo, what is the matter with you?” she shouted, but her breath froze in her chest as she felt his hand slowly creep up her shirt and his head went for her neck.

“Jong Woo! Stop this!” she yelled, but he roughly covered with his hand as his other hand tried to unclip her bra.

Somehow, nothing felt right. She should be welcoming her future husband’s embrace, but instead, she felt disgust. Not a trace of Junsu’s passion could be found in his lips that were currently roaming her jawbone. Even while he kissed her roughly on the lips all she could think about was the conversation she had with Junsu years ago:

“Love is a strong, warm feeling when you see someone you really care about,” she replied.

“Is love?” Junsu asked.

She nearly spat out her tomato.

“No way. and love are two completely different things. Love is much more meaningful than .”

“Get off me now,” she said coldly as she pushed him away. “Get out and never come back. Take this with you.” She shoved the engagement ring into his outraged hands.

“Babe, what’s gotten into you?” he asked angrily. “You know is a part of marriage.”

Jisun was feeling less and less sure about her guess as to where he would be as she continuously tripped over tree branches. Night had fallen already, which made finding her way much harder.

“Junsu!! Where the heck are you! I need to talk to you!!” No answer.

“Junsu!” she called loudly one last time, but she suddenly lost her footing and tripped right into a thorn bush which tore straight through her jeans and into her leg.

“Ahh!” she cried, but the pain in her heart was greater. Junsu, her poor, beloved Junsu, was lost forever to her. She would never see him again. He would never answer her anymore.

“Junsu, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

 Suddenly, she felt two strong arms lift her out of the bush while cursing the whole way. She didn’t even care who it was anymore. The pain in her chest was making her void of all feelings.

However, when she found herself entering a familiar clearing, she looked up.

“Junsu!!” she cried, but she flinched as her leg throbbed.

“Don’t move, you idiot!” he hissed at her as he gently laid her down on the ground. “I have to take these thorns out.”

“Junsu!” she sobbed. “Junsu…I…I’m—“

“Gosh, just say whatever’s on your mind! You sound like a little kid!” he said angrily as he roughly plucked out some thorns.

“Ouch, Junsu, you’re mean,” she said through clenched teeth.

“What were you doing in the middle of the woods anyways?” he said.

“I was looking for you, of course!” she said furiously. “I knew you’d be here! Why didn’t you answer me when I called you?”

“Because I wanted to punish you, but not to this extreme,” Junsu said as he plucked the last thorn out.

Jisun bit her lip so he wouldn’t see her in pain, but her heart was soaring. Junsu had answered, he had carried her just like how she carried him in the past, and now he was right before her!

“What in the world are you smiling at?” he said when he saw her facial expression.

“Junsu, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear you say something like, ‘I’m sorry you fell in love with your caretaker but I can’t love you back,’” he said bitterly as he got up and turned away from her.

“But it’s the exact opposite, Junsu!” she said while trying to fully sit up. “Junsu, it took me four years in college, seeing you drunk, breaking off my engagement, and worrying about you the whole day to make me realize that I’ve been in love with you all along!”

Junsu froze. “You…you broke off your engagement?” he said in a shaky voice.

“That’s what you heard?!” she shouted. Aish, this kid never ceased to amaze her. “I just said ‘I love you!’, you idiot!”

Junsu stared at her as she sighed and looked away. She just confessed to him, and all he heard was her engagement had broken off. Maybe she was wrong about him after all?

“You…you love me?”

“Yes! I love you, Junsu. I’ve always loved you. It just took me so long to realize it!”

He sat down beside her and folded his arms stubbornly. He calmly stared at her. This was not the reaction she was expecting.

“Prove it.”

“What?!”

“Prove you love me. Prove you think of me more than just the kid you watched over.”

“Junsu, can’t you just—“

“No.”

Jisun sighed. “Fine, you asked for it,” she said as she grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss.

“There. Believe me now?” she said once she had broken away. She was glad the night was dark to hide her blush. When she glanced at Junsu, she was surprised to see his face was redder than usual as well.

“Jisun?”

“Yes, Junsu?”

“Do you know what day is today?”

“Huh?!”

“Today is the anniversary of the first time we met and named this place,” Junsu whispered.

Jisun felt guilty. She had never known how great of an impact she had made on him.

“Jisun?”

“Yes, Junsu?”

“Here.” Junsu slipped something onto her finger.

“Junsu…”, Jisun said gently. It was another grass ring. Or so she thought.

“Junsu! Where did you get this?!” she asked in shock. She was holding a beautiful silver ring with a huge diamond in the middle.

“It’s my mother’s. She told me to give it to someone who I really loved,” he said as he turned his face away to hide his blush.

“Junsu, are you--?” Jisun asked, her hopes overflowing inside her.

“That’s my promise to you!” he said stubbornly. “It’s a promise that when I am older and can support you, I will marry you.”

“Junsu!” she gasped. “That’s no way to propose!”

“But it’s from my heart.”

Jisun sat in silence, embarrassed beyond talking. What should she say? What should she do? She laughed when she remembered the days when she had prayed to God to send her a handsome, rich, prince to love and cherish her. However, when Junsu leaned in for a kiss, she knew exactly what to do and who that prince was.

“Junsu?”

“Yes, Jisun?”

“I love you.”