“I’ll always be your knight in shining armor,” he said to her, blushing slightly at his words and also the lisp that made his words harder to understand. She was crying on the ground, holding her injured knee and he watched, twisting the stem of the daisy flower nervously in his fingers.

            The six year old girl only covered her ears and cried harder. “I don’t want you to! And I don’t need you to protect me!”

            Yongguk took a step back and looked at her. The bruises she had gotten from running away from her uncle were still there. “Yongguk-ah! Aish, where is that kid? Always running off to places.” He looked up and saw his grandmother weaving between the meadow. He glanced down once more at the young girl before him and sighed. “I promise, though. I promise to protect you.”

            And he made good on that promise. When the older boys in the neighborhood ganged up on her for always walking so slowly, Yongguk had charged at them with sticks and stones. “Do you guys think you’re tough, beating around a girl who’s shorter and younger than you? Huh? What type of men do you think you’re going to grow up to be?” He had shouted to them. And because he, too, was younger than they were, they paid him little mind.  

            “Wah, look at this kid. Who does he think he is? Some hero, running out with his tree branch like he could hurt us. Hey, kid, you watch out or else I’m going to get you too,” the oldest bully threatened him and she pulled on his arm.

            “Stop. I don’t want to have to take care of you if you ever  get beaten up by those bad guys too.”

            Yongguk cast them one last glare and took her by the arm. She shrugged it off and he dropped his hand. She was so difficult to get through. “I told you I was going to help you if you ever needed help.”

            At this, she whirled around on her the heels of her feet and glared at him. She reached down and picked up a branch he had dropped and threw it at him. “I told you a million times, I don’t want your help!”

            But nevertheless, he continued to look after her. His grandfather had taught him that a promise was a promise and he was going to have to see it through to the end. A few months later, he walked upon her crying by the riverbanks again. Yongguk watched her from afar and didn’t say anything. He knew better than to provoke her when she was in her moment of vulnerability.

            “H-he told me that nobody loves me,” she cried. Her six year old sensitivity still was fragile and the neglect by her relatives had made her feel useless. Yongguk was surprised she would voluntarily talk to him and sat down cautiously.

            “That’s not true.” It wasn’t at all. His mother always said a child was always loved, and she was a child, so she must be loved as well. Even if she didn’t feel that way, he knew it to be true and wanted to let her know.

            She sniffed and looked at him. “But he told me so. Uncle said so.”

            Yongguk moved closer to her and took her hand in his carefully, not wanting to offend her or scare her and she looked at him, her eyes puffy. “That’s not true,” he insisted again. “I love you.” Because he was six and because love meant you cared about someone, so what he said was true.

            She bit her lip and tore her hand away from him. “I hear him calling for me again. I need to go before he yells at me.” He stood and watched her small form disappear from view.

            She moved away the next day and nobody had any news of her. Yongguk was too young to be able to get any information but all he knew from his mother was that her bad family finally decided to move away, taking the “poor girl with them.”

            Yongguk was dozing off at the back of the classroom, twelve years later. His head tipped forward as he snored lightly and the students around him chattered away. He occasionally opened his eyes but for the most part, kept his head down.

            “Did you hear about the new girl? I heard she had to transfer because she was being harassed by her teacher.”

            “Well, I heard that she slept with him for better grades. Do you think that’s true?”

            The rumors were alight and died away when the newcomer stepped through the door. She had a tough look on her face and one of her arms was in a sling. There was an obvious bruise on her cheek and the murmurs began.

            “Definitely assaulted,” a girl confirmed and Yongguk slowly opened one eye. He regarded the new student calmly until the tilt of her head struck him and he sat up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and took off one ear bud and sat straighter.  

            She didn’t bother introducing herself and that immediately alienated all the students. Yongguk eyed her with interest and stared at the injuries she had. His heart dropped a little. He remembered he had vowed to protect her but she still got hurt.

            He followed her after class to the field and watched her settle under a tree. He bent down and like before, picked up a daisy. Yongguk walked up to her and she looked up. “What do you want?” her tone was flippant, brass like before and he smiled a little. She hadn’t changed much.

            He held out the floor. “Who beat you up? Tell me so I can protect you like I promised I would.” His heart filled when he saw the recognition enter her eyes and her lips trembled as this time, she reached out to take the flower he held out.

This is for MrsTotomato

I think I got sick... sigh

Japanese "Warrior" holy mother of ovaries