At sixteen.

“Jang JaeEun! Hoi! Over here!” Kim Junsu found himself screaming his lungs out at the top of his voice in the middle of the soccer field, “YEOGI!”

“AISH!” frustrated with having searched for him for ten minutes now, she finally stomped over to where he stood with a huge grin on his face and some smugness which made her so very tempted to kick him in the .

Once she had reached him, he grabbed both her hands and swung her around twirling making her lose control of her orientation and she fell to the ground and less than a second later, he fell onto her.

“Kim Junsu!” She moaned as she opened her eyes and saw him on top of her looking as dazed and disoriented, “what are you doing?!”

He stared at her for a moment, gave her a peck on the lips before pushing himself away from her. He covered his ears as her outraged bellow came.

“YAH! KIM JUNSU! WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!?”

He ran a safe distance before screaming, “I just kissed you!”

“Why?!?!?!?” She was immediately furious at the fact that she had just been kissed by him, “Why why why?!?!”

“Because that’s my birthday gift to you! Happy Birthday Jang JaeEun!”and then he made a heart over his head, “saranghae~” he continued to yell as she sprinted after him. “Let’s be together forever and ever!”

“YAH KIM JUNSU!” She had completely lost control of herself now and from where he was, he could have sworn that she looked like a red-in-the-face bull.

That cracked him up.

He couldn’t stop laughing until she caught up with him and tackled him to the ground. She threw grass and sometimes mud on his face causing him to spit and spat.

“Jang JaeEun!” The tables now turned.

She watched him struggle, finding it so amusing until she fell back to the grounds laughing. He watched her with an amused and highly entertained expression on his face until she stopped.

“You shouldn’t say something like that,” she pointed at his crazy declaration of love with a scowl, “you have a girlfriend.”

“ChaeIn? I’m not serious about her, I’m serious about you.”

“Aish! You’re a huge frigging flirt!” He laughed as she reached over and strangled him before looking at him crossly, “besides I’m dating your best friend! His name is Lee HyukJae! Remember?!”

“I know that but he is just playing with you!” Junsu protested.

“Traitor much? But I know,” she rolled her eyes as her shoulder slumped.

“You do?” His eyes widened.

“Aish Junsu, girls know this stuff but I don’t care, I’m not that serious about him either.”

“Oh? Then why don’t you just end it?” he sat like a puppy waiting for a treat.

“I don’t know… He’s nice and stuff, and he treats me well,” she shrugged. They were all still so young. She didn’t really care where it was going anyways.

“You deserve better and I’m saying that despite he is my best friend,” Junsu pointed out blatantly.

“Oh who cares,” she huffed, “we are not talking about him anymore. So what did you get me?”

He smiled and asked her to put her hand out. He placed something on her palm and quickly covered it back up again. “Happy Birthday, I hope you like.”

She opened her hand and it was a simple silver blanket with a single musical note for pendant, “whoa, it’s pretty.”

“I remember what you said, that music is your first love and will always be your love,” he grinned then anxiously, “but it’s not too expensive, I’m afraid I can’t really afford anything more dear.”

“No,” she grinned as he fidgeted to put it on for her, “this is perfect. When you have money, you get me something better.”

“After I become famous then, really famous, I’ll get you anything you want on your birthday, you can ever have me~ for free!” Junsu replied chirpily then leaned in and puckered his lips pretending to ask for a kiss. He got hit.

“Aish.”

He grinned, “Now, where’s my gift? Where is the gift that you have been nagging at me about you saving all your pocket money for? Quick quick!” and rubbed his hands together eagerly.

JaeEun grumbled inaudibly under her breath about him being an overly hyper baby before handing him a soccer jersey, well not exactly handed but more like flung it into his face, “here, happy birthday,” the next moment she kind of regretted her decision for he squealed like a girl.

“SOCCER JERSEY!!!” He wore it immediately and then kissed her on the cheek again.

“Kim Junsu! You have to stop doing that!”

“But I’m so happy!!!” and after which he enveloped her in a huge hug, “You are the best JangJaeEun, you honestly are!”

“Aish you’re only saying this because you like the gift!” as she struggled away from his longish arms.

“No! You are the best, and I swear on my life that whatever I do, I am never leaving you.”

“Aish no no! Go, go! Good riddance in fact!” her eyes widened with horror at his vow but Junsu just grinned merrily back at her before piping down and stating in his own original mellow voice.

“I mean it Eun and I have never spoken such words to anyone, not even my mum but you’ll never get rid of me. Not now, not ever. I’ll be sticking to you for the rest of my life.”

It was pretty big talk coming from a guy who has girls queuing for dates but for the first time in her life and twelve and a half months of knowing him, JaeEun felt her heart starting to beat…

For him.

And they were only sixteen then.

//

She sent, well rather she walked JunSu home that day and once he reached home, he pulled her by the hand into his place.

“Whoa,” just before they stepped into his house, she pulled back urgently, “what are you doing?” she hissed.

“I want you to meet my family,” he said ever so innocently with a doe-eyed expression on his face.

She was confused, “JunSu, we're not dating, why do you want me to meet your family?”

“Do people have to date before they meet the family?” The innocence was still on his face as she hid a subtle smile, thinking to herself how naïve this young boy was, “besides, Eun yah, I want you to meet my family heh, you're going to be the girl who stays in my life for the rest of my life.”

“Aish,” she didn’t know exactly what to reply to that, “erm okay. I would like to see if you look more like your mum or you dad anyway.”

“Mum, definitely, I’m prettier than hyung,” he laughed hysterically at his own statement causing her to roll her eyes.

//