If I knew any better, I wouldn’t have wanted to know you better. If I didn’t know you any better, I wouldn’t have fallen for you.

It was summer break and I was still seven back then. I ran around my mother’s beloved rose garden. I love this place because it was beautiful. There are butterflies hovering around the area and trying to catch them was my favorite hobby followed by sleeping in my mother’s lap.

“Siwon ah!” my mom called out from the gazebo at the center of the garden.

“dae, umma?” I answered as I approached her. I noticed two unfamiliar persons who were sitting with my mother as she enjoying her afternoon tea

“Siwon ah, listen to umma” she started as she got up from her seat and leveled her eye with mine.

I nodded

“starting today, umma will be working. And because of which, I can no longer attend to you and your needs. Umma won’t be able to put you to sleep, nor will I help you in your assignments, tie your shoes, arrange your things and all”

“umma, I’m big now. I can take care of myself” I said proudly while pounding my chest. Mom smiled but for some reasons I find her smile to be a sad and painful one.

“I know that you can take care of yourself Won ah. But still, mom wants to make sure that you’re okay so starting today this ahjumma will take care of you” mom pointed the woman who is with us right. The woman is with a little girl

“bu-“

“no butts, Wonie” my mother’s tone was stern and serious that I’ve left no choice but to agree.

“dae, umma” I answered while looking at my feet. For some reasons, it seems like this ahjumma will be a substitute for my real mother and I don’t want that. I don’t want any other mother aside from my own.

I love my mother dearly. For me, she is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is prettier than Catherine Zeta Jones, not even Angelina Jolie or Julia Roberts can level with her.

My mom then stood behind me. Now the woman, who seem to have the same age as my mom stood before us along with her was a brown haired little girl who was my age

“Wonie ah, this Kim Tae Hee Ahjumma and her daughter Kim Taeyeon” she pointed each of them

“Annyeonghaseyo, Choi Siwon ibnida” I greeted and bowed

“Yeonie, introduce yourself” the woman nudge her daughter

“annyeonghaseyo… Kim Taeyeon… ibnida” the little girl greeted back shyly.

“Taeyeon ah” my mom called the girl as she leveled her eyes with hers and held her hands “can I ask you to do me a favor?” she added

“dae, ajumeoni?”

“Taeyeon ah, starting today I will be away from my little prince Siwon so I want you to always look after my little prince. Wonie might be sad and lonely so I want you to be friends with him, play with him every day, listen to him and to whatever he has to say, protect him if you can and always be by his side”

“yah, umma. Why are you leaving me to a girl? I already told you that I’m big now, I can take care of myself and besides I have Hae and Kyuhyun as my friends” I whined. I don’t understand. Why leave me to a girl?

“ara, Wonie. But, Hae and Kyuhyun are different. Just listen to umma okay?” mom smiled at me and held my hand with her free hand. So, she’s holding Taeyeon with her right hand and me with her left

I nodded

“be good friends okay?”

“dae” we both answered in unison

Mom told me to continue playing and to let Taeyeon join me. But Taeyeon seems to be enchanted by the beauty of the roses that my mom grew that she was just staring at them the whole time.

“don’t touch them” I warned her. She looked at me with a questioning look “they are precious to me and my mom. If you dare destroy them I am never going to forgive you” I added. She seem scared of me after what I told her because she distanced herself from the roses.

Taeyeon kept following me around. She followed me everywhere like a shadow. Later that day, my friends came over to play with me.

Taeyeon wouldn’t speak when not spoken to, she is most specially shy in the presence of two best friends Donghae and Kyuhyun.

Lee Donghae, my childhood friend. I call him ‘Fishy Hae’ because his name practically means east sea. His father is my father’s business partner. We live in the same neighborhood and he often comes to our house to play. He loves playing around my mom’s rose garden. I often scold him for playing there because my mother grew those flowers personally.

Cho Kyuhyun, my school rival for the top ranks. But despite being rivals, we are the best of friends. He talks a lot when bored and has a spiteful tongue in contrast to his smiling face. He is pretty straight forward. He is a game addict and would constantly bring his laptop around, if not playing with his laptop he plays his guitar. And just like Hae, his father is my father’s business partner too.

“Siwon hyung, who’s that?” Kyuhyun asks noticing Taeyeon who was following me as I entered our hide out in the garden. Kyuhyun is the youngest of the group

“you’re girlfriend?” Hae teased

“yah!” I raised my voice

“wae? You don’t need to get so tensed hyung, Donghae hyung was just teasing” Kyu tried to pacify

“Well, it ain’t funny. Seven year olds don’t have girlfriends” I answered

“but a lot of girls like you, is she one