Prologue

 It was that clear summer day at the Hwang Mansion when Kyungsoo first learnt the meaning of love, or maybe the responsibility to his loved ones, or there might even be a possibility that he had learnt both of them.

Little Kyungsoo never believed in love at first sight, except, loving chocolate at first sight. Even though he was so young, he knew there was no such thing in the world. Until that summer, everything changed.

“Kyungsoo-ah, if you can’t get that, it’s not a problem, I can ask daddy to buy me a new one. Just get down,” Daeyoung said anxiously as she paced around the tree.

 Actually, climbing the tree was still tolerable for Daeyoung, if only he was not almost five meters away from the ground.  Daeyoung looked at Kyungsoo who was trying hard to retrieve her newly-bought hat.

“Yeah, let’s play robot,” Baekhyun, the youngest amongst them begged.

Ignoring his young miss and master’s plead, Kyungsoo, being the eldest, continued to reach the red hat. His fingers almost touched the ribbon of the hat but he wasn’t able to pull it. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kyungsoo showed a coaxing smile to them before trying again. This time, he managed to grab the hat’s ribbon and pulled it to a tight embrace.

Kyungsoo showed the hat to both Daeyoung and Baekhyun and they squealed gleefully while clapping. Kyungsoo was about to go down, but he slipped off and lost his balance. The world seemed to be silenced as Kyungsoo’s little figure crashed hard to the ground. The next thing that followed suit was Daeyoung’s deafening scream calling him. Kyungsoo blurrily saw his young miss running towards him before a nauseous feeling hit him and his surroundings suddenly blackened.

That night, everything seemed to be so somber. Daeyoung was sent to her room after the incident whilst Kyungsoo was treated by the Hwang’s doctor at the living room. After the doctor took off, Mr. Hwang came to look at Kyungsoo’s condition.

“Are you alright, Kyungsoo? Be careful next time, you don’t know how much worry you had put us into just now,” Master Hwang said and caressed Kyungsoo’s head.

“I deeply apologize for what has happened, Master,” Kyungsoo’s father bowed and eyed Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo bowed his head shamefully, he shouldn’t have been that careless. But then, he looked up with eyes full of determination, “I’m really sorry Master Hwang, but I have vowed to myself to become better.”

Master Hwang chuckled eagerly and looked at his butler, Kyungsoo’s father, “Looks like you have a great son here.”

Just at that time, the door was pushed open and Daeyoung ran in. “Kyungie...! Are you alright? You should have listened to me. Look at what has happened to your hand!” teary-eyed Daeyoung ran to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo turned to Daeyoung and smiled softly, but that smile soon turned into a cheeky one, “Look, Daeyoung! Now, I need to carry my right hand everywhere. This only means one thing; I don’t need to do my homework!” Kyungsoo said happily while showing off his casted hand.

Hearing what he said, Daeyoung burst into tears, “How can you said that when it hurts so much?” 

Kyungsoo was about to reply when Daeyoung interrupted him, “Don’t say it’s not. You know, I did hear you shouting in pain from my bedroom.”

Kyungsoo frowned a bit before placing his left hand on Daeyoung's cheek to wipe the tears. “Hey, don’t cry, I promise you, this will be the last time I don’t listen to you. I promise I will become a strong man and protect you and Baekhyun.”

“But how can you protect me with that thin figure? I think with that figure you could be blown away by just a gush of wind, “Daeyoung suddenly chirped in while smiling smugly.