"Don't talk to strangers! Strangers are bad men trying to eat you alive!" 

Seven-year old Taekwoon squeaked every time his mother would scare him with stories like that. He knew that there was some fiction to his mother's stories, but it was so convincing it was both fascinating and terrifying as well. 

"But umma! Humans don't eat other humans!" Taekwoon protested. 

"Are you sure, my little prince? Are you sure they will not going to..." 

Taekwoon knew what would happen next. Whenever her mother would tell stories of value, maybe a little moral lesson here and there, he would sit on her lap and look up to the same brown orbs he had inherited. The silky black hair that flowed from her scalp down to her shoulders shined dimly with the nightstand. They would always sit in an old-fashioned couch, and he would listen to every story. 

But every time his mother would try to scare him, she would do something playful in the end. Taekwoon had expected that, but he was always caught off guard. Every. Single. Time. 

"... eat you?" Taekwoon's mother snarled as if she were a lion. 

She held Taekwoon sideways and lowered her head. She bit Taekwoon's stomach lightly using her lips and acted as if she were eating Taekwoon alive. He laughed heartily at the action and tried to push his mother away. 

"No! Umma!" Taekwoon whined in between his laughing fit. 

His mother smiled in satisfaction and returned to sit straight, or at least in a comfortable position. 

"So you won't talk to strangers, okay?" 

"Nae!" Taekwoon chimed. 

For Taekwoon's eighth birthday, his family brought him to a big amusement park. Streamers of blue and yellow filled the sky. Flags of different colors and designs painted the street lamps and posts. A variety of cartoon characters and mascots walked by and sculpted in each building. He came in with excitement filling him to the brim. He jumped up and down and chanted the name of the park multiple times. His mother could only smile in satisfaction. Maybe thinking: Ah, I am a good mother. 

Taekwoon held his mother's hand at his right, and his father's at his left. They wandered around the park for a little moment, until the little kid saw a big fluffy teddy bear. His jaw dropped as a small gasp escaped his lips. He quickly tugged his parents hands. 

"Umma, appa! Teddy bear! Teddy bear!" he quickly chanted. 

He pulled the two adults through the crowd. His father just laughed at his sons actions, while his mother just let it be. It was her son's birthday, anyway. Nothing can ever break that day. They arrived at a simple water gun stall. There were different prizes, depending on what the challenger had achieved during the shooting of water. The most difficult one was the teddy bear Taekwoon liked. 

At the stall, his father gave some coins so Taekwoon could play the minigame. He needed to pop the water balloon by shooting water through the mouth of the bunny. He grabbed the handle of the water gun and started shooting the bunny's mouth. He tried to shoot as much water as he could to the bunny, but he somehow missed a few seconds after the water landed straight in the mouth. He would whine every time he missed, but in the end, he didn't pop the balloon. Instead of the teddy bear, he was given a bunny counterpart. Not as big, but it was still cute. 

Taekwoon whined in protest. His father crouched down to his level and said that there were things in life he could never get. That wassupposedtobe a light joke, followed by the assurance that he would get everything with the help of a father. But without hearing the last part, Taekwoon ran away from his father's arms. Too sad and frustrated when he didn't get the teddy bear he wanted. He heard the faint shouts of his mother, but he didn't look back. 

An hour after Taekwoon was sitting in an unknown bench near the carousel. He was crying buckets of tears, whispering 'umma' every once in a while. He was lost. He only saw weird and unfamiliar faces looking at him with wither sympathy or disgust. Mostly the latter, yet he wanted to believe it was the former. He continued crying, silently, looking up after every minute to look if his mother or father arrived. 

But another minute passed, he saw not his parents, but a stranger. He examined the boy in a blink. A boy, maybe the same age as him, with dark messy hair, pale white skin, big eyes, and a gaze so warm it pierced through Taekwoon's whole being, was in front of him. He shivered slightly in small fear. He remembered his mother's story about strangers, young or old. He had a big red balloon at his right hand, tied to his wrist. 

"Hello?" the stranger called out. 

Taekwoon ignored the other boy. He looked the other way, searching for a familiar face. 

"I said hello! Can't you talk?" the stranger tried once again. 

"U-umma said not to talk to strangers!" Taekwoon retorted. 

The other boy obviously flinched. 

"I will not bite! Can I at least sit next to you?" 

Taekwoon looked at the male once again. He looked at his features, his clothes, almost everything. He nodded slightly in reply, looking at the stranger and still holding his guard up. 

"I am Jaehwan, and you are?" 

"Not talking!"

"But you are!"

And by that, the bickering of two children commenced. They fought, and fought, and fought once again. They argued over little things, like why their socks were white, or why was Mickey Mouse a mouse and not a tiger. Taekwoon was engrossed to the stranger named Jaehwan. He had the same black hair as his, but he had those beautiful eyes, a cute nose, and pouty lips. He was like talking to a long lost friend. It was the first time he had talked to another kid of his age. 

It was not likely of him to talk to other people other than his parents. 

After half an hour of bickering, Taekwoon's mother arrived. Telling about how worried and reprimanding Taekwoon of his behavior, she scolded the young male but hugged him after seeing Taekwoon's face red with tear-stained cheeks. She carried him in her arms, Taekwoon's chin resting on his mother's shoulder. She began to walk away from the stranger with the red balloon. The stranger smiled happily as he waved. 

Taekwoon waved back with a soft smile on his face. 

"Don't forget me! Remember me! And my balloon!" the stranger named Jaehwan shouted. 

"I won't!" Taekwoon mouthed. 

"Promise me we'll meet again!" Jaehwan shouted once again. 

Taekwoon reached his little finger, his pinky, out to the stranger. Jaehwan smiled brightly and replied by doing the same gesture. 

"Promise," Taekwoon mouthed once again. 

A promise I ought to keep, as long as I remember the balloon.

And in a few years, I will keep my promise. 

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A/N: Hi guys! So this is my first oneshot! I will try to make my stories as fluff as possible. It's not much and I might give a sequel to this but I'm still not sure, but I'm definitely not satisfied. :D I will try to do better tomorrow! Thank you for the subbers and readers! 

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