Noble Heart

1

They were children. Kim Youngjo had barely turned nine when he first met Danbi who was seven at that time.

The doe-eyed girl climbed up the climbing frame, trying to reach the slide. Her mother was busy talking to another mother of a smaller girl playing in the sand. Out of breath, Danbi arrived at the top. However, she had to notice that she wasn't alone. The girl shrieked when another boy was sitting next to the slide.

"Hi." He said instantly, she hesitated. "My name is Youngjo."

"I'm Danbi."

"Pleasure to meet you, Danbi."

Looking at him, he seemed to be dressed overly well for attending the playground. Those clothes weren't made to get dirty. The girl couldn't stop looking at him so that she forgot about her urge to use the slide immediately. She was too curious about the black-haired boy.

"Are you hiding?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Can I join?" she figured that he was playing hide and seek with someone.

"No, not like that," he pointed through a hole in the wood "I'm hiding from them."

Danbi peeked through the hole only to see two men dressed in black suits. She couldn't tell whether they were a threat or not, but they seemed to be desperately looking for something or someone while talking on their phones.

"Are they evil?"

"Not really. I'm just bored, so I came here. I'm usually not allowed to."

"Why?"

"Let's play something to make time pass." Youngjo changed the topic, she only agreed without questioning it any further.

They played a freshly made-up game while the men were still looking for the boy. When the two children were getting too worked up on the game, getting louder and louder, Youngjo was the one to shush them both by putting one hand on his mouth and the other on hers. Danbi couldn't stop watching the men when suddenly, they started to yell Youngjo's name out.

They had decided to ignore them, however, that was when Danbi's mother was calling her to head home. The girl's eyes met his, asking whether it was okay for her to leave without using any words. Out of nowhere, he said,

"Let's go down together."

Youngjo pointed at the slide and grabbed her small hand, smiling. So did she. They barely fit next to other on the slide, yet they made it work. With loud laughter, they slid down and safely arrived with their feet in the warm sand.

Danbi's mother, Hayoon, immediately went to the two laughing children and so did the black-dressed men. Youngjo's laugh fell silent, his face became serious. Hayoon caught sight of the boy and curtsied.  The girl didn't understand what her mother had done just now. Her face turned red when the men arrived to take the boy. Why was she doing that? The children's hands separated. Danbi looked at them with big, confused eyes.

Then, Ms Kang took her daughter's hand and said,

"Let's go home, dad is waiting for us."

Danbi's father was an advisor, a very busy one. Apparently, he was working for the Royal Family. The girl didn't know what that meant just yet, but she knew that he was barely home, so they had little time with him. Nevertheless, she loved her father dearly and so did her mother.

"Mommy, are the men bad? Are they going to hurt him?"

"No, honey. They're protecting him."

Why was he hiding from them just now then? She didn't believe her. She stayed silent. Danbi turned around to look at Youngjo one last time for that day. The said smiled and waved goodbye, it calmed her, so she did the same. Happily hopping next to her mother, they arrived home.

That hadn't been the last time they met. Danbi came to the playground day by day, hoping that she would meet the mysterious boy again. And she did every time. However, the men were nowhere to be seen. When she asked him where they were, he'd say that he had come alone. Eventually, they found a new place to hide from her mom and play in peace.

Meeting every day, eventually turned to every second day, every third, once a week and then once a month until the boy didn't show up anymore and Danbi gave up. Maybe they were too old for the playground now, no? Time had passed, and they had to grow up.