The Royal Child and the First Ball
Five years old, for the very first time, I held my mother’s hand as we walked along the path to kindergarten.
“Damin-ah, today when we go to kindergarten you must get along well with the friends~”
Her gentle voice made me nod.
“Okay~”
Clutching her hand tightly, I scanned the surroundings.
The autumn morning air felt fresh, yet walking an unfamiliar path filled my heart with unease.
“Mom, what do you do when you go to kindergarten?”
“Well, the teacher plays fun games, makes new friends… Damin will draw the pictures she likes, right?”
“Really?”
“Of course~ We’re really good at drawing, aren’t we, Damin?”
A small smile tugged at my lips, but soon worry creased my brow.
“But what if the friends don’t play with me?”
My mother squeezed my hand even tighter.
“Anyone who is as kind and adorable as you would definitely want to play together—after all, they’d come to play with you first.”
Her words eased my worry, yet as the kindergarten building came into view, tension returned.
“Teacher, please take good care of Damin for us.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll look after her carefully.”
The teacher smiled brightly and looked down at me.
“Damin, say hi to Mom~”
“Mom, bye-bye~”
“You play well and have fun, okay? Get along nicely with your new friends~”
I nodded and took the teacher’s hand, walking into the classroom.
“Everyone, this is our new friend. Her name is Jang Damin. Let’s all say hello together?”
The teacher’s words made the children cheer together.
“Damin, hi!”
I lowered my head shyly and answered in a small voice.
“Hello…”
“Okay, Damin… um… let’s sit next to Tae-woo over there?”
As I looked where she pointed, my eyes widened.
“Wow~”
The boy sitting there had glossy black hair and eyes that seemed lost in admiration. Just like… just like…
The prince!
It felt as if the handsome, charming prince from the fairy tales my dad read every night had appeared right in front of me.
“Hello?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
***
Recently, among the kindergarten teachers, a big worry had arisen.
It was the boy named Jung Tae-woo.
Tae-woo was a child with a level of handsomeness that could turn every young actress on TV into a “squid”—utterly beautiful.
One might think what was there to worry about, but kids always liked handsome or pretty things.
That was why girls flocked to Tae-woo.
“Tae-woo, let’s play together~”
“No. Don’t come.”
Even with a girl’s shy words, Tae-woo’s reply was ice-cold.
“You don’t like me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Since you don’t like me, don’t come.”
“…Uwaaaaaah!”
This scene happened every single day. The approaching girls were pushed away, and whenever it did, they always cried sadly.
The homeroom teacher sighed and walked over.
“Tae-woo, how about you go play blocks with Yuna? It looks super fun.”
“No.”
Tae-woo’s answer never changed.
“Then what do you want to do?”
“I don’t feel like doing anything.”
The teacher shook her head. There was no answer to how to handle this handsome child.
“What do we do, Director?”
“Sigh… You’re right. The other kids aren’t really rejecting him—they just keep approaching—but when he pushes them away like that every day…”
“Tae-woo’s mom worries a lot too.”
“First, let the homeroom teacher look after Tae-woo so he can get used to it.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
As a teacher who thought five-year-olds should enjoy playing and making friends, I could never leave Tae-woo like this.
So whenever other kids approached him first, I decided to actively help, and even if it didn’t work, I promised to be his playmate so he wouldn’t feel lonely.
Inside my heart, a special plan for Tae-woo was slowly taking shape. I had made up my mind to find the way to break through his cold wall.
But when this situation continued for about a week and showed no progress, the teacher’s worries grew deeper.
Jang Damin arrived at the kindergarten.
“Hello…”
Shyly saying hello, Damin was incredibly cute and pretty.
That’s it—pairing Damin with Tae-woo…
The teacher looked at Damin with a small glimmer of hope.
As soon as Damin saw Tae-woo, just like the other kindergarten girls, she went over first to say hello.
“Hello?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“Why?”
“Because it just irritates me.”
…The teachers watching this exchange exchanged worried glances. This time it won’t work either.
Damin hadn’t even adapted to kindergarten yet, and her first friend had already treated her so coldly.
She probably felt hurt and would cry or ask to switch partners…
Anyway, it seemed this would end in failure again.
The teacher steeled her resolve and prepared to approach Damin.
What should I do to cheer her up this time…
But Damin showed a completely different reaction from what the teachers expected.
“It’s no fun when you’re annoyed! Let’s draw pictures together and play, then it’ll be okay.”
“I said no.”
“Why~~~ Drawing is fun! Or do you like soccer?”
“Soccer?”
With an expressionless face as if nothing interested her, Jung Tae-woo looked at Damin when he heard the word soccer.
Oh my, Tae-woo likes soccer.
Come on, Damin! Get close to our Tae-woo!
This time he’s finally…
With the teachers’ fervent encouragement, Damin…
“Huh? I really like soccer too. I’ll show you the drawings I drew.”
Overjoyed that the prince had finally shown interest, she pulled out her sketchbook from her bag.
***
“Ta-da~ How is it?”
The prince, who had been looking at the drawing seriously, spoke first.
“What… was your name again?”
“Hehe, I’m Jang Damin! Let’s draw together now.”
“G, going to~”
“Hehe, let’s draw a soccer player!”
At that moment, Tae-woo’s cheeks flushed slightly, as if they were cherry blossoms in spring.
Of course, I was too focused on the drawing to notice.
From that day on, we played together every day—drawing pictures, talking about soccer, slowly opening each other’s worlds.
“Tae-woo!”
“What?”
“Let’s slide down the slide!”
“…I don’t want to.”
“Eek~”
“……Okay, let’s go.”
Tae-woo, who I thought was a prince, always said no at first, but when I kept asking, he stared at me blankly before eventually following my words.
“Wahahaha!”
“Was it fun?”
“Yeah, really fun! Let’s go again!”
“Stop now… Okay, one more time.”
“Hehehe, hurry up, Tae-woo!”
“Slow down.”
While playing so enthusiastically, suddenly the time for parents to pick us up came.
“Damin-ah, Mom’s here!”
“Mom!”
I ran to my mom, holding Tae-woo’s hand tightly. Mom looked surprised, glancing between me and Tae-woo.
“Oh… So you’re Tae-woo. The teachers told me a lot. You’ve been taking good care of Damin. I’m really grateful you got along with Damin.”
“G… Yes. Thank you.”
“Huh? No, Tae-woo has been taking care of me.”
“Hahaha, he really is handsome.”
As Mom leaned closer to Tae-woo’s face, his cheeks flushed.
“Our daughter is worth following around.”
Proudly smiling at Mom, I beamed.
“Mom, can’t we go home together with Tae-woo?”
“We don’t mind, but then Tae-woo’s mom might be troubled.”
At that moment, the kindergarten teacher approached Mom and whispered in her ear.
“Um, Damin’s mom, Tae-woo’s mom called saying she’s a little late.”
Mom thought for a moment and asked the teacher.
“Then could I have Tae-woo’s mom’s contact number?”
Ring~ Ring~
“Ah, yes, this is Tae-woo’s mom.”
“Oh, I’m Damin’s mom. Damin has been saying she wants to play with Tae-woo all the time and wants to come home together—would that be okay?”
“Sure, I’ll text you the address.”
“Don’t worry, take your time.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Thanks to the teacher’s help, Mom finished the call and smiled brightly at Tae-woo.
“Tae-woo, how about going to Damin’s house with the auntie? Mom said she’s coming to our house. What do you think?”
Tae-woo hesitated briefly, but then, holding my hand tightly, he nodded slightly.
“Yay! We’re going home with Tae-woo!”
I jumped for joy, clapping my hands.
As I left the kindergarten holding Tae-woo’s small hand, my heart beat fast. An unfamiliar path, unfamiliar scenery. And most of all, a special time with Tae-woo.
Hehe, this is so fun.
“Tae-woo, when we get to my house I’ll show you all the soccer players I drew.”
“Sure…”
Mom smiled at us.
“Kids, let’s eat yummy snacks at home. Tae-woo, what do you want to eat?”
“…Ice cream.”