"I will help you."

Yoko quickly spread her hands from her eyes on hearing that familiar voice, wondering if those words were really addressed to her.

"N-namjoon, what are you doing here, sweetheart?"

The little boy had picked her up to guide her to the car which had been moved to another parking lot by Baek since the day before, with the security guard staying with Seokjin and Taehyung in the car to make sure everything went smoothly between them. And now Namjoon had caught Yoko crying.

"I know you don't like me and pretend to be nice to me," Namjoon announced in a quiet voice, "I heard you badmouthing my family last night."

"You were awake?!" Yoko exclaimed placing a hand over her mouth, horrified, "I-I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, I wouldn't allow myself to-"

"I didn't say you were wrong," Namjoon said shaking his head, "my parents don't even pretend to be nice to you and Taehyung had hurt Jinnie. But I'm not like them, so you can be nice to me without pretending."

Yoko was mute with amazement. In addition to her work as a maid and at the request of the Kims, she taught Japanese to the two Kims in addition to her son, and even if it was true that Namjoon was a year older than the other two, she had always found particularly clever and mature for his age.

He understood everything very quickly, was interested in everything, was very polite to everyone and obedient to his parents, unlike his younger brother. He had received a stricter education than Taehyung, because he was the eldest, the first heir of the Kims, the one who would succeed his father at the head of the family business.

The only thing you could blame him for was never having had the candor of children. Namjoon laughed little and had so little fun that he seemed very cold on the surface for a child and so far Yoko had less trouble bonding with Taehyung than with Namjoon. 

The only displays of affection he had was for Seokjin and so far, for Taehyung, and Yoko had never seen him hug his parents or be kissed by them. This child seemed sorely lacking in love and the Japanese woman had always found it sad, knowing that he did everything to please his parents unlike Taehyung who was capricious and disrespectful towards  them but received all the love and all the maternal affection.

Seeing Namjoon receiving such a strict upbringing made her fear that the boy was becoming as cold, insensitive and dictator towards his son as his father was to her and it was because she was more on the lookout for the eldest Kim's behavior that she hadn't realized that the danger to his son could come from the youngest.

"I know you want to leave today with Jinnie and grandpa, but you don't have to," Namjoon continued, pulling Yoko out of her stupor.

"Namjoon, it's an adult decision, you can't understand," she stopped him in a firm voice. She didn't want Namjoon, like his parents, to dictate her behavior. Especially not when he was only eight years old.

"If you're a responsible adult and want Jinnie to be okay, you can't leave, you have to stay!" Namjoon declared in a moralizing tone that he usually had with other children, not with adults because he was too respectful for that.

But at the moment, he seemed to have somewhat lost his temper over Seokjin's mother's decision and the woman was stunned. 

"Namjoon-"

"I've been thinking about it all night," he cut her off, "it's a not the good thing to do."

"Excuse-me?" Yoko was indignant. "Namjoon, no matter how smart you are, you can't know everything about adult life outside your home."

"I know enough," Namjoon affirmed, "I know that if you leave, Jinnie won't have a home anymore and you'll have to buy all his medicine. As you are poor, you will have to choose between having a home or heating in winter so as not to freeze to death or buying food so as not to starve or buying medicine to be in good health... there are so many things to pay, it's like in a company: you have to pay the rent, the electricity, the equipment, the employees... Yes, I studied and that's why I know that if you leave,  either Jinnie will sleep in the street or he will be sick or he will be hungry, I don't want that, I forbid it!"

Even though Yoko was impressed with the knowledge and thinking of the eight-year-old boy, she couldn't let him think that she was not capable of taking care of her son and that it was up to him to do so.

"Namjoon, I know you love Seokjin very much, I really do, but I am his mother and I love him too so you have to trust me, I will make sure he is always okay."

"You can not!" Namjoon snarled, "I'm not stupid, I know you don't have enough money, you cried paying for the hospital today!"

"Yes, life is hard for my family, you are not wrong," Yoko conceded, "But I also can't let Seokjin live with Taehyung after what happened!" she snarled before calming down, "I can't let Taehyung hurt Seokjin again and scare him like he did yesterday..."

"I will watch over my brother and protect Jinnie," Namjoon assured him, "and I will pay for his medicine with my own money. I'll give you my monthly money, I don't need it."

"What?! No you can not do that!" Seokjin's mother flatly refused.

"Yes, I can and I will ; my money is Jinnie's now. But for that, he has to stay home with me," the child retorted.

"Namjoon, it's really nice of you and I'm very grateful to you, truly, but your parents will never accept that you use your money to pay for my son's medicine even if you're his friend and neither do I: it's up to me to me look after Seokjin and take care of him, I am his mom."

"But I want to take care of him too," Namjoon stubbornly repeated, "I will help you."

In reality, Namjoon's proposal was a godsend, a real blessing for Yoko who knew she wouldn't make it. She was backed up against the wall and everything seemed lost and suddenly, this boy, this little angel fell from the sky to come and help her?

No. She was dealing with an eight-year-old child, not an angel, and it was an aberrant situation. She had no right to take advantage of his innocence and affection for Seokjin. She shook her head again:

"I can't accept-"

"He deserves a good life but you are going to prevent him from having it!" Namjoon screamed, beside hmself.

"W-what?"

"Jinnie wants to fulfill his dream of becoming a footballer. He will continue to play even if he is sick because he is stubborn and you know it very well, right?" the boy asked wisely.

Seokjin's dream. The dream that had just been taken from him, probably forever that day. This dream that his mother was unable to help him achieve. Could she really do nothing to preserve the hope that he realized his dream? Really nothing? The more she thought about it, the harder it was for her to refrain from accepting Namjoon's proposal.

"I-it's true that my little Seokjin is like that, he works hard and is persistent," Yoko agreed finally with a proud smile.

A smile lit up Namjoon's face who thought he had almost succeeded in convincing her.

"So we have to help him, he has to be able to take his medication to achieve his dream and keep smiling. You do not agree?"

"Namjoon..." Yoko said tenderly, "do you really want to be Seokjin's good fairy?"

"Yes," the determined-looking little boy agreed briskly. "I would have liked to have a good fairy who protects me from my parents but since I don't have one, I want to become Jinnie's."

"What do you mean?" Seokjin's mother asked, puzzled.

"It's not important," Namjoon asserted with a smile. "It will be our secret to both of us, we won't tell Jinnie and we won't tell my parents and Taehyung either. Taehyung would be jealous and he would like to do the same as me besides, but he is unable to keep a secret : he would shout it from the rooftops for sure and my parents would know about it and prevent us from helping Jinnie. Besides, they wouldn't be happy at all and they would get really angry with me and you."

"And that doesn't scare you?" asked Yoko who was worried about the boy but didn't see him anxious in the least even if he seemed to have well measured - too well, it was destabilizing for her - all the consequences of his actions.

"No, I'm not afraid, I would do anything for jinnie" he asserted, "do you agree, then?"

He handed his tiny little finger, ready to seal their secret agreement. Yoko looked at the small hand he held out to him. Even though she didn't want to take advantage of a child, this one was too determined, too eager to help Seokjin. And for now, he was the only one who offered to help her and had the ability to do so. He was her only hope to be able to protect her son and allow him to continue to live normally and be happy in the future.

So, slowly, she stretched her finger towards that of the little boy and, putting aside her scruples and praying hard not to regret it, let their two little fingers intertwine.

"Okay, that will be our secret," she finally agreed.

Delighted, Namjoon quickly let go of her to leap into her arms taking her by surprise.

"Thanks!" he exclaimed, hugging her affectionately and suddenly seeming to become an ordinary child again through this candor and not this boy too mature for his age.

"No Namjoon, it's up to me to thank you for your generosity and not the other way around."

"Yes but you gave me a gift by accepting."

"Do you love Seokjin that much?" Yoko smiled, stroking his head.

"Yes!" Namjoon exclaimed forcefully, stepping back to look at Yoko and show his sincerity. "I'm glad he's staying with me."

His words sounded unmistakably like Taehyung's, but Yoko wasn't scared by his words coming out of his mouth when she had been in front of his little brother. Namjoon seemed sincerely attached to Seokjin, with an innocent attachment, not an excessive and fetishistic attachment.

"It's really kind of you to help him, thank you very much," the woman thanked him, bowing as she would to an adult, "but I won't keep this secret forever: when Seokjin is older, I will reveal the truth to him, because he must know that you have taken care of him and that you are a true friend."

"We're brothers now," Namjoon corrected her.

"Ah really?" Yoko smiled. "Oh, and of course, Namjoon, I'll pay you back as soon as I get the chance."

"No, I don't want you to do that, otherwise I couldn't really be Jinnie's good fairy," Namjoon flatly refused, "I refuse that you give me back what I give you."

Seeing that the little boy was so adamant, Yoko decided not to insist but deep down she promised herself to pay Namjoon his money back. Even if he was very rich that this money would surely be insignificant for him for several years, when he would join his father's prestigious company which he was to inherit, Namjoon was still a child, and he might regret having made the choice to give away his money when he will be older.

"I'll make you some sushi to thank you, then," she promised with a smile, because she knew the Kim children liked to come and eat the Japanese dishes she cooked for her family on the sly, when their parents didn't want them to eat it, judging Japanese food to be tasteless compared to Korean food.

"Thanks! But then without-" Namjoon began seriously.

"Yes, without prawns," laughed Yoko, who knew Namjoon's tastes: the boy hated seafood. However, he remained infinitely less picky than his little brother Taehyung.

"Let's seal our deal like adults now," Namjoon said professionally. He extended his hand to Yoko, as he had seen his father do with his collaborators and as he had taught him to do when they had distinguished guests at home.

Yoko shook his little hand.

"Thank you, Namjoon, you have a good heart and you will become a good man. I'm glad you're the first heir to the Kims."

Namjoon smiled proudly at her.

"I hope Jinnie thinks so too!"

"I'm sure he will." 

Back at the Kims, Yoko let Baek bring the two little Kims back to their parents so she could take care of her injured son. Obviously, this did not happen in simplicity and the goodbyes were long because Taehyung did not want to let go of Seokjin and Yoko was saddened to see her son so passive when she perceived that he obviously did not want to stay with the boy who had hurt him so much.

Seokjin had always been friends with Taehyung and despite the bad character of the heir, he had always acted with a free spirit, without perceiving their difference in status and behaving with Taehyung as with all children, that is to say with his usual bonhomie. While she had always seen him smiling and having a good time when he was with Taehyung, he seemed to act like a puppet now, letting himself be manipulated anxiously without saying a word.

She started to wonder if she had made the right decision because she hated seeing her son like this. She was also going to have to tell Seokjin who still thought that he was going to move away soon as his mother had promised him. She suddenly felt like she was betraying him, and her unease became particularly noticeable.

Namjoon saw this and decided to act.

"You live next door, you can see him anytime so leave him alone for a bit," he interjected as he grabbed his brother and pushed him towards the front door, leaving Seokjin to stick around his mother, relieved.

"But I want to stay with him all the time," Taehyung protested, reaching out to Seokjin who didn't do the same and remained motionless.

"You can't, we're not even in the same school as him," Namjoon reminded him with a shrug, knowing however, with a certain contentment, that Seokjin would go to the same middle school as them a few years later. But he didn't want to tell Taehyung, he preferred to keep this secret that even Seokjin didn't know. "Lets' go. Bye Jinnie, rest well!"

Namjoon waved goodbye and Seokjin waved back with a weak gesture.

"Jin, I'll come back to see you later," Taehyung promised Seokjin, much to Yoko's despair, who would have preferred him to abstain when she felt Seokjin's hand twitch with anguish.

Fortunately, Taehyung let himself be dragged this time without flinching by Namjoon to the big house where their parents were waiting for them, and Yoko was finally able to find herself alone with Seokjin.

"Are you okay, Seokjin, baby?" she asked worriedly as she saw him clutching his right hip where his deep gash went down, and which was covered in a tight bandage after being sewn up. That was where the wound was deepest as it was also where the pruner blades had been stuck in before Taehyung abruptly pulled them out.

"It hurts," Seokjin complained weakly.

He could finally be less anxious and focus on his pain now that Taehyung was gone.

"It'll get better soon, I promise. Come on, let's go home too, I'll give you your medicine," his mother said hastily, leading him inside their cozy little house which contrasted with the large austere mansion that stood on the other side of the property.

She fed Seokjin then, after giving him his painkillers to prevent his injury from making him suffer again, she settled him comfortably in his grandfather's futon so that they could take a nap together. 

For a moment, she watched them sleep with tenderness, realizing that to take care of the two people she loved most in the world, she was going to have to let her last doubts vanish.

Then, with a determined step, she left them to go to the Kim's mansion. 

There, she stayed for a long time in Mr. Kim's office to sign their joint contract: she would keep her job at the Kims as well as her house which served as a tied accomodation, and her father would keep his job as a gardener too. Seokjin would keep what had happened to him a secret, she would make sure of it. If he did not keep the secret, the consequences would be terrible for the little Murakami family, the Kims would make sure. In return, the Kims agreed to take charge of Seokjin's secondary and higher education. A simple condition was given by Mr. Kim:

"Seokjin will enter these prestigious schools as my ward since I will recommend him. In addition to good behavior and seriousness in his studies which are obvious to me but also to you I hope, I want him to change his name. He cannot keep the name Murakami."

"F-For what reasons?" Seokjin's mother asked, stunned.

"These aren't schools for Japanese people," the man replied dryly, "you know perfectly well how Korean society looks at you, so there's no need to pretend you're out of the blue. I don't want an openly Japanese ward it would be bad for my reputation. Seokjin is tall and has a thin face for a Japanese, this is good, I imagine his father was Korean?"

"Y-yes," Yoko mumbled uncomfortably.

Mr. Kim smirked at the Japanese woman's discomfort.

"Look at you, Miss Murakami, you came out of a one-night stand with a very heavy burden to bear."

"My son is not a burden," Yoko immediately contradicts him.

"Ah really? Taehyung however came in shouting that Seokjin was sick now. He has asthma if I understood correctly, right? His medical treatment is going to cost you dearly and you would be ill-advised to quit now. Especially since your father is no longer very young and will probably also need medical assistance too in the near future."

Yoko's face crumbled. Namjoon was right, Taehyung was unable to hold his tongue for very long. She congratutlated herself on not having made a secret agreement with the youngest son Kim but with the eldest.

"I understood that was the reason for your decision to stay here," Young-Jae said. "Anyway, you are making the right choice. We are going to do something about your little fatherless Japanese boy who was not supposed to have a future."

Yoko pursed her lips to prevent herself from answering because her cheek was still remembering the fire of the slap received earlier from the hand of that man. She had to be obedient to her employers for the moment. To be patient. To suffer in silence. It was essential for her son.

"As I was saying, Seokjin will easily pass for a Korean but you will have to take care of his curly hair. Cut them, straighten them, dye them, I don't care but he has to look like as much as possible as a Korean. From now on, his name will no longer be Murakami Seokjin."

"So what will he be called?" the Japanese woman asked reluctantly.

"Kim Seokjin."