1 First Meeting

The last strains of the pianos melody came to an end and Jhaesun and other members of the audience got to their feet and applauded

Jhaesun gazed up at the stage in awe at another boy thirteen years old but

he was already doing performances and world tours sitting on stage at a beautiful grand piano he had just been playing

dressed in that classic fashion of black suit with a bow tie and his black hair was curly hanging fringe over his golden-brown eyes

pale white skin and rosy pink lips and cheekbones set in a small sharp impish looking face

he bowed gracefully to the applauding audience and Jhaesun knew he had to do

everything he could to be able to meet him to at least be able to shake his hand he quickly and quietly left

his seat headed to the stage realizing there were also several other older adults doing the same thing

who were all eagerly hurrying to meet the performer

holding out their hands to shake his some people gave him flower bouquets they were carrying

Jhaesun smartly procured a few stray flowers from a few random bouquets as he squeezed through the crowd

finally ending up in front of him at the edge of the stage

"Moon Yonghwa I am your fan your piano playing is very beautiful" he cried shoving the few flowers at him hoping to capture his attention

Yonghwa's eyes landed on an odd mix of flowers and then on the handsome fifteen-year-old boy holding them

seeing a fan his own age among the crowds of older adults who usually attended his concerto

yonghwa was shocked and thrilled he reached out and grabbed Jhaesun's wrist in his hand accepting the flowers from him

somehow the hodgepodge of random flowers moved him more than all the fancy bouquets that others had given him

"you are my fan?" he asked him in surprise

"yes I saw your music video online and I really liked it and I bought your album too" he held the album in its disc case

it had a picture of the boy sitting on top of a black piano in a white room as the album cover

"I came from New West City to see you by myself my dad wouldn't bring me has to work" Jhaesun answered

"they were in the imperial capital of Esperia currently" Yonghwa realized he had traveled for over a day from another city on his own

"from miles away just to come to see him?" he was moved and impressed

"your performance was really amazing" Jhaesun blurted out "I play the guitar and sing too and I try to write my own songs but seeing you're this young and can do tours all over the world already

you're really cool ill try hard to become a musician as good as you someday"

"what's your name?" Yonghwa asked "can we be friends?

"I don't know any other musicians my own age it will be great to have a friend like you"

"yes I'm Jhaesun Park!" he replied with a grin his blue eyes shining happily his blond hair messily hanging over his eyes

"you have a phone? can I have your contact?" Yonghwa asked pulling out his cellphone from his jacket pocket

Jhaesun nodded "I have social apps too you can follow me I have lots of pictures"

he said getting out his phone the pair exchanged contact data

"you can call me anytime," Jhaesun said

"let's stay in contact" Yonghwa nodded agreeing

"I will I promise" Jhaesun replied with a grin "I hope the rest of your tour goes well I will be watching online"

"sure see you online" Yonghwa replied smiling happily

and soon Yonghwa was swallowed up by the crowd of the other people waiting to meet him

Yonghwa in his hotel room after his bath and dinner, with his manager he was lying in bed browsing slowly through Jhaesun's social account

there were photos and videos of many various moments in his life collectively they told his story

he was the son of a high ranking military father serving in the Esperian Imperial Marine core of New West City of Country Esperia

Jhaesun had several pictures posted with various troops of soldiers he had met while living on a military base with his father

in almost every picture he was dressed in military clothing sometimes he wore uniforms

other times he wore a T-shirt tucked inside a pair of camo combat pants with a camo jacket hung

on his shoulders and black combat boots that was his regular look

his guitar was always with him it was like an extension of his body it hung by a strap

that was attached to the guitar and worn across his chest so that his guitar

hung on his back it was regular acoustic guitar but a beautiful dark brown with stickers on it

he traveled often there were pictures taken in various countries with foreign soldiers as well

he seemed to be well known in the military there were photos of him with his father too

he was a tall and stern-looking man as expected of a military general

Jhaesun had some experience performing on stage singing at various small events

him with a military wives choir

him singing and playing at some adults wedding

him singing to soldiers in a mess hall

he spent a lot of time outdoors there were pictures of Jhaesun camping sitting in a tent hiking in rugged but beautiful places

Jhaesun sitting beside a fire playing guitar at night while other members of a troop sat around him

mountain climbing with ropes he appeared to rappel down the side of a cliff face

and even pictures of him flying in a helicopter and some of him apparently skydiving with a group of soldiers from the air force

swimming in the ocean, him fishing at a lake holding a large fish and grinning brightly

training photos of him learning things some of them were on an obstacle course one

of them was of a muddy and grubby looking blond boy sitting on top of large

wooden wall with a rope hanging down and

some muddy soldiers standing below all looking up at him and laughing

his fist punched the air and a big elated smile was on his face

the photo was captioned "finally successful I beat the great wall! I am King of the wall!"

Yonghwa laughed it seemed he had been trying to climb the huge wall

and had failed many times but had finally overcome it at last

he understood the elated feeling of having defeated a huge challenge

Jhaesun's life was more rugged and strict in some of the photos the soldiers around him

would be photographed carrying arms and various weapons a few would be dressed in battle suits and even full-body armored gear

even though they were smiling for the shot sometimes they looked tired like they had seen hell

one could tell these were all hard battle-worn men who were used to fighting they were used to seeing death

even in the training pictures where they looked grubby

the men's eyes would have a certain look they had strong intimidating dark killing auras these were serious men dangerous men

but the boy himself amongst them alone was the safest he was a like bright and shining flame in the dark

and it seemed he was much loved by his fellow soldiers some of the pictures the men's faces became familiar

so Yonghwa knew those were the soldiers who usually were around Jhaesun the members of his troop

and in the photos they looked like they were close with him compared to others they seemed to regard him as a little brother

more often than not someone's hand was on his shoulder or an arm around his neck or

rested on his back or ruffling his hair there was camaraderie and affection shown to him among the soldiers he was close with

he was cherished and protected by his big brothers it was no wonder he was such a happy boy he

had so many strong people around him watching out for him he need not fear anything

there were a childish innocence and purity about him despite his environment

Jhaesun also posted some videos of himself playing his guitar and singing quietly to himself

while rocking left to right in time with the melody as he played Yonghwa was touched by those videos

he had such a lovely voice he really could sing well and he loved all kinds of music outside of the military

Jhaesun had a beautiful artist soul this seemed more like his true self Yonghwa realized

he decided to keep his word and be real friends with him he wouldn't let him forget the music

when Jhaesun sang his spirit shined even more like a beacon of light through his bright blue eyes

Jhaesun's brightness that had made Yonghwa notice him in the crowd

at the concerto, he started following his account and sent a brief message

the friendship that began at that moment would change both their lives forever