Chapter Three: We Are Bulletproof Pt. 1

Taehyung's POV:

Taehyung tried to control his nerves as he sat waiting for 2 o'clock to roll around and his audition to start. It was easier the first time; having no expectation to actually audition had kept him from locking up in fear of what was to come. But now he sat in the hard fold-up chair next to his father, watching the waiting room slowly fill with other teenage boys and he couldn't help the uncomfortable shifting in his stomach.

He tried distracting himself with the reading material he had brought from school; well, the reading material that his mother had insisted he bring to read on the train if he was going to be missing his classes for the day. It wasn't all that surprising that the work couldn't keep his attention for more than a few minutes at a time.

Even his father didn't seem to actually be reading the novel he had brought with him; the pages didn't turn nearly fast enough for the older man to actually be actively reading. Taehyung realized that his father must have been nervous as well. They had taken time out of their week to come to Seoul on a whim, with only a very slim chance of the trip panning out to be anything life-changing. The extra pressure of knowing how inconvenient this all was for his family only set Taehyung's bouncing leg to warp speed.

Eventually he gave up completely on distracting himself and just let his eyes sweep back and forth from the other auditioners to the slowing ticking clock. Other boys, who apparently weren't nearly as nervous as Taehyung, gathered in small groups to introduce themselves and make (sometimes not so) polite conversation with each other.

In a normal situation, Taehyung would have been eager to introduce himself as well; it always made him feel better to at least have one person to talk to. But not today. Ever since this whole idol group business had started, he had felt a major strain on his normally bubbly, if not carefree personality. He hadn't even found much time to spend with Minjun, which the older boy had not failed to mention multiple times in the past few weeks.

Making it a goal to spend more time with his best friend once the audition, which had occupied his mind completely, was over and done with, Taehyung tried to settle more comfortably on the hard surface of the chair he had been rooted to for a few hours now. The clock told him that he didn't have much more of a wait; it was already 1:27, meaning he should be called back within half an hour. He could wait that long surely. In an hour or so it would all be over and his fate would rest safely in the hands of someone else; not that the thought was particularly helpful.

A sudden ringing broke through Taehyung's silent monologue. He turned to watch his father pull his chiming cell phone out of his pocket. It was his mother, undoubtedly calling to see if they had made it to the city and found their way to the audition site.

"I'm just going to slip out and talk to your mother. If you get called before I get back, good luck- or break a leg, I suppose would be better." His father shot Taehyung a quick smile before awkwardly excusing himself through the now extremely crowded waiting room.

He felt a flash of panic at being left alone, but realized that not too many of the other teens in the room had been accompanied by a parent and suddenly he felt slightly foolish for having looked like he needed to be babysat. Then again, maybe it was the presence of his father that had kept the jackals from him in the first place, because as soon as he was alone, three stylish and stuck-up looking guys materialized in front of his chair.

The tallest one, who seemed to tower over Taehyung where he sat in the chair, jerked his impressively strong chin skyward in some sort of strange, douchebaggery greeting. "Hey."

Taehyung's eyebrows shot up, mostly out of amusement. The guy was everything he had assumed he would face if he was to come up against the cliche rich boys of the city. His hair was glossy and swept across his forehead, but mostly hidden under a flat-billed hat; his clothes were stylish and looked as if they could be designer. The two boys that flanked him looked to be carbon-copies and clearly weren't worth much attention on their own.

Not really in the mood to deal with whatever bullying was about to begin, Tae tried to come up with some excuse to slip into the crowd. Unfortunately his nerves kept him rooted to his seat, gazing up at the imposing guy standing in front of him.

"Where did you audition?" Douchebag Leader demanded for no apparent reason. He didn't even wait for Tae to respond before cutting in with his real reason for bringing up the subject in the first place. "I didn't attend the open auditions. I was personally asked to come as a favor to Mr. Bang."

Tae tried to think of the bitchiest way he could tell the guy that not only did he not care, but that he wasn't impressed in the slightest. Before he could, he heard his name called out through the crowd by a strangely familiar voice.

"Taehyung! I heard you were going to be here today." Doyun, the assistant producer that had scouted him at his first audition, materialized out of the crowd with a giant smile plastered onto his face. Tae tried his best to ignore the feelings that smile stirred within him; he jumped to his feet to face the older boy.

"Doyun! I didn't know I'd see you again!"

The Douchebag squad glanced back and forth between the two of them, but the leader clearly made a decision to move on to new prey and they stalked off into the crowd of auditioners once again.

"That's funny. I had the strange feeling I'd be seeing you again." Tae's stomach squeezed at the blazing smile that accompanied the statement. Was the older boy flirting? It seemed like something too outlandish to just happen out of the blue like that. Maybe he was just reading into something that was entirely platonic and meant to just be friendly. "How have you been? Are you excited for your audition today?"

Doyun had changed his hair since the last time they had seen each other; it was now extremely dark and streaked with purple. Tae considered bringing it up but thought it might be weird to have noticed the change in the first place. He had almost waited an embarrassingly long time to answer, choosing to stare at the guy for longer than was probably polite.

"I've been great. I've gotta say I'm pretty nervous for this today; it was easier last time when I was sort of bullied into it at the last minute." The last statement was meant to be teasing and he hoped Doyun took it that way; sometimes the things he would say out of sarcasm to his friends didn't come across quite the same to other people.

So he was glad when Doyun laughed heartily and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Man, fuck whoever did that to you, right? Maybe one day when you're rich and famous you can really stick it to them for being such a bully."

Smiling widely, Taehyung was surprised to feel some of his nerves slipping away; it may be strange to jump to conclusions after only two conversations, but something about Doyun really seemed to put Tae at ease. Not to mention he wasn't hard on the eyes… But he really didn't need to go getting himself confused right now.

"Oh, shit. I actually came over here for a reason. You need to put this on." Doyun shoved a square sheet of paper with a giant "6" on it and two safety pins into Taehyung's hands. "And then come with me to the studio. You're in the first group to go."

He quickly fastened the number to his shirt and pushed down the blush that tried to surface when Doyun reached out to grab his wrist and pull him through the waiting room to the studio he had caught glimpses of before. It was at that moment that Taehyung noticed the front door open one last time and a small group of guys come tumbling through the doors.

Three of them were loudly bickering with each other, shoving each other's shoulders lightly as they made their way past Tae and Doyun. The shortest of the group hung back in a clear attempt to walk with the young, scrawny boy that was trailing behind. They all slunk towards the studio, the tallest one with a crazy hairdo nodding at Doyun who had pulled Tae to a stop right outside the open door to the dance studio.

"Those are the guys they've already chosen." He announced to Taehyung unprompted as they watched them walk by. "They're really cool. I bet you'll get along if you make it through this audition." He paused a moment to take in Taehyung's stricken face before nudging him forward with a kind look in his eyes. "You're going to do great. Don't worry."

"Great" wasn't exactly how he would describe his audition.

Being in a room with 10 other guys vying for the same spot really put Tae in a funk, but he tried to push past it. Being watched from all angles by the various producers that were meant to judge him didn't help matters either, but he could ignore that if he really focused. It was the dancing that killed him.

The already chosen member that had introduced himself as J-Hope had really flown through the choreography like it was nothing. For Taehyung, it was definitely one of the hardest things he had ever attempted. He was sure he looked like a newborn horse stumbling around, trying his best to not bump into people. The only saving grace was that a few of the other established members weren't much better than he was, even with the training they had already received.

It wasn't that he wasn't naturally graceful; he felt like he kind of had some natural poise and rhythm. It boiled down to the fact that he was extremely uncomfortable with the moves themselves. Contorting his body in a way that could be considered sexual was something entirely new for Tae. Pair that with the fact that a certain assistant producer had decided to slip in and watch this particular set of auditions, Tae was blushing bright red the entire time they were showing off the dance.

Anytime he met eyes with Doyun he could tell the older boy was teasing him. From shaking his eyebrows up and down suggestively to biting his lip in Tae's direction, he was having a grand old time making the entire experience an embarrassing one. Tae still wasn't sure if the actions were legitimate flirting or just friendly teasing from a guy very clearly secure in his masculinity and sexuality. He decided to table the mental discussion for now and focus on the task at hand.

Once he was able to ignore the older boy, the dancing went a little bit smoother. Or at least it passed by faster. Soon it was over and time for the auditioners to show off their singing. He listened to the guys before him sing the same, or at least similar, songs over and over again. Even he was bored hearing it by the time it was his turn. So rather than sing a popular, easy idol band song, he chose his latest favorite from an indy American singer that he had played on repeat for weeks.

At some point during his singing, he glanced up to find one of the already chosen members staring straight at him. And yes, they were supposed to be listening to him sing, but something about this guy's stare in particular had drawn his attention. He could almost sense that he was being watched with more intensity than he had ever felt before in his life. So he did what any normal person would do and shut his eyes incredibly tight to block out the stare. The guy was clearly the youngest of the group and while Tae hadn't caught his name during introductions, he had noticed the multiple stares that the kid had been shooting his way since he walked in the room.

But after he had finished singing and had taken the time to watch the next person begin his own audition piece, he found the kid staring off into space rather than at him. So maybe he had just imagined the whole thing.

Finally, it was over. He didn't feel particularly great about his chances when factoring in the dancing portion, but he at least felt relief that he could now go home and not worry about it for a while. Strangely enough, as if fate wanted to push them together, Tae found the kid from before standing on top of his bag as soon as he attempted to leave.

He felt strangely hesitant to say anything, but pushed the silly feeling away and approached the guy instead. When Tae announced to the boy that he was in fact standing on top of his bag, he was cutely awkward about it and scrambled to get off. Tae expected to then just grab his bag and scram, but he was soon being introduced to the tall guy who had nodded at Doyun earlier in the hallway.

That guy's name was Rap Monster, which seemed peculiar at first until he remembered the idol who had literally nicknamed himself G-Dragon. Rap Monster then introduced the awkward bag-stepper who was apparently also too shy to talk for himself; his name was Jungkook. They both seemed perfectly nice and he almost wished he could stick around to talk to them some more but Doyun appeared at his side and told him that they were bringing in the next group.

He let himself be shepherded out into the lobby, slinging his bag onto his back as he went. Doyun stopped right outside the door to the studio, glancing at Tae with an apologetic look in his eyes. "I wish I could walk you further, but they need me back in there to do some more producer shit."

"That's okay. It's not that big of a place. I think I can find my way around." Tae teased.

He was rewarded with a smile and another squeeze of his upper arm. "Well, you did great, kid." Alright, maybe that stung a bit, coming from the mouth of an objectively attractive older male. "Hopefully, I get to see you around here again."

Tae nodded and said goodbye before seeking out his father in the crowd. Neither of them figured they needed to stick around since Tae was done auditioning, so they gathered up their things and bustled out into the late afternoon breeze that awaited outside of the studio. His father didn't say much to him, clearly not wanting to pry too much, but he seemed satisfied when Tae offered up that he felt mildly confident that the audition had gone well.

It wasn't too long before they were back on the train headed for Daegu, each having pulled out their prospective books yet neither one of them planning on doing any reading. Instead they sat in silence next to each other and watched the changing landscapes out the windows all the way home.

When the two men got home, it was well past dinner and the house had already quieted down for the night. Tae's father told him he'd relay to his mother that the audition went well and sent him off to bed. He wasn't surprised to find Jeongyu already asleep, or at least pretending to be, when he reached their room.

He decided to be kind and leave the lights off, slipping off his now sweat-dried clothes and pulling on his pajamas in the dark. There was once a time when he and his younger brother had been extremely close and nights like tonight would be spent up playing together and laughing. Something about them both becoming teenagers had changed that though; his bubbly personality only solidifying where his brother's changed to a sullen, emo mess that no one could pull him out of. Tae tried not to let it bother him too much, but he could feel a hole in his heart where his relationship with his younger brother had once been. It was there waiting for the younger boy to come back to him when he was ready, if he ever would be ready.

Once Tae had slipped into his own bed he allowed himself to think back on the day. He didn't feel complete despair about his audition, and maybe if he was lucky his singing would outweigh his dancing. He had just allowed his thoughts to turn to the strange, staring boy when his bedroom door creaked open quietly. It wasn't a shock when he felt a weight settle onto his bed and a petite body crawl up to cram between him and the wall his bed ran parallel to.

As Eunjun slipped herself under the covers and settled against Tae's chest, he found himself wrapping his free arm around her shoulders. It wasn't strange for his younger sister to crawl into his room, even as she got older. They were both cuddlers and had often found it easier to sleep when together rather than apart.

Settling his chin on top of her head, he closed his eyes and prepared to sleep. But she interrupted the silence with an extremely unsuccessful whisper. "So how'd your audition go?"

Tae chuckled softly, squeezing her around the arms lightly before answering. "I think it went well. I'm not a very good dancer."

"I could have told you that." She hissed back playfully before lapsing back into silence. He thought she had fallen asleep but she squirmed to get more comfortable before whispering again. "I bet you did great. I hope you get in, even if it means you have to leave us."

Leave us. It didn't sound accusatory; nothing ever did coming from Eunjun. It was just a matter of fact statement. And he supposed it was true. If he got into the group they would either make it big, at which point he would never be truly back home, or they would fail and he would have to scramble to find something else to do with his life. It was all very overwhelming to think about and if he was honest with himself he was avoiding thinking through the logistics of it all until he absolutely had to.

"Let's not worry about it yet. I haven't even gotten in." He mumbled back, although he seemed to be talking more to himself than to her.

He felt her nod and settle more into the pillow. He eventually felt her body still and her breathing even out, signaling that she was asleep. It took him longer to follow, but eventually he did and luckily, he had neither dreams nor nightmares.

The next day seemed strangely mundane following his big trip to the city and Tae couldn't pretend that he wasn't bored out of his mind as he sat through class after class that he didn't care about. He was chomping at the bit for lunch to roll around so when his history teacher dismissed the class, he was the first out the door.

He found Minjun at their normal lunch spot under the giant tree in the school's courtyard. Swinging the bagged lunch his mom had packed for the other boy, who much preferred Tae's mother's cooking to his own, onto his lap, he collapsed to the ground beside him.

"Hey." Minjun muttered around the rice he was already shoveling into his mouth. "How'd it go yesterday? You didn't text me like you promised."

Tae shrugged noncommittally as he lay completely down and stared up at the moving clouds in the sky. "I'm sorry, hyung. I forgot that I had promised. It went okay, I think. My dancing is awful so I'm hoping they can see past it, you know?"

The older boy nodded, his bangs flopping into his eyes. It struck Tae that Minjun didn't seem overly concerned with how the audition had gone; it almost seemed as though he wasn't expecting much to come from it in the first place. The idea stung a little, even if he had no concrete evidence that it was how his best friend actually felt.

He did want to pass through the audition and be selected, didn't he? He wouldn't have gone and put strain on his family if there wasn't at least a part of him that actually took it all seriously. But if he was honest with himself, he didn't necessarily feel the same drive that the other guys at the audition had exerted. But maybe that would change if he was selected. Maybe his passion for the job would follow as he was thrust into it head first.

Forcing himself to focus on Minjun once again, Tae found himself stumbling into a conversation he really wasn't expecting to have at the moment. "-and she says she's had a crush on you forever so I figured you'd at least be interested to know about it, you know?"

"Whoa, what?" Tae interrupted the older boy as soon as he could piece together what he thought he was hearing. "Who has a crush on me?"

"You really suck at listening, dude. Always off in your own world." Minjun sighed dramatically and kicked his foot out to connect softly with Tae's side. "That girl from the band that I keep telling you is staring at you constantly. The tall one that plays the flute."

"Oh, okay. How do you know she has a crush on me?" Tae could feel a blush rising up his neck to pair with the nervous jitters he always got in situations like this. He was a man of many weaknesses: Girls Generation, his mother's cooking, cute puppies, and, unfortunately, being confessed to. He was entirely incapable of rejecting someone who confessed to him. It was unclear why it was so hard for him to gently let someone down, but he just couldn't disappoint people, even when he was definitely not interested.

And while the girl Minjun was describing seemed perfectly nice (well, from what he could remember about her, which wasn't much), he was extremely confident that he was not interested in being confessed to once again. A fact that Minjun definitely was aware of, making Taehyung wonder why his best friend had brought it up in the first place.

"I already told you. She was talking about it to Jiyoo and Jiyoo told me, so I confronted her about it and she spilled her guts. It was very cute actually; she's clearly infatuated with you. Though I have no idea why. If she only knew you like I do, she would run far away-" Minjun laughed heartily as he dodged the punch Tae was sending his way. "Anyway, that's not what's important. What's important is, I need you to take her confession so we can go on a double date. It's the only way Jiyoo is ever going to give me the time of day and you can be my wingman. Play me up and shit, you know?"

Ah, there lie the truth. It was all just an elaborate guilt trip to talk Tae into going on a double date that he definitely would have rejected in the first place. Taehyung groaned loudly, slinging his forearm over his eyes in despair. "No fucking way, hyung. I'm not doing this shit so you can get laid."

"Please, TaeTae. I would be forever in your debt." He could hear that the older boy was pouting his bottom lip out in an attempt to get sympathy. That wasn't going to work. Minjun's constant elaborate plots to find girls and convince them to date him was exhausting and Tae wanted no part in it.

However, when he continued to ignore Minjun by pretending that he had fallen asleep, he was rewarded with the older boy's mumble of, "I guess I could tell Jiyoo that you need to hear the confession for yourself. I'm sure she could get her friend to talk to you right after school-"

"Don't you fucking dare." Tae sat up quickly, glaring at Minjun. He definitely didn't want to get confessed to in person; that would inevitably end up with him actually dating the girl for weeks just out of sympathy. "Fine, I'll go on the double date. But you have to figure out a way to get me out of a second date as soon as it's over."

Minjun chuckled and started digging through Tae's untouched lunch sack once he sensed that the argument was over. "Get into the band and you'll have the perfect way out."

And based on how the double date was going, he suspected he really would need to move out of town in order to get away from this situation.

Minjun and Taehyung had met the girls at the local shopping mall with the intention of eating lunch at the food court before walking around and window shopping. The problem with such an unstructured date is the pressure to actually talk to one another. Going to the movies would have been so much better, in Tae's opinion, because it was considered more rude to talk than to not and there was at least something to keep everyone entertained.

Currently, the entertainment of the afternoon was Minjun babbling away about anything and everything he could think of to impress Jiyoo, the girl that all of this was for. Tae was determined to not aid his best friend in the slightest as punishment for dragging him along; therefore, he was scooting the last of his food around the styrofoam container and trying to avoid eye contact with his own date.

Which was proving pretty hard to do since she was staring at him and had been since they met up. A flash of guilt rocked through his body as he realized that he had zoned out once again upon her introducing herself and therefore still had no idea what her name was. Normally he wasn't this rude, particularly to girls, but he was so uninterested in the high school dating scene and all his thoughts were consumed by wanting to get the phone call from Big Hit asking him to join the group.

The more days that passed since his audition on Tuesday, the more anxious he felt about his chances. And the more anxious he grew, the less patience he had with the mundanity that had been his life up to now.

"So, oppa, how are your saxophone lessons going?" It took Tae a moment, and a covert shove from Minjun, to realize that his date was talking to him. Her eyes were giant and fearful, which tugged on his heart strings and made him feel bad for ignoring her up to this point.

Even if he had no interest in dating her, he should at least be kind. It took courage to confess to someone, even if it was second hand, and being immediately spurned would be embarrassing and hurtful. He smiled widely at her, letting his eyes crinkle with the force of it. "It's going alright. I haven't had much time to practice lately, if I'm honest. How's your transition to the flute been?"

Oh alright, Taehyung. Completely forget her name but remember that she switched instruments to the flute this year. That makes total sense, you fucking weirdo. Yet somehow it wasn't surprising. He always did seem to focus on the little details rather than the big picture. Minjun would say that he fixated on shit that didn't matter, but based on how the girl's face was currently lighting up, maybe it was a good thing that he remembered.

"Oppa! You remembered!" She squealed out excitedly, reaching across the table to grab his free hand. It was so unexpected that he almost pulled away; not that he had a problem with skinship in general, but he was used to being the one that initiated it. And it was normally with people he was more comfortable with. And it was most certainly never with girls (outside of Eunjun).

He gaped at their connected hands, barely registering that she was still talking in response to his question. How do I get her off without offending her? He shifted his gaze to the side, hoping that Minjun would help him, but the older boy just grinned mischievously before returning to conversation with his own date.

And that's how Tae was stuck walking through the mall, his clammy hand gripped tightly in a much smaller, softer one, trying to come up with some sort of plan to excuse himself sooner rather than later. Minjun was being no help, as per usual, completely enthralled in his own conversation with Jiyoo.

They were not holding hands, Taehyung noticed with envy. Why had it all turned out this way? He should have refused the double date in the first place. Now she would be expecting something to come out of all of this and he wasn't willing to date anyone right now.

"-actually, TaeTae here is the one that got a call back." Minjun's mention of his name grabbed his attention and he lifted an eyebrow at the older boy to show that he hadn't been listening but was now curious. Minjun rolled his eyes and slung his arm across Tae's shoulders, "I was just telling the girls about your audition in Seoul on Tuesday."

Face flushing with embarrassment, Tae averted his eyes and pretended to be extremely interested in the clothes hanging on the mannequin in the shop window they stood in front of. It just so happened that they were outside of a women's lingerie store, which Taehyung noticed a few moments too late as he realized he was staring in on women holding up outfits that he should definitely not be seeing.

"Oh!" He squeaked out, yanking his head down to stare at the floor while the others laughed heartily at his mistake.

If it was even possible, he felt his face turn redder as Minjun leaned forward and teasingly whispered, "You'd better get used to seeing that shit if you become a world famous idol, dude."

Like that was going to happen.

The weeks after the double date, and the audition in Seoul, were a weird dichotomy of busy while also being uneventful. As the end of term and winter break approached, Tae threw himself into his studies in an effort to distract himself from the fact that he hadn't gotten a call from Big Hit yet. The paranoia had settled in approximately a week into waiting and, if his chewed-to-hell fingernails were indicative of anything it was that he was extremely stressed.

It had been so long since the audition that when a phone number with the Seoul area code scrolled across Tae's phone screen, he almost let it go to voicemail. Luckily, Minjun was laying on his stomach across the end of the younger boy's bed and, upon noticing the number as well, slapped Tae's thigh urgently.

"Answer it! That might be them!"

Anxiety sparked throughout Tae's entire body, causing his palms to become sweaty. He stared at Minjun, who was in turn staring at him, hoping that he would answer the ringing phone instead. Finally realizing that wasn't going to happen and that he didn't want to end up missing the call, Tae slid the green phone icon to the side and pulled his phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hi. Am I speaking with Kim Taehyung?" The voice on the other end of the phone was kind and lilted upwards with each word. Tae took it to be a good sign that the man sounded optimistic and so he allowed himself to also be optimistic.

"Yes, this is him."

"Ah, fantastic. Well, Mr. Kim, we wanted to call and extend our gratitude that you took the time to come to Seoul and audition with us a few weeks ago." Tae could barely concentrate on what the man was saying. Just tell me yes or no already. I can't take the waiting. Minjun also apparently had had enough of the waiting; he slumped forwards to he could put his own ear on the back of the phone in an effort to hear the man's muffled words on the other end of the line.

"And we found you to be extremely talented-" For the love of god, just tell me. "So we would like to officially extend an offer for you to join Big Hit Entertainment as an idol group trainee."

And that was it. What he had waited weeks to hear. Relief didn't flood through his body like he had expected it to. What did all of this even mean? As much time as he had spent on thinking about the future, he really hadn't actually thought it all the way through.

Minjun had pulled away from the phone and was staring at Tae with a fanatical grin on his face. When the smile wasn't returned, the older boy's face fell. Tae felt like he was watching the whole situation from outside of his body. Why am I not responding? The guy is waiting. Minjun is waiting.

But the words wouldn't leave his lips. It all felt like way too large of a decision to be made on the spot. Which was honestly stupid considering he was the one that wanted all of this.

"Mr. Kim?" The voice on the other end of the line was unsure and softer than it had been before. "Did I lose you? Are you still there?"

Suddenly, realizing that the younger boy was trapped in a prison of his own thoughts, Minjun grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently. Luckily, that woke him up.

"Y-yes, sir. I am here. I'm sorry. Uh- that's really great news. I would love to become a trainee." His voice sounded lifeless to his own ears. But the Big Hit representative either didn't notice or chose to ignore it, pushing on with trying to sort out the details. But for a seventeen year old boy whose whole life was being dramatically altered, discussing specifics was way out of his depth.

And that's how Tae found himself pacing the living room as he listened to his father speak to the man in the other room. That's good, he thought to himself. Better that the adults deal with this shit. This is too much right now.

Minjun, who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, simply watched Tae walk back and forth across the small room. The sudden realization that Taehyung would be leaving, maybe for good, in the really near future had caused the older boy to shut down.

The two of them had been inseparable since childhood and now it seemed like a giant rift was going to tear their friendship to shreds. The 10 year old boys who had promised to be best friends for their whole lives apparently hadn't counted on life ripping them apart.

When Tae glanced down at his best friend, he pretended to not notice the tears swimming in the older boy's eyes. And he hoped Minjun was kind enough to do the same.