"Forever"

Chapter 1

Kim Taehyung and Rei Someya are the best of friends. Their unbreakable bond was formed when Taehyung moved to the crowded city of Seoul when he was seven years old – there were so many people, yet he didn't have a single friend. That all changed on his first day at his new school. He was wearing his favourite Spiderman t-shirt, hoping to gain some popularity in the playground. But to his dismay, the girls had already separated themselves into gossip groups and the boys didn't want to play with him. So instead of going outside and playing with the other children, he stayed in the classroom and watched the group's goldfish swim round and round in circles....until he spotted a small figure sitting in the opposite corner of the large room. The figure was dressed in a knitted jumper and jeans, but their face was covered by the large book they were reading.

'Maybe this boy will be my friend!' Taehyung had thought to himself excitedly. He hurriedly made his way over to the child and tapped on the front cover of the tattered book. "Dragons!" He squealed as he got a closer look at the book.

The child slowly pulled the book down to reveal their eyes. Taehyung was mesmerised – these eyes were bigger than his! He stared in awe as the large, brown doe eyes glanced up at him. "H-Hello. My name is Taehyung. C-Can I play with y-you?" He stuttered. 'This boy has long eyelashes' he thought.

The child moved the book and revealed their face. Taehyung gasped and took a step back. "A girl!" He shouted. "You're a girl!" He repeated, but as a whisper this time.

"Yes, I'm a girl and you're a boy. You are awfully strange, Taehyung." This girl was sassy, especially for her young age. She shook her head, lifted up her book again and continued reading it.

"I'm s-sorry. I didn't know you were a girl."

"What's wrong with girls?" She replied, but she didn't take her eyes off her book.

"I've never been friends with a girl before."

Her head snapped back up to look at Taehyung in shock. He shifted awkwardly as she didn't move her gaze away from his red face. "F-Friends?" Her voice cracked as she whispered the word as if it was foreign to her.

"Well, I thought we could be friends. Nobody wants to play with m-" He stopped in midsentence as he noticed the tears welling up in her wide eyes. He didn't know what he had said or done to make her cry, but before he could ask, she dropped her book and ran out of the classroom. Taehyung immediately ran after her and realised that he had ended up in the girls' toilets.

But Kim Taehyung couldn't care less. "Listen! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry! Did I say a bad word?" He gasped as a revolting idea came into his head. "Did I...........swear?"

He heard a giggle from the other side of the cubicle door before she unlocked it and appeared again. "Not as far as I know. It's just that....nobody likes me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm different. I'm not pretty....I don't fit in."

"Well, I like you and I think you're pretty....cool. Will you be my best friend?" The small girl's eyes widened at his proposal.

"Will I be your best friend?" She repeated in shock.

"Yes."

"Did you just answer your own question?"

Taehyung stood there in thought for a good five minutes. "I think I did." He laughed.

"Yes." She said with a smile.

"Yes?"

"You're so forgetful! Yes, I'll be your best friend. Will you be mine?"

"Of course!" He jumped up and down gleefully, before gasping in horror before coming very close to the girl, almost making their noses touch. "Wait!" He placed both his hands on her tiny shoulders. "What's your name?" He asked in a very serious tone, his eyes narrowing as they darted at hers.

"I'm Rei Someya."

"Oooooooh cool name! I'm Taehyung." He grinned and lifted his hand for a high-five.

"So you've told me before!" She giggled again as she slapped his hand and held it as they walked out of the girls' toilets....straight into the shins of their teacher. Both children looked up and gulped as their teacher gave Taehyung the scary big eyes.

"To the classroom now!" She hissed.

"She's scary" Taehyung whispered in Someya's ear as they were led back to their classroom.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Isn't the boy supposed to protect the girl?"

"Why can't the girl protect the boy?"

"She can. I'd never refuse your help."

With that, they both took their seats, but this time they were next to each other. The other children gave them strange looks, but to Someya that was nothing new. As for Taehyung, he was oblivious. He just didn't care.

From that day on, the two were inseparable. Even during bad times, they had each other and got through every problem together. Nothing could tear them apart.