Promise

Prologue

Alone.

Sitting on that swingset by myself, as usual, my eyes watching the other kids run around screaming and laughing.

It didn't bother me, it never did. I knew the other kids didn't like me, so I didn't bother trying to be nice to them. At least, I kept telling myself that.

"Why does Taehyungie always sit by himself?" I heard a high-pitched male voice pipe up, drawing my eyes toward the voice.

A boy around my age stood a few feet away, his eyes locked on me in curiosity. His hair hung above his eyes.

"We don't talk to him because he's really mean," the little girl he was with responded, squatting down to pick a flower out of the ground. "I tried to be friends with him when school first started. But he ignored me and it hurt my feelings."

The boy hummed in response, directing his attention back to the sandbox. I kicked my feet a little, biting my bottom lip.

"Hi there, my name is Jimin!"

I looked up alarmed, shocked to see the boy standing in front of me with a wide smile on his face.

"Don't talk to me," I grumbled, looking back down at the ground. I thought he would've just left like everyone else did. But his feet didn't budge.

"Don't you want to be friends?" He questioned me, moving to sit on the swing beside me. "I know I wish I had more friends."

"I don't," I grumbled again, kicking the dirt beneath my feet. "No one wants to be my friend."

"I do," he responded without hesitation, and I looked up at him, slightly alarmed. "I want to be your friend, Hyungie."

"Hyungie?"

"Yep! That's your new name. Only I can call you that, okay? You can pick a name for me now!" He grinned, his two front teeth missing. I stared at him for a moment, feeling a few other students judging us silently.

"Minnie? Or Jiminie?" I questioned, still wary of Jimin's presence. Having all this attention directed at me made me very uncomfortable.

"I like Minnie!" He giggled, hopping off the swing and grabbing my wrist. "Let's be best friends forever, okay? I'll never leave your side!"

Best...friends?

As Jimin dragged me away from the swings, I stared at the back of his head in confusion. He stopped suddenly, turning around with his pinky outstretched.

"Let's pinky promise, Hyungie. Let's promise to only love each other, okay?" Jimin smiled widely at me, and it was at that moment that I knew.

He was going to have a big impact on my life.

I locked my pinky with his, grinning from ear to ear and nodding.

"I'll only love Minnie the mostest!"