Best Of Me || Taekook

Eight

I couldn't seem to form words and stood there silently staring at Namjoon like he was some rare animal I'd never seen before. Luckily it wasn't just me. When Namjoon noticed me standing behind Hoseok his eyes had turned round and at least three times bigger than normal. Hoseok waved his hand in front of my eyes, bringing me back.

"Hello, earth to Taehyung, have you lost your tongue?"

I ignored him while I ran past him towards Namjoon. That seemed to shake the exchange student up and he spread his arms just in time to lock me in them. I really tried not to cry but the tears came involuntarily, streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls in early spring.

"It has been way too long," I whispered softly in Korean.

I could feel Namjoon nod, his head brushing against mine. I let go to see tears glistering in my old friend's eyes too. From the corner of my eye I saw Hoseok and Seokjin stare at us. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my coat, slightly embarrassed they saw the whole thing.

"I'm guessing you two know each other?"

I took in my old friend, he had changed a lot since I last saw him. Of course he had, we had only been kids when I last saw him. But I would still recognise him anywhere. The dimples in his cheeks when he smiled and his wide face. But he was taller now, much taller. We used to be about the same height, but he had definitely outgrown me.

He had changed his hair too. It parted in the middle now, and instead of just hanging down he seemed to have some sort of product in it to make it stand up more. And most striking was the new colour, grey but with a slight glow of purple. It looked amazing, he looked amazing.

I was almost embarrassed at my dull appearance. My hair black was still hanging down my face, so straight it almost looked like I ironed it. My clothes were all either grey, black, or that shade of blue that almost looked like grey. No colour, no flash, or anything that would make me stand out from the crowd. But Namjoon looked at me so fondly that all my insecurities vanished.

"I can't believe it's you, look at you!"

Namjoon seemed be able to control his tears better than I could. His smile was just as I remembered it, big and bright and making his eyes look like little crescent moons. All my childhood memories came rushing back to me.

The way we used to play in Namjoon's back garden, building our own treehouse where we'd keep all the animals we had caught. Our most prized possession was the caterpillar which had turned into the most beautiful butterfly we had ever seen. We might have been a bit biased.

I remembered the sleepovers, and countless bike rides we had made. The time Namjoon's parents had invited me to come stay with them at their beach house. Namjoon and I had searched for crabs for the whole weekend. Sadly his mom wouldn't allow us to bring any of them back home for our little zoo, which Namjoon's dad had jokingly called our treehouse collection.

Namjoon had been my best friend ever since kindergarten, and leaving him had been harder than anything else. Seeing him here right now felt like a fantasy. How could it be true? I felt the urge to pinch myself but I didn't. It had to be true, I had felt him in my arms just now. I didn't know what to say to him, and at the same time I wanted to tell him everything at once.

"Is it really you though? I feel like this is some weird dream."

Namjoon laughed. "Yes, it's really me, and trust me I know how you feel."

I turned around to see Hoseok and Seokjin beholding the whole scene, looking rather clueless as on what was going on.

"Namjoon and I used to be friends in Korea," I stated shortly.

"Wait so you two grew up together, and now you're both here together meeting after like 10 years? And neither of you knew you would both be going here? Cause honestly, that some weirdly big coincidence if you ask me."

Namjoon laughed at the suspicious look Hoseok was giving us. I was used to Hoseok's strange conspiracy theories, he always found some reason to believe someone was messing with him. It could be anything or anyone from the universe, to some dodgy agency or even one of his friends.

"Keep your conspiracy theories for yourself for once, it's just a coincidence, that's all."

"A weirdly big co-" Before Hoseok could finish his sentence Seokjin interrupted him, looking annoyed at Hoseok. I guessed he had also heard enough of his theories to be done with them too.

"Yeah, maybe we should just let you guys catch up." Seokjin grabbed Hoseok by his arm without waiting for his answer. "We'll see you guys later," he said waving at the both of us over his shoulder, while Hoseok struggled to release himself from Seokjin's grip.

"You look really great Taehyung!"

I didn't know how to respond to that. Namjoon seemed to mean what he said, but how could he mean that? I didn't look great at all.

"I look great? Look at you! Look at your hair and how did you grow so much?"

Namjoon laughed when I waved my hands at him like I was some magicians assistant showing everyone a great trick. But behind his smile I also saw a hint of embarrassment, and with that I knew he was still the old humble guy I had known all those years back.

"Come on, I'll show you the campus while we catch up!"

***
Hello lovelies,

I am so sorry for taking so long to write. For some reason I decided to write Namjoon as Taehyung's childhood friend. Something I hadn't planned, but it felt like a good idea. But now I have to figure out how that will fit in my story, but oh well.

Love Mel💜