Bulletproof Soul

The Day We Met

We finally arrived across the street from the Lotte Outlet, just a ten minute bus ride from our neighborhood. Taehyung looked through his bag to ensure he wasn't leaving anything on the bus. Standing next to him made me feel like I was still in grade school. Taehyung was tall for a high schooler. His short light wavy brown hair made his neck seem like an elegant swan, especially when his clothing choices included a white V-neck t-shirt, like the one he was wearing today. I reached down to pick up the CD case from under our seat and handed it to him.

"Is that for your friend from Busan?" I asked as we exited the bus. Taehyung and I have been best friends since we were in grade school. Even after he and his family moved to Busan for his middle school years, they returned to Daegu for his high school years. We have been inseparable for the last three years.

"Yea, apparently I brought it back with me and he's been looking for it ever since." Taehyung replied casually. We were going to meet up with his best friend from middle school. I wasn't ready to meet him, but Taehyung missed him, just as he missed me in the past. His two best friends, meeting for the first time could turn into a disaster. Luckily, I made a call early that morning to Seokjin.

Seokjin was, and always will be, the self-proclaimed "funny guy". We never really thought his jokes were very funny, but we enjoyed laughing with him anyways. He always had a smile, even when he was sad. But telling us jokes was when he showed his true smile, the smile of pure joy and we loved seeing it. He transferred to our school in our junior year. And although he was a year older than us, we could see that he was a good guy who was simply lonely. Like Taehyung, he was very tall, taller than Taehyung actually. And although he looked lengthy, he was very athletic, having joined the swim team in its last quarter. Even though he joined late, he was dedicated, loyal, never missed a meet or practice and still had plenty of time for us and his studies. A perfect student, he often helped Taehyung and I study for exams. Since his first day of school, we three were always together. Even today, I invited him to meet us at the Lotte Outlet, near my favorite food stand.

"...Nell? ...Nell!" I look up. Taehyung is staring at me like I was somebody else and bops me on the forehead.

"Huh?"

"Are you in there? We're going to cross now." Taehyung checks the road then grabs my hand, pulling me across the road. If it wasn't obvious, I am very spacey. I have the bad habit of zoning out...a lot. Usually I get lost in thought, but occasionally my mind is just blank. To make matters worse, I'm clumsy too. There isn't a doorknob on campus that I haven't banged my arms on. I have tripped over nearly one third of the school desks and chairs. And I have slipped in nearly every puddle during the rainy season. Thankfully, either Taehyung or Seokjin were around to always catch me.

As we neared the entrance to the mall, I stopped Taehyung. "Hey, what if we prank your Busan friend, you know, as a welcome to the group?" I gave my best big eyes and anime smile. He gives me a faint smile and simply says "sure". But I know better; 'sure' always meant 'I don't think so'. I pout a little, out of sight, since I don't want to upset him any further as we go in through the food court entrance. Before I could look for Seokjin, Taehyung makes his way for the Gong Cha Boba Tea stand. I glance over at the Dunkin' Donuts, scanning for Seokjin, to no avail.

"Yo!" Without looking around, I hear someone shout in our direction.

"Hey man." Taehyung stopped at the stranger, exchanging one-armed bro-hugs. However, since I was still looking around for Seokjin, I hadn't noticed that Taehyung had stopped walking and I bump into him, knocking him into the stranger. "Ah! Sorry man." Taehyung straightens himself out.

The stranger laughs, then looks pass Taehyung at me and asks, "Is this her?"

Somehow, I felt a lot tinier than usual. Busan boy was as tall as Taehyung, but not as lean. Unlike Seokjin, he actually looked athletic, even in his oversized black hoodie, loose fitting jeans and white Adidas. Before I could stop myself, I was raising both my eyebrows in disbelief.