"You look at me like I'm someone
You only need when it goes wrong
But you look at him like he's your missing piece
And, darling, I wish it was me"
- I Wish It Was Me, Etham
1947.
The seven year old chess prodigy, Benny, was sitting side by side next to his best friend, Rose, on the couch in the living room of Benny's childhood home. They were watching television or more like Rose was staring at the television while obviously daydreaming and Benny was observing her, studying her soft facial features. They had been best friends for a year ever since Rose's family became his neighbors. He was more than glad to be her friend ever since she knocked on his house's door and asked him if he could play with her.
They spent most of the day together, going to the same school and playing together in the afternoon. Unfortunately, recently, a lot of Benny's time had been occupied with chess training. His parents discovered that he was good at the chess game a couple of months earlier. They called him a 'prodigy' (whatever that means, he didn't know) just because he beat a few old dudes at the game. While Benny enjoyed playing and studying chess, he still thought it was unfortunate that the time he spent with his best friend started becoming scarce.
So, it was an understatement to say that Benny was glad he was wasting the Friday afternoon, leaning on the sofa while swinging his thin legs and gawking at his best friend. Rose took a while to notice him staring at her and she turned her head to meet his gaze.
"What?" He asked her, feigning innocence. She tilted her head to the side, a habit she did whenever she was considering something, a habit which Benny found rather adorable.
"You're staring." Rose replied after a while and he shrugged nonchalantly.
"I am." He wanted to pinch her chubby cheeks that were slowly being tinted with a shade of red but he was too nervous (His heart rate increased at an incredible rate so that meant he was nervous, right), feeling his own cheeks heat up. "Does that make you uncomfortable?" She shifted her position on the couch so she was facing him.
"Yes, you're making me nervous so don't do that." She had a pout on her lips and Benny could only stupidly nod at her. There was a long moment of silence when they just gaped at each other before Rose finally spoke up. "You should make me as comfortable as possible so one day, we'll end up together." Benny didn't know what her words exactly meant but he found himself nodding once again.
"All right."
It was five years later when his mind decided to replay the conversation in his head. It was only then that he realized what 'ending up together' meant. His twelve year old self could not help blushing but there was no way he's going to bring up that conversation with Rose ever again.
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1959.
Benny had already moved out of his family home and started living in some cheap basement apartment, which he got a really good deal with. It was nowhere as beautiful as his parent's home but it was livable, considering that Benny was a simple guy. He only needed his chess boards and books and he would survive anywhere. He and Rose kept in touch. She would occasionally visit him or he would visit her in her house. She still lived with her parents at the time so whenever he would pay his own parents a visit, he would make sure to drop by her house too.
He realized that he had a stupid crush on his best friend but he was too busy playing in chess competitions to act upon it. In addition to this, he was not really sure if it was worth destroying a friendship that lasted more than a decade long for some unjustifiable romantic feelings. Still, a part of him still hoped that they would end up together. That small part was destroyed when Rose started dating someone.
