Lifetime (Taekook)

~Part 2~

Jungkook was 9, and Taehyung was 11.

Taehyung had just finished his last year at primary school, while Jungkook still had a couple more years to go.

As a congratulatory present for finishing his SAT's, Taehyung had received a Nintendo Wii and some games from his parents. Ever since, Jungkook was often round Taehyung's house playing video games with him when it rained. Mario Kart was one of their favourite games. However, the boys learnt that they were both very competitive, and it usually ended up in cheating and shouting. Not that this ever ruined the bond they both shared with each other at all. It was all just in light hearted fun.

However, one rainy afternoon in the summer holidays, while they played Mario Kart, getting up to their usual antics of pushing each other over, or trying to knock the controls out of each other's hands, or blocking the screen from the other's vision, Jungkook suddenly got very upset and threw his Wii remote on the floor before starting to cry.

Taehyung paused the game, suddenly feeling very concerned and guilty, as he had just caused the younger boy to fall off the track on Star Road and lose first place, making him fall back to eighth.

"Hey, Jungkook?" He called softly, placing an arm around Jungkook's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kookie. It's only a game. I'll let you beat me off the track too, hm?"

Rather than respond, Jungkook curled into Taehyung's side and began to cry more. Taehyung wrapped his other arm around the boy and rocked him gently, trying to soothe him. Taehyung now understood that this was more than just the game that had upset him, and had decided to let him cry it out because Jungkook doesnt usually cry. He's not a big crier.

When Jungkook finally calmed down a bit and lifted his head to look up at Taehyung, Taehyung reached out a thumb and wiped his tears, before letting out a little giggle.

"You've made my top all wet." He joked, trying to cheer up the younger boy.

Jungkook smiled slightly and mumbled an apology. He sniffled and wiped at his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Is everything okay?" Taehyung asked gently, and Jungkook shook his head as fresh tears started to roll down his cheeks again.

"I know I'm being stupid... but..." He started hesitantly.

Taehyung took his hand and gave it a slight squeeze, encouraging him to continue.

"I'm really going to miss you, Tae-Tae. What will I do in school? Who will I play with? I'm too shy to talk to other children on my own. I'm only going to be able to see you after school now, and I won't be able to see you for as long because you have to travel to the nearby city with the big school in it. But what if you meet new people there? What if you find a new best friend at your new school? What if you don't need me anymore? I'm scared Tae-Tae. I don't want to lose my best friend." He blurted out quickly, before burying his face back into Taehyung's chest and sobbing loudly again.

Taehyung was shocked by the younger boys outburst, and took a moment before wrapping his arms back around Jungkook and rocking him gently again to calm him. Taehyung hadn't realised that this was upsetting Jungkook as much as it was and he felt bad for not realising it sooner.

As Jungkook calmed down for the second time, Taehyung squeezed him tightly and tenderly stroked his head as he spoke.

"Kookie... I'm so sorry for not realising you were hurting this much. But you will never lose me, okay? We'll always be best friends, and we'll always live next to each other. We can always see each other when I get back from big school, and all weekend. Every day, I can tell you about my adventures at big school, and the people I meet, and maybe you can meet them too, Kookie. I promise you, I'll always be right here when you need me, okay? You won't lose me ever, because I don't want to lose you either, Kookie. You're my best friend forever."

"But it won't be the same..." Jungkook mumbled.

"No, it won't. Things will change quite a bit and there will be lots to get used to. But, the one thing that I promise won't ever change, is you and me being best friends, and seeing each other every single day."

"Promise?" Jungkook asked, holding his pinkie finger out.

"Promise." Taehyung replied, locking his pinkie with Jungkook's, and touching their thumbs together to seal the promise.

"We'll make the most of the rest of the summer together, okay Kookie?" Taehyung grinned.

"Okay, Tae-Tae." Jungkook beamed, feeling a lot better and more reassured by Taehyung's words.

However, summer passed by quickly and the start of the new school year came around fast.

For the first couple of months, Taehyung had kept his promise. Every day, 5pm on the dot, Jungkook still just about managed to squeeze through the small gap in the fence to see Taehyung. But as the school year went on, and a couple more months passed, Jungkook began to gradually see less and less of Taehyung.

When Jungkook did see Taehyung, he would tell Jungkook about the great new people he had met in his class. Especially his new partner Jimin, someone who he described as fun, kind of short and easy to tease. Taehyung would also tell Jungkook about the after school clubs that he wanted to attend so that he could meet more people.

So Taehyung did just that, and began to join after school clubs. He joined the basketball club and met Yoongi, who was two years above him. Someone who Taehyung explained was kind of cold and distant at times, but could be really sweet and funny when you got to know him.

Through Yoongi, he met another friend called Jin, who was in the same year as Yoongi. Taehyung described him as someone who fussed a lot, but was really kind and looked after them well. He would tell Jungkook about how sometimes he would still wonder about how those two could possibly be friends. Yoongi and Jin were the complete opposites. Yoongi appeared to not really care much for anything, while Jin cared about everything. But then, Taehyung would explain that when he saw the two together, there was no doubt about it. The two were definitely really good friends, that shared a bond that couldn't be explained.

He also joined a language club, as he had a strong desire to learn Japanese. There he met Namjoon. A friend Taehyung described as smart, wise and trustworthy, but also a little clumsy.

Though, Taehyung didn't always stay long in clubs, and often dropped them a week later. For weeks, Taehyung went on like this. He joined the dance club, the art club, the theatre club, the music club, the cooking club and so on. He met many people but the ones he was closest to and talked about the most were Jimin, Yoongi, Jin and Namjoon.

He began to hang out with them more and with Jungkook less, leaving Jungkook feeling lonely. He had known this would happen, but Taehyung had promised him that it wouldn't, and Jungkook felt betrayed and angry at the people who were taking his best friend away from him.

A month grew into two months, that two months grew into four, and those four eventually became six, and the school year was over. During that time, Jungkook hadn't heard from or seen Taehyung once. He had never felt so alone. Even engaging with the other kids in his class and hanging out with them didn't feel quite right to Jungkook.

But, he continued to play with the other children to stop his mother from worrying about him, as he's always been shy and more introverted. It was Taehyung who made him more confident. It was Taehyung that was always there for him, encouraging him, and pulling him along to engage in activities. Jungkook didn't know how to be confident on his own. It felt weird to Jungkook to even try to be confident on his own. He just felt weird, like a part of him was missing.

A part was missing; his best friend was missing.

~AN~
Because I'm feeling kind of good for posting the first part finally, have part 2 as well and let me know how it is. I love reading comments ♡