Chapter Text
They had been friends all throughout school. Namjoon and Yoongi had met first in middle school, being just a year apart. They’d met Hoseok and Seokjin and then later Jimin and Taehyung who’d already been best friends since elementary. Together, they formed their small but closely knit friend group that stuck together through middle and high school. They hung out regularly after school, and on the weekends. Really, any free time they had, they were at each other’s houses. Unfortunately, late high school was when everything started to go wrong.
It was the middle of Yoongi and Seokjin’s senior year. They were constantly bombarded by college after college with information and decision after decision about their futures. Jimin found himself at Yoongi’s house along with Namjoon one day while their friend was having another crisis over which school to choose.
“Hyung, I don’t understand. If you want to go there so bad, why don’t you accept it?” Namjoon looked up from the sheet of notebook paper with the hastily scribbled pros and cons list Yoongi had handed him a minute previously about his top choices. Yoongi groaned in frustration yet again and stood up from his stool across from Jimin and Namjoon and began pacing around his kitchen again.
“You don’t get it, Namjoon-ah! This is a big decision. What if I make the wrong one? And besides, my second choice has better academics…”
“Only by a tiny bit,” Jimin murmured, unheard, under his breath.
“Yes, hyung,” Namjoon said, trying to remain calm but also clearly not understanding their friend’s behavior. “But isn’t going somewhere you like more important?”
Yoongi just sighed again and continued pacing. Namjoon and Jimin exchanged a glance with each other but Namjoon just shrugged. They’d had similar conversations with Yoongi several times already. Before it could get too awkward, the front door slammed.
“Yoongi-yah!” came a familiar shout. “We’re here!”
Seokjin marched into the kitchen, oblivious to the tense atmosphere. He snatched up one of the long-forgotten apple slices from the plate on the counter and plopped down in Yoongi’s abandoned seat.
“Sorry I’m late, I had to take Jeongguk with last minute.” On cue, a small figure darted into the room after Seokjin.
“Hi, Jeongguk,” Jimin greeted him warmly. Seokjin’s neighbor was a shy boy, but he hung around the others often enough since his parents were always busy and had Seokjin babysit, so they were all fairly fond of him, though not particularly close. Jeongguk was in seventh grade, three years younger than Jimin, so perhaps reaching the age of not needing anyone to watch him, but his parents were a bit overprotective. Jimin also privately suspected he just really liked hanging out with the older boys.
Jeongguk gave him a shy but sweet smile in return to the greeting before grabbing the last of the apple slices and sitting himself down on the floor in the corner. Seokjin didn’t seem to be bothered by the mildly odd behavior, so Jimin didn’t comment on it.
“Hey, hyung,” Yoongi sighed, finally giving up the pacing and leaning against the counter. “Have you decided where you’re going yet?”
“Hyung’s been having yet another crisis for the last hour,” Namjoon added. Yoongi glared at him.
“Yep! I just sent my acceptance in last night!” Jimin raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t heard about this yet. “I’m going to my top choice like I told Namjoon already. But it wasn’t that hard of a decision, since I already knew I wanted to go there.”
Namjoon nodded. “Yeah we talked about it-“
“Namjoon-hyung!” A voice piped up from the corner and Jeongguk popped his head up above the counter again and back into Jimin’s view. “Seokjin-hyung told me you’re the smartest in your class and you passed your last math test! Is that true?”
Jimin nearly laughed at how earnest his huge eyes looked as he gazed intently at Namjoon. Namjoon just looked a bit embarrassed and nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not that big of a deal or anything.”
“That’s so cool, hyung.” Jeongguk’s eyes were starry eyed and he grinned at Namjoon before getting nervous and ducking back down to his spot on the ground again. Seokjin just laughed at him.
“Jeonggukkie’s in awe of anyone who can actually do math.” A small embarrassed groan came from the floor but Jimin quickly jumped in.
“As he should be, I swear it’s a skill only the most elite have. Namjoon-hyung is simply a god among us bad-at-math mortals, huh Jeongguk-ah?” Jeongguk snickered and Jimin smiled, pleased to have amused the youngest.
“Well, anyways, can we get back to my issue, please?” Yoongi said somewhat impatiently.
“Of course, Yoongi-yah,” Seokjin replied easily. “That’s what I came for. I’m sure we can get something figured out for you.”
They had a lot of conversations about college these days, Jimin thought. As a junior, it felt really intimidating, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about his best friends moving on so soon. Honestly, it scared him a little bit.
•••
Spring of his senior year, Hoseok found himself driving his mother’s car to the local ice cream shop with a backseat full of rowdy teenagers nearing sunset on a Saturday night.
Someone had made the bad decision of placing Jimin and Taehyung on opposite sides of the backseat, and the two kept reaching over the middle and dramatically yelling at each other, despite the fact that they couldn’t have been more than three feet apart.
Jeongguk had somehow found his way into Hoseok’s car, too. He sat silently looking both mildly terrified and like he was having the time of his life in between Jimin and Taehyung. After Seokjin had left for college, Hoseok hadn’t been expecting to see his neighbor much ever again, but the younger boy seemed to just keep showing up occasionally. Hoseok knew he had a few of his friend’s numbers and was asking if he could come with them sometimes when his parents left him home alone. All things considered, he wasn’t really upset about it. Jeongguk wasn’t a problem and was honestly not too bad to hang out with.
Namjoon sat happily in the passenger seat next to Hoseok, contentedly listening to their friends argue in the back and scrolling through his playlist which was playing an eclectic mix of his favorite songs. Hoseok had somehow been picking up Namjoon’s music taste so he’d allowed his friend to have to aux for their drive.
Hoseok wouldn’t have wanted his life any other way. As he drove down the road, the orange light from the setting sun filtered through the car.
“Let’s open the windows!” Taehyung suddenly piped up from the backseat, already rolling down his window. Hoseok smiled, and pushed the button down to roll his own window down. The weather had just been getting nicer, and a warm breeze filled the car. Namjoon whooped as their hair flew around their heads from the sudden disturbance.
“Hyung, turn the music up, I love this song!” Jimin shouted over the wind. Namjoon complied, and the two began to shout the lyrics. Hoseok joined in occasionally with the few bits he knew.
By the time the song ended, they were all laughing and in high spirits. Hoseok glanced affectionately in the rear view mirror to the backseat at his friends. Jeongguk met his gaze like he wanted to say something and Hoseok raised his eyebrows in a silent prompt.
“I’m so glad you guys still hang out with me,” he said.
“Of course, Jeongguk-ah,” Taehyung said affectionately, nudging the boy next to him. Jeongguk smiled, slightly embarrassed, and continued.
“Now that Seokjin-hyung’s at college I don’t really see him anymore. Will you guys still hang out with me when you go to college too? Please?”
Hoseok paused, not sure how to respond. He was saved by Namjoon opening his mouth and turning to Jeongguk behind them.
“Of course, Jeongguk-ah. We’re always going to be friends, all seven of us, okay? I know Seokjin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung going away has been hard, but we’ve got that kind of bond where distance doesn’t matter. You have nothing to worry about.”
Namjoon always had a way with words, and his declaration warmed Hoseok’s heart. It had been hard without two of their best friends with them all the time, but the six of them still texted regularly. He felt happy and content with their friend group. It was one of the biggest sources of happiness in his life. He parked in the parking lot of the ice cream shop.
“Everyone out!” He called. Four doors opened and five teenagers emerged, ready to terrorize a public building. “For real though, Jeongguk,” Hoseok added quietly to Jeongguk who looked at him with big eyes. “Namjoon’s right. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine and all be friends forever. Now let’s go get ice cream.”
•••
They did not remain friends forever. With only two of the original members remaining in their hometown, and the other four in various places around the country, they just didn’t see each other a lot in Taehyung’s last year of high school. They still met up a few times over breaks, but they all had such busy schedules it was hard to organize a time that worked for all six.
They texted a lot, for a while. Over time, the texts grew more infrequent. Jimin and Taehyung had decided on colleges on opposite sides of the country, which lead to one of the angstiest conversations of Taehyung’s life. Throughout his years at college, they’d all just sort of… stopped talking. Not by any particular reason or because of any big disagreement, simply because they all gained new lives that went different directions and naturally grew apart.
That night full of tears no longer hurt Taehyung when he thought about it. It’s been four years since he graduated college, and a decade since they’d all been in high school together. He wondered, when he occasionally would ponder the past, if he should feel the way he did about his ex-best friend and their friend group. It was sort of sad, he could admit to himself sometimes. But that’s life, wasn’t it? Growing up and growing apart. He was sure they were all doing well, too. He tracked down three of their Instagrams a year ago and briefly stalked them and they looked happy and healthy. Yoongi had a cute dog now.
Taehyung lived in Seoul now, and worked at an art studio, teaching painting and photography classes. He was hoping to get some sort of upgrade or raise soon, because it didn’t pay great, but he loved the job passionately.
This particular morning, he stopped at the coffee shop several blocks from his job as he did most mornings. Waiting for his drink after placing his order, Taehyung absently scrolled through his phone. He wondered if his coworker would actually show up on time today and if his mother would like him to pay a visit home sometime. He’d have to call later. Or maybe tomorrow. Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his hand and an unexpected name popped up in his notifications.
Hoseok:
You’re not going to believe this
It wasn’t in their old group chat with the six of them, but a new group with him, Hoseok, Yoongi, Jimin, and an unknown number. Taehyung suspected it might be Seokjin, given the area code and where he knew his ex-friend was living now. He tapped on the notification just as another appeared.
Hoseok:
*attached link to an Instagram post by @abcdefghi_lmnopqrstuvwxyz*
Taehyung, bewildered, tapped on the link. It brought him to an account he wasn’t familiar with. However, he was extremely familiar with the people in the picture. It was a picture of two men holding each other, one kissing the other’s cheek while he turned away, embarrassed but endeared. His bunny-like grin looked all too familiar. It… it was clearly an older Jeongguk and.. Namjoon? The two, Jeongguk especially, looked so different. The younger one was no longer a scrawny middle schooler, but an athletic looking young man with several piercings, longer wavy hair, and a sleeve of tattoos. Namjoon also looked super buff. They both looked happier than Taehyung had ever seen them in their teenage years.
Though he would know those faces anywhere, Taehyung’s brain refused to believe his eyes. He glanced down to the caption. It read “said yes!!!!!” with a ton of emojis. Taehyung swore his heart stopped, and he scrolled to the second picture in the post: a hand wearing an engagement ring the focus, with the two men grinning in the background. Another notification buzzed into Taehyung’s phone.
Jimin:
what.