Kyungsoo remembered a lot of things when it came to his dear friend, Kim Jongin. His memory stored anything and everything of Jongin. From what he disliked - like cauliflower which he’d pretend to eat before spitting into his napkin when having dinner with family - to what he absolutely loved - including small dogs and dancing. From his lowest moments to the moments where he felt as though he could conquer anything before him, Kyungsoo was there for them all. Kyungsoo remembered so much about his friend that he could clearly look back on the day he first randomly showed up in Jongin’s life.

Jongin was in the midst of walking towards his excited mother with unbalanced, chubby two-years-old legs when Kyungsoo first made his appearance. His sudden entrance startled the unexpecting toddler, causing the little boy to teeter forward and fall right on his face. The boy’s mother immediately came to his aid, picking up and shushing her child as she rocked him back and forth to put him at ease. 

“Shhh, it’s okay, Jongin.” The woman coaxed in a gentle voice, kissing her son’s forehead. After figuring out that he wasn’t going to stop crying any time soon, she asked,“How does a cookie sound?”

Jongin stopped his crying and sniffled, giving the tiniest nod of his head. Kyungsoo followed the pair in mild interest as they walked into the kitchen. Jongin stared over his mother’s shoulders at the mysterious man who misted into their living room. When Jongin caught Kyungsoo’s eye, he grew shy and buried his head into his mother’s neck. 

Jongin’s mother retrieved a chocolate chip cookie and handed it to her son who was already seated at the round, wooden table. She ruffled his brown locks as she said,”Mommy’s going to go clean now, okay? Be a good boy and eat your cookie. Don’t leave any crumbs.” She then proceeded to walk out of the kitchen, strolling right past Kyungsoo in the process. 

Kyungsoo’s figure rippled for a few seconds before falling back into shape. A sigh past his lips as he shook his head, turning his attention back to his soon-to-be friend. Jongin’s little fingers were wrapped tightly around his cookie and he glanced shyly down at his feet. 

Kyungsoo found it to be the best time to introduce himself, and give a nice friendly greeting. He was about to open his mouth when Jongin ed the cookie in his direction.

“Cookie!” Jongin declared, looking up at him with a toothy grin on full display. 

“That cookie is for you,” Kyungsoo replied, flashing Jongin a smile of his own,”why don’t you eat it yourself?”

Unbothered by Kyungsoo’s words, Jongin nudged the cookie once more in his direction. The man simply shook his head and Jongin huffed in agitation.

“Cookie!” He said, louder this time. “Cookie!”

When Kyungsoo still didn’t take the cookie offered, Jongin’s face scrunched up. Kyungsoo was afraid the toddler was going to cry, sending a rush of panic into his gut. He’s never made a friend cry before and he didn’t want to now. He was always sure to play nice and be as friendly as possible with his friends that imagined him and they were always content with his actions.

Kyungsoo’s worries were put to ease when he watched Jongin break the cookie in half. Jongin kept the bigger part for himself, already nibbling on it as he showed the other half for Kyungsoo. 

“This is fow you,” Jongin explained as he set Kyungsoo’s half onto the tabletop. When Kyungsoo didn’t budge, Jongin asked,”You no like cookie?”

“My tummy hurts when I eat cookies,” Kyungsoo lied. 

He always used an excuse along these lines whenever he was asked this question by a friend. Kyungsoo has had so many friends in his nonexistent life that he was able to polish up his lying skills in order to keep them happy. 

“Mommy wubs my tummy when it hurts,” Jongin stated,”want me to wub yours?”

Kyungsoo smiled and shook his head,”No, it doesn’t hurt right now. You can rub it another time, okay?”

“Okay!” Jongin grinned, his teeth chocolate-stained. “Hey! What’s your name?”

“I’m Kyungsoo.”

“I like your name, Soo!” Jongin nodded in satisfaction. “My name is Jongin and I’m two-years-old.” He even held up three fingers to show Kyungsoo how old he was. Kyungsoo laughed at this. causing Jongin to laugh as well. 

“You’re my new fwiend, Soo! And fwiends give other fwiends cookies, okay? So I’ll give you a cookie tomowwow, too!”

After that magical day, Kyungsoo was announced Jongin’s ‘bestest, way better than my babysitter, best friend’. Alright, Jongin didn’t say those exact words but Kyungsoo liked to deem himself more better than Jongin’s twenty-something year-old babysitter, Baekhyun. Baekhyun had stopped coming to babysit Jongin when Jongin’s first days of school started. Kyungsoo’s lips always twitched up into a smile when he thought of how nervous Jongin was back then.

Jongin nervously knelt atop the bathroom sink whilst looking into the medicine cabinet’s mirror. His teeth were on display, showing the missing front tooth that he had accidently knocked out last week. Let’s just say that running outside with his shoes untied was a mistake that Jongin wanted to take back.

“Everyone’s going to make fun of me!” Jongin cried out, turning around to look at Kyungsoo who was perched on the closed-lid toilet. “No one’s going to be my friend and I’ll have no one to play with!”

“You’ll make friends,” Kyungsoo soothed the distraught five-years-old. “Everyone will want to be friends with you, why wouldn’t they want to be?”

“You’re only saying that,” Jongin mumbled as he climbed off the sink, almost slipping off. Kyungsoo reached out a hand to steady the boy but his attempts were in vain because Jongin slipped right through his hand. “Do you think the Tooth Fairy will give me back my tooth if I ask for it?”

“She gave you that Michael Jackson poster, though. Do you want her to take it back for a tooth?” His friend grinned in amusement. 

“No! She can’t take that back.’ Jongin hollered,”I won’t let her! She can keep my tooth, then!”

“Jongin, who are you talking to?” One of Jongin’s sisters asked, poking her head from outside the bathroom. 

“To Soo, Noona.” Jongin replied, pointing to where Kyungsoo was sitting. “He said the Tooth Fairy is going to take my poster away.”

“Well that’s not nice of him,” his sister shook her head. “I’m sure he was joking to scare you.”

After Jongin and Kyungsoo’s meeting, Jongin always talked about Kyungsoo to anyone and everyone who would listen. The boy’s