“This is our kitchen,” he dragged you towards the room with white tile floors.

Then dragging you towards the wooden floor area he said, “and this is our living room. Oh man, this couch is amazing. Feel how comfy it is,” he dragged you to sink into the soft blue couch.

“Taehyung, no really. Whose place is this?” I couldn’t help but wonder. I know he’s been saying it’s our place but how would that even be possible when we’re going to completely different colleges.

“Hale, this is our place,” he smiled brightly.

“Say that one more time and I swear I will-”

He cut me off by placing a hand over my mouth.

I chomped down.

“Ouch! Did you really have to?!” Taehyung held the one throbbing hand in his other.

I stood up quickly and crossed my arms.

“Explain.”

His pain quickly changed to happiness and he quickly let out an explanation.

“Our schools are only 2 hours away from each other. This condo is about half way between both of them. This way, we wont have to drive 2 hours to see each other. We could just tough it out and do an hour of commute instead! And this way, we even save our parents money; not even to mention we can save money for ourselves! And we’ll still get to see each other everyday! Perfect right?”

This dip.

“Who’s paying for this? Does my mom even know? Taehyung, you can’t just decide things without telling me?”

“… Are you not happy with living with me?”

Of course I am. I just can’t imagine it really going through this way. I’ve been preparing myself for our friendship to slowly fade since we’re going to different school but this is just beyond my imagination.

“This is all just crazy,” I sat down next to him again with my elbows on my knees and my hands in my hair.

“What’s crazy?” he asked me innocently, “I just thought we were supposed to stay together. Hale, what would I do without you?”

I hate this guy.

“But Tae, our parents? How did they even approve? We were supposed to live in dorms.”

He looked at me seriously, “I bribed them.”

“I’m going to need a little more than that.”

“I payed for this apartment. I’m going to be paying for the rent. I worked for this, Hale. You can’t back out on me cause I’ve worked so hard.” He showed determination in his face, “I, honestly, thought you would be happy.”

His bright smile turned into a frown and my heart sunk.

How could he do that? He can’t just say things like that. He can’t just buy an apartment for them and pay for rent and do all this for me when… when I’m this in love with him already. He can’t do such sweet things.

“You idiot,” I pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

Regardless of how confused I still was, I smiled at him.

He smiled back.

~

“We’re going to miss you,” both of my seven-year-old twin brothers looked up to me.

“I’m going to miss you more, twerps,” I ruffled both of their hairs.

“BUT I WILL MISS YOU MOST,” my mom came running from no where to tackle me, “WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT MY GRUMPY FART AROUND?!”

“You’ll have a house full of optimism,” I followed her joke of my gloomy personality; I get my wittiness from her after all.

“You have to come back at least once every week okay?!” She started to tear up.

I poked her cheek while holding back my tears as well, “You better make food for me or I can’t promise my presence that often.”

Then she turned to Taehyung, “Take care of my baby.”

Taehyung engulfed her in a hug, “Of course. I’ll drag her back on the weekends.” He flashed her his smile and after a few more goodbyes and a couple more tears, Taehyung and I headed to our apartment.

We had spent the rest of the summer packing our things and slowly moving everything over. Initially, when he showed me the place, it was almost empty; the couch was all that he had gotten. I had picked a seasonal job shift at a small local grocery store and I worked to save up money for furniture.

With Taehyung working to save as well, we actually got a lot more than I thought. We spend the whole summer packing, shopping, and planning. We bickered about what to put where and what we actually needed in our place. It was a two-room, one bathroom apartment with a reasonably sized kitchen, living room, and even a small walk out balcony. It was way more exciting than I thought it would be.

I thought I’d be moving out on my own. But of course the buffoon had to change everything, yet again.

With his trunk of his truck filled with the last of the things we needed, we arrived at our place.

“Hailey?” Taehyung said before I could open the door to get out.

“What?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” I’m the one that should be thanking you.

“For actually staying here with me even though you already had your college situation planned out.” He kept his eyes on his hands that were still gripping the steering wheel.

“Of course. You’re my best friend after all.” I kept my eyes on him.

He turned to look at me right back. With the straightest face I’ve ever seen on him he said, “Of course. Best friends.”

~

That night was rough. All we did was clean and organize things but thank goodness we had been doing it frequently or else we would’ve been unpacking for days.

“Pass me that hanger?” I looked over to Taehyung who was lying on my bed. He lazily reached his leg over to the other side of the bed to grip a hanger between his toes.

“Here,” he stretched his leg over to me.

“Disgusting,” I made a face at him. He finished cleaning his room first so he came over.

A few more shirts that I had to hang; but he wouldn’t stop talking.

“I’m so nervous for these classes. I don’t even think I’m ready for this. What if I don’t know anyone? I wish we just went to the same college. Should I transfer over to yours? I’m nervous, Hale, hold me,” this guy went on and on like that for an hour straight. Finally down with fixing my room, I walked out to the living room and sat on the couch.

“Why’d you leave me?!” he ran out to me.

“Shut up,” I rolled my eyes.

He came to me and frowned.

“I’m nervous. Kill me,” he laid his head on my shoulder. I froze. Living with him will be my biggest struggle.

I tried shrugging his head off but he only made it worse when he laced his fingers through mine.

“Let go,” I said with the most serious voice I could muster up.

“Never.”