Even as a child we learn to keep promises.

16 July 1998

Jongin watched as the moving truck drove up the neighbour’s driveway. He peeked from his window, hiding behind the curtains. He inhaled the deep scent of wood and lemon zest from his curtains and made a face. He gave his new neighbours a good view of himself as he pushed the curtains aside. He continued watching the movers that were uniformed in white with matching hats as they carried a never-ending line of boxes of different colours and sizes.

The next day, Jongin walked up to the new neighbour’s house with a plate of muffins and his basketball. He waited patiently for the door to be opened after he rang the bell. He smiled to the lady that opened the door and held out the plate of muffins to her. She laughed and invited him in. Walking in, Jongin analyzed the atmosphere around him. It was warm, and a little messy, but he liked it. He introduced himself to the new owners of this house next to his. And they introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Do. He looked around; he remembered there was a kid yesterday.

“You must be looking for Kyungsoo” Mrs. Do said, and Jongin smiled, indicating a yes.

17 July 1998

Jongin bounced his basketball up the pavement and to the Do family’s house. He rang the bell and waited for Kyungsoo to show.

“You’re such a slow poke,” Jongin said, bouncing the ball around.

“Am not!” Kyungsoo said, retying his shoelaces.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?” Jongin asked as he spinned around with the basketball

“No”

“When will you start school?”

“Never I hope”

“But school’s fun”

“Not the one I used to be at”

“Well, mine’s fun” Jongin said as Kyungsoo stared at him “Fine, I’ll show you. Promise me you’ll recess with me” he stuck his pinky out. Kyungsoo’s gaze went from Jongin’s face to Jongin’s finger and back to Jongin’s face. He grinned and curled his pinky around Jongin’s.

20 July 1998

“How was school?” Mrs. Do asked as Kyungsoo hoped into the car

“It was fun. I recessed with Jongin. Like promised” Kyungsoo answered as he buckled his seat belt in.

Although sometimes we break our promises.

24 December 1998

“Are you still awake?” Kyungsoo whispered into his mom’s phone

“Yeah” Jongin answered sleepily from the other line

“Good”

“Why are we doing this again?” Jongin asked, rubbing his eyes. He was tired; he had been out the entire day with his mom for some Christmas shopping.

“You promised” Kyungsoo said, disappointment showed in his voice but it wasn’t detected by Jongin.

“Oh yeah” Jongin said, yawning. A promise’s a promise. “Do you think Santa’s gonna come yet?” Jongin asked

“I don’t know” Kyungsoo answered.

25 December 1998

Kyungsoo woke up and rushed down stairs in his pyjamas, the cookies were gone. He didn’t stay up long enough. Jongin came later that day, feeling guilty for not staying up as promised. Kyungsoo forgave him of course; Jongin didn’t mean to break his promise.

But not all promises are willing.

3 March 2010

“Sorry” Jongin said, rubbing his head awkwardly before walking away from the girl.

“You should at least say yes to one of them,” Kyungsoo said as Jongin approached him

“Why? I don’t like her”

“There’s been at least ten girls who asked you to the dance already. You’re going, so you should get a date,” Kyungsoo answered, stacking his pile of books into his locker.

“But I don’t like her” Jongin repeated

“Then go ask someone you like”

“Will you go with me?” Jongin asked, receiving a stare in return.

“Go with someone you like Jongin” Kyungsoo said, shutting his locker

“I like you, and you like me. So why don’t we go together?”

“People would get the wrong idea”

“Who cares?”

“Me”

“You’re no fun”

“Then you should stop hanging out with me”

“Never” Jongin said, throwing his arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Are you going?” Jongin asked as he sipped onto his milkshake

“Maybe” Kyungsoo said not looking up from his book

“Not a good enough answer” Jongin said, pushing Kyungsoo’s book down. Kyungsoo looked up with questioning eyes before shutting his book and diverted his attention to stirring his milkshake instead.

“Why?” he asked

“Let’s not go” Jongin said

“Why?” he asked again but added another statement “That’s stupid”

“It’s not stupid. We can have a movie marathon instead”

“We can have movie marathons anytime”

“But we can’t always have movie marathons on the same date as a dance”

“Doesn’t make sense”

“Just promise me,” Jongin said

“Fine” Kyungsoo said

30 March 2010

“I still don’t get why I promised you” Kyungsoo said and he opened a bag of chips.

“It’s cause you’re my best friend” Jongin said, seating himself next to Kyungsoo and stealing some chips, receiving a smack in return.

There are promises that we can’t help but break.

13 August 2012

“He’s not available” Jongin growled, dragging Kyungsoo away from the other guy who was left totally clueless.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asked innocently as he followed Jongin to where ever he was taking him

“Promise me you won’t talk to other guys” Jongin said after a few minutes of pulling Kyungsoo around. Kyungsoo chuckled, receiving a glare in return.

“C’mon” Kyungsoo said, dragging Jongin to nearby store. He picked out a pair of ice cream sticks and paid for them.

“Here” Kyungsoo said, passing Jongin one of them. Jongin blinked at them as if they were something he’s never seen before. Kyungsoo sighed and opened the wrapper for him before placing the ice cream in his hand again.

They walked around the park as they ate their ice cream in a comfortable silence.

“Promise me you won’t talk to other guys” Jongin said, but with a gentler tone

“But-“

“Just promise”

“Okay” Kyungsoo said. Jongin smiled even though he knew that that promise would probably be broken.

He was right

“Kyungsoo, you didn’t answer my question just now,” the same guy said, rushing to Kyungsoo’s side as soon as Kyungsoo walked back into campus.

“What question?”

“Are you free this Friday?” he asked, receiving a glare from Jongin.

“I… I…” Kyungsoo said, trying to find an excuse “I have a dentist appointment” he answered, a little too loudly.

“Okay, how bout Saturday?”

“Baking class”

“Oh. Sunday?” the guy asked, still not getting the hint. Idiot, do you want Jongin to dislocate your jaw?

“I… I have a date with Jongin” Kyungsoo said, shocking both the guy and Jongin.

“Okay then, see you around” the guy said, finally understanding.

“You broke your promise” Jongin said

“At least I rejected the guy” Kyungsoo said, annoyance surfacing in his voice. He walked to his locker, removing a few books before slamming his locker door shut. Jongin grinned and jogged lightly to catch up with Kyungsoo.

“Make it up to me” Jongin said cheekily

“Why should I?” Kyungsoo said, clearly still annoyed

“Awww c’mon” Jongin said, grabbing Kyungsoo’s books

“Give them back” Kyungsoo said

“Only if you’ll go on a date with me this Sunday” Jongin said “Wait, you’re already going on a date with me” he said, planting a peck on Kyungsoo’s cheek before running off.

“H-Hey!” Kyungsoo said, turning a dark shade of pink and chasing after his books and Jongin.

We make promises almost everyday; there are those simple ones and those not so simple ones too. Some we keep, and some we forget.

20 September 2014

Kyungsoo headed to the kitchen after his shower to get some breakfast. He poured some cereal in a bowl and opened the fridge, reaching for the milk carton. Unscrewing the cap, he poured the milk into his bowl. There was no milk. Shaking the carton he sighed and screwed the cap back on before dumping it into the trashcan.

“Morning” Jongin said, appearing out of nowhere. He leaned in for a kiss but was pushed away. He pouted at his angry boyfriend before realizing the existence of the bowl of dry-milkless-cereal on the tabletop. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

“Sorry?” he offered

“Promise you’ll get milk the next time you finish it” Kyungsoo said

“Okay, I promise” Jongin said, leaning in for a kiss but was pushed away again. He pouted again

“It’s not a promise if you don’t seal it” he said, hugging his boyfriend who was trying to put on a coat. “Where are you going anyway?”

“To get more milk,” Kyungsoo answered

“Wait!” Jongin said

“What?”

“Seal the promise” he whined. Kyungsoo chuckled and gave Jongin a soft peck on his lips before they headed out to get more milk.

5 October 2014

Kyungsoo opened the fridge only to find an empty carton of milk. He sighed and dumped it in the trashcan.

“Morning” Jongin said, stretching his arms out for a hug but was greeted with a push. Kyungsoo put on a coat and grabbed the keys. Puzzled, Jongin followed.

Jongin coughed awkwardly as Kyungsoo drove to the nearest convenience store

“Kyung?” Jongin said, leaning over from the passenger seat, he placed his chin on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. He blew air softly onto Kyungsoo’s ear and was pushed away.

“I’m driving” Kyungsoo said. Jongin pouted, he wanted a good morning kiss.

Kyungsoo picked up two cartons of milk and paid for them while Jongin finally realized why his morning greeting was denied. He grinned, grabbed the grocery bags and intertwined his fingers with Kyungsoo’s.

Placing the grocery bags on the tabletop, he hugged his boyfriend

“Sorry, I forgot” he said before leaning in and stealing a kiss.

Some promises, we make thinking that we’ll keep them forever.

11 April 2015

Kyungsoo buried his face into Jongin’s shoulder, hugging him tightly. Jongin laughed and returned the hug, planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Happy Anniversary” they both said in unison when the clock 12.

“Kyung?”

“Hmm?”

“Promise me you’ll never leave” Jongin said

“Promise me you’ll come after me if I ever leave” Kyungsoo said, looking up from Jongin’s shoulder.

“Promise” Jongin said, giving his boyfriend a dazzling smile.

“Promise” Kyungsoo said, also giving an equally dazzling smile before sealing those promises with a kiss.

But sometimes, the easiest promises are difficult to keep.

19 January 2016

Kyungsoo slammed the front door of their apartment shut and rushed to their room. He pulled out a duffle bag and started stuffing his clothes in it. This was it. He couldn’t take it anymore. He’d rather not talk at all than end up fighting every time they did. He’d rather not see Jongin and hurt from it than see Jongin with another girl and hurt from it.

Jongin walked in the apartment later that night, this was the first time in years that he wasn’t greeted with the delicious scent of his boyfriend’s cooking. He went into their room, silence and emptiness enveloping him. It was weird; the worst thing would be hearing Kyungsoo’s cries. He walked to the bed, empty. He opened the bathroom door and the lights, empty. He slid the doors of the closet open, empty. Was this it? Tiredness took over and Jongin just lied on the bed, he felt as if he couldn’t hold on.

14 May 2016, 9:27 A.M.

Kyungsoo walked down the street, his head down and eyes puffy. It had been around four months but it still hurt. It was spring, but it was cold. Suddenly, he was enveloped in warmth.

“You promised you wouldn’t leave” Jongin said, hugging Kyungsoo even tighter.

“You promised you would you’d come after me if I did”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve kept my promise”

“I should’ve kept mine too” said Kyungsoo, wrapping his arms around Jongin.

There are promises that no one knows if they’ll last, but they seem to always be the ones that never break.

12 April 2013

Jongin walked with Kyungsoo, hand in hand.

“Kyung?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to promise you something”

“Okay” Kyungsoo said, slightly nervous

“I promise that I’ll always love you” Jongin said, “I’m not much, but I love you. It’s a promise I’ll never break”

Kyungsoo smiled, “I promise I’ll always love you too”

Jongin smiled even more; slowly he leaned in and sealed it with a kiss.

And those promises are the ones that really matter.

14 May 2016, 9:28 A.M.

Kyungsoo looked up at Jongin, he looked tired and there were dark circles under his eyes. Even with tears b in his eyes, Kyungsoo managed to smile.

“I love you,” they both said in unison.