"Bbom ah, did you know, my hapkido instructor said that I'm advancing really quickly though I just started, and at this rate I can represent the school for competitions! It makes me one step closer to my dream of being Korea's representative." Six-year-old Chorong shared the news, her smile wider than any that Bomi had seen before.

"Wow unnie! Congrats~! That's so cool, I want to represent the school and the country in Taekwondo too." Bomi replied.

"Let's work hard together then, Taekwondo for you and Hapkido for me!" 

"Rongie, time to eat dinner!" Chorong's mother shouted from the dining table.

Chorong stood up upon hearing that. "Let's go!" She reached out her hand to Bomi, who gladly held it. Hand in hand, they walked out to the dining table.

The two were the best of friends since forever. Being neighbours, the Park family often interacted with the Yoon, and Chorong knew Bomi ever since the younger was born. Since both of them are the only child of their families, they often played together and treated each other like real sisters. It was a routine thing that they would head over to one of their houses and stayed there till after dinner.

"Bbom ah, here, eat more." Chorong placed more meat and vegetables on Bomi's plate with the common spoon.

"Thank you, unnie," Bomi replied with full, her eyes forming crescents as it would whenever she smiled. 

Mrs Park smiled at the cute interaction and how caring her daughter was. She felt glad that Chorong found a sister like Bomi.

***

"Today was such a fun day! My classmate..." Bomi excitedly told Chorong of her day as they headed back home. The two were now in primary school, Primary 3 and 5 respectively, and it was a usual thing for them to go back home together, and share stories of what happened in the day.

The traffic light turned green and both of them walked, Bomi continuing her story. To Chorong's horror, while looking towards Bomi, she saw a car heading towards them at a fast speed, and it did not look like it was going to stop although it was red light. The car was moving at too fast a speed for her to react and pull Bomi to run away, so instead, doing the first thing that came to her mind, she pushed Bomi forward.

Bomi was confused at Chorong's sudden action, but when she turned back, all she heard was a loud sound, and she watched as the car knocked her best friend down. Ignoring that she was in the middle of the road, Bomi ran towards the girl who was now lying motionless on the floor.

"Chorong unnie! Chorong unnie!" Bomi shouted again and again, tears rolling down her face as she shook the unconscious girl. 

***

Opening her eyes, Chorong slowly adjusted to the light. She looked down, feeling someone holding her hand. It was Bomi. Though sleeping, her hand tightly holding hers.

Movements from the girl made the sleeping girl wake up. "Chorong unnie, you're finally awake!" Bomi quickly got up to give her a hug, before heading to call for the doctor. She was the only one there, for it was just a little past noon and the adults were working. Bomi had been there since Chorong had been shifted to the ward two days ago, she requested for her parents to let her stay there, saying that it was all her fault that her best friend was lying in bed. Seeing their beloved daughter cry so badly, they had no choice but to let her stay.

Bomi quickly returned with the doctor and the nurses. "How are you feeling?"

"Erm, fine. It's just that my legs feel a bit weird.." Or rather, the lack of it. Seeing Bomi's face darken upon her saying that, Chorong quickly opened the blanket that was covering her from stomach and below. She let out a scream as she looked at her legs. She had lost a leg. Her dream of being a hapkido representative was over.

The younger girl quickly rushed over and tried to calm her best friend, but was instead pushed away. "Go away, Bomi!"

Chorong hated herself. I am useless now. She could not think straight. She knew it was not Bomi's fault, yet she could not help but blame her for it. "Leave me alone, please.."

It was a rather common sight for this to happen, and the doctor knew it was only right to give the patient some alone time. "We'll be back later."

Bomi, on the other hand, was crying at the side as well. She felt terrible; she had been feeling that way ever since she saw Chorong lying unconscious on the road. It was because of her that things ended up this way.

"Unnie, I'm sorry... I'm really really sorry..." Bomi said softly, before running out of the room.

***

A few months have passed since the accident. Since then, the two best friends never spoke a word. Chorong mostly stayed at home, locking herself in the room, drowning herself in self-pity and self-hatred, while Bomi led her life as usual, but she herself was not quite normal anymore. The cheerful girl turned into a quiet one who refused to talk to anyone, and when she happened to walk past people who talked about Chorong's absence in school, she would hit them if they said anything mean. Thankfully, that only happened once, and she was stopped quickly, so all she got was a warning.

In these few months, Bomi also represented her Taekwondo school in a national competition and came in first. However, she threw her medal in the bin of her room immediately once she reached home. There was no point, she felt, when she achieved something so great and had no one to share the joy with. Or rather, the person whom she really wanted to share the joy with was not there.

Chorong went back to school about two weeks ago, when she managed to balance a lot better with her prosthetic leg, not completely, however. She was just getting the hang of walking with it. It took her parents a lot of effort to persuade her to go back to school. Her classmates wanted to offer her help, but Chorong always avoided them. She felt that they were looking down on her.

On the other hand, Bomi knew exactly which days they had the same recess, and when they did Bomi would follow her silently. She wanted to protect the older girl, yet she was too scared to approach her. For the past two weeks, it had been the same. Bomi would follow Chorong as the latter headed to a secluded area of the school and sat there. Then Bomi would just watch as the older girl cried, and she would cry along from a distance away. The older girl was hurting so much, simply because of her.

Then came one day when Bomi was following her, and she saw two girls pushing Chorong towards the wall. She stayed at a corner not too far away, looking as the girls bullied her ex-best friend.

"Who knew our teacher's pet would end up like this, not being able to balance properly on her legs?" One of them commented.

"Nonono, you should've said 'her leg'." The other mocked.

Chorong was too hurt to even bother to retaliate. They were right, she only had a leg.

"I heard you wanted to be a hapkido representative huh?" The girl smirked.

Bomi could not watch on anymore. Coming out from the corner, she charged at the two girls and threw punches towards them. She did not control, she did not bother to, she was not going to just let them bully her 'sister' like that.

She cast a look at Chorong after the girls fled. The older girl's face was tear-stained, and their eyes met for a moment before the girl ran away.

***

Bomi was seated in the office, picking at her fingers. She could feel the girls in front of her smirking, even without looking up. She knew she was in trouble, but she really could not care less. The only thing that made her feel uneasy was how her parents would react. She would not care if she got suspended from school, or worse, expelled, but she could not stand feeling that she had disappointed her parents. She promised her parents not to get physical with anyone again. 

She looked up only when the door opened, and her mother came in. Mrs Yoon sat next to her daughter, and Bomi just looked down. She could not bring herself to look at her mother. Looking at how upset and scared her daughter was, she requested to talk to her daughter before continuing the meeting. Bomi silently followed her mother out.

"Bomi," Mrs Yoon bent down and called softly. Her daughter gave off such a fragile feeling at that moment.

The young girl mustered all her courage to look up and into her mother's eyes. Her vision was blurred by the tears that were welling up. "Sorry.."

Mrs Yoon was not planning to let Bomi off for breaking her promise, but her heart softened as she saw how Bomi reacted from the moment she walked into the room till now. She opened her arms wide and pulled her crying daughter into a hug.

The nine-year-old returned the hug, clinging onto her mother's shirt tightly. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, th-they were b-b-bullying Ch-Ch-Chorong unnie." Those were the only words Bomi managed to say.

"Hush, hush..." Mrs Yoon patted Bomi repeatedly on her back, trying to calm her down. "So my daughter did it to protect her friend, hmm?"

Bomi nodded, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "Then my daughter's a hero, and it doesn't matter whatever punishment they want to give you. I love you, my dear, so don't cry hmm?"

"I-I-I'm s-sorry I di-di-disappointed you.." Bomi was more calm now, but she continued to sniff.

"Shh... You didn't. You were helping Chorong. I'm not saying what you did was right, but your intentions were good. We'll talk about that later, dry up your tears and we'll go in to settle this first, okay?"

Bomi nodded again, wiping her tears with her arm. She then held her mother's hand tightly as they walked in to discuss the case.

From the side stood the girl Bomi helped. She hoped that Bomi would not get too bad a punishment.

***

(A few weeks later)

"Chorong ah, these jars are for you." Mrs Park said after entering her daughter's room.

"What's this, Mum? Why are there so many stars?"

"Our neighbour Mrs Yoon passed it to me. She said Bomi personally folded all these, and this is her letter. I know you don't want to hear about her, but that kid's really feeling very bad and guilty. Couldn't you guys go back to how close you were?" Mrs Park left the room, leaving her daughter deep in thought.

Chorong opened the envelope and took out the letter.

Dear Chorong,

I know you hate me, but I'm going to keep trying because you're my best friend, someone I can't live without. How are you doing? I hope things are fine for you.

These jars contain 1000 folded stars. They say that if you fold 1000 stars, your dream will come true. I really hope that we can become best friends again, but I won't wish for so much. My dream that comes along with these stars is that you will forgive me. I am really really sorry. I won't force you, but I will wait till the day you talk to me again.

Bomi

Chorong could feel some parts of the paper having a hardened texture, implying that Bomi had cried while writing this. She felt stupid. She had been pushing her best friend - for many years - away, and it was not even her fault.

***

It was another national competition, and to heat things up even more, the top three of this competition would gain the right to represent the country. Of them all, Bomi was the youngest. Like Chorong, Bomi also progressed very quickly. It was not just the talent, it also consisted of a lot of hardwork, and even more hardwork after she landed Chorong into this state. She was determined to achieve the dream - for both of them, and more for her beloved sister.

Bomi looked at her opponent who was so much taller than her and sighed. She was going to lose, she was going to disappoint all her loved ones, especially Chorong. The whistle was blown, signalling the start of their sparring. Right from the beginning, Bomi was hit repeatedly, and lost many points. To make things worse, Bomi did not seem to care at all. She was not in top form that day, for the past few days she had been missing Chorong like crazy, and it all started when she had a nightmare that replayed the day that Chorong pushed her away.

Her instructor called for a pause in the game, and chided Bomi, seeing that she was not focusing in the competition. "If you don't even want to try, then the door is right there for you."

Bomi could not concentrate. She could not help but think that there was no point in doing all these, not when Chorong was not around. She was really about to walk out of the door, prepared for the punishment that would come from her instructor the next training, when she saw someone familiar sitting in the audience seats. A closer look confirmed that it was Chorong. She was going to look away when she saw a smile on Chorong's face. Bomi had never felt so happy in months. Chorong was there to watch her. Chorong was there to support her. She turned back to her instructor and bowed to apologise.

The match resumed, and Bomi was determined to overcome all the disadvantages she had. In no time, she had caught up. When their points were equal, Bomi gave a look to Chorong, and she saw the latter smiling at her again. The energy in her seemed to recharge instantly, as she continued to attack.

The competition ended, and Bomi emerged first. It came as a shock to everyone at the venue. After receiving her medal, the first person she looked for was Chorong. Stopping a distance away from Chorong, Bomi smiled. She was still hesitant to get too close, scared to do so.

"What are you doing here?" Bomi actually wanted to ask Chorong if she wanted to come, but she was too timid to even approach her for the past few months, and she did not want to trigger the fact that she was unable to do hapkido again.

"Can't I be here to support my best friend?" Chorong took two steps closer. Extending her hand, she said, "Congrats."

"Thanks." Bomi shook the other girl's hand firmly. How she missed holding this hand. 

"Shall we head home together?"

***

Bomi stood at the door, not wanting to head straight to sit next to the older girl in case she did not like it.

"Come here, Bbom ah." Chorong patted the space next to her. Bomi walked over and sat down, her hands placed on her lap. She was nervous and scared as to what Chorong was going to say. 

"Don't be so tense," Chorong smiled. "I'm sorry to have made you suffer."

Bomi looked up, surprised at what she heard. "No, I'm the one who's sor-"

"You did nothing wrong, Bbom ah. I was the one who pushed you away and got myself hit. It was on my own accord, not your fault at all." Chorong wrapped her arms around the younger girl who still seemed afraid. "I shouldn't have pushed you away and blamed you. I'm sorry for hurting you for the past few months."

Now snuggled into Chorong's arms, Bomi only shook her head. She just felt glad that Chorong forgave her. She took out something from her pocket  and rubbed the surface a couple of times.

"Unnie." When she successfully got Chorong's attention, she placed the thing she took out into Chorong's hands. It was the medal she got. "Keep this. When I get the medal for the international competition, I will change this with that. We promised to work towards the goal together, and we shall continue to do so."

Chorong hugged her best friend tighter. "We shall."

A/N: Just a random idea that struck me and I had to write it because I can't focus on studying until I get this out. I'm sorry if the flow was too rushed or the ending was abrupt. This might not be as good as my other oneshots (if they are good to begin with), but I hope you guys enjoyed reading it.

Kind of feeling a little down today for who knows what reason, perhaps I wrote this just to convince myself that things will always get better. Here's to anyone who's feeling upset out there. Things will only get better, be it friendship problems or losing something important to you. Everything will work out well eventually, and meanwhile friends are there for you to rely on. And sometimes, all it takes is a change in mindset.

Thanks for reading, hwaiting everyone!