A/N:

Hello! Quick author note: This chapter (part one and part two) tells about Jaeha and Jungkook's friendship through the years and has nothing to do with the whole plot in general, it's just bonus. For a bigger a/n, please read at the end of chapter 021 part two :) 

“Come inside!” Jinyoung politely welcomed their guests who happened to be their new neighbors. The married couple had moved in the house next to the Im's a few weeks ago and Jinyoung had decided to invite them to a meal so that they could introduce each other a bit more. Mr. and Mrs. Jeon were slightly older than Jinyoung and Jaebum and they had a child around Jaeha's age too, so Jinyoung had thought it would also be a way for their kids to become friends.

“Thank you very much for inviting us,” Mr. Jeon said as he politely shook hands with both Jinyoung and Jaebum.

“We didn't know what to bring so we've brought wine, I hope you both like it,” Mrs. Jeon also added and handed Jinyoung a little yet heavy bag.

“You didn't have to buy something, but thank you anyway.”

Behind her dad's legs, eight-year-old Jaeha was hiding and didn't dare to take a look at their guests. Even when Mrs. Jeon pushed a young chubby guy with a bunny smile and long black bangs falling in front of his doe eyes, she didn't move.

“This is Jungkook, our son.”

“Hello,” the boy with a high-pitched voice bowed his head and earned smiles from the Ims.

“How old are you, Jungkook?” Jinyoung asked him.

“Eight years old.”

“Oh! Our Jaeha is the same age as you, Jae, introduce yourself please.”

“Don't want to,” the girl whined.

“Jaeha please, don't be rude to our guests,” Jaebum pushed her forward so that she was facing the boy who was a bit taller than her.

They stared at each other for a while, discovering with innocent eyes who was the other person, and then Jaeha who had no choice bowed her head when her father tapped her shoulder to urge her.

“My name is Im Jaeha, I'm eight years old,” she introduced herself not only to Jungkook's parents, but also to himself.

“Oh my~ Jaeha you're really pretty,” Mrs. Jeon cooed at the girl.

She blushed at the compliment and went back to hiding behind her dad with whom she felt the safest at the moment. Jinyoung, Jaebum and their guests sat around the big dinning table which Jinyoung and Jaeha had decorated a while ago with a red tablecloth, white napkins and silver accessories. With two candles in the middle and nice cutlery the table looked simple but nice and Jaeha was very proud of herself for what she had done.

“You like The Koala Brothers?” Jungkook suddenly asked her as he sat in front of her.

“How do you know?” was her first answer.

He pointed at something behind her, near the sofa and when she turned around she saw her plushy koala bear lying alone on the cold ground.

“My dads let me watch the Koala Brothers on their computer when I got home from school,” she explained.

“Me too! And I watch Pingu too!”

“I've got a lot of movies in my bedroom, want to see them?”

Jungkook smiled as they jumped off their chairs and she lead him to her messy bedroom. They came back to the living around an hour later when their parents finally managed to convince them to stop watching TV and to come and eat with them.

That's how Jaeha and Jungkook's friendship started.

*

“I'm moving away,” Jaeha announced Jungkook. The two ten-year-old were in the boy's garden, Jaeha was sitting on the swing and he was doing his best to push her as high as possible when she dropped the news. He automatically stopped and frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“My dads are divorcing and daddy and me are going to live somewhere else now.”

“What does divorcing mean? Does it mean they won't live together anymore? But what about you? Why can't you stay here? Does that mean you'll stop going to school too? We won't be able to see each other anymore?”

“I'm still going to the same school,” she sadly smiled to reassure him, “so we'll often see each other and you will still be able to come to my new house to play with me!”

“B-but... why can't you stay here...?”

“Dad said it's better if we live in another house. Plus appa won't be with us anymore, so we don't need a big big house...”

Jungkook opened his mouth to answer something but when he saw tears running down her red cheeks, he came by her side and took her hand into his and intertwined their fingers. He said nothing and hoped only his presence would be enough to calm her down, but when she burst out in tears, he called out for his mother and Mrs. Jeon came running to them with a panic look, wondering what was going on.

“Mom you need to do something! Uncle Jaebum and uncle Jinyoung can't divorce! It makes Jaeha sad and if she is sad it also makes me sad! Mom do something please!”

But the only thing Mrs. Jeon could do was hugging the two crying children against her and telling them everything would be alright.

*

“Dad can Jungkook come here?” Jaeha asked her dad who was busy working, his head down to big books written in English.

“No.”

“But... why? It's been a long time since he's come...”

“Because I don't want to. I'm busy and I don't want you to mess around the house. I need silence and calm.”

“Dad... please...”

“Jaeha I'm busy right now!” he sighed loudly and looked at her with a very pissed and severe look, “you stay here alone, that's my final words.”

Jaeha frowned, folded her arms over her chest and went running to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her to make him understand she was mad. She lay over her bed and tossed around, cursing against her heavily busy dad who didn't even have time anymore to talk to her or to even pay attention to her.

She was telling to herself how mean he was when she suddenly had an idea. She went out of her bedroom again and sneaked into her dad's bedroom. There, his phone was charging and she took it, unlocked it since she knew his password and she found Jungkook's home number into his contact list. She pressed the call button and put the phone against her ear while she hid herself under her dad's desk.

“Hello?” a light and cheerful voice answered.

“Auntie Junghyun! It's me Jaeha!” the twelve-year-old said.

“Oh Jae! How are you doing, beautiful?”

“I'm fine thank you auntie! Is Jungkook here?”

“Yeah he is home, do you want to talk to him?”

“Can I?”

“Wait here,” Mrs. Jeon chuckled and there was a blank before Jaeha heard someone hurtling down the stairs quickly and then there were harsh panting on the other end of the line.

“J-Jaeha!”

“Kookie!”

“What's up? Why are you calling me?” he asked with a worried tone.

“I wanted to invite you to my house but my dad says he is busy and doesn't want you to come...” the girl sighed loudly ad ran a hand through her hair.

“Oh! I wanted to see you too! What should we do? Should I ask my mom if you can come and play at my house instead?”

“My dad won't drive me to your place... I'm stuck at home.”

“Wait here,” the boy said, “I'm going to ask mom.”

For another five minutes, she only heard whispers in the phone and then Jungkook spoke again.

“We'll be at your house in ten minutes,” he said and it automatically draw a smile on Jaeha's pouting face, “we'll eat pizza tonight and then you can stay and sleep at my house. Uncle Jaebum won't mind right?”

“Let's your mom and my dad talk together!”

“Let's do this!”

Jaeha ran to the living room and handed the phone to her dad who grabbed it and looked at her with suspicious eyes.

“What's going on? What have you done?” he asked her.

“Just talk!”

Her dad and Jungkook's mom's conversation started with “Oh, hello noona” and ended up with “alright, see you soon” and in between there were series of long sentences and heavy sighs from Jaebum who glared at his smiling and satisfied daughter. When they hung up, he didn't say anything at first and then just told her to go and prepare her bag for the night.

When there were knocks on the door around ten minutes later, as planed, Jaeha rushed out of her bedroom, bumped into her dad without even apologizing and she quickly opened the door. She acknowledged Mrs. Jeon with a little “hello auntie!” and then she grabbed her friend's hand and dragged him into her bedroom before he could even greet her dad.

“I'm sorry for Jaeha's behavior,” Jaebum said to Mrs. Jeon, “I didn't know what she was doing to call I hope she won't bother you at all.”

“Well, we can't always say no to the kids, can we?” Junghyun chuckled, “and especially not to Jaeha and Jungkook!”

*

“Oh my god I'm so nervous,” Jaeha whined and bit on her lower lip, “what if we're not in the same class, huh? What are we going to do?”

“Survive?”

“Jungkook I'm serious right now!” she punched his arm, “you should be too!”

“But there's no need of worrying when your dad and my mom both sent a letter to the headmaster nearly begging him to put us together in the same class! I'm really confident right now!”

“But what if the headmaster didn't listen to their request? What if he has decided to separate us just because our parents sent him letters?”

“It won't happen! Have a little faith in him!”

They entered the high school campus which they already knew because they had visited it earlier during winter break and they followed the crowd of students in navy and gray uniforms until they were inside the hall. When they managed to step in front of the wall on which the lists forming the classes were hanging, Jaeha's moist hand found Jungkook's and together, they looked for their names, hoping they would be together.

“Oh my! Look we're together!” Jaeha excitedly said, pointing at both of their names which were right next to each other due to their family names being close in the alphabet order, “we're together Kookie this is amazing!”

“I told you we would,” he rolled his eyes.

“This is the best news ever! Even if high school is hell at least we're together in this! Yes!”

She let go of his hand and took her phone to send a message to her dad to tell him the good new under Jungkook's amused watch. They wandered in the crowded corridors to find their classroom and once they finally reached it, Jaeha was about to enter it but he prevented her from doing so by grabbing her hand.

“What are you doing? We must go in.”

“We're in this together right?” he cleared his throat, “even if we make friends we're still going to stay together? You won't give up on me?”

“Oh look who's nervous right now,” she chuckled, “obviously I won't let you alone. You're my best friend, Kook, it's you before anyone else.”

“Alright,” he nodded and Jaeha clutched her hand around his to make him know she was there with him and she wasn't going to let go of him, “alright.”

With one last kiss on the cheek from Jaeha, they entered the room to start their journey in high school.

(During lunch break, they sat together at a table in the huge cafeteria and they were debriefing about their first morning when suddenly someone came to them and cleared their throat. Both smiling, the best friends couple discovered a tall guy with a shy smile holding a tray in his hands.

“Can... can I sit with you?”

“Yeah of course,” Jungkook was the first one to answer.

“Thank you,” the guy said while sitting next to Jungkook, “we're in the same class, I'm Kim Yugyeom.”

“Jeon Jungkook.”

“And I'm Im Jaeha, nice to meet you, Yugyeom,” the girl offered him her best smile.)