Jimin was eleven years old when Jungkook and his family moved in next door. There weren’t many children in their neighborhood, so Jimin ran over to the window when his younger brother, Jihyun, noticed their moving van pulling into the driveway. They both looked on in awe as a boy, not much younger than Jimin emerged from the car. He resembled a cute little bunny with prominent front teeth and a pink frost bitten nose. He was mesmerized…that is until his mom yelled at him from the entryway. 

“You both look like creepers…stop starring at the new neighbors from the window!” Both the boys stepped away from the window and looked down at the floor dejected. “It’ll be better if we  go meet them in person!” The boys perked up and ran to get their winter gear on. Jimin’s mother was a friendly woman and always made it her job to make everyone feel welcomed. 

Jimin raced his brother out of the house with his mom balancing a plate of freshly baked cookies behind them. Jimin tripped over his own feet at he tried his best to run in the lightly fallen snow. Just as he made it to the doorstep, he slipped on slick black ice and fell face first into the unnamed snow bunny. They toppled to the ground with Jimin’s hands finding themselves on top of the other boys shoulders. `Jimin could hear both of their mothers rushing to their aid, but when he locked eyes with the soft pillow beneath him everything went silent. After the few moments of shock had passed, Jimin’s cheeks started burning red and he offered a shy smile to the boy below him. 

“I didn’t expect for you to fall for me that easily”, the snow bunny said returning a more confident smile. 

“What?” Jimin responded with alarm.

“I’m just kidding, are you alright?” Before Jimin could answer, the moms moved into action retrieving both of the boys from the ground and carefully combing over their bodies for injuries. After they were sure no first aid was needed, they awkwardly introduced themselves.

“I’m so sorry! My sons were just so excited to meet you all…and I am too”. She offered the plate of cookies that was now a little disheveled, but likely still delicious. “We’re the Parks and we live right next store”. 

“No need for apologies. I’m just happy no one got hurt and these cookies look divine. You are all welcome inside the Jeon residence, so let’s get these kids out of the cold”. Jimin decided he liked the mother bunny and the two women seemed to hit it off as they walked towards the kitchen.

“I’m Jungkook by the way”. Jimin’s attention was suddenly pulled back to the boy shedding his winter coat in the doorway.  “If you are going to use me as a sled, you should probably know my name first”. He laughed light-heartedly, enjoying the way his teasing brought so much color to Jimin’s cheeks. 

“I’m so sorry…I’m clumsy”. Jimin wasn’t a shy person, but something about Jungkook was making him nervous.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Clumsy”, Jungkook laughed as his older brother came down the stairs. “Hey Junghyun! We finally have some neighbors around our age!” The older boy didn’t have the same bunny features as his brother, but Jimin thought he was charming in his own way as he walked over to them.

“Hey, I’m Junghyun. I’ll be starting at the public high school after the holidays”. He looked straight at Jimin as he said, “You look like your Jungkook’s grade, how old are you?”

“I’m eleven and in the 6th grade.”

“No way! Me too!” Jungkook interrupted with enthusiasm. 

“Maybe we’ll have some classes together”, Jimin thought out loud. “My name is Jimin, by the way, and this is Jihyun”, he couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to finally get his name out. 

“Well you can both can both think of me as an older brother…Jungkook needs to learn how to share me and how to make new friends…especially female ones”. Junghyun laughed and poked Jungkook in the stomach before walking off to join his mother in the kitchen. Jungkook was now blushing and Jimin was enjoying seeing such a flustered bunny.

“I’d like to be friends too”, Jimin said relieving Jungkook of his sudden embarrassment. 

That was how it had all started and now Jimin looked across his living room at Jungkook in disbelief that the next day they would both be leaving to study at different colleges. His best friend for seven years, the one who had stood by him in all of his awkward stages, wasn’t going to be by his side. 

When they were younger Jimin tried to explain away his feelings for Jungkook. Maybe the butterflies in his stomach were a sign of admiration and maybe his rapid heart beat was just excitement. Maybe the happiness he felt and maybe the way Jungkook made him smile more than anyone else was just friendship. Jimin had hope and prayed that his reasoning was true…but if he was honest with himself…he had known from the first day he met Jungkook that these feelings were something different. 

When they both hit puberty, his raging hormones made it even harder for him to ignore his attraction to Jungkook. At first all he wanted was to hold the other boys hand, but then it escalated to him want much more. He craved the taste of Jungkook’s lips and the feeling of his bare flesh against his own. But with the temptation came the memories of his childhood flooding back into his consciousness. They reminded him of the pain and suffering that came from non-traditional relationships. He only wanted the best for Jungkook…and he had accepted that wasn’t him. 

Jimin was sure that Jungkook loved him as a friend, but there were times when Jimin thought it might be more than that. When they were alone, his words were laced with innuendos, his actions were playful but had a gentleness, and he body language was inviting, as if urging Jimin to come closer. Maybe he felt the same way…but even if he did…would it change anything? It was best they were attending different universities…so that they could lead different lives…and move on.

“Jiminie!” Jungkook yelled as he approached what looked to be a day dreaming Jimin. “What are you thinking about”, he asked as he took the spot next to Jimin on the couch.

“I’m just reminiscing. We have so many memories here together. We used to dance for hours in the living room trying to learn all those hip hop dance tutorials on Youtube and do you remember when we had a competition to see who could eat the most red pepper flakes without throwing up?” 

“Of course I remember, I was the winn-“, Jungkook always tried to own his title as red pepper eating campion, but Jimin would never let him finish.

“We constantly raided each others closets…by the way I think you still have my sweatshirt”. Anytime Jimin’s clothes were out of place, he knew Jungkook had them. “But most of all I’m going to miss every time we had a sleepover and stayed up in my room talking until we could see the sun rise?”

“We can still make memories together ChimChim, but you’re right that things are going to change”. Jungkook looked at Jimin’s downcast eyes and the pout making its way onto his plump lips. “I’m only going to be a phone call away. You know that we are still going to talk and we can even visit each other. Plus we’ll both be home on the holidays right back in this very spot”.

Jimin pondered the others words for a moment and he realized the gravity of the situation. “It’s the beginning of the rest of our lives tomorrow”.

“You’re right, so we should live it up today. Do everything that we’ve wanted to do, but have been too scared to follow through with. Tomorrow is a clean slate and tonight…anything is possible”.

“You’re crazy! What are you going to do in one night that you haven’t already done?” Jimin asked playfully shoving Jungkook’s shoulder. 

“I don’t know. Is there anywhere in town that you’ve always wanted to visit?”

“No”, Jimin responded shortly. 

“Any food that you wanted to gorge yourself on?” Just looking at Jimin made Jungkook crave some mochi. 

“No”. Although Jimin wouldn’t mind going out to their favorite Bibimbap restaurant for dinner. 

“Any person you wanted to confess to?” Jungkook was suddenly avoiding eye contact. 

Jimin was silent, trying to carefully devise a response. If he lied…Jungkook would surely catch it, but it was worth a shot. “No”.

“Holy ! You’re lying!” Jungkook yelled as he rose from the couch. 

“No, I’m not!” Jimin could never figure out how Jungkook always caught him in his lies.

“Please…You have such an obvious tell. You can’t lie to me.” Jungkook said plopping himself back down on the couch with smug confidence. “You don’t have to be embarrassed…I can help you! Who is this girl, do I know her?” 

Jimin couldn’t explain this…not now…not ever. Jungkook feigning ignorance made him question even more if all the signals he had spent hours interpreting…were all just in his head. Jungkook didn’t even know he was gay? “Can you just drop it?”

 The look of childlike disappointment spread across Jimin’s face and it immediately shut Jungkook up. “Okay, but I’m sleeping over tonight… I need your help with something.”