It all started when they were both 7 years old.

Haneul was carefully tending her pot of flowers when a young boy was playing around and hit it, turning the pot into broken pieces with the poor flower lying on the ground. The little girl was devastated of course, tears were flowing down as she let out sobs. Those were her precious daisies. She's supposed to take care of it and make more flowers but it's now gone.

The two adults on the side stopped talking and turned their heads at the scene near them. She saw the boy ran towards the woman and hid behind her while the other woman, which was her mom went to her, knelt down and rubbed her back soothingly to comfort her.

"Jungkook, honey, apologize to Haneul." The woman gently urges him to go and approach the crying girl. He obeys his mom and walked towards the two, with his head hung low.

"I'm sorry for breaking your flowers." Jungkook said apologetically but Haneul doesn't acknowledge it. She threw a fit instead, crying louder. "Y-you killed my flowers!"

"Shhh, sweetheart that's not nice. Jungkook is already sorry." Her mom hushed her. The little boy's eyes widened and he felt a wave of guilt in him. For some reasons he wanted her to stop crying and make her smile.

"I'm really sorry. If you want, I'll buy you new ones! Even prettier than your flowers." He said and as if it was a magic word, Haneul stopped crying and her head shot up quickly. "Really? You'll g-get me new flowers?" Her eyes got wide and he noticed a hint of excitement in them and he doesn't want to destroy that moment.

Jungkook turned his head towards his mother and looked at her with pleading eyes. "Okay, okay, honey. We'll buy her one."

"Oh no, it's fine. There's no need to replace it." Haneul's mother said and her eyes started to tear up once again.

"It's fine we'll get new ones. Just accept it as a peace offering from my son." His mother replied with a smile.

The next day, Haneul was outside their apartment again, sulking at the corridor where her pot of flowers used to be, until she heard Jungkook call her name excitedly.

"Look what I got!" He said as he took something out of the plastic bag. It was a small plant placed on a small container and Haneul frowned at this.

"I thought you'll get me flowers?"

Jungkook beamed at her. "These are flowers but they're still babies though. The flower man told me that if we take care of it properly, it will grow pretty flowers! They're red ones and it looked pretty in the picture."

This makes the little girl delighted and excited. "Thank you, Jungkook!" She exclaimed. "Oh wait, how will this grow? This is so small we need a pot." She asked with a pout.

"It's with mom. Let's plant this together later and take care of it together too!"

"I like that! This will be fun!"

Later that day, the two children had their hands covered in soil as they transfered the plant on a medium sized pot on their own, forgetting the reminder of their mothers to not to get too dirty. The little boy added small popsicle sticks to design and pats the soil contently, satisfied with his work.

"There, you won't be thirsty anymore." Haneul said as she sprinkled water into the pot with a smile on her face. She didn't notice that Jungkook went in for a moment and when he was back, he was carrying a marker with him. "I'm going to put a name on it so no one will steal our carnations." He said and proceeded to write on the pot. He's still young and he hasn't practiced writing that much so it came out as scribbles of 'Jungkook + Haneul'.

And along with their growing carnations was their growing friendship. They became inseparable since that day, getting closer as time passes. It's not impossible because their apartment was just next to each other; their parents were good friends; and they go to the same school. He even got her a nickname; called her Sky because it's what her name literally means in English and he thinks it sounds cool. Jungkook and Haneul were consistently classmates and always sat together at the front row of the school bus since they were the first ones to get picked up. When they were younger they thought they were cool kids because of that.

Because they were always together, Haneul grew up to be sporty and- not to mention Jungkook's competitive nature- he frequently asked her to go on a one-on-one game with her. May it be basketball, volleyball, soccer, badminton or any kind of sport as long as they find a place to play in. He often that she soon might be manlier than him but got into a fist fight with one of their classmates because they about the same thing and went overboard. He soon ended up in the guidance counselor's office with an ice pack placed on his right cheek, glaring at his classmates that's with him.

It was during their high school when Haneul became a varsity student for volleyball and Jungkook was in basketball. It made them somewhat known in their school but there were also some students who were jealous of them.

Cue in: High school drama.

She had a championship to win on a Saturday and he even rushed to the venue as soon as he finished his training.

It was her turn to serve the ball when she heard his voice cheering for her with all his might, screaming all sorts of things and even trash talking the opposing team. She shook her head at this and started aiming to serve the ball. The whistle blew, signalling her cue. She tosses the volleyball up, hitting it full force and when it went pass the net she heard a faint 'Nice serve, Sky!' She didn't have to look because of course she knew who it was and it kept her energy levels up for the whole game .

Jungkook took her to an ice cream parlor afterwards and this was one of the reasons why she's actually thankful to have a friend like him. "Sky, stop poking on the poor ice cream. You might want to start eating it before it melts." Haneul sighed and ignored his comment.

"Hey, it's just a game. You're not always the winner and sometimes you lose too, so stop sulking and stop pouring it out on the ice cream."

"Look who's talking. You know it's not 'just a game'. That was a championship and we lost to what, 5 points? That's so--"

Jungkook shoved a spoonful of ice cream in to shut her up and broke out into a laughing fit when he saw the mess on her face. "What the heck, Jungkook!" She was glaring at him while wiping the corners of with a tissue which she threw at him as her revenge. This doesn't stop him from laughing though.

"I hate you."

"Shut up. I know you love me."

"You're terrible, Jeon. Why am I even friends with you?"

"Hey you ungrateful lady, I treated you ice cream to make you feel better and this is how you repay me? You're not even eating it." He said, pretending to be offended. She rolled her eyes at him as a response and started to finally eat the ice cream. It would be an absolute lie if she's going to say that she's still not okay because she definitely feels a lot better right now.

There was a sense of comfort in Jungkook's presence and she's content with that. He was someone who knew her very well so he became the person she can lean on, rely on and tease. He was someone who got her back even if the whole world will be against her and it was a beautiful kind of pure friendship, nothing more, nothing less.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Photography became one of Jungkook's hobby. The moment got hold of his DSLR camera, which was a graduation gift from his father, he started taking interest in it. He loved taking photos of sceneries and nature, especially the sky. He was great in capturing captivating moments and he's best at capturing the light blue sky painted with different hues of orange and red.

"You know, one loves sunsets when one is sad." Haneul said one time when she was with him while he was taking pictures of the sky on the balcony of his apartment.

"Did you just reference The Little Prince? What got you so nerdy?" He .

"It just suddenly popped out of my mind, okay? I thought I was going to die while doing that dreaded book report back in middle school." She chuckled at the memory.

"Well, to contradict that line from that novel, I'm not sad, missy. It's just that the sky is the prettiest when the sun is setting." Jungkook said as he took more pictures.

"I know I'm pretty." She said just to spite him because she knew he'll comeback with a snarky remark about her being conceited but instead, he set his camera down and looked at her in the eye.

"Yes, you're pretty. You've always been pretty, like the sky." He replied with a sheepish smile. That was a terrible pun of her name and if it they were in a different scenario, she would've smacked him on his arm. It's just that right now isn't the time for jokes and she'd ruin the moment if she said anything stupid so she decided to be silent instead.

Haneul never told him but she had always thought that he looked handsome. All the time he does especially when he has his camera with him. There was also something about his smile that she can't point out. Maybe it's his sparkling doe eyes, his sharp jawline or maybe it's just because it's him alone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They're already teenagers and of course they both have their own circle of friends. Jungkook was out with his friends and Haneul was just left at her apartment enjoying the summer break because the next school year, she'll already be a college freshman. She decided to go out with a can filled with water on her other hand and pours it gently on the bush of carnations in the corridor. She noticed the fading scribbles of their names on the pot and she smiled at the faint memory of her throwing a fit when Jungkook accidentally broke her flowerpot. The carnations were bright red against her white, milky skin and she hummed contently at the red petals in front of her. Just as she was about to pick the carnation, she heard the sound of a shutter.

Her head immediately turned to the direction of the sound and she groaned the moment she saw the person. The pest has arrived. "Delete that, you freak!"

"What? I'm taking pictures of the sky." Jungkook told her with a playful smile on his lips.

"I'm serious, Jungkook."

"Why? You look nice here. I'd actually frame it." He proudly showed Haneul his camera and he was right. She looked nice even though she was merely admiring the carnations. It looked candid? No, it isn't the right word, she thought. It looked serene and calm. "See? You like it. I'll send it to you later."

And since that day, he often took pictures of her. She got annoyed most of the time because he mostly took stolen shots. "At least let me pose!" She whined at him, only to get a reply of "Stolen shots capture genuine emotions of people."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They were at Haneul's place and they just finished eating lunch. The adults were still on the table chatting while they were in the living room, playing one of Jungkook's favorite games. She was already about to win when he suddenly snatched the controller from her and laughed mischievously.

She stared at him as if he had offended her whole ancestors and kicked him on his leg. "That's unfair, you cheating bastard!"

"There's no rule in this game saying that cheating is not allowed." He stuck his tongue out on her to annoy her even more and he smiled victoriously when it seemed to work. "That's like an unspoken rule, Jungkook." She deadpanned.

"Oops, someone's mad." He said and poked her on the side. Haneul glared at him as if telling him that she'll kill him if he continues to do what he's doing but that didn't affect her friend at all. He poked her again where she's most ticklish and she just went over him and started to pull his hair. "Hey! Hey! Ow--let go!"

She moved back with a smirk. "Two can play this game, Kookie." She knew how much he hated that nickname because it made him feel like a kid and it just ticked something in him. Jungkook advanced towards Haneul and started to tickle her on her sides. "Two can play this game, huh."

"Stop it! I hate you!" She said as she tried to move away from him, kicking him but he remained unbothered. Their game was long forgotten and the living room got filled with shrieks and giggles.

"Look at them. They're like a couple." Jungkook's dad coos.

"I won't actually mind if the two of them will be together. It won't be a surprise." It's Haneul's father who replied.

The pair suddenly became aware of their surroundings and both of them stopped. It seemed that time paused and everything was so focused on them. Jungkook had his legs on the sides of Haneul's hips with his hands on her waist. He was on top of her, straddling her and their faces are only centimeters away from each other. If one of them decided to move closer, it will surely end up with a kiss. Both of them were still smiling and Jungkook was looking directly at her eyes. That's when he knew that there's something between them, something he can't quite name and for a brief moment he wondered if she knew that too. Maybe because they feel special to each other since they were a huge part of each other's lives. They technically grew up together.

"Stop talking behind our backs, dad." Jungkook replied back as he moved away from Haneul and went back to his spot on the sofa. His dad just chuckled as a response. He threw the controller at his friend's lap. "You up for another round?" He asked and of course she's not the type to back down especially when she lost because of cheating.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Haneul thought there was nothing that could separate them but boy, she's wrong. College was so different from high school and the amount of work load was much worse. To make it simple, both of them got busy and they don't see each other as often as before. They still study in the same university (honestly, what's new?) but they both took different courses and for the first time in 13 years, they weren't classmates.

Even though she found new friends, it would be a lie to say she doesn't miss him. Little did she knew, he misses her too.

The only time they hang out with each other was during breaks and she hates the way things had changed. Their friendship was still the same but there was something strange about her. Haneul doesn't miss the way her heart skipped a beat whenever he or the faint blush that rose on her cheeks if he gets too close to her. Perhaps she wasn't used to his presence anymore, which was really impossible. Whatever it was, she hated it because it made everything awkward.

The more she got aware of her feelings, the more she distanced herself from him. She doesn't want any of her emotions to affect their friendship so she kept herself busy with anything she could get hold of. Classes resumed and she hung out more with her college friends, studied more, joined school clubs just to distract herself but Jungkook wasn't stupid. He noticed that she was avoiding him and he thought of the things that he did but he couldn't find any reason why she'd do so.

Haneul cursed under her breath when Jungkook entered the library and made his way towards the table she sat in. "Sky," he started. "You've been weird lately."

"How am I weird?" She asked without looking up at him and continued to take down notes from the book she's reading.

He shrugged, "I don't know. You seem off, I guess?"

"Not in the mood." She replied, monotone. She lied.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be?"

"Can you stop answering my questions with questions?" He hissed with frustration and Haneul knew he's annoyed.

She sighed "I’m just busy, okay?" Another lie.

"Too busy that you can't even spare a little of your time? You can't even look at while talking."

"God, Jungkook, you're not even my boyfriend. Stop acting like this." She replied with a hushed voice because she doesn't want to get kicked out of the library.

"I don't have to be your boyfriend to care about you. I just wanted to know how are you doing and catch up with you." He stated with a low voice, looking dejected. "Look, Haneul, I don't know what I did but whatever it was, I'm sorry." He added before he stood up and left. It made her extremely guilty because Jungkook rarely called her by her name, only on serious occasions and because she was too petty, she ended up hurting her own friend.

I should be the one sorry. She wanted to tell him and there were many more things she wanted to say.

They carried on like that for weeks, barely talking until one day he appeared in front of her apartment and brought foods with him. All of them were her favorites. "Peace?" He asked her. He hasn't done anything wrong in particular and he still apologized despite that.

Haneul finally smiled at him and welcomed her in her apartment. She followed him when he made his way to her couch and she was still a little bit hesitant until Jungkook poked her arm. "Sky, stop looking at me like that. Just tell me." He said and patted the space next to him. She sat next to him and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for last time."

"Nah, it's fine. I just came on the wrong time, I guess." He offered her the ice cream he bought and she gladly accepted it. They talked like they used to, bickered and teased each other, catched up with life like nothing happened. They were back to normal and she managed to brush off her feelings. She missed this because this was how they were supposed to be and yes, she wished that they could stay like this.

"Before I forget, the other reason why I actually came here--" He felt a tug on his hair. "So you didn't really come here to make peace with me?! I stopped writing my essay for you and you do this to me. Wow, what a friend."

"Sky, it's Sunday today, give yourself a break and I clearly said 'the other reason' which means I intend to make peace with you." He emphasized his words but she just made a face to mock him.

"Anyway, I'm serious. I need your help." He said as he took out his camera.

"Wow! Jeon Jungkook needing help. I thought there's nothing you can't do?"

"Shhh, come here." He motioned her to come closer and she did, leaning over to see what's in the camera.

He probably couldn't figure out the proper setting for his camera but she's wrong. It wasn't anything she expected at all. It was a picture of a girl, sitting down on one of the gym's bleachers, smiling beautifully. There was a painful tug in her chest and what hurts the most was she knew that girl. Perhaps she was jealous. She used to be the only girl he took photos of, aside from his mom and now there was someone else.

"So, do you know who she is?" Haneul heard the excitement in his voice and it hurt so much. It stung but what can she do? She's just his friend.

This was one of the moments where she wanted to be selfish. She wanted to deny that she knew that girl but all she wanted was his happiness.

"Hey, what's wrong? You look so shaken." He asked when he turned his head to face her and oh gosh, their faces were so close once again. I like you so much.

"Nothing. I just--just didn't expect it to be her. Small world isn't it?" 

"So, you know her!" She only nodded as a response. 

That day Haneul agreed that she'll help Jungkook out to pursue her classmate. One wrong stupid move, she thought to herself. It's only going to cause herself so much pain but she can't say no anymore. On that same day, when she was alone in her room, she cried so hard with a failed attempt to take the pain away. She cried herself to sleep, heart broken into pieces because it was true that the person you loved the most would be the person who'd hurt you the most. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

She went back to doing what she did back then, doing different sort of things to distract herself. She needed to let go and she knew that too well. But then you couldn't really trust the twist of fate at this kind of moment because Jungkook suddenly came, more like barged into her place. 

He looked distraught, confused and his hair was sticking out in different directions. He must've pulled it out of frustration, she thought.

Haneul got so confused as well because he wasn't saying anything. He was just staring at her intently, with his eyebrows furrowed and it seemed like he was looking for something in her eyes, something like a confirmation or anything like that.

"Jungkook, what's wrong?" She asked as she came closer, checking if he's injured or something. 

"Haneul," He said, voice low and that caught her attention. She looked up at him and now that she's closer she managed to recognize what's underneath that gaze. His eyes. He was looking for answers. 

He held her hands gently, not in a manner friends would do. 'He has a girlfriend!' her mind screamed at her but she really wanted to give in today. Honestly she'd been doing a lot of wrong things when it came to him. She lied about being okay when she's not. She tried pushing him away which almost jeopardized their friendship and now she's about to give in to her emotions which wasn't a good thing.

Haneul looked into his eyes too. "Jungkook..." You know, I love you. She didn't continue what she was supposed to say. There's no point anyway.

But what caught her of guard was he when pulled her into a hug. "Can we just stay like this?" He whispered into her ears which made her frozen on her spot. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his chin was gently resting on her shoulders. What the hell was happening? Her brain stopped functioning and she can't process what's going on because what if he knew?

There were so many questions in her mind at that moment but she knows better because those were better left unanswered.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After that day, it was as if nothing had happened. It seemed like they both agreed that it was something not to be spoken of. Haneul finally decided that she should move on. She had to let go of these feelings because Jungkook was already happy with someone and unfortunately, that someone wasn't her. There was already someone who made him smile, who was there when he needed someone and she needed to go back to her place as his friend.

It was tough of course. It hurts to see the one you love be in love with someone else but she learned to move on. It was a process and it took time. To be honest, it took until their graduation before she felt that she was okay with everything. She was able to finally smile without faking any of her emotions but that doesn't mean she took him out of her life. He still had a special place in her heart.

Both of them were walking at the park. There were no people anymore because it was already late. There was a sudden question that popped out of Haneul's mind and she didn't mean harm to it. It was merely a hypothetical question and she actually wanted to hear an answer.

"Jungkook," She starts. "Have you ever thought about us?" She dropped the question and the latter stopped at his tracks and stared at her incredulously.

"What about us?"

"You know... what if... what if we were together?"

He let out a forced laugh and looked at her. "Are you serious?"

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Jungkook hated everything at this moment because he waited for the perfect timing for so long and when he finally decided that maybe the two of them were really not for each other, that maybe she never felt the same way, this thing happened. He was already freaking engaged. “Why now? Why do you have to ask me that now?”

"If I had asked you back then, what would you do?" She averted her gaze to the ground because he looked so hurt and she can't bear to see him like that.

"God, Haneul, if I only knew back then, I would've dropped everything, break up with her just for you because there wasn’t a single day that passed without me thinking about what we could’ve been if we were together." He paused and looked up, trying to fight back the rears b on the corner of his eyes. "I thought you only saw me as a friend and nothing more than that. I tried different things to see if you liked me back. I even went as far as pretending to like someone just to see if you'd get jealous but you even helped me out."

"If you only knew how much that hurt." She let out a bitter chuckle. "I cried so much that night because I was so in love with you."

“I've been in love with you ever since. You remember the night when I rushed to your place? You didn't say anything and that's when I convinced myself to let go of you. Why was I so stupid?" Jungkook's eyes were starting to get teary and he doesn't even know why. He has moved on. Maybe they were tears of regret because there were countless of what ifs in his mind right now.

"You had a girlfriend that time that's why I didn't say anything. I didn't want to ruin anyone's happiness. That's just the worst."

Haneul looked at Jungkook this time. He was crying, head hung low and she felt guilty about it. "Well, that's all in the past now. Both of us were just plain stupid. The thing is, you’re already happy right?" He looked up and wiped his tears. He gave her a nod and she smiled at him in return. "That's the most important thing right now, Jungkook. Let's not dwell on regrets, okay? Life's too short for that so we should focus on the present. Maybe we both were too scared of rejection, of possibly destroying what we had back then, that's why."

He acknowledged what she said. She was right after all. If only one of them had the courage before then maybe things could've been different right now. He wished he could turn back time and change his decisions but still he wasn't sure if that would grant him happiness because what he told her was true. He was happy and content with his life right now and she was too.