A childhood friend. A precious creature. A person who knows you better than anyone and never ever left your side since the day you two met.

Then you grow up. Your feelings too. And what is it that blooms between the two of you?

***

“Hey, Donghae,” the little boy yells to another little boy. The latter looks at him in curiosity immediately and tilts his head to indicate he’s listening. “How about a smile for good luck?”

The boy whose name was Donghae frowns a little; his chubby cheeks look even chubbier that way and those little traces of an ice cream make them glow in some way.

“A smile for good luck?” he asks carefully, slowly. Without the front teeth that were taken away by a Tooth Fairy a few days ago the word ‘smile’ sound more like ‘shmile’.

The other boy – Hyukjae is his name – is no older than Donghae. His birthday is in April, the other’s – in October. But, feeling like an older brother who’s ought to protect and care for him, he grabs a napkin that was carefully placed between two boys who are sitting on a bench while enjoying their ice cream, he cleans Donghae’s cheeks carefully.

Hyukjae’s fingers grab one of the chubby cheeks, feeling how incredibly soft it is, like the softest marshmallow you only could imagine.

He never tried marshmallow, but he was sure it should be just as soft as those cheeks.

He grabs one of them and wipes the other one while saying, “Wishing luck never actually works. I never got any when others wished me some. But I really, really need luck for tomorrow if I want to win! So, could you smile to wish me good luck?” Hyukjae lets the other’s cheeks go and looks at him with a smile. “Even if it won’t work, at least I’ll get to see you smiling. That’s something.”

He has a small audition tomorrow. Their local dance school is auditioning kids who could join them and study there for free. There’re only 5 winners who’ll get admitted, and Hyukjae really wants to become one of them. Kids from that school get to become backup dancers for celebrities in the future and overall have a good dancing career. The boy’s family has not enough money to pay for such school, but if he wins… he can become a little star himself. He really needs some luck.

Hyukjae barely turned 7 and he’s supposed to believe in magic, yet he’s given up on that already. Seven is the oldest age to be admitted to that school and such audition only happens once per year; basically, his last chance. Tomorrow or never.

Hyukjae barely turned 7. He’s not supposed to be so anxious and realize how important it is, yet he somehow does. His hands clench into tiny fists and tremble a little once he starts thinking about it, and suddenly, his ice cream is not as tasty as it used to be and the Sun isn’t as bright as he remembered it. He’s anxious. He’s worried. He…

He feels a soft touch on his left fist and looks at Donghae who turned out to be the one touching him. The little boy’s fingers are sticky from the ice cream – such a messy eater he is – but Hyukjae doesn’t mind when he sees that smile.

That toothless smile without two front teeth that were taken by the Tooth Fairy not so long ago.

“Good luck, Hyukjae!” Donghae chirps, and the other boy’s name sounds like ‘Hyukzhae’ when he pronounces it, which makes Hyukjae’s chest all warm.

That smile. Ever since they were little, it has always been special to him, that’s why he asked his best friend – the little Donghae who lived in the house right in front of his – to smile. It always made Hyukjae feel better when he saw that smile.

That day, their tradition of Donghae giving him a smile for good luck was born. Even if they didn’t realize it yet.

***

Donghae was sitting on the swings while looking at the sky and squinting due to the blinding sun. The ice cream in his hand was almost finished, and its remnants started melting and made his hands dirty once again. He didn’t mind.

Kids around him were running on the playground and enjoying the nice weather, but he didn’t mind as well. For here was only one person he was waiting for.

When the ice cream was long gone and Donghae sighed not knowing whether he had to go for another one or keep waiting here, he suddenly felt someone’s soft touch against his face and the next thing he noticed was the fact someone covered his eyes from the back. The person tried to be sneaky, but, even though he was little, the boy would never mistake those hands with someone else’s.

“Hyukjae!” he beamed and heard a chuckle behind him.

“I didn’t even manage to say ‘Guess who’!” the other boy complained jokingly and hugged Donghae’s shoulders from behind. “Happy hugs!”

“You passed? You passed?” Donghae kept asking while trying to turn his face to look at his friend, but his hug was too strong for the boy to be able to move.

Hyukjae chuckled, “I did! I really, really did! Now you have to smile for good luck every time I’m asking you, got it?”

The other boy chuckled. He didn’t say that if his friend really wanted to see him smiling, he didn’t even need to ask for that. Because Donghae always felt like smiling when they were together.

***

“Donghae!” the childish voice sounded on the boy’s backyard when he was doing his shoelaces and preparing to go to school. “A smile for good luck?”

Donghae didn’t pay attention before, yet he suddenly realized Hyukjae’s voice changed a little. It was still a voice of a young boy, yet it became less chirpy over years. They were 11 right now; still kids, yet with some understanding of the world and some responsibilities even. Instead of getting stickers in their notebooks, boys had real grades in school and had to work on their home tasks diligently to not upset their parents with their results. Instead of spending all the free time outside playing with each other – and some other kids from time to time – they now had to do other activities.

It was dancing for Hyukjae and soon became music for Donghae. The latter didn’t even realize how his best friend impacted his decision when he told his mom he wanted to do music. Donghae didn’t even realize that, despite his true and genuine love for music, there was one more thing that made him choose that path.

Secretly, he hoped that maybe one day, even if he won’t be able to become a famous singer or composer, his skills would be enough to play songs at least, and maybe Hyukjae would be able to dance while he’ll be playing. There was that desire of a little boy to be inseparable with his best friend.

“You have a test today?” Donghae asked while getting up and putting a backpack on his shoulder.

Hyukjae, who was standing a few steps away, smiled, “A super important math test! And you know I hate math.”

“Just like me.”

Yeah, there was one more responsibility in their life. The responsibility of learning how to keep living without being glued to each other 24/7 for they so happened to end up in different classes despite attending the same school. The two had different schedules now and couldn’t be together as much as they wanted. Which made both miserable, although Donghae always thought he was a bit more miserable than his friend for he’s always been a clingy type meanwhile Hyukjae didn’t depend on company as much.

“Then, smile? Please, I need some luck for today! Desperately!”

“That’s unfair, you know? You have this lucky charm and I don’t.”

“Oh, Donghae, please!” Hyukjae grabbed his shoulder and started shaking the boy. “What do you want me to do? I’m really going to fail this test if you won’t smile!”

“You might fail even if I do.”

“That’s just an assumption. But if you won’t smile, I’ll fail for real!”

Donghae had hard time preventing himself from smiling; it was nearly impossible to not do that when they were together. The boy had to bite his lips to not show his smile and not give Hyukjae what he wanted. At some point Donghae even pouted while trying to hide his smile still.

“Ice cream,” he said.

He didn’t even need to add more words as his friend nodded vigorously, “I’ll buy you as many packs as you want if you smile!”

“Promise?”

“Sure!”

Donghae couldn’t hold his smile longer anyway. His lips formed a happy smile the very next moment, his teeth got exposed just like that, and he showed the brightest smile ever to his friend.

Hyukjae’s palm slid down from the boy’s shoulder to his own palm, grabbing it tightly when he exclaimed, “Now that’s it! I’m going to nail this test!”

“But buy me ice cream even if you won’t!”

Both chuckled.

And continued walking with their hands grabbing one another.

***

“A smile for good luck! An urgent need of a smile for good luck!”

Hyukjae looked quite calm and composed, but Donghae could literally feel how shaken he was. The teen’s tension was palpable.

They were 14. Or more like Hyukjae turned 14 already and Donghae was still waiting for his birthday to come. At such age, more responsibilities appeared in their lives as there were more opportunities as well. They were growing older day by day; not only their surroundings changed, but their bodies as well.

Hyukjae was looking like a teenager who was on his way to becoming a man. His voice changed completely, not yet sounding absolutely mature, yet being nothing like that ringing sound Donghae was used to hearing. The latter, on the other hand, still looked pretty much like a boy with his voice still being somewhere in between what small child had and what teen was supposed to have. He’s been trying to convince himself that happened only because he was a bit younger than Hyukjae and all those changes were yet to happen to him once he turns 14. Donghae became quite competitive with age and hated falling behind.

They got older, so there was no Hyukjae’s mom accompanying her child whenever there was yet another dance competition, audition or whatever. That’s why Donghae took her place pretty much naturally for he had no better friend than the guy still. Their friends circles were different for the two weren’t lucky to end up in the same class even once in their lifetime, yet they were as glued to each other as before.

That’s why it was Donghae standing beside Hyukjae when the latter was about to get auditioned for their local talent show. It was no big deal for it wasn’t one of the shows you see on TV, but for the youngsters like them being recognized at least in their city was something. Besides, there always was a chance someone could actually see him and maybe invite him to join some sort of team. Hyukjae was doing well in his school, yet there were no growth opportunities yet unless he wanted to become an idol, which the guy didn’t fancy too much yet. That’s why he wanted to try himself in other places and see what the possible outcome could be.

And that’s why he was so shaken because there was no guarantee he’ll succeed. Hyukjae knew he won’t embarrass himself for he was a good dancer, yet not making it there would hurt his pride still.

Donghae was about to say something when he felt the guy’s hand grabbing his own rather tightly, making the boy frown a little for that hand was sweaty due to worry.

“I’m right after this girl,” he said once a girl they didn’t know started her performance on the stage.

Donghae gulped a little when he saw her. She was as good as Hyukjae. Maybe even a little better. He wasn’t sure how many people were about to get auditioned today and didn’t know whether boys and girls will be separated or there could be only one for each category, yet he could feel why his friend was so worried. She was really good. And she wasn’t the only one.

They stood in silence while watching her, and it was Hyukjae’s silent voice that woke Donghae up from his slumber, “A smile for good luck?”

Remembering how it really became his friend’s lucky charm, Donghae tried to swallow his own worry and smiled, “Sure. You’ll make it.”

He looked at Hyukjae, yet the latter’s eyes were glued to the stage. He was looking in front of himself without actually noticing his friend’s smile. A few seconds later, he let Donghae’s palm go without even looking at the smile he was desperately asking for, leaving the boy behind with the same smile frozen on his lips.

Donghae felt… something. It was something new, something he never experienced before. Like a little needle piercing his chest in the area around his heart and causing the acute pain in that point. It was something weird.

And even weirder was the fact that, once Hyukjae started jumping around him when he actually got admitted for the next tour, apart from genuine happiness for his friend, there were two more things D