Pairing: NamMin
Word count: -
Genre: fluff (maybe a little angst?)
Requester: viviartistik

Remember when you were in Elementary school and you would make these ridiculous promises with your ‘bff’s’. Ask yourself these questions: 

Are you still friends with that person? 

Will you really keep that promise?

That’s the situation Jimin’s in. Back in Elementary, he made this ‘lame’ promise to Namjoon. Little did he know, that this promise would change his whole world. 

---

When Jimin was eight years old, he made a promise to his ten year old neighbor Namjoon. Almost everyday after school, the two boys would go over each other’s houses and play with each other. Laughs and giggles were made. Competitiveness in each other when it came to video games would go in full. There’s this one day that Jimin remembered precisely. 

It was a pouring rain one day, along with lightning striking as well. The younger of the two absolutely hates lightning. There were tears falling from his eyes, his body curled up into a ball, slowly rocking in place. He wanted the loud noise to stop. He wanted his neighbor and best friend, Namjoon. If there was some sort of god or something up there that could hear him, he was pretty thankful. ‘N-Namjoon, Hyung...’ The kid thought to himself, continuing to cry. 

And there was the older male. Opening the door to a quiet house, soaked from the rain. When he walked into the younger’s house, he saw that Jimin was still curled up into a ball on the couch in the living room. 

“Jimin!” He yelled and closed the door before running over to the boy. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around the other, pulling him into a tight, warm hug. “What’s wrong?” 

Sniffling, Jimin started to stop his cries and slowly lifted up his head to look up at the other. “H-Hyung?” He stuttered out. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“It’s raining and my mom told me that your mom and dad are out at work so I thought we could play together. But you’re crying so you know-”

Jimin couldn’t help but smile right afterwards. A wide one to be exact. Even though his cheeks were tear stained, he had that silly smile of his. Namjoon couldn’t help but smile as well when he saw the other. The younger boy, hugged his friend tightly. “T-Thank you Namjoon Hyung.” 

The older male hugged the other back and nodded his head. “Of course. I promise you to always be there for you when you’re in need.”

Letting go of his friend, Jimin pulled away and looked at his friend. “Really?” 

Namjoon pulled away as well and looked at the other. “Yeah. Promise” He replied and held out his pinky to the younger boy. 

His cheeks started to feel warm and his eyes became small little moon crescents. Jimin held out his pink as well and wrapped it around his friend’s pinky. Warmth was filled in him. He didn’t know how to describe what he felt at that moment. But like any other kid, they just know that they’re just ‘super super happy’

---

When Jimin got into Middle school, he had those pudgy cheeks, a short figure, stubby hands, and glasses on that made him look ‘weird’. There were a few kids in his class that decided that it would be funny to bully him.  As a matter of a fact though, it wasn’t funny. The kid would just be minding his own business in the halls, walking to his next class and the next thing he’d knew is that a foot would be sticking out and he would trip on it. Falling to the ground, his hands there to block out the hard fall, a small whimper was made. The next thing that happened was that a bunch of kids would be laughing. 

Another would be where he had gym class. When it finished, he was in the shower. Coming out with a towel wrapped around his waist, he went over to his locker to take out his clothes. when the male opened it, there wasn't anything but socks and his shoes. 'Socks and shoes. You're kidding right.'  He just sat down on the ground, leaning his head back into the locker. 'Stupid' he banged his head once against the metal. 'Stupid' another bang. 'Freaking stupid' he thought to himself one more time, banging his head harder against the lockers. There wasn't any point in going anywhere now. He had nothing to wear. 

School had ended by then and Jimin just wanted to go home. It started to get cold as well. A breeze came in from the windows that were open. He felt lonesome, body beginning to shiver. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he hugged his legs trying to get as much warmth as he could. The kid buried his head into his legs and closed his eyes, trying to think of holy thoughts. The only 'happy' thing that came to his mind was his neighbor, Namjoon. 

"Namjoon hyung" he said aloud. Not expecting anything in return. Why would he though? He's in the locker room by himself. Those stupid bullies decided that it was funny again to pull this stupid prank on him by taking his clothes. 

After a few moments, he heard the slam open. "Jimin?!" The kid heard an oh-so familiar voice. This made him perk his head up, out of his knees. 

Footsteps were being made and before he knew it, he had his best friend standing right in front of him, panting. His eyes stared at two feet and made its way up to see Namjoon looking down at him in concern. 

"Do you know how long it took me to find you?" Namjoon asked, placing himself down next Jimin. He leaned his head back against the lockers and released a sigh. "When I got home, I went over to your place but no one was home. So I called your phone, but it went straight to voicemail. I was like 'huh. What is this kid doing?'" He said, a small smile, creeping on his face. "Then another thought came to mind" he continued, and looked at the younger boy with concern. "Maybe he's at school. And thank god I have a pretty good damn memory for remembering what classes you have" he said, a loose chucking being made. 

Maybe it was just Jimin. But swore that he felt his heart skip a beat. "I-I'm sorry..." That's all he was able to let out. His eyes began to water. What was the reason though? He didn't even know. A tear was made and fell down his cheek. 

"Jimin? Hey, you okay?" Namjoon asked and realize what state the boy was in. His eyes widen and immediately, he went through his bag and took out the extra pair of clothes that he keeps as a spare. Once he got those clothes out, he held it out to the kid. "Here, put this on."

Once Jimin was in clothes, tears had stopped falling from his eyes. Cheeks were flushed, hair strands in every direction. He couldn't see a thing with his glasses gone as well. The two males were now at a park sitting down on a bench.

"How?" Jimin asked. Turning his head to look at the his neighbor. 

Catching his attention, Namjoon raised an eyebrow. "How what?"

"How could you find me?"

"Easy. I told you. I'll always be there when you're in need" Namjoon said, a genuine smile on his lips. 

No words needed to be said at this moment. It was perfect. Probably too perfect. But heck, everything was in place for the two of them. The atmosphere had a soft, fluffy, feel. Their pinkies were lightly locked together. Jimin felt safe. And that's what he wanted. 

---

When it came to high school, Jimin swears he's in some sort of hell. The male was overloaded with homework and tests. His mind was ready to burst! It's been about two years since the last time he saw his old neighbor, Namjoon. Of course he kept in contact with the older male. But with the both often being busy with school, wasn't the greatest turn out. They have their own lives to go through, not having enough time to send a 'hey' or 'how's it?'  It's understandable to the younger of the two though. Nothing can be done anyways. 

Jimin did miss Namjoon though. A lot. He missed being able to go over to the male's house and play video games. He missed those quiet moments that were just perfect. There wasn't any specific relationship between them besides being 'bffs'. But, whenever the two of them were next to each other; it's like they were in a whole new world. 

The bullying had stopped and puberty did him good. All the girls were practically all over him. Jimin though, just thought that the attention was annoying. He didn't want everyone to be on him. It just wasn't him. 

He was now on his way home from school, walking on the sidewalk, listening to music. He knew what he wanted to do. Go home, shower, sleep. It was his last day of school already. Graduation's on the weekend and he couldn't wait. Though, he can wait just a little bit when he takes his nap. He wishes that Namjoon was there to celebrate with him of finishing high school. Maybe send the guy a text? And that's why he did. 

Jimin took out his phone from his pocket and unlocked his screen. Going to his messaging app, he sent a message to his old friend. 

To: Namjoon 
From: Jimin 

Hey.. It's been a while yeah? I miss you hyung.. Wish you were here. Today was my last day of school. And Saturday is my graduation. Wish you were there to celebrate with me !
Talk to you soon.

Sending the message, Jimin put his phone back in his pocket and walked up to his front door, unlocking it. When he opened the door, he heard laughter. Furrowing his brows, he took off his shoes and closed the door behind him, walking more into the house. When he turned his head to the left to look into the living room, his eyes went wide. 

The laughter stop and the male was welcomed with warm smiles. "N-Namjoon hyung..?"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." Namjoon said, grinning. 

Jimin dropped his bag on the ground and ran up to the older male and hugged him tight. He was so, so happy. He just wanted to cry on the spot. "I missed you so much..."

"I missed you too Jimin" Namjoon replied, hugging the smaller boy just as tight, probably crushing his bones. 

"W-Wait.. Too tight..." Jimin managed to say through short breaths. 

The older just chuckled and let go of the younger. "Sorry."

Later on that night, they were at the same park as they were when Jimin was in middle school. Just cruising. It was quiet, but not quite enough. You could hear the cars passing by with other people walking by as well. 

"How come you came back?"  Jimin asked, leaning back in the bench. 

"A little birdie told me my old neighbor missed me" Namjoon replied, chuckling at the end. 

The younger male stayed quiet for a bit. "Mom told you?"

"Who else? It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Well, you sure did surprise me."

Namjoon ran his finger through his hair and smiled, linking his pinky with jimin's. "I also did promise you that I would always be there for you when you're in need. And it looks like you just missed me... A lot." 

Jimin laughed sheepishly and shrugged his shoulder, a blush creeping on his cheeks. He was glad that it was dark now, so his friend couldn't see. He squeeze his pinky around the older softly before he felt it pulled away. That small warmth disappeared but then a bigger one came back to his hand. It was Namjoon holding his hand, intertwining their fingers together. He eyes their hands for a moment before looking up at the sky. 

"Hey hyung," Jimin started off, slowly moving closer to the other. 

"Yeah?" Namjoon replied as he leaned his head against the younger's shoulder. 

"I promise you, I'll always be there for you too."