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Contemporary Friendship Inspirational

“Are you really sure that you’re okay with this?” Namjun asked his friend again. Jun turned his head away from the side where he had been flirting with a girl and looked at his friend.


“What?” Jun asked. 


“Are you really okay to come on this trip with me? I mean - closing your restaurant and everything?” Namjun clarified quietly as he glanced down at his feet before looking up again to his friend's eyes that were shining with a look of seriousness that Namjun rarely ever saw. Jun’s next words seemed to contradict his eyes but Namjun knew that Jun was sincerely doing this for him.


“You ARE paying for the food, right?”


Namjun sighed as he shook his head with a slight smile on his face. He wiped the smile off of his face and looked into Jun’s eyes again. 


“YES, I’m paying for the food! Still!”


“Then, YES, I’m okay with coming on this trip with you!” Jun laughed his signature, high-pitched laugh while clapping his hands after saying that. “Seriously though, you need some rest. If you sleep for the rest of the ride then you might get enough beauty sleep to be a solid eight. Of course, I’m a ten but beating my handsome face was never an option anyway.” Jun laughed again as he stood up.


“Where are you going?”


“I’m going to make some conversation with that lovely lady over there,” Jun said as his eyes shifted and made eye contact with the girl while he finished his sentence. The girl giggled and turned her head to hide her blush. “Get some sleep! Maybe I’ll teach you the true art of being handsome when you wake up!” Jun left the room and headed into the crowded train to say hi to the girl in the room across from them. 


. . .


Namjun woke up to see that he was still alone in the train car. It was dark outside and he could see the bright stars in the cloudless sky. He lightly smiled. He was happy to have this short break. He barely managed to get this break for himself and he really was excited about it. He had been through a lot these past few months. Becoming rich out of nowhere, Becoming president of an entire country, marrying a girl he barely knew who hated him, having scandals and misunderstandings with his wife, losing his wife, losing his virginity, and more things in between. Despite all of the struggles, he felt peaceful at that moment. He stared at the sky and just explained it inside his head to the best of his ability so he’d remember it better. 


“Dark, indigo sky. Empty of clouds or other impurities. Dotted with the freckles of the universe. Dimly lit with little lanterns that we call stars. What a beauty. Planets, stars, and the sky. Such simple things but so wonderful and breathtaking. I hope that someday I can find my moon. The person who lights up my life and steals all of my attention. Lit up on its own and lighting the way for others. What a majestic wonder.”


Namjun drifted off to sleep again thinking about all the plans he had to turn his life right-side-up again.


. . .


“Rise and shine koala! We’re here!” 


Namjun slowly blinked his eyes open and squinted them as the bright lights on the ceiling hit them. He let his eyes adjust and they quickly found their way to Jun who was standing right in front of Namjun. Jun grabbed Namjun’s arm and pulled him off of the train seat. Namjun wobbled on his feet for a moment before gaining his balance back and really waking up. Jun grabbed his friend's hand and led him off of the train with their bags. 


“I already called the driver and he should be here!” Jun said as he stood with Namjun at the station and looked around. His eyes stopped on someone and grew bigger. “Jungguk and Taehyun? What are you two doing here?”


Namjun turned his head and trained his eyes on his two friends who stood by a small car and waved. 


“I’m your driver! Didn’t you recognize my voice!?” Jungguk yelled as he waved them over. The two older men headed over to the two youngsters. 


“I didn’t really think about it. I thought it was a little weird and then I ignored it!” Jun said and he gently pushed Namjun into the backseat of the car and closed the door. Jun walked around to the other side and hopped in himself. 


Jungguk started driving and spoke to Jun while occasionally glancing into the rearview mirror. 


“Namjun just wanted a quiet break and we figured that it wouldn’t be a real break unless you had some friends over, right!?”


“Do you even know what a break is?” Namjun grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. 


“That’s what I said.” A groggy voice spoke from the trunk. Namjun turned and looked into the backseat to find a bigger surprise than his first friends.


“What in the world are you guys all doing here?” Namjun asked as Jaemin sat up. Doseok tried to sit up but was pushed back down by Yoon-Ki who was laying his head on Doseok’s stomach. Doseok sighed and put his hands under his head so he could see Namjun and Jun better (Jun had also peeked his head over the couch after Namjun spoke). 


“According to these idiots, a break is where all of your friends come to invade your personal space and never leave your side,” Yoon-Ki spoke again. His eyes were closed and he made no movements to get up from Doseoks stomach. 


“Just think of us as your emotional support animals!” Taehyun chimed in helpfully. 


“Can we be serious for a second? Guys?” Namjun asked as he sat facing the car window so that he could look at all of the boys at the same time. “Why are you guys all here? Jin, you have a restaurant to take care of! Yoongi, you have a wife and a new baby to take care of! Doseok, you have music to make and records to break! Jaemin, you have a wife at home and if you don’t already have a baby on the way then you should be getting to that! Taehyun, you must have some movie filming to do or something else! Jungguk, you have modeling jobs and girls to woo! What are you guys all doing with me when there are more important things to do!?” The car was silent for a moment as all of the boys avoided eye contact. After a long silence, Jun, who was right in front of Namjun at the moment, spoke.


“Listen, My restaurant is not more important than you. Yoongi’s wife and baby are in a stable condition for the time being and Artemis is staying with them. Doseok's work can wait a week. Jaemin’s wife can wait a week. Taehyung and Jungguk's work can wait a while too. It’s just a week and we’ll always have time for you when you need it. You’re not one to ask for help but you should know that you can. We’re all here for you. Let us help you.”


The drive was silent for the rest of the ride as the boys all let Namjun think about what Jun had said. 


. . .


The boys had arrived and all gone in to unpack their stuff. They took Namjun’s things and told him not to worry and to just look around the property. It was a warm beach. Namjun had just started walking and he took this time to think back about what each of his friends had said later during the ride.


“As much as I hate to admit this, you’ve helped me a lot more than any normal friend would help someone. Especially an asshole like me. I’m the worst friend there is and you still find time to help me and talk with me. I know I don’t express it a lot because it’s embarrassing for me so I hope you remember this because it won’t be happening again. Even though I don’t seem like it, if you genuinely need help, I’ll help you. You don’t even have to ask, I’m there.” Yoon-Ki had said. He’d kept his eyes closed the entire time, still laying on Doseoks stomach but Namjun could feel the sincerity. Yoon-Ki really wasn’t the sentimental type so Namjoon was thankful for his words of kindness.


“You are one of the most important people to me in the whole entire world. You’re in the top … six! I know that I’m busy a LOT but I’m never too busy for you! You’ll always be my favorite know-it-all! I admire your strength but strength isn’t everything. Sometimes, you just need a friend. It doesn’t matter how long you need, I’ve got all the time in the world for you. Sincerely, I love you, bro! And you know I’m not lying because I can’t lie!” The whole friend group had laughed at Doseok's words before Jaemin clapped and told everyone to quiet down so he could talk.


“I’m just gonna be straightforward about this. You lost an important piece of your life. Your wife. I can’t imagine losing the love of my life. It must be painful for you and lonely too. One thing I can’t stand is being alone so I always have a snuggle buddy around! You’ve been an awesome snuggle buddy whenever you’re around me so I hope we can snuggle more often. I’ve got all the time in the world too! Who needs Artemis when I can have you as a snuggle buddy!?” Again, the friends laughed.


“Me me! Me too!” Taehyun had said quietly. The car quieted to hear what the sweet boy had to say. “We’re all connected! All of us! When you’re hurt, we’re hurt! In my world, there wouldn’t be any problems but I can’t take you to my world so I’ll take pieces of my world to you! Whenever you’re hurt, I’ll bring a little piece of joy from my world to make you forget the pain! Whenever you’re tired, I’ll bring a pillow from my world! When you’re sad, I’ll bring a little sunshine and I’ll always bring the boys too! You guys can all have pieces of my world whenever you want! Even when you’re happy!” The group of friends laughed at Tae’s pure words and the youngest friend spoke his own words of wisdom.


“Like Taehyun said earlier, we’re your support animals! You can lean on us! We always have time and comfort just waiting for you! We’ll stop in an instant with whatever we’re doing just to help you because you are our priority! You don’t deserve any pain! I’ve never had a *Hyung more amazing than you! Please use me! Use us! Use us and our love to lessen your pain. If pain was a person then I’d just fight him for you but, since he isn’t, I’ll just do the best I can to pull him off of you! Metaphorically speaking, of course!” Again, the whole group laughed. They all had said their pieces and hoped Namjun would really think about it.

(*Older brother/not always used for older brothers. Can be used for close guy friends as well) 


Namjun found a spot to sit on the beach after all of that walking. The sun was setting and he wanted to be able to watch it set. Only a few minutes after Namjun had sat down in the warm sand, he felt the presence of a group and soon noticed his friends sitting next to him. They stayed silent. Just their presence was enough to make him feel at peace. He lightly smiled and leaned his head against Yoon-Ki’s shoulder. To his surprise, Yoon-Ki made no attempt to push him away so they stayed like that as all the friends watched the sunset. Once more, Namjun looked at the sky and explained it to the best of his ability in his mind so he wouldn’t forget it.


Orange, yellow, pink, blue and other colors! So colorful. The wonderful shining ball of light in the center of the sky! The few clouds drifting away to find their own beds for the night. Warm, gentle breeze. Little crabs and turtles walking along the beach. Seashells in the yellow-orange sand. Most importantly, the six most important people in my life. My best friends. I don’t know WHAT in the world I’d do without them. Actually …. I do. I’m confident that I would have no place in this world if it weren’t for them! I’m grateful that they came with me on this trip! I can’t wait to see what these wonderful idiots have planned next!

April 20, 2021 15:06

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5 comments

This story is so cute and sweet. Also... these characters are based off of BTS, right? You did such a good job of conveying their personalities in this story! I'm totally not sobbing from the cuteness of it...

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Emma Harris
18:14 Feb 28, 2022

Yes! I based my main characters off of BTS! I'm so glad you enjoyed my story and I'm glad I conveyed their personalities in a way that felt real to you!

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It's such a coincidence because yesterday I got onto Reedsy and was like, "I wonder if I can find anyone on here that likes BTS??" And then I saw your profile picture and thought, "NO WAY this person reads that comic???" .... And then I found out you liked BTS, too!!! I just thought that was the craziest thing ever because I didn't expect to find a BTS fan that quickly, haha. (Seriously, your stories are so creative!!)

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Emma Harris
05:05 Mar 03, 2022

Haha! I thought that too when I came here and I think I've found one person who wrote a BTS story. I can't really remember since it was a while ago but I figured I'd find a way to subtly alert fans and just give any average person a fun time! (It's also pretty fun to have a universe that I made myself where all of the stories connect!)

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Yeah, it's kind of like an inside joke between you and your audience. I love it, it's such a clever idea!

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