I met him when we were only kids. 11 year olds.

As a young girl who had just moved from Japan with my grandmother and my
brother to avoid my less than parental parents, I was mostly friendless, with dance as my only outlet since I was still learning the language. We went to the same dance studio, and one day, I was early for my contemporary dance class. That was the first time I saw him. His hair was a mess that stuck up in all directions, his clothes baggy. I didn't need to see him dance to tell he was a hip hop dancer, but when I did, I was shocked. The way he could pop and lock and break was something that I had only seen professionals do. The amount of precision in his movements was insane to me, especially since I hadn't previously had any hip hop experience, so I just assumed it was flailing around and looking tough or pissed off.

He redefined hip hop for me by smiling as he ran through the dance. He had a tendency to do that. Change my whole world with his beautiful smile. But I didn't know that then.

I watched him leave class, and instead of breezing right by me to the nearby water fountain, the joyful looking boy stopped, and bowed politely. "Hello! I'm Hoseok!" He grinned. I was taken aback by his outgoing attitude, and embarrassed because he had probably seen me gawking at him. He said a bunch of other stuff, too, but with my limited knowledge of the language, I was stumped after the first sentence.

"Um, I don't...speak Korean." I uttered out in my best Korean. My best was pretty god damn terrible. Hoseok smiled anyways. I fiddled with the strap of my leotard as his twinkling eyes surveyed my shy demeanor and blushing.

"Still. We. Can. Be. Friends. Now." He slowed his rapid speech down so I could understand. My young heart skipped a beat. A friend?

"Okay." I said, offering him a shy smile. Hoseok's radiant smile only widened.

"Name?" He asked. I was highly appreciative of him simplifying his words.

"Nozomi." I said.

"Wahhh." He said exaggeratedly, causing an nervous giggle to slip through my lips. "Cool name." He complimented me. 11 year old me's brain was experiencing a massive fart. "Cool name" didn't seem like much, but coming from Hoseok, the cheerful, amazing dancer, it was worth a million compliments.

"Kamsa...uh—kamsaham...ugh." I groaned in frustration. Hoseok found this particularly amusing.

"Nida." He finished for me. If I could have gotten any redder in the face, I would have.

"Kamsahamnida." I squeaked, and before he could open his mouth to speak, the teacher opened the studio door for my class. "Um, goodbye." I stammered, waving shyly. Hoseok waved like he was doing an intense set of jazz hands. I thought his hand might fall off.

"Bye, Nozomi!"

Hoseok and I would meet again frequently. I started having my grandmother drop me off early on the regular just to see him. He was a year older than me, and in the grade above me in school. He had big dreams, Jung Hoseok. He wanted to be a professional dancer. I always told him he could. He tried to teach me hip hop a few times. I felt ridiculous. Hoseok, on the other hand, could pull off contemporary. He made sure to remind me of this often.

The first few meetings were shy and awkward, but by the end of the month, Hoseok was ruffling my hair and I was rushing to class to show him the new words I had learned. Whenever I didn't know a word, we would act it out, like charades. Or we would dance to convey how we felt. I apologized relentlessly to Hoseok for being such a hassle, but the boy just smiled and told me it was okay.

His smile. God, he was so perky, and I was so...not, but I grew used to his neverending supply of energy and crazy personality. His smile was something so small, so seemingly insignificant. Just a constant part of the person I associated with the name Hoseok, an extension as common on him as the arm or leg is on an average person. Something so familiar and consistent and reassuring.

Something I didn't know I would need—

until I lost it forever.

Koine Iwasaki as Nozomi Tsumita

Jung Hoseok as His WONDERFUL RAY OF SUNSHINE MY HOPE MY ANGEL AAAH Lil Self

Min Yoongi as His Genius Lil Self

Kim Seokjin as His WWH Lil Self

Park Jimin as His ~sexy~ mOcHi Lil Self

Kim Namjoon as His cuTE/smart Lil Self

Kim Taehyung as His Lovely/Sweet/Hot Lil Self

Jeon Jungkook as His SPICY TALENTED CUTIEPIE Lil Self

Steven Yeun as Kito Tsumita