Kim Seokjin met Anna Lane when her family moved into his neighborhood during their elementary school years. Seokjin had an older brother, but Anna was an only child, and the good-looking ten-year-old felt sad when he saw the pretty little brown-haired girl sitting out on her front porch alone every day.

Although he tended to be shy, he mustered up his courage and walked over to say hello. The sparkle in the little girl's eyes when he greeted her made him forget his shyness. She was kind and sweet and funny and always deferred to him once they figured out that he was a year older. Seokjin made sure to remind her that she should always listen to him because he was older, much like his own brother demanded of him.

He remembered one night when he was about 12 and she was 11, they stayed out late. They had found a darkened section of the park that was two blocks from their homes. They laid back on the grass and stared up at the stars through a clearing in the tall trees. Anna wanted to see a meteor shower that she had read about in the newspaper, so the two children stared at the sky expectantly.

Ever the practical one, Seokjin told her they might not get to see any meteors since they were not allowed to stay out too late, and the shower would be at its peak after midnight. She promised they would go home after they saw at least one.

Two hours later, Seokjin nervously reminded her that they would both get into trouble for staying out so late. He knew he would get blamed since he was older.

"Jinnie, look!" she suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the patch of sky above them visible through a clearing in the trees.

The young boy squinted into the dark sky then gasped when he saw a light streak across the sky.

"A shooting star!" he said in an awestruck voice.

"They're not really stars," she began in the voice of authority she adopted when she wanted to point something out to her older friend. "Stars do not really fall--"

"Yes, yes, I know," he interrupted her. "But it sounds so much better than saying 'look, a piece of debris falling into the atmosphere,' don't you think?"

"I guess--oh, look! Another one! It's so bright!"

Seokjin sat up then helped her up. "Come on. We've seen the meteors. It's almost midnight. We're going to be in so much trouble."

"I think we saw the two brightest ones in the sky," she said. "They can represent you and me and our bright future. We can be stars, but we'll always be best friends."

He held her hand as they made their way out of the park.

"But you just said they aren't really stars," he said.

"Let's just pretend, okay? You said calling them shooting stars sounded better than calling them debris." He could tell by the way she spoke that she was pouting, and he smiled.

"Okay. We can be shooting stars."

"Yay!" she said, swinging their clasped hands. "We'll be shooting stars."

He stopped and pulled her back. "But shooting stars disappear, don't they?"

She scrunched her face in thought then broke out in a smile. "Not us. We'll keep shooting across the sky forever just like we'll be friends forever. It's my story. I can say anything I want. In my story, the shooting stars don't disappear."

He shrugged. "Okay, Annie. If you say so." He started walking again, still holding her hand tightly. "I like your story. I hope we'll always be friends."