"You'll change inside
When you, realize
The world comes to life
And everything's alright
From beginning to end
When you have a friend
By your side
That helps you to find
The beauty of all
When you'll open your heart and
Believe in
The gift of a friend"

The Gift of a Friend by Demi Lovato

The sound of gunshots pierced my ear drums, loud enough to make most people flinch.

Luckily, I'm not most people.

My finger pressed down on the trigger, and I watched as the man at the end of my barrel collapsed with blood rushing down his forehead.

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, releasing a sigh.

There was a soft whistle, just loud and close enough to be heard over the sounds of war.

"Damn Tae, that was a hell of a shot," Changbin whistled, shaking his head in slight disbelief.

I chuckled, pulling back slightly from the gun in my hands. "You sound surprised, Binny, as if you haven't seen two more like it in this deployment alone."

Changbin shrugged, spitting into the dirt-covered roof. "You just continue to amaze me I guess."

I scoffed, smile tugging at my lips. I put my eye back against the eye piece, shifting positions slightly to relieve the tension building in my shoulders. "Are you excited to see Felix in a few days?"

Changbin giggled. "I pick up his ring right after getting off the plane on Friday."

I smiled , pulling back from the scope to see the excitement and nervousness on my best friend's face.

"Why do you look like you're about to piss yourself?" I questioned him, seeing him pull his bottom lip between his teeth. "You know he's going to say yes!" I added, trying to reassure him.

He sighed. "I know he'll say yes! But what if he says he doesn't want to get married until I'm no longer active duty. You know how long it took for him to somewhat accept me enlisting."

I nodded, remembering the conversation of my two closest friends vividly. They had almost broken up their two-year-long relationship over it, until Felix realized how much Changbin truly needed this. He needed to feel something. He needed to do good.

He needed to follow the one tie left of his father by enlisting in the same branch he had been in.

"What about you? Are you excited to see anyone?" Binny asked, trying to not dwell on the negative for too long.

I shrugged, stretching once more to help the dull aching. "My dog."

Changbin snorted, opening his mouth to respond as the radio buzzed, our next instructions being provided to us through trained terms and communications.

After listening and confirming the message received, I sat up on my knees, rotating my neck and shoulders.

"I guess we're moving to our next spot," Changbin said, letting out a whistle. "Time for you to kill some more bastards."

I snickered, picking up my rifle and helping to gather the rest of my supplies.

"One more piece of shit enemy to kill and then I get to see Yeontan once again!" I smiled, seeing my best friend's shoulders shake as he laughed.

"You and that damn dog!" He laughed. "I need to find you an actual person to go home to. That's my goal this time when we're on break."

"Whatever will help you sleep at night," I joked, patting him on the back. "Now help me carry our shit down the stairs, you bitch."

Changbin's smile was bright like the sun against the sandy rooftops, causing me to immediately smile back.

"I love you, Taehyungie," he said suddenly, making me roll my eyes playfully.

"I guess I love you too, motherfucker, let's go."

•••••

Welcome to yet another shitty story by your favorite shitty author!

I've been working on this story for several months and have the first few chapters already planned out. I was too excited about it to not post it. 😘