He’s pesky sometimes and we argue a lot. There are times we don’t talk to each other for a month or more. He annoys the hell out of me in a way that no one else can. But he is my best friend. I don’t think he realises it yet, but I’m his too. We understand each other in ways no one else ever will. We communicate in weird looks, shared smiles, and the occasional Chewbacca growl. Okay, that’s just me but he understands what it means, and that’s what’s important.
I’ve got his back and he’s got mine. I could tell him the worst thing I’ve ever done and he wouldn’t love me any less. He’d tell me I’m stupid to my face, for sure, but that’s what makes our relationship even more real. We know when we’re lying because we basically taught each other how to do it. We cheer each other’s successes in our own ways and we know how to support each other when we need it. We’ll sit at the dinner table and laugh about the crazy things we would do when we were younger, even though there are people around looking at us like we’re crazy. We are crazy, but that doesn’t really need to be pointed out.
Despite him being younger, he’s taught me a lot—more than I’d care to admit. Our love of trying new things is really just a pleasant side effect from our endless attempts to one up each other. From crazy foods (cow sphincter, the world’s spiciest kimchi) to moving countries for school (Canada and China) we see each other take leaps and bounds and then try to do the same, putting our own spin on it along the way. We never explicitly say we’re competing against each other, but we’re siblings: its what we do.
He’s taken the heat off my back when I really needed the help and laughed at my pain when he knew I didn’t need him by my side. I’ve done and will continue to do the same for him. We don’t talk everyday but we talk about the big stuff and more often the random little stuff so obscure and strange we can’t really talk about it with anyone else.
If someone asked me to think back to my happiest memory, it is one of him and me. It’s probably something he doesn’t even remember, but that’s the beauty of it. We don’t need anything special to create the best moments. The best moments are just us being together. I didn’t realise how much I missed him until I saw him this past week. We spent almost five months apart and spoke a few times, but the moment I saw him in the airport it felt like we hadn’t spent any time apart. But now that we are separated again I miss him in a way that I don’t miss anyone else. Even though I will see him in a few weeks, I miss him. But, bro don’t worry, I’m already planning how to annoy the crap out of you. Because you’re my brother. And my best friend.