"I hope you're comfortable." Taehyung handed you a warm cup of tea before sitting right next to you on his balcony.

"I am, thank you." you returned your gaze back to the stars that twinkled over you both in the night sky. You had just tucked Eun in minutes ago in one of Taehyung's guest bedrooms, assuring her that she was safe. 

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why are you here exactly? I only know Jungkook's perspective of the story, and now I want to know yours." Taehyung spoke softly and carefully, knowing it was a sensitive topic for both you and Jungkook. But he wanted to know for the sake of perhaps fixing the two broken people who he called his best friends. 

"There's a lot that happened, I don't know where to start." you gazed down at the warm mug that you held between your two hands, watching the steam slowly float up into the air. 

"How about the very beginning?" 

You simply nodded as an answer, a small smile tugging at the corner of your lips as you thought of the old days when you were young. 

"Jungkook and I met a long time ago, even before I knew you"

"Hey! What are you doing!" 

Your attention had snapped towards the voice while your hand was reached out and you stood on your tippy toes, trying to grab ahold of the cherry that hung down, barely brushing against your fingertips. 

A young boy your age holding a long stick walked towards you, a head full of fluffy dark brown hair that stopped right over his eyes, giving you the chance to lock eyes with his ebon ones. Your hand fell to your side, still a bit startled by the presence of the boy and intimidated by the stick he held. 

“I was trying to pick the cherry,” your voice was quiet and shy as he stopped to stand across from you. He shook his head in response as if you had done something wrong. 

“That one’s not ready yet. If you eat it, it’ll be hard and sour.” he explained scrunching his nose “But that one,” he pointed at a pair of cherries that hung up higher, “is ready. My dad said you have to grab the very red one’s.” 

“Really?” you asked, turning your gaze back at the cherry that you had been previously reaching for, noticing that it was still pink in colour, unlike the one he had shown you which was practically blood red. The boy nodded. 

“But they’re so high,” you pouted at the sight of all the ready cherries being out of your reach. You stumbled in surprise as you were tugged forward, the boy’s hand in yours while taking you with him. 

“Where are we going?” you tried to catch up with his pace, letting him hold your hand. He ignored your question and led you through the many cherry trees until coming to a stop in front of one. He let go of your hand, reaching for a bright red cherry and picked it off the low branch that you both could easily reach. He turned back to you, holding it out for you. You took it from the palm of his hand, plopping it in your mouth, your eyes widening in satisfaction. 

“Do you like it?” the boy asked with hope, eyeing you closely. 

You nodded, letting out a smile and watched as he showed you his own, a front tooth missing while his eyes sparkled. 

“My name’s Jungkook,” he reached out his hand, catching you off guard at the sudden introduction. You reached out and shook his hand, your’s a bit smaller. 

“I’m Y/n.” 

Jungkook grinned further, his doe eyes crinkling at the corners

“Will you be my friend?” 

You grinned almost as big, nodding your head. 

“We were seven back then.” you spoke, your thumb caressing the side of the mug you held, struggling to hold back your sad smile. “I returned the summer of every year because my father grew up in this town and had a nice cottage by the ocean. We would always meet up when he found out I arrived, and we’d spend the whole summer practically glued to each other.” 

You looked up from the tea in your mug to stare out at the large backyard of Taehyung’s home, the lights within his pool making it glimmer in the night. 

“I had just turned eighteen when I came back once again.” 

The sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore reached your ears as you made your way through the many bushes and trees that surrounded you, trying to reach the sand in the distance. Your feet sunk in a bit as soon as you stepped foot onto the little grains of sand, some of it getting into your flipflops. You shaded your eyes from the setting sun in the distance, trying to spot the one person that you had missed. The one that our heart called for all throughout the long year apart. 

Your eyes landed on a figure that had their back turned to you, your breath hitching for a moment as you tried to steady your excited heart, but it felt nearly impossible. 

“Jungkook!” 

The man whirled around as soon as he heard the all too familiar voice, his lips spreading out into an instant smile. He watched you run in his direction, your yellow summer dress flowing in the breeze while he opened his arms to embrace you. You jumped into his arms, your separate worlds colliding to make one. 

You breathed into his neck, your legs wrapped around his waist tightly as he held you close to his body. His smell was different, fresh yet so much more masculine than what you could remember. His body felt different under your touch, harder, tougher, and stronger. 

“I missed you.” he breathed into your ear causing a shiver to run down your spine. He held your thighs, placing a kiss under your ear, unable to hold back his smile against your skin. 

“I missed you too.” you mutter, growing addicted to his new choice of cologne. You lifted your head from the crook of his neck, placing your hands on his cheeks while observing all his features, almost as if putting them into memory. His face had changed since your last encounter a year ago, his features much sharper than you could remember. 

He pushed against your hold on his cheeks to connect your lips in a soft kiss, your lips moulding together perfectly as if two puzzle pieces made for each other. Your heart fluttered at the sensation he created, his breath warm against your mouth before claiming your lips once more. 

Your hands pulled him further towards you as you felt his tongue trace along your lips, taking your bottom lip between his. Your hands travelled from his cheeks to hook around his neck, a small sigh escaping your throat. The sweet sound of your lips parting made the butterflies in your stomach flutter more than before. 

His eyes opened to reveal dark chocolate like orbs that you had always loved staring into. They were captivating and impossible to look away from, especially with the galaxy that they held within. 

You were both left giggling, your eyes shaping into moon crescents while held in each other’s arms with no means of letting go anytime soon. Especially not when your bodies were separated for far longer than you both thought you could survive for. 

Your gaze moved past him and onto the picnic blanket that you hadn’t noticed before. A basket lay on it along with a few cushions. 

“What’s this?” you asked, his attention drawing to the spot behind him. 

“Just a little welcome back gift.” he answered, letting you down. 

Your lips tugged up into a smile, giving him a brief glance before slipping your flipflops off and taking a step onto the blanket. He followed behind you, sitting down onto the ground and reaching for the basket to take out its contents. You watched as he placed the take-out packages onto the blanket, a giggle escaping through your lips. 

“For a second I thought you actually made your own food.” 

He laughed with you, the grin on his face bright as ever. 

“As if, the basket’s just for show.” 

You both locked eyes for a moment with equally large smiles. 

“Ah, what’s this?” he raised his eyebrow, his arm reaching into the basket and pulling out a single red rose. You struggled to bite back your smile. 

“For you, m’lady,” he held out the red rose, waiting for you to reach and take it from his hold, and eventually you did. 

You held onto the stem of the rose, admiring the beauty that the single flower withheld, its petals soft yet colour so vibrant. You fluttered your eyes shut, humming at the amazing smell it contained. 

"Thank you," you said with a smile, your tone soft while you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. 

"Anything for you," he admired your features for a moment, his insides melting and heart beating faster than before. He meant what he said. He would do anything for you, because you meant everything for him. 

He cleared his throat once noticing he had been staring for far too long, and proceeded with opening the boxes full of food for you to share. He handed you a pair of chopsticks, and watched you happily begin munching on a piece of chicken. He joined you right after, enjoying the take-out as much as you. 

By the time that the both of you had claimed you were full, the sun had set already, saying goodbye for the day. The stars twinkled brightly over your heads, the moon keeping them company as an old friend while the both of you lay on the blanket cuddled up to each other. Your head lay against his chest while he supported himself with the cushions he had brought, his arm draped over you to keep you close. 

You both spoke about several topics, loving how you could talk about almost anything with each other, until the topic of other boys in your life came into the conversation. 

"So this dude," Jungkook spoke, as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "he's your best friend?" his brows were narrowed. 

"He has a name, and yes he is. We met after I came back last year. He transferred to my school when he moved from japan." you explained, drawing imaginary circles along his baby blue button up shirt. "He's really nice, I'm sure you'd be good friends." 

"I don't like him." 

You rolled your eyes while trying to hold back a giggle. He was jealous. He made it way too obvious. 

"Looks like someone's jealous~" you cooed with a playful grin. 

"And I have the right to be." he responded, sitting up and making you do the same. "This Taehwang guy–"

"Taehyung." you correct him. 

"Whatever. This guy gets to see you every day—" 

"I mean, we do go to the same school and hang out often." 

His face grew serious. 

"Stop cutting me off." his voice was low, "This guy gets the chance to see you every day, while I on the other hand," he leaned in closer to your face, his eyes piercing into your own. "have to wait ten months a year for you to come back. I only hear from you in letters, nothing else. And I'm left praying that you're safe while across the globe. So yes, I am jealous." 

You could stop the smile that spread across your lips because of his confession. Although others might have found his state a bit frightening, you found it adorable because it showed how much he cared for you. 

Your hand came up to caress his cheek, his galaxy like eyes staring straight into your own. 

"So you admit it." you say. 

"I do." his nose brushed against your own, his lips parting to capture yours. He hauled himself over you, forcing you to lay down while not breaking the kiss. His body hovered over your smaller one. 

"I can't stand the fact that another guy is luckier than me." he spoke as your lips brushed against each other, connecting them once again right after. Your arms snaked around his neck. "He gets to see you," he took your bottom lip between his, "he gets to talk to you," now your upper lip, "and he gets to touch you." He kissed you once more, nice and slow, as of savoring the way they felt. "I'm so in love with you," he breathed, your lips barely centimetres away. "yet you're so far away." he dived into another kiss, not giving you the time to express yourself in your own words, but instead through the movement of your connected lips. 

"I don't want you to leave." 

"But I'm still here." 

Your noses touched as you spoke, both your eyes shut as you took in the feeling of him being so close. 

"Not for long." 

"But for two months."

Your lips brushed and connected in slow short kisses between each sentence, your hearts beating in sync for the same reason. 

"I want you with me forever."

Your fingers threaded through his lengthened raven hair, your body feeling fuzzy and warm. 

"I want to be with you forever." you breathe against him. 

His lips captured your own once more, moulding perfectly with your pink ones before parting away shortly after. 

"Then marry me." he spoke with a tone for only your ears to hear. "Marry me and we'll run away together and start a new life. Just you and me. No one else. Not your parents, not mine. We'll finally be able to live together." 

Your eyes were left wide open, staring into the dark chocolate orbs that you loved. They were fixed on you, filled with several feelings. Love, adoration, and seriousness. 

He was serious. 

He really meant it. 

You breathed in a breath of air, unable to pry your eyes away from the man you loved dearly. The man you only saw for two months a year. The man that captured your heart all those years ago, and still managed to make your heart beat for him even through the long months and years of separation. 

This man loved you. He loved you enough to throw his life away to be with you. 

"Yes."

"Yes?" his doe eyes grew larger, his galaxies sparkling more than ever. 

"Yes." you repeated, your lips spreading out in a smile. 

His eyes shaped into moon crescents as he jumped up onto his feet, his fingers combed through his hair as he paced. 

"Really?" he turned to you, still unable to believe his ears. 

You nodded your head with a giggle, getting on your feet. He embraced you immediately, twirling you around in the air as you both laughed in each other's arms. He pressed his lips to yours, giggling in between the kiss while holding you close. 

"Oh my God," he breathed while your foreheads pressed together, yours eyes locked on each other. "Wait," he pulled away from you, looking around the sand. You grew confused, wondering what he was searching for. 

You watched as he came to a stop on the sand, bending down and picking up something before returning back to the blanket where you stood. He cleared his throat once coming to a stop across from you, his eyes gazing into yours while getting on one knee. 

"I might not have a ring, but I hope you'll accept this." he revealed the cream coloured seashell that he held inside his palm. "Kang Y/n, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?" 

You could feel the sudden tears that pricked at your eyes while you nodded your head. 

"Yes." you utter out, watching him get up with a soft look in his eyes. You wrapped your arms around him, feeling him embrace you in his safe hold. 

"We're getting married." he muttered as he rested his chin over your head as tears rolled down your cheeks. The corners of your lips tugged up just like his, the both of you the happiest you could ever be in each other's arms. 

"I love you," he spoke lovingly, his voice soft as he reminded you. 

"I love you too." 

"And we got married," you continued, reminiscing over the memories of years ago. "But, he didn't believe me," you muttered the last part, your gaze falling down to your hands as Taehyung listened to you carefully. "He kicked me out that night, a-and I had nowhere to go." you voice cracked, just like your heart did every time you remembered that night. "I-I was so lost, Tae, I-I didn't know what to do." 

Tears began to build up and roll down your cheeks as Taehyung placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

"It's alright. You're alright now. It's all in the past." he pulled you into a hug, and you let him, needing comfort especially with all that had happened within the last twenty-four hours. 

"He still doesn't believe me." you mutter, another tear dropping onto the marble floor. "He thinks that Eun isn't his daughter." 

"It's just a lot to take in for him." Taehyung spoke softly, running his long fingers through your hair. "He just got married to get the chance to get over you, but you came out of nowhere with his daughter. He's just confused, and you know he doesn't take it well." 

You swallow the lump in your throat as your eyes burned. 

"He'll come around." 

"Like you said, he just got married. There's no point." you mumble, your heart only breaking further the more you thought about it. "I only came to give him Eun anyways, and then I'll be leaving." 

Taehyung pulled away for a moment, turning you to look into his eyes. 

"Why?" he asked in concern.

You breathed out a sigh, trying to relax your nerves. 

"I did something I shouldn't have done with Eun in the picture." you say quietly, avoiding eye contact. "She needs to be kept safe. She needs her father. She won't need me anymore." 

"Y/n don't say that, she needs both her parents." 

"No," you shook your head, turning towards the balcony door leading inside. "She'll only need him from now on. Good night Tae, thank you again." 

Taehyung was left dumbfounded as you left him with several unanswered questions. But who knew that they'd all be answered soon.

°•°•°•°

This is my second most fav chapter I've written for this book. I hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you for reading! ♡♡♡