“V!” Eunkyung blinked hard, unable to believe her eyes. She rushed towards the tall, brown-haired boy, who was waving cheerfully at her several feet from her building.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Taehyung asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge.

Eunkyung nodded quickly. “I missed you!”

A soft smile graced the boy’s face. “I missed you too.”

“Would you like to go get a macchiato? Or maybe go to the Han River Park again?” Eunkyung eagerly suggested.

Taehyung shook his head. “No, today, I’m going to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“A secret.” Taehyung laughed. “Come on.”

**********

The boy and girl were standing in the middle of a pink wonderland. Taehyung had taken Eunkyung to the cherry blossom festival. Trees boasting pink blossoms dotted the area. Since it was nearing the end of the cherry blossom season, the petals were falling like autumn leaves.

“It’s like snow. Soft, pink snow!” Eun-kyung laughed softly. She reached out to touch a petal floating in the air.  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

Taehyung gazed at the girl with tenderness. The background of pink petals was oblivious to him. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he whispered in his head.

“How did you know about the cherry blossom festival? You know, I’ve never been here before. I guess I was too busy during school and when I became a university student, I thought that only couples came here.”

“Couples…” Taehyung repeated under his breath. Eunkyung didn’t hear him.

Taehyung brushed aside a loose hair from her forehead. He gazed into her eyes, which gleamed with happiness. “Eunkyung, can I ask you a question? How do you feel about me? And please don’t say, ‘good friend.’”

Embarrassed, the girl turned her face away. However, with a gentle hand, Taehyung lifted it back up. She seemed to be gathering courage. “I like you,” Eunkyung finally admitted, bashfully.

A smile bloomed on the boy’s face. He pulled Eunkyung into a tight embrace. “I love you. I don’t think that I could survive without you. You’re the ray of sunlight in the dark, the flower growing in a patch of bare dirt.” He loosened the embrace enough to be able to look into her eyes again. “All I ask of you is one thing. Don’t ever leave me.”

Eunkyung hesitated, and then nodded. Her face was glowing pink with happiness. Taehyung could see the joy on his face reflected in her eyes. He released her and she walked towards a tree in order to look closer at the pretty sight.

Eunkyung stretched her arms out wide. The pink petals dancing in the soft spring breeze swept past her. A few landed on her hair and Taehyung gently brushed them away. The corners of his lips curved upwards. He slowly put his arms around Eunkyung’s waist from behind, leaning forward due to her petite stature. Something warm seemed to be growing in his chest. He held the girl close.

‘I don’t want to lose you,’ he thought. ‘I just want to stay like this forever.’

**********

“Uncle,” Taehyung called out.

Manager Song was alarmed by the serious tone. “What is it?”

Taehyung didn’t look up from his brooding posture. “Do you think that I’ll be able to quit being a celebrity?”

His manager gaped at him. “W-what?”

With a loud sigh, the boy leaned back into his chair. “I’m sick of everything: the false glitter, the deadly gossips, the annoying rumors, and the golden screen I live behind. I started all this because I wanted to sing, but the world I was thrown into was deluding. I just want to put it all behind me and start a new life. A normal one where people don’t stab you in the back or chase you around thinking you’re a god or something.”

Manager Song brought a cup of water and sat next to the idol. “Taehyung, what’s wrong?” he asked, gently. He was startled to see tears forming in the boy’s eyes.

“I don’t want to lose her,” he burst out. “I just want to stay next to her as V. I’ll give up everything if she’d just stay with me.”

“Taehyung, you need to take a deep breath and start thinking clearly. You can’t just-”

“I love her!” Taehyung uttered those words as if he had just released them from the cage in his chest. His tears started to fall down his cheeks like raindrops on a window. “And she loves V.”

Ahh!!! The is coming!

Thank you, dear readers, for coming all this way with me.