Taehyung squinted his eyes, recalling which room he was staying at that night. Those maroon curtains and plain walls… he then remembered being in Imo’s guest room. He sat up carefully as he felt a heavy weight on his head.  The morning was rather peaceful and he really couldn’t guess what the rest could be doing at a time like this.

Suddenly, the door opened and Eunkyung walked in looking surprised. “Oh my, how are you feeling right now? Is it still painful?” She was carrying a tray of breakfast to place it on the nightstand next to his bed. Taehyung nodded tentatively before asking where Sora was.

“She’s asleep now. She was awake the whole night looking after you and Imo found her sleeping on the floor this morning.” Eunkyung smiled as she took the moist cloth that draped over his forehead. “And you, mister V, had a high fever last night. Imo was so close to calling an ambulance just now.” She soaked the cloth back into the bowl of water.

Taehyung was a bit baffled to see her help him out greatly. “Thank you Eunkyung… but I guess I’ll check on Sohee now.” He stood up slowly and made his way to the room across his. He opened the door to see an exhausted being right before his eyes.

There were a thousand words to be said but he didn’t know where to start. This girl he had raised, he had missed her so, so much. That feeling when you finally found the reason to live again, that was how genuine his feelings were. He felt so sorry for the hurt he had caused her all this while. Taehyung was truly ashamed of himself.

He walked over to where she was sleeping. Sora was facing the windows and the rays of sunlight laid on her face, letting her radiant skin glow. Taehyung felt a tug on his heart as he remembered those days where she would sleep soundly after a long day their foster mother made them run tons of errands. This pitiful face was something he vowed he could never forget.

“Sora…” He uttered with a shaky voice. A tear then fell without much effort for him to let it go. Sora’s heavy eyelids forced themselves to open and she saw Taehyung kneeling in front of her. She could only smile meekly, wanting to drift back to sleep again. Taehyung held her hand that felt colder than his.

“You’re so warm…” Sora uttered and she let go of his hand. She patted the space next to her and Taehyung knew what it meant. When they were younger and when any one of them fell sick, they would comfort each other with a cuddle. That was how they survived through the lonely night together.

Taehyung lowered himself and pulled the comforter over their shoulders. He patted her back softly and she nuzzled in his chest. Sora fell asleep almost instantly without realising that her brother was fighting himself to control his tears from falling. A gush of emotions hit him to be reunited with someone he couldn’t live without. He felt extremely sorry for not remembering or fetching her over those wasted years.

I promise I won’t leave your side ever again, Sora.

-

Daehyun relaxed himself on the porch that he had known for all his life. He stared on at the meadow that laid behind his aunt’s cottage.  Little did he know, he smiled to himself.

“What is it that you’re smiling about?” A serene voice that came from behind woke him up from his thoughts.

“N… nothing.” He seemed confused himself.

Eunkyung invited herself next to him and passed him a cup of tea. Daehyun accepted it willingly and took a sip of it without blowing it beforehand. “I gave V his breakfast but he hasn’t touched it yet. He went to see Sohee instead…” She sounded concerned.

Daehyun broke his eye contact with the scenery ahead of him and looked at the girl next to him that seemed to be in deep thoughts. “You like him, don’t you?” He playfully squinted his eyes at her to which Eunkyung defended herself strongly.

The male finally coolled down from his teasing and looked down at the wooden floors. “We can deny it all we want… but our heart and actions can never run away from the truth.” He raised his eye contact to Eunkyung that gulped later.

“You’ve been worried about him the moment we arrived. Do you think you can lie to me about it?” Daehyun laughed. And soon, Eunkyung was laughing along with him as she thought about how obvious the way she was being caught red-handed.

 Eunkyung’s laughter then died off and she was just gazing at the man whom the nation gives their fullest respect to. “Daehyun,” She called.

“I can finally feel the pain you’ve been through. I’m sorry for forcing you to look at me when all your heart wanted was another girl that could never belong to you.”

“We’re both in the same boat, huh?” He scoffed.

Eunkyung only gave a smug and let the overwhelming feeling in her heart to engulf her soul. It feels great to be having genuine feelings for someone once again.

-

Evening arrived and everyone in the rural part of Busan was getting busier to prepare themselves for the annual carnival. Sora and Taehyung had packed their belongings and wanted to bid goodbye to Imo who had given them a great hospitality. As they trudged out of their room, Imo stood there in surprise, not expecting them to be leaving so soon.

“Aren’t we all heading to the carnival together? Come on, just leave your bags here kids and stay for another night or maybe until the end of this trip. You know how nice it’d be if I have visitors around too… it’s not everyday I’m having guests in here…” Imo pulled a long face.

Sora looked at Taehyung who seemed to not know how to excuse themselves too. It was then until she met eyes with Daehyun. Daehyun casually downed on a glass of water and pretended that he cared less about them leaving the house. Eunkyung on the other hand was silently praying that the two would stay with them until the end of their stay in Busan.

“Imo… it’s not that we don’t want to be in here but…” Sora only thought of Daehyun’s mother. The things she would do if she knew that she was living under the same roof as her son.

Imo chuckled and grabbed the hand bag that Sora was holding on to. “It’s safer to be staying with me honey, come on now let’s go to the carnival. We’re going to be late at this rate we’re going.” She waddled to place their bags on the floor and held the sibling’s hand in each of her hands.

-

The five of them walked from the small cottage to where the carnival would be held.

There laid the field where couples or families would settle on soon when the firework parade has begun. But for the meantime, people were at those game booths where you could win fascinating soft toys or plushies if you hit the jackpot.

They stood at the entrance of the carnival, unsure of how to start the fun until Imo’s voice broke the silence. “Alright kids, i’ll be waiting at the field for now. Don’t forget, the parade starts at 8pm.’’ She sneered then left them.

Eunkyung exchanged glances with Daehyun who stood on her left and Sora who was on her left. It’d be awkward to say ‘Alright then, Daehyun and I will see you at eight too.’ when they all knew that the real love interest lies between Daehyun and Sora. It’d also be a little awkward to insist that they would be having fun together as four.

“So… Eunkyung and I will walk around first. We’ll meet you at the field there with Imo at 8pm.” Daehyun sounded. He only looked at Taehyung as he said so. Sora looked a little disappointed that he wouldn’t spare her a look but she knew well that this behaviour from him was expected. If only the people who were working for Mrs Jung captured their moments together especially when Daehyun could be seen being nice towards Sora, she was more than sure that it will blow his mother’s last straw.

“Sure…” Taehyung gave him a tight smile and held Sora’s hand. They walked ahead to the left of the carnival and Eunkyung only stayed at her spot as her eyes looked down towards the couple’s linked hands. “Hey,” Daehyun nudged her shoulder. “Let’s go.” He noticed what she was staring on and led her to the right side of the carnival, opposite from where Sora and Taehyung were headed to.

The atmosphere was incredible. Sora felt like it was a dream to be finally having Taehyung right next to her. His grip on her hand was so tight that the sweat on her palms broke out, making their skinship a little uncomfortable. However, it was all the more that made Taehyung want to squeeze her little hand.

“Oppa…” She called in admiration as she tilted her head to look up to the older male. “Hmm?” He hummed.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me? Ever since we woke up, you barely spoke to me. You said you remembered me but you’re somehow still acting like you’re V.”

Taehyung stopped walking and they both stood facing each other. It was the least unexpected when he lowered his upper body to match his height with her. “I have a lot of things to say, Sora. But I don’t know where I should begin… Should I apologise first for hurting you or should I let you know how much i’ve missed you during the years I spent in London?”

Sora was baffled as well. She wanted him to speak up about just anything.

“We’ll take this slowly, okay? We have many days more to spend with each other. I can promise you one thing, Sora. I’ll never run away and leave you behind anymore. That was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made and that regret is still living in me right now.” His words made her tear a little. It was a promise that she trusted in immediately. She knew him well. Especially when he said that he was never going to leave her, Taehyung really meant that he would never repeat the same mistake anymore.

The two stood at narrow path and people would bump against them to walk through. But still, it was as though the time stood still for the both of them. Those annoying shoulder bumps didn’t matter to them because they felt complete at the moment. They needed each other in this world to survive, that was a philosophy they grew up with ever since young. They were simply each other’s world.

Taehyung cupped her face with his hands and wiped her tears with a charming smile that Sora grew up with. A scratchy cough brought them back to reality and then they realised how inconsiderate they were for blocking the path.

“So your old brother has returned… I see… you might not need me around anymore…” A man pulled on a long face and sulked pretentiously.

“Himchan oppa!” Sora beamed and her life had never felt so complete with all these people she loved standing right next to her. Sora was about to ask him something when Himchan smirked and turned his head slightly to his right. Taehyung looked behind the older male’s shoulders and saw some familiar faces walking through the entrance of the carnival.

“Yah Kim Taehyung!!!” Jimin shouted while pointing at his long lost friend and the gang next to him was able to detect their lost piece of puzzle. The herd ran and jumped on him which made them tumble on the rough ground. Sora laughed in amusement and thought about how the boys could be feeling right now to only see him after the many years they had missed out on.

She looked up to her brother that wrapped an arm over her shoulders. “You called them?” Himchan shook his head. He turned his head to search for someone at the back and eventually spotted Youngjae. The latter raised his hand and waved at the siblings. Sora couldn’t help but to mouth a ‘thank you’ at him. They did this much for Taehyung and BTS despite the unbelievable past they had. She couldn’t describe the happiness she felt at that point of time as everything seemed so surreal.

The boys were still messing around with one another on the ground until an old grumpy man raised his voice at them to make way for others. They stood up obediently and Taehyung approached the siblings.

“T…Thank you…” He uttered to Himchan.

Himchan gave him the softest smile that Taehyung had ever seen on him and pulled him for a hug. He patted Taehyung’s back firmly as he congratulated him, “Welcome back, Kim Taehyung.”