Chapter 1

Fourteen Years

Kim Taehyung stared out the window from the back seat of the car. His parents were in the front seat telling him about some schools which he didn’t really think was important. He didn’t mean to brag but he knew that he was a smart kid who could get into any school he wanted. So school wasn’t the first thing on his mind.

What he was more interested in was the subtle scenery of home. He had been living in the city with an uncle for the past three years. And even though he didn’t dislike the city, he missed his home town where everything was quieter and lovelier. He continued to space out until he heard the voice of his mother calling out his name.

“Taehyung?”

“Hmmm?” he replied and turned to his ever so lovely mother who seemed a little more aged than the last time he saw her. He didn’t express it but he loved the way his mother called out his name as if his name was the sweetest thing in the world.

“Are you excited?” she asked with a warm smile. Taehyung smiled and nodded several times.

The father suddenly commented as he drove a car, “Still a man of few words, aren’t you?” Taehyung could hear the tease in the tone of the sentence. “I’m a real man,” he joked back. Taehyung heard both his parents laughing.

“How’s the clinic, mom?” Taehyung asked trying to start another conversation. It seemed like forever that they had a talk like this.

“It’s going fine. They kids are really nice to be with,” the mother replied and looked at him. “You’ll like them. They’re practically family.”

Taehyung’s parents ran an orphanage-slash-clinic where the less fortunate children lived. When Taehyung left home at the age of ten, the clinic had only one child. But now the clinic seemed livelier with eleven live-in children and seven visiting patients. Others would have deemed it unlucky and pitiful for the children to be living in an orphanage home but Taehyung thought that it was better for them to live with his parents who were so good at taking care of children than others who had no idea on how to handle kids.

Taehyung stepped out of the car to be greeted by the warm summer breeze. “Welcome home, Tae,” he heard his mother say. As his parents helped him unload his bags, he breathed in the fresh air. And even though he was just a kid of fourteen, he felt deeply inspired and moved by the clarity and welcoming scenery of home.

He knew that he was going to have the most memorable time of his life here. And strangely, deep down inside, he felt an icy cold feeling of the times ahead of him.

Taehyung’s mother introduced him to the staff members of the clinic. There were six nurses altogether and two junior doctors who helped his parents in the clinic. Taehyung tried but couldn’t remember all the names of the staff. Oh well, he thought. It’s not like he has to learn them immediately.

He had better luck at remembering the children. Some were around his age while most were younger than him. They all seemed nice and were cheerful.

A few days passed and Taehyung decided that a beautiful day like that shouldn’t go wasted so he did the only thing he wanted to do ever since he got news that he would be coming home. He decided to spend his day under a tree in his mother’s garden, ‘taking in the sun’ and ‘enjoying the fruits of nature’.

“Won’t that waste too much of your energy, dear?” his mother . Taehyung gave his signature grin and ran off like the mischievous looking boy he was.

So there he was, under a green and lush tree which he considered the prettiest in the whole garden and he laid down to rest. He placed one hand on top of his eyes to block the rays of sunlight through the branches.

This is perfect, he thought and grinned again. During this time he wondered what his new life would be like. He imagined a school where he would fit in with a few friends. Nothing too spectacular, though. His friends would like him and they’d hang out a bunch of times. Maybe he would join a club in his new school. Would there be an origami club? Taehyung liked origami and found that it was very relaxing. So he wanted to learn more about it. Thinking of all these thoughts his eyelids slowly became heavy until he closed them completely and fell into a light slumber.

He didn’t imagine he’d be woken up anytime soon so he felt annoyed when he heard the sound of paper being torn suddenly. At first he tried to block out the sound but he realized that the noise was coming from somewhere near. Taking in a deep breath he sat up and searched for the person who awoke him.

Scanning around the garden, he saw a boy under the next tree. Even though they were a few feet away, Taehyung saw the boy’s annoyance and anger as he tore out every page from the notebook. Knowing that his mother would scold the boy for littering, he walked up to the boy to tell him to stop.

“Yah!” he said, sounding a little angrier than he expected. Taehyung’s voice seemed to catch the boy’s attention and he turned. And that was when Taehyung got a good look of his face.

Taehyung was taken aback to see that the boy had tears in his eyes. But at the same time, he noticed his pale skin even under the bright sun. The boy had a round face and almond shaped eyes. His lips looked all the more pink compared to his pale skin and it kind of went along with his jet black hair which hung on his forehead, slightly swept to the right side. The boy’s body was lean and his slim and delicate fingers were on top of the book that he was in the middle of destroying.

And at that moment, Taehyung thought that he was beautiful.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, immediately forgetting his displeasure against the boy for littering. His irritation instead turned to sympathy to see the boy in tears so he sat down next to him.

The boy didn’t reply. He continued to stare at Taehyung like he was an alien with five heads. He had the look of a frightened prey that was cornered by a hungry lion. Alarmed at the boy’s reaction, Taehyung quickly assured that he wouldn’t harm him.

“It’s okay,” he said, “I won’t harm you.” He showed the boy his empty hands. Taehyung saw the boy relax a little so he let down his hands. Then he looked down on the ground and saw the pages of paper. He picked up one and saw a drawing of a beautiful flower. A single blooming rose with a leaf shooting out from the stem.

Amazed by the details, Taehyung picked up the rest of the paper. Each page had a different drawing on them – each more beautiful than the last.

“Did you draw these?” Taehyung asked but the boy didn’t reply. He just continued to tear the pages out of the book.

“Don’t do that,” Taehung pleaded. He couldn’t bear to see the beautiful art getting spoiled. But the boy didn’t listen. Taehyung couldn’t take it anymore. He suddenly held the boy’s hand and stopped him from tearing out the pages.

The pale boy looked alarmed with more tears forming in his eyes. Again Taehyung noticed his golden brown eyes. The only word to describe them was beautiful.

Taehyung felt the boy trying to pull his hands away so he let it go. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. The boy just shook his head and looked at his hands. Then he went back to the pieces of paper on the ground. Taehyung noticed that the boy was trying to make clumsy folds on the paper, like he was trying to make something.

The chocolate haired boy knew that there were children in the clinic who couldn’t speak so he didn’t force the other to talk. Instead, he observed the boy trying to fold the paper.

“Origami?” Taehyung asked finally, unable to take in the clumsy folds coming from those slender fingers. The boy didn’t reply but sniffled and wiped his eyes with his right sleeve.

Taehyung let a small smile escape his lips. So he was trying to make something from the paper. He felt kind of relieved to figure this out. So doing what he liked best, he took one loose paper and folded it neatly into a crane.

“Here you go,” he said and handed it to the boy beside him. The boy looked surprised at first but he eventually accepted the crane with a wary look. Like an engineer inspecting a finished car, the black haired boy investigated the crane carefully. Satisfied with the crane, he finally turned to Taehyung and gave him a wide grin. With shaky lips, he stuttered out a soft ‘Thank you’.

Unable to react normally, Taehyung gave his signature grin and replied, “You’re welcome.” The boy went back to his own world, playing with his new toy. In the mean time, Taehyung continued to make a few more toys for the boy because the smile just now was what he wanted to see. It reminded him of all the happiness he felt when he was a little younger than he was currently and he obviously like the feeling he got when he saw that smile.

Taehyung helped his mom prepare dinner that evening by passing the sauce and the vegetables. “So,” he heard his mother say, “did you enjoy the fruits of nature?”

Taehyung immediately thought of the boy he met that afternoon and chuckled. “Yeah. It was really nice.”

“That’s good,” the mother smiled and asked her son to pass the cabbages.

As Taehyung passed the cabbages, he decided to ask about the mysterious boy whom he met in the garden that afternoon. “Mom?” he called out. “Hmmm?” she replied, tasting the salt in the soup.

“Do you know of a boy who has really beautiful eyes and a really pretty smile?”

Mrs. Kim’s movements suddenly stopped as she heard her son describe the one person that he didn’t meet on the first day.

“He has really white skin and is very beautiful. I think he is as pretty as you. He can draw really well. He has really dark hair... Come to think of it,” Taehyung suddenly said, “He didn’t talk besides that thank you. I didn’t meet a ghost, did I?” By now, Taehyung was talking to himself and wasn’t paying attention to his mother’s reaction.

“Of course not,” Mrs. Kim replied with a composed smile. “I think you’re talking about Jungkook. Did he have really nice hands and a round and flawless face?” Taehyung nodded.

“Yeah, that’s Jeon Jungkook,” Mrs. Kim said.

“Why is he here?” Taehyung asked with all curiosity.

Mrs. Kim sighed. Taehyung chose a really difficult question to be answered. “Well,” she started and switched off the gas, “you see, honey. Jungkook was in an accident three years ago. He lost both his parents in that accident before they could be even taken to a hospital. All seemed impossible but the doctors managed to save Jungkook’s life. But due to the accident, Jungkook has a permanent heart condition. The accident also damaged Jungkook’s brain making him unable to have proper control of his body at times...”

Taehyung kind of wished that he didn’t ask that question. He could hear his mother saying so many things but the only thing that processed in his mind was that the beautiful boy’s name was Jeon Jungkook and he had a hole in his heart and brain damage due to an accident which took away both his parents. And the worst part was that all these happened when he was a mere nine year old boy.

“Taehyung-ah,” he heard his mother say. “Tae?” she called again.

A hundred thoughts ran through the young boy’s mind at that time. He liked the boy he met that afternoon and wanted to get closer to him. At the same time, he could hear the scared tone in his mom’s voice when she described him. So finally, by the third time she called him, he had made up his mind.

 “Mom,” he called out. “I can be his friend right?” he asked all of a sudden. “He’s not leaving anytime soon right mom?”

Several chills went through Mrs. Kim’s body. Saying either one answer – yes or no – would be dangerous. Mrs. Kim knew that Jungkook was a delicate boy whose life line wasn’t as long as the average person’s. And she didn’t want her only son to grow attached to a terminally sick boy. But at the same time, she didn’t want to say no to her only son’s request to befriend the loneliest but by far the sweetest boy in the clinic. She knew that Jungkook was always lonely because he couldn’t run around like the other children.

So she did the only thing she could do to protect and help both the boys that she loved dearly. “Of course you can, Taehyung. You can be friends with whomever you like.”

AUTHORS NOTE:

So the first official chapter's out. I know it's a little boring but bear with me... ^-^ It'll get interesting... Kekeke...

Please subscribe, comment and upvote.... *grinning like V*