Jungkook has never been great with goodbyes.

+

There is something eerily calm and peaceful about the day. The tranquillity is deafening, from the moment Jungkook easily stepped out his dorm without suspicious questions from his hyungs – till the second Joohyun noona opens the door with a smile, warm and motherly as she kindly asks him to wait while she calls for her youngest member.

It was as though there is some kind of understanding between the universe and him. Perhaps heavens took pity on him, knowing how cruel fate could be. But be it as it may, endings are inevitable to every starting.

And Jungkook knows it fairly well.

She hurries towards the door with a huge grin plastered on her face, dressed simply in a plain knee-length white dress, matched with a brown leathered sling bag.

“Hi,” she beams, unable to conceal her happiness every time she sees him. And it’s contagious – her smile – that despite his sadness, he returns it with a genuine one of his own.

“Hi. You ready to leave now?”

She nods and bends down to buckle the straps of her sandals. Jungkook looks over at Joohyun and bows his head. “We’ll get going now. Thank you, for letting Yerim spend the day with me today.”

Joohyun nods her understanding. “Don’t worry about it. Take as long as you need.” She pauses, and he practically hears the echo behind her words. You won’t get any more time after this. “Just get her home safely, alright?”

“I will,” he replies, just as Yerim stands up straight again. He takes her hand in his and squeezes it gently.

“Bye unnie! I promise not to be back late!”

Joohyun smiles. “Have fun.”

She watches as they leave together, hand in hand, smiling at each other like any other couple blissfully in love. But sadly, happy endings are not meant for people like them.

+

Yerim had been told countless times that she is simply still too young to be in love. And she had actually believed them – but that was before she got to know Jeon Jungkook.

Being with him doesn’t make her feel like a young girl in a puppy love, but instead, he makes her feel like a woman in love and he treats her like a proper lady. And perhaps their young love won’t last, but this kind of love doesn’t die easily either.

Yerim knows.

+

“We can do anything that you want today.”

She tightens her grip around his fingers as they casually take a stroll in the almost vacant park, feeling somewhat freer than they had been in months – which causes her to be exceptionally happy as she holds his hand and twirls herself around.

Jungkook chuckles at her spontaneous reaction, thankful for her bright energy that seems to be rubbing off on him. He knows that he can always count on Yerim to lift up his sprits and brings a smile to his face. Yerim – the light of his life, the sunshine of his universe.

“Are you sure?” she asks coyly, snuggling back closer to his side as she wraps one arm around his waist. “You’re not afraid of getting caught?”

He plants a soft kiss on the crown of her head and murmurs, “Just for today, let’s not care about anything or anyone else and let’s just do whatever we want. How does that sound?”

Yerim tilts her head back slightly and meets his eyes with a smile. “That sounds about perfect to me.”

“Shall we try that one first?” she points excitedly at the 360 degrees roller coaster painted in white and blue, already dragging him along without waiting for an answer. Jungkook allows himself to be pulled while nibbling at his purple candy floss, eyes wandering around warily for any signs of reporters or hidden cameras.

Because just for one day, he wants to be able to date his girlfriend freely without any disturbance and interference.

Luckily enough, they didn’t have to wait in line for long to get on the ride. Yerim lets go of his hand as they get into their different seats respectively. While they fasten their safety belts, Jungkook turns to her and asks, “Are you not afraid?” even though he already knows the answer.

Yerim shakes her head. “No way. You know I live for these thrills. You are okay though, right?”

He scoffs lightly and blows the bangs that are almost touching his eyes. He really needs a haircut soon. “Please. You know I don’t get scared easily.”

Yerim rolls her eyes and simply says, “Okay. I better not see you throw up after this.”

His face is ashen white as soon as their feet are back on the ground again. For a moment, Jungkook’s world seem to be spinning at 100km/h. Yerim rushes forward to grab hold of him before he almost topples over a rubbish can.

“Are you okay?” she asks worriedly and reaches into her purse for some tissues. “I’m really sorry,” she starts apologising as she dabs at the beads of perspiration on his forehead and down the side of his face. “I thought you’d be fine – “

Jungkook lifts his hand to touch hers and manages a weak smile. “Don’t worry. I over-estimated myself too. 360 degrees might just a bit too much…”

Yerim bites her bottom lip guiltily. “Let’s sit somewhere first and fill you up. Maybe you’ll feel better after getting some food.”

He can only nod numbly as he holds onto her arm for support. He hated for being and looking so weak in front of the one person who matters the most – the one he is supposed to be protecting instead, but at the same time, he can’t help feeling relieved that he has someone to lean on in times of need.

Hoping to make it up to her for his earlier demise, Jungkook leads her to the cola ring toss booth, wanting to score some shots and win her a couple of stuffed toys he knows she likes to collect.

Yerim's eyes are shining excitedly at all the prizes hanging on the wall before them. She sticks close to him as he nears the game area and exhange a few Wons for the credits to play.

"Which one do you want?" he asks her with a smile as he rotates his wrists in preparation. Yerim's eyes widen at being given the luxury to choose but she shakes her head at the impossible choices. "I don't mind, really. I'll take anything you get," she giggles.

Jungkook adjusts his beanie and takes a step back. She stands a little further to give him the space and watches closely as he flicks the first ring directly towards the centre Cola bottle.

For his second attempt, he manages to get the one two rows behind his first. And it's probably because of his determination for his girlfriend (or simply his highly competitive streak) but he strikes the bottle in the last row for his third try, earning the grandest prize of the stall.

Yerim jumps a little in joy as she claps happily for him, as though he had just won the Olympics - while Jungkook comes forward to collect his prizes. When he hands her the huge Minion stuffed toy, Yerim throws her arms around his neck and plants a big kiss on his cheek, not giving a care about who's watching or if it might even affect her career. Because really, at that moment, nothing else matters except for the two of them.

They walk around the carnival for the next couple of hours; stopping by to have a try at the Spin-The-Wheel, where Jungkook didn't have much luck but Yerim scored two couple Tees’ - which she knew the person in charge had given simply because she had found her boyfriend adorable (from the way the ahjumma kept patting his cheeks and grabbing his arms).

The two of them also had fun making a mess of each other at the face painting booth. Yerim had made him look like red indian (to which she had screeched loudly at the end results, much to Jungkook's dismay when he saw himself on the mirror) and he had painted her into a beautiful butterfly, because that is what she will always be to him - his sweet, little delicate butterfly.

They grabbed an early dinner at the nearby eating place, before taking the next bus back home towards the city – where all good things must come to an end.

Jungkook decides to take her to the beach, where they could experience the sunset together before the day ends. He is careful to hold her hand as they stroll along the coastline, with Yerim dipping her feet into the cold water and occasionally splashing him teasingly, causing the damp splotches on his white shirt. He had to make her stop by snaking his two arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground as he runs far away from the sea, with Yerim squealing delightfully in his ears.

He sets her down about a few minutes later, under a fairly big shady tree as they wait for the sun to set. Their laughter eventually dies down and Jungkook takes the opportunity to examine every inch of her beautiful face under the dimming evening light. Her porcelain skin radiates with so much warmth and beauty, it is almost impossible for him to look away. Her two bright, childlike eyes looks up at him questioningly while he carefully tuck a strand of her hair behind the ear, tracing the side of her face as he does so.

His soft gaze which is unable to meet her eyes gives him away, and right there and then, Yerim knows he is keeping something from her.

“What is it?” she asks quietly, yet her voice is filled with urgency. She lifts up her hand for his, taking them both in hers and holds onto them tightly.

He takes awhile to answer. Instead, he brings up her hands close to his lips, before kissing each and every one of her fingers tenderly. “I love you, Kim Yerim,” he says after a moment, finally looking up, directly into her eyes. “I want you to always know that.”

“What’s wrong, Jungkook?”

He smiles sadly at her and leans in closer until their foreheads are touching. Yerim can feel his hot breath on the bridge of her nose, as she holds her own, heart racing wildly every time they are in such intimacy – every time he is close to her.

“We can’t go on like this anymore.”

Why does it comes off as such a surprise to her? Why didn’t she see this coming even though she has always been anticipating the end ever since the beginning? Why does it still feel like her heart is breaking into a million pieces at the cold truth she has long known?

“We can,” she whispers back hoarsely, voice on the edge of cracking. “Yes, we can. We just need to be like how we’ve always been.”

“Yerim…” he speaks her name with such delicacy, as though he’s afraid she might just shatter with just a mere touch. “I don’t want you like that. I don’t want you as the curtain falls. I don’t want you at some empty stairwell. I don’t want you in some abandoned backstage rooms. I don’t want you behind the cameras, where they can’t see how beautiful the love of my life is. I don’t want you behind the walls; where I can’t show you off to the world – where I can’t show them just how happy I am, being with you.”

She feels the hot tears b in her eyes, as she tries her hardest to hold them back. She thought she was strong enough to face the hardship of their careers demands, but alas – she is just a girl with a heart full of love for someone she can’t really call hers. Because he also belongs to thousands of other people - girls that have no clue of her existence in his life.

“Perhaps, one day…we’d find our way back to each other,” he continues when she didn’t say anything else. “I’ll be waiting for the time I can be with you like this, holding you in my arms right now. Because this…this is how I want to be with you. Away from the restrictions and free from the judgements – when I can confidently speak your name when they ask me about the special person in my life.”

He pulls away from her slightly, before gently pressing his lips against her forehead. His kiss lingers there for awhile, as they stay frozen in time momentarily. Yerim clutches onto his arms tightly, afraid that if she were to really let go, she would be the one to crumble.

"This isn't forever, Yerim-ah..." he murmurs softly and brushes her tear off with his thumb. "Let's promise to meet again like this, one day."

He pulls her in close to his body and envelops her into a warm embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head. Her arms naturally find their way around his waist as she buries her face deep into his chest, unable to hold back her sadness any longer.

"You won't forget me, will you?" she asks through muffled voice. Jungkook lifts her chin up so that he could look into her eyes as he says "I could never forget you. I will always remember you."

She nods her understanding, even though her heart can never be whole again. As they stand there under the tree, watching as the sun sets before them, Yerim couldn't help but to wonder - if there would really be another day for them.

+

(She stretches her legs in front of her as she waits for her laptop to reboot. While taking careful sips of her hot, brewing tea, she scrolls through the hundreds of photos in her phone and laughs to herself at some of the ridiculous ones she had taken with her group members.

Her laptop screen lits up, displaying her pink Hello Kitty wallpaper. Putting the tea and her phone aside, she grabs the Minion stuffed toy instead and makes herself comfortable as she starts to surf the internet.

Minutes later, a notification bar pops up, indicating that she has a new incoming email. Curious, she clicks open the link and waits for the contents to unload. Except for just one sole video attachment, there are no other written words. Left with not much choice, she decides to open the video and watches it in silence.

"Yerim-ah...I hope you are doing well." Pauses "I..." Awkward cough "...I miss you." The scene shifts a little, showing him adjusting his position and placing a guitar onto his lap. She thinks that he was at some kind of rooftop, judging by the way the wind is blowing in his face and messing up his front bangs.

Her breath stops short immediately as she increases the volume a little.

"I hope you'll like this." The camera fumbles slightly, before he set it straight again.

And then, then his beautiful voice starts to sing.

"Remember the way you made me feel...such young love but...something in me knew that it was real, frozen in my head...Pictures I'm living through for now, trying to remember all the good times..."

She stays frozen in the same position, eyes unblinking as though she couldn't believe what she is seeing.

"...don't think I would just forget about it, hoping that you won't forget about it…"

I could never forget you. I will always remember you, she recalls back his words from that eventful day.

"...but you'll be good without me and if I could just give it some time...I'll be alright..."

She seems to be lost in memories, not even realising that the song is about to come to an end.

"...hoping that you won't forget..."

The last thing she sees is his signature endearing, shy smile as he nods at the camera and waves her goodbye. "Be happy, Kim Yerim," are his final words before the screen goes black and he disappears from her life for the second time.

She thinks it's cruel - she thinks it's cruel how she can never forget him)