I lost track of how long I stared at my sister’s email. The last sentence swirling around my head. How could five months have passed so quickly? How can I only have one month left with Taehyung? Especially after what happened today? I pulled my knees up to my chin, my gaze still locked on my sister’s email. I didn’t even hear Taehyung enter my room. It wasn’t until he sat beside me on my bed that I noticed that he was there. “Hey, are you ok?” he asked, picking up on my sombre mood.

I tried to force a smile onto my face. Today was such a happy day, I didn’t want to ruin it. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I said, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. Taehyung frowned, cupping my face with his large hands. “No, you're not.” He said, his intense gaze on my face as if the answer was written there. “What’s wrong?” he asked and I felt my resolve crumble. “My sister emailed me… she was telling me about her adventures in Korea then she said…” I let out a shaky breath, I tried to look away from him, but he wouldn’t let me. “We only have one month.” I said, tears beginning to prick at my eyes, somehow saying it to Taehyung made it feel more real.

He nodded, “I know, my friends told me too.” He said, sadness reflected in his own eyes. I launched forward wrapping my arms around him as tears fell down our cheeks. His grip around me was just as tight as my grip was around him. “It’s not fair!” I whined, my voice muffled by the material of his t-shirt. “I know.” He whispered, his voice rough as he tried to control his tears. We sat that way, wrapped in each other’s arms until exhaustion hit us both. He pulled me down with him, wrapping himself around me as we fell asleep.

When we woke up the next morning, there was a sense of sadness hovering over the both of us, knowing that we were running out of time to be together. We agreed that since we only had one month left, we had to make it count. We spent the day at home, surrounded by junk food, never leaving each other’s sides as we made plans for the next month. We were determined to fit a lifetime of being together into a single month.

Over the next month we went on several dates, some cliché, some not so cliché. We returned to the beach where we had confessed, Taehyung finding a beautiful seashell, for me to keep. “A memory” he had said as my fingers curled around the fragile shell. We climbed to the top of a mountain, just to watch the sunset. We spent full days at home, wrapped in each other’s embrace as time raced towards the day when Taehyung would need to leave.

All too quickly, the second last day arrived. My parents took us to a lovely restaurant as a final farewell. They had to work the next day so I need to take Taehyung to the airport. Alone.

After dinner and my parents had gone to bed, Taehyung sneaked into my room. I tried to hold back my tears, not wanting his last memories of me to be of me puffy faced from crying. “I have a gift for you.” He said as he pulled out a box from behind his back. I opened it, revealing a photo album. I opened it and on the first page was our names and the date we had confessed at the beach. I fought back tears as I flipped through the album. He had taken so many photographs of the two of us since he arrived. Next to each photograph was a little handwritten note with the date and where the photograph had been taken. Sometimes with little extra comments, some written in English, some in Korean.

“Taehyung… this is… it’s perfect. I love it.” I said, as my tears finally won. He wiped them away with his fingers. “I want you to remember us. Don’t cry.” He said as he pulled me against his chest. We fell asleep that way, his arms wrapped around me, the photo album in-between us.

When my alarm went the next morning I quickly turned it off before snuggling back into Taehyung’s embrace. “Morning.” He mumbled, his breath ruffling my hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Morning.” I said back, hoping that I could control my tears, at least for now. The mood was dark as we got ready to leave, my parents had already left for work. The whole way to the airport Taehyung held my hand, both of us wishing the journey would last forever.

We arrived at the airport and Taehyung checked in his suitcase. I walked with him until the entrance to the security check area, which was for passengers only. We hugged fiercely, promising to stay in contact every day. Promising that we would visit whenever we could. We both bit back our tears. “I’m going to miss you.” I said, my voice thick. “I’ll miss you too.” He said, his voice rougher than normal. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain with a book shaped locket at the bottom. “It’s for you.” He said as he attached the fine chain around my neck. I flicked the locket open, a picture of the two of us from the beach inside.

“It’s beautiful.” I whispered as I looked up at him. My eyes caught the clock behind him. “You better go. You can’t miss your flight.” I said, even though at this moment in time, I would love nothing more than for him to miss his flight. He wrapped his arms around me one last time, kissing me more passionately than I had ever experienced before. He pulled back, our foreheads still touching. “I love you.” He whispered and then he was gone.

I watched him rush through to security, my heart feeling like it had just been ripped out of my chest. Taehyung's last words on a loop in my head.

I love you

I love you

I love you

My breath caught in my throat as I stood there, people saying goodbye to their loved ones all around me. I stood there until my tears finally dried. I made my way back to my car, my sister’s flight not due in until tomorrow. I drove home in a daze, the radio insisting on playing romantic love songs which felt like torture. I shut the radio off, my mind only half focused as I made my way back home. When I finally made it home, I headed straight to my room and cried. I didn’t know it was possible for a person to cry so much. By the time my parents came home from work, I had already cried myself to sleep.

Taehyung arrived back in Korea, his parents waiting for him at the airport. They had just sent Vicky’s sister off and had been waiting for him. He hugged them tightly, he had missed them a lot during his time away. They bombarded him with questions, but all he could focus on was how much it hurt being away from Vicky. They blamed his quietness on being jetlagged and tired from the long journey. They took him home, letting him shower and eat before he went to his room, wanting to be alone. He sent her an email letting her know he was home safe.

He opened his suitcase, planning on sorting out the gifts he had bought for his family. He frowned as a white envelope he didn’t recognise sat on top of his clothes. He opened the envelope, tears immediately springing to his eyes as he saw the contents. Vicky had written him a letter, completely in Korean. She started off by apologising for the many mistakes she had likely made. Taehyung felt like his heart was going explode from all the feelings that ran through him as he read the letter which she had obviously put a lot of time and effort into. When he finished reading it for the third time, his tears flowed freely. “I miss you.” He whispered.

Two months later, Taehyung sat in the dancing studio where he and his friends spent most of their time. They had forced him to come out with them, worried that he was spending too much time locked up in his room since he had returned to Korea. They had hoped that by bringing him back to the dance studio, they would be able to distract him. It had worked for a short time, until a certain song had made him stop dead, as memories of him teaching Vicky how to sing it assaulted him. He lay on the ground in front of the mirror, his phone in his hand, even though he knew that she was probably asleep and wouldn’t message.

Jimin dropped down beside him. “Come on. You can’t just keep on lying here.” He said, shoving his friends leg lightly. “That’s right hyung, if you don’t practice at all Namjoon hyung is going to get better than you.” Jungkook said, hoping to make him laugh. Instead he earned himself a glare from Namjoon as he left to go to the bathroom. “Come on, she wouldn’t want to see you moping around like this.” Hoseok said as he pulled Taehyung into a sitting position.

He crossed his legs, his gaze focused on the ground. He heard the door open as Namjoon came back from the bathroom. “Tae, I have the best way to cheer you up.” Namjoon said excitedly. Taehyung’s gaze remained on the floor, his phone still twirling in his hand. An unexpected, but familiar female voice floated over to him. “Hi Taehyung.” His head shot up at the sound of the voice. “Vicky…” he breathed, hardly daring to believe his eyes. She smiled at him, something which he didn’t think he’d be seeing so soon.

“You never gave me the chance to answer at the airport; I love you too.” She said as he ran towards her, wrapping her in a fierce hug. She giggled as he picked her and spun her around. “I love you.” She repeated, her hand cupping his cheek. “I love you too.” He said before claiming her lips once again.