twenty one year old jimin smiles and leans on his shoulder. 

"let's have another wonderful year together," she gently kisses his cheek.

there's only silence between the two for a while.

 

he looks up, "sometimes when i think about attending cambridge in a few months and being so far away from you, i imagine a line, a bright white line, painted on the land and ocean, from me to you.” 

 

 

the fireworks burst in the sky and fade away.

"but jimin,i want to see your beautiful face every morning i wake up," he gets down on his knees, "will you marry me?" 

he opens a box with a ring, clearly inexpensive but still full of warmth. 

 

tears stream down her cheeks as she throws her arms around his neck. 

"yes," she whispers into his ear.

 

they were a loving couple but jimin was afraid. 

the night she became his fiancée, she murdered him.

 

while they were sleeping together, jimin stealthily opened the drawer in her nightstand and drew out a sharp knife.

she brought the point to his temple and whispered, "i'm sorry. i love you, but this won't work out."

she pushed the knife through his head.

the least she could do was give him a peaceful death.

 

and then she ran. 

she shoved a few items into a small suitcase and headed towards the nearest train station.

she needed to be gone - fast.

 

she headed towards the countryside, where she could live in quiet. 

how she would manage, she had no idea. 

but for now, anywhere was better than seoul.

 

tears streamed down her cheeks as her heart ached for him.

but no matter how many times she told herself it may work, 

the thought of losing him was too much to bear.

the guilt, she decided, was something she needed to be burdened with for the rest of her life.

 

she arrived in a small town at dawn. 

her eyes were heavy and her body was exhausted.

 

jimin wandered though the village, watching a few farmers tending to their crops. 

she sat down at the corner of a street but just as her conscious began to drift away, someone shook her shoulders.

"what's a pretty young girl like you doing out here?" an elderly woman beamed down at her. 

"ah," jimin shook her head, "i'm just a passerby. i'll be fine."

 

the woman laughed, "i'm known to house travelers from time to time. follow me."

jimin stood up and allowed the elder to lead her.

for a few months, she stayed in their small cottage.

no one ever came searching for her.

she knew she was quite lucky to have such hospitable people care for her but it was impossible for her to stay here forever.

 

one morning, the elderly woman slowly started, "i'm sorry i'm just now telling you this, but i have a grandson returning from the military next week that i'd like to introduce to you."

that night jimin ran away.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

it's a cruel society she lives in.

everywhere she walks she only sees lost souls

or a couple who can't take their eyes off another.

 

in this world, everyone ages normally until they hit the age of twenty.

then, they abandon everything they lived for to discover the one they love.

once they are permantly bounded by a contract, they begin to age together

until death consumes them both.

 

the concept was strange to her ever since she was a child.

"what if i just stop liking them?" the child version of her looks down at the third teddy bear she's bought this month.

her mother gently smiles, "that won't happen. honey, don't worry - every will work out naturally."

 

her name is jimin. park jimin. 

a lonely woman who doesn't look a day older than twenty. 

born in 1897, she was free spirited and a female ahead of her time. 

now, in 2017, she is slightly more melancholy but enjoys her freedom.

 

she's constantly running -

from what she's yet to discover. 

 

 

 

she slips out of bed and cranks up her morning playlist. 

quietly humming along, she ties an apron around her waist and reaches into the fridge. 

out she takes eggs and ham.

she slides bread into the toaster and turns on the stove. 

she begins to boil water and takes out her favorite mug.

 

it was rare occasion for jimin to actually prepare breakfast but something about the first day of 2017 made her feel productive.

after eating and quickly cleaning up the house, she drives to her job at a local restaurant. 

for some people, it makes sense to get a master's or doctoral degree after living over a hundred years,

but something about the casuality of people walking in and out brings her down to earth.

 

she greets the other workers and nods to baek yerin, one of her only friends. 

although they were born a whole century apart, something about yerin's straightforward yet sassy tone drew jimin in.

 

yerin sends her a look of exhaustion as she points at the long line.

because it's new years, so many people are placing to-go orders over the phone and by mouth - sending the kitchen into disarray. 

that is, until the door opens and hits the bell hanging from the ceiling to notify the employees.

everyone's eyes turns to the newcomers and many females begin to shriek. 

 

jimin looks up from cleaning the beverage dispenser, "what kind of insect am i gonna have to kill today?"

instead, a group of seven extremely handsome men stand at the entrance towering over most of the customers.

jimin leans over to a nearby coworker and whispers, "who are they?"

he looks at her wide-eyed, "are you serious? that's bangtan sonyeondan, one of the biggest kpop groups in the world!"

 

jimin never was a huge fan of kpop ;

there were some aspects of her that never changed.

 

the line shifted aside as the group stepped up to yerin at the cash register.

her expression stayed indifferent as she asked, "what would you like?"

jimin turned back around to focus on work as a deep voice answered with quite a long list of food.

yerin repeated the order and ended it with a sigh as the register produced the receipt.

 

the moment they left, the restaurant became lively again, with people running around the place and laughing together. 

jimin was now happily humming while cleaning tables and booths until yerin walked up to her, 

"im really sorry to ask you to do this, but can you take the huge order to bts," she handed jimin a slip with an address and ran away, "remind me that i owe you!"

 

jimin rolled her eyes. where was the delivery boy? 

she headed towards the storage area at the back of the eatery where the delivery person normally hung out to casually eat their food, but he was nowhere to be found.

now that jimin actually thought about it, it made sense that he was out currently. 

she looked around and noticed several other workers were also gone, likely taking food to peoples' homes.

 

she sighed, "let's get this over with."

carrying three large bags into her car, she revved up the engine. 

the address was mildly far, a thiry minute drive to busan.

 

it had been almost twenty years since the last time jimin had visited such a large city. 

the buildings and skyscrapers leaned over her and a feeling of insignificance washed over her, something she never missed.

jimin arrived at a small, worn down property and loudly knocked on the door. 

 

a tall male opened the door, "ah! come in."

she quickly entered the structure and set down the heavy bags of cuisine with a sigh.

jimin lightly grinned, "i'll just show myself the way out-" 

the guy interrupted, "no! let's talk."

 

of all the one hundred and nineteen years jimin has lived, an idol forcing her into a conversation definitely ranked high in the oddest experiences she's had. 

"firstly, my name's taehyung! what's yours?" 

she avoided the question, "isn't the food going to become cold? there were six other men with you and it's not like you're going to eat all of this."

he waved his hand, "it's fine ; they'll be back soon."

 

"anyways, i'm sorry," jimin shook her head, "i gotta get back to work."

"fine," he exhaled, "but at least give me your number."

jimin thought about the object in her back pocket which she used about every other month when a new employee set the kitchen on fire.

she hesitantly agreed, "okay," and quickly jotted down the digits on the back of the slip with his address.

 

only when she was driving back did jimin realize how strange it was that he asked for her number and how dangerous their relationship could become.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

hey guys!!

my spring break begins next week so expect another update soon (more than likely not saudade though)

anyways, please feel free to comment thoughts, criticisms, theories, etc.