“Ajhussi!!Ajhussi!! your stop has arrived.”the girl  shook the guy sleeping on the last seat of the bus.

“Some more time”the guy mumbled, his head pressed against the window.”Your stop has arrived !!”she yelled in his ears and Jungkook got up with a yelp.

“!!!!”he grabbed his bag and ran towards the exit .”Thanks ma’am”he called back as he got down the bus . He rubbed his eyes trying  to adjust to the light. The bighit entertainment building was looming in front of him, that place that had been his home for two years now and a sudden darkness fell over him.He didn’t want to go inside, he was tired of the monotonous routine everyday, the music lessons, the dance lessons, singing the same song numerous times, perfecting the  same dance steps again and again. Hours of incessant practice with no sleep and food, to top  it off  a   pile of school work. This was his routine now. Everyday he would wake up at 4 am go to music class, attend  school, go to dance class,then practice with the rest of the group members, get school work done and then goto sleep at around 12 am. He barely had any leisure time , no friends, he spent most of his time with other 6 group members, he barely talked to his family or went out for a movie or just relaxed. There were so many things he had to sacrifice just to fulfil his dream of being a k pop idol, and he was just fourteen. He knew the competition that he was facing, if he wanted to debut he had to prove his metal, spend each second of his day perfecting his talent.

 But now all of this was taking a toll on him, the more the days past the more he felt farther from his dream. He was inducted into the group six months ago, and still there was no sign of their debut.Everyday the manager would say them the same thing,”Have patience , you are not ready yet.”

It was draining both mentally and physically. He wanted to give up and go home. Go back to the security of his home and the love of his parents. Often he would cry out in frustration, only to be consoled by his hyungs, and probably that was the only thing that was stopping him from going home. The support of his hyungs , he knew they had his back. They had been training much before him, their resilience gave him strength.But whenever he saw the doomed building, the frustration engulfed him, reminding him of the painful times spent there and God knows how many more to come.

He slung his backpack on his shoulders and dragged his legs into the building. He was greeted by the jolly voice of Hoseok,”Oh Kookie!!You are late again!!You want the manager to give you an earful.”he smaked him on the head.

“I got held up in school. And when has it ever been that the manger has let me off without a scolding”he  rolled his eyes and they entered the practice room. They were greeted by Taehyung , waltzing around the room.

“You are lucky, manager just got called up for a meeting.”he twirled around them. “Rumors are floating around that the agency is going to let us debut this autumn.”he hugged Jungkook from behind.

“Hyung, you seriously believe one of these rumours. We have been listening about our debut since God knows how many months”he shrugged off his arms and made way to the couch.

“I agree.But this time its different.First, our manager is being called  out for meetings way more than before. And secondly, our group has been training for way more time than anyone else.I think they are going to let us debut this time. What do you think,Namjoon hyung”he looked at his leader expectantly.

“You know what?Even I talked to the manager,even  he thinks we have good chance this time.There’s no harm in being positive Kookie”he ruffled Jungkook’s hair. Of all his group members it was Namjoon whom he respected the most. He was one of the reasons that Jungkook joined BigHit entertainment.Listening to his words of encouragement , even Jungkook started hoping that maybe ,this time they might get a chance.

“Sure hyung , now lets practice.”he jumped up from his couch.They started practicing, stopping every now and then , peeking outside the door to see if their manager  is to be seen. After  two hours laborious practice, they collapsed on the couch for some rest.

“Hey Jungkook!!what do you think for how long do we have to wait? .”Jimin asked breathlessly.”I get nightmares these days, that I am in a tunnel and I am running ,but I cant find the end.Do you think our life has become like that?”

“I don’t know hyung, I don’t know.”Jungkook  I replied.Just then the door in front of them cracked open and the manager stepped in.

“Hey why aren’t you guys practicing?”he called out.

“We are taking a break.”Namjoon explained.

“So..what’s the news?”Hoseok asked.

“What do you mean?”the manger looked confused.

“When are we going to debut?”Jin pressed.

“Who told you I was going to discuss about your debut?”he said incredulously.

“Then what did you go for?”Jin asked in confusion.

“Whatever it was it did not involve you guys.”he said”And as long as your debut is concerned , you have still got a long way to go.You are not debuting for a long” he explained.

Jungkook could feel the blood rise in his head.He could not believe what the manager had just said.  

“What do you mean?”he said rising from his couch, his nostrils flared,”Who do you think we are.?? We have been practing the same song , the same steps for months  like pigs.And you say we are not ready?”he hands balled into a fist.

“Jungkook, listen to me”the manager tried to placate me. The other members tried to hold him back, but he shrugged them off.

“You think we are fools here??Doing the same thing day and night.Do you know how frustrating it is??”he yelled.

“I know how it is for you guys. Believe it or not I want you guys to succeed even more than you.But we cant do anything about it. The company doesn’t have enough money to let you guys debut. Have patience ”he explained.

“If you didn’t have the money then why did you guys sign us up in the first place.”his voice roared in the room.

“Jungkook!!”he felt a sharp sting on his cheeks.”How dare you talk to your manger like that??” Jungkook looked up with teary eyes to see Namjoon staring at him, his shoulders heaving in anger.”Have you forgotten your manners??”

“Hyung?”

“You think its easy,we have been training to more time than you, doing the same thing for atleast twice the amount of time than you have.  And this guy has been with us from the start. You say you want to go home ??Then go home , I don’t was such an ungrateful child in my group,”he handed him his backpack and pushed him towards the door.

Jungkook didn’t stop to look back. He dashed out of the room, out of the building,into the streets and he kept running.He didn’t know where he was going, all he wanted was to get away from that place.

He ran till his legs hurt and he ran out of breath, his throat was dry and he started coughing. He collapsed on the ground and started crying. Tears streamed down his cheeks and soaked into his shirt and into the ground.

 

They say that running water has a unique ability to soothe your souls and calm your senses. Maybe that was the reason Jungkook  found solace at the banks of the Han River. The place had a unique sense of tranquility at night, the sound of flowing water, the sound of the crickets, distant rumbling of vehicles, the Seoul skyline outlined against the sky. It made you feel so detached from the world.  Like it makes you leave all your worries and step into another dimesion,where it’s just you and no one else.  A momentory escape from all the chaos. A temporary refuge to seek when you find your world crumbling down.

Jungkook was sitting on a distant bench, under the shadows of the trees, hugging his bag.His hair was all disheveled and there were tear stains on his face .He was looking into the distance , deep in thought when he heard a small whimpering. He looked down to see a small pug smelling his feet. Jungkook tried to get rid of him, but the more he shoved him, the more it clung to his feet.Finally Jungkook gave up. He looked around to find its owner but there was no one to be seen.

“Seems like even you are lost like me.”he picked up the pug and place him on the bench beside him.The dog gave a small yelp and snuggled closer to Jungkook. He smiled weakly and petted the dog.

“Do you miss your home?”he asked and the dog liked his hand.”I think I’ll take that as a yes.Even I miss  home. I shouldn’t have yelled at the manager. He only wants what’s best for us.”he thought to himself.

Just then he heard a female voice calling out.”Poppy!Poppy!!”and the dog started barking and ran towards a  figure emerging from behind the trees. The girl picked up the pug and started hugging him.”Do you know how worried I was. Don’t  you ever do that again”. She was wearing a white summer dress and a denim jacket with sneakers.  She had a small round face and her  hair reached upto her shoulders. When she saw Sehun she walked up upto him.

“Hey  !thanks for taking care of my dog “she called out. Jungkook did not find it important to aknowledge her and started looking the other way. When the girl did’nt get the response , she walked upto to him and sat on the bench.

“Is something wrong?”she asked concerned,”You don’t look so good.What are you doing here so late?”On receiving no response from him,she waved her hand in front of his face, “Are you deaf??”

Feeling annoyed Jungkook spat ,”No, I am not and can you please leave me alone.”

“OOo...seems like someone had a bad day.”she cooed.

“You know what, though you sound very rude now, but you seem like a nice person and you took care of poppy, I will let you play with her.”and she lifted Poppy to her face and smiled brightly. Jungkook could not help but smile at her cuteness.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”he asked.

“Just came for a small walk..I just live across the corner.”she replied.,” Have you here for the first time? I have never seen you around?”she asked.

“I just wanted to have some alone time.”he looked down at her sarcastically.

“Ok Mr. if you don’t want to talk, I wont .”she pretended to zip her lips and threw the away the key. Jungkook smiled at her antiques. They remained silent for a long time, just the passing of river and occasional rustling of leaves could be heard.

“Can I ask you something?”Jungkook broke the silence between them.

“Shoot!!”she looked him in the eye.

“Have you ever felt that you are stuck somewhere and can't seem to find a way out?”

“Yeah! In a lot of my maths problems.”she replied nonchalantly.

“Not studies , I mean in life.”he explained.

“Hmmm..let’s see.. there was this one time when  I was a little kid when I accidentally snuck up into my father’s car trunk, and got locked. I wasn’t discovered for like an hour. I thought I would die.”

“Hmm..ok” he pursed his lips and continued looking at a distance.

“Can I say something?”

“No matter how dark the sky is, there is always a silver lining.”

“What?”

“No matter how worse the things go, eventually you will find your way out.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Maybe. Coz I have never been through that phase. But I know a lot of people who did.”

“Like?”

“Lets see....Will Smith?”

“Who?”

“Pursuit of Happiness.!!’

“Huh?”

“Shawshank Reedemption?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You really don’t watch movies ,do you?”

“I am asking for examples in real life.”

“Oh these movies are based on real life.”

“Do you talk so much crap all the time??”

“Kind of...you wanna play fetch with poppy?”

“What?”

“It’s a game. I’ll show you.”She pulled out a rubber ball from her pocket and threw it away from them”Poppy go fetch!!”the little dog dashed towards the ball. After sometime they saw the dog darting towards them with a ball in his mouth. It placed the ball at their feet.

“Good girl!!”she petted her and fed her a treat.”You wanna try?”She handed Jungkook the ball.

He took the ball and threw it.

“Go fetch!!”but the dog did not move a single bit. She kept staring at Jungkook with wide eyes.

“Yeah...I forgot...she gets tired after one round.” The girl  sighed.

“You have a weird dog.”Jungkook bemused and picked up Poppy in his lap who started his hands like they were something to eat.

“I know.” She patted Poppy “But she the best companion anyone could ever have.”

“Hey,about what you said earlier...”she said softly.”I think you are being too hard on yourself. Just have faith . Just do your job and don’t worry about the result. Look at Seoul...its go through so many trials a tribulations before it got to its full glory.”she smiled warmly.

When the girl left, Jungkook felt  peace fall over him. The girl did not say much to him, but whatever she said spread a warmth over his body. He felt alive again, her bubbly nature, the way she spoke ,her smile ,everything  made his heart flutter. He felt a heavy weight had been lifted off him and he could smile again.  He took out his phone and dialed his manager’s number.

“Hyung, I am sorry.”

“Jungkook!!where are you ?we were so worried about you??

“I am at Han River, can you come and pick me up?”he asked

“Sure kid.”he hanged up, just then he realized he had forgotten to ask the girl’s name.