"    Chapter I: 

        The Drop of Sun  "

 

“Food delivery!” She cheerfully spoke, shaking the plastic bags in front of him.

 

Jungkook looked up, his messily tossed bangs falling on his eyes. But it was the bright smile that begun to gush out that made her smile brighter.

 

“Woah! You got food?” Excitedly, he rushed to his feet to grab the bag.

 

He begun to look through it, feeling his stomach growl and his mouth salivate at the smell and visuals of the food. She brought him pork belly with fried rice, the heat of the containers nearly making him drop the food instantly.

 

“Be careful you idiot!” She exclaimed, laughing and grabbing a seat.

 

“Yein, you know me so well,” he spoke, rushing to eat before he could say anything else.

 

She smiled, her joy no longer reaching her eyes as she stared and felt her heart fall to the floor. She knows him so well. She knows him more than he gives her credit for. She knew not to get him coffee, because he hates the taste of it. She knew the list of his top graphic novels, both from Japan and Korea, she could recall his favorite songs, his favorite food, his favorites and his most hated.

 

The golden boy of the department whom she once considered a mystery, had become the person who she knows best and spends half of the time with.

 

There was always something about him that had pulled her closer. The tone of his voice, the way that the words slipped out of his lips in the perfect form of kindness. He was always flowing with felicity, letting it reach his eyes whenever he smiled. He was a walking drop of sunlight that had fallen from the sky.

           

            But just like the sun, he could burn.

 

He was kind, too kind to the point that his intentions were drowned in his smiles and words and became lost, impossible to find at times. He was smart, soaring above everyone in the curve as he generously offered his help with any academic struggle, letting everyone drown in his charms and brain. He was funny, when he had everyone laughing, he made people forget that breathing was essential to keep on living. He was talented, he dominated the dance floor, hypnotizing any spectator with his moves and even, with his soft and sweet voice.

 

He was perfect, he was golden, and he could burn people as well.

 

Jeon Jungkook was the ace of the department. Everyone knew who he was because everyone knew a side of him. They identified him as the kind and generous students, the intelligent tutor that surpassed in every class, the witty and funny boy whose laughter rung all throughout the library. Everyone knew him, and everyone fell for him in their own unique way.

 

Yein has always felt that there was something he was hiding. She was always curious at the flaw that he had because there is no way anyone could be as perfect as her department’s golden boy.

 

He had a good background, yet he wasn’t snobby nor pretentious. He didn’t prance throughout campus with entitlement in his back pocket. He was talented and a front runner for the dance competition team, but no one ever saw him flaunting his skills to others. He was popular with everyone, but he was always ready to make a friend wherever he was.

 

He had everything and acted like it wasn’t anything.

 

He was the drop of sun that had burned Yein. The joy that made her feel sad, the laughter that made her cry, the boy who may never like her back.

 

Liking Jungkook was easy, it was the easiest thing that she had been able to do. Nothing in her life had been as easy as letting her heart run towards the sun drop, unaware of the harm that it could do.

 

First semester, he was a mystery and all she had to make up her mind about him was everyone’s testament. Second semester, he was the tutor that she went to for a question she had about an assignment, and even if their time was brief, she could already tell why he had such a prestigious reputation.

 

“I hope that cleared up the confusion,” he spoke.

 

His voice was soft, the words slipping out of his lips like butter as he turned to look at her and smiled. His smile had reached his eyes, something she knew how to differentiate from years of observing others.

 

“Absolutely, thank you.”

 

“If anything, else comes up, please let me know. For right now, I have to run, my class is starting soon and it’s at the other side of campus,” he spoke, standing up and collecting his belongings.

 

“Thank you, sorry for making you late,” she said, feeling slightly apologetic for having come in so abruptly.

 

“Please don’t apologize, it’s my job,” he said, clothing his face with a cheerful and genuine smile before he turned gathered his belongings and rushed off. Only to turn back after a few steps and say, “work hard!”

 

A five-minute conversation had turned into much more than that. And maybe it was her naïve innocence that stems from being a fresh high school graduate that lead to her deep curiosity about him. An innocence that made her blind to the reality that was a freshman and the most popular boy in her department. An innocence that kept her form seeing that she was going to get burned.  

 

For her first two years, he had felt like the moon. Beautiful to look at, always there shining day and night, but impossible to reach and touch. He was in the same department, same campus, same buildings, yet he felt like he was millions of miles

 

So how exactly did this moon, that felt out of reach, come to be the eager pork lover that was sitting in front of her. How did this great friendship turn into an unrequited love that hurt her deeper than she is willing to admit?

 

If the question found itself in her front steps, Yein would be reluctant to say that it was all because of her best friend Jaehyun. He wasn’t the only one at fault, it was also Sujeong and her hard to deal with personality. Those two were key factors as to how Jungkook crossed her path in such a way, and the rest was her naïve and stubborn personality that lead her to walk in a path with a dead end.

 

“So, are we joining the competition team this year?” Sujeong asked.

 

“I don’t see why not, Yein?” Jaehyun asked, pulling her mind out of her book.

 

“I’ll have to think about it,” she finally responded.

 

“Yein, the information meeting is this week. Auditions are next week, you’ve had all of break to think about this,” Sujeong spoke.

 

“I’ve had a lot on my mind, I didn’t think of it as much as you wanted me to.”

 

“Yein!”

 

“Sujeong,” Jaehyun spoke, making the other lean back on her chair. “Yein, it’s fine, they audition every semester. Do what you have to do, alright?” He finished, smiling gently and assuring her it was fine.

 

Sujeong has been insisting in joining the competition team since their second year had begun. Both her and Jaehyun were amazing singers, they wanted to join to compete and earn some recognition, apart from the sweet pocket money that the members get. They wanted to bring Yein along because in one night of drinking, she had confessed to them that she majored in dance in high school.

 

Sujeong has been insisting in doing so for a while now, but what she wasn’t aware of was the injury that had put Yein’s dance career in the back of the closet. She still managed to finish high school, but the scar remained as a reminder that if she were to dance intensely again, she ran a high risk of getting injured again. She can tumble, she can do modern, she can do ballet, but the fear the injury had left on her, she has kept many of the moves off limits to herself.

 

Jaehyun had talked to Yein, asking her if she would consider auditioning to the competition team as a singer. He insisted that she had a nice voice, something he had witnessed from their karaoke bar visits.

 

“Jae, we are all drinking. You were probably drunk and thought my voice sounded good,” she spoke, laughing as all he could do was smile.

 

“I’m being serious, and I’m not the only one. Win thought the same thing and he’s the one who’s always sober,” he spoke, flicking her forehead.

 

“Why are you bringing this up again?”

 

It took him a few seconds, a few deep breaths and contemplation for him to finally turn and explain his motives.

 

“The three of us work because you and I balance out Sujeong,” she laughed, unable to hold in his sarcasm, “and I will die if I go alone with her.”

 

He was right. The two of them tend to balance out Sujeong’s flaws. They had each other’s backs. They knew how to defuse a situation. Sujeong was abruptly blunt sometimes and insensitive. Both her and Jaehyun had learned rather quickly how to keep those outbursts to a minimum. Besides, Sujeong’s absence due to her relationship status had sparked some friend jealousy. She didn’t want to be left out of the group as she saw how close Yein and Jaehyun had gotten, and for that, she insisted that the three join.

 

“I can’t imagine doing this without you. You promised we would join a club together and if we can make this work, I want to go for it,” he spoke again, the laughter officially dying out.

 

That’s it, that’s where everything begun.

 

Sujeong was the first friend that Yein made in college. They were partnered for a class project first semester and they oddly just clicked, their energy matched, and their interests were aligned. She brought Yein into her group of friends, and that’s where she met Jaehyun. He was completely different. He was really relaxed, laid back and someone who was still trying to figure out how to manage time and text back before forgetting a message seconds after reading it. 

 

If it wasn’t for either of them, and for that fact that Jaehyun was the only one who knew of her injury, hence why he insisted in auditioning for the singing team, then Yein would have never found herself joining the competition team. They would have never discovered her decent voice and her extensive career in tumbling and dance. They would have never accepted her and she would have never had to work with Jungkook.

 

They would have never invited to join the elite team, the one Jungkook happened to be captain for and she would have been able to save her heart.

 

She looked over at him briefly, nothing the way he was inhaling the pork belly and rice. She knew that he would be hungry, she knew that this big project has been consuming his time and whenever he set his mind on something, he would forget to eat.

 

“Hello,” he spoke, picking up the phone.

 

Yein sighed, going back to her munching on her food as she re-watched her lectures on her computer. Noting anything that she could have missed and highlighting important concepts that the professor pointed out that wasn’t in the book.

 

“I’m eating right now,” he paused, taking another bite, “I didn’t go anywhere, Yein brought food.” He winked at her, causing her to retreat her head with a face shaped in displeasure. “I’m sorry, why don’t we have dinner later tonight.”

 

Yein looked at him, her eyes widen as she nearly wanted to yell. They had practice later tonight, they were booked for the weekend and they needed to prefect the performance. But before she had the courage to say anything, Jungkook had already hung up the phone, plans already set with his girlfriend.

 

“Are you going to be leading practice from dinner?” she asked, her voice drowned in her bowl as she picked it up and didn’t dare direct the words to his face.

 

“!”

 

“Now he remembers,” she mumbled.

 

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

“Would it have changed much?” She asked, her brow raised as Jungkook grunted, knowing she was right.

 

Jungkook went above and beyond to make it up to his girlfriend. He would sometimes try and balance ten things in his schedule before five in the evening because the rest of the day was for her. It made Yein feel bad. She had to see how worn out and tired Jungkook would be from work, practice and projects, and on top of that, adding the responsibility and commitment that a relationship asks of a person.

 

“Can you lead it?” He asked, his eyes widen and shining in a coat of plea.

 

“Hell no!” She yelled, causing him to reach over and start pulling at her sleeve. “Why don’t you ask Yugyeom, he’s more qualified,” she whined, pulling her arm free.

 

“Can you ask him for me?”

 

“Jeon Jungkook.” She shot him a stern look, causing the other to put up his hands in defense.

 

“Okay, okay! I’ll do it,” he paused, thinking about it for a second before asking, “do you think the team will be mad?”

 

Yein put her food down, letting the words hoover in the air and then fall heavily onto him. She knew the team wasn’t going to be pleased that they were completely booked for the weekend and their captain was missing practice to have dinner with his girlfriend. These were the type of things that only Yugyeom and her could say to him because no one else dared. He has never let anyone down. He was always committed to pull ahead and not fall behind. He never weighed the team down, but it was no secret that whenever he missed practice, it made everyone wonder if he was serious about it at all.

 

They wondered if the routines and performances were simply not as important to the department’s golden boy. Jungkook has never made anyone feel like trash. But whenever he missed practice and nonchalantly came back without any problems with the choreography or the lyrics, everyone felt like they were just litter to him.

 

“As the team captain, you should already know the answer.” She looked at him, biting her lip as he gulped and put on a tightly pressed smile.

 

She didn’t like that she had to say it. She detested that she had to put him in such a mood, but she had no choice. She was part of the team, and as much as she liked Jungkook, both in the friendship and relationship level, she couldn’t keep shut. A leader needs to be there and lead the team, they need to push everyone and show that they are working just as hard as them while standing at their side.

 

“Look, why don’t you go to dinner early. We move practice an hour back, sounds good?” She suggested; her sigh heavy in the air.

 

“Why can’t we move practice up?”

 

“Because we have class, and your girlfriend hates when you show up to dates all sweaty and tired from practice.” She turned back to her computer, trying hard to make it sound like she wasn’t at all bothered by his girlfriend.

 

After practice one day, Jungkook was set to grab a quick dinner with his girlfriend at the food court. Yein was headed in the same direction and so, they were walking side by side and chatting about the costume orders that were set to come in that week. She had her hair in a damp mess of a bun that resembled a hair ball. While his grey shirt was completely soaked, he was set to go to the bathroom and dunk his hair in cold water and change his shirt for the small dinner.

 

His girlfriend had seen them coming, she walked up to him to greet him only to retreat in disgust when he tried to hug her.

 

“Gross! You’re all sweaty!” She squealed, her words only causing him to laugh.

 

“I told you I was coming from practice,” he said in between laughter, his bright energy not wavering at her look of shock.

 

“Why would you hug me when you’re this sticky? Run and take a shower next time,” she ordered, her words still not being taken seriously by the drop of sun.

 

But Yein had seen her intentions, her clear level of disgust and the hiden unhealthy control that her words were implicating on him. There were times that Yein didn’t quite like the way she talked to Jungkook. Maybe it could be that since she liked him, that her mind was amplifying everything to be much worse than it was.

 

But there was always something that rubbed her the wrong way. But there wasn’t anything she could do. She was no one to be telling Jungkook anything, she had no right to bud in in his life in that manner.

 

Besides, she had told herself that she was going to move on. That she was going to find someone to get over him because it wasn’t healthy to constantly be hooked on someone who was already taken.

 

Maybe tomorrow she will find them. Maybe tomorrow there will be a new guy in her life to take her thoughts and her heart.