When did Jungkook start falling for Byul? 

Maybe it was that day in the park, when she was there for him for the first time. No. 

Maybe that day at the dance, when he thought he was going crazy because of how much he liked her. No, it was before that. 

He wasn't sure the exact date, it was a gradual growth of feelings. From before he was fifteen till now, almost seventeen, it had been Byul. And he had no doubt in his mind that it would always be her. He wasn't sure exactly how love felt, but when he thought about how she made him feel...jealous when she was with anyone else, happy beyond belief when she smiled at him, relaxed when she was just there...all those things sounded like what he thought love was. So yeah, he loved her. 

At first it was just in a friendship type of way--at least that's what he told himself--but it grew as he grew closer and closer to her. Even when they were as close as any pair of friends could be, his feelings continued to grow. When he was younger, he wasn't sure how to deal with that, so he tried to distance himself to a certain extent. It was even hard for him to be by her because everything about her made his heart skip a beat. But, as he grew older, he grew to be able to endure his feelings a bit more. He even started teasingly flirting, it felt like he was able to show his affection for her in a way that was secretive, a way that stopped her from finding out. 

Maybe it was silly, harboring that feeling for so long, and not telling her anything about them. But, the thought of losing her was more scary than any confession could ever be. But, Jungkook was growing greedy. He wanted her to feel the way he did, and if she gave him time, he believes he'll be able to. 

That's why he'd decided to finally give it his all. To show her how he felt little by little...starting with today. 

Byul's eyebrows furrowed as they got off of the bus. Jungkook was a spontaneous guy, but at least his plans usually made sense! Today was completely random, from him coming to pick her up, to right now as they got off at some bus stop in a town around an hour away. Maybe she should have asked more questions before following him, but sometimes surprises were fun. But, something about Jungkook being beside her made her feel flustered--Ugh, stop thinking weird things! Byul scolded herself. She turned her head so she now had a clear view of Jungkook's side-profile. "Where are we going?" 

Jungkook waited a second to answer, waiting for a sign to indicate exactly where they were. "Ta-da!" He yelled, pointing to a banner that was tied between two trees. Byul looked up. 

"Floating Lights Festival?" She asked, reading the sign. Jungkook nodded happily. 

"It's a summer festival that takes place every year, I wanted to come last year but ran out of time." Jungkook explained as he excitedly dragged her foreword. A place like this was perfect for the first part of his plan--his plan was a spur of the moment thing, but he decided an outline wouldn't be such a bad thing. The first part; make Byul see him in a different light. Going from such a close friendship to...a more romantic relationship can be difficult. Byul sees him as a friend, and he wants to make her see him as more than that. Little did he know the changes were already taking place, she really did have a bad habit of keeping important information in her head. Jungkook bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling. 

"Woah!" Byul's jaw practically dropped to the floor as they walked farther into the town. Fairy lights were strung up everywhere, from the trees to the booths that had been set up. Byul noticed a booth selling different color paper lanterns. "Are you supposed to light a lantern?" She asked, it was a lights festival after all. 

Jungkook nodded, he'd read up on this festival a lot, even before deciding he'd be coming. "Yeah, you're supposed to write a secret on a piece of paper and tape it onto the outside before putting it on a little floating toy and placing it into the lake" The lake was nearby that everyone goes to, from his understanding it was more of a 'floating lantern' than a flying lantern. After the festival ended the organizers of the event dealt with cleaning. It seemed like a lot of work to him, but the dedication was impressive. Byul's mouth made an 'O' shape as she looked at everything in awe. Jungkook was taken by surprise when she suddenly darted off ahead. "Where are you going?" He asked as he quickly followed after her. 

His mouth made the same shape as hers as they walked under a tunnel. The entire tunnel was covered in fairy lights, they stuck to the sides and hung from the top. It was breathtaking. "It's so pretty," Byul said as the smile grew on her lips. Jungkook's face mirrored hers. He looked at the end of the tunnel. 

"Let's go look there, I think that's where the festival really starts!" 

They walked out of the tunnel, and immediately Byul was ready to call this her favorite place. There were a bunch of different types of animals made of lights, the blue elephant caught Byul's eye the most.