You woke Jeno up. It was the day you’d be traveling and as you both left for breakfast, you dragged the luggage to the front desk to check out. You’d have a van travel to Boom for the both of you, Jeno and you walking down the street as both of you discussed what to eat.

You expected it to be a normal day and you stood in front of the restaurant, rummaging through the bag when there was a sound of a motorcycle. You did not think much of it when suddenly there was a slam and you found yourself toppling backwards—your bag had been snatched.

It took a while to register, Jeno gasping as he realized what had happened. He had ran forward, trying to chase the motorcycle when he turned back and ran towards you… You were bleeding and he cursed.

You had heard a few stories of bag snatchers but you did not expect it to happen to you. Your passports, the wallets and everything was in that bag.

You were both ed.

But both of you had your phones.

Needless to say, you were apologetic but Jeno said that it was good that you weren’t dead. He knew some people ended up dead because some of them had knives and he checked you when it sunk that you wouldn’t be able to pay the van.

“Police first,” you told him and he nodded. Stress was beginning to settle and it was tense as the police questioned you. You decided to try to contact Doyoung and send him the police report so he could cancel your credit cards and debit—sending Jeno’s card along with him.

Doyoung was big help and both of you were directed to the Korean Embassy. You were never going to make it in time, you thought, but Jeno didn’t seem very worried about the festival anymore.

The Korean Embassy was a few feet away since you were both in the main city and as you began to process the documents, you heard a rumble and a man took a seat beside you and Jeno. He was wearing a flappy oversized gray shirt and had a bunch of necklaces dangling around his neck.

The guy was jingling. He was a walking tambourine.

His pants were tye-die and his shoes were bright pink. The colors were shocking and he held a guitar.

He cleared his throat and turned to look at both you and Jeno, the male breaking into a smile.

“Korean?” he asked and you nodded dully, Jeno’s hand on your lap. “Oh, nice. I’m Korean, too.”

No . It was the Korean Embassy. You were in a foul mood but despite that fact, you gave him a smile.

“Are you busking?” Jeno asked from beside you and you saw that Jeno’s eyes were on the guy’s guitar.

“Yes. Mark Lee. I’m a singer.” He smiled and motioned to the guitar. “I’m in a two-man band. We’re called ‘Watermelon on a Sunny Day’.”

“Watermelon on a sunny day…” you chuckled, finding it cute. “A two-man band? What does the other person play?”

“Haechan plays the drums. We’re country. I came to handle a few documents because we brought a van. You know, road documents.”

“Oh. Same here. We got mugged,” you told him and his eyes widened. Mark Lee seemed nice. “We were supposed to go to Tomorrowland.”

“No way! Me too!” He seemed excited. “We’re playing a stage. Country-ish, you know? Indie-pop. I know people go to Tomorrowland for EDM but… there are different stages. Do you know?” he asked eagerly.

Jeno nodded, sighing. “I don’t think we’ll make it. It seems like documents are going to take some time—”

The passports and everything would take some time. Three days, to be exact and Jeno looked bummed. Mark Lee, however, was listening to whatever what was happening and he tilted his head.

“I don’t get it. If it’s going to take three days, you should go to the festival and then come back and then take your passports.”

You both blinked. That also made sense.

But money—your phone dinged.

You got money. Jeno’s parents found out and you looked at Jeno.

“My drummer is picking us up. You can definitely come with us! Look, we’re on the brochure.” He whipped out a brochure and as we looked at it, it was a photo of Mark with another guy.

The difference in style was striking. Mark was smiling and holding a guitar while his drummer; Haechan, as Mark had said his name was, was wearing a skull outfit with sunglasses. He had tattoos on his arms and the same necklaces around his neck.

Mark looked like he would herd sheep and Haechan looked like he held people in his basement and used their screams for music.

“He’s a great dude!” Mark Lee told you and you both agreed to tag along. In the end, Watermelon on a Sunny Day was definitely on the list. We’d find ourselves at the festival. As both Mark and Jeno bonded, you handled a few of the documents when a van approached. “Haechan is here!”

Haechan rolled down the window and he glanced at you and Jen through his sunglasses. The van smelled of weed and Mark hopped onto the back. We saw that it seemed like they lived in the van and Mark cleaned up the back for us, Haechan loading your luggage.

“Fans?” Haechan asked Mark shook his head. “Charity?”

“That’s right,” Jeno answered, eyeing Haechan who chuckled. He looked high.

“Welcome to the Be There Or Be Square Van,” he said, motioning to the big van. “Come in and make yourself at home. We’re three to four hours away from Boom and we have to play the second half of the day.”

As you sat down, Mark began fiddling with the guitar.

“So… Indie-Pop,” you said to him and he nodded eagerly. “Can I hear a song?”

“We make our own genre,” Haechan said from the front. “We just came out with a mini-album. It’s a trilogy.”

“A trilogy?” you echoed, Mark giving you a CD. You flipped it open and saw that it was a trilogy—a trilogy with three songs. The song titles were weird to say the least and the title was one word.

“It’s called Crash. We have three songs,” Haechan said, slamming against the brakes and cursing.

Crash

1. think i love you (but it’s an earthquake)

“I think I love you but it’s an earthquake?” you asked and Mark nodded.

“The whole album is about crashing into love, you know? It’s beautiful but it destroys you. The first song is about loving someone. Using earthquakes as a metaphor. It’s intense but it’s dangerous,” Mark explained and you nodded.

Deep.

“Okay, second one,” Jeno continued, reading out the title.

2. you killed someone (but I’ll take the fall)

“That’s super dark,” you said and Mark laughed, pointing at Haechan. He played a little bit of the second song and you heard that it started off very mellow with a sweet voice until the bridge came… the drums intensified and it because quite rockish with an acoustic feel.

“That’s why people say they get confused with our genre. We’re Indie-pop, but country, but also rock. Haechan is in charge of rock,” Mark said.

Haechan screeched, a hand in the air as he drove. “But you get the title, no? That’s how the destructive the love is. He’s so loyal to her, he’s bat crazy and he’d do anything for her.”

“That really is dark,” Jeno said and you nodded.

3. Part of me is dead (but with you, I’m alive)

“Does he die in the last song?” you joked, Mark and Haechan nodding. “What?”

“Just kidding. It’s about when a person loses themselves into the dark side of love and the only way to feel alive is through their significant other. Not very healthy—we totally do not condone. But you know,” Mark’s voice dropped. “It’s music. You can get creative.”

You enjoyed listening to their music and it was true as Mark said, it was hard to pinpoint them into a genre. They had other songs and they told you to wait until the festival since they wanted to catch you and Jeno by surprise. A few hours passed of talking and Mark made Jeno promise to watch them busk.

“The EDM stage starts tomorrow, anyway,” Jeno said. “I would love to see you perform.”

“And you will, brother!” Mark chirped as the van zoomed past a Tomorrowland banner. Jeno pressed his hand against the window, pointing.

“Look, it’s Matthew Lee.” At the mention of Matthew Lee, you could see Mark and Haechan look towards Jeno. “Oh, sorry. I just… I just really really really like him. I want to give him my demo.”

“Like Johnny Suh who threw his CD to him?” Haechan asked from the front and Jeno nodded. Mark had a small smile, the male looking out the window. “Are you a musician?”

“I want to DJ,” Jeno told Haechan, earning a cheer. “I was just hoping… to make it. I think this is the closest I can get to achieving it.”

“How long have you been DJ-ing?” Mark asked and Jeno pondered the question.

“Three years. I started back in high-school but then my parents wanted me to go to law school instead so I—” He glanced at you and you smiled.

“I tutored him and got him into law school.”

“Smart cookie,” Haechan complimented. “Music is universal, void of age and time. You can do it whenever you want.”

“I want to do it all the time,” Jeno said back and Haechan’s eyes twinkled, the male parking the car as he lowered the sunglasses to glance at Jeno. Tomorrowland had already started and since we promised, Jeno and you went to buy a tent, both of you putting it up. Mark and Haechan were of big help and you could see that there were actually a lot of people who liked Mark and Haechan—they were always coming up for photos.

“Hey, look! It’s Watermelon On A Sunny Day!” someone yelled out and Haechan waved. “They’re playing in a few minutes!”

Jeno and you bought a cooler of beer and as you both cracked open a cold one, you saw Haechan running from a different direction. He was sweating and he had dived into your tent, the male sniffing.

“What’s with you?”

“Running away from the emos,” he said. “Should have known not to mess with them hard rock fanatics.”

Both of you laughed and as the stage began to start, you saw that Mark was already getting ready. You knew Mark and Haechan would be playing and busking—what you did not know was that Watermelon On A Sunny Day would be playing a set.

That, Jeno said, meant that they were pretty famous.

Around two hundred people were there and I knew their type of music wasn’t for everyone but two hundred of people seemed reasonably large. More people came as time had passed, however, and you saw the two-man band begin to prepare their instruments.

“Hello, we are Watermelon On A Sunny Day!” Mark introduced himself and the crowd cheered. “If you don’t know us, we play Indie-Pop music and love writing in nature—Or I do. Haechan likes to catch birds.”

A smack on the drums and Haechan earned a cheer from the people.

“This song is called Icecream Through a Thunderstorm,” Mark began, tuning his guitar as he spoke. “Thunderstorms are scary. They slash through the sky but what happens when you have someone who will drag you through the fear it induces? I know I am finding my icecream through the thunderstorm and if you have found yours, you are very lucky.”

Jeno stood behind you and people began to sway as Mark strummed on the guitar. You closed your eyes, the melody filling the area. You took a swig of the beer, people singing along with Mark when you felt Jeno wrap his arms around your waist, the male laying his head on your shoulder.

The lyrics hit Jeno different.

Icecream Through Thunderstorms

You are vanilla as your skin melts onto my tongue,
you taste like strawberry when I drag my lips over your shoulder

You are like chocolate when you tell me you love me
Like coffee when you jolt me awake with your laughter

You felt Jeno press his lips against your shoulder, the male pressing his forehead against your neck.

You held onto his hand, Jeno rocking you back and forth.

Haechan began to bang on the drums, the song turning catchy but as deep as it started, the change of beat not making the lyrics lose meaning.

You are my comfort through thunderstorms
and when the banging gets too loud,
you silence them for me

You tell me that it’ll be okay and I press my lips against yours

“Look at me,” Jeno said suddenly you found yourself turned towards him, Jeno staring straight into your eyes. His eyes were glistening and you reached up to cup his cheek. “I love you.”

There it was again, him telling you he loved you.

Except this time, it was different because he dipped his down and his lips caught yours. You gasped, Jeno deepening the kiss like he meant it and that was it crashed down on you.

He didn’t just love you.

He was in love with you.

You taste like all my favorite flavors
A mix of berries, a mix of love, a mix of you and me and I can only think of one thing
You are my icecream through thunderstorms

You are my icecream through thunderstorms
and I wish I’m yours

I wish I’m yours

“No, Jeno,” you managed to say, breaking the kiss and taking a step backwards. He was always impulsive but was he this impulsive?

Jeno expected as much. He wanted to prove himself to you but you kissed him back. He felt it, your hands bunching up his shirt as you both fought for dominance. You just had to stop yourself.

“No, Jeno,” was all you said as you walked away. You loved Jeno so much but you could not give him what he wanted. He wanted to make music; you’d try your best to give it to him. He wanted support, you’d break your back for him.

But you weren’t one to give yourself away.

You were far from that.

Your love for Jeno was a dangerous, dangerous thing.

“Why?” he asked and you told it to him, honestly.

“I’m scared.”

Jeno had a life ahead of him. He was passionate and a man of dreams.

“You’re never scared,” he told you and you shook your head, Jeno wrapping his arms around you. “Don’t lie. You’re never scared.”

“The next song is called: If Titanic Never Sunk!” Mark could be heard saying. “Possibilities of love, possibilities of how things might have turned out. In the end, two people who love each other… That might be enough, right?”

He paused.

“It’s never enough. Love is never enough,” he added. Jeno and you stood silently in each other’s arms, your mind whirring. This changed things. This changed a lot of things because what would you do now? You were confused when Jeno pulled away.

If Titanic Never Sunk

Titanic was an almost, almost a happy ending
A ship of dreams, a safe haven and an escape

“Can we please pretend nothing happened?” you asked and Jeno felt hurt you wanted to erase from your memory. He did not understand why but he tried to. “We were caught up in the moment, Jeno, but we can never be more than this.”

He did not know it, but you were terrified of what he made you feel.

And maybe,
maybe they were meant to make it
To live a love story, not break it

Would they be in each other’s arms right now?
Would they be dancing underneath the moonlight
thinking this is the best thing they ever had?

“But I love you,” he said. He had no plan for this. All he cared was that he simply wanted you to know. “I’m in love with you.”

“Jeno.”

“The only thing I love more than music is you,” he whispered and you kissed him again, this time melti