“Yah! Come on, you slowpoke!”

Panting, Taehyung slowed his pace to a full stop and bent on his knees in regret. He scowled at the three guys as they continued their jog, circling around him. They made a silent agreement to jeer at the new jogger as they showed off their powerful stamina and energy. 

“What’s up?” Jungkook asked innocently. “Out of steam already?”

“Well, you can’t expect too much from Kim Taehyung.” Jin joined in.

“Hey, stop it, guys—Jimin interjected. Taehyung raised his eyebrows in gratitude at his friend, but it was replaced by a frown when Jimin continued—he’s the 4D idiot of the group, so we can’t really say anything about his lack of sports abilities.”

“Aish! I’ll show you retards!”

Growling, Taehyung had enough of his friends’ teasing and sprinted forward, leaving the others in the dust. As the fastest at running, Jungkook acted and chase after Taehyung, easily surpassing him. Jimin and Jin reached both of Taehyung’s sides, running leisurely, while Taehyung was gasping for air and running to keep up with them.

“Are you done yet?” Jimin ran backward, facing him.

“Never!”

Taehyung stood at the other side of the pedestrian crossing, grumbling under his breath as he waited for the green light. Since he had lost their so-called match, he was forced to buy the guys some breakfast from the café nearby. He actually didn’t mind treating his friends but his whole body was aching from moving around too much.

He began to feel the chill of the impending winter as he rubbed his hands together, blowing warm air on them. He tucked his hands in and pulled on his hood to cover his already frozen ears. Touching the fabric, his fingers lingered on it as the particular hooded girl was brought into his mind.

It had been a year since she had flown off to California. Taehyung didn’t heard a word from her ever since nor did she seem to be making any initiative to answer his voicemails or calls. He was devastated for the first two months, disoriented. But then he came with a conclusion that ultimately Min Ji Yeon had removed herself from his life.

Hearing the beeping sound from the traffic light, Taehyung shook out of his thoughts and followed after the businessmen as they walked across the street.

Are you ok? How are you doing? Do you still sleep wherever you lay down? Are you still strangely protective of your hair? Is your treatment working? Do you still remember this little a**hole in Korea?

Taehyung kept asking these questions in his head, hoping that one day they would be answer, whether it’s from her or not.

“Here’s your three lattes and a blueberry muffin, sir,” The barista placed his orders and typed on the cashier. “That would be ten thousand won.”

“Keep the change,” Taehyung said as he handed him some bank notes, taking the paper bag that contained their small breakfast before whirling around. Sidestepping, he barely bumped into a girl, who stood behind him in line.

“Sorry,” The girl murmured, dipping her chin into the collar of her jacket. Her shoulder-length black hair framed her cheeks, enough to hide her face. To Taehyung, she was like any other girl except that there was something in her voice that make him freeze on his steps.

The girl disregarded his stare as she moved forward and requested for a cocoa. After getting her drink, she started to head for the exit, but Taehyung blocked her way. “Lee Soongi?”

The girl widened her eyes at the sound of her name before reluctantly looking up.  Soongi jumped when she somehow recognized the boy although there were some differences between his features. Fearing for his wrath, she looked around for an escape but sadly for her, she didn’t find any.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” Taehyung said softly. “Even if you somehow decided to give me the cold shoulder this year.”

Soongi hung her head low. "Sorry."

Taehyung let out a sigh. Honestly, he couldn’t be angry for a long time, especially towards a timid girl like her. He was too much of a forgiving person.

“I’ll accept your apology if you tell me about Min Ji Yeon.” Taehyung said. “Is she back? Because from the way you acted, it looks like she did.”

“Oppa, you have to understand that I can’t do it.” Soongi defended. “I would tell you if I can, you know that. But I can’t.”

“Why? Why can’t you?” Taehyung questioned, raising his tone.

“Because—She took a deep breath— because she just doesn’t want to see you.”

The child stared intently at her, pouting his pink lips in a cute way that Ji Yeon couldn’t possibly turn him down. His stubby hands pulled on her autumn coat while his finger pointed at the ice cream shop.

“But we just had lunch just now,” Ji Yeon tried to argue. “How about next time?”

The boy shook his head vigorously and pointed again at the small shop. His mouth opened into a silent cries and whines, enough to tell her that he was getting impatient and was about to cry. Ji Yeon didn’t like this. She had promised the old lady from the orphanage that she wouldn’t spoil little Hyun with sweets but she couldn’t help but feel pity for the mute boy.

“Ok,” Ji Yeon caressed the boy’s forehead. “But you’ll have to keep this a secret from the Mrs. Choi, all right?”

She placed a finger on her lips to make her point. The boy eagerly mimicked her and kissed his finger. Ji Yeon smiled fondly before taking him by the hand. Unbeknown to her, a shadow was watching her from somewhere nearby.

the cold ice, her eyes were on Hwan as he ran after some wild squirrels. She strolled behind his running figure, enjoying the soft breeze blowing on her face. Her ears perked up at the sound of music. At the park centre, a group of three boy were seen dancing to the music. They wore enough clothing to pass as burglars with all the sweatshirts and snapback caps.

Ji Yeon diverted her eyes back at the boy, shocked to find him creeping on the tree branch ahead of her. The ice cream unconsciously slipped from her hand, and she ran after him. "Hwan! Get down from there!"

Hwan waved around in excitement, pointing at the unsuspecting squirrel at the edge of the branch. Ji Yeon held out her hand, inaudibly pleading, "It's dangerous up there! Please get down!"

Hwan seemed to be dead on at catching the animal as he narrowed his eyes on it. Ignoring Ji Yeon's warnings, he lunged forward. Too bad for him, the squirrel darted away from his grip, and the branch snapped under his weight, bringing Hwan down towards the earth. 

Ji Yeon let out scream as she leapt forward, arms out. Before she could reach Hwan, a pair of arms caught the little boy, breaking his fall. Relief, she kneeled down beside them but she looked at the stranger suspiciously when she recognized him as one of the dancers she saw before. She glanced down at Hwan as he looked up at the older boy with admiration in his eyes. 

Thanks, hyung, Hwan signed with his hands.  The boy lightly chuckled, ruffling his hair in an affection way, "Be careful, kid. You don't want your mother to be worried of you." 

Ji Yeon resisted the urge to roll her eyes exaggeratedly. It was obvious he was trying to strike a conversation with her. Or maybe it was her imagination. 

"Is he your son?" 

"Huh?" Ji Yeon lifted an eyebrow at him. Did he just ask her that? 

"Is he your son?" He repeated, standing up, still holding onto Hwan's hand. 

"None of your business," Ji Yeon pulled Hwan away from the weird boy. He was creeping her out with the question but nevertheless, she wasn't afraid. She had been through hell and back, and nothing pretty much scared her. "What's it to you if he is my son?" She inquired.

"I-it's n-not—He stammered, swallowing down the lump in his throat.

Hwan tugged hard on Ji Yeon's hand,  using his expression to scold her. Noona! Stop being so rude! Giving her a hard look, Hwan reached out and took the boy's hand, surprising him. Although Hwan couldn't see his face clearly, he had a hunch that this older hyung is going to be his favorite hyung. 

"Is he asleep?" The boy sat beside Ji Yeon when Hwan comfortably laid asleep on her lap. 

"Yeah." Ji yeon was a bit weirded out by the close distance between them. But the most weirdest thing was that a part of her was comfortable with the boy she just met. "Hwan really likes you."

"Oh, is that his name? Hmm..." He scratched his nose, staring ahead. "I'm V, in case you're wondering."

Ji Yeon leaned away from him, giving him a look, "A wanna be, aren't you?"

"What?" V turned to her, his tone was amused. Ji Yeon could sense something familiar about him, from his nose, he jaws, his lips...his lips...

"W-well, I know someone who has the same nickname," Ji yeon coughed, gently placing Hwan on the grass. "He was my best friend."

"Was?" V pushed.

"Yeah, I'm the one who break whatever it is between us." Ji Yeon played with her hands. "I'm being troublesome, that's why. It's better for him to move on and find someone worth a while. Like that girl, what's-her-name, the one he has a crush on." 

V didn't have a respond to Ji Yeon's rambling. He tugged on the grass beside him, contemplating before opening his mouth, "So here you're with a child of your own—

"Hwan isn't my son." Ji Yeon interrupted. 

"He what?" V exclaimed.

"Well, not yet, I'm going to adopt him after I settle—Ji Yeon couldn't say more when V pushed her until her back hit the ground. He hovered over her, taking his cap off, revealing his dark eyes and the very face Ji Yeon tried hard to forget but to no avail.

"H-how did you?" 

"How long will it take for you to understand that I won't let you escape from me so easily?" V-no-Taehyung brushed away the hair from her face. "Get that into your head."

Taehyung kissed her like he'd never kissed her before. If their first kiss was passionate a year ago, then there was nothing that could be compared as every emotion they withheld before was let out with one single kiss. 

They might stay that way for a while if someone hadn't decided to interrupt them. 

"You know, we still have a kid with us."

Ji Yeon unwillingly broke the kiss and looked up to find a scowling Jimin and Jungkook, with their hands covering Hwan's eyes.