The soft golden hue of the lamp flickered over the still waters of the lake, reflecting the dim light like creating a scene of love matching the conversation between the lovers. A gentle fog hugged the surface, wrapping the place in a calm. Trees lined the sky, dark and blurred, like shadows of old memories. On the wooden dock, two lovers sat, legs dangling. They had a comfortable silence between them filled with Love.

Jungkook looked to his left, his lips curved into the softest smile. "You're still wearing that cardigan?"

Taehyung chuckled, then looked at the peaceful, barely moving water. "It's yours, idiot. You gave it to me when I was freezing during that stupid Ferris wheel ride, remember?"

Fr

Jungkook grinned, leaning slightly toward him. "I wasn't gonna let you catch a cold on our fourth anniversary special date. Plus, you looked ridiculously cute shivering like a tiger cub."

"Shut up," Taehyung laughed, nudging him playfully with his shoulder. "You're still as cheesy as ever Kookie."

They both sat in silence for a while, the breeze ruffling Taehyung's soft brown hair. Jungkook glanced at the smile on his face, the crinkle by his eyes, the little mole under his lower lip. That face was carved into his heart.

"You remember our first kiss?" Jungkook asked softly.

Taehyung turned to him slowly and a boxy smile appeared on his lips. "How could I not? It's the most special memory of us "

"It was raining heavily," Jungkook laughed, shaking his head. "And you were yelling at me for not bringing an umbrella."

"And you pulled me under that tiny shop shade and just kissed me suddenly," Taehyung added, grinning and blushing. "You didn't even let me finish cursing you."

Jungkook blushed, running a hand through his hair. "I panicked, okay? You looked too beautiful in the rain, I had to shut you up."

Taehyung chuckled, then looked up at the dimming sky. "It's crazy, you know. How we first met in School and the memories we created there."

Jungkook sighed. "I miss it sometimes. You, sneaking into my hostel room, stealing my hoodies."

"You liked it."

"I did," he admitted. "You smelled like sunshine. And cheap body spray."

"I was broke," Taehyung muttered with a small grin.

"You were perfect," Jungkook said, his voice low.

Taehyung looked at him. "You were rich, and stupid. But you loved me like I was the only person in your world."

"You were," Jungkook said without hesitation. "Still are."

A pause.

"Do you remember that night we stargazed from the hostel roof?" Taehyung asked suddenly.

Jungkook nodded, eyes twinkling. "You were scared of heights."

"I was more scared of falling for you."

"You already had," Jungkook whispered, smiling.

Taehyung laughed. "You don't stop, do you?"

"Never. Not when it comes to you."

A soft silence followed, only the lake and the distant rustle of leaves making any sound. Taehyung looked out at the dock across from them, where the lamp glowed faintly in the mist.

"We used to sit there during college breaks," he said, voice almost nostalgic. "That time you skipped your business classes just to sit with me?"

"I would've dropped everything for you," Jungkook said, serious now. "And I did."

Taehyung's smile faltered slightly. "You really did."

Jungkook reached out, fingers brushing against Taehyung's hand.

"I still would," he whispered. "If you asked me to run away with you now.... I would again do that."

Taehyung looked down at their joined hands, then up at Jungkook. His eyes glistened, but he smiled.

"I know," he whispered back. "But not now. Not yet. It's not the time."

The wind carried the scent of the lake, and the echoes of their laughter from some other lifetime. Jungkook leaned his head on Taehyung's shoulder, and Taehyung leaned into him gently.

"We'll always have each other, right?" Jungkook asked softly.

"Always," Taehyung replied. "Even when no one else understands.... we will."

Jungkook closed his eyes feeling the homely warmth of Taehyung.

No one watching them could've guessed the intensity of their Love.

The dock stood still, the lamp flickered gently, and the lake held their reflection, two souls, seemingly whole, wrapped in a love too deep for the world to understand.

To be continued....

The lake stayed quiet. The water, still and reflective, held the soft outline of two figures sitting on the dock legs swinging, shoulders brushing, laughter muffled like it was made only for the evening to hear.

From behind the tall hedge across the path, two men stood in the shadow, eyes fixed on the lovesick boy who has a bunny smile on his face.

One stood tall and composed, face unreadable, arms folded across his chest like he'd seen far too much to be surprised anymore. The older bodyguard. Min Yoongi.

The other one shifted beside him, newer to the job, cute looking but observant, curious in a way he hadn't learned to hide yet. His name was Park Jimin.

"Sir...." Jimin hesitated before continuing. "Why is Young master smiling all lovy dovy? And who is the one he is talking with?"

Yoongi didn't respond right away. His eyes stayed on his Young master smiling and talking with his lover at the dock, on the way Jungkook leaned his head onto Taehyung's shoulder like it was something he'd done a hundred times. Because it was.

Jimin tried again. "Sir.... Please tell me, I'm curious...."

Yoongi exhaled slowly, hands behind his back now, a small tug at the corner of his mouth.

The younger man waited.

"They've been lovers since high school," Yoongi finally said. "Since that damn school festival when Jeon Jungkook, son of a business empire, stood onstage and sang a song he wrote while staying up for several nights, just for a boy who sat in the second row wearing a mustard yellow scarf and trying to look disinterested, but he was actually not."

Jimin's eyes widened slightly. "You were there?"

"I've been with Jungkook since he was fifteen," Yoongi said. "I've Seen him grow up. Seen him fall in love. Seen him mess it up and fix it again and again."

The older man's voice had softened. There was a worn out warmth in his tone, like someone who'd watched an old movie too many times but still stayed for the ending.

"Taehyung was different," Yoongi continued. "He was art. Messy, wild, loud. He painted on the walls of Jungkook's life, and the kid just let him. Happily. It was.... strange, at first. Jeon Jungkook didn't even look anyone in the eye until he met him."

Jimin tilted his head slightly. "And his family, King Jeon?"

"He didn't like it. You can imagine. But love, it's stubborn. Quietly stubborn. And they were so in sync, they didn't even need to explain it to anyone. You know how sometimes you look at two people and just know?" Yoongi's voice turned distant. "They were like that. Like one soul, two bodies."

He paused, then nodded toward the dock. "See that? That's not new. That's a memory repeating itself."

.....

"I think your shoulder's bonier than it used to be," Jungkook murmured with a faint smile.

Taehyung laughed lightly. "You think your head's gotten heavier. Maybe you're just a old bunny."

"You're like three months older than me. If I'm 30 then you're 30.3." Jungkook huffed, lifting his head and narrowing his eyes.

Taehyung smiled, "Yes, I'm your Taehyungie Hyungie."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched upward.

"Do you still write songs Kookie, Just as you wrote the song STILL WITH YOU for me in our School days?" Taehyung asked after a while.

"Sometimes," Jungkook said. "Mostly when I miss you too much."

Taehyung looked at him sideways, his voice softer now. "You always said I was your muse."

"You still are," Jungkook replied without hesitation.

A beat passed.

"Play me one next time," Taehyung said.

"There'll be a next time? You don't come to meet me often now." Jungkook asked, only half joking.

Taehyung smiled, not answering.

And that was enough.

..........

Yoongi shifted, adjusting his stance. "They had their first real fight during college. Taehyung wanted to go into theater, travel. Jungkook was expected to start learning about the company. Different dreams, same heart. They didn't know how to hold both."

Jimin asked quietly, "Did they break up in the middle?"

Yoongi gave him a look. "They tried. But they kept finding each other, no matter how far they went. They had a different kind of understanding between them."

He looked back toward the dock. The light flickered again. "They built a world just for the two of them. Quiet, away from the noise of the world. Places like this, quite like the lake."

Jimin looked a little confused but anyways proceeded to listen.

"Then what happened?" the younger man asked.

Yoongi didn't answer just smiled.

His eyes stayed on the dock, where Jungkook had now turned fully towards his left facing Taehyung, talking in soft gestures like he was trying to make him laugh.

Yoongi didn't look away.

Because he knew something Jimin didn't.

But that part of the story?

He wasn't ready to tell it.

Not yet.

To be continued.....

Taehyung was smiling with his head tilted, eyes shining the way they always used to when Jungkook spoke nonsense to make him laugh.

Jungkook wrinkled his nose. "You still laugh at my worst jokes. That's suspicious behavior."

Taehyung grinned. "Your jokes have always been bad."

"But you laughed."

"Yeah," Taehyung said, nudging his shoulder gently against Jungkook's. "Because it's you. My Kookie."

That made Jungkook smile, a soft, sheepish, but a real one, the kind that reached his eyes and resembled a cute bunny. He glanced down at their hands resting close, knuckles nearly brushing. For a moment, he looked unsure. Like he was asking a silent question.

Taehyung gave the answer without a word.

He tilted his chin up slightly, the way he always did when he wanted Jungkook closer.

Jungkook leaned in slowly, slowly, like the world would collapse if he moved fast. Their foreheads touched. His eyes fluttered shut.

"I missed you," Jungkook whispered.

"I know," Taehyung said, voice barely there.

Their lips met in a kiss so soft it didn't feel real but like a memory, or a sigh. Familiar. Unrushed. The kind of kiss that didn't ask for anything except to be felt. To be there, full of Love.

When they pulled apart, neither said anything at first. The silence was enough.

Then Taehyung spoke, almost shyly, "Sing for me Kookie...."

Jungkook blinked, surprised. "Now?"

Taehyung nodded.

"Anything?"

"You know which one," Taehyung murmured.

Jungkook took a breath, glanced once at the sky now slipping gently from dusk to something darker, then he began softly, his voice carrying immense Love for Taehyung.

Nal seuchineun geudaeeui yeoteun geu moksori

Nae ireumeul han beonman deo bulleojuseyo

Eoreobeorin noeul arae meomchwo seoitjiman

Geudae hyanghae han georeumssik georeogallaeyo

Still with you

His voice trembled slightly in the beginning, but then steadied. Sweet and slow, like he was singing a promise.....

Eoduunbang jomyeong hana eopsi

Iksukaejimyeon an doeneunde

Geuge tto iksukae

Najimyeo daullin

I eeokeon sori

Igeorado eopseumyeon

Na jeongmal muneojil geot gata

Hamkke utgo hamkke ulgo

I dansunhan gamjeongdeuri

Naegen jeonbuyeonna bwa

Eonjejjieumilkka

Dasi geudael majuhandamyeon

Nuneul bogo malhallaeyo

Bogo sipeosseoyo.........

......................

...........................

Taehyung closed his eyes.

And Jungkook kept singing......

........

..........

"They kept finding each other, even in that situation."

Yoongi's voice picked up again....

Jimin stayed quiet beside him, a little strangely still. Not interrupting now, curious to know what happened with his Young Master Jeon.

"They shared their weekends loving each other, sharing Letters. That one time Jungkook went for Taehyung's performance and sneaked back home at night just so his parents wouldn't notice. He was a lovesick bunny, HE IS."

Jimin's brow furrowed slightly, a small smile playing on his lips. "That sounds like something I'd.... probably do in love...."

Yoongi turned to him, with a faint amused glance. "For someone worth it?"

"Yeah," Jimin said, to himself but Yoongi heard it. "Maybe even for someone who doesn't know they're worth it yet."

Yoongi didn't say anything.

The younger man looked away, feeling that maybe he'd said too much. But Yoongi didn't press.

"Everything changed the day his father found out," Yoongi went on, quieter now. "It wasn't some big dramatic discovery. It was simple. He came home early. Jungkook was in his room. Taehyung was there. And they weren't careful that day."

A silence filled the place again.....

Yoongi stared infront of him, not at the dock this time, but at the water. Like he was seeing something which is very hard to forget.

"Mr. Jeon didn't yell. He didn't hit. He just looked at them. And Jungkook, he looked back. There was no chance excuses and hiding."

"Wh.....What happened after that?" Jimin asked softly, his voice shaking in tension.

Yoongi sighed, "That day changed everything."

He didn't continue after that.... instead, he pulled out a metal water bottle from his side bag and held it out to the younger.

Jimin blinked. "For me?"

"You're standing for long now. Drink it and let's sit on the bench." Yoongi said with a dry voice, remembering the past but it was not cold."

Jimin chuckled, accepting it. Their fingers slightly brushed in the process....

But Yoongi noticed it.

So did Jimin .

Neither said a word.

The water tasted plain. But it felt.... Like the best thing Jimin ever drank.

Behind them, on the dock, Jungkook kept singing......

STILL WITH YOU......

To be continued...