Chapter 1 The Boy Who Sat Beside the River

The river behind Willowbrook had become Jeon Jungkook’s favorite place long before he understood why.

At first, he came there because it was quiet.

That alone made it different from the rest of the town. Willowbrook was never truly silent. The tea shops were loud with gossip, bicycles rattled through narrow streets from morning until evening, and neighbors somehow knew each other’s business before even the people involved did.

But the river stayed calm.

Steady.

Patient.

Then, sometime over the past year, the reason Jungkook kept returning there changed completely.

Now he came because Kim Taehyung liked sitting beside it.

“You’re staring again.”

Jungkook blinked and looked away from the riverbank immediately.

Park Jimin sat sprawled on the grass beside him with a bag of chips balanced on his stomach, looking deeply disappointed in humanity.

“I’m not staring,” Jungkook replied.

“You’ve been staring at Taehyung for the last seven minutes.”

“That’s scientifically impossible.”

Jimin crunched another chip loudly. “You smiled at him twice.”

“I smile at everyone.”

“You threatened a cashier yesterday.”

“That cashier deserved it.”

Across the riverbank, Taehyung sat beneath the old willow tree with headphones resting around his neck and a camera in his hands. He was adjusting the lens carefully, completely unaware—or perhaps pretending to be unaware—of Jungkook staring at him from across the bridge.

The late evening sunlight filtered through the willow branches, touching Taehyung’s face softly.

Jungkook hated how beautiful that looked.

Not because it annoyed him.

Because it affected him too much.

Jimin suddenly sat up straighter.

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“You’re doomed.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes dramatically. “You say that every week.”

“No, listen carefully. You look at Taehyung like he personally wrote love songs.”

Jungkook threw a pebble at him.

“Shut up.”

The pebble missed completely.

Jimin gasped. “Violence. This friendship is abusive.”

Before Jungkook could insult him properly, Taehyung finally looked up.

Their eyes met across the river.

And there it was again.

That strange pull in Jungkook’s chest.

Taehyung lifted one eyebrow slightly, almost amused.

A silent question.

What are you doing now?

Jungkook stood immediately.

Jimin groaned loudly.

“And there he goes. Claimed by romance before adulthood.”

“I’m literally twenty-two.”

“Emotionally? Fourteen.”

Jungkook ignored him and crossed the small wooden bridge.

The closer he got to Taehyung, the more aware he became of ridiculous things.

The way Taehyung pushed his dark hair behind his ear absentmindedly.

The way his sleeves always covered part of his hands.

The small beauty mark near his neck.

Jungkook had noticed all of it without meaning to.

Which was concerning.

“You’re loud even when you walk quietly,” Taehyung said as Jungkook sat beside him.

Jungkook placed a hand dramatically over his chest.

“That’s the rudest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“You say that every day.”

“Because people continue disrespecting me daily.”

Taehyung’s lips twitched slightly.

That tiny almost-smile was enough to make Jungkook feel victorious for absolutely no reason.

“What are you listening to?” Jungkook asked.

“Classical music.”

Jungkook stared at him in disbelief.

“You’re twenty-two years old and somehow also an exhausted grandfather.”

Taehyung glanced at him calmly. “And you have the emotional maturity of a raccoon.”

“That hurts because it’s true.”

For a moment, silence settled between them.

Strangely, Jungkook never hated silence around Taehyung.

With everyone else, silence felt awkward.

With Taehyung, it felt peaceful.

Taehyung adjusted the camera in his lap. “Jimin’s watching us again.”

Jungkook looked over his shoulder.

Jimin immediately pretended to study the river very seriously.

“He needs hobbies,” Jungkook muttered.

“He says you’re his hobby.”

“That’s terrifying.”

A soft breeze moved through the willow branches overhead.

Taehyung lifted his camera suddenly and pointed it toward the river.

Click.

Then toward the bridge.

Click.

Then—

Toward Jungkook.

Jungkook blinked. “Wait. Why me?”

Taehyung lowered the camera slightly. “You were in the light.”

Jungkook’s heartbeat stumbled stupidly.

“Oh.”

Taehyung looked at the photo preview quietly.

Then his expression softened almost invisibly.

Jungkook noticed anyway.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That sounded suspicious.”

Taehyung shook his head faintly. “You looked happy.”

Jungkook stared at him for a second too long.

Happy.

Nobody usually noticed things like that about him.

People noticed when Jungkook was loud.

Or funny.

Or reckless.

But Taehyung noticed smaller things.

The dangerous thing was…

Jungkook was starting to crave being noticed by him.

From across the bridge, Jimin suddenly shouted:

“JUNGKOOK STOP FLIRTING AND HELP ME, A DOG STOLE MY CHIPS.”

Taehyung burst into laughter.

Actual laughter.

Open and bright and completely unexpected.

Jungkook forgot how to breathe for a moment.

Because Taehyung rarely laughed loudly.

And somehow…

Jungkook wanted to spend the rest of his life hearing that sound again.

The realization hit him so suddenly it almost scared him.

Taehyung noticed the change in his expression immediately.

“What?”

Jungkook looked away too fast.

“Nothing.”

But deep down, he already knew.

It wasn’t nothing anymore.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***