I Dreamed a Dream || BTS

~ 6 ~

Cherry blossom trees stooped over the grassy plateau. Pink flowers fluttered like birds through the sky – Mother Nature's confetti that sprinkled delicately upon Baram's head and shoulders. She hardly noticed, entranced by the colorful sprigs around them, but she felt Taehyung brush the blossoms from her hair, and she smiled at him.

Samjil was one of many festivals that allowed Joseon to explore its inexplicable connection with nature. The spring festival was particularly attractive to Earth and Air, as the day's activities were centered around a mountain picnic. A gentle breeze rippled through the clearing, and Baram leaned back against Taehyung's shoulder. Her mother, occupied with sorting the collection of flowers for hwajeon, noticed the couple and bit back a smile. She had not been so lucky as to marry for love.

"Eomma... do you need more flowers?" Baram asked. The sparse pile of flowers did not match the mountain of dough her mother had prepared.

"Oh, no, I can ask your brother to gather mo–"

"Nonsense. I will look for more flowers. You prefer rhododendrons?"

"...I do."

Baram smiled and pushed herself to her feet.

"Baram-ah, I should accompany you," Taehyung offered, but Baram waved a dismissive hand at him.

"Do not be foolish. The archery event will begin soon, and it would be shameful of someone with your expertise to miss it."

"Well..." He grinned at her sharp decisiveness. "If you wished so badly to leave me, you could have just said so."

"Aish..." She bent to brush a kiss against his cheek and then embarked deeper into the mountains in search of more flowers. It was difficult to traverse the uneven terrain wearing such a long, heavy skirt, but she managed to avoid falling more than twice by using the tree trunks for support. Of course, those two times took a heavy toll on her skirt, and her mother would certainly scold her for the unwomanly dirt stains.

But nothing seemed so horrible anymore, knowing that Taehyung's presence would undo every burden she bore. She smiled, thinking of him. His tall stature, his hairstyle which Baram's brothers had deemed "unmanly", his rectangular beam that shone more often than his playful frowns, his velvety voice, his unwavering kindness and respect towards Baram and her family... Taehyung had lulled Baram into a magic-like trance where he dominated her every thought, word, and breath. She had never experienced love before, but she imagined that her feelings were precisely the unattainable dream which poets wrote about.

He was the reason she had fallen twice, too. Thinking once again of his boxy smile, she tripped on a stray root and tumbled to the ground. Her hands splashed into a mud puddle from the recent rainfall, leaving her paralyzed with shock until another voice pierced the chirping of birds.

"How many times will you fall before you realize that you must be more cautious?"

She startled so badly that her arms gave out, and she hardly had the nous to roll over before her face splashed in the puddle. Rolling over, however, sent her tumbling down a small hill, and she fell hard into a ditch. She was almost tempted to remain there until the man went away, but her head was too near a prickly plant, and she winced with every scrape against her cheek as she slowly stood.

The man had not moved an inch. He was still leaning against a tree trunk, his arms folded over his chest, his sienna gaze unwavering. Baram clutched her skirt with trembling hands and hoisted herself over the hill. She thought she saw his lips twitch with amusement, but it was so subtle that it must have been her imagination.