Heliophile | J.JK

01 ▏CORONA

co·​ro·​na (n.)

1. the rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars. 

•••

Sunrises had to be the most exquisite of nature's assets.

He liked that part about nature. There was no sugarcoating, no hiding behind woven veils of lies to cover what does not match the idol beauty standards. Everything in nature came as it was. No one was trying to hide any flaws. Take what you get or leave.

But it was still breathtakingly beautiful.

There was a strange, ethereal sort of beauty in the raw. The moon, with all its scars — was still the fairest of them all. The forests with their asymmetry were still magnetic. Deserts with their emptiness were still enchanting and the oceans with their mundaneness were still spellbinding.

But humans, on the contrary, liked to make labels. Skinny models on displays with a glasslike clear skin, silicon bodies and discarded ribs. Humans, especially pertaining to the definition of beauty, were very confined. Very suffocated. Very shallow.

It was a facade. Everyone wore it on their sleeves. He did too. Always in an attempt to look better and better. To please others with a persona not truly his own.

But the nature was relentless. The sun — proud in its unfathomable glory, shined. And Jungkook — dazed by the very fact, sat there to appreciate it everyday.

The break of dawn was fast approaching. It was the most peaceful part of the day when the crowd of pedestrians on the pavements had thinned down to a few profligates like himself, enjoying a morning walk.

Now, people assumed he wasn't a morning person. Well, technically that was incorrect. After all, he did enjoy mornings. The fact that he, contrary to waking up early, actually stayed up all night instead — did not change the fact that it was very much a morning and he did, as a matter of fact, enjoy it.

The suburbs of the city offered a surreal look in the morning. The faint aspen glow lit the edges of every hill in a subtle lilac hue that was submerged in the endless blue of the night. The broke yolk of the sun could pierce through the horizon in all its majestic glory any instance.

The pavements were cobbled around the market and residential sector, all perfectly lined by an array of rusty, old street lamps. But as one walked into the dense green of the hills, they appeared more and more decayed. That is, up until they completely dissipated.

Jungkook adjusted the mask on his face as he trudged along the thin trajectory that lead to the particular spot on the hill he so desperately wanted to reach.

He enjoyed it there, it was peaceful.

He was still cautious about not revealing his face despite the fact that this place was more or less his secret hideout and no human other than himself knew about its existence.

He was already in the outskirts of the city, the tall trees casted soft, almost indistinguishable shadows on him as the autumn leaves crackled beneath his black leather boots.

A long while ago, he used to come here to have some fresh air and watch sunrises and sunsets. Not write songs or take photographs, nothing for the world actually.

Just sit at the edge of the low cliff that gave a view of the green farmlands to the south. He'd sometimes open his arms wide and let the wind embrace him, the golden hour light pour on his face and help him take life slow and easy from there.

Nothing, nothing could be more beautiful than a sunrise.

That particular sunrise. Especially after a long while of being caught up in such a fast, fragile life of fame.

He jumped across the rusty iron fence that said 'caution'. There was a small vintage clocktower that was a part of the view from the cliff, he remembered clearly. And it looked breathtaking when dyed in the auburn hue of an autumnal golden hour.

He was about to reach the narrow edge. It was exhilarating, that place and solitude. What a combination that was.

And then, he heard something. Alternating between a slow hum and a high note.

It was violin maybe, he couldn't hear that well from this distance but he was certain his spot had been discovered. That was disappointing.

As he got closer, he changed his mind.

The sound was beautiful, so beautifully sad. The high note, it's depth. His eyes widened three sizes. His years of experience in the music industry and nothing like this had his ears heard before. That voice even put the instrument to shame.

It was definitely not the average kind of a sad low tune, but the kind of sad that pierced through your chest like a bullet and made you forget how to breath. A destructive combination of an instrument and perhaps what was the highest, sharpest vocal note he had ever heard.

His heart sank, the depth of the tune had an impact on him.

His hands shook as he tried to clear his view from the thick tall bush through which he normally entered the clearing from.

Golden light of the freshly bloomed dawn seeped through, and it took a while for his eyes to adjust to the intensity of the light. There was a silhouette, a figure that stood at the very edge right against the seering gold light.

He was so cautious, so afraid that a single movement, a single breath could break the enchanting spell of the moment.

He could only see the back of the figure. Long flowing hair that danced along the breeze. The violin perfectly placed against the base of her neck. Her shoulder shifting and her fingers intricately balancing the tension between the strings.

The bell in the nearby clocktower rang all of a sudden, causing a flock of white pigeons to fly off from the clocktower's slanted roof.

The flow of musical notes came to an abrupt halt. With a single movement she turned around.

His heart stopped.

Suddenly, the sunrise wasn't the most beautiful thing anymore.